Smile Southern California, You're the Center of the UniverseThirty five years ago, a billboard announced to the world: "Smile Los Angeles! You're the Center of the Universe." Hyperbolic at the time, today, this exaggeration comes close to reality. While Southern California is not at the literal center of the universe, it is nevertheless an eye popping illustration of our globalizing world. Over the course of forty years of reporting, author James Flanigan has written about Southern California for such