A little late here (I took a news break after Carter's funeral) - I will long remember that John Fetterman is telling the people who voted and contributed to his campaign (me), even supporting him after his stroke, to shut up. He is fooling none of us. He might as well change his name to John Manchin.
Robert, I count on you to steady me, and you do, even when you are in difficulty! That is an important feature of a leader. Thank you!!
I do have one disagreement with your otherwise admirable message, however, and it has to do with transgender issues in sports. The number of trans athletes right now is very, very small, so in many ways this is a tempest in a teapot.
However, there is a reason that trans-male athletes are not the cause of much comment - they don't present much competition in male sports. They don't handicap other males. Trans-women, however, do. A woman's body, even an athletically trained one, does not have the physical strength of an athletically trained man's body. Gender identification has nothing to do with it! When we privilege gender identity over sex-based physical differences, we handicap women and their future education and even careers. This is unfair discrimination.
I say this as the grandmother of a non-binary grandchild who I love with all my heart, and I am totally supportive of them and of the rights of all transgender people to live their authentic lives. I'm in my 80's and still playing pickleball, and in my younger adult years I played soccer and tennis. Women's sports have been important to me all my life, even when it wasn't lady-like to engage in sports. To my great happiness, Title IX allowed young women to engage in sports to the extent that they were (and had always been) able and even to earn sports scholarships and to go on to professional careers in sports - largely unheard of in my youth. Title IX has been one of the great benefits of the women's movement. Women are becoming better athletes, better trained, more competitive. But they cannot train enough to overcome the built-in physical differences between the sexes.
Since when has all-or-nothing thinking been considered to be good, critical thinking? Even the rights in our Bill of Rights are not absolute. It is entirely possible to support the political rights of transgender people while also preserving the hard-won rights of women in sports. Instead of saying NO WAY, we should be saying THIS IS THE WAY TO DO IT, and then offer a thoughtful, fair compromise. And this issue, at least, goes away.
Dear Robert, I passed along this edition to my. son-in-law, a fire department captain in California so that he could get the word out to his coworkers. This is his response, and I'm hoping you can clarify so I can respond to him...many thanks, Gail (SF Bay Area)
When I read this article that you sent below, I was confused because I had heard that LA cut the budget to its FD also. This article says the opposite, that this is "disinformation." So I decided to spend 5 minutes and look into in myself.
Here is what I found:
Fiscal year 23-24 adopted budget: $837.6M
Fiscal year 24-25 adopted budget: $819.1M
Difference -$17.5M
So the LA City fire department had a $17.5M budget cut from 23-24 to 24-25 fiscal year.
On the budget summery PDF, its on pg 11. 2 different City documents with the same numbers.
So I'm not quite sure how people who write articles like this get their information but it's not accurate. My only other thought is that this Robert Hubbell guy who wrote the article says they increased the budget by $50M last year. $50M is an accurate number (I actually think its $55M) if they are using fiscal year 22-23 to 23-24. Maybe by him saying "last year" he is referring to those numbers? If that's the case, that is really deceiving. Either way, this article is not accurate.
I continue to be amazed by the indomitable focus and efforts by every day people regularly maligned by those who have the power of $$$. If there is ever a time and clear example when $$$ does not mean intelligence it is now.
Every day my positive thoughts go to those hurting in these fires and those who are helping to put them out and take care of those effected.
I continue to read as little as possible in the news. That which I do read shows that a new dark age is upon us that will only see light from those like Robert and you willing to raise the blinds.
I recommend today's post by Timothy Snyder on the "People's Cabinet". This could be an effective counterbalance to the Fettermans of the democratic party. Of course this would require a level of chutzpah that democrats are not necessarily known for.
Thank you for your encouragement, Robert! Hoping you and Jill, your family, friends and neighbors are safe and remain so. I left listening to Pres. Carter's funeral filled with hope that I've not felt since the election. Two and a half centuries of our self-governance remains intact, and we witnessed the peaceful transfer of power recently, upholding the foundation of our Constitution and nation.
Robert, thank you, as always, for your newsletter, a life line for all of us.
Perhaps you can explain or clarify Judge Merchan's decision not to impose any jail time or fines on Trump, even though Trump is convicted of 34 counts of felony. I do not understand the rational for that decision, and having absolutely no schooling in the law, it seems to me that Trump has escaped what the rest of us would have to endure in a similar position. Is it due to the Supreme Court's ruling on the immunity of sitting presidents?
And Lynell, it was President Carter's grandson Jason who made that comment about his grandfather's 92 years of a life in service to all people across the globe.
I’d like to add some perspective to the LA wildfires. In May, 2016, a wildfire spread in and around Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. Here is a note from Wikipedia; I’ve modified it to put it into the proper perspective:
“The [Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada] fire [began on May 3, 2016] and spread across approximately 590,000 ha (1,500,000 acres) before it was declared /to be under control on July 5, 2016. It continued to smolder, and was fully extinguished on August 2, 2017. It is suspected to have been caused by humans in a remote area 15 km (9.3 mi) from Fort McMurray, but no official cause has been determined to date. Author John Vaillant documented a detailed account of the fire, its progression, and aftermath within the context of global warming in his best-seller book Fire Weather: On the Front Lines of a Burning World.[16]”
As a footnote, I saw videos of this event which were unbelievable, apocalyptic, shocking, stultifying, frightening, unbelievable and gave ugly context to what horrific damage a fire like this can cause. My company at the time(I’ve since retired) dealt with restoration of fire and flood damage and had a sister company in Alberta that became a leader in providing support in the fire’s aftermath. This thing wasn’t “finished” until August, 2016, fully three and a half months after it began. But I’d guess the rebuilding is still going on there eight years later and that the scars from this fire will remain for generations. So, to LA and the thousands of people who have been and will be affected by this event, I/we get it. We’re here for you if only in spirit, and wishing we could do more. God love the firefighters and other first responders who have provided selfless service and support in this tragic event.
Just days before Donald Trump returns to the Oval Office, promising to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, Adrian Florido of NPR came across a remarkable scene in fire-ravaged Altadena on Thursday: a group of Latino immigrants, some undocumented, volunteering to save the homes of evacuated residents they did not know.
Florido spoke with a group of about 20 volunteers, who came from other neighborhoods and were trying to douse fires with garden hoses and buckets of water from swimming pools.
“Why come into a neighborhood that isn’t yours,” the reporter asked one undocumented immigrant from Guatemala who works cleaning houses, “to save houses whose owners you don’t know?”
“Our values and principles come first,” the woman said. “That’s what our parents taught us.”
“You don’t need to have legal papers or be a US citizen to help others,” a volunteer from Mexico told Florido.
“When you support someone, you strengthen them. When you stop and ask - could you use a hand? - they’ll remember that.”
I grew up in Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley in Encino (first, though, in West Los Angeles from 1944 until 1947, then Sherman Oaks from 1947 through 1958 and finally in Encino through 1962. Moved to the Seattle area in 1962 to attend the University of Washington. Regarding the stupid remarks about LA, keep in mind that the region was known as “La La land” because of the dreams created there by the movie industry. So hearing the idiots lie about fire department budgets and water pressure isn’t surprising. That it might have come from the LA Times is truly disturbing but not altogether surprising given the billionaire owner refused to allow the paper to endorse Kamala Harris.
“Disturbing” is a mild reaction to both Fetterman and some of the Congressional Democrats capitulating to the upcoming legislation. What on earth is happening to our country? I’ve often remarked about the similarity of the reactions to T…p as there were for Hitler, the latter a true dictator and racist whose countrymen capitulated in droves. Was it the people’s intense dislike for anyone who wasn’t white and “Christian”? Or was it their fear of Hitler and what could happen to them if they showed even the slightest opposition to that fascist? Regardless, history seems to have traveled from Europe to The United States of America. Unless we find some strong leadership to confront T…p and his fascistic plans we may be in for decades of autocratic control of our country.
Don’t we all love the emperor’s new suit? Or can some of us, and perhaps a future majority, call him a naked pig (with apologies to Porky)?
I am very grateful you and your family are safe, and thank you for the updates. My niece and family live and own a shop in Pasadena. They are safe, as well as the buildings. They are helping others every day and just posted a supply list that was identified, for those wishing to donate. In the true spirit modeled by President Carter, many good people are stepping up to help in what will be a very long journey.
Robert, you shine President Carter’s light daily in what you say, do and how you live your life. I want to thank you again for all you do for others, including us.
Please unsubscribe me and remove the charge. Varda Goodman
A little late here (I took a news break after Carter's funeral) - I will long remember that John Fetterman is telling the people who voted and contributed to his campaign (me), even supporting him after his stroke, to shut up. He is fooling none of us. He might as well change his name to John Manchin.
Surrounding all Angelenos with love and light.
Robert, I count on you to steady me, and you do, even when you are in difficulty! That is an important feature of a leader. Thank you!!
I do have one disagreement with your otherwise admirable message, however, and it has to do with transgender issues in sports. The number of trans athletes right now is very, very small, so in many ways this is a tempest in a teapot.
However, there is a reason that trans-male athletes are not the cause of much comment - they don't present much competition in male sports. They don't handicap other males. Trans-women, however, do. A woman's body, even an athletically trained one, does not have the physical strength of an athletically trained man's body. Gender identification has nothing to do with it! When we privilege gender identity over sex-based physical differences, we handicap women and their future education and even careers. This is unfair discrimination.
I say this as the grandmother of a non-binary grandchild who I love with all my heart, and I am totally supportive of them and of the rights of all transgender people to live their authentic lives. I'm in my 80's and still playing pickleball, and in my younger adult years I played soccer and tennis. Women's sports have been important to me all my life, even when it wasn't lady-like to engage in sports. To my great happiness, Title IX allowed young women to engage in sports to the extent that they were (and had always been) able and even to earn sports scholarships and to go on to professional careers in sports - largely unheard of in my youth. Title IX has been one of the great benefits of the women's movement. Women are becoming better athletes, better trained, more competitive. But they cannot train enough to overcome the built-in physical differences between the sexes.
Since when has all-or-nothing thinking been considered to be good, critical thinking? Even the rights in our Bill of Rights are not absolute. It is entirely possible to support the political rights of transgender people while also preserving the hard-won rights of women in sports. Instead of saying NO WAY, we should be saying THIS IS THE WAY TO DO IT, and then offer a thoughtful, fair compromise. And this issue, at least, goes away.
Dear Robert, I passed along this edition to my. son-in-law, a fire department captain in California so that he could get the word out to his coworkers. This is his response, and I'm hoping you can clarify so I can respond to him...many thanks, Gail (SF Bay Area)
When I read this article that you sent below, I was confused because I had heard that LA cut the budget to its FD also. This article says the opposite, that this is "disinformation." So I decided to spend 5 minutes and look into in myself.
Here is what I found:
Fiscal year 23-24 adopted budget: $837.6M
Fiscal year 24-25 adopted budget: $819.1M
Difference -$17.5M
So the LA City fire department had a $17.5M budget cut from 23-24 to 24-25 fiscal year.
On the budget summery PDF, its on pg 11. 2 different City documents with the same numbers.
So I'm not quite sure how people who write articles like this get their information but it's not accurate. My only other thought is that this Robert Hubbell guy who wrote the article says they increased the budget by $50M last year. $50M is an accurate number (I actually think its $55M) if they are using fiscal year 22-23 to 23-24. Maybe by him saying "last year" he is referring to those numbers? If that's the case, that is really deceiving. Either way, this article is not accurate.
Good Afternoon from Maine!
I continue to be amazed by the indomitable focus and efforts by every day people regularly maligned by those who have the power of $$$. If there is ever a time and clear example when $$$ does not mean intelligence it is now.
Every day my positive thoughts go to those hurting in these fires and those who are helping to put them out and take care of those effected.
I continue to read as little as possible in the news. That which I do read shows that a new dark age is upon us that will only see light from those like Robert and you willing to raise the blinds.
Best wishes to you all!
Bob F Rochester Michigan
I recommend today's post by Timothy Snyder on the "People's Cabinet". This could be an effective counterbalance to the Fettermans of the democratic party. Of course this would require a level of chutzpah that democrats are not necessarily known for.
Good thoughts and gratitude to you and yours
Robert, your moral compass points true to justice and compassion. I thank you 🙏🏽
Thank you for your encouragement, Robert! Hoping you and Jill, your family, friends and neighbors are safe and remain so. I left listening to Pres. Carter's funeral filled with hope that I've not felt since the election. Two and a half centuries of our self-governance remains intact, and we witnessed the peaceful transfer of power recently, upholding the foundation of our Constitution and nation.
Trump’s grandiose visions of adding territory and changing names, e.g. from Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America, should include changing Mar-a-Lago
to “Sea-o-Sh_t”
Robert, thank you, as always, for your newsletter, a life line for all of us.
Perhaps you can explain or clarify Judge Merchan's decision not to impose any jail time or fines on Trump, even though Trump is convicted of 34 counts of felony. I do not understand the rational for that decision, and having absolutely no schooling in the law, it seems to me that Trump has escaped what the rest of us would have to endure in a similar position. Is it due to the Supreme Court's ruling on the immunity of sitting presidents?
And Lynell, it was President Carter's grandson Jason who made that comment about his grandfather's 92 years of a life in service to all people across the globe.
I’d like to add some perspective to the LA wildfires. In May, 2016, a wildfire spread in and around Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. Here is a note from Wikipedia; I’ve modified it to put it into the proper perspective:
“The [Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada] fire [began on May 3, 2016] and spread across approximately 590,000 ha (1,500,000 acres) before it was declared /to be under control on July 5, 2016. It continued to smolder, and was fully extinguished on August 2, 2017. It is suspected to have been caused by humans in a remote area 15 km (9.3 mi) from Fort McMurray, but no official cause has been determined to date. Author John Vaillant documented a detailed account of the fire, its progression, and aftermath within the context of global warming in his best-seller book Fire Weather: On the Front Lines of a Burning World.[16]”
As a footnote, I saw videos of this event which were unbelievable, apocalyptic, shocking, stultifying, frightening, unbelievable and gave ugly context to what horrific damage a fire like this can cause. My company at the time(I’ve since retired) dealt with restoration of fire and flood damage and had a sister company in Alberta that became a leader in providing support in the fire’s aftermath. This thing wasn’t “finished” until August, 2016, fully three and a half months after it began. But I’d guess the rebuilding is still going on there eight years later and that the scars from this fire will remain for generations. So, to LA and the thousands of people who have been and will be affected by this event, I/we get it. We’re here for you if only in spirit, and wishing we could do more. God love the firefighters and other first responders who have provided selfless service and support in this tragic event.
THE GUARDIAN JANUARY 10, 2025
Just days before Donald Trump returns to the Oval Office, promising to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, Adrian Florido of NPR came across a remarkable scene in fire-ravaged Altadena on Thursday: a group of Latino immigrants, some undocumented, volunteering to save the homes of evacuated residents they did not know.
Florido spoke with a group of about 20 volunteers, who came from other neighborhoods and were trying to douse fires with garden hoses and buckets of water from swimming pools.
“Why come into a neighborhood that isn’t yours,” the reporter asked one undocumented immigrant from Guatemala who works cleaning houses, “to save houses whose owners you don’t know?”
“Our values and principles come first,” the woman said. “That’s what our parents taught us.”
“You don’t need to have legal papers or be a US citizen to help others,” a volunteer from Mexico told Florido.
“When you support someone, you strengthen them. When you stop and ask - could you use a hand? - they’ll remember that.”
I grew up in Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley in Encino (first, though, in West Los Angeles from 1944 until 1947, then Sherman Oaks from 1947 through 1958 and finally in Encino through 1962. Moved to the Seattle area in 1962 to attend the University of Washington. Regarding the stupid remarks about LA, keep in mind that the region was known as “La La land” because of the dreams created there by the movie industry. So hearing the idiots lie about fire department budgets and water pressure isn’t surprising. That it might have come from the LA Times is truly disturbing but not altogether surprising given the billionaire owner refused to allow the paper to endorse Kamala Harris.
“Disturbing” is a mild reaction to both Fetterman and some of the Congressional Democrats capitulating to the upcoming legislation. What on earth is happening to our country? I’ve often remarked about the similarity of the reactions to T…p as there were for Hitler, the latter a true dictator and racist whose countrymen capitulated in droves. Was it the people’s intense dislike for anyone who wasn’t white and “Christian”? Or was it their fear of Hitler and what could happen to them if they showed even the slightest opposition to that fascist? Regardless, history seems to have traveled from Europe to The United States of America. Unless we find some strong leadership to confront T…p and his fascistic plans we may be in for decades of autocratic control of our country.
Don’t we all love the emperor’s new suit? Or can some of us, and perhaps a future majority, call him a naked pig (with apologies to Porky)?
I am very grateful you and your family are safe, and thank you for the updates. My niece and family live and own a shop in Pasadena. They are safe, as well as the buildings. They are helping others every day and just posted a supply list that was identified, for those wishing to donate. In the true spirit modeled by President Carter, many good people are stepping up to help in what will be a very long journey.
Robert, you shine President Carter’s light daily in what you say, do and how you live your life. I want to thank you again for all you do for others, including us.