Author: coastcontact

I am a somewhat cranky but mostly optimistic 65 plus who refuses to give up on this maddening world. The purpose of this BLOG is to express my feelings, thoughts.

Is this punishment for the homeless?

San José, California Mayor Matt Mahan unveiled an initiative Thursday that would ratchet up the pressure on homeless people to accept shelter or face jail time.

“Homelessness can’t be a choice,” Mahan said during a news conference to announce his proposed ordinance. “I’m proposing that after three offers of shelter, we hold people accountable for turning their lives around.”

So let’s understand that a mayor is proposing to give those homeless people a warm place to sleep and food if they won’t accept a shelter which probably provides them with food and shelter. The only difference is they will be in a jail cell.

Is it possible they will have better care in jail. After all they will also be given health care in jail.

Trump and the Courts

Many of the things Trump is doing are illegal or unconstitutional. His attempt to undo birthright citizenship is a blatant contradiction of the 14th Amendment. His refusal to spend money already appropriated by Congress violates both the Constitution’s assignment of spending power to Congress and the Impoundment Act of 1974. He has no authority to disband agencies created by Congress, like USAID or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. His treatment of federal employees violates the laws establishing the civil service, as well as union contracts signed by previous administrations.

But laws do not enforce themselves if lawbreakers are determined to ignore them. Victims of the law-breaking have to go to court. Judges have to rule in accordance with the law in spite of executive pressure against them. Court orders can be appealed, so the process can take a long time.

So far, the lower courts are following the law and the Constitution, so Trump is losing most of the cases.

This is all leading up to two questions:

  • Will the Supreme Court invent new interpretations of our laws to back Trump up, essentially ending the rule of law as we have known it?
  • If the Court does rule against Trump, will he defy the Court’s orders?

Canada’s Economic Blackout

“Canadians are preparing to create a retail blackout on Feb 28 of all U.S retailers doing business here 9 (in Canada). For one day, show them we have the power when provoked. Absolutely no purchases from Walmart, Home Depot, Best Buy, Amazon, McDonald’s, Staples, Gap, Toys r Us , Costco or any other US retailers. For one day, support only small or large CANADIAN or MEXICAN producers and companies. It’s time to STAND UP for ourselves. BE STRONG AND BE PROUD. Spread the word!”

Imagine if, for just one day, Canadians chose not to spend a single dollar at U.S.-owned retailers operating in the country. What kind of impact would that have? Would it send a strong message, shake up the economy, or fizzle out as a symbolic gesture? 

Three days until we find out!

Jane Fonda

In her acceptance speech for Lifetime Achievement at the SAG Awards on Sunday night, Jane Fonda spoke about the current political state.

“What we actors create is empathy,” she said. “Our job is to understand another human being so profoundly that we can touch their souls. And make no mistake, empathy is not weak or woke — by the way, woke just means you give a damn about other people.”

Read more: https://abcnews.visitlink.me/LoZxf3

Appease Russia in the name of “Peace”

It appears that President Trump’s peace talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin may take place without the full participation of Ukraine.

If so, there is a possibility of a sellout similar to what took place in 1938, when Great Britain and France approved of Adolf Hitler’s demand that the large German-speaking parts of Czechoslovakia be annexed by Nazi Germany. The Czech government was not present at negotiations.

Upon his return to Britain, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain proclaimed that he had secured “peace in our time.” Winston Churchill, then a member of the House of Commons, harshly condemned this agreement as appeasement, as have historians since then.

In March 1939, Hitler seized all of Czechoslovakia. It was then that Chamberlain recognized the unlimited imperial greed of the German tyrant. What followed was the British and French guarantee of Poland’s security. In September 1939, when Hitler invaded Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany, and World War II began.

In 2014, Putin occupied Crimea and backed separatists in the eastern provinces of Ukraine, areas in which Russian speakers make up a large proportion of the population. After the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, he annexed these provinces.

The U.S. government stance has been highly ambiguous. The current secretary of Defense has declared that those parts of Ukraine annexed by Russia would probably not be returned to Ukraine.

At the peace talks, will the U.S. appease Russia in the name of “peace”?

Thomas P. Bernstein, Irvine, California

The writer is a professor emeritus of political science at Columbia University. This was posted in the Los Angeles Times on February 19, 2025.