Category: Social Behavior

Bloomberg Reports Calabasas California Eclipses Beverly Hills

Britney Spears and her Calabasas home

The community of Calabasas has eclipsed Beverly Hills in Bloomberg’s annual ranking of the richest cities in the United States. The average household income in Calabasas is $194,010, more than twice the national average – and about $4,000 higher than Beverly Hills. Calabasas actually has fewer residents than Beverly Hills, checking in at a little over 24,000 compared to Beverly Hills’ 34,600. The Calabasas Country Club cites the “celebrity factor” as a reason to live there. Celebrities such as the Kardashians, Drake, Will Smith, Katie Holmes and Justin Bieber have all called Calabasas home. Currently at least 20 entertainment celebrities live in Calabasas.

Bloomberg reported Zillow states the median home price in Calabasas is $1.19 million, while it’s $2.76 million in Beverly Hills. “What you pay $20 million for in Hidden Hills you’re going to have to pay $50 million in Holmby Hills,” said Tomer Fridman, a luxury real estate agent who works with the Kardashians. The most expensive listing in Calabasas according to the report is a $32 million mansion in The Oaks gated community within another gated community.

Yes, you go through two gates to reach some homes. First you pass by the gate house where you provide identification before the gate is opened. The guard will provide a passcode to open the second gate that is located another mile down the road.

Coronavirus panic – the Media is to Blame

Cable news channels have been running talk about the coronavirus continuously. This is the best example of “yellow journalism.” It was William Randolph Hearst who propelled America into the Spanish American War.

Blind panic has definitely taken control Southern California. Costco warehouses have had a run on their water and toilet paper supplies. My local store had no bottles water, no toilet paper and no paper towels. NONE! It was not just my local outlet. News media reported that Costco’s stores throughout the Los Angeles area were experiencing the same phenomena.

There is no doubt that corona virus is a frightening disease but Americans are becoming paranoid. As of the latest information the national deaths from this disease is 17. Of course every life matters but the numbers are too small to call this situation anything more than a serious problem.

The sky is not falling. Reasonable precautions will probably contain this disease. There is no doubt that Donald Trump has added to the confusion. Trump calling the governor of Washington State a snake, accusing the World Health Organization of dispensing inaccurate facts about the outbreak, and suggesting that those with the disease could be safe going to work only adds to the chaos.

What is needed today is a calming voice.  Too bad the president has not taken on the assignment. Neither of the leading Democratic candidates have not taken on the opportunity for one reason. They don’t want to help the president. They want him to drown in the panic.

California’s NIMBYs are the biggest impediment to dealing with homelessness

A letter to the editor of the Los Angeles Times. Well written and says what I have been saying for the last two or three years.

To the editor: While columnist George Skelton focuses on the possibility of higher taxes in order to address the homelessness problem in California, he does not discuss what makes any policy solution next to impossible: NIMBYism.

There are more than 150,000 people out on the streets in California, but few people are willing to accept any kind of housing for these people in their neighborhoods, where it may affect the value of their homes, businesses and so on. Yes, it’s tough dealing with people who have mental health issues, problems with addiction and little (if any) access to help.

Tell that to business owners and residents in places where homeless encampments are part of everyday life. Someone is sleeping in front of your storefront in Sacramento or defecating in an alleyway in San Diego, and you’ve got to deal with it. But for the rest of us, for the most part, it’s out of sight, out of mind.

Gov. Gavin Newsom cannot help people find their moral compass. That is on us. Until then, there will be no solution. The money involved and where it will come from is really a secondary issue.

Edgar Kaskla, Garden Grove
The writer is a lecturer in the political science department at Cal State Long Beach and the author of the book, “California Politics: The Fault Lines of Power, Wealth and Diversity.”

The Thin Skin of President Donald J. Trump

CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company) cut a cameo of Donald Trump in the movie “Home Alone 2.” Both Donald Trump and Donald Trump Junior are upset about this really trivial event. A spokesman for the CBC says the now-president’s “short scene” was cut for time when the broadcaster acquired rights to the film in 2014 — before Trump was elected. Donald Trump Jr. tweeted an article accusing the broadcaster of bias.

Why are we wasting time on a fool? Because he is the president of the most powerful country in the world.

Thanksgiving 2019

I am giving thanks to my grandparents who had the wisdom the move to America.

I am giving thanks to the wise men who wrote our constitution.

I am giving thanks to the ten amendments to the constitution especially the first amendment.

I am giving thanks that there are people in authority today who defend the rule of law.

Lastly I am thankful that I can afford to enjoy a turkey dinner.

Electing a Senior Citizen President of the United States

Bernie Sanders is too old to be president of the United States!

Joe Biden is too old to be president of the United States!

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders suffered a heart attack, his campaign confirmed on Friday, October 4, 2019 after he departed Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center in Las Vegas.

Two weeks ago former President Jimmy Carter took a shot at presidential candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders when he said on that he couldn’t have handled the presidency at the age of 80. Speaking at the Carter Center, the former President said he hopes “there’s an age limit” to the job.

Most of us consider older people wiser than the rest of us. We think that their life experiences will help them to make better decisions. Many cultures treat their elderly with great respect. Perhaps that is the reason we have selected so many senior citizens to lead this country.

The reality is that many of our greatest presidents were not senior citizens.

The youngest person to assume the office was Theodore Roosevelt, who became president at the age of 42 years, 322 days, following William McKinley’s assassination; the oldest was Donald Trump, who was 70 years, 220 days old at his inauguration. JFK was 43 years old, Barack Obama was 47 years old. Bill Clinton was 46 years old.

We should be concerned about the health of our presidents. The current president is over 73 years old. The Democratic Party leading candidate is Joe Biden who is currently 76 years old. His leading contenders are Bernie Sanders who is 78 years old and Elizabeth Warren is 70 years old.

Do we really want to put someone in office that could die while serving? Just today Bernie Sanders has suspended his campaign ‘until further notice’ after being treated for artery blockage.

The stress of being president is best shown by looking at pictures of Barack Obama at his inauguration and when he left office.

I suggest we watch the Democratic Party candidates to see if they have the stamina for what is a 24 hour a day job.

Housing for the Homeless – Just not in My Neighborhood

We start with the message that homelessness is a sad situation and an issue that faces all cities across the United States. Even the president has said that it is a disgrace.

The city of Los Angeles has over 90 neighborhood councils that are advisory groups that recommend actions to the city council. Everyone of them has a committee trying to devise plans to help the homeless. Beyond those neighborhood councils there are many other groups working to help the homeless.

The public voted for taxes to help build homeless 34 facilities around the city. $230 Million would be raised through the property tax. The mayor has said he wants at least one homeless shelter in every city council district.

A majority of voters may have wanted to provide housing for the homeless but not in the community of Chatsworth. Chatsworth residents and parents of students at Chatsworth Park Elementary school protest the planned homeless housing project near the school on Topanga Blvd near Devonshire Street. Their signs told it all reading “Protect our children.” There is the issue. Fear that homeless people are child molesters.

In my nearby community I have heard the same argument and more. They are all dangerous drug users.

Sure. Help the homeless. Just not in my neighborhood.

The Failure of Government Leaders

Secret British government documents have warned of serious disruptions across the country in the event that the U.K. leaves the European Union without a trade deal on October 31, according to a report. Still the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, is determined to take the U.K. out of the E.U. even without a trade deal.

There have been 12 mass shootings in the United States in 2019 and another 19 occurred in 2018. Donald Trump, despite the shootings continues to side with the NRA telling the public that those shootings are the result of mental illness and video games. Mental illness and Video games in Canada and Europe is just not the same – right.

Rising temperatures are a fact around the world but many government leaders deny there is a problem.

Mass migration are now a fact. People are trying to leave the poor countries of Africa and taking inflatable rafts to reach the southern countries of Europe. The poor of central Americans countries are joining caravans to reach the United States. This is not a new phenomenon. Historically migrations have been a fact. The United States population is the result of migration from other countries from its founding (remember the Mayflower?)

Homelessness is on the rise. Based on national reports, it’s estimated that no less than 150 million people, or about 2 percent of the world’s population, are homeless. However, about 1.6 billion, more than 20 percent of the world’s population, may lack adequate housing.

Where are national leaders to address these issues? They are absent. Local and immediate politics drives their decisions. Who is to blame? We all are. Majorities keep re-electing those same clueless people for another term in office.

White Supremacist need to know – U.S. White population is in Decline

The new census projections indicate that, for youth under 18–the post-millennial population–minorities will outnumber whites in 2020.

This is scary stuff for racists and bigots.

Donald Trump and the white supremacists are trying their very best to sustain the white population as the majority group in the United States. That is the reason the U.S. government has developed new regulations for green card holders. The idea is to encourage immigrants to leave this country and discourage anyone else, except perhaps the wealthy, to attempt entrance.  The KKK couldn’t be happier.

The problem for the white supremacists is they are too late in their efforts. As reported by Brookings Institute, the U.S. Census Bureau 2018 statistics show “that for the first time there are more children who are minorities than who are white, at every age from zero to nine.”

The Bureau projects that by 2045 the White population will be less than 50% of the total.

Donald trump will employ the fear factor, “they are coming and I can stop them”, and it will play well in mid-western states that have small minority populations in the 2020 election. But the Census Bureau prediction for 2045 means that White people will not have the power they have today. And “That’s the way it is!”

Is there something wrong with us?

This column by Doyle McManus in the Los Angeles Times points out that ownership of guns does not necessarily lead  to mass shootings but sadly does not diagnose the reason for our national acceptance of repeated massacres.

“Canada has mental illness, the internet and violent video games, too — the same video games, in the same language — and its rate of gun violence is far lower.”

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-08-06/is-there-something-wrong-with-us-new-story