Sucker Punched 14 Year Old Receives Community Support

Dec 17,2016. West Hills CA.
Two juveniles were arrested this month in connection with an unprovoked punch that resulted in brain injuries of a 14-year-old West Hills teen were released to the custody of their parents and are due to appear in court in early February, according to Los Angeles police.

Hundreds of people turned out for a rally for Jordan Peisner, the boy who was sucker punched on Dec. 2. The rally march started from the Pavilions Market and ended across the boulevard at McDonalds on Platt between Victory and Haynes with people holding anti bulling signs.

The boy is now home and reports experiencing serious headaches.

Trump’s cabinet of oligarchs: So much for ‘draining the swamp’

The following letter was highlighted in the Los Angeles Times today (December 3, 2016). It does reflect my opinion.

Congratulations to those of you who voted for President-elect or failed to vote because you weren’t happy with the choices. (“Trump to preside over the richest Cabinet in U.S. history“,Dec. 1)

You didn’t get Hillary Clinton, but here’s what we all got:

Possibly the loss of health insurance for more than 20 million people and the loss of Medicare or Medicaid benefits to millions of the poor or elderly.
A potential Environmental Protection Agency administrator who doesn’t believe in climate change.
A billionaire who has never attended a public school as the next Education secretary.
A former Wall Street banker as the next Treasury secretary.
Another billionaire affectionately known as the “king of bankruptcy” as the next Commerce secretary.

But don’t worry. Trump said he wouldn’t be controlled by Wall Street or special interests. He said he owes no favors to anyone. Still, we know he will never fully separate himself or his family from the wealth he has amassed. We know that he will continue to profit from his overseas holdings, whether directly or into the pockets of his children. We know that his own interests could put our country in danger.

How do we know? Because about the only truth Trump has ever uttered is that winning at any cost is all that matters to him. And now that he has been elected, to hell with the rest of us.

Terrie McKinley, Aliso Viejo

There are no Affordable Housing Requirements in Los Angeles

We have a living problem in Los Angeles that is prevalent in all the large coastal metropolitan areas of California. The cost of housing is too high for many families.

Los Angeles County has added more than 475,000 jobs since the depths of the Great Recession, and it’s expected to gain another 334,200 jobs by 2020 according to the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. in a report they just released. The families that have these jobs cannot afford most of the housing in this area.

The L.A. County report notes that more than a third of the county’s projected job openings over the next five years will require workers without a high school diploma and no work experience. Another 30 percent will go to people with a high school diploma or the equivalent with no work experience.

As the number of jobs has grown so has the number of new apartments throughout the area. The problem is that the new housing is renting for what the builders and owners say are “market rates.” Those are rates that I call “unaffordable rates.” Despite the need for affordable dwellings the cities and towns of the Los Angeles metropolitan area have approved the construction of those unaffordable units for those obtaining the new jobs.

In my own community the local community council approved a 150 unit development that consists of one bedroom, two bedroom, and three bedroom units. The two bedroom units are going to rent for $2,200 per month. Older two bedroom units are currently renting for $1,500 to $1,700 per month.

Rendition of Apartment House Proposed in Silver Lake District

Developers seem to think that 10% of their new projects devoted to “affordable housing” is sufficient. A 33 unit project in my community includes 3 affordable units. A proposed 67-unit apartment complex in Silver Lake area includes seven of the units to be reserved for “very low-income residents.”

Citing an affordable housing crisis of “epic proportions,” the California Supreme Court made it easier Monday for cities and counties to require developers to sell some housing at below-market rates. The unanimous decision, written by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, follows study after study documenting a lack of affordable housing in the state, especially in California’s coastal regions.

The decision clears the way for Los Angeles and other cities to require developers to sell a percentage of the units they build at below -market rates as condition of a building permit. Developers also could be given the option of paying into a fund for low-cost housing.

Where is the Los Angeles City Council and the Los Angeles County Supervisors? There is no law that requires affordable housing in new developments. The city will permit variances to zoning and use that as an opportunity to require affordable housing.

PBS newscaster Gwen Ifill has died

by Dylan Byers and Brian Stelter @CNNMoney

Gwen Ifill, the veteran journalist and newscaster who co-anchored “PBS NewsHour,” has died, PBS said Monday.

Ifill, 61, broke gender and racial barriers and became a role model for journalists across the country. She had been battling endometrial cancer while covering this year’s presidential election.

PBS said in a statement that she died Monday “surrounded by family and friends.”

“Gwen was one of America’s leading lights in journalism and a fundamental reason public media is considered a trusted window on the world by audiences across the nation,” Paula Kerger, the PBS president and CEO, said.

“She often said that her job was to bring light rather than heat to issues of importance to our society,” Kerger said.

During a press conference on Monday, President Obama described Ifill as “an extraordinary journalist” who “always kept faith with the fundamental responsibilities of her profession, asking tough questions, holding people in power accountable, and defending a strong and free press that makes our democracy work.”

Ifill, who worked at The Washington Post, The New York Times and NBC News, became moderator of PBS’s “Washington Week in Review” in 1999. She was tapped to be the co-anchor of the “NewsHour” in 2013. Ifill and co-anchor Judy Woodruff were the first women to jointly lead a national nightly news broadcast.

Ifill also moderated the 2004 and 2008 vice-presidential debates, as well as a 2016 Democratic primary debate.

“Whether she reported from the convention floor or from the field, whether she sat at the debate moderator’s table or the anchor’s desk, she not only informed today’s citizens, she also inspired tomorrow’s journalists,” Obama said. “She was an especially powerful role model for young women and girls who admired her integrity, her tenacity and her intellect, and for whom she blazed a trail as one half of the first all-female network anchor team on network news.”

“I think we’re all diminished without Gwen,” CNN’s Gloria Borger, a longtime friend of Ifill’s, said after the news of Ifill’s passing was announced.

Borger recalled that Ifill’s “preparation for those debates was stunning.”

“She was such a role model for me, and for so many people,” CNN’s Nia-Malika Henderson said.

“We all loved her,” CNN’s Jamie Gangel said, remembering Ifill as smart, funny and fearless.

Ifill was a pioneer for women and for African Americans in journalism, becoming the first African American woman to host a major political talk show when she took the helm at “Washington Week in Review.”

Her path to prominence was hard-fought: While in college in the late 1970s, Ifill secured an internship at The Boston Herald.

“They didn’t know what a college-educated black woman was and they didn’t know how to treat me,” she once told The Washington Post. One day, she told the Post, a staffer left her a note in the photo lab that said “Nigger go home.” The editors were so apologetic about the issue that they hired Ifill after her 1977 graduation, she recalled.

Donald Trump and Hate

The United States democratically elects its president and the majority has spoken through the ballot box. The losers must accept the will of the majority.

I am deeply disappointed with the results. Donald Trump is the poster child for hate, misogyny, and discrimination. His election tells me more about America than about him.

I fear for the fate of minorities and the handicapped in this nation under a Trump presidency. I have personally experienced discrimination and sympathize with all who have had to live in a world of hate.

I see Adolph Hitler in the words of Donald Trump. Asians, Jews, Latinos and Muslims are the likely targets of a President Trump.

A rebellion is unlikely. A massive emigration of minorities from the United States is a possible outcome. Certainly the entry of minority peoples to America will be significantly smaller than in previous years.

My likely new home will be Canada – if they will take me.

Three True Short Stories about Jews of Europe

These three stories are woven with shared mystical threads.

Translated from Russian by Chaim Zehavi.All the details are claimed to be absolutely true. However, there are those who say these three stories are entirely fiction. The endings might make you believe there could be some truth in them.

First Story

At the beginning of WWII, when the truth about the fate of the Jewish people was discovered, and when there were still ways to save them, a few hundred rich Jews bought a ship in order to get their families on board and escape to America.

But they needed visas, so they approached the American Ambassador in London. It was not difficult for him, but he utterly refused. The Jews, in order to save their families, went without the visas.

When the Ambassador found out about it, he contacted Washington, advising them that a ship with illegal immigrants is approaching
America. The Jews managed to overcome the horrors of war and reach America, but were not permitted into America. These unlucky people were ordered to turn around and return to burning Europe. And all burnt in the camps. When the tragedy was revealed, the Rabbi of London came to the American Ambassador and said: “Your deeds do not befit not only your post, but you are not fit to be called ‘a human’. And now, since you caused hundreds of people’s death, YOU AND ALL YOUR DESCENDANTS generations down from now on will be cursed!”

The name of the American Ambassador was KENNEDY. Joseph Kennedy was father of President John Kennedy and Attorney General Robert Kennedy both assassinated.

Second Story

Again, WWII. Lithuania.

The Japanese Ambassador, who was a compassionate and noble person, disagreed with the Nazi crimes, and was concerned with the future of the European Jewry. He used his status and provided them with visas to Japan.

From Japan they immigrated to the United States of America. Thus he saved the lives of thousands of Jews. When the Germans found out they demanded that the Ambassador be removed. The Japanese, allies of the Nazis, followed the request. But he still had 2 weeks until his return, and he used these 2 weeks, and worked around the clock, day and night; he recruited people to help him issue more visas. The lives of many more Jews were saved this way.

This was a very dangerous act, deserving of admiration. Prior to his leaving a mission of Jews from the Vilna Synagogue came to thank him. “What you have done for the Jewish People will never be forgotten, and we will pray to God to bless you and your descendants.”

This wonderful person returned to Japan, and miraculously all his punishment was that he was fired and lost his pension. In order to help his family he started a small workshop. His name was Mitsubishi. Mitsubishi became one of the greatest manufacturers of cars in the world.

Third Story

In the center of the city of Kiev there’s a statue in memory of the all-powerful leader of the Ukraine, Bogan Khmelnitsky. He is sitting on the back of a beautiful horse, his right hand holding a sword and pointing up, towards the sky. He is the epitome of Ukraine’s independence. Khmelnitsky is the pride of the Ukrainians, and all visitors are impressed by the beauty of the statue of the great leader. But not many know that Khmelnitsky was a beastly anti-Semite. On his conscience many pogroms against the Jews, burning down of towns and villages, and the blood of many innocent Jews. How many future-geniuses, who could have been great achievers, were lost to the world. His ruthless thugs had no mercy for women or children.

These are historical facts. A lot sorrow was brought by the accursed Khmelnitsky to the land of Ukraine. But in one town, the pogrom was especially horrible. Khmelnitsky and his thugs, drunken on Jewish blood, robbed and destroyed all the homes of the Jews. The boys and the girls were taken to the Synagogue and were all burnt without mercy. All that was left of this town was its name, and not one living Jew.

But centuries later the punishment came! The name of this town is Chernobyl, and in the exact place that the Synagogue used to be, was the Nuclear Plant #4 of the infamous power plant known in the tragedy that occurred in this town. The town is still off limits because of the lethal radiation omnipresent to this day.

William Golding

2016 Projected Electoral Votes

A poll from Quinnipiac University released on Thursday gave Hillary Clinton a massive advantage over her Republican counterpart, Donald Trump, just 75 days before November’s election.

Hillary Clinton has a 80.0% chance of winning the 2016 presidential election.

Updated 8/23/2016

Electoral Votes from Swing States: 112

270 Votes Needed to Win

–

Hillary Clinton

272

Donald Trump

154

Democrats, Don’t be too cocky!

Michael Dukakis is here to remind you why to stop overreacting to the recent election polls. Flying high out of the 1988 Democratic National Convention, the forecast looked sunny for the then-Massachusetts governor. A Gallup general election poll released July 26, 1988 gave Dukakis a 17-point lead over George H.W. Bush, the Republican nominee.

“When I was allegedly 15 points ahead, I never was really. It was because I had come off a pretty impressive primary victory,” the 82-year-old former governor said, adding, “You’re obviously going to get a bit of a bounce if you win, and I’m sure [Trump]’s getting that kind of a bounce, since he’s won the thing.”

The Dukakis/Bentsen ticket lost the election by a decisive margin in the Electoral College to George H.W. Bush and Dan Quayle, carrying only 10 states and the District of Columbia.

Is Donald Trump a serious candidate for president of the United States?

When Peggy Noonan thinks the GOP candidate is crazy it really is time for Republicans to re-think their support for the unhinged Donald Trump.

At a CNN Libertarian Party town hall hosted by Anderson Cooper on Wednesday (August 3), Bill Weld outright mocked Trump — saying he has “a screw loose.”

Charles Krauthammer in his latest column: “It’s that he can’t help himself. His governing rule in life is to strike back when attacked, disrespected or even slighted. To understand Trump, you have to grasp the General Theory: He judges every action, every pronouncement, every person by a single criterion — whether or not it/he is “nice” to Trump.” Krauthammer’s contentions do support the screw loose contention of Bill Weld.

David Axelrod said that if Donald Trump were trying to lose this election, he would not behave any differently than he has in the last few days.Source: CNN

There have been more than a few commentaries suggesting that Trump really does not want the presidency and is intentionally saying things that would make him unacceptable to most Americans. Of course there is also his own contention that the elections are rigged, If that was a true “fact” it would give him a way to say he can’t win and rather than going through the humiliation of a loss he has decided to withdraw from the campaign.

The Libertarian ticket is looking more appealing by the day. With 94 more days until election day we all have plenty of time to change our minds multiple times.

Megyn Kelly, Donald Trump and The Media Circus

You may have thought that Megyn Kelly was a serious reporter when she challenged Donald Trump at the first GOP debate on August 6, 2015. That was where she challenged Mr. Trump on his treatment of women. You would be wrong. Her real intent, and the intent of Fox News, was to obtain attention grabbing headlines that would result in higher viewership of that cable station. The plan worked even better than they had anticipated.

How do I know this? Watch yesterday’s interview by Kelly of Trump. (the video appears to be blocked. It can be found on Youtube) Not one serous question was asked about the campaign for president. Not one serious question was asked about anything. It was all fluff. Why now? Fox wants to continue the appearance of Mr. Trump on their programs. So they made nice. In addition the ending of the program was an advertisement for a Megyn Kelly written book. The new book about her year covering — and feuding — with presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Fox News and Megyn Kelly are not alone in their pursuit of the money that the election generates. MSNBC and CNN have coverage every hour of the day and night on the election and of course their focus on Donald Trump. When it comes to in depth analysis DO NOT look for any of that, even on Sunday morning programs like Meet the Press and Face the Nation.

That leaves the citizenry of America to figure out who should receive their vote based upon the limited, media controlled information and the information posted on line by “independent” thinkers. Is anyone really non-partisan?