How about a 16,700-square-foot mansion in Pacific Palisades?

Legendary boxer Sugar Ray Leonard is looking to knock out a hefty sale in Pacific Palisades, where his home of nearly 50 years is for sale at a whopping $51.995 million. Covering nearly two park-like acres in the Riviera neighborhood, the estate weighs in with a 16,700-square-foot mansion, a two-story guesthouse, a swimming pool, a tennis court and a putting green.  The house has seven bedrooms and a theater.

Maybe you could rent the guesthouse to defray the maintenance of the estate or perhaps cover the cost of a live-in maid.  What do I know?  My house is less than 2,000 square feet.

The Robert Mueller Hearing

It just didn’t turn out as the Democrats had hoped. Robert Mueller gave a halting testimony that made me feel he was not prepared to sit before two congressional committees.

Yes, Mueller told the morning committee that his investigation did not exonerate the president and he told the afternoon committee they did not reach a determination as to whether the President committed a crime.

However, there was little emphasis on the fact that there had been Russian interference in the 2016 election and that it is likely to occur in 2020.

Congress needs to create laws that will discipline Americans who bring or use information from other countries into our election system. That should be called treason punishable by long prison terms.

Donald Trump openly invited Wikileaks and Russia to provide information against his opponents. That should be called treason. If those kinds of laws are not put into place we will see this happen again in 2020 and beyond. Robert Mueller warned of Russian interference in the 2020 election.

Trump’s Electoral College Edge

New York Times’ Nate Cohn analysis of the 2020 election outcome will be disheartening to Democratic Party nomination aspirants.  While Mr. Cohn doesn’t write that Trump is a shoe-in, he clearly points out that the Democratic Party candidate will have to overcome a country that for the most part is divided between rural and urban.

Of course the downside is that most polls indicated that Hillary Clinton would win the election in 2016.  

The tarp renaming Curry Village Half Dome Village came down on Monday

I have visited Yosemite National Park dozens of times.  It is a six hour drive from Los Angeles when you take time to stop for lunch.  The beauty and serenity of the park is something you will never forget.

In 2005 the facilities operator, Delaware North Companies Inc.  lost its renewal bid to Aramark. Delaware North claimed it owned the names Ahwahnee and Curry and would not permit Aramark to use those names because they are intellectual property.

Delaware North sued claiming they had paid the previous concessionaire’s for the right to use the names Ahwahnee and Curry.  They demanded $50 Million.

The consequence was the Ahwahnee Hotel was renamed Majestic Yosemite and Curry Village was renamed Half Dome Village.  I am quite certain that most recurring visitors continued to use the names Ahwahnee and Curry.

Basically the National Park Service and Aramark paid out $12 Million ransom to recover the use of those names. Ownership of the names will now revert to the federal government.

Incidentally I never thought it important to photograph the Curry Village sign or a picture of the Ahwahnee Hotel.  These photos appeared in the Los Angeles Times.

“Our diversity is our strength and our unity is our power.”

When Donald Trump implied in a series of tweets that some Democratic Party congresswomen weren’t born in America and sarcastically suggested, “they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi responded saying “Our diversity is our strength and our unity is our power.”

While all of the women Trump attacked do hold left wing views, Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib and Pressley are natural-born US citizens, while Omar was born in Somalia and immigrated to the US when she was young. Omar became a citizen in 2000 when she was 17 years old, according to the New York Times.

New Mexico Rep. Ben Ray Luján, the assistant speaker of the House, echoed Pelosi’s sentiments on Twitter Sunday: “A racist tweet from a racist president.”

Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign is really about making White Christian America the only group that matters and if you are not part of that group you are not welcome in the United States.

To reinforce his position for re-election Trump is using the most horrifying aspects of politics – Fear!  He rallies his base by telling them that he alone can protect them from the killers, rapists, gangs, and drug dealers that are primarily in minority communities.

Unfortunately many people who do not follow day-to-day politics will also respond to Trump’s rhetoric and vote for his re-election.  The Democrats are not united in their views on America’s future and that too will be a plus for a second term for Donald Trump.

Stock Market has reached new highs – Should we care?

Why is this man laughing?

What percentage of Americans own stocks?

Politifact California Stats:

6.7% are owned by bottom 80 %

9.3% are owned by the next 10%

84% are owned by the top 10%

Reported on NPR: As of 2013, the top 1 percent of households by wealth owned nearly 38 percent of all stock shares, according to research by New York University economist Edward Wolff.

Market Watch confirmed the same data.

According to U.S. News: In the U.S., there are 607 billionaires, up from 586 last year and 404 in 2010, and 14 of the world’s 20 richest are from the U.S. More than 40 percent of U.S. billionaires live in two states – California and New York. Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates don’t.

The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.  States that have not set a higher wage must pay that amount to their employees.  In California the minimum is $12 for employers with 26 or more employees, otherwise $11.

The super wealthy keep telling us how lucky we are by pointing out how the working classes in other countries are poorer than the American working class.

The USA is run by rich old people.  Sadly that is not likely to change despite the campaigns of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.

The picture at the top of this posting is Warren Buffet. His net worth this year is over $84 Billion.

Home of the Week

In Brentwood, a curvaceous hillside compound. Sweeping across an acre in Brentwood, this ultra-modern compound catches the eye and doesn’t let go. From an Italian marble driveway, a glass elevator ascends to a rooftop garden that doubles as an auto gallery with panoramic views of the city and ocean. Wavy walls mingle with clean lines throughout the three-story interior, which seamlessly expands to a 10,000-square-foot backyard with a lounge-lined infinity pool.  You are looking at the pool on the left with the city lights below.

Living area: 16,700 square feet, seven bedrooms, 9.5 bathrooms

Asking price: $42 million

Location: 12255 Sky Lane, Los Angeles, 90049