US Bank Building in Los Angeles

US US Bank Bldg from 5th and Figueroa Street
US Bank Bldg from 5th and Figueroa Street

Standing 72 stories on Bunker Hill, the building holds a prominent position in business and in popular culture. It has appeared in numerous movies and even been fictionally destroyed for dramatic effect in such films as “Independence Day,” which saw aliens blow up the tower as they began their invasion of Earth.

The building was the tallest west of the Mississippi River until another building the Wilshire Grand Center competed on June 23, 2017 opened with one more floor.

Still, going to the top of the US Bank Building is fun to do and besides the views there is a glass slide from the 70th floor to the 69th floor that is mounted to the outside.

The views from the those two floors are spectacular.

City at sundown (Photo taken by a friend)

Westin Bonaventure Hotel (numbers indicate the weight the roof will support in thousands of pounds)


Hollywood sign and Griffith Park Observatory in the distance

Snowcapped Mount Gorgonio and Mount Baldy.

 

A wave building on Oahu’s North Shore, Hawaii


This photo was on my computer when I restarted the processor.

The North Shore on Oahu is a great place for photographers to capture vivid images of the Pacific in motion, as the beach’s legendary monster waves rise up before breaking on the beach. This long-exposure photograph, shot early in the morning, shows off the power and motion of the water as it rises to form a curled wave. These waves make the North Shore one of Hawaii’s prime surfing destinations. When his ship, the HMS Discovery, was navigating the South Pacific in 1778, British explorer Captain James Cook noted the locals out in the waves riding on boards. Surfboards date back to at least 500 CE and possibly much further back in history.

The first topless Sports Illustrated cover

Enough with the politics!

This is way more fun!

This was the month that Sports Illustrated always published their swimsuit edition.  They aren’t doing it.  They say maybe in May.

Model Veronica Varekova autographs copies of the 2004 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. | Scott Eells/Getty Images

The problem: the lack of swimwear in a swimsuit-focused magazine

The Czech model has participated in eight SI Swimsuit issues, but her most controversial was 2004’s topless cover image. The shoot, which took place in Montauk, New York, features Veronica Varekova holding her swimsuit top rather than wearing it — and people freaked out. Many wondered if the Swimsuit issue even needed swimsuits anymore.

Declaring a National Emergency should freak out (frighten) most Americans

Once again the U.S. government is faced with a possible shutdown that will impact about 800,000 workers. Its cause is the same as the last shutdown. President Donald Trump wants $5.7 billion dollars to build a border wall and congress is only willing to allocate $1.3 billion dollars.

To avoid another shutdown Trump will sign the law and then he could obtain the balance of the money by declaring a National Emergency that would give him the power to take the additional funds from any other funded project or any department. And he has the authority to do that.

So what’s wrong with this scenario?

What we have here would be the overturning of a constitutional requirement that all funding must be made by the congress.

Texas Republican senator John Cornyn summed up the problem succinctly when he said to CNN on February 4, “The whole idea that presidents — whether it’s President Trump, President Warren or President Sanders — can declare an emergency and somehow usurp the separation of powers and get into the business of appropriating money for specific projects without Congress being involved, is a serious constitutional question.”

I can imagine the congressional response to Trump usurping congressional authority would be taking the question to the Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court supported Trump, you can kiss the Republic of the United States goodbye.

We will be left with a dictatorship.

Five takeaways from Trump’s State of the Union address

The speech was not inspiring.  It felt like Donald Trump was reading from a shopping list.

Trump ignored the issue of dealing with DACA and deaths caused by repeated use of weapons by the hate filled and deranged people that have committed repeated killings.  Even in his honoring those who stopped the killing at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh shooting but not a word about stopping the killing committed by the use of guns.  Gun violence is a national emergency.

    

1. A discordant call for unity

“We must reject the politics of revenge, resistance, and retribution — and embrace the boundless potential of cooperation, compromise, and the common good.”

Starting with Donald Trump’s attacks and name calling suddenly he started his speech with conciliatory words that were nowhere to be found since he began his candidacy for the office of president. Who did he think he was talking to?  Does he really believe one speech will change Democrat perception of him as a bully who only wants his own way?

2. A call for a wall, but no demand

“It will be deployed in the areas identified by border agents as having the greatest need, and as these agents will tell you, where walls go up, illegal crossings go way down.”

Could Donald Trump be backing down just a little?  These word along with his recent statements that the wall is already partially built and more has already been approved may be a signal that a wall from sea to shining sea is something he understands he will never achieve.  And there wasn’t a word about declaring a national emergency.

3. A double-down on withdrawal from Afghanistan and Syria

No adamant insistence that there immediate withdrawal of all troops by a date certain but he is determined to bring all troops out of those countries very soon.  Maybe James Mattis’ resignation did send a message along with words from some Republican lawmakers did have an effect.

4. Areas for compromise?

Infrastructure repairs and prescription drug cost controls are areas where there could be compromise if both parties are really serious.

5. The shocker

Congress should pass a law denying pregnant woman the right to a late term abortion said the president. No one wants an abortion.  The decision to abort is horrible. Should those decisions be controlled by a law or by what would be best for mother and child? Happily as Trump pointed out there are more woman in Congress than ever  before.  They were mostly wearing white outfits and mostly Democrats  This proposal made his base happy but happily it’s dead on arrival.

Los Angeles Rams living by “we not me,” with the star of the team being the team

 

There is a lesson here that the president of the United States does not understand.  As we would say “he doesn’t get it.” The USA as a team is what has made this country great.

The United States success was built on a team effort. When Sean McVay arrived in Los Angeles, the Rams debuted their “We not me” T-shirts. The idea is self-explanatory.

Just read or listen to what Donald Trump says.

“I’m speaking for a lot of people…”

“I guess…”

“I would say that I think…”

“I could’ve taken a much different stance…”

“I ran a great campaign. I ran a campaign…”

“I don’t want to say he lied. I think he probably meant it at the time, I guess. I hope. So I don’t call that lying.”

“I’m going to be announcing the exact numbers…”

“I was very pleased that he called

“I feel very badly for Louisiana because…”

Robots are coming. A quarter US workers at risk!


As reported in USA Today one man is sitting “alone atop a tractor with a specialized mechanical attachment” that now performs the work of 30 people.

The Los Angeles Daily News reported “Members of the longshoremen and warehouse workers union picketed outside a meeting of the L.A. Board of Harbor Commissioners Thursday morning, Jan. 24, protesting the approval of a permit that will allow a major terminal operator to increase automation at the Port of Los Angeles.”

According to a new Brookings Institution report one fourth of all jobs in this country are at risk due to automation.

Without a job what will those people who lack the capacity to learn complex job functions do?  This will most likely be a world wide problem.  We as a nation will not let them starve.  Most likely more people will be on a welfare program.

This won’t happen in 2019 but the structure of our society will be changing before this century is over.

There is no “Art of the Deal”


 

Donald Trump lost for the second time in less than a week. He is not a happy camper.  First he had to postpone his State of the Union speech and now he has agreed to the Democratic Party proposal to open the government.  Let’s be clear.  What Trump has agreed to today was a proposal put forth by Democrats even before the shutdown had started.

After a 35 day shutdown caused by President Donald Trump refusing to sign a law funding the government, he agreed to funding for three weeks while there are negotiations on border security.

So the reality is the president caved into reality.  That reality is government workers can’t pay their bills, flight delays are impacting businesses, IRS and other departments are impacted by furloughs.

What hurt Trump even more is he looks weak against a woman.

Is Trump prepared to make a deal on border security?  I would suggest he read the book “Art of the Deal.”  Oh wait Trump wrote that book.  Too bad he never read it.