I know I’m not an investment banker but…
How in the world does Goldman Sachs permit the theft of most of $6.5 Billion from a fund it created with the government of Malaysia?
Grandma Sonia - a short story by Joshua Milne
One of my oldest friends in life, Joshua Milne, sent me a short story about his Grandma Sonia; the events in this story occurred while Josh and I were living together at UC Santa Barbara, and while I knew about his injury, I had no idea about the rest of it. With his permission, I am publishing his story at this link here, and hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Josh has also written a book, “The Experience”, which I am just beginning to read. You can find Josh’s book at his website or at Amazon, and I encourage you to check that out as well!
Audre Lorde's The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House
After the murder of George Floyd, I was sent a quote from Audre Lorde; I did not know much about her until now. What I thought I knew about a meaningful dialogue about racism barely begins to scratch the surface of the mountain of racism that continues to exist today.
Audre Lorde’s essay, The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House, has helped me begin to frame a different perspective on where we are as a nation, what we collectively need to do to begin to dismantle racism and its corrosive impact, and what each of us needs to do as individuals to help with that process.
You can find Audre Lorde’s The Master’s Tools essay here, and my thoughts on it are below.
***
Audre Lorde’s The Masters Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House is an exploration of various facets of identity, including race, gender and sexuality, and the “tools” used to define these aspects of being. Her essay was written through the context of her experience at a NYU Humanities conference. Lorde is coming from the perspective of a lesbian Black feminist and her observations apply broadly to all aspects of our human differences.
She begins her essay with commentary on a conference that is supposed to address the role of difference within the lives of American women but instead sees the absence of considerations of race, sexuality, class and age. She says "What does it mean when the tools of a racist patriarchy are used to examine the fruits of that same patriarchy? It means only the most narrow parameters of change are possible and allowable." While this question is phrased in the context of lack of diversity in a Humanities conference, it can be applied to just about every aspect of racism in the United States.
When I hear her question, I think about our nation's "tools" of unceasing 24/7 "infotainment" continuing to fail us, and if it were not for cell phone videos, or tape as in the 1991 beating of Rodney King - how much less the white nation at large would truly know, or perhaps more accurately, how much more the white nation at large would be able to willfully ignore what's in front of our faces. I think back to Emmitt Till, and how it was the bravery of his mother that drew attention to his death through visual media, not investigative journalism. MLK had a keen understanding of this as well. I think about how black men killed are widely described as "unarmed black men" as if by implication somehow the default is "armed black men" (and even if a black man was armed, such as Philando Castile who slowly and clearly spoke to his situation, is assumed to be a threat). If George Floyd’s murder was not captured on a cellphone camera, would we even be having this conversation?
I think about our educational system writ large as a “tool” to examine American history; Lorde is speaking of her experience at one of the most prestigious universities in the country - accustomed to the absence of input from poor women, Black and Third World women, and lesbians. If NYU is a channel for Lorde's commentary, what does that speak of the foundational aspects of K-12 curricula across the country?
As for the “tool” of policing, this requires its own separate analysis. What I will say here is that if we are listening, we will hear that police are not safe for many of our American communities - in particular Black Americans and other Peoples of Color; if we are looking, we will see that in fact this is true.
Once we look, we can find endless “tools” that propagate racism just to name a few: policies on economics, taxes, housing, infrastructure, environment/climate change and of course our criminal justice system.
What would some new “tools” look like and how might we create them? Lorde speaks of the concept of going beyond just tolerance to a much deeper relationship of interdependency. Lorde is telling us that interdependency resides outside of outside of racism and patriarchy - interdependency is the path to strength and power:
"For women, the need to desire and nurture each other is not pathological but redemptive, and it is within that knowledge that our real power is rediscovered. It is a real connection which is so feared by a patriarchal world. Only within a patriarchal structure is maternity the only social power open to women. Interdependency between women is the way to a freedom which allows the I to be, not in order to be used, but to be creative. This is a difference between the passive and active being."
This is a powerful statement - a declaration of desire and nurturing as not somehow the other, or a lesser - but redemptive. Passivity of being is an acceptance of the current framework and structures imposed by our racist and patriarchal society. It is instead interdependency that creates security and power to effect change - our differences are the source of that security and power to shape the future. Tolerance is not enough:
"Advocating the mere tolerance of difference between women is the grossest reformism. It is a total denial of the creative function of difference in our lives. Difference must be not merely tolerated, but seen as a fund of necessary polarities between which our creativity can spark like a dialectic. Only then does the necessity for interdependency become unthreatening. Only within that interdependency of different strengths, acknowledged and equal, can the power to seek new ways of being in the world generate, as well as the courage and sustenance to act where there are no charters. … Difference is that raw and powerful connection from which our personal power is forged."
Lorde is saying that if we build new tools from a place of interdependency and not just mere tolerance, we become stronger and more powerful.
Ultimately, white people must take on the task of educating ourselves and understanding interdependency is essential for our survival. We are seeing the need for it play out in real time in our streets and by police departments' response across the nation. "Now we hear it is the task of women of Color to educate White women - in the face of tremendous resistance - as to our existence, our differences, our relative roles in our joint survival. This is a diversion of energies and a tragic repetition of racist patriarchal thought." It is not the job of Black people to educate us whites; we must reach out and understand in our core being the need to achieve this interdependency and move towards a just and equal society, and work hand in hand with people of all backgrounds to eradicate racism.
We are broken
The deaths of George Floyd , Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor are the latest examples of how broken our basic structures of civility and governance are.
Let’s consider for a minute how all three of these individuals are being described as an “unarmed black man” and “unarmed black woman” by mainstream media. What are the basic assumptions that exist in our culture that black people killed by police (and white non-police) are emphasized by the media as “unarmed” in a way that implies that black people might be a threat if in fact they were armed? Why is that normalized? Stephon Clark. Trayvon Martin. Eric Garner. Freddie Gray. Michael Brown. Sam DuBose. Charleena Lyles. Terence Crutcher. Countless others. Instead of saying “Protests erupted in multiple cities over the death of an unarmed black man at the hands of a police officer”, you could say “Protests erupted in multiple cities over the death of George Floyd, a black man, at the hands of a police officer. Floyd was unarmed.”
Do we really believe the structures of our police departments to be different than how the country at large views black people? Our media and our police reflect the power structures in this nation. I would like to share some thoughts that some of my black friends and colleagues have shared with me over the last day or so:
“If you question why there is so much power in the black community in our black churches, it’s because many of us do not think the majority of white people actually believe in the same God we believe in that governs our lives and actions. For black people, America is more than just racist. It’s a Godless place where fear and ignorance and power and money and FEELING COMFORTABLE are all more important than the lives of its brown and black citizens and the teachings of Jesus Christ in the Bible. It’s why Toni Morrison said it best when she said that being American means being white. We know that because everyone else has to hyphenate….”
“My people stare death in the face every time they step out that front door.”
“Current events have me insanely pissed but simultaneously tired. Honestly it is making me more motivated to have more influence so that my voice carries more weight about this stuff.”
One of my colleagues posted the song “Strange Fruit” by Billlie Holiday with the following comment: “Published by Abel Metropol in 1937 and made famous by Billie Holiday’s rendition in ‘39, this soulful gut wrenching poetry paints the picture of Black Lynching oppression that was the backdrop between postwar America. Where the public gave a blind eye and the government (police) often carried out corporal street punishment with little repercussions. For those non POC friends of mine who have been moved by the recent police brutality, Know that Abel, a caucasian Jewish American so distraught by the photograph of the public lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abrahm Smitt that his heart poured out what his eyes could not believe. Remember this was ‘39 and nothing new for its time. Persecution is nothing new; believing that we are at a time where things like this don’t happen is still relatively new.”
Oppression has been built into the structure of our country since the beginning: it was expressly written into the Constitution (the 3/5 persons clause and the Fugitive Slave Clause), it remains implicity written there today through the Electoral College and Senate system, it is written into our national anthem, written by Francis Scott Key in 1814, in verses that we choose to pretend aren’t there and do not sing:
“And where is that band who so vauntingly swore, That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion, A home and a Country should leave us no more? Their blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave, From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave, And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
The Star Spangled Banner is in some ways reflective of our country at large - the horrific parts are there, but we pretend they don’t exist while we sing about liberty and freedom. That verse, by the way, was aimed at slaves who joined the British in the war of 1812 in exchange for their freedom.
I can’t begin to understand what it is like to walk in the shoes of a black man. However, white people can acknowlege the fundamental structures of this country are broken, and commit to rebuilding them in a way that serves real justice. One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King said “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” I can appreciate that the police officer involved in Floyd’s death was arrested today. But we should not have to wait for another black person to die to recognize our injustice and make changes.
Pink Flowers
Pink flowers
The streets are quiet today
as they were yesterday
Ghosts of cars haunt
empty streets
Light from pink flowers
envelops the atmosphere
bathing the sidewalk
with warmth
Shoots of yellow and white
splash across the canvas
with brilliance and surprise
in the empty air
Beauty found in the most
unexpected place
the pedestrians garden
April 24, 2020
Ballot Recommendations: California Primary - March 3, 2020
Hi all, here are my ballot recommendations for the March 3 California Primary:
President - Elizabeth Warren. She is tough, smart, capable and can mix it up with the best of them. She’s from Oklahoma and understands red states, and has a great deal of experience understanding the challenges our current financial system places on most people. Her top priority is rooting out corruption - without this, no reforms can follow. If you like her like I do - then don’t count her out - VOTE FOR HER!!!!
LA City Council - Paul Krekorian.
LAUSD District 3 Board Member - Elizabeth Bartels Badger. LAUSD board needs to be shaken up.
Member of the State Assembly 46th district - Adrin Nazarian.
US Congressional Representative - 30th District - Brad Sherman.
LA District Attoreney - George Gascón. Jackie Lacey supports the death penalty; Gascón and Rossi do not. I’m voting for Gascón; he supports legislation tightening rules on when officers can use deadly force.
Judges - I follow the Pacific Palisades Democratic Club’s endorsements, which you can find at www.palisadesdemclub.org.
Member, County Central Commitee, 46th Assembly District: No endorsement
County Measure R - YES; strengthens civilian oversight of the Sherriff’s department and focus on improving psychiatric care in jail.
Proposition 13 - NO. Much as I hate to vote NO on this one, this bond measure does two bad things: 1) cuts developer fees which schools rely on for funding and 2) Money spent as part of this measure can ONLY go to unions. I like unions and support them, but forced, uncompetitive contracting seems like a bad idea.
Healthcare, Medicare for All, and Bernie's not actually a socialist
It sometimes baffles me why some Americans oppose Medicare for All. The most common objections I hear are “it’s government controlled healthcare”, or “we want doctors, not government, making decisions on our health care”, or “it costs too much, $30 trillion over 10 years, that’s crazy spending.” And yet the hard facts are this:
In 2019, Americans spent an estimated $3.6 trillion on healthcare - all of which is paid by Americans through premiums, deductibles, direct payments to providers and/or taxes. Multiply that by 10 years = $36 trillion. We do this today.
$1.4 trillion, or 39%, is paid through private insurance and direct payments outside of insurance (“out of pocket”). Americans paid on average $10-11k per year on health care, and costs could soar to $48 trillion over 10 years if we do nothing.
Healthcare costs continue to skyrocket, but with worse outcomes. People are getting hit with “surprise bills” (we did when our son had an emergency appendectomy); 2/3 of Americans are concerned they cannot afford unexpected healthcare costs. And by the way, 40% of Americans would not be able to afford an unexpected $400 expense.
Healthcare companies make a lot of money, enough to buy back tens of billions of dollars of their own stock. A sample set of just three companies, Merck ($10B), UHC ($18B), and Anthem ($5.5B) shows over $33B in share repurchases and repurchase authority. This is money that should be spent on healthcare but instead literally vanishes from the healthcare system. Profit margins can go as high as 69% (Merck), and that’s just the companies I looked at. Let’s not forget Perdue Pharma, who reportedly had revenues of $35 billion just on OxyContin.
Drug companies are not incentivized to invest in new drugs unless there’s profit in it. Check this stat out - in 2015, 9 out of 10 major drug companies spend more on marketing than on research. I don’t have a more current number, but I suspect that trend is not going down.
Medical debt accounts for 2/3 of all bankruptcies. People are being arrested over medical debt.
This is insanity - health care is not a “free-market” - you don’t choose when you actually need care. It is not like buying a car, where maybe you can’t afford a Porsche so you buy a Toyota instead. Or decide you don’t need a new car at all, the old one is just fine. Healthcare doesn’t work that way, and yet our healthcare is driven by profit, not best outcomes. (I still can’t believe the US doesn’t permit Medicare to negotiate drug prices.)
A pretty simple way to pay for Medicare for All is put forth by Kevin Drum - fund it through an employer payroll tax on employers - they are currently funding a huge part of today’s employer based health insurance scheme.
Here’s the thing - single payer would only switch the payer, not your doctor. If you’re worried about the “government” rationing health care, it is doctors who prescribe treatment, not insurance companies or Medicare. Rationing is happening today - insurance companies ration payments to providers, while providers continue to raise prices on services and treatments. Patients are on the hook for everything that isn’t paid for by insurance.
Everyone says this is a tall order politcally, but a majority of Americans support Medicare for All - 70% by this measure, while this poll has 63% having a positive reaction to Medicare For All, and a majority that supports it. Remember the GOP has also historically opposed Social Security and Medicare, saying these programs would destroy America. If you’ve been hit with big, unexpected medical bills, you probably know the current system is damaging America the way it is.
Anyway, that’s my view on Medicare for All. A public option might be workable, but the only way that works is if all providers are required to take it. Otherwise it’s not an option. Medicare for All really is the sane way to go.
Oh yeah, and Bernie’s not actually a socialist.
Fryman Canyon
I took a walk this morning with my son along one of Fryman Canyon’s easy trails. It’s just gorgeous and the smell of sage brought me back to hiking with my dad as a kid.
San Fernando Valley view looking north from Santa Monica Mountains to Santa Susana and San Gabriel Mountains on a hazy day
Fryman Canyon trail
Fryman Canyon trail
Houses in the hills in Studio City
2019 Books Read
These are the books I was able to read this year; I wanted to better my book tally from last year, but only got through 10 - in no small part because the first book I read in 2019, The Vanquished, why the First World War Failed to End, by Robert Gerwarth took me three full months to get through (more on this later). I did, however, make it a goal to include more fiction and I was successful in that, reading four fiction books last year (admittedly one is historical fiction). A little summary of each is below:
The Vanquished - Why the First World War Failed to End, by Robert Gerwarth - A meaty, highly dense analysis and exploration of the period between the First and Second World Wars, The Vanquished makes the case that the the war never stopped, that WW1 and WW2 were part of one overarching conflict. Growing and violent nationalism marked the inter-war period, in particular in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires, which formerly held together diverse populations under a single rule. Unrest also carried on across Europe, with decision making by the victorious Allies exacerbating the situation (including the well-documented terms imposed by the Treaty of Versailles on Germany). As I mentioned, it took me three months to get through so if you’re a history nerd you might like it. Otherwise I’d say you probably might want to pick something a little more digestible.
The View from Flyover Country, Dispatches from the Forgotten America, by Sarah Kendzior - In this collection of essays written from St. Louis, Kendzior expores the issues impacting middle America, highlighting the devastating socio-economic situation that led to how we got Donald Trump. Kendzior presents this in a series of highly personalized and emotional short stories, easily readable and highly informative; I strongly recommend this book. You might also want to give her podcast a try, Gaslit Nation, which she does with Andrea Chalupa, but full disclosure she is unsparing in her criticism of Trump and his authoritarian and racist tendencies.
The War Before the War - Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America’s Soul, from the Revolution to the Civil War, by Andrew Delbanco - Given the political differences with slavery at the time of the nation’s founding, you might ask why the southern states chose to join in a union with the northern ones. The answer should be obvious, but it didn’t hit me until I read this book - the reason is that without a political union with the North, there would be no legal recourse for Southern states to demand the return of slaves who escaped to the North. This is the origin of the “Fugitive Slave Clause”, or Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution. Delbanco sets out in great detail the struggles that occurred over this and the expansion of slavery into new territories. This is a deep and insightful exploration of our nation’s origins, and is helpful in understanding how the United States arrived at our current polticial discourse today.
L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America’s most Seductive City, by John Buntin - This is non-fiction storytelling at some of its best; Buntin brings us into the intersecting world of the mob and the LAPD, and how one of the LAPD’s most famous chiefs, William Parker, came to work against one of the most famous L.A. mobsters, Mickey Cohen; Bugsy Siegel and other mobsters also make an appearance. Buntin is pretty candid about the whole of Chief Parker; while he did fight mob corruption, he was woefully lacking in his ability to manage race relations in L.A., including his being LAPD chief during the 1965 Watts riots. His antagonistic relationship with Tom Bradley (who would become L.A.’s first and only black mayor, and also L.A.’s longest-serving mayor) and supportive relationship with Daryl Gates (LAPD chief during the 1992 riots) is quite informative. Weirdly enough, I didn’t know until this book that Gene Roddenberry was his speechwriter for a time! If you’re interested in some interesting history about Los Angeles, I think you’ll really like this book.
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles - I’m not entirely sure why I bought this book, but boy am I glad I did. The story revolves around Count Alexander Rostov, a young aristocrat from Czarist Russia, who a few years after the Bolshevik revolution is placed under house arrest at one of Moscow’s finest hotels, the Metropol. He isn’t killed by the Bolsheviks due to his being credited with writing a poem in 1905 that helped inspire the revolution in 1917. Towles weaves an enchanting tale of the window of Rostov’s entire life being much wider than he expected, with rich characters and storylines that held my attention from start to finish. I can’t recommend this book enough.
Artemis by Andy Weir - This book had been sitting on my kindle app for what seemed forever, but I finally dove in. Artemis is set on a moon colony, and our heroine is a young woman of Saudi ancestry named Jazz who was born on the moon - a local. She is a hustler, trying to make her way in an expensive, and while not lawless, a society that lives a bit on the edge (not unexpectedly for a moon colony). Artemis becomes an exciting murder mystery, where Jazz must survive on her wits and street smarts. This is a fun book, and an easy read.
John Marshall, by Richard Brookhiser - I try to pick my books carefully, so I don’t often come across one I consider a dud. Unfortunately this one was - I felt like Brookhiser was engaging in a bit of Marshall-worship, minimizing his faults (including barely mentioning Marshall’s status as an enslaver as well as his upholding the chattel property rights of slavers), and instead focusing on Marshall’s impact on judicial review as well as generally being supportive of Federalist initiatives long after the Federalist party went the way of the dodo. I would not recommend this book.
Zucked by Roger McNamee - If you want to have a sense of the disconnect beween how Facebook views itself and how the rest of the world sees the impact of Facebook, look no further than this book. McNamee pulls no punches on how Facebook makes its decisions, and goes into detail about how and why anger, fake news and conflict all contribute to Facebook’s financial success. We get a close look at the key players at Facebook, in particular Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg. Very interesting and well written.
Blowout by Rachel Maddow - I am a huge fan of Maddow’s prior work Drift, which explores how America became disconnected with its military, so I was excited to read Blowout. It does not dissapoint; Maddow explores the corruption endemic to the fossil fuel extraction industry, from Rex Tillerson’s cozy relationship with Putin to major frackers getting lawmakers to ignore fracking initiating unprecedented earthquakes in Oklahoma and elsewhere. Of note, some of the players in the current Ukraine scandal, including Dmitry Firtash, make an appearance in this book. As with Drift, this is Rhodes Scholar Rachel Maddow, not MSNBC Rachel Maddow, and this is worth reading.
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead - a worthy follow-up to Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad, The Nickel Boys is set in a so-called “reform” school for boys in the Jim Crow era, based on an actual school in Florida called the Dozier School for Boys. In the book the school is named the Nickel Academy, and the survivors are known as Nickel Boys. Dozens of boys were tortured and killed, both in real life and in the book. As with Underground Railroad, Whitehead creates a compelling historical narrative that exposes some of the worst chapters in American history, which are often overlooked both in school and society writ-large. Whitehead is one of the great modern authors of our time, with a unique ability to help those of us who can’t walk in the shoes of the African American experience gain at least some understanding of the full impact of American history on today’s modern life. I don’t often get didactic about novels, but you should read this book, as well as The Underground Railroad.
Surreal rain delay at EWR
A couple of weeks a go I was on my way home to LA, and was significantly delayed by some serious lightning storms. Newark airport was shut down completely, no planes going in or out. We had already boarded our flight, so we just sat there waiting out the storm at the gate. When the storm finally passed, there were dozens of planes jockeying for position to get out of the gate and onto the runway. What’s more amazing is how the mess of planes very quickly organized into neat single file lines awaiting their turn for takeoff. Some photos of the planes moving into formation are below.
What a mess!
Things are moving
Lining up
Ready to fly
Separated at birth?
Gives a whole new meaning to French toast.
Beverly Glen
Nuff said
LA needs your YES vote on Measure EE
Passing Measure EE in LA would place a modest, $0.16/sqf progressive tax on property to fund public education in Los Angeles. A new tax in California can only pass with a super majority—we need every eligible voter to mail-in their ballot, or show up at the polls on June 4.
It takes courage, civility, and trust to vote for Measure EE. We can add value to public education in L.A., but we have to vote for it. This is for the future success of L.A.’s children and is particularly necessary in vulnerable neighborhoods.
Many people can find a thousand reasons to vote against any tax. It’s jarring to read unfair criticisms of LAUSD from opponents of Measure EE. They are telling us that money won’t help Education. Don’t believe your own eyes, they contend, money won’t help. What?? The truth is, big L.A. businesses don’t want to pay the progressive tax proposal on the ballot; the L.A. Chamber of Commerce instead suggested a ‘flat’ parcel tax, where large businesses would pay the exact same amount as a 900 square foot home. This is the definition of a regressive tax. This will no doubt be what big businesses will fight for, if Measure EE fails. This reminds us of the anti-tax tactics used during the 2016 primary, we had a Democratic staffer “inform” us that free college would hurt the poor. That’s anti-tax propaganda. Instead of providing support for our school system, and actionable solutions, opponents have resorted to demonizing LAUSD and Measure EE.
LAUSD needs money to hire teachers to reduce classroom sizes, and to hire more nurses and librarians, and create safer environments. Children need to learn in quiet and small classes, and frequently need new books. We can vote now by mail, or on June 4, to improve our entire public school system, and make it more accountable, Measure EE requires annual public auditing.
Our public school system in L.A is underfunded. New York and New Jersey public students receive twice as much funding per pupil as our public school students, and it shows. New Jersey has leading developmental teaching programs, as well as permanent nurses, school-provided tutors and staff. New York has built a record number of new schools and hired more teachers. Our children were safe and cared for in those healthy schools, funded by property owners, when we lived there for almost three years. This is why our family understands the incalculable ways that public school funding makes a positive difference for kids.
It’s time for us Angelenos to value education as much as the people in New York and New Jersey do, by paying property taxes. Because we are such a wealthy city, Measure EE is an opportunity for L.A. to elevate our education system with a modest tax that raises half a billion dollars each year. We don’t know of any other ballot issue that helps ease wealth inequality in L.A. Measure EE is a start. The Trump tax bill has given billionaires windfall tax breaks, and L.A. is one of the few places that billionaires can buy $6 million dollar homes. We need to vote to fund public education, because billionaires won’t.
City and State leaders, including Mayor Eric Garcetti, Governor Gavin Newsom, and U.S. Senator and Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris, support Measure EE as they know the acute need for additional funding for education. Opponents of EE have not put alternatives on the ballot, just critical opposition and denial of the transparent plan that was hammered out by teachers and the district, with help from the Mayor and the Governor. LAUSD is already showing their commitment to fiscal responsibility by contracting an extensive savings analysis of their budget with Ernst & Young. Although this plan puts LAUSD on better financial footing, the savings identified by Ernst & Young does not cover projected deficits, we need Measure EE to improve our schools.
Angelenos now have a chance to vote for substantive change, to begin solving one long-standing systemic problem: Underfunded schools in Los Angeles.
LAUSD is the public school system we have, so let’s come together as businesses, homeowners, and a city, and fund our public schools with a strong and healthy tax base.
We have a lot of work to do to improve the lives of all the people in our country, let’s start at home, let’s make history in L.A. and fund a new property tax on education.
Please Vote YES for better public education in L.A. Please Vote YES on Measure EE
Notre Dame
I could not believe the news of the fire at Notre Dame cathedral. We visited it in 2014, and below are some pictures we took. I’ve also included some of the pictures from news orgs post fire for some perspective. We did not take pictures of the roof that was damaged, we just got the facade and a little of the interior.
Front of cathedral, looking at the iconic towers.
Close-up of the front main entry doors
Rose window on front facade
Inteiror of cathedral - we chose not to stand in the very long line to get to the front close to the altar.
Altar inside Notre Dame - the image is pixelated as I had to zoom since we were outside the area immeidately next to the altar.
Interior with holes in roof (photo credit Christophe Petit Tesson/AP)
Interior damage to Notre Dame (photo credit Christophe Morin/Bloomberg)
The interior burining (photo credit PHILIPPE WOJAZER/AFP/Getty Images)
Interior smoldering (photo credit PHILIPPE WOJAZER/AFP/Getty Images)
Support funding our schools - support Measure EE in June
When the LAUSD and UTLA reached a hard-bargained for agreement this January, it provided for among other things, reduced class sizes by four students by 2021, 300 additional nurses, almost 80 librarians and 80 additional counselors. Part of the deal included support for a ballot measure to create a parcel tax for additional funding for LAUSD to help meet these commitments. This measure is slated for the June 4 ballot, and is labeled Measure EE.
Ballot Measure EE would create a parcel tax of $0.16 per square foot on properties within the district. This is estimated to generate about $500 million annually for LAUSD. The tax provides for exemptions for seniors and disability recipients. The text of the ballot is below, and can also be found here:
EE–QUALITY TEACHER, CLASS SIZE REDUCTION, AND LOCAL SCHOOL SAFETY MEASURE: To retain/attract quality teachers; reduce class sizes; provide counseling/nursing/library services, arts, music, science, math, preschool, vocational/career education, safe/well-maintained schools, adequate instructional materials/supplies; support disadvantaged/homeless students; shall Los Angeles Unified School District levy $0.16 per square foot of building improvements annually, exempting seniors/certain disability recipients, providing approximately $500,000,000 annually for 12 years, requiring annual audits, oversight, and funding local schools?
Public education is at the core of a vibrant, functioning democracy. With income inequality at record highs, it is more important than ever to ensure access to a quality education with reasonable class sizes, staffing of campuses with nurses, librarians and counselors, and fair pay for teachers. This is why it is dissapointing to see the L.A. Chamber of Commerce and VICA (the Valley’s business chamber) each oppose this measure. You can read the Chamber’s statement here, and VICA’s statement here. Their opposition appears to be grounded in the fact that the tax is based on square footage vs. a “flat” tax where homeowners and small businesses would pay the same tax rate as large mansions and large businesses.
Educating our children is a shared responsibility across all segments of our city. I urge our business chambers to reconsider their positions and support funding a quality education for our children. LAUSD and UTLA reached agreement on a path forward for our children, with the help of our city and state leaders, including Mayor Garcetti who supports this measure. There’s no question that additional reforms are needed - this is just a first step in moving forward to reforming our school system. However, starving our school district of funds is not the answer. Our city should follow through on this commitment to start down the path of providing a better education for our children. I am a parent of two children in LAUSD - let’s get behind our kids’ future - let’s vote YES for Measure EE.
Photos from most recent trip to NYC
I love taking photos out of airplanes. Snapped a few over LAX, EWR, and a couple on the way. Read on, especially the caption of the last picture of the 757-200 that I was on yesterday.
View of Marina Del Rey
Kalitta Air Boeing 747 taking off
Dusky cloud cover off the Santa Monica Bay
Snowy Rocky Mountains
Newark, NJ
Looking down the runway at EWR (Newark Liberty International Airport)
Dusky cloud cover over Oklahoma
The 909
United Boeing 787 Dreamliner
The actual plane I was flying on yesterday, a Boeing 757-200. Copyright Radim Koblizka; you can link to photo here, and see stats on this 29 year old plane here. Interestingly enough, the decision by Boeing to not produce a successor to the 757 had some bearing on United’s position regarding the 737 Max when Airbus came out with its new A320 and A321 neo planes. Boeing had to jerry-rig the 737 to be bigger, have longer range, have bigger engines, and hold more passengers. Kind of like the 757. Which is why airlines still use it 30 years later.
Thomas Jefferson placed this ad in 1769
Six years before the Declaration of Independence, in which he wrote “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
No charges in police shooting of Stephon Clark
It happened again. Stephon Clark was shot 20 times by police. He was unarmed. In his grandmother’s backyard. And no police accountabilty. He wasn’t just shot - he was shot after he fell to his hands and knees after the first volley of shots.
I understand the police have a difficult job. But they are entrusted with the ability to use state sanctioned deadly force. With that resonsibility needs to come accountabilty and oversight. This keeps happening to young black men - it won’t stop until we recognize it and demand accountability.
Black Lives Matter.