Thursday, January 30, 2025

GRIEF, ANGER AND FRUSTRATION

A REMEMBRANCE - A year ago I wrote HERE about the passing of a friend - a man I'd known since the first day of kindergarten.  It was a melancholy remembrance, posted to mark a major change in my life - a time when more and more friends and acquaintances depart their earthly ties.

ONCE MORE - Early this morning I wrote on my Facebook page about the passing of a very dear friend and neighbor, Barry Mason, yesterday evening.  My wife and I spent a few hours at his home comforting his long-time companion and helping her deal with the necessary details involved with this kind of a situation.

THE POTOMAC PLANE CRASH - Meanwhile, most of the country was glued to their televisions, watching the coverage of the crash between a commercial airliner and a military helicopter over the Potomac River adjacent to Reagan International Airport in Washington, D.C., looking for explanations and grieving the 67 souls lost in that tragic accident.  None were yet forthcoming.

IDIOT-IN-CHIEF - I awoke a little late this morning - I didn't actually hit the sack until around 3 a.m. as I contemplated the passing of my neighbor.  I immediately called his companion to be sure she was doing OK, then checked communications from friends and found several expressing outrage at the comments being made by President Donald Trump about the air accident.  When I finally dragged myself out of bed, cleaned up a little and, through bleary eyes, I watched replays of  news reports of the accident, including Trump's comments.  I was stunned by the thoughtless, heartless, ignorant speculation he was spewing to the world on the issue.  He had already decided the accident was due to misguided DEI hires and was blaming the Biden administration - before a single fact about the crash had been authenticated!  All the while,  loved ones of the crash victims are looking for the truth, not speculation by the President, yet, that's what they, and we, are getting.

SAME AS THE FIRE INFORMATION - This kind of uninformed, speculative, bloviations were exactly the kind of bilge he puked out at the press event after touring the Palisades Fire site last week.  He chided state and local officials for not "turning on the spigot" to route more water from the Pacific Northwest to quash the fires - which, according to actual knowledgable experts, would not have helped with 100+ mph winds fanning the fires.  He consistently fails to grasp his depth of ignorance on important issues (I guess that's kind of redundant, huh?)

GRIEVING MORE THAN THE LOSS OF FRIENDS - Today, running on fumes, I continue to grieve the loss of my dear neighbor and friend.  Today I also grieve for our nation that has elected an ignorant,  callous, thoughtless bully as the President of the United States.  I grieve because, based on his public utterances and actions after only a few days in office, he shows us the path he is planning on taking this country over the next 1,451 days - and I'm terrified!

DESTROYING THE ECONOMY, ALIENATING ALLIES AND PROVOKING ENEMIES - Every day we see him perform acts and making statements that seem aimed at destroying the very foundation of this country - the Constitution!  Time after time he attempts to toss aside portions of that document designed to provide protection for us all from abuse of power and - dictatorship!

APPOINTING INEXPERIENCED SYCOPHANTS AND BOOTLICKERS - We've seen him nominate some candidates for senior advisory positions who bring almost no relevant experience to the job - just blind loyalty to the man himself.  This reeks of behavior of a certain World War II dictator who began exactly the same way - and I am terrified.

HIS BEHAVIOR SHOWS US JUST WHO HE IS - Trump has demonstrated that he is a mean-spirited, vindictive, ignorant human being throughout his life and with recent actions.  During his first tour as President he surrounded himself with old hands in government - men and women of great character who actually understood the jobs and tried to do them to the best of their abilities.  Trump fired many of them when they pushed back on his inane proposals.  Since taking over two weeks ago he has cancelled protections provided to a few of them - protections necessary because of their actions and views expressed in their service to this country made them subject of death threats by foreign governments and others.  Without careful contemplation of the impact of his actions he issued a few dozen Executive Orders, many of which gut existing programs and place tariffs on goods from countries that will certainly impact American consumers in a very negative way.  He bellows brainless screeds, then is forced to have his staff backpedal when legal challenges are put forth.  He is a blustering, brainless buffoon who poses a real threat to our form of government and way of life.

FINGERS CROSSED - So, sleep-deprived as I am this afternoon, I will do my best to contemplate a bright future for our country as real, honest-to-goodness fine human beings like my neighbor pass on.  As a friend recently reminded me, Tocqueville told us that we will get the government we deserve.  Will we ever learn?


Labels: , ,

Sunday, January 26, 2025

PRESIDENT TRUMP ON THE CALIFORNIA FIRES



Last Friday President Trump marked "disaster Friday" by first visiting the North Carolina site of the carnage caused by Hurricane Helene, then flew directly to the Los Angeles area where he helicoptered over the Palisades Fire site, ignoring the larger and more destructive Eaton Fire site.  Following that flight he and his wife participated in a "round table" discussion with federal, state and local officials.  This was widely covered by local and national media.  I observed the entire session and wrote about it on my Facebook page.  The following is the text of what I wrote.


VIEWING TRUMP AND FOUR-LETTER WORDS...

Around 5 p.m. Friday afternoon I began watching television coverage of President Trump on his tour of the Palisades Fire site and the subsequent "round table" (even though the table was not "round" but in a "U" shape).


GRATEFUL... BUT

First, I'm very grateful to the President for taking the time to visit the sites of the Hurricane Helene disaster in North Carolina and then flying across the country to view our catastrophic site - or one of them.  I thought it was interesting that, for some reason, he chose to not fly 10 minutes away over to the Eaton Fire site - where more homes and businesses were destroyed - to give him a more complete perspective on the carnage caused two weeks ago.  The cynic in me thought he chose the Palisades site (including Malibu) because it was the location of much wealthier residents.  The Eaton Fire destroyed the homes of many more middle class families - and most of them were black.  Just a thought

.

WATCHING AND LISTENING

During the press event a wide array of local, state and national politicians were present, along with many senior public safety leaders and a few "regular" people.  During the lead-in to the event he met many firefighters and was presented with a firefighter helmet with "47" emblazoned on it.  He lugged it around proudly (mentioning that firefighters must be in good shape because the helmet was very heavy) and displayed it on the table in front of him during the chat he held with those present.


PAINFUL, PAINFUL, PAINFUL!

As I watched him express concern for the devastation he'd just flown over, and the angst expressed to him by "several people" who lost their homes, I became very frustrated and disappointed as he devolved into a teenager in a 78 year-old man's body - his normal modus operandi when he's flying solo without a teleprompter.  I don't for one second doubt his sincere concern, but I just can't abide his juvenile presentation when he couldn't help but expose his inner-bully. 

 

INFANTILE, ILL-INFORMED

I found myself yelling many, many four-letter words at the TV screen as he presented "facts" that were falsehoods.  Somewhere in the recent past one of his salivating sycophants must have told him that "all they need to do to fight those kind of fires is just turn on the tap from the Pacific Northwest and Canada so they'd have plenty of water", because that's the bilge he spewed many times during the event.  Several news organizations "fact checked" him following this event, demonstrating the untruth of many of his pronouncements.


IT WAS ALL ABOUT HIM..

Throughout the event it was clear that he thought the whole thing was about him, and what a wonderful President he was (his words) for visiting and "helping".  Time after time he made that point - observing that "a previous President" wouldn't have done this.  I found myself yelling "WTF" and other epithets at the screen.


"CONDITIONING" THE HELP

Earlier in the day he had told the world that for California to receive federal aid in recovering from the fires it would have to meet certain conditions, including voter ID and cleaning the forests!

 

PERMITS

During one screed - several times, actually - he demanded that the permitting process be basically abandoned so people - apparently those wealthy folks who lost homes with whom he had just spoken - could "clean up their lots" and get started re-building "tomorrow"!  He showed no signs of actual knowledge about the process of remediation of those disaster sites.  He apparently was willing to let the property owners dive right into the toxic residue of the fires with a shovel and wheelbarrow, ignoring the danger involved.  State and local leaders had already laid the groundwork for streamlining the permitting process. 


ADIOS, FEMA

One of the more interesting pronouncements he made was to imply pretty clearly that he was going to shut down the Federal Emergency Management Agency - FEMA.  Apparently he heard horror stories in North Carolina earlier in the day about the "poor performance" of FEMA personnel at that disaster site.  So, he was considering shutting the whole thing down and just turn the keys to the recovery bank over to one person - maybe his pal, Rick Grenell, who was sitting beside him.  Yikes!


"LOOK AT ME!  I'M STUPID!"

 Again, our President is more than willing - yes even enthusiastic - to demonstrate his ignorance on important issues, and then compound the issue by jabbering juvenile stream-of-consciousness gibberish attempting to make his point. He does this time after time and it's terrifying to contemplate what kind of exchanges he must have with more mature, well-educated, intelligent heads of state.


THANKS, MR. PRESIDENT

So, I want to thank President Trump for coming out to see the devastation and helping folks understand the scope of the damage.  Now, please, Mr. President, just get out of the way, send us the money, let the professionals do their jobs and STFU!


Labels: ,

Tuesday, January 14, 2025

SAYING GOODBYE TO SANTA

 I posted this sad news on a couple Facebook pages today.


SAYING GOODBYE TO SANTA
My dear fellow Panthers, it is with great sadness that I advise you that our schoolmate, Lowell Hendrickson has passed away. Lowell, a fellow Winter '59 Tyrian, was discovered deceased at his home last week after neighbors expressed concern about his absence in the community. 
As some know, for many years Lowell has portrayed Santa Claus during the holiday season. He was extremely enthusiastic about his role as the jolly old elf and attended many training sessions to perfect his role. Since his retirement as a Landscaping Supervisor for the Los Angeles Community College District he has remained "in character" throughout the year - helping to spread the holiday spirit all year long.

To our knowledge Lowell left no immediate relatives, but our classmate and friend, Larry Smith, did some legwork and located a cousin in Iowa, to whom we extend our deepest condolences.

Lowell was a very kind soul who attended our periodic luncheons and enjoyed mingling with us, his old (we're all old now) schoolmates. He will be deeply missed. We have no information about services for our friend. Rest In Peace, Santa.


Labels:

Wednesday, December 18, 2024

EASING INTO CHRISTMAS

 SOLITUDE AND CONTEMPLATION

The house is quiet as the calendar flips over to Wednesday.  I’ve finished my tardy watching my recorded football games - thank goodness for the fast forward feature! - and my sweet Susie has been quietly purring in the bedroom behind me for three hours, getting some completely unnecessary beauty sleep.

THE “NEWS” MAKES CHRISTMAS PLANNING COMPLICATED

This solitude gave me a chance to finish reading my Wall Street Journal from this past weekend - it’s the only remnant of print media we receive regularly these days, but we do subscribe online to several other publications.  The “Journal” is an excellent purveyor of news - I just wish there was more “good news” these days.  It’s difficult to get into the old holiday spirit when we read about violent discontent all over the world and the potential impact of the many draconian schemes announced by the President-elect and his team.  Oh, well…

CANCELLING OUR FAMILY GATHERING

Anyhow, I’ve been contemplating Christmas a lot for the past few days.  This year is a very new experience for us.  As some know, we cancelled our plans to host a family pre-Christmas gathering for the first time in 26 years.  It was always a terrific way to launch the holiday season - family members gathered for some good food and great fellowship, plus some gift-giving.  Our nieces and nephews were just kids when we began this tradition and now several have kids of their own.  Fun fact - in the early years they were relegated to the “kids table” in our den and now, a quarter century later, they refuse to relinquish it to the next generation of children!

DEALING WITH THE DISAPPOINTMENT

Susie and I had been contemplating canceling plans for our gathering beginning early last summer when we each had a double bout of Covid which caused us to cancel an anniversary trip, my birthday celebration and a family gathering.  The more we thought about it, and as the time grew near, we realized that, although we LOVED having the family at our little home, the process has become just too daunting for us geezers.  When we announced our plans to the usual attendees one of our nieces - a lovely, demure,, civilized young woman who just announced to us all that she is pregnant with her first child due early next summer -  provided us with a response that probably captured the feelings of many when she began her note of disappointment with “Well Shit!”  Yeah, we understand…   Well said!

FEWER OUTSIDE LIGHTS

Once we made the decision the whole “Christmas prep” thing became less urgent.  Since we will not be entertaining we decided to not erect our little 4 foot tree and Susie rifled through a dozen boxes of stuff and simply placed a few Christmas decorations around the house.  It’s mildly festive, but pretty spartan by previous standards.  And, since several of my doctors and my spouse remind me that ladders are no longer my friends, we chose to not string lights around the eaves this year.  We chose, instead, to dangle a few strings along the front porch rail.  It works - and is better than none at all.

PLAYING CATCH UP

Much of this malingering is due to nagging health issues on my side of the work detail.  It’s caused things to fall behind, but that’s now behind us.  Thanks to the Superwoman efforts of my sweet wife, the decoration  boxes are all stashed back in the garage, all the Christmas letters are mailed, gifts purchased and mailed to those we won’t be seeing and we’re now receiving Christmas greetings from friends and family.  It is, indeed, beginning to look a lot like Christmas! (No, that's not our tree - it's a piece of a magnificent tree decorated by our good friend, Sharon Van Sickle, several years ago)

A STUMBLING START TO THE SEASON FOR ME

Because of my little inconvenient health issues I’ve not gotten into the whole “Christmas events” thing quickly this year.  I missed our neighborhood “Cookie Exchange” - a wonderful pre-holiday event hosted by different neighbors each year.  We all gather to schmooze, eat some pretty darn good food - chili and other good grub - and exchange cookies - "bring some - take some".  That was scheduled for last Thursday and I had spent that day and the two previous days basically in bed.  The hosts this year - former mayor Joe Erickson and his wife, Alicia - insisted Susie bring me a small tub of wonderful chicken and bean soup they were serving to help me recover.  Yummy!  It seemed to work, because I felt a little better the next day, but not good enough to attend the launch of the City’s Snoopy House event that night.  I was really bummed because this is one of my favorite City events.  However, we did visit the site Saturday and watched jolly old Santa, once he stopped hugging my Susie on the way to his throne,  hold children on his lap for photos.  It was a fun, joy-filled event, although a day late.


A SPECIAL MEAL AT A VERY SPECIAL PLACE

Monday we spent 100 minutes driving through holiday traffic making what should have been a 45 minute drive to Glendale for a holiday dinner with my sister, Cheryll,  and her hubby, Victor, at the Tam O’Shanter restaurant.  Thank goodness for our Express Lane pass or we’d still be on the road!  Our time at The Tam was glorious - wonderful companionship, great food, beautiful decorations and carolers garbed in appropriate attire wandering from table to table singing classic holiday tunes.

FUN AND GAMES WITH OLD FRIENDS

Tuesday we hooked up with old friends - they both were in our wedding more than 57 years ago - for lunch at one of their favorite places in Tustin, then we decamped to their home in Orange for games, cookies and fellowship.  Another excellent pre-Christmas event.

THE CHRISTMAS BOAT PARADE

Tonight, assuming we’re up to it, we may venture out to watch the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade, which kicks off a 5-night run.  We’re told that, in addition to fireworks, there will be drone shows included each night this year.  Considering the drone news of late, that should be fun!

ANTICIPATING FAMILY GATHERINGS

Looking ahead, with fingers tightly crossed for at least satisfactory health, we will join part of Susie’s family at her brother, Rob's, home on Christmas Day, then join her brother, Lawrie, and his family at their home the next day, after his Omaha-son and family arrive Christmas night.  And then, as an exclamation point to the holiday, our niece Ashley has decided to pick up the slack left by our cancellation and will host a post-Christmas, all-comers family gathering and croquet tournament, complete with trophy, hall of fame, etc. on the 29th.  This will be wonderful because we will finally get to meet the two newest members of the clan, Sonny and Wyatt, both young men born this year.

MARKING ANOTHER MILESTONE

Then, to top things off for us, and since we missed celebrating our wedding anniversary in August, we will find a way to celebrate the 58th anniversary of our very first date on New Years Eve. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL

With all that in mind, Susie and I want to wish each of you the happiest of holidays - however you celebrate.












Friday, December 06, 2024

COSTA MESA COUNCIL MEMBERS CERTIFIED AND SEATED

SETTING THE SCENE - Thursday evening, December 5th, 2024, the Costa Mesa City Council held a Special Meeting at which the results of the 2024 Municipal Election would be certified and the four council members would be sworn in and seated.

THE RESULTS - The following images show the final results of the Costa Mesa City Council races.  We elected a mayor and three council members.


MY PLAN - Because this was to be the final time Mayor Pro Tem Jeffrey Harlan would appear on the dais - he was defeated by Jeff Pettis in the election by 82 votes - I planned to attend this meeting and speak during Public Comments.  Alas, circumstances  intervened and I was unable to leave the house.  I did watch the entire proceedings via Costa Mesa TV with great interest.  More about that further down the page.

MY "COMMENTS" - I spent a good amount of time writing, and re-writing and re-writing the words I wanted to say to fit within the 3 minute time provided.  Not unexpectedly, I had much more to say that could be crammed into that short time, so it took a lot of tinkering to make it fit.  Then, I couldn't make the trip to City Hall and chose to NOT call it in.  What follows is the transcription of my planned comments.  And, yes - I could read it in precisely 3 minutes.

                                                  ***

Good evening! 

My name is Geoff West. My wife and I have lived in the same home on the Eastside for more than 51 years. . 


Congratulations to Mayor John Stephens on his re-election. I’m very pleased he will be at the helm for two more years. 


Congrats to Council-member Loren Gameros for his return to the dais


Congratulations to rookie council members Mike Buley and Jeff Pettis for their victories, too.


I was disappointed that Planning Commission Chairman Adam Ereth lost his race. His dedication to the city, education and experience guiding that commission would have been valuable on the city council.  


I was VERY DISAPPOINTED that Mayor Pro Tem Jeffrey Harlan was defeated. His loss by only 82 votes shows the value of every vote.   I’m grateful to him for his service to our city both as a planning commissioner and as a member of the City Council. His intelligence, professionalism, preparedness, steady hand, wisdom, insight and courteous, calm demeanor will certainly be missed. 


To council members Buley and Pettis - thank you for stepping up to the challenges you now face.  If you do the job we’re hiring you to do, you will do your homework to understand the difficult issues before you. You will consult with our excellent staff to help you.


Those positions up there on the dais are supposed to be non-partisan, so I hope you will be able to park any partisan political agendas you might bring with you at the door and do a good job representing ALL Costa Mesans, not just those in districts 1 and 6, and not just those with whom you share a political party affiliation. 


As a “Reagan Republican” I have longed for a strong, intelligent, conservative voice on the council. I hope you two can become those kind of voices and work with your fellow council members in a conciliatory manner to craft decisions that are best for our city.  Departing council member Harper set a very low bar - we expect and deserve more from you. 


While I don’t agree with everything they’ve done, I must tell you that the most recent Democrat-controlled councils - those led by Mayor Stephens and Supervisor Katrina Foley before him -  have done a terrific job guiding our city through some very tough times. Through their efforts, and those of our excellent city staff, we managed to navigate through the calamity that was Covid, all the while balancing the budget and keeping essential services operating.  When they took over following the previous, disastrous, heavy-handed, Republican-led regime they had a huge job ahead to help restore effectiveness and confidence at City Hall - which they have done. 


During the recent campaign we heard lots of misleading partisan yapping about the poor condition of our city.  We hope that is behind us and that all of you up there will work together to meet the challenges ahead - like how to meet the onerous demand by the State that we plan for 11,760 more dwelling units, for example. 


Many of us will be out here watching and will be offering suggestions and critiques as you guide our city - we hope you listen. 


We know this will be a serious disruption to your personal and family lives. Thank you all for your service. 

                                                          ***

THE PROCEEDINGS - The meeting lasted 2.5 hours and was launched with singing of America the Beautiful and the National Anthem,  the Pledge of Allegiance, a Moment of Solemn Expression and presentations to outgoing council members  Jeffery Harlan and Don Harper.  Lots of kind words were said by City Manager Lori Ann Farrell Harrison about both men, presentations were made by former mayor and current County Supervisor Katrina Foley and State Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris.  Photos were taken.  Proclamations were presented.
OHIO HOUSE - City Attorney Kimberly Hall Barlow gave a brief comment about the very recent favorable ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on the "Ohio House" case, which has been in the legal process for a decade.  Mayor Stephens also addressed it, affirming that the city had spent $20 million litigating this case and, because of the far-reaching impact of the decision, cities all around the country will benefit from this battle.
PUBLIC COMMENTS - A few people stepped up to speak during Public Comments, led off by former council member and activist Jay Humphrey, festively adorned in his holiday shirt. His was the high point.  Others spoke, but the low point was the rant by James Peters, the man who ran against Stephens and lost, badly.  My assessment of him early in the campaign season was that he was a rabid right-wing MAGANUT.  His presentation affirmed my opinion when he basically said the election was fraudulent and if the council certified it they would be subject to legal action.  He ended by threatening  the potential wrath of President-elect Donald J. Trump!  Sadly, several of his sycophants called in to echo his rant.  It was pathetic and the wisdom of the electorate by rejecting him was loud and clear.
OUTGOING SPEECHES - Both Harlan and Harper were given an opportunity to "say goodbye".  Not unexpectedly, Harper used his time to weep about being outnumbered on the dais.  At one point he said he wasn't going to read a list of missteps he thought his council colleagues made - then did!  He demonstrated his partisan incompetence and will certainly not be missed.  Adios!  Harlan, on the other hand, made a very sincere, moving speech, talking about how much he had enjoyed his tour as a public servant.  He mentioned that, unlike Harper, who couldn't wait to get off the dais, he loved it there and loved helping to solve problems for the city.  As I said in my letter, his wisdom will be missed.
INCOMING SPEECHES - Following a short break to evict Harper and Harlan and juggle the seating on the dais, each of the elected and re-elected council members were given an opportunity to speak.  

Mike Buley, who defeated Planning Commission Chairman Adam Ereth for the District 1 seat vacated by Harper, led off.  Unfortunately, a technical glitch produced no sound for a minute or two.  When it finally came on and we could hear him speak he was very impressive.  He thanked many who helped and advised him during his campaign.  Unfortunately, that included former council members Steve Mensinger and Jim Righeimer - two men who nearly destroyed our city almost a decade ago with many ill-advised and illegal actions.   If Buley is "guided" by those guys, he will require close observation.
Loren Gameros, who ran unopposed for his District 2 seat, spoke briefly with gratitude to those who helped him.
Jeff Pettis, who managed to defeat Harlan by a narrow, 82 vote, margin, spoke with much less skill than Buley and affirmed his dedication to District 6.  I only hope he does not prove to be the marginally competent council member that I anticipate.  We'll see.

Mayor John Stephens then spoke about his commitment to our city and thanked his family for their support.  His was a very moving speech.
CHOOSING A MAYOR PRO TEM - The final item on the agenda, now that the new council was seated, was to select from their members a new Mayor Pro Tem to replace the departed Harlan.  Mayor Stephens nominated Councilman Manuel Chavez, Gameros seconded the motion and the vote to choose him was 6-0, with Councilwoman Arlis Reynolds absent.  I've watched Chavez grow during his six years on the council and have no doubt that his selection was a good one.  Congrats to him.
NOW WE WAIT - Now that we have a new council selected and seated we must wait to see what kind of an impact Buley and Pettis make on city governance.  Both men tilt hard right politically, in contrast to their peers on the dais, who lean left.  I have no doubt that Buley is a very smart fella.  I'm not so sure about Pettis - his body of work on his YouTube channel would indicate otherwise.  My hope is they will provide more breadth to the important discussion and decisions made in the future.  Fingers crossed...

THE MEETING VIDEO - Here is the link to the Costa Mesa TV YouTube recording of this meeting.  It's worth a couple hours of your time.  You can fast-forward through the boring parts.

https://www.youtube.com/live/oz1CahOxANI

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,