RLN’s Earth Day Issue
Upon opening the Earth Day issue of RLN, the first thing I saw was the Harbor Community Benefit Foundation ad, featuring those dedicated community warriors Jayme Wilson, Ed Avol and Richard Havenick. They have been battling for over 20 years to make the Port of Los Angeles accountable to the surrounding communities and to protect the residents from the curse of diesel pollution. They are true community treasures. Then I realized that James Allen and Paul Rosenberg fall in the same extremely valuable group, along with Jesse Marquez, Executive Director of the Coalition For A Safe Environment, featured in their ad.
Next I came upon “China Shipping: Salvation or Original Sin Revisited?” There we see that, in the 20 years since the China Shipping lawsuit, the Port has not changed its tactics a bit. They continue to ignore their agreements in the lawsuit settlement, slow walk any air pollution clean up, hide their true agenda from the community, and severely impact the public’s health. The saving grace of the article is that it quotes Kathleen Woodfield and Janet Gunter, two more members of the brilliant group mentioned above.
I then noted the Sierra Club’s ad pointing out that the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach create more air pollution than all 6 million cars in the region.
The San Pedro and Wilmington communities are clearly better and safer places to live due to over 20 years of unrelenting struggle by these priceless and dedicated citizens. Unfortunately, the struggle goes on, but their leadership and commitment does provide reasons to hope for a better future.
Noel Park
Rancho Palos Verdes
Your Cult Article
I have to admit James, I truly learned something from your cult article and loved the way you handled the notion of propaganda with religion. Kudos. Well done.
Richard Pawlowski – “It’s only true fascism if it comes from Italy; otherwise, it’s just sparkling authoritarianism.”
Richard Pawlowski
Oregon
Western Melodrama
We as Americans are witnessing a modern-day western melodrama with our current administration, and the race for Presidential re-election.
If you get tired of watching President Joe Biden spin and twist the law, you also have an alternative choice with former President Donald Trump.
Both characters (bandits) put on a good drama-show every day. Trump will be in court up till the election comes this Fall. Trump has 4 criminal indictments, and 91 Felony counts against him.
Biden continues to try and dismiss the student loans which is a $400 billion debt that he wants taxpayers to pay in order to buy votes for his own self-serving objectives.
Both men are modern day bandits who are more concerned about money and power, rather than achieving a particular good for all people. Instead, we see unnecessary expenditures and the lack of good judgment from both men.
As a melodrama, we can see how this could be a dark comedy. As the first scene takes place, we see Joe Biden in a saloon sitting at a bar in a small western town. Biden is bragging to anyone that will listen about how he got away with stealing top-secret documents from the White House and hid them in his covered wagon at his ranch. As the conversation continues, Donald Trump enters the saloon and strides up to the bar and looks at Biden in the face and says, “This country ain’t big enough for both of us.”
Biden stands up and says, “you are right, I want you out of my sight. So take a hike and don’t come back.” Biden gets a big laugh from his goons nearby.
Trump is not happy and becomes angry, and says, “You better get out of town, or you’re a dead man. As you know, “I have the responsibility of 7 people that ain’t around anymore”.
Biden says, “I ain’t stupid, you’ll be in jail, and I’ll be running the operation and raking in the dough”.
Trump says, “well see about that. My lawyers say that you will be in jail for your dirty actions. Any time you want a debate for who is going to run the operation, I’m available anytime, anywhere, and anyplace.”
Stay tuned to Part 2 to find out who will be going to jail? Come this November, the melodrama continues. We still need a hero to come to the rescue.
John Winkler
San Pedro / 310 833-7455
Dear John,
I think you have finally lost it and are watching too many reruns of GunSmoke or something. While there is much to criticize President Biden for, like his failure to demand a ceasefire in Gaza, there is a huge difference between these two candidates. However, if you look at the string of failures on the part of Trump and then the 93 indictments, and the number of his cronies who were prosecuted and jailed and then pardoned, that’s the difference between them.
It is so essentially cynical to say they are both corrupt without looking at the specifics of what Trump is actually being prosecuted for, which in my mind in at least three cases amounts to treason against the republic.
Thank you for writing.
James Preston Allen, Publisher
2024 Stamp out Hunger Campaign
Dear Editor:
Saturday, May 11th marks the 32nd anniversary of one of America’s great days of giving – the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Stamp Out Hunger® Food Drive.
Letter carriers travel through the communities daily, often coming face to face with a sad reality for too many, hunger.
Each year on the second Saturday in May, letter carriers across the county collect non-perishable food donations from our customers. These donations go directly to local food pantries to provide food to people in Los Angeles, and surrounding areas, who need our help.
Over the course of its 30-year plus history, the drive has collected well over 1.9 billion pounds of food, thanks to the NALC’s Letter Carrier Food Drive’s annual community commitment and a postal service universal delivery network that spans the entire nation, including Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The need for food donations is great. Currently, more than 44 million Americans are unsure where their next meal will come from. More than 13 million are children who feel hunger’s impact on their overall health and ability to perform in school. Nearly 5.5 million seniors over age 60 are food insecure, with many living on fixed incomes and often too embarrassed to ask for help.
Our food drive’s timing is crucial. Food banks and pantries often receive the majority of their donations during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons. By springtime, many pantries are depleted, entering the summer low on supplies at a time when many school breakfast and lunch programs are not available to children in need.
Participating in this year’s Letter Carrier Stamp Out Hunger® Food Drive is simple. Just leave non-perishable food donations in a bag by your mailbox Saturday, May 11, 2024, and your letter carrier will do the rest. With your help, letter carriers and the US Postal Service have collected over 1.9 billion pounds of food in the United States over the 30 years as a national food drive.
Please help us in our fight to Stamp Out Hunger.
Sincerely,
Lawrence D. Brown Jr., President
National Association of Letter Carriers, Branch 24