Tired of Doom Scrolling
Good morning James Preston Allen. I am an RLn subscriber (yes…actual paying subscriber) living in San Pedro and watching in horror as the USA is turned into an oligarchy by Trump and his billionaire buddy Elon Musk. We certainly can’t say we didn’t see this coming, but the speed and chaos surrounding the takeover have been breathtaking. Thank you for covering it in your excellent newspaper.
Here’s my question. What can I do to be a more productive part of the resistance? I’ve already written to our California Senator Adam Schiff and received a heartfelt online form letter in response. I’m looking for something more actionable, and if possible in person. Are there any local San Pedro groups that can direct interested citizens in how they can fight against this tyranny? And have discussions with like-minded people? I find myself between jobs (I’m a market research media and tech worker) so I have plenty of time to participate. Even a Zoom meeting would be great.
I’m tired of doom scrolling through endless posts on social media where there is endless wailing and gnashing of teeth, followed by running down the streets with one’s hair on fire. I actually want to DO something.
Perhaps RLn could have an article in the next issue on how I can help. Wearing my Harris-Walz tee shirt to the local Sprouts recently did feel empowering but the only result was me exchanging strong words with a clueless lady from PV in the chips and crackers aisle.
I really love your newspaper.
Cheers!
Jane K. Collins
San Pedro, CA
Jane, first of all thank you for being a subscriber, second social isolation during this time can not only be disheartening but fatal. So do find community with like minded people.
Here are some people to connect with– San Pedro Neighbors for. Peace and Justicesojournerrb@yahoo.com, Indivisible San Pedro pmwarren@cox.net, do come and speak out at the Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council https://www.centralsanpedro.org/calendar and there’s a weekly Anti-ICE rally at the corner of 13th and Gaffey where you can actually meet some people.
Port Evicts Marine Repair Facility
There is an incredible story unfolding here as the port tries to evict one of the last marine repair and maintenance facilities in the Port of Los Angeles.
I am trapped.
Upon notice of my eviction, five of my clients here abandoned their boats with nowhere to go to receive the necessary repairs and upgrades the boats need in order to get insurance and go to another slip. They are worth less than nothing. They become marine debris.
Three of the boats here are sink risks; the bilge pumps are going all the time and they must be tended constantly.
With no places for boat owners to go to maintain our watercraft, we now are faced with no way to dispose of our watercraft. There are big fines and jail time for scuttling boats offshore, and there are no ship breaking yards closer than San Diego.
I have always been the responsible party here, making sure that these boats don’t sink and become an environmental hazard. I have exhausted all of my personal revenue in efforts doing this. A year and a half ago I had a two year backlog of work, eight people working with me, and a Maritime intern program for the young people to bring them into the Maritime professions.
Now, I am alone trying to clean up the mess, while the port threatens to lock me out, seize all of my business assets and destroy them.
They are willing to spend money to do this, but they are not willing to spend money to support our Maritime businesses that provide the services that the community needs.
The commercial real estate division of the port is out of control.
My wife works in an office building at 2500 via Cabrillo Way. It is on a port lease that is running out. Commercial real estate has neglected to renew their lease. They can’t borrow the money they need to do upgrades and maintenance to the building. They cannot sell the building without the lease renewal.
My friends at the 22nd St., Landing in San Pedro informed me that this is the same situation with them. The Port has doubled their minimum rent and has neglected to renegotiate a new lease. They are paralyzed..
Michael Galvin is not doing his job and is insistent on turning the port of Los Angeles into a wasteland of failed businesses and abandoned properties.
The commercial real estate division of the port has no regard for small business, the San Pedro community, The Wilmington community, the Maritime community or the environment.
It is time to expose this and change it.
Wayne Ettel
Executive Director Maritime Preservation Trust
Illegal Fireworks Turn LA Neighborhoods Into War Zones—At a Devastating Cost
The Los Angeles County (LAC) New Year’s Eve and 4th of July neighborhood fireworks have created a domestic war zone. And setting them off could literally cost you body parts and/or substantial $ fines.
Several cities are even more guilty of the fireworks travesty as they openly sell these weapons of dismemberment and death. This needs to stop.!
It is truly incredibly selfish of those who set off fireworks knowing the devastating effect it has on animals, veterans, and other vulnerable beings. The fire danger to homes is always present as we have witnessed in the recent fires. And, as of late, thousands of homes, businesses, and people’s lives have been literally burned from the face of this planet. 30 are still missing. The LAC 2025 wildfire damage has topped $250 billion; forecasters say the two largest of the fires — Palisades and Eaton — have destroyed more than 18,000 structures. Numerous arrests have been made for looting.
Seldom mentioned is the monopolizing of 911 services, rendering them unavailable for more serious and life-threatening needs. Shame on parents who break the law and set an example that it is acceptable.
Criminalizing this travesty is worthless unless we back it up. A special LB Police Department, LAC Sheriff, and/or National Guard task force should be dispatched for at least a week before and after New Year’s Eve and July 4th. It would be a responsible expenditure truly serving the vast majority of law-abiding citizens.
The whole state of California needs to declare all fireworks illegal with attached substantial jail time (including murder charges for any resulting deaths) and fines. And, the $$ fines should serve to fund this humanitarian endeavor.
Diana Lejins
Long Beach
Unsatisfactory Content
I’m sorry to say I found some content in your Jan. 23-Feb. 5 2025 issue to be unsatisfactory, including Paul Rosenberg’s well-meaning “LA Burned” story. Climate change, caused by human activity that leads to increased fire danger, is obviously a subject worth pursuing, but making that subject the lead, and devoting more than thirty column inches to it, diminishes local aspects of the disaster. Only around the twenty-third graph did the author address the political and community response to the fires. One was the inadequate water supply. The other subject given inadequate space was the political opportunism exhibited by certain media mouth pieces using the disaster as an excuse to bash the Democratic mayor and the Democratic governor and every other Democrat around, instead of finding common ground to address the shortcomings (such as the environment, the disaster response, and the water supply) that the disaster exposed.
I also found your Random Letters section to have shortcomings. Your former editor Erik Kongshaug is a fine writer but what point his letter was making was obscure. It had something to do with another paper, AI and the meaning of “OP/ED” but I had trouble understanding what he was getting at. Also, printing the misinformation and disinformation in Jake Pickering’s letter without comment or context was irresponsible. To promote “Trump’s faked assassination attempt” and misrepresent Christopher Wray’s testimony about the (actual) attempt isn’t even a “conspiracy theory.” It’s more like a “fever dream.” Some context was needed and none was given.
Thanks for your attention to this matter, and you may publish this letter if you wish.
Ms. Lyn Jensen
Anaheim