The Covid-19 Relief Package-Two Incredible People Changed History!

 

    Some incredible history was made yesterday. The $1.9 trillion Covid Relief Package was signed into law. Love it or hate it, it will make a big difference in this country and around the world.

    I sat back and reflected on what happened. I give three people credit for making it happen-President Joe Biden, Senator Jon Orsoff and Senator Raphael Warnock.

     For many years, I have been a big fan of the television journalist Stephanie Ruhle. She is a business reporter. Stephanie has a trademark saying that I love as follows:

       "Let's dig deeper,"

    Why is Joe Biden president today? One person made it happen-Congressman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina. Former President Trump correctly identified Joe Biden as the man who would be his toughest opponent. The Democratic Party and voters did not see it that way. They saw Joe Biden as "an over the hill old man" whose time had passed. Then Congressman Jim Clyburn stepped up. He threw his support behind Biden. The whole Democratic Party fell into step. Joe Biden got the Democratic nomination for president.

       This huge spending bill would not have become law without the Democratic Party controlling the senate. The election of two Democratic Party senators in the normally "red state" Georgia gave the Democrats control of the senate. One brilliant, humble, and determined lady made this possible. Her name is Stacey Abrams. She began a grassroots movement to register voters and give more minorities the chance to participate in the democratic process of voting. She ran for governor of Georgia in 2018. She lost. She did not give up. She continues registering new voters and getting people to vote. She got the two senators elected in Georgia.

       The two people who made it happen are African-American, by the way. Humble people can make a big difference!

Japan-A Sad 10-Year Anniversay

 

JAPAN

The Scabs

Japan on Thursday marked the 10th anniversary of the triple catastrophe that crippled its northeastern region, killed thousands of people, caused a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and left many survivors trying to piece their lives together a decade later, NBC News reported.

Many Japanese headed to the coast Thursday carrying bouquets or visited graves to pray, while others took part in anti-nuclear protests to mark the anniversary. Meanwhile, Japanese Emperor Naruhito and his wife attended an event in Tokyo along with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to mark the anniversary.

On March 11, 2011, Japan was hit by a 9.0 magnitude quake – the strongest in the country’s history – which caused a tsunami that leveled towns and resulted in the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, in Ukraine, decades earlier

More than 20,000 people are believed to have died and nearly half a million were displaced.

Since 2011, the Japanese government has spent about $300 billion to rebuild the region but it will take decades and more funding to properly decommission the nuclear plant.

Meanwhile, 40,000 remain displaced from the disaster due to the radiation that lingers.

In a show of rebirth, Fukushima was supposed to host a part of the Summer Olympics scheduled to take place in Japan in 2020. The Games were delayed until July due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Suga hopes that the Olympics will mark Japan’s recovery from the disaster.

Covid-19 Has Produced A Boom In The US Furniture Industry!

 

You and Luah are quite familiar with our living room furniture. We have had it for 17 years. I decided to give Elena a present. I offered to pay for replacing the living room furniture. We went to our favorite furniture store-Giorgi Brothers in South San Francisco. We got a rude surprise.

       During this time of the pandemic, people have found themselves confined to their homes or apartments. Many of you have had to work and study from home. For those still employed and economically viable, this created a desire to make one's living spaces as comfortable as possible.

     What "slipped under the radar" was that the furniture industry has boomed for the last year. People have been buying large amounts of furniture. The factories producing this furniture have been plagued by workers getting sick from Covid-19 and all sorts of supply chain disruptions.

    Elena and I got the sad news that any living room furniture that we ordered might take 6 months to be delivered.

Yesterday We Almost Lost Our Little Dog Alice

 

Yesterday afternoon we almost had a fatal disaster. The crews worked all day long on the new power box. As they were finishing work, one worker noticed that our little dog Alice had escaped from the house and was running away. Alice does this from time to time. She wants to go and see her son Felix who lives one block away.

     This time Alice went the opposite way. The worker and I gave chase. Alice ran to the freeway. She got on the freeway. Miraculously all cars stopped. The worker and I chased her onto the freeway. She ran toward the side of the road. One car had pulled off to the side of the road. Two people got out of the car and stopped her. I was able to pick her up and take her home.

       There were a series of miracles that saved Alice's life and saved me from getting hit by a car. First, the worker saw Alice escape. If no one had noticed, she might have got killed on the freeway. Second, the drivers on the freeway acted in a responsible manner. They came to a stop. They stayed stopped until Alice was recovered.

    I was deeply upset about her close call with death. Elena came in later. She determined that Alice had been emotionally overwhelmed by all the work going on in the house and all the noise. She "flipped out."

Former French President Sentenced To Prison

 

FRANCE

Bad Boys

A French court sentenced former President Nicholas Sarkozy to one year in prison and a two-year suspended sentence, after finding him guilty of corruption and influence peddling, the Financial Times reported Monday.

The court found that the former center-right leader had entered a “corruption pact” with his lawyer Thierry Herzog and former judge Gilbert Azibert. Both individuals received the same sentence as Sarkozy.

In a trial that concluded in December, prosecutors accused Sarkozy and his lawyer of attempting to bribe the judge in exchange for confidential information on an inquiry looking into allegations that during his 2007 presidential campaign, Sarkozy took illegal payments from L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt. The Bettencourt case was later dropped.

Sarkozy maintained his innocence but the French leader is embroiled in other legal battles and investigations, including allegations that the Libyan government funded his successful 2007 campaign.

Monday’s conviction marks the second time a French president in France’s Fifth Republic was convicted after leaving office: The late Jacques Chirac was convicted in 2011 of misusing public funds when he was mayor of Paris. He was given a suspended sentence.

C

Waltradecc Corporation Is 30 Years Old Today

 20 years ago this morning, I registered Walradecc with the South Africa Companies Office. It is still registered today both in South Africa and now in California. The company had a record-breaking year last year. I am proud of this moment.

Sin Takes a Holiday (1930) BASIL RATHBONE