It's a race to be the first trillionaire?!

This is insane, particularly the nine households

www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/u...

Opinion | I Teach at Harvard. Store Managers See Me as a Threat. Maybe I just wanted to be seen as something other than a threat, a nuisance, because I happen to be Black.

On the importance of grace

Are you paying attention?

So Much is Unknown. Do What You Know. - Rabbi Sharon Brous Podcast Episode · IKAR Podcasts · 02/09/2025 · 17m

Ignite a spark. Especially now.

Trump’s Actions Have Created a Constitutional Crisis, Scholars Say Law professors have long debated what the term means. But now many have concluded that the nation faces a reckoning as President Trump tests the boundaries of executive power.

“Up until now, while presidents might engage in particular acts that were unconstitutional, I never had the sense that there was a president for whom the Constitution was essentially meaningless.” - Pamela Karlan, a law professor at Stanford

Three Branches of Government School House Rock YouTube video by t bro

"No one part can be more powerful than any other is. Each controls the other you see and that's what we call checks and balances."

Barbara Kingsolver Uses ‘Demon Copperhead’ Royalties to Build Rehab Center Barbara Kingsolver has put royalties from her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel to work in the region it portrayed, starting a home for women in recovery.

Some nice news amidst all the bad news. #BeKind.

Former Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron emphasizing that the role of free press is to hold power to account.

No Reason to Hate YouTube video by What's Up With Hate

#BeKind!

Keep your eye on the big picture 5 ways Trump is concentrating power in his own hands, thereby replacing democracy with oligarchy

Trump is trying to “flood the zone” so we focus on a few outrages that we find most offensive and lose sight of the big picture.

Some thoughts on how to maintain focus. robertreich.substack.com/p/keep-your-...

What Happened When America Emptied Its Youth Prisons (Gift Article) Lessons from a radical 20-year experiment and a quiet triumph of public policy.

Good reading diversion from the news coming out of DC.

The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide This text was published in social media in January 2017 in a series of improvised, spontaneous tweets, which reached 3 million views within one month. Their common element was their trademark signatur...

#LearnfromEurope

“Terrible things are happening outside. Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart. Men, women, and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared.”

Diary of Anne Frank
January 13, 1943

Opinion | I Prosecuted the Capitol Rioters. I Know Why Trump Pardoned Them. (Gift Article) Trump’s pardons will encourage more violence.

important read

Because it shouldn't be ok for a prosecutor to dangle a defendant's underwear in front of the jury during closing arguments.

Want to Save Democracy? Start by Reforming the Criminal Legal System, Argues David Sklansky in His New Book | Stanford Law School When he was a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles in the 1990s, Stanford Law School Professor David Sklansky often participated in the selection of juri

Check it out. David is a colleague and friend.

A Guide to Property Damage Claims Following a Natural Disaster Email from Beverly Hills Bar Association         A Guide to Property Damage Claims Following a Natural Disaster   Tuesday, January 14, 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm Pacific via ZOOM   Attend This webinar is free

Free seminar tomorrow night.

Reflections on HOME, From Amidst the Fire - Rabbi Sharon Brous YouTube video by IKAR

Good teaching here.

‘Essential’: nearly 800 incarcerated firefighters deployed as LA battles wildfires The firefighters earn $5.80-$10.24 per day plus $1 an hour when responding to active emergencies, according to CDCR

The importance of #incarcerated #firefighters in dealing with CA wildfires simply has to be talked about more. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Who has been to Bangkok recently and has some good food recommendations?

Saturday at 2 pm PST by Zoom.

Inside Mark Zuckerberg’s Sprint to Remake Meta for the Trump Era (Gift Article) After visiting President-elect Donald J. Trump in November, Mr. Zuckerberg decided to relax Meta’s speech policies. He asked a small team to carry out his goals within weeks. The repercussions are jus...

At President Jimmy Carter's funeral earlier this week I learned about all the ways he championed race and gender diversity. Today Meta announced it is throwing out all those programs, in addition to the safeguards they had in place for false speech. Not a good move, imho.