Trump has been in office three years. His impact on the American judiciary with the appointment of a record number of ultra conservative ideologues to the Federal Courts is having a catastrophic impact on Progressive change.

It is not the Twitter Storm Trump has unleashed which should alarm people. It is Federal Judges with their life long tenure which is a the Dark Storm descending on American freedom.

The Guardian 12.25.2019

No president has secured so many important judgeships so quickly – and progressive say the damage will be lasting.

Critics of Donald Trump make much of the fact that his legacy will forever bear the stain of impeachment, whatever the outcome of the prospective Senate trial next month.

But Trump is positioned to bequeath a much more substantial legacy, one that progressive activists and civil rights advocates warn will harm the cause of equality in the United States for decades to come.

With a dozen confirmations last Thursday alone, Trump hit an end-of-year tally of 133 district court judges out of 677 total, 50 appeals court judges out of 179 total, and two US supreme court justices out of nine total.

Carl Tobias, a professor at Richmond School of Law specializing in federal judicial selection, called Trump’s performance on judges – with the notable assistance of the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, and outside groups such as the Federalist Society – “an amazing accomplishment”.

“He has really made an imprint on the federal appeals courts,” said Tobias. “About a quarter of the active judges by now have been appointed by him. And that’s really substantial.”

Tobias said that Trump’s judicial record could help pave the way to his re-election.

“Issues like abortion, LGBTQ rights, religious freedom – the judges are being chosen to take a particular view on those issues.”

That legacy is a judiciary remade deeply conservative in Trump’s own image. In securing the confirmation of his 50th appeals court judge earlier this month, Trump cemented his status as the most accomplished sponsor of federal judges in the modern history of the presidency.

No president has secured so many important judgeships as quickly. Barack Obama managed to confirm only 55 appeals court judges – in eight years. Trump’s presidency is not yet three years old.

“Among conservatives, this is probably one of the biggest bright spots,” said Josh Blackman, a professor at the South Texas College of Law specializing in the supreme court and constitutional law. “Not all conservatives are happy with a lot of things Trump has done, but on judges he’s killing it. It’s an across-the-board success that we’ve seen in this area.”

 

Trump continued to run up the score on judges until the last minutes of the congressional calendar year. As the House debated impeachment, the Senate went to work on a final 13 Trump nominees to serve on district courts, one level below the appellate courts.

“While Democrats in the House wasted all their time this week on a partisan impeachment,” Vice-President Mike Pence tweeted jubilantly on Friday morning, “the Senate confirmed 13 new judges making that a total of 185 amazing judges picked by President @realDonaldTrump!”

Legal analysts have blasted Trump and McConnell for allowing an unprecedented number of nominees to advance who have staked out extreme philosophies or been flagged as unqualified by the American Bar Association (ABA), the country’s largest non-partisan coalition of lawyers.

Progressive activists additionally express alarm at the relative youth of many Trump nominees, who assume lifelong appointments upon confirmation.

“The American people should be deeply troubled and scared as to the status of their rights and liberties over the next three to four decades,” said Daniel Goldberg, legal director at the progressive Alliance For Justice.

“It’s critical that the next Democratic president prioritize the courts like never before. While Donald Trump has been able to get his judges confirmed, we have never seen progressives as galvanized on the court issue as they are now.”

The confirmation this month of Sarah Pitlyk to the district court in St Louis and Lawrence VanDyke to the 9th circuit court of appeals, both of whom were rated unqualified by the ABA, should give Americans cause for alarm, said Goldberg, whose group has produced the report Trump’s Attacks on Our Justice System.

Pitlyk “spent her career fighting IVF and surrogacy” and VanDyke “has spent his career fighting environmental protections, women’s rights and LGBTQ rights”, Goldberg said.

Trump’s work on the courts would not have been possible without the assistance of McConnell, who blocked Obama judicial nominees and then relaxed Senate rules to accelerate the installation of Trump nominees. Another key Trump partner in the effort is the Federalist Society, the conservative legal group that has vetted judicial candidates and spoon-fed them to the White House.

Blackman said that former Senate majority leader Harry Reid’s 2013 decision to take the so-called “nuclear option” and abolish a rule requiring 60 votes to approve federal judicial appointments – a decision that followed unprecedented stalling on judicial appointments by then minority leader McConnell – had made it easier to confirm judges with ideologies outside the mainstream.

“I think because the nuclear option is gone, you no longer have to appeal to 60, you can appeal to 50,” said Blackman. “And I think with that, you have less of a need to appeal to the moderates, so I definitely think the tilt of the nominees is definitely away from the center.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/25/trump-judiciary-judges-legal-america

UPDATE: Yesterday the local sports world was all atwitter about the return of Marshawn Lynch to the Seattle Seahawks. The Oakland native made live miserable for the San Francisco 49ers in his prime.

Today’s question posed by the local press is, “How much will that matter” on Sunday evening in Seattle?

Excerpted from San Francisco Chronicle 12.24.2019

It’s quite possible that what’s unexpectedly emerged as a massive pregame story line — the return of Marshawn Lynch to the Seahawks — won’t have even a minor impact on Sunday’s game.

Can a 33-year-old running back really hop off his couch and jump-start an injury-thinned team in a game that will determine the NFC West champion?

The odds are better that Lynch, who went through his first NFL practice in 14 months Tuesday, will have a few forgettable carries against the 49ers rather than offer an unforgettable performance.

On Tuesday, after his first practice, Lynch, known for not speaking with the media, showed he was still at least the same interviewee that he was in his prime.

“Happy holidays,” Lynch said in his lone words to Seattle reporters. “Merry new year. You all have a great day. It’s great for me to be back. Thanks.”

Still, Lynch announced his first “retirement,” via Twitter, during Super Bowl 50. After he was ejected from a home game in 2017, the Oakland native, then with the Raiders, watched the rest of the game in the stands and hung out with fans on BART when it was over.

So it’s understood that the physical, five-time Pro Bowler known for his “how-did-he-break-that-tackle?” runs is known for doing the unexpected, on and off the field.

So what can Lynch realistically offer the Seahawks (11-4) when they host the 49ers (12-3) on Sunday in his first game with Seattle in four seasons?

“I don’t think,” Seattle head coach Pete Carroll said, “that we should ever set any expectations that are too low for Marshawn.”

The Seahawks spiced up a game that didn’t need any more seasoning by signing Lynch on Monday night. After injuries devastated their third-ranked rushing attack, they will play for the division title with Lynch, just-signed Robert Turbin, 30, who last played in an NFL game in October 2018, and rookie Travis Homer, a sixth-round pick who has played 34 career offensive snaps.

On Tuesday, Carroll indicated the Seahawks, who had maintained a relationship with Lynch over the years, had informed him of their interest when running back Rashaad Penny tore his ACL on Dec. 8. They also brought in Turbin for a workout after Penny’s injury.

Carroll expressed confidence in their ability to skip offseason workouts, training camp and 15 regular-season games and still flourish in the finale.

“These guys have been working,” Carroll said. “They’ve known there were opportunities that were coming. And in the true competitive sense, these guys have always been all about, they’re working. They’ve worked hard to be ready. So I’m not worried about that. … These guys are going to be just fine. I’m not worried about it a bit.”

Lynch visited Seattle’s facility on Dec. 12 for what was then viewed as a personal visit. He has spent the past few weeks doing intense workouts in San Francisco with his longtime coach, Tareq Azim, NFL Network reported.

Could he provide an emotional jolt for the Seahawks, whose myriad injuries beyond their backfield help explain why they are home underdogs?

“Well, we didn’t have a car parade or anything,” Carroll said. “But they were fired up to see him. I said to Marshawn, ‘Some of these guys were watching you in high school.’ He says, ‘I think they were maybe in grade school.’

https://www.sfchronicle.com/49ers/article/49ers-Seahawks-Marshawn-Lynch-is-back-but-how-14930612.php

Unscripted and Unedited. Fascinating interview with Rudy Guiliani. 

New York  – Olivia Nuzzi 12.24.2019

As the black SUV came to a stop on 33rd Street in Manhattan, its lights flashing, a pale hand stretched through the open window of the passenger door and gave a little wave. It was attached to Rudy Giuliani, who smiled from behind his tortoiseshell sunglasses. He apologized for being late. “Couldn’t go on sidewalks like I used to,” he said, mourning a perk of his past life as mayor.

It was early in the afternoon on Sunday, December 8, and Giuliani had just returned from Ukraine, where he said he was looking for information to undermine the case to impeach his client, President Donald Trump.

“We snuck out of Kiev to escape having to answer a lot of questions,” he said, though it wasn’t clear if he meant from the press or government officials. “They all thought we were going to leave on Friday morning, and I organized a private plane to go to Vienna on Thursday night.”

The back of the car was cluttered with luggage. His bodyguard, a retired NYPD officer who loves Donald Trump almost as much as he loves his boss of ten years, got out to move the bags to the trunk while Giuliani climbed into the backseat.

When Giuliani got to his hotel in Vienna, he said it was 2:30 in the morning, and the first thing he did was search for opera tickets. “Lo and behold, that Friday night they were performing Tosca, with the conductor Marco Armiliato.” He sang me an aria from Rigoletto, one of the first pieces he fell in love with when he was introduced to opera in high school, as he theatrically conducted with his hands.

Over a sweater, he wore a navy-blue suit, the fly of the pants unzipped. He accessorized with an American-flag lapel pin, American-flag woven wallet, a diamond-encrusted pinky ring, and a diamond-encrusted Yankees World Series ring (about which an innocent question resulted in a 15-minute rant about “fucking Wayne Barrett,” a journalist who manages to enrage Giuliani even in death).

In addition to being the president’s free personal attorney, Giuliani, who is 75, is an informal White House cybersecurity adviser and a high-priced cyber-security contractor. In one hand, he clutched three phones of varying sizes. Two of the devices were unlocked, their screens revealing open tabs and a barrage of banner notifications as they knocked into each other and reacted to Giuliani’s grip. He accidentally activated Siri, who said she didn’t understand his command. “She never understands me,” he said. He sighed and poked at the device, attempting to quiet her.

Giuliani is quick to announce that he knows “every block of this city,” but he lives on the Upper East Side and doesn’t linger much across or below the park. When I asked him to bring me somewhere he likes to hang out, he quickly directed his bodyguard to the Mark, a five-star hotel on East 77th Street. Always a creature of habit, Giuliani is extra-aware of where he’s welcome these days. He says that “because of what’s happened” his circle is tightening, that he doesn’t trust anyone anymore.

Open link to read the entire article.

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/12/a-conversation-with-rudy-giuliani-over-bloody-marys.html

 

Talk about Back to the Future.  Could it be the Beast Mode will return to torment the 49ers’ one more time this coming Sunday in Seattle?

Excerpted from San Francisco Chronicle 12.23.2019

The 49ers’ high-stakes meeting at Seattle on Sunday didn’t need any more intrigue, but it arrived Monday anyway: The Seahawks plan to add Beast Mode to their barren backfield.

Seattle head coach Pete Carroll indicated the team would sign five-time Pro Bowl running back Marshawn Lynch, 33, who hasn’t played in an NFL game since Oct. 14, 2018, when he was with the Raiders. Lynch, an Oakland native who played at Cal, played for Seattle from 2010 to 2015.

“He’s really excited about the chance to help us,” Carroll said on 710 ESPN Seattle. “If we get a chance to get the Beast back on the field, we’ll see how that works out.”

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch as teamates

The Seahawks need backfield reinforcements after running backs Chris Carson (broken hip) and C.J. Prosise (broken arm) sustained season-ending injuries in their 27-13 home loss to the Cardinals on Sunday. Running back Rashaad Penny (knee) was placed on injured reserve Dec. 14, the first major hit to the NFL’s third-ranked rushing attack.

On Sunday, after Carson and Prosise were injured, the Seahawks’ lone running back was rookie Travis Homer. The sixth-round pick had 16 yards on five carries and a 15-yard reception against Arizona. He has 52 yards on eight carries this season, with his season-long, 29-yard run coming on a fake punt.

The Seahawks have leaned heavily on their run game since Carroll arrived in 2010: They rank second in the NFL in rushing attempts over the past 10 seasons.

“We do kind of like running the football, you know?” Carroll said when asked about the backfield attrition. “It’s a challenge. (General manager John Schneider’s) got to get working. He had a plan.”

That plan doesn’t involve just Lynch. The Seahawks reportedly also have interest in two other veterans, C.J. Anderson, 28, and Robert Turbin, 30. Anderson, then with the Rams, had 132 yards on 23 carries and a touchdown in the 2018 regular-season finale against the 49ers.

 

 

While Christmas trees are lit throughout much of the World the eight day Hanukkah commemoration,”Fetival of Lights,” is a spiritual time of the year for people of the Jewish Faith.

Deutsche Welle 12.22.2019

Over 2,000 people attended the event at Brandenburg Gate, while Jews in Munich recognized International Holocaust Survivors Night. Religious and political leaders denounced anti-Semitism and far-right extremism.

Chanukah, also known as the “Festival of Lights” commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem after the Maccabees’ victory over the Syrian armies in 164 BC.

Jews in Germany kicked off the eight-day Hanukkah celebration on Sunday by lighting Europe’s largest menorah at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

Anti-Semitism on the rise
The celebration comes after a turbulent year for Jews and other minority groups in Germany and across Europe, with far-right extremism on the rise and headline-making anti-Semitic attacks, including the October shooting of a Jewish synagogue in Halle, which left two dead and two others injured.

Holocaust survivor Margot Friedländer and Josef Schuster, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, and a Jewish boy from Berlin lit the first candle on the 10-meter-high menorah.

Over 2,000 people were there to attend the 15th anniversary of the Brandenburg Gate menorah lighting, including Germany’s Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection Christine Lambrecht, Berlin Governing Mayor Michael Müller and Bundestag Vice President Petra Pau.

Read more:Hanukkah in Berlin: German president calls Jewish community ‘a gift’

Berlin Chabad chairman Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal was also present at the ceremony. He spoke about the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, the 75th anniversary of which will be observed on January 27, 2020, and decried modern anti-Semitism. “Anti-Semitism is a poison, no matter where it comes from,” news agency EDP quoted him as saying. “We won’t give in.”

Schuster added that religious freedoms could again be at risk in Europe.

Read more:Germany synagogue attack: Who were the victims in Halle?

According to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, the assailant confessed to having both anti-Semitic and far-right motives.”After the attack on October 9, there have been many signs of solidarity. That gives us courage,” said Schuster.

A new candle will be lit on the candle at the onset of darkness each evening until December 30. The menorah consists of eight candle holders, and a ninth holder in the middle for a candle that is used to light the rest.

Keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive is one crucial and increasingly difficult task,” said Charlotte Knobloch, President of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria.

“If we light this year’s Chanukah candle in Munich, there will be another light that reminds us that the darkness will never prevail and that our minds the world can illuminate,” she said. The ceremony took place as part of the International Holocaust Survivors Night. New York and Moscow are also participating today, while Paris and Jerusalem follow on December 23.

https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-celebrates-start-of-hanukkah-by-lighting-biggest-menorah-in-europe/a-51774457

TERRIBLE.  The 49ers won the game tonight but it all takes a back seat to the human element.

San Francisco Chronicle – Ann Killion 12.21.2019

This is a big game for the 49ers. An epic game.

But it’s still just a game.

The 49ers sadly got a shocking dose of perspective before Saturday’s game against the Rams. Backup quarterback C. J. Beathard (pictured above) flew early Saturday morning to Nashville to be with his family after learning that his younger brother Clayton (pictured below)  was stabbed to death Friday night. The 22-year-old, who played quarterback at Long Island University, was one of two young victims killed outside a bar.

The tragedy will certainly resonate with the team. Beathard, who was the 49ers starting quarterback for parts of 2017 and last season, is popular with his teammates.

The team released a statment before the game: “”The 49ers family was shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the tragedy involving C.J. Beathard’s younger brother, Clayton. We extend our heartfelt sympathies to C.J. and the entire Beathard family as they cope with the unthinkable loss of a loved one. C.J. has traveled home to join his family knowing he has the support of our entire organization as they grieve the passing of Clayton.”

This is an unusually close team, as I wrote about in an interview with general manager John Lynch. There is a connectedness that is often missing on NFL teams. The team talks about itself as a family, and we saw how raw the emotions were when head coach Kyle Shanahan presented game balls to John and Jed York following the game in New Orleans.

The family has suffered a tragedy. There’s a game to play. But everyone is well aware that it’s just a game.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/49ers/annkillion/article/49ers-team-tragedy-puts-big-game-in-perspective-14924676.php

Nearly 90 years after Hitler expelled Jews from the military, the German government will have Rabbis as part of its armed forces.

Deutsche Welle 12.20.2019

Rabbis haven’t had a place in the German military since Hitler expelled Jewish soldiers. Decades after the Holocaust, Germany has restored the tradition.

Germany’s defense minister on Friday signed an agreement to reintroduce rabbis into the armed forces to look after the spiritual needs of Jewish soldiers, saying it was a “strong sign” of diversity and openness.

Ten rabbis will begin working for the Bundeswehr in the coming months, Defense Minister Annagret Kramp-Karrenbauer said. 

Among Germany’s 180,000 soldiers there are around 90,000 Christians, 3,000 Muslims and 300 Jews. German soldiers can report their religious beliefs on a voluntary basis.

Read more: Opinion: Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer — a battle is won, but the war isn’t over

Together with the President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, the minister signed the agreement at a Jewish conference in Berlin.

Schuster called the day “historic” for relations between Jews and the German army.

“People who consider themselves to be part of a democratic society should and must take responsibility for it,” he said, adding that the introduction of rabbis into the military is “a signal for… the strength of democracy.”

A ‘broken history’

The military has not employed rabbis since Hitler came to power in 1933 and expelled all Jewish soldiers from the army. 

Kramp-Karrenbauer spoke of the “broken history” between Jews and the military. She said that the step to restore the position of rabbis within the military is a sign of the organization’s diversity. Jews have a home within the army just as they do in Germany, she said.

Read more: One in four Germans hold anti-Semitic beliefs, study finds

The military rabbis will be headquartered in Berlin. They will serve Jewish soldiers stationed both in Germany and abroad, covering the same duties as Evangelical and Catholic chaplains. Plans to introduce Muslim religious counselors are also in the works.

Parliament is likely to approve the measure early next year.

Among Germany’s 180,000 soldiers there are around 90,000 Christians, 3,000 Muslims and 300 Jews. German soldiers can report their religious beliefs on a voluntary basis.

https://www.dw.com/en/germany-to-reintroduce-rabbis-into-army/a-51753983

The real scandal is with the Department of Building Inspection not Planning Commissioner Dennis Richards.

The Commissioner is totally correct in labeling DBI, “a cancer on this City.”

If Richards was part of the DBI in crowd, none of this would be happening.

He is being pushed out because he knows too much and tells it truthfully.

Building Inspection is the worst entrenched bureaucracy in San Francisco.

There has never been a Mayor with the political will to go in there and clean up the place. 

San Francisco Examiner 12.20.2019

After publicly criticizing the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection and allegedly violating tenant law, Planning Commissioner Dennis Richards will be taking a leave of absence from his duties on the commission, the San Francisco Examiner has learned.

Richards pushed back against allegations, describing DBI as “a cancer on this city” at a recent Planning Commission hearing, and even indicating that he would sue the department. He also defended violating a 2014 tenant buyout law by describing his failure to report deals struck with four tenants of the property as an “oversight.”

Richards has not been present for the last two meetings of the commission, which is currently in the midst of vetting candidates for the vacant position of planning department director, a spokesperson for the department confirmed.

Board of Supervisors President Norman Yee told the Examiner on Friday that Richards, who was appointed to the commission in 2014, notified him of his intent to take some time to tend to personal matters and address permitting issues at a Mission District property he co-owns.

The Examiner reported previously that Richards had nine permits revoked in October on a house at 3426-32 22nd St. he initially purchased with an LLC for $2.7 million and planned to sell for $7.5 million. Richards was reprimanded by DBI for allegedly performing work on the house that exceeded the permits he had obtained.

Richards is also accused of failing to report tenant buyouts at the property in accordance with local law.

Richards did not respond to the Examiner’s request for comment on Friday.

In his role as a commissioner, Richards is required to work closely with the DBI, and his statements have led Yee to question whether Richards’ continued tenure on the commission could lead to a conflict of interest.

Yee told the Examiner Friday that Richards informed him during a phone call earlier this week that he needed a temporary break from his duties.

“He asked whether it makes any sense for him to take a leave from the commission for a short period, so he can clear personal issues …and address some of the permit stuff,” said Yee, who added that Richards penned a letter with his request that he planned to submit to the Planning Commission.

On Friday, the commission’s secretary said that the letter had not yet been submitted.

Commission President Myrna Melgar said that she also has not yet received Richards’ written communication, but confirmed that she spoke with him on Wednesday evening and that Richards “told me verbally that he had this conversation with Supervisor Yee and that he would be taking a leave of absence from the commission.”

Melgar said that Richards had told her he would be out through February.

Both Yee and Melgar were confident that Richards’ absence would not impact the ongoing selection process for planning director.

“Right now there are six people on the commission,” said Yee. “If they are working together to get the best director, what they should do is have some consensus regarding the person they want. It shouldn’t be a three-three split. If it is, in my mind, whoever [the candidate] is shouldn’t be the one they decide on.”

Melgar declined to disclose details about the selection process but said that the remaining members of the commission “are still going at it.”

In regard to the open question of whether Richards should step down due to a possible conflict of interest, Yee said that Richards’ leave of absence “provides breathing room for me to think about that.”

“There are allegations, but you don’t want to base a decision just on allegations,” he said.

https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/embattled-planning-commissioner-to-take-leave-of-absence/

 

I had to read this article a couple of times. I’m shocked at the audacity of Pacific Gas & Electric.

PG&E had the nerve to request that California regulators allow its profit margins to be increased at the expense of ratepayers. PG&E is in bankruptcy. The public utility is responsible for the series of catastrophic wildfires which have burned through California.

Fortunately the California Public Utilities Commission denied the request.

PG&E stopped paying dividends to its shareholders in 2017.  So, who would benefit from the increase in profit margins?

San Francisco Chronicle 12.19.2019

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and other California utilities can’t raise their profit margins even as they face billions of dollars in wildfire liabilities, the California Public Utilities Commission ruled Thursday.

In response to the CPUC denial of a higher profit margin on Thursday, PG&E said it expects to invest $28 billion through 2024 to expand and protect its electric and gas infrastructure.

“We recognize that any increase to customer bills can be challenging, and PG&E is committed to keeping costs as low as possible while meeting our responsibilities to safely serve our customers,” the company said.

PG&E, Southern California Edison, Southern California Gas and San Diego Gas & Electric had sought higher profits to help attract investors.

But the commission said new state policies such as a law passed this year that creates a $21 billion wildfire fund would help the utilities. It unanimously rejected the profit increase.

The decision blocks higher customer bills that could have started in January and means PG&E’s profit margin will stay at 10.25%. In April, PG&E sought to increase profit margins to 16%, with a monthly bill increase of 7%, or $7.85, for average residential electricity customer. The average residential gas customer would have seen a monthly 7.7% increase, or $4.25 per month.

People’s bills can rise due to other factors; PG&E didn’t have finalized information on other rate changes because other regulatory decisions haven’t been made.

Also on Thursday, PG&E Corp. CEO Bill Johnson testified in Washington before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources about his company’s vulnerability to wildfires and its efforts to prevent them.

After apologizing for his company’s role in starting deadly blazes, Johnson urged senators to fund initiatives including making communities more resilient against wildfires; forest management; and sharing of military satellite data for wildfire detection.

Stanford researcher Michael Wara, who also testified at the Senate committee hearing, discussed PG&E’s use of planned blackouts to stop its equipment from sparking more fires. The outages in 2019 “likely cost customers more than $10 billion,” he said.

Johnson said it would take five years for PG&E to stop using large-scale blackouts, though he noted San Diego Gas & Electric was still using “surgical” outages 12 years after it began the fire-prevention measure.

The timeline Johnson outlined appeared to be shortened from an estimate he gave state utility regulators in October, when he said the blackouts could go on for a decade, though with diminishing reach.

“We do plan to underground more distribution lines … but this is not going to be a complete answer,” Johnson said.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., asked about the company’s financial strength given its bankruptcy: “Are you going to make it?”

“I’m not the Wikipedia of bankruptcy,” Johnson said, noting he’d only arrived at PG&E this year. He discussed the settlements the company had recently reached with wildfire victims, insurers and government bodies. “Who the eventual owner will be will be decided in Bankruptcy Court,” he added. He said the costs of the bankruptcy would not be borne by consumers, though they would shoulder some cost of upgrades planned before the bankruptcy filing.

Asked about climate change and PG&E’s shift to cleaner energy sources, Johnson said that “in the short term” the utility would “put safety first,” prioritizing infrastructure fixes and fire-prevention measures over clean energy, “but this will not get in the way of meeting California’s energy goals.”

https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/PG-E-blackouts-could-go-on-for-five-years-CEO-14919406.php

On a day when the American political class and the bloviating masses step into the morass of Impeachment,  this slice of culture news from across the Atlantic gives us some perspective on the important things in life. There’s more to life than talk talk talk.

Wall Street Journal 12.18.2019

PARIS—President Emmanuel Macron wants to overhaul France’s pension system, and the country’s railway unions aren’t the only militant force standing in his way.

Ballerinas are marching in the vanguard. They usually perform at the country’s vaunted opera house, the Palais Garnier, but now they are hopping mad.

Photo above – Dancers backstage last year at the Palais Garnier. PHOTO: STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

At issue is the delicate matter of when France’s finest male and female dancers should be allowed to hang up their ballet shoes and begin drawing a national pension. For centuries, the retirement age has stood at 42, but Mr. Macron’s government wants to stretch their limits by at least two more decades.

The Paris Opera Ballet, as the company is known, has put its foot down. Dancers have taken to the streets, marching with tutus over their trousers and handing out protest leaflets.

“There’s no way they can take this away from us,” Matthieu Botto, a 32-year-old who joined the company’s dance school at the age of 12, said of his approaching retirement. “We’ve earned it.”

The dancers are hitting high society—the bulk of the ticket holders—where it hurts. Joined by the Paris Opera’s musicians and singers, the dancers went on strike Dec. 5, forcing the Palais Garnier and Opéra Bastille, another landmark venue where the company performs, to shut down just as some of the season’s biggest productions were under way.

Gloria Browne-Marshall, a playwright and law professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, traveled from New York to catch the last performance of “Lear” at the Palais Garnier on Saturday night. She bought a new dress and had a friend fly in from Ireland for the occasion, only to see the opera canceled hours before curtain time.

“I kept holding hope until the last minute,” she said. “I still can’t accept it. It’s too painful just to think about it.”

Dancers backstage last year at the Palais Garnier. PHOTO: STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

Dancers say the physical demands of their profession mean they must glide into their golden years earlier. They begin dancing as children with dreams of attaining the rank of étoile, the lauded soloists who command the spotlight. Many never attend high school, making it hard to find jobs once their dancing days are over. They are flames that burn brightly—and briefly.

The very notion of special treatment, however, is anathema to Mr. Macron’s agenda. The government wants to consolidate 42 different pension plans—each with varying retirement ages and benefits—into one universal system with a retirement age of 62. That would lump ballerinas in with office workers, train conductors and nurses.

“The system will be the same for all French people, with no exceptions,” Prime Minister Édouard Philippe said last week.

Ballet’s retirement benefits date to the 17th century under Louis XIV, the Sun King. The monarch earned that moniker after starring as Apollo, the sun god, in the “Ballet de la Nuit,” one of 70 roles he played before the royal court.

Louis XIV would go on to found the Royal Academy of Dance, the precursor to the Paris Opera Ballet, before retiring from ballet at the age of 32. He continued to reign as king for another 44 years.

The Palais Garnier was erected in the 19th century under Napoleon III. With gilded balconies and a 7-ton bronze and crystal chandelier, the theater gave Paris pride of place in the ballet world. Later, the ceiling was painted by Marc Chagall with scenes from ballets and operas.

“When I was a little girl, dancing at the Paris Opera was my dream,” said Marion Barbeau, a 28-year-old ballerina.

She left home at age 11 to enter the Paris Opera Ballet’s school, known for cutthroat competition and where trainees are known as “little opera rats.”

When the strike began, Ms. Barbeau was scheduled to perform as a soloist in “Raymonda,” French choreographer Marius Petipa’s depiction of the love story between a young countess and the knight Jean de Brienne.

“I’m very disappointed not to dance that ballet, but it felt necessary” Ms. Barbeau said, adding that she might leave the company if Mr. Macron’s changes go through.

A spokeswoman for the Paris Opera said they were waiting for proposals from the government.

If the government insists on making dancers perform beyond a youthful age, it won’t be pretty, said Alexandre Carniato, a dancer who has met with the government to press the company’s case.

“If they keep us until we’re 62, no one will want to come and see us dance,” he said.

Training and performing at that level takes a heavy toll on dancers’ bodies. Many suffer from arthritis, and some require hip replacements as young as 30.

A leaflet for a faux ballet passed out by protesting dancers. PHOTO: YANN CHAILLOUX

Ballet dancers have hit the streets in protest, passing out leaflets for a mock ballet. The faux piece, called “Seniors,” is scheduled for Garnier’s 2039-2040 season. It stars an elderly ballerina tiptoeing toward her partner, who is using a walker. Sponsors include makers of hearing aids and dentures.

At 41, Mr. Carniato said he can already hear Father Time knocking. He has danced since the age of 6, and his knees and ankles ache.

He had hoped to retire from the stage next year and begin teaching. Starting salaries for dance teachers, however, are just over the minimum wage and only about half of his €2,500 monthly salary, or close to $2,800, that he earns at the Paris Opera Ballet. He was counting on a pension of around €1,000 to make up the difference.

“I grit my teeth and keep going,” he said. “I need to keep smiling. When I’m on stage, the audience should not see that I’m in pain,” he said.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/macrons-stiff-opposition-in-pension-battle-angry-ballerinas-11576604116?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1