Former Baldwin Park's Housing Director Accuses Finance Director, Rose Tam, of Laundering $7 Million of Housing Funds; Lawsuit Filed.

Rose Tam, Finance Director

A lawsuit filed by Baldwin Park's former housing manager accuses current Finance Director, Hong Tam

(also known as Rose Tam and Hong Fang) of laundering $7 million of state and federal housing funds meant for low income residents of the City, which she allegedly co-mingled with other funds. (The City has refused to acknowledge the lawsuit in its agendas in violation of the Brown Act. For your information, the case no. is 20STCV17682).

Regarding the City's finances, Ruelas' lawsuit suggests that Tam is responsible for taking funds that are meant to help housing for the poor, and instead spent it on the raises of the City Council and administrators.

Ruelas claims of financial misappropriation are consistent with Baldwin Park's adopted 2019-2020 budget. In it, the City budgeted $77,134.20 for its elected officials for only having to show up to two meetings a month. That's over $6427 to show up to two meetings a month.

In five years, the finance department, where Tam works, has increased its budget from $239,722 to $385,671. This is a 61% increase. 

In five years, the CEO office increased its budget from $352,441 to $479,149. This is a 36% increase. By raises alone, it's clear who the City Council likes.

A recent review of current city official and administrators verifies the allegation that the City steals from the housing fund to give itself raises. According to  California Transparency for the year of 2019 - here's what Baldwin Park's officials and administrators brought home:

Mayor Lozano and the City Council Members made $50,678.68. (This is to show up to two meetings a month.)

Shannon Yauchzee made $374,100.04. But when it came to disclosing his paychecks, Yauchzee refused to disclose his pay 

Rose Tam, Finance Director made $300,748.95. 

Manuel Carrillo Jr., Parks and Recreation Director made $293,464.25.

Samuel Gutierrez, Public Works Director made $248,940.30. 

Benjamin Martinez, Community Development Director made $240,487.02.

Furthermore, Ruelas' accusation and lawsuit comes at a time when the City of Baldwin Park has failed its audit. According to the State Controller report, the City has “serious'' lack of internal financial control measures, “resulting in poor contracting and accounting practices and a questionable pay increase for a top city official.'' Almost 50% of the city's internal controls are not functioning. In other words, city officials and administrators are treating the city's bank account like their own personal one.

This information was revealed to local activist, forty-two year-Baldwin-Park-resident, father, grandfather, and retired blood technician, John Rios. Rios had to mortgage his house to support his two adult children and two grandchildren. This is because his ex-wife was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. 

Regarding the City's housing vouchers, Rios was told that there was no more money to aid him on his mortgage from the housing fund, even though he would be in the class of people who qualify. According to Rios, his children and grandchildren have it worse financially because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and without his support, they would be on the streets. Upon hearing about the housing misappropriation, Rios stated:

"If you're in government, city council, you have to be honest. I can't stand people who lie to the community. They're using money that should be used to help the community and instead, use it for their own benefit. I throw in their face at council meetings that they're robbing us. That's why they want to stay in office; so, they could keep stealing from the community. Really, the Attorney General of the state and the feds really need to get involved."

At the last council meeting, the City Council deferred on voting whether to outsource the city jail or lay off more staff because an election is on the horizon. But given that the management and city officials are eating up a huge amounts of taxpayer money - it won't be long until city services are cut, if not gone altogether. 

As Nobel Laurete, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, said in a 2006 interview regarding the collapse of the Soviet Union, "[T]he most unprincipled thieves enriched themselves through the unimpeded plundering of the [People's] property".

Update on Life - June to August

Summer's come and is leaving soon. Since I last wrote, a pair of red-headed finches set up a nest outside my bedroom window. Four chicks hatched. And when those chicks were ready to fly - they were gone. The male finch had the most beautiful song, a kind that can drive out evil. I believed he was singing for me. My mother would say - "He's not singing for you." But she agreed, that his voice sounded light and airy and cheered up even the most sick soul. It was amazing to see the four little chicks being raised and fed by both parents every morning.

I'm sure, if the Emperor of China had heard his aria, he would spend a fortune and request all his ministers to catch the bird and have it caged. But if that happened, would the song be the same?

Red headed finch
(c) www.allaboutbirds.org

So; imagine my sadness, when the family was up and gone one day. They didn't even tell me they were leaving. All that was left was an empty nest.

Joy can come from such random events, and during this season, that was one of them. It was amazing to wake up every morning to hear beauty and truth.

I just hope next season they come back and set up a new family.

My mom's taken to feeding a cat family - a father, mother, and kitty. I told her not to, because now they won't leave. But she told me, "Well, I imagined how sad it would be if Jeh Pan [our cat, named Trial] became homeless. Who would take care of him? So, I'm going to feed them."

I sighed, annoyed. But what could I do? No amount of talking or reasoning was going to change her mind.

On a sadder note, one of our hens died as well. There was a territory fight amongst the three hens. And the bully one harassed the weaker one, which flew over to the neighbor's yard, which had a dog. The dog bit into her, and that was it. She was done.

That was hard for my mother - as that was her favorite hen. She came to us in bad shape. A random person gave it to her. But after raising it for a few years, it looked like a beautiful chicken - with brilliant feathers and a great personality.

The ironic part was that she asked me to clip it's wings a few days before it died, but I was too busy. And another thing - I never ever seen it fly so high. What a bad incident. Well, I'm looking for another hen - if anybody knows of one.

Tom Cruise, in A Few Good Men

Sorry, I haven't updated in awhile. Court's opened back up, and as a result, everything has become due in July. It reminded me of a scene from A Few Good Men, when the legal team works over 12 hour shifts and orders in Chinese food, while they're strategizing and researching what to do for trial.

Although legal work isn't physically laborious, it definitely starts to take a toll on the body. I told my friend that I don't think humans are meant to do so many hours of this kind of work. (Soon, I'll update everyone on my cases.)

For now, I'll say it's been a tough fight, but I feel alive and well and I can keep fighting on. As the Scriptures say "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." (2 Cor 4:8-9, NIV).

Back to Scripture, I was leading a Bible Study. It's been interesting, because I didn't expect to do this. But I'm convinced more now than ever that young people are hungry to learn about truth, spirituality, and faith.

I'm sure some people will criticize me, because of Los Angeles reentering lockdown and the pandemic. But, it is my personal faith that we can't be concerned with only keeping our bodies alive. We're spiritual beings that need to have our souls fed and nourished too. This is why Jesus said - ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' (Matt. 4:4, NIV). Also see the Scripture that says: "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." (Matt. 18:20).

I'll give one sample of our lessons. Yesterday, we had a lesson on character. And what is it? What does it look like? Why is it important?

Romans 5 states, "Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." (v. 3-5, NIV).

Sophie Scholl
(C) Olilolly11

In today's world - people are so concerned with their outer image. Their clothes. Their cars. Their shoes. Their body. But Proverbs 31 states that character should be what people see in us. For people with character are clothed with "strength and dignity." (v. 25, NIV).

But can you physically see character? Does it have a color? What's the material its made out of? No; it's not an object that's physical. But you can certainly see it when people have strength and dignity as their outerwear. And that was the summation of our lesson, though obviously there was more to it.

And other than that, I've been running a lot - since the boxing gym has been closed. This week, I estimate in five days, I've ran 40 miles. I feel good; I feel amazing. And I love running at night - in the peace of the open sky, moon, and night animals - such as my owls and coyotes.

At home, I've also been learning more on food and repair. Before court opened up, I finally fixed my oven and water heater. The oven particularly was difficult to diagnose, because of electrical problems. I haven't had time, but I'm hoping to celebrate and bake southern country biscuits and banana and bacon cookies.

Fermenting peppers for chili paste.

But in general, my mom does the cooking, which she relishes. I've been relegated to doing a lot of cold cooking - especially the making of sauerkraut. Also, I figured out how to ferment peppers to turn them into homemade Tabasco and Sriracha. I'm fairly certain the live bacteria are vital for good health.

Recently, I successfully also did a lactic acid fermentation on tomatoes to make ketchup. After, I added truffles and fish sauce. Honestly, best ketchup of my life. Really; I'm getting good at all of this fermentation - which is a lost art.

But a special tribute to my mother. She's taught me a lot - as she knows how to make her kimchi. And she's even said - "You just copy all my techniques." Well; of course. For the most part - fermentation comes down to the correct techniques and expertise. I feel like I'll be keeping that part of our family legacy alive.

I just ended with an insight I learned by watching an interview with one of the most revered ceviche Chef, Chef Javiar Wong. When I was in Lima, Peru, I tried to get a table there, but it was booked. If I remember correctly, his place was booked straight for two months.

Chef, Javiar Wong
(c) Vice.com

In his interview, he says that mastery of ceviche comes down to simplicity. Wong says that he would die a happy man if he could figure out how to simplify it even more. I was wowed by that insight.

Even before watching the interview, this week, I was thinking the same thing. If I could only make the practice of law simpler - it would look like art and elegance.

Until next time,

Paul

City of Baldwin Park Fails State Audit; Corruption Exposed

Manuel Lozano, outside court parking lot,
being sued personally

California's State Controller's Office published a report, which states that the City of Baldwin Park failed the audit because of corrupt practices. According to the report, the City has “serious'' lack of internal financial control measures, “resulting in poor contracting and accounting practices and a questionable pay increase for a top city official.'' Almost 50% of the city's internal controls are not functioning. In other words, city officials and administrators are treating the city's bank account like their own personal one.

For instance, city officials and administrators ran up credit card expenses over $153,820. Imagine if you had a credit card where you can run up $10,000 a month and not have to pay for it. Of that money, the auditors discovered that about $9,000 of that money was spent on "meals, hotels, online retail-store purchases, and other miscellaneous expenses without itemized receipts or descriptive invoices." Former Council Member Ricardo Pacheco has been known to max out government credit cards as well at strip clubs.

Unemployed Council Member Pacheco in his new
Mercedes Benz

Other problems are that the Council Members and Administrators want the City to pay for incredible lifetime benefits, even when they stop working for the City. For instance, although former Chief of Police, Michael Taylor was already making the maximum amount as chief of close to $200,000, he still demanded an extra $41,233 increase, rendering his pay closer to $250,000. This way, Taylor and his wife will get paid exorbitant paychecks, even though he's already been fired from Baldwin Park (twice, actually). (In fact, Taylor admitted to marrying his wife, so she could receive benefits, to screw over Baldwin Park financially for firing him.)

As an aside, Taylor paid back Pacheco to vote for his lucrative pay raise. After Taylor was elected on West Valley Water, he created a new job for Pacheco as an assistant general manager, but Pacheco was exposed for maxing out credit cards at strip clubs. Instead of punishing Pacheco, Taylor voted to pay Pacheco over $142,000 for spending government money at strip clubs.

Amongst a slough of other problems, the audit discovered that millions of dollars have gone missing. $507,176 went into a project that was discontinued after a year. $3.4 million is unaccounted for with a contractor called AAE, owned by Sid Mousavi. Did this money go back to the public officials and administrators? In total, that makes closer to $4 million missing.

Proof of Lozano's personal bankruptcy,
note his social security number belongs
to an undocumented farm worker p. 1

The City Manager, Shannon Yauchtzee, disputed the audit's findings. Even though millions of dollars are missing and the City is and will be paying extravagant bonuses to him, administrators, the Mayor and Council Member, Yauchtzee said that the problems were of "non-conformance" and not problems of "serious deficiencies" as alleged by the auditor.

Clearly, Yauchtzee and the City Officials are in denial that the findings are valid and raise concerns.

The audit only covered the years of 2016-2018. Therefore, it didn't pick up on the fact that in 2019 - the City Council voted to budget themselves approximately $6,700 a month for going to two meetings a month. Imagine getting paid $3,350 for going to a meeting and voting.

Currently, the Mayor has alleged the City is in a financial crisis. Thus, the parks and recreation program, including athletics and the senior center are closed. And although there is nothing for the Director of Parks and Recreation, Manuel Carrillo, to manage, he continues to get paid over $250,000, if not closer to $300,000 when benefits are included. (It's been alleged Carrillo hasn't even graduated form high school.)

Now; it appears that the extravagant costs of the administrators and public officials, like Mayor Lozano, are getting paid so much that the City can't pay for its basic services to the public. In other words, the City's brass is getting paid incredibly more, while doing almost nothing. This is the logic of the Lozano administration. Only if we can all make millions for kicking back.

For these reasons, the public protested Mayor Lozano and Council Member Garcia and Hernandez, accusing them of being corrupt and demanding their resignation. Lozano is asking for a federal bail out of $6 million to solve the problem.

Such thinking has led to his own personal bankruptcy once, if not more times. Because a bankruptee is leading the City, it's not surprising the it's moving in the direction of a municipal bankruptcy rapidly.

The solution to the problem is that the public needs to know where all this money went. For this reason, U.S. Supreme Court Justice stated, "Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman."

Baldwin Park City Council Member - Ricardo Pacheco Resigns

Baldwin Park Council Member looking angry for losing
Free Speech lawsuit

After 23 years of being an elected official, Baldwin Park Council Member Ricardo Pacheco finally resigned around June 10th, 2020. Pacheco's resignation follows an investigation that exposed him for maxing out a government credit card at strip clubs. The expose also forced him to resign at West Valley Water as assistant general manager - a position that Baldwin Park's former Chief of Police created just for him. Pacheco's tenure as council member has been marked by corruption, retaliation against Free Speech, and huge financial damage to public agencies and the places he's worked. Pacheco leaves behind a legacy of harm.

In an unprecedented lawsuit, which was adjudicated in March 26 of 2019, Pacheco cost the City over $9 million, because a jury found that he sexually and racially discriminated against the former Chief of Police - Lili Hadsell.

Pacheco also cost the City significant legal costs for retaliating against citizens for criticizing him. In his first lawsuit, he sued local businessman Greg Tuttle, who was investigating Pacheco for soliciting donations from lobbyists in Santa Barbara. The court warned him that citizens have the right to Free Speech; nonetheless, he persisted in retaliating against those who criticized him.

In his second lawsuit, Pacheco fined and enforced a collection agency against Tuttle, because he hung a sign of Pacheco depicting him as a jackass and alleging that Pacheco was corrupt. The federal court awarded damages to Tuttle, holding that Pacheco and the City's retaliation was unconstitutional.

Sign that's triggered another First Amendment Lawsuit

A third lawsuit is now pending, in which Pacheco sought criminal charges against a citizen and resident for hanging a jackass sign, alleging Pacheco to be corrupt. Pacheco also fined the citizen $12,400 for hanging this sign.

Also back in the spring of 2014, Pacheco voted to fire boxing coach Julian Casas for complaining about receiving a forty cent an hour raise, after working at the boxing gym for 20 years.

These First Amendment lawsuits have been estimated to cost the City about one million in legal costs and damages. Currently, the Mayor of Baldwin Park is alleging the city is now in a budget crisis. But Pacheco pursued these legal actions, because in his mind the taxpayers, instead of him, were paying for it. Now, the State of California's Controller's office has finished its audit and will soon release its report.

Pacheco's career history has a wake of forced resignations, in which taxpayers were seriously harmed. In 2003, Pacheco was forced to resign from the City of South Gate as city manager, after being accused of sexual harassment by an employee. The taxpayers ended up paying him $93,000 to resign, which after adjusting for inflation, is closer to a $150,000 today.

At West Valley Water, Pacheco was paid approximately over $142,000 for being forced to resign, after being exposed for using a government credit card at a strip club.

Pacheco, unemployed, in his new white Mercedes

And even though he's resigned, Pacheco and Mayor Lozano voted to have lifetime benefits for being elected officials. The estimated costs for these life time benefits is over $1.5 million to the taxpayers.

The reason for Pacheco's resignation have not been confirmed, but there have been allegations that the FBI is investigating him. Pacheco was asked if he had anything he'd like to contribute to the story and whether it was true the FBI was scrutinizing him. Pacheco provided no comment.

Pacheco's resignation announces the beginning of the end of a generation, in which Baldwin Park has suffered financial and civic harm for over twenty years. But as Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

Chief of Police accused of brutality and racism; Chief alleges retaliation for refusing to cancel standardized tests for Mayor's favored officers

Council Member Ricardo Pacheco, Council Member Monica Garcia,
and Mayor Manuel Lozano (from left to right)

Yesterday evening, Baldwin Park's Chief of Police, Steven McLean openly stated, "Mr. Mayor, Mr. City Attorney, Mr. Hernandez, Mr. CEO I'll see you in court. The corruption stops tonight. . . .Your time is up."

Mayor Manuel Lozano responded, "Ok; I don't know what that's about." The City Attorney, Robert Tafoya also echoed that ignorance.

After being employed as chief for six months, McLean is now on stress leave, unable to make any official police decisions. The Chief is fearful that he'll be the target of attacks from protesters after an anonymous officer accused him of police brutality and being a racist.

Earlier in the evening, the City Clerk, Jean Ayala read a 10-minute anonymous letter from an officer in the police department during public comments period (46:53-56:37). The letter stated that the chief had no character or ethics. Allegedly, the Chief "endorsed aggressive police tactics. Use of force incidents are at an all time high."

The accuser stated that the Chief has a helmet that was affiliated with the crime gang Bandidos and gave preferential treatment to some officers, which amounts to discrimination, because the Chief "needed a caucasian on the team." (McLean's origin however come from both Honduras and Costa Rica. McLean considers himself Hispanic.) The anonymous accuser asked for Chief McLean to be removed from office.

According to McLean, the letter and his stress leave are really retaliation for not cancelling standardized testing for three officers that Lozano wants to personally promote. McLean stated that when he first became chief, he interviewed all 102 officers. According to the majority of them, the largest problem in the Baldwin Park Police Department was corruption regarding police promotions. For this reason, McLean wanted to implement standardized testing for promotions.

About 90 days ago, McLean designed the standardized test Allegedly, the test was approved by the police association, the human resources department, and the city manager.

But according to McLean and a number of other police officers, three officers, Frank Real, Sgt. Cetina Gonzales, and Lt. George Huerta, were promised to be promoted by the Mayor, even though they lacked the experience or the qualifications for it. All three have been vocal about opposing standardized tests.

Chief Steve McLean

Even after being approved by the CEO, Shannon Yauchtezz, about a month ago, allegedly called up McLean to tell him that the Mayor pressured the CEO to cancel testing because of Baldwin Park's budget crisis. The CEO told the Mayor that the tests weren't too expensive, that they were already purchased, and that the Mayor should be reminded that the City had to settle a lawsuit for over $100,000 once, because the Mayor interfered before in the police promotional process.

Then a few weeks ago, Council Member Paul Hernandez visited the chief at the department and told McLean that the test didn't need to be followed. Hernandez stated that the chief could pick somebody who was bad at testing but "good at leadership" and possibly promote them over three or four other officers, who scored better in the exams.

McLean responded that the number one problem that the officers perceived in the department was nepotism and that he was going to make the process fair for everyone.

To that, Hernandez said that the Mayor and him wanted to meet with him at the Guadalajara Grill at 10:30A tomorrow in Baldwin Park.

McLean stated that would be fine, but that he would ask the Mayor and the Council Member two questions. One, do they want a fair, legitimate, and transparent process? Or do they want the promotion process to be designed to promote a select few?

At their 10:30A meeting, McLean stated that the issue of testing was never brought up.

Afterwards, the City Attorney texted McLean that he was being accused of insider cheating and that he was giving the answers to the test to some officers and not others. To this, McClean responded that he was giving tutorials to officers and the notes were from a lecture he was giving on test tasking. Furthermore, at that time, McLean couldn't have given answers to the test, because it hadn't been drafted yet.

Frank Real, one of the officer seeking a promotion and opposes testing has a bad reputation in the force. The last acting chief also refused to promote him. Furthermore, Real was named in a sexual harassment lawsuit (Los Angeles Superior Court Case No. BC333571) which looks like it settled. Finally, according to the Chief, Real and his family were used to structure over $20,000 in donations to the Mayor's political campaign. If true, this is a form of laundering money and evading campaign contribution reporting requirements. It also suggests a pay to play scheme within the police department.

The Mayor was asked to comment on Real and his family members contributing money. No comment has yet been provided. Furthermore, the CEO and the City Attorney have asked to confirm the facts in this article. They too have not commented either.

Currently, the decision of implementing testing has been left with the Human Resources Department, and not the police department. The department is determining whether testing has been compromised.

If fired, McLean would be the seventh police chief hired and fired in seven years in the City. Currently, there's a judgment of over $9 million being appealed against the City and a stack of pending lawsuits against it. The City's insurance deductible has been raised and the premium has already doubled from $350,000 to $700,000 a year because of them. But the Mayor has never mentioned lawsuits as a reason for the City's "budget crisis".

McLean has already stated that he's lost his reputation because of the Mayor and would like to be made whole again.

The controversy of Baldwin Park's police promotion process re-ignites the debate of cronyism, standardized testing, government accountability, merit, and affirmative action. According to Sunjay Adelaja, author of Mountain of Ignorance, “At the root of every form of ungodliness, injustice, nepotism, selfishness, every rivalry and competitive jealousy, is the monster called greed.”

Exploring Ventura - Escaping Los Angeles Lockdown

Elder and me at Serra Cross,
Ventura County

Elder drove up from Baldwin Park to Ventura - his first road trip in his new black Audi. He didn't have his license yet, but he was driving on his permit, and I was there to guide him.

One day he called me and said, "I want to see the blue water."

"Oh - the bioluminescence?"

"Yeah - that."

"Ok - let's go this weekend. Ventura is out of lockdown."

He picked me up in his car, and we headed out of Los Angeles through the El Camino Real - also known as highway 101 or the King's Road.

"Let us go then, you and I, / When the [afternoon] is spread out against the sky / Like a patient etherized upon a table . . ."

In the car, I played PitBull's song - Time of Our Lives. I told him this our theme song, because we're going to have the time of our lives. "We'll pretend we're in another country and enjoy the day."

We started at a hike at the top of a hill, which overlooked Ventura. From there - you could see the blue Pacific Ocean. It was as blue as a the most peaceful moment.

At the top of the hill, I found some medicinal herbs growing wildly. I also found some wild flowers. We picked them to grow in my garden. We also plucked two flowers for our mothers. Something to show them that we remembered them.

The hiking trail was closed, and we were defying the law. We walked up to the top of the hill, which other people did too.

But when we returned to the car park, a police officer almost gave us a parking ticket. I told Elder - "What a Nazi. Doesn't he have anything else better to do on a Saturday than to come up to hill to prevent people going on a hike?" (Seriously, these government people have come to the point where they just don't want us to have fun.)

From there - Elder found parking by the City Hall. And we then walked around downtown. We went through the crowded tourist streets that sounded like muttering retreats.

We started at a bookstore that was 35 years old and owned by an older Norwegian woman. There were so many people in the store. And the store had a classic and quaint personality. In there, it was full of volumes of books of curious and forgotten lore.

I talked with here and greeted her in Swedish. She was taken back and said, "I can understand Swedish, but we say things differently."

"I learned, when I was in Stockholm."

She helped out other customers. I picked up an old book that showed all the hidden trails in California. It was from the 80's. I opened it up and showed Elder the different trails and pointed to them and said, "We can go there next time." "Or here." "Or here."

The store owner taught me how to say goodbye in Norwegian. She was happy we said it so formally and politely.

Then we went to a coffee shop - which was open and had tables outside for people to sit down at. I ordered a cappuccino - something I hadn't drank in a long, long time. And for Elder - a soy hot chocolate.

We sat outside. Drank our hot drinks, and we watched all the people coming and going. They were happy and celebrating the fact that lockdown was over. People were bringing their dogs out. One girl had a beautiful Rottweiler, and I asked if I could pet it, and she was happy I did so. I always wanted one.

A number of people talked to us. Our theme was always the same - "We're here to escape the Los Angeles lockdown." There were other people from LA also escaping it. We saw a number of cars lining up to go to Channel Islands too.

Then, Elder and I walked around and sat down at a Greek Restaurant. He never ate at a Mediterranean Restaurant. We ordered a special set of fries that had lamb, feta cheese, and yoghurt on it. It was so amazing and incredible. The meat was so full of flavor and was juicy.

The restaurant was crowded and an elderly lady sat next to us and started talking to us. She said she lived part of her life in the South of France; so, I started talking to her in French. My French is bad, but I could still understand her and that was good. And I was happy that I could understand her.

After we finished our food, we walked to different antique stores and the owners of them would greet us and tell them about their lives and their stores and their stories. Telling one's story is a real American thing.

We walked to the mission, which was opened in 1782 - just six years after America became a country. The priest came out and lit palo santo wood - which smelled fragrant and holy and drove out evil spirits from the area. He spoke to us in Spanish and told us he was from Jalisco Mexico and was priest for 20-something years.

After, we walked around more. Then we bought some gelato - pistachio and strawberry. I don't think Elder had gelato and never had the classic pistachio one. We ate it. It was good and sweet and made one feel happy.

Girl making heart on the beach in
Ventura

Then we walked to the beach and the pier and shot some photos. Sunset was coming and we had run out of time. I picked up some charcoal grilled pizza, and we had to leave Ventura.

I wanted to drive on the Pacific Coast Highway before nightfall. We made it just in time. And we drove down Highway 1 along the coast.

And at sunset, we got out of the car and sat down on the beach. There were other people around us, and we watched as the sun set below the horizon. You couldn't really see it well though, because there was too much mist in the air, which clouded the visibility.

Sadly - we were back in LA County though and police car came and chased us off. I told Elder - "They're evil, I tell you - like that police officer in Ventura who had nothing better to do than ticket hikers.

"We're back in LA Lockdown. They just don't want us having fun - because that means we don't believe in a crisis happening."

After, we drove through Highway 1, going through Zuma and Malibu and Santa Monica. And that was it. I played another song - Jim Croce's Time in a Bottle. (Incidentally, I think Quick Silver is awesome in the new X-men movies - in which they play the song.) And the songs say -

But there never seems to be enough time 
To do the things you want to do 
Once you find them

That was it. Elder finished his first road trip, his first time to Ventura, and his first time eating Greek food and gelato. We never saw the bioluminescence, which used to be call the Blue Tides. But we had a good time, escaped lockdown for awhile, and made the most of a day. Maybe one day we'll find an old pirate's treasure map, find that treasure, and then strike it rich.

And I know exactly where to find the map. It's hidden in that old bookstore in Ventura.

Future Predictions on the Covid-19 Pandemic

Sailor with Telescope by Martin Aaraard

Although governments are easing restrictions on our lockdown, it appears that they have no intention of returning our freedoms to us anytime soon. When you identify the private, wealthy players behind those in power, it's clear what their agenda is.

Bill Gates

Straight from the horses's mouth, Gates says that we're not even halfway through the pandemic. Gates wants to vaccinate us all. If you don't believe me - watch his interview. Gates also doesn't want us to gather together anytime soon. He also doesn't want us participating in sports like before.

Gates seems to suggest that another outbreak will happen soon.

WHO

The World Health Organization supports Gates in his desire to vaccinate us all - even if some of us have immunity by antibodies. Perhaps, this is because the Gates Foundation is one of their primary donors.

WHO actually stated that antibodies don't confer any immunity. Unless laws of immunity change for this one disease, this one time, they're lying to us. It appears, they too want everyone to get vaccinated.

Rockefeller Foundation

According to Scenarios for the Future, the Rockefeller foundation published four possible scenarios for the future. One is called Lock Step. Lock Step is described as the following:

"In 2012, the pandemic that the world had been anticipating for years finally hit. Unlike 2009’s H1N1, this new influenza strain—originating from wild geese—was extremely virulent and deadly. Even the most pandemic-prepared nations were quickly overwhelmed when the virus streaked around the world, infecting nearly 20 percent of the global population and killing 8 million in just seven months, the majority of them healthy young adults. The pandemic also had a deadly effect on economies: international mobility of both people and goods screeched to a halt, debilitating industries like tourism and breaking global supply chains. Even locally, normally bustling shops and office buildings sat empty for months, devoid of both employees and customers."

According to its opinion published in the Washington Post - the foundation wants everybody tested for Covid-19 and for businesses to implement changes for their employees. The foundation is heavily into the study of genetics and invests a lot in genetically modified foods.

Surveillance

Gradually, artificial intelligence software has been developed around the world to locate people wanted by the government. On April 14, 2019 - according to the NY Times, the Chinese government had developed artificial intelligence technology that could track at least half a million people. The title of the article is: One Month, 500,000 Face Scans: How China Is Using A.I. to Profile a Minority. It appears that this technology will be implemented for reasons of public health and to curb the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cashless Society

Already, Sweden and New Zealand are virtually cashless. In being a cashless society, there's a record of every transaction - giving the government a clue and a window into our privacy and daily lives. Already, Nordstrom said it won't be accepting cash. In addition to surveillance, a cashless society ensures that governments can collect their taxes.

The Second Depression

On March 18, 2020 - I wrote about how the Second Great Depression has come. On April 9, 2020 - the Washington Post confirmed we're in a depression. Then, 17 million were unemployed. Now, 20.2 million are unemployed.

These financial problems have climaxed with this alleged pandemic. But even before it, our U.S. government owed $6.4 trillion in debt.

Historically, this type of debt leads to war. Will there be a war with China? If not, it's very likely the U.S. will sue China for this pandemic and clear out its debt to it.

The Solution

In order to combat the erosion of our civil liberties, protests and civil disobedience are now required; otherwise, certain freedoms we had may be lost permanently. The legitimacy of our government is rooted in our consent. The time to stop consenting has come.