Richard V. Rupp

December 20, 2023

SEASON'S GREETINGS from the old writer in Burbank, California. Welcome to my monthly RUPP'S NOTES & FBI SPECIAL AGENT HARTMANN SERIES post.

 

Hopefully, you are staying warm and dry in this crazy weather that is engulfing most of us. For those of you who are driving over the holidays, stay safe.

 

CHRISTMAS PARTY

 

On December 6th, I attended the Warner Bros. Retirees Christmas Party held at a local hotel and had a great time singing and dancing. The Burbank Senior Artist Colony, where I live, had its own table at the event. One of the reasons I wanted to go was to see if anyone remembered my father.

 

Prior to the party, I thumbed through numerous pictures (hundreds) that my dad had left me. Based on a group of them, it is apparent that the Warner Bros behind-the-camera staff liked to party. I took several of the pictures that had my dad in them to the Christmas Party in hopes someone would remember them. The ones I selected were various Christmas and birthday parties held at Warner Bros. I also took a picture my dad had taken of President Eisenhower's motorcade as it passed by the studio in 1954. As I get older, you kind of forget about how long you've been around. Nobody knew my father. Let's see, he retired from Warner Bros. in 1958 and would be 127 today. Yep, I'm getting older.

 

My party experience got me reminiscing, so I pulled out a book about the Rupp family my sister Rosalie had put together and sent me for Christmas in 2000. The section about my dad reminded me of the recent Hollywood movie industry strike. Rose mentions that the studios went on strike all the time. The Unions were very strong and got the employees very good wages. Thank you, IATSE. You helped my brother, sister, and me have great childhoods and upbringings. We always had a Christmas tree in the living room with gifts under it. I am one of the lucky ones with respect to how and where I was brought up. During the strikes, Mom often put Dad to work repainting the house inside and out.

 

CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS

 

Last year, The Federal Reserve put a lump of coal in our Christmas stockings by constantly raising interest rates. I'm looking forward to looking into my stocking this year as it appears they will be stuffed with a few greenbacks for those of us who are living off retirement plans invested in the stock market.  

 

After the last Fed meeting, Chairperson Jerome Powell said that the Fed's historic tightening of monetary policy is probably over, and the time for reducing borrowing costs is coming "into view."

 

It even looks like the Fed will continue giving presents throughout 2024. They have indicated they will keep interest rates steady through the year. The last 2023 policy decision predicts they will cut the cost of borrowing three times in 2024. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has increased more than 500 points in response, with a record-high close. The Fed's last meeting statement acknowledged that inflation "has eased" over the past year, and the central bank formally lowered its inflation forecast for 2024, seeing a 2.4% rate down from 2.6%.

 

Yes, we have a true Santa Clause rally that looks like it will continue through the year. I just keep my fingers crossed that the current geopolitical risks around the world do not change this.

 

MISSING CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS

 

Why, in the wealthiest country in the world, do so many people have no place to hang their Christmas stockings? There are now 46,000 more people living on sidewalks or in abandoned buildings, bus stations, etc., this year than last, and 23,000 more people are staying in emergency shelters, transitional housing programs, or safe havens than last year.

 

I just read a report that indicates homelessness in the US has grown to the highest level since the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) started tracking the figure back in 2007, with a record 653,104 people experiencing homelessness. That's 12% of our population.

 

There is no question that the wealth divide is widening in our country. When I was growing up, I seldom saw a homeless person on the streets. Today, as I drive around the Hollywood Area, they are everywhere. As I have indicated in previous Newsletters, what Los Angeles and New York are doing to alleviate the problem is exacerbating it. The latest HUD estimate indicates that people becoming homeless for the first time accounted for much of the increase. As a senior citizen, I noted that it is estimated over 25% of those experiencing homelessness were over 54 years of age.

 

OUR FUTURE LEADERS

 

Based on an experience I had with a group of young people I believe our future will be in good hands. This belief is based on an assignment I received from the City of Burbank Senior Board, of which I am a member. I was assigned to determine if there is anything our Board could do in conjunction with the Burbank Youth Board.

 

The City of Burbank Youth Board comprises seventeen members, who are students at the four high schools and six middle schools in Burbank. Each selected participant serves for one year, commencing on September 1st. The Board has eight powers and duties which include "To represent of interests of local youth in community affairs," and "To conduct studies and investigations in the general field of youth and community interest and to communicate it findings and recommendation to the Council."

 

My first step in my assignment was to attend the December 6th City of Burbank Youth Board meeting as an observer. During this meeting, the Youth Board discussed and determined its goals for the year. I was very impressed with the discussion, which resulted in the following three projects they wanted to focus on:

 

1.     Making books that have been banned by the Burbank School Board available to students who want to read them. The Youth Board is going to determine if they could work with the local librarians and the Burbank Barnes & Noble Store to accomplish this objective.

 

MICROSOFT BING indicates that "The Burbank Unified School District has banned several classic novels from their curriculum, including Harper Lee's TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, Mark Twain's THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN, John Steinbeck's OF MICE AND MEN, Theodore Taylor's THE CAY and Mildred D. Taylor's ROLL OF THUNDER, HEAR MY CRY. 

 

An AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION report indicates that there were more than 1,200 requests to ban library books in 2022. This is the highest number on record since the association began 20 years ago.

 

According to BING most of the recent requests to ban books originate from two groups – The religious right and minorities who believe certain books disparage them.

 

2.     Address the increasing student mental health problems on the school campuses. They believe this to be a major problem for their own safety. One idea they had was to convince the school board to establish a "calming room" or "quiet space" where distressed students could chill out.

 

3.     At the suggestion of the Youth Board's professional staff, they are going to consider making a video about the adverse effects of vaping. The staff made this suggestion because of the availability of funding for such a video from the State of California's Tobacco Grant Program.

 

I was very impressed by the open discussion between the Youth Board Members (all well under 20 years of age). Our representatives in Washington, DC, could learn something from them.

 

I'm proud of my city for establishing Senior and Youth Boards to advise the Council on items affecting these age groups (over 55 and under 20).

 

Unlike other cities, Burbank voters do not elect a mayor; they elect council members who do so. While the title wields significant power in some cities, the role of the mayor in Burbank is mostly symbolic.

 

If you are curious about Burbank, here's the tagline to our new mayor's press release - Burbank is a diverse community of 106,800 residents. Billed as the "Media Capital of the World", numerous media and entertainment companies are headquartered in Burbank, including Warner Bros. Entertainment, The Walt Disney Company, Nickelodeon Animation Studios, Netflix animation, and Cartoon Network Studios. With the Hollywood Burbank Airport located within the City, Burbank is a go to destination for business and tourism. Additionally, Burbank is known for its walkable and safe neighborhoods, well-run school district, and "small town" charm.

 

MY PROCRASTINATION/AGING PROBLEMS

 

First, I must admit that my attention span is contracting as I get older. Also, I prefer doing research rather than putting words down on numbered pages.

 

I've just finished the book A CITY ON MARS by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith and found it presented problem after problem for my SKYWARD novel storyline. The authors present logical problems that need to be solved before the colonization of space becomes realistic. I differ with their belief that there is no urgency to the colonization of space – Here's a section of their preamble to the text – "Because much of this book hinges on the idea that there is no urgent need to settle space, here we'll try to convince you that most of the pro-settlement arguments are wrong." A recurring theme in the book is that "we need to know more" before trying to colonize space.

 

I must admit that I skim-read through the sections on "space law," and the storyline in SKYWARD has no one paying attention to it. Space becomes the wild, wild West for those with money. Power supersedes any laws between countries.

 

I look around the world today, and I'm more convinced than ever that space colonization must be as important as the battle against climate change. It will ensure humanity continues into the future and, in some ways, may help with some of our current earthly problems.

 

I will say that a lot of A CITY ON MARS was written "tung in cheek." But the points made as to the problems ahead in space exploration and colonization are realistic and get you thinking. I have placed  have a lot of stickers on pages I want to go back to, and I have yellow highlighted a number of lines in the chapters titled "Space Sex and Consequences Thereof" and "Outputs and Inputs: Poop, Food, and 'Closing the Loop.'" Note what has happened in space is now being considered for use on earth. For example on the "Poop" side of things. The CALIFORNIA STATE WATER RESOURCES CONTROL BOARD is considering regulations that would allow the reuse of treated sewage water in drinking water systems, a process known as "toilet to tap" in select municipalities. This move aims to expand the water supply in a state facing periodic severe droughts.

 

While space, the Moon, or Mars may present hostile environments for humans, I read or hear every day about earthly hostile environments that are far worse. I suspect many people in Gaza today would be happy to try space colonization.

 

From Weinersmith's book - "If the goal is generations in space, it's not enough to show that conception and birth are possible – we need to know those babies can grow up to have their own babies." WHY? And how are you going to do that? Humans have proven over time that they can find a way to adapt. As I have previously said in other editions of this Newsletter – Humans will become the rats or cockroaches of space.

 

My procrastination problem continues as I am now (for research purposes) reading PACKING FOR MARS by Mary Roach. Here's the BOSTON GLOBE review – "Over the course of several frank chapters, (Mary) Roach explores the nitty-gritty details of life in space that filmmakers and historians tend to gloss over."

 

I DON'T WANT TO KNOW

 

"I don't want to know" is what the public is saying about today's news. A recent report by the Pew Research Center traced news consumption levels back to the months preceding the Trump Presidency. In March 2016, fifty-one percent of adults in the United States said that they followed the news "all or most of the time." That share fell to thirty-eight percent in August 2022, the last time the center collected responses. During the same period, the number of people who said that they hardly ever follow the news nearly doubled to nine percent.

 

With the surge of technology, social media, and a 24-hour news cycle, exposure to traumatic events has rapidly increased over the past few decades. According to a survey conducted by Pew in 2015, "65% of adults now use social networking sites – a nearly tenfold jump in the past decade." Much of the public's news consumption occurs on these digital platforms. We are gaining a much misinformed or uninformed society.

 

TRANSITION AWAY

 

I mentioned above that I didn't pay much attention to "space law" in SKYWARD as it is apparent that many countries do not follow the agreements they have made in the international treaties they have signed, especially those involving "environmental law."

 

There was the MONTREAL PROTOCOL of 1987, then the KYOTO PROTOCOL of 1997, then the PARIS AGREEMENT of 2015 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Now we have the DUBAI COP28 to "transition away from fossil fuels.

 

None of the agreements prior to Dubai were followed by the nations that signed them. In fact, the global use of fossil fuel-generated energy has dramatically increased every year since 1965 according to the ENERGY INSTITUE STATISTICAL REVIEW. The Institute indicates that consumption of fossil fuel energy reached a record 137,000 terawatt-hours in 2022, with 39% coming from the use of oil. Global energy-related emissions continued to grow, up 0.8%, despite strong growth in renewables.

 

In an article in SKY NEWS Professor Ilan Kelman, an expert in disasters and health at University College London, indicates that most countries, including the UK and the US, have been "transitioning away from fossil fuels" for decades. "This is simply the international community saying we agree that we are transitioning and will continue to transition. "But what does it mean? Not a lot unless we act on it. It's just legal terminology. We've had similar wording in agreements before that haven't been acted on."

 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

 

I hope you have a great Christmas with your loved ones, and I extend my best wishes for next year.

 

Until next month.

 

Cheers,

 

Richard V. Rupp, Author

Website – www.richardvrupp.com

Email – rupprisk@gmail.com

Copyright@2023 by Richard V. Rupp