We have an article in this issue regarding a sea lion that is doing just fine. As explained in the article, many sea animals are suffering from a neurotoxin and are dying. The brain damage is irreversible. So sad to see so many dying right here in Ventura. To report animals in need, call Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute (CIMWI) 805-567-1506.
We also have an article about the removal of the Father Serra statue and the wooden sculpture that was the basis for it. This wooden sculpture was previously located at City Hall. It was the art piece of a Venturan, and I think should have remained at city hall.
Also, we have the third article featuring a homeless Venturan. We hope that these articles will help give a face to the homeless and an understanding of why they are in this predicament.
Research at UC San Francisco found that 82% of homeless report that they have experienced a serious mental health situation, 27% have been hospitalized for that condition and more than 60% report regularly using illicit drugs or heavy alcohol drinking.
Whatever happened to USA men’s tennis domination? We finally have 2 men ranked in the top 10 after many years. The 2 finalists at the recently completed French Open came from countries with a combined population of 12 million. There are 10 million people in just LA County.
Business leaders and public figures are concerned about the threat of mass extinction posed by artificial intelligence (Ai) including Sam Altman of OpenAI, the company behind the popular conversation bot ChatGPT. AI goes way beyond just creating articles. It could include phony photos with voices of leaders making statements such as, “The USA has dropped nuclear bombs on China.”
It’s started. A federal judge has imposed $5,000 fines on two lawyers and a law firm in an unprecedented instance in which ChatGPT was blamed for their submission of fictitious legal research in an aviation injury claim.
For the last six years, Finland has ranked No. 1 as the happiest country in the world. A Finnish philosopher Frank Martela, PhD explained how to be happy:
1. Live for yourself, not someone else’s expectations.
2. Become an expert and share your knowledge.
3. Practice random acts of kindness.
4. Be a good neighbor.
5. Embrace quiet time together.
An Idaho father killed a neighboring family because he was upset that the neighbor’s 18-year-old son had reportedly exposed himself to the man’s children. Majorjon Kaylor, 31, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the Father’s Day shooting. It now takes 4 people killed to be considered a mass killing – how sad is that?
A man in South Florida shot at the car of two people who drove onto his property after they got lost trying to drop off an Instacart order.
An Illinois man using a leaf blower in his own yard was fatally shot by his 79-year-old neighbor during an argument, marking the latest incident in which people are gunned down while going about their everyday lives.
“There’s no question there’s been a spike in violence,” said Daniel Nagin, a professor of public policy and statistics at Carnegie Mellon University. “Some of these cases seem to be just disputes, often among adolescents, and those disputes are played out with firearms, not with fists.”
Most gun killings are not by the “bad” guys, but just regular decent folks that bought guns to protect themselves. Will this madness ever stop?
The Ventura City Council has voted to hire a construction company to build a pipeline for an advanced water treatment plant for approximately $50 million. This is about $5 million more than another company with the lowest bid.
According to the city, the decision to hire Santa Barbara-based Aqueos Corp. over San Diego-based Pacific Marine Group Inc. was based on a technicality because Pacific Marine Group did not complete the necessary paperwork.
For $5 million, it seems to me that Pacific Marine should have been given the opportunity to correct the paperwork and given an opportunity to be selected for the work.
The program will convert treated wastewater into safe drinking water and reduce discharges of effluent into the Santa Clara River estuary. Construction is expected to begin in September in the area of Marina Park.
How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you was?
~ Satchel Paige
