NATION: Co-Living (aka Cooperative Housing) Coming to a City Near You?

This article came up recently in the Wall Street Journal: "Co-Living Takes on Bigger Spaces". I have been discussing cooperative housing as a solution for some time now. Indeed, I lived in a cooperative housing unit called the "Co-op" while attending UCLA. In fact, the "Co-op" (as it was unimaginatively called then, and is still called now) is still standing, and you can check on their rates. The co-op is sited on some of the most expensive land on the planet (Westwood, California), yet charges some of the lowest rates for housing anywhere.

Read about the coop as it operates today: https://www.yelp.com/biz/university-cooperative-housing-association-los-angeles-2

Here's the article (if the WSJ will let you read it): https://www.wsj.com/articles/co-living-buildings-going-big-in-brooklyn-and-bay-area-1539687600

'At co-living buildings, tenants lease tiny rooms in larger apartments shared with strangers. Renters have access to living rooms, kitchens and other common spaces, while amenities like cleaning services, dog walking and cooking classes are part of the deal.

This product, which is less than 10 years old and found primarily in large U.S. cities, represents only a tiny niche in the multibillion-dollar apartment industry. But developers are now preparing to build some of the largest new co-living properties in North America, a sign that the appeal of this type of housing could be broadening.

“Co-living’s institutional moment is now upon us,” said Chris Bledsoe, co-founder and chief executive of Ollie, which also recently opened a large co-living project with 422 bedrooms. “There’s no more flying by the seat of your pants.”'

Overturn the Electoral College, Lifetime Seats for Judges and Senate - NOT SO FAST!

https://www.nationalpopularvote.com
https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/14/politics/electoral-college/index.html
https://www.britannica.com/event/Constitutional-Convention

ELECTORAL COLLEGE
• The winner of the popular vote loses - that's not fair. However, that's what the "Framers of the Constitution" wanted. We don't have a "pure" democracy and never will.
• To eliminate the Electoral College (EC) requires:
(1) 2/3 vote in Senate;
(2) 2/3 vote in the House;
(3) 3/4 of all State Legislatures - 38 states as of now. The EC was designed to protect the small states from getting "trampled" by the big ones - that has not changed.
• Without the EC, national candidates would NEVER campaign or even care about the small states. Instead, they would just campaign in the large population centers of the country.
• With the EC, in a close race, all votes in the ENTIRE COUNTRY would have to be recounted! Remember Al Gore and Florida? That was only 3 counties, IIRC. The EC, by its very nature, avoids such a calamitous recount that could take months or even years!
• A recent effort to end the EC is trying to get states totaling 270 electoral votes to pass a bill in their legislatures pledging that the candidate who wins the national popular vote gets those states' electoral votes. It's been signed into law in 11 states, totaling 165 electoral votes, meaning they need another 105 to make it a reality -- which is very unlikely to happen. Should it happen, it is likely to be ruled Unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court as subverting the will of the constitution.
• FUN FACT: The winner of the popular vote has lost the presidency five times: 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000 and 2016.
• IMHO, the Electoral College was one of the most brilliant governing structures put into place in the constitution. It keeps the lowest population states from leaving the United States, because they feel that this structure gives them some say in their federal governance.
• The party that gets the popular vote but loses the Electoral College ALWAYS comes out against the EC. And then the tide changes, and they are on the winning end, and then the EC is a brilliant part of the constitution. Politicians!!!!! Politicians might enter politics for the "right" reasons, but power corrupts everyone in the end, and preserving power becomes their primary motivation, which explains this type of "flip-flopping", IMHO.

EQUAL SENATE REPRESENTATION PER STATE
• To eliminate the "2 Senators per State" structure is even more stringent, and would require ratification by all 50 states (Article V of the Constitution) - that's NEVER going to happen.
• The 2 Senators per State structure was necessary to get the small states to sign on during the Constitutional Convention in the summer of 1787.

LIFE TENURE FOR JUDGES
• Life Tenure for Judges: Madison wrote that life tenure for judges is the best way to secure steady and impartial administration of laws - that is still true today. Kind of like tenure for college professors.
• Side note: Kavanaugh cannot be impeached for conduct BEFORE he became a Supreme Court Justice. Also, Kavanaugh can only be investigated by a referral to federal prosecutors from the Senate, which is the only government entity to have judicial "Advise and Consent" powers.

Posts without a photo are no fun. Here's Brian in Beverage after a challenging hike up to Cove Spring. The funny part is that Brian is sitting in a "butt shaped" cut out in that rock. It was a very hot and very thorny, but very rewarding hike!

In Memoriam: Bev Morgan - Diving Pioneer and Founder of Dive N' Surf

https://divensurf.com/blogs/news/body-glove-history

http://www.internationallegendsofdiving.com/FeaturedLegends/Bev_Morgan_bio.htm

https://www.scubaboard.com/community/threads/bev-morgan-a-pioneer-has-passed.562550/

I worked as the head instructor of Dive N' Surf in Redondo Beach in the late 80's and early 90's.  Part of the Dive N' Surf / Meistrell / Bev Morgan legend is described at the Dive N' Surf web site:

"In 1953, Bev Morgan offered Bill the opportunity to buy in to his local marine / dive shop, Dive N’ Surf. Bev owned the shop with Hap Jacobs, who later pioneered the modern surfboard. Jacobs wanted out and Bill accepted the offer on the condition that his brother Bob be brought in as the third partner. Bev agreed, Bob and Bill borrowed $1800 from their mother and each bought one third of the business. To keep themselves afloat, the twins continued lifeguarding on a part- time basis."

PHOTO: Me and Bev Morgan in 2006 at Bill Meistrell's memorial service at the famous Seaside Lagoon in Redondo Beach.

PHOTO: Me and Bobby Meistrell - I was honored to have known him. One of the greatest watermen EVER.