or Los Angeles the weather this entire summer and now on into Autumn has been superb; no rainfall, no humidity and moderate to high temperatures. Perfect, until the fires struck; from Santa Barbara into the San Fernando Valley and then further South to Orange County. The nightly news is filled with tales of home losses, bravery on the part of the Police and Fire Departments and stoicism of so many thousands who have had to desert their property, only to return to the heartbreak of losing all their worldly possessions. Whole neighborhoods giving the appearance of a war zone. Gradually, after a full week, there is mostly control of the fires. My heart goes out to the families who now have to decide what their future will be like. It will be tough.

I've decided not to become hooked on watching the stock market gyrations. Maybe a couple of times in the daily session ,maximum; how it opens and where it closes. More than that can drive one crazy; up and down swings by the hundreds in simply a few minutes. How, henceforth, will we be able to believe in almost any company or bank, or insurance group or industry?

By the time you are reading this we may well know whether or not Sen. Hillary Clinton, officially, has been offered the distinguished position of Secretary of State in the Obama cabinet. I hope so and I would anticipate that despite the growing stature in her senatorial role, she would accept. There's a lot that is exciting about the prospect of who'll be serving the administration and in what capacity. The world watches too. At a time when this nation and most of the world is enduring exceedingly difficult times, I feel deeply that with the incoming team we have the right man to be e our leader. I have faith and I would enjoy reading your comments.

Should we bail out the failing auto industry? Why? Can you think of any amount that would be sufficient to sustain Ford, GM and Chrysler and for how long?
If they are advanced 20, 50 or a 100 billion dollars, how long would it take before they are back, hat in hand. There must come a time when Washington stops rewarding bad decisions. Shoring up the financial companies to avoid the economic collapse of the free world, might be a simpler argument to defend, but giving handouts to companies that have, for years, been making bad business choices is hard to defend.
Seven years ago the airline industry received a bailout. Now it would appear that everyone wants a share. Who'll be next? If the Big Three want the public's help then they must restructure themselves. Otherwise you can bet the billions will disappear into the pockets of executives and we'll be the losers.
There is the other side to this situation. It would be sad to see domestic automobile production, more than likely, fall to zero. So many jobs will be lost, never to return. Nearly 3 million jobs would be lost in the first year alone and more would follow.

More tomorrow.