When disasters occur, we often see the best of people but we often also see the worst of people. The catastrophe in California caused by the wildfires is no different. We see the best in people and we see the worst in people. We see neighbors helping neighbors and we see people looting. We see people stepping up to the plate and doing extraordinary things and some people are just talking trash. We see a lot of love but we also see a lot of hate. The whole process just amazes me. I love seeing people doing what they can. I love people doing things with no strings attached. I hate bitter-controlling people trying to tell everyone what others should be doing to support these victims when they are not stepping up to the plate themselves.

Venessa Bryant the widow of Kobe Bryant the great Los Angeles basketball player is one of those people who stepped up to the plate. She was at Dodger Stadium giving away free Nike Basketball shoes and other items. The first thing that came to my mind was great. She would be giving a child a pair of shoes that had probably lost most of their shoes. With the gift, she was putting a smile on the faces of the people who received the shoes after experiencing such horrors. She was also honoring the legacy of her late husband with the gift. Kobe’s widow shared her heartbreak over the fires stating that one of the wildfires began on the street where she and Kobe once lived. On Instagram, she wrote “We have so many beautiful memories from living in LA. My heart and prayers go out to everyone in LA who is affected by the fires. We love you. LA.” Her gifting of shoes to fire victims was received well by some but as you can expect it was received badly by others.  Some of the criticism just bothers me.” Imagine losing your home and getting gifted some shoes…Don’t even got a closet to keep them in” one person posted. Another posted just “Where are they going to put them?” Now some of these shoes can retail for $150 which has led people to say that they are going to just be sold on eBay. My wife was an elementary school teacher so I asked her about that. She stated that some of her students only had one pair of shoes so getting a pair of Basketball shoes was a really big deal. Will some of the shoes be sold on eBay? Yes! I think that many of them will go on the feet of children who have lost so much. Michelle Obama challenges people to “Do Something”. Venessa Bryant did “Do Something” and doesn’t deserve to be criticized by people who would rather complain than “Do Anything”.

Another situation that strikes me as interesting is the complaints about Mandy Moore. Mandy Moore had to evacuate their house with her family because of the wildfires. Their house is not livable like many others. She has family members who have also lost everything and a GoFundMe page was started to help them recover. She did not start the GoFundMe page; she only shared the link. To some, you would think she was trying to steal their money. In some ways, I understand why some people are upset because she is worth about 14 million dollars but we see this all the time. We had a very popular “dive” restaurant close down. The owner died and the kids who inherited it put it up for sale for 7.8 million dollars and got 5.5 million for it. They set up a GoFundMe page to help the employees they were laying off because of the sale of the restaurant. I am sure the employees appreciated any help they could get but there were quite a few customers who were upset because after getting 5.5 million the family wasn’t taking care of the employees they were laying off. To be honest with you I have no idea if the employees got a severance package or not.

What bothers me is that many will criticize Mandy Moore or the Family of Bonita Bills without knowing the facts. Facts and searching for the facts are not important to too many. Mandy could be helping a lot while she’s trying to put her whole life back together which has also been turned upside down by the wildfires. The employees of Bonita Bill could have gotten a severance package. The point is we don’t know. Until we do maybe we should stop throwing stones. We have seen far worse. One of the worst beggars for money is, of course, Donald Trump. After the Jan, 6^th committee stated that they were going to subpoena him, Trump sent out a massive fundraising-raising email asking all his supporters to donate at least $45 to his Save America Joint Fundraising Committee even though he had not declared himself a candidate. Trump used the money to pay for his rallies, pay staffers, and pay his legal expenses. Here is a Billionaire and I emphasize Billionaire begging for money from his supporters so he can stay out of jail. The problem that I have is that people were sucker enough to send him money. The other problem is it shows a real lack of integrity in the billionaire asking for money while he lives the lifestyle of royalty. Between 2020 and 2024 Trump's net worth has doubled and he is asking the people who can’t afford to buy eggs for money to keep him out of jail. He states that he is fighting against the radical left, whatever that is, what he is fighting for is maintaining his rich lifestyle, staying out of jail, and helping his supporters stay poor. He states he is fighting for them when in reality he wouldn’t let them in even the back door of any of his resorts.

At times all the hate and fear that I see around me is exhausting. What is this hate trying to accomplish? Well, one thing is control. Billionaires are taking advantage of most of the complaining, hate, and fear. Hateful and fearful people are easier to control. Hate and fear have been a destructive force in America since its inception. Hate and fear are the two emotions that Billionaires use to control the masses and it has been that way since the beginning of time. That is why so many were led to believe that some king was ordained by God to govern over them. Until God comes and tells me himself that someone is meant to rule over me, I will stand for nothing less than our democratic republic.