reaganlibrary.gov

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

In normal times, the Reagan Library in Simi Valley in California is like the Shining City on a Hill that Reagan spoke about in his uplifting farewell address. As I am writing this paragraph on October 30th, 2019, the Reagan Library is assaulted by Mother Nature. It is ravaged by the Easy Fire. California has again a really bad fire season this year. Today I saw a picture of the entry way to the library which you can see below. A lot of people in Northern and Southern California have been evacuated from various fire zones as strong Diablo and Santa Ana winds make the control of fires almost impossible. Firefighters have to try to save lifes, and property if possible. President Trump would probably say again that the people in California have not been raking the leafs in their forests well enough. Power companies have started to shut off power for millions of people during these red flag events because several of the recent, very destructive, fires were caused by failing electrical infrastructure. During high wind events trees may fall into power lines. 
Another famous line from Reagan comes to mind: "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help." Well, as the Easy Fire was threatening Ronald's Shining Library it is the Government that is saving his resting place. Credit to Paul Waldman at the "failing" (according to Trump) Washington Post for pointing out this contradiction. 
As you drive up to the top of the hill you see images of the US presidents in their historic order attached to the light poles. If you follow this link you can see the Reagan Library in happier times. It is an amazing place. Below you can see a picture with a positive message that Reagan left us. I wish #45 would have ever voiced such a positive message on his own. Without a teleprompter he is really mostly divisive and homophobic. Now if you read Reagan's message carefully you will actually notice that it has "Trump" inside (TRiUMPh)! 
Hopefully, if Reagan is right, we will eventually have triumph what is right and not the Right triumph with Trump.
When you leave the Reagan Library you will pass President Obama's image at the top of the hill, just after the roundabout. From there it is downhill to Donald Trump. Literally - as well as figuratively! I wonder who will be on the next light post further downhill. Maybe "Trump reloaded" as "President for Life"? Or he gets a life sentence? Time will tell ...  
In light of the worsening wild fires, power shutdowns, and evacuations it might be a good idea for the next president to take half of the bloated defense budget and work with congress to develop strategies so that impacted communities can be made more resilient against natures wrath. All our military fire power is not particularly useful in combating fires. Just by denying global warming these problems do not go away. Similarly the communities who are exposed to coastal flooding will have to be hardened or move out of harms way at some point. Sticking the head in the sand will not solve these problems.
The communities that experience power shutdowns would benefit if families had plug-in vehicles and solar panels that could provide power from their batteries or even from the engine if the battery is depleted in an off-grid operating mode. As I described here we saved a lot of money by getting solar panels and a PHEV. With some minor additional engineering it should be possible to create an off-grid power island for a home with the components that we already have in the car and the solar system.
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