This is Bill. He moved to San Pedro in 1952 and has lived in this house for the past 45 years. He worked at the port for 15 years and is now retired.

He told me he was outside “doing a little cleaning up.”

BY THE WAY: The top picture is a composite. I had one photo that showed the junk pile well but I liked Bill’s expression better in another one. So I lifted it out and copied it onto the first photo. This is the kind of Photoshopping that got Brian Walski fired from the LA Times a few years ago. Luckily, I’m not a photojournalist, so I can get away with stuff like this.

April 7, 2018 — San Pedro, California

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PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

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