MCT: Wednesday, June 24, 2020

• Slightly Cooler
• Boonville Protest
• Renaming FB
• Hokey Pokey
• 72 Cases
• Horse Team
• Ed Notes
• Watered Oxen
• Canned Wine
• Fox Kits
• 2020 Class
• Handley To-Go
• Police Reports
• Bath House
• Bostrom Solutions
• Yesterday's Catch
• Ox Team
• Junipero Serra
• Hot Springs
• Rouse Dislikes
• Horsepower
• Bolton Legacy
• Castro Street
• Failing Systems
• Starter Kit
• Political Dysfunctional
• Logs Out
• Horse Whipping
• Climbing Rose
• Gentrification Beautification
• Ran Out
• Black Victims
• Found Object

DESPITE SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPERATURES TODAY, an extended stretch of hot, dry, and sunny weather will continue across interior northwest California through the end of the week. Onshore breezes and marine layer clouds will keep most coastal areas seasonably cool. (NWS)

THE BOONVILLE BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTEST GROUP was back on task last Sunday, their fourth protest in four weeks. 

QUITE AN EVENING IN LITTLE FORT BRAGG.

by Rex Gressett

As American cities burn and monuments to Jefferson, Washington and Roosevelt fall from their pedestals, as police are assassinated and books are burned by the raging mob, Mayor Will Lee, the hitherto colorless Mayor of Fort Bragg, California, took the occasion of the regular meeting of the City Council to welcome the woke revolution to the city of Fort Bragg — just in time for the election.

Our smiling, policy-devoid Mayor has discovered his purpose in governance. Monday night, Will Lee emerged from his customary muttering incoherence to demand that the city of Fort Bragg change its name.

Fort Bragg is named after a slaveholding rotten old Confederate. The Mayor has been told by hundreds of social justice advocates that it is high time that we got over it. In this moment of grave historical crisis, our little coastal city has discovered that Will Lee is not limited to being incompetent, vindictive and petty.

In a stunning overnight transformation, the least effective mayor in our history has become our ideological leader. I must say he took to the role. It was an unusually effective performance.

Will Lee rolled the city council up and dropped them like bowling pins. By the end of the meeting, every member of the City Council took a stand for the eradication of local historical memory. Not one councilor was willing to stand against the name change. Every councilperson bought into the Mayor's call for general self-abasement and voluntary self re-education.

Councilor Jessica Morsell-Haye was avidly enthusiastic about the initiation of a protracted heart-searching community conversation.

But the whole council was into it — the profound soul-destroying racism that eats at the core of every (white) citizen of Fort Bragg. It must be wrestled into the light and exposed by the self-appointed purity police.

The mayor made it clear that if you are white, it is your solemn duty to confess your racism — even if you ignorantly thought you did not have any.

And of course, the city of Fort Bragg must be renamed. Otherwise, the long line of speakers gravely informed us, the KKK and white supremacy sympathizers will flock to the city and decent people and their tourist money will shun us for our inhumanity.

Before the evening's main event, Councilman Bernie Norvell and Police Chief John Naulty took center stage to announce that the Fort Bragg police will be conducting more thorough background checks of candidates for the Police Department.

It was a statement of leadership and apt to the moment. Naturally, in the wider discussion of race guilt and repentance, it did not get that much traction and Mayor Lee sat silent and glowering waiting for his moment.

Then Mayor Will Lee got down to the name-changing business and rallied what was an unassailable voting block of politically correct social justice advocates to strike at the evil heart of our community's heinous and deep-rooted racism.

The heavily masked and socially distanced council allowed nine citizens (at a time) inside the building and reserved four seats for the press — NBC, the Associated Press, KQED and the Press Democrat were supposed to be there but were no-shows. I got one of their seats. Mistake. The action was outside Town Hall where the meeting inside was blasted from speakers and Scott Menzies rallied a giddy crowd of millennial social warriors banging their tom-toms and cheering.

Mayor Lee allowed two minutes for every speaker.

But first, by his mayoral authority, brought to the head of the line were two representatives of the local Pomo Indians to speak as long as they wanted.

Somewhat awkwardly, the tribal spokesperson OPPOSED changing the name of the city. Appeasing white guilt was not on his agenda — but the mayor listened with rapt attention and duly bowed and complimented and promised the guy a seat at the table as a spokesman for Indian sensibilities.

The guy seemed disgusted. I would have been.

A long line of politically correct, race-baiting social reformers (with their deep self-awareness) filed one-by-one up to the microphone and hammered on the importance of changing the city's name.

A few citizens opposed it. They spoke with dignity and a strangely muted passion like quiet voices of reason in the midst of a storm — while outside the mostly millennial crowd and their elderly boosters followed every word of the guilt peddlers and clapped and shouted mostly at the right times.

By the end of the meeting, the social justice reformers had outnumbered and out-guilted everybody. By the end of the evening, the Fort Bragg City Council was totally cowed and compliant.

Even Vice Mayor Bernie Norvell cut bait and signed on to the social justice political movement with a creative and cowardly suggestion that we keep the name, but pretend that we are now referencing a more palatable Mr. Bragg. Bernie reminded us that there are other, better, Braggs than the one we got stuck with, and we should all just jilt the rascal and move on with a nicer Bragg if we can find one.

With the possible exception of Bernie, both sides knew there was a lot at stake. The nation might not be watching now, but if little Fort Bragg changes its name it would be the perfect complement to the more violent destruction of public monuments burning buildings and random beatings.

Locally, it will no doubt teach the independent-minded Fort Bragg a little much-needed obedience. Will Lee is putting the historically independent, politically engaged city back in the box of political correctness.

And Monday night the crowd of self-hating white kids was big enough to make it look like victory.

I guess it was.

COVID CASES ON THE RISE.

Miller Report for the Week of June 22, 2020

By William Miller, MD – Chief of Staff at MCDH

As of this writing on Tuesday evening, June 23^rd, today ten additional new cases of COVID were identified in our county bringing the total number of confirmed cases up to 72, with one patient currently hospitalized elsewhere. Of these 72, the Ft. Bragg area only represents one case. Probably, most of this increase is due to expanded testing in Ukiah. According to the county health department, we have tested just over 9,400 persons here in the county. Compared with other parts of the US and California, this is only a modest rise. The exponential increases seen in the Los Angeles area, as well as parts of the US, cannot be attributed to just an increase in testing. This is because, in those areas, the number of hospital and ICU admissions along with COVID related deaths is also increasing exponentially. Thus, the disease is increasing, not just the number of positive tests results. 

As shelter-in-place requirements continue to be rolled back, we will see an increasing number of cases here in Mendocino County. Eventually, we will see more cases here on the Coast. We should not be alarmed by this. It is what we know must eventually happen as we move to restart our economy, so much of which is based on people traveling in and out of our communities.

As long as we continue to be mindful, wear face coverings, wash hands frequently and social distance, then the increase in cases should remain gradual and it will be a situation that we can cope with. Unfortunately, there is no way around the reality that there will be people who get infected by this virus and that some of those people will not survive the infection. What we have hopefully achieved by the measures of shelter-in-place is not only a flattening of the curve, but also creating a situation where we will be better able to take care of the people who do become sick.

Consistent surveillance testing of our community is of increasing importance and remains frustratingly difficult to establish. The problem is largely the continued lack of availability of the supplies to perform the test. Our County Supervisors, Ted Williams and Dan Gjerde, along with Dr. Naomi Doohan of the Health Department have been working with Adventist Health – Mendocino Coast (formerly Mendocino Coast District Hospital), Mendocino Coast Clinic and the City of Ft. Bragg, to find a way to bring large scale surveillance testing here to the Coast and do so soon. It is our goal to be able to perform 200-300 tests per week on a consistent basis. Currently, it has been in sporadic batches of 100. So, for the moment, consistent, large scale surveillance testing is coming, but not quite here yet.

Fortunately, we have been more successful in setting up medical testing here on the Coast. Currently, we can test anyone who is symptomatic upon the order of their primary care provider. We currently are testing all admissions to the hospital who have symptoms and in the next few days will expand that to all patients admitted to our hospital regardless of symptoms. We are also currently testing all surgery patients. At this time, we are not offering antibody testing, because none of the tests available are reliable enough to distinguish between prior COVID infection from certain other coronavirus infections that cause the common cold. Additionally, it is unclear if having antibodies to COVID grants any type of reliable or long term immunity. However, there are several promising antibody tests being developed that may help better answer some of those questions and when they become available, then we intend to offer them.

While testing is very important and helps reduce spread through contact tracing when a person who is infected is identified, it cannot replace the value of those three simple things: face coverings, hand washing and social distancing. It may seem to some that such simple steps cannot be that important, but they are. Others may reject such recommendations because they intrude on our personal liberties. I am sure that most of us, my self included, are tired of hearing about them. However, they are, in fact, the most important thing we can do right now to protect ourselves and our community from this virus. So, thank you for listening once again to that message and for taking those simple steps to protect yourself and others.

HORSE TEAM, NOYO

ED NOTES

FORT BRAGG'S leadership has deftly sidetracked the name change controversy by shuffling it off to a possible citizen committee where it would die a slow death by talking, just as deftly the city council left the issue to the voters so long as some portion thereof gathered the signatures to get it on the ballot. Put to a vote, a name change would be double-done to not happening.

ALL this statue-trashing and name-changing is a tribute to our schools. Millions of people are suddenly aware that American history is not the fairy tale they were led to believe. Black people, of course, have known all along, hence recent events. What's that Jim Harrison said about history? The sound is iron on bone, the smell is blood. Something true like that.

WHITE MAN SQUARE-OFF. Who's whiter, more privileged? University of Chicago economist Harald Uhlig lost his contract with the Chicago Federal Reserve when he tweeted that the Black Lives Matter movement “just torpedoed itself, with its full-fledged support of #defundthepolice.” Uhlig said he was more inclined to Biden-ism, more moderate reform. Colleagues of Uhlig's demanded his head. They said they want him out as editor of their unreadable publication, the Journal of Political Economy. Paul Krugman of the NYT, arguably among the most privileged white men in the world, denounced Uhlig in a tweet as a “privileged white man” whose “objectivity” was so suspect he couldn't be trusted to edit the journal. (Economists are famous for their objectivity, as everyone knows.) Then an academic hack at the University of Michigan named Justin Wolfers piled on, claiming that Uhlig had criticized "left-wing violence." They're back! Madam Dafarge and Javert! 

THE LAST statement from the purged economist may be the only valid charge against him. There is no left in the country. Hasn’t been one for years, and if there's ever an American left again, this is how it will happen: the abolition of college tenure. That happens, the barricades go up the next day.

NOW YER TALKING, DONNY. The dear leader said this morning that we'll all be getting a second stimulus check that will be “very generous.” House Democrats had passed a $3 trillion package back in May, modestly called the HEROES Act (after themselves) and then instinctively opposed by the equivalently heroic Republicans. Asked if he supported another round of financial aid, Trump said, "Yeah, we are. We are." 

IT SEEMS from here that the oligarchy, aka the One Percent, better get a lot of money out there fast, before the mass desperation really takes hold, and before the neo-Jacobins come after them. The "uprisings" we've seen so far are just the warm-up act to come when unemployment insurance runs out and real hunger begins because people have no money. It also seems from here that the prevalent present delusion, that there's going to be a major bounce-back and life will resume as it was prior to the shutdown, truly is delusional. From here on is Tough City. 

WATERED OXEN, POINT ARENA

BOONVILLE! ALWAYS ON THE CUTTING EDGE!

Mendocino County held the first International Canned Wine Competition at the Boonville Fairgrounds on Wednesday, where over 200 canned wines from around the world competed for Gold Medals and to be Best in Class.

ukiahdailyjournal.com/2019/07/25/boonville-hosts-first-international-canned-wine-competition/

THE CLASS OF 2020! AND 2026!

Editor,

 Thank you for recognizing the Anderson Valley Elementary sixth-grade class of 2020 in the June 3, 2020 issue. With the cessation of on-campus learning, this year’s class was presented with numerous challenges, including the inability to gather for social interactions with their peers. Additionally, they were unable to be acknowledged as in the past for the time they spent at the school. While we were unable to give them a formal farewell this year, being able to see them “together” one more time was extremely gratifying and certainly appreciated. Thank you, 

Sid Frazer

Principal, Anderson Valley Elementary

TO GO MENU AT HANDLEY CELLARS, PHILO

This week’s winemaker to-go menu from Handley Cellars and Chef Marie features…

Salade of local Heirloom tomatoes (from Blue Meadow Farm) with French vinaigrette and shaved parmesan Bread and butter

Roast filet mignon on the rare side ala bordelaise sauce, au gratin potatoes and asparagus

A sweet treat

Paired with Handley 2016 Kazmet Syrah

The price for this package is $82 (dinner for two) 

It is available for pick up Thursday June 25th between 4pm and 5:30pm. Please order by end of day Monday June 22nd by emailing mary@handleycellars.com or phoning 707-895-3876.

Bon Appetit! 

20% off wine portion for locals and club members

5% of wine sales in June donated to @antipoliceterrorproject and @peoplesbreakfastoakland in support of #blacklivesmatter

LuLu McClellan

REDWOOD VALLEY CHOMO

On Monday, June 8, 2020 at about 11:00 AM, Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Deputies were dispatched to meet with a juvenile female and her parents regarding a child abuse situation.

The reported incident occurred during a family event on Saturday, June 6, 2020 in the 10000 block of East Road in Redwood Valley.

Following an interview, the investigation was referred to Sheriff's Office Detectives who identified Juan Diego Vazquez-Cendejas, 22, of Willits as having allegedly committed the abuse.

On Wednesday, June 10, 2020 at about 5:00 PM in response to this investigation, Sheriff's Detectives and Patrol Deputies, served a search warrant in the 1200 block of Locust Street in Willits.

During the course of the search warrant, Vazquez-Cendejas was contacted and interviewed.

At the conclusion of the search warrant it was determined there was sufficient probable cause to arrest Vazquez-Cendejas for Sexual Abuse of a Minor stemming from the initial reported incident.

Further investigation revealed Vazquez-Cendejas was also suspected of multiple acts of sexual abuse with the same juvenile in 2019 resulting in a charge of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child under 14 years of age.

Vazquez-Cendejas was arrested for the listed charges and booked into the Mendocino County Jail where he was to be held in lieu of $200,000 bail.

This remains an active investigation and anyone with information related to this investigation or Juan Diego Vazquez-Cendejas is asked to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Tip-Line at 707-234-2100 or through the We-Tip Anonymous Crime Reporting Hotline at 800-782-7463.

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SHAYLYNN, NO!

On Monday, June 15, 2020 Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Deputies were dispatched to a report of an adult female with a knife chasing an adult male in the 11600 block of Pine Avenue in Potter Valley.

Upon their arrival, Deputies learned Shaylynn Lockhart, 26, of Potter Valley had been upset and acting erratically throughout the day. Lockhart's erratic behavior lead to her ex-boyfriend, an adult male, locking her out of his residence.

Lockhart broke out a window of the residence and gained entry into the living room where she punched and scratched the adult male causing an injury.

The adult male fled the residence and ran onto the roadway of Pine Avenue. Lockhart chased after the adult male picking up a kitchen knife with a six-inch blade.

The adult male, concerned for his safety, grabbed a stool and used it to fend off Lockhart who began slashing at him with the knife.

The adult male struck Lockhart with the stool in self defense and knocked the knife out of her hand.

Lockhart walked back towards the adult male's residence while removing all of her clothing. Lockhart then entered into the residence where she began destroying property.

A motorist who had been driving on Pine Avenue witnessed the events and provided the adult male with a ride to safety.

Lockhart was discovered asleep inside the adult male's residence and was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon, domestic violence battery, and violation of probation.

Lockhart was booked into the Mendocino County Jail where she was to be held in lieu of $30,000 bail.

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THE 2AM CLUB

On Sunday, June 21, 2020 at approximately 2:05 A.M. the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Dispatch Center received numerous 911 calls regarding gun shots heard in the area of 175 Laws Avenue in Ukiah.

Sheriff's Deputies responded to the area and spoke with witnesses, who reported hearing at least five gun shots, followed by subjects fleeing the area on foot.

While checking the area, Deputies observed two male adults walking northbound in the 1300 block of South Dora Avenue. This location is approximately half a mile from the area of the original call for service.

Deputies recognized the subjects as Phillip Lopez, 30, of Ukiah, and Julian Armas, 24, of Ukiah. Lopez was known to be on active Parole through the State of California, and Armas was known to be on active Formal Probation out of Mendocino County.

Deputies contacted and detained both subjects per their Parole and Probation terms. Deputies checked the area where both subjects were first observed, and located a 9mm handgun in plain view in a flower bed along the sidewalk.

A Mendocino County Sheriff's Office K9, certified in the detection of smokeless powder (commonly used in ammunition), was summoned to the original location on Laws Avenue.

After a search of the area, the K9 alerted to the presence of smokeless powder. The K9 handler then located five spent 9mm bullet casings along the roadway.

Lopez was ultimately placed under arrest for Violation of Parole. Armas was ultimately placed under arrest for Violation of Probation and Felon in Possession of a Firearm.

Lopez was booked into the Mendocino County Jail where he was to be held in lieu of $25,000 bail.

Armas was booked into the Mendocino County Jail where he was to be held in lieu of $75,000 bail.

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CHECK THE GUY IN THE KITCHEN. COULD BE INVOLVED.

On Sunday, June 21, 2020 at approximately 7:43 P.M. Mendocino County Sheriff's Deputies were dispatched to an in-progress residential burglary in the 700 block of Vichy Hills Drive in Ukiah.

A neighbor reported seeing an unfamiliar vehicle parked in the driveway of the residence. The neighbor walked up the driveway to investigate and could hear someone inside of the residence. The neighbor called the homeowner, who stated no one should be inside of their residence and requested the neighbor call law enforcement.

Deputies arrived at the residence and began checking the property for any subjects. Through a window, Deputies observed a male subject, later identified as Kevin Dahlund, 51, of Ukiah standing in the kitchen. Dahlund was verbally ordered out of the residence and detained.

The 65-year old female homeowner was contacted, who stated they did not know Dahlund, and he did not have permission to be inside the residence or on the property.

Inside of Dahlund's vehicle, which was parked in the driveway, Deputies observed numerous items which were determined to have been stolen from inside the residence and the detached garage.

Dahlund was arrested for Burglary and booked into the Mendocino County Jail where he was to be held in lieu of $50,000 bail.

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DUDE! AFTER YOU BURGLARIZE A PLACE YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO LEAVE

On Sunday, June 21, 2020 a Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Deputy patrolling the Laytonville area was contacted about an alarm activation at the Laytonville High School.

The Deputy went with the reporting party to the Laytonville High School where they found someone had broken the glass on the door of the Special Education room.

Upon further examination it appeared a subject had entered the classroom through the broken door and possibly stolen computer equipment.

A High School representative and the Deputy then went and viewed campus surveillance video and noticed an adult male on the school grounds at the time of the alarm activation. Deputies immediately began searching the area for this adult male.

The adult male was located near the Laytonville Elementary School and was identified as being Rick Matthew Oxford, 46, of Central Point, Oregon.

Oxford consented to a search of his backpack and Deputies located numerous items which were taken from the Laytonville High School classroom. All the stolen property was recovered and returned to the school.

Oxford was arrested for possession of stolen property and burglary and was booked into the Mendocino County Jail.

In accordance with the COVID-19 emergency order issued by the State of California Judicial Council, bail was set at zero dollars and Oxford was released after the jail booking process.

Please visit the following link to hear Sheriff Matthew C. Kendall provide a Public Safety Message on the current COVID-19 emergency order related to zero bail: facebook.com/MendocinoSheriff/videos/2568683186688486/

GARCIA HOT SPRINGS BATH HOUSE

SOLUTIONS

Editor,

You may not know it but I have been giving you the answers to problems, none of which were adopted. For example, all of the winning initiatives must be okayed by the state legislature and signed by the governor: 

Voluntary 25¢ tollbooths directed in both directions of Sherwood Road could pay for a second access road.

Election Day will be a holiday and just as having a license plate on your car is mandatory, showing up to either vote or not vote will be mandatory. Then no need for his census — it will be taken care of on election Day. (Won’t Republicans hate this one?)

All schools will be required to receive the broadcast of local and national-world news each school day at 1 PM. This will be collected from the Press Democrat and relayed by the County office of education. The Press Democrat will compensated for this service.

Subscribing to the Press Democrat in Willits costs me $60 a month. All print newspapers in the county will be subsidized by 50%, split between the reader and the publisher just as public transportation is subsidized by local government. All weekly newspapers will receive legal ad payments for printing a summary of State news each week. This will be paid for by the state treasurer.

All auto insurance rates, if raised, must notify the reason for the increase to the insured and must be okayed by the state in Insurance Department. This is not being done now. Consumers are being ripped off. 

Public schools will be responsible for counting school-age children for the census and hospitals and midwives responsible for infants and children less than school age. The money saved by the census will be allocated to homeless services.

After each general election all registered voters will be given a packet to be sent to the winning congressional candidate in the 435 congressional districts. There will be plenty of space for the voters to express their views to their congressperson. 

Also there will be a number of questions that can be answered yes or no: 

Do you favor switching to a parliamentary system of government? 

Do you favor eliminating the electoral College? 

Do you favor reducing military spending 5% each year with the savings earmarked for low cost affordable housing? 

Do you favor a 1% increase in the federal gasoline tax each year with the proceeds going to building brothels in each state where prostitution has been legalized? 

Do you favor limiting the hours a firearm can be used to two hours a day, 6 AM to 8 AM? 

Do you support requiring all girls between the ages of 15 and 25 to wear ribbons in their hair: blue for virgins and red for "other"? 

Do you support a sign to be posted at the entrance to all men's rooms: "No matter how long you shake it, you're never going to catch that last drop"? 

All high school seniors will be required to read "A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn before graduating.

All returned packets will have a Washington DC address but they are intercepted and tabulated for public release before they are sent to the congressmen. Some do not want their constituents to see them.

Ralph Bostrom

Willits

CATCH OF THE DAY, June 23, 2020

DANIEL BATTEN, Covelo. Disorderly conduct-loitering on private property, controlled substance, concealed dirk-dagger, probation revocation.

BRIAN HURTADO, Willits. Controlled substance, parole violation.

ASHLEY LENHART, Redwood Valley. Controlled substance, suspended license (for DUI), failure to appear, probation revocation.

IGAL PALMA, Concord/Ukiah. Saps and similar weapons.

LUIS SANCHEZ-TORNES, Ukiah. Domestic abuse, controlled substance, failure to appear.

KRISTOPHER SPARKMAN, Boonville. Failure to appear.

AUBREY THOMAS, Ukiah. Domestic battery, kidnapping, false imprisonment, burglary, probation revocation.

OXEN TEAM

FAIR FLAY FOR JUNIPERO SERRA

Protesters Topple Statues Of St. Serra

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on protesters who destroyed statues of Saint Junipero Serra:

Smashing statues of American icons is all the rage among urban barbarians. Ignorant of history, they are destroying statues of those who were among the most enlightened persons of their time. This includes Father Junipero Serra. The 18th century missionary fought hard for the rights of Indians, and was rightfully canonized by Pope Francis in 2015.

A statue of Saint Serra was toppled in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on June 19, and the next day another statue of the legendary priest was torn down at Placita Olvera in Los Angeles. Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, who is also president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, singled out Saint Serra for his compassion and his effort to establish rights for Indians and women.

In 2015, I published a booklet, "The Noble Legacy of Father Serra," that detailed his many accomplishments. In light of the attacks on him, it is worth recalling some of his heroics.

Serra got along well with the Indians. His goal, and that of the Franciscan missionaries whom he led, was not to conquer the Indians—it was to make them good Christians. The missionaries granted the Indians rights and respected their human dignity, quite unlike the condition of black slaves. The Indians appreciated their efforts, drawing a distinction between the missionaries and the Spanish crown: the former treated the natives with justice; the latter did not. The civil authorities were the problem, not the priests.

Contrary to the conventional wisdom, the missionaries did not eradicate Indian culture. Indeed, they learned the native language of the Indians and employed Indians as teachers. Some cultural modification was inevitable, given that the missionaries taught the Indians how to be masons, carpenters, blacksmiths, and painters. The Indians were also taught how to sell and buy animals, and were allowed to keep their bounty. Women were taught spinning, knitting, and sewing.

Archbishop Gomez is right to point out that Serra fought for the rights of women, as well. It was the missionaries who sought to protect Indian women from the Spanish colonizers. The Friars segregated the population on the basis of sex and age, hoping to safeguard the young girls and women from being sexually exploited. When such offenses occurred, Serra and his fellow priests quickly condemned them.

A total of 21 missions were established by the Franciscans, nine of them under the tenure of Serra; he personally founded six missions. He baptized more than 6,000 Indians, and confirmed over 5,000; some 100,000 were baptized overall during the mission period.

If the truth were told about Saint Serra, he would be heralded as a friend of the Indians, not as their enemy. But truth matters little to those whose hearts are full of hatred and whose minds are closed to reality.

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights

450 Seventh Avenue

New York, NY 10123

Phone: 212-371-3191

POINT ARENA HOT SPRINGS, POSTCARD

DENIS ROUSE WRITES: 

(1) I hate extremism. The extreme left (Anti-Fa) and the extreme right (whatever the hell they're called), make me want to puke.

(2) I reject labels, especially those of the two major political parties, because I prefer independent open-minded thinking.

(3) I reject lock-step ignorant thinking like e,g, criticism of Trump's negation of the "Iran deal" by critics who, often admittedly, know nothing about the "Iran deal".

(4) I'm definitely not a Trump MAGA guy but I recognize him as an uber capitalist, and capitalism, with all its faults that need government rein-in, is the only system that replicates nature, including human nature connected to things like competition and survival of the fittest and the most willing to work hard. Being lucky doesn't hurt either. My father used to say the harder he worked, the luckier he got.

(5) I was taken aback by a comment I heard from one of the TV "journalists" that the country has never been as polarized as it is now. The bare facts of the Civil War years, and the VietNam War years a century later, underline the ignorance of that statement. I was a journalism major, that's why I write "journalism", the principles I was taught no longer exist.

(6) Maybe I read too much but when it comes to the quest for a society based upon justice, equality and freedom, I love Steinbeck's "In Dubious Battle" and Edmund Wilson's "To The Finland Station" that traces that history from The French Revolution to The Russian Civil War and Revolution, the latter convulsive bloodbaths that give in my mind strong reply, to free-chicken-in-every-pot idealistic dreamers like Bernie Sanders.

(7) The virus has thrown a big wrench into the works. I thought Trump, the businessman/politician was making progress with domestic and foreign policy inequities before the pandemic arose, which might be nature's response to global hyper-population growth, the awful effects we've all seen in this little life.

(8) What's going on here in Seattle is what I fear most, anarchy. And all the connected crap like "de-funding the cops", and tearing down all inconvenient history and education, and of course violent demonstrations and looting? What's next? Burning books? Yep, the extremists are on the execrable Bolton's book as we speak, and I add quickly war-monger Bolton makes me want to vomit on my boat shoes too. On this subject give Trump credit, at least he voices he's anti-perpetual war.

HORSEPOWER

BOLTON. Long before the publication of Bolton’s book (“The Room Where It Happened”), we knew that Trump was “erratic” and “stunningly uninformed.” Nevertheless, the media extolled his book before they actually had a copy because it would confirm Trump’s linkage between military aid to Ukraine and investigations into his political foe Joe Biden. The Washington Post even referred to Bolton as a “man of principle” and a fearless infighter for the “sovereignty of the United States.” Post oped writer Kathleen Parker noted that Bolton wasn’t interested in the money he will earn from the book, but that he was only interested in “saving his legacy.” And what a legacy! Less than a month into the job of National Security Adviser, Bolton dissolved the Global Health Security Team, which the Obama administration had created to prepare and respond to pandemics and other biological threats. Bolton took this action as an Ebola outbreak was underway in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Two months later, Bolton requested the Pentagon to provide the White House with options for military strikes against Iran, a policy option that he had advocated since his days as an official in the Bush administration. Between his tours of duty with Bush and Trump, Bolton had written opeds that called for use of force and regime change in Iran and North Korea. Bolton was so opposed to Trump’s historic meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un in the demilitarized zone in June 2019 that he flew to Mongolia for no obvious reason.

— Melvin Goodman

CASTRO STREET, SF

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY (#1)

Let me clear this up for those who have never grown anything in their lives…

1. Cannabis is an annual crop, as opposed to a perennial crop.

2. It’s almost July which means it’s too late to cultivate this crop for the year effectively. Farmers pay the same cultivation tax for the entire year regardless of what time of year they plant and if it’s the County’s fault it has taken years to get a permit.

3. We are in the middle of a pandemic and economic collapse - “what does that mean??” It means people are REALLY struggling, just like they were in the Great Depression - ever hear of the Great Depression? Before Prop 64 and the abatement program backyard gardeners were not struggling because they had 20 plants and food in their backyards to sustain themselves with (yes along with their “real jobs” your teachers your firefighters, your babysitters, etc. many of whom have no “real jobs” to go to right now). No stimulus or unemployment was needed once upon a time, just humbly growing ones own organic food and medicine and living simply.

Relying on these failing systems is a death sentence, and many of us rural folks know better. Why is this confusing?

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY #2

I am not an American. But I have worked with Americans for decades. I like them. They really have a lot of that “can-do” spirit.

So it’s a mystery why their political system is so dysfunctional. Last time around, it was Hillary-Trump. And this time it is Biden-Trump! How can a country with so many capable people end up with having to choose between them?

I am not an American and yet I have a dog in that fight. American socio-politics is now driving the debates in all western countries. Academia and the media everywhere take their marching orders from american campuses and accordingly our media is all BLM and slavery, all the time (shocker: everyone is against slavery and racism!)

Trump really is an incoherent clown, an egomaniac, unfit for the presidency. And yet Biden is a senile doddering fool, and the Democrats are riding a dangerous Cultural Revolution mob. There is no good choice, but Democrats truly scare me. I’ll root for Trump to win, for lack of a better option, but where are all the grown ups? How come there are no sane candidates?

PULLING LOGS OUT

HORSE WHIPS

Editor: 

The California Horse Racing Board has approved new rules regarding the use of whips on horses — no more than six times during a race; only in an underhanded position (whatever that means); no more than two strikes in succession; no whips during morning training and after the end of races. 

This is all well and good, but it gives me cause to wonder, why do horses have to be whipped at all? It can’t be to spur them to run faster, because all the horses are whipped, so whipping one horse gives no advantage. Does it make the jockey feel better? Has anyone ever asked the horses? Or trainers Frank Stronach and Bob Baffert? 

Attorney Shane Gusman, representing the Jockey’s Guild, took the issue all the way down to, “You’re going to end racing in California. It’s just going to happen if you go down this road ...” 

Just like Southeast Asia; watch those dominoes fall. But they didn’t. In fact, now we’re friends with the people of Vietnam, who not that long ago we were trying to kill. 

Take away the whips. Jockeys will become “horse whisperers.” There’s precedent for that. The horses will love it.

Ed Shoop

Sonoma

START OF SUMMER, the Mendocino Village shows the effects of gentrification, the influence of money, the switch from mostly pot to mostly tourism and a couple of decades of beautification—undergrounding electric lines, intense gardening & landscaping, fresh paint on everything—it's a far cry from the back-to-the-land, Age-of-Aquarius, hippie days, and I miss 'em, but, damn it looks nice!

— Mitch Clogg

A READER WRITES: 

You might want to vet some of the online comments BEFORE you print them.

From the Washington Post site about police killings (https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/police-shootings-2019/) which was cited by commentor, there were actually 14 unarmed Black victims of police shootings, not the 9 claimed. Of 55 total unarmed shot, an equal amount were white vs Black/Brown victims, 25 each, in spite of the larger percentage of whites in the US. Let us leave aside the victims that were 'armed' with tire irons, as they changed flats, cell phones as they filmed abuse, lawful gun owners like Philandro Castille, imaginary weapons never found, stuffed giraffes and coffee cups - (thanks to Key & Peele for those last two). 

FOUND OBJECT