Mendocino County Today: Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021

Moist Cool | 50 New Cases | 2 More Deaths | Comptche Driveway | Niner Game | Hollister Hoedown | Willits Arsenic | Backdoor Hippie | Redbeard Pleas | Trent Video | Ed Notes | Yesterday's Catch | White Stranger | GG Bridge | Chicken Abuse | Lowest Form | Travis Shocked | Bill Wilson | Pandemic Portal | Republican Jesus | Lorry Driving | Lost Yoga | Taking Over | ID Mushroom | Nuclear Waste | Comptche Preschool | Working Class

COOL AND MOIST conditions will continue through Wednesday with scattered showers near the coast. Warm and dry conditions will build later in the week through the weekend with a return of marine stratus. (NWS)

YESTERDAY'S RAINFALL (past 24 hours): Leggett 1.77", Yorkville 1.60", Willits 1.56", Laytonville 1.24", Hopland 1.06", Covelo 1.02", Boonville 0.92", Ukiah 0.68"

50 NEW COVID CASES and two more deaths (since last Friday) reported in Mendocino County yesterday afternoon.

TWO MORE MENDO COVID DEATHS

Two Mendocino County residents recently have passed away from COVID-19. Our thoughts are with all of their family and friends. 

Death #91: 88 year-old man from the Ukiah area; fully vaccinated with many severe comorbidities. 

Death #92: 94 year-old woman from the Fort Bragg area; fully vaccinated with many severe comorbidities. 

Public Health asks all Mendocino County residents to think about the ways they are protecting themselves and their families from COVID-19. When in doubt, consult with and follow all CDC and CDPH guidance. Vaccination, masking, and social distancing remain the best tools for combating COVID-19. 

Fully vaccinated people over age 65 (or over age 50 with certain health conditions) should strongly consider getting a COVID-19 vaccine booster to improve immunity. If you have questions about boosters or vaccines in general, speak with your doctor, or call Public Health at 707-472-2759. To find the nearest vaccine clinic in your area, please visit the Public Health website at: www.mendocinocounty.org/covid19 

ANDERSON VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL is raising funds to take the football team to a 49er game on the 28th. We have a fund raising goal of $1,500. If people would like to donate to our trip, they can email me at jtoohey@avpanthers.org.

Here is the link to the gofundme page: gofundme.com/f/send-avhs-football-to-levis-stadium/share

WILLITS' ARSENIC QUESTION

by Zack Cinek

Sunday, Nov. 7, 2021 — Hello reader, hope you had a good week. Seems like the week has literally flown by this time with so much to do and so little time. Nobody can get it done in one day! Keep putting one foot in front of the other and good things will come.

NEWSBOY researched the reality of arsenic entering the Willits water supply if plans to connect another well into the city’s groundwater system do not change.

Arsenic: just say “no” or is it the best way to improve water supply?

A City of Willits project to increase the town’s water supply would also put arsenic into drinking water that so far remains arsenic-free.

When the city’s groundwater project first began, it was an emergency effort to sustain a water supply for the community in 2014-15.

The city’s reservoir-dependent system was in peril that winter. Running out of water at the city’s reservoirs was a real concern before rain finally came.

In a do-or-die race against a dwindling surface water supply, the city succeeded in engineering a project to connect a well and a new water treatment plant on the valley floor.

State regulators accepted the emergency system for regular drinking water use in 2017.

Plans to connect a second well that contains arsenic into the groundwater project creates the arsenic problem.

The results of lab tests carried out by Ukiah-based Alpha Labs for the city show that the original well, the “Elias Well,” is clean of arsenic and the well that the city proposes connecting, the Long-20 well, contains arsenic.

2017 Long-20 test results obtained from the city show varying arsenic levels in three water samples, Zone 1, Zone 2 and Zone 3.

Test results show 210 ug/L from the Zone 1 sample, 16 ug/L from Zone 2 and 27 ug/L from Zone 3.

California and the Environmental Protection Agency’s standard is 10 ug/L for treated water. Keep in mind that 1 ug/l is also 1 part-per-billion.

Consulting firm LACO Associates prepared the city’s study. LACO’s study references a 2019 test of Long-20 water that showed 28 ug/l of arsenic.

When water use is the highest, a single well, the Elias Well, could yield about half of what the city needs during peak usage that normally happens in Aug., the study stated.

Arsenic introduced into the system would have to be at or below the legal levels.

Willits’ study explains how there is a phase of the project dedicated to finding out what arsenic the water treatment plant can handle.

Attaining lower levels of arsenic in the two-well scenario may include mixing water from both wells so that the treatment plant can handle it, the study stated.

City council members consider approval of documents for the project Wednesday.

City council members could also choose to take action and express concern that putting arsenic in the water supply needs to be avoided.

Yet with drought or more water use from much-needed development or a combination of both, the city could be looking outside its two reservoirs for water like it did before.

With or without arsenic, you may wonder if there is a policy or manual in place for activation of the groundwater system or if it can be operated arbitrarily, for example.

Concerns about water security or quality summarize the city’s interest in a two-well groundwater system.

For instance, in 2015 the city experienced an algae bloom and incurred violations for exceeding levels of TTHM--a byproduct of the water treatment process, the study stated.

Long term exposure to TTHMs or Total Trihalomethanes above EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) maximum levels, for example, would have potential for “liver, kidney or central nervous system problems (and) increased risk of cancer,” information from the EPA stated.

When reading about drinking water standards you see that arsenic in drinking water is not illegal, but it should be avoided.

The EPA says that a water provider’s goal is “0” arsenic but it is not enforceable as a law.

A goal of “0” in the EPA’s list of Maximum Contaminant Level Goals means there is no known level of arsenic that guarantees no ill-effects.

The World Health Organization provides information on arsenic’s danger and the trouble caused world-wide when populations are exposed to high levels in drinking water.

A fact sheet published by WHO stated that “The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified arsenic and arsenic compounds as carcinogenic to humans, and has also stated that arsenic in drinking-water is carcinogenic to humans.

Other adverse health effects that may be associated with long-term ingestion of inorganic arsenic include developmental effects, diabetes, pulmonary disease, and cardiovascular disease.”

Drinking water standards that are enforceable state that the Maximum Contaminant Level of arsenic is set at 10-parts-per-billion.

Ill.-based Water Quality Association calls itself a trade organization.

WQA puts it this way: “MCLs are set as close to the MCLG as possible, considering cost, benefits and the ability of public water systems to detect and remove contaminants using suitable treatment technologies.”

You have to ask why the city insists on connecting a well with arsenic into the system?

If you are concerned about this or if you think it is a good idea, there is a public hearing Wednesday Nov. 10.

The city council is set to vote on whether or not the project warrants a full-fledged Environmental Impact Report this Wednesday.

In the legal notices put out by the city, you can comment on the project the following ways before 5:30 PM Tuesday: engineering@cityofwillits.org or at City Hall: Clerk’s Office, 111 E Commercial ST, Willits, CA 95490

Note that individual council members can always be reached the following ways:

• Gerardo Gonzalez ggonzalez@cityofwillits.org (707) 456-3404
• Saprina Rodriguez srodriguez@cityofwillits.org (707) 456-3405
• Larry Stranske citycouncil@cityofwillits.org (707) 456-3401
• Madge Strong mstrong@cityofwillits.org (707) 456-3403
• Greta Kanne gkanne@cityofwillits.org (707) 456-3402

Comments can also be made during the public hearing.

This meeting will be remote due to the virus, so you need to do:

1. https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/222161885

Or 2. Call 1 (669) 224-3412 Code: 222-161-885

* * *

WILLITS CITY COUNCILWOMAN Greta Kanne responds:

A couple of weeks ago Bear Kamaroff sent a letter to the Editor of Willits Weekly raising the alarm about arsenic in the city's Long 20 Well. Yesterday Zack Cineff, a former reporter for Willits Weekly and Ukiah Daily Journal posted an online article (above) about the same topic to the Willits Community Bulletin Board. Though I've not yet heard from any residents about this issue, I thought I'd take a moment to address the concerns raised as the City Council will be looking at adoption of the Groundwater Management Plan this coming Wednesday.

First of all, while it's true that arsenic has been detected in the Long 20 well, that well has never been connected to the city's drinking water supply. Currently, all of our community water needs have been met by the two reservoirs on the watershed property south of town. 

The Long 20 well and the Elias well were dug as part of the city's exploration of a back-up water supply in the aftermath of the severe drought of 2014. The intent was to access the groundwater prevalent in Little Lake Valley and run it through a Groundwater Treatment Plant (GWTP) before the water would be introduced to our municipal water system and delivered into our homes. 

When drought conditions improved, residents and City staff alike felt less pressure to finalize the GWTP and further development of the Long 20 well halted. As water scarcity became an increasing concern this summer, city staff picked up the pace on exploration and operation of the wells and GWTP.

So, back to the arsenic. Arsenic is a naturally occurring element found in the Earth's core. It can be found in groundwater supplies, particularly in areas with dense bedrock and is odorless and tasteless. It is also harmful when ingested and the EPA suggests that drinking water have less than 10 parts per billion present, or as close to zero as possible.

The city's Long 20 well was tested at 3 drilling levels, with the highest concentration of arsenic found at the level closest to the ground. The middle level had the lowest concentration and the third level was slightly higher. All levels exceeded the EPA's maximum level allowance. 

City staff have indicated that the first level of the well would be capped, effectively eliminating the water with the highest concentrations of arsenic from the Groundwater Treatment Plant. The water from the two lower levels would be combined with the arsenic-free water from the Elias well, thus diluting the concentration before being pumped into the GWTP for treatment. City staff and hired consultants felt confident that once these steps were taken, the resulting water would meet the maximum allowable concentrations of 10ppb or less. 

Willits residents and businesses use close to 1 million gallons of water per day during the height of summer. A few weeks ago our reservoirs were at 56% capacity and concerns about winter recharge had everyone talking. We're fortunate that October rains have brought our capacity back over 80% and we all hope for a long, wet season. But water scarcity will continue to be a serious community concern and the City of Willits needs to explore all options for providing safe drinking water for its residents. 

Like many people I have concerns about groundwater and I've been asking many questions. Do you have questions or information you'd like to share? I would love to hear from you.

RED-BEARD PLEADS NOT GUILTY

by Colin Atagi

The suspected burglar who is believed to have spent months living in the Mendocino County wilderness made his first court appearance Monday and pleaded not guilty, records show.

William Evers, who’s been dubbed the “Red-Bearded Burglar,” was arraigned in Medocino County Superior Court in Ukiah.

Records show he pleaded not guilty to one count of attempted murder and five counts of burglary.

The attempted murder charge stems from an incident in which Evers is suspected of opening fire on a Mendocino County sheriff’s deputy investigating a burglary on Cameron Road in Elk on May 12.

A Mendocino County public defender was appointed to represent Evers, and he’s scheduled to return to court for a preliminary hearing on Dec. 7.

Jail records show he’s being held at the Mendocino County jail in Ukiah in lieu of $2.5 million bail.

Mendocino County Sheriff’s investigators arrested Evers Thursday morning in the coastal town of Albion a search that’s covered miles of forest and lasted nearly an entire year.

He’s accused of targeting vacant homes and seeking shelter or taking food and supplies to survive in the woods.

The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office investigated burglaries just outside Ukiah toward the end of December and thefts were later reported in the communities of Philo, Elk and Albion.

The Mendocino County District Attorney’s office filed five counts of burglary against Evers but the Sheriff’s Office said at least five other incidents appear to be linked to the suspect and 10 to 15 others are being investigated.

An Albion resident saw the suspect at a home on Albion Ridge Road Wednesday morning. Responding investigators also saw him before he fled.

They returned Thursday morning and took him into custody following a foot chase that lasted 50 yards and ended with a K-9 biting his leg, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

(Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

FORMER DEPUTY TRENT JAMES’ LATEST VIDEO

ED NOTES

UC'S HASTINGS COLLEGE OF THE LAW will soon change its name from Hastings to something more benign than its murderous present namesake, Serranus Clinton Hastings. Hastings came west during the Gold Rush and was soon named to the new state of California's Supreme Court. Upon his death in 1900, Hastings left a million dollars to the fledgling University of California. In gratitude, the university named its law school after him.

HASTINGS appropriated for himself Mendocino County's Eden Valley southeast of Willits where he intended to breed horses while he made his permanent home in Benicia, then California's capitol. Hastings hired a 6'7" psychopath named Texan Boy Hall as his Eden Valley foreman. 

YUKI INDIANS had inhabited Eden Valley for eons prior to Hastings and Hall descending upon them. Early on, Hall promised a crew of Indians the canvas shirts they covetted if they would carry Hastings' furniture to his new Eden Valley ranch from the Mendocino area where Hastings' cargo had arrived by sea. The Indians duly humped all Hastings' furnishings from the Mendocino Coast over ancient Indian trails some old timers have said are now roughly today's Branscomb Road to the Laytonville vicinity then on to Eden Valley.

WHEN THE INDIANS arrived with the goods, Hall said, “Thanks boys but you're not getting the shirts.” In retaliation, the Indians killed Hastings' brood stallion, an animal Hastings valued at $10,000. Hastings went to the state legislature where by legislative fiat the State of California agreed to pay cash money for every NorCal Indian scalp white mercenaries could provide.

A MENDO MAN named Walter Jarboe formed a posse of Indian killers called Jarboe's Rangers who, for a year following the state's bounty law, killed as many Indians as they could find in the Eel River basin, duly collecting payment from the state. Jarboe was challenged by his paymasters for inflating his reimbursement chits, but went on to become Ukiah's first sanctioned lawman.

THE TRUE history of early Mendocino County has always been known but not widely disseminated. A book containing unhappy facts about the first white-native interface, the aptly named “Genocide and Vendetta,”" was litigated out of print when it first appeared under the imprimatur of the University of Oklahoma. Since then, confirmation of Hastings and other early Mendocino murderers has been doubly verified by pioneer diaries and modern scholarship. 

CATCH OF THE DAY, November 8, 2021

TIFFNEY BALDWIN, Santa Rosa/Ukiah. DUI.

ARMANDO GARCIA-SANDOVAL, Ukiah. Domestic battery.

TRAVIS HUMPHREY, Redwood Valley. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

DORIS MCCONNEL, Fort Bragg. Domestic battery.

JORGE PEREZ-HERNANDEZ, Ukiah. Domestic battery, probation revocation.

DEMETRIE PIKE, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

WILLIAM ROBERTS, Willits. Controlled substance, probation revocation.

GERMAN RODRIGUEZ-CRUZ, Bakersfield/Willits. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

THE POLAR INUIT assumed that they were the only people in the world, so when they saw their first white stranger, the explorer Sir William Parry, in 1821, they said to him, "Are you from the sun or the moon?"

— Paul Theroux, Fresh Air Fiend (2000)

WHERE YOUR OMELETS COME FROM

Editor: 

John Ash, writing in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, tells us to “seek out better eggs.” He correctly names several cruel, inhumane yet standard practices of the chicken industry (forced molting, starvation, reproductive system manipulation, beak trimming) and moves on to expose the truth behind feel-good but gravely misleading labels such as “natural,” “cage free” and “free range.”

But he failed to mention other horrific egg industry practices such as breeding hens in massive hatcheries where hours-old baby male chicks, useless to the industry, are sent down conveyer belts into grinding machines. Or that hens have been genetically engineered to produce hundreds of eggs a year (instead of the clutch of 10-12 eggs a year nature intended), which is why hens die young from multiple, painful reproductive system cancers and backyard chicken keepers constantly lament about why so many of their hens “just die.”

Chickens are animals, not commodities. There is no such thing as a “better” egg, and certainly not a “humane” egg, yet. Ash goes on to fill the page with seven egg recipes. Using eggs is being complicit with animal abuse, so seek instead the many egg replacement alternatives for recipes that abound on the internet.

Miriam Wald

Santa Rosa

TRAVIS SCOTT wants us to know he's “just devastated” about the horrific deaths of eight of his fans at a concert on Friday. In a tormented Instagram post the following night, the rap superstar repeatedly stroked his hair in apparent anguish as he said: “I could never imagine anything like this happening.” Scott, 30, spoke out after catastrophe unfurled during his performance at the Astroworld festival in his hometown of Houston, Texas. In appalling scenes, hundreds of fans were injured in frantic crowd surges that erupted when Scott appeared on stage at 9pm which led to panic, desperation and ultimately, the deaths of eight people aged between 14 and 27. Videos posted on social media show concert goers screaming for help and begging Scott's production crew members to “STOP THE SHOW!” Throughout all this, Scott continued performing. The show only ends 40 minutes after city officials say a “mass casualty event” had begun. By then, it was too late to save any lives. And forgive me if I find Mr Scott's shocked disbelief to be a load of disingenuous self-protective claptrap. If there was one nailed-down guarantee, it was that something terrible like this might one day happen at one of his concerts. 

— Piers Morgan

WHAT IS THIS THING that has happened to us? It’s a virus, yes. In and of itself it holds no moral brief. But it is definitely more than a virus. Some believe it’s God’s way of bringing us to our senses. Others that it’s a Chinese conspiracy to take over the world.

Whatever it is, coronavirus has made the mighty kneel and brought the world to a halt like nothing else could. Our minds are still racing back and forth, longing for a return to “normality”, trying to stitch our future to our past and refusing to acknowledge the rupture. But the rupture exists. And in the midst of this terrible despair, it offers us a chance to rethink the doomsday machine we have built for ourselves. Nothing could be worse than a return to normality. 

Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next. 

We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it.

— Arundhati Roy, "The Pandemic is a Portal" (April 2020)

OFF THE ROAD

by Ian Tocher

As one of the one million or so people in the UK with an HGV (Heavy Goods License) license who isn’t driving lorries for a living, I recently received a letter from the government trying to tempt me back into the cab. It won’t work.

I started off in the 1980s delivering bedroom furniture. This involved being nice to people while carrying heavy loads upstairs and trying not to rip their wallpaper or drip sweat on the carpets. It was gruelling, relentless work and some days there was barely enough time in the schedule to eat lunch. A few of the established drivers set their tachographs (the so-called spy in the cab) to “break” but used the precious down time for unloading instead.

I later delivered non-ferrous metals, such as aluminum and zinc, to factories and warehouses in London, Southern England and the West Midlands. Every afternoon, a grumpy forklift driver (no doubt he was overworked too) loaded me up for the next day and handed me my paperwork, calling me “driver” rather than by name. I’m not sure I learned anything, but I saw some interesting places, industrial areas off the Mile End Road where they still had bonfires in oil drums, cavernous metal-processing factories in the Black Country, secretive MOD bases.

Working for an air freight company near Heathrow, I collected boxes of the latest releases from independent record labels around London, such as Rough Trade. Back at the depot, the boxes were loaded into lightweight aluminum air freight containers which I’d deliver to airport warehouses. There’d be long lines of lorries through the evenings and I’d eventually deal with impatient warehouse workers.

I delivered trailers of empty milk containers from a plastics factory to dairies all over the UK, and transported triangular wooden roof trusses that I had to measure with a big stick before I set off, to see which bridges they would fit under. I occasionally drove dustcarts, but the regular dustmen complained that I didn’t drive fast enough.

But I mostly drove articulated lorries for various supermarket chains, hired on a temporary basis through employment agencies. That’s how I spent my holidays while studying for two history of art degrees. The work began early in the morning or late in the afternoon (the industry is renowned for its anti-social hours). A regular eight-hour day was unheard of; shifts could be anything from ten to twelve hours, or sometimes fourteen, if there were delays being unloaded.

A shift would begin at a distribution depot, where I’d be allocated a tractor unit – the front half of the articulated lorry – and given the number of a semi-trailer to collect in the yard. (The development of the semi trailer and tractor unit by August Fruehauf in Detroit in 1914 paved the way for the flexible just-in-time distribution system that undergirds the consumer society we take for granted.) To hitch up, I’d back the tractor unit under the trailer until the tractor unit’s fifth wheel, the horseshoe-shaped coupling mechanism, connected with the trailer’s king pin, a heavy duty steel shaft under the front of the trailer. Once connected, the mechanism snapped shut and I’d tug forward to check the coupling was secure. I’d connect the air brake and electric lines, wind up the trailer’s front legs, check the lights, attach the number plate and go on my first run, usually a local delivery that took a few hours. I’d come back for another trailer for my second, longer run, which could last up to seven hours, or possibly make a collection somewhere like the washing powder factory near the Dartford Crossing.

Dual carriageways and motorways are relatively easy driving in an articulated lorry. But other roads require more concentration, particularly at night and in the rain. Stretches of the A29 to Bognor Regis were hardly wide enough to get a lorry through if a car was coming the other way, let alone another lorry. If the load was heavy bottles of fizzy drinks, as it often was on a hot summer night, the lorry would slow to a snail’s pace on hills and I’d need to work the twelve or eighteen gears (depending on the vehicle) using the range change and splitter box switches. You can’t just cruise along with your brain in neutral and some nights I’d come home shattered.

You’re out on the road on your own, but management is constantly monitoring you through in-cab technology. This is good if it contributes to road safety – by monitoring driver hours, for example – but it also means delivery schedules are often so tight that they add to stress levels (missing your delivery slot because of roadworks or an accident could mean the load is rejected).

As far as driving jobs went, working for the supermarkets wasn’t too bad, and there were 45-minute breaks (the legal minimum) built into the schedule. But I’d never go back to it. I now work in historic gardens management, on a reasonable wage. Even when I started out as a gardener, though, the lower wages compared to lorry driving were worth it for the significantly reduced stress, better breaks, more sociable hours, better camaraderie between staff and a level of training I hadn’t got in the transport industry.

But above all – and I’ve heard this said by other current and former lorry drivers – the worst thing about driving lorries was not being regarded by management, or the general public, as a skilled professional. Lorry driving carries a lot of responsibility. You need a consistently high level of concentration to steer a giant machine safely along the road day after day. You need a knowledge of motoring laws far beyond that of the general driver, for instance about loading limits for different vehicles and weight restrictions. And you need to be able to cope with reckless car drivers who cut in front of you without a thought to your significantly longer breaking distance.

The last time I did any driving work was around twenty years ago. If the transport industry is going to re-engage former lorry drivers or recruit new ones it needs to change. It’s partly about pay. But it’s also about offering shorter, more sociable working hours. It’s about offering more realistic delivery deadlines so that some drivers don’t feel they have to work (illegally) unloading through their breaks. It’s about not adding too many deliveries to multi-drop runs. It’s about providing more and better quality rest areas, with clean toilets (highly profitable multinational companies who run petrol stations, please note). And it’s about offering the training and development opportunities that come as standard in many occupations. Under such conditions, the lorry driver shortage might eventually abate. Even then, it would take time.

(Courtesy, London Review of Books)

VISHNU WITH CRAIG

Why Don't We Just Take Over?

Sitting here on Earth First!er Andy Caffrey's couch in Garberville, California, having watched the latest edition of the world report of chaos on the planet earth, courtesy of the BBC, it occurred to me that the only real solution to the problem is for all of us to have an adjustment of our inner view.

In other words, why don't we just reach consensus that taking over is the only realistic solution to endless existential threats. Taking over is the only solution to global social alienation, which results in being constantly drained by materialistic entities. Taking over is the logical extension of spiritual cultivation.

Due to the fact that Trimmer Nation did not wish to live with me in an intentional community environment, I moved out of The Magic Ranch in northern California, and motelled it for a month, before visiting the Earth First! Media Center in Southern Humboldt county, where I presently am. 

I've got around $3,000 in the bank. For example, I could get to the NYC-D.C. power strip. Maybe it is way past time to stop protesting, and to advance to collectively taking over! It is a matter of adjusting one's inner view.

Craig Louis Stehr

Email: craiglouisstehr@gmail.com

Blog: http://craiglstehr.blogspot.com

Paypal.me/craiglouisstehr

P.O. Box 938, Redwood Valley, CA 95470-0938

No phone, am on Facebook, call me there.

November 8th, 2021

NAME THIS MUSHROOM

RE NUCLEAR POWER: “You burn up all the existing nuclear poison… This process produces waste that either has medical and industrial applications like cobalt for medical radiation treatment…”

OR…

Low level wastes with half lives less than 10 years. That means the radioactive waste produced by this process is safe for all life on the planet, in less than 50 years, substantially less than 1 human lifespan. No waste laying around for a million years. Even better, this process produces only a few pounds of waste for every ton of fuel and existing waste it burns. It makes the past wrong, right. And saves the world from a slow death by burning up from atmospheric carbon…

It can't run-away. It can't explode. It doesn't heat water, so there's no thermal pollution to lakes, streams, or the ocean, and It's crazy cheap, done right nearly 10x cheaper than natural gas, which is the current winner for being cheap. This is the point. We know what we did wrong. We don't need to make bombs. We want to make safe power. This is the best, fastest, safest, cheapest way to save the world and we need to get on it, like our lives depend on it… 

By the way, if you need scientific reference for any of this, just ask. I'm happy to point you in the right direction. 

— Marie Tobias 

COMMONSENSE SOLIDARITY: How a Working-Class Coalition Can Be Built, and Maintained

In the last five years, a rejuvenated progressive left has established itself as a potent force in American politics. Inspired by Senator Bernie Sanders’s 2016 presidential run, progressive Democratic challengers have mobilized donors and volunteers around a boldly egalitarian economic platform, winning an impressive array of local, state, and congressional races. The relative electoral success of this new left is one of the major political stories of our moment.

And yet, for the most part, these progressive triumphs have been concentrated in well-educated, relatively high-income, and heavily Democratic districts. Even when progressives have won primaries in working-class areas, they have generally done so without increasing total turnout or winning over new working-class voters. And in races outside the friendly terrain of the blue-state metropolis, the same progressive candidates have largely struggled. Overall, progressives have not yet made good on one key promise of their campaigns: to transform and expand the electorate itself.

This poses a major challenge to any hope for a national political realignment on progressive terms. Recent events suggest that left-wing candidates may continue to replace moderate Democrats in demographically favorable urban districts, which could lead to more progressive policies at the municipal or state level. But the national picture is less promising. There are simply not enough districts of this kind to win control of the US House of Representatives, never mind the Senate. For the kind of majority necessary to pass Medicare for All or any of the other big-ticket items on the social democratic agenda, progressive candidates will need to win in a far wider range of places. Until they do, their political leverage will remain sharply limited at the local, state, and national levels....

jacobinmag.com/2021/11/common-sense-solidarity-working-class-voting-report