Mendocino County Today: Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Foggy Driz | 7 New Cases | Ukraine Updates | Zelenskiy Video | Wave Swept | Barn Sale | Cookie Girl | CERT Training | Blind Eye | Comptche Passion | The Automat | Medstar Hiring | Suppressed Desires | Hastings Legacy | Ed Notes | Misery Whip | Redding Responds | Sidewalk Salesman | Art Walk | Vaughn Injured | Yesterday's Catch | Ukraine History | Bigfooting | Fascist Grandmother | Comptche Fields | DC Fun | Dwight Eisenhower | Harry Boos | Media Attention | Wailing Wall | Nuclear Threat | Comptche Store | Hunter's Laptop | Log Cabin | Maha Mantram | Hotdog Cart | Reckless Words | Bowery Denizen

MORNING DRIZZLE AND FOG will only give way to persistent clouds and a cool breeze this afternoon along the coast, while the interior sees some sun. Pacific high pressure building in will bring brisk northerly winds mid to late week along with increasing amounts of sunshine and warming temperatures. The next chance of rain will come late in the weekend or early next week. (NWS)

YESTERDAY'S RAINFALL (past 24 hours): Boonville 0.30" - Yorkville 0.24"- Laytonville 0.22" - Willits 0.19" - Leggett 0.16" - Hopland 0.11" - Ukiah 0.06" - Covelo 0.02"

7 NEW COVID CASES (since last Friday) reported in Mendocino County yesterday afternoon.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR: What we know on day 33 of the Russian invasion

Russia and Ukraine to hold fresh talks; Ukrainian military claims Russian troops withdrawn from around Kyiv after heavy losses

The Kremlin has said peace talks between Russia and Ukraine may get under way in Turkey on Tuesday, adding that it is important the discussions are held face-to-face despite scant progress in negotiations so far.

The billionaire Roman Abramovich and a Ukrainian peace negotiator suffered symptoms consistent with poisoning earlier this month, according to a source with direct knowledge of the incident. Abramovich was taking part in informal peace negotiations in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, early in March when he began to feel ill, the source told the Guardian. Ukrainian MP Rustem Umerov was also part of the negotiation.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, used a video interview with independent Russian media outlets to signal his willingness to discuss having Ukraine adopt a “neutral status”, and also make compromises about the status of the eastern Donbas region, in order to secure a peace agreement with Russia. But he said he was not willing to discuss Ukrainian demilitarisation, and that Ukrainians would need to vote in a referendum to approve their country adopting a neutral status.

Ukraine is not willing to sacrifice its “territorial integrity”, Alexander Rodnyansky, a senior adviser to the Ukrainian president, said. He told BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme that “now the pressure is on Russia” and suggested that a “more concrete” version of the “Budapest memorandum” – which gave Ukraine security assurances – would be necessary to secure peace.

Ukrainian forces have seized back full control of the town of Irpin, a few miles from Kyiv, the local mayor said. Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn said Irpin had been “liberated” and that Russian soldiers were “offering to surrender”. The information could not immediately be verified.

Ukraine’s economy minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, said the war has so far cost Ukraine $564.9bn (£429.3bn) in terms of damage to infrastructure, lost economic growth and other factors. Eight thousand kilometres (4,970 miles) of roads and 10m sq metres of housing have been damaged or destroyed as a result of fighting, she said in an online post.

President Zelenskiy accused Russian authorities of disrespect towards the families of their own dead soldiers. Criticising Moscow for not agreeing on a scheme to have the remains of those killed in action returned to Russia, Zelenskiy claimed the Kremlin was affording less respect to those killed during its invasion of Ukraine than is usually given to dead pets.

Novaya Gazeta, one of Russia’s last remaining independent news outlets, has said it will suspend operations after it received a second warning from the state censor for allegedly violating the country’s “foreign agent” law. The warning came a day after its editor-in-chief, Dmitry Muratov, spoke with Zelenskiy in a group interview with Russian journalists that was quickly banned by the state media watchdog, Roskomnadzor.

Russia’s foreign affairs minister, Sergei Lavrov, appears to have ruled out any direct meetings between Vladimir Putin and Zelenskiy, saying it would be counterproductive at this point.

The southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol is on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe and must be evacuated, its mayor has warned. Vadym Boichenko said about 160,000 civilians were trapped in the city without power.

Ukraine has no plans to open humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from besieged cities on Monday because of intelligence reports warning of possible Russian “provocations” along the routes, the deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, said.

The UK’s Ministry of Defence released its latest intelligence report, claiming there had been “no significant change” to Russian forces’ dispositions in Ukraine over the past 24 hours.

The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said Russian investigators would look into a video circulating on social media that purported to show Ukrainian forces mistreating captured Russian soldiers. He also said Biden’s comments that Putin could not remain in power were a cause for concern.

Schools in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, will reopen today via remote learning online.

The UK government’s Cabinet Office has issued a procurement policy note for public sector organisations holding contracts with Russian or Belarusian suppliers, urging them to investigate where they can cancel contracts.

The UK education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, said he had no doubt that Russia had carried out war crimes in Ukraine.

EUREKA PRODUCTIONS LATEST VIDEO INDEX

WAVES SWEEP A 9-YEAR-OLD BOY INTO THE PACIFIC ALONG THE MENDOCINO COAST AND HE SURVIVES — His Mother Tells The Tale (Video)

On Saturday, March 26, 2022, Sara Rademaker and her twin boys were visiting the Mendocino County coast. As they hiked towards the Point Cabrillo Lighthouse the tide pools of the shore called the boys to the water’s edge. The pair laughed and smiled as they played in the tide pools and, then, in mere moments, the family outing would become a nightmare. Rademaker watched her son Robert become enveloped by a wave, dragging him into the turbulent waters. The boy’s survival instincts kicked in as he was trashed about and was able to cling onto a rock until help came.…

kymkemp.com/2022/03/29/waves-sweep-a-9-year-old-boy-into-the-pacific-along-the-mendocino-coast-and-he-survives-his-mother-tells-the-tale-and-captured-video/

THE BARN SALE IS BACK! Saturday, April 2, 10 am - 3 pm and Sunday, April 3, noon to 3 pm. 

Located at 12761 Anderson Valley Way in Boonville. Clothing, household items, linens, tools, furniture, DVDs, CDs, vinyl records, art and much more.

I AM THE YOUNG WOMAN…

AVA,

My name is Mary Rack. I am the young woman standing in the doorway of Melody's Cookies in the picture post on the AVA’s website on Sunday. I was 19 at the time.

Melody Joy was the baker of the delicious cookies, oatmeal and chocolate chip. I recall that day when the picture was taken. Not sure who took the picture but my friends wanted me to close up the shop and go out to the Mendocino Woodlands, where there was sun, for a swim in the river. 

That day, fog was surrounding the coast. My friends were relentless. I did not want to leave because Melody was such a sweet person and I did not want to leave early from the Cookie shop. So I stood in the doorway with a cookie in my hand and did not budge. 

The woodworker next door brought over a radio and some cassette tapes for me, lots of bluegrass and twangy country. I loved the cookie shop! And I still love cookies. Mmmmmm… good! 

JOHN MCCOWEN:

The story about the Murder in Ukiah on Sunday identifies the location as the Wells Fargo bank parking lot, but it's my understanding that the parking lot is in the former Yokayo Shopping Center area owned by the County of Mendocino. A few years ago, I advocated with the County to clean up a large-scale ongoing encampment in front of the County building. The interim HHSA Director was taking a hands-off policy but I convinced the CEO that it was the County's responsibility to clean it up based on the impact to the neighbors, but also to our employees, one of whom had to clean up the mess every morning, including human waste. Sadly, in the last year it looks like the County has reverted to a policy of looking the other way since vehicle and non-vehicle campers alike have been allowed to occupy the same space for several months at a time. Maybe it's time for the Board of Supervisors and City Council to move beyond adopting the Marbut Report recommendations “in concept” and put them into practice.

A couple of days ago I shared a story on the clean up of a homeless encampment and added the following comment: “If we're serious about helping people graduate from homelessness, in addition to providing services, we will adopt a zero tolerance approach to encampments, as recommended by the Marbut Report. Turning a blind eye to homeless encampments is harmful to the environment, the community and the people who live in them.” Today (Monday), one individual experiencing homelessness is dead and another is in jail charged with murder. The suspect (and perhaps the victim, who is yet to be identified) has been living in the Social Services parking lot on and off for months. Allowing chronically homeless individuals to semi-permanently occupy public or private property has many negative impacts. To name just one, people living in encampments have very little incentive to seek other options, including treatment for mental illness or substance abuse, which are often the underlying conditions that prevent them from being housed. Every individual and every situation is different but turning a blind eye to encampments is seldom to anyone's benefit, including the people living in them.

PASSION DAY at Church of the Redwoods, Comptche

THE MENDOCINO FILM FESTIVAL returns June 2-5 with all the venues, films and parties that everyone loves.

Our first event of the year for members and sponsors is a free preview screening of THE AUTOMAT on April 9th at 1pm at Coast Cinemas. THE AUTOMAT tells the story of one of the largest chains of automated cafeterias in the country, narrated by Mel Brooks. RSVP if you are a member and would like to come, or join now.

Angela Matano, Executive Director, Mendocino Film Festival, Office: 707.937.0171, Cell: 310.883.5107

* * *

Marco McClean here. There's an automat scene early in the mid-'90s science-fiction-noir Dark City by Alex Troyas, my second favorite movie ever, after City of Lost Children. 

A bored attendant behind the wall of little coin-op glass-door cubbies puts John Murdock's left-behind wallet in an empty cubby. John has no coins, and he needs the wallet and is desperate to get away from there, so he instinctively uses his power to Tune to telekinetically burst the door open. This is his first use of the power. 

That film was my introduction to the song Sway, which I've since collected many versions of, among them one sung by Rosemary Clooney (brash, blaring), one sung by Dean Martin (1950s-comic-drunkenly languorous), and one by Cats-And-Jammers (bluegrassy). 

ON THE RADIO…

Mendocino Theatre Company presents a reading of Susan Glaspell's hilarious satire SUPPRESSED DESIRES this Thursday, March 31st at 7:00 PM on KZYX & KZYZ, 88.1 FM (Fort Bragg); 90.7 FM (Philo); 91.5 FM (Willits & Ukiah) or streaming @ kzyx.org

Henrietta (Pamela W. Allen) and Stephen (Mark Friedrich) were happily married, until Henrietta discovered psychoanalysis. Now no stone – or dream, grunt, look, or shrug -- will be left unturned in the quest for its hidden meaning. But when sister Mabel (Laura Pinyuh), who has come for a visit, catches the disease herself, the couple are in a fight for their wedded life!

Don't miss this hilarious satire by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Susan Glaspell, directed by Lorry Lepaule, with sound design by Ken Krauss.

HASTINGS LEGACY PROVES DIFFICULT TO ERASE FROM UNIVERSITY’S NAME

mendofever.com/2022/03/28/as-the-architect-of-mendocino-countys-native-american-genocide-hastings-legacy-proves-difficult-to-erase-from-universitys-name/

ED NOTES

HIGHMINDED dude that I am, I don't remember ever watching the Academy Awards, but I couldn't miss all the excited media chatter this morning about an actor named Will Smith slapping Awards host, comedian Chris Rock. So I hustled on-line to see what the hullabaloo was all about, assuming it was all fake. Seemed real enough to me, and then there was a clip of Smith yelling, not once but twice, “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth.” As the whole world watched, too. Who cares what show biz people do or say? Multiples of millions, and then I read this statement from Smith, “I was haunted by a sense I am failing the women I love.” He goes on to say that even when he was old enough to interfere he silently watched his father beat his mother, and now here was his wife being insulted by Rock. I think Smith did the right thing.

I GET a lot of “friend” requests from dead people. Is it common on Facebook that once you're a Facebooker you're a Facebooker forever, or is it the departed reaching out from the other side? To be safe I always friend the dead, although not many were friends while they lived.

JOSEPH TURRI WRITES: “As to our current Board of Supervisors: How many of these folks had jobs that paid better than their current salary as Supervisors prior to being elected? How many of our Supervisors have demonstrated the ability to make sound financial judgments that resulted in the actual production of a usable and self sustaining (financially) product or service? How many have the education or proven ability to comprehend the issues they are presented with daily as a Supervisor? (A lot of governmental employees have to take exams to prove basic competency.) ]ust asking."

I'D SAY NONE AND NONE. Haschak was an elementary Spanish school teacher; Gjerde has never been otherwise employed; Williams was some kind of computer consultant; Mo Mulheren sold some insurance, I think; McGourty was the Ag Extention's wine-grape farm advisor, but not at 80-plus thou I'd suppose. I don't think any of the five should be responsible for a $300 million annual budget, a grim fact they demonstrate every time they meet. But given that only a literal handful of people pay any attention to their job performances, they get away with gross irresponsibility. PS. Previous experience has nothing to do with doing an honest job as supervisor.

ANOTHER LOCAL ASKS: ”Ok. This may sound really dumb…Why does the mailbox in front of the PO look like it has a walker? Lol. Is it a new security thing? It just looks funny.”

THE INSTALLER of the new “walker” around the mail box, Rod Balson, said he and others had noticed that the elderly were using the mailbox to help themselves up the high curb fronting the Boonville Post Office, thus loosening the mailbox's attachment bolts. The bars, molded and welded by ace local metal worker Steve Rhoades, are made from auto exhaust pipes. They are designed to give elders a handhold for getting up and onto the sidewalk.

JOHN REDDING:

Here are my unsolicited answers to the Editor’s questions. BTW, if he thinks debates will be rigged, why not have the AVA host a debate? And why does he rail against the County but dismisses someone who fights for better government as “combative”. Seems like he would welcome that trait on the BOS. Anyway, here goes

1. Are supervisors overpaid given the light demands on them? Yes. I would make the Board a working board.

2. Given that many line county employees also qualify for food stamps, will you introduce pay raises for them and pay freezes for management? Yes. Good leaders eat last.

3. Do you intend to end the pointless beef with the Sheriff? I would to be sure and never started it in the first place.

4. Do you approve spending large amounts of public tax money via the consent calendar? Heaven’s no!

5. What exactly did assistant county health director, Doc Doohan, do for her $100,000 contract? She copied and pasted the directives coming from Sacramento.

6. Why do you (and your colleagues) approve hiring expensive Frisco lawyers to handle routine personnel disputes when the county maintains a staff of 8-10 county-paid attorneys? I think the answer is they have no respect for taxpayer money.

7. Do you support State Senator McGuire’s Great Redwood Trail even though it will cost over $1 billion by their own estimates? No. Wrong priority for this time and place. Another bullet train fiasco?

8. Do you support a new County Courthouse, despite the significant unfunded impact on the affected local departments? No. The County is barely responsive to the public’s needs as it is.

9. Why did you support the CEO’s lie that John McCowen had stolen county property? Good question, but the answer may be that Ted is not the nice guy he appears to be.

10. What specifically have you done for the 5th District? Another good question as the County is barely functioning. We need economic development and government accountability. My own track record for the health care District is far better. facebook.com/johnredding4supervisor

APRIL 2022 FIRST FRIDAY ART WALK

ART WALK: emphasis on ART and WALK. Ukiah is a very walkable town. Join artists and their hosts for an evening of art, music and refreshments as you stroll from one venue to the next; each showcasing local art and artistry. Held in Historic Downtown Ukiah on the first Friday of each month, the First Friday Art Walk is the perfect way to relax your body, mind and soul. This enjoyable evening begins at 5:00 p.m. and promises to delight your senses; all while enjoying the company of others. All County Health Orders will be followed. For more information contact (707) 391-3664

Mamas Medicinal's 328 N State Street

Emily from Mama's Medicinal's is excited to welcome you back, for April they have a Stephen Winkle with Classic and Acoustic Rock And Lauren Daugherty a local potter.

Bona Marketplace 116 W Standley Street

Bona Marketplace has a new show called “A few of my favorite things” in watercolor and acrylic by Cottie Morrison and joining her will be Jeanne Kennedy with Paper, Found Fabric, and “Tex Tiles.”

Ukiah Valley Networking Agency 104 N School St

Tim Poma is no stranger to the Ukiah Art Walk scene. Tim will be showcasing brand new art as well as some of your favorites and prints for sale. Tim S. Poma is best known for his bright and colorful thrown and dripped paintings of landscapes, poppies, Volkswagens and abstract objects painted with latex house paint. Self-taught, Poma began painting as a means of releasing emotions, specifically disappointment and frustration. Through his exploratory out bust of passion and a desire to create, Poma began throwing paint feverishly to alleviate his sadness, and in the process he found a joy he did not know existed. Poma has been painting ever since 2012 in the small Northern California town called Ukiah. Poma’s methods of creation include: dripping, smearing, throwing and finger-painting on canvas to get his desired look. He often uses tools such as a palette knife or a paint stir-stick to help with the creation of a given painting, and rarely uses paintbrushes but is not opposed. Although Poma was never formally trained as an artist, he has had several influential art teachers in his life who helped inspire his path as an artist. From his Color and Composition teacher at Mendocino College, Paula Grey, to his Ceramics teacher Doug Browe, each left a lasting impression on him that still inspires him today.

Corner Gallery 201 S State Street

Corner Gallery Ukiah First Friday Art Walk will feature Willits artist Linda Mac Donald who creates narratives about the events around us focusing the coast redwood trees and logging. She portrays the magnificence of the giant redwoods with paintings of their interiors. The history of their aging is in the wood, trees are the symbols of longevity, resilience within strife, and nature in all its glory. April 1 thru April 30 2022, Also featured this month on the Young Artist Wall Lucille Shakman, a local young woman photographer. Live music will be provided by Chris Gibson.

ART CENTER UKIAH 201 S State St

"WE ARE ONE" This exhibit explores the interconnectedness of all living things on our planet. Trees communicate with each other and there are enormous interconnected fungal colonies in the soil that dwarf the largest living things that have existed. Explore the human connection with Mother Earth through art. Local artists have represented our connections through a variety of mediums. April 1 thru April 30 2022

Medium Art Gallery 522 E Perkins Street

The exhibition features artists aged 18 and under with artwork influenced by the person, thing, or idea that inspires them – a loved one, a walk in nature, a favorite memory, a vision of the future, and more. All artwork will be included in the online portion of the show on the Deep Valley Arts Collective website, with selected artwork to be displayed in-person. Support youth artists! Create your own art at the interactive art station. The show will run through May 22nd, 2022.

— Maureen Mulheren, Ukiah Valley Networking Agency, Ukiah, CA 95482 707-391-3664

WHITE SOX UPDATE ON ANDREW VAUGHN’S INJURY

(Boonville’s fave MLB ball player, Vaughn’s grandparents were Ron and Doris Vaughn, both graduates of AV High. His paternal great-grandparents were Erbie and Nola Vaughn, long time Anderson Valley residents. His maternal great grandparents were Walter ‘Shine’ and Beth Tuttle, also long time Valley residents. Beth taught school for the AV school district for many, many years.)

The Chicago White Sox are hoping for a big year from Andrew Vaughn. He is going into his second year with expectations that he can be one of the better power hitters on the team. He showed glimpses of it in 2021 with a whole lot to improve on in 2022.

Spring training was off to a good start for him to have a good year. He was hitting well which is a good sign because that is where he is going to make his money in Major League Baseball. Unfortunately, the White Sox has Vaughn learning new positions on the fly.

It is not fair to him as he is a natural first baseman. He played left field admirably (for never playing it before) in 2021 but switched to right field (the harder of the two corner outfielders) and things haven’t been as smooth.

On Sunday, while playing right field, Vaughn made a diving catch that probably would have been a routine play for a natural right fielder. Unfortunately, he was hurt on the play and carted off the field. That was not a good sign.

Luckily, the White Sox put out an update on Monday and it seems like he is going to be okay. It is a hip pointer injury which is a bruised pelvis on the right side. They also point out that his progress is based on his symptoms resolve. The expected return as of right now is one to two weeks.

The Chicago White Sox gave a good update on Andrew Vaughn’s injury status.

The White Sox dodged a bullet here. Vaughn is a key part of this team’s batting order and they need him in there as much as possible. They should probably think about getting a right fielder to play right field instead of platooning two first basemen.

Vaughn may miss a few games to start the season but that isn’t that big of a deal. He should be back and ready to go not long into the April stretch. This is a big year for him as he tries to go from a good rookie to a star offensive player on a very good team. This update was good news.

CATCH OF THE DAY, March 28, 2022

ANTONIO BORRERO-GINEL, Fort Bragg. Sodomy, victim under 10 years of age. (Age 35. Photo not available.)

MICHAEL BOWMAN, Arcata/Ukiah. DUI-alcohol&drugs, suspended license, under influence.

MARTIN BRIGGS, Laytonville. Disorderly conduct-drugs & alcohol.

JAMES DODD, Willits. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

ELIZABETH GONZALEZ, Point Arena. Domestic battery.

NIKOYA LEAHY, Covelo. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, manufacture-sale-possession of nunchuks, bringing controlled substance into jail.

JAMES PEREDIA, Lucerne/Ukiah. Vandalism.

MARGARITO RUIZ, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

DENIS ROUSE: I was reading “The Gates of Europe -- A History of the Ukraine” by Serhii Plokhy, a Ukrainian Harvard history prof (so much for objectivity I guess) but interesting to see Russia sold Alaska to the U.S. according to the prof to finance a railroad in the Crimea. My maternal grandmother was born in a village local to Kiev and I never once heard her refer to herself as anything but Russian. So I guess I'm a little skewed here, but I also keep thinking about what would happen if, say North and South Dakota decided to split and form their own country? Didn't we once have a civil war over an issue like that? Maybe I'm drinking too much to think clearly here.

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

My grandmother was a hardcore fascist. After all, it was the fascists who took care of her following the loss of her father and several uncles in the Great War that didn’t benefit Italy in any way. She was tall and you can clearly see her in a newsreel carrying a flag at the head of a parade for Mussolini in Venice. 

My grandmother had no problem with the dozen German soldiers that occupied the first floor of her home while her husband was away fighting in Normandy. She kept her chin up with the loss of two brothers. She cared for the people made homeless by the near perpetual bombing of the rail lines that were less than a mile from her home.

She did all of this right up until the very day she could no longer make bread. “Once we could no longer make bread, no one was a fascist anymore,” she told us and that was when Mussolini was snatched from Salo (very near my grandmother’s home) and strung up.

A SNARLING PACK of white male Republicans ripping apart a poised, brainy Black woman at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, using sordid innuendoes and baseless claims about race and porn to smear her as her pained family sat behind her. 

— Maureen Dowd

ON THIS DAY - March 8, 1969 – Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States and one of the most highly regarded American generals of World War II, dies in Washington, D.C., at the age of 78.

Born in Denison, Texas, in 1890, Eisenhower graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1915, and after World War I he steadily rose in the peacetime ranks of the U.S. Army. After the U.S. entrance into World War II, he was appointed commanding general of the European theater of operations and oversaw U.S. troops massing in Great Britain. In 1942, Eisenhower, who had never commanded troops in the field, was put in charge of Operation Torch, the Anglo-American landings in Morocco and Algeria. As supreme commander of a mixed force of Allied nationalities, services, and equipment, Eisenhower designed a system of unified command and rapidly won the respect of his British and Canadian subordinates.

From North Africa, he successfully directed the invasions of Tunisia, Sicily, and Italy, and in January 1944 was appointed supreme Allied commander of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of northwestern Europe. Although Eisenhower left much of the specific planning for the actual Allied landing in the hands of his capable staff, he served as a brilliant organizer and administrator both before and after the successful invasion. 

After the war, he briefly served as president of Columbia University before returning to military service in 1951 as supreme commander of the combined land and air forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Pressure on Eisenhower to run for U.S. president was great, however, and in the spring of 1952 he relinquished his NATO command to run for president on the Republican ticket. In November 1952, “Ike” won a resounding victory in the presidential elections and in 1956 was reelected in a landslide. A popular president, he oversaw a period of great economic growth in the United States and deftly navigated the country through increasing Cold War tension on the world stage. 

In 1961, he retired with his wife, Mamie Doud Eisenhower, to his farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He is buried on a family plot in Abilene, Kansas.

We like Ike!

WILL WHEATON:

Gonna paraphrase something I've seen in a few places this morning.

The thing we all have to remember about Will Smith assaulting Chris Rock last night is that Ginni Thomas, the wife of SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas, actively participated in an effort to overthrow the elected, legitimate government of the United States.

Let me repeat that again, just so we're all clear: The wife of a sitting scotus justice actively participated in an attempt to overthrow the elected government of the united states.

This isn't normal. This is maybe just a little more important and should get maybe a little more attention than a multimillionaire assaulting another multimillionaire in a room filled with rich and famous people who are all there to celebrate how great they all are.

Stay focused, Media. I beg you. Don't fuck this up like you fuck up everything else.

THE RISING THREAT OF NUCLEAR WAR

by Patrick Cockburn

In the early months of 2003, I was in the Kurdish capital Erbil in northern Iraq, an area outside Iraqi government control, waiting for the start of the US-led invasion. The Kurds were all too accustomed to conventional warfare, but what truly terrified them was the prospect of Saddam Hussein’s forces using chemical weapons.

The Kurds had been assured by President George W Bush and Tony Blair, along with the rest of the world, that the Iraqi dictator was hiding his weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Fifteen years earlier in 1988, Iraqi forces had used mustard gas and nerve agents to kill 5,000 Kurdish civilians in the town of Halabja – the largest direct use of poison gas as a weapon against a civilian target in history. No wonder people in Erbil and other Kurdish cities, none of them that far from Halabja, were frightened that the calamity would happen again.

Much of the population fled from urban areas to camp out in the plains and mountains or crammed into tiny villages. Those staying behind bought plastic sheeting, often in inappropriately festive red, blue and yellow colours, which they pinned over the doors and windows of their houses and shops in a pathetic hope that this would keep out the deadly gas.

In the event, Iraqi government chemical and biological weapons turned out to be a myth, but the terror they caused was very real.

It is now being reborn 34 years after Halabja because Russia, unlike Iraq, certainly does possess WMD and may be tempted to use them. On Thursday in Brussels, President Joe Biden warned the Kremlin against using chemical weapons, saying that such an attack “would trigger a response in kind”. He did not spell out what this retaliation would consist of, but even a suspicion that chemical weapons are an option could spark off another giant exodus of Ukrainians, as it did in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The public reason given by the US for supposing that Russia might be considering chemical warfare is that Russia has claimed that biological weapons were being developed in Ukrainian laboratories funded by the Pentagon. This appears to be a crude piece of propaganda and the laboratories in question were developing common pathogens for public health purposes. The most likely explanation for President Vladimir Putin’s accusation is that he was groping around for imaginary threats to explain to the Russian public why he launched his war and not because he plans to use chemical weapons himself.

Nevertheless, the raising of the WMD issue is another step in the escalatory ladder in Ukraine and adds to the grim uncertainties. In Iraq, the very existence of WMD was long debated. In Syria, controversy raged over whether or not they had been used and, if so, by whom. In Russia, there is no doubt the weapons are there and could be deployed immediately.

Whatever the real threat from chemical weapons, the risk of WMD being used has risen to a level never seen in Europe since 1945. Most ominously, the danger of a nuclear exchange is higher now than it was at the height of the Cold War between the Western powers and the Soviet Union.

This danger is not static but has became more serious since Putin invaded Ukraine on 24 February and became even more acute during the next four weeks as a Russian demonstration of strength became a show of weakness. The Russian conventional military machine turns out to be weaker than anybody expected, unable to defeat the small Ukrainian army and therefore unlikely to stand up against Nato forces.

The only way the Kremlin can even up the balance of military power will be through its nuclear arsenal and, in particular, through its 1,000 to 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons.

This emphasis on the nuclear option is not a new development since the Russian army has been aware of its declining capabilities for 30 years. During the first Cold War between the late 1940s and 1989, the emphasis in the US and USSR was on nuclear weapons between 2,000 and 3,000 times more powerful than the bomb which destroyed Hiroshima. This made “mutually assured destruction” an overwhelmingly powerful deterrent against launching a nuclear strike.

But in recent decades, the emphasis in the US and more especially in Russia, has been on the development of smaller nuclear devices with a third or half the power of the Hiroshima bomb. The purpose of this reduction in destructive capacity is to make it feasible to deploy such weapons on a battlefield to destroy a convoy or an enemy stronghold.

This is dangerous and untested military terrain, since nobody knows how the other side would react, and an exchange of tactical nuclear missiles in open countryside might swiftly escalate into the apocalyptic destruction of cities by Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles.

Russian troops have long practiced the transition from conventional to nuclear warfare at the tactical level. The Russian military is reported to have repeatedly held exercises in which Kaliningrad, the vulnerable Russian enclave on the Baltic Sea, is defended successfully by the use of nuclear arms.

Proponents of a tougher Nato line against Russia argue that Putin would not risk a nuclear exchange. But this is a risky wild card because we do not know how Putin and his advisors will react to pressure. What is clear is that they have made a series of disastrous misjudgements in the last month by underestimating the strength of Ukrainian resistance, exaggerating Russia’s military capabilities, and miscalculating the vigour of the Nato reaction to the invasion.

Such a track record of unforced errors of this gravity, blunders probably rooted in hubris and misinformation, does not give confidence that Putin and his inner circle will show better judgement when it comes to chemical and nuclear weapons.

Paradoxically, those most prone to demand that Nato take a tougher line towards Putin, whom they denounce as a mad and evil dictator, argue that he will retreat if his bluff is called forcibly enough. This bit of wishful thinking appears to be based on nothing more than the schoolyard nostrum that “a bully is always a coward”. In reality, nobody knows how Putin would react if his back is to the wall and he is fighting for the survival of his regime.

Political leaders may understand these risks, but they are under popular pressure, as were their predecessors a century ago during the First World War, to act more militantly. Russophobia is the mood of the day, just as Germanophobia was in 1914. A literary course on Dostoyevsky is dropped in California (though reinstated after protests) and Tchaikovsky is purged from a concert programme in Cardiff. As the Russians grind forward in Ukraine, seeking to shell and bomb cities into submission, Western television screens will be filled with pictures of dead and dying children for months on end. Diplomatic compromise will be at a discount.

A further factor which makes the second cold war against Moscow more dangerousthan the first is that the previous dread of a nuclear Armageddon has largely evaporated. The fact that it never happened has fostered a feeling that it never could have happened – though any realistic risk assessment suggests that the danger today is greater than it ever was in the past.

(Courtesy, CounterPunch.org.)

WHAT IS TO BE DONE?

by James Kunstler

Money money money everywhere along the trail for the Biden Family….

The black hole of depravity known as Hunter Biden’s Laptop dilates ever wider as the rickety “Joe Biden” regime chugs towards its event horizon of disgrace and collapse, throwing off the jetsam of our nation’s remnant honor in its toxic vapor trail. The memos and emails on the device could not be clearer: “Joe Biden” and his grifting family sold out their country.

The mentally incompetent husk of a crooked old pol is owned by every foreign interest in his decaying orbit, and owned as well by the foul and perfidious “intel” mafia lodged like a cancerous mass eating away at what used to be known as the American government. Face it: this false “president,” installed by malignant forces allied with his Party of Chaos, is a menace to our nation.

The Russian clean-up of Ukraine has exposed the operational base of the Biden Family’s flagrant crimes. The laptop confirms that Hunter’s Rosemont Seneca front company invested in the chain of bio-weapons labs set up by the CIA and Department of Defense and operated through their front company Metabiota, with tendrils reaching to the Wuhan, China, virology lab that was the most likely point-of-origin for SARS-CoV-2, a.k.a. Covid-19.

Money money money everywhere along the trail for the Biden Family, fees-for-service from the crooked Ukrainian oligarch Mykola Zlochevsky, chairman of Burisma, the gas company that provided walking-around money for Hunter’s insatiable drug habit and degenerate sexual adventures… more millions from shady sources in Russia… and then billions more from the board rooms of Chinese companies connected with the intel and military arms of the CCP.

If the American public had known of these entanglements, Joe Biden would certainly not have been the beneficiary of the engineered balloting irregularities that determined the 2020 election. But the public, still reeling from the mindfuckery of Covid 19, was left ignorant through the combined operations of the CIA’s captured social networks along with a tractable legacy news media.

Of course, the FBI had Hunter’s laptop in its possession in January of 2020. How is it possible that the device and all its incriminating contents were withheld as evidence in the momentous impeachment trial of Donald Trump which, after all, was instigated by Mr. Trump’s inquiring phone call about those very matters involving the Bidens and Mykola Zlochevsky? Answer: Because the FBI was already rattled by the unravelling truth about its seditious role in the RussiaGate folly, and the agency was wholly invested in the removal of Mr. Trump before top agency officials found themselves in grand juries — federal crimes on top of federal crimes by federal officials. How do we stand for that?

And they continued to sit on and hide the laptop through the first fifteen months of “Joe Biden’s” astoundingly calamitous term in office to the dangerous point that America has arrived at today, the potential brink of a nuclear exchange with Russia — all a product of our decade-long interventions and machinations in sad-sack Ukraine, a train-wreck of foreign policy blunders that can only be explained as a product of the most extreme and ruinous organizational hubris seen since Germany’s misadventure invading the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa, 1941.

And now the suits in America’s intel, state, and war offices are apparently thinking that the “Joe Biden” operation has got to be thrown overboard before it is too late to dissociate themselves from it, and its slime-trail of crime. All hinges on whether a percentage of the mesmerized American public — those buffaloed by the combined effects of Woke hysteria and mass formation psychosis — might rouse from their induced trance and recognize the ominous shape that reality has assumed while their minds were hostage.

Too many can see that everything now in American life is going south. “Joe Biden” has knocked the remaining props out from under the country’s assumed standard-of-living. We are on track to go medieval in months, not years: no replacement parts for our machines, no money (or else money that’s worthless), no food, no heat, no light, no getting from Point A to Point B, soon no hope. And if we’re really unlucky, the very land itself and the things we’ve built upon it reduced to cinders and ash.

One thing you must know: we are not entering the wishful robotic anti-utopia of social credit control, QR code management, and World Economic Forum / Klaus Schwab transhumanism. We are veering, rather, off-the-rails into epic historic political disorder, something much more perplexing than the clear-cut crack-up of the 1860s. In this new pandemonium, the best of us will remember what has been best about us: liberty, the rule of law, freedom of speech and the press, the dignity of work, our sense of obligation to a common good, and the decorum of truth-telling. For now, strive to stay sane against all the inducements of the wicked.

THANKS FOR SHARING, CRAIG

Chant the Maha Mantram and Go Back to Godhead

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hare_Krishna_(mantra)

— Craig Louis Stehr

BIDEN'S RECKLESS WORDS Underscore The Dangers Of The U.S.'s Use Of Ukraine As A Proxy War

As grave of a threat as deliberate war is, unintended escalation from miscommunication and misperception can be as bad. Biden is the perfect vessel for such risks.

by Glenn Greenwald

The central question for Americans from the start of the war in Ukraine was what role, if any, should the U.S. government play in that war? A necessarily related question: if the U.S. is going to involve itself in this war, what objectives should drive that involvement? 

Prior to the U.S.'s jumping directly into this war, those questions were never meaningfully considered. Instead, the emotions deliberately stoked by the relentless media attention to the horrors of this war — horrors which, contrary to the West's media propaganda, are common to all wars, including its own — left little to no space for public discussion of those questions. The only acceptable modes of expression in U.S. discourse were to pronounce that the Russian invasion was unjustified, and, using parlance which the 2011 version of Chris Hayes correctly dismissed as adolescent, that Putin is a “bad guy.” Those denunciation rituals, no matter how cathartic and applause-inducing, supplied no useful information about what actions the U.S. should or should not take when it came to this increasingly dangerous conflict. 

That was the purpose of so severely restricting discourse to those simple moral claims: to allow policymakers in Washington free rein to do whatever they wanted in the name of stopping Putin without being questioned. Indeed, as so often happens when war breaks out, anyone questioning U.S. political leaders instantly had their patriotism and loyalty impugned (unless one was complaining that the U.S. should become more involved in the conflict than it already was, a form of pro-war "dissent” that is always permissible in American discourse).…

greenwald.substack.com/p/bidens-reckless-words-underscore