Letters (May 12, 2022)

• A Positive Approach
• PG&E's Suspicious Billing
• Not Williams
• What’s In A Name?
• Stop B&B's!
• Willits Superintendent To Resign
• Peter Lit Looks Back
• Water Emergency?
• Not From West Development
• What About Us Humans?
• Voting For Glentzer
• Those Oligarch Yachts
• Not A Common Carrier
• That's A Life In There
• The Giusti Report
• Go Out Like A Man
• The Crackpot Party Goes All The Way 5150
• A Reverse Revolution
• Artist Wanted

A POSITIVE APPROACH

Editor,

Michelle Hutchins is the first woman elected as County Superintendent of Schools. Previously, Mendocino County was among the lowest performing counties in California. State funding to develop resources was being passed directly to districts. Three of the 12 districts got most of those resources, contrary to state requirements. Michelle Hutchins brought the county into compliance while improving resources to both large and small schools.

But many Ukiah Unified officials were unhappy with that change. They boycotted the county office's resources. Ukiah's Assistant Superintendent is opposing Michelle in this race. Ukiah's annual budget is about $108 million. The county office's budget is about $24 million for all schools. Still, Ukiah ranks very low for student achievement per the state measurements (academic, attendance, truancy, suspensions, and graduation rates).

Hutchins connected with County agencies like the community college, North Coast Opportunities, and West Company to enhance economic development. She assembled a very conpetent and diverse staff to provide services and give small districts equal opportunity. She is genuinely passionate about education and innovative in building effective student and staff support structures. Her positive energy is a breath of fresh air.

Hutchins is endorsed by each of her independently elected county school board members, Republican and Democrat alike, which is unprecedented. She is endorsed by a State Superintendent of Public Education Tony Thurmond, State Senator Mike McGuire, and Assembly Member Jim Wood. Locally County Supervisors John Haschak (District 3) and Glenn McGourty (District 1) have endorsed her.

I respect that Ms. Hutchins campaigns on her accomplishments and vision, not by attacking her opponent. It speaks for her professionalism and belief in the positive; a great value to influence our children's education.

Two upcoming candidate forums will be held in the next few days. One in Ukiah on Monday, May 9 at 6 PM at Ukiah City Hall streamed live by the Mendocino Voice online news outlet; and another in Willits on Sunday, May 15 from 2 to 5 PM at the Little Lake Grange in Willits.

Linda McClure

Boonville

PG&E'S SUSPICIOUS BILLING

Editor: 

I can’t be the only person this is happening to, so I am writing to see if I’m correct. My PG&E bill leaped 300% over one month. I live in a 1,700-square-foot house without air-conditioning. I have 23 solar panels on my roof, which have been feeding PG&E without recompense for four years. Every light in my house and yard is an LED, and I turn my heat off for half the year. It’s hard not to suspect that PG&E is being allowed to pass off its fines for culpability in the fires to ratepayers. But as a pensioner and Social Security recipient, $1,200 a month is exorbitant just to keep my lights on. Such fees would cripple many people, and I’ve yet to receive any explanation for the rate hike.

Peter Coyote

Sebastopol

NOT WILLIAMS

Editor,

Re the upcoming election

The election for supervisor in the Fifth District. I have nothing but compassion for the voters and their choices of candidates. Mr. Redding I know very little about. And from personal experience I know Williams is not a decent human being.

John Gomez

Willits

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Editor,

So lemme get this straight… if a word was used for something at a time when the thing was condemned and nasty things were said about it, then the word is to blame, and we can’t use the word anymore.

Why is it the word’s fault? I don’t really know who the original Mary Jane/ Marijuana or maybe Maria Juanita was, but the name is lovely. When i was young and first heard of the good herb, i thought the fact that its/her name sounded Mexican made Mexican seem good. Not the other way around! Words do not have the power to make living beings or lived experiences good or bad; neither do people have the power to make them actually good or bad, though they can say they consider them one way or the other. As i see it, the order of legitimacy is: 1. The actual thing– which is what it is, and that is all. 2. The word we use for it, which stands in as a token for it, and has no power on its own but is (according to most people with any thoughts on language at all, that is, anybody over about three years old) attached to the thing over time and space, so that we may discuss the thing and know what thing we mean. 3. The attitudes and values that people attach to the thing when using the word to identify it.

What is wrong with people lately, that they do not understand this hierarchy of importance, and want to blame the word for people’s problems with a thing the word only represents?

The word means, on one level– the legitimate one, the one in the dictionary– a certain thing: a people or a plant or a lifestyle choice, in the cases of recently controversial words. On another level, the word picks up associations because sometimes stupid people say stupid things about those certain things. But for people who think they’re lots smarter to then decide that the word itself, rather than the people who once used it or the attitudes held by those people, is the problem– that boggles my mind.

So what else used to be looked down upon by too many people at some time, and now that we are coming out of the dark age, might have to be renamed? Let’s see… Fat people. Retarded. Handicapped. Oriental. Drug addicts. Poor people. Slaves. Homeless people. Wait! I see a pattern! All of these are already considered obsolete terms, though the people and their problems absolutely still exist (or the fact that they did in the past persists). Did anything actually change when people became houseless or home-free rather than homeless? Do developmentally disabled people feel better about their situation because nobody says “retarded” anymore? Do Native Americans in New England, where maybe up to half the names of counties, rivers, and towns are of Native origin, have it better than in North American places with heavy usage of Anglo names?

I don’t know. There is the other way to go. Just as effective and not as divisive. That’s for people to re-embrace their word and wear it proudly. Witches, lesbians… let’s see, who else uses a name that always was used for their group, most often in a derogatory way, in the past, but has reclaimed it? Oddly, i can only think of women being brave enough to do that (and soon, using the word “woman” itself will be a courageous act, not so much because women are looked down upon, but in another manifestation of modern mass psychosis, because men want to be women and don’t think only actual women should get to be “women.”) Well, there is the N-word, which is a unique case, because while the people the N-word once referred to have reclaimed it, they are the only ones allowed to use it, so there appear to be some confidence issues around separating the word from its associations.

Will you join me, Fred, in reclaiming “marijuana”– for the herb itself and for the Mexicans? I love the connection and i appreciate any part Mexicans had in introducing weed to us norteamericanos! Viva la marijuana!

Laura Cooskey

Petrolia

STOP B&B'S!

Editor,

Housing Action Coalition (HAT) Petition drive re Short Term Rentals

Sign the petition! Let’s limit short term housing so we have places to live.

The lack of affordable housing in Mendocino County has reached crisis proportions. To save affordable housing for their communities, other counties across California have implemented Short Term Rental (STR) ordinances that limit short-term rentals. It is now urgent for Mendocino County to assume this responsibility. In addition, the lack of affordable housing has a ripple effect on all aspects of our community's well-being. For example, qualified candidates for desperately needed healthcare, law enforcement, and public education jobs cannot find housing for their families and choose to locate elsewhere.

Because it is necessary to preserve long-term housing, we propose that the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors immediately create a Short-Term Rental (STR) Ordinance. The Ordinance should limit the number of commercial STRs when they are more than 2% of area housing, and allow licensing to resume only when their numbers are below the 2% threshold. Said licenses will expire upon sale or transfer of the property.

The proposed Ordinance allows existing STRs in good standing to continue operating. Over 500 STRs exist in the County -- 4% of all coastal housing. Setting the limit at 2% will mitigate growth and let us reclaim houses as rental properties sell. At 2% we could recover more than 100 permanent residences in the next few years.

Time is of the essence. Because Investment in STRs is increasing at an alarming rate, and creating ordinances across departments can be a lengthy process, we urge the Board of Supervisors to assign responsibility for the Short-Term Rental Ordinance to the CEO's office and that the Ordinance is submitted for approval by the BOS before the end of 2022.

To learn more and sign our petition, please visit: https://www.hatmendocoast.org/ and make your voice heard.

Please share this with your friends.

Elizabeth Swenson

eswenson@mcn.org

WILLITS SUPERINTENDENT TO RESIGN 

To the Editor: 

It is with a heavy heart that I share with you that I will be resigning from my position as the superintendent at the end of this school year. I am making this decision due to some deeply personal reasons. I have greatly enjoyed the time I have spent with each of you in Willits. 

I will be assisting the board in making a smooth transition to the next superintendent once they are identified. We have some great momentum. 

I know the excellent staff here will continue to carry this momentum forward into next school year and beyond. I am excited to see the heights that WUSD will achieve in the future! With deepest gratitude and respect, 

Superintendent Joe Aldridge

Willits 

ED NOTE: This letter to Willits Unified School District staff and the community was posted on the WUSD Facebook page on Tuesday, May 3. Our information is that Aldridge will become superintendent at Fort Bragg while Fort Bragg's super moves on to the Lake County Office of Education.)

PETER LIT LOOKS BACK

Editor,

The story about Mendocino Planning and Building stirred up another memory, this one not County, but State. 

One of the requirements of opening a remodeled “visitor serving facility” is a stamp of approval from the Health Department. In January of 1980, this came out of an office in Santa Rosa. The first time I remodeled the Caspar Inn, it was a major undertaking. The concept was to tear out many of the interior walls downstairs, replacing them with the posts and beams that are there today requiring under floor concrete work; new interior paneling, making the entrance to the men's room indoors, a new floor, new plumbing, new bathrooms, major electrical upgrades (including a new “entrance” plus main panels and sub-panels), a few new windows, new coolers, bar sinks, tappers for beer, etc. 

We allowed 15 days for the project; Don Bruce , our lead contractor for the structural changes, thought three months was reasonable. 

We were rolling along heading for our projected and semi-advertised opening at 4 pm on January 10, 1980, when a snag appeared as we requested a health inspection. 

Santa Rosa only came up once a week, on Thursdays. January 10 was a Tuesday, so I requested an inspection on the 5th. When the health inspector came, he was very pleased. The food prep area, for the fresh orange juice (which we discontinued because of all the complaints about pulp coupled with the time and expense of making it) and whipped cream, plus the new bar equipment got the nod. He especially liked the new “guns” for beverages and the new hot water heater for the sinks. The old men's room was now a storage closet and the new one was now accessible without going outside (the old walkway was now inside). I tried to steer him away from the new women's room, formerly a rest room for the motorcycle shop/apartment at the back of the Inn (the old one was now the gents’) telling him it was still under construction, but he insisted on opening the door.

Actually, there was no floor, no fixtures, no finished interior walls; just floor joists and the roughed out plumbing — to code of course. He apologized but said he could not give us a Permit to Operate without facilities, but he would guarantee that he would be back on the morning of Thursday the 12th. 

I tried to convince him that it would be okay. “Sorry, no can do”. 

I didn't give up. I pointed out how much we had already done and the number of people working; the flooring contractor laying the hickory floor, the carpenters and sheetrockers putting on the walls and ceilings with the painters not far behind. I reminded him of the new men's room, the food prep area. I told him about the amount of publicity we had put out and paid for announcing our opening; I offered to pay him to come back over the weekend, either day, or Monday. He said he couldn't.

Finally I said something along the lines of “Please, help us out. You can see all the work we have done in ten days; I PROMISE you that on Tuesday, before we open, there will be a completely legal restroom here with an impermeable floor, impermeable walls, window, ventilation and hot and cold running water, a soap dispenser and paper towels; even a sign on the door. Please sign us off.”

And he did. 

My, my, how times have changed.

Peter Lit 

Elk 

PS: We did not open at 4pm with a fully functional women's toilet. We didn't open until 5:30, but the women's room didn't cause the delay.

WATER EMERGENCY?

Editor: 

California is in a major drought. Yet there is abundant new housing being built all over the county and state. Southern California is going to limit outside watering to once a week and possibly no outside watering in the future. Sonoma County residents are asked to cut water use. Are businesses, vineyards, etc. cutting back as well? I cannot comprehend where the water is coming from for new developments.

Thoughts: Moratorium on all new building. Discontinue producing and selling bottled water (except for emergencies and disasters). This would decrease plastic waste as well. Water is needed for wildlife to survive as well as humans. It’s a precious commodity that gets taken for granted.

Maria DeBernardi

Penngrove

NOT FROM WEST DEVELOPMENT

Dear Editor,

I am writing to clarify a statement made by Mr. Redding in his response to your questions. Mr. Redding states, “Mr. Paul Garza tells me that West Company suggested that the County have regular training sessions for potential applicants on how to successfully complete an application. This would reduce the amount of time staff spends on reviewing and returning faulty or incomplete applications. The County rejected the idea.” 

Mr. Redding is not representing what I said to him accurately. I offered my own idea to the former Director of Building and Planning, Brent Schultz. The idea was that training for applicants in advance of filing an application would better inform the application process. I have no idea what Mr. Schultz did with my suggestion and but it was NOT a proposal made by West Business Development Center.

Thank you,

Paul Garza Jr.

West Business Development Center Board President

Fort Bragg

WHAT ABOUT US HUMANS?

Editor: 

All living things rely on water for life — plants, animals, humans and fish. But water has times of plenty, and then there are times when it can be scarce. We build dams to control the supply of water and to control flooding. Right now, we are in a drought, and everything and everyone has less water — plants, animals, humans and even fish. We need to build more water containment and save what rainwater we receive.

Those who want to remove Scott and Cape Horn dams to give fish more water do not realize taking water for the fish takes water that supplies ranchers, farms and you and I.

With less water, crops cannot be planted, ranches cut back on the number of animals. What about humans? We still want to eat, flush the toilet and take a bath.

Right now, we are at a time when we all have to suffer and compromise on the luxury of an abundance of water. With proper management of what we have, we will come back from these difficult times.

Paul Benkover

Sebastopol

VOTING FOR GLENTZER

To The Editor: 

As a school board member at Ukiah Unified School District, I have had the pleasure of working directly with Nicole Glentzer. Nicole is honest and works well with groups and their very diverse opinions! Nicole’s leadership of the district’s negotiation teams is second to none. She is so respected by her colleagues that she has been endorsed by the California School Employees Association, one of the very groups that sit across the negotiating table from her. Nicole’s priorities for Mendocino County schools are excellent, and I am proud to vote Nicole Glentzer for Superintendent of Schools.

Tyler Nelson, UUSD Board Trustee

Ukiah

THOSE OLIGARCH YACHTS

Dear Editor,

Russian president V. Putin and his cohort Lavrov have repeatedly threatened using nuclear weapons if NATO and the US should enforce a “no fly zone” over Ukraine and also even if the West continues arming the Ukrainian military fighting for the sovereignity of Ukraine and European freedom and democracy. This is mere saber-ratttling as they know our response would obliterate Moscow and every other Russian city,

Biden’s policy regarding Russia’s invasion-all along-has been slow.

We need to gain an advantage in this desperate and vicious war as the people of Ukrainian cities and towns are shelled daily. Supplying Ukraine with howitzers, better radar, and heavy artillery is presumably happening.

Something else occurred to my wife recently. What about those Russian oligarchs’ yachts taken? Why not arm them, sail them into the Black Sea and line them up close to Ukrainian shores around ports like Odessa. At least if they are sunk by the Russian ships, they would be a further deterrence to landings by Russian forces.

Kathleen & Frank Baumgardner

Santa Rosa

NOT A COMMON CARRIER

Editor,

Re: Court to allow case against Mendocino Railway to move forward…

Last week’s decision by the Mendocino County Superior Court to allow the City of Fort Bragg’s case against Mendocino Railway to move forward is a significant step forward in preserving the City’s oversight over land-use development to protect residents from unregulated commercialization. When local government makes land-use decisions it can impact the quality of life for residents, the character of the town, the economic viability and sustainability of current and future businesses, and how valuable resources such as water, power, and public safety personnel are used. For this reason, all local governments have strict permitting and oversight processes to protect and benefit their residents.

Since acquiring 272 acres of coastal land on the former Georgia Pacific Mill Site, Mendocino Railway has not acted in good faith with regard to development within the City of Fort Bragg. Rather than seeking a Coastal Development Permit application and committing to abide by the same rules as all other developers, Mendocino Railway has instead claimed to operate as a common carrier public utility, and thus would be exempt from regulation by local, regional, and state authorities, including any environmental impact analysis or land-use consequences of construction projects. If left unchallenged, this common carrier assertion would also allow Mendocino Railway to completely bypass the community’s past and future participation in planning reuse of the site.

For good reason, interstate transportation providers, such as Amtrak, Delta Air Lines, and BNSF Railway are federally regulated, allowing their service to function without having to navigate a patchwork of local regulations. Mendocino Railway’s claim to operate as a public utility would equate the Skunk Train service to that of a major, interstate provider which they certainly are not., The City of Fort Bragg believes this is completely overstepping the limits of a simple tourist-excursion railroad, with a dead-end track that has no ability to connect to an outside line.

So, the City of Fort Bragg has challenged Mendocino Railway’s incorrect assertion with a lawsuit submitted to Mendocino County Superior Court, arguing that the excursion sight-seeing train is, in fact, not an interstate transportation provider, and therefore not a public utility. In response, Mendocino Railway promptly submitted a legal pleading, known as a Demurrer, requesting dismissal of the case. The basis of this request rested on the assumption that by virtue of Mendocino Railway’s status as a common carrier public utility, they are above the jurisdiction of even the Mendocino County Superior Court.

However, in a well-reasoned decision citing extensive legal precedent from a previous California Public Utilities Commission determination that Mendocino Railway “is not engaged in interstate transportation-related activities but rather simply provides a sightseeing excursion loop service,” the Court soundly rejected Mendocino Railway’s claim to be above the Court’s jurisdiction. This significant ruling means the City’s case can move forward for full consideration by the Court

The City of Fort Bragg very much values the contribution the Skunk Train makes toward our local tourist economy, and there is no animosity intended by the City’s prosecution of its lawsuit. The City simply insists that Mendocino Railway abide by the rules for development and comply with local, state, and federal regulatory land-use protocols applicable to all other individuals or business owners.

Fort Bragg was once a company town, and our town was devastated when that company left because it wasn’t profitable to stay. It is our responsibility to ensure that local development benefits our residents and not shareholders of a private company deciding what is most profitable for them. With the City’s case proceeding, we look forward to the full merits of our case being heard by the court.

Tess Albin-Smith and Lindy Peters

Fort Bragg City Council Communications Ad-Hoc Committee 

THAT'S A LIFE IN THERE

Editor: 

A woman’s right to control her own body seems unquestionable, but what about her unborn child? Personhood is, to some extent, a matter of definition, but from a biological viewpoint, there is only one discernible point where a person is not, and then is. Before conception there is no person. After conception there is a person, or all the genetic potential for a distinctly unique person.

All the other definitions depend on changes that occur over time. We cannot tell when an embryonic circulatory system suddenly has a heart, or an embryonic nervous system suddenly feels pain. Viability has moved from 28 weeks to 22 in my lifetime. The single most important factor in viability of a premature infant is the quality of medical care it receives.

A woman has an absolute right to control whether she becomes pregnant. Space limitations don’t allow for discussion of rape. However, should she conceive through accident, or misjudgment, common decency requires that we, who are also fallible, help her. Pro-abortion extremists don’t seem to want it known, but the pro-life community will pay for the diapers or adopt the newborn, or anything in between.

Jean Grant

Santa Rosa

THE GIUSTI REPORT

Editor,

"Speedy trial"? After two years I found out what a "speedy trial" really means. My trial lasted three days and the jury deliberated no longer than one hour! They had to decide on two felony charges, two misdemeanor charges and one allegation. Another Ukiah lynch mob jury. I had requested a court trial in front of just one judge. This constitutional right was denied me by my old nemesis Judge Faulder! He also denied three times my motion to change lawyers. He denied my Ferretta waivers two times which is our sixth amendment right to be my own lawyer. The lawyer I was stranded with (Eyster's choice?), Andrea Sullivan, dragged out her paycheck from Mendocino County taxpayers for one and a half years. She called no witnesses for me and in that period never ever asked if I had any witnesses! On our second meeting she basically told me I was guilty due to trial photos and my past record. She tried to get me to take DA Eyster's 23-year plea bargain or go the insanity plea bargain route. My fellow AVA readers, you be the judge: Do my letters to the Editor sound like the ramblings of a crazy man? Does this sound to you like a fair trial?

I would rather write "happy articles," mostly about history and sports, but I thought I would share the injustice of the Ukiah justice system. District Attorney Eyster is a very clever "Oyster." Or has he hoodwinked taxpayers all along as he hoodwinked my "alleged lawyer" and this lynch mob jury. Of course I surmise it was more like a rigged jury. I think for those three days I sat looking at 12 of Eyster's pals. Sad to say they found me guilty on all counts.

What is wrong and sinister about most Ukiah juries? Here is one assumption: in the 1890s to the early 1900s there was a huge "vigilante movement" in the city of Ukiah. After much "social destruction" they were finally exposed and put into historical record. I don't know much more, because vigilantism has always sounded like too depressing a subject to me.

Before I moved to Montana I heard a lot about Montana vigilantes. I met a few up there and they are overrated. These current "undercover Ukiah vigilantes" are more vicious. I surmise most Ukiah jurors are descendents (grand kids) of these turn-of-the-century Ukiah vigilantes. They are all a bunch of greedy cowards. All my jury admitted being on a jury before and in three days they all walked by me to and from the jury box and not once did any of them look me in the eye! They have had about 150 years of family practice at this, and David Eyster has 35 years of practice weeding them out. I even think in one of his many articles he basically hinted he had vigilante ancestors from Missouri!

You can see these vigilante sickos hang out around the courthouse every day waiting for jury duty. They even rush to court to convict their own relatives and neighbors! This is the intelligence of these people: In the late 1800s these people settled in Ukiah as "ranchers." My family had a good friend and neighbor from Greenwood Yorkville area who became a multimillionaire by growing hay and hauling it over the hill to these "vigilante quasi-ranchers." They were too stupid to learn how to grow their own hay. Hell, it even grows wild in parts of Ukiah. I have slept in it!

Well folks, I'm working on my appeal. The appellate court and Supreme Court have been given a play-by-play record of these proceedings against me. At one point I even believe the appellate court ordered Mendocino Superior Court to get me a new lawyer nearly a year ago. Judge Faulder blatantly ignored the court. The vigilantes ain't going to get the last say in where I end my life. But hey, at my age and experience, prison might be a better place than some musty old rest home filled with senile old ex-Ukiah vigilantes! Go Giants.

Sincerely,

David Detective Young Cault Crow anti-vigilante task force Giusti.

Mendocino County Jail, Ukiah

PS. It might be repetitive here, but I need to stress some pertinent facts of my case. Judge Faulder denied all my motions (most of them my constitutional rights) for the entire two years and never really gave me a normal bail hearing. Never lowering my bail from $300,000. Quite a bit for a native Mendocino County homeless person and retiree. As for District Attorney Eyster's manipulations, he should get the "shyster prize" of the year. Evidently with Faulder's help they basically had a shoo-ain getting me the Lakeport lawyer Andrea Sullivan who never really argued for me and refused to call my witnesses. It should also be noted the alleged victim was not at the trial nor were any eyewitnesses against me! Just four Ukiah policemen.

As for this victim, his statement to the Ukiah police that he was "out to get Giusti" was never revealed. Also his whereabouts, physical condition, nor character were ever addressed. All that was established is that he had no life-threatening injuries! So how or even why would I attempt to murder this dude in my own camp and then be seen just walking slowly by pushing a shopping cart when the police arrived?

Obviously smartass Eyster has no knowledge as to where this "phantom victim" is residing now. This dude is clever too. He left Ukiah and quit while he was ahead. So like deducted in a past article, the last suspected serial killer has hopefully left Mendoland. Does this all sound a bit kangaroo-ish? That's what one cop even stated: "I'm not going to that kangaroo court trial." Praise the Lord Jesus for trials and tribulations!

PSS. I was convicted on two counts (basically the same crime similar to double jeopardy) all on circumstantial evidence. How can someone be convicted of attempted murder on just circumstantial evidence? In order to prove murder beyond a reasonable doubt there are three elements to prove this crime: motive, intent, and malice aforethought. None of these were proven at trial and I doubt if they even can be circumstantially! That lynch mob jury doesn't know what that means.

GO OUT LIKE A MAN

To The Editor,

Dear AVA Readers, I've been a long time fan and reader of your paper for many years. I have never written to your Letters to the Editor section before. But now I feel compelled to do so in light of having read the many letters submitted by Mr. David Giusti.

His letters are nauseating and repulsive! The victim in this case was a kind harmless homeless man. An elderly man who was my friend and loved by all the homeless people in Ukiah who knew him. He certainly did not deserve to be beaten half to death while he was intoxicated and defenseless.

David Giusti did the same thing to his elderly father in Fort Bragg in 1982. There are many in the homeless community who are happy to see David Giusti go away forever. But sad to see him go away at the expense of Mr. Barry who to this day remains in a care facility due to the severe injuries inflicted by Mr. Giusti.

David Giusti's position of course is that he was framed by the judge, the district attorney, the police, and the hospital staff who saved Mr. Barry. The latest person he claims he is in on this huge multiagency conspiracy to frame him includes his own public defender.

Now of course here come all the letters to the Advertiser from David Giusti claiming the most absurd theories imaginable regarding his conviction. The default position for him and others who are disillusioned regarding their convictions: his attorney was incompetent! Really?

David Giusti spent his life in prison and roaming the streets of Ukiah pushing a shopping cart. He has never stood up and acted like a man.

So I say to you David Giusti: A 12 person jury convicted you. You will never have any basis for appeal. You are going away forever.

Let this be the one time in your life when you stand up and be a man. Apologize to Mr. Barry's family and admit to the world that he did not deserve to be beaten with a wooden ax handle until comatose. No one believes for one minute that you were "framed." So please, sir, go out like a man rather than a sniveling ass weirdo subjecting us all to your crazy letters.

Travis Humphrey

Mendocino County Jail, Ukiah

THE CRACKPOT PARTY GOES ALL THE WAY 5150

Editors; 

Republicans are frightened of what their party has turned into.

I seldom quote Republicans but can’t pass on this one’s acute analysis of his party. From 1995 to 2001, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough was a Republican representative from Florida. Yesterday he said: 

“We need to look at what’s before us and how extreme these MAGA Washington freaks are.. This is the party that brought you Jewish space lasers. This is the party that talked about that dude from Italy who they say stole the election with a satellite. Remember those bamboo particles that Republicans claimed were in Arizona ballots? And those ninja freaks that went in and were going to show that Biden stole the election except it ended up that they get even more votes for Joe Biden. 

They’ve told one lie after another. This is what America wants? Scarborough continued: 

“There’s always been one funny controversy after another churned up by Republicans so they can govern by gesture and proclaim their need to be radical so they could own the libs. But lately those politics of gesture morphed into actual policies that are hurting you and your family. That are hurting Americans in Trump states. The Texas governor attacks truckers in his own state because he thinks that’s how he owns the libs, but he ended up costing Texans $4 billion.” 

“There’s the Florida governor’s crazed attack on Florida taxpayers, going to cost them about a billion dollars, via his war on the Magic Kingdom again to own the libs. And yesterday a harshly written Supreme Court draft will end a 50-year constitutional right that only 19% of Americans support being stripped away. Only 19% of Americans want to ban abortion.” 

Yes, even Republicans are frightened of what their party has turned into. We all should be. And do something to stop their maniacal march to ever more power and resulting damage to our nation. 

Tom Wodetzki

Albion

A REVERSE REVOLUTION

Editor,

I had plenty of empathy a couple of months ago. But I've used it all up. It doesn't do any good. It does not solve any problems. Emphany (a word that's not in my dictionary) Is 2 feet deep in some parts of Vermont and on the upper West Side. The fact is that nobody knows the answer, but millions are complaining. Look at Dennis Kucinich. He thought he had answers. He is back where he started, running for mayor. It looks like the answer will come, if it does, from inside Russia. (It would be interesting to hear what Mr. G. has to say. He is still alive but can't talk openly for fear of getting arrested. What we have is quiet reverse revolution. It's waiting for details. I will get a sheet of white paper, 8.5 x 11, write a letter to the people of St. Petersburg and spritz it over there by drone. I will advise holding a continuous party, fiesta, picnic, banquet, complete with the best entertainment (a few bimbos wouldn't hurt), plenty of country music. There is a saying in Russia, "If it ain't country it ain't a music." And plenty of cheeseburgers. Russians are crazy about cheeseburgers. Thousands of cheeseburgers, bowls of ice cream available 24 hours gratis with big spoons. We will invite Russians from all over the country to the party because we want everyone to understand how this reverse revolution is going to work. Without saying anything (you won't be arrested for what you're thinking) we will no longer recognize the present system of Government, elections, rules and regulations, etc. and we will not participate. A new constitution based on those of Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway will be follow as well as the electoral procedures. Pretty soon the whole country will be acting as if the Kremlin didn't exist. Pretty soon people will be singing Norse songs (my name is Yon Yonson, I come from Visconsin) and eating canned fish cakes. Millions of Russians will be trudging to the polls on a sunny day and the Kremlin won't even know who the candidates are. (Hint, some are from occupied Ukraine.) All of the TV and radio stations have gone out of business because no one was listening to them. No one has said anything or made any announcements. The Kremlin is up a stump, not knowing what to do. Twelve European countries have recognized the new government already, even though they have no real estate and are meeting down the Volga. (With baskets of cheeseburgers.) When the Kremlin tallied up their supporters they found only one, Donald Trump — who had been hiding in a spider hole.

Here is your Q&A: Name a significant achievement Mr. B. Anderson has made during the past three years: enter: A: He discovered Annie Proulx. I am one of those people who flipped back and forth between CNN and MSNBC to try to avoid the advertising, but there must be a snitch in Willits because now they have a program to run ads at the same time. 

Who is that woman who always sits close to Morning Joe? Is that his squeeze? Both NPR and the Press Democrat are looking for big new profits. The list of "You're not welcome here" grows at NPR. Too controversial. We have to protect our funding sources! That's exactly what the white clergy way down south said about Martin Luther King. 

NPR has an announcer on Sunday morning with an unpleasant voice. NPR knows that. Why do they do it? Because they can. They want to demonstrate who is in charge. This attitude is turning their listeners into softheaded people of no particular value. 

Now at the Press Democrat, a Mr. Falk, a right wing Republican, has hired this guy Green for one reason: to increase profits. Gannet moved Green around to straighten out several other papers previously. Green, Falk and Anderson think the best way to bring more money in is to attract conservative readers. Green brought in a stable of new reporters who know how he wants the news presented. They think they are so subtle. But actually very transparent. They doubled the conservative columnists and cut the liberal columnists in half. The Sunday paper always had five liberal syndicated columnists. Now they have two or three with George Will in a prime spot. 

Will sex replace night baseball? It might. The Press Democrat made a dumb decision by accepting an eight o'clock deadline at their new printing plant. (The Times has an 11 o'clock deadline.) So now we have a morning paper with no news after 5 PM.

Ralph Nader had E.J. Dionne on his program on Saturday. They spent the hour complementing and grooming each other. It turns out that E.J. Dionne is a jumping up and down lefty. Who knew? Ralph Nader, 88 years of age, still has never eaten a hot dog. Why did The Donald win in 2016? I hated those pantsuits the first time I saw them. Nancy P. wears them. A lot of voters in swing states didn't particularly like Hillary, but when they saw her in that pantsuit, that tipped them over the edge. No on Hillary. 

When the beautiful new courthouse is completed in Ukiah the AVA editor will climb up to the roof once a week and hurl a bundle of AVAs off the roof to remind folks of the AVA's objection to the new building. 

May Day, once celebrated by millions, is now being marked by a handful of Mexican workers looking for work. 

Senator Mitch McConnell is not an asshole, but McCarthy is. Ted Cruz is the best example of a full-blooded asshole. 

Climate change: Ten years ago only one person out of 100 was concerned about climate change. Today ten out of 100 are willing to write a check for $5 with a fund-raising drive for a specific problem in the neighborhood. Checks are usually sent to a bank account number. The bank puts the list of donors out for bid. Wal-Mart was the highest bidder at $5 per donor. It's worth five dollars to get a new customer. The bank, ahem, put the money from Wal-Mart in their pocket.

A few days later all donors received a nice looking card from Wal-Mart which says "Present this card at checkout and receive a five dollar rebate for each $20 worth of groceries you purchase at Wal-Mart." So everybody came out of this whole business smelling good. One donor took his money to Trader Joe's and bought a bottle of Two Buck Chuck. 

Your Assemblyman, Mr. Wood, asks, "What's in it for me?" before spending any time on an issue. He is great at photo ops alongside Senator McGuire while McGuire never misses an opportunity to make one proclamation or another. 

The Negro: NPR spent a good chunk of their program time interviewing Negro teachers aides in rural Tennessee. Negroes make up what? 11% of the population? They appear in 65% of TV advertising. Negroes are forbidden to appear in certain television ads. Who makes the determination where Negroes may or may not act? A 22-year-old white Swarthmore graduate? Al Sharpton? 

The November elections: virtually all of the experts predict the Democrats will be beaten, the Wall Street Journal says they will be beaten badly. If so, that will be the beginning of the campaign for president which is what the Republicans, determined to win the presidency, will concentrate on as well as stopping any "socialist" legislation by Democrats. They will stop at nothing. They will say that young girls are "molested" in blue congressional districts and the third graders are shown the difference between the missionary position and the "Pancho Villa." Finding that G-spot will be done in the lab. You cannot win. 

The best thing to do to is present the Democrats' entire platform: A one six-year presidential term. A change in the presidential succession to the executive branch. The president chooses the second and third in line. Eliminate the Electoral College. Everyone who is registered to vote may vote in federal elections. Outcome will be decided by candidate with the most votes. All congressional districts will have an overseer. In California there will be one overseer for each three congressional districts. For instance, Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino counties. How are they elected? They are not. Who appoints them? Nobody. They appoint themselves. 

Give an example of what an overseer does. Okay, Jared Huffman, you are not responding to your constituents letters. Henceforth you will obtain a supply of children's lined tablets, print your name and "This acknowledges the receipt of your letter," and send back the tablets to the address on the letter you received. You don't have to pay for postage. You have a full page of wide ruled lines in case you have a reply. Congressman, you have missed three morning committee meetings but you were seen at one of your watering holes at 3 AM with a bimbo on your arm, a pack of condoms falling out of your shirt pocket. Write or call your overseer anytime. 

Suppose the Willits City Council voted 5-0 to prohibit all firearms within the city limits? What would happen? Support the bullet train project. Money thrown away on foolish homeless projects may be spent on trains as well.

Ralph Bostrom

Willits

ARTIST WANTED

Editor,

Will someone please draw me a painting titled “The Confused Libertarian”?

It's an image of an older white man with lots of guns telling a pregnant woman that it's his god-given right to have as many guns as he wants, zero vaccinations and a gubmint that he can drown in the bathtub, but, missy, you are not allowed to decide the fate of that thing in yer belly.

Kirk Vodopals

Navarro