Mendocino County Today: Thursday, May 26, 2022

Cooling | Stacey Bailed | Help Wanted | Empty Slogans | Bottle Calf | Desal Proposal | Old Marquee | Not Parenting | New Manager | Farmers Market | Appreciating Joy | Caspar Bridge | KZYX Memories | Derailed Train | Vote James | Wagon Load | Ed Notes | Eddie Article | Comment Spam | Yesterday's Catch | Weapon Nation | Ukraine | Handgun Ban | Edifice Wrecks | Fast Service | Dangerous Place | Bosco Machine | Big Logs | No Answers | America Is | Democrappy | Don't Shoot | Old Tracks | Peace Call | Ghostly | On Race | Do Something

TEMPERATURES WILL EXPERIENCE A COOLING TREND today into the weekend across much of Northwest California. In addition, light scattered shower activity is expected, particularly Friday night through Saturday. (NWS)

YESTERDAY'S HIGHS: Ukiah 100°, Yorkville 97°, Boonville 95°, Fort Bragg 68°

JUST IN: Stacey Rose has bailed out of the Mendocino County Jail.

Background: "Boonville Meltdown" (May 22, 2022)

HELP WANTED

The Mendocino Coast Health Care District is in need of part-time Clerk-Secretarial talent. To be hired as Extra Help with ADA assist before W2 consideration. Evening meetings; DMV, PC - Outlook required.

Please respond to: Norman de Vall, Chair, MCHCD: ndevall@mcdh.org

AT A CAMPAIGN EVENT in Willits a couple of weeks ago, Supervisor John Haschak claimed, “I have been working for the last three-and-a-half years on the transparency in the county, the accessibility for people to be in touch with their supervisor and accountability. I think that I’ve done a great job. But, it’s not just me, it’s people helping me do that job.”

Supervisor Haschak’s opinion of himself is not exactly a convincing reason he should be re-elected. Transparency? If you count posting zoom meetings and rubberstamped consent calendars as “transparency,” one of the emptiest and most over-rated features of local government which does the minimum of actual information while flooding the field with reams of gibberish. Accessibility is pretty subjective, but it’s possible Haschak does answer his email and phone. We’d like an example or two of what he means by the awkward phrasing of “the accessibility of people to be in touch with their supervisor and accountability.” There is no accountability for anything in Mendocino County. Need we repeat the many major failures and screw-ups which have never been mentioned, much less addressed? Is Haschak accountable for those?

In his campaign ads Supervisor Haschak also claims that he has “created more affordable housing opportunities.” Nobody has done that, especially not Haschak. Nobody has even tried. It’s one thing to make the usual vague political campaign promises; it’s quite another to claim to have done something that has not been done, at all.

But it doesn’t matter. Running against Haschak is a delusional Fox News watcher from Willits whose position on just about everything is: Government Bad. We don’t know why Haschak is even wasting money on campaign ads, if all he’s going to say is empty slogans and falsehoods.

FACING A SEVERE DROUGHT like most counties in California, a private company called “Poseidon” got approval from Orange County and Government Newsom to build a $1.4 billion desal plant there. But the Coastal Commission nixed the proposal — unanimously. A CalMatters summary reported: “The commission, in a marathon session on Tuesday, May 12, killed a proposed desalination plant in Huntington Beach that’s been debated for more than 20 years.”

CalMatters continued: “The unanimous decision about the $1.4-billion plant in Huntington Beach is pivotal because it sets a high bar for the future of turning seawater into drinking water in California, which can help buffer its vulnerable water supply against drought.”

“The Coastal Commission staff had advised the commission to deny approval — citing, among other factors, the high cost of the water and lack of local demand for it, the risks to marine life and the possibility of flooding in the area as sea levels rise.”

But Coastal Commission Executive Director Jack Ainsworth added, “Denial of this project does not mean that we’re setting the stage for the denial of all desal facilities or other critical infrastructures across the state,” he said. “Every project has a different set of circumstances, facts and context.” 

Whatever the merits and demerits of the proposed project, the implications for Mendocino County and/or Fort Bragg and the persistent suggestions that the Mendo Coast needs a desal plant are that the process is so slow and costly that even a proposal would take a long time to develop and submit — with no guarantee of approval.

calmatters.org/environment/2022/05/california-desalination-plant-coastal-commission/

RE ANDERSON VALLEY'S MARRON GANG, an on-line comment: “All them kiddos got some big britches don’t they? Couple questions besides the out-of-control gang activity. How are these kids getting these fancy cars? How are they driving around with a bunch of other teenagers when they’re not supposed to after dark? Who are the parents that are just allowing their kids wander off with the cars like this to travel in groups of kids which are obviously up to no good. How did they not notice that their kids are sub-human jackass punks? Parents get to parenting. FACT…teens need more support than toddlers!!!"

FORT BRAGG’S NEW CITY MANAGER

The Fort Bragg City Council is pleased to announce that John Ford of McKinleyville, California has accepted their offer to serve as Fort Bragg’s next City Manager. Mr. Ford’s anticipated start date is July 5, 2022. 

After the resignation of City Manager Tabatha Miller last December, the City retained the executive recruitment firm of Peckham & McKenney to conduct a nationwide search for a new city manager. Over 15 applications were received, and following an initial screening by the executive recruiter, the City Council selected four candidates for final interviews. A multi-phased final interview process was conducted which included interviews with the City Council and selected members of the City management team. Mr. Ford was the unanimous choice of the City Council. 

John Ford has years of experience in local government having worked for the City of Thousand Oaks, the City of Roseville, the County of Monterey and most recently as the Director of Planning and Building for the County of Humboldt. While at the County of Humboldt, Mr. Ford was responsible for the reorganization of the Planning and Building Department to accommodate the legalization of cannabis cultivation. The department not only developed a new permitting unit but was also assigned the Code Enforcement unit. 

His background includes successful coordination with federal, tribal, state and local agencies, including the California Coastal Commission, Department of Fish and Wildlife, in addition to many others. He has overseen the processing of many large and complex projects and has developed creative solutions working with other agencies. 

John is married to Bonnie and between them they have five children and six grandchildren with a seventh due any day. When not at work, John likes to be outside doing almost anything from gardening, to hiking, biking or playing golf. 

In accepting the City’s offer, Mr. Ford stated, “One of the attractive characteristics about Fort Bragg is the teamwork shown in taking on projects. I look forward to working with the community to continue to enhance the City of Fort Bragg as a desirable place to live, work and do business.” 

Mayor Bernie Norvell and the entire City Council believe that the community and staff will find that Mr. Ford is collaborative and likes working with the public. We hope you will join us in welcoming John Ford to Fort Bragg. 

Questions regarding this information should be directed to Bernie Norvell, Mayor, at 707-961- 2823 ext. 145. 

A RESOLUTION OF THE ANDERSON VALLEY COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT expressing appreciation to outgoing General Manager Joy Andrews

Whereas Joy Andrews has been a committed General Manager of the Anderson Valley Community Services District since December 1, 2010,

Whereas Joy has been an important contributor to the general board as well as the Budget Committee, the Policy and Procedures committee, the Loss Prevention Committee, and the Boonville Municipal Water Projects,

Whereas Joy has unfailingly contributed her extensive expertise in helping the CSD with the development of contracts, personnel issues, budgets, grants, and job descriptions,

Whereas for many years she volunteered to manage the AVVFFA's hamburger booth at the County Fair, which benefits the Fire Department.

Whereas Joy has enthusiastically contributed endless hours to the community both through her service on the CSD but also in many other Valley organizations resulting in many activities and projects enhancing the lives of all Valley residents,

Whereas Joy has participated in training her replacement and has made herself available to ensure a smooth transition,

And finally, whereas we are going to miss her very much,

Now, therefore, be it resolved that the CSD staff and Board of Directors dedicate this Resolution of Appreciation to Joy Andrews as a thank-you for her dedication to her job for the Board, and her ongoing dedication to this community.

PASSED AND ADOPTED this 24^th day of May, 2022, by unanimous vote.

ANNIE ESPOSITO LOOKS BACK

KZYX was committed to community news from the very beginning. Bruce Herring, I believe, organized a patch-work of local news - getting people from around the county to contribute news from their areas. The mission of KZYX is to cover the whole HUGE county.

But after about a year, KZYX put together an actual news department. The first news director was Joseph Leon. His family originally comes from Guam, and he had a special affinity with local Indian tribes - so that was a plus for the station.

I believe he is now the Chief engineer at PBS GUAM.

So when I found out the station was setting up a news department, the first thing I did was to call Joe and say – “I’ll give you one day a week, what would be helpful?” And he said he really needed someone to cover the Board of Supervisors meetings.

Eek - that was a pretty big chore - but it was good because I really learned the county that way.

When he left, there were a series of short term news directors. Finally I took it over and did it for about 10 years from 1997 to 2007. It was amazing because it was really COMMUNITY news. People called in their stories.

The first newsroom was a rickety trailer. And if someone slammed the door, the reels would fall off the shelves, clattering to the floor.

For a long time I did “pause button editing”. I would record stories on cassettes and take them into the studio. While I was outro-ing one story, I would be clunking in the next cassette cued up to the next story. One day Maria Gilardin of TUC Radio walked into the news cubby and was horrified. Practically the next day she had me set up with a computer with a sound-editing program. That was wonderful because now I could edit out everyone’s ‘ohs’ and ‘ums’, and that encouraged even more volunteer reporters.

Slowly I built up a dozen or more people who would contribute. The late Nat Bingham from the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Association would call in and report on ocean issues. A familiar name - Alicia Littletree - currently your super hardworking Program Director here, was a teenage Earth First!er tree sitting to save the forest. She reported on the Judi Bari lawsuit against the FBI for violating her civil rights when her Subaru was blown up with her in it.

In fact, Judi Bari was a programmer here - doing a show on the environment, of course.

The people who started the station were many, and they were amazing. I instantly think of Carroll Pratt and Ross Murray. They retired up here in Anderson Valley after careers in Hollywood. Carroll developed the laugh track, and Ross was a dancer. Carroll was very conservative politically, and Ross was a lefty. But they were great buddies and both of them threw themselves into making a radio station up here in the woods.

Carroll and Ross both contributed to the community news when they found themselves in the middle of the action somewhere. And Ross did a popular political commentary series.

My youngest regular contributor was 7 year old Rachel Smith-Ferri. She covered cultural events, and her dad David helped her. But she could read scripts better than the adults. She grew up to design costumes for the theater.

I remember when a reporter from the San Francisco office of the New York Times came to the station - she was in shock that there could be a real live radio station in the middle of nowhere. She printed something about that, and the Newsroom being in an actual caboose.

My favorite story, though, will always be when the kids were doing their children's show, Rubber Biscuit. Jade Pagett-Seekins, a young teenager at the time, ran the board for the show and helped with logistics. Once a visitor came in and ran out exclaiming, “My god, that radio station is run by children!”.

I had to do the weather every day, and to break the monotony of my voice all the time, I recruited some of the classical programmers to read the weather, like Susan Juhl and Gordon Black, who both have beautiful voices. It gave the weather a little class. One day Walter Green, who started Wondrous World of Music, was doing the weather for me. He looked at it, frowned, and said, “Ladies and Gentlemen! This does not look good!”.

But it was amazing. People would say, “Well, what do you actually report on out there in the boonies - like, uh, a cow wandered off or something?”

But really - listeners to our station know there is a LOT going on around here - and they want to know.

JAMES FOR THE PEOPLE

Dear Editor:

As many of your readers may already know, there is now a second candidate, Trent James, running for Sheriff of Mendocino County in the 2022 election against the current appointed Sheriff Matt Kendall. For the first time in many years the people of Mendocino have a choice for their Sheriff; not just one name on the ballot, running uncontested.

Trent is well known to many in the community, not only for his service as a Mendocino Adult Probation Officer but also for his six years as a Mendocino Sheriff Deputy and Sergeant with the Willits Police Department. Trent has served the county of Mendocino, particularly the areas of Covelo and Willits, with honor, integrity and honesty.

Late last year Trent started a YouTube channel, Confessions of an Ex Cop, in an attempt to expose serious allegations of misconduct and wrongdoing involving members of the command staff at the Mendocino Sheriff’s Office. The channel quickly gained a wave of attention and followers. His factual videos gave confirmation about what many already knew or had at least heard the rumors. His videos not only exposed corrupt high-ranking law enforcement officers but also forced action that improved the community of Mendocino.

Trent James is for the people of Mendocino. If elected Sheriff, I am confident that Trent will not only continue to clean up the long-running “Good ‘Ol Boy” systemic corruption but also improve the Sheriff’s Office service to the community by addressing important issues like deputy recruitment and retention, improve deputy training, implement programs to improve community-police relations, but most importantly provide transparency. It’s time for a change Mendocino County! Vote for Trent James as Sheriff this 2022 election.

Respectfully,

Zeke Flatten

ED NOTES

TUESDAY NIGHT President Biden, during the obligatory post-massacre appearance, asked his national television audience, "Where in God's name is our backbone? We have to act?" Biden's never had a political backbone and he's not going to act, but here's what he should do:

DECLARE a national emergency. "My fellow Americans, our national psychosis has again reached into an elementary school to murder children and their teachers. Given that our society has deteriorated to the point that Americans are no longer safe in any public space or even in their own homes, strong measures to prevent gun violence have become necessary. It does indeed have to stop. I am, therefore, declaring a national emergency with the following stipulations: As of midnight, manufacturers of military assault weapons marketed to the general public are to cease production on pain of imprisonment for up to ten years. Gun sellers must remove all such weapons from their stores and turn them into the nearest police station or face arrest. Americans in possession of weapons designed for military engagement must immediately turn them in to their nearest police station or face arrest. Persons presently in possession of military weapons will be issued buy-back receipts for federal reimbursement. Additionally, ammunition sales will be limited to ten rounds per gun owner per year. No American under the age of fifty will henceforth be allowed to buy or possess a firearm of any kind. Thank you and good night."

UNTRUTH IN ADVERTISING. The Northcoast's deep pocketed Democrats, got out a saturation mailing for Ted Williams, incumbent 5th District supervisor. Under "Ted's Priorities" the mailer says Ted will be addressing the affordable housing crisis," in fact a state and national responsibility beyond the limited fiscal abilities of county jurisdictions. And Ted will be working toward "guaranteeing a living wage," which would mean quintupling the present minimum wage here in Mendocino County where most wage earners earn less than forty thousand a year, pay exorbitant rents if they can find a rental, suffer from the raging inflation the Democrats have done exactly nothing to arrest. And Ted's for "universal broadband access" as we all are but which is far, far off for Mendo. And Ted's "acting on climate change to limit seasonal wildfires." Move over God. And Ted's "being transparent and accessible to all his constituents." Not. He won't respond to us at all, not that we feel the loss. 

AS A REGISTERED DEMOCRAT which, at this point I feel is more embarrassing than being a registered sex offender would be, I resent that the jive Democrats are spending party money ensuring one of their own sits in a theoretically non-partisan supervisor's seat. And we note here that Ted's alleged political stances mirror those of the national party's hacks and hackettes. Few people pay any attention whatsoever to the supervisors, but we do, and we think Williams, based on his performance in office, does not deserve re-election.

MIKE GENIELLA: Nice article about Jim Eddie in the June issue of the Historical Society of Mendocino County's Journal. Jim, who recently marked his 87th birthday, was interviewed by Laura Hamburg and Kate Magruder. The Eddies have been in Potter since the 1850s, and Jim, a former Mendocino County Supervisor, lives on the family homestead.

NOTE TO OUR WEBSITE COMMENTERS: Over the past few months we've noticed a few more false positives with our spam catcher. If you submit a comment but it doesn't appear on the website within a few moments, please let us know, via email, so we can find it in the filter and free it. (webeditor@theava.com)

PS. If you are one of our resident trolls, who require constant comment moderation, this does not apply to you. Your problem is different.

CATCH OF THE DAY, May 25, 2022

JOHN IMUS JR., Ukiah. Parole violation.

IAN KNIGHT, Hopland. Domestic battery.

LUIS ROSALES-VALDOVINOS, McFarland/Ukiah. DUI.

STACEY ROSE, Boonville. Brandishing imitation firearm, obliterating markings applicable to imitation firearm, criminal threats, resisting.

BRYAN SANCHEZ, Ukiah. Attempted murder, probation revocation.

CECILIA TAFOLLA, Ukiah. DUI causing bodily injury.

ANTONIO THOMAS, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

DAVID YADON, Willits. Paraphernalia, failure to appear.

RYAN YOUNG, Willits. Failure to appear.

IN EVERY COUNTRY, people get into arguments, hold racist views or suffer from mental health issues. But in the U.S., it is easier for those people to pick up a gun and shoot someone. That reality is what allowed an 18-year-old to obtain an assault rifle and kill 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school classroom in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday. And it is what makes the U.S. a global outlier when it comes to gun violence, with more gun deaths than any of its peers. This chart, looking at public shootings in which four or more people were killed, shows how much the U.S. stands out:

— German Lopez, The New York Times

UKRAINE, MAY 25

As Wednesday draws to a close in Kyiv and in Moscow, here are the key developments of the day: 

Parts of eastern Ukraine came underconstant Russian bombardment.Russia is trying to take full control of the Donbas region that's become the main focus of its war in Ukraine. Fighting escalated especially near the city of Severodonetsk; the Luhansk region's pro-Kyiv governor said on Telegram 15,000 citizens remain in and around the city and Ukrainian forces are still holding out. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that his country refuses to give up any land for an end to the war.

Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officialsoffered condolencesto the community of Uvalde, Texas, where a gunman killed 21 people — including 19 students — at an elementary school. Speaking by video at a conference on the sidelines at Davos, Zelenskyy also drew a link, citing tragic killing of children in both the shooting and the war in Ukraine. 

Moscow could provide a humanitarian corridor for food shipments out of Ukraine in exchange for lifting of some sanctions,said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko. Ukraine's foreign minister called the offer "blackmail." World leaders are warning of a looming global food shortage as Black Sea trade routes remain blocked, trapping Ukrainian exports of wheat, sunflower oil and other foodstuffs. 

Russia simplified a path to Russian citizenship for residents of some occupied parts of southern Ukraine:Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Russian President Vladimir Putin also made the first public visit to aMoscowmilitary hospital as the Kremlin said he met with soldiers wounded in Ukraine. Russian lawmakers separately passed a bill to widen the military-recruiting pool by lifting the age cap for people signing up for voluntary contracts, allowing for recruits between 40 and 50 years old. 

A new European Commission proposal would permit European Union governments to seize assets of people or companies who evade EU sanctions against Russia.The proposal would streamline the law for all countries in the bloc, where member states vary in how they prosecute evasion of sanctions. The proposal also seeks to punish lawyers, bankers or any others who help circumvent sanctions.

— NPR

EDIFICE WRECKS

by Herb Caen (1975)

“I can't think of a building I've put up that's one-tenth as beautiful as the one I had to tear down to make room for it.”

Speaking was one of San Francisco's most successful builders, a veritable Maharaja of Eyesore. And he spoke mournfully and you half expected him to add, as in an old movie melodrama, “Stop me before I kill again!” But kill again he will, and so well all his confreres in the "building" business.

I thought about his words as I stood on Nob Hill, gazing at the gaping hole where the old Sproule mansion had stood. It wasn't a particularly old house, and architecturally it was closer to zircon then diamond, but still it had more charm then the ice-trays-in-the-sky that will rise there someday. In denying pleas that the home be saved, a city official said, "What's so special about it? Did Washington or Lincoln ever sleep here?"

Funny in a tough way, but not particularly cogent, since Washington or Lincoln is not known to have slept anywhere in San Francisco, although Lincoln, had he come west, might have slept at the Montgomery Block — and now that's long gone. The Monkey Block (that's what everybody called it, Jr.) was built in 1853 by Henry Halleck who went on to become a general in the Union Army.

Every time the Chinese celebrate “Double Ten” Day, to commemorate the revolution against the Manchu Dynasty by Sun Yat-sen on October 10, 1911, I think about the Monkey Block. For it was there, at one point, that Sun Yat-sen lived with while plotting his coup. It used to be enjoyable for a San Franciscan to look at the Monkey Block and think about the venerable Oriental and the other venerables who lived and worked there: Frank Norris, Kathleen and Charles Norris, Maynard Dixon, Charles Caldwell Dobie, George Sterling…

The Monkey Block was torn down a few years ago for a parking lot, a flat piece of real estate that sings no songs but tells quite eloquently about our scale of values. Now the Transamerica pyramid occupies that site. Words fail.

I thought about the Maharaja of Eyesore's words again as I watched the wreckers go to work on the old Hall of Justice on Kearny. Here again we have a building that was not particularly old — slightly more than 50 years — but even in its death throes, it has a somber Florentine magnificence impossible to duplicate. To San Franciscans of my generation, it is/was a storybook building, allied with tales of violence, echoing with the arguments of lawyers dead and dying, redolent (especially on a wet, foggy night) of sirens and screams. Another sterile stack of ice trays as risen in its place, a Holiday Inn, and someday, perhaps, this building, too, will tell strange and moving stories of life in Baghdad by the Bay. It doesn't seem like an especially good bet.

The most dangerous man in town may well be our Maharaja of Eyesore, killing the city that was — and what a city that was, think you not to the contrary. Day by day, the concrete evidence is being ground to rubble, even when the evidence was as undistinguished as the derelicts that disappeared so that Fifth Street could eventually cross Market. But if anybody cares to know where Painless Parker got his start, the address is now gone forever. Don't laugh: Painless Parker was a historic figure too, and his patients slept there, even if Washington and Lincoln didn't.

Soon, as somebody once said, the only thing old in San Francisco will be the young men's faces and if you prefer Plastic Inevitable to a fluted column of stone, you are well ahead of the game. If you feel otherwise, miss no opportunity to walk through the Flood Building lobby with its massive pillars and great lanters, its marble floors and polished brass mailbox; it was built to last forever, but it won't. When you look at the gilded and crystal magnificence of the Palace' s Garden Court, look twice, for you will never see its like again — not in this city, not in this lifetime. You may even start worrying about the Fairy Tower: its days are numbered. Faster and faster the city changes and the people in it; those who never heard of the Monkey Block or the Slot can't tell you where Goat Island is either. Soon all will be new, bright, shiny and soulless — and then the legends will be gone forever, ground into dust by the relentless jackhammers.

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Every time someone asks us if Mexico is safe, I say something like “Has the State dept issued a travel warning yet for the US? Why not?”

My wife, being much more clever than I, succinctly said, “They may be rowing in circles, but they’re all rowing together”.

To really understand just how fucked the US truly is, do yourself a favor and travel somewhere with a mono culture. You know, like Mexico.

The USA represents the pinnacle in competitive achievement; hands down, no question. But that same high strung desire for personal expression and financial success comes with a really high price tag.

When things go south, when the entire rule book is changed, that's when trouble begins. As the noose is tightened and reality really begins to set in, this place is only going to become progressively more dangerous.

IRV SUTLEY WRITES: Powerful Democratic legislator, State Senator Michael McGuire is part of the corrupt Bosco machine.

McGuire is also attempting to unload the fantasy Pipe Dream of the Great Redwood Trail which I repeat will never be completed and shuffle off the heavy financial debt on to other government agencies which are supported in large part by working peoples' taxes.

http://www.theAVA.com has many articles dealing with the Smart train scam running coal to Oakland and the other horrific boondoggle, the "Great Redwood Trail" which is designed to get the support of weak-minded liberals of every political bent.

ANNE LAMOTT:

There are no words, there is no hope, not today. We see Christ crucified in Texas and all we can do for now is not turn away. We look to see who around us most needs help. I hold to my deepest belief, that grace bats last. Maybe some of you will find this old, inadequate piece useful…

I experienced the shootings at Sandy Hook as the actual end of the world, evil made visible. There were no answers that day, the next day, the day after that. But then slowly, life began to make sense again. Life, death, rebirth—the ultimate truth. Hope returned against all odds, eventually, because Love is bigger than any horrors and barbarity that the world throws at us. We will have hope again, because of this love.

What was helpful right away was that we stuck together in our horror, grief, anxiety and cluelessness. We grieved for families, for whom this will remain the end of their world. We cried or shut down, we blamed, despaired, raged, prayed; gathered in community, or isolated. I recommend that we do this today. Some of us couldn't eat at all, some of us binged, some of us couldn't turn off the TV, some of us couldn't turn it on. Those were all appropriate. We talked, spewed, cried and stuck together.

Talking and sticking together was the answer. We were gentler, more patient and kind with each other, and that's a small miracle. It means something of the spirit is at work. For me, that is grace made visible. It doesn't come immediately, or by bumper sticker, and it doesn't come naturally. What comes naturally is rage and blame. Blame R Us.

So when we could, after Sandy Hook, we paused, breathed, sighed, gasped at the rising numbers— 400 millions guns out there in the U.S. Nothing changed legally, not one word, but we never gave up and won’t now. Hearts healed imperfectly. People even danced again eventually, with limps. But it takes time. I so hate this and do not agree to this, but have no alternative, because it is Truth: it will take time. And in the meantime, always always always always, we take care of the poor.

We're at the beginning of human and personal evolution. Whole parts of the world don't even think women are people. So now, after an appropriate time of being stunned and in despair, we sigh and help each other back to our feet. Maybe we ask God for help. We do the next right thing. We register voters and march. We buy or cook a bunch of food for the local homeless. We return phone calls, library books, smiles. We donate money. We practice radical self-care and say hello gently to everyone, even strange lonely people who scare us. We go to the market and flirt with old people who seem lonely. It can’t be enough but it will be. 

I have no answers but know one last thing that is true: Figure it out is a bad slogan. Life is much wilder, sweeter, heartbreaking, weirder, richer, more insane, awful, beautiful and profound than we were prepared for as children or that I am comfortable with. The paradox is that in the face of this, we discover that in the smallest moments of taking in beauty, in actively being people of goodness and mercy and outreach, we are saved.

MARIE TOBIAS: Actually it's not evenly divided any more, as of Today, between Republicans meeting in Texas with the NRA (including Trump and Abbott) this week after Abbott's anemic response to the shooting, the Growing Abortion disaster, Republican talking heads declaring Democracy equal to Communism, and a handful of other social issues which are beginning to piss people off... it seems the Dems may have a bit of a lead. As I said before, its way too early to predict what will happen, but SCOTUS got the Democratic Base all fired up... big mistake... and with a 90% support nationally for sane gun control, and the Republican Leadership peeing all over the dead bodies of babies... ouch, bad look. Both sides can't seem to stop clubbing themselves insensible. Its a full on street-fight to see who's more dedicated to sabotaging their own victory. A Battle Royalle between Tweedledumb and Tweedledumber...

So we wait and see who wins the race to the bottom... we've somehow moved from Democracy to a dystopian Democrappy... and its pick your poop time. This is the literal definition of a shit show, we gotta do better.

EIGHT RAILS-TO-TRAILS ADVENTURES IN THE U.S.

Tens of thousands of miles of abandoned railroad tracks have been developed into recreational paths since the 1960s. Here are scenic pathways through deserts, valleys, mountain passages and more.

nytimes.com/2022/05/23/travel/cycling-bike-paths.html

NEW YORK TIMES REPUDIATES DRIVE FOR “DECISIVE MILITARY VICTORY” IN UKRAINE, Calls for Peace Negotiations.

From atop the Opinion page the Editorial Board has declared that “total victory” over Russia is not possible and that Ukraine will have to negotiate a peace in a way that reflects a “realistic assessment” and the “limits” of U.S. commitment.

unz.com/article/new-york-times-repudiates-drive-for-decisive-military-victory-in-ukraine-calls-for-peace-negotiations/

OUT-THINKING ‘RACE’

by Matt Hamburg

Race is a chaotic mess. How can we find a solution? It starts with understanding the problem at a new level; something outside the box. This essay proposes that Evolution (while scientific at the level of purely biology life) functions as an origin narrative for our present society/culture/matrix. And it is this story aspect of this Evolutionary narrative that socializes our present consciousness. So carefully, I share these new ideas, scientifically and realistically.

First off, accepting the overall idea of “race” already means accepting the idea that biology has determined the type of consciousness we will have (as in it is “natural” behavior to compete in the “Free-Market). And therefore, that the world we live in - with its tropes of “race” and “class” - is the only possible reality as manifested by our inherent biological make-up/Evolution. 

Contrary to that it has become clear that humans are a complete, absolute rupture at the level of consciousness with the animal kingdom. Humans are a species that defines its own consciousness through story/narrative rather than biology (as the discipline of anthropology shows). So while at the biological level, the level of the corporeal body, Evolution is an established scientific fact, Evolution (the elephant in the room of the “race” issue!), functions as a story/narrative at the level of consciousness.

We are obviously governed by our genetic descriptive statement, our biology at the level of the body, (for instance, hair color, size and shape to some extent, and skin color, etc), but biology/genetics does not determine the type of consciousness a person will have, story/narrative does. 

The simple fact is that all societies/cultures have done this exact thing - produced their realities in relation to their origin narratives. And, obviously, there is utterly no evidence in science or biology whatsoever, nor could there be, that biology makes Roman, Aztec, Dogon (African) or Pomo (American Indian), etc. types of consciousness. So we must ask: Do we also live in a type of consciousness, a story/narrative?

The fact that biology cannot resolve the puzzle of consciousness has led to what Evolutionary biologists call the “mind/body” problem, one which they have been unable to resolve. Nor will they until they take story/narrative into consideration. Biology can explain how it is possible to see a black person, visually, but you experience their “blackness” according to the logic of your story/narrative (with the same holding true of “whiteness”). Without the story/narrative you would not have the consciousness.

At the level of consciousness, we do something different than the animal kingdom. We are a species that defines its own consciousness through story/narrative rather than biology such as a dog, a monkey or a pig does. For example, a pig always/only knows the world as a pig…Prior to the West’s establishment of an almost global culture, all human collectives acted out their respective stories. Our present society reflects the logic of its foundational origin story/narrative, which is the story/narrative of Evolution. 

Origin narratives define for every society/culture what its people are (in our case, a biological organism) and what they are to do (in our case compete in a “Free Market” amidst “Natural Scarcity”). And every society/culture/matrix, including ours, demonstrates the consciousness specific to its narrative. In general, origin narratives are analyzed through the discipline anthropology, and metaphorically they are considered to be the “root” of the cultural “flower.” 

Throughout history, all cultures as a condition of their existence and stable replication through generations have believed in the truth of their (origin) narrative. And when the story holds up, that society/culture doesn’t change much. To this point, we have generally been no different in experiencing our society/culture, as the reality (why would it be any different?). In our present case it is experienced as if it were a manifestation of our inherent biological/genetic make-up. So whereas pre-Western societies/cultures attributed authorship of the order to God, gods, ancestors, spirits of nature, etc., our society/culture attributes authorship of the order to the extra-human Agency of Evolution (i.e. Evolution makes us act this way).

For example, the origin narrative of Genesis (from the post-Gregorian reform Middle Ages until about 1500 A.D.), generated the type of consciousness specific to the European Medieval world. As it worked, it was a story that specifically subordinated the Laity as a category that was thus considered to be more enslaved to the Fallen Flesh. As long as Evolution is the story/narrative, non-white people will come under (unwanted) scrutiny and judgement. For example, the book The Bell Curve put forward the thesis that “black” people are “dysgenic,” i.e. inherently low I.Q. - therefore less-evolved and thus placed in the social hierarchy. 

In this way inequality is inherent within our present story/narrative - of how we have defined ourselves as human. And when we internalize our story/narrative we then manifest it. When looked at from outside the box or in generic terms, anthropologically, the fundamental problem is not really a “race” problem. “Race” is an effect - the story of Evolution is the cause. And it results from a basic misunderstanding of what we are and why we behave the way we do. Humans in fact are free to define ourselves thorough story/narrative however we want to; as a species that auto-institutes through story/narrative its type(s) of consciousness.

Historically, “race” was invented from within the (Anglo) Western field of knowledge during what is known (somewhat self-servingly so) as the French and English “Enlightenment,” (which is generally considered to have occurred between about 1700 to 1859 A.D.). This period, which includes Darwin (who inscribed the origin story of Evolution in his The Descent of Man in 1859), finished off the West’s emancipation of knowledge of the scientific levels of reality (biology and physics). But it left our fundamental understanding of what we are as a species incomplete/unfinished. 

Through the narrative of Evolution, Enlightenment thinkers inscribed on the level of human consciousness a story/narrative of the human based on the model of a natural/purely biological organism; a “tool making animal” that makes gradually more complex “tools” as it evolves (Marxism, interestingly enough, does this as well). Orthodoxically, history is then written (and taught) through this perceived progression to explain our reality. As an effect of this self-socialization, we manifest social hierarchy among the races, in general, on the “totem pole” of degrees of evolvedness/technological advancement. And then we perceive and manifest a correlation with “intelligence.” Never mind the fact that the story/narrative motivates specific behaviors and demotivates those who are not positively marked.

What is being presently proposed (by scholars and activists who are proposing that “race” is a social construct, with no biological basis, as in “Critical Race Theory”), is that we look at our society/culture/ourselves in the same way that anthropology has analyzed other, non-Western, societies/cultures. And on just about every macro level, our society/culture reflects the founding story of Evolution as we act out its logic, i.e., acting and thinking like “white” and “black” people etc., and competing for resources that were established in “Enlightenment thought”/“Free-Market” Economics as “Naturally Scarce.”

As previously mentioned, origin narratives not only tell the story of how a people were created, they also call forth the certain set of behaviors needed by that specific human collective; behaviors that are motivated by some type of threat or “significant ill.” For example, in Medieval Christian thought enslavement to the metaphysical threat/significant ill of Original Sin impelled the behaviors that brought the Church into power at the top of that specific (Medieval) hierarchy. (Even when you say the Bible reports true objective reality, it is the story aspect of it that socializes consciousness.) And as the West gradually transformed (secularized) over the past 500 or so years, the threat of Original Sin transformed to that of “Dysgenicity,” (the threat of inherently weak genes). 

In the new formulation/post-Enlightenment system, new forms of “freedom” emerged, most obvious of which is the “freedom” to compete for your individual well-being in a Free-Market - a market in which resources are defined and experienced as “Naturally Scarce.” It is worth noting that the new economic discourse centered on “Scarcity” was a discourse of liberation for the bourgeoise. They sought, and fought out of (as in the American Revolution) the divinely ordained hierarchy and political absolutism of the Early Modern State. But the caveat of this new system though, was that a new hierarchical system emerged - a hierarchy based on perceived degrees of genetic selectedness that was to be proved through competition for “Naturally Scarce” resources.

At the animal level, “Natural Scarcity” functions objectively to motivate the behaviors that impel biological Evolution. But at the human level, it is not a scientific or objective concept, it is a metaphysical concept. It takes the basic concept of “nature” (which is neither “scarce” or “abundant” - it just is) and puts a relative value on it. In this way, enslavement to the metaphysic of “Natural Scarcity” functions for our society in a parallel way to how the metaphysic of Original Sin functioned within the culture/society of Medieval Europe. Or, as another example, how the perceived instability of the sun motivated the Aztecs. Prior to the West secularizing, in fact human social systems/cultures were all based around types of religions that posited a type of disorder/threat that had to be overcome by the individual and collective behaviors of that specific society/culture (as in Original Sin being overcome by the prescribed behaviors set forth by the Church and Clergy). 

Now in a secular imagination, the threat of “Natural Scarcity” impels our collective behavior to be oriented around economics/“Scarcity” (at the individual and collective level). Successfully mastering “Scarcity,” as in successful competition for resources (getting money), puts one at the top of the hierarchy in the way celibacy defined for the Medieval Clergy the idea that they were less enslaved to the metaphysic of Original Sin and thus deserved to wield power over society. In our present system, as long as the economy is based on “Scarcity,” poverty is institutionalized, just as Original Sin institutionalized the lower status of the Laity in the Medieval order.

Presently, mega corporations, and, in general, the investor class (of whom we all strive to join, if not already a part of), wield their influence today. They are the cultural category who have redeemed themselves most fully by mastering “Scarcity.” They create and amass wealth, “breathing life” into the economy. While poverty remains an endemic/systemic problem for those who have not so “proved” themselves/competed successfully. We go to school (Q: “Why do you go to school?” A: “To get a job” and compete in the free-market amid “Scarcity”) and therein prove our relative degree of intelligence/evolvedness in the same way Medieval Christians devoted themselves to the Church. 

In this system/culture/matrix, what we call “intelligence” is specifically the intellect needed to master “Scarcity” (as in get a job and strive to become part of the investor class). It is a trope invented alongside the narrative of Evolution to motivate the new behaviors needed to upend the political absolutism of the “early modern” State (which had posited a divinely ordained hierarchy). Specifically, it was a new type of intelligence. It was one that was to be scientific at the biological and physical levels of reality (biology and physics), but not at the level of the social sciences/humanities – the level of story/narrative - i.e. consciousness. And it was this new way of thinking that gave rise to the bourgeois/democratic societies that came into existence as a result of the European and American Revolutions of the late-18^th Century. 

The constant here is that cultures/societies are based around origin narratives. And it is the story aspect of these narratives that socialize consciousness, determine outlook, behavior, experience and manifest status. 

One can see here how the “modern” phenomena of “race” and “Free-Market” economics intersect in our collective consciousness at the most fundamental level. Both occur as a result of the “Enlightenment” definition of the human as a purely “natural/genetically motivated” organism. The assumption this body of knowledge makes is that your genes, ostensibly, determine your destiny and that it is “natural,” i.e. a part of one’s natural genetic program, to compete for your individual self-interest (for resources/money, etc.) in a “Free-Market” economy. It is analogous to how a purely biological organism/nature or an animal competes for resources amidst “Natural Scarcity” in nature. 

At the level of the animal kingdom for example, “Scarcity” can be an objective condition, one that impels the biological processes of Evolution. But extending that analysis to our human state is not at all scientific. As humans, we can extend altruism and be bonded to anyone our narrative inscribes in us. In fact, we produce enough food daily to feed the world eight times over every day. And there are obviously enough resources so that everyone could have a house. So while our system has mastered production, it is failing at the level of human distribution (many “primitive” tribes did it better). The “Free-Market” and the body of knowledge that institutes it does not value distribution as much as it does accumulation. 

In such a way, altruism - which can be the result of shared experiences, i.e. sharing in the experience of “whiteness” or “blackness” etc. - is extended within specific “Races” and along class lines. Within the “white race” especially, it also takes the general form of altruism for the investor class who are perceived in mainstream thought to be the heroes of our society (those who have proved their degree of genetic selectedness as they generate jobs/wealth within the economy). On the other hand, there is less altruism for the poor, homeless and jobless who are paradoxically institutionalized by the economic system in poverty at the same time as they are blamed for it. They are viewed by many as a drain on society/“Scarcity” and having failed to show the type of intelligence needed to master “Scarcity.”

So we are faced with questions: Is it logical to extend altruism to the whole human species? Do we auto-institute our consciousness through narrative? Or is it logical that altruism is confined (limited biologically as with the primates) to “race” and to some extent class, (where the homeless, for instance are left out). If altruism is “naturally” limited, and it is obviously limited within the script of Evolution and its attendant of market “Scarcity,” affirmative action might be the best we can do…But if we are free to inscribe ourselves in whatever story we dare to create, the results would be different.

In our present system, social stratification - the creation of social hierarchy - officially starts at school and it is based on the idea that social hierarchy is “Natural.” This stratification is done around the idea of intelligence (i.e., how you do in school, where students learn with the overall purpose of becoming a Breadwinner and mastering “Scarcity”). And the result is considered to be, at least partially, the “natural” and the only possible “scientific” and ostensibly genetically preprogrammed outcome. 

Our present system/matrix posits generally that some people (or “races”) are just smarter than others (and therefore deserve what they get). And that this has generated a rather objective outcome in terms of social hierarchy. At the same time, all of the academic disciplines have as their basis the human modeled on the idea of a “natural” organism. Out of such a definition expecting non-white races to have equal I.Q. scores seems unrealistic. For example, the story motivates “whiteness” as an evolved “race” and demotivates “blackness.”

The type of intelligence that is produced in school by this body of knowledge therefore, is generally a culture-specific type of intelligence. It is the type of intelligence needed to reciprocally verify and institute this culture/society/matrix around the descriptive statement of the human on the model of a natural organism. And as many people have pointed out, it is a kind of intelligence that seems unable to deal adequately with poverty and racism. Similarly, having defined the human as an entity that at the social level competes for “resources,” it poses a challenge to the health of the planetary environment. 

Our educational system officially teaches human Evolution in high school biology class. In fact, all the disciplines/classes have as their underlying basis that they are explaining our “evolved” reality and are reporting “objectively” on what is “Natural.” The discipline of history for example, is taught as a progression of individuals and collectives marching toward (the West’s) reality. But veridically, it is just a reality manifested by another culturally relative story (Evolution). As such, it is a narrative that has impelled people (“black” people in particular) to call for programs such as “affirmative action.”

It is in this stupefying situation for example, that the well-known and brilliant “black” R&B singer Erykah Badu sings in one of her songs, “I remember there in school one day I learned I was inferior. Water in my cereal”… When people are taught their minds are inferior in school, it seems obvious they could be affected negatively by Evolution’s expectations. 

I also remember in high school biology class where the teacher taught human Evolution and I learned that people were not equal! As long as Evolution is the story/narrative, “black” people will be bound in this culture’s imagination/expectations (as our matrix is permeated on every level by that story). And in the reciprocal, “white” people can then feel a surge of pride in their “Race,” which on the “totem pole” of “Races” is positively marked as that of the “most evolved Race.” 

So while this system/story/narrative “works” on the behalf of the “white” investor class, it has symbolically marked “black” skin for example, as the trait of an inferior “Race.” This inferior status is then logically manifested as it is exhibited in higher poverty rates, lower I.Q. scores, and the associated criminality rates, which in circular logic makes the system appear objective and hold together!

At the level of intelligence testing, it is not just that those tests are “culturally biased” (which in its mainstream interpretation reduces the idea of “culture” to the level of apple pie and opera, rather than understanding culture as the manifestation of a particular culture’s story) in that the tests are made for a generically “white” audience. But in addition, it is also a fact that we teach/socialize, explicitly and implicitly “black” people to regard themselves as generically cognitively inferior. Such abuse, which permeates the entire matrix at every level, is to be strenuously, and to whatever extent, successfully, avoided. 

What we call “intelligence” is generally only the kind of thinking needed to bring this society/culture into being. And we are conditioned to experience our mind as knowing reality objectively through the story/narrative of Evolution and its extrapolation within this matrix/our society/culture. In such a way, every culture believes the story it is in and experiences their society/culture/matrix as reality -- as all the evidence of anthropology points to. And clearly, as we can see, “Racism” can only exist because it is backed, to whatever degree you believe, by the story/narrative of Evolution. 

It might not be easy to see at first, but we pursue the goals of our stories, (centrally trying to make money) with the same dedication for example, that the pre-Western contact Pomo Indian would have pursued basket weaving to show their culture-specific rationality, i.e. proving the truth of their narratives to themselves. And the form of rationality/intelligence that brings our present society/culture into being is no more real or true, no more “reality,” than that of any other cultures, including that of the pre-Western contact Pomo. Both consciousnesses are/were instituted by story/narrative.

Out of our overall story, dazzling triumphs have taken place taking the form of real medical breakthroughs, for example. We have also unlocked an incredible human capacity to invent and create things (technology like the car, computers, and the cell phone!) in the competition to master “Scarcity.” However, this is taking place at the cost of some glaring cognitive blind spots resulting in things like “Racism,” poverty and the possible deterioration of the health of the Earth overall. Again, it is very difficult to protect the Earth when you define the human as one who competes, relentlessly, for “resources.” And as we know, “Race” is a continual volatile issue resulting in such things as the race protests/riots that recently rocked our nation and the tragic death of George Floyd (where one can see the police officer Derek Chauvin, who is now a victim in this, acting “racist” out of the logic of the narrative).

But at present, the paradigm seems to be shifting away from racism at multiple levels. This is true at the level of academic thought overall, at least as I have experienced it. And it is true at the social level, as a counter-pressure has been created over time by people who just feel that racism is wrong (as the original rigidity of the story of Evolution has broken down). But the quest for black equality should not be satiated by the physical act of moving up the economic hierarchy (i.e. affirmative action), while leaving “race” in place in our society’s/culture’s imagination. What is at really at stake is, are we really equal? Do we presently institute hierarchy through story/narrative just as all other societies/cultures have done? 

Cultures transform when they get into internal contradictions that are unresolvable from within the logic of their story/narrative. And some tribes didn’t change for long periods of time (at least 40,000 years for some) because of their ability to explain reality to those within the tribe. Within the narrative of Evolution, we are in this type of situation now, where many people know there is something unpalatable about racism but the logic of the whole system is dependent on creating “Race.” Can we move toward a new understanding of what makes us (uniquely) human? Do we experience life through story/narrative? Or are we bound (biologically) to this reality? I propose the former.

Someone could argue that our present culture’s story is the “true” story/narrative. But obviously it is the story aspect of it that socializes consciousness. And it is self-evident that if we were to live from within a different story, our consciousness and behavior would change wholesale into that new story’s reality. From the evidence throughout human history we have been bound by the stories that have been set upon us or were simply born into--such as us with Evolution. In such a way, we need to remember that social hierarchy always comes from story/narrative. And any hierarchy among us is the result of what is merely another story.