Mendocino County Today: Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023

Warm | Zen Den | Dusky Sky | Ukiah Construction | Shattuck Signs | Holcomb 90 | AVCSD Items | Moon Honey | Ed Notes | Senior Center | Messiah Singalong | Hemp Disconnected | Holiday Competition | Caspar Creek | Humane Society | Yesterday's Catch | Suspiciously Silent | Why Drink | Left Foot | Big Morning | Texas Posse | Dishonorable Advertisers | Xmas Pizza | Marco Radio | Hearing Voices | John Brown | It's Murder | Israel Meditation | Santa Visit | Mr Christian | Resistance | MEF Newsletter | First Day | Digital Currency | US Immigration | Bibi Sharon | Mary Brooksbank | Gaza Opportunists | Roller Coaster | Unilateral Sanity | Ho Ho Ho | Broken System | Xmas Presents | Stephanie's Walk | 1955 Body

UNSEASONABLY WARM, DRY WEATHER continues for the next 24 to 36 hours. An upper level low offshore will bring southerly flow, instability, convection and a chance of thunderstorm activity. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A warm 54F under mostly clear skies this Saturday morning on the coast. After a pleasant day rain returns tomorrow for what now looks like a 3 day run. Then dry a few days then more rain after that? We'll see.

CONGRATULATIONS to Anderson Valley student, Allen Ford, for constructing a beautiful Zen Den picnic table with the guidance and mentorship of Mr. Lane in the after school program. 

It has a place of honor outside the Zen Den and will be well used for years to come. Well done, Mr. Lane and Allen, on this beautiful service project!

— Louise Simson, Superintendent, AV Unified School District

UKIAH CONSTRUCTION UPDATE FOR THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 18TH:

Due to the significant storm forecast for next week, little or no work is anticipated Monday-Wednesday. Work will resume, weather permitting.

On the south side (Mill to Cherry), crews will be replacing sewer laterals between Gobbi and Cherry, beginning at the south end and progressing north. This work is occurring on the west side of the street currently; when the laterals on the west side are done, traffic will be moved to the other side of the street and laterals on the east side will be done. Travel lanes will continue to be open in both directions. Additionally, work has begun on the joint trench between Mill and Gobbi, which will run along the west side of the street and contain underground electric and communication lines.

On the north side (Norton to Henry), crews are finishing concrete work before wrapping up construction until spring. Wherever possible, on-street parking will be restored and barriers removed.

Additionally, as we remove some of the old lights, some sections of the project area will be darker than usual until new lights are installed. Please drive slowly and watch for pedestrians.

Have a great weekend!

Shannon Riley, Deputy City Manager

CARRIE SHATTUCK WRITES:

This is from the audit that was just released. 

Gee, hasn't Our Auditor, Chamise Cubbison, been blamed over and over for lack of reports to the BOS? This BOS does not hold the CEO/Clerk of the Board, Ms. Antle, accountable. She is responsible for keeping the BOS up to date on the budget, not Chamise Cubbison. Yet these “reports” they weren't getting were the basis of their dissatisfaction with Chamise Cubbison. This whole situation reeks of insider politics.

* * *

Also included is the statement in the 2023-24 budget book under Executive Office. 

They really should be striving to do as they say. 

Carrie Shattuck

Redwood Valley

PS. Here is the updated Executive Office salaries (hence another records request). 

There were several items of concern that I inquired about, such as a $25,000 charge in the Health Benefit column, the “other” amounts, and the fluctuation in contributions to retirement. I'm still waiting to hear back about the Health Benefit explanation. It was explained that the “other” amounts are salary contributions from other departments since the Executive Office personnel are filling in for various other departments. The retirement contribution percentage increases with employee length of tenure, one is 37%. Also I was informed that at least 9 of these positions are being/have been changed, some to payroll and fiscal. I'm still waiting for the updated list.

PS. DIRTY LOCAL POLITICS

Dear Editor,

As the final 90 days before the election is upon us, campaign signs are going up. I find it interesting that my signs are disappearing. Is someone that threatened that they feel the need to remove mine? 

ITEM 7(D)3 ON NEXT WEDNESDAY’S COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT BOARD MEETING AGENDA:

“Proposed Motion: In The Interest Of Keeping The AVCSD Board And The Anderson Valley Community Informed About Progress on The Water Projects, The AVCSD Board Instructs The Water Committee To Request Support From The State Water Board And Brelje And Race (Engineers) To Develop A Detailed Project Plan Of The Planning Phase Of The Clean Water And Sewer Projects. The Project Plan Should Show The Project Milestones, Timeline, And Estimated Costs For Each Milestone, And It Should Show Interdependencies (Such As CEQA) Between Project Phases. It Should Also Show Which Milestones Will Be Conducted In The Planning Phase Of The Project And In The Subsequent Implementation Phase. The Project Plan Should Be Developed Using An App Such As Microsoft Project. (Sponsor: Director Francois Christen)"

AV FIRE CHIEF ANDRES AVILA: 

“We did not receive any applications for the District’s mechanic’s position. We are now posting this job as an “open until filled” application period. [Retiring mechanic] Angus Loop has sent the solicitation to peers in Sonoma County, and I am pushing this around with other fire districts. We had a very interested applicant who did not apply because of insurance red tape regarding emergency responder maintenance.”

LOOKING FOR COOL AFFORDABLE LOCAL VALLEY GIFTS? I tripped into the front store in the Hanes Gallery building in downtown Boonville, to find Moon Honey Tea Company. They have an awesome line of natural teas and also roast their own coffee beans! Other eclectic gifts too. Check ‘em out!

ED NOTES

THAT DOWNTOWN (SF) SEWAGE SMELL

(1) MIKE KALANTARIAN: My abiding memory of the San Francisco Giants’ “Telephone” Park (I can’t keep up with all the name changes) is the smell of sewage. Unmistakable and strong, the horrible stench welcomes you right out front, along the Embarcadero, just before you gain entrance. You would think managing shit would be a civic priority. You would think… It’s a good indicator of the state of the city.

(2) ANON: All these downtown ballparks are suffering from homelessness and crime. The professional teams in Washington D.C., all of them NBA, MLB, NHL and NFL are looking to move to out of the city to Virginia. Maybe that’s why Shotani signed with Dodgers. You can literally take a freeway exit, drive up a hill into a ravine. Far away from the hell that is Los Angeles. Buster is probably trying to share a little reality with people.

ED REPLY: That downtown sewage stench, especially along the Embarcadero, has persisted for years. Its origins seem to be the treatment plant up on Bay Street, not far from the water. Years ago, The City issued a presser calling for suggestions as to which odor-disguising scent citizens might prefer, a kind of suffusing Febreze, but the choices, as I recall, were among ice cream flavors, of all substances, and a vigorous argument ensued among the various partisans of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. Some people said their enjoyment of ice cream had been destroyed forever, but most people were fiercely divided over which of the three scents to adopt. The City gave up, and here we are. I thought, and still think, that the Embarcadero air had never been more bracing, more welcoming than when the Old Hills Brothers plant was located not far from where the ballpark is now. On roasting days the air was exhilarating. You didn't have to wake up to smell the coffee, you were the coffee. 

SAN FRANCISCO supervisor, Dean Preston, was quoted in the Chron recently saying that The City’s homelessness was “absolutely the result of capitalism,” and that it was “counterproductive” to arrest people openly doing drugs.

PRESTON'S District 5 includes the Tenderloin District, an area nationally, perhaps even internationally, known given The City's millions of foreign visitors, for its open-air drug market. Nearly half of the city’s homeless population lived in Preson's district in 2022, according to the Chron. 

SUPERVISOR PRESTON identifies as a democratic socialist. Me too, but I think he's too pessimistic. Capitalism, our version of it, mos def is organized in a way that enhances mental illness — atomization and everything else from weak family structures to drugs to David Muir and Oprah, all of it encourages millions to zone out, to despair, to commit living suicide. 

WHERE I DISAGREE is the supervisor's fatalistic assumption that the problem is intractable, that we can't arrest our way out of it. Even in our system of imploding capitalism, there's no excuse for homelessness and all the other outdoor pathologies.

ARREST would be Step One. Step Two would be placement in a hospital structure where the arrestee could regain him and herself. Which is what we used to do even under capitalism, but that was when the wolves of free enterprise were prevented from eating the whole country. They've since feasted.

BUT STEP TWO, and Preston is correct, in this country at this time, arrest is not doable because, then what? Catch and release, which is what we have now because the rich no longer pay their share of the social load. When they did pay, and paid mightily, we had functioning systems of mental hospitals. 

BUT SINCE THEN, the wolves have eaten the whole system, hence today's open air asylums. Other capitalist countries manage to care and treat their victims. Our capitalist country lets people die on the street because we are gulled into believing there's no money to do anything else.

100+ WOMEN STRONG PRESENTS CHECK TO UKIAH SENIOR CENTER

Another successful 100+ Women Strong for Inland Mendocino County event took place at Campovida in Hopland in November. The Ukiah Senior Center was the winner of more than fourteen thousand dollars, edging out two other local charities-Oscar's Place Donkey Refuge and the American Association of University Women's Tech Trek program for fifth grade girls.

The Ukiah Senior Center's mission is to "enhance and improve the quality of life for all seniors, the disabled, their families and caregivers. And to enable seniors to remain as independent as possible as long as possible," began the presentation by Clara Lehman, a volunteer for eight years and a member of the Board of Directors.

"Thank you to everyone who donated," said the delighted Dona Fridae Mitchan, Executive Assistant for the Ukiah Senior Center, which just celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. The plan is to use the donation to help pay for safety and security at the Center, lighting in the parking lot, security cameras, and a new fire door in Bartlett Hall.

With its dedicated staff and volunteers, the Ukiah Senior has an impressive ongoing impact on the greater Ukiah area. To name a few accomplishments, in 2022, they served 38,230 seniors and disabled adults. Services included door-to-door bus rides, respite care, tax returns at no charge, weekly activities like Bingo, Bunko, Beading, Aerobics, Beading, Senior Aerobics, Quilting, Bridge, Writing, English as Second Language, Computers, and Chorus. Informational seminars are offered on such topics as Senior Safe Driving, Fraud Prevention, and Nutrition. The Senior Center also partnered with Safeway to hold a COVID/Flu vaccine clinic.

"I could go on and on, but this gives an idea of what's happening at the Senior Center in Ukiah," says Mitchan.

"My favorite service at the center," says Lehman, "is the Lunch Bunch for seniors and those disabled with dementia or Alzheimer's." Those who attend are transported to and from their homes, which gives family or other caretakers a break, while their loved one is taken care of with a nutritious lunch, music, and other stimulating activities.

The Senior Center also has a transportation program to provide rides to the doctor, grocery store, shopping, and the Center. "We even take people to Santa Rosa and San Francisco for medical appointments for a reasonable price," adds Lehman.

She pointed out that Mendocino County has a higher proportion of seniors per capita than the State of California and the United States. No federal or state funding is received by the Ukiah Senior Center. "Our cash reserves and operating funds are being exhausted. We need community help. We have twenty-two employees and nearly a hundred volunteers and are always looking for more volunteers."

Other sources of funding come from the popular Thrift Store and renting out Bartlett Hall, with its stage, seating for 275, and full commercial kitchen.

"I could go on and on," shares Lehman, "but this gives you an idea of what's happening at the Senior Center!

At the November event in which more than one hundred women each donated a hundred dollars before a vote was taken to decide the winner, the three nonprofits made presentations. And the attendees cast their votes. Everyone was feted to a buffet of organic appetizers provided by Caring Kitchen of Mendocino sponsored by Visit Mendocino.

100+ Women Strong is an inclusive all-volunteer group. Anyone interested in volunteering to help or attend the biannual gatherings and hear from three nonprofits doing indispensable work in our community is welcome. It is also customary for many attendees at the 100+ Women Strong events to also make out checks to the two other nonprofits. 100+ Women of Inland Mendocino has distributed more than $185,000 since its founding in 2019.

To register to be part of 100+Women Strong Inland Mendocino County, each attendee pledges a hundred dollars on the 100+ Mendocino Women Grapevine website via https://100strongmendo.com. Click the "Become a Member" button.

To find out more about the Ukiah Senior Center visit the website https://www.ukiahseniorcenter.org/

JOHN HARDIN WRITES:

Hemp Disconnected, New feature Doc by John Hardin and Myles Moscato

AVA,

I just finished a new feature documentary about marijuana prohibition, hemp, the War on Drugs, and the people who fought that war and won... sort of... The movie examines this issue through the lens of the recently closed Garberville hemp boutique, The Hemp Connection, and includes interviews with the store’s proprietors Marie and Theresa Mills, as well as cannabis expert and author Ed Rosenthal, legalization activist Debbie Goldsberry, and cannabis doctor Dr William Courtney. 

It also includes appearances by Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Sonny Bono and Bugs Bunny. The movie will be available to the public on Dec 22, but with the following promo codes: 

THEAVAPRESS

THEAVAPRESS-CC (for the closed captioned version)

You can watch the movie now, for free, at this website, where you will also find additional info for the press: HotBox Films

I hope you will watch my new movie, and say something about it in the AVA. Thanks for your time and attention.

Sincerely,

John Hardin

HotBox Films

Boxes, trapezoids, parallelograms & other nonsense.

SUSAN NOLAN: While CalFire may see the rest of Jackson State Forest as a cash cow, the Caspar Creek watershed really is experimental and devoted to science. Timber harvest does occur there occasionally at the request of scientists for the purpose of measuring its effects on water quality, hydrology, fish, etc. and is heavily monitored, providing the documentation to prove that logging damages fish habitat, for example. It’s a beautiful little watershed, with big mature second growth redwoods (scarcer than old growth) in the North Fork. Flagging and meters etc. are scattered around. When environmental organizations sue to stop bad timber sales, the work done at Caspar Creek on impacts of sedimentation and cumulative effects etc. may be cited. A book was produced in 1998 about the research done there: Proceedings of the Conference on Coastal Watersheds: The Caspar Creek Story.

ARF!

The Mendocino Coast Humane Society is having a fundraiser party on New Year's Eve. For information and tickets, go to www.ticketstripe.com/mchs-nye-2024.

It was great fun last year and will be even better this year.

Jane, Member Board of Directors, MCHS

CATCH OF THE DAY, Friday, December 15, 2023

CHARISE BURNS, Fort Bragg. Failure to appear.

ALEGANDRO CIBRIAN-ROMERO, Ukiah. Controlled substance, paraphernalia, evidence tampering, probation revocation.

BRANDON CORNEJO, Ukiah. Sexual battery by restraint, lewd/lascivious on child under 14, annoying or molesting child under 18.

RICARDO GARCIA-GARCIA, Ukiah. Controlled substance, paraphernalia, county parole violation.

ISIDRO MURO, Covelo. Protective order violation.

DAMON REICHARDT, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

EUGENIO RIOS-MENDEZ, Ukiah. Domestic battery.

PD RUNS SCARED 

Editor: 

As a loyal subscriber to The Press Democrat, I’m troubled by the lack of reporting on local protests in support of a cease-fire in Gaza. Aside from coverage of the first protest in Old Courthouse Square in October, the paper has remained suspiciously silent on the growing local cease-fire and Palestinian solidarity movement. This movement includes Jewish and Palestinian voices. It is peaceful and focused on human rights. It is not antisemitic.

Every Sunday, Jewish, Palestinian and other peace protesters gather in Old Courthouse Square. Nothing is reported in the paper. In November, protesters gathered at Rep. Jared Huffman’s office in Petaluma and marched downtown. Nothing was reported. On Black Friday, entire families marched in Santa Rosa Plaza to raise awareness. A reporter was there. Nothing was reported. On Dec. 3, a car caravan in support of the Palestinian people traveled from Franklin Park to Old Courthouse Square. Again, nothing was reported.

Everywhere, voices calling for a cease-fire and a just political solution for Palestinians are being ignored, censored and punished, while thousands are dying in Gaza. These are scary times for anyone who cares about human rights and free speech. Press Democrat, please do better.

Nini Kroll

Santa Rosa

MITCH CLOGG

Yo.

Seems like a lifetime since I confronted the expectant, all-inviting, anodyne (finally looked that up) question: What's on your mind?

Wounds that cannot heal because they get too little blood, that grow and fester instead. Amputation of my left foot on account of poor blood circulation because the arteries of my lower limbs, my legs and feet, are clogged with plaque--dense plaque, evidently, too much for the various things they could otherwise shove in there to clear it away, that's what's up. (It's a wire, and they can attach things to the end of it to do work.) The surgeon said the plaque was too dense to admit the wire. Merde. That's on my mind.

My vascular surgeon is the head of that section at the SF VA hospital and also on staff at UCSF. Both are highly rated, so I don't wonder about my doc's skills. I DO wonder about his advice: Come in for angioplasty number five or choose amputation.

I all but did that. My four angioplasties (that's the operation that either clears a plugged artery or bypasses it, using a bit of vein or artery from elsewhere in the body--or possibly installing a stent, a plastic tube they put into your artery). I'm disappointed to learn that stents can fill with plaque, too, and that my plaque-making function works overtime. (You hear about angioplasties more in connection with the heart. My heart's hearty.)

In my case, my plugged arteries aren't from mountains of butter. I don't eat much, and I pay attention to what that is. Seems that Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) is also inherited. Since all my forebears are dead and didn't live long enough to exhibit PAD, I had no idea this was coming.

I write all this because I've got damn good feedback from you guys in the past, stuff I could use. [Steve Ruzicka, thanks hugely for the article you sent!!!!]

I left the hospital Against Medical Advice (AMA). I've spent damn little time in my magic cave on Wheeler Street, I stood triumphant on my rooftop, cutting a big tree that fell on it with a chainsaw. I hollered to Ellie, "You better get a picture of this. Nobody would believe it!" (84-year-old guy on roof cutting big pine tree off it). That was in January. Now I've had seven and a half months mostly in bed, muscles atrophying, bones getting porous, me getting crazy. I'm enjoying this mildly outlaw time at home, and my foot looks markedly better every day from Eleanor's wound-care ministrations.

They assure me that AMA has different "grades" and that mine would not be regarded as a black mark.

So here I am, frenz. It's a grim place to be, but the medics didn't mention a third option: Insane Exercise. Sending my blood flying through the healthy vessels and into the capillaries. How could that not prompt capillaries to enlarge, the trickle I now have to my feet to increase?

Anyway, Hello To You All, and this is where I been. I have things to say about the dismal daily news, but not now.

JUST OFF INJURED RESERVE....

Big morning at the Building Bridges Homeless Resource Center! Was moved off of the temporary cot to a lower bunk by the west wall window, and then got a Gospel Mission shuttle ride to the free Plowshares Peace & Justice Center meal, arriving just in time. Took an MTA bus to the Ukiah Public Library, and am presently on computer #3 tap. tap, tapping away. A Monday morning dental hygienist appointment is on the horizon. Continually identifying with the ParaBrahman, or Divine Absolute, and not with the body nor the mind, I am available for just about anything crucial anywhere on planet earth.

Craig Louis Stehr

HOPING FOR DOLLARS

To the Advertising Department of National Geographic,

This letter concerns your November 2023 issue, specifically page 5 marked: “HOPE.”

About a week ago, CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell presented an in-depth report on the MARS Corporation. According to the report, Mars had a $45 billion dollar profit last year. They use children to pick the cocoa pods, children who should be in school instead. When Mars was confronted with this child labor atrocity, they sent backpacks with paper and pencils inside and said they were encouraging children to go to school. But they never enforced those feelings.

The children are still working and Mars is raking in the profits of their unethical business practices. Your ad provides Mars with the pretext that they are doing good in the world.

And about Sheba, an affiliate of Mars… Science does not exist unless it can provide someone/something with a profit. In this case, yeah! We’ll create coral reefs to help the fish, and then take those fish and put them into a can for cats.

I encourage National Geographic’s advertising department to look more closely at those companies that want to advertise in National Geographic and obtain respectability despite their dishonorable activities.

I hope I receive a response to my concerns.

Thank you,

Louise Mariana

Mendocino

MEMO OF THE AIR: Live on KNYO from Franklin St. all night tonight!

Deadline to email your writing for tonight's (Friday night's) MOTA show is 5:30. Or, if that's too soon, send it whenever it's done and I'll read it on the radio next week. There's always another chance, so no pressure.

I'm in town for this show. I'll be in the cluttered but well-lighted back room of KNYO's 325 N. Franklin studio. If you want to come in and show off, that's fine if you're in good health. Just waltz in and say hi. To call and read your work in your own voice on the air, the number is 707-962-3022.

Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio is every Friday, 9pm to 5am on 107.7fm KNYO-LP Fort Bragg as well as anywhere else via KNYO.org. Also the schedule is there for KNYO's many other terrific shows.

As always, at https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com you'll find things to look at and twiddle with and maybe learn something semi-valuable about the world while you wait until showtime, or just any time, such as:

A Very Zombie Holliday. https://www.fark.com/vidplayer/13087390

To add to the big file of photographs of women I'd like to watch swallow an egg. I had thought it was obvious in previous posts that I mean a hard-boiled egg with the shell removed, and swallowed whole, and maybe a doctor or fireman should be there in case there's a problem. But several people asked, so. https://www.vintag.es/2023/12/jane-derby.html

And PeeWee Herman's 1988 Xmas special. It's got Cher. It's got everything. PeeWee is dead now. What a roller-coaster ride his life was. https://laughingsquid.com/pee-wees-playhouse-christmas-special-1080-hd/

Marco McClean, memo@mcn.org, https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com

VIVA JOHN BROWN!

Editor:

Your squib about the Du Bois book on John Brown reminded me that we recently finished a very funny and sad fictional novel about Brown of whom we knew hardly anything. The Good Lord Bird, by James McBride gives a great sense of the man himself; his insanity/passion and humanity.

It's set just prior to the Civil War and although we knew his end, it's still very painful. But McBride sees the world with compassionate humor and has a great sense of the black patois (he's half black himself).

What is so disturbing is that it takes place more than 150 years ago yet we seem to be fighting many of the same battles now.

Another we would recommend is Deborah Johnson's The Secret of Magic. She too uses historical characters, Thurgood Marshal in this case, in a fictional but representative story. We do go through books which we read out loud to each other each evening, two at a time, one in front of the fire the other in bed.

We hope you have a wonderful holiday season and that you keep up your hikes and pushups so we can continue to read your highly entertaining (tooth grinding at times!) newspaper.

Yours, Ms. A

ED NOTE: I'll always remember his grace before he was hanged. They had trouble with the rope and the scaffolding, but JB didn't flinch, chatting amiably with his executioners for a couple of hours while adjustments were made.

PRAISE THE LORD AND PASS THE AMMUNITION: AN END OF THE YEAR MEDITATION

by Jonah Raskin

It’s the eight day of Hanukkah, known as the “festival of lights,” and I’m sitting at home hoping for a miracle that won’t happen. The world seems like an awfully dark place this December, and not just because the sun sets early in the night sky and darkness lasts longer than in summer. In a dark mood, I initiated a conversation with a neighbor I call “AS.” We talked about the state of Israel and the condition of Jews around the world. AS, who is an Orthodox Jew, said, and I agreed with him at the time, that the existence of Israel has provided Jews with a certain degree of protection against anti-semitism. I now think that was wishful thinking.

Israeli governments have wanted the world to believe that it has provided a bulwark against the discrimination and the persecution of Jews. No such hard and fast evidence seems to exist, though Israel has provided a sanctuary for some Jews who have fled from the Soviet Union and elsewhere, many of whom discovered that Israel wasn’t for them.

Now, in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel and the Israeli assault on Gaza, I don’t think anyone in his or her right mind would say that Jews are safer in the world today because of the existence of Israel. In fact, the Israeli assault on Gaza has provoked world wide attacks on Jews. After all, the world is outraged. No Jew is safe, not even in Israel; maybe especially not in Israel.

The current state of anger and hatred is largely due to the bombing of Gaza and the killing of Palestinians and other inhabitants of that open air prison and now open air graveyard. This is not to say that Hamas bears no responsibility for the horrors that have unfolded over the past weeks. Hamas committed crimes against Jews, but those crimes don’t and haven’t justified what some call “ethnic cleansing,” and others call genocide on the part of Israel.

Anyone in this day and age who puts his or her faith in any government, whether in the US or Israel, Ukraine or Russia, to make the world a better and a more peaceful place, and to bring about justice for all, is largely delusional. The US is as culpable as the Israeli government. After all, it supplies the weapons. More guns won’t help. Calling for a cease fire and “save the children” can open one to physical and verbal assault even in supposedly liberal environments. It’s dangerous to be a Jew, an Arab, a Palestinian and for anyone who inhabits the planet. And forget about freedom of speech.

This is nothing new. The current situation isn’t worse than it has ever been. Remember the Holocaust and the Nazi extermination of Jews, communists, catholics, the Romani, and anyone deemed “unfit.” And don’t say “never again” if you put your faith in guns and bombs. If you remember, Johnny, a patriotic American soldier, did get his gun, and ended up in a hospital without his arms, legs, and his whole face (including eyes, ears, nose, teeth, and tongue), making him a prisoner in his own body. Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas, folks. And while you're at it, praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.

JEFF BLANKFORT

I think you might want to use this amazing exchange with another Jerrard, one, at least not yet, enfolded, like Jared Huffman in the arms of the Israel Lobby, in response to his solicitation email for funds through Act Blue, the Demo Party fund raising site: Jarred Christian who is running in Ohio's 2nd Dist. and who responded to my email almost immediately.

Jarred Christian: The Republican-led House is on the verge of approving a formal impeachment inquiry into President Biden, despite having uncovered absolutely zero evidence of Joe Biden doing anything wrong while he was President, Vice-President, Senator, or even as a private citizen. Zilch. 

This is nothing more than a political stunt by desperate right-wing Republicans who will do Donald Trump’s bidding. And of course, MAGA Mike Johnson will take this action knowing it will undermine faith in democracy itself. 

Americans cannot and should not endure this chaos any longer. Now, more than ever, we need strong, principled leaders who will prioritize the concerns of everyday Americans—and Jerrad is committed to doing just that. 

Jerrad understands the struggles of working-class families because he's lived them. While the GOP takes desperate, dishonest political shots at the president, Jerrad is standing up for the values and needs of our communities.

This is a critical moment for our district, for Ohio, and for our country. We cannot afford to let the chaos of political gamesmanship distract us from the issues that truly matter.

Will you join us in supporting Jerrad Christian's campaign to bring real leadership to Ohio? Your donation of $25, $50, or whatever you can give today will help us fight against the chaos and build the strong future Americans deserve?

* * *

Jeffrey Blankfort

At this very moment, Mr Christian, I would suggest that most of the civilized world considers Pres. Biden to be complicit in one of the most horrible war crimes in human history and it is being done and viewed by the world in real time. If Biden runs again, he loses, as do the Democrats.

* * *

Hi Jeffrey,

Jarred Christian:

I wish I could disagree with you about our government being complicit. There has never been a time and will never be a time where I could stand by and approve of the killing of innocent people.

The light handed calls for a ceasefire from the President have not come close to the reaction I would expect from the United States.

Unfortunately, the Republicans don't care either. I worry the only result of Democrats and other good people not voting for Biden will be another group taking power that won't do a damned thing while also turning this country into a fascist dictatorship and we will never be able to stand up again.

Some things are so far from right, I don't even have words for them. The indiscriminate bombing of homes, families, and children are so appalling I can't even form words about it. It shatters my heart into infinite pieces as I can imagine a world where that was me and my son in the crossfire.

While there feels like so little we can do out here, it is that feeling of anger, frustration and helplessness, mixed with determination and my unwavering empathy for the people of this world that drives me to run for office. I know we can do better, and if I have to do it alone, I will run with all of my heart. If I get the good will of others who care like me, there is nothing we can't accomplish.

I appreciate you reaching out. Though in our in darkest moments it is difficult to hold onto hope, we must. And while hope can preserve our ideals, it is our actions that can save them.

I wish you the best.

Jerrad Christian 

IF THE CHINESE OR THE RUSSIANS WERE DOING THIS THEY'D HAVE TO REGISTER AS AGENTS OF A FOREIGN GOVERNMENT

Dear Reader:

As the year draws to a close, I wish to reflect on the role of the Middle East Forum, specifically with regard to the Oct. 7 attack, plus to give you advance notice on breaking news at MEF. 

But first, a quick note that next month MEF will reach its 30th anniversary of promoting American interests and protecting Western values. Your support has made this possible. We are deeply grateful, and we hope you can continue that support with a donation here.

The Oct. 7 attack and following war galvanized every organization concerned with the security and welfare of America’s only values ally in the Middle East; the second half of this letter tells about our accomplishments in influencing policy and public opinion in both Israel and the United States. 

My first goal, however, is to explain how the Middle East Forum distinguishes itself from those many excellent institutions. What makes our approach unique? 

Nearly all organizations concerned with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict advocate for Israel by engaging in debates about right and wrong, justice and oppression. Their work centers around morality and aims to shape public opinion and government policies based on these moral considerations. In other words, they are addressing an audience that is undecided, urging it to come over to Israel’s side. That is a worthy and crucial role, to be sure; but it is not ours. 

Instead, we take a strategic approach. We explore not who is right or wrong, but how to achieve our goals. As strategists, we assume the goal – a secure Israel – as a given and concentrate on devising effective ways to attain it. We approach this task with a level of detachment, akin to ice running in our veins. Unlike advocates, we often put ourselves in our opponent’s shoes by seeking to understand their strategies and motivations. 

While advocates strive to convince the undecided, strategists aim to guide those who already agree with our objectives. Our work, in private consultation and in public discussions, primarily addresses three critical audiences: policymakers, specialists who share our outlook, and the educated public. We provide them with information, analysis, and policy recommendations. 

For instance, when we critique biased media coverage of Israel, our goal is not to discredit it, but to understand its logic and suggest ways for those concerned about Israel's security to address it strategically. Similarly, during conflicts like the current war in Gaza, we refrain from justifying actions or excoriating adversaries; instead, we focus on criticizing ineptitude and offering alternative approaches. 

Our initiatives toward this end include:

Combating pro-Hamas bias and malfeasance among Middle East studies faculty in North America universities.
Exposing and distancing the U.S. government from regimes that support Hamas (Turkey, Iran, Qatar, Malaysia).
Guiding Israeli policy via the Israel Victory Project.
Exposing Islamists in the West and organizing allies to fight them.
Influencing policy in Washington on those same topics.

In essence, while debates, corrections, and public diplomacy all play a crucial role, MEF is engaged primarily in finding the path to victory, a policy we have advocated since the year 2000. 

In this light, I’d like to switch topics and review MEF activities since Oct. 7. 

Our staff has been present on every Hebrew news channel five or six times a day, and we are being followed and covered by every major Israeli print and digital news outlet. In the United States, we publish and appear in the media every day. 

Some details:

One result of our approach is that we have helped propel the strategy of Israel Victory to the forefront of public opinion and policy. Another is that MEF is now a top resource for leaders in Israel and the United States. We have already held meetings with more than eighty-five House and Senate offices, and our policy activities include helping introduce or promote legislation on the following items:

Advocacy for Anti-Hamas Legislation: 

Successfully supported the "Stop Support for Hamas Act" (S. 3174) and "Hamas International Financing Prevention Act" (S.1647), gaining significant bipartisan backing in the Senate.
 Appropriations Bill Influence: Successfully lobbied for including in the Appropriations bill a mandate for a comprehensive report on nonprofits that misuse funds to support Hamas. This measure is based on the Middle East Forum’s own report that identified over $260 million funneled through U.S. nonprofits to Hamas-aligned charities.
 Consequences for Qatari Support of Hamas: MEF worked with Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) to introduce a bill to suspend Qatar’s major non-NATO ally status unless it stops supporting Hamas.
 Initiative on Shia Militias: Collaborated with key senators to draft a bill targeting Shia militias in Iraq and Syria, marking a crucial step in combating threats to U.S. forces.
 Qatar Divestment: We are advocating: to freeze Qatari assets in the United States and other democracies; for U.S. states to divest their pension funds from holdings connected to Qatar; and a boycott of Qatar-connected businesses, products, and services. MEF advocates have sent more than 15,000 emails to leaders of these organizations.
 Stopping Islamist Influence in Education: MEF provided language toRep. Michelle Steel (R-CA), who introduced the DETERRENT Act with twenty-six co-sponsors. It mandates penalties for universities that fail to disclose funding from foreign sources such as Hamas sponsors Qatar and Turkey. The bill passed the House of Representatives on December 8. 

Finally, I am honored to announce a major addition to MEF’s team: Michael Rubin will be joining us tomorrow as Director of Policy Analysis.

Michael has worked for two decades at the American Enterprise Institute, specializing in Iran, Iraq, Turkey, the Caucasus and the Horn of Africa. His extensive experience in the Pentagon and as an academic in Yemen, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan give him a unique perspective on the region and a nuanced understanding of its dynamics. He has written four books. He edited MEF’s Middle East Quarterly in 2004-09. He holds three degrees from Yale University. He is a native of Philadelphia. His fearless analyses, wide range of topics, and first-hand experience will round out MEF’s work. In addition to his writings, Michael will develop MEForum.org into a more comprehensive platform.

As we celebrate MEF’s 30 anniversary next month, we remain committed to promoting American interests and protecting Western values. 

Please help. Your support is instrumental in advancing our unique approach and helping us shape a more secure and prosperous future for Israel and the region.

Sincerely,

Gregg Roman, Director

Middle East Forum

MONEY FOR NOTHING & NOTHING FOR MONEY

by James Kunstler

“Society lives and acts only in individuals…. Everyone carries a part of society on his shoulders; no one is relieved of his share of responsibility by others. And no one can find a safe way out for himself if society is sweeping towards destruction. ” —Ludwig von Mises

Remember, you are a sovereign individual and the blob in our nation’s capital city is an undifferentiated mass of feckless protoplasm. You contain a cosmos of ideas and aspirations. The blob is an agglomeration of sham and failure. The blob stands for itself, not for our country. You and I can stand for our country.

Remember, also, that the economy of our country at its best was the sum of choices made by sovereign individuals, while the economy of the blob is a gelatinous buildup of unsound hypotheses having nothing to do with the pursuit of happiness. We sense this in the menacing rumors of a Federal Reserve digital currency, which entails the rehypothecation of our hopes and dreams into the blob’s waste-stream, turning everything we do — it can’t be put delicately — into shit.

The Fed digital currency will be used to cover-up the failure of end-state financialization of the economy. Finance, you understand, used to be a module of the economy, with a particular role to play. The purpose of finance, formerly, was to marshal surplus wealth from prior productive activity to make new productive activity possible. Financialization, however, does not do that. Financialization was an effort to replace the economy of real production with a hologram of production. Financialization is a racket — and a racket, remember, is an effort to get something for nothing, that is, dishonestly. The blob feeds and thrives on dishonesty, its favorite food.

Financialization seeks to replicate value not from wealth-producing activity but from things that only claim to represent wealth: stocks, bonds, currencies, and anything else that can pretend to hold value, clear up to notions and wishes. Its operations are based on “derivatives” because they aim to derive additional “wealth” from things that signify wealth, but which are not wealth itself. Each iteration of a derivative further abstracts its value from the real things originally signified, such as revenue-producing businesses, interest-bearing loans, leases, and contracts for delivery of commodities. Derivatives can be understood as false wealth, and when enough of them accumulate in a financialized economy, they will blow up the economy, spewing wreckage across an economic landscape.

Many observers of that landscape await such a blow up at any time now. They say it can take the form of a stock market crash, a bond market failure, bank shut-downs, and disorders in money (currencies). All of that can impoverish and immiserate a lot of people. We are living through a corrosive early phase of that now, the overture of a big blow up itself. The effects are felt keenly through the middle classes, who struggle in futility to pay their bills, keep their cars running, and feed their children.

The financialized economy was primed to blow up in September of 2019 when symptoms of severe distress materialized in an arcane corner of the system known as the reverse repo market where banks loan each other money on extremely short term, usually overnight, to provide so-called “liquidity” — meaning the appearance of solvency. The crisis expressed itself as a dangerously sharp rise in interest rates. The Fed came up with enough liquidity to paper over the crisis, and then, miraculous to relate, the Covid-19 “emergency” a few months later gave them cover to “print” trillions of dollars and distribute the “money” rapidly into the on-the-ground economy where people bought the things of daily life.

The result of that monetary mischief was today’s inflation. Inflation, of course, is one way of going broke. You have a lot of money that is increasingly worthless. The other way of going broke is deflation, where you have no money. In the aggregate of a deflation, nobody will have any money, so at least you’ll have company in the misery of being broke. My guess is that a grievous deflation is where the current situation is headed. Deflations are provoked when people and companies can’t meet their debt obligations — can’t “service” their loans (pay interest), or pay back contracted sums of borrowed money, or simply can’t pay their bills. Every loan that goes bad causes some money to disappear — poof! — and when a whole lot of that happens there is no money.

The Federal Reserve digital currency is a kind of last resort way around that. It is a simple way for the system to pretend there is a lot of money around when there really isn’t any. It has the huge additional advantages, by way of computerized accounting, to allow the authorities to control what everybody spends their money on, especially the ability to block the purchase of this or that: a train ticket, gasoline, meat, if the authorities feel like it. It also enables the authorities to extract taxes, duties, and penalties at will, without any cooperation from the citizen. A Fed digital currency would be a giant step into the worst kind of exquisitely targeted tyranny. The excuse, of course, would be a “national emergency.”

A digital currency would likely first be tested among the most indigent in society, those with little or no income. It already is, actually, in the debit cards currently issued to illegal border-jumpers. Their card accounts are refilled monthly, making this the equivalent of a guaranteed basic income. Next, this privilege will be extended to the lower economic ranks of American citizens, and so on upward, until the whole middle-class and even the higher levels are enlisted, and then the authorities will have the ability to push everyone around.

That’s the hypothesis, anyway. I don’t believe it’s going to work. The authorities have underestimated the number of citizens who know what it means to be sovereign individuals. They will decline to be pushed around. They might even push back, start stomping on the blob’s tentacles as it reaches across the land. The citizens of one region or another of our country might go so far as to establish their own money, which would make them sovereign regions of sovereign individuals. That is going to be a problem that the blob and blobism cannot overcome.

(kunstler.com)

This shows two things. First, immigration in the US has long been considerably smaller than in other countries. Second, the absolute level of immigration is not a lot higher now than it has been for the past decade, a period of little net growth in the total immigrant population.

— Kevin Drum (Mother Jones)

WE CAN SEE how the Biden administration will attempt to wash its hands of the Israeli genocide in Gaza it financed, armed and propagandized: blame it on the “rogue” government of Benjamin Netanyahu, the man Biden rushed to Tel Aviv to give a full-frontal embrace only weeks ago. Netanyahu will eventually be condemned for all of the excesses in Gaza and the West Bank. He will be portrayed as an extremist, an outlier, who has sullied the reputation of Israel before the world. A man who refused to listen to Biden’s counsel. This is, of course, nonsense. You couldn’t find a living figure more deeply embedded in the history of modern Israel than Netanyahu. He’s been at the center of Israeli policy-making since the early 1970s. He was mentored by the likes of Menachem Begin, Moshe Arens and, most decisively, Ariel Sharon, the butcher of Sabra and Shatila. As such, he’s also been a creature of US policy toward Israel, nurtured and empowered by US largesse and weapons. Netanyahu and his government are no aberration. They represent the logical continuum from the exterminationist policies of Sharon. There’s a direct line from Sabra and Shatila to Gaza, and the US has never wavered in helping finance the slaughter. To understand Netanyahu, you must understand where he came from, the political model Sharon established for him, a model of ruthless expansionism and extreme violence. During the fateful Israeli elections in 2001, Alexander Cockburn and I wrote a long profile of the sinister career of Ariel Sharon, the man some admirers went so far as to label the “Israeli Moses.” 

— Jeffrey St. Clair

ON THIS DAY, 15 December 1897 Scottish mill worker, songwriter and socialist Mary Brooksbank was born in Aberdeen. Growing up in poverty, her baby brother died of diphtheria before the age of three. Moving to Dundee, Brooksbank began work in jute mills aged 11, and at 14 engaged in her first strike for a pay increase after a young woman walked around the area mills blowing a whistle to call the workers out on strike. Brooksbank later got involved in opposition to World War I, and founded the Working Women Guild to fight for better health and social services, and was active in organising women workers on the railways. She was imprisoned three times in her life for her activities, which she continued until her death aged 82. Brooksbank's songs were mostly about working class life, and perhaps her most famous work, The Jute Mill, includes the lines: "Oh dear me, the world is ill-divided,/Them that works the hardest are the least provided./I maun work the harder, dark days or fine,/Tae feed and cled my bairnies affen ten and nine."

IN GAZA WAR, ISRAEL’S RADICAL SETTLERS SEE AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPAND

washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/16/west-bank-settlers-gaza-israel/

ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

I think a lot of people are like me. They know the system is a fraud. They know they are slaves to this beast. They know it is all wrong. But they don’t know what they can do about it. Let’s face it. We are strapped down in an out of control roller coaster with no way to exit. The only thing we can do at this point is hold on and pray we survive the bumps to the end. Or pray that when we crash the end will be sudden and painless.

UNILATERAL SANITY COULD SAVE THE WORLD

by Norman Solomon

Top American officials in the “national security” establishment are notably good at smooth rhetoric and convenient silences. Their scant regard for truth or human life has changed remarkably little since 1971 when Daniel Ellsberg risked decades in prison to leak the Pentagon Papers to the world. During the years between then and his death six months ago, he was a tireless writer, speaker, and activist.…

tomdispatch.com/unilateral-sanity-could-save-the-world/

WORLD WAR II

by John Arteaga

You know, one of the most poignant stories that I ever read about the great war, WWII, in which my father enlisted, (even though he was well past draft age), was of a group of soldiers meeting the fresh dawn of the first morning without war in years of fighting. It would turn out to be the last time that the US actually won a war. 

Every single conflict since then has been a pointless, bloody, humiliating defeat, always based on a pack of lies and only ending when the utter futility of the enterprise becomes impossible to ignore, at which time hostilities may cease on basically the same terms that could have been had before the first shots were fired. 

Anyway, on that glorious day in 1945, Fascism had been defeated, and now it was up to us, the people, to build societies worth living in; anything and everything was possible, it was up to us, the people of the world, to start from scratch and build a politics, a culture, a world, out of our best, not our worst, instincts . 

I remember, growing up, thinking that certain things were obvious; that the rapid growth of technology was making it possible to produce so many more goods with so much less work, that any prosperous society would have to devise ways to ensure that everyone had the essentials of life without us all having to be on some job for 40 hours a week. 

Pretty much every other first world democracy has taken steps in this direction. The US is an outlier when it comes to having a robust social safety net. Most Europeans and other advanced nations enjoy things like long maternity paid leave, practically free childcare, free quality education to the highest levels, convenient public transit just about everywhere, and countless other life enhancing options that most Americans, seduced by the right’s relentless and lavishly funded propaganda apparatus, can’t even imagine, largely because we seem to all be so successfully insulated from any awareness of such enviable alternative ways of running a nation. 

While here in the United States the focus is always on GDP, the Gross Domestic Product; the net worth of all goods and services produced, whether they are the millions spent to clean up a gargantuan mile-long train derailment that renders an entire area’s real estate basically worthless, (the end product of a step-by-step standdown of any kind of reasonable regulation of the rail industry ,to pick one of many), or the production of gargantuan, polluting rockets by a deranged billionaire who dreams of transplanting human civilization on the distinctly uninviting environs of Mars. It all adds up to GDP, regardless of its merit. 

A more meaningful (to us regular folks) measure of the success or failure of the society is the polling that I’ve read about inquiring about people’s happiness with their lives and their society. I’m afraid that in this method of evaluation our country comes in pretty low in the rankings for first world countries. 

Why is that? I just heard this morning that our own beloved Mendo comes in with triple the state average for drug overdose deaths. Millions of people , many of whom had thought that they had earned a decent nest egg for their golden years, end up bankrupt for what would be a minor medical issue in a more civilized country, like Canada. 

Likewise, there are millions whose college loan debt follows them to the grave, stopping them from buying a house, having kids, all the things we associate with a happy and successful life. 

Why is that? Why does a nation where the people have such a high level of income feel so much dissatisfaction with their lives, their society etc.? 

I think that a major factor is the fact that we are all living in an utterly broken political system that has largely forsaken the idea of manifesting the will of the majority into rules and laws, for the moneygrubbing business of soliciting political contributions from those who have the deepest pockets. 

Ever since Reagan’s, “government is not the solution to our problems, government IS the problem”, the Republican Party has waged a scorched-earth campaign against the very idea that government can do anything at all to improve the lives of the nation’s people. 

Extreme right wing organizations like the Federalist Society have waged a decades long campaign that finally, under the Trump administration, came into full flower, succeeding beyond probably most of their highest expectations; with the connivance of the despicable Mitch McConnell, who refused to observe the Constitution and stole what was rightfully a Supreme Court appointment of the Obama presidency, one of the three horrible hard right religious nutcases that the ‘Orange Jesus’ got to appoint, whose extremism the nation will suffer under for decades. 

Once the Citizens United case was decided, the floodgates for right wing money swung wide, redefining what used to be (and still is in most civilized countries) political corruption and bribery into ‘free speech’, thus beginning a self reinforcing pattern of right wing corporate and oligarch money funding faux populist candidates who appeal to the ignorant masses with wedge issues like immigrants or abortion. These politicians of course make sure to take care of their sugar daddies first, with tax cuts and subsidies, which of course are paid for by the hapless suckers who voted for them, which of course leaves less money for their needs. 

Each election cycle makes matters worse; no money to address climate change, no money for healthcare or education, nothing for replacing the nations decaying infrastructure. No, the politicians need that money to give more tax breaks to the billionaires, who were now paying an average tax rate of around 3%! Pretty soon they’ll be paying nothing, and after that they will demand subsidies! 

It’s hard to see any improvement without legislating a fix for the catastrophic Citizens United decision that has resulted in the cynicism so many have about government today. 

For this and previous columns, go to https://inarationalworld2.blogspot.com/2023/12/making-society.html 

STEPHANIE'S WALK

by Doug Holland

My wife was kinda short and pudgy, with an egg-shaped face. She was cute as could be, gorgeous to me, but an uncommon combination of height, weight, and build. If she was walking toward me, I'd always know her from two blocks away, well before I could recognize her face.

And she must've had a distinctive walk, too. It's something I'd never noticed but blam, yesterday on a bus ride, I saw it out the window.

A short, pudgy woman was crossing the street, and then she walked south on California Avenue, and I watched with my mouth open. That woman's body shape was similar to Stephanie's, a little taller, but she had the same walk.

I'd never known that Stephanie had a specific walk. If you'd asked me, I'd've thought you were a kook. She walked like anyone else. There aren't that many ways to walk. Something must've been different about the mechanics of her footsteps, though, because jeez, there it was, yesterday out the window of a bus.

What's even weirder is that Stephanie was in a wheelchair for the last seven years of her life. And for a few years before that, she had an uncomfortable limp. And she's been dead for four years. So it's been about a dozen years since I've seen Stephanie's ordinary walk.

Ask me how Stephanie's walk was distinctive, and I couldn't possibly describe it, because I have no idea. All I know is, I saw someone walking her walk on California Avenue yesterday, and there was no mistaking it.

Watching that woman cross the street wasn't like seeing a ghost, but it took me vividly back in time, to the only woman I've ever loved, who had a walk like that woman on California Avenue.

So the old man staring out the bus's window with a tear running down his cheek? That was me.