Mendocino County Today: Saturday 5/18/24

TEMPERATURES will be near normal to slightly below normal over the next week as weak fronts move through the region. Northwesterly winds will be gusty each afternoon particularly at coastal areas and ridges as the sea breeze pushes inland. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): On the coast this Saturday morning it is a bit hazy with 49F at 5am. I expect clear skies by sunrise. It will get a little windy this weekend which should give us clear skies. I do not see any fog in the forecast for next week but you know how that goes.

JIM ARMSTRONG: Looks like Willits Online ISP is folding very soon. Their phone is out and no information is posted on their website. From my several year experience, this let down is not a surprise. Getting switched to another ISP and email service may be a problem. Ukiah Wireless has an offer they are sending to those of us affected. Good or bad experiences with them?

LAZARUS (Willits): Pacific Internet Ukiah is owned by the same company as Willits Online. When I checked this morning, Pacific is still open for business. But who knows, my dental office just left Willits. They have an office in Ukiah, but now, if I want to continue with them, I get to drive to Ukiah. And so it goes.

‘THE BROKEN PROCESS AT FAMILY AND CHILDREN’S SERVICES’

by the Mendocino County Grand Jury

“The mission of the California Department of Social Services is to serve, aid, and protect needy and vulnerable children…” California Department of Social Services Mission Statement.

Summary

Mendocino County’s Family and Children Services (FCS) Unit under the Social Services Department (DSS) has struggled for years to provide required services to our children; there are several reasons FCS is challenged. The Mendocino County Civil Grand Jury (Grand Jury) investigated Family and Children’s Services because of a complaint regarding reports filed late to the Superior Court and short-staffing due, in part, to unfilled positions and a four-day workweek which leaves the FCS offices closed to the public on Fridays.

When the Grand Jury began to investigate, it was discovered there had been several investigative reports produced by past grand juries regarding issues in FCS. This is of concern to our community and to the disenfranchised fostered children in Mendocino County. The lack of adequate staffing, staffing turnover and high caseloads for social workers complicates the timely filing of court reports.

Social workers are required to produce reports from the time the child/children are removed from their home until the resolution or permanent placement has been achieved. When vulnerable families are separated an anxiety-fueled frustration is created, and the longer the separation, the more toxic the stress. Everyone in the family is affected, not just the child/children. Late reports contribute to longer separation.

The Grand Jury found that not only was there no easy fix but there was more than one problem to solve. However, one of our findings produced a shining star: there are talented, dedicated people who work at FCS and who attempt to provide quality services to the children and families of Mendocino County.

A cross-section of issues must be addressed to help ensure Mendocino County children and youth in foster care find safety, stability and success. Together, the Federal, State and County governments, advocates, children in foster care, the educational system and other stakeholders must work to establish effective policies and programs.

Late report filing, short-staffing, added responsibilities, a short workweek and other roadblocks cause cases to be delayed. Getting families through the court process, into counseling and into family reunification or placement as soon as possible is crucial in order to minimize the trauma to children in foster care.

Full Report: https://www.mendocinocounty.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/64685/638512840345500000

SPOTTED OFF SIMPSON LANE, FORT BRAGG

ED NOTES

THE GRAND JURY SAID: “…there are talented, dedicated people who work at FCS and who attempt to provide quality services to the children and families of Mendocino County.”

This may be true, but they’re outnumbered by those who range from marginally qualified to incompetent.

Then there are the child stealers who are motivated by their own insecurities and failures in life OR by a deep seated animus against single parents, parents with a history of drug use, or you name it. Too often the goal is NOT family reunification, but permanently severing parental ties, aided and abetted by “helping professionals” and judges who are not qualified to make such critical decisions.

OSTRICHES

by Bruce Anderson

“Is this that political-type paper,” a tentative female voice asked when I picked up the phone.

I suppose, I answered, forever not knowing what might come next.

“Oh. Hi! I am Zaya. I saw an article in your paper when I was at Harbin Springs maybe a year ago about ostriches flying. Everybody said it was a big joke — the ostriches —but then I met a lady from Las Vegas — I live in Antioch, don’t ask me why because it’s the end of the world and I don’t like it at all — but anyway, the Las Vegas lady told me there really is an ostrich park in the Panamint mountains near Las Vegas where they have ostrich races. Do you write about ostrich races in this paper?”

Probably, I said. We’re kinda eclectic.

“No, no,” Zaya said. “Real ostriches. Not electric ones.”

I don’t think Vegas ostriches fly, Zaya, But if they do, what happens, say, if they fly into the nickel slots or something? I was neck-deep in the spirit of the conversation.

“Silly you!” Zaya exclaimed, as if she’d known me for a hundred years. “How could they have ostrich races in the casinos?”

They have everything else in the casinos, I said.

“Well, they don’t have anything in Antioch, I can tell you that!” Zaya assured me. “I don’t know why I live here!”

I think you might like it in Albion or Mendocino, I suggested. No ostrich races, but plenty of people with their heads in the sand, so to speak.

“I’m very small,” Zaya explained, ignoring my little joke. “I think I’d be good at riding ostriches. I’m pretty tough, too. My dad was a lightweight boxing champ in Detroit in 1929. I can’t imagine falling off one, even if they flew up pretty high. I’d need a parachute, but I would like to try it.”

If Zaya’s father was boxing in ‘29, Zaya probably shouldn’t have been thinking about ostrich-jockying, obviously a young person’s sport. I suggested maybe Zaya ought to consider a safer pastime.

“Well,” she said, “I was thinking about going down to the Embarcadero and making walking sticks. I could sand them down and make up political rhymes while I worked and see if people will toss money in my hat.”

That’s more like it, I said.

“I want to ride an ostrich, though,” Zaya insisted. “If anybody can help me find the ostrich races, they can write to me in Antioch. Zaya Jhalsa, that’s my name. I used to be an American Sikh.”

I imagined her secure in a shell-shaped ostrich saddle, maybe in the pole position, but breaking out of the flock just before the tape, and it’s Zaya by a beak! Zaya and her ostrich in the winner’s circle, garlands of festive feathers around their victorious necks!

“Do you promise to let me know about the ostrich races?” Zaya asked, a life-time of disappointment in her voice.

Of course, I said. I might want to ride an ostrich myself some day.

FISH & GAME DECISIONS

The California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) voted unanimously this week to close in-river salmon sport fishing in the Klamath River Basin and Central Valley rivers for the second consecutive year.

As part of its annual process for adjusting seasons and bag limits, the Commission voted to:

Prohibit the take and possession of Chinook salmon in the Sacramento, American, Feather and Mokelumne rivers and their tributaries.
Prohibit the take and possession of fall-run Chinook salmon in the Klamath and Trinity rivers and their tributaries.
Adopt emergency closures of the spring Chinook salmon sport fishing seasons on the Klamath and Trinity rivers and their tributaries.

The regulations are expected to take effect no later than July 1, 2024, following approval by the state Office of Administrative Law.

The in-river closures align with the recommended closure of both commercial and recreational ocean salmon fisheries off the California coast by the Pacific Fishery Management Council due to continued low abundance. Federal fisheries managers have since enacted a full closure of ocean salmon seasons in California. California’s ocean salmon sport fishing seasons and regulations automatically conform to federal regulations unless the Commission acts otherwise.

In other action, the Commission took steps to limit the spread and impacts of chronic wasting disease (CWD) on California deer and elk herds. CWD was confirmed in two California deer for the first time earlier this month. The Commission approved additional changes to regulations governing the importation of cervids (hoofed mammals including deer, elk, moose and reindeer) into California and strengthened disease testing requirements to meet with current U.S. Department of Agriculture standards.

Lastly, the Commission approved regulation changes regarding issuing special hunt permits and drawings. The changes will allow the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to administer and offer the hunts through CDFW’s Automated License Data System (ALDS), ensuring fair and equitable distribution of available permits and reducing barriers to entry into the draw process.

Commission President Samantha Murray along with commissioners Eric Sklar, Darius Anderson and Jacque Hostler-Carmesin participated virtually in the May 15 teleconference meeting. Commission Vice President Erika Zavaleta did not attend.

The meeting agenda, along with supporting documents and background information, is available on the Commission website. Archived video of past Commission meetings is available online. The next Commission meeting is scheduled for June 19-20, 2024, in Mammoth Lakes and via Zoom and phone. An exact location will be determined and updated on the Commission’s website soon.

SHADOWS AT THE PALACE HOTEL (photos by Falcon)

MEASURE P MONEY NOT HELD UP IN ANTICIPATION OF ANTI-TAX PROPOSITION

Editor,

The May 14 AVA post “Mendo’s Latest Excuse For Not Delivering Measure P Money To Fire Departments,” and follow up article on May 15, are incorrect in some key respects.

Although it got off to a very slow start, the County has established a process for making Measure P payments and is making those payments in exactly the manner and amounts promised. To be clear the county has made available the funds to the fire depts and to the FSC. It is essentially up to date with those payments given unavoidable delays in the process (e.g., businesses submit their taxes to the State a month after the close of the quarter, the State needs to process them before the County knows what it will receive, etc). The County also appears to intend to continue to make Measure P payments as they are included in the budget for next year.

The initiative that may appear on the November ballot would severely impede the ability to fund emergency and other local services and would potentially stop the flow of Measure P funds in the future, However, there does not seem to be anything in it that would call for the rebate of previously collected funds. It is hard to imagine how that would even be possible. Instead, the relevant section reads “(q) Any tax or exempt charge adopted after January 1, 2022, but prior to the effective date of this act, that was not adopted in compliance with the requirements of this section is void 12 months after the effective date of this act unless the tax or exempt charge is reenacted in compliance with the requirements of this section.” So, the collection and distribution of Measure P funds could stop at some point 12 months after the new statewide measure, should it pass. That suggests that Fire Districts might justifiably be reluctant to commit to using their Measure P funds for purposes that require a long-term commitment, such as hiring staff. But, it does not mean that they are not getting and cannot use the funds that have been collected.

Nancy Armstrong-Frost

Board President, MCFSC

Yorkville

MARK SCARAMELLA REPLIES: That certainly sounds better than what was initially reported. I hope you are right. It’s still taking way too long for the money to be distributed. How much has the Fire Safe Council received so far? It should be more than a year’s worth since the Measure was passed in November of 2022 and kicked in the month after the Measure B money reverted to 1/8 cent. As far as I know the Anderson Valley Community Services District has only received one quarter’s worth, a year past due, and the other quarterly payments are still waiting for the County Counsel’s office to sign off on them.

NORM THURSTON: The Measure P sales tax was collected on sales in the County, for the benefit of the County. I do not think the State has any right to that money – it was acting as an agent to receive, and then disburse those taxes to the County. Another concern is, if this new measure is passed this year, can it be applied to a tax that was legally collected prior to passage? Even if it could be applied retroactively, how would you return it to the taxpayers? (Large purchases like a vehicle could feasibly be refunded). One would hope that County Counsel is already researching answers to these question. And do not forget that this is not a special purpose tax – it may legally be used for ANY purpose the County deems necessary.

ADAM GASKA: Exactly. The County has every right to fund fire departments. The County’s number one responsibility outlined in the state constitution is to provide for public safety. Generally that is interpreted as supporting law enforcement by having a sheriff’s department but can easily encompass fire protection services. Many counties, including Sonoma, financially support fire protection efforts.

Birds on Horse Back, Willits (Jeff Goll)

FROM THE MAY MENDOCINO COUNTY CEO REPORT

Auditor Controller’s Office since January 1, 2024

Recorded 888 deposit receipts into Munis totaling over $183,505,000.
Processed 165 contracts
Audited and posted over 1,460 journal entries
Audited over 1,090 accounts payable batches
Printed over 7,000 checks and processed over 330 e-payable transactions

MS Notes: No info on whether these numbers are good or bad, high or low, routine or important, relevant or irrelevant.

A READER WRITES: (RE: CEO lacks qualifications to be CEO) I agree with everything this reader says except the part about Darcie’s qualifications. Yes, her work life began as a receptionist. Most people do start at the bottom, or at least they should. Then she had kids, went back to school and earned her bachelor’s and masters degrees, and worked her way up the ranks at Adventist Health. She owned a wine bar on the side. I am not defending the job she is doing as CEO but I do respect her background.

A READER WRITES: Why? Darcie is protecting her, despite several examples of Angle’s behavior that would have gotten any other employee marched out the door. Promoting her buddy Madeline Cline at work. Asking employees to sign a “loyality oath” so Jenine Miller could get a promotion and a raise. Employees are afraid to speak out, because they fear retaliation and need the job. Right out of the Carmel Angelo’s play book. Since Antle was hand picked by Carmel and BOS approved without question, why would anyone expect anything different?

SUPERVISOR MULHEREN (facebook: mo4mendo): “In an effort to be more informative about policies and what happens at meetings I thought I’d share a little bit about what goes in to a Department Head review in Closed Session. Of course reviews are confidential personnel matters but this new process through which Board Members engage in reviews (we started that since I’ve been on the Board) offers Board members an opportunity to give more direct feedback to Department Heads. Let me know if you have questions.”

(The video associated with this facebook post is posted on tiktok and we are not signed up for tiktok. Lucky us. If another reader can access it, please advise as to its content. — Mark Scaramella)

UKIAH DOWNTOWN STREETSCAPE PROJECT CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

Major construction and detours in effect on North State Street beginning May 20.

Starting on Monday, May 20th, construction crews will begin removing the existing street between Norton and Henry Streets in preparation for repaving. Because this section of the street was made from extremely thick concrete panels, this work will be noisy, dusty, and slower than usual. For roughly the entire week, only northbound traffic will be allowed on State Street; southbound traffic will be detoured to the east (Clara to Mason to Perkins). As quickly as possible, the street will be backfilled with gravel to maintain access to driveways, but driveways will be obstructed for roughly one day when the work is in front of them. Work will begin at Norton and progress to the south. The following week, demolition of the other side will occur, and only southbound traffic will be allowed.

On the south side of the project, concrete crews are working to complete the formation of new sidewalks and driveways. Additionally, old streetlights are being removed to make room for new. Please use extra caution while driving in this area, as it will be a little darker than usual. There will be temporary impacts to some driveways, but crews will provide advance notification and mitigate impacts to the best of our ability. Demolition of this section of the street may begin as soon as the week of May 28; more details will be provided as soon as possible.

On Main Street, as part of the “Urban Core” project (www.cityofukiah.com/ucrt), replacement of the underground sewer lines from the north to the south. Beginning Monday, May 20th, work will be roughly at Clay Street, working toward Perkins Street. For the duration of the week Main Street will be closed in the construction section to through traffic.

Work on sidewalks and driveways between Mill and Gobbi continues, along with electric infrastructure and irrigation; on the north side, demolition of the west side of the street will begin at Norton Street.

Construction hours will be Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. - 6 p.m., depending on the weather.

There will be significant noise and dust association with work on the north side.

During the demolition of the street, all on-street parking will be removed. Pedestrian access to businesses will be maintained at all times. Through traffic on State Street will allowed in one direction only on the north side. Traffic signals at Gobbi/State and Mill/State and Scott/State will remain on flash.

Please drive safely around construction zones—conditions may change daily.

Shannon Riley, Deputy Ukiah City Manager

WRITERS READ AT GRACE HUDSON MUSEUM IN UKIAH. Thursday, May 30

SIERRA NEVADA WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL Daily Lineup Just Announced

Friday: Busy Signal, Ranking Joe, Stonebwoy, Blvk H3ro, Warrior Sound International, Rassarella, Dub Siren Hifi ft. Mello Banton, Out of Many One Nyabinghi, Pomo Land Acknowledgement

Saturday: Koffee, Barrington Levy, David Rodigan, Half Pint, Leroy Sibbles, Eli-Mac, Channel One Sound System, Terry Linen, Link & Chain, Bayonics, Danny Cuervo, Top Shelf

Sunday: Beres Hammond, Steel Pulse, Third World, Natu Camara, Reemah, The Tennors, Eric 'Monty' Morris, The Aggrolites, Boostive, Kingston A Go-Go, Reggae Rajahs

Plus More TBA!

CATCH OF THE DAY, Friday, May 17, 2024

ISAIAH BROWN, Ukiah. Grand theft.

CARRIE CORDOVA-DALSON, Covelo. Controlled substance, disorderly conduct-alcohol, battery on peace officer.

RAMON GARCIATA-MAYO, Ukiah. DUI, suspended license for DUI, probation violation, resisting.

RODNEY MCLAUGHLIN, Merced/Ukiah. Controlled substance, probation revocation.

DEVIN MILLER, Redwood Valley. Controlled substance, paraphernalia, resisting.

ANTHONY NEVAREZ, Redwood Valley. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

Ed Clarity’s prize-winning photo at Rockaway Beach on Aug. 24, 1958

MEMO OF THE AIR: Good Night Radio show all night tonight on KNYO!

Soft deadline to email your writing for tonight's (Friday night's) MOTA show is 6pm or so. If you can't make that, that's okay, send it whenever it's done and I'll read it on the radio next week.

Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio is every Friday, 9pm to 5am PST on 107.7fm KNYO-LP Fort Bragg and KNYO.org. The first hour of the show is simulcast on KAKX 89.3fm Mendocino.

You can always go to https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com and hear last week's MOTA show. By Saturday night I'll put up the recording of tonight's show. Also there you'll find an assortment of cultural-educational amusements to occupy you until showtime, or any time, such as:

Serenity, the 2005 Firefly movie, free to watch, with ads, just like teevee used to be, but with the (Chinese-ish) swears left in, such as "gorrammit" and "xióngmāo niào". Also this print of the film is quite dark, and the sound mix is different from the way I remember it. Oh, well. (120 min.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPXS9UtDmyQ

"You know what's the best part of Sodom? The sodomy. You guys are in for a treat." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3junvVC9xYk

And Nimble, the super dog. It's like the announcer is excited enough to practically throw up from the excitement. And you can see why. This is way better than the other sports where announcers sound like that. Though imagine it with close-miked whispering golf announcers. That would also work. https://misscellania.blogspot.com/2024/05/go-dog-go.html

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

NO SURPRISE

Editor:

Well, of course the California Public Utilities Commission approved a flat-free rate structure for electricity. No one is surprised. But, once again, just to make the decision particularly galling, one of the yammering class, speaking to the policy, is quoted as saying “and wealthy people with rooftop solar hate it.”

That is baloney. In our 1975-built neighborhood, at least one-third of the homes have installed rooftop solar over the past 20 years. These homeowners are schoolteachers, firefighters, office workers, carpenters, retail store employees and others who under no circumstances could be identified as wealthy.

We stood up and long-term financed these systems ourselves with the prospect of affordable electric energy, locally and cleanly produced, long into the future. We are a source of clean, cheap electricity that reduces the need for expensive, dirty fossil-fuel-produced electricity, making electricity cheaper for everyone. But only if the CPUC had kept their fists out of the piggy bank.

The CPUC continues to carry the bucket for PG&E and Southern California Edison with apparently no regard whatsoever for California’s long-term energy future. Utility shareholders’ profit continues to be the only controlling metric. Everything else is just window dressing.

Rod Williams

Petaluma

EVACUATION EXERCISE PLANNED FOR CLOVERDALE

Sonoma County is coordinating a planned evacuation exercise in the community, followed by an earthquake and fire safety expo

by Amie Windsor

An evacuation exercise is planned Sunday for Cloverdale residents who live in Clover Springs, Palomino Lakes and Highland Ranch. The exercise, slated between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., is a chance for residents to get familiar with designated evacuation zones and routes.

“This is a great opportunity to ensure you’re ready and equipped for the next emergency by practicing the necessary steps for a real evacuation when every minute counts,” said Fourth District Sonoma County Supervisor James Gore, who represents the Cloverdale area.

Residents who live in the designated areas are encouraged to register for the May 19 event at SoCoTest.org. Residents won’t know when to evacuate unless they register at SoCoTest or are connected with the county’s emergency alert system, SoCoAlert, the county said. Those who are registered will receive an alert at the start of the exercise. Sirens will also be audible throughout the area to alert residents of the practice evacuation. Upon receiving the alert and hearing the sirens, residents are to evacuate to the Cloverdale Citrus Fairgrounds auditorium.

“If you haven’t already, please sign up for SoCoAlert to receive critical notifications and familiarize yourself with your evacuation zone so you’re ready to go when a real evacuation is issued,” Gore said.

Emergency partners, including the Cloverdale Police Department, Cloverdale Ambulance, Northern Sonoma County Fire Protection District, California Highway Patrol and the American Red Cross, will be at the fairgrounds for residents who participate in the exercise to answer questions about emergency preparedness.

Although this is a drill, the county says residents do not need to bring their pets or animals with them to the fairgrounds.

The last time Cloverdale evacuated was during the 2019 Kincade Fire. That evacuation affected 200,000 people countywide and was the largest evacuation in county history.

“Fire could break out anywhere,” said Matt Brown, public information officer with Sonoma County. “We want residents to practice and flex their muscles and get to know what the hi-lo sirens sound like.”

Brown also stressed the importance of knowing your evacuation zone.

“Know what zone you live in so you can act fast and act accordingly,” Brown said.

Fire and Earthquake Safety Expo to Follow

After the exercise, those who participated in the event are invited to attend a safety expo, also held at the Cloverdale Citrus Fairgrounds. The Fire and Earthquake Safe Expo is open to the greater Sonoma County community and includes free giveaways, fun and educational events for the entire family.

The expo includes more than 75 exhibits, plus and live demonstrations from first responders, including Henry 1 and Sonoma County 1 helicopters.

“This is a chance to hang out with your neighbors and community and gather information and items you might need for future emergencies,” Brown said.

(Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT RESIGNS FOLLOWING ISRAEL BOYCOTT DEBACLE

by Nanette Asimov

Sonoma State University President Ming-Tung “Mike” Lee stepped down Friday, one day after California State University officials placed him on leave for unilaterally announcing that the campus would sever academic and financial ties with Israel.

Lee had negotiated with Students for Justice in Palestine to persuade them to remove tents they set up on Sonoma State’s campus in Rohnert Park. The deal they reached included a promise to review the university’s investments and seek “ethical alternatives” if needed — but also an unprecedented academic boycott of Israel.

CSU Chancellor Mildred Garcia labeled Lee’s action “insubordination” on Thursday and quickly named an acting president. On Friday, Garcia announced that Lee “has informed me of his decision to retire.”

Lee had been in the president’s role for less than two years, following a 28-year career as an administrator and business professor at Sacramento State. He came out of retirement in 2022 to take over at Sonoma State when former President Judy Sakaki resigned amid sexual harassment and retaliation allegations.

But after announcing an agreement Tuesday that was celebrated by pro-Palestinian student protesters because it singled out Israel — and included a promise to elevate the activists to advisors who would hold administrators accountable for complying with the boycott of the Jewish state — Lee encountered swift backlash from Jewish leaders, including state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco.

“Yesterday the President of Sonoma State University aligned the campus with BDS (the boycott, divest and sanction) movement whose goal is the destruction of Israel, home to (7 million) Jews,” Wiener posted Wednesday on social media.

He and Assembly Member Jesse Gabriel, D-Encino (Los Angeles County), co-chairs of the state Legislature’s Jewish Caucus, thanked Garcia on Thursday for addressing the issue quickly, and said that the state-funded university’s “endorsement of an academic boycott was totally unacceptable.”

The accord struck by Lee’s administration went beyond those reached with protesters at San Francisco State and Sacramento State, which focused not on any one nation, but on examining financial ties with companies or regions of the world that violate human rights.

“Our role as educators is to support and uplift all members of the California State University,” Garcia said Thursday in her statement announcing the disciplinary action. “The heart and mission of the CSU is to create an inclusive and welcoming place for everyone we serve, not to marginalize one community over another.”

The Sonoma president’s action also caught the attention of House Republicans who are targeting university leaders for any perceived inattention to campus antisemitism.

“Any university president who caters to a lawless mob must be removed immediately,” Rep. Kevin Kiley said on Thursday after Lee was sidelined.

Right wing politicians have labeled the antiwar protesters “antisemitic radicals” and declared the protests sweeping the nation to be “antisemitic college chaos.” They have been calling university leaders to defend themselves in tense, McCarthyesque Congressional hearings. Next up are the heads of UCLA, Rutgers and Northwestern. Two college presidents, Liz Magill of the University of Pennsylvania and Claudine Gay of Harvard, resigned this winter in the wake of Congressional hearings.

Columbia’s president, Nemat Shafik, initiated a crackdown on campus protesters after her hearing in April, prompting a wave of student encampments this spring — including the one at Sonoma State.

Lee publicly apologized on Wednesday evening and said he acted without the approval of Garcia or other CSU leaders.

Both Lee’s apology and his original announcement had been available on the Sonoma State website Thursday but were gone by Friday.

Garcia issued no update on the status of the agreement with the student protesters.

(SF Chronicle)

S.F. HOMELESSNESS RISES DESPITE CITY SPENDING HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, NEW COUNT SHOWS

by Maggie Angst

Despite a massive increase in homelessness funding, San Francisco saw a 7% surge in its unhoused population over the past two years, reversing the gains shown in its last count, according to preliminary data from a one-night snapshot released Thursday.

The city counted 8,328 unhoused people across the city, which was up from 7,754 in 2022. Unsheltered homelessness, which includes people living in tents, on sidewalks and in vehicles, dipped 1%, according to city estimates.

City officials said the number of people living in tents or structures, or on the city’s sidewalks and public spaces, dropped by 13% to 2,913 — “the lowest street homelessness level in 10 years.” Meanwhile, people sleeping in vehicles spiked 37%, from 1,049 to 1,442.

There were 437 homelessness families tallied across the city, marking an alarming 94% jump since 2022.

The data highlights the daunting challenge of tackling the crisis in an expensive city amid a lack of affordable housing, a surge in migrant families and a fentanyl crisis.

“We are working every day to move people off our streets and into shelter, housing, and care,” Mayor London Breed said in a statement. “Our City workforce is dedicated to making a difference, and we will keep working to get tents off our streets, bring people indoors, and change the conditions in our neighborhoods.”

The overall rise in the city’s homeless population comes two years after San Francisco was one of the few California cities to report a decline. From 2019 to 2022, the city saw a 3.5% overall drop in its homeless population and a 15% drop in unsheltered homelessness — those sleeping on the sidewalks, in tents or in vehicles.

The results present a challenge for Breed, who faces a difficult reelection fight and is working to prove that the city’s most vexing problems are improving under her leadership. Last week her campaign touted city data indicating that the number of homeless tents across the city hit a five-year low in late April.

Breed’s administration touted Thursday that San Francisco has expanded shelter capacity by more than 60% since 2018 and helped more than 15,000 people exit homelessness through various housing assistance programs. But such investments still fell short of addressing the problem. For every person who exits homelessness in San Francisco, the city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing estimates that three more become homeless.

Ryan Young, a 31-year-old fentanyl user, said he spent the past two years sleeping between a tent pitched on San Francisco’s Division Street near the Interstate 80 freeway overpass and his mom’s home. Young is not ready to move into a shelter or seek treatment for his drug addiction, he said, though he’s “getting to that point.”

“The day-to-day life of being on the street, trying to make ends meet and support a habit while getting moved all the time — it’s a lot,” he said. “It’s about time to find something more permanent.”

Although the city “does try to help a lot,” Young said he and some others living on the streets prefer the freedom.

City officials have said homeless people like Young, who are resistant to services, are some of the most difficult to help. Many are chronically homeless — defined as those with a disability who have been homeless continuously at least one year or for 12 months over the course of three years. The number of chronically homeless in San Francisco increased by 9% over the past two years, according to the city’s data.

The uptick in the chronically homeless and homelessness overall came after a jump in funding from $284 million in the 2018-19 fiscal year to $676 million in 2022-23, according to a recent city audit. Much of that cash infusion is thanks to a November 2018 voter-approved business tax that has produced hundreds of millions of dollars over the past two years for new housing units, rental subsidies and mental health services.

Shireen McSpadden, director of the homelessness department, said in a news release that it is “crucial that we continue to invest in the city’s homelessness response system.”

A recent city audit criticized the homelessness department for failing to properly track its spending and hold nonprofit contractors to performance metrics.

Solinna Ven, organizing director of the nonprofit advocacy organization Coalition on Homelessness, said in a statement that San Francisco’s count “reflects a harsh reality” that the city’s investments are unable to keep up with the “systemic reality of rising rents and stagnant income.”

The new data released Thursday reflects a point-in-time count where outreach workers set out across the city one night in late January to estimate the number of unhoused people residing in the city. San Francisco’s tally was part of a nationwide effort undertaken every two years to measure homelessness and determine funding priorities at the federal, state and local levels.

Alameda County released its results Wednesday, reporting that the number of unhoused people in Oakland rose 9% over the past two years amid a 3% dip countywide. Both Alameda County and Oakland’s percentage changes were improvements compared with the counts two years ago. More Bay Area counties will release results in the coming week.

In San Francisco, Andrew Hamilton, 36, who’s been homeless for a year, spent months sleeping in a makeshift structure on Minna Street in SoMa, but he recently moved into a silver Toyota Prius that his friend gave him after his structure got dismantled.

“This Frankenstein Prius right here — it’s 10 times better than a tent,” Hamilton said, pointing to the car, parts of which were held together with duct tape and bungee cords. “You can lock the doors, be inside and get some privacy.”

The count found nearly 400 more unhoused people living out of vehicles, like Hamilton, compared with 2022.

This rise in vehicular homelessness was driven, in part, by an increase in family homelessness, in particular new immigrants. The city counted roughly 128 families who were living out of vehicles.

The city pledged in 2017 to eliminate homelessness among families, but the problem has only ballooned.

To afford a one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco, a person or family needs to earn $51.25 per hour — or the equivalent of more than three minimum wage jobs.

Breed’s administration took heat at an April hearing where families experiencing homelessness and their advocates accused officials of failing to act quickly enough to address the crisis.

The mayor on Tuesday announced a $50 million proposal to address the surge in family homelessness through a mix of rent subsidies and vouchers to pay for emergency shelter in hotel rooms. The portion of the homelessness department’s budget dedicated to family homelessness dropped from 12% to 11% from fiscal year 2023-24 to 2024-25, according to an April presentation from the agency.

Advocates and researchers contend that the point-in-time count doesn’t accurately reflect a city or county’s homeless population. Family service providers in San Francisco, for instance, argued that the 205 unhoused families tallied in 2022 was a gross undercount. To paint a more accurate picture, providers worked with city officials this year to call families who sought homeless resources from the city and check their housing status.

In contrast to the overall one-night count, San Francisco officials said more than 22,000 people were entered into the city’s homeless response system since the last one-night count in 2022.

(SF Chronicle)

THIS TRIP FROM LOS ANGELES TO SAN FRANCISCO TAKES 38 HOURS, BUT IT'S WORTH IT

by Jeong Park

I’ve grown tired of slapping myself repeatedly to stay awake as I drive on the monotonous Interstate 5 from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

With just weeks before I said goodbye to California for a new job out of state, I decided to reinvent how to travel the busy corridor by embarking on a 13-ride, 38-hour journey between the two cities — using only municipal and regional buses or trains.

The journey started at 7:13 a.m. on Thursday in Los Angeles’ Union Station and ended at 8:59 p.m. the following day at San Francisco’s 4th and King Caltrain Station. The rides combined cost a total of $49.80 one way (excluding a one-night stay in Paso Robles, which ran me $118.97 at Adelaide Inn).

Along the way, I got to see California with fresh eyes, from breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean to towns I would have never stepped foot inside if it weren’t for this journey. (Shout out to King City, where I had one of the best burritos I’ve ever eaten at Tacos La Potranca De Jalisco.)

Starting from Union Station, I took a commuter train to Ventura, where I transferred to a Ventura Transit 80 bus bound for Santa Barbara. Five more buses later — through Goleta, Santa Maria and San Luis Obispo — I reached Paso Robles at the end of my first day. A series of rides through King City, Salinas, Watsonville and Santa Cruz eventually took me to the Bay Area through San Jose Diridon Station, where I took Caltrain to arrive in downtown San Francisco.

It’s a Rube Goldberg-esque journey, but as anyone living in California can attest, travelers are sometimes willing to think outside the box to skip slogging up the interstate.

Do your homework

Confession: I made this journey nearly on a whim, because when you are in between jobs, you can do such a thing.

Still, pulling off this trip required me to spend a few hours sifting through the schedules of nine different public transit agencies and downloading five apps on my phone to pay the fares.

Some transit systems allow you to tap your credit or debit card or your phone, but not all of them do. The contactless readers sometimes don’t work either, as I found out in my ride from Santa Barbara to Goleta, so carrying some dollar bills is highly advisable.

Savor the layover

On my transfer in Ventura, I passed by the Tortilla Flats mural on Figueroa Street under Highway 101, telling the story of diverse communities from the Chumash to Black Venturans who called the area home before the freeway displaced them in the 1950s.

I’d driven on that highway dozens of times. But I had never realized the history of the neighborhood — the so-called “Salad Bowl Curve” due to trucks spilling produce in front of the city jail, and the “River Rats,” referring to people who would fish along a river — until I walked past the mural.

It’s a moment like this that reminded me why I made this journey, despite the impracticality of it all.

Build some leeway and take a break

Near the end of my first day, San Luis Obispo Regional Transit Authority’s bus for Route 10 rolled right into the downtown San Luis Obispo farmers market, held every Thursday. Right as I got off the bus, two Cal Poly football players were getting ready for a barbecue-eating contest, scarfing down a couple of pounds of brisket and fries.

I hadn’t planned to check out the event, as I had one more bus ride to catch for Paso Robles, the trip’s sole overnight stop. The last bus for the day was in an hour, which afforded me enough time to enjoy a fantastic plate of tri-tip at Old San Luis BBQ and ice cream from Harmony Valley Creamery.

The next day, I had an hour layover in Watsonville, which let me check out the farmers market there as well, held every Friday afternoon. I was awestruck by a series of murals throughout the city’s downtown, which reminded visitors like me of the Watsonville farmworkers and their resilience.

Sure, you can technically thread those transfer periods to cut your travel time by an hour or two, but you’re already on a two-day journey, so what’s an extra hour or two really going to do? I planned in terms of experience, not speed.

Go in the summer, if you can

The best view on the journey for me came really early into the trip. I was on Ventura County Transportation Commission’s Coastal Express along U.S. 101 from Ventura to Santa Barbara. Sitting on the left side of the bus gave me a full and clear view of the Pacific Ocean, without having to worry about driving and staying in my lane.

I traveled in March, and this coastal leg had me wishing I had gone in the summer when the days are longer.

There were plenty of interesting sights along the way as buses rolled through hills and meadows. But I missed out on another great opportunity to see the Pacific Ocean along Pismo Beach because the sun had already set when my San Luis Obispo Regional Transit Authority bus rolled in.

I also wish I could have seen the Santa Cruz Mountains as the Santa Cruz Metro Highway 17 Express rolled down to San Jose Diridon Station.

One more benefit? If you time it right in the summer, you can land at San Francisco’s 4th and King Caltrain Station just as the Giants take the field nearby at Oracle Field. Try to time your trip, because when I arrived in San Francisco at 9 p.m. in March, the neighborhood felt like a ghost town.

Because nearly everything was closed nearby, I ended up catching a pretty anticlimactic Muni train ride to Union Square, where I “celebrated” my journey with a $30 bowl of ramen in Lower Nob Hill. The ramen was good, but I wish I had something better (like getting to taunt the Giants fans after their loss).

One more thing: Think twice about attempting to do this trip both ways in one go. I flew from San Francisco International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport the next day, and my back and butt thanked me afterward.

Take your eyes (and ears) off the phone

I often checked my phone during the 38-hour journey — especially in near-empty buses along the farmlands of Soledad since there isn’t a ton to see.

Still, the moments when I took my attention off the phone made this journey memorable, like seeing a grandpa hugging a college student who allowed him to swap seats or hearing another student yell at someone during a boisterous phone call.

And then there were whimsical moments, like a parking sign in Paso Robles where a cowboy with a gun directs customers to “eat more Subway.” The threat didn’t work, as I woke up late and had to pretty much skip breakfast to catch the next bus to King City.

The journey is highly impractical compared with flying between the cities in just over an hour or barreling down the interstate for half a day. However, the unexpected moments I saw and pit stops along the way made this well worth the 38 hours I spent canvassing California in the back of buses and trains.

JOE PYNE WAS A FAMOUS RADIO AND TELEVISION HOST OF THE 1950S AND 1960S.

Pyne enjoyed insulting and embarrassing those who didn't share his thought.

His victims were usually hippies, pacifists and feminists.

One day he had the bad idea of interviewing Frank Zappa, also a conservative and an enemy of drugs, but decidedly more eccentric and broader minded.

Pyne, who had a wooden leg, didn't take long to point out his disdain by telling Zappa: “So, Frank, you have long hair. Does that make you a woman?”

Frank, calmly, replied: “So, Joe, you have a wooden leg. Does that make you a table?”

ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

It should be clear to everyone with a triple digit IQ that the time for talk is over. The time for voting (i.e. the ballot box) has been over for years. And, the time for the jury box is over (Ask Trump or the J6 people).

Does anyone know what time it is?

BAR STOOLS

We are often asked when & why bar stools became Popular in America. Prior to National Prohibition, Bar Stools were almost unheard of. Men stood & drank at the Bar & occasionally shifted their weight by resting their feet on the "Brass Rail" at the foot of the Bar, Women…(Outside of Employees)…. were not usually welcome or allowed in Saloons, Bars or Taverns & if they were, they had to use a "Ladies Entrance & were consigned to tables in their own room, away from the Main Bar. Prohibition Changed All That. It was the Great Equalizer. Women were welcome on an Equal Basis in "Speakeasies" throughout the Land & Bar Stools were provided for their ease & comfort. Bar Stools became standard after Prohibition.

JOURNALISTS SEEKING TRUTH MAY NOT SEEM NEUTRAL. THAT’S OK IN TODAY’S POLITICAL CLIMATE

by Marisa Lagos

My ability to be neutral as a political journalist depends on the intellectual honesty of the people — and the society — I cover.

But in an era when one side of the political spectrum is not always operating in good faith, and when people in my position are increasingly losing the trust of the audiences we serve, I don’t think neutrality should be the final goal. Instead, perhaps, we should think about neutrality more as a means to an end: uncovering the truth, without fear or favor and presenting that truth to the public.

The dictionary defines being neutral as “not aligned with or supporting any side or position in a controversy.” There are certainly aspects of my job where this is core to the work, such as in reporting, where being neutral means asking open-ended questions and dispassionately following facts, wherever they may lead.

Take criminal justice policy, one of the most challenging beats that I have ever covered. When I began reporting on the topic 15 years ago, California was grappling with prisons so crowded that, eventually, the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in and ordered the state to reduce the population.

This record incarceration was the result of a “tough on crime” movement that correlated safety with long prison sentences. But that correlation wasn’t borne out by the facts: People were receiving decades-long sentences for drug possession or property crimes, taking state funding away from schools and other core state services. California also had a very high recidivism rate, meaning most people who were released from prison would quickly return — but it often wasn’t for a new violent crime, but rather for a simple violation of their parole rules.

I felt it was crucial to tell this story from all angles — and not just from the perspective of crime victims or law enforcement, who had dominated the discussion during the “tough on crime” era. I wanted to capture the points of view of the people who were incarcerated and their families, and the communities that were impacted by the crimes and the punishment meted out. I tried to center my reporting not just on anecdotes but on data and research — even if that research did not comport with widely accepted assumptions and beliefs.

It was not always popular to do so, even with my editors, who were used to relying on conventional sources and well-worn narratives. Now, a decade or so into the reforms sparked by the prison overcrowding crisis — and as we face new challenges around property crimes and drug use — I am digging back into this issue to assess whether the reforms worked or if they are to blame for the problems so evident in California.

I don’t yet know what I will find. But I do know that my job is to report it, no matter who likes or dislikes the findings.

Eventually, I’ll come to the point in my work when I have to leave neutrality behind and seek objectivity. Once I have answered the questions that I set out to ask, I have to make a call about what I found.

That doesn’t mean taking a side in the political sense. It means taking the side of the truth.

This can be a challenge. It’s particularly hard when you are interviewing someone on live TV or radio, where you must push back against falsehoods in real-time. Recently, U.S. Senate candidate Eric Early, someone who believes that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, was on my radio show.

Early’s stance on the 2020 election is not an intellectually honest argument to make, even if many Americans agree with it: The facts don’t bear out. So, when I am in the studio with Early in that moment, it’s not my job to stay “neutral” and simply listen. It’s my job to question, to push back — and, yes, call out the lies when they are uttered. It doesn’t have to be confrontational or uncivil, but it is key to doing my job responsibly.

This is where objectivity becomes key — the ability to set aside personal feelings or opinions and look at the facts, then make a judgment based on that information. Neutrality alone — the idea of not aligning yourself with one side — doesn’t cut it when you’re faced with someone who is lying, obfuscating or being intellectually dishonest, even if they believe what they’re saying. But it’s also a mistake to see objectivity in this kind of situation as taking a side, other than the side of the truth.

Because the role of a journalist is to seek, uncover and deliver the truth. Without fear or favor. Without my own beliefs getting in the way. Even if, in this moment, it is harder than ever.

UNITED STATES BECOMING A FAILED STATE?

by John Arteaga

Is the United States becoming a failed state? The performance of our elected officials now, in the MAGA era, certainly seems to indicate that it is; while the world is filled with urgent business that we should be conducting to deal with existential problems like climate change, nuclear holocaust and the survival of our country as a democracy, instead we find ourselves endlessly fighting rearguard actions to preserve rights that most of us have assumed were our birthright as Americans from being stripped away by a well organized religious zealot minority who believe that their God has empowered them to shove their dogma down the rest of our throats!

Unfortunately, due to the villainy of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stealing a Supreme Court appointment that rightfully belonged to Barack Obama, we are now condemned to live with the disastrous far-right ultra religiously dogmatic Catholic supermajority on the highest court in the land. These fools, who represent only a small minority of Americans, are unfortunately in a position to render their uptight, sanctimonious ‘morality’ into laws that will apply to all of us, whether or not we subscribe to their bizarre beliefs.

What could be more central to the long-term survival of humans as a species, living in somewhat civilized political circumstances than population control? I remember, as a child, when I first heard about the terrible famine in Ethiopia, that it was obviously humanity’s gigantic open question as to whether those of us who happened to live in more temperate and productive food producing areas would send massive amounts of food relief aid to wherever it was needed in the world. And what if those starving masses wish to continue a cultural norm of excessive reproduction?

It was long before I had heard about Rev. Malthus and his theories about human reproduction ever pushing the limits of the food supply, until the deus ex machina of war, famine, etc. imposes limits. Such an unnecessarily harsh and violent limiting factor compared to what it would be if society as a whole took steps to manage population growth by less draconian means.

What a blessing from the gods, it seemed to me, even at a young, way pre-sexual age, to have the incredible blessing of The Pill! What an incredible liberation for humanity! That people can enjoy the pleasures of sex without creating a global surfeit of offspring!

I would laugh if it were not so serious about the bizarre Supreme Court we are all forced to suffer under until one or more of these zealots on the court either dies (please God) or is impeached for their serial lying to Congress before their appointments. Having mouthed all the right lies about Roe V Wade being ‘settled law’, they failed to inform their interlocutors about the fact that once they were in their lifetime positions they were ready to pitch that ‘stare decisis’ over the side to make room for their sickening Dobbs decision, overturning Roe V Wade. This absolute outrage of tyranny by one small faction ruling over the rest of us is right now creating dire consequences across the land. Troubled pregnancies are not rare, and very often need to have a failed fetus removed from the mother’s womb, both for the life of the mother and the cost of her future fertility. A nauseating clown show is unfolding across the fruited plain, with each right wing Republican state trying to outdo each other with draconian ‘pro-life’ nonsense laws, resulting in good faith gynecologists closing their practices and leaving those states. Can you blame them? Who wants to risk being thrown in prison for 10 years for helping a woman get rid of a failed pregnancy? And what will happen to all those women once there are no more gynecologists?

It has also affected in a large way colleges in a lot of these nutcase states. Who wants to go to college where if you happen to get an accidental pregnancy you’re treated like a criminal?

And don’t think that this out-of-control Supreme Court is done with denying women access to reproductive care; next they are already talking about going after contraceptives! And while they’re at it, interracial marriage, which, perhaps the most mentally deranged justice on the court, Thomas, would no doubt vote to ban even though his wife is white! Talk about a sick puppy!

I would just like to see the Supreme Court go on the record that they think that sex is dirty and awful and no one should engage in it except for reproduction. Would that even wake people up? Hopefully they might discover that sex is an amazingly popular thing! Perhaps one that they might consider spending more time doing with their partners and less time doing to us!

And now the Supreme Court, in the unkindest cut of all, seems to be slow walking the case of this lifetime career white-collar criminal, tax cheat, con artist, sexual assaulter, rapist, incontinent, orange Jesus, perhaps until after the next presidential election! Apparently, they want to ‘hear his arguments‘ for the bizarre claim that he should be forever immune from, say, ordering Seal Team 6 to assassinate his political rival or stage a violent coup! Really!?

As a surprisingly solid witness, Stormy Daniels, said; time to flush the orange turd down the toilet!

(For this and previous columns, go to https://inarationalworld2.blogspot.com/2024/05/why-we-cant-have-nice-things.html)

FOLLOW THE MISSILES

by Jeffrey St. Clair

The US has long been Israel’s largest arms merchant. For the last four years, the US has supplied Israel with 69% of its imported weapons, from F-35s to chemical munitions (white phosphorous), tank shells to precision bombs. Despite this, the Biden administration claims not to know how these weapons are put to use, even when they maim and kill American citizens.

Since the start of the latest war on Gaza, the US has had both defense department and CIA officials in Israel helping the Israelis with intelligence, logistics, targeting and bomb damage assessment. Still, the Biden administration claims not to have any hard evidence that the weapons it has transferred to Israel have been used to slaughter civilians, torture detainees or restrict the flow of humanitarian aid to starving, dehydrated and sick Palestinian civilians.

Under pressure from Bernie Sanders, Chris Van Hollen, Jeff Merkeley and other congressional Democrats, in February, President issued National Security Memorandum 20 (NSM-20, or “National Security Memorandum on Safeguards and Accountability With Respect to Transferred Defense Articles and Defense Services”), which directed the State Department to “obtain certain credible and reliable written assurances from foreign governments receiving [U.S.] defense articles and, as appropriate, defense services” that they will abide by U.S. and international law. NSM-20 also requires the Departments of State and Defense to report to Congress within 90 days on the extent to which such partners are abiding by their assurances. “assessment of any credible reports or allegations that defense articles and, as appropriate, defense services, have been used in a manner not consistent with international law, including international humanitarian law.” The NSM-20 report also required the Biden administration to assess whether Israel has fully cooperated with United States Government-supported and international efforts to provide humanitarian assistance in the area of conflict. They missed the 90-day mark by two days, likely to push the release of the report to late on a Friday afternoon, a traditional dead zone for news you’d like to bury.

Since October 7, the Biden administration has approved more than 100 Foreign Military Sales arms transfers to Israel. Two of the shipments used an emergency authority to circumvent Congressional review. The surge of weapons transfers to Israel began in early October and so much material was being shipped that the Pentagon had a difficult time finding enough cargo aircraft to deliver them. While the Pentagon regularly details weapons sent to Ukraine, it has only issued two updates on the kind and amount of weapons sent to Israel. But those two reports, both issued in December, suggest that the weapons included artillery shells, tank rounds, air defense systems, precision-guided munitions, small arms, Hellfire missiles used by drones, 30-mm cannon shells, PVS-14 night vision devices and disposable (though probably not biodegradable) shoulder-fired rockets. In late October, one sale to Israel including $320 million worth of JDAM kits for converting unguided “dumb” bombs into GPS-guided munitions. This was in addition to a previous sales of $403 million worth of the same guidance systems. From October 7 to Dec. 29 alone, US weapons shipments to Israel included 52,229 M795 155-millimeter artillery shells, 30,000 M4 propelling charges for howitzers, 4,792 M107 155-mm artillery shells and 13,981 M830A1 120-mm tank rounds.

For years, the US has maintained a covert military stockpile of weapons in Israel for use in US operations throughout the Middle East. In an extraordinary move, the Biden administration gave the IDF access to these munitions, including the 2,000-pound bombs that have been used to destroy Gaza’s cities. The United States has reportedly transferred at least 5,000 2,000-pound “dumb bombs” to Israel since October 7.

These weapons transfers and sales are largely made under a 2016 deal made by the Obama administration which committed the United States to giving Israel at least $38 billion in weapons over 10 years. In March, when the official death toll in Gaza had already topped 30,000, the State Department authorized the transfer of 25 F-35A fighter jets and engines worth roughly $2.5 billion. This deal was quickly followed in April with Biden giving his assent for the sale of 50 F-15 fighters to Israel at a total retail price of $18 billion. Later in April, In April, Biden signed an aid package that will send Israel an additional $15 billion in military aid.

None of the transfers were accompanied by conditions on how the weapons could be used. Indeed, Biden’s National Security Council spokesman John Kirby repeatedly said the White House had imposed “no red lines” for Israel’s offensives in Gaza and southern Lebanon. According to an analysis by the Washington Post, the IDF dropped over 22,000 munitions on Gaza during the first 45 days of the war alone that were manufactured in the US.

The Biden administration had boxed itself in because the “red lines” were already on the books. And it wasn’t just international law, which the Biden Administration routinely shows only contempt for when it applies to the US and its allies, that prohibits weapons sales to countries that violate humanitarian law but several US laws, as well as Biden’s own internal executive policies.

U.S. law, regulations, and its Conventional Arms Transfer policy require withholding military assistance when our weapons transfers are used contrary to international humanitarian law, including:

The “Leahy law” (22 U.S. Code § 2378d) requires an automatic cutoff of U.S. security assistance to foreign military units credibly implicated in gross violations of human rights.
Section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act bans the United States from providing security assistance to any government that engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of human rights.
Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act “… prohibits the United States from providing security assistance or arms sales to any country when the President is made aware that the government ‘prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance.”
The Biden administration’s Conventional Arms Transfer (CAT) policy, issued in 2023, stipulates that the United States will not transfer weapons when it is “more likely than not” that those weapons will be used to commit, facilitate the commission of, or aggravate the risk of serious violations of international human rights or humanitarian law, among other specified violations.
In 2022, the Biden Administration, along with more than 80 other nations, signed a joint statement on Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (EWIPA), which declared the signatories “strongly condemn[s] any attacks directed against civilians, other protected persons and civilian objects, including civilian evacuation convoys, as well as indiscriminate shelling and the indiscriminate use of explosive weapons,” which are incompatible with international humanitarian law.

So how would Biden squirm out of this dilemma?

While the U.S. State Department cagily admitted that it was “reasonable to assess” that Israel used U.S.-supplied weapons in instances which it said might be “inconsistent” with international humanitarian law obligations and the February 2024 U.S. national security memorandum, which requires foreign governments to guarantee they will not violate human rights with weapons purchased from the U.S, it concluded that it didn’t have any hard evidence this was the case. More laughably, the State Department report said it accepted as “credible and reliable” Israel’s assurances that it would use U.S. weapons in accordance with the law given the lack of complete information to verify that U.S. weapons were definitely used in specific cases. The administration also did not find that Israel had intentionally obstructed humanitarian aid into Gaza, at least during not the week the report was being released, which seems to be pretty much all they considered.

While the NSM-20 directed the State Department to investigate “any credible reports or allegations” of the possible misuse of US weaponry by the Israeli government, Blinken’s team addressed only 10 incidents and those superficially. When it came to addressing whether Israel had implemented “best practices” to limit civilian harm during its military operations in densely populated urban areas, Blinken’s report failed to identify and examine any specific cases, simply citing the anodyne conclusion of the US Intelligence Community that Israel “could do more” to prevent civilian casualties.

According to the Huffington Post’s Akbar Shahid Ahmed, two top Biden aides, Jack Loew (Ambassador to Israel) and David Satterfield (Humanitarian envoy to Gaza), play decisive roles in watering down the report’s criticisms of Israel, especially in restricting the flow of aid to Gaza. One State Department official to Amar: “It was Satterfield’s job to cover for Israel.”

The evidence for Israel’s mass slaughter of civilians, bombing of non-military targets and civilian infrastructure, killing of aid workers and medical personnel, and the delay, obstruction and restriction on humanitarian aid is overwhelming and has been meticulously documented since October by the UN, as well as human rights and humanitarian organizations, including Amnesty International, Oxfam and Human Rights Watch. If the State Department couldn’t get the CIA and Pentagon’s own assessments, they could have consulted and evaluated the reports prepared by these organizations. But, as Chris Van Hollen noted, “these independent reports underscore a concerning trend: the Administration cites the important work of these organizations when it suits their purposes but ignores them when it does not.”

So let’s review the record by simply following the flight of the missiles, shall we?

On October 7, the day of the Hamas attacks, Israel cut off the electricity that it supplies to Gaza, the main source of power in the Strip. The power remained cut off until at least through March.

On October 7, 2023, Nidal al-Waheidi and Haitham Abdelwahed, Palestinian journalists from Gaza, were detained by the IDF while reporting on the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel. More than seven months later, Israeli authorities have still refused to disclose their whereabouts or the legal grounds and reasons for their arrest.

In October, Israel used U.S.-made Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) in two deadly strikes on Palestinian homes in the occupied Gaza Strip that killed 43 civilians–19 children, 14 women and 10 men.

On 9 October, an Israel Defense Forces air strike on Jabalia refugee camp destroyed several multi-story buildings, killing at least 39 people. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (UN OHCHR) found no specific military objective and no reports of warnings before the attack.

On 9 October 2023, Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant announced a “complete siege” of Gaza: “We are imposing a complete siege on [Gaza]. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel – everything is closed. We are fighting human animals, and we act accordingly.” The siege policy was reaffirmed on 18 October 2023 by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who declared that “we will not allow humanitarian assistance in the form of food and medicines from our territory to the Gaza Strip.” For the next 12 days, Israel closed all of Gaza’s access points and repeatedly bombed the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. The complete siege imposes collective punishment on all residents of Gaza and violates Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act.

On 10 October, an IDF airstrike demolished a building in the Sheikh Radwan district of Gaza City, killing at least 40 civilians. According to Amnesty International, a Hamas member had been living on one of the floors of the building, but he was not present at the time of the bombing. That same day, an IDF airstrike on a home in Deir al-Balah killed 21 members of the al-Najjar family as well as three neighbors. Amnesty International’s investigation found evidence that a 2,000-pound bomb equipped with a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) with a guidance kit was used in the lethal strike. There was no evidence of any legitimate military targets in the area.

On October 11, the only power plant in Gaza ran out of fuel reserves, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel to the Strip.

On October 13 an Israeli tank attack in southern Lebanon, killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah, severely wounded AFP photographer Christina Assi, and injured five other reporters. including a US citizen. According to a Human Rights Watch investigation, the firing from the Israeli was “apparently a deliberate attack on civilians, which is a war crime.”

On October 16 Israeli forces US-made white phosphorus in an attack on Dhayra southern Lebanon by Israeli forces, in a manner inconsistent with international humanitarian law, that injured at least nine civilians and damaged civilian buildings. Lebanon’s Ministry of Environment has said that at least 6.82 square kilometers of land were burned in attacks by Israeli forces, largely as a result of white phosphorous. An investigation by The Washington Post found that the Israeli military used US-supplied white phosphorus munitions in the attacks.

On October 19, an Israeli air strike destroyed a building in the compound of the Saint Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church in the heart of Gaza’s old city, where an estimated 450 internally displaced members of

Gaza’s small Christian community was sheltering. The strike killed 18 civilians and injured at least 12 others.

On October 19, the IDF conducted two airstrikes on the home of the Saqallah family in Sheikh Ajleen near Tal-Hawa, west Gaza Strip, where the extended family had gathered to shelter from All the house’s occupants were killed, including 4 children and 4 doctors.

On October 20 28 civilians, including 12 children, were killed by an Israeli strike, which destroyed the al-Aydi family home and severely damaged two nearby houses at the al-Nuseirat refugee camp. The homes were in an area of the central Gaza Strip where the Israeli military had ordered residents of northern Gaza to move to.

On October 21, Israel permitted only 20 truckloads of humanitarian aid, containing supplies such as food, water, animal fodder, medical supplies, and fuel, to pass through the Rafah Crossing into Gaza. By contrast, before October 7 the population of Gaza relied on an average of 500 truckloads of food, water, medicine, and other essential items every single day. Months later when Israel eventually opened the Rafah and Kerem Shalom Crossings, the IDF imposed an arbitrary and restrictive inspection system that resulted in mass congestion and long queues as long as 2,000 trucks. Even now, it takes an average of 20 days for humanitarian trucks to travel from the Israeli inspection point at Al Arish to Gaza.

On 22 October 2023, an IDF airstrike on a home in Deir al-Balah killed 18 members of the Mu’ei-leq family—12 children and 6 women—as well as a neighbor. Amnesty International determined that the home was hit by a 1,000-pound bomb equipped with a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) with the guidance system.

Between October 7 and November 7, Israel forces targeted several hospitals and clinics for airstrikes, including the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, the Indonesian Hospital, and the International Eye Care Center. Hospitals enjoy protected status under international humanitarian law, and only lose their protection from attack if used to commit “acts harmful to the enemy,” though warnings, proportionality, and distinction are still required.

On October 25, Israeli airstrikes decimated the neighborhood of Al Yarmouk, destroying seven residential towers. In just the Al Taj residential tower, the bombing killed 91 Palestinians, including 28 women and 39 children.

On October 31, IDF airstrike targeted a six-story apartment building near the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. At least 106 civilians, including 54 children, were killed in the bombing. The Israeli authorities provided no justification for the attack. Human Rights Watch found no evidence of a military target in the vicinity of the building at the time of the attack.

On November 5, an Israeli strike by Israeli forces on a family in a car in southern Lebanon on November 5 that killed three girls, ages 10, 12 and 14, and their grandmother.8 Human Rights Watch found no evidence of a military target in the vicinity of the car that was struck, which only contained fleeing civilians. According to Human Rights Watch, the attack on the car showed “reckless disregard by the Israeli military for its obligation to distinguish between civilian and military objects and a significant failure to take adequate safeguards to prevent civilian deaths.”

On November 3, an Israeli airstrike on a marked ambulance outside al-Shifa Hospital killed 21 people, including 5 children, and injured 60. Ambulances are protected civilian objects under international humanitarian law and cannot be targeted when used to treat wounded and sick individuals, both civilian and combatant. An IDF spokesperson rationalized the attack in a TV interview saying: “Our forces saw terrorists using ambulances as a vehicle to move around. They perceived a threat and accordingly we struck that ambulance.” Human Rights Watch found no evidence that the ambulance struck was being used for military purposes, but instead verified video showing a woman on a stretcher in the ambulance.

On December 2024, IDF airstrikes destroyed several buildings in the Al Maghazi refugee camp, killing at least 68 people. An Israeli military official admitted to Israel’s Kan public broadcaster that “[t]he type of munition did not match the nature of the attack, causing extensive collateral damage which could have been avoided.”

Starting January 1 through February 12, more than half of the planned humanitarian aid missions to northern Gaza were obstructed by Israeli authorities. The restrictions included: failures to guarantee safe passage; failure to open additional routes to northern Gaza; excessive delays; and outright denial of access by the Israeli military.

On January 9, 2024, an Israeli airstrike hit a five-story apartment building belonging to the Nofal family in the Tal Al-Sultan neighborhood in Rafah. The attack killed 18 civilians, including 10 children, four men, and four women. At least eight others were wounded. An analysis of the bomb fragments by Amnesty International identified the weapon as a precision-guided GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb, made in the US by Boeing.

On 29 January 2024, the IDF attacked a car carrying the family of 6-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab in the area later identified as Tel Al-Hawa, Gaza City. Most of her family was killed in the initial attack, leaving Hind still alive among the bodies of her six relatives. Two medics from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society were dispatched to rescue Hind, who may have been killed by Israeli fire before they arrived. They were also attacked and killed. Their ambulance was run over by Israeli tanks. The Washington Post identified a fragment of a U.S.-made 120mm round at the scene.

On 2 February, an Israeli naval ship fired at a U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) convoy waiting to enter northern Gaza through Al Rashid Road.

On 13 February, it was revealed that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich had been blocking the delivery of a shipment of U.S.-funded flour at the port of Ashdod since at least 19 January 2024, even though Netanyahu had assured Biden that the shipment would be allowed to enter Gaza.

On February 16, water production in Gaza had fallen to only 5.7% of what it was before the war started, leading to cases of severe dehydration, as well as the outbreak of diseases, including Hepatitis A and diarrhea. Since November, people in northern Gaza have not had access to potable water, while since March people in southern Gaza, have only had an average of two liters of water per day.

On 24 March 2024, with northern Gaza on the brink of famine, Israeli authorities told the United Nations that it would no longer approve the passage of any UNRWA food convoys into northern Gaza. That same day, Israeli forces fired upon people waiting for the distribution of food at a site at Kuwait Roundabout.

On 1 April, an Israeli airstrike killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in three separate airstrikes on vehicles bearing the WCK logo on a street “designated for the passage of humanitarian aid.” The three cars were struck one by one and were found destroyed nearly a mile and a half apart. The strikes were authorized by a colonel and overseen by a major.

From the Independent Task Force on NSM-20 report, written by Noura Erakat and former State Department official Josh Paul: “Though Israel has attributed the 34,000 Palestinian casualties, 70 percent of whom are women and children, to alleged human shielding by Hamas, we found that in 11 out of the 16 incidents we analyzed, Israel did not even publicly identity a military target or attempt to justify the strike. Of the remaining five incidents, Israel publicly named targets with verification in two incidents, but no precautionary warning was given and we assess the anticipated civilian harm was known and excessive.”

Since Blinken released his report reaffirming his trust in Israel to use his American arsenal responsibly, Israel has closed the Rafah crossing, forced more than 500,000 people out of the city, began bombing the already shattered Jabalia refugee camp again, hit a UN aid truck with a drone strike, left 20 American doctors stranded in hospital without water, and stood down as 100s of Israeli settlers and paramilitaries destroyed the supplies of a humanitarian convoy and torched two of the trucks.

In response to these fresh atrocities, Biden approved a new $1.2 billion transfer of mostly ground-based weapons ($700 million in tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles and $60 million in mortar rounds) to Israel, which will surely come as a welcome reward as the IDF crosses another imaginary red line in its ground assault on Rafah.

Message sent, message received.

(Jeffrey St. Clair is editor of CounterPunch. His most recent book is An Orgy of Thieves: Neoliberalism and Its Discontents (with Alexander Cockburn). He can be reached at: sitka@comcast.net or on Twitter @JeffreyStClair3. CounterPunch.org)

WHEN DYNAMITE TURNED TERRORISM INTO AN EVERYDAY THREAT

In early 20th-century America, political bombings became a constant menace — but then helped give rise to law enforcement as we know it.

by Stephen Johnson

July 4, 1914. 9:16 a.m. The first indication that something had gone terribly wrong on the upper floors of 1626 Lexington Avenue arrived in the form of a deafening sound wave. The Times would later compare it to “a broadside from a battleship.” Seconds after the boom, East Harlem pedestrians were shielding themselves from fragments of brick and cement and glass raining down from above. A quick glance upward revealed that the top three floors of 1626 Lexington had been demolished by some sort of blast.

The explosion shattered hundreds of windows in nearby buildings, and furniture from the top-floor apartments shot out across the roofline. As screams from the partly collapsed six-story structure began to rise, the pedestrians on the sidewalk realized that the debris raining down on them was not merely fragments of the ruined tenement building. They were also being bombarded by human remains. When the dust cloud from the blast cleared, a horrifying sight appeared in the carnage of the upper floors: the lifeless body of a man dangling from the fire escape, his legs twisted at a grotesque angle, the back of his skull blown out.

Destruction in New York City caused by the explosion at 1626 Lexington Avenue in 1914. (Bain News Service/Library of Congress)

By the time the newly appointed commissioner of the New York Police Department, Arthur Woods, arrived at the scene, along with the city’s chief bomb expert, Owen Eagan, firefighters had pulled the body down from the fire escape. Searching through the dead man’s jacket, the police found a notebook signed “Arthur Caron.” Woods recognized the name immediately: Caron was an anarchist who had recently spearheaded a series of pickets outside John D. Rockefeller’s estate in Tarrytown, protesting the Ludlow massacre in Colorado, where almost a dozen striking miners and their families were killed by military forces. Caron was a known associate of Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman, arguably the two most prominent political radicals in the United States at that time, and Berkman had vowed to respond to the Ludlow crimes with dynamite. This was no gas leak or construction mishap, Woods realized. The N.Y.P.D. would later determine that the explosion was an accident, but the bomb that detonated that morning had been intended for an act of political terrorism.

“The bomb was of the most powerful construction ever employed in the perpetration of an outrage of this kind in this city,” Eagan told the assembled reporters after a thorough examination of the crime scene. “I cannot understand why there was not even a greater loss of life.” But if the destructive power of the explosive was unusual, the fact that civilians were tinkering with dynamite in an apartment building was hardly anomalous at that moment in the city’s history. Eagan spent a quarter-century on the force, until his death in 1920; over that period, he was called on to either dismantle or survey the wreckage from something on the order of 7,000 bombs, or “infernal machines,” as the press came to call them.…

upload.democraticunderground.com/1016377744

9 Comments

Kathy Janes May 18, 2024

That beautiful horned bovine from Elk looks like a cow to me.

- BRICK IN THE WALL May 18, 2024
  
  Scottish longhairs to be exact
  
  - Kathy Janes May 18, 2024
    
    Yes, but definitely not a bull.
    
Stanley Kelley May 18, 2024

That Bovine bull seems to have three penises

George Hollister May 18, 2024

We are all prejudice, and one look at DEVIN MILLER in Catch Of The Day should confirm that.

Jeff Goll May 18, 2024

Thanks for the Comment Section editing help Kathy. Yes, that cattle I photographed is a cow (the lower appendages seem to be female) and assuming the horns represented a male animal is my lack of research into the Scottish Longhairs. I’m now aware that this breed is the oldest registered type of cattle in the world and the Red hair of this bovine was bred specifically to please the tastes of queen Victoria. These cows can breed past the age of eighteen and raise 15 offspring. There! Thanks again Kathy and I’ll do this research beforehand for future photos even though corrections are popular.

- George Dorner May 18, 2024
  
  It’s still a terrific photo.
  
  - Kathy Janes May 18, 2024
    
    I agree. I love looking for them when I drive to Elk.
    
Craig Stehr May 18, 2024

Just finished reading the New York Times, and am thus updated on all of the abominable news that is fit to print. Worldwide, this is the shits! I urge everybody to turn the mind inward, get centered, and live from your sacred heart. Realize that you are not the body. Realize that you are not the mind. Realize that you are the Immortal Self, Radiant Atman, indeed, the Para Brahman which permeates all now and forever. Tat Tvam Asi. That Thou Art.
I am available to be part of a Jivan Mukta spiritual revolutionary group. If not us, then who? If not now, then when? The role of the avatar is to destroy the demonic and to return this world to righteousness. That is all. At the proper time, go back to Godhead. And stay there. 😃
Craig Louis Stehr
c/o Building Bridges Homeless Resource Center
1045 South State Street, Ukiah, CA 95482
Telephone messages: (707) 234-3270
Email: craiglouisstehr@gmail.com
May 18th, ’24 A.D.

9 Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply