Mendocino County Today: Wednesday 9/11/2024

FB Alley | Cool Day | Local Events | Burger Shifts | Hiatt Home | McGourty Verbatim | Police Recruit | Enterprise Closing | E.B. Hiatt | List Moderation | Foggy Day | Craig DC | 1932 Ukiahans | Book Club | Pollinator | Author Talk | Halloween Gala | Ed Notes | Photo Historian | Peanut Sauce | Yesterday's Catch | Justice Delayed | Dusky Sky | False Economy | Cape Flower | Speeding Bill | Geyserville History | Teflon Brazile | Ronald Payne | Splitting Reality | Long Game | AI Writers | Debate Notes | Brother Benedict | Haitians Coming | Sid & Nancy | Left Unsaid | Rarebit Dream

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AN APPROACHING UPPER TROUGH will drastically cool interior temperatures as well as bring chances for light rain and breezy conditions today. Additional chances for precipitation look probable in the extended forecast. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): 48F with clear skies this Wednesday morning on the coast. A chance of showers are forecast from 11am to 2pm. Otherwise clear into the weekend then another chance for showers starting Sunday.

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LOCAL EVENTS

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KATE COOK

The hamburger booth at the Boonville fair (which benefits the AV Fire Department) needs more helpers after a few people had to back out due to illness. If you can help, let me know which time and role you want. Perks include free entry to the fair, a free burger, and much gratitude from the organizers.

Shifts:

Fri: 3-6 set-up (cutting onions and tomatoes, etc.)

3-6 grill; 6-9 2 @ assemblies

Sat: 7-10 Window (cashier)

Sun: 3-6 Assembly; 3-6 grill

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COUNTY NOTES #1 (9/10/24 Board of Supervisors meeting)

by Mark Scaramella

SUPERVISOR GLENN MCGOURTY responding to Supervisor Ted Williams who complained again about the problems of retroactive approval items on the Supervisors Agenda which basically make the Supervisors and the public as irrelevant:

McGourty (verbatim): “We’ve had these discussions before and we’ve talked about possible solutions such as if they’re… if the contracts, uh, announcing it, presenting it, saying that it can’t be finished at this time but this is the intent of that, and, uh, that seems like a reasonable solution, a lot of times I understand that contracts are paid in arrears for services because they’re not… staff is not sure what their, what their goal is going to be at the — I agree that that’s probably wise for us to, to put any contracts to the attention, but I think in this situation where it’s all after the fact and it is an opportunity, really, for us to comment on it.”

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ELEANOR COONEY:

Another bummer! Enterprise car rental will be closing its office in For Bragg at the end of October. Not a huge deal until you really need to rent a car…

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MANY YEARS AGO Hwy 101 north, came through Cloverdale, turned left towards the coast, (now Hwy 128,) went 8 miles then went north again, (now Mountain House Rd,) then up to Hopland. Here is the Mt. House gas station that was there at the intersection next to the barn. The barn was there for many years but eventually collapsed due to old age and deterioration. This is my Great Grandfather E.B. Hiatt. Picture date estimated to be in the 1920s. When 101 went up the Russian River route the station closed. That portion of the road became Hwy 28, then later and now 128. Note the sign on the roof and a sign on the barn.

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LIST MODERATION APPRECIATION

I just want to say, I have appreciated the list moderation; I think its mostly back and aligned with its original intentions, most of the juvenile bickering that was driving many community members off the list; seems done. and yet some potentially upsetting political content has been allowed, for instance I’ve posted a couple times about issues within our county that IMHO verges into Malfeasance; this and other posts have been allowed which I appreciate, I’m posting b/c I see some demand for moderators to list posts that have been excluded and why, personally I have no interest in detail at that granular and silly level so thank you to the moderators! And I see no reason to attempt to fix what ain’t broken

Thank you

Chris Skyhawk

Fort Bragg

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UPDATING CRAIG

Memo from Craig Stehr.

Arrived Washington, D.C. on a Cheapo flight on Friday August 30th, and went with jet lag to the D.C. Peace Vigil in front of the White House and pulled the all night shift. The vigil is a real spectacle nowadays. Took a taxi to my friend's apartment near Dupont Circle to store the two pieces of luggage, and slept on the couch for three nights. During the day, I went around the district to register with various social service agencies for the purpose of securing a subsidized apartment. The principal groups guarantee me an apartment for 1/3 of income, and said that they could place me anyway if that isn't doable, because I'll be 75 September 28th and I've got a pacemaker. All of the primary protest groups know that I am here, but no couch offers. Am presently at a shelter in the northeast section of D.C., which includes a bed with one sheet, a locker, two hot meals (plus outside food donations on weekends), laundry facilities, and lots of action movies and football.

I am no longer continuing to write daily reports. Have moved on to focus on spiritual life and its expression. Some writing might still happen, if appropriate. There is nothing left for me to share with this world, having shared everything that I know of from the wisdom traditions.

Peace And Love Always~

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UKIAH 1932

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ATTENTION BOOK LOVERS

Attention book lovers! Cloud Nine Art Gallery is hosting a monthly get together for the purpose of sharing remarkable books recently read. Beginning on Thursday, September 12, from 5:30 til 7, and continuing on the second Thursday each month thereafter. Local authors are also invited to share their latest book. Light refreshments.

320 N Franklin Street, Fort Bragg

Margaret Paul

707 357-5000

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LOCAL AUTHOR PHIL ZWERLING WILL TALK ABOUT HIS NEW BOOK:

In Search of The Thin Man: Dashiell Hammett, William Powell, and the Classic Film Series

Thursday, September 19, 2 to 3 p.m. in the Community Room at the Fort Bragg Library, 499 Laurel Street.

Dashiell Hammett, creator of the boldest hard boiled fiction wrote The Thin Man in 1933, and launched the fun-loving, booze-swilling, mystery-solving couple Nick and Nora Charles into American Culture. MGM sold millions of movie tickets by casting William Powell and Myrna Loy as this classiest of romantic couples. Over 14 years and six films, these stars navigated some of the gravest periods of our history: the Great Depression, World War II, and the Cold War. The novel and films live on as gems of a unique, gritty sophistication.

This complete history of The Thin Man series covers the brightest stars, the tastiest scandals, headlines, and conflicts behind these classic films. Along with a cast of hundreds, we see Hammett, his lover Lillian Hellman, and their friend Dorothy Parker fight alcoholism, sexual convention, and Senator Joe McCarthy in culture wars with eerie resonance today.

Phil Zwerling, now retired to the Mendocino Coast previously taught Creative Writing at Ursinus College and as Chair of the Creative Writing Department at the University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley. He is the author of seven books on film, theater, and history.

https://fortbragglibrary.org/event/author-philip-zwerling

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WILLITS CENTER FOR THE ARTS WILL KICK OFF THE HALLOWEEN SEASON WITH ITS 2024 HALLOWEEN GALA ON SATURDAY OCTOBER 19

Rock out with the Steven Bates Band, win a prize with your spooky costume, enjoy yummy bar bites and splendid libations! Support your Art Center Fundraiser.

Tickets $30/each or 2 for $50, now on sale online at https://www.willitscenterforthearts.org

Tickets direct link: https://www.willitscenterforthearts.org/event-details/wca-halloween-gala-3rd-annual

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ED NOTES

THE PROBLEM with pop art of this type now blighting Petaluma is (1) it's trite, (2) unamusing even the first time you see it, (3) it's not art because it doesn't require skill to create, (4) it's unimaginative even by today's degraded standards, (5) the “artist” couldn't get away with this most places.

ADD LOOK-ALIKES: The great court reporter (ret) Bruce McEwen and 49er kicker, Jake Moody

THE FOUNDING FATHERS have gathered for Tuesday night's presidential debate at the conclusion of which there's a shocked silence before George Washington says to Thomas Jefferson, "Tom, we've made a terrible mistake."

AS THESE EYESORE adopt-a-road signs proliferate, the signs that falsely promise thousand dollar fines for littering and warn that vehicle speed limits are enforced by aircraft eyes in the sky are, in the first case rarely prosecuted, in the second case untrue. Mendocino County traffic is not monitored from the air. HumCo, yes, Mendo, so far as I'm aware, no.

THE TRUE SITUATION in America for millions of people is this Boonville guy I know who has three hernias he can’t get fixed because he works on his own as a carpenter. Works hard, too. He can’t go on welfare to get the operation he needs because he makes just enough money not to qualify for Medi-Cal. His sons hope to get into the Army because there’s no work for them as Pop’s helpers.

A READER WRITES: “In your comments about the palsy-walsy incestuous hiring practices of Mendocino County, you need to remember the old saying ‘If I don't give my cousin a job, who will?’ If these incompetents do not get on the public payroll they probably will end up on the welfare rolls. Your taxes are going to support them, one way or another.”

AND TED SODERBERG COMMENTS: “Bookstore owners and managers once claimed that Bill Clinton’s book to be the greatest book of the century. Bad enough our president led us down his sordid trail of sexual transgressions and twisted behavior, and made us the laughing stock of the world, but now he says we must pay to read about it. He is right; the American public will buy anything if it is marketed correctly. The book I am waiting to read is the one written by Chelsea Clinton, ‘Living in a Dysfunctional Family.’ This book will complete the Clinton trilogy.”

YEARS AGO we received a generic accusation of a misquote from AV High math teacher Kathy Borst. Ms. Borst says we didn’t quote her graduation speech accurately, and what we did quote was out of context. So, what should we do? Take her word for it? Of course not. All we said was that she announced she was going to give a long, boring speech and she lived up to her opening remarks. What was there to misquote? Ms. Borst failed to provide specifics.

WE TAKE MISQUOTES very, very seriously because we’ve been misquoted literally hundreds of times over the years ourselves, often deliberately, by our media colleagues. And most of these hacks use tape recorders! How can you screw up a quote if you’ve got the goddamed thing on tape? But… But the complaints about misquotes we get are usually nothing more complicated than the quoted person not liking or even remembering what he or she in fact said.

THE AVA’s Misquote Complaint Policy was first promulgated in the early 90s when the late Diane Paget, a CSD board member at the time, said she had been misquoted in a minor CSD meeting report about a paving project at Boonville International. Ms. Paget said she hadn't said what she had said, implying that it was intentional because the editor had once complained that he didn't think Ms. Paget, as an elected official, should attend meetings barefoot, gratuitously characterizing Ms. Paget's leathery bare feet as “gunboats.”

THE PROB with Ms. P's complaint was that she did not provide us with the alleged misquote or prior misquotes she said we were guilty of. Like most media critics she simply stated her complaint as fact, and to suggest otherwise, well, we never have claimed infallibility on our end.

WE WORK hard to get accurate quotes into our reporting. If there are significant misquotes we correct them, but we’ve never received a request to correct a specific misquote. What we have received is a hundred or so demand letters from woof-woofing lawyers threatening to sue us unless we print a retraction of some opinion their gouged clients have found objectionable.

JARED CARTER, the famed Ukiah attorney once demanded that we retract an editorial cartoon depicting Supervisor Butcher and her husband as drunks and their two Amazon daughters as out-of-control rich girls who seemed to think they could do whatever they felt like doing in the Ukiah context. One daughter had kicked a Ukiah Police officer in the pills, another had appeared at a board meeting to denounce her mom’s fellow supervisor, Norman de Vall, as “a fucking asshole.” Madam Butcher had also threatened to sue the Ukiah Police Department for mistreating Amazon Girl, her daughter, to which the Ukiah PD threatened to sue Butcher for malicious prosecution because the kid had gone off at Taco Bell in front of many witnesses and had assaulted the cop, not vice versa. The Butcher girls liked to go around saying, “You better watch out; my mommy is a supervisor.” (Lots of the, ah, dimmer Mendo kids grow up thinking Ukiah or Willits or Mendocino or Boonville or Fort Bragg is the whole wide world.)

IF YOU THINK you’ve been misquoted and go to all the trouble to write in about it, the least you could do is cite the misquote and/or its context in order that we might all judge if you’ve joined the local legions victimized by the meanie faces at the AVA. The format for such complaints is as follows: a. “You reported that I said x, but I never said any such thing.” Or b. “You reported that I said x, but I actually said y.” Or c. “You reported that I said x, and I said something like x, but for the record what I meant to say was y.” Or d. “You reported that I said x, and I said x, but I also said y which you left out.” Or e. “You reported that I said x, and I said x, but on hindsight I should have said y.” Failure to adhere to this complaint format will render your accusation false; moreover, your name will be written down in the AVA’s Big Book of Snivelers. Thank you. — ms

A SOUTH CAROLINA death row inmate has three options for his execution this month via lethal injection unless he chooses either the electric chair or a firing squad. Freddie Owens, 46, a convicted killer who gunned down a store clerk during a botched robbery in 1997 has left his fate up to his lawyer, arguing that his Muslim faith means he cannot take an active role in his own death.

JAMES KUNSTLER'S highly amusing bi-weekly column, Clusterfuck Nation, has disappeared. Bob Abeles, our resident computer genius, white courtesy phone, please. Bob, can you track him down, find out what happened to him? Or at least what’s wrong with his website?

CONSIDERED strictly as a debate, Kamala Harris mopped the floor with Trump, who seems to have become a more dynamic version of Biden but, like Biden, clearly impaired, tossing out a whole load of false statements, made-up statistics and outright crazy talk as when he declared that illegal immigrants were eating a town's household pets and when he described Harris as a Marxist. Harris's policy statements were a promise to continue a murderous foreign policy and the limping domestic policies of her and Biden's past four years. Buckle up, America. Rough weather ahead.

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RON PARKER (Mendo Photo Historian)

This property was next door to my Uncle Lewis Ripley on Boonville Rd. He is lucky he was not a victim as he checked out the place when the owners were away. He wondered why they needed three wells on this small place. He also reported full automatic gun fire coming from the place. Then a dying Hells Angel spilled the beans on the place being a HA's burial grounds.

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Ed note: “Comrade Hall?” Finnish immigrants up and down the West Coast were split between red and white political factions, the reds for old country revolution, the whites for the Czar. And each had their own newspapers headquartered in Astoria.

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SARAH KENNEDY OWEN:

Monopolies: My little adventure: For about a year now I have been lucky enough to discover a delicious Thai peanut sauce, as well as a packaged brown rice vermicelli (a kind of “cellophane noodle” popular in Asian cooking) at Grocery Outlet, by a name brand (Annie Chun) for just under $3.00 per item. The noodles are very generous and last a few servings per package and the peanut sauce comes in a bottle, does not go bad in the fridge and therefore lasts for weeks. Anyway, my luck finally ended and those items are no longer available at Grocery Outlet. However, I knew they would be available online so I looked it up and was shocked to find that I could not get those items (either one of them) for under $5.00 per item at local grocery stores, Amazon, or Instacart! Before they stopped selling at Grocery Outlet, they were about $3.99 or less at local grocery stores, including the Co-op. That means that after their “introductory offer,” they suddenly went up a firm $1.00, for no reason except; guess what! Grocery stores, Instagram, and Amazon all agreed on an exorbitant price and now that’s what you have to pay. Needless to say, I will be making my own peanut sauce from now on, and replace the noodles with brown rice! Ending monopolies may be hard, but it has to happen. Inflation is caused by this kind of robbery, right out of the pockets of ordinary Americans. It may sound minor, but it adds up.

As for Pelosi’s fortunate financial position, that is a good point, as well, that she and her husband are in a very good place to get the inside track on investments. That is actually illegal, but they must somehow have found a loophole, while the rest of us eat dirt with low interest rates and an iffy stock market, while the Fed is eager to lower interest rates still more. I do not see how that is going to fix things for most Americans, as, even if home buyers can get a lower interest rate, there will be more people vying to buy real estate, which will cause prices to go up, therefore obliterating the so-called advantages of the lower interest rates. That leaves people like Donald Trump, who owes vast amounts of money, as well as the U.S. government, to gain, while the U.S. wastes its resources on gifts to corporate interests.

AND, BTW, beef cattle do contribute to global warming. Where is your science on that, Ms. Davis?

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CATCH OF THE DAY, Tuesday, September 10, 2024

ADAM CHAVIRA, Redwood Valley. Probation revocation.

MATTHEW FAUST, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol&drugs.

ALLISON FULLBRIGHT, Fort Bragg. Disobeying court order, failure to appear.

JOHN HILL, Laytonville. Annoy/molest victim believed to be under 18 years of age, parole violation.

RICHARD SUGGS, Ukiah. Parole violation.

JOHN SULLIVAN, Ukiah. Domestic violence court order violation, misrepresenting oneself as a peace officer.

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BADGED POT BANDITS STILL OUT OF JAIL

Ex-Rohnert Park officer won’t be in federal court this week for extortion case.

Joseph Huffaker is accused of illegally seizing cannabis from drivers during traffic stops and falsifying records to cover up his actions.

by Colin Atagi

A former Rohnert Park police officer isn’t expected to face a jury until at least next year after proceedings in his federal case were rescheduled over the summer.

Joseph Huffaker was originally scheduled to begin his trial this week in a federal extortion case.

Court records now show jury selection is “tentatively” scheduled for July 10 before Judge Maxine Chesney in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

Huffaker, who was employed by the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety from 2012 to 2019, was indicted in 2021 on federal charges of conspiracy to commit extortion and extortion under color of law — meaning he is alleged to have used his authority as a police officer to carry out the crimes.

He’s accused of illegally seizing cannabis from drivers during traffic stops and falsifying records to cover up his actions.

A former sergeant, Brendan “Jacy” Tatum, was indicted in September 2021 and accused of leading the operation.

Authorities began to investigate the matter in 2018 when a driver reported that he’d been unlawfully stopped and his marijuana taken by suspicious officers. More complaints from other motorists followed.

Federal prosecutors said Huffaker and Tatum shook down drivers on Highway 101 for cash, pot and property without documenting the stops or the evidence they seized.

Tatum pleaded guilty in December 2021 to federal extortion charges in his role as a peace officer, falsifying police reports and tax evasion.

His sentencing has been pushed back on multiple occasions and is currently set for Jan. 29, records show. He’s out of custody and area residents have reported seeing him in the community on multiple occasions.

Federal officials have not replied to requests for comment.

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A FALSE ECONOMY

Editor:

Northern California is too quickly becoming just a tourist mecca. What will happen to our economy when tourism is again suspended due to the next pandemic or economic downturn, or for whatever reason? Just as a diversified portfolio is required to safeguard one’s finances, diversification is necessary for a healthy economy.

Who will frequent our luxury resorts, Michelin-starred restaurants, casinos and winery tasting rooms? We have those in abundance already, and most do not provide a living wage for half their employees. Meanwhile, agriculture suffers from heavy costs to bring in forage from farther away to feed livestock during the dry season, and golf courses suck up water that could otherwise be used to grow fruits and vegetables. Our once diverse agriculture is becoming a monoculture of winegrape vineyards. Houses that could be homes for residents are now short-term rentals sitting vacant during the off season.

It’s time to set a moratorium on new casinos, resorts and short-term rentals. Let’s build an economy that will support us during downturns.

Linda Lloyd

Santa Rosa

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IF NEWSOM SIGNS BILL FOR SPEEDING WARNINGS IN CARS, HE’LL SAVE MANY LIVES

by Stephen Bingham, director, Stephen Bingham Fund, San Rafael

My only child Sylvia was killed less than five months after graduating from college by a truck driver. She had just begun a wonderful AmeriCorps job. A factor in the crash was that the driver was speeding.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has a historic opportunity to reduce such tragedies in California by signing SB961. The bill would require automakers to build cars and trucks with a visual and sound alert to warn drivers going more than 10 miles over the posted speed limit.

California would lead the way for such equipment to become standard in the U.S. Speeding is a leading cause of severe and fatal crashes in the U.S. and California. SB961 is a common-sense way to reduce deaths. It will save countless lives.

The governor will hear opposition from auto and truck industry lobbyists. He needs to hear from the people, so many of whom have been injured or lost loved ones, as my wife and I lost our precious Sylvia.

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DID YOU KNOW GEYSERVILLE wasn't always called Geyserville? Our charming town was originally named Clairville! In 1847, hunter William Bell Elliott stumbled upon a series of hot springs and steam vents in a nearby canyon, dubbing it the "Gate of Hades." This discovery put our little community on the map, attracting famous visitors like Mark Twain. As tourism boomed, we embraced our geothermal identity and became Geyserville. From a canvas hotel in 1854 to today's wineries and restaurants, we've come a long way while keeping our small-town charm. Next time you stroll down our wooden sidewalks, remember - you're walking through living history!

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DONNA BRAZILE

by Fred Gardner

In advance Tuesday night's debate, the New York Times featured a “guest essay” by Donna Brazile in support of Kamala Harris. Brazile has the same Teflon coating that protected Judge Judy (AIDS patients “should just die”) and Doris Kearns Goodwin (serial plagiarist) when their transgressions were exposed.

It was in advance of a debate between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in March, 2016, that Brazile tipped off Clinton about questions that would be posed. Her perfidy was exposed by WikiLeaks –but not until October. In the meantime, the supposedly unbiased Brazile had replaced Debby Wasserman Schultz as head of the Democratic National Committee. (Wasserman Schultz resigned in late July after her pro-Clinton bias became too blatant for the millions of Democrats who favored Bernie.)

Soon after Donald Trump became President in 2017, Donna Brazile wrote a pseudo-apologetic essay in Time that described her secret tip-offs to Hillary as “a mistake I will forever regret” – but not because she'd been deceitful and derelict in her duty to the Democrats' rank-and-file.

“By stealing all the DNC’s emails and then selectively releasing those few,” she wrote, “the Russians made it look like I was in the tank for Secretary Clinton. Despite the strong, public support I received from top Sanders campaign aides in the wake of those leaks, the media narrative played out just as the Russians had hoped, leaving Sanders supporters understandably angry and sowing division in our ranks.”

As if (1) Sanders supporters wouldn't have been angered by Brazile's duplicity unless manipulated by those devilish Russkies! And (2) As if Sanders supporters are supposed to heed “top campaign aides.” And (3) as if the “media narrative” had been inaccurate. And (4) as if the split in the party wasn't deep-rooted.

That's a lot of trickery to pack into one sentence.

It's not the crime

And it's not the thought,

It's not the deed

It's if you get caught

–Tower of Power

Which “top Sanders campaign aides” expressed strong support for Donna Brazile after she was caught tipping the scales for Hillary Clinton? Only one, press secretary Symone Sanders-Townsend, who told Politico, “Donna regularly reached out for messaging guidance from us and was very helpful. She was even-handed and we all had a great working relationship with her…Donna Brazile is one of the reasons the Democratic National Committee was able to move forward following the convention and she is the reason many people like myself have a seat at the table today.”

Symone Sanders-Townsend has moved forward to a seat at the table on MSNBC, where she hosts a show called “The Weekend.” According to Wikipedia, “she left the Sanders campaign abruptly in late June 2016, saying ‘she was not let go and that leaving the campaign was her decision.’ In October 2016 she was hired by as a DNC strategist. In 2021 Vice President Harris made Sanders-Townsend her chief spokesperson, but that gig lasted less than a year. I’m guessing it was Kamala’s decision.

The same Democratic Party strategists who wouldn't let us have Bernie in 2016 (when the polls showed Hillary neck-and-neck with Trump, while Bernie was beating him by 15%) tipped the election to George W. Bush in 2000 for the same reason: their instincts are undemocratic. If they had let Ralph Nader take part in the debate, he would have been the intellectual on the left, Bush the ignoramus on the right, and Gore the solid everyman in the center — a winning position. With Nader excluded, Gore was the smartass sighing contemptuously at Bush, an ordinary guy who evoked sympathy for not knowing much about history.

Who was campaign manager for Al Gore in 2000? Donna Brazile.

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I MYSELF FIND THE DIVISION of the world into an objective and a subjective side much too arbitrary. The fact that religions through the ages have spoken in images, parables, and paradoxes means simply that there are no other ways of grasping the reality to which they refer. But that does not mean that it is not a genuine reality. And splitting this reality into an objective and a subjective side won't get us very far.

— Niels Bohr 

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ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Harris played the long game in tonight’s debate, letting former President Trump reference his relationships with Viktor Orban, Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin and present internet-meme conspiracies around Haitian immigrants ‘eating dogs and cats’ in Springfield, Ohio, for a full 56 minutes before asserting that Trump doesn’t have the ‘temperament’ to be president.

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TRUMP-HARRIS DEBATE: SHOTS FIRED!

by Katelyn Caralle & the Daily Mail staff

Donald Trump blamed Democrats for the assassination attempt at his rally in July.

During his debate with Kamala Harris in Philadelphia on Tuesday, the former president said that Democrats have ‘weaponized’ the government to the point of people trying to kill him.

This is the one that weaponized – not me. I probably took a bullet to the head because of the things they say about me.

They talk about democracy – I’m a threat to democracy. They’re the threat to democracy because of their fake Russia, Russia, Russia investigation that went nowhere.

The claim comes after the assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.

Shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, shot the 2024 nominee in his right ear, killed one rally goers and critically injured two others before he was taken out by the Secret Service.

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Kamala Harris says she is a gun owner and won't take away American's guns

by Charlie Spiering, Senior Political Reporter

Vice President Kamala Harris reminded the debate audience that she and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz are both gun owners after former President Donald Trump warned she would take away Americans' guns.

'Tim Walz and I are both gun owners. We're not taking anybody's guns away, so stop with the continuous lying about this stuff,' she replied.

Harris has repeatedly said she supports the Second Amendment but has also previously supported a mandatory gun buyback plan to get rid of assault rifles in the United States.

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Kamala Harris says 'clearly I am not Joe Biden'

by Nikki Schwab, Chief Campaign Correspondent in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Vice President Kamala Harris said 'clearly I am not Joe Biden' after former President Donald Trump stated that 'she is Biden.'

'She's trying to get away from Biden. "I don't know the gentleman," she - she is Biden,' Trump said.

Throughout the 90-minute debate, Trump tried to nail Harris to Biden's record, with Harris skirting the lampooning by pointing out she represents generational change.

Trump also highlighted how Democrats had pushed the 81-year-old out of the race, with Harris not competing for the nomination in the Democratic primary.

'Clearly I am not Joe Biden, and I am certainly not Donald Trump,' Harris responded to Trump's charges.

'And what I do offer is a new generation of leadership for our country. One who believes in what is possible, one who brings a sense of optimism about what we can do instead of always disparaging the American people,' she said.

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Trump claims he has 'concepts of a plan' for health care

Former President Donald Trump was pressed on whether he has a plan for health care after he tried to repeal Obamacare when he was president.

'I have concepts of a plan. I'm not president right now,' Trump responded. He said if he comes up with something it will be 'better and less expensive.'

As former President Trump pushed to repeal Obamacare with Republicans in Congress but their effort failed.

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Kamala Harris stands firm with Joe Biden's decisions on Afghanistan withdrawal

by Jon Michael Raasch, U.S. Political Reporter for DailyMail.com

Vice President Kamala Harris neglected to reflect on any issues with the 2021 military withdrawal from Afghanistan.

'Well, I will tell you I agree with President Biden's decision to pull out of Afghanistan,' she said when pressed on the evacuation.

'Four presidents said they would and Joe Biden did.'

A congressional report released this week found that the Biden-Harris administration sought to push forward with the withdrawal despite receiving advice against doing so.

Further, family members of the August 26, 2021, Abbey Gate bombing that killed 13 service members received the Congressional Gold Medal earlier Tuesday.

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Trump says Biden 'doesn't know he's alive'

Former President Donald Trump slammed President Joe Biden for being ineffective with a creative jab during Tuesday night's debate.

Where is our president? We don't even know if he's our president. We have a president that doesn't know he's alive.

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Trump claims that Biden 'can't stand' Harris

by Nikki Schwab, Chief Campaign Correspondent in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Former President Donald Trump pushed Tuesday that President Joe Biden is no fan of his VP.

And you know what? I'll give you a little secret. He hates her. He can't stand her.

Harris had irritated Trump by saying that he was not respected on the world stage.

He hit back by saying that Harris 'got no votes' - as she took the place of Biden at the top of the ticket after he bowed out of the 2024 race in late July, after the Democratic primaries had been concluded.

'He got 14 million votes and they threw him out of office,' Trump claimed.

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Trump claims he was being sarcastic when he admitted to losing in 2020

ABC News' David Muir pointed out that Donald Trump has falsely claimed he won the 2020 election but has also recently stated he 'lost by a whisker.'

When asked if he was now admitting he lost, Trump responded that he said it 'sarcastically.'

'That was said sarcastically,' Trump claimed.

When asked about Trump maintaining he did not lose the election, Harris said he was 'fired' by 81 million people.

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Harris sets off Trump by questioning his rally crowds

by Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor

Harris’ team didn’t hide the game plan of trying to set off Trump with an attack that woudl get under his skin. The VP appeared to do just that by questioning the size of his rallies – the same attack that Barack Obama uncorked at the convention.

‘People start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom,’ Harris said. ‘The one thing you will not hear him talk about is you.’

Trump demanded to respond even as David Muir tried to direct a question to him.

‘People don’t go to her rallies. There’s no reason to go,’ Trump countered. ‘She’s bussing them in and paying them to be there and then showing them in a different light,’ he said, referring to a debunked theory that Harris was relying on AI for a packed rally. It came after a New York Times photo-essay that took images of crowds and seats at some of his rallies last month. Both candidates have drawn more than 10,000 people to larger events.

Trump kept rolling, claiming migrants were ‘eating the pets of the people that live there’ and earning a fact check from the moderator.

‘Talk about talk about …’ Harris said, laughing.

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Kamala Harris gets under Trump's skin by saying supporters leave his rallies early

by Nikki Schwab, Chief Campaign Correspondent in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Vice President Kamala Harris got under former President Donald Trump's skin during Tuesday night's debate by saying that his supporters leave his rallies early.

Harris segued from talking about the border crisis to Trump rallies by noting how immigration is often a top topic at the mass gatherings.

I'm going to invite you to attend one of Donald Trump's rallies because it's a really interesting thing to watch. You will see during the course of his rallies he talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter. He will talk about how windmills cause cancer. And what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom. And I will tell you the one thing you will not hear him talk about is you.

That assertion got Trump sputtering.

When he was asked why he encouraged Congressional Republicans to tank a border bill deal, Trump instead said he wanted to address Harris' rallies comment.

She said people start leaving. People don't go to her rallies. There's no reason to go. And the people that do go she's busing them in and paying them to be there.

Trump continued to protest: 'People don't leave my rallies. We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics.'

Earlier Tuesday, the Harris-Walz campaign launched an ad that trolled Trump on rally size with comments made by former President Barack Obama who hinted the ex-president's 'obsession with crowd size' had to do something else.

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Trump accuses illegal immigrants of eating 'pets' in wild debate charge

by Emily Goodin, senior White House correspondent in Philadelphia

Former President Donald Trump accused Vice President Kamala Harris' supporters and illegal immigrants of eating 'pets' in a wild charge on the debate stage.

‘They're eating the cats. They're eating - they're eating the pets,’ he said.

Trump was referring to comments from his running mate J.D. Vance that Haitians in Ohio were eating pets.

ABC News’ moderator David Muir noted: ‘I just want to clarify here, you bring up Springfield, Ohio. And ABC News did reach out to the city manager there. He told us there have been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals.’

‘I've seen people on television say my dog was taken,’ Trump argued. ‘A dog was eaten by the people.’

‘Again, the Springfield city manager says there's no evidence of that,’ Muir said.

The pet-eating claim came after Harris had gotten under Trump's skin with an attack on his crowd size.

She said during the debate: ‘I'm going to invite you to attend one of Donald Trump's rallies because it's a really interesting thing to watch. You will see during the course of his rallies he talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter. He will talk about windmills cause cancer. And what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom. And I will tell you the one thing you will not hear him talk about is you.’

Trump was furious in his response.

‘First let me respond as to the rallies. She said people start leaving. People don't go to her rallies. And the people that do go she's busing them in and paying them,’ he said, sounding angry. ‘We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies.’

(Daily Mail UK)

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HOLLY TANNEN

“They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”

— Donald Trump, debating Kamala Harris, on Haitian immigrants in Ohio

Lock Up Your Parakeet!

The Haitians are coming

Lock up your parakeet

Don’t let your favorite guinea pig

Go roaming in the street

.

Keep your doors and windows locked

Be watchful and be wary

They’re going to stew your goldfish

And sautée your pet canary

.

The Haitians are coming

Don’t let them near the zoo

They’ll microwave the monkeys

And the baby kangaroo

.

They’ll gobble gerbil pancakes

And make fruit bat fricasee

Sweet and sour octopus

And curried chimpanzee

.

If they invade your neighborhood

We all know what they’ll do

They’ll marinate your malemute

And your Goffin’s cockatoo too.

— Marie Levine the Voodoo Queen

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UNDEBATABLE: WHAT HARRIS AND TRUMP LEFT UNSAID INDICTS US ALL

Neither presidential candidate could speak the truth about Israel and Gaza

by Norman Solomon

Kamala Harris won the debate.  People being bombed in Gaza did not.

The banner headline across the top of the New York Times home page — “Harris Puts Trump on Defensive in Fierce Debate” — was accurate enough. But despite the good news for people understandably eager for Trump to be defeated, the Harris debate performance was a moral and political tragedy.

"An estimated 40,000 Palestinians are dead,” ABC News moderator Linsey Davis said. “Nearly 100 hostages remain. . . . President Biden has not been able to break through the stalemate. How would you do it?”

Vice President Harris replied with her standard wording on the war: “Israel has a right to defend itself. We would. And how it does so matters. Because it is also true far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed. Children, mothers. What we know is that this war must end. It must when, end immediately, and the way it will end is we need a ceasefire deal and we need the hostages out.”

“End immediately”? Anyone who isn’t in fantasyland knows that the only way to soon end the slaughter of Palestinian civilians would be for the U.S. government — the overwhelmingly biggest supplier of Israel’s armaments — to stop sending weapons to Israel.

Meanwhile, a pivot to advocating for a cutoff of weapons to Israel would help Harris win the presidency. After the debate, the Institute for Middle East Understanding pointed out that the need to halt the weapons is not only moral and legal — it’s also smart politics. Polls are clear that most Americans want to stop arming Israel. In swing states, polling has found that a large number of voters say they’d be more likely to cast a ballot for Harris if she would support a halt.

What Kamala Harris and Donald Trump said about Israel and Gaza in their debate was predictable. Even more certain was what they absolutely would not say — with silences speaking loudest of all. “Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view, is silence about truth,” Aldous Huxley wrote, describing “the greatest triumphs of propaganda.”

By coincidence, the debate happened on the same date as the publication of a new afterword about the Gaza war in the paperback edition of my book War Made Invisible. To fill in for the debate’s abysmal silences, here are a few quotes from the afterword about the ongoing carnage:

“After the atrocities that Hamas committed on Oct. 7, the U.S. government quickly stepped up military aid to Israel as it implemented atrocities on a much larger scale. In truth, as time went on, the entire Israeli war in Gaza amounted to one gigantic atrocity with uncountable aspects." As with the steady massacres with bombs and bullets in Gaza since early October, “the Israeli-U.S. alliance treated the increasing onset of starvation, dehydration, and fatal disease as a public-relations problem.

“In the war zone, eyewitness reporting and photojournalism were severely hindered if not thwarted by the Israeli military, which has a long record of killing journalists.”

“Although the credibility of Israel’s government tumbled as the Gaza war dragged on, the brawny arms of the Israel lobby — and the overall atmospheric pressure of media and politics — pushed legislators to approve new military aid. . . . Official pronouncements — and the policies they tried to justify — were deeply anchored in the unspoken premise that some lives really matter and some really don’t.”

The United States persisted in “violating not only the U.S. Conventional Arms Transfer Policy but also numerous other legal requirements including the Foreign Assistance Act, the Arms Export Control Act, the U.S. War Crimes Act, the Leahy Law, the Genocide Convention Implementation Act, and several treaties. For U.S. power politics, the inconvenient precepts in those measures were as insignificant and invisible as the Palestinian people being slaughtered.”

“What was sinister about proclaiming ‘Israel’s 9/11’ was what happened after America’s 9/11. Wearing the cloak of victim, the United States proceeded to use the horrible tragedy that occurred inside its borders as an open-ended reason to kill in the name of retaliation, self- protection, and, of course, the ‘war on terror.’ It was a playbook that the Israeli government adapted and implemented with vengeance.”

Israel’s war on 2.2 million people in Gaza has been “a supercharged escalation of what Israel had been doing for 75 years, treating human beings as suitable for removal and even destruction.” As Israel’s war on Gaza has persisted, “the explanations often echoed the post-9/11 rationales for the ‘war on terror’ from the U.S. government: authorizing future crimes against humanity as necessary in the light of certain prior events.”

That and so much more — left unsaid from the debate stage, dodged in U.S. mass media and evaded from the podiums of power in Washington — indict not only the Israeli government but also the U.S. government as an accomplice to mass murder that has escalated into genocide.

Silence is a blanket that smothers genuine democratic discourse and the outcries of moral voices. Making those voices inaudible is a key goal for the functioning of the warfare state.

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