Mendocino County Today: Tuesday 9/17/2024

Cool Day | Giant Pumpkins | E-Bike Fatality | Field Request | Arson Sentenced | McAbee Descendents | Mendo Dinged | Hotel Marysville | Poetic Parallels | Morning Rooster | Ed Notes | Rapp Painting | Better Bragg | Mortgage Rates | Orr Lecture | Chamber Music | Undecided Voter | Enthusiasm Generator | Women Strong | Morbid Sense | Yesterday's Catch | Capt Bonespurs | Cult Blue | Hard Day | DC Shootout | Drop Out | Niner Loss | Greatest Game | Super Hangover | McQueen & Mansfield | Lead Stories | Swift Certificate | Election Rigging | Alice & Dormouse | NATO Plan | Shooting People | Vegas Bound

---

ANOTHER ROUND of light rain showers is expected to spread across the area from north to south starting this afternoon in Del Norte county and working south tonight and Wednesday. A drying and warming trend is expected late in the week. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): The "Harvest Moon" is shining thru clear skies with 48F this Tuesday morning on the coast. There is a lot of fog out there so might see some along with incoming high clouds from tonight's weather maker. A 50% chance of light rain later today & tomorrow morning, under .10" is forecast. We'll see how much we get?

---

---

SPEEDING 53-YEAR OLD E-BIKE RIDER DIES ON GREAT REDWOOD TRAIL

On 09/12/2024 at approximately 2:30pm, Ukiah Police Department (UPD) Officers were dispatched to The Great Redwood Trail between East Gobbi Street and Cleveland Lane regarding a bicycle accident. Upon arrival, UPD Officers learned that a 53-year-old male from Ukiah had succumbed to injures resulting from a single-person bicycle crash.

Witnesses said the male was traveling southbound on an electric bicycle at an extremely high rate of speed. The front wheel of the electric bicycle collided with an object left on the trail, causing the electric bicycle to crash and the male to fall off. The male was wearing a helmet, but it was not secured tightly and the male suffered head trauma from the accident.

This is an ongoing fatal traffic accident investigation which is being investigated by the designated UPD Traffic Officer, with assistance from the UPD Detective Bureau. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office responded and will be investigating the Coroner’s Case.

Ukiah Valley Fire Authority personnel and a member of the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office Investigations Bureau also assisted UPD in this investigation.

As always, UPD’s mission is to make Ukiah as safe as possible. If you would like to know more about crime in your neighborhood, you can sign up for telephone, cellphone, and email notifications by clicking the Nixle button on our website; http://www.ukiahpolice.com.

---

REDWOOD VALLEY SCHOOL’S FORGOTTEN FIELD SPARKS REHAB REQUEST

by Monica Huettl

Members of the Steering Committee for the Redwood Valley Recreation Center attended the September 12 Ukiah Unified School District Board meeting to publicly request that the group be allowed to rehab the lower playing field of the former site of the Redwood Valley School.…

https://mendofever.com/2024/09/17/redwood-valley-schools-forgotten-field-sparks-rehab-request/

---

HOPKINS FIRE ARSONIST SENTENCED

A jury convicted Devin Johnson in July of starting the fire in the Mendocino County town of Calpella. About 30 homes were destroyed and a judge ordered Johnson to pay at least $7 million in restitution

by Colin Atagi

A judge sentenced a Mendocino County man on Monday to 15 years in prison for starting a 257-acre fire that wiped out about 30 homes in the town of Calpella in 2021.

Devin Johnson, 23, was sentenced by Marin County Judge Kelly Simmons during a hearing attended by several victims of the Sept. 12, 2021, Hopkins Fire. He was also ordered to pay at least $7 million in restitution.

Proceedings took place in Marin County so Johnson could have a fair trial and a jury convicted him Aug. 1 of one count of arson of a dwelling after deliberating for two hours.

Six victims were in the courtroom Monday and just as many attended proceedings via Zoom. Simmons said she received “a host of victim impact statements — a lot of of them.”

The only victim who spoke during Monday’s hearing was Matt Byers, whose childhood home on East Calpella Road was destroyed in the fire.

Attending via Zoom, he spoke on behalf of his mother, who died Sept. 2. His parents bought the home after marrying as teenagers and lost “the whole life” they created, Byers said.

“I just hope (Johnson) understands the impact his actions caused,” Byers said.

Fueled by light wind and temperatures in the 90s, the Hopkins Fire raged through Calpella before it finally reached a hillside bordering the Russian River and Lake Mendocino.

Flames quickly spread up a 1,000-foot ridge and down to the western shore of Lake Mendocino after destroying 30 homes and other structures.

About 200 people were evacuated from the area. No injuries were reported.

Investigators concluded arson had occurred and identified Johnson as a suspect after he appeared in surveillance footage from a business near the fire’s point of origin.

The footage from McFarland Trucking, which prosecutors played in court, showed Johnson coming and going from a wooded trail before smoke appeared, investigators said.

Also factoring into Johnson’s arrest, officials said, was an area photographer’s photo that showed Johnson watching the fire from Calpella’s Moore Street Bridge.

Johnson testified he accidentally started the fire after dropping a cigarette and he tried to stomp out flames, which he maintained following his conviction, according to his presentence report.

In the report, he told probation officials he “feels bad this happened,” but argued evidence had not proven he had maliciously caused the fire.

Dana Liberatore, Johnson’s attorney with the Mendocino County Public Defender’s Office, reiterated to Simmons on Monday his client is remorseful. He stressed the crux of the case came down to his mental health.

“It would be difficult to say they did not impact him at the time of the fire,” Liberatore said as he argued for a shorter sentence.

Simmons concurred mental health issues should be taken into consideration. She also considered a special allegation that multiple buildings had been destroyed and that Johnson had a prior conviction for attempted robbery in June 2021.

Prosecutors had asked Simmons to sentence Johnson to 21 years before she settled on 15 years. That includes about three years of credit he’s received for being in custody since his arrest.

“The sentence is (expletive) ridiculous,” Jolene Shanahan, another fire victim, said after Monday’s proceedings.

She previously told The Press Democrat her family was preparing to celebrate her 11-year-old nephew’s birthday when the fire began.

The blaze destroyed their four-bedroom home along Eastside Calpella Road and they watched other homes burn as they attempted to help neighbors.

Questions about Johnson’s mental competency arose during pretrial proceedings, which were stalled for a time while he received medical treatment to restore him to competency so he could help in his own defense.

The Public Defender’s Office later argued for a change in venue after raising concerns that most Mendocino County residents were familiar with the fire and had formed opinions about what happened. Because of this, the office contended, Johnson would not be able to have a fair trial close to home.

A Mendocino County judge agreed and ruled proceedings would instead take place in Marin County after Colusa County also was considered.

Johnson’s criminal trial commenced in May. The jury in that trial, though, failed to reach a verdict after hearing four days of testimony.

His second trial began at the end of July and lasted a few days. Mendocino County District Attorney David Eyster handled prosecution.

On Monday, Eyster told Simmons area residents continue to discuss the Hopkins Fire and its impact on the community.

“It’s a sad conversation where tears are flowing,” he said.

(Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

---

CLAUDIA CLOW

On Sunday, my uncle Richard McAbee shared the McAbee family history at a packed Anderson Valley historical museum (below left). 98 years old, he did a great job, very informative many historical details. Photo (below right) is of my Aunt Marion McAbee Crosby (92) my Mother, Berna McAbee Walker (95) Uncle Dick McAbee (98). We are truly blessed.

---

STATE DINGS MENDO FOR NOT COLLECTING ENOUGH FROM PETTY VIOLATORS TO HELP PAY FOR THE NEW COURTHOUSE

by Mark Scaramella

As if plopping down a $150 million monstrosity for our overlarge number of judges with no concern for the impact on the County or downtown Ukiah wasn’t bad enough…

Item 3r on last Tuesday’s Board meeting consent agenda:

“Acceptance of The California State Controller’s Audit Report for Mendocino County Court Revenues for Period July 1, 2017, through June 30, 2021, and Authorization for Acting Auditor Controller/Treasurer Tax Collector to Remit $166,290 to the State Treasurer via the Report to State Controller of Remittance to State Treasurer (TC-31) for Under Remittance Findings.”

Attached Audit Report:

Dear County, Court, City, and Department Representatives:

The State Controller’s Office (SCO) audited Mendocino County’s (the county’s) court revenues for the period of July 1, 2017, through June 30, 2021.

Our audit found that the county underremitted a net of $166,290 in state court revenues to the State Treasurer because it:

Underremitted the State Trial Court Improvement and Modernization Fund (Government Code [GC] section 77205) by $103,221; 

Overremitted the State’s DNA Identification Fund (GC section 76104.6) by $17,372; 


Underremitted the State’s DNA Identification Fund (GC section 76104.7) by $66,835; 


Underremitted the State’s Fish and Game Preservation Fund (Fish and Game Code section 13003) by $6,185; 


Underremitted the State Trial Court Improvement and Modernization Fund (GC section 68090.8) by $3,372; and 


Underremitted the State’s General Fund (Health and Safety Code section 11502) by $4,049. 


In addition, we found that the county and the Superior Court of California, Mendocino County made incorrect distributions related to traffic and criminal violations, parking surcharges, and prioritization of installment payments.

We also identified a deficiency that is not significant to our audit objective but warrants the attention of management. Specifically, we found that the parking entities incorrectly collected parking surcharges for the county’s Courthouse Construction Fund.

The county should remit $166,290 to the State Treasurer via the Report to State Controller of Remittance to State Treasurer (TC-31) and include the Schedule of this audit report. On the TC-31, the county should specify the account name identified on the Schedule of this audit report and state that the amounts are related to the SCO audit period of July 1, 2017, through June 30, 2021.

The county should not combine audit finding remittances with current revenues on the TC-31. A separate TC-31 should be submitted for the underremitted amounts for the audit period. For your convenience [sic], the TC-31 and directions for submission to the State Treasurer’s Office are located at https://www.sco.ca.gov/ard_trialcourt_manual_guidelines.html.

The underremitted amounts are due no later than 30 days after receipt of this final audit report. The SCO will add a statutory 1.5% per month penalty on the applicable delinquent amounts if payment is not received within 30 days of issuance of this final audit report.

Once the county has paid the underremitted amounts, the Tax Programs Unit will calculate interest on the underremitted amounts and bill the county in accordance with GC sections 68085, 70353, and 70377.

---

ms notes: The $166.2k (and any other future penalties or surcharges) is coming out of the County’s already overstretched General Fund. Not a peep from the Board. Neither the Board nor staff disputed or discussed this “consent calendar” item, nor did they ask how it happened, but routinely approved it along with dozens of other consent items.

---

MIKE GENIELLA:

This Happened In My Hometown.

It could easily happen in downtown Ukiah, where the fate of the historic Palace Hotel still hangs in the balance. The Palace's decay continues because the current owner, Jitu Ishwar, does nothing to protect the landmark structure. Ukiah City officials in recent years scurried from one proposal to another and, in the end, chose to hide behind closed doors to wring their hands when none materialized. The Palace rot continues as it did in the Hotel Marysville, which anchored that town's retail core. And then, earlier this summer, a fierce fire ravaged the once glorious Hotel Marysville. The LLC that owns Marysville's now gutted brick landmark refuses to pay for the clean-up, letting the rot stand for all to see and the toxic run-off that comes with the results. Hello, Ukiah. Is this your future?

---

BAD RAINBOW. NO BISCUIT. [MCN-Announce]

Have you heard about the bad rainbow? It ended up in prism. It was a light sentence, but it had time to reflect.

In other news, I see clear poetic parallels between the movie Blazing Saddles and the train-ride/land-grab company adventure in Fort Bragg, and also the impending destruction of the historical landmark Albion River Bridge. Find Blazing Saddles and watch it again. "We gotta save our phony-baloney jobs, gentlemen!"

The songs stuck in my head today: the Stan Freberg version of Day-O, and Ouch! by The Ruttles.

What was the song stuck in your head today, that these two just cured you of?

— Marco McClean

---

---

ED NOTES

IF THERE ARE five people in Mendocino County less deserving of a raise than the five Mendo supervisors, name them. Oh, but Williams and Haschak voted against the raises? Meaning they won't accept the extra money? They make almost a hundred grand now plus fringes worth another seventy Gs or so, which is nearly three times the average Mendo income and not bad for part-time “work.” (How many hours of labor do you suppose Supervisor Gjerde puts in in an average month for the people?)

HERE'S SUPERVISOR HASCHAK on the subject of Supes’ pay:

“There has been a lot of talk about supervisorial raises. The Board’s goal in negotiations was to get all employees to market rate for their positions. We did this with all bargaining units. With all department heads, CEO, and elected officials, we did the same thing except we used comparables for Humboldt, Sonoma, and Lake Counties which intentionally provided a lower increase in pay. Within the next two years, all employees will achieve this market rate. The same is true for the electeds, CEO and department heads. Instead of losing trained employees to other counties, we will be able to better retain and attract employees. There are 150 job classifications making more than the Supervisors. As a teacher, I would have made more than I do as a Supervisor. When I first ran for Supervisor, the Board had given themselves a 39% raise before the employees got their raise. I did not accept that money. Instead, I created scholarships for students in the 3rd District. With the current agreements, everyone else has already received the market rate agreement. Without getting the Supervisors to market rate, we would not be treating everyone equally. This would set up future Boards for a huge increase at some point. As noted in the Board meeting, the State requires the Supervisors to approve their own salary increase.”

ACCORDING TO HASCHAK more money for himself and his colleagues is simply a matter of equity, and gosh he made more as a teacher (which I doubt) and double gosh he gave a little back in scholarships.

EVER get the feeling we aren't particularly well-served by local government? Ever not get that feeling with a DA who brings a felony case against a elected county auditor because she challenged his expense account chiseling, and then the five supervisors, on the DA's say-so, removed the elected county auditor from her elected position, and then the DA's buddies on the Superior Court helped him blow up his non-case into an expensive and apparently endless matter? Not to mention that the Superior Court, none of whom are ever available for direct public feedback unless by some fluke they actually have opposition for re-election, as they tacitly approved new quarters for themselves at enormous inconvenience to the public offices remaining in the present, perfectly serviceable County Courthouse, their new quarters an architectural eyesore whose plans have appalled everyone who've seen them?

HAH! The Democrats are claiming that the Green Party's candidate for president is a tool of those crafty Rooskies. Could that crude libel be prompted by the encouraging fact that Dr. Stein is running strong enough in the “battleground” states to threaten Harris, the More of the Same Plus Genocide Harris? (Laughing Sal. Old timers will get the reference if not appreciate it applied to the jolly candidate.)

TRUMP'S ALLEGED ASSASSIN is obviously 5150, visibly deranged, but he's being media-portrayed as the second coming of Lee Harvey Oswald, the diff being that Oswald was government sponsored, hence the continued sequestration of files on the JFK murder, the second diff being a government sponsored assassin doesn't miss. Anyway, Trump is much more valuable alive because he gives the Democrats their only issue.

ONE FOOT in the grave, the other on a banana peel. I'm on the last leg (sic) of my treatment for thyroid cancer, which consists of a month of chemo-pills followed by two mega-shots of something called thyrogen and four days of total isolation. My affliction has cost me my voice and my senses of taste and smell. I can kinda talk in short bursts via a gizmo I hold to my throat, but I feel so much more comfortable writing my communications than inflicting that awful mechanical voice on my nearest and dearests so I won't be resorting to it. The chemo pills and thyrogen blasts are the latest in treatment strategies for my version of cancer and, I'm assured, far less depleting than the chemo many of us are unfortunately familiar with. Prior to my surgery to extract the main cancer lump and relocate my throat, I asked my doctor, “What if I don't do the surgery and simply let nature take its course?” He said, “You slowly choke to death over a period of several months.” Which convinced me to trade in my voice and the two senses for his unerring scalpel. (I was flattered, post-op, when Dr. Ryan told me I was “very popular with the nurses,” the first time I can remember being popular with anybody outside my immediate family, and I suspect a couple of them.) I can get around for short periods of time and have resumed an exercise regimen that seems to be promisingly restorative, but there's much discomfort that has come with this medical slog, including irregular sleep, but given the alternative, discomfort is the best bargain ever.

BIDEN: “As I have said many times, there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country, and I have directed my team to continue to ensure that the Secret Service has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former President’s continued safety.”

SAYS the fake president of the country born in violence where there's a mass shooting every day.

---

KATRINA ALSTON:

For all who knew my grandfather, William Rapp and knew he was a painter. Here is one of his largest paintings he did. My aunt Kathy Rapp and my mother loved this painting. We all love it. I sadly didn’t get to know my grandfather before he passed, but from all who had him as a teacher, I have gotten to know many stories of him as he was a teacher. He was a talented man.

---

ALLIANCE FOR A BETTER FORT BRAGG RECEPTION

Wednesday, September 18th at 5:00 PM, for a very special Alliance for a Better Fort Bragg (AFABFB) reception!

Date: Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Time: 5:00 - 7:00 PM

Location: Dijon Seafood & Grill, Upstairs in the Company Store | 301 North Main St., Fort Bragg, California 95437

Register Here https://afabfb.com/candidate-meeting/

We invite you, your friends, and your family to come learn more about the mission of AFABFB and the need to strengthen the community and economic growth.

We are also inviting those campaigning for Fort Bragg City Council that AFABFB has endorsed. Candidates have shown that they are dedicated to supporting policies that build and retain Fort Bragg local businesses, create jobs and grow the economy of the community and the North Coast. Endorsements will be announced later.

If you are interested in attending this reception and forum to ask questions to candidates working to win your vote, please RSVP. Space is limited, but we encourage you to attend and bring your friends and family.

Please share this link and register yourself: Candidate Meeting: Alliance for a Better Fort Bragg (afabfb.com)

---

WHO IS THE ALLIANCE FOR A BETTER FORT BRAGG? [Coast Chatline]

Daney Dawson to AFABFB: Would you mind giving us the names of these candidates, and which businesses support AFABFB?

Marco here. That's a good question, Daney. Especially since the writer of the notice, “Nathan Haderlie, Senior Advisor” also doesn't mention what he's senior advisor of, or who he's senior advisor to, nor does the link to /his/ website take you anywhere to learn that or anything else about him or supporters of his political movement or event, nor /their/ real purpose in supporting it. And the AFABFB website provides zero information, but instead offers the opportunity to give them all your personal information and “join the coalition”. Along with the propaganda red flags in the event notice text (similar to the propaganda cues in Tom's post to the listserv in reply to Dobby, see below*), it's not a good sign. Though it's fun to say AFABFB three or four times in a row and notice that sounds like a washing machine. Do that now, you'll see.

With that in mind, speaking of questions: You suggested that if I had questions for /your/ group moderating the MCN announce listserv, that I shouldn't write personally to you (for the record, I didn't; I wrote to the listserv in a reply to your post to the listserv, just as I'm doing now), but write only to the group's email address you provided. So I did, a week ago, and still find no response. You wrote, among other things, “The Mendocino Listserv Project is seeking two additional list members for our moderation team. As a moderator, you would work with a small group of other volunteers monitoring the listservs for violations of the Acceptable Use Policy, discussing and deciding what action to take regarding potential violations. Currently, this typically involves only a few actions per month.”

Here are my questions again, even shorter; will you please pass them along to the others, whoever they are, with the note that if it takes three minutes to simply post a link to the full existing information, and if that's too much of a chore for them, option two would be that they can start with the question that causes the least burning rubber smoke to come out of their ears, take one minute to answer that and I'll take the hint and ask the other questions one at a time thereafter. Though it really would be much more sensible to concentrate the accumulating info in one messy but text-searchable file and post a permanent link to it. That way you only have to do it once. And then when you take an action, excommunicate someone, send someone to the cornfield, whatever, add the info about that case to the file, and that would be that, until the next time it becomes necessary to smite someone.

I'm asking again for a list of punitive actions taken so far, with all of the remaining material: infraction, name of perp (incl. his or her sock-puppet names), emails “discussing and deciding what action to take”, from the “shared email account” you mention, and a very brief summary of real-world conversations about it between moderators, and action taken. Plus, of course, the names of those who consulted and took the actions. Show the transparency you promised you would when yez were campaigning for control of the listserv.

It's not right to have power over others' creativity and wield it in secret anonymity. Because that is a shadow bakery for poison cakes of cowardly hypocritical cruelty and unfairness, no matter what good you imagine you're doing. The worst people in the world with any power at all over others find ways to think they are the sorely beset good guys, and you know that.

*From the top:

Tom wrote:

They are currently trying to cut through the California style red tape and working with the handful of shortsighted entities (and people) that seems to want to stifle any sort of progress anywhere. There is a lot more to this story and the discussion list is the place for that.

However, the next question to ask is why has the city of Fort Bragg spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to oppose any of this development when they had already approved it?

Those taxpayer resources could have and should have been used for so many other and more beneficial things that the community needs instead of feeding the courts a lot of business.

Marco McClean

---

---

MINERAL SPRINGS LECTURE

Local historian Katy Tahja will be speaking about the Mineral Springs of Mendocino & Lake Counties at a talk for the Historical Society of Mendocino County. It’s Saturday September 21st at 1 p.m. at the Mendocino Presbyterian Church in Mendocino. A $10 donation is requested so we can keep preserving local history. All Orr Hot Springs fans are invited and Katy’s new publication on those springs will be available.

---

OPUS CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERTS

Opus Chamber Music Concerts announces its 2024-25 Season

A star-filled season is ahead for the Opus Chamber Music Concert Series. Get your season ticket online and avoid the line at the door. (symphonyoftheredwoods.org/opus). First Concert is this Sunday, September 22nd featuring local favorites Eric Kritz on clarinet and Carolyn Steinbuck on piano together with a small string ensemble. The second concert features world famous pianist Michelle Cann and flutist Rayo Furuta. That concert is on October 27th. November 24th features harpist Anna Maria Mendieta and violinist Ingrid Tracy presenting the colorful rhythm of Argentina and Spain.

Opus will bring back to the coast, January 12th, on popular demand, pianist Rachel Breen for a creative piano recital. Pianist Paul Schrage and tenor Jon Morrell will present German Lieders and more on February 16th. Baroque music will fill the hall on March 23rd with Mindy Rosenfeld on flutes and pipes. The final concert of the season features the Bay Area based Rubicon String Quartet on April 15th. All concerts take place on a Sunday afternoon at 3 PM in Preston Hall. For more information, please visit symphonyoftheredwoods.org/opus. A season ticket will guarantee you a seat for every concert and is highly recommended.

Opus Chamber Music Concerts is a program of the Symphony of the Redwoods.

---

---

THE WHO DOING WHAT?

Major Pro-Democracy event to be held Sept. 28th in Manchester!

The Redwood Coast Democrats, in alliance with the independent Freedomocracy Coalition organization, announce a major pre-election event, I Am Democracy, to be held on a beautiful ranch on the South Coast of Mendocino County. The outdoor event takes place on Saturday September 28 from noon to 3 pm and is open to the public. Featured speakers on democracy include California gubernatorial candidate, Betty Yee and candidate Chris Rogers, 2nd Assembly District, among other great speakers.

The event aims to generate enthusiasm for democracy and for the pro-democracy, pro-freedom Democratic ticket of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, as well as encourage voting and efforts to get out the vote.

Go to EventBrite.com to register.

Kenny Jowers, iamdemocracyvote@gmail.com

---

100+ WOMEN STRONG GATHERING

100+ Women Strong of Inland Mendocino County hosts the next gathering on Thursday October 3, 5:30 pm, at Barra of Mendocino in Redwood Valley.

The three nonprofits presenting are The Good Farm Fund, Mendocino County Youth Project, and Ukiah Main Street Program.

The Good Farm Fund, a program of North Coast Opportunities, run by volunteers, is dedicated to making grants to local farmers in need of special services, support, or equipment. The Mendocino County Youth Project, Youth and Family Services, is comprised of licensed therapists dedicated to supporting children and youth ages 0-25 and their families throughout Mendocino County and offers counseling, housing supporting mental health and wellness via a variety of programs. Ukiah Main Street Program's mission is to improve economic management, strengthen public participation, and make downtown a fun place to visit by such activities as recruiting new businesses, rehabilitating buildings, and expanding parking.

At the 100+ Women Strong Gathering, each non-profit is allocated five minutes to make a presentation and five minutes for the audience to ask questions. After hearing from each of the speakers, everyone who has made a hundred dollars donation will cast a vote for the nonprofit of their choice. The non-profit with the most votes will walk away with $10,000. Any donations above $10,000 will be split between the other two non-profits.

Attendance is open to anyone who wants to participate in giving a financial boost to an inland Mendocino County nonprofit. Refreshments are provided by the Caring Kitchen, a nonprofit which creates nutritious meals and delivers them to cancer patients in the area. Barra wine and other beverages will be available.

100+ Women Strong is an inclusive all-volunteer group associated with the Community Foundation of Mendocino County. Anyone interested in attending the Gathering and hearing from three nonprofits doing indispensable work in our community is welcome. To register, each attendee pledges a hundred dollars on the 100+ Mendocino Women Grapevine website via the Community Foundation of Mendocino County. Click the “Become a Member” button. All previous donors to 100 Women Strong of Inland Mendocino County, who have not done so already, must redo their contribution information on the Community Foundation link. Pledging before arrival is high priority. But checks will be accepted at the venue.

100+ Women Strong for Inland Mendocino County was spearheaded in 2019 by Katie Fairbairn and twenty volunteers. Previous winners include the Ukiah Senior Center, NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness), Cancer Resources of Mendocino County, Ukiah Valley Trails Group, NCO Gardens Project, Caring Kitchen, Project Sanctuary, the Humane Society for Inland Mendocino County, Northern California Disaster Services, and KZYX Community Radio, Hospice of Ukiah, and CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates).

More than a two hundred thousand dollars have been raised to support inland Mendocino County nonprofits since 2019. For more information and to become a member of 100+ Women Strong for Inland Mendocino County check the website https://communityfound.org/community/leadership-projects/100-women-strong-inland-mendocino/. Or call Karen Christopherson, 707-272-5570.

---

---

CATCH OF THE DAY, Monday, September 16, 2024

ROBERTO AGUILAR, 54, Ukiah. DUI.

ALANI AKHTAB, 23, Fort Bragg. Battery, contributing, probation revocation.

ALYSSA ANGLEY, 24, Fort Bragg. Domestic battery.

ANTHONY BERTOZZI, 34, Redwood Valley. Shoplifting.

JAYLEN DEHARO-FABER, 29. Ukiah. DUI.

ROGER GORRIN JR., 46, Lakeport/Ukiah. Parole violation.

THOMAS HANOVER, 27, Ukiah. Assault with deadly weapon not a gun.

JUSTIN LOUDERMILK, 31, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

ZACHARIAH MENDEZ, 21, Ukiah. Probation violation.

MICHAEL PARKER, 46, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

JENNIFER SMITH, 42, Fort Bragg. Paraphernalia, parole violation.

CHARLES STASER, 61, Covelo. Probation revocation.

PAUL TAYLOR, 40, Ukiah. Vandalism.

WAYNE VANDOREN II, 31, Nice/Ukiah. Failure to appear.

---

---

CHRIS SKYHAWK:

The level of fascism, inside Cult Blue is conveniently masked by the excesses of T-rump. Inside Cult Blue where supposedly thinking people accept the coronation of Kamala, after their party tried to force the declining Genocide Joe down our collective throat, gaslighting us all the while telling us he was fine, and then when their lie could not be hidden, arrange a backroom deal to “save” democracy by appointing Kamala with no public process at all, the number that just accepts this astounds me! I feel like I must have landed in some alternative universe, in online discussions, just for making these points, I’ve been labelled a racist, a sexist who doesn’t care for his daughters, a Putin Puppet, even a Nazi!! but this is the reality right now…

I always recommend that people read this book, warning: it’s a bit of a stretch for people who are content inside their cult, but… Listen Liberal by Thomas Frank, it's the most depressing book I’ve ever read, but if you want to understand why we are trapped in forever wars, and why our food and medicine is run by corporations while we fight the team red vs. team blue culture wars, it’s a must read!

---

---

CATCHING UP WITH CRAIG

Warmest spiritual greetings,

Indentified with Parabrahman, Available for Spiritually Based Direct Action

Following a shootout in front of the homeless shelter this weekend, the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police are maintaining a 24 hour watch here. Catholic Charities has advised me to stay inside of the shelter, and also the day drop in located behind the shelter, and the outdoor “smoking area” for short walks. I have asked the Washington, D.C. Peace Vigil to disregard me as a participant, as this is not feasible. The vigil may easily be maintained by inviting local groups of similar socio-political outlook to come by and make a statement, and fill in some of the time slots.

I am available on the planet earth for anything spiritually based. I have sufficient money to go anywhere.

Meanwhile, I am identified with Parabrahman (that which is “prior to consciousness”). The Divine Absolute works through the body-mind complex without interference. The mind continuously chants the Hare Krishna mahamantra. And I still drop into a Catholic church when possible to enjoy a Mass, complete with singing, of course.

I'm ready!

---

---

A READER WRITES:

Re: Sunday’s 49ers loss:

Pros:

Offensive line run blocking still extremely good.

Jordan Mason looks like the real deal.

Kittle and Deebo putting in the work.

Brock's accuracy and arm look great.

Fred Warner has to be in the conversation for best defensive player in the league. The man is a menace.

Jauan Jennings is still one of the most underrated receivers in the NFL.

Cons:

Play calling was questionable. First half and red zone calls were trying too hard to be “cute.” Just run it down their throats.

Purdy decision making questionable a couple times.

Special teams needs work.

Pass blocking needs a LOT of work.

Aiyuk needs to get in game shape.

Defensive secondary is going to need to figure out a better way to cover A-tier receivers like Jefferson. You can't expect to let Amon-Ra or CeeDee or AJ Brown get behind you like that in the playoffs this year. Can't afford to get smoked.

Overall, the game really wasn't as close as the score. We got beat. That's fine, it's week 2 and the Vikings aren't in-division. I'll take a loss to the Vikings in Week 2 rather than a loss to the Seahawks or Rams in Week 13 or something.

On the plus side, now they have a loss under their belts. It keeps them humble. It motivates them. It makes them realize that despite all the offseason hype about the best roster in the NFL, a genius strategist head coach, and a “revenge tour,” they still have to put in the work.

Love my team and I bleed red and gold no matter what. Congrats to the Vikings on their win. They earned it.

---

---

A LOSS IN MINNESOTA? MCCAFFREY OUT? 49ERS’ SUPER BOWL HANGOVER IS REAL AND IT’S HERE

by Ann Killion

Oh, that Super Bowl hangover is real, all right. At least, it sure felt like that way in the second game of the season.

The San Francisco 49ers, as is their odd tradition, face-planted in the state of Minnesota, losing 23-17 to the Vikings on Sunday.

“Too sloppy on our part,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Disappointing.”

With the early loss — one that most people probably had circled as a win on the schedule — we were reminded again that this journey to get back to the Super Bowl is not going to be easy. It never was going to be, and it just got a lot harder with the weekend news that the team will be without arguably its best player until Oct. 10 at the earliest.

Christian McCaffrey was placed on injured reserve Saturday with a calf and Achilles injury, meaning he will miss at least the first five games of the season, news that disrupted fantasy-football leagues everywhere. “Mc-Calf-rey Gate” might bum out gamblers and fantasy players, but much more importantly, it is bad news for the 49ers’ offense and quarterback Brock Purdy.

Shanahan indicated Sunday he isn’t sure when McCaffrey will return.

“There are things we can’t do without Christian,” tight end George Kittle said.

Last week, Purdy had called the Vikings’ defense “an illusion-fest,” meaning the team would show one look and do something different. Purdy and his offensive line struggled with the illusion; though Purdy made some beautiful throws, he was off-balance all game, throwing one interception and getting sacked six times.

When he has been asked about McCaffrey’s absence, Purdy has more than once referenced the option McCaffrey gives him on third down, when he can dump the ball off to the Stanford alum and let him make something happen. Purdy didn’t have his McCaffrey safety net Sunday, and the team struggled terribly on third down, converting just 2 of 10 chances. The two conversions were to Kittle, who has been a comfortable fallback for Purdy beyond McCaffrey. But Kittle was carted off the field early in the second half, needing an IV. He returned, but the game was getting out of hand.

The 49ers have plenty of other playmakers, of course. Jordan Mason had another nice game, rushing for 100 yards and a touchdown, but it wasn’t the dominating ground game Shanahan wants. Deebo Samuel was called on again as a receiver, running back and returner, and made several drive-continuing catches. But Brandon Aiyuk was very quiet again and the offensive line struggled with both the phantom looks of Brian Flores’ defensive scheme for Minnesota and the deafening noise in the building.

“It’s as simple as executing,” Purdy said. “We’ve got what it takes.”

On defense, the 49ers also had problems on third down, unable to get off the field, allowing the Vikings to convert 7 of 12 chances. If it wasn’t for the spectacular play of linebacker Fred Warner, including his forced fumble at the goal line that prevented the Vikings from going up by 20 points at the end of the third quarter, it could have been worse. Receiver Justin Jefferson was spectacular for the Vikings with a 97-yard touchdown reception before leaving with an injury, and the 49ers’ defense made old friend Sam Darnold look just about as good as Kirk Cousins.

There are reasons, of course, for the malaise and sloppiness. The 49ers were on the road, playing at 10 a.m. body-clock time, after a short week during which they learned some alarming news about one of their leaders. So you could have predicted that they might have struggled.

Plus, they were in the city where — in a statistical oddity that spans two different buildings — they haven’t won a game since December 1992, when Steve Young and Jerry Rice led the team. For context: I was at that game, leaving behind an 18-month-old at home. That kid is 33 now.

Yeah, the 49ers don’t like playing in Minnesota. It seems ingrained deep in their DNA. Still, it was problematic to see the 49ers come out looking flat in just the second game of this critical, all-in, New Orleans-or-bust season.

Purdy had talked about trying to start fast, to shut up the crowd. The 49ers started first on offense and went three-and-out. In contrast, though the Vikings didn’t score, they put together a sustained drive on their first possession.

“We’ve got to start faster,” defensive lineman Nick Bosa said.

The 49ers wanted to start the season fast. Though they struggled last season, losing three straight games in October when they had some key players missing, those problems came when they were already in control of the NFC West.

Right now is supposed to be the easier part of a schedule that gets progressively harder, starting in October. But this season, the 49ers are missing key players right from the start in McCaffrey and linebacker Dre Greenlaw.

Shanahan was asked whether there was an emotional letdown Sunday because of the short week.

“No emotional letdown,” he said, attributing the loss to “football things.”

But football things are impacted by emotional things. The stress of a heartbreaking Super Bowl loss and the attempt to do it all over again is hard, both on weary bodies and mental focus.

Hangovers are real. We saw the evidence Sunday.

(SF Chronicle)

---

---

TUESDAY'S LEAD STORIES, NYT

Secret Service Admits Not Searching Golf Course Perimeter, Drawing New Scrutiny

Ohio Governor Sending State Police to Springfield After Rash of Bomb Scares

Hamas Is Surviving War With Israel. Now It Hopes to Thrive in Gaza Again

Sean Combs Arrested in Manhattan After Grand Jury Indictment

The Weight Loss Hacks That Claim to Work Like Ozempic

---

---

THE REAL ELECTION MEDDLING WILL HAPPEN RIGHT OUT IN THE OPEN

by Caitlin Johnstone

The election in November will be rigged.

This election rigging will not be done by Russia, or by China, or by Iran, or by far right coup plotters, or by some shadowy cabal tampering with voting machines. It will happen right out in the open, and will be perfectly legal.

In fact, it’s already happening.

This election is being rigged by the donor class. It’s being rigged by lobby groups. It’s being rigged by the plutocrat-owned mass media, and by plutocrat-controlled Silicon Valley algorithm manipulation. It’s being rigged by obscenely wealthy people who can afford to extract political favors in exchange for massive campaign donations in ways normal members of the public never could. It’s being rigged by people who’ve bought up so much narrative control in the form of media ownership that they can set agendas for the entire country in ways the average voter has no chance of ever doing.

These election meddlers dictate the political framework and information environment in which elections take place. They decide what positions will be considered normal and acceptable, and which will be considered radical and extreme. They predetermine the location and range on the political spectrum at which the election will be contested, and they restrict the Overton window of acceptable political opinion within which debates and discourse will occur.

They do this without any regard for the interests of ordinary members of the public, but solely for their own interests. That’s why you see candidates arguing not about WHETHER wars should happen, but WHICH wars should happen, and HOW they should occur. It’s why you see them accusing one another of being too weak and dovish on foreign policy instead of attacking each other as reckless warmongers. It’s why you see them arguing over who loves Israel the most and who will send it the most weapons, rather than who will do the most to end Israel’s genocidal atrocities. It’s why you see them debating who supports the most fracking and oil-drilling instead of promising to end ecocidal policies and stop the corporate destruction of our environment. It’s why you see them arguing over the minute details of what capitalism and imperialism should look like, rather than if capitalism and imperialism should exist at all.

It’s also why, when you see a candidate show up with a platform of ending war and militarism, stopping ecocide, and curbing the injustices and abuses of capitalism, they are treated as outlandish extremists. Not just by the rich and powerful, but also by ordinary members of the public who’ve been indoctrinated by all this manipulation into accepting status quo politics as the norm.

This rigged, controlled political environment is what we were all born into, so we’re conditioned to think it’s normal. It’s very easy to miss how freakish and abominable the whole thing is. How destructive it is. How much needless death and misery and devastation it causes. If we came from a healthy world into this one we would scream in horror, but because we’ve never lived in a healthy world, we can be manipulated into mistaking the sickness of this civilization for health.

Elections are rigged in this way by a fairly small group of plutocrats and empire managers, not just in the United States but throughout the western world. They rig our entire political system in their favor, and then have the gall to tell us we all need to freak out because some Russians made some Facebook memes near an election season.

This is not democracy. This is plutocracy. This is oligarchy. We’re just indoctrinated into calling it democracy, by the very same mass-scale psychological manipulations they use to keep it from being a democracy.

All US elections these days come with allegations of election interference, especially from the losing side. But it’s important to keep in mind that even in the unlikely event that those allegations were 100 percent true, they’d still be a tiny drop in the ocean compared to the election interference that’s already happening right out in the open.

(caitlinjohnstone.com.au)

---

---

BEEP BEEP!

by James Kunstler

Pre-blog Note: My regular website, www.kunstler.com, has been down more than a week. We’re frustrated trying to get straight answers from the host company, only vague references to “a hardware problem.” We begin to suspect that the Three-letter boys might have seized the server unit my website lived on. We’re still standing by on developments. For now, the blog is here for you on Substack, every Monday and Friday. Thanks for your support through this travail.

Donald Trump is looking increasingly likely to be the winner of the presidential race. I have long held that the globalists will wrap up an economic collapse or a world war and throw it in Trump’s lap.”

— Brandon Smith

This time, the shooter lives to do some ’splainin’. Do you wonder if he might get around to 'splainin’ his role with the shady non-governmental orgs (NGOs) supported by the CIA who enabled his travels to Ukraine and his efforts there recruiting global mutts to fight for the Nazi-ish Azov Battalion? Perhaps he might rat-out actual government officials who assisted him in his colorful misadventures? As Ed Snowden remarked on “X,” wannabe Trump assassin Ryan Routh has “something of an Oswald vibe” — meaning, well-groomed by the intel boys, to be used as required.

Perhaps we’ll find out — if nothing fatal happens to befall Mr. Routh while in custody — how exactly he learned Mr. Trump would be on the links that afternoon? The candidate’s round of golf that day was supposedly a snap decision known only amongst his innermost circle. Or how did Mr. Routh figure out the most advantageous fairway to lay at for a clear shot? The FBI is on the case, you may be reassured to know.

Things political are speeding up with the autumnal quickening. The blob is truly and deeply a’fright. So many blobsters will be liable to pay for their multitudinous crimes against the people of this country if Mr. Trump squeaks back into power that such a future is unthinkable to them. And yet, nothing has worked to deactivate this… this golden golem stalking the land. Nothing to show for the immense catalog of lawfare cases concocted to drain his wealth and stuff him into a prison cell — and astounding how amateurish they all were! Engoron and Merchan, two boobies hatched out of Judicial Error Central. Fani Willis, a walking-talking banana peel! Merrick Garland, saving democracy one abuse of power at a time!

The Butler, PA, head-shot op came awfully close to eliminating their, uh, problem, but no cigar. The Palm Beach golf course ambush had a Peter Sellers vibe, wouldn’t you agree? With the rifle muzzle poking through the shrubbery behind a fence. What next? A pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms, and cyanide? Maybe try to drop an anvil on Mr. Trump’s head from a passing airplane? (Beep-beep… woosh!)

Somebody do something!!! The blob is shrieking to its minions from the sub-basement bunkers at Langley to the salons of Georgetown, to the US Embassy in Ukraine. Well, there’s always World War Three! And it looks like just such a romp is about to be instigated. You may have seen the photo last week of “Joe Biden” meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer at a big conference table, talking-up a plan to give Ukraine the green light to rain long-range missiles deep into Russia. Meaning, let NATO technicians work the targeting console to send US or British made rockets any old place over there? Like, Red Square? Or the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg? Find an actual Ukrainian to push the launch button.

How is that not a direct attack on Russia by NATO? Well, of course it is exactly that. Russia’s chief executive, Mr. Putin, clarified it for the Globalist Neocon cohort infesting NATO that such an action would bring… “consequences.” That is a word the Neocons are no longer acquainted with; it has been such a long time since they’ve crossed its path, like its boon companion, “truth,” also missing-in-action these days. And, to be fair, Mr. Putin did not specify what the consequences might be, not even a simple metaphor like a mushroom cloud, or an ashtray.

How did they even get “Joe Biden” off the beach for that photo op? It is understood by everyone over ten-years-old in America that “JB” is not available for duty anymore. The “out-to-lunch” sign hangs permanently on the doorknob of the Oval Office now. The USA does not have a functioning chief-of-state for the first time in 235 years. After 2021, some sort of unelected, informal Politburu that self-assembled in the White House, like a clot from a Covid Vaccine shot, is running our affairs. Maybe Kamala Harris has a clue who is in that outfit. Or somebody in the news median could ask her (if she ever gets around to holding an actual news conference, where the questions are not previewed or scripted.) Anyone dare ask?

Kamala Harris is strangely missing from the front page of The New York Times this morning. Is that a little ominous? The debate is behind her. There will not be another, apparently. There is nothing about her schedule on the official campaign website. Has she entered fade-away mode? Is it all over now except for the ballot harvesting and the, uh, little adjustments to the Dominion vote-counting machines? Has the drinking started again?

(jameshowardkunstler.substack.com)

---

TO THE ISRAELI SOLDIER WHO MURDERED AYSENUR EZGI EYGI

by Chris Hedges

I know you. I met you in the dense canopies in the war in El Salvador. It was there that I first heard the single, high-pitched crack of the sniper bullet. Distinct. Ominous. A sound that spreads terror. Army units I traveled with, enraged by the lethal accuracy of rebel snipers, set up heavy .50 caliber machine guns and sprayed the foliage overhead until your body, a bloodied and mangled pulp, dropped to the ground.

I saw you at work in Basra in Iraq and of course Gaza, where on a fall afternoon at the Netzarim Junction, you shot dead a young man a few feet away from me. We carried his limp body up the road.

I lived with you in Sarajevo during the war. You were only a few hundred yards away, perched in high rises that looked down on the city. I witnessed your daily carnage. At dusk, I saw you fire a round in the gloom at an old man and his wife bent over their tiny vegetable plot. You missed. She ran, haltingly, for cover. He did not. You fired again. I concede the light was fading. It was hard to see. Then, the third time, you killed him. This is one of those memories of war I see in my head over and over and over and never talk about. I watched it from the back of the Holiday Inn, but by now I have seen it, or the shadows of it, hundreds of times.

You targeted me, too. You struck down colleagues and friends. I was in your sights traveling from northern Albania into Kosovo with 600 fighters from the Kosovo Liberation Army, each insurgent carrying an extra AK-47 to hand off to a comrade. Three shots. That crisp crack, too familiar. You must have been far away. Or maybe you were a bad shot, although you came close. I scrambled for cover behind a rock. My two bodyguards bent over me, panting, the green pouches strapped to their chests packed full of grenades.

I know how you talk. The black humor. “Pint sized terrorists” you say of the children you kill. You are proud of your skills. It gives you cachet. You cradle your weapon as if it is an extension of your body. You admire its despicable beauty. This is who you are. A killer. 

In your society of killers, you are respected, rewarded, promoted. You are numb to the suffering you inflict. Maybe you enjoy it. Maybe you think you are protecting yourself, your identity, your comrades, your nation. Maybe you believe the killing is a necessary evil, a way to make sure Palestinians die before they can strike. Maybe you have surrendered your morality to the blind obedience of the military, subsumed yourself into the industrial machinery of death. Maybe you are scared to die. Maybe you want to prove to yourself and others that you are tough, you can kill. Maybe your mind is so warped that you believe killing is righteous.

You are intoxicated by the god-like power to revoke another person’s charter to live on this earth. You revel in the intimacy of it. You see in fine detail through the telescopic sight, the nose and mouth of your victim. The triangle of death. You hold your breath. You pull slowly, gently on the trigger. And then the pink puff. Severed spinal cord. Death. It is over.

You were the last person to see Aysenur alive. You were the first person to see her dead. 

This is you now. And now no one can reach you. You are death’s angel. You are numb and cold. But, I suspect, this will not last. I covered war for a long time. I know, even if you do not, the next chapter of your life. I know what happens when you leave the embrace of the military, when you are no longer a cog in these factories of death. I know the hell you are about to enter.

It starts like this. All the skills you acquired as a killer on the outside are useless. Maybe you go back. Maybe you become a gun for hire. But this will only delay the inevitable. You can run, for a while, but you cannot run forever. There will be reckoning. And it is the reckoning I will tell you about. 

You will face a choice. Live the rest of your life, stunted, numb, cut off from yourself, cut off from those around you. Descend into a psychopathic fog, trapped in the absurd, interdependent lies that justify mass murder. There are killers, years later, who say they are proud of their work, who claim not a moment’s regret. But I have not been inside their nightmares. If this is you then you will never again truly live.

Of course, you do not talk about what you did to those around you, certainly not to your family. They think you are a good person. You know this is a lie. The numbness, usually, wears off. You look in the mirror, and if you have any shred of conscience left, your reflection disturbs you. But you repress the bitterness. You escape down the rabbit hole of opioids and alcohol. Your intimate relationships, because you cannot feel, because you bury your self-loathing, disintegrate. This escape works. For a while. But then you go into such darkness that the stimulants you use to blunt your pain begin to destroy you. And maybe that is how you die. I have known many who died like that. And I have known those who ended it quickly. A gun to the head. 

Between 1973 and 2024, 1,227 Israeli soldiers committed suicide according to official statistics, but the actual number is believed to be far higher. In the U.S. an average of 16 veterans commit suicide every day.

I have trauma from war. But the worst trauma I do not have. The worst trauma from war is not what you saw. It is not what you experienced. The worst trauma is what you did. They have names for it. Moral injury. Perpetrator Induced Traumatic Stress. But that seems tepid given the hot, burning coals of rage, the night terrors, the despair. Those around you know something is terribly, terribly wrong. They fear your darkness. But you do not let them into your labyrinth of pain.

And then, one day, you reach out for love. Love is the opposite of war. War is about smut. It is about pornography. It is about turning other human beings into objects, maybe sexual objects, but I also mean this literally, for war turns people into corpses. Corpses are the end product of war, what comes off its assembly line. So, you will want love, but the angel of death has made a Faustian bargain. It is this. It is the hell of not being able to love. You will carry this death inside you for the rest of your life. It corrodes your soul. Yes. We have souls. You sold yours. And the cost is very, very high. It means that what you want, what you most desperately need in life, you cannot attain.

Then one day, maybe you are a father or a mother or an uncle or an aunt, and a young woman you love, or want to love as a daughter, comes into your life. You see in her, it will come in a flash, Aysenur’s face. The young woman you murdered. Come back to life. Israeli now. Speaking Hebrew. Innocent. Good. Full of hope. The full force of what you did, who you were, who you are, will hit you like an avalanche.

You will spend days wanting to cry and not knowing why. You will be consumed by guilt. You will believe that because of what you did the life of this other young woman is in danger. Divine retribution. You will tell yourself this is absurd, but you will believe it anyway. Your life will start to include little offerings of goodness to others as if these offerings will appease a vengeful god, as if these offerings will save her from harm, from death. But nothing can wipe away the stain of murder. 

Yes. You killed Aysenur. You killed others. Palestinians who you dehumanized and taught yourself to hate. Human animals. Terrorists. Barbarians. But it is harder to dehumanize her. You know, you saw it through your scope, she was no threat. She did not throw rocks, the paltry justification the Israeli army uses to shoot live rounds at Palestinians, including children. 

You will be overwhelmed with sorrow. Regret. Shame. Grief. Despair. Alienation. You will have an existential crisis. You will know that all the values you were taught to honor in school, at worship, in your home, are not the values you upheld. You will hate yourself. You will not say this out loud. You may, one way or another, extinguish yourself.

There is a part of me that says you deserve this torment. There is a part of me that wants you to suffer for the loss you inflicted on Aysenur’s family and friends, to pay for taking the life of this courageous and gifted woman.

Shooting unarmed people is not bravery. It is not courage. It is not even war. It is a crime. It is murder. You are a murderer. I am sure you were not ordered to kill Aysenur. You shot Aysenur in the head because you could, because you felt like it. Israel runs an open-air shooting gallery in Gaza and the West Bank. Total impunity. Murder as sport.

You will, one day, not be the killer you are now. You will exhaust yourself trying to ward off demons. You will desperately want to be human. You will want to love and be loved. Maybe you will make it. Being human again. But that will mean a life of contrition. It will mean making your crime public. It will mean begging, on your knees, for forgiveness. It will mean forgiving yourself. This is very hard. It will mean orientating every aspect of your life to nurturing life rather than extinguishing it. This will be your only hope for salvation. If you do not take it, you are damned.     

(chrishedges.substack.com)

---