Mendocino County Today: Tuesday 10/1/2024

Heat Advisory | Cooling Center | Creekside Squalor | Unity Club | Lily | FB Broadband | Turkey Vulture | Community Coffee | Goofy | Maritime Cafe | New SPACE | Jazz Quartet | Slack Life | Ed Notes | Socialism | Yesterday's Catch | Schwab Poster | Denson Memorial | Buster Up | My Lunch | Pete Rose | Fraud Schiff | Asheville NC | Photographers | Gone Galt | Lead Stories | Polishing It | US/Israeli Terrorism | Opposing War | Hunting Trump | Revolving Door | Calamitous Result | Reader | Question AI

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A HEAT ADVISORY has been issued for interior Mendocino and Lake Counties for Tuesday and Wednesday. High temperatures of up to 110 degrees are forecast. Make sure to stay cool and hydrated! (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A clear 49F under clear skies on the coast this Tuesday morning. It will be quite warm today with the fog nowhere nearby. Other than partly cloudy Sunday night there is no mention of clouds in the forecast right now.

The new rainfall season starts today, last was wet, mostly early 2024:
2023: Oct 1.82”, Nov 3.24, Dec 7.73”
2024: Jan 10.22”, Feb 14.40”, Mar 10.04”, Apr 1.98”, May 1.77”, Jun .27”, Jul 0.00”, Aug .20”, Sept .10”
YTD: 51.67”

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VOLUNTEERS CAME TO CLEAN UP MENDOCINO’S WATERWAYS. INSTEAD, THEY FOUND ENCAMPMENTS.

This last Saturday, September 28, 2024, community members converged on multiple Mendocino County waterways targeting areas inundated by refuse. Volunteers did not just find simple trash to pick up but entire makeshift communities built by the Ukiah Valley’s unhoused population directly in vulnerable waterways. In the end, thousands of pounds of waste were pulled from local riparian habitats.…

https://mendofever.com/2024/09/30/volunteers-came-to-clean-up-mendocinos-waterways-instead-they-found-encampments/

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ADAM GASKA:

Today I helped with The Mendocino County Resource Conservation (MCRCD) sponsored clean up, the Streets to Creeks.

A few weeks ago, after walking Gibson Creek, I was appalled at the garbage and open drug use happening. I organized a handful of people to assist me in cleaning it up.

After multiple conversations with others in our community, I decided it was time to intervene. I was made aware of a few large encampments in local creeks and decided to target Ackerman Creek.

I lined up local law enforcement to do some pre clean up preparation by assisting in clearing out people that were camped out. A local security company got wind of my efforts and offered their support day of.

Even though I was forewarned of the level of impact, I was appalled at what I saw today.

Large scale soil disturbance through devegetation and terracing of the stream bank. Multiple cabins constructed replete with showers, bathrooms and a few even had TV. There was evidence of drug cartel and trafficking activity.

We got all the cabins broken down and a lot of garbage removed, but there is much more to do. I am working with the Pinoleville tribe to continue the clean up for the next few weeks. I am in contact with Sheriff Matt Kendall to help support the efforts through security.

Allowing people to live in squalor while they destroy our creeks is unacceptable. Simply being homeless isn't a crime. Destroying our environment and endangering public safety is, and should never be tolerated regardless of social station. Wrong is wrong.

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UNITY CLUB NEWS

by Miriam Martinez

Welcome to our Fall first meeting of the Anderson Valley Unity Club on the Thursday, the third of October at 1:30 in the Dining Room, Fairgrounds. The Executive Committee will be the hostesses for our Friendship Tea meeting, supplying tea, coffee and snacks. Bring a friend.

I hope you had a great Summer. I got to see all of my great grand kids and several nieces too. Those babies really tuckered me out. I had a fantastic time at the Boonville Apple Fair. It's a lot of work. I was surprised to find out it was a week earlier than usual, on the Friday before the Fair. Wow! 100 years of celebrating farming, ranching, sheep dogs, 4-H, and Rodeo.

Our Community Library will open the door to patrons on Tuesday, October 8th at 1:00 p.m. Book donations will be accepted again, Tuesdays from 1 to 4 and Saturdays from 12:30 to 2:30. We have new books for check out and gently used books for sale. Hardbound books are $1 and paperbacks 50¢ each.

I'll see you Thursday, October 3rd for our Friendship Tea and first meeting for the 2024-25 year. I'll be at the Library after school on Tuesday the 8th with a box of books. Happy Autumn.

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CITY OF FORT BRAGG AWARDED $10.3 MILLION TO BUILD MUNICIPAL BROADBAND, Unlocking New Opportunities for Economic Growth and Closing the Digital Divide

September 30, 2024; Fort Bragg, CA - The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the vulnerability of households without access to affordable and reliable internet – from the ability to access telehealth services, to remote learning and remote working opportunities, participating in virtual events, or having access to modern business markets.

In response to this national issue, the federal and state government made historical investments to close the digital divide, and ensure equitable access to the opportunities that internet connectivity affords. The City also stepped up by dedicating staff resources to gain a better understanding of how the City might assist with improving our community’s access to this critical infrastructure.

With the leadership of the Broadband Ad-Hoc Committee, City Council adopted the Fort Bragg Digital Infrastructure Plan in 2021, which included a high level network design, cost estimates, operational readiness analysis, pro-forma Profit and Loss, as well as considerations related to on-going service and support.

The City then applied for, and was awarded, grant funds from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to bring these desktop designs to construction level detail. We now have engineered construction plans, business model, operations plan, and marketing strategy in place for a Fiber-to-the-Premise (FTTP) network that would offer every premise within city limits access to reliable and affordable gigabit speeds via underground fiber and conduit.

It is with great excitement we announce that the CPUC has awarded the City of Fort Bragg $10.3 million dollars in Federal Funding Account (FFA) grant program funds for construction! This announcement solidifies the City’s commitment to create a public broadband utility that will serve the community; facilitate future technological advancements, and supporting long-term growth.

City Manager Isaac Whippy said “I would like to thank the Fort Bragg City Council for their forward-thinking vision in driving economic development and broadband infrastructure. Your commitment to this project will have a lasting impact on Fort Bragg’s growth and future opportunities. I also commend Sarah McCormick and City staff for their hard work and dedication in securing the funding necessary to bring this transformative initiative to life. This initiative will play a vital role in closing the digital divide and ensuring equitable access to high-speed internet for our entire community - it’s incredibly exciting!”

The total cost for the municipal broadband project is estimated at $14.6 million, leaving a funding gap of $4.3 million. Representative Huffman has selected this project for $1 million in FY-2025 Congressional directed spending. If approved through the appropriations process, this funding will reduce the gap to $3.3 million, for which City Staff are actively pursuing additional funding opportunities

Stay informed on this important initiative by signing up for “Notify Me” e-notifications: Economic Development on the City’s website: https://www.city.fortbragg.com/about-us/enotification

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WHO? WHY?

Chris Rogers in Willits & Ukiah Dear Friends,

With Election Day just 36 days away, I’m excited to invite you to two great events in Willits and Ukiah this Sunday, October 6th. In both communities, we'll be hosting a Community Coffee where you can gather with neighbors and grab a coffee while we chat about the future of Mendocino County. I hope you can join us!

Willits Community Coffee with Supervisor John Haschak and State Assembly Candidate Chris Rogers

Join me and Mendocino County Supervisor John Haschak for coffee, cinnamon rolls, and a casual conversation about the issues that matter most to our community. This is a great opportunity to ask questions, share your thoughts, and hear more about how we can work together for a better future in Willits, and all of Mendocino County.

Sunday, October 6th at 11:00 AM

Lumberjacks - 1740 South Main Street, Willits

Ukiah Community Coffee with Councilmember Mari Rodin and State Assembly Candidate Chris Rogers

Later in the afternoon, I invite you to join me and Ukiah City Councilmember Mari Rodin at Black Oak Coffee for a conversation about the Ukiah Valley and how city, county, and state government can work together to address the priorities of our community. Black Oak will have the coffee ready, and hopefully, you'll join us!

Sunday, October 6th, 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM

Black Oak Coffee - 476 N. State Street, Ukiah

We’re building momentum across Inland Mendocino County, and your involvement is key to ensuring every voice is heard. Join us for one or both of these events and let’s keep our community engaged and energized. If you’re planning to attend either event, it would be great to know in advance — just reply to this email. Hope to see you there!

Warm regards,

Chris Rogers

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HOO-BOY, IT’S HARVEST TIME!

It’s Thank You Season. What else is a harvest but a big thank you from the plants for all the sun and water and good dirt they received throughout their lives? The food on our plate is the delicious summation of the time and care devoted to a farm or garden or ranch, combining all those elements together to ultimately feed us.

I’ve never been a front line person——those souls who can go head-to-head with human (and environmental) suffering on a daily basis, working to alleviate the burdens caused by illness or poverty or neglect. They are pretty rare, these saints who walk among us, and though I may not be one, I can recognize them and support them. Those are the people I want to elevate, the ones made of sterner stuff who make our community happier and healthier with their dedication to a worthy cause.

What better way to celebrate thank you season than to support the folks whose work makes our county better? A number of events this October offer the harmonious combination of harvest dinners and fundraisers, where you can enjoy the season’s bounty while giving back to the people who give so much. Groups include Parents & Friends, the Noyo Center for Marine Science, Caring Kitchen, Plowshares, Good Farm Fund, Mendocino Coast Children’s Fund, and the School of Adaptive Agriculture—all amazing organizations that we’re lucky to have.

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A NEW FOOD SPOT IN ELK

The Maritime Cafe

by Holly Madrigal

The tiny town of Elk has enjoyed some outside attention recently when it was dubbed The Best Small Town for Food and Wine in the US for 2024 by Travel + Leisure … fancy! Down the road, Michelin-starred neighbor, The Harbor House, surely drew the eye of reviewers, as well as the talented winemakers at Drew Family Cellars and other local wineries. The entirely revamped Sacred Rock Inn with its two restaurants were mentioned as both casual fare and fine dining. But missing from the Where to Eat recommendations—likely due to timing since it only opened recently—was the new restaurant in the space that formerly contained Lynn Derrick’s Queenies Roadhouse Café.

Dubbed the Maritime Café, this fresh dining spot offers dishes crafted from locally sourced produce, presented with simplicity and inventiveness that highlights the quality and essential flavors of the ingredients. I stopped in when I was in town for the celebratory Great Day in Elk. The street was bustling with locals and visitors alike, and the deck of the Maritime Café was the prime location to watch the passersby. The sunny space overlooks the ocean and yet is firmly settled in the heart of town.

Rodney and Alexa honed their chef skills in the Anderson Valley kitchens of the Boonville Hotel and Wickson Restaurant, which was also their first venture running their own operation. Before coming to Mendocino County, Rodney worked in Bay Area restaurants including Camino, Statebird Provisions, and Chez Panisse.

The pair’s culinary prowess is on display at the Maritime Café in the subtle way that lets you know that these folks know how to draw the best from every element in a dish. The Grilled Zucchini with slow cooked tomatoes was deceptive in its simplicity and super delicious. The lentils, rice, yogurt, and crispy shallots were both scrumptious and hearty, with the cooling yogurt balanced with the rich and crispy crunch of the fried shallots. The Roasted Carrots with tahini and preserved lemon combined the salty citrus and fresh pepper with the sweetness of the perfectly roasted carrots. My eye was caught by the Monterey Squid with white shell beans, celery, and chili oil, which I plan to try on my next visit. As the cool weather rolls in, I’ll don a sweater and order a side of their fresh baked sourdough slathered in butter.

One might question the sanity of owners Rodney and Alexa, balancing opening a new dining option while just welcoming their second child, but the timing is fortuitous for food lovers in the area. If you haven’t visited Elk in a moment, make a plan to stop for lunch or dinner and see what all the fuss is about.

Maritime Café

707-918-4886 | maritimecafeelk.com

Thursday 5-8PM, Friday 3-8PM, Saturday 11AM-8PM, Sunday 11AM-3PM

See you out there ~

Torrey, Holly, Dawn, & Lisa

Word of Mouth Magazine

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MIKE GENIELLA

It Takes A Village - Laurel Near sent a note about the recent tribute to john moon, a guiding force behind the transformation of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Ukiah into the new home for SPACE, the locally acclaimed children's performance center. John served many years on the Endowment Board of the Grace Hudson Museum. He deserves community recognition, and I, too, celebrate our friendship.

Laurel Near:

Dear Friends,

We were truly inspired by the recent 2024 Grace Hudson Museum Gala: Celebrating Earth & Moon, honoring John Moon. In that spirit, we created a walk down memory lane, collecting wonderful photos of John with many others who participated in the construction of SPACE Theater. These images capture the journey from the early days of construction to the final grand opening performance.

As the saying goes, "it takes a village" to build a children's theater, and through these photos, we can see that our village truly showed up!

Thank you, John Moon, for guiding us to completion!

Enjoy!

Laurel Near, SPACE Executive Director

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DAVID POST JAZZ QUARTET TO PERFORM AT MAMA'S JAZZ HALL ON OCTOBER 26TH

Mama’s Jazz Hall in Ukiah is excited to present an evening of exceptional jazz with vocalist David Post, joined by an all-star trio of musicians: Barney McClure on piano, Pierre Archain on bass, and Gabriel Yanez on drums. The performance will take place on Saturday, October 26th, from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM at 328 N. State St., Ukiah. Admission is sliding scale, $10 to $20 per person, with payment options of cash or Venmo at the door. Reserved seats may be purchased for $20 online.

Snacks and beverages will be available for purchase. Artwork of Tim Poma will be on display.

David Post, a seasoned jazz vocalist known for his nuanced phrasing and traditional jazz style, will take the stage alongside these accomplished musicians. Pianist Barney McClure, a veteran of the Seattle jazz scene, and has performed with jazz greats like Herb Ellis and Larry Coryell. Bassist Pierre Archain really drives the ensemble with his groove. Drummer Gabriel Yanez is appreciated by jazz musicians for his excellent feel.

Join us for this wonderful evening of music at Mama's Jazz Hall. For more information, please contact David Post at musicpostjams@gmail.com.

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ED NOTES

To spare you reading through all the arguments in your General Election guide, and as our usual service to voters, we present our surefire, honest-to-gawd, straight skinny, how-to-humanely-vote on the State propositions.

Prop 2 10 bil for school facilities. This one, like many props past and present, is bond-funded, meaning big financial interests will buy in anticipation of lucrative paydays, in this case, $18 billion,. Bonds are very attractive investments because they're government backed. But, but, but… what if the government is irresponsible, spending billions to murder Arab babies and fund other wars far away and is headed for collapse anyway? These things probably won't ever be paid off. Think Big Picture! It's only another chapter in The Great Slide. But getting back to now, Do you want Our Nation's Future housed in falling down facilities and otherwise unsafe conditions? If you do, or don't care one way or the other, vote no. If you have some residual affection for the sugar-fueled, phone addicted little… vote YES.

Note: Given that the national debt is $35 trillion and climbing by the literal hour, and each and every American, if he were forced to cough up his share today, owes $102,000, let us reconcile ourselves to the fiscal fact that it's all funny money at this point in our nation's decline, that one of these grim days we'll have to pay up, and on that day the Federal Reserve, a consortium of privately owned banks Amercans are gulled into thinking operates in the national interest not the private, will simply print more money to cover the spread, and soon our currency will be worth nothing.

Prop 3 Right to marry. Kinda redundant at this point, right? Maybe not. According to the green hairs, there are new genders coming on-line darn near every day. Libs will vote YES, magas mostly no. Cut to the afternoon I'm watching the evening news with me dear old mum. On comes a segment of women marrying each other. Mum shouts, “Bruce, quick, turn that off!” I'm looking for the remote when Mum, with a resigned sigh, “Oh, nevermind. It's probably a good thing homely people find each other.”

Prop 4 safe water wildfire prevention climate change risks. A cornucopia of good things financed by another $10 billion bond issue. Population pressures have led to water shortages and millions of people (as in Mendo) living in fire-prone outbacks, the whole disastrousness of it exacerbated by global warming. YES, why not?, as the End of Days picks up momentum.

Prop 5 bonds for housing. Makes it easier to pass bond measures instead of two thirds vote and gives locals the right to issue bonds for stuff they think they need. More good than bad. YES.

Prop 6 Involuntary servitude in prisons. You laugh? This prop makes it illegal for prisons to force inmates to work for literal pennies. If the convict prefers lying on his rack watching a government provided TV? Let him, he's still in jail, a definite No Fun experience. YES

Prop 32 minimum wage to $18 dollars an hour. Sure, why not? The Chamber of Commerce opposes it of course, but the real catch is that the minimum wage would have to be what? a hundred bucks an hour for the average worker to enjoy a more or less middleclass life? YES

Prop 33 rent control. Of course, Not tough enough, but name a single present officeholder who will take on capital even at this level. The Chamber is against, natch, the nurses are for this one, and if you can't trust nurses who the hell can you trust? YES

Prop 34 ensures healthcare funding gets to patients, not the owners of medical corporations. Women's groups, vets, and patients are for 34, billionaires opposed. YES

Prop 35 ensures medi-cal funding remains untampered with. Weak as it is, Medi-Cal is all that stands between millions of Californians and zero medical care. YES

Prop 36 Increases penalties for drug and theft crimes. The failed war on drugs is back. The root of the drug scourge is, at bottom, the despair millions feel at their prospects. Which have flatlined for roughly a third of the population. Theft is inherent in a system skewed to some people having a lot, most people having not enough. “Them that has, gets,” as my grandad summed up the system.

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CATCH OF THE DAY, Monday, September 30, 2024

DAVID BALASSI, 34, Fort Bragg. DUI, resisting.

VANESSA ELIZABETH, 55, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, probation revocation. (Frequent flyer.)

MATTHEW FAUST, 49, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol&drugs.

MARK HABBESTAD, 58, Valley Springs/Ukiah. Baiting game birds and mammals.

NICHOLAS HALVORSEN, 52, Fort Bragg. Indecent exposure, trespassing, criminal threats, probation violation. (Frequent flyer.)

MATTHEW HOLBERG, 34, Ukiah. Brandishing, domestic violence court order violation, resisting.

KAREN MATTHEWS, 68, Comptche. Arson.

KRISTO OUSEY, 40, Ukiah. Controlled substance, paraphernalia, false ID, parole violation. (Frequent flyer.)

ZIPPORAH SUTTON, 37, Willits. DUI.

NORMA VERDUZCO, 38, Willits. Disorderly conduct-under influence, resisting.

EARL VOGT III, 42, Clearlake/Ukiah. Failure to appear.

ANTHONY WHIPPLE, 25, Covelo. Loaded handgun-not registered owner, felon-addict with firearm, ammo possession by prohibited person, suspended license, probation revocation.

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ED DENSON'S MEMORIAL

by Paul Modic

On a beautiful fall afternoon at the Southern Humboldt Community Park last Saturday, many gathered to celebrate and say goodbye to ED Denson, the beloved and legendary community member who had made an outsized contribution to local culture with his social advocacy, law practice, and civil rights and music shows on KMUD. (“Don’t Get Trouble on Your Mind” every Saturday morning.) It was a great turnout of love and affection.

ED’s sister Helen regaled the crowd with memories of ED’s early years, mostly about how smart he was. (His classmates called him “Eugenius.”) In one anecdote she said he missed only one question taking the SATs, went to the scholastic authorities to lodge his complaint and argue his point, and they gave in to his reasoning. He got the answer changed to correct on his test, and that was the official answer from then on.

(Others went up to the stage under the canopies next to the barn to tell their ED stories, while inside the huge barn many conversed around a big redwood table displaying a variety of lunch, potluck items, and many delicious desserts.)

ED’s stepson told the audience that ED was a joker, that on the drive up the mountain when he had first come up in the early 80’s, ED pointed out certain landmarks and told stories about how they got their name. It was more than twenty years later when he realized that ED had made it all up.

Andy Barnett, a neighbor in the greater Alderpoint area, told about going to ED and Mary Alice’s Fourth of July party and partying on the veranda with a view of the Alderpoint bridge down the mountain below. When the celebrants’ fireworks on the bridge reached its peak, ED took out The Declaration of Independence and read it aloud.

A couple people told about casually advising ED during his run for county supervisor in 1992, though he had no official campaign manager. ED didn’t go to Fortuna, where most of the votes were, until the last week because he didn’t think they would like him. Finally he was taping an ad in front of the high school in his shirt sleeves and his friend lent him a Seersucker suit to wear. (Fortuna actually liked him, after all, just didn’t vote for him.)

Our current supervisor, Michelle Bushnell, spoke about how ED was “a pain in the ass” for the county government with his advocacy, and acknowledged the good he did for the people, specifically mentioning his work on rolling back Measure S.

Another lawyer, Jay Moller, talked about ED becoming an attorney at the age of sixty, and how hard it was for most people to pass the bar. He remarked how most lawyers specialized in one kind of law while ED took on all-comers.

Peter Childs spoke a few words, then sung a beautiful song he had written in honor of his recently departed wife, which he dedicated to ED and Mary Alice Denson.

(One friend of ED regretted that ED had hauled all his albums to the trash long ago, not anticipating the resurgence of vinyl.)

Others told their stories about working for ED, listening to his music show, and one person told about visiting at the hospital where he found him lying on a gurney in the hall, giving advice to another patient. (ED worked till the end.)

The suit ED wore to court was tacked to the side of the barn along with other ED memorabilia, the stage was festooned with marijuana posters and banners, and folks lit up joints in smoky toasts goodbye to the treasured and departed community member, local hero, really.

As the testimonial session wrapped up, before the music started, there was a call for everyone who had ever had a show or been on the air at KMUD to come up to the stage. A throng of broadcasters gathered and each said their name and how long they had been associated with the station.

And so the seasons change, winter comes, and for the first time in forty years the community will not have the helpful Eugene “ED” Denson around anymore.

It was a very nice sendoff.

(all photos courtesy Bob Doran)

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SF GIANTS FIRE FARHAN ZAIDI, NAME BUSTER POSEY AS PRESIDENT OF BASEBALL OPS

The Giants missed the playoffs in five of Zaidi's six seasons in charge

by Alex Simon

The San Francisco Giants have fired Farhan Zaidi and named Buster Posey as his replacement as president of baseball operations, the team announced on Monday.

It brings an end to Zaidi’s heavily-criticized tenure after almost six seasons in charge, which have mostly been marked by disappointment, as the Giants missed the playoffs five times.

Speculation about Zaidi’s job status has been rampant for months and ratcheted up last week after a bombshell report from The Athletic last Sunday said Buster Posey got involved in the club’s negotiations with Matt Chapman. Now, Zaidi is out and Posey is taking over, Giants chairman Greg Johnson said in the press release announcing Zaidi's departure.

"We are looking for someone who can define, direct and lead this franchise's baseball philosophy and we feel that Buster is the perfect fit," Johnson said in a statement. "Buster has the demeanor, intelligence and drive to do this job, and we are confident that he and Bob Melvin will work together to bring back winning baseball in San Francisco."

Zaidi spoke with Giants beat reporters on Tuesday in Phoenix and acknowledged that his job status was up in the air as ownership contemplated keeping him or firing him. He also recently confirmed a San Francisco Chronicle report that his and Melvin’s contracts are only guaranteed through 2025 and not 2026, as originally believed. (The Chronicle and SFGateE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.)

The Giants hired Zaidi after the 2018 season after a five-year stint as the general manager of the Giants’ rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Prior to that, Zaidi had spent a decade working up the ranks in the Oakland A’s front office. After beginning to shape the team in franchise legend Bruce Bochy’s final year as manager in 2019, Zaidi controversially hired Gabe Kapler in 2020 and set the stage for the The Giants’ one trip to the playoffs in his era.

The remarkable 2021 season saw the Giants win a remarkable 107 games to win the NL West over the Dodgers. But the season painfully ended on a questionable check swing in Game 5 of the NLDS against those same Dodgers.

Even with the loss to the hated rivals, the 2021 season raised expectations dramatically for Zaidi and his chosen manager, Gabe Kapler. But the Giants underwhelmed in both 2022 and 2023, leading Zaidi to have to fire Kapler just before the end of last season.

Zaidi seemed to pivot entering the 2024 season when he hired Bob Melvin, a Bay Area native and longtime MLB manager who had his most successful stint with the Oakland A’s. The Giants also spent significantly in free agency, adding reigning NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell, perennial Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman and Korean outfielder Jung-hoo Lee. But the Giants had an incredibly mediocre 2024 season and effectively were out of contention for a playoff spot for a full month before finishing the season 80-82.

Now, one day after the season concluded, the Giants are bringing the franchise legend back into the day-to-day operations for the team. The second Buster Posey era with the Giants has officially begun.

(SFGate)

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PETE ROSE, aka Charlie Hustle: Baseball legend Pete Rose died on Monday at the age of 83, the Reds confirmed. The 17-time All-Star owned numerous MLB records during his playing career that spanned 24 years and included time with the Reds, Phillies and Expos. News of Rose’s passing was first reported by TMZ; the outlet revealed that he had died at his home in Las Vegas.

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EVEN BY DEMOCRAT STANDARDS….

Editor:

Just look at Adam Schiff’s record as a Congress member and one must conclude he is not qualified to be a U.S. senator from our great state. On March 22, 2017, Schiff claimed “there was more than circumstantial evidence now that Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia.” He lied. On June 21, 2023, the House of Representatives censured Schiff on House Resolution 521, which called for an investigation into his “falsehoods, misrepresentations and abuse of sensitive information about the 2016 U.S. Presidential election and first impeachment of President Trump.” This, along with other positions, such as Benghazi and Iraq, should be enough for voters not to cast their ballot for this fraud.

Fred Levin

Santa Rosa

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ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, is the boyhood home of the great American novelist, Thomas Wolfe. Wolfe was initially persona non grata in his hometown for his thinly disguised characters based on recognizable people. When his books became world renowned, Asheville cashed in as a tourist magnet. Asheville presently has a long road back from the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene, further evidence of the global warming brought to us by the oil industry.

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ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

There is a shift in power happening and the blob doesn't like it. For one, few pay attention to the mockingbird press anymore. Because of this, the blob works feverishly playing whack-a-mole trying to limit online free speech but are not having a lot of luck. 12-year old girls on TikTok have viewership that Rachel Maddow would kill for and could never ever hope to have.

Force multipliers are now in the hands of the public as well. First off are the drones that Congress desperately wants to ban. Something like Waco is a lot harder to have when your opponent can see what you are up to. The public also has advanced optics, communications, night vision goggles, access to these a.i. like programs, etc. Coming after the public is going to be a lot harder when the agents are met with flamethrowing robot dogs. Naturally, they want to ban all of these things too but it is far too late.

Many have decided to go Galt and John Galt is a lot harder to deal with now.

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TUESDAY'S LEAD STORIES, NYT

Israel Launches Invasion Into Southern Lebanon

Rescuers Push Through Helene Debris to Find People and Restore Power

What to Watch For in Tuesday’s Vance-Walz Debate

Jimmy Carter Approaches the Century Mark, Eclipsing His Presidential Peers

Port Workers Strike on East and Gulf Coasts

Pete Rose, Baseball Star Who Earned Glory and Shame, Dies at 83

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NETANYAHU – ‘NOTHING CAN STOP US’ – NOT EVEN THE MAJORITY OF ISRAELIS

by Ralph Nader

Israel’s Biden-backed war machine is once again bearing down on defenseless Lebanese people. Hostilities on the Israeli/Lebanon border have been occurring since the establishment of Israel and the dispossession of Palestinians and their land in 1948. But last week’s war-crime-laden escalation by Netanyahu stunned the world.

It started with bombings followed by the simultaneous booby-trapped “red button” explosion of thousands of pagers and two-way radios inside Lebanon on September 17, 2024, and September 18, 2024, held by or near Lebanese militants, and civilian men, women, children, health workers, storekeepers, etc. Thirty-seven people were killed and 3700 others were injured – losing hands, eyes, and fingers. Many also suffered internal organ damage.

Such an attack at this scale is unprecedented in human history. While the ambulances and overwhelmed hospitals were taking in the casualties, Israeli F-16s (provided by the U.S.) struck throughout Lebanon, killing over 700 people and injuring thousands, many of them women and children – a staggering total of 1600 targets in two days.

International law experts condemned the mega-raid. They pointed to the war crime of booby-trapping a product, and the vast disproportionate harm to innocent civilians compared to Israel’s military objective to destroy Hezbollah’s militia that has been exchanging unequal missiles with Israel since October 8, 2023.

As has been the case for decades, Lebanese casualties were vastly greater than Israeli casualties. Israel has a modern air defense system that shuts down most of the incoming missiles. Hezbollah’s military might has been long exaggerated by its Israeli adversary to justify regularly bombing Syria, attacking Iran, and getting more weapons from the U.S.

In reality, Hezbollah – a political party and social service organization, has a militia greatly outnumbered and overpowered by the Israeli military in soldiers, destructive weaponry, and money from the U.S.

Furtively booby-trapping a consumer product like a pager or two-way radio opens a new phase of warfare. This savagery prompted Leon Panetta, former Director of the CIA and former Secretary of Defense, in an interview on the CBS “Sunday Morning” news show to charge Israel with “terrorism.” No prominent national security figure has ever assailed Israel this way. Herewith his words:

“The ability to be able to place an explosive in technology that is very prevalent these days. And turn it into a war of terror. Really, a war of terror. This is something new,” said Panetta.

“I don’t think there’s any question that it’s a form of terrorism…This is going right into the supply chain, right into the supply chain. And when you have terror going into the supply chain, it makes people ask the question, what the hell is next?” added Panetta.

Panetta would never have uttered these words without the concurrence of the CIA and the Department of Defense. Still no consequences for Netanyahu by the U.S. government.

These officials now fear a new booby-trap era of warfare. Computers, motor vehicles, smartphones, and many other electronic products could become weapons of war. People all over the world now have this Israeli-triggered anxiety, dread and fear. Netanyahu has made the push button a trigger for mayhem and murder – acts of large-scale terrorism. He and his predecessors have always characterized offensive acts violating the laws of war as “acceptable” defensive tactics. The supine Congress and White House regularly rubber-stamp their violations of several U.S. laws on behalf of the Israeli government. (See the letter sent to John Kirby on September 12, 2024).

Consider the aftermath. No denunciation by Biden, Blinken or Austin. No condemnation or calls for public hearings by leading Republicans, or leading Democrats in Congress. The Hill reported that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said, “This attack clearly and unequivocally violates international humanitarian law and undermines US efforts to prevent a wider conflict… Congress needs a full accounting of the attack, including an answer from the State Department as to whether any US assistance went into the development or deployment of this technology,” she added. Representatives Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Cori Bush (D-MO) were also critical of the attack.

Alarmingly, there were no editorials in the following week criticizing Netanyahu in the Washington Post and the New York Times.

Imagine if Hezbollah did this to Israeli society. The devaluation of Palestinian and Lebanese lives can only be called racist.

Biden’s forked tongue address to the United Nations this week touted peace and democracy while his autocracy funds war. Not a word against what his friend Leon Panetta called Israeli terrorism. Just another feeble fig leaf call for a 21-day truce mocked by the extreme genocidal Israeli regime, funded by coerced American taxpayers.

Hezbollah emerged after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 which lasted 18 years with the Israeli army occupying South Lebanon (and its coveted Litani River) where millions of historically downtrodden Lebanese Shia Muslims lived. They were abused by the Israeli army. Hezbollah was formed in 1982 to defend these impoverished, subjugated people.

In an ocean of lies, starting with his mysterious, still officially uninvestigated collapse of the multi-tiered border security system on October 7, 2023, which opened the door to the Hamas attack, Netanyahu has uttered one truth: “Nothing will stop us.” The nuclear-equipped Israeli regional Empire dominates the Middle East. But it always needs an enemy for its internal domestic politics and for expanding its very advantageous alliance with the United States Empire. Netanyahu is despised by three out of four Israelis but the next election is not until October 2026. Some in the pages of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz have argued that Netanyahu may be scuttling talk of a ceasefire to avoid his pending criminal trial for corruption.

Iran, a poor nation with about 91 million people and a GDP considerably smaller than the GDP of Massachusetts, has been a target of the U.S. since the CIA overthrew the popularly elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1953. His crime: he wanted to take control of Iranian oil from the foreign Anglo-Iranian oil company.

It was the U.S. government that supported then Iraq ally Saddam Hussein to invade Iran in 1980, which cost Iran hundreds of thousands of lives. It was George W. Bush who called Iran one of the countries making up the Axis of Evil and proceeded to encircle it with the U.S. military from Iraq to the Afghanistan borders. Do you wonder why Iran’s rulers are freaked out over its national security and builds allies in the face of both punishing U.S. sanctions harming civilian lives and recurrent Israeli sabotage and killings inside Iran?

Violently messing around in other weak countries’ backyards, and backing dictators and coups are the touchstones of Empire. Eventually, all Empires devour themselves.

In the meantime, are you surprised that the CIA and Department of Defense have teams studying what they call “Blowback” — a term they coined before 9/11? You know how that attack convulsed our country, deprived our domestic needs and intensified Bush/Cheney’s fury into even more countries (e.g., invading Iraq) pushing ever bigger, draining military budgets?

U.S. blowback analysts are apprehensive about the spread of Israeli-style “red button” explosives and the ingenious, and ever-cheaper armed drones. They see such technologies as potential threats within the U.S.

Such is the peril of nations whose leaders wage constant profitable, preventable wars and decline to wage muscular peace with comparable determination.

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HEROES & VILLAINS

by James Kunstler

“It’s really hard to govern today… The First Amendment stands as a major block.” – John Kerry.

Thus spake the Haircut-in-Search-of-a-Brain who ran for president in 2004. Something must have been amiss in Conception Central the night God made John Kerry. Maybe they were low on inventory up there for the stuff that goes inside the head, so they overdid it on the roofing material. Maybe they assigned him an extra testicle, too, in compensation. It certainly took balls (but not brains) to assert from the stage of the World Economic Forum (WEF) that free speech is cluttering up America’s march to totalitarianism.

Mr. Kerry’s hapless utterance tells you all you need to know about how the party of John F. Kennedy turned years later into a demon-driven cult seeking to smash everything that was once noble and upright about our country. If there is any such thing as disinformation — and the claim is dubious since, really, there is only truth and untruth — then the chief dispenser of it is our own depraved government. Every morsel it issues is some species of Orwellian counter-think.

Just yesterday, former Attorney General Eric Holder, speaking of Mr. Trump returning to office, told MSNBC’s Jen Psaki: “They will use the mechanisms of the DOJ to go after people who are their political foes. This is something that has never really happened in the history of this republic.” Mr. Holder may have been born at night, but probably not the night before last. Apparently, he has not noticed the uses to which current AG Merrick Garland has put “Joe Biden’s” DOJ, bending heaven, earth, and the law to put Mr. Trump behind bars and bankrupt him — not to mention the scores of Trump-adjacent lawyers prosecuted in cockamamie cases based on their efforts to pursue ballot fraud in the 2020 elections.

Hillary Clinton was similarly on-point last week with Margaret Hoover on PBS’s Firing Line, declaring: “The press needs a consistent narrative about the danger that Trump poses.” Of course, she asserts this incessantly — and the media parrots her — without ever specifying what that danger is. So, I will tell you: Hillary Clinton and hundreds of Democratic Party affiliated officials past and present fear that they will be subjected to legal process in crimes ranging all the way up to treason for their conduct the past decade, including the mass murder and injury of millions with their Covid policy, their deliberate abetting of millions crossing the border illegally, their use of several government agencies to abridge the First Amendment, their abuse of DOJ and FBI power in malicious prosecutions, their shell games funneling taxpayers’ money to hundreds of crony NGOs, and their use of Ukraine as a money laundry for the entire Beltway criminal cartel. Surely even more than that.

It was the last item on that list that prompted impeachment No. 1 of Mr. Trump, who came uncomfortably close to inquiring about it in that fateful 2019 phone call to President Zelensky. And, of course, it was exactly in that maw of corruption that the Biden family helped itself to millions of grifted dollars while Joe was out-of-office, and his bagman-crackhead son gamboled about the globe shaking loose more millions from exotic money-trees wherever he landed. All of which is to say that the “danger” Mr. Trump poses is to them personally and directly, certainly not to “our democracy,” their phony war-cry. So, now you know.

Many of these players have gone to ground the past year or more. You don’t hear much these days from the likes of Jim Comey, John Brennan, Jim Clapper, Andy McCabe, Tony Fauci, Peter Hotez, and many more who were so active shooting their mouths off on cable news after the blob managed to install “Joe Biden” as its “beard” in the Oval Office. Now, they all lie low in terror as the immense battery of lawfare against Mr. Trump failed spectacularly to stop him from running again, and the first two attempts on his life went awry. Meanwhile, Garland, Mayorkas, Christopher Wray, remain in the trenches, reduced to stonewalling every and all efforts to get straight answers out of them as to how badly they are running things. And out in front of all of them you have their supposed protector, Kamala Harris, the most feckless candidate imaginable. No wonder they’re so desperate.

In contrast to all this low-down treachery in-and-around the craven Party of Chaos and, its corrupt, depraved agents fearing the turn of genuine law against them, there was the Rescue the Republic event on the mall in Washington Sunday. The intelligence and honesty on view there was a startling reminder of the sentiments that birthed our country in the first place. RFK Jr, Tulsi Gabbard, Jordan Peterson, Matt Taibbi, Senator Ron Johnson, Del Bigtree, Dr. Pierre Kory, Dr. Robert Malone, and many more figures aligning with the Trump campaign, delivered one stirring message after another informing us that the cardinal virtues of honor, fortitude, courage, and justice are still alive in the background of this sore-beset nation. I’ve never heard a more eloquent extempore appeal to our shared human virtues than the speech delivered by UK national Russell Brand, supposedly a comedian. It was Shakespearean.

And so, tomorrow we slot into October, the month of promised “surprises” and generally not the happy kind. Hillary alluded to that in her Firing Line palaver. Does her posse (Huma, Alex Soros) have something up their sleeves? Fake Special Prosecutor (illegally appointed and unconfirmed by the Senate) Jack Smith is coming into Judge Tanya Chutkan’s DC federal courtroom with a big fat brief detailing his superseding indictment cooked up to replace the previous case derailed by the Supreme Court decision earlier this year on presidential immunity. Teams of assassins are roaming the land hunting Mr. Trump. And those are just the known unknowns.

But there’s something else in the air little more than a month away from this fateful election day. It feels like just enough Americans have recovered their senses to act against war, censorship, wide open borders, and the despotic rule of a malevolent bureaucratic blob nobody voted for. Mail-in ballot fraud is already being discovered. Mr. Trump might survive this campaign ordeal after all despite his enemies’ best efforts. The nation could climb out of this slough of self-destruction and despair after all. We used to say proudly this is a free country. It can be that again.

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DONALD TRUMP IS NO ANGEL, surely. But what are his followers possibly guilty of except for losing? There will be no memorials in the center of small American towns to loved ones poisoned by fentanyl, to go along with the carved stone memorials to the young men who fought and died in the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and even Korea and Vietnam. The war is at home now. All they have is Trump. Even in Chicago, three weeks later, watching the balloons drop over the stage of a convention engineered by the party’s script-wizards, I can’t help thinking about these people, and what they might have done wrong.

In the meantime, though, a miracle has happened. Gone are the purple-and green-haired gender gremlins, the kaffiyeh-masked thugs calling for Jewish genocide; the antifa freaks throwing firebombs and cement milkshakes. Someone threw a switch, and replaced them with normal-looking Americans chanting USA! USA! USA! They are no doubt fine people, but their presence here is not a testament to democracy, or freedom, or the enduring power of the human spirit but rather to the power of the machine that decided that “Kamala Harris,” formerly known as a surly non-entity who was polling at 3% before she dropped out of the Presidential race in 2020, was a plausible-enough candidate to supplant the elected President of the United States on the Party ticket without even the formality of a public vote. Before she delivered her address, a trio of young nieces were trotted out to instruct the crowd in how to pronounce “Ka-ma-la.”

“Oh, my goodness,” the candidate said, stunned by the roar that greeted her arrival. She is speechless, having never heard anything like it in her brief time on the national stage, most of which she spent in seclusion, after the Party determined that she was a flop. Now she’s in again.

“Good evening. Thank you. … Thank you. Thank you everyone,” she says, over the noise. “Let’s get down to business.”

Why not? It’s been a long, weird road. “My mother, she worked long hours,” Harris said, invoking the power of “community, Faith, and the importance of treating others as you would want to be treated,” and the importance of never doing anything half-assed. She represents people who work hard, chase their dreams, and look out for one another, which sounds promising enough. It’s Bill Clinton via Obama. Then stomachs suddenly drop, as she takes an unexpectedly nasty detour into the dubious legal territory of the lawsuits brought against Trump by partisan state prosecutors. If elected, she promises darkly, Trump will set free violent extremists meaning, his supporters — “jail journalists and political opponents,” and “deploy our active-duty military against our own citizens.” Whether he will or won’t is moot, of course, because Donald Trump will not be elected President. Besides, no one wants to hear the bride go negative at her own wedding.

In the moment, the speech was a solid B or B+. A day later, no one remembers a thing Kamala Harris said, in part because the speech itself was a kind of holographic counterfeit, a 13th-generation generic xerox of William Jennings Bryan’s Cross of Gold speech and other artifacts of the days when political speeches could actually move an election.

What Kamala Harris’s nomination represents is our transcendence of all that, in favor of the machine. Like Biden before her, she is simply a convenient figurehead through which the Party can continue to rule. It goes on and on, acres of focus-grouped blather, directed not at any actual individuals or organic social groups, but at the simulation summoned forth by the machine itself. Trump represents the past, while The Party represents the future. Trump represents himself, while the Party represents us. The Democrats represent people who are fighting against power, when the Democrats themselves are the party in power. Faced with the sudden disintegration of the agreed-upon pseudo-reality in which Joe Biden was running the country so successfully that he was on the verge of becoming the greatest American President since FDR, the script-wizards have used the awesome machinery at their disposal to construct a new pseudo-reality in the space of five weeks, and then jammed it into everyone’s brains.

Will it work? Who knows. A day later, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the last of the Kennedys, dropped out of the race and endorsed Donald Trump. On election day, I will be waiting for the votes to come in like everyone else. I predict the result will be calamitous.

— David Samuels, ‘County Highway’

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QUESTION FOR AI

What happens in the brain

when guilt turns to anger?

Which structures are involved?

Which pathways?

Which neurotransmitters

Cross which synapses

to bind to

Which receptors?

The psychology is obvious

The biochemistry mysterious

— Fred Gardner