Mendocino County Today: Wednesday 10/2/2024

Inland Heat | Cooling Center | Flora | Pit Maneuver | Skunk Appeal | Ham Club | Energy Assistance | Eagle Watch | Museum Friday | Visit Overspent | Garden Fair | Gouache Workshop | Ballot Measures | River Cleanup | Philo Schoolhouse | Ed Notes | Village Newsletter | Poisons Bill | Vic Tanny | Tall Guy | Pile Driver | Yesterday's Catch | Phone Tip | Pay Delay | Kris Kristofferson | Buster Giants | Vet Visit | False Confession | Lost Keys | MLB Hypocrisy | T'Aint Fair | Dem Muslims | Net Zero | Shoeshine | Your Hammer | Capitalist Pyramid | Israel v Iran | Lead Stories | Safe Escort | Debate Reactions | Human Condition | 1000 Holocausts | Tuba Check

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A HEAT ADVISORY has been issued for interior Mendocino and Lake Counties… High temperatures of up to 110 degrees are forecast.…One more day of notable heat risk concerns focused in the southern interior. Anomalously warm conditions will continue into the weekend, but to a lesser extent. Also, near-critical fire weather risks are expected today and should ease a bit heading toward the weekend and into next week. (NWS)

YESTERDAY'S HIGHS: Ukiah 106°, Boonville 105°, Yorkville 104°, Laytonville 101°, Covelo 100°, Point Arena 78°

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): I reached 75F at 3pm yesterday, my record is 80F, about a mile from the ocean. The rest of this week will be more of the same as a strong high pressure is parked over us thru the weekend. Too early to know about next week other than some cooling likely. Is that fog offshore? I heard 115F in Willits yesterday as the valley was very hot. The heat will continue well into the weekend with cooling forecast about next Tuesday. 54F & clear so far.

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OH BABY! IT IS HOT OUTSIDE! AGAIN!

The Yorkville Community Benefits Association Cooling Center Open October 1st & 2nd!

Once again we are facing record high temperatures. The YCBA would like to offer you a cooling solution. From 12:00-5:00pm October 2nd the Community Room (next to the Post Office) will be open and the AC turned on. We have WiFi and water, tables and chairs; come play cards, work or just chill for a couple of hours. While there please sign in and let us know your thoughts about the Cooling Center. This winter we'll also try out a warming center!

news@theYCBA.org

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DANIELS HOLMES’ WILD RIDE

On Friday, September 27, 2024, at approximately 11:45pm, a Ukiah Police Department officer was on routine patrol when he observed a white Toyota Corolla fail to stop at the controlled intersection of Talmage Road and Babcock Lane. As the Toyota rolled through the stop sign, it almost collided with a vehicle traveling westbound on Talmage Road.

The UPD officer initiated a traffic stop on the Toyota, and the vehicle yielded to the side of the road across the street from the Arco Gas Station on Talmage Road. The officer approached the driver’s side of the Toyota, determined that the vehicle contained two male occupants, and quickly observed the handle of a firearm sticking out of the driver’s pocket. The officer requested assistance, and the driver put the Toyota in gear and fled onto Highway 101 northbound.

The UPD officer returned to his vehicle, initiated a vehicle pursuit, and broadcast that the driver of the fleeing vehicle was armed with a handgun. An additional UPD officer was close by and joined the pursuit immediately as the vehicles merged onto Highway 101 northbound.

UPD requested assistance from the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) and continued to pursue the suspect vehicle as it traveled northbound on Highway 101. The pursuit reached speeds in excess of 100 MPH, and the suspect exited the highway on two separate occasions but got right back onto the freeway and continued northbound.

The suspect took the Highway 20 East off-ramp and continued eastbound on Highway 20, and then took the Potter Valley exit. Once in Potter Valley, a CHP unit caught up and took over the pursuit. A short time later, a second CHP unit joined the pursuit, and UPD trailed to assist if needed.

In the 10000 block of East Side Potter Valley Road, a CHP vehicle was able to perform a “pit maneuver” (bumping of the rear quarter panel of the vehicle), which caused the driver of the Toyota to lose control and spin off the road. The driver fled from the vehicle but was quickly apprehended.

The driver was identified as Daniel Holmes Jr., a 31-year-old Ukiah resident who was on Post Release Community Supervision for a previous Reckless Evasion arrest. The passenger was cooperative and confirmed that Holmes Jr. had been armed with a handgun, but Holmes Jr. had thrown the gun out the window during the pursuit. UPD officers searched for the firearm along the side of the road but were unable to locate it.

Holmes Jr. was determined to be under the influence of alcohol and drugs and was arrested by CHP for DUI (alcohol&drugs), reckless evasion, suspended license for DUI, prior narcotics conviction, county parole violation and resisting arrest. Holmes Jr. was booked and lodged at the MCSO Jail. The passenger was released with no charges.

(As always, UPD’s mission is to make Ukiah as safe a place as possible, and we are grateful for the support we received from the California Highway Patrol and the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office in our efforts to protect the community. 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: www.ukiahpolice.com.)

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A READER NOTES:

Looks as though the rail decided to follow through with the appeal of the Meyer property: https://savenoyoheadlands.org/mrmdom/meyer/meyer_appeal/APPELLANTS_MOT_JUD_NOT_DEC_PAUL_BEARD_A168497_%20A168959.pdf

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POINT ARENA AREA GMRS RADIO NETWORK
October Meeting, Wednesday, October 2nd, 4:45 p.m.
Coast Community Library, downtown Point Arena

I imagine some of those folks in the hurricane impacted area would be happy to have a community wide GMRS radio network with a connection to a ham radio operator... It's never too late to get your radio and join the Point Arena area GMRS radio network. Come to a meeting and we'll help you get set up. The network check-in is tomorrow (the first wednesday of every month), at 4 pm on channel 2. In the case of a power outage or other emergency, turn on your radio at the top of the hour for 15 minutes to hear from others on the net and to get information on the situation.

— Jennifer Smallwood <batsignals34285@gmail.com>

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WHERE ARE THE EAGLES?

Editor:

I’m not sure if this is the correct forum for this question, but, traveling over Highway 253 to Ukiah, Golden Eagle sightings, were not regular but also not uncommon. I have not seen a single one for several years now. I'm curious: what others are experiencing here? I have a bad feeling that too many vineyards are taking habitat away, or else I’ve been unlucky. But given my last name I sorta doubt that! I invite people to share any sightings, thoughts on the issue, either here or you can email me directly hawkwork@mcn.org

Thank you

Chris Skyhawk

Fort Bragg

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FIRST FRIDAY AT GRACE HUDSON

The Grace Hudson Museum will be open on First Friday, Oct. 4, from 5 to 8 p.m. BP3 will be in the house performing their style of Americana, folk-rock, and pop. Visitors can view the Museum's latest exhibition, "Earth Portraiture: Ray Strong's Northern California Landscapes," featuring 49 paintings by Oregon-born artist Ray Strong (1905-2006). Strong captured the essence of the Western landscape in a long career dedicated to what he termed “Earth Portraiture.” Included are landscapes depicting places in Mendocino, the Bay Area, and other parts of Northern California. Visitors are also invited to check out the Museum's core galleries and take a stroll around the Wild Gardens before evening daylight disappears for the year. Light refreshments will be served.

Admission to the Museum is free all day on First Friday. The Grace Hudson Museum is at 431 S. Main St. in Ukiah. For more information please go to www.gracehudsonmuseum.org or call (707) 467-2836.

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A READER WRITES:

Wonder why Mendocino Tourism (a/k/a Visit Mendocino County) is looking to raise the Business Improvement District tax by 100%, wonder no more. The answer appears to lie in the fact that they overspent in 2023 to the tune of $600,036, with the Executive Director making a cool $152,650. Nice job if you can get it.

Overspending: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/800427548

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PLEIN AIR WORKSHOP OCT. 5 AT GRACE HUDSON MUSEUM

On Saturday, October 5th, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Grace Hudson Museum will offer an Intro to Plein Air with Gouache workshop led by painter Sergio Lopez. Participants will learn essential techniques for painting with gouache, a vibrant medium known for its rich pigmentation and quick-drying properties. He will also share solutions to common problems in plein air paintings.

The workshop will take place in the Museum's Wild Gardens. Advance registration with a fee of $50 per participant is required. Two scholarship spots are available.

To register and to inquire more about scholarships, please call the Museum at (707) 467-2836. The Grace Hudson Museum is located at 431 S. Main St. in Ukiah and online at www.gracehudsonmuseum.org.

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LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OCTOBER PROGRAM

The League of Women Voters of Mendocino County will present “Pros & Cons” for the 10 state and 6 local ballot measures for the upcoming November 5 election. The program, October 8 from 6-7:30 pm, will be held via Zoom; the link can be found on the League website: https://my.lwv.org/california/mendocino-county; look under the calendar tab.

For each measure, presenters will cover the type of measure, how it qualified for the ballot, who supports and opposes, and what a yes or no vote means. There will be opportunities for questions from the audience.

For questions or more information, call 707-937-4952.

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UKIAH VALLEY CREEKS CLEANED OF TRASH, ENCAMPMENTS SATURDAY

by Justine Frederiksen

Dozens of truckloads full of garbage were cleaned from multiple creek beds in the Ukiah Valley Saturday during the annual Russian River Cleanup.

Much of the efforts were organized by the Mendocino County Resource Conservation District, which had volunteers meeting at Low Gap Park the morning of Sept. 28 before sending groups out to multiple sites to clean litter and other debris from local waterways that may be dry now, but will soon deliver any remaining hazardous waste and other pollutants into the Russian River once the rains return.

Perhaps the largest clean-up at one site was undertaken at a sprawling encampment along Ackerman Creek, just a few miles north of the Ukiah city limits, that was organized by Redwood Valley resident Adam Gaska.

One of the volunteers helping Gaska clean the site, which housed dozens of people in dozens of makeshift homes formed out of plywood, tarps and other scavenged materials, was former Mendocino County Supervisor John McCowen, who described the encampment’s inhabitants as creating “literally tons of trash to haul out, and decimating the riparian habitat by constructing earthworks and building structures” that were both alongside and inside the creek bed.

“The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, at the direction of Sheriff Matt Kendall, has been very helpful in the last few days in moving people out, but a lot of the environmental damage and pollution could have been avoided if they had responded months and months ago,” McCowen said.

When asked Monday to respond to that assertion, Kendall said he is hampered by a “staffing shortage like everyone else is these days,” but also pointed to a lack of cooperation from state agencies such as the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which he said should be the agency that is citing people for polluting state waterways rather than his deputies.

“Politics has become king, and it has become ‘unpalatable’ to clean out encampments,” Kendall continued, explaining that he does not have enough deputies to deploy to all of the county’s encampments, clear them, and then keep them clear. “It feels like we’re just shoveling sand against the tide.”

At a certain point, Kendall said, it was decided that a large portion of people on the fringes of society were “not responsible for their actions. And if they are not responsible, who is? If no one else is claiming responsibility, then the government must. But so far, no one has been willing to stand up and take responsibility.”

When asked if and how his office intends to keep the recently cleared site along Ackerman Creek clean, Kendall said he will do what he can with the limited resources he has to “keep people out of there, and I’m hopeful that Fish and Wildlife will take some initiative, because I don’t have the deputies to constantly police the area and address the environmental degradation.

“It is a massive issue,” Kendall continued, describing the problem, both across the county and the state, as being created in large part “by not holding people accountable for their actions, and instead deciding that (polluting the environment and other destructive actions) are acceptable behavior. And instead of raising the bar (of how people should behave toward themselves, toward other people and toward the environment), we are continually reaching down to lower the bar of what is acceptable.”

An email seeking comment from the CDFW communications staff was not responded to as of press time Monday.

(Ukiah Daily Journal)

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ED NOTES

MARIN is an oppressive sea of Harris/Walz placards. If there are Magas, they keep a low profile, although in lieu of placards they fly American flags year round, and there are lots of flags in Marin, more and more of them from Marinwood north through Novato.

DAVE BUDD provides some Marin electoral history: “Marin was once a pretty Republican redoubt. Between 1948 (when Dewey won Marin) and 1980 (when Reagan captured the county), Marin voted Republican in every election with the exception of Johnson’s landslide victory over Goldwater in 1964. In 1960, the year the JFK narrowly defeated Richard Nixon, Marin was as Republican as Orange County (both giving Nixon about 60% of their votes).

Marin in the mid to late 1960s began to shift to the Democrats as people moved out of urban San Francisco and Oakland. No Republican has come close to carrying the county since 1984. In that year, when President Reagan won one of the most lop-sided elections in modern history, Walter Mondale defeated him in Marin County by a half percent (650 votes total out of 110,000).”

PLASTERED on my mailbox one morning was a yellow sticker with this message: “Election Gonna Be Close but we got this! Don't Dissociate… Keep donating and volunteering! Call4Change Focus4DemocracyNextGenAmerica IndivisibleMarin. Kamala 2024.” Obviously the work of high school kids, the next generation of middle-of-the-road extremists.

THE CANNED EDITORIAL circulated among outback media on the safe assumption no one will read it except the editors at the Press Democrat and the ICO, began, “We can all be proud Americans. We are often criticized for the lack of sacrifice we endure (sic) when so much of the world suffers in war, poverty, hunger and ignorance… Yet we are among the most generous people in the world and our men and women in harm's way are sacrificing a great deal in their dedication to serve.” (Enduring a lack of sacrifice is certainly exhausting. Pass the chocolates.)

THE MAJORITY of us don't sacrifice in the least as America sails a disastrous imperial course set not by Congress as our quaint old ignored Constitution requires, but by a tiny minority of fanatics and incompetents occupying the power chairs. Their murderous blundering will be paid for by future generations. At the mo, we have no idea who the shot callers are, but we know they don't include Biden.

MANY of the people put “in harm's way” are either family people who volunteered for the home front via the National Guard, or professional warriors who love to be where the bullets are flying. Most of the 40,000 troops presently in the Middle East are elite fighters from the various service branches, not high school dropouts. I'm pleased as all heck to be an American, but my pride is on hold until we get our government back.

WHILE WE'RE working the dark side, a female reader writes: “When I was 15, 16, I'd go to frat parties with my girl friends. I was promiscuous but cunning. On several occasions, about three weeks after the party, I'd have one of my girl friends, posing as my aunt, call up the boy I'd entertained and tell him not only was I underage, I was pregnant. An abortion would cost $500 and he better come up with the cash. They always did.”

ANYONE who tries to follow the Press Democrat’s coverage of the water situation on the North Coast must be hopelessly confused. Sometimes there’s plenty of water. Sometimes there’s too much water. Sometimes there’s not enough water. Sometimes Sonoma County is supposed to conserve (although there’s not much enforcement). Sometimes the fish are in trouble. Sometimes the fish are almost gone. Sometimes the fish are coming back. Sometimes the grape growers are “conserving.” Sometimes even the wine gang should conserve. Sometimes cutbacks are being ordered in the Eel River diversion, from which much of Sonoma County's finite waters flow. Sometimes the cutbacks are being restored. Sometimes there’s not enough water for new housing. Sometimes there's plenty of water for new housing. Sometimes the water consuming population is conserving water, sometimes water users are not conserving enough.

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AV VILLAGE OCTOBER NEWSLETTER [excerpts]

Notes on the September Gathering: We had presentations by Abeja Hummel & Ray Chandra.  They discussed their practices in alternative wellness treatments. Abeja does several types of massage therapy and works with many different modalities.  Ray is teaching an intro to breathwork: some of the benefits are that it reduces stress, depression, grief, and anger.  She is holding a class at the AV Senior Center on Thursdays, 1pm

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Preparation for the Rest of Our Life
 
The AV Village is continuing our series of conversations about life, aging, and end of life. We’ll revisit some of the early topics we explored in 2015 & 2016, as we began a process that eventually led to the official formation of our Village in 2019:

Book conversation: We recently finished reading Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal, Medicine, and What Matters at the End. Our next book will be The Art of Dying Well, A Practical Guide to a Good End of Life by Katy Butler.

Hospice Services available in AV and meet our trained respite volunteers October 20th, 3:15 - 4:00, to be a pre-event to our regularly scheduled monthly gathering. 

Preparation For the Rest of Our Lives Other upcoming topics in the series to be scheduled: 

* Knowing when more help is needed than can be provided at home. 
* Death Doulas 
* Having end-of-life and difficult conversations with family, your children, siblings, and parents. 
* Understanding the effect of the tsunami on the health care system with aging people.
* Burials, both conventional and alternative, and UCSF’s Willed Body Program 

 Watch the AVV calendar and monthly newsletter for updates. Call Lauren:  707-895-2606 for more information.

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Our Next Gathering:

https://mailchi.mp/861a2b9284ed/anderson-valley-village-newsletter-august-5845599

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KATHY WYLIE:

“California has become the first state in the nation to restrict use of all blood-thinning rat poisons due to their unintended effect on mountain lions, birds of prey and other animals. Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed a bill that expands an existing moratorium to all anticoagulant rodenticides, with only limited exceptions. The poisons prevent an animal’s blood from clotting and cause it to die from internal bleeding. When an unsuspecting mountain lion or owl gobbles a dead or sick rat — or another animal that ate a tainted rat — the toxic substance can be passed on.”

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RANDY BURKE WONDERS:

Say dear editor and the Major, trust all is well in the heat. A while back you did a piece on Korla Pandit. I was one of his piano students back in the day in Pomona, California. Well, there was another falsehood in the town. Vic Tanny. I remember his gym and how he woo woo the women with his demonstration of the vibrating belt machine. Somehow he came to mind the other day whilst watching the Orange man. Is Trump Vic Tanny in disguise?

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TALL GUY BREWING: FORT BRAGG’S DE FACTO COMMUNTY CENTER

by Terry Sites

Meeting Patrick Broderick, the brewmaster and owner of Tall Guy Brewing, is a lot like meeting a gigantic seven-year-old with tousled sandy hair and twinkling eyes. He ambles amiably through his taproom and, although well into his middle years, he still seems full of wonder, curiosity, and youthful energy. His first beer-flavored memories are the smells of homebrews his father cooked up in the family kitchen. “Brewing smells like nothing else,” Patrick reflects.

Tall Guy isn’t just about beer. It has become a de facto community center for Fort Bragg. More like an English or Irish pub than a bar, kids are welcome. Looking around, families are playing board games while seated on small couches and comfy armchairs. Clumps of guys are shoulder to shoulder on long benches talking sports (or whatever it is that guys talk about), while kids explore the small carpeted area which includes a sign that reads, “Please keep dogs off the black turf.”

A visit to Tall Guy is a lot like watching Fort Bragg on parade, and what a fabulous little scrappy town it is. To keep the atmosphere lively, different days of the week are set aside for different entertainments, and the music always sounds great thanks to a first rate sound system. Every Monday, the Mendocino Coast Jazz Society meets and plays, Wednesdays are devoted to acoustic music, Aaron Ford hosts an open mic on Thursdays, and on Fridays, D.J. Wally’s Karaoke holds court. To round off the week, every Saturday features a different band. (For the full calendar, see “What’s Hoppenin’“ on the website, link below.)

D.J. Wally’s Karaoke deserves a special mention as it is a truly democratic operation. Kids are just as welcome as adults to belly up to the mike. On a recent Friday, a 10-year-old with long blonde hair, a baseball cap, and sports togs sang a very credible version of Billy Joel’s “Vienna Waits for You” to a wildly appreciative audience. Next up was a Goth girl in black fishnets with hot pants and eyelashes so thick and fluttery they looked like captive black butterflies. She belted out a seductive love song to the fan club she came in with a bunch of giggling Goth girls. Apparently, Wally can find absolutely any song you care to select by scanning the internet. There are plans to add a trivia night to the line-up soon. Anything goes, and that’s how Patrick likes it. “I was surprised by how really important entertainment is,” he shares.

July marks Tall Guy’s first anniversary, though the business plan first came together in 2022. The original concept for the venture included a barn brewery concept with an out of town location, but that idea fell through. Patrick is very grateful that the downtown location materialized, as it has worked out pretty perfectly. Despite substantial renovation costs converting the old Sears store at the corner of Franklin and Laurel into a tap room, Tall Guy has made money since day one, thanks to the draft beer, a guaranteed moneymaker once it finds an audience. By offering minimal food (hot dogs and pretzels only), while encouraging people to bring their own food from home or to order take-out locally, the whole restaurant expense and administration package is sidestepped. This simplification keeps the focus on the beer, which is how Patrick likes it. Customers report that they think it is a wonderful spot, with really good beer and a great vibe.

Tall Guy beers are classic; you won’t find exotic brews on tap. Hazy Mama is his best seller, and there are no fanciful options made from local ingredients (seaweed beer? redwood bark beer?). They try to match their hops to the beer style, using German hops for German style beer, for example. Tall Guy differs from the competition and most other breweries by subculturing their own yeast and using different yeasts in different beers. With a degree in microbiology from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and a Master Brewer Certificate from U.C. Davis, the science side of things is well within Patrick’s reach. Add to that his 30 years of experience working at North Coast Brewing Company under brewmaster and owner, Mark Ruedrich, and it is clear that beer-making is the easy part of his business. Patrick shares that Mark has always been his mentor and that there is no awkwardness between them now that they are “competitors” both feel there is plenty of room for three breweries in Fort Bragg. (The third brewery is Overtime Brewing at the north end of town.)

For those of us who have had big dreams but stayed on someone else’s payroll as the years went by, Patrick’s story is an inspiration. He’s lived in Fort Bragg since 1992, and he loves the ocean and the fog rolling in, adding, “It feels like home.” After 30 years, he finally brought his vision to life — it really never is too late. In the process, he has helped revitalize the economy of Fort Bragg by inserting a vibrant and successful new business right into the heart of downtown. It seems Fort Bragg is just the right size and mix to support this kind of undertaking. The locals love it and the visitors love it. What’s not to love? Sitting in an airy space with so much elbow room, friends can, and do!, use this as a home away from home. The huge windows bring the sidewalk action in so you can appreciate quirky Fort Bragg as it struts its stuff inches from your beer-drinking stool. Cheers!

(This article first appeared in Word of Mouth magazine. www.wordofmouth.com. Terry Sites lives in Yorkville with 4 cats and 1 husband. A graduate of Ringling Brothers Bamum and Bailey Clown College. She writes a weekly column for the Anderson Valley Advertiser. Photos courtesy of Tall Guy Brewing.)

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CHUCK ROSS: I believe the last time a steam pile driver was used in Mendocino County was fall of 1955 in the construction of the first concrete bridge over Greenwood Creek. I remember sitting on the hill on a frosty morning, watching them fire the boiler and hearing the rhythmic ringing of the hammer when it got underway.

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CATCH OF THE DAY, Tuesday, October 1, 2024

ALEXANDER BARGER, 20, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

ROYCE GOOD, 55, Ukiah. Criminal threats.

ASHTON KORC, 37, Willits. Disorderly conduct-under influence, resisting.

ALDEN LARVIE, 38, Ukiah. Paraphernalia, probation revocation.

LORENZO MARTINEZ, 41, Ukiah. Paraphernalia, county parole violation.

MATTHEW MIRAVALLE, 40, Rockford, Illinois/Fort Bragg. Paraphernalia, false ID, parole violation.

GARY SHANNON, 31, Ukiah. Concealed dirk-dagger, paraphernalia.

STEFANI SMITH, 32, Fort Bragg. Failure to appear, bringing controlled substance into jail.

JOHN SULLIVAN, 52, Ukiah. Domestic violence court order violation.

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LATE PAYMENTS TO NONPROFITS HAMPER CALIFORNIA’S FIGHT AGAINST HOMELESSNESS

by Marissa Kendall

California’s homeless service providers have a problem: They aren’t getting paid on time, and it’s making it even harder for them to get people off the street.

Nonprofits that provide everything from shelter beds, to counseling for homeless residents, to affordable housing, say they regularly are kept waiting weeks, if not months, for the city, county and state funding they rely on. That means they’re struggling to pay their employees, make rent payments for their clients, and, in some cases, even keep the lights on. Some are turning down new projects despite the massive need for services in their communities. Others are borrowing to stay afloat, ending up paying tens of thousands of dollars each month in interest — money they would rather spend on helping homeless Californians. It’s hampering the state’s efforts to solve what is arguably its biggest problem: Nearly 186,000 people have nowhere to call home.

“It is the single biggest factor in our inability to grow and serve more people,” said Vivian Wan, CEO of Abode Services, which provides shelter, housing and other aid for unhoused people across seven Bay Area counties. “This is a huge issue.”

And it’s getting harder to ignore. With inflation driving up expenses and the growing homelessness crisis driving up need, some nonprofits have reached their breaking point. After a group of Los Angeles-based homeless service providers raised the alarm earlier this year, the county Board of Supervisors overhauled the way it doles out funds. Providers hope the move will be replicated throughout the state.

(CalMatters.org)

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TURNING TO BUSTER POSEY TO LEAD IS THE MOST GIANTS MOVE THEY HAD TO MAKE

by Ann Killion

Calm, clear-eyed and confident, Buster Posey strode into Tuesday’s press conference, the way he used to walk onto the baseball field. The ultimate understated leader.

And just as then, his mere presence inspired belief.

The San Francisco Giants are in good hands.

The remarkable turn of events — the ouster of Farhan Zaidi as president of baseball operations and the ascension of the most important Giant of this century to the same position — changes the way the Bay Area and the baseball world views the Giants. And it will change the way the Giants view themselves.

They are a franchise with a great legacy and rich history. A vast fan base and a tradition to uphold. They are not a team that should be nibbling at the margins, or wondering if they can get a seat at the table of an attractive free agent.

“I wouldn’t say the brand’s been tarnished,” Posey said. “In the next weeks and months a lot of the discussion is going to be about our identity.”

Buster Posey “asked for the ball” and Giants gave it to him.

In six Giants seasons, Farhan Zaidi struggled to restore franchise’s legacy of greatness.

Posey knows what the Giants can be. What they should be. He knows in his bones what it means to be a Giant. He loves the team. He understands the culture, in large part because he helped create it.

And that was always a problem with his predecessor. Zaidi never seemed to understand the Giants’ culture, even after six years at the helm of it, even though he spent 10 years right across the bay with the A’s and four years with the Giants’ archrival Dodgers. He saw the haves and have-nots up close, yet proceeded to treat the Giants as though they were Tampa Bay Rays West.

Given enormous authority when he took over in the winter of 2018, Zaidi used his capital in odd ways. To install a highly unpopular manager in Gabe Kapler. To make the legends who brought the team three World Series feel unwelcome — so both Bruce Bochy and Brian Sabean headed elsewhere. He allowed Kapler to remove evidence of the Giants’ rich history and World Series teams from the clubhouse. He made former players feel less than welcome, disconnected.

Just last week, Zaidi admitted he was rarely in sync with the Giants’ culture.

“I think I’ve evolved in my views of things,” he said last Wednesday. “Some of that has to do with the culture around the Giants organization and the things fans want and things the organization has done when it was most successful. Which might not have been how I was successful early in my career. There’s been a meeting of the minds over time.”

But was there? Most observers saw a team that looked much the same as before, the same shuffling of players, the same baffling moves. Posey got involved in the Matt Chapman deal in early September. Board chairman Greg Johnson said, not coincidentally, that the talks with Posey got serious “probably a month ago.”

Zaidi’s tenure will be remembered for mediocrity. For faceless teams, lacking identity, with the exception of aberrational 2021 when the team won 107 games largely on the back of Posey’s return for his final season, his prowess with the pitching staff and career years for Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt.

Posey will be a contrast in style from Zaidi. You can bet he will not be scrolling through social media comments to see what people are saying about him, which seemed to keep Zaidi obsessed. What were people saying on the radio, social media, in print? That was not the sign of a confident leader.

Zaidi disliked comparisons to Sabean and Bochy, a complaint that is mind-blowing in its naivete. Anyone who followed the greatest era of Giants baseball was going to suffer by comparison. That should have been obvious, especially to a guy who has always been the smartest in the room.

“I think Farhan is one of the most brilliant baseball minds out there,” Johnson said, and he is probably right. Zaidi did a lot of good things for the Giants. The roster is in better shape than it was. But he seems far better suited to be a No. 2 than to be the leader of a team.

There is criticism that this is just a public relations move, that Posey has no experience, will be in over his head. For anyone who dealt with Posey from the time he arrived in the big leagues, that criticism is amusing. Posey, like Zaidi, is one of the smartest people in whatever room he enters, and doesn’t suffer fools gladly.

Not enough experience? The man has been a baseball savant since his teenage years and knows more about the game than many baseball front offices that are packed with Ivy Leaguers who never played.

We have a pretty good track record in Bay Area sports of inexperienced people taking on big jobs: Bob Myers and Steve Kerr had never done their jobs prior to being hired by the Warriors; neither had the 49ers’ John Lynch.

Posey is the most methodical, prepared athlete I’ve probably ever met. He joked about his own reliance on cliches as a player — “just going day to day” — and said he would apply that thinking to this job. He will be clear-eyed. He will delegate. He will hire a competent general manager. He will not have to do the nuts and bolts of contracts. He wants to be observant and empowering.

“I don’t want to be the type of leader who feels like I’m constantly looking over somebody’s shoulder,” he said.

But Posey will be the voice of authority. He will set the culture.

The culture will likely look a lot like the one he was raised in: pitching and defense and trying to build a team of homegrown players. He stressed how much he values scouting. He will also use analytics, because they are part of baseball, but doesn’t want numbers to dictate everything.

“How much information can you give a player before it’s too much, before it’s diminished returns?” he said. “And understanding that this guy is not exactly like the guy sitting at the next locker?”

Posey understands players. That they are not pegs to move around a board, but individuals who make up the game. He will not be loath to give players contract incentives or irritated if his manager helps a player meet those incentives, like Zaidi was. He will see their intangibles. He will treat players like adults.

“We want guys to ultimately be accountable for their own careers,” Posey said.

As a player, Posey was always accountable. Always prepared. Always quietly confident. He’s not going to change now.

He knows where the San Francisco Giants have been. And he wants to get them back there.

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THE FALSE CONFESSION

by Clinton T. Duffy, 1950

One man who spent an inordinate amount of time on Death Row was Wilson de la Roi, a harelipped youth who was sentenced to death for the knife slaying of another inmate at Folsom Prison during a fight in the laundry building. About 20 men witnessed the affair, which took place on July 15, 1942, and their testimony resulted in De la Roi’s first-degree murder conviction.

It was not surprising that De la Roi had two or three early stays of execution, for any resourceful lawyer can obtain that many for a condemned convict. Finally, however, he appeared to have run out of appeals, and De la Roi was taken to a holding cell beside the gas chamber about a year and a half after his conviction.

He spent most of the night playing a harmonica, at which he was quite proficient. At nine-thirty in the morning I got ready to go over to the death house, having already talked to the newspapermen, checked the governor’s office, and taken care of other pre-execution details.

A few minutes later I stepped into the official car for the short drive to the gas chamber. On my arrival I was met by a highway patrol sergeant.

“Stop the execution, warden,” he said. “We just got word of a reprieve.”

When I told De la Roi, he said, “I had made up my mind that this was it, I figured I’d better get myself ready with a whole lot of guts so I could walk in there. Now I won’t have to.”

De la Roi’s closest pal at Folsom, a convict named Eddie Walker, had sent the following wire to Governor Earl Warren:

“I am making a last appeal to you for Wilson de la Roi. He is going to be executed for a crime that I committed. De la Roi had nothing to do with the killing. I would like to see you and explain all the circumstances. I know that I could convince you of De la Roi’s innocence. For God’s sake, stay this execution. I am ready to take my punishment.”

There wasn’t the slightest doubt that Walker was indulging in a spectacular bid for attention, for he couldn’t have committed the crime. Not only had a score of witnesses testified against De la Roi, but the man himself had never denied his guilt. I’m sure Walker’s “confession” was as much of a surprise to De la Roi as to everyone else.

Still, it not only earned the condemned man a reprieve within 20 minutes of his scheduled death, but it triggered a battle that lasted another three years and brought De la Roi a total of eleven stays of execution. Eventually, in 1946, the case reached the California Supreme Court, which found that “the evidence not only legally supports the verdict, but in comparison to that offered by the defendant, it appears overwhelming in persuasiveness.”

On the night before his execution, which finally took place on October 25, 1946, De la Roi made three last requests. The first was for a harmonica. The second was for a chocolate milkshake. The third was for a “package of Tums, because I think I’m going to get gas on my stomach.”

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HOW BASEBALL TURNED PETE ROSE INTO WILLY LOMAN WITH POKER CHIPS

by Dave Zirin

“Banned for life for gambling.”

These are the words that are affixed to baseball legend Pete Rose who died this week at the age of 83. Not “the Hit King”—for his Major League Baseball record 4,256 base hits—or his nickname “Charlie Hustle.” Not as a 17-time All-Star. Not as the player who made the All-Star team at five different positions. Not as the fierce soul of the iconic 1970s Cincinnati team known as the Big Red Machine. Not as the legend going airborne in headfirst belly-flop slides. He’s not even being remembered for the horrid parts of his life: the accusations of statutory rape, which he denied (and later settled out of court), as well as his years of living hard and ugly.

He was a sports star of the 1970s and could indulge in every temptation. His addiction of choice was gambling. Betting on baseball as a Reds manager was his sin, and the late commissioner Angelo Bartlett Giamatti was determined to drive gambling from the sport, even if that meant banning Rose for life.

Coming to baseball after a stint as the youngest president in the history of Yale University, Giamatti saw his job as warding off those who would vandalize baseball’s place in the American fabric. He was a dramatic figure—the father of actor Paul Giamatti—and unafraid of the big gesture. When Giamatti died of a heart attack at age 51 in 1989, friends said that the stress of banning Rose played a role in his early death. Giamatti’s dear friend Fay Vincent succeeded him, and he saw sustaining Rose’s lifetime banishment as a duty to Giamatti’s legacy. Rose never helped his case by issuing repeated denials for decades that he bet on baseball, only admitting it 30 years later as a gambit to finally get into the Hall of Fame. This last effort to fulfill his lifelong dream of taking a place in Cooperstown failed, and the lifetime ban would remain.

Today, we’ve come to understand Rose’s compulsion to bet on anything and everything, including baseball, as a function of addiction. Rose, however unsavory the allegations about his personal life, was a gambling addict. He needed Major League Baseball to direct him to treatment and eventually offer him an open, transparent path back into the game he loved. Instead the league preferred him as a living warning to players.

I interviewed Rose a decade ago for Sirius/XM radio, and he spoke to me from a Las Vegas convention-center hallway, outside a room where he was signing memorabilia. He said that later that day he would be hitting the tables. What was memorable was how caffeinated Rose was—a hyper, funny, ingratiating storyteller and clearly an experienced spinner of yarns. One could easily see him at corporate retreats, celebrity golf courses, and rubber-chicken dinners charming crowds for a paycheck. After his ban, Charlie Hustle was really about that hustle, agreeing to attend countless baseball autograph shows grabbing for any payday. He discovered an outlaw infamy and sustained his damaged ego by basking in the adoration of his defenders.

The other part of the interview I’ll never forget occurred when I asked what he might be doing if he had never been banned, and he said words to the effect of, “I never would have left the sport. I don’t care if I was just an old guy sitting on the bench giving my two cents. But that’s where I would be.”

He then launched into a soliloquy about his favorite current players and the advice he’d give them. He didn’t speak with bitterness about his absence from those spaces. He sounded alive and thrilled to be talking baseball, breaking down complex ideas about player development in plain-spoken language. Then suddenly, he sounded crestfallen, and he finished the interview talking about yearning to get back in the game. Maybe it was a sympathy-seeking con from a guy always seeking an angle. But I imagined him glumly looking around the cavernous convention center, wearing an out-of-style sport coat in a city that serves up adrenaline and alienation in equal helpings: Willy Loman with poker chips.

I think he was, for a moment, imagining himself in his familiar polyester uniform, feeling the sweaty line on the brim of his baseball hat, and that he mourned a loss. For those who see in Rose a cautionary tale or loathe him for the sneering arrogance of his younger years, such an ending could be considered just desserts, deserved for someone who trespassed against the national pastime. But understanding gambling as an addiction matters, and that creates a different kind of cautionary tale. Rose risked what he cared about most in the world, and came out on the losing end. Gambling can develop into an addiction like smoking; where you itch without the (figurative or literal) dice in your hands.

This matters now because the same sports world that banned Rose with the haughty air of a Pope excommunicating an inveterate sinner, is now besotted with gambling. Our smartphones are now portable sportsbooks, and the leagues have reaped billions from the industry. Broadcasts are flooded with ads. Members of the sports media we are supposed to trust are giving out betting lines during highlight shows. And now, brazenly, even athletes like NBA stars LeBron James and Kevin Durant are featured in gambling advertisements. The NBA happily profits from this even though the league banned a player, Jontay Porter, just last year for betting on the apps. It ruined his young career. Porter and Rose are two examples of countless people, especially young fans, becoming addicts thanks to widespread legalized sports betting.

The sports leagues have also, while peddling addiction, been PR conscious enough to offer phone numbers for those who cannot escape its grasp. And a new generation of addicts is now seeking help in shocking numbers.

As for Rose, in this orgy of gambling and addiction, MLB continued to use him as a symbol: warning players, coaches, and referees that while the world may be betting on their games, they are to resist all temptations. You can advertise gambling, just not partake. Or you’ll end up like Pete Rose: a tragic figure with his nose pressed up against the class. This is wrong. Rose should be remembered as an example not only of the perils of gambling addiction but also as why the leagues’ embrace of this revenue stream makes them predatory hypocrites. If we had a different discussion about Rose’s addiction 35 years ago, perhaps this epidemic the sports world has unleashed could have been avoided.

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THE DEMOCRATS CANNOT WIN without the support of the Muslim American community. And that community has left the station and is not coming back unless the Democrats decide that it's more important to them to win the election than it is to conduct the genocide.

— Jill Stein

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ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Without nuclear power net zero is impossible. Solar and wind aren’t energy dense methods of generation at all. They take hundreds of square miles of land to generate very little electricity. What’s the point of net zero if the land we are trying to save has to have miles of windmills and solar panels built all over it? The landscape will still be forever changed, much of the land is irrecoverable, and the projects only generate power for 20 years. The densest most renewable form of energy is constantly shunned. What’s with these clowns?

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MY ‘RESCUE THE REPUBLIC’ SPEECH

by Walter Kirn

So this is where you all end up, when you do your own research!

My name is Walter Kirn. I’m a novelist. That’s the reason you don’t know who I am, and I’ve come here to tell you a little bedtime story.

When I was a kid in rural Minnesota, the land of the deplorables in the late sixties and early seventies, my mother had a little record player. The problem was, she only had five records, and all were protest music. Pete Seeger, the Weavers, Joan Baez, Peter, Paul, and Mary. I used to listen to the records, and I had a favorite song. Maybe you know it: “If I had a Hammer.”

It was very strange that my mother had these records, because she was a young Republican. Anyway, I was eight years old, and I had no idea what this song meant. It seemed to have something to do with being powerless, and dreaming or fantasizing that you had power. If I had a hammer, I’d hammer out justice. I’d hammer out freedom all over this land. I’d hammer out love between the brothers and the sisters…

That was my favorite line, because it was so puzzling. Isn’t love between brothers and sisters incest? As I said, I found this song confusing, and the thing that confused me most about the song was: Why didn’t the singer have a hammer? What had happened? Who’d taken it away?

This morning, I was reading Twitter and I was reminded of this song in the most unlikely way. I saw a clip of a discussion at one of those big international conferences that you and I are never invited to, and on this video was John Kerry, former Secretary of State, former Skull and Bonesman, that secret society at Yale — the same secret society that George W. Bush belonged to. The guy who ran against John Kerry for president in 2004: Skull and Bones versus Skull and Bones. Talk about the illusion of choice.

Anyway, what Kerry was talking about was the First Amendment, and how it was a problem. A big, big problem. He had a peculiar complaint about it. The First Amendment stopped people like him, he said, from trying to “build consensus.” Now, that’s how these people think about themselves, as builders of consensus. What does that make you and me?

We’re construction materials!

John Kerry, master builder, had a complaint. The First Amendment, he said, was a “major block” for people like him from stopping what he now calls disinformation. It kept him from, he said, “hammering it out of existence.”

Now, I’m pretty sure that in 1949 when Pete Seeger wrote, “The Hammer Song,” or “If I Had a Hammer,” he didn’t mean if John Kerry had a hammer. He didn’t mean if they had a hammer:

If they had a hammer,

They’d hammer out disinformation.

They’d hammer out vaccine hesitancy,

All over this land.

They’d hammer out Kennedy.

They’d hammer Matt Taibbi….

That is not the song, and John Kerry has it wrong. The hammer does not belong to him.

That hammer belongs to us. It’s ours. But why don’t we have it?

That’s the mystery.

That’s the question I’ve spent a lifetime trying to figure out. Look at this gray hair. It’s been a lifetime. Why doesn’t the singer have a hammer? Why? Why do we have to dream to fantasize? Why do we have to wish we had one?

Well, I think I’ve finally answered it. We have it right in front of us. The question is, will we pick it up? The question is, will we use it? So, I have a request for you. When you go home tonight, when you get home, pick up your hammer. Pick up your hammer and use it. It’s time to build.

My mother had one other record. It was by Simon and Garfunkel. It also had a song I loved called El Condor Pasa. I think you remember its greatest line: “I’d rather be a hammer than a nail.”

Don’t be a nail. Pick up your hammers. Go home. Let’s build a New America.

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IRAN fired several waves of ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday evening in a sudden assault that left Israel fighting simultaneously on three fronts and raised the likelihood of a direct all-out war between two of the most powerful militaries in the Middle East.

The attack from Iran, estimated at over 200 missiles, was the culmination of a dizzying sequence of events over less than 24 hours that began with Israel launching a ground invasion into Lebanon to pursue Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Lebanese militia. Israel pounded Lebanon from the air throughout Tuesday as its troops advanced on the ground and Hezbollah fired rockets deep into Israel. Informed speculation has it that Israel is planning a large scale attack on Iran’s oil infrastructure as the escalation proceeds.

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LEAD STORIES, WEDNESDAY'S NYT

Vintage Shopping Is Booming. Banana Republic and Others Get In on the Action

Israel Promises to Retaliate After Iranian Missile Attack

U.S. Destroyers Helped Israel Intercept Iran’s Missiles, Biden Says

Civility and Then a Clash Over Jan. 6: Seven Takeaways From the Debate

Mexico’s First Female President Takes Office

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'VANCE’S EXCELLENT REVIEWS WILL ENRAGE TRUMP'

Times Opinion asked 13 of our columnists and contributors to watch the vice-presidential debate on Tuesday night and assess who won and who lost. We also asked them to weigh in on the quality of the debate. Were the candidates inspiring, or was their face-off a depressing sign of everything that’s wrong with American politics?

Who won and why

Binyamin Appelbaum, member of the editorial board JD Vance was more effective in presenting a version of his party’s ticket that might broaden its appeal. He made Trumpism sound polite, calm and coherent. The question is whether voters will credit a performance so strikingly at odds with the behavior and views of the man he was purporting to represent.

Josh Barro, author of the newsletter Very Serious Vance was far nimbler than the nervous Tim Walz, especially in the first half of the debate. But as the debate went on, Vance stumbled on two issues — abortion and the 2020 election — where his rhetorical skill could not salvage the very unappealing material he was working with.

Charles M. Blow, Times columnist Walz won. You could tell that he was a teacher, because he clearly did his homework. Anyone afraid that Vance would roll over him could breathe easily. Vance seemed to have been told not to come across as a condescending valedictorian. But he might have heeded that advice too well. Vance’s performance was anemic. Also, he had to contort himself to dodge Donald Trump’s statements and his own past statements.

Jamelle Bouie, Times columnist It’s a pretty straightforward verdict: Vance won this debate. It’s not hard to see why. He has spent most of his adult life selling himself to the wealthy, the powerful and the influential. He is as smooth and practiced as they come. He has no regard for the truth. He lies as easily as he breathes. We saw this throughout the debate. He told Americans that there are 20 million to 25 million “illegal aliens” — a lie. He told Americans that Mexico is responsible for the nation’s illegal gun problem — a lie. He told Americans that Trump actually tried to save the Affordable Care Act — a lie. If Vance had to sell the benefits of asbestos to win office, he would do it well and do it with a smile.

Jane Coaston, contributing Opinion writer Vance seemed smoother and more practiced, but “won” is a very strong term here.

Gail Collins, Times columnist Calling it a draw just because Walz was so bad in much of his delivery. Vance was a much more forceful speaker while spewing lies on everything from abortion to Biden’s foreign policy.

Ross Douthat, Times columnist For Vance, it was a commanding performance. For Walz, it was a nervous ramble. For the audience, it was the most civil and substantive debate of the Trump era.

Matt Labash, author of the newsletter Slack Tide Nobody truly dominated. But I’m giving the slight edge to Walz, since Vance embarrassingly soft-pedaled Jan. 6 and Trump posted this to Truth Social during the debate: “More Notes! Why Can’t Walz just remember what he has to say? Low IQ!” Reminding us that Vance’s boss should watch more Hallmark Channel, less Newsmax.

Katherine Mangu-Ward, editor of Reason Vance won. Compared with the candidates in the presidential debates, both vice-presidential candidates performed admirably. But if you watch enough “Love Is Blind,” you can forget that Jane Austen exists. Vance was facile and light on his feet, but this debate will not go down in the annals of great political rhetoric.

Daniel McCarthy, editor of the periodical Modern Age Vance won with a stronger start, then Walz lost with a closing statement boasting of a Harris coalition “from Bernie Sanders to Dick Cheney to Taylor Swift.” Socialism, endless war and manufactured teen feelings are the last things voters want or need in November.

Megan Stack, contributing Opinion writer Vance nimbly reframed questions to his advantage, sounded deeply concerned about ordinary Americans and managed to appear forthright even when sidestepping or dissembling. Vance ran circles around Walz. Until the very end, when the question of Jan. 6 and democracy shook Walz awake, he often looked woolly and discombobulated, widened eyes suggesting panic.

Farah Stockman, member of the editorial board I’d call it a tie. Vance did an excellent job of impersonating a decent man. Walz flubbed a number of answers — and dodged a question about whether he lied about being in China during the Tiananmen protests in 1989. But he recovered.

Peter Wehner, contributing Opinion writer Vance. He was sharp and in command and proved he’s an excellent debater. At times he tried too hard to appear likable; I came away more convinced that he’s a hollow man, radioactive and incendiary one day, conciliatory and agreeable the next. But the “good Vance” did a lot to repair his tattered image.

Most pivotal moment

Appelbaum The exchange on immigration. Vance played on fears of immigrants and deftly deflected a question about the dangers of such language by insisting he was focused on the welfare of “American citizens.” Meanwhile, instead of folksy Walz, the audience got a lecture on legislative procedure.

Barro Asked whether Trump lost the 2020 election, Vance replied “Tim, I’m focused on the future,” then pivoted to talk about the past: about pressure government officials put on social media platforms in 2021 to censor posts related to Covid. While some of Vance’s redirections in the debate were effective, this one just highlighted how he sold his soul to get on the ticket.

Blow Walz kept invoking his policies as governor and how national policies affected his state. Vance had no corresponding examples. It was a subtle but effective way of underscoring Walz’s executive governing experience, which marked him as more of a leader.

Bouie Vance won overall, but if there was one pivotal moment, it came at the end, when he refused to admit that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election. Vance might have undermined his entire performance by indulging Trump’s election denialism.

Coaston Vance’s complete nonanswer to the Jan. 6 question.

Collins Maybe just when the Democratic vice-presidential candidate walked in, appearing super-nervous. That charming grin he’s so famous for was more of a desperate stare.

Douthat Vance set the tone during the initial foreign policy questions, when he offered a variation on the famous “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” question for world affairs and Walz could barely muster a response. That was the pattern of the whole night: Vance reliably gave the strongest version of the Trumpian case (including in areas where the Trumpian case is weak); Walz only intermittently offered anything like an effective counter and hardly ever turned the tables.

Labash There really weren’t any. Even though I just watched the debate, I’ve already forgotten it. So many factlets recited from memory, without anyone saying anything memorable. Maybe the Trump years have ruined vanilla politics forever.

Mangu-Ward In the final minutes, Walz landed confident hits on the facts and implications of Jan. 6. The debate didn’t go his way, but he finished robustly with the point that Trump’s behavior that day is the strongest case against a Trump-Vance ticket.

McCarthy Vance had a tougher second half than Walz but ended on a decisive point in favor of the Trump ticket: Harris has been in office for nearly four years and can’t credibly promise change, or as Vance put it, “Day 1 was 1,400 days ago, and her policies have made these problems worse.”

Stack Addressing Jan. 6, Walz finally found his voice and clarity. Suddenly the dynamic flipped, with Vance waffling and then pivoting to censorship rather than engaging with Trump’s efforts to subvert the results of the last election. But this moment came so late in the evening, it felt more like an epilogue than the main event.

Stockman When Vance portrayed Trump as the savior of Obamacare. The people I was watching with laughed out loud. They also laughed when Walz asked Vance whether Trump lost the 2020 election and Vance replied, “I’m focused on the future.”

Wehner There wasn’t one. A vice-presidential debate wouldn’t have mattered under any circumstances, but this one won’t move the needle at all. The debaters were at times respectful and agreed with each other, but the debate itself will be forgotten by the end of the week.

Something small but revealing …

Appelbaum For 90 minutes, this debate felt almost like a throwback to a more innocent time when all that was at stake in a presidential election was peace and prosperity. Then in the final few minutes, anyone still watching was reminded that Vance, like his running mate, doesn’t regard himself as bound by the results of democratic elections. It was a strange thing to save for the end.

Barro While a lot of predebate coverage focused on the idea that Walz and Vance have an unusual level of animus, the debate was remarkably civil, policy-focused and normal. It’s a preview of what politics might look like someday when we again have an election not involving Trump.

Blow Vance’s cerise tie was … a choice.

Bouie Vance’s quip that many Americans don’t agree with him on abortion really underplayed the fact that his position — that there’s little to nothing that would entitle a woman to terminate a pregnancy — is toxic to a vast majority of Americans.

Coaston Vance saying that Republicans needed to “earn” back the trust of the American people on abortion. I wonder why. Once again, Dobbs remains the single greatest “dog that caught the car” moment in political history.

Collins When Walz pointed out that, despite his claims to the contrary, Trump did lose the election in 2020 and Vance replied, “I’m focused on the future.”

Douthat On almost every policy issue that came up, Vance was armed with much more detail than Walz; on many of those policy issues, he staked out a position that could be framed as more moderate or centrist than his party’s orthodoxy. That’s a very Bill Clintonian combination, one that wins debates — and elections.

Labash Interesting that Vance — normally so preoccupied with masculinity issues — wore a hot pink tie. Is he showing us his softer side?

Mangu-Ward In an exchange about censorship, the candidates squabbled over what constitutes “shouting fire in a crowded theater.” That phrase turns up, like a bad penny, anytime someone is struggling to justify unconstitutional censorship. It originates in the context of Schenck v. United States, a 1919 Supreme Court case about anti-draft pamphleting, and it is one of the most misunderstood and misused phrases in legal history.

McCarthy Walz often talked about farms, whereas Vance emphasized manufacturing. Walz’s agricultural focus might have helped him in Minnesota, but it’s a gamble when the industrial work force is likely to be decisive in Pennsylvania and other battleground states this year.

Stack The candidates were each asked about embarrassing or dishonest statements. Walz rambled and fumbled and called himself a “knucklehead” but never explained, even when pressed by the moderator. Vance, on the other hand, simply said that he’d been wrong and wanted to be honest about having been wrong.

Stockman Vance admitted several times that his party had lost trust on abortion.

Wehner Vance — because he was quite good and Trump was so awful — must have had MAGA Republicans all over the country admit, if only to themselves, that Trump is not just flawed but deranged. For them, it must have been 90 minutes of enormous relief. Oh, and Vance’s excellent reviews will enrage Trump. So will the fact that Vance seemed more interested in repairing his own image than being Trump’s attack dog.

(NYT)

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“ESCALATION DOMINANCE” . . . AND THE PROSPECT OF MORE THAN 1,000 HOLOCAUSTS

by Norman Solomon

Everything is at stake. Everything is at stake with nuclear weapons.

While working as a nuclear war planner for the Kennedy administration, Daniel Ellsberg was shown a document calculating that a U.S. nuclear attack on communist countries would result in 600 million dead. As he put it later: “A hundred Holocausts.”

That was in 1961.

Today, with nuclear arsenals vastly larger and more powerful, scientists know that a nuclear exchange would cause “nuclear winter.” And the nearly complete end of agriculture on the planet. Some estimates put the survival rate of humans on Earth at 1 or 2 percent.

No longer 100 Holocausts.

More than 1,000 Holocausts.

If such a nuclear war happens, of course we won’t be around for any retrospective analysis. Or regrets. So, candid introspection is in a category of now or never.

What if we did have the opportunity for hindsight? What if we could somehow hover over this planet? And see what had become a global crematorium and an unspeakable ordeal of human agony? Where, in words attributed to both Nikita Khruschev and Winston Churchill, “the living would envy the dead.”

What might we Americans say about the actions and inaction of our leaders?

In 2023: The nine nuclear-armed countries spent $91 billion on their nuclear weapons. Most of that amount, $51 billion, was the U.S. share. And our country accounted for 80 percent of the increase in nuclear weapons spending.

The United States is leading the way in the nuclear arms race. And we’re encouraged to see that as a good thing. “Escalation dominance.”

But escalation doesn’t remain unipolar. As time goes on, “Do as we say, not as we do” isn’t convincing to other nations.

China is now expanding its nuclear arsenal. That escalation does not exist in a vacuum. Official Washington pretends that Chinese policies are shifting without regard to the U.S. pursuit of “escalation dominance.” But that’s a disingenuous pretense. What the great critic of Vietnam War escalation during the 1960s, Senator William Fulbright, called “the arrogance of power.”

Of course there’s plenty to deplore about Russia’s approach to nuclear weapons. Irresponsible threats about using “tactical” ones in Ukraine have come from Moscow. There’s now public discussion – by Russian military and political elites – of putting nuclear weapons in space.

We should face the realities of the U.S. government’s role in fueling such ominous trends, in part by dismantling key arms-control agreements. Among crucial steps, it’s long past time to restore three treaties that the United States abrogated – ABM, Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces, and Open Skies.

On the non-proliferation front, opportunities are being spurned by Washington. For instance, as former CIA analyst Melvin Goodman wrote in September: “Iran’s Ayatollah has indicated a readiness to open discussions with the United States on nuclear matters, but the Biden administration has turned a deaf ear to such a possibility.”

That deaf ear greatly pleases Israel, the only nuclear-weapons state in the Middle East. On September 22, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said unequivocally that Israel’s pager attack in Lebanon was “a form of terrorism.” The United States keeps arming Israel, but won’t negotiate with Iran.

The U.S. government has a responsibility to follow up on every lead, and respond to every overture. Without communication, we vastly increase the risk of devastation.

We can too easily forget what’s truly at stake.

Despite diametrical differences in ideologies, in values, in ideals and systems – programs for extermination are in place at a magnitude dwarfing what occurred during the first half of the 1940s.

Today, Congress and the White House are in the grip of what Martin Luther King Jr. called “the madness of militarism.” In a toxic mix with the arrogance of power. Propelling a new and more dangerous Cold War.

And so, at the State Department, the leadership talks about a “rules-based order,” which all too often actually means: “We make the rules, we break the rules.”

Meanwhile, the Doomsday Clock set by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is now just 90 seconds away from apocalyptic midnight.

Six decades ago, the Doomsday Clock was a full 12 minutes away. And President Lyndon Johnson was willing to approach Moscow with the kind of wisdom that is now absent at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Here’s what Johnson said at the end of his extensive summit meeting with Soviet Premier Alexi Kosygin in June 1967 in Glassboro, New Jersey: “We have made further progress in an effort to improve our understanding of each other’s thinking on a number of questions.”

Two decades later, President Ronald Reagan – formerly a supreme cold warrior — stood next to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and said: “We decided to talk to each other instead of about each other.”

But such attitudes would be heresy today.

As each day brings escalation toward a global nuclear inferno, standard-issue legislators on both sides of the aisle keep boosting the Pentagon budget. Huge new appropriations for nuclear weapons are voted under the euphemism of “modernization.”

And here’s a sad irony: The few members of Congress willing to urgently warn about the danger of nuclear war often stoke that danger with calls for “victory” in the Ukraine war. Instead, what’s urgently needed is a sober push for actual diplomacy to end it.

The United States should not use the Ukraine war as a rationale for pursuing a mutually destructive set of policies toward Russia. It’s an approach that maintains and worsens the daily reality on the knife-edge of nuclear war.

We don’t know how far negotiations with Russia could get on an array of pivotal issues. But refusing to negotiate is a catastrophic path.

Continuation of the war in Ukraine markedly increases the likelihood of spinning out from a regional to a Europe-wide to a nuclear war. Yet, calls for vigorously pursuing diplomacy to end the Ukraine war are dismissed out of hand as serving Vladimir Putin’s interests.

A zero-sum view of the world.

A one-way ticket to omnicide.

The world has gotten even closer to the precipice of a military clash between the nuclear superpowers, with a push to greenlight NATO-backed Ukrainian attacks heading deeper into Russia.

Consider what President Kennedy had to say, eight months after the Cuban Missile Crisis, in his historic speech at American University: “Above all, while defending our own vital interests, nuclear powers must avert those confrontations which bring an adversary to a choice of either a humiliating retreat or a nuclear war. To adopt that kind of course in the nuclear age would be evidence only of the bankruptcy of our policy, or of a collective death wish for the world.”

That crucial insight from Kennedy is currently in the dumpsters at the White House and on Capitol Hill.

And where is this all headed?

Daniel Ellsberg tried to alert members of Congress. Five years ago, in a letter that was hand-delivered to every office of senators and House members, he wrote: “I am concerned that the public, most members of Congress, and possibly even high members of the Executive branch have remained in the dark, or in a state of denial, about the implications of rigorous studies by environmental scientists over the last dozen years.” Those studies “confirm that using even a large fraction of the existing U.S. or Russian nuclear weapons that are on high alert would bring about nuclear winter, leading to global famine and near extinction of humanity.”

In the quest for sanity and survival, isn’t it time for reconstruction of the nuclear arms-control infrastructure? Yes, the Russian war against Ukraine violates international law and “norms,” as did U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But real diplomacy with Russia is in the interests of global security.

And some great options don’t depend on what happens at the negotiation table.

Many experts say that the most important initial step our country could take to reduce the chances of nuclear war would be a shutdown of all ICBMs.

The word “deterrence” is often heard. But the land-based part of the triad is actually the opposite of deterrence – it’s an invitation to be attacked. That’s the reality of the 400 intercontinental ballistic missiles that are on hair-trigger alert in five western states

Uniquely, ICBMs invite a counterforce attack. And they allow a president just minutes to determine whether what’s incoming is actually a set of missiles – or, as in the past, a flock of geese or a drill message that’s mistaken for the real thing.

The former Secretary of Defense William Perry wrote that ICBMs are “some of the most dangerous weapons in the world” and “they could even trigger an accidental nuclear war.”

And yet, so far, we can’t get anywhere with Congress in order to shut down ICBMs. “Oh no,” we’re told, “that would be unilateral disarmament.”

Imagine that you’re standing in a pool of gasoline, with your adversary. You’re lighting matches, and your adversary is lighting matches. If you stop lighting matches, that could be condemned as “unilateral disarmament.” It would also be a sane step to reduce the danger — whether or not the other side follows suit.

The ongoing refusal to shut down the ICBMs is akin to insisting that our side must keep lighting matches while standing in gasoline.

The chances of ICBMs starting a nuclear conflagration have increased with sky-high tensions between the world’s two nuclear superpowers. Mistaking a false alarm for a nuclear-missile attack becomes more likely amid the stresses, fatigue and paranoia that come with the protracted war in Ukraine and extending war into Russia.

Their unique vulnerability as land-based strategic weapons puts ICBMs in the unique category of “use them or lose them.” So, as Secretary Perry explained, “If our sensors indicate that enemy missiles are en route to the United States, the president would have to consider launching ICBMs before the enemy missiles could destroy them. Once they are launched, they cannot be recalled. The president would have less than 30 minutes to make that terrible decision.”

The United States should dismantle its entire ICBM force. Former ICBM launch officer Bruce Blair and General James Cartwright, former vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote: “By scrapping the vulnerable land-based missile force, any need for launching on warning disappears.”

In July, the Union of Concerned Scientists released a letter signed by more than 700 scientists. They not only called for cancelation of the Sentinel program for a new version of ICBMs – they also called for getting rid of the entire land-based leg of the triad.

Meanwhile, the current dispute in Congress about ICBMs has focused on whether it would be cheaper to build the cost-overrunning Sentinel system or upgrade the existing Minuteman III missiles. But either way, the matches keep being lit for a global holocaust.

During his Nobel Peace Prize speech, Martin Luther King declared: “I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction.”

I want to close with some words from Daniel Ellsberg’s book The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner, summing up the preparations for nuclear war. He wrote:

“No policies in human history have more deserved to be recognized as immoral, or insane. The story of how this calamitous predicament came about, and how and why it has persisted for over half a century is a chronicle of human madness. Whether Americans, Russians and other humans can rise to the challenge of reversing these policies and eliminating the danger of near-term extinction caused by their own inventions and proclivities remains to be seen. I choose to join with others in acting as if that is still possible.”

This article is adapted from the keynote speech that Norman Solomon gave at the annual conference of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation in Washington, DC on Sept. 24, 2024.

(Norman Solomon is the national director of RootsAction.org and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. His latest book, War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine, is published by The New Press.)

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