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A MORE WELL DEFINED COLD FRONT will begin to impact the area today with increasing northerly wind, midlevel clouds, and drizzle along the coast through early Thursday. Dry cold air will build in behind the front allowing for particularly cold conditions as skies clear and winds weaken Friday morning. (NWS)
STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): My decks look damp but I do not think there is enough moisture to measure. A balmy 57F with overcast skies this Wednesday morning on the coast. After the clouds clear today we have a mostly sunny forecast into the weekend. You're welcome.
FIRST FROST OF THE SEASON is expected Thursday and Friday morning. Patchy frost and subfreezing temperatures will be possible in the interior valleys as early Thursday morning. The probability for morning frost and subfreezing temperatures in the interior valleys of Northwest California will increase Friday morning. Take steps now to protect sensitive plants and be sure to provide adequate shelter for pets. (NWS)
COSTCO AND EROS. WHO WOULD HAVE KNOWN?
Cloverdale Man Convicted Of Groping Ukiah Costco Worker, Resisting Police
by Colin Atagi
A Cloverdale man is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 31 after a jury convicted him last week of sexual battery and indecent exposure involving two Costco workers in Ukiah.
Timothy Scott McIlvain, 55, was convicted Oct. 8 following a single day of testimony, arguments and deliberations in Mendocino County Superior Court, according to the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office.
“The DA extends a special note of appreciation to the two women who showed courage by coming to court, confronting the defendant in the courtroom, and testifying before the jury about how defendant McIlvain had separately victimized each of them,” prosecutors said in a Facebook post.
He remains in custody in lieu of $30,000 bail.
McIlvain was represented by the Mendocino County Public Defender’s Office and his attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.
He was charged with and convicted of three misdemeanor counts of sexual battery, attempted indecent exposure and resisting police.
The charges stem from activity reported May 30 at the Costco on Airport Park Boulevard in Ukiah.
According to the prosecution, McIlvain “groped an intimate part of a female food/drink sales demonstrator. Afterward, he went to another demonstrator and tried to expose his genitals to her.”
Ukiah police were called in and McIlvain obstructed the officers before being arrested.
Following last week’s conviction, court officials concluded McIlvain violated probation related to an October 2023 conviction of misdemeanor vandalism.
He pleaded no contest in that case and two felony assault charges were dismissed, according to court records. His probation was scheduled to last until Oct. 11, 2024.
(Santa Rosa Press Democrat)
LE SHACK
Editor:
Residents and visitors to Boonville may wonder what the shed adjacent to Boont Berry is and why it's in such a sorry state.
It started life as a tourist information booth complete with shelving that contained brochures and rack cards from Mendocino County businesses and a handy map on the exterior, now faded to near obliteration. Following its inception, the booth was regularly serviced by Visit Mendocino County personnel. However, judging by the state of things, Visit Mendocino has apparently forgotten it ever existed (despite the fact that VMC's Executive Director lived just a few hundred yards to the west of it).
"Le Shack" now appears to be the place to drop off old clothes and garbage. The picture here is from a couple of weeks ago. Today, as we passed through the valley on a glorious autumn day, it contained a much larger selection of used clothing and assorted detritus. With their push for a $2.3 million budget and plenty of staff on hand, one might think that VMC could get someone out to clean it up and restore it to its former purpose.
Signed,
Wrankled (or should that be Wrinkled?)
NORTHCOAST PREP FOOTBALL RANKINGS:
Cardinal Newman hangs onto No. 1 spot; Vintage soars after win over Rancho Cotate
by Gus Morris
The first week of Adobe division games in the Redwood Empire Conference play certainly delivered.
Cardinal Newman outlasted Windsor in overtime in an instant classic that likely secures the Cardinals the No. 1 spot in The Press Democrat’s rankings for the rest of the season. Even if Windsor beats a team that defeats the Cardinals later in league, the head-to-head result will be hard to overlook.
We also saw the first big upset of league play as Vintage took care of Rancho Cotate 31-21. The Crushers fell out of the rankings last week but catapult back in this week ahead of a matchup with powerhouse Marin Catholic.
- Cardinal Newman (6-0)
- Windsor (5-1)
- Casa Grande (4-2)
- American Canyon (6-0)
- Vintage (5-1)
- Rancho Cotate (4-2)
- Ukiah (4-2)
The bottom of the rankings are a bit of a mess right now and St. Vincent will drop out of the top seven, through no fault of its own. The Mustangs routed Santa Rosa 51-8 in their REC-Bay opener, their fourth straight win of 38 points or more, but remain a step behind Ukiah in our eyes for now because of their strength of schedule, which ranks as the easiest among the top 25 teams in the North Coast Section MaxPreps computer rankings.
Ukiah has played a much stronger strength of schedule and its two losses are against teams in the REC-Adobe. That’s also why Rancho Cotate will stay ahead of the Ukiah Wildcats in our rankings.
The power struggle in the REC-Bay will likely be settled in a few weeks when Ukiah hosts St. Vincent on Oct. 25. Both teams should enter that game undefeated in league play.
A VERY LIMITED NOISE ORDINANCE
Chris Skyhawk: In his latest Supervisor’s Report John Haschak mentioned the proposed noise ordinance, I made this comment on the Mendocino Voice Facebook page, and have taken the liberty of cc’ing John here…. Thanks!
Hi John,
Thanks for your article, with regard to a noise ordinance, would this apply to agriculture? I know some years back people in Anderson Valley found the anti frost machines to be horrible. I don’t remember the entire history or its final resolution but I know Mark Scaramella of the AVA worked hard with AV people, whose lives were seriously impacted by the practice.
Chris Skyhawk
Fort Bragg
Mark Scaramella Notes: As stated explicitly in their response to my original lawsuit in 2014, the County’s position has always been that the state’s Right To Farm ordinance means that because frost fans were used in the Ukiah area as far back as the 1950s for pear growing, the introduction of them in Anderson Valley in 2013 is exempt from nuisance complaints because the fans are a “pre-existing agricultural practice,” never mind that they were new to Anderson Valley and obviously not exempt. (In fact, the fact that the County used Ukiah pear growing in the 50s as the basis of their “pre-existing” claim proves that they were new to Anderson Valley and not exempt. But we were unable to pursue that specious argument when we had to settle the suit with our neighbors because we ran out of lawyer money.) When the issue first arose, the local wine industry website posted a response with a false claim that “Mendocino County is the only county in the state of California which requires permits for wind fans which address noise, placement and need.” When we tried to introduce that claim in court, Judge Henderson said that because it wasn’t a signed statement it didn’t constitute cognizable evidence. The truth was that the only thing wind fan permits require is an engineering certification that the concrete pad and electrical system meet ordinary code requirements. However, now that more than ten years have passed since the introduction of the fans to Anderson Valley, we’re quite sure that the county’s “pre-existing practice” claim has more credence because no one but us has filed a formal complaint for the last ten years. Therefore, Anderson Valley no longer has any standing to claim that the fans are new to the Valley. (However, the existing nuisance is a disclosable nuisance in real estate transactions, thus lowering the property value of parcels in the vicinity of wine industry wind fans.)
PS. The County also told the Court that because I had asked that existing wind fan permits be rescinded and undergo the very process the wine industry falsely claimed was in place, the County — the COUNTY mind you, not the grape growers — demanded that I put up a $1 million bond because requiring such permits consisted an enormous existential economic threat to the local wine industry. The County and the wine industry are essentially one entity, and although they do not directly engage in county politics, they have a de facto veto over anything the County may do that might threaten their interests. (Recall that when everyone but the wine industry supported a mild, minimal County grading ordinance as required by the County’s General Plan, the wine industry reps steadfastly refused to consider any such ordinance that would apply to “ag,” thus preventing the Grading Ordinance committee from reaching the Board ordained “consensus” on any proposals, and, finally, after years of time-wasting meetings, giving up and disbanding.
PPS. Only two locals filed letters to the court in support of my lawsuit (Steve Sparks and Neil Darling, if you must know), neither of whom were among the more vocal local wind-fan complainers. No one offered any financial support for my suit. The late uber-hippie John Llewellyn approached me with his raggedy band of “supporters” after our one and only court hearing in Ukiah offering “anything I can do to help.” I asked him to write an open letter denouncing then-Supervisor Dan Hamburg for doing nothing about the problem. Llewellyn said Hamburg was “a friend of mine,” and that he’d be happy to talk to him. I replied, “No, I don’t want you to talk to him; I only want an open letter of denunciation.” Llewellyn repeated his offer to talk to Hamburg. I replied with an expletive that I now regret, but only because if its vulgarity, not its underlying sentiment. Llewellyn was naïve but well-meaning, I guess. I already knew that lots of locals had privately “talked” with Hamburg about the problem and got nothing but bland platitudes and bureaucratrese; no action, no introduction of a permit process, no official statements, not even an acknowledgement of the level of nuisance. In the end, I ran out of money to continue the suit and had to drop the County as a respondent after two of the three offending grape growing neighbors offered to upgrade their wind fans from the much noisier 2-bladed versions to less window-rattling 3-bladed models. But those two neighbors are the only grape growers who upgraded in the Valley, and, as I later learned, they received subsidies to do it from the State Water Board because wind fans use less water than overhead sprinklers for comparable frost protection.
PPPS. We have not paid much attention to Supervisor McGourty’s obvious political opportunism in raising the idea of a noise ordinance because 1) the local Farm Bureau (aka wine industry) rep told the Board last Tuesday that any such ordinance must exempt agriculture due to the “right to farm” ordinance and no one on the Board expressed any disagreement or doubt. And 2, If a noise ordinance is ever enacted — which we seriously doubt given the prevailing lethargy of official Mendocino County — it will address only loud parties, barking dogs and the occasional rooster, if that, and ineffectually to boot. (Imagine trying to enforce a loud-party offender complaint at midnight…) These days Haschak seems more interested in pursuing his latest politically opportunistic proposal of somehow limiting political contributions to local campaigns. He’s about as likely to be receptive to complaints about wind fan noise as Netanyahu is to suggestions that he scale back his assault on Gaza.
BTW (to Mr. Skyhawk): The people of Anderson Valley who are not connected to the wine industry still think the wind fans are horrible; it wasn’t just “a few years back.”)
MIKE GENIELLA: EYSTER OFFS THE PUBLIC
David Eyster, Mendocino County's District attorney, continues to ignore the most basic right of a citizen to respond to his social media posts as an elected public official.
Eyster thumbs his nose and continues to block or limit people from commenting on public business even though the U.S. Supreme Court has weighed in. He has been asked several times to follow guidelines established by the courts.
As usual, Eyster's most recent post about a local criminal case includes the following admonition: “Mendocino County District Attorney limited who can comment on this post.”
No one is challenging Eyster's right to restrict comments on his personal social media page. Public business, however, is another matter.
The County of Mendocino should know that potentially costly litigation could occur. The ACLU, for example, is already involved in other jurisdictions over the public's right to comment on official business.
Hopefully, Eyster, his staff of attorneys, and Mendocino County's County Counsel's Office will recognize his public obligations as an elected official. He has been in office since 2011, so there should be no surprises.
For the record, DA Eyster typically gets a free ride from local media, which publishes his press releases verbatim and without question. In today's shrinking business of journalism, that is their choice. However, the public can comment publicly and raise questions about Eyster's relentless, pro-prosecution posts on his Mendocino County District Attorney site.
The following is a definitive explanatory story: https://www.ncsl.org/state-legislatures-news/details/supreme-court-defines-when-public-officials-can-block-social-media-followers
ANDERSON VALLEY VILLAGE: October Newsletter
FOREST ECOLOGY WALK AT HENDY WOODS STATE PARK, Oct. 19
Join us at 10:30 am on Saturday (weather permitting) for a free Hendy Woods Community Docent-led Forest Ecology walk at Hendy Woods State Park. Meet at the Day Use Area. Learn about redwood forest ecology, plants, animals and much more on this easy walk. Day Use Fee ($8) is waived for those considering volunteering. Want to join our great team and support your wonderful park? We are always looking for wonderful Volunteers for the Hendy Woods Visitor Center, to remove invasive plant species and lead forest walks! Interested? Contact: hendywoodscommunity@gmail.com
ED NOTES
IDLE THREAT DEPARTMENT, FROM THE NYT: "The United States has warned Israel to increase the flow of humanitarian supplies into the war-devastated Gaza Strip within the next 30 days or risk losing military aid, American officials said Tuesday.
The warning came in a letter signed by the American secretaries of defense and state that was sent on Sunday to Israel’s defense minister and its minister of strategic affairs. It was confirmed on Tuesday by a State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller.
Mr. Miller said the amount of aid entering Gaza in September was the lowest it had been at any time since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that set off the Israeli invasion.
“What we have seen over the past few months is that the level of humanitarian assistance has not been sustained,” Mr. Miller told reporters in Washington. “In fact, it has fallen by over 50 percent from where it was at its peak.”
SO, I'M STROLLING along yesterday afternoon, keeping a wary eye out for kids on electric-powered bicycles, wondering why the things don't require a license, given that they seem to be capable of life-threatening speeds. Tiny little girls have whizzed past me at about 30 mph. Last year, a mini-mob of middle school boys, mounted on e-bikes, invaded the CVS store in the Red Hill Shopping Center, zipping up and down the aisles to loot negative food value items. Marin has always had major Clockwork Orange potential.
ANYWAY, an elderly woman, propelling herself with aluminum ski pole-like walking sticks, pulled up next to me. Jeez, I really am old if I can't stay ahead of this old girl, I thought, as she said, “Excuse me, sir. Have you voted?” I can't reply normally because I can't talk. My voice box has been removed, presumably with the affliction that had infected it. I've got a button in my throat, which I depress with a thumb to croak out no more than three barely intelligible words at a time. Yes, I wheezed. “For Kamala?” No. “Trump?” She seemed to step back in alarm. No. “Who?” Jill Stein, I rasped. “I can respect that,” she said, and scooted off, and soon had about fifty yards on me before she disappeared around a bend in the road. I think I might be the only third party voter she'd ever seen.
JILL STEIN: “So, what we said about Putin was that his invasion of Ukraine is criminal. It's a criminal and murderous war.”
CONTRARY to the constant defamation of the Green Party's presidential candidate, she's not friendly to Putin. Neither is Trump for that matter.
A VOTE for Jill Stein is a vote for Jill Stein. A vote for Ralph Nader was a vote for Ralph Nader. If Democrats weren't co-sponsors of everything gone wrong in our country, the oligarchic genociders wouldn't have to vilify their principled opposition in lieu of explaining themselves.
DEPARTMENT OF HOLLOW LAUGHTER: "This year, the Mendocino County Board of Education bids farewell to two dedicated trustees who have made lasting contributions to the county’s educational community. Charline Ford and Drew Duncan have both chosen not to seek re-election, closing out their tenures with the board…"
IN FACT, two really, really Nice People got paid to attend a boring meeting a month, plus health insurance, to rubber stamp whatever mercenary scheme the boss lady had come with, all in the “service” of a redundant, parasitic, pseudo-educational apparatus that does nothing that the individual school districts of Mendocino County couldn't do better and cheaper.
WHEN The Terminator was governor, having noted the state's county offices of education as a big drain on the state budget, he wondered aloud, “Vot's dis? Terminate dem!” The edu blob, natch, rose as one: “But we love the kids and we're totally dedicated to them.” The Terminator had to back off because the edu-blob, an adjunct of the Democratic Party, votes as a bloc “for the kids.”
Mark Scaramella adds:
“Every governor proposes moving boxes around to reorganize government. I don't want to move the boxes around; I want to blow them up,” Schwartzenegger said in his first State of the State address in January 2004. “We have multiple departments with overlapping responsibilities. I say consolidate them. We have boards and commissions that serve no pressing public need. I say abolish them.”
Through his reform-oriented Chief Staff, Susan Kennedy, a long-time Democrat party insider, Schwarzenegger ordered a study — later named the California Performance Review — which issued recommendations in August 2004 that would have been the largest reorganization of state government since the 1960s.
The performance review, which was based on a series of ideas from the Little Hoover Initiative, proposed consolidating 11 agencies and 79 departments into 11 major departments while eliminating 12,000 state jobs. 53 of those “boards” were county offices of education. 117 of the 339 boards and commissions it examined were to be eliminated to save $34 million a year and 1,153 jobs, many paying more than $100,000 a year.
“No one paid by the state should make $100,000 a year for only meeting twice a month,” Schwarzenegger said in his January 2005 State of the State address. Nor do County Board’s serve any function that can’t be re-allocated to the state or local districts. At the state level, however, Schwarzenegger continued appointing members to many of those same boards, using the appointments as every governor before him had — for patronage and to reward termed-out lawmakers who had supported his proposals.
Eventually, after push back from interest groups via the Democrat-dominated legislature, most of the boards survived and Schwarzenegger went on to other things.
KTVU-TV Filtered their list by salary alone and found that San Jose is the priciest city, with an annual income of $265,926 needed to “live comfortably.” Coming in at second place with another quarter million-topping income requirement ($252,878) was San Francisco. Anderson Valley? Mendocino County? Hmmm. Probably half that, although the average annual Mendo income is, last time I looked, about $35,000.
49ER ROOKIE wide receiver Jacob Cowing said of his teammate Rickey Pearsall who after recovering from a gunshot to the test has seemingly arrived NFL-ready. “I don’t think any stage is too bright for him,” Cowing said. “He's he swaggiest white boy I’ve ever seen, for sure. He definitely has that ‘it’ factor.”
FINNISH AMERICANS ON THE MENDOCINO COAST
by Terry Sites
Visiting the Guest House Museum in Fort Bragg is a quick way to transport yourself back in time. Built in 1892, it is a gracious building that was originally the private home of the original owners of the Fort Bragg Redwood Company, the Johnson family. Built mostly of coast-grown redwood, great care was taken with details that make a building beautiful. Remembering that this was long before power tools, the craftsmanship exhibited is even more remarkable. The name “Guest House” comes from the fact that important people doing business with the lumber company were lodged and fed here when visiting the Fort Bragg lumber mill. The museum website states that 67,000 board feet of lumber were used in the construction of this house.
On my first visit to the house, my primary memories are of the stained glass windows, the enormous steam whistle (no longer functional) that once told mill workers when to start and stop working and an array of books on the history of the Mendocino Coast.
Of these books one in particular caught my eye, “The Nelson Brothers, Finnish-American Radicals from the Mendocino Coast” by Allan Nelson. A cover photo of the two brothers, Arvid and Enoch Nelson, with their blonde hair and light eyes reminded me very much of similar photos of my Swedish-American immigrant ancestors. I recently purchased and read it.
The early years of the Mendocino Coast’s development is full of high drama as any pioneering history is. The author of this book, Allan Nelson is the son of Arvid Nelson. He had access to correspondence between the two brothers. The fact that both brothers were Socialists underscores much of what is shared in the book which is divided between the memories of Arvid Nelson, Part 1: “A Rare Kind of Finn,” and Part 2: “Enoch Nelson and the Road to Soviet Karelia.”
Arvid lived his life promoting the socialist cause in America while Enoch returned to Soviet Finland in an idealistic effort to form a more perfect place for workers. Anyone with an abiding interest in the political, labor or domestic life of Fort Bragg’s early years will find much of interest here. Bruce Anderson, Editor of the AVA, reviewed this book around the time of its publication. (See review below.) My purpose in reading the book was to explore early pioneering activity as seen through the eyes of Finnish immigrants.
I was very surprised to learn that as of the 1940 census Finnish people made up the largest ethnic group in Fort Bragg. My expectation was that the Italians or the Portuguese would have topped the list. The Finns have a rich history and were instrumental in creating the Fort Bragg we know today. Recently artist Lauren Sinnott painted a large mural in downtown Fort Bragg as part of the Alleyway Project located off the 300 block of Franklin Street in downtown Fort Bragg which reflects different pieces of Fort Bragg’s Finnish history.
For example they built a 7,500 square-foot hall called Toveri Tupa (210 Corry Street) that was used for many community functions. This building stands today and is know as Eagles Hall. Finnish people were oriented toward cooperative effort, a tendency that enriched the town by providing spaces for concerts, meetings, dances and commerce that survive to this day. Also pictured are Kalevala Hall (now called Lions Hall at 430 Redwood Street), the Consumer Co-Op (Redwood and McPherson Streets) and the Finnish Lutheran Church (Redwood Avenue and Correy Street). Also pictured is a traditional Finnish style Sauna where families gathered to bathe, socialize and share food. The inscription on the mural reads, “Finnish immigrants valued cooperation, equality, organized labor and connection to nature.”
It is interesting and sad to think that this once thriving community that contributed so much to the early days of Fort Bragg is not very well known or acknowledged. History has a way of disappearing like waves erase letters drawn in wet sand.
To learn more you can search for “Finnish Immigrants on the Mendocino Coast” in your Internet browser and have a look around. In doing this I stumbled upon a website that posed a question about moving to Finland from the USA today. The question was whether the benefits of universal healthcare and other progressive social programs would offset lower wages and long winters. The answers include both pros and cons. The interesting thing is that this dialog is still active today on the merits of staying or going after all these years. I guess some things never change and for some people it is always greener on the other side of the ocean.
(Photos, courtesy of the Fort Bragg Mendocino Coast Historical Society.)
WHEN THERE WERE RADICALS
by Bruce Anderson (2008)
The history of Mendocino County is told in fits and starts in family memoirs, old timer interviews and in what seems like whispered references to long-ago scandals only hinted at by the newspapers of the time. The Nelson Brothers: Finish-American Radicals from the Mendocino Coast, by Allan Nelson, the son of one of those radicals, is unique in that it fleshes out a pivotal chapter of early local history in a scholarly, fully documented manner. The only other systematic attempt to make sense of early Mendocino County history is the local classic ‘Genocide and Vendetta’ by Estle Beard and Lynwood Carranco, the story of the murderous campaigns, one of them state-funded, by the first white settlers on the Indians of the Eel River watersheds from Covelo to Eureka. That book was litigated into silence soon after it appeared in the middle 1950s when it was successfully alleged by the descendant of an old Indian killer that the authors had used his grandfather's diary as a source for their book without permission.)
In The Nelson Brothers, Allan Nelson draws a fascinating portrait of his father, Arvid, and his doomed uncle, Enoch, whose unusual trajectories — tragic in Enoch's case — are illuminated by Fort Bragg-based scholars Russell and Sylvia Bartley who skillfully explain the complicated revolutionary politics that cost Enoch his life. As he tells the stories of his father and uncle, Nelson also gives us a vivid picture of Fort Bragg in the early 20th century when immigrant radicals, dreaming of a just world, were plentiful enough in Fort Bragg to establish their own institutions, a thriving community of socialists and independent idealists, people who worked hard, most of them Finns but with a fortifying admixture of Italian immigrants in a town whose contemporary “radicals” are mostly an incestuous crackpot crew of neurotics and exhibitionists.
Eagle's Hall, still standing at Alder and Corry, was erected by revolutionary Finns, and famous Finnish intellectuals made Fort Bragg a stop on their speaking itineraries. An early Rossi, we learn, was a communist and a great friend of Arvid's and Enoch's, and undoubtedly the first and only Fort Bragg Rossi hostile to capitalism as a form of social organization. Eagle's Hall was then called Toveri Tupa or Comrades' Hall, and the Nelsons, some of whom, we learn, were born at Whitesboro and then at Tunnel Hill east of Fort Bragg.
There's a Whitesboro Grange on Navarro Ridge, but until about 1920 there was a village of Whitesboro at Salmon Creek, just south of Albion, one of many disappeared settlements that once thrived in Mendocino County, little towns like Hop Flat near Navarro, Mina north of Covelo, and Whitesboro, which the Finns called Kala or, in Finn, Fish, the Finns being great ones for getting right to the point. The little town of Whitesboro was complete with a sawmill and a dog hole port and, at one time, an old country sauna Arvid Nelson built in their home for his mother.
The Nelsons arrived in America as the Poukkulas. They became Nelsons, of course, because if they hadn't their descendants would devote part of each day responding to, “How do you spell that again?” Arvid Nelson was a self-taught intellectual of the type once common in the country when formal education was restricted to people who could pay for it, and immigrant Finns and Italians were lucky to get a few years of elementary education. Arvid went on to become a well-known writer and illustrator for Finnish-language publications of the leftwing type. Enoch, a gifted engineer, also self-taught, joined the exodus of Fort Bragg Finns, inspired by the Russian Revolution, who returned to the motherland to devote themselves to building the new world. Enoch was eventually murdered in the Stalinist purges as “an enemy of the people,” but posthumously rehabilitated during the Kruschev era as a man who had been executed on the basis of zero evidence against him, one of millions to meet that sad fate.
The Bartleys’ afterword carefully explains the complicated politics of the purges that claimed Enoch whose earnest, American-nurtured idealism killed him in Russia, one of many West Coast Finns who'd gone home to make the revolution only to be eaten by it.
The Nelson family, in the person of Don Nelson, a retired woodworker's union rep at the extinct Fort Bragg mill, still lives at the Nelson homestead at Tunnel Hill which, like Whitesboro, once embraced a whole neighborhood of Finns. Dale ‘Crawdad’ Nelson, a grand nephew of Arvid and Enoch Nelson, and also a well-known writer who grew up in Fort Bragg, tells us that Tunnel Hill “is 1.9 miles out Sherwood-Oak from the main gate of the mill. It's called Tunnel Hill because the Pudding Creek-Noyo tunnel crosses under that point. I can say,” Nelson continues, "that Finns were instrumental in starting the commercial fishing industry out of Noyo, but I can't really say to what extent. I do know when those great uncles of mine were out of work in the depression, they used a raft to fish for steelhead in the Noyo, near the tunnel, and salted the fish for sale in other markets. They were known for boat-building. For instance, the Cluny, a Eureka boat, was built by two Finn brothers who built a boat every winter during woods layoffs, and named it after the liquor they used for motivation during that particular job… The Maki family in Noyo is a prominent boat-building and fishing Finn family. Howard Maki always used to have a dragger under construction at the top of South Harbor Drive — I don't know if that's still going on, but they once built a steamboat for the City of Petaluma, and my sixth-grade class took a field trip to watch them christen the North Star around '69 or '70.”
The first Nelsons on the Northcoast grew up in an area dominated by the Union Lumber Company. To say that class warfare was intense understates the case. There were frequent strikes and even a shooting not far from Tunnel Hill which apparently occurred when striking loggers, all of them immigrants influenced either by socialists or anarchists of the IWW, tried to return to their logging camp to retrieve their personal belongings only to be fired on.
Union Lumber shared the prevalent attitude of capital, circa 1910: “You shall employ no union man.” Socialists and the IWW were just as blunt: “Direct action will place the working class in possession of the economic power, the means of life, in control of the machinery of production and distribution, without regard to capitalist masters. There can be no harmony between employer and employee.”
These days, capital is as ruthless as ever but subtler at protecting its interests through front people like Congressman Mike Thompson, Barack Obama, Wes Chesbro, and the two political parties.
A particularly self-righteous Fort Bragg banker, we learn, a man who went way out of his way to make life difficult for Red Finns, turned out to be an embezzler, and in that Fort Bragg hasn't changed much. The town's subsequent history is replete with bribed city councils, arsons for profit, crooks in high places.
Much local history has been lost. This important book fills in some important blanks. It's a terrific story, well-told, and masterfully put into political context by the Bartleys. The Nelson Brothers is published by the Mendocino Coast Historical Society and the Mendocino County Museum in association with the Immigration History Research Center, University of Minnesota.
CATCH OF THE DAY, Tuesday, October 15, 2024
TEVIN BARNES, 32, Anaheim/Ukiah. Burglary, conspiracy.
MATTHEW FAUST, 49, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol. (Frequent flyer.)
FREDY FUENTES-RUIZ, 25, Ukiah. Organic drug sales.
ROYCE FULTON, 41, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol&drugs.
JODI HODGES, 37, Ukiah. Paraphernalia, parole violation.
MIREYA MELLO-GARCIA, 23, Fort Bragg. Shooting at an inhabited building, giving another person a permit to bring or carry a firearm in a vehicle, loaded firearm with priors, criminal storage of firearm, contributing to delinquency of minor, fighting in public.
JACOB NEVER, 21, Ukiah. Vandalism.
JAMES PELLEGRINE, 53, Ukiah. Probation revocation.
LILLIAN SAYAD, 20, Willits. Failure to appear, probation revocation.
ROGER SCHOENAHL, 52, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.
MARGARET SCHWARZ, 68, Mendocino. Trespassing, battery on peace officer, resisting.
TARA SEGMILLER, 40, Willits. Cruelty to child-infliction of injury.
VANESSA TINAJERO, 34, Willits. Probation revocation.
LUIS VIDAL-ROBLES, 24, Fort Bragg. DUI.
ALBONY WILLIAMS JR., 31, Buena Park/Ukiah. Burglary, conspiracy, destroying evidence, resisting.
CEDENO WYATT, 41, Buena Park/Ukiah. Burglary, conspiracy.
NORTH BAY FACES HEIGHTENED FIRE RISK as red flag warning issued for late week winds
The weather service issued a red flag warning — indicating critical fire weather conditions — from 11 p.m. Thursday to 5 p.m. Saturday.
by Madison Smalstig
Weather experts aren’t mincing words about the heightened fire danger expected later this week in the North Bay.
“If they tell you to evacuate, be ready to do so,” National Weather Service meteorologist Dalton Behringer said Tuesday afternoon.
The weather service issued a red flag warning — indicating critical fire weather conditions — from 11 p.m. Thursday to 5 p.m. Saturday as dry winds are expected to gust up to 65 mph in higher elevations and 25-30 mph in valleys, with relative humidity expected to drop between 10%-20%.
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. was preparing for the possibility of intentional blackouts to reduce fire risk associated with its grid in Sonoma and Napa counties, as well as more than two dozen other counties across Northern California.
Fire officials are similarly on alert, working ahead on staffing plans in case a more robust response is necessary.
“The intention isn’t to scare people or cause unnecessary alarm, it’s to help raise awareness of the current forecast and to ensure our community has information to make informed decisions, be prepared and have a plan,” Santa Rosa Division Chief Fire Marshal Paul Lowenthal said.
The warning extends into Santa Rosa city limits, which is unusual, Lowenthal said, as often they are limited to upper elevations, including the North Bay’s interior mountains.
“There’s a higher level of concern when the winds trickle down to the valley floors and have some strength behind them,” he said.
The weather service’s warning covers all of Napa County and most of Sonoma County, except for the immediate coast. Most of Lake County is under a fire weather watch.
Last weekend’s slightly beneficial showers, along with brief rains possible Wednesday ― likely amounting to a few hundredths of an inch in spots, aren’t enough to prevent the critical conditions, especially with the amount of dried vegetation that thrived during two recent rain-soaked winters, Behringer said.
Conditions were already dry enough for a small brush fire to ignite and move uphill Tuesday afternoon on the Sonoma County coast north of Jenner.
Firefighters there were able to stop the blaze, which was reported at 2:40 p.m. on Muniz Ranch Road, at just under 4 acres, according to Cal Fire. No injuries or damage were reported.
But conditions are expected to deteriorate as a low-pressure system drives winds starting Thursday morning.
At first, winds will come from the northwest and bring a bit of moisture, but by Thursday night will turn into Diablo winds.
Diablo winds are hot, dry and gusty offshore winds in the Bay Area that blow from the inland areas toward the coast, typically during the fall. The winds can dramatically increase wildfire risk as they dry out vegetation and create conditions for rapid fire spread due to their high speeds and low humidity.
“We’re going to dry out pretty quick Thursday night to Friday morning,” Behringer said.
Behringer said Friday morning through afternoon will be most concerning, with humidity in the valleys expected to drop quickly to the upper teens or lower 20s.
The North Bay interior mountains, including the Sonoma, Mayacamas and Vaca mountains, are among three areas identified as “most worrisome” in the Bay Area during the wind event, according to the weather service’s area forecast discussion. The others are the East Bay hills and Diablo Range, and the San Francisco peninsula.
Though no shutoffs were announced as of 4 p.m. Tuesday, PG&E’s website lists Thursday through Sunday as potential dates for outages in many areas across the Bay Area, including Sonoma, Napa, Lake and Mendocino counties.
PG&E is considering shutoffs because “dead and live fuel moisture values are approaching, or have already reached, critically flammable levels,” spokesperson Megan McFarland said.
Customers will receive an email, phone call or text if they will be affected by a shutoff.
(pressdemocrat.com)
L/CPL BRUCE MCEWEN offers some constructive home improvements in anticipation of the triumph of Trump and the ensuing Great Retribution
Okay libtards, listen up: we’re about to be handed a huge shit sandwich and everybody’s going to have to take a big bite. Now, first off, roust out your AWOL bag and supply it with whatever nondescript costume you can that looks least like your ordinary clothes. Include some valuable thing you can readily hock or use for a bribe. Do not put any ID cards or other indicia in it.
Next, Install a “priest hole” (a hole cut in closet leading to an escape route, from Cromwell’s day). Employ your own initiative and imagination in this project but keep in mind it will cost you your liberty if discovered. Put the AWOL bag next to it.
Then, put up an Irish screen door (like the ones used in Ulster during “the troubles”), that is a flimsy-looking yet surprisingly stout outer door that will make an alarming racket when forced open, thus giving you a wake up call and noise to cover your exit through the priest hole.
You might also include a mechanical ambush in the form of a fishing line tripwire attached to a sack of marbles suspended over a cymbal and drum to awaken the neighbors and create further commotion to cover your flight.
The astute reader will ask why? Why would I, a freeborn American, need to adopt the furtive guise of a political exile? Well, you must have read the piece by Norman Solomon in yesterday’s AVA, asking his legions of liberal voters disgruntled by the DNC to stand down. To hold their noses and vote for the only viable option to the openly fascist Donald Trump. Even if those under his banner comply with his request we must still expect the very likely event of an October surprise… which will be about as surprising as a pumpkin carved into a Jack-o-lantern for the spookiest Halloween of your life.
Now, fall out and fall to digging in. Dismissed.
PS. In my last email I have a detail that wants editing…when L/Cpl Mc dismissed his readers he says, ‘fall out and fall to’ digging in, whereas it should read, ‘fall out and turn to’ digging in— as you’ll no doubt recall form your own experience with the way Marines talk…
PPS. L/Cpl McEwen ponders what to do in the event of a rout as his forces collapse on all fronts to the forces of the lesser evil!
“Style is a very simple matter; it is all rhythm. Once you get that, you can't use the wrong words. But on the other hand here am I sitting after half the morning, crammed with ideas, and visions, and so on, and can't dislodge them, for lack of the right rhythm. Now this is very profound, what rhythm is, and goes far deeper than any words. A sight, an emotion, creates this wave in the mind, long before it makes words to fit it.”
– Virginia Woolf
CRAIG CHECKS IN
Unity with the Holy Spirit
Attended Catholic Mass in the (lower) Crypt Church at the Basilica in Washington, D.C. That is sufficient spirituality for me! As usual, proceeded to the CUA library to use a guest computer. Otherwise, have been going to the D.C. Peace Vigil in front of the White House and supplying hydrating beverages and food for the vigilers. Am still at the Adam's Place shelter. No idea whatsoever about anything else. Am fully awake in the Golden Present.
Craig Louis Stehr
LITTLE LIES, BIG LIES & DAMNABLE LIES
Editor:
When we grew up, my father was a Reagan Republican and my mother a Kennedy Democrat, yet one thing they always agreed upon was that we should never tell a lie, no matter how small. A lie was a lie. Republicans win the prize for telling the most outlandish and absurd of lies. Haitians will eat your pets? Democrats caused Hurricane Helene? Their candidate spews the craziest tales and lies of all. He doesn’t know what is up or down, truth from lies, and everything in between. While Democrats seem to tell just little white lies — Tim Walz’s military rank, whether IVF was used or not — a lie is still a lie, and the nation seems to be wrapped up in believing that doesn’t matter. The truth is, I am genuinely fearful for our future, and that is not a lie.
Susie Dowd Markarian
Santa Rosa
CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL CATCHES DRIVER USING PLASTIC SKELETON FOR CARPOOL LANE ACCESS
by Aiden Vaziri
A South Bay driver was cited over the weekend by the California Highway Patrol for using a plastic skeleton to access the high-occupancy vehicle lane.
Authorities said they caught the driver using a ghost face mask to make the Halloween prop look like an extra passenger.
“While #spookyseason is upon us, it’s important to remember that decorations being transported in the passenger seat do not qualify to meet carpool requirements,” the CHP’s San Jose branch said in a social media post.
HOV lanes, sometimes called carpool or diamond lanes, are designed to ease traffic by encouraging ridesharing during peak congestion hours, according to Caltrans.
In Northern California, these lanes are operational part time, mainly during weekday rush hours, granting general access during off-peak times. Violating HOV lane rules can result in a ticket with a hefty minimum fine of $490, with steeper penalties for repeat offenses.
Besides vehicles with two or more occupants, motorcycles and mass transit can legally access these lanes. According to state law, the definition of “occupant” includes any individual properly using a safety restraint, such as a seat belt.
Annually, the California Highway Patrol issues approximately 50,000 citations statewide for HOV lane infractions.
(SF Chronicle)
YOAV SCHLESINGER is a candidate for the San Anselmo City Council. As you can see from the following, he's also a bully and a censor.
Dear League of Women Voters,
Last spring our San Anselmo Library scheduled a two part straight forward, fact based overview of Middle Eastern History with my son, Dr Alex Boodrookas. Alex is a graduate of Marin Academy, with a PhD from NYU where his dissertation received a Malcolm H. Kerr Award “for its meticulous historical excavation, well-crafted and well-supported argument, and theoretical sophistication" He is currently an Associate Professor of History and Middle Eastern Scholar at Metropolitan State University in Denver CO. I mention this so you know that he is a serious scholar.
Alex had given a two part presentation in his local library, so I recommended him to our Town Librarian, Linda Kenton to present in San Anselmo. It goes without saying that our San Anselmo Library staff vetted the program with the previous library. After the first presentation I received the following from Linda Kenton: “…He (Alex) gave an excellent presentation all around. Lots of positive feedback from attendees. We had 61 registered for the link and 57 attended so amazing follow through. He is passionate, knowledgeable and fair in how he presents. So pleased you reached out to set this up."
Then our library began receiving aggressive phone calls, emails, and in person visits, reducing one library staff to tears, and causing another to query whether she should quit.
I have recently learned through the CPRA, that an “all hands on deck” email was sent out to a group of individuals from within San Anselmo and from surrounding communities because they did not agree with the political views of the presenter, copy attached (attachments one and two)
As a result of this aggressive campaign, Linda Kenton felt the need to cancel the talk “…Though this decision contradicts my professional code of ethics I had to weigh that with the realization that all words coming out of Dr Boodrookas’s mouth would be scrutinized and used against the Town and the Library. It pains me to feel like people who, in my opinion, bullied all of us have won.” She goes on to say “Staff have been subjected to some aggressive phone calls in addition to emails and allegations of anti semitism, so some healing time is needed" Email message from Linda Kenton to the Mayor and Town Council, attached. Clearly she and her staff were intimidated. Yoav Schlesinger and his wife are a part of this group by each writing a message to the library. Their letters were nonthreatening to the staff, copies attached.
Mr. Schlesinger’s webpage says: "We are stronger together. Let’s build a community where everyone feels valued, respected, and safe, and where our institutions represent everyone. We have an obligation to embrace difference while also encouraging respectful, civil discourse.” My questions to Mr Schlessinger are 1) why, instead of taking your own advice and attempting to have “respectful, civil discourse” with the library, did you join with this group to intimidate the library into canceling the presentation? 2) If you become a Council member, you will have to work with the Library and other Town Departments. How will you work with them when you are part of a group that “bullied” the library? 3) If you are elected, how can you convince voters that you will not put your personal political beliefs before our Town's best interests?
Respectfully submitted,
Joan Boodrookas
San Anselmo
BIG OIL SPENT SPENT $8.3 MILLION LOBBYING CALIFORNIA OFFICIALS IN SECOND QUARTER OF 2024
by Dan Bacher
Big Oil continues to spend millions of dollars lobbying California officials to thwart climate bills and other environmental legislation opposed by the oil industry.
The oil industry spent around $8.3 million on lobbying in the second quarter in published disclosures for the second quarter of 2024. Aera Energy and California Resources Corporation, Chevron, and the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) spent a combined $6.8 million alone.
Chevron topped the oil industry spending with $4,070,286 pumped into lobbying, followed by the Western States Petroleum Association with $1,782,919 and Aera Energy with $784,852.
The remaining top ten oil industry spenders were: Philipps 66 with $221,107; Marathon Petroleum with $202,215; California Resources Corporation with $190,398; Synergy Oil and Gas with $140,250; California Independent Petroleum Association with $118,065; Exxon Mobil with $110,605 and BP with $84,025.
“The $15.3 million spent in the first two quarters paces Big Oil to surpass its $26.2 million record set in 2017,” according to a statement from the Last Chance Alliance. “In 2023, the second-highest industry spending year on record after 2017, Big Oil spent around $25.4 million.”
The third quarter lobbying expenditures won’t be available on the California Secretary of State’s website until October 31:
The Last Chance Alliance forecasted that for a two-year legislative session, the oil industry is “likely to spend more than it ever has on a biennial basis — $44 million in 2017-2018 — by the end of the year, already sitting at $42 million spent halfway into 2024.”
“Chevron, Aera and CRC — collectively the top idle wells holders statewide — all lobbied to stave off the legislative momentum amassing around AB 1866, a bill which would compel oil drillers to plug all idle wells statewide within a decade. Their lobbying group, WSPA, also lobbied against the bill — as did California Independent Petroleum Association (CIPA), another oil industry lobbying group. The same groups lobbied against AB 3233, another still-moving bill that would facilitate local government regulation of oil and gas,” the coalition stated.
Other than CIPA, they said all of the top ten spenders also lobbied against SB 1497 a now-dead bill that would have required fossil fuel polluters to pay their fair share in damages for their role in causing climate change-fueled disasters. Further, Chevron, WSPA, Phillips 66 and CRC all successfully lobbied to kill SB 252 legislation that called on state public pension funds to divest from fossil fuels.
“Our frontline communities have long been harmed by Big Oil and their practices. As the industry is gasping its last breath, we are now being subjected to a relentless battle by the same oil companies to dodge accountability,” said Kobi Naseck, Coalition Director of VISIÓN California. Our resolve remains unbroken. We will continue to demand that oil companies are held accountable, not just for the pollution of our environment, but for the health and safety of our communities, both now and for future generations.”
"Chevron and ExxonMobil also lobbied against SB 253 and SB 261 laws passed in 2023 that in the coming years would compel climate impact disclosures for the state’s largest corporations, according to the alliance. "The implementation of those laws, however, could be put on pause by the state if proposed trailer bill amendments introduced by Governor Gavin Newsom pass."
Chevron’s legal counsel, Gibson Dunn also brought a lawsuit against both laws on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and California Chamber of Commerce earlier this year, the coalition added. Chevron’s disclosure form notes that it contributed $50,000 to the CalChamber for the year.
The much smaller Synergy Oil & Gas ranked among the oil majors as a top spender, clocking in at number seven with $140,250 spent, but that didn’t stop them from securing oil drilling permits.
“This comes as Synergy racked up 17 oil drilling permits > within the 3,200-foot setbacks zone on the same day the oil industry pulled its referendum challenging the state’s 3,200-foot setbacks law from the ballot, negating a November vote,” the group wrote. “Synergy’s disclosure documents show that it lobbied the Governor’s Office, the Legislature, and the California Natural Resources Agency on issues pertaining to the Seal Beach location housing the oil well sites.
“Big Oil has relied on big lobby spending to dominate California politics for too long. Californians have become wise to their antics and demand the industry pays for the harm it’s brought to our communities and the environment, concluded Nicole Ghio, Senior Fossil Fuels Program Manager at Friends of the Earth. “California decision makers must not be blinded by slick oil and gas lobbying from corporations like Synergy that are pushing drilling permits in the buffer zone between wells and communities. Our officials must put our health and climate ahead of Big Oil profits.”
WSPA and Big Oil wield their power in 8 major ways: through (1) lobbying; (2) campaign spending; (3) serving on and putting shills on regulatory panels; (4) creating Astroturf groups; (5) working in collaboration with media; (6) creating alliances with labor unions; (7) contributing to non profit organizations; and (8) sponsoring awards ceremonies, including those for legislators and journalists.
WSPA and Big Oil have for years worked closely with media outlets and more recently have sponsored awards for legislators and journalists. For example, the Western States Petroleum Association was one of the “lead sponsors” of the Sacramento Press Club’s Annual Journalism Awards for the past two years.
49ERS SIGN ANDERS CARLSON, ANTICIPATING NEED FOR ANOTHER REPLACEMENT KICKER
by Eric Branch
The San Francisco 49ers’ replacement kicker has a potential replacement.
The 49ers signed former Packers kicker Anders Carlson to their practice squad Tuesday with kicker Matthew Wright’s status for Sunday’s game against the Chiefs uncertain due to a shoulder injury. The 49ers signed Wright on Oct. 8, two days after kicker Jake Moody suffered a high ankle sprain that’s expected to sideline him for at least two more games.
Carlson, 26, a 2023 sixth-round pick, was waived by Green Bay in August after he made 27 of 33 field goals and 34 of 39 extra points as a rookie, ranking 24th (out of 33 kickers) in the NFL in field-goal percentage (81.8%) and 25th (out of 25) in extra-point percentage (87.2%).
Carlson’s final kick as a rookie was a massive miss in the Packers’ 24-21 divisional-playoff loss to the 49ers. With Green Bay leading 21-17, Carlson missed a 41-yard field-goal attempt with 6:18 remaining and the 49ers responded with a game-winning 69-yard touchdown drive.
Wright went 3-for-3 on field goals in his 49ers debut, a 36-24 win at Seattle on Thursday in which he made kicks of 25, 41 and 35 yards. He suffered a shoulder subluxation while making a tackle on a kickoff return with 1:39 left and head coach Kyle Shanahan has acknowledged the injury could prevent him from playing against Kansas City. Wright was not observed at practice Monday.
Wright had issues on kickoffs as he had just one touchback and the Seahawks had seven returns, one of which was a 97-yard runback for a touchdown. Shanahan said Friday the 49ers want their kickoffs to result in touchbacks.
“Our plan is never to be short,” Shanahan said.
The 49ers also signed safety Adrian Amos to their practice squad Tuesday, six days after placing safety Talanoa Hufanga on injured reserve with torn wrist ligaments. Amos, 31, has appeared in 142 games (125 starts) in a nine-year NFL career that included stops with the Bears (2015-18) and Packers (2019-22) before he spent time with Jets and Texans last season.
The 49ers released wide receiver Terrance Mitchell from the practice squad.
(SF Chronicle)
ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY
Anybody who is OK with welcoming their baby sons into this world by having the end of their dicks cut off should be shot by firing squad. If they're OK with THAT, what else are they OK with?
LEAD STORIES, WEDNESDAY'S NYT
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Five Takeaways From Kamala Harris’s Interview With Charlamagne Tha God
U.S. Warns Israel of Military Aid Cut if Gazans Don’t Get More Supplies
Where a Million Desperate People Are Finding Shelter in Lebanon
Nearly 100 People Are Still Missing in North Carolina After Hurricane Helene
The Latest Hot Item on Wedding Registries? A New House
DONALD TRUMP! AN OKLAHOMA BIBLE STORY
by Jim Hightower
As schoolkids learn in civics class, our government is made up of three separate branches. Your church is not one of them.
Unless you live in Oklahoma.
There, a fanatical Christian Nationalist named Ryan Walters is the appointed superintendent of schools. But he’s confused on the concept of “instruction,” viewing it not as teaching, but as a commandment to implement his own personal theology.
In June, he pompously instructed all public schools to put the Christian Bible in every classroom and to use them for teaching every subject. He’s also demanding millions of dollars from taxpayers to buy Bibles.
But not just any Bible. This month, Walters went from kooky to corrupt, issuing bid requirements that effectively narrowed the state’s purchase to one particular edition of Christianity’s Holy Word — the “God Bless the USA Bible.
It’s a MAGA-approved compilation promoting the dogma that America is meant to be governed by Christians. Marketed by right-wing country musician Lee Greenwood, the volume is being hawked in commercials by presidential flimflammer Donald Trump, who is avidly supported by Walters.
Oh, coincidentally, it turns out that Trump gets a cut of every one of Greenwood’s sales. So, a chunk Oklahoma’s big Bible purchase would be pocketed by The Donald, enriching the most unholy president in history with manna from above.
The stench of this scam was even too much for Oklahoma’s aggressively partisan GOP leaders, who’ve now rewritten Walters’ purchase order to eliminate the Trump bid-rigging bias. Still, regular citizens are asking why the hell their state is trying to indoctrinate schoolkids, putting one religion above all others. To follow this Bible Story, connect with the nonprofit news group, Oklahoma Watch.
MANUFACTURING ENUREMENT TO THE END OF THE WORLD
by Paul Street
The country has seemingly chosen not to be prepared as much as grow inured.
— David Wallace-Wells, “Sleeping Through Hurricane Helene,” New York Times, October 2, 2024
Live-streamed genocide inflicted by Israel and its sugar daddy the United States in Gaza, replete with regular images of dead Palestinian children being pulled from the rubble produced by American-made bombs, and now a vicious Israel-US assault on Lebanon possibly spiraling into a mass murderous regional war across the Middle East?
A seemingly endless meat-grinder of a US-provoked inter-imperialist proxy war in Ukraine, with regular images of mass destruction and death and the ever-present heightened risk of nuclear war?
More people killed and towns leveled by recurrent outbreaks of unprecedented extreme weather clearly resulting from the heedless US-led carbon capitalist project of turning the planet into a giant Greenhouse Gas chamber — this as predicted by climate scientists who have been warning us for years about the dire consequences of the reckless mass extraction and burning of fossil fuels?
Masses of people turned into desperate migrants trying to flee social, environmental, economic, and political disasters produced by the US-led imperialist order?
Yet another mass shooting in the Armed Madhouse that is the contemporary US, home to 115 guns for every 100 people?
The takeover of one of the nation’s two dominant political parties by a truth-crushing Christian white nationalist neofascist movement that is ready, willing, and able to overthrow previously and long normative bourgeois electoral and rule of law democracy, such as it is?
“Oh well, whatever, that’s how it is, that’s life. Let’s not get all crazy and radical about things. It is what it is. Nothing I can change. None of my business. What’s for dinner?”
One of the different “manufacturing consent” roles of the capitalist state media is to inure masses of people to the lethal insanity of the capitalist-imperialist system. Let’s call it manufacturing enurement.[1]
Inure (enure in British English) is a clever and underestimated word. Merriam Webster online defines it as follows: “to accustom people to accept something undesirable as in ‘children inured to violence.’”
Microsoft Word’s thesaurus function brings up these words as related and similar to “inure”: harden, toughen, accustom, season, habituate, acclimatize, desensitize, naturalize.
I might add “deaden” and “normalize.”
We are seeing this key mass media function — manufacturing enurement — in operation quite a bit these days.
Take Donald “Clear Out the Marxist Vermin” Trump and the US presidential election. Here we are again for the third US quadrennial electoral extravaganza in a row with one of the nation’s two major and viable parties running a malignant narcissist and fascist lunatic – Donald “Poisoning Our Blood” Trump – for the most powerful and dangerous office on Earth (an office this demented maniac actually held between 2017 and 2021). Almost every day brings a new insane comment, lie, and promise from this unspeakable ogre, this adjudicated sex offender who openly channels Adolf Hitler.
The other party is running a blood-soaked imperialist and longtime mass incarcerator who backs genocidal ethnic cleansing in Gaza and promises to keep the United States military “the most lethal [killing] force on the planet.” Killer Kamala joins the Fatherland Party (the Republifascists) in backing ecocidal fracking and draconian nativist barriers for Latin Americans trying to escape the Hell that US imperialism has made of life for millions in their home countries.
Both parties and their candidates are committed to a growth-addicted fossil capitalist-imperialist system that is cancelling prospects for a decent future and raising the specter of human extinction via the deepening climate catastrophe and/or nuclear war.
Never mind the images of dead children buried in hospital rubble caused by US-made 2000-pound bombs.
Never mind the images of whole towns destroyed by wildfires and floods, burnt and drowned corpses on display as capitalism turns the planet into a lethal oven.
Never mind the weather maps showing three new hurricanes forming in the dangerously warmed Gulf of Mexico, including now Milton, a Category 5 storm headed for the fascist-run state of Florida.
This is all treated across the dominant US mass media as things to which we are to be properly accustomed, acclimated, desensitized, familiarized, seasoned, and deadened – inured.
An ecocidal capitalist-imperialist fascist party running malevolent Nazis is presented as the latest version of the nation’s “conservative” politics. An ecocidal capitalist-imperialist bourgeois-democratic party running a faux-progressive genocide apologist and warmonger ready to tip the world ever closer to nuclear war with Russia is reported as the “liberal,” even “left” alternative.
Inuring us to the extreme destructiveness and oppression of the system is a big part of what “our” – the ruling class’s – media is all about. It’s mission includes accustoming us to the sociopathic class rule and anarchy of capitalism-imperialism. It’s about getting masses to shrug their shoulders and say “well, that’s how things how go” or “that’s the way it is” (the iconic CBS newscaster Walter Cronkite’s nightly news sign off during my 1960s childhood) and/or “what else is new?” and/or “oh well” as despicable horrors unfold before our eyes if we bother to look anymore.
Any radical criticism of this insanity is labelled as, well, “extremism” and therefore as beyond the parameters of acceptable debate.
Let’s not get extreme! As if what the capitalist-imperialist system and its top power the United State are doing to the world and even to its own people isn’t extreme. You want extreme? Look at the shocking pace and scale of the genocide that Israel has carried with the full backing of its imperial sponsor Uncle Sam in Gaza. Look at the tremendous fossil-capitalist heating of the oceans and the air that is producing gargantuan devastation via floods, landslides, storm surge, drought, heat waves, tornados, derechos, cyclones, wildfires, and tornados the world over. Look at the ongoing and accelerating destruction of essential biodiversity that results from the relentless expansion required by capital’s holy rate of profit. Look at the desperate mass migrations caused by capitalist climate destruction and other forms of imperial ruination in Africa and Latin America. Look at the insanely reckless US provocation of nuclear Russia and nuclear China on their immediate borders. Look at the 30-year life expectancy gap between Chicago’s affluent white Streeterville neighborhood (90 years) and the city’s impoverished Black community of Englewood (60 years). Look at the wild maldistribution of means in the US, where the top tenth of the upper One Percent possesses as much wealth as the nation’s bottom 90 percent. Look at the size and scale of the racist US mass incarceration system and the widespread ownership of guns including military assault rifles in the US. Look at the ubiquitous celebration of sadistic violence on US television, movie, and video screens.
Look at the daunting scale of the US military empire, which accounts for 40 percent of world military spending, eats up more than half of US federal discretionary spending, maintains more than 750 military bases across at least 80 countries, and keeps 230,000 military personnel abroad even as it lacks enough federal emergency staff to respond properly to “homeland” environmental disasters resulting from the global profits system that empire advances and enforces.
The liberal Russian émigré and political commentator Masha Gessen recently reflected on the mass media’s normalization of extreme lying and racism in a New York Times column on the recent televised debate between the fascist vice-presidential candidate JD Vance and the Weimar Dems’ vice presidential candidate Tim Walz. As Gessen notes, the debate’s CBS moderators agreed in advance not to fact check the serial liar Vance and asked questions that gave credence to Trump’s extremely ridiculous claim that Walz “supports abortions in the ninth month.” The debate hosts created false equivalence between (a) Vance’s preposterous leviathan lies – that “Trump saved Obamacare,” that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, that January 6 was a peaceful protest, that Haitian immigrants are eating people’s pets in Springfield, Ohio – and (b) Walz’s mistaken or fibbed statement on where he was during China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown. As if (a) and (b) were remotely equal. “When you place lies and facts on an even footing” Gessen writes:
“it basically creates a political sphere in which there’s no fact-based reality. That’s a pre-totalitarian condition. You can’t have politics if you don’t have a shared reality and if you don’t place an absolute value on the truth. I think that normalization degrades our political life and degrades our understanding of politics… What I think their thinking was — and I can only conjecture — but their thinking was probably: We have one candidate who is in the habit of lying, as is his running mate. Let’s find a way that we can show that we’re equally critical of both candidates…It’s a classic false equivalence. Walz is talking about his time in Hong Kong and possibly fibbing, possibly misremembering, but it’s a minor, minor thing in his background. Versus Vance’s out-and-out lies about an actual insurrection and actual violent attack on our institutions of state. To put them on the same level is absurd” (emphasis added).
As Gesse’s critique suggests, the media is inuring US citizens to serial lying by “their” (the ruling class’s) politicians.
Liberal intellectuals like the Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg and Molly Parker bemoan the mainstream media’s default “sane-washing” of Trump and his candidacy. As Goldberg put it in a newsletter last June: “It works like this: Trump sounds nuts, but he can’t be nuts, because he’s the presumptive nominee for president of a major party, and no major party would nominate someone who is nuts. Therefore, it is our [the media’s] responsibility to sand down his rhetoric, to identify any kernel of meaning, to make light of his bizarro statements, to rationalize.”
That all sounds very clever but it would better to go with “fash-washing” here because Amerikaner neofascism is the basic and extreme content behind all the “nutty,” “bizarro,” “insane,” and “weird” rhetoric of Trump and Vance. At the same time, the mass media’s mess enurement/normalization/”sane-washing” function is hardly limited to the madness of Adolph Trump. It applies to the savage imperialism and corporatism of the Democrats and indeed to the whole damn insane capitalist-imperialist system – dare I say mode of production? – that happens to be cancelling all prospects for a decent future (and will surely do so if it isn’t overthrown quite soon, historically speaking).
The environmental writer David Wallace-Wells recently published a Times Op-Ed offering the following dark reflections on why the US “slept” through Hurricane Helene, failing to adequately prepare for and properly process the incredible destructiveness of the capitalogenic superstorm:
“Last week, warning about the imminent arrival of Hurricane Helene, the National Weather Service in Tallahassee, Fla., used the word ‘unsurvivable.’ And yet the storm seemed to take much of the country by surprise. You might have thought, not that long ago, that the arrival of extreme weather could wake us up, belatedly, from climate complacency. But the dull drumbeat of disaster seems almost to be putting us to sleep instead. Even the imminent arrival of a cataclysm like Helene, a Category 4 storm that spanned more than 400 miles across the Gulf Coast and threatened communities as far north as Appalachia, was not enough to generate all that much attention ahead of time, when more might have been done to limit the devastation… Soon enough, the storm claimed a foothold on the country’s front pages and in the national consciousness. But by then it was hard to escape the impression that as natural disasters and extreme weather events pile up in our feeds they are somewhat losing their salience as a cultural force, producing less a sense of ruptured reality than more quotidian disruption, even receding from view as a perverse consequence of ubiquitousness. Back-to-back hurricanes, thousand-year floods, the return of the urban firestorm — many of these grim disasters seemed to loom larger as horrifying long-term predictions than they do as actual weather events that are presently leaving whole populations devastated in their wake… there was [relief] action…the tragedy of Helene is not that nobody arrived in its wake to help, because people have. The tragedy is that the storm did more and got there first. The pattern is by now familiar, but the country has seemingly chosen not to be prepared as much as grow inured.”
Well, yeah. Are we supposed to be surprised? The warnings go back decades. Turn the planet into a Greenhouse Gas Chamber with the excessive capitalist extraction and burning of fossil fuels and you create lethal extreme weather. This is what the anarchic capitalist mode of production does, comrades. Five hundred years of it is enough. Time to stop normalizing it.
“It’s easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.” So said the recently departed Marxian cultural theorist Fredric Jameson (1934-2024), describing a dark trend in futurist literature. It’s long past time to get over that stunted vision and turn it on its head: we must end capitalism before it ends us.
Just for the record, I settled on working with the word “inure” before I read Wallace-Wells’ excellent commentary and was pleasantly surprised to see that it is the last word in his column.
An earlier and shorter version of this essay appeared on The Paul Street Report.
Endnote
+1. American English’s word “inure” is spelled as “enure” in British English. British English’s word “enurement” means “the state of being accustomed or habituated to something.” American English’s word “inurement” is a legal term meaning “benefit.”
(Paul Street’s latest book is This Happened Here: Amerikaners, Neoliberals, and the Trumping of America (London: Routledge, 2022).)
EXTERMINATION WORKS. AT FIRST.
by Chris Hedges
Extermination works. At first. This is the terrible lesson of history. If Israel is not stopped — and no outside power appears willing to halt the genocide in Gaza or the destruction of Lebanon — it will achieve its goals of depopulating and annexing northern Gaza and turning southern Gaza into a charnel house where Palestinians are burned alive, decimated by bombs and die from starvation and infectious diseases, until they are driven out. It will achieve its goal of destroying Lebanon — 2,255 people have been killed and over one million Lebanese have been displaced — in an attempt to turn it into a failed state. And, it may soon realize its long cherished dream of forcing the United States into war with Iran. Israeli leaders are publicly salivating over proposals to assassinate Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei and carry out airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear installations and oil facilities.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet, like those driving Middle East policy in the White House — Antony Blinken, raised in a staunch Zionist family, Brett McGurk, Amos Hochstein, who was born in Israel and served in the Israeli military, and Jake Sullivan — are true believers in the doctrine that violence can mold the world to fit their demented vision. That this doctrine has been a spectacular failure in Israel’s occupied territories, and did not work in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya, and a generation earlier in Vietnam, does not deter them. This time, they assure us, it will succeed.
In the short term they are right. This is not good news for Palestinians or the Lebanese. The U.S. and Israel will continue to use their arsenal of industrial weapons to kill huge numbers of people and turn cities into rubble. But in the long term, this indiscriminate violence sows dragon’s teeth. It creates adversaries that, sometimes a generation later, outdo in savagery — we call it terrorism — what was done to those slain in the previous generation.
Hate and a lust of vengeance, as I learned covering the war in the former Yugoslavia, are passed down like a poisonous elixir from one generation to the next. Our disastrous interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen, along with Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982, which created Hezbollah, should have taught us this.
Those of us who covered the Middle East were stunned that the Bush administration imagined it would be greeted as liberators in Iraq when the U.S. had spent over a decade imposing sanctions that resulted in severe shortages of food and medicine, causing the deaths of at least one million Iraqis, including 500,000 children. Denis Halliday, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq, resigned in 1998 over U.S.-imposed sanctions, calling them “genocidal” because they represented “a deliberate policy to destroy the people of Iraq.”
Israel’s occupation of Palestine and its saturation bombing of Lebanon in 1982, were the catalyst for Osama bin Laden’s attack on the Twin Towers in New York City in 2001, along with U.S. support for attacks on Muslims in Somalia, Chechnya, Kashmir and the South of the Philippines, U.S. military assistance to Israel and the sanctions on Iraq.
Will the international community continue to stand by passively and allow Israel to carry out a mass extermination campaign? Will there ever be limits? Or will war with Lebanon and Iran provide a smokescreen — Israel’s worst campaigns of ethnic cleansing and mass murder have always been done under the cover of war — to turn what is happening in Palestine into an updated version of the Armenian genocide?
I fear, given that the Israel lobby has bought and paid for Congress and the two ruling parties, as well as cowed the media and universities, the rivers of blood will continue to swell. There is money to be made in war. A lot of it. And the influence of the war industry, buttressed by hundreds of millions of dollars spent on political campaigns by the Zionists, will be a formidable barrier to peace, not to mention sanity.
Unless, as Chalmers Johnson writes in “Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic,” “we abolish the CIA, restore intelligence gathering to the State Department, and remove all but purely military functions from the Pentagon” we will “never again know peace, nor in all probability survive very long as a nation.”
Genocide is done by attrition. Once a targeted group is stripped of its rights the next steps are the displacement of the population, destruction of the infrastructure and the wholesale killing of civilians. Israel is also attacking and killing international monitors, human rights organizations, aid workers and United Nations staff, a feature of most genocides. Foreign journalists are being arrested and accused of “aiding the enemy,” while Palestinian journalists are being assassinated and their families wiped out. Israel carries out continuous assaults in Gaza on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), where two-thirds of its facilities have been damaged or destroyed, and 223 of its staff have been killed. It has attacked the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), where peacekeepers have been fired upon, tear gassed and wounded. This tactic replicates the Bosnian Serb attacks in July 1995, which I covered, on the U.N. Protection Force outposts in Srebrenica. The Serbs, who had cut off food deliveries to the Bosnian enclave, resulting in severe malnutrition and starvation, overran the U.N. outposts and took 30 U.N. troops hostage before massacring more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys.
These initial phases are complete in Gaza. The final stage is mass death, not only from bullets and bombs, but famine and disease. No food has entered northern Gaza since the beginning of this month.
Israel has been dropping leaflets demanding everyone in the north evacuate. 400,000 Palestinians in northern Gaza must leave or die. It has ordered the evacuation of hospitals — Israel is also targeting hospitals in Lebanon — deployed drones to fire indiscriminately on civilians, including those attempting to take the wounded for treatment, bombed schools that serve as shelters and turned the Jabaliya refugee camp into a free fire zone. As usual, Israel continues to target journalists, including Al Jazeera’s Fadi Al-Wahidi, who was shot in the neck and remains in critical condition. At least 175 journalists and media workers are estimated to have been killed by Israeli troops in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that aid shipments to all of Gaza are at their lowest level in months. “People have run out of ways to cope, food systems have collapsed, and the risk of famine persists,” it notes.
The total siege imposed on northern Gaza will, in the next stage, be imposed on southern Gaza. Incremental death. And the primary weapon, as in the north, will be famine.
Egypt and the other Arab states have refused to consider accepting Palestinian refugees. But Israel is banking on creating a humanitarian disaster of such catastrophic proportions that these countries, or other countries, will relent so they can depopulate Gaza and turn their attention to ethnically cleansing the West Bank. That is the plan, although no one, including Israel, knows if it will work.
Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, in August complained openly that international pressure is preventing Israel from starving the Palestinians, “even though it might be justified and moral, until our hostages are returned.”
What is happening in Gaza is not unprecedented. Indonesia’s military, backed by the U.S., carried out a year-long campaign in 1965 to exterminate those accused of being communist leaders, functionaries, party members and sympathizers. The bloodbath — much of it carried out by rogue death squads and paramilitary gangs — decimated the labor union movement along with the intellectual and artistic class, opposition parties, university student leaders, journalists and ethnic Chinese. A million people were slaughtered. Many of the bodies were dumped into rivers, hastily buried or left to rot on roadsides.
This campaign of mass murder is today mythologized in Indonesia, as it will be in Israel. It is portrayed as an epic battle against the forces of evil, just as Israel equates the Palestinians with Nazis.
The killers in the Indonesian war against “communism” are cheered at political rallies. They are lionized for saving the country. They are interviewed on television about their “heroic” battles. The three-million-strong Pancasila Youth — Indonesia’s equivalent of the “Brownshirts” or the Hitler Youth — in 1965, joined in the genocidal mayhem and are held up as the pillars of the nation.
Joshua Oppenheimer’s documentary “The Act of Killing,” which took eight years to make, exposes the dark psychology of a society that engages in genocide and venerates mass murderers.
We are as depraved as the killers in Indonesia and Israel. We mythologize our genocide of Native Americans, romanticizing our killers, gunmen, outlaws, militias and cavalry units. We, like Israel, fetishize the military.
Our mass killing in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq – what the sociologist James William Gibson calls “technowar”— defines Israel’s assault on Gaza and Lebanon. Technowar is centered on the concept of “overkill.” Overkill, with its intentionally large numbers of civilian casualties, is justified as an effective form of deterrence.
We, like Israel, as Nick Turse points out in “Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam” deliberately maimed, abused, beat, tortured, raped, wounded and killed hundreds of thousands of unarmed civilians, including children.
The slaughters, Turse writes, “were the inevitable outcome of deliberate policies, dictated at the highest levels of the military.”
Many of the Vietnamese — like Palestinians — who were murdered, Turse relates, were first subjected to degrading forms of public abuse. They were, Turse writes, when first detained “confined to tiny barbed wire ‘cow cages’ and sometimes jabbed with sharpened bamboo sticks while inside them.” Other detainees “were placed in large drums filled with water; the containers were then struck with great force, which caused internal injuries but left no scars.” Some were “suspended by ropes for hours on end or hung upside down and beaten, a practice called ‘the plane ride.’” They were subjected to electric shocks from crank-operated field telephones, battery-powered devices, or even cattle prods.” Soles of feet were beaten. Fingers were dismembered. Detainees were slashed with knives, “suffocated, burned by cigarettes, or beaten with truncheons, clubs, sticks, bamboo flails, baseball bats, and other objects. Many were threatened with death or even subjected to mock executions.” Turse found — again like Israel — that “detained civilians and captured guerrillas were often used as human mine detectors and regularly died in the process.” And while soldiers and Marines were engaged in daily acts of brutality and murder, the CIA “organized, coordinated, and paid for” a clandestine program of targeted assassinations “of specific individuals without any attempt to capture them alive or any thought of a legal trial.”
“After the war,” Turse concludes, “most scholars wrote off the accounts of widespread war crimes that recur throughout Vietnamese revolutionary publications and American antiwar literature as merely so much propaganda. Few academic historians even thought to cite such sources, and almost none did so extensively. Meanwhile, My Lai came to stand for — and thus blot out — all other American atrocities. Vietnam War bookshelves are now filled with big-picture histories, sober studies of diplomacy and military tactics, and combat memoirs told from the soldiers’ perspective. Buried in forgotten U.S. government archives, locked away in the memories of atrocity survivors, the real American war in Vietnam has all but vanished from public consciousness.”
There is no difference between us and Israel. This is why we do not halt the genocide. Israel is doing exactly what we would do in its place. Israel’s bloodlust is our own. As ProPublica reported, “Israel Deliberately Blocked Humanitarian Aid to Gaza, Two Government Bodies Concluded. Antony Blinken Rejected Them.”
U.S. law requires the government to suspend weapons shipments to countries that prevent the delivery of U.S.-backed humanitarian aid.
Historical amnesia is a vital part of extermination campaigns once they end, at least for the victors. But for the victims, the memory of genocide, along with a yearning for retribution, is a sacred calling. The vanquished reappear in ways the genocidal killers cannot predict, fueling new conflicts and new animosities. The physical eradication of all Palestinians, the only way genocide works, is an impossibility given that six million Palestinians alone live in the diaspora. Over five million live in Gaza and the West Bank.
Israel’s genocide has enraged the 1.9 billion Muslims worldwide, as well as most of the Global South. It has discredited and weakened the corrupt and fragile regimes of the dictatorships and monarchies in the Arab world, home to 456 million Muslims, who collaborate with the U.S. and Israel. It has fueled the ranks of the Palestinian resistance. And it has turned Israel and the U.S. into despised pariahs.
Israel and the U.S. will probably win this round. But ultimately, they have signed their own death warrants.
What’s with the sanctimonious finger pointing about Trump lying? Yes, except every president for as along as I have been paying attention has lied, regularly. Our elected folks in Congress have as well. Adam Schiff is the latest great example, and he is headed to the Senate. Then we have our appointed cabinet ministers who do a good job, too, with the likes of,”The border is secure.” The lesson here is to follow the lead of Russia, China, Iran, and Israel and be skeptical of anything said coming from Washington, and Washington’s parrots in media.
I think we’ve had this dialogue before George. I’ll try again and assert it’s not so much that Trump is a champion liar, exceeding most politicians in lies by miles. It’s more the hate he trucks in, hatred best typified in his ongoing vilification of immigrants, much of it not true, all of it done with a mean-spirited bitterness. He means to make them less than human, and works hard to stir-up the passions of others against them. In this way, he flies far above the average lying politician, and in this way he greatly harms our country, its citizens and residents.
So it is a matter of degree? How is that measured? Maybe we should discuss the type of lying. There is blusterous barroom lying, which is Trump. There is lying out of ignorance, which was GWB. There is lying to be deliberately deceptive, which is Adam Schiff. And there is lying using political messaging, which is Harris. Of course along with all these types of lying, and more, there are the excuses that go along with all of them that attempt to explain why it is OK, and how it benefits our country, its citizens, and residents.
Sorry, all of that is just obfuscation. Trump, said simply, is a Damnable Liar (a fitting term noted elsewhere in today’s AVA). He lies to further his own interests, no matter what harm comes to others or the country.
Presently on a guest computer at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. before attending Mass in the (lower) Crypt Church in the Basilica. The D.C. Peace Vigil goes on 24/7 and am continuing to provide hydrating beverages and food. Code Pink is protesting at the Lincoln Memorial with “trails of blood” and condemning U.S. complicity in the region. Meanwhile, an assortment of protesters show up at the now fenced off area in front of the White House. Protect the Amazonian rainforest native speakers recently made an appearance. Many other groups representing a diverse list of concerns make appearances. No particular strong statements in regard to the U.S. presidential election, except for the occasional costumed participants who are always completely against one or the other major candidates. No Jill Stein statements at all. Lots of tourists taking pictures through the fencing. Smiling, laughing, off they go to the Smithsonian Mall. Cooler weather now…and the beat goes on. ;-))
Pay attention to the House and Senate hearings after the election, related to UAP activity. The coverup is unraveling.
The House hearing is Nov 13, Gillibrand in the Senate hasn’t set a date yet. In the House, a subcommittee of the Oversight will conduct it and Gillibrand in the Senate will chair an Armed Services subcommittee hearing
“WHEN THERE WERE RADICALS”
Interesting history aside, that Nelson family photo of 8 adults and 19 children is such a grim one. No one’s smiling, barely a hint of anything other than grim faces, especially the little ones in the front row, usually the ones to be having some fun in any setting. Old-style mustaches always add a dour touch, too, the downward cast is emphasized. It’s as if the photographer said: “Don’t anyone dare smile or I’ll shoot you dead!” I hope the reality of these families from the past was not so dreary.
Finns are famous for being shy and emotionally introverted, so smiling for the camera would be quite un-Finnish, especially in the old days. I knew Don Nelson and one of my best friends was a relative of his who lived on tunnel hill east of Fort Bragg. In spite of this reputation Finns have a wonderful sense of humor. He used to tell a favorite joke “How do you tell the difference between an introverted Finn and an extroverted Finn? Answer: the introverted Finn will look at his feet when being introduced to someone, while the extroverted Finn will look at the other guys’ feet.
Thanks Jeff, did not know this about the Finns, helps me understand the photo.
As I recall, exposure times were much longer in the past. You try smiling without moving for a minute or two. Probably much easier to have a blank expression.
***Dogs In The Park: A dog raced past me on a narrow trail and soon its people came along. “I’d like to take a little survey,” I said. Sure, the woman in the group responded.
“Well the rule is ‘no dogs off leash’ so why do you have yours off? I don’t care myself because all the cute women come here with their dogs.”
She gave one of the usual responses, that her dogs respond to voice commands, etc.
“Almost everyone who has their dogs here don’t have them on leashes, so here’s my other question: Would you come here if you REALLY had to have them on leashes?”
“No, they need to run. I would take them to an open area near my house in the hills.”
Eric held up three or four bags of fresh dog shit. “See, we’re picking it up.”
“That’s nice but sometimes I think dog owners should also randomly pick up other abandoned turds as well, but that would be communism.”
“No, that’s socialism,” Sarah said, “and it would be a good thing.”
“A couple years ago I finally got to use this line,” I said. “A dog was running at me and I told the owner: I hope you have a big crop because if he bites me then half will be mine!”
“Well, it’s not worth anything now,” Paulo chortled.
Ummmmmm ……Hiya……………the online comment about circumcision, technically speaking it is not cutting off the end of a penis, dam that would be freaking cruel and painful. It is the foreskin that is cut, an important distinction one should be aware of when believing the answer to such cruelty is death by firing squad. Imagine if the ends were indeed cut off the world would have much less people in it. Is this person angry that they were circumcised? There are droves of young men pissed off this choice was made for them and is viewed by millions of people as a form of abuse.
Happy Wednesday…😘
mm 💕
Hey Mazzie haven’t heard from you in a spell good to see you on again. Keep in touch.
Dear Sheriff Kendall,
I am always here sometimes I have to step back so I don’t lose my head, lol, 🤣💕! Hope you are well and I know you are staying busy fighting crime and keeping Mendo safe…💕
mm 💕
“Anybody who is OK with welcoming their baby sons into this world by having the end of their dicks cut off should be shot by firing squad. If they’re OK with THAT, what else are they OK with?”
Today’s AVA, “ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY”
Since this procedure is a Jewish ritual, known as the Brit milah (or bris), one might suspect the writer of the comment posted has a problem with the Jewish nation of Israel or Jews in general…But more likely, the commenter needed something to be outraged about.
My Grandmother told me it was done for cleanliness because bathing could be few and far between for most early on. And Grandma was rarely wrong. Dealers Choice.
Have a nice day,
Laz
Hi Laz, hope you are well…
I have a few Jewish friends and yes I have heard the cleanliness point a few times, I suspect the person is miffed at their missing foreskin ……lol…….either way quite a harsh recommendation for the offending parents….lol…..but if you do not know the difference between the tip of a penis and the foreskin being removed, I would say that persons opinion is null and void and has no clout, but here we are talking about it…lol
Also Grandmas are the best…………..💕
Have a great day
mm 💕
The “Jewish nation of Israel” and “Jews in general” are two very different things. The “Jewish nation of Israel” is an anti-semitic construct. Theodore Herzl, the founder of Zionism, was openly anti-semitic. He wanted to mold the Jewish people of Europe – who he absolutely hated – into a new nationalistic entity.
Traditionally, when the rabbi is conducting the bris, once the cutting is done the rabbi sucks the remaining blood from the tip of the penis with his mouth. This has led to numerous cases of the baby contracting herpes and other diseases. It is far from a clean or healthy procedure.
Female circumsicion is widely practiced and widely condemned. The male version should not get a pass.
Where on earth did you find this pernicious nonsense? Wrong every which way, but I’ll let it slide just this one time. Any more and you’re outta here
It’s kinda weird that you approved my comment defending the facts, only to remove it.
Your paper…
I don’t have the time or the desire to chase down crackpots, which makes you sound suspiciously like a one-note johnny of the anti-semitic type.
My folks were Southern Baptist bible thumpers. I am circumcised. I’m fine with my body. Makes it easier to pee, since I don’t have to pull back a ridiculous looking hood…and never had any complaints in bed either…
Our out-back friend, Harvey, wins the weekly prize for sharing of personal tidbits. Not sure what the prize is, maybe Bruce can let us in on that secret. Sometimes there’s a prize for not sharing.
It’s a simple matter to teach male children how to wash themselves properly, foreskin or no foreskin.
Why bother, when, with a few snips by a doctor, it becomes unnecessary. Looks better, too.
There’s a jigsaw puzzle of the Finnish-themed mural in Fort Bragg that Lauren Sinnott painted. She’s checking now to see where it can be gotten. I saw the cellophane-wrapped box of it yesterday.
Here’s her website for that mural:
https://historymural.com/finn/
BTW, she’s started a new mural, 8′ by 13′, in Ukiah on one of the medical buildings on Hospital Drive.
The reportedly only accurate poll (TIPP) in 16 and 20 started its daily tracking polls three days ago. First two days: Harris 49 Trump 46
Today: Harris 50 Trump 46
The 538 site indicates Harris has 54% chance winning, Trump 46%. Their polling averages indicate slight leads for Harris in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Nevada.
In PA, 415,000 Dems have voted by ballot so far, 157,000 GOP voters have done so.
I’m trying to avoid the polls, crazy-making mostly, so close. A little hope here, thanks, especially the early PA voting. Wish we had the popular vote…
CHRIS HEDGES FOR PRESIDENT!
As Einstein once said: “You can not simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.”
Hey Editor! If you’re disseminating pieces that refer to “Israel’s Wars” will you give equal billing to describing Ukraine as “Europe’s’ War”, my phrase and quotes?
“Attacking Rafah would be crossing a red line” (they attack Rafah)
“Uhm, we’re not gonna send you any more 2,000lb bombs” (Biden removed from presidential race)
“Hamas has agreed to your terms for a cease fire” (Israel refuses, moves goal posts) “Hamas won’t agree to the terms!”
“Israel isn’t blocking aid to Gaza” (Israel blocks aid to Gaza, Blinken blatantly lied – https://www.propublica.org/article/gaza-palestine-israel-blocked-humanitarian-aid-blinken )
“Don’t attack Iran!” (they attack Iran)
“Don’t invade Lebanon!” (they invade Lebanon)
“Allow aid to Gaza or we’ll stop sending you money and arms!” (…)
Jill Stein is wrong on Syria and wishy-washy on Ukraine (no mention of Victoria Nuland and her crimes).
But she’s right on Palestine and many other things, and she’s far and away a better candidate than Genocide Harris or Genocide Trump.
And if Trump somehow wins because enough swing state voters swing to Stein, well all that’s going to change is that we transition from smiley-face fascism to frowny-face fascism.
If you didn’t read Chris Hedges today, you must.
If you did, read it again and share it.
Is there a link for where to find it?
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/extermination-works-at-first
Thanks