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SHOWER ACTIVITY will ease late tonight. Cooler temperatures are expected by Tuesday with the potential for frost/freeze conditions to develop for interior areas. Additional rainfall chances exist starting mid next week. (NWS)
STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): I got .16" from the light rains yesterday. A cooler 47F under mostly clear skies this Monday morning on the coast. We might see a sprinkle this morning but we have a freeze warning tomorrow morning. A good chance of rain returns later Wednesday & into the Saturday morning.
KATHY WYLIE:
A very powerful exhibit on the Missing, Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) project by Linda Lawson, from the Manchester Band of Pomo Indians at the Mendocino Art Center Yesterday
MUSD COMPTCHE BOARD SEAT DEBATE - THIS TUESDAY, AND ON KAKX
Join us on Tuesday, October 29th, at 4:00 p.m., for a debate between Jim Gagnon and Michael Schaeffer. Both are running for the Comptche Board Seat for the Mendocino Unified School District. This will be a one-hour program. You can join the experience by texting us at (707) 734-0528 with your questions or calling during the show. We’ll start taking calls at 4:30 p.m. Listen on the air: 89.3FM. Listen on the web: kakx.stream
— KAKX Crew
AVUSD NEWS
Hello Anderson Valley Community,
We are nearing the end of October and we are enjoying the slight chill in the air! The fall colors are beautiful around campus and students are enjoying seasonal activities. As a reminder, costumes are “OK” at school on Halloween, as long as they are school-appropriate. There will be fun activities this week. Individual school sites and classrooms have sent out details; check with your child’s teacher or with the school office if you have questions.
This Friday, November 1st is a “no school” day for students. Teachers will be onsite planning, collaborating, and working on lesson plans.
Some additional upcoming dates you may want to put on your calendars include:
November 11 - Veterans Day (no school)
November 25-29 - Fall Break
December 23-January 10 - Winter Break
Please make every effort to plan family trips when school is not in session. Our breaks are planned to allow time for travel. When a student is absent from school, they miss critical instruction. Although we can assign independent study for students who may be out for several days, no packet of work will provide the same educational benefits as learning in a classroom. When students are out for several days, they often fall behind in their studies and catching up can be very difficult. The rest of the class has moved on with new learning. Support your child’s future by sending them to school every day unless they are ill.
What’s New at AVES:
• Fall arts and crafts are all around the campus. What a fun time for our youngest learners! Please feel free to stop by; you will enjoy the “Fall vibes!”
• We are excited to have math specialists “Sarah and Barb” coming out from Mendocino County Office of Education to work with our teachers and students on Tuesday! They will be teaching demonstration lessons in multiple classrooms for teachers and students to enjoy. After these lessons, our teachers and staff get together to discuss and plan new strategies to use with our students. We love these days of sharing and learning ways to make math engaging and fun!
• Don’t forget to sign up! Saturday Camps and Winter Intersession are underway. Spooky Saturday Camp was last weekend and students had a wonderful time! There is still time to sign up for Cultivating Gratitude Camp on Saturday, November 16, 8:00-12:00. Information for Winter Intersession will be coming soon!
Jr/Sr High News:
• Senior College Night went very well! The majority of our seniors attended with one or more parents. We are so fortunate that our students enjoy the support and dedication of the whole community as they plan for their futures! Thank you to Mr. Nat Corey-Moran for planning the event. Students and parents can reach out to Mr.Howard, Mr.Corey-Moran, or Mr. McNerney for help and guidance with college and other post-high school applications. Students should also be asking teachers for letters of reference as soon as possible!
• My apologies to our awesome cheerleaders! I neglected to thank them for their hard work supporting Homecoming last week. They opened up the snack shack and made sure everyone out in the field was fed! They helped after the soccer game as well. We are also thankful to Palma Toohey, who helped decorate the outside of the shack.
• Fall Sports News…
◦ There will be a meeting for all basketball players and parents - Junior High and High School - at 6pm in the gym on Tuesday 10/29 at 6pm. Mr. Toohey will hand out paperwork, communicate expectations, and ask parents to sign up for driving and operating the snack shack.
◦ Game times and locations often change due to weather or factors beyond our control with other teams. These links from Mr. Toohey will provide you with up-to-date information about sports events:
High School
Junior High
Construction News
• Excitement is ramping up at the Jr/Sr High, where we will soon be moving our students back into the updated classrooms in the main wing. We have had a mild delay with ceiling tiles, which were on back-order, but we should still be “in” around Fall Break! Just wait for the final photos. The classrooms are going to be gorgeous!
• Our architects have been doing lots of work with DSA and we are getting very close to going out to bid on the track! Groundbreaking for this project will be in the Spring. We are going to have the best sports facilities around.
• We continue to work closely with OSPC as we plan on updating or replacing the gym. It is important to us to ensure sports programs are not impacted as this project gets underway. This continues to be in the planning phases and we will keep you posted!
We are deeply grateful for our community’s support, through your attendance at our events, support of our facilities, and dedication to all the students of AVUSD. Please reach out to me if you have questions, concerns, or ideas to share!
With respect,
Kristin Larson Balliet
Superintendent
Anderson Valley Unified School District
‘NOT NORMAL’ … ‘A CHAOTIC MESS’…
by Mark Scaramella
Last Tuesday the Board of Supervisors engaged in one of their patented rambling discussions of Supervisor Glenn McGourty’s leisurely suggestion that the Board hire a dedicated staffer or two for themselves. The assumption being that they could do more of what they don’t do with someone who works for them rather than for the CEO. You’d probably hear a more relevant discussion at the Forest Club about 10pm on Friday night, so there’s no point in dwelling on most of Tuesday’s blather. Suffice to say that they all thought the idea was peachy — if they could do it without any increase in cost.
Supervisor Ted Williams raised the logical idea of simply returning the Clerk of the Board’s office from the CEO to the Board. But, of course, nobody else mentioned it.
Otherwise Supervisor Williams, like his colleagues, drifted into free association, shifting the subject to the Board’s ongoing inability to get meaningful information from their existing staff:
“This is about the person we would hire or assign, what they would be doing. How do you talk about whether we need resources unless you talk about what that resource would be doing for the board? I look at this chart (a project status report from the retirement board conveniently offered by Supervisor Dan Gjerde) and I think this is exactly what I had in mind. It has the percentage complete, the day we expect it to be done, whether resources are needed and who is currently responsible. It is an example — I got a call last week about the status of the Public Health Advisory Board that we directed be created. I don't know. Is it stuck in County Counsel's office? Is it 0% of the way? Is it 50% of the way? I could ask, but you have five people who are all going to get different information if we are asking on different days. We are going to come to a meeting with different foundational knowledge versus we all look at the same chart and we know that it's 50% and is currently in County Counsel's office. So I think this is very valuable. Who could do this work? I don't think our existing staff can focus on this kind of reporting and focus on all the other tasks of running the county and the departments. Out of 1400 employees, having one that is fully dedicated to the board needs, I think we would all be much more successful. Who do you ask about this? I think you ask the outgoing supervisors. A new supervisor doesn't have the experience. They have not had to be successful to complete tasks and track them over the course of multiple years. Somebody who's been through it really knows what would have made that experience more productive.”
Five different answers to the same question?
Successful?
Existing staff can’t focus on reporting?
1400 employees? …
We can save Williams some time and money by answering his question about whether anything is stuck in County Counsel’s office with the answer to just about every such question: Yes.
Long-suffering Deputy CEO Steve Dunnicliff tried to get some clarity, but found himself up drifting back into CEO propaganda-talk about how hard ordinary reporting is.
“I’m hearing a lot of differing perspectives,” said Dunnicliff with admirable understatement. “The level of effort varies from member to member. Do you need analysis? Tracking should be on the table. Financial reporting is going to be available on a regular basis. [So they say.] That took an enormous team effort. One employee could have helped that. Staff is stretched thin and that has caused some of the consternation. Tracking directives is being handled very capably. [Not.] But agenda items may not be. That could be done with existing resources. It’s not reasonable to ask one person to do it. You need to document what you need that you don’t think you’re getting.”
Williams expressed some frustration:
“It’s embarrassing not to have regular financial reports,” said Williams unashamedly, but not embarrassing enough to simply demand them. “The departments must have their own tracking of budget and expenses. I’ve just asked for those. [Former CEO Carmel] Angelo had them, I saw them. We need them once a month so we know how much we’re spending. Maybe we need to put the Clerk of the Board under the Board [sic]. As it is, it’s almost an imposition to ask a question. But a person could have the job to get information. What we’re doing is not normal. Supervisors have a hard time carrying out work. It’s hard to get information. … We can’t even find things on our website. Our website is a chaotic mess.”
In the end the Board agreed to appoint the “experienced” lame-duck supervisors, Gjerde and McGourty, to an hoc committee to make some recommendations, presumably before the end of the year when they’ll be out of office, probably never to be heard from again.
UKIAH'S SPECIAL FOOTBALL PLAYER
For Ukiah, Omaurie Phillips-Porter is must-see TV. While he only had four receptions for 81 yards and a score, his 65-yard touchdown on the Wildcats’ third possession took him over 1,000 receiving yards on the season. He continues to prove why he’s one of the best players in Northern California.
JIM ARMSTRONG:
The place with by far the worst result (disaster) of ending summer diversion would be Potter Valley itself.
Adding Eel River flood water to Russian River flood water in the winter would adversely affect the East Fork of the Russian as well as undermine the flood control mission of Lake Mendocino.
Some proponents have said “no problem, we’ll just pump lake water back up to the top of Potter Valley for irrigation.” Hah!
Adam almost always fails to point out that Redwood Valley would actually benefit from the currently discussed “solution.”
ADAM GASKA:
Historically, we did divert lots of water in winter from the Eel to the Russian and Lake Mendocino. There was 150,000 AF [acre-feet] being diverted annually until 2007 when the amount diverted annually was lowered to 60,000 AF. 2020-2021, it was 40,000 AF. The large winter diversions were a reason the Army Corp of Engineers would dump so much water out of Lake Mendocino. They continued to do so even after the diversion was cut by over 50% because the manual they operate with says so. They do have a temporary variance to trial Forecast Improved Reservoir Operations (FIRO). That has kept an additional 10,000+ AF in Lake Mendocino compared to “going by the book”.
I have heard a few people say we can just pump water back up to Potter Valley, but I don’t think that is feasible. More feasible is building a reservoir or two in PV and using winter flows to flood areas for groundwater recharge. Whatever water is diverted, is water not going into Lake Mendocino. Building a reservoir or two could take decades and cost tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars so while it is more feasible than pumping water back to Potter Valley, it’s not very feasible either.
Redwood Valley would be a loser in some ways but we are also having some success. Redwood Valley has depended on surplus water from Russian River Flood Control (RRFC) because we did not financially support the building of Coyote Dam. 2020-2021 we were entirely cut off from RRFC. We had domestic rationing as we were getting 100% of our water from Millview [water district] and a well at the Masonite property. Ag customers got zero water allocation for two years while still paying their service charges. Within months of being appointed to the board, I was able to secure an emergency water transfer in September 2022 from RRFC of 400 AF, allowing us to supply ag customers and fire up our treatment plant. Since then, enough surplus water has been made available to lift all restrictions on domestic and ag customers. We are in the process of being annexed into the RRFC district which hopefully will lead to a contract.
When water was abundant, Redwood Valley Community Water District (RVCWD) used 2,000 AF a year. Now with surplus water available, we are using around 700 AF a year. During 2020 and 2021, we used less than 400. We have learned to get by with so little that even when we have water available, we are quite frugal. When you are used to having nothing, having anything is a luxury.
USAL!
PICKING UP WHITE COURTESY PHONE
Dear OEE,
Got your signal. Let me begin with a grumble. It used to be that one could go to the USGS website, punch in Navarro River, and receive a data miner's dream of flow and discharge data going back a few decades. But, that's not all. The site also offered basic data visualization tools that could draw utilitarian graphs of the data. Fast forward to today. USGS now offers an entirely new half-assed (term of art) tool that try as I might I can't get to load more than the last 30 days of gauge data. Cory Doctorow is right, enshitification abounds. It can even happen, as it has with the USGS, with the profit motive completely removed. Who'da thunk it?
But, as if the USGS knew how thoroughly unsatisfactory their new webpage is, they offer a link to their OG webpage labelled "legacy real-time page". I've pulled a data table going back to 2014 and I'm ready to reduce it.
So, my question to you is what would you like to know? You may ask multiple questions.
In true health through the purity and essence of our natural fluids…
Bob Abeles, Boonville
PS: Latest battered river stats for today: The Navarro stands at 1.46 feet with a discharge rate of 7.23 cubic ft/sec.
RUSSIAN GULCH STATE PARK WATERFALL SHORTCUT
by Justine Frederiksen
I first heard about a faster way to the waterfall in Russian Gulch State Park years ago, but never tried it, because who needs a shortcut when the long way is so beautiful? Yes, the “official” hike to the falls along the Fern Canyon Trail is miles-long, but they are miles well-spent walking under towering redwoods with lush ferns and a flowing river at your feet.
Also, the details I had about the shortcut were quite vague, so it wasn’t until I learned from a knowledgeable source exactly how to find and follow the shortcut that I decided to finally try it when I recently found myself near the park, but without enough time to walk several miles to the falls and back.
Of course, as is my way every time I go somewhere new, I took a wrong turn and got lost. Not because the directions were bad, but because I didn’t follow them.
And those directions? Well, they start with finding Mendocino County Road 409, which is a well-marked turn off of Highway 1 near Big River, just south of the village of Mendocino. You then follow that road for a few miles until you see all the cars parked near the entrance to the Horse Camp inside Russian Gulch State Park.
Finding the signs for the Horse Camp is key, though you can’t park near them, because you need to start your walk in that direction, which is not the way I first headed. No, I started walking on the opposite side of the road, very nearly getting myself lost in the forest after following some bumpy mountain bike paths into the trees before deciding I should head back.
But if you park in one of the turnouts and instead follow the signs to the Horse Camp, your path is clearly marked and you will soon find proper park signs directing you to the East Trail, then the Falls Loop Trail and the waterfall, which was indeed reached by a much shorter walk than the previous hikes I had taken to see it.
And while any walk in a redwood forest is wonderful, and anytime you get to hear and see a flowing waterfall is glorious, I can’t really recommend taking this shortcut to see the Russian Gulch waterfall.
Why? First, I believe that much of the pleasure of hiking to waterfalls is the anticipation, the walking for miles to finally reach your reward, which you then definitely feel you have deserved after such a long journey. But I did not feel I deserved the waterfall after the shortcut, even though I had gotten lost after taking a wrong turn in the beginning.
Second, the shortcut ends with a very steep and precarious trek down the hillside that is very much like the path the waterfall takes. And while that path is great for water, it’s not great for humans, especially not those right behind me: a family of four that included a dad leading a large dog on a leash, so he had only one arm free to help convince the mom carrying a baby that she would not slip and fall on the very slick rock “stairs” behind the waterfall. If that doesn’t sound like a fun family outing, I can assure you it didn’t look like fun, either, and I’m fairly sure the foursome ended up turning around instead of completing their descent.
But I made it down the hill alongside the water without incident or injury, and did enjoy the new views of the waterfall I got while “sneaking up” behind it.
However, another woman I encountered enjoying the waterfall had hiked the long way to see it, and her face glowed with the satisfaction of earning those great views, while mine did not. In fact, I even felt a little guilty.
So next time, I will park in the main entrance, even though that will require me to pay a fee, and I will hike the several miles back and forth to see the waterfall, fully confident that the added “hardships” will be worth it. Because with so much of our lives now spent submerged in the warm waters of constant gratification, sometimes you need to lift your head from the lulling bath and force your face into the bracing cold before you find air that’s really worth breathing.
MAYBE SHE’S KIDDING
by Tommy Wayne Kramer
Susan Sher, a newcomer to Ukiah’s City Council but a longtime leftist, has made clear her opposition to Prop 36, an initiative that would roll back many of the leniencies voters (including me) approved in the last election cycle.
As is often the case, new laws led to unexpected consequences, and in this case brought crime spikes across the state. Sher does not quibble or disagree with the statistics and anecdotal evidence of increased lawlessness, but insists “Prop 36 is the wrong solution.”
Her letter is honest and frank, her sympathies clear. She is concerned that Prop 36 might bring unwanted harm and discomfort to a select segment of society: drug sellers, addicts and felons of all sorts.
She never mentions crime impacting people, families, businesses or quality of life in cities and towns all across California. She complains bitterly that crime-doers will not be provided sufficient opportunities for more rehabilitation services.
Of the victims she says nothing. No acknowledgments, no condolences and certainly no relief for those preyed upon by criminals. But if a felon with six prison priors suffers possible reduced rehabilitation services, she pleads and wails for more help, more chances, more rehab, more understanding and less incarceration.
It is to weep.
Readers may think I exaggerate. What follows are quotes from Susan Sher; translate their meaning any way you wish:
SHER: “Prop 36 increases prison time for those who use drugs despite evidence that imprisonment does not reduce drug use.” (NOTE: Prison is actually an excellent rehab environment. A few years in prison guarantees clean & sober outcomes.)
SHER: “Charging people with serious crimes that could result in punishment or jail is not going to lead to treatment. While it mandates drug treatment in some cases it will reduce funding and availability of treatment.”
SHER: “Under Prop 36 someone who enters rehab and relapses as is common could be subject to incarceration for failing to complete the treatment program.”
SHER: “There are now comprehensive enhancements for both retail theft and drug sales, particularly Fentanyl, for which there is now a 3-year sentence enhancement for anyone selling more than a kilogram.”
(NOTE: A kilo of Fentanyl kills from 15,000 to 50,000 people.)
SHER: “If passed Prop 36 will see more people cycling in and out of prison cells without a chance to get better. Prop 36 fails to address the root causes of homelessness…”
(NOTE: Prop 36 also fails to address root causes of poverty, obesity, and why The Beatles broke up.)
OUR 21st CENTURY GENIUS
I’ve neglected watching television and most of its mutations for several years, and this makes me less than well-informed on news and developments.
Indulge me if I speak the obvious, but was the recent launch and landing of the Space X rocket not astonishing to the point of unbelievable? A 400-foot tall space ship blasted off from a remote Texas beach, entered outer space, then returned and deposited itself into waiting arm-like metal appendages.
Elon Musk’s team of scientists, craftsmen and laborers are able to propel a 40-story skyscraper into space, then bring it back within inches of its target, and it nestles into its receiving tower like a soft fly ball settling into a Willie Mays’ basket catch?
Can NASA do this? Why hasn’t it, repeatedly? Musk engineered this feat at a fraction of the time and money NASA spends drawing up sketches.
Elon Musk. Are we in the presence of a genuine Renaissance Man? Is Musk our Leonardo da Vinci?
With Ford, Chrysler and GM getting a 100 year head start building practical electric cars, how did Musk’s Tesla beat everyone to the highway?
He developed PayPal and he’s now running Hyperloop, a hole and tunnel-boring company. It will run 800 mph pods in underground tubes linking, say LA with SF, in 35 minutes. He plans to launch spacecraft carrying upwards of 100 people to Mars.
Would you bet against him?
I know nothing of his personal life and any quirks he might have, but remember that we also know nothing of Mr. Da Vinci’s. Warts and quirks fade but the works and achievements remain and spawn more, all to civilization’s betterment.
Stand back. Be awed.
ED NOTES
GOOD for the LA Times for refusing to endorse for the best reason of all, true principle, this one being the refusal to endorse a person who's all the way on board for genocide and apartheid.
YO, HYSTERICS! If Trump was a fascist he'd have made his move first time around. When Hitler got enough votes he moved immediately to crush his opposition, and he had smart, capable people around him to help him do it. Who does Orange Man have around him? A gang of nuts and special ed cases.
SO, UNPACK your toothbrushes, Mendolib, Orange Man is sending nobody, least of all a bunch of weepy puffballs, to concentration camps.
BUT will he try mass deportations? Rhetorically, of course he'll give it a go, just like rhetorically he's going to put the NYT in camps. Think about the logistics of mass round-ups even of Magas. Not doable. I often think O-Man throws this stuff out there just to freak out the libs, and/or he is clinically demented. It is clear even by his semi-coherent standards he's failing.
I THINK KAMALA and her smarmy, woman-beating husband will be elected by a large margin, battleground states and all, and I think in lieu of real issues, stuff that might help millions of Americans like rent and price controls, medicare for all, a crash housing program, and on and on, all she and the Democrat cabal have got is Trump as Hitler and abortion, which Trump has already backed away from because he knows he can't stomp out freedom of choice.
KAMALA HARRIS will end the war on Palestinians when Netanyahu (a real fascist) says she can end it, she has zero plans for an exit from Ukraine, an incoherent domestic agenda and so on. She's backed away from global warming because it doesn't poll well for her, and her stated plans to boost taxes on the rich are rhetorical only, and even if they aren't they're insufficient given the stranglehold the owning classes have on government at all levels. The AVA recommends Jill Stein for president.
CATCH OF THE DAY, Sunday, October 27, 2024
WENDY ARCHUNDIA-LOPEZ, 20, Willits. DUI, no license.
WYATT BILL, 33, Upper Lake/Ukiah. Suspended license for DUI.
MATHEW CHAILLE, 42, Fort Bragg. Domestic battery, witness intimidation, domestic violence court order violation.
NICKOLAS DUNSING, 35, Ukiah. Controlled substance, probation revocation.
ISAIAH GARCIA, 29, Ukiah. Controlled substance, paraphernalia, getting credit with someone else’s ID, acquistion of access ard without consent with intent to sell.
JUSTIN GARNER, 34, Ukiah. Failure to appear.
TABITHA HERBSTRITT, 29, Laytonville. DUI with blood-alcohol over 0.15% with priors, controlled substance, suspended license, probation revocation.
DENNIS HOAGLIN, 66, Willits. Marijuana cultivation-processing.
JENNIFER ROMAN-CONTRERAS, 22, Ukiah. Assault with deadly weapon not a gun.
TANISHA SMITH, 33, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.
KELLY STANTON, 48, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, false ID, resisting.
TRISTON THORNTON, 28, Willits. Assault, domestic violence court order violation.
VOTE NO ON PROPOSITIONS
Editor:
I vote no on almost all propositions for the following reasons:
Signature gatherers frequently misrepresent the true intent of propositions to get more signatures. I have never actually observed anyone reading what they were signing.
Propositions are often sponsored by groups that plan to make a lot of money if they pass.
Many propositions contain window dressing. A minor part of the bill that can be attractively advertised while hiding the true intent of the measure. Proposition 19 in 2020 is an example.
Unintended consequences — Proposition 65, which passed in 1986, cost small businesses millions of dollars in frivolous lawsuits and, as far as I can tell, has accomplished absolutely nothing.
Californians love to complain about high taxes, yet routinely vote for propositions that raise their taxes. Propositions are quickly forgotten. I asked several friends if they could recall a single proposition on the 2022 ballot. None could. Then the money collected disappears into a black hole.
Please, read your voter guide to assess the fiscal impact before voting yes.
William Spita
Santa Rosa
ORDINARY TIME
From the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception…30th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Warmest spiritual greetings,
The Sunday noon Mass in the upper church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. was celebrated in the fullest way, lead by the primary priests of the Basilica, plus the full choir, plus altar attendants, with the altar enshrouded in incense, and the big organ in the upper back of the church in use, the pews filled with the faithful singing, and the Mass filmed for those who could not attend to enjoy at home.
Am at the Catholic University student library on a guest computer this very moment. Will soon go to the D.C. Peace Vigil in front of the White House with food and hydrating beverages. Am staying at a homeless shelter in the northeast section of the district, awaiting possible subsidized housing, or whatever. No telling what the future is going to be. Am living in this moment!
Craig Louis Stehr
MARIN COUNTY DISTRICT 1 SUPERVISOR CANDIDATE BRIAN COLBERT AND SPOUSE FLEE TOWN CENTER IN FEAR OF ASTHMATIC, MIDDLE-AGED REPORTER
(Marin County Confidential)
On Friday October 25, I received a note from a reporter in Marin who said that they had tried to post the Substack article I published last week on Nextdoor. That article exposed San Anselmo Town Council candidate Yoav Schlesinger's past work history as an AIPAC Director; his involvement in a serious assault on the First Amendment at the local library; and questioned how a virtual unknown had won so many major endorsements. Screenshots show that the article had been promptly removed by Nextdoor under the pretense that it was not a local issue. I wasn't surprised given Nextdoor's racial and political biases, but if Nextdoor was intent on censoring my article, I could still get the word out myself.
The following morning I printed some flyers and rode over to San Anselmo to talk with residents, almost all of whom graciously took my flyers, with many sharing their thoughts on the matter of the expanding war in Gaza and Lebanon, and how it intersects with local politics.
And that's when San Anselmo Town Councilmember Brian Colbert, now running for District 2 County Supervisor, appeared just a few meters from me in the small square outside Town Hall. What luck, I thought. The San Anselmo Town Councilmember who continually declined to answer any of my email questions about his endorsement of Schlesinger had finally arrived and could answer my questions in person. But that's not how Colbert saw it. Colbert said that he was averse to answering questions because he felt that whatever he said was just going to end up on my Substack. Yes, that's one of the most basic functions of reporting, I thought, and continued asking him questions. …
https://marincountyconfidential.substack.com/p/video-d2-supervisor-candidate-brian
49ERS GAME GRADES: Terrific quarter enough to rally Niners past Cowboys, even record at 4-4
by Michael Lerseth
The San Francisco 49ers used an overpowering third quarter Sunday night to propel them to a 30-24 defeat of the Dallas Cowboys to even their record at 4-4.
OFFENSE: B
The grade for this unit isn’t better because as much as the 49ers might want to forget it, the first half still counts. After committing six penalties — including one that nullified a TD — and being limited to a pair of field goals before halftime, the 49ers came out in the third quarter by gaining 167 yards on 21 plays and scoring 21 points. On National Tight End Day, George Kittle caught six passes for 128 yards — including his 500th career catch — and a TD. Brock Purdy (18-of-26, 260 yards, 114.3 rating) rushed for 56 yards and Isaac Guerendo collected a game-high 85 (and his first NFL TD) as Jordan Mason (shoulder) was again unable to finish the game.
DEFENSE: B
Also not perfect, but the reason the 49ers’ offense had the opportunity to flip the game on its head was because of the defense. Dak Prescott was intercepted twice (by Ji’Ayir Brown and Demmodore Lenoir), sacked twice (Nick Bosa and Sam Okuayinonu) and generally inefficient until a fourth quarter in which he threw a pair of TD passes to CeeDee Lamb to quicken the pulse of the Faithful. The 49ers made sure the Cowboys lived down to their tag as the NFL’s worst rushing team by holding aging Ezekiel Elliott & Co. to a 2.9 yards-per-carry average on 19 carries.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B
Anders Carlson might not have the strongest leg on kickoffs — KaVontae Turpin averaged 23 yards on five returns — but he was flawless elsewhere with three field goals (from 55, 44 and 41 yards out) and three extra points. Carlson is 5-for-5 in his still-brief stay as the 49ers’ third full-time kicker of the season. Mitch Wishnowsky averaged 44.3 yards on his first three punts, but late in the fourth quarter his attempt at pinning Dallas deep instead bounced backward and was downed at the 25 after covering only 39 yards.
COACHING: A
We may never know all the details, but Kyle Shanahan apparently gave one of the best halftime speeches of his career Sunday (which he presaged by saying, in his on-field interview while walking off the field, that his team was going to score on the opening possession of the second half). The 49ers’ offense was disheveled in the first half, then came out and scored 21 points on its three third-quarter possessions. Shanahan’s lone glitch came in the second quarter when he went for it on 4th-and-3 at the Dallas 43 only to have Purdy’s pass fall incomplete behind Deebo Samuel.
OVERALL: B
For a good chunk of the fourth quarter, the 49ers appeared ready to perform another master class in blowing a double-digit, second-half lead before finding their balance. Forget the must-win label (the 2021 Niners opened 3-5 and then reached the NFC title game), but 4-4 heading into the bye — with a potential return by Christian McCaffrey on the other side — should calm the nerves and mute the budding anguish.
(sfchronicle.com)
WAIT, NFL PLAYERS EAT HOW MANY UNCRUSTABLES?
by Jayson Jenks
Brock Purdy ate one at his locker before the Super Bowl. Andy Reid once offered them to his players as a reward. Before practice, during training camp and in the halftime locker room, they are a favorite of players across the NFL, a touch of childhood wrapped in plastic.
A few years ago The Athletic wrote about orange slices, the NFL’s secret halftime snack (fun fact: teams are required to provide “three dozen sliced oranges for halftime” for the visiting team). But in the course of reporting that story, many players said they passed on halftime citrus in favor of something else: Uncrustables, the sealed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches found in the frozen aisle of your local supermarket — and apparently permeating the NFL.
At the end of the 2023 season, The Athletic endeavored to find out just how many Uncrustables the league actually eats. And after convincing team employees that this was in fact a real question and not another scam message, most teams agreed to pony up their data from last year. A handful declined to participate, and a few others said they were PB&J purists who made their own sandwiches.
But based on the information collected, it’s safe to say that NFL teams go through anywhere from 3,600 to 4,300 Uncrustables a week. When you factor in training camps and the teams that did not share their data, NFL teams easily go through at least 80,000 Uncrustables a year.
Len Kretchman, a former wide receiver at North Dakota State, lived in the small town of Fergus Falls, Minn., and worked with schools in the food service industry. Sometime in the mid-90s, Len said, his wife, Emily, suggested he create a mass-produced peanut butter and jelly sandwich without the crust.
The project appealed to Len’s business instinct: a simple idea with a complex logistical problem to solve. The Kretchmans started in their kitchen with a loaf of bread, one jar of peanut butter, one jar of jelly and a few drinks.
“We’re not recreating the atomic bomb here,” Len said. “We’re trying to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich … It was two people standing there, goofing off, probably having a beer and a glass of wine and saying, ‘What do you think of this?’”
The first decision they made was that the sandwich should be round.
“The moon is round, the sun is round, the Earth is round, it’s our favorite shape,” Len said. “Do you have to go to a committee and survey people on what the shape should be? No. It’s round. So we got that nailed down.”
Next, he grabbed a cup from his kitchen cabinet.
“If you asked moms how they (took the crust off a sandwich) 30 years ago, they’d say: ‘I found a glass in my cupboard that was the right dimension and I pressed on the bread and I cut the crust off,’” Kretchman said. “And that’s what we did!”
They added a crimp to the edges of the crustless bread, which was easy, but then had to figure out how to keep the jelly from oozing, which was not. Every time they thawed their creations, the jelly bled into the bread and ruined the sandwich. Much trial and error followed.
“We finally put the blob of jelly in the middle of the bread and then covered it with peanut butter and encased the jelly so it doesn’t leach into the bread,” Kretchman said. “That was key. That was our gee-whiz moment.”
Kretchman and his business partner, David Geske, pitched their product to local schools. They needed a name. Once again, the idea landed in their kitchen. They asked the 11-year-old son of a business associate for a suggestion. His answer: The Incredible Uncrustable. Four years later, in 1999, Smuckers bought the company, dropped the first part of the name and introduced the country to the Uncrustable.
It took a little time, but the NFL wasn’t far behind.
They weren’t there when former Pro Bowl tight end Dallas Clark was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in 2003. Of that much he’s certain. But the moment this new treat joined the food ranks with “all that other healthy crap” the Colts provided? He can’t really say.
All that he remembers is the feeling that something beautiful had happened.
“It’s up there with the cell phone where you’re like, ‘How is this done?’” Clark said. “When they came out it was like, ‘Duh, why did someone not think of this a looong time ago?’”
It was Jon Torine’s job to stock those snacks, “healthy crap” and all, for the Colts. And it was an especially important job during the week of the Super Bowl in 2007 when the Colts played the Chicago Bears in Miami. In the hotel ballroom where the team stayed, Torine, the Colts’ strength and conditioning coach at the time, laid out a spread for players to grab and go as they moved from meeting to meeting.
“We were all scoopin’ and scorin’,” said Jeff Saturday, a center on that team. “We were grabbing five, six at a time.”
Clark, a player who struggled to keep on weight, would throw them in his backpack, unbothered by what would happen to them once there. “The Uncrustables always found their way to the bottom and got smashed by the playbook,” he said. “But still edible. Still in one compartment.”
“Didn’t matter,” Saturday said. “You could throw your playbook on top of ‘em, didn’t make any difference. Squished, unsquished, you’re gonna crush it.”
They are now a staple for many NFL teams. San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle eats two on flights to road games and anywhere from two to four on flights home. Chiefs defensive end Mike Danna eats them at the team facility and at home. Ravens kicker Justin Tucker grabs one from the snack table on his way to meetings. Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce claimed on his podcast that he eats more of them than “anything else in the world.”
“We’re all creatures of habit, dude,” Saturday said. “Almost freakishly. If you’re a two-Uncrustables-a-day kind of guy, that’s just what you do.”
Torine and most nutritionists wouldn’t recommend frozen, processed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as their No. 1 healthy snack option for players. But Uncrustables can do the job, especially when time is limited, and even nutritionists at the highest level of sports performance make compromises.
The bread and jelly give players quick carbohydrates. The peanut butter provides a little fat and a little protein. They’re easy to digest, convenient to eat and a comfort food that players love (though there is wide disagreement as to whether grape or strawberry is the better jelly flavor — the correct answer is strawberry).
In fact, the Colts also ate Uncrustables at halftime of Super Bowl XLI, when they beat the Bears 29-17.
“So maybe that was the difference,” Torine said, laughing.
GE FRIDGE FROM 1960
I think it would be great to be able to swing a shelf out!
BARRICADES & BULLETPROOF GLASS: A COUNTY PREPARES FOR ELECTION DAY
With the specter of political violence looming, the Department of Homeland Security has advised hundreds of communities on election safety. Luzerne County, Pa., is at the center of the unrest.
by Dan Berry
With northeastern Pennsylvania awash again in the reds and oranges of a dazzling autumn, workers recently planted boulders around a government building in downtown Wilkes-Barre to address a seasonal ugliness. But this was no beautification project.
Luzerne County is bracing for Election Day.
Across the country, the doubts and anger ginned up by the spurious election-fraud claims of former President Donald J. Trump have unsettled the once-routine civic task of collecting and counting votes. With the specter of political violence looming, the Department of Homeland Security has advised hundreds of concerned communities on election safety.
At the center of this maelstrom of distrust is Luzerne County, which, for some, has become Exhibit A for election conspiracy theories. Unnerved by local chatter, county officials have implemented several extraordinary security measures — including a primitive fortification of large rocks around the county building in Wilkes-Barre where the Bureau of Elections is located.
The boulder installation in this swing-state city of 45,000 could serve as a metaphor for the United States of 2024, in which planning for the sacred exercise of democracy might include preparing for a car bomb.
“We’re a microcosm,” said the county manager, Romilda Crocamo, the recipient of repeated threats. The most recent one, serious enough that she alerted law enforcement, was delivered by text to a close relative who is very private and not involved in politics.
“Somebody had to go through a lot of effort to make that connection,” Ms. Crocamo said.
Emily Cook, the director of the county’s Bureau of Elections, has also been threatened, both on social media and in person. “People say that I deserved to be executed,” she said.
Luzerne County has endured a lot over the years. The coal-mining prosperity it once enjoyed, reflected in everything from the majestic courthouse to the distinctive Market Street Bridge, is long gone. And those who were around in 1972 can hardly forget the Susquehanna River flood that destroyed or damaged thousands of homes and businesses.
All the while, local politics became as unsettled as the Susquehanna’s waters. Last month, for the first time since 1968, registered Republican voters outnumbered registered Democrats, culminating a decade-long trend.
In 2016, after 20 consecutive years of supporting the Democratic presidential candidate, the county overwhelmingly supported Mr. Trump. He dominated the local vote again in 2020, even though his opponent and the eventual winner, President Biden, had spent his childhood in nearby Scranton.
A couple of relatively minor election gaffes have stirred up the local political discourse. In September 2020, a Bureau of Elections seasonal employee mistakenly discarded nine military absentee ballots. They were all recovered and counted, with seven cast for Mr. Trump and the votes of the remaining two unknown.
The Trump-appointed U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania quickly announced a criminal investigation and, according to a highly critical review released this year by the Justice Department’s inspector general, shared “selective details” that suggested the worker’s actions were “intentional and likely chargeable criminally.” The internal watchdog said the office did so even though it already knew the worker — who had a mental impairment and was never charged — had simply made a mistake.
Still, the case became a convenient reference in Mr. Trump’s false mantra about a stolen election, which sowed suspicion among his supporters about the integrity of the electoral process and its workers, including those in Luzerne County.
As the county’s chief solicitor, Ms. Crocamo said she had worked to improve election protocols that ensured a smooth Election Day in 2021. But after serving as acting county manager for several months, she left the government in 2022 when divisive politics thwarted her bid to be appointed full-time. “There was a group that protested against me,” said Ms. Crocamo, a Democrat. “People were saying I should be thrown off the bridge.”
But early on Election Day that year, Ms. Crocamo began receiving panicked text messages. More than a dozen poll precincts had run out of the paper used to print out completed ballots — and election workers wanted to know where the paper was kept.
“I’d been gone for months,” she recalled.
The paper was eventually delivered, the affected precincts stayed open late and all votes were tallied. The fallout included a delay in the certification of the results and the resignation of the county manager. It also further fueled conspiracy theories about deceitful election officials.
After being appointed county manager last year, Ms. Crocamo made election security a priority. This decision was prompted by the county’s election-related stumbles, of course, but also by her belief that “there’s a group of people who will resort to violence.”
She hired a consultant to help refine election procedures and contingency plans. And at the request of the new Elections Bureau director, Ms. Cook, the county joined a long list of concerned communities that have invited the Department of Homeland Security to assess their election security.
Cait Conley, senior adviser to the department’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said in a statement that it had conducted nearly 1,200 assessments and trained more than 30,000 election officials and workers since 2023, with a specific concentration this year on physical security.
“In particular, we recognize that elections officials have seen an unacceptable increase in harassment and threats of violence,” Ms. Conley said.
In Luzerne County, one recommendation called for removing the mail ballot drop boxes at four locations, including the county building. Drop boxes have become a flashpoint, with many Republicans contending they can be easily tampered with and many Democrats saying they help people exercise their right to vote.
When Ms. Crocamo followed the agency’s recommendation, she received the applause of Republicans and the recriminations of her fellow Democrats, who accused her of suppressing the vote. Sued by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of several voters, she entered into a stipulation agreement and restored the drop boxes.
But Ms. Crocamo still harbored what she said were “grave concerns” for the safety of county employees. “Human life first,” she said.
Another recommendation centered on the unusual design of the county building, which — because of the area’s susceptibility to flooding — mostly sits on pillars, with the employee parking lot directly beneath the Bureau of Elections on the second floor.
The county could not afford aesthetically pleasing security measures — no concrete planters. Instead, it spent $2,196 this month to have Black Creek Excavation deliver and plant 30 boulders from a local quarry.
Other precautions are being taken. Training in de-escalation tactics. Cellphones updated with panic-button software. The installation of bulletproof glass in the Elections Bureau office. A bullet-resistant film on the first-floor windows so that, as Ms. Crocamo put it, “people cannot see in but you can see out.”
She acknowledged the disturbing optics — the use of rocks, say, to protect a government building in modern-day America — but said the security measures were a must.
“We have very hard-working people here in Luzerne County, and we historically help each other,” Ms. Crocamo said. “But there is such a divide now, and people are so angry, and — it’s out of control. It’s just out of control.”
She pointed, for example, to the county’s contentious Board of Elections meetings. At one meeting earlier this month, some members of the public spoke reasonably — for or against drop boxes, for example. But others did not hold back, accusing Democrats of being Marxists, accusing Republicans of being racists, refusing to properly identify themselves, demanding that election workers take polygraph tests.
“There’s a faction of the Democrat Party that wants to cheat,” one man asserted. “Let’s just face it.”
Ms. Crocamo, 61, grew up in Hazleton, 30 miles south of Wilkes-Barre. She said she came from a politically divided but loving Italian family. She follows tennis. Wears a Marvel superheroes lanyard around her neck. And endures threats.
Does it bother her?
“If you talk to my partner, yes,” she said.
But does it bother her?
“It does,” she said. “But I have to get up and I have to do my job. And I’m going to do my job.”
On the county building’s second floor, Ms. Cook, 27, shared similar sentiments in an office undergoing security renovations in preparation for Election Night, when precinct officials and deputy sheriffs will drop off votes to be counted.
Ms. Cook grew up in Wilkes-Barre and studied for a career in early-childhood education, but followed her passion for the civic wonder that is the right to vote. She began at the Bureau of Elections as an administrative assistant, survived the internal tumult and now oversees an operation that, on Election Day, will include 1,200 poll workers at 186 precincts.
And, yes, Ms. Cook said, she has been repeatedly threatened — enough times to begin dulling the shock — including being told that she deserved to be drawn and quartered. “Which is one that you don’t hear quite often,” she said. “So that one sticks out.”
Ms. Cook said she embraced the First Amendment right to free speech, though with a caveat. “You have a right to stand at a public meeting and say you think I’m screwing up the department,” she said. “But what shouldn’t be allowable is saying I think you’re screwing up the department and I think you should die because of it.”
And so Ms. Cook, Ms. Crocamo and their colleagues gird for what was once a day of civic celebration, set aside for American citizens to cast votes and help chart the future of their community, their state, their country.
Now, in places like Luzerne County, anxiety tempers the joy. Those committed to the integrity of the day will still be at their posts, only behind bulletproof glass, panic buttons within reach.
ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY
Yes, I think that the Woke BS is simply a tactic to weed out anyone predisposed to think for themselves. Already, the population of people (southerners) who have traditionally been the mainstay of the military are backing off enlisting and serving. Now, only the most malleable personalities are willing to serve and to stay in the armed forces.
But acknowledging that, a widespread civil war would be a complete shitshow. There are fault lines everywhere. I have long maintained that the paradigm would not be anything like the American Civil War of 1861-65, but more like the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39, or maybe even like the 30 Years War of 1618-48. The disintegration of an Empire can be very messy and ugly because of all the divergent fault lines: political, economic, ethnic, racial, ideological, theological.
LEAD STORIES, MONDAY'S NYT
State of the Race: National Polls Tighten With 8 Days to Go
Trump at the Garden: A Closing Carnival of Grievances, Misogyny and Racism
Israel Calls the Shots in the Mideast as U.S. Plays a Lesser Role
California Governor Proposes $750 Million in Annual Film Tax Credits
Hear a Chopin Waltz Unearthed After Nearly 200 Years
THIS PHOTOGRAPH was taken by Benedicte Wrensted, whose photographic studio was located in Pocatello, Idaho. Wrensted came to the United States from Denmark in 1894, moved to Pocatello, and purchased the studio of A.B. Hower in 1895. She continued to photograph members of the local community and Native Americans until 1912.
MICHELLE OBAMA SCOLDS MICHIGAN: IT'S NOT FUNNY
Laugh not, mortals...
by Matt Taibbi
Michelle Obama in Kalamazoo last night:
“To anyone out there thinking about sitting out this election or voting for Donald Trump or a third party candidate in protest because you’re fed up, let me warn you, your rage does not exist in a vacuum. To the women listening, we have every right to demand that the men in our lives do better by us. We have to use our voices to make these choices clear to the men that we love. Our lives are worth more than their anger and disappointment.”
This is a fresh take on the “Throw the bums out!” speech, directed not at politicians, but the layabout men stretched on the couches of pious Democrats while planning on not voting, or voting for Trump, or even (gasp!) voting Green. It’s time for women to confront such villains and “make these choices clear,” Obama seethed. Oddly, she later also noted, “your vote is a private matter regardless of the political views of your partner,” and “you get to… cast your vote for yourself and the women in your life.”
One assumes this is not a message she’d like to reach the ears of the men her husband called “the brothers” in Pittsburgh. Barack Obama on October 8th decided to “speak some truths” to black men, chiding, “Women in our lives have been getting our backs this entire time… And you’re thinking about sitting out?”
He did not say, though it might have been funny: “And guys, remember, voting is a private matter. If she asks, tell her of course you voted for Kamala. Then give her the I’m Mr. Hope face. You know what I’m talking about, right, fellas? This one, remember?”…
https://www.racket.news/p/michelle-obama-scolds-michigan-its
WHY I HAVE “TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME”
by Steve Heilig
The national election looms, like a tsunami of uncertainty. Right now it’s a prevailing source of anxiety, dread, hope and confusion. Predictions and polls are rampant and just add to the unrest. Understandably, many have tuned it all out. But as Greek statesman Pericles warned 2500 years ago, “Just because you do not take interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you.” And not just you, but the others among us, the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, that virtually every great teacher through history has hoped we will worry about too.
I’ve long given up on hoping that our nation’s elected leaders will “fix” our many problems to my or many Americans’ satisfaction. And for me the terms “conservative” or “liberal” or “progressive “ no longer hold real meaning. So I just hope and work for those who at least strive to lessen suffering among humans and even others on this beleaguered planet. I grew up in a very conservative family and area. My University of California degrees in biology, environmental issues, economics and public health are old and dusty but I have worked in these arenas for decades now and have seen how governmental action can help - or hurt - people’s lives. So I know voting matters, and offer these summary perspectives from the point of one who values factual reality, science, historical lessons, compassion and some form of solidarity above ideology or grievances. Take that as you might.
“Trump Derangement Syndrome”: No, TDS does not refer to the man’s questionable mental state, but to the term often used by MAGA devotees for those who see Donald Trump as a serious threat to the nation. It’s an ad hominem label used by those who cannot truly defend Trump on a factual basis. Ironically, when confronted by reality-based debunking of their pro-Trump assertions, Trump/MAGA people often become very angry or go silent; ironically, the tern “snowflake” they use for “libtards” all too often seems to apply to themselves. This is also a hallmark of cult mentality (more on that below). I think of TDS as “Truth Demanding Syndrome.” Some just can’t stand it, but it’s more needed than ever.
The Economy: ”Are you better off now than four years ago?” can be an effective slogan, since Reagan’s time at a minimum. However, Presidents have less direct impact on big economic trends than commonly thought, and the reality is that the US economy is extremely strong by most measurements right now. The conservative Economist magazine recently termed the US economy “the envy of the world,” citing employment rates, growth, rising markets, and more. But inflation and inequality persist and politicians get blamed, even though it is Big Business that sets the prices and practices hurting so many consumers. Trump seeks to further deregulate the corporate and financial world. And his plans are widely seen as very negative, even disastrous, by most economists and financial projections. Moodys Analytics, the leading nonpartisan financial group, predicts his plans would bring renewed inflation and even a recession. A long list of economists and Goldman Sachs agree; 23 Nobelist economists have now warned that Trump’s plans would “lead to higher prices, larger deficits, and greater inequality.” Trade tariffs, one of his obsessions, have a terrible record; even the conservative American Enterprise Institute calls them a tax on consumers and especially the middle class. His plans would hugely increase the national deficit, as he already did as president. His planned tax cuts, as before, would largely benefit more affluent Americans, and even raise taxes on the middle class. The Trump tax cuts were permanent for corporations but temporary for the non-rich (surprise?). His previous policies did not help the majority of those who supported him, but did further enrich his donors and family. Inequality is ever-increasing in America; some politicians try to at least fight in some ways, while others, using people like Trump as front men, are all too happy to make things even worse.
Immigration: Trump seems obsessed with this issue, but his record on it is poor, with his signature “build a wall” slogan turning out to be not only ineffectual but a grifting scam, with one of its main architects convicted of fraud. If Trump were to implement his plans to deport millions, beyond all the disruption and suffering it would cause, prices for basics such as food and services could skyrocket and many businesses would struggle fail for lack of employees. It would also have no impact on crime; there is no “immigrant crime wave” as immigrants, legal or not, actually commit crimes at lower rates than other Americans. Trump scuttled a bipartisan immigration deal solely for his own political interests, showing he really doesn’t care about the topic but is only using it for his own self-interest, one of the oldest political ploys there is. I recently re-read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsbyand was struck by this slice of dielectric conversation in a waterfront mansion: “Civilization’s going to pieces… Have you read ‘The rise of the Colored Empires’ by this man Goddard?….everyone ought to read it. The idea is that if we don’t look out the white race will be - will be utterly submerged. it’s all scientific stuff; it’s been proved.” Fitzgerald was cleverly mocking this nonsense a century ago (the book was a real one), but in my hometown, old white guys in waterfront mansions who support Trump are saying the same things today.
Health Care: Trump has no actual plan, other than again attacking Obamacare which has provided coverage for many millions of Americans, not only a humane accomplishment but one that saves many millions of dollars and much suffering by avoiding expensive emergency care and more severe disease treatment due to neglected care. Medicare and Medicaid “socialized medicine” as such programs used to be denigrated - are among the GOP’s targets, although they will not admit that and seem to want to eventually starve the programs via tax cuts that could eventually bankrupt them. Trump botched much of the response to the Covid pandemic, endorsing bogus “cures” and more, resulting in uncountable preventable deaths, and the one major accomplishment during his presidency, the rapid development and deployment of Covid vaccines, was undermined by his confusing messages about them, resulting in a surge of opposition to vaccines in general. His embrace of the now-disgraceful JFK Jr., who would be a public health disaster in any official role, is ample evidence of that. The vast majority of healthcare experts oppose the approaches to health policy Trump seems to favor, which at best could be called malign neglect.
Reproductive Health and Rights: The record here is tragically clear. The reversal of Roe v. Wade has thus far resulted in not fewer but more abortions, plus suffering, death, and much anguish, confusion, and costs among women and the health professionals seeking to help them. He reversed international policy with resulting increased abortion and death of women worldwide, and has increased infant mortality - the actual death of babies “pro-lifers” say they oppose. Trump has now waffled severely on this issue and lied about his convictions and intentions for political reasons, but his Supreme Court justices and JD Vance remain clearly committed to curtailing reproductive rights no matter what the awful impacts are, and even oppose the proven ways to decrease abortions such as contraception access and education. Again, national medical and public health experts - and a strong majority of Americans - all oppose what Trump has done and further intends to do.
The Environment: Trump has been called the worst president ever on environmental issues by leading experts and organizations in the field. On climate he set back any progress by years, and recently offered to further reverse climate progress in exchange for a billion dollars from oil interests, a classic “swamp” deal. His deregulation of industries has led to more unhealthful chemicals in the environment and in human bodies. Other species have suffered as well through his weakening of protection of wild lands and parks. Those who actually care about future generations and study environmental science despair at the policies Trump favors and wonder how such people can look their children and grandchildren in the eye. Overall, Scientific American rates Trump as anti-science in many realms, breaking their long tradition of not weighing in on political races. He’s that bad.
Foreign Policy: Trump benefitted from previous policies and trends regarding conflict overseas, which has undeniably increased in recent years. But his claims that such conflicts would not happen if he were in charge are absurd, as his courting and admiration of dictators and despots really means that they can do as they wish. He would abandon Ukraine to Putin. He’s said that he’d help Israel finish the Gaza crisis in a day, an ominous threat. The deal he cut for Afghanistan set the stage for that disastrous withdrawal (which yes, certainly could have been ether handled by Biden). Long lists of foreign policy and security officials, including Trump’s own associates, now oppose him as a disaster for international relations, and say he was easily manipulated by other leaders who knew all they had to do was flatter him. But his family continues to pursue profits overseas, which always seems to be his primary motivation, even if it means maintaining close ties with anti-American tyrants like Putin and more.
Corruption: Americans hate to be conned. Trump’s history includes legal judgments and convictions shutting down both his fake university and foundation, which profited off of people seeking to better their lives. His family business has been convicted of fraud. A long history of legal judgements against him and looming new cases cloud his history. He promises to pardon many more convicted criminals if he can. His family is now moving into crypto, a realm known for scams, with some highly questionable partners. Reputable business figures have long avoided doing business with the Trump family, and thus the long list of scandals and legal entanglements. Strikingly, if Trump had just put the money he inherited long ago into high yield accounts, his wealth would be far higher than it is after endless financial maneuvering, bankruptcies, and legal bills. His “successful businessman” reputation is only believed by those who only see the surface. A very successful friend scoffed at the thought of associating with Trump in any way, saying “I wouldn’t even play cards with the guy, and wouldn’t let him near my daughter either.”
The Military: Trump has a now-long record of saying extremely derogatory things about military leaders and soldiers, especially those who died or were captured. He’s called them losers and suckers and so forth, both publicly and privately. I have no doubt that my own father, a Navy veteran and Republican defense contractor, would have struggled not to restrain himself from violence if he’d met Trump. And now we have an ever growing list of generals and other officers, some from Trump’s own administration, strongly denouncing him. Most recently the nations’s highest ranking military figure, a former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff appointed by Trump, denounced him as “the most dangerous person ever” who is “fascist to the core.” The number of such officials now openly opposing a presidential candidate is unprecedented in American history. Trump once lamented that “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had,” but fortunately, he didn’t get them. Yet.
Political Integrity: Trump contested his loss in the 2020 election but lost in scores of legal efforts to overturn his defeat, many judged by officials of his own party. He fomented a historically shameful riot at the Capitol where many were hurt and even died. He has not backed down on that effort to overturn the Constitution nor committed to respecting future elections. Many suspect his primary motivation is to prevent the many prosecutions still coming his way, as an unprecedented number of his previous political colleagues have been convicted as felons - including Trump himself. His other record on this count is being impeached twice. Thus, a large majority of Trump’s former cabinet and other officials, from his Vice-President onward - his own “best people” - do not support him. This too is unprecedented.
Character and Christianity: Trump lies by default, as has been vastly demonstrated. It might even be his biggest hallmark, as both a trait and tactic, and has helped bring us into the “post -truth world.” He has been credibly accused of sexual assault by at least a dozen women and more, found liable for that, paid off a porn star, cheated on all his wives, and was taped boasting about attacking women. He has a long line of racist and bigoted statements. He has encouraged violence, consorted with self-proclaimed Nazis and white supremicists, and relentlessly pushed profit and self-glorification. When recently told of a pregnant woman dying due to an abortion ban, he replied “Oh. That’s nice.” His documented lies and distortions are unprecedented in number, scope, and topics. The fact that he has hijacked many Christians into supporting him is one of the strangest and saddest aspects of Trumpism. Even many who don’t believe he’s a Christian, as seems obvious and as he’s now admitted, still support him as they think he’s some kind of “warrior.” But his actions and impact are all anti-Christian, the opposite of anything Jesus might say or do. Some thoughtful Christian pastors and the like even fear he might be some sort of antichrist in disguise, corrupting the faith. From all evidence this seems more plausible than any view of him as a Christian.
Mental Health: Joe Biden was forced to withdraw from the presidential race, most now agree rightly so after his declining cognitive state became evident. Growing numbers of both people who know Trump and psychiatrists and other mental health professionals have expressed concern that Trump’s mental state is declining, and his appearances and statements would seem evidence of that. He has refused to release his medical records, unlike all other candidates, and declines debates and interviews, sticking only to his rallies and posts, which are not reassuring in this regard. He’s now canceling appearances due to “exhaustion” too. The author of medicine’s “Goldwater Rule” that psychiatrists should not opine on the mental health of public figures has just altered his view, urging that Trump be evaluated for such problems. The “sanewashing” of Trump by media is finally crumbling - as it did for Biden.
The F-Word: I’ve long resisted the urge many have to apply the term “fascism” to Trump and his cabal. But increasingly I’m not so sure. Authoritarian rule creeps in under other guises. The echoes of previous fascist regimes with many of Trump’s statements and proposals has become harder to deny or ignore. Even the wording he uses for immigrants and others he decries and his harping on “blood purity,” genetics, foreigners, etc too often come from the likes of Mussolini and Hitler. What is often called “populism” is really too often a thin disguise for hatred and bigotry, and the worst elements in a society take up arms in self-styled militias to do the duty work of those who manipulate them. When enough people buy into hatred, it can be organized into fascism. We are being warned. And by Trump himself too, who, again, has said “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had.” A prominent conservative writer Robert Kagan has warned “This is how fascism comes to America, not with jackboots and salutes, but with a television huckster.” Leading scholar of fascism Robert Paxton used to warn the term was overused regarding Trump but has now changed his mind: “It’s the real thing. It really is.”
The T-Effect: JD Vance called Trump “cultural heroin” before himself becoming cravenly hooked on it. It seemed a fair diagnosis, although perhaps methamphetamine would be a more accurate suspect. American politics has long been a nasty game, but there is no denying that Trump has ratcheted that up severely, to the current state of constant slurs, attacks, and even violence as the new normal. This is now widely seen as “The Trump Effect.” President LBJ advised that “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’ve been picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.” Substitute immigrants, “socialists,” or the long list of anybody who won’t toe Trump’s line, and that’s seems the clearest summary of his political credo: Divide and conquer. The result is ugliness.
The C-Word: There are varied but largely consistent definitions of what becomes a cult, but it’s unquestioning loyalty to an authoritarian figure no matter what negative facts there are about him, zero tolerance for criticism or even questions, calling any defectors traitors and liars, endorsing conspiracy fears about any damaging information, exploitation of members by the leader for profit, sex, and power, and generally a fantasy world of good vs. evil where the leader is the sole good. It usually doesn’t end well. But so far, a significant percentage of Americans appear to fit this description to varying degrees, no matter how much reality debunks their view of their leader. I understand the dissatisfaction with Americas leaders and trends, especially regarding inequality and exploitation of hard-working people. But that anyone would believe a proven huckster might really care about and help them is mystifying and disappointing, as it indicates that for them, morality, character, history, expertise, and just plain reality don’t much matter to them anymore. Trump turns people into the “deplorables” Hillary Clinton was so lambasted for identifying, even before some of them stormed that capital, with so much violence, injury and hatred, on what Trump now calls “a day of love.”
The End Game: Here’s my semi-paranoid semi-conspiracy semi-coup scenario: The puppeteers of Heritage/Project 2025, The America First Policy Institute, big tech, and know Trump is devolving quickly. They just want to get him back into the White House. Soon after, though, he’s out, whether by health crisis and ungentle push, a la Biden, or failing that, 25th Amendment removal, or failing that, something more dramatic, violent or not (poison? Easy to do now, w/o a trace). Thus: President Vance, Mr. project 2025, eager to chop the taxes and regulation while still tossing the red meat issues they don’t truly care about to the masses of gullible MAGAs. Would the Trumpian cult go along, with their leader gone? Maybe not at first, but minor resistance, even violent a la Jan 6 again, would fade. A slow but sure coup. From then onward, downward, into dystopia. I’ve been speculating about this possibility for months but now it seems many others are too, as its an idea appeared in the political comics. My smartest political science mentor says “If Trump is still really aware of things, he should be very worried about winning - these are not nice people.”
The Alternative: I suppose Kamala Harris must be mentioned here. The Trumpian critique I keep seeing is “But what has she done?” A legitimate one, but they don’t really want answers. The Vice-presidency is a notoriously frustrating position-in-waiting, and few have ever known much about what VPs do. The internet can provide a list regarding Harris, so far. She was not “in control” of the border or Gaza, but no matter how bad those fronts have been, Trump would be far worse. In fact it’s the long list of what Trump has and would do that makes the choice so clear. Saying she’s only a “lesser evil” means one doesn’t care about women, the environment, you name it.
”Reality is hard for the stupid” as a friend who is veteran political activist since the 1960s puts it, citing the big mistakes of the Vietnam War protest and other movements. It’s a sad reality that perfect is too often the enemy of the good. Especially when the alternative is so demonstrably, undeniably evil.
PEOPLE WHO THINK of either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris as decent or acceptable simply have not realized how immensely evil you have to be to become a US president.
In order to support either Harris or Trump you need to have an extreme ignorance of the murderousness and depravity of the US empire, which they both serve. Only a complete failure to see and understand the vast scale of the abusiveness of the US power structure could cause you to view these two candidates as meaningfully different from each other — let alone see one of them as decent enough to be worthy of your support.
Both Trump and Harris are auditioning for a role that will necessarily entail the creation of mountains of human corpses by US-sponsored violence, as has every viable US presidential candidate throughout our lives.
This is because the US empire is deeply evil. Not the country called the United States in and of itself, but the globe-spanning power structure which functions as an empire that’s structured around it. This vast power structure is held together by rivers of human blood, and if you’re the Democratic or Republican nominee to lead it as president then you are necessarily a deeply evil person, because you have sufficiently assured all the necessary powers that be that you will continue that bloodshed in order to become the nominee.
Most Americans (and most westerners generally) fail to truly see and understand how profoundly evil the US-centralized empire is, which is the only thing that allows all this political energy to go into pretending there are these hugely significant differences between the Democrat and the Republican presidential candidate every four years. If they could really ingest the scale of the empire’s brutality and tyranny with a deep sense of empathy for their fellow human beings upon whom it is inflicted, they would never support anyone who is pledged to help operate the slaughter machine, and they would not see any would-be operators of that machine as meaningfully different from any other. All they would see is the need for the slaughter machine to be dismantled.
The most sophisticated propaganda engine ever created exists to prevent this understanding from taking root, in the west generally and in the United States in particular. Americans are the most propagandized population on this planet, and their propaganda indoctrination is at its most intensive during the quadrennial performance ritual known as the US presidential race. The whole thing is geared toward falsely exaggerating the differences between the two candidates while drawing emphasis away from the 99 percent of the issues on which they are indistinguishable from each other. And those 99 percent similarities happen to be on all the most murderous and tyrannical behaviors of the US government.
If Americans weren’t so aggressively propagandized and indoctrinated, this would all be obvious to them, and this election race performance wouldn’t get them clapping along like children at a puppet show. The abusive status quo necessary for maintaining the US-centralized empire would not be consented to at all, and would be forced to collapse. There’s too much power riding on preventing this from happening for Americans to be allowed to have a real say in their elections, so they are propagandized to the gills into clapping along instead.
— Caitlin Johnstone
‘Equal opportunity is the bedrock of American democracy, and our country’s diversity is one of our greatest strengths…the evidence makes clear that eliminating discrimination is not just a matter of fairness, but also about economic efficiency and the prosperity of all Americans…’
Discrimination in Contemporary America —Either we fight together, or we sink.
Kamala Harris, for President
https://www.whitehouse.gov/cea/written-materials/2024/07/03/racial-discrimination-in-contemporary-america/
Good point, but name a single living, thinking person who does not discriminate. Good luck on that one.
Rationalizing discrimination is a fools errand. Your assumption is ‘way off base. Seems to me you are trying to rationalize your own failings in the discrimination department, or, perhaps, trying to make yourself feel better about your failings in that regard by spreading the inclination toward the poison among everyone. Not buying it.
Maybe I should point out the compete hypocrisy of “I don’t discriminate”. The greater the sanctimony, the more the hypocrisy.
You just proved it!
Well, here it is, the letter that will change the AVA’s stance on the Water Woes, aka The Potter Valley Project.
It is by the one guy that the AVA has never, in my memory, criticized: John Pinches. Good going, John.
It is in the Letters section linked just below this feature and titled “Save Lake Pillsbury,”
I guess I am not surprised it wasn’t run here;
Maybe if we try hard enough we can eliminate all jobs except government jobs.
And then government people could pay all the taxes to support themselves so they can pay taxes to support themselves.
Prop 36 is an owners of concentrated wealth swindle, to burden California taxpayers, and the support from law enforcement, is lip service to increase their agencies budget.
RE: SHER: “If passed Prop 36 will see more people cycling in and out of prison cells without a chance to get better. Prop 36 fails to address the root causes of homelessness…”
—>. October 21, 2024
Billionaires are “supercharging existing problems” in the housing market, according to the report.
The authors take issue with assumptions about what is driving the housing crisis, which is characterized by record-breaking homelessness in 2023 with more than 653,000 people unhoused; half of tenants paying more than 30% of their income on rent, making them cost-burdened; and a significantly widened gap between the income needed to buy a house and the actual cost of a home.
“The real estate industry would like you to believe the problem is entirely one based on supply and demand,” and that regulations need to be changed to allow for the construction of more affordable housing, reads the report.
But with 16 million vacant homes across the U.S.—28 for every unhoused person—”the reality is that the owners of concentrated wealth… are playing a more pronounced role in residential housing, thereby creating price inflation, distortions, and inefficiencies in the market.”
Signifying the U.S. real estate market’s “emerging status as global tax haven,” the number of vacant units in some communities exceed the number of unhoused people partially because wealthy investors are acquiring property and intentionally leaving it vacant, found IPS and Popular Democracy.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/wall-street-buying-houses
Steve Heilig, thanks for putting into words what is on my mind as well as we approach this election. Why is only one party trying to suppress the vote? Why can only one party never win the popular vote but has to win elections with an outdated electoral college that was put in place by rich white landowners to tilt elections in their favor and still haunts us today.
From today’s Heather Cox Richardson, “Trump took the stage about two hours late, prompting people to stream toward the exits before he finished speaking. He hit his usual highlights, notably undermining Vance’s argument from earlier in the day by saying that, indeed, he believes fellow Americans are “the enemy within.”
But Trump perhaps gave away the game with his inflammatory language and with an aside, seemingly aimed at House speaker Johnson. “I think with our little secret we are gonna do really well with the House, right? Our little secret is having a big impact, he and I have a secret, we will tell you what it is when the race is over,” Trump said.
It seems possible—probable, even—that Trump was alluding to putting in play the plan his people tried in 2020. That plan was to create enough chaos over the certification of electoral votes in the states to throw the election into the House of Representatives. There, each state delegation gets a single vote, so if the Republicans have control of more states than the Democrats, Trump could pull out a victory even if he had dramatically lost the popular vote.”
Get ready for a wild ride.
Yes indeed, and thanks.
Historian HC Richardson also reported:
“Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden began in the early afternoon. The hateful performances of the early participants set the tone for the rally. Early on, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who goes by Kill Tony, delivered a steamingly racist set. He said, for example: “There’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.” He went on: “And these Latinos, they love making babies too. Just know that. They do. They do. There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside. Just like they did to our country.” Hinchcliffe also talked about Black people carving watermelons instead of pumpkins.
The speakers who followed Hinchcliffe called Vice President Kamala Harris “the Antichrist” and “the devil.” They called former secretary of state Hillary Clinton “a sick son of a btch,” and they railed against “fcking illegals.” They insulted Latinos generally, Black Americans, Palestinians and Jews. Trump advisor Stephen Miller’s claim that “America is for Americans and Americans only” directly echoed the statement of Adolf Hitler that “Germany is for Germans and Germans only.”
“When someone shows you who they are, believe them”. – Maya Angelou
‘America is for Americans, and Americans only.’
I wonder what Argentinans, think, and Uruguayans, and Brazilians, and Chileans, and Bolivians, and Peruvians, and Colombians, and Venezuelans, and Panamanians, and Guatemalans, and Honduras, and Nicaraguans, and Cubans, and Canadians, and Mexicans, and Haitians, and Jamaicans, and Dominican Republicans, and El Salvador, and Costa Rica, and PORTO RICO.
You forgot Ecuadorians.
Yes, 🎃
AND…too, the Caribbean, too numerous to list, plus I don’t know them all despite living in the Caribbean my entire childhood…
‘The Caribbean Spanish: el Caribe; French: les Caraïbes; Dutch: de Caraïben), is a subregion in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the North Atlantic Ocean. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America to the west, and South America to the south, it comprises numerous islands, cays, islets, reefs, and banks. It includes the Lucayan Archipelago, Greater Antilles, and Lesser Antilles of the West Indies; the Quintana Roo islands and Belizean islands of the Yucatán Peninsula; and the Bay Islands, Miskito Cays, Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia, and Santa Catalina, and Corn Islands of Central America. It also includes the coastal areas on the continental mainland of the Americas bordering the region from the Yucatán Peninsula in North America through Central America to the Guianas in South America.’
*And, to my family in Ecuador, perdonadme…it’s not easy living in the u.s.a.
I do not understand what the point is of listing the “Catch of the Day” without photographs.
I think it would be great to be able to swing a shelf out!
Wait’ll the hinge goes bad…
Thanks to Steve Heilig for his observations. Straight talk is desperately needed these days.