Letters 11/24/2024

• Hamiltonian Angel Sought
• Miguel Will Work For Senior Project 2024
• How Will They Find Them?
• Listen Liberal
• Breaking The Syndrome
• Make Them Pay
• Torture, Too
• Give Him A Break
• Only In America

---

HAMILTONIAN ANGEL SOUGHT

Editor,

Is there an Angel out there?

My name is Kira Brennan. I am a teacher at Anderson Valley High School. There is a student who has a dream and I am determined to find a way to realize her dream.

During the pandemic this young girl (at that time Elementary school) spent her days in a trailer, her home, doing Zoom school. What I witnessed as her neighbor was her love for the Musical ‘Hamilton.’

She memorized every word. She began to read voraciously. She sang the musical constantly. I told myself that one day I would take her to see the live Broadway Production when it came to San Francisco. It is here, and I learned too late in the game to get affordable tickets.

Can anyone out there help her get two tickets?

The cost of tickets start at $250 and goes up depending on seating. She wants to go with her mom. Though her mom does not speak English well, this High school student would like to share this experience with her. I will take them down and back in one day. I will accompany them to help make sure they get the help they need. I am hoping with all my heart that this young person will be able to have this opportunity.

I am putting this out to the universe right now.

Thank you,

Kira Brennan

kibrenn@yahoo.com

Philo

---

MIGUEL WILL WORK FOR SENIOR PROJECT 2024

Dear Anderson Valley Community,

My name is Miguel Marron. I live in Philo, Anderson Valley. I am looking for weekend jobs to raise money for my senior project. I will make a Pizza oven that I can use in the future, perhaps as a business. My mentors will be David Ballantine and Steve Rhoades. I need to raise $1,200 to purchase the materials for this project.

I am a strong worker and I make it a priority to show up on time, work hard, and be reliable. I have experience in landscapING, building fences, stacking firewood, moving, storage, cleaning gutters and ditches, and general outdoor work. I am available on weekends, during Thanksgiving break (Nov 23-Dec 2nd), and during Christmas break (Dec 21st-Jan 6th).

I would be so grateful if you would consider hiring me for any needs you may have. I have transportation and a lot of motivation to get this project underway.

I could make you a Pizza when my project is finished!

Thank you for your consideration.

I can be reached by text at (707)-295-4794.

You could also respond to Kira Brennan.

kibrenn@yahoo.com

Miguel Marron

---

HOW WILL THEY FIND THEM?

To the Editor:

How will government officers find all those undocumented immigrants they plan to round up in the largest mass deportation of immigrants in American history?

Undocumented immigrants look no different than anyone else walking down the street. Which means that you and I — all 345 million of us in this country — are subject to being stopped and forced to prove we are here legally.

To limit the field, officers may be forced to stop only people who look “foreign.” Of course, many people born here look “foreign.” Many people who are foreign don’t look foreign. Will courts allow profiling based on appearance?

When we are stopped, how will we even prove we are legal so we can stay out of the planned detention camps? We all don’t go around with immigration or naturalization papers. We don’t all have passports. I don’t carry ID unless I’m driving, drinking or using the AARP discount. My only proof is my birth certificate, which I can’t even find.

Even if courts say it is legal to stop anyone for any reason, how long would Americans put up with their own government harassing them?

The government may try to ease the pain by setting up offices in every city and requiring everyone to go there with proof of citizenship. Employees will then issue us cards to carry at all times to show officers. Or the government might force us to get tattoos on our arms or foreheads so we won’t even have to be stopped.

Mass deportation will encroach on our liberty. But the sacrifice will be worth it to rid America of the scourge of “illegals,” the president will tell us. If you are legal, he’ll say, you shouldn’t mind having your rights violated.

Joe Kollin

Lake Worth, Florida

---

LISTEN LIBERAL

Editor,

Possible political resources for understanding WTF just happened.

As I watch many of my friends in my community struggle to make sense of the sweeping Trump electoral victory, I would like to offer a few resources that might help, but first some advice, please disconnect from ALL corporate media, its ratings driven and designed to keep. you agitated and hooked to their product, whether Fox, MSDNC, or C.orporate N.ews N.onsense, they leave you with the intoxicated feeling of being informed , while they propogandize you, but there are options, one of my resources is Breaking Points, with Krystal Ball and Saager Enjeti, their show is fascinating, educational , and highly informative . Krystal is a leftie, and Saager is a Libertarian, they are both whip smart ,to watch them respectfully hash out divisive national issues is Marvelous, I watch them on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@breakingpoints you can also subscribe at www.breakingpoints.com but there are there journalists that are willing to take a cold hard look at issues, names such asChris Hedges and Glenn Greenwald, or Matt Taibbi come to mind, of course there are others.

A book that I often recommend is ‘Listen Liberal,’ by Thomas Frank, https://moonpalacebooks.com/item/Il6kMAbOMSfZ9YkttzkeCQ I read it some years back, it painstakingly details the corporate takeover of the Democratic party, it’s honestly the most painful and disheartening book I’ve ever read, but helpful if you want to understand how we got to Trump.

Sobriety is a difficult path; Whether you find these resources useful, I suggest we all get there, we are gonna need it… thank you

Chris Skyhawk

Fort Bragg

---

BREAKING THE SYNDROME

Editor:

Every tragedy starts with a success. Instead of examining why, the recipient celebrates and continues to use the same approach to every problem. When the solution stops working, the user continues to think it will. We see this scenario repeated in a variety of ways. One such saga started with the discovery of penicillin. Overuse generated a remedy-resistant virus and a newer, more complex problem. Mistakes like this build knowledge but rarely wisdom; consequently, the practitioner continues to use the same approach even though the outcome is unsuitable. Breaking the syndrome is challenging. As a recovering alcoholic, I feel qualified to say that. And for the same reason, I recognize hate as an addiction. It causes an endorphin release that makes us feel powerful, yet the result of our behavior is exceptionally destructive. Quitting is difficult, but it saves sanity and lives.

Tom Fantulin

Fort Bragg

---

MAKE THEM PAY

Editor,

In a previous edition of the Independent Coast Observer they reported that the federal budget deficit was 1.8 trillion for the 2024 fiscal year. Million, Billion, Trillion, what’s the difference?

Well, here it is: If you had a machine that spit out a dollar a second, 24/7 you would have to run it 11 t0 12 days to produce a million dollars.

For a billion dollars you would have to run the machine for 32 years.

For a trillion dollars you would have to run the machine for 32 thousand years

So how is our country going to pay off the $1.8 trillion it has on the federal credit card (T-bills, etc.) for this year alone?

There are lots of relatively painless ways out of this mess, but they all involve the rich and corporations paying their fair share.

The Republicans, who represent these people, will make sure these methods of repayment don’t happen. The government will probably put it on your credit card in the form of inflation and let you pay for it.

Don Phillips

Manchester

PS. The interest on the debt from Ronald Reagan’s spending on the military ate up about 20% of all money taken in for which the taxpayers received nothing in return.

---

TORTURE, TOO

Editor:

Americans have not been told of the deeply troubling torture of Palestinians in Israeli prisons. It is being done openly, presumably, for deterrence. According to an article in the New York Review of Books, techniques used include sleep deprivation, denial of food and medical care, beatings, blindfolding and sexual torture. More than 60 have died in Israeli prisons since Oct. 7, 2023.

The Israeli government is held to international laws it has ratified that provide for prosecution of perpetrators of torture. When three solders in military prisons were set for trial for torturing Palestinians, political pressure ended their prosecution. George W. Bush, in 2011, canceled a planned trip to Sweden to avoid arrest and prosecution for promotion of torture. The U.S. “Leahy Law” prohibits us from assisting government forces of countries that engage in torture.

Robert d. McFarland

Petaluma

---

GIVE HIM A BREAK

Editor:

Not 24 hours after Democrats conceded the election. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta were already trying to undermine President-elect Donald Trump. Newsom already has a Dec. 2 special legislative session scheduled to figure out how to fight him. Is this what the Democrats mean when they speak of peace and unity? Seems to me they are trying to divide the country even more with their hatred for one man instead of working with the man who was overwhelmingly elected as our next president. Newsom should really try to fathom why Democrats were so soundly defeated in the election and focus on the good of the country instead of trying to convince Americans he knows better than what most Americans want.

Raleigh Chaix

Willits

---

ONLY IN AMERICA

Editor:

I served in the U.S. military during wartime. I am a sucker and a loser. Our country’s new leader is a draft dodger and convicted felon. Only in America. What a country!

Doug Courtemarche

Santa Rosa