Mendocino County Today: Friday 1/31/2025

Dredging | Showers | Zuck Purchase | Local Events | Crab's In | Where's Weer | Tanoak | Transient Habitation | PIT Count | Assemblage Campers | Pot Permits | Memorials | Meeting Jake | Ruddock Ranch | Ed Notes | Crab Feed | 10,000 Buddhas | Dumpling Party | Zooming | Art Show | Essay Contest | Resonance | Milliken Family | Union Mill | Yesterday's Catch | Vida Facil | Dude | Wildfire Questions | Wine Shorts | Conspiracist | Thank Jah | Gin & Tonic | Trans Ban | Trump Statement | Old Age | Fancy Hatpins | Run Style | Repression Return | Gay≠Fag | Contradictory Joe | Kezar Stadium | Lead Stories | Gurls | Trump Appeal | Youth Illusion | Thought Frame | Corporate States

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GUSTY WINDS AND RAIN will continue through the day. Both wind and rain will ease by the evening with rain returning Saturday in between brief breaks. Snow will be restricted to the Trinity Alps. Rain showers will continue into the weekend with gradually lowering snow levels. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): Let's get this wet weather cycle started with .10", 47F & light rain this Friday morning on the coast. The forecast has changed in that the focus of the storm track appears to be moving target during the next week ranging from Eureka to the Bay Area bringing smaller amounts of rainfall than earlier forecast. This is of course a moving target & exact amounts remain to be seen. (aka we'll see)

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MARK ZUCKERBERG, the odd facebook mogul turned neo-Trumper who some say has stolen the minds of many of his customers, has purchased a 100-acre forested property on the Mendocino Coast straddling Caspar Creek, just inland from Highway 1, according to coast neighbors. The parcel, once owned by Ed Powers, was purchased out of foreclosure a while back by an unknown owner who then sold it to Zuckerberg. Reportedly several tunnels have been dug and fencing has been installed since Mr. Z bought the parcel. The parcel appears to have a nice stand of prize spruce trees. No one seems to know what the purpose of the purchase is or whether there’s a residence on the property, so far.

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LOCAL EVENTS

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CRAB SEASON IS OPEN in Mendocino County and Noyo Harbor is buzzing with activity!

Head to Fort Bragg for the freshest of crustacean catches.

@princessseafood

Noyo Fish Company

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CARRIE SHATTUCK

We’ve all been saying since the beginning “where’s Weer”? All of this shows exactly how dysfunctional this County really is. OUR public servants are mistreated, under appreciated and end up taking the blame for the lack of leadership by their constituents.

The nepotism and cronyism that exists in our local government needs to stop. Those in charge at the top cannot figure out why the culture at the County is soooo bad. Really? Here’s a perfect example. They kicked out an elected official without due process and before a conviction. It doesn’t get any worse than that.

This takeover of the County’s expenditure oversight/auditing from our independently elected Auditor/Controller/Treasurer/Tax Collector by the Board of Supervisors without voter approval is unacceptable. They are circumventing the vote of the People and we are being denied our vote.

Until our representatives start standing up to each other and representing We the People that they are suppose to be representing NOTHING is going to change.

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TRANSIENT USE TYPES

Discussion And Possible Direction To Staff Regarding Establishing A New Use Type Of Transient Habitation: Low Intensity Camping, Which Would Allow A Limited Number Of Short-Term Commercial Campsites On Properties Within The Inland Areas Of The County

The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors intends to discuss and provide possible direction to Planning and Building Services staff on establishing a new use type of Transient Habitation: Low Intensity Camping at their regular meeting on February 11, 2025 at 9 am or as soon thereafter as the item may be heard. This may include possible direction to staff to assist in crafting an ordinance for future consideration.

The new use type of Transient Habitation: Low Intensity Camping would allow for a limited number of short-term commercial campsites on properties within the Inland areas of the County.

The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors meeting will take place in the Board of Supervisors Chambers, at 501 Low Gap Road, Ukiah, California, and virtual attendance will be available via Zoom. Meetings are live streamed and available for viewing on the Mendocino County YouTube page, at https://www.youtube.com/MendocinoCountyVideo or by toll-free, telephonic live stream at 888-544-8306.

Comments can be submitted using our online eComment platform at https://mendocino.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx. All submitted eComments will be made available to the Supervisors, staff, and the general public immediately upon submittal.

For details and a complete list of the latest available options by which to engage with agenda items, please visit: https://www.mendocinocounty.gov/government/board-of-supervisors/public-engagement.

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SUPERVISOR MADELINE CLINE

The PIT count is a count of sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons on a single night in January. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that Continuums of Care (CoCs) conduct an annual count of homeless persons who are sheltered in emergency shelter, transitional housing, and Safe Havens on a single night. CoCs also must conduct a count of unsheltered homeless persons every other year (we do it annually here). Each count is planned, coordinated, and carried out locally.

You can find the final reports from previous year’s PIT count here: https://mendocinococ.org/pit-counts

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STATE FAULTS MENDO FOR POT PERMIT FLAWS

Editor,

I am sending this to Ukiah Daily Journal, Willits Environmental Center and Anderson Valley Advertising [sic]. Maybe you already know about this or can get to the bottom of it? I hope I’m wrong, but it looks like public agencies pulled a bait and switch to benefit pot growers?

It is common knowledge Mendocino’s Marijuana ordinance has been a failure. They could not issue their own permits, and then the state had to write an EIR to give them state permits. Even after the EIR was written, Willits Environmental Center and CDF&W and others still identified pretty serious problems: https://cannabis.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/appendix_feir_comments.pdf

Here is where I get confused. Someone gave me a copy of the letter I enclose. I haven’t been able to find it anywhere else, have not been able to find out anything from the County and there is nothing on their website about it.

CDF&W is not part of the SSHR anymore, like is required in the EIR? Who is dealing with the environmental issues?

Why is this not being made public? It seems like double dealing. And if the state isn’t doing what it says in the EIR, don’t they need to change the EIR to say what they are doing? Can’t they get sued for violating CEQA?

I don’t want to piss anyone off so I can’t say who I am.

Name Withheld

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[Department of Fish and Wildlife logo/letterhead]

October 15, 2024

County of Mendocino

Planning and Building Department

501 Low Gap Road

Ukiah, CA 95482

pbs@mendocinocounty.org

Subject: California Department Of Fish And Wildlife’s Participation In The Mendocino County Cannabis Referral Program

This letter is in regard to the County of Mendocino’s (County) September 30, 2020, “Pilot Policy for Sensitive Species Review” (Pilot Policy), which has been used to implement Mendocino County Cannabis Ordinance Section 10A.17.100(A)(2) (Ordinance). This Ordinance proposed the Department of Fish and Wildlife (Department) assist the County with evaluating potential impacts to sensitive species that may result from issuance of Mendocino County Cannabis Cultivation Permits. The Department is not usually assigned a role in County ordinances and believed the County would likely informally refer projects that proposed new site expansion or were unusual or unique in terms of sensitive species impacts instead of designating a specific role to the Department via ordinance.

In mid-2023, the County began referring a number of projects to the Department for review. To date, the County has referred hundreds of projects to the Department. In many cases, the County has already issued the approval for licensing or renewal.

In late Fall of 2023, the Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) decided to act as Lead Agency and prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) in the summer of 2024 for state licensing of commercial cannabis cultivation in Mendocino County. This DEIR contemplates continued involvement of Department staff in site-specific review of cultivation sites by citing the County ordinance and stating that compliance with Section 10A.17.100(A) (2) is required.

Due to the DEIR’s reliance on the County Ordinance procedure, the Department must clarify the scope of the Department’s involvement in site-specific review of cultivation sites in Mendocino County. The Department has re-evaluated the County’s Sensitive Species and Habitats referral checklist (SSHR) (aka Exhibit A) and a large sample of the project referrals received and processed to date. In doing so, the Department has determined the SSHR requires modification. The Department’s recommended modifications to the criteria should result in far fewer referrals pending Department review and needing referral to the Department in the future. In addition, the modifications will result in changes to Department’s recommendations made to date.

The Department’s recommendations and changes to our participation in this process are stated below and in the revised SSHR (Appendix 1):

• Many cannabis cultivation sites in Mendocino County have both a Department Lake and Streambed Alteration Agreement and a permit from the North Coast Regional Waterboard. While many environmental issues can be identified and minimized with these permits, they are not a substitute for a thorough site-specific analysis conducted through a forward-looking California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process.
• While many cannabis cultivation sites existed prior to legalization, numerous sites have expanded beyond the footprints utilized prior to legalization and have been allowed to persist for years after expansion occurred. Attempting to conduct a Trustee agency review after impacts have occurred will likely underestimate impacts and limit options for both minimization and mitigation.
• After reviewing referrals and conducting site visits on many cannabis cultivation sites in Mendocino County, it is clear that significant environmental impacts have occurred on many parcels due to cannabis cultivation and associated activities. The existing process under the Pilot Project and Exhibit A is not sufficient to reduce most impacts to a level of less than significant, especially for sites that have already expanded since legalization or have been permitted without first undergoing CEQA review. The Lead Agency and the County should conduct their own site-specific environmental evaluation and analysis to determine if impacts are less than significant and take appropriate action to remediate any significant impacts. The Department is not the appropriate entity to conduct that review.
• The Department is providing a revised checklist for Exhibit A (see Appendix 1). This revised checklist will limit the County’s referral process to only those projects that: 1) have proposed future expansion, 2) have new cultivation sites that have not yet been developed, or 3) are sites in need of an LSA due to the use of natural water sources (see Appendix 1 for more details). All environmental review, evaluation, and follow up for environmental impacts that occurred prior to legalization, or for impacts due to the expansion of cannabis cultivation sites that have already occurred, should be completed by the County and the Lead Agency. The Department is withdrawing all previous comments with the exception of those sites that are proposing to expand (and have not already) or are newly proposed cannabis cultivation sites (see Appendix 2).

The DCC DEIR relies heavily on the review of each site using the Pilot Project review process, rather than a standard impact analysis and CEQA review. The Final EIR should modify use of the Pilot Project to reflect the new Exhibit A checklist and utilize additional methods not reliant on the Department to provide environmental impact evaluations on a site-specific basis and to determine if impacts are less than significant.

The Department would appreciate the County’s adoption and use of this revised SSHR immediately. Going forward, the Department’s involvement in assisting the County with determining potentially significant adverse impacts is limited to projects involving proposed future cannabis site disturbance/expansion and entirely new cannabis site disturbance/development. Again, the Lead Agency and the County should conduct their own site-specific environmental evaluation and analysis to determine if impacts are less than significant and take appropriate action to remediate any significant impacts.

We appreciate the opportunity to work with the County to assist in effectively regulating commercial cannabis cultivation, while addressing its documented environmental impacts. If you have any questions, please contact Environmental Program Manager, Rebecca Garwood at

R1LSAEureka@wildlife.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

[Signed Tina Bartlett]

Tina Bartlett, Regional Manager Northern Region

Enclosure: Appendix 1, Appendix 2

cc:

Mendocino County Cannabis Program

mcdpod@mendocinocounty.gov

North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board

NorthCoast.Cannabis@Waterboards.ca.gov

Department of Cannabis Control

info@cannabis.ca.gov

Doug Willson, Justin Rhoades, Amelia Wright, Jennifer Nguyen, Corinne Gray, Rebecca Garwood, Scott Bauer, Angela Liebenberg, Linda Reece-Wahl

California Department of Fish and Wildlife

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JIM SHIELDS COMMENTS:

This all looks pretty damn accurate. I'll be passing this on to a few of the folks I work with on this mess. I see it was also sent to WEC [Willits Enviroment Center] who I also collaborate with. Some of this is referenced by WEC's attorneys in their cease-and-desist demand to the BOS, which, of course, they ignored.

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MEMORIALS (this Saturday)

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IT WAS A DAY or two before Christmas, 2022. A neighbor, disoriented by Alzheimer's, drove deep into Mendocino Redwood Company property and, while attempting to turn around, ended up sliding backwards off the road. He left the truck there and hiked a few miles back to Camp Navarro.

The rain persisted through that winter and spring, keeping the backroads slick and muddy, so we weren't able to go back and extract the truck until late April. Once the roads were dry enough, Camp Navarro (who leases some property from MRC) provided an employee to help me find and recover the abandoned truck. I drove to Camp Headquarters on the designated morning and met with my helper, a fellow named Jake, where we exchanged pleasantries and discussed our plan.

We jumped in our respective trucks and drove up Bald Hill until we found the lost truck, a Ford Ranger of 2010 vintage. The first thing I noticed was how steeply the vehicle had pitched off the road, looking like it was about to stand up on its tailgate. The only thing that prevented the truck from continuing to slide backwards down the steep slope was the chassis resting on the edge. The second thing I noticed was the truck had been ransacked, the front bench-seat gone and the steering column partially dismantled. Jake seemed unbothered by such things as he chained his truck to the Ranger and then slowly pulled it up and back onto the road.

We popped the hood and found the battery missing. Jake replaced it with his truck's battery, and after a number of tries we got the engine started. Using a plastic milk crate for a makeshift seat, Jake climbed in, and we caravanned back down to the maintenance yard at Camp Navarro. We pulled his battery out of the rescued truck and I shuttled him back up so he could recover his truck. This gave us some time to get acquainted, and when I found out his last name was Waggoner, we talked about Judy (his aunt?), the former postmistress of Navarro.

When we eventually parted ways, I was thankful that Jake had come with me, for he was one of those supremely capable people that gets things done and makes it look easy in the process. Country living can do that for you — teach self reliance — and Jake certainly had the gift. When I saw he had passed last month, I was surprised and saddened. He seemed so young and vibrant when I had last seen him, and Lord knows we need more people like Jake, not less.

— Mike Kalantarian

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RUDDOCK FLOUR MILL near Philo. Later there was a saw mill built at this location, Ruddock family standing in the garden area.

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ED NOTES

“SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE Ann Moorman said at the end of Wednesday’s court session that pre-paid traveling plans involving county CEO Darcie Antle, a prime prosecution witness, and those of her own forced the lengthy delay.” (Geniella) Since when do private vacation plans cancel scheduled court hearings? “See ya,” sing the judge and the CEO. “We gotta catch a plane.” This foul matter has got to be the longest preliminary hearing in County history, and isn’t the first time Judge Moorman has colluded with DA Eyster to obstruct justice. Remember the Kevin Murray case where major felonies were busted down to misdemeanors and probation?

WHEN IS A TRAIN not a train? When it gets partially built, then put on hold and funding runs out. SMART is supposed to go from Larkspur to Cloverdale. There's no reason it couldn't go to Willits, maybe even Dos Rios. The tracks are in place, and 80 years ago, when America still knew how to do things, two trains ran every day from Sausalito to Eureka. Each way. The train people are now saying 2030, at the earliest, a train may chug into the Cloverdale station, Cloverdale being a well-known transportation hub and all. Federal money necessary to complete the project is in doubt, as is the entire viability of the capitalist system — SMART on a national scale, you might say. One of the key funding components for a revived rail line up and down the Northcoast is a quarter cent sales tax projected to generate $845 million of the $1.2 billion needed. But sales taxes have tanked along with the economy, and more and more people are buying online trying to avoid sales taxes altogether. The railroad, SMART or DUMB, is unlikely in our life times.

PEBBLES TRIPPET lived for years virtually at the mouth of the Navarro. One Tuesday afternoon in 2010, Pebs wrote: “About an hour ago, I called 911 to report the wrecked vehicle that went off the road on 128 at the 1.7 mile marker from the coast. A fallen alder caught the vehicle on its slide down into the Navarro River or else the people and the vehicle would be floating down the muddy rushing river to the ocean. No one was hurt; they have the alder to thank. My backyard is starting to flood. The frogs are singing full throat, but the river is now 10 feet lower than last night due to the break in the weather. This is not yet like the Dec 31 2005 true flood that ran me out of my cabin, perched on 5 feet of stilts with 2 feet of water lapping at the calves of my legs and rising. I was rescued at dawn Jan 1 in a neighbor's canoe. Two of my three cats made it through the trauma. It'll take another long ferocious rain before anything like “floodstage” is reached for the people who live along the Navarro River, most of us off the grid.”

A WEEK LATER, we have Pebs' tribute to the river alder. “In my weather report last week from the floodplain, I meant to emphasize the fallen alder that saved the people from falling into the river. The lowly alders, known as the rabbits of the tree world because they reproduce so fast, litter the river area in abundance. They don’t last long — 5-10 years — and when they fall in multiples they take with them a lot of the soil that shores up river banks into the river. This eats away at Navarro River Road, the main artery we are all dependent on. We can plant willows whose long roots solidify the hillsides leading from the river to the road to make up the erosion, but there are too many alders to keep up with. Today’s truth is that the fallen alder saved people from certain injury or worse by stopping the car that ran off 128 two weeks ago. Praise the alders. Everything in Mother Nature has its rhyme and reason.”

JOE TORRE, the famous baseball guy, founded and largely funds the Safe at Home Foundation. I remember Torre telling a rapt Frisco crowd of some 400 people who'd assembled to raise money for groups devoted to bringing attention to domestic violence why he'd begun Safe at Home. “My dad abused my mom. He wasn't a drinker. … He never physically hurt us. But there was a lot of whispering going on in my house. I felt I was doing something wrong.” Torre remembered one particularly terrifying incident. “My mother was standing behind my sister who had a knife in her hand to protect my mother. He was heading for the drawer. My dad was a policeman. He had a gun in the house.” Torre managed to defuse that situation and his older brother persuaded his father to leave the house. Torre's foundation creates safe rooms in schools for children from families like his. “Baseball's been my life,” Torre said. “My mom, Margaret, lived her life for us kids. … If she were with us today, she wouldn't allow me to do what we are doing today,” that is speak out about an issue sadly too common here in Mendocino County and everywhere else. “My two sisters were horrified that I was going public, but they realized how necessary it was.”

THERE IS MUCH CONFUSION in the world. Last week I received this e-mail from a certain Mr. Taylor: “We really loved your book. Just wanted you to know that your writing and subject matter is so very inspiring and worthy of praise.” The book referred to is called “Tantra for Gay Men” by Bruce Anderson. Well! This Bruce Anderson had to look up tantra to understand the reference in any context, let alone that of the gay male. Sorry, Mr. T, the tantric Bruce Anderson isn't the Boonville Bruce Anderson.

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TICKETS ARE STILL AVAILABLE: All you can eat Crab, Salad, Garlic Bread plus Cheesecake. $75 (Tickets: John Schultz cell: 801-580-1851, Colleen Schenck: 97070 684-9069)

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THE BUDDHIST SANCTUARY THAT THRIVES IN THE INLAND HILLS OF MENDOCINO COUNTY

by Joel Russell Thompson

The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas located near Ukiah, CA in Mendocino County is geographically one of the largest Buddhist communities in the Western Hemisphere.

The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas is residence for hundreds, and is an international tourist destination to countless visitors with an amazing vegan restaurant! The large rural property tucked along the edge of the Mayacamas Mountain range amongst vineyards and pear orchards is a sacred place for spiritual practice and meditation retreats, and more than anything the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas is a center for education — hosting top-level kindergarten through twelfth-grade students, and it is the main campus for the fully accredited Dharma Realm Buddhist University's esteemed liberal arts program.

The Jyun Kang restaurant makes up the heart of the 480-acre protected Buddhist city. The name of the restaurant Jyun Kang means "To Your Health" and within this quaint restaurant's storybook stucco exterior surrounded by redwoods and palms, you'll find the most delicious and nourishing Malaysian-style Indo-Chinese vegan cuisine, and a friendly staff to greet you with warm barley tea. There is a gift shop and a check-in center as you pass by the large Mountain Gate. The Hall of Ten Thousand Buddhas makes up the centerpiece of the city's landscape with ornate hedges and statues lining its regal courtyard entrance. Inside the Buddha Hall is adorned with art, ancient carvings, and Buddha statues. Upon entering the large building you may smell sandalwood incense and hear the beautiful songs of the meditators singing lovely mantras.

The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas was established in the late 1970s, and it is a branch monastery to many other monasteries throughout California and the world including the famous Shaolin Monastery, established in 495 AD in Henan Province, China. The Buddhist disciples at these monasteries make the common vows to uphold the five precepts of no killing, no stealing, no lying, no taking of intoxicants, and no sexual misconduct as their basic premise for good moral conduct.

The monks and nuns at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas practice what is known as Chan meditation which is rooted in the ancient Indian Yog?c?ra meditation practice that was brought from India to China by the legendary Buddhist monk known by the name of "Bodhidharma" in 527 AD. Bodhidharma's physical training with the monks at the Shaolin Monastery using Chan meditation practices led to the creation of Shaolin Kung-fu. Kung-fu movies were made popular in the West by Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan in the 1970s.

Buddhist scriptural works dating from the seventh century detailing the life of one of Bodhidharma's successors known as "Hui Neng" were discovered in one of the most notable archeological finds of the early 1900s at the Magao Caves in Northwestern China. The Sutra of Hui Neng is one of the texts studied by the resident cultivators as an introspective spiritual guidebook. Alongside this ancient Buddhist Sutra treasure found in the Magao Caves was discovered a combination of various biblical works and scrolls of the Nestorian Christian Church written in Aramaic dialect — the language of the ancient Syrian Christian Church; as well as vast collections of Eastern religious texts and ancient artwork.

Following the lineage of these legendary Chinese Buddhist teachers, dating back from Bodhidharma of ancient times — to the present day are Hsu Yun-Empty Cloud (1840-1959), and one of his successors Hsuan Hua-Proclaim Transform (1918-1995). The Venerable Hsuan Hua was a major contributor to bringing Chinese Buddhism to the US, and he is the founder of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas and many of its education programs. Hsuan Hua is also known for making the generous donation of 120 acres of mountainside land in Redwood Valley, CA to the Abhayagiri Monastery, which practices after the Thai Forest Buddhist tradition.

The community at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas maintains many large buildings both old and new, lush summer gardens, beautiful landscaping, and unique artwork and architecture. If you plan on visiting the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas be sure to drive carefully, be reverent, and check ahead for the restaurant's hours of operation and other community event offerings.

(Joel Russell Thompson is Executive Director of the Friends of the Noyo River Conservation Research Center.)

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ZOOM INTO ZOOMING

I wonder if people realize how easy it is to set up a zoom?

All it takes is a laptop with a camera and microphone, a good internet connection and someone with a Zoom account. Cameras and mics are built into most laptops today. You can even use a smartphone, ipad or a tablet.

Place the laptop on a chair or table where it can pick up the audio and video of the speaker(s), dial into Zoom, et voila! Share the Zoom info with others beforehand.

If the Zoom will last more than I think 45 minutes and/or have more than I think 100 people dialing in, the person whose Zoom account is being used to set up the Zoom conference needs to have a paid rather than a free account.

I sing in a chorus and we now use Zoom during chorus practice so that chorus members who are unable to join in person can still participate. Our chorus director uses her laptop, set up on a chair so the Zoom participants can see and hear her and the other in-person participants. The Zoom participants mute their audio when they sing along. It’s not the same as being there in person, but it’s a LOT better than not being there at all. This setup could work for a lot of meetings or presentations.

Johanna Wildoak johanna@wildoak.org>

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FIRST FRIDAY ‘CASING THE JOINT’ Assemblage Art Show at Corner Gallery

Wanna have fun and enjoy some inspiring ‘outta the box’ assemblage art? The ‘Casing the Joint’ assemblage art show will open next First Friday, February 7th from 5-8pm at the Corner Gallery in Ukiah. Assemblage artists from the last eight ‘Outta the Box’ camps will be displaying their sculptures at the 2nd ‘Casing the Joint’ art show. Monthly, assemblage artists Spencer Brewer & Esther Siegel open their Harmony Gaits’ wonderland of an art barn to an all-day camp for participants to make assemblage art sculptures. ‘It’s painting with objects….think visual jazz.’ There will be a myriad of unique and surprising pieces showcased for the month of February at the Corner Gallery front windows, each by a different artist. The result is both fun and a ‘WOW’ experience for the artists and observers.

One camper was grinning ear to ear as he spoke about his experience, “I had this unbelievable sensation that I was in kindergarten,” he said. “It’s nature and nurture at the same time, and all I have to do is play. It’s a beautiful experience.” His partner was working on her own piece and explained, “I’m really happy that I came here with an idea that I was able to work on and make it take shape right on the table in front of me. I am proud that I learned to use some tools like an angle grinder as well… this is so new for me.”

There are thousands of objects at Harmony Gait’s art barn that are available for campers to utilize, which supports folks to think in new and different ways as they put ideas and objects together. “It’s magic to watch.”

The Corner Gallery is located at 201 S State Street in Ukiah. For more info call 707-462-1400. For more info about the Outta the Box camps, visit Harmonygaits.com.

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TELL THEM WHAT THEY WANT TO HEAR AND WIN A QUICK $6,000!

Contests for local high school students with $6,000 in prizes

Change Our Name, a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit registered in the state of California is sponsoring their Third Annual Essay Contest and First Ever Video Contest for Fort Bragg High School and Noyo High School students

Each of the two distinct contest offers a $2,000 First Prize and $1,000 Second Prize and both ask students to respond to the prompt: Resolved- “The Name of Fort Bragg Should be Changed” or “The Name of Fort Bragg Should Not be Changed.”

Submissions for the contests will be received February 1 through 5 p.m. March 31. They will be judged in April and prizes awarded in May.

While the Board of Change Our Name supports changing the name of Fort Bragg, a name which currently memorializes a genocidal fort and a Confederate General and slave master, they have enlisted three judges for each contest who are respected in their fields (either writers or video critics) and who are unaffiliated with Change Our Name.

The intent of the contest is to get students thinking about and researching their local name and its history. Submissions will be graded on criteria of creativity, research, and genre skills and not on the argument they choose to pursue.

Complete contest rules can be found at https://www.changeournamefortbragg.com/hs-contest and a list of some important research tools can be found at https://www.changeournamefortbragg.com/books

In addition our local library has more books and articles of interest.

These contests are solely projects of Change Our Name Fort Bragg, and are neither sponsored by nor affiliated with the Fort Bragg Unified School District nor with Fort Bragg High School or Noyo High School .

Questions should be directed to Change Our Name at: changeournamefortbragg@gmail.com

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DEEP ROOTS

by Carolyn Zeitler

Catherine Blosser visited the Kelley House in late March [of 2012] bringing with her a wonderful collection of original photographs, letters, and the family Bible of her great grandparents, James and Lizzie Milliken, all of which she donated to the Kelley House. The Millikens were part of the early migration of easterners to this region. Daniel Brewer Milliken came to Mendocino from Maine in 1857, having heard of California’s opportunities for riches. He became one of the earliest and most successful logging contractors for the Mendocino Mill. A relative of his, Horace F. Milliken, was next to arrive, in 1874. Horace worked as a logger for six years before moving to Fort Bragg and opening a hardware store on Main Street. Not long after, he wrote to his older brother, James, telling him that Mendocino was in need of a good doctor.

James Milliken came from Surrey, Maine in 1882 to check out the lay of the land. He was followed shortly thereafter by his wife Elizabeth Farrington Milliken, and their two children, Alden and Eva. They sailed down the East Coast, went overland across the Isthmus of Panama, sailed up the West Coast to San Francisco, and traveled on to Mendocino by stagecoach. James set up his practice in Mendocino and lived in "the doctor's house" (McCornack House [most recently Didjeridoo Dreamtime Inn]) on the east end of Main Street. Four more children—Inez, Sadie, Elizabeth (Beth), and Faith—were all born there.

The good doctor was said to be generous, kind, considerate and thoughtful to the last degree. No sacrifice was too great if it would bring joy or comfort to his patients. His daughter, Inez Milliken Philbrick, described her father as a "visionary who loved music, poetry, spiritual things, who never kept books on his medical practice, and let people pay him whenever they felt like it, in eggs, potatoes, beans or whatever they raised in their gardens." [He was also a great lover of cookies, as noted in the December 7, 2023 Kelley House Calendar: “The recipe for ‘Dr. Milliken’s Favorite Molasses Cookies’ was featured in a Mendocino Presbyterian Church cookbook dating from the early 1900s."]

By contrast, his wife Lizzie had been raised in a Spartan atmosphere in Holden, Maine, where "every penny was counted and made to carry as far as it could." It must have been trying for Lizzie when her husband took food from the pantry to give to other families in hard times. But there was time for play as evidenced by the lines in a poem James Milliken composed in 1886.

My wife, my wife, she's the joy of my life.

She makes night and day far from lonely.

O'er pansies there's words, o’er children there's strife.

She's good and she's great but she's homely.

Sadie Milliken graduated from San Jose State Normal School [teachers’ college] in 1908 with another Mendocino local named Nannie Flood [Escola]. She then matriculated at the University of California, Berkeley, and became a teacher. In 1914, she married a mechanical engineer named Roy Blosser and they settled in Alameda. They had two children, John and Dorothy. Her granddaughter, Catherine, the source of all the Milliken material, lives in Oregon.

In May, 1909, James died at the age of 57 from heart disease. His wife and six children survived him. Lizzie lived to be almost 90, in her later years with her daughter, Sadie, in Alameda. James and Elizabeth Milliken are buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Mendocino.

— Excerpted and annotated from the “Kelley House Newsletter,” Summer, 2012.

(kelleyhousemuseum.org)

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ANOTHER HISTORY CARD FROM EBAY (via Marshall Newman)

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CATCH OF THE DAY, Thursday, January 30, 2025

APOLONIO BARRIGA-BARRA, 33, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol&drugs, probation revocation.

KARL BARTH, 61, Fort Bragg. Probation revocation.

JENNIFER CRAM, 41, Ukiah. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

AUSTREBERTO GOMEZ-ROMERO, 40, Nice/Ukiah. DUI with priors.

JESTIN GOTT, 39, Ukiah. Paraphernalia, failure to appear.

TYLER KELLER, 33, Ukiah. Paraphernalia, false ID, resist, parole violation.

JORGE MARTINEZ, 29, Ukiah. County parole violation.

ELISEO SANTIZ-HERNANDEZ, 22, Ukiah. No license.

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ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

I just spent a couple weeks in Mexico and I loved it. The people there have much less than we do but they are also happier and seemingly more satisfied. My favorite day was resting on the beach and watching Mexican fishermen clean their catch of the day. Didn't detect any misery in those guys. Lots of jokes, singing, laughter and banter with their buddies. I was envious of them and dreading the return to "murica" and the rat race. If I had the cojones, I'd pull an Andy Durfrain from the Shawshank Redemption and high tail it out of here to Mexico for a simpler life.

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WILDFIRE QUESTIONS

Editor:

It would be helpful to know some facts about the fires in Los Angeles as well as earlier fires in Napa and Sonoma counties:

— What are the design and other aspects of those structures that did not burn down?

— What masks/respirators provide the best protection from smoke, gases and particles while putting out fires as well as for those in the area breathing smoky air?

— Who and what did individual people do that saved their own and others’ houses?

— What houses would have been saved if someone had been on-site to put out embers before they ignited the house?

— What are the media references about “private firefighters,” and who are those who have their services?

That, along with other information, can allow consideration of options. It seems to me that expecting municipal firefighters to be the sole answer is not working. Can we look to options that might include trained civil defense citizens to provide backup and support? It worked in World War II when every street block had a civil defense warden. Can we rise to the needs of the 21st century dangers the way those did in World War II and at other times?

Bruce Ketron

Napa

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WHAT I'M READING

“A half-century ago, Gavi was the epitome of a chic Italian wine,” writes Lettie Teague in the Wall Street Journal. So what happened to the reputation and quality of this Piedmontese white?

The TTB has proposed adding new labels to alcohol packaging that would be akin to the “Nutrition Facts” on food products, plus a disclosure of allergens. Rachel Arthur has more details in Beverage Daily.

In Wine Enthusiast, Matt Kettmann reviews the impact that the Los Angeles wildfires have had on the area’s wine community. Only one wine-specific building was destroyed, he writes: Rosenthal Wine Bar & Patio, a tasting room in Malibu.

— Esther Mobley

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THANK JAH #2

by Paul Modic

This is Pablo Zee

With the Sohum skinny

Hey John Ford look what you done

Bass Fennel Madrone and Bone

Chased the growers out of the sun

It's Indo baby, hear the genny moan

Estelle's spy satellite is grinning

The super-fans are spinning

Ford's new Greenrush is under the trees

How does it feel, to be all alone?

You're invisible, you got no secrets

It's Indoor baby, the fuel trucks groan

Counting stacks of hundies under the lights

No overpriced abatements ever in sight

This has been brought to you by Wedding Cake.

As Hugh Duggins would say if you're not growing

Wedding Cake you may as well not even grow.

Get your Wedding Cake clones at the usual outlets, seeds available next spring with limited supply.

(Not available in North Dakota or Phillipsville.)

Fuel may spill in creeks. Powdery mildew, mites, and mold may occur. Spray early and often. Grow lights may cause skin cancer. Diesel exhaust is toxic. Annoyed neighbors might turn you in. Who's that knocking at your door? If you have an election lasting longer than four months you should shake hands with the milkman, polish the bannister, have a date with Rosy Palmer, buck the slobbering donkey, burp the worm, or do a Meg Ryan.

For a good time, ladies, call or text 223-4364. (Wear a mask.)

Rest in Peace Scott Kender and Travis Strange

Take it away Captain Hummingbird!

(It's not my ego, it's your coffee.)

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THE NERVE

Editor,

President Donald Trump’s order to ban transgender people from the military asserts that because they are trans, they are not fit for duty. This has no basis in fact.

Many of those affected by this ban are functioning as well as any other military member. Otherwise, we would certainly have heard about the high percentage of transgender service members who are not cutting it.

The ban is simply an excuse to get rid of people who Trump and others like him don’t like.

Todd Bever

San Francisco

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SENATOR PADILLA QUESTIONS HEGSETH ON TRUMP'S PURPORTED MILITARY ACTION TO TURN ON CALIFORNIA WATER

by Dan Bacher

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) requested that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth clarify President Trump’s January 27th Truth Social post claiming that the U.S. military “entered” California and “turned on the water” flowing from Northern California to other parts of the state.

On Monday, Trump implied that his executive orders were already being hastily and aggressively carried out as he posted on Truth Social: “The United States Military just entered the Great State of California and, under Emergency Powers, TURNED ON THE WATER flowing abundantly from the Pacific Northwest and beyond. The days of putting a Fake Environmental argument, over the PEOPLE, are OVER. Enjoy the water, California!!!”

This prompted the California Department of Water Resources, or DWR, to tweet the following response.

“The military did not enter California,” DWR clarified. “The federal government restarted federal water pumps after the were offline for maintenance for three days. State water supplies in Southern California remain plentiful.”…

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/1/29/2300014/-Senator-Padilla-Questions-Hegseth-on-Trump-s-Purported-Military-Action-to-Turn-On-California-Water

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MARCO MCCLEAN

Marco here. Juanita has several fancy hatpins. They come between three and seven inches long. They're legal on an airplane, where my multitool with pliers, wire stripper, both screwdrivers and fingernail blade is not, the total of which fits in half a cigar tube. And whenever a hatpin is mentioned I hear this in my head all in Juanita's voice:

Mrs. Eynsford-Hill: I do hope we won't have any unseasonable cold spells; they bring on so much influenza. And the whole of our family is susceptible to it.

Eliza Doolittle: My aunt died of influenza, or so they said. But it's my belief they /done the old woman in/.

Mrs. Higgins: Done her in?

Eliza Doolittle: Yes, Lord love you. Why should she die of influenza, when she come through /diphtheria/ right enough the year before? Fairly blue with it she was. They all thought she was dead. But my father, he kept ladling gin down her throat. Then she come to so sudden she bit the bowl right off the spoon.

Mrs. Eynsford-Hill: Dear me!

Eliza Doolittle: Now, what call would a woman with that strenth [not strength; strenth] in her have to die of influenza? And what become of her new straw hat that should have come to me?

[pause]

Eliza Doolittle: Somebody /pinched/ it. And what I say is: them as pinched it, done her in.

Lord Boxington: Done her in? Done her in, did you say?

Lady Boxington: What ever does it mean?

Mrs. Higgins: It's the new slang, meaning someone has killed her.

Mrs. Eynsford-Hill: [gasp] Surely you don't think someone killed her?

Eliza Doolittle: Do I not! Them she lived with would have killed her for a hat pin, let alone a hat.

Mrs. Eynsford-Hill: But it can't have been right for your father to be pouring spirits down her throat like that. It could have killed her.

Eliza Doolittle: Not her. Gin was mother's-milk to her. Besides, he poured so much down his own throat, he knew the good of it.

Lord Boxington: Do you mean he drank?

Eliza Doolittle: Drank? My word, something chronic.

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"Some people create with words, or with music, or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, 'I've never seen anyone run like that before.' It's more than just a race, it's style. It's doing something better than everyone else. It's being creative."

— Steve Prefontaine

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TRUMP'S EXECUTIVE ORDERS - THE RETURN OF COLD WAR REPRESSION

by David Bacon

In 1950, Nevada Democratic Senator Pat McCarran said he wanted to save the United States from communism and "Jewish interests." His solution was passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, known as the McCarran Walter Act (MWA), and its complement, the Internal Security Act of 1950 (also known, confusingly, as the McCarran Act).

Both laws defined much of the legal framework for Cold War repression. They created an era of political trials and deportations, designed to terrorize progressive political leaders, enmesh them in endless legal battles, and where possible imprison and deport them. At the same time, mass deportations, like those of the early 1930s, grew exponentially, while contract labor schemes, once prohibited by Federal law, filled the country's fields with braceros.

A week into the executive orders issued by the Trump administration, a similar set of McCarran-like measures are reviving this Cold War strategy. Anti-immigrant hysteria and repression have seemingly been a permanent part of U.S. public life, and the past election demonstrated clearly its prevalence in both political parties. But once in office, the Trump administration is acting on what many hoped were empty threats. Its blueprint for a new assault on migrants and political rights is not just a rightwing continuation of business as usual, but an effort that takes its cues from one of the worst periods in U.S. political history - the Cold War. Chief among the legal structures that defined that era were these two laws.…

https://davidbaconrealitycheck.blogspot.com/2025/01/trumps-executive-orders-return-of-cold.html

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AI ON PUBLIC LANDS AND BIDEN’S ENVIRONMENTAL LEGACY

The 46th president finished his term in customary contradictory style.

by Jonathan Thompson

On Jan. 14, President Joe Biden issued an executive order directing the departments of Defense and Energy to make land available for private entities to construct gigawatt-scale "frontier" AI data centers. He also instructed the Interior Department to identify sites on public land for developing "clean energy" to power those centers and called for streamlined permitting for the power projects and their associated transmission lines.

That same day, the Biden administration began the process of withdrawing more than 300,000 acres of public land from new mining claims and mineral leases in the Amargosa Valley in Nevada, protecting it from future lithium mining and geothermal energy development.

The two initiatives stand in stark contrast with each other. In one case, Biden offered corporate entities federal land for building energy- and water-intensive data centers as well as solar, wind, geothermal or even nuclear installations. In the other, he sought to protect federal land from similar energy developments.…

https://www.hcn.org/articles/ai-on-public-lands-and-bidens-environmental-legacy/

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AERIAL VIEW OF KEZAR Stadium, San Francisco (1930)

An aerial view of Kezar Stadium in 1930 showcased its iconic horseshoe-shaped design, nestled at the eastern edge of Golden Gate Park. The stadium was a hub for sports and community events, hosting football games, track meets, and concerts. From above, the surrounding parklands provided a lush contrast to the bustling urban neighborhoods nearby. Kezar Stadium symbolized the city’s commitment to recreation and public gatherings, offering a space where San Franciscans could come together to celebrate athleticism and culture.

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LEAD STORIES, FRIDAY'S NYT

Washington Crash Renews Concerns About Air Safety Lapses

From Anguish to Aggression: Trump Goes on Offense After Midair Collision

How the World Is Reeling From Trump’s Aid Freeze

F.D.A. Approves Drug to Treat Pain Without Opioid Effects

82,150 Gallons of Paint Later, a Blue Man Group Farewell

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TRUMP THE NARCISSIST, ACT II

The columnist sits down with Patrick Healy to discuss the enduring appeal of President Trump.

by Maureen Dowd with Patrick Healy

Maureen Dowd got her start in journalism during the Nixon era. Over her decades in Washington, she’s developed a keen understanding of how presidents wield power to further their goals. In this episode of “The Opinions,” she joins the deputy Opinion editor, Patrick Healy, to examine the breathtaking speed with which President Trump is carrying out his agenda.

Patrick Healy: This is “The First Hundred Days,” a weekly series examining President Trump’s use of power and his drive to change America.

This week, I want to dig into Trump’s unique approach to power, and especially to controlling people and events in his second term, compared to the chaos of his first. And there’s no better person to do that with than my colleague Maureen Dowd. She’s known Trump for decades. Maureen, thanks for being here.

Maureen Dowd: Thanks, Patrick.

Healy: I wanted to start off with your column about Trump’s inaugural speech last week, because I really think it defines this presidency so far. You wrote about how Trump was seen as a clown, as a dilemma by some in his first term, but now he’s a master and commander of the entire fleet. He’s really in control like we’ve never seen him before. Do you think this is real with Trump, or is it a performance in terms of this sense of absolute power, absolute control that he’s trying to project?

Dowd: I think when he was first president, he was trying to color within the lines a little bit in the sense that he was trying to play the Washington game. But now that’s all gone.

Healy: Nixon had his Saturday Night Massacre and the system reacted to that. And Trump fired all these inspectors general, and there’s this question, like, was it legal? Was it illegal? And we’re all kind of looking at each other, wondering, like, well, what was it?

Dowd: Part of it, I think, is after the assassination attempt, the language at the convention and in the inaugural speech was ratcheted up to be more like he’s a divine creature.

The one thing you really don’t want to do with extreme narcissists is give them everything they want, give them all the attention they want, because then you are inviting a narcissistic explosion of unparalleled force, which is what I think we’re heading for.

But also the visuals of the inaugural were very disturbing. A friend of mine who is a wealthy Hollywood type called me and said, “Oh, my God, now this country is all about money.” And this guy is a billionaire, but he’s worried about the visuals of what Biden warned was an oligarchy, but the tech guys. The inaugural speech was like Versailles with the — I’m not going to pronounce this right, despite my four years of Latin — puer aeternus. Do you know that expression? It means “eternal boys,” which is what the Silicon Valley guys are.

So at the convention, he had Dana White and Hulk Hogan. It was like the macho wrestling vibe. And then in the inaugural speech, he had a different kind of boys club — the Silicon Valley boys who play with their toys, and before, their toys were rockets and robots and self-driving cars, and they would compete with each other and have dinner in Palo Alto once a week to make sure somebody didn’t have one of these toys that they didn’t have. And then they were looking at Trump like, here’s our new toy. But Trump is looking at them like they are his new toys.

Healy: Absolutely.

Dowd: So I wouldn’t say he’s not aware of this.

Healy: And he loves it, Maureen.

Dowd: He loves it. Because he always wanted the love of the elites, and he still does. One of his top advisers told you and me during the convention that he was most thrilled after the assassination attempt that Mark Zuckerberg called him a badass and got in touch with him. And Zuckerberg —

Healy: After so many years of giving him the cold shoulder.

Dowd: And the liberal-leaning Silicon Valley has now blossomed into Trump country. Zuckerberg was fed up with liberals lecturing him that 2016 was his fault. And as his friends in Silicon Valley said, he was just like, OK, that’s enough. I’m buying a yacht. I’m not fact-checking. And he kind of went full-blown Trumpy.

Healy: Trump’s hunger for being worshiped is so related to his conception of power. You and I both remember at that convention, how much people were treating him — you wrote about this — as, like, the resurrected Trump, like God saved him to do something for America. And for a little while I thought, oh, Trump is kind of in on the joke. He knows that people are believing this and it works for him. But at a certain point I started wondering: Does he believe this himself? He talked about that at the inauguration.

Dowd: Well, it suits him because he always ran Trump Tower in a monomaniacal way. One of his biographers said that what would happen to Trump eventually would be he would be distilled to his essence — a phrase that really scares me. But I think that’s what we’re seeing.

I think we forget that Trump didn’t have celebrities the first time around. They were repelled by him. He didn’t have any of this respect that he has now. It was a very kind of pariah first hundred days and there was a huge pink resistance. And now Democrats are just flatlining.

They still don’t know what hit them or how they’re going to get out of the wilderness, so Trump has a clear highway and he is speeding down it.

Healy: If Trump was distilled to his essence, what would that essence be?

Dowd: That’s what I think we’re going to see. I was interviewing Martin Short last night on a different topic, and he said something so funny. I said, “What do you think of Trump so far?” And he goes, “It’s like the second act of ‘Cabaret.’”

Healy: Oh, no.

Dowd: I knew you would love that, Pat.

Healy: You thought the first act was dark. The second act is really dark. That’s perfect.

Dowd: Also, “Saturday Night Live” — I was there Saturday night again, working on a story in the studio. And it’s very interesting to see how they portray Trump because it’s a little bit like how they [Will Ferrell] portrayed George W. Bush, which they think helped W. Bush to win.

It’s critical, in a way. It shows him as a blowhard, but in a way he comes across kind of cool.

Will Ferrell has a lot of tormented feelings about that.

Healy: I was a theater reporter back then. I interviewed Will Ferrell when he brought the George W. Bush show to Broadway, and he really had torn feelings about that. You know, how “S.N.L.” makes these really problematic figures in our politics and our culture into just more likable people.

Dowd: Lorne Michaels’ [the creator and producer of “S.N.L.”] theory is that even the biggest villains have to have a drop of humanity. Also, he doesn’t believe in bringing your biases in, but then, most of the cast members are very liberal, and they do believe in that. So there’s always that tension.

There was a great story in New York magazine by Brock Colyar, who went around to young Republicans’ parties in Washington, and there’s this unbelievable picture with it of all these glamorous, young, white —

Healy: They were very white, Maureen.

Dowd: Very white. And they say that conservatives now are urban and online.

I did the story on how young men in college were deciding Reagan was cool. That was a shock to the democratic system when that happened.

Healy: Reagan was such a cultural force for the Republican Party. He was going to take on the evil empire. He was going to stare them down. He was that golden figure from California who was going to make America proud again.

How do you see Trump as a cultural figure right now?

Dowd: With Reagan, when I interviewed young college kids, they loved that he was a great paternal figure. And now with Trump, there’s much more of a threat.

Mel Gibson on Fox News the other night said:

Audio clip of Mel Gibson: Daddy’s arrived and he’s taking his belt off.

And I don’t know if your parents were like that, but my dad actually did take his belt off.

Healy: Oh, yeah.

Dowd: He never did anything about it.

Patrick: No, but the threat was there. The fear was the point.

Maureen, I thought what “S.N.L.” got right about Trump and culture and power last weekend was a scene with the founding fathers.

Audio clip from “S.N.L.”: And we will have leaders, but know one thing: In America, we will never have a king!

Healy: And in strides Trump.

Clip from “S.N.L.”: Never say never. Kidding, of course. Though in many ways I’m not.

Healy: This sort of colossus, godlike figure out of time, who’s making it ultimately all about him.

I thought your take on the inaugural speech really got at this. You really identified these three words that struck you, when Trump said, “Here I am. Here I am.” And that totally took me back — you and I both went to Catholic school — and it took me back to learning about Yahweh presenting himself to the Israelites. It all had a real Old Testament vibe to it.

But does Trump know what he’s doing? Does this come out of some desire of his to play God with America? Or do you think he’s still just kind of making it up as he goes along?

Dowd: The “Here I am” was like a promise and a threat that he is now fulfilling.

I thought on “S.N.L.,” what they understood about him, which the Democrats never did, was that he is not seen as so threatening or scary because he jokes around a lot. That makes the threat less potent. I think that the “S.N.L.” caricature gets at the fact that he’s doing things that are very authoritarian, and that eventually, the public may turn on, but because he has this jokey manner, the people who support him don’t think it’s that scary.

Healy: It’s one of the strangest things, Maureen, about the Democrats with Trump for the last 10 years. They don’t understand that Trump is a very American type. He’s someone who’s never taken things too seriously. It’s like wearing life as like a loose garment, so to speak.

He loves nothing more than to drive Democrats crazy with his sense of humor. I’m not saying that people should not be worried about Trump at all, but Democrats have always missed that that is part of his appeal to a lot of regular Americans.

Dowd: Right. He’s played into a beloved American archetype, the con man. We saw it in “Huckleberry Finn” and “The Music Man,” but we’ve never had the con man as president.

That’s what’s so jarring.

Healy: Yeah.

Dowd: The con man has always been a great side character in the American narrative, but not as president.

And again with Trump, I think the fact that he has this jokey, goofy affect makes a lot of people think he’s not really going to do stuff, but he’s already scaling back on abortion rights and reversing some protections Biden had put in place.

And I’ve interviewed him for a long time, and I asked him once, I said, “You were a big playboy in New York. Did you ever have to pay for an abortion for one of your girlfriends?” And there was this long pause and then he just went, “Maureen, you’re funny.” He never answered the question, but he was pro-choice, and his abortion position is just something he’s doing in a Faustian deal with evangelical Christians.

Healy: A lot of Americans adored Reagan and Obama like a god, and Dick Cheney liked to play god with the world. As Trump returns to D.C. as this colossus you’ve written about, does he remind you of anyone? Is there anything from history and your time covering different presidents that’s useful to keep in mind about these kinds of moments?

Dowd: You know, I got my degree in English literature, my master’s degree from Columbia, a couple of years ago. And I took a course in Greek mythology, which I love, and the White House now is reminding me of the Greek gods because they were so cruel and capricious. Often what they did made no sense, and it was all totally narcissistic and selfish, and I think that’s the kind of administration we’re watching.

Healy: Trump makes these declarations about what gender is. He talks about the dishonor of trans people in the military. And certainly what we’re seeing about immigration, it does feel like the cruelty is the point with a lot of this.

Dowd: It’s funny, I was talking to someone we know, a Brit, about this, and I mentioned that what surprises me about Trump is that Americans are willing to accept his cruelty, and that I don’t think that’s in the American nature. And he goes, “Have you ever read about the 18th century? [Laughs.] You know, Americans were rapacious and cruel.”

So that was the British point of view.

But I think that Trump has the runway he has because Democrats got on the side of a lot of issues that, it’s just incomprehensible looking back, as James Carville said, “defund the police” are the three stupidest words in the English language.

You know, a lot of things that, as Trump calls it, “common sense,” but they were common sense things.

I just think that Democrats lost sight of where most Americans are.

Healy: It was one of the most stunning things about Biden and Harris in that first term, just talking to voters who come to our Times Opinion focus groups and just being out with you in Iowa and New Hampshire. People would ask, why can’t Democrats just say what’s real?

Dowd: Yeah, but also there was a backlash to #MeToo, which blended into it. I was struck by your recent focus group on Trump, because, you know, they think he’s masculine, and I remember talking to Nate Cohn back in 2015, and I asked him, what is the main thing people are saying about Trump? And he said that he has balls.

So this is something that matters to voters, and obviously men had felt displaced in society, and like they couldn’t say anything or do anything right.

Democrats have to really think about what they did to make this happen.

Healy: Do you see anyone on the D.C. landscape or the political landscape willing to stand up to Trump? The Democrats don’t seem to be all on the same page about how to even deal with Trump. Are you seeing anything at this point in terms of anyone standing up to Trump?

Dowd: The Democrats, to me, just seem like they’re flatlining. A friend of mine in Hollywood just said our whole mantra now is “delete, delete, delete.” They don’t want to hear about politics. They don’t want to form a resistance. They don’t want to know. They’re just ostriches.

There doesn’t seem to be any plan of how to move forward, and in a way it’s sad because they’re still reacting to Trump. That’s how they lost in 2016, and they are still doing everything in reaction to him, rather than coming up with their own vision.

Democrats just lost all the fun and all the inspirational mojo that they’ve had over the years.

Healy: Trump has played so effectively on the fear that people have, people’s fears in America, on the economy, immigration. But now he has to govern. Can Trump govern just on fear, on keeping people afraid, on making people bend the knee? Or at some point does he have to do something beyond emotion?

Dowd: I don’t know, I remember once writing a line about Bill Clinton saying his personality had been raised to a management style, because he would have all-night bull sessions and order pizza when they were trying to pass a bill. And all presidents do that to a certain extent, but basically, Trump has subsumed the idea of governing with his personality.

It’s just about him and his id. That’s it. It’s not going to be governing in the way that we know it. I mean, [the White House chief of staff,] Susie Wiles, I guess, has imposed some discipline, but I don’t think anyone can impose discipline on Trump. He always manages to elude them [laughs] and get back to his narcissistic explosion.

Healy: He totally does. Maureen, thanks so much for joining me.

Dowd: Thank you, Patrick.

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It is an illusion that youth is happy, an illusion of those who have lost it; but the young know they are wretched for they are full of the truthless ideal which have been instilled into them, and each time they come in contact with the real, they are bruised and wounded. It looks as if they were victims of a conspiracy; for the books they read, ideal by the necessity of selection, and the conversation of their elders, who look back upon the past through a rosy haze of forgetfulness, prepare them for an unreal life. They must discover for themselves that all they have read and all they have been told are lies, lies, lies; and each discovery is another nail driven into the body on the cross of life.

— W. Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage

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THEY DON’T JUST TELL US WHAT TO THINK, They Train Us HOW To Think

And this, ultimately, is why the world looks the way it looks: because powerful people have been so successful at manipulating the way the public thinks about things.

by Caitlin Johnstone

It’s not just that they tell us what to think, it’s that they train us how to think.

From grade school on we are fed a framework for thinking about the world whose premises are completely fraudulent. Any analysis which does not take place within that framework is portrayed as ignorant at best and dangerous extremism at worst.

Before we come up with a single thought of our own about politics, we are trained to assume as our starting point that elections are real and that the official democratically elected government is the only power structure calling the shots in our country. We are trained to assume that decisions get made in our government based on how people vote in elections between two parties who oppose each other and promote the most organically popular positions on important issues in order to win votes. This is all complete bullshit, but it’s the foundation we’re taught to premise all our ideas and opinions about political matters upon.

Before we come up with a single thought of our own about government, we are trained to assume as our starting point that the people running things in our country are known to us and occupy official positions in our capitol. We are trained to assume that if we have a problem with the way things are going, there are official channels through which the powerful can be held to account and real changes can be advanced. The fact that we are actually ruled by unelected plutocrats and empire managers who often have no position in the official government is never seriously entertained.

Before we come up with a single thought of our own about the media, we are trained to assume as our starting point that we live in a free country with a free press instead of a dystopian civilization where the news media function as the propaganda services of our rulers. We are trained to assume that while some parts of the media may have obvious biases regarding which mainstream political faction they favor, it’s still possible to get a more or less accurate read on what’s happening in the world by listening to both sides of that ideological divide. None of this is true, but it’s the framework in which all mainstream analysis of the western media occurs.

Before we come up with a single thought of our own about foreign policy, we are trained to assume as our starting point that the US and its allies are more or less a force for good in this world, and that all the stories we hear about the governments and groups it works to destroy are more or less true. We are trained to assume that while the western power structure is imperfect and might make mistakes here and there, it must never stop killing and tyrannizing foreigners, because if it does, the bad guys might win. The easily quantifiable fact that the US-centralized empire is by far the most tyrannical and abusive power structure on earth never enters into the discussion.

This is the conceptual framework for thinking about the world that people are trained to espouse, first in school, and then throughout the rest of their lives by the mass media. If they go to university, as the most powerful people in our society typically do, then this framework is hammered home far more aggressively — especially in the most esteemed universities that the so-called “elite” tend to come from.

No thoughts which arise from outside this framework are taken seriously in mainstream politics, media, or academia. They might occasionally be entertained by friends over a bong or between chuckles on a podcast, but they are kept in the margins. This is reinforced by the way people learn that in order to ascend to influence and success they need to adhere to a specific way of thinking about things, thereby ensuring that all the most influential voices align with the authorized framework as well.

Ferocious disagreement is permitted, but before the debate even begins everyone involved needs to adhere to the founding assumptions of the official framework. After that you can argue as passionately as you like with the other side of this manufactured divide, because your ideas cannot pose any serious threat to your rulers.

And this, ultimately, is why the world looks the way it looks: because powerful people have been so successful at manipulating the way the public thinks about things. Our minds are inundated with propaganda telling us what to think, but more importantly they are shaped and programmed how to think about any new information they might come across.

Most of us are psychologically bent to the will of the powerful before we would ever even be in a position to begin thinking about opposing the status quo. We are herded like livestock away from thoughts of revolution and change, led by tightly controlled minds the way a bull is led by the ring on its nose.

Once you see how pervasive the conditioning is, you understand why getting real revolutionary movements going faces so much inertia. We won’t be able to free ourselves until we find a way to free our minds.

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