Off the Record 4/15/2025

DA SHOOTS THE WOUNDED, BRAGS ABOUT IT

Don’t Bring Drug Paraphernalia Into The Jail.

A Mendocino County Superior Court jury returned from its very efficient deliberations Wednesday afternoon to announce that it had found the trial defendant guilty as charged.

Defendant Kelisha Sheree Alvarez, age 36, generally of Ukiah, was found guilty of the unlawful possession of a “crack” pipe that she surreptitiously tried to bring into the Low Gap jail facility, a felony.

After the jury was excused the defendant case was continued to April 25th for a court trial on possible circumstances in aggravation alleged by the DA, as well as an allegation charging the defendant with having suffered a prior violent felony conviction.

Prior to trial, the defendant had already been found in violation of terms of her post-release community supervision, an alternate form of parole overseen by the Adult Probation Department. Sentencing on that PRCS violation is trailing today’s “paraphernalia in jail” case.

Defendant Alvarez has been a long-standing criminal defendant in the local justice system going back to at least 2009, having suffered in Mendocino County alone eighteen prior misdemeanor convictions, four prior felony convictions, seven prior violations of PRCS that were found to be true, and six prior violations of state parole supervision that were found to be true. The defendant has also served two state prison commitments in the past.

The law enforcement agencies that developed the evidence presented at this week’s trial were the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office and the Ukiah Police Department. Trial support was provided by the DA’s Bureau of Investigations.

The prosecutor who presented the People’s evidence to the jury was District Attorney David Eyster.

Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Keith Faulder presided over the two-day trial, he will preside over the court trial in late April, and he will be the sentencing judge when a sentencing hearing is eventually scheduled.

(DA Presser)

MARK SCARAMELLA NOTES: Kelisha is a problem, for sure. She needs a mental health evaluation. But since she’s “developmentally disabled” (formerly “retarded”) she’s not considered technially “mentally ill.” She shouldn’t be on the streets where she’s dangerous and a nuisance. She should be conserved and commited to a locked mental health institution. Instead, it appears that she’s being forced into prison which will only make her worse. Her only chance is for the state prison authorities to evaluate her and shunt her off into an institution. Judge Faulder knows all this. What will he decide?

DEB SILVA WRITES:

In today's MCT you mentioned the lighthouse tender Sequoia and its encounter with killer whales and seals. My late husband, Bob Silva, was in the Coast Guard from 1962-1966. He was stationed at Yerba Buena Island (YBI) as part of his service. The ship he was assigned to while at YBI was the buoy tender Columbine. They changed the lights on the buoys in San Francisco Bay and its tributaries.

The attached picture is one that was hanging at YBI until they did some remodeling. It was going to be scuttled and Bob asked if he could have it. It has hung in my home for the 44 years we were together and is still here. The picture shows the three ships that installed and maintained the buoys in SF Bay and coastwise as well as maintaining the lighthouses. The three ships were the Lupine, Sequoia and Columbine.

AS TWO BILLIONAIRES gear up to slash Social Security, it’s worth noting that 25% of seniors in the US live (or try to) on $15,000 or less a year. These guys have no idea how the other 90% live, and worse, they don’t care…

— Jeffrey St. Clair

THE WASHINGTON POST on the mass firings at HHS: “Some government health employees laid off Tuesday were told to contact Anita Pinder with discrimination complaints. But Pinder, the director at the Office of Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights at Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, died last year.”

ONE OF THE MANY ironies of public life in Mendocino County is the volume of rightly indignant demands for government “transparency” put against the local reality of every public body in Mendocino County, from the supervisors down through school boards, behaving with less transparency than Stalin's Politburo. (Uncle Joe at least got out regular scraps of misinformation via Pravda.) The local libs, of course, are the most sensitive to criticism and, around here, don't get any, so, sigh, it's been up to us. But for lib treachery lately, see the Chamise Cubbison case. DA Eyster is no lib but the Supervisors are self-identifying libs — all five of them — and their treachery is costing the county plenty.

ANOTHER PROB with local government is the transient nature of our populations. You have people new to the area sitting on the various boards who have no knowledge or even curiosity about the institutional history of the agency they are allegedly supervising, supervising unto permanent paralysis and death, in many cases.

WHY DO PARENTS have to be assured that some guy's talk will be “non-judgmental”? Mendo once invited a guy was an alleged expert on teen drug use. Non-judgmental is a big part of the teen dope prob, isn't it? Young people should not be smoking marijuana. Period. It makes them stupid and slow, and makes a lot of them permanently stupid and slow, as a glance around Mendoland makes obvious. Or permanently schizophrenic if they've been born with a genetic predisposition to mental illness.

THE CONFUSION around here comes from adult stoners who always manage to make it sound as if pot is simply one more harmless high, kinda like a double Red Bull or a can of Bud Light when in living fact it's a strong drug, as hazard-inducing as alcohol, although you still hear people say, “Well, hell, I'd rather have my kid smoking pot than drinking.”

AND I'D rather be shot than hanged. So what? The little dummies should be emphatically ordered, “Don't smoke this crap unless you want to wind up like…” Pick a name of your preferred local pothead. If your aspiring dope head has any brains he'll choose not to do it.

WHY I'LL always love Jim Harbaugh. When Chron sports writer Eric Branch asked Harbaugh how he felt after the 49ers’ overtime loss to the Giants a few years ago, Harbaugh answered, “Is it just California that everybody just wants to know how you feel? Care about what you thought, what you did, how you felt, how your pinky feels. Is that just a California thing? Back where I come from, nobody really cares. In my opinion, it is a California thing.” No, coach, it's an idiot thing, not specific to the Golden State. A couple of weeks later I heard a radio sports guy tell Harbaugh that the coach needed to spend more time with his family! Worse, the radio jock phrased this preposterously intrusive statement with, “Dude, you need…”

DA EYSTER (facebook):

Something new and special is underway at the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office.

With the two finalists for the job being shown in this post, the “something special” refers to the Mendo DA bringing onboard a courthouse facility dog as a member of his staff.

A courthouse facility dog is a professionally trained assistance dog that provides emotional support and comfort to vulnerable individuals, especially children, during stressful legal proceedings.

A final “employment interview” for each of the canine candidates will be taking place at the end of this week. More background information, including a formal introduction, will be in the offing once a final selection is made.

A READER NOTES:

Is DA Eyster attempting to show a warm and cuddly side to the public? Who knows, or cares? But it might be good if the District Attorney publicly answered questions and explained his actions, including his failed attempt to prosecute Auditor Chamise Cubbison and former Payroll Manager Paula June Kennedy on felony charges. Eyster must also allow the public to comment on his social media posts.

Mark Scaramella asks: Who’s paying for this? Asset forfeiture funds? Has the DA submitted any reimbursement requests to the Auditor?

FROM THE ARCHIVE: The County’s Longest Running Scam? Still Running?

by Bruce Anderson (March, 2012)

THE BROOKTRAILS SCAM was on the Supes agenda this week. Supervisor John McCowen raised the issue last year by pulling from the consent calendar the County’s routine authorization to sell tax defaulted properties at auction. Most of these properties were unbuildable vacant lots sold repeatedly over the years to mostly unsuspecting buyers. If a property owner failed to pay the property taxes for five consecutive years, the County can sell the property at auction to recover the back taxes, fees and penalties. And another sucker is stuck with an unbuildable Brooktrails lot. McCowen objected that buyers of the postage stamp sized Brooktrails lots were not being told that most of the lots were effectively unbuildable because of steep terrain and a lack of sewer and water hookups. McCowen’s colleagues apparently didn’t share his concern that the County was complicit in an on-going scam; the vote was 4-1 in favor of continuing to flim-flam.

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS: The tax defaulted lots are bought for a song by speculators, some of them local, who market them in San Francisco or Los Angeles or on the internet. It seldom occurs to the urban purchasers, often immigrants and mostly first time property buyers, to ask if basic services like sewer and water are available. The speculators have paid $5,000 or less for the lots and resell them at up to a 1,000% mark up, collecting the down payment and monthly payments until buyers either belatedly visit their vertical country estates or otherwise realize they have been had and stop making payments. And of course they stop paying the property taxes as well. Which is where the County again becomes the owner of the lots and again sells them to unscrupulous real estate salesmen who again sell them on the internet. The speculators are spared foreclosure costs. They simply wait to pick up the property cheap at the inevitable County tax sale and the scam starts all over again.

BUT THE REAL ESTATE market being what it presently is, even the vampires aren’t buying — forty of the Brooktrails lots failed to sell at last year’s auction. And the scam, as comprehensively reported by Linda Williams in the Willits News, is far worse than McCowen seems to have suspected. The County, as part of the “Teeter Plan,” pays 100% of the taxes and assessments on the lots up front and then waits for taxes, penalties and interest that never arrive. Properly managed, the County profits from the Teeter Plan because a 10% penalty charge is added to each tax delinquent property, plus 18% annual interest on the total unpaid balance. Most owners eventually get caught up and if not, their property is sold at auction by the County which owns them after they default. But now that the lots aren’t selling, the County’s Teeter is tottering.

MOST OF THE PROPERTY TAX is owed to the County, but each vacant lot is assessed $120 every year by the Brooktrails Community Services District to pay for water and sewer services that will never be delivered to most of these lots. To reduce fire danger, Brooktrails requires owners of the vacant lots to keep the brush and weeds cut back. If they don’t, Brooktrails does the work and adds that to the tax bill, adding up to a $1,000 or more to the cost the County has to pay up front. And Brooktrails wants to raise the fire assessment another $60 a year, bringing the total assessments for sewer, water and fire to $180 per vacant lot. Do the lot owners get to vote on this tax increase? No, only the residents of Brooktrails get to vote. The absentee lot owners (including the County of Mendocino) have paid out millions of dollars for services they will never enjoy and you can bet the homeowners who are benefiting will have no problem voting to make the absentee lot owners pay 50% more than they do now. But in an increasing number of cases, it is the County that pays the bill via the Teeter Plan.

THE SAME PEOPLE who said nothing about the mismanaged Teeter Plan and the “excess earnings” scam — the County Treasurer, the Auditor Controller, the Assessor and the CEO — also kept quiet about the Brooktrails scam as it unraveled. Twelve tax defaulted Brooktrails lots failed to sell at auction in 2008; 33 failed to sell in 2010; 41 failed to sell in 2011 and 74 were up for sale this year in 2012. For reasons that are not yet explained, there was no tax auction in 2009, but the steady increase in lots that were not selling should have alerted our highly paid County officials who were supposed to be guarding the County’s financial well being. If McCowen, reinforced by the excellent digging and reporting by Ms. Williams in the Willits News, had not raised the issue and demanded an explanation, the problem would have continued to grow and continued to be swept under the rug.

THE BROOKTRAILS SCAM BEGAN AROUND 1962 and continues to this day. The original developers, including former County Supervisor John Mayfield, Jr., took advantage of a short lived loophole in State law that allowed developers of rural subdivisions to sell four times as many lots as they had water for. The “Brooktrails Vacation Village” was never supposed to have more than 25% of its homeowners present at any one time. The State closed the loophole, but too late to stop Brooktrails and Shelter Cove, another sprawling rural subdivision on the Northcoast with mostly unbuildable lots.

BROOKTRAILS WAS UNDER A WATER MORATORIUM for several years, but a couple of years ago the State said they would allow 24 additional water connections. The Brooktrails Board of Directors quickly jacked the connection/installation fee to nearly $24,000 each (!), thereby making it more expensive to build a new home than to buy one of the numerous existing homes perennially for sale in Brooktrails. But with only 24 water connections and more than 4,000 vacant lots, it isn’t hard to see that nearly all of the lot owners, and the County, will be left holding the bag.

THE REAL DANGER FOR THE COUNTY will kick in when the owners of the 4,000 plus vacant lots realize that only the first 24 willing to pay the exorbitant connection fees will ever be able to build on their lots. The current agenda item will give the Supes the chance to order staff to schedule a public hearing to discontinue the application of the Teeter Plan to Brooktrails. But the lots will still represent an on-going scam of near criminal proportions. At least the County will no longer be subsidizing Brooktrails by paying the water, sewer and fire assessments out of the County’s general fund with little or no hope of getting the money back through tax-default auctions.

JULIE BEARDSLEY:

I believe Mendocino County would be administered much more transparently and efficiently if we returned to a Chief Administrator model. Under a CAO, the ELECTED Supervisors run the County, rather than what we have now with an unelected Chief Executive and her office of multiple Deputy CEO’s, who are effectively running the County government with the Board of Supervisors (BOS), taking what appears to be merely an advisory role. Under a CAO model the department heads would report directly to the BOS, and be hired and fired by them. The firing of several department heads over the past 10 years by the CEO, has resulted in making recruitment for upper-level management positions here a challenge. People are reluctant to work for an organization that has a record of suddenly firing department heads, given the effect that has on one’s career. Under a CAO model, the administrative functions of the county would be run by the CAO, but the elected BOS members would be much more involved in decision making and I believe would have much more knowledge and input about the internal functioning of the County government. Under this CEO and the former one, power has been concentrated in the Executive Office, to what I believe has been to the detriment of our county government. There is no mechanism for public input or dissenting opinions under the CEO model. For example, the draft by-laws for the Public Health Advisory Board have languished on someone’s desk for almost a year now. Perhaps they don’t really want advice. But there is no way to tell.

Mark Scaramella replies:

In the abstract, the “CAO Model” would be an improvement over the CEO model for many of the reasons Ms. Beardsley states. But as a practical matter, the problem is much deeper than the CEO/CAO model question. CEO Carmel Angelo took the position in 2010 when significant budget cuts were necsesary which Angelo made, unsparingly, across the board, because the Supervisors at that time (a better group than the current bunch) being political animals just couldn’t do. If we are to believe the current CEO’s budget gap estimate, a similar situation exists now. But CEO Antle is not CEO Angelo. These supervisors have demonstrated that they have no interest in how the departments operate, have no ideas about how to close the budget gap, and probably wouldn’t do anything that had a political downside, even if they were inclined. When Haschak makes his occasional feeble attempts to address the budget gap, his colleagues haven’t even supported those. They can’t even discuss bringing the Clerk of the Board function back under the Board’s control, indicating that they don’t want any managerial duties or responsibilities. Also, there’s absolutely no reason to think that “transparency,” an overhyped and badly abused concept to begin with, would improve under the CEO model. Nor would the CAO model offer any inherent improvement in public input or dissenting opinions. Ms. Beardsley doesn’t specify which desk the Public Health Advisory Board bylaws has been languishing on, but we suspect it’s the County Counsel’s desk where there's no transparency, much less production. The CAO model wouldn’t address that either. The fact that they can’t even bring themselves to offer Cubbison a “let’s get this over with” settlement offer after having been thrashed by Judge Moorman leaving no likelihood of a successful defense, indicates that rearranging the org chart and the Deputy CEOs and department heads and such isn’t going to change much. PS. Have you noticed what new Supervisor Cline’s only specifically stated priority is? (Hint, it’s not the budget gap and not settling the Cubbison matter.)

“RICH MEN will always take the side of power. I have been around rich men my whole life and they will not lose. They will not lose their fortunes. Anything but their fortunes.”

— John Hancock

A READER WRITES: I just wanted to say, in light of Tuesday’s board meeting, I noticed that the Deputy CEOs kept asking the board for direction and the board kept pushing it back on to them to bring back a plan. WTF?!? The board members need to do their jobs and make as informed a decision as they can make. There’s no excuse for this B.S.! These people just voted to give themselves a raise!

Where’s the cart and where is the mule in this situation??? It’ll be interesting to read what others have to say tomorrow in the AVA. There needs to be some dramatic turn around in this county.

I won’t say that everybody that works for the county is bad. I know a lot of people that work for the county and they do it because they love the community and they care about their friends, neighbors & relatives. They’re good people who are vital to our local services.

It’s the leadership that’s terrible here. Or should I say “Where is the leadership? It’s (true leadership) so terrible here!”

JUSTINE FREDERICKSON reports that Congressman Huffman, at his recent Mendo College event, was asked about Israel's Gaza onslaught and “a very loud group asked Huffman about supporting Israel and booed his answer. (You can find videos of the event on Facebook and YouTube).”

NOT THAT LONG AGO, Mendocino County had a real economy based on timber, fishing, ranching, and non-booze tourism. Outside timber corporations destroyed the timber economy, fishing was lost to a variety of eco-causes, ranching became unsustainable, and tourism, with or without roadside booze boutiques, is always precarious in a down economy. Today's Mendo economy is based on two intoxicants, both legal, both dying.

There are also a large number of professional Democrats employed in public jobs and the local non-profits where they are dominant except among the cops. The industrial wine industry, of course, is wholly dependent on non-union Mexican labor. The quality of our schools and much of our local political leadership is unlikely to attract the environmentally sensitive, high-paying, techno-groove-o businesses the financially secure residents of Westside Ukiah are always going on about. A person with “a strong business background and great people skills” provides exactly what in this context?

I BELONG TO AARP only to get Medi-Gap coverage, not because I don't know that AARP is basically an insurance sales force and a slave to the worst elements of the Democratic Party. This phony “senior's” organization is also a major obstacle to single-payer, sells its membership lists to other hustlers attempting to rip off the elderly, and has come out for Medicare “reform.”

EVERY TIME I get a sales pitch from AARP, I amuse myself by writing an abusive reply, and I mean abusive, complete with strings of the most creative obscenities I can devise. For years, I never heard back, but I finally got a generic response AARP probably reserves for its most persistent cranks:

“DEAR MR. ANDERSON: Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and concerns with us. While our goal is to act on behalf of our membership at large, I hope you can appreciate that with such a diverse membership; we are unable to craft a single policy directive in agreement with every member. Our membership demographic includes, among other variables, men and women from several political parties including Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and other third-party affiliations, an array of nationalities, incomes, and educational backgrounds, the employed and the retired. We work hard in the federal and state legislatures to advocate for our members, their families and society as a whole. We certainly appreciate communications such as yours because they help us know how to spend our time and resources on behalf of the 50+ population. I have taken note of your views; member feedback is reported to our leadership on a regular basis. While we may disagree on this issue, it is our hope that you find the many services, products, and other issues that AARP is engaged in beneficial to you and your family. Thank you again for writing and please continue to share your opinions with us. It is the combined interest, energy and commitment from members like you that gives AARP the power to make life better. Sincerely, Colin W., Member Communications.”

“COLIN W.” I love that. What's the 'W' stand for, Wuss? What Colin W. should have said: “Dear Mr. Anderson. We're really tired of your demented responses to our tireless efforts to help you find great deals on denture glue and the other fine products we recommend to you and the rest of the senile suckers on our mailing list. We hope your bedpan blows up and your catheter runs from your peenie out your nose so you can really have something to bitch about at the Anderson Valley Senior Center. But seriously, you either end your abusive bullshit or we'll send someone out to Boonville to end YOU. Got that, gramps? Sincerely Colin W.”

A FRIEND writes that she's hobbling around in a walker after a couple of weeks in the hospital. I just pretend I'm all systems go, and not falling apart every which way. I kinda enjoy emergency rooms and hospitals, truth to tell. Don't know why exactly, but probably because workers are the most impressive human-type beings one meets in the aggregate these days.. And they're funny, too, which isn't surprising. Given their grisly tasks it's either laugh or cry.

RANDOM COMMENTS FROM HERE AND THERE

[1] Can anyone on this site provide data supporting the claims of excess deaths, blood clots, and spontaneous abortions? I’m not denying that it has happened but it certainly doesn’t seem to have been significant enough to get the world’s attention. Show me the money….why aren’t the ambulance chasers all over this? They should be suing the pharmaceutical companies for every penny they have. Yeah, I know about the waiver but that doesn’t stop lawyers from trying to get a settlement. The scary part is the real danger of low birth rates. That is happening in real time and we will start seeing the effect in a short time….especially if we don’t go back to a merit-based system.

[2] IF, at the end of the world, that song “We’ll Meet Again” started playing out of the blue, for everyone, I don’t think anyone would question it…

[3] So, Joy Reid has now claimed, “White Christians are the enemy of America.”

As all branches of the US military fail to meet their recruiting goals, it might surprise Ms. Reid that maybe White Christians in flyover country – historically the strength of our military – are having second thoughts about endangering their lives to protect her right to continue spouting such bullshit. And Ms. Reid, if keeping it real is your goal, blacks with bleached-blonde hair ain’t real. She should be first in line for some serious mental health care.

[4] DOPE, an on-line comment by Mendocino Mama: Consumers with large amounts of money have been coming to the Emerald Triangle for decades upon decades. Oftentimes with stars and diamonds in their eyes. Oftentimes busted on the way out of town, ripped off once they got home, or did not take care of the product well and it disintegrated before they could sell it. The illicit market feeding of the media hype and frenzy of the “culture”. It is still pretty cultury although a few days back in one esteemed establishment the music was mildly offensive…”Bitch u bedda up your strips if the cops pull us over better bite your lip…” come on. Sub n dabs are a standard. A little regulation by the regulators might help to clean it up a bit.

[5] THE STATE OF THE NATION, an on-line comment: The wealth of the 5 richest men in America has DOUBLED in the last 4 years. The money they have accrued came out of YOUR POCKETS. Your rent increased. The price of fuel increased. The interest rate on your debt doubled. Your homeowners insurance vanished.

I could go on.

[6] SEEMS TO ME that if they continue to throttle the digital space then we will naturally decline to participate much. It happens (for a recent example look at the failure of Instagram Threads).

I remember a time when ‘zines, radical newspapers and newsletters were common. That’s how I used to get my “alternative” information.

While I don’t condone or like graffiti there is quite a large “slap sticker” movement here. Unlike the graffiti, which is often about the style, many stickers carry a message. Many are very subversive and are put in areas to be seen.

[7] GOD’S CREATIONS are beautiful. The most beautiful beach I ever visited was in northern Maine. There was no sand, only black, jagged rock. It was cold and foggy, and you could see the yellow glow of a light house in the distance. It was a misty 50 degree day and we hopped from rock to rock watching the sea spray off the rugged shore. I can do with that kind of ocean. What I don’t like is some sweltering mess of sand and direct sun, with ten million morons elbowing each other for the best spot. I once saw a picture of Hilton Head Island before it was “improved.” The jungle went right up to the shore line. That would be fine with me.

ON-LINE COMMENTS OF THE WEEK

[1] I paid over $500 on my last ransom notice. That’s for two seniors on fixed income.

I wonder if the PG&E execs pay anything. I bet they don’t, because they might have more incentive to lower the costs if they pay for it.

[2] When I worked in retail, some customers would complain about the Chinese-made crap. I would tell the customer we could order some American-made crap for 50% more to cover the labor costs.

And just how many YEARS are you willing to wait for all those high paying manufacturing jobs you claim will happen?

[3] A close friend of mine is a police chief in my town and believe me when I tell you, the people themselves are corrupted and wicked. The heart breaking stories of drugs, crime, child abuse, spouse abuse, infidelity, pornography and so forth are stunning. And I live in a rural Utah community.

[4] 21,000 out of a population of 140,000 in Eureka (HumCo) needing food support is a red flag that something has gone really astray. Either in reality, attitude or perception, we have a big problem. The nationwide average of people unable to afford healthy food in the US is under 2.5%. People using the Food Bank here is over 6%. And in California especially food costs are lower than average nationwide. And percentage of income needed for food in the US is among the lowest in the world. Big, big red flag.

[5] The Democratic Party hasn’t been worth a plugged nickel since the Kennedys were assassinated, and even then we were still grappling with people like George Wallace and Orval Faubus, who were desperately trying to save the original Party that vainly tried to maintain the genteel matriarchal Old South and all the hypocritical gussied up evil that went along with it. There was a time when the party had potential, but now it should die, and its champions driven into the wilderness like feral pigs.

[6] “In Lindke v. Freed, a unanimous opinion issued on March 15, 2024, the United States Supreme Court provided critical guidance to clarify the line between private and government activities conducted on social media. The Court held that posting, deleting comments, and blocking viewers or commenters—even on a government official’s personal social media page—can be considered government action when the official (1) has authority to speak on behalf of the government entity about the subject of the post, and (2) purports to exercise that authority through his or her social media activities.”

[7] Melania, I know it ain't easy, Honey, but please---emerge from your NYC hide-out, and come pick up your husband. He's lost the plot. Immediate medical attention needed.

[8] “My children are all actually doing very well, much better than I did at their age.” And what productive activity do your children do? What do they make or build? How do they improve our society? As a boomer I never had it easy. So what. I can't complain. I am a first generation American success. I put in 10 hours a day sweat and toil and went home, Worked the foundry's and mills as a youngin'. Late 60's-70's' That was when we had factories around here. $4-5 bucks an hour + piece work + overtime. Good money if you wanted the work. Hard and dirty. So what? Second and third shift. The iron stack ran 24/7. Casting iron pillow blocks/ hydraulic cylinders by the millions. We built the world. Try to get some 21st century soy boy to do that in 100 degree July heat. He'd rather code for a living. Maybe play video games, or watch a little porn. Soft men /pansies/ destroy the world and I see them everywhere. These slugs are in for a rude awakening.

[9] I am a Boomer who stayed home and raised three children. At 76 I have watched and seen it all. The destruction of our towns by Wal-Marts, 7-Elevens, magnificent miles of car dealerships, & every chain store & fast food restaurant you can name … so every town looks exactly the same w/ all small businesses & exceptionalism ruined. I’ve watched the blue skies & puffy clouds disappear to dreary, gray sameness day after day. I’ve watched the beauty of lovely architecture, gorgeous fields & neighborhoods of trees, shrubs, & bushes disappear into concrete jungles with hideous flat square buildings that are depressing to look at. And murder to the human soul. I’ve watched people go from gloves, dresses, suits & heels on the airplanes to pajamas & bed head. I’ve watched schools go from disciplined formal teaching, w/ plenty of recess & lunch ladies cooking the meals to social engineering, chaos, unlimited days off, no recess & fattening, processed garbage for food.

I could go on & on. “They” have destroyed everything they possibly could. They ruined beauty in every way. They took everything away that gave life meaning. If it weren’t for my children and my faith in God I probably would not be here. So, the Boomers may be responsible but I don’t know what we could do to stop them. Just as I don’t know how to stop the unhinged, repulsive people doing everything in their power to destroy Trump. Voting in my Blue town is an exercise in futility, but I do it. And I pray.