Mendocino County Today: Thursday 7/17/2025

Cool | Calenduleae | Family Drama | 911 Abuse | Palace Rehab | Irresponsible Nonprofits | Dahlia Season | Volunteers Wanted | Open Mic | Elk BBQ | Yesterday's Catch | ICE Terrorists | Lying Eyes | True 4th | Redwood Butterfly | Unreported Crime | Gangsta Query | Barb & Ken | KQED Cuts | Giants 2.0 | Mr. Hercules | L.A. Raids | Sinking Ship | Anecdotal Evidence | Southpaw Abbott | Bureau Deletions | Trumpworld Factions | Literary Misdemeanor | Young Manson | Amos Akerman | Pred Talk | Satisfied Prophet | Hem Cover | Terrapin Station | Pickpocket Mugs | Lead Stories | No Billionaires | Most People | Populist Act | Big Shadows | One Evening | What Day

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INLAND TEMPERATURES trend low and remain warm and dry into the weekend. The coastal stratus will remain more persistent over the coastal regions, lowering the daytime highs for some areas. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): On the coast this Thursday morning it's a foggy 53F. Apart from more of the same the NWS has added drizzle" to our forecast. The stratus quo is expected to continue into next week.

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FAMILY LIFE

On July 8, at approximately 3 a.m., Ukiah Police Department officers were dispatched to the area of the 1000 block of South State Street.

Officers contacted a 19-year-old female victim, a Kelseyville resident, who advised she was in a dating relationship with Jaime Gregg, 21, of Ukiah. The victim and Gregg got into multiple arguments during the night that led to Gregg striking her in the face with an open hand. Gregg later grabbed a loaded Glock semi-automatic pistol and held the pistol against her head and threatened to kill her and then kill himself. The 19-year-old pleaded for Gregg to put away the firearm and he complied. Gregg’s mother, Kcaj Larson, 44, of Ukiah, was also at the residence on Mulberry Street when the incident occurred.

Larson got into a physical altercation with the 19-year-old victim. Larson grabbed her hair and neck and pushed her against a dryer. The 19-year-old was able to flee from the residence on Mulberry Street and asked a person walking on the street for help.

UPD officers located the victim and conducted an investigation. Based on a firearm being used in the commission of this domestic violence incident, UPD officers authored a search warrant for the residence and maintained visual of the residence. UPD officers notified the Mendocino-Lake County Regional SWAT Team.

UPD officers confirmed that Gregg was still in the residence. Mendocino-Lake County Regional SWAT Team took control of the scene. Gregg was ordered out of the residence and was taken into custody without issue.

Larson, however, was confrontational with SWAT and did not initially comply. SWAT was eventually able to get Larson and a 5-year-old child to safely exit the residence.

UPD officers conducted a search of the residence and located a Glock handgun, a short barrel rifle, AR parts, a suicide note, and other items inside of Gregg’s room. Officers also located approximately 16 grams of suspected methamphetamine inside Larson’s room where she had her 5-year-old grandchild staying. Child Protective Services responded to the scene and took temporary custody of the juvenile.

Gregg was arrested on suspicion of: Possession of a stolen firearm – Felony; Possession of a short-barreled rifle – Felony; Assault with a deadly weapon (firearm) – Felony; Threatening Crime with intent to terrorize – Felony; and Domestic Violence – Misdemeanor.

Larson was arrested on suspicion of: Child abuse – Misdemeanor; Possession of a controlled substance – Misdemeanor; Possession of drug paraphernalia – Misdemeanor; and Battery – Misdemeanor.

Both were booked into the Mendocino County Jail. UPD detectives obtained a bail enhancement for Gregg in the amount of $100,000.

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911 ABUSE?

Anderson Valley Fire Chief (and CSD Executive Director) Andres Avila told the Community Services District Board on Wednesday that the Valley has been experiencing a problem with ambulance calls that don’t require a medical response. Apparently, there are two local “patients” (privacy rules prevent identification or discussion of particulars, but those involved know, obviously) who are suffering from a mental illness that leads to frequent 911 calls and time consuming ambulance responses. Lately, the increasing frequency of these calls has taken the local ambulance away from real emergencies for hours at a time and is putting a significant burden on volunteer responders. The 911/ambulance system has no practical way to refuse or screen these 911 calls, even though responders and dispatchers know that these “abusive” 911 calls are probably not real medical emergencies. Adding to the time burden, responders have to wait at the hospital while medical personal examine the “patient,” determine that there’s no treatable problem, then drive the “patient” back to Anderson Valley hours later. The ambulance is thus out of service for hours at a time for each unnecessary call. Avila said that the County’s social services staff is aware of the problem (which has been building up for several months now) and is looking for ways to mitigate it. But so far the problem continues. Apparently, these particular “patients” have medical insurance, so the ambulance is getting insurance payments for these responses. But nobody wants the money and everybody thinks a better solution would be to address the patient’s mental condition so that the stress on volunteers and the demand on the local ambulance service is reduced so they can respond to real medical emergencies. Just today (Wednesday) right in the middle of the CSD’s monthly board meeting, Avila had to excuse himself to respond with volunteers to another one of these non-medical 911 calls.

(Mark Scaramella)

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THE PALACE HOTEL REHAB, A READER WRITES:

Just south of us in Ukiah is a grand old hotel called The Palace.

This building has seen better days but the true visionary, Tom Carter, has decided to refurbish this beauty. I met Tom when I bought the Babcock house here in Willits.

He has proven to be a tremendous resource to me and is becoming a great friend to boot. I’ve lucked into documenting the process while he and his crew demolish and rebuild The Palace back to her stately glory. Yes,it was a mess and is slowly but surely in process to greatness.

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KZYX’S ANNUAL REPORT

Editor,

Re: Irresponsible Nonprofits.

With austerity on the way, it’s time for everyone to reconsider public support for Mendocino County’s irresponsible nonprofits. At the top of this list is Mendocino County Public Broadcasting, Inc., also known as KZYX & Z.

In spite of taking millions of taxpayer dollars over the past four decades, KZYX’s Governing Board has enabled its General Managers to run roughshod over the democratic process. For a seven-year period between 2010 and 2017, KZYX’s General Manager was allowed to hide up-to-date annual reports from the Governing Board. When called to account for that, KZYX’s President was encouraged to gaslight anyone who brought the matter to the Governing Board’s attention.

KZYX’s recently filed financial statements for 2024 are a joke. The annual report — filed under penalty of perjury — contradicts the so-called audit by $46,035. While both reports were reportedly generated by the same CPA, it’s impossible to see both as accurate.

Those financial statements are on public display at the California State Registry of Charitable Trusts online, where every major donor can see them. Is it any wonder that major donors like the David and Lucile Packard Foundation have vanished from Mendocino County?

Before fueling irresponsible nonprofits like KZYX, please consider the long term harm you’d be bringing to Mendocino County in doing so.

Sincerely,

Scott M. Peterson

Mendocino

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IT'S DAHLIA SEASON!

Dahlias were one of the first flowers that Gardens’ founder Ernest Schoefer planted. The Gardens’ collection of dahlias consists of more than 625 individual plants representing 150 varieties. The riotous blooms of mid- to late-summer. Learn more at https://www.gardenbythesea.org/collections/dahlias/

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AV SENIOR CENTER:

Do you have a little extra time on our hands and want to serve our golden citizens of the Valley? We’re looking for volunteers that can spare a little time wiping down tables, help load the bus for meal deliveries, cutting up fruit and vegetables, organize our pantry or storage shed, help at our fundraising events or ?

Contact Renée and see how you can make a difference at AV Senior Center: 707-895-3609 or [email protected]

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NO OPEN POET MIC THIS MONTH

There will not be an open mic July 26th due to a conflict of dates with the Mendocino Music Festival.

Our next open mic will be Saturday, August 30th, with featured readers Kirk Lumpkin and Mike Edwards.

I will send an email notice in August with more information regarding our featured readers at that point.

Meanwhile, enjoy the remainder of July and see you in August.

Devreaux Baker

[email protected]

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CATCH OF THE DAY, Wednesday, July 16, 2025

JUSTIN BROOKER, 40, Potter Valley. Under influence, paraphernalia.

MATTHEW FAUST, 50, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol&drugs.

ROSENDO HERNANDEZ-VALDOVINO, 44, Covelo. Paraphernalia, felon-addict with firearm.

WENDY JOAQUIN, 52, Covelo. Petty theft with two or more priors, conspiracy.

STEPHEN JOHNSON, 50, Auburn/Fort Bragg. Battery, unspecified offense.

OLEGARIO MARTINEZ, 19, Modesto/Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

MARK MESA, 65, Fort Bragg. Domestic violence court order violation, contempt of court.

NICHOL OBRION, 25, Lakeport/Ukiah. Probation revocation.

SHEILA OWENS, 33, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, public nuisance, probation revocation.

MARISOL RODRIGUEZ, 44, Ukiah. Petty theft with priors, conspiracy, fugitive from justice.

ARSENIO SINGLETON, 37, Alameda/Ukiah. Domestic violence court order violation, resisting.

LYDELL WILLIAMS, 35, Ukiah. Paraphernalia, probation revocation, resisting.

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ARREST ’EM

Editor:

I’m all in on Nate Voge’s call for California law enforcement to pledge to abide by state law and arrest those masked unidentified people who are disappearing community members without a warrant or any semblance of due process. We all know how far and wide the federal government is overreaching. Volunteer rapid response people can only document. Local law enforcement can and must stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement terrorism.

Ellen Obstler

Petaluma

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FRED GARDNER:

"Who are you going to believe, me or your own lying eyes?" is not what Groucho Marx says in Duck Soup. (It might be the most misquoted line of all time.) Margaret Dumont plays a multimillionaire whose backing is essential to Groucho as the ruler of "Freedonia." The plot, too daffy to summarize, calls for Harpo to impersonate Groucho (right down to the cigar). The money shot comes when Harpo, looking exactly like Groucho, flees Margaret's room just as Groucho is emerging from under the bed.
Margaret (her robe open, slip showing): Your excellency, I thought you just left… I saw you with my own eyes.

Groucho (authoritatively): "Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?"

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FRUSTRATING 4TH

Editor,

New resolve after being frustrated by the Fourth.

For many Americans, the Fourth of July has become a holiday of habit: barbecue smoke in the air, coolers packed with beer and lawn chairs staked out for fireworks. There’s nothing wrong with celebration, but this year, I was struck by how few seemed to reflect on what we were actually celebrating.

As I heard people trading tips on steak deals and fireworks shows, I felt a sense of dissonance — like we were celebrating something we no longer understand, or worse, take entirely for granted.

Because the truth is: The liberty and justice this holiday commemorates — once seen as permanent — could now be in real danger. For the first time in many of our lives, it appears the foundation of our democracy is eroding in plain sight. Checks and balances are strained. It seems the rule of law is treated as optional. And the presidency, once rooted in public service, has become a tool for division, self-protection and power.

The original Fourth of July wasn’t just a celebration — it was an act of defiance and a declaration against tyranny and unaccountable leadership. The fireworks we light are meant to echo revolution, not just dazzle the kids. The cookouts are meant to bring us together, not distract us from the work of citizenship.

Today, that same courage — to resist autocracy, defend democracy and call out injustice — is needed again. This isn’t about partisanship. It’s about principle. And principles — not parties, nor personalities — are what hold a nation together.

So, let’s talk to our children about what the Fourth truly means. Let’s ask hard questions of our leaders and ourselves. Let’s speak up when truth is distorted and freedom is threatened.

Because if we don’t reclaim the meaning of the Fourth, we may lose what it stands for entirely.

Joseph Keon

Greenbrae

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In the late 1990s, Julia Hill climbed a 200-foot, approximately 1000-year-old California redwood tree and didn’t come down for another 738 days. She ultimately reached an agreement with Pacific Lumber Company to spare the tree and a 200-foot buffer zone surrounding the tree.

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CRIME IS NOT DOWN

Editor,

Regarding “California says crime is down. But officials know the data is flawed” (Crime, SFChronicle.com, July 3): The story confirms what many Bay Area business owners have known for years: The numbers don’t reflect reality.

As a business owner, I am no stranger to break-ins, vandalism and theft. Business owners have long known that drops in crime aren’t actually happening.

In reality, people have just stopped reporting because only about 9% property crimes reported in California lead to a prosecution. The lack of accountability discourages reporting, especially when a security system trigger can lead to hefty false alarm fees if no suspect is apprehended.

What Californians need is a system that prevents crime before it happens. We need accurate and transparent data so that lawmakers can make informed decisions.

Until then, please stop telling the people who are sweeping up broken glass and repairing broken cameras that things are improving.

Mark Fernwood

Danville

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ANYBODY KNOW?

Another Strange Morning in Washington, D.C.

Warmest spiritual greetings, Got up early at the homeless shelter and got down to the bus stop to go to Whole Foods for a nosh, before checking the LOTTO ticket, and then making my way to the MLK Jr. Public Library for the usual YouTube bhakti bhajans and checking emails and the world news.

At the 8th Street and H Street bus stop, a lunatic woman began yelling at the other women at the bus stop to not sit on the bus bench! After confronting them irrationally, she asked: “I’ll bet you never met a gangsta nigga before.” Also, there is a t shirt being worn at the Adam’s Place men’s shelter which reads: “Public Menace”. And there are examples all over the district of individuals living out their gangsta fantasies. It might be funny, except that it is borderline dangerous. What is the fascination with the entire gangsta rap anti-social insanity anyway? Anybody know?

I am ready to leave the District of Columbia at my earliest convenience. Having finished my sixteenth time being supportive of the Peace Vigil in front of the White House, I’ve no need to be here any further. I’ve got enough money to get going. Obviously I will get what I need while still on the planet earth. Awaiting responses.

Craig Louis Stehr, [email protected]

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KQED WILL REDUCE WORKFORCE BY 15% AS FEARS OF FEDERAL FUNDING CUTS AND A RECESSION LOOM

by Matthew Tom

KQED, one of the nation’s largest public media broadcasters serving the Bay Area, will reduce its workforce by 15%, the company announced Tuesday.

“KQED is in the midst of one of the most difficult moments in the 71-year history of the station,” the company said in a statement released Tuesday. “There are a number of concurrent attempts to eliminate or impair federal funding for public media. Meanwhile market conditions and the possibility of a recession have brought downward trends in the key revenue areas of corporate sponsorship and underwriting as well as foundations and grants.

“Against this landscape KQED has been operating under a $12 million annual board-approved deficit, brought about by investments in our infrastructure, and digital capacity, content and platforms. But those investments have not yet resulted in adequate revenue streams needed to support this expansion in service.”

In all, 45 staffers have been informed that “their jobs are coming to an end,” while an additional 12 employees have taken voluntary buyout packages. KQED also said that 10 open positions will not be filled.

The staff reductions come more than a year after KQED ended up laying off 34 people in total after offering buyout packages.

(SFGate.com)

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WHAT MUST GIANTS DO in the second half to return to the postseason?

by Shayna Rubin

If the season ended today, the San Francisco Giants, at 52-45, would be on the outside of the playoffs looking in — by a half game. They’ll begin the second half behind the San Diego Padres for the third wild-card spot while vying with quite a few other teams for a postseason berth.

The Milwaukee Brewers and New York Mets hold the first two wild-card spots. Close behind the Giants, by a game, are the St. Louis Cardinals, with the Cincinnati Reds (two back) and Arizona Diamondbacks (five back) within range. The NL West crown is still within reach, too, with the Giants six games back of the Dodgers despite dropping two of three to Los Angeles last weekend.

How does the second half look for the Giants as they try to return to the postseason for the first time since 2021? Here’s a look.

Schedule: The first series out of the break won’t be a soft landing. The Giants will travel to Toronto to play a Blue Jays team that’s just soared into first place in the AL East by winning 11 of 14. Then they’ll go to Atlanta, a team they swept at home earlier in the year.

They haven’t played well against sub-.500 teams — they were swept at home by the Miami Marlins and dropped a series to the Chicago White Sox — but they have a few easier stretches in the second half. At the end of July and August, they’ll see the Pittsburgh Pirates at home and on the road within two weeks, then play the Washington Nationals at home and, toward the end of the month, the Baltimore Orioles.

They’ll also make a visit to New York to play the Mets, who are vying with the Philadelphia Phillies for the NL East crown. Their most challenging stretch will begin with a four-game series against the Padres in San Diego (Aug. 18-21) followed by a trip to Milwaukee for three games before returning home to face the first-place Chicago Cubs.

September could be an uphill battle. The month begins and ends against the NL-worst Colorado Rockies, but in between there are home and away series against the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Cardinals.

Promising trends: Success in the second half will be easier if a few players turn their seasons around. A handful appear to have taken a step in the right direction.

Great as the rotation has been at the top with All-Stars Logan Webb and Robbie Ray, it could get even better if Justin Verlander’s mechanical tweak pays off. Ironically, given his quest to enter the 300 wins club, Verlander entered the All-Star break without a win as a Giant, and a good number of his losses (he’s 0-7) and no-decisions (eight) weren’t his fault as he’s received some of the worst run support in baseball.

But Verlander, at 42, was starting to look mortal, lacking deception in his offerings. He tweaked his delivery slightly in his last start against the Phillies and saw his velocity improve, which led to a lot of ugly swings. If he can pick up where he left off — with his experience chasing the postseason — he could kick the pitching staff into another gear.

It would be huge if Willy Adames keeps up what he did in the month before the break. He’s been a different hitter since Rafael Devers debuted with the Giants on June 17, batting .279 with an .853 OPS, four home runs and four other extra-base hits over his past 25 games. He’d batted .201 with a .624 OPS, eight homers and 12 other extra base hits in his first 71 games.

Adames attributed his turnaround to confidence acclimating to a new outdoor ballpark known not to reward every well-hit line drive — he’d previously played his entire career in domes in Tampa Bay and Milwaukee.

An awakening from Devers is likely essential. A career .277 hitter, the three-time AL All-Star has hit only .202 with two home runs and 10 RBI in his 25 games with the Giants.

Trade deadline: Buster Posey and Co. made their big move well before the deadline, adding Devers on June 15 to give a listless lineup some pop. They could add a bat, perhaps another right-handed hitting outfielder.

The pitching staff has been the Giants’ savior, but Posey may look to strengthen that group. In trading for Devers, the Giants gave up depth in Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks. Perhaps they explore the market for another starting pitcher to supplement the rotation given uncertainty around Verlander and Hayden Birdsong’s durability and effectiveness in the second half.

Erik Miller’s elbow sprain should prompt them to look for another left-handed reliever, too.

(sfchronicle.com)

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THOUSANDS OF CALIFORNIANS LOST WORK AFTER LA IMMIGRATION RAIDS. CITIZENS DID, TOO

by Levi Sumagaysay

California saw a 3.1% drop in private-sector employment the week immediately after the Trump administration stepped up its immigration raids in the state, according to a new analysis of U.S. Census data.

UC Merced researchers said the steep drop is second only to the unemployment surge the state experienced during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, and greater than the immediate decline during the Great Recession in 2007 and 2008.

This appears to be the first analysis of the data from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey from the time when federal agents’ focus on the state became clear in early June, when a raid at a garment factory in downtown Los Angeles preceded weeks of sweeps and unrest.

The Census Bureau surveys Americans every month about whether they worked the week before. The UC Merced researchers compared survey results from the week of May 11 to the week of June 8, and found that in California, more citizens than non-citizens reported that they did not work the week after that first raid.

The percentage decline would equate to a loss in California of 271,541 jobs from citizens and 193,428 non-citizens, the report said.

“What we know from previous research is that the work that undocumented immigrants or non-citizens do does not exist in a vacuum,” Edward Flores, lead author of the report, told CalMatters. “If there’s disruptions to the work that undocumented immigrants do, it has ripple effects. A slowdown in one industry could cause slowdowns in other industries.”

That’s consistent with other studies that have shown that mass deportations of undocumented workers reduces job opportunities for U.S.-born workers, and studies that have shown the raids’ negative effects on local economies.

Flores, the faculty director of the UC Merced Community and Labor Center, said he plans to keep tracking and analyzing the Census data and will release similar reports as the federal immigration crackdown continues. He said he expects further escalations of raids because a new federal spending bill substantially increased funding for immigration enforcement.

The effects of the enforcement may continue to be felt more strongly in California. The report also showed that the number of male citizen workers slightly increased in the rest of the U.S. compared with California during the same periods.

White and Latino workers in California were the most affected, the researchers found. The number of Latinos in California who reported work between May and June declined 5.6%, while the number of whites in the state who reported work during the same period decreased 5.3%, according to the report.

The researchers recommended that state policymakers consider “significant action” that may include economic stimulus and disaster relief, similar to what was available during the pandemic.

Flores pointed out that undocumented immigrants lack a financial safety net, such as access to unemployment benefits. As they continue to lose work, that’s not just a problem for them and their families, but for the state.

“When low-income people spend money, they spend it on things they immediately need, which can stimulate the local economy,” he said.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has twice vetoed California lawmakers’ attempts to extend unemployment benefits to undocumented workers. In addition, the state just cut Medi-Cal benefits to undocumented immigrants and froze new enrollments because of budget constraints.

The governor’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.

The California Finance Department closely monitors demographic and economic trends as it shapes state spending. When asked to comment about the UC Merced report, Finance Department spokesperson H.D. Palmer pointed to the “downside risk” mentioned in the state’s most recent economic forecast in the revised May budget. It stated that the Trump administration’s large-scale deportation program could “significantly degrade the state’s labor force.”

(CalMatters.org)

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ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE

by Fred Gardner

Everybody brought up to believe in the scientific method knows that anecdotal evidence is not proof. What you observed might have been a rare occurrence.

I get it. I worked at Scientific American in the '60s when it was a great magazine. I edited the internal weekly at UCSF Medical Center for many years. I pledge allegiance to The Scientific Method.

But Capital-M Medicine can be too dismissive of all phenomena not acknowledged in peer-reviewed journals, i.e., "the literature." At the height of the AIDS epidemic, UCSF professor Donald Abrams applied to the National Institute on Drug Abuse for a grant to study the impact of marijuana on appetite and nausea. In explaining why he was turned him down, NIDA honcho Allan Leshner smirked, "The plural of anecdote isn't evidence."  All the AIDS patients who'd been able to overcome nausea and hold down food thanks to the illegal herb…  In NIDA's eyes they counted for zip

Many anti-vaxxers, I assume, have seen anecdotal evidence with their own eyes and generalized from it.

In the mid-'90s I knew a couple who had a normal, sweet, 11-month-old boy. N was in her 30s, R was pushing 60, and the baby had given them great, unexpected joy. He was just starting to walk and say a few words when N brought him to the pediatrician for his second or third "DTP shot" ( a three-vaccine combo to prevent Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis).  "Almost overnight," N said, "he changed." He regressed. He stopped smiling and building his vocabulary. He wouldn't make eye contract with a visitor (me).

In due course the parents were given an autism diagnosis. R died of a heart attack and I lost track of N.  I heard they blamed the little boy's altered personality on Thimerasolol, a preservative added to the three antigens in the DTP shot. Thimerasol contains mercury, a known neurotoxin. No matter how many parents attributed their kids' dramatic regression to their DTP shots, Capital-M Medicine denied a causal relationship

I asked Jeffrey Hergenrather, MD, his thoughts about infants being exposed to Thimerasol. He recalled Dr. John Gofman's line on human exposure to radiation: "there is no safe threshold." Billions of cosmic rays might zoom harmlessly through your body, and then one might hit a cell's nucleus in such a way that it divides, and metastasizes.

Is it possible that a small number of newborns are genetically disposed to have a strong, adverse reaction to Thimerasol? Many such genetic predispositions are being revealed, thanks to advancing technology. (It appears that a very small percentage of marijuana users are genetically disposed to Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome.)

The drug manufacturers cut back on its use because so many people thought they saw Thimerasol do serious harm to children. The US Food and Drug Administration website gives no credit to the bereaved families whose concerns about Thimerasol seemingly led to this reform:

"Under the FDA Modernization Act (FDAMA) of 1997, the FDA conducted a comprehensive review of the use of thimerosal in childhood vaccines. Conducted in 1999, this review found no evidence of harm from the use of thimerosal as a vaccine preservative, other than local hypersensitivity reactions (Ball et al. 2001).

As part of the FDAMA review, the FDA evaluated the amount of mercury an infant might receive in the form of ethylmercury from vaccines under the U.S. recommended childhood immunization schedule and compared these levels with existing guidelines for exposure to methylmercury, as there are no existing guidelines for ethylmercury, the metabolite of thimerosal. At the time of this review in 1999, the maximum cumulative exposure to mercury from vaccines in the recommended childhood immunization schedule was within acceptable limits for the methylmercury exposure guidelines set by FDA, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and the World Health Organization. However, depending on the vaccine formulations used and the weight of the infant, some infants could have been exposed to cumulative levels of mercury during the first six months of life that exceeded Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommended guidelines for safe intake of methylmercury.

Other than allergic responses in some individuals, there was no known health risk from thimerosal-preservative at the concentration used in vaccines, but in 1999, the Public Health Service (including the FDA, National Institutes of Health (NIH), CDC, and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)), along with the Amer1ican Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) concluded that becau1se of scientific uncertainty at the time, as a precautionary measure, that it was prudent to reduce childhood exposure to mercury from all sources, including vaccines, to the extent feasible. On July 1, 1999, the FDA sent a letter to all manufacturers of U.S.-licensed vaccines requesting their plans to remove thimerosal from their U.S. licensed vaccines. This step was taken because the elimination or reduction of mercury in vaccines was a feasible means of reducing an infant’s total exposure to mercury in a world where other environmental sources of mercury are challenging to eliminate…"

In case we, the people, didn't get the point, the FDA site reiterates in boldface type:

"No Link between Thimerosal in Vaccines and Autism

"Although all vaccines routinely recommended for children 6 years of age and younger in the U.S. are available in formulations that do not contain thimerosal, thimerosal has a long record of safe and effective use in preventing bacterial and fungal contamination of vaccines, with no ill effects established other than hypersensitivity and minor local reactions at the site of injection.

"There is a robust body of peer-reviewed, scientific studies conducted in the United States and countries around the world that support the safety of thimerosal-containing vaccines. The scientific evidence collected over the past 20+ years does not show any evidence of harm, including serious neurodevelopmental disorders, from use of thimerosal in vaccines. Specifically, the Institute of Medicine (now known as the National Academy of Medicine), and others have concluded that the evidence favors rejection of a link between thimerosal and autism. Scientific studies of the risk of other serious neurodevelopmental disorders have failed to support a causal link with thimerosal."

Some weasel words are underlined… Whatever happened to "First, do no harm?"

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THE REMARKABLE CAREER OF JIM ABBOTT:

How a Kid Born Without a Right Hand Became One of the Best Major League Pitchers of His Generation

by Michael Donnelly

I watched a great sports documentary Sunday. “Southpaw. The Life and Legacy of Jim Abbott” on ESPN.

I’ll sum it up first. If this film, which far transcends just sports, doesn’t get a Sports Emmy, the Emmy is meaningless.

One of my Flint Saint Michael High School classmates, Steve, the best athlete in my class, posted on Facebook info about it premiering. Jim Abbott’s dad, Mike, was one of our best rivals and one of my teammate Steve’s best friends. We all graduated in 1967, the year Jim was born. Mike passed in 2022.

Before moving on, I want to note that Mike’s small Flint St Matthew High School went undefeated in Football, Basketball and Baseball our Senior year. And, Mike was a huge reason for that amazing feat. He was a superb athlete; impossible for one player to tackle in football. It took a pack to bring him down.

One of my community college teammates played on the much larger Flint Central High School’s basketball team that went to the 1967 State Championship game in the top, big school Division in the state. They lost to Detroit Pershing HS, which was led by legends Spencer Haywood and Ralph Simpson. However, my teammate Paul told me that the toughest game they played that entire year was a scrimmage against St. Matt’s.

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The basics are: Jim Abbott was born without a right hand. Despite that, he went on to become a skilled athlete; a University of Michigan, Olympic Champion and Major League pitcher. And ultimately more than that – an inspiration to generations of kids (and their parents) born with similar circumstances. The documentary ends with vignettes of numerous people born with similar conditions telling how much of an inspiration he was/is for them. Hard to keep dry eyes thru the whole film, but impossible at that point.

The documentary weaves his story around his returning to Yankee Stadium decades later and watching his legendary September 4, 1993 Pennant Race No Hitter on the jumbo screen there. It has interviews with his mother, brother, friends, teammates, coaches and rivals.

It starts off with Jim noting he is going to make a statement one rarely, if ever, hears;

“I grew up in the great city of Flint, Michigan.”

The film is very fair to Flint (also something rare.) It notes how tough life in Flint was/is. And, it notes the vibrant Flint Youth Sports scene and how that played into Jim’s success. (I so appreciate that. The Community Schools concept was started in Flint, created by General Motors’ Charles Stewart Mott and his friend/ally, local educator Frank Manley. Every Flint school had a Community School Director who managed the use of empty schools after hours by the citizenry and ran Youth Sports programs. There’s a reason Flint has produced more college and professional athletes than cities ten times its size.)

Jim Abbott, who who was born into a family of athletes, taught himself how to pitch and quickly transfer his glove from his right arm to his left hand for fielding and then back again, while grabbing the ball with his left hand for throwing, never let his condition hold him back. In fact, while every story the media produced about him after it caught on to him, always called him the “one-armed pitcher.” He hated that. He wanted nothing more than recognition as a “very good pitcher.”

It has a poignant segment when a New York sportswriter writes an article calling out Abbott and another pitcher for “underachieving” as a reason the Yankees were behind in the pennant race late in the season. Of course, Jim was pissed. But after angrily confronting the writer, Jim realized it was the first time he was actually treated like any other pitcher, apologized to the writer and thanked him. He then went on to pitch the legendary No Hitter.

During his career, Abbott always made time for meeting with the many parents and children with similar circumstances who contacted him. He knew what it meant to kids growing up with similar challenges. He graciously took and signed many photos with the kids; signed caps, jackets, articles, etc. for them. He attended and attends camps for such kids.

He tells the story of how when he was in Grade School, a kind teacher taught himself how to tie his shoes with only one hand and then taught Jim. Jim now teaches kids the same technique.

The film ends with folders full of letters from fans and ones he wrote back and the fore-mentioned videotaped testimonials from so many he has inspired.

Today, Jim is a motivational speaker, traveling the world telling his story and inspiring ever more kids. Jim Abbott is a great athlete, a great Flintstone, a great American and a great Human Being.

(Michael Donnelly has been an environmental activist since before that first Earth Day. He was in the thick of the Pacific Northwest Ancient Forest Campaign; garnering some collective victories and lamenting numerous defeats. He can be reached at [email protected]. CounterPunch.org)

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BUREAU DELETIONS

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TRUMPWORLD LEADERSHIP FACTIONS EXPLAINED

A Reader writes:

I found this interesting not because of Epstein, but because it does a good job of explaining some of the factions in this era’s Trumpworld, which I am mostly ignorant about.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/07/14/maga-factions-epstein-fallout-reactions-00452358

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MISDEMEANOR NON-FICTION

To the Editor:

I adored fiction as a younger man: short stories and novels. They spoke to me about the human condition. I even wrote my own stories for those closest to me.

But I’ve moved on. As I’ve aged, I’ve increasingly found fiction too precious, too self-involved and too contrived. These days, I read nonfiction about a variety of topics, trying to learn more about our complex world.

I didn’t know this was an offense to the self-important world of book publishing. But I guess I was wrong.

Jonathan Carey

Chatham, New Jersey

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‘GRANT’S ENFORCER’: A 19TH-CENTURY WAR ON TERROR

A rising wave of racist violence in the South prompted President Ulysses S Grant to take legal and military action against the Ku Klux Klan.

Book review by Fergus M. Bordewich

Amos Akerman may be the most consequential attorney general you’ve never heard of. Under President Ulysses S. Grant he gave federal teeth to the new 14th Amendment, personally leading a successful judicial battle against the Ku Klux Klan’s war of terror across the Reconstruction-era South.

Akerman was an unlikely hero. Originally from New Hampshire, he built his legal career in Georgia, owning 11 slaves and serving as a Confederate supply officer, though he harbored moral qualms about slavery and repudiated it after the Confederate defeat. He joined the Republican party and came to Grant’s attention as a staunch advocate of biracial government. Guy Gugliotta’s briskly written “Grant’s Enforcer” retrieves him from generations of unfair neglect.

After the Civil War the South experienced a racial revolution; freed people became citizens in 1868 amid a grassroots surge of political engagement. At least 2,000 blacks held public office, from small towns to state legislatures and the U.S. Congress. From the beginning, they were subject to attack by embittered whites; by the end of the decade, revanchists had formed the nation’s first organized terrorist group, the Ku Klux Klan.

The Klan’s origin is well-documented. Founded in Tennessee in late 1865 as a sort of Confederate veterans’ fraternity that favored grotesque costumes and rituals, it was soon taken over by a formidable group of former officers who recognized its political potential. By 1868, it had spread across most of the South to become the de facto paramilitary arm of the Democratic party, and what started out as racist foolery became a systematic strategy of terror. Flogging, lynching and rapes were employed to scare Republicans away from the ballot box, destroying the South’s embryonic two-party system and restoring white political control. It was highly effective: Intimidated juries wouldn’t convict, frightened witnesses refused to testify. Almost everywhere, the organization was helmed by leading citizens—property owners, doctors, lawyers, even ministers. The few thousand federal troops who remained in the South were far too thinly spread to maintain the peace.

Although the total number of the Klan’s victims will never be known, it is likely that at least 2,000 men and women were murdered in the years after the war, and many times that number brutalized and tortured. Grant was profoundly affected by the heartbreaking letters he received from the families of Klan victims and by the steady stream of official reports describing a hellscape of lawlessness across the South.

According to Mr. Gugliotta, a journalist and historian, Grant “understood violence as well as anyone then living, and when he named Akerman as his attorney general he picked a man who had as much or more experience with white terrorism as anyone he might have chosen.” Akerman came into office hoping that Southern whites could be persuaded to adapt to the new reality. His optimism quickly faded. “I doubt whether from the beginning of the world until now [that] a community, nominally civilized, has been so fully under the domination of systematic and organized depravity,” he wrote.

Grant saw the need for legislation enabling the federal government to intervene where officials either refused or were too weak to enforce the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed the protection of former slaves’ lives, liberty and property. “It was not enough,” says Mr. Gugliotta, “to have civil rights on the books; the law needed to be effectively applied.”

So Akerman, working with congressional radicals, helped pass a series of federal-enforcement acts that criminalized the wearing of disguises intended “to terrify, frighten, or overawe”; joining a secret organization that required the commission or concealment of an act of terror; or attempting to rescue someone jailed for such a crime. In addition, the president was granted the authority to suspend habeas corpus where he believed public safety required it.

Mr. Gugliotta rightly deems this legislation “one of the most ambitious expansions of federal legal power ever attempted.” Democrats cried that it would deliver the states “over to the federal government, subjugated and helpless.” But Grant was committed to the destruction of the Klan.

In October 1871 he suspended habeas corpus in nine South Carolina counties and called in troops to suppress the Klan. For several weeks Akerman took personal command, working with Lewis Merrill, a like-minded major of the Seventh Cavalry whose troops scoured the countryside for Klansmen. Under simultaneous pressure from the Army and from federal prosecutors, the Klan collapsed. Hundreds were arrested in South Carolina alone, and thousands across the South. By the end of the year, more than 5,000 Klan cases were under prosecution; by 1873, the Klan was a spent force.

Mr. Gugliotta narrates the story of the South Carolina campaign in vivid, anecdote-rich detail. He strangely overlooks the Klan war across the rest of the South, a significant omission that undermines a full understanding of Grant’s policy. However, he is especially deft when steering the reader through the tangled politics of Reconstruction, making good use of diaries and letters, contemporary newspaper accounts and congressional hearings.

The Ku Klux Klan created for later generations a model for secretive nativism and a belief that terrorism can work as an instrument of political control. Mr. Gugliotta’s often inspiring account shows that it is possible for well-crafted policy and courageous politicians to prevail over extremism.

(Mr. Bordewich is the author of “Klan War: Ulysses S. Grant and the Battle to Save Reconstruction.” Wall Street Journal)

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DAY OF THE LOCUST

by Nathanael West

…When the bird grew silent, he made an effort to put Faye out of his mind and began to think about the series of cartoons he was making for his canvas of Los Angeles on fire. He was going to show the city burning at high noon, so that the flames would have to compete with the desert sun and thereby appear less fearful, more like bright flags flying from roofs and windows than a terrible holocaust. He wanted the city to have quite a gala air as it burned, to appear almost gay. And the people who set it on fire would be a holiday crowd.

The bird began to sing again. When it stopped, Faye was forgotten and he only wondered if he weren’t exaggerating the importance of the people who come to California to die. Maybe they weren’t really desperate enough to set a single city on fire, let alone the whole country. Maybe they were only the pick of America’s madmen and not at all typical of the rest of the land.

He told himself that it didn’t make any difference because he was an artist, not a prophet. His work would not be judged by the accuracy with which it foretold a future event but by its merit as painting. Nevertheless, he refused to give up the role of Jeremiah. He changed “pick of America’s madmen” to “cream” and felt almost certain that the milk from which it had been skimmed was just as rich in violence. The Angelenos would be first, but their comrades all over the country would follow. There would be civil war.

He was amused by the strong feeling of satisfaction this dire conclusion gave him. Were all prophets of doom and destruction such happy men?

He stood up without trying to answer. When he reached the dirt road at the top of the canyon Faye and the car were gone.

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TERRAPIN STATION

by Robert Hunter (1977)

Let my inspiration flow in token rhyme, suggesting rhythm
That will not forsake you, 'til my tale is told and done
While the firelight's aglow, strange shadows from the flames will grow
'Til things we've never seen will seem familiar

Shadows of a sailor, forming winds both foul and fair all swarm
Down in Carlisle, he loved a lady many years ago
Here beside him stands a man, a soldier from the looks of him
Who came through many fights, but lost at love

While the story teller speaks, a door within the fire creaks
Suddenly flies open, and a girl is standing there
Eyes alight, with glowing hair, all that fancy paints as fair
She takes her fan and throws it, in the lion's den

Which of you to gain me, tell, will risk uncertain pains of hell?
I will not forgive you if you will not take the chance
The sailor gave at least a try, the soldier being much too wise
Strategy was his strength, and not disaster

The sailor, coming out again, the lady fairly leapt at him
That's how it stands today, you decide if he was wise
The storyteller makes no choice, soon you will not hear his voice
His job is to shed light, and not to master

Since the end is never told, we pay the teller off in gold
In hopes he will come back, but he cannot be bought or sold

Inspiration, move me brightly, light the song with sense and color
Hold away despair, more than this I will not ask
Faced with mysteries dark and vast, statements just seem vain at last
Some rise, some fall, some climb, to get to Terrapin

Counting stars by candlelight, all are dim but one is bright
The spiral light of Venus, rising first and shining best
On, from the northwest corner, of a brand new crescent moon
While crickets and cicadas sing, a rare and different tune
Terrapin Station

In the shadow of the moon, Terrapin Station
And I know we'll get there soon (Terrapin)
I can't figure out, Terrapin, if it's the end or beginning (Terrapin)
But the train's put its brakes on (Terrapin)
And the whistle is screaming (Terrapin)

While you were gone, these spaces filled with darkness
The obvious was hidden. With nothing to believe in
The compass always points to Terrapin

Sullen wings of fortune beat like rain
You're back in Terrapin for good or ill again, for good or ill again

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MUGSHOTS of two 14-year-old Norwegian girls, arrested for multiple incidents of pickpocketing together, 1897

The photo is part of a larger collection documenting juvenile offenders in late 19th-century Scandinavia. What makes it particularly striking is the use of a mirrored setup to provide both a frontal and profile view—an early example of biometric documentation.

The girl’s expression is somber, her clothes worn but carefully arranged. Her identification number, 4857, is scrawled beside her, marking her entry into the criminal system.

At the time, urban poverty and child labor were widespread across Europe, pushing many youths into petty crime. The dual image technique (common in anthropometric records inspired by Alphonse Bertillon) was meant to systematize and control growing urban populations.

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LEAD STORIES, THURSDAY'S NYT

Senate Approves Trump’s Bid to Cancel Foreign Aid and Public Broadcast Funds

Trump Has Draft of Letter to Fire Fed Chair. He Asked Republicans if He Should Send It.

Trump’s New Strategy on Epstein Fallout: Blame the Democrats

Upended by Meth, Some Communities Are Paying Users to Quit

Scandal-Ridden Fyre Festival Is Sold for $245,000 on eBay

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ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Mamdani is right: there should be no billionaires. We need to bring back the confiscatory tax rate for the uber wealthy (over 90 percent). And corporations would flee? Good, they don’t pay their fair share of taxes anyway, and they offer employees zero job security. And who has the lion’s share of the blame for obscene real estate costs across all markets (and not just in New York)? The greedy developers and landlords who never have enough money. Businesses go under every day because they cannot afford the stratospheric overhead. We need drastic change or else a handful of these despicable billionaires will have all the money, instead of just most of it.

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TRUMP HAS COMPLETELY DROPPED HIS “POPULIST” ACT

by Caitlin Johnstone

It’s so funny how Trump has stopped even pretending to be a populist. As soon as he was re-elected he was just “Yeah okay so Israel comes first and forget everything I said about free speech and the Ukraine war is continuing and there will be no Epstein investigation, fuck you.”

It has long been obvious to anyone with half a brain that Donald Trump is just another Republican swamp monster playing on public discontent with the status quo to win votes and support, but it is genuinely surprising how completely he has stopped pretending to care about fighting the deep state and sticking up for ordinary Americans as soon as he got back into office. He’s just dropped the populist schtick entirely and is giving the finger to anyone who complains.

The president has been aggressively and repeatedly demanding that his entire base shut up about Jeffrey Epstein and move on after years of MAGAworld fixation on the story, bizarrely going as far as claiming that interest and attention on the Epstein files was a concoction of the Democrats. He is doing this even as his Department of Justice releases a video which it claims disproves conspiracy theories that the sexual predator was murdered in his prison cell — but the video is edited and missing minutes of footage.

This happens as the Financial Times reports that Trump is now encouraging Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to ramp up deep strikes into Russian territory and asking whether it would be possible to hit Moscow. This would be the same President Trump who falsely promised on the campaign trail that he would end the Ukraine war in “no longer than one day.”

After pledging to restore and protect free speech in the United States, Trump has been aggressively stomping out speech that is critical of the state of Israel and its genocidal atrocities, scoring yet another win for government censorship on Tuesday with Columbia University’s announcement that it is adopting the IHRA definition of “antisemitism” which conflates criticism of Israel with hate speech against Jews, in accordance with the wishes of the Trump administration.

After promising to “restore peace, stability, and harmony all throughout the world,” Trump has bombed Iran, poured weapons into Israel and Ukraine, backed Israel’s genocide in Gaza and its numerous acts of war against its neighbors, slaughtered hundreds of civilians with a savage bombing campaign in Yemen, and conducted dozens of airstrikes in renewed operations in Somalia, all while leading the nation into the era of official trillion-dollar Pentagon budgets.

In 2023 Trump proclaimed that “if you put me back in the White House… I will totally obliterate the deep state.” In 2025 he’s advancing pretty much every longstanding deep state agenda in the book.

Every single part of Trump’s platform where he could have claimed to be standing up for the little guy against the powerful has been completely flushed down the toilet in the first six months of his second term, leaving only a standard George W Bush Republican in its place. If you wanted tax cuts for the rich and cruel treatment for immigrants then Trump is still your man, but if you were hoping he’d benefit ordinary Americans or do anything to drain the swamp in Washington he’s just peeing on you and writing a wall of text on Truth Social explaining why the pee is actually rain.

Which again should come as no surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention. No real change will ever come from either of America’s two power-serving major parties.

But what’s so funny is people are probably just going to fall for it again. Trump’s base is very upset about the Epstein thing and many of them might actually abandon Trump himself, but you know next election cycle someone like Tucker Carlson or JD Vance will run on his platform and these suckers will swallow it hook, line and sinker. I actually said this on Twitter the other day and got multiple people telling me that actually Tucker Carlson getting elected would be a major blow to the deep state, so you know they’re already primed for it. They can’t wait to fall in line behind the next phony Republican populism scam.

Whatever. People will be fed whatever slop they keep asking for. The lesson will keep on repeating until it is learned.

(caitlinjohnstone.com.au)

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AS I WALKED OUT ONE EVENING

by W.H. Auden (1940)

As I walked out one evening,
   Walking down Bristol Street,
The crowds upon the pavement
   Were fields of harvest wheat.

And down by the brimming river
   I heard a lover sing
Under an arch of the railway:
   ‘Love has no ending.

‘I’ll love you, dear, I’ll love you
   Till China and Africa meet,
And the river jumps over the mountain
   And the salmon sing in the street,

‘I’ll love you till the ocean
   Is folded and hung up to dry
And the seven stars go squawking
   Like geese about the sky.

‘The years shall run like rabbits,
   For in my arms I hold
The Flower of the Ages,
   And the first love of the world.’

But all the clocks in the city
   Began to whirr and chime:
‘O let not Time deceive you,
   You cannot conquer Time.

‘In the burrows of the Nightmare
   Where Justice naked is,
Time watches from the shadow
   And coughs when you would kiss.

‘In headaches and in worry
   Vaguely life leaks away,
And Time will have his fancy
   To-morrow or to-day.

‘Into many a green valley
   Drifts the appalling snow;
Time breaks the threaded dances
   And the diver’s brilliant bow.

‘O plunge your hands in water,
   Plunge them in up to the wrist;
Stare, stare in the basin
   And wonder what you’ve missed.

‘The glacier knocks in the cupboard,
   The desert sighs in the bed,
And the crack in the tea-cup opens
   A lane to the land of the dead.

‘Where the beggars raffle the banknotes
   And the Giant is enchanting to Jack,
And the Lily-white Boy is a Roarer,
   And Jill goes down on her back.

‘O look, look in the mirror,
   O look in your distress:
Life remains a blessing
   Although you cannot bless.

‘O stand, stand at the window
   As the tears scald and start;
You shall love your crooked neighbour
   With your crooked heart.’

It was late, late in the evening,
   The lovers they were gone;
The clocks had ceased their chiming,
   And the deep river ran on.

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