Mendocino County Today: Friday 7/25/2025

By AVA News Service on July 25, 2025

THUNDERSTORMS are possible in the interior Friday. Near normal to slightly below normal temperatures expected this week. Temperatures trend slightly upward early next week. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): Another drizzly 54F this Friday morning on the coast. We might see an isolated shower today wrapping around from the east. More of the same tomorrow, then maybe a few sunnier days to start the new week? I said maybe.

LUIS MANUEL CRUZ VASQUEZ (5/19/1969 - 5/23/2025)

Luis Manuel Cruz Vasquez, 56, of Anderson Valley, California, passed away on May 23, 2025, at Adventist Health Ukiah Valley after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.

Luis was born on May 19, 1969, in Oaxaca, Mexico, to Angela Vasquez Ramos and Julian Cruz Ramos. He made a life defined by love, dedication, and resilience. A hardworking man with a kind spirit, Luis was known for his constant smile and infectious laughter that brightened the lives of those around him.

Above all, Luis was a devoted and loving father. He is survived by his three daughters: Yuridia Cruz-Arreola, Nizamaith Cruz Hernandez, and Fatima Cruz. His memory will live on through them and all who knew and loved him.

Luis will be deeply missed but fondly remembered for his joyful presence and unwavering strength.

There was a gathering of family and friends at Empire Mortuary Services, 697 S. Orchard Ave., Ukiah, CA 95482 on Friday, June 6th from 5 - 8 pm with a Rosary of prayer starting at 6:00 pm.

A Mass of Christian Burial was held at the St. Elizabeth Seton Mission, 8771 Philo School Rd., Philo, CA 85466 on Saturday, June 7th at 11:00 am.

FORT BRAGG CITY COUNCIL APPROVES HOUSING, WATER UPGRADES, AND PUBLIC SAFETY

by Megan Wutzke

The Fort Bragg City Council on Monday approved several key measures, including the closeout of a $2.6 million federal grant for water meter upgrades, funding increases for the Humane Society, a budget increase for tribal monitoring, a controversial housing project permit, and acceptance of a grant for a new police electric vehicle.

The council wrapped up a grant project that replaced over 2,900 old water meters in the city. The $2.6 million project, started in 2021, upgraded 2,436 residential and 534 commercial meters to new models that allow for real-time leak detection and remote shut-offs. City officials reported that these upgrades have already saved over 620,000 gallons of water. About $319,000 in unused funds will be released.

The council approved a coastal development permit for an 83-unit housing project on S. Main St. This project features one- and two-bedroom apartments and includes a small hotel with 10 rooms on the ground floor of one building. The hotel was added late in the planning process, leading to concerns from nearby residents about increased traffic, safety, and the impact on the neighborhood.

During the meeting, there were nearly 45 minutes of public comments, along with 136 pages of written objections from residents worried about congestion and the project’s size. Councilmember Tess Albin-Smith voted against it, while Councilmember Lindy Peters supported it only because he was expecting an appeal. Councilmember Scott Hockett recused himself. The project passed with the support of the other council members.

City officials noted that state law limits how local governments can deny housing projects, especially those that include affordable units. The developer plans to set aside 10 units for very low-income households, which allows the project to qualify for state incentives.

The council decided to double the Humane Society’s funding for the fiscal year 2025-26 from $30,000 to $60,000, paid monthly. It also approved an additional one-time payment of $40,000 from asset forfeiture education funds, bringing the total funding for the year to $100,000.

The council approved an additional $60,539 for tribal monitoring costs related to the Raw Water Line Replacement Project, bringing the total budget to $107,539. This monitoring is necessary to protect cultural artifacts during digging. The extra funds will cover revised 2024 invoices and support tracking for the 2025 construction season. The city anticipates these costs will be reimbursed.

The council accepted a $50,000 grant from the California Highway Patrol’s Cannabis Tax Fund Grant Program. This money will be used to buy an all-electric Polaris utility task vehicle for the police department. The new vehicle will replace the department’s gas-powered quad, allowing officers to reach challenging areas, such as Noyo Beach and the Coastal Trail, more quickly and efficiently. The vehicle can travel up to 80 miles on a single charge and can be charged at the police station. It will also be used for special events, emergency operations, and patrols of the new 500-acre reservoir property.

SUPERVISORS AGENDA HIGHLIGHTS, Next Tuesday, July 29, 2025

by Mark Scaramella

Board Chair John Haschak will try yet again to make symbolic cuts to the Supervisors budget by proposing to “eliminate $4,500 from Special Department Expense, $3,500 from Education/Training, $1,500 from Transportation In-County, $6,000 from Travel Out-of-County, $4,000 from Communications, and $1,000 from Office Expense

Haschak also wants to “Reduce the Yearly Base Salary of the Board of Supervisors from $110,715.00 to $103,008.50 and to Eliminate Associated Management Training Benefits and Telecommunication Allowance.”

Haschak has made several previous attempts to institute these modest Board budget reductions and has yet to get even a second to his motion.

In closed session the Board plans to continue to discuss Auditor-Controller/Treasurer-Tax Collector Chamise Cubbison’s years-long, ever-escalating civil suit, and a new one: “Significant Exposure to Litigation Arising from a Complaint from a Former Employee of the Mendocino County Air Quality Management District.” In neither case is any action proposed to be taken.

In a related open session item, with a possible indication that they think the County is spending too much on outside lawyers, Supervisors Ted Williams and Bernie Norvell want to ask CEO Darcy Antle “to Conduct a Five-Year Cost Trend Analysis of Aggregate Legal Services Including Expenditures on Internal and External Counsel; Direction to County Counsel to Provide the CEO with an Operational Overview and Department Utilization Data to Support this Review; Direction to the CEO to Present Findings and Recommendations from this Collaborative Assessment for a Long-Term Legal Services Model that can Best Meet the Future Legal Service Needs through an Effective and Sustainable Service Model; and Authorization to Use Necessary Support Services Within the CEO’s Existing Purchasing Authority.”

The proposing Supervisors further explain:

“We propose a proactive, forward-looking review of the County’s legal services to better understand trends in cost, staffing, caseload, contracts, and service delivery over the past five years. The goal is to ensure that legal services, including both internal and contracted resources, remain strong, sustainable, and aligned with the County’s evolving needs. This reflects responsible governance through periodic evaluation of essential functions to confirm that structure and investment are appropriate for long-term service effectiveness and fiscal efficiency. The review is not in response to any deficiency or concern. It is a best practice that allows the County to plan thoughtfully, without causing unnecessary disruption for staff, while supporting a close examination of how to maximize public value.

Over the past five years, Mendocino County has approved numerous contracts for external legal services related to litigation, labor negotiations, CEQA compliance, annexation, tax matters, and other specialized needs. These include agreements such as the second amendment with Colantuono Highsmith & Whatley PC for up to $500,000 in legal services (Mendocino County Board of Supervisors 2022), the fourth amendment with Renne Public Law Group increasing the total to $460,000 for labor and employment advice (Mendocino County Board of Supervisors 2025), and the second amendment with Liebert Cassidy Whitmore increasing the total to $400,000 for personnel matters (Mendocino County Board of Supervisors 2025).[ms notes: “Personnel matters”? Mainly the Cubbison civil case.] Additional firms have been retained for a variety of purposes, with total external counsel expenditures over the period amounting to several million dollars based on Board approvals from 2020 through 2025.

This item would authorize the CEO to review the following:

Five-Year Cost Trends, including disaggregated data on spending for internal legal operations and contracted services by firm.
Service Structure and Planning, assessing whether the current mix of internal and external legal services is the most effective and efficient approach for meeting current and future demands.
Staffing and Workload Patterns, including attorney and support staff capacity in relation to caseloads, mandates, and statutory obligations.
Caseload Analysis, examining trends in volume, type, and complexity, and whether current legal resources align with the County’s operational priorities.

The CEO is expected to incorporate data and input from County Counsel, financial and budget records, outside contracts, and departmental utilization patterns to produce a cohesive and informative assessment. This review should not only account for direct legal expenditures but also examine how demand for legal services originates and flows through the organization. Because legal service costs are influenced in part by how departments under CEO leadership utilize counsel, effective cost management will require a coordinated understanding of departmental practices and operational needs.

By authorizing this review, the Board takes a responsible step toward gaining a comprehensive understanding of legal service trends and ensuring that resources are used effectively. While the Board regularly considers legal agreements on a case-by-case basis, a broader perspective will help inform future policy and budget decisions. Any consulting services or tools required to support the review will remain within the CEO’s existing purchasing authority, and no budget augmentation is requested.

Achieving this goal will require collaborative input from both the CEO and County Counsel, each of whom reports directly to the Board.”

A bit late for this, wouldn’t you say? After all, as the item notes, the Board approves every outside contract and every outside contract extension, some of which the Board itself has unjustifiably initiated. (E.g., the Cubbison fiasco and the attempt to charge the Sheriff for ordinary budget overruns.) They’re basically saying, We know we’ve never asked any questions about the millions of dollars worth of outside lawyers we’ve already rubberstamped, but we now want a “broader perspective” before we continue this practice.

We will be very surprised if this one gets approved, much less if any significant changes ensue. But the discussion and pushback from the CEO and County Counsel might be interesting.

ED NOTES

IDAHO JUDGE HIPPLER said the heartbroken families may never know why Kohberger killed their loved ones. “The need to know what is inherently not understandable makes us dependent upon the defendant to provide us with a reason, and that gives him the spotlight, the attention and the power he appears to crave,” he said. “In my view, the time has now come to end Mr Kohberger's 15 minutes of fame.”

IN FACT, Kohberger has already had multiples of his 15, and is likely to be forever besieged by media eager to give him many more. In the global home of The Lone Nut, the guy's pure gold, right up there with Zodiac, Manson, Dahmer.

FRANKLIN GRAHAM, hells spawn of Billy, popped up between segments of David Muir's ABC Evening News, just before Dave wrapped up with his usual maudlin sign-off, this one four minutes of a Down Syndrome children's basketball team. Franklin asked, “Are you ready to stand before God?” Yes! I shouted. And I'll be delighted to see Him, always having suspected that this was it, 86 years of life, from incomprehension prior to, I dunno, oblivion? Given that alternative, standing before God would be most welcome. I'd begin, “Yes, I've sinned, Sir,” and I carry the mortifications to this day, and thank you for agreeing to see me. Do I repent? Absolutely. But I have a favor to ask, assuming Your absolution and a pass through Your pearly gates. Please, God, don't place me eternally with any of the Grahams.

STATEMENT from one of the District Attorney recallers: “More than 7,000 signatures are needed from registered voters to get a recall on the ballot. Mr Eyster’s abuses of power and misogyny cannot be tolerated any longer. Covering for a rapist cop, retaliating against a domestic violence victim in order to protect his friend, the perpetrator; wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayers’ money pursuing a lawfare vendetta against an honest elected official who had the temerity to question his misuse of public funds is totally unacceptable. We need a DA who will focus on his or her job of protecting public safety and not on their personal agenda.”

SHOULD DA EYSTER be recalled? Yes. As the signature gathering process begins, and it's not easy in far flung Mendo unless the recallers have a goodly team of gatherers out there. Of course Eyster, as Mendocino County's lead law enforcement officer (six) should be removed from office for using his authority to pursue purely personal pique against elected Auditor Chamise Cubbison for daring to do her job in challenging his attempt to have the taxpayers pick up the tab for his annual Christmas party at the Broiler Steak House.

OFTEN HAPPENS here in Lilliput that an elected person comes down with terminal magalomania, as all us rural midgets assume the prone position at the foot of the elected person like he or she is some kind of big shot. The salaaming is especially intense at the incestuous Proletariat Processing Center at the County Courthouse and the Board of Supervisors where ungrounded Lilliputians soon come to believe they're the cat's meow. Who dares talk back to them? Where are the Blefuscudians?

EYSTER'S an odd case. Prior to his pursuit of the intrepid Ms. Cubbison he was a pretty good top prosecutor, fair and proportionate. Then came his failure to max out a psychotic cop and then Cubbison. The guy's always had the latent monarchical tendencies that finally took him over, but one would think after all his years in office, reputation unsullied, Eyster wouldn't have lost his head over a mere challenge from the County's auditor over a small amount of money. (How dare that woman!)

BUT WITHOUT the inexplicable assent of the five craven supervisors at the time, Eyster would not have been able to persecute and prosecute Ms. Cubbison. (Ms. Kennedy was collateral damage.)

SUPERVISORS Mulheren, Williams, Haschak, McGourty, and Gjerde, along with Eyster and his suburban lawn, in a just world, would be held personally liable for costing county taxpayers millions of dollars the county doesn't have. And, when Cubbison's bill comes due, the taxpayers will be on the hook for millions more. Meanwhile, the three remaining sitting dolts sail on as if nothing happened, and retired supervisors McGourty and Gjerde collect their fat retirement checks paid out by the county they helped bankrupt.

CHRISTINA ARANGUREN: When sloppy governing becomes even sloppier…

DO NOT ENTER! Historic walking trail off Little Lake Road closed by school district and partners as construction starts on water project.

by Frank Hartzell

Several people contacted Mendocinocoast.news this week to discuss the sudden loss of a public walking trail along Little Lake Road.…

https://mendocinocoast.news/do-not-enter-historic-walking-trail-off-little-lake-road-closed-by-school-district-and-partners-as-construction-starts-on-water-project/

ADAM GASKA:

The Great Redwood Trail Authority should stay in its lane and focus on maintaining the easement. That $126,000 they recently approved for “outreach” would be better spent hiring people to weed whack, clear brush, hauling off trash, fixing culverts, etc. They should also be patrolling the easement for security to prevent trespass and vagrancy. They are not an agency that provides human services nor do they have the bandwidth to assess if the money they appropriate on service providers are providing the services they hope for. It would have been better if they helped fund the CORE program (Community Outreach Response & Engagement).

Hire guys with weed whackers, masticators and dozers to clean the trail so that law enforcement could easily access the tracks and the fire hazard is abated. Send some funds toward the Sheriff to offset the cost of responding to incidents on the tracks and do the occasional patrol.

My guess is they are trying to buy some political cover to help with the blowback from it becoming public that they have been paying Lear for security.

KZYX IN THE NATIONAL MEDIA SPOTLIGHT

Since the July 17 rescission, KZYX representatives have been featured on three prominent radio and TV shows to talk about the impact of the CPB claw-back on KZYX and Mendocino County.

General Manager/Operations Director Andre de Channes was interviewed on KQED’s “Forum” program on Friday, July 18th. Then on July 21st and 22nd, respectively, outgoing Interim GM Dina Polkinghorne appeared on both CNN’s “The Situation Room” with Wolf Blitzer and the “CBS Mornings” show as part of their coverage of the impact of the CPB funding cuts on public broadcasting.

After describing KZYX’s critical roles in keeping the public informed and safe, Dina stressed the damage inflicted on rural communities like ours by the loss of their expected CPB Community Services Grant. This loss, she said, will result in harm, closures, and “holes in the national network.” She explained that in late June, the KZYX board passed an austere, break-even budget for this fiscal year in anticipation of the threatened cuts. The budget has ambitious fundraising goals to bridge that gap, and “we’ve got work to do here on the ground.”

(KZYX Newsletter)

FRANK HARTZELL: Why Not Lesser Included?

I have seen numerous murder trials as we had constant killing back in Yuba and also went in other places. Am I wrong about the DA should have offered lesser included?

https://mendocinocoast.news/defense-gamble-of-putting-man-who-shot-and-killed-kevin-taeuffer-in-point-arena-last-summer-pays-off-jury-rules-innocent-on-murder/

POTTER VALLEY WATER DEAL GETS THE OK FROM HUMCO SUPERVISORS

by Sage Alexander

On Tuesday, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors unanimously signed onto a water diversion agreement that goes hand in hand with the undamming of the Eel River.

Tangled in the removal of two aging dams owned by PG&E in the Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project has been the question of how water users in Mendocino, Marin and Sonoma counties could continue to take water from the Eel River.

In February, the board signed onto an understanding with a rough outline of what the historic deal will look like, and Tuesday heard more particulars. The agreement spells out how much water would be taken during high-flow seasons — with diversion contingent on salmon and steelhead runs on the river.

Hank Seemann, deputy director of Humboldt County’s Environmental Services, said the final agreement has been in development for months, and the parties are considering approval this month.

“In our opinion, the key provisions from the (memorandum of understanding) that was approved in February 2025 have not changed,” said Seemann. While describing the diversions, which would be limited to high flows, he said the net change would be less water taken from the Eel River.

The agreement transfers water rights from PG&E to the Round Valley Indian Tribes and means new diversion infrastructure. The agreement details what future water diversions would look like — and importantly for Humboldt County, co-equal objectives of water diversion and fish health.

“My preference would be for all the water to remain in the Eel. But given where we are and all of the circumstances that have existed for 100 years and what the power dynamics are in Northern California, I think this is a wise approach and a reasonable approach,” said Supervisor Natalie Arroyo — a sentiment shared by other supervisors.

The parties aim to build a new Eel-Russian Diversion Facility, but with a free-flowing river so fish can access upstream habitat. At the meeting, Brian Johnson, policy advisor for Trout Unlimited who urged support from the Supervisors, said “we support this knowing full well that many of our members would prefer to just see the diversion go away, and might of liked it if we had simply fought for dam removal and an end to the diversion,” he said — but they believe firmly this would be the wrong approach.

He said not getting involved and allowing a “water war” could have led to a delay for dam removal and possibly not adding protections for the Eel River.

“We came to believe that the agreement that is before you today is affirmatively good for the Eel River,” he said, pointing to conditions to protect the river from the effects of the diversions, an enforceable monitoring program and funding for the river’s restoration. Charlie Schneider, project manager for Cal Trout, said the organization similarly approached the agreement with caution, with fish agencies initially not involved in the talks.

He said the agreement will be durable into the future, and said the groups worked with the technical advisory group for the proposed structure that he said “will offer reliable fish passage,” and ensure the flows protect both salmonids and the ecosystem in general.

Also in the agreement, the water users will pay $750,000 a year to the Round Valley Indian Tribes to be moved to a restoration fund for the river. Schneider said this “critical” funding will bring restoration and will allow agencies to leverage state and federal funds.

Alicia Hamann, director of Friends of the Eel River, an organization formed to remove the dams, said, “This agreement is really important because it commits those former opponents of dam removal to supporting dam removal. And in exchange, Eel River stakeholders are supporting ecologically appropriate diversion.”

She said the diversions are improved from the status quo, as they’re seasonal, and said the organization feels confident the flow schedule will protect habitat on the Eel. She called for the monitoring plans to explicitly protect summer steelhead. The Wiyot Tribe submitted a letter of support to the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors for the agreement.

Vivian Helliwell, for the Humboldt Fishermen’s Marketing Association, called for the restoration funding to be paired with a timely and comprehensive salmon reintroduction plan, leading to a dependable harvestable surplus for fishermen, during public comment.

The Supervisors agreed that the deal was the best Humboldt County could get.

Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson said the trajectory of the agreement “did not look good,” before partnerships were formed; he commended county attorneys for reaching the best possible outcome in the negotiations.

He pointed to the long-standing position of Humboldt County fighting diversions, such as an effort of $25,000 over 100 years ago when the diversion was first proposed.

“It’s true the Russian River basin has received an enormous amount of wealth with no payment and no resources to the basin which was most impacted and the people most impacted. That’s changing,” Wilson said, pointing to the transferring of the water rights to the Round Valley Indian Tribes.

Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell said 100 years ago, “we didn’t agree to any kind of diversions, and ultimately the best outcome for the Eel River would be not even to have the high water diversions. But I think this is the best outcome that we can move forward with right now,” for the Eel River health.

Fifth District Supervisor Steve Madrone agreed, describing it as the best agreement they could get at this time, and said, “I look forward to the end of the dam age.”

First District Supervisor Rex Bohn said he’s found himself agreeing with people he usually doesn’t agree with — and likes everyone is saying, “this is the best we can get.”

(Eureka Times-Standard/Ukiah Daily Journal)

LOCAL EVENTS (this weekend)

SATURDAY PROTEST

This Saturday—July 26th!

Weekly Protests: Stand Up For Our Rights

Saturdays, 11am to 12noon

Main Street, sidewalk in front of Guest House Museum, 343 N. Main St., Fort Bragg

Bring non-perishable food donations for the FB Food Bank, we'll deliver.

Each Saturday at 11 am! This is a peaceful protest. We're gathering to say NO to the erosion of civil rights and human rights and the loss of critical government functions. NO to unconstitutional deportations. NO to the destruction of social security. NO to authoritarianism! YES! to democracy & rule of law. Please stay on the sidewalk and avoid blocking entrances, exits, or traffic. Bring a sign, a friend, and your enthusiasm! And when you can, spend a little money at our local downtown businesses. We will keep up this joyful resistance until the rule of law is restored and the assault on the US Constitution ends. Our home-made signs are stellar - bring 'em on - they are a hallmark of our protests.

SEA URCHIN REMOVAL SATURDAY IN CASPAR

by Lin Due

Those comfortable in the ocean can help beat back the overpopulation of purple sea urchins, which dine on bull kelp, wreaking havoc on one of the state’s most important ecosystems.

According to the California Ocean Protection Council, the urchins had a heyday from 2014-2019, decimating 95% of the bull kelp forests off the Mendocino coast. Kelp forests are vital habitat for many species of fish and invertebrates.

But concerted removal efforts are now showing fruit — and Caspar Cove advocates are asking the public to join in a July sea urchin removal dive.

“We’ll be removing overabundant purple sea urchins to give our kelp forests the chance to thrive again,” the Caspar Cove Project said, “Whether you’re snorkeling, freediving, or SCUBA diving, every effort makes a real difference in protecting our coastal ecosystems.”

The event takes place Saturday, July 26 at Caspar Cove, any time during daylight hours. Contact Pete Guinosso at [email protected] for more information.

ELK FIRE DEPARTMENT BBQ THIS SATURDAY

Hello, friends and neighbors. I hope your calendars are marked and you're planning to come out for one of the of the best BBQs on the coast this Saturday, July 26, from noon to 4:00 p.m.

The Elk Volunteer Fire Department, one of the best all-volunteer fire, rescue and ambulance crews in the county, is getting ready to serve you at its 19th Annual Summer BBQ at the Greenwood Community Center on Highway 1 in downtown Elk. Join them as they celebrate 69 years of service to the community.

Enjoy grilled tri-tip, chicken and polenta & mushroom ragu entrÃ©es plus salad, baked beans, garlic bread, cake and coffee, all for $30 for adults and $15 for kids 7-12 (6 and under are free). Soft drinks, beer, wine, gin & tonics and Elk's famous margaritas will be available. There will be live music by Bryn and Blue Souls, a special performance by Mendo Taiko, a raffle, a silent auction, and EVFD hats, t-shirts & sweatshirts for sale. Kids can enjoy a portable pond and a bounce house. Raffle tickets are available at the Matson Mercantile, the Elk Garage, and at the BBQ for $2 each or 6 for $10. No need to be present to win.

Show up and support these local firefighters. The annual BBQ is their only fundraiser, with proceeds used to maintain the department's facilities, vehicles, and equipment; provide ongoing training; and update the firefighters' protective gear. Remember - through mutual aid, the emergency they respond to next may be yours!

Questions? Contact Sarah Penrod at 707-877-1607.

We hope to see you and your families, but not the doggies!

For more information and photos, visit: https://www.elkweb.org/fire-department-summer-bbq-2025/

ART ON THE LAWN at Mendocino Art Center this Saturday

Art on the Lawn celebrates community, art, music, and fun in a collaboration with the Mendocino Art Center. This invitational showing and sale of original art comes from jewelers, painters, printmakers. collagists, ceramic artists, and more, created by your own friends and neighbors! Check out the art and good vibes, including live music from Angie Hienman of the Blushin Roulettes! Saturday July 26, from 11am to 5pm at the MAC gallery entrance, 45200 Little Lake St. in Mendocino.

Sandy Oppenheimer, [email protected]

SILENT BOOK CLUB

A Reading Community

Are you a reader who dreams of reading in public with other readers? Are you having trouble finding time to read, or just want to be in community with other readers? Are you, perhaps, an introvert who likes people in small doses? Join Ukiah Branch Library staff as we host our first Silent Book Club on Saturday, August 9 at 3 p.m. We will have a brief check-in, settle down to read for an hour, and enjoy tea and cookies.

This free event is open to adults aged 18+ and is sponsored by the Ukiah Valley Friends of the Library and Mendocino County Library.

Please contact the Ukiah Branch Library at 707-463-4490 or [email protected] for more information.

LOCAL ANNIVERSARIES

The AV Historical Society and the AV Villages, invites you to an afternoon of music, memories, and community at the Little Red School House Museum on Sunday, August 17, 2025, at 1:00 PM.

This year’s event celebrates two milestones:

The 50th Anniversary of The Coyote Cowboys

The 45th Anniversary of the AV Historical Society’s very first event (Held on July 4, 1980, where the Coyote Cowboys were part of the inaugural event)

Cowboy Lunch: Hot dogs fresh off the BBQ, salads, chips, dessert, and drinks will be served from 1:00-2:00PM.

Free for AV Historical Society members | $5 for non-members.

Thanks to Julia Brock, we’ll have a looping video presentation highlighting the history of the Coyote Cowboys and the museum’s inaugural event. Additional memorabilia displays will be featured in the Rose Room.

Music begins at 2:00 PM. Bring your toe-tapping boots (or dancing shoes) and enjoy an afternoon of live tunes!

PRODUCE & PANTRY SHARE

Free Food at the Ukiah Library

The Yokayo Seed Project is hosting a Produce & Pantry Share on the last Saturday of August, September, and October from 2 to 4 p.m. Bring your surplus, homegrown produce, or non-perishable pantry goods to share. Prevent food waste and feed the community!

Here’s how it works:

Community members bring their surplus homegrown produce or non-perishable, non-expired, unopened pantry items to the library. Everyone is invited to visit the library during the event to pick up the free produce and food to take home.

The produce and pantry shares will take place on the following dates from 2 to 4 p.m.: August 30, September 27, and October 25.

These events are sponsored by the Ukiah Valley Friends of the Library and the Mendocino County Library. For more information, please visit www.mendolibrary.org or contact the Ukiah Branch at 707-463-4490.

ANOTHER E-BAY POSTCARD OF SEMI-LOCAL INTEREST (via Marshall Newman) Abalone near Fort Bragg, circa 1940

CATCH OF THE DAY, Thursday, July 24, 2025

RICHARD JOHNSON, 57, Ukiah. DUI.

LESA KRAMER, 60, Kelseyville/Ukiah. DUI.

FRANK ONETO, 51, Ukiah. Concentrated cannabis, parole violation.

MARK PALLEY, 52, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, probation violation.

SAMUEL SIERRA, 35, Ukiah. Paraphernalia, county parole violation, probation revocation.

LUCERO VAZQUEZ-RODRIGUEZ, 41, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

TIFFINY WARE, 45, Willits. Suspended license for refusing chemical DUI test, failure to appear.

MELISSA WARNER, 42, Fort Bragg. DUI.

FRED GARDNER: Gorbachev

To: Adam Mintz:

Thanks very much for recommending Werner Herzog’s Gorbachev film.

I flashed on Dennis Peron saying goodbye on the last night of the SFCBC in ‘98. He saw how Prop 215 was being disimplemented, and what lay ahead for the movement, “But for one brief, shining moment,” he said, "there was the San Francisco Cannabis Buyers Club.”

The lesson of history is: they don’t let the people win. (Not to mention that Galicean who they crucified).

Here’s two pieces re Gorbachev:

https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/05/19/irrefutable-proof-russian-election-meddling-documented/

https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/2btfpiwkwid6fq6qrokcg/home/how-harvard-lost-russia

ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

I started construction at 15 during summer breaks. It's all about labor costs and money. Every contractor I ever did business with decried they couldn't make money while miraculously driving the newest pick up trucks and houses while the workers struggled with payments on their pos used trucks and a double wide. Then the good times ended as real wages never kept up and illegals would work for far less. The good hard workers left the trades, and contractors would complain about American workers being lazy. Capitalism turns out to be one way. Labor doesn't go up with demand as long as you can cheat by hiring illegals. The last laugh will be on everyone else with the coming AI robotics replacing degreed workers.

JAIL THE BOSS, NOT THE WORKER

Editor:

Let’s be honest. If the federal government were really interested in going after people or corporations who were breaking the law and encouraging undocumented workers to risk their lives to enter the country, they would enforce the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and go after employers who hire undocumented immigrants. Only a handful of individuals and no companies face criminal charges for violating that law each year.

Agriculture and the hospitality and construction industries would have us believe American citizens won’t do that work but Cesar Chavez knew better when he opposed using undocumented workers in the fields. He saw them as scabs who were brought in to break the back of the union that was fighting for better wages and working conditions. Though it is legal for undocumented people to file complaints about being cheated or mistreated, how many are going to do that and draw attention to themselves, particularly under the present circumstances?

Both Democrats and Republicans have turned a blind eye for decades, and now the Trump administration is stumbling over itself to carry out its vendetta. Perhaps they could bring in white South Africans to do the work.

Richard Bloom

Cotati

CAVEAT LECTOR

Dear Friends of Caveat Lector,

249 years after our nation's birth-quake, after all the protests, marches, lynchings, bloodshed, wars (domestic and foreign), civil rights progress, and we end up with THIS??? A cabal of hucksters, thugs, carnival barkers and jackboot authoritarians hijacking the nation's soul and rhythm? Oh brother, oh sister. Best to tighten your seatbelts, it's going to be a long and bumpy ride.

Meanwhile…

Our new issue of Caveat Lector continues our mission of presenting adventurous and provocative work to enlighten and inspire our readers, even in the darkest of times. In the vein of pleasing ourselves, pushing back against the rising floodwaters and having our say no matter how early it gets late out there, we present to you this latest assemblage of art, essay, fiction, poetry, photography and theater.

This issue's fiction entries confront the exasperations of our current age, like that guy at the bar who just won't stop spouting idiocy in John Cody Bennett's “An Audience of One,” or the unwelcome passengers in Steven Hill's short-short “The Train Seat Next to Me.” Stories that enter more surreal territory include Ho Lin's “Fame," in which an old man with a faulty memory discovers he may or may not be a person of note, and Patrick Sweeney's "Empathology," which finds a group of test subjects rebelling against their benefactors.

Caveat Lector editor Jonah Raskin’s “My Symmetrical Life" is a revealing and introspective reflection about his life, art and politics, from his 1960s anarchist days to tenured professor, and the learned humility that comes with recognizing one’s own personal contradictions.

In this issue we have new poetry, from calls for renewal (Stella Brice’s "The Resurgence," Kathleen Hellen's "bird woman" and James Croal Jackson’s "it’s happening new series of birds") to bemused musings on the state of modern living (Joseph Serra's four prose poems), to Jonah Raskin’s moody Morrison-like "A Night in LA" and John Cody Bennett’s "Audience of One." Caveat Lector principal Steven Hill’s epic horror poem, “Passage Through the 21st of the Centuries (As We Count These Things),” winds inside a Dantean cave haunted by historical chapters of human fragility to arrive at this fearful populist moment of Trumpian proportions. Also we have new poems from Mary-Marcia Casoly and Royal Rhodes.

Speaking of The Age of Trump, we also are publishing Caveat Lector co-founder Christopher Bernard’s adaptation and mammoth reimagining of Alfred Jarry’s epic absurdist classic Ubu Roi: Ubu Triumphant!, a “farce in five fits,” which demonstrates that the Absurdists have something to say about our, well, absurd state.

Speaking of the end of civilization, we would be remiss not to announce that in October, Regent Press will be reissuing Christopher Bernard's debut experimental novel, A Spy in the Ruins, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its publication. You won’t find many apocalypses (and deconstructions) more engrossing. Christopher’s story received high praise a generation ago, being called by one critic “an invasion of Joycean territory,” and included this gem from Juan Goytisolo, author of Count Julian and The Blind Rider and winner of the Miguel de Cervantes Award: “Magnificent … the best American novel I have read since those of Thomas Pynchon and William Gass.”

That’s all folksies, until the next time. We are grateful for our readers and contributors, and we hope and pray that everyone is surviving these perilous times and the worrying news from perilous places near and far. Please send us your own creative musings for the next issue (submission link here). Let us write together, let us amuse, inspire and conspire, during the days and months ahead.

Yours,

Christopher Bernard, Ho Lin, Jonah Raskin and Steven Hill

The Editors

Caveat Lector

“All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since.”

― Ernest Hemingway

ESTHER MOBLEY: What I’m Reading

The Chronicle’s J.K. Dineen has a fascinating story on the changing look of San Francisco nightlife. With the city’s 20-somethings drinking less alcohol, their partying habits look different from those of previous generations. Fewer cocktails, more open-mic nights and art galleries. This is part of a larger series that the Chronicle is doing about aging in the Bay Area; I encourage you to check it out.

A Napa Valley winery has sued its neighbor for planting redwood trees that are “like dropping a bunker buster bomb” on the grapevines, the winery’s owner told Sarah Neish in the Drinks Business.

There’s still plenty of time for a Labor Day heat wave, but so far this summer has been remarkably mild in Wine Country, report Tarini Mehta and Madison Smalstig in the Press Democrat. It’s a promising sign for wine quality.

AMERICAN IDIOT

by Billie Joe Armstrong (2004)

Don't wanna be an American idiot Don't want a nation under the new mania And can you hear the sound of hysteria The subliminal mind fuck America Welcome to a new kind of tension All across the alien nation Where everything isn't meant to be okay Television dreams of tomorrow We're not the ones meant to follow For that's enough to argue Maybe I am the faggot America I'm not a part of a redneck agenda Now everybody do the propaganda And sing along to the age of paranoia Welcome to a new kind of tension All across the alien nation Everything isn't meant to be okay Television dreams of tomorrow We're not the ones meant to follow For that's enough to argue Don't want to be an American idiot One nation controlled by the media Information age of hysteria Calling out to idiot America Welcome to a new kind of tension All across the alien nation Everything isn't meant to be okay Television dreams of tomorrow We're not the ones meant to follow For that's enough to argue

DISCOVERY INSTITUTE APPLAUDS PRESIDENT TRUMP'S BOLD ACTION ON HOMELESSNESS

"This is a decisive step toward dramatically reducing homelessness across the United States," says Robert Marbut, former Executive Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness under both the Trump and Biden administrations, and Senior Fellow with the Institute's long running Fix Homelessness initiative focused on the root causes of homelessness.

This Executive Order initiates the rollback of the federal government's failed, one-size-fits-all Housing First mandate — an experimental approach that has led to a 34% rise in homelessness since its implementation by the Obama administration. The most recent Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR), issued by the Biden Administration in December 2024, revealed that unsheltered "street-level" homelessness is rising at a pace that would double the crisis every 5-6 years without urgent reform.

"President Trump understands what frontline providers and communities have long understood that the homelessness crisis is not just about housing," says Marbut. "Lasting solutions must address the underlying root causes of homelessness, including addiction, untreated mental illness, and, for many women, the trauma of domestic violence."

By rejecting the failed orthodoxy of permanent housing with no requirements for sobriety or engagement, President Trump is championing a more compassionate, effective approach — one that supports recovery, employment, and long-term independence. Discovery Institute applauds the President's commitment to offering real opportunities for individuals to rebuild their lives — physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

For more information on real solutions to the national homelessness crisis, read our report prepared for Congress.

(Discovery Institute is a non-profit educational and research organization whose mission is to advance a culture of purpose, creativity, and innovation with programs in areas such as economics, education, technology, bioethics, and artificial intelligence.)

Source: Discovery Institute

EXPLOSIVE NEW DETAILS EMERGE ABOUT NORTHERN CALIFORNIA-SHOT LEO DICAPRIO FILM

"One Battle After Another" is slated for release Sept. 26

by Amanda Bartlett

An explosive new trailer for the highly anticipated Leonardo DiCaprio movie shot throughout Northern and Central California dropped Thursday morning, revealing a first glimpse at new characters and more of the familiar locale where some of the most action-packed scenes were filmed.

Just two months away from its theatrical release, Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, “One Battle After Another,” is reportedly the highest-budget project of the Oscar-nominated director’s career at over $140 million. It’s also almost assuredly a modern-day adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s Reagan-era novel “Vineland.” (Anderson has long been a fan of the writer, adapting his work previously in the 2014 stoner mystery thriller starring Joaquin Phoenix, “Inherent Vice.”)

Set to Beyonce’s “Freedom,” the trailer shifts between the characters’ past and present lives. It opens on DiCaprio’s Bob, who is seen tinkering with an explosive, beside a fellow vigilante and the mother of his child (Teyana Taylor). The trailer then cuts to Bob 16 years later: a washed-up revolutionary whose daughter (Chase Infiniti) has been kidnapped by Col. Steven Lockjaw (in Sean Penn’s first appearance as the character), who is determined to track Bob’s family down and make them pay for their past. To rescue his child, Bob is forced to return to his revolutionary roots, enlisting the help of a martial arts expert portrayed by Benicio Del Toro, who might have the most memorable quote of the trailer.

“You know what freedom is?” he says to DiCaprio as they hop into a getaway car and hurtle over the dunes of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. “No fear. Just like Tom Cruise.”

The political thriller with a darkly comedic edge started filming in January of 2024, and it’s packed with local filming locations: Helicopters fly over the redwood trees of Humboldt County. Police cars race across Sacramento’s Tower Bridge, and Lockjaw is awarded with a medal of honor inside the Sacramento County Superior Court House as other characters slink past unseen.

Anderson’s last film was his 2021 love letter to Los Angeles, “Licorice Pizza.” It starred musician and breakout actress Alana Haim, who has been confirmed as part of the cast for “One Battle After Another,” but has notably yet to be revealed. The film also stars Wood Harris and Regina Hall, who recently raved about the script and cast in an interview with People earlier this month.

“I was incredibly curious: ‘What is this movie? ’” she told the outlet. “… There’s a lot of laughter, strong messaging, humor, wit.”

In a separate interview at CinemaCon in Las Vegas earlier in April, DiCaprio himself called it “an incredibly epic movie” that “has such scope and scale,” adding that he had waited over 20 years to work with Anderson.

“A lot of writer-directors are incredibly rigid, but his ability to work with actors is so unique,” he said.

The film is slated for release in IMAX theaters nationwide on Sept. 26, 2025.

Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQUPdVxZNPk

'HAS HELL FROZEN OVER?': LAS VEGAS TOURISM IS IN TROUBLE

Is Las Vegas becoming too expensive for a middle class traveler to enjoy anymore?

by Alex Schechter

In early March, Anthony Curtis, the publisher of the long-running Las Vegas Advisor, noticed that Station Casinos had a startling promotion going: $5.99 for a cheeseburger and fries. He found the deal appealing but out of character for Las Vegas, and he promptly announced in his newsletter: “Has hell frozen over?”

The way he saw it, if a consortium of casinos such as Station (typically laser focused on profit margins, like most businesses in town) was willing to bring prices down, it could be a sign that the casinos were hungry for customers.

He wasn’t far from the truth.

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According to Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority data, the first four months of this year showed a decrease in the overall number of visitors. Mark Wayman, a recruiter for executives in the gaming and casino industries, told Business Insider in May that Las Vegas bookings through the summer are “the worst I’ve ever seen.”

Air traffic into Harry Reid International Airport is also trending downward, as domestic travel for the first half of 2025 was down 4% compared to last year.

Tourism trouble in Las Vegas is no surprise. Last year, an economics professor from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, predicted “a slow contraction” through 2026. “Gross gaming revenue over time will likely return to pre-pandemic trends, as savings and discretionary income return to where they were before the pandemic, adjusted for higher wages and inflation,” Stephen Miller, the director of research for the Center for Business and Economic Research, told CDC Gaming. Meanwhile, tariffs and inflation spurred by the Trump administration continue to stoke concerns about a recession, which would impact the consumer-driven Las Vegas early before hitting other major cities.

As reports point to a general slowdown in tourism for Las Vegas, some are quick to place the blame on inflation and political unrest. Or could it be that tourists have simply gotten tired of overspending?

It’s not uncommon these days to hear visitors grumble about the shameless price markups and ever-increasing add-ons, or what Curtis refers to as “the gouge.” In December, MGM Resorts made headlines when it raised resort fees across its properties — for the second time in a year. Last month, a guest at the Flamingo discovered that the hotel was allowing guests to check in early for an extra $60 — and that’s on top of what they already paid to book the room. His tweet about it went viral.

“This is why we just sleep in the car,” one Reddit user commented in response to increased resort fees.

Insiders, however, said that blips such as these are simply part of Las Vegas’ evolution. “This market is more adaptable than others out there,” noted Jeremy Aguero, a lead analyst at a local research firm. “You can find $8.99 steak and eggs and also $100 steak dinners.” (He’s referring to a popular breakfast special at Village Pub.)

It’s true that Vegas has always operated on a “something for everyone” ethos; in Aguero’s opinion, the city remains just as welcoming to those who can afford the $100 steak dinner — and $55 resort fees — as it is to those who can’t.

This elasticity — the higher highs and lower lows— are arguably part of Las Vegas’ charm. What’s off-putting for some is the increased focus now on the higher end of that spectrum. For instance, an average ticket to Adele’s residency at Caesars Palace last year hovered around $1,000. And with the introduction of Formula 1 racing on the Strip in 2023, access to the fabled Paddock Club suites cost $25,000. Even tickets to a Raiders game are some of the priciest in the league.

Ross Mollison, the founder of Spiegelworld, the company that’s behind some of the Strip’s edgiest shows, said, “Five-star resorts are over 40% of the market for ‘Absinthe.’” While “Absinthe” tickets generally go for around $200, Mollison was quick to point out that it’s possible to find deals that bring the price closer to $50.

As Las Vegas continues its summer slump, deals are getting easier to find. MGM Resorts is currently running a Room & Show promotion: Book any stay and receive two complimentary tickets to a show. Across town, Circa’s All-In package offers two nights for $400, with a $200 dining credit (counting the food and drink, that’s basically $100 a night). Wynn’s Fourth of July sale promoted a similar deal.

So which is it? Are travelers shunning Vegas because it’s too expensive? Or is the slowdown actually causing prices to come down? As always in Vegas, it depends where you look.

Success Off The Strip

Over the years, downtown Las Vegas, an area several miles north of the Strip that includes the Arts District and Fremont Street, has proven to be a viable alternative, thanks to lower hotel rates and an abundance of restaurants, nightlife and entertainment options.

“It’s got that older Vegas feel,” Aguero said.

Indeed, many of the classic properties lining Fremont Street — places such as Four Queens, Binion’s and Golden Nugget — have free parking, and the resort fee is either low or nonexistent. And while the volume of hotel rooms downtown is much smaller than the Strip (around 6,000 compared to around 85,000), the district claims over half the visitation for Las Vegas as a whole, per the LVCVA.

The Fremont Street Experience, a five-block promenade that’s covered by the world’s largest LED canopy screen, has a zipline and free live concerts, and it sits near two key Vegas attractions: the Mob Museum and the Neon Museum. Anyone looking to let loose, hit the slots and enjoy some kind of spectacle — typical selling points for a trip to Vegas — will be pleased to know you can do all of that downtown, minus “the gouge.”

The numbers appear to agree: While Vegas has seen less visitors overall this year, visits to Fremont Street rose by 6%, said Andrew Simon, the president and CEO of the Fremont Street Experience.

Fremont Street’s main attraction is Viva Vision, Sin City’s answer to Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: an overhead canopy of screen entertainment that spans over 1,500 feet and includes more than 12 million LED lights. Thanks to the Oscar-winning film “Anora,” Fremont Street has never been more widely known. The digital ceiling glimmers during a now-iconic scene that encapsulates the glitz of Las Vegas.

Fremont Street is gradually becoming an outdoor destination for events. In April, it hosted a Wrestlemania with appearances by Carmelo Hayes and Michin. Thousands of fans turned up to watch the live wrestlers compete in a video game that was broadcast in 2K resolution on the overhead canopy. The next day, the ’80s band Living Color played to an audience of around 8,000. All of it was free.

Of course, Fremont may not be everyone’s cup of tea. It’s loud, garish and does nothing to hide the fact that you’re essentially walking through a glorified mall. But with its row of iconic casinos such as Golden Nugget and El Cortez, which date back to the ’40s and ’50s, it is, in many ways, more authentically Las Vegas than the Strip. Never mind that you have access to the Arts District (home to excellent spots such as Esther’s Kitchen, Soulbelly BBQ and Velveteen Rabbit), where you can enjoy a meal or a cocktail that’s just as good, if not better, than anything on the Strip — for half the price.

The trouble is, many travelers won’t abandon the imagined idea of Las Vegas that exists in their heads. That’s partly due to media representations, but it’s also due to an unwillingness to look beyond the obvious, familiar sights.

“People see ‘Ocean’s Eleven,’ and they want to stay at the Bellagio,” Curtis said. He admits that with the exception of Circa, there’s little downtown to match the grandeur of a place like Caesars Palace. But with the grandeur comes “the gouge.” And as long as folks are willing to pay those higher resort fees, casinos will feel entitled to keep grabbing. “It’s hard to feel sorry for the people who continue to feed it,” he said.

The average traveler likely expects some shameless gouging but within limitations. The only ride that someone should feel like they’re being taken on in Las Vegas is the roller coaster at New York-New York — though at $25 a pop, even something as harmless as a casino side attraction starts to feel a bit gouge-y. (For comparison, a ride on Coney Island’s Cyclone in New York City is 10 bucks.)

At the same time, travelers should consider that there’s more to Las Vegas than the Bellagio fountains and $25 cocktails. It’s still entirely possible to visit the city, see a show, book a nice room and have money left over for gambling. In some ways, you can have your cheeseburger and eat it too.

(DailyMail.uk)

STAND BY!

Lulu Schwartz is preparing administration of a severe lesson in North Beach manners to Aaron Peskin and Nancy "Jack O'Lantern" Shanahan.

Nobody will be harmed or even threatened physically.

Defensive chemical sprays will not be deployed.

Nevertheless, it will be made clear to Jeremy "Rotten" Fish, Fatty Zooboy, and Teague "Carpetbagger" Kernan that there is one rule for survival in North Buchenwald: Don't mess with Lulu.

One would think that humans would grasp that Lulu's extensive involvement with GRU, CIA, FBI, NSA, DIA, Mossad, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is a logical incentive to leaving Lulu alone.

Apparently not.

Sadly, this is not, at this time, intended to be a spectator spectacle.

Nevertheless, residents are encouraged to review the 2024 Lulu Gymnastics featuring the late Felice Antonio Francavilla and the former local champion termagant, Cameron Leigh Evans.

Here is a brief publicity video from that event: https://photos.app.goo.gl/3w9SagVZHUYa2vnYA

Welcome to the Rave.

Lulu Schwartz

Washington DC

"I WAS AN ARMY NURSE in Vietnam 1969-70, part of the 18th Surgical Hospital in Quang Tri, close to the DMZ. I went over right after nurses training. I didn’t have any experience. I think for some of us, we wondered if we were even in the right profession. I didn’t know anything about emergency room nursing. I had no idea what war nursing was about. I had no idea what it looked like to be mutilated in that kind of action.

We were all kids. I was just 22 years old. I'm a mother of three boys now. I had my boys living in my house when they were twenty-two. They couldn't even make their own beds."

— Nurse Marsha Four

WELCOME TO AFGHANISTAN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tivQXJ468Zw

LEAD STORIES, FRIDAY'S NYT

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Gazans Are Dying of Starvation

France Will Recognize Palestinian Statehood, Macron Says

Israel and the U.S. Pull Back From Talks With Hamas

Hulk Hogan, Shirt-Shredding Superstar of Pro Wrestling, Dies at 71

GAZA IS STARVING

“There is no one in Gaza now outside the scope of famine, not even myself,” said Dr. Ahmed al-Farra, who leads the pediatric ward at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza. “I am speaking to you as a health official, but I, too, am searching for flour to feed my family.”

The World Food Program, an arm of the United Nations, said this week that the hunger crisis in Gaza had reached “new and astonishing levels of desperation, with a third of the population not eating for multiple days in a row.”

Dr. al-Farra said the number of children dying of malnutrition had risen sharply in recent days. He described harrowing scenes of people too exhausted to walk. Many of the children he sees have no pre-existing medical conditions, he said, giving the example of Siwar Barbaq, who was born healthy and now, at 11 months old, should weigh about 20 pounds but is under nine pounds.

— NYT

FROM US HEGEMONY TO A ‘WAR OF ALL AGAINST ALL’

by Boris Kagarlitsky

First published in Russian at Spichka and Rabkor. Translation and introduction by Dmitry Pozhidaev for LINKS International Journal of Socialist Renewal.

This article is based on a series of letters sent by Boris Kagarlitsky from a Russian penal colony, where he is serving a 5-year prison sentence on politically motivated charges for his outspoken opposition to the war in Ukraine and the policies of the Russian government. Despite the severe restrictions imposed on political prisoners, Boris has continued to write and analyse global developments, including Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

The letters, sent in fragments over the course of several weeks, starting in early May, were compiled and edited into a single article by Spichka¹ and Rabkor.² The resulting text — written without internet access and under conditions of censorship — offers a sharp and often ironic reflection on the political and systemic dynamics behind Trump’s return to power. It was prepared and published in Russian jointly by Spichka and Rabkor after being sent back to Boris for revision and approval.

Trump’s trump cards

After his first 100 days in office, Trump registered the lowest presidential approval rating in US history since such measurements began. The number of dissatisfied citizens surged, while voter support dwindled. But the president and his inner circle remained undeterred, insisting that the US people would eventually recognise the accomplishments of his administration. To many observers, the situation appeared to be a triumph of arrogance and incompetence. Yet, even if one accepts such assessments, a fundamental question arises.

How did such incompetent people come to lead the world’s greatest power?

In reality, it was Trump’s opponents who paved his way to power. For at least a decade and a half, starting with the 2008–10 economic crisis, when the flaws of neoliberal capitalism became fully exposed, US ruling circles (and to some extent Europe’s as well) invested enormous effort in preventing the emergence of any constructive alternative to the existing system. All political forces, particularly those on the left that were pushing for overdue and necessary reforms, were systematically marginalised or else corrupted and co-opted in exchange for abandoning any serious struggle for power.

One must admit that Bernie Sanders and his supporters in the US resigned themselves to this situation and essentially started playing to lose, as if engaged in a game where defeat was the condition for participation. As a result, the only remaining alternative consisted of irresponsible, incompetent and uncooperative figures characterised as “loudmouths who could never actually come to power.” At first, this was so obvious that no one took their shouting seriously. Even Trump’s first presidency between 2016-20 failed to teach the establishment any lessons. What happened was not viewed as a systemic threat but a random glitch, one successfully corrected without serious consequences.4 After all, in 2020, Trump lost the election and left the White House, having fulfilled virtually none of his promises.

Meanwhile, the situation continued to evolve, and not in the establishment’s favour. Regardless of what TV commentators, experts, intellectuals and political consultants had to say, the system’s internal contradictions revealed themselves, and unresolved problems kept accumulating, laying the groundwork for a new crisis, this time a political one.

Problems piled up, but no one solved them. Hence, a new political crisis

In 2024, the Democrats lost the election not because Trump’s ideas had become more convincing, but because the liberal establishment had worn out even its own supporters. At the last moment, realising the threat, the establishment tried to mobilise voters by scaring them with the horrors that would follow a Trump victory. But by then, the public’s disgust and contempt for the old political class, combined with the demoralisation of the moderate middle, had outweighed even the fear of a Trumpist experiment. The voters who could have stopped Trump simply did not show up. Some even voted Republican out of spite — after all, with Trump, at least things would be entertaining.

And the fun began.

THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON -- Episode 0534 -- Pictured: (l-r) Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump during an interview with host Jimmy Fallon on September 15, 2016 -- (Photo by: Andrew Lipovsky/NBC)

The sociology of Trumpism

Trump’s first hundred days in office were marked by a surprising urgency, as the new administration, without much deliberation, immediately laid all its cards on the table. This rapid-fire assault brought not so much significant change as it did sheer chaos. But an obvious question arises:

Why is Trump in such a hurry? And more importantly — where is he rushing to?

Imposing tariffs on uninhabited islands or firing thousands of civil servants based on formal criteria without evaluating their actual performance — one could chalk all this up to administrative incompetence. Or blame it on the president’s impulsiveness and emotional instability. But the reasons go much deeper.

Like any populist coalition, Trump’s electorate is highly heterogeneous, uniting social groups with diverging (and at times, contradictory) interests. Such a coalition can function as long as it remains in opposition; its cohesion held together by shared protest against the existing power structure, even if the sources of discontent differ greatly from group to group. But once in power, and faced with the task of making real policy decisions, it becomes clear that some parts of the movement benefit from those decisions, while others not so much, and many more actually end up worse off.

Whatever Trump may say about reviving US industry, his working-class supporters are more likely to face a new wave of inflation than new job opportunities — further impoverishing already struggling households.

The Trumpist bloc is bound to unravel

Such disintegration is inevitable even if certain aspects of Trump’s policies “work” in the short term.5 Which is why it is crucial for him to push through major, irreversible changes as quickly as possible — while his supporters remain united and his opponents are still disoriented, demoralised and lacking a coherent agenda that might appeal to parts of his base.

The problem is that the urgency to act has forced Trump to simultaneously pursue what should have been done sequentially. For instance, his conflict with Western Europe escalated even before the war in Ukraine could be resolved (a task that, in any case, cannot be accomplished without European cooperation). The crackdown on immigration and the assault on social and cultural norms established in defence of women and middle-class minorities also began at the same time, triggering a cascade of scandals. In this context, a clash with the judiciary, though ultimately inevitable, occurred prematurely and tactically misfired. This was followed by confrontations with Mexico and Canada. The result is administrative chaos, wherein the president and his team repeatedly find themselves retreating, delaying implementation, and rescheduling their initiatives.6

Trump has created a new incentive for opposition mobilisation

By attempting a political blitzkrieg, Trump laid all his cards on the table far too early — cards that he might have kept as trumps in the future. Rather than exploiting the demoralisation and passivity of his opponents, he inadvertently gave them a new reason to organise.

Mass protests against the deportation of undocumented immigrants, starting in Los Angeles and sweeping across all major and many smaller US cities on June 14, 2025, demonstrated the enormous potential of a renewed opposition.7 Of course, these protests did not and could not bring about immediate political change, but they clearly show that a mass constituency is emerging across the country, one that is ready to unite and take action. The question is: who will organise these people, and how will they be guided into a serious political struggle?

The chaos Trump unleashed alienates the wavering, but consolidates his core base

Still, it is too early to declare his policies a failure. The chaos and fights stirred by Trump actions may repel undecided voters but, at an emotional level, they might also reinforce the cohesion of his core base. More importantly, the elitism and social deafness of the liberal opposition make it nearly impossible for many disillusioned Trump voters, especially working-class ones, to cross over, even if they come to feel betrayed by his policies.

Such a new political mobilisation would require not just a strong left-wing movement, but one that has freed itself from the ideological chains of political correctness and is prepared to act not as an ally of liberalism, but as an independent political force with its own face and agenda. So far, no such movement has emerged. But the US left still has time to reflect on the lessons of its defeats in 2016, 2020 and 2024.

The Political Economy Of Trumpism

When I used the term Trumpism in one of my earlier articles, some of my colleagues questioned its accuracy. Dmitry Pozhidaev,8 for example, remarked that “anything ending in ‘-ism’ implies a relatively coherent and consistent system — something that cannot be said of Trump or his administration.” And indeed, when we look at the electorate of the current US president, we see a glaring contradiction between the interests and expectations of Rust Belt9 workers on the one hand, and billionaire “technocrats” such as Elon Musk on the other.

However, if we examine Trump’s decisions from the standpoint of political economy, we find actions that are in fact quite logical and consistent — at least in terms of the interests of US capital, or more precisely, the segment of it facing declining profitability and shrinking markets. “In that sense,” Pozhidaev concedes, “Trump’s policies may well deserve the ‘-ism’ suffix (though I suspect Trump himself is unaware of this).”

Trump seeks to forcibly correct the global economic imbalances that built up over the past thirty years

In short, Trumpism represents a policy of coercive redistribution of the disproportions in global capitalism that have accumulated over the past three decades and led to the Great Recession of 2007–09. At that time, the crisis was simply “drenched in money” without eliminating its structural causes. As a result, the imbalances continued to grow, and the system continued to malfunction. We are now confronted with the prospect of a new crisis, potentially even more severe.

But since Trump and his team hold conservative views, they also do not propose any structural changes involving the redistribution of resources, authority or power between the private and public sectors, or between labour and capital.

This time, it is not income and benefits being redistributed, but costs and losses

Essentially, the idea is to force other countries to shoulder the main burden of the crisis, thereby relieving the US of it. How that burden is distributed among classes and sectors in other countries is of no concern to Trump. But even within the US, the industrial working class that voted Republican in 2024 is unlikely to gain much: rising prices will not be offset by proportional job growth. British economist Michael Roberts10 has calculated that even in the best-case scenario, Trump’s policy would only raise the share of industrial employment in the US from 8% to 9%.

As Pozhidaev puts it, “Trump’s tariff policy lacks a developmental logic — it is not targeted at strategic sectors, nor is it backed by investments in innovation or infrastructure. Many of the tariffs apply to goods the US no longer produces — and has no intention of producing.” Hazbi Budunov11 writes much the same: “Trump has tariffs, but no industrial policy.” So, the much-touted revival of the Rust Belt is unlikely to materialise.

Worse still, if Trump does try to use additional resources to strengthen traditional labour-intensive industries, he will trigger a capital shift within the US economy. As Pozhidaev notes, this would occur “at the expense of capital invested in high-tech and financial sectors.” It is clear that Trump is unlikely to take this route, and if he does, he will not pursue it consistently. In any case, such a choice would expose the critical contradiction at the heart of the Trumpist coalition. Most likely, the outcome will be limited to benefits for a few “privileged” firms, while tensions rise among the various groups that supported Trump in 2024. The federal budget might come out ahead, and the US trade deficit could narrow somewhat, but this will only aggravate another contradiction embedded in Trump’s strategy.

What will happen to the dollar?

While lamenting the huge US trade deficit, Trump’s supporters tend to overlook the fact that, in return, the US supplies the global market with its most important and genuinely indispensable export: the world’s reserve currency.

Dollars are far from being mere “green pieces of paper,” as domestic “patriotic economists” such as Mikhail Khazin12 would have us believe. On the contrary, dollars function not only as a means of payment for goods and services purchased by US citizens, but also as a global medium of exchange. For trade between Argentina and Peru, or between Vietnam and Laos, dollars are just as essential as they are for shipping goods from Mexico to the United States.

Through the US trade deficit, the world receives the steady flow of liquidity that the the global system needs to function

Of course, in the 1940s and ’50s, when the US ran a trade surplus, the situation was somewhat different. Back then, the US had to inject dollars into the global economy directly, through aid programs (such as the Marshall Plan), subsidies, military-political agreements and loans, some of which had to be written off later. In that sense, the current setup is arguably “fairer,” at least in that the US now receives actual goods and services in exchange for its dollars.

If Trump’s plan succeeds and the flow of dollars dries up due to the elimination of the trade deficit, the global economy will face a severe liquidity shortage. Multiple scenarios could follow — from the dollar being replaced as the world’s reserve currency to a global crisis that would make not only the 2007–09 Great Recession but even the 1929–32 crash look like child’s play. In any case, the much-anticipated “collapse of the dollar system” long dreamed of by Russian patriots would indeed occur, but it would not just harm Americans. Everyone would suffer. And Russia, as a raw materials exporter, would be among the hardest hit. In fact, some of the consequences for the Russian economy are already becoming visible through declining oil prices, triggered by the economic instability set in motion by Trump.

Trump is dismantling US hegemony — not to replace it with a fairer world order, but to impose US dominance by force

And it is not just that Trump is simultaneously trying to strengthen the US’ trade position while destabilising its currency. Behind this lies an even deeper issue. Trump is in effect dismantling the system of US hegemony, but not in order to replace it with a more equitable and balanced world order. On the contrary, his goal is to replace it with a system of US domination through force: compelling other countries not just to trade resources and goods, but to hand them over to the most powerful predator.

The alternative to US hegemony is a ‘war of all against all’

The system of hegemony entails not only significant benefits for the US, but also numerous obligations and burdens placed on the US state and society. This is precisely the burden Trump seeks to shed in order to “Make America Great Again.” Unfortunately, in today’s global conditions, the alternative to hegemony is not a fairer world order but chaos, what is often for some reason called a “multipolar world” in Russia, but is in fact a “war of all against all”. In a world of chaos, the larger predators simply devour the weaker ones — and even they are not immune from being devoured or at least seriously bitten. It is clear that economic chaos inevitably leads to war. And these would not be the so-called “managed” conflicts fantasised about by conspiracy theorists.

In reality, the collapse of the global economy is not part of Trump’s plan. That is why his new administration in Washington will need to construct at least some system of alliances. But that effort is not going too well either.

Trump’s geopolitics

If we were to briefly summarise the transformation brought about in the global system by Trump’s victory, it would be this: the United States, under Trump, has effectively abandoned its role as global hegemon, not to establish a more democratic and rule-based order, but to replace hegemony with direct, hard domination.

From Trump’s perspective, the burden the US bears to maintain balance and functionality in the world-system is “unfair.” As a result, a unified, rules-based international order is being replaced by a patchwork of bilateral deals, each negotiated ad hoc, without regard for the interests of other parties, and based purely on the balance of power at the given moment. This approach flows logically from Trump’s worldview but, of course, the issue goes far beyond the personality of the 47th president of the United States.

The crisis of US hegemony has been unfolding for a long time, corresponding to the decline of the US share in the global economy. At the same time, the US elite’s inclination toward coercive solutions has steadily grown. And yet now a decisive turning point has arrived. Acknowledging the crisis of hegemony, Trump does not attempt to repair or reform the system. Instead, he proposes to discard the global social contract entirely and return, at a new level, to a “war of all against all”, in which the US, as the largest predator, can extract unilateral gains.

Trump’s approach destabilises the world order

The problem is that this approach inevitably destabilises the global order and creates new risks, including for US interests. Worse still, it raises the possibility that previously hostile actors will begin to unite against a common enemy, which, in this case, would be Trump’s America. One foreseeable consequence is closer ties between Western Europe and China, as both are victims of Trump’s trade wars.

It is safe to assume that the Trump administration is well aware of the risks associated with such a scenario. This is precisely where Russia becomes strategically important. Washington’s policy shift toward rapprochement with Moscow, clearly signaled by the 47th president, is often explained in terms of Trump’s personal sympathies for Vladimir Putin (and, more broadly, for political regimes unburdened by legal, moral or institutional constraints). Even if that is true, there are far more important factors at play.

Russia has the potential to become a bridge between China and Europe, which is exactly what Trump wants to prevent

On the contrary, a Russia that is alienated from Western Europe and reoriented away from China toward the US becomes an ideal partner. A corresponding deal can be struck, one that accommodates Moscow’s ambitions. The only obstacle is that to implement such a scenario, the military conflict in Ukraine would need to end, lifting US obligations and freeing Russia from its growing dependence on China, a trend that has inevitably intensified since 2022.

Trump’s approach involved making demonstrative concessions to Moscow while simultaneously working to exclude Britain and the European Union from the peace process, and blocking any role for China. In essence, both Russia and Ukraine would become hostages of Trump’s America, which alone (outside any legal or institutional framework) would serve as the guarantor against renewed conflict. A full-fledged peace settlement would not be necessary. On the contrary, freezing an unresolved conflict would make both parties dependent on the mediator, who, in turn, would demand a hefty price for its services.

Above all, this price would take the form of access to mineral resources. From the first version of the draft agreement proposed by Trump to Ukraine, it was clear the Trump administration was less concerned with giving US companies access to raw materials (such as rare earth metals) than with ensuring that China and Western Europe did not gain access to them. The project had a distinctly colonial character, and it is no surprise that, even in a weakened state, the [Volodymyr] Zelensky administration in Kyiv initially tried to delay the signing, provoking a scandal in the White House, and eventually secured a modified version of the agreement.

Overall, Trump’s efforts on the Ukraine front turned out to be surprisingly unsuccessful

At the outset, the US president clearly expected not just a swift ceasefire but a rapid realignment of alliances, turning the Kremlin into a de facto partner against Europe and, if possible, against China. But after several months, nothing had moved forward.

Despite the highly favourable terms of the deal offered by the US, and the Kremlin’s evident willingness to respond positively to US initiatives, the plan fell apart for one simple reason: within the Russian elite itself, there was no consensus — neither on how to respond to the new situation nor on what to do with Russian society and its mounting problems after the war. As a result, negotiations did begin, but they went nowhere. The Kremlin’s chosen tactic of endless delays effectively sabotaged Trump’s plan. The fact that this sabotage was likely unintentional did not change the outcome.

The Kremlin rejected Trump’s proposal and began stalling negotiations

This approach proved fatal for both sides. Trump’s entire strategy hinged on achieving irreversible results as quickly as possible before any of his potential opponents, either domestic or international, had a chance to regroup. Prolonging the process inevitably undermined that goal.

Resistance to Trumpism was also growing on the economic front. This forced the US administration to make a series of compromises, postponing the introduction of prohibitive tariffs and initiating negotiations with the European Union and China. In itself, this was far from a disaster, especially since Trump’s team was initially prepared to bargain. But in the context of mounting political tensions at home — and the beginning of a drift away from the scandal-ridden administration by parts of the Republican Party — it became increasingly urgent for Trump to deliver some kind of result.

Negotiations with Iran were more successful than with Russia

The final hope for a foreign policy breakthrough came from talks with Iran. These progressed slightly better than those with Russia. But even here, delays caused by indecision in Tehran proved fatal. This time, the spoiler was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had a clear interest in escalating the conflict.

Once again, foreign policy became hostage to domestic politics. By launching military action against Iran, Netanyahu left Trump with no choice but to either join in or admit defeat. Predictably, Trump chose military escalation over acknowledging failure. In doing so, he not only fell in line behind his junior partner, but effectively brought US foreign policy back into alignment with the trajectory set by previous administrations, including on the Russia–Ukraine conflict.

Regardless of the 47th president’s intentions, no radical ‘realignment of alliances’ has taken place

What happened reveals the fundamental ineffectiveness of Trump’s original approach, which sought to reduce foreign policy to a series of bilateral deals. The problem is that international relations are, by definition, multilateral, and domestic political factors can complicate matters significantly if they are not taken into account.

If Trumpist foreign policy has so far failed to produce the sweeping results expected by the new US administration, it is still too early to declare it a failure. Neither the US nor the global economy have collapsed, though the fallout from the spring trade war surge is already being felt and will continue to be. For all his strategic stubbornness, Trump has shown tactical flexibility, and that has helped stabilise the situation for now.

We are entering a phase of “war of position,” to use [Antonio] Gramsci’s term. But that does not mean there will not be new “flare-ups.” On the contrary, they are inevitable. The only question is how the forces opposed to Trumpism will respond.

The beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?

When attempting to summarise the results of Trump’s first months in office, one is struck by the discrepancy between the scale of unfolding events and their actual consequences to date. Not only have the dramatic tariffs and other threats against neighbours and partners not been implemented, but the president’s domestic policy initiatives have also been repeatedly blocked by the US judiciary. Trump’s attempt to attack Harvard University (his idea being that it is a leftist stronghold) ended with a court overturning his order to ban the admission of foreign students. His attempt to revoke birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants born in the US has been struck down across multiple states as unconstitutional.

Trump’s political initiatives brought him into sharp conflict with the judiciary

To be fair, this conflict was anticipated and planned in advance by the president’s team. After all, the final authority lies with the Supreme Court, where conservatives hold the majority — and three justices were appointed by Trump during his first term. But the question remains: in a moment of systemic confrontation, will they choose ideology or the institutional interest of the judiciary?

At first glance, one might say all this points to failure. But in reality, things are more complicated.

Given my current circumstances, I have to rely on colleagues who (unlike me) still have access to the media and internet for information and ongoing analysis. And it is here that an unexpected remote debate has taken shape. While the economists I have already quoted tend to agree with each other in their sceptical assessments, emphasising that at least Trump’s initiatives have not brought down the US or global markets (something many feared, and some even hoped for), political analysts are far less unanimous. Turning to my colleagues and comrades Grigory Yudin13 and Alexey Sakhnin14 for insight, I received two completely opposing views.

While Sakhnin emphasises that Trump has failed to deliver on any of the promises he made for his first 100 days, Yudin counters: “Frankly, I do not see any failure — so far, everything is going according to Trump’s plan.”

Trump has not achieved his publicly stated goals, but not all of his goals were public

By dragging out unfolding processes, clashing with the judiciary, and undermining the foundations of US democracy, Trump is imposing a new logic, forcing both allies and opponents to accept that the “war of all against all” has already begun. In fact, when we describe Trump’s “failures,” we risk falling into the same trap as critics of the Yeltsin–Gaidar reforms in 1990s Russia. Back then, we also demonstrated that none of the reformers’ publicly stated goals had been achieved, at least not by the end of the decade. But the point is that those stated goals were secondary compared to the real, unstated one: to redistribute power and property, creating a new elite (into which parts of the old nomenklatura would be integrated).

Similarly, we must now recognise that the precise figures and percentages Trump cites in relation to tariffs are not especially important. They are often pulled from thin air — or left to artificial intelligence. What is proceeding in earnest is the dismantling of institutions.

Bilateral deals instead of common rules — that is the new world order logic

In Trump’s view, it does not much matter what exact deals are struck in negotiations with the EU, China, Iran or Russia. What matters is that everyone — whether willingly and enthusiastically (as with the Russian elite), or reluctantly and under duress (as with the EU and China) — is forced to accept a new logic: private bilateral deals in place of universal rules and norms. In essence, this is just the “war of all against all”, conducted by commercial means. The problem is that the logic of politics and the logic of business differ radically. And as we have seen in the cases of Ukraine and Iran, even a willingness to reach an agreement does not guarantee that a deal will be struck or that it will satisfy the parties involved.

It is too early to declare Trump successful, but everything is going according to his plan

Thus, I would hesitate to declare Trump successful at this stage. It is probably accurate to say that things are still proceeding according to his plan — his plan, though not his timetable. The fact that the US president has not managed to realise any of his major objectives within the first 3–4 months of his term does not mean he is giving up or that those objectives cannot still be achieved later. Delay does not mean abandonment. And the 90-day pause only signals that, once better prepared, the administration plans to relaunch its offensive. Still, as mentioned earlier, Trump’s haste was not accidental.

The Trumpist blitzkrieg was premised on the need to radically push through his agenda before his opponents had time to organise and consolidate, and before inevitable fractures emerged within his own ranks. The first part of the plan has been more or less successful: opponents of Trumpism remain divided and — more importantly — ineffective. But the second part has gone far worse: the breakdown of the Trumpist coalition began even earlier than expected.

The Trumpist coalition began to fracture sooner than anticipated: Musk clashed with Trump as early as June

The public spat between Trump and Musk, which erupted in June 2025, could of course be portrayed as a clash of two egocentric, erratic and authoritarian personalities (such a conflict was, after all, inevitable and baked in from the start). But behind it lies a much deeper contradiction.

The coalition that brought Trump to power was, from the outset, fragmented and heterogeneous — socially, culturally, and even in terms of business interests. Conflicts among leading figures are now widening the cracks in an already unstable structure. New actors are being drawn into the fray. On one side, segments of big capital are growing disillusioned, both with Trump’s excessive radicalism and with the lack of tangible results. For instance, Apple, the flagship of the high-tech sector, has no desire to relocate all its production to the US, while Boeing is already suffering from China’s pivot toward European Airbus planes. On the other side, the conservative judges Trump has counted on are increasingly forced to choose between the institutional interests of the judiciary and their own ideology, leading to fractures even within their ranks.

Ahead of the 2026 midterms, Republican lawmakers will have to choose between loyalty to their voters or to the president

Republican members of Congress, already thinking about the 2026 midterm elections, are beginning to question whether loyalty to the president could soon become a serious liability. Working-class families in the Rust Belt are worried about rising inflation and still see no sign of the promised new jobs. The unrest sparked by anti-immigrant measures in Southern California gives Trump another excuse to blame everything on “the left,” but it also raises the question of federal intervention in state affairs, which may cause tension among Republican governors, and so on.

It is still unclear just how serious the consequences of these internal cracks will be for Trumpism in the near term. Especially since, contrary to the president’s claims, the left has yet to emerge (either in the US or abroad) as the logically necessary alternative seemingly called for by the course of events. But it can no longer be denied that the erosion of the Trumpist coalition is already a political fact. The problems will continue to mount, and each new development threatens to turn into an unexpected challenge for the White House.

The main casualty of right-wing populism has been the liberal establishment

As for the rest of the world, left to fend for itself, even within the “war of all against all” framework, it not only suffers from uncertainty, but also opens (or may open) new possibilities. This will take time, especially since the global momentum of right-wing populism still lingers (just look at the recent election results in Poland). But the fact that the main casualty of this populist wave has been the liberal establishment gives the left some grounds for hope.

Still, turning that hope into political reality will require a deeper reckoning with the failures of the past two decades, when the left not only lost the initiative but also gave up its autonomy, becoming little more than an appendage to the same old mainstream liberals.

To conclude, let us recall the words of Winston Churchill, spoken after the Battle of Stalingrad.

‘This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning’

We have entered a new era. And while the positive agenda of Trumpism remains, fortunately, far from realisation, its destructive impact has already been substantial. The task now is to ensure that Trumpism does not become the only alternative to a dying neoliberal order.

Notes.

1 Spichka is an independent Marxist media platform that amplifies anti-authoritarian and leftist voices, particularly those silenced by state repression.

2 Rabkor (short for Workers’ Correspondent) is a long-standing left-wing publication focused on class analysis, labour struggles, and critical political commentary. Before his arrest, Kagarlitsky served as Rabkor’s editor-in-chief.

3 Bernie Sanders is a US democratic socialist and independent senator from Wisconsin. He participated in the Democratic Party primaries to become the party’s presidential nominee in 2016 and 2020. After losing the primaries, he called on his supporters to back the nominated candidates — Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, respectively.

4 Kagarlitsky analysed the ideological and political crisis of the Western left and its failure to formulate a credible alternative to neoliberal capitalism and populism in his books Between Class and Discourse: Left Intellectuals in Defense of Capitalism (2022, Routledge) and The Long Retreat: Strategies to Reverse the Decline of the Left (2024, Pluto Press).

5 We can already see the Trumpist bloc beginning to unravel, as illustrated by the conflict between Elon Musk and Trump.

6 For example, Trump has postponed the introduction of tariffs for a second time. They were originally scheduled to take effect in April, but he delayed them by 90 days. Now he has pushed the deadline back again—to August 1. Reuters, July 7, 2025,

7 “Millions turn out nationwide for ‘No Kings’ protests against Trump administration,” PBS, June 20, 2025,h

8 Dmitry Pozhidaev is a development economist who runs his own blog, Elusive Development. The quotes were taken from Kagarlitsky’s personal correspondence with him.

9 The Rust Belt is a region spanning parts of the US Midwest and East Coast. By the 1970s, it was a hub of industrial development, but as manufacturing jobs were relocated elsewhere, the region began to fall into decline.

10 Michael Roberts is a British economist and Marxist. He has written books on the crisis of contemporary capitalism, including The Great Recession – A Marxist View (2009), The Long Depression (2016), and others. He also runs his own blog.

11 Hazbi Budunov is an economist who runs the Telegram channel Politeconomics.

12 Mikhail Khazin is an economist and statistician. A supporter of Eurasianism, he hosts his own program on the patriotic Russian state-run station Radio Sputnik.

13 Grigory Yudin is a sociologist and holds a PhD in philosophy. Since February 2022, he has participated in anti-war protests. In 2024, he was designated a “foreign agent” by the Russian government.

14 Alexey Sakhnin holds a PhD in history and is one of the co-founders of the Left Front. Due to persecution following the Bolotnaya Square protests, he left Russia but returned in 2019 after the case was closed due to the statute of limitations. He currently holds an anti-war position.

(Boris Kagarlitsky PhD is a historian and sociologist who lives in Moscow. He is a prolific author of books on the history and current politics of the Soviet Union and Russia and of books on the rise of globalized capitalism. Fourteen of his books have been translated into English. The most recent book in English is ‘From Empires to Imperialism: The State and the Rise of Bourgeois Civilisation’ (Routledge, 2014). Kagarlitsky is chief editor of the Russian-language online journal Rabkor.ru (The Worker). He is the director of the Institute for Globalization and Social Movements, located in Moscow.)

24 Comments

George Hollister July 25, 2025

Ed Notes

–Auditor Chamise Cubbison for daring to do her job—-

Correct me if I am partly, or totally wrong. My understanding is the money in question that was being spent was asset forfeiture money, and that the Board of Supervisors has no control over that. The auditor may not have any control of that either. Does that mean the DA has a lot of discretion regarding how that money is spent? I don’t know. Who decides what an “education” event is?

The underlying issue here is asset forfeiture, and how it is handled. In my mind, allowing the law to confiscate money and hard assets from accused or convicted people opens the door to abuse.

Reply
- Call It As I See It July 25, 2025
  
  Are you kidding? The underlying issue is DA Dave created false payment request calling it training.
  He committed fraud, which last time I checked is felony.
  
  Reply
- Lazarus July 25, 2025
  
  “Correct me if I am partly, or totally wrong.”
  GH
  I get your point. However, a young man who grew up with my kids eventually landed in the illegal marijuana business. During this so-called forfeiture process, before legalization, on two occasions, this guy walked $35,000 into the DA’s office, handed it off to somebody, and never even got a receipt…
  Oversight, what the fuck was that? There is no defensible argument that holds an ounce of credibility for what they did to Ms. Cubbinson and Ms. Kennedy.
  The point is, the party was a sham dressed up like an educational gig. And if legit, why were the spouses there?
  This county will likely lose millions due to an inside baseball hustle for a $2500.00 booze and food tab at the Broiler Steakhouse.
  Ask around,
  Laz
  
  Reply
  - Chuck Dunbar July 25, 2025
    
    +1
    
    Reply
  - Norm Thurston July 25, 2025
    
    Also, the county has written policy on when meals are reimbursable, and when they are not. It has historically been the Auditor-Controller’s duty to refuse payment on reimbursements that fall outside the policy, and that is what Cubbison did.
    
    Reply
    - George Hollister July 25, 2025
      
      Does the Auditor-Controller control asset forfeiture funds?
      
      Reply
      - Norm Thurston July 25, 2025
        
        Once asset forfeiture funds are received from the state or federal government, they become county funds. The Auditor-Controller’s Office reviews all claims against county funds, to determine if they are appropriate and in conformance with adopted county policy. To that extent, yes the Auditor-Controller has control over asset forfeiture funds. The county may add controls not provided for by the state or federal program, so long as it is not contrary to the state or federal rules. The A-C may also withhold payment, pending appropriate budgetary approvals. If one does not like the rules, one should put their efforts into changing the rules.
        
        Reply
  - Call It As I See It July 25, 2025
    
    That’s why Faulder called DA Dave out on his policy concerning mj growers. I believe Faulder at one point called it a form of extortion. I agree with your post, you’re right on the money.
    
    Reply
    - George Hollister July 25, 2025
      
      That money from growers to allow them to grow was restitution money. It was extortion, and it worked for its intended purpose to keep a lid on the black market. The county had rules a grower had to abide by, and if the grower was caught outside of the rules, they were allowed off if they paid restitution, and went back to growing within the rules. The restitution was supposed to cover the government cost of the Sheriff, and DA for processing.
      
      Reply
      - Norm Thurston July 25, 2025
        
        George: The intended purpose Calif. Health & Safety Code 11470.2 was to reimburse the county for costs incurred in eradicating marijuana grows. It had no effect on the black market.
        
        Reply
  - George Hollister July 25, 2025
    
    No argument from me. My primary point is if the money spent on the party-education gig was asset forfeiture money, then that fact needed to be part of the conversation from the beginning.
    
    It is also important to recognize that to a greater or lesser extent it is common to see government money spent for a stated purpose, while the primary or lesser purpose is to entertain. In the private world, company annual meetings are held in vacation venues, where a family vacation can be written off as a business expense. It’s a good way to make sure people show up. Expense accounts are another opportunity to abusively spend other people’s money. I am sure I could go on.
    
    Reply
    - Norm Thurston July 25, 2025
      
      No, you’ve gone on long enough. Using the “everyone else is doing it” excuse is not a valid defense to breaking the law or rules. Each is “responsible for their own behavior” (G. Hollister, 2025).
      
      Reply
- Adam Gaska July 25, 2025
  
  The Auditor Controller has the responsibility to track all expenses and to make sure that they are used correctly.
  
  The state has very strict guidelines on how asset forfeiture money can be spent. All agencies under the law enforcement umbrella can spend the money but must follow the guidelines. The guidelines are such to avoid incentivizing LE agencies from seizing property to support their own budgets.
  
  Taking it even beyond supporting your own budget and using it for personal ingratiation is taking it to another level of abuse.
  
  Reply
  - Norm Thurston July 25, 2025
    
    Good points, Adam. There are also guidelines to prevent counties from supplanting general fund contributions to LE with asset forfeiture funds.
    
    Reply
Bruce McEwen July 25, 2025

“The stars were shining, and the leaves rustled in the woods ever so mournful; and I heard an owl, away off, who-whooing about somebody that was dead, and a whippowill and a dog crying about somebody that was going to die; and the wind was trying to whisper something to me, and I couldn’t make out what it was, and so it made the cold shivers run over me. Then away out in the woods I heard that kind of a sound that a ghost makes when it wants to tell about something that’s on its mind and can’t make itself understood, and so can’t rest easy in its grave, and has to go about that way every night grieving.“

My favorite scene in Huck Finn. Hemingway praised the novel above in his famous quote, and Bob Dylan used the line “last night the wind was whispering something and I was trying to make out what it was” in Lonesome Day Blues. When Nobel laureates like Hemingway and Dylan praise and flatter-by-imitation a book, you know it’s gotta be good!

Reply
- Chuck Dunbar July 25, 2025
  
  Indeed, a great piece of writing. Honor from both Hemingway and Dylan…hard to beat.
  
  Reply
  - Bruce McEwen July 25, 2025
    
    SHEEPSHEAD BAY BRANCH
    BROOKLYN PUBLIC LIBRARY
    1657 SHORE ROAD
    BROOKLYN-NEW YORK,
    Nov. 19th, ’05
    DEAR SIR:
    I happened to be present the other day at a meeting of the children’s librarians of the Brooklyn Public Library. In the course of the meeting it was stated that copies of “Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn” were to be found in some of the children’s rooms of the system. The Sup’t of the Children’s Dep’t—a conscientious and enthusiastic young woman—was greatly shocked to hear this, and at once ordered that they be transferred to the adults’ department. Upon this I shamefacedly confessed to having read “Huckleberry Finn” aloud to my defenseless blind people, without regard to their age, color, or previous condition of servitude. I also reminded them of Brander Matthews’s opinion of the book, and stated the fact that I knew it almost at heart, having got more pleasure from it than from any book I have ever read, and reading is the greatest pleasure I have in life. My warm defense elicited some further discussion and criticism, from which I gathered that the prevailing opinion of Huck was that he was a deceitful boy who said “sweat” when he should have said “perspiration.” The upshot of the matter was that there is to be further consideration of these books at a meeting early in January which I am especially invited to attend. Seeing you the other night at the performance of “Peter Pan” the thought came to me that you (who know Huck as well as I—you can’t know him better or love him more—) might be willing to give me a word or two to say in witness of his good character though he “warn’t no more quality than a mud cat.”
    I would ask as a favor that you regard this communication as confidential, whether you find time to reply to it or not; for I am loath for obvious reasons to bring the institution from which I draw my salary into ridicule, contempt or reproach.
    Yours very respectfully,
    Asa Don Dickinson.
    (In charge Department for the Blind and Sheepshead Bay Branch, Brooklyn Public Library.)
    Twain’s Reply:
    21 FIFTH AVENUE,
    November 21, 1905
    DEAR SIR:
    I am greatly troubled by what you say. I wrote Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn for adults exclusively, and it always distresses me when I find that boys and girls have been allowed access to them. The mind that becomes soiled in youth can never again be washed clean; I know this by my own experience, and to this day I cherish an unappeasable bitterness against the unfaithful guardians of my young life, who not only permitted but compelled me to read an unexpurgated Bible through before I was 15 years old. None can do that and ever draw a clean sweet breath again this side of the grave. Ask that young lady—she will tell you so.
    Most honestly do I wish I could say a softening word or two in defence of Huck’s character, since you wish it, but really in my opinion it is no better than those of Solomon, David, Satan, and the rest of the sacred brotherhood.
    If there is an unexpurgated Bible in the Children’s Department, won’t you please help that young woman remove Huck and Tom from that questionable companionship?
    Sincerely yours,
    (Signed, ‘S. L. Clemens’)
    I shall not show your letter to anyone—it is safe with me.
    
    Reply
Mazie Malone July 25, 2025

Hiya Editor, ☀️🌷

Glad to see Ed Notes back — you must be feeling better. 💕

The EO… Marbut… this is some scary shit. Only good thing is it’s an order, not law —and federal doesn’t “Trump” 🤣😉 state law.

Will be interesting to see who folds when it comes down to brass tacks.

I want to say so much more, but I have to go to work so yippeeee!! 💕

mm 💕

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- Call It As I See It July 25, 2025
  
  Trump’s right! This homeless issue is a money laundering scheme for nonprofits and NGO’s.
  California has spent 24 billion dollars on the issue.
  It’s gotten worse. No one one can account where the money went. Mendocino County hands out 27 million, they can’t tell you how it is spent. Watch them at a BOS meeting when questioning the Schrader’s on their many businesses.
  
  You see if the Schrader’s solve the issue then money goes away or decreases. No incentive leads to the problem getting worse so they can ask for more money..
  
  It’s not brain surgery.
  
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Julie Beardsley July 25, 2025

I can count at least five, (and I’m sure there are more), employees who had great performance reviews and only wanted to do their job, but were sacked by the County. This has come from the Chief Executive in many, if not all cases. To point out that this creates a toxic workplace environment, is obvious. It costs the County a lot of money for litigation and settlements. Hiring managers who are properly trained, treat employees fairly, and a practice of following the Civil Service rules would help end this.

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Me July 25, 2025

To save money on legal services, maybe the county should just stop doing stupid things that bring legal problems in the first place. Duh!

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Fred Gardner July 25, 2025

In Ed Notes, a probably inadvertent rhyme from the judge: “dependent on the defendant…” And a possibly inadvertent pun: “magalomania.”

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Mariamerica July 25, 2025

YOU be the JUDGE

‘Thank you for contacting the White House.

Under President Donald J. Trump’s bold leadership, America is winning again—and this is only the beginning.

In just 6 months, President Trump has delivered historic results. He signed the One Big Beautiful Bill, unleashing the largest tax cut in American history. Tips, Social Security, and overtime pay are now tax-free. Families are saving more, groceries are more affordable, and summer gas prices have hit a 20-year low thanks to a sweeping expansion of American energy production.

President Trump’s tough tariffs are bringing billions of dollars back to American soil, protecting American workers, reviving American manufacturing, and helping fuel $7.6 trillion in American investments. In just 6 months, the economy has added 671,000 jobs—every one of them among American-born workers. His $9 billion rescissions package and $180 billion in regulatory savings are slashing waste, lowering costs, and putting more money in Americans’ pockets.

At our borders, President Trump is removing all illegal migrants, restoring the rule of law, backing our border patrol and ICE agents, and stopping the deadly flow of fentanyl. Abroad, he is reestablishing America as a world leader by ensuring NATO members pull their own weight; eliminating nuclear threats; and brokering peace in Ukraine and Israel, earning him a Nobel Peace Prize nomination.

President Trump is just getting started. Every day, he is restoring commonsense policies, reviving pride in American culture, protecting children, defending families, and Making America Healthy Again. He will continue to build on this extraordinary momentum and usher in the Golden Age of America—one that is safer, stronger, and more prosperous than ever before. ‘

APPARENTLY, D.C. BEING WORSE THAN MENDO…WHERE YOU ARE WHO YOU SAY YOU ARE, EVERYDAY IS A NEW DAY…

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Annemarie Weibel July 26, 2025

Wrong info:
“FORT BRAGG CITY COUNCIL APPROVES HOUSING
The council approved a coastal development permit for an 83-unit housing project on S. Main St. This project features one- and two-bedroom apartments and includes a small hotel with 10 rooms on the ground floor of one building. The hotel was added late in the planning process, leading to concerns from nearby residents about increased traffic, safety, and the impact on the neighborhood.”

Check July 14 City Council meeting Agenda & video: Receive a Report, Hold a Public Hearing, Receive Planning Commission’s Recommendation, and Consider Adopting a Resolution Recommending that the City Council Approve Coastal Development Permit Amendment (8-24/A), Use Permit Amendment (UP 9-24/A), Design Review Amendment (DR 11-24/A), for an 83-Unit Multifamily Project with 1,000 SF of Retail Space and 2,450 SF of Visitor Serving Accommodations at 1151 South Main Street (APN 018-440-58) CEQA Exempt per Section 15332 – Class 32 Infill Development Projects and 15195 Infill Housing Development

It most likely will be appealed as it was already earlier in the process.

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Mendocino County Today: Friday 7/25/2025

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