Mendocino County Today: Tuesday 8/12/2025

Cooling | Local Events | Plastic Fields | Pronsolino Celebration | Jury Duty | Gofund Deunn | Bar Shifts | Writing Class | Rodeo Queen | Mendocino Schools | Yesterday's Catch | Sarah Swore | Fixes Everything | Progressive Good | Deeply Unjust | Masks | Peaceful Pogrom | Newsboys | Laskey Lashes | Giants Lose | Circuit Board | Bye AOL | Marble Sundial | A Woman | Noah Blake | Ominous Silence | Oil Rig | Tyrant Trump | Better World

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YESTERDAY'S HIGHS: Covelo 105°, Ukiah 103°, Laytonville 101°, Yorkville 91°, Boonville 88°, Fort Bragg 63°, Point Arena 58°

HOT AND DRIER weather conditions continue. Inland high temperatures drop a few degrees today before beginning a lasting cooling trend on Wednesday into the weekend. Coastal stratus is likely to remain persistent and keep coastal temperatures moderated. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A foggy 55F this Tuesday morning on the coast. During times of stratus quo like this the question begs "what will the ratio of sun to fog be today"? I wish I could tell you?

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LOCAL EVENTS (this weekend)

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PLASTIC SOCCER FIELDS IN BAINBRIDGE PARK? NO THANKS!
 
The following letter was read to the Fort Bragg City Council on Monday, August 11, 2025:

Dear Fort Bragg City Council,
 
This City has a knack for putting the wrong things in the wrong places. Like putting the vaunted Marine Science Center right next to, and downwind of, the city Sewage Plant. Brilliant. Or approving an 87-unit apartment complex right near the bridge on the ocean side of the highway, at a bad intersection in the gateway to town. Again, brilliant.
 
Now you’re putting not one but TWO plastic soccer fields in Bainbridge Park, taking up valuable community space, destroying the town’s only city park and poisoning the local water table with toxic chemicals and materials in the process. And why TWO plastic soccer fields, taking up half the park in the middle of a residential area? This is utterly ridiculous. One soccer field would have been MORE than enough. And don’t get me wrong. I love soccer and was in fact captain of our school's ninth grade soccer team.
 
But you want to cover not only one, but TWO soccer fields with ground up tires and toxic chemical binders. I guess you’re calling it artificial turf, but we’ve always called it Astroturf, which was developed by Monsanto for the domed, indoor Houston Astrodome, because there was not enough sunlight for natural grass. Plastic grass was never intended to be used outdoors.
 
No outdoor athletic fields or parks should be covered with artificial grass, anywhere, for any reason, period, full stop. We have enough plastic in this world without forcing our kids to play in it. And it sets a bad precedent. If we're not careful the High School and Jr. High could be next. 
 
If it's wet and rainy, no kid in their right mind is going to want to kick it on a sheet of soaked plastic astroturf. As a former youth soccer player, at that age we would have discussed where to play, and undoubtably chosen the natural grass, and who cares if you slid around on natural ground? This modern plastic turf is even more toxic and untenable on hot and sunny days, where temperatures on artificial turf far exceed surrounding areas. Astroturf also makes soccer players much more prone to injury.
 
The bottom line is you never did an EIR as you should have done. You’ve chosen to threaten the health of both our children and the water table of Fort Bragg, all without proper oversight.
 
Poor Bainbridge Park. It's never been the same since Linda Ruffing cut down all those majestic cypress trees on Harrison Street and replaced them with scrawny little trees that never grew, and a big ugly black fence. All but one of those Ruffing trees are now gone.
 
I rise to object to this idiotic plan, to destroy the last refuge of natural open space in town, and ruin what is essentially Fort Bragg’s only public square and City Park and, in the process, poison the vulnerable water table of Fort Bragg, where you only have to dig ten feet down to find water. People I know in that immediate neighborhood use this important ground water resource to nurture their vegetable gardens. And now you are going to poison it. This is your legacy. Shame on you. No toxic plastic soccer fields in Bainbridge Park! You need to halt this project immediately.
 
For more information on plastic playing fields, go to “Synthetic Turf Hazards”  -  https://www.nontoxiccommunities.com/synthetic-turf.html

Signed,

David Gurney

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MENDOCINO COAST NEWS (Frank Hartzell):

Shrugging off Jury Duty? County To issue warrants and make arrests for repeat offenders.

Mendocino County will begin arresting residents who repeatedly fail to appear for jury duty, according to Court Executive Kim Turner in a statement to Mendocinocoast.news. Due to a low juror turnout, a new system has been implemented that may require significantly more travel for those summoned.

https://mendocinocoast.news/shrugging-off-jury-duty-county-to-issue-warrants-and-make-arrests-for-repeat-offenders-california-judicial-council-may-respond-mendocinocoast-newss-criticisms/

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GALINA TREFIL:

Deunn Antoine Willis, the man who robbed and shot my fiancé, Joshua Lee McCollister, over a puppy…he wants money. He wants donations for HIS mental care. HIS trauma. He’s upset that, by being in jail for murder, he missed out on wages at work and hopes that the public will help pay his bills.

Sometimes I think about how Josh was so excited to see me in a wedding dress. He told me that he knew that he was going to burst out crying when he saw me walking down the aisle, just like he burst out crying when he married his late wife, Colleen. I told him that I had the dress picked out and he asked to see it as soon as possible. “No way,” I said. “That’s bad luck.” Now I just wish I’d just let him, superstitions be damned, because Deunn Antoine Willis made sure that he’ll never see me wear it at all.

If you want someone’s puppy, you offer them money. If they still say no, you go to an animal shelter, which has a surplus of puppies that need good homes. You do NOT aim a loaded gun at someone and pull the trigger.

Josh got that puppy because he was trying to be a good stepfather. Our autistic son responds to animals so well. We’d talked so many times about getting a puppy for him. No special needs parent--no parent at all--should face the nightmare of a loaded gunman deciding to prevent them from giving a pet to their child.

I think it speaks volumes that this gunman, and his people, have the nerve to make HIM seem traumatized, when neither our family nor Josh’s parents or siblings will ever have the life they knew before again specifically because Willis pulled a trigger for no reason other than cruelty.

To Deunn Antoine Willis and his co-conspirator/ fellow robber Danielle Roberta Durand, I repeat this vow: I will be at every single parole hearing you ever have. I will make sure that Josh’s family is able to be at every single parole hearing too. You made a decision which destroyed more lives than just Josh’s, and you WILL have to live with it, every bit as much as we do. He can’t speak anymore, but we can--and we WILL.

The spotfund says that Willis acted in a moment of “fear, compassion, and love.” Where was the compassion for Joshua Lee McCollister’s parents when he was shot and left to die? Where was the love for his stepsons? Why, when Josh was shot, did Willis and Durand flee the scene without so much as a 911 call?

These people should be ashamed of themselves!

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IGNITE YOUR STORY: CREATIVE WRITING CLASS POINT ARENA

Got stories burning inside you but don’t know where to begin? Or maybe you’re a seasoned writer who could use a cadre of literary comrades and some fresh narrative techniques? Whether you’re hovering over your first blank page or polishing your hundredth manuscript, we’re here to fan those creative flames!

Join us this fall for a deep dive into the wild and wonderful art of storytelling. Through carefully chosen readings, hands-on writing exercises, illuminating craft talks, and supportive workshop sessions, you’ll discover new ways to breathe life into your narratives and find your unique voice on the page.

This semester-long hybrid adventure welcomes adult writers of all experience levels and is offered through Mendocino College. We’ll alternate between cozy in-person gatherings at the Coast Community Library in Point Arena and convenient Zoom sessions giving you the best of both literary worlds.

When: Tuesdays, August 19th through December 12th, 9:30 AM-12:50 PM Where: Coast Community Library, Point Arena (alternating with Zoom)

Your guide on this creative literary journey is Melinda Misuraca, writer, editor, and passionate teacher whose published work spans multiple genres. With years of teaching experience and an infectious love for the craft, she brings an innovative, multi-dimensional approach to each week’s writing adventure.

Ready to transform that spark of inspiration into something extraordinary? Your story is waiting.

Register for ENG 503-4351 at http://www.mendoninocollege.edu/ or come to the first class and register there.

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YOU GOT OUR VOTE, ABIGAIL!

Support Abigail Jones at the Fort Bragg Rebels Rodeo

My name is Abigail Jones. You may know one or both of my parents Maria Berry or Ryan Jones, and I am reaching out to you today in hopes that you can help me, help our community. I have tried to visit as many businesses as possible, but not much luck speaking to many of the owners or managers. They have either gone home for the day or I missed them because of my schedules.

I am a contestant in the 2025 Miss Shoreline Riders Rodeo Queen contest. It has been three years since Fort Bragg held the last rodeo, but thanks to this great community and a group of hard working young ladies, last year’s contestants (myself included) raised enough funds to bring the rodeo back to Fort Bragg.

3-Rebels Rodeo will be held this September 6th and 7th at the Shoreline Riders arena. Friday evening there is a Tri-Tip dinner, pageant and crowning of the Queen. I am asking for your support in sponsoring me ($100, $200, $250+…) in hopes of obtaining the 2025 SRI Queen title.

Another part of my job is to sell tickets, all of the funds going towards keeping the rodeo coming back each year. Entry tickets are $10 presale/$15 at the gate, $25 Tri-Tip dinner tickets, and $1 raffle tickets. There is a long list of wonderful prizes, and more are adding weekly.

Thank you for your time. Please consider sponsoring me as your 2025 Miss SRI Rodeo Queen.

Saddle up and come out to enjoy the rodeo!

Respectfully,

Abigail Marie Jones

707-684-6532

[email protected]

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MENDO’S FIRST COASTAL HIGH SCHOOL

by Carol Dominy

Public education began in Mendocino in 1862 with a small primary school located near the corner of Ukiah and Lansing streets, followed in 1885 by a larger Grammar School on the corner of School and Pine streets. Although some limited “advanced” classes were offered there, students seeking a full high school education had to leave town, often living with relatives in San Francisco.

That changed in 1891, when the California legislature passed the Union High School Act, allowing small adjoining districts to combine resources for a single high school. Two high schools were proposed in Mendocino County: one in the county seat, and the other on the coast.

After intense lobbying by Fort Bragg and Mendocino school trustees, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors chose Mendocino as the location of the first coastal high school. It would serve students from multiple districts along the coast who previously had little opportunity for education beyond grammar school.

Local businessman William Heeser donated a 4.5-acre hilltop parcel, and in August 1893, plans for a two-story Queen Anne style building were unveiled. The Mendocino Beacon called the design “handsome, tasteful in architecture, and conveniently arranged.”

High school instruction officially began on September 11, 1893, even though construction had not yet started. Classes were held in the old primary schoolhouse for the first two terms. Students came not only from Mendocino but also from Point Arena, Navarro, Little River, Caspar, and Fort Bragg. Some families rented homes in town so their children wouldn’t have to travel far to attend.

In October, D. E. Eggleston of Oakland was awarded the contract to build the high school, and lumber for the building was purchased from the Mendocino Lumber Company. A crew of men and a six-horse team leveled the top of the hill and graded the streets around the lot, and work on the foundation began.

The building measured 80 feet wide by 68 feet deep, with a basement containing two large exercise rooms, one for boys and one for girls, along with bathrooms and a wood-fueled furnace to heat the building. The main floor featured two large sunny classrooms that could be converted into one large room for assemblies, two smaller classrooms, and a science lab. A hip roof topped with a bell tower gave the school a distinctive profile.

By spring 1894, the building was complete, and students moved in. On April 28, the community celebrated with a grand ball attended by guests from all over Mendocino County. For more than fifty years, the building stood as a center of learning and community life, until its demolition in 1948 made way for a new high school on the same site.

(kelleyhousemuseum.org)

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CATCH OF THE DAY, Monday, August 11, 2025

SHANE BILL, 39, Hopland. Unspecified offense.

MARC MAXXUM, 39, Leggett. Protective order violation resulting in injury, probation revocation.

GAYE ROSSOTTI, 61, Fort Bragg. DUI with priors causing bodily injury.

JACQUELYN SHOEN, 34, San Jose/Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, resisting.

ERIK SMITH, 59, Ukiah. Suspended license, registration tampering, probation revocation.

JUAN VEGA-GARCIA, 25, Ukiah. Domestic battery with serious injury, child neglect, resisting.

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SARAH KENNEDY OWEN:

I swore I would never comment on this site again, but I have to say something about Bruce McEwen’s diatribe about the Jews. Sounds an awful lot like what was said before WWII in Europe (and the Holocaust) and even here in the U.S. at that time, that Jews like to eat Gentile babies. That was said in all seriousness.

Regarding the Irish in 1729, Swift was way ahead of his time and could now be considered a prophet, as millions died of starvation as a result of the great famine in 1848. The British were dining on pigs imported from Ireland while the Irish starved and were driven out of their homes to die of exposure or to somehow get onto leaky boats and make it to America, where they were no better than slave labor.

In 1729, and on, there were “the troubles” where Irish brigands were robbing and killing people who dared to travel certain roads, especially in Northern Ireland. They were captured and beheaded without trial. That is pretty similar to what is going on with Trump; so-called “criminals” being exported to who knows where without trial or any proof that they were even criminals. Never to be heard from again.

There is danger in being overly simplistic. Monday’s cartoon says it all: The history teacher telling her students that, if they paid attention in her class they might avoid making the same mistakes their parents made. Very true and kind of hopeless, as most kids don’t see the point in learning about history. It really isn’t until you are older that you try to make sense of it all. I recommend that Brice McEwen get started!

ED NOTE: Probably drunk when he mangled Swift so bad that McEwen came out sounding like he approved those various blood libels that Swift satirized.

McEWEN SUBSEQUENTLY ADMITTED AS MUCH: “Aye, you’ve caught me out on that one fair enough, Ms. Owen. I was in my cups and got carried away with what a clever bloke I was to imitate the great satirist, and I blush to admit I behaved disgracefully. Sorry.”

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WHAT’S WRONG WITH BEING PROGRESSIVE?

Editor:

Why has “progressive” become a bad word? I have friends now searching for different words to describe a liberal political leaning that they think will have a more positive connotation and greater acceptance. I think progressive is a great description of my political beliefs, because here is just some of the progress I hope to see: a working-class living wage, affordable housing, health care for all, stellar K-12 public education, equal and fair taxation and government programs that embrace diversity and inclusion. Are these hopes lofty, idealistic or even naive? Maybe, but bad? Why? I don’t know the perfect path forward, but I am sure there can be no progress to a more equitable and thriving future when everything being accomplished right now by the current administration is thrusting our country backward.

Margot Sersen

Sebastopol

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ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

I am a Criminal Defense Attorney, and it infuriates me that some of my clients go to jail for Driving Without a License, while Liberal Elites can, and do, literally get away with murder, with no accountability whatsoever. The two-tracked justice system appalls me, as a Criminal Lawyer, and a former prosecutor, as well as a citizen. If Joe or Jane Six-Pack gets pulled over for speeding, they are in deep trouble. If James Comey posts a written threat of harm to a sitting President, nothing of consequence happens to him. It all strikes me as deeply unjust. Things need to change. I feel like the US I grew up in, during the 70s and 80s, no longer exists, and has been replaced with a corrupt, bankrupt Kleptocracy.

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MILL VALLEY SENIORS FOR PEACE ARE PRO-PEACE (UNLESS THE VICTIMS ARE PALESTINIANS)

by Eva Chrysanthe

In late 2023, a Marin County activist, Joe McGarry, started a petition to the Marin County Board of Supervisors for a ceasefire resolution. With this seemingly simple and heartfelt act, McGarry connected many like-minded activists of very different ages and backgrounds.

McGarry’s petition signers organized to speak up to multiple BoS meetings, where they respectfully pleaded the case for a ceasefire resolution. Many were new to activism, and the connections made through the petition effort helped pass down ideas, information, and strategies from one generation to the next.

But as for the ceasefire resolution itself, the organizers were repeatedly informed by County Supervisors that the proposed ceasefire resolution, born of nothing but hope for a peaceful break that would benefit Israelis and Palestinians, was somehow “divisive.” The County Supervisors also claimed that opponents outnumbered supporters.

Skeptical of the County’s ratio claim, I ran a public records act for the correspondence on the subject to the County Supervisors. The correspondence retrieved showed that it was supporters who outnumbered opponents, which I reported last year. And the correspondence from those ceasefire supporters, many of them Jewish residents of Marin, were beautifully written and quite moving.

Conversely, the bulk of the emailed letters from opponents appeared to have been generated from a form letter that matched the message sent out by the well-funded JCRC Bay Area team of Tyler Gregory and Jonathan Mintzer.

That last part wasn’t too surprising. I was, however, very surprised by one opposition email from the head of Mill Valley Seniors for Peace, Nancy Miller, speaking for the group as a whole. Since the time the County released the correspondence to me, I have made multiple attempts to contact Ms. Miller about her email, hoping to get a better understanding of why, exactly, the head of a peace group would suggest that the County Supervisors should decline to consider a ceasefire resolution, on the flimsy premise that it was not a local matter.

Miller’s schtick was especially confusing since MVSFP had been founded during the US invasion of Iraq, which was no more or less local than Israel. And tax dollars collected locally were, in fact, supporting Israel’s vastly disproportionate bombing response. I didn’t think my questions for Ms. Miller were particularly hard-hitting but, sadly, I have never received any answer.

Ceasefire Resolution opponent Shira Weissman is heir to a wealthy and influential family in Marin County that has a proven track record of fundraising for Democratic candidates. She is the daughter of Irving Rabin, who was a partner in Butterfield and Butterfield, and who sat on the board of the powerful San Francisco Jewish Community Federation, the group that funded the Israeli spy group Canary Mission.

Back in 2007, Irving Rabin raised a record amount for Hilary Clinton’s campaign in just a few hours at their home in Tiburon. Israel was a priority for Irving, as it would likely become for so many Democrats who benefited from his largesse. Similarly: if you’re a Democrat in office in Marin County, how do you say no to Shira Weissman?

Some of the questions I would ask Ms. Miller (or anyone at Seniors for Peace should they answer), is why they seemed to think that advocating for peace would somehow negate their attempts to advocate for Marin City residents?

Another question: why would a “peace” group be so unwilling to make the connection between 1) the tens of billions of taxpayer dollars sent to support Israel’s genocide and 2) the lack of tax dollars available to address a multiplicity of needs at the local level, including in Marin City?

Much of MVSFP’s efforts in the County fall under boilerplate “anti-racist” advocacy. But like much of Mill Valley, the group demonstrates curious blindspots when it comes to race, with much of their advocacy filtering through a Black vs. white prism, conveniently ignoring challenges faced by Latino and Asian groups. Thus, neither the historic level of bombing conducted by Israel on the West Asian population in Gaza, nor the brutal physical attack on the Islamic Center of North Marin, warranted the advocacy of MVSFP at a time when it most mattered.

But Miller’s letter also reflects a mentality that is common among Marin County’s liberals and progressives. Genocide and illegal drone strikes are to be tolerated under a Democratic administration (Obama, Biden) but could eventually start to be protested under a Republican administration. This mentality appears from recent polling to have cost Demoracts the 2024 election.

And from the looks of it, the Party has learned nothing: both U.S. Senators from California, Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, voted against a recent Senate bill to block arms sales to Israel.

Padilla sold out cheap, his total take from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is just above $100K. Schiff, the better negotiator, has received a total of $6,234,024 from AIPAC.

Neither amount would justify the taking of a single Palestinian life.

(MarinCountyConfidential)

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‘YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED’: KNBR HOST DROPS EPIC RANT AFTER HORRIBLE SF GIANTS LOSS

by Alex Simon

An absolutely putrid effort from the San Francisco Giants on Sunday had just about everyone who watched it disgusted — including KNBR-AM/FM’s postgame show host.

Bill Laskey, a former Giants pitcher and longtime host for KNBR’s weekend Giants shows, opened Sunday’s “Extra Innings“ postgame show with an epic rant against the current team after an embarrassing loss to the Nationals at Oracle Park. The Nationals have the third-worst record in all of baseball but took two of three games from the Giants this weekend.

“Today was mostly disappointing, frustrating, delusional,” Laskey began. “All these words just keep adding up because this was one of the worst games that I’ve watched this year. There was no effort, absolutely no effort, as the Giants lose eight to nothing.”

The loss was the Giants’ 10th in their past 11 games at Oracle Park, a stretch that has included getting swept by the Pirates (last place in the NL Central) and now losing this series to the Nationals (last place in the NL East). As Laskey broke down, he made a strong case that the game on Sunday was the worst performance of the season: Giants pitchers gave up 17 hits, and the San Francisco offense could only muster three hits and struck out 15 times.

“This team was so disappointing to watch today,” Laskey said. “Absolutely no life. The fans never cheered — only once when [pitcher Justin] Verlander came off in the first inning to get his 3,500th strikeout. That was it.”

The loss knocked the Giants back to .500. They have the worst record in the National League since the All-Star break at 7-14. While they’re still only four games out of a playoff spot, they face the surging Padres seven times in their next 10 games. Laskey said the Giants players “need to shake it up” in the clubhouse before these pivotal matchups.

The fact that Giants fans mostly filled the park for all three games this weekend, including a sellout crowd of 40,089 fans for Sunday’s game, only added more frustration to the underwhelming day for the orange and black. It all left Laskey saying he was “tired of watching this lackluster team” and pointing the finger directly at the players.

“This team looked dismal today,” Laskey concluded. “Lackluster effort. Terrible. It was a letdown. It was a letdown for every Giants fan that paid to watch you play today. It was a big letdown for Giants fans today.

“And you should be ashamed of yourself, Giants players. You should. Because this isn’t Giants baseball. This is terrible baseball.”

(SFGate.com)

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A READER WRITES: I think it’s the Verlander Curse. On paper, Verlander has a pretty good career record. But he’s just not a clutch pitcher. His record as a Giant is 1-a lot. Over the season he’s shown that, although he has moments of his old form, he’s prone to making too many hitable mistakes, so when he takes the mound the rest of the team just doesn’t put in the effort because, in the back of their minds, he’s going to find a way to lose. So Verlander doesn’t get enough run support which in turn makes Verlander press more which leads to more mistakes. I’ll never forget that day back in 2012 when the Great Pablo Sandoval rocked the highly touted Verlander when he was pitching for Detroit in his prime for three long bomb home-run blasts. Three! The Giants should never have acquired a pitcher with that history. He’s just jinxed. Neverlander, indeed.

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LISTLESS GIANTS manage just one run against Padres, lose 3rd straight

by Shayna Rubin

The San Diego Padres hit more groundballs than nearly every team in the National League. Logan Webb is among baseball’s best at inducing a ground ball. For the first five innings Monday night, that advantage played right into Webb’s favor.

Webb tallied 12 groundouts while keeping the Padres off the bases. Then San Diego’s hitters started lifting those off-speed pitches into gaps — and once over the fence — to hand the San Francisco Giants a 4-1 loss.

There was no whiff of a comeback, once a staple of this Giants team when they were playing above expectation early on. Now, hovering around — and now below — .500, they more often than not succumb. A stacked Padres bullpen — picking up after one of starter Yu Darvish’s best starts of the year — put the Giants’ lineup to rest.

Not that the Giants’ offense appeared awake. An energetic Monday night crowd of 31,018 even tried to jump start their team with loud chants for newcomer Drew Gilbert, Jung Hoo Lee and Webb — to no avail.

In their past two games, including Sunday’s series finale against the NL East celler-dwelling Washington Nationals, the Giants have struck out 25 times and drawn one walk. Darvish, 38, took the mound Monday toting a 9.12 ERA in five career starts at Oracle Park, the worst mark anywhere over his 12-year career. With his funky delivery opting to use his fastball more than his wide array of off-speed offerings, he struck out six Giants while allowing four hits. He needed 84 pitches to get through six innings.

“We’re getting beat,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Darvish, a lot of fastballs tonight. Darvish is a guy that usually spins the ball a little bit and threw a lot of heaters. Good command of it, probably the best game he’s pitched this year and I think at times we try to get too aggressive when we’re a team that makes pitchers work and draw walks and get into deeper counts.”

Rafael Devers smoked an opposite field home run, his 23rd of the year and third in four games, off Darvish to tie the game 1-1 in the sixth inning. But that was the Giants’ only extra-base hit.

The home run briefly opened the window for San Francisco to pull ahead, and it seemed plausible given the way Webb was pitching. San Diego untied the game in the next frame when Gavin Sheets led off with a double, Jake Cronenworth singled him home and catcher Freddy Fermin hit a two-run home run into the left field corner.

“Giants fans are the best and they’ve been showing up for us and we haven’t been doing a good job,” Webb said. “Score a run today and tie the game and I go back out in the seventh and give up a bunch of hits and momentum shifts. It’s just bad.”

The Giants have lost three straight and 12 of their past 14 home games but are only 4½ games out of a wild-card spot, mostly thanks to the New York Mets’ seven-game losing streak.

Gilbert provided the lone bright spot, getting his first big league hit on a broken-bat bloop single off Darvish that landed just past shortstop Xander Boegarts' glove.

“It’s obviously cool,” Gilbert said. “I mean, he did break my bat in half. … But he’s been a good pitcher in this league for a long time and good to get the first one out of the way. But just trying to do my job.”

He got his first stolen base with Willy Adames up, but got over eager when the throw to second trickled into center field. Jackson Merrill threw him out at third base.

“You always want to be aggressive, but one of the best shortstops in the league at the plate I probably shouldn’t have gone to third there,” Gilbert said. “Looking back I wish I had given Willy a chance to hit with a runner at second base.”

Had Gilbert stayed put, it would have added to a short list of opportunities with runners in scoring position all night. The Giants wound up going 0-for-2 with RISP.

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END OF AN ERA: AOL TO DISCONTINUE ITS DIAL-UP INTERNET SERVICE AFTER 30 YEARS

by Edward Helmore

The hisses, pings and screeches that introduced millions of Americans to the nascent online world are to be formally retired when AOL‘s dial-up internet shuts down in late September.

AOL, or America Online, said recently it was discontinuing the old school connection option after an evaluation of its products and services and that it would no longer support dial-up software starting 30 September.

The date portends the end of an era for millions of Americans of a certain age: millennials, gen Xers, boomers and those of the greatest generation. The characteristic sound of modems conducting an analog handshake to establish a connection was a preliminary soundtrack to a new world of instant connection, wires, handheld computer mice, emails, chatrooms, instant messages and glowing screens.

The dial-up internet wasn’t invented by a single person. It was developed by Usenet in the late 1970s.

In 1979, CompuServe began “offering a dial-up online information service to consumers”.

By the mid 1980s, with the Well, or the Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link, launched in the Bay Area by Stewart Brand and Larry Brilliant, virtual communities began to form. At the same time, in 1985, America Online was founded.

At its peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s, AOL had over 23 million subscribers in the US, making it the dominant internet service provider at the time. According to Jigso AI, it was estimated to have gained a new user every six seconds.

America Online became so dominant – with its equally characteristic but more cheery “You’ve got mail“ message – that in 1999 it acquired Time Warner in a massive $165bn all-stock deal that later became regarded as one of the most disastrous deals in media and communications history.

By then, the introduction of faster cable internet service in 1995 that relied on existing cable TV infrastructure made the characteristic handshake of dial-up begin to disappear.

Currently, only a small fraction of US households – about 175,000 – still rely on dial-up for internet access and web browser platforms. Web browsers themselves could be becoming a relic of the 1990s, when they were subject to fierce wars between Microsoft and Netscape, with the advent of apps. App-based AI has also started to encroach on browsers’ territory.

The growth of dial-up internet – sometimes attributed in part to demand for pornography – and its subsequent decline to faster internet services, may now be mourned in concert with other pop cultural relics of decades past, including CDs, pagers and landlines.

(theguardian.com)

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I KNEW A WOMAN

by Theodore Roethke (1954)

I knew a woman, lovely in her bones,
When small birds sighed, she would sigh back at them;
Ah, when she moved, she moved more ways than one:
The shapes a bright container can contain!
Of her choice virtues only gods should speak,
Or English poets who grew up on Greek
(I’d have them sing in chorus, cheek to cheek).

How well her wishes went! She stroked my chin,
She taught me Turn, and Counter-turn, and Stand;
She taught me Touch, that undulant white skin;
I nibbled meekly from her proffered hand;
She was the sickle; I, poor I, the rake,
Coming behind her for her pretty sake
(But what prodigious mowing we did make).

Love likes a gander, and adores a goose:
Her full lips pursed, the errant note to seize;
She played it quick, she played it light and loose;
My eyes, they dazzled at her flowing knees;
Her several parts could keep a pure repose,
Or one hip quiver with a mobile nose
(She moved in circles, and those circles moved).

Let seed be grass, and grass turn into hay:
I’m martyr to a motion not my own;
What’s freedom for? To know eternity.
I swear she cast a shadow white as stone.
But who would count eternity in days?
These old bones live to learn her wanton ways:
(I measure time by how a body sways).

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UNDER COLOR OF LAW

by James Kunstler

Surely you’ve noticed the ominous cone of silence around the DOJ and the FBI as rumors of “accountability” mount against well-known figures who used government to make war against its own citizens. That is exactly what happened, by the way, in case you’re baffled by the news. The agencies aren’t leaking this time, especially not to the mendacious scribes that infest The New York Times and The WashPo, who function as vanguard to the corps of traitors in the rogue fourth branch of government called the Blob. So, the silence begs you to ask: Are they doing anything in there?

Yes, they are making cases. And they are not yapping idly about it in the news, legacy or alt. They are preparing evidence for grand juries that will decide if probable cause exists to indict those well-known figures — several of whom have become cable news performers, foolishly, if obliquely, advertising their own culpability for years now. You’ll just have to wait, though perhaps not for long. It is August, after all, the horse latitudes of the year when things go still.

You are lectured incessantly and sanctimoniously by these same suspects about the rule of law (in “our democracy”). Many of these characters are maestros in the dark arts of lawfare, which, paradoxically, is the practice of using law to pervert and dishonor the rule of law. Lately, you are introduced to a similar sounding phrase, under color of law, with a related meaning. Understand it and you will see what has been behind virtually all the mischief in our public affairs this past, vicious decade.

Under color of law has deep roots in Anglo-American jurisprudence because law, by its nature, lends itself to abuse and nefarious misuse. The law’s “nature” is that it is a set of rules to decide matters of consequence, both personal and public, where much is at stake: ownership of property, liberty, life itself. At times, actions are taken in the name of the law to unjustly deprive persons of life, liberty, and property, usually for the benefit of other persons.

The phrase, life, liberty, and property, derives from John Locke’s Two Treatises on Government (1689), which argued that these are natural rights, God-given, and that it is government’s duty to protect these rights, government being the practical application of law. The phrase life, liberty, and property deeply influenced America’s founders. Thomas Jefferson changed it up a bit in the Declaration of Independence as “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” with a eudaimonian twist to inspire America to flourish on its own, off England’s leash. It was also Jefferson’s way of detaching the Declaration from the issue of slavery, where “property” could refer to human beings.

But the Lockean original, life, liberty and property, reappears in the Bill of Rights to the Constitution. It is in the Fifth Amendment, protecting persons from the arbitrary deprivation of these rights without due process by the federal government, and in the Fourteenth Amendment applying the same principle of law to state governments. Where lawfare comes in is under due process. Lawfare’s aim is to pervert due process, to use officers of the courts to act unfairly and unjustly in the name of the law, and thus, under color of law.

This is exactly what you saw in the several cases brought against Mr. Trump in New York State in 2024, a three-ring circus of process-abuse engineered by the “Joe Biden” White House, coordinated with Merrick Garland’s DOJ (through Deputy AG Lisa Monaco), with assists from NY AG Letitia James and Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg. Ditto the RICO case attempted in Atlanta under Fulton County DA Fani Wiillis, a spectacular botch. And ditto, the cases brought under Special Counsel Jack Smith in Florida and DC, also badly botched.

The slovenly ineptitude of these cases was really something to behold, including the sordid romantic complications around Fani Willis and her chosen chief prosecutor, “boyfriend” Nathan Wade, a divorce lawyer with no experience in criminal law. Throw in the disgraceful, self-conflicted antics of the Judges Kaplan, Engoron, and Merchand in the New York cases, and the oafish conduct of Jack Smith and his assistants in Florida and DC — and what you get is a demonstration of how crude an instrument sheer lying actually is in the practice of law, and how easily it breaks against the people using it.

Some of these characters are just now coming to grief: Letitia James faces a DOJ action on depriving Mr. Trump’s rights, and SC Jack Smith is under active FBI investigation for evidence tampering and other crimes of process abuse. It would be fitting for all the prosecutors and the three judges in the New York cases to face similar inquiries.

The phrase under color of law establishes liability for abuse of power for officials vested with the terrible authority for upending people’s lives. The phrase “deprivation of rights” appears explicitly in federal statutes with the primarily focus on holding government officials and others acting with apparent legal authority accountable for willfully violating an individual’s constitutional or legal rights.

(sfchronicle.com)

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TYRANT TRUMP’S WORST CRIMES, DANGERS & DESTRUCTIONS ON AMERICA YET TO COME: SPECIAL ALERT

by Ralph Nader

The worst crimes of Donald Trump and dangers to America from the unstable, monomaniacal, lying outlaw in the White House have yet to come. He is not satisfied with tearing apart our country’s social safety net for tens of millions of Americans (e.g., Medicaid and food program cuts); wrecking our scientific/medical systems, including warning people about pandemics. He is, by wrecking FEMA et al, failing to address the impact of mega-storms, wildfires, and droughts; and allowing cybersecurity threats to increase while giving harm-producing big corporations immunities from the law, more subsidies, and more tax escapes. Recall how he always adds to his attacks on powerless people that “This is just the beginning.”

He just took the next step in his march to madness and mayhem by announcing more concentration camps holding immigrants, arrested without due process, for deportation to foreign countries that want U.S. taxpayer cash for each deportee.

Recent immigrants are crucial to millions of small and large businesses. Consider who harvests our crops, cares for our children and the elderly, cleans up after us, and works the food processing plants and construction sites. Already, businesses are reducing or closing their enterprises – a political peril for Dangerous Donald.

If all immigrants to the U.S. from the last ten years, documented and undocumented, went on strike, our country would almost shut down. Yet Trump, who hired 500 undocumented workers for just one of his construction sites in New York, and had similar laborers at his New Jersey golf course, promises deportations of millions more.

Always bear in mind the self-defined characteristics of corporatist Trump’s feverish, hateful, outlaw mind: (1) He has declared he “can do whatever he wants as President,” proving his serial violations of law and illegal dictates every day; (2) He always doubles down when indicted, convicted, caught, or exposed, falsely accusing his accusers of the exact transgressions they are reliably charging him with; (3) He brags about lashing out at criticism with foul defamatory invectives; (4) He never admits his disastrous mistake; (5) He boasts that he knows more than leading experts in a dozen major areas of knowledge (see, “Wrecking America: How Trump’s Lawbreaking and Lies Betray All”); and (6) He asserts that every action, policy, or program he launches is a spectacular success – the facts to the contrary are dismissed.

He is gravely delusional, replaces realities with fantasies, breaks promises that are made to defer any reckoning or accountability, and, like an imaginary King, finds no problem with saying “I rule America and the world.”

His ego defines his reactions, which is why every foreign leader is advised to flatter him. Nobody flatters better than the cunning genocidal Benjamin Netanyahu, who at his last regal White House dinner, held up his nomination of convicted felon, woman abuser, Trump for the Nobel Prize. Netanyahu’s preening comes from a politician whose regime has dossiers on Trump regarding his past personal and business behavior. This helps explain why Trump is letting the Israeli government do whatever it wants in its Gaza Holocaust, the West Bank, and beyond with our tax dollars, family-killing weaponry, and political/diplomatic cover.

The approaching greater dangers from Trump will come when he pushes his lawless, dictatorial envelope so far, so furiously, so outrageously, that it turns his GOP valets in Congress and the GOP-dominated U.S. Supreme Court against him. Add plunging polls, a stagflation economy, and impeachment, and removal from office would become a political necessity for the GOP in 2026 and beyond. In 1974, the far lesser Watergate transgressions by President Richard Nixon resulted in Republican Senators’ demanding Tricky Dick’s resignation from office.

Further provocations are not far-fetched. Firing Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell, sinking the dollar, and angering the fearful, but very powerful bankers are all on the horizon. Will the sex-trafficking charges involving Jeffrey Epstein and vile abuses of young girls finally be too much for his evangelical base, as well as for many MAGA voters? This issue is already starting to fissure his MAGA base and the GOP iron curtain in Congress. Subpoenas have just been issued to the Justice Department by the GOP Chair of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. James Comer of Kentucky – a close friend of Senator Mitch McConnell.

There is always SERENDIPITY. Trump, the mercurial egomaniac, offers old and new transgressions to stoke the calls for his impeachment. Does anyone believe that Trump would not start a military conflict, subjecting U.S. soldiers to harm, to distract attention from heavy media coverage of unravelling corruption investigations? Draft-dodging Donald has Pete Hegseth, his knee-jerk Secretary of Defense, waiting to do his lethal bidding, despite possible opposition from career military.

If Trump were to be impeached and removed from office, would he try to stay in office? Here is where a real constitutional explosion can occur. He would have to be escorted from the White House by U.S. Marshals who are under the direction of toady Attorney General Pam Bondi. The Supreme Court has held that the Constitution grants “the sole Power” to try impeachments in the Senate and nowhere else. Thus, the courts would provide no remedy to a lawless president wanting to stay in power.

Then what? The country falls into extreme turmoil. The Defense Department, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security are in the Trump Dump. Tyrant Trump can declare a major national emergency, invoke the Insurrection Act, and hurl these armed forces and police state muscle against a defenseless Congress and populace. (Recall the January 6, 2021, assault on Congress.) The abyss would have been breached.

With our society in a catastrophic convulsion, the economy collapsing, what would be the next steps? Like the Pentagon that anticipates worst-case domestic scenarios on possible violent “blowbacks” against U.S. military actions abroad, Americans should start thinking about the unthinkable. Such foreshadowings may make us far more determined NOW to thwart, stop, and repeal the fascist dictatorship which Der Führer Donald Trump is rooting ever more deeply every day. Little restraint on lawless Trump from the Congress and the Supreme Court, and only feeble, cowardly responses by the flailing Democratic Party (and the Bar Associations for that matter) thus far, make for the specter of violent anarchy and terror.

Trump has fatalistic traits. Armageddon shapes his ultimate worldview. Ponder that for a dictator with his finger on more than the nuclear trigger.

Again, Aristotle got it right over 2300 years ago, “Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others.” (See, Bruce Fein’s report: Congressional Surrender and Presidential Overreach).

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