- For Healthy Food, Adopt European Standards
- A Public Citizen
- Suppressing The Truth About Israel And Gaza
- Drivers Really Need To Pay Attention When Buying Gas
- Hold Your Nose And Support Prop. 50
- Fire With Fire
- The Fox News Solution
FOR HEALTHY FOOD, ADOPT EUROPEAN STANDARDS
Editor:
Robert F. Kennedy makes lots of noise about food safety, but there is a simple solution — set our food standards to match those of the European Union. I was in Sweden recently, and the food there is healthier and tastes better than what we get here. Even gluten-intolerant people can eat the bread as they use different wheat and fermentation methods. Of course, the industrial food conglomerates here would never accept that willingly. Even though Kennedy tries to promote healthy food, he isn’t going to take them on.
But this would solve many issues Donald Trump complains about. The rest of the world would allow our meat exports if we removed hormones and antibiotics. People here would have better tasting fruit and vegetables, and kids would end up healthier. Tie that in with a plan to end food deserts, undo cuts to SNAP (food stamps) and school meals, promote local farms and in general do what Kennedy says he wants to see. And then let science set vaccine schedules and all the rest.
Of course, this will never happen under this administration. Who believes Trump cares about anyone but himself and his cronies? It’s about tax cuts for the rich and increased taxes through tariffs for the middle and lower classes.
Hans Van Boldrik
Santa Rosa
A PUBLIC CITIZEN
To the Editor:
My deepest sympathies to the children of Jim Shields: his daughter, Jayma Shields Spence, and his son, Jim Shields.
Whether at the Laytonville Water District plant, where he was an expert on county water politics, or at The Mendocino Observer newspaper office, where he was a first-rate journalist, investigator and muckraker, your dad served us all.
Two hundred and fifty years ago, the founders of our country enshrined what was best about America in the phrase “public citizen”. Public citizens protect us all. They oversee our government, our democracy, and our health, safety and wellbeing.
Your dad was Mendocino County’s Public Citizen.
Another term for the same concept is “overwatch”.
Overwatch is a force protection tactic in modern warfare where one lone sniper supports his unit, usually a platoon, while the platoon executes fire and movement tactics. The term was coined in U.S. military doctrine in the 1950s.
An overwatching sniper typically takes a vantage position (usually a high ground or tall structure with good defilade) where he can observe the terrain far ahead, especially likely enemy positions and movements. This allows him to act as a warning system against hostile aggression and provide effective covering fire for his platoon.
Jayma and Jim, your dad provided overwatch for the rest of us here in Mendocino County.
John Sakowicz
Ukiah
SUPPRESSING THE TRUTH ABOUT ISRAEL AND GAZA
Editor:
Don’t say Palestine unless it’s to suggest that the people there are all terrorists, and Israel is only defending itself by sending all the Palestinians to kingdom come. That’s the real premise of Assembly Bill 715, now kicking its way around the Legislature, and being supported by our own state senator, Mike McGuire.
Masquerading as a way to protect K-12 Jewish students from antisemitism, the bill is actually an effort to suppress the truth about the Palestine/Israel conflict. And it falls right into line with the Trump administration’s Project Esther, which is, again, a plan to root out criticism of Israel by claiming it is antisemitic. In fact, the bill mentions Israel, Israelis and Zionism 10 times, more often than it mentions the Jewish students it claims to protect.
Frighteningly, going after Palestinians, and those of us who support them, is clearly the first step in Trump’s agenda to roll back all dissent and all freedom of speech. Palestine activists are a relatively easy target. And it is Democrats in our state Legislature who are promoting this gateway attack on all of our freedoms. What’s next, removing Greg Sarris’ “Watermelon Nights” and Maia Kobabe’s “Gender Queer” from school library shelves?
Lois Pearlman
Guerneville
DRIVERS REALLY NEED TO PAY ATTENTION WHEN BUYING GAS
Editor,
Having owned a gas station for over 20 years from 1984 to 2005, I find it astounding to see retail gas pricing at the pumps.
Recently, I checked prices around Marin. That day, a gallon of regular unleaded gas at the Arco station in Mill Valley cost $4.05. But at the Chevron 250 yards away across the freeway, it was $4.79. Here in Terra Linda, one of the gas stations priced it at $4.89.
Historically, the cost of gas to the dealer from the supplier is never more than about 10 cents per gallon difference between suppliers. The retailer has every right to price gas as it chooses. Most gas stations today have a volume in excess of 100,000 gallons per month.
Considering all that, I urge everyone to do the math and pay cash when filling up. The savings add up to a bunch of money. Choose your retailer wisely. In my opinion, the difference between brands is insignificant, as the formula for California’s “clean air gas” is mandated by the state and has very tight parameters and restrictions, including additive packages.
Bob Leedy
Terra Linda
HOLD YOUR NOSE AND SUPPORT PROP. 50
Editor:
We should hold our noses and vote yes on Proposition 50, but it should never have come to this. Texas and the GOP continue to play unethical games, fully aware of how crucial the 2026 elections will be in determining control of the House. They have politicized what redistricting is meant to be: the fair redrawing of voting districts to reflect population changes and ensure balanced representation. Instead, partisan maneuvering has undermined public trust. We all know how pivotal the 2026 election will be in restoring balance to the House and Senate and in repairing the damage done to our country. That’s why it is vital to vote — both on Prop. 50 and in the 2026 midterm election.
Yvonne Martin
Santa Rosa
SHERIFF MATT KENDALL:
Hold your nose and vote yes in 50?
That’s what is wrong with our country and our state. Justifying bad actions by comparing them to the actions of others is a form of rationalization, and diffusion of responsibility. Anyone who does this is wrong.
I don’t care what they do in Texas, I don’t live in Texas. We elect our representatives to serve our communities. They do so by having shared goals which are often based on shared experiences and needs for the communities. What does Marin County share with the residents of Modoc County. What if the governor focused on fixing the mountain of problems in our state instead of pointing the finger elsewhere to get the heat off of him.
Every single advertisement in support of this legislation clearly says it’s wrong, but… look what they are doing…
Very sad times for sure.
FIRE WITH FIRE
Editor
There seems to be a righteous uproar about California’s Proposition 50 redistricting proposal.
I’m a sixth-generation Californian who despises gerrymandering, but I also recognize that we are not living in normal times. It is not normal to send tanks and National Guard troops into our cities. It is not normal to disappear immigrants off the streets and deny them due process. It is not normal for a president to seek retribution against political enemies, former staff members and regular citizens on a daily basis. It is not normal to disregard court orders and use the Department of Justice as a personal weapon.
At this point, it is not a matter of being “fair” or “cheating.” We are trying to save the union of the United States of America and our representative democracy.
Proposition 50, of course, was triggered by the president of the United States asking the governor of Texas to find him five more U.S. House seats in Texas. President Trump’s move echoed his mob boss tactic in January 2021, when he pressured Georgia’s secretary of state to “find 11,780 votes” to overturn his loss in the state’s lawful election.
When we are faced with a frontal assault on the Constitution by the most powerful man on the planet, it is not the time to pull back the front lines and settle into an illusion that gerrymandering is a thing of the past in California. It is time to organize a counterassault. And that’s exactly what Proposition 50 is all about.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to redraw California’s congressional maps in response to Texas’ gerrymandering is simply leveling the playing field in a dangerous time. I’m all for it, despite being a victim of gerrymandering in my county.
It’s time to fight fire with fire.
Debra Lucero
Chico
THE FOX NEWS SOLUTION
Editor,
Last week on “Fox and Friends,” co-host Lawrence Jones suggested that homeless people who refuse voluntary services should be thrown in jail; co-host Brian Kilmeade went further, calling for them to be killed by lethal injection.
This comes after President Donald Trump issued an executive order in July that authorized “shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings.”
The Trump administration has made cuts to the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the recently passed federal budget reduced Medicaid spending by billions.
So what type of institutions and what type of treatment does Trump have in mind?
Follow the money — Immigration and Customs Enforcement is flush with cash and is procuring sites for detention camps free from the kind of oversight that ensures humane treatment.
Or the administration could take the advice of our friend over at Fox and “Just kill ‘em.”
Having a mental illness is not a crime. Kilmeade should be fired by Fox News.
Patricia Fontana
Berkeley
Hans Van Boldrik Is spot on. My family was in France and ate at a McDonalds there and now say they will never eat at an American McDonalds again as they were ruined by the quality of the French one. The Nuggets were real pieces of chicken breast, the hamburgers were real fresh ground beef and the buns were fresh and different than the American one. There were several choices of fries in different portions and cuts. Like wedges, regular, waffle and some other shapes and several choices of dressings for them.
Last ate at Micky D’s January 1980, an egg mc muffin, while
working on Jerry Brown for prez campaign in Manchester NH