Mendocino County Today: Monday 9/29/2025

Rain | Mendo Cloud | Oregon Smoke | New Track | Little Bigstorm | Katzeff Resigns | Boontworks Meeting | Other Drivers | News Roundup | Chickadee | Never Enough | Community Breakfast | Yesterday's Catch | Yes 50 | Cloverdale Church | CA Counties | Deportables | Selling Out | Network Shame | Giants Win | Niners Lose | Lightnin' Hopkins | Whitey Moon | Bad Writing | Maxim Gorky | Fisk Writings | Impartial Witnesses | Modern Family | Cast Out | Lead Stories | Healthcare Stuck | Oil Monster | Morman Carnage | Go Flow | Murder Mysteries | Stupid Cartoons | Emergent Fascism | Downright Goodfeeling

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RAIN is expected to arrive this morning in the north, quickly spreading south across the area through the day. Additional rain and wind are expected Tuesday afternoon and overnight. Lingering showers are expected Wednesday and will off on Thursday. Dry weather is expected to return for Friday and the weekend. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A cloudy 57F this Monday morning on the coast. I'll go with rain off & on today & tomorrow, the exact timing & amounts keep changing. The rain should fizzle out on Wednesday leading to a nice weekend. Next week is looking dry so far.

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SMOKE FROM OREGON WILDFIRES DRIFTS INTO MENDOCINO COUNTY [yesterday]

by Sarah Stierch

Smoke from wildfires in Oregon is affecting air quality in Mendocino County, the National Weather Service said Saturday.

Smoke from the Moon Complex in southern Oregon is causing hazy skies and a noticeable smell of smoke in parts of the North Coast and San Francisco Bay Area, according to the weather service.

The Moon Complex is a group of wildfires burning in the Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest. Lightning ignited the fires on Sept. 3.

As of Saturday, the complex had burned 12,650 acres and was 10% contained, the U.S. Forest Service said.

No air quality warnings were in effect for the region Saturday afternoon.

The weather service forecasts that southerly winds will help clear the smoke from the region on Sunday.

(mendovoice.com)

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BILL KIMBERLIN: This is the beautiful new “Rubberized” (they call it synthetic) track at Boonville High (they call it AVHS) that is the result of millions of dollars of investment. There is also evidence of some large ballfield lighting structures. I run on one of these near me in Berkeley and hope to run on this one if the school doesn’t lock me out. Even if you just walk it you will feel a spring in your step.

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FIRST BIG RAIN OF SEASON HEADS TOWARD MENDO [Little Bigstorm]

by Matt LaFever

Mendocino County is bracing for the season’s first true fall storm, with rain expected to arrive Monday morning and linger through midweek.

The National Weather Service says showers could begin in Mendocino County by early Monday morning, strengthening into steady rain by midday. The heaviest rainfall is expected Monday afternoon and evening. Inland towns like Ukiah, Willits, and Covelo can expect highs in the 60s and low 70s, while coastal communities from Fort Bragg to Point Arena will stay cooler in the 60s. Thunderstorms are possible as the storm deepens later in the day.

The wet weather continues Tuesday and Wednesday, accompanied by breezy south winds that could make driving on exposed stretches of Highway 101 and Highway 20 more difficult. After several dry months, forecasters caution drivers to take it slow on rain-slicked roads and keep an eye out for ponding in low-lying areas.

The storm will also churn up hazardous seas. Small craft advisories are in effect off the Mendocino Coast Monday, with gusty winds and waves of six to ten feet expected. A gale watch beginning Tuesday afternoon could bring even rougher conditions, creating a dangerous situation for fishermen and other boaters. Mariners are being urged to stay in port until conditions improve.

Showers are likely to hang on through Thursday before skies begin to clear, setting up a drier, sunnier weekend.

(MendoFever.com)

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Mark Scaramella Notes:

Expected Rainfall for Monday-Thursday, September 29-October 2, 2025 – Coast, Valley, Inland:

• Fort Bragg: Less than an inch.
• Boonville: Less than three-quarters of an inch.
• Ukiah: Less than half an inch.

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PAUL KATZEFF RESIGNS, ENDING TENURE ON MENDOCINO COAST HOSPITAL BOARD

by Frank Hartzell

Paul Katzeff, co-founder of Thanksgiving Coffee Company and one of Fort Bragg’s most influential business and civic figures, has resigned from the Mendocino Coast Hospital District Board. Katzeff announced his departure Sunday morning via the MCN listserve, just months after winning election to the seat.

His exit leaves the board with four members: Chair Paul Garza, Jan McGourty, Susan Savage, and Lynn Finley.

Statement from Paul Katzeff:

My friends,

Last Thursday I informed the County and the District of my resignation from the Board .

Effective Sept 24th.

I apologize for not giving you advanced notice .

I gave no reason and sent no lengthy essay to the rest of the Board.

I will however begin a speaking tour titled :

“Why I resigned from the Mendocino Health Care Distrrict Board”

Just FYI: I no longer feel able to continue the work of building community health. The other four Board Members have, in my view, been entirely captured by Adventist Health and the fear of losing the hospital. That fear has left no room—mentally or emotionally—for considering health on a broader, community level.

Efforts to build a healthier community for the long haul have been sidelined. The Board is locked into one immediate goal: Save the hospital!—with little room for broader vision.

I can not support such short sightedness to the exclusion of so much more.

So I resigned ,

900 days is enough

Lots of places to help as a Volunteer now open up for me.

Paul

The Mendocino Coast Hospital District was created in the 1960s by local residents to ensure hospital services from south of Elk to Westport. From 1971 to 2019, the district operated the hospital directly—until management was handed off to Adventist Health, which now runs the facility as Adventist Health Mendocino Coast.

In recent years, the board faced serious financial and organizational turmoil. A new board, led by Chair Paul Garza, has since brought order to what many viewed as “ridiculous money mysteries.” But while the books may be balanced, the board now defines its role narrowly—as a “landlord” overseeing the property.

Meanwhile, others—including Mendocinocoast.news—are calling for more transparency, stronger communication, and real leadership to guide the hospital’s future, not just maintain its lease.

The board is making plans for the hospital’s future—but with little to no public input in what’s supposed to be a public process. That’s deeply alarming.

Paul Katzeff has expressed a broader vision for community health—one that the current board has not embraced. Outvoted 4–1, his call for a more expansive role was sidelined.

We don’t believe the board is “captivated” by Adventist Health. Rather, it’s stuck in a narrow self-definition as mere “landlord”—a stance that runs counter to the hospital’s founding mission and the taxes we continue to pay. The board should spend far more time listening to the community and conveying that input to Adventist. It should serve as the public face of the hospital, which requires a close, communicative relationship with Adventist Health.

Adventist owns the hospital in Ukiah and maintains a far more transparent and collaborative relationship with the nonprofit that owns the Willits hospital. Here on the Coast, we pay substantial taxes that help keep our small hospital afloat. That investment deserves representation.

More on this in future articles. We know the board members to be dedicated community volunteers—and we want to help them awaken a public that’s been shamefully asleep on the issues shaping our future. Perhaps it’s time to look beyond the Skunk Train. The City has shown it knows how to engage the public in a post-newspaper world. The hospital board should take notes.

(mendocinocoast.news)

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ELLEN FONTAINE: Referencing a recent post: driving too fast is a separate problem in the Valley. The post was more about the dangerous driving behaviors: trying to pass on the right, passing with oncoming traffic, etc. These behaviors are never acceptable! They have been happening too much in the Valley and on 253. Wake up, people! What will it take to stop this? Someone getting severely injured or killed?

JEFF BURROUGHS: As a resident of Anderson Valley for 60 years I have to tell you I think if you see even 1 car behind you, just pull the hell out of the way. It’s common courtesy and it will improve safety on these roads.

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MENDO LOCAL WEEKLY NEWS ROUNDUP — SEPTEMBER 28, 2025

An incoming storm, a recall effort, a federal agency ruling, a new ice-house, and a mural

by Elise Cox

In the county, the effort to recall District Attorney David Eyster moves forward as supervisors grapple with a new $3 million shortfall. In Noyo Harbor, a new icehouse is opening and in Willits more than 180 people are helping create a mural. Meanwhile, federal transportation regulators ruled the Mendocino Railway is a “common carrier.”

Here’s the scoop: https://www.mendolocal.news/p/mendo-local-weekly-news-roundup-september-507

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A READER WRITES: This only happens to you once.

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NEVER ENOUGH MONEY

by Tommy Wayne Kramer

Is it possible to spend enough money to solve the homeless crisis, now in its Elevendy Seventh decade and showing no signs of getting better?

Is there enough money to fix it? No. A research team of smart people from nonprofit agencies working real hard to fix everything said there is not enough money on the entire planet to solve the homeless tragedy. But they’d like to try. Getting all the money on the entire planet, that is.

A multi-report on homelessness in various North Bay counties ran in the Ukiah Daily Journal last week. The stories were mostly interviews with city officials and/or those running agencies with names like the “Fore-See (Community, Compassion, Caring and Cash) Program.”

And what does everyone interviewed agree on? Not enough money. After 40 years allowing all these nonprofit groups to steer the Good Ship Hopeless onto rocky but lucrative shorelines, they come back insisting that with just a teensy bit more billions of dollars, per agency if possible, some real improvements will be made.

Honest. This time we mean it. Real progress, you betcha.

So instead of the old, failed “Constellation of Services” boondoggle, nonprofits say they will implement “Navigational Tools” to stop homelessness dead in its tracks, once and for all, or at least until the next county/city/state budget is prepared.

It never ends. These people have been running and ruining things from the start and have succeeded only in making it all worse. More people on the streets are pushing more shopping carts and dragging along more dogs. More tents. More filthy tent-filled camps. More drugs and crime and environmental degradation.

And in every city in California the quality of life for the rest of us plummets. They take our money and they make things worse because (Spoiler Alert!) THEY WANT TO KEEP GETTING RICH OFF THE HOMELESS. Oops. Didn’t mean to shout.

But lots of people have made and are making lots of money running these programs and the last thing they want is to solve the problem, because at that point they will be unemployed.

So they design strategies guaranteed to fail. The want to keep the cash cow alive and the homeless crisis thriving. It’s especially lucrative in California because every politician is a Democrat, and every employee at every nonprofit agency is a Democrat. (Cozy!)

But no one covering the issue ever thought to ask about the money. As in, “Umm, excuse me, but how many bazillions of dollars have federal, state and local agencies spent on homeless services in _ County since 1995?” The question is unanswerable of course, like asking your congressional representative how many cubic tons of sewage got flushed through California plumbing between 1995 and 2025.

A better question: If the previous kadzillion dollars has only made homelessness worse, why do we keep shoveling more money down the same sewer?

Instead we get grim news from the frontlines: brave counselors with spines of steel and hearts bursting with saint-like devotion, all working day and night to coerce their drug addled customers to attend meetings with service providers who mumble cliched slogans, vague encouragement, and when the session is complete they mumble, “And oh yeah: good luck.”

Is there precedent in which a company or business or agency or investment firm could fail so dismally for so long and yet continue to get billions of dollars in funding, along with high praise from government officials for performing selfless, high-minded work? It begs to be disbelieved.

The recent series simply pads out what has for so long been accepted as reality: These nonprofits are working hard to end the plight of the unfortunate homeless. Sob. I don’t believe it.

After 40 years of meetings, conferences, new plans, new slogans and much more money we’re further behind than when we started, way back when just a few fellows were standing on street corners holding “Will Work for Food” signs.

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CATCH OF THE DAY, Sunday, September 28, 2025

DILLON BUCHANAN, 19, Willits. DUI.

RICHARD CONDON JR., 44, Ukiah. Under influence, controlled substance, paraphernalia, concealed dirk-dagger.

SERJIO GONZALEZ, 49, Ukiah. Domestic abuse, criminal threats, parole violation.

JAKE HURST, 36, Fort Bragg. Controlled substance, paraphernalia, probation revocation.

KYLE MARTINEZ, 27, Willits. Pot cultivation.

ELDON MILER, 49, Willits. SUI, suspended license for refusing DUI chem test.

JUSTIN QUINLIVEN, 32, Laytonville. DUI, ammo possession by prohibited person, probation revocation, resisting.

ERIC RUDDIS, 39, Laytonville. DUI, false information.

ARMANDO SANCHEZ-ABARCA, 41, Los Banos/Ukiah. More than an ounce of pot, false proof of insurance.

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YES ON 50

Dear Editor,

I support California’s redistricting efforts because of one central truth. Democracy is not weaken when the people are given the power to choose, Texas’s mid-decade gerrymandering strips voters of their voice. California’s proposal does the opposite. It hands the voice to the voters. That is not an erosion of rights. It is their fullest expression.

The measure before California voters is temporary, with a sunset, leaving the commission intact for 2030 and beyond. The people decide - not a president acting like a king.

When one state rigs the board, the nation feels it. Silence is not an option. Vote

Yes on Prop 50.

Val Muchowski

Philo

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UNITED CHURCH OF CLOVERDALE TO HOLD LAST SERVICE AFTER 156 YEARS OF PRAYER AND COMMUNITY

The Cloverdale Boulevard stone-and-shingle sanctuary will remain in use, with the Cloverdale-based nonprofit La Familia Sana taking over the property on Oct. 1.

by Jennifer Sawhney

Memories of the longtime United Church of Cloverdale – home to the Cloverdale Food Pantry, Heaven’s Closet Thrift Shop and several community programs – sprung from a trio of longtime congregants and church leaders, as they convened before the final Sunday service on Sept. 28, two days before the church formally closes its doors on Sept. 30.

Huddled next to the office, not far from the 119-year-old stone-and-shingle sanctuary, the friends recalled the church’s successes: A popular high school breakfast program, the women’s fellowship, job training for local Latinos, a children’s nursery and the scholarships for first-time university students.

“It’s a bit sad, but on the other hand, we’re hoping the mission of this church can continue in this community,” said Bob Timm, a congregant for the last 37 years, whose wife, Janice, was the minister of music for 32 years.

Despite stacks of black and yellow storage bins sitting at the back of the sanctuary, the church stands ready for one last service, with well-worn hymnals tucked comfortably inside the pews of the amphitheater-style seating.

The final service will begin at 10 a.m., followed by an hour-long potluck.

The decision to dissolve the 156-year-old church came as its congregation, many of whom are in their “70s and older,” has shrunk, said congregant Holly Werner.

Timm noted that Cloverdale is not immune to the national trends of decreasing church attendance. He’s noticed that fewer families are raising their children in church; the time dedicated to Sunday service has been replaced by morning and early afternoon soccer and baseball games. He also said that full-time working families want to spend time together on the weekends.

National statistics underscore Timm’s comments. Data from a Gallup poll showed that between 2000 and 2003, an average of 42% of U.S. adults attended religious services weekly or every other week. From 2021 to 2023, that figure dropped to 30%.

As a result, “a lot of churches find they can’t maintain the programming because of lower attendance,” Timm said.

It wasn’t always that way at the United Church of Cloverdale. When the Werner and Timm families joined in the late 1980s, they remembered the church as a “mostly elderly congregation,” but it grew more diverse in the 1990s, marking the church’s “hey day,” for families, Timm said.

At one point, the church had at least five choirs for various age groups, participated in national conferences, and attended national-level choir festivals. There were years of summer camps, monthly women’s breakfasts, Christmas musicals and memories of hundreds of children at Sunday school.

The church’s current longest and oldest member, Marilyn Michelon, 90, who joined in 1960 and raised all her children there, is proud to have been part of an “open and affirming” congregation – one that pledged to welcome all and especially supported the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.

“I’ve been with them for 65 years. It’s been my home. My church home, my church family, has been a very important part of my life,” she said. She has plans to continue attending monthly women’s breakfasts with her fellow congregants after the church formally closes.

According to the church’s historic records, the United Church of Cloverdale was formed from “the first church organized” in the town, with its history dating back to 1869. It officially became the United Church of Cloverdale in 1979 when the First Congregational Church, formed in 1869, and the United Methodist Church, formed in 1865, merged.

The land for the prominent stone church — a landmark for many locals in the town — was donated by the Kleiser family, pioneers of the Cloverdale community. The building, sometimes referred to as the “Ivy Church,” was designed by Berkeley architect Francis W. Reid and constructed in 1906. Its mostly-wood interior, likely built from locally-sourced Redwood, was donated by a family with lumber-industry ties, Timm said.

The property, which houses the church, a worn-down Sunday school building and office, will maintain a “hopeful” future and a “continuation of community service,” Werner said.

The church will donate the property to La Familia Sana, a nonprofit that offers mental health, housing and family-based services to the community – the “historically underserved and underinvested communities in Cloverdale and Geyserville,” primarily centered around immigrants and farmworkers, said Jade Weymouth, the nonprofit’s executive director.

Leaders from the church and La Familia Sana have discussed the contribution for a little over a year. “We’re not walking into this lightly,” Weymouth said, repeatedly underscoring both the “mourning” surrounding the church’s legacy and the “joyfulness” in the potential growth of the community benefits.

While the property transfer will take place on Sept. 30, Weymouth said she does not know when the new site will open. But she already envisions how this location could benefit the community and nonprofit alike, with more confidential meeting areas, space for larger on-site workshops and the potential to bring more direct services “to the northernmost point of Sonoma County, so families don’t have to drive to Santa Rosa for all their services,” she said.

In addition, she said the roughly two-block move north will bring La Familia Sana just a stone’s throw from Cloverdale High School on Cloverdale Boulevard, noting that this space may make it easier for busy parents facilitating school drop-offs nearby.

“We’ll be along their route,” she said. “…Families, a parent or grandparent can drop off their child at school, go receive mental health services at La Familia Sana, pick up their free food boxes, maybe some diapers when they’re there.”

She also noted that the nonprofit would offer healthy nutrition workshops and provide assistance with work and benefit applications.

“That for me is embedding ourselves into the community,” she said. “We’re constantly trying to meet the needs of our community, and we know that this is a need for our community.”

While all three buildings need new roofs and the Sunday school building could use “a little bit of love,” she’s considering ways to get more community input and engagement to ensure this space’s potential is fully realized for years to come.

“Personally, I’m really encouraged by what they do and what they could do,” said Richard Werner, as he stood at the back of the church property with his wife Holly and Timm, later adding, “I think most of us are relieved that it’s not being sold, property torn down.”

(Petaluma Argus-Courier)

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RONDA ROSS:

Regarding people being “disappeared” off the street with no due process, most Americans fail to understand millions of immigrants are legally deportable, with basically a fingerprint.

It use to be referred to as summary removal. Now it is often called expedited removal. People who have Final Orders of Deportation, had their day in Immigration Court, lost and were given 30 days to get their affairs in order, before they are legally required to depart the US. Estimates vary, but the consensus appears to be roughly 750K people have overstayed FDOs. When arrested, they are not entitled to another bite at the apple, only to immediate deportation.

Ditto for those who have been previously deported, only to return to the US, illegally again. They are not entitled to more due process, unless the US seeks to enforce the prison term returning can trigger. Otherwise, they may be immediately legally removed, on proof of identity. Those estimates range from 500K to more than 1 million.

Under Biden, 2 million other people entered the US outside a valid Port of Entry. Unless they were trafficked against their will or absent other exigent circumstances, if they did not present themselves to Immigration Authorities in a timely manner, they are immediately deportable, on proof of identity and entry, outside a valid Port of Entry. There are other reasons for expedited removal. Lying about previous criminal convictions, in or out of the country on entry forms…

Of the nearly 4 million people mentioned above, it appears Trump has deported roughly 400K, or 10%. The “disappearing” people is meant to conjure visions of thousands of Latin and South Americans being imprisoned or killed by their Governments. The wrong person may be detained occasionally, as in any police investigation, but all that is happening in the US is immigration law is being enforced. If a political party is unhappy with the laws, they should draft legislation and change them. They should not erroneously accuse federal officers simply doing their jobs of “disappearing” people who, by law, are not allowed to remain in the US and do not require more due process than they have received.

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ACTIVISTS RALLY IN NYC TO CHALLENGE GAVIN NEWSOM’S SELL-OUT TO BIG OIL

by Dan Bacher

New York, NY— California Governor Gavin Newsom portrays himself as the national leader to take on Donald Trump as he skillfully trolls the President on social media, but climate activists are claiming that he “is selling out to Big Oil.” 

Yesterday, Indigenous, environmental justice, community and climate justice groups gathered in New York City to hold him accountable for “backtracking on key climate and community health commitments and siding with Big Oil interests” during one of the most high-profile climate events of the year — as the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Climate Week NYC, and the UN NDC Summit converge in the “Big Apple.” 

Activists from California and across the nation rallied around a large banner that read, “Gov. Newsom: If you can’t take on Big Oil, how can you take on Trump?” and, “Don’t Let Big Oil Trump Your Climate Promises,” according to a press statement from the Last Chance Alliance (LCA).

“Newsom spent years positioning himself as a climate champion,” the group wrote.  “He is a co-leader of the ‘America Is All In’ coalition, which mobilizes state and local leaders for climate action. He’s taken Big Oil to court, banned fracking, and pledged to phase out oil drilling in California.” 

But on Friday, September 19, Newsom signed SB237 — a bill he spearheaded — that would expand oil drilling in California by 2,000 wells per year while claiming it and other “energy affordability” bills in climate/energy bill package as a climate victory, advocates noted.…

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/9/25/2345403/-Updated-Activists-rally-in-NYC-to-challenge-Governor-s-Big-Oil-backtracking-during-Climate-Week

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REMIND NETWORKS THAT FIRST AMENDMENT MATTERS

Editor:

I’m old enough to remember network news as the purveyor of truth. I remember clinging to every word from Walter Cronkite after John F. Kennedy was shot, never suspecting his report would be slanted. What a change the networks have made, clearly driven by a Federal Communications Commission chairman who has no authority to censor anybody.

Shame on ABC, and for that matter, CBS, for lacking the courage to stand behind entertainers who speak their own truth. I have visited Cuba and was invited into the back room of a restaurant to hear the whispered truth about the government. There was obvious peril to the speaker in sharing information with Americans. Are we now standing on a precipice, ready to fall into a news vacuum or one where only censored news is allowed? I hope those of us who share my concerns will ensure that our networks are aware of our feelings: the First Amendment matters, and speaking truth to power is our right as American citizens.

Jan Gilman

Santa Rosa

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GIANTS PILE UP MILESTONES, EMOTIONS IN SEASON-ENDING DEFEAT OF ROCKIES

by Shayna Rubin

As a group, the San Francisco Giants had little to play for in Game 162. Individually, many had something to achieve.

Within the first few innings, a few Giants reached milestones, broke longstanding franchise droughts, claimed league crowns, achieved rare baseball feats and received standing ovations. Ultimately, the Giants beat the Colorado Rockies 4-0 on Sunday at Oracle Park to finish a disappointing season 81-81. A fully mediocre season could use perspective: Three more wins would have earned the Giants a wild-card berth.

First, Logan Webb struck out the first batter he faced to break a three-way tie atop the National League strikeout leaderboard. He actually struck out the side in the first and then five more through his final 5⅓ innings of the year to take the National League strikeout crown with 224 total. His 207 innings led MLB, making him the first Giant since Bill Voiselle in 1944 to lead the NL in both innings and strikeouts.

“He deserves to pitch in October,” Giants third baseman Matt Chapman said. “Unfortunately that didn’t happen for us but I know we’re all motivated to get better and find a way to do it next year. Super proud of Logan, he deserves it, he’s been the leader of that staff for a while now and sets the tone every day.”

Webb takes pride in being a workhorse. It’s no small feat to lead the NL in innings three years in a row, but perhaps most telling of his evolution as a pitcher is that he could tweak his pitch mix enough to rely less on the groundball and get swing-and-misses from increasingly familiar opposing hitters.

“Talk about next-level stuff,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Didn’t walk anybody there, we were thinking 75 pitches — we weren’t sure where the numbers would go — it felt like he was on a strikeout mission and he did.”

Very close to first pitch, Melvin swapped Willy Adames and Heliot Ramos in the lineup to have Adames bat first to get him an extra at-bat in his quest to become the first Giant to hit 30 home runs in a season since Barry Bonds in 2004. Other than Bonds’ 28-homer season in 2007, Brandon Belt was the only other player to come close, hitting 29 in 2021. Every other team in baseball has had at least one player with 30 homers since 2019.

Adames didn’t need an extra at-bat or more than one pitch to end that 21-year drought. He launched McCade Brown’s 95 mph fastball to deep center field for his 30th of the year. Chapman had a feeling Adames — who has a flare for the dramatic home run — wouldn’t need more than his first at-bat and called it before the first pitch.

“It just seemed like something he would do,” Chapman said. “I feel like he has a knack for the big moments.”

Rafael Devers entered the game to become the first player since Justin Morneau in 2008 to play in 163 games, a quirk of the mid-season trade because Devers played 73 games with the Boston Red Sox and 90 with the Giants.

Later, a tearful goodbye and perhaps symbolic gesture came as Wilmer Flores was removed in the third inning to the tune of the “Friends” theme song, his walk-up music for his entire career, for 20-year-old Bryce Eldridge. Flores had some of his best years in his six seasons with the Giants and became a fan favorite, but he is a free agent in the offseason with no true spot to return to in San Francisco as Devers and Eldridge occupy the first base and designated hitter roles.

“There are guys on the team you’re always going to gravitate to and Wilmer is one of those guys no matter where he goes,” Melvin said. “He’s a beautiful man and his impact on the clubhouse, unless you’ve been around a guy like him, you can’t explain it. I think I actually saw him smile when he came off the field today.”

(sfchronicle.com)

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49ERS FALL 26-21 TO JAGUARS AMID WELTER OF TURNOVERS, SPECIAL TEAMS MISCUES

by Noah Furtado

An otherwise strong opening drive ended with an anticlimax for the San Francisco 49ers. Brock Purdy targeted the pylon with a spiral in the direction of running back Christian McCaffrey, whose bottom half was clipped before the ball got to him.

The home crowd at Levi’s Stadium waited for a flag. What they got instead was a referee doing his best impression of the dougie dance move, as he frantically motioned one arm over his head. Uncatchable. The Niners settled for three points.

The return of Purdy from his toe injury was not without the occasional highlight — a shovel-pass touchdown here, a hook-and-lateral there — but ultimately fell short of a $265 million difference as the 49ers (3-1) were removed the ranks of unbeaten NFL teams Sunday in a 26-21 loss to the Jaguars (3-1).

Purdy threw two interceptions on the day. His first missed the chest of McCaffrey, who could not corral a one-handed catch and tipped the pass into the hands of Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd. The second pick made things easier on Lloyd by nailing the No. 0 printed on his Jaguars jersey; the pass was apparently intended for Jauan Jennings.

Already playing with limited snaps due to ankle and shoulder injuries, Jennings held onto a two-point conversion catch while being sandwiched between two defenders. The problem? Wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (knee) was already in the medical tent. Both powered through to finish the game.

The 49ers sans All-Pro tight end George Kittle (hamstring, injured reserve), star wideout Brandon Aiyuk (knee, physically unable to perform) and stud defensive end Nick Bosa (knee, out for season) could not afford to more injuries.

Then again, they also could have done without giving up an 87-yard punt return touchdown. Parker Washington sprinted nearly the length of the field to give the Jaguars a 26-14 lead late in the third quarter, at the expense of a special teams unit apparently still reeling from a 54-yard kickoff return by Bhayshul Tuten that let Jacksonville sneak in a field goal before the end of the first half.

It was further evidence that new special teams coordinator Brant Boyer has yet to correct the issues that put the Niners at the bottom of the league in multiple major special teams categories last season. The 49ers ranked dead last in average opponent starting field position off kickoffs through the first three weeks.

In addition to their edge on special teams, the Jaguars also won the turnover battle 4-0 after blocking tight end Luke Farrell coughed up an early fumble.

Purdy followed suit in an even less timely moment. On the other end of a medley of dropped balls and his own fair share of sailed passes, Purdy was still gifted a chance to take the lead after the Jaguars’ Cam Little missed a 47-yard field goal wide right with 3:35 in the fourth quarter. Former 49ers defensive tackle Arik Armstead closed that opportunity with a strip sack of his former teammate.

(SF Chronicle)

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TOUGH LOSS. Everyone contributed towards it. One thing that can happen from this, the 49ers realize they need to make a big trade for a DE asap. That Hendrickson play needs to be a real thing if we want to have a shot

Plenty of things to discuss. But we are still 3-1 with a huge game in 4 days. I’m pissed we lost but also understand that we weren’t gonna go 17-0.

Too many drops, disastrous special teams and Purdy has to be better and I’ll address that soon.

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EVERYBODY WANTS TO TALK about how bad Purdy played. Why don’t they mention the fact that CMC, Bourne, and Jennings combined for eight crucial drops? Why don’t you mention that one of Purdy’s two interceptions was CMC’s fault? How about Trent Williams playing his worst game ever as a 49er? Or the special teams that gave up 10 points? Or the defensive line that couldn’t even get close enough to spit on Trevor Lawrence? How many times did Purdy have to scramble or leave the pocket to make a play? A bunch of times. Guess what Mac Jones doesn’t do? Scramble or leave the pocket to extend plays. He would’ve been sacked 6+ times if he was in there. Purdy didn’t play a great game, but he is definitely not the problem.

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49ERS GAME GRADES: An across-the-board faceplant in first loss of the season

The San Francisco 49ers did little right Sunday, with only the defense showing any signs of life as they fell to the Jacksonville Jaguars 26-21 at Levi’s Stadium.

Offense: D

The 49ers look every bit like a team whose starting QB and receivers hadn’t played together for a couple weeks. Brock Purdy piled up 309 yards, but threw two interceptions and incurred two sacks — the second of which was by ex-49er Arik Armstead and forced a game-sealing lost fumble. Purdy’s receivers dropped at least six passes and the ground game, which remains the NFL’s only TD-free unit, collected only 83 yards on 24 carries. The 49ers collected 22 first downs, but just three of them by rushing.

Defense: C+

That the 49ers even had a chance to win the game at the end is because of their defense. However, they were gashed for 151 rushing yards (including a 48-yard TD run by Travis Etienne) and established an unwanted NFL record by failing to intercept a pass for the 11th consecutive game. Nick Bosa’s absence was glaring: not only did the 49ers not sack Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence (21-for-31, 174 yards, 1 TD) they failed to register a quarterback hit.

Special Teams: F

The good? Eddy Piñeiro made both of his very short field goals (26 and 23 yards) and his lone extra-point try. The bad? How about allowing Parker Washington’s 87-yard punt return for a TD in the third quarter (which put the Jags up 26-14). In the second quarter, Jacksonville parlayed a 54-yard kickoff return by Bhayshul Tuten into a last-play-of-the-half field goal. In all, the Jags finished with 190 kickoff and punt return yards — the 49ers had 96, all by Skyy Moore.

Coaching: D+

Kyle Shanahan lost a first-half timeout when he unsuccessfully challenged a 28-yard completion to Travis Hunter. In the second quarter, after a drive that featured a 23-yard hook-and-ladder play, he was forced to kick a field goal despite having 2nd-and-goal at the 5. Then in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, trailing 26-14, he kept the field-goal unit on the sideline on 4th-and-2 from the Jaguars’ 26 and instead called for a Purdy pass. It fell incomplete.

Overall: D

Was it just offensive rust or a sign of something more concerning? In any case, the 49ers have to quickly wash away the stench of this ugly loss. They head south to play the Rams on Thursday in the first of their five prime-time games this season. Sunday’s game was the start of a potentially rough part of the schedule: L.A. and Tampa Bay (Oct. 12) are both road games and each team sits atop their division.

Up Next: The 49ers will play the LA Rams in LA on Thursday night.

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WHITEY ON THE MOON

by Gil Scott-Heron (1970)

[Intro]
We have a poem here, it's called "Whitey On The Moon"
It was inspired by some whiteys on the moon
So I wanna give credit where credit is due

[Verse]
A rat done bit my sister Nell
With whitey on the moon
Her face and arms began to swell
And whitey's on the moon
I can't pay no doctor bills
But whitey's on the moon
Ten years from now I'll be payin' still
While whitey's on the moon
The man just upped my rent last night
Cause whitey's on the moon
No hot water, no toilets, no lights
But whitey's on the moon
I wonder why he's upping me?
Cause whitey's on the moon?
Well I was already giving him fifty a week
With whitey on the moon
Taxes taking my whole damn check
Junkies making me a nervous wreck
The price of food is going up
And as if all that shit wasn't enough:
A rat done bit my sister Nell
With whitey on the moon
Her face and arm began to swell
And whitey's on the moon
Was all that money I made last year
For whitey on the moon?
How come I ain't got no money here?
Hmm! Whitey's on the moon
Y'know I just 'bout had my fill
Of whitey on the moon
I think I'll send these doctor bills
Airmail special
To whitey on the moon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goh2x_G0ct4

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“IN THE WAR IN ITALY when I was a boy, I had much fear. In Spain I had no fear after a couple of weeks and was very happy. Yet for me not to understand fear in others or deny its existence would be bad writing. It is just that now I understand the whole thing better. The only thing about a war, once it has started, is to win it--and that is what we did not do. The hell with war for a while, I want to write.”

— From Letters of Hemingway, Carlos Baker edited

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‘THE AGE OF THE WARRIOR’

by Magnus Halsnes

Two weeks ago I came over a new book by Robert Fisk, Britain’s well-known Middle East correspondent, called The Age of the Warrior - Selected Writings. The book is a selection of articles written by Fisk for the British newspaper The Independent. Most of the articles, with some exceptions, are written between 2005 and 2007. The articles are arranged according to theme rather than chronological. Since most of the articles are written within such a short period of time makes it, combined with the length of the book (500 pages), slightly repetitive. Fisk repeats himself quite often, and even if it’s naturally due to the nature of his self-reflecting articles, it gets a bit boring when you read all of them at once. That Fisk does not like Tony Blair (frequently referred to as Lord Blair of Kut al-Amara), George W. Bush or the Internet gets a bit tiring to read about on every other page.

Despite some of the negative aspects of the book there are positive ones. Since I’ve only read a handful of Fisk’s articles before (two or three of them printed in this book), it is interesting to read more about Fisk’s different reflections on different things, everything from handwriting, Internet and modernity to journalism, death and destruction.

It is enjoyable to read Fisk’s articles, and they sometimes provide you with some interesting facts. For example that 20,000 Brazilian troops fought against the Axis Powers in the Italian campaign during the Second World War (454 of them died) and that many of the Titanic dead came for a Lebanese village called Kfar Mishki. Despite these fun facts the book, for obvious reasons, brings little or nothing new to the table. Most of what Fisk covers in these articles will be well-known for most people interested in the Middle East, both the stories and their different aspects.

This makes The Age of the Warrior an interesting read, but unfortunatly not a must-read. I have the feeling that Fisk’s articles are best served, and read, fresh. Most of Robert Fisk’s articles for The Independent can be found here.

One of the most interesting articles is the one from where Fisk got the title for his book, “The US military and its Cult of Cruelty.“ In this article, called “Age of the Warrior” in the book, he talks about the change from ‘soldier’ to ‘warrior’ in the US Army based on a letter he recieved. The terms seem similar, but there are apparently some crucial differences according to Fisk. Read the article and notice the difference between the offical US Army’s “Soldier’s Creed“ (drawn up after the Vietnam war) and it’s 2003 replacement, the so called “Warrior Ethos”:

Soldier’s Creed:

“I am an American soldier. I am a member of the United States Army - a protector of the greatest nation on earth. Because I am proud of the uniform I wear, I will always act in ways creditable to the military service and the nation that it is sworn to guard … No matter what situation I am in, I will never do anything for pleasure, profit or personal safety, which will disgrace my uniform, my unit or my country. I will use every means I have, even beyond the line of duty, to restrain my Army comrades from actions, disgraceful to themselves and the uniform. I am proud of my country and it’s flag. I will try to make the people of this nation proud of the service I represent for I am an American soldier.”

Warrior Ethos:

“I am an American soldier. I am a warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the Unites States and live the Army values. I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit. I will never leave a fallen comrade. I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills. I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself. I am an expert and I am a professional. I stand ready to deploy, engage and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat. I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life. I am an American soldier.”

(magnushalsnes.no)

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I SUPPOSE, in the end, we journalists try - or should try - to be the first impartial witnesses of history. If we have any reason for our existence, the least must be our ability to report history as it happens so that no one can say: “we didn’t know - no one told us.”

— Robert Fisk

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CAST OUT, an on-line comment: “Let’s take one important area where the left has decided to cast people out: biological men claiming to be women. My friends on the left insist that I must agree that trans men are women, and that if I disagree, I’m a hater, a deplorable, and am permanently excluded from the church of right-thinkers. But I’m a feminist and a secularist. Women are entitled to be safe from men. We are entitled to have sex-segregated sports, prisons, changing rooms, and bathrooms; we are entitled to have a fair chance in sporting events; we are entitled to respect as mothers, pregnant women, and breast feeders; we are entitled to expect that awards designated for women are actually awarded to women, not to men who claim to be women. Gender ideology feels to many of us (and seemingly most of the country) like religious fundamentalism: I must agree to magical thinking, and ignore that this magical thinking, as currently practiced by the left, is deeply unfair and harmful to women.”

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LEAD STORIES, MONDAY'S NYT

Trump to Meet With Congressional Leaders as Shutdown Deadline Looms

Trump and Netanyahu to Discuss Plans for Postwar Gaza

Trump Again Focuses on Portland as an Avatar of the Left

What We Know About the Suspect in the Michigan Church Shooting

Eric Adams Abandons Re-election Bid for Mayor of New York City

Bad Bunny Will Headline Super Bowl Halftime Show

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ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

While peaceful political action has improved healthcare in the United States, it looks as if the financial elites who essentially control the healthcare system are blocking any meaningful change. The goal is to extract as much money as possible from both the government and the patients and finding new ways to not pay for anything. By using regulatory capture of the regulatory agencies and bribery of the politicians, they are succeeding in doing this. Any politician who runs on reforming the system gets buried. I think that only true fear of the mob will make our politicians change this.

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4 DEAD, 8 WOUNDED IN MICHIGAN CHURCH ATTACK

The police said they believed the attacker opened fire on the congregation and intentionally set fire to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building near Flint. The shooter died after exchanging fire with police officers, officials said.

Two more bodies were pulled from the burned remains of a Michigan church where investigators say a man crashed a vehicle into the building on Sunday morning and then opened fire on worshipers. The discovery brought the total number of victims to four, with eight others injured. The gunman also died after a confrontation with officers.

The fire badly damaged the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building in Grand Blanc Township, Mich., and the police said it had not yet been “cleared” as of 8 p.m., leaving open the possibility that other victims might be found. A federal investigator said the fire appeared to have been set with “an accelerant of some sort,” possibly gasoline, and that three “rudimentary” explosive devices had been found at the scene. Officials said the F.B.I. was allocating 100 agents to that area.

The man who officials said crashed a vehicle into a Michigan church and opened fire on the congregation has been identified by the police as a 40-year-old from Burton, Mich., who went to high school nearby and served in the Marines.

The authorities said they believed the man, identified as Thomas Jacob Sanford, also intentionally set fire to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building in Grand Blanc Township, Mich. They added that congregants were inside attending services when the building was engulfed in flames.

The Michigan church where a gunmen rammed his vehicle into a wall and opened fire on Sunday morning was part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or the Mormon Church. The church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, but has branches around the world.

The congregation in Grand Blanc Township, Mich., was “one of the largest” in the area, with “around 150 members,” according to Justin Jensen, a 19-year-old Latter-day Saint missionary in the area, who said he had been to the Grand Blanc Township church many times.

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The man who officials said crashed a vehicle into a Michigan church and opened fire on the congregation has been identified by the police as a 40-year-old from Burton, Mich., who went to high school nearby and served in the Marines.

The authorities said they believed the man, identified as Thomas Jacob Sanford, also intentionally set fire to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building in Grand Blanc Township, Mich. They added that congregants were inside attending services when the building was engulfed in flames.

The shooter was “neutralized” in an exchange of gunfire with responding officers, the police said. Four of those in the church also died. Two died of gunshot wounds, the police said, and two more bodies were found later in the church. Eight people were wounded.

Chief William Renye of the Grand Blanc Township Police Department did not provide a motive for the attack.

Records show that the gunman, who also went by Jake, graduated from a nearby high school in 2004. He served in the Marines from 2004 to 2008, and was deployed to Iraq from 2007 to 2008.

Mr. Sanford’s father declined to comment in a brief phone conversation. Several attempts to reach the suspect’s wife and other immediate family members were unsuccessful.

Ryan Lopez, a former high school classmate who lives in the nearby city of Davison, Mich., said that he regularly saw Mr. Sanford around town and was still trying to process the news. He said he last saw Mr. Sanford at a gym in Davison a few weeks earlier, and that nothing had seemed out of the ordinary.

“He was happy to see me, he just seemed normal,” Mr. Lopez said. Mr. Sanford was an avid hunter of geese, turkey and deer and had seemed like a typical “country kid” while growing up, Mr. Lopez said. After high school, both men joined the Marines, where Mr. Sanford did motor transport work, Mr. Lopez said.

For roughly a year around 2010, Sandra Winter, 56, rented a room to Mr. Sanford in her home in Jeremy Ranch, Utah. She described him as an unassuming man who worked for a local business doing snow removal and landscaping. He also had creative ambitions as a sculpture artist working with Sheetrock, Ms. Winter recalled.

Ms. Winter said she was shocked to hear that he was identified as the attacker in the shooting, a situation she said she would “never in a million years” have imagined.

In 2016, he married a woman who had gone to the same high school he did, according to court records, and they have a 10-year-old son.

April Van, 66, who lives in an apartment complex near the suspect’s most recent address, said that she did not know him but she had seen the son taking out trash.

Another neighbor, Randy Thronson, 71, said he hadn’t talked to Mr. Sanford for about two years but that he “seemed like a nice guy” and would plow neighbors’ driveways in the winter for free.

“Something must have happened, snapped somehow,” he said as police secured the area around the suspect’s home.

(NY Times)

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CHARLIE KIRK MURDER MYSTERIES MULTIPLY

by Kit Klarenberg

Every day, grave questions and deeply concerning mysteries surrounding the September 10th murder of Turning Point USA chief Charlie Kirk multiply. Per the FBI, the case is open and shut. College dropout Tyler Robinson, an apparent political radical who despised the right-wing activist and influencer for “spreading hate”, seized the opportunity of Kirk’s appearance at Utah Valley University to take him out permanently. While the Bureau and mainstream media have worked overtime to convict Robinson in the court of public opinion, many are unconvinced.

Their doubt is understandable. Robinson turned himself in to police, as publicly-released photos of an individual wanted for questioning in relation to Kirk’s murder resembled him and he feared being killed in a SWAT raid on his home. Nonetheless, he denies responsibility, and the assassination scenario posited by authorities - including multiple clothing changes, Robinson twice leaving his rifle wrapped in a towel in nearby woods for police to find, while dawdling around UVU campus for hours after the shooting despite having the means to immediately flee afterwards in his car - is patently absurd.

What evidence has been released supporting his guilt ranges from woeful, to literally non-existent. For example, FBI Director Kash Patel has claimed Robinson wrote a letter confessing to the killing, only for it to be destroyed in uncertain circumstances by persons unknown. Still, unspecified “forensic evidence” apparently somehow confirms its contents. This letter was authored despite Robinson stating in private messages purportedly sent to his roommate and lover he “had hoped to keep this secret ‘till I died of old age.”

Those exchanges, contained in a publicly-available charging document against Robinson, have been subject to widespread allegations of fakery, and outright mockery. The texts are not replete with time stamps, and appear incongruously self-incriminating for a shooter who allegedly undertook extensive measures to cover his tracks - to the extent the communications effectively make a water-tight case against Robinson on behalf of authorities. Robinson is also quoted using terms such as “squad car” and “drop point”, among other language it seems highly improbable a 22-year-old left-winger would employ.

More sinisterly, there is the open question of whether Israel was in any way involved in Kirk’s slaying. While an ardent Zionist for much of his time in the public eye, in the last months of Kirk’s life he began to voice criticism of Tel Aviv’s influence over US politicians, and the threat of Benjamin Netanyahu dragging Washington into war with Iran. In July, a TPUSA conference featured several speakers deeply critical of Israel.

Knowledgeable sources have informed The Grayzone this summit prompted numerous wealthy allies of Netanyahu to bombard Kirk with threatening phone calls and text messages, demanding he correct course and cease platforming anti-Zionist voices. The backlash reportedly left the TPUSA chief feeling “frightened”, and he publicly bemoaned the malign pressure to which he was being subjected in an August 6th interview. Weeks before Kirk’s assassination too, hardline Zionist billionaire Robert Shillman ended his longstanding financial sponsorship of TPUSA.

Concrete proof of Tel Aviv’s culpability for Kirk’s murder is unforthcoming, although one might reasonably enquire why Netanyahu has felt it necessary to issue multiple statements denying the charge. Even hardcore Zionists have cautioned his determination to prove Israel’s innocence smacks of protesting too much. It’s also vital to ask why TPUSA security apparatchiks were responsible for a little-examined litany of catastrophic professional failures on September 10th, leaving Kirk an open, easy target for execution.

‘So Impressive’

The only vaguely substantive documentation implicating Tyler Robinson in the shooting is video footage of an individual leaping from the roof of a UVU building directly facing the central campus area where Kirk’s event was held, before making a run for it while lugging a backpack. The FBI and prosecutors charge it was from here Kirk was shot, and the mainstream media has universally accepted this account. A screwdriver, reportedly used to construct then deconstruct the murder weapon, bearing Robinson’s DNA was allegedly found there.

However, the clip isn’t proof the individual pictured was Robinson, or they were carrying a rifle. Even more suspiciously, this footage was captured by a static CCTV camera trained directly on the area from where Robinson supposedly targeted Kirk. It was thus perfectly positioned to record him arriving, setting up, assembling the rifle, calibrating its sights, taking the shot, disassembling and camouflaging his weapon, then starting his escape. Bizarrely, no images of this chain of far more incriminating and noteworthy events have emerged.

This deficit can hardly be regarded as inconsequential, given the UVU building’s roof serving as Robinson’s sniper nest is absolutely fundamental to the conclusion Kirk was shot from the front. There are other significant problems with this core component of the official narrative. For one, the hole spurting blood that erupted in Kirk’s neck far more resembles an exit rather than entry wound, strongly suggesting the bullet was fired from elsewhere.

Moreover, if that gory spurt was an entry wound, there should’ve been a massive eruption of blood behind him emanating from an even bigger exit wound - but there was none. Authorities have failed to address or even acknowledge this glaring issue. On September 21st TPUSA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet attempted to offer an explanation. He relayed how a surgeon who tended to Kirk told him the bullet “absolutely should have gone through,” and such a shot “would have taken a moose or two down.”

Yet, in a medically unprecedented “miracle”, Kirk’s “body stopped it”. Kolvet claimed his “bone was [sic] so healthy and the density was so so impressive that he’s like the man of steel.” More unbelievably still, a coroner conveniently found the bullet that claimed Kirk’s life lodged “just beneath [his] skin”. This bullet has not to date been presented publicly. There was a camera mounted behind Kirk during the event, which might confirm from which direction he was shot. But what it captured remains another mystery.

‘Main Threat’

In the days following Kirk’s murder, smartphone footage of the shooting’s immediate aftermath began to circulate widely. The video shows while the crowd had almost fully dispersed, there was virtually zero visible police presence on the ground, or indication of any efforts being undertaken by law enforcement or TPUSA’s security detail to isolate the scene of Kirk’s shooting to prevent evidence being contaminated, degraded or tampered with - the reverse, in fact.

An individual wearing sunglasses is seen in the clip standing Kirk’s bloodspattered chair upright, then using it as a makeshift stool to remove a camera situated behind where Kirk was sitting. He steps away and removes its memory card, hands it to another person, who then appears to stuff the device into his baseball cap before walking away. The primary individual in question, confirmed to be a TPUSA operative, also removed the memory card from a camera directly facing Kirk.

Both moving Kirk’s chair and removing the camera memory cards represent unambiguous evidence tampering, a serious crime under US federal and state law, for which perpetrators can face prison time and financial penalties. Why capturing those cards was considered an urgent priority for Kirk’s associates isn’t remotely clear. There is no indication the TPUSA operative responsible is wanted for questioning by authorities, let alone will be punished for his actions. This is despite even more suspect footage of the as yet unnamed individual subsequently emerging.

The clip shows Kirk’s security team rushing him to an SUV parked behind his speaking spot following the shooting, and bystanders racing after them to safety. Incredibly, the TPUSA operative who subsequently interfered with the crime scene can be spotted perched on a wall filming the chaos below, as if he was already in position before Kirk was shot, and knew precisely what was about to happen. He then retrieved the memory cards.

The degree of professionalism exhibited by the TPUSA operative in both seemingly situating himself preemptively to ideally before video the dramatic scenes instantly following Kirk’s assassination, and swiftly moving to seize and spirit away crucial evidence before police investigators arrived on the scene, starkly contrasts with the apparent incompetence of TPUSA’s security detail, and UVU’s own. Just six campus police officers were deployed to oversee the event, which attracted approximately 3,000 people.

Attendees testify UVU implemented no formal entry gates for the event, their bags weren’t searched, and there was no indication nearby rooftops or buildings were being monitored for suspicious activity. These literally fatal failings have been harshly condemned by US Secret Service veterans, with particular criticism reserved for the decision to hold the event outdoors - which UVU claims was specifically requested by TPUSA representatives. Kirk’s prior public appearances had invariably been subject to intensive security measures.

On September 2nd, Kirk gave his penultimate rally in Visilia, California. Held indoors, 60 officers were deployed for a crowd of 2,000. Clear restrictions were in place on what attendees could have in their possession, including signs. Over preceding days, local law enforcement conducted wide-ranging reconnaissance in preparation, researching spots of interest to prospective shooters, and identifying locals ill-disposed to Kirk. On the day itself, both police drones and officers closely monitored his movements to and from the venue, scouting nearby rooftops.

Commenting on the rank professional blunders that supposedly facilitated Kirk’s assassination, Greg Shaffer, who headed TPUSA’s protection detail 2015 - 2022, suggested Kirk’s security team may have erroneously focused exclusively “on threats coming from a much closer distance” rather than a sniper, as “the main threat” had “always” been “somebody getting in the inner circle and attacking Charlie.” Shaffer’s remarks might be more illuminating than he intended - for “somebody” certainly could have infiltrated Kirk’s “inner circle”, explicitly to clear a path for his murder.

(kitklarenberg.com)

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TRUMP’S WAR ON AMERICA

Trump’s newest presidential memoranda criminalizes critics of empire, capitalism, Christian nationalism, abuses by the state and those who fight racism and gender discrimination.

by Chris Hedges

Fascists, historically, are surprisingly candid about the world they intend to create. Those they target, despite this transparency, are surprisingly obtuse about what is coming.

The most ominous warning to date from our homegrown fascists is the latest Presidential memo, “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence.” It accuses any critic of law enforcement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the American empire, capitalism, the Christian right, the persecution of immigrants and those that decry discrimination based on race and gender, as well as those who question white, male patriarchy, described as “traditional American views on family, religion, and morality,” of fomenting “violent revolution.”

It is a declaration of war on the so-called “radical left,” those the Trump administration blames for “heinous assassinations and other acts of political violence” from the murder of the right-wing pundit Charlie Kirk to “the 2024 assassination of a senior healthcare executive and the 2022 assassination attempt against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.” The memo goes on to list the two assassination attempts against Trump.

The memo, typical of the self-serving narratives favored by Trump, ignores the murder by a Christian nationalist of Democratic Minnesota state legislator Melissa Hortman and her husband, and the attempted murder of state senator John Hoffman and his wife.

These “anti-fascists,” the White House memo warns ominously, “have created a movement that embraces and elevates violence to achieve policy outcomes, including justifying additional assassinations.”

The memo’s definition of state enemies is by design amorphous, grounded in the fiction of phantom organizations bent on murder and sedition. The accusations are absurd. They are not based on evidence or verifiable fact. But, as in all totalitarian regimes, truth is whatever those in power declare it to be. This “truth” justifies the crusade.

The memo brazenly inverts the rule of law. It turns the law into an instrument of injustice. It uses the decorum of federal agencies, the courts and trials to legalize state crimes. It is grounded in magical thinking, bizarre conspiracy theories and a paranoia that sees the most tepid acts of dissent or criticism as treason.

Those who defy the state will, I expect, be decapitated one by one. The forlorn hope that the state will tolerate those who obey will silence many who have already been condemned.

“Universal innocence,” Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn writes in The Gulag Archipelago, “also gave rise to the universal failure to act. Maybe they won’t take you? Maybe it will all blow over.”

“The majority sit quietly and dare to hope,” he writes. “Since you aren’t guilty, then how can they arrest you? It’s a mistake!”

“Does hope lend strength or does it weaken a man?” Solzhenitsyn asks. “If the condemned man in every cell had ganged up on the executioners as they came in and choked them, wouldn’t this have ended the executions sooner than appeals to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee? When one is already on the edge of the grave, why not resist?”

“But wasn’t everything foredoomed anyway, from the moment of arrest?” he asks. “Yet all the arrested crawled along the path of hope on their knees, as if their legs had been amputated.”

Totalitarian regimes promulgate broad security decrees, from Stalin’s Article 70 to the Nazis’ Malicious Practices Act, to give themselves the sweeping powers to indiscriminately target anyone.

The memo lays out in chilling detail what I assumed in my column, “We Are All antifa Now,” was behind the Trump administration’s designation of antifa as a terrorist group. The designation allows the state to brand all dissidents as supporters of antifa and prosecute them as terrorists.

The memo says that state and federal agencies, adopting “a new law enforcement strategy,” will “investigate and disrupt networks, entities, and organizations that foment political violence so that law enforcement can intervene in criminal conspiracies before they result in violent political acts.” These “organized structures, networks, entities, organizations, funding sources” will, the memo promises, be disbanded and uprooted.

This is to be a preemptive war. It will be waged against those individuals – James Comey, John Bolton, George Soros and Reid Hoffman – and institutions, including the Democratic Party – which Stephen Miller has labeled a “terrorist organization” – universities and the media, which threaten Trump’s absolute grip on power.

This is not simply a war on the left, which is a marginal and ineffective force in American society, but a war on the remnants of our liberal institutions and those that support them. Once these establishment institutions and their representatives are neutered those of us on the left will be next.

The memo instructs Federal law enforcement agencies to detain, “question and interrogate” individuals suspected or accused of “political violence or lawlessness.” It demands the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) strip organizations of their tax-exempt status if they are seen by the state as “directly or indirectly financing political violence or domestic terrorism” and report them to “the Department of Justice for investigation and possible prosecution.”

I spent two years with the architects of our emergent fascism when I wrote my book, “American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America.” They do not hide their vision for America. They plan to make the legal system subservient to dogma. They hate the “secular humanist” society based on science and reason. They dream of making the Ten Commandments the basis of the legal system. They plan to teach Creationism or “Intelligent Design” in public schools and make education overtly “Christian.” They brand the LGBTQ community, immigrants, secular humanists, feminists, Jews, Muslims, criminals, and those dismissed as “nominal Christians” — meaning Christians who do not embrace the fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible — as deviants. These deviants are worthy only of being silenced, imprisoned or killed. They condemn government assistance programs, especially for the poor. The climate crisis is a hoax. They call for the federal government to be reduced to protecting property rights, “homeland” security and waging war. They want church organizations to run social-welfare agencies and schools. They demand the expansion of the death penalty to include “moral crimes,” including apostasy, blasphemy, sodomy, and witchcraft, as well as abortion, which will be treated as murder. They call for a return to white, male patriarchy by mythologizing the past. They demand women be denied contraception, access to abortion and equality under the law. The only legitimate voices in public discourse and the media, to them, are “Christian.” America is sacralized as an agent of God. Those who defy the “Christian” authorities, at home and abroad, are agents of Satan.

These Christian fascists are incapable of dealing in the world of ideas, nuance and complexity. Stunted by emotional numbness and an inchoate rage, they are unable to communicate in any language other than threats and coercion. Diplomacy, scholarship, culture and journalism are an anathema. One’s duty is to obey.

These are the ideological underpinnings of this memo and the society those who authored it plan to create.

Power in the age of Trump is based on blind personal loyalty. Rights are privileges that can be instantly revoked. Lies replace truth. Opinions replace facts. History is erased and rewritten. The cult of leadership replaces politics.

Paranoia grips the ruling elite, composed of narcissists, buffoons and gangsters, who feed off conspiracy theories. They see mortal enemies everywhere and live in a hermetically sealed non-reality-based universe. They are creating a pseudo-democracy populated with pseudo-legislators, pseudo-courts, pseudo-journalists, pseudo-intellectuals, pseudo-Christians and pseudo-citizens.

Fascists mean what they say. The rhetoric condemning the rest of us is not hyperbolic. They cannot be reasoned with. We cannot open channels of dialogue and communication. Our anemic and calcified democracy, including our bankrupt liberal institutions, cannot defeat them. Fascists are the swamp creatures that rise up out of all failed democracies.

Our enemies intend to implement this dystopia. The question is not if, but when. How long before the iron bars slam shut and America as we know it disappears? How long before the state rounds us up and hauls us away?

I can’t say. But it won’t be long.

(chrishedges.substack.com)

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AT MY YEARS, and with my disposition, or rather, constitution, one gets to care less and less for everything except downright goodfeeling. Life is so short, and so ridiculous and irrational (from a certain point of view) that one knows not what to make of it, unless--well, finish the sentence for yourself.

— Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 - September 28, 1891)