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MOSTLY SUNNY: After several of persistent rain showers crossing the area, the final cold front has finally crossed the coast and will gradually exit the interior by early Friday with the few remaining showers gradually dissipating. (NWS)
STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A cloudy 53F this Friday morning on the coast. Clearing skies later today will give way to some breezes & a mostly sunny weekend. There are hints of rain late next week, we'll see?
AT LEAST 40 CANADA GEESE are hanging out on the runway at Boonville International. Pilots beware! (KB)
LA NIÑA EXPECTED TO BRING ‘EXTREME’ WEATHER PATTERNS STATEWIDE
by Alise Maripuu
As Northern California’s rainy season quickly approaches, meteorologists are anticipating “extreme” weather events to hit the state for the rest of 2025.
“Expect extremes, so dry periods interrupted by large and long-lasting atmospheric river conditions,” said state climatologist Michael Anderson during a virtual discussion Tuesday hosted by the state’s Department of Water Resources. DWR monitors the state’s water supply and oversees the construction and maintenance of dams.
Anderson and other weather forecasters predict these conditions because of a “La Niña” pattern that is expected to peak in the remaining few months of the calendar year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center.
“We do have a La Niña brewing in the eastern tropical Pacific,” Anderson said. “There are cooler than average waters along the equator, hinting at our impending La Nina.”
A La Niña weather pattern typically manifests with drier than average conditions in Southern California, and cooler and wetter than normal conditions in the northern part of the state, according to the National Weather Service.
Once 2026 rolls around, La Niña conditions are expected to weaken. In Mendocino County, precipitation is predicted to be normal from January to March, according to the NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.
However, there is still uncertainty as to the level of precipitation because ocean temperature changes can dictate the strength of storms.
“La Niña events have historically resulted in more dry than wet years, but research also suggests that even as the climate grows hotter and drier overall, the precipitation that California does receive will arrive in stronger storms,” according to a statement from DWR.
With the potential for extremes between stormy and dry periods, meteorologists are also warning for risks of flooding.
“As we start the water year, we also start flood season,” said Laura Hollender, DWR deputy director of flood management and dam safety. “We always have to be prepared for anything.”
The new “water year” begins at the start of October and lasts 12 months.
DWR is planning ahead for flooding by holding flood response trainings for different emergency agencies, deploying nearly 200 “flood fight” containers that include millions of sandbags, and investing millions of dollars to repair levees.
Flood Preparedness Week is from Oct. 18-25 and focuses on education to help raise awareness on planning ahead for floods and staying safe during them.
“Listen to your local weather forecast,” Hollender said. “Listen to your local emergency responders when we get into flood season and potential flood risks.”
(Bay City News)
BERNA MARICE WALKER
Berna Marice Walker passed away peacefully surrounded by family on September 3, 2025 at her home in Boonville, CA at the age of 96. She was the 4th generation of a pioneering family in Anderson Valley.
Born in Ukiah, CA on March 16, 1929 to Glenn and Arline (Main) McAbee. She was the second of four children born to them during the Great Depression. She graduated from Anderson Valley High School and went to Santa Rosa Junior College 1947-1948 before attending Sonoma State University where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree.
Berna met the love of her life Gene Walker at the Mendocino County Fairgrounds skating rink in Boonville. Following a brief courtship Gene and Berna were married July 15, 1947. The young couple lived at various places in the Valley before buying a home on Lambert Lane in 1959.
Berna was a 27 year employee of the Boonville Post Office, a Mendocino County Fair Board member for 12 years as well as a volunteer during fair time. She was selected to be the Grand Marshall of the Mendocino County Fair Parade, a well deserved honor. She also served her community as a member to the Rebekah Lodge, A.V. Grange as treasurer, Lions Club Lioness, and a Docent for the Anderson Valley Historical Society and museum. When their children were growing up, Gene and Berna were devoted parents and sports boosters. They volunteered for any and all events when needed.
Berna enjoyed hunting, fishing, crabbing, camping, and traveling with family and friends. She was very proud of her large family and loved taking her grandchildren outside to show them her flowers, picking fruit off her trees, taking them camping to Oregon and at the family ranch in Yorkville.
Her kind heart touched many lives. All who knew her loved her. She is missed beyond words and loved beyond measure.
Survived by her daughters; Claudia Clow of Cloverdale and Joan Rose (Dean) of Boonville. Sons; Roger Walker of Santa Rosa, Robert Walker (Hilda) of Boonville, and Edward Walker of Boonville, numerous grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great great grandchildren. Brother Richard McAbee of Dunlap, CA, Sisters Marian Crosby of Boonville, and Sharon Hose of Mina, AR. As well as many nieces, nephews and cousins. Preceded in death by her loving husband Gene Walker of 73 years of marriage, infant daughter JoAnn, great grandson Blaze Rose and her parents Glenn and Arline McAbee.
A celebration of life will be held at the Mendocino County Fairgrounds Boonville, CA on Saturday November 8th 2025 at 1pm. Please bring a potluck dish and a good story about Berna.
Internment will be 11am at Evergreen Cemetery Boonville, CA
Memorial donations in her honor may be made to the Hospice of Ukiah, AV Senior Center, or AV Historic Museum.
LOOKOUT PEAK - UKIAH CITY COUNCIL APPROVES PLAN FOR NEW TRAILS
by Justine Frederiksen
At its last meeting, the Ukiah City Council unanimously approved moving forward with a plan to create new trails in the Western Hills near Helen and Redwood avenues.
“The Lookout Peak trail project is a proposal to build 22 miles of trails for hikers, runners, mountain bikers and nature lovers,” Community Services Director Neil Davis told the council, explaining that the trails will be “built and maintained by the Ukiah Valley Trail Group,” which also donated $50,000 to help purchase property connecting the parcel to a public street for access, and has extensive experience building and maintaining trails for the city, including the extremely popular City View Trail.
After submitting the trails plan for public comment, Davis said that city staff received 68 comment letters, 59 of which were expressing support. Of the nine letters expressing either opposition or concern, Davis said that seven of them “came from immediate neighbors,” and that the most frequent complaint expressed was that the trails would decrease the amount of parking available for residents, and that the second was that it would “increase homelessness.”
In response to the second complaint, Davis said “we’ve had trail cams up in this area for the last two years and we just don’t see evidence of homelessness in the area,” adding that “parks and trails neither create nor solve homelessness; we have issues with homelessness and we just have to deal with them. But, the introduction of hikers and mountain bikers to this area, if anything, would decrease the amount of homelessness we would see in a Neighborhood Watch kind of an effect.”
As a way to proactively address those concerns, Council member Mari Rodin pointed to the suggestions by resident Dale Harrison, whom she said has “special insight to the impacts (of such trails) because he lives right on the City View Trail. And what he recommended was that we have a plan in place ahead of time” for how city staff will address encampments.
“So having a plan for how things will get cleaned up I think is important,” said Rodin, also suggesting that a “point of contact” be established, and that “maybe one of the (trail) signs can (have a notice saying): ‘if you see evidence of somebody living here, this is the number at the city to call.’ I think those are really good suggestions, and would maybe provide some reassurance to some of the neighbors.”
As for the supporters of the plan, Davis said that most pointed to its benefits for health, tourism and overall quality of life, noting that “trails were one of the top-rated amenities that people are looking for in this area.”
City employee Sean White, who said he was speaking as a city resident, described himself as “wildly supportive” of the proposed new trails, which he said would be a “massive asset for not only our citizens, but for bringing folks to town.”
An audience member agreed, pointing out that “the inflow of tourism from this is going to be huge for the economy, as you’re going to get people from Sonoma, Lake and Napa counties, and beyond, coming to experience these trails.”
“I think these trails are really needed,” agreed Rodin, describing the existing trails at Low Gap Park that were built by the UVTG as being “loved to death… and we need some more trails to give people hard exercise, because they seem to be clamoring for some tough workouts, and this will definitely provide it.”
The City Council voted unanimously to support the city moving forward with the plan for new trails. This Friday, the UVTG will be hosting its annual fundraiser “Gala in the Street,” from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. in downtown Ukiah on Oct. 3. For more information and tickets, visit: www.mendotrails.org
(Ukiah Daily Journal)
CEO ANTLE DUMPS HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF STAFFING REQUESTS ON SUPERVISORS
by Mark Scaramella
Item 4c on next Tuesday’s Supervisors Agenda: “Discussion and Possible Action Including Approval or Denial of Requests from Department Heads and Elected Officials Regarding Budget Impacts, Funding and Recruitment of Vacant or New Positions Following the Strategic Hiring Process.”
The most prominent request to fill vacancies comes from DA David Eyster who wants to fill two experienced Deputy District Attorney positions for a total cost of about $450k (salary and benefits). Eyster’s Rationale: “The District Attorney currently has six vacant DDA positions. The District Attorney continues to have to respond to the shortage of attorneys necessary to carry out the mandates of his office. It is noted that the Superior Court is at full bench officer strength and, as such, it calendars cases with the expectation that the District Attorney's Office will have prosecutors available and prepared to staff up to six courtrooms at times per day…”
By this logic, Mendo would save more money if we didn’t have to support so many darn judges. But last we checked there were only three courtrooms handling criminal cases, not six. Eyster may need a couple more prosecutors, but not for six courtrooms.
Eyster continues: “The MCDA’s Office current staffing profile is below professional staffing to meet the obligations of the office. The professional staff are already working at a more demanding level each day than ever in the past. The attorneys can cover what needs to be done in the short term. However, if ‘status quo’ positions are not re-filled during that short term, the attorneys doubling up on the work of the missing attorneys will eventually flinch and, as a result of being overwhelmed, start making mistakes or manifest health issues caused by the increased staff. It is common knowledge that abnormal workload leads to health issues and increased use of sick leave, leave that then only exacerbates the problem. The current staffing deficit will soon lead to public safety issues.”
That could be said about a lot of Mendo offices these days which are running with short staffing and higher workloads and caseloads. Eyster may even be describing himself, since prosecutors take more cases than your average County District Attorney.
Interestingly, the Sheriff has not asked to fill any vacancies. Nor has Auditor-Controller/Treasurer Tax Collector Chamise Cubbison.
The worst part of the agenda vacancy-hiring item package is that there is nothing from the CEO regarding the overall budget impact of the departmental hiring requests. There are no recommendations, no independent or county-wide budget analysis, and no indication of whether the funds to fill most vacancies will come from the General Fund or not, nor what the overall hit to the General Fund would be if they were all approved. The CEO simply dumps the departmental requests in the Board’s lap.
According to the CEO’s May Memo about the so-called “Strategic Hiring Process” (which is conveniently included in the agenda item materials): “Human Resources will present a monthly agenda item to the Board of Supervisors, which reviews all departmental requests to fill vacant or soon-to-be vacant positions…”
No such report has been provided.
“…Each request will include a justification outlining the necessity of the position, any legal or regulatory mandates, and the proposed funding source.”
While the staffing requests do include “justifications” (such as Eyster’s above), most of the requests do not indicate “the proposed funding source.” However, the requests from the County library do indicate that the funding would come from the Library’s dedicated sales tax, so why would those modest requests even have to go to the Board for approval?
Dumping these staffing requests on this board seems completely irresponsible. The departments are quite capable of coming up with justifications since the departments funded by the General Fund are already short staffed. How can five out of touch supervisors with no knowledge of the department operations magically decide which vacancies to fill? They might as well just throw darts at their org chart. Or maybe tell their royal highnesses the judges that Mendo just can’t afford to cater to so many of them anymore.
CALLING ALL CURATORS: Mendocino’s Historic Heavyweight Needs a Stage!
by Frank Hartzell
As Caltrans wraps up the new deck installation on the Jack Peters Creek Bridge, they’ve generously offered to donate its original corner marker—an iconic artifact from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Great Depression-era stimulus program. This piece of Mendocino County and American history deserves a permanent place in a local museum, they believe and we agree!!
So far, no takers. The Kelly House considered it, then politely passed. It’s a big artifact—fitting for its outsized role in Mendocino Coast and American history. The Mendocino County Museum has shown interest, but I’d love to keep it on the Coast. Willits, to be fair, has the coolest and most comprehensive history collection in the county, so they may end up with the donation. I’ve been writing about the Jack Peters Creek Bridge widening for two years now, and it’s finally nearing completion. The waits are getting shorter but paving is going on today so expect longer waits on Thursday in the first week of October—and so is the time to find this New Deal-era treasure a proper home.
The Jack Peters Creek Bridge was solidly built by our ancestors—good for another hundred years, at least. But times have changed. It was far too narrow, and the old railings were crumbling. One cyclist was once whooshed off the edge into the steep canyon below by a passing car.
Now, thanks to the widening project, there’s room to walk, bike, and breathe. Sidewalks and shoulders offer safe passage and stunning views of the ocean and the dramatic canyon drop.
There’s a beach below the bridge—but don’t go. It’s a trap. You have to scramble past the rocks at low tide, and once the tide turns, you’re stuck. Beautiful, yes. Safe? Not remotely.…
SHERIFF MATT KENDALL:
I got my first tattoo when I was 15, I was drinking some wine on the reservation with a buddy of mine after hauling hay for an old rancher in Covelo. My older buddy had an uncle who served some time in the joint and came home with a new skill. He built a tattoo gun out of a Walkman tape player, an ink pen barrel, and a guitar string.
He burned a white plastic spoon while holding a frozen coffee cup over the burning spoon. As the spoon burned the smoke and some nasty black webs went upwards and were captured in the cup. He then mixed it with a little water and voila we had tattoo ink.
This masterpiece was the initials of a young princess who I thought I was in love with that summer. It was small and couldn’t be seen if I kept my shirt on which wasn’t often during the summers of my youth.
When I was about 19 I entered a real tattoo parlor and had it covered up. Now it’s basically a blurry spot on my skin.
My mother called tattoos the “self inflicted scars of youth.” I think she hit the nail squarely on the head. Too much freedom without good sense, that’s what it was like being 15 in Covelo.
ANDERSON VALLEY VILLAGE NEWSLETTER, OCTOBER 2025 [excerpts]
Our September Gathering: Barbara Nelson presented some truly fun brain and art processes that had us all in fits of laughter. It was informative and joyous! Many were surprised that we had “talent” lurking within our hidden depths!
Continuing on with our Village Writers’ Series:
Complete newsletter here: https://mailchi.mp/34475637a29f/anderson-valley-village-newsletter-august-5855780?e=358077c1c9
THIS WEEK AT BLUE MEADOW FARM
Heirloom and Early Girl Tomatoes
Corno di Toro, Bell, Gypsy & Pimiento Peppers
Jalapeno, Padron & Anaheim Chilis
Eggplant, Zucchini, Filet Beans, Basil,
Lisbon Lemons, Asian and Bosc Pears
And Zinnias!
We are closed Monday, Tuesday & rainy days in October**
Blue Meadow Farm
3301 Holmes Ranch Road, Philo
(707) 895-2071
PETIT TETON FARM
Petit Teton is harvesting a bounty this year!
Come visit daily between 9-4:30 (except Sunday noon-4:30).
VELMA'S FARM STAND AT FILIGREEN FARM
Friday 2-5 pm
Open Saturday & Sunday 11-4pm
THE APPLE FARM
18501 Greenwood Rd
Philo CA 95466 707 621 0336
philoapplefarm.com
BROCK FARMS
Brock Farms is open Wed-Sun 10-6, closed Mon and Tues
LOCAL EVENTS (this weekend)
THE FIRST CALIFORNIA OAK DISCOVERY DAY AT HOPLAND RESEARCH & EXTENSION CENTER, OCT. 11
Authors Kate Marianchild and Robin Lee Carlson to lead guided walks
Hopland, CA – The UC Hopland Research and Extension Center (HREC) invites the community to its first-ever California Oak Discovery Day on Saturday, Oct. 11, starting at 10 a.m. This free, family-friendly celebration will highlight the beauty and importance of the oak woodlands that are iconic to Mendocino County.
Admission is free, but registration is required at https://bit.ly/oakday25. Free community access is made possible through the support of The Quercus Symbiosis Foundation. Bring a picnic lunch.
Mendocino County is home to more than half of the North Coast region’s oak woodlands, with species such as coast live oak, blue oak, valley oak and black oak thriving at HREC — where 10 of our state’s 22 oak species can be found along with several hybrids. These woodlands are rich with life; according to the California Naturalist Handbook, a single acre of oak woodland may contain up to 100 million insects and invertebrates. Oak habitats provide essential benefits, including watershed protection, wildlife habitat, and recreational spaces, but some woodlands are struggling to regenerate as areas are developed or encroached upon by non-native species.
Visitors can enjoy a variety of activities, including:
- Oak Poetry - An oak haiku sit-and-write
- Guided walks with authors Kate Marianchild (Secrets of the Oak Woodlands) and Robin Lee Carlson (The Cold Canyon Fire Journals)
- Tour of oak research plots on site
- Learn about the birds of the oak woodlands
- Informational booths and career talks
- Galley of local oak artwork
- A community picnic and the play “And Who Shall Heal the Ground” by Diana Pepetone
The event was inspired by The Quercus Collaborative, a team of HREC volunteers devoted to oak regeneration and education. “Our volunteer group has been planning for this event for a few years now,” said Diana Pepetone, lead organizer with The Quercus Collaborative. “HREC is an incredible place to learn about the oaks and their ecosystem, and we want to bring the community together to consider their future and importance.”
The free event will take place on Saturday, October 11 at HREC, registration is required and some of the field sessions will fill up, allocation to these activities is on a first registered, first served basis. Registration can be made at https://bit.ly/oakday25.
42ND ANNUAL CHESTNUT FESTIVAL!
42nd Annual Chestnut Gathering at the Zeni Ranch will be Saturday, November 1st from 10 am to 4 pm.
Potluck dinner this year! Bring something to add to the table along with your own eating supplies.
Dogs on leashes are ok, but your responsible for your pet.
Chestnuts are $5.00 a pound if you pick, or $7.00 if already picked. No credit card service available.
Call or text Jane Zeni 707-684-6892
Fresh raw chestnut honey, T-shirts and our popular nut sacks will be available, and other farm products.
MENDOCINO COUNTY ARTIST GRACE HUDSON is featured in new article in Southwest Art Magazine…
The Beauty Of Their Worlds
Inspiration and knowledge await visitors at three historic artists’ homes and studios.
by Norman Kolpas
…“For a smaller museum, we pack a pretty large punch,” says Alyssa Boge, curator of education and exhibits at the Grace Hudson Museum & Sun House. That impact certainly derives from the powerhouse of an artist celebrated here.
Painter Grace Carpenter Hudson (1865-1937) is known today for authentically portraying the lives of the Pomo peoples in and around her Mendocino County hometown of Ukiah, California, about a hundred miles north of San Francisco. But the artist’s talent first blossomed in her teens through studies at the San Francisco School of Design, and she gained early success as a magazine illustrator, while also painting landscapes, still lifes and portraits.
Grace’s marriage in 1890 to John Hudson, who had trained as a medical doctor before pursuing his passion for Native American ethnology, brought even greater focus to her art. In 1892, she painted LITTLE MENDOCINO, a portrait of a Pomo infant, which won acclaim at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and was widely reproduced in prints as well as sometimes flagrantly copied by other artists. On the back of that canvas, she inscribed the numeral “5”—noting it as the fifth of 684 paintings she recorded in her lifetime.
In 1911, the Hudsons commissioned and collaborated with local architect George L. Wilcox to design a spacious Craftsman-style redwood bungalow they called “The Sun House,” after a carved Hopi sun symbol that they combined with a Christian cross and displayed in warm welcome over their front door. The home included a generous sunlit studio for Grace and a smaller workspace for John, along with ample attic storage for his more than 30,000 Native artifacts. Many furnishings were custom-made, including a hat rack John built and a sideboard Wilcox fashioned as a housewarming present. After John died in 1936 and Grace the following year, Grace’s nephew Mark Carpenter and his wife, Melissa, lived there, and after he passed, she eventually sold the building and its contents to the City of Ukiah.
Today, The Sun House is the centerpiece of 4 acres of grounds. These also include The Wild Gardens, cultivated and maintained to teach visitors about Pomo culture and land management—featuring, says Boge, “many plants that either appear in Grace’s paintings or are used by the Pomo people for basketry or other purposes.” A museum, opened in 1986, includes an exhibit on Hudson’s life and career, with many original works, as well as historical displays on the Carpenter-Hudson family and an exhibition of Pomo basketry.
Another gallery offers changing contemporary art exhibitions of local interest, such as The Art of Wonder, through October 19, with works by 15 Mendocino County artists who aim to evoke awe; and “Mission Gráfica,” featuring 42 socially and politically relevant screenprints from the respected San Francisco print center of that name. Concludes Boge, “There’s always quite a lot going on here.”…
https://www.southwestart.com/featured/historic-studios-oct2025
CATCH OF THE DAY, Thursday, October 2, 2025
JONATHON DELBELLO, 34, Willits. Failure to appear.
RACHEL JUSTER, 32, Philo. Battery on cohabitant.
SHANE KING, 40, Ukiah. Causing a fire of property, paraphernalia, probation revocation.
ELOY LOPEZ JR., 25, Ukiah. DUI, leaving scene of accident with property damage, suspended license for reckless driving failure to appear, probation revocation.
JEFFREY LOWERY, 54, Willits. DUI, resisting.
EDGARDO MENDEZ-VANEGAS, 23, Ukiah. Grand theft, conspiracy.
BARKLEY MORA-PACHECO, 27, Ukiah. Grand theft, conspiracy.
JULIA RODRIGUEZ-RAMOS, 27, Daly City/Ukiah. Conspiracy.
NASH WHITEMAN, 19, Redwood Valley. Elder abuse without great bodily harm, robbery, taking vehicle without owner’s consent, DUI, leaving scene of accident with property damage, false ID, resisting.
“WHEN PEOPLE TALK, listen completely. Most people never listen.”
― Ernest Hemingway
49ERS PULL OFF SURPRISE OT WIN OVER RAMS behind epic effort from shorthanded roster
by Noah Furtado
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — In the early stages of a Thursday Night Football game that had his San Francisco 49ers as 8.5-point underdogs, Kyle Shanahan unsleeved an old ace with his starting quarterback, starting tight end, starting left guard and three starting receivers sidelined due to injury.
After a dominant opening drive, with a 7-0 lead the Niners again marched into Rams territory with ease before their head coach dialed up a jet sweep-reverse-flea flicker — to a throwback screen. A play they ran at least once before last season gained 8 yards to set up a 2nd-and-2, and, more importantly, made themselves at home in front of their supposed hosts.
SoFi Stadium took on its Levi’s South alter ego as the 49ers defeated the division-rival Rams 26-23 in an overtime thriller to improve to 4-1, and 3-0 against NFC West opponents, on a short week.
Shanahan was particularly “pissed” according to backup quarterback Mac Jones because the betting odds had ballooned in favor of the Rams, who opened as only modest favorites. The 49ers were initially 1.5-point underdogs, before their list of players out piled up.
Not a big social media guy, Jones did not know exactly what Shanahan was referencing. But he went with it.
“He was like, ‘Dude, I can’t believe they moved us to underdogs more,’” Jones said. “I’m like, ‘I don’t know what that means but yeah, let’s go kill them.’”
The Niners led 23-20 with 2:52 left in regulation. That was enough time for the Rams to drive the ball down to the opposing 1-yard line, where 49ers rookie defensive tackle Alfred Collins forced and recovered his first career fumble in the NFL. Collins received an elevated opportunity to make an impact after defensive tackle Kalia Davis exited in the first quarter with a hand injury. And man, did he.
The Rams still had three timeouts. The 49ers made them use each one on the ensuing drive, playing things safe with a Jones sneak and two Christian McCaffrey runs for 2 yards in total against a loaded box.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford got the ball back with 42 seconds on the clock. Two completions for 20 yards was all it took to set up a game-tying 48-yard field goal for Joshua Karty and give the 49ers their first overtime game since Super Bowl LVIII. The Niners lost that one. They proved more fortunate Thursday.
The 49ers settled for three points to start OT. The Rams had a chance to at least match. Facing a 4th-and-1, head coach Sean McVay wanted more than what would have been a chip-shot field goal. Reserve nickel back Chase Lucas, with the help of cornerback Deommodore Lenoir and rookie safety Marques Sigle, said no.
Lucas plugged the hole. Lenoir and Sigle swarmed to stop Rams running back Kyren Williams short of the sticks. Game over.
“If they try to insert and crunch, man, shoot the C-gap, f— it up, and we’ll clean up the rest,” Lucas said of what Lenoir told him before the play.
To start the game, Jones completed 11 of 13 passes to lead the Brock Purdy-less Niners to two touchdowns in as many red-zone trips. They had entered Thursday down at 27th in red-zone touchdown percentage, tied with the 0-4 Titans. The Rams had burned through one short offensive series by then. The 49ers had more first downs (12) than the Rams had total yards of offense (7). McCaffrey had already touched the ball 13 times for 68 yards, and wide receiver Kendrick Bourne had rattled off a 35-yard catch and run as one of the five Niners receivers not named Brandon Aiyuk (knee, PUP), Ricky Pearsall (knee) and Jauan Jennings (ankle, rib).
Despite one bad drop early that halted the 49ers short of midfield and forced them to punt while up 14-0, Bourne set a new career high in receiving yards (142) and tied his career high in catches (10) by game’s end.
Jones went down late in the third quarter. He winced while grabbing the back of his left knee brace. His lone backup? Adrian Martinez, who has yet to attempt a pass in an NFL regular-season game. On the other end of an injury scare for a team already down eight starters, Jones returned.
“If I feel like I can protect myself, then I feel like it’s my job to be out there,” Jones said.
The Rams did not roll over. Stafford, 37, kept things close with timely touchdown passes. Standout wide receiver Puka Nacua caught one of them and finished with 10 catches for 85 yards. Williams hauled in the other two, the last of which should’ve had the 49ers trailing for the first time all game.
After Karty lined up the PAT, defensive tackle Jordan Elliott got a hand on the kick. The 49ers made a positive play on special teams for once.
The Niners had struggled all night with low knuckleball kickoffs from Karty. Wide receiver Skyy Moore bobbled one right away. And running back Isaac Guerendo later fumbled on an 18-yard return. The referees ruled his forward progress had been halted before he lost the football (not reviewable). The sea of red in attendance took a long breath.
Despite another drop of a potential interception by a linebacker — this time through the hands of Dee Winters, albeit on a tough one low and away — the Niners led the turnover battle 1-0 when Jones very nearly evened that score with a near interception on 3rd-and-11. With the ball on the 41-yard line in plus territory, the spot looked a few yards out of range for 49ers placekicker Eddy Piñeiro. Piñeiro entered with a career long of 56 yards. The attempt was 59 yards. Shanahan gave him a chance, and Piñeiro delivered.
His subsequent go-ahead field goal from 41 yards in overtime nicked the left upright but careened in. Good enough for the 49ers.
Shanahan said he was late to his postgame press conference because Piñeiro took about 20 minutes to get back to the locker room: “We could’ve been mad at him but he was 4-for-4. So it was all good.”
49ERS GAME GRADES: Non-star Niners get OT win in L.A. behind Mac Jones
by Sporting Green Staff
A road loss to the Rams on Thursday night would not have been surprising, but the San Francisco 49ers instead turned in their best game of the season in a 26-23 overtime defeat of Los Angeles.
OFFENSE: A
What you saw Thursday was Mac Jones and Kendrick Bourne, circa 2021 and their time together in New England. Jones was pummeled and punished… and nothing short of superb, completing 33 of 49 passes for 342 yards with two TDs and no interceptions. Utilizing the short passing game, he was sacked only once — and that was in OT. Bourne pulled in a career-high-tying 10 passes for a career-best 142 yards. Christian McCaffrey had 30 touches for 139 yards as the 49ers collected 407 of total offense.
DEFENSE: A
The 49ers offense played keep away and the defense stood tall when it needed to with the two biggest plays being provided by a pair of rookies. The first came with 1:02 left in regulation when Alfred Collins prevented a go-ahead TD with a forced fumble and recovery at the 1-yard-line (one of two L.A. fumbles). The second sealed the game when fifth-round pick Marques Sigle and Deommodore Lenoir teamed to stop Kyren Williams (he of the aforementioned fumble) on 4th-and-1 at the 49ers’ 11 in OT. A conversion on that play might have spelled doom for S.F., which allowed Matthew Stafford (30-for-47) to throw for 389 yards and three TDs.
SPECIAL TEAMS: A
With an assist from the left upright, Eddy Piñeiro remained perfect on field goal tries with the 49ers, his 41-yarder in overtime being his fourth of the night and his 11th without a miss for S.F. In providing his team’s only points after it went up 14-0, Piñeiro connect from 37, 20 and a career-best 59 (with 2:52 to play in regulation) before the OT winner. That the game went to OT was the result in no small manner of Jordan’s Elliott blocking a Rams’ extra point try with 10:39 to play.
COACHING: A
The best game of the season for Kyle Shanahan. Going in sans Brock Purdy, George Kittle, Ricky Pearsall and Jauan Jennings, Shanahan went to the NFL version of basketball’s four corners, playing keepaway on offense. The 49ers scored TDs on their first two possessions, running 25 plays on drives of 87 and 76 yards while taking more than 13 minutes off the clock. The 49ers came into the game 3-for-5 on fourth-down tries but Shanahan went for it and the Niners converted all three tries against the Rams.
OVERALL: A
A short week, a shorthanded roster and a division game on the road. That’s a L, right? Nope. The 49ers not only improved to 4-1 by rebounding nicely from a disappointing loss to the Jaguars, they also pushed the division record to 3-0 — having defeated all three of their fellow NFC West members. Now they get to enjoy a mini bye — their next game isn’t until Oct. 12 — and by then, the roster might be closer to full strength.
(sfchronicle.com)
I LEFT MY HEART IN SAN FRANCISCO
The loveliness of Paris seems somehow sadly gay
The glory that was Rome is of another day
I’ve been terribly alone and forgotten in Manhattan
I’m going home to my city by the bay
I left my heart in San Francisco
High on a hill it calls to me
To be where little cable cars
Climb halfway to the stars
The morning fog may chill the air, I don’t care
My love waits there in San Francisco
Above the blue and windy sea
When I came home to you, San Francisco
Your golden sun will shine for me
— lyrics by Douglass Cross (1953)
TONY BENNETT once told an interviewer: Rock and roll all but ruined me. It seemed that any singer over twenty-five who couldn't play a steel guitar was in trouble. The Sinatras and the Crosbys had become institutions, but I wasn't anchored yet. Also , I lacked poise and experience. Then I had a date at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, and I thought this may be my last. I wanted some special material and against the advice of my cohorts took a ten year old song that had new lyrics about San Francisco. I recorded the song - also against managerial advice - and the last I heard it had sold more than three million, and I'm still working.
‘ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER’ SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON HUMBOLDT COUNTY
Blockbuster Filmed Locally Now In Theaters
by Sage Alexander
“One Battle After Another,” partially filmed in Humboldt County, is now playing in local theaters. A few dozen people attended the first public local showing for a 4 p.m. show on Thursday.
“That looks like Humboldt!” a man said as a damp cabin in the redwoods came on screen.
Residents told the Times-Standard they came to see their home represented on the big screen.
Tiffany Ramirez has been curious to see the film, since she noticed filming in Old Town and posts calling for extras.
“It’s just kind of cool to put the two and two together and be like, ‘Oh my god, (Leonardo DiCaprio) was at Sequoia Park? He was at Murphy’s?’” she said.
Familiar sights like Eureka High and Arcata’s Raliberto’s Taco Shop popped up throughout the nearly three-hour viewing time, depicting a fictional Baktan Cross.
“I’m very excited to see the scene that was filmed in Arcata, with Leo running on the bridge. I heard a lot about that,” said Elaina Erola, who’s a big fan of actress Regina Hall and director Paul Thomas Anderson.
Outside of spotting local sights, people said they appreciated how director Anderson captured Humboldt County.
“A lot of film and TV productions that come up here are kind of looking for what I think of as a fantasy version of Humboldt, where it’s always sunny and all the characters are the children of quirky old hippies who live in fancy, hand-built houses in the woods and smoke weed and walk a short distance to the river. And what was striking about the interaction I had, looking for locations for this film, was that they seemed to want something that felt more authentic to the area,” said Jon Olson, who helped scout locations for the film.
One lighting test, for example, sought a typical cloudy day, rather than waiting for sun.
“There was sort of an emphasis on (locations) being weathered, a little rundown, having character,” he said.
Anderson studied Eureka High’s real prom ahead of shooting. Humboldt-Del Norte Film Commissioner Cassandra Hesseltine said Friday.
“I remember when I got the call like, ‘Hey, we’re coming out of town, we’re going to go to the prom.’ And I was like, what?” she said, laughing.
Anderson scouted the high school’s old gym, but Hesseltine said it was unknown if he’d wanted to use the school’s new gym as well. It was a big ask, she said, during the school year and rebuilding the gym, but she said, “they rose to the occasion.”
She said observing the real-life school dance served to inspire the school dance setting in the film.
“(Paul Thomas Anderson) likes to really tell stories,” she said. “Even though as crazy and as bigger than life they seem, he still wants to get at those kinds of details.”
Eureka also inspired Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, an aging stoner dad who smokes weed before a parent-teacher conference at Eureka High.
In a recent interview with letterboxed, Di Caprio described a “hip-neck” culture, a combination of hippie and redneck up north as “a little mix of “don’t tread on me”, “get off of my property”, but mixed with radical sort of woke ideas simultaneously. It’s a culture that—I understood Bob when we got into Eureka,” he told letterboxed.
The film, contemporary but loosely based on Thomas Pynchon’s novel “Vineland” set in 1984, is a modern exploration of the federal government’s crackdown on North Coast communities — rather than DEA agents raiding for cannabis in Vineland, “One Battle After Another” explores the real-world infusion of massive federal resources toward immigration enforcement.
The fictionalized Eureka is a sanctuary city for immigrants, much to the chagrin of a white supremacist society, with revolutionaries operating a “Latino Harriet Tubman” underground railroad, amid an immigration raid targeting businesses including Arcata’s Raliberto’s.
After seeing it, Markus Samano said he’d been hyped about it since it was filmed — and said he enjoyed watching a high-caliber filmed shot down the street.
“I think people in Humboldt are really going to enjoy seeing the Easter eggs and finding things out. I love that coming to see the movie felt like a community event,” said Samano.
As of Friday, Rotten Tomatoes has aggregated a 97% rating from film critics and 90% from the general public. Speculation is abound for Oscar Nominations for the film, with around a $130 million budget that brought an estimated $3 million to the local economy, according to the film commission’s estimations.
Multiple people encouraged others to watch the film in person. Broadway Cinema and Arcata’s Minor Theater have showtimes until Thursday, Oct. 2.
(Eureka Times-Standard/Ukiah Daily Journal)
AMPHETAMINE
Moonlight disrupt the day
Been like this every night
Walking in stumbling
Fucked up some bread today
Though I said no no this time
Cycles on cycles
It's like an amphetamine
How it marinate on my mind
Stuck on me, yah
Got no doubt I'll be alright
If I just make it through the night
Pass me the amphetamine
Right now can't focus on anything
Why they take lil bro instead of me?
I hurt when you hurt, we was siamese
Nigga was seventeen, when I found out what that cheddar mean
Rats'll bite holes through the wall to get close
Watch for their trail, man they always be close
Back-a-wood rolla, really a smoker
This louder than when you drive on the shoulder
Stomp on the gas 'til I'm blowin' the motor
Can't 'ford to sit with my thoughts or it's over
Really but luckily, I got a real one, she fuck wit me
Shawty, she yellow, yeah keep me on my toes, stay mellow
She deserve a fucking ring
I'm off the sedatives
Amphetamine
I don't know where I'm headed
Don't know where I'm headed
Sedatives
Amphetamine
Sedatives
I don't know where I'm headed
Don't know where I'm headed…
— lyrics by Chris Smith Jr. (2017)
JAKE LAMOTTA sits in the frame with a quiet, almost weary intensity, a man whose fists told stories words never could. Known to the world as "The Bronx Bull," Jake carved his name into boxing history with a style as relentless as it was raw, a fighter who never backed down, who thrived in the chaos of the ring. But here, in this moment frozen in time, he’s not the world champion, not the legend whose bouts would echo in arenas and later on the silver screen. Here, he’s a husband, a father, a man caught somewhere between his fame and his family.
Beside him is Vikki LaMotta, radiant and composed, the kind of presence that could both soften and ignite a room. Beauty, yes, but more than that — a woman who would later tell her own story, giving voice to a life lived in the shadow and the glare of one of boxing’s fiercest personalities. And in their arms, the tiny bundle of Joey LaMotta, a baby unaware of the tumult, unaware of the roar and the punches, the triumphs and heartbreaks that defined his father’s life.
The photograph, likely taken in the heart of the 1950s, carries the weight of a particular time in America, when family portraits were more than snapshots — they were statements, moments of unity captured against a backdrop of relentless ambition and public scrutiny. For Jake and Vikki, it was a rare stillness amid the storm of fame, love, and the very human struggles that often accompanied them.
Their story, complex and sometimes heartbreaking, would later find immortality in Martin Scorsese’s “Raging Bull.” Robert De Niro’s portrayal brought the ferocity, vulnerability, and contradictions of Jake LaMotta to life, but nothing quite captures the quiet tenderness and fragile hope of a family moment like this. In this single frame, we glimpse the man behind the legend, the mother, and the child — a fleeting pause in the life of a man who lived as fiercely outside the ring as he did inside it.
CALIFORNIA DRIVER’S LICENSES JUST GOT A REDESIGN
by Aiden Viziri
California drivers will notice a fresh look the next time they renew their license or identification card.
The Department of Motor Vehicles on Wednesday began issuing redesigned cards that highlight the state’s landscapes while adding new security protections.
The updated licenses feature images of redwood trees, golden poppies and the California coastline. More than a visual change, the cards include advanced security technology: a digital signature embedded in one of the two barcodes on the back.
The magnetic strip that has long appeared on licenses has been removed.
- Do I have a Real ID? How to check on your California driver’s license
“The new cards use next generation technology to enhance security and with a design that shows California’s iconic redwoods, poppies and coastline,” said DMV Director Steve Gordon. “While I know some of our customers will want the new version of the driver’s license, there is no need to replace an existing license or identification card until your current one expires.”
The DMV last introduced new security features in 2010. A broader redesign came in 2018 with the rollout of Real ID, a federally compliant form of identification.
Driver’s licenses remain $45, while identification cards cost $39. Existing cards will remain valid until their expiration dates.
California is among the first states to add a digital security signature to its licenses, part of an effort to guard against counterfeiting and fraud.
The DMV encouraged customers to use its website and online services whenever possible, noting that many transactions, including renewals, can be completed without visiting a field office.
WHY CALIFORNIA VOTERS SHOULD REJECT PROP. 50 AND STAY OUT OF THE REDISTRICTING WARS
by Jeanne Raya
In 2008, the Voters First Act created California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission, an independent body consisting of people who reflected the state’s diversity. Good government groups pushed the ballot measure forward, seeking to make sure voters were — as the law’s name declared — put first. I served on the first commission two years later.
Voter approval of an independent commission effectively ended the backroom partisan gerrymandering that characterized redistricting in California for decades.
Commission members spent nearly a year drawing new maps, giving citizens access to more than 100 public meetings and different ways to submit written comments. Voters could describe their communities, their environment, their infrastructure and their economy. This gave the commission a picture of the whole of California and helped it create districts that gave voters a fair chance at electing accountable representatives.
California’s commission is now considered the gold standard for U.S. redistricting, free of partisan self-interest and conducted fully in public view.
If only Texas could learn from California. There, lawmakers adopted new maps in August in an attempt to rig the 2026 election in favor of Republicans — at the behest of President Donald Trump. Their actions represent the basest motivations of politicians so fearful of losing power, all they can think to do is cheat.
Their determination to stack the congressional deck prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to pursue retaliatory mid-cycle redistricting in California to elect more Democrats. It’s now in the hands of voters in a special election on Nov. 4. Proposition 50 would replace the maps drawn by the state’s independent commission with districts drawn by legislators solely to gain or protect Democratic seats. And that protection will extend through three election cycles.
That is hardly a temporary change.
As a registered Democrat, I would celebrate replacing members of Congress who have forgotten their oath to serve constituents and protect the Constitution. But it can’t be at the expense of California’s Constitution — nor its voters who mandated fair, nonpartisan redistricting.
Newsom said the move by Texas Republicans justifies a retaliatory strike. But we witness daily the chaos and mistrust created by revenge politics in Washington. That is not the model of responsible government Californians deserve. Nor do Californians want to spend millions of taxpayer dollars to gamble that different congressional districts will produce the sought-after change, while real problems remain unaddressed.
No one knows the magic number of blue seats needed to win this electoral war, especially as more red states jump in beside Texas. Is the governor willing to risk losing incumbents in more competitive California districts? Will he accept failure if Democrats fall short nationwide?
This is not an unprecedented moment. We’ve seen for decades how partisan gerrymandering suppresses voters’ choice, undermining trust and feeding cynicism. We know that once given power, politicians will fight to retain it with the confidence that a declaration of crisis is all the cover they need.
Newsom should look for a different response to redistricting warfare.
U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley, for example, proposed legislation to ban mid-decade redistricting nationwide. I don’t know what brought Kiley, a Placer County Republican, to this moment. Perhaps it’s self-preservation under the threat of being gerrymandered out of his seat. But considering a national solution to a national problem would be a welcome undertaking.
Newsom says Democrats can take back Congress if the American people are given a fair chance, a voice and a choice. In California, the people already have that chance, and it’s the independent redistricting commission.
Californians can send a clear message to Newsom and legislative leaders on Nov. 4 to respect the will of the people and not sacrifice the independent redistricting commission, nor the state’s limited financial resources, for short-term political gain.
(Jeanne Raya is the head of an insurance agency and lives in San Gabriel. She was the chair of California’s first independent redistricting commission.)
(CalMatters.org)
CALIFORNIA’S MOST GLARING ISSUES HAVE LITTLE TO DO WITH TRUMP
by Dan Walters
Rough&Tumble is an aggregator scouring California newspapers, websites and other media to produce a daily digest of political news and analysis that reveals, at a glance, which political issues are currently preoccupying the state’s political class.
Broadcast journalist Jack Kavanagh created the website as an outgrowth of the tip sheet he circulated among his colleagues at KOVR, a Sacramento television station.
Monday’s edition typified recent versions, being utterly dominated by conflicts between California’s Democratic figures, especially Gov. Gavin Newsom, and a federal government controlled by President Donald Trump and Republican majorities in Congress.
The specifics include the administration’s immigration sweeps, the potential effects of a government shutdown due to a congressional stalemate, tariffs and, of course, the California redistricting ballot measure, Proposition 50, on the November 4 ballot. It could, if successful, shift five California congressional seats from Republicans to Democrats, countering a pro-Republican gerrymander in Texas in advance of the 2026 midterm elections.
It is, in a sense, just a more intense version of the long-standing transcontinental rivalry over policy issues between the national government in Washington and a state whose leaders often pretend that it is an independent nation.
However, it has taken on the aura of a holy war, something like the existential conflicts that raged in Europe during the Middle Ages, tinged with Newsom’s increasingly obvious hopes of succeeding Trump in 2028.
While resisting Trumpism may play well for Newsom within California and perhaps in other blue states, it also may be indirectly bolstering Trump’s standing in the nation as a whole, since he often portrays California as an example of failed progressive governance.
Trump Derangement Syndrome, as it’s been dubbed, also tends to displace attention to many issues that predate Trump’s era and will have a more profound effect on California’s future than anything Trump is likely to do.
He had nothing to do with California’s high rates of homelessness, poverty, and unemployment, its very high living costs, its shortage of housing, its long-standing water supply conundrum, the shortcomings of its public school system or the multi-billion dollar deficits in its state budget.
While Newsom inherited most of them upon being elected governor in 2018, in the main, California’s unresolved issues have stagnated or worsened in the nearly seven years since. And they are likely to still be there when he leaves in 2027, possibly to pursue the presidency himself.
One of the most troubling is, or should be, an economy that may not be in recession, at least not officially, but has not fully recovered from the sharp downturn that occurred in 2020, when Newsom ordered a shutdown of many businesses to counter the COVID-19 pandemic.
The state has more than a million unemployed workers, its jobless rate of 5.5% continues to be at or near the highest of any state and its job creation has not kept pace with the growth of its labor force.
A recent report from the Legislative Analyst’s Office, which advises the Legislature on budgetary and economic issues, describes what has been happening: “For the two-month period July and August, the state’s labor force grew by 17k, the number of employed workers fell by 7k, and the number of unemployed workers increased 24k.”
Nothing in California is more fundamentally important than a healthy economy that expands employment opportunities. Over the last five years, California has had an economy that a previous report from the analyst described as “sluggish.”
It provides Trump with ammunition for claiming that California exemplifies what the nation should not emulate.
(CalMatters.org)
AN INTERNATIONAL EYESORE
by James Kunstler
You probably can’t tell whether this is the alien itself or the ship it landed in. Possibly both at the same time. Hard to distinguish the tentacles from the portholes or the eye-sockets, while the salmon-pink folds and creases have a certain gynecologiocal feeling.
In any case, this beast landed in Xalapa, capital of Veracruz state, Mexico. It is called “Casa de los Milagros” or House of Miracles by architect Danilo Veras Godoy and is a private residence, not an intergalactic freight transport vehicle/organism.
As a technical matter, this is an extreme case of what you get when a building is designed from the inside-out, without a whole lot of concern for the pattern language of the building culture in your civilization — and Mexico has quite a good one, starting with the Colonial Baroque of the post-Cortez era. That interesting mashup of the Aztec residue with Spain of the Inquisition is what you see in the dancing skeletons of our time, 500 years later.
It must have been a daunting task to manage the place back then. (An early Mexican viceroy described his philosophy of government as: “Do little and do it slowly.”)
In any case, this “house” stands in what appears to be subtropical cloud-forest, not a street with its demand for civic decorum. It can be whatever it wants, and it apparently wants to be something like the leftovers on a vivisection table.
A glance at the main entrance/exit staircase shows that it is side-by-side slide. Yes a slide! (For playfulness!) Looks like it would be a pretty hard landing at that steep angle. Ouch! Call my abogado! The joke ends up being on the home-owner. As usual.
(Shout-out to Rick Darby for the nomination.)
"It’s an irritating reality that many places and events defy description. Angkor Wat and Machu Picchu, for instance, seem to demand silence, like a love affair you can never talk about. For a while after, you fumble for words, trying vainly to assemble a private narrative, an explanation, a comfortable way to frame where you’ve been and whats happened. In the end, you’re just happy you were there - with your eyes open - and lived to see it."
— Anthony Bourdain
LEAD STORIES, FRIDAY'S NYT
Trump ‘Determined’ the U.S. Is Now in a War With Drug Cartels, Congress Is Told
Deepfakes, Insults and Job Cuts: A Government Shutdown Like No Other
F.D.A. Approves Generic Abortion Pill as Opponents Push Trump for New Restrictions
Deadly Attack Outside U.K. Synagogue on Yom Kippur Is Declared Terrorism
OpenAI’s Sora Makes Disinformation Extremely Easy and Extremely Real
On ‘Showgirl,’ Taylor Swift Has a Lust for Love (and Her Foes)
WHAT THE SHUTDOWN MEANS FOR PUBLIC LANDS
Many parks will stay open, and oil and gas permitting will continue — even as tens of thousands of staff are furloughed at NPS, BLM and USFS.
by Annie Rosenthal
The federal government has officially shut down for the first time in more than six years, after Republicans and Democrats in Congress failed to reach a deal over extending funding before the Oct. 1 deadline. That means halting all federal services except those deemed "essential." Until Congress can come to an agreement, hundreds of thousands of federal employees will be furloughed or working without pay. Furthermore, the Trump administration is threatening mass firings in the coming days.
It’s unclear how long the shutdown will go on. Only a handful of previous shutdowns have lasted more than two weeks. But the most recent federal shutdown, which occurred in 2018 under the first Trump administration, was the longest in history, lasting 35 days.
Federal agencies have released contingency plans, laying out what the shutdown will mean for their employees and operations. Even as tens of thousands of staff are furloughed, parks will largely remain open and oil and gas permitting will continue. Advocates warn this approach will do lasting ecological damage to public lands.…
https://www.hcn.org/articles/what-the-government-shutdown-means-for-public-lands/
DAN MAGE:
Protesting is complaining loudly. As someone - I forget who - once said, if simply carrying a cardboard sign solved anything at all, no war would be necessary, you could simply write "Bang, you're dead." The insurrection already happened, the first one failed, the equivalent of a "beerhall putsch." The demented and delusional supreme leader has smart handlers this time. The lines of private property, free speech and due process have been breached.
A purge is taking place in the military to prevent a counter-coup. "Oh but they voted for this, they want a dictator" might be true about 35% of the ones who fell for this bought and paid for farce. Some people were just desperate as the democrats didn't really do jack for them either. America is gone, Americans are not. This has not been tried here yet and will possibly break with historical precedent. Team Red and Team Blue? "To hell with all of them!" But moderation is not called for, it's time to tell those already gunning down the homeless and hanging black men, even if it's wishful thinking "This is America; you can't do that here!"
ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY
But in what universe are Trump and all his corporate cronies, the ones who are making out like bandits thanks to his policies, not members of the elite that has done so much harm to this country? Trump is as elite as they come. He's also an absolute master of media manipulation, a genius at exploiting the anger of a frustrated electorate, at convincing them that he's a pissed-off populist who's on the side of working men and women--the same working men and women he stiffed so many times during his climb up the greasy pole in New York City. The only side that Trump is on is his own and his only aim in life is using people, including, sadly, the American electorate, to puff up his ego and fatten his wallet. If a disgraceful individual like Trump is needed to do the job, how do we rationalize that to our children, who, presumably, we want to become decent human beings and not Don Corleone?
MATT TAIBBI:
THE FBI under Jim Comey repeatedly submitted phony research created by Hillary Clinton researcher Christopher Steele to FISA judges in order to obtain electronic surveillance of a presidential candidate. The Bureau fired Steele as a source for talking to the media after the October 31, 2016 publication of a Mother Jones story hinting that Trump had been “cultivated” by Russians for five years and subject to “blackmail,” but waited a year to punish the other FBI source for that story, Baker. Comey then signed off on placing the same bogus information in a highly classified annex to the January 6, 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment, which afforded him the opportunity to brief President-Elect Trump about its existence.
Days later, news organizations that had the Steele reports but until then had sat on them as unconfirmable bullshit reported the “blockbuster” news that the same material had been presented to Trump by four of the nation’s top intelligence chiefs, including Comey. Now the material was printable, no longer bullshit but “allegations” that “Russian operatives claim to have compromising personal and financial information about Mr. Trump.” Shortly after that, in testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, Comey announced that he had been “authorized” to disclose what he had not in his first meeting with Trump: that the FBI was “investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government.” He didn’t tell Congress or anyone else that the material that was sending the world into chaos — that Trump was in the thrall of blackmailing Russians — had by then been determined by FBI agents interviewing the original source of those stories to be “rumor and speculation” and “just talk.”
Not content to smear only one side, Comey also attempted to deflect criticism from Democrats that he’d dealt too harshly with Hillary Clinton.
In a 2017 Senate hearing, Comey testified that he asked “a friend of mine to share [information] with a reporter.” Also, FBI memos from its “Arctic Haze” leak investigation show the Bureau knew “Comey also hired Richman so Comey could discuss sensitive matters, including classified information… Comey also used Richman as a liaison to the media.”
One of the stories the FBI investigated was in the New York Times and published just before Trump fired him. Called “Comey Tried to Shield the F.B.I. From Politics. Then He Shaped an Election,” one passage quoted Richman as saying “Jim sees his role as apolitical and independent,” while another disclosed the hottest of hot stuff:
The Times found that this go-it-alone strategy was shaped by his distrust of senior officials at the Justice Department, who he and other F.B.I. officials felt had provided Mrs. Clinton with political cover. The distrust extended to his boss, Loretta E. Lynch, the attorney general, who Mr. Comey believed had subtly helped play down the Clinton investigation.
His misgivings were only fueled by the discovery last year of a document written by a Democratic operative that seemed — at least in the eyes of Mr. Comey and his aides — to raise questions about her independence. In a bizarre example of how tangled the F.B.I. investigations had become, the document had been stolen by Russian hackers.
This passage referred to documents covered in Racket earlier this summer that were somehow obtained by Russians that was supposedly written by then-DNC chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. One passage read, “the political director of the Hillary Clinton staff, Amanda Renteria, regularly receives information from Loretta Lynch of the Department of Justice, on the plans and intentions of the FBI.”
Comey was deeply concerned this document might leak out, telling interviewers from the Inspector General’s office:
I could picture emails rocketing around the Internet of… someone at the Atlantic Council saying, “I just had lunch with Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She told me Loretta Lynch is controlling Jim Comey.”
Comey told the IG his decision to make such an early statement about the “Midyear Exam” investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email server was fear that this document might come out. He was so concerned, in fact, that according to two FBI witnesses — Comey’s Chief of Staff Rybicki and Principal Deputy General Counsel of National Security and Cyberlaw Trisha Anderson — that Comey drafted his soon-to-be infamous “exoneration” statement of Clinton “in the spring” or in “May” of 2016, before his team interviewed her.
There is every reason to believe, in other words, that classified information was leaked to let Democrats know Comey hadn’t just said a few unkind things about Hillary’s email practices in the summer of 2016, but in fact been a good boy and sat on much more damaging material about Loretta Lynch.
Meanwhile, according to Comey’s own testimony, he had his “friend” speak to the media about Trump’s alleged comments saying “I hope you can let this go” with regard to the Flynn investigation, in the hopes it would “prompt the appointment of a special counsel” in the Trump case. Mueller was indeed appointed, assigned to continue the Comey investigation into “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump” — an investigation that to date produced zero evidence of collusion, and lasted as long as it had only thanks to fraudulent FISA applications, whose contents were also leaked to the public.
Comey was a key player in the production and dissemination of phony evidence that created a false national security crisis in which the world was led to believe a sitting president was a stooge of Vladimir Putin. There is no “free speech absolutist” alive who’d count perjury and classified leaks as protected First Amendment activity. In Comey’s case there’s the additional novelty of classifying false information that was then leaked, to produce a desired political effect. This was comprehensive abuse of federal investigative machinery, and Trump was not the only victim. If there was such a thing as defamation of the entire United States, Comey would be liable.
I testified earlier this week that Americans have become numb to surveillance, but we’ve also gotten used to the spectacle of security officials lying their faces off to Congress and parachuting into cushy sinecures with networks or think-tanks after they finish their public deceptions. That’s insulting enough, but listening to judges wrap such behavior in the First Amendment is beyond obscene. They just keep finding new floors, don’t they?
LINGUA FRANCA, an on-line exchange:
(1) English, whether the ACLU likes it or not, America is and always has been a single language English speaking country. There is no reason why one foreign language should have preference with a "press 2" ability….there are plenty of other immigrants here who are not Spanish speakers. By allowing facilitation of communication for a selected other language, all it does is continue the trend of non-assimilation…without assimilation, there is no country….without a commonly spoken language, there is no country…without any shared commonality, other than being of the same species, there is no country….but, that's the goal, isn't it? Destroy the countries of the western world?
(2) You really are an idiot. There was a thriving Yiddish language theater and newspaper industry in New York up until the middle 20th century. German was almost as common as English in Texas and parts of the midwest until Woodrow Wilson encouraged stupid laws banning the language. North America has NEVER been exclusively Anglophone and mostly not even predominantly so.
GATHERING LEAVES
Spades take up leaves
No better than spoons,
And bags full of leaves
Are light as balloons.
I make a great noise
Of rustling all day
Like rabbit and deer
Running away.
But the mountains I raise
Elude my embrace,
Flowing over my arms
And into my face.
I may load and unload
Again and again
Till I fill the whole shed,
And what have I then?
Next to nothing for weight,
And since they grew duller
From contact with earth,
Next to nothing for color.
Next to nothing for use,
But a crop is a crop,
And who’s to say where
The harvest shall stop?
— Robert Frost (1923)
There were times in the past where Greek, and Latin were the languages of power in the West. Now the language of power all over the world is English. To deny the USA is an English speaking nation is denying who we are and a disservice to those who live here and don’t read and write English.
I’m guessing you’ve never been to France… or anywhere overseas lately
No, but you are more likely to find a Frenchman who speaks English, than an American who speaks French. The universal language for air traffickers is English. https://www.translationdirectory.com/article722.htm
Yes it’s cool that parts of One Battle After Another was shot locally. When I read what the movie was about it sounded dumb and misguided. Then The Guardian gave it a great review, so I went to see it.
What a sad, confusing, messed up attempt at entertainment. It trivializes dissent and the real work it takes to build a movement and fight against repression. It is deeply disturbing the way it sexually fetishizes black women revolutionaries. Save your money.
If you want to be inspired, Angela Davis is speaking in Oakland October 11 at a benefit for the California Coalition for Women Prisoners.
Thanks, Chuck. My wife and I had considered seeing this movie, but had doubts. Your feedback makes it a firm “no.” We’ll go see the Taylor Swift movie instead and have some fun.
Maybe don’t let one jaded “review” influence you so much Chuck?
(You could always walk out after 20 minutes and get a refund if…)
Just sayin,’ I have no idea if the incredible buzz about this flick is worthy of it…
I won’t go, but will definitely check it out later at home
I started looking at the news, ie, New York Times, again this week after eleven weeks off and read an article about the seventeen factors that affect stroke risk. I was pretty good with all of them except having a strong social network, maybe the most important one of all. (I’ve alienated most of my friends because they think I ask too many questions and I demand answers.)
So how do I build a social network and is that even possible? (And I’m not talking about something online.) When I look at my dissipated “network,” it was something which was organically “built” over years and decades, without calculation, well, shit it’s time to calculate, so where to begin?
Out in the park yesterday I jotted down activities I could start to do with people on a regular basis, starting with ping pong once a week, a game I do like to play. Is it really time to join the old guys hitting the little white ball back and forth? (Other possible social activities include theatre, song-writing, learning new dance moves, and writing stuff.)
There’s a woman I met recently who has trained her four small children to make and sell crafts on a table at the farmers market, what if she brought them down once a week to play in my rec room/ gallery? Sure it would be nice to get some free stuff but you gotta to pay to play in this world so what is my health worth?
I could pay the group $25 for an hour, that’s five dollars each, a nice deal to pay kids to play and that would be valuable social network building, si? The sexy mama and I could stand between them and the art wall protecting the Huichol yarn paintings so I’d have to get some nerf balls. (Well, it’s an idea, will I say anything to her up at the farmers market today? Ummm…)
Another way to look at it is, hey relax, sixteen out of seventeen factors might be good enough?
Dan Walters. The last authentic journalist in California.
Did you also write the Ten Commandments?
? That makes no sense as a response.
Only to you.
RE: ‘ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER’ SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON HUMBOLDT COUNTY
—>. I saw this on discount theatre viewing day within walking distance. First was put off by corny raw radical violence early in the show. But as movie progressed, and later afterwards reflecting, I could realize subplots that characterize obstacles in real life, that may be or not, be overcome in the current American dilemma, with real life motivation empowerment of no violence.
I would see it again next week on discount day perhaps, since I’m not working then, and I see few movies. Thought there was deeper message than an alleged sexual fetish of black women revolutionaries, as were making payback to surveillance state institutional power elite ICE white racism. I’ve heard Angela Davis speak academically on public radio, and she is thoughtful, but my weekends are tied up, and perhaps her talk will be recorded for later air time playback.
AUTHOR THOMAS PERRY
Just read the obituary for author Thomas Perry, writer of intelligent thrillers over many years. (He was 78, as am I. I see this year that too many folks die at this specific age. In a few months I’ll progress to 79, at least I hope.) I’ve read many of Perry’s books over the years. Two classics are “The Butcher Boy” and “The Old Man.” I’ve read the first one twice. And I just happen to be finishing another of his books this week, with a gruesome but witty line from the book quoted in the obit. Thank you, Thomas Perry, for all the hours of good, if scary, reading.
Why can’t the bridge artifact be installed along the highway near the new bridge?
A very, very good question. Caltrans: reply?
Modern American politics has basically devolved into situations that remind me of arguing adolescents.
Well she did this so I’m going to pull her hair now!
Just wait till it’s my turn cuz then I’m going to get him back!