Rain | Forest Polluters | Measles | Chris & Toni Christopherson | Tuan Anh Nguyen | Glowing Gills | Haschak Report | Waterfowl Banquet | LeFever Loose | County Policy | Pet Kahlau | AV Events | Frolic -> Redwoods | Yesterday's Catch | The Hunter | There's Something | Classic Van | Waltz Stories | Soiree | Cuba Cruelty | Seizing Ballots | Lightning | Zionist Propaganda | Marco Radio | Ford Hills | Drilling Permits | The Face | Dem Fundraising | July Hay | Rowling Vilified | Tulip Tiptoe | Epstein's Box | Max Planck | Neighborhood Murder | Guthrie Disappearance | T-Kid & Booze | Free Buses | Tranquil Oasis | She | Lead Stories | Dislike Nietzsche | Heavily Infected | Our Leaders | Edward Abbey | Polo Players
RAIN is expected to develop early Sunday with snow levels around 5,000 feet. The heaviest rain is expected in Mendocino and Lake counties. Monday a few showers are expected as colder air moves in. Monday night and Tuesday snow is expected above 1500 to 2500 feet impacting most highways through the interior. Lighter rain and low elevation snow are expected Wednesday and Thursday. (NWS)
STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A rainy 49F this Sunday morning on the coast. A little rain collected likely, didn't check. Nice weather for ducks & some cold nights the next 10 days. There will be adjustments along the way but I do not plan any re-roofing that's for sure. Currently nothing alarming in sight.
SOMEBODY DUMPED SULPHURIC ACID BARRELS IN JACKSON FOREST
Who wants to help us to catch some forest polluters? CalFire closed main road (500) past Caspar Scales because of all the trash dumping, if we want a dirt track, we must stop this
by Frank Hartzell
Calfire’s scientists, fire prevention workers, interns and even some top brass have gotten a new job lately - garbage collectors.
A ton of trash, literally was been thrown out in the forest. We have taken 3-4 trips out there in the last week or so, taking photos and getting really, really mad.
Cal Fire announced on Christmas that Road 500 was closed effective immediately. For several reasons, it actually took till New Years Eve to get the gates locked, but we are all now blocked from going up Road 500 from the Caspar Scales to where it joins road 408 near State Route 20.…
MEASLES CASES ON THE RISE
Following a California Department of Public Health alert regarding 17 confirmed cases of measles statewide, local public health officials are urging residents to verify their immunization status.
In a press release, Mendocino County Public Health officials reported that while “no cases have been reported locally to date, the highly contagious nature of the virus and its presence in neighboring Northern California counties, including an outbreak in Shasta County, requires immediate community action.”
“Measles is one of the most contagious diseases we face, spreading easily through the air, Mendocino County Public Health Officer Dr. Charles Evans is quoted as saying in the release. “With residents traveling for school, work, and recreation, the risk of introduction to our county is real. The MMR vaccine remains our most effective tool to prevent local transmission and protect those most vulnerable, including infants and the immunocompromised.”
The release described measles symptoms as typically including “a high fever, cough, runny nose, and watery eyes followed by a rash that spreads from the head to the rest of the body, (and that) individuals are contagious four days before the rash appears, and until four days after. If you or a family member has developed these symptoms, contact your healthcare provider immediately by phone before visiting a clinic to prevent spread to others.”
The release also recommends that “to ensure you and your child are up to date on the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine, check your records by using the California Department of Public Health’s Digital Vaccine Record portal. This online system allows you to instantly access your complete immunization record directly from the California Immunization Registry.”
Those who have not yet been vaccinated “are encouraged to get vaccinated. Most healthy insurance plans cover the MMR vaccine. Those without a provider may contact Mendocino County Public Health at (707) 472-2713 to check eligibility for free vaccinations through the California Vaccines for Children program and schedule an appointment.”
EDWARD M. CHRISTOPHERSON & ANTIONETTE M. CHRISTOPHERSON
Edward Myron Christopherson, known to many as Chris, passed away on September 11, 2025, in Ukiah, California. He was born on August 6, 1932, in Nome, North Dakota.
Edward proudly served his country for more than 30 years in the United States Air Force, retiring in 1981 with distinction as a Chief Master Sergeant (CMSgt). His military career began during the Korean War as an Aerial Gunner and later continued as an Inflight Refueling Manager. Service, duty, and quiet pride were central to Edward’s life.
In October 1955, Edward married Antionette May Michaels, affectionately known as Toni, in Massachusetts. Their marriage spanned more than 66 years, until Antionette’s passing on May 18, 2022, in Ukiah, California. Together they built a life rooted in devotion to family, service, and each other.
Edward and Antionette moved frequently during Edward’s Air Force career, living in Massachusetts, New Mexico, California, Washington, Okinawa, and Michigan. In 1978, they settled in Vacaville, California, where they remained for more than four decades before relocating to Ukiah in 2021 to be closer to family. Edward was active in the Knights of Columbus and the Elks Club in Vacaville and enjoyed traveling extensively with Antionette in retirement.
Edward is survived by his sisters Edith Helfer (twin) and Elaine Jutila, and his brother Richard Christopherson, all of Idaho. He was preceded in death by his sister Eileen Britton and brother John Christopherson.
Antionette May Michaels Christopherson was born on July 24, 1932, in Bridgeton, New Jersey. She is preceded in death by her sisters Dolores Michaels and Joan Chaika, and brother Jay Michaels. She is survived by her sister Carolyn Giles. Antionette was the heart of her family, supporting Edward throughout his military career and raising their children while navigating the challenges of frequent moves. In the early 1980s, she began a second career as a English as a Second Language teacher with the Vacaville School District. She took great pride in helping students prepare for American citizenship and was deeply loved by those she taught. Antionette found joy in simple pleasures: Bingo, crossword puzzles, reading, traveling, and camping by the beach in their RV with Edward. Edward and Antionette are survived by their children Gerald Christopherson and his wife Tracy of Boyne City, Michigan, and Karen Christopherson of Ukiah, California; their grandchildren Sarah, Eric, Daniel, James, and Matisse; and their great-grandchildren.
Edward and Antionette Christopherson will be laid to rest together with Military Honors on March 6, 2026, at 1:30 p.m. at the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery in Dixon, California.
OBITUARY FOR TUAN ANH NGUYEN
Cố Thượng Tọa THÍCH HẰNG TOÀN
Húy Danh: Nguyễn Anh Tuấn
Nguyên Đệ Tử Cố Hòa Thượng, Thượng Tuyên Hạ Hóa.
Do duyên phần đã mãn, Thượng tọa đã an nhiên thâu thần viên tịch vào lúc 11 giờ 00 phút, khuya ngày 05 tháng 01 năm 2026 (nhằm ngày 17 tháng 11 năm Ất Ty) tại Milpitas, California, Mỹ Quốc.
- Lễ nhập Kim quan và truy điệu chính thức cử hành vào lúc 09:30 giờ sáng, ngày 02/02/2026.
- Lễ viếng thăm bắt đầu lúc 11:30 giờ trưa cùng ngày.
- Lễ Truy Niệm, Di Quan và Trà Tỳ vào lúc 01:30 giờ trưa, cùng ngày, tại nhà quan:
EMPIRE MORTUARY SERVICES
697 South Orchard Ave., Ukiah, CA 95482.
T.T Thích Hằng Đạt sẽ làm Chủ Lễ cho Tang Sự Cố Thượng Tọa Thích Hằng Toàn.
SUPERVISOR’S REPORT
By John Haschak, 3rd District Supervisor
At the Feb. 3 meeting, the Board of Supervisors moved forward with developing ordinances for short-term rentals and low intensity camping. Some of the key issues with short term rentals are that the owner or manager of the property must be readily accessible, rentals on private roads would have a higher level of oversight, and code violations will include fines and after three violations, you’re out of the program.
The State passed a law allowing low intensity camping, “HipCamps” etc., if a county so chooses. This is for 9 or fewer campsites on a property. The Board wants to limit this program to no more than 100 permits. People have been using these camping platforms for quite a while with no regulation or fees/taxes collected. The Board has sent the proposed ordinance to the Planning Commission before returning to the Board for final approval.
In my first years on the Board, there was a lot of talk concerning the fiscal health of the Mendocino County Employees pension fund. The unfunded liabilities were high, which required action. The MCERA (Mendocino County Employees Retirement Association) Board took action which put the financing on a more solid, conservative approach. The latest actuarial report showed that MCERA fund has over $800 million in assets, the unfunded liabilities are decreasing, and the fund is projected to meet its goals to eliminate the unfunded liability. The next MCERA meeting will be in Willits on Feb. 18 at 8:30 in the Wonacott Room of the Mendocino County Museum.
Ambulance service in the County hangs on as a precarious problem. Of particular concern is outlying areas that might not have enough Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs). Since the entire county’s ambulance service is interconnected, if one goes down the others must cover. County staff and I held a meeting in Covelo last summer to discuss some of the issues and fixes. We had great collaboration from Coastal Valleys Emergency Medical Services Agency, CalFire and fire departments, ambulance providers, and the community. The situation was dire. Some of the fixes are that the Round Valley Health Clinic is now receiving low-acuity ambulance patients and an EMT class in Covelo is now graduating nine students. Once the graduates receive their course completion certificate, they will be in good standing to take the National Registry exam for final certification. Problems get solved when we work together.
There will be a Talk with the Supervisor on Thursday, February 19, from 10:00-11:00 at Brickhouse Coffee. You can always contact me at [email protected] or call 707-972-4214.
QUITE A GIG
Letter to the editor,
Now let me see if I got this right.
Due to D.A. David Eyster’s inability or unwillingness to press charges against Matt LeFever, former Ukiah High School teacher and former editor of MendoFever, who posted, what appears to be, an inappropriate photo of himself clad only in black boxer shorts on social media and was identified by a parent as having made inappropriate sexual comments to her daughter, the former teacher is now on PAID administrative leave from UUSD. This means that my tax dollars are paying for his annual salary of about $100,000, or more, plus benefits, to not teach – unsupervised, free to do as he pleases — with no rehabilitation services for his sexual disorder.
Wow, what a gig.
Karen Rifkin
Ukiah
NORM THURSTON:
From Mendocino County Policy #18:
“4.4.4 Food costs for departmental staff meetings either within or outside normal working hours will not be reimbursed unless, under special circumstances, prior written approval is first obtained from the County Auditor-Controller.”
What’s so hard about that? If someone does not like the policy, they should take action to have it changed. But until then, it is County Policy.
UKIAH SHELTER PET OF THE WEEK
Meet Kahlau, a 1-year-old, 47-pound bundle of enthusiasm with a heart as big as his energy level. This playful young guy is always ready for action and loves keeping himself entertained — especially by emptying the toy box one stuffie at a time, which he considers his personal mission. Friendly to his core, Kahlau wants to greet every person he sees and believes every stranger is simply a friend he hasn’t met. His excitement sometimes shows up as enthusiastic jumping, so he will benefit from continued training to help him channel that joy into polite greetings. The good news is he’s eager to learn and motivated to please. Kahlau would thrive with someone who appreciates his spirited nature and wants a companion who brings laughter, movement, and affection into their home. If you’re looking for a fun-loving dog who’s ready to grow with you, Kahlau might be your perfect match.
To see all of our canine and feline, guests visit: mendoanimalshelter.com
We're on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/mendoanimalshelter/
For information about adoptions please call 707-467-6453.
Making a difference for homeless pets in Mendocino County, one day at a time!
AV EVENTS (today)
Making the Best of the Rest
Sun 02 / 15 / 2026 at 2:00 PM
Where: Anderson Valley Senior Center, 14470 Highway 128, Boonville
(https://andersonvalley.helpfulvillage.com/events/5185)
AV Village Monthly Gathering
Sun 02 / 15 / 2026 at 3:00 PM
Where: Anderson Valley Senior Center, 14470 Highway 128, Boonville
(https://andersonvalley.helpfulvillage.com/events/5184)
WHEN THE FROLIC SANK OFF POINT CABRILLO, THE FATE OF THE REDWOODS WAS SEALED
by Averee McNear
The start of Mendocino’s lumber history is closely tied to the wreck of Frolic, a 97-foot-long two-mast ship built in Baltimore in 1844. The August Heard Company of Boston owned the ship and used it to compete in the opium trade. Under the command of Captain Edward Faucon, the Frolic travelled to Bombay, India, where opium was loaded into the ship’s cargo hold and delivered to the Gulf of Canton in south China. Less than a decade later, however, steam-powered ships had overtaken Frolic, and the ship’s owners looked to put it to a new job.
The discovery of gold in the California hills drove many west for new opportunities. California’s growing population created a significant demand for goods, and a fortune greater than gold could be made in this trade. In June 1850, the Frolic, loaded with porcelain, hardware, silk, and 6,009 bottles of beer, left China and headed to San Francisco.
Captain Faucon’s maps of the Pacific Coast were old and inaccurate. Faucon wrote in his captain’s log that while the coast was obscured by fog, he could see a northern mountain range and assumed the ship was a good distance away from the shore. But Frolic was much closer to shore than Faucon realized, about 200 yards. On the night of July 25, 1850, Frolic’s rudder hit a reef hidden under the water and began to sink just north of today’s Point Cabrillo Lighthouse. Most of the crew abandoned ship. Some crew remained and managed to maneuver the water-logged hull into a nearby cove.
Faucon traveled overland to San Francisco, where he reported the shipwreck to the August Heard Company and made an insurance report. The ship’s cargo sank with it, but slowly began washing ashore, where it was salvaged by Pomo people on the coast. Soon after, news of the shipwreck was published in San Francisco papers. Harry Meiggs, the owner of a wharf in the bay and a lumber mill in Bodega, sent his employee Jerome Ford to investigate the wreck and salvage its cargo. Ford went north, but by the time he arrived he found no cargo left. Ford did, however, find the redwood trees lining the coast and returned to San Francisco with news that treasures worth more than Frolic’s cargo grew along the Mendocino Coast. Mendocino’s first sawmill arrived on the ship Ontario soon after.
(Kelley House Museum curator Averee McNear writes a weekly column on Mendocino County history. To learn more, visit kelleyhousemuseum.org.)
CATCH OF THE DAY, Saturday, February 14
EMERSON CALDERON, 25, Fort Bragg. Paraphernalia, county parole violation.
ELEAZAR CASTANEDA-GUERRERO, 39, Philo. DUI.
SHAWN FENTON, 57, Ukiah. Domestic battery, disobeying court order.
OMAR GUZMAN, 23, Ukiah. Domestic battery, damaging wireless communicationt device, resisting.
JOHNATHAN HENDERSON, 23, Ukiah. Petty theft after prior, probation revocation.
MCKAYLA JOHNSON, 31, Gualala. DUI-any drug, controlled substance.
BRANDON LANGENDERFER, 32, Ukiah. Attempted murder, controlled substance with two or more priors, ammo possession by prohibited person, parole violation, failure to appear, resisting.
BRYAN LOCKWOOD, 34, Ukiah. Parole violation.
KATIE PASSQUINELLI, 34, Foster City/Ukiah. Shoplifting, failure to appear, resisting.
NOW AND THEN THERE'S SOMETHING
Striding along a clean trail,
I was stopped by something in the field.
Some fine sight or sound,
I don’t remember now just what.
Anyway, it pulled me off,
Made me leap a ditch,
Wiggle on my belly beneath barbed wire,
Straighten and hike far into waist-high weeds
Still damp in the morning’s early warmth.
A headlong rush like that
Ought to be balanced by restraint or at least some hesitation.
I’m old enough to know growing-old’s lesson,
That’s not to disappoint. And not to be disappointed.
I know that.
Yet now and then there’s something
In a field or in the sea,
In the sky viewed straight out from an eagle’s ledge,
Something in some dead man’s words or music,
Or in the face that turns to mine.
Whatever it was, if anything at all,
Didn’t wait for me to find it
So pantlegs full of wet stickers I trudged back,
Managed the fence, slipped jumping the ditch,
And stumbled on along the smooth bare path.
— Jim Luther
ONLINE MUSIC NOTES
Steve Derwinski:
In 1979 an old friend – Brenda Belanda – that I had not seen for a couple years walked into Bob’s boatyard in Sausalito where I was working at the time. She asked me if I could look at a leaky roof in the house she was living in with Van Morrison. Van wasn’t home – he was away in Ireland
I followed her up the hill to look at the roof. A long hallway in the house displayed all of Van’s gold records. In the center was a framed picture of Van on stage with the members of the Band taken during the Last Waltz concert. Brenda told me that the picture meant more to him than any or all of his gold records.
Bob Abeles:
I’ve watched Last Waltz several times in several different venues, from the big screen at San Francisco’s Castro Theater, to the small screen on my laptop. I think it is the single best concert film ever made. Although I wasn’t in the theater for the concert, the film succeeds at making me feel like I was.
Thanks, Chuck, for the heartful review. Music is the finest tonic we are blessed with.
P.S.: Kerouac was delighted to find rolls of teletype paper that fit his typewriter, allowing him to write without the constant interruption of loading sheets of paper.
Steve Heilig:
When The Last Waltz was announced I was a new student down at UC Santa Barbara and a huge Band fan since Junior High school.. There were some secret tickets at the local hip record store, but at $25 plus tax – almost $150 now – tickets were a month’s rent and with an added $20 for gas there and back in my VW camper van, it was far too much even if I didn’t take my girlfriend. The only pals I knew who went were pot dealers with lots of cash. When they returned they raved about the whole musical extravaganza and that Bill Graham had provided a grand Thanksgiving feast too. Ferlinghetti and other poets read in between the musical acts too.
The film came out a couple years later and that girlfriend and I went to see the premiere. It made me sadder that I hadn’t found a way to go, seeing all those legends, even though some of the performances seemed a bit ragged. Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, and the Staples were indeed highlights. But my girlfriend raved about how handsome and brilliant bandleader Robbie Robertson was and that made me feel a bit insecure. Later in the dueling books about the Band and the show were tales of how much internal strife was going on, with heavy drug use and dissent about who deserved credit and cash for all their songs (Robertson basically claimed all the credit, and the royalties, and as a pal and roommate of Scorcese, was the focus of the film version). Most of them were surprised and appalled that Robertson pulled the plug on the group but in his own autobiography he makes a strong case that it was time. Still, when I was slated to interview him aub the 1990s, I was was told/warned “no questions about the Band.”
The rest of the Band’s story has too much tragedy, including suicide and lawsuits etc., but nothing erases what magic they made for a few years. Many say they were the greatest American band ever, even though four of them were Canadian. Their live album Rock of Ages, from their 1971 prime and with horn parts added by New Orleans maestro Allen Toussaint and played by hotshot jazz masters, is my favorite live album of all. But I still wish I’d gone to see them say farewell in person.
Chuck Dunbar:
Music is surely a blessing. I went to the theater feeling kind of glum and grumpy, knowing I’d come out in a better place, and that was so.
Oh man, be nice to get a second chance on going to that concert. For sure, Steve. I’ve read several of the books on The Band, including Robertson’s, and yes, sad, tough things came along. And yet they came together though fate somehow, did a fine thing–as you say, “what magic they made for a few years.”
Steve Derwinski:
More about Van…
Van Morrison’s parents lived down the hill from me in Fairfax. They had a record store in town for a couple years and I’d see Van around town a couple of times but never met him. Anyway–a month or two after I visited his house in Sausalito with my old friend Brenda B. I was waiting in line with my girlfriend at the Mill Valley theater when Brenda and Van walked up behind us. Introductions were a little weird–you don’t just say “This is Van” Duh. Anyway we made some small talk and then realized that Van had disappeared !?? The theater hadn’t opened yet so we walked down the ally to the Baskin Robbons for some ice cream. Van was already there–finishing a double scoop of chocolate.
Norm Thurston:
I vowed that I would attend that concert the moment I heard about it, but the best laid plans . . .
I own a copy the film, and watch pieces of it from time to time. My favorite? Levon Helm’s impassioned lead vocal and drumming on The Night They Drove Ol Dixie Down (Levon’s song, not Robertsons).
Steve Heilig:
Caledonia Records. First time I saw it they had all Van records in the window, so I went in and asked the older woman there “You must really like Van Morrison, eh?” She just smiled and replied “Well, he IS our boy you know.” And turned out she meant it literally!
Ps, my AVA tribute: https://theava.com/archives/7088
FAIR PLAY FOR CUBA
Editor:
A Jan. 31 article described a recent set of measures directed at Cuba by the Trump administration. I had the opportunity to visit the island recently as part of a tour sanctioned by the U.S. and Cuban governments. Based on that visit and my interactions with people on the ground, the notion that this tiny island poses a threat to the U.S. is frankly comical.
Instead, the measures represent an abjectly cruel political attempt to starve the Cuban people. This is nothing more than a continuation and, worse, an expansion of U.S. policies over the past 65 years aimed at toppling what would otherwise be a successful socialist government with broad support among Cubans. It has become increasingly difficult to justify these policies, except as a means of satisfying a diminishing political constituency that seems stuck in a pre-1959 mindset.
As journalist Liz Oliva Fernandez said in the recent documentary “The War On Cuba”: “Just leave us alone.” I couldn’t agree more. It’s time to open up U.S.-Cuban relations, prevent a deepening humanitarian crisis and allow the Cuban people to manage their own affairs without heavy-handed interference.
Greg Carr
Sonoma
FULTON COUNTY ELECTION SEIZURE
Editor:
The FBI’s seizure of ballots in Fulton County, Georgia, on Jan. 29, potentially represents one of the most significant events in our country’s history. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear to be getting the attention it deserves, particularly from local press. This is an alarming development. Accounts indicate that President Donald Trump is heavily involved in the seizure, having actually spoken via Tulsi Gabbard’s phone to FBI agents conducting the seizure. And he has subsequently said there are “interesting” findings regarding the seized ballots. He has positioned the seizure as a fraud review of the 2020 election that he lost (Fulton County has performed numerous recounts and investigations showing this to be so).
However, the implications are much more serious. Trump is planting the seed for seizing ballots from the 2026 midterm election under the guise that there is fraudulent activity. Remember that numerous Republican officials in Georgia refuted his 2020 claims, as did Bill Barr and Chris Klebs within his own administration. Steve Bannon just stated that ICE agents should be posted at election polls. Local news media: Please dedicate more coverage to this very serious situation.
Chris Carpenter
Petaluma
JEFF BLANKFORT:
An important article on the press coverage of the Jewish-Arab conflict in Palestine before and after the Nakba and the exposure of Martha Gellhorn as a crude propagandist for the Zionists which I discovered when I read the article she wrote for The Atlantic in 1961 which American Zionists sent to every American listed in that year's "Who's Who."
My only fault with this article is that he underplays the fact that Dorothy Thompson, the second most popular American woman, according to LIFE magazine, and Vincent Sheehan, among the most well known of American journalists, were essentially written out of history for telling the truth about the Zionists.
Speaking of The Atlantic and its embrace of Israel, in the very same year of Gellhorn's hit piece on the Palestinians who remained after the Nakba, in that same year, Nov. 1961, the magazine published "A Special Supplement" on Israel consisting of 60 pages of pure Zionist propaganda, led by David Ben-Gurion's, "The Kingdom of the Spirit." The US was already becoming their most important occupied territory.
MEMO OF THE AIR: World radio day.
Marco here. Here's the recording of Friday night's (9pm PST, 2026-02-13) 7.5-hour-long Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio show on KNYO.org, on 107.7fm KNYO-LP Fort Bragg (CA) and also, for the first three hours, on 89.3fm KAKX Mendocino, ready for you to re-enjoy in whole or in part: https://memo-of-the-air.s3.amazonaws.com/KNYO_0683_MOTA_2026-02-13.mp3
Coming shows can feature your own story or dream or poem or essay or kvetch or announcement. Just email it to me. Or send me a link to your writing project and I'll take it from there and read it on the air. That's what I'm here for.
Besides all that, at https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com you'll find a fresh batch of dozens of links to not-necessarily radio-useful but worthwhile items I set aside for you while gathering the show together, such as:
A love poem. https://misscellania.blogspot.com/2018/02/a-love-poem.html
Bill and Neil's pal Jill peel Phil's meal. Mel drills Bill's steel pail. https://biblioklept.org/2026/02/08/sunday-comix-39/
Palantir's predictive policing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayz_YNH7s04
Another sweet jazzy Creep. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I787v-so8fo
And rerun: Restoring an antique stamped-metal toy space car. I just saw an item of this type, not this exact toy but close, in the pawn shop in Ukiah on Thursday. I was really attracted to a particular guitar amplifier, but I don't have any money or room for that now, and how many guitar amplifiers does a man need? Mine is fine. It's been years since I last visited that shop. A large selection of battery powered tools, some generators, the usual other pawn shop things, at least one banjo, of course… but no horns, nor typewriters, nor suitcases, nor musical keyboards, nor guns anymore. They seem to be expanding into dealing mostly in jewelry. And there were at least a dozen people in the store. One couple hovered over a small gas-powered generator for awhile, and a little bit later I noticed them holding each other, talking softly, the woman crying. If I had a lot of money, I would have bought them the generator. https://www.facebook.com/reel/4208979519345114
Marco McClean, [email protected], https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com
MORE NEW OIL DRILLING PERMITS WERE APPROVED IN JANUARY 2026 THAN ALL OF 2025
by Dan Bacher
Permit approvals for drilling new oil wells in California were falling in 2025, a trend that followed numerous demonstrations from environmental groups in the heart of Sacramento. Yet in the first few weeks of January 2026 alone, California oil regulators issued more new drilling permits than they did for all of 2025, according to a new analysis from Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance.
The previous year, permit approvals fell to 17 from 73 in 2024. But in January, the California Energy Management Division, or CalGEM, bested that number by approving 20 new drilling permits.
Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance noted in a joint statement that “continued progress in cutting fossil fuel production is now under assault from new state legislation, federal drilling plans, and industry lawsuits.”
The groups added that many of the hardest hit communities are in Kern County, the state’s epicenter of oil production in California.…
THE FACE you look out of
is never the face
your lover looks into.
— Jim Harrison
CORPORATE PACS VS. SILICON VALLEY
Sharply different fundraising paths for Democratic rivals Mike Thompson, Eric Jones in 4th District race for Congress
by Phil Barber
Rep. Mike Thompson is a home-grown politician seeking his 15th consecutive term in the U.S. House of Representatives, following eight years in the California Legislature. His most formidable Democratic primary challenger for California’s 4th Congressional District, Eric Jones, is a political neophyte and recent Napa transplant trying to build name recognition.
For two candidates in the same political party, they could scarcely present a starker contrast. And the same can be said of their campaign financing.
Thompson, 75, who has been building political bridges as long as Jones, 35, has been alive, draws reliably heavy support from political action committees, big industry players and the local wine business.
Jones’ campaign is largely financed by people working in venture capital, tech, private equity, hedge funds and other forms of finance. He used to work in venture capital.
Both sides see something nefarious in their opponent’s fundraising.
Jones is quick to note that his campaign money comes entirely from individual donations; he doesn’t take a dime from PACs, corporations or lobbyists, he said. Thompson relies heavily on more traditional funding streams, which Jones characterizes as an open door to influence peddling.
Thompson has been less vocal about Jones’ financing. But his supporters have been questioning the challenger’s reliance on money flooding in from outside the sprawling district, which now, under the state’s reshuffled electoral map, includes Napa, Yolo, Colusa, Sutter and Yuba counties, and parts of Sonoma, Lake, Sacramento and Placer. The district, with a far larger number of registered Democrats, is expected to vote solidly blue.
Clean money vs. corporate strings. County sheriffs vs. financiers. Retirees in St. Helena vs. AI software engineers in San Francisco vs. Washington lobbyists. If you have a political bone to pick, you are likely to find fault somewhere in the 4th District campaign financing.
One thing is clear from the public records: Thompson, who has never in his political career lost an election, is in for a rare fight. Jones outraised him in 2025, roughly $2.6 million to $2 million — a stunning deficit for a veteran congressman who has never received less than 61% of the vote in either a primary or general election.
The figures represent only dollars sent directly into the two campaigns. They do not include money spent on behalf of candidates by fundraising committees such as super PACs.
“I don’t know if Mike’s team is running scared. But they’re running concerned,” said David McCuan, a political science professor at Sonoma State University. “The Jones team is running this in a more sophisticated way than previous millionaire campaigns.”
Among the 45 California congress members running for reelection in districts they were already representing, only two were losing the financing battle through September. Thompson was one. The other was Republican Darrell Issa, who was narrowly outfunded by Democratic challenger Brandon Riker in the 48th District.
A third Democratic candidate in the 4th District race, Trevor Merrell, 25, of Rohnert Park, hadn’t raised any campaign money by Sept. 30, according to Federal Election Commission data.
Here’s a look at the campaign financing of the Thompson and Jones campaigns, and where they diverge.
Different paths to cash
The candidates got to their fundraising figures very differently.
Thompson had a higher number of donors who gave far less per person. Jones capitalized on larger contributions from a smaller pool of contributors.
The average payment to Eric Jones’ campaign in 2025 was more than $3,300. The average contribution made to Thompson’s campaign was about $465. More than 240 people donated $7,000, the maximum individual contribution per cycle. For Thompson, only 43 people gave that amount.
To 4th District residents suspicious of Jones’ rapid emergence on the political scene — and there are many — these numbers signal a reliance on households with deep pockets, and a lack of grassroots support.
And among the deepest pockets funding Jones run are his own. Jones has so far donated just under $364,000 to his campaign, about 14.5% of his total haul. His parents, who live in Florida, donated $14,000.
Thompson had more than five times as many donors as his opponent. Many were Napa County residents of modest means, sending checks for $50 or $100. Those don’t pay for a lot of campaign ads, but they have reliably translated into votes for Thompson, a moderate Democrat who has taken the lead on issues including gun safety, health care and veterans rights.
Jones, who is challenging Thompson from the left while advocating for universal child care and workforce housing, claimed to be undaunted at the local disparity.
“Congressman Thompson has more individual donors than we do, but he’s been campaigning since January,” the challenger noted in an interview. “I would predict we pass him in donor count as well.”
Leader of the PACs
Political action committees, or PACs, are tax-exempt organizations that pool campaign contributions from members and donate that money to campaigns, ballot initiatives or legislative efforts.
They are the engine that drives election spending in America. And Thompson is highly tapped in, as many national office holders are.
While Jones has vowed not to accept money from PACs, Thompson has raked in close to $1 million from them so far.
Those contributions include $12,500 from the Blue Dog Victory Fund, which supports moderate, fiscally oriented Democrats. He also got $5,000 each from the likes of PAC to the Future, affiliated with House Speaker Emerita and Democratic kingmaker Nancy Pelosi; Jobs, Education & Families First Jeff PAC, affiliated with Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries; Fair Shot PAC, dedicated to flipping seats blue; KidsPAC, which supports legislation friendly to children; and Medicare for All PAC.
Captains of industry
There are five categories of PACs, though, and some of them have little to do with party politics. Some are sponsored by particular commercial sectors or individual businesses.
These are Thompson’s bread and butter.
His top contributors in 2025 included First Foundation Bank ($15,148), the Tractor Supply Co. PAC ($10,000), the American Crystal Sugar Co. PAC ($10,000) and Edison International PAC ($9,000).
The congressman also received thousands of dollars from trade lobbyists including the American Hospital Association, the American Council of Life Insurers, the National Beer Wholesalers Association, the American Hotel and Lodging Association, the American Bankers Association, the California Rice Industry Association and the Solar Energy Industries Association.
Meanwhile, the list of dedicated corporate PACs donating to Thompson reads like a lineup of Super Bowl advertisers: AFLAC. The Travelers Companies. Principal Life Insurance. Phillips 66. Prudential Financial. United Parcel Service. Verizon Communications. Northwest Mutual.
Jones has made it a central point of attack.
“It signals influence,” he said. “And particularly legislative influence. Because the corporations, in concert with lobbying groups, actually draft and present legislation to members of Congress. Who then run with it to pass laws.”
Jones highlighted President Donald Trump’s military abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the seizing of ships laden with oil from that country. Those actions were “highly coordinated” with the oil and gas industry, Jones said.
“That industry is a significant donor to Thompson’s campaign,” he continued, “and like others who received that money, he voted to support the National Defense Authorization Act on Dec. 17 — which needed Democratic votes to pass.”
The act authorized a record $900 billion for defense spending.
That characterization fails to give Thompson the grace to believe he can filter out influencers, McCuan argued. Thompson, a Vietnam War combat veteran who sits on the powerful House Ways & Means Committee, has emerged as a staunch critic of the Trump administration, especially on immigration enforcement and erosion of Medicare benefits.
“Jones is taking the leap of saying there is a quid pro quo,” McCuan said. “That’s just not how it works. Do these entities get access to members they give money to? Sure. But what you do is take that money and tell them no.”
$70,000 from the office pool
Jones didn’t receive a $5,000 donation from the Morgan Stanley PAC, as Thompson did. But he got $7,000 from Colin Stewart, an investment banker at the financial services firm.
However you might interpret that distinction, high-placed individual donors are driving Jones’ campaign so far. Most prominent are the venture capitalists.
Jones worked in that sector until July, and walked away with a small fortune. For the most part, he worked at Dragoneer Investment Group, based in San Francisco. It’s nice to leave an office on good terms.
At least eight current Dragoneer executives contributed $7,000 each to Jones’ campaign, as did two of their spouses.
And Jones’ VC support goes way beyond that.
Some donors are kind enough when filing campaign donations to list their occupation as “venture capitalist.” It can be harder to parse, but a Press Democrat analysis revealed at least 60 people working in venture capital who gave to Jones’ campaign. Three of the top 10 firms in Time magazine’s 2025 ranking — Accel, Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins — are represented by individuals on the candidate’s financial disclosures.
A slightly smaller pool of tech executives donated to the challenger — including some affiliated with familiar brands such as Cisco, Meta and Apple, but also people working in things like “decision intelligence” and “AI connectivity.”
Jones also drew strong support from high-ranking employees in private equity, hedge fund management and conventional finance.
McCuan expected the challenger to “democratize” his donors in the fourth quarter of 2025.
“He hasn’t really,” the professor said. “He stepped on the gas for his private equity, venture capital line. It’s JD Vance Land. It’s a lot of Republicans.”
Jones expressed puzzlement at the accusations over his funding streams, pointing out that he has been able to tap into an “overlapping network” of campaign money established by Ro Khanna and Sam Liccardo, a pair of progressive South Bay Democrats who have proved to be able fundraisers.
Ultimately, Jones doesn’t believe it will matter much to 4th District voters.
“What people in Yuba City care about is how to improve affordability, how to get effective government, how to actually bring health care to the district and how do we help education, because they have school closures,” he said. “Funding is not really on top of their mind.”
From Yountville to Yuba City
If there’s a central complaint voiced by Thompson loyalists, it’s that Jones has tenuous ties to his district — and receives very little local money.
In the challenger’s first finance report, filed Sept. 30, only six of his nearly 450 donors claimed addresses in the 4th District. His fourth-quarter filings bumped up that number, but not hugely. The money Jones is getting from Napa-Yolo-Colusa-Yuba is vastly outweighed by his money from San Francisco, his home base until he relocated to Napa in 2021.
Compare that mix with Thompson’s: 63% of the donations the incumbent received in 2025 came from within the redrawn district, which was shifted a little south and farther to the east.
“We’re proud of Mike’s strong grassroots support,” his campaign adviser, Thomas Dowling, wrote in an email. “As someone who was born, grew up, and still lives in the 4th District, Mike understands our community’s needs firsthand and he is working every day to address our community’s challenges.”
Thompson declined an interview for this story, through Dowling.
The congressman’s support isn’t limited to kitchen tables. He draws plenty of money from local business — and especially the wine industry, which he has fiercely championed in his more than 27 years on Capitol Hill.
The Press Democrat counted well over 60 wine producers who have donated to his 2026 campaign, either as a business or through ownership or top executives. The large majority are in Napa Valley.
They include some of the industry’s heavy hitters, like Jackson Family Wines, Korbel, Trinchero Family Estates (five of the company’s leaders pooled a total of close to $15,000), Beringer Wine Estates, Niebaum Coppola, Robert Mondavi Winery, Dutton Ranch, Hall Wines and Silver Oak Cellars.
The Wine Institute, which advocates statewide for public policy friendly to the industry, sent Thompson $10,000. So did Constellation Brands, one of the global giants.
Share and share alike
One of the peculiarities of the American political system is that the money contributed to help one campaign often winds up in the hands of another, or in the service of local causes. It’s another process Thompson has learned to navigate capably.
He received 17 donations directly from other campaigns, including those of Napa County Supervisor Liz Alessio, Sonoma County Supervisor Rebecca Hermosillo, state Assembly members Cecelia Aguiar-Curry and Chris Rogers, and Reps. John Garamendi of California and Marilyn Strickland of Washington.
The individual donations flowing to Thompson reveal a tightly interconnected web of local pols, many of whom have a record of endorsing one another — and of endorsing Thompson, dean of North Bay Democrats. He got money from Santa Rosa Mayor Mark Stapp, St. Helena Mayor Paul Dohring, Cotati Vice Mayor Sylvia Lemus, state Sen. Chris Cabaldon and City Council members Gerard Guidice of Rohnert Park, Ariel Kelley of Healdsburg, Beth Painter of Napa, and Jack Ding and John Gurney of Sonoma.
Four of five Napa County supervisors contributed to Thompson’s campaign.
And money moves in the other direction, too. Over his tenure, Thompson has donated more than $3.5 million to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Democratic presidential candidates, and has floated upward of $305,000 to local labor councils and local Democratic parties.
Jones shares in almost none of that swapping. He sent a $5,000 check to Napa County Supervisor Joelle Gallagher in September. She returned the money.
Who’s who in the 4th District
Beyond PACs and wine titans, Thompson counts as allies the type of community leaders you might expect to find in his camp after representing most of the region for decades.
That includes donations from at least 15 Indian tribes, including five based in Sonoma or Lake counties.
Other notables among Thompson’s benefactors: Santa Rosa philanthropists Jean Schulz and Connie Codding, Sonoma County District Attorney Carla Rodriguez, Napa developer George Altamura, Napa County Sheriff Oscar Ortiz, retired 49ers general manager Carmen Policy (who lives in St. Helena), Sonoma County Farm Bureau Executive Director Dayna Ghirardelli and Megan Chin, a chef/owner at the French Laundry restaurant.
Jones’ most well-known donors aren’t local. They are Steve Kerr, coach of the Golden State Warriors — and a member of the advisory board of the American Dream Institute, an organization Jones formed — and the Warriors’ general manager, Mike Dunleavy.
One key similarity
The two men leading the charge for the Democratic nomination in the 4th District have veered in two highly divergent paths while stacking their campaign accounts. But they have wound up at practically the same place.
As 2026 began, Mike Thompson’s campaign had $1.9 million in cash on hand. Eric Jones’ had $1.8 million. It’s a race that is likely to remain hotly contested, and lucrative, into June — and because of California’s “top two” primary system, possibly until Election Day in November.
(Santa Rosa Press Democrat)
ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY
J.K. Rowling has been a staunch defender of girls’ sports, locker rooms, and other private spaces, and for doing so, has been vilified as a bigot. Of course, she is not, but that is what the trans activists do to anyone who does not support their delusion.
TIPTOE THROUGH THE TULIPS
Shades of night are creeping
Willow trees are weeping
Old folks and babies are sleeping
Silver stars are gleaming
All alone I'm scheming
Scheming to get you out here
My dear
Come tiptoe to the window
By the window
That is where I'll be
Come tiptoe through the tulips with me
Tiptoe from your pillow
To the shadow
Of the willow tree
And tiptoe through the tulips with me
Knee deep
In flowers we'll stray
We'll keep
The showers away
And if I kiss you
In the garden
In the moonlight
Will you pardon me?
Come tiptoe through the tulips with me
Knee deep
In flowers we'll stray
We'll keep
The showers away
And if I kiss you in the garden
In the moonlight
Will you pardon me?
Come tiptoe through the tulips with me
— lyrics by Al Dubin (1929)
THE NFL OWNERS AND OLYMPIC ORGANIZERS IN EPSTEIN’S INBOX
by Dave Zirin
Child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein did not want to just ingratiate himself to billionaires. He wanted to spend time with people who shaped the culture, and as we saw during Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show, nothing shapes the culture quite like the athletic industrial complex.
The website Front Office Sports went through the latest tranche of hurriedly redacted Epstein Files, and it is shocking just how many NFL franchise owners are in these emails and assorted documents. They include—and this is a partial list—Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots; Steve Tisch, co-owner of the New York Giants and first cousin of Jessica Tisch, the current New York City police commissioner; Stephen Ross, owner of the Miami Dolphins; Zygi Wilf, owner of the Minnesota Vikings; and Arthur Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons. There are more NFL owners in the Epstein files than attended the Super Bowl.
Denials have already been sputtered, and the owners’ public relations machines are working in overdrive to deny that they are anything more than incidental acquaintances of Epstein. But how many were actually friends with Epstein is less relevant than the fact that everyone who associated with Epstein ignored and excused what was often happening in plain sight around them. And as hard as their PR mavens are working to deflect attention, the sports media is working just as hard to ignore it all.
After all, who could possibly imagine that Kraft would be involved in anything illicit when it comes to exercising power over young women? ESPN has essentially not covered the sports figures involved with Epstein. There are scant few articles under the byline “ESPN News Services,” which draws from the Associated Press. There has been no investigative journalism or televised commentary on one of their yak-fests. When one considers that the NFL now owns a portion of ESPN, not to mention that the NFL is central to much of its programming, the network’s blase attitude toward the story is odious.
Even more damning in the released files is the repeated presence of LA 2028 Olympic chairman Casey Wasserman. He says he did nothing wrong, though two Los Angeles supervisors and two members of the city council have now called for him to resign from his role with the Olympic organizing committee. LA City Council member Monica Rodriguez said that Wasserman represents “a threat to the integrity of the games."
Wassermans’s clients are already leaving his talent agency in protest. Olympian Abby Wambach and popstar Chappell Roan have dropped Wasserman and are calling for him to step down from the agency that bears his name.
Of course, by any moral marker, Wasserman should not be allowed within 500 yards of the Olympics (or a school). His emails to Epstein’s partner in child trafficking, Ghislaine Maxwell, date back 20 years and include unredacted tidbits like, "I think of you all the time. So, what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?" LA Mayor Karen Bass, however, has not joined the call for him to disappear from the 2028 Games, already being called “The Epstein Olympics.”
The unconvincing excuses for keeping Wasserman at his post include the difficulty of replacing the chair of the LA28 Olympic organizing committee at this late of a date as well as his ability to raise corporate cash. After what the organizing committee described as an “internal investigation,” Wasserman, whose grandfather Lew Wasserman was one of Hollywood’s most powerful people, is staying on as chair.
We need to fight to see every page of the Epstein files with only the names of the survivors and victims redacted—but that is not enough. To paraphrase journalist Nolan Higdon, it is becoming more and more difficult to “shield the architects of the second Gilded Age.” They deserve no such protections. The files have exposed that global elites have never been wealthier and more powerful, but they’ve become drunk on power after decades of plunder. This second Gilded Age isn’t ending until the exposure is total and its criminal offenders are frog-marched out of the owners’ boxes.
MAX PLANCK, the father of quantum theory, lived a life that stood in stark contrast to the brilliance of his scientific achievements.
While he reshaped modern physics with the idea that energy comes in discrete “quanta,” his personal world was repeatedly shattered by loss.
His wife died young, his eldest son fell in World War I, and both of his twin daughters died during childbirth, tragedies that would have broken most people. Yet Planck continued to teach, research, and serve as a stabilizing figure in German science during turbulent times, believing deeply in duty, discipline, and the pursuit of truth.
His final and most devastating blow came during the Nazi era. Planck’s surviving son, Erwin, was arrested and executed for participating in the failed 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler.
Planck, already in his eighties, was forced to plead unsuccessfully for his son’s life. Despite this unimaginable grief, he remained committed to scientific integrity and moral courage, refusing to abandon the principles that guided him.
By the time of his death in 1947, Planck had become not only a scientific pioneer but also a symbol of resilience, a man who carried the weight of profound sorrow while still illuminating the world with ideas that would define modern physics.
IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF MURDER
the roaches spit out
paper clips
and the helicopter circles and circles
smelling for blood
searchlights leering down into our
bedroom
5 guys in this court have pistols
another a
machete
we are all murderers and
alcoholics
but there are worse in the hotel
across the street
they sit in the green and white doorway
banal and depraved
waiting to be institutionalized
here we each have a small green plant
in the window
and when we fight with our women at 3 a.m.
we speak
softly
and on each porch
is a small dish of food
always eaten by morning
we presume
by the
cats.
— Charles Bukowski
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF SAVANNAH GUTHRIE’S MOTHER
Nancy Guthrie, 84, the “Today” show anchor’s mother, vanished from her Arizona home on Feb. 1. In the time since, very little new information has come to light.
by Claire Moses
Nearly two weeks have passed since Nancy Guthrie, 84, the mother of the “Today” show anchor Savannah Guthrie, was reported missing on Feb. 1. Her disappearance, which is being investigated as a kidnapping, has gripped the nation, with unverified reports of ransom notes, chilling doorbell camera footage and the fame of Ms. Guthrie’s daughter capturing intense interest.
But as the days have passed, very little new substantive information has come to light.
Nancy Guthrie was last seen at her home near Tucson on Jan. 31. That evening, she had dinner at the home of her older daughter and her son-in-law, who dropped her off at her house around 9:50 p.m., said Chris Nanos, the Pima County sheriff.
Recovered footage from Ms. Guthrie’s doorbell camera showed a masked person arriving at her home in the early hours of Feb. 1, around the same time the camera was removed.
The footage was one of the first true breaks in the case, but since its release, no arrests have been made.
A flurry of activity happened two miles from Nancy Guthrie’s home.
Late on Friday night, law enforcement officials swarmed an upscale subdivision two miles from Nancy Guthrie’s home in the Catalina Hills area of Tucson, searching a house as well as a Range Rover parked at a nearby Culver’s.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said on Saturday that a federal court-ordered search warrant was executed at the home. A traffic stop was also conducted, and a person was questioned but there were no arrests.
There are still no known leads.
Several gloves have been found in the community so far, the sheriff’s department said, but none closer than roughly two miles away from Nancy Guthrie’s home.
The masked person in the doorbell camera footage was wearing gloves.
On Friday, a sheriff’s department spokeswoman said that investigators had found DNA on Nancy Guthrie’s property that was neither hers nor that of anyone in “close contact with her.”
The police did not say where the DNA was found but were trying to figure out to whom it belongs.
Later that day, the police investigated a house on the edge of the Catalina Foothills neighborhood, a short drive from Nancy Guthrie’s home and the home of her older daughter and son-in-law, the sheriff’s department said.
The authorities briefly detained a man this week, but released him after questioning.
The authorities released surveillance images of a masked suspect.
The authorities released surveillance footage from Ms. Guthrie’s doorstep showing a person standing at her front door, wearing a ski mask, gloves and a backpack on the morning of her disappearance.
The person, who was armed, is believed to be a man between 5-foot-9 and 5-foot-10, the F.B.I. said.
The footage showed the person approaching Ms. Guthrie’s doorbell camera, blocking it with a gloved hand and then appearing to try to use some leaves to obscure the camera.
Ms. Guthrie’s doorbell camera was disconnected at 1:47 a.m. on Feb. 1.
A timeline, but few clues.
The investigation into Ms. Guthrie’s disappearance began after she failed to arrive at a friend’s house to watch a live-streamed church service on Feb. 1.
The friend notified Ms. Guthrie’s family. When they did not find her there just before noon, they called 911. Early in the investigation, Sheriff Nanos described Ms. Guthrie’s home as “a crime scene.”
Ms. Guthrie has limited mobility and requires medication every 24 hours, but is mentally sharp, according to the authorities.
Ms. Guthrie’s pacemaker app showed that it had been disconnected from her phone at 2:28 a.m. on the night of her disappearance, indicating she was no longer near the phone, which was left inside her house.
The Guthries said they would pay a ransom.
Savannah Guthrie and her siblings have released a series of videos pleading with whoever is involved in their mother’s disappearance to contact them.
They have also said that they were willing to pay for their mother’s return.
“We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her,” Savannah Guthrie said in one of the videos. “This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”
The F.B.I. said that it was “not aware of any continued communication between the Guthrie family and suspected kidnappers.”
Officials are investigating a message.
The authorities said last week that they were reviewing a message sent to a Tucson television station.
They did not confirm whether it was related to a purported ransom note sent to several news outlets in the days after Ms. Guthrie’s disappearance, which demanded millions of dollars in Bitcoin.
A deadline mentioned in a ransom note passed last week, and it remains unclear whether the person who sent that ransom demand is connected to Nancy Guthrie’s abduction.
Savannah Guthrie withdrew from NBC’s Olympics coverage.
Savannah Guthrie, 54, is best known as one of the anchors of the NBC morning show “Today,” a job she has held since 2012.
She joined NBC News in 2007, after working in local news and as a lawyer. She did not go to Italy for the Milan-Cortina Olympics, where she had been expected to play a key role in NBC’s coverage of the Games.
Savannah Guthrie grew up and attended college in Tucson, Ariz. She lives in New York with her husband, the communications consultant Michael Feldman, and their two children.
(NY Times)
SOMETHING SURPRISING HAPPENS WHEN BUS RIDES ARE FREE
By Emily Galvin Almanza
Free buses? Really? Of all the promises that Zohran Mamdani made during his New York City mayoral campaign, that one struck some skeptics as the most frivolous leftist fantasy. Unlike housing, groceries and child care, which weigh heavily on New Yorkers’ finances, a bus ride is just a few bucks. Is it really worth the huge effort to spare people that tiny outlay?
It is. Far beyond just saving riders money, free buses deliver a cascade of benefits, from easing traffic to promoting public safety. Just look at Boston; Chapel Hill, N.C.; Richmond, Va.; Kansas City, Mo.; and even New York itself, all of which have tried it to excellent effect. And it doesn’t have to be costly — in fact, it can come out just about even.
As a lawyer, I feel most strongly about the least-discussed benefit: Eliminating bus fares can clear junk cases out of our court system, lowering the crushing caseloads that prevent our judges, prosecutors and public defenders from focusing their attention where it’s most needed.
I was a public defender, and in one of my first cases I was asked to represent a woman who was not a robber or a drug dealer — she was someone who had failed to pay the fare on public transit. Precious resources had been spent arresting, processing, prosecuting and trying her, all for the loss of a few dollars. This is a daily feature of how we criminalize poverty in America.
Unless a person has spent real time in the bowels of a courthouse, it’s hard to imagine how many of the matters clogging criminal courts across the country originate from a lack of transit. Some of those cases result in fines; many result in defendants being ordered to attend community service or further court dates. But if people can’t afford the fare to get to those appointments and can’t get a ride, their only options — jump a turnstile or flout a judge’s order — expose them to re-arrest. Then they may face jail time, which adds significant pressure to our already overcrowded facilities. Is this really what we want the courts spending time on?
Free buses can unclog our streets, too. In Boston, eliminating the need for riders to pay fares or punch tickets cut boarding time by as much as 23 percent, which made everyone’s trip faster. Better, cheaper, faster bus rides give automobile owners an incentive to leave their cars at home, which makes the journey faster still — for those onboard as well as those who still prefer to drive.
How much should a government be willing to pay to achieve those outcomes? How about nothing? When Washington State’s public transit systems stopped charging riders, in many municipalities the state came out more or less even — because the money lost on fares was balanced out by the enormous savings that ensued.
Fare evasion was one of the factors that prompted Mayor Eric Adams to flood New York City public transit with police officers. New Yorkers went from shelling out $4 million for overtime in 2022 to $155 million in 2024. What did it get them? In September 2024, officers drew their guns to shoot a fare beater who was wielding a knife and two innocent bystanders ended up with bullet wounds, the kind of accident that’s all but inevitable in such a crowded setting.
New York City tried a free bus pilot program in 2023 and 2024 and, as predicted, ridership increased — by 30 percent on weekdays and 38 percent on weekends, striking figures that could make a meaningful dent in New York’s chronic traffic problem (and, by extension, air and noise pollution). Something else happened that was surprising: Assaults on bus operators dropped 39 percent. Call it the opposite of the Adams strategy: Lowering barriers to access made for fewer tense law enforcement encounters, fewer acts of desperation and a safer city overall.
If free buses strike you as wasteful, you’re not alone. Plenty of the beneficiaries would be people who can afford to pay. Does it make sense to give them a freebie? Yes, if it improves the life of the city, just as free parks, libraries and public schools do. Don’t think of it as a giveaway to the undeserving. Think of it as a gift to all New Yorkers in every community. We deserve it.
(nytimes.com)
SHE
My wife died in the autumn.
Now on Saturday morning down here
on the Mexican border my housekeeper,
an Apache Tarahumara woman, sings me a lament
in Spanish of love and death. We were
married fifty-six years, fell in love two years before
that. My soul knows this song she sings.
This so far is a haunting, the bleeding heart
we used to hear about. I’ve been told the heart
will run out of blood but I doubt it.
Lover, come back to me.
— Jim Harrison
LEAD STORIES, SUNDAY'S NYT
Deep in China’s Mountains, a Nuclear Revival Takes Shape
Trump’s Relentless Self-Promotion Fosters an American Cult of Personality
More Than Ever, Videos Expose the Truth. And Cloud It, Too.
Students Across the U.S. Are Protesting ICE. Texas Wants to Punish Their Schools.
U.S. Deports 9 Migrants in Secret, Ignoring Legal Protections
Republican State Legislators Rush to Limit Their Own Regulators
Shivering Americans Snap Up Firewood as Winter Grinds On
BERTRAND RUSSELL’S SCATHING CRITIQUE OF FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE:
“I dislike Nietzsche because he likes the contemplation of pain, because he erects conceit into a duty, because the men whom he most admires are conquerors, whose glory is cleverness in causing men to die. But I think the ultimate argument against his philosophy, as against any unpleasant but internally self-consistent ethic, lies not in an appeal to facts, but in an appeal to the emotions. Nietzsche despises universal love; I feel it the motive power to all that I desire as regards the world. His followers have had their innings, but we may hope that it is coming rapidly to an end.“
OUR LEADERS COULDN’T FIX OUR PROBLEMS IF THEY WANTED TO (And They Don’t Want To)
by Caitlin Johnstone
Our leaders are not going to fix the worst problems in our world. They couldn’t if they wanted to. And they don’t want to.
Our leaders are not wise or insightful. They’re not even particularly intelligent. Our society is led by plutocrats who only know how to make more money, by unelected empire managers who only know how to dominate and control, and by elected politicians who only know how to say the right words and make the right bargains in order to get themselves elected.
These people are not capable of curing our civilization of its dysfunction. They don’t have the necessary skills or attributes. Even if they weren’t a bunch of evil sociopaths who are only in the positions they’re in because of their willingness to collaborate with the agendas of oligarchy, war, militarism, imperialism, ecocide, exploitation, oppression and planetary domination, they don’t even have the personal characteristics necessary to do things like end poverty, rescue our biosphere, bring about world peace or give rise to human thriving. They’d have no idea where to start.
I say this because as I watch Americans and Australians falling all over themselves to justify the recent police brutality in our respective nations, I am struck by how many people still believe our society is run by leaders who more or less know what they are doing and will guide us to more or less where we need to be. They view their government as a wise and beneficent father who knows what’s best for all of us, and they believe anyone who disagrees with Daddy is being naughty.
That’s really all it is. They’ll make up all sorts of justifications and excuses, but ultimately their police apologia arises from an infantile worldview which believes the authorities are right for no other reason than because they are in authority. They begin with their tongue on the boot of power, and then they make up reasons for why their tongue needs to be there.
That’s the worldview that gets a lot of people through their day. Believing our society is basically just and decent, and that we don’t need to concern ourselves with the world’s problems because we’ve got highly qualified leaders working hard at fixing them.
Believing our society is just and decent allows one to relax under the assumption that they deserve all the comforts they have in life and that the system will never turn against them. If someone is killed by police, or is impoverished or imprisoned or homeless, then it’s because they did something wrong and immoral, and all you need to do to avoid the same fate is follow the rules and make ethical choices. Under a just and decent system, good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people, so all you need to do is be good and you’ll be fine, and if things are going badly for you it’s because you deserve it.
Believing we’ve got highly qualified leaders working on our world’s problems allows one to relax under the assumption that everything’s taken care of. There’s no need to concern ourselves with all the information which tells us we’re plunging deeper and deeper into tyrannical dystopia on a collision course with environmental catastrophe under a globe-spanning empire that is fueled by human blood, because Daddy’s got it all taken care of.
Really these are just juvenile fairy tales designed to help us psychologically compartmentalize away from uncomfortable realities; no grown adult has any business believing them. But a lot of people would do anything to avoid internal discomfort. Entire psychological universes are constructed around the unconscious agenda of not feeling unpleasant feelings.
Daddy’s not gonna save us, kiddos. Daddy’s a serial killer with dead bodies in the attic, and many important parts of his brain are missing. Our problems aren’t going to get fixed until we get rid of Daddy. Getting rid of Daddy means forcibly getting rid of the entire system under which we live and replacing it with something that serves the interests of ordinary human beings.
Bootlickers hate revolutionary politics, because it is diametrically opposed to their infantile worldview of paternalistic government deities. But things aren’t going to get better until we find a way to get the steering wheel of our world out of the hands of the people who are currently in charge. Until then, everything’s just going to keep getting worse.
(caitlinjohnstone.com.au)
JACK LOEFFLER: How do you regard this latter part of the twentieth century?
EDWARD ABBEY: Makes me think of James Joyce, who said that history is a nightmare from which he is trying to awake. Or as Saul Bellow said, “History is a nightmare in which I’m trying to get a good night’s sleep.” But here goes: I think human beings have made a nightmare out of their collective history. Seems to me that the last five thousand years have been pretty awful — cruelty, slavery, torture, religious fanaticism, ideological fanaticism, the old serfdom of agriculture and the new serfdom of industrialism. I think we probably made a big mistake when we gave up the hunting and gathering way of life for agriculture. Ever since then the majority of us have led the lives of slaves and dependents. I look forward to the time when the industrial system collapses and we all go back to chasing wild cattle and buffalo on horseback.
I think the human race has become a plague upon this earth. There are far too many of us making too many demands on one defenseless little planet. Human beings have as much right to be here as any other animal, but we have abused that right by allowing our numbers to grow so great and our appetites to become so gross. We are plundering the earth and destroying most other forms of life, threatening our own survival by greed and stupidity and this insane mania for quantitative growth, for perpetual expansion, the desire for domination over nature and our fellow humans.
The wilderness is vanishing. Next to go will be the last primitive tribes, the traditional cultures that still survive in places like the Far North and the African and South American tropics. And if the whole planet becomes industrialized, technologized, urbanized, that would lead to the ultimate techno-tyranny some of our better science-fiction writers have prophesied.
I think by virtue of reason, common sense, the evidence of our five good bodily senses, and daily experience, we can imagine a better way to live, with fairly simple solutions. Not easy, but simple. Beginning here in America — we should set the example. We have set the example for pillaging the planet and we should set the example for preserving life. First, and most important, reduce human numbers by normal attrition, letting the senile old farts like you and me die off. Reduce the human population to a reasonable number, a self-sustaining number — for the United States something like one hundred million, or even fifty million should be plenty. Second, simplify our needs and demands, so that we’re not preying to excess on other forms of life — plant life and animal life — by developing new attitudes, a natural reverence for all forms of life.
I consider myself an absolute egalitarian. I think that all human beings are essentially equal, deserve equal regard and consideration. Certainly everyone differs in ability. Some people are bigger, stronger; some are more clever with their hands; others are more clever with their brains. There’s an infinite variation in talent and ability and intelligence among individual humans, but I think that all, except the most depraved, violently criminally insane — generals and dictators — are of equal value. Just by virtue of being alive, we deserve to be respected as individuals. This respect for the value of each human being should be extended to every living thing on the planet, to our fellow creatures, beginning with our pet dogs and cats and horses. Humans find it easy to love them. We can and must learn to love the wild animals, the mountain lions and the rattlesnakes and the coyotes, the buffalo and the elephants, as we do our pets. In that way, we can also extend our ability to love to include plant life. A tree, a shrub, a blade of grass deserve respect and sympathy as fellow living things.
I think you can go even beyond that to respect the rocks, the air, the water. Because each is a part of a whole — each part dependent on the other parts. If only for our own self-respect and survival, we can learn to love the world around us — to go beyond the human and love the nonhuman. Instead of simply trying to dominate, subjugate, enslave it, as we’ve been doing for the last five thousand years, learn to live in some sort of harmony with it. Use what we must use — all living creatures have to feed on other living creatures — but do it at a reasonable level, so that other things can also survive. I guess Albert Schweitzer was right when he said, “We must learn reverence for all forms of life,” even those we have to hunt, kill, and eat.
— excerpt from Defending What You Love, An Interview With Edward Abbey, by Jack Loeffler, August 1990
THE YEAR OF THE HORSE begins this Tuesday, February 17 (new moon + solar eclipse)
Below are terracotta figurines of polo players from the Tang dynasty, circa 750. The game of polo appears to have been introduced at the Tang court through exchanges with the Persian world.
Correction. Matt LeFever is a half time teacher so his annual salary is ONLY about $50,000.
Very long Press Democrat article on Thompson vs Jones is typical of American politics: it’s all about the money. Nothing of substance is mentioned. Two sides of the same coin
In an interview with Brian Tyler Cohen, President Obama weighed in on Trump reposting a racist depiction of him and his wife:
““First of all, I think it’s important to recognize that a majority of the American people find this behavior deeply troubling,” Obama started. “It is true that it gets attention. It’s true that it’s a distraction. But, as I’m traveling around the country, as you’re traveling around the country, you meet people, they still believe in decency, courtesy, kindness.”
And:
The former president went on to address the Trump administration’s unique social media strategy, which has came under fire in the past. He added, “There’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television. And what is true is that there doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum and a sense of propriety and respect for the office, right? So that’s been lost.”
In this interview, Obama also asserted “aliens are real” but that he’s not aware of any hidden at area 51 though President’s may be kept in the dark re that.
More likely there are no ETs “hidden away”. Once again, why would a species capable of intergalactic travel bother with a garbage dump like earth? Only in the minds of wishful thinkers.
They’re not hidden at area 51 but whistleblowers have identified to Congress locations where craft and bodies are held. Theres been confirmation of a CIA official blocking a transfer of some ET tech from one of a Lockheed facility to a secure site in Las Vegas owned by Robert Bigelow.
There’s alot of excitable talk about Trump disclosing on July 8, based on a claim from a UK film maker. If so, that should ensure the ufo subject being buried under more secured layers as an object of ridicule and denial.
Obama needs to address followup questions to clarify his remarks yesterday.
LOL! “Whistleblowers” often peddle utter nonsense. I believe what they say about as much as I believe the trump gang’s BS.
From Google AI:
Based on recent UAP whistleblower testimony, the transfer of alleged “off-world” technology from Lockheed Martin to Bigelow Aerospace was blocked by a former senior CIA official.
The Context: According to a November 2024 House Oversight Committee filing, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Vice President Dr. James Ryder had originally proposed a technology transfer agreement (TTA) in 2009–2010 to move material, believed to be “crash retrieval material from the 1950s,” into a secure Bigelow Aerospace facility in Las Vegas for analysis under a Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) program.
The Block: A former senior CIA official intervened and “quashed” the proposal to move the material out of the corporation, stopping the transfer.
The Program: This initiative was linked to the $22M Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AAWSAP) championed by Senator Harry Reid.
House.gov
House.gov
+4
The testimony suggests this action halted the transfer of retrieved UAP materials into the private sector, keeping them under the control of the defense contractor/intelligence community.
Im not investing too much attention and energy on the disclosure hopes though I suppose Spielberg’s upcoming Disclosure Day may be a form of that.
Yes, a Trump-disclosure would be a major comedic event!
That’s ’cause that’s what the gurus of secrecy and mind control want you to believe!! And now they have AI to do a lot of their work. And, I believe CIA and kaputalist scum about as much as I believe the ET tripe you peddle. I have no problem believing that ETs exist in the universe. It’s a big place, but I don’t trust a word spoken by earthling government official kaputalists interested solely in making a buck by peddling whatever nonsense they’re told to peddle..
Jim Luther,
You poem is indeed “something.” Thank you.
Thankyou Norm for pointing out the County Policy that the Board should be following. I’m sure there is history behind why that policy was written in the first place, but I’m also 99% sure that history was long ago erased.
From the photo of the sulfuric acid container, it looks like the manufacturer’s label is intact, including a bar-coded stock number. It should be possible to track down the party that purchased it, and ultimately find out who dumped it. Start by contacting the manufacturer.