Mendocino County Today: Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016

• Bush Resurfaces
• Suspect Ryan
• Woodhouse News
• Little Dog
• Jail Condition
• Captain Upskirt
• Mural Returns
• Judge Retires
• Planning Agenda
• College Morale
• Cob Report
• Whale Watching
• Yesterday's Catch
• Catch Verse
• Nazi Echoes
• Trump Appointee
• Craig Returns
• Syria Talk
• Thanksgiving Prayers
• Craft Squad
• Network 40
• Solar Trump
• Becoming Fascist

SUPERINTENDENT CHARLES BUSH RESURFACES

Editor,

We, in the Palo Verde USD, seem to have been blessed with your former Fort Bragg Superintendent, Charles Bush.

I have read with great interest the articles in your paper and wonder if you have the text of the Vote of No Confidence you could send me?

I would seem that he is up to his old tricks. Article on him is in current edition and added below.

Bob Jensen, Journalist, Desert Independent

* * *

November 23, 2016

BLYTHE, Calif – In an in-house e-mail sent to all district employees last Friday, Superintendent Charles Bush announced that High School Principal Brandy Cox had submitted her resignation from that position effective December 31. High School Vice-Principal Del Drummond is being placed at the District Office – in what capacity remains unknown. Chris Burton has been hired as the new Vice-Principal of the High School.

The new superintendent, Charles Bush, comes to PVUSD from Fort Bragg, where he had resigned after a stormy relationship with the community and teaching staff. The reader is invited to conduct their own background check on this gentleman. All one needs to do is enter his name and Fort Bragg Superintendent on Google. Do not confuse with a gentleman of the same name that was fired from a Senior Center in Mendocino.

BRUCE McEWEN WRITES: Murder Suspect Steven Ryan was arraigned Wednesday morning in Judge David Nelson’s court on Murder One with a Special Allegation that he discharged a Springfield Arms XD .45 in the 220 block of East Perkins Street killing Deshawn Christopher Davis, 20, on November 21st at around 11:20 a.m. Mr. Ryan said he was on a military pension and Public Defender Linda Thompson was appointed as his lawyer. Ms. Thompson was given a copy of the complaint and asked Judge Nelson to put the matter over until December 1st at 9:00am for further arraignment and entry of plea, perhaps to allow time for Mr. Ryan to arrange his finances so that he can find another attorney. Bail was set at $1 million and after speaking with Ryan, Thompson said she would argue for a bail reduction on Dec. 1st as well. Thompson then conferred with Veteran Outreach Legal Representative Will Van Zant, and Ryan was escorted back to the county jail.

* * *

The AVA Ukiah Bureau is only a few blocks away from the scene of this shooting and I clearly heard the shots. Strange though it may seem, I often hear shots fired in and around the downtown area. Sure, I could be mistaken as to some of the loud pops, but I’ve been around guns all my life and even did a stint as Editor of Guns Magazine. I’m pretty sure I heard three-four, maybe five .45 ACP rounds fired in rapid (semi-auto) succession at about the same time and coming from the same location as indicated in the police press release. It’s not the first time I’ve heard killing shots fired in Mendocino County. I was at the Hospitality House when a man was shot dead a few blocks away in Fort Bragg — a story you may recall that gained nationwide publicity and even made Oprah’s show. As to this guy’s story, we’ll have to wait for his trial to get it all; he has a right to a prelim within 10 days of his arraignment — Dec. 1st — but defense lawyers don’t always show their hand at that time, unless there’s enough evidence to get the charges dropped.

THE WILLITS NEWS ON WOODHOUSE

http://www.willitsnews.com/general-news/20161122/supervisor-woodhouses-wife-petitions-court-for-conservatorship

LITTLE DOG SAYS, “This is me, Little Dog, putting on the dogs, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!”

THE MENDOCINO COUNTY JAIL IS OLD, OVER CAPACITY AND FALLING APART WHILE THE INMATE POPULATION KEEPS GOING UP AND UP

AVA News Service

Sheriff Tom Allman described the problems at the Mendocino County Jail at the Board of Supervisors quarterly budget meeting on November 14, 2016:

Allman: “Several things have changed since the last round of grant applications. For rural sheriffs I have found out that the new round of funding is $25 million. They did that because all the rural sheriffs are having major cost overruns. With today's contractor costs it's not as competitive as it used to be in 2009-2010. This funding is for severely mentally ill inmates and severely violent inmates, two classes of inmates that we have to keep segregated because they have their own individual needs. We are looking forward to working with Alan ['The Kid'] Flora, Deputy CEO in getting this funding whose experience in Lake County will be helpful.

“Staffing is a big deal. However newer jail designs are more efficient with staff. We have a linear jail. Basically we run a minimum of nine people on every shift. With modern building techniques that would drastically reduce the number of correctional deputies per inmate. Humboldt County has been able to adequately staff without going the way they were before. So new building techniques will save some money.

“Last Tuesday when the voters passed Proposition 57 which was after they passed Proposition 47… Before Proposition 47 our average daily inmate population ran about 245, then it went up to 310 because the voters mandated that more state prisoners be locked up in county jails. Proposition 57, in layman's terms, is Prop 47 on steroids. It will greatly increase our population of violent offenders including sexual offenders who are at the state prison now who will be released to come back to County Jail. If they commit a state level crime we will not be able to send them to the state prison because there is prison overcrowding. So we are on track to see record numbers in our facility this year. I don't even want to guess if the Trump presidency is going to increase the number of undocumented aliens that remain in jail because right now they are not staying in jail because the current president, President Obama, has given direction to ICE to not hold them. So we see a very cloudy path to predict where we are going to be a few months from now.

“Once we start on a new facility we are five years from being able to say that we have a modern facility. This is just the second step in doing it. We do know, because the governor made it very clear to all rural sheriffs, that this is the last round of funding that is going to be given in the name of AB 109 and the Prop 47 quagmire.”

Supervisor Dan Hamburg: “It's certainly sobering. I realize the pressure that is now on the facility and it's an aging facility and we all know the inefficiencies. To think that even if we get the funding there will be years before we have a facility that meets the needs of the current times. It's a very difficult situation. I hope we take some time to put aside money for the local match for these grants.

Allman: “I met with the CEO's office last week on this. It's nice to see that things that happen in these meetings are presented to the public the same way that they were talked about in the meetings. I really appreciate that. We have a great deal of trust in the CEO's office and the way the numbers were presented today.

Supervisor John McCowen: We are applying for funds for a new jail. We are also applying for specialized facilities as you described.

Allman: They are one and the same, you know that?

McCowen: They are one and the same? I'm not sure that's always been clear at least to me.

Allman: At the beginning when we made our first application Captain Pearce [Jail Commander] said that the two biggest populations in the jail that require the most attention right now the way this jail is built are violent defenders, as in people who will attack our staff or other inmates, and severely mentally ill inmates. These are not patients, but inmates who have committed a crime, most likely a violent crime, but they are also being treated for a mental illness. Those two populations are requiring our very immediate attention and this new facility that we are going to be applying for will be not just for their incarceration, but for their treatment and the group sessions which we have been trying to make happen in the jail. But when these two facilities that we currently have were built, group sessions were not a high priority for the state to watch for. So we are kind of anxious to learn more about new building techniques which will allow our staff to deal with a population that is not going anywhere: these two populations. They are not going go some other place. Because of Prop 47, Prop 57, and AB 109, they are going to be in our care for a long time. With Prop 47 the paradigm of having an inmate sentenced to the county jail for a year and after that they go to state prison is, of course, no longer there. We have a least one inmate in our county jail who is sentenced to 14 years. With half-time credit that is seven years. So that inmate will be in custody for seven years in a county jail that was built for incarceration up to one year. So there will be many people retiring before this inmate gets out of jail.

“It's not a revolving door anymore. It's more like you send them in and they are stagnant there. So we are trying to improve our programs to reduce recidivism and that's why you are seeing a push for the jobs we are trying to target on the outside for inmates so we can figure out a way to reduce our population because we have seen a consistent graph of increasing population. We will bring a presentation to the board early next year to show what our jail population characteristics are. The fallacy is that our jail is full of marijuana cultivators or people who are not paying child support. That's a fallacy. There certainly are some of those types of inmates. But they are the lowest level of inmates in there now. We are now talking about third and fourth offense drunk drivers, third or fourth offense domestic violence and serious heavy drug dealing. The undocumented alien population which I referred to earlier is expected to be on the increase. Our jail is built for 304. This morning it was 308. Last week it was 325. So we are certainly seeing fluctuation at the high level of the population.

"The District Attorney and I have been meeting to try to predict where we are going to go with Proposition 57. We see a huge increase in inmates who are applying to get out of custody and the workload on the District Attorney's Office and the Public Defender's office — without a doubt it will be the highest for the next six weeks of this year, more than we have ever seen before. It's a, May you live in interesting times kind of scenario.

McCowen: “At one point we were applying just for the specialized facilities and they would have been built in tandem with the old jail. Am my out to lunch on that?”

Allman: “You have never been out to lunch, supervisor.”

McCowen: “But I have never missed lunch.” [Laughs]

Allman: “The separate specialized facilities are the new building that we are trying to get the funding for. It's not a warehouse for inmates.”

McCowen: “But I'm still trying to understand what we are setting these funds aside for. Is it to build a complete new jail facility, that would include the specialized facilities?”

Allman:” This $25 million is for a 64 bed facility which will cater to these two special populations.”

McCowen: “So that's all we are setting this aside for? We will still have the old jail?”

Allman: “That's 100% correct. But I would gladly entertain a motion to redo the whole thing. But a new jail facility? Let's be honest, it's at least a $60 million proposition. I am not coming to you with that statement. The good news is this is a $25 million opportunity for us. If we as a County make the decision to keep our correctional facility on Low Gap Road then this is the best plan for the next 25 or 30 years.”

McCowen: “And yet we are well aware that the current jail infrastructure is crumbling.”

Allman: “We would welcome a tour from any citizen or boardmember anytime of the day. We have a crumbling infrastructure but it is what it is. There's no magic wand here.”

McCowen: “I took a tour seven years ago I think — and it was crumbling then. So we reach a point where the ongoing maintenance and repairs and complications and built in inefficiencies of that facility meet up — you could be paying for a new facility. At some point you hit the tipping point.”

Allman: “Those are my lines, not yours. That's exactly where we are.”

McCowen: “It also compromises officer safety.”

Allman: “It does. Anyway, we are working on a presentation for February.”

Supervisor Dan Gjerde: “With a new facility there is staffing of $1 million?”

Allman: “That's what the presentation will be about.”

Gjerde: “So can we find out what the cost would be of an entirely new facility, a state-of-the-art facility cost? Because the grant would not pay for the entire capital cost. On the other hand if we could reduce the total staffing and handle more inmates for the new facility that could be one way we could be paying off the mortgage.”

Allman: “As long as we realize that we cannot go below the industry standard for the safety of our employees and the safety of the inmates which is paramount. Saving money as some counties are doing right now — for example Glenn County does not even have enough correctional deputies to fill their slots, let alone overtime slots. They are on the road to doom. I talked to their sheriff last week. Mendocino County is at least at the point where we can cover nine slots. I would like to figure out a solution. That's why we are seeing an increase in ankle bracelets, an increase in work furlough— we are doing everything we can. Kudos to our correctional deputies who have stepped up their game and their productivity to get people out the door so we have room for all the people coming back in the door.”

PERV OF THE WEEK

A Ukiah man was arrested Tuesday when he was caught filming up a woman’s skirt with his cell phone, the Ukiah Police Department reported.

According to the UPD, an officer responded to Walmart on Airport Park Boulevard around 9:33 a.m. Nov. 22 when it was reported that a man had been caught recording under a shopper’s skirt.

The victim said she was shopping and looked down to see the suspect, described as a 26-year-old Ukiah man, bent down with his arm extended out. In his hand was a cell phone, and it was faced upward and under her skirt.

The woman said she grabbed the cell phone and alerted a Walmart employee that she wanted the man arrested.

The suspect was placed under citizen’s arrest for invasion of privacy with a camera, a misdemeanor, and booked into Mendocino County Jail.

ED NOTE: The only 26-year-old from Ukiah booked into the Mendocvino County Jail in the last couple of days is Isai Sanchez-Aquilera who was booked into the County Jail on November 23, 2016 for an offense committed on Tuesday, November 22, 2016 but with a charge of “Offense Code Not In Table,” which probably means there’s no specific penal code for using your cellphone to look up a woman’s skirt.

* * *

California Penal Code 647(j) PC – invasion of privacy

Penal Code (j)(2) makes it a crime to use a camera to look at someone's body under or through clothing ("upskirt" violations). It was signed into law in 1999.

And the use of newer technologies, such as camcorders and mobile phones as instruments of criminal invasion of privacy, was not specifically addressed by the California Legislature until 2011.

This section of the statute covers what are sometimes referred to as "upskirt" violations. You violate it when you: “for the purpose of viewing the body of, or the undergarments worn by, that other person, without the consent or knowledge of that other person, with the intent to arouse, appeal to, or gratify your lust, passions, or sexual desires and invade the privacy of that other person, under circumstances in which the other person has a reasonable expectation of privacy.

WPA MURAL BACK HOME

This mural, seen here in its original home in the former Ukiah Post Office on North Oak Street, has been restored and was returned to Ukiah late last week. It now hangs in the lobby of the Ukiah Civic Center, but will remain covered until an unveiling ceremony Dec. 2 in conjunction with Ukiah's First Friday Art Walk.

JOB OPENING FOR PATRICK PEKIN

Judge Richard Henderson Announces Retirement at End of 2016

Judge Richard Henderson announced that he will be retiring effective December 31 from the Superior Court. Judge Henderson was first elected in 2000 to a six year term and had been twice reelected without opposition. His work on the Court was fairly well divided between civil and criminal assignments. He presided over complex civil cases involving the California Environmental Quality Act, timber harvest plans, personal injury and contract disputes, and criminal cases from drunk driving to homicides. He served as presiding judge for two years, and also served in the Willits branch court shortly before that court was consolidated with the Ukiah court.

“While serving as a judge, I have been intimately involved in issues that deeply affect peoples’ lives and the community we live in and love,” Henderson observed, “I am grateful for the trust the community has placed in me over the years to resolve these issues in a fair and just manner and within the confines of the law. I have strived to treat every individual with the respect he or she deserves.” Judge Henderson is married to Colleen Buxton, his wife of 45 years. They have two children, Katherine McMullen of Southern California and Richie Henderson of Schat’s Bakery.

Judge Henderson returned to Ukiah in 1974 after serving in the Army Infantry for three years, including one year in Viet Nam, and attending law school at the University of San Francisco. After serving for three or four years as a deputy then assistant district attorney, he began to represent people throughout the county in general civil matters such as land use issues, property law, business law, and estate planning. “I treasure the years I spent working as an attorney, meeting people from Gualala to Westport and Hopland to Covelo,” Henderson recollected, “I grew to appreciate the many unique communities that have taken root throughout our county. As I drive the backroads of the county today, I see familiar homes and properties that remind me of the wonderful people I was fortunate to encounter in my work.”

Presiding Judge John Behnke stated, “Judge Henderson has been a versatile jurist who served with dignity and distinction while maintaining the highest standards of the judicial profession. He will be missed.”

THE DECEMBER 1, 2016 PLANNING COMMISSION AGENDA has been posted to the departments web site at:

http://www.co.mendocino.ca.us/planning/meetings.htm

NOTE: The start time for this meeting is 1:00 PM, with the Medical Cannabis discussion timed at 3:00 PM.

DO MENDO COLLEGE LEADERS REALLY DESERVE THAT MUCH PAY?

To the Editor:

Dear Mendocino College Board of Trustee Members:

I appreciated the opportunity to speak before you at last week’s board meeting, and to let you know what I see as problems on the campus in regards to morale. As I mentioned last Wednesday evening, there really hasn’t been any kind of climate survey in recent years to see how faculty, staff, and middle managers are feeling about the environment at Mendocino College.

I know that I focused on the upper management salary schedule, and I do want to reiterate that it is a very large point of contention, but it’s not the only factor contributing to low morale for many employees at the college.

However, I would like to point out once again that knowing that you value the upper management more than the rest of the employees is demoralizing to many of us. I asked you to let us know what “value-added” the upper management brings to students and the college that make them more valuable in terms of compensation, and I think that’s a question on many employees’ minds. To have a president’s salary that is $45,209 ($228,000 vs. $182,791) more than Governor Jerry Brown’s salary is mind boggling to many of us. We have staff members that do not earn that much in a year. To compound that, you have added another $35,939 in compensation over the next three years.

I also mentioned that the Mendocino College Board of Trustees have been insulated from the faculty, staff, and middle managers who serve the students and college so well. I urge you to get out of the board room, visit the Ukiah campus and the three centers, and find out how people are feeling, see what’s happening with educational programs and student services, and be more attentive to the details of what makes this college operate.

Yes, we have committees and process for many things. Yet, if you talk to people, I think you will find that many things need reform or fixing. The more people you have involved in decision-making, the better. More brain power is better.

As I stressed last Wednesday, we give lots of lip service to “student equity” on this campus, but I think the board must look at how it treats its different employee groups.

I’ve said more than I had intended, but it is pretty much sums up my statement last Wednesday. You need to know how folks are feeling about working here and contributing to the overall effectiveness of the campus. It’s the people directly teaching students and providing student services on the front line who should be valued. Talk to us and begin a conversation to make the campus even better. Measure W gave us an opportunity to create an incredible learning environment on the Ukiah campus and at the centers. Now, let’s see if we can continue to build a better campus for all.

By the way, I appreciated the visit by a board member to the library on Thursday morning.

Respectfully,

John Koetzner, Head Librarian

Mendocino College, Ukiah

BOONVILLE MAN REPORTS FROM STANDING ROCK

by Aaron ‘Cob’ Martin

Here is my best attempt at an update on our (me, Will Parrish, and others) experience in ND at Standing Rock. Please forward on to anyone who is interested. In the meantime, I am doing my best to move to cloud city, as in set up a facebook account to be more efficient in participating with everyone in AV and beyond. Feel welcome to share this to any degree, thanks.

I am limiting mention of other people involved to be respectful of their privacies. I mention Will Parrish, I feel confident he is o.k. with this. Please know that many other folks from Mendocino C. have been involved in significant ways.

Will, myself and another fella from Covelo left for ND in my star trek shuttle/cheap minivan full of donated supplies on Nov 14th. All donations were gathered and organized thru the Mendosolidarity group. We arrived about 3 days later at the Red Warrior Camp, I think it is also the Oceti Sakowin camp, or they are co-joined camps. We brought a wood stove which we helped to install in a Tipi previously set up to accommodate Mendo folks. We arrived on the first 'cold' day, it never warmed beyond near freezing ambient temperatures.

All donations were received with appreciation and seemed to be put to immediate use. In particular, the Oxygen supplies that we brought made a huge difference for the medical team as they had been working without any oxygen for the past several months. I was told there have been a lot of asthma patients and other breathing emergencies associated with tear gas inhalation.

Most activity at the camp has been winterizing construction for tents, yurts, tipis, etc. In most cases what I saw was construction of raised floors in tents, plywood on top of 2x6 framing filled with straw. Firewood gathering and associated processing has also been a major activity.

The camp is large, accommodating several thousand people. Organization is somewhat difficult to track, but is certainly present in an effective manner, including regular meetings and trainings and accessible structures for media, medical, building, volunteering, donation receiving, food serving, etc.

We were quickly involved into the working structure by attending one of the daily new-arrival orientation presentations. This orientation was very effective at giving a broad based perspective of what is going on regarding resistance of the DAPL pipeline immediately and with a historical perspective. It also provided an excellent crash course in cultural sensitivity and functioning as a non-indigenous ally. Involvement in any other skilled work also required attendance of an orientation. I attended an hour long medical orientation to be able to volunteer as part of the medical crew, for example.

All campers were requested to provide personal information to the legal defense team upon arrival whether or not they intended to be involved in direct actions. They have a well staffed and funded legal infrastructure to support all water protectors.

I have split about half of my time between activities at the camp and visiting my family in ND. One of my roles has been linking up with local supporters who have made themselves available to pick up and transport jailed supporters back to the camps after being released from jail. People have been placed in jails across the state; I'm not sure if that is a deliberate tactic or a result of overflow. In any case, people who are jailed take the additional risk of being exposed to life threatening weather upon release from custody. I have not yet had to transport anybody.

The support from locals has been very heart warming. Most people I've talked with seem to understand that the historical track record of capitalism vs. indigenous people has always favored money over culture; they seem to side with Standing Rock without knowing all the facts. However, I've definitely talked with people who are quite the opposite. The local media only reports a one-sided story in favor of the pipeline project and seems to focus on support for local law enforcement. Two weekends ago there were pro law enforcement rallies held in Bismarck, claiming to be unassociated with the pipeline dispute.

I attended a local meeting in my home town of Valley City, ND to discuss the dispute. Its intention was to discuss what the facts were and to pose an open question of whether or not the Standing Rock reservation had a valid argument. It was attended by about 20 people. The demeanor out here is about three steps back from the progressive perspective we are used to in Mendocino County and especially Anderson Valley. However, people were open minded and genuinely wanted to understand what is going on.

I gave a brief presentation on the importance of ending the legacy of colonial exploitation and genocide, what it means to be an ally as a descendant of colonial (non?)culture and why that is important to me. I also described my experience at the camp on Sunday night when law enforcement engaged in well documented use of excessive force on protesters at the highway bridge adjacent to the camp.

Sunday night was an action that as far as I know was intended to insist that law enforcement remove their blockade from the bridge which forces all traffic to take an alternate route to Bismarck. This adds more than 45 minutes of driving each way and has made life difficult for many Standing Rock residents, especially elderly and sick who access many services in Bismarck. It has also significantly disrupted business at the nearby casino.

I did not participate directly in the protest, but I believe Will did, or at least was observing from nearby and could give an account of what took place more immediately. Additionally, there was a Facebook live feed of events. Democracy Now gave a pretty good report of what happened on their Monday edition. Many people were sprayed with water via fire-hose at below freezing ambient temperatures and required hospital treatment for severe hypothermia.

I was driving to the camp from Valley City at the time and saw several ambulances enroute to the camp, all of them had to take the extended detour route; the nearest ER is in Bismarck.

I spent several hours in the medical area mostly staying out of the way and assisting where I could, as I am still new to their process. I learned a lot this way and was impressed with their organization. They had a decontamination area where individuals were stripped of wet/tear gas clothing and provided with dry clothes and heat blankets (like those mylar things). After decontamination, people were triaged for their injuries and escorted to warm yurts based on their needs. The primary medical space was reserved for people with core injuries, another was dedicated to extremity injuries and another provided space for warming up. Kitchen crews provided ongoing hot liquids and food, and a school bus shuttled people to the nearby casino to have a warm space and to get showers if needed. Several ambulances came from several different districts in the area. I saw several Standing Rock ambulances, Kidder County and Mobridge ambulances. I personally witnessed at least 4 transports; I can't be certain but it seemed to be people with a combination of hypothermia and blunt force injuries (rubber bullets?).

The press conference by the Morton County Sherriff department claimed there were no medical emergencies associated with their use of force. They repeatedly claimed their tactics were a response to 'agressive' actions by protesters.

These two statements were significant to me. First, the claim regarding medical emergencies was either a deliberate lie, they were alarmingly misinformed, or their emergency communications infrastructure is very disconnected. There were something like 14-17 transports from that incident, and one elderly woman experienced cardiac arrest on the bridge and was revived by protector medics (democracy now, Monday 11/21).

The claim of justification for the use of force was suspiciously non-specific. As an EMT I know that any time I make an intervention I am required to document the event including what/why/when specific information. I know that law enforcement is required to do this as well, at least regarding discharge of a firearm. It seems to me that a responsible account of use of this level of force would warrant specifics well beyond a vague descriptive term. Ex. “At time --:-- this event occurred and we responded with this particular action”. They offered no such account.

If one assumes that some kind of intervention was required, their choice to create life-threatening conditions by spraying individuals with water in below freezing ambient temperatures seems additionally irresponsible to the broader local population. These actions resulted in the need for so many ambulances that had a regular medical emergency occurred I wonder what the response times would’ve been like for local people in the districts these EMS agencies regularly serve.

Overall, the experience has been positive, the mood in the camps is genuinely uplifting, and there is a lot of optimism towards an outcome in favor of the Standing Rock people.

Thanks to everybody for their support. The best link I have for further information from within the protest is the web site www.ocetisakowincamp.org.

Thanks, Cob.

WHALES, HOW TO WATCH

I recommend booking a whale watching trip with Telstar Charters out of Noyo Harbor. Nothing like seeing up close and hearing ‘em breathe and stuff. Cap’n Randy is Todd's Point is also a great place to see them in the Spring. It is a little early to see much, within the next two weeks more will be around. But the southern migration is NOT the best time to look for whales. When they go south there is no rush to get to Baja. Grey's really don't eat much of anything (compared to in the Arctic) so they all start down when the food at the particular spot they are at is really depleted. And since they travel 24 hours a day, it's hard to find a good time, unless you want to invest 2-3 hours looking. BUT, when the northerly migration starts, the first ones to "leave the pool" are the newly pregnant females with the males following close behind. So 2/3 to 3/4 of the total population of 25-30,000 all leave at once and travel at 6 miles an hour (like grandma's on the highway, lol) and when they reach us in early March it's amazing, whales all over the place. I am a volunteer at Point Cabrillo Lighthouse and I'm outside on Sat and sometime Sun pointing out the whales when they get here... You can also watch from the headlands in Mendocino and sometimes they will rest in the coves near MacKerricher State park.

Stuart Cohen, Mendocino

CATCH OF THE DAY, November 23, 2016

ERIN BLACKWELL, Ukiah. Drunk in public, probation revocation. (Frequent flyer.)

JOHN BOLTON IV, Willits. Petty theft, drunk in public, probation revocation. (Frequent flyer.)

ERIK ELDER, Ukiah. Petty theft, probation revocation.

DANIEL ESCAMILLA-GARCIA, Ukiah. Under influence.

RONALD FEAGIN, Ukiah. Domestic assault, witness intimidation.

JODI HODGES, Ukiah. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

JUSTIN MALUGANI, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

ELIZABETH MCALLISTER, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

DERRIAN MITCHELL, Ukiah. Battery.

JESSE RODGERS, Ukiah. Parole resentencing.

ISAI SANCHEZ-AGUILERA, Ukiah. Unspecified offense, presumed upskirt privacy invasion (see separate press release).

CATCH OF THE DAY VERSE

CALL THEM WHAT THEY ARE

by Clancy Sigal

Built up by Trump’s “chief strategist” Steve Bannon, they’re crawling out of the swamp and sieg-heiling as if Hitler never died.

Breitbart/Drudge’s Storm Troopers just held a victory celebration in Washington DC where 200 or more white American guys screamed “Heil!” and gave the Nazi salute to their current leader, Richard Spencer.

After some pussyfooting while the media was still in the hall, they got down to it when most reporters left.

However, New York Times’s Joe Goldstein stayed (as did a reporter from Atlantic). Goldstein writes, “(Spencer) railed against Jews and, with a smile, quoted Nazi propaganda in the original German. America…belonged to white people, whom he called the “children of the sun,” a race of conquerors and creators who had been marginalized but now, in the era of President-elect Donald J. Trump, were “awakening to their own identity.”

Gruppenfuhrer Spencer cursed the mainstream media because it had criticized Trump to protect Jewish interests. Or “Perhaps we should refer to (the media) in the original German?”. His audience immediately screamed back, “Lügenpresse,” reviving a Nazi-era word that means “lying press.”

Come on news gatekeepers, drop this “alt-right” nonsense. Name these creeps what they are so we can defend ourselves with real words against a real enemy.

Jumping the gun? Crying wolf? I think not.

As George Orwell taught us, it starts with words.

While we’re still making nice with wimpy words like “extreme conservative”, “militant rightwing”, “white nationalist” and “fringe element”, they are organizing and empowered.

In the 1930s aristocratic, Hitler-adoring Oswald Mosley was Britain’s fascist leader jailed during the war for treason. But the snake never dies. On release he and his black shirted thugs, whose prewar hobby was beating up East End Jews, went right back to trashing Jewish schools and brutalizing Caribbean black immigrants.

In response, “43 Group”, a thousand combat-ready Jewish and non-Jewish war veterans, including former Commandoes and Marines, went after Mosley’s fascists with knuckledusters and fists. For a while they stopped British fascism in its tracks. (Among 43’s soldiers, sailors and airmen was a hairdressing apprentice named Vidal Sassoon.)

Out-punched, Mosley’s Einsatzgruppen disbanded – only to emerge from its coffin when I arrived in England in the late 1950s. Again an antifascist fighting force was organized now called “Group 62”. (I was a member.)

It would be destructive, counter-productive and provocative for our side to do violence on Bannon’s new Nazis as long as they limit it to hate speech. They’d love us to.

They now have state power. We have only words and George Orwell.

(Clancy Sigal is a screenwriter and novelist. His latest book is Hemingway Lives.)

TRUMP APPOINTS BIG OIL THINK TANK DIRECTOR TO LEAD INTERIOR TRANSITION TEAM

Doug Domenech replaces David Bernhardt, Westlands lobbyist 

by Dan Bacher

The incoming Trump administration appears to be dedicated to plundering the nation’s fish, wildlife, rivers, lakes, bays, oceans and natural resources more than any other presidential regime in recent history, as evidenced by President-elect Donald Trump's appointment of corporate agribusiness advocates, oil industry shills and other anti-environmental extremists to his transition team.

On November 21, Trump again shook up his transition team, naming Doug Domenech, the director of a pro-Big-Oil think tank, to lead his Interior Department advisory group, the Center for Biological Diversity reported.

Domenech replaces David Bernhardt, a lawyer and Westlands Water District lobbyist who co-chaired the natural resources department at the firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and served as a George W. Bush Interior Department official, as the head of the Interior Department team. Bernhart represented the Westlands Water District on litigation involving the Delta and the Endangered Species Act. (http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/trump-energy-team-mike-mckenna-myron-ebell-228672)

Domenech is director of the Fueling Freedom Project, a subsidiary of the right wing Texas Public Policy Foundation, an organization heavily funded by the billionaire Koch brothers and ExxonMobil. The project advocates and celebrates the continued burning of fossil fuels — and its goals include ending “the regulation of CO2 as a pollutant.” Its prime directive is to defend “the forgotten moral case for fossil fuels.”

According to the group’s website, fuelingfreedomproject.com, "Fueling Freedom Project, an initiative by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, is working to: Explain the forgotten moral case for fossil fuels – how civilization has been transformed and the human condition improved through the development of this energy resource; Build a multi-state coalition to push back against the EPA’s unconstitutional efforts to take over the electric power sector by regulating CO2 via the Clean Power Plan; End the regulation of CO2 as a pollutant. We support state and national efforts to oppose the Clean Power Plan, pass legislation/resolutions, file law suits against EPA, and promote the passage of measures to protect states from EPA over reach.”

The Center for Biological Diversity issued the following statement in response to Domenech’s appointment:

“It’s beyond frightening that Trump would appoint a shill for Big Oil to plot the direction of a department that administers millions of acres of public lands that belong to all Americans,” said Randi Spivak, the Center’s public lands director. “This is a clear signal that in a Trump administration it will be open season for corporations who want to frack, drill or mine our public resources, regardless of climate chaos, water pollution, species extinction and health impacts to communities. Any attempt to open up America’s public lands to increased fracking, drilling and extraction will be met with a wall of public resistance. That’s the real moral imperative.”

Trump's transition team released its “energy” plan on November 11, one that sounds eerily similar to the mission of the Fueling Freedom Project. Their statement is absolutely chilling for anybody who cares about fish and wildlife, people, water, the environment and the public trust.

“Rather than continuing the current path to undermine and block America's fossil fuel producers, the Trump Administration will encourage the production of these resources by opening onshore and offshore leasing on federal lands and waters. We will streamline the permitting process for all energy projects, including the billions of dollars in projects held up by President Obama, and rescind the job-destroying executive actions under his Administration. We will end the war on coal, and rescind the coal mining lease moratorium, the excessive Interior Department stream rule, and conduct a top-down review of all anti-coal regulations issued by the Obama Administration. We will eliminate the highly invasive "Waters of the US" rule, and scrap the $5 trillion dollar Obama-Clinton Climate Action Plan and the Clean Power Plan and prevent these unilateral plans from increasing monthly electric bills by double-digits without any measurable effect on Earth's climate.”

The replacement of Bernhardt with Domenich followed in the wake of Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) floating an amendment to stop former Westlands employees and lobbyists from overseeing a controversial Westlands irrigation drainage settlement if they were to join the Department of Interior leadership. The settlement legislation is strongly opposed by Restore the Delta and environmental groups, fishing organizations and the Hoopa Valley Tribe and other Tribes.

Bernhardt’s firm also dropped Westlands as a client. Although no longer in the leadership position, Bermhardt may still be on the transition team.

The transition team shake up also followed on the heels of Trump removing some lobbyists from leadership positions on the team. (http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/politics-government/election/article116392988.html#storylink=cpy )

Transition team includes Tom Pyle, energy lobbyist, and Representative Devin Nunes 

But individuals with huge conflicts of interest continue to dominate the transition team. Tom Pyle, the president of the American Energy Alliance (AEA) heads the Trump Energy Department transition team, E&E News reported. The AEA is the political arm of the Institute for Energy Research, a Washington, D.C.-based “non-profit” organization that “conducts research and analysis on the functions, operations, and government regulation of global energy markets.”

AEA’s mission is to “enlist and empower energy consumers to encourage policymakers to support free market policies.” Pyle, who previously lobbied on behalf of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association and Koch Industries, founded AEA in 2008.

Pyle “previously worked for Congressman Tom Delay (R-TX), when Delay served as Whip and before Delay, as House Majority Leader, stepped down from the U.S. House of Representatives under an ethical cloud,” reported SourceWatch. (http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Energy_Alliance )

Representative Devin Nunes (CA-22), one of the most aggressive Congressional proponents of increasing Delta water exports to agribusiness and opponents of fish and wildlife restoration in California and the West, remains on the 16-member executive committee of Donald Trump’s transition team.

Nunes recently told McClatchy News that he believes Trump supports agribusiness interests on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley in their push to export more Delta water. Nunes has been one of the greatest advocates for the weakening of the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act and other landmark environmental laws.

“The good thing is, he is more up to speed on water infrastructure than any other president we’ve had,” Nunes said. “Out here, everything is water, water, water.” (http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/election/article114190123.html)

Other members of Trump’s transition team include Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal and a board member of Facebook; Trump's sons and daughter Ivanka; Myron Ebell (EPA), who directs environmental and energy policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and is a leading climate change skeptic; and Mike McKenna (DOE/NRC). president of MWR Strategies, a lobbying firm whose clients have included Koch Companies and Dow Chemical.

The team also includes Trump campaign CEO Steve Bannon, a white nationalist and the former executive chairman of Breitbart News LLC, who has worked as an investment banker with Goldman-Sachs, filmmaker and political consultant.

On November 13, Trump named Bannon as his chief strategist, drawing fire from people throughout the country because of Bannon’s openly racist views. Rep. Huffman on November 16 joined 169 Democratic members of the U.S. House in sending a letter, led by David Cicilline of Rhode Island, to President-elect Donald Trump to rescind the appointment of Stephen Bannon, “a man who has helped lead a white nationalist, anti-Semitic, and sexist movement as chairman of Breitbart Media.” (https://huffman.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-huffman-urges-president-elect-trump-to-reverse-bannon-appointment)

The letter stated, “Since the election there have been a number of incidents across the country in which minorities, including Muslim Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Jewish Americans, have been the targets of violence, harassment and intimidation. Mr. Bannon’s appointment sends the wrong message to people who have engaged in those types of activities, indicating that they will not only be tolerated, but endorsed by your Administration. Millions of Americans have expressed fear and concern about how they will be treated by the Trump Administration and your appointment of Mr. Bannon only exacerbates and validates their concerns.”

Trump's “rumored cabinet wishlist” includes Sarah "Drill, baby, Drill" Palin as Secretary of the Interior; anti-EPA Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller as Secretary of Agriculture; and fracking billionaire Harold Hamm as Energy Secretary, according to Michael Brune, Executive Director of the Sierra Club.

Will Jerry Brown make deal with Trump to build Delta Tunnels, expand fracking? 

Trump hasn't taken a specific position on Governor Jerry Brown's "legacy" project, the Delta Tunnels, but his comments to date on California water have shown a strong embrace of the campaign by corporate agribusiness interests to pump more water from the Delta at the expense of Delta smelt and salmon populations.

Salmon and public trust advocates fear that Jerry Brown, who like Trump is beholden to Big Ag and BIg Oil interests, will try to make a deal with Trump to eviscerate landmark environmental laws such as the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act in order to fast-track the construction of the environmentally devastating project, the California WaterFix.

While the mainstream media falsely portrays Brown as a “climate leader,” he in fact, just like Trump, supports the expansion of fracking and extreme oil extraction methods. In September, the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) opened an investigation into the California Democratic Party in response to a report by a prominent consumer group claiming that the party acted as a “laundry machine” to funnel donations from oil, energy and utility companies to Brown’s 2014 election campaign.

In her letter to the Santa Monica-based Consumer Watchdog, Galena West, Chief of the FPPC’s Enforcement Division, said the division “will investigate the California Democratic Party for alleged violations of the Political Reform Act’s campaign reporting provisions resulting from information contained in your sworn complaint (Brown’s Dirty Hands Report.)”

The report tabulated donations totaling $9.8 million dollars to Jerry Brown’s campaigns, causes, and initiatives, and to the California Democratic Party since he ran for Governor from 26 energy companies with business before the state, according to Court. The companies included the state’s three major investor-owned utilities, as well as Occidental, Chevron, and NRG.

The report alleges that energy companies donated $4.4 million to the Democratic Party, and the Democratic Party gave $4.7 million to Brown’s re-election between 2011 and 2014. Consumer Watchdog submitted its report to the FPPC as a sworn complaint. (http://redgreenandblue.org/2016/09/29/jerry-browns-campaign-launder-dirty-money-big-oil/)

KEEPING UP WITH CRAIG

Please know that I am returning to San Francisco tonight, flying on Delta from Gainesville, Florida. I report that I was able to accomplish all that was necessary here. Had an excellent reunion with a friend from Tampa whom I was with at D.C. Occupy in 2012. Also, exchanged emails with the Earth First! Journal collective in nearby Lake Worth; due to the city coming down on them, they cannot allow visitors to camp in the compound's yard anymore, so I won't be going there. And I did not receive any offers of hospitality to remain on the east coast and participate in the Washington D.C. J20 dissent at the presidential inauguration. I guess my radical environmental message will be conveyed by others. Lastly, I mended fences with the administrator at Zen Hostel, who objected to my "violent language" in an email that I sent out, in which I basically advocated "smashing the spectacle with a sledge hammer". She took this literally, and following a meeting with she and my friend Tobe (who is here refinancing the place), I was able to explain that this was my heartfelt response to alt.right generally, and the degraded condition of the American political situation overall, and that I did not intend to actually attack anyone physically. Regardless, to clear the air, I have agreed to leave. I booked a reservation for ten nights at Green Tortoise hostel in San Francisco's North Beach, beginning Wednesday November 23rd. I will be arriving late. Feel free to make contact, but let's make no definite plans for the immediate. Otherwise, I am available for associating with the most amazing people doing the most incredible things. So what would you like to do?

Craig Louis Stehr

Email: CraigStehr@inbox.com

SYRIA - THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY"

with Rick Sterling of Syria Solidarity Movement (Dec 1)

"SYRIA - The Other Side of the Story" with Rick Sterling, founding member of Syria Solidarity Movement steering committee. In Ukiah, Thursday, December 1, Sterling will discuss his 2014 and 2015 visits to Syria and provide a view on the Syrian crisis rarely heard in the mainstream media. Rick Sterling, retired electronics and aerospace engineer, in addition to leadership with the Syria Solidarity Movement, currently serves on the boards of the Mount Diablo Peace Center and the Task Force on the Americas in Marin County. His articles have appeared in Counterpunch, Consortium News, Antiwar.com, Dissident Voice. Syria Solidarity Movement is committed to respect for and protection of Syrian sovereignty and territory in accordance with international law. The movement supports provision of humanitarian aid for all displaced Syrians and advocates a Syrian nonviolent national dialogue without the exclusion of any parties. This event, open to the public at no charge, will take place in the Ukiah United Methodist Church Social Hall on Bush Street between Smith and Standley. Rick will respond to questions after his presentation which begins at 7pm, Thursday, December 1. Sterling's visit is hosted by County Supervisor Dan Hamburg and former Ukiah Mayor Phil Baldwin. (Donations will be appreciated.)

* * *

FOR JOHN DILLINGER, IN HOPE HE IS STILL ALIVE

"Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1986"

A Thanksgiving Prayer by William Burroughs

Thanks for the wild turkey and the Passenger Pigeons, destined to be shit out through wholesome American guts

thanks for a Continent to despoil and poison

thanks for Indians to provide a modicum of challenge and danger

thanks for vast herds of bison to kill and skin, leaving the carcass to rot

thanks for bounties on wolves and coyotes

thanks for the American Dream to vulgarize and falsify until the bare lies shine through

thanks for the KKK, for nigger-killing lawmen feeling their notches, for decent church-going women with their mean, pinched, bitter, evil faces

thanks for Kill a Queer for Christ stickers

thanks for laboratory AIDS

thanks for Prohibition and the War Against Drugs

thanks for a country where nobody is allowed to mind his own business

thanks for a nation of finks—yes,

thanks for all the memories all right, lets see your arms you always were a headache and you always were a bore

thanks for the last and greatest betrayal of the last and greatest of human dreams.

CRAFT SQUAD AT UKIAH LIBRARY - Wednesdays 2-5 pm

Craft Squad! @ District Teens, Wednesdays 2 - 5 pm

Teens are invited to hang out at the library & get crafty on Wednesday afternoons from 2-5. With new art activities every week, it’s a chill place to relax with friends & make stuff! From bookmarks to buttons to finger-painting to friendship journals to fuse bead key-chains, you get to make stuff & take it home for free. Snacks are provided, along with art & craft supplies. Just show up! For more information, please contact Melissa at the Ukiah Library: 467-6434 or carrm@co.mendocino.ca.us Sponsored by the Ukiah Valley Friends of the Library.

NETWORK (the movie) AT 40: the flawed satire that predicted Trump and cable 'news porn'

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/nov/23/network-40-years-reality-tv-donald-trump?CMP=share_btn_link

SOLAR TRUMP?

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Wow, just wow.

No matter who you voted for in the US Presidential election or whether you even voted at all, chances are, you didn't see this one coming. We certainly didn't. At this point it feels as if our nation--and the world--is still in the process of absorbing the surprising result of an unexpected Donald Trump Presidency.

In this issue of "News From The Solar System," we'll consider what the election of Trump might mean for the future of renewable energy, especially solar power, in the US.

Transition Of Power

President-elect Donald Trump is now shaping his leadership team and putting together his administration. The potential appointees for Energy Secretary include big utility and oil industry executives, and nuclear energy supporters. There is talk of Sarah Palin as Interior Secretary.

As 2017 begins, Republicans will be in control of the Presidency and both houses of Congress. There will be an open seat on the Supreme Court, which President Obama has been blocked from filling, and will likely remain open for Donald Trump to fill after his Inauguration.

Candidate Trump On Solar

Renewable energy advocates had been expressing concerns about Trump's position on solar ever since he became a frontrunner in the Republican primaries back in 2015.

During the campaign, Donald Trump expressed disdain for renewable energy in general, and solar energy specifically. After Trump slammed solar energy during his first debate with Clinton, Fortune's Katie Fehrenbacher penned an article titled: "Donald Trump Goes Solar on Hillary Clinton During the First Debate."

Will The White House Solar Panels Stay?

How solar energy will fare during a Trump administration is yet to be seen.

In PV Magazine's post-election article "What is Trump Going to Do With Solar?" Frank Andorka says: "Solar advocates and analysts across the country are desperately reading tea leaves to figure out what the president-elect will do with solar — and no one really knows."

Some have expressed concern that President Trump will do all he can to destroy the possibility of solar energy competing with coal and Big Oil. For starters, they expect Trump to remove the solar panels that were re-installed during Obama's tenure, repudiating solar energy, and symbolically repeating the actions of former President Reagan when he took office after Carter.

Tax Credit Supports Solar

Clearly support from the Federal government has been important to the solar revolution in the US. Top on the list of questions about Trump's energy policy is whether he will support, or try to overturn, the Solar Federal Investment Tax Credit.

Just last December, the 30% Solar Federal Investment Tax Credit was extended to 2019 through a deal brokered by Democrats, with at least some bi-partisan Republican support, in what Slate Magazine's Daniel Gross dubbed the "Solar industry's Christmas Miracle."

With the Solar Federal Investment Tax Credit in place, if you install residential or commercial solar today, you'll earn a 30% Federal Tax Credit on the total cost of the installation. This Credit speeds up the timeframe for making solar pay for itself, thus encouraging Americans to invest in clean, green, and local solar energy.

Hope For Our Solar Future

While the White House solar panels may go, solar advocates are pointing out there is still reason for optimism, because there is strong support across the nation and in Congress for solar energy.

Solar energy is overwhelmingly endorsed by Americans. In a nationwide poll, 91% of people responded that the U.S. should place more emphasis, or the same emphasis, on solar development.

Solar Energy Benefits Us All

American's support for solar makes sense when you consider the many proven benefits of solar energy. Making the switch to solar is not just good for consumers and businesses seeking to increase their energy independence and reduce their climate footprint. Going solar is also good for society and for our environment.

Environment America Research Policy Center completed a comprehensive report analyzing about a dozen credible studies on the benefit solar energy provides to all consumers in the United States, as well as to environmental and public health in the U.S.

Here are just a few of the ways that solar helps consumers, the environment and society in the United States:

Solar energy creates green, sustainable, local jobs. The solar industry now employs more people in the US than the oil industry.

Solar energy offers great help in the effort to reduce toxic pollution that contributes to global warming.

More solar energy means cleaner air, reducing risks of public harm from air pollution.

By feeding the electrical grid with additional power that is produced and distributed to nearby users, “solar energy helps the electrical grid by reducing the amount of energy lost in generation, long-distance transmission, and distribution."

Solar Advocates Step Up

Solar energy advocates have begun to step forward to make the case that solar is, and remains, an extremely important resource for consumers and the environment.

Bernadette Del Chiaro, Executive Director of the California Solar Energy Industries Association, recently penned a letter to CALSEIA members, including our team at Mendocino Solar Service.

Del Chiaro states: "It is important to note that this is not 1981 all over again. Even if Trump were to take the solar panels off of the White House in a symbolic gesture of rejection of clean energy, like Ronald Reagan did so many decades ago, he would have rioting in the corn fields if he tried to tear down the million solar panels or thousands of wind turbines already installed across the country."

Del Chiaro, along with others, was interviewed for an LA Times article titled "Solar power proponents hopeful Trump sees benefit of growing industry."  Solar energy supporters cited in this article included consumer protection advocates, environmental organizations, solar energy companies, and Debbie Dooley, co-founder of the Atlanta Tea Party and national coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots. Dooley is known as an active supporter of solar energy.

According to the LA Times: "Dooley, a Trump supporter, said she believes that once he understands the benefits of solar and that it helps increase competition, he will embrace it. "He’s spoken about the fact the electric monopolies are a corrupting influence," Dooley said of Trump. “I feel extremely hopeful. I think people may be surprised how much solar advances when the emphasis is energy freedom and independence.”

So, we end this issue on a concerned, but cautiously optimistic note when we consider the future of solar energy. On the short term, however, homeowners and businesses hoping to go solar and use the 30% Federal Solar Tax Credit should consider acting sooner rather than later.

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

Kind regards,

Bruce Erickson & Maggie Watson, Co-Owners, Mendocino Solar Service

FROM BECOMING TO BEING—FASCISM

Over the last 25 years the Republican Party has been moving steadily rightward, and the Democratic Party has followed this drift.

In 2004 a friend, J.S. sent me a postcard entitled “Early Warning Signs of Fascism”. The card then listed the following:

• Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
• Disdain for Human Rights
• Identification of Enemies as a unifying Cause
• Supremacy of the Military
• Rampant Sexism
• Growing Racism
• Controlled Mass Media
• Obsession with National Security
• Religion and Government Intertwined
• Corporate Power Protected
• Labor Power Suppressed
• Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
• Obsession with Crime and Punishment
• Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
• Fraudulent Elections

Arguably, the Republican Party has now become a Fascist Party. We should call it like it is—Fascism

Now let’s mobilize for battle!

Nayvin Gordon

Oakland