June 25 – July 8, 2025
Greensite… on the latest and worst state housing bill… Steinbruner… Measure Q… Grand Jury… Aptos Village … Hayes… Organizers and Goals… Patton… A Turn For The Better / Horror Story Book Club… Matlock… …eating hate…peewee persona…chaos fascism……two weeks…nobody knows…next to nothing…I don’t care… Eagan… Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover… Webmistress serves you… gorgeous explosions …Quotes on… “Fireworks”

|
Dateline: July 4, 2025
IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN! The 4th of July is upon us! When you read this, I will either be on a barge in the San Francisco Bay (see photo), loading and wiring fireworks for the City’s display, or recovering from the two days of solid work that this venture takes.
I don’t think most people have a concept of exactly how much planning, skill, and labor it takes to put on a large fireworks show. Looking at it from the outside, so to speak, it doesn’t make any sense why we do it. Ask anyone on a crew though, and we wouldn’t give it up for the world! “It’s called fireWORKS, not fireFUN!”, is a common tongue-in-cheek response to anyone complaining at strike time, which is when everything we’ve spent two whole days setting up needs to be taken back down in as little time as possible. Hours after the show. In the dark. Late into the night. I marvel every time at how we manage. Also, I woudn’t change a thing 🙂
I hope you get to see some fantastic fireworks this year! Happy 4th!
Next week I’m hoping to be back on a normal-ish schedule, whatever that actually means…
~Webmistress

BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER. Paramount+. Series (6.8 IMDb)
Take a featherweight romcom, toss in some John Waters camp, a dose of LGBTQ satire, and you get “But I’m a Cheerleader” (1999) – a pastel-colored romp through the “hilarity” of forced conversion therapy. It’s a sign of progress, I suppose, that we now have banal lesbian romcoms.
Natasha Lyonne (in her baby-faced era) stars as Megan, a perky, clueless high school cheerleader blindsided when her friends and family stage a gay intervention. She’s promptly packed off to True Directions, a pastel repressed “rehabilitation” camp where gender roles are weaponized like power tools. There, despite the best efforts of the staff (including RuPaul as Mike, an aggressively straight-coded “ex-gay”) Megan starts to figure out who she really is.
It’s not exactly deep, or all that clever, but it is fun enough. The cast helps: Lyonne sarts to blossom, Clea DuVall does her patented broody-outsider-in-crisis (a ‘90s staple), and RuPaul chews the scenery with glee. It was recommended after reviewing Lyonne in “Poker Face”. Worth a watch if you’re in the mood for some light, queer, candy-coated fluff with a subversive wink.
~Sarge
POKER FACE. Peacock. Series (7.8 IMDb)
Poker Face is one of those shows I always meant to watch… and didn’t. Until now.
Starring Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll, Orange is the New Black) at her most raspy and sardonic, she plays Charlie Cale—a woman with an uncanny, almost supernatural ability to tell when someone is lying. After calling out the shady son of a Vegas mobster (who promptly offs himself), she ends up on the run, wandering the backroads of America like a Gen Z Columbo in denim.
The series, created by Rian Johnson (Knives Out, Glass Onion, and yes, The Last Jedi), wears its love of ’70s detective shows on its sleeve—from the “mystery-first” format (you see the crime, then watch Charlie unravel it) to the delightfully retro opening credits, complete with roman numerals production date, drop shadows, and that plain, dead-serious typeface that screams 1976 CBS drama hour.
It’s part The Fugitive, part Incredible Hulk, and all charm—with a healthy dose of dry humor, shaggy-dog clues, and Lyonne’s lovable weirdness gluing it all together. She’s not a cop, not a PI, and not trying to be either—she just knows when you’re full of it, and can’t help but get involved.
If you miss the days when TV detectives had weird tics, old cars, and zero respect for protocol, Poker Face is your new weekend binge. Second season just dropped on Peacock. Worth a Watch.
~Sarge
SNOW WHITE. In theatres. Movie (1.7 IMDb)
I’m not one of those people who worships at the altar of Disney. I’ve been watching their films for over 50 years, so my ambivalence isn’t from lack of exposure. I genuinely enjoy many of their movies; The Jungle Book was a childhood favorite (though I’m still salty that Mowgli ditched the jungle for a girl…).
That said, changes to Snow White don’t bother me. Disney has been rewriting traditional tales since day one! Remember the stepsisters slicing off toes and heels to fit in the glass slipper in the original story of Cinderella? Yeah, that didn’t make the cut.
The music? Pleasant enough, but nothing that stuck with me. The dwarves (yes, Tolkien says that’s the plural) veer into uncanny valley territory… not stylized enough to feel intentional, but not realistic enough to work. Visually odd.
Otherwise, it’s Snow White. Rachel Zegler gives a solid, competent performance—and no, I’m not bothered that she’s Colombian and Polish. If she can sing, act, and dance, we’re good.
Overall? It’s a “meh” from me. Harmless, and musical fans will probably have a good time. Worth a watch if that’s your thing. (the 1.7 on IMDB is likely heavily skewed by anti-woke snowflakes sitting at the their keyboard, listing multiple negative votes. Adaptions always reflect the world they come from. Deal with it.)
~Sarge
SINNERS. In theatres. Movie. (8.1 IMDb)
Sweat, dust, and sweet, sweet blues pour through this story of twin brothers returning from WWI—veterans-turned-mob-enforcers in Chicago—who head back to their Mississippi hometown to open a juke joint. It’s part roadhouse, part sanctuary for the Black community, and it becomes the stage for the rise (and fall) of “Preacher Boy” Moore, a young blues guitarist with something close to magic in his fingers.
There’s a stunning musical stretch in the middle where the film lets the music breathe—past, present, and future all moving together, dancing in time. It’s pure poetry.
And then… there are vampires.
Honestly, the movie would’ve been stronger without them. They don’t matter until the third act, and when they show up, it’s like a genre switch that crashes the vibe. The first two-thirds are rich and immersive. The final third? Not bad exactly, but it turns the film into something less interesting than it started out as.
Michael B. Jordan does solid double duty as the twins, Smoke and Stack, and newcomer Miles Caton is fantastic as Preacher Boy. You believe every note he plays.
So I’m torn. I can wholeheartedly recommend the first two-thirds. The final act? I can tolerate it—but I wouldn’t push it on anyone else. Taster’s choice.
~Sarge
LOVE, DEATH + ROBOTS. Netflix. Series (8.4 IMDb)
This show first dropped in 2019. I ignored it. Then two more seasons came and went — I still didn’t watch. But when I heard a fourth season was finally on the way, I figured it was time to see what the fuss was about.
Now I get it.
And so should you.
It’s an anthology, so technically you can jump in anywhere. But honestly? Start from the beginning. There’s so much to see here, and the clunker-to-gem ratio is shockingly low. Nearly every segment hits—hard.
Unlike most anthologies that reuse the same look and crew across episodes, Love, Death + Robots is a true anthology. Every short is handled by a different animation team, each with its own distinct style. Some look like high-end video game cutscenes. Others are pure painterly dreamscapes. Some mix live action and animation. There’s hand-drawn 2D, hyperreal 3D, and everything in between. There’s a Red Hot Chili Peppers video, done entirely as marionettes.
As the title suggests, every segment centers on love, death, robots—or some mix of the three. What you get ranges wildly: dark comedy, cosmic philosophy, dystopian morality tales, sci-fi speculation, brutal war stories, existential horror, and moments of real beauty. It’s a refreshing, unapologetic mix of graphic violence, sex, and nudity (there is a difference) —sometimes all at once, sometimes none at all. I reiterate: sometimes none at all. Some just go for a vibe, or something sweet, or funny.
And yes, there’s equal-opportunity nudity. If you’re cool with boobs but squirm at male parts waving about (or vice versa), maybe keep the skip button handy.
Think of it as a more mature, mostly less juvenile Heavy Metal — or Black Mirror – with no censors and a better visual imagination.
Very much worth a watch.
~Sarge
THE MINECRAFT MOVIE. In theatres. Movie (5.9 IMDb)
Okay, so here’s the deal: I’ve played Minecraft before, so I am familar enough to know the mechanics of its universe, but equally, not SO in love with it that I’m going to freak about any cinematic storytelling compromises. Also, aside from studying film in college, I worked for 15+ years in visual effects for film and tv, as a compositor (I took the cg and the live action and mushed them together, added some blood and dust and blur and film grain etc so that it looked like one image).
This film was an actual disaster. OK cast. Meh story. But the choices made while bringing it all together were BAFFLING. I’ve seen films where janky effects and weird dialoge were a CHOICE – I get it, it can be fun. However, there is no rhyme or reason to the uneven storytelling and effects. In some scenes, the animation does not include mouth movement, and yet later, that same character CAN move their mouth. Some scenes have totally passable blue/green screen extraction, others have completely visible wires and it looks like the crudest animatic. And that’s very much what the film feels like: an animatic. An animatic is a pre-visualization version of a film that may or may not have effects, or rough acting shot to just show what is supposed to happen here – in some cases it’s literally just voices over a series of drawings. What should have been a modestly entertaining b-grade “Jumanji” (real people in a video-game world) instead comes across as Jack Black and friends improv brainstorming, then handing it off to someone’s 15 year old YouTuber nephew to assemble and do … something … with the effects.
NOT worth a watch. Not a “so bad it’s good”, but a “so bad, why am I watching this?”. DO NOT let your kids watch it and have it become their favorite film, because you will end up wanting to strangle them.
I stuck it out for you.
You’re welcome.
~Sarge
DEATH OF A UNICORN. Prime TV. Movie (6.1 IMDb)
Thank you, Alex Scharfman, for opening people’s eyes to the truth: unicorns were never sweet, cuddly ponies — they’re magical beasts; basically angry horses with a murder stick on their foreheads.
Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega star as a father-daughter duo who find themselves in way over their heads after accidentally running over a unicorn. Between the vengeful parents of the mythical creature and the greedy interests of Rudd’s pharma overlords (played with relish by Richard E. Grant, Téa Leoni, and Will Poulter, as the Leopolds), chaos — and carnage — ensue.
A literal “eat the rich” horror/comedy, this film is sharp, absurd, and unapologetically dark. Rudd and Ortega have great chemistry, and the Leopolds are delightfully despicable.
Not for the squeamish, but absolutely worth a watch.
~Sarge
MINDHUNTER. Netflix. Series. (8.6 IMDb)
Not a new one – just happened to watch it again, and thought it relevant for locals. Mindhunter, a docucrama based on the non-fiction account of FBI Special Agent John Douglas (renamed Holden Ford in the show) and his trials and tribulations to get the FBI to accept the concept of a “serial killer” back in ’77, and the idea that they could be profiled. Pursuant of this is a recreated serial killer fan-service list including Manson, Berkowitz, and particularly relevant for locals, Big Ed Kemper (for those tuning in late, Ed “The CoEd Killer” Kemper was the best known contributor to Santa Cruz being “affectionately” dubbed “Murder Capital of the World” back in the early ’70s). The show recreates the time and lifestyle of the time remarkably well, and the uneasy partnership of straight-laced Holt McCallany and earnest Jonathan Groff as the leads is well cast. Definitely worth a watch.
~Sarge

June 30, 2025

This is the developer’s rendition viewed from Branciforte Creek of the city council approved project at 530+ Ocean St. The eighty-foot-high structure will be six stories, providing 225 rental residential units plus commercial. It went to council on June 24, on appeal from its approval by the Planning Commission.
The story is now a familiar one: taking advantage of numerous state housing laws that overrule local height and density limits, that provide no more “affordable” units than already required by local law, developers line up like boxcars for their turn before the local hearing bodies. Neighbors turn out and plead for some relief from the project’s mass and height. Yimby’s and UCSC Student Housing Coalition turn out and urge project adoption. The Carpenters’ Union turns out and urges council to support local union labor or, in this case, cites problems with the developer’s low-road contractors. Planning director confirms the appellant’s case is not valid; words are expressed on how state laws have taken away local control leaving the council with no choice but to approve each project, the project is approved, and the meeting is over.
Is this really the best the city can do to respond to the local land use take-over by the state? In a charter city that has met and exceeded its state-required housing numbers in all categories? The evidence suggests an emphatic no. A review of the following Senate bill is instructive.
Senate Bill 79 is perhaps the most impactful state housing bill this year. It is being heard as I write. Either July 9 or 16 will be its last hearing in Sacramento at the Local Government Committee. Sponsored by Senator Scott Wiener, supported by John Laird, and labelled as Transit-oriented Housing Development, it will require approval of dense housing developments up to and exceeding 75 feet tall within a quarter mile radius of a bus stop or train station. The bill does not allow a city to object to heights up to 75 feet. The density is 120 housing units per acre. This brings dense high rises right into our neighborhoods. Up to a half mile radius from a bus stop or train station is part of the bill and allows only slightly lower heights and densities at this distance. Add a density bonus to the mix and you may see 140 feet high buildings in your neighborhood. Radius includes a far larger area than linear distance. This video gives a good visual of the likely impact.
As for the rail/trail, Senate Bill 79 if passed, guarantees a significant development impact for a functioning rail line between Davenport and Watsonville, should it ever be built. At every train stop, massive new development could be generated with no possible local opposition.
I read the list of current supporters of this Senate Bill as well as its opponents. Besides Senator John Laird, other supporters include various city’s YIMBYs and individual city council members, but no city councils. Alexander Pederson, who recently resigned from Capitola City Council was one name I recognized as an individual supporter.
Opponents of Senate Bill 79 include one hundred and four cities, including the city of Scotts Valley. The city of Santa Cruz is conspicuously absent. Other opponents include the League of CA Cities and the League of CA Counties, Public Interest Law Project, State Building and Construction Trades Council and Western Center on Law & Poverty.
Given the local, vehement community reaction against the impacts of high rise, dense development projects on long-established small-scale neighborhoods, the Santa Cruz City Council can do a lot more than handwringing and exhorting us as individuals to contact our state representatives. They can join the one hundred and four cities opposing Senate Bill 79. They can start representing our interests at the state level as many other cities are doing. That is, unless their interest and allegiance lie elsewhere.
Gillian Greensite is a long time local activist, a member of Save Our Big Trees and the Santa Cruz chapter of IDA, International Dark Sky Association http://darksky.org Plus she’s an avid ocean swimmer, hiker and lover of all things wild. |

The Santa Cruz County RTC has begun scheduling small meetings by appointment to discuss the proposed passenger train and trail project on 22 miles of the 32-mile-long Santa Cruz Branch Rail corridor between Watsonville and Santa Cruz. You can sign up for either in-person 30-minute meetings shared with up to seven other people during the morning at the RTC Office in Santa Cruz, or virtual at another time in the afternoon. RTC Offering Summer Engagement Opportunities for the Zero Emission Passenger Rail and Trail Project! – SCCRTC
While some may argue that these private meetings may help people averse to crowds to participate, I think open public meetings are always best because everyone hears the questions posed, and everyone hears the answers provided.
The RTC did hold one town hall meeting June 9. You can view it here: ZEPRT M3 Informational Community Session #6
Public Comment on this phase of the Project will end August 15.
RTC Sharing Draft Project Concept for the Zero Emission Passenger Rail and Trail Project! – SCCRTC
POOR TURNOUT FOR MEASURE Q PUBLIC INPUT WORKSHOP
Last week, I attended the Measure Q Public Workshop held at the Live Oak Library Annex, aka Community Meeting Room. There were more staff there than members of the public.
Hosted by Mr. David Reid, Director of the County’s Office of Response, Recovery and Resilience (OR3), with staff from Parks Dept, and the County Office of Administration, there was a brief introduction to review Measure Q and what is happening now with the Advisory Committee and consultant working out the parameters for types of projects that the anticipated annual $7.3 MILLION will fund. This group wants the public’s input on priorities. Applications could be rolling in soon and those that are “shovel-ready” could be funded as early as this fall.
Each of the five members of the public were given an envelope with stickers and pushpins and instructed to visit the 8-10 project area displays and vote for three items on each board, indicating out preferences. The maps were not well-labelled with street names to help with orientation regarding parks. I had questions about what “Access” to parks means; what would be a likely project on “working lands” and what does that mean, anyway? One participant asked if there would be money dedicated to projects around the lagoons, stating that she had been led to believe there would be last fall when she voted. Mr. Reid said “NO”, but that she could put a pin on the area she is concerned about.
I wondered why one photo of deer standing in a creek was labeled as “wildlife on Highway 101”? I asked if the Measure Q money could be spent in Santa Clara County, too? Nope…that was a typo. I mentioned that I had attempted to take the online survey for the Measure Q project priorities and saw that large areas of the unincorporated County was not listed as choices for priority, and that there was no “Wildfire” choice provided. Staff informed me “Oh, we fixed that.” Hmmmm… Did they disregard all survey results made before changing the survey??? Hmmmm…….
The Survey closes July 3 and is the only way now for you to weigh in with your thoughts, other than directly contacting Mr. Reid <david.reid@santacruzcountyca.gov>
NEW MANAGER FOR SANTA CRUZ COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS
Tuesday, in closed session the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds Board interviewed someone named Dori Rose Inda, then hired her as a permanent full-time CEO, Secretary Manager III, with a salary “not to exceed $8,630/month” and a tentative start date of 8/1/25. The vote was 5 yes, 1 no.
It looks like this is her:Dori Rose Inda – The James Irvine Foundation Leadership Awards
She’s a lawyer, and seems to have largely focused on farm workers. She most recently was CEO of Salud Para La Gente, which provides health care to a primarily low-income community.
Stay tuned for how this works out.
NEWEST FAIRGROUNDS DIRECTOR UNCOVERS SUSPICIOUS FINANCIAL ISSUES
We are exceedingly lucky to have Ms. Jody Kolbach now serving on the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds Board of Directors. Thanks to her diligence and inquisitive persistence, it became public that she uncovered over $334,000 that the former CEO Zeke Fraser had “loaned” to the Junior Livestock Auction Committee last September, but that was never repaid. Ostensibly, the “loan” was meant to enable the kids to get paid for their animals auctioned off on the last day of the Fair, and that the Junior Livestock Auction Committee would repay the Fairground when buyers paid for the animals.
The problem is that the CEO never divulged this agreement to the Board for approval, and the Livestock Auction Committee never repaid the money. Some wonder if this has been happening on an annual basis…and where the money has gone?
Director Kolbach recommended this money be reimbursed in full to the Fairgrounds and be invested in a high-interest-earning account. The Board approved this.
Director Kolbach also insisted that the Interim Fair CEO Ken Alstott, a retired annuitant who manages the Fairgrounds remotely from his home in Tennessee, compel the office staff to collect over $30,000 in “aged accounts”, some of which are from vendors still doing business with the Fairgrounds. It is good news that office staff have been able to collect about $15,000 to date.
Director Kolbach also recommended the Board write off an $8,000 loss from 2019 when a person submitted false documents to buy a large livestock animal during the Junior Livestock Auction at close of the Fair. The payment and paperwork were all fraudulent, so no money was actually collected. Apparently, this individual did this same thing at multiple fairs in the area, with no repercussion. The Board agreed to write off the $8,000.
Thank goodness for Director Kolbach, who has been leading the Financial Standing Committee with regular meetings since her appointment to the Board a few months ago. The public has been asking for these Financial Committee meetings for years, and the Board was tone-deaf and dismissive. Take a look at who these folks are and ask why they have been so complacent, to the detriment of the Fairgrounds and the public they are supposed to serve? About the Board
SWENSON COMPLETES PAVING ON APTOS CREEK ROAD BUT MAY NOT FULFILL ALL CONDITIONS OF THE DEVELOPMENT PERMIT?
For most of this month, anyone needing to access Aptos Creek Road to Nisene Marks State Park or their homes along the way were met with one-lane closure and an automated portable traffic light.

The paving work was completed by Swenson last week, but roadside parking remains prohibited, and likely will not return. According to County staff, Swenson did pay for this paving (it had been the cause of earlier Performance Agreement negotiations between the County and Swenson regarding the Aptos Village Project, and lead to “written agreements and unwritten agreements” as the then-Public Works Traffic Engineer stated.
County staff has also indicated that on-street parking along Aptos Creek Road will not return, in order to make room for dedicated bicycle lanes.
This is interesting because the County allowed Swenson to count those parking spaces in the total parking number to meet requirements for the permitting. Hmmmm…..
Here is what it looks like now….

Also of interest is the new sign Swenson installed for the Nisene Marks State Park entrance:

However, State Parks staff did not seem to remember about the informational kiosk that Swenson is also supposed to provide as a Condition of Permit Approval for the Aptos Village Project. Below is my question to State Parks Superintendent Mr. Chris Spohrer. The response provided plans for the sign, but no mention of the informational kiosk also required.
“The Aptos Village Project is nearing completion, so I wonder if Swenson has submitted the plan for the Nisene Marks Park informational kiosk required under the Subdivision Permit Condition 3(F)(11)(e) on page 13 of the document?
e. Details for the design and construction of entry improvements for Nisene Marks State Park.
These improvements shall consist of signage at the intersection of Aptos Creek Road and Soquel Drive, an informational kiosk, pavement widening, and associated roadside improvements, as depicted on the approved Exhibit “A” for this permit.
i. Design details shall be reviewed and approved by California State Parks prior to submittal of the improvement plans. Modifications to the approved design for the Nisene Marks entry improvements to satisfy the requirements of California State Parks is authorized by this permit.
As you recall, a group of local residents met with you and then-Parks Maintenance Supervisor Joe Walters a few years ago to determine whether this kiosk could include radio telemetry to provide visitors entering the Park an idea of parking space availability. At the time, Parks had no information about the design or location of the informational kiosk that Swenson would provide. “
To date, no staff from State Parks has responded to the question about the kiosk. Will Swenson be held to comply???
Please write to Chris Spohrer <chris.spohrer@parks.ca.gov> and Jordan Burgess <jordan.burgess@parks.
What also remains to be seen is how, or if, Swenson will comply with the Permit Requirement to construct an active recreational area in the Project to mitigate the huge loss of the world-famous Post Office Bike Jumps and pump track. What will Swenson do with this hillside “park parcel” that garnered many financial favors (free drainage across Aptos Village Park to dump parking lot stormwater into Aptos Creek, and a complete waiver of developer park fees of $750/bedroom in the Project).

Recently, Parks Director Jeff Gaffney responded to my question about this….
“How is the Aptos Village Project Condition of Approval to provide active recreational space now going to be met? Will Swenson Builder be required to provide active recreation in another area, perhaps developing land that the County already owns?
The only requirement is for the developer to offer the parcel to County but that does not require the Board of Supervisors to accept the parcel on behalf of the County. Furthermore, the developer’s offer satisfies the permit conditions and the County is not obligated to accept the OTD. It would be nice to see the developer and/or HOA construct a nice recreational space for their residents on Parcel M and/or provide funds for additional improvements that could be done at Aptos Village County Park.”
Write Second District County Supervisor Kim DeSerpa and her newly-appointed Parks Commissioner about this. Don’t the kids in the area deserve to have an active recreation area provided, in compliance with the County’s Conditions of Permit Approval of the Aptos Village Project?
Supervisor Kim DeSerpa <kimberly.deserpa@santacruzcountyca.gov> and Nick De Sieyes <nrdesieyes@gmail.com>
READ THE SANTA CRUZ COUNTY GRAND JURY REPORTS NOW BEING RELEASED
Please take time to read these reports now being issued by the Santa Cruz County Civil Grand Jury. They represent a tremendous amount of work and care by this group with the effort to improve local government for the public. I have had the honor of serving on the Grand Jury this year, and hope that you will take time to read the work the group has done.
2025 Grand Jury Reports and Responses
Do you have a suggestion for next year’s Grand Jury to investigate? Send it in here.
WRITE ONE LETTER. MAKE ONE CALL. READ THE GRAND JURY REPORTS AND CONTACT THE RESPONDING AGENCIES WITH YOUR THOUGHTS. LIGHT A CANDLE FOR PEACE IN THE WORLD.
MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE THIS WEEK BY JUST DOING ONE THING.
Cheers, and Happy Summer,
Becky
Becky Steinbruner is a 30+ year resident of Aptos. She has fought for water, fire, emergency preparedness, and for road repair. She ran for Second District County Supervisor in 2016 on a shoestring and got nearly 20% of the votes. She ran again in 2020 on a slightly bigger shoestring and got 1/3 of the votes.
Email Becky at KI6TKB@yahoo.com |

Who do we Follow; What do we Want?
Whose rallying cry are we following to produce the positive outcomes we seek in our social contracts? Who do you follow as a leader? What are we seeking to do…in our neighborhoods, cities, counties, regions?
The Other Side – Nationally
Steve Bannon seems to be a very important figure in the USA. His strategies have been critical to the rise of the far right. As part of those strategies, his very public presence and rhetorical style seem to attract people and grow that movement. His thoughtful approach to attracting voting blocks of the populace that have felt otherwise disenfranchised by politics seems to have worked. The late Mike Rotkin taught many students that it would behoove them to track public media if they are to understand our society. As such, it is difficult to understand what is happening in the USA without checking in with Bannon’s War Room.
Who is the Steve Bannon for the whole US’s left wing? Is there anyone? Please let me know if you have any candidates. There certainly are a lot of bloggers, folks with podcasts and the like…but do any of them stand out or are any rising to the influence of a Steve Bannon?
The Other Side – Locally
Is there a parallel with Steve Bannon around the Monterey Bay? Many would agree that all politics is local and if we are to counter national strategies we must develop the capacity locally. The Bannon parallel is best seen relatively: with consideration of the overall political leanings of our area, which is much more left-leaning than the nation as a whole. With that in mind, is anyone countering left wing progressives with strategic political approaches pulling the population relatively more to the right? Elected officials might be culpable: who stands out to you in this role?
I nominate Fred Keeley, a brilliant strategist with wide-ranging connections. Would downtown Santa Cruz have ballooned into what we are seeing without Keeley? Would the region’s narrative welcoming huge numbers of tourists, devastating our natural areas and overwhelming our infrastructure, have been as strong without Keeley?
Local Organizers
Whose rallying cry are you following locally? Who do you follow as a leader? This periodical is a place for progressive ideas, but it seems we need community organizers and a structure that supports them. Looking at web searches for the Santa Cruz Action Network (SCAN) discovers a lot of obituaries of the founders. SCAN was a formidable organization, but there is no SCAN now.
Am I overlooking a local person or group that is effective at organizing for progressive principles? Again, please let me know.
Local Organizing Principles
I believe that there are enough popular organizing principles to bolster progressive politics locally:
- Water – protected watersheds, well managed runoff, clean rivers/streams/ocean, resilient/available/affordable drinking water.
- Parks – recreational open spaces meet locals needs, wildlife protected, clean water produced, fire safety assured, and impacts from visitors don’t overcome conservation priorities.
- Economy – green union jobs prioritized, locally owned small businesses supported, the slow food movement strengthened, living wages assured
- Housing – co-housing innovations, green building including passive solar design, second homes and short-term rental homes reduced to favor housing for locals, UCSC growth capped.
What Next?
We should identify the people who are pushing a unifying vision of progressive ideas, support them, and amplify their voices. Let’s make sure that those kinds of people succeed with whatever resources it takes. I’m hoping to hear those voices regularly, to hear and read their cogent organizing strategies, and to see the progressive citizens come together to improve things locally. This will be a big relief – focusing on what we want as the foundation for fighting against those would rob us of those things.
Grey Hayes is a fervent speaker for all things wild, and his occupations have included land stewardship with UC Natural Reserves, large-scale monitoring and strategic planning with The Nature Conservancy, professional education with the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, and teaching undergraduates at UC Santa Cruz. Visit his website at: www.greyhayes.net
Email Grey at coastalprairie@aol.com |

Monday, June 30, 2025
I have a lot of friends who are members of various “Book Clubs.” You can click that link if you’d like to consider starting a Book Club, or becoming a member of a Book Club yourself. The link will take you to a website that wants to make it easy!
In my past blog postings, I have suggested, and more than once, that we all need to “find some friends.” Even more specifically, I have urged anyone reading my blog postings to “Join a club. Start a club. Start swinging that club!”
Finding a way to use our political and personal power to help change the world (to make it better) actually requires us to get involved with one or more “small groups,” as we follow the advice of Margaret Mead. If we want to change the world, we absolutely need to be a part of one or more small groups of people who share our ambition, and who will work at it! “Never doubt,” says Mead, that such small groups are effective in making change happen. In fact, she says, they are the only thing that has ever has.
Back in April, as I read The New York Times, I began to wonder if a book club focused on “horror stories” might be appropriate, as a base from which effective political action might be initiated. I wasn’t thinking, so much, about the kind of “haunted house” horror story that the illustration, above, might suggest. Instead, I was thinking about the “real life” horror stories that reflect our actual history, and that reveal just how horribly we have acted, and what the consequences have been.
My reading back in April led me to a story in The New York Times Magazine that told readers about survivors of the Holocaust. Click the following link to read, “This Is the Holocaust Story I Said I Wouldn’t Write.”
You might also want to check out, “Swiss Bank Account,” a book review that tells readers about the rise and fall of Credit Suisse, and of all the people who lost, essentially, everything they owned.
How about slavery? How about the decimation of Native peoples? How about asbestos? How global warming? How about toxic chemicals and microplastics polluting our environment? How about about the Vietnam War? How about any of the wars in which we have been, and now are, engaged?
You get the idea! There are lots of “horror stories” out there!
If we want to take Margaret Mead’s advice, we need to form ourselves into small groups to learn what has happened in the past, and then think about what we could do in the future, and then actually start doing something about it!
That’s how “self-government” works, by the way. I am speaking from personal experience, but Margaret Mead is probably a more persuasive voice. Small groups make it happen. Basically, the kind of change we need is not going to happen without them!
Never Doubt That A Small Group Of Thoughtful Committed Citizens Can Change The World: Indeed It’s The Only Thing That Ever Has.
Monday, June 23, 2025

For what it’s worth, I think it’s time to find a way to discuss politics in terms that do not assume that we can understand our politics as being a choice between two antagonistic and different “directions.” The “Right” or “Left” dichotomy that is popularly assumed to provide us some good information on our political options is profoundly unhelpful.
We have LOTS of choices about what we can and/or should do – and this is true with respect to ALL of the MANY different and difficult problems we confront. Similarly, we have LOTS of choices between ALL of the MANY different possibilities we might choose to realize. Presenting our political options as a choice between a supposed “Left” solution, and a supposed “Right” solution provides us no worthwhile guidance whatsoever.
If we don’t like “polarized politics” – and I think that most people don’t – then we should stop trying to think that “Left” and “Right” directional assignments are the right way to outline or understand our choices, or to outline and understand our differences.
When we analyze our options in terms of a binary “Left” or “Right” choice, we are telling ourselves that there are, really, only two possible options.
Does anyone really believe that? Well, if you, the reader, believe that, can I persuade you to “think again”?
My father told me, and my experience has confirmed, that ANYTHING is possible. The worst thing you can think of is possible, so let’s see how this example grabs you. How about a nuclear attack on some major city in the United States, coming very soon, in retaliation for the completely unauthorized attack that our current president ordered (and was carried out) against Iran? If that’s not the worst thing that we might read about in tomorrow’s newspaper, feel free to suggest another. It’s a pretty bad thing, that’s for sure, and it IS POSSIBLE. Lots of bad things are possible.
And what about something good? What about the next Congress deployhing a national budget (balanced, of course) that funds health care for all, and free education for all, Pre-K through college, and a new type of housing, built by the government, that provides ownership opportunities for EVERY family in the United States, with the housing sold at prices that allow every family, from whatever their income level, to find housing that they can afford? However, the housing I am talking about will be sold with this catch. That housing, when resold in the future, would have to be sold for the same price for which it was purchased, increased only by inflation, not speculation.
Everyone can come up with their own “best” possibility. That one I just outlined has a lot of atttaction for me. Of course, we could only do that if we treated the wealth of the United States (which is prodigious) as if that wealth were appropriately mobilized to be helpful to EVERYONE.
Let’s be honest, our current politics, which is fighting to elect candidates who are defined by their partisan polarity (“Left” or “Right”) is dysfunctional in the extreme. If we don’t quickly reestablish a politics focused on “problems” and “opportunities,” and “possibilities,” above all, instead of being focused on suppposed political polarities, “Right” and “Left,” we are all going down with the ship.

Gary Patton is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor (20 years) and an attorney for individuals and community groups on land use and environmental issues. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. You can read and subscribe to his daily blog at www.gapatton.net
Email Gary at gapatton@mac.com |

This week:
Several weeks ago following President Trump’s deportations of planeloads of ICE victims, Stephen Miller called on Congress to impose upon and abolish the Washington, DC federal court district after it blocked Trump’s actions of sending the “violent criminals” to El Salvador’s mega prison. Miller’s guest appearance on Fox News’ Life, Liberty and Levin, with host Mark Levin, Levin suggested the Republican Congress should scrap the DC court by eliminating the federal funding during the budget reconciliation process. Miller concurred with: “Congress has the authority to create the inferior courts. They have the authority to fund or not fund these courts. So yes, Congress has to step up here.” House Speaker Mike Johnson had previously threatened to eliminate entire district courts if judges issued rulings against the Trump administration, saying, “As you know, we can eliminate an entire district court. We have power over funding, over the courts, and all these other things. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Congress is going to act.” Judges across the nation have issued temporary orders to block many of Trump’s 100+ executive orders, many of which are seen to exceed his presidential authority, and angering the GOP in the process. Trump’s justification to deport alleged members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang by using the Alien Enemies Act was temporarily blocked by Judge James Boasberg as he pointed out that our country is not at war. True to form, the administration ignored the ruling and sent more than 250 men to El Salvador without their required court hearings. A CBS ’60 Minutes’ investigation found at least one deportee had legal protective status, one had been granted refugee status, and several were all formally seeking asylum — and 75% did not have criminal records.
Stephen Miller is hoping that Republicans won’t need to fly in the face of court orders or eliminate any federal courts, as the administration sought relief from the Supreme Court to overturn any deportation bans, allowing it to send individuals to foreign prisons sans legal proceedings. “We would just implore the Supreme Court to do the right thing and protect our democracy. President Trump will not be bowed, will not be swayed, and will not be deterred,” he told Levin. Miller has taken much criticism for his past remarks — one notable one: “Children will be taught to love America. Children will be taught to be patriots. Children will be taught civic values for schools that want federal taxpayer funding. So as we close the Department of Education and provide funding to states, we’re going to make sure these funds are not being used to promote communist ideology.” Political analyst Jose Larky says, “Miller is afraid of a problem that doesn’t exist. America is the furthest thing from a communist society.” He cites the Gini Coefficient, the primary measure of wealth inequality within a population, which shows that the US has much more inequality than at least 22 other nations. Zaid Jilani writes, “Does Stephen Miller love America as it exists today? His goal seems to be to return it to 1925.”
Dr. David S Glosser writes in POLITICO Magazine, that Stephen Miller is an immigration hypocrite, and he should know since he is Miller’s uncle, being the brother of Miller’s mother. Glosser details the beginnings of the family’s migration account from Belarus at the turn of the 20th century, fleeing from anti-Jewish persecution, individuals arriving on these shores and sending for other family members as they were able to afford passage. Uncle David says he has “watched with dismay and increasing horror as my nephew, an educated man who is well aware of this heritage, has become the architect of immigration policies that repudiate the very foundation of our family’s life in this country. These facts are important not only for their grim historical irony but because vulnerable people are being hurt. They are real people, not the ghoulish caricatures portrayed by Trump. When confronted by the deaths and suffering of thousands, our senses are overwhelmed, and the victims become statistics rather than people. Immigration reform is a complex issue that will require compassion and wisdom to bring the nation to a just solution, but the politicians who have based their political and professional identity on ethnic demonization and exclusion cannot be trusted to do so. As free Americans, and descendants of immigrants and refugees, we have the obligation to exercise our conscience by voting for candidates who will stand up for our highest national values and not succumb to our lowest fears.”
“Miller is a man who is richly endowed with the capacity for hatred. He’s a world-class hater. You can see this just by looking at him, because you can see that his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats hate,” wrote Terry Moran, late of ABC News. Moran was dumped by ABC after tweeting those words, which prompted a pressure campaign by the White House despite Donald Trump’s campaign support for free speech. ABC was bullied by the president’s threatened media persecution encompassing frivolous lawsuits and threats of punitive regulation, so Moran’s contract was not renewed because the network felt their standards of objectivity and professionalism were violated. The administration was already steaming at Moran’s earlier exposé of Trump’s belief that the M-S-1-3 labels on a photo of Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s fingers were actual tattoos, and not Photoshopped as was readily apparent. John Stoehr of The Editorial Board writes that Miller is, objectively, a hater. The mainstream media says so all the time. “Miller is extremely hostile to immigrants. He has always, as far back as high school, rejected the idea that immigration is a net positive for America, and he’s been very consistent in that,” says Jonathan Swan, a White House reporter for The New York Times. “This is all I care about. I don’t have a family. I don’t have anything else. This is my life,” Miller said during Trump’s first term. Stoehr writes that Trump reportedly said that if Miller had his way, there’d only be 100 million Americans and they’d all look like Stephen. “It’s hard to think of a human being whose hateration is better documented than Miller’s. It’s a cornerstone of his public image. The MAGA loves his PeeWee German persona,” according to Stoehr. Stoehr maintains that the vast body of literature documenting Miller’s hatefulness being disallowed only reduces journalists to stenographers who merely transcribe what powerful people say; Moran’s only error was in taking down his tweet in the end.
Editor Michael Tomasky of The New Republic writes that “madness is everywhere” if the headlines of The New York Times or The Washington Post are read, and it barely scratches the surface. “Across human history, fascism has been imposed upon democracy mostly in one of two ways. First, by brute force — a military coup; second, a bit more stealthily, and legally — through legislation, executive decrees, and court decisions that hand more power to the leader. Donald Trump is inventing a new way. Call it chaos fascism. Destroy the institutions of democracy until they’re so disfigured or dysfunctional that a majority no longer cares about them. That’s exactly what’s happening with Social Security…wreck the agency so that its service becomes crap. Let public anger build. And in time, they can just dismantle it and privatize the greatest social insurance system ever devised by this government and put people’s financial fate in the hands of the rich cronies,” he writes. He says Trump probably doesn’t have some secret plan — he doesn’t think far enough ahead, as he and DOGE destroy the government. Trump has contempt for rules and procedures, so he appoints unqualified stooges who share his contempt, to run his government by thinking that being tough means showing the world that they can do anything they want with no consequences. “Again, ignore the law, trash the rules, establish that procedure is whatever you say it is. Chaos fascism. Trump will orchestrate no military coup. The Republican Congress will probably pass no law that makes Trump president for life. That would be too obvious. What they’ll do is make stealthier moves across the board that discredit and destroy our democratic institutions until he and his billionaire friends can strip them for parts. Chaos fascism is here to stay,” Tomasky concludes.
Last week the US Supreme Court issued a decision in Trump v. CASA that made nationwide injunctions illegal — the high court said such provisions amounted to judicial overreach should lower courts prevent a government entity from enforcing a law or policy. Of course, the ruling sparked outrage from legal experts and court watchers, with one analyst calling it a ‘trap’ that the court willingly walked through. Slate Senior Writer Mark Stern said, “There are some technical maneuvers lawyers can make to force the Supreme Court to reconsider the issue, like certifying a class action lawsuit. However, there are still some big issues left on the table for the court to sort through. Those issues range from the merits of the case they just decided and the practicality of President Donal d Trump’s order to end birthright citizenship altogether.” Stern continued: “This is a fundamental problem. No one can explain how Trump’s order would work in practice. No one. Because the only reason that the vast majority of us have citizenship is because we were born here. When a child is born in America, the doctor doesn’t demand the papers of their parents to ensure they are citizens or a green card holder.” He says that Trump’s order would create a situation where everyone’s citizenship is called into question, and that could have massive legal implications going forward. “This is going to destabilize the fundamental right of citizenship for everybody. It is going to have massive downstream consequences in a really horrible and unworkable way…It’s chaos all the way down,” Stern fears.
On MSNBC’s ‘The Weekend,’ Stern called Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s thin-skinned attack on Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s dissenting opinion “arrogant and out of bounds.” Barrett criticized Jackson for “decrying an imperial Executive while embracing an imperial Judiciary,” which Stern saw as “a far too personal retort that accuses Jackson of not really being smart enough to levy a strong criticism of her opinion. That’s totally out of bounds, it’s highly unusual, even when justices disagree, they usually do so respectfully.” He continued, “And here Barrett is going much further and I think the reason is really obvious, right? Justice Jackson’s dissent if one the sharpest, fiercest, most blunt dissents we’ve ever seen. She is taking on the Supreme Court as an institution and the conservative super majority. It’s one of several dissents she published this term where she accused the super majority on the right of bias toward the Trump administration, of surrendering the rule of law so that Trump can rule like a king. This is how the majority sees the country, that they really believe Trump should rule it with no limits and, you know, I think after this decision, it’s kind of hard to argue with that. The majority sees a policy that is so patently unconstitutional and rather than understand that that’s the emergency that courts need to address, it turns around and smacks down the lower courts and says, ‘You went too far.'”
Satirist Andy Borowitz weighed in on the high court’s decision in his ‘The Borowitz Report’: “In a stunning case of unintended consequences, the six conservative Supreme Court justices inadvertently ruled that their jobs no longer exist, legal experts revealed on Monday. By virtually eliminating the role of the nation’s judicial branch last Friday, the Republican justices unwittingly downsized themselves, Constitutional scholars said. ‘I’m sure they’re having second thoughts now that they’re unemployed, but it’s too late for them to reverse their ruling,’ said Professor Davis Logsdon of the University of Minnesota Law School. ‘The Constitution explicitly says, ‘No backsies.’ On Monday morning, a shell-shocked Brett Kavanaugh was seen clearing out his office, lugging an unwieldy beer keg down the Supreme Court’s fabled front steps. Meanwhile, the sudden demise of the Court has alarmed ex-justices Thomas and Alito, who reportedly asked, ‘Will this affect our yacht cruises?'”
Robert Reich writes that the hardest part of his nights hit at about 3am when he starts obsessing about upsetting things, such as what Trump is doing to America. On a recent night he couldn’t ignore the distraction that Trump is intent on abolishing the two branches of government that historically constrain the executive office — no more checks and balances as established by the Constitution, as Trump and his henchmen/women continue to usurp congressional authority, and war against the judiciary. The president and his lackeys wish to have only one branch of government led by Executive Trump, which is coming to pass as the Congress has all but disappeared, being controlled by Republican zombies who will say and do whatever Trump wants, maintains Reich. One down, and one to go! The federal judiciary was faintly seen as the only remaining check on the president, as they paused about 80 of Trump’s executive orders to await arguments and presentation of evidence at full trials. “But even this is too much for the ‘Dictator-In-Chief,'” says Reich. So, a majority of the Supreme Court, urged by the Justice Department, ruled that federal judges could pause executive actions only for the specific plaintiffs that bring the case — not a nationwide injunction which would immediately halt government policies. Previously, the Trump Gang had filed a lawsuit against 15 federal judges in Maryland, seeking a court order that would block them from making any ruling that might “interfere” in “the president’s powers to enforce the nation’s immigration laws.” Trump has previously launched personal attacks against federal judges after they rule against him, calling them “monsters” who want America to “go to hell,” and “radical left lunatics,” demanding their impeachment.
Trump’s actions and verbal attacks have incited some of his more rabid followers to threaten the lives of judges and their families, threats which have seen an increase of late to include bomb threats and swatting incidents. All those who push back on the administration’s actions are seen as the “opposition,” which has prompted Attorney General Pam Bondi to accuse federal judges of “meddling in our government,” rather than viewing the federal judiciary as an inherent part of the government. Reich says that Trump and his followers failed to learn that lesson in school, or they have conveniently forgotten it as they sit in the seat of power. He says our pessimism is understandable, and warns against cynicism which dooms any positive outcome — exactly where MAGA wishes us to be. “It looks dark today, but it will not remain dark. The Caligula-on-the-Potomac is getting nowhere on tariffs. Inflation threatens. The vast majority of Americans oppose his plan to cut Medicaid and give the rich a huge tax cut. His popularity continues to plummet. He is facing mounting opposition from the rest of the world,” concludes Reich. The road to fascism is lined with people telling us to stop overreacting, so, we have to do our best to shove that 3am monster back under the bed — and remember Reich’s encouragement!
Last week:
INSANA, HISTORY IS OVER, ONLY WHEN WE WIN, SCARED ENOUGH
We’ve been hearing it since 1995 — ‘Iran is just two weeks away from having nuclear weapons!’ Then, last week President Trump announced that he could wait two weeks before deciding whether the US would get directly involved in the Israel-Iran hostilities. His statement spotlighted his favorite measure of time, with late-night hosts showing clips of his ten-years of kicking the can down the road as he promised a healthcare plan or a tariff plan —just two weeks until decision time. As The Tonight Show’s Jimmy Fallon commented, “Today, the White House said Trump will make a decision on the US involvement in Iran within the next two weeks. All good, no rush, just take your time. If Trump thinks about his decision for two weeks, it’ll beat his previous thinking record by two weeks.” Stephen Colbert jumped on the bandwagon with, “America stands on the brink of the precipice of the edge of possibly finding out if Donald Trump is going to bomb Iran. We’ve all been desperately trying to read Trump’s tea leaves. His type of tea? Insana! ‘Two weeks notice’ is so important. Trump understands starting a war in the Middle East is a lot like quitting your sales job at Best Buy. It’s just polite.” Jimmy Kimmel, calling Trump “Two Week POTUS,” joked, “Obviously, a decision to attack Iran directly would have very serious implications that would put US troops in that region at risk and could ignite a bigger war. He enjoys making threats, and he loves attaching them to timelines. Two weeks. It’s always two weeks. For a guy whose catchphrase was “You’re fired,” no one has ever given more two weeks’ notices than Donald J. Trump.”
Following Trump’s statement, Steve Schmidt wrote on his The Warning blog, “It has been 22 years and 93 days since President George W. Bush addressed the American people, and announced the commencement of the Iraq war. Lest there be any historical revisionism the record shows that the war resolution was passed in Congress with 81 Democratic votes. The point of mentioning this is not to judge or recriminate, but rather to remind all of you that it is the nation — not the party — that goes to war, and that beginning a war is a different project than ending one.” He questions how an Iran conflict might end by saying, “The American military is powerful, but led by imbeciles starting with Trump, but including Hegseth. They are as unfit as two people can possibly be to lead this nation into conflict. Trump, full of bluster and threats, cannot be trusted to tell the truth, or hold the course when times get tough. He exists in a world of make-believe and pretend. The war that he commences will be real.” Schmidt then lays out the Iraq war casualties, which he says the Fox News field marshals like Sean Hannity and Mark Levin continue to cheerlead because they failed to learn a single lesson: 4,419 Americans killed; 31,993 Americans wounded; 30,000+ post-9/11 wars veteran suicides; $1.79 trillion to include future obligations for veterans’ care. As the war drums sounded, Schmidt asked, “What is the plan, when do we leave, what is winning, what is the strategy?” As a former GOP team member, Schmidt feels that President Bush is an honorable man who made a colossal mistake amid the profound misjudgments in an effort to defend the country from a follow-up attack after 9/11.
In the lead up to his decision, Trump sidestepped Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, depending upon a couple of four-star generals for guidance on whether to join Israel in attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities. According to an unnamed White House official, “Nobody is talking to Hegseth. There is no interface operationally between Hegseth and the White House at all.” White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said claims that Hegseth has been frozen out are “totally false.” CBS News reported that speculation indicated that Trump was willing to escalate the hostilities, having signed off on on attack plans which lacked only his final go-ahead for execution, with Trump’s response being, “I may do it. I may not do it. Nobody knows what I will do.” Truer words were never spoken! Hegseth isn’t the only senior official reported to have been snubbed by Trump during the Iran situation — he has also taken issue with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, over comments she had made, particularly her criticism of “political elite warmongers.” A spokesperson spoke in her defense, saying, “Gabbard remains focused on her mission: providing accurate and actionable intelligence to the President, cleaning up the Deep State, and keeping the American people safe, secure, and free.” Trump seemed to be closely involved with what was termed his ‘tier one’ advisory group, which included VP Vance, Secretary of State Rubio, CIA Director Ratcliffe and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Caine, which many see as a troubling level of internal discord and disunity, just a few short months into his second presidency.
Democratic strategist James Carville saw any Iran involvement from the self-proclaimed “peacemaker” president who vowed to end “forever wars,” could signal the “end of global stability and MAGA as we know it.” Carville, on The Daily Beast Podcast, commented that the rift within MAGA resulting from Israel’s June 12 incursion into Iran had become very public in nature. Trump, Hegseth, and Fox News host Mark Levin were notable for favoring US intervention, while Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon and Tulsi Gabbard wanted to stay out of the fray, though according to Carville, “This rift has always existed below the surface” in MAGA world. “Trump has no idea what he’s doing. I guarantee you that Tucker Carlson or Steve Bannon or any of these people believe that if you pointed to a globe and said, ‘Point to the Middle East,’ Trump would have no idea what it is. The president has never given an iota of thought to this. He knows not one piece of history about the region, about the adversaries, he’s just massively ignorant.” Tulsi Gabbard testified before a Senate Intelligence Committee in March that her agency felt Iran was not building nuclear weapons; yet, Trump was quick to dispel that notion before the press on Air Force One by saying, “I don’t care what she said. I think they were very close to having them.” Referring to this rift, Carville said, “And you know what I say? You’re not scared enough. If you knew more, you would be even more scared than you are.”
In a phone call between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, China and Russia tried to position themselves as a voice of reason, calling for easing of tensions between Israel and Iran, and encouraging Trump to use his influence “to cool the situation, not the opposite.” Middle East expert, Liu Zhongmin of the Shanghai International Studies University, attributed the flareup to the uncertainty created by Trump’s return to the White House and his chaotic, opportunistic and transactional nature of Middle East policies. Beijing has viewed the US as being a source of instability and tensions in the Middle East, and now that point is being underscored by Chinese scholars, with an erosion of America’s leadership among its allies while weakening its ability to threaten and deter regional adversaries. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran was favored by Beijing, being a formidable power in the region and an important counterweight to US influence, allowing China to expand its own diplomatic and economic footprint in the area. As China and Iran strengthened ties over the years, the two countries held joint naval exercises along with Russia, and both Beijing and Moscow have offered to mediate the Iran-Israel conflict as an alternative to the US. Whether or not the two countries wield any leverage in the situation, they stand to gain in the eyes of the world as the US continues to lose respect and influence under Trump.
A Meidas Touch Podcast last week featured an interview with Congressman Seth Moulton – a decorated Marine vet willing to speak bluntly about the authoritarian threat posed by Trump. Discussed was the president’s drop-in appearance at the G7 in Alberta where he bailed after just 12 hours to avoid meeting up with President Zelensky, and instead of coordinating with leaders about critical global issues, Trump became a full-blown Kremlin mouthpiece, rambling about how the G7 should “really be the G8,” praising Putin as he had been instructed to do. Moulton said, “Trump sounded like a Kremlin spokesman. He genuinely prefers the company of dictators to our allies.” Trump and Putin spoke on a call, after which the Russian strongman launched another attack on Ukraine’s energy grid, with Trump posting his unhinged “orders” telling the 9 million inhabitants of Tehran to evacuate as he played a wannabe general on Truth Social. Moulton discussed Trump’s embarrassing “dictator parade” in DC, which soaked taxpayers for $40+ million for his egotistical glorification, replete with bitcoin advertising, and ignoring the US Army’s 250th anniversary celebration. Moulton was outspoken in his criticism, saying, “The military hates parades. If one leader, one political party controls the military, then you don’t have a fair and equal democracy anymore.” He finds it alarming that many of his active-duty Marine acquaintances are quietly discussing their commissions because Trump’s latest actions are unconstitutional. He advises: “Remember your oath.” This isn’t a hypothetical anymore — Trump is using the military as a political weapon, threatening American cities, spreading conspiracy-laced nonsense, pushing the nation to the brink. One subject was the hope seen in the ‘No Kings’ protests consisting of millions across the country, a moment that demands all of us to have courage, to insist on clarity, and the need to speak out every single day.
John Stoehr of The Editorial Board quotes Will Stancil: “Politics is a schoolyard. Dems gotta speak up.” Stancil points out that as Trump and the drum beaters of war against Iran, US Senators Tim Kaine and Bernie Sanders were quite vocal about the need for Congress to be involved for any declaration of war — anything short of that would be illegal. Where were the party’s leaders, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, who did next to nothing? Stancil asks, “How did this happen?” Stancil’s opinion is that it’s about Schumer’s and Jeffries’ view of politics. “Iran shows what the mindset if really about — all the pretexts about distractions really break down when the thing under discussion is what could easily become a generation-defining war, bigger than Iraq. But Democrats can’t seem to shake themselves out of their policy-wonk stupor here either. And it shows how what really underlies the ‘distraction’ rhetoric is a desire to focus on issues where the stakes are low and conflict is muted. It’s an evidence mechanism.” He says, “Democrats don’t want to fight, not openly, because combat is risky, which is something to dodge. Ironically, dodging is what’s preventing the Democrats from earning public trust. Party leaders tend to believe that the Democrats can win back trust by compromising — by moving to the middle on things like trans right. But if they won’t fight for the authority of Congress, which is the only authority they have, why would anyone trust them to fight for them?”
Stancil continues: “Liberals have trained themselves to see the world through this very particular end-of-history lens, where the ‘stuff that matters’ is inevitably wonky policy questions, the day-to-day of taxes and government, who gets subsidies, what healthcare policy looks like. The stuff that feels bigger and traditionally historical — scandal, social movements, violence, power and authoritarianism — that’s all assumed to be silly TV drama. That stuff belongs to history, and history is over! But it’s ridiculous. History isn’t over, the future will contain events as dramatic and horrible as the events of the past, and this stuff is just what it looks like: an assault on the foundations of our government, with all the terrifying and weighty implications that it seems to have.” Stoehr says, “I would suggest that liberals have a reading of history in which certain things are inevitable, like justice for all. It whitewashes the fact that people made moral choices and that moral choices have consequences. I suppose we could blame Obama for some of that.” Stancil answers, “I don’t know if they think these things are inevitable, but they certainly think these fights are over. I’m not sure I’d blame Obama, but I think people are used to living in a relatively stable era and have come to believe that stability is normal. You see it in news coverage, where dramatic pronouncements are treated as hysterical or hyperbolic. It’s a little better now, but for the most of Trump’s first term, the consensus was that he was functionally a normal Republican with an uncouth demeanor. This was, in my view, insane — you could tell the guy was corrupt and unbalanced in an unprecedented way, openly supportive of authoritarianism. But in the view of a lot of liberals, it was just a gloss on an underlying normality. When Joe Biden won, people scoffed at the idea that Trump might try to stay in power, even though you had to examine the guy for 10 seconds to realize he was capable of doing something dramatic. If you thought about why it seemed ridiculous, it was because they implicitly assumed that here are just some sort of guardrails on modern affairs — that we stay in the Normal Zone because the Danger Zone was something that happens in other countries and in history, not to us.”
Donald Trump is quoted on November 12, 2015, saying, “This is the Trump theory on war. But I’m good at war. I’ve had lots of wars of my own. I’m really good at war. I love war, in a certain way, but only when we win.” As Brad Harrison of Newsflanks.com says, “The genie is out of the bottle now. Like Iraq, it’s easy to get into war but hard to get out of it. Trump and Project 2025 have turned America into a far-right, nationalist, white Judeo-Christian theocracy, now officially a war with Islam. Didn’t the Book of Revelations predict this? Hey, you never know. We’re returning to religiosity of the Dark Ages. The Age of Enlightenment and the Age of Reason are distant dreams now. This has been in the cards since his first term, but during his first term he had some experienced and seasoned people in his cabinet who kept it from happening. But they allowed him to withdraw from the Iran Nuclear Agreement, which the rest of the world was solidly behind, and now we can see how horrible a mistake that was. That was the beginning of Iran’s return to enriching uranium for a bomb, and the precursor to this mess. Plus, now we have him taking war into space with the ‘Golden Dome’ and heavy funding for his Space Force and space tech like Musk’s. As he widens his wars, we’ll need a golden dome. But this dome is impractical from a physics point of view, and will just be a big waste of money, like Reagan’s Star Wars dome.” Harrison says Trump has only informed the House and Senate Republicans of his plans, which clearly shows he is in the process of a full-on domestic war on the Dems and is attempting to eliminate the party as a political force in America. He wants one MAGA party running everything, like the Nazis. He has already started this with his deployment of the National Guard and the military in LA. We know the same deployments are planned for at least 15 other Blue cities.
Harrison points out that Tulsi Gabbard testified before Congress that Iran was nowhere near a nuclear weapon, but Trump straight-up ignored her and the American national intelligence apparatus. He’s entirely out of control. He really does believe he is on some sort of mission from God. The military budget is going to a trillion dollars under the reconciliation bill, and we are currently paying nearly a trillion dollars per year in interest on the national debt, most of which was due to military overspending — especially during the Bush era, most of which didn’t even go through Congress. Harrison points to right-wingers blaming ‘entitlement programs,’ but Social Security now pays for itself, with Medicare being half funded from general tax revenues. The Feds give about $600 billion to the states for Medicaid, now looking at a trillion dollar cut over the next ten years with the reconciliation bill. If we had stuck with the pre-Reagan tax brackets and not spent so much on the military starting with Reagan, our debt would be tiny compared to what it is now. America is now just an over-militarized, debt-laden giant under total control of an out-of-control dictator. Harrison calls it correctly: “What a mess.”
Simon Rosenberg on his Substack blog, Hopium Chronicles says, “Trump’s presidency is failing and unpopular, and he had to do something. Elon attacked and emasculated him, and made him weak and stupid. Global leaders are not bending the knee, and there has been no ’90 trade deals in 90 days’ [as he predicted]. Putin is treating him like a coffee boy, and Zelensky has made him look like a clown. His economic policy is slowing the economy down in every country in the world including the US, has caused our credit to go through an unprecedented downgrade, and the American people have figured out this budget bill will make their lives worse (as it will). All across the country news organizations are reporting on how his cuts and plans will do harm to their communities. He keeps losing in court, badly. The Vatican elected an American cardinal who has been very critical of his Administration. He had to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia home. No one showed up for his sad birthday parade. His ugliness has spawned what appears to be the biggest protest movement in American history. His immigration enforcement escalation has backfired. His intel community has called b.s. on his claims of Iran’s nuclear progress.” Other than that, how did you enjoy the play at the Lincoln Center, Mrs. Trump?
On June 21, The Onion website reminded us that Trump’s campaign statement: “No new wars,” was eclipsed by his latest, “No, new wars.” As satirist Andy Borowitz wrote: “In a nationally televised address Saturday night, Donald J. Trump announced he had ordered his son Barron to visit a podiatrist. ‘My fellow Americans, earlier this evening, at my command, Barron saw a podiatrist,’ said Trump, flanked by JD Vance, Marco Rubio, and Pete Hegseth. ‘I am pleased to announce that he has returned home safely. Barron’s mission was to obtain a note from the doctor,’ Trump added. ‘Mission accomplished.’ Minutes after the speech, a new poll showed a majority of Americans favor dropping Donald Trump on Iran.” As we know, Trump actually compressed his “two weeks” on this Saturday to wag the dog, by unilaterally ordering strikes on Iran’s three key nuclear facilities, declaring the move a “spectacular military success,” with a warning that further action might follow if Tehran doesn’t come to the peace table. Khamenei will surely respond — anywhere, at any time, and in any form, with their options of missiles — already sent to a US base in Qatar, militias, oil supply disruption, or hostage-taking, only marking a new chapter in this history, rather than a conclusion. We must remember that the 9/11 plot was ten years in the making. As Trump made the televised announcement, standing behind him were his ill-suited, glum-looking hostages Pete Hegseth, JD Vance, and Marco Rubio — not necessarily proud of the sequence of events — with the notable absence of Tulsi Gabbard. Trump needed his yes-men to back him up, to share the blame for a situation that will likely get worse, as they look for another dog to wag.
Dale Matlock, a Santa Cruz County resident since 1968, is the former owner of The Print Gallery, a screenprinting establishment. He is an adherent of The George Vermosky school of journalism, and a follower of too many news shows, newspapers, and political publications, and a some-time resident of Moloka’i, Hawaii, U.S.A., serving on the Board of Directors of Kepuhi Beach Resort. Email: cornerspot14@yahoo.com. |


EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS. View classic inner-view ideas and thoughts with Subconscious Comics a few flips down.
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “Deep Cover” down a few pages. As always, at TimEagan.com you will find his most recent Deep Cover, the latest installment from the archives of Subconscious Comics, and the ever entertaining Eaganblog.
Fireworks
“What was important wasn’t the fireworks, it was that we were together this evening, together in this place, looking up into the sky at the same time.”
~Banana Yoshimoto
“Because beautiful things never last. Not roses nor snow… And not fireworks, either”
~Jennifer Donnelly
“Laughter is the fireworks of the soul.”
~Josh Billings
“I always have the most fun on the Fourth of July. You don’t have to exchange any gifts. You just go to the beach and watch fireworks. It’s always fun.”
~James Lafferty
“You are like fireworks. You go out into your children, your friends, your society, and the whole world.”
~Nhat Hanh

GÖTEBORGS FYRVERKERIFABRIK is a company in my home town of Gothenburg, Sweden! They put on some beyond amazing shows… Tonight they are in Cannes at a fireworks festival, but since video from that doesn’t exist yet, I’m sharing a show from New Years 2023. It makes me slightly homesick 🙂 Enjoy! |
Direct questions and comments to webmistress@BrattonOnline.com
(Gunilla Leavitt)

June 18 – 24, 2025

|
Dateline: June 18, 2025
GOING INTO SUMMER. It’s almost late June… the older I get, the more I am blown away by the passage of time. The seasons do seem to come at me harder and faster every year. I have both more and less patience than I did when I was younger, and I’d definitely say that my “can’t be bothered” meter has bottomed out! I’m not trying to say I don’t care, mind you, more like I don’t have time or energy to be distracted, discouraged, or derailed.
My fascination with the passage of time makes me watch a lot of history documentaries. This week, I’m sharing an episode from the show “Time Team”, which is great and available on YouTube. Enjoy!
~Webmistress

BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER. Paramount+. Series (6.8 IMDb)
Take a featherweight romcom, toss in some John Waters camp, a dose of LGBTQ satire, and you get “But I’m a Cheerleader” (1999) – a pastel-colored romp through the “hilarity” of forced conversion therapy. It’s a sign of progress, I suppose, that we now have banal lesbian romcoms.
Natasha Lyonne (in her baby-faced era) stars as Megan, a perky, clueless high school cheerleader blindsided when her friends and family stage a gay intervention. She’s promptly packed off to True Directions, a pastel repressed “rehabilitation” camp where gender roles are weaponized like power tools. There, despite the best efforts of the staff (including RuPaul as Mike, an aggressively straight-coded “ex-gay”) Megan starts to figure out who she really is.
It’s not exactly deep, or all that clever, but it is fun enough. The cast helps: Lyonne sarts to blossom, Clea DuVall does her patented broody-outsider-in-crisis (a ‘90s staple), and RuPaul chews the scenery with glee. It was recommended after reviewing Lyonne in “Poker Face”. Worth a watch if you’re in the mood for some light, queer, candy-coated fluff with a subversive wink.
~Sarge
POKER FACE. Peacock. Series (7.8 IMDb)
Poker Face is one of those shows I always meant to watch… and didn’t. Until now.
Starring Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll, Orange is the New Black) at her most raspy and sardonic, she plays Charlie Cale—a woman with an uncanny, almost supernatural ability to tell when someone is lying. After calling out the shady son of a Vegas mobster (who promptly offs himself), she ends up on the run, wandering the backroads of America like a Gen Z Columbo in denim.
The series, created by Rian Johnson (Knives Out, Glass Onion, and yes, The Last Jedi), wears its love of ’70s detective shows on its sleeve—from the “mystery-first” format (you see the crime, then watch Charlie unravel it) to the delightfully retro opening credits, complete with roman numerals production date, drop shadows, and that plain, dead-serious typeface that screams 1976 CBS drama hour.
It’s part The Fugitive, part Incredible Hulk, and all charm—with a healthy dose of dry humor, shaggy-dog clues, and Lyonne’s lovable weirdness gluing it all together. She’s not a cop, not a PI, and not trying to be either—she just knows when you’re full of it, and can’t help but get involved.
If you miss the days when TV detectives had weird tics, old cars, and zero respect for protocol, Poker Face is your new weekend binge. Second season just dropped on Peacock. Worth a Watch.
~Sarge
SNOW WHITE. In theatres. Movie (1.7 IMDb)
I’m not one of those people who worships at the altar of Disney. I’ve been watching their films for over 50 years, so my ambivalence isn’t from lack of exposure. I genuinely enjoy many of their movies; The Jungle Book was a childhood favorite (though I’m still salty that Mowgli ditched the jungle for a girl…).
That said, changes to Snow White don’t bother me. Disney has been rewriting traditional tales since day one! Remember the stepsisters slicing off toes and heels to fit in the glass slipper in the original story of Cinderella? Yeah, that didn’t make the cut.
The music? Pleasant enough, but nothing that stuck with me. The dwarves (yes, Tolkien says that’s the plural) veer into uncanny valley territory… not stylized enough to feel intentional, but not realistic enough to work. Visually odd.
Otherwise, it’s Snow White. Rachel Zegler gives a solid, competent performance—and no, I’m not bothered that she’s Colombian and Polish. If she can sing, act, and dance, we’re good.
Overall? It’s a “meh” from me. Harmless, and musical fans will probably have a good time. Worth a watch if that’s your thing. (the 1.7 on IMDB is likely heavily skewed by anti-woke snowflakes sitting at the their keyboard, listing multiple negative votes. Adaptions always reflect the world they come from. Deal with it.)
~Sarge
SINNERS. In theatres. Movie. (8.1 IMDb)
Sweat, dust, and sweet, sweet blues pour through this story of twin brothers returning from WWI—veterans-turned-mob-enforcers in Chicago—who head back to their Mississippi hometown to open a juke joint. It’s part roadhouse, part sanctuary for the Black community, and it becomes the stage for the rise (and fall) of “Preacher Boy” Moore, a young blues guitarist with something close to magic in his fingers.
There’s a stunning musical stretch in the middle where the film lets the music breathe—past, present, and future all moving together, dancing in time. It’s pure poetry.
And then… there are vampires.
Honestly, the movie would’ve been stronger without them. They don’t matter until the third act, and when they show up, it’s like a genre switch that crashes the vibe. The first two-thirds are rich and immersive. The final third? Not bad exactly, but it turns the film into something less interesting than it started out as.
Michael B. Jordan does solid double duty as the twins, Smoke and Stack, and newcomer Miles Caton is fantastic as Preacher Boy. You believe every note he plays.
So I’m torn. I can wholeheartedly recommend the first two-thirds. The final act? I can tolerate it—but I wouldn’t push it on anyone else. Taster’s choice.
~Sarge
LOVE, DEATH + ROBOTS. Netflix. Series (8.4 IMDb)
This show first dropped in 2019. I ignored it. Then two more seasons came and went — I still didn’t watch. But when I heard a fourth season was finally on the way, I figured it was time to see what the fuss was about.
Now I get it.
And so should you.
It’s an anthology, so technically you can jump in anywhere. But honestly? Start from the beginning. There’s so much to see here, and the clunker-to-gem ratio is shockingly low. Nearly every segment hits—hard.
Unlike most anthologies that reuse the same look and crew across episodes, Love, Death + Robots is a true anthology. Every short is handled by a different animation team, each with its own distinct style. Some look like high-end video game cutscenes. Others are pure painterly dreamscapes. Some mix live action and animation. There’s hand-drawn 2D, hyperreal 3D, and everything in between. There’s a Red Hot Chili Peppers video, done entirely as marionettes.
As the title suggests, every segment centers on love, death, robots—or some mix of the three. What you get ranges wildly: dark comedy, cosmic philosophy, dystopian morality tales, sci-fi speculation, brutal war stories, existential horror, and moments of real beauty. It’s a refreshing, unapologetic mix of graphic violence, sex, and nudity (there is a difference) —sometimes all at once, sometimes none at all. I reiterate: sometimes none at all. Some just go for a vibe, or something sweet, or funny.
And yes, there’s equal-opportunity nudity. If you’re cool with boobs but squirm at male parts waving about (or vice versa), maybe keep the skip button handy.
Think of it as a more mature, mostly less juvenile Heavy Metal — or Black Mirror – with no censors and a better visual imagination.
Very much worth a watch.
~Sarge
THE MINECRAFT MOVIE. In theatres. Movie (5.9 IMDb)
Okay, so here’s the deal: I’ve played Minecraft before, so I am familar enough to know the mechanics of its universe, but equally, not SO in love with it that I’m going to freak about any cinematic storytelling compromises. Also, aside from studying film in college, I worked for 15+ years in visual effects for film and tv, as a compositor (I took the cg and the live action and mushed them together, added some blood and dust and blur and film grain etc so that it looked like one image).
This film was an actual disaster. OK cast. Meh story. But the choices made while bringing it all together were BAFFLING. I’ve seen films where janky effects and weird dialoge were a CHOICE – I get it, it can be fun. However, there is no rhyme or reason to the uneven storytelling and effects. In some scenes, the animation does not include mouth movement, and yet later, that same character CAN move their mouth. Some scenes have totally passable blue/green screen extraction, others have completely visible wires and it looks like the crudest animatic. And that’s very much what the film feels like: an animatic. An animatic is a pre-visualization version of a film that may or may not have effects, or rough acting shot to just show what is supposed to happen here – in some cases it’s literally just voices over a series of drawings. What should have been a modestly entertaining b-grade “Jumanji” (real people in a video-game world) instead comes across as Jack Black and friends improv brainstorming, then handing it off to someone’s 15 year old YouTuber nephew to assemble and do … something … with the effects.
NOT worth a watch. Not a “so bad it’s good”, but a “so bad, why am I watching this?”. DO NOT let your kids watch it and have it become their favorite film, because you will end up wanting to strangle them.
I stuck it out for you.
You’re welcome.
~Sarge
DEATH OF A UNICORN. Prime TV. Movie (6.1 IMDb)
Thank you, Alex Scharfman, for opening people’s eyes to the truth: unicorns were never sweet, cuddly ponies — they’re magical beasts; basically angry horses with a murder stick on their foreheads.
Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega star as a father-daughter duo who find themselves in way over their heads after accidentally running over a unicorn. Between the vengeful parents of the mythical creature and the greedy interests of Rudd’s pharma overlords (played with relish by Richard E. Grant, Téa Leoni, and Will Poulter, as the Leopolds), chaos — and carnage — ensue.
A literal “eat the rich” horror/comedy, this film is sharp, absurd, and unapologetically dark. Rudd and Ortega have great chemistry, and the Leopolds are delightfully despicable.
Not for the squeamish, but absolutely worth a watch.
~Sarge
MINDHUNTER. Netflix. Series. (8.6 IMDb)
Not a new one – just happened to watch it again, and thought it relevant for locals. Mindhunter, a docucrama based on the non-fiction account of FBI Special Agent John Douglas (renamed Holden Ford in the show) and his trials and tribulations to get the FBI to accept the concept of a “serial killer” back in ’77, and the idea that they could be profiled. Pursuant of this is a recreated serial killer fan-service list including Manson, Berkowitz, and particularly relevant for locals, Big Ed Kemper (for those tuning in late, Ed “The CoEd Killer” Kemper was the best known contributor to Santa Cruz being “affectionately” dubbed “Murder Capital of the World” back in the early ’70s). The show recreates the time and lifestyle of the time remarkably well, and the uneasy partnership of straight-laced Holt McCallany and earnest Jonathan Groff as the leads is well cast. Definitely worth a watch.
~Sarge
THE RESIDENCE. Netflix. Series. (7.8 IMDb)
I’m happy to see the return of the cozy mystery – Knives Out, Death and Other Details, and even Only Murders in the Building. Sure, Hallmark churns out an endless stream of formulaic/hygienic perky upper middle class “professional women” who solve mysteries while hygienically engaging in romance with some square jawed cop/firefighter/architect, but they lack any sort of charm or character. The Residence gives us Cordelia Cupp (Orange is the New Black’s Uzo Aduba): an acclaimed detective, and stout birder, who finds herself wader deep in drama and intrigue surrounding a murder in the White House. Giving absolutely zero f***s about titles and position, she pursues the truth through a cast of notables: Giancarlo Esposito, Jason Lee, Bronson Pinchot, Molly Griggs, and even Al Franken, reprising his role as a Senator. Might have been a few episodes too long, but worth the wait. Definite watch.
~Sarge
STAR TREK: SECTION 31. Paramount+. Movie. (3.8 IMDb)
I know I’m late to the table for this, but we decided to finally sit down and watch Star Trek: Section 31. Empress Georgiou (the mirror-universe evil counterpart of heroic Capt. Georgiou from Star Trek: Discovery) is pressed back into service with Section 31 – the black-ops division of Starfleet – for essentially a caper “mission”. Things go wrong, and she and a band of misfit specialists have to make it right. Michelle Yeoh is wonderful, as she always is. What she’s given to work with is tepid at best. I’m not a toxic fan – I’ve liked a lot of Trek related stuff that people kvetch about, but I do recognize when they miss the mark. Not just “doesn’t feel like Star Trek”, but feels like a fairly average caper film. No brilliant gotcha moments, no delicious red herrings. Just bland. Which is hard to do with Michelle Yeoh! It doesn’t quite make me feel like I was robbed of an hour and a half, but I was not really entertained. Highlight for the geek crowd: a Cheronian waiter. Watch only for a completionist compulsion.
~Sarge

June 16, 2025

I was on a group birding trip last week in southeastern Arizona, close to the borders of New Mexico and Mexico, at the foot of the Chiricahua Mountains. Remote, hot, a vast expanse of land with only a scattering of dwellings. The area is a birding hot spot, and we were not disappointed. Besides birds there were the trees. That beauty I’m standing next to is an Alligator Juniper and is around 500 years old.
Talking of trees, I returned home just in time to file an appeal against the June 6 Planning Commission’s unanimous vote of approval for the Workbench project at 2020 Pacific Avenue.
I share the appeal below. Appeals have set requirements, hence the language under reasons for appeal. The issue is clear. The city has a history of ignoring the legal requirement to make every effort to preserve heritage trees when a project design is evaluated. The most recent example is the library/garage/housing structure whose design should and could have accommodated at least the two liquid ambars but didn’t. Enough is enough. Time to insist the city follow its own laws to preserve our fast-dwindling heritage trees. We are not unreasonable. If a tree is in the middle of a project, it is unlikely to be saved. However, the two heritage coast redwoods are at the edge of the project property on Knight St. and could live to a ripe old age if the laws protecting our heritage trees are followed. When researching the General Plan for entries to support the appeal, I was pleasantly surprised to find a photo of the Clocktower and the redwoods on page 31, with text “to preserve existing significant vegetation.”
When the date of the appeal hearing is set you can be sure I’ll write about it again. Feel free to email me if you’d like to be part of this effort.
Of Planning Commission decision on June 6, 2025, for 2020 N. Pacific Avenue
Appellant: Gillian Greensite for Save Our Big Trees
Reason for Appeal: The Planning Commission failed to acknowledge and address the fact that the city’s Criteria and Standards for granting a Heritage Tree Removal permit were not followed for this project. Thus, the Heritage Tree Removal permit was granted in error. The General Plan, CD4.3.3, page 31, states the need to protect existing significant vegetation. The photo includes these heritage trees.
Evidence:
- Resolution No. NS-23, 710 contains the Criteria and Standards that allow the removal of heritage trees in the city of Santa Cruz.
Criterion 1(c)(3) is referenced in the agenda report as the reason for the removal of two heritage Coast Redwoods located at the property boundary.
- Criterion 1(c)(3) allows heritage tree removal only if “a construction project design cannot be altered to accommodate existing heritage trees”. (emphasis added).
- There is no evidence in the agenda report, nor in the oral staff report at the meeting, nor in the presentation from Workbench, that any attempt was made to alter the project design to accommodate the trees. Staff stated that “the tree removal permit was to facilitate the scope of work and the project design.” This is backwards. The project design is required to accommodate the trees unless it cannot be done. Cannot is explicit. It does not mean “prefer not to.”
- There is no evidence that any design alternatives to accommodate the trees were considered. Design changes were made to accommodate public support for rooftop commercial but not for the heritage trees.
- Neither staff nor commissioners addressed this issue at the meeting despite receiving three letters of concern that the Criteria and Standards had not been followed. Five members of the public implored the commissioners to save the trees. The sole commission comment on trees was one commissioner who said he “understood the reluctance to let go of the redwood trees.”
- It is understood that design changes cannot be required if they reduce the number of housing units in a project. However, design changes that reduce commercial or parking to accommodate heritage trees are appropriate.
Conclusion: There is broad community support for saving these two coast redwood trees. City law requires that project designs work to accommodate heritage trees. That effort was not done for this project. The Planning Commission failed to address that mistake. The public looks to its city council to remedy that mistake by upholding this appeal; to direct staff to work with the developer to alter the design so that both trees and project can co-exist into the future.
Gillian Greensite
Save Our Big Trees
gilliangreensite@gmail.com
Submitted, with appeal fee to City Clerk on June 16, 2025

Gillian Greensite is a long time local activist, a member of Save Our Big Trees and the Santa Cruz chapter of IDA, International Dark Sky Association http://darksky.org Plus she’s an avid ocean swimmer, hiker and lover of all things wild. |

Measure Q is a new a parcel tax countywide that will rake in an estimated $7.4 million annually, and will be managed by the County Parks Director and County Office of Response, Recovery & Resiliency (OR3). The hand-picked Advisory Council on Oversight for the treasury and how the money will be allocated to projects is now devising the Plan, with the “help” of an expensive consultant. the Board of Supervisors considered this issue on June 10 in item 10.1, having been pulled from the consent agenda as item #27.
Amazingly, they did not do that until about 6pm …such a long meeting should not happen because tired Supervisors are not a good thing to have in critical decision-making. After discussing Measure Q and shooting down Supervisor Koenig’s recommendation on staffing that would have saved taxpayers $20,000, the Board continued to deliberate important County Budget issues….for too long and with tired brains.
Jun 10, 2025 Board of Supervisors – Last Day Budget Meeting – Santa Cruz County, CA
The Measure Q Survey, intended to advise all this, is useless. Large areas of the unincorporated area are not included in options for prioritizing projects, and there is no option for prioritizing “Wildfire and Forest Health”.
Take the Survey below and attend the public meetings scheduled…and ask lots of questions!
To ensure this plan reflects the community’s values and priorities, we are conducting a series of community meetings and a short online public survey that is open through July 3. We hope to reach as many community members as possible and would deeply appreciate your support in sharing these opportunities. Attached and below are bilingual social media materials and suggested language.
ONLINE SURVEY An online survey will be available from May 30 through July 3, in both English and Spanish:
VIRTUAL COMMUNITY MEETING If you missed the various meetings, all is not lost yet. A virtual meeting will be held over Zoom on:
- Thursday, June 26 5:30–7:00 PM Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Meeting ID: 826 6180 5096
WRITE ONE LETTER. MAKE ONE CALL. ATTEND A PUBLIC WORKSHOP AND ASK QUESTIONS.
MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE THIS WEEK BY JUST DOING ONE THING.
Cheers,
Becky
Becky Steinbruner is a 30+ year resident of Aptos. She has fought for water, fire, emergency preparedness, and for road repair. She ran for Second District County Supervisor in 2016 on a shoestring and got nearly 20% of the votes. She ran again in 2020 on a slightly bigger shoestring and got 1/3 of the votes.Email Becky at KI6TKB@yahoo.com |

Look around – we live in an amazing place at an interesting time with the changing of the seasons. The late spring rains grew tall grass which has recently started turning tawny while the forests and shrublands continue growing and flowering in the dawn of summer. Wildlife is celebrating the abundance of food and the arrival of new born family.
Meadowlands
The Monterey Bay region’s coastal prairies are going slowly dormant just as the grasses and wildflowers produce abundant seeds, falling to the ground, awaiting germination with the late fall rains. Glance at those grasslands and they tell hydrological stories: the thinner and poorer soil areas have gone dry, blond and brittle. The deeper, richer soils are still a bit green as plant roots stretch farther for the last bits of moisture. In those productive soils this is the 3rd year since 1986 that I’ve seen European oatgrass over head high. It is possible to trample-carve out a spot in that high grass and have shelter from the wind for a picnic or nap. Wait long in that spot and a snake will happen by. Gopher snakes, some quite big, are denizens of the meadows – some are shiny now, just shedding their skins and showing fresh scales. These and other snakes are hunting the abundant young grassland rodents. Cheeping alarm calls and diving at a focused spot, a family of barn swallows alerts me to a passing gopher snake, a big one, three and half feet long.
The snake slithers between puffy seed heads of dandelion relatives, just one of many sources of food for seedeating birds. Goldfinches’ excited whiny cheeps emphasize the feast of thistle seeds on the edge of the meadow. The prairie edge, where it abuts poison oak, coyote bush, and sagebrush scrub, is mown close, an inch tall and littered with round rabbit droppings. The last fading, quite small, California poppy flowers provide some color to the grasses near this edge. Mostly, the poppy plants are laden with long cylindrical pods which sharply crack in the midday sun, spreading seeds, feeding quail. Western harvest mice have started gathering and storing the many seeds raining down ripe right now in the grasslands. They take advantage of vole highways when the voles are napping, spreading out across the prairies filling their mouths with seeds that they the store in underground storage rooms. The voles, too, are making hay bales for future food – big masses of dense grass leaves and seeds woven into messy balls, filling wider sections of abandoned gopher runs. Snakes and weasels navigate this network of underground tunnels, pouncing on unwary rodents, snacking on entire broods of ‘pinkies’ (tiny blind, pink, furless baby rodents).
Shrublands
The chaparral and coastal scrub communities are flower-filled, richly-scented, and teeming with life. The roots of the shrubs wind deep into cracks, porous rock still wet from winter rains not too far down. Tender new growth shoots are a pale green, flexuous, and waving above the waxy, tough, darker green, worn and dusty-looking leaves from yesteryear. Fuchsia chaparral pea flowers contrast with cheery yellow bush poppy blossoms high on the poor soiled ridges across the Santa Cruz Mountains. Lower on the slopes, patches of pale orange sticky monkeyflower brighten hillsides along with yellow-green rafts of lizard tail shrubs nestled in with gray-green sagebrush foliage and masses of coyote bush. Here and there, birds alight onto the tops of the tallest shrubs, singing melodies while glancing this way and that for the potential mate, competitor, or hawk.
Where these shrub-dominated areas meet the oaks and firs, early summer greets newly emerging dusky footed woodrat young who must find their way to new territory, away from their mothers. Already, adolescent woodrats are repairing their ancestors’ abandoned houses, adorning them with freshly harvested leafy branches and twigs. At night, they squeak and chatter to each other across vast slopes sharing their discoveries, passing gossip, or maybe simply joining in the happiness of rodent chorus. These are the tenders of shrublands, pruning certain tasty oaks to bonsai, shaping coffeeberry to topiary, snipping and collecting plants here and there with their compulsion to have one of everything displayed neatly in their house’s museum chambers. Perhaps those are teaching displays for their children and maybe they worship each species with rituals we know nothing about.
Forests
A complex array of forest types fills canyons, blanket hillsides, and tower over ridgelines across our region. Redwood forest is the most treasured, judging from the way parks have been set aside. But oak forests can be more interesting and seem more alive with wildlife, more diverse with plants. Willow and sycamore forests love to be close to running water. Patches of maple, buckeye, madrone and bay transport you with their colors and scents.
On the eve of summer, forests like shrublands push out lush new growth. Fresh needles on the conifers, arching twigs unfurling fresh leaves for the oaks. Douglas firs are shedding their male cones and madrones have mostly dropped their flowers – the forest floor littered with millions of these tiny treasures, soon to be composting and unrecognizable.
At night, lions prowl the roads and trails of these forests, hiding in the understory awaiting a passing deer. Mother deer keep their new, spotty fawns well away from the forest, out in the meadows. Herds of bucks wander farther, daring each other to enter forests dark, their heads held high and proud with rapidly growing velvety antlers.
Dawn makes the forest canopy loud with birdsong. Flocks of chickadees and warbling vireos sing along with hundreds of other species, celebrating the new day.
These Things and Us
All of this and so much more is happening in the natural world around us, sometimes despite us. We must never forget to appreciate these things, or if we do we imperil future generations. These things, this life, allows us to live rich and comfortable lives with clean water, clean air, fewer diseases, better managed pests, food…and fiber. Beyond appreciation, we must protect these things, even the woodrats, with our votes, with our donations, with whatever we can give to assure that they thrive for hundreds of years to come.
Grey Hayes is a fervent speaker for all things wild, and his occupations have included land stewardship with UC Natural Reserves, large-scale monitoring and strategic planning with The Nature Conservancy, professional education with the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, and teaching undergraduates at UC Santa Cruz. Visit his website at: www.greyhayes.netEmail Grey at coastalprairie@aol.com |

Tuesday, June 17, 2025

That is Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., pictured. He writes a regular business column for The Wall Street Journal. To be completely candid, I am not a fan. Still, I do subscribe to The Wall Street Journal, and so I read Jenkins’ columns, as they periodically appear. I am always trying to make sure that I “consider the alternatives,” even when (and perhaps especially when) I already know what I think!
I think that global warming is a genuine and potentially world-ending crisis, and so when I saw the headline on Jenkins’ column in the January 15, 2025, edition of The Journal, I was pretty sure that I was not going to agree with what I was about to read. Here is the headline I am talking about: “End of a Climate Delusion.”
In fact, Jenkins does basically dismiss the reality of the global warming crisis, even in the face of the Los Angeles fires. I definitely don’t agree with him in his overview perspective on global warming. Jenkins is not much concerned. I am!
Here, however, in an excerpt from Jenkins’ column on what he calls the “Climate Delusion.” Could this be a statement that is worth thinking about? Could this guy be right?
Green-energy subsidies do not reduce emissions. This will be news to millions of California voters. It contradicts a central tenet of state policy. It isn’t news to the actual enactors of these subsidies. A National Research Council study sponsored by congressional Democrats in 2008 concluded that such handouts were a “poor tool for reducing greenhouse gases” and called for carbon taxes instead.
Unfortunately, the incoming Obama administration quickly discovered it favored climate taxes only when Republicans were in charge. Backers would later engage in flagrant lying to promote Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, knowingly citing bogus predictions that its trillion-dollar spending profusion would reduce emissions.
A 2019 University of Oregon study had already revealed the empirical truth: Green energy doesn’t replace fossil fuels, it enables more energy consumption overall. That same year the EPA calculated that the potential emissions savings from subsidizing electric vehicles had been offset five times over by the pickup truck and SUV boom Team Obama facilitated to assure the success of its auto bailout (emphasis added).
To the degree that Jenkins’ column can be read as a statement in support of carbon taxes, I do agree with him. Carbon taxes are something we need. Further, I have to say that I think I am in agreement with the other statements that I have highlighted in the excerpt from Jenkins’ column.
It is certainly true that green-energy subsidies do not “reduce emissions.” Furthermore, “green energy” does not – at least not automatically – replace fossil fuels. New sources of “green energy,” since they provide a new “supply,” can indeed lead to “more energy consumption overall.”
An effective policy to combat global warming would require a reduction in energy supplied by fossil fuels as new energy sources, not based on fossil fuels, are made available. Otherwise, Jenkins’ observation is correct, the new “green” energy sources (absent a corresponding reduction in ‘non-green” energy sources) will simply mean that we’re going to be using more energy.
What do we actually need? In so many areas, as I have said before in these daily blog postings, what we need most is LESS.
Gary Patton is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor (20 years) and an attorney for individuals and community groups on land use and environmental issues. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. You can read and subscribe to his daily blog at www.gapatton.netEmail Gary at gapatton@mac.com |

When compared to the Trump administration’s mass firings at the federal level, his massive, expensive military parade in the nation’s capitol seemed a harebrained plan, especially when further cuts to federal programs are coming. The price tag on the day’s events have been bandied about in the $45 million range, but is likely to creep higher…which taxpayers will never gain knowledge about. Trump explained to NBC News’ Kristen Welker the cost will be “peanuts compared to the value of doing it,” but Ja’han Jones of MSNBC says that claim is debatable at best, the actual value of hosting such a parade, is more reminiscent of dictatorships as it features dozens of military vehicles and thousands of service members. Or as Adam Kinzinger says, the waste and corruption of the Trump administration, and the president wanting a military themed 79th birthday party, has more to do with Trump’s disinterest in being president and his desire to be worshipped, and his interest in entertaining. Submitted cartoon captions on Robert Reich’s blog read: “It’s not just a birthday — it’s a national emergency in red, white and ego,” and “They’re marching to the beat of a draft dodger!” and “It’s my birthday too, but all I got was 1 doll.”
Last week satirist Andy Borowitz wrote his version of the impending parade: “Donald J. Trump’s long-wished-for military parade was abruptly cancelled on Saturday after it emerged that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had inadvertently invited the Houthi rebels. Though Hegseth defiantly told reporters, ‘I did not text parade plans,’ a mass invite from his Signal account was sent to the Houthis, Iran’s Supreme Leader, and The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg. In an official statement, the Houthis said they were ‘saddened’ to lose the chance to show off their military hardware, adding, ‘We already packed our drones.'” Not attending the actual festivities were many GOP lawmakers who were heading home for the weekend for personal reasons, not enticed by Trump’s promise of an “incredible” display.” Louisiana Senator John Kennedy said, “The United States of America is the most powerful country in all of human history. We’re a lion, and a lion doesn’t have to tell you it’s a lion. I would save the money, but if the president wants to have a parade, he’s the president, and I’m not.” Senator Rand Paul said he has “never been a fan of goose-stepping soldiers in big tanks and missiles rolling down the street” and likened the expected imagery to the Soviet Union and North Korea, adding, “So if you asked me, I wouldn’t have done it.” A Politico survey found only seven out of fifty lawmakers on the House side who would attend. Threatening weather may have accounted for a low turnout, but Trump wasn’t discouraged — “tanks won’t be affected. It doesn’t affect the soldiers. They’re used to it. They’re tough,” said Cadet Bone Spurs.
Regrettably, after months of planning, and public ballyhoo, the event came to fruition, and was ruled a whopping belly flop — the ballyhoo becoming a bally-boo-hoo for Trump and his hangers-on who were coerced into sitting on the viewing stand with him. The tiny crowd size, bored and uncoordinated marchers, rusty and clunky machinery, and the humiliation for the crypto sponsors whose logos were prominently displayed, all provided ammo for social media to explode with ridicule. It was far from being a feather in the cap of America’s would-be dictator as he looked bored, disinterested, and appearing to nod off a few times. Ditto for Melania and the MAGA hostages. For the president to know that his grand parade was sharing TV screens with the massive ‘No Kings’ protest rallies across the nation and the world only emphasized his desperation and weakness in a country that was forcefully objecting to the moral squalor of his leadership. Andy Borowitz says the short version of the D.C. event is a ‘sad trombone’: wah-wah-wah-wah! Maybe next time Trump wants to celebrate himself with an ostentatious display of military hardware, he should hire a consultant who knows how to produce this kind of show: Kim Jong-Un. A joke on X: “MAGA estimates that 51 million to 1.2 billion people attended Trump’s parade.”
The MoveOn website reported: “Two very different visions of America were on display. In Washington, D.C., Donald Trump staged a grossly expensive and ‘profoundly low energy’ military parade — a spectacle featuring squeaky tanks, troops, and weapons rolling through our nation’s capitol on his 79th birthday. It was a sparsely attended, and ultimately, empty attempt to show force by a historically weak president who governs through fear because he cannot lead through trust.” It is estimated that as many as five million people were in the streets in 2,100 peaceful ‘No Kings‘ protests — “a massive display of the power we hold when we stand together for democracy, dignity, and hope,” says MoveOn. In April three million protesters attended 1,300 ‘Hands Off’ rallies, and with last week’s five million, the movement is obviously growing, but it’s only the beginning and we have to keep the energy flowing. Historians who study social movements worldwide have coined the ‘3.5% rule,’ which says historically few authoritarian governments have withstood 3.5% of their population peacefully mobilized against them in a sustained show of solidarity. Today’s movement will have to grow to around eleven million people who remain steadfast in protesting the MAGA regime, so the momentum is moving toward reaching that goal.
Alix Bedeen writes on Daily Kos of Florida’s Governor DeSantis making a statement that “vehicular manslaughter is morally okay, as long as you’re hitting a dirty, ICE-hating liberal.” He is quoted as saying, “If you’re driving down one of those streets and a mob comes and surrounds your vehicle and threatens you, you have a right to flee for your safety, and so if you drive off and you hit one of those people, that’s their fault for impinging on you.” After chaos ensued when President Trump sent in troops to quell protests in Los Angeles, inspiring protesters in other states to do likewise, DeSantis took the opportunity to take advantage of the chaos in an attempt to bury his own family scandals which have been jeopardizing the political futures of he and his wife. The governor was called out by the Orlando Sentinel for omitting “LGBTQ and Hispanic communities” from the annual Pulse nightclub shootings statement honoring those victims, as a flagrant display of racism and homophobia. Bredeen concludes with, “Then again, DeSantis’ idea of protecting his constituents is arming daycare workers, so what’s running over a protester every now and then?”
MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart and authoritarianism expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat discussed Florida’s Brevard County sheriff, Wayne Ivey, after his press conference threatening ‘No Kings’ protesters in his jurisdiction. Ivey said, “If you throw a brick, a firebomb, or point a gun at one of our deputies, we will be notifying your family where to collect your remains because we will kill you, graveyard dead. We’re not going to play. If you try to mob rule a car in Brevard County, gathering around it, refusing to let the driver leave, you’re most likely going to get run over and dragged across the street. If you spit on us, you’re going to the hospital, then jail. If you hit one of us, you’re going to the hospital, jail, and most likely get bitten by one of our big, beautiful dogs.” As Ben-Ghiat shook her head in amazement, Capehart asked her to comment. She said, “Unfortunately, what happens when you have a culture of institutionalized lawlessness, and where the head of our government tried to overthrow the government, and is calling protesters insurrectionists, having incited a violent insurrection of his own, there’s a kind of encouragement for all kinds of broad state security forces, including law enforcement, state militias, and the military to feel empowered to be lawless themselves, and to speak like that.”
Lisa Needham writes on The Daily Beast that Senator Jeff Hawley wants an investigation into ‘The Insurrection’ — not the January 6, 2021 affair, the 2025 protests in Los Angeles to be more exact. The Missouri Senator is going to blow this whole criminal conspiracy wide open, using the same old, tired GOP delusion that left wing demonstrators are not spontaneous or authentic but are instead paid puppets funded by dark money masters led by George Soros. Hawley has sent letters to groups he alleges are funding the protests, demanding their donor lists, which Needham finds just a touch McCarthy-ish. She writes that sending letters to organizations disfavored by the government, asserting that participation in that group is criminal, and demanding donor names is pretty much an accurate shorthand description of the McCarthy era. The groups Hawley has singled out are the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which is actually a communist group. The New York Post has reported that, “The radical group, CHILRA, had received around $450,000 in grants for ‘citizenship education and training’ between October 2021 and September 2024 from DHS — the very agency the group was protesting.” Needham snarks, “Ah, yes. The well-known ‘you can’t protest the government if you ever got money from the government’ exception to the First Amendment.” Hawley, in his letters, says, “Bankrolling civil unrest is not protected speech. It is aiding and abetting criminal conduct.” Hmmm — must not pertain to January 6? He doesn’t stop at donor lists — he also wants all internal communications related to protest planning, coordination, or funding; all financial documents related to protests over immigration enforcement; all contracts and grant applications related to immigration enforcement; travel records for anyone supported or reimbursed for protests activities; and all media strategies. Seems that he has forgotten the well-known photo of him raising his fist in support of the gathered January 6 insurrectionists who were poised for the Capitol onslaught, and his answer that, “Trump keeps his campaign promises” when asked about the president’s blanket pardon for his horde of lawbreakers.
We’ve all seen the powerful, yet horrifying, images on TV or social media from the anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles with the escalation of law enforcement and police violence, but the citizens are not letting up in defense of their neighborhoods. One protestor’s confrontation with California National Guard officers at the Los Angeles VA Clinic has gone viral as he stands his ground, bravely addressing the armed, uniformed unit. “You’re tough with your assault rifles and your sticks. You should be standing here with us. You’re on the wrong side of history,” he begins. His diatribe continues: “We know you got a job to do. But you took an oath to the Constitution, not to the fascists in the White House. Think about what you’re doing now. Think about what this means, coming into our community. Peaceful community…people working their jobs. They send men in military fatigues. Weapons of war in our communities, and you stand here and you allow it. I am sick and tired of it. You should be sick and tired of it.” Then asking the officers, “You think any of these people in the White House sending you these commands care about you? Not one of them do. They laugh at you. Our president laughs at you. He called you fools. He said the people who died overseas in the military were chumps. That’s who you’re defending right now.” As the video continues he says, “Think about your place in history, ladies and gentlemen. Ask yourself when you wake up tomorrow. I don’t know if you have kids. Ask yourself the future you want for your children. Is it this? You can answer me. Is it this? Do you feel good about this? You’re tough looking behind your masks and your fatigues with your weapons, but how do you feel on the inside? This is our community, and we will fight for it if we have to.” The protester’s video has been seen over 350,000 times, being reposted by countless news media outlets and social media users, viewers being moved by his courage and his potent message. Many called his accomplishment true patriotism, the sign of a leader who should be running for political office, and one Tiktok poster felt it gave all on the sidelines a great reminder: “You can always be the hero.”
Satirist Andy Borowitz reveals that the president had arrived at what he felt was a great solution: “In what critics are calling an inflammatory move, Donald J. Trump announced on Tuesday that he was sending Stephen Miller to Los Angeles to act as a human repellant. ‘No one empties a room faster than Stephen,’ Trump said. ‘He’s better than teargas.’ But Trump’s plan faces a stiff legal challenge from human rights lawyers, who argue that the use of Stephen Miller violates the Geneva Convention.”
A couple of years ago, Trump was interviewed by Fox News’ Bret Baier, who asked The Don what he considered the most important issue for the country, which brought up the usual suspects — the economy, border security, ‘woke,’ but his main concern was “respect.” “Basically, respect all over the world. We don’t have it anymore. We had tremendous respect in 2020. We don’t have respect anymore. We have to get that respect back. And if we don’t, we have some big problems,” he opined. MSNBC’s Steve Benen writes, “This has been a rhetorical staple for the Republicans for quite a while. In fact, on the campaign trail last year, the told a Pennsylvania audience, referring to his White House tenure: ‘We were the most respected country in the world. We were the most respected that we were ever respected. We were never more respected than we were four years ago.'” Of course, Benen calls this statement “utterly bonkers,” but now that the president has returned to the Oval Office, it’s suddenly even worse. The Pew Research Center released the results of international surveys measuring Trump’s support in 24 nations across the globe, making it clear that results were awful. Majorities express little or no confidence in Trump’s ability to handle specific issues, and when asked about Trump’s personal characteristics, most describe him as arrogant and dangerous, while relatively few see him as honest. Benen writes that broadly speaking, good news for the White House was hard to find in the data, much of the world holding Trump in low regard, his unpopularity tarnishing the stature of the country, with favorable ratings dropping by double digits in several countries. The PRC showed George W. Bush unpopular, with Barack Obama’s support high; followed by Trump’s first term numbers awful, then bouncing upward under <b>Biden</b> — now, the numbers are continuing to slide downward.
While some argue that the new numbers are irrelevant, since Trump has prioritized an ‘America First’ theme, the lack of international backing shouldn’t matter — the problem being that Trump has invested enormous amounts of time and energy to make the opposite argument. Most will remember that the Republican worldview is that the USA has been an international laughingstock for decades, but Trump has argued that thanks to how awesome his awesomeness is, he has restored the nation’s global stature, seeing it as one of his most important accomplishments. As Trump ended his first term, in his farewell address he told the country, “The world respects us again. Please don’t lose that respect.” However, the Pew research from September 2020 notes, “In several countries, the share of the public with a favorable view of the US is as low as it has been at any point since the Center began polling on this topic nearly two decades ago.” Benen concludes, “And yet, the president can’t let go of this lie. A few weeks ago, by way of his social media platform, Trump wrote: ‘Our Nation is staging one of the greatest and fastest comebacks in history. In just 4 short months, we are respected again, respected like never before.’ He similarly added in February, just a couple of weeks after his second inaugural, ‘We are respected all over the world, like never before.’ All of this was the opposite of the truth. It also reinforces the fact that Trump is failing, not by some random metric, but by one of the standards that he personally elevated above all others.”
After the president and the First Lady made a rare public appearance at the new and MAGA-friendly Kennedy Center for the presentation of ‘Les Misérables,’ Jimmy Kimmel on his show, expressed concern about the state of their marriage. “It was the opening night, led by their self-appointed chairman of the board,” he said in his opening monologue, as he showed a photo of their appearance, joking, “There he is, Don Valjean and Lady Misérable.” Kimmel surmised, noting their body language, “That is the look of a couple that just realized they have to sit next to each other for three hours. Napoleon Bone-a-Spurs was accompanied by Melania as required under Section B, Subsection 3 of their prenup, which states, ‘Mrs. Trump shall accompany her husband to no fewer that two public appearances per calendar year, during which she shall refrain from open displays of revulsion, disgust, and or hatred, regardless of current mood or events.” Kimmel who has always used the cold, distant relationship of the couple, continued it throughout his monologue. “But Melania, from all accounts, she loved this show. Her favorite song was ‘On My Own.” “They really do seem so close, closer than ever, the way they were holding hands on the way in…,” — as he showed a photo of Trump holding Melania’s thumb as they entered the theater — “…in karate that’s known as a ‘thumb lock.'” Some performers in the play refused to appear knowing that the Trumps would be in the audience, and news reports indicate that loud boos were heard as the First Couple entered, soon to be overshadowed by cheers and clapping from the MAGA attendees. Trump was probably echoing the words of Groucho Marx: “I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn’t it.”
Dale Matlock, a Santa Cruz County resident since 1968, is the former owner of The Print Gallery, a screenprinting establishment. He is an adherent of The George Vermosky school of journalism, and a follower of too many news shows, newspapers, and political publications, and a some-time resident of Moloka’i, Hawaii, U.S.A., serving on the Board of Directors of Kepuhi Beach Resort. Email: cornerspot14@yahoo.com. |


EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS. View classic inner-view ideas and thoughts with Subconscious Comics a few flips down.
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “Deep Cover” down a few pages. As always, at TimEagan.com you will find his most recent Deep Cover, the latest installment from the archives of Subconscious Comics, and the ever entertaining Eaganblog.
Archaeology
“Archaeology holds all the keys to understanding who we are and where we come from.”
~Sarah Parcak
“Archaeology is the peeping Tom of the sciences. It is the sandbox of men who care not where they are going; they merely want to know where everyone else has been.”
~Jim Bishop
“At 16, I got into local-education archaeology classes – you got to go to summer digs. It allowed me to be both intellectual and a bad girl with a wicked social life every evening!”
~Mary Beard
“I’d always been fascinated by archaeology; it was my original career plan as a kid.”
~Tana French
“As anyone who has watched Time Team will know, the context is all in archaeology.”
~Tony Robinson

The Time Team strikes again… This is a very entertaining show out of Britain. The premise is that this “Time Team” gets called in and are given 3 days to verify or dismiss an archeological question or anomaly. Go ahead and watch this, and maybe fall down the rabbit hole and watch more! Yay, history!! |
(Gunilla Leavitt)
