Bratton… Railtrail and Greenway … Greensite… on Housing bills and Forum… Steinbruner… out this week… Hayes… shifting seasons… Patton… Farewell to UCSC… Matlock… suckers and losers on TikTok…misbehavin’…the Kraken comes!…Eagan… Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover… Webmistress serves you… River Hunters Quotes on… “Archaeology”
|
Dateline: September 4, 2024
MORE RAIL TRAIL AND GREENWAY FEEDBACK. Much power, politics and ongoing pressure surround, and nearly suffocate, our lives and attention over the Rail Trail issue. Just the reactions that folks send to me indicate that our officials need to get it together and quicker than they say they are working on. I am reprinting a letter that I received last week from an involved Santa Cruzan. Let me know what you think…
“It was great that you subsequently provided the link to Campaign for Sustainable Transportation. People need to dig deeper to understand the connections to the Rail Trail. Being up against Greenway and Manu Koenig feels like playing Whack-a-Mole. They keep bringing up minor issues to try to block progress on the Rail and Trail. Much like the Arana Gulch campaign.
Greenway supporters have people riled up against the Rail Trail by making a big deal about trees being cut down to create the Rail Trail. But what about all the huge old trees being cut down to widen the highway?? Widening doesn’t work anyway (see CFST posts) and it takes away funds that could be better used for sustainable transportation.
It looks like well-funded Greenway just won’t give up. They have endorsed Kim DeSerpa for Supervisor and, if elected, we can expect her to join Manu in efforts to erase our rail transit options.
Even though I live far from District 2, I feel it is really important to elect Kristin Brown. She supports the Rail Trail and she has impressive endorsements besides her outstanding experience.
There are only FIVE Supervisors. A majority can make a difference how our County will proceed on some VERY important issues.
So sorry Lani Faulkner didn’t win. Manu won by just a few points, but he acts like it was a landslide”.
There’ll be more, much more about this land use issue…keep those notes a flyin!
MONSIEUR SPADE. Netflix series. (6.9 IMDB) Clive Owen is either paying off a bet or simply forgot how to act…he plays at being the Dashiell Hammett character Sam Spade in this political drama set in France in 1963. He lives in the south of France and is supposed to be 60. A priest, an investigator, a mess of a cast all looking for a young girl named Teresa, don’t even think about this one!
HORIZON: AN AMERICAN SAGA. HBO series (6.8 IMDB) Kevin Costner (who must have had some lifting of face) not only directed this saga but is one of many featured costars along with Sienna Miller, and Luke Wilson. There is a murder in Montana during our civil war and the movie features a large focus on “Native Americans” being careful to respect them as important humans in a rare drama.
THE WATCHERS. Max movie.(5.7 IMDB) An incredibly puzzling movie set in Ireland with Dakota Fanning delivering a parrot to a more than unbelievable and invisible bunch of humans hiding out in an impossible part of a forest. Full of legends, myths, and puzzles, it’s worth your time.
AMERICAN MURDER: Laci Peterson. Netflix series. (7.0 IMDB) It’s a documentary about a murder that happened in 2002. Laci Peterson was murdered and her husband Scott was convicted, and more than 20 years later he and his family are still working to disprove his involvement. It takes place in Berkeley and Modesto and gives us some concept of how big a role the media plays. There’s more documentaries being produced on the Peterson case and we are advised to wait for a better version.
GYEONGSEONG CREATURE. Netflix series. (7.3 IMDB). This Korean horror flick reminded me of some of the films we studied in Earl Jackson’s film classes at UCSC. It’s a deeply detailed and bloody story of military lives, husbands, wives all being chased and threatened by this creature. It’s mostly fun and preposterous. Sit back and enjoy it.
THE UNION. Netflix movie. (5.5 IMDB) A very unfunny attempt at a comedy that stars Mark Wahlberg, Halle Berry and J.K. Simmons. There’s not a laugh in it, and the actors behave like they’re paying off some debts. The photography is dutiful as are the various locations. Do remember that there are songs interspersed and that makes it more weird and hard to remember that it’s a story about some Americans acting as tourists.
LADY IN THE LAKE. Apple series (5.9IMDB). Natalie Portman (who is now 43 years old) plays a Jewish author in the 1960’s Baltimore. There’s some black politics thrown in and the plot gets lost after some extreme editing. The entire plot is reversed and not as well thought out as they figured. Don’t give up anything important to watch this.
EXIT PLAN. (AMAZON PRIME SINGLE). An insurance investigator checks in to a very special hotel in Denmark exclusively inhabited for patients who make their own plans on dying. Then he too realizes that he’s dying from a tumor. It’s an excellently told and deep and depressing story about assisted suicide. Full of time and personality shifts you’ll be transported into moments thinking about your own demise. Watch it when you’re in a good mood only.
MIDNIGHT RUN. (1988 RELEASE) (NETFLIX MOVIE) (7.5 IMDB). An absolutely brilliant comedy plus crime plot that will have you rolling on the floor with pathos and delight, see it again even if you remember the best scenes. It stars Robert De Niro as the cop and the ever subtle Charles Grodin as the robber being escorted across country by De Niro. The laughs are both outrageous and subtle and the rest of the cast looks like outcasts from The Sopranos.
VANISHED INTO THE NIGHT. Netflix movie (5.2 IMDB) An Italian family’s two children are kidnapped and a huge ransom is demanded. The acting is poor, the plot is questionable and only Santa Cruz small boat owners will stay awake to solve the twists and inadequacies.
LAND OF BAD. Netflix movie (6.6 IMDB) An unexplained battle that happens in South Africa and the Philippines within our own armed services, namely the air forces versus the infantry! It’s high tech adapting to traditional military systems. It’s probably all very true but the presentation is slow and boring.
ROCCO SCHIAVONE: ICE COLD MURDERS. Prime series. (7.8 IMDB) An absolutely engrossing, tightly knit movie about an Italian (Aosta is the city in Italy) detective whose wife is either murdered or maybe was suicidal. He’s quirky, smokes pot, and heads up a great cast in an excellent series. Go for it. I’ve repeated this review because too many folks forgot the title.
GOYO. Netflix series. (6.5 IMDB) Hard to believe and follow this tearful drama from Buenos Aires. It’s about a museum guide who has Asperger’s. We get to look at his sex life, how he loses control, and his new love of the beautiful woman guide that changes everything.
HOUSING SLEIGHT OF HAND
In 2018, when Senate Bill 827, authored by Scott Wiener (above left at the Lookout Housing Forum) failed miserably, the Senator expressed optimism that at least the issue of housing production had gotten a hearing and he forecast better days ahead. He was correct. By August 2024, four housing bills authored by Senator Wiener have passed and are on their way to the Governor’s desk.
Vehement opposition to Wiener’s 2018 bill came from social justice groups and low-income residents of color who feared displacement due to the gentrification anticipated from new housing development in transit-rich locations that already housed single-family, low-income residents. As Anya Lawler, a lobbyist with the Western Center on Law and Poverty said of the bill’s supporters, “the YIMBY movement has a white privilege problem. I don’t think they recognize it. They don’t understand poverty.”
Of the four Wiener Senate Bills just passed, SB 312 mandates a CEQA exemption for student housing projects. This bill has direct implications for the city of Santa Cruz and UCSC. The university has just lost a CEQA legal challenge to its most recent Long Range Development Plan EIR. The Court determined that UCSC had done an inadequate assessment of the impact of its growth plans on the local housing supply and an inadequate assessment of evacuation plans in the event of a wildfire emergency. Under Wiener’s bill, if signed by the Governor, for future housing projects UCSC will be exempt from studying any environmental impacts on the sensitive, biodiverse campus lands and exempt from assessing impacts on the town, such as traffic, public transit needs, water usage and drainage.
I can attest from experience, CEQA legal challenges are not undertaken lightly nor frivolously. Anyone can file a lawsuit but there is a high bar for prevailing in a CEQA legal challenge. If institutions such as UCSC and the City of Santa Cruz conducted proper environmental reviews, which they don’t, then lawsuits would be unnecessary, impacts properly studied, and mitigations assessed. SB 312 throws the public process to hold UCSC accountable under the bus.
In his 2018 bill, Senator Wiener and YIMBY supporters failed to account for the impacts of their housing proposals on existing low-income residents. Despite last minute scrambling to respond to the push-back, that effort failed to convince their opponents that low-income residents would be protected. One wonders if anything has changed in today’s housing market.
At the Lookout Forum, Senator Wiener expressed optimism that greatly increasing housing supply, making the process more streamlined and predictable will eventually lower the cost of housing. Whether that formula applies in a place like Santa Cruz with limitless demand is unlikely, but time will tell. Whether that formula applies when housing is a lucrative investment commodity outpacing the stock market is unlikely, but time will tell. Meanwhile low-income workers, many who have rented in town for decades are leaving. Isn’t this the demographic that inclusionary housing is supposed to provide for?
If you are under the impression that inclusionary housing aka affordable housing supply is or will be increased by the new dense, tall for Santa Cruz, six, eight, sixteen story developments, you would be wrong. There’s a bit of a financial sleight of hand in this game. The state-imposed density bonus requires cities to permit developers to build far higher and wider than the zoning allows and obtain waivers for setbacks, required open space or parking. All this if they include inclusionary housing. But… they don’t have to include any more inclusionary housing at six or sixteen stories than is required by local ordinance at the zoned three stories. That’s right. No extra inclusionary units for all that height, all those bonuses.
Senator Wiener at the forum twice said that the purpose of the density bonus is to increase affordability. He added the caveat, “it does help a project pencil out.” In other words, we don’t get any more inclusionary housing, but it sweetens the pot for the developer to build. Just an extra incentive in a hot housing market in one of the most desirable, most expensive places to buy or rent, for a commodity that has a rate of return exceeding that of the stock market.
To compound matters, all that extra market-rate housing raises the area median income (AMI), making affordable or inclusionary housing further out of reach of low-income workers. When the definition of low-income is determined by the state to be a yearly $92,500 for one person, and even that ceiling will rise as the well-off move to town, then the 2018 comment by Anya Lawler to Scott Wiener’s legislation and its YIMBY supporters seems as applicable today as it was six years ago.
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. |
Becky is out this week.
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 |
Seasons Shifting
Summer is fading into Fall, and nature around us is shifting, easing us into the new season. Days grow shorter, nights longer. Heatwaves could still happen, waves of chill, as well. How far off is rain? When will the last migratory birds depart? How are the deer getting by? What must we do to prepare for rain? Day by day, if we pay attention, so much is changing.
Migration Season
Barn swallows were the first to visit in the spring, tree swallows following a few weeks before. Now that Fall is upon us, barn swallows have already left, but tree swallows persist. Species by species, each travels back to their tropical winter habitats, each following their own mysteriously chosen schedules. The absence (or presence) of swallows is easy to notice, but it takes more care to note the departure of warblers: small birds with yellow, green, gray, or black feathers that also call the tropics their wintertime home. To find warblers, one must listen carefully or peer with binoculars into dense foliage; noting the timing of the arrival and departure of at least two of the local summertime resident species of warblers is a personal goal for next year.
Seasonal Bird Behaviors
Besides migration, there are other bird behaviors that mark the season. Fall is the seasonal equivalent of the month after having dropped the kids off at college for birds. Young birds have fledged. The young of large, non-flocking birds like ravens, owls, and hawks must move away from the parents’ territory. This summer, I watched a pair of ravens raise two young, which for months followed them around quite loudly demanding attention. The parents cawed back, the conversations were noisy and long. Now, the raven talk has calmed – just a few “hello”’ or “where are you?” croaks and caws with long periods of silence. I wonder if they enjoy the peace or miss their young.
On the other hand, the young of flocking birds are finding their place in the pecking order. Three months ago, peeping quail chicks were trying hard to keep up with the covey, bumbling and tumbling as they found their balance. Now those quail are near-adults and some are trying their roles out. Some work with sub-groups of the big covey, checking out the role of the delayed feasting head scout, perched high on a branch while everyone else eats. Others have become particularly skilled at finding places dense with seed, leading their extended family towards forage. Allegiances form, then fall apart as slower learners catch on and age and disease slow the prior leaders.
Mule Deer Fall
The approach of Fall makes deer behave differently. Fawns have lost their spots and are wandering, sturdier, only a bit farther from their mothers, still staying in loose groups. Bucks are growing antlers, still covered with velvet, but that is changing quickly. Dusk will soon bring the clackety noise of sparring antlers as bucks twist and jab at each other during what is known as rut. Bucks are sizing each other up in small groups, separating to practice “escorting” does and their this-year fawns. This will become more serious very soon. It is a good time to see deer as they are distracted by courtship and rivalry and a particularly good year to see mule deer in the prime of their health…the good rain year and abundance of food has aided them to grow svelte coats, massive, well-fed muscles, and has made more alert their curious, sparkling eyes.
Fields of Brown, Hillsides of Green
Fall is Peak Dryness in our Mediterranean climate, but forests and shrublands remain quite green. Early summer made the grasslands golden, but they have become a dull light brown as grass stalks weather and dust settles on every blade. The wind rustles through withered stalks, which slowly bend, break, and mat. Grass and flower seeds have mostly fallen, but a few cheerful orange poppy flowers re-appear along the coast where the shorter days and cooler nights allow them to flourish once again. They form colorful spots, drawing the eyes of the wayward walker, hungry for any brightness in the driest time of the year.
Canyon forests and brushy slopes remain steadfastly green, if not lush, as Fall commences. On the conifers, cones grow fat, and the tanoaks are dropping a heavy acorn crop. On steep ocean-facing slopes, even at this late date, coyote brush has yet to blossom, but tiny sagebrush flowers are fading right next door. On the ridgelines, in chaparral, bright green manzanitas are forming elongating inflorescences, too soon for flower buds. In the dryer areas, poison oak leaves create patches of curious crimson. On the whole and from a distance, these shrublands look little changed from the peak of the rainy season – amazing adaptation to the long drought of summer!
Prep for First Rain
Those of us who take the time to anticipate the future will be familiar with the average date of the First Big Rain. The date is codified in government policy and woven into the fabric of the professional land management community. That date is making for fast-paced activities to prepare for the rain. October 15 is the date, a short time away. If we do it right, every road drain will be ready- roads and drainage grates cleared from debris (leaves, trash) so that the first rain will flow as planned. If we have prepared correctly, bare soil will be covered by straw to keep the soil in place, out of streams and rivers. If we are on our game, we will have wetted our rain gardens to activate the soil ecosystem, so that they are prepared to capture and process nutrients and other potential pollutants.
Cover Cropping in Fall
For different reasons, Fall also creates the need for farmers to act quickly. The October 15 date is a good one to shoot for to sow the winter’s cover crops. In our mild winters, agricultural cover crops grow through the rainy season, enriching and holding the soil in place, creating wildlife forage and cover, and capturing nutrients that would otherwise be lost to surface or groundwater. Sowing seeds in mid-October is dicey, because one can’t be certain that the First Big Rain will arrive. Seeds left in the Dry are big time bird food. So, one must prepare the soil and either stand by waiting for the forecast or sow and irrigate, perhaps over and over to germinate and nurture the seedlings ahead of the rains. If you wait and wait, the soil may get too wet for sowing or the days may get too short for growing. For the failing light and cooling temperatures, each week one waits creates a less and less vigorous cover crop…the following years suffer from decreased soil fertility, something that is impossible to ‘catch up,’ except by applying fertilizer or compost.
You and Fall
I encourage you to get outdoors to experience this fleeting moment between the seasons. Listen to wind through the crispy dry meadows. Watch the furtive last foraging of tree swallows before they depart. Smell the dusty, dry and sometimes resinous air which will soon be moist and much-changed from the first rain.
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 |
This year, commencement ceremonies at UCSC took place from June 14-17. Most of the fourth year students whom I taught during the past academic year, and who graduated this year, have now received their diplomas, and have headed back home – or on to their next adventure, including law school, graduate school, travel, and the world of work! Congratulations to them all!
I am, myself, “graduating” from UCSC, at least in a way. I have recently retired, and resigned, and I have thus taught my last class at the University of California, Santa Cruz. I am going to miss teaching!
I have counted up the classes I have taught, and find that I have taught thirty-six classes at UCSC. I taught my first class in 2012, “Environmental Law And Policy.” In 2013, I taught two other classes, “Law And Social Issues,” and “Introduction To Legal Process.” In 2014, I first taught “Property And The Law,” and that is also the year that I first taught the “Senior Capstone” for Legal Studies, which I chose to focus on the themes of “Privacy, Technology, And Freedom.” In 2019, I taught the Crown College Core Course, focused on “The Ethical Implications Of Emerging Technologies,” and in 2022, for the first time, I taught a new course, that I was asked to initiate, “Cities, Urban Planning, And The Law.”
I taught at UCSC for twelve years, and taught thirty-six classes, so (on the average) I have taught one class every Quarter for those twelve years, from 2012 to 2024. Most recently, I have typically taught “Property And The Law,” “Cities, Urban Planning, And The Law,” and “Privacy Technology And Freedom.” As I think back, I want to express my gratitude most particularly to the students whom I have gotten to know through these teaching assignments. It has been both an honor and a privilege to have been able to teach – and to learn from – the several hundred students with whom I have been able associate during the time I have taught at UCSC.
Page Smith, the founding Provost of Cowell College, said that eduction is best described this way:
“The pursuit of truth in the company of friends.”
That was my experience, exactly, during my time teaching at UCSC, and Page’s observation inspired me, at the end of every Quarter, to send students off with three pieces of advice (and, I hope, inspiration):
- “A Piece of Good News,” by Ugo Betti
- “Cantares,” by Antonio Machado
- “Mississippi,” by Bob Dylan
Dylan’s song contains the following verse, which captures my feelings, as I think about the students with whom I have been so fortunate to have been associated:
Well my ship’s been split to splinters
And it’s sinking fast
I’m drownin’ in the poison,
Got no future, got no past
But my heart is not weary,
It’s light and it’s free
I’ve got nothin’ but affection
For all those who’ve sailed with me
Sail on my student friends – and let none of us be daunted by any stormy seas ahead!
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 |
ARLINGTON FRACAS, A DISAPPEARING ACT, NO INTROSPECTION
Republican Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, pulled his weight to allow Donald Trump to once again continue to show his disrespect and disdain toward the military and their families, by setting up a visit to Arlington National Cemetery. Curious that he failed to mark the first or second anniversary of the Kabul tragedy…busy selling Bibles, knick-knacks, trading cards, and incidental huckstering, perhaps? In spite of the federal law prohibiting the use of the hallowed ground for political or election related purposes, Trump showed up with his usual entourage of staffers, including photographer and videographer who proceeded to capture the former president in a familiar pose, grinning ear-to-ear and thumb’s-up, along with family members of those service members killed by a suicide bomber during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan’s Kabul airport. The grinning doofus clearly has no idea how to behave around fallen heroes, as he stands by the grave of a Marine…it’s all about him! Trump’s team was told he could only attend in his personal capacity, with no staff members, and it is reported that the family members had specifically requested no media coverage…Trump must have missed that, too. A cemetery employee attempted to prevent any filming, but Trump’s goons verbally and physically abused her and continued to collect their footage, which later ended up on a TikTok post as a political ad for his presidential campaign. The Trump campaign officials were informed beforehand that only cemetery officials were allowed to take photos in Section 60, where recent casualties are buried, but the Trumpers bullied their way to get what they wanted. Campaign spokesman, Steven (Luca Brasi) Cheung, maintains nothing untoward occurred and could offer video proof that an unnamed individual having a mental health episode had tried to block the MAGA team during the ceremony…so far, crickets on video proof! Sadly, the victimized cemetery employee declined to press charges against the Trumpers for fear of retaliation.
Trump has a record of insulting the military, denying the late Senator John McCain was a war hero because he had been captured and held for five years in the Vietnam War years. Former aides have confirmed that he called World War I casualties “suckers and losers,” though he continues to deny doing so. And most recently he was condemned for telling a billionaire donor, Miriam Adelson, a past recipient of his largesse in his bestowing the Presidential Medal of Freedom, that the award was “much better” than the military’s Medal of Honor. He explained to Adelson that her civilian award ranked higher because “soldiers who get the Medal of Honor are either in bad shape from being shot up or they’re dead.” As president, Trump told his chief of staff John Kelly that he didn’t want “any wounded guys” in his Independence Day parade because, “This doesn’t look good for me,” and he had been quoted as saying, “Nobody wants to see that.” A previous visit to Arlington with Kelly to visit the gravesite of Kelly’s son Robert, a casualty in Afghanistan, had him asking, “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?” Last week’s wreath-laying and brouhaha was an attempt by Trump to clean up his past indiscretions and establish some credibility as a champion of our military, but as it turned out, the visit only served to remind the country how little he understands service, sacrifice, and heroism with his campaign stunt. One of the GOP politicians in attendance, Governor Spencer Cox of Utah, is now under fire for using a photo of the Arlington event in his reelection campaign emails, later apologizing for his indiscretion. Semper Fi!
The Washington Post columnist, Eugene Robinson, writes that, “Donald Trump has shown the nation, once again, that he has no shame,” for exploiting the fresh graves of war heroes by using them as props for his campaign…“a deeply dishonorable act by a shockingly dishonorable man.” Robinson believes just because we are accustomed to this kind of behavior from Trump does not mean we should accept it. Just because he has no sense of honor or appreciation of sacrifice does not mean we have to pretend honor and sacrifice no longer exist. Just because ‘Trump is an awful person’ is an old story does not mean we should yawn at this latest demonstration and quickly move on. He adds, “there is everything wrong with that former president using the occasion to generate visual fodder for is bid to return to the White House…his campaign team knew, and he surely knew, this was forbidden.” Robinson refers to Trump’s phony-hillbilly VP sidekick, JD Vance who chimed in by saying, “She [Kamala Harris] wants to yell at Donald Trump because he showed up? She can go to hell.” Of course, she had said or yelled nothing, only later when asked about the incident did she offer an opinion. And just for the record, Robinson writes that it was Trump who negotiated the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, forcing the Afghan government to release thousands of jailed Taliban fighters in a prisoner swap…to the eventual detriment of our military and the downfall of the Afghan government.
In his defense concerning the Arlington incident, Trump claims he “didn’t need the publicity,” and it’s being blown out of proportion by “bad people in Washington.” Robert Reich writes, “The incident has blown up into a big issue, but not because the Trump campaign erroneously held a political event at the Arlington National Cemetery…it’s blown up because it’s a microcosm of Donald Trump’s moral squalor…his disdain for the law.” Reich feels that abusing and pushing the ANC employee who was trying to enforce the law recalls other instances when the Trump Gang pushed people aside, using violence to get their way…think January 6, 2021. And, that the employee is a woman brings to mind the multitude of ways Trump has employed violence against women, hence the woman’s decision not to press charges for fear of retaliation…she knows! Reich concludes, “The entire incident is also a microcosm of Trump’s utter disdain for morality, honor, and patriotism – the public virtues, the common good. The cemetery is a sacred, hallowed ground. It is considered to be a national shrine. Trump sullied it to achieve his personal goal of the moment: to get a news clip in which he could bash Biden and, indirectly, Kamala Harris. The incident rings the warning bells, rekindles the dark memories, revives the fear. What happened at Arlington National Cemetery was more than an erroneous photo op. It was Trump on full display.” In the meantime, Trump is trying to run away from his actions, pointing to others as the guilty ones, and telling lie after lie to make it all disappear.
And we can bet that Elon Musk is doing his best to assist The Don in making this misadventure disappear…with his “free speech” project on X. Users of the platform saw that a link to the NPR story on the Arlington Cemetery incident was flagged as spam. Clicking on the link, an alert popped up, reading, “Warning: this link may be unsafe,” followed by the URL to the webpage…hardly a malicious or non-factual report by any means! Self-fashioned free speech absolutist Musk has reduced moderation on his platform, terming it a form of censorship, but there seem to be some exceptions to his acceptance of the First Amendment. Last week, a judge in Brazil banned Elon’s social-media platform after a months-long battle over allegations that disinformation was being spread. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ruled that internet service providers must block X for Brazil’s 215M citizens, and that anyone attempting to avoid the ban by use of a VPN would be subject to a fine of 50,000 reais, approximately $8900. Musk and X must comply with court orders to remove some of the named accounts, as well as paying fines, amounting to $3.28M, for his recalcitrance. Make that disappear, Elon!
Bill Maher on HBO’s ‘Real Time,’ commented, “There’s a law, as there should be, at Arlington National Cemetery, where our bravest and greatest are buried, that you can’t take pictures. You can’t use it as a campaign prop. I mean, it’s like when homeless people started making love in libraries. You don’t think there should be a law about it, but you have to. Sometimes you just need a law. So of course, when Trump heard this, he was like, ‘the laws, right?’ And they told him to stop. And he was furious. He said, ‘You are ruining a perfectly good exploitation of a tragedy.’ Then he grabbed some flowers off someone’s grave and said, ‘Send these to Melania!’ When people told him to stop, he just shoved them aside…his goons shoved her. Ever wondered what Donald Trump is like in real life? Tony Soprano, without the introspection.”
Maher also commented on the CNN interview with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Of Walz, he said, “He was just sitting there for a very long time without saying anything…it was like watching ‘Jeopardy’ when one of the players can’t work the buzzer.” All in all, the duo received good reviews for their appearance, but CNN got dragged by most observers for a lackluster presentation, with Dana Bash on the receiving end of the harshest comments. Harris was clearly delighted with Walz’s answers, and was obviously pleased that he had been selected as her running mate. In an interview last week, Jeff Walz, Tim’s older brother who lives in Florida, revealed on Facebook that he had donated to Trump’s 2016 campaign, and appeared to be less than content with his younger brother’s political path. Jeff says, “Tim is not the type of character you want making decisions about your future. I’m 100% opposed to all his ideology,” hinting that he would be open to publicly endorsing Trump’s candidacy. Urged by a Facebook post that he should “get on stage with President Trump and endorse him,” he responded: “I’ve thought long and hard about doing something like that! I’m torn between that and just keeping my family out of it,” adding, “The stories I could tell!” The two brothers are estranged and have not spoken for eight years, cause of the rift being unclear, but opposing political beliefs are at the forefront. The elder Walz once worked in education and was an assistant principal at a Florida middle school, and both brothers have had brushes with the law. Tim has talked about pleading guilty to a reduced charge of reckless driving after a drunk driving arrest, and Jeff pled guilty to retail theft from a Walmart store in 2001, as reported by The Tampa Bay Times. Tim can find comfort in knowing that he has rallied other family members to support him and the Harris/Walz ticket.
Viewers of the aforementioned CNN/Dana Bash interview with the Democratic standard-bearers had their questions answered about the hesitancy of the two to do an earlier interview as the GOP had been urging. Neither of the candidates were challenged by the shallow, predictable questions, handled well by the two, but having little value for prospective voters. The first meaningless question about ‘intentions on the first day in office,‘ was viewed as a trap question by Harris who ignored the path toward dealing with Trump’s claim that he would be a dictator on day one, preferring to speak of her overall goal to economically raise opportunity for the middle class. One writer posted that Bash’s questions might have come from the fax machine at Mar-a-Lago, as she referenced an “economic crisis in America,” “a crisis of affordability,” which made the Trump economy attractive to voters. Kamala confidently pushed back about the strengths of the current economy, which Bash snarkily called “Bidenomics,” pointing out that the White House had effectively corrected the mess left behind by the Trump administration. Bash showed no interest in comparing the agendas of the two opposing parties and their approaches to governing, though both Harris and Walz attempted to broach the subjects. Harris responded to questioning about having a Republican in her Cabinet with a positive answer that it would be a good move to bring a new energy to politics, to have a more inclusive feel to move a united country forward. Bash brought out Prosecutor Harris’s demeanor when she attempted to bring up the race card, but the Vice President told Bash to move on, referring to Trump’s “old, tired playbook” that has no place in the election. David Rothkopf of The Daily Beast feels that Harris “rose to every challenge. Her ascendancy is not a fluke. She is well prepared for this moment…and is the ideal person to confront her opponent face-to-face and to let him know the dark era of US politics that he ushered in is now at last about to come to an end.”
Donald Trump, however, is still working on his debate bailout plan, as he attacks ABC News as “unfair,” employing “terrible” journalists, referring to “George Flopadopoulos” and Jonathan Karl as his prime suspects. Anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis are set to moderate the September 10 debate in Philadelphia. The Cowardly Don has repeatedly threatened to bail out of the face-to-face on the “very biased network,” all while whining and complaining that Joe Biden abandoned him, only to turn him over to an opposing woman candidate. Debate rules seem to have been settled upon, but not with much jousting in the past week or so. Trump told Mark Levin on Fox News that he liked to debate and had “won a lot of debates, otherwise I wouldn’t have been president.” He continues to lament his debate with Biden, which was a catalyst for the president exit from the presidential race. “I think I did a very good job, and maybe I did too good a job.” Felon, prepare to meet The Prosecutor! The Kraken has arrived!
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 is the only discipline that seeks to study human behaviour and thought without having any direct contact with either.”
~Bruce G. Trigger
“It’s interesting to see that people had so much clutter even thousands of years ago. The only way to get rid of it all was to bury it, and then some archaeologist went and dug it all up.”
~Karl Pilkington
“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.”
~James Bishop
“An archaeologist is the best husband a woman can have. The older she gets, the more interested he is in her.”
~Agatha Christie
“Archaeology is not what you find, it’s what you find out.”
~David Hurst Thomas
I find myself watching less and less conventional TV, and I’m amazed at all the stuff that’s to be found on YouTube. Case in point: River Hunters. These guys go into rivers and dig for all kinds of artifacts, from WWII to Victorian to Viking to prehistoric. I’m a big fan 🙂 Here is one episode for your viewing pleasure 🙂 |
Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Email: Bratton@Cruzio.com
Cell phone: 831 212-3273
All Technical & Web details: Gunilla Leavitt @ godmoma@gmail.com