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Letters (July 1, 2020)

* * *

ESCAPE FROM TULSA

Dearest Editor,

Thank you for throwing out a partially true statement about my past life for me to correct, as you knew I would.

Everything you mention is fairly accurate — pioneer, hippy, Trotskyist, and the like. But out of the blue comes "beauty queen", a preposterous claim that stems from me representing Tulsa in the Memphis Cotton Carnival as a teen.

I have no idea how the whole thing happened. My Dad came to me and asked if I'd like to represent Tulsa at the Cotton Carnival. I blithely said ok. I played no special part and had no reason to be there. My assumption is that someone knew my family and extended the invitation and Dad jumped on it, considering it an honor. But I didn't, since I'd done nothing to earn it. 

On arriving in Memphis, I immediately made myself unwelcome with my repeated criticisms of racism as a part of their culture. They eventually got tired of my civil rights point of view and, in no uncertain terms, kicked me out. It was understandable — I'd become disruptive.

I returned to Tulsa unfazed and went on to help integrate Tulsa Oklahoma public lunchrooms in 1960 as a better way of expressing my beliefs.

It came up again last year when I was talking with Kelly House Museum staff. Suddenly, they mentioned that you told them about the Cotton Carnival incident. I explained to them what had happened and they had a good laugh, instantly realizing it was my rebel spirit at odds with southern tradition.

Being a "beauty queen" had nothing to do with anything and you should not be passing on this irrelevant claim, not only because it's not true, but because my life is not based on superficialities like looks as a gauge of accomplishment or character. I hope this clears that up.

Pebbles Trippet

Elk

Ed note: But you'll always be a beauty queen to me, Pebs.

* * *

2020! AND 2026!

Editor,

Thank you for recognizing the Anderson Valley Elementary sixth-grade class of 2020 in the June 3, 2020 issue. With the cessation of on-campus learning, this year’s class was presented with numerous challenges, including the inability to gather for social interactions with their peers. Additionally, they were unable to be acknowledged as in the past for the time they spent at the school. While we were unable to give them a formal farewell this year, being able to see them “together” one more time was extremely gratifying and certainly appreciated. Thank you, 

Sid Frazer

Principal, Anderson Valley Elementary

Boonville

* * *

SOLUTIONS

Editor,

You may not know it but I have been giving you the answers to problems, none of which were adopted. For example, all of the winning initiatives must be okayed by the state legislature and signed by the governor: 

Voluntary 25¢ tollbooths directed in both directions of Sherwood Road could pay for a second access road.

Election Day will be a holiday and just as having a license plate on your car is mandatory, showing up to either vote or not vote will be mandatory. Then no need for his census — it will be taken care of on election Day. (Won’t Republicans jate this one?)

All schools will be required to receive the broadcast of local and national-world news each school day at 1 PM. This will be collected from the Press Democrat and relayed by the County office of education. The Press Democrat will compensated for this service.

Subscribing to the Press Democrat in Willits costs me $60 a month. All print newspapers in the county will be subsidized by 50%, split between the reader and the publisher just as public transportation is subsidized by local government. All weekly newspapers will receive legal ad payments for printing a summary of State news each week. This will be paid for by the state treasurer.

All auto insurance rates, if raised, must notify the reason for the increase to the insured and must be okayed by the state in Insurance Department. This is not being done now. Consumers are being ripped off. 

Public schools will be responsible for counting school-age children for the census and hospitals and midwives responsible for infants and children less than school age. The money saved by the census will be allocated to homeless services.

After each general election all registered voters will be given a packet to be sent to the winning congressional candidate in the 435 congressional districts. There will be plenty of space for the voters to express their views to their congressperson. 

Also there will be a number of questions that can be answered yes or no: 

Do you favor switching to a parliamentary system of government? 

Do you favor eliminating the electoral College? 

Do you favor reducing military spending 5% each year with the savings earmarked for low cost affordable housing? 

Do you favor a 1% increase in the federal gasoline tax each year with the proceeds going to building brothels in each state where prostitution has been legalized? 

Do you favor limiting the hours a firearm can be used to two hours a day, 6 AM to 8 AM? 

Do you support requiring all girls between the ages of 15 and 25 to wear ribbons in their hair: blue for virgins and red for "other"? 

Do you support a sign to be posted at the entrance to all men's rooms: "No matter how long you shake it, you're never going to catch that last drop"? 

All high school seniors will be required to read "A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn before graduating.

Al returned packets will have a Washington DC address but they are intercepted and tabulated for public release before they are sent to the congressmen. Some do not want their constituents to see them.

Ralph Bostrom

Willis

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FAIR PLAY FOR JUNIPERO SERRA

Editor,

Protesters Toppled Statues Of St. Serra

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on protesters who destroyed statues of Saint Junipero Serra:

Smashing statues of American icons is all the rage among urban barbarians. Ignorant of history, they are destroying statues of those who were among the most enlightened persons of their time. This includes Father Junipero Serra. The 18th century missionary fought hard for the rights of Indians, and was rightfully canonized by Pope Francis in 2015.

A statue of Saint Serra was toppled in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on June 19, and the next day another statue of the legendary priest was torn down at Placita Olvera in Los Angeles. Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, who is also president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, singled out Saint Serra for his compassion and his effort to establish rights for Indians and women.

In 2015, I published a booklet, "The Noble Legacy of Father Serra," that detailed his many accomplishments. In light of the attacks on him, it is worth recalling some of his heroics.

Serra got along well with the Indians. His goal, and that of the Franciscan missionaries whom he led, was not to conquer the Indians—it was to make them good Christians. The missionaries granted the Indians rights and respected their human dignity, quite unlike the condition of black slaves. The Indians appreciated their efforts, drawing a distinction between the missionaries and the Spanish crown: the former treated the natives with justice; the latter did not. The civil authorities were the problem, not the priests.

Contrary to the conventional wisdom, the missionaries did not eradicate Indian culture. Indeed, they learned the native language of the Indians and employed Indians as teachers. Some cultural modification was inevitable, given that the missionaries taught the Indians how to be masons, carpenters, blacksmiths, and painters. The Indians were also taught how to sell and buy animals, and were allowed to keep their bounty. Women were taught spinning, knitting, and sewing.

Archbishop Gomez is right to point out that Serra fought for the rights of women, as well. It was the missionaries who sought to protect Indian women from the Spanish colonizers. The Friars segregated the population on the basis of sex and age, hoping to safeguard the young girls and women from being sexually exploited. When such offenses occurred, Serra and his fellow priests quickly condemned them.

A total of 21 missions were established by the Franciscans, nine of them under the tenure of Serra; he personally founded six missions. He baptized more than 6,000 Indians, and confirmed over 5,000; some 100,000 were baptized overall during the mission period.

If the truth were told about Saint Serra, he would be heralded as a friend of the Indians, not as their enemy. But truth matters little to those whose hearts are full of hatred and whose minds are closed to reality.

The Catholic League for Religious & Civil Rights

450 Seventh Avenue

New York, NY 10123

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HORSE WHIPS

Editor: 

The California Horse Racing Board has approved new rules regarding the use of whips on horses — no more than six times during a race; only in an underhanded position (whatever that means); no more than two strikes in succession; no whips during morning training and after the end of races. 

This is all well and good, but it gives me cause to wonder, why do horses have to be whipped at all? It can’t be to spur them to run faster, because all the horses are whipped, so whipping one horse gives no advantage. Does it make the jockey feel better? Has anyone ever asked the horses? Or trainers Frank Stronach and Bob Baffert? 

Attorney Shane Gusman, representing the Jockey’s Guild, took the issue all the way down to, “You’re going to end racing in California. It’s just going to happen if you go down this road ...” 

Just like Southeast Asia; watch those dominoes fall. But they didn’t. In fact, now we’re friends with the people of Vietnam, who not that long ago we were trying to kill. 

Take away the whips. Jockeys will become “horse whisperers.” There’s precedent for that. The horses will love it.

Ed Shoop

Sonoma

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BLACK PEOPLE IN THE ANDERSON VALLEY

AVA,

Ida and Emmett Jackson bought a ranch high above Boonville in the 1930s. She had been the first Negro Masters graduate in education at Cal in the early 1920's. He made a living renting to single workmen in San Francisco. The Jackson family had emigrated from the New Orleans district years before that. She became an acclaimed educator and modest philanthropist. They vacationed summers at their ranch in Anderson Valley.

The attachment here is from her autobiographical reflections for a California oral history project. Chapter XIII deals with buying and living on the ranch. My wife's parents visited them throughout the 1940's and 1950's, as late as the early 1960's by which time both her parents had died. Ethel Waters was another visitor. The local sheep and hog rancher element was violently hostile. It was a general attitude in the region. When Emmett took my wife to Point Arena in about 1951 to get her an ice cream cone, the proprietor refused service. Emmett pointed to the money, quarter, and demanded the ice cream, which the owner handed over.

Years later, someone sabotaged the Jackson ranch house's propane tank with a timer set to explode and blow up the house. It happened that my wife, the only occupant, then a teenager, had left unexpectedly to return to Berkeley that weekend. Old Boonville hands confirmed the race relations circumstances to Marianne Crispin, a young wife living in Boonville when Judith was a child. They recognized each other in Willits 25 years later at the Carnegie Library in 1972. Marianne died falling asleep on the way back from Boonville taking care of her mother in about 1980.

Ida should be considered a pioneer in race relations in the Bay Area. The honorific might be extended, were it known, to life in Anderson Valley. When the nearby Hendy Woods State Park was inaugurated, she invited Ethel Waters to attend and perform.

It was a rough crowd. She avoided all talk about it in her memoir.

Bill Ray

Willits

PS. One anecdote about the only Black man in redneck country. My late neighbor Glenwood Wagner in about 1958 had a 1924 De Soto, perfect condition, newly upholstered, about which he was constantly being importuned by a little old 'Black,' then 'Negro', guy in the neighborhood who was bound and determined to get it. "He was always at me, always at me," Glenwood explained to me. He was the best hunter and fisherman of his time, For years he only used a crossbow, meaning he had to get within forty yards of his prey. He lived twelve years past what his oncologist predicted as curtains. But he was generous to a fault. Finally he gave in to the little guy and sold him the relic, for $35. The buyer spent his last days at Ridgewood Ranch, the religious collective South of Willits, complaining incessantly about racial prejudice. I saw him there in the late 1970s when I delivered mail at Ridgewood as a contract carrier. Black people didn't move to Willits.

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HIGH SCHOOL

Editor,

Very interesting if sobering "Message to the Class of 2020" by Tommy Wayne Kramer in the June 17 edition.

I grew up in an affluent community and graduated from a public high school that was essentially a publicly funded college prep school.

At my high school graduation ceremony the three valedictorians of my class gave speeches. They probably had GPAs around 4.85. I happened to know two of them, one a guy I'd known since the fourth grade; the other a guy I'd known since the sixth grade. I didn't I don't remember anything from their speeches.

I do remember something from the principal’s speech though, both because of its importance and its irony. He said in his speech that all of us in my class (realistically almost all of us) had learned how to "read, write and compute at a high level" during our four years at our high school.

To me this was ironic because within the environment of my high school with its grandiose expectations (or demands) of sending graduates to prestigious colleges, most of us students (and our parents) took for granted that we had learned to read, write and compute at an adequate level.

Unfortunately, we all knew that a lot of American high school graduates do not learn to read, write and compute at an adequate level.

In my opinion, the academic focus at my high school was all out of proportion towards achievement and performance rather than learning. In fact, I'm sure that some of my classmates had a feeling: "I don't really care so much if I can read, write and compute at an adequate level, I just want to go to UC Berkeley and wind up in the affluent professional class like my parents."

Speaking of my classmates, I did not celebrate graduation with my group of 12-15 male friends that night after going out to dinner with my family. Why not? Looking back all these years later I suppose it's because I didn't really consider them friends — they were merely guys I hung out with. After I dropped out of college in 1988 because of the prestigious college professional class rat race had beat me to a pulp, I knew my high school "friends" would reject me outright and consequently I haven't had any contact with them since 1988.

Keith Bramstedt

San Anselmo

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OBJECTS TO PHILBRICK

Editor,

As a long time [38 years] subscriber. I finally let my subscription expire due to your unrelenting acquiescence to Mr Philbrick's racist, misanthropic, ignorant rants. Ok, Let him scribe a couple but it’s a constant platform of hate and stupidity that you countenance. Please. Enough is enough. What purpose are you serving letting this crockpot spew the same shit every week? If Mr P. had enough intelligence and insight to at least vary his tormented diatribes I might be curious, but no, It’s the same crap every single week. As an ancient welder and blacksmith I worked on LP’s equipment on Willow Creek in Occidental since the 80’s and then for MRC after. Never met a redneck asshole such as Philbrick. Thank god. 

Peter Prunuske

Occidental

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SHERIFF KENDALL ON CITIZENS OVERSIGHT

Letter to the Public:

I’ve received several calls and emails regarding the item which was brought forward by the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors (BOS) regarding the forming of a citizen’s advisory committee for the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office. I’ve been asked if I am for or against this along with several topics which are being discussed in the national dialogue.

Anyone who saw the Board of Supervisors (BOS) meeting of June 24, 2020, can see the answer on this is a little complicated. I agree that more transparency between government agencies and the public is a positive move, and law enforcement is no exception. Since the passing of Senate Bill 1421 (SB-1421) and Assembly Bill 748 (AB-748) at the beginning of 2019, law enforcement has been able to provide records to the public relating to officer use-of-force incidents, sexual assault and acts of dishonesty, without the need to go through a drawn-out and often expensive legal process. Without this transparency, it’s easy to understand why the public would often draw their own conclusions about disciplinary actions taken (or lack thereof) by a department against an officer in a specific situation. Without the reports and evidence to review, it’s human nature to fill in the unknowns. SB-1421 and AB-748 have opened up the doors for us to show the public we’re already very good at correcting problems and making changes within our ranks. These two bills opened up the opportunity to build even more trust with the people we protect and serve. 

In Tuesday’s BOS meeting, the model the BOS brought forward was basically a copy and paste of the ordinance which Sonoma County enacted in 2016. Due to the recent legislation, it has become antiquated and is currently costing an enormous amount of money for duplicate work. (I am very conservative with my coins and yours.) 

One week of thinking and a copy of another county’s ordinance doesn't seem like something that will fix hundreds of years of problems. I truly believe we can do better. 

While I’m not opposed to any type of citizen advisory board that considers differing points of view to help shape a new system, I would like to see it come together in a fashion that works for everyone, the public and law enforcement. If we don’t consider all affected, ultimately, good deputies will begin to weigh their own liberty and safety and that of their families, and question having a career which includes so much risk and so little respect. We have many good men and women who are serving our citizens during these times who feel hated, betrayed, and are looking for new jobs. 

While we look to create a more equitable system, we should also look at all departments within the County, not simply the Sheriff's Office. I believe within our government, everyone who serves our public should be held to the same standards and we all need to remain aware of how we are treating the public. If we have a systemic problem in the United States then it isn't simply in law enforcement. The national dialogue is representative of failures in all parts of government and all departments to be involved in changing this.

Any time changes need to be made in the Sheriff’s Office which can affect our people with morale, training, goals or general direction, it has to come from the Sheriff. When something comes forward that can change their lives, I, as the Sheriff, have a duty to speak with them before they hear about it from another source. I also have to work with the local Police Chiefs and our District Attorney. We have a shared goal of public safety and must support each other in this endeavor. I had been working with Police Chiefs and our DA to identify problems and build tangible goals on this topic well prior to this item coming forward from our County Supervisors. 

I’d also like to talk to you about the “De-Fund the Police” movement gaining momentum in our nation and how this effects all of us. My perspective on this may surprise many of you.

This movement seems to be designed to remove law enforcement from dealing with individuals experiencing mental illness, homelessness and drug addiction challenges. This is something that law enforcement has been requesting for years. Law enforcement has always struggled to acquire adequate funding to hire, train, and equip personnel, so while I don’t see defunding law enforcement as an appropriate solution, I totally support additional funding for mental health services, drug and alcohol challenges and for those individuals experiencing homelessness.

People who are affected by mental health challenges, or are dual diagnosis patients, or face drug and alcohol challenges, truly deserve more than they are getting when we arrive as law enforcement officers. They deserve treatment, not incarceration. When they’re released without their core issues resolved, we put them back into a situation where they then often begin to escalate to things like burglaries, assaults, robberies or worse. For years law enforcement has been used as a quick and temporary solution, and every year I am mandated to provide more training towards these issues. This is because the legislature wants the police to continue dealing with these problems, instead of placing the problems where they belong. This needs to change and stop this revolving door. We need to look for solutions to the core problems other than incarcerations. We have received no funding to take on these extraordinary challenges however we are dedicated to working on the problems together. 

Asking an officer to be a doctor, nurse, or therapist is much like hiring a plumber to come wire a house for electricity. It usually doesn’t work out very well and when it fails, do we blame the plumber because he was tasked with a job he wasn’t trained to do? 

If a person overdoses on drugs and dies on a park bench, it’s a terrible event. If that person takes the same amount of drugs and dies in custody, the police are blamed. This cycle has to end. 

I have concerns created by the current national dialogue. It has become reminiscent of something I remember from my youth. I was a child when the Vietnam War was ending and our servicemen were returning home. My father was a fire captain, and over the years, he had several firemen who had been drafted or enlisted, and many of them remember horrific treatment they received when returning to the United States. They had put their lives at risk to defend our liberties and way of life and were blamed for the policies put in place by the government leaders who sent them. They, and sometimes their families, were threatened, assaulted and ostracized, treated without compassion and blamed for a war they didn’t start. This caused a great deal of distrust and division throughout our country.

In a similar fashion, today’s law enforcement officers are being asked to risk their lives to maintain the safety and quality of life by following the rules created by legislators. Many times legislators don’t understand the real-life impact of their decisions. The hostility of the public is often misdirected at officers (and their families) who have nothing to do with the creation of the laws that meet with the public’s dissatisfaction.

We watch the news on television and see the unrest across the country and it’s easy to think that it’s all far away from our own homes and lives. But I see it as an opportunity to learn how to make Mendocino County an even better place to live and avoid the issues of more turbulent areas. 

In closing, I support positive changes, however we have to build a model for Mendocino County that will be durable and work for Mendocino County. I’d like to thank everyone who reached out to me regarding these issues. I truly appreciate all of the directions these issues are viewed from. And I would also remind everyone that I’m always open to hear your suggestions on how we can make our communities better together.

Thank you.

Sheriff Matt Kendall 

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FAIR PLAY FOR TOMMY

Letter to the Editor

I can’t believe the letters to the Ukiah Daily Journal editor squawking to stop Tom Hine from writing his column in the Journal. Personally, of all of the local writers of columns, the only two I ever read are Tom Hine and Jim Shields who both only appear in the Sunday Journal. The rest of them, I can’t even force myself to get past the first paragraph.

I think most of these oafs complaining about TWK are upset because Tom Hine pokes fun at them and their far left beliefs, and, with their way overinflated egos, just can’t stand being made fun of.

In my opinion, I believe that most of the reasons that they give to get rid of TWK are, to use a very, very overused word, racist. 

Thankyou,

David Anderson

Ukiah

* * *

LEAVE TOMMY ALONE, LIBS

Editor,

Freedom of Expression in Perilous Times:

I find disturbing the attempts to kick Tommy Wayne Kramer (nee Tom Hine) out of publishing his column in the Ukiah Daily Journal. Some of my liberal friends seem to feel that his screeds are inappropriate and disturbing. I certainly don't agree with most of what he writes but it's a refreshing addition to an otherwise monochromatic opinion arena.

I used to view TWK as satire because it didn't fit the Tom I have known very slightly but over several years. I will never forget the day that our mutual friend and mentor, Buddy Eller, died in a tragic car crash. Tom was obviously as crushed as I was by the loss of a man with whom he apparently had substantial political disagreements but still enjoyed a strong bond and friendship. Somehow I feel that if my liberal friends had sat down with Tom and discussed their concerns… Oh, there you go again, Kathy, singing Kumbaya and whining "Can't we all just get along?!" 

But the fact remains that banning a person from expressing right wing political ideas would be a blemish on our liberal community. It's important to hear the other side and Tommy certainly pushes the envelope like no other local writer I know. Thankfully, editor KC Meadows "gets" that freedom of expression thing and TWK will continue at the Journal. And I hope that his critics continue to express their views and challenge his. Just no more attempts to silence him, please. That's not who we are.

Kathy Brigham

Ukiah

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WE LOVE OURSELVES

Editor,

To the Editor:

During the shelter in place mandate, our residential care homes, behavioral health services, crisis and homeless programs have all remained open to continue to serve our children, youth, families, and adults with essential healing care. The selfless services and supports RCS employees provide daily is life-changing and value-adding. Further, our organization is made possible by our steadfast administrative teams who provide the backbone for the services RCS is able to make available to the community. Without the brilliance of our administrative employees, we would not have been able to respond to this new environment seamlessly.

RCS is proud to stand in company of such amazing, brilliant, and inspiring change-makers who work tirelessly to create a more loving, just, and healing world. Our employees stepped up and continue to amaze us during these critical times, often working overtime, taking shifts in programs and counties they do not usually work in, spending countless hours ensuring clients’ needs are met – all while being away from their families- and for this and all the other countless ways you contribute, we salute you!

For more information about the services RCS provides – from foster care to our 24-hour youth and adult homes; our 24-hour crisis services, behavioral health services, day resource and night shelter services, and substance use disorder treatment services, please visit our website at www.redwoodcommunityservices.org

Victoria Kelly, CEO, Tawny Bailey, COO, Carmen Harris, CPO, Angie Bakker, Marketing & Communications

* * *

THANKS, GEORGE, BILL

Editor,

Do Black lives matter? Evidently not. They killed 14 last weekend in Chicago and wounded 104 and that's just in Chicago. In all the cities of the United States there were over 200 killed, black people. And several hundred wounded. Where’s the outrage? Where is the coverage by the media? None! The filthy scumbags won't put it on a because it sounds too bad. Where is the outrage you stinking media? Where is it? And all this outrage around the United States? Thank you George Soros and Bill Gates. 

God bless Donald Trump. 

Jerry Philbrick 

Comptche 

* * *

HANDS OFF RUSHMORE! 

Editor, 

Mad as hell! It has been disclosed on evening radio night of June 25, 2020, there is a plan formulating to the deface/tear down Mount Rushmore. Enough is enough! We laypeople black and white have got the message. It is time to put on the brakes, stop the overkill. These problems can be resolved without going on these historical carnages. 

For those few refuse to pull your head out of your ass, cash those food stamps and welfare checks, buy a one-way ticket to Egypt and tear down those big ugly pyramids that took hundreds of years to be built by slave labor. 

Know this: I’m mad as hell and I am not going to put up with it anymore! Touch my flagpole, burn any flag, deface any of my historical monuments, I see you, the brothers, and I will relocate you. Don't ask! 

My friends myself and thousands of others have had it up to here! We will not stand by and just watched the lawless actions seen on TV!

Don't, say again, don't test the waters. You and others will find you have made the mistake of your life!!!!

Just a little snippet for all you far left wing flaming liberals: put that in your pipe and smoke it!

God bless America, the Donald and Jerry Philbrick.

Mad as hell, Patriarch of this grand nation,

Boonville

28 Comments

  1. George Dorner July 2, 2020

    It is a little known fact that there is a room carved into the interior of Mount Rushmore. At 18 feet high, 75 feet long, and 35 feet wide, it should hold enough explosives to help speed the sacred mountain’s return to Native American sanctity.

    • Pat Kittle July 6, 2020

      Sure!

      And while we’re at it, let’s blow up that hideous statue of the deified liar, thief, fraud, & misogynist, Martin Luther King.

      Deal?

      • Mark Laszlo July 7, 2020

        Pat Kittle

        In The Republic, Socrates & his friends
        argued to find the truth of things together,
        sometimes passionate in their differences,
        but when any one of them proved anything
        by finding the best evidence & explanation
        for it, they all agreed & the benefit of an
        established truth was recorded. No matter
        who won the argument, they all won by
        admitting the truth of a matter had been
        found. Then they all had the benefit of an
        addition to knowledge & so has everyone
        who read Plato’s record since.

        Even better, they demonstrated how to
        find objective truth by way of the best
        available evidence & interpretation of it
        that they could all understand. And
        they had the honesty to admit it when
        proved wrong.

        Objective truth exists by itself, whether
        anyone knows or agrees with it or not.

        Those are all basic rules of the
        American way of life that make it
        possible to have a democratic
        republic.

        Arguing to gain the most points, never
        yielding any, leads to dead ends. You
        never learn anything new if you don’t
        admit it.

        To put it simply, even before there was
        a USA, there were left & right factions:
        those inspired by ancient Greeks and
        Romans & those inspired by the Bible.

        The USA never would have been born
        if our right & left factions had not pulled
        together. We had to agree to disagree
        on a lot of things, but it was possible to
        unite & beat the world’s superpower:
        Britain, because many read the classics
        & the bible, such as John Adams, a
        Puritan who wrote that he could be “both
        a Christian and a Freethinker”. Adams
        was more like today’s conservative of
        the right wing. Benjamin Franklin &
        Thomas Jefferson were liberals of the
        left wing. All three were among the
        handful of savants without which the
        revolution could not have succeeded.
        All of the founders who designed the
        Republic via it’s Constitution read the
        Bible & the Classics.

        When General Washington’s letter,
        sent from his headquarters on the
        ridge at the West end of Brooklyn,
        reached an acrimonious Continental
        Congress in Philadelphia, with the
        terrible news he was about to lose
        Brooklyn & New York City to the
        British and “I do not know how many
        good men i shall lose”, the Congress
        was hushed. Then Benjamin Franklin
        said: “Gentlemen, let us all hang
        together, or most assuredly, we will
        all hang separately”.

        I am sorry if i insulted the persons
        of anyone in our conversation.

        Thank you for that Global Research
        article, GR is one of my favorite
        netzines. I found points in it very
        credible.

        I’m leaving the Green Party, since
        today i read they ally themselves
        with the Agenda 21 program. I’m
        sure most Greens are not aware
        of it, but both right & left wing sources
        i’m familiar with, warn a human
        depopulation program is part of what
        they call “sustainable development”,
        along with theft of many accustomed
        liberties of a free people.

        There is nothing you can do to reduce
        Martin Luther King’s stature. Being
        Christian, he didn’t hate anyone.

        If Donald Trump works for Israel, it
        only shows how far he’ll go to cover
        up the proven fact he is Adolf Hitler’s
        pupil, since he read Hitler’s speeches
        & made up a lie to deny it.

        https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/08/donald-trump-marie-brenner-ivana-divorce

        Read Takeaway #4.

        He works for Russia too. If there was
        so much evidence of it when i grew
        up in the 1960s, he’d be tried and
        executed, or locked up in an institution
        for the criminally insane.

        Also, there is much evidence the
        real Donald Trump is a spirochete
        in his brain & that’s what’s running
        this country.

        https://www.google.com/search?q=neurosyphilis%20face&tbm=isch&hl=en&hl=en&tbs=rimg%3ACZVoZl9pAT_1yYSj86mJBp1OV&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS904US904&ved=0CAIQrnZqFwoTCKDRwvamuuoCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAH&biw=952&bih=476

        Sincerely, Mark W. Laszlo

        • Pat Kittle July 7, 2020

          Mark W. Laszlo:

          Your sanctimonious diversion here is a transparent effort to distract us from the highly embarrassing proof I present — of treasonous Israel lobby war criminals controlling virtually all “our” politicians. These creeps also control “our” media:

          — [ https://ifamericansknew.org/ ]

          Here’s an example of what YouTube bans (which Vimeo so far has not):

          “Israel’s Internet Censorship War – If Americans Knew”:

          — [

          ]

          You are right about one thing:

          “There is nothing [I] can do to reduce
          Martin Luther King’s stature.”

          He did that, not me.

          BTW, you just now started praising Christianity & the Bible. I doubt if you’re a Christian, your tactics have been more those of a Zionist Jew

          • Mark Laszlo July 7, 2020

            Pat Kittle

            Donald J. Trump
            @realDonaldTrump
            ·
            Apr 22
            I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea.

            this is the 3rd time you have
            tried to divert this discussion
            from the original point i made,
            that Donald Trump is obviously
            insane & therefore, anyone
            who follows him must also be
            insane in some way.

            Likewise, to defend him & not
            admit the obvious fact of his
            madness, proved by the simplest, plainest example that no sane or
            honest person can deny, proves
            some kind of insanity, via hypnosis,
            brainwashing or other cause.

            I read 5 new books on Donald
            Trump, read & veiwed <2k
            articles & videos on him. You
            don’t need to be a doctor, or
            even a scholar. So much is
            known about him by the public
            globally, all you need is common
            sense!

            Have you heard of it?

            Yet some persist in following
            or defending him. Owning boats
            & planes does not save an old
            man from going daft, as there
            are so many reasons to believe
            he is.

            No-one in this discussion gave
            a credible reason to regard DJT
            as sane. You are all such slippery
            fish, but there’s no getting away
            when you are hooked. You get
            no pass.

            Whatever you use as a diversion,
            however much or little truth is in
            it, is irrelevant to the original
            question, that must be answered
            before any other topic, that should
            be relevant to the starting point.

            If you want to discuss something
            else, i might, once the first point
            is settled.

            You cheat at the rules of fair
            debate. If you knew & followed
            them, we could all obtain a
            useful outcome from discussion.

            If any of you could state a reason
            why a man who uses a phrase
            absurdly & illogically, in a way
            no-one has before him, in a
            context that could lead to world
            war, can be sane, tell me why
            it’s not like that.

            If you can’t, you are bound
            to agree with what you
            cannot disprove, by the 1st
            moral obligation of human
            conduct.

            Have you heard of it?

            Honesty!

            Mark W. Laszlo

          • Pat Kittle July 8, 2020

            Mark Laszlo:

            Yup, your behavior is entirely consistent with that of a Zionist Jew, acting as a hasbara troll:

            — [ https://educate-yourself.org/cn/The-Goyim-Guide-to-Hasbara-Trolls-from-Jonathon-Blakeley22nov11.shtml ]

            You’re still frantically trying to make us focus on Trump’s gaffe — and NOT on Trump’s ongoing war criminality for his Israel lobby masters.

            BTW, ISRAEL DID 9-11 — massive evidence:

            — [ https://wikispooks.com/wiki/9-11/Israel_did_it ]

            Have a nice day!
            :-)

      • Mark Laszlo July 8, 2020

        Pat Kittle,
        if you want to discuss
        that subject you are fixated on,
        you need to deal with the original
        subject 1st. Not doing so proves
        my original point.

        You do not know my opinion on
        your subject, nor my motives or
        religion, yet you prejudge.

        You subject cannot be dealt with
        until you prove sane, fair & honest.

        You remind me of a true nazi in
        Charlottesville, who criticized
        Donald Trump for giving his
        daughter to a Jew. Such is that
        element of his sorry coalition,
        who don’t mind being associated
        with the lunatic fringe. He enables
        that element of his coalition, to be
        his brownshirts & SS, to stamp out
        his opposition so he can gain
        absolute power. Trump has to veil
        his true motives. The nazis don’t
        like it, but for his enablement of
        them, they would be loyal to Trump
        to the point of a violent revolution,
        a real coup, to further their
        enablement. Then he would
        show his true colors, figuratively
        or literally, but much more
        overtly like yours: red, white and
        black.

        Actually, i am for BDS, but to
        discuss the conduct of the
        State of Israel with someone
        who shows hatefulness is to
        beg the question of: Where
        is the line between opposition
        to Israel’s right wing & anti-
        semitism? I will not be used
        by hateful people who are not
        up front in their veiws. I will not
        be tricked into being a pawn
        of antisemites to whitewash
        your evident antisemitism. If
        you are only opposed to the
        State of Israel, you would not
        show signs of hatred, but you
        give off plenty of them to give
        it away.

        What is the danger to American
        liberty, even to the disappearing
        shreds of it; what is the danger of
        the contagious mental illnesses
        of bigotry, racism and fascism?

        Auschwitz stands yet in Poland,
        as a museum, to refute all
        denials.

        There is the building with 4
        gas chambers that killed
        2,000 people each, in 20 or
        30 minutes. No poison acts
        faster than cyanide, but to
        conserve it & protect
        themselves, while killing
        so many, the nazis used
        an amount that took that
        long to kill them all. The
        gas chamber’s venting
        fans were switched on &
        then the doors were
        opened to remove the
        bodies when the
        screaming had stopped.

        Without overstatement
        or needless words, Marie
        Brenner adroitly proved
        Donald Trump read My
        New Order, the book of
        Hitler’s speeches & made
        up an obvious lie to cover
        it up, in the distinguished
        old magazine Vanity Fair
        article After the Gold Rush.

        You can find her proof
        quickly in the abridged
        7 Takeaways version via
        Google. It’s Takeaway #4.

        Some read Hitler to see
        someone like him coming.
        They have no reason to
        lie about it.

        What kind of man reads
        Hitler and lies he didn’t?

        In my experience,Trump’s
        supporters have no answer
        to that, yet they carry on
        like hypnotized people.

        Such was Adolf Hitler’s
        method to hypnotize that
        Donald Trump uses.

        Pat Kittle, i’m not trying to
        change your mind now.
        I’m using you as an example
        who proves his own insanity.

        I can state my motive
        openly: To confront & discredit
        fascists & their diseased thinking
        fearlessly in the most beautiful
        county in the world.

        Donald Trump, America’s
        Hitler, the Great Toadstool,
        is going down. Republicans
        in Congress who cynically
        used him are deserting him
        now. They finally realize their
        support will cost them more
        than they ever got from it.

        The other gang of oligarchs
        will get control of the WH &
        Congress again, since the
        great majority of American
        people, though more spun &
        confused than ever, still have
        the native sense to learn
        something in 3 or 4 years.

        Here in the county i live for,
        i want those who support
        or even defend Donald
        Trump to realize, or if their
        native senses are incurably
        impaired for others to realize
        about them, that by belonging
        to a coalition that includes
        true nazis & following a man
        who follows Hitler secretly,
        Trump & those with him bear
        the stink of Auschwitz that
        rises to the high heavens.

        After Trump is gone, the
        mental disease he spread,
        like a virus, to get absolute
        power, that mental disease
        of fascism, must be discredited
        & abandoned, because it’s
        effects are all evil. To have a
        good future, the children of
        our county must be taught to
        cherish knowledge, liberty &
        civilization. To work to continually
        improve them & to recognize
        fascist thought as their enemy.

        Sincerely, Mark W. Laszlo

        • Pat Kittle July 10, 2020

          Mark Laszlo the hasbara troll:
          — [ https://educate-yourself.org/cn/The-Goyim-Guide-to-Hasbara-Trolls-from-Jonathon-Blakeley22nov11.shtml ]

          As I have demonstrated here repeatedly — the Trump puppet does what his Israel lobby puppet-masters order him to do.

          —– Gaza?
          — Let the IDF shoot those demonstators!

          —– Golan Heights?
          — Let Israel annex it.

          —– West Bank?
          — Let Israel annex it.

          —– Jerusalem, the historic home of Christians, Muslims, & Jews?
          — Let Israel take over.

          —– Keep criminal Mideastern wars going that benefit no one but Israel?
          — Trump violates his campaign pledges and complies.

          PS: Playing your NaziCard is what you people always do when cornered with FACTS.

  2. Mark Laszlo July 2, 2020

    Jerry Philbrick,
    no matter what, no sane, intelligent & honest
    person can overlook the creep you bless is insane, since he
    proved it very simply in a tweet on April 22, 2020:

    “I have instructed the US Navy to SHOOT DOWN and destroy any Iranian GUNBOATS that harass our ships at sea.”

    https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1252932181447630848?lang=en

    No matter what anyone says, it can’t be denied Donald Trump believes BOATS CAN FLY, or forgot the difference
    between watercraft that travel on the surface of water & aircraft that travel through the air. NO SANE MAN CAN
    SAY THAT AND NO SANE MAN CAN OVERLOOK IT.
    HOW DARE YOU INSULT PEOPLE’S INTELLIGENCE?
    HOW DARE YOU BE SO CARELESS ABOUT THE FATE OF AMERICA & THE WORLD BY SUPPORTING AN OBVIOUS LUNATIC? SURELY YOU ARE A LUNATIC YOURSELF, SO SHUT UP IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE TAKEN AWAY BY THE MEN IN WHITE COATS WITH BUTTERFLY NETS!

    Sincerely, Mark W. Laszlo

    • James Marmon July 2, 2020

      It doesn’t take a genius to know what he was talking about, but it does take an idiot to make a big deal out of it like you are. Did it hurt? You people make me sick to my stomach.

      Marmon

      • Mark Laszlo July 3, 2020

        James Marmon,
        Merriam Webster’s Online Dictionary defines “shoot down”, 1st & originally as “to cause to fall by shooting” as in “shot down the helicopter”.

        In reference to targeting vehicles, the term directly infers shooting at something in the air, not on land or water.

        Merriam Webster’s defines “sink”, in it’s verb use as “to cause to sink” as in “sink the battleship”.

        Can you cite one instance in media before that tweet of Donald Trump on 5/22/2020, of shooting down a boat?

        “You people?” What do you mean?

        Mark W. Laszlo

        • Mark Laszlo July 4, 2020

          Pat Kittle,

          please have the decency to reply to me here instead of smearing me with presumptions. In fact i do have a problem with that. I’d thank you for the Global Research article, if you addressed me directly.

          Merriam Webster’s O.D. defines “gaffe” as
          1: “a social or diplomatic blunder” or
          2: “a noticeable mistake”

          https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gaffe

          “Gaffe” isn’t the word. I do not feel triumphant. I feel very alarmed that the POTUS persistently neither knows nor cares what he is saying. That is a sign of insanity.

          Now please explain what you mean by “we” & “his kind”.

          Sincerely, Mark W. Laszlo

          • Pat Kittle July 4, 2020

            You don’t like me “smearing” you, but I merely state FACTS.

            Though I hate to defend a cowardly treasonous war criminal like Trump, it’s YOU who does the “smearing,” claiming “Trump believes BOATS CAN FLY.” Trump owns boats & planes, so he certainly knows which of the two “CAN FLY.”

            And you know it.

            If you really wanted to warn us about Trump you’d focus on his utterly debased subservience to the Terrorist Theocracy of Israel — but you wouldn’t dare. Jerry Philbrick, like most Americans, is likely ignorant of Israel lobby treason — and you people* are happy to keep us ignorant.

            The Global Research article you’d “thank” me for reveals Trump’s treason:

            “Trump Green Lights Greater Israel –
            Palestinians lose again”:
            — [ https://www.globalresearch.ca/trump-green-lights-greater-israel/5702798 ]

            [Excerpt]:
            “Trump’s one-sided Deal was crafted around Israeli interests, not those of the United States and without any input whatsoever from the Palestinians themselves. The team pulled together by presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner consisted of Orthodox Jews and they worked closely with U.S. Ambassador (sic) David Friedman, whose time in Israel has consisted mostly of being an apologist for Netanyahu, excusing accelerated Israeli settlement building as well as the weekly shooting party along the fence line in Gaza. Immediately after Trump and Netanyahu announced the outline of the Deal in Washington, Friedman stated that the Israeli government was at that point free to begin the annexation of any or all of the illegal settlements.”

            Trump’s treason is of far greater consequence than his obvious gaffe. The gaffe itself entailed a threat to Iran, again on behalf of the sleazy terrorists of the Israel lobby, perfectly exemplified by Sheldon Adelson, the multibillionaire casino shyster primarily responsible for getting Trump elected in the first place. Not that you give a crap; you prefer to ignore the main reason the US keeps fighting wars benefitting no one except Israel:

            “Sheldon Adelson: Attack Iran with an atomic bomb”:
            — [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sCW4IasWXc ]

            (It’s surprising that YouTube hasn’t gotten around to banning this video yet, given that YouTube itself is an Israel lobby enterprise, relentlessly eliminating videos we* are not supposed to see.)

            *As for “we” and “you people”:
            “We” — honest folks including Jews who peek behind the media curtain.
            “You people” — those (including “hasbara”) acting in the interests of the Israel lobby.

            Sincerely, Pat Kittle

          • Pat Kittle July 6, 2020

            Mark W. Laszlo:

            You:
            “please have the decency to reply to me here instead of smearing me with presumptions. In fact i do have a problem with that. I’d thank you for the Global Research article, if you addressed me directly.”

            I’ve addressed you directly.

            Now thank me.

            Sincerely, Pat Kittle

    • Pat Kittle July 3, 2020

      Yes, Trump is a cowardly creep, totally bought & paid for (or at least scared into submissiveness) by treasonous war criminals of the Israel lobby.

      Just like Biden & all the rest of “our” politicians:
      — [ https://www.unz.com/pgiraldi/the-memorials-to-judah-benjamin/ ]

      But you seizing on one of Trump’s obvious gaffes and prattling on & on in CAPS LOCK with you your dim-witted attempt at humor is about what we’ve come to expect from you people.

      Sincerely, Pat Kittle

      • Mark Laszlo July 3, 2020

        Pat Kittle,

        interesting article.

        Who do you mean by “we’ve” & “you people”?

        Sincerely, Mark W. Laszlo

  3. Joseph Turri July 3, 2020

    If you shoot a boat for the purpose of sinking it (sending it DOWN); did you not “Shoot it Down”? Just a thought…

    Why would you make a big deal out of it? Perhaps YOU had not thought it through…

    Wait till Biden comes out of hiding then you will get some real material to work with.

    jt

    • Mark Laszlo July 4, 2020

      Joseph Turri,

      only by knowing exactly what words mean can anyone know exactly what he means.

      Donald Trump is barely able to read, sick in his mind & brain. All that is well established. His lies are fact checked & counted by four news organizations, by standard, verifiable methods that prove he leaves all presidents before him behind in the dust for the sheer volume of the horse manure that comes out of his mouth. He repeats lies after the press proves he is lying & he’s had time to check himself. He often contradicts himself. “Bottomless Pinocchio” is a term made for him, meaning a disinformation campaign against the American People, as on the subject of COVID19. Can the highest authority be entrusted to a carnival barker? He’s put the pandemic out of control. Other countries are flattening the curve but we are not. We can’t go to Europe now because Trump made us much more likely to worsen the pandemic there. Trump creates & worsen’s national emergencies to excuse power grabs to make himself a dictator, like all the foreign leaders he admires. Millions more Americans will die by Trump’s intention to enrich himself & have absolute power.

      If a man in authority does not know what he means, should we be left to guess, or demand he explain it? Trump’s ambiguity is a cheap trick to keep people guessing. Do you know the sound of BS? Do you know what plain talk is? That he says whatever comes into his head w/o thinking it through does not make him honest. He’s slippery.

      Biden? I’ve got enough real material on both. Neither is qualified. In 2016 & 2020, Polls showed Bernie Sanders had the People’s majority mandate, but the democrats ripped it off from him, and us, both times. Running with the democrats, he had to endorse the party leadership’s pick to be a team player & foster a handful of like-minded independents & democrats with some questionable help from the democratic party organization, but the picks of the DNC & RNC are now the very worst, fit to destroy the world. With the Ds & Rs, their selling points both come down to being the “least evil”. I breathed a great sigh of relief when Trump was declared winner in 2016. HRC would have started a direct nuclear war with Russia via a “no fly zone” in Syria, in her 1st year. But DJT would bumble along & buck the powers that be to maximize his enrichment, delaying our nuclear warlord’s rush into WWIII, giving us more time to prep. Now frankly, IDK who is the least evil. I just know to re-elect Trump is national suicide. But why be suckers for that binary choice? The cheating Ds & R’s will wreck the world before honest parties with better ideas run what’s left over. I vote Green for the chance we’ll still be here to help heal it.

      Mark W. Laszlo

      • Pat Kittle July 4, 2020

        Mark W. Laszlo:

        The “Greens” are a perfect example of how cynical Leftists has co-opted the conservation movement.

        Serious conservationists know ending human over-population is absolutely necessary for ecological sustainability. But they fear losing their jobs/careers if they publicly say so.

        Instead we get Leftist BS such as “Everything, with no exceptions, must be done to stop global warming!!”

        Meanwhile, they insist on inviting everyone on Earth to move (i.e., open borders) to its most notorious carbon emitter.

        Bernie’s not about to touch that with a 10-foot pole, given that he’s part of the problem.

        I could say far more than this, but you won’t even be able to refute this.

        This is the point in the discussion that you “Greens” typically bail out.
        :-)

        Sincerely, Pat Kittle

  4. Garth Chouteau July 5, 2020

    Biden is no Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren — but he’s sane, sober, and experienced. Trump is none of those things. Trump is a danger to us all simply by virtue of his incompetence and his ego. Removing him from office should be the top priority for 99% of Americans — meaning everyone, regardless of political leaning, other than the 1% who’ve benefited from Trump’s ludicrous tax breaks. Just Trump’s response to the pandemic should disqualify him in the eyes of virtually everyone. But the least intelligent, most racist 30% of America’s citizens have bought into the Donald’s inane, 5th-grade-bully-at-recess rhetoric and continue to support him by choosing to believe conspiracy theories and P.T. Barnum-esque bullshit rather than their own eyes. The man swindles the populace daily, looks the other way (or declares victory, lol) as the pandemic rages unabated throughout the land, spreads his xenophobia to endanger anyone who doesn’t look like him, and then has the nerve (or perhaps simply the lack of any objective intelligence) to yell “LAW AND ORDER!” via his favorite soapbox. Come on, folks, we can do a LOT better than this.

    • Pat Kittle July 5, 2020

      All those pathetic clowns are beholden to the treasonous war mongers of the Israel lobby.

      Do you need more evidence?

  5. Jim Page July 6, 2020

    I would like to comment on the letter titled, “FAIR PLAY FOR JUNIPERO SERRA,”
    by The Catholic League for Religious & Civil Rights

    In it the writer says, “His goal, and that of the Franciscan missionaries whom he led, was not to conquer the Indians—it was to make them good Christians.”

    Isn’t that what conquering is?

  6. Mark Laszlo July 10, 2020

    To readers of comments of Mark Laszlo and Pat Kittle

    From standards of articles i’ve read in this ‘zine, i think most of the readers can tell when an argument is won and mad from sane. Yet, this ‘zine is wide open to diverse views, so many elements of the community it serves are exposed here.

    Most of the mentally ill are harmless enough, but when bad ideas are propagated, great and lasting harm can come to society. I request comments of more readers, to enlarge the objective context of this conversation.

    Mark W. Laszlo

    • Pat Kittle July 12, 2020

      Meanwhile, you are welcome to refute (with verifiable FACTS) anything I’ve said.

        • Pat Kittle July 13, 2020

          I state FACTS you can’t refute, so that means I “hate Jews”??

          There are some very admirable Jews. And there is you.

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