Navigating Chaos: American Policy Responses to the 1993 Russian Constitutional Crisis and its Impact on NATO Expansion

 

Moving on to Bigger and Better Things - Sierra Thread

 

Sierra Thread

No More Wars

 

The Great Depression

Nearly a century ago, our collective soul as fellow Americans was forever scarred by the Great Depression of the 1930s.  Beginning with the stock market crash on Black Thursday, October 24, 1929, and continuing until World War II, the Great Depression economically devastated the United Stated and much of the world.  “Peak to trough, global [gross domestic product] fell 15 percent world-wide from 1929 to 1932.”  Comparing the Great Depression to the Great Recession, from the top to the bottom, global GDP fell less than one percent between 2008 and 2009.

The devastation to the United States cannot be overstated and is ongoing.  From 1929 to 1932, family income dropped over 40 percent.  By 1933, nearly a quarter of America was unemployed.  In addition, about 9,000 banks failed, thus leading to many of those who deposited cash in America’s banks to lose their entire savings.  In 1933, Congress began instituting Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” policies and thereby creating scores of new federal agencies in an effort to address the economic wreckage.  These unprecedented federal government programs, enacted in an effort to get the nation’s economy moving forward, never had the desired effect and proved to be job killers instead of job creators thus dragging out the economic wreckage over an entire decade.  Even more importantly, the size and scope of the federal government has continued to grow dramatically ever since the inception of Roosevelt’s New Deal and has turned into the leviathan government our nation has today.  In addition to the dire adversity described above and also in the 1930’s, America suffered through serious Midwestern droughts which great hampered food supply chains as well as the economy as farmers went bankrupt in massive numbers.  Some scholars argued in the past that the Great Depression was caused by the excesses of capitalism, but as argued by Milton Friedman, the general consensus is now that the Great Depression was caused by the failure of the Federal Reserve System to endorse a more expansive monetary policy which could have limited the economic damage done by the Great Depression. 

Pursuant to its power under the U.S. Constitution to coin money and in 1913, Congress created the Federal Reserve System for the specific purpose of creating a more liquid, elastic currency in order to provide greater stability to the American banking system.  Prior to the inception of the Federal Reserve System, bank panics plagued America and was blamed on an “inelastic currency.”  In his book, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960, Friedman explains how the prior system worked.  Like today, depositors would deposit their cash savings with banks or with other financial institutions which in turn would lend the cash in collateralized loans to third-party borrowers.  Occasionally unfortunate events would occur which would lead depositors en masse to attempt to withdraw all their money from the bank all at once.  Because the bank’s cash deposits were tied up in collateralized loans, cash was unavailable to all depositors all at once.  Consequently, the bank would fail thus creating more fear and leading to more runs on the banks and more bank failures.

The Federal Reserve System was enacted to provide liquidity to the banking system in order to limit bank runs and failures.  Member banks were required to deposit their cash reserves with regional Reserve Bank, and if the run on a bank occurred, the regional Reserve Bank could advance the bank cash from the “discount window” in exchange for some collateral, thus theoretically providing more liquidity to the banking system.  That said and on December 11, 1930, when Bank of United States failed, the Federal Reserve System failed to provide the necessary liquidity the Jewish-owned bank, in part, based upon antisemitic reasons as alleged by Friedman.

Friedman argued that Bank of United States was a “sound” bank at the time that was plagued by unfounded rumors which caused a run on the bank.  The New York Reserve Bank devised a plan to save Bank of United States, but “the Clearing House banks of New York refused to adopt it.”  As detailed by Friedman, “Anti-Semitism almost surely played a role in the decision of the Clearing House to reject the New York Reserve Bank’s plan,” and he expounded as follows:

For most members of the Clearing House, the evidence to this effect is indirect.  It is much less so for those members dominated by J. P. Morgan & Co.  We know how John Pierpont Morgan, Jr., the head of the House of Morgan, felt about Jews, thanks to an entry in the diary of Charles Hamlin—a Federal Reserve Board member from 1914 to 1936 and, fortunately, a lover of gossip. Hamlin records that at a board meeting on Jan. 20, 1917, “Gov. [W. P. G.] Harding [chairman of the Fed] said he had had a two-hour talk w. J. P. Morgan at the Met. Club late this p.m., that Morgan…seemed very bitter against Warburg [Paul M. Warburg, a member of the board] evidently thinking he was dominating the board; that he said he did not trust Jews: that they had killed his father (referring I suppose to Untermyer) and that some time he should get even with them!” From The Collected Works of Milton Friedman, compiled and edited by Robert Leeson and Charles G. Palm.  The reference is to Samuel Untermyer, a famous Jewish lawyer of the time, who served as counsel to a Congressional committee that investigated “The Money Trust” (the Pujo committee).  In that capacity, Untermyer questioned J. P. Morgan Sr. in December 1912, some months before Morgan’s death.  The son no doubt was referring also to Louis D. Brandeis, who had strongly criticized Morgan and who did much to stimulate and later publicize the Congressional inquiry.  The Morgans presumably felt that Untermyer and Brandeis had unfairly subjected J. P. Morgan Sr. to public obloquy.  J. P. Morgan Jr. finally got “even with them”—but at what a cost to the nation.

As of 1930, Bank of United States was largest commercial bank to ever fail.  In addition, and while not being the official bank of the United States, the name “Bank of United States” gave the bank an air of being the official bank of the country.  Consequently, and as a result of its size and perceived status, the failure of Bank of United States started a cascade of bank failures across the United States.  By 1933, all of the banks in the entire United States (including the Federal Reserve) had to close for a week in order to prevent massive bank failures which changed the severe recession into a catastrophe and “the worst panic the country had ever experienced.”

As such and as concluded by Friedman, the Great Depression was caused by a failure of the Federal Reserve System to utilize policy for which the Federal Reserve System was created to provide liquidity to banks.  That said, and although Bank of United States was the first bank to fail, possibly any other bank could have caused the string of runs on banks as well.

George W. Starr - Hardrock Gold Miner

William Bowers Bourn was the original owner of the Empire Mining Company, but in 1874, he died in San Francisco from an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound to the stomach.  At the time of Bourn’s untimely death, the Empire Mining Company was still in financial straits as a result of the Panic of 1873.  After Bourn’s death, his son, William Bowers Bourn, Jr., operated the mine, and in 1881, William Bowers Bourn’s nephew, George W. Starr, started working at the Empire Mine as a mucker.  A mucker is a miner who shovels broken rock into mining cars for removal from the mine.  Starr was an orphan at the age of 11 after his mother died and he was abandoned by his father.  Despite his humble background, Starr had knack for mining and was very talented miner.  Starr work is way from being a mucker, to a miner, and to a shift boss.  Finally, and after six short years, Starr became the superintendent of the Empire Mine to whom the younger Bourn, after selling his controlling interest in the mine, left the management of the mine.

Starr had knack for mining and was very talented miner.  Starr embodied the notion that if you are not moving forward, you are moving backward.  He constantly strove to improve the operations of the Empire Mine.  In 1890, Starr introduced drills powered by compressed air which increased the productivity of the miner as well as the depth to which the miners could dig, and in 1891, Starr launched electric lighting to the tunnels of the mine.  At the Empire Mine, Starr built a formidable reputation as a miner in California and worldwide as an authority on hardrock gold mining.

In 1893, Starr was lured to South Africa John H. Hammond.  Starr left Grass Valley, California, for the gold mines continents away.  Prior to Starr’s departure, the Empire Mining Company began to take a slight downturn which subsequently became a large downturn.  In fact, and in 1893 and again in 1894, the Empire Mining Company failed to pay expenses.  With the drop in value of the mine, Bourn bought low and regained his controlling interest in the Empire Mining Company in 1896.  During the period from 1893 to 1898, the mine was actually run at a loss.

Shortly thereafter, and while Starr was visiting San Franciso from South Africa, Bourn convinced his cousin, Starr, to rejoin him at the Empire Mine.  Bourn offered his cousin the position of Managing Director with the understanding that Starr would bring the mine back to its former greatness. 

Prior to accepting the position, Starr examined the operations of the mine and demanded $200,000 from the board of directors and investors in order to modernize and to repair the above-ground facilities which were dire straits.  While the board of directors was at first quite hesitant, Bourn pressured the board to accept Starr’s terms.  Starr, with a newly freed hand, went about turning the mine around.  Under Starr’s management and armed with the experiences from hardrock gold mining in South Africa, Starr reinvigorated the Empire Mine leading it to become and extremely profitable venture.  During the early 1900’s, the Empire Mining Company became a model mine.  Starr got rid of the old Cornish pumps and replaced them with new hydraulic pumps as well as completely renovating the above-ground facilities (rock crushers, boilers, compressors, and offices).  Starr explained, “What appears as an extravagance is a renumerative improvement.” 

During Starr’s tenure, the mining operations never shut down and he never requested additional funds aside from the initial $200,000.  All improvements in addition to the initial $200,000 was paid for out of earnings and the company still issued dividends.  In short, George W. Starr was a driving force behind the success of the Empire Mining Company.

Why Do We Have Two Pasty Restaurants in Grass Valley?

 During the first few years after our arrival in Nevada County, California, from the Midwest, I pondered a few questions in connection with these pasty restaurants in Grass Valley.  First, I wondered what in the world is a pasty?  Second, why are there two restaurants in Grass Valley where you can buy them?  Finally, why are there no pasty restaurants in Nevada City, California, which is only five miles from Grass Valley? 

Eventually after being here for some time, I asked a local friend what is a “pastey” (“a” as in waste)?  After giggling for a second, my friend politely told me that it is pronounced “pasty” (“a” sounds like apple) and that it is a flaky meat pie with origins in Cornwall, England.  His answer seemed quite random yet quite specific at the same time.  Meat pie? Cornwall?  California?  So, I pressed him further and asked why there are two “pasty” restaurants in Grass Valley.  His response was very simple.  Miners from Cornwall, England, immigrated to the Grass Valley during the gold rush after 1849, and their wives made them pasties to be eaten in Empire Mine while working.  Being observant, I inquired of my friend as to why there are no pasty restaurants in the old mining town of Nevada City just a few miles away, and he had no idea.  In truth, I am not a fan of the pasty, as they are pretty bland and not very flavorful.  Yet, the pasty supports two separate restaurants in Grass Valley, and the tradition of the Cornish miners lives on.  Grass Valley even has a Cornish Christmas, but why do the Cornish mining traditions remain in Grass Valley and not in Nevada City which is quite literally just over the hill. 

One must understand the nature of mining in California and in the old Empire Mine.  In 1848, John Marshall discovered flecks of gold in the south fork of the American River at Sutter’s Mill located in Coloma, California, about 30 miles southeast of Grass Valley.  Marshall discovered these alluvial gold nuggets in the riverbed and sparked the California Gold Rush.  Thousands and thousands of people emigrated from the east coast of the USA and thousands and thousands also immigrated from Asia, South America, and Europe to partake in the gathering of these gold nuggets laying the rivers of the west slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains.  Over the next couple decades or so, all of this alluvial gold was scooped up by “placer miners.” 

Once the rivers were empty, the miners started mining the actual mountains from where the alluvial gold had originated thousands, if not millions, of years ago.  The problem for the miners was that the California gold is trapped within the granite and quartz of the Sierra Nevada.  Such gold entrapment required knowledge of hard rock tunnel mining, and the Cornish of Cornwall, England, had this mining knowledge which was developed from mining in the Cornwall region since the early Bronze Age.  The Empire Mine was a quartz mine which mined tons of quartz smashing the quartz with giant “stamps” thus freeing the gold from the quartz.  The average yield was about $30 per ton of quartz.  In 1866, and according to the Report on Precious Metals form the Paris Exposition in 1869, Grass Valley had 292 stamps dedicated to gold mining operating in the town while Nevada City had only 147 stamps.  That said, of the 147 stamps in Nevada City dedicated to gold mining, most of the stamps were associated with hydraulic mining and not quartz mining.  According to statistics published by Ralph Mann and in 1860, twenty-two percent of the miners in Grass Valley were from England while only 13% of Nevada City miners were from England.  By 1870 and after quartz mining began to accelerate as alluvial gold disappeared, a whopping 60% of the miners in Grass Valley were from England while only 18% of Nevada City miners were from England. 

By the time Empire Mine closed in 1957, the Cornish miners had created miles of tunnels some even as deep as 11,000 feet and had removed over 5,800,000 ounces of gold had been separated from the quartz fissures.  Not only did the Empire Mine Company become one the greatest mining businesses in California, the mine became the central hub for the creation to the little town of Grass Valley, California, and the Cornish deposited their culture in California along with the pasty and Cornish Christmas.

Christmas and Jesus Christ - The Loving Message

What better time to talk about Jesus than in December?  The time from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day is very special to us.  In November, we give thanks to God for what we have - food, shelter, family, friends - and for football.  Why we have to give thanks to the Detroit Lions each Thanksgiving morning, I'll likely never know.  Anyway, then on black Friday in all its glory and for the next five weeks, we all start preparing for Christmas and New Year's Day.  

 Staré Město Christmas Market - Prague

Easter certainly has its merits as a time to reflect on Jesus, but in my humble opinion, Christmas is the best Holiday ever.  As a child believing in Santa Claus was phenomenal.  The Easter bunny stories just could never top Santa's reindeer.  My red-suited old man has reindeer that fly, and he comes to my house every year with a new baseball glove or a football.  Winning.  But as a young adult, Christmas was just another holiday when I got to go home from wherever I was living, and I kind of lost track of why Christmas was so special.  Then, we had children.  Children who we had to teach how to be good adults and productive members of society.  Now, and as progressive children of boomer parents from the sixties and even before our children were born, we briefly considered whether we would teach our children the same traditions which our parents had taught us, or would we stray from our roots for something that we may feel is better for our offspring and for society.  In the end (and it was an easy choice), we chose to raise our children as Christians.  

Consequently, and as stated above, the Holidays are very special to us.  Not only do folks prepare by buying gifts for others, the vast majority of Christians, and many non-Christians, also reflect on who Jesus was and what Christmas and Jesus means to us.  As parents who chose to raise Christian children, we had a lot of questions to answer as they grew up.  Daddy, why do Santa's reindeers fly?  Mommy, how does Santa get down the chimney?  Mommy, why does Santa leave presents for us?   Daddy, who was Jesus? 

Okay, now the kids just left the kiddie pool and jumped right into the deep end.  Who was Jesus and why do we celebrate Him?  Good questions.  Our now adult children have come to completely different understandings related to Jesus Christ and the Bible, but they each reached the very same general conclusion.  One attends Christian church semi-regularly.  One believes that the stories in the Bible are just mythical stories about a real person named Jesus who was an amazing philosopher, whose philosophy is a great model for life.  One actually told me that the Christian stories in the Bible are "a false construct."  I have to say this one made me laugh, but despite different approaches, they all believe in living the philosophy of Jesus Christ.  The philosophy of Jesus Christ is one of Love and Charity.  While I don't know how reindeer fly or how Santa gets his fat butt down the chimney, I do know who Jesus was.  Jesus is the way, and He is the Word.  Jesus taught the world that the path to true happiness and joy is love.  Love of your family.  Love for your friends.  Love for your neighbors.  Love of your fellowman.  Love of yourself.  

While I am reflecting on this Christmas and while I don't know about you, I am of the firm opinion that the world could use a little bit more Jesus right about now.  There is so much of the darkness of hate, greed, and narcissism in the world, our family kind of insulates ourselves from it with our own faith and love.  We can be saved as a people by living Christ's message of love whether you believe in the actual Bible stories or not.  

The Great Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., in one of his most famous speeches titled Loving Your Enemies, concluded, “Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.  Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”  This message from Reverend King just so happens to be the message of Jesus Christ which we celebrate this and every December.  It is a message who many in the darkness cannot hear, but we love them anyway.  

In order to make the entire world a better place, we have to be better people.  So, if we do anything at all this Christmas, I pray that we choose to love and that we all love just a little bit more than usual and hopefully that love can carry us all out of the darkness.  Amen, brothers and sisters!  Lol.  On that note, my family and I bid you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Political Implications of Measure V Going Down

Earlier this week, I got a bunch of emails from people informing me that, two weeks after election day, the election office was almost done counting ballots and that the local media called Measure V a failure.  If the local media were journalists who really paid any attention to local politics, they would have known this fact after the second drop of ballots.  People who support limited government drop off their ballots on election day, because (shocker) they don't trust the way the local government runs our elections.  So, once Measure V was losing on Tuesday night, anyone who pays attention to politics would know that it was only going to get worse for Measure V as more and more ballots were counted and that the margin would only get wider.  That is exactly what happened.  Not only did the measure go down, but there will also be serious consequences for the County's mishandling of Measure V.

That said, Measure V brings up some broader local questions.  For instance, why do some many people not trust their local election office and bring ballots on election day and not mail them?  Seriously, three weeks to get election results is some third-world shit.  Lol.  Can we please just all go vote on election day like normal countries and get our election results that night like every other developed nation?   Damn.  The elementary school kids electing student council have more secure and efficient elections than their parents.  It is seriously embarrassing.

Also, there is also a huge underlying sentiment locally against government, period.  When it comes to government in California, there is no room for wimps.  California's overbearing government is legendary outside of California and is palpable to its residents.  So many of our friends have left for freer pastures like Tennessee, Idaho, Kentucky, South Carolina, and, yes, Florida.  I say jokingly to my friends that you are all wimps!  Instead of fighting these government assholes, you bailed and left us alone in the California wilderness with these morons!  In reality, however and truth be told, many of us want to leave California but just cannot do it.  Whether it be our children, our dearest of friends without whom we simply cannot live, or our hopes for our local community and our state, we just cannot pull the trigger and leave.  

Close your eyes and imagine 30 years ago your best friend looking you dead in the eyes and actually saying, "Dude. I am out. California sucks."  You would have smacked him upside his head.  There was no place cooler to live.  Period.  Full stop.  Everyone wanted to be here.  It is freaking gorgeous, and the weather!?  Please.  I grew up in Chicago, so on the weather angle alone, California is bomb.  Now, imagine at Thanksgiving dinner today your friend looks you in the eyes and says, "Dude. I am out. California sucks."  Instead of smacking him in the melon, you are likely gonna be a little jealous.  The dichotomy is crazy.  Between 2021 and 2022, more people left California than moved here.  That's insane.  How bad is it if people are leaving arguably the most favorable and beautiful geographic area on the entire planet?  Yep, it is that bad, but what does that have to do with Measure V, you ask?

There is a huge swath of our local population that believes that $367,000,000 a year is too much for ineffective local government, and it has to stop.  Seriously.  The County billed Measure V as $12 million magic bullet to prevent the tragedy of Paradise from ever happening in Nevada County.  I call bullshit.  How is that local homeless problem that you have not fixed yet which has been dragging on for 20 years and getting worse instead of better?  Can we please have normal elections like real democracies?  How is the meth problem in town that you apparently have no desire to fix?  My wife and I saw an epic tweaker at the gas station today in the Brunswick Basin.  Dude's upper body was all curled up has he shook and tweaked across the parking lot.  Way better tweaker than the guy that is always jumping between cars at the corner of Sutton and Brunswick.  How is the affordable housing problem?  Yet, we try to raise our children here, and we give the County $367,000,000 a year, and they don't fix shit?  How about the County and the state let us keep our tax money if you cannot fix anything?  Despite not fixing shit, the executives at the County will all be wealthy people when they retire.  Not comfortable or just able to make ends meet.  Wealthy.  Nobody should derive wealth off of the taxpayers.  It is frankly disgusting.  Our County's chief executive officer makes over $410,000 a year including salary and benefits.  How much do you make?  If you had as much "success" at your job, would you still have one?  

Until we start electing strong leaders who will get rid of these incompetent rubes, our friends will continue to abandon us.  Such is where we are.  We are here in this California because of our own choices.  We can make California great again, but we cannot keep doing the same thing over and over and expect a different result.  

On that note, all is not lost.  We live in a wonderful community that takes care of each other and loves each other.  If you ever need to be reminded of that, go to Hooper Stadium on Thanksgiving for Mike Bratton's Turkey Trot and feel the love.  Love that will bring tears to your eyes.  We have a wonderful community - a wonderful community that could do with a lot less ineffective government.

The Long Lines to Vote in Nevada County Today Are by Design

California's crazy election laws, and the County's liberal implementation of them, were enacted with the specific intent of decreasing the turnout of election day Republican voters and increasing the turnout of Democrats.  It is no accident.  The lines in Nevada County are no accident as well.  I do apologize to my liberal friends in advance, as what I am about to write will be highly critical of you and your laissez-faire attitude towards "democracy."  The fact is Republicans take voting very seriously and will actually go to the polls on election day to ensure the security of their own vote no matter what while most Democrats will be lazy and mail their ballots in and trust someone else with their "democracy."  

Voting is very serious business for a free people.  It is foundation of our entire constitutional system, and these crazy "mail in your vote laws" are an insult to a free people.  I am going to list some issues that the media tells you never happens, but you have already seen or heard with your own eyes and with your own ears.  Random ballots coming to your house for people who have not lived there for two or three election cycles.  Ballots showing up for one election and then mysteriously they stop being mailed.  Boxes of uncounted ballots showing up in post office months or years after an election.  Complete and utter lack of any ability whatsoever to maintain chain of custody of any ballot.  Our election system is simply ridiculous and unacceptable for a free people.

I am just like you.  I want to know beyond a shred of a doubt that my voice was heard in an election. If my ballot was not counted for some reason, I would be mad as hell.  We do not mail ballots.  Our ballots are our only key to our democracy, and our votes are sacred and paid for by millions of Americans who died protecting this sacred right.  We refuse to cheapen this right and desecrate their memory by letting our ballots get out of our control.  Mailing your vote in is just plain lazy and disrespects our democracy.  That said, I must admit that, in the past, I was lazy with my democracy and mailed my ballot in.  I was wrong and was not taking democracy seriously.  Knowing what I know now, those days are over.  We need to wake up, or we will no longer have a democracy with such an insane system.

If you trust these crazy "mail in your vote laws," you likely need to read a book.  Humans are not angels.  If they were, we would not need any laws at all.  People will break rules to get what they want.  It is a fact of life and human nature.  Our election system does not take this into account at all.  We need single day voting and complete chain of custody of not just the voted ballots, but also for the unvoted ballots and spoiled ballots.  For instance, we printed 100,000 ballots.  Of those 100,000 ballots, 70,000 were voted, 10,000 were spoiled, and there are 20,000 left over.  In this stupid California system, ballots are just thrown to the wind for a month and printed all willy-nilly.  California has no idea who is casting any of these ballots.  Sure, they can match the ballot with a voter, but our "election professionals" have absolutely no proof that such voter cast a ballot when doing so by mail.  None.  

And this is why Republicans vote on game day.  The fact is Republicans, in general, are simply more serious than Democrats.  Sexualizing children in school is serious business and must be addressed.  Avoiding World War III is serious business.  Being able to afford feeding your family is serious business.  Elections are serious business.  Democrats are simply not a serious people, and this crazy election system created by Democrats is a prime example.  A vast majority of Republicans will vote in person.  If they receive a ballot by mail, they will not let anyone touch their ballot and will personally deliver it to the election office or to a vote center.  Our local system, and the long lines on election day, is designed specifically to create difficulties for Republican voters in order to drive down Republican turnout, and it is unacceptable.  That said, don't be discouraged.  Stay in line.  Getter done brothers and sisters!  Getter done, and we will turn this franchise around!

Editor's Note:  Solution?  Make election day a three-day weekend, national holiday and everyone has to go to the polls!

What is Going on in Russia from a Former Expat Perspective

World events shape each generation of man creating a unique and semi-collective life experience.  I am proudly a child of the 1970s and share certain experiences with all Americans who are my age.  The Cold War. Neil Armstrong. Vietnam. Watergate. Iran Hostage Crisis. Ronald Reagan. Mikhail Gorbachev. Glasnost. The Fall of the Berlin Wall.  These are the collective world events shaping the collective psyche of Gen X, and I have been fascinated by these remarkable historic events my entire life.  

As most of you know, I ended up learning Russian and working in Russia and eastern Europe in the mid-90s.  Having had that experience and when Russia invaded Ukraine in February, I was keenly interested in what is going on in Russia.  Living in the USA, it is not incredibly difficult to gauge American public opinion, but it is quite difficult to assess public opinion in Russia from a far.  As is abundantly clear to any regular readers, I do not trust what I am told by the media or by the government.  I operate as Ronald Reagan advised in reference to the USSR, "trust but verify."

So instead of relying solely on American media which tends to parrot the government's talking points, I started calling my friends from Russia and listening to Russian podcasts in order to get an idea of what is really going on in Russia.  One of my Russian friends who lives in the USA is full-on Qanon.  While this contact provides little evidence of public opinion in Russia, the fact that my Russian friend who lives here is completely tripped out about global authoritarians lurking among us is noteworthy.  My Russian GenXer friends have a collective experience in the 1970s as well.  Political Persecution.  Religious Persecution.  Political Prisoners. The Gulag Archipelago. Mikhail Gorbachev. Glasnost. The Fall of the Berlin Wall.  Russian Gen Xers know authoritarians when they see them, and many of them living in the USA are apoplectic about American political trends towards restriction on free speech and domestic totalitarianism.  If you know a Russian-American in their 50s, ask them about it.  They will explain American totalitarianism to you chapter and verse and will provide ample examples.  Indeed, our government is not far behind Russia on the scale between liberty and totalitarianism, but that is a topic for another day.  In this day of censorship in the USA, we fear being "cancelled," while Russian citizens fear being thrown in jail.  Whether being cancelled or thrown in jail, curtailment of the freedom of speech is the most important tool of the would-be totalitarian.  

In any event, as I said before, Russian Gen Xers know authoritarians when they see them, and my Russian friends are clearly living under an authoritarian regime in Russia.  Many of these folks are afraid to talk about it over the phone or text for fear of "the knock on the door" from the government.  Speaking of Alexei Navalny, who was allegedly poisoned by the Russian government for criticizing Putin, is ill-advised.  One of my friends told me that she had deleted a couple of our messages for fear of having them on her phone.  She and other Russians are using as many social media outlets as possible to connect with the outside, because they fear that outlets may be shut down by the government or by the West.  Others who have spoken out against the Russian government have fled their homeland for other countries as political refugees.  The fear of censorship is real in Russia and is palpable.  In fact, although my sample size is small, it seems to me that the vast majority of Russians know that the Rubicon has been crossed and that they live in a totalitarian state.  The government controls the media in Russia and, therefore, has complete control of the national message and the narrative.  Journalists, who complained too much or asked too many good questions, were regularly assassinated in Moscow when I lived there in 1993-1994.  It was common.  Journalists shot by "bandits" while exiting their building or while exiting their flats.  I remember that one was found dead in the bathtub of his flat, and this happened when Russia was a new "democracy."  The name may have changed, and the constitution of its government is different, but Russia was and is still like the USSR.  Under Putin, it was like USSR-light.  Russia kept its citizens in check through fear and intimidation in amounts that most people could tolerate so long as life was economically better.  Hence, no mass exoduses, at least not until Putin initiated the partial mobilization.

Is Terry McAteer a Racist?

Over the past few days and after Terry McAteer (chief proponent Measure V) made implications that certain Measure V opponents were racists, folks have been texting and emailing me links to news articles on the internet detailing allegations that Terry McAteer made an "alleged racist remark during a staff meeting" when McAteer was the Inyo County School Superintendent a few years back.  I won't link to the allegations, because McAteer denied them, and it appears that nothing monumental came of the allegations. 

That said, these incidents bring to light our Nation's most difficult topic which most people really do not like to talk about.  Let's be very clear at the start.  Racism exists in America.  Put that on the list of undeniable facts.  Growing up on the south side of Chicago (Harvey, South Holland, Riverdale), I saw and heard a lot of racism in a quantity vastly exceeding what your average Californian experiences.  When we moved to California in 1998, it was a noteworthy and pleasant change, and we were pleased to be able to raise our girls in a less racist atmosphere.  Again, let's be very clear.  Racism, in any form, is wrong, and if you disagree, you are on the wrong side of history and of morality.  No matter what anyone tells me, I will never be convinced otherwise.  Judging any individual on account of their race or seeing one's race before anything else is abhorrent and ignorant.  Full stop.

Because racism is inherently hateful and repulsive and having established that racism undeniably exists, the question becomes how we get rid of it once and for all.  Because racism became so engrained in the colonial and American ethos for hundreds of years, it will likely take as long to again rid ourselves of it.  Racism is a generational issue which will take generations to rectify.  One of the benefits of aging is that you start to see things from the top down more clearly.  In my personal experience, I have thankfully seen and heard less racism as my life progresses.  The most important thing that we can do individually to combat racism is to teach our children about it and its evils.  We must teach our children that skin color is as relevant to an individual before us as is their hair color.  Skin color and hair color are evidence of genetic markers not a window into someone's soul.  In the words of the great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., all individuals should be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin.  His words on this Truth are words that we should all strive to live by.

Dr. King uses the word "character," but what does "character" actually mean?  The word character comes from the ancient Greek "kharaktēr" which meant an "engraved mark" and was extended in Hellenistic times by metaphor to a "symbol or imprint on the soul."  In English, the word "character" means "moral qualities assigned to a person by reputation."  Thus, our character is defined by our actions which becomes our reputation.  Teaching our children how to judge people by their actions (their character), rather than random genetic markers, will cause racism to die a slow death over generations.  

That said, what do we do now?  How do we convince others who are no longer children to see the individual before race?  The answer is simple and enshrined in our Constitution; we speak up when we see it.  I am not talking about tweeting "Black Lives Matter" from your couch as you watch Netflix.  I am talking about speaking out against any and all racism.  Anytime someone confronted by a situation sees race first, they need to be called out which brings me back to McAteer.

A few days ago, McAteer (chief proponent Measure V) made implications that certain Measure V opponents were racists, because they paid for a mailer opposing Natalie Adona for Clerk/Recorder in the most recent election and such mailer had a picture of Adona on it.  In order to make this untoward allegation, McAteer must have concluded that, because Adona is a person of color, the opposition to her must be racist and that including her picture on the mailer was some kind of dog-whistle to the Nevada County electorate to not vote for the person of color.  Let that sink in for a moment, as it is a prime example of the type of racism discussed above.  McAteer saw opposition to a person of color as race-based without even mentioning the sensible reasons for such opposition with which he disagrees.  In other words, she is a person of color and I think that she is qualified, so you must be a racist if you oppose her in this manner.  Simple in his mind, but such simple and ignorant thinking perpetuates racism over time and is harmful to society in general.  We will never get passed racism if race is the first thing that people see and attribute any reasonable disagreement to it.

Does that make McAteer a racist who sees race first before anything else?  Not necessarily.  As stressed above, all people should be judged by the content of their character which is their "moral qualities assigned to a person by reputation."  Nobody should be judged upon one action alone but upon the collection all of their actions - their reputation.  I leave it to the reader to judge McAteer's character and reputation for themselves.

Fair Political Practices Commission Investigating Nevada County, Yes on V for Campaign Finance Violations

In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote, "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed."  In order to have such "consent of the governed" and as an American people, we demand fair and honest elections and campaigns, for true consent of the governed cannot be given if would-be politicians conduct their campaigns dishonestly and in violation of the laws established by the state legislature.  Always believing the best in people, we assume that our local officials are honest and play by the rules until proven otherwise.  The coordinated campaign by Nevada County and the proponents of Measure V clearly demonstrates the "otherwise."

While we have discussed the historical underpinnings of Nevada County's misuse of taxpayer dollars to send the electorate campaign mailers in support of Measure V here, it turns out that, indeed, the use of taxpayer dollars for campaign material is also illegal.  In fact, the Fair Political Practice Commission ("FPPC") is investigating both Nevada County and the political action committee supporting Measure V ("Yes on V") for violations of the California Fair Political Practices Act.

In short and in violation of the law, Nevada County has used taxpayer dollars to send mass mailers to the local electorate in support of Measure V, to air advertisements on the radio, and to place additional advertisements in local print media. In fact, the County and Yes on V are unethically (perhaps illegally) coordinating their efforts in support of Measure V.

In addition to these campaign violations by Nevada County, the proponents of Measure V and Nevada County have printed campaign material without proper disclosures.  The law requires political action committees to disclose on all campaign material the name of the committee who paid for the campaign material and their unique FPPC number.  Neither Nevada County nor Yes on V have complied with this statutory requirement.  In fact, both the County and Yes on V printed yard signs without these required disclosures.   An opponent complained to the enforcement agency, the FPPC, who is now investigating Nevada County and Yes on V for these campaign finance violations.  See letter from FPPC to the left.

On the very same day that the FPPC notified Nevada County and Yes on V that they are being investigated for campaign finance violations, Yes on V issued a press release falsely alleging that opponents of Measure V are stealing yard signs which support the measure and that the opposition to Measure V is racist.  Yep.  If you oppose the additional sales tax to the general fund effort known as Measure V, then you must not like people of color and are a racist.  Linking racism to an effort to oppose a sales tax clearly demonstrates the desperation of Yes on V.  They are losing.  They know that they are losing.  Desperate times call for desperate measures, so the hopeless scream racism about a sales tax measure.

As far as Yes on V's missing signs, we have far more important action items than stealing yard signs from the ill-informed.  Bless the hearts of those who blindly support the scam known as Measure V without understanding anything about the true nature of the measure and have a yard sign in their yard advertising their ignorance.  That said and if someone was stealing signs, shame on you for not respecting our electoral process.  Folks are free to express their support of or opposition to political matters, and it is not for others to infringe upon another's rights to free speech.  On the other hand, I have seen tons of Yes on V signs located not on someone's property but placed in the right of way on our local roads.  Supporters of Measure V have been placing yard signs on such right of way, because most of us know what Measure V is and would not put a sign in our yard in support of it.  When these signs are placed in the right of way, Caltrans regularly takes such signs down, because they are an obstruction.  Above is a picture of their signs at the Caltrans warehouse off LaBarr Meadows.  I would advise the Yes on V folks to head over to Caltrans in order to pick up their missing signs which were illegally placed on our local right of ways.

As has been proven again and again in connection with Measure V, neither Nevada County nor Yes on V has been honest in conducting their campaign in support of Measure V.  In fact, both Nevada County and Yes on V have coordinated their messaging and violated election and campaign finance laws repeatedly over the past months.  Like you, we stand proudly against an out-of-control local government and a campaign committee that both struggle to follow the law and to be honest with the voters.  Send a message to the County that we will not tolerate being lied to and will not be manipulated by the coordinated campaign of Nevada County and the proponents of Measure V.  Vote NO on V.

17th Century and Nevada County's Measure V Collide

What in the name of Hades does Measure V have to do with the 17th Century?  Well, it is the old English common law allowing members of the House of Commons to send correspondences without paying postage, I tell you. 

The U.S. Senate's website provides as follows:

Franking privileges—the ability to send mail by one's signature rather than by postage—date back to the seventeenth-century English House of Commons. The American Continental Congress adopted the practice in 1775 and the First Congress wrote it into law in 1789. In addition to senators and representatives, the president, cabinet secretaries, and certain executive branch officials also were granted the frank.  

Even though the title of the U.S. Senate's article is "Senate Ends Franked Mail Privilege," and as we have seen with Nevada County and Measure V, the title to the article on the Senate's website is highly misleading and does not match the text of the article.  In fact, at the end of the article, the Senate admits that, in 1891, "Congress restored full franking privileges. Since then, the franking of congressional mail has been subject to ongoing review and regulation."  Note the words "congressional" and "regulation."  "Congressional regulation" is also commonly known as "the fox guarding the hen house."  Next time you receive a mailer from an elected representative, double check the required disclosure on the mailer and determine who mailed it to you.  It will surprise you that, often times, the fluff mailer about your elected representative that you received in the mail came from your elected representative, but he used your tax dollars to send it to you instead of his campaign funds.  It is the privilege of incumbency.  Congress codified this self-serving use of taxpayer dollars in 39 U.S. Code sec. 3210 which provides, in part, as follows:

It is the intent of the Congress that mail matter which is frankable specifically includes...mail matter which constitutes or includes a biography or autobiography of any Member of, or Member-elect to, Congress or any biographical or autobiographical material concerning such Member or Member-elect or the spouse or other members of the family of such Member or Member-elect...

So, in short, Congress made it legal for a congressman to send mass mailings to you using your taxpayer dollars in order to provide you with a biography of his wife!  That is what congressional regulation looks like.  Sounds shady and self-serving, right?  It is shady and self-serving, but it is legal both federally and on a state level.  Elected representatives and government officials abuse this codified and very old common law privilege on the regular by using taxpayer dollars to pay postage for these mass mailers which tend to support an incumbent or support the government in general.  

Our ancestors, the progenitors of western freedoms, and in a time without telephones or the internet, understood that our representatives need to freely communicate with the electorate and other people by mail in the course of their representation.  The intent of the common law was not to self-servingly send out tens of thousands of mass mailers to voters on the back of the taxpayers, but rather to necessarily communicate as needed in the regular course of one's representation.  Fast forward to today, communicating with others in the regular course of one's representation is no longer a problem.  Just pick up the phone, send an email, or a text.  Yet unsurprisingly, we still have laws on the books that allow the abuse of the original intent of these laws for the benefit of the government winning elections and not for the general betterment of the people.  

Assuming that Nevada County sending out mass mailers in connection with an election is legal (not sure if it is), it is these very principles which Nevada County self-servingly violated when the County sent a mass mailer using taxpayer dollars to all of the registered voters of Nevada County "informing" them that Measure V is a wildfire prevention sales tax increase.  See mass mailer to the left.  Double check the mass mailer on the bottom right-hand corner and determine who mailed it to you.  The County of Nevada paid for that.

First of all, and as has been discussed here before, Measure V is not a wildfire mitigation sales tax as they pretend; it is, by the County's own admission, a general tax with which the County can do as it pleases.  As such, the County's mass mailer is highly misleading to the electorate and downright dishonest. Second, and relevant to our discussion herein, your Nevada County government (the Office of Emergency Services) spent your taxpayer dollars on a misleading mass mailer which misrepresents Measure V in order to self-servingly try to convince you to give Nevada County another $12 million to be deposited in the County's general fund.  Sounds shady and self-serving too, right?  That's because it is shady and self-serving.

When it comes to elections in this country, the will of the people rules.  The government which results from these elections should be as neutral as Switzerland and completely silent when it comes to the public debate.  The government should never take partisan positions, because they have no vote and no say in how the people decide to administer such government.  Yet as we have seen in Nevada County, time and again, whether it is recalls, election transparency, and Measure V, our local government is not only vocally taking partisan sides but using your taxpayer dollars to do it.  It is wrong and is a gross mismanagement of public funds to spend taxpayer dollars on partisan positions especially when the partisan positions are self-serving to the local government administrators themselves who wrongfully spent your money for their benefit.  Tell the Nevada County government that enough is enough.  Vote No on Measure V. 

Dude. What is going on?

Balancing work and family sometimes makes it difficult to sit down and write.  I write all day at work, and usually by the evening, I am all written out and headed to the gym or to play softball with my friends.  Lately and despite not writing too much, many of my friends have seen my name in the paper or on the radio and laughingly ask me, "Dude. What is going on?"  And my stock answer is "Dude. F___ those guys," and then we die laughing before I explain.  For those who know me well, I am one of the most calm and unshakable people out there.  There is freedom in only truly caring about that which is important and then letting the rest go.  Being the son of one of the biggest shit talkers on the south side of Chicago, what other people think does not bother me.  Go ahead, talk shit.  It motivates people like me.

In addition, you are instantly my friend until you are not by your choice and by your actions.  I believe that all people have an inherent value simply for being alive and always deserve respect until they have proven otherwise.  That said, I gravitate towards people who have sound moral foundations and are strong in their convictions.  Understanding that there is always a gray area around truth, I cannot tolerate outright dishonesty.  Outright dishonesty causes the loss of my respect almost instantly with little prayer of allowing myself to be fooled twice.  So then, the explanation to my friend's question becomes one of honesty.

After my first wife and I divorced in 2015 and because she works for Congressman McClintock, I removed myself from local politics in order to give her space in her world to heal.  We both needed it, and now things are very good.  Remarkably, my wife and my ex-wife celebrate Mother's Day together with all of our children.  My ex-wife is, in some respects, still a part of my life, and it works and is good.  So, when 2022 rolled around, I had not spoken to anyone in local politics aside from comments on blogs for nearly seven years and apparently most of these folks thought that we had moved back to Chicago.

Then at the beginning of 2022, the election office in Nevada County started playing politics with a group of citizens and with COVID, bullying them, and lying to the public about it.  I was given outrageous videos demonstrating how county elected officials and employees were treating its own citizens about whom the County was telling bald-faced lies.  I told all of my friends that helping these folks was a one-off, and I was going to finish my PhD when the mess was finished.  Inevitably, and after seeing firsthand the demeanor and foul character of some of the elected officials and employees, I went a little further and asked Gregory Diaz for a public election record - a copy of Natalie Adona's check indicating that she paid the filing fee for her candidacy for his office.  He straight up refused to give me a public record which he was legally required to disclose.  As I walked out of the election office and after being treated in the same bullying manner with which he treated his constituents in January earlier in the year and in my head, I said to myself, "F___ those guys."  Absent that moment, I would likely be enjoying my life working and studying history, as I had been.  The problem is that I cannot.  Our country is sick.  Our government does not seek the betterment of those whom they serve, but its own betterment.  Our government bullies and mistreats those whom they serve and lies about it.  At that moment on one hand, I was done, and on the other hand, I was just beginning.  So, I sued Gregory Diaz arguing that, if he did not give me the check, his chosen successor could not be on the ballot.  What happened in court?  Simple.  He coughed up the check, because it was required by law.

Salaries and Pensions for Nevada County Executive Staff are Outrageous

A dear friend of mine read about the Measure V litigation in The Union and asked me why Nevada County needs another $12,000,000 in the general fund?  As we know, Nevada County officials are sounding an alarm in an effort to scare voters into believing that the county does not have enough money for wildfire mitigation despite its over $330,000,000 budget.  They are telling you that they need you to pay another $12,000,000 a year because $330,000,000 is not enough to operate our small, quaint county.  As of 2020, the population of Nevada County was only 102,241.  Doing some quick math, Nevada County states that it needs about $3,300 per person to operate our little county.  For a family of four, they need to pay about $13,000 for county services.  For nearly all of us, $13,000 is a lot of money unless of course you actually work for Nevada County in its executive offices.

Let's take a look at the top six non-elected money earners at the County and their combined salary and benefits package from 2021.

The Chief Executive Officer, Allison Lehman, made $409,437.

Chief Information Officer, Stephen Monaghan, made $338,209.

Assistant CEO, Mali Lagoe, made $336,788.

County Counsel, Kit Elliott, made $314,794.

Community Development Agency Director, Trisha Tillotson, made $308,350.

Health and Human Services Agency Director, Ryan Gruver, made $306,109.

In total, these six unelected government officials made a combined $2,013,687 and individually made more than any elected official in the County.  How many people in Nevada County make over $300,000 per year?  I would bet that it is only a handful of the 102,241 people that live here.

I would posit to my dear friend that Nevada County does not need another $12,000,000 per year in the general fund to maintain county services and to pay county salaries and pensions.  It appears that Nevada County needs to better manage the $330,000,000 that they already have and maybe cut some bloated executive salaries and bloated executive pensions.  The hardworking people of Nevada County deserve a local government that serves their interests and not the self-interest of the executives of the very same government.

Nevada County's Measure V is a Scam with Revenue to be Used to Pay Pensions and Salaries

Proponents of Measure V, such as most of the Board of Supervisors, Terry McAteer, and Kit Elliott, county counsel for Nevada County, keep telling the public in the local media that Measure V is a sales tax increase in order to "prevent" wildfires, reduce brush countywide, improving evacuation routes, maintain defensible space, and "for general government use."  The only item above that is guaranteed to happen is that Nevada County will spend the revenue from Measure V "for general government use" including for pensions and staff salaries.  Don't believe me?  Let's look at rare moments of honesty from Nevada County in pleadings filed with the Nevada County Superior Court and the auditor's report.

In their Response to the Writ of Mandate on September 6, 2022, Nevada County argued to the Court that, despite touting in the local media that Measure V is a sales tax increase to be used to prevent wildfires (which is impossible), the county can literally spend the money on anything they desire.  "Here, Measure V is nothing like the tax in Monterey because there are no specific projects that are earmarked for the funds, and the County has discretion to use sales tax revenues to fund “general government services.”  See Response, 12:20-23.  "Measure V is similar to the tax considered in Mendocino because the future sales tax revenues are not earmarked, and can be used for any general county services..."  See Response, 13:4-6.  

Contrary to the misrepresentations to the media by Nevada County and by the proponents of Measure V, revenue from Measure V is not "earmarked" in any way.  The idea that Nevada County will only spend the revenue from Measure V on wildfire prevention is a farce.  It is one thing for the government to lie to the public and to the media, but it is entirely another thing to lie to the Court, hence, the rare moments of honesty from Nevada County.  Indeed, Nevada County will be spending the revenue generated from Measure V on (you guessed it) pensions and salaries for County staff.  Unlike the admissions in court pleadings, this undeniable truth can be found in the Nevada County auditor's fiscal impact statement of Measure V admitting that revenue generated from Measure V will be spent on pensions and staff salaries.

Don't be fooled by the rhetoric coming from Nevada County.  As Rahm Emanuel said in 2008, "never let a good crisis go to waste."  Nevada County seeks to, as found by the Nevada County Superior Court, "play upon the heart strings of the public” in an effort to pass the general fund tax measure.  In addition, the Court also found that the County is counting on higher-than-expected inflation in order to generate even more revenue from local taxpayers creating an even higher tax burden on our local residents.  So, Nevada County is "play upon the heart strings of the public” in order to take advantage of the crisis related to wildfires and also capitalizing on the national inflation crisis to generate more revenue for pensions and administrative salaries.

Based upon the Court’s ruling and the County’s admission during the litigation and the auditor's report, it is clear that Measure V is a scam upon the taxpayers.  Don't be fooled by the rhetoric, because none of it is true.  Vote NO on Measure V.

Lyman Gilmore - A Local Legend

All of us “locals” know Lyman Gilmore as the middle school off of Rough and Ready Highway on the way out of downtown Grass Valley.  I do not know how or when you actually become a local, but it happens at some point.  Obviously if you were born in our quaint oasis in the Sierra Nevada mountains and you still live here, you are a local.  Others of us have been here and have raised families and called Nevada County our home for over 20 years.  You can’t really just put a number of years on when you magically become a local.  One needs to understand and feel this wonderful county, its people, and its deeply rich history.  I have lived all over the world, and but for being goverened by the State of California, it is my traveled opinion that Nevada County is the best place on the planet…and the locals told me as much when we moved here in 1998, but I digress.

So anyways, who was Lyman Gilmore?  I think that almost all of the “locals” in town know who Gilmore is, but our newer residents may not yet be properly acquainted with this local legend.  

Lyman Gilmore was an aviator from Nevada County, California, at the turn of the 20th century, who claimed that he invented and flew his own powered airplane 18 months before the Wright Brothers accomplished such feat.  While the Wright Brothers flew their “heavier than air” plane on December 17, 1903, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Gilmore claimed to have done the same thing in little old Grass Valley, California, on May 15, 1902.  So why are the Wright Brothers credited with the first powered flight despite Gilmore having recorded the flights in his flight log?  It is said that Gilmore, living in very rural California, did not have the wherewithal to look for publicity and that Gilmore did not have any film of the flight.  Such explanations leave out a key detail though – Gilmore did not make his claim until 1927.

 

Ultimately, history claims that it was the Wright Brothers and not Gilmore who made the first powered flight.  That said, Gilmore was still a pioneer in aviation.  He contributed to the mono-wing design which was revolutionary at the time.  On May 15, 1907, Gilmore opened the first commercial airport (Gilmore Airport) in the world in Grass Valley, California.  Gilmore even invented mining tools which locals used to create efficiency in the gold mines.  Despite some his contemporary locals thinking that Gilmore was “booming mad,” Gilmore is actually a true legend in the field of aviation.  One author even lamented when a couple of Gilmore’s planes were destroyed by fire, as the author believed that they should have been in the Smithsonian Institute instead of inside Gilmore’s old barn.

 

So, now you also know why the Lyman Gilmore Middle School athletic teams are called the “Aviators.”  Like I said, to be a local you have to know some of the rich local history, and once you know the story about Lyman Gilmore, the locals might start to consider you a local too.

 

Click here to read further about Lyman Gilmore.

Lilly Pruett Nevada County Heroes Softball Tournament - Part II

The good Lord held off the rain yesterday.  He gave us a little sprinkle which settled the infield dirt, and we got in all 12 games.  Every single time we host this softball tournament, I love to sit back and watch our local community bond and celebrate our first responders and our country together.  This weekend our local VFW Post 2655 out of Nevada City brought their color guard out for the flag presentation.  The color guard came out between the first two rounds of games so that we could be assured that all of the teams would be present.  In this day and age where it seems that there a lot of people that do not respect our flag and frankly do not like all of the USA, it made me smile to see everyone in attendance standing and respecting our flag and our local veterans and our national anthem.  At the conclusion of the national anthem was the loudest cheer of the day which also gave me great joy.  Thank you to our local VFW and to Jason Tedder for getting this one done.  I cannot tell you how many people came up to me in order to tell me that the flag presentation was their favorite part of the day.

The tournament pitted teams from Nevada County Sheriffs, Grass Valley Police Department, Ophir Hill Fire, and Cal Fire versus a couple local teams, namely BSD and Jackson Engineering.  Frankly the weather could not have been better - mid-70s with a little breeze.  Instead of a big party, this year the tournament was a relaxing day of Sunday softball.  NCSO was the winner of the teams of first responders, and BSD (a local co-ed travel team) won again for like the fourth time!  We want to thank our local first responders for coming out and bringing some good softball out there.  We also want to thank BSD and Jackson Engineering for rounding out the teams and supporting our first responders.

In addition to all of the players who come out every year, there are "regulars" who always help behind the scenes.  Thank you to Mike Mallarae for helping me get the fields ready for a tournament.  Thank you to Steve Loomis of WNCSSA who donated enough softballs to the tournament that we will not have to buy balls for six or seven years.  Thank you to Gateway Park for providing us with a perfect venue for our local community.  Thank you to Marty Lombardi (whom my daughters simply adore) and Buckley Armacher for coming out in the morning on behalf of NCLEFC to help us with registrations.  Thank you to all of our friends whom we saw yesterday...love you guys.  Most importantly, thank you to my daughters, Lilly (and Bryan) and Maggie (and Darian), for working together and keeping something beautiful going for this community and for our local first responders.  And thank you to my wife, Audrey, for putting up with our family softball habit!  Nevada County?!  Yep.  You did it again and rocked the house!  Thank you.

Lilly Pruett Nevada County Heroes Softball Tournament

 In 2016, our daughter revitalized the law enforcement and fire annual softball tournament for her senior project at Nevada Union.  From 2016 through 2019, and even while Lilly was at Cal Poly getting her degree in civil engineering, she raised money through sponsorships and donated the net proceeds to the Nevada County Law Enforcement and Fire Protection Council every year.  After a couple of years of the tournament and before Lilly moved back to Grass Valley after graduating from college, the NCLEFC named the softball tournament after her and engraved her name on the trophy.  We are grateful and appreciative.

In 2020 and 2021, the COVID pandemic put a damper on the games, but on Sunday, June 12, 2022, at Gateway Park in Penn Valley, we are back at it!  The teams include two community teams and teams from Nevada County Sheriff, Grass Valley Police Department, Ophir Hill Fire, and Cal Fire.  The games begin at 9am, and a color guard will do a flag presentation at 10am after which our players will proudly sing our national anthem.  We cannot wait to see our community come together for this potentially rainy event.  We will make it work.

Our family, as well as our entire community, is proud to support our local law enforcement and fire protectors and to honor them this weekend as they should be.

We will try to broadcast some of the games on Facebook live.  Please come out and join us on Sunday at Gateway Park!

Teaching Christianity and Virtue in Schools Can Solve Issues Which Cause School Shootings

 In reference to the horrible shooting of children in their classroom in Texas, I had an in-depth discussion with a liberal colleague regarding how to solve the issue of school shootings ranging from gun control to mental health.  As we dove deeper into the conversation, my colleague told me that he believes and posits that the American culture has created a socialized populace which in many instances dehumanizes people and treats them as only being useful for work, and he concludes that these horrific events will continue and that we are all doomed in the long term.  Though I do not think that he meant it the way I took it, I heard his assertion as a rejection of our modern culture – a culture that as a whole lacks virtue and looks outward to blame others instead of looking inward and in the mirror to ask themselves the question of whether they are good, virtuous Christians or at a minimum good people with virtue.

Teaching our children virtue used to be satisfied by teaching the tenets of Protestant Christianity in our public schools.  These ideas of teaching religion and virtue in public schools is not new; in fact, these ideas are hundreds of years old.  Stephen Colwell, in his book The Position of Christianity in the United States, in its Relations with our Political Institutions, and Specially with Reference to Religious Instruction in the Public Schools published in 1854, Colwell explains that “Christianity is no mere negation in this country; it commands, or should command, the moral and political power of the Christians who dwell in it, exercise in accordance with the spirit of our institutions and with the view to the highest interest of men, temporal and eternal.”  Colwell was a Philadelphia industrialist an active in the Presbyterian Church who believed that these evangelical teachings Colwell told his readers that “their activities could help Christianity fulfill its rightful role as what he called ‘the appointed protector of humanity.’”  As posited by Edmund Burke, true liberty is the unity a freedom and virtue.  In part, Christianity as envisioned by Colwell is the self-restrained freedom about which Burke wrote.  We must teach our children to expect freedom restrained by personal responsibility, religion, and virtue.

Circling back to the problem of school shootings, a different friend today asserted as follows: “Cain killed Abel with a rock.  The Lord did not get rid of all the rocks.  He blamed Cain and not the rock.  We have a sin problem and not a gun problem.”  We have a problem of the soul and the culture, and I think that we can fix our problem with sin, and we must, or we are doomed.  We must reject modern culture which is in my opinion the root cause of school shootings.  We must embrace and teach religion and virtue to students again.  If the child comes from an atheist family, every kid might be required to take at least one class on Aristotle's Ethics.  Education in religion and virtue can and will solve these issues on the whole of society.