Public Comment
SMITHEREENS: Reflections on Bits & Pieces: Boats,Bullets&Boots
Gar Smith
Boats at the Berkeley Marina
According to official records, the Berkeley Marina is home for 186 vessels including 172 recreational boats (including "live a-boards") and five commercial fishing boats. My long-time fave boat-name appears on a commercial fishing boat called "The Happy Hooker." But I can't not like a small chic yacht that's been hauled out of the water for hull work. It bares the name "Vague Unrest."
An online search of the Marina's homepage reveals more names of some of the vessels currently floating alongside the Marina's many docks. Here's a sampling:
1 Prolonged Blast, Alegria, Another Bill, Bird of Prey, Blue Moon, Bluenose, Bongo, Captain's Mistress, Cash Flow, Chumash, Defiant (on two different boats), Enchantress, Endless Options, Fast Lane, Firefly, Fish Candy, Flying Machine, Good News/Bad News, Her Majesty, High Hopes, Ho Lot of Luck, Indefatigable, J Sloop, Jumping Rana, Laughing Crows, Lazy Lady, Lovely Lady, Mil Besos, My Future Ex, My Time, Picaroon, Pooh, Puffin, Rascal, Rhum Boogie, Riff Rider, S. F. Joe, Sally 4th, Sea Bandit, Sea Ya (on two different boats), Second Wind, Ship Etymologies, Skylark, Stowe Away, Sundowner, Tango, Temblor, Temptress, The Slow Lane, Twin Flame, Ulysses, Whiplash, White Swan, WhyNot, and Yankee Lass.
Fashion Plates
Personalized license plates spotted about town
NO ZAZA
DINAFER
LOBO 7 (Wolf #7)
LUVABL (Loveable)
JETSRYD (Jets Ride)
FOGTWN (Fog Town)
PAYMULA (Pay Moola?)
OKTMICE (OK Tea Mice?)
FIAT SLG (Let There Be Slugs?)
Bumper Snickers
Free Rides for Goth Girls
Please Be Patient I Have Autism
Please Be Patient I'm Only 8 Years Old
Caution: Maximum Capacity 16 Clowns
PLEASE Let Me Merge Before I Start Crying
If You Can Read This, I'm Not Impressed. Most People Can Read
My Next Car Won't Have One of These (Arrow pointing to tailpipe)
Young American Troops Die in Jordan;
Young American Teens Die in Israel
When three US soldiers were killed during a drone strike on a US base in Jordan (a base that, it turned out, was secretly attacking Hezbollah targets with US drones), Washington accused Iran of responsibility. Not that Iran played any role in the attack, but by virtue of the fact that Iran provides funding for a wide range of Hezbollah operations. The US claimed this funding link gave the Pentagon the right to respond disproportionately with 85 airstrikes against seven targets in Iraq and Syria.
But what about Mohammad Ahmad Alkhdour and Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, two American teenage civilians who were shot dead by Israeli forces?
Mohammad was killed near Ramallah in February when he was hit by two shots to the head. According to The Independent, "Israeli forces reportedly opened fire on a car with Mohammad and a relative inside."
Tawfic was killed in January, struck by a bullet to the head after being targeted by "an off-duty law enforcement officer, a soldier, and a civilian" in the West Bank. An IDF soldier was investigated for firing on the unarmed teen who was described as a "perceived threat."
Like the three soldiers killed in Jordan, these young Americans were killed by attackers whose actions are backed by foreign interests. But in this case, the "backers" were not Iran, Syria, Russia or China. In this case the weapons and ammo were provided by the USA. Using the "Jordan Standard," the Pentagon should have avenged the deaths of these young Americans by unleashing a flurry of US bombs and missiles on military targets inside the country most responsible for "supplying" Israel's weapons. But, in this case, the "sponsors of terror" were not Iran or Hezbollah but Washington and the Military Industrial Complex.
Say No to NATO
France, a long-time NATO member, has threatened to send troops to battle Russian forces in Ukraine. NATO's famous slogan (which is also shared by mafia dons and drug cartels) reads: "An attack on one is an attack on all." So, if Emmanuel Macron ordered French troops to open fire on Russia's military inside Ukraine, would this compel all of NATO's 32 members to airlift soldiers into an expanded full-out war in Europe? (This would be a revision of NATO's warning from "An attack on one is an attack on all" to "An attack by one is an open invitation to WWIII.")
Looking over the growing threat of expanding wars in Europe and the Middle East, Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, recently declared: "The European Union must launch the production of a new generation of weapons to win on the battlefield." Such escalating rhetoric is beyond foolhardy: The call for a "new generation" of weapons stands a good chance of obliterating the "last generation" of humanity.
The Shifting Shape of Political Divisions
A helpful update from Donald Smith, an activist colleague, who outlines the changing vernacular of US politics:
"Up until the 1980s, the word 'liberal' was applied to people such as George McGovern, Ralph Nader, Eugene McCarthy, and Hubert Humphrey on the left.
"But then people like Rush Limbaugh came along and badmouthed the word 'liberal.' So liberals started calling themselves "progressives."
"As people point out, nowadays many people call themselves progressives when they're really just neoliberal war-mongers.
"The solution is either to (1) call out the neoliberal war mongers as fake progressives or (2) to use a new word ("social democrats"? "greens"?) to describe leftists who are anti-war, anti-corporatist and socially liberal.
"By the way, I suppose that people who call themselves socialist probably don't call themselves progressives; socialists are further to the left. And most progressives probably don't call themselves socialist.
"Bernie Sanders calls himself a "democratic socialist," but Bernie is, in fact, just a social democrat. Furthermore, it's amazing how many different socialist subgroups there are. Then there are anarchists and antiwar libertarians.
"It is depressing that every Democrat—and even Bernie Sanders—are supporting the US proxy war with Russia and aren't speaking out about the lies of the government concerning the reasons behind that war."
Let Gaza Live
An activist group called RACOON recently hosted a large and loud demo at SF's Ferry Building. The message was "Let Gaza Live" and the Racoon rally was well-equipped with tools of nonviolent resistance. As the online invite proclaimed:
"We will protest the genocide in Gaza enabled by USA support — with our large variety of expressive tools: 5 megaphones, 7 air-horns, 6 soccer trumpets, 30 whistles, a gallon of red paint for bloody handprints, pre-stamped postcards to send to representatives, dozens of Chalk sticks, a doll that we will shroud to commemorate the dead Palestinian children, stencils, and a Large Kite."
The GOP Marvels at the Business of War
Walt Zlotow, a member of the West Suburban Peace Coalition in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, recently forwarded this collection of GOP Gossip about the "positive side" of the destruction of Ukraine:
“Four months into this thing, I like the structural path we're on here. As long as we help Ukraine with the weapons they need and the economic support, they will fight to the last person. The best money we’ve ever spent.”
— Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC)
“It is a relatively modest amount that we are contributing without being asked to risk life and limb. The Ukrainians are willing to fight the fight for us if the West will give them the provisions. It’s a pretty good deal.”
— Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS)
“I call that a bargain.”
— North Dakota Republican Governor Doug Burgum referring to US war funding damaging Russian military without mentioning catastrophic Ukrainian military damage
“No Americans are getting killed in Ukraine. We’re rebuilding our industrial base. The Ukrainians are destroying the army of one of our biggest rivals. I have a hard time finding anything wrong with that.”
— US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
“Americans should be satisfied that we’re getting our money’s worth on our Ukraine investment, because for less than 3 percent of our nation’s military budget, we’ve enabled Ukraine to degrade Russia’s military strength by half, and all without a single American service woman or man injured or lost.”
— Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)
Walt's conclusion: "These people are not humane political leaders… they are moral monsters."
Carly's Praiseworthy Poem
On a recent visit to the Kaiser Permanente facility in Oakland, I found myself waiting in a room with an unusual wall mural. It featured sketches of a bicycle, a futuristic robot, and a personal poem left behind by a young poet. I thought it was worth sharing:
I praise the smell
Of my grama's perfuyme
I praise the crackling of the fall leaves
I remember to praise
big, fluffy flowers blooming
in the summer
I praise hot chocolate
with big mosmallows
On a rainy day
I should remember to praise funny movies
And I praise the beach
On a nice summer day
Oh how I love to Praise
— By Carly, age 8
