A mystery, a hunt, then success!

October 15, 2024

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On September 8, I wrote about the City of Visalia and it’s Charter. I noticed in one section it said (Deleted November 4, 1974). No mention of what that section was, or why it was “deleted”.

Under Article XVI, Section 21 said simply “(Deleted November 4, 1974)”

Well, I needed to know what that was all about.

I cogitated about it for a while. A mystery that kept bugging me, begging to be solved. Last Monday I decided to track down the truth, if possible. Looking online hadn’t turned up the missing section, and it had been 50 years since the change was made. The local newspaper doesn’t have online access for historical stuff, and while I had the date of the vote taken to approve changes to the Charter, I didn’t know when the City Council had acted to put the measure on the ballot. That could have been almost any time in 1974, to have time to get it on the mid-term election ballot in November. I really didn’t want to sit in front of the micro-fiche reader at the library, scrolling through the newspapers for every day that year! (Are micro-fiche readers and their films still a thing?)

The hunt had to be done the old-fashioned way – sleuthing in person.

I headed down to the library to see if they had a copy of the original charter, but they were closed for Indigenous People’s Day (It might be called something else, too, but never mind that…)

Next stop – The City Clerk’s office. I was surprised to find the offices open, since it was that holiday. I also expected it might take a while to find that for which I was looking. I was afraid that the relevant documents would be in that warehouse where the US Government stuck the Ark of the Covenant, as seen in one of the Indiana Jones’ movies, or in Warehouse 13. The City Clerk thought it might take some digging, too. The Assistant City Manager came by as we were discussing the Charter, and since he’s new to the city as well, he didn’t know anything about the change. The Clerk took my info, and told me she would research it. I expected I might hear something back in a week or so, if I was lucky. Surprise, surprise, they found and emailed me the original text before I even got home! Talk about service!

The original Charter contained the following:

Article XVI. Miscellaneous Provisions:

Section 21.

Neither the City Manager nor any person in the employ of the City shall take any active part in securing, or shall contribute money toward the nomination or election of any candidate for a municipal office.

Seems in 1974 the City decided to do a bit of tweaking to the Charter, and since the only way it can be changed is a vote of the people, it was on the ballot in November 1974. The above section was deleted. (I’m assuming it was due to infringing on people’s rights to support the candidate of their choice, even though they were city employees.) Some other wording was added, looks like to clarify some minor things that had changed in the previous 50 years.

It’s been 50 years since that update, and I think it’s time to do another refresh.

I noticed references to the City Manager (and other offices as well) as “he” or “his” throughout the Charter. We don’t have a “he/him” City Manager now, so time to change the masculine pronouns to gender-neutral.

(the fact that changing masculine pronouns in city documents will undoubtedly raise the blood pressure of those who see such things as “woke liberalism” is a bonus in my book!)

Thank you to the new City Clerk, Jennifer Gomez, for digging this up for me!

Mystery solved!

(even if it was a bit anti-climatic. I was hoping for some good, scandalous dirt! oh well…)

The Last (?) Goodbye

September 22, 2024

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In January, 2022, the local LGBTQ community and I lost a great friend with the passing of Gail McCarthy. I often called her “Mom”, after an amusing incident at the local Quiznoz.

Gail wrote lesbian murder mysteries, as G.L. McCarthy. The Alexandria Whitney Murder Mystery series is available on Amazon, at this link: https://www.amazon.com/stores/G.-L.-McCarthy/author/B00EGDGED4

I was invited to edit the last published book in the series, Not A Good Reason, and even make an appearance, by name and occupation, in it! Cool beans!

Gail was writing the sixth novel in the series when she passed, and her estate doesn’t seem interested in finishing it or having it published. This kind of leaves the characters hanging, so I decided to engage in a little “fan fiction”, and write a (very) short ending to the series. This story takes place about a decade after the events in Not A Good Reason, so if the McCarthy estate should ever decide to finish the book Gail was working on, it should not step on anything there.

Now, I’m a blogger, and have written a few things here and there, but I’m no novelist. I have to admit that I used ChatGTP for this, but I did set the stage, and edited the result quite a bit. So thanks for the help, ChatGTP, but I’m still taking (most of) the credit for this! 😉

Title: The Last (?) Goodbye

Alexandria Whitney, or Alex as everyone called her, stood in the kitchen of her quaint home in rural New York. The morning sun filtered through the windows, casting soft, golden beams onto the worn wooden table where she had shared countless breakfasts with her wife, Sam, a local sheriff’s deputy. It was their sanctuary, a place filled with warmth, laughter, and a sense of belonging. Alex had been reminiscing about her “adventures” over the years, particularly the one that brought Oscar into their lives. About ten years ago, a 16-year-old ghost of a Civil War soldier, who had been accused of desertion and executed, joined their family, and had been living with them ever since.

It was a crisp autumn morning, and as Alex sipped her freshly brewed coffee, she glanced out the kitchen window. Her heart caught in her throat as she caught sight of Oscar standing near the detached garage, seemingly engaged in a conversation with another figure at the edge of the forest that bordered their home. The stranger was a woman, possibly in her late sixties, with a thick head of grey hair cropped short and neatly combed. Intrigued, Alex grabbed her sweater and stepped out onto the porch.

With an unfocused sense of foreboding, she called out, “Who are you talking to, Oscar?” As her heart thumped in her chest, she walked down the steps and onto the leaf-strewn path that led to the edge of the yard.

Oscar turned to her, with a sad look on his face. “Alex,” he replied, tilting his head slightly. “Meet Gail. I call her the Storyteller.”

Alex quickened her pace as she approached the garage and the edge of the forest. The woman in question began to drift away, floating into the forest, her form graceful, but becoming more tenuous. “Wait!” Alex shouted, desperate to know what was happening.

But the woman only glanced back once, a soft smile flickering across her lips, and appearing to whisper something, before she melted into the trees, vanishing like mist in the morning sun.

“Who is she? Where did she go?” Alex asked, turning her gaze back to Oscar, who now looked pensive. “What do you mean, ‘the storyteller’?”

Oscar sighed, his voice distant. “Her name was Gail. She lived out west, in California I think. She came to say goodbye, and to apologize, although I told her that was not necessary. Something’s happened. I think she can no longer tell our stories. Not anymore.”

“California? Oscar, I don’t understand!” Alex was understandably confused. Although accepting Oscar as a ghost and letting him live with her and Sam wasn’t too much of a reach for her, since she already had experience with the ghosts of her spirit guides Anna and Ramon, the idea that was forming in her mind was upsetting.

Alex felt a growing sense of unease flow through her. The forest, which had always stood proud and vibrant, suddenly seemed to shift. The colors grew dull, the trees appearing to wither, their leaves fluttering down in a dance of decay.

“What do you mean she can’t tell our stories anymore?” Alex pressed, her heart racing. “Why are you saying goodbye?”

Oscar stared into the forest where she had vanished, his expression troubled, yet resigned. “I think… I think our time here is ending, Alex. Soon, we’ll all be together on the other side.”

Just then, Sam walked out from the house, rubbing sleep from her eyes. “Hey, Alex, what’s going on? Why does the forest look so…?” She hesitated, searching for the right word. “Faded?”

“There was a woman,” Alex explained quickly, urgency lacing her voice. “Oscar calls her the storyteller. She just — she just floated away into the forest and disappeared!”

Sam exchanged a glance with Oscar, who gave a slight nod, his brow furrowing. “Something is happening. I think I understand what’s going on. The Storyteller has left her world to go on to the next, and can no longer tell our stories. I think we’re going with her.”

“Is she… is she the reason you’re all fading?” Alex asked Oscar, panic beginning to bubble beneath the surface. As she reached to embrace Sam, she noticed her arm no longer appeared solid, but was now as ephemeral as Oscar when he didn’t concentrate on being solidly in the living world. “…everything’s fading?”

Oscar turned, his ghostly essence shimmering slightly. “Stories need to be told, Alex. They give us life. Without them, we lose our place in the world. If she can no longer tell our stories, we might disappear completely.”

As Alex looked back at the forest, a creeping fear seeped into her bones. “But we can’t just fade away! There must be something we can do!”

Sam hesitated, then said, “Sometimes, the stories we live don’t have a clear end. Heaven knows I’ve seen that in my work as a deputy. But perhaps if they share our stories — if they’re written — it might keep us alive a little longer.”

The weight of her words hung heavy in the air. Alex glanced at Sam, who nodded in determination, as if she understood the gravity of the situation before them. “The storyteller will keep telling our story, Alex,” Sam assured her, stepping closer to Alex’s side. “Her stories are out there, reaching new people all the time. As long as they’re read and enjoyed, we’ll still be alive, somewhere.”

In that moment, Alex felt a surge of hope. “The storyteller told our stories,” she realized. “People will know us, everything we’ve been through together. That’ll make sure we’re never forgotten.”

As she spoke, the forest seemed to respond, the trees gently rustling as if they had heard her vow. Oscar smiled weakly, but there was a newfound light in his eyes, a flicker of hope.

“I think that’s all we can ask for,” he said softly. “To be together, whatever happens next. I know I’m not afraid of the future, as long as I’m with the two of you.”

Alex looked into the slowly fading forest, at the place where she last saw the storyteller. “Thank you, whoever you were. Thank you for letting us be part of your world, and thank you for being part of ours, however long it might last.”

Constitution of the City of Visalia AKA The Charter

September 8, 2024

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The United States has a Constitution.
The State of California has a Constitution.
Did you know the City of Visalia has a Constitution?
It does. Although it’s called a “Charter”.
I read it last night. Not particularly thrilling reading, but interesting.
(again, interesting to me. Your mileage, as always, may vary)
It was approved by Visalia voters in January 1923, and ratified by the California State Legislature on February 26, 1923.
Fifteen people ran for the first City Council to operate under the new Charter, in April, 1923, and five were selected by 1,326 votes.
Recently, I commented here about someone speaking at a City Council meeting, and her not being aware of how the office of Mayor worked in Visalia.
Here’s the scoop directly from the City Charter:
Article VI
Legislative. The Council. Powers and Duties
Section 5. Certain Powers and Duties Enumerated: The Council shall–
(4) Choose one of its members as presiding officer, to be called Mayor. The Mayor shall preside over the sessions of the Council, shall sign official documents when the signature of the Council or Mayor is required by law, and he shall act as the official head of the City on public and ceremonial occasions. He shall have power to administer oaths and affirmations. When the Mayor is absent from any meeting of the Council, the members of the Council may choose another member to act as Vice Mayor, and he shall for the time being, have the powers of the Mayor.
The City Manager, as outlined in Article 8, actually runs the day-to-day operation of the City.
Another curiosity: Article 16, Section 21. It says (Deleted November 4, 1974). No amendment seen on the website, so now I wonder what Section 21 was. (Maybe it’s our own Area 51! Wouldn’t that be cool!)
Some odd wording in some places, and all the pronouns are male.
Some updating might be in order, but that would take a vote of the people, and I’m not sure anyone in the city is eager to take on that challenge.
Rabbit holes. Deep ones.
“Oh my ears and whiskers, how late it’s getting!”
Wanna read the Charter for yourself? You can find it here: https://www.visalia.city/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?blobid=4024

Run, Forrest, Run!

September 2, 2024

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It’s said that if you want to change the way your local government operates, run for office. Most of us prefer to kvetch from the sidelines, so kudos to anyone willing to jump up and try to make things better by holding office. Keyboard warriors, and I don’t exclude myself from that designation, can burn up the interwebs with criticisms of this that or the other if we take a disfavorable view of something, filling up our timelines on Facebook and Instagram (am I aging myself with only listing those two?). It’s easy and quick. Tappity tap tap, click on ‘send’, and it’s done. “Oh, did I say that a week ago? I don’t even remember what I was on about!”

It’s a big step to run for city council. It’s often a thankless job, and will get you chastised, sometimes politely, but sometimes not, for things that are often not within your power to change. It comes with the territory. The old adage “if you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen” really applies to local government. And, while I’m at it, since you asked for the job, you really shouldn’t chastise the public for being on about whatever they’re on about right now. A couple of city councilmen got called out recently for their perceived poor behavior while on the dais during public comments. Much of what was directed at the council was valid. I hope those it was directed at take it to heart, and behave a bit more respectfully in the future.

Anyway, I said all that to talk about the following:

If you’re going to run for public office, don’t be like Trump was/is, and not have a clue about the job.

Recently, I was speaking with a candidate for one of the seats up for election this cycle here in Visalia. His talking points were not accurate.

He was complaining about the city council raising taxes, specifically property taxes, and utility fees. When I asked about it, he was certain in his position that the city council was raising taxes. I was a bit confused, because I could not recall any taxes on my property tax bills that could be layed at the feet of the Visalia City Council. When I followed up with him about what taxes he was talking about, I did not get a real explanation.

I asked him about utility fees, sewer and trash, he said they have been climbing, as well. Again, I could not recall any hikes on my bills, so I asked him for clarification. He basically backed down a bit and said he was going on what his father told him, because he lived on property owned by his parents.

Well, that conversation was not very enlightening, and frankly, based on conversations I’ve either briefly had with him, or on comments he’s made during public commentary sections of City Council meetings, and things he’s posted online, I was left wondering what the facts were.

So I grabbed my property tax bills for the past five years, and had a look.

At the top of the list, the county’s 1% tax on net value led the way. After that, various other taxes were listed:

Visalia Unified School District for a bond in 2012

Kaweah Delta water district

Kaweah Delta hospital

College of the Sequoias

Visalia Unified School District for a bond in 2018

Delta Mosquito control

Hmmmm. Nothing about the City of Visalia listed for any of the five years.

In those five years, my County property tax bill has increased by $105.12. That increase has been driven solely by the Proposition 13 limited increase in my home’s value.

Now, the sewer and trash bill might have gone up a few dollars over the years, but it seems to me it’s been pretty stable. I’ve not noticed any changes of more than a few dollars, which really is to be expected. Other fees and costs that city might impose for various services are not what the conversation was about, so I’m not going to comment on whether it’s valid to include them.

So, what’s that all mean? By all means run for office if you want to serve, and/or make a change. But do some research first, and make your run with something that will improve the community.

I’m not in this person’s district, so I wouldn’t be able to vote for or against him regardless, but after each interaction with him, I’m more certain he’s not a better fit than the person already serving in that seat.

Remember to vote, and to check you voter registration status soon!

In some minds, gay still equals pedophile

July 12, 2024

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Back on February 16, 2024, the Valley Voice, a local newspaper, published in it’s Opinion section a letter from the local PFLAG chapter. It generated a response that I should have expected, but was a bit surprised to see. I take hope in that it was only one such reply.

Basically, Dave M., a gentleman I know personally, took exception to the Pride flag, and Pride month, claiming that there were “a goodly number of gay pedophiles”. He finds the flag and the month offensive.

Here’s the Valley Voice article:

OPINION
PFLAG Tulare & Kings Counties: Our families deserve better
Posted on February 16, 2024 by PFLAG Tulare & Kings Counties


LGBTQIA2S+ people are under attack. Especially transgender and nonbinary folks. We know from history and science that there have always been those who are queer or intersex or gay or asexual or gender nonconforming. We know that these are normal variations of the human condition. Biology is complicated. Yet some people choose to see this as a danger. There has been a huge increase in laws limiting the freedom of individuals to use the names and pronouns they choose and the restroom best fitting their gender. There have been laws to prevent students from competing in sports as their own gender. There are laws to prevent minors from receiving the treatment that they and their parents want for them in accordance with their medical and mental health providers. The end game has been spelled out—the aim is to force transgender adults to detransition. To achieve this, laws have been passed in some states to prevent teachers, medical providers and mental health professionals from discussing sexuality, gender, race, abortion, and other important topics. By not allowing access to accurate information in schools and libraries, young people are learning from their peers and the internet—sometimes very unreliable sources.

Ignorance and hostility to the LGBT+ community put our youth at higher risk of physical and mental health problems, poverty, substance abuse, homelessness, and other adverse outcomes. When the entire community supports and celebrates its LGBT+ members everyone prospers.

This harmful and unnecessary anti-LGBT+ legislation is why the Human Rights Campaign has declared a national state of emergency for LGBTQ+ Americans. Limiting free speech, bodily autonomy, access to knowledge, and parents’ rights to appropriate medical and psychological treatment for their children is un-American, and we need to call it out. It is time for straight allies to stand up and demand an end to this persecution of our LGBT+ friends and families. Vote as if their lives depend on it—because they do.

PFLAG Tulare & Kings Counties Board Members
Kathryn Hall, MD
Cathy Brass
Katia Clark
Jonathan Ward
Rev. Suzanne Ward
Jim Reeves

4 thoughts on “PFLAG Tulare & Kings Counties: Our families deserve better”
(Commenter ID is a unique per-article, per-person commenter identifier. If multiple names have the same Commenter ID, it is likely they are the same person. For more information, click here.)

kelly says:
March 4, 2024 at 12:18 pm (Commenter ID: e5ca2820)
I understand that what I just read is an “opinion,” its also a idiotic one that says “we know “ from history and science that there have always been LGBQ and on and on, kinds of people. Well there has always been mental illness, child abuse , and many more things that people can easily claim they were born with…. not everything should be celebrated and those who encourage those with gender dysphoria, especially minors to undergo radical surgeries that cut off body parts should be put in prison.

Reply
Jim Reeves says:
March 5, 2024 at 3:19 pm (Commenter ID: a93d4c73)
It’s clear from Kelly’s remarks that we still have a lot of educating to do in our area.
Only the first ten words of her post are factual. The rest spring from ignorance, misinformation, and outright lies told to mislead.

Reply
Dave M says:
June 15, 2024 at 4:46 pm (Commenter ID: 6690a22a)
Jim, I know you as a respectable and a respectful gay man. However, clearly you do not want to recognize the truth that there are a goodly number of gay pedophiles, (yes some teaching in our schools,) who are after especially the teens. Because your chosen flag represents those perverts, I cannot and will not support it! Yes, I find the whole month of June being set aside most offensive!

Reply
Jim Reeves says:
July 12, 2024 at 3:55 pm (Commenter ID: a93d4c73)
You’re simply wrong about that, Dave.
Straight pedophiles vastly outnumber those that are gay. You tend to hear about the gay ones because that sells newspapers and generates ‘clicks’ online. There is no more “a goodly number” of gay pedophiles than there are in any other group you might want to focus upon.
While there are certainly gay teachers, there’s no more of a likelihood of them being pedophiles than straight teachers. Indeed, if we go by the general population statistics, there is a 90% chance that any pedophile teachers are straight.
I also want to be sure you are clear on what pedophilia is: it’s the sexual attraction to PRE-pubescent children. I suspect you are equating pedophilia with hebephilia, the strong, persistent sexual interest by adults in pubescent children who are in early adolescence, typically ages 11–14, and ephebophilia, the sexual interest in mid-to-late adolescents, generally ages 15 to 19.
Ask any woman how many men hit on or sexually harassed her almost the moment she hit puberty. Those were not gay men.
Most straight men are not pedophiles.
Most gay men are not pedophiles.
Pedophilia is not a sexual orientation, nor does it have anything to do with one’s sexual orientation.
Pride month and the Pride flag represent a large number of wonderful, intelligent, artistic, caring, loving, brave, outgoing, shy, professionals, artists, laborers, and more. Basically, every type of person you can think of.
I’ll keep flying my flag, and celebrating Pride month.

The end of an era

April 23, 2024

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I’ve exclusively owned Fords since 1985. That ended today. What have I done??

Here’s a look back at 39 years of Fords!

(Not my actual car, but the same model and color)

A 1985 1/2 Ford Escort. I put well over 100,000 miles on this car. A 5 speed, 4 cylinder that I drove to Canada and all over Central California, it was the first new car I ever purchased.

In 1992 I bought my Ranger XLT, and have put over 160,000 miles on it. The Ranger has taken me to Seattle, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. This was the second vehicle I bought new. (and I’ve still got it – I don’t expect to ever sell it)

In 2007 I bought this 2005 Taurus SEL at the Fresno Car Max. It had 8,700 miles on it. It was previously owned by a Ford dealership in a smaller Central Valley town, and must have been a loaner or used to give folks rides to and from the lot. What ever they did with it, they didn’t put very many miles on it. I fixed that, running to odometer up to about 110,000 miles. This one went as far east as Columbus, Ohio.

In 2020, I went back to Car Max, and bought the Blue_Heretic, a 2019 Ford Fusion SE with “Eco-Boost”. Another low-milage car, it was one year old with 2,600 miles on the odometer. This car has been the one I liked the most of all the cars I’ve owned, and it’s with mixed emotions that I traded it in on my new Honda. Good-bye, Heretic, and thanks for all the (only 35,000) miles!

So now I jump into both the Honda and the hybrid worlds.

My first “foreign” car, a 2024 Honda Accord Hybrid EX-L. Rolling along on the electric motor is taking a bit of getting used to! (but I love it! It’s so quiet)

Trying to come up with a name in the vein of my previous car’s ‘Blue_Heretic’. So far, nothing has presented itself. I’m sure I’ll think of something.

RIP, VTD

December 30, 2023

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Well, it’s finally happened.
My first relationship with the Visalia Times-Delta was as a paperboy in the 1970’s. My route at the time was the largest in the city, which had a population of less than 50,000 back then. I wish I could say that having a paper route taught me how to handle money, but sadly it did not. But that, perhaps, is a story for another blog.
As an adult, I’ve read the paper frequently if not daily, written many letters to the editor, had a couple of my community blog posts appear in the printed edition (Hate in a small town – 9-22/23-2013, and It’s not easy to make SPLC’s hate list – 5-15-2015), and even had them request I write a column (Connecting LGBT community and government – 7-16/17-2016) that appeared in print. They even paid me for that last one.
But that was then, this is now.
Sitting at the computer today, I realized it had been months since I logged into my account at VTD, one I pay for monthly.
I went to the page, logged in, and found the weekend edition online. (I stopped the paper edition a couple of years ago, keeping only the online subscription)
There were exactly two items in the entire paper related to Visalia.
One obituary, and the weather. No other local news. At all. Not even any local sports.
For some time now, the VTD has been fading. It’s a shadow of it’s former self. A shadow on a heavily overcast day. Almost not there.
I cancelled my subscription right then.
I’ve found that the Sun-Gazette and the Valley Voice newspapers have better local coverage than the Times-Delta, and have for some time. I also subscribe to the Fresno Bee‘s online presence.
The Visalia Times Delta has (for some time now) become simply another version of USA TODAY.
RIP VTD

“Shoving it down our throat…”

December 12, 2023

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One of the most common refrains those of us in the queer community hear is something along the lines of, “we don’t care what you do in the bedroom, just don’t shove it down our throats!”

This is usually in response to something innocuous, like a queer couple holding hands in public while walking down Main Street, or perhaps when a rainbow flag is flown from a home or business during June. Proclamations by City Councils or County Board of Supervisors really set some people off.

Oddly, however, that is a one-way outrage street.

Christians love to “shove it down our throat” when they’re proselytizing about their god. Today’s example is courtesy of the Tulare County Board of Supervisors.

During today’s (December 12, 2023) Board meeting, they approved the addition of “IN GOD WE TRUST” to the chambers. Board Chair Dennis Townsend, District 5 (Porterville area), recently proposed adding the phrase to a wall in the chambers, supposedly as a nod to the United States Motto, saying in the November 28th meeting that “… in god we trust is how our nation was founded, and even in that it is not specific” to any particular god.

However…

Maybe I missed it in the multitude of gods believed in over the years, and the somewhat smaller group with active believers around the world and in Tulare County today, but, as far as I know, only one particular god is referred to as GOD. That’s the Christian god, also known as Yahweh or Jehovah.

So to claim the Christian god is not necessarily the one being referred to when “IN GOD WE TRUST” is prominently displayed is disingenuous. It’s also not the case, in spite of fundamentalist Christians going on otherwise, that this nation was founded as a Christian nation, and with the Bible being a primary source of the nation’s underpinnings.

On June 10, 1797, President John Adams signed the Treaty of Tripoli, after a unanimous vote to approve by the United States Senate. Article 11 of that treaty states, in part, that “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion…” There are other instances of the founders making it clear they were not Christians and were not basing the new nation on that faith system. Many were deists, and had a belief in a god, but not necessarily the Christian version.

And yet, “IN GOD WE TRUST”.

Kudos to Supervisor Amy Shuklian for her actions which changed the sign from an obvious Christian proselytization to something more in line with the alleged homage to the United States. She proposed, and was successful in adding, “E Pluribus Unum” to the signage. In the final vote Supervisor Shuklian voted against the installation, but was outvoted by the rest of the Board.

If the goal was really to show respect for the founding of the United States, and display something that encompasses that which the nation is really based upon, I think this would have been more appropriate:

But that doesn’t shove anything down anyone’s throat, does it?

Pride Visalia 2023

October 19, 2023

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Me, Executive Director Brian Poth, and Kou

October 14, 2023 was Pride Visalia 2023. Another great year for Pride, with the usual large turnout at Valley Strong Stadium (AKA Rawhide Stadium, AKA Oaks Ballpark, AKA Recreation Park baseball stadium). Here are a few pictures of my time at Pride. See more at http://www.pridevisalia.org

That’s Mariachi Arcoiris, the world’s first and only LGBT mariachi band!

Me, Kou, and David stand in remembrance of Ed Steck and “Free Dad Hugs”.

Reyes, me, and Kou. You’ll always run into friends and family at Pride Visalia!

Check out my Facebook photo album of the event, here.

See you next year!

Hamas attacks Israel

October 8, 2023

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Photo: AP News

The terrorist organization Hamas launched an attack against Israel that has left hundreds, perhaps thousands, dead. Israel has said it had no intelligence that would lead them to believe an attack was being planned.

I don’t buy that.

Mossad is one of the premier intelligence agencies in the world. Their association with the CIA and MI6 makes me think, despite movies that pit each agency against each other for dramatic effect, that they had to have known something was imminent. How could Hamas moved, secured, and kept hidden that many rockets and guns without someone being aware of it and letting Israel know?

Maybe it’s my cynicism in my old age, but I suspect this story will unravel to become one of the most damning conspiracies in recent history. Why do I think that? Well, sit back and let me ‘splain it to you, Lucy.

Here’s my scenario:

It all goes back to Trump and Jared.

We know Trump provided access to secret intelligence documents to unauthorized individuals. Jared (Kushner, son-in-law of President Trump, just in case you didn’t know the name) was “in charge” of the Middle East “peace process”. We know nuclear secrets of one of our allies (presumed to be Israel) was given (you can’t even give it the prestige or precedent of calling it a “leak”) to unknown agents (assumed to be Saudi Arabia). I think it’s safe to assume a lot of other information was included in this incident.

Jared was rewarded with 2 billion dollars.

Saudi Arabia has had several years to infiltrate Gaza with weapons, provide intelligence and support, and plan an assault on Israel.

All of that is bad, but here’s where my inner cynic really gets wound up.

I think Mossad knew Hamas was planning an attack. If they didn’t, they’re incompetent, and the entire upper leadership should not only be sacked, but charged with criminal negligence.

I suspect Netanyahu new there was an attack coming, and let it happen.

Why?

Because that would give him the political power to do what he’s always wanted to do: Destroy the Palestinians.

I think his government knew. I think the CIA knew. I think MI6 knew. Maybe not how big the attack was going to be, but they had to know something was cooking and ready to boil over. Netanyahu and his government let it happen to be able to respond with the full force of their US-supplied military.

This weekend’s attack and the (totally justified) Israeli response has set the peace process back at least 50 years.

Let’s hope it doesn’t lead to World War III.

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