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Davisite Banner. Left side the bicycle obelisk at 3rd and University. Right side the trellis at the entrance to the Arboretum.

Author: Alan C. Miller

  • An Al’s Corner Exclusive: A.I. Generated Joint Statement From The Davis Joint Unified School District, Davis City, and Yolo County, Regarding The Bomb Threats of September 20, 2023

    NOT "REAL" – PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FOLLOWING PRESS RELEASE IS – "NOT REAL"  (It is my "duty" to tell you that 😉 )

    This was produced in about 3 seconds by ChatGPT.  The input to ChatGPT to produce this fake press release follows below.  At the Davis Vanguard they give you a real press releases produced by real people using real quotes.  Here at Al's Corner, we give you a false press release produced by artificial intelligence!  Because we care.

    [Joint Statement]

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    A Joint Statement From The Davis Joint Unified School District, Davis City, and Yolo County, Regarding and Condemning The Bomb Threats of September 20, 2023

    [Davis, CA, September 21, 2023] – The Davis Joint Unified School District (DJUSD), the City of Davis, and Yolo County stand united in condemning the series of bomb threats that occurred on September 20, 2023, targeting educational institutions and public spaces within our community. Such acts of terror have no place in our society, and we are committed to working collaboratively to ensure the safety and well-being of our residents, especially our students and educators.

    This shocking incident has not only disrupted our peaceful community but has also instilled fear and anxiety among our residents. We want to assure everyone that we take these threats seriously, and our law enforcement agencies are actively investigating the matter to identify those responsible. The safety and security of our community remain our utmost priority.

    We call upon our community members to remain vigilant, report any suspicious activity promptly, and support one another during these trying times. Together, we will stand strong and resilient against such threats to our cherished community.

    Statement by DJUSD Board of Education President Lea Darrah

    "As President of the DJUSD Board of Education, I am deeply saddened by the events that unfolded on September 20th. Our schools are meant to be safe havens for learning and growth. We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure the security of our students and staff, and we stand with our community against acts of violence."

    Statement by Yolo County Supervisor Jim Provenza

    "Yolo County condemns these despicable acts in the strongest possible terms. Our community is founded on principles of peace, unity, and compassion. We are committed to supporting law enforcement in bringing those responsible to justice and will provide resources to help our community heal."

    Statement by Yolo County Supervisor Lucas Frerichs

    "As a representative of Yolo County, I am appalled by the threat to our community's safety. We must remember that unity and resilience are our strengths. We will emerge from this challenge stronger than ever, determined to protect our residents and maintain the harmony we hold dear."

    Statement by City of Davis Mayor Will Arnold

    "Davis is a community that values education, inclusivity, and peace. The recent bomb threats are an affront to these principles. Our city stands shoulder to shoulder with DJUSD and Yolo County, committed to ensuring the safety of our citizens and the preservation of our shared values."

    #####

    INPUT:  "ChatGPT, please write me a one page press release that is A Joint Statement From The Davis Joint Unified School District, Davis City, and Yolo County, Regarding and Condemning The Bomb Threats of September 20, 2023. Include a joint statement for about half the page, and then individual, 2-3 sentence statements from four persons: DJUSD Board of Education President Lea Darrah, Yolo County Supervisor Jim Provenza, Yolo County Supervisor Lucas Frerichs, City of Davis Mayor Will Arnold. Make each individual statement unique and in their style of making statements. Have each individual statement in a paragraph under a title in bold that includes each of the four people’s name and title. Place each of the individual statements within the bounds of quotation marks."

  • Anatomy of an Article: That Wake Up Call was a Wrong Number (Al’s Curiousity Corner #4)

    SUBJECT: "Commentary: A Wake Up Call"  (Wednesday's Blavis Blansplard)

    Only DG could get a robo-call about solar panels from a call center in India and think it was a a wake-up call.  I was rummaging through the trash behind Vanguard Headquarters on Thursday evening at 8:17 p.m. and found the recipe for the article.  As a public service I am posting it here:

    (more…)

  • ChatGPT Asked to Write a Country Song about the Library Incident

    I typed a 150 word description of the library incident into ChatGPT.  I then asked ChatGPT to write a country song about the incident.  With no further prompting, and in about five seconds, this is what ChatGPT wrote:

    (more…)

  • Al’s Corner – September 2023

    image from www.sparkysonestop.com

    This volume of Al's Corner is dedicated to the celebration of the Davis Vanguard's National Issues Open Discussion Page.  Of course, this page isn't open to me, or several other banned people.  Nor, in practice, is it a discussion.  Let's do some stats and declare a winner:

    (more…)

  • Al’s Curiousity Corner #3 – The Burning Man Attendees vs. Climate Change Activists vs. Tribal Police Incident

    Tribal Police ram barricade set up on Route 447 by climate activists – the only paved way into Gerlach and from there, Burning Man, backing up traffic for miles.

    Curious your thoughts, Davisites.  Reference article and video may be found here:

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12453081/Nevada-Rangers-Extinction-Rebellion-protest-activists-blocked-road-Burning-Man.html

    Other references welcome.

  • Al’s Curiosity Corner #2 – Open Forum on the Library Issue

    While there has been a discussion on that 'other' blog, the reason I hang here is that many comments get deleted there without explanation, especially on this issue and especially comments even modestly politically right.  However, this is a sensitive issue, and I am not going to allow outright insults directed at trans people/supporters/protestors nor at persons associated with Mom's for Liberty. 

    For example, for some reason that other blog allows MFL persons to be called Nazis, and that sort of useless comment isn't going to be allowed here.  On the other hand, in the Yahoo comments on the Bee article, about 153 out of 155 comments were against the library actions, despite the article leaning towards supporting the protestors.  AND . . . many if not most of those commenting there were denying the existence of trans people, insulting trans people, and/or calling trans people various derogatory terms implying mental illness just for being trans.  I'm not putting up with any of that shit here either.  I won't outright delete a comment unless it's completely empty of anything but outright hate towards either side, and I'll always explain why a comment or part of a comment was deleted.

    My views on the library matter are simple:  I'm a Jew who believes the Skokie decision was the greatest triumph for the core of what makes America great:  Free speech, baby!

    What are your views?   I'd like this to focus on free speech vs. hate speech; the actions/authority of the library/library-manager, the actions of those putting on the meeting and those protesting the meeting, and various takes in the media.

    (Note:  I have a life, so your comments may not be posted for many hours.  Deal with it.)

  • Al’s Curiosity Corner: What Do Davisites Think of ‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ ?

    I'm curious what the people of Davisitesville think of this mega-hit's message. 

    My reaction, from the lyrics, is this could be a punk song sung by 'Oliver' as a raw country ballad.  Rage!  Stickin' it to the monarchy, the man, the machine.  Anger at what the government is doing to us, against the men in power.  Yet this song is being labeled a 'conservative ballad'.  True, it is catching fire in conservative circles, but I don't see that in the lyrics.  I can easily hear a Johnny Rotten or a Henry Rollins versions of this song.

    There's a reference to 'minors on an island'.  That happened.  Davis liberals don't defend pedophiles (do they?). 

    (more…)

  • The Housing War is Over – Greenwald Declares “Uncle”

    Yesterday could go down as the most important day in Davis history:  the day the housing back-and-forth between David Greenwald and Ron Ortel ended.

    On Greenwald simply declared, after more than a decade of housing-essays and long comments between the two:

    "Uncle"

    This will mark the start of a new era with a Davis Vanguard free of housing articles, signed under the Treaty of White, named after our long-departed Innovation Officer, for no reason in particular.  Or the color white, I'm not sure.

    The Vanguard will now focus on its true passion:  cooking with fish.  Lots of articles on cooking with fish.

    Now if only Ron O. would just get over the notion that Measure J or Rent Control were good ideas.

    Oh, well.  Baby steps.  😉

    That should elicit an essay for the Davisite.  On Housing  😐

    What have I done?

  • Welcome to Al’s Corner – “Pouring Gasoline on the Dumpster Fire of Davis Politics” – August 2023

    image from www.sparkysonestop.com

    Got a thought on Davis politics, or a even a single politic?  Got a thought on the request to give a donation to the Davis Vanguard so they can fund the replacement of their crappy old website?  I have a thought — give instead to the Davis-Ite to replace the D-ite's even older, crappier website !   Underfunded old crappy blog structures:  It's the Davis Way !

  • In His Own Words – Walter Shwe Exposes and Brings Down Al’s Corner Hypocrisy

    In what could be the most important hero-story in Davis' history, Walter Shwe saved the Davisite from Alan Miller's hypocrisy as found on Al's Corner.  Readers should congratulate Mr. Shwe for his Davis-saving efforts in the comment section below.  In his own words, combining two WS comments, one of which was written at 4:45 a.m. on July 5th, Mr. Shwe says:

    " I exposed the hypocracy of Mr. Miller. He regularly slammed the Davis Vanguard for censorship, yet he did the same thing with me everytime I tried to truthfully call someone out by name. Without the the names, my comments had little value. Worse still, he swore frequently, then attempted to laugh it off. Good riddance to Al's Corner. Al's Corner turned out not to be a free speech platform.  Glad I don't have to read any more of Mr. Miller's whinny comments about the Davis Vanguard! 🤣 "

    Mr. Shwe TRUTHFULLY called people out by name, but was prevented doing so by Alan Miller.  He also called out Mr. Miller's "swearing".  Most important, he pointed out that Al's Corner did not publish all his comments in whole, PROVING that Al's Corner was not a free speech platform.  He also proved that Mr. Miller was a horse.