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 !
A huge explosion and fireball enveloped the Al's Corner tanker truck late Tuesday evening. The explosion was heard as far away as Esparto, Knights Landing, Allendale, Zamora, Broderick, Saxon, Batavia, and the Milk Farm.
Preliminary investigation by the combined UCD and City fire departments indicate that a flea had flown into the side of the tank, causing the explosion.
When asked how a flea could have caused such an explosion, fire chief Woody Burns said simply:
"It was a very annoying flea".
Contacted at his new residence on the east side of Pole Line Road just north of 8th Street, Al was asked about Al's Corner's iconic run in the Davis shitty-blog scene. Al responded simply:
"It's been real, and it's been fun. But it hasn't been real fun."
There's a part B. We hit 100 comments: such an ashwevement 😐
I urge residents to attend the City Council meeting this evening to speak against the Davis City Council supporting the widening of I-80, and instead supporting investment in the parallel intercity rail corridor. [The item comes up at 8:15 pm]
An Open Letter to the Davis City Council
2023-06-06
Dear City Council Members:
I am writing to you today as a citizen of Davis.
You are being asked to approve three letters of intent with the State of California, regarding supposed 'mitigation' for the increased air pollution resulting from the widening of I-80. I urge you not to sign these letters and instead send a strong message to the State of California opposing the widening of I-80, and instead to actively support a massive investment in intercity rail transit.
Davis lies on the Capitol Corridor rail line between Roseville and San Jose. Plans are being developed for a new rail crossing between the East Bay and San Francisco that would allow Capitol Corridor trains to access the Peninsula directly. Plans are in the works for a new tunnel between Martinez and Richmond to allow the removal the curvy section of the rail line along the Bay to protect the corridor from sea-level rise and speed up that section by ten minutes. Plans are in the works for hourly and half-hourly rail service within an 18-hour service window. Plans are in the works for 110 m.p.h. trains using hydrogen, overhead electric, or battery-hybrid electric equipment.
What these plans lack is funding and state commitment. The State of California's stated policy is to fund alternative transportation and reduce VMT & GHG. Yet actual State policy speaks through its funding allocations in expanding highways under the guise of adding 'managed lanes' which the State admits will add to air pollution in the case of the I-80 widening project. Under what reasoning can Davis support this?
The so-called mitigation to fund infrastructure for Davis developments is called 'support' in the documents. That any given development will actually contribute to a reduction in pollutants is a theoretical exercise based on models that are not specific to Davis. The true effect can only be known once such developments are occupied and the transportation choices of residents known.
The so-called transit mitigation is to fill a need that may or may not exist. The need for a micro-transit program in our small town, or the need for a vague 'increase' in public transit has not been studied, nor has the overall effect on pollutants. Davis is being asked to support questionable, theoretical and insufficient mitigation for a project that the State admits will increase pollution. This goes against Davis' values.
Transportation is the #1 cause of air pollutants. This is largely because of automobile dominance. It can be difficult as City Councilmembers to turn down 'free' State money, but in this case you indeed must turn that money down. To give support to the I-80 widening would be to support the continued mass funding of road widening and automobile supremacy.
Instead, I urge the City Council to make a strong statement to the State of California against growing the auto-centric transportation status quo. I urge rejecting the mitigation and 'partnership' in highway-widening and instead writing a letter to the State in support of massive investment in intercity rail transit.
Tell the State to leave I-80 over the Causeway as it is, retaining two shoulders on each side in each direction for safety. Then ask the State of California to divert the billions of dollars in current and future highway funds intended for Interstate 80 expansion to instead fund the expansion and improvement of the parallel Capitol Corridor passenger rail service from Roseville to San Jose.
I thank you for hearing me,
Alan C. Miller
There MAY not have been a May version of Al's Corner. People got by. They posted May stuff in April. We all lived.
June's Al's Corner will feature ketchup and mustard on top. Peace. Over & Out.
Welcome to April, fools.
Al's Corner is about free speech. Especially speech you don't like. If you delete posts because you don't like them, you're an asshole.
If the shoe fits, wear it. On your asshole. An asshole shoe. Do they come in pairs?
Bon Ami says, "Hasn't Scratched Yet". At Al's Corner we say, "Haven't Moderated Yet". Though some day we will, but it will be on principals, not politics. Someone blatantly violates the rules. But unlike 'Disappearing Donny', we'll let you know what you did wrong, not simply disappear your comment into a progressive void. (Full Disclosure: I once had to moderate one of my own comments – and yes, I did inform myself of it.)
The 'topic' for this month is "Stomping Davis, Crushing Locales".
Based on a March 30th comment in the Davis Vanguard by Dave Hart: "I’m tired of the emotional and knee jerk negative reaction of those, particularly on the fringe of town next to proposed new development. I would love to see these locales get crushed and I’m starting to feel that way about Davis. I can’t believe I’m saying it, but yeah, we need to be stomped on for being so intransigent and narrow."
Crush & Stomp your fellow citizens, those usual suspects, so intransigent and narrow. Oh Davis YIMBYs!
Carry on . . .
March, like February, starts early at Al's Corner. We'll start off trashing the Davis Vanguard, as common a theme on Al's Corner as housing articles on the Davis Vanguard. Recently posted:
Walter Shwe February 26, 2023 at 6:00 pm
Has anyone at Davis Vanguard lately tried to comment on an article or replied to a prior comment on an iPhone? The experience is atrocious. Articles always load slowly except late at night. Ads interfere with the top page buttons, particularly the Login button. Most importantly to you the Donate button is inaccessible. Earlier today I had to login by first tapping the Register button. Will anyone at Davis Vanguard ever fix these frustrating issues? I realize that ads help pay for site costs, but this is simply ridiculous.
Moderator February 26, 2023 at 6:26 pm
We’ll forward this comment to the webmaster and then remove it in a few hours. Thanks for your feedback.
Funny, myself and I believe RO and KO all pointed out that since the Vanguard added Newsy and other advertising that it has become an annoying, almost unusable piece of sh*t, and most especially on a phone, where you might as well drop your phone in the toilet and flush. But no, we were ignored. Maybe because we also, in not so many words, or maybe in so many words, also called the content of the DV sh*t also. But hey, you should listen to your critics, because we know what is best for you. But no, y'all wait until a fan-of-the- blog points out the very same thing. Good going.
And one bit of housekeeping to our thousands or hundreds or tens or single-digits or negative-number of fans: In February we ran over the previously-unknown-to-me 100 comment limit. This caused a "Page 2" to be created that many did not find, and missed brilliant commentary. To find Page 2, either dig up the corpse of Paul Harvey, or scroll to the bottom of Page 1 and click on the "Newer >>>" button. Yeehaw
Happy Early March Everyone! Happy Easter! Happy Passover! Happy Good Friday, if that is a happy holy day otherwise maybe a solemn one! And then there are other holidays for all the people of the world and I am now going to list them all and celebrate all of them . . . or not!
Two articles today in the Davis Vanguard about ChatGPT.
But ChatGPT is woke:
One quote:
"Developing anything, software or not, requires compromise and making choices, political choices, about who a system will work for and whose values it will represent."
I certainly don't agree with some of the political views used as examples in the article, but clearly a political bias is shown when the machine calls out writing about subjects as being 'inappropriate'. If you can't see how this could so easily be manipulated by whomever is in power, you aren't being real about the concerns.
February starts early at Al's Corner ! To kick off the month, here are some ground rules: at Al's Corner, you are welcome to make (judged by some others to be) glib comments that you think are humorous in regard to articles pertaining to tragic situations ! See below:
Davisite 
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.