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Author: Alan C. Miller

  • Open Letter to City Council on CC Agenda Item 4: Update on Healthy Davis Together

    City Councilmembers,

    I note that Healthy Davis Together (HDT) is scheduled to end its public testing services at the end of this month.  I am concerned about the timing of this closure during a large surge of Covid-19.  The surge is not unexpected with masking reduction, public burnout and a highly-contagious variant.  True that far less people are dying, but why shut down testing just as there is a huge upsurge in cases and a small uptick in deaths?

    Last time the HDT program was slated for shutdown, I suggested rather than shutting down the program, start charging for testing, and allow for those testing to 'sponsor' more tests by paying for tests for others in need.  I believe the community will respond generously.  Many I have have spoken to are dismayed at the end of H.D.T testing, and would welcome the continuation of the program as a pay service.  I encourage Council to push for this option.

    I saw pictures of the previous (first live) City Council meeting in 'a local blog'.  Great photos of all of you.  But no one on the dais was wearing a mask.  Photos of the audience showed a spattering of maskless and masked — using cloth, surgical, N95.  What is the mask policy?  What is the message the Council wishes to send?  Why the choice to have the first live meeting and not wear masks as we headed into a surge?

    Society today — supposedly compassionate towards marginalized peoples — is being oddly cruel in dismissing that Covid-19 "only" kills the old and the sick.  Are 'old' and 'sick' not marginalized groups that we should care for?  Being that I will be 'old' soon (in the category where Covid-19 death is much more likely), I would prefer to live in a society that gives a crap. 

    I go to one business downtown and they require full N95 masking for all clients who enter.  I go to another business wearing a mask and am taken to a closed office with a maskless woman who never even asks if I'd prefer she wore a mask.  Many people seem done with Covid-19.  Yet, I know more people who have contracted Covid-19 in the last two months than the previous two years.  My pre-Covid-19 work building was just declared a 'severe outbreak location' for the first time in the pandemic.  But apparently we are tired of Covid-19, so end the testing, end the masking?

    Official health guidelines are insanely confusing.  The County lists a state website that grades types of masks by their usefulness.  N95 is 'very good', surgical is 'good', cloth is 'fair'.  This is for a deadly virus. 

    Can you imagine if health officials used a similar system for prophylactics?  Latex is 'very good', lambskin is 'good', a plastic baggie is 'fair' ?  Of course for something non-fatal health officials are clear that the only way to protect one's self, and others, is to use a latex condom.  But we teach that a cloth mask is a 'fair' option.   As the concept of masks has changed from 'everyone helps everyone' to 'everyone for themselves', and all masks are widely available, it is paramount that the vulnerable public is guided to use only the most protective masks.

    As well, home Covid-19 tests have proven to frequently give false negatives.  This is worse than no tests at all, as people may visit an old and/or vulnerable family member with the false security of having taken an inadequate home test.

    I recently learned that although HDT is shutting down, a "test -to-treat" facility is opening in Woodland, offering a same day full round of Paxlovid if one tests positive.  I learned about this not from the City, but from the California Aggie.  Will a "test-to-treat" facility be opening in Davis soon?

    I urge the Council to:  A) Wear masks at meetings while the surge continues; B) Continue Healthy Davis Together as a paid program allowing donations for the needy; C)  Give a clear message as to where we are in the pandemic that considers a balance between business needs, healthy citizens, and vulnerable citizens; D) Give clear information about testing and treatment available to Davis residents beyond June 30.

    Sincerely,

    Alan C. Miller

    District 3

     

  • Welcome to Al’s Corner – “Pouring Gasoline on the Dumpster Fire of Davis Politics” – Volume #5

    image from www.sparkysonestop.comAl's Corner is a place to comment on local issues and articles/comments in other local forums that you may or may not have been banned from.  For the few Rule-ez at Al's Corner, see "Pages" –> "Al's Corner – What It Is".

  • How Do You Die In a Sinking Submarine? Part 2 – The Vanguard

    USS Carson copy

    I haven't read the aftermath article that was no doubt in the Vanguard Wednesday morning.  I have grown yawn of the analysis/spin and the predictability.  I could write the article.  I will go read it for the comments, but without Alan Miller and Keith O., the comments have really become dull.  And Ron O., by his descriptions here, half his stuff is censhored.  How is censhored content either a discussion or entertaining?

    But what has changed is that the key issues/peoples the Vanguard champions died last night.  Here's my prediction (or a post-diction since it's already been written):  the article will include Measure H, Chesa Boudin and Reisig.  Am I close?  The Vanguard lost, and all such progressive/woke initiatives are going down, like a sinking submarine.  They didn't just go down, they were all massacres.  Sinking massacres.  Mixed metaphors.

    Measure H?  64% vs. 52% last time.  So it's getting worse, horribly worse, for the prospects of development.  Probably not ever going to be developed unless every taxpayer in Davis is bribed $1000 to vote 'yes'.  More voters would have mattered?  Doesn't matter, that's how it is.  Where were all those student voters voting 'yes' that didn't last time?  Not voting, as usual, as students don't.  In one of the Valley's most liberal towns, it went down.  Must be all the racists on the 'no' SIDE.

    Chesa?  An initiative on 'defund the police'.  Doesn't matter what the stats are.  The public has had it.  In one of the countries most liberal cities.

    Reisig?  He stooped pretty low with the child molester attempted link.  Then the lipstick-on-a-pig flyer came out.  OK now they both stopped low, so no moral advantage there.  But again, people in a Valley county with a super-liberal town/city, even Yolo leans law & order.  And for me, Reisig's dept. put a murderer behind bars who killed a friend's partner in front of them and their young child.  And the murderer should NEVER get out of jail, unless the living victim says so.  Period.  Majority of us don't believe in term limits for murderers.

    MOOB!

     

  • How Do You Die In a Sinking Submarine? Part 1 – Carson

    USS Carson copyWith a whopping 11,000 votes cast, Measure H was massacred, going down 64% to 36%, or nearly 2-1.  I was actually in favor of the project, slightly, and would have voted for it, had Carson not . . . well, no need to rehash here, you all know — some of you fellow citizens know intimately/legally/financially.  With this scaled-back version going down like a rock, it is safe to ask . . . did the decision to bring on Carson and then sue Davis residents kill this project? 

    I believe the project would not have passed anyway, based on a guess I pulled out of my ass while typing this.   But a reasonable question is, could 1500-2000 of those 11,000 Davis residents been so offended by what the developer and Carson did that they changed their vote or made a point of voting when they may not have otherwise?  I believe, also sourced from my colon, that the answer is yes, they could have.  What I do know is I talked to a lot of people who were very angry at Carson and thought he had made himself into a fool clown.  Nothing motivates one to vote like anger at a fool clown.

    The main conclusion of the video 'How Do You Die in a Sinking Submarine?' is that you die instantly when the hull implodes.  Carson, on the other hand, is going down slowly through June, July, August, September and October.  Painfully listening as the political hull creaks and groans under the pressure of his own stupidity reflected back on him from Davis residents, until:  BOOM!  Or, rather, since submarines implode rather than explode:  MOOB!

    Why am I being such a dick to Carson?  I want to send a clear message so that never again will anyone be so brazen as to:

    1. Hire a sitting City Councilmember to be your campaign chair, honorable or not (in this case not).
    2. Volunteer to be that Councilmember who becomes the campaign chair.
    3. Hire a proxy to sue Davis citizens over ballot language.
    4. Volunteer to be that proxy.
    5. Sue anyone over ballot language on a local issue in Davis ever again.

    Personally, I found much of the NO on H ballot argument outrageous; I also found much of the YES ballot argument outrageous.  I doubt anyone on the NO side ever thought, 'hey I know, let's sue the YES side over their ballot language'!  No, they used media and lawn signs, like normal, decent people do.  This skull-f*ckery of suing Davis citizens over ballot language will stop.  Y'all should have been intelligent enough to see what a bad idea that was.  You weren't.

    We all tend to have very short memories when politicians do stupid things.   I intend to keep the pressure on, keep the memory of the stupidity going, and hope the people of West Davis are more intelligent than Carson and the developer.  The sub is sinking; let's all keep the pressure increasing on the hull over the next five months until we see the bubbles on the surface.

    MOOB!

  • Welcome to Al’s Corner – “Pouring Gasoline on the Dumpster Fire of Davis Politics” – Volume #4

    image from www.sparkysonestop.comThis is Al's Corner, a place to comment on local issues and articles/comments in other local forums that you may or may not have been banned from.  For the few Rule-ez at Al's Corner, see "Pages" –> "Al's Corner – What It Is".

  • NO on Carson (Letter to Editor, Davis Enterprise, June 3rd, 2022)

    Campaigners are often so set in the righteousness of their views that they forget that the only people they need to convince are those few in the middle weighing both sides. Carson changed my vote on Measure H.

    I see both advantages and consequences to building DiSC; my main issue was infrastructure, specifically the bike under-crossing. I was torn but until recently decided to cross the 50-yard line in support of the project, based on the developer's commitment to build the bike/ped tunnel (though I was getting concerned as some pointed out the wording in the agreement could allow the 'commitment' to be pushed off indefinitely).

    Then Carson became the head of the committee to support the project he just voted to put on the ballot, as a coucil-member. I'm fine with council-members having opinions and speaking out, but I don't ever want to see such an intimate relationship between a party of interest and a politician, even if technically legal. Honestly, I may never have noticed, had Carson not chosen to become the developer’s proxy to sue Davis citizens over a ballot argument. Yes, the ‘No’ ballot argument is outrageous; also outrageous is the developer’s ‘Yes’ ballot argument, lawn signs, etc. That's the nature of ballot arguments!

    Loss of political integrity on this scale trumps mere issues and must not be tolerated. I will not only vote No on H, but likely permanently against this piece of land and this developer. I will also get my exercise this fall by walking the streets of West Davis in support of Carson's replacement.

    Vote NO on Carson.

    Alan C. Miller
    Davis

  • Welcome to Al’s Corner – “Pouring Gasoline on the Dumpster Fire of Davis Politics” – Volume #3

    image from www.sparkysonestop.comThis is Al's Corner, a place to comment on local issues and articles/comments in other local forums (that you may or may not have been banned from). 

    For the (very few) Rule-ez at Al's Corner, see top of right column on home page under:  "Pages" –> "Al's Corner – What It Is"

  • Al’s Corner – What It Is

    Truck_1_857x351_14AA8D05CB98CThis is Al’s Corner – A Place to comment on Local Stuff, free from the censorship of biased people. 

    Free speech rocks!  Recent happenings at Netflix & Twitter give hope that Cancel Culture in the U.S. is dying.  Recent happenings in Davis local media . . .  not so much.  Al’s Corner is a place to speak your mind on all things Davis, even as other local forums become more exclusive, more moderated, and more noisier echo chambers that don’t welcome dissent, recognize humor, or allow ‘incorrect’ opinions.  That’s why I created Al’s corner — comment here on local media content and comments, without having to deal with the Thought Police.

    The simple rules at Al’s Corner are:

    • Doxx no one;
    • No personal attacks on individuals who aren’t public figures [wider but not unlimited berth for public figures; i.e. you can insult their leadership skills or judgement, but not their weight];
    • No critical comments on stuff known to be written by children; i.e. those 17 and under – everyone else is an adult.

    WHEN YOU COMMENT: 

    • Post the Subject clearly;
    • Reference the source, article title, and date if commenting on an article from another source;
    • If you are quoting a comment from another source, further note the comment author and time of posting. On the rare occasions I mod a comment, I’ll email the commenter, explain why, and the commenter can repost.  I will NOT disappear your comment, tell you to figure it out yourself, and then give you advice on when to plant your azaleas.

    NOTE 1:  Comments are published when I get around to it!   You are not being censored; rather, I have other priorities besides your comment.  This also means it won’t be a real-time conversation, so post accordingly.   

    NOTE 2:  If someone posts something insensitive/offensive and not directed at an individual, they are their own worst enemy and can hang themselves with the noose of their own words in full view of God and their fellow human beings.

    I’ll refresh with a new Al’s Corner space once-a-week-ish, or as needed when things get cluttered.  Enjoy expressing yourself at Al’s corner.  It’ll be a gas.

    — Al, of Al’s Corner  (gasoline tanker not included)

  • Welcome to Al’s Corner – “Pouring Gasoline on the Dumpster Fire of Davis Politics” – Volume #2

    image from www.sparkysonestop.comThis is Al's Corner, a place to comment on local stuff.  It's also a place to comment on articles and comments from other local forums you may have been banned from.  For the Rule-ez, see top of right column:  "Pages" –> "Al's Corner – What It Is"

    Al's Corner #1 was a smashing success.  Please ruin  Al's Corner #2 with poor, thoughtless comments that will make babies cry.  Without contrast to success, there is no victory. 

    Enjoy! 😐

  • Welcome to Al’s Corner – A Place to Comment on Local Stuff – #1

    image from www.sparkysonestop.comThis is Al's Corner – A Place to comment on Local Stuff, free from the censorship of biased people.  Free speech rocks!  Recent happenings at Netflix & Twitter give hope that Cancel Culture in the U.S. is dying.  Recent happenings in Davis local media . . .  not so much.  Al's Corner is a place to speak your mind on all things Davis, even as other local forums become more exclusive, more moderated, and more noisier echo chambers that don't welcome dissent, recognize humor, or allow 'incorrect' opinions.  That's why I created Al's corner — comment here on local media content and comments, without having to deal with the Thought Police. 

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