Taken Friday.

I’ve started a new series discussing Newsom v. Trump and the Posse Comitatus Act on my Substack, as I know many of you did not subscribe to this blog to hear about politics. I understand. Occasionally I will still talk about it here, but for the most part, I am moving it to my Substack.com/bigsurkate. You can find the first post in this series here, I hope: https://open.substack.com/pub/bigsurkate/p/newsom-v-trump?r=f01sg&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

I am new to Substack and trying to learn how to navigate. Took me a few months to figure out I couldn’t post from the app, but had to go into a browser to do that. Join me there and subscribe. As here, it is free.

No new information.

This is a screen shot, as it was done in pdf and my blog only accepts jpg. I had a converter, but it was discontinued, and I have not found a free replacement. All this to say that the “links” shown below are not actual links. But this is: bigsurhistory.org

These were taken by Dave Nelson from the north end of Big Creek Bridge on Saturday, 8/30/25. This is from an angle not normally seen in the photos Caltrans provides. (When it provides.)

In the past, I have often told the story of Anna Walentynowicz. (See last year, for example: https://bigsurkate.blog/2024/09/02/labor-day-2024-in-honor-of-anna-walentynowicz/ ). This year, I need to take a different approach due to the current state of our democracy. (Yes, our representative republic IS a democracy — see HCR’s recent you tube video: https://youtube.com/shorts/av498AczGQI?si=FCKbFZqhuo8xPfhE HCR: “It is like saying this is not a dog, it is a golden retriever.” I did not know that the argument “We are not a democracy, we are a representative republic” was first put forth by the John Birch Society to explain why blacks were not deprived of their vote. I did know about the John Birch Society, given that I was raised in Orange County and went to Law School in Fullerton. I knew the broad brush strokes of who they were and what they stood for. They were/are the precursor of the radical right we are witnessing today.

Today, I see the fracturing of our democracy into two groups, not red vs. blue, or conservative vs. liberal, or republican vs democrat. Nor do I see it as fractured along socio-economic or geographical lines. I see the two groups as those who are defending our democracy and those who want to turn the United States into a fascist state; three groups if one recognizes that there are others who either don’t follow politics or don’t care about politics. We must make our voices heard in whatever way we can — attend rallies, make donations of time, money, and energy by working for political campaigns or on issues we care about. We must reach our followers on social media, have conversations with friends, family, and neighbors. We can make our voices heard via whatever method we each have. Support independent bookstores, independent journalism, education. Support businesses and organizations who have refused to bend a knee to this wanna be dictator and his regime. Don’t support those who have purged their businesses or organizations of DEI in fear of retaliation. This is not a time for cowardice, but one for courage and honor. We are more alike than we are different, but those differences are what make us strong.

If you are not angry and/or frightened by what is happening through ICE and the National Guard in LA and in DC along with the threats to Chicago, NY, and Baltimore, perhaps you are trying to avoid thinking about what is going on. You need to make a choice: are you willing to fight for our Democracy (and I don’t mean physically, as that will just play into the hand of Stevem Miller who is dying to declare martial law to quell an uprising) or not? Now is not the time to be silent.

Today is Workers over Billionaires. There are thousands of marches, rallies, demonstrations, and music festivals planned all over the United States. Be part of that, if you can. Start thinking about how we are going to rebuild our democracy – only better. Maybe this regime was sent our way to help us see the cracks in our 250 year-old experiment in democracy. Now that we see them, we can start planning on how we are going to rebuild only better — more inclusivity, our strength — once this regime is gone. We are in this together, as Joyce Vance says, and WE are the power.

Was just sent this protest song by Bob Franco. It is great: https://www.facebook.com/bob.franco.739/videos/1466389084561114/?fs=e&fs=e

Going to Cambria for Pinedorado Days over Lador Day weekend was a tradition which had to include the Sea Chest.

No new info from last week, but I will post what they sent anyway

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