About 1,500 people took to SLO County‘s streets on Feb. 17 as part of the nationwide “Not My President” demonstration against wispy-haired orange-makeup-wearing President Donald J. Trump and his puppeteer bestie, the world’s richest autistic man and involuntary Sieg Heil-saluting unelected head of the made-up Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk.
My fellow citizens, we are now living in a kakistocracy and plutocracy engaged in kleptocracy. (Go ahead. Google it. I’ll wait.)
How are Trump’s flurry of executive orders going to affect us? Not in good ways! Under Trump’s orders, the Department of Education, which he frankly wants to eliminate, just announced that all schools must end diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs or be stripped of federal funding. They have two weeks to comply. This will mean the end of programs that help our kids.
Trump rescinded $384 million of National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure funding that was supposed to be invested in California over the next five years. Creating infrastructure for zero-emission vehicles is essential to meet our state’s Advanced Clean Cars II goals of all new passenger cars, trucks, and SUVs sold be zero-emission by 2035. Trump doesn’t believe in global warming and thinks science is for losers. He doesn’t care about our environment.
Trump simply hates California because we’re too “woke.” We’re certainly “woke” to the fact that he’s a con artist and that Musk isn’t rooting out fraud; he’s dismantling the organizations that hold him and his businesses accountable. Can we secede already? Sheesh!
The most recent numbers available, from 2022, listed California as the nation’s biggest donor state, meaning our residents and businesses pay more in taxes to the federal government than the federal government spends in our state. We paid $692 billion in taxes but received only $609 billion in federal funding, a difference of $83 billion.
I don’t know about you, but I’d like a refund.
Protests in the street are fine, but the judicial branch needs to check these two corrupt, power mad maniacs. The Trump administration is already defying court orders. Will the Supreme Court, which Trump packed with conservative judges his last term, draw the line in the sand, or will it be complicit in destroying American democracy? America is burning.
Speaking of burning, what’s an ecowarrior to do? On the one hand, we want clean, emissions-free energy, so a battery energy storage system (BESS) powered by solar energy sounds great. Go green! On the other hand, how about those fires, Moss Landing? Go black smoke? Vistra Corp‘s most recent fire was the third at the Monterey County facility since 2021!
Is it any wonder Morro Bay residents are saying ixnay to Vistra’s proposed BESS and Nipomo residents are saying, “We have a BESS in Nipomo? Huh?”
Um, yeah, Nipomo. Apparently y’all were too busy visiting the Luffa Farm, the Santa Maria Raceway, the Dana Adobe & Cultural Center, the Swapmeet & Fleamarket, and Jocko’s Steakhouse to notice the 100-megawatt Caballero Battery Storage Project that “secretly” snuck into your community while you weren’t looking.
Guess you missed the public comment opportunity at the June 22, 2023, SLO County Planning Commission meeting when the plant was approved. Now there’s public outcry, but the project was approved, built, and is ready to begin operation, and SLO County could surely face a lawsuit if Nipomo’s BESS isn’t allowed to flip the “on” switch.
Anyway, Alpha Omega Power co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Guillaume Dufay told New Times via email that a catastrophic event at his Nipomo facility is “near impossible,” and 4th District Supervisor Jimmy Paulding said BESS technology is way better today than when the Moss Landing plant was built, so nothing to worry about, Nipomo. Not. One. Thing.
You know who else has nothing to worry about? The residential neighborhoods around Cal Poly during the St. Fratty’s Day weekend! Why? Because of Cal Poly’s brilliant “alternative programming” designed to keep students and their out-of-town guests from partying in the street.
“A significant element is Morning On the Green—A Mustang Music Festival, a planned concert and celebration Saturday, March 15, at the lower sports complex,” Cal Poly Public Safety Executive Director Anthony J. Knight wrote in a memo to faculty and staff. “Set to run 4 to 9 a.m., this event is intended to give students a safe place to celebrate on campus and outside of the nearby neighborhoods, where large, early morning gatherings have caused considerable problems for residents in recent years.”
Rest easy, Hathaway Avenue dwellers. Cal Poly is hosting a 4 a.m. concert! How could this plan not work?!? I mean, if you’re a hard-partying college kid who can’t wait to dress in green, grab your blackout rage gallon (BORG) of booze, and join your friends in the street, but then you hear about a free 4 a.m. concert supervised by law enforcement, well duh! Of course you’re going to the concert, right?
“Students can enjoy music, food, and fun, all at a lower risk of harming themselves or violating campus and city laws,” Knight continued. “Free tickets are available to Cal Poly students, who may bring up to two guests apiece.”
Did you hear that? “Music, food, and fun!” Um, can I bring my BORG? Δ
The Shredder is drunk on gear oil. Intervene at shredder@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Feb 20 – Mar 2, 2025.
Great description of The Musk/Trump puppet master and puppet relationship. It is spot on.
The Project 2025 method that they are using is being done to harm our public servants, in order to inflict economic terrorism on them indiscriminately. “Cruelty is the point.”
(I bet Putin gave the Trump/Musk and the Heritage Foundation P-25 on how to overthrow a democracy in 18 months, in 900 easy steps)
And the bigger point is to instill fear in all Americans and make them all “obey in advance.” (TS)
Professor Timothy Snyder suggest that we all “Do Not Obey in Advance.” He has written some great books about fascism and freedom during these times.
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Vistra Corp seems to have come to California from Texas to set up shop and build big lithium electric time-bombs. Is there any way we can litigate that they have breached their contract to provide safe battery facilities since they keep catching fire? And send them back to Texas?
Alpha Omega Power’s design does look safer and more controllable. Hopefully it is.
What, Nipomo has a Luffa Farm? That’s awesome!
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As for Cal Poly and SLO PD, what a duo… Oh, and as for Jeffery Armstrong, he thinks he is King of SLO,
and he has minions. 🙂
We do need to secede. If the three West Coast States could become part of Canada, or become a new West Coast Country, maybe called Caliorington, that would be good for us.
If Canada agreed and also wanted the North Eastern State to join their Country, we could leave Trump/Musk all the confederate debtor states that have been sucking up California Tax Dollars for too many decades.
Sadly, and maybe karmicly, those confederate state will be under water in the near future, but they have kind of asked for it, “climate change is a hoax…”
We should secede. Marcus Ruiz Evans wrote a good book on California secession called “California’s Next Century 2.0 – Economic Resistance.”