Sherman R. Frederick
Marinscope
In the vast expanse of American dumb-assery comes the news that a gender reveal party caused the wildfire in the San Bernardino National Forest.
These goofy celebrations tell the world about a baby’s genitalia, usually involving an explosion or something else equally stupid.
Outside of Los Angeles, the parents ignited what CalFire called a “pyrotechnic device” that was supposed to send up pink or blue smoke. Instead, it ignited the dry grass and started a raging wildfire that at this writing burned unabated — 10,000 acres a-flame and 20,000 people evacuated.
I’m sure those fleeing folk all wondered: “Hey, did you see pink or blue smoke?”
The weirdest spin on the story, however, comes from transgender advocates. One commentator had this take-away from the event:
“Even when gender reveal parties don’t cause this kind of overt harm, these examples of death and destruction are still an apt metaphor for the detrimental effects of their deeper cultural message. A pyrotechnical display of pink or blue reflects a toxic glee at boxing our babies into binary gender categories that may not reflect who they are. By slapping a color code on our little ones (and plastering it all over the internet) before they even enter the birth canal, we are removing entirely their sense of agency to develop their own gender identities and to control that identity online. We are completely erasing the spectrum of social and biological diversity when it comes to gender.”
Please. There is no deeper cultural message here.
It is Smokey-The-Bear simple: Don’t start freakin’ forest fires.
SECRET STATE METRICS
After the scuffle over Marin going from “purple” tier to “red” tier, the salient question remains: Why in gawd’s green earth were the state’s COVID-19 calculations secret?
Here’s an excerpt from the IJ’s daily reporting on the issue: “(Dr. Matt) Willis said so far the state has not shared the formula it uses for analyzing Marin’s data and deciding which tier the county should be assigned to, despite promises to do so.’Not having the code that they use has been frustrating because it has such strong policy implications for us.’”
Do you think the state is still a little hoo-hoo because Marin blew the whistle a few month’s back on how the state failed to accurately count coronavirus cases? Is it possible the state pulled the rug out from underneath Marin County just to demonstrate who’s the boss?
Human nature being what it is, I wouldn’t put it past them.
THIS NEEDS TO BE SAID
Let’s face an inconvenient truth, any police officer involved in a racially charged incident will get no — zero — benefit of the doubt in the Bay Area, especially from spineless politicians.
A local case on full display in Marin is the case in which Tiburon police confronted a black shopkeeper in his store late at night on Aug. 21. The store owner said he was profiled.
Tiburon elected officials held a three-hour navel-gazing meeting on racism in Tiburon and launched an “outside” investigation into possible wrong-doing by the cops.
I don’t know what the probe will conclude, but I’ve watched the body-cam footage and have few observations.
The only mention of race in the confrontation comes from the shopkeeper. The initial contact by the police officer was respectful and righteous. The shop owner was loaded for bear. He felt he was unreasonably confronted for being in his own shop. The arrival of the Tiburon supervisor Sgt. Michael Blasi, who also seemed loaded for bear, escalated the conversation, instead of solving the issue at hand. That seemed like an error, to me and Blasi resigned two weeks ago.
Last week Tiburon Police Chief Michael Cronin, 72, announced his retirement. While Tiburon leaders are putting a happy face on his departure, I don’t think there’s any doubt that the timing has something to do with the town throwing it’s police force under the bus.
Who wants to be a cop in an environment in which you are second-guessed until the cows come home? Even when you’re right, you’re wrong. Expect no cover from elected officials.
That’s the way it is. Maybe that’s the way it has to be these days as the public demands a new way of policing in the wake of the George Floyd case.
All I’m saying is what needs to be said: There’s no balance in the system right now. And, it’s probably going to be that way for a while.
ONE MORE THING
— Yoda’s last name: Layheehoo.
— Studies show 99% of Dans are, in fact, not the man.
— When you think about it, egg salad is still chicken salad.
— I need to get a senior GPS to tell me where I am and why I’m there.
— My two hobbies during the SIP mandate is experimenting with homemade Sangria and rescuing stray cats. How am I doing?
And with that, my beautiful Marin friends, I’ll take my kitty and exit stage left. Until next week, channel your inner 60s-self and always question authority. Stay safe. Mask up.
Sherman R. Frederick is the founder of Battle Born Media, publisher of intensely local community newspapers in Nevada and California, including the Novato Advance, the San Rafael News Pointer, the Mill Valley Herald, the Ross Valley Reporter, the Twin Cities Times, the Sausalito Marin Scope and the Pacifica Tribune. He may be reached at shermfrederick@gmail.com.)
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