The Local Yodel: Pink Slip Blues; Quakey Wake ‘Ups; Flip Floppin’ Fans
With all that’s happening on and off-planet in recent days we were tempted to release our inner Screamin’ Demons and address the hypocrisy and addled nonsense and off-world exploration riffling across the country – but we’re holding back in favor of letting you all weigh in on that if you wish.
Instead, we’ll drill down into that hyper-local root canal you seem to care most about: widespread layoffs, Mad Max driving on our highways and byways, the price of whiskey, steaks and ammo and, lastly, about the pursuit of truth in a local bubble that often couldn’t care less.
Our editors used to warn us that the public’s attention span is short and readers are fickle and we’ve operated under that maxim for decades, taking accolades when we get them but braced for the far more regular public rage-storm.
This inbound zinger was penned by a reader unhappy with something we’d done. There was no appended connotation to clue us in but after curious looks around the News Bunker we had to think we’d erred in running photos of a – we have to be careful here – protest of a certain type featuring people opposed to the current administration.
As a small but feisty news outlet serving the area, we could no sooner ignore a local protest attended by thousands than cut off an appendage. But, that kind of thinking is what gets you in trouble these days:
Screenshot
Anyway, she’ll be back. Maybe. Maybe not. We can’t help but note some of our harshest critics are still hanging around, taking potshots when they can.
We’re thinking much of this recent angst is derived from the many thousands of layoff notices locals have received in recent days, futures and families suddenly in doubt and some distress.
“Today is your last working day…” Oracle’s one-way layoff notices began, the unfortunate employee finding their system access also coldly cut off. Yikes. Whatever happened to the last lunch and walk out the door by a phalanx of teary former colleagues?
We also heard from workers:
“I’m in my 40s, we have two kids, my wife needs a surgical procedure. This feels like someone kicked the chair out from under me…”
We hear you. We’d say we “feel” your pain and all but that’s just so trite and unsatisfactory given what people are going through. In the end, all we can do is look down and hope something comes along for them – an occurrence getting harder and harder to find these days, we know.
Amidst the recent doom and gloom we wondered what else could lay in store for us, finding out at Zero Early Thirty Thursday when a 4.9 Magnitude shaker born in the Santa Cruz Mountains made its way up along the 680 Corridor – reminding us that even with all our earthly tribulations Ma Nature was still in charge and capable of bad things.
Let’s hope for all our sakes she restrains herself. We need a break.
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I’ve found 24/680 to be fairly balance in their reporting. The coverage of our local liberal friends was certainly reasonable and I was
free to flip them the bird as I drove by their protests. AI is going to take down many traditional middle and upper middle class jobs,
we can’t stop technological progress, I hope our neighbors find employment very soon.
Firestone 11R
I have always hated that when you lose your job you lose access to health care. This country can do better. Best wishes to all who have recently been laid off.
Oracle and Monarch too. Hit people hard.
Grocery bills. Postage. Gas. Everything. I hear the Orange Creamsicle talk about how great things are and I want to scream. Stop electing these people.
I have the utmost respect for JD and this site. Erudition, integrity, and diligence are an unbeatable combination seen nowhere in major media.
Most grateful, Love… um, Dear Reader! Thanks!
I agree completely with your opinion regarding News24/680.
When there’s significant local breaking news, I check here first for balanced, informative and, where appropriate, entertaining coverage by the editor and staff.
And the new site formatting is pretty nifty, too!
Most grateful, Wildflower… nice to have you riding with us. And thanks for noticing the design overhaul, been working on that for a bit!
Wow. That one person may need some professional help.
That screenshot is a hoot.
It’s the economy.
I’ll bet you get great fan mail.
I don’t think it has really landed yet. A lot of those costs are just getting baked in.
Hilarious fan mail!
50 bucks for breakfast this morning – and the orange juice was pulpy.
It isn’t the posts about the No Kings March. Those are funny themselves in that it’s the same post every year noting the same march in the same plaza with the same people holding the same signs and shouting the same slogans. Each year it’s treated as some game changer and the posts are outright cheerleading the message. But nothing changes. Just the core of the Democratic Party having a therapy session with itself. It’s the Tea Party 15 years later.
The real issue is that the cost of reading the really strong local news beat is that you have to put up with the weak national / international commentary that is straight from a Facebook news feed. And any pushback is treated as projecting about some other issue. Like this post. If you disagree, you are viewed as projecting on job losses (or inflation /macroeconomy, per commenters). Mind you, those were issues in 2021-2025 but were viewed as right wing conspiracy theories. People aren’t projecting on that stuff. They are reacting to the lukewarm left wing commentary interwoven into other musings.
Cute screen name… come out, come out – whoever you are!
“The real issue is that the cost of reading the really strong local news beat is that you have to put up with the weak national / international commentary that is straight from a Facebook news feed.”
What is the cost of that? Putting up with “weak” opposing viewpoints in a public forum? Have you been forced to consider them?
Your dissatisfaction is a weak argument for constraining public discourse. Your tolerance for political speech is apparently fragile.
LBJ didn’t abandon a re-election bid because he was losing the war. He had lost the support of the American people for a losing war which was exemplified and amplified by people in the streets. Nixon resigned because he had lost the support of the American people. He was a crook and a gangster, but it wasn’t until other Republicans turned that he was fittingly reviled. Those fickle politicians turned because public opinion turned, and, yes, people were in the streets.
You minimize today’s pushback in the streets against autocratic rule, but you ignore history.
The cost is just annoyance associated with reading the same lazy arguments I can get scrolling Bluesky in 15 seconds when I want to read about what’s going on in 24/680. It’s the authors’ blog so they can write what they want, but the flip side is that they shouldn’t assume bad motives from people who push back.
You can follow the continued playbook of holding a feel good march feat. Randi Weingarten and The Boss and Hope that THIS TIME Donald listens; or you could do what Rahm Emanuel and Howard Dean did and seek out candidates who will cross them 25% of them time but get a lasting majority across 50 states. Something tells me you would rather dump endless money to Tallaricos and Planters, watch the results on Election Day, then plan the latest GAME CHANGING No Kings rally. Midterms favor the party out of power, but if you want power that lasts more than the sugar high of 2-4 years this type of pivot will feel much better.
I’m confused, if you’re annoyed by the political stances and comments here, why do you come here and why do you keep coming back?
Political stances ARE annoying whether you agree with them are not. Most of us prefer to keep our politics to ourselves and tune out political junkies because we don’t want to irritate the living hell out of others.