Safety First

SAFETY FIRST… Squid is a homebody, but that doesn’t stop Squid from daydreaming about the long list of places Squid would visit if airlines someday make cephalopod travel more comfortable. One place that’s not currently on Squid’s list of dream destinations is Russia, given President Vladimir Putin’s anti-democratic politics and the cruel war his army is waging against Ukraine. But for some people, those appear not to be concerns. Consider Tara Reade – a former Monterey County resident – who went public in 2020 with allegations that then-candidate Joe Biden sexually assaulted her in 1993 when he was a senator. Biden denied the allegations, and went on to win the presidential election. Meanwhile, doubts about Reade’s credibility became a national news story.

Reade is again in national headlines, based on a report in Russian-government-run outlet Sputnik. “I feel very surrounded by protection and safety,” she said. “I felt that while this election is gearing up and there’s so much at stake, I’m almost better off here and just being safe.”

Is this a case of the enemy of my enemy is my friend? Or is Reade a Russian asset, and was she all along? “I am not nor have I ever been a Russian asset of any kind,” Reade tells Squid’s colleague. “I was overseeing the translation of my book to be released in several languages.”

Squid will be ready to read it as soon as it’s released, expecting something that would fit right in with the Russian literary canon: lots of melodrama.

OFF THE MAP… In Squid’s local travels, Squid has spent a lot of time this year in Pajaro, a community that has been through the wringer with flooding and displacement. In both Squid’s time on the ground and scrolling through social media for updates about Pajaro, one constant presence has been County Supervisor Luis Alejo, who’s easy to spot in his signature hat. Of course Alejo, the current chair of the board, has business to do in Pajaro. But he represents District 1, which includes much of the city of Salinas – not North County, and therefore not Pajaro. That falls within District 2, which is currently represented by Supervisor Glenn Church, who’s also been a constant presence in Pajaro, but certainly less present in social media feeds.

That’s left some North County constituents confused, occasionally referring to Squid’s colleagues as if Alejo is their representative on the Board of Supervisors. Squid doesn’t expect most people to spend their leisure time studying up on the district maps, so Squid wasn’t surprised. But then Squid saw that social media feeds had come to feel like reality even to local newspapers when the Monterey Herald stated last week that Alejo’s “district includes Pajaro.”

Nope, even if Instagram sure makes it seem like it does.