- Wet Weather
- El Nino
- Donald Wagner
- Racism Banner
- Tip Jars
- SoCo Supes
- Plowright Wanted
- Growers Aplenty
- Balancing Rocks
- Ads Disguised
- Police Reports
- Chemist Sentenced
- Water Scare
- Yesterday's Catch
- See Me
- Explosions
- Trebl'd Women
- Acoustic Music
- Carbon Trading
- Five Questions
- Approaching 1000
RAINFALL TOTAL PREDICTIONS for Mendocino county are dropping a bit for Wednesday as the Pacific rain storm appears to be drifting a bit further north than previously predicted. A third of an inch for Wednesday now, about an inch on Thursday. Light showers Friday. From half an inch to an inch each on Saturday and Sunday, and clearing Monday. Rainfall totals will probably be around 3-4 inches for central Mendocino by Monday. However, most of the rest of the week and the weekend will still be wet and windy.
According to the National Weather Service:
Wednesday Night — Rain. The rain could be heavy at times. Low around 49. South southwest wind 18 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Thursday — Rain before 10am, then showers after 10am. The rain could be heavy at times. Temperature falling to around 49 by 8am. West wind 11 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Thursday Night — Showers. Low around 42. West northwest wind 9 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Friday — Scattered showers, mainly before 4pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 52. North northwest wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Friday Night — Isolated showers before 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 35. North northwest wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Saturday — A 50 percent chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 52.
Saturday Night — Rain likely. Cloudy, with a low around 43. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Sunday — Rain. Cloudy, with a high near 54.
Sunday Night — A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 33.
RAINMAKER
All eyes to the sky as a once-in-a-generation El Niño gathers strength
http://www.bohemian.com/northbay/rainmaker/Content?oid=2869055
THE MENDOCINO COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE HAS CONFIRMED THE IDENTITY of the victim in the fatal pedestrian vs. vehicle hit and run on Center Valley Road Sunday night: Donald Robert Wagner, 49, a Willits transient.
The California Highway Patrol is encouraging anybody that has information regarding this incident to please contact the Ukiah area CHP Office at 707-467-4040.
WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE? Lots. First off it's incorrect. Most of the One Percenters we read about — Gates, Buffet, et al — are liberals. They aren't racists. The One Percent ought to be opposed because they profit from a wildly exploitive economic system, as do their enforcers in elected office and the legal system. Second, racism in this country is institutionalized in the form of redlining, bad schools, poor housing and so on from which, obviously, the One Percenters and wealthy people generally, profit from. If a lot of everyday white boys walk around with stupid opinions about race, a fatuous banner is unlikely to cause them to revise their attitudes. Third, K-MEC, the MEC, and Mendolib generally, and I'm sorry to be the guy who breaks the news to you Righteous Ones, have zero moral authority to preach to anybody about anything. If you raised an equivalently prominent banner that said, "DESTROY CAPITALISM" you might at least start a conversation about the nut of the prob.
TUESDAY'S FREE MONEY DAY at the Board of Supervisors prompts me to suggest Tip Jars on the reception desks of our top administrators. Come on, Mendo, these people are barely scraping by.
SONOMA COUNTY SUPES Make Mendo’s Overpriced Supes look cheap!
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/4887898-181/rising-pay-for-sonoma-county
WELL, HE LIVES IN PHILO....MAYBE HAVE A LOOK THERE
Sheriff Allman’s Warrant Wednesday!
Thomas Plowright is wanted on two felony no bail warrants for possession of a firearm; possession of marijuana for sale and transporting with intent to sell.
- Height: 5' 7"
- Age: 48 years old
- Hair: Brown
- Eyes: Green
- Weight: 200 lbs
If you have any information regarding his location, please call MCSO Dispatch at (707) 463-4086
HUMCO'S BAYKEEPER REPORTS that some 3,320 parcels larger than 1 acre in Humboldt County have outdoor weed visible from Google Earth, give or take a couple of hundred. This is in the range of the Department of Fish & Wildlife's estimate of the number of grow sites, which is around 3,000-5,000. That's well over 1 in 10 (the County has more than 28,000 parcels larger than 1 acre, including public and tribal lands).
BALANCING ROCKS
by Michael Grab
I don't know if you have ever watched the guy down by Stanley Park (Vancouver, B.C.) but it really is amazing watching him stack rocks, some pretty big, that just seems to defy gravity.
Zen and the art of rock stacking! All I know is if I were to try it, all I would get for my efforts are scraped shins and busted toes.
I must say Michael is even better than the Stanley Park guy. He is also from B.C.
The vertical ones you can possibly write off as a balancing act but how he does the arches truly does defy gravity! Pretty cool!
This is so hard to believe; so impressive. How does he do it? Not even a drop of Crazy Glue!!
ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY
“Much of what passes as journalism today, particularly online, is simply advertisement disguised as entertainments.”
I found a good example of that this weekend, when I blogged about the Detroit Free Press reporting on how Fiat Chrysler uses the power of The Force to sell cars. It was big news in the paper’s business section that the former number three car company in the U.S. has partnered with LucasFilm to cross-promote both their automobiles and the movie. That reverses your formulation, making it entertainment disguised as advertising. As for how the paper justifies it, well, what’s good for General Motors, or in this case, Fiat Chrysler, is good for the country.
Another example came the week before that, when WXYZ and MLive reported on a man named Tony who was biking to work in a snowstorm. A car salesman saw him and offered him and his bike a ride, first to work, then to look at a van. The salesman then set up an online fundraiser himself to get money for the van. It worked and Tony now has a lightly used van. The car salesman also made a sale for his dealership and got it in the news. The media spun the events as a heartwarming human-interest story – advertising disguised as entertainment, indeed!
MERRY CHRISTMAS (FOR THE THIEF) On December 3rd at about 1:01 pm, a UPD officer was dispatched to a residence in the 100 block of Cherry Street, for a reported burglary. Upon arrival the officer spoke with the victim, who reported that sometime on December 3rd between 7:35 am and 12:39 pm, an unknown person(s) came into the home and took numbers items, while the victims were not home. It was reported that Christmas presents had been removed from under the tree and unwrapped to varying degrees. An estimated $2,700 in property was stolen from the residence, including an X-box and lap top computer.
GET A GRIP, MOM. On December 4th at about 3:57 am, UPD officers were detailed to a report of a woman screaming and acting oddly in the 1700 block of Lockwood Drive. It was reported that the female had a 3 month old child with her and the child was now being cared for by the reporting party. Upon arrival officers contacted a female subject who was identified as Shannon McGee age 37. As officers spoke with McGee regarding her behavior, they noticed she appeared to be under the influence of an illegal controlled substance and began an investigation. McGee was placed under arrest for being under the influence of a controlled substance and child endangerment. The 3 month old child was turned over to the custody of Child Protective Services. McGee was booked into county jail on the listed violations.
ARRESTED FOR BEING SPOTTED? On December 4th at about 11:51 am, an off duty UPD officer spotted wanted Parolee Jerome McMurphy age 45 in the 100 block of Stephenson Street. UPD dispatch was contacted and an on duty officer responded, contacted McMurphy and took him into custody without incident. McMurphy was booked into county jail on the violation.
FREQUENT FLYER THREATENS HOSPITAL STAFF.
On December 4th at about 8:45 pm, UPD officers were dispatched to the ER of UVMC on a reported intoxicated male subject threatening to harm hospital staff. Upon arrival officers contacted Thomas Sanders age 53, who is known to law enforcement. Sanders was yelling at security guards and appeared to be taking a fighting stance. Sanders was extremely intoxicated, and taken into custody for being drunk in public and booked into county jail.
TOO DRUNK TO PAY FOR BOOZE.
On December 5th at about 5:42 pm, a UPD officer was dispatched to FoodMax for a reported shoplifter. Upon arrival the officer contacted a store employee, who had detained Luciano Sanchez-Lopez, age 33. It was reported that Lopez selected an 18 pack of Budweiser beer and concealed it in his backpack. Lopez then exited the store making no attempt to pay for the merchandise. Lopez was found to be extremely intoxicated and placed under arrest for shoplifting and for being drunk in public. Lopez was booked into county jail on the listed charges.
— From Ukiah Police Press Releases
* * *
HIS HAT WAS PROBABLY ON SIDEWAYS, TOO
On 12-07-2015 at approximately 8:00 PM, a California Department of Fish and Wildlife Warden observed a pickup truck in the area of MPM 12 on Sherwood Road in Willits, California. The vehicle was parked sideways in the roadway, completely blocking it. The Warden contacted the driver, Timothy James Bennett, 27, of Laytonville. As the Warden spoke to Bennett, the Warden detected the odor of marijuana coming from inside the truck. A subsequent search of the truck resulted in the discovery of a duffle bag containing approximately seven pounds of bud marijuana. The Warden called for a Mendocino County Sheriff's Deputy to assist further. A Deputy Sheriff arrived a few minutes later and assumed responsibility of the investigation. Bennett was determined to be on felony probation for an unrelated offense and possession of marijuana was a violation his probationary terms. Bennett was arrested for possession of marijuana for sale, transportation of marijuana and violation of probation. Bennett was booked into the Mendocino County Jail where he was to be held without bail. A female passenger was released without charges.
— Sheriff’s Office Press Release
FELONY SENTENCING. A Laytonville man, who in the course of chemically extracting THC from marijuana in a home garage caused an explosion and fire that demolished the house, was sentenced to state prison Friday afternoon. Maurice Alfredo Vionnet, age 40, received a 44 month prison commitment, his having earlier been convicted of manufacturing concentrated cannabis ("honey oil"), child endangerment, and unlawfully causing a fire of a structure, all felonies. The rental home, valued at $400,000, was a complete loss. The local fire department called for law enforcement help when while fighting the fire they discovered a significant number of empty butane cans and other BHO manufacturing evidence at the scene. The child endangerment conviction flows from the fact that the bedroom where Vionnet's two young daughters slept was directly over the garage where the manufacturing process was taking place and where the explosion and fire originated.
While the public defender argued that Vionnet "only" had two prior misdemeanor convictions and he had learned his lesson, Deputy DA Daniel Madow forcefully argued that the dangers posed to the defendant's family, the responding firemen, and the neighbors were too great of risks and that Vionnet had legitimately earned his way to state prison. After listening intently, Superior Court John Behnke ultimately decided that the dangers the defendant intentionally created were indeed great. It was noted that Vionnet was also before the court for sentencing on punching a Sheriff's deputy while he was released from custody and awaiting trial in the fire case and for the "bath salts" that were found in his pocket during that arrest.
After leaving the courtroom, DA David Eyster warned that alcohol and BHO labs are not protected activities under Prop 215 (the Compassionate Use Act), that they are a significant danger lurking in our local communities, and that prosecutors will continue to seek state prison sentences for those who don't heed the warning and instead continue their illegal manufacturing activities.
Our thanks to the first responders in this matter -- the members of the Long Valley Fire Department. The law enforcement agencies who investigated these crimes were the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office and the Mendocino Major Crimes Task Force. Fire investigation assistance was provided by Cal Fire. DDA Caitlin Keane prepped the case and would have been the trial prosecutor had this matter gone before a jury.
— District Attorney Press Release
48 HOUR BOIL
Boil Water Notice — Not Citywide — Limited Customers Only
<http://thecityofwillits.com/boil-water-notice-not-citywide-limited-customers-only/>
Posted: 07 Dec 2015 05:17 PM PST
— News Release —
Date: 12-07-15
For Immediate Release
Contact: Cathy Sanders
Phone: (707) 459-4601 <%28707%29%20459-4601>
Email: cityclerk@willitscity.com <cityclerk@willitscity.com>
Boil Water Notice —Not Citywide -Limited Customers Only
Willits, CA — On 12-06-15 City of Willits Public Works and Water Plant Operators responded to a water leak due to a broken 6 inch water main in the Walker Road area in the 18000 block which emptied the Berry Hill water storage tank. Water service was disrupted and affected customers along the adjacent Highway 101 corridor (South of Walker road) to the 18000 block of Walker Road. Repairs were done to the line and water service was restored at approximately 09:30 am on 12-07-15. As a precaution the State of California Water Resource Control Board (SWRCB) was notified of the water break. The SWRCB required that the City issue Boil Water Notices to the affected 20 residential customers and it was recommended that these customers boil their water for a minimum of 48 hours until test results are received back from the laboratory. A hand delivered notice will be given out when the Boil Water Notice is lifted for the affected customers.
This Boil Water Notice does not affect other customers in other parts of the city and only those customers that received a hand delivered notice need to follow these precautions. A copy of the notice was inadvertently circulated in the community by the Schools and does not apply except to those households that actually received the notice.
For any questions or concerns, please contact Public Works Director at (707) 459-7143. orrwilburn@willitscity.com .
# # #
The post Boil Water Notice — Not Citywide — Limited Customers Only
<http://thecityofwillits.com/boil-water-notice-not-citywide-limited-customers-only/>appeared first on thecityofwillits.com.
* * *
THAT WILLITS WATER BOIL ORDER involved the small line on Walker Road that serves about 20 families. The line broke sometime on Sunday evening and Willits public works came out and fixed the line. Due to the nature of the repairs they had to replace a short section, which meant they couldn't guarantee that some dirt hadn't gotten into part of the pipe. When they were done with the repair early Monday morning they hand delivered a note to each household on that spur that they should boil their water for 48 hours just in case, a non-event in other words. A kind of false scare spread when the bureaucracy took over. Willits, by regulation, notified the Division of Drinking Water. The DDW notified Mendo County Public Health. Public Health, which apparently did not either receive or include either the location of the problem or its extent, then emailed the generic notice to Willits Unified. WUSD then emailed everyone on their email list that Willits had a boil order in place. Neither Public Health nor the WUSD verified the issue with the city.
* * *
A READER WRITES: Test results show no problems with the water. But the story keeps getting more and more complicated. Apparently the email that went to the WUSD office (which such office promptly sent out to all school sites, did robo-calls to all parents(!), and sent copies of the notice home with all the students at the end of the day), came from CalFire! When superintendent Pat Johnson told me that, I thought she must be mistaken. But a couple others confirmed it. CalFire got one of the hand-delivered notices Monday morning – water gets pumped up to the Howard Station from the Walker Road end of the water system – and apparently somebody at CalFire took it upon themselves (no doubt due to that boilerplate) to take a PICTURE of the notice with their phone and send it to the schools! I tried to talk to CalFire today, but no luck, the nice lady who answered the phone said she’d try to find out what was up, but that nothing official had gone out. I am told off the record it was somebody at CalFire “trying to make themselves important” by doing this, and not any official decision to disseminate the notice…
* * *
From: Gerry Gonzalez [mailto:gonzaleg@co.mendocino.ca.us] Sent: Wednesday, December 9, 2015 5:41 PM
Thanks for getting word out. We are delivering notices tonight to those few people but figured we better put it out.
Chief Gerardo "Gerry" Gonzalez
Willits Police Department
125 E. Commercial Street Ste. 150
Willits, CA 95490
Phone : 707-459-6122
Fax: 707-459-0405
email: gonzaleg@co.mendocino.ca.us
CATCH OF THE DAY, December 9, 2015
DUSTIN ALLEN, Willits. Robbery, offense while on bail.
OSCAR ALVAREZ, Ukiah. Probation revocation.
ANTHONY DAHL, Ukiah. Domestic battery.
JONI DEARING, Fort Bragg. Under influence, county parole violation.
RANDOLPH HAYES, Willits. Court order violation.
RICKEY LEWIS, Ukiah. Court order violation, probation revocation.
DUSTIN LOEWEN, Fort Bragg. Possession of controlled substance, paraphernalia and meth for sale, conspiracy.
JEFFREY MURRAY, Redwood Valley. DUI.
RYAN NELSON, Fort Bragg. Possession of controlled substance and paraphernalia, conspiracy.
TASHA ORNELAS, Ukiah. Drunk in public. (Frequent flyer.)
JOSE PEREZ, Boonville. DUI.
THOMAS SANDERS, Ukiah. Drunk in public. (Frequent flyer.)
DAVID WHITAKER, Cloverdale/Ukiah. Under influence, vandalism.
THE LONELY CROWD
Editor,
Re: Jeff Costello's "Your Attention, Please" in Mendocino County Today, Dec. 8th, 2015, www.theava.com
Jeff Costello mentioned an idea about our overpopulated world and its effect on our psyches that I've had for a while: "Maybe it's the final existential crisis, in an overpopulated world. The more of us there are, the harder it is to stand out from the crowd. As if we need to be sure we're actually here."
I've been fascinated by population figures since I was seven years old and got my first World Almanac and perused the US Census population tables. I doubt many Americans are cognizant of the specific population figures of their town, city, county, state, country, etc., but we all know there are a hell of a lot of us in this state, country, and planet! The population of the Earth at seven billion would be equal to one thousand Bay Areas (seven million).
Humans seem to have a need to be seen, or for attention, and it must be overwhelming on the modern individual's psyche to have to compete with so many others for that attention. Costello used the example of Facebook as a forum where people are desperate to stand out. What about competition in jobs, schools, communities? Not to mention the fact that there are so freaking many of us people, each one of us is quite expendable! There will always be plenty of others to take your place if you're gone, even the President is expendable with the position of Vice President existing just for the reason of replacing him.
Maybe in a rural place like Anderson Valley with several thousand people this effect on one's psyche is not as extreme, but in a major metropolitan area like the Bay Area it's more pronounced.
Keith Bramstedt
San Anselmo
EXPLOSIONS, ANYONE?
by Al Krauss
Why would you encapsulate an idea? Why, (jerk!), so you can swallow it whole, no pain!
Theory is, your mental digestive system would then “comprehend,” and “understand.”
Problem is, without checking out the list of ingredients, you risk having swallowed an explosive mixture with unpredictable consequences.
Like, a time bomb. There it sits, a neat, compact package, waiting for some pre-set electrical impulse to “smithereen” the world within range.
Not to mention that “time bombs” are becoming passe. People go for direct action and immediate effect now, no time to waste. Use themselves as carriers and detonators all at once.
That may be why certain ideas with explosive consequences keep us all alert, with the NSA at the ever-ready. Just like the old battery brand, “eveready,” wire ‘em up, and throw the lever (touch the button, depending on your tech level).
ISIS is very disciplined. So is life within “Armed Forces.” What’s the difference?
Orders are given. Orders are obeyed. Explosives are delivered. Explosives tend to detonate. That’s in their nature.
What’s the difference between a drone and a self-destructing jihadist? Not one thing, its the MISSION, (dummy!). The army and Isis are servants, each, of their all encompassing god, “Obedience to the Higher Mission.”
Paradigm parallel here: Encapsulated Corporate footnotes, in the jungle of investment activities supporting our explosive way of life (this is NOT a “non-sequitur”), the higher mission is always “Bottom Line" (its the ECONOMY, er, dummy?):
In 1986, Union Carbide sold its Battery Products Division to Ralston Purina Company for $US1.4 billion, becoming the Eveready Battery Company, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary…. for your energy, breakfast and pet food needs.
Union Carbide Corporation is now a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company. The spider web of corporate co-conspiracy includes all possible bad acts. There are still people dedicated to keeping slogans like “Remember Bhopal” alive.
Backwards in time: Old News Release from way after Bhopal (look it up): The Bhopal disaster, also referred to as the Bhopal gas tragedy, was a gas leak incident in India, considered the world's worst industrial disaster.[1]
It occurred on the night of 2–3 December 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Over 500,000 people were exposed to methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and other chemicals. The toxic substance made its way into and around the shanty towns located near the plant.[2]
Fast forward: 1999 September. Dow Chemical is buying Union Carbide for about $11.6 billion. The Dow-Carbide merger is a tax-free, stock-for-stock pooling of interests with the resulting corporation to be owned 75 percent by Dow shareholders and 25 percent by Union Carbide shareholders. Two Union Carbide directors will join the board of Dow. The new corporation expects to save $500 million by consolidating.
And investing we shall go!! “Roll me over, lay me down. And do it again.” (Stopping short of “ad nauseam”)
COME HEAR THE "TREBL'D WOMEN "
Leading off the Redwood Community Chorus concert on Friday evening and again on Saturday afternoon is a group of five women who take their name from the Treble Clef (from the French: clef or "key") that marks the range in which they sing. The group was formed over 15 years ago, and has been a fixture of the Redwood Community Chorus ever since.
They sing light classics, arrangements of seasonal songs (e.g. "The Feminist Holiday Songbook,") and songs from the Big Band era. The concert takes place on Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. and Dec. 12 at 2 p.m. The "Trebl'd Women" will sing:
"Ricevete," from "Le Nozze di Figaro" by WA Mozart
"Nice Work if You Can Get It" by George & Ira Gershwin
"The Feminist Holiday Songbook" by Eric Lane Barnes
The "Trebl'd Women" are: Cheri Langois, soprano, Chris Stewart, alto, Tanya Smart, alto, Sara Carson, soprano/alto, and Rhonda Champagne, soprano.
Come hear the "Trebl'd Women" on Friday or Saturday at the Mendocino Presbyterian Church. Admission is FREE. Donations are welcome.
LIVE ACOUSTIC MUSIC on Friday and Saturday at Odd Fellows Hall. The comprehensive exhibit of 40 years of John Chamberlin's creations has filled the Odd Fellows Hall Gallery since December 4 will run through this Sunday, the 13th, with over 770 pieces! John's art was part of Mendocino culture since he first arrived in 1969. This benefit art show and sale for Mendocino Coast Children's Fund and MUSE (Mendocino Unified School Enrichment program) features many originals and some silent auction items. The first annual John Chamberlin calendar is also available for purchase.
This Friday and Saturday evenings, musicians will be playing acoustic tunes in the second story of the gallery. Friday, December 11 Featured performers include Frannie Leopold in The Cumbaleros with Peter Barg, Sue Crawford and Chad Swimmer; Ricochet Rockets with Frannie, Peter, Lee Rider and Ryan Kroll; and opening act Pattie DeMatteo and Janna Hansen, Ukulele Duet. Saturday, December 12 Featured performers include The Random Holler Jug Band with Kathy O'Grady, Chet Boddy, Cynthia Gair, T White and Jan Jakob; opening act Pattie DeMatteo, solo uke & vocals.
Odd Fellows Hall is at Kasten and Ukiah Streets, Mendocino, and the gallery is open from Friday December 4 through Sunday December 13. Gallery hours are 12 - 6 Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays and 12 - 9 on Friday and Saturday evenings. Music starts at 7:30. Call 472-7960 for more information.
INDIGENOUS LEADERS SLAM JERRY BROWN, UN FOR POTENTIALLY GENOCIDAL CARBON TRADING
by Dan Bacher
At the end of his keynote address at the World Climate Summit in Paris yesterday, Indigenous leaders heckled Governor Jerry Brown, challenging him on his support of controversial carbon trading polices that represent “a new form of colonialism” that could potentially cause genocide.
Brown had just finished his brief remarks when protesters, including Penny Opal Plant of Idle No More, began yelling "NO REDD!"
REDD is the acronym for “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation.” It is used by the Governors’ Climate and Forest Task Force, including California officials, to describe programs to promote reduced emissions from deforestation and land use, but Indigenous leaders say REDD really means "Reaping profits from Evictions, land grabs, Deforestation and Destruction of biodiversity."
"California officials have considered ways to link the state’s cap-and-trade program, in which polluters pay to offset carbon emissions, to tropical rainforests in Chiapas, Mexico and Acre, Brazil," the Sacramento Bee explained. You can see a video of the protest at: www.facebook.com/…
On his fourth day at the conference, Brown spoke at events highlighting what the Governor’s Office called “bold action to accelerate zero emission vehicles, reduce short-lived climate pollutants and build partnerships with other states, cities and regions to cut dangerous carbon pollution.”
"We are really a crucial element in making the fundamental change from a carbon intensive economy to one that is on the side of nature, and therefore sustainable," said Governor Brown. "Individual jurisdictions – cities, states, provinces and regions – can be a coalition of the willing."
Indigenous leaders from throughout the world disagreed that the Governor’s strong support of carbon trading and fracking represent a “fundamental change” that is “on the side of nature.”
A facebook post from the Winnemem Wintu Tribe yesterday commented, "Jerry 'Frack King' Brown" felt some heat in Paris today, where he has been continuing his charade as a 'green' leader, while opening the state to fracking and toxic fracking water dumping."
Caleen Sisk, the Chief and Spiritual Leader of the Tribe, is currently in Paris participating in the events, protests and meetings at the Climate Summit.
On the same day that Brown was heckled, civil society, environmentalists and Indigenous Peoples joined together at the foot of a miniature Eiffel Tower to reject REDD.
A joint news release from the Indigenous Environmental Network and Friends of the Earth International described REDD as a “carbon market mechanism, land-grabbing false solution to climate change that could potentially cause genocide.” (http://www.ienearth.org/un-promoting-potentially-genocidal-policy-at-world-climate-summit)
“Instead of cutting CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions, the UN, the US, the EU, China, Norway and climate criminals like BP, Total, Shell, Chevron, Air France and BHP Billiton are pushing a false solution to climate change called REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation)," according to Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director of the Indigenous Environmental Network.
"REDD is a carbon offset mechanism which privatizes the air that we breathe and uses forests, agriculture and water ecosystems in the Global South as sponges for industrialized countries pollution, instead of cutting emissions at source," said Goldtooth. "REDD brings trees, soil, and nature into a commodity trading system that may result in the largest land grab in history. It steals your future, lets polluters off the hook and is a new form of colonialism. NO to Privatization of Nature!”
The REDD program is just one of the many anti-environmental policies of the self-styled "climate leader" that range from support of the environmentally destructive Delta Tunnels, to promoting the expansion of fracking in California, to pushing water policies that have driven Sacramento River Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt, green sturgeon and other fish species to the brink of extinction.
REDD is new phase of colonization
The No REDD in Africa Network describes REDD and all its variants as “unjust mechanisms designed to usher in a new phase of colonization of the African continent.”
“The REDD mechanism is a scam and the polluters know that they are buying the ‘right’ to pollute. Coming at a time when climate action has shifted away from legally binding requirements to voluntary, ‘intended nationally determined contributions,’ REDD provides a perfect space for polluters to keep polluting while claiming they are champions of climate action,” according to the Network.
“The worst form of slavery is to willingly offer yourself on the auction block, get bought and pretend you are free. This is what participation in the mechanism called REDD is,” said Nnimmo Bassey, co-director of the No REDD in Africa Network and recent winner of the Right Livelihood Award (the alternative Nobel Peace prize).
In 2013 the Government of Kenya was getting “ready” for REDD in the Embobut Forest — and now it is violently evicting the Sengwer People and forcing them “into extinction,” said Bassey.
According to Survival International, “as many as a thousand homes have already been torched.” The UK Guardian has characterized the eviction against the Sengwer People as “scorched earth tactics.”
The Kenya Forest Service and Administration Police, a paramilitary unit of the police, has evicted some of the Sengwer, touting AK-47s, not just from the Embobut Forest but from the entirety of the Cherangany Hills, destroying property and burning homes, the network noted. “The government of Kenya is forcing us into extinction,” a Sengwer spokesman has said.
“Since most of the world’s forests are in Indigenous Peoples’ territories, human rights activists are particularly concerned about the potential of REDD to cause genocide,” the news release stated.
Casey Camp–Horinek of the Ponca Nations said, “Yesterday’s genocide was done with guns and blankets with small pox. Now they are using carbon trading and REDD.”
Isaac Rojas, Friends of the Earth International Forest and Biodiversity Program Coordinator, said REDD is also a disaster for the environment. “Forests are not simply groups of trees and inert materials that can be reduced to ‘carbon stocks,’ commodities that can be traded on stock exchanges and markets,” he explained.
"REDD could also create adverse incentives for deforestation. As REDD offset credits are only supposed to be generated when deforestation or forest degradation has been avoided, governments and corporations are supposed to demonstrate that, at a given time, they were planning to log or clear certain areas of forest. It is thus in their interest to be able to maintain high levels of planned deforestation," the release concluded.
Brown’s tainted environmental legacy
As Jerry Brown continues to promote REDD and the expansion of fracking in California, along with hiring Big Oil-friendly officials to “regulate” the state’s oil and gas industry, reporters and editors from the mainstream media generally provide fawning covering of the Governor’s trips to climate conferences across the globe to greenwash his tainted environmental legacy.
In addition to his support of REDD and fracking, Jerry Brown has overseen a plethora of anti-environmental policies and projects that rip away the Governor’s “green” façade, including the following:
He promotes the environmentally destructive Delta Tunnels, a project that would lead to the demise of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas.
In collaboration with the Obama administration, Brown has presided over the draining of Trinity, Shasta, Oroville and Folsom reservoirs during a record drought to supply water to corporate agribusiness interests.
Brown's water policies have brought Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt, Sacramento splittail and other fish species to the threshold of extinction.
He presided over record water exports out of the Sacramento San Joaquin River Delta and a record Sacramento splittail kill in 2011.
Brown “completed” the faux “marine protected areas” developed under the helm of a Big Oil lobbyist under the privately funded Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative. These “marine protected areas, based on terminally flawed “science” and the violation of Tribal gathering rights, fail to protect the ocean from fracking, offshore oil drilling, pollution, oil spills, military testing, corporate aquaculture and all human impacts on the ocean other than sustainable fishing and gathering.
For more information on the toxic environmental legacy of "Big Oil Brown," go to: www.truth-out.org/... You can also read my online debate with Tom Hayden over whether Jerry Brown is a "climate hero" or "greenwashing villain" at: sandiegofreepress.org/... For more information on Big Oil lobbying money in California, go to: redgreenandblue.org/...
NO NEED TO SHOUT, MEG
Dear friends,
In the very near future, the KZYX Board will be interviewing five final candidates for the General Manager/Executive Director position.
I just received an email from Board Chair Meg Courtney, which reads in part: "WE NEED QUESTIONS FOR THE CANDIDATES, SO WE CAN ASK THE SAME QUESTIONS TO EACH CANDIDATE IN A ROUND ROBIN FORMAT WITH EACH BOARD DIRECTOR. PLEASE SEND ME YOUR QUESTIONS AND I WILL COMPILE THEM."
The emphasis in caps is Ms. Courtney's emphasis, not mine.
I am very interested in having you recommend to me five questions to ask.
Thank you.
John
- Open Letter to My Colleagues on the KZYX Board:
Per Board Chair Meg Courtney's request earlier today, here are my five questions -- or areas of inquiry -- for candidates for GM/Executive Director at KZYX who we will soon be interviewing:
- What are the most important goals for the station at this time?
- How will you engage with the members and the public?
- How do you feel about the board of directors telling you what to do?
- Please tell us about your management style?
Is your style Autocratic? (The GM/Executive Director makes decisions unilaterally, closely controlling every aspect of the station's operations, and purges critics.)
Consultative? (Decisions take into account all points of view of the station's 5-6 employees, 80-90 volunteer programmers, and 2,200 members -- a premium is put on two-way communication and feedback.)
Persuasive? (The GM/Executive Director is involved in two-way communication, but is also committed to getting support for decisions and will change decisions when there is a lack of support.)
Democratic? (Allows employees, volunteer programmers, and members a part in the decision-making process, therefore most important decisions are agreed upon by the majority.)
Chaotic? (The Silicon Valley model -- gives employees, volunteer programmers, and members almost total control in the decision-making process, thereby encouraging innovation by giving influence to all.)
Laissez-faire? (The GM/Executive Director takes a back seat to employees, volunteer programmers, and members, and gives direction when needed -- the manager is more like a mentor than a leader.)
Management By Walking Around, also known as MBWA? (Used by managers who are proactive listeners -- a premium is put on people skills, emotional intelligence, and a commitment to meet with all stakeholders.)
Please give concrete examples of your management style.
- What do you know about the recent history of conflict at KZYX? Did you know one third of our members voted for reform candidates in what have usually been uncontested board elections, or that the number of members and underwriters have both fallen in the last five-ten years? Did you know that KZYX Members for Change at Facebook has over 140 members? Did you that some members actually filed objections to the renewal of the station's two licenses at the FCC? Did you know that a lawsuit is being contemplated by some members for what are perceived to be the station's violations of the California Corporations Code? Assuming you know something about our recent history of conflict, please answer the following parts to this area of inquiry:
Without taking sides or playing the blame-game, how would you resolve those conflicts? Heal those wounds?
Leaders must initiate crucial conversations. What are those conversations?
How do we focus on accountability and stop bullying?
What communication, conflict resolution, and problem-solving skills do we need to focus on?
What is our shared vision? What are our shared goals?
What is the social contract for team behavior?
How do we recognize disagreements and not ravage the team?
What are the missed opportunities?
I want to thank Chair Courtney for the chance to comment on how we will interview the candidates who make it to the final round and what we will ask them.
KZYX is at an important crossroads. We've been highly dysfunctional during these last few years. I hate it. I want it to stop. It must stop. Dysfunction leads to devastation. We're killing KZYX. All of us. We've all played a part in the dysfunction.
With our former GM/Executive Director (John Coate) and Program Director (Mary Aigner) gone, KZYX may finally have a chance at a new beginning.
I hope so.
Happy Holidays,
John Sakowicz
KZYX Board of Directors (2013-2016), Board Treasurer (2014)
ONWARD AND UPWARD.
Hi, Marco here. It's still not too late to hear last Friday night's (2015-12-05) KNYO (and KMEC) Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio show. It's ready to download and keep or just play with one click at http://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com
Of course, there will be another one in a couple of nights -- my 923rd or 924th (I think -- I'll have to count the hash-marks again) Memo of the Air show, certainly my 155th for KNYO (and 8th or 9th for KMEC). That's the way time works. The numbers just go up and up. The interesting thing for me, right now, is realizing that those shows so far represent a total of 25,000 hours of concentrated work, not even counting the work writers and musicians did to produce the material I read and played for all those years.
Also at http://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com you'll find thousands and thousands of links to not necessarily radio-useful but nonetheless interesting things to see and hear and learn about, such as:
A British astronaut’s dream.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A49oreXOOzI
All the manned (and womanned) space rockets, ever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvLg23cGotQ
High-dynamic-range photographs looking up between buildings in Hong Kong.
http://www.peterstewartphotography.com/Portfolio/Stacked-Hong-Kong/
And a gracefully robotic French space dance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs40yxHjTxQ
Marco McClean
My thanks to John Trudell for being completely real, in a world of near-total bullshit.
If you’ld like to see what the world would look like without the 1%, read Ayn Rand’s, “Atlas Shrugged”.
The best place on Earth to participate in Laisse-Faire Capitalism AKA Free Market, was in the Parking Lot at Grateful Dead shows. No taxes, no regulations, no inspections, just 100% RISK. Food, art, clothing, you name it was all available for whatever trade you managed. There were plenty of folks like me who came to shows with food to share, never sold a thing, and there were plenty of capitalists selling Phatty Buritos, Goo Balls and grilled cheese for a dollar and a smile.
So this assult on “Capitalism” basically says, “I don’t understand how money works/flows and I’m angry about it because it’s not fair.”
Life is NOT fair! But as we saw in the Parking Lot, capitalism enabled people to love each other even with 100% RISK, while all socialism does is control the population for the 1%.
If capitalism advanced beyond the Parking Lot, the 1% today would have been replaced long long ago, but instead, the liberal 1% have Big Brother, Nanny State, MSM and Alts to bully the capitalist selling grilled cheese for a dollar and a smile trying to make a buck to be in the Parking Lot tomorrow. That’s why there is no smile and grilled cheese costs about $7.00 because all those folks that FORCE capitalists to pay them to regulate, tax and inspect. Just look at the food recalls to see how great that’s working.
Rand’s book was utter rubbish. All the rich were really doing by going on strike was opening opportunities for others to replace them. That’s how kaputalism works.
Rand was a certifiable nut case. I had a degree of sympathy with Roark in The Fountainhead, but Atlas Shrugged was nothing but demented ranting, which was apparent even to an 8th grader like me.
The movie came out and it’s well made, IF you can find a copy, which it’s worth looking for because the movie is easier to follow than the tome and makes the point clearly of what life is without the 1%.
I needed a dictionary to read “Atlas Shrugged” both times because it’s not an easy read, especially the long speach by Gault.
If you are an artist, a productive person, someone with creative genius and want to make a living off your talent, then “Atlas Shrugged” is important to understand because that’s who John Gault represents: The artist that creates a better life for all of us.
Rand is saying the 1% are the creative geniuses, the corporations, who bail, the governments, that fail need to love and invest in creative genius rather than kill it.
I think America needs an Arts rEVOLution, so would Ayn Rand. What’s crazy about that?
Trouble is, the book assumes that the only “geniuses” that matter are those of the present, which is nonsense. If those so-called talented people were to go on strike, so what? There are always plenty of other smart and talented people out there to replace them.
Most of the 1% percent are nothing more than greedy jerks, willing to anything for money, or power, or adulation. And, don’t forget, many of the super wealthy are in positions of power for one reason only: “birthright”. My observation is that most rich folks are no smarter than most poor or working folks, nor are their kids. Rand was simply a deluded writer with mental problems.
I think rather, she’s making a case to support “geniuses dejour”, least we forget, none of her heros are creating for money, none get rich, all fight govenment, the banks, the system, and they all lose in the end.
She may have been deluded with mental problems. I doubt I could last in her company for any extended period of time, but then I find that to be true of many creative geniuses.
Naw, the gal was the poster girl of the Birchers, hardly a gathering of geniuses. As I recall some of her heroes were already wealthy … Hers was a despicable “Utopia”.
from wiki: “Ayn Rand said in a 1964 Playboy interview, “I consider the Birch Society futile, because they are not for capitalism but merely against communism … I gather they believe that the disastrous state of today’s world is caused by a communist conspiracy. This is childishly naïve and superficial. No country can be destroyed by a mere conspiracy, it can be destroyed only by ideas.”[45][46]”
Nevertheless, the Birchers loved her. Sadly, far too many Working Class people did, too. Her rantings fit right in with the con foisted in the 60s by the rulers on the Working Class, telling them they were really middle class, thus their problems and ours were the same. The con was successful and it’s been downhill for the Working Class ever since. We’re approaching the late 19th Century in that regard, and we reached it by the late 80s – early 90s in terms of economics and corporate rule.
CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS ON AYN RAND (November 2000)
The hero of one of her novels — Howard Roark in The Fountainhead — dynamites his own building rather than submit to the leveling pressure of lesser architects. And the hero of another — John Galt in Atlas Shrugged — organizes the rich and gifted to go on strike against an undeserving and servile society. Did these deep tides of passion still move the slight and stooped figure of Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan? Did he have moments, on slow days at the Federal Reserve building, of fantasizing its heavy columns and porticoes as they flew apart in shards? Did he ever think, Enough with this whining rabble! Today I—yes, I and my mighty interest rate—will make them beg for forgiveness!?
I decided to move in before he could swallow.
He didn’t seem to mind the intrusion, or the question (which I phrased more guardedly than that). “Not only was I a strong supporter of Ayn Rand,” he told me, “but I was married to the best friend of Barbara Branden, wife of Nathaniel. You could say that I was of the inner circle of the group.”
Quitting the past tense, he added, “And I wouldn’t change anything. I still think she was right, and I have learned a great deal from her.”
I was enough of a Rand buff to recognize the key name here. Nathaniel Blumenthal and Barbara Weidman were two Canadians. (For some reason, 9 out of 10 of the “objectivists” I have met are from Winnipeg.) They fell for each other, but they fell for Miss Rand even more, so much so that when they married they adopted the family name Branden. Nathaniel, who is now quite a successful personal-growth merchant in Los Angeles, once told me that the name is an anagram for “Ben-Rand” (as in “son of”). This gives you an idea of how much loyalty was expected by the charismatic lady who formed the center of the circle, or “the Collective,” as it was counterintuitively called.
Barbara Branden’s best chum from Winnipeg was named Joan Mitchell, and it was she who became the first Mrs. Greenspan after meeting him on a blind date. The couple parted after just 10 months; true to the bond of the Collective, Ms. Mitchell later wed Nathaniel Branden’s cousin. It was also the first Mrs. Greenspan who received a visit from the FBI 20 years later, when Greenspan was nominated to chair Nixon’s Council of Economic Advisors. Just the facts, ma’am, about your ex … Married only 10 months and a bachelor ever since …? She was able to reassure the worried gumshoes that his economic orthodoxy had its sexual counterpart. (Now that Greenspan has married another Ms. Mitchell — newswoman Andrea — the thorny problem of Gays in the Federal Reserve has been laid to rest.)
Illicit sex of another sort was to play a role in nudging Greenspan toward Washington. In May 1968, while the rest of the world watched revolution in Paris, the Rand Collective exploded like a Howard Roark building site. Nathaniel Branden, it turned out, had been having a torrential affair with Rand, of which both their spouses knew and approved. But then Rand discovered that Branden — “Ben-Rand” himself — was having yet another sizzling relationship with a much younger woman. In an epic fury, she covered Branden’s face with weals, excommunicated him from the cult, and put a 20-year curse on his penis. (The scene is rendered to best effect in the Showtime movie The Passion of Ayn Rand, with the grande dame played by Helen Mirren.)
I miss Hitchens.
That said; Hitchens was being kind about what kind of man Roark was, a starving artist, creative genius, visionary, hungry to make his claim and enraged at the powers that prevented him through generations, least we forget he raped the “boss’ daughter”. I saw the reason for Roark dynamiting his contribution to the human race in the symbol of a building (Burning Man anyone?) was not because of “lesser architechs”, but corporate greed, corrupt buracracy by those who do not share the vision of a better world, do not understand the value of building a better world, rather driven by greed and “just doing their job”, or going along to get along, rather than making a stand when they KNOW what’s going on at work isn’t right for fear of becomming like Mr. Marmon, are destroying the “integrity of Roark’s vision”, so Roark destroys his vision rather than have them profit.
Roark’s vision was sustainable green buildings that were perfect for Earth and people, meant to be inexpensive or free to the poor. When he saw that wasn’t going to happen.. Boom.
John Galt hides from the rich after they took his invention, a generator that ran on air capable of saving the planet, and they hid it, to force wee the people to live as Shale oil, copper, mass transportation/controlled consumers. The elite search for and found Galt, (Dagne sees the genius and vision to save the planet, but winds up saving herself). Galt was willing to be manipulated by the elite only because he is a little man with a huge genius that wants to see itself materialize, to build his invention. His long speach is his moral struggle, knowing the elite plan to escape “the underserving”. Galt doesn’t go to Atlantis. Galt escapes through an invention in his closet.
In Leonard Peikiff’s, “Letters of Ayn Rand”, one gets to see Rand through letters to her family stuck in USSR, fans asking questions and clarifiction in her books, and personal letters, like to Alan Greenspan, who was a fan of Rand’s Objectivism. Economically, she believes in Grateful Dead Parking Lot economics, and he is a Kenesian. She tells him, “You don’t know what capitalism is!” I think the guys who sold bootleg dead shirts would agree. Maybe another way of putting Ayn’s Laisse-Faire capitalism is “Turn the black market white”.
To a Laisse-Faire Capitalist, the world’s economy could be seen in stages, When Kings ruled and value was in land, when the Church ruled and slavery put value in labor. We are now establishing value on intelligence. Rand’s vision is establishing value in reason NOT religion. “Religion”, she said, “is my greatest enemy”, taking the words out of Hitchen’s mouth.
Ayn Rand gets allot fo flack for being a strong woman who had no problem being the stronger sex, which she was probably as hot as Dr. Ruth.
Ann Rand y la puta que la pario’:
Ayn Rand was a demented Russian aristocrat. She appeala to equally demented readers who lack the grounding in anthropology, sociology, and psychology to see through her chimerical delusions deifying the individual Übermensch. It’s time-consuming and tedious to confront and refute the tendentious arguments of her supporters, but it’s irresponsible not to respond:
—Let’s begin by recognizing that regardless of individual desires or beliefs, we cannot escape our biology. There are many aspects of life that humans can control and will yet control in the future, but our biology is inescapable. Without it, whatever else we may be, it would no longer be human. In addition, we cannot wish away our biology by brainpower. Once again, there are many aspects of human philosophy and intellect that are clearly subject to modification, but we cannot “think” ourselves out of our biological roots.
These roots include the inescapable fact that we are social animals that depend on sexual reproduction to propagate our species. As a result, while philosophical concepts such as self-reliance and independence sound good, in truth, they are meaningless in any real sense.
A concept like independence doesn’t even make sense unless it is placed into the context of the social group. Clearly as individual organisms we can act in absolutely any manner we choose, however truly independent organisms don’t need to assert their independence. Such an assertion only becomes necessary when we’re attempting to convince others and ourselves. …
Humans operate in both domains, as individuals and collectives, and to favor one over the other is simply myopic. There can be no preferred position from a biological perspective, since both are essential for human survival. This isn’t to suggest that there isn’t a balance, nor does it suggest that humans may not make things better or worse when tinkering with it, but it is impossible to succeed without both.
“An individualist is a man who says: “I will not run anyone’s life—nor let anyone run mine. I will not rule nor be ruled. I will not be a master nor a slave. I will not sacrifice myself to anyone—nor sacrifice anyone to myself.”
(“Textbook of Americanism,” The Ayn Rand Column, 84)
Such a view is filled with so many flaws, one hardly knows where to begin. In the first place it requires anarchy and the absence of law. It completely negates the concept of altruism such as that provided by the military, or police and it requires that all individuals confront each other with complete indifference (i.e. no wars of conquest, territory, etc.).
While some of these ideas may be worth pursuing as philosophical or moral objectives, most are naively pointless, and represent little more than wishful thinking.
“We inherit the products of the thought of other men. We inherit the wheel. We make a cart. The cart becomes an automobile. The automobile becomes an airplane. But all through the process what we receive from others is only the end product of their thinking. The moving force is the creative faculty which takes this product as material, uses it and originates the next step. This creative faculty cannot be given or received, shared or borrowed. It belongs to single, individual men. That which it creates is the property of the creator. Men learn from one another. But all learning is only the exchange of material. No man can give another the capacity to think. Yet that capacity is our only means of survival.”
(“The Soul of an Individualist”, For the New Intellectual, 78.)
Once again, this is simply rhetorical nonsense. Products do not exist as thoughts of men. A cart doesn’t become an automobile, regardless of how good someone’s idea is. It explicitly requires the cooperation of hundreds or thousands of individuals that are being used as a collective labor pool to achieve this objective.
This was always the flaw in the heroes of novels like The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. There was the quantum leap of assuming that the creativity or innovation of these heroes somehow produced results as a single miraculous act. The major complaint of these characters was invariably linked to their lack of appreciation by the collective, rather than any desire to be individualists. If their intent was to be truly independent and individualistic only, then why even bother to share their knowledge or visions?
The creative faculty being referenced may be the property of the creator, but once it leaves his mind, it becomes the property of the collective. Newton’s laws are not rediscovered by every generation. Human society is built on the collective knowledge of individuals, channeled into productive means, and then made collectively available. There is no single man that can be credited with the computer, or the internet. How do such concepts develop if not for the collective approach of data gathering and synthesis?
In fact, the collective group does attempt to recognize individual achievements by assigning names and giving credit where possible, but it would be impossible to live in the society we have if it consisted of nothing but “individualists”.
“A great deal may be learned about society by studying man; but this process cannot be reversed: nothing can be learned about man by studying society—by studying the inter-relationships of entities one has never identified or defined.”
(“What Is Capitalism?” Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, 15.)
Since it is impossible for man to exist outside of society, then by what reasoning does it make sense to study the individual only? There simply is no such thing as an individual human being that survives.
Let me also be clear that this isn’t some arbitrary definition of social group, but rather it is the absolute, unequivocal means by which humans survive.
Some species have a much lower need for social interaction. Animals, such as grizzly bears, represent a species that may wander over far-ranging territories and only interact for reproductive purposes, but even this limited lifestyle is beyond the ability of humans to achieve.
http://www.science20.com/print/56152
By what means was Rand an aristrocrat? Her family was trapped in the USSR, being sent to gulags and “missing”. I never saw a silver spoon in her mouth or know of any connection to czar royalty or any other.
Rand began Objectivism in name of “collective”. That appears to change as she developed her philosophy, and comes to the conclusion, “You really are alone afterall”, or “you can’t depend on the collective, only yourself.”
If what you mean by biology is, “we all need to breathe and no one can escape breathing to be alive”. OK. I don’t see any argument, except, we all don’t breathe equally. Some of us need tanked oxygen and some of us can hold our breath for over a minute with ease.
You ask, “The major complaint of these characters was invariably linked to their lack of appreciation by the collective, rather than any desire to be individualists. If their intent was to be truly independent and individualistic only, then why even bother to share their knowledge or visions?”
The major complaint of her fictional heros was having to fight corrupt government, inbedded with corporate greed. She saw both as paracites who seek creative genius to exploit and profit.
Rand’s 1% are those who make contributions that change the world in positive ways. Because they are human, they have faults. They are very far from perfect people or Saints. They are people who lead by what they have produced, not by manipulation, greed, control. They don’t invent to be rich or control, but to improve themselves and the world which they coexist.
Rand’s novels are fiction, fantacy, ideals, not laws, rules and regulations. She was ahead of her time when it came to religious free thinking individual woman. She was far more a feminist than anyone else in her time, including Betty Friedian and Bella Abzug (strong women who are also constantly insulted).
You say, “A concept like independence doesn’t even make sense unless it is placed into the context of the social group.” Like crabs in a bucket?
You ask, “Since it is impossible for man to exist outside of society, then by what reasoning does it make sense to study the individual only? ”
Does Talon Barton represent society?
One of my fav Dylan songs!!
I’ll let John Lennon respond:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPJ3JGABak0
Lyrics
You say, you found Jesus Christ
He’s the only one
You say, you’ve found Buddha
Sittin’ in the sun
You say, you found Mohammed
Facin’ to the East
You say, you found Krishna
Dancin’ in the streets
Well there’s somethin’ missing in this God Almighty stew
And it’s your mother
(Your mother, don’t forget your mother, lad)
You got to serve yourself
Ain’t nobody gonna do it for you
You got to serve yourself
Ain’t nobody gonna do it for you
Well, you may believe in devils and you may believe in Lords
But if you don’t go out and serve yourself, lad
Ain’t no room service here
It’s still the same old story
A bloody Holy War
A fight for love and glory
Ain’t gonna study war no more
A fight for God and country
We’re gonna set you free
We’ll put you back in the stone Age
If you won’t be like me, get it?
You got to serve yourself
Ain’t nobody gonna do for you
You got to serve yourself
Ain’t nobody gonna do for you
Well you may believe in devils and you may believe in Lords
But Christ, you’re gonna have to serve yourself
And that’s all there is to it
So get right back here it’s in the bloody fridge
God, when I was a kid
Didn’t have stuff like this
TV-fuckin’ dinners and all that crap
You fuckin’ kids are all the fuckin’ same!
Want a fuckin’ car now, lucky to have a pair of shoes!
You tell me, you found Jesus Christ
Well that’s great and he’s the only one
You say, you just found Buddha
Sittin’ on his ass in the sun
You say, you found Mohammed
Kneeling on a bloody carpet facin’ the East
You say, you found Krishna
With a bald head dancin’ in the street
(Well, Christ, now you’re being heard)
You got to serve yourself
Ain’t nobody gonna do for you
You got to serve yourself
Ain’t nobody gonna do for you
(That’s right, lad, you better get that straight into your fuckin’ head)
You got to serve yourself
(You know that, who else is gonna do it for you, it ain’t me, I tell you that)
Well, you may believe in Jesus and you may believe in Marx
And you may believe in Marks and Spencer’s
And you may believe in bloody Woolworths
But there’s something missing in this whole bloody stew
And it’s your mother, your poor bloody mother
(She what bore you in the back bedroom
Full of piss and shit and fuckin’ midwives
God, you can’t forget that awful moment
You know, you should have been in the bloody war, lad
And you would know all about it, well, I’ll tell you something)
It’s still the same old story
A Holy bloody War, you know with the Pope and all that stuff
A fight for love and glory
Ain’t gonna study no more war
A fight for God and country and the Queen and all that
We’re gonna set you free
Bomb you back into the fuckin’ Stone Age
If you won’t be like me, you know, get down on your knees and pray
Well there’s somethin’ missing in this God Almighty stew
And it’s your goddamn mother you dirty little git
Now get in there and wash yer ears!
The argument is not mine; it’s excerpted from an article titled “A Perspective On Individualism” by Gerhard Adam. A link is provided at the end of the excerpt.
Did you follow the link or read the excerpt? The most important argument made by Mr. Adam is:
The creative faculty being referenced may be the property of the creator, but once it leaves his mind, it becomes the property of the collective. Newton’s laws are not rediscovered by every generation. Human society is built on the collective knowledge of individuals, channeled into productive means, and then made collectively available. There is no single man that can be credited with the computer, or the internet. How do such concepts develop if not for the collective approach of data gathering and synthesis?
You do not address this because you are not intellectually equipped to do so. You are a garrulous old idiot who taps out interminable rubbish; trying to engage you in an argument is like fighting with the tar baby: one ends up exhausted and covered with muck.
Proverbs 26:4-5 gives us conflicting advice about dealing with the BBs of the world:
4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.
From now on, I will follow 26:4. You may continue to be wise in your own conceit.
I apologise for failing to see the link. I have now read it and thank you for pointing it out.
Adam Gerhard writes, “Let’s begin by recognizing that regardless of individual desires or beliefs, we cannot escape our biology”
Yet, men with desires and beliefs invent ways to fly, ways to live under the ocean miles deep for months, live in space for months, escaping our biology, which is why I brought up brathing if that was what he meant by biology, which he did not.
RE: Proverbs 24:14 New International Version (NIV)
14 Know also that wisdom is like honey for you:
If you find it, there is a future hope for you,
and your hope will not be cut off.
Peace be with you Mr. Bedrock.
“The creative faculty being referenced may be the property of the creator, but once it leaves his mind, it becomes the property of the collective.”
Isn’t that what patents are for Mr. Bedrock? To protect the rights of the individual inventor?
“Newton’s laws are not rediscovered by every generation.”
That are instead challenged, as I pointed out today, Flat Earth is making a huge comeback with gravity being called a conspiracy theory.
“Human society is built on the collective knowledge of individuals, channeled into productive means, and then made collectively available.”
Who does the channeling for the colletive?
“There is no single man that can be credited with the computer, or the internet.”
But there are single people credited with the Crapper, Ford, Bell, Edison….
“How do such concepts develop if not for the collective approach of data gathering and synthesis?”
They don’t develope. They happen as seridepity, like someone who gets a wild or crazy idea, “Gee, I wonder what what would happen IF.. and they do the IF and it works.