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Mendocino County Today: Friday, March 31, 2017

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SAD DEVELOPMENTS continue at the Fort Bragg Grange:

The First Sunday Breakfast, April 2, Has Been Cancelled

The first Sunday breakfast, scheduled for April 2nd, 8AM to 11:30AM, at the historic Fort Bragg Grange Hall, 26500 N. HWY 1, in Inglenook, six miles north of Fort Bragg, is cancelled.

This is due to unforeseen circumstances that impacts our ability to provide breakfast on April 2nd.

Please accept our apologies for this inconvenience.

Fort Bragg Guild

Breakfast Crew

A MORE DETAILED GRANGE UPDATE:

Betsy Huber and Ed Komski continue to disgrace Brotherhood; Four California Guild Halls physically attacked.

by Wally Dubois

March 30, 2017. — They are at it again. The Fort Bragg Guild Hall was assaulted this week by Ed Komski’s foot soldiers. Under Komski’s direction, two members went against the vote of members to stay with the Guild and took a crowbar to a side metal door at the Ft. Bragg Guild Hall. The hall was broken into, sliding bolt locks were installed on all entry doors and an entry lock changed. $1,200 dollars in damage later, the hall was fully in the control of the occupiers.

Getting wind of the assault, the tight knit community of Ft. Bragg activated their Guild members, their neighbors and TOOK THE HALL BACK. The sliders were removed, the locks changed and the Hall is back now in the hands of its legal owners, the duly elected officers and members of the Ft. Bragg Guild who truly represent the interests of the local community. The community is mounting a 24 x 7 vigil in the Hall until legal actions can be taken that will turn this from a civil issue to a criminal matter.

Yes there is a disagreement between the Washington DC National Grange and the California Guild. Yes, the NG erected a new California State Grange in 2014. The Summary Judgement against the Guild is on a stay and in Appeal. Why does NG Grange President Betsy Huber allow Ed Komski to coordinate and even encourage this behavior? Is the NG case that bad? Is the Appeal that GOOD?

How can two members of an organization go against the wishes of the ENTIRE MEMBERSHIP? This is the 4th attempt to physically take a chapter from the Guild. The TM judge said, “You don’t have to join the 2014 California State Grange.” He also said by-laws don’t constitute a contract. Waving around a “charter revocation document” does not give legal standing to physically take someone’s property. And there is that pesky Stay and Appeal.

In the case of Ft. Bragg, Marilla Freitas and Don Peeler decided the wishes of the majority did not mean anything, ie, the pending vote of the membership to stay with the Guild and await the final verdict from the Sacramento Superior Court just didn’t count. Don Peeler freely admits to breaking into the Ft Bragg Guild Hall. He also stated the direction and push came from Edward Komski. If Komski had legal standing to take the halls, wouldn’t he do so? Apparently underhanded “corporate espionage” is his only avenue to land grab at this time. Read Local Coverage here. 

The first Guild Chapter to get this treatment from Komski’s minions was the Marshall chapter in Garden Valley, Ca. Again, it is an inside job. Two members went against the wishes of the majority. Read about the details in this publication, Cgcoalition.org. Using this “Marshall Plan” the Redwood Valley Guild hall was also recently assaulted and occupied. The Bennett Valley Guild Hall was virtually assaulted, but maintains its own hall and property. And now the fourth Guild Hall, Ft. Bragg has been attacked. Read more local coverage here.

The “Marshall Plan” is the same, find a couple of folks who do not believe following the members directives, egg them on, direct them and set them loose to capture a Guild Hall. Democracy anyone? Fraternal Brotherhood anyone? At the 2014 California State Grange yearly convention in 2016, folks there were heard to laugh and declare, “this isn’t a democracy.”

So what is the score so far? Of the four attempts to take halls, two have succeeded and two have failed. The most egregious case today is still the Redwood Valley Guild Hall. The leadership are elderly, they did not want to fight and tried to accommodate the local community, the Guild and the 2014 CSG. They did not want to impact the members of the community who depend upon the hall for meetings. In a recent radio call in show in the foothills in Northern California, the perpetrator of the Redwood Valley takeover called in. She freely admitted the membership vote was overwhelming in favor of staying with the Guild for now and waiting for the courts to settle the matter. She indicated she felt it was her “duty” to physically take the Guild Hall, apparently for the “good of the order”.

Is this the way of the National Grange and the 2014 CSG? Are these the values they represent? These values may be for “the good of the order”. Are they for the Good of the Community? NG stands alone in this behavior. You don’t see this outrageous behavior from any other Fraternal Organization.

(Urgent Guild News)

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Background:

https://www.theava.com/archives/66866

https://www.theava.com/archives/67120

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“Grange Wars”?

For 165 years the Patrons of Husbandry have succeeded in serving the rural and remote areas of the United States communities of farmers and friends of farmers. I am sorry that it is my generation in California that is responsible for “Grange Wars”. It is a shame by comparison to the generations of the Grange who established rural USPS, farmers markets and co-ops, State and county fairs, 4-H, agriculture and home economics/ food science in universities, built dams and produced electricity for communities and much more. Women in the Grange in CA were voting since 1909 because the Grange stood for women’s rights, being a woman could run a farm and a ranch, which a Granger woman was proud to do and they did. The Grange has a long beautiful productive proud history and definitely played a big role in rebuilding America after the Civil War. Many times in it’s history it has come under attack, usually for corporate financial gain reasons. Isn’t it funny how the Grange was established out of the ashes of a war to find itself in todays newspapers as in a “war” with itself? Mind blowing. I’m ashamed of my generation for what they are doing to the Grange.

Shame on you.

(BB Grace)

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THE CASE OF THE MISSING SCHOOL BOARD

Hello Michelle [Hutchins, AVUSD Superintendent] and members of the Board,

I want to follow up with what I said at the public meeting last night regarding the delayed start time. I knew that if the issue wasn't spoken to in the public comment section that the process wouldn't allow for follow through. I actually had some great conversations during my two and a half hour wait!

The problem as I see it is that the board can not legitimately function without the public witnessing and engaging in the meetings. If the public aspect of the meetings was not a fundamental requirement, there would be no public meetings.

By making the community wait for over two hours (and I understand that there were stressful and unusual circumstances) the board effectively eliminates a significant portion of public comment. Many people left in the interim. What insights were lost in not having those people present? Everyone stayed at least twenty minutes.

In order for the board to truly have public meetings it is important for the board to start within a reasonable amount of time of the published start time.

I suggest that the wait be no more than twenty minutes. You can certainly tell when a bigger issue is at hand in the closed session and twenty minutes allows for another closed session to be scheduled.

Again it goes back to building trust with the community consistently in every interaction.

I have had the privilege of witnessing and participating in board meetings for the past year and have seen first hand that the board does listen and take action on items that the community cares about. Thank you. This allows me to see incidents such as the strategic planning process and being made to wait for over two hours in a more forgiving and human context.

There is a great book called Flourish where the author Maureen Gaffney talks about the the "pattern of negative reciprocity". Essentially that in order for neutral or slightly negative interactions to be viewed with grace and understanding there must be a well of trust and positive interactions to draw from.

There was found to be a magic ratio of positive to negative experiences of 5:1. (Losada and Fredrickon's research in 2005) And the positives can be simple, mundane, and ordinary. (Eric is going to help me make a few pages from that book available to you digitally in the next few days. It is an interesting read and informs more than just the health of meetings and teams.) For every negative interaction the board/school has had with the public there needs to be five opportunities for positive interaction in order to maintain a healthy collaborative environment that can focus on positive change and creative problem solving. That is not to say that the board has to hustle and add on extra work and outreach. But it does offer an informative lens to understand the dynamic between the school and the community.

The board has had one community meeting that significantly called into question the ability of the school district to authentically engage in a strategic planning process. The very next public meeting the public was made to wait for over two hours.

I know that these events are not linked and nor are they intentional, however due to past experiences other people may have had with the school district, those last two interactions could significantly alter the ratio of positive to negative interactions - perhaps cementing people's viewpoints and coloring all future interactions with a negative and cynical bias. For example - was the community made to wait because lawyers charge so much for their time and the community is volunteering to be present? It could certainly be interpreted that way if that ratio of positive to negative interactions in tipped to the negative.

It is interesting to ask what values are presented when certain decisions are made. For example: What values is the board expressing to the community in the decision to remain behind close doors rather than take up the issue after the public session? Does the board truly value community input? I have seen that answer to be yes. But think about it from the perspective of a parent that perhaps showed up for the first time at the community meeting and then again last night.

Schools with a high level of parent engagement thrive. It is one of the main indicators of a school's success. This school cannot afford to lose even one parent. (I happen to be unusually stubborn.)

Please know that I am not faulting anyone in particular for what happened last night. I have seen that the process of following mandated board procedure can take on a life of its own. Thank you for doing all the hard work of being a board member.

Thank you,

Saoirse Byrne

Philo

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KEN & WENDY'S EVICTION

On March 29, 2017 at approximately 1:45pm, Mendocino County Sheriff's Deputies went to serve a court ordered eviction on Kenneth Bradford Morris, 61, and Wendy Lynn Kennedy, 59, who resided at a residence in the 30900 block of Albion Ridge Road in Albion.

Morris, Kennedy

Throughout the recent months leading up to this eviction date, Morris informed the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office that he would not submit to the court ordered eviction and that he would use force to repel Deputies if they trespassed on his property to serve the eviction. Deputies knew Kennedy also shared the same intentions as Morris and would not be removed from the residence by such court order. Deputies also knew both Kennedy and Morris were in possession of firearms. Upon arrival, Deputies made contact with Morris and Kennedy and provided them specific direction to vacate the property per the court ordered eviction. Both Morris and Kennedy refused to vacate the premises after several requests. In response, both barricaded themselves inside the residence and made statements they would bear arms and not be removed from the residence. After approximately 30-minutes of unsuccessful negotiations, Deputies forced entry inside the residence to remove Morris and Kennedy from the premises. As Deputies made entry, Morris armed himself with an approximate 3-foot sword. As Morris assumed a fighting position with the sword, as if he were preparing to attack the Deputies who were about 10-feet away, Deputies immediately incapacitated Morris with a Taser device. Deployment of the Taser device allowed Deputies to enter the residence and take custody of both Morris and Kennedy without further incident or escalation of force. Morris and Kennedy were also found in possession of multiple loaded firearms that were readily staged for intended immediate use. Both Morris and Kennedy were transported to the Mendocino County Jail. Morris was booked on charges of Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Resisting a Law Enforcement Officer, and Trespassing and was to be held in lieu of $30,000 bail. Kennedy was booked on charges of Resisting a Law Enforcement Officer, and Trespassing and was to be held in lieu of $15,000 bail.

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STICK TO THE BASICS

To the Editor:

Some time ago Dr. Reyes who heads Mendocino College wrote a rather lengthy letter to the editor (Feb. 7, 2017) that really said very little regarding the football program. Two days later, an article appeared on the front page regarding a discussion among the trustees regarding student housing for the college. Architect Chris Brown stated at the meeting that campus housing ‘…also helps to attract international students, increasing diversity, and also boosts recruitment in general.’

As a taxpayer, I need to chime in here. Our federal government is up to its eyeballs in debt, and that is the debt we know about. The State of California is in a similar situation. The Mendocino County Pension System is woefully underfunded. There just is not ‘extra discretionary’ cash floating around to fund things beyond basic functions and basic needs … and there may not even be enough money for that!

The purpose of a community college is threefold as I see it:

Provide an economical way for a local student to complete lower division course work before transferring to a four-year college or university. These students save money by living at home and possibly work part time in anticipation of completing a degree program. Sometimes due to family or personal needs these students may need more than two years to complete their studies here.

Provide an opportunity to earn an Associates degree, such as accounting, in order to move right into the job market.

Provide an opportunity to earn recognized certification to also qualify for a full-time job.

With available funding or through fees, community colleges can offer continuing adult education. This is a nice to have, but not a necessity. A community college is not designed to achieve national or international prestige like a Harvard, a Stanford, or a Cal. If employees of the college seek this kind of notoriety, then they should find a job at one of these other institutions. Doing the other things Architect Brown states are mostly self-serving motivations for the college administration, faculty and staff to increase compensation and the size of their empire. The College should focus on performing its core functions well at a reasonable cost to the taxpayer for our own local young people.

D.E. Johnson, Ukiah

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LITTLE DOG SAYS, “These guys will watch a whole ball game right in the middle of a work day! So, I ask them, ‘You don't have anything better to do?’ They tell me stuff like, ‘Go chase a cat or something, you yappy little pest. We're multi-tasking’.”

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MENDOCINO TRANSPORTATION DIRECTOR Howard Deshield posted the following storm damage repair status items in his report for the April 4, 2017 board meeting:

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Storm Damage Permanent Repairs for On-System Roads: Allowance for repairs may be accelerated to six months (this summer), if existing Right-of-Way requirements and meeting of Cost/Benefit analysis including environmental clearance requirements are met. MCDoT is attempting to press forward under this allowance for Orr Springs Road, County Road (CR) 223, Milepost (MP) 39.20, and Mountain View Road, CR 510, MP 22.02.

Federal Emergency Management (FEMA) Storm Damage Repairs for Off-System Roads: Off-System Road repairs follow a procedure requiring National Environmental Policy Act clearance which MCDoT intends to expedite with our Federal partners to the greatest extent possible, placing priority for repairs on Peachland Road, CR 128, MP 0.95 and MP1.14; Laytonville-Dos Rios Road, CR 322, MP 3.34 to MP 4.19; Eel River Road, CR 240B, MP 7.85 to 8.10; and Blackhawk Drive, CR 371, MP 2.00.

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MENDO PREPARES TO ENFORCE POT GROWING RULES

Agenda Item 5(f) Board meeting April 4, 2017

Subject: Cannabis Cultivation Program Operational Readiness and Enforcement Planning

The Cannabis Cultivation Program will be launching in early May. In preparation, departments have been working on operational readiness and enforcement planning. The Executive brought together a cannabis working group to coordinate application processing, enforcement and department collaboration. The following departments will present on the implementation of the Cannabis Cultivation Program and enforcement:

Agriculture: Diane Curry

Planning and Building Services: Mary Lynn Hunt

Executive Office: Sarah Dukett

Treasurer-Tax Collector: Shari Schapmire

County Counsel: Michael Makdisi

Sheriff's Office: Randy Johnson

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MINI BIO OF CAROLINA ROBB, applicant for appointment to the Behavioral Health Advisory Board:

Worked for the planning department of Sonoma County. Was on the environmental team for the Gualala sea Ranch development. Long time visitor (since the late 60s), and resident of Mendocino coast and Mendocino Village. Lived in Mendocino Village for seven years in the 70s and recently purchased a home in the village.

MINI BIO OF Patrick Ford, applicant for appointment to the County Fish & Game Commission:

VP of Ukiah Rod & Gun Club, helped run the fish hatchery at Lake Mendocino and fisherman. Worked with Cal Fish & Wildlife.

MINI BIO OF Katie Pence, applicant for appointment to the Gualala Municipal Advisory Board:

Have built five houses in Mendocino County Coastal region. Have lived in this area for 32 years. Landscaper with 35 years of experience. Currently building a permaculture farm.

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SOMEBODY SERIOUSLY UNDERESTIMATED THIS PROJECT

Agenda Item 4(i): “Approval to Reject All Bids Received for the Public Health Building Reroof and HVAC Replacement Project and Authorization for the Executive Office to Re-bid the Project with a Revised Scope of Work”

Two bids were received. The County budgeted $800k for the work. The two bids were for around triple that amount. So somebody on the county staff isn’t very good at project cost estimating. The County now plans to “revise” the scope of work. Interestingly both bidders included a licensed demolition outfit on their list of subcontractors, so given that the project description doesn’t mention demolition as it should, it’s very possible that the estimators didn’t properly take that aspect of the job into account in their cost estimate.):

Cupples & Sons, Ukiah. $2.275 million.

Southwest Construction & Property Management, San Bruno. $2.555 million.

According to the agenda item, “the Executive Office received a bid protest related to the Cupples and Sons bid submission. The protest was found to be in favor of the protestor, therefore disqualifying the bid submitted from Cupples and Sons leaving only one remaining bid for potential consideration. … The Executive Office/Facilities and Fleet Division is seeking Board approval to reject the remaining bid and re-bid the project with a revised scope of work. The project was budgeted at $800,000, making the lowest bid $1,475,000 over budget.”

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MORE WASTEFUL PERKS FOR COUNTY OFFICIALS.

(The list is now well north of two dozen already well-compensated top county officials who get car “allowances” for simply doing their job or commuting while at the same time having access to county cars on top of their allownance.)

Auto Allowance - Appendix A

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EIGHTY EXTRA ‘OLD TECHNOLGOY’ RADIOS FOR COPS?

Agenda Item 4(u): Purchase of Eighty Motorola Portable Communication Radios and Hardware in the Amount of $153,000.

Summary: n 2011/12 the U.S. Marshall loaned to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) 100 new and better hand held radios to upgrade the capabilities of the deputies in providing public safety in our county and to better equip the deputies for their own safety. This occurred after the manhunt incident between Willits and Fort Bragg. Since the loan is now five years ago, it is expected that the U.S. Marshall will request the return of the 100 hand held radios. The radios used prior to the U.S. Marshall loan were put into use by the County Search and Rescue Team and also for county emergency situations and are also used by allied agencies who come to help the county in times of need. These radios are old technology but serve a vital purpose and will remain in this use. The request to purchase eighty new hand held radios for MCSO will provide the latest and most current technology in the field of this equipment. The Motorola portable communication radios and hardware will provide more channels and frequencies which will allow deputies to communicate with emergency services, fire personnel and other law enforcement agencies in the county during operations, mutual aid situations, disasters and county-wide incidents. In addition, this particular model of radio is one that is being widely used for all county public safety officers and will allow for uniformity and consistency of service. The proper gear and equipment enhances the capabilities of our law enforcement and provides better safety for the public and the deputies that serve the public.

Source of Funding: Sheriff Designated Reserve

(Note: The radios themselves cost about $1100 each. Plus software, warranty, chargers, base unit, microphone (?) and other accessories. Does not include shipping.)

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CATCH OF THE DAY, March 30, 2017

Beck, Caraska, Cortina

DYLAN BECK, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

TAWNIE CARASKA, Sacramento/Ukiah. Loaded firearm in public.

CHRISTOPHER CORTINA, Ukiah. County parole violation.

Demaria, Gamez, Honneyman, Kennedy

TANYA DEMARIA, Campbell/Ukiah. Vehicle theft, ID theft, prison prior.

LUIS GAMEZ, Willits. Domestic assault.

PAUL HONNEYMAN, San Bernardino/Ukiah. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

WENDY KENNEDY, Albion. Trespassing, resisting.

Lopez, Magdaleno, Morris, Mount

JOSEPH LOPEZ, Ukiah. Battery, child endangerment.

LUNA MAGDALENO, Ukiah. DUI, controlled substance.

KENNETH MORRIS, Albion. Assault with deadly weapon not a gun, trespassing, resisting.

JAMES MOUNT, Clearlake/Ukiah. Failure to appear.

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RICK WEDDLE WRITES:

I've rec'd a couple ava issues with the 'overdue' stamp at the header, thank you again, and will gladly remit again, when and as I'm able. Your flat-out stand-up little paper is big required reading wherever I am (do not sit still, or you'll hear about it). I'll get back atcha, soon. Save the elbow grease, newsprint, ink, and post-toll in the Mean Time... I do really like the webedition, too, with Dr. Zack's and the interactivities, and all...

Just finished Evan S. Connell's 'Son of the Morning Star' about Custer's last tango by the Little Big Horn, and found a couple lines that look blistering-pertinent, today, considering our predominant, apparent fondness for choosing 'businessmen' (sic!) to call the National Shots being heard all around the world... [How come every Palestinian, at least, has read Jack London's 'Iron Heel,' and it's yet ominously, loudly unheard-of here in the Land of the Free, etc., etc., and so on?]

re: the Arikara, or 'Rees,'..."...owing to the system of trade, they have been inflicted with abuses, for which they are harboring the most inveterate feelings toward the whole of the civilized race." (sic,...I'm thinking this last is a reference to us, by us upstanding, paler Euro-folk?) [emphasis mine...rings a goddam bell or two, eh? where's that fucking Hemingway, when we really need him?]

"The Sioux also behaved with great friendliness at first, from the days of their meeting with Lewis and Clark until some time after the California gold rush. One forty-niner remarked that without their help in fending off the Pawnees, Cheyennes, and Arapahoes, no white man could have gotten through without an army. As to when and why the Sioux began to feel differently, there is no simple answer. Senator Thomas Hart Benton blamed the War Department, telling his colleagues in Washington that the brass hats dispatched "...school-house officers and pot-house soldiers to treat the Indians as beasts and dogs." The silly 'noble savage' label, helping in the erasure of the First Nations' living realities, might in fact be understandable, just by a quick comparison with those who were thrown up against and upon them.

I'd say this would come under the heading, 'Injustice, disenfranchisement, and mistreatment of People - for Gain by any name - by the very forces sworn, overpaid, assembled and assigned to care for them 'officially,' CAUSED THEN, AS IT CAUSES NOW, TERRORISM!'...it's yet another of those War Crimes In, War Crimes Out kinds of things... Somebody's unspeakable, unthinkable, INSANELY profitable job security... Digging the Vampires' Garden...

...Fast-forward from Yellow-Hair, over the amber waves of scalps, to Orange-Hair...and be prepared to duck, cover, and all, you suckers!

Best regards, as ever, and Cheers!

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BEES AND THE GARDENS THAT SUPPORT THEM

Bees are THE BEST!

Join us at the Gardens THIS SATURDAY (April 1, no fooling) for an informative walk and talk with special guest, Christine Casey, Ph.D. of the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at UC Davis. Ms. Casey will present a review of common bees, what they need to thrive, and how we can provide that in our gardens. The class will continue out in the Gardens for a look at plants and bees. Seating is limited! Registration for the lecture is $15 per person and includes Gardens admission for the day. Payment is due upon sign-up. Please note, the class registration fee is non-refundable unless the presentation has been canceled or rescheduled by the Gardens. Reserve your space by phoning 707-964-4352 ext. 16 (leave a message if we don’t answer, our phones have been having issues) or just stop by The Garden Store at MCBG. This lecture was made possible through a collaborative effort by The Fort Bragg Garden Club, Fort Bragg’s Bee City Committee, and Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. More details:http://www.gardenbythesea.org/calendar/bee-haven-lecture/

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UKIAH PLANNED PARENTHOOD NEEDS YOUR HELP ASAP

Dear Friends,

As we close Women's History Month we are left with an interesting task. This year our local Planned Parenthood unexpectedly lost their lease on Dora and had to move to Hospital Drive in Ukiah. With moving expenses, building retrofits and additional rental costs our local Planned Parenthood faces a $100,000 shortfall in their operating budget this year. Our local healthcare advocates, in conjunction with the local and regional Planned Parenthood management have put together a fundraising page at the following website:

https://give.classy.org/PPNorCalMendocino

We are asking you to visit the page, make a donation and send the URL to anyone you might know that supports Planned Parenthood. We have set a goal of $30,000. We are looking to reach our goal by the new office of Planned Parenthood's Open House, April 20th.

Every dollar counts, no matter how large or small.

Parenthood Northern California provides people in Mendocino County with:

  • 3,000 health care visits for exams, diagnostics, HPV vaccinations, and contraception
  • 2,000 STD tests and 750 HIV tests to at-risk county residents
  • Sex education to 1,800 county residents with a focus on teens and young adults
  • Safe, legal abortion services

Your Support is everything, so please contribute and pass it on to your friends for their support as well.

Thank you, The Healthcare Subcommittee of the Courage Campaign, Indivisible Ukiah, The Democratic Clubs and our own Planned Parenthood of Mendocino County.

PS -- The new Planned Parenthood office is 242 Hospital Drive. Suite A. in Ukiah.

Susan Nutter, Ukiah

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EEK! A WOMAN!

No one will be surprised to learn that Vice President Mike Pence is not a loose, casual, fun-lovin' guy. But many people were surprised to read this little tidbit in Ashley Parker's recent Post profile of Pence's wife, Karen:

"In 2002, Mike Pence told the Hill that he never eats alone with a woman other than his wife and that he won't attend events featuring alcohol without her by his side, either."

It's easy to make jokes about, and it's also easy to argue that this is nobody's business but the Pences'. But there's a deeply troubling worldview at work here, one that has profound implications for policy - and we're already seeing it play out at both the state and federal levels.

Let's take just a moment to consider this pair of rules Mike Pence has for himself. He obviously thinks that every interaction he has with a woman is so sexually charged that it's safe to be around them only if there are other people there, too. Unless someone might be drinking, in which case even the presence of a crowd isn't enough to prevent . . . something from happening. There's little distance between that perspective and that of the ultra-Orthodox Jews who refuse to sit next to a woman on an airplane, or the fundamentalist Muslims who demand that women be covered head to toe to contain the unstoppable sexual allure that renders men unable to control their urges.

I'm sure Pence would say that he's just being careful. But I wonder if he realizes the discriminatory consequences of his rule. Over his career, he has had many colleagues and employees. With the men, he can have complex relationships that traverse work and social contexts, build trust, and eventually help their careers. A woman who hoped Pence would be a mentor to her, on the other hand, wouldn't be able to avail herself of those opportunities, since he can't even have lunch with her.

(— Paul Waldman)

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MODERN ART IS CRAP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRWJcrRO0GM&feature=push-u&attr_tag=bJJzE9NmBDiNm1mX-6

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LIFE AT BENNETT VALLEY

Management bans all plants from residents porches

Dated March 27, 2017

In an all capitalized diktat (below) the manager of Santa Rosa, California's largest complex for seniors (over 55 and disabled) served each of the 189 units with the following notice on Tuesday:

"VINTAGE at Bennett Valley" is actually the renamed "Vista Sonoma Senior Apartments" located on Townview Avenue near the Hoen Avenue extension and Farmers Lane. The same management company, FPI Management of Folsom, California, that bans house plants has itself lost thousands of dollars worth of outdoor landscaping since they took control of these premises about nine years ago. The die off of landscaping accelerated soil erosion on many areas of the hillside property.

Management has also closed the clubhouse in the evening and on weekends effectively destroying the social life which once flourished at the "community" clubhouse, eliminated food distribution for low income tenants, instituted massive numbers of evictions within the past year picking out particularly a large amount of renters who depend on wheelchairs, walkers, or electric scooters in order to maintain mobility. The manager also ended the trash hauling company's recycling pickups for the entire complex and only permitted a tiny program operated by several tenants to exist as a token. Management has also mishandled hazardous electronic waste on many occasions.

"TO ALL VINTAGE AT BENNETT VALLEY RESIDENTS:

PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, WE NO LONGER ALLOW LIVE PLANTS OR PLANTERS OF ANY KIND ON THE BALCONIES OR PATIOS.

PLEASE START THE PROCESS OF REMOVING ANY LIVE PLANTS OR PLANTERS THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE ON YOUR BALCONY OR PATIO. WE WILL BE CONDUCTING A BALCONY AND PATIO INSPECTION AT THE END OF APRIL.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION.

/ VINTAGE AT BENNETT VALLEY MANAGEMENT STAFF 3/27/17"

(Irv Sutley)

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THE CURSES OF OLD AGE

From “Carne” by Rosa Montero

(Translated by Louis S. Bedrock)

One of the most ridiculous things that old age brings is the quantity of tricks, potions, and surgery with which we attempt to fight our deterioration: our bodies accumulate maladies and our life accumulates complications.

This is most obvious and most clearly seen on trips: when we were young, we could travel the world with a toothbrush and a change of clothes; as we advance in age, we must constantly add an infinite variety of items to the suitcase. For example, contact lenses, liquids to clean the contact lenses, an extra pair of prescription eye glasses, and another pair of glasses for reading; physiological saline solution, because you almost always have red eyes; special toothpaste and mouthwash to prevent gingivitis, plus waxed dental floss and small brushes to clean between the teeth because the three or four implants they’ve placed in your mouth require constant care; cream for psoriasis or rosacea or fungi or eczema or any other of the cutaneous calamities that always develop with age; special shampoo that prevents dandruff, dryness, greasiness, or hair loss; hair dye because gray hairs have colonized your head; vials of medicine for alopecia; moisturizing creams, whether you’re a man or a woman; nutritional creams, hair straightening creams, creams to combat thinning hair — more for women, but also for some men; toning lotion, sun screen because you’ve already been exposed to more sun than you can endure in twenty lifetimes; cellulite ointments, for — women; a trimmer for nose and ear hairs — for men; “dental splints” or “bite-plates” for the night because stress makes you grind your teeth; adhesive nose clips, annoying and completely useless, to mitigate snoring; melatonin tablets, Orfidal, Valium, or any other pharmaceutical for insomnia and anxiety; with a bit of bad luck, anti-hemorrhoid salve, for the obvious reason, and/or laxatives for persistent constipation; Vitamin C for everything; Ibuprofen and Paracetamol for the interminable variety of problems that afflict the body over time; Alka-Seltzer and also Omeprazol for hangovers — one gradually loses her tolerance; soy supplements because menopause decreases hormones; with a bit more bad luck, pills for colesterol, tension, and the prostate gland. And so on — in short, a heavy burden.

* * *

* * *

TRUMPCARE CRASH OPENS DOOR TO FULL MEDICARE FOR ALL

by Ralph Nader

You can thank House Speaker Ryan and President Trump for pushing their cruel health insurance boondoggle. This debacle has created a big opening to put Single Payer or full Medicare for all prominently front and center. Single Payer means everybody in, nobody out, with free choice of physician and hospital.

The Single Payer system that has been in place in Canada for Decades comes in at half the cost per capita, compared to what the U.S. spends now. All Canadians are covered at a cost of about $4500 per capita while in the U.S. the cost is over $9000 per capita, with nearly 30 million people without coverage and many millions more underinsured.

Seventy-three members of the House of Representatives have co-signed Congressman Conyers’s bill, HR 676, which is similar to the Canadian system. These lawmakers like HR 676 because it has no copays, nasty deductibles or massive inscrutable computerized billing fraud, while giving people free choice and far lower administrative costs.

Often Canadians never even see a bill for major operations or procedures. Dr. Stephanie Wohlander, who has taught at Harvard Medical School, estimated recently that a Single Payer system in the U.S. would potentially save as much as $500 billion, just in administrative costs, out of the nearly $3.5 trillion in health care expenditures this year.

Already federal, state and local governments pay for about half of this gigantic sum through Medicare, Medicaid, the Pentagon, VA, and insuring their public employees. But the system is complexly corrupted by the greed, oft-documented waste, and over-selling of the immensely-profitable, bureaucratic insurance and drug industry.

To those self-described conservatives out there, consider that major conservative philosophers such as Friedrich Hayek, a leader of the Austrian School of Economics, so revered by Ron Paul, supported “a comprehensive system of social insurance” to protect the people from “the common hazards of life,” including illness. He wanted a publically funded system for everyone, not just Medicare and Medicaid patients, with a private delivery of medical/health services. That is what HR 676 would establish (ask your member of Congress for a copy or find the full text here. (Conservatives may wish to read for greater elaboration of this conservative basis, my book, Unstoppable: The Emerging Left-Right Alliance to Dismantle the Corporate State.)

Maybe some of this conservative tradition is beginning to seep into the minds of the corporatist editorial writers of the Wall Street Journal. Seeing the writing on the wall, so to speak, a recent editorial, before the Ryan/Trump crash, concluded with these remarkable words:

“The Healthcare Market is at a crossroads. Either it heads in a more market-based direction step by step or it moves toward single payer step by step. If Republicans blow this chance and default to Democrats, they might as well endorse single-payer because that is where the politics will end up.”

Hooray!

Maybe such commentary, repeated by another of the Journal’s columnists, will prod more Democrats to come out of the closet and openly push for a Single Payer system. At a recent lively town meeting in San Francisco, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi blurted at her younger protesters: “I’ve been for single-payer before you were born.”

Presumably retired President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will do the same, since they too were for “Full Medicare for All” before they became politically subservient to corporate politics.

Even without any media, and any major party calling for it, a Pew poll had 59% of the public for Full Medicare for All, including 30% of Republicans, 60% of independents and 80% of Democrats. Ever since President Harry S. Truman proposed to Congress universal health insurance legislation in the nineteen forties, public opinion, left and right, has been supportive.

We’ve compiled twenty-one ways in which life is better in Canada than in the U.S. because of the Single Payer health insurance system. Canadians, for example, don’t have to worry about pay or die prices, don’t take or decline jobs based on health insurance considerations, nor are they driven into bankruptcy or deep debt, they experience no anxiety over being denied payment or struck with reams of confusing, trap-door computerized bills and fine print.

People in Canada do not die (estimated at 35,000 fatalities a year in the U.S.) because they cannot go for diagnoses or treatment in time.

Canadians can choose their doctors and hospitals without being trapped, like many in the U.S., into small, narrow service networks.

In Canada the administration of the system is simple. You get a health care card when you are born. You swipe it when you visit a physician or hospital.

All universal health insurance systems in all western countries have their problems; but Americans are extraordinarily jammed with worry, anxiety and fear over how or if their care is going to be covered or paid, not to mention all the perverse incentives for waste, gouging and profiteering.

Time to call your Senators and Representatives. There are only 535 of them and you count in the tens of millions!

For the full 21 Ways, see the article here.

For more information on health care in the U.S., what’s being done to combat vicious commercial assaults on our country’s most vulnerable people, and to find out how you can help fight back, visit http://www.singlepayeraction.org/.

* * *

WILD FOOD, MEDICINE & MOVEMENT

MAR 31-APR 2

Just a reminder about our Wild Food, Medicine and Movement workshop April 1-2nd, about getting all our vitamins and vitality from wild plants, while making use of what may be judged as tenacious weeds. It is happening this coming weekend with a free intro talk 6:45 PM (slide show starts at 7pm) on Friday March 31st at the Ukiah Methodist Church, in the conference room, 205 North Bush St., Ukiah. We will have author Katrina Blair (The Wild Wisdom of Weeds, her book, will be for sale throughout the weekend), and her partner come to our farm and spend time teaching the beauty and benefits of wild food (including making recipes and eating!) and we'll do some relaxing movement; Tyler Van Gemert is a Tai Chi and Chi Gong instructor and Traditional Oriental Medicine Master. The Saturday April 1st portion of the workshop starts at Village Circle Garden off Gobbi St near the bikepath, between the coop and US 101. Meets 8:30 AM, departs for Floodgate Farm on Heart Mountain at 1 PM. Continues there into the evening. Sunday is 9 AM-5 PM at the farm, above Redwood Valley. Here is the link to our Facebook page about it: (you may have to cut and paste it into the navigation bar)

https://www.facebook.com/events/1293028327432576/

If you would like to come, give us a call 707-272-1688, or check out the intro at the church on Friday night. We can email you a brochure which has a registration form; you can bring it to either Friday evening talk or Saturday morning. If coming later, or just to the farm portion, please call to get directions. We look forward to seeing you for some or all of this great event!

Happy Spring! Bill and Jaye 707-272-1688

* * *

ENJOY RESTING YOUR GREY MATTER...The Quiz at Lauren’s Restaurant remains on its second and fourth Thursday schedule. Thursday is the fifth Thursday of the month and therefore there will be no Quiz until Thursday, April 13. No prizes for working that out. But now you know.

Cheers,

Steve, The Quiz Master

* * *

SPENCER BREWER TO PLAY RARE SOLO CONCERT IN CLOVERDALE

In Concert at the United Church of Cloverdale

SPENCER BREWER

composer, recording artist, & pianist

Friday, April 7, 7:30 pm

On Friday, April 7 at 7:30pm, renown pianist Spencer Brewer will play a rare solo concert at the United Church of Cloverdale. Performing in hundreds of concert halls worldwide over his career, this will be a special evening of fun, laughter, all kinds of musical styles with Spencer at his best….alone at the piano.

Spencer is a multi-million record selling composer, pianist, composer, artist and producer, who is on the cutting edge of instrumental music- inspiring audiences worldwide with his piano skills, stories and hauntingly unique melodies. With 17 solo and duet albums currently to his credit, his music is being heard and used the world over daily due to his unique gift for weaving memorable, enchanting melodies within beautifully lush arrangements. His music has been featured in hundreds of TV programs and films across the globe as well as on virtually every airline’s music playlists.

His passion is restoring, buying, selling, tuning and doing virtually anything with the piano. He has worked on over 20,000 pianos in his career. Today with parts from pianos and other instruments, he makes one-of-a-kind ‘found art’ with his wife Esther at their studio, HarmonyGaits.com. His sculptures are receiving great reviews and have been seen any many galleries and museums throughout California.

Spencer firmly believes in contributing back to his local community of Mendocino County. While donating dozens of private concerts over the years for local non-profit agencies, 26 years ago he started and was the promoter for the highly successful "Sundays in the Park" summer concert series with over 20,000 attendees a summer in Ukiah, CA. He also created the series’ 'Live at the Playhouse', ‘The Professional Pianist Series’, ‘Happination’, ‘BandSlam in the Plaza’, ‘Acoustic Café’, ‘Sunset at the Cellars’, “Lightening Jam with Kris Kristoffersen’, ‘Rural Health Rocks’ and is a consultant to many performance organizations.

Truly a Renaissance man, Spencer not only contributes his musical talents where he can, he also strives to give back to the community. We are honored to have him perform at United Church.

Sponsored by United Church of Cloverdale, admission is at the door (a sliding scale of $10-$20) with proceeds benefitting the church’s music programs. United Church is located at 439 N Cloverdale Blvd, north of downtown and just south of Cloverdale High School. (For more information, contact the church’s music director, Janice Timm, 894-2039.)

* * *

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Mr. Trump, what side of the Rio Grande are you going to put the wall on? If you put it on the US side you are ceding the river to Mexico. You can’t put it in the middle of the river. You can’t put it on Mexico’s side. Maybe the river doesn’t get a wall? Maybe we just waste $20 Billion to build a wall on half the border and people continue wading across the river.

* * *

27-HOURS OF DEAD AIR AT KZYZ IN UKIAH AND WILLITS, CA

(Mendocino County Public Broadcasting)

29 March 2017

Open Letter to the Office of the Inspector General, Corporation for Public Broadcasting,

Please see link to newspaper article below. Please also see the one comment to the article.

We need public radio in Mendocino County...and KZYX isn't it!

Thank you.

The members of Mendocino Public Broadcasting

This 27-hours of dead air is outrageous. KZYX has an annual budget of $550,000. Where does the hell does money go?

KZYX members and underwriters need to know that their membership and underwriter dollars do not go towards equipment nor technology. It does not go towards upgrading infrastructure nor replacing Korean war-era parts. No, no, no. Those membership and underwriting dollars go towards paying a bloated payroll of lazy, arrogant incompetent people at who have lifetime job security at KZYX.

And the KZYX Board is complicit. They're mostly interested in preserving the status quo at a station that will soon fail. KZYX will fail once Trump defunds the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, as he has promised to do.

KZYX has received more than $4.5 million from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a federal agency, in KZYX's 27-year history. This federal handout is the "mother's milk" of poorly managed stations like KZYX.

Please support KMEC in Ukiah and KNYO in Fort Bragg as your local community radio stations. We are all-volunteer. Not one of us gets a single penny in salary. And we do quality programming.

John Sakowicz

* * *

GIVE US THEIR COVERAGE

Editor:

What’s the right health care plan? Solved. I want what Congress has.

Conversely, make Congress settle for what we have.

Factcheck.org describes health coverage for members of Congress. Barack Obama says it’s great, and it is. You would like it.

Carolynn Abst Case

Jenner

* * *

MENDOCINO COAST MARCH FOR SCIENCE ON EARTH DAY 4/22/17

On International Earth Day, Saturday, April 22 at 10am, there will be a Mendocino Coast March for Science. Gather at Fort Bragg Town Hall and march through downtown to Bainbridge Park for a short rally featuring student speakers, activist information, a benefit sale of limited-edition Earth Day posters by local photographer Janet Ashford, and more. Continue on foot or by vehicle to the Earth Day Festival at Noyo Food Forest. Some shuttle service will be provided. The mission of the international March for Science is to champion robustly funded and publicly communicated science as a pillar of human freedom and prosperity. Marchers unite as a diverse, nonpartisan group to call for science that upholds the common good and for political leaders and policy makers to enact evidence-based policies in the public interest. For accessibility, the march route will be chosen to minimize inclines and use curb cuts, and will be flexible for those who need a shorter route. Restrooms at Town Hall and Bainbridge Park are ADA compliant. Requests for accessibility accommodations can be sent to mobilizemendo@gmail.com.

Requests can be served more effectively if they are made at least 10 days before the event. For more information about the international March for Science, visit marchforscience.com For more information about the Earth Day Festival at Noyo Food Forest, visit noyofoodforest.org. For more information about the March for Science Mendocino Coast, find the event page on facebook or contact mobilizemendo@gmail.com.

* * *

SURPRISE!

SACRAMENTO Senator Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) and Senator Bill Dodd (D-Napa) have been appointed co-chairs on the Senate Select Committee on California’s Wine Industry.

The committee is made up of a bipartisan group of senators from around the state who are charged with overseeing the diverse issues affecting California’s wine industry.

“There is a lot happening with California wine and I couldn’t be more excited to join with Senator Dodd and co-chair this important committee in the years to come,” said McGuire. “We’ll be working together and be focused on some of the biggest issues facing the thousands of growers and vintners in the coming months.”

California makes 90 percent of all the wine produced in the United States. The California wine industry has an annual economic impact of over $57 billion to the state and creates 325,000 jobs.

MARK SCARAMELLA NOTES: I can’t let McGuire’s ridiculous statistics go uncommented. Sorry. Here I go again: Senator McGuire’s Wine-Institute-generated statistics are as usual irrelevant and meaningless, of course, because most California wine by volume and dollar value is cheap table wine made in the central valley by a few giant growers, bottlers and distributors, so these second-grade quality numbers have no relevance to Mendo, Sonoma, Lake or Napa counties or their wine people. McGuire’s “jobs” estimate is a bad joke based mostly on counting underpaid, non-union piece-rate seasonal workers — also mostly in the central valley — who work in the vineyards only a few weeks a year pruning and picking and the rest of the time they must fend for themselves with day labor, social services, ICE, and pot gardening. In other words, total bullshit, like almost everything emanating from the wine industry and its political shills. If these politicians had any self-respect — not that we expect any such thing — they’d point out that the government subsidized wine industry is one of the biggest pesticide and herbicide users in the world that has clearcut and deep-ripped tens of thousands of acres of California’s prime range, wood and grass lands to plant water-guzzling, labor exploiting, fish-killing, overpriced booze monocultures while holding their non-grape neighbors in utter contempt. Whoever called it “The Blood of Michoacan” was understating the case. But don’t mind me, go ahead and enjoy that nice bottle of pinot!

* * *

MEANWHILE....

Editor:

I doubt if there's any connection between the size of a man's fingers and the size of his penis. If Donnie and I had a dick-off, I don't know who would win (or what, exactly, would constitute “winning”). Despite my normal-sized hands, mine is pretty small (but I'm old enough not to care much). Judging by Donnie's defensiveness when the question arises, I suspect his is as well. And I've heard that women who've had the misfortune to encounter him in the park call him “Little Donnie.”

Clifford Story, Portland

* * *

ANARCHIST COOKBOOK AUTHOR WILLIAM POWELL DIES AT AGE 66

Man behind manual for violent rebellion, used in a number of high-profile killings, had long repented publishing and turned to charitable work

The author of one of the most notorious books of the last century died of a heart attack – six months ago. William Powell’s The Anarchist Cookbook was used by Oklahoma bomber Timothy McVeigh in 1995 and the Columbine high school killers in 1999. His death has become public after it was noted in the closing credits of a new documentary about his life.

Powell, recently. (Inset c.1971 at the time of the cookbook's publication)

The writer suffered a fatal heart attack while on holiday with his family in Nova Scotia on 11 July, at the age of 66. Though news of his death was announced to the Facebook group for his charity, the family did not contact the media. News filtered out at the US theatrical release of documentary American Anarchist, which mentions his death as the film closes.

A manual filled with diagrams and recipes about how to make weapons from bombs to homemade guns and even how to convert a shotgun into a rocket launcher, The Anarchist Cookbook was inspired by Powell’s rage at the presidency of Richard Nixon and the Vietnam war.

As an angry teenager in 1969, he used the New York Public Library to research and the book included instructions for illegal practices including breaking into telephone networks and making LSD. The book went on to sell more than 2m copies.

Though publication was suppressed in some countries, the book is available online and has been associated with a number of terrorist attacks and school shootings, the last being in 2013 when shooter Karl Pierson killed a classmate and then himself in a high school in Denver, Colorado. Friends later said he had been sharing the book with others for years.

Following the attack, Powell called for the book to be taken out of circulation. Writing in the Guardian, he revealed that he no longer held the copyright for the book and had been wrangling with its publisher to take it out of print. “Over the years, I have come to understand that the basic premise behind the Cookbook is profoundly flawed,” he wrote. Describing the anger that he felt at the time of writing as blinding him to the “illogical notion that violence can be used to prevent violence”, he added: “I had fallen for the same irrational pattern of thought that led to US military involvement in both Vietnam and Iraq. The irony is not lost on me.”

His comments were in stark contrast with those in 1971, when he wrote: “I detest symbolic protest, as it is an outcry of weak, middle-of-the-road, liberal eunuchs. If an individual feels strongly enough about something to do something about it, then he shouldn’t prostitute himself by doing something symbolic. He should get out and do something real.”

In 1976, Powell converted to Christianity and began his fight to have the book removed from circulation, but the copyright was in the name of the publisher Lyle Stuart. The latest version of the book, from Snowball Publishing, is reported to have been heavily edited.

As an adult, Powell turned to teaching in Africa and Asia, working with schools around the world to support children with learning challenges. In 2010, he and his wife founded the Next Frontier: Inclusion, a nonprofit organisation aimed at helping children with special educational needs including dyslexia, ADHD and autism.

Of the book’s involvement with school killings, he said: “I do not know the influence the book may have had on the thinking of the perpetrators of these attacks, but I cannot imagine that it was positive. The continued publication of the Cookbook serves no purpose other than a commercial one for the publisher. It should quickly and quietly go out of print.”

(Guardian of London)

* * *

“THIS MAY BE HARD TO BELIEVE, coming from a black man, but I’ve never stolen anything. Never cheated on my taxes or at cards. Never snuck into the movies or failed to give back the extra change to a drugstore cashier indifferent to the ways of mercantilism and minimum-wage expectations. I’ve never burgled a house. Held up a liquor store. Never boarded a crowded bus or subway car, sat in a seat reserved for the elderly, pulled out my gigantic penis and masturbated to satisfaction with a perverted, yet somehow crestfallen, look on my face. But here I am, in the cavernous chambers of the Supreme Court of the United States of America, my car illegally and somewhat ironically parked on Constitution Avenue, my hands cuffed and crossed behind my back, my right to remain silent long since waived and said goodbye to as I sit in a thickly padded chair that, much like this country, isn’t quite as comfortable as it looks.”

― Paul Beatty, ‘The Sellout

* * *

BURLESQUE IN FORT BRAGG?

Polaris Dance Troupe and Gloriana present an encore evening of burlesque at Eagles Hall on Friday, March 31st, at 8pm.

Founded in Mendocino in 2011, Les Filles Rouges represents a unique blend of dance, comedy, and empowerment - much more than a series of strip teases. Their new show is a send-up of the Fairytale genre and the Disneyfication of classic stories. The cast is full of well-known characters such as Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella but without the theme of "damsels in distress". As ever, Les Filles Rouges believes in supporting women on and off stage, and in that spirit, a portion of the show's proceeds will benefit Planned Parenthood. Tickets are available through Brown Paper Tickets and are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. http://lesfillesrouges.brownpapertickets.com The theatre bar will be open, and the show is limited to those over 21.

* * *

MARCH 31

 

Whose song could this be

but the tree frogs

piping in the spring?

 

Big-eyed tree frogs

the color

of powdered glass

 

Bright-eyed tree frogs

white-lipped

and translucent

 

Singing their hearts out

–John Sakowicz

* * *

MEMO OF THE AIR, wirelessly dispelling despair through the gimmick of written-word radio since Feb. 1997.

I'll be doing my show tomorrow night by live remote from Juanita's apartment, so if you were planning to come by the KNYO storefront and play your musical instrument or talk about your project, or whatever, make that next week (Friday the 7th, first Friday of April) instead. You don't have to call and arrange things; just show up after 9pm (on April 7, not tomorrow), waltz right in like you own the place, head for the lighted room at the back, and get my attention away from whatever I'm doing. It's 325 N. Franklin, next to the Tip Top bar.

Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio, Friday nights 9pm to about 4am 107.7fm KNYO-LP Fort Bragg, including midnight to 3am 105.1 KMEC-LP Ukiah. Or listen via http://knyo.org (click Listen Live). Or via http://TuneIn.com and look for KNYO-LP.

The deadline to email your work for me to read it aloud on the air is a somewhat fuzzy 5:30pm every Friday night. If you're sending it from Ukiah, say that and I'll read it after midnight so you can hear it on KMEC.

If you'd like to do a radio show of your own style and devising and not have to depend on me or anyone to let you in or twiddle the dials for you, contact Bob Young bobb@poetworld.net and he'll show you how you how to use the equipment and put you on the KNYO schedule. It's easy and fun.

–Marco McClean

memo@mcn.org

http://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com

11 Comments

  1. Zeke Krahlin March 31, 2017

    “Smile, and the whole world smiles with you.”

    That’s not necessarily a good thing…scary, in fact. I’d feel like I was absorbed by the Borg Hive Empire. People who smile excessively tend to be obnoxious, and most likely they have something up their sleeve. Some of the sweetest people I’ve met rarely smile; they don’t need to. I have often received hostility in exchange for my smile…as I have for years, by my own gay brothers here in the Castro. Amerika is a happiness cult, drugged on deception and subterfuge. The smile is overrated, but having bad teeth marks you as lower class, and excludes you from participating in many activities, even ruining what social life one might have…and just adds to the list of stigmas that have burdened me all my life. It is a cruel/crude society that denies quality dental care to the poor. A smile is a frown turned upside down…but it’s still a frown.

    It’s still early morning, I haven’t had my coffee yet. Please forgive me my rant. May the good people of Mendocino County have a uniquely spectacular and joyful day, this April Fool’s Eve. Meanwhile, enjoy the following song by the late, the great, O’Jays:

    • BB Grace March 31, 2017

      If there’s a will, most likely there is a way

  2. BB Grace March 31, 2017

    re: Grange

    http://castategrange.org/News.html

    The National Grange has had some more wins recently in the litigation against the California Guild, the organization formed by former members of the California State Grange.

    As you may remember, both the state court and federal court judges ruled in favor of the National Grange in both lawsuits against the Guild in 2015. The Guild has filed appeals in both cases. Meanwhile, we have taken several actions to protect and recover the real and personal property belonging to the California State Grange.

    In 2016, the federal judge awarded the National Grange $144,715.70 in legal fees that we were forced to expend due to the Guild’s “deliberate and willful” violation of the court’s order prohibiting the Guild from using any Grange trademarks. We still have not seen any of this money but we are continually trying to discover where the Guild’s funds may be hidden. Discovery demonstrated that, after the order awarding the National Grange its attorney’s fees, the Guild transferred large sums of money, including $80,000 into Robert McFarland’s personal retirement account as “severance pay” and tens of thousands of dollars to third parties via cashier’s checks. These transfers and other actions made it difficult for the National Grange to collect on its attorney’s fees judgment. Thus, in early March 2017, the federal court granted the National Grange’s motion to assign to it the right to collect dues and loan payments from Subordinate Granges and other entities that had been making payments to the Guild. The federal court held that the Guild “is hereby enjoined from assigning or otherwise disposing of the payments discussed [above] to any other person or entity until it has satisfied the court’s fees order.” ….

    Link provides the rest of the story and related information including court documents.

  3. sohumlily March 31, 2017

    “Les Filles Rouges represents a unique blend of dance, comedy, and empowerment”

    How exactly is it “empowering” to objectify yourself?

    • Bruce McEwen March 31, 2017

      If we take objectify to mean detachment and empowerment to mean style, we can get outside ourselves and strip away some of the pretentious trappings of religion and class structure so perennially used to defraud and subject us to the rule of greedy morons – oops, I mean our betters!

      “Here Beginneth the History of Reynard the Fox.

      In this history ben written the parables, good lerynge, and diverse points to be marked, by which points men may learn to come to the subtle knowledge of such things as daily ben used and had in the counsels of lords and prelates, ghostly and worldly, and also among merchants and other common people.

      And this book is made for need and profit of all good folk, as far as they in reading or hearing of it shall mowe understand and feel the foresaid subtle deceits that daily ben used in the world; not to the intent that men should use them, but that every man should eschew and keep him from the subtle false shrews, that they be not deceived. Then who that will have the very understanding of this matter, he must oft and many times read in this book, and earnestly and diligently mark well that he readeth; for it is set subtlely, like as ye shall see in reading of it; and not once to read it, for a man shall not with once over reading find the right understanding he comprise it well; but ofttimes to read it shall cause it well to be understood. And for them that understandeth it, it shall be right joyous, pleasant and profitable.”

      — Caxton

      • Bruce McEwen March 31, 2017

        I’ve only seen the clip filmed at Understuff — not the whole show — but I get the idea that the burlesque (stripping away of Disneyland-type wholesomeness of Fairytale characters) would be done in much the same vein as what Reynard the Fox did to Aesop’s fables — that is, take them from the innocuously general to the acidly specific, in that they may be more “profitable” to the reader (or viewer) so that you would get something out of it: “empowerment”: Meaning you’d be innoculated against that kind of fraud in future.

  4. sohumlily March 31, 2017

    The eviction story reminded me of this poem-

    https://bukowskiforum.com/threads/northwest-review-vol-6-no-4-1963.11318/

    I was evicted once; the septic tank backed up into the plumbing of the shitty little trailer I was (illegally) dwelling in, and the manipulative faux sweet little old landlady didn’t want to be seen pumping out her illegal septic tank by *the neighbors*–so evicted me instead. To hear her tell it, I was a monster.

    The deputy just rolled his eyes when he served the papers. He lived down the street and had apparently seen her shenanigans before.

  5. Harvey Reading March 31, 2017

    “I really feel deflated that Alexander Cockburn and Gore Vidal aren’t around to witness this singular moment in American politics. They would both be exultant at the prospects of both parties self-destructing simultaneously.”

    From “Roaming Charges”, by Jeffrey St. Clair, 03/31/17, at the Counterpunch web site.

    • George Hollister March 31, 2017

      The US was never a country of the government, by the government, and for the government. So what difference does it make anyway? Most of the fight in Washington is about things counties, cities, and states could do a better job taking care of themselves, at less cost and with better results.

      • Harvey Reading April 1, 2017

        Disagree. Most states can’t manage their way out of a wet paper bag. Sounds like you support a loose confederation, something that didn’t work in the late 18th Century and won’t work today. Local control simply translates into control by local gangs of powerful (often local landed gentry) thugs, currently sidelined for the most part, as they should be.

        We need a whole new Constitution, not modifications of the old, outdated one that was designed to ensure that control rested–and would remain–in the hands of the upper class but one that relies on majority rule for its adoption and amendment, reapportionment the senate based on population (one senator per each 3.2 million population at current population), end of the electoral college, provisions for recall, initiative, referendum, 20-year terms for the judicial branch, no minority (“supermajority”) rule, etc.

  6. LouisBedrock March 31, 2017

    Un gran hombre, eso sí.

    ¡No nos moverán!
    ¡Siempre adelante!

    Gracias Susie de Castro.

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