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Mendocino County Today: Monday, Sep. 4, 2017

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PRESIDENT TRUMP has decided to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, sources have confirmed. Two sources close to the president told Politico on Sunday that he made his decision after an afternoon meeting with his aides. DACA is an Obama-era initiative that grants work permits to more than 800,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country by family members as children. There will reportedly be a six month delay before the repeal is enforced. The official announcement regarding the decision is expected to come Tuesday.

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SMOKE AND HAZE from the wildfires in Northern California and Southern Oregon continue to impact air quality in Mendocino County. A persistent High-pressure over California along with north winds has transported smoke from these wildfires into Mendocino County. The forecast suggests the high pressure will influence our air quality for most of this week and the next. Above normal temperatures contribute to higher pollutant levels. Currently air monitors show particulate matter concentrations in the ‘Moderate' to 'Unhealthy' ranges for parts of Mendocino County. This may continue for most of September until the fires are out and cooler temperatures return with southwest winds. Residents are advised to limit prolonged heavy outdoor activity where possible.

(Mendocino County Air Quality Management District.)

Eureka, Ca, Sunday, September 1st 2017 (photo by Lost Coast Outpost)

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US SECRETARY OF DEFENSE James Mattis has raised the threat of the “total annihilation” of North Korea in the aftermath of an early morning hydrogen bomb test by North Korea. In a terse statement outside the White House on Sunday afternoon, Mattis said that Trump had been briefed on each of the “many military options” available during a meeting with national security heads. “We made it clear that we have the ability to defend ourselves and our allies, South Korea and Japan, from any attack and that our agreements with our allies are iron-clad,” he said. He said that the US had the ability to implement a “massive” and “overwhelming” military response as one of its many available options in the wake of the 100-kiloton bomb test, which caused a 6.3-magnitude earthquake. “We are not looking to the total annihilation of a country — namely North Korea,” he said, “but as I said, we have many options to do so.” He then left without answering any questions. President Trump was not seen during the announcement.

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LITTLE DOG SAYS, “We trust you people to do the right thing, but look what you've done. You've placed the fate of the entire world in the hands of the two craziest two-footers in it!”

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“IT’S A BIG CLUB, and you ain’t in it.”

– George Carlin

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CODE ENFORCEMENT, MENDO STYLE

Property Owner: Pathways in Education (aka Blackbird Farm, 18601 Van Zandt Resort Road, Philo)

Parcel Numbers: 026-392-21, -22, -23, -24, -25, -30, -31

Zoned: TP (#24 zoned FL)

Date: August 15, 2016. Case #BI_2016-0075

“You are hereby officially notified as the owner of record for the above referenced property that the following structures and/or uses have been found to be in violation of Mendocino County Building and/or Zoning Codes:

  1. Unpermitted grading of access roads.
  2. Unpermitted grading/excavation activities.
  3. Unpermitted remodel and failure to obtain a certificate of occupancy before use as an Assembly Barn.
  4. Yurt #1 — Unpermitted structure, restrooms, and deck. Lack of approved heat source — Unvented gas heater observed.
  5. Yurt #2 — Unpermitted structure, restrooms, and deck. Lack of approved heat source — Unvented gas heater observed.
  6. Hoop House #1 — Unpermitted structure being used as a cook area with extension cords for electricity running to it.
  7. Hoop House #2 — Unpermitted structure.
  8. Unpermitted zipline and platform.
  9. Unpermitted storage containers.
  10. Improper fuel and battery storage in the storage container area.

CODE VIOLATIONS: (Cited: Building code re: grading, use & occupancy, construction, remodel, repair, County Code re: remodeling requirements. Mechanical Code re: appliances and venting.

CORRECTION ACTION REQUIRED:

  1. STOP ALL UNPERMITTED WORK.
  2. Stop use of Barn as assembly area and of all other unpermitted structures until all permits and Certificates of Occupancy have been obtained.
  3. Immediately remove gas heaters from both Yurt buildling.
  4. Within thirty (30) days of the date of this notice or by September 12, 2016, obtain building permits for all the unpermitted structures and grading/excacating activities.
  5. Immediately implement Best Management Practices (BMPs) as directed by the Planning and Building department to address the unpermitted grading.
  6. The fuel storage and battery stoarge issues have been turned over to the Mendocino County Environmental Health Dept., which may take further action.
  7. Withing thirty days of the sate of this notice, or by September 12, 2016, obtain a permit for the zipline and platform or remove them from site.
  8. It is your responsibility to immediately contact the Mendocino County Planning and Building Services Department upon abatement or the above noted conditions.

PENALTY: At this time there are no civil penalties associated with this Notice of Violation. If you do not obtain compliance within the time alloted, this Notice of Violation (NOV) and any Violation Fees may be recorded against the title of your property and you could be subject to criminal prosecution, a civil lawsuit and a declaration of a public nusiance which could result in formal administrative abatement of the violations.

DUE PROCESS: If you do not complete the corrective actions above within the alloted time period civil penalites could be imposed and This Notice of Violation and any penalties will be recorded against the title of your property. You will be required to demonstrate to the Issuing Officer that the violations have been corrected within the time period indicated. You may also present any evidence, in writing to the Issuing Officer indicating your opposition to this Notice of Violation.

Sean R. Flanagan, Code Enforcment Officer

707-0234-6678, email: Flanagans@co.mendocino.ca.us

[emphasis added]

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ED NOTE: It’s been over a year now since the above “Notice of Violation” and demand for “immediate” corrective action was sent to Blackbird Farm, Philo. The Planning & Building Services file for Blackbird Farm contains no evidence of follow-up by Planning & Building. Blackbird has filed no opposition, no response. No follow-up from the County after the “immediately” or “within 30 days” deadlines. No action taken whatsoever. When the AVA asked for a copy of the Notice of Violation from which the above was typed, Code Enforcement Office Lisa Washburn simply supplied it without objection or comment — even though on its face the violations are major and it’s been over a year with no action by the county.

BLACKBIRD’S NEIGHBORS report that all the buildings and structures mentioned as being in violation continue to be used without modification, including the use of the unsafe zipline by student campers and the rental of the unsafe Yurts via airbnb.

AND YOU WONDER why some pot growers are expanding their operations and facilities without permits, thus generating numerous neighbor complaints that go un-acted upon?

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VACATION RENTALS NEED TO PAY TAXES

We were amazed at how much the county is losing in taxes each year for the lack of enforcement of bed taxes on vacation rentals. Bed tax, officially known as the transient occupancy tax or TOT, is charged at hotels, motels and resorts and anyplace where people stay temporarily. As the vacation rental business grows among ordinary folks with an extra room or a cabin out back, the collection of the bed taxes has been lagging behind. According to a recent report to the county supervisors, as of two years ago the county had lost something in the range of $1 million in bed taxes on unreported vacation rentals. The county is discussing putting limits on vacation rentals and we agree with the 45-day ban they passed as of Aug. 1. Housing is hard enough to find in this county without absentee property owners scarfing up housing and then holding it for expensive part-time vacation income. The other sector that isn’t paying is private campgrounds. With what facilities like KOAs charge for their cabins and full RV hookups, they can afford to turn some of that over to the county. The county plans to put that idea on the ballot next June and we see no reason not to support it. We are glad to hear that many of the property owners contacted by the county recently have paid up, but it looks like the county needs to do more to educate property owners, limit vacation rentals entirely, and track down the rentals that are operating under the radar. It’s frankly not fair to the hotels and motels that do pay, to have competition out there getting a free ride. And, even the smallest top floor room in an Air B&B home, is charging enough to pay the 8 percent tax.

(K.C. Meadows. Courtesy, the Ukiah Daily Journal.)

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COMPTCHE CELEBRATES THE ARTS & WINE, SEPT 23, 2-6

We invite you to share a day of Art, Wine & fun in Comptche at the Community Hall on the Comptche/Ukiah Road 1/4 mile East of the Store. Each autumn we gather local Wines & neighboring Artists to celebrate Comptche and benefit our Community Hall. Everyone is welcome. Mark your Calendars & make a plan to join our festivities on a late September Saturday. Call Lynne Zickerman, Coordinator, for questions 937-3362

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AND THESE ARE THE TEACHERS?

Editor,

I've never understood why "Buses Only" has to be in Spanish for the little darlings but now. I do.....

Even the "teachers" & "administrators" have a difficult time with "clases" (sic)

Your tax dollars at work?

Best regards,

Chan Lee, Horticultural Consultant to the Stars, Philo

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WHATEVER EXCITEMENT was generated for local students in the initial rush of Back to School Fever is long since past and in fact was extinguished by mid-morning on the first day. Now comes endless drudgery and boredom until next June, which will take eight years in teenage time. Burdened by heavy backpacks, surrounded by dull instructors and forced to bury their noses in books that cause frontal lobe paralysis, yet another generation of kids is being mistreated and abused. By us. No matter how bad you think it is, it’s worse. I recently strolled over to Pomolita Middle School to inspect the grounds. I have personally visited medium security prisons with a more inviting ambience. Go check it out. It’s definitely worth a walk around the campus, although the word “campus” is misleading. Pomolita is not a lush, leafy, inviting place. It is, in fact, mostly harsh pavement with some cheap trailer-style boxes joined end-to-end at its western edge. Classrooms, I guess…

— Tommy Wayne Kramer, Ukiah Daily Journal

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AV High circa 1925

HERE IN BOONVILLE, circa 1955, Anderson Valley Unified abandoned its graceful old high school for the medium security prison architecture in which our nation's future is confined for 12 years, emerging at the other end with minds as uncluttered as when they began.

AV High 2017

AS FAR BACK as the Acropolis, the assumption was that learning is enhanced by the aesthetics it takes place in, that learning was central, that the school was a crucial community institution that reflected the priorities of everyone who lived in it. Beauty being a primary value to be instilled in young savages, care was taken with the "learning environment."

THE PIONEER FAMILIES of Anderson Valley, for instance, like pioneer American families everywhere, erected modest but beautiful schools, many of them the one-room affairs like the one we have in Anderson Valley, lately preserved as a museum.

SIMPLY entering a modern school is a dispiriting experience. Long, unadorned hallways with maybe an idiot cartoon character placed here and there, cancer-causing materials comprising a kind of desensitization chamber, not a single sight that might so much as hint that there's intelligent life anywhere on the premises. The modern school is a kind of house of the dead where a young person's every instinct screams, "Get me out!"

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LEADERSHIP MENDOCINO, which seems your basic oxymoron given the civic functioning of our beloved home place.

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THE GUALALA Dust Bowl Softball League features a team called the “Rednexicans,” further evidence that race relations, at least here in Mendocino County, are copacetic.

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THIS ANDERSON VALLEY STRIKE TEAM has been assigned to night shift. This picture is from Friday night on the Helena Fire outside of Weaverville.

Left to right: Angela Dewitt, Clay Eubanks, Moy Perez, Abraham Sanchez, Hector Sanchez

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RECOMMENDED READING: In the current Atlantic, "Innocence Is Irrelevant" by Emily Yoffe. "For most of its history, the United States relied on the trial system to administer criminal justice. Not anymore. We live in the age of the plea bargain — and millions of Americans are suffering the consequences."

THIS ARTICLE substantiates via stats and irrefuted argument that district attorneys are meting out justice in this country as public defenders sign off on whatever punishment the DA comes up with. That's certainly the way it works here in Progressive County where, fortunately for our miscreants, we have a sane and mercifully-disposed DA dealing mostly with misdemeanors committed by people who ought to be locked up for their own safety. The DA works with our Potemkin public defender who stays in office by staying within her budget, meaning she's always up for Let's Make A Deal, which is cheaper than going to trial and hiring outside experts. Her staff turns over so fast the DA is typically dealing with some kid just out of law school. (And there's talk of further dumbing down the BAR exam!) There's also an overcrowded county jail and an overcrowded state prison system, all of it adding up to an overwhelming necessity for plea bargaining.

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DA MASSINI EXPLAINS PROPOSITION 215

AVA News Service, December 1996

Kowas

In December of 1996 former KZYX talk show host (the late-) Ed Kowas — himself a former judge who had moved to Mendocino from the midwest — invited then-District Attorney Susan Massini to be his guest on his “On The Record” show. Proposition 215, California’s groundbreaking medical marijuana initiative had just passed. But the legal ramifications were unclear. Kowas asked DA Massini what a person who wanted to use the medical marijuana defense would have to do to avoid prosecution under the Proposition 215 guidelines.

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Kowas: You have said that the marijuana initiative thus far provides an affirmative defense. That means that a person can allege that at trial as the reason they may have, technically, violated a law. When that happens, in my view, the system has failed. Because in my view that is something that should be nipped in the bud. If there’s going to be a successful affirmative defense, that should be found out clearly in advance and either prosecution dismissed or prosecution not brought.

Massini: Exactly. I agree.

Kowas: So. Let’s use this forum to tell somebody who feels they have a legitimate type situation. They have a legitimate illness. And they have asked their physician to prescribe it. The physician has prescribed it. What should they do in terms of preparation, by that I mean paperwork, letters, affidavits, that would allow them to present that to you in the event they were charged or arrested for it. That they would be able to come to you and say here’s my file, here’s my evidence. I have prepared for this moment in order to stop prosecution. What should be in their file? What do you want?

Massini

Massini: Firstly, I want people to be clear that it is still illegal to operate a vehicle or be in public under the influence of marijuana. Prop 215 is not a defense to being found with this stuff. Now, let’s talk about those things you consider it [Prop 215] a defense to. All that would have to happen is either you, you could wait until you’re appointed an attorney, if you have an attorney, or if you are charged with a crime and if one is appointed to you, then that attorney can represent you, come to my office with your medical file, the proof that you have been diagnosed as having a condition that needs some treatment and that the doctor has recommended and then that will be considered. So you need to have your doctor in line with agreeing that his name… the doctor has to be, um, in agreement. You just can’t come to me and say, “Well I went to a doctor and he said it was OK to use it.” That is not going to be sufficient.

Kowas: Alright. Did you just indicate then that if somebody is arrested for possession of marijuana, and they feel they have this defense, they can’t talk to you until after they have an attorney? They can’t somehow nip this in the bud?

Massini: Yes, they can.

Kowas: Pardon the pun.

Massini: Of course. Yeah, I know. That was very funny. Yes they can. I’m just suggesting that sometimes… it’s oftentimes… An attorney knows what I need to know. A lay person doesn’t know what I need to know, necessarily. And I don’t want to have people find themselves in a position where they are simply incriminating themselves more by coming to talk to me. I think that would be counterproductive and not fair. That’s the ony reason that I said that. That if they wanted to wait for an attorney that it would always be wise. And um, there are just so many technicalities that you have to learn over the number of years over how you can present evidence, what evidence is admissible, those kinds of things, but I don’t want people to just kind of walk in my office, and kind of lay it all out there and then find themselves, that they have just exposed their, for example, medical history and it really doesn’t qualify. A defense attorney could evaluate that. And then they could bring that to me. That’s the only reason. I’m not trying to confuse or make things even more convoluted. I’m just trying to make things fair and clear, so that we can move forward without causing people any more problems than they have already had.

Kowas: Ok. Can’t we make some progress? It sounds like you are making this possibly unnecessarily adversarial when we already have an overcrowded system. I mean, we’ve got smart people out there. These people file TROs, and lawsuits, and argue themselves in court, and get themselves arrested… they know the law. We’re talking about a reasonably sophisticated group of people…

Massini: Absolutely. Well, not exactly.

Kowas: …who can understand how they can prepare for a commonsense approach once their neighbor calls and reports them and a police officer comes out. Should they have a file ready?

Massini: No.

Kowas: Should they open it up for the police officer?

Massini: No.

Kowas: Or maybe they should wait for somebody on a higher level? They want to avoid going to court. They want to avoid an actual arrest. They want to avoid, very possibly, there being an incursion by the feds. Once there was an arrest there would be an official file. They would have access to it and they could find out who the doctor is and go hassle the doctor. They want to try and work with this on a goodwill, commonsense basis.

Massini: Well. Number one, the police officer isn’t in a position to make that evaluation. They are not going to avoid being arrested, under the, for the most part. There may be some situations. But the police officer isn’t in a position to evaluate whether the medical records are sufficient to create a defense. That’s not their job. Their job is to see whether or not that the person has violated the technical portions of the law. And um, developing… or deciding whether a murder or a homicde was done in self defense, or was justifiable, or whatever… that may be the end result, but that is not up to the police officer to make the determination at the time of the investigation. They get all the statements… And I think it would be very important for the person to tell the officer at the time, and make sure, that it’s included in the report that they are using, or they are growing, or they have in their possession, their marijuana for medical purposes. Because if that’s not told to the police officer, then it’s going to appear, or could appear, like, “Oh! Gee. I’ve got this arrest now, maybe I should use that medical marijuana defense.” But if you tell the officer right up front, that will be included in the report and then it will be part of the information that will come to me. We’ll trigger the concept that that will be a defense at the time of whatever hearing, if we ever have a hearing, and if there is a defense attorney involved, I can then, or my deputy can then, approach the defense attorney and say. “Listen, your client says that he was, he or she was, using this marijuana for medical purposes. Do you have the material available so that I can review to see if this is a legitimate defense so that we can get rid of this case before it goes to court?” There are all those kinds of things that we can do. So that I think is the best advice, that if truly you are using it for medical purposes and you do have the records and you do have a doctor who will be able to come forward and say that they recommended it and have their name used and I know that there are doctors who are willing to do that so that’s not any problem, and that there are medical records to back up the kind of medical condition that you have and that the doctor has evaluated you and said this is the kind of medical condition that could benefit from marijuana, then that could be presented.

Kowas: Ok. So we’re making some progress now. You’re saying that a person should, if a police officer comes up to them and asks for a consensual search. That as that progresses they should clearly get it across to the police officer that they have a right to, that they have an affirmative defense, that they have a right to have it in that arrest report so that…

Massini: Oh yes.

Kowas: …when it comes to you, or your deputy, that would be presented to your deputy, and the deputy would be alerted that this is a possible affirmative defense, and that will then trigger a special type of investigation…

Massini: Right.

Kowas: …in which the person has asked to come in to the District Attorney’s Office and explain to the deputy what information they have.

Massini: Well, I’m certainly not going to call up the defendant and ask him to come down and talk to me. And, I mean…

Kowas: No. They would have the right to call you and say they’d like to come down and talk to you and bring their file.

Massini: Yes. Yes.

Kowas: Okay. Is there a possibility that the system could reach a level high enough such that, again, I’m talking about the absolute white case, not a gray area case…”

Massini: “Right.”

Kowas: …in which a person has all of the qualifications for it and wants to avoid an embarrassing situation. Is there the possibility that they would be able to get assistance… let’s say from whoever… I don’t think Redwood Legal Services could, but let’s just say that there’s somebody prepared to help them put this file together… that they would be able to, on a pre-emptive basis, go to Alan Van Stralen [a deputy DA] or whoever, and call and make an appoitnment or whatever…?

Massini: No. No.

Kowas: And on a particular date…

Massini: No, no, no no no.

Kowas: And bring in a file and say…

Massini. No. No.

Kowas: That makes too much sense?

Massini: No. That makes, um, I mean… No.

Kowas: Why not? I mean…What we’re trying to do…

Massini: Because, number one, Alan is already so busy. Alan is already so busy… He is more than a full time attorney over there working his little tail off. He does not need a line of people, that he then has to sit down and evaluate the medical records and then call the doctors on a pre-emptive strike, in case they happen to, for some reason, get arrested, some time in the future… That is a burden that I don’t intend to put on any deputies.

Kowas: Well, is there anybody in your office that would do that? You’re saying the only reason he’s not going to do it is because he’s too busy?

Massini: Well, it’s also silly. It’s all so silly.

Kowas: Why is it silly:? It seems to me… Let’s just say that I had cancer. And it was recommended to me. And I wanted to do that. And I definitely did not want to get arrested. I would want to take preventative steps.

Massini: Well, now, under what circumstances do you think that you would be arrested if you had cancer? And in the privacy of your own home were smoking some marijuana to do whatever the doctors say it will do? Under what circumstances do you think that you could possibly be arrested with the marijuana on you?

Kowas: Oh! I think very easily! Let’s just say I’m going from the doctor’s office which is somewhere on Highway 101 and it’s the marijuana bust pot highway patrol day, and I have a taillight that’s out and the officer wants to search the car, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with…

Massini: Well, if the officer wants to search the car, why would you be foolish enough to say, ‘Sure, go ahead’?”

Kowas: Because of the fact that we want to do things right. If you don’t want to search… I don’t know. I’m fishing around here.

Massini: Well you don’t have to have a… If an officer asks you, “May I search your car,” and you’re silly enough to say Yes, knowing that you have marijuana in your car, then you get what you deserve. We’ll deal with it after later.

Kowas: But if you’re legitimately carrying marijuana… We’re just not getting to the point on this thing. If I’m legimately, if the citizen is legimately…

Massini: No. What you’re doing is asking to create a scene. And, I don’t, or asking to create an incident so that, and I think that would be very counterproductive to someone who has cancer, and is already under a great deal of stress.

Kowas: I think it’s a lot more stressful to fear that you’re in violation of the law, when, in fact, you’re not. If you could get some kind of a clearance on this thing. I don’t know. Maybe Sheriff Tuso is even willing to do something.

Massini: Yes. Ask him. See if he’s willing to do anything.

Kowas: The multi-million dollar bureaucracy ought to be in a position so that people who are already in a very frail condition, whose judgment is not all that good, whose lifestyle is not going to be enhanced by the fact that they might get arrested, and they fear being arrested… It seems like it could extend a little distance here in order to give insurance on a case-by-case basis. I don’t think you’re going to have a whole long line of people…

Massini: Oh yes you would! In Mendocino County you would have a whole line of people. I guarantee it. And if you don’t think so then you’re not being real.

Kowas: Why don’t we try it?

Massini: No. I don’t think so. You can ask Sheriff Tuso if he’s willing to try it. They are the officers who do the arrests. Perhaps he could have a whole list of people who weren’t allowed to be arrested for marijuana. Then he could pass it around to his deputies. Then they wouldn’t even need to get arrested!

Kowas: Ok. All right. Well. We’re out of time here.

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CATCH OF THE DAY, September 3, 2017

Ari, Belden, Chavez

ANDRE ARI, Clearlake/Ukiah. Willful cruelty to child, loaded firearm in public.

LAUREL BELDEN, Ukiah. Harboring a wanted felon, under influence.

LUIS CHAVEZ, Philo. Misdemeanor Hit&Run with property damage.

Christensen, Doty, Elliott, Furline

RICHARD CHRISTENSEN, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

SKYLER DOTY, Redwood Valley. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

ALICIA ELLIOTT, Covelo. Probation revocation.

CODY FURLINE, Fort Bragg. Parole violation.

Gilchrist, Guevara, Hoplock

TAMMY GILCHRIST, Willits. DUI, misdemeanor hit&run, suspended license (for DUI).

RANDOLPH GUEVARA, Ukiah. DUI, no license probation revocation.

MELISSA HOPLOCK, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

Loya, Meagher, Orozco, Raby

BENITO LOYA, Woodridge/Willits. DUI with priors, suspended license.

JERRY MEAGHER, San Mateo/Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

ANTONIO OROZCO, Ukiah. Receiving stolen property, failure to appear.

ZARCHARY RABY, Redwood Valley/Willits. DUI, suspended license, resisting, probation revocation.

Ruiz, Sales, Tarango

ROLANDO RUIZ, Ukiah. Under influence.

ROBERT SALES, Willits. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

JENNA TARANGO, Orland/Ukiah. DUI.

Torres, Vansant, Whipple

CHRISTINA TORRES, Hopland. Under influence, probation revocation.

WATER VANSANT, Ukiah. Saps/similar, probation revocation.

KENNETH WHIPPLE, Covelo. Community supervision violation.

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ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

I suggest that those who believe in the purity and correct political stances of the Red Cross and their own preferred sky-god[s] continue to do so. Yes, believe more harderer, if you please. Don’t remove yourself from flood plains and continue with the refining of deadly chemicals in these “convenient” locations. Soldier on by paving the place over with concrete and asphalt to facilitate a titanic herd of automobiles and automotive dependency. Rebuild! Hope! Pray! These are the only reasonable responses to our looming predicaments and will mitigate them handily. (Okay, [almost] enough snotty sarcasm.)

Seriously though, our regional NPR station’s president, micro-manager and ideologically-rigid blowhard of the first order, shut down regular scheduling to have a 50 grand fundraising day for the Red Cross. (This guy also believes everything he reads in the New York Times and is a *raging* Russophobe… not that there’s anything wrong with that… well, maybe there is.)

Let’s just have a little look into what has happened to the massive amount of funds for Harvey Flood Relief that Le Croix-Rouge has raked in, shall we? (…Along with a few other instances that reek of dead fish.)

zerohedge.com/news/2017-09-02/red-cross-admits-it-doesnt-know-how-hurricane-harvey-donation-money-sp…

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TO HELL WITH REALITY! I want to die in music, not in reason or in prose. People don't deserve the restraint we show by not going into delirium in front of them. To hell with them!

—Louis-Ferdinand Celine

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LITERARY CRITICISM OF VERY BAD POEMS: Part II of III

by Louis S. Bedrock

The Starspangled Banner

Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light

(“Oh, say can you see…” Are you serious?

Does dawn have a late light?

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?

(Uhh, what is the antecedent of “What”?

Hailed? Like a taxi?

“Last gleaming” Oh no! Does that imply it will never gleam again?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,

Antecedent of “whose”?

I wouldn’t call the stripes broad. The stars on the flag are not bright.)

O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?

Why two question marks when one would have sufficed?

Gallantly streaming? WTF?

And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

I suppose they did. But who cares?

This is the most dreadful doggerel

Oh, say does that starspangled banner yet wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Starspangled? Give me a break.

All of the brave and the free were murdered by European-Christian vermin.

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EXCITING FALSEHOODS tend to do well in the perpetual referenda, and become self-validating. A search for almost any “alternative” theory or belief seems to generate more links to true believers’ pages and sites than to legitimate or skeptical ones, and those tend to dominate the first few pages of results. For instance, beginning in the ’90s, conspiracists decided that contrails, the skinny clouds of water vapor that form around jet-engine exhaust, were composed of exotic chemicals, part of a secret government scheme to test weapons or poison citizens or mitigate climate change—and renamed them chemtrails. When I Googled chemtrails proof, the first seven results offered so-called evidence of the nonexistent conspiracy. When I searched for government extraterrestrial cover-up, only one result in the first three pages didn’t link to an article endorsing a conspiracy theory.

— Kurt Andersen

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THE WORST PART is wondering how you’ll find the strength tomorrow to go on doing what you did today and have been doing for much too long, where you’ll find the strength for all that stupid running around, those projects that come to nothing, those attempts to escape from crushing necessity, which always founder and serve only to convince you one more time that destiny is implacable, that every night will find you down and out, crushed by the dread of more and more sordid and insecure tomorrows. And maybe it’s treacherous old age coming on, threatening the worst. Not much music left inside us for life to dance to. Our youth has gone to the ends of the earth to die in the silence of the truth. And where, I ask you, can a man escape to, when he hasn’t enough madness left inside him? The truth is an endless death agony. The truth is death. You have to choose: death or lies. I’ve never been able to kill myself.”

—Louis-Ferdinand Celine

* * *

WE RISK BEING THE FIRST PEOPLE in history to have been able to make their illusions so vivid, so persuasive, so 'realistic' that they can live in them.

—Daniel Boorstin

* * *

CAN THE POLITICIANS HEED THE LESSONS OF HURRICANE HARVEY?

by Ralph Nader

Hovering Hurricane Harvey, loaded and reloading with trillions of gallons of water raining down on the greater Houston region—ironically the hub of the petroleum refining industry—is an unfolding, off the charts tragedy for millions of people. Many of those most affected are minorities and low-income families with no homes, health care or jobs to look forward to once the waters recede.

Will this tragedy teach us the lessons that so many politicians and impulsive voters have been denying for so long?

The first lesson is that America must come home: we must end the Empire of Militarism and of playing the role of policeman of the planet. Both of these habitual roles are backfiring and depleting trillions of taxpayer dollars that could be better used toward rebuilding our country’s infrastructure, strengthening our catastrophe-response networks and preparing for the coming megastorms like Hurricane Harvey. A projected trillion dollars being spent by Obama, and now Trump, just to upgrade nuclear weapons will only spur another arms race with Russia and China. This money could be more productively spent protecting Americans from immediate threats, such as natural disasters from man-made climate change.

Politicians must stop overstuffing a bloated military budget and leaving our country fiscally unprepared to handle mass epidemics and mass megastorms. In short, will they stop leaving our country defenseless against the prospects of huge levels of mortality and morbidity?

Second, Congressional and White House deniers of man-made climate disruption must renounce their dogmatic ignorance and confront the reality in the scientific warnings about the accelerating wrath of a provoked natural world.

Last month, I asked Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe—who has called climate change a “hoax”—what level of evidence would change his mind about climate change. He has not replied yet. But that is the question that should be asked of all Trumpsters, including the voters who share their disregard: Just what series of climate events – what piles of scientific measurements and documentations now in the Arctic, the Andes, Antarctica, Greenland, the Maldives, etc. – could change their minds?

Third, our elected officials must accept that continuing to waste trillions of dollars on corporate subsidies, bailouts, giveaways and lack of enforcement of costly crime—crony capitalism—further weakens our country’s capacity to foresee and forestall omnicidal disasters.

Enough, also, of the Congressional Republicans starving the IRS budget so it cannot collect more of the many billions of dollars in uncollected global corporate taxes. These Republicans don’t seem to connect the size of deficits, which they detest, with uncollected tax revenue, now estimated by the IRS to exceed $350 billion a year.

Maybe someone should finally write a book entitled “Listen, Voters.” It could start by asking why enough voters keep electing politicians, who sweet talk them, only hook up with corporations and an ideology of corporatism that adversely affects the very voters who put them into office, along with many other Americans. If these voters, who so often vote against their own interests, do a little homework before Election Day, they can easily separate the fakers and the sell outs from the real candidates, who may not have silver tongues and corporate backing, but have a consistent record of being on the side of the people.

Voters need to be more demanding if they are to break the chains of a rigged electoral system that deprives them of choice, of voice and, most importantly, of the sovereign power they possess in our Constitution.

The August 29, 2017 Washington Post paused from its extensive coverage of the destruction in Houston to laud the “Flood of Courage” in its lead editorial. It wrote of the “massive – and inspiring – volunteer rescue response…With nothing more than their own courage, good people ventured into the rushing gullies and culverts, risking their lives to save others in the unrelenting rain.”

While Trump tweets and hopefully reconsiders his earlier cruel budget cuts for FEMA and other life-saving federal agencies – such as the Centers for Disease Control and the EPA – the people are swinging into action on the ground. May they swing into wise and just action in the next elections – both as new candidates and, high horizon, informed voters. For there is a much better America to be had.

(Ralph Nader is a consumer advocate, lawyer and author of Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!)

* * *

I STOPPED BY the new Amazon-owned Whole Foods store to see what had changed. In addition to a few discounts — organic apples went from $2.99 to $1.99 per pound — I noticed a big display in the middle of the produce section. “Farm Fresh,” it read. “Just Picked.” What agricultural product was this ad for? Amazon Echo — a wireless speaker. Presumably Amazon grew the electronic devices on a nearby farm and, once ripe, harvested them off the vine and shipped them to the produce aisle in my local Whole Foods.

—Jill Richardson

* * *

 

 

71 Comments

  1. BB Grace September 4, 2017

    “Reelin’ In The Years”

    Your everlasting summer
    You can see it fading fast
    So you grab a piece of something
    That you think is gonna last
    You wouldn’t know a diamond
    If you held it in your hand
    The things you think are precious
    I can’t understand

    [Chorus:]
    Are you reelin’ in the years
    Stowin’ away the time
    Are you gatherin’ up the tears
    Have you had enough of mine

    You been tellin’ me you’re a genius
    Since you were seventeen
    In all the time I’ve known you
    I still don’t know what you mean
    The weekend at the college
    Didn’t turn out like you planned
    The things that pass for knowledge
    I can’t understand

    [Chorus]

    I spend a lot of money
    And I spent a lot of time
    The trip we made in Hollywood
    Is etched upon my mind
    After all the things we’ve done and seen
    You find another man
    The things you think are useless
    I can’t understand

    Walter Becker RIP

  2. LouisBedrock September 4, 2017

    Not only did Francis Scott Key write the dreadful doggerel that is this countriy’s national anthem, but he was a slaveholder and a defender of slavery:

    “He rigorously upheld slavery, doing so at the behest of the president, Andrew Jackson, a close political advisor and a Southern slaveowner himself.”

    “The Star Spangled Banner” has three more verses, each more appalling and worse written than the first verse. The third verse offers these inspiring lines:

    “No refuge could save the hireling and slave
    From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,”

    Ugh—what a piece of excrement—the man and the so-called song.

    Why does any country need a pledge of allegiance? Why does it need a national anthem?

    Oh say—can you see?

    • LouisBedrock September 4, 2017

      The Bar Stangled Spanner?

      The music comes from an old paean to drinking and debauchery.

      —Most elementary school classes note that the music for “The Star-Spangled Banner” came from a British drinking song. But in his well-received book, historian Marc Ferris, author of “Star-Spangled Banner: The Unlikely Story of America’s National Anthem” (Johns Hopkins University Press, August 2014) gives a more sophisticated reading.
      “The words of ‘To Anacreon in Heaven,’ the song that Francis Scott Key borrowed for the melody of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,’ is a sly 1700’s paean to drinking and sex. Though understated, the line ‘I’ll instruct you, like me to entwine; The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus’s vine’ is unambiguous,” he wrote.

      http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-star-spangled-banner-200-anniversary-20140912-story.html

      • BB Grace September 4, 2017

        What nation doesn’t have a national anthem? None.

        The best nation is the USA USA USA USA!!!!

        What makes the USA so great? We don’t take Mr. Bedrock’s house and give it to a migrant in the name of equality. We don’t enslave Mr. Bedrock for not standing with us, nor do we put him in prison, torture him, or execute him. Though many Americans would be very happy if any of these things were to happen to Mr. Bedrock, as Americans we know we can tolerate the loony rants of Mr. Bedrock and appreciate the AVA for granting the White Godless privileged Jew his First Amendment Right to denounce the USA, knowing there’s not another country that would have him.

        • james marmon September 4, 2017

          If the Bedrock group had their way, you would lose your free speech rights. Your comments are very offensive to that bunch. Keep up the good work Ms. Grace, you bring out the best in everyone.

          You do know that homeland security have labeled antifa as terrorist don’t you?

          Department of Homeland Security, FBI Consider Antifa’s Activities as ‘Domestic Terrorist Violence’

          http://fox40.com/2017/09/01/department-of-homeland-security-fbi-consider-antifas-activities-as-domestic-terrorist-violence/

          • Harvey Reading September 4, 2017

            Marmon, the biggest threat to what remains of freedom in the country comes from the mentality of ignoramuses like you and your buddy, BB. Your kind is so blind that you fail to see that you are working for your own demise. Work through THAT.

            • BB Grace September 4, 2017

              Every time you light up a cigarette Mr. Reading, YOU are working on your own demise eh?

              If you can’t be more specific about this threat you cloak as in my own demise then maybe you’ve bought a conspiracy theory or some fear porn?

              You know that your smoking is self demise and why tax payer sponsored government anti-tobacco ads are now showing how tobacco companies target mentally ill. The message is, if you smoke you are mentally ill because you know that what you are doing is to your own demise, you know you can stop smoking, but you choose to self demise.

              And yet, Mr. Reading, as you’re not concerned about your own self demise you want me to believe that you are concerned about mine and those who love our USA?

              Happy Labor Day Mr. Reading.

              • james marmon September 4, 2017

                RE: “Happy Labor Day Mr. Reading.”

                Mr. Reading sees labor as slavery Ms. Grace, anyone who works for a living is a slave.

                • BB Grace September 4, 2017

                  They hate us because we love to work.

                  • Harvey Reading September 4, 2017

                    “They hate us because we love to work.”

                    That, BB, is. without doubt, the stupidest statement I have heard in my 68 years, and in that time I have heard some doozies.

      • Harvey Reading September 4, 2017

        Amen, Louis, the horrid, screechy thing should have been replaced–or better, simply dropped–long, long ago. In the best of all worlds, “national anthems” would never exist in the first place.

        • LouisBedrock September 4, 2017

          However American flags are useful.
          They make great cat box liners.
          That’s what I use them for.

          I also have a small one that I blow my nose in.

          Best wishes to everyone on this lousy counterfeit May Day from the notorious “Bedrock Group”.

          Don’t work–Work your way around it.

          • Harvey Reading September 4, 2017

            Hey, hold on a minute, Louis, you’re not gonna charge dues are you?

            • LouisBedrock September 4, 2017

              You and Bill get free honorary lifetime memberships.

              • Harvey Reading September 4, 2017

                Bless you, my boy.

    • Harvey Reading September 4, 2017

      “Oh say—can you see?”

      As they say, “There are none so blind as those who will not see,” or something like that. I forget who supposedly said it first.

      • LouisBedrock September 4, 2017

        Jeremiah 5:21-3 (KJV)

        —Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:

        • Harvey Reading September 4, 2017

          So, does that mean that some monotheist god said it first?

          • LouisBedrock September 4, 2017

            No.
            It was probably some drunken pedophile clergyman.

  3. Brian Wood September 4, 2017

    Google tries to provide the shortest path to satisfy your query. Blame someone’s poor critical thinking skills when they can only bring up confirming information from their search. The right way to decide if something might be true is to see if you can disprove it. An intelligent search for the truth about chemtrails would not be “chemtrails proof”, but rather something like “chemtrails bogus”.

    • George Hollister September 4, 2017

      This is true. In science nothing can ever be proven, only disproven.

  4. Jim Updegraff September 4, 2017

    Louis: I got an early laugh today reading BB’s rant. Why don’t you appoint her president of your fan club.

    • LouisBedrock September 4, 2017

      Good question, Jim.

      I guess it’s my aversion to nearsighted, profoundly ignorant, very stupid, born-again Nazi dishwashers. Otherwise, I’d be fine with it.

      Onward, Christian soldiers!
        Marching as to war,
      Kill your Christian brothers
      As you’ve done before.

      It would have been all the same to me if Japanese soldiers had placed their stupid bloody flag with the rising sun on that hill in Iwo Jima. One murderous empire is as good as the other.

      Marmon must have been a kindly, sensitive social worker. I wonder why they fired him.

      God bless God.
      God bless America.

      • Bill Pilgrim September 4, 2017

        Perhaps this is an appropriate moment for an Ashbery poem?
        hahahahaha…..

        • LouisBedrock September 4, 2017

          To Bill from JLA:

          Daphne left the note on the freezer while
          Outside children on swings–you know the story.
          Is this really the denouement?
          Or is there another movement to follow?

          • Bill Pilgrim September 4, 2017

            Louis,

            A blood red sun casts its fierce gaze over Anderson Valley.
            New York subways recoil from marauding cockroaches.
            Today I forgot to buy milk.
            Is this the promised end?

            I made that up…seriously.

            • LouisBedrock September 4, 2017

              Better than mine–or anything Ashbery has written.

      • BB Grace September 4, 2017

        What is an empire? A country ruled by an emperor. Mr. Bedrock believes the USA is ruled by an emperor he never names. He’s confused.

        But what are semantics to the talentless ex drug addict jail bird White supremacist property owner privileged Godless Jew liberal arts professor who relishes nothing more than cyber theatre of bad translations?

        • LouisBedrock September 4, 2017

          If one consults a dictionary not purchased in a supermarket, one finds this definition:

          Empire:

          (1) :  a major political unit having a territory of great extent or a number of territories or peoples under a single sovereign authority; especially :  one having an emperor as chief of state
          (2) : a- the territory of such a political unit
          
b-something resembling a political empire; especially :  an extensive territory or enterprise under single domination or control

          https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empire

          However the use of a real dictionary requires more than sixth grade education and a three digit IQ.

          • BB Grace September 4, 2017

            What is the major political unit Mr. Bedrock?

            Who is the single sovereign authority?

            Jerry Brown? Chris Christy? Donald Trump? Antonio Guterres? Netanyahu? Xi Jinping? Janet Yellen? Rothschild? Pope Francis? ISIS? Antifa?

            Who is Mr. Bedrock’s emperor?

        • Bill Pilgrim September 4, 2017

          BB…Oh, brother.

          “Take physic, Pomp.”

          Also a word of advice, if I may: Decaff!

        • Harvey Reading September 4, 2017

          BB, as usual, you make no sense whatever. Incidentally the poem posted yesterday, taken from the work of Aminophosphatitius, was in your honor, not that of Ms. de Castro.

        • Harvey Reading September 4, 2017

          BB, the Brits had an empire, even expanded it, after Parliament took the bulk of power away from the monarchy. The U.S. in fact is an empire, one that began from (even before) its beginning with atrocities and land theft from American Indians.

          Your second paragraph betrays your jealousy of those who chose to better themselves rather than participate in vision quests.

          • BB Grace September 4, 2017

            The USA is NOT part of the UK empire Mr. Reading.

            My second paragraph reflects Mr. Bedrock’s acquisition of labels on online AVA. “Godless Jew” is special because it has a barb in it. My own label for Mr. Bedrock is “Loser”.

            • james marmon September 4, 2017

              We do have an Emperor, God Emperor Trump, chosen for us with the soul purpose of “Making America Great Again”.

              God Bless America, and God Bless God Emperor Trump.

      • james marmon September 4, 2017

        They got rid of me because I started refusing to sign documents “under penalty of perjury” that I didn’t agree with or even write.

        I told them that I could be sued, now they are finding out the hard way that I was right.

        https://youtu.be/uspIn3k8wmI

        James Marmon MSW

        • james marmon September 4, 2017

          HARDWICK V. VREEKEN
          SUMMARY*
          Civil Rights

          The panel affirmed the district court’s denial, on summary judgment, of absolute and qualified immunity to social workers who plaintiff alleged maliciously used perjured testimony and fabricated evidence to secure plaintiff’s removal from her mother, and that this abuse of state power violated her Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment constitutional rights to her familial relationship with her mother.

          The panel held that the social workers were not entitled to absolute immunity from claims that they maliciously used perjured testimony and fabricated evidence to secure plaintiff’s removal. The panel held that plaintiff’s complaint targeted conduct well outside of the social workers’ legitimate role as quasi-prosecutorial advocates in presenting the case.

          https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2017/01/03/15-55563.pdf

      • Stephen Rosenthal September 4, 2017

        Mr. Bedrock,

        Okay, now you’ve gone too far. My friend’s father was in the Navy and fought the Japanese in Iwo Jima. And don’t forget it was Joe Rosenthal who took the iconic photo of the U.S. Marines raising the American flag after finally winning that bloody battle that cost so many their lives. Your lack of empathy is on full display. Before you unleash your next bitter rant about your hatred for America, kindly take a deep breath and think about how hurtful and offensive such comments can be to some people.

        • LouisBedrock September 5, 2017

          There were about 50,000 casualties on that little shit-hole of an island.

          Most of them were kids under the age of 25.

          For what?

          To settle the dispute between two murderous empires over who would rule the Pacific. And if you think that comparing the United States with Japan is unjust, read about the conquest of the Philippines.

          I would not have fought for either country. I pity the soldiers of both sides who were trapped in that nightmare.

          The Rosenthal photo was bogus. Even it weren’t, I don’t give a damn about flags. I feel sorry for anyone who would die for the privilege of raising one anywhere.

  5. Bill Pilgrim September 4, 2017

    Editor,

    Many thanks for the Gahan Wilson cartoon. He was always one of my favorites and I haven’t seen his work in a long time. No cartoon artist is his equal at making morbidity funny.

    • LouisBedrock September 4, 2017

      I’ll second that.
      I forwarded the cartoon to half a dozen friends.

  6. james marmon September 4, 2017

    Well Camille Schraeder’s Redwood Communist Services (RCS) dodged a bullet, at least for the time being. AB 1250 was shelved until next year. By then she will have completed her hostile takeover of all of Health and Human Services programs in Mendocino and Lake Counties. Community First!

    I may have to flee to America.

    Camille has become the government in Mental-cino, but is not held to the same constitutional standards as the county. We won’t be able to sue them for their violations.

    • james marmon September 4, 2017

      Supreme Court Clarifies Standards for Qualified Immunity in Civil Rights Cases — Or Does It?

      “Qualified immunity is usually given to public employees. But § 1983 is broader than that: private parties, for instance corrections officers at private prisons, can also act under color of state law, and thus can also be liable. Are these private parties entitled to claim qualified immunity? Yes they can, in many cases, said the Supreme Court on April 17, 2012 in Filarsky v. Delia. But reconciling Filarsky with previous decisions isn’t necessarily easy, and the availability of qualified immunity in the privatization context will probably continue to be confusing.”

      http://reason.org/news/show/privatization-qualified-immunity

      • james marmon September 4, 2017

        Right now Camille just tells Deputy Director Jena Connor what they want done with a family and County CPS Social Workers take the heat, under color of law.

        • james marmon September 4, 2017

          Right now there are title 42 lawsuits against 22 or more different Mendocino County social workers,

          “All decisions are agency decisions, not individual social workers opinions”

          -Jena Conner-

          This is why we sue the individual social workers, eventually they will say enough is enough.

  7. sohumlily September 4, 2017

    Stay safe, firefighters.

    • BB Grace September 4, 2017

      Amen sohumlily!

      The Firefighter’s Prayer

      When I’m called to duty god
      wherever flames may rage
      give me strength to save a life
      whatever be its age

      Help me to embrace a little child
      before it is too late
      or save an older person from
      the horror of that fate

      Enable me to be alert
      to hear the weakest shout
      and quickly and efficiently
      to put the fire out

      I want to fill my calling and
      to give the best in me
      to guard my neighbor and
      protect his property

      And if according to your will
      I have to lose my life
      bless with your protecting hand
      my children and my wife

      • LouisBedrock September 4, 2017

        Cloying, mawkish horseshit.

        • BB Grace September 4, 2017

          The prayer wasn’t for you Mr. Bedrock. This is for you:

          Burn baby burn! Burn baby burn! Burn baby burn! Burn baby burn!
          Burnin’!

          To mass fires, yes! One hundred stories high
          People gettin’ loose y’all gettin’ down on the roof – Do you hear?
          (the folks are flaming) Folks were screamin’ – out of control
          It was so entertainin’ – when the boogie started to explode

          I heard somebody say
          Burn baby burn! – Disco inferno!
          Burn baby burn! – Burn that mama down
          Burn baby burn! – Disco inferno!
          Burn baby burn! – Burn that mama down
          Burnin’!

          Satisfaction (uhu hu hu) came in the chain reaction
          (burnin’) I couldn’t get enough, (till I had to self-destroy) so I had to
          self destruct, (uhu hu hu)
          The heat was on (burnin’), rising to the top, huh!
          Everybody’s goin’ strong (uhu hu hu)
          And that is when my spark got hot

          I heard somebody say
          Burn baby burn! – Disco inferno!
          Burn baby burn! – Burn that mama down, yoh!
          Burn baby burn! – Disco inferno!
          Burn baby burn! – Burn that mama down
          Burnin’!

          Up above my head I hear music in the air – I hear music!
          That makes me know there’s (somebody) a party somewhere
          Satisfaction came in a chain reaction – Do you hear?

          I couldn’t get enough, so I had to self destruct,
          The heat was on, rising to the top
          Everybody’s goin’ strong
          That is when my spark got hot

          I heard BB say to Bedrock

          Burn baby burn! – Disco inferno! (Aah yeah!)
          Burn baby burn! – Burn that mama down
          Burn baby burn! – Disco inferno, yeah!
          Burn baby burn! – Burn that mama down
          Burn baby burn! – Disco inferno! (Aah yeah!)
          Burn baby burn! – Burn that mama down
          Burn baby burn! – Disco inferno, yeah!
          Burn baby burn! – Burn that mama down
          Burnin’!

          I just can’t stop
          When(till) my spark gets hot
          Just can’t stop
          When my spark gets hot
          Burning, burning, burning, burning…

          • Harvey Reading September 4, 2017

            Such a sad waste of cyberspace, my dear BB. Have you nothing original? A thought perhaps? Some wisdom, however minute?

            • sohumlily September 4, 2017

              If she had any, she couldn’t spell it and she certainly couldn’t compose it so that it is readable.

              • Harvey Reading September 4, 2017

                Praise Allah! There truly is intelligent life in the southern reaches of Humboldt County. I had heard rumors of such.

            • BB Grace September 4, 2017

              Ok something original for you Mr. Reading:

              The Blood Moon
              rose over redwoods
              late last night
              ripped the sky
              bled into the ocean
              streaming red
              until all was black

              • Harvey Reading September 4, 2017

                Well, my dear, who was the author? “Original” doesn’t mean you were the one who originated it.

                • LouisBedrock September 4, 2017

                  It’s pretty lousy poetry whoever wrote it.

                  I’m out of here.

                  Hasta mañana.

                  • Harvey Reading September 4, 2017

                    Unfortunately, Louis, so is mine, but in my time I could kick out a halfway decent research paper, excellent legislative analyses of proposed bills in the legislature (that were used as examples to others of how such documents should be written), and truly creative budget change proposals and position justifications.

                    Unfortunately (to me, at least) that was the extent of my creative writing ability, something I live with, and I don’t blame others for my inability to write stories, novels, or poetry. Sometimes it is fun, though, just to sit down and essentially let a piece write itself, as in my “pious” tribute to Hollister, or to write doggerel, as in my “poetic” tribute to BB. They deserve no better.

                  • LouisBedrock September 4, 2017

                    Harvey:

                    Your comments are concise and well written.
                    I think you’re being modest.

                    Had signed off, but came back to check title of book of Frost poems mentioned by Bill Pilgrim and saw Sohumlily’s comment.

                    I liked the poem she posted so much, I did a search for other Jeffers poems and found this one. Read it closely and you’ll see that Grace ripped off her lame excuse for a poem from Jeffers. What a pathetic creature she is.

                    The Day Is A Poem (September 19, 1939)
                    Robinson Jeffers

                    This morning Hitler spoke in Danzig, we hear his voice.
                    A man of genius: that is, of amazing
                    Ability, courage, devotion, cored on a sick child’s soul,
                    Heard clearly through the dog wrath, a sick child
                    Wailing in Danzig; invoking destruction and wailing at it.
                    Here, the day was extremely hot; about noon
                    A south wind like a blast from hell’s mouth spilled a slight rain
                    On the parched land, and at five a light earthquake
                    Danced the house, no harm done. Tonight I have been amusing myself
                    Watching the blood-red moon droop slowly
                    Into the black sea through bursts of dry lightning and distant thunder.
                    Well: the day is a poem: but too much
                    Like one of Jeffers’s, crusted with blood and barbaric omens,
                    Painful to excess, inhuman as a hawk’s cry.

  8. Lazarus September 4, 2017

    “CODE ENFORCEMENT, MENDO STYLE”
    Thanks for this, I have friends who have been systematically yanked around by the seat warmers in Planning and Building. The game… mendo style is laughable…except for the legit taxpayers who pay Planning and Buildings way.
    As always,
    Laz

  9. Harvey Reading September 4, 2017

    Re: AND THESE ARE THE TEACHERS?

    I doubt that the sign is maintained by teachers.

    Re: “‘The truth is death. You have to choose: death or lies. I’ve never been able to kill myself.’

    —Louis-Ferdinand Celine”

    Me neither.

  10. Rick Weddle September 4, 2017

    re: ‘…oh, say, can you see…’…it’s ‘Jose, can you see?’ Right?

    • LouisBedrock September 4, 2017

      Hi Rick–

      Good to hear from you–it’s been a while.
      Hope all is well.

  11. sohumlily September 4, 2017

    Look what I found~

    That public men publish falsehoods
    Is nothing new. That America must accept
    Like the historical republics corruption and empire
    Has been known for years.

    Be angry at the sun for setting
    If these things anger you. Watch the wheel slope and turn,
    They are all bound on the wheel, these people, those warriors.
    This republic, Europe, Asia.

    Observe them gesticulating,
    Observe them going down. The gang serves lies, the passionate
    Man plays his part; the cold passion for truth
    Hunts in no pack.

    You are not Catullus, you know,
    To lampoon these crude sketches of Caesar. You are far
    From Dante’s feet, but even farther from his dirty
    Political hatreds.

    Let boys want pleasure, and men
    Struggle for power, and women perhaps for fame,
    And the servile to serve a Leader and the dupes to be duped.
    Yours is not theirs.

    Robinson Jeffers

    • LouisBedrock September 4, 2017

      This is all Bill Pilgrim’s fault–bless him!
      Great stuff, Fair Lily of Sohum.

  12. LouisBedrock September 4, 2017

    Good night–I mean it!

  13. james marmon September 4, 2017

    “Envying the cruel falcon”: The Anti-Liberal Poetry of Robinson Jeffers Part Two of Two

    Lately I was looking from a night mountain-top
    On a wide city, the colored splendor, galaxies of light:
    how could I help but recall the seine-net
    Gathering the luminous fish? I cannot tell you how
    beautiful the city appeared, and a little terrible.
    I thought, We have geared the machines and locked all together
    into inter-dependence; we have built the great cities; now
    There is no escape. We have gathered vast populations incapable
    of free survival, insulated
    From the strong earth, each person in himself helpless, on all
    dependent. The circle is closed, and the net
    Is being hauled in. They hardly feel the cords drawing, yet
    they shine already. The inevitable mass-disasters
    Will not come in our time nor in our children’s, but we
    and our children
    Must watch the net draw narrower, government take all
    Powers — or revolution, and the new government
    Take more than all, add to kept bodies kept souls — or anarchy,
    the mass-disasters.

    http://www.theoccidentalobserver.net/2017/08/12/envying-the-cruel-falcon-the-anti-liberal-poetry-of-robinson-jeffers-part-two-of-two/

  14. Randy Burke September 4, 2017

    Jeez Louise, The comments section is almost as fascinating as the AVA web news. You guys are friends right? With smog set in Gualala. Great moon last night. For a moment, I thought the sun was eclipsing again without notice.

  15. Randy Burke September 4, 2017

    Massini….Now that is a classy act

    • james marmon September 4, 2017

      she tried to lock me up forever in 1989, said I was a menace to society, and she was once my defense attorney before becoming DA. My attorney Richard Peterson was in on the deal too, Judge Luther saved me.

      James Marmon MSW

      • james marmon September 4, 2017

        I was charged with beating up the Ukiah Police Department. Six years joint suspended sentence with charges dropped after completion of probation.

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