MCT: Tuesday, May 14, 2019

• Light Rain
• Freda Fox
• Elderhome Benefit
• NotSoSimple Returns
• Reefer Safety
• Time Perception
• Here Kitty
• Tractor
• Memorial Day
• Gjerde Warming
• Alonso Info
• MHRB Dysfunction
• Taco Tuesday
• Bee Waterer
• Carol Bruno
• Shot Fired
• Legalization Broken
• Police Reports
• Yesterday's Catch
• America Floundering
• Long-Form Print
• Doris Day
• Labor Unions
• Sparrow
• War Profiteers
• Baited Hook
• Chinese Stuff
• Dissipating Fumes
• Nonfiction
• CO2 Levels
• Hans Fallada
• Moocher
• Barn Dance
• Cow Clean-up
• Warlike Nation
• Atheists Handbook
• Comments
• B&W
• Cancer Walk
• Grammer Vandal
• Monsanto Verdict
• Found Object

A SIGNIFICANT PATTERN CHANGE is expected for the remainder of the week and the weekend with below normal temperatures and periods of rain. (National Weather Service)

FREDA FOX, Anderson Valley’s most senior Senior Citizen has died at the age of 101. A full obituary to appear next week. Freda’s interesting back story:

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Freda Fox, interviewed by Steve Sparks (2009)

I drove up to Freda Fox’s home on Ornbaun Rd in Boonville last Wednesday morning and was greeted by Freda who immediately said, “I have to tell you I don’t want to do this – who wants to hear about me?”… After assuring her that several people had asked me to interview her, and that I knew she had a tale to tell, we sat down and began to chat…

Freda was born Frieda Theil on March 26th, 1918 in Youngstown, Ohio, the seventh daughter of John Theil and Maria Brantsch, a couple who unknowingly had grown up just five miles apart in the Saxon region of Transylvania – now Romania. They had arrived in the United States in 1900 and 1899 respectively and were proud of their Saxon heritage – they would never refer to themselves as German, although their names certainly have that connotation. Furthermore, when Freda went to school in the years following World War 1, with anti-German feeling high, the teacher felt she should drop the German spelling of her first name and so the ‘i’ disappeared.

“I was the last daughter because after me came the son my parents wanted so much. It was very important to my father. I think they probably wanted to throw me away when I became the seventh girl! When John was born he was ‘ the greatest’ and I was somewhat forgotten in the mix. My sister Elsie took me under her wing and became like a mother to me…. I remember a neighbor had just one child and wanted to adopt me – I thought it was a great idea!”

In the mid-twenties, the family moved to a rural part of Ohio near to the Pennsylvania border, to a town called Lowellville, a small town about the size of Boonville. The depression soon followed but, unlike many, Freda’s father kept his job as a railway supervisor and whilst not well off they did not suffer as so many did. She attended High School in Lowellville where she was a good student who particularly liked math and science. She liked to read – discovering and learning much from ‘Gone with the Wind’ when it was published in 1936 – and was good at sport. She graduated in 1936 but could not afford to go to college. “I knew I wanted to leave this small town and so my father agreed to put me through nurses school costing $125 for three years. I moved back to Youngstown and began my vocation; specializing in anatomy and physiology…It was very strict for us nurses there. We lived like nuns! We were in nurse’s quarters and lights out was at 10pm. We had a very strict Director of Nursing, Dorothy Winley, but she was fair and saw to it that we all progressed through our studies. I graduated from there in 1939 and went to work in the local hospital for $60 a month with room and board.”

For the first time in her life Freda had some freedom and some money to spend. “I loved clothes and had bought hardly any for three years so I went out and bought lots. We also would go out on the town sometimes and I had met an Ohio State graduate, Karl, and we dated for a time. He wanted to get married but I was not going to. I was twenty-one and had made a conscious decision to wait until I was twenty-five at least. I wanted to live first, to be independent. One night I almost agreed to his proposal when we were dancing under the stars but I said ‘no’ in the end.”

With war raging in Europe, patriotism was very strong in this country and Freda’s father encouraged his children to do what they could – “he hated the Germans and Russians.” Freda joined the Army Reserve Nurse’s Corps in the fall of 1941 – “I’ve done some dumb things in my life” she jokes. She was stationed in Ft. Knox, Kentucky and worked in the Army Hospital. “If you joined the Reserve it was just for one year, whereas the Army was for three years. I didn’t want to do that. I also had ticked the box that said ‘No’ to going overseas. However, in the eventuality of war you were classed as Army – you’d stay there until the war was over, plus six months if necessary…We nurses were extremely popular amongst all the army officers and there was a good social life to enjoy. We had a ‘formal’ (dance) every week, which I loved because dancing and wearing nice clothes were two of my favorite things to do. I played tennis, I drank, I smoked. I had a wonderful time. Then one day as I came off the tennis court to go for a drink at the Officers Club where we would hang out, I heard a news bulletin on the radio – it was December 7th, 1941, the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor and we were at war. I knew things were going to change very quickly – and they did. Looking back I suppose I thought I was so sophisticated then – I wasn’t – and now I was about to experience a whole other world and existence.”

Thirty-nine nurses we initially called up to go across to Europe with the first wave of U.S soldiers. They were recruited from Ft. Knox, and Freda was one of them. “We were told to send all of our clothes home and keep just one outfit. I sent most of mine to my sister Ruthie but just couldn’t send them all – I kept a formal, a bathing suit, and some fancy shoes. I don’t know what I was thinking. We shipped out from New York in January 1942 and arrived in Londonderry, Ireland a few days later. Before we left, Karl had again asked me to marry him – I would not have to go if I was married. Again I turned him down. He was not the only love of my life.”

“We were the first Americans to get over there and were wined and dined and I met many very nice pilots. We were stationed in stone barracks. It was cold, freezing – thank God for Scotch! And it was always raining – I could fully understand why it was so green!…The local people were very good to us – I was taught how to make a cup of tea correctly. By the winter of 1943 I was moved to Belfast Hospital and the casualties were increasing. We worked very hard and saw a lot of tragic things. However we nurses did have lots of fun together and became very close. I was promoted a couple of times and ended up as a 2nd Lieutenant, and eventually becoming a Captain at the War’s end.”

“We went to many dances and parties with officers – the enlisted men were not allowed to mix with the nurses even though we worked with many of them on a daily basis. We would even get to London on leave sometimes and stay at the Savoy Hotel. My girlfriend, Bernie Wheatley, was dating a General’s Aide, Captain Derby – they made a film about him – and I was accompanied by the adjutant… Towards the end of 1943 we moved to the Manchester Hospital, in England. It was a real hospital – not tents with dirty floors etc. There I saw up close my first real experience of racism. There were quite a lot of black soldiers and the Doctors who were from the Southern States had a real problem with them socializing with the local English girls in the pubs etc. There were also many black nurses at this hospital. We got on fine. We’d be trying to curl our hair and they’d be trying to straighten theirs! Then, because black nurses would have to be welcomed too, they made the decision to close the club. That was an awful reason to do such a thing. I had never been confronted with these sort of issues before.”

1944 saw the Battle of the Bulge take place and as a result a huge numbers of casualties were arriving for treatment. “It was really bad but we were all promised leave to go home. I was really looking forward to Christmas 1944 at home but leave was cancelled because of all the casualties. However, for reasons never explained, all of the nurses eventually did get their leave – except two, and I was one of those. I ended up staying in Europe for over three and a half years without returning home to the States once – when I finally came back I even I had something of an English accent.”

“When the war ended in Europe – V.E. Day, May 8th, 1945 – we went out and celebrated. We had a wonderful time that night, playing bridge, dancing, drinking champagne. That night was a night to remember forever. We were so happy and I drank a lot – that’s fine, but don’t drink when you’re not happy; if you’re depressed and unhappy, drink is not your answer…”

Freda was sent to Birmingham, England to await her trip back to the States. “We were there for a few months, sitting around doing very little. It’s a bit of a blur – perhaps I drank too much – but when the war against Japan ended with V.J. Day (August 15th, 1945), we were put on a ship, the ‘Queen Elizabeth’, and sailed across the Atlantic to New York.”

“As we entered New York harbor the emotions were overwhelming. It was incredible. I cannot explain it. I was so happy to be home and yet so sad – I knew a very important part of my life was over. I had made so many special friends. You get very close to people you work with, particularly in the line of work we had been doing – we were a family and that family was breaking up. I had never felt like that, so emotional. It still makes me cry occasionally.”…And here in 2009, well over sixty years later, Freda shed some tears once more.

Freda explained that this was most unusual and of course I understood. She made us each a cup of coffee and I suggested that we move forward quickly through the next twenty years. “Sounds good to me – I thought we were done already,” she quickly responded with a smile.

Upon her return to the States, Freda soon enrolled at the Case Western College in Cleveland and studied Biological Sciences for three years until graduating in1948. She then returned to Lowellville and briefly taught at the local hospital. She was discontented and felt her life needed something more. So she bought a ‘lemon’ of a Dodge and, together with her sister Ruthie, set off to drive across the country to see her friends from the war years. “I had only got my driver’s license the day before we left so Ruthie did the driving. We saw many of my friends but when we were in Berkeley the car broke down. We were low on money and decided to each get a job. I went to the Veterans’ Administration in Oakland and got a nursing supervisor’s job that same day and Ruthie got one too – in the office.”

“For years people had been trying to get me married off – always suggesting possible candidates, but I had not wanted to. I liked men and had dated my fair share but I felt I did not need to get married, nor want to. Then one day at work I met Joe. We fell in love and he asked me to marry him. I told him I wanted two kids and if he didn’t like that idea then he could forget it. He agreed and we were married on April 29th, 1951 – we went to Acapulco in Mexico for our honeymoon.”

Three children followed over the next five years or so – Jeff, John, and Terry and Freda became a stay-at-home Mom. ‘I didn’t like not working. I had always had my own money. Now I felt it wasn’t mine and I desperately wanted to get back to work at some point but had committed to being at home with each of my children until they were five years old. So when Terry turned five in 1962 I went to work at Highland Hospital in Oakland.”

Joe had always wanted to fly and had obtained his flying license in 1958. They flew together a lot and Freda also learnt. Joe had a dream of flying to his home somewhere in the countryside and taxi-ing right up to the front door. A realtor friend, Stu Skyler, suggested they check out the small airport and surrounding properties in a place called Anderson Valley so they flew up this way in the summer of 1964. They liked what they saw and bought property on Airport Drive; Freda, the three kids, and the dog moving up soon afterwards with Joe not moving full-time until a few years later. “We lived in that house until 1985 when we moved here. We still have that house – Terry lives there – and we bought a further forty acres alongside and Joe and my son Jeff built the hangers down there. They worked together and got a lot done but boy did they argue – that nearly put me in therapy. They each thought they were right – in fact they were both wrong!”

“I didn’t want to move here. It was the middle of nowhere remember – it has changed a lot since the early sixties…But, I learned to love it and the people here certainly helped in that – everyone has always been so friendly to me here although my friends from those days have all passed away except Carolyn Short. My life has gone full-circle I suppose. I grew up in a small town, did many things out on my own in the world, and have now come back to a small town.”

During her time in the Valley Freda was, from 1972-83, the school district nurse, finally retiring for good at the age of sixty-six. For many years she would visit her family back East but now she is the last one and does not go back. She has kept herself in good health by doing aerobics for twenty years with Linda Boudoures and more recently she has been involved in Linda’s exercise class. She and Linda are very close and in the recent Valley Variety Show Freda appeared on stage with the rest of the class performing a dance routine. “I was at the back – hopefully people didn’t notice me…. The group helped me a lot following Joe’s death in 2001 and I think that the physical exercise has helped me mentally. I believe that if you expect your brain to work you had better stay active and not sit around.”

I now turned to asking Freda about a few of the topics that frequently concern Valley folks…The wineries? – “Well I’m for them, I guess. I am a social drinker certainly and like a glass of wine. I have always liked good Scotch and still like the occasional Scotch and water.”…The local radio station? – “I am not a listener – the reception is poor and I prefer to listen to 740 AM out of the Bay Area – they repeat things so much I eventually remember them! I watch the news on television and old movies on A.M.C. (American Movie Channel).”…The High School? – I think we have some very good teachers. I believe that the kids are given an opportunity to learn and then it’s up to them. My kids had a good education at this school.”…And whom would you vote for Mayor if there were such a position here in the Valley? – “I used to be teased for being the Mayor of Boonville but to be honest we don’t need a Mayor here. Why? And besides, nobody could be Mayor of this Valley and make everyone happy.”

To end the interview, as I have being doing each week, I posed a few questions to Freda from a list originally devised by French Interviewer and Culture “Expert”, Bernard Pivot, and featured on television’s “Inside the Actors Studio with James Lipton”…

What is your favorite word or phrase? – “Look on the bright side.”

What is your least favorite word or phrase? – “I do not like to hear people say, ‘I’m no good at that’. I also don’t like the use of incorrect grammar when people speak.”

What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? – “Talking to people and maybe helping them in some way if I can – something I’ve always tried to do.”

What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally? – “Being around people who look on the dark side of life.”

What sound or noise do you love? – “I like big band music – swing music. I used to love dancing to those sounds.”

What sound or noise do you hate? – “Very loud noises of any kind…Also sounds of pain – I’ve heard my share of those.”

What is your favorite curse word? – “I don’t want to say. I am trying hard not to answer even though you want one…It’s such a stupid word…I don’t like to swear…O.K. then, it’s…’Shit’…Are you going to write that down? Actually it’s not a swear word.”

What is your favorite hobby? – “These days it would be walking and exercise, reading too. It used to be playing Bridge.”

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? – “A Doctor. I took all my pre-med exams and courses. In my day, it was very hard for women to become doctors though.”

What profession would you not like to do? – “A housecleaner…or may be a full-time cook or chef.”

What was the happiest day or event in your life? – ”Oh, dear, there have been so many…But there are really three very special ones – the births of my children.”

What was the saddest? – “This would probably be the day I talked about earlier – when I returned to this country after the war. It could also be included as one of the happiest too though. Leaving people I loved so much was so upsetting. I was very depressed after that – I threw myself into work and studies so I did not have to think about the loss.”

What is your favorite thing about yourself – physically/mentally/spiritually – your choice? – “I suppose my strength of character; my self-belief. I am a strong person with strong opinions – sometimes that gets me into trouble. However, I have a little card hanging in the kitchen and I do try to follow its advice – ‘accept the things you cannot change, have the courage to change the things you can, and possess the wisdom to know the difference.’ I read that often to keep myself in check.”

Finally, if Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? – “Thank you for helping so many people and for always trying to be honest and good.”

NOT-SO-SIMPLE IS BACK!

We took a year off to reflect on the last eight years and have made some significant changes for 2019.

We are excited to partner with Groundswell Community and Retreat Center to produce a smaller gathering the weekend of July 26-28th, 2019 on their beautiful land just south of Boonville. This year’s event will be limited to fewer participants, so purchasing tickets before the event will be necessary.

Save the Date and stay posted for updates regarding ticket sales and site details. http://notsosimple.info/

COMMENTS:

(1) Every employer is required to train his employees to work safely, and also, the employer must provide a safe workplace! Be sure to follow all State and Federal Employment laws, now. Remember, YOU wanted to grow marijuana in a remote county, so be sure to OSHA train your employees, in order to avoid fines… Also, if you don’t train your employees, they may complain, to OSHA, that you didn’t train them, which may result in inspections… Inspections by OSHA officials can lead to corrective actions, monetary penalties, censure, and, if your employees are injured because you didn’t follow the law or had unsafe conditions, you may be sued… Be sure to keep good records of all trainings! Remember, you are in a business, and are now subject to a shit-ton of legal requirements…

(2) Ha Ha Ha! Next come the mandated handicap bathrooms, parking spaces, Workmen Comp requirements, etc . etc. The big fish eat up more of you at each hurdle. Track-n-trace will be your death. But hey - keep believing in unicorns and stuff. You sold out your neighborhoods and are helping fund the elimination of your neighbors. You’re wonderful and so awesome!!

(3) Remember this, it is the reason legal weed has no advantage here, and why no one who is smart would throw their money at going legal: 1) we have very little Ag land that’s not on the coast 2) we are isolated. Getting materials and people here is hard so everything costs more, coming in and getting our product out. 3) we are not business friendly to cannabis. So, I would think you shouldn’t let these guys get under your skin. The legal market here will shrivel on the vine. You or I didn’t miss out by not getting on the legal train. We should keep doing what we do in the woods while we can, and be developing a plan B to fall into in a few years.

NIGHT LIGHT OF THE NORTH COAST: PERCEPTIONS OF TIME

by David Wilson

Considering how the world is versus our perception of it is interesting. Take this photograph. What do you see in it? Perhaps give yourself a moment and label all the things you find in it. You could describe the image with all of the thousand words a picture is due, but yet miss entirely some of the action that was taking place during the photograph, either because it wasn’t recorded at all or it was recorded in such a way that it isn’t recognizable. Did you note the crashing waves pounding the rocks below, or describe the cottony-puffy shape of the clouds as they drifted across the sky? What about the motion of the earth beneath the stars, or the perpetual crumbling of the coastline into the waves occurring before our very eyes? It’s all there, but did you see it?

What’s real time? Let’s say real time is how we perceive time passing via our personal biological senses of sight, sound, smell, etc. Our eyes are made to bring us a view of our surroundings in an instant, with moment-by-moment updates. When I shot this image, I was out photographing with my friend and former student Jake Langston. In real time we saw each of the individual waves arriving in a continuous procession. One by one they rolled in to shore, crashing and splashing around the gigantic buffer rocks in the shallows before finally pounding against the cliffs and beaches amid the familiar roar of the surf’s white noise. Above us a cluster of small clouds slid slowly across the sky, each a discrete little puff. Stars twinkled behind them, hanging apparently motionless across the magnificent night.

Using a long exposure, the camera’s perception of the evening was a little different. When a photograph is made using a long exposure, movement in the frame will be recorded differently from the way we see it with our naked eyes. The motion of moving things is evened out over time in the image, smoothing them out over the duration of the exposure. For this image the shutter was open for 25 seconds. While Jake’s and my eyes perceived individual waves marching past, the camera’s sensor gathered the scene over the course of 25 seconds. Every wave that passed by during that time was averaged into a single scene, giving the Pacific’s surface a falsely soft look — which is certainly not what you’d experience down there in a kayak. The cloud puffs we saw became shapeless streaks in the sky to the camera’s eye. The image isn’t how we saw it in real time, but it is what the night looked like when 25 seconds of motion was averaged into a single view.

Other motion around us made much more gradual changes to the view, and our eyes’ perception of them matched what the camera recorded in its 25-second glimpse. The stars wheeled slowly overhead due to the Earth’s rotation, but to both our eyes and to the camera’s patient sensor their movement was frozen and they appeared as points in the photograph. But even the slow motion of the stars across the sky is speedy next to the geologic processes shaping the view in front of us, as the grind of constant erosion pushed the coastline back over time, and tectonic plates shifted below. Moments to us are recorded in fractions of a second by our eyes, and to the camera they may be measured in minutes or hours, but neither our eyes nor the camera can perceive the larger, slower motion of the geologic changes taking place around us. All the years and changes we experience in a full, rich life are to the Earth but flickers of motion in a single brief moment, snapshots in the history of the world.

(To keep abreast of my most current photography or peer into its past, visit and contact me at my website mindscapefx.com or follow me on Instagram at @david_wilson_mfx .)

AS MOST of us Boonville people are by now aware, there are two feeding stations for feral cats, one on Haehl Street, one at the old June home on Anderson Valley Way. A third seems to be gaining momentum at our office next door to the Redwood Drive-in where two young cats have now joined the two semi-feral deadbeats who showed up last year, and have enjoyed regular meals ever since. The two deadbeats are so comfortable they have no interest in hunting birds, which we also feed and enjoy watching. The younger cats, out of necessity, are hunters.

NEIL KEPHART has loaned us a have-a-heart trap to round up the two young feral campers who dart in and out at feeding time. We trapped one, but overnight he was mysteriously liberated, and so the trapping process begins anew.

THEN, on Monday morning, hearing the distressed voice of a young woman in our parking lot, I discovered the young woman who belonged to the worried voice peering under our deck, calling out to a black and white cat staring non-responsively back at her. “He jumped out of my car. He’s never done that before.” She motioned to her vehicle out on the street. “My mother lives in Navarro, and I was on my way back to San Francisco when he took off.” The young woman seemed on the verge of tears. I put out a can of cat food, hoping to lure the animal back to its distraught mistress. The cat looked impassively on. “He likes to play with string,” the young woman said, “maybe that will work.” It didn’t. At one point the cat’s mistress managed to coax him close enough to grab a paw, but off he went. And here he remains. “Here’s my phone number and e-mail,” the young woman said. “He’s a year old, and I really love him.” I tried some windy reassurances. “He’ll get hungry and join the smorgasbord we lay out a couple of times a day for the rest of the pack. We’ll get him for you, don’t worry.” The young woman was crying as she walked to her car. I looked under the deck at the black and white villain. I could swear he was grinning.

BOONVILLE’S AMERICAN LEGION POST #385 will observe Memorial Day with a service on Monday, May 27, 2019, 11am, at Evergreen Cemetery, just north of Boonville on Anderson Valley Way. Among the souvenirs to be displayed will be the three purple heart medals awarded to the late Boonville resident and Korean War vet Bob Nimmons.

SUPERVISOR GJERDE, apparently stung by criticism of his catatonic performance lately, wrote on the MCN chatline on Monday:

To whom it may concern:

As a matter of fact, no expenditure was on the consent calendar, or anywhere else on this Tuesday's agenda. The agenda only contained a consent calendar item that described the composition of community volunteers who would serve on the committee, but no money.

Most people don't make a habit of commenting on things that are not on a meeting's agenda. That would explain why none of the supervisors, including myself, spoke about a possible future expenditure, as it was nowhere on Tuesday's agenda.

When a budget action item appears on a future agenda, that would be the time to talk about it. We will see if any supervisor proposes to allocate funds to the Mendocino Environmental Center. It won't come from me.

I hope that helps.

Dan Gjerde

A Fourth District supervisor who finds practical solutions and long-lasting improvements for our communities

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ED NOTE: Not really, and you should have been aware something foul was up when, on April 15, McCowen introduced the subject, complete with a parade of his MEC tenants going on about global warming, about which they have no more knowledge than any other reasonably informed Mendo person. Then, at the May 7th meeting, the idea of a special committee to discuss global warming was pulled from the consent calendar for discussion by Haschack and Williams because they seemed to sense the committee notion was going to involve the creation of an expensive position to preside over whatever the MEC came up with. The dollar number for the lucky person selected for a lush salary for overseeing the proposed climate change group was front and center during the May 14th meeting during the budget discussion. Of course, Gjerde doesn’t read the only paper that covers the supervisors, which would seem an added dereliction of his duties. Fortunately, many of his constituents do read our coverage of the Supes and at least some of them hope Gjerde is soon aroused from prolonged stupor.

INVESTIGATORS from the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office are asking the public for assistance in an ongoing investigation involving Daniel Alonso.

DA investigators have interviewed several witnesses and victims from separate cases and have reason to believe there may be more victims. If you have any information on suspicious conduct with Daniel Alonso, please contact DA Investigator Scott Mayberry at (707) 961-2652 or DA Investigator Bryan Arrington at (707) 463-5414.

WENDY ROBERTS WRITES:

Mendocino Historical Review Board meeting on Mendocino TV

As a former two-term member of the MHRB, I am very disappointed to see the relationship between the board and staff deteriorate to such a dysfunctional level. The fees have become prohibitive. Failure to enlist and properly train MHRB members results in endless debate and, at times, capricious decisions that are indefensible on appeal. Lack of due diligence on the part of staff will put the town and the county at risk of legal action. This board is NOT optional. It’s an integral part of the Mendocino Town Plan and is subject to oversight by the Coastal Commission.

John Simonich’s resignation is a great loss. His was a knowledgeable and reasoned voice. Every property owner in town, the Board, the planning department, and the supervisors should be working together to ensure that MHRB members are enlisted, trained, and supported to fulfill their role of protecting the historic resources of the Town. This is not the sole responsibility of local property owners. Nor should they be expected to bear the full cost. The historic district is a national, local and regional treasure. It is also among the economic drivers of the tourism industry that is vitally important to the County.

TWO DOLLAR TACO TUESDAY! WARRIORS PLAYOFFS! Join us this Tuesday, May 14, at the Lizbby's Bar for our first Taco Tuesday and Game 1 of Warriors v. Trail Blazers. TACOS ARE $2 ALL DAY!!! Bar will be open from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. (or whenever the Warriors game ends). Happy Hour $3 domestic beers (Bud, Bud Light, Coors Light) ALL NIGHT in the bar! Game tips off at 6 p.m. at Lizbbys Restaurant and Bar.

REGGAE ON THE RIVER: THE MAGICAL YEARS

by Steve Heilig

The fabled Reggae on the River festival has been through more trials and tribulations than your average 30-something native Californian, with a real rough patch in recent years due to disorganization, in-fighting, and financial struggles. The result has been an extended identity crisis. But considering some near-death experiences over the past decade or so, the faithful strive to keep the faith, revive it, and keep it going (Reggae Fest Seeks Rebound After 2018 Losses, AVA, May 8). After all, the ROTR “brand” was for decades “the world’s greatest reggae festival,” even if it’s been many years since that was truly accurate.

But for a long time, it was true indeed. Started as a fundraiser in 1984 to rebuild the burnt-down Mateel Community Center, sort of a ground zero for the far-flung “redwood nation” of back-to-landers, herb growers, and music lovers who’d moved to Northern Mendocino and Southern Humboldt counties starting in the late 1960s, ROTR soon became by far the largest event of the year there. It went from one Saturday to two and then three, starting on Friday nights. At its peak over 15,000 people gathered on the first week of August on a baking bend in the South fork of the Eel River nine miles South of Garberville, the not-so-big biggest town around. World-renowned musical stars from around the globe ventured to this unique setting and left vowing to return if they could. Many did, time and again.

From the start, ROTR was presented by a large crew of staff and volunteers headed by Carol Bruno. With her husband John and many more locals, they created an entire town in the forest and on the riverbank. Over the decades it came to seem “normal” at least in some ways, but really it was astounding. Only those who really knew it firsthand understood how complex and big the festival workings were. Carol knew, and presided over it all, smiling through challenges and madness that would have driven most people screaming into the redwoods, never to return.

I began as a fan, then a journalist, then a volunteer, and wound up actual staff, “Chief” of a backstage crew. Alas, the infighting heated up, both the crowds and the music became less wonderful, and I quit in 2007, just as it all melted down into the struggles that have seemingly persisted to some degree ever since. But “it was fun while it lasted” doesn’t even begin to convey how great that whole week each August was for me and so many others, for almost two decades, working and playing long long days into the night, camping in Richardson Grove’s big trees, cooling in the river, making lifelong friends, playing music on KMUD radio as a guest, even talking to the Garberville Rotary Club lunches. But of course at core it was about the legendary musical lineups hitting the stage all weekend. Just as evidence, here are just a few of the most memorable musical moments I can recall: 1990: South African reggae star Lucky Dube, largely unknown here, utterly transfixed everyone with a rousing, razor sharp and transcendent show. He returned to ROTR later but was tragically murdered in a car-jacking a decade ago. Live, he was legendary and never to be forgotten. This was the last one-day ROTR. 1991: Trumpeter High Masekela, also from South Africa, joined “reggae ambassadors” Third World for a memorable jam and joyous rendition of his biggest hit “Grazing in the Grass.” 1992: One of the years where one after another, artists who would be headliners anywhere else took the stage one after the other - Toots and the Maytaks, Jimmy Cliff, Burning Spear, and for good measure, Zimbabwean legend Thomas Mapfumo. 1993: The hottest year ever, reaching over 113f, so that emerging West African star Baaba Maal, after his relentlessly stirring set, collapsed backstage and said “Take me back home so I can cool down!” Add returnees Jimmy Cliff, Lucky Dube, and Third World, plus reggae queen Judy Mowatt and Haiti’s Boukman Eksperyans. 1995: The debuts of #1 U.K. reggae band Steel Pulse And Nigerian juju master King Sunny Ade, plus Jamaican roots stalwart Sugar Minott and the Africa Fete package of great African and Caribbean artists. 1995: Alton Ellis, one of the few greatest seminal Jamaican singers, poured out his heart even though ailing. 1996: Mysterious spiritual reggae singer Ijahman Levi lived up to his cult reputation and more, and Jamaican idols Beres Hammond and Luciano made their debuts to powerful effect. 1997: Another all-superstar year - Toots, Spear, Dube returning - with the debut of original Wailer Bunny Wailer, calypso legend Mighty Sparrow, Nigerian Star Sonny Okusons, who wept onstage at the death of his countryman Fela Kati, and a searing reggae debut by Joseph Hill and Culture. 1998: West African superstars Alpha Blondy and Baaba Maal, Jamaican roots legends The Congos, and the “Spirit of Unity” tour featuring Dube, Hammond, Steel Pulse And more. 2000: Friday night shows debuted with an astounding show by newcomer Femi Kuti and his ultra-tight band and those entrancing dancers. Bunny Wailer closed the festival with his hourslong “history of reggae” extravaganza. 2001: Congolese superstar made sweet magic on Friday night, and closing on Sunday night, Luciano climbed to the top of a lighting tower, still singing and terrorizing Carol Bruno, who said “I just can’t watch” and fled backstage. 2002: one of the years of too many superstars to list. 2003: Culture returned for a legendary set, so did Israel Vibration and the Roots Radics, plus Toots, Cliff, Third World, and African stalwarts Bembeya Jazz. 2004: Steel Pulse, Bunny Wailer, Congolese all-star group Kekele, and the Easy Stars full reggae version of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon.” 2006: The fest moved on river curve south to Dimmick Ranch, presenting Sly and Robbie and Don Carlos’ Black Uluru showcase, the mighty Salif Keita from Mali, and closer Bunny Wailer yet again. Sometime far after midnight on Monday morning, with all crew chiefs invited by Wailer to join onstage and sing along, I had a spontaneous revelation that it would get no better than this, that the magic moments were becoming rarer, that the “unity” theme of the festival was no longer really in effect, and that I should and would retire from ROTR before I ruined my memories. And so I did.

Carol Bruno died recently, after a prolonged decline in her health. She was a pillar of the SoHum community, and far beyond, with many challenges in her life but her spirit intact. Mourning for her has been widespread and deep. She was one who would look you in the eye and say “I love you” and there was no doubt that she meant it. One of the last times I saw her was in Boonville at the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, where I had taken the role of a stage MC, bringing bands on and offstage. Carol and John were honored guests, reggae royalty really, and we put seats on the side of the stage for them to use - not something done for almost anybody. Carol was frail, but we wanted her to see up close her friends in the veteran group Third World. After I announced the band and they launched into one of their signature songs “96 Degrees in the Shade,” I walked over to Carol, took her hand, and said “This one’s for you.” She smiled that smile, and I had to walk off behind the stage to compose myself, all choked up. The band dedicated their set to her.

Carol Bruno, thank you for everything. This one’s for you too.

A SHOT WAS FIRED just outside The Pub, a popular bar on North State Street in Ukiah, on March 23rd, just after nine at night and witnesses saw three young adult Hispanic males run to the south.

Ukiah Police officers converged on the scene and a .380 shell casing was located on the walkway about 20 feet from the main entry to the Pub. The bullet hit a parked Chevy Tahoe, went through the door post, ripped open the back of the passenger seat and fell, spent, on the driver’s side floorboard. The Tahoe belonged to Sergeant Phillips of the Ukiah PD, who was off duty, not in uniform.

Officer Perez detained two of the Hispanic males matching the description given by the witnesses on Mason Street, and Officer Ellege, working his way in that direction with flashlight and drawn pistol, found the third suspect, Guillermo Varelas-Monzo, lying face down in some tall grass between a shed and a fence on Norton Street.

Back at the Pub, Perez viewed a surveillance camera video which showed the same three men moving back and forth from the corner of the building to near the door; after a moment a car slows down and turns off of State Street on to Clara Avenue, and at the same time one of the subjects, later identified as Varelas-Monzo, ducked down, reached into his waistband and pulled out what could have been a pistol.

The video was grainy and it was hard to tell if it was s small gun, but the subject extended his arm and there appeared to be a slight jump as though caused by recoil. The vehicle that slowed and turned on Clara was never identified, and the police never recovered the gun.

Guillermo Varelas-Monzo was taken to the station and was waiting to undergo a gunshot residue test. He asked to go to restroom and when this was refused he put his hands in his pants and washed them off with his own urine.

Varelas-Monzo’s lawyer, Anthony Adams, made a show of the fact that there was no muzzle flash visible in the video, and that his client could have been reaching into his waistband for his cellphone, but Judge John Behnke ordered Varelas-Monzo held to answer on the charge of violation of Penal Code 246.3 negligent discharge of a firearm.

(Bruce McEwen)

NOT EVEN CLOSE

Editor,

Mark Scaramella's excellent piece 'The Golden Goose Egg' (AVA May 1, 2019) begs for editing of Casey O'Neill's comments, starting with his final sentence about the Ag Department's marijuana regulatory program — "The reality is, it's pretty broken."

This is a bold admission from one of the most competent resilient farmers in the cannabis community. It should be his first sentence, not his last, with elaboration of the enlightened regulatory approach Casey would take if he were in charge.

Perhaps the Maj will follow up with part 2 of Casey's insights. The Supes come to the table clueless at best. They are resistant to including the perspectives of the very people who are being regulated, stewards of the plant with decades of cultivation and breeding know-how, that could enhance BOS revenue purposes.

The question is how to appeal to a previously prohibited community they are trying to bring out of the shadows and margins to engage in reasonable regulation of their cannabis crop. Current county regs are overly complicated, restrictive, duplicative, expensive and unreasonable and the procedure is backward. Supes should be starting with farmers and cannacraft growers at the table, hammering out compromises together, until we, as a county, can feel satisfied we got it right.

That has not happened and we are not even close to reasonable regulations capable of replacing unjust and unenforceable marijuana prohibition.

Pebbles Trippet

Elk

STONE SLAMMED

On May 11, 2019 at approximately 2:50 a.m., Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputies carried out an arrest warrant service on Brandon Stone, 39, of Fort Bragg, at a location in the 19000 block of North Highway 1 in Fort Bragg.

Deputies made contact with Stone and arrested him without incident on three active arrest warrants issued for failing to appear on a felony matter, felony battery resulting in serious bodily injury, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Following his arrest, Deputies located drug paraphernalia and approximately 3.4 grams of suspected methamphetamine in Stone’s possession and additionally charged him with Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Stone was booked into the Mendocino County Jail where he was to be held in lieu of $80,000 bail.

========================

HONEY, I'M HOME

On May 11, 2019 at about 1:37 PM, Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputies were flagged down by an adult female in the 76000 block of Highway 162 in Covelo. The female stated she wanted to report a domestic violence incident that occurred between her and her boyfriend on 05-09-2019 at about 7:30 PM. Deputies learned the female and Robert Hanover, 51, of Covelo, have been in a cohabitating and dating relationship for about 2 years.

Deputies learned the female and Hanover’s 13 year-old son were at their residence located in the Hull’s Valley area of Covelo. While at the property, Hanover arrived and was intoxicated. Hanover began to yell at the female for talking to another male on the property. Hanover grabbed the female by the throat with both hands and began to choke her to the point where it was difficult for her to breathe. Hanover pushed the female to the ground and continued to choke her until she lost consciousness. When the female regained consciousness, she fled on foot. During the incident, Hanover's son tried to get Hanover to stop choking the female. Deputies observed traumatic injuries to the female’s right eye and ear. The female also experienced pain on the right side of her head near the right ear. Deputies located Hanover sitting in his vehicle in the 76000 block of Highway 162 in Covelo. Hanover was subsequently arrested for Felony Domestic Battery and later charged with Child Endangerment. Hanover was booked into the Mendocino County Jail where he was to be held in lieu of $25,000 bail.

CATCH OF THE DAY, MAY 13, 2019

ANTHONY AMANTE, Ukiah. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

BO EDER, Fort Bragg. Controlled substance for sale, offenses while on bail, probation revocation.

JUANA ESPINOZA, Ukiah. DUI, no license, probation revocation.

JOHN GRAHAM, Willits. Under influence, probation revocation.

ANDREW HURTADO, Fort Bragg. Narcotics for sale, vandalism, resisting, probation revocation.

LEE JOAQUIN, Covelo. Felon/addict with firearm, ammo possession by prohibited person.

BENJAMIN KIMPTON, Laytonville. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, resisting.

MARK LEDBETTER, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

MARIO LOPEZ-CRUZ, Ukiah. Domestic battery.

ZACHARY RYKEN, Fort Bragg. Probation revocation.

JUSTIN SIMMONS, Ukiah. Vandalism.

JEREMY SKINNER, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, under influence.

ROBERT WILLIAMS, Redwood Valley. False info to police officer.

DON WILTSE JR., Ukiah. Parole violation.

THE TREND IS NOT YOUR FRIEND

by James Kunstler

The be-Muellered, bothered, and bewildered American public may find US-China trade talks about as interesting as a rain delay in an Orioles-Chisox game, but the Friday collapse of negotiations may be marked by historians as the day that the global economy died. The Big Box blue-light-special orgy of bargain shopping ran about 30 years, with China exuberantly pumping out cheap consumer goods to feed the US beast-of-Mammon. Americans happily payed for it all with IOUs based on long daisy chains of previous IOUs. Tom Friedman of The New York Times said it would last forever. Alas….

The paradigm kicked off for one simple reason: energy flows dictated capital flows. By the mid-1980s, the non-OPEC world was once again swimming in oil from the last great bonanzas of the oil age: The Alaska North Slope and the North Sea. Twenty years later, they were running down. Meanwhile, the USA had fecklessly “offshored” its factories in the mistaken belief that we had entered a shimmering new digital economy of virtual business were nobody had to make real stuff. China became the world’s workshop and the USA became the world’s financial bucket-shop, churning out endless swindles and frauds. The predictable result was the financial crisis of 2008, which coincided with oil prices rising to over $140-a-barrel (and six months later they crashed, with the economy, to under $30-a-barrel).

The “recovery” from that was based on Wall Street’s premier swindle: the shale oil “miracle,” based on high-risk lending to companies that couldn’t make a red cent even while accomplishing the majestic stunt of exceeding America’s old 1970 oil production peak of around 10 million barrels-a-day (now at around 12 million). Notice, too, that the final push to 12-million barrels occurred during the last two years: thus, Mr. Trump’s miracle economy. All that, to paraphrase the immortal words of Mr. Dylan, balances like a mattress on a bottle of wine.

The China-US trade impasse, if it stands for even a few months, will crash the US economy again and it will also crash the price of shale oil back to levels that destroy oil companies. You understand, of course, that the rise of shale oil was amazingly swift, ten years, and that its fall will be similarly fast and furious. The feds may have to either bail it out or nationalize the whole shootin’ match — and that will end up as just another rat-hole we pound sand into, along with our long-running campaign to build failed states overseas. Translation: not so good for the value of the US dollar.

We’re moving into a summer of grave discontent. I don’t believe that China-US trade relationship can be repaired. The disturbances we have set in motion will surely unleash the wicked animus against the USA that has been building among other nations since before 9/11/01. Even the Europeans, our old pals, have soured on us. The war hawks are steering our ship-of-state into reefy waters. The dithering Federal Reserve (America’s central bank) has painted itself into a corner with years of interest rate suppression and market manipulations. Bad weather in the American breadbasket portends rising food prices for us, and less to export (or give away) to the really hungry corners of the world. Less food makes for belligerent nations.

There is already enough tension in the world as it faces not just the end of a global trade fiesta, but a world-wide synchronized economic depression. This is the one from which there will be no “recovery” but only adaptation to lower standards of living and new arrangements for getting by. In other words, the contraction will be permanent. Our fantasies about the super high-tech nirvana of endless leisure with sex robots will dissolve with it. The dark apprehension of all this has already produced a psychotic break in US politics. We now live in a land where Next to us, the old Weimar Republic looks like a Boy Scout camporee.

This economic meltdown will play into the worst insecurities of Mr. Trump, the Golden Golem of Greatness. His domestic political antagonists long ago declared all-out war on him. The perpetually rising stock market was all that tempered his behavior in the face of that obloquy. With the economy fizzling, he will fight back Golem-style, like a demon from the underworld. But for all of Mr. Trump’s Teutonic neuroticism, he holds an advantage in that battle: the documented facts appear to show that he was unfairly persecuted for two years by opponents who outsmarted themselves in actually breaking the law, and they are on the run before a gathering juggernaut of referrals for indictments. The craziness of their desperation is now on view for all to see in the antics of the House committees.

All this raises the question: can this country hold itself together? Mr. Trump would be a most unlikely figure to provide the necessary moral support. He’s no Franklin Roosevelt reassuring the immiserated masses with fireside chats over the radio, and he sure ain’t Fiorello LaGuardia, reading the Sunday funnies to people out of work and out of luck. But never forget that history is a trickster. Even the profoundly flawed sometimes strangely find themselves on the hero’s journey.

(Support Kunstler’s writing by visiting his Patreon Page.)

LONG-FORM JOURNALISM: THE FUTURE OF PRINT

by Ted Rall

Journalism is in trouble. Writers of articles pointing this out typically argue that this is really bad for democracy or America or whatever. Anyone who disagrees is too stupid to read this so I won’t bother to repeat this obviousness. Such writers also point out contemporaneous evidence of the media apocalypse; here are the three I came across this week.

1,800 local newspapers have gone out of business in the last 15 years. Since print newspapers generate nine out of ten stories that appear on radio, TV and online, that’s a big loss.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune has closed. This is notable because it’s the first time in memory that a major city’s single major daily (OK, thrice weekly in recent years) has vanished. Its smaller Baton Rouge-based competitor remains but now it’s easy to imagine a real city having no daily paper whatsoever.

The influential and notably right-before-anyone-else investor Warren Buffett used to believe in newspapers enough that he bought some. No more. Now he says the only viable print papers are the national megapapers The New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. (Disclosure: I write op-eds for the Journal.)

At the same time, the Mueller Report was a bestselling book.

A print book.

Note: you can read it for free online.

Why would anyone pay for the Mueller Report? For the same reason they paid to read the 9/11 Commission Report and the Starr Report about Bill Clinton, two other public documents freely available on the Internet that became bestsellers in print form. Which happens to be the same reason magazines like The New Yorker and The Economist make a profit while many others are tanking. It’s also why the Sunday edition of The New York Times does well.

Long stuff is easier to read in print.

Many readers read the Mueller Report on their electronic devices. As evidenced by the success of the book version, however, a lot of people are willing to pay money to avoid the eye and neck strain of peering and craning at a comparatively low-resolution screen—while retaining less of what they read—for more than 400 pages. And that is the future of print journalism.

In the 1970s the weekly news magazines Time, Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report ran long-form analysis of the stories that had been reported the previous week by daily newspapers. Reporters at the newsweeklies dug deep, unearthed new details and told you what it all meant and why it mattered. They were giants, read by tens of millions of Americans.

Beginning with the rise of the Web in the 1990s, the newsweeklies lost their way. Editors thought the Internet proved that our attention spans were shortening so they slashed word counts. Stories got shorter. There were fewer of them too. So people stopped reading them. Why pay for the same content they could get free online, and sooner? Newsweek basically went out of business. U.S. News is online only. Once the cornerstone of Henry Luce’s empire, Time subsists.

The New Yorker and The Economist are prospering because they doubled down on their commitment to detailed long-form journalism about ongoing issues. Graphically they contain no evidence that the Web ever existed. They carry words, lots and lots of them, occasionally punctuated by hand-drawn illustrations. Some articles weigh in at 5,000, even 10,000 words. These publications don’t break news—they can’t. They deep dive.

You already know what happened. Long-form analysis tells you what it means.

Long form, long form, long form. Long form is the future!

Old formats endure because new ones can’t replace desirable functions. Despite expert predictions TV didn’t kill radio because you can’t watch TV while you drive or clean the house. Print is perfect for long-form publishing because many people prefer flipping pages to scrolling. And it’s easier on your eyes.

The future of print—which, digihype aside, is still where the money is to be made—is analogous to the 1970s, when people read daily papers for breaking news and news magazines for long-form analysis. When news breaks we’ll read about it online, on our devices. A new generation of print outlets will supply after-the-fact analysis that go on for thousands of words, along with comix journalism and complicated charts that require days (rather than minutes or hours) to research, compile and edit.

Newspapers, Buffett said, “haven’t figured out a way to make the digital model complement the print model.” It would be nice to suggest that he is mistaken, that beleaguered newspapers will finally pivot to long form, perhaps replacing their current seven-day runs with a single beefy weekend edition. Unfortunately, he’s right.

Newspapers have never been managed by people with less vision. They’ve fired the experienced out-of-the-box thinkers on their staffs in favor of underpaid Millennials who think they can guilt readers into subscribing the way NPR does during their pledge drives. Listeners support NPR because it offers unique content, not because listeners would feel guilty if it went under. Newspapers ought to have figured out long ago that no one will pay for the same exact news that they read yesterday, for free, on their phones.

“Creative destruction” will erase the dinosaurs. In their place will arise a new generation of print outlets dedicated to long-form analysis and commentary.

(Ted Rall, is a syndicated writer and the cartoonist for ANewDomain.net, and the author of the book “Snowden,” the biography of the NSA whistleblower.)

LEGENDARY ACTRESS AND SINGER DORIS DAY DEAD AT 97

koin.com/entertainment/legendary-actress-and-singer-doris-day-dead-at-97/1998847559

DO YOU REMEMBER LABOR UNIONS?

You almost have to be my age to remember what a decisive force labor unions were in American life. The unions knew American workers were not typically scholars or news junkies. We worked hard and liked our time off. But the union leaders also knew they needed support from Washington and from government right down to the grassroots. Come election time, the unions published worksheets for their members, informing and advising them on the issues and candidates, on who was friendly to workers and who was not. Voters took these sheets into the polling booth, and the union movement KICKED BUTT! The strong labor unions are a major reason why the Democrats were in charge for so long and the nation prospered so evenly.

Bernie remembers. As I think about my presidential choice, I’m put off by the tiresome way Bernie keeps saying the same thing the same way, over and over. I wonder if the man lacks imagination, if he has all the right instincts and a superb record of public service but no imagination. Trump’s imagination is a Hieronymus Bosch painting, but it’s vivid. Bernie would eat his lunch in debate, but Trump would run circles around him as a spectacle, AND THE UNSPEAKABLY RICH BUSINESS AND CORPORATE ESTABLISHMENTS would spend unheard-of heaps of money to defeat a socialist.

SO, a revival of labor unions is as important as global warming to America and the world, and Bernie is the best advocate we have, but he doesn’t give off sparks. Presidential elections are like pornography. They are about feelings, gut reactions, passion, lust, desire—everything but cool deliberation—a tragic fact. The labor unions understood this and managed it efficiently. Few of us remember that. Being old is not all downside, I can tell you.

(Mitch Clogg)

"SPARROW ON A LARK"

TO; THE MASTERS OF WAR WHO HATE PEACE

Editor,

Those of you who were popping corks well before the dust had even settled

Have hardened your hearts against peace, justice and brotherhood

I hope each bubble in your glass turns to an angel of doom who’ll

Rob you of your Judas wealth, health, and sanity in the comfort of your living room

To you who drain Americas blood to hate and kill and destroy

May your evil deeds land your soul in the hells on earth you’ve made

War profiteers have no loyalty to country, treaty or law US

Imperialism ruins America while making much of the world unfit for living

The Pentagon is a dark satanic mill that grinds life into a toxic dust

This hideous monster has taken on a life of its own, now it’s

Armageddon or bust US militarism is a run-away freight train leaving wasteland in its wake

The giant engines fueled by superstition, ignorance, bigotry, fear, and hate

Woe unto you masters of war who have usurped the land of the living

With your culture of death, I hope you die in your sleep gasping on the vomit of your spoils

You evil barbarians drunk on human sacrifice civilization passed you by in your blood lust cult

Dark age misanthropes out of step with time laser guided slaughter life hating crimes,

Hideous modern weapons in the hands of lizard brained fools

De-evolutionary madmen warped by hubris and lies, blank stare dead hearts worshipping his tools

To you who fashioned Bin Laden in the foundries of Cold War hysteria now profit obscenely

From your terrorist enrollment “wars”, cloning thousands of jihadist who’ll secure your industries

In the name of “national security” you’ve turned America into an under achieving laughing stock of the

World rendered illiterate, inane, vulgar, and highly insecure, most of the drugs you cold warriors

Dealt to fund your destruction of revolutionary governments the world over ended up on

The streets of America creating ever more profits from your drug war incarceration complex

Bob Dylan, Masters Of War

“…and I hope that you die and that your death will come soon, I’ll follow your casket on that pale afternoon and I’ll watch while you lowered down into your death bed, and I’ll stand over your grave until I’m sure that you’re dead”

Defund the Pentagon! US military out of North, Central, and South America! Dismantle the CIA- capitalist, imperialist, aggressors! Remove the Yankee imperialist from every corner of the globe!

Ross Dendy

Elk

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

There was a book that someone wrote titled “A Year Without Made in China” that documented one family’s attempt to live for a year without purchasing items made in China. They found it rather difficult and in some cases there were no options in a product category. If I recall correctly they may have decided it was ok to buy used goods that were made in China but I don’t recall exactly. Anyway, the extent to which China has come to dominate our consumer goods is nothing short of incredible. And the extent to which the American public has become addicted to cheap China crap is quite sad. May get interesting…

LOOK! UP IN THE SKY!

Hey Mr. Gruesome Gavin Newsom,

How are you doing today? Why don't you take a trip down to San Francisco, the lovely town that you let turned into a cesspool? Why don't you take off your shoes and socks and walk down some of the streets and feel what happens to the bottom of your feet and what you step in that you caused. You are the man person that let San Francisco get the way it is while you were out committing adultery on your wife and taking care of other business in California. Why don't you take some of that billions of dollars that you have locked up or stolen or stored or spent on the train to nowhere like Mr. Brown did and put up some homes for the homeless? Fix some of those things in the state that need fixing like the roads, the bridges, the levees, the dams, just general infrastructure. Why don't you do something instead of walking around like a big ostrich with your Adam's apple going up and down? Shame on all you liberal Democrats letting the state get in the condition it's in.

God bless Donald Trump.

Jerry Philbrick

Comptche

By the way as a PS I want to thank Jerry Moonbeam Brown for using most of our gas tax money to build a rest home for convicts when they get out of jail so they can swarm in and out of there like bees and then go out in the state and commit more crimes while they are protected because this is a sanctuary state. Come to think of it Jerry Brown is a civilian now. He's married to Mary Sobel. A bunch of people in Sonoma County should sue the Brown for millions of billions and trillions of dollars because he's the one who committed the crime by letting the fire happen because he vetoed the cleaning up underneath the PG&E lines. He has committed crimes while he is above the law while he was our so-called governor. Shame on all the politicians especially the Liberals.

This is another PS: I want to address climate change. Now our great governor Gruesome Newsom is authorizing restaurants to put a surtax on food. And that is supposed to be for climate change. Are you kidding me? Climate change. Global warming. Air Resources Board. There is only one thing that is stupider than all of them and that's the people that make the laws about them. There's only one person, only one thing that can change the climate and that's mother nature. Do you think the fumes that come up here in Mendocino County off the trucks is going to blow a over into Nevada or Illinois or Wisconsin and hurt somebody? What do you think happens to the fumes when the wind blows? Gone! Dissipated! How stupid can people be! The people who watch the news are so uneducated they can't understand the news. They would know what's going on if they paid attention. We are getting screwed, blued and tattooed by the Liberals with our own tax money! Send the money to mother nature! Let her change the climate! We had record cold in the East, record snowfall in the mountains, record flooding, and you say it's caused by climate change! Get a grip! And get a grip American people! Realize what these people are doing!

I just want to say, what about the airliners that fly up 20,000 feet? Are they fighting climate change? What about the spaceships up in space, are THEY fighting fumes? What about the satellites in space? Are THEY fighting fumes? Are you people so STUPID that you believe this thing about climate change? These people who make up these rules that attack the American people, that make them lose their jobs, lose their vehicles, and other countless things I could list that we have to deal with and their stupid laws. President Trump should put a law against laws that are unnecessary.

I also want to thank the Sheriff and his fine deputies and the CHP and other law enforcement people in our county for keeping the county so safe in spite of the fact that it's a sanctuary state. They are doing a great job. Even Humboldt County does a great job. We need to respect law enforcement despite what the lawmakers do about it.

PS. A PS to the add-ons that I previously added on. The next law they will come out with is a law against smoke. That means any smoke — leaf smoke or grass smoke or any kind of smoke, cigarette smoke, wood stove smoke, wood burning stoves. There will be a law against that. Then they'll have a giant ship like a blimp that they are going to design for millions and trillions of dollars of our tax money and it's going to float around up there above us and suck up all the smoke that is generated from the lightning fires and other sources. It will suck it all out and then when it is going to dissolve it is going to be called the save America ship. That's what the name is going to be written on it. Then you're going to hear this loud screaming sound that will hurt your ears and you know what that's going to be? It's mother nature laughing! Laughing at how STUPID the American people are for designing it and even more STUPID are the people who believe it! Mother Nature! That's her laughing! Go outside and look up in the sky. Maybe you can see her. Well, you probably can't. For all the smoke and all the CARB stuff.

CARBON DIOXIDE LEVELS HIT NEW LANDMARK at 415 ppm, highest in human history

The past five years have been the warmest years since records began in the late 1800s, according to NASA and NOAA. Carbon dioxide levels in Earth's atmosphere hit a stunning milestone over the weekend. Data from the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii showed that carbon dioxide levels surpassed 415 parts per million Friday.

usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/05/13/climate-change-co-2-levels-hit-415-parts-per-million-human-first/1186417001/

JEFF WARNER WRITES:

Recommended Viewing Re "Alone in Berlin"

"Alone in Berlin" while an excellent film was based on the novel "Every Man Dies Alone" written by the German author Hans Fallada. Unlike most German writers Fallada opted to stay in Germany throughout the war. However, much of what he wrote was censored. He was finally arrested, charged with "crimes against the State", and confined to a psych ward for the duration of the war. Once released he immediately began "Every Man Dies Alone". It was published in Germany in 1947, and was translated into English 8 to 10 years ago.

Reading this book was a gut wrenching experience, but I recommend it highly. As Americans it's difficult to comprehend the power of the state's ability to manipulate and isolate its citizens. The constant fear that people must endure. I think we are going thru our own litmus test as a nation. We have had to endure the ineffectiveness and ineptitude of our last three Presidents; each one progressively worse. And this during times of great change. I fear that it’s not going to turn out very well.

ANTS? PANTS? BARN DANCE!!

Barn Dance in Mendocino!

with local band "the Barnstormers"

Contras, Circles, Squares

Dances taught and prompted by Lea Smith

Wednesday, June 5, 2019, 7:00 - 9:00 PM.

Preston Hall, 44831 Main St., Mendocino

$5 adults, 17 & under FREE!

No partner or previous experience necessary.

Please wear smooth-soled shoes to protect our floor.

info at 964-7525

Next Barn Dance July 3, 2019

COW MOUNTAIN CLEAN-UP

"The Bureau of Land Management Ukiah Field Office is inviting volunteers to come help repair fire-damaged recreation facilities and trails in the South Cow Mountain OHV Management Area on Saturday and Sunday, June 1-2, from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. each day.

The OHV area has been closed since July 2018, being heavily damaged by the Mendocino Complex fires."

TRUE BELIEVERS

Letter to Editor,

In your response to my objection to your pro-religious full page thing about Jesus you insulted me. You called me a liberal. I am far to the left of liberals.

You stated in your response, the full page was "a tribute to The Greatest Liberal Who Ever Lived!"

IF Jesus ever lived; and IF he actually said the things reputed to him, and IF he actually promoted peace, is it not astonishing that peace is not what his followers have promoted? The Christian Crusades were not peaceful. The 30 Years War was fought by Christians. WWI was fought by Christians. WWII was fought by Christians.

You concluded your reply by stating, "Rest assured, sir, that this newspaper stands four-square behind the Prince of Peace." I ask you to remember that religion is the most divisive social institution in the world. Divisiveness does not foster peace. Peace has never come, and will never come, from worship. Faith is self-delusion on a mass scale. It is, as Marx said, "Religion is the opiod of the people." Faith is counter-productive to human well being and to peace. If religion ceased to exist we might be able to sit down and reason together. A fuller explanation is available on Amazon in my book, ‘The Atheists Handbook.’

Lee Simon

Virginia

---

ED REPLY: I shall pray for you, my son.

ON LINE COMMENTS OF THE WEEK

[1] I live without hope,

We’re finished.

Decades of hyper conformity and the accompanying hyper consumerism, has pushed the last train out of the station.

As a young man, why even try anymore?

Looking around me, as I walk down the street, most people’s faces (young and old) are filled with the looks of horror, desperation and fury.

I don’t want to become one of them as I get older, but I feel myself becoming one despite my desperate efforts not to. There feels like no way out of this hellish world!

I hope it all collapses, so that “history” is possible to restart, so that there is some possibility and future other than clinging to an increasingly impoverished, narrow institutionalized life.

But with climate change why even hope for that?

Looking forward to a life of Misery and Hopelessness!

-A Millenial

[2] There certainly is a crisis, all right. Largely a financial crisis, I believe. All this political theater is just a smoke screen to cover the fact that we are rapidly approaching the bitter-end consequences of financialization. What I fear is that war will be the answer to this pickle of a problem. That’s usually the way it goes – certainly has been in the past. Only this time, with all the new mega-weapons, all bets are off whether anyone gets out alive. We are fast approaching the “kick over the chessboard” solution, I fear. We should all hope my fear is unfounded. I sure hope so.

THE BIG RIVER WALK AND PADDLE is this Saturday, May 18

The Cancer Resource Centers of Mendocino County's 20th Annual Big River Walk and Paddle is this Saturday, May 18 at Big River Park in Mendocino. Registration opens at 8:30 a.m.

The forecast calls for showers. We could even have some real rain. But the Big River Walk and Paddle will go on, rain or shine, because people with cancer regularly face adversities bigger than the weather. Please plan accordingly for weather by bringing appropriate rain gear.

Schedule for the Day:

8:30 - 9 a.m. Check-in and Registration

9 a.m. Gather at the River (under tent, if raining) Remembering & Honoring our Loved Ones

9:15 a.m. — Walk and Paddle!

10:30 a.m. — Awarding of Prizes, Recognition of Sponsors

If you have not yet registered, you can still register online -

http://cts.vresp.com/c/?CancerResourceCenter/04b507616a/c8bebd9577/a7f14c7982/aff=eac2

or sign up on Saturday. Registration is $25 for adults, $10 for teens and children are free. T-shirts are $10 each. Cancer Survivors, sponsors and volunteers will receive a free T-shirt, based on size and availability.

We have some great prizes for the top pledge gatherers:

Grand Prize, individual top plege gatherer: Guided canoe trip on the Mendolea, donated by Catch-A-Canoe. For up to 6 to 8 adults, a couple of children, even a pup! Second Prize, individual pledge gatherer: A rail bike excursion on the Skunk Train line. Donated by the Skunk Train. Third Prize, individual pledge gatherer: Gift certificate to Piaci pizza. Team Prize: Ice cream party for your team at Cowlick's of Fort Bragg. Donated by Cowlick's Ice Cream.

A zillion thanks to our sponsors:

Changing Lives Sponsor:

• Law Offices Of Caren Callahan
• Building Community Sponsors:
• KOZT - The Coast 95.3/95.9 FM
• Quattrocchi Kwok Architects
• Long Valley Health Center

Caring Hearts Sponsors:

• Catch-A-Canoe
• Fort Bragg Advocate News/Mendocino Beacon
• Mendo Sotheby's Realty
• Mendocino Coast Clinics
• North Coast Brewing Company
• North Coast Opportunities
• Helping Hand Sponsors:
• Albion River Inn
• Harvest Market
• Mendocino Coast Water Works
• Mendocino Maples Nursery
• Rossi Building Materials
• Savings Bank of Mendocino County

Questions? Please call our office at 937-3833.

See you at the Walk and Paddle!

MONSANTO VERDICT: JURY AWARDS $2 BILLION TO LIVERMORE COUPLE WHO SAYS ROUNDUP CAUSED CANCER

An Alameda County Superior Court jury ruled against Monsanto in another lawsuit claiming that its popular herbicide, Roundup, causes cancer. Alva and Alberta Pilliod of Livermore claim that exposure to Roundup caused both of them to develop non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. They said exposure from more than three decades of spraying Roundup on weeds in several properties was a substantial factor in causing their illness.

https://abc7news.com/5298404/

FOUND OBJECT