MCT: Sunday, May 19, 2019

• Storm Series
• Boontling Classic
• Pets
• Luna Gale
• Paramount Opening
• Motion Creep
• Eruption
• Haschak Report
• Flea Market
• Ed Notes
• Umatilla
• Dickens
• Rainbow
• LoCo Chronic
• Yesterday's Catch
• Dissing Pelosi
• Special Baby
• Philbricked
• Stagehands
• Selling War
• Casino Strategy
• Pet Parade
• Pro Lifers
• Sculpture Trail
• Bee Philosophy
• Sandbagging Sanders
• Horoscope
• Homeless Rising
• Root Cause
• Skeptics
• Marco Radio
• Keep Reading
• Wavy's Maze

A COLD UPPER LEVEL LOW south of Cape Mendocino will generate numerous to scattered showers and possible thunderstorms today. Drier weather conditions can be expected tonight and Monday. Another storm system will produce widespread showers and blustery northwest winds Monday night through Tuesday. (National Weather Service)

BOONTLING CLASSIC 2019 RESULTS

Seventy runners and walkers celebrated Cinco de Mayo by racing in the thirty-seventh annual Boontling Classic 5K Footrace. Under gorgeous skies and a cool breeze, Nat Corey-Moran of Boonville won the race with a time of 22:11, followed closely by Rebecca McLean of Fort Bragg in 22:25. Three year old Leland Brown of Redwood Valley was the youngest participant, while Don Shanley, 74, of Philo was the most senior runner posting an impressive time of 29:13.

• Nat Corey-Moran, Boonville, 22:11
• Rebecca McLean, Ft Bragg, 22:25
• Tom Shaver, Boont, 22:33
• Parker Mills, Elk, 23:08
• Peggy Prendergast, San Carlos, 23:20
• Anthony Fleming, Healdsburg, 24:15
• Garnet Shaver, Boont, 24:25
• Isabella Boardman, Geyserville, 24:34
• Tara Castleman, Mendocino, 24:55
• Ulises Garcia, Philo, 25:12
• Gail Leland, Rdwd Valley , 25:13
• Adrian Maldonado, Boont, 25:28
• Diego Marin-Perez, Boont, 26:07
• Merced Reynoso, Boont, 26:27
• Lou Sciocchetti, Ft Bragg, 26:39
• Max Colfax, Boont, 27:09
• Zane Colfax, Boont, 27:10
• Gerry Burney, Ukiah, 27:35
• Jack Ridley, Boont, 27:42
• Cyd Ross, Ft Bragg, 27:59
• Ramon Alvarez, Boont, 28:09
• Ulises Garcia, Boont, 28:23
• Laura Quatrocchi, Philo, 28:35
• Corina Hecker, Philo, 29:01
• Don Shanley, Philo, 29:13
• Johan Sanchez, Boont, 29:45
• Kelly Wilkinson, Boont, 29:47
• Nancy Riley, Ft Bragg, 30:31
• Nick Guerrero, Philo, 30:55
• Amy Gonsalves, Napa, 31:07
• Fred Ehnow, Philo, 31:10
• Kevin Britton, Willits, 32:09
• Noor Dawood, Boont, 32:12
• John Loomis, Ft Bragg, 32:32
• Patty Richards, Ukiah, 32:33
• Lizzy Boardman, Geyserville, 34:01
• Leland Brown, Rdwd Valley , 35:14
• Marc Brown, Rdwd Valley, 35:15
• Janis Fehrenbach, Ukiah, 35:38
• Steven Campbell, Ukiah, 36:33
• Viri Ramos, Boont, 38:55
• Elsa Colfax, Boont, 39:39
• Angie Setzer, Boont, 39:40
• Stella Arbanovella, Boont, 39:47
• Cindy Arbanovella, Boont, 39:47
• Julie Honneger, Boont, 40:31
• Ron LeValley, Little River, 41:39
• Becky Ronco, Ukiah, 41:56
• Casey Farber, Yorkville, 42:45
• Stephany Garcia, Philo, 43:17
• Drexel Brown, Redw Valley, 49:31
• Whitney Brown, Redw Valley, 49:55
• Cian Bouch, Boont, 49:59
• Keaira Schroder, Boont, 50:00
• Freedom Smith, Redw Valley, 50:12
• Camila Gonzalez, Ukiah, 50:31
• Alejandro Alejandro, Ukiah, 50:31
• Yutzel Gonzalez, Ukiah, 50:32
• Veronica Hernandez, Philo, 50:33
• Laura Baynham, Philo, 50:39
• Colton Smith , Redw Valley, 50:39
• Mira Bouch, Boont, 51:16
• Saoirse Byrne, Boont, 52:00
• Peggy Ridley, Boont, 56:27
• Autumn Ehnow, Philo, 56:28
• Antonia Marin, Boonville, 58:42
• Savannah Smith, Redw. Valley, 1:04:13
• Audrina Fox, Redw Valley, 1:04:14
• Jessica Waggoner, Boont, 1:06:44
• Alisha Bench, Boont, 1:06:48

UKIAH SHELTER PETS OF THE WEEK

Babs is a gentle soul. She’s a 2 year old, spayed, female brown tabby who was found with a litter of kittens. The kittens have been placed in foster care until they are old enough to be adopted, and Babs has been spayed and is ready to go home. Here at the shelter, Babs is a quiet cat who is happy to meet new people and enjoys getting pets. We think she may have a frisky side which will emerge when she’s in her new home.

Lance is a sweet galoot. Right now, Lance is unsure about leashes, so staff and volunteers will begin leash training with Lance ASAP so he learns that the leash means FUN STUFF is just ahead! Despite his size, Lance is an easy going guy. Overall, Lance is a great dog who just needs a little TLC and patience when adjusting to new situations. He is good-natured and loves nothing more than a good head scratch or belly rub. He is very well housebroken. Lance is a 2 year old neutered male who currently weighs 80 pounds. Lance has spent time in a foster home, and we have lots of observations about him on his webpage: http://www.mendoanimalshelter.com/dogblog/lance

The Ukiah Animal Shelter is located at 298 Plant Road in Ukiah; adoption hours are Tuesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday from 10 am to 4:30 pm and Wednesday from 10 am to 6:30 pm. To see photos and bios of the shelter's adoptable animals, and the shelter's programs, services and events, please visit us online at http://www.mendoanimalshelter.com For more information about adoptions please call 707-467-6453.

‘LUNA GALE’ by Rebecca Gilman

A mini-review by Marylyn Motherbear Scott

Presented by Mendocino Theatre Company

Directed by Lorry Lepaule

MTC is out the gate with another winner! The second play of the season is directed and performed to perfection. It is an amazing and engaging play.

While the content of Luna Gale is poking a stick in the eye of MeToo, the young on-stage meth-smoking teen parents, trying to get their baby back from CPS, are shocked that their social worker is suggesting a lie that accuses the young mom’s stepfather (who is now out-of-the-play’s timeline) of sexual abuse while he and she were still in the family home. — A long sentence, but I wanted to set up the scene for you!

The plot thickens when it comes to the who-can-you-trust twists-and-turns of the characters. There’s the evangelical Christian mother of the teen mom, who trusts no one but Jesus and nothing but the rapture, and wants total custody of the baby. She certainly has no faith when it comes to her own daughter. A pastor who is the Christian mom’s counselor and spokesperson, a smooth talker with lots of psychological and religious gotcha phrases. The CPS worker’s supervisor — I wanted to Boo! him. He was that good in his role — who has his own reasons for supporting the mom. The CPS worker’s ex-client cameo, who seems to have made it successfully through the perils of group home and drug rehabilitation. The CPS worker's complex, hang-on-a-thread somewhat dangerous but experienced — “um!” is a game? or the coming-together of years of knowledge and sacrifice expressing itself in a meaningful way? And of course, the angry and challenging teen mom and her tender boyfriend, father of the baby.

It is more than a handful of challenging circumstances and drama. At first glance, one might wonder if it’s just too much to endure in one night of theatre. I was so pleasantly surprised. actually floored! and impressed! Brought to tears! By revelations held within each character and this complex plot. Each has depth and so much more-than-meets-the eye in Act 1. And yes, there’s humor.

Most importantly there are surprises that lift us out of our own belief systems and make us feel better about ourselves, people in general, and the world at large.

Don’t miss the chance to see this play. The offerings are important and heartfelt. 


Only five performances left.

Curtain: 7:30
(Except for Sunday matinee at 2pm.)

Call 937-4477 for tix.

For more info, go to

https://mendocinotheatre.tix.com/Schedule.aspx?OrgNum=2367

MOTION CREEP

by Mark Scaramella

Mission Creep — the gradual broadening of the original objectives of a mission or organization. (Miriam-Webster)

Motion Creep — The gradual blathering into nothingness of the simplest proposal by the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors. (Mark Scaramella)

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At present, Mendo maintains an Excel spreadsheet of the pesticides, herbicides and insecticides deployed by Mendocino County “Agriculture” — aka (primarily) the wine industry — to produce the maximum amount of high-priced booze for the least cost. But the spreadsheet is typically two years behind. If you want a copy of the list of poisons applied, when and where and how much, you have to formally ask the County’s Ag Department via a Public Records Act request. (Apparently you can’t just ask for it, you have ask in the form of a Public Records Act request.) The Ag Department then peeks into their semi-secret spreadsheet and prints out what they decide is responsive to your request. If it’s not responsive, you have to try again by revising your Public Records Act Request.

Last Tuesday, Supervisor Ted Williams suggested that the County post the Excel spreadsheet (or the data in spreadsheet — basically just a list; there’s nothing “spreadsheety” about it, no calculations or analyses are done) on the County’s website.

“ITEM 6a) — Discussion and Possible Action Including Direction to Agriculture Department to Collect and Publish Pesticide Application Details, Including Chemical Agent, Quantity, and Assessor’s Parcel Number (Sponsor: Supervisor Williams). Recommended Action: Direct Agricultural Commissioner to collect pesticide application details, including chemical agent, quantity and assessor parcel number (APN); and publish via County website within fifteen days of receipt.”

Williams’ agenda item is also significant for being the first specific non-routine proposal placed on the Board’s agenda by a Supervisor in years!

The last time we recall an independent agenda item from a Supervisor was back in 2013 when Supervisor John Pinches proposed that the Board reconsider the water arrangements between Mendocino County and the Sonoma County water agency which owns most of Mendo’s water in Lake Mendocino (which is in turn is mostly diverted from the Eel River via the Potter Valley Project tunnel). A small fraction of the water not owned by Sonoma County is controlled and sold cheaply by Potter Valley wine growers to themselves and other Potter Valley wine growers. Pinches’ proposal — again, to simply re-examine the arrangement — couldn’t even get a second from his spine-free colleagues at the time, probably because the wine industry didn’t want anybody looking into or messing with their cheap water arrangements.

Is Sonoma County Stealing Mendo Water?

On Tuesday, Williams’ colleagues seemed surprised that a Supervisor would even suggest anything — so much so that the Supes and top officials drifted into their usual unscripted, knee-jerk, meandering, irrelevant — and sometimes very ironic — free association that under normal circumstances effectively shoves whatever proposal is at hand behind the back-burner and onto the floor behind the stove, never to be heard from again.

Supervisor Williams is a little harder to shove behind the stove than the average Mendo supervisor.

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Williams first pointed out that having the chemical stats on-line would save having to respond to Public Records Requests, adding, “If hundreds of gallons of poisons are being used upstream from residents, they should have the right to know; they may want to consider water tests. … Sometimes residents expend money on tests when they’re not close, not directly downstream. So they need to know the location,” hence Williams’ inclusion of APN (Assessor’s Parcel Number) in the agenda item.

The wine industry’s Board representative (aka the Mendocino County Farm Bureau rep) and grape grower (and Board Chair this year) Carre Brown responded that the assessor’s parcel number was not being collected; then she referred to the Public Records Act (PRA) request process and the "pin numbers" that are required. "I believe there are approximately 200 entities that have permits if they are going to make a pesticide application and I think there is approximately 50 reports a month and if you have used any type of, even organic, like dusting, material, that all has to be reported and then it has to also include at some point an inspection by the Agricultural Department to go in and make sure that that is the type of applications that can be made by the applicator and I know that it gets very complicated and I do see it as a cost to the county and I don't know as though there is the personnel within the Ag department to handle this, so just for comment back.”

Williams: "I would like clarification on where that cost would be today if the Ag department does collect this data. Setting up a script to generate web reports seems like a one-time information services endeavor. I don't see where there would be ongoing staff time. Can you explain?"

Brown: “Yes I can. You are also asking for a posting within 15 days I believe.”

Williams: “Yes, but if it's automated it doesn't require any human intervention.”

Brown: “Yes, but it doesn't necessarily, you're going to have to go in and have staff work on it.”

Williams: “No, that's not what I'm suggesting here. This recommended action is that it be automated. I'm not asking for any ongoing staff time.”

Brown: “Well, I still think it's going to take staff time but we may get some clarification on that.”

Ag Commissioner Dr. Harinder Grewal said they do get monthly computerized reports of pesticide applications through the "Cal-Ag system.” But 10% is still done the old way with paper input. Grewal said it would be extra work and "a burden on staff to do all that work," and that training would be needed for staff. But, “If the information services people can do it, that would be fine.” He went on at length about all the steps involved in transferring the “Cal-Ag” data and inputting and transferring it.

Williams suggested replacing parcel number with location in his proposal.

Grewal noted they have site ID and field location number.

Williams thought that would be fine. Then he volunteered to help information services automate the process with a script that runs periodically and generates the web content ready to publish.

Grewal thought that would work.

Supervisor Dan Gjerde wondered if the data could be transferred from the state back to the county.

Supervisor John Haschack was reminded of a neighbor who made a request that had to do with well water “and it was a major concern for that person. It seems like you shouldn't have to require a public records act request." He thought automating the process would be a good thing to do.

Grewal said he responds to Public Records Act requests. But it would not be possible to get the state data. “It is only available to users of that system.”

Williams repeated that to minimize the impact on the Ag department existing location data would be fine along with monthly automated posting.

Frost Pauli, president of the Mendocino County Farm Bureau (a.k.a. the wine industry), son of Potter Valley grape growers Bill and Janet Pauli, said that the information is available "in aggregate form" to “protect private property information and people's personal information. This will be a costly endeavor for the county. There is no way to possibly fully automate this system. Even if we bring in IT to try to streamline it, which I think is a good idea on its face, there is no way to fully automate this system because we are dealing with the state and anytime we are dealing with the state we are going to have some of our local staff time involved to get that to work both ways." Pauli noted that the information "would not be fully vetted."

Pauli continued, "This will also be a burden to our Ag producers who are already complying with all the rules and regulations on the box [the pesticide container]. We will have to follow additional rules if this comes into existence." He went on at length about parcel numbers and field numbers and locations and GPS coordinates and physical addresses and how complicated it is. “It would be a large burden on growers if it were to include parcels.” But even using the data as is, "it is still duplicative for producers to provide this information if they are doing it again. It sounds like if they are already doing Cal-Ag permits and then if they are required by the county to provide this information for the public, for the county website, they would have to submit it twice and it would be duplicative.”

Devon Jones also of the County Farm Bureau claimed that pesticide use is down in recent years, implying that nobody should be concerned, and that in fact the poisoners should get credit for using less poison.

Williams then asked again how it could be duplicative if the data is already being collected.

Pauli repeated himself, saying it would require extra work on the part of the applicator because of the 15 day posting time frame that Williams had already withdrawn. Pauli continued repeating himself about the difficulties in getting data from the State Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) and having to "vet" it.

Williams repeated that he was not proposing anything more than publishing what was already collected in the timeframe it was already collected.

Deputy CEO Janelle Rau said she was representing the information technology department staff and that there were "automated opportunities that need to be worked out. There may be some manual portions of this that would be an operational requirement of the Ag staff. I'm only speaking in very general terms."

Alex Land, Information Services Manager, was up next.

Land grudgingly said he was “willing to discuss” pulling data out of the state and the data transfer mechanisms. “There might be some things. I have not looked at it. Automation is certainly possible. But there will definitely be some manual processes. You know, I don't know how much those will be because we just got this."

(Let’s pause a moment to consider how many managers there seem to be who are so very worried about “putting a burden” on staff or on wine growers, a "burden" that is light-to-non-existent.)

Williams then asked Commissioner Grewal how much time it would take to simply export the data from the spreadsheet to information services for posting on the county website.

Grewal replied that the information in the spreadsheet could be exported, but they are “always a few years behind. Grabbing the information from Cal-Ag, that must be done through the Ag Commissioner because Information Services will not have the password and we can't give the password to Information Services. I imagine it would be about ten hours or so," adding that they have to "sometimes clean up the errors." Grewal went on about complicated timing considerations during the requesting and posting process.

Williams asked if the Cal-Ag data really has errors requiring correction.

"Yes," said Grewal, then, reversing himself, "or no. The data we get from the state will be correct but they are two years behind. And, yes we do have to correct errors. The growers submit a notice of intent which shows which pesticides they are going to use on which sites and then the application takes place and when the application takes place, on the tenth of every month they submit pesticide use reports. So we look to see if the notice of intent matches with the pesticide use report so those are the corrections we make and if there are any red flags we ask what they used and that's when we go back and ask for corrections to be done."

Grewal seemed to be saying that if more poison is used than was applied for, the only thing they do is correct the data to show the unpermitted amount. This is apparently what “vetting” means.

Williams replied, “That work needs to be done anyway, it's not tied to this request. Since the public already accesses the data through Public Records Act Requests, it seems like we are already doing it periodically. And I suppose if we are manually correcting things, we do that when we respond to the request.”

Grewal: “Yes, when we get a request we respond in 10 days and we have 10 days to make corrections for that request.”

Supervisor John McCowen: “It is required that a notice of intent be filed prior to an application and then an additional report afterwards saying what was actually applied. But the public's ability to know about that intent may be limited. How would someone gain that information? If someone wanted to know in advance of the application, what would be their mechanism to request the notice of intent that an application would take place?”

Grewal: “It would be the same, a public records act request.”

McCowen: “And by the time that request was filed and filled the application would probably already have taken place.”

McCowen seemed to be convincing himself that asking for advance public notice of poisoning plans would be pointless, but he didn’t ask how far in advance the notice is.

McCowen went on to say that nobody really needs the info anyway: “Who is there who lives next to a vineyard, an orchard, or an industrial timberland who is not aware that pesticides are being applied? Who doesn't have that knowledge that the application is occurring?”

Haschak: “How long does it take for your office to deal with a Public Records Act request?

Grewal: “We have to respond in 10 days and we do.”

Haschak, “Yes, but how long does it take for a person working to get that information together?”

Grewal: “It depends on the request, what kind of data they are asking for. Each request is different.”

Haschak: “So it could be very short or kind of time-consuming?”

Grewal: “Yes. A month ago we got a request for all the applications in 2016.”

Brown: “There are certain types of pesticides that cannot be used unless you get a special application permit from you. Is that correct?

Grewal: “There are some pesticides that do need a special permit.”

Brown: “And what does the Ag department do at that time? Maybe it's an infestation and it needs to be used. I can't think of any examples at the moment. How do you work with the applicator and the land owner?”

Grewal: “When we get a request we follow the state process, and most of the time these are special pesticides that are approved by DPR and we just look to see if it's approved by DPR.”

Brown: “So DPR has the list and protocols need to be followed even during application. And there is integrated pest management which is a whole different style, organically and biodynamic farmers need to come to the training classes because of the dusting they do with organic materials, so there's a lot of ins and outs with that.”

Grewal: “We hold pesticide use enforcement workshops twice a year explaining the laws and what applicators need to do.”

Oh, so it’s mostly the hired poison applicators who suffer the burden of reporting the poison use data, not the overburdened wine growers themselves.

Haschak: “It seems like this information is needed for the people and they should not have to go through the Public Records Act request. But I don't want to put an extra burden on the Ag department or on the farmers. The Ag department and Information Services could figure out how to do this in the most expedient way and come back with a report to tell us what they can do without creating a burden on anyone.”

McCowen — who has spent the last three years burdening pot permit staff and pot growers with mind-numblingly detailed rules and regs and enforcement and reporting — agreed that there should be no additional burden on staff or Ag producers.

Williams, cutting to the chase, “We seem to be derailing a little bit talking about training and regulation and burdens on Ag producers. I don't see where any of those topics are relevant to this matter. We have collected the data and I suggest we make it available to the public. It's purely about local government being transparent, it's not about additional burdens, it's not about training or whether they should use it. It's just we have the information, let's publish it so the public can make use of it without going through a public records act request.”

McCowen: “The last time I made a comprehensive review of the county website it was astounding the number of errors of basic information that things were not being updated and I think it's often the case that no one is really assigned to stay on top of that. [Looks around room] No? I would hope for improvement but, websites do have to be updated constantly, it does require somebody's time. We have the information, is there a time effective way to make that more readily available? I think that's worth looking into before we give direction to move forward.”

Brown: “I would like to comment respectfully to Supervisor Williams. I have a statement to make. First. I disagree with you on training, reporting -- there is a lot of regulation that surrounds the use of any chemicals whether they are organic or not. Pesticides. Herbicides. Insecticides. Also pest management. When the house is tarped next door to you by pest control officers, what happens then? I think all the knowledge and the more knowledge that people have, it gives them more confidence in government and what's going on so I just want to push back on your comments that it's important, the training, the education that goes along with that, so respectfully I disagree.”

Williams: “I don't know that we disagree necessarily. My point was that this agenda item is about releasing data that we've collected. It's not that I disagree about training being important or any of the other things you brought up. I think we agree. I just want to stay on track. This is not about — I don't want to have motion creep and start throwing other items into this. It's just an attempt to be transparent.”

Brown: “Again, respectfully, there was only one sentence, it really wasn't background to be able to understand how this is coming forward and a lot of the concerns needed to be expressed in a summary of the item for which there was only one sentence.”

Williams: “There's not a lot to this. That's why there's only one sentence. We could go in to different directions and say the number of business licenses should be public or the cost of the cannabis program should be in real time available to the public. Throughout the county we are missing data. People make better decisions with data. This is one attempt to maybe create a little bit of pain which is the catalyst for us to come up to speed in the world and I don't think we should be saying that our website has errors or is out of date and nobody's maintaining it and therefore we can't be transparent. Instead we should be saying, We have this problem and we need to be addressing it and this is one place where we can.”

Gjerde repeated Haschak’s request that staff should get together and see if it could be automated and bring a proposal back to the board.

Brown then required everyone to back up and restate the motion. Gjerde restated the motion to bring a work plan back to the board.

No dates were mentioned.

The board boldly voted unanimously in favor of the motion.

Brown concluded: “So this will come back to the board at a later date, so we will now go to break as requested by staff.”

The discussion which produced only a motion for staff to bring back a work plan “at a later date” had taken 45 minutes of board and staff time. Nobody complained about that burden.

SUPERVISOR HASCHAK’S REPORT TO HIS CONSTITUENTS

As your local representative for the 3rd District, I want you to know what I am doing on your behalf, so I’m going to try and send out these Supervisor reports on a monthly basis. Please contact me at 707-972-4214 if you have any comments or suggestions. I appreciate your patience, courtesy, and encouragement.

I have been working closely with CalFire, local fire districts, County officials and private land owners to create shaded fuel breaks and emergency access routes for the Sherwood Road and Pine Mountain areas.

I sponsored an amendment to the County’s cannabis ordinance that bans cultivation of GMO cannabis in Mendocino County. This amendment passed the Board of Supervisors unanimously.

I sponsored a moratorium on growing “hemp” until we can figure out how to make it compatible with growing cannabis. My moratorium passed the Board unanimously.

My letter objecting to the US Navy practicing military exercises off our coast that are devastating to marine life passed the Board unanimously.

People have been asking me about my no votes:

I voted no to spending $110,000 on hiring a staff person for the Climate Action Advisory Committee. While I support the goals and principles of combating climate change, the structure of the proposal and the cost of a staff person were not acceptable, especially when the people who brought forth this proposal are working for free. This exorbitant salary passed 4 to 1, my lone dissent.

I voted no on the combined fee increases for cannabis permits and for park rentals. Small growers shouldn't have to pay more due to County inefficiencies in the permitting process. And the increase in park rental fees from $30 to $130 by making the $100 cleaning deposit non-refundable eliminates the incentive to clean up and also prices out many County residents from using the parks. These fee increases passed 3 -2, Supervisor Williams and I dissenting.

I voted no on a pay raise for the Assistant District Attorney. It was a 17% increase from 2.5 years ago which is 7% per year. Until regular line workers get that kind of increase, I will continue to vote no for those kinds of raises. This pay raise passed 4 -1, my lone dissent.

Other goings on:

As I promised during my campaign, I have arranged to use my share of the excessive raise the Supervisors voted themselves last year to fund three scholarships of $4,000 ($1,000 for 4 years) each for graduating seniors from Willits, Laytonville, and Round Valley high schools who are considering a career in public service. That Supervisor raise was totally out of line with the raises given to other county employees. Mendocino County has a difficult time filling many of its low wage positions and retaining experienced employees who leave for higher wages in nearby counties or other agencies.

County staff proposed to close the County Museum in Willits on Sundays. I objected to this and since then, staff came back with a plan to keep it open from 12-4 on Saturdays and Sundays. After consideration by the Museum Advisory Board, the BOS will decide this at their May 14 meeting.

The adoption of the County budget will happen on June 4 and 5. If you have any suggestions for how you want your county taxes to be spent, please contact me, contact all the Supervisors by sending an email or correspondence to the Board of Supervisors, or come to our regular meetings in Ukiah on the first three Tuesdays of every month.

In coordination with AAUW, I plan to start holding quarterly Town Hall meetings in Willits soon. Stay tuned.

It has been an honor serving as your 3rd District Supervisor. Please feel free to contact me at haschakj@mendocinocounty.org

Or call 707-972-4214.

ED NOTES

RECOMMENDED READING: If anybody is better qualified than Jonah Raskin to capture the NorCal zeitgeist, I can't think of him or her. From his youth as a left radical to the most prolific writer on life in Northern California from its vineyards to its marijuana gardens, Raskin's remarkably diverse oeuvre reflects his remarkably diverse experience. Assuming someone will be writing a history of this unique place in this uniquely tumultuous time, it will all be right there in Raskin's many books from "Field Days: A Year of Farming, Eating and Drinking Wine in California" to a wonderful biography of Jack London to the best book I know of about the grass roots experience of growing marijuana prior to quasi-legalization. In between, the prolific professor has produced a steady stream of journalism on everything from Healdsburg bread to the vivid adventures of Oaky Joe Munson, a legendary pot grower, Raskin has now managed to produce "Dark Day, Dark Night, A Marijuana Murder Mystery" that grabbed me from its opening line: "Two helicopters, salvaged Black Hawks, came out of the sky, hovered over the field and landed together, the wind from the propellers bending but not breaking the bright green marijuana plants…" to its last, which I won't relay here for obvious reasons of genre. Along the way, the finely attuned author gives us a kind of wild side tour of wine country. A fun read that tells it like it is, from the hilarious to the mayhem synonymous with the love drug.

Oaky Joe Munson’s "Marijuana Adventures & Misadventures As Told to Jonah Raskin” is available for $10 from Jonah Raskin, 4903 Petaluma Hill Road, Santa Rosa, CA. 95404.

If anyone wants an autographed copy from Joe and me, or just Joe, that can be arranged. But please say so.

---

A FRIEND WRITES: "I’m more and more upset at this country and can hardly follow the news anymore. The takeover of the Venezuelan embassy is disgraceful and Americans’ ignorance about foreign affairs deplorable, and, and, and on it goes and now we’re heading into Handmaidens’ country. I wrote a letter to our paper defending Ilhan Omar and the editor omitted the whole first paragraph, explaining conflating criticism of Israel with criticizing Jewish people so my letter had no meaning. I wrote him complaining and he wrote back that he thought he did publish the “guts” of my letter. I wrote responding to a column he ran by a prof. at Duke who wrote Jews have to stand up to antisemitism in which he attacked I.O."

CRITICISM of the Israeli government is, among the cruder Zionist propagandists, considered anti-Semitism. Some of them probably believe it. Here in Mendocino County there are periodic efforts, via Mendolib's patented secret slander, to get Jeff Blankfort's invaluable "Takes on the World" tossed off semi-public radio KZYX. I used to joke that thanks to the public schools people no longer read well enough to master the crank lit necessary to become an anti-Semite. But thanks to the internet, all manner of lunacy has made a big comeback, everything from anti-Semitism to anti-vaccination to the full panoply of tin hat-ism.

---

AS THE LIB LABS LURCH to the right, here's the conclusion of a recent opinion piece lauding Joe Biden: "The sensible center of America — that is, the people who choose presidents in this country — wants to see Donald Trump lose next year, but not if it means empowering the junior totalitarians of the left. Now is Biden’s chance to make it clear he’s just the man to fulfill that hope."

NAMES! There's nothing remotely 'totalitarian' about Cortez and the other insurgent Democrats, the only hope that rancid party has, but it's mildly surprising that the "newspaper of record" would stoop so low as to paint good liberals as totalitarians. It's the kind of wankery we expect from Republicans, or Fox News, where just last week a guy denounced Bernie as a 'Stalinist'! Bernie, the mildest socialist in the history of socialism!

---

SPEAKING of our flexible language, a video called "Be Not Afraid,” by a Marin County 14-year-old girl who goes by 'Soph", appears on YouTube wearing a hijab as she says, "Suffice to say, I’ve been having a fuckton of fun. Of course, I get raped by my 40-year-old husband every so often and I have to worship a black cube to indirectly please an ancient Canaanite god - but at least I get to go to San Fran and stone the shit out of some gays, and the cops can’t do anything about it because California is a crypto-caliphate."

'SOPH' was quickly identified as a student at Redwood High School in Larkspur and a resident of Tiburon; the cops were soon at her door. Snowflakes everywhere demanded that she be suppressed, if not locked up. Truth to tell, I think her act is pretty funny, and no more extreme than a lot of dubious comedy aimed at Christians. And 'fuckton of fun' is a wonderful addition to the lexicon of superlatives.

---

A PLAN by PG&E to cut power on high-wind days during this wildfire season may be as disastrous as the anticipated fire storms. Bankrupt from a combination of bad management and prior disasters, PG&E has confirmed CalFire's finding that a wind-snapped transmission line started last year's Camp Fire, the deadliest in state history. While the blackout plan may end one problem, it creates another as Californians may be compelled to live with days and days of no power. Home battery systems marketed by Sunrun, Tesla and Vivint Solar are enjoying a bump in sales, but the numbers of those systems in use are relatively small when compared with PG&E's 5.4 million customers. Governor Newsom said he's budgeting $75 million to help communities deal with the blackout threat, but this cash commitment lacks specifics.

MEANWHILE, in the Anderson Valley, a plan to perhaps strategically place sirens from Yorkville to Navarro has collapsed because few people could hear the trial run. Which strikes this gaffer as peculiar. I remember the fire sirens of yesteryear as ear-splitting, audible for miles. And I'm told the old siren at Redwood Valley can raise the dead, but these new jobs? Too many trees in hill and dale AV? Whatever the reason, the sirens tested here were not adequate to the task.

BUT A GOOD WORD for PG&E from us in the editorial bunker: Coupla weeks ago we mysteriously lost power at two sites on our central Boonville compound. Everywhere around us all systems were go. My colleague, The Major, always one to seize the command initiative from his years leading America to victory over the Russians in The Cold War, noticed a couple of PG&E trucks next door at the Redwood Drive-In. After we called in the outage, two line crews happened to be sitting down to lunch. "Excuse me, gentlemen, but we have an outage next door." Immediately, the PG&E guys got up from their meals and were soon clustered at our power box, where they all agreed that our smart meter had gone dumb. And almost as immediately they produced a replacement meter, attached it and, presto! we were back in the global village. Too bad these boys are aren't in charge of the mammoth monopoly…

---

I TRY to watch the Warriors with the ESPN sound off. But the younger spectators demand sound, and seem unfazed by the mostly pointless babble accompanying the game. I'm nostalgic for the great Bill King, the absolute best basketball broadcaster ever, and very good at football and baseball, too. AM radio offers Tom Tolbert calling the Warriors. He's very, very good, darn near as good as King, the master. People far more technologically adept than me say they can coordinate the Tolbert audio with the on-screen play, but that blessing is beyond me, so I either watch with the sound off or tough it out with the irrelevant chatter of the ESPN crew. (Lots of us think the Warriors are better without Durant. I think the way they move the ball without Durant is more fun to watch. Durant's a great player but he's a one-man show. When he has the ball you know he's very seldom looking to pass.)

GAME THREE. A truly great performance by Draymond Green. When it looked like the Warriors were finished, Draymond singlehandedly kept them in the game, and then the rest of the team finished off Portland going away.

UMATILLA GROUP (including two men identified as Paul Sho-o-way and Francis Lincoln). Photo by Lee Moorhouse. Early 1900s. Source: University of Oregon Libraries.

IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.

— Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

THE FIRE NEXT TIME

THINLY VEILED FICTION….

LOCO CHRONIC: The story of a college town with a dark side.

Step into the world of Humboldt County as told from the perspective of a group of college kids heavily involved in the world of pot. Lost Coast Chronicles (LoCo Chronic) is a book of 17 short stories detailing the chain of events that change Rose, Aura and Yasmeena’s lives forever.

The main character, Rose, is a cunning east coast runaway living two lives… balancing easy money and good vibes in Arcata. Seduced by the bohemian lifestyle of the local industry, she finds herself entangled in the deadly game of kill or be killed, addiction and exploitation. Danger lurks behind every tree as she dodges handsome hitmen, crazy tweakers, envious students, evil growers and cops. She befriends lovable, often wild souls as they fight to survive and defend their claim to a brighter future. Rose finds love, betrayal, purpose and despair and is conflicted between her contrasting worlds – College Kid Hippie vs. Queenpin Thug.

The whole town is going LOCO!

Available on Amazon as a Paperback or a downloadable E-book for Kindle (or the Kindle App if you have a smart phone). If viewing on desktop, Amazon allows you to “Look Inside” and read the first few pages of the book!

https://www.amazon.com/LoCo-Chronic-Camille-M/dp/1796534021/ref=sr_1_1

CATCH OF THE DAY, MAY 18, 2019

KEITH BROWN, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

CANDACE COOK, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

SPENCER DUGAN, Ukiah. Resisting.

BRAEDYN GALLAGHER, Holiday, Florida/Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

JACOB HEATH, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

JUSTIN HIETALA, Blue Lake/Ukiah. Concealed dirk-dagger, probation revocation.

ROBERT MAREK, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, probation revocation.

RENALDO NELSON, Ukiah. Controlled substance, paraphernalia, vandalism.

JAVIER NUNEZ-GONZALEZ, Ukiah. DUI.

MARK PALLEY, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

NICOLE PERDUE, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

KELLY STANTON, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

NANCY WILLIAMS, Ukiah. Protective order violation.

JASON WILSON, Reno/Fort Bragg. DUI, misdemeanor hit&run.

GOT THE CUFFS?

Editor,

Attorney General William Barr recently greeted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi by saying, “Madam Speaker, did you bring your handcuffs?” He knows that he and Donald Trump are in such lockstep that he can insult her in that brazen, disrespectful way and suffer no consequence.

He won’t be so glib if he and Trump are both impeached and go down as a disgraceful blip in our history.

But if House members don’t begin that process because “it may cost us the election in 2020” or “it may further divide the country,” they will go down as the weak kneed body that shirked its constitutional duty of oversight. This lack of courage would set a precedent that would forever diminish the balance of powers provided for in our Constitution.

Kevin Conway

Santa Rosa

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

But in Alabama…

A doctor scans an ultrasound and squints. The normal, grainy image is distorted, and he turns the dial back and forth. Suddenly de realizes he is looking at a fetus with two heads.

Immediately, he realizes - this will have to be a cesarean section. He runs down the list of staff and operating equipment he will need in his mind as he palpates the welfare mom’s belly, confirming the soft protuberance of the second cranium.

He can’t believe it. Everything looks normal. One heart, One set of lungs. Two heads. He can see the slight pulsing of the external carotid artery… it is alive, not dead tissue. It looks perfectly formed.

He isn’t a proud man, but he gets a rush. This is newsworthy. They’ll want to talk to him.

Without a beat he phones his pastor.

“Willy, you won’t believe it. You won’t believe it. I have a young lady here, she’s carrying a very… special child.”

“Lord have mercy! Well, bless the Lord! What’s the gift?”

“Two heads.”

“Pardon?”

“This child has two heads.”

Pastor William is speechless, and stares at his Grandfather’s cuckoo clock. It must be a joke. “That’s pretty funny. So, what are you really calling about?”

“Willy, listen to me. This is not a joke.”

“You mean…”

“This is a very special child. We will have to operate by the end of the day to deliver her safely.”

“Sweet Lord Jesus… ”

“I need you to pray for me, Willy. May God steady my hands to deliver his miracle.”

---

Later that night, the two headed baby was delivered at 8 pounds, 5 ounces.

While the pastor, the doctor and the attending gathered on ward, word spread.

“The CDC is flying in tonight from Atlanta. We’ve already briefed him on the mother’s profile and history.”

---

Hotel Room, Chicago, 9:48pm

A phone rings at the executive director’s legal bureau for Monsanto, Inc.

“Eddie Lampert, CDC on line 2.”

“Thanks, darling.”

“Hello?”

“Bob, you’re not gonna believe this. We’re going to see another case tonight.”

“Shit… after Benton & Albuquerque?”

“The dossier lists one of our licenses on the adjacent property from her residence.”

---

Montgomery, 10pm

The governor’s phone rings.She turns over and picks up the receiver. Its Trump.

“Kay, I have a special, special assignment for you.”

Shocked, and still disoriented, Kay stammers. “W-what’s that, Mr. President?”

“Kay, listen closely. You’re gonna be famous - like me - really famous. You got a situation, I call a kind of situation, you don’t get situations, situations like these, very often. Kay, I’m pleased to inform you that I am authorizing the Medal of Freedom to be given to that beautiful baby, that beautiful two-headed baby, and Kay, I want you to give the Medal to that very special, you know, little baby.”

“What? I don’t understand, what baby.”

“The two headed baby. The two headed baby from Mobile.”

“The two headed what? What baby?”

“Didn’t you hear, the two-headed baby. My staff just texted me the picture of the ultrasound. Its beautiful - amazing! I thought to myself, this is an opportunity, that doesn’t come along, maybe for the first time ever! And I know you love babies and I love babies and this special little baby is the most amazing thing - let me tell you - this is really something. Don’t you know about this? Our people will fill you in on this….

---

At the press conference the chatter of flashbulbs and portable typewriters filled the room.

Doctor Leibovitz points to Fred from the Montgomery Observer.

Clearing his throat, Fred asks, “What’s the little guy’s name?”

The throng of photographers leans in.

“Janus.”

RUNNING ON FUMES

Editor,

“How Stupid Can People Be! “ — Jerry Philbrick, AVA, 5-15-19

Mr. Philbrick goes on to answer his own question as he careens off into incoherent nonsense, as usual confirming his well worn place as Exhibit-A for the very reason education was destroyed in this country by the Republican led antisocial dismantlers of civil society. To keep democracy from functioning, keep people stupid!

Anyone ignorant enough to think exhaust fumes or any other form of human created pollution, can just blow away into the great blue yonder; is in the same nut house with those who believe in virgin birth, flat earth, or white supremacy. The lunacy of believing industrial pollution simply gets borne off the planet on some fairy tale wind may come as a huge surprise to all the mammals who ended up with DDT in their milk. And to all the slaves who ended up with coal dust and asbestos in their lungs, or the fish with heavy metals in their flesh.

I guess it would follow in Philbrick’s delusional world that the thousands of troops from Desert Storm are just making up stories about the terrible ailments they suffer from exposure to Uncle Sam’s first evil destruction derby in Iraq. The same bullshit that the VA welcomed these hapless warriors with. Also it’s logical to conclude the Japanese were imagining all the radiation poisoning and birth defects after the US atomic terrorism landed on them. Ditto for the deadly smog in the LA basin in the 50s and 60s which was caused by poorly engineered, poorly built gas-hog death-trap cars and an intentionally failed public transportation system. I guess the fairy tale wind just didn’t make it there. Maybe God just isn’t interested in fresh air in places not as sacred as Comptche.

Anyhow. I look forward to the day when this fine paper will be free from this editorial blight. Please move on from this boring Philbrick obsession. A waste of precious space.

Ross Dendy

Elk

PS: Our world is dominated by bad news and useless distraction. Our country is run by bastards and bitches, idiots and fools. Thieves, liars, charlatans, and sociopaths. Do the readers of the AVA really need to be insulted every week by this local idiot who is a sorry reminder to us all that 60,000,000 dumb shits voted for the colossal fraud now occupying what has become the lowest office in the land.

PPS: Ignorance is the bedrock of tyranny.

Violence is the logic of confused minds.

Bombast is the style of the brainwashed.

Patriotism is the first refuge of conformist cowards and blind sheep.

PPPS: “Scientists say that the universe is constructed mainly of atomic particles, I disagree. It looks to me that it is made up mainly of stupidity.” — Frank Zappa

THE LIBERAL EMBRACE OF WAR — Matt Taibbi

"Bad policy doesn’t get better just because you don’t let people talk about it."

rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/venezuela-united-states-war-trump-836344/

CALLING ALL ANTHROS!

Pet Parade May 25 in Mendocino at Friendship Park!

Bring your pet and join the parade starting at 12 noon. (Signup 11:30) as part of the Open House at the Community Center of Mendocino.

March across the field, introduce pets, get a participant ribbon and choose donated pet items off the gift table. Photographer Keith Wyner will be there doing informal shots and portraits (if you wish). Demonstration by local dog trainers and Humane Society will have animals to adopt. MCDOG dog park group will have an animal services table. Other FREE activities on the CCM grounds: 1-4 pm the Swing Doctors Band will play a concert on the lawn with a dance floor. Flockworks will have hands on art activities for all ages. Bid on art works in a student Art Show. Bid on a basket of pet supplies and also bid on a Beautiful Black Bike. Barbecued links and salads, beverages and desserts are available for sale throughout the afternoon. .

Hope to see you there!

Woof Woof Meow and more!

Details at www.ccmendo.com

Richard Karch rkarch@mcn.org

CLOVERDALE SCULPTURE TRAIL ARTISTS' RECEPTION

One of Cloverdale’s signature events is the 2019-2020 Cloverdale Sculpture Trail Artists’ Reception on Saturday, June 8th from 5:00 to 7:30 pm. Meet artists whose works will adorn the streets of Cloverdale for a year. This free public celebration is dedicated to the artists and to Cloverdale’s entire community and beyond for supporting Cloverdale’s one-of-a-kind Sculpture Exhibit.

Enjoy hors d’oeuvres by Tracy Valva, wines by Kelley & Young, sculpture themed cocktails and dessert by The Flour Girl at the Cloverdale Performing Arts Center, 209 N. Cloverdale Blvd. This celebration is open to the public. Rounding out the evening will be music by the Greg Hester Duo, a continuous video in the theatre providing an insight into the world of exhibiting sculptors. Sculptors will be introduced and the winners of this juried public art exhibition announced. Plus, bid on scores of creative Silent Auction opportunities, including art donated by exhibiting sculptors.

This 16th annual artist reception will also spotlight innovative mobile creations by Cloverdale’s alternative high school students. Students created three mobile based on their study of Alexander Calder’s life and art especially his innovative mobiles, which he is best known for.

Remember to vote for your favorite sculpture. Ballots are available at the Cloverdale Chamber of Commerce, during the reception and online at www.cloverdalesculpturetrail.org. The winner will be announced at the reception. There is something for everyone at the June 8th Artists’ Reception.

IT’S EVEN MORE TERRIBLE THAN YOU THOUGHT

by Paul Street

Liberal journalist and author David Cay Johnston, a frequent cable news commentator, was right to title his 2018 book on the Trump presidency “It’s Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration is Doing to America.” Trump is a creeping fascist train-wreck – an authoritarian disaster whose lawyer recently argued in federal court that Congress has no right to investigate wrongdoing by the President of the United States (take that, Watergate heroes and Whitewater fans!).

But it’s even worse than Johnston and his admiring CNN and MSNBC interviewers and co-panelists want us to know. The Democrats were neoliberal partners in Trump’s ascent; now they seem determined to ensure the second term of a presidency that could ring the death knell for what’s left of U.S.-American democracy. Loathe to impeach the impeachment-worthy Trump since they think (correctly perhaps) that action would enhance his chances for re-election in 2020, establishment Democrats are working hard again, as in 2015-16, to undermine the presidential candidacy of the Democratic contender who is most able and ready to rally the disadvantaged constituencies who will have to turn out if the orange monster is going to be removed by ballot in 2020.

That candidate is the neo-New Deal progressive-populist Bernie Sanders. He is the target of a multi-pronged “Stop Sanders” movement within the Democratic Party and across its many establishment media and non-profit outposts. This reactionary operation includes at least ten related lines of attack:

+1. Flooding the primary campaign with such an absurdly large number of candidates that Sanders will likely be unable to garner the majority of primary delegates required for a first-ballot nomination at the 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee.

+2. Coordination among the Democratic Convention superdelegates—the more than 350 county and state party bosses and elected officials who are granted delegate status without election—to vote as a bloc to stop Sanders on the convention’s second ballot. (These superdelegates exist precisely for the purpose of blocking challengers to the party’s corporate establishment.)

+3. Ongoing efforts to change state party elections from caucuses to primaries, as caucuses are friendlier to progressive challengers. (Sanders won 11 of the nation’s 18 caucus states three years ago.)

+4. The disingenuous theft of many of Sanders’ sincerely held progressive policies by corporate candidates who have no intention of fighting to implement them if they attain the presidency.

+5. Appealing to the name recognition of the right-wing corporatist-imperialist Joe Biden, along with the public’s misplaced nostalgia for Barack Obama’s Wall Street-captive presidency—both of which will be wielded as weapons against Sanders’ progressive populism.

+6. Repeated identity-wielding “gotchya” efforts to make Bernie seem indifferent to Black and female voters.

+7. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s sickening decision to block contracts with campaign consultants and other political vendors who agree to work for progressive challengers in the 2020 primaries. (Besides seeking to protect Congress itself as a corporate preserve, this move aims to deny Sanders congressional allies and undermine his ability to govern if elected.)

+8. Recurrent claims that Sanders “isn’t a Democrat” even though Bernie has long functioned essentially as one in Congress and Vermont politics (his “Independent” status is for show).

+9. Smearing Sanders’ popular social-democratic policy agenda as “fantastic,” “unaffordable,” “unrealistic” and too dangerously “socialist”—this while Democratic elites refuse to acknowledge the fascist tendencies of the president they helped elect in 2016.

+10. Branding the eminently electable Sanders “unelectable” on the grounds that he is an “extremist” who is “too far left” for the U.S. electorate generally and independent voters specifically. In reality, the opposite is true. Sanders appeals to independents (who are nowhere near as conservative as is commonly reported), people of color, infrequent voters and the white working-class that has largely abandoned the Democratic Party. His anti-establishment message, coupled with his long record of representing rural voters, makes him highly competitive with Trump, not only in the Rust Belts states where Hillary Clinton faltered but even in some dark red states like West Virginia. (Even Karl Rove believes Sanders could defeat Trump in 2020.)

It’s nasty stuff, but it’s nothing new and nobody should be surprised. The Democratic Party exists to serve its corporate clients. Consistent with their party’s Big Business bankrollers’ bottom line world view, establishment Democrats would rather lose to a fascistic white-Amerikaner right than to even the mildly social-democratic left within their own party. It’s why the late left-liberal political scientist Sheldon Wolin labeled them “the Inauthentic Opposition.”

Sadly, none of this “Stop Sanders” stuff has stopped Sanders from being the first Democratic presidential candidate to declare his readiness to work on behalf of the party’s eventual nominee to defeat Trump in 2020. In 2019/20 as in 2015-16, Bernie seems masochistically determined to advance-pledge allegiance to a corporate party that treats him with sheer ruling-class disdain.

And this time, as during the last presidential election cycle, that – along with his refusal to call for massive cuts in the giant Pentagon System (which sucks up hundreds of billions of dollars that are needed to address massively unmet social and environmental needs at home and abroad) – ought to raise questions about how committed Sanders really is to his progressive policy agenda. Especially during the terrible time of Trump the Terrible, there are respectable arguments to be made on behalf of Lesser Evil tactical voting in contested states during U.S. presidential elections. Surely, however, Sanders should not be giving the game away so early, squandering whatever leverage he might be able to wield with the threat of an independent run well before the primaries have even begun.

Meanwhile, speaking of insufficiently radical Democrats, we have the following nauseating Tweets from Liz Warren:

“Climate change is real, it’s worsening by the day, and it’s undermining our military readiness. More and more, accomplishing the mission depends on our ability to continue operations in the face of floods, drought, wildfires, desertification, and extreme cold.”

“The Pentagon is the single largest government consumer of energy, and it’s dependent on fossil fuels. To improve military readiness and help us achieve a #GreenNewDeal, the Pentagon should achieve net zero carbon emissions for all its non-combat bases and infrastructure by 2030.”

“We don’t have to choose between a green military and an effective one. My plan will improve our service members’ readiness and safety, and achieve cost savings for American taxpayers. Together, we can fight climate change—and win.” (May 15, 2019)

Three cheers for the Senator from Raytheon! She wants to improve the energy efficiency of Uncle Sam’s death-dealing war and empire machine, whose mission was aptly summed 28 years ago by Noam Chomsky: “Deterring Democracy.”

By all means, let’s greenwash the mass-murderous Pentagon System! Maybe Senator Warren can argue to get Trump’s war on Iran delayed until he can be made to promise that it will be LEED-certified.

(Paul Street’s latest book is They Rule: The 1% v. Democracy, Paradigm, 2014.)

HOMELESS POPULATION JUMPS BY THOUSANDS ACROSS THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA

California is spending millions of dollars to stem the tide of homelessness without much to show for it. The latest evidence of that arrived Thursday, when several Bay Area cities and counties reported that their latest tallies of homeless people revealed big increases.

San Francisco saw a 17% jump in the number of homeless residents over the last two years, according to preliminary results of the city’s point-in-time count.

latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-northern-california-homeless-count-20190517-story.html

TWEET OF THE DAY

MEMO OF THE AIR: Der Yiddische-Yiddische kovboy.

/"We'll get there, Teal. Don't worry. Ya know, the people during the Blitz shook their fist at the skies and shouted, COME ON, YA ZULUS, DO YOUR WORST!" -Commander Michael (Lucky Jack, Hendo) Henderson/

The recording of last night's (2019-05-17) Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio show on KNYO-LP Fort Bragg and KMEC-LP Ukiah is available by one or two clicks, depending on whether you want to listen to it now or download it and keep it for later and, speaking of which, it's right here: https://tinyurl.com/KNYO-MOTA-0333

Besides all that, at http://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com you can find a fresh batch of dozens of links to not necessarily radio-useful but nonetheless worthwhile educational items I set aside for you while gathering the show together. Such as: "Are you kidding? Yes, I left art school right after that." "The Vatican didn’t accept it because I had put holes in the eyes. They asked me, Can you fill them in? You know, the Pope has a certain image to uphold. I said /no/."

https://tinyurl.com/ModernMasterStoneworker

For people who like old train tracks. It's peaceful. Except for the police siren that warns dogs off the track; that probably annoys people, but it's better than squishing a dog in half. I backed over my employer's old cat in the driveway once and it was terrible. Oh, jeez. So sad. Poor little Charlie. Fifteen, twenty years ago, longer than the cat was ever alive, and I still shudder to think about it.

https://tinyurl.com/CarpathianTrackVan

And here's what’s going on every time a mosquito bites you. It’s not really /biting/. It's drilling in a straw, injecting anticoagulant and all manner of contagion, and drinking your milkshake. Take a tip: when a mosquito is on you, control your smite reaction and let it finish. The amount of blood lost is negligible. Let it suck out all the bad stuff it just stuck in you. When it slowly, drunkenly flies away, /that's/ when to clap your hands together and make an end of it. Then wash your hands, don't just wipe them on your pants. And never touch your own eye, nor use another person's toothbrush or woodwind mouthpiece. Eating while sitting on the toilet is fine, though. The toilet might be the cleanest place in your house; it's way cleaner than a grocery trolley or gas nozzle or computer keyboard.

https://tinyurl.com/TheNozzleJob

Marco McClean, memo@mcn.org,

https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com

FRED'S WORK

Recently home from another three or four days in the hospital. I have congestive heart failure, which has (among other things) engendered a number of small strokes. I have also undergone triple bypass heart surgery and three or four colonoscopies, along with diverticulitis. I am significantly impacting the ridiculous income of the medical establishment.

This experience, all within the past eleven years, has transformed my life. For starters, I will be moving from my apartment into an assisted living facility either here in Eugene/Springfield or perhaps in nearby Roseburg, where two of my three kids live. Both places are lovely. Roseburg has what may be the added attraction of putting a few miles between me and my Eugene daughter, who has most borne the impact of all this due to her simple proximity.

Some mordant wit once observed that being executed at dawn focuses one's attention hugely. It has certainly had this affect on me. Surprisingly (and ironically) I have never felt more alive and present to the here and now. Food tastes better. The (rare) sunshine is brighter. The news seems more dire. All indicators are even more grim.

Future generations are doomed. Fifty years ago, the door was perhaps open which may have led us to avoid all of this, but it seems now to have firmly slammed shut. Our future will inevitably see humans snuffed out. We will avoid seeing this as long as we're able. Meanwhile, the seas rise in spite of all our good words. Crops alternately fail from droughts or flood.

But we continue to buy our new Chevrolets, our power washers and sexy bikinis. Our species is doomed. No matter what the expertise of our accountants and their managers, Visa will end up holding all the newly-worthless paper. There is that. And in spite of it all, it is sweet to be back.

---

HALLEJULIA!

Late last summer I was graced enough to find myself at the Hog Farm. Wavy's maze. Old friends. A dear daughter and her husband. The absolute quintessence of hippiedom. The source.

And you know what? The hippies were (and remain) unerringly correct in their steady judgement. Confirm this by opening your eyes and taking a look in any direction. Clearly, we have been grabbed by our privates. The future looks (and feels) dire.

That we have allowed this to happen -- that we have been the agents of its happening -- has been perhaps the most ghastly mistake in the history of this planet that is our only home. We are (alas) -- unlikely to colonize Mars or Neptune. Those of us who have been at educating the next generation for our adult lives have much to account for.

Our situation being the result, it is not possible to shift the blame here to the greedy octupus, or the shiftless nonchalance of the amoeba that lives on your face. We have done this to ourselves, and we show no sign of ever letting up. But we talk a great game. Young people are lit up by books. By films. By sunsets and national parks. By that glimpse of heaven in the backseat after the ballgame. And you know what? The hippies are right. I saw it right there in Wavy's maze.

(Bruce Brady)