MCT: Saturday, July 20, 2019

• Jim Houle
• Skateboarder Killed
• Call Us
• Warm Blob
• Osprey
• Allman Hour
• B Meeting
• Cat Crossing
• Rogers Revisited
• Sattui Hill
• President Hollister
• Pigeon Patrol
• FB Fable
• Yesterday's Catch
• Final Voyage
• Snapping Brando
• Interspecies Alliance
• Russian Ties
• Openly Racist
• Epstein Watch
• Ukiah Fair
• Tattoo Talk
• Pot Dealers
• Momma Mia
• Mouse
• Neither Party
• Cover Goats
• Gun Tips
• McGuire Coffees
• Sitting Silent
• Oligarch Kee

JAMES FOSTER HOULE

James Foster Houle, age 85, passed away on June 24, 2019, in the home he loved in Redwood Valley, California, after a decline caused by hypertension. Born September 17, 1933, the youngest of three boys in White Plains, New York, he often spoke of his family’s experiences. After leaving White Plains High School in 1951, he attended Purdue University in Indiana on a music scholarship, where he played baritone horn in the marching band and orchestra. He accumulated enough units to graduate with a BS in Chemical Engineering, although his real interest was Political Science. He first worked as an engineer for Aramco in Saudi Arabia and distilled the best drinking alcohol in the camp. Next, he joined Bechtel in California and often oversaw projects, such as building dams and plants and planning cities primarily in the Middle East and Africa. He left Bechtel to form his own firm in Oakland, California, where he traveled widely and became internationally recognized as an expert in the chemical industry.

Jim’s love was music. He began playing the piano when he was eight years old after his father found one on the sidewalk and brought it home in his bread truck. His ambition was to become a concert pianist, but as a Great Depression survivor, knew that was not practical. Jim maintained a 1925 Steinway piano and played it almost to the end of his life. He was an early member of Ukiah’s Lillian Vogel Piano Group and directed that the Steinway be given to the Allegro Scholarship Fund of the Lillian and Mortimer Vogel Foundation for the Improvement of Human Relations.

Politics was his second love. He was active in politics in Armonk, N.Y., and Thousand Oaks, California. He was a vigorous critic of Ukiah politics for many years and established an “Obama Blog” after Obama’s first term because he knew Obama was not the savior popularly represented. The blog had an excellent following. During the early “Occupy” protests, Jim organized a protest in Ukiah that was the largest protest the town had ever had. He had a knack for engaging strangers, and acquired friends all over the world with whom he corresponded.

When he moved to California, Jim explored Jungian psychology and Buddhism. He continued his Buddhist readings to the end. Understanding the hardships that life presents, Jim volunteered at Plowshares for almost two decades, chopping vegetables that he detested each Thursday morning under the aegis of a woman he admired with men he liked.

He is survived by his partner of seventeen years Joan Vivaldo, children Judy and John Houle and his wife Melissa Pehl, his brother Walter Houle, his son-in-law James Mendelsohn and his partner Mary Sikkel, Julius and Brenda Allen and their two children, two former wives Diane Vargas Houle and Suzy Spradlin, six grandchildren, three nieces and nephews, five grandnieces and nephews, two cats and a dozen deer. He was predeceased by his parents, Emile Henri Houle, Sr., Ann Christine Foster Houle, his daughter Lisa Houle Mendelsohn, and his oldest brother Emile Henri Houle, Jr.

A liberal, freethinker and contrarian from childhood, Jim never stopped challenging control.

A memorial will be held October 5th at 10am on the ridge at 7130 Black Bart Trail, Redwood Valley, overlooking Ukiah Valley. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the ACLU or Plowshares.

CHP PRESS RELEASE

“On Thursday, July 18, at approximately 10:50 pm, Ukiah CHP dispatch was notified of a vehicle versus pedestrian traffic collision on SR-1 at Little Lake Road. In the initial investigation, it was determined that [an unknown person] was traveling northbound on SR-1, south of Little Lake Road at an unknown rate of speed. [The 21-year-old victim] was riding a skateboard westbound on Little Lake Road, east of SR-1. The front of [the unknown vehicle] collided with [the victim] within the intersection of SR-1 at Little Lake Road. [The victim] sustained fatal injuries. After the collision, [the unknown driver] fled the scene in [their vehicle] prior to CHP arrival. At this time, the investigation is still ongoing and it is unknown whether the use of alcohol and/or drugs are a factor in this collision. The identity of [the victim] is being withheld pending notification to next of kin. If there are any witnesses that have information regarding this incident please call the Ukiah CHP Office. 707-467-4420.”

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MendocinoSportsPlus:

Maybe A Break On Vehicle That Fled Scene

A viewer commented to MSP the following: “I work for a tow company. CHP came by today - they have a BOLO (Be On the Lookout) for a 2004-2006 Toyota Tundra dark in color with damage on the front right bumper/ head lamp/ fog lamp.”

Of course, we all know the victim of the hit & run was Calum Hunnicutt, a Mendocino High grad beloved by the community, family, friends and teammates from the several sports he played.

(Courtesy, MendocinoSportsPlus)

AUGUST IN NORCAL

Two features of note are worthy of discussion from a California weather perspective. First: it appears the North Pacific “Blob” of warm water has now officially returned–and is likely to stick around for quite some time. Coupled ocean-atmosphere seasonal forecasts suggest this region of unusually warm ocean water will persist and perhaps even expand to include the immediate California coast over the next couple of months, and might even stick around through the first half of the winter to come. The most immediate effects for California may be to boost autumn temperatures–especially closer to the coast. Since September and October are already peak season for heatwaves along the immediate California coast, that suggests the relatively cool start to summer in some regions will not be representative of a pretty hot autumn to come. The seasonal models are actually in pretty good agreement that the September-November period will be significantly warmer than average for most of the West. In California, a key question will be: Will these projected warm autumn temperatures coincide with frequent and/or strong offshore wind events? At the moment, it’s too early to say. But if so, we could well experience another severe autumn fire season given the prodigious growth of grass and brush due to the cool/wet conditions this past spring. (For those interested, we have some research currently in the works on precisely this topic–currently making its way through the peer review process. Stay tuned…)

(The California Weather Blog — Weather West)

DINNER TIME FOR THE OSPREY

SHERIFF ALLMAN spent an hour on KZYX Friday morning updating listeners on Measure B. Most of what the Sheriff talked about was not news to anyone following the Measure B activity, slow as it may be. But there were a few things that were news to us:

The Sheriff said he has given up on advocating the conversion of Old Howard Hospital in Willits to a Psychiatric Health Facility.

The Sheriff said he is opposed to modulars because they are not a long-term solution. (Nobody said they were. Advocates of modulars, especially leased modulars, think that they would allow the County to get started on upgraded services right away, rather than waiting years for “Brick and Morter” long-term solutions that the County may never pull off.)

The state of California is giving Mendo/the Sheriff’s office a high-tech “shoot/don’t shoot” law enforcement simulator that is supposed to reduce the number of mental health patients who are mistakenly shot by cops. The simulator is expected to be used at the newly acquired and pending remodeled Jehovah’s Witness Church facility in Redwood Valley that is now in the process of being added to the County’s property rolls.

SPEAKING OF MEASURE B:

The next meeting of the Mental Health Treatment Act Citizen's Oversight Committee is July 24, 2019. The main item on the agenda is: “Discussion and Possible Action Regarding a Request for Permission from the Board of Supervisors to Publish a Request for Proposal (RFP) for Orchard Street, or Other Location as Determined by Feasibility Study, Mental Health Facility Design Possibly Design/Build.”

BOONVILLE ANTHROMORPHS GO CAT CRAZY

KENNY ROGERS BACK IN COURT

In the case of United States Supreme Court decision in Luis v United States, the Court held that the government cannot withhold the property of the defendant in a criminal case to prevent them from retaining legal counsel of their choice.

Those are the very same facts in Kenny Rogers' case.

In Fact, the People asserted those very facts to the trial court and required a hearing but refused to appoint legal counsel.

Also, Mendo Prosecutor Tim Stoen did not comply with the People's request.

I have arranged to get press coverage in Washington DC by AP and a U S Supreme Blog that follows filings in the United States Supreme Court.

The filing should be next week.

Howard Herships

San Francisco

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Background: Waterboarded: The Kenny Rogers Saga

THIS PHOTOGRAPH IS BARELY DISCERNIBLE, but it shows another environmental atrocity committed by the wine industry, this particular atrocity the work of the V. Sattui winery. Sattui totally stripped the entire hill of all vegetation in site-prep for a vineyard. Meanwhile, the pot industry, for instance, is strictly regulated under its new legalization rules. If the timber industry had done this, enviros would be out in force.

FARM BUREAU NEWS

George Hollister is the new president of the Mendocino County Farm Bureau. In his introductory message to the membership, Hollister says that the Potter Valley Project (i.e., keeping the diversion flowing from the Eel to Potter Valley and on downstream to Lake Mendocino, southern Mendo, Sonoma County and on to Marin County where Sonoma County sells it for a huge mark-up) will be the Farm Bureau's biggest challenge, adding "farming along the Russian River as we see it today would not be there if not for this project" — “farming” in this context meaning mostly grapes. "Before the Potter Valley electricity project was completed in 1922 with the construction of Scott Dam and Lake Pillsbury on the upper main stem of the Eel River, the Russian River would go dry in the summer. Hard to imagine that, but having summer river flows for parts of both the Eel in the Russian where there were none before are the unintended good Lake Pillsbury and the Potter Valley Project have provided.” … Hollister then poses the following cryptic riddle: “The question moving forward is not how do we mitigate damage done because of unintended consequences, but how can we make the good done because of unintended consequences better?"

A puzzlement!

In other Farm Bureau news, we see that the Farm Bureau has held training and seminars on such topics as sexual harassment prevention, first aid and CPR, and the new Cal-Savers state retirement program. They have also hired a professional public relations company to assist in the education (propaganda?) campaign for the Potter Valley Project and related power and water supply. "We are seeking donations to help with the costs related to the campaign so please contact the Farm Bureau office or visit the Potter Valley Project licensing page at their website, MendoFB.org." … "In partnership with Mendocino Wine Growers Inc., the Farm Bureau hosted their first 2019 Mendo Mixer event at Brutocao Cellers in Hopland with guest speaker Supervisor Ted Williams."

Boonville Farm Bureau stalwart Peter Bradford, Chair of the Farm Bureau’s “Political Action and Education Committee,” offered a brief update about the Great Redwood Trail (the scam/fantasy proposed by State Senator Mike McGuire) pointing out that the Farm Bureau apparently has some concerns: "If you are one of the 1900 or so landowners adjacent to the railroad you need to pay close attention in the months to come as this process moves forward. How will you be impacted by hikers and bike riders passing by your property? What increased liability will you have from people using the trail? At this point there seem to be more questions than answers. It won't be just landowners adjacent to the railroad right-of-way who will be affected. When you consider that trail access points will have to be developed, landowners who happen to own property where these access points are determined necessary will also be impacted. How will Mendocino County provide emergency services along the trail? Are the many tunnels along the railroad safe for hikers and bikers? How do you open the closed tunnel north of Cloverdale? Where will all the millions of dollars needed to create this trail come from? Again, more questions than answers. It will be very important to follow this process closely as it is developed."

Among the new Farm Bureau members listed in the Farm Bureau’s July/third quarter newsletter is Harinder Grewal, the County’s recently hired Agricultural Commissioner whose employment status at present is up in the air.

A FORT BRAGG FABLE (or is it?)

by Rex Gressett

"And all the shipmasters and the company in ships and sailors and all that trade by sea stood afar off for fear of her torment when they saw the smoke of her burning."

On the night of the great disaster, they watched as though hypnotized from the rolling deck of the little trawler. The men stood rock-still mostly in silence. Once in a while, someone would say "Goddamn" to nobody in particular. When a roof crashed in a billowing roman candle of sparks, several said “shit.” It sounded like "sheet" and ended in a kind of moan. The fire lit half the night sky with a malign mockery of daylight and where the glare met the horizon, the wicked red flames lept to twice the height of the two-story buildings.

They were old buildings built in logging days with common walls. The whole two city block Central District had become a quiet scandal of aging wiring and a century or so of cobbled maintenance. Gone now. On the outside, the buildings had been beautiful. They had both the formality and the restraint of a Victorian street. The buildings remembered a pedestrian society. They had a human scale. It was Hardcore Americana. For two decades, there was little life at all on the sidewalks and none of the concentrated living and eating and shopping that makes such districts the fountain and mark of prosperity in any successful small town. Now they never would be.

On a windy night, the two city blocks in the heart of the little town were spectacularly on fire. A week of hot heady winds in an unseasonable heat wave and somebody's hotplate did for the little city what Mrs. O'Leary's cow did for Chicago.

More than the buildings were going up this night.

In the latter days, when the long line of cash-sucking big box stores marched for miles back along the highway and kept the merchants in the old central district in a long losing struggle, it was still somehow true that the two blocks remained in spite of the empty stores in the center of town. The two big blocks seemed to stand shoulder to shoulder in quiet defiance against the principle and idea of anything like a big-box store. People went to the chain stores almost exclusively as a practical matter but still seemed to feel that the central business area, for all its dishevelment, was where the feel and the sound and spirit of the little town actually lived. There was one coffee shop, a busy one, One sandwich shop, an expensive one, and a restaurant or two along with a little gaggle of boutiques. The gracious wooden Victorians and the big windowed storefronts seemed to be waiting.

Over the last few years, things had been looking up in the little city as a whole.

Lately, the great mill that had been locked away from public access for generations had gradually been pried opened and you could walk out by the ocean for the first time. Under a new and vocally proactive and innovative City Council, the future of the mill site and the town had finally seemed to be inching laboriously into some kind of coherent form.

As the day dawned over the smoking ruins all that seemed like a dream. Sometimes it's hard to define the exact steps that lead to disaster. Would an extra cup of coffee have kept you out of the 15 car stack up? What if you had walked the dog? If you had missed the stoplight? But the day after the great fire, the decisions that led to civic cataclysm and civic bankruptcy and the end of a way of life had the clarity of a remembered nightmare.

A few hundred thousand dollars in fire prevention sprinklers might have stopped the fire but the $56 million dollars in annual civic revenues had slipped through their fingers for years and for decades.

They had all known it was possible to protect the central district from fire. They had talked about fire sprinklers for years.

And, in the end, there was a kind of compromise. It was a compromise designed to fail as an actual solution but it provided the City Council with a way to shrug off responsibility without actually running away. So you could say it worked. It did what it was supposed to.

The idea was to acknowledge the danger with gravity and give the problem to the struggling merchants to fix. Tell you what the city council sayeth — sprinklers must be installed in any renovation costing more than $75K. That doubled construction costs, in the most beleaguered and necessary part of town, which mostly stopped renovation without tackling the problem.

And that’s how it stayed for a decade. It was a long gamble with fire and they were sure to lose.

They should have known it. It was like betting with the house. Fire is an old old old enemy, malevolent and patient. That was one thing.

On the other hand, administrators needed to be paid and pensions for the administrators had to be paid also. From time to time over the years, there were more or less urgent appeals by the fire department.

But strangely, it was was the Wednesday, July 17, 2019 meeting of the Fort Bragg Planning & Development Committee meeting that people remembered. It went around town that the meeting really had looked the beast in the eye. Two committeemen talked about the possibility of fire and the need for sprinklers. They listened to the public express concern and actually told the City Manager to call the lawyer.

Then they went on to other matters.

As it turned out it was death by dithering.

The day after the fire the ruins were still too hot to approach. Every fire truck in the county had not been enough. As the smoke of the ruins ascended into a summer sky, it seemed something far beyond obvious that a long line of city councils and a parade of administrators had evaded not a, but THEIR principal responsibility.

Take a walk up Laurel Street from Town Hall to City Hall, you can almost smell the smoke of the great "Fort Bragg Fire" that has not happened - YET.

CATCH OF THE DAY, JULY 19, 2019

MAULANA BODISON, Annapolis/Gualala. Robbery, domestic abuse, failure to appear.

JOSE CORNEJO, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

MICHAEL FRANCE, Ukiah. Parole violation.

JOEY HARMON, Mendocino. Domestic abuse.

GREGORY HEAD, Goleta/Ukiah. DUI.

JEREMIAH LUNA, Ukiah. Assault with deadly weapon with great bodily injury, battery, disorderly conduct-alcohol, parole violation.

RAMON MACIEL, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, resisting, probation revocation.

DILLON MARTIN, Laytonville. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, resisting.

JESSE MCGARY, Elk. Stalking and threatening bodily injury.

JESUS OLIVERA, Santa Rosa/Ukiah. Controlled substances where prisoners are kept.

TRISTIN WILEY, Willits. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

FINAL VOYAGE

by James Kunstler

And so the four horsepeople-of-color arise, at once the glorious avatars of Wokesterdom in all their incendiary wrath, and the butt of ridicule among a pretty big chunk of everybody else in this land. I speak of congresswomen Omar, Tlaib, Pressley, and AOC, a.k.a. “the Squad,” riding a reconn mission to the precipice of that great cliff of electoral catastrophe — in advance of the political party that is apt to follow them over the edge in 2020, like so many suicidal lemmings.

Charges of “racism” have been twanging around the Federal District all week as if a throng of medieval re-enactors had taken over the place and were putting on a colorful pageant about ergot poisoning, with the townspeople afflicted by creeping incubi, crawling succubi, winged demons, murderous furies, and other agents of Satan. I have often noted that our president is the genuine article of a supernatural figure himself, being both a Golden Golem of Greatness and a Twitter troll of the highest degree. Last week, the four Squad gals pointed their fingers and ululated at him — “racist! racist! — expecting perhaps that a bolt from on-high might strike him dead, but it only prompted him to more keyboard villainy, challenging them to fly back to whatever infernal hellhole they came out of. For three of them it was the good ol’ USA, parts of which are, let’s face it, rather hellhole-ish these days.

The American race hustle is getting kind of old and it’s a sure loser for the Democratic Party. Why they can’t move beyond it and engage with the many other mighty matters of our time is one of those abiding mysteries of life, like why the birdies sing, or why the Mets can’t get decent relief pitching. I daresay that in my lifetime this country has bent over backwards to assist, accommodate, and uplift the demographic that styles itself nowadays as people-of-color. None of that has managed to abolish significant economic inequality. But, really, what else can be done? Spend trillions more promoting fatherless households? (The Wokesters might like that, seeing as how much they detest people of the male persuasion.)

The main “ask” these days is to allow Mexicans and Central Americans to cross the border as they please and receive a menu of benefits provided gratis by the US government, and thus from US taxpayers. The arguments for that from Wokesterdom range from bad faith to completely insane, yet they are now being retailed at the highest level of presidential election politics. Every candidate in the first Democratic “debate” raised a hand in favor of providing free medical care to illegal border-jumpers. I wonder how that sits with the Americans who now pay $12,000 a year for health insurance with a $5,000 deductible.

Of course, this policy of unfettered illegal immigration does not economically favor the sizable demographic of poor Americans, many of whom are people-of-color. In theory, the border-jumpers are taking away an awful lot of jobs. But I think the argument there is that 300 years of slavery gives bonafide US citizens-of-color a pass on manual labor — so it is not against their interests to ally with the open border advocates — while both groups have an interest in getting any free stuff the government may offer.

The white liberal masochists allied with this crusade, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, may have reached their own red-line for pain and suffering under the reigning twisted thought-regime. Last week, AOC attempted to tar Madame Pelosi as a “racist.” The day will come — if it has not already — when Madame P will have to usher the Squad into the House cloakroom and tune-up each member with thirty inches of re-bar, good and hard.

The Squad, meanwhile, is giving aid and comfort to the shock troops of Wokesterdom, the AntiFas, a devoted member of which last week attempted to shoot up and firebomb an Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Tacoma. The perp, one Willem Van Spronsen, 69, was gunned down for his trouble, but left a “manifesto” detailing his allegiance to the Wokester party line. Another Wokester gang in Aurora, Colorado, marched on an ICE building, took down the US flag, and raised the flag of Mexico. Bad optics, I’d say. Imagine how the video footage of that will play in Michigan and Pennsylvania when election season rolls around.

Also meanwhile, the party’s pathetic attempt to revive the walking dead narrative of RussiaGate is not working too well down on Jerold Nadler’s House Judiciary Committee. The chairman apparently discovered that his star witness, Robert Mueller, might have to answer some embarrassing questions about the conduct of his investigation — like, why did it go on for two years when his chief deputy, Mr. Weissmann, was informed from the get-go that the main predicate document was a fraud? So, Mr. Mueller’s turn in the witness chair keeps getting postponed clear into the August recess. I doubt the former Special Counsel will ever sit in that hot-seat. If I was him, I sure wouldn’t do it voluntarily. Oh, did anyone notice the House staged an impeachment vote on Wednesday? It flopped too.

Finally, there is the walking time-bomb known as Jeffrey Epstein, Democratic Party poohbah and impresario of an underage sex racket featuring the “Lolita Express” airplane service to his private “Orgy Island” in the Caribbean, with auxiliary party shacks in New York City and the New Mexico Desert. Rogue reports have been styling Epstein’s doings as an international blackmailing operation associated with the CIA and other Intel outfits, including the UK’s MI6 and Israel’s Mossad, for the purpose of keeping international bigshots on a short leash. Who knows? At the center of it all is former President Bill Clinton, listed twenty-six times on the Lolita Express’s flight manifest — though the ex-Prez said last week in a statement that it was only four times. (Consider the source.) A raft of unsealed documents in the matter has been court-ordered to drop any day, and power-players all over the world — especially in our nation’s capital and on Wall Street — are rumored to be chewing their fingernails down to the nubbins as they wait for it.

What a cargo of wickedness is borne by the garbage barge called the Democratic Party as it chugs out to sea toward a sickening, slightly radioactive orange sunset for what is looking like its final voyage.

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

FIVE TEETH OUT and a broken jaw: that's what Ron Galella got from a weird encounter with Marlon Brando in 1973. From then on, the famous photographer wore an American football helmet every time he had to follow the actor…

THE NORTHERN SPOTTED OWLS’ TREE-SIT

by Ellen Taylor

….based on a true story occurring in the Mattole Watershed, July 2019

One still June night, when the moon hung bright, and the wind blew a minor key

And the fog made a bridge across Rainbow Ridge from the redwoods to the sea

Two owls, gone astray from their range in Coos Bay where their nest in a fir had been felled

Floated down to a knoll near the blue Mattole, by sheer hunger and faintness compelled.

Well, they’d fasted a week, so each sharpened his beak, and searched through the darkness for prey,

And to their surprise they encountered the eyes of two tree voles not far away.

More astonishing yet, and causing upset, also thwarting their instinct to zoom in:

The voles took their ease on the angular knees of a beast unmistakably human.

These owls were not chicks and they’d studied the tricks of this species well known to be wily.

Was this a new study? Each looked at their buddy. The human regarded them shyly.

Though weary, these owls had got pluck in their bowels, also wit, self-assurance and poise.

And though prospects be dark, be there but a spark, they’d act without panic or noise.

So the owl who was bigger soon marshalled his vigor, saluting the being in that tree:

“What scientist sits in a tree in the mist, with such tasty young voles on their knee?”

“My name it is Rook. Turn around, take a look” said the human, with intake of breath:

Below they beheld what the chainsaw had felled: tree corpses moon-frozen in death.

“This tree they want too, so a road can push through to reach forests at further locations

But we know such plunder rips planets asunder. I’m here for unborn generations”.

The owls, much impressed, now the human addressed: “We’ve just made a strenuous portage

From habitat natal, where there is a fatal owl nesting and foraging shortage.”

The smaller owl, blinking, went on "We’ve been thinking of one generation that begs

To make an appearance. We need to find clearance. To speak more directly, my eggs.

Now, humans get queasy: it makes them uneasy when species like us go extinct

It reminds them that they might soon go the same way and the risk, to be plain, is distinct.

Our survival’s in doubt, so that gives us some clout. If they locate our nest, they’ll protect it!

We’ll search for a site in a tree that looks right, then build noisily so they detect it.”

The owls disappeared, and that day Rook was cheered by much squawking and owl exclamation

And soon a small horde of biologists roared to the ridge for site documentation.

And thus was begun a campaign that soon won the allegiance of Doctors of Science:

For if there is hope for our planet, the scope is a great interspecies alliance.

Save the owls! Save the trees! Save the whales! Save the bees! Save the birthright of fledgling and child

For while Empires crush, there’s an instant of hush when our hearts hear the call of the wild.

—Ellen Taylor can be reached at ellenetaylor@yahoo.com.

JOE BIDEN: “There has never been a President in American history who has been so openly racist and divisive as this man.”

Five Presidents just as openly racist as Trump: Jackson, Fillmore, Buchanan, A. Johnson, Wilson.

Generally, it’s not the “openly racist” politicians you have to worry the most about. You can see them coming and organize against them. It’s the covert racists, like Clinton and Biden, who often inflict the most damage on minority groups.

— Jeffrey St. Clair

GO HOG WILD AT THE REDWOOD EMPIRE FAIR

This year’s attendees to the Redwood Empire Fair are going to be “happy as pigs in mud.”

The Fair runs from August 1st to August 4th, and the theme, “Goin’ Hog Wild” celebrates swine, equine, wine and sunshine, promising fun for the entire family.

The popular California Carnival Company is returning to the Midway for the third year, promising a great balance of both “kiddie” and “spectacular” rides. Carnival enthusiasts save $5 by purchasing one-day unlimited ride wristbands that can be used Thursday through Sunday. Wristbands are available in Ukiah at Raley’s, Taco Bell, Chavez Market, Creative Workshop and at the Fair office. In Willits, purchase wristbands at JD Redhouse. In Fort Bragg, get your wristbands at Harvest Market. For the first time, Covelo residents may pick up wristbands at Uptown Mercantile. Wristbands must be purchased prior to the 3:00 opening of the Fair on August 1st.

More than a few pigs and other animals will be “going to market” during the Fair’s livestock events. Market Sheep, Swine Showing, Market Beef Showmanship and Breeding are scheduled for Thursday. Swine Showmanship, the Goat Primary Exhibit, Pygmy Goat Show and Large Animal Round Robin Showmanship take place on Friday.

The Buyer’s Breakfast and auction registration is scheduled for Saturday, August 3rd from 8:00 to 9:45 am, followed by the Junior Livestock Auction, beginning at 10:00 am at the Racine Pavilion.

There is always something to see and do at the fair. This year the Fair welcomes the return of Brad’s Reptiles- a family favorite for years. In addition, animal lovers will go “hog wild” over a new exhibit from Walk on the Wild Side- an exciting display of exotic animals rescued by the non-profit organization. Watch for regularly scheduled performances by Jeremy the Juggler and Totally Twisted Balloons.

Take a break from the heat and enjoy the exhibits displayed in the Fine Arts, Home Arts, Junior Building and Flower Building, where your friends and neighbors have competed to be the best- whether they are quilters, collectors, painters or bakers.

Once the sun set, the fun really begins, with motorized sporting events at the Speedway. On Thursday, watch motorcycles, side-by-sides and quads for an evening of thrills and spills. Nothing says “Goin’ Hog Wild” like the Mudd Boggs, which are scheduled for Friday night at 6:30. Saturday’s popular Truck and Tractor Pulls begin at 6:00 pm. The best is saved for last, when the Boat Races, Junior Mudd Boggs and Jalopies will close down the Speedway action on Sunday evening beginning at 6:00 pm.

Save some energy for four evenings of great music. On Thursday evening, enjoy the classic rock sounds of Warehouse 21 at 6:00 and again at 9:00 pm. On Friday evening, The Funky Dozen will get their groove on at 7:00 and 9:00, and so will you! Saturday night enjoy American Blues and Roots Rock with Kingsborough at 6:00 and 9:00 pm. And on Sunday, dance to Luis Perez y la Nueva Ilusion & Banda Pacifica, beginning at 5:00 pm.

Prepare to be amazed as you watch the best of local talent on Sunday at 2:00, when the winners of the Ukiah Idol’s Grand Final competition will be announced. “Little and Junior” Idol contestants will compete on Friday at 5:00 pm. This long-standing community tradition, which mirrors the successful television show offers a fun, supportive venue for children and adults performers who give their all for prizes and recognition.

Thursday offers free admission to kids ages 6-12 and seniors 65 and older until 6:00 pm. Children under 5 are always admitted free. The Fair opens at 3:00 on Thursday and Friday and at noon on Saturday and Sunday. For more information phone (707) 462-3884 or visit the Redwood Empire Fair’s Facebook page or http://www.redwoodempirefair.com/august-fair/.

(Text by Carole Brodsky; photos by Chris Pugh)

TATTOO ARTISTS TALK--July 27 at Grace Hudson

On Saturday, July 27, from 2 to 3 p.m., the Grace Hudson Museum will present a slide show and talk by Madame Chinchilla and Mr. G, proprietors of Triangle Tattoo and Museum in Fort Bragg. The event is free with Museum admission.

The careers of Madame Chinchilla and Mr. G have spanned a good portion of tattoo history in the late 20th century and into the 21st. In the 30-plus years they have plied their art, tattooing has evolved from a fringe phenomenon into a widely accepted one. Madame Chinchilla will also speak about her recent work tattooing the sites of women's mastectomy scars.

The Grace Hudson Museum is at 431 S. Main St. in Ukiah. General admission is $4; $10 per family; $3 for students and seniors; free to all on the first Friday of the month; and always free to members. For more information please go to www.gracehudsonmuseum.org or call (707) 467-2836.

MAMMA MIA - HERE WE GO!

Gloriana Musical Theatre kicks off its 43rd Season with the international smash hit Mamma Mia!, dazzling audiences from July 19 to August 11. Get swept away by the infectious music, uplifting story, and lovable characters that have made Mamma Mia! a worldwide phenomenon.

On the eve of her wedding, a young woman’s quest to discover the identity of her father brings three men from her mother’s past back to the island they last visited twenty years ago. Non-stop laughs and explosive dance numbers, along with the magic of ABBA’s hit songs including, “Super Trouper,” “Dancing Queen,” “Take a Chance on Me,” “Money, Money, Money,” “The Winner Takes It All,” and “SOS,” combine to make this sunny, funny show a trip down the aisle you’ll never forget! Music and Lyrics by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus and some songs with Stig Anderson. Book by Catherine Johnson. Originally conceived by Judy Craymer. Additional material and arrangements by Martin Koch.

Gloriana’s production is directed by Jenni Windsor, with band leadership from Scott Menzies. Performing at Eagles Hall from July 19 to August 11 with performances at 7:30 p.m on Fridays and Saturdays and Sunday matinees beginning at 3 p.m.

Admission is $22 for the general public, $20 for Seniors and $12 for youth (17 and under). Suitable for most ages. Parental discretion is advised.

Tickets may be purchased online at gloriana.org, at Harvest Market in Fort Bragg or at the door of Eagles Hall prior to each performance.

Our Gala is a special Sing-a-Long Sunday on July 21st! Watch the show and sing-a-long with the cast on select songs. After the show there will be Greek delights and desserts. Another Sing-a-Long performance will be held on Sunday, August 4th.

For more information, visit Gloriana.org or e-mail info@gloriana.org.

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

While the Dems no doubt have their problems, it is not as if the Repubs are going to suddenly morph into a majority problem. At issue here, is not the socialist squad or the racist Trump, but that it is abundantly clear that BOTH gangs (parties, if you like) are no damn good. Period. This being the case, it makes little sense to insist one of the two is the GOOD ONE (pick your poison) and the other is the BAD ONE.

The real issue is that BOTH are BAD and the “system” (I’m not sure that is the correct term) is HOPELESSLY BROKEN. To my friends on the left, the Socialists are not going to save you. To my friends on the right, the conservative, wrapped in the flag, pro-USA, pro-citizen Trumpers are not going to save you. Neither has YOUR INTEREST at heart.

You are on YOUR OWN, and very completely on your own and alone, just the way you came into this world. Face it and embrace it, for your own salvation.

GUN TIPS

A good gun for home defense is a pump shotgun with a short (legal length) barrel. Remington or Mossberg seem to be the old standby.

A hand gun is perhaps a bit more useful. However — and a big however — is becoming proficient with a handgun takes practice under competent instruction, then regular practice. I believe a good revolver is better than an auto; largely because they're simpler in operation. Smith & Wesson or Ruger are quality guns.

The most important part of having a firearm for defense is practice and familiarity. Under conditions of stress — such as when your house is being broke into in the middle of the night — your fine motor control immediately fails. This isn't the time to figure out how your gun works. There is a good reason soldiers, cops (the good ones), etc. drill and practice to the point of reflex action.

Remember, your weapon does no good whatsoever if it's not in your hand when you need it or if you can't operate it.

COFFEE AND VAPIDITY

Join us next week on the coast for two Community Coffees! We’ll be at the Del Mar Center in Sea Ranch starting at 1:00pm and the Redwood Coast Senior Center in Fort Bragg at 6:30pm. It’s all happening next Thursday, July 25. Look forward to talking with you!

CRAIG SHARES A POEM

Sitting before the silent

Burning incense,

I watch the moss thicken

On the stone bridge.

Don’t ask me why.

I’ve been out of step

With the world since my youth.

—Wonkam Chungji (1226-1292)

KNOW YOUR OLIGARCHS (#30)