MCT: Friday, January 17, 2020

• Passing North
• Rainbow
• Paul Stefani
• Beekeeping Workshops
• CSD Meeting
• Meet Ted
• New Doctor
• Hat Highway
• Housing Program
• Symphony Concerts
• Weedy Snowman
• Lieutenant Hendry
• Window Paradox
• Fires Fundraiser
• Petit Teton
• Klimt Tree
• Wildacre Medicinals
• Clearing Storm
• Winter Abundance
• Home Collage
• Sako Responds
• Yesterday's Catch
• Progressive Spat
• Me Too
• Sad Downfall
• Castro Fair
• Bernie Politics
• Outdoor Cooking
• 5G
• Why War
• Autobiography Ferlinghetti
• Found Object

A STORM SYSTEM heading toward the Pacific Northwest will clip far northern portions of the area with some light rain and high elevation snow today. High pressure will bring dry weather and even some filtered sun on Sunday with warming temperatures. Rain and high elevation snow will return early next week. (NWS)

COLD & WET YESTERDAY: Sleet on the upper reaches of Highway 253 on Thursday, but not much accumulation. Caltrans had sanded much of the higher elevation section along the ridge so, although wet and near freezing, motorists reported few major problems other than the sand-trucks themselves.

PUDDING CREEK RAINBOW

PAUL STEFANI, LONGTIME SONOMA COUNTY DEPUTY, COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN, LOGGER DIES

As a deputy sheriff, a commercial fisherman and a logger, Paul Stefani was far more at home than most in the wilds of Sonoma, Mendocino and Humboldt counties.

pressdemocrat.com/news/10595113-181/paul-stefani-longtime-sonoma-county

WORDS STILL HAVE MEANING

by Mark Scaramella

Boonville resident Bob Abeles opened Wednesday night’s Community Services District Board meeting with a complaint about an email he got from the lawyer the District hired to prepare the contracts for the property owners who have agreed to provide water to the planned drinking water system that District has been working on for the last couple of years.

Last week, citing Board Chair Valerie Hanelt’s concluding sentence, “…there are some who are opposed to the projects and spread misinformation,” Abeles had written, “So, anyone with objections to the project or how it is being carried out is a spreader of misinformation? That sounds like a line straight out of the HBO show Chernobyl.”

For reasons that remain unclear, attorney Phil Williams had volunteered this response:

“Characterizing Ms. Hanelt’s observation that ‘there are some who are opposed to the projects and spread misinformation’ as a conclusion that ‘anyone with objections to the project or how it is being carried out is a spreader of misinformation’ does violence to the King’s English. Mr. Fowler is likely rolling over in his grave. The use of the conjunctive ‘and’ merely indicates Ms. Hanelt’s observation that there are some who possess two characteristics: opposition to the projects and dispersal of misinformation. Ms. Hanelt does not say, or even indicate, that those who object to the project are the same who are spreading misinformation. Furthermore, in your mischaracterization of her observation, you improperly mistake Ms. Hanelt’s necessary condition (i.e., ‘opposition to the projects’) for the dispersal of misinformation as a sufficient condition for said dispersal. As an example, while it is necessary to have fuel to start a fire, the presence of fuel by itself does not produce a fire; one must have, from what I remember, heat, oxygen, and fuel to start a fire — fuel is therefore a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition for the event of a fire. While it is entirely logical that one must oppose the projects in order to spread misinformation (i.e., opposition is necessary), that does not mean that opposition to the projects is sufficient in and of itself to result in the spread of misinformation. Ms. Andrews was being too diplomatic, sir; in no way does the most rudimentary understanding of the English language support your publicly-broadcasted mischaracterization of Ms. Hanelt’s observation. But the damage is now done. A gentleman would offer her an apology in the same forum in which the slight was given.”

At Wednesday night’s meeting, Mr. Abeles read from a prepared statement:

“Despite my less than a rudimentary command of the English language, to date the water and sewer project has washed away $286,000 in outside consultants and lawyers. $286,000. It will continue until $500,000 is drained away. Please take a moment to imagine what our community could have done with that money. Mr. Williams Esq., one of the nuzzlers at the fountain, has addressed me with a gratuitously insulting message. I ask the board whether Mr. Williams will be rewarded for his scribblings because that would be an egregious misuse of the people's money.”

Taking a page out of the Board of Supervisors’ playbook Board Chair Valerie Hanelt responded, “Okay, thank you.”

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AV Fire Chief Andres Avila raised a concern which began back when Colin Wilson was chief saying that the District’s mid-90s Benefit Assessment lacks an inflation component and thus over time the purchasing power of the assessment decreases. He suggested that the board consider looking into some kind of development or impact fees which would apply to new construction in the Valley. The Hopland fire department has recently implemented such a fee which they were (of course) happy with. Avila suggested that something like $15,000 (of newfound strike team revenues) could be spent on a study of the District’s budget and future revenues and requirements to establish what potential additional funding might be necessary.

The Board was generally supportive of the concept but did not want to proceed with spending any money on it at this time saying that they would like to revisit the subject later after the water project engineers have submitted the drinking and wastewater project’s "rate letters" with estimated monthly hook-up costs so they can get a broader picture of what future costs might be — although the “rate letters” would only appeal to Boonville proper, not the entire Valley as a development fee might.

Chief Avila also addressed the unsightly pile of rubble in downtown Boonville where the so-called Lodge Fire occurred last month destroying the local convenience store, a Mexican restaurant and bar, and several small apartments. Avila said that there were no provisions in the fire code to deal with such situations unless the debris was leaking known hazardous or toxic elements or threatening to dump silt into a waterway. And even then, the requirement would be to control it, not necessarily clean it up. Avila added that the Board might want to consider some kind of local commercial cleanup ordinance if the County doesn’t do one. Apparently, the County has been quietly (and very slowly) talking about a countywide clean-up ordinance in the aftermath of the big Redwood Valley fires of 2017 where there are still unresolved cleanup problems.

Returning to the Boonville debris pile, Chief Avila said that he was in contact with the landlord’s insurance company and was expecting to hear back from them soon about how they were going to handle the situation since 10% or 20% of the property insurance is supposed to pay for cleanup after an insured incident.

Chief Avila also updated the Board on the sorry state of ambulance services in the county and especially on the Highway 101 corridor. There's been a drawdown of ambulance availability to zero on the 101 corridor “multiple times” in the last few weeks which not only dangerously restricts ambulance responses in that area but limits Anderson Valley’s ability to transfer ambulance patients to higher levels of care on their way to medical facilities in Ukiah or elsewhere. "Some people think the helicopter is an option for serious medical incidents," said Avila. "But on days like today [overcast, cloudy, rainy] that's not always an option."

Apparently the city of Ukiah has conducted (contracted for) a new study on local ambulance service finances and there’s a chance that some kind of new organizational and financial model may ensue — someday. But, given the County’s historic reluctance to spend money on subsidizing or upgrading ambulance services, this approach probably won’t produce tangible results in the near future.

When asked about the County’s reluctance to shift money currently being wasted on tourism promotion and juvenile hall, Chief Avila said that those specific subjects had indeed come up in a recent meeting of the County’s Emergency Services ad hoc committee — consisting of supervisors Ted Williams and John McCowen — and the emergency services officials were told that trying to shift any of those dollars to ambulance services would be "unpopular."

Which begs the question, which is more “popular”? — spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on nebulous tourism “promotion” and $2.4 million to house a dozen or so delinquents — or beefing up essential and precarious ambulance services in the County much of which is for those very tourists which the bed tax is extracted from?

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Board chair Valerie Hanelt ran down the status of the drinking and wastewater projects and the recent article they wrote for the AVA which ended with the above-mentioned rather dismissive reference to the “spreading of misinformation." Ms. Hanelt acknowledged that "there was some awkward phrasing at the end," and apologized for the tone in what was an otherwise a straightforward report.

Hanelt said that the local entities which are expected to be water sources for the proposed drinking water system are currently in discussions with the district and their attorney (the same attorney Mr. Abeles complained about at the beginning of the meeting) and they expected have contracts with them finished in the near future. Hanelt pointed again to the recent report in the AVA which mentioned that the minimum cost for a drinking water or waste water hookup would be around $52 a month which she characterized as "fairly low." However, it’s still too early to estimate costs as follow up questions arose about how much additional cost there might be for actual gallons used. The Board now plans to distribute a survey letter in the next couple of months which would ask residents in the proposed service area what they think about various cost alternatives.

Several board members pointed out also that the funds being provided by the state for the drinking water and wastewater projects cannot be used for anything but those particular projects. Director Larry Mailliard added, "but it can go away!" — implying that if they don't proceed with a project soon, the state might withdraw the funding which is mostly from a statewide voter-approved clean water initiative from a few years ago.

Hanelt said that the District is still unsure where they would distribute the processed effluent from the wastewater processing system, but they are still looking at some properties on Highway 128 south of the Highway 253 intersection.

Hanelt also said she was surprised to hear that some locals have been accusing the district of some kind “ covert operation” in their efforts to develop the proposal. "I guess it just happens when people become aware of things sometimes," said Ms. Hanelt, adding that she and Director McKenna have done a lot of public outreach, going door-to-door to addresses in the service area and doing what they could do announce their meetings and invite people to participate.

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And finally, Chief Avila made a point of complimenting the volunteer firefighters who have had to deal with seven structure fires in the last two months.

“On top of the previous six fires reported in the last chief’s meeting, we had one more structure fire on December 27. The fire was reported early in the morning as a fully involved structure and the glow from the fire could be seen from Boonville. Another family had completely lost their home. One of the two dogs was removed from the structure and the other was lost. The troops are performing very well but need a break. All of their volunteer time and energy has been over the holidays and during normal work days. Their commitment and sacrifice to this community is tremendous!”

NEW DOCTOR AT AV HEALTH CENTER

Meet Dr. John Rochat: ”I grew up in a small, rural logging town, and my grandparents were cattle ranchers, so this area has a familiar feel to me. Yes, I now live here. After becoming an Internist in the Navy in the early 90s, I worked as a Hematologist/Oncologist for many years in San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Rosa, the Northern Marianas Islands, and most recently Fort Bragg. For many years I've noticed the difficulties with primary care access, and feel that coming back to my primary care roots is the best way to serve my community and my own work ethic. I greatly enjoy the collaborative approach of the AVHC clinic staff to provide patient-centered, holistic care to this thriving community.”

INTRODUCING JAMES D'LEÓN

Symphony of the Redwoods Welcomes Return of Accomplished Pianist for Upcoming Winter Concerts

Pianist James D'León will return to Mendocino County to perform Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto #1 in B flat minor with the Symphony of the Redwoods. Led by music director Dr. Allan Pollack, the concerts will include Prokofiev’s Symphony #1 in D major, Opus 25 "Classical", Stravinsky’s Suite for Orchestra from The Firebird, and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto #1 in B flat minor, Opus 23, with D'León as the featured soloist. Performances will take place on Saturday, February 1 at 7:30pm and Sunday, February 2 at 2pm at Cotton Auditorium in Fort Bragg. Almost 80 years after Tchaikovsky wrote his first piano concerto, it became the first piece of classical music to sell one-million records, thanks to Van Cliburn, renowned American pianist and champion of the first Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Cliburn was also a Juilliard classmate with D'León’s late teacher George Sementovsky. “Van would play through sections for George in his preparation to win the 1958 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow,” explained D'León. “I particularly remember him telling me that he advised Van to change his hand positions in order to have a stronger sound in the opening chords of the concerto. Naturally, I do the same in the opening section.” D'León has previously performed in Mendocino County with the Symphony of the Redwoods and in the Mendocino Music Festival. “My fondest memory at both venues is the warmth of the musicians, conductor, and the audience,” he said. “I always look forward to returning to the area, since such warmth makes me feel comfortable and relaxed enough to actually have fun performing the music.” Thanks to generous fundraising contributions, the Symphony of the Redwoods is thrilled to introduce a brand-new pre-concert lectures series. The winter concert lectures will be presented by Phillip Lenberg, music professor at Mendocino College in Ukiah and conductor of the Ukiah Symphony. Arrive early to see Lenberg interview the featured soloist James D'León live on stage. Pre-concert lectures will take place in Cotton Auditorium at 6:30pm on Saturday and 1pm on Sunday and last for 30 minutes. The lectures are free of charge. All Symphony of the Redwoods concerts will be at Cotton Auditorium, 500 N. Harold St, Fort Bragg. Advance concert tickets are available for $22 online at symphonyoftheredwoods.org, at Harvest Market in Fort Bragg and Out of This World in Mendocino. Tickets at the door are $25. Attendees ages 18 and under are always free. For more information, please contact 707-946-0898 or symphony@mcn.org. Like the Symphony of the Redwoods on Facebook at www.facebook.com/symphonyoftheredwoods.

IT'S SNOWING IN LAYTONVILLE

RAYMOND DEREK HENDRY has been promoted lieutenant at the Willits P.D. Formerly of the MCSO, for umpteen years, and close to a decade wearing the black uniform of Willits' finest, it's hard to picture a more able candidate for the job -- which entails a lot of PR these days -- and one media party (myself) would like to give you joy, Sir, of your gold bars.

(Bruce McEwen)

THE WINDOW PARADOX

I'M PART OF A GROUP that's helping to raise funds for the people who lost their homes in the recent fires in Anderson Valley. For just $20, you could not only help these folks, but you could also win one of 13 possible lodging and/or restaurant packages in Mendocino County. Tickets are available at the Boonville Hotel, AV Market, Lauren’s, the AV Health Clinic, Lemon’s, or directly from me. Checks should be made out to Sueno Latino. The drawing will be on Friday, February 14th. (You don't need to be present to win.)

Mary O’Brien

VISIT PETIT TETON FOR WELLNESS THIS WINTER!

Petit Teton is growing beautiful and tasty turmeric and ginger in its aquaponic system and the harvest is coming in. We are selling ginger fresh and turmeric fresh or dried. We also have pork, beef and squab for sale as well as fresh kimchi and kraut and our array of preserved foods.

THE TREE OF LIFE by Gustav Klimt, 1909

WILDEACRE MEDICINALS

It’s flu season. WildeAcre Medicinals is offering Elderberry Syrup to help you get through it in good health. We also offer a variety of herbal tinctures.

The elderberry syrup is $6 for 2 oz or $12 for 4 oz.

Tinctures are $8 for 1 oz and $15 for 2 oz.

Right now we offer: elecampane, milk thistle, burdock, calendula, usnea, hawthorn, milky oat, dandelion, turmeric, black cohosh, hops and California poppy tinctures.

Tincture blends of your choice are also available.

Please email wildeacre@gmail.com or call Cindy at 895-2949.

AFTER THE STORM

GROWING UNDER COVER, WHAT A GREENHOUSE CAN DO FOR YOU

Come to Winter Abundance on Saturday, February 8th to learn the benefits of greenhouse growing in our Mendoterranean climate from homesteader, farmer and nurseryman Marc Robbi. He has learned from trial and error, building and growing in greenhouses for over 40 years both at his current Humboldt County home and at other Northwest locations for both food and nursery production. Year-round veggie abundance to ideal nursery environments, the greenhouse in its many forms has a lot to offer you. Marc currently has 3 greenhouses that he uses for growing his own food, for nursery production, and mother tree haven for his online Fruitwood Nursery business. His farm is 5 hours north of Boonville in the heart of the Klamath River country outside of Orleans, and has a surprisingly similar climate to our own. He and his wife Corrina grow over 1,000 varieties of temperate and subtropical fruiting plants and other perennials on their place and offer them through their website in the form of propagation material or rooted cuttings and divisions. Besides their current nursery they also started and ran Rolling River Nursery for years before selling it to the good folks at Planting Justice in Oakland a few years back.

Mendocino Permaculture is late getting the Winter Abundance email flyer out due to technical difficulties with the mass email but Mark Albert begins Winter Abundance with the Scionology first class from 9:30-10:30; Marc Robbi from Fruitwood Nursery will present a class on what a greenhouse does for us in our climate zone from 10:30-noon; a seed savers class by Matt Drewno is 1-2:15, and finally Patrick Schafer's advanced grafting class, which is how to top work trees and vines you already have growing from 2:15-3:30.

Sign up at the registration table for a Hands-on Grafting Clinics with live wood and knives that can be purchased near the end of the day (you try them all and see what you like). Of course, there will be the usual scion tables and rootstocks sales plus beverages, snacks, and lunch.

If you want to get on the Mendocino Permaculture email flyer list, just email Mark at albert@pacific.net. For volunteering to help at the event email bgoodell@mccn.org. More info soon at www.avfoodshed.com.

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MENDOCINO PERMACULTURE'S 37TH ANNUAL

Winter Abundance Gathering

Saturday, February 8, 2020 from 9 AM to 4 PM

at the Fairgrounds in Boonville

Seed, Scion & Cutting Exchange,

Classes, and Hands-on Fruit Tree Grafting

Admission, classes, seeds, cuttings, scion wood

All Free

Free classes all day on tree & vine propagation; how to grow your own food; and how to save seeds of all kinds of food plants. You can purchase fruit tree rootstocks cheaply here and then graft your own trees from the free scions. Come spend the day with local green thumbs who understand the unique climate zones and soils of our bioregion. You can purchase an inexpensive organic lunch, snacks, and beverages at the event. Sign up for a free hands-on grafting class, held throughout the day, where you can try out and even purchase a grafting knife. Please bring your favorite seeds and scions, and plants to share.

"HOME" oil, sculpture, fabric, computer parts, computer keyboard, wood, found objects on canvasses (3), 40" x 24" on display at Live Worms Gallery, SF through Jan 26, 2020

JOHN SAKOWICZ REPLIES TO CURMUDGEON:

I surprised the AVA published the wild speculations, reckless lies, and snarky opinions left anonymously at the AVA’s door about the candidates running for the Board of Supervisors.

Anyone can say anything — absolutely anything, however false or hurtful — about anyone, especially without attribution.

Here are the facts.

Fake News: I over-stated my Wall Street career.

Real News

My work history in the financial services industry is documented in my FINRA file, which can be found under the “credentials” section at my personal website, https://www.johnsakowicz.com/credentials.html .

I started my career at the Alex Brown & Sons, the oldest investment bank in the U.S. I earned my Series 7 and Series 7 licenses.

I worked at Dean Witter as a national sales manager for managed futures. The legendary, Ken Tropin, who started the multi-billion dollar managed fund industry with John Henry, was my boss at Dean Witter.

I was also Dean Witter’s national sales manager for precious metals. My employment there ended in 1986.

I co-founded a hedge fund in the Cayman Islands in June, 1988, worked there for many years, consulted for a few years, retained my partner equity and cashed out as a partner in March, 2004.

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Fake News: I got fired for “being gay” at the MCSO.

Real News

There was no firing. There was no lawsuit. There was no sexual harassment for LGBT issues.

I moved to Mendocino County 20 years ago as a semi-retired person. Seeing no professional opportunities here in the financial services industry, and being bored and needing something to do, I applied to the MCSO. To my surprise, after months of vetting in an exhaustive background investigation, I was hired.

Due to understaffing, I worked 50-55 hour weeks for a few years. I worked in the most secure part of the jail, the Administrative-Segregation Unit, in Building 2, Wing 4. It’s the “lock down” unit. Many of the jail’s 5150 psych cases are housed here, as are violent inmates.

The work was stressful. I burned out. However, I worked regularly with the county’s late forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Doug Rosoff, which was a privilege and an honor.

I resigned in 2004 from the MCSO after a three-month medical leave of absence. The job had contributed to hypertension, and anxiety and panic disorder. Dr. Lynne Coen was my primary care physician.

That same year, I returned to work in the financial services industry at the Swiss bank, UBS, after a long application and vetting process.

Fake News: I got fired from the grand jury. I got fired from MCERA.

Real News

I left the grand jury after serving three different years.

I am a strong proponent that there should be term limits on grand jury service, so as to avoid weak investigations by complacent jurors. This had been the case during the perennial appointment of a foreman who liked to repeat the phrase, “First, we [the grand jury] do no harm.”

This line, of course, is taken from the Hippocratic Oath. And it’s absurd. Grand jurors are not doctors. They are grand jurors.

Grand jurors are sworn to investigate waste, fraud, and corruption in county and city government. They are sworn to refer criminal matters that may arise during the course of investigation to the district attorney. And through the courts, a grand jury has the power to subpoena confidential documents and reluctant witnesses.

But during the tenure of one particular foreman, the grand jury did none of these things.

In recent years, things have changed for the better. The grand jury undertakes aggressive investigations, evidenced my last year’s report, “Who Runs Mendocino County?”…however, the County CEO stonewalled the report, and the response from the Board of Supervisors was tepid, at best.

Meanwhile, at MCERA, I served five years with distinction from 2012-2017, for which I was recognized with a proclamation. The proclamation may be found under the “credentials” section of my personal website.

At MCERA, I served as a public trustee and bonded fiduciary. I was thoroughly vetted to serve as a fiduciary of more than $500 million in pension assets..

I was also highly trained at MCERA. I took advanced trainings in pension management held at Stanford Law School, UC Berkeley’s Haas School, and UCLA’s Anderson School. The training certificates can also be found at my personal website.

I further served on MCERA’s Audit and Budget Committee, and Search Committee.

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Fake News: I am a latecomer to the cannabis industry.

Real News

Beginning in the 1980s, when I took a leave of absence from Wall Street and served as the executive director of two large AIDS services agencies in Massachusetts — service for which I was recognized with proclamations from the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives — I became involved with “cannabis as medicine”.

Since that time, I have either partnered with, or invested in, cannabis farms in four different states.

In the near future, once legalization becomes law, I hope to have one of the first permits in New Jersey. We will have an indoor grow at a precolonial farm in Frenchtown.

The grow operation will be housed in a new steel metal garage building (1200 sq). It will be have deep-water culture (DWC) units with top-feed setups.

There is no rural mail delivery at the farm. However, I may be reached at: John Sakowicz, Field of Roses Farm, P.O. Box 38, Frenchtown, New Jersey 08825-9998.

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Thank you.

John Sakowicz, Candidate, 1st District Supervisor

CATCH OF THE DAY, January 16, 2020

BONNIE BUSTAMONTE, Willits. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

JERRY ENGLAND, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, paraphernalia, probation revocation.

CHRISTOPHER HEANEY, Ukiah. Protective order violation.

STEPHANIE HEIN, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

SERGIO MENDEZ-ZURITA, Santa Rosa/Ukiah. Failure to appear.

KELLY OTT, Willits. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

MYCHELL VEGA-AYALA, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

NOT BERNIE, US. NOT WARREN, US. Their Clash Underscores the Need for Grassroots Wisdom.

by Norman Solomon

Elizabeth Warren should never have happened. But now that it has, supporters must provide grassroots leadership to mitigate the dangerous mess.

The argument that broke out between Warren and Sanders last weekend and escalated in recent days is already history that threatens to foreshadow tragedy. Progressives cannot afford to give any more aid and comfort to the forces behind corporate contenders Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, or the plutocratic $54-billion-man Michael Bloomberg waiting in the wings.

In a sense, this moment calls for Sanders and Warren supporters to be better than their candidates, who've descended into an avoidably harsh conflict that hugely benefits corporate power and corporate Democrats and will do so even more to the extent that it doesn't subside.

So much is at stake that Sanders and Warren must be called upon to look beyond their own anger, no matter how justified. A demolition derby between the two or their supporters won't resolve who's right. But it will help the right wing.

No matter how decent, candidates and their campaigns make mistakes, for a range of reasons. The Sanders campaign made one when its talking points for volunteers in Iowa included saying that Warren "is bringing no new bases into the Democratic Party." It was a breach of a de facto nonaggression pact between the two campaigns a tactical and political error, setting off retaliation from Warren that quickly became asymmetrical.

Warren responded by publicly saying on Sunday: "I was disappointed to hear that Bernie is sending his volunteers out to trash me."

On the same day, Sanders responded: "We have hundreds of employees. Elizabeth Warren has hundreds of employees. And people sometimes say things that they shouldn't." And: "Elizabeth Warren is a very good friend of mine. No one is going to trash Elizabeth Warren."

The clash could have de-escalated at that point, and for a short time it seemed that it might. But then came the anonymously sourced CNN story that Sanders had told Warren at a December 2018 private meeting that a woman couldn't be elected president. Sanders quickly and categorically denied saying that.

It should have ended there. Warren could have simply said that it was a private meeting and there may have been a misunderstanding. Instead she threw a political grenade at Sanders, stating that he had said a woman could not be elected president.

And then, whether or not she knew that microphones would pick up her words, Warren further escalated the conflict after the debate Tuesday night by walking over to Sanders, refusing to shake his hand (moments after shaking Biden's hand) and saying: "I think you called me a liar on national TV."

When CNN, predictably, released the audio on Wednesday night, the situation blew up worse than ever.

As an active Sanders supporter, I had been heartened by the nonaggression pact and frequent mutual support on many substantive issues between Warren and Sanders. While I'm much more aligned with Bernie's political worldview, I have held Warren in high regard. Not so high now.

But here's the overarching point: Whatever Sanders and Warren supporters think of each other's candidate now, there is no plausible pathway forward to the 2020 presidential nomination for either if the conflict festers.

Lost in a volcano of anger from many Bernie supporters is the reality that a tactical coalition with Warren is vital for blocking the nomination of the likes of Biden, Buttigieg and Bloomberg. That's why BBB are surely elated at what has happened between Warren and Sanders in recent days and why BBB surely hope that a lot of Sanders supporters declare political war on Warren and vice versa. The sounds of that clash in the weeks ahead would be music to the ears of corporate Democrats.

It's easier and maybe more emotionally satisfying for anger to spin out of control. But this is a tactical situation. If you want Bernie to win, it makes no sense to try to escalate the conflict with Warren.

As the strong Bernie supporter Ilhan Omar wisely tweeted on Wednesday, "Trump wants progressives pitted against each other. Corporate media want progressives pitted against each other. Billionaires want progressives pitted against each other. Pitting progressives against each other weeks before the Iowa Caucus hurts ALL of us."

And, from Justice Democrats, Waleed Shahid tweeted: "Both a Sanders or Warren presidency would be historic. Progressives should focus on making a case against Biden and Buttigieg in the coming weeks."

For the sake of humanity and the planet, we need a tactical alliance between the Sanders and Warren campaigns. Defeating corporate Democrats and Donald Trump will require no less.

(Norman Solomon is cofounder and national coordinator of RootsAction.org. He was a Bernie Sanders delegate from California to the 2016 Democratic National Convention and is currently a coordinator of the relaunched Bernie Delegates Network. Solomon is the author of a dozen books include ‘War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.’)

ELIZABETH & BERNIE HAVE BOTH APPEARED IN MY FILMS. I love them both. I deeply admire what they’ve done for helping to create a better world. Why Elizabeth chose to stick a knife in Bernie’s back is beyond me. This has made me so sad. I remember saying to my crew way back in 2006 when we first filmed her at Harvard, “Wow. I think we’ve just met the first woman president of the United States!” Now in 2020, at a time when Job #1 for ALL of us is to remove Trump, how did this help us remove Trump? We live in an age where it’s ok to create alternative facts. Smearing Bernie became more important than beating Trump. Sad. Senseless. And Elizabeth, all you did was help Trump. “January 13, 2020 — The Day Trump Won Four More Years?” Are we now to fight each other instead of Trump? Stop! Enough! My RUMBLE podcast today: “The Sad Downfall of Elizabeth Warren.” Please listen to this episode. It’s from the heart, my painful reaction to what a great American just did, and my hope that we all can immediately refocus on the mission at hand. Listen for free on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher and Google and let me know what you think (just reading this post does not fully explain what I want to share today with all of you - please listen to the podcast. Thank you.)

Michael Moore

1981 — THE CASTRO STREET FAIR

BERNIE SANDERS BELIEVES IN MASS POLITICS — Something the New York Times Can’t Wrap Their Minds Around

The recent questioning of Bernie Sanders by the New York Times editorial board revealed that they see no difference between right-wing populism and democratic socialism. But Bernie wants to mobilize people to discipline the power of big business, not scapegoat the oppressed.

jacobinmag.com/2020/01/bernie-sanders-new-york-times-populism-2020-social-power

WORKSHOP ABOUT WI-FI AND 5G Saturday, Jan. 18, 3-5pm at Community Center of Mendocino, 998 School Street & JAN. 25 GLOBAL DAY OF PROTEST AGAINST 5G

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5G, AN EXCHANGE (MCN Listserve)

Alan haack wrote:

My question is not disingenuous and I don't think I'm being clever. I am asking what the difference is between a technology that was going to save us and turns out to be poisoning us, the internal combustion machine, and this new technology that is going to save us, 5G, in terms of unknown dangers. I am being cautious.

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Marco McClean:

Alan, they're not the same at all and you know it. It's as though you're asking, "Is it farther to Chicago or by bus?" Or, "Why is a mouse when it spins?" Look, thanks to the march of science there is way better transportation technology available than the fossil-fuel-powered internal combustion engine. It just takes the will to step forward into it. And that is transportation technology. You can use communication tech in the manufacture of a car, and you can call someone on the phone from your car, and you can navigate your car by means of communication tech. You can even save us by driving us to the hospital if we're having a baby.

It's clear you don't understand how radio works; you don't even know what 5G is. It's just a made-up name for a collection of protocols and a plan to carry out involving radio transmitters and receivers and data transfer. There's no difference in kind between 5G communication and what you and I are doing right now. The earlier cut-and-paste emails warning of 5G arrays of antennas beaming focused laser death directly into your brain is the frantic uninformed email of a typical anonymous crank (or of a goofy random nonsense generating bot, which is the same thing). (The funniest part of that stuff is where they claim that the harm of cell phone radiation comes from its coherence. They conflate the term coherent light, as in lasers, which radio is not, with the information conveyed by phones (the other definition of coherence. Arthur Firstenberg was the first, I recall, to claim that what makes cell phones dangerous, and gives him headaches and makes him sue people, is that there is information in the radio waves and they're not flowing sweetly and smoothly. The radio waves are changing and turning on and off, being useful, so it's wrong. When people believe crazy things, that's funny.)

5G may not catch on nor last long if it does. They're already working on 6G. Regardless of what number and letter you call it, it's just harmless radio. Communication frequency quanta do not have the energy to break chemical bonds in cell nuclei or anywhere else. With radio waves longer than UV, such as cell phone radio, you have to use enough power to cook things before you get damage. (That's what one study on rats did: they had to cook live lab rats in ovens millions of times more powerful than phones to hurt them at all with radio. And some of the mildly cooked rats actually lived longer than the non-irradiated control group.) From the other direction on the electromagnetic spectrum, the frequency of communication radio is many orders of magnitude too high to interfere with any bodily processes even at very unlikely levels of power, and several orders of magnitude too low to be detected by the specialized antennae at the back of the eye, the rods and cones, that let you see things. At communication levels, no-one and no animal or tree spirit or leprechaun can feel whether a cell phone is on or off, besides feeling the warmth (air convection and infrared) from inefficiencies in the device itself, nor can a cell phone's warmth hurt you any more than could a similarly warm anything pressed against your ear or, in your pocket, your crotch or your butt. A pebble, say, or a box of dental floss is similarly safe to touch or carry around or live near. Okay, now, pebbles and rocks and dirt:

If you were able to persuade the world to go back to pre-science pre-machine farming methods and animal-muscle-powered transportation and Pony Express mail, in a year or two, three billion people on Earth would be horribly dead of starvation and half of the rest would be fighting fiercely over the last can of peas like seagulls fighting over a Cheeto. We're fighting now, but very little, compared to historical times, mainly for the unconscious fun and game of it; we know better and can stop any time we wise up. We're going to have to wise up sooner or later, but wisdom wouldn't help any more than prayer would in the apocalyptic dark age nightmare that removing science and knowledge and machines (and the food that comes from them and travels to us) would cause. And if we as a species were to have never embarked on the adventure of scientifically unraveling the secrets of life and thermodynamics and physics and materials and so on, you and I and ninety percent of the people around today probably would never have been born, or if born would never have lived to grow up and get old and bitch about dag-nabbit consarned newfangled technology.

And further, speaking of saving us, there are scads of natural and artificial chemical and biological threats around you and in you and of you at this moment, Alan, way beyond any imaginary danger from radio waves (which are raining down from the natural sky at all times and always have been, from lightning and Jupiter and beyond). Your bones are naturally radioactive, being made of materials from the radioactive planet we live on. If you use soap, and I hope you do; it's a wonderful thing; you're poisoning yourself with little bits of soap that you absorb through the skin and eat because you touch food after washing your hands with soap and put your fingers in your mouth, and dishes and forks and pots and pans deliver dishwashing soap into you, borne on food. I read that the British traditionally don't even rinse the soap off washed dishes; they just let them drip, but rinsing can only do so much. And the very act of cooking food poisons the air in your living space not only with burn products from whatever's making the heat but with real not imaginary toxins; the smell of cooking food is literally toxic particles entering your head and lungs and body. It's better than not washing your hands and not washing dishes and not cooking at all, but it's all infinitely more harmful than radio communications. The list of things you're not cautious about that you should be, to be consistent in your disingenuous caution, is very long; if you were to act on that sort of caution it would preclude any kind of an enjoyable life. Sitting in a chair, rather than constantly running in place or squatting on heels, causes health problems including cancer. There is no water in any drinking water system without sensitive-instrument-detectable metal and mineral poison in it. Even the gentlest, slowest, most enjoyable sex, or languorous defecating or pleasant sneezing, can pop a blood vessel in your brain. You can choke on a papaya or a delicious spicy Polish dog in chili beans and cheese, be distracted by a butterfly and crack your shin on a planterbox, catch cancer, cataracts, contagious animal bite germs and malaria by spending even just ten minutes outdoors in the mosquitoes and actinic sunlight without an umbrella or a burka or an armored suit and without swimming in DEET, and on and on. You're not worried about all that. That's okay. I'm not worried about all that. I'm sitting in a chair right now. And you are too. I have a Mason jar full of wonderful measurably toxic organic tea. The banana is a recognized unit of radioactivity; every yummy banana is loaded with the kind of radiation that gives you cancer. It's pounding down rain six feet away from me outside and I'm in comfortable fluffy dry flammable pyjamas, there's plenty of practically free light (all the two-pack dollar-store LED lights in my house on at the same time use less electricity than a single reading lamp used twenty years ago), and I have a delightful ten-times repaired old computer to use to read and write and communicate and do my projects with, a tablet I bought for forty dollars in 2013 to read in bed later. And you're in exactly the same position, Alan. Shit, I'd better get dressed and go to work. It's already after four. And after that I'll be up all night putting together my radio show for tomorrow night. Because I can, because of these wonderful lights and machines.

Anyway, I think that, like many people, not necessarily old hippies especially but, sure, old hippies, you've arbitrarily fastened on a particular suite of things to believe, to reflexively kvetch against and/or kvetch for, and no amount or quality of thoughtful reasoning will change your mind on any subject. And --I'm taking you at your word, here, from things you've written, going back years, in the discussion listserv; correct me if any of this has changed or if I have it wrong: You believe in the ancient magical civilizations of Atlantis and Mu, and space alien intervention in human affairs (I don't remember which ones you favor, the grays or the lizards or the psychic spiders). You believe that the Love-Power of your imaginary god-friend in the sky supports the universe and people like you in particular --the universe runs on capital-L Love, something like that-- and, with that in mind, on several occasions you advocated dosing politicians who displease you with drugs to make them understand the world properly and believe as you do in all things; you don't like aerospace tech because it can fly (and make chemtrails), and you're dead-set against the life-and-health-saving gifts of real rigorous science such as evidence-based medicine (the kind that works), vaccination, genetic therapy to cure cystic fibrosis and leukemia, etc., etc., etc. Of course you'd frown on a phone network more complicated than two tin cans and a piece of string-- except, you're repeatedly using a worldwide digital network of computers to frown through. One word for that is meta. Another few words are hypocritical and maybe hapless. I wouldn't go so far as vacuous. I'm trying to find the right word… I dunno; I don't have much of a vocabulary.

All that said, there are plenty of sticky problems inherent in new so-called 5G phone and internet systems that need to be worked out, and will be. Here's the latest I've seen on that (at least I hope it's the article I'm thinking of; I'm on dialup where I am right now and can't open it again to make sure) (because there's no decent cheap internet service out here) (7, 8 and 9G can't come soon enough to suit me; the heavier the better): schneier.com/blog/archives/2020/01/china_isnt_the_.html

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

I am leading a quiet life

in Mike’s Place every day

watching the champs

of the Dante Billiard Parlor

and the French pinball addicts.

I am leading a quiet life

on lower East Broadway.

I am an American.

I was an American boy.

I read the American Boy Magazine

and became a boy scout

in the suburbs.

I thought I was Tom Sawyer

catching crayfish in the Bronx River

and imagining the Mississippi.

I had a baseball mitt

and an American Flyer bike.

I delivered the Woman’s Home Companion

at five in the afternoon

or the Herald Trib

at five in the morning.

I still can hear the paper thump

on lost porches.

I had an unhappy childhood.

I saw Lindbergh land.

I looked homeward

and saw no angel.

I got caught stealing pencils

from the Five and Ten Cent Store

the same month I made Eagle Scout.

I chopped trees for the CCC

and sat on them.

I landed in Normandy

in a rowboat that turned over.

I have seen the educated armies

on the beach at Dover.

I have seen Egyptian pilots in purple clouds

shopkeepers rolling up their blinds

at midday

potato salad and dandelions

at anarchist picnics.

I am reading ‘Lorna Doone’

and a life of John Most

terror of the industrialist

a bomb on his desk at all times.

I have seen the garbagemen parade

in the Columbus Day Parade

behind the glib

farting trumpeters.

I have not been out to the Cloisters

in a long time

nor to the Tuileries

but I still keep thinking

of going.

I have seen the garbagemen parade

when it was snowing.

I have eaten hotdogs in ballparks.

I have heard the Gettysburg Address

and the Ginsberg Address.

I like it here

and I won’t go back

where I came from.

I too have ridden boxcars boxcars boxcars.

I have travelled among unknown men.

I have been in Asia

with Noah in the Ark.

I was in India

when Rome was built.

I have been in the Manger

with an Ass.

I have seen the Eternal Distributor

from a White Hill

in South San Francisco

and the Laughing Woman at Loona Park

outside the Fun House

in a great rainstorm

still laughing.

I have heard the sound of revelry

by night.

I have wandered lonely

as a crowd.

I am leading a quiet life

outside of Mike’s Place every day

watching the world walk by

in its curious shoes.

I once started out

to walk around the world

but ended up in Brooklyn.

That Bridge was too much for me.

I have engaged in silence

exile and cunning.

I flew too near the sun

and my wax wings fell off.

I am looking for my Old Man

whom I never knew.

I am looking for the Lost Leader

with whom I flew.

Young men should be explorers.

Home is where one starts from.

But Mother never told me

there’d be scenes like this.

Womb-weary

I rest

I have travelled.

I have seen goof city.

I have seen the mass mess.

I have heard Kid Ory cry.

I have heard a trombone preach.

I have heard Debussy

strained thru a sheet.

I have slept in a hundred islands

where books were trees.

I have heard the birds

that sound like bells.

I have worn grey flannel trousers

and walked upon the beach of hell.

I have dwelt in a hundred cities

where trees were books.

What subways what taxis what cafes!

What women with blind breasts

limbs lost among skyscrapers!

I have seen the statues of heroes

at carrefours.

Danton weeping at a metro entrance

Columbus in Barcelona

pointing Westward up the Ramblas

toward the American Express

Lincoln in his stony chair

And a great Stone Face

in North Dakota.

I know that Columbus

did not invent America.

I have heard a hundred housebroken Ezra Pounds.

They should all be freed.

It is long since I was a herdsman.

I am leading a quiet life

in Mike’s Place every day

reading the Classified columns.

I have read the Reader’s Digest

from cover to cover

and noted the close identification

of the United States and the Promised Land

where every coin is marked

In God We Trust

but the dollar bills do not have it

being gods unto themselves.

I read the Want Ads daily

looking for a stone a leaf

an unfound door.

I hear America singing

in the Yellow Pages.

One could never tell

the soul has its rages.

I read the papers every day

and hear humanity amiss

in the sad plethora of print.

I see where Walden Pond has been drained

to make an amusement park.

I see they’re making Melville

eat his whale.

I see another war is coming

but I won’t be there to fight it.

I have read the writing

on the outhouse wall.

I helped Kilroy write it.

I marched up Fifth Avenue

blowing on a bugle in a tight platoon

but hurried back to the Casbah

looking for my dog.

I see a similarity

between dogs and me.

Dogs are the true observers

walking up and down the world

thru the Molloy country.

I have walked down alleys

too narrow for Chryslers.

I have seen a hundred horseless milkwagons

in a vacant lot in Astoria.

Ben Shahn never painted them

but they’re there

askew in Astoria.

I have heard the junkman’s obbligato.

I have ridden superhighways

and believed the billboard’s promises

Crossed the Jersey Flats

and seen the Cities of the Plain

And wallowed in the wilds of Westchester

with its roving bands of natives

in stationwagons.

I have seen them.

I am the man.

I was there.

I suffered

somewhat.

I am an American.

I have a passport.

I did not suffer in public.

And I’m too young to die.

I am a selfmade man.

And I have plans for the future.

I am in line

for a top job.

I may be moving on

to Detroit.

I am only temporarily

a tie salesman.

I am a good Joe.

I am an open book

to my boss.

I am a complete mystery

to my closest friends.

I am leading a quiet life

in Mike’s Place every day

contemplating my navel.

I am a part

of the body’s long madness.

I have wandered in various nightwoods.

I have leaned in drunken doorways.

I have written wild stories

without punctuation.

I am the man.

I was there.

I suffered

somewhat.

I have sat in an uneasy chair.

I am a tear of the sun.

I am a hill

where poets run.

I invented the alphabet

after watching the flight of cranes

who made letters with their legs.

I am a lake upon a plain.

I am a word

in a tree.

I am a hill of poetry.

I am a raid

on the inarticulate.

I have dreamt

that all my teeth fell out

but my tongue lived

to tell the tale.

For I am a still

of poetry.

I am a bank of song.

I am a playerpiano

in an abandoned casino

on a seaside esplanade

in a dense fog

still playing.

I see a similarity

between the Laughing Woman

and myself.

I have heard the sound of summer

in the rain.

I have seen girls on boardwalks

have complicated sensations.

I understand their hesitations.

I am a gatherer of fruit.

I have seen how kisses

cause euphoria.

I have risked enchantment.

I have seen the Virgin

in an appletree at Chartres

And Saint Joan burn

at the Bella Union.

I have seen giraffes in junglejims

their necks like love

wound around the iron circumstances

of the world.

I have seen the Venus Aphrodite

armless in her drafty corridor.

I have heard a siren sing

at One Fifth Avenue.

I have seen the White Goddess dancing

in the Rue des Beaux Arts

on the Fourteenth of July

and the Beautiful Dame Without Mercy

picking her nose in Chumley’s.

She did not speak English.

She had yellow hair

and a hoarse voice

I am leading a quiet life

in Mike’s Place every day

watching the pocket pool players

making the minestrone scene

wolfing the macaronis

and I have read somewhere

the Meaning of Existence

yet have forgotten

just exactly where.

But I am the man

And I’ll be there.

And I may cause the lips

of those who are asleep

to speak.

And I may make my notebooks

into sheaves of grass.

And I may write my own

eponymous epitaph

instructing the horsemen

to pass.

— Lawrence Ferlinghetti, 1958, from ‘A Coney Island of the Mind.’

FOUND OBJECT