MCT: Thursday, March 12, 2020

• Storm Approach
• Stock Halt
• Trump Speech
• Potluck Cancelled
• Anarchist Bookstore
• Ed Notes
• Harbor Life
• Bear Market
• Skeleton ID
• Doctor Colfax
• Quiz Night
• Beer Fest
• Street Birthing
• Desiccant Portal
• AVHS Reunion
• Various Traps
• Veterinary Visits
• Yesterday's Catch
• Bernie 2020
• Haircuts
• AT&T Layoffs
• DNC Outgrown
• Biden Button
• Virtual Dancing
• Cardboard Reality
• Comments
• Bookcover Repellent
• Loser Chosen
• Redwood Felon
• Office Work
• Bill & Jaye
• American Crisis
• Found Object

WARM DRY WEATHER will come to an end this weekend as a cold upper-level storm system moves across the region. Showers will yield heavy snow across interior mountains, while small hail will be possible along the coast. (NWS)

STOCKS HALTED FOR TRADING [Thursday morning]

9:45 AM ET 3/12/20 | Briefing.com

The stock market has been halted for trading for 15 minutes after the S&P 500 triggered a circuit breaker with a 7.0% decline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 7.2%, and the Nasdaq is down 7.0%.  

The coronavirus remains at the forefront of selling. President Trump suspended travel from Europe for 30 days, the NBA suspended the remainder of its season, and many more businesses across the nation continue to take precautionary measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

PRESIDENT TRUMP’S CORONA VIRUS SPEECH WEDNESDAY NIGHT:

My fellow Americans, tonight I want to speak with you about our nation’s unprecedented response to the coronavirus outbreak that started in China and is now spreading throughout the world.

Today, the World Health Organization officially announced that this is a global pandemic.

We have been in frequent contact with our allies, and we are marshaling the full power of the federal government and the private sector to protect the American people.

This is the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history. I am confident that by counting and continuing to take these tough measures, we will significantly reduce the threat to our citizens and we will ultimately and expeditiously defeat this virus.

From the beginning of time, nations and people have faced unforeseen challenges, including large-scale and very dangerous health threats. This is the way it always was and always will be. It only matters how you respond, and we are responding with great speed and professionalism.

Our team is the best anywhere in the world. At the very start of the outbreak, we instituted sweeping travel restrictions on China and put in place the first federally mandated quarantine in over 50 years. We declared a public health emergency and issued the highest level of travel warning on other countries as the virus spread its horrible infection.

And taking early intense action, we have seen dramatically fewer cases of the virus in the United States than are now present in Europe.

The European Union failed to take the same precautions and restrict travel from China and other hot spots. As a result, a large number of new clusters in the United States were seeded by travelers from Europe.

After consulting with our top government health professionals, I have decided to take several strong but necessary actions to protect the health and well being of all Americans.

To keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days. The new rules will go into effect Friday at midnight. These restrictions will be adjusted subject to conditions on the ground.

There will be exemptions for Americans who have undergone appropriate screenings, and these prohibitions will not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo, but various other things as we get approval. Anything coming from Europe to the United States is what we are discussing. These restrictions will also not apply to the United Kingdom.

At the same time, we are monitoring the situation in China and in South Korea. And, as their situation improves, we will re-evaluate the restrictions and warnings that are currently in place for a possible early opening.

Earlier this week, I met with the leaders of health insurance industry who have agreed to waive all co-payments for coronavirus treatments, extend insurance coverage to these treatments, and to prevent surprise medical billing.

We are cutting massive amounts of red tape to make antiviral therapies available in record time. These treatments will significantly reduce the impact and reach of the virus.

Additionally, last week, I signed into law an $8.3 billion funding bill to help C.D.C. and other government agencies fight the virus and support vaccines, treatments and distribution of medical supplies. Testing and testing capabilities are expanding rapidly, day by day. We are moving very quickly.

The vast majority of Americans: The risk is very, very low. Young and healthy people can expect to recover fully and quickly if they should get the virus. The highest risk is for elderly population with underlying health conditions. The elderly population must be very, very careful.

In particular, we are strongly advising that nursing homes for the elderly suspend all medically unnecessary visits. In general, older Americans should also avoid nonessential travel in crowded areas.

My administration is coordinating directly with communities with the largest outbreaks, and we have issued guidance on school closures, social distancing and reducing large gatherings.

Smart action today will prevent the spread of the virus tomorrow.

Every community faces different risks and it is critical for you to follow the guidelines of your local officials who are working closely with our federal health experts — and they are the best.

For all Americans, it is essential that everyone take extra precautions and practice good hygiene. Each of us has a role to play in defeating this virus. Wash your hands, clean often-used surfaces, cover your face and mouth if you sneeze or cough, and most of all, if you are sick or not feeling well, stay home.

To ensure that working Americans impacted by the virus can stay home without fear of financial hardship, I will soon be taking emergency action, which is unprecedented, to provide financial relief. This will be targeted for workers who are ill, quarantined, or caring for others due to coronavirus.

I will be asking Congress to take legislative action to extend this relief.

Because of the economic policies that we have put into place over the last three years, we have the greatest economy anywhere in the world, by far.

Our banks and financial institutions are fully capitalized and incredibly strong. Our unemployment is at a historic low. This vast economic prosperity gives us flexibility, reserves, and resources to handle any threat that comes our way.

This is not a financial crisis, this is just a temporary moment of time that we will overcome together as a nation and as a world.

However, to provide extra support for American workers, families, and businesses, tonight I am announcing the following additional actions: I am instructing the Small Business Administration to exercise available authority to provide capital and liquidity to firms affected by the coronavirus.

Effective immediately, the S.B.A. will begin providing economic loans in affected states and territories. These low-interest loans will help small businesses overcome temporary economic disruptions caused by the virus. To this end, I am asking Congress to increase funding for this program by an additional $50 billion.

Using emergency authority, I will be instructing the Treasury Department to defer tax payments, without interest or penalties, for certain individuals and businesses negatively impacted. This action will provide more than $200 billion of additional liquidity to the economy.

Finally, I am calling on Congress to provide Americans with immediate payroll tax relief. Hopefully they will consider this very strongly.

We are at a critical time in the fight against the virus. We made a lifesaving move with early action on China. Now we must take the same action with Europe. We will not delay. I will never hesitate to take any necessary steps to protect the lives, health, and safety of the American people. I will always put the well being of America first.

If we are vigilant — and we can reduce the chance of infection, which we will — we will significantly impede the transmission of the virus. The virus will not have a chance against us.

No nation is more prepared or more resilient than the United States. We have the best economy, the most advanced health care, and the most talented doctors, scientists and researchers anywhere in the world.

We are all in this together. We must put politics aside, stop the partisanship and unify together as one nation and one family.

As history has proven time and time again, Americans always rise to the challenge and overcome adversity.

Our future remains brighter than anyone can imagine. Acting with compassion and love, we will heal the sick, care for those in need, help our fellow citizens and emerge from this challenge stronger and more unified than ever before.

God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you.

SAINT PATRICK'S POT LUCK IN ELK POSTPONED

This evening the decision was made by both the Greenwood Community Church and the blessed Sacrament Church to postpone the Saint Patrick's fundraiser which was to be held this Saturday, March 14.  The fundraiser will be held at a later date yet to be determined.

This decision was not made without regret, but in light of the coronavirus pandemic, we did not feel it was appropriate to host a gathering which may have the potential of putting people at risk.

Blessings to you all.

Dorothy Cong

A READER WRITES: Found this gem in an "anarchist collective bookstore" on Haight. Loved the article, Grumpy Gramps!

ED NOTES

AMERICA'S DOCTOR, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Wednesday that the coronavirus situation in the United States is going to get worse and “many, many millions” will be affected. A pandemic has been declared, meaning the virus is everywhere or potentially everywhere. Another medical man said he didn't think we were "scared enough." I was plenty scared by a report from a Santa Clara doctor who said he was treating three men, one in his early fifties, the other two in their early forties, all three of them fit, but all three are hospitalized in serious condition.

HERE IN MENDO, events are being cancelled. Attendance at AV's annual Variety Show was noticeably off, but persons with slovenly tendencies, people like me, are faithfully washing our hands and elbow-bumping our greetings. Toilet paper and hand sanitizers were sold out at the Ukiah Safeway today although no case of coronavirus has appeared in Mendo as of Wednesday night, and diarrhea is not a symptom when it does appear. To emphasize the seriousness of the situation, Trump appeared on television to say that he and his bumbling crew are doing what they can etc. A report on the BBC Wednesday evening said overwhelmed Italian doctors have been told "to let the elderly die," and if it comes to that in Mendo, and me being certifiably elderly… Well, gee.

THE ANDERSON VALLEY HEALTH CENTER? "Yes, we are currently able to test for Coronavirus/COVID 19 and will do so following the CDC guidelines for when to test a person with a suspected case. We are asking anyone with symptoms to please CALL us first when possible (895-2035), to be triaged so that we minimize exposure to others. Also we are posting regular updates on social media and our website under the announcements section." (Chloe Guazzone) http://www.avhc.org/announcements/

PLEASE rely for your virus information on the CDC or your local medical people. Predictably, there's reams of quack material and insane recommendations on the internet, that cornucopia of lethal misinformation. The anti-vaxxers seem especially energized by the coronovirus epidemic. Unfortunately, they can't be quarantined.

THE BIG PICTURE, from the Boonville perspective. Events were overwhelming the leadership even before the virus and the economic disaster that will result from it. The globe will continue to warm, millions of people will remain on the move, whole economies will collapse, and even ours will harm more and more everyday people. One tiny example of what's happening that's not so tiny — fracking depends on oil that sells for at least 50 bucks a barrel. The price of oil currently is under forty, apparently because of market manipulations by the Saudis and the Russians. Cheap oil is great for us consumers, bad for the oil conglomerates, in other words a win-win.

TAKE HEART, my fellow Berners! Look at it this way: We don't have to wait to watch the Democrats screw the guy. They've already done it, sparing us months of anxiety. Warren will be the next to stick a knife in Bernie's back, leaving us with an election between two blathering idiots as the house falls down on all of us. (Would fall down on Bernie, too, but he'd at least try to protect working people during the collapse).

ON WEDNESDAY

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,464 points, dragging it 20% below the record set last month and putting it in a bear market.

The broader S&P 500 index, which professional investors watch more closely, is a single percentage point away from falling into its own bear market, which would end the longest bull market in Wall Street history.

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ASIAN SHARES SINK AFTER DOW HITS BEAR LEVEL ON PANDEMIC NEWS

sfgate.com/news/us/article/Stocks-open-sharply-lower-on-Wall-Street-Dow-off-15122548.php

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STOCK MARKET TANKS Due To Coronavirus & Oil Panic

SKELETON FOUND ALONG MENDOCINO COUNTY COAST MAY BE MISSING MAN’S REMAINS

A skeleton found over the weekend along the Mendocino coast may be that of a man reported missing in 2018, after a CHP officer pursuing him in connection with a hit-and-run crash found his abandoned Jeep about a quarter-mile from where the remains were found, Mendocino County Sheriff’s officials said Tuesday.

A forensic dentist will examine the skeleton’s teeth and compare them with those of Lewis Compton, a 44-year-old Westport man last seen Nov. 13, 2018, when he drove away from an officer investigating a daytime hit-and-run crash into a piece of property north of the town. The officer followed the man north on nearby Highway 1 and found the empty Jeep Grand Cherokee he had been driving on the side of the road a short time later, CHP Officer Olegario Marin said.

Compton’s mother alerted authorities that he was missing six days after the chase, and Compton’s wife filed another missing person’s report on Nov. 21, 2018, Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Shannon Barney said. The Sheriff’s Office decided against sending civilian, volunteer search and rescue teams out to look for Compton, who was 44 when he disappeared, after learning from the man’s wife that he may be armed, Barney said.

“For the sake of the family, we’re hoping to make an identification,” Barney said. “I don’t want to call it closure for the family, because I don’t think it’s accurate, but at least they’ll know.”

The skeletal remains were reported to authorities at about 6 p.m. Saturday by a man who said he was a former schoolmate of Compton. He had read a story on a blog called Cold Case Mendocino about his disappearance and decided to look for him in the area where Compton’s car was last seen, Barney said.

The search turned up a scattered, partial skeleton, some clothing and two shoes 200 to 300 feet away from Highway 1 and about a quarter-mile from where the Jeep was found, Barney said. No obvious signs of foul play, such as trauma to the bones or skull, were located, he added.

A local search and rescue team and a group with Chico State University’s Anthropology Lab were sent there the next morning to recover the body.

Compton’s wife, Helen Compton, 49, drove to the location Saturday after learning about the skeleton’s discovery through a friend, she said. While the remains brought hope to her family, they remained skeptical about whether the skeleton would be identified as her husband’s, she said.

Search teams dispatched over the weekend did not find the Jeep’s car keys, nor Compton’s wallet. Helen Compton had searched the nearby area herself on a few occasions after her husband went missing, though she never made it down the steep embankment where the remains were found Friday.

“Nothing thus far has led me to believe that it was Lewis,” Helen Compton said of the remains. “On the one hand, I’m not sure. On the other hand, it’s really heartbreaking if he was right there all this time.”

She added that she was on vacation when her husband disappeared and didn’t realize he was missing until a few days later, upon her return. The pair had moved back to the Westport area a few months before after a 20-year stay in Texas. The move marked a stressful period for her husband, who was diagnosed with mental health issues, she added. They have two children, a 26-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter, and he enjoyed fishing.

Helen Compton eventually went to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office to file a missing person report when she was unable to track down her husband.

“They said he wasn’t missing, that he’s a fugitive and I said, ‘Well, no, he’s not, nobody has seen him,’ ” Helen Compton said. “He would have made his way back home; he would have made contact with me.”

A forensic dentist will examine the skeletal remains later this week to determine if they match Compton’s dental records, Barney said. If not, the Sheriff’s Office will attempt to extract DNA from the remains and submit the sample into a national database of DNA from relatives of other missing people to see if they can make a match.

(Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

FROM THE HILLS OF BOONVILLE VIA HARVARD, GRANT COLFAX

QUIZ TONIGHT. The General Knowledge and Trivia Quiz at Lauren's resumes tomorrow, Thursday, March 12th at a new time - 6pm. Hope to see you there. Cheers, Steve Sparks, The Quiz Master

BEER FEST GENERAL ADMISSION SALES LINK

SIGN OF THE TIMES REPORT from MSP: Fort Bragg police find woman giving birth in the street.

The scanner said (9:33 am) the Fort Bragg Police came upon a woman on the north side of 440 South Main Street (Coast Tire & Recapping) who said: "her water broke." She was not cooperative after that statement and declined medical treatment. Dispatch asked "how far along" the expectant mother was and Police said she refused to talk to them any more.

MCDH ambulance #9142 was dispatched and was on the scene @ 9:39 am.

At 9:42 am, it sounded like the woman was going to be transported to the hospital.

Comment#1: Sounds like this is directly due to the closure of labor and delivery at the Fort Bragg hospital. When you are the only hospital for 40+ miles, it is absolutely necessary to have ALL services available. A drive to Willits or Ukiah is not always an option. Hope both mom and baby are doing well. But it's very unfortunate this was even allowed to become an issue.

Comment#2: Closing the OB clinic means no planned births. The hospital as well as most EMS are fully capable of and more than willing to help deliver babies under these circumstances.

COMING UP: AV HIGH SCHOOL CLASS REUNION, 46 Years: September 26, 2020

Reminder - For The Class Of 1974

Our 46 Year Class Reunion is September 26, 2020

We are now only 6 months away from celebrating our next all-classes reunion! Our previous reunions have been so successful and this one promises to be just as amazing. Time to ensure your calendar's are free for the weekend of September 25 - 26 - 27. Here are the latest updates:

Date/Time: 9/26/2020 ~ 12:00 noon - 5:00 PM

Place: Anderson Valley Museum (Little Red Schoolhouse in Boonville)

Food: There will be a food truck available for individual purchases - details to follow

Drinks: Water, Ice & Cups provided. Bring your own drinks - alcoholic or non alcoholic

Parking: Handicap space available and plenty of close parking available

Activities: Class Photos (details to follow)

Logistics: The event will beheld outdoors, where there is a large redwood grove for shade. Additionally, lots of room to set up pop up canopies. If you have one you could bring, please do so. If you are able, bring your own chair with or without a side table for your drink. Long tables will be provided.

Volunteers: This event was designed to be easy. However, if you can help with set up or clean up - come early and stay late!

Price: $10 per person. The Anderson Valley Historical Society will have a raffle to raise funds for the museum. Any remaining proceeds from the $10 person fee will go directly to the Historical Society.

How You Can Help - Share The News! As we know from the past, the success of a reunion is all about the number of classmates who show up. And all are invited - you do not have to be a graduate of Anderson Valley High. Friends, parents, siblings, teachers, etc are welcome!

Questions, Comments? The team members are: Bill Wilson, Don Dukes, Claudia Clow, Lee Ann Bowers, Sheri Hansen, Anna Avery, Joann Borges, Dot Gialdini, Brenda & James Holcomb, RaeAnn & Gary Robertson, Marti Titus (marti@mctitus.com ) & Jimmy Short ( JSAnnMargretFan@aol.com )

Hotel accommodations in Ukiah: tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g33203-Ukiah_Mendocino_County_California-Hotels.html

You may read more about the reunion here on Facebook for updates as they happen: https://www.facebook.com/events/562433104317782/

PS. There are no rooms at most of the hotels in Boonville, but still availability at the Anderson Valley Inn if you hurry. Kind of rustic , no tv, but very cute.

Audrey Vargas

DR. BURNS FROM THE MENDOCINO ANIMAL HOSPITAL will be at the Anderson Valley Farm Supply seeing patients on a first come, first served basis. She will be there on Thursday, April 16th and again on Thursday, April 23, 2020.

She is there between 2:00 and 4:00 pm. For more information you can check the events section of the Mendocino Animal Hospital Facebook page.

Michelle Fetzer, Mendocino Animal Hospital

CATCH OF THE DAY, March 11, 2020

RONALD CLINGERMAN JR., Sebastopol/Ukiah. Disordery conduct-alcohol.

MICHAEL DONAHE, Ukiah. Probation revocation. (Frequent flyer.)

MICHAEL PHILLIPS JR., Laytonville. Driving on suspended license (for DUI).

RICKEY PHILLIPS III, Redwood Valley. Under influence, parole violation.

“IN A DARK TIME, THE EYE BEGINS TO SEE”: The Bernie 2020 Campaign Represents a Fight That Must Continue

Corporate media and corporate Democrats want the Bernie 2020 campaign—and the grassroots energy behind it—to melt away. That's not going to happen.

by Norman Solomon

“In a dark time,” poet Theodore Roethke wrote, “the eye begins to see.”

No matter who wins the Democratic presidential nomination, many millions of people will refuse to unsee what has become all too clear. On the verge of spring 2020, we can see what we’re up against:

• A crowing media establishment, eager to relegate the Bernie Sanders campaign to the political margins.

• A gloating Democratic Party establishment, glad to rally around Potemkin candidate Joe Biden and extol his carefully crafted façade.

• Overall, interlocking systems based on greed and corporate power instead of shared resources and genuine democracy.

On Tuesday night, there was no mistaking the smug joy of studio pundits and Democratic Party operatives on networks like AT&T-owned CNN and Comcast-owned MSNBC. Meanwhile, the New York Times rushed into print yet another all-out attack piece masquerading as a “news” article about Sanders.

Dominant media have routinely slanted coverage to make Sanders look bad, often bypassing context and skewing facts. It was just another day at the office last week when the Times front-paged a flagrant smear of Sanders as a supposed propaganda tool of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s. A former U.S. ambassador to Moscow quickly denounced the story as a “distortion of history.”

Such regular deceptions from a range of corporate media shouldn’t surprise us, but they should never cease to outrage us. The same is true of the rampant corporate sleaziness in the upper reaches of the Democratic National Committee.

Corporate media and corporate Democrats want the Bernie 2020 campaign—and the grassroots energy behind it—to melt away. That’s not going to happen.

Movements that have been propelling the Sanders campaign are here for the long haul—as determined to keep fighting for social justice as top corporate executives are determined to keep collecting huge paychecks. (And that’s saying something.)

The chances of Bernie winning the nomination have sharply diminished, but it’s still possible. And no matter what: movements for basic social change and democracy will vitally persist with long-term struggles to wrest power out of the hands of oligarchs and their functionaries.

Candidates who rushed to endorse Biden after his big victory in South Carolina—Michael Bloomberg, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, Beto O’Rourke, Kamala Harris, and Cory Booker—each personify, in their own way, what’s so corrosive about standard-issue Democratic Party leaders. Their backgrounds and personalities vary widely, but they share a political space of opportunism and ultra-coziness with corporate power. (Meanwhile, during the crucial aftermath of her withdrawal from the race after Super Tuesday, Elizabeth Warren shed new light on her political character when she decided not to endorse Sanders.)

The antidote to anti-democratic poisons has nothing to do with cynicism, passivity or defeatism. The solutions will come from realism, activism and ongoing insistence that a better world is possible—if we’re willing to keep fighting for it.

(Norman Solomon is co-founder and national coordinator of RootsAction.org. His books include "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death" and "Made Love, Got War: Close Encounters with America's Warfare State." He is the founder and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy.)

“A SLAP IN THE FACE”: AT&T Workers Upset Jobs Slashed Despite Trump Tax Cuts

The day after Paul Lorenzano found out he was being laid off from his job in January as an AT&T technician in Arcadia, California, the company sent out an email to all employees congratulating the workforce on AT&T’s profits and fiscal performance in 2019.

theguardian.com/business/2020/mar/10/at-and-t-layoffs-jobs-slashed-trump-tax-cuts

“DO I STILL BELONG IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY?”

"It is a surreal feeling seeing the Democratic party establishment celebrate their victories in Tuesday’s primaries when that victory all but ensures Donald Trump another four years. It’s a strange sensation seeing people in their righteous indignation and in their conviction align themselves with the wrong side of history.

Why? Because they rejected Bernie Sanders?

No. Because they rejected the hurting, the marginalized, and the left out. The progressive wing of the Democratic party is what it is because it fights for justice without ceasing. The progressive wing has not always gotten it right, but the mistakes were never because we wanted to maintain power at the expense of the powerless.

If we’re honest with each other, we don’t want the same things.

We want Medicare for All. You want to maintain a system that allows profiteers to exploit the sick and the dying for profits. We want to cancel student debt; you want to see your children work for the next 30 years to pay off a six-figure education that only cost you four figures.

We just don’t want the same things. We’ve outgrown each other. We’ve come to terms with the reality that we probably should go our separate ways.

— Benjamin Dixon

DANCE CANCELLED, A DIALOGUE (Coast Listserve)

Ahshamaha Alexander wrote:

PS. Dance Canceled for Tonight Wed. 11th at Preston Hall!

Do to Community concerns … And Since this is for the community we want to be supportive and sensitive to peoples concerns in coming together in a collective gathering inside! So Cancelation of the Dance has been chosen!

May we all enjoy our personal ways of celebrating life, knowing all heart songs reach all of humanity

Ahshamaha Alexander

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Marco McClean: In the middle 1980s I had an idea for a dance where the music would all go through a little FM transmitter like the ones I was compulsively making for my various projects, and in the idea everyone would get handed a cheap headphone radio when they paid to get in. So it would be poundingly loud, but then you could take your headphones off and all you'd hear is feet on the floor and people grunting and faintly humming along with the songs like Eddie Murphy singing along with Roxanne in his headphones in jail in 48 Hours, and you'd hear cars whishing by outside, and the fridge under the bar clicking on and off and, you know, all the mechanical sounds.

And then you'd make a funny video about it. Except then it occurred to me that it would be just as good and way easier to video a regular dance, don't use the original sound but later multitrack-in all the music and sound effects at the proper enormous and then muted volume for the effect. Show a person in headphones; he takes his headphones off, music goes down to nothing and all we hear are shuffling feet and drunken labored breathing and so on, and he puts the cans back on and the music is deafening again.

Now my idea, because of the disease thing, is a virtual-reality dance, where everyone who wants to participate gets Google Cardboard (five-dollar cardboard-and-binocular-magnifying-glass) headset that you slip your telephone into and put your earbuds in and you'd stream some designated concert or playlist. Do this in your own bathroom or garage or storage locker living space (like in /Snow Crash/). Everyone would be safely alone but at the same time dancing with hundreds or thousands of others. You would be streaming out webcam video of yourself cavorting in private, that an A.I. would integrate into a jittery, flashing dance scene with everyone in the same big virtual hall, and it would be just like the real thing, both ways, except you'd never get hit in the eye with someone's elbow nor have the tiki god statue at, say, the Caspar Inn bumped over onto you to knock you out; rather you might stub your toe on the toilet or lawnmower or knock over a lamp or something. Several video projects would come of this. There's be the dance, of course, but there'd also a supercut of all the private mayhem, and a compilation of all the pranksters virtually and harmlessly slapping others on the butt, poking them in the boobs, making the rabbit ears sign with their fingers behind their friend's head, shooting portal guns around, etc. I'm sure I'm not the first person to ever think of this. I'll bet somebody's doing it right now. I can't go look right now, of course, because I'm on dialup, tch, but most people have all that capability because this is the future.

I guess millions and millions of people are already doing something very like that except without the dancing. They're in their barcaloungers individually, but also at the same time in a great virtual hall watching pundits and bullshit artists and liars and sages alike yammering at the top of their lungs about the latest political real or made-up atrocity they can all loathe together in spirit, and learning about the possible side effects of all the new pharmaceutical products to ask their doctor about, to imagine being like the happy rich-looking elegant old couple walking on a tropical beach or playing tennis or the piano again or cooking a holiday meal for an imaginary big happy family without the pain of arthritis or the discomfort of occasional irregularity or erectile dysfunction or whatever. The high-speed company-covering-its-ass recital of side effects, which may include migraine, Crohn's disease, sensitivity to light, drowsiness, disorientation, constipation/diarrhea, irritability, psychosis and death. It flies by so fast, like life itself, that it's just funny.

And the camera and mic in all the televisions anymore is getting it all, so at least it's not all for nothing. All that material is theoretically available for somebody to make a project out of.

ON LINE COMMENTS OF THE DAY

[1] I agree with a lot of what Trump says. The problem is he does not do as he says.

Trump said he would withdraw all the troops. He did not do that.

Trump said he would abolish Obamacare and replace it with something better. He did not do that.

Trump said he would stop Little Kim from developing nuclear weapons that can reach the USA. He did not do that.

Trump said he would release his tax returns. He did not do that.

Etc. etc. … he has said thousands of things he never does.

I support Trump in much of what he says. I don’t just take the opposite position and complain, much less hate.

I like Trump as a person and would happily sit down and have a glass of water or lemonade with him and shoot the breeze. He is entertaining, funny, charming but he is not presidential material.

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[2] I can think of few other people I would less like to have a sit-down with … you wouldn’t shoot the breeze – you would listen while he talked and talked – about how great he is, the money he’s made, the women he’s had … on and on.

He’s like the worst white-shoe blowhard down at the country club – you do anything not to sit at his table, much less play a round of golf with him. But I certainly agree with your last statement.

I don’t “hate” him either – I don’t know him. But I’ve spent a lot of my life avoid his type – they are bores and unpleasant.

DEMOCRATS SELECT JOE BIDEN TO LOSE THE NEXT ELECTION

chaser.com.au/world/democrats-select-joe-biden-to-lose-the-next-election/

MILKEN’S UNPARDONABLE REDWOOD FELONIES

Some crimes cannot be forgiven. There's Harvey Weinstein's sexual assaults, the Sackler family's (alleged) opioid proliferation and, for Humboldt County, Michael Milken's junk bonds.

northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/milkens-unpardonable-redwood-felonies/Content

BILL TAYLOR AND JAYE ALISON MOSCARIELLO invite one and all to a few events and opportunities if they are of interest.

1. Farm and Garden Show, Monday March 16th, 9-10 AM. Bill and Jaye will interview Kathleen Draper, author (with Albert Bates) of Burn: How Fire Can Cool the Earth. Whether char, charcoal, or biochar, stable forms of carbon are one of the best ways to reduce climate chaos. They can be used in building materials, pavement, filtration, or as soil amendment. 91.5 FM, 90.7 FM, 88.1 Fort Bragg or kzyx.org (live stream or via jukebox after the show airs)
2. Because we are moving, we need a cohost to run the board and help with the Farm and Garden Show's 3rd Monday edition, starting April 20th. If interested, please call Alicia Bales at KZYX 707-895-2324, and/or email pd@kzyx.org and edibleland@earthlink.net.
3. We have renamed our farewell concert the "New Adventures Concert". with a great lineup of musicians. See below and attachment (which has a few cool graphics and makes a poster). It will start Sunday March 22nd at 12:30 (doors open 12:15), with refreshments/food during intermission and after. At Ukiah United Methodist Church, N. Pine and Smith Streets. Donations will support the musicians.
4. "From the Ashes" is a film about how the Redwood Valley and area communities responded to the October 2017 fire. An art show before it will raise funds for the second film "The Future is NOW!", with works by filmmaker Jaye Alison Moscariello. Some funds will also support the Redwood Valley Grange where the screening is taking place, 8650 East Road, Redwood Valley. Doors for art show open at 4 PM, film screens at 7 PM. See attachment for more details!

Bill and Jaye 707-272-1688

New Adventures Concert

Sunday March 22, 12:30 PM

Ukiah United Methodist Church

N. Pine and Smith Streets

Jaye Alison Moscariello and Bill Taylor are moving east to take care of family, and are offering a concert on Sunday March 22nd with a number of wonderful musicians. From duets and songs to larger ensembles defying categories (classical, jazz, show tune, …), the concert will feature Grammy award winning reed player Paul McCandless, jazz flautist George Husaruk, oboist Beth Aiken, violinist and Ukiah Symphony concertmaster Margie Salcedo Rice, violist Paul Yarbrough of the Alexander Quartet, cellist Joel Cohen, bassist Yanahay Hooper, guitarist Michael Oberg, Bill Taylor on piano joined by jazz wizard Barney McClure on several two piano pieces. Singers include Jaye Alison Moscariello, Brenna Raugewitz, Josh Small, and others. The music will be by Bill Taylor, with pieces/songs by George Husaruk, Paul McCandless, Natalie Merchant, Ralph Towner, Barney McClure and Bill's mom Priscilla Rowe.

Doors to the sanctuary will open on Sunday March 22nd at 12:15 and the concert will begin at 12:30. You may come for an early potluck brunch/lunch in the social hall at 11:15 and there will be snacks and refreshments during intermission. Donations are welcome to support the musicians, and CD's will be for sale. Enter either at Smith and N. Pine or 205 Bush St. in Ukiah. We look forward to seeing you there!

Bill Taylor 707-272-1688, edibleland@earthlink.net

Jaye Alison Moscariello 310-970-4517, artisall@earthlink.net

THESE ARE THE TIMES that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to tax) but "to bind us in all cases whatsoever and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then there is not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God.

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I thank God, that I fear not. I see no real cause for fear. I know our situation well, and can see the way out of it. …The sign of fear was not seen in our camp, and had not some of the cowardly and disaffected inhabitants spread false alarms through the country, the Jerseys had never been ravaged. Once more we are again collected and collecting; our new army at both ends of the continent is recruiting fast, and we shall be able to open the next campaign with sixty thousand men, well armed and clothed.

By perseverance and fortitude we have the prospect of a glorious issue; by cowardice and submission, the sad choice of a variety of evils — a ravaged country, a depopulated city, habitations without safety, and slavery without hope, our homes turned into barracks and bawdy-houses for Hessians, and a future race to provide for, whose fathers we shall doubt of. Look on this picture and weep over it! And if there yet remains one thoughtless wretch who believes it not, let him suffer it unlamented.

—Thomas Paine, “The American Crisis,” 1776

FOUND OBJECT