Letters To The Editor

21ST CENTURY THALIDOMIDE

Editor,

A friend is dying of brain cancer and an unusual spinal cancer. He has been a cell-home-roam phone user on a big scale. In her path to combat this nasty impact, she has had to have a hole drilled in her skull to allow drugs to bypass the blood-brain barrier which is a protective membrane that keeps natural toxins out of the most sensitive part of our body.

Ironically back in the 40s researched showed that microwaves break this barrier. Many drugs are formulated much stronger to cross that barrier creating side effects elsewhere because of the higher levels.

Imagine if you are taking any regular high dose drug and that barrier is breached by cellphones. I talked to Dr. Devra Davies, who wrote ‘Disconnect,’ a book about the lies and treachery in the wireless research industry. She mentioned this and the fact that wireless technology makes water and bodies more acidic, which is perfect for growing cancer cells. She asked, What natural toxins are crossing the blood-brain barrier that should not be in the presence of a cell phone? Meanwhile, profit motivated wireless folks are making every gadget considerable to revolutionize our lives. Aside from the direct physical intrusion component, I think most of these things intrude on our basic sanity making us effectively neurotic. Are you a cell user? Try going cold turkey on it for a few days.

I discussed this with Ellie Marks, long time anti-wireless activist from SF. Her husband had a brain tumor caused by a cell phone (a rising concern). He is a fortunate survivor. They discovered that by simply moving the phone away from your head the old inverse square rule decreases the impact significantly. Yet there is nothing on the phones, and the warning in the instructions is miniscule for such a serious impact. Meanwhile mothers have extended phone calls in close proximity of the heads of their more sensitive children.

Remember thalidomide babies with diminutive extremities or none, or silicon breast toxicity or drugs that maim and kill? All were tested somewhat, but not long enough. Here we are in the 21st century having learned nothing, taking no precaution. From a scientific perspective it is logically vulgar. I know that the wireless issue is in that vein. Read Davies’ book, but it may lead to sleepless nights. Her news opens your eyes that far and if you are a wireless user you need to get informed. No one is protecting you and your insurance will not do much. Did I say my friend still uses her cell phone pasted on her head?

I think we all have seen the addicted smoker with the cigarette held up to his trachea hole. This is a bit different. We are being lied to and assume that we are being protected, when in truth, the government is so riddled with corporate money and bad laws it does nothing.

The World Health Organization (WHO?) classified wireless as a class 2 toxin along with DDT. Doesn’t that say anything? We are also exposing one another to this. Unlike cigarettes that smoke, wireless stuff is hidden energized in a person’s pocket where it is ruining their bodies and those around them. Why? To allow that moment of contact that, frankly, is not that important. They could keep the phone off and check messages away from others. That’s what an oncologist in San Diego does. He limits his cell calls to quick connects and makes extended calls on a tethered phone. What he also has is a redundant system, like the Japanese payphones that allowed folks with unpowered cell antennae to communicate during the tsunami/nuclear disaster.

If nothing else talk to friends about this concern, for you may be surprised to find how many folks have impacted family and friends from cell phones.

Greg Krouse

Philo

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MEMORIAL DAY BLOCKAGE

Editor,

I wanted to scream about something I learned this morning.

President Obama wanted to make one of his increasingly am-I-not-wonderful speeches on Memorial Day.

To do so, a combination of the Secret Service, the Park Service and probably others closed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, known as “The Wall.”

They closed access to it for nearly SEVEN HOURS. On Memorial Day!

Thousands of veterans, their families and others were kept behind barriers a hundred yards from the monument.

I am not sure even a personal apology from Obama to each and every one of those blocked would be enough.

Jim Armstrong

Potter Valley

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JESS JACKSON, THIEF

Editor,

Good to see the other side of the deified Jess Jackson in print again. How soon we forget how he shafted Jed Steele over ownership of Jed’s own recipes for wine — his nose and tongue and superior creative powers which were at least 90% responsible for making KJ — period. I’m giving Jess Jackson 10% for business acumen. This is the same man who tried to sue Gallo for proprietary rights to the image of a grape leaf in varaison. Gimme a break.

Jeff McMullin

Lake County

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LAMPOONING MOSCONE

Editor:

Regarding the Robert Arneson sculpture of Mayor George Moscone, the public had it right from the beginning. Arneson was a satirist and iconoclast to the heart. The sculpture didn't seem to mock, it did mock. Intentionally. Mocking was the currency of the realm within his group.

Arneson himself said in The Chronicle that he viewed Moscone as an average person, small and not noble. He depicted him with a confused and comical expression, the head rising out of a column of graffiti, blurred and smudged in comic strip colors. As art students of the era, we were schooled in the lingo of witty and caustic lampooning. Making fun of the establishment. To our detriment in my opinion, but it was the conceit and style of the times.

In my view, the sculpture will come to reflect more on the artist and the movement than on the tragic event that it caricatures. Spinning the facts now to characterize the work as instructive and sincere in tone is a stretch.

John Ammirati

San Francisco

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THE LIES OF BETH NORMAN

Mr. Anderson, Editor,

This is an open letter to the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, especially John Pinches, because of his article in the May 9, 2012 AVA and Dan “Buzz” Hamburg (my former teacher), and on behalf of every taxpayer, and Mendocino County Grand Jury.

Mr. Pinches, I have been imprisoned for lies of inappropriate touching to 13-year-olds who stripped naked while I was driving. I have never touched anyone inappropriately, ever, but the lies told handed me a life-sentence. When people who are supposed to be truthful end up lying, or get others to lie for them simply to obtain a conviction, such actions are deeply wrong. Would you not agree?

I was arrested in 1995 for inappropriately touching Natasha Bailey and Christy Mayfield. Subsequent to that, District Attorney Beth Norman told the Ukiah mewspaper that I had a previous arrest and conviction for child molestation. This is a complete lie. Ms. Norman knew my past and knew that I had never had an arrest for anything like that, but she got the paper to print it nevertheless.

At my first preliminary hearing, Ms. Norman convinced a friend of mine, Richard McCormick, to attend the hearing and state that I had threatened him. He was coerced into saying this in order to have his wife Kathy’s bail lowered in order to have her released from custody. This was yet another lie orchestrated by Ms. Norman.

I would ask that questions be asked of investigator Rick Iverson or attorney Patricia Littlefield or the DA’s own investigator, Ken Hillard, to confirm that these allegations never took place — but said allegations were enough to have me jailed. As for the truth, it should be known from police reports that Richard McCormick was arrested for chasing me around with a loaded and concealed .357 hand gun.

There have been instances of lies fabricated by my former vindictive ex-girlfriend and the DA that had me jailed for lies — they worked. There was another published incident of a bomb at Montgomery Ward’s in Ukiah and yes, DA Norman went to her lead reporter who believes every word as fact the DA says or wants printed for any excuse to bolster a case. I have no problem when the truth is published, but when falsehoods are reported as fact, and they know it, then a pattern is established in their lives and behavior. A person is only as good as their word.

At my most recent parole hearing, I was given a five-year denial because a new person in the DA’s office, Paul Sequiera, appeared and stated that at the time of my conviction in 1996, I attempted to get a “jailhouse informant,” Noble Caps, to kill Beth Norman. It was only another lie, but it worked. I have no idea who this informant even is. But Ms. Norman used this falsehood as an excuse not to attend my Board hearing on the grounds that she was afraid of me.

I want everyone to know that I have never harmed a woman in my life, nor have I ever been arrested for assault. (There was one occasion when I myself was assaulted.) When a person such as Ms. Norman is exposed as an habitual liar, they begin losing the thread of their lies, and they must exert tremendous effort to hide the truth forever or be exposed.

Ms. Norman informed the Anderson Valley Advertiser, in an article about Mendocino County v. Sprinkle, Case number C12367, that it was one of the most difficult cases she had ever tried because she “did not know who was telling the truth.”

Just what kind of statement is that from a prosecutor?

Well, I know the truth and that will never change because I am innocent of the charges brought against me. I fear that no one will see the facts for what they are. If I were who they claim me to be I could easily have run amok like several of Mendocino County’s more notorious citizens: Richard Allen Davis, Tree Frog Jones, Richard Dean, the Willits teacher Mr. Clinton Smith, and the County Clerk Dan Garcia. Some of these perpetrators received county jail time or three years in state prison because they were friends of the DA’s office. But should not the punishment fit the crime? Well, I have been wrongly convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for supposedly touching two (frankly) floozies who premeditatedly lied, and were encouraged to lie.

Beth Norman knows as well as I do that the lies keep coming in order for a few people who, for personal reasons, feel Mark Sprinkle must die in prison. To be honest, I feel as though I was forcibly retired at the age of 35 with full (if unpleasant) benefits. There are a large number of old men in here with me who feel the same way. For all of you taxpayers who continue to pay for this miscarriage of justice, my incarceration to date has cost you well over $1 million with no end in sight simply to satisfy a couple of vindictive women from my past. I have also heard about DA Sequiera’s comfort and pleasure at a very nice Bed & Breakfast in the foothills to produce lies at my most recent Board hearing. There are tax dollars hard at work; Mendocino County has abundant funding to pay for a little revenge.

That’s enough for today from the State Retirement Home. Thank you, Bruce Anderson, for the mighty A.A. Peace to all.

PS. For Noble Caps, the jailhouse informant for the DA: For you to be telling lies to Beth Norman is beyond a lot of people. And all for a possible lighter sentence? But is that benefit really worth it to be known as a notorious liar and rat? And don’t bother denying anything. The Mendocino County District Attorney’s office has laced your name in documentation proving you are one of their informants, just not a truthful one. Live with the real truth, Noble.

Peace, Mark Sprinkle — K-24619

P.O. Box 368-A-JH-136L

Chino, CA 91708

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F IS FOR FAULDER!

Editor/Bruce McEwen,

I have an idea who could be the judge in Department F to maintain “The poetic justice … pleasing to both the ear and the eye.” Do you think we can talk Sacramento into appointing a 10th judge?

Keith Faulder

Ukiah

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BOWING OUT

Editor,

Haiku straight to Nate “Often Wrong, but Never in Doubt” Collins' head:

The more you rant on

from ignorance, spite, envy

- nuttier you sound.

Backweh vampire,

Steve Heilig

San Francisco

PS: To any reader who might have read these ongoing missives: These silly insults have been offered in the old tradition of early (1960s-70s) Jamaican reggae “sound system” owners and deejays, who battled for status in the small world of Kingston music via sung and chanted insults and boasts. Anything was fair game but was rarely meant to be taken seriously, although that sometimes did not translate well to some 'challenged' listeners who took things personally. Later, as guns and bad drugs infested Jamaica, and then in the USA, things got worse as rappers shot one another over perceived slights and “disrespect” — as in prisons. And thus goes cultural devolution. In any event, I will bow out now, as we've used enough of the AVA's precious letterspace. And besides, I won.

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ANOTHER BROKEN OBAMA PROMISE

Editor:

Barack Obama promised during his 2008 campaign to end the war on medical cannabis, saying his administration was not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state medical marijuana laws.

Well, here we are, reeling from one of the most severe crackdowns on the medical cannabis community ever. Federal attacks have resulted in the closing of some of our oldest and best regulated medical cannabis dispensaries and a warning that nobody is immune from action by the federal government.

It's a real shame, too, because President Obama recently took a stand for marriage equality. But the use of medical marijuana under the care and supervision of a licensed medical professional has even more support: it consistently carries 80 percent support in nationwide polling.

The closure of dispensaries does not mean that these thousands of people will stop buying and using medical marijuana. Patients will now simply have to find marijuana elsewhere, probably on the streets. They are sick, in pain and should be afforded the same access to marijuana as they would any other medicine.

Mr. President, please do the right thing and take a stand for all patients in need of safe access to their medicine

Tony Bowles

Oakland

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CAMELOT RE-EXAMINED

Dear Editor,

In the history world, “current events” become “history” after 50 years. Just about 50 years ago John Kennedy was sending 35,000 US combat troops, falsely called “advisers,” to South Vietnam. It was very newsy of course, but the prostitute press played it way down.

We learned in the teach-ins that the partition of Vietnam between a communist North and a Catholic South was temporary pending nationwide elections, elections which Eisenhower said Ho Chi Minh would certainly have won. A cathedral dominated downtown Saigon and the ruling Diem family were ferocious Catholics. South Vietnam was a Catholic enclave in Asia and Kennedy was a Catholic American. The war was fought for the Catholic Church. It took 50 years — two generations — to put two and two together.

Moishe (Marvin) Garson

Reh. Rabbi Akiva (14/18)

Jerusalem, Israel

PS. Some notes on Kennedy: in the early days the press spoke admiringly of the “ruthless Kennedy machine” without giving any details. Probably that meant blackmail, not murder. His first act in office was to reappoint J. Edgar Hoover as head of the FBI and it was Hoover who controlled the United States through his extensive blackmail files. The prostitute press spoke lovingly of “Camelot” without giving any details. What the hell was “Camelot"? The proper pronunciation is “came a lot.” “Came” is the past tense of “come,” slang for ejaculate. Kennedy came a lot. That he was an incredible sex maniac is deep in the historical record. How will they teach history to the kids? Well, they don't call it history, they call it social studies — very interesting.

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MIRACULOUS BOMBS

Editor and Fellow AVAers,

A miracle. A miracle, the absence of “thermal pulse,” and the absence of the “blast wave,” without the three stages of radiation sickness. Nuclear attack is gruesome. Hero She Ma. Nagasaki, a beautiful world. A beautiful word. “Accumulation of nuclear arms has to be constrained if mankind is not to destroy itself.” Henry K. Nuclear is accompanied by peril. Not toothpaste. A macabre existence. A strong force keeps the energy in the nucleus together. A spontaneous nuclear chain reaction broke out in a west African uranium deposit, “the inertia of a system depends on its energy content. Inert mass is latent energy.” “Tremendous energy” in mass. President Truman told the public, Truman told the world, “the basic power of the universe has been harnessed for war by the United States.” The United States cries out, “We are the freest country on earth.” The United States is the only country that dropped the bomb in war on another country, twice.

PS. In my June 6, 2012 letter, “A False Assault?,” the closure: disappointed, should read:

Diana Vance, squeezed, and strictured

Deadtree, Mendocino

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TRICK OR TREAT?

Editor,

Who's getting tricked and who's getting the treat? That's a question I have asked myself over and over in the past ten years.

In 2002 as I sat in the county jail awaiting trial I happened to come across an article in the newspaper — which newspaper? I can't recall — titled “casinos and prisons are big business.” The part about the casinos I skimmed over since casinos being big business is a no-brainer of a concept. But I was very interested in what they had to say about the prison system here in California. What I eventually read has become like a song stuck in your head.

This article stated that the “Prison Industry Authority,” better known as the PIA, which is controlled by the federal government and run by the state under the California Department of Corrections, is a publicly traded company on the stock market/Wall Street.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the PIA, let me give you a little background. PIA is a string of factories and farms that produce everything from desks and chairs to chocolate milk and bread. These factories and farms are being worked by inmates of the California Department of Corrections who are paid a minimum at 8¢ an hour to a maximum of 65¢ an hour which by all standards is considered slave wages.

Another fact that the article talked about was that any state institution, whether it be a university or a police station, if the PIA makes it they are forced to buy it and PIA sells it to them at triple the cost. The institutions are forbidden to purchase items made by the PIA from any outside retail business, basically purchasing items of lesser quality at a much higher price. This insanity goes unchecked. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

But the question that has become a thorn in my side is this: What if my public defender or the prosecutor or the judge who presided over my case or all of them own stock in PIA? I guess I know now who is getting tricked and who is getting the treat!

Gary Poucher

Corcoran

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‘REGGAE,’ R.I.P.

Editor,

When dreams go bad, everyone loses, some far more than others.

For over a quarter of a century, I knew where I was working on the first weekend in August. I attended the reggae festival we all built and loved and shared with the world. It was a destination festival, one not to be missed, and one to be remembered. We judged our experiences at other festivals compared with our Reggae on the River experiences. The festival went through some changes of ownership, resulting in a name change, (Reggae Rising). Very bad management decisions were made, and the festival went belly up. Reputations were forever sullied.

The bills went unpaid, and the festival's legacy is forever tarnished. The land owners defaulted on a million dollar bank loan. Today the property is being auctioned off on the courthouse steps. There are people who are quite pleased by this situation, and others, like myself, who feel the loss of a very good festival, miss the gathering of friends and family, and feel the tragic loss.

Kim Sallaway

Redway

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CONSERVATION, NOT CONVERSION

Editor,

Conservation groups filed a lawsuit last week challenging a controversial proposal by a Spanish corporation to clearcut 154 acres of redwood forest to plant wine grapes in northwestern Sonoma County. The Sierra Club’s Redwood Chapter, the Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Gualala River sued the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) for violating state law in approving the Fairfax “forest conversion” project, funded by Spanish company Codorniu S.A., the owner of Napa Valley’s Artesa Winery. The suit was filed in Sonoma County Superior Court.

Sonoma County has already experienced a large-scale conversion of natural oak woodlands and inland forests to agriculture, and we intend to draw a line to stop further destruction of redwood forests and salmon streams for more acres of grapes.” said “Sonoma County needs to conserve its remaining forestland for the benefit of future generations, not sacrifice redwood trees for the sake of pinot noir,” said Jay Halcomb of the Sierra Club.

“Clearcutting forests to plant vineyards is foolish and short-sighted,” said Justin Augustine, staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Turning redwood stands into vineyards will increase greenhouse gas emissions and harm stream flows, water quality and habitat for wildlife, including endangered salmon and steelhead trout.”

“The idea that Artesa could permanently clearcut and destroy 154 acres of redwood forest, rip out the stumps, remove all vegetation, bulldoze the soil, apply tons of chemicals and install miles of wildlife-exclusion fencing with no significant environmental impacts, as claimed in the environmental review by Cal Fire, is just not credible,” said Dave Jordan of the Sierra Club. “We're not against wine or grape-growing, but we object to the destruction of forests and Native American heritage.”

In preparing an environmental impact report for the project, Cal Fire failed to adequately consider the project’s environmental impacts and did not properly analyze alternatives less damaging to the environment, in violation of the California Environmental Quality Act. Cal Fire only considered alternative vineyard sites that are also forested, to reach the flawed conclusion that the project would be equally damaging to the environment at other sites. Buying forested land with the intent to clearcut and destroy its forest to plant grapes is unnecessarily environmentally damaging, since there is suitable nonforested land available in Sonoma County.

The environmental review for Artesa's project also attempts to sidestep impacts it would have on American Indian heritage and cultural resources. The land the winery purchased has been used extensively by American Indians since prehistoric times and contains numerous significant archeological sites that have not been adequately documented or protected. The Kashia Pomo have publicly stated that the land is spiritually important to them.

Chris Poehlmann, president

Friends of the Gualala River.

PS. Friends of the Gualala River is a volunteer nonprofit group that advocates for preservation of the Gualala River watershed in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties. GualalaRiver.org. The Sierra Club works to protect and restore wild places, public health and wildlife for future generations. The Redwood Chapter covers northwestern California. Redwood.SierraClub.org. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 350,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places. BiologicalDiversity.org

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MENDO POACH WATCH

Editor,

Mendocino Abalone Watch Helps Nab Poachers At Headlands & Resumes Game Bag Checks At Glass Beach And Jug Handle State Park —

Jerry & Nancy Ives can only help Mendocino Abalone Watch once in a while, as their permanent residence is out of the area. But when they are at their Mendocino home, they come prepared to watch for poaching, especially on the Mendocino Headlands.

Their training and work over the past two years paid off on June 7 when they observed six suspicious divers in the cove at the north end of the Headlands. The Ives arrived in town late Tuesday night but were out on their MAW patrol by 6 a.m. They observed 35-40 mostly rock pickers Wednesday and all seemed in compliance. Thursday was a different story.

At dawn, the parking lot had six cars and many divers headed into the water. Weather conditions were picture-perfect. But there was something about one particular group, seemingly led by a man later nicknamed “buzz cut” or BC. Two of the group were dressed in nice slacks and had no dive gear. As they walked out on the point, Jerry thought he saw a diver hand one of the well-dressed men a plastic bag that the man promptly tucked under his shirt. Jerry told Nancy what he witnessed. Both men were wearing surgical gloves. Later, they found him standing on the bluff top with five empty and wet abalone shells at his fee. Nancy approached the man to engage him in conversation.

As she approached, he took off his jacket and began gesticulating and, with an odd dramatic flair, snapping panoramic pictures with his camera. He claimed not to speak much English and said he was a “visitor.” He marveled at the scenery, snapping pictures repeatedly and showing them to Nancy. At his feet were the five shells. “I asked about them,” said Nancy, “and he commented how beautiful they were. When I asked where he got them, he indicated the beach below.” Because the shells were wet and still had some kelp attached, Nancy pressed the point. Suspicions aroused, Jerry had called the DFG poaching hotline. Nancy departed for a few moments and when she returned, was surprised to find the man still standing in place but the shells gone.

“What happened to them?” she asked. Gesturing, the man said he tossed them off the cliff. Curious why he suddenly would relieve himself of such beauty, Nancy asked. She continued to ask about the shells and his gloves. The language barrier immediately got higher. The man left and returned to his group, now assembled at the parking lot. Along the way, he passed some car keys to another diver, who quickly departed with BC. Moments later, in response to Jerry’s hotline call, DFG Warden Kathleen Hrbacek arrived at the Headlands.

Hrbacek took immediate control, instructing the men to stay in place at their cars and had Nancy keep an eye on them as Hrbacek walked the area to look for evidence. Hrbacek returned with one wet shell that had been tossed into the high grass. The men denied any knowledge of the shell and indicated a minimal ability to converse in English. The man with whom Nancy spoke now claimed he never had any shells and had not worn surgical gloves. Searching one diver’s bag, Warden Hrbacek turned up seven abalone. She also persuaded the “visitor” to produce a set of blue surgical gloves which he had stuffed in his pocket, but the de-shelled abalone meat could not be found. Hrbacek issued a citation to one diver for his overlimit take and ascertained where the men were staying. Jerry provided the license plate and description of the first vehicle and Hrbacek headed to the motel after confiscating the dive gear. Hrbacek indicated that this arrest is likely to produce a conviction and a jail sentence.

Numerous other MAW volunteers were out in force at various locations from Westport to Van Damme. During the week, volunteers assisted State Park Ranger Tracy Weisberg in conducting game bag inspections at Jug Handle, as well as Fort Bragg Police Officer Andrew Kendl at Glass Beach.

One regular volunteer in the MacKerricher State Park to Todd’s Point area is ex-FBVFD Chief Will Phenix. Not only helping Officer Kendl, Phenix has been tracking the volume of divers and rock pickers at Glass Beach during heavy minus-tide days. From Sunday, June 3 to Thursday, June 7, Phenix counted a total of nearly 1300 divers, who removed over 3800 abalone. Based on game bag inspections at Glass Beach, the majority of these were at the minimum legal size of 7 inches or slightly larger. Removal of this stratum leaves a gaping hole in the population and may end up affecting long-term reproduction. And almost every diver or rock picker was leaving with her or his limit of three abalone. Many returned each day, even though divers may only have three abalone in their possession at any moment in time and cannot stockpile their catch.

MAW continually can use additional volunteers and works to accommodate all ages and those with physical limitations. To sign up for the training session or to learn more about MAW, go to www.mendoabwatch.com , send an email to abalonewatch@gmail.com , or call 937.3725.

Rod Jones

Mendocino

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EXPENSIVE HOMEWORK

Editor,

Ten minutes of phone calls and several hours drive would have saved me over $472 for one procedure. Our local Fort Bragg hospital is an important resource, especially for emergencies. But I was shocked that I could have saved a lot of money on routine tests including blood work, a mammogram, and an abdominal ultrasound. It was a bit galling, that the day I received my huge bill from MCDH, the front page of the Mendocino Beacon touted the Hospital CFO Wayne Allen as saying that April (when my bill was booked) was the best in terms of income since 2008, and board member Tom Birdsell is quoted as trying to maximize diagnostic imaging revenue opportunities. Following the hospital’s financial tales of woe has had me concerned about its longevity, but now I find myself in a position of great frustration. After this experience, I will not be returning to MCDH except for emergencies if they do not figure out a way to keep staying local from being a costly penalty. Slick brochures and yet another expensive “study” to determine the strategy of the executives fail to give me any reassurance.

Sarah Ginskey

Mendocino

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A NEW ERA

Dear friend,

Barbara and I have entered a new era in our work together. We are filled with gratitude at the support we received in the John Lewallen for Congress campaign. We are nonviolent campaigners, and thank everyone who participated in the congressional primary election campaign.

Now, with the primary campaign behind us, we can, working with you, continue to weave together a network of movements for fundamental reforms we need.

In eleven congressional debates and forums from Hayfork to Marin City, our message of peace conversion, single-payer health care, fishery and fishing community restoration, financial and tax reform, Northcoast environmental restoration, was enthusiastically received. Now we know activists all over Northern California, and are on very friendly terms with the two candidates for congress.

Barbara and I encourage everyone to contact both congressional candidates before the November general election, to see how they will really deal with issues of concern to us.

We are especially thankful for the respectful support we received from community members for our good-hearted effort to be of public service.

John Lewallen

Barbara Stephens-Lewallen

Philo

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AT LAST A LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Editor,

Potter Valley High's Advanced Spanish class embarked on a May field trip to San Francisco, focusing the experience on one Diego Rivera mural and then many in the Mission District. Here, students (left to right) Monica Galliani, Diego Quintero, Shelby Silva, Jadine DeNoon, Mauricio Alvarez, and Baldo Alvarez pose for a shot after having worked on the gallery floor, drawing sections of Rivera's mural titled "The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City." Rivera created this piece, located at the San Francisco Art Institute near North Beach, in 1931, during the peak of the Great Depression; it includes a rear view self-portrait of Mexico's greatest muralist. Having arrived in the City via the Larkspur Ferry, students walked from the Art Institute to City Lights Bookstore, then up to Coit Tower, down the Greenwich walkway to catch the Embarcadero's historic street car, riding it to the end of the line near the Castro's rainbow flag. From there the group ambled through Dolores Park to view Mission District murals, particularly those on Balmy Street; then it was back to the Ferry via BART. Upon return to the Spanish classroom, most students chose to evaluate this experience in their culminating writing assignment for the course.

Phil Baldwin

Ukiah