Letters to the Editor 11/11/2009

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE

Editor,

Yikes another letter from G Krouse

(Run mission impossible sound tract) I hope to make this short. Three items.

Yes, I know there are some Americans very frustrated with unregistered aliens present, and thus figure these life-sucking non-Americans get their just deserts when busted for licenseless driving. Last weekend was the weekend of everyone getting frustrated because of those making the ganja bucks. The cops were out big time stopping questionable cars. If you happened to be an unlicensed Alien, you got a night in the clinker, and car towed ($210 from anywhere) plus $50 bongo bucks a night, not to mention big bucks at the courthouse. Is this govt. tax relief? Meanwhile how many years has this important working part of the US had this non-status due to lights on nobody home legislature? There is a movie called some thing like a Day Without Mexicans. The economy takes a real serious hit: no food, no food service, no hotel service, no house cleaning, all of those important jobs most take for granted. Remember the Bracero program, when Latinos could go home every year and didn't have to find permanent housing, create second families, new jobs, etc.? Lack of decision is making the problem much worst. But worst still, is unlicensed untrained folks on our roads. The latter is in my humble opinion, sheer government lunacy. Yes they are getting insurance but no knowledge of our driving laws. Can they drive? What about the industries that use them? Do they help? Do they provide buses to collect them to avoid driving? Remember when the life sucking aliens where Irish, German, Swedish, Puerto Rican, Cuban?

Moving from stupid to criminal. My rant about corporations that knowingly put bad chemicals in their food. Two quick aspects: (Roll the music again) They know! They really know! Sure they know. They knew early. There is 40 years of reports about how additives are impacting our populations. How do you know? Lets talk about ADHD which is probably 90% caused by this and yet the industry points to reports from 40 years back that say it is anecdotal. Not now it isn't! Thirty years of applied research and more recently the Southampton report in the Lancet used over a thousand kids in double blind studies and it was clear why kids were ADHD, they consumed foods with additives like those numbered petroleum based dyes, preservatives like BHA, food additives like Nutrasweet, MSG, Aspartame, Vanillin (made from wood pulp.) Do they know? They know that the European Union will not buy food that has this stuff in it for these reasons and they make safe alternatives. Do they use the alternatives here? No. Sorry suckers. Who gives a damn about ignorant or misinformed Americans? That may be your children, nephews, friends, service people etc. Get ready for the next sad truth: the impact of ADHD drugs on aging children becoming adults.

One final question. Why is one out of three women in military service subject to rape within ranks? I thought this was a highly trained operation with very high standards. We are worried about gay folks in the service when rape is rampant? Should the armed forces change sometime soon too?

Hey when did the mission impossible music stop?

Greg Krouse

From the very kidney of Anderson Valley,
Philo

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 THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING PUBLIC OPTION

Editor,

Ah, behold the advocates for single payer in the House of Representatives.

They are huddled in the corner, shivering. They have been kicked in the teeth by their supreme leaders — Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.

The so-called progressives didn’t have the guts to stand for what they believed in. They showed weakness early. And they were taken advantage of by the neighborhood bullies — the insurance and pharmaceutical industries — and their enforcer in chief the White House — Rahm Emanuel.

Take for example Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona). He’s the leader of the so-called Congressional Progressive Caucus. Raul started out as an advocate for single payer national health insurance. He then backed off to support a Jacob Hacker-style robust public option. That would be a public option open to everyone under 65 — a public option so attractive that more than 150 million Americans would sign up for it. A powerful public option that would negotiate down pharmaceutical costs.

Then in a July 30 2009 letter, Grijalva backtracked again — with the rest of the Progressive Caucus — into a puny public option. He and others said that anything less than “a public option with reimbursement rates based on Medicare rates — not negotiated rates — is unacceptable.”

Now the puny public option has been crushed. To be replaced by the meaningless public option. A public option that will cover less than 2% of Americans under 65.

Grijalva and the rest of the — let’s call them what they have become — the regressive caucus — are now in the corner, shivering and crying alone. And last week, Grijalva embarrassingly takes to the pages of Politico to argue that his support for Obamacare is “not unconditional.” He says he will “very strongly consider voting against” (ooh, Raul, so bold) — any bill that includes triggers or that gives the states the ability to opt-out. Nothing about single payer. Nothing about robust public option. Nothing about the July 30 letter saying that anything less than a public option with reimbursement rates based on Medicare rates is “unacceptable.”

Now, anything is acceptable. Just give Obama what he wants. And get out of the way.

Example two — Donna Edwards (D-Maryland) — another regressive. A spokesman for Edwards said this week that he would have no comment on whether Edwards will oppose Obamacare. Nor would the spokesman say whether Edwards stands by her July 30 position that anything less than a public option with reimbursement rates based on Medicare was “unacceptable.” On Tuesday November 17, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) will host a fundraising breakfast for Edwards at Johnny’s Half Shell on Capitol Hill. Host: $5,000. PAC: $2,500. Individual: $1,000.

This is what the Democrats are good at: capitulation. And as a result, they deserve to lose. In 2010. And beyond.

Russell Mokhiber
Single Payer Action
Washington DC

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THE DAVID DILDREN STORY

 Editor,

David Dildren, Aubrey and Sarah Olsen were abalone diving on Navarro Beach. David was the only one who came up with one legal abalone and since Sarah had found nothing he gave her the abalone. Game Warden Freeling was watching them from a hill and came over to give a citation to David for picking someone else’s abalone and to Sarah for accepting it.

Now, that law was made for someone who picked a limit and then picked them for someone else. At that point with only one abalone, it was his legal property and he could do anything he wanted with it. Just like his watch. He could give his watch away or his one legal abalone. Then when David wanted a jury trial he asked the court clerk if he could get a jury trial since this was so ridiculous by this game warden. The clerk said, Yes. But Judge Lehan said he couldn’t.

They were both fined about $270 each.

Below is what our forefathers put in the Constitution and the reasoning.

Amendment 7 to the Constitution: “In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.”

The framers of the Constitution considered the right to jury trial to be of great significance. Experience has shown that juries bring a quality of mercy and good common sense to the administration of the laws when lawyers and judges forget where justice lies. Juries have sometimes inflicted injustice. But for hundreds of years they have been an important safeguard between man and his government.

The speed limit on Highway 128 and most two lane roads in California is 55 miles per hour. 56 and a person has broken the law which would make ALL of the population into lawbreakers. Game wardens, policemen, judges, are there to prosecute violators of the law, but the second reason is that they are like a minister to help the public and not scrounge money out of the good people. They are supposed to have common sense or we should get rid of them. That is why incumbent judges have to be on the ballot even when no one opposes them. Everybody has to be held accountable or we are in deep trouble.

Emil Rossi
Boonville

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 THE WALTON EFFECT

Dear Editor,

Just wanted to express my gratitude for your continued inclusion of articles by Todd Walton. His writing always strikes a chord with me, and even when he is dealing with a difficult subject, his humor and use of the language are always a pleasure. Having seen him perform with his musician wife, Marcia Sloane, I can attest that he also puts on a great show as a storyteller, musician, and singer. Readers who like Todd's work should check out the duo's upcoming show, “Venus and Mars” at Preston Hall in Mendocino on Saturday, November 14th at 3pm. You will be pleasantly entertained and impressed by this talented couple.

Sara Fowler
Navarro

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 MIKE & THE JEWISH HERD

 Dear Congressman Mike:

We were very disappointed to learn today that you had voted with the herd to condemn Judge Goldstone's Report to the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. This report does not judge the events but recommends that the Israelis make a thorough investigation to determine if genocide and other war crimes did indeed occur. Yet even such an investigation is to be feared.

There is no rational explanation for the House to judge the Goldstone Report to be biased, particularly when probably no more than 10 members had even bothered to read it. The majority have relied upon the profoundly biased views of AIPAC, the American-Israeli Political Actoin Committee. It is very frightening to those of us who have lived and travelled in the Middle East over the years to see how the Jewish Lobby and the Government of Israel have been able to prevent journalists' objective reports on the horrors of the Israeli genocide in Gaza from ever appearing in our newspapers or on our major TV channels. Today, no foreign reporters are allowed into Gaza to tell us how Israel forbids even the reconstruction of homes, hospitals and schools destroyed last December and January.

Surely, in your District, with your ever-mounting campaign surplus which totals $1,293.000 as of Sept 30, 2009, and your lack of any serious challengers, you have no need whatsoever to Kow-Tow to the wealthy Jewish lobby in Washington nor to fear their threats of retribution.

The rest of the world will look with dismay upon the House of Representative's action yesterday. When the United Nations votes to accept the Goldstone Report next week, we Americans will again be seen as essentially a captive of the State of Israel and of its wealthy supporters in Washington.

With great disappointment,

James F. Houle
Redwood Valley

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 BELATED ARTSY BOO

Dear Readers,

Bnai Boo is part of Mendocino's history. Not-so-subtle. Nearly 40 years. Nonprofit since 1973. All improvements are done.

The origin original site will make a world-class retreat. A one of a kind location where the Big River meets the ocean overlooking the Village of Mendocino on eight acres.

In the world, global and national economy, $4 million is way less than a miracle. Perhaps the current owner would consider less.

The IRS has denied Bnai Boo its 501(c)3 status as it doesn't “serve the entire community.” We shall overcome!

So let's rekindle the flame at the Boo and let history repeat. The seeds of yesterday are the fruits of tomorrow.

It will only take a few to generate enough momentum to see this through.

If you have a purpose and know it, to create a temple on the ocean for all to enjoy forever call anytime.

Serious inquiries only.

Sincerely,

Name Withheld
Redding

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 FORT HOOD

Editor,

When I read of the tragedy at Fort Hood in my home state of Texas, where a soldier killed 13 of his fellow troops and wounded 30, I couldn't help thinking of my brief experience at the base.

It was the summer of 2006. I was in Crawford, Texas, home to Bush's ranch and Camp Casey, the activist camp out organized by Cindy Sheehan who lost her son in Iraq. It was the second year for Camp Casey. But this time, Bush had chosen to spend his holidays elsewhere, which left us with more free time.

Fort Hood, the largest army base in the U.S., where most soldiers heading off to war pass through, is an hour and a half from Crawford. We decided to go there to give information to members of the military. With us were veterans of the war in Iraq and we had leaflets from the GI Rights Hotline, an association that provides counseling to soldiers, including information on how to get out of the military.

We set up about a hundred meters from the entrance during evening rush hour as soldiers left the base. I expected to find myself in a hostile environment, but that's not the way it turned out.

We had signs with a very simple message, “You don't have to go.” It was enough to cause many soldiers to stop for more information, even in uniform, violating the military code and in sight of the guards at the entrance to the base. Some drove by in their cars and flashed us the peace sign. Others stopped just long enough to jot down the toll free number for the GI Rights Hotline written in large letters on the side of our van. Spouses, mothers and fathers of soldiers stopped to get material to take home.

Fort Hood has the highest suicide rate of all US bases. Nidal M. Hasan, the soldier who killed his fellow troops, had spent six years, from 2003 to 2009, as a psychiatrist at Walter Reed military hospital in Washington treating soldiers with post-traumatic stress syndrome. He was soon set to deploy to Iraq.

Over three years have passed since I was at Fort Hood. At the time, the Republicans controlled the House, the Senate and the White House. Now the Democrats have the majority. But I feel certain that if I were to go stand in front of the base with the same sign, the scene of three years ago would repeat itself.

Stephanie Westbrook
Rome, Italy

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WEED SCREED

To the editor —

Sometimes I just can't help myself and I start ranting. I should be more in control. But last Tuesday's election results were just too much.

It is a splendid thing that Measure A, put on the ballot by developer money, was defeated, I am told, by a resounding margin with a 30% voter turnout. Frightening. Here is a measure placed on the ballot so an out-of-the-area company can circumvent all planning, zoning and environmental policies and laws. Their concept was so destructive that not even our normally supine Supervisors took their usual places at the trough. Yet barely 20% of eligible voters are willing to make the effort to vote in protest.

Enron, Merrill Lynch, the mortgage crisis, close to 10% unemployment -- and less than 20% of eligible voters could restore themselves to make a feeble protest? Emil Rossi is right. The government is out of control as is big business and the reason is: as a nation, a culture, we are selfish, greedy, often dishonest and shortsighted.

Unrelated, except by cause, Mendocino County's economic driving force is marijuana. In Gravity's Rainbow Thomas Pynchon said it clearly: if you can get them to ask the wrong questions, it doesn't matter what the answers are.

Tony Craver had the solution: a pot garden of 100 square feet grown by a legal grower is okay and it worked. If people grow 4 to 10 pound plants, how many is okay? Six or 25? Who cares? Neither is more than anyone needs. I have had enough health issues to know. One huge plant takes up 100 sqaure feet whereas 150 small ones in 100 square feet produce far less quantity. When I asked Sheriff Allman about why he was changing this policy, he said determining whether a garden was 100 square feet was too difficult for his officers to determine. Bulls---. The issue is not 100 or 120 square feet. The issue is 100 versus 250 versus 1000 square feet.

The money issue is easy as well. Any parcel with over 100 square feet by a person growing as a caregiver must register and pay. Want to supply a “medical marijuana dispensary” that sells weed at, what is it at now, $4000 a pound? Fine. Collect your prescriptions, register as a grower and pay. As with Tony's policy, mom and pop are left alone.

The dope issue is so contentious and the Sheriff's department is so out of control I would not like to sign this screed

A 40 year, thrice busted, noncommercial pot grower
Willits

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CLEAN IMPACT

Dear Editor:

I write urgently in support of green jobs which would put one million Americans to work. In the proposed legislation S.Con.Res. 12 which needs more co-sponsors in Senate is the ”Investments in Manufacturing Progress and Clean Technology Act” (IMPACT) introduced by Senator Sherrod Brown. This bill would fund a million manufacturing jobs with the $30 billion from the Obama stimulus funding for loans for small and medium-sized manufacturers to retool their factories to make the parts that go into wind turbines, and solar arrays and make products that will power America's clean energy future.

This bill would create diversified, clean energy so that we are not impoverishing our descendants by failing to turn around climate change. We can begin the work by supporting this legislation.

Call your Senators, Feinstein and Boxer in California, now and urge them to support Senator Sherrod Brown's bill. IMPACT. The DC switchboard is 202-224-3121. Ask for your Senator.

Sincerely,

Agnes Woolsey
Mendocino

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AFTER THE ELECTION

Editor,

I am so grateful for all who supported me during the election for Point Arena Unified School Board. I want you all to know I will continue to work hard to ensure all of our children receive the education each and every one of them deserve. I ask that you help support our students by attending board meetings, with me, once a month and presenting your voice to the Board of Trustees. “A sustainable community is an educated community.” Also, there are many committees that can use community involvement i.e. bond oversight committee, budget committee, facilities committee, site council meetings in both the elementary and high school just to name a few.

By being a “Basic Aid” District our schools should be (according to a pamphlet Mr. Iacuaniello, the superintendent gave me on Basic Aid) ranked “among the best in the State of California and represent what education funding should be for every child.” In spite of the election results, I promise you, I will continue to work hard to see this goal is accomplished. So, we also can say we are ranked among the best!

Thank you,

Susan Rush
Manchester

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ENOUGH WINE FOR NOW

Dear Bruce,

2010 will be a very special year for me and my husband, John Woolley. This year marks the 20th anniversary of Paige Poulos Communications, the wine industry-focused public relations agency that I founded in 1990. And it also marks the 20th anniversary of our marriage.

We are celebrating by giving ourselves that rarest of gifts: time. For me and John, 2010 will be a 20/20 vision year — a twelve month sabbatical to rest, rejuvenate and reflect; to explore new and old interests.

2010 will also be a year of new beginnings for our staff, who will be exploring new opportunities to leverage the skills and experience in marketing and communications gained in their respective roles at PPC.

Paige Poulos Communications will close officially on December 31; unofficially on December 23, when the agency takes our traditional Christmas holiday. Between now and then, there will be no change in our usual pace of work.

Thank you for your support and goodwill throughout the years. Near the end of the year, we will be sharing new contact information for the team.

Ciao, and Best Regards,

Paige M. Poulos
Richmond

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DAZY CHAINS

Dear Bruce,

This country is in a daze. The problems are so large, and the offered solutions so seemingly impotent, that people cannot think clearly about them. We are witnessing a psychological blacking out, an incapacity to distinguish what is feared from what is real.

The protagonists of the Left and the Right sling accusations at each other; the pundits then attempt to make it all seem rational, and the populace reacts by clutching at a mixture of hope and blame. This country is in a semi-psychotic break, balanced between reality and the need for some “other” to blame it all on.

We used to be able to rationalize the zoo in which we live. We could accept all of the incongruities because we collectively had a high standard of living, lots of creature comfort, plenty of food, and so on. Sure, the air was polluted, the food full of harmful stuff, the environment trashed, the violence unchecked in the inner cities, the drugs everywhere. But what the hell, we were living high off the hog and getting fat in the process.

But that’s not the case anymore. Nobody is claiming that being in America is the best place to be, not for quality of life, not anymore. Maybe for quantity of life, but not for quality. There are now lots of places where the quality of life is higher than here. It is not quality when you need to put gates around your community, because you live in fear, conscious or unconscious. And fear is not a quality feeling. It’s not quality when you pay 10,000 times more for water in a bottle than water out of the tap. It’s not quality when you spend about one-third of your money on defense and war. It’s not quality when people are packed into cities with traffic gridlock and lack alternate modes of transportation. It’s not quality when your health or lack thereof is somebody’s profit. It’s not quality when the entire economic system is based on a few myths that only work if everybody keeps believing them. It’s not quality when citizens can no longer separate opinion from fact.

It’s not quality when the educational system, the prison system, the criminal justice e system, the health care system, the economic system are barely functioning.

So how do we get out of the daze? As with anything, the first step, the most important step is recognition. Until and unless we collectively recognize that we are in a daze, there is no way out. Is this possible?

Lee Simon
Far ‘n Away Farm in Virginia

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WITH BIZ LEADERS LIKE THESE…

Editor,

Curious about the status of our coastal economy?

Join members of the business community on November 19th at 12pm for lunch and an update on the state of our coastal economy at the November Business Leaders’ Luncheon at the North Coast Brewery Tap Room and Grill.

Linda Ruffing, city manager of Fort Bragg, will be giving a presentation on the City of Fort Bragg’s Economic Indicators and what they mean for local businesses on the coast. The presentation will be followed by a short discussion.

The cost of the luncheon is $22 including lunch. To reserve your spot online, visit www.westcompany.org or call (707)964-7571 for more information. The Business Leaders’ Luncheon Series is organized by West Company, a non-profit organization that offers free business counseling and planning services as the Small Business Development Center and the Women’s Business Center for Mendocino County.

For more information, visit our website at www.westcompany.org or call (707) 964-7571.