GREETINGS FROM MIKE & SUZANNE
Dear Friends,
I thought someone might be interested to know that our insane state prison system has decided that serial killers are not maximum-security inmates. I was convicted of first-degree murders in San Francisco, Sonoma and Humboldt counties in 1984, 1985 and 1987. After 16 years at New Folsom, a Level 4 (or maximum-security) prison, I was sent to Level 3, although I asked to stay where I had friends and a good job in a library.
All “life without parole” inmates remained Level 4, but an ordinary triple-lifer, age 50, and supposedly eligible for parole at age 92, had to go to Level 3. So, then, after another 8.5 years, they told me that under another new policy I will be sent to Level 2 (Level 1 is minimum security), although again I had asked to stay where I am. I was told serial killers will stay at Level 3 or 4, but that I'm not really a serial killer because I didn't always use the same weapon (twice a .38 revolver, once a knife). I kid you not.
These idiots will eventually get some people (with families able to hire lawyers) killed while doing time for some petty offenses and the already bankrupt state will be deluged with lawsuits. The level 1s and 2s live crowded into rooms with a lot of people, not the traditional one- or two-man prison cells. They put up with these conditions because they are “short-timers” hoping to go home soon.
A lot of lifers would kill or seriously injure someone and spend a couple of years in the “hole” without books, TV, radio, etc. just to not live 40 years with no privacy. (I have no idea why the state even built the new kind of prison. Maybe they thought it was cheaper. Anyway, they still have a lot of the old-style prisons and so few serial killers that they could easily find room to keep people who are obviously not getting paroled.
I never claimed to be “rehabilitated,” and I still advocate assassinating many government and corporate leaders as stated in my 1981 book “A Cry For War.” I may be 60, but I still practice my karate and if these pigs think I'm no longer dangerous, they are morons.
Suzanne sends her love. She has a beautiful garden full of rabbits she feeds at Chowchilla Women's Penitentiary near Fresno.
Sincerely,
Michael Baer Carson
Ione
PS. I'm now for Obama, like everyone else. Even I don't hate him enough to not see that Romney is even worse.
_____________________________________
SORRY
To the Editor:
My name is Marvin Johnson. I was involved in the Lake Mendocino shooting on July 20, 2011. I would like to make it clear for the record that I send my apology for my action and involvement with what went on out there that day of July 20, 2011. Friends and family of Brandon Haggett, I also would like to send my most sincere apology and my respect to all friends and family of Joe Litteral. My intention of it all was not for one person to get hurt. I really am not a bad person. So here I send to all my utmost respect and apologies. I know my apologies won't bring Joe back but I am really, really sorry.
Marvin Johnson
Mendocino County Jail, Ukiah
_____________________________________
SLAVE LABOR?
Editor:
I'm writing to address my concerns and wonder about the slave labor going on, not just in our small-time jail, but on a more vast scale as well. It would be my wish that I could reach out to my intended target here in Mendocino County: people who frequent jails/prison. But I know they rarely take any time to read newspapers and the like.
Somehow the system has brainwashed these inmates to do the dirty work for the system. Some guys say they do it just to get out of their cells. Others strive to work their way up to the oh-so cherished kitchen jobs in a desperate attempt to “eat” away their time. There is a huge misconception concerning the good time/“work time” that you have to “earn.” When we get sentenced by a judge whether it's county or prison time, they can't take any time away from us if we won't clean up puke, feces, etc. That being said, why do these convicts/macho-men line up to do these things? Beats me! They already have us locked up, for Pete's sake. Now we should slave away too? Most of these guys get nothing in return for the hours of slaving away that they do. But if the deputies hold a peanut butter and jelly sandwich over their head, you would be amazed at the tricks they can do! If these guys would just see the light at the end of the tunnel maybe they would see what their actions are doing. Just imagine how many new “free staff” they would have to hire on if these slaves would just say no. And the system says it's going broke already. Ha.
Seriously though, how many new jobs would that open up for this small community alone? More than a few I suppose! And where would the money come from?
Don't trip. They would just pass another bill through the printer and stick more fool's gold in Fort Knox. If push came to shove, they would just offer the slaves a little more “incentive” to keep up the good work for free. Somehow they've got the psychology of this scam down to a science.
Furthermore, I thought monopolies were illegal in the United States. 90¢ for a Top Ramen? Sure, we don't have to buy them, but for some reason these guys do. They are doing the work for them. It just seems to me that these guys are doing everything they can to make it possible for them to be able to keep us locked up.
Have you ever wondered why the jail is always full? Well, if they've got space to fill, get ready for a “sweep,” Ukiah. Then we've got local drones who are just happy to get some food and sleep who are more than willing to do the bidding for them once they feel up to par after a week or two.
More than anything, I just want to know who is orchestrating all of these people into fine-tuned working machines? Who has filled their heads with misconstrued facts making them believe they have to work? I thought Abe Lincoln put an end to slavery 100 years ago.
Sincerely,
Robert Campbell
Mendocino County Jail, Ukiah
_____________________________________
UNCLE SAM: STILL GREEN
Editor,
Coverage of the Presidential Election is not “news.”
Most US media spends way too much time on candidates. Even anti-government Amy Goodman’s “Democracy Now” gushes attention on the Presidential Election.
Why?
The promises uttered by the candidates generally have no substance and, if they do, there is little reason to think they will be fulfilled. There is no connection between the words of a candidate and the actions of an elected president.
Why?
I think the US Presidential Election is one of the world’s biggest “dog and pony” shows. The idea is to give the populace the idea that they, the People, really have some say in how the country is run by electing a president.
This may be true in some respects, but as regards the march of the American Empire, the human and material resources tossed into the cesspool of war, president’s have nothing to say.
Look at history. The wars continue no matter if Democrat or Republican is in charge. The Democrats or Republicans give lip service to many issues, but the military aims are never challenged. Any new voice looking at control of the military is pushed aside (Ron Paul is the latest example. In earlier times, Ralph Nader wanted to talk about it, but they kept him out of the debates).
Let’s face it, fellow Americans, the Republicans and the Democrats are destined to continue to foster wars “to protect American interests” — and these interests are corporate, not humanistic.
Eisenhower’s warning about the military/industrial complex was right on, but I’m not sure anyone listened.
They are not listening now, either. They are watching intently to see which candidate can deliver the best speech or make the fewest gaffs on TV.
More real news, please.
Thanks,
Bruce (still Green) Hering
Boonville
_____________________________________
PARDON HIM
Editor:
While ferrying his mother home from a party, the Archbishop-elect of San Francisco was busted for drunk driving. I understand that it was the smell of vomit that caused the police to ask the reverend bishop to try and walk a straight line (he failed miserably). They hosed him down before placing him in the back of the police car. There go his dreams of becoming the first American pope.
This is the same man who, having taken vows which preclude any personal knowledge of sex, presumes to address the world on the morality of same sex relationships.
Well, pardon me.
Sincerely,
Paul Bloom
San Francisco
_____________________________________
SLOW STRANGULATION
Dear Bruce:
I was so alarmed to read about the US Post Office's ongoing failure to deliver the AVA promptly to its intended destinations, and the damages you are suffering as a result.
Even more alarming is the US Supreme Court's decision in Dolan v. United States Postal Service, 546 U.S. 481 (2006), which held that the “negligent transmission of mail” exception to the Federal Tort Claims Act applies to damages resulting from loss or delay of the mail.
When I went to law school back in the 70s, one of the first things we learned was the so-called “telephone company defense” (“we don't care; we don't have to”). I thought this had expired with the break up of AT&T, but it seems to be alive and well at the USPO.
I hope you have better luck with incoming mail. I am enclosing my check for $100. Will you please renew my Web subscription for whatever period of time this covers. Your Web site is absolutely fantastic, and I am greatly enjoying your daily posts. You should make sure that your readers all know about your Kindle and Web editions. I realize that Internet access remains elusive in rural areas, but for people with access it sure beats relying on snail mail.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth R. Mitchell
Fort Bragg
MAKE MY LAWN!
To the Editor:
I watched the GOP Convention with great interest. I think Clint Eastwood missed an opportunity to remind us of some of his other great films. Here's what Eastwood should have said, and to whom:
To the Democrats: “Go ahead, make my day!” (He did say that.)
To President Obama: “Get off my lawn!”
To Mitt Romney: “A man's gotta know his limitations.”
Sigh. If only...
Jeffrey Needle
Chula Vista
_____________________________________
NO.
Editor,
On Tuesday, August 29, the California State Assembly proved that it is no less subservient to Israel's interests and those of its well heeled supporters than is the US Congress when it unanimously passed HR-35, a non-binding resolution that would condemn any protest against Israel on California college campuses as an expression of anti-Semitism. It should be noted that among the bill's 66 co-sponsoring signatories were our local assemblyman Wes Chesbro and the man who will most likely be our next member of Congress, Jared Huffman.
Our Assemblymen and women, dutifully put aside taking care of the people's business that day to deplore, among other things:
“speakers, films, and exhibits sponsored by student, faculty, and community groups that engage in anti-Semitic discourse or use anti-Semitic imagery and language to falsely describe Israel, Zionists, and Jews, including that Israel is a racist, apartheid, or Nazi state, that Israel is guilty of heinous crimes against humanity such as ethnic cleansing and genocide, that the Jewish state should be destroyed, that violence against Jews is justified, that Jews exaggerate the Holocaust as a tool of Zionist propaganda, and that Jews in America wield excessive power over American foreign policy; and “student- and faculty-sponsored boycott, divestment, and sanction campaigns against Israel that are a means of demonizing Israel and seek to harm the Jewish state.”
I would point it out that the passage of this resolution is no less an example of “excessive” Jewish “power over American foreign policy” than were the 29 standing ovations that a joint session of Congress gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last May, three days after he had publicly dressed down President Obama as if he were a school boy.
Does anyone think Huffman, when in office, will be any less of an Israeli bootlicker than has been Mike Thompson?
Jeff Blankfort
Ukiah
_____________________________________
WHY OBAMA WILL LOSE
Editor,
It pains me to send this, but I believe it is the case.
13 Reasons Why Obama will not win:
1. The Democratic Party has no ideas, no slogan, no energy, no base following that is activated, energetic, and grass roots working to re-elect him.
2. Obama is being attacked by the Republicans on his record with good reason. With the sole exception of the Latino amnesty thing, he has done nothing for anybody other than Wall Street.
3. People always vote their wallets, and the economy is still bad.
4. The Democrat’s campaign is nowhere; there are no Obama signs up anywhere.
5. There are eight swing states, and the biggest one is Virginia. Although Obama won Virginia in 2008, he will be hard pressed to do so again. The ticket of Romney, Goodlate and Gilmore is a very together ticket.
6. Paul Ryan is a great speaker and looks good. Biden is a hack who has done nothing.
7. The Republican campaign is out of touch with the reality, but so are the masses, so it resonates well with them.
8. Many people voted for Obama in 2008 because he is black. That issue is behind us, and they will not do so again.
9. The Latinos who vote will all vote for Obama, but they do not vote as much as whites do.
10. The law in some states that you need to have a photo ID to vote will keep many black and Latinos from voting.
11. Obama, in 2008, was a new face with a new message. Today he is an old face with no message.
12. Because of all of the above, money will talk loudly, and Paul Ryan has filled the Republican coffers and Obama is not getting the small donors he did in 2008.
13. There is no Left. Obama’s base is fragmented, disillusioned, and not full of enough hate for the Right or Romney to make a difference, because Obama has not distanced himself from the Right on the economy or the war or civil liberties.
Lee Simon
Far ‘n Away Farm, Virginia
_____________________________________
GET TOUGH ON AB POACHING
Editor,
Volunteers from the citizen-formed Mendocino Abalone Watch (MAW) held a demonstration in front of the Fort Bragg courthouse on July 31, urging tougher penalties for those caught poaching abalone on the Mendocino coast, and kicking-off a brief but intense petition-signing effort that produced over 600 signatures from coast residents. Presently, those caught taking one abalone over the three allowed are fined approximately $1675, an amount that includes state penalty assessments.
MAW also collected information reflecting an erratic pattern of fines, sometimes involving groups of divers being let off if one member took the fall and paid a fine. Second, third or fourth abalone taken over the limit nets only an additional $114 for each, at a time when the black market value for one abalone is $100 or more. Repeat offenders rarely get any jail time, unless they have poached more than four abalone. Even then, a brief jail term can be “served” by participating in a work-service alternative that keeps poachers from ever seeing the inside of a jail cell.
Coordinator Bruce Leaman was in charge of the petition drive. MAW volunteers went to various local post offices or signed up people at Van Damme beach. Leaman said that only a handful of hours produced this many signatures and that the community overwhelming reflects a tougher approach to punishing abalone violators. One volunteer noted that common speeding violations of just a few miles over the limit can result in hundreds of dollars in penalties. On wrapping up the petition drive this week, Leaman said, “It’s time to show that coast residents are serious about preserving the abalone resource. We need to think of future generations.”
Coordinator Rod Jones and Leaman will be meeting with Presiding Judge Richard Henderson on Tuesday morning in Fort Bragg to present the petitions and request that he take them to his colleagues for review and implementation of standard sentencing guidelines that escalate the penalties when poachers take more and more abalone.
Bruce Leaman
Fort Bragg
_____________________________________
KOREAN NIGHTMARE
Editor,
Back in 1971 I met a fellow by the name of Ted Bergren. He was an artist, a teacher, and a really neat person. He made me aware of his tour in Korea during that unexplained conflict. I never paid much attention to the Korean conflict as my memory was with the Viet Nam War. Well, Ted passed away in 2010 and his memorial was held several weeks ago in Lafayette, California at the Veterans hall there. At the memorial, his surviving sons provided the friends of Ted with some of his personal notes he kept tucked away with general notes and papers. The following is one that gripped my ribs when I read it, and thought I would share it with the rest of you:
* * *
“Hill 676 — I remember that hill all green and golden though there was no gold there I just remember it that way, the way the shells exploding after the thub thub thub sounds of those one-twenty-two’s fired up out of their tubes behind the hill slanting across the sky turning arcing toward their targets hurtling toward the waiting forgiving earth they come like freight trains screaming down the elevator shaft where we lay waiting at the bottom their whistles blowing all valves open ear splitting nerve shredding tension down our fingers digging deep deeper down we hug the earth waiting the nightmare vision our exploding bodies in the
KAAWWOOMMMBSSSHHBWAAMB SSHHKKLOOMB
holding tight the shivering broken earth rising filling the sky blasted metal casings burning razor sharp ripped edges slash the air everywhere searching human flesh slice rip tear puncture bone crush to fragments arm legs buttocks gashing blood spilling wounds screaming pain vibrating air rending nostrils full again the sweet scent of dying fresh mutilated bodies already in slumber their struggle for rebirth exhausted to lie fallen from their mothers womb our friends and madmen goodmen and badmen run amuck and sadmen throwntogether to go there to gather roses in the uprooted days eye for the baskets of mothers and fathers eggs and sperm in love sown and groan for a casket yes I remember that hill now all earth brown and bleeding…”
* * *
Whatever I thought the Korean War was, it certainly opened my eyes to read about it from one who was there.
Thank you, Ted.
Randy Burke
Gualala
_____________________________________
DISMISSIVE & BLEAK
Editor,
From my view of the forested hills to the north east, here in Rancho Navarro, now shrouded in thick brown smoke from the Covelo fire, there are now numerous patches of newly dead and dying trees that pockmark this formerly green and lush ridge. Hack-and-squirted to death with herbicides by a local corporation owned by the fantastically rich Fisher family of San Francisco, our forests here in Mendocino County are being poisoned all around us, soils tainted, water contaminated. But it is like this all over the planet, corporate plunder in various forms. From this larger scope, our story here is only a small one in this terrible march towards ecological destruction all over the globe. But for those of us who live here, unlike the Fisher family, who breathe the air, drink the water, and grow food in the soil, it is paramount and deadly. Journalist Chris Hedges addresses this insane corporate plunder from a place I often do, from the heart of a despairing parent looking at the bleak future ahead. I wanted to share this excerpt with you, AVA, readers.
* * *
“In America, when reality is distasteful we ignore it. But reality will soon descend like the Furies to shatter our complacency and finally our lives. We, as a species, may be doomed. And this is a bitter, bitter fact for a father to digest.
My family and I hike along the desolate coastline of an island in Maine that is accessible only by boat. We stop in the afternoons on remote inlets and look out across the Atlantic Ocean or toward the shoreline and the faint outline of the Camden hills. My youngest son throws pebbles into the surf. My daughter toddles over the rounded beach stones holding her mother’s hand. The gray and white seagulls chatter loudly overhead. The scent of salt is carried by the wind. Life, the life of my family, the life around me, is exposed at once as fragile and sacred. And it is worth fighting to save.
When I was a boy and came to this coast on duck hunting trips with my uncle, fishing communities were vibrant. The fleets caught haddock, cod, herring, hake, halibut, swordfish, pollock and flounder. All these fish have vanished from the area, victims of commercial fishing that saw huge trawlers rip up the seafloor and kill the corals, bryozoans, tubeworms and other species that nurtured new schools of fish. The trawlers left behind barren underwater wastelands of mud and debris. It is like this across the planet. Forests are cut down. Water is contaminated. Air is saturated with carbon emissions. Soil is depleted. Acidity levels in the oceans skyrocket. Atmospheric temperatures soar. And someone, somewhere, makes obscene sums of money from it. Corporations, indifferent to what is sacred, see the death of the planet as another investment opportunity. They are scurrying to mine the exposed polar waters for the last vestiges of oil, gas, minerals and fish. And since the corporations dictate our relationship to the ecosystem on which we depend for life, the chances of our survival look bleaker and bleaker. The final phase of 5,000 years of settled human activity ends with collective insanity.” — Chris Hedges
Elaine Kalantarian
Navarro
_____________________________________
ROCKABILLY RSVP
Ciao Louise Mariana,
I'm glad you liked my after-action report on the Seventh Annual Rockabilly in the Redwoods Festival. Thanks for the kudos. It's always nice to hear from a kindred spirit who has a sense of humor, particularly in these humorless times.
I'm not “in the book” because I don't have a telephone -- landline or cell. I use a World War II vintage walkie-talkie on the ranch. As a neo-primitive in good standing, I don't communicate digitally, having made the great leap forward to the post-digital age where communication is done in person, via print, telepathically, or, in some cases, by smoke signals.
Rockabilly in the Redwoods always coincides with the dates for So-Hum's annual world renowned Reggae Festival. Since the reggae folks have worn out their welcome at Bongbow, they are negotiating a return to Frog's Camp on the Eel River near the old Hartsook Inn.
When the dates are firm you'll be informed through the AVA grapevine or, if you prefer, by smoke signal.
I've always preferred the Independence Day holiday for Rockabilly, but it's a minority position at this point. The early Earth First! rendezvous were held during the Fourth of July week and Rockabilly is a similar “wildness” preservation movement.
Stay tuned. Bottoms up!
Joe Don Mooney
Hopland
_____________________________________
A PERFECT PICK
Dear Editor:
Your comments about Paul Ryan in your Off The Record column certainly reasonated with me. He was an economics major at Miami University (Ohio). Aside from his fascination with Ayn Rand he was enamored with the writings of economists Ludwig von Mises, Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek. Certainly appropriate reading for a Randian. Except for summer jobs in his student days he never has had a real job. After graduation and before being elected to Congress he worked as a legislative aide for a couple of congress members and as a speechwriter for an advocacy group. In other words he has been feeding at the public trough all his working life.
At his Convention speech he said some things that were untrue (less kind folks would call them lies). I don't know whether to laugh or cry about his comment about protecting the “weak.” This from a man who wants to slash and burn the “safety net” and other progressive programs for the middle and lower classes. He wants to replace government programs with private charity. It is worth noting in 2010 his charitable deductions were 4% of his adjusted income and in 2011 it was 1%. Mr. Ryan obviously is a tightwad and doesn't practice what he preaches. However, this phony is a very suitable partner for the empty suit who is a candidate for president.
In peace,
James G. Updegraff
Sacramento
_____________________________________
AMERICAN SOAP OPERA
AVA,
It is beyond excellent to see Zack back on track. This past week reading the AVA had me rolling on the floor laughing, only problem was that I was at the pub and people who didn’t know me thought there was something seriously wrong with me. The stories about Alex C. were so great too, I wonder if someone would compile a short collection of stories about experiences people have had with Alex, but I guess the AVA is that collection.
The editorializing in Off the Record has been for the past month quite frankly “Off the Hook” echoing my sentiments precisely. Can I re-subscribe and pay in cannabis because we got a glut this year of epic proportions. My arab lounge pillows are stuffed with big stinky buds and I soak myself in numbing baths of cannabis extract regularly.
Just kidding, I know you guys don’t blow the bazooka or there would be vast blank spaces scattered throughout the AVA, and it wouldn’t be the US Postal Service that was misplacing the deliveries. I’ll be sure to launder some green quickly so I can send you three fins and two double-sawbucks, and hopefully that’ll cover it with inflation.
My 7th grade daughter asked me the significance and meaning of Labor Day while sitting at the dinner table with my trusty AVA. I thought for a second, stared back at her silently and then quickly turned to “Let’s Count Our Blessings On Labor Day” by Dick Meister. I had her read it aloud at the dinner table and everyone’s IQ jumped immediately.
I was at the Cal game Saturday to watch them get their pride handed to them on a platter by the University of Nevada!? What an embarrassment after spending $321 million on retrofitting the stadium, paying Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau a yearly salary of $445,716 (as of 2008), and UC head football coach Jeff Tedford a yearly salary of $2,349,037 (as of 2010). When you spend that kind of money YOU HAVE TO WIN or else people will burn your effigy at the Greek Theatre and run you out of town Pakistani style.
It’s like the Giants, if we win, then “Together, We’re Giant” and nobody cares about losing our top slugger to juicing. If we lose, well those erroneous Mayan predictions for 2012 might in fact carry some merit.
In a quote from the New Yorker it was recently revealed that Tim Russert said, according to his sources, Bill Clinton, in an effort to secure an endorsement for Hillary from Ted Kennedy, said to Kennedy about Obama, “A few years ago, this guy would have been carrying our bags.”
Well the great Ishmael Reed wrote the book at the time, “Barack Obama and the Jim Crow Media: The Return of the Nigger Breakers.” Despite his prowess and success as a writer, Ishmael Reed was unable to get this book published in the United States. I guess no one wanted to hear how the Democrats didn’t even want this guy until his inevitability became absolutely clear.
In 1997 I was picked up by the FBI for excessive bank withdrawals. They drove me around SF for a couple hours asking about this location and that location. The entire time as we rolled around in the Ford Explorer the agents were absolutely infatuated with the redwood summer activities of that year. They were giddy like schoolchildren and acted like they had a tail on Al Kayda. I guess that was the summer when people began to develop the concept and practice of the tree sit. Bottom line, I was taken aback by their pre-occupation with these matters, so much so that they chattered on about this stuff in front of me for two hours. After a while, I started thinking, “Damn, what about me?”
Well I now stick to the words of inner-city kung-fu lyrical masters and try my best to “stay out the way.”
Not to be cryptic, but next Tuesday will be eleven years from Tuesday September 11th, 2001. If the Giants take a dive between now and then such as losing the home series with the D-backs and the Dodgers, who knows what the mad berzerkers have planned for our ultimate demise on this auspicious anniversary.
Long live the great American soap opera called baseball!
Nate ‘Cain’ Collins
Berkeley
Be First to Comment