Mendocino County Today: Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Cold Mornings | 38 New Cases | NATO Reticent | Russian Occupied | Water Table | Highest Price | Unsolved Rape/Murders | Mendocino 1899 | Restaurant Issues | Clean Energy | Shifty Skunk | 1960s | Weed Revenue | 2008 Panthers | Ed Notes | Wooden Leg | Narcan Save | Police Reports | Hop Xop | Social Workers | Yesterday's Catch | Dirty Electricity | On Ice | Loose Change | Big Bears | Salmon Forecast | Lookalike Game | Gay Cowboy | Precious Life | Personal Freedom | NATO Expansion | Starring Volodymyr | Putin Puppet | Send Aircraft | Patriotic Hens | Al Rattled | Skyhawk Radio | Macdonald Girls | Economic Sanctions | Birds | Disbarment Blues | War Protest

DRIZZLE IS POSSIBLE along the Redwood coast today, while breezy NW winds are expected to spread across much of the area this afternoon. Another cold night is likely tonight for interior valleys. Widespread beneficial rainfall is possible this weekend into early next week. (NWS)

38 NEW COVID CASES (since last Friday) reported in Mendocino County yesterday afternoon.

THE PENTAGON has poured cold water on Poland's offer to hand all its MiG-29 fighter jets to the US, apparently as part of an arrangement to deliver the warplanes to Ukraine's armed forces where they are desperately needed to fight off invading Russian forces. The idea has been floating around for more than a week after Ukraine pleaded for more aircraft, but the plan has been dogged by questions about how to deliver the planes to Ukrainian territory without dragging NATO into the conflict. But Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said on Tuesday night the deal was unworkable and would cause serious concerns for the “entire NATO alliance.” In a statement he said: “We are now in contact with the Polish government following the statement issued today. As we have said, the decision about whether to transfer Polish-owned planes to Ukraine is ultimately one for the Polish government. We will continue consulting with our Allies and partners about our ongoing security assistance to Ukraine, because, in fact, Poland's proposal shows just some of the complexities this issue presents.” The prospect of fighter jets “at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America” departing from a U.S./NATO base in Germany to fly into airspace that is contested with Russia over Ukraine raises serious concerns for the entire NATO alliance,” he added. (Daily Mail)

TOWN OF MENDOINO FACING WORSE DROUGHT THAN LAST YEAR — as Mendo’s Drought Task Force sits idly by.

From latest report by the Town’s Water-Sewer District: “The average depth of Mendocino’s water table on February 25, 2022, measured at 16.71, compared to 19.61 on February 16, 2021.”

HIGHEST GAS PRICES IN CALIFORNIA IN MENDOCINO

According to SFGATE news, California's average price rose above $5 a gallon for the first time ever, hitting $5.44 on Tuesday. News of shockingly high prices across the Golden State is spreading. The Chevron in the town of Mendocino was selling regular gas at $8.45 a gallon on Tuesday.

KYM KEMP: "We're doing a series of stories on unsolved murder rapes of women in Humboldt County during the 1975-76 years. We're looking for people who knew any of these three women and can speak to who they were and anything that might add to our knowledge of their personalities and hopefully what happened to them: Karen Ann Fischer from Colorado but was visiting Humboldt; Sherrie Lynn Smith (South Fork high Student); Victoria Lynn Schneider from Hayfork but was living in Eureka at the time of her murder."

MY 2 CENTS (Re: Mendo Restaurant Business)

by Merideth Smith (Owner, Mendocino Café)

I believe the/an issue is taxation...it is my understanding that when a bill amount includes an involuntary further contribution we are legally compelled to factor that into our sales and pay tax on it; it essentially becomes the cost of the product and believe me, the State of California is firmly of the position that any and all sales revenues are being held sort of "in trust" by the business. This was not hard to circumvent back in the day when most transactions were cash; yours truly (when I started the Cafe tips were not taxable) lived on mine for about 7 years before I got/cafe had the wherewithal for a "paycheck." Some customers (I remember who you are) informed me they had been raised not to tip the owner, the inference being if we did our jobs right we'd not need to augment. Humph. I worked really hard albeit I always loved it and it was my gig, so not like working for others in the service industry perhaps but around here the owners are mostly righteous. It is a tough equation and I drop to my knees in gratitude to have landed on my feet and ready to Rise - Up. Here's the position in which I and I suppose we all find ourselves. As far as I know, the minimum wage in CA is level, I know of no tiered system for tipped employees. At my restaurants bartenders and servers make great money in the season and nowadays we don't know when/if there is an "off season." Cafe's been packed since we got the tent.

If our cooks, many of whom have been with me for decades and are raising families, need a living wage of $25 bucks an hour and if that's what we gave them under PPP can we take it back? So, now our cooks do all make that and they do all earn it; it used to be more discrepant between the FOH and the BOH but that's kind of shifted and we don't know where will settle. If you pool tips the recipients are required to pay tax on their shares. That used to suck big time (no one claims their cash tips) BC (Before Covid) but lo and behold, thank you Biden, the next round of UI INCLUDED all of your tips claimed the year before (i.e., everything Plastic which is now most) and THAT'S why everyone was stoked to stay home! Big fat regular checks in the mail.

To sum up: tips never belong to the "house;" they belong to whomever earned them who is then individually liable for the taxes as income; we owners don't participate or include in taxable revenue. This issue sometimes comes up when we host an event; if the gratuity is included in their payment (check or credit card) it becomes taxable income to the establishment. Clear enough?

All that said, general protocol in our area is employees must take responsibility for their tip income which we get to deduct at the end of the year from our taxable sales BUT most do not declare their cash tips, only what has a paper trail. That used to be somewhat obscure but now the processors for all major credit cards report deposits directly to the IRS so nowhere to run/hide.

I could and may write a longer diabtribe about the costs making raising prices mandatory (above and beyond Pay Roll/Tax increases) for most restaurants who purchase quality product; wholesale prices for organic produce & dairy are +27%. There are new fuel surcharges for deliveries and who can blame them since many come on trucks from elsewhere. Which is why I wonder once more: are we growing sufficient food for our needs and we should support those who already are struggling farmers or should we farm for ourselves locally (we have the place to do it)?

BRUCE BRODERICK:

1. I don't know of the direct connection between Georgia Pacific stockholders (Koch) and Mendocino Railway. It would be more probable than not though. From looking at the State corporate filings of all the known associated corporations to Sierra Railroad, the heads of those corps shuffle around regularly. As an example, this year Robert Pinoli is no longer CEO of Mendocino Railway, Mike Hart is the current CEO. Pinoli is only a director. But his business address is the same as Sierra Railroad. This type of shuffling is continuous so there is never a responsible party for misdeeds.

2. It is more likely than not that Koch's sold the millsite property to themselves using their corporate spiderweb. If for no other reason than to tangle things up in court for another 10 or 20 years. But like I said, we have to be sure of the links in order to prove it. Once proven, getting regulatory agencies to take action is another story.

3. California Western Railway was sold in bankruptcy as stated and that sale can be overturned with the proper diligence. With Mendocino Railways lack of responsible action since the acquisition the properties, it would seem to be the clearest path forward to ending this takeover of our community. More research is needed though as well as finding an attorney or group of attorneys that would take it on.

4. Sierra Northern Railway is a sister corporation to Mendocino Railway and an active participant in the takeover of our community. They have been used as a cover to purchase certain properties that are of value to Sierra Railroad et al. The most significant being out Sherwood Rd, directly over the collapsed tunnel that was purchased last year from Mendocino Land Trust

5. As I said earlier, Mike Hart is now CEO of Mendocino Railway. Chris Hart has moved his family to Fort Bragg to be closer to the action. Both are heavily involved with Sierra Energy and the FastOx gasification process. I'm not certain that this process is something that they really want to bring to Fort Bragg though. It may only be smoke and mirrors to keep our hackles up. If we look at what they are currently doing, it all revolves around the tourist industry. I don't think the two can mix. Buying up properties as they come up in estate sales and before they hit the market to turn them into expensive getaways seems more their speed. While at the same time keeping the millsite in perpetual court battles to avoid the necessary cleanup that Koch has left. DTSC has already stated that they aren't letting GP(Koch) off the hook no matter who owns the property so it is to Koch's advantage to keep the legal battles going perpetually. Besides, with the $1.5 million acquisition, by Sierra, Koch gets to claim a $50 million loss on their taxes from the forced eminent domain proceeding. Both sides benefit from it. The 70 acres of Pudding Creek watershed has no toxic implications and Sierra is already moving forward to carnivallize that area.

6. With regards to Kathy Wylie, She needs close scrutiny and certainly shouldn't be in charge of determining what cases come before the Grand Jury. Just the fact that she is a real estate broker puts her in conflict. Myself, being someone who has been excluded from all of the Mendocino District pages by her for speaking out about the railroad is enough to cast suspicion in my mind.

MENDOCINO COUNTY'S CANNABIS PROGRAM, an on-line comment: 

Well…once they spend $1 million on the software subscription they must make that money back through fines. Add the salaries of the people looking at the satellite images and writing up the abatement letters and that’s quite a bit you need to recover in fines to just break even. The county and yes Kristin Nevedal will make it sound like they are doing so to protect the official cannabis program and the small permitted farmers. But that’s not true. They are paving the way for their friends at Flo Kana to change the zoning and permit huge farms that will destroy the small permitted farms. Yes - they use the small farmers as a smokescreen to hasten the corporate takeover. Disgusting liars is what they are.

Once the Building Department gets use of the satellite images they are free to abate not just cannabis grows but any building erected w/o a permit — cabins, greenhouses on the coast needed for veggies, storage sheds, etc. Just like Humboldt you will now have a county government acting as a predator against its own people. I’m not being paranoid or exaggerating. Just look at what happened in Humboldt! Once the county finds a new revenue stream they cannot resist hitting it hard and continuously until public outrage slows it down. As John Trudell said, “Once they run out of things to mine they will start mining the people.” That is what we are seeing. Thanks Kristin! I see you and I see what you are doing. I see clearly…despite this being buried in the body of the article. No. This is not a threat just a declaration. It is the county which threatens people — threatens their homes, threatens to take away their equity through excessive civil fines. I’m just saying that I see what you are doing. And you of all people should be ashamed. Do not bullshit us w/ how it will only be used for large illegal outdoor grows. That’s what John Ford said in Humboldt… He already used up your lie.

ANSWER to yesterday’s photo question: What year, Boonville?

ED NOTES

Editor, will you also be ordering flags of Palestine, Yemen, Somalia, Haiti, Cuba, Sudan, etc? The hypocrisy is breathtaking. (Bill Pilgrim, online comment)

ED REPLY: I’ve got a Palestinian flag somewhere; maybe you could lend me the rest of them. But your point is? Let me guess: NATO forced Putin to invade Ukraine and NATO is a creation of the Evil Empire. Fleshing out Pilgrim-think here, shared by many of the under-informed on the left far from the bombs and the refugees. Their presumption is that NATO was a compulsory creation of the U.S. to contain the old Soviet Union and continued to be a creature of American imperialism after the collapse of the Soviet Union, in its last days presided over by a pair of unpredictable drunks, Brezhnev and Yeltsin. Nobody in Eastern Europe wanted Russia under Putin. As Putin assumed control of Russia, he described the fall of the Soviet Union as a great tragedy, an opinion not widely shared, and went on to create a gangster kleptocracy as he sponsored today's Russian oligarchs who ripped off whole Russian industries, making Putin one of the wealthiest individuals in the world. Putin signed off on the deal with Ukraine as it became independent to de-nuke. In return for de-nuking, Putin promised Ukraine he would leave Ukraine alone. The former Soviet satellite countries Putin hasn't already picked off, such as Belarus, joined NATO because they prefer The Mall to being mauled. The brutal invasion of Ukraine by Putin and his gangster state, which seems headed for a nuclear exchange between him and NATO, which of course includes US, but nothing, no history, no nothing, nada, justifies Putin's invasion, which now threatens the entire globe. I've ordered another Ukranian flag. Look for them soon on 128, Boonville.

THE COSTCO TEST. A CostCo manager makes an average of $83,000 annually. Mendocino County supervisors make $84,000 annually, with fringe benefits superior to CostCo's. How many of our supervisors could manage a CostCo?

SYSTEMIC RACISM. How about systemic capitalism, especially the unchecked capitalism we have going here in the United States, an equal opportunity oppressor?

A YOUNG WOMAN named Sonia Waraich, was grant-funded via “Report for America” to work as a reporter for the on-line newspaper, the Mendocino Voice, and also KZYX, Mendocino County's semi-public radio station.

SHE DISAPPEARED without, of course, explanation by either media, although the rumors reaching me say she was badly used by both, which wouldn't surprise me given the spiritual Stalinism infusing both entities. I've tried to find Ms. Waraich to get her side of her experience in Mendocino County. If someone out there knows where she is and how to reach her, I'd like to talk to her.

JOE PYNE INTERVIEWING FRANK ZAPPA:

Joe: “I guess your long hair makes you a woman.”

Frank: “I guess your wooden leg makes you a table.”

ANOTHER NARCAN SAVE

On Sunday, March 6, 2022 at approximately 10:33 A.M. Mendocino County Sheriff's Deputies were dispatched to a 70-year old adult male suffering from a mental health crisis at a residence in Hopland, California. 

Deputies were advised the adult male had attempted to commit suicide via various means.

Deputies responded to the location along with a Mental Health Rehabilitation Specialist (Mobile Crisis Unit partnership between Mendocino County Sheriff's Office and Mendocino County Mental Health with Measure B funding for crisis workers). 

Deputies arrived and contacted the spouse of the adult male, who stated he had ultimately ingested a large amount of opioid pain pills (Hydrocodone). Deputies requested an ambulance to respond to the scene. 

Deputies and the Mental Health Specialist observed the adult male exit his residence, and they attempted to speak with him from a distance so they did not provoke any violent reaction from him. 

The adult male spoke with Deputies and Specialist for a short time. 

Deputies then noticed the adult male's physical demeanor change drastically. Deputies noted the adult male became very lethargic and he ultimately began to collapse in the driveway. 

Deputies approached the adult male and began to evaluate his condition. Deputies noted the adult male had stopped breathing and only had a faint pulse. 

Deputies administered a single 4mg dose of Narcan Nasal spray to the adult male and noted his pulse became stronger for a short time, but he was still not breathing. 

Deputies then administered a second 4mg dose of Narcan Nasal spray to the adult male and again noted an improvement in his pulse. The adult male also began taking shallow breaths. 

Medical personnel arrived a short time later and took over life saving measures on the adult male. 

The adult male was ultimately transported to a medical facility for both mental health and medical treatment.

In April 2019 the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) began to issue NARCAN® (Naloxone HCI) nasal spray dosage units to its employees as part of their assigned personal protective equipment. MCSO's goal is in protecting the public and officers from opioid overdoses. Access to naloxone is now considered vital in the U.S. The Center for Disease Control. At that time, the California Opioid Overdose Surveillance Dashboard reported Mendocino County ranking, per capita, 3rd in all opioid overdose deaths. (https://discovery.cdph.ca.gov/CDIC/ODdash/). Refer to dashboard for current updated ranking information. Narcan nasal spray units are widely known to reverse opioid overdose situations in adults and children. Each nasal spray device contains a four milligram dose, according to the manufacturer. Naloxone Hydrochloride, more commonly known by the brand name NARCAN®, blocks the life-threatening effects of opioid overdose (both medications and narcotics) including extreme drowsiness, slowed breathing, or loss of consciousness.

The antidote can reverse the effects of an overdose for up to an hour, but anyone who administers the overdose reversal medication in a non-medical setting is advised to seek emergency medical help right away. The spray units can also be used by Public Safety Professionals who are unknowingly or accidentally exposed to potentially fatal amounts of fentanyl from skin absorption or inhalation.

The issuance of the Narcan nasal units, thus far, have been to employees assigned to the Field Services Division and the Mendocino County Jail medical staff. Employees are required to attend user training prior to being issued the medication.

Sheriff Matthew C. Kendall would like to thank Mendocino County HHSA Public Health for providing the Narcan nasal units to the Sheriff's Office free of charge as part of the Free Narcan Grant from the California Department of Public Health.

Since the April 2019 issuance, there have now been (9) nine separate situations wherein Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Patrol Sergeants/Deputies have administered NARCAN and saved the lives of (9) nine people in need of the life saving antidote medication.

In October 2021 the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office received a grant from the California Naloxone Distribution Project through the Department of Health Care Services to help maintain an inventory of the live saving antidote. 

The 192 dosage units will be distributed to the Field Services Division and Corrections Division as current inventories from Mendocino County HHSA Public Health are being exhausted.

Sheriff Matthew C. Kendall would like to thank the California Naloxone Distribution Project through the Department of Health Care Services for awarding the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office with the Naloxone grant to better help protect his employees and the public.

FREITAS FLIPS OUT

On March 6th, 2022, at approximately 3:45pm, Willits PD (WPD) Officers were dispatched to a report of domestic violence on Central Ave. and Barbara Lane. Witnesses initially reported what appeared to be a female being thrown, or having fallen, from a moving vehicle. The male was also described as chasing the female victim. 

The involved parties were contacted at a nearby business. During the course of the investigation, witnesses reported observing the male suspect, Kirk Freitas, picking up and throwing the female victim onto the ground. 

Additionally, the witnesses reported observing Freitas throw a cell phone at the female, missing her, and shattering a window to their vehicle. The female victim suffered visible injuries during the incident. She was treated at Howard Memorial Hospital for her injuries. 

WPD Officers determined the crime of Domestic Violence had occurred and Freitas was arrested and booked for the above-listed charge. Neither Freitas or the victim are residents of Willits and were traveling through, when their argument broke out. WPD would like to thank the citizens who got involved and interceded on behalf of the victim and attended to her prior to WPD personnel arriving on the scene. 

WPD encourages victims of domestic violence to contact their local law enforcement agencies. Resources are available to those in need. 

In Mendocino County, Project Sanctuary is an emergency shelter, with locations in Ukiah (707) 462-9196 and Fort Bragg (707) 961-1507. Project Sanctuary also has crisis counselors available via telephone: Inland (707) 463-4357, and Coast (707) 964-4357.

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JUST IN FROM WILLITS:

On March 6th 2022 at about 11pm, a Willits PD (WPD) Sergeant conducted a vehicle check on a suspicious vehicle tucked in a back, darkened parking lot on the grounds Brookside Elementary School.During the initial contact the occupants were identified as Luis Vega-Montes de Oca, 18 years of age, and a female who provided conflicting dates of birth. 

Vega-Montes de Oca and the female alternated in providing her date of birth and age at either 17 or 18 years of age. The Sergeant opined that both parties were not entirely forthcoming.

The young female victim was contacted outside of the vehicle where she maintained her age was 18 until the Sergeant contacted the victim’s mother. She was able to confirm that her daughter was in fact 14 years of age.

During the course of the investigation, the Sergeant discovered the two had met through the social media platform “Snapchat” and that Vega-Montes de Oca was fully aware the female victim was 14 years old. It was determined, by admission from both the female victim and Vega-Montes de Oca, that illegal sex acts had occurred immediately prior to the Sergeant’s arrival.

Vega-Montes de Oca was arrested and booked into the county jail for violation of 289(h) PC (Penetration with a Foreign Object of Victim under 16) and 272 PC (Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor).

The female victim was released to her parents who responded to the location.

The Willits Police Department always encourages parents to be directly involved in, and have access to, their children’s social media accounts to ensure their minor children’s safety and prevent any form of exploitation.

ON-LINE COMMENTER: For 99.99999999999% of human history this wouldn’t have been seen as an issue, and there would have been no psychological harm to the 14-year-old. But it could be that this is an issue that our puritanical culture has happened to get right. It’s hard to tell because we are all indoctrinated, but the feeling is that the law is correct here, even if it’s counter to human biology and all but recent human history.

MENDOCINO COUNTY NEEDS SOCIAL WORKERS

Ukiah, CA – Social work, a profession supporting people experiencing what may be the most difficult time in their life, is a career that brings together a variety of backgrounds, experiences and passion. Here in Mendocino County, social workers can be found in child welfare, adult services, schools, hospitals, health centers, and within many helping organizations.

With 16 currently vacant social work positions within Mendocino County Social Services Department, the need for new social workers is crucial. “There’s a lot of people in our community that would make great social workers,” shares Shirley Fulks, Family & Children’s Services Social Worker. 

Fulks applauds Mendocino County for being progressive in their staffing structure, offering Social Worker Assistant (SWA) positions that provide a first-step into the field of social work without the Bachelor’s or Master’s degree many county agencies require. “We can hire people who have a passion for this work and perhaps the experience that makes them an extraordinary social worker, then support them through continuing their education if they find this is their calling.” 

The University of California Berkeley California Social Work Education Center (CalSWEC) Title IVE Program provides educational and monetary support to those pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree in social work who intend to pursue or continue a career in the field of public child welfare. Numerous local social workers have participated in this program including Fulks and long-time Social Worker Supervisor, Kort Pettersen. “My growth in this organization (Mendocino County Family & Children’s Services) has been nothing short of amazing from humble beginnings as a social work assistant to my current position as a social worker supervisor. I’ve had the opportunity to support families directly and now support the staff that are doing that vital work,” says Pettersen. 

Pettersen goes on to share that Mendocino College’s Human Services Certificate program which provides a two-year certificate that includes numerous child development classes, are helpful not only for social work, but any child care related profession. 

With a combined fifty-one years of service to Mendocino County Family & Children’s Services, Fulks and Pettersen have worked in every position from prevention to continuation services for families who have been involved in dependency matters. 

“It’s really exciting to see a family that has prior experience with the Department, succeed in making permanent and beneficial changes in their lives. When they get it I love it. It’s really nice to be a part of that,” Fulks explains. 

Pettersen, having graduated with his Master’s degree last year, plans to build off his continued learning to increase cultural awareness within social work and collaboration throughout Mendocino County. He encourages those interested in the field of social work. “Involve yourself in the community and the field you are interested in. I love the work that I do and believe it improves the lives of the families we work with.” 

If you would like information on a career in social work with Mendocino County, please visit the Mendocino County website at https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/mendocinoca.

(County Presser)

CATCH OF THE DAY, March 8, 2022

SARA ANDERSON, Redwood Valley. DUI.

AARON ORESCO, Ukiah. Controlled substance, stolen property, suyspended license, probation revocation.

ANDREA SANTOS, Lakeport/Ukiah. Stolen property, attempt to keep stolen property, vehicle theft with priors, failure to appear.

LUIS VEGA-MONTES, Willits. Sexual penetration of person under 18, contributing to delinquence of minor. 

STILL COMES FROM FOSSIL FUEL

Editor: 

In the United States, the majority of electricity is generated by fossil fuels, including coal. Therefore, when an electric vehicle is plugged into an outlet, it is burning fossil fuel, including coal. If all U.S. Postal Service trucks were electric, demand on the grid would probably increase the use of coal, because the grid is overwhelmed as is. Either way, when e-vehicles are plugged in, they are burning fossil fuel to charge their batteries.

The grid has to generate electricity from renewable sources before e-vehicles will do any good. Most electricity comes from burning fossil fuels at this time. Electricity is not clean. It does not fall from heaven, it is generated from another energy source — 60%-80% fossil fuels.

Some people assume electricity magically appears at the plug from clean sources. Electricity generation is the largest source of greenhouse gases (unless you include planes, trains, ships and 18-wheeler trucks in the “transportation” category). Electric postal trucks would increase the demand for fossil fuel generation of electricity.

Roger Delgado

Sebastopol

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

So nickel is currently being reported as valued at $100k per ton. According to my research, there are 181,818 nickels to comprise a ton. Let’s round this off to 200,000 due to the fact that a US nickel does not comprise 100% nickel. Still, if you were to melt these down and separate out the ton of nickel you have, then for a mere $10,000 you could turn around and sell the scrap nickel and copper for close to $100k! Start hoarding that loose pocket change and make a run to the banks! A nickel is worth 8.6 cents melt value now not bad, but a pre 1982 penny is worth 3.1 pennies. Don’t you wish you filled a closet full of pre ’64 dimes? They’re worth almost 2 bucks each. Then again if you put that dime in the DOW in ’64 you would have about 45 cents today.

This site keeps track: https://www.coinflation.com/

THE SHORT-FACED BEAR is an extinct ancient bear that lived in North America 11,000 years ago. They were extremely large bears, weighing more than 1 ton (1000 kg) and standing up to 12 feet (3.7 m) tall. Despite their enormous stature, the Bear could run up to 40 miles per hour.

HIGH NUMBERS OF SALMON expected off California coast during 2022 fishing season

by Tara Duggan

The number of adult fall-run chinook salmon expected to swim along the California coast during the upcoming fishing season is much higher than last year’s, state wildlife managers announced Wednesday. Industry groups hope that could mean more opportunities during the recreational and commercial fishing seasons that are due to open later this spring.

The number of adult Sacramento River fall-run chinook predicted to be on the coast this season is 396,500, about 45% higher than the 271,000 that were estimated at this time last year. That led to a relatively short fishing season last year. However, the 2022 season could still face restrictions to protect another run of salmon. This one, from the Klamath River in Northern California, is a species that will also be in fishing zones during the same period, wildlife managers say.

The federal Pacific Fishery Management Council uses annual predictions of adult salmon populations to set the timing of the fishing season up and down the West Coast. The council will provide three options for the upcoming commercial and recreational seasons on March 14 and then make a final announcement about the timing of the seasons on April 13.

“We are hoping for a decent salmon fishing season this year, and there’s some reason for optimism, but there are several variables yet to be dealt with,” Golden State Salmon Association President John McManus said in a statement.

(SF Chronicle)

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH DECONSTRUCTS SAM ELLIOTT’S ‘ODD,’ HOMOPHOBIC RANT about ‘Power of the Dog’

The Oscar-nominated star of Jane Campion's Western challenged Sam Elliott's idea that all cowboys fit into an 'archetypal mold of masculinity'

by Martha Ross

Without directly invoking Sam Elliott’s name, Benedict Cumberbatch talked about the ways that the veteran actor underscored “toxic masculinity” and “intolerance” when he criticized “The Power of the Dog” for featuring a main character who is a Montana cowboy and closeted gay man.

Cumberbatch, nominated for a best actor Oscar for playing that closeted gay man, responded to what he called Elliott’s “odd reaction” to the film during a panel discussion hosted by British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).

On Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast last week, the famously gruff, deep-voiced Elliott went on an expletive-laced rant, in which he said “The Power of the Dog” was “a piece of (expletive)” because it included “allusions to homosexuality” and showed cowboys “who run around in chaps and no shirts.”

The 77-year-old actor, who has starred in a number of Western-themed movies and TV shows during his half-century career, also said that the Oscar-nominated film couldn’t offer an accurate portrayal of the American West because its director, Jane Campion, is from New Zealand.

In response, Cumberbatch described being perplexed by Elliott’s comments, saying, “I’m trying very hard not to say anything about a very odd reaction that happened the other day on a radio podcast.” The British actor said he didn’t necessarily want to “stir the ashes” over Elliott’s comments, but he noted that “someone” — referring to Elliott — “really took offense … to the West being portrayed in this way.”

Cumberbatch said there was “denial” in Elliott’s comments because he seemed to argue that cowboys only lead a “a heteronormative existence.” He challenged Elliott’s view of “the Western archetypal mold of masculinity.”

Cumberbatch added that the comments show there still is “a massive intolerance within the world at large towards homosexuality and toward an acceptance of the other and any kind of difference.”

Cumberbatch, Campion and film writers have repeatedly said that the point of the movie is to examine “toxic masculinity” through Cumberbatch’s character, Phil Burbank.

As Cumberbatch said, Burbank represses his sexual attraction to and love for men because that’s what a man in 1920s Montana is expected to do. Burbank finds an outlet for his frustration by putting on a hyper-masculine persona and by bullying his brother’s wife (played by Kirsten Dunst) and mocking her son for being effeminate.

In the 21st century, Cumberbatch said it’s important to “look under the hood of characters like Phil Burbank …. to see why (toxic masculinity) is there. Otherwise it will keep repeating itself.” He said “toxic masculinity” is being seen right now in “what’s going on in Russia” with President Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine.

But when talking to Maron, Elliott argued that Campion’s depiction of homoerotic themes in a Western would be an affront to real cowboys he has known.

Elliott said he had just spent several months in Texas, shooting the Paramount+ TV Western series “1883.” Elliott said: “I was hanging out with families, not men, but families — big long, extended multiple-generation families who made their living (and whose lives) were all about being cowboys.”

But as much as Elliott might portray himself as an expert on cowboys and the American West, people on Twitter laughingly pointed out last week that the actor was born in Sacramento, grew up in Portland, another major metropolitan area, and has long lived in the upscale, celebrity-friendly beach community of Malibu.

Elliott’s main claim to a country lifestyle seems to come from the fact that he and his wife, former Walnut Creek resident Katharine Ross, own a 200-acre property in the Willamette Valley, outside Eugene, Oregon. But according to a 2017 report by The Oregonian, the couple only spend about a month each year on the property; otherwise they are in Malibu.

In addition, “The Power of the Dog” is based on the 1967 novel by Thomas Savage, whose Western fiction drew on his experiences growing up in the West, including on a ranch in 1920s Montana. The characters in “The Power of the Dog” are said to be based on himself and members of his own family.

Meanwhile, the London-born Cumberbatch didn’t deny in the BAFTA discussion that Phil Burbank, his “Power of the Dog” character, leads a very different life than he does.

For that reason, Cumberbatch described all the work he did before assuming the role of a complex man who was charismatic, highly educated and an expert in everything needed to run a ranch and herd cattle in the early decades of the 20th century. Cumberbatch shared “the daunting list of skills” he had to learn: whittling, whistling, braiding rope, taxidermy, ironmongery and banjo playing, not to mention “horseback riding and roping and the cattle ranching.”

To acquire those skills, Cumberbatch said he attended two events, where he had to brand, inoculate and castrate cattle. He also spent time on a ranch on the plains of Montana, near the Rocky Mountains, with a couple who were “the real deal” when it came to cowboy life.

Cumberbatch said he learned how to treat cattle hide, how “soak it and stretch it and then braid it.” He said the man he worked with was “a master at all that.” This man also flew around the world leading horse-riding clinics.

“So, he’s a masterful rider, and he’s lived a life as a cowboy, his entire existence,” Cumberbatch said. “He was an amazing person to be with.”

(Bay Area News Group)

BILL GRIMES:

A portion of a letter from DeLillo appears in the April 1996 issue of Harper's, in Jonathan Franzen's article “Perchance to Dream.” The article deals with the role of authors, readers and novels in today's America. I quote the DeLillo portion in full:

“…The writer leads, he doesn't follow. The dynamic lives in the writer's mind, not in the size of the audience. And if the social novel lives, but only barely, surviving in the cracks and ruts of the culture, maybe it will be taken more seriously, as an endangered spectacle. A reduced context but a more intense one.

Writing is a form of personal freedom. It frees us from the mass identity we see in the making all around us. In the end, writers will write not to be outlaw heroes of some underculture but mainly to save themselves, to survive as individuals.”

And in a P.S he adds:

”If serious reading dwindles to near nothingness, it will probably mean that the thing we're talking about when we use the word ‘identity’ has reached an end.”

GOT PAST THE CENSORS

Since the start of the Thursday Feb. 24 invasion, the prevailing narrative concerning Russia's motives has been largely limited to an ultra-simplistic hollywoodwesque story that goes something like this: one day a big bully and monster named Putin decided he wanted to invade and kill people in a neighboring country, and that he further wants to "resurrect the old Soviet Union". But in a refreshingly realist op-ed piece, MSNBC political columnist Zeeshan Aleem exposed the self-serving Washington narrative, which was intended more for the consumption of the masses, as false. Aleem points to a much more complex and nuanced reality, reminding the public of what should be obvious to any student of history - that the top diplomats and US officials who oversaw post-Soviet negotiations with Russia over Europe's security order in the 1990's knew full well that if NATO ever got expanded up to Russia's borders, it would be suicide. It was predicted decades ago that war would be triggered in such a scenario.

msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/russia-s-ukraine-invasion-may-have-been-preventable-n1290831

TRUMP & RUSSIA

Dear Editor,

Nobody ever suggested that Trump was a 'satellite' of Russia.

What was suggested, and rightly so, is that the Russians absolutely did help get Trump elected. Of that there is no question. As I mentioned last week, the collusion between Trump's campaign team and Russia is well documented.

Whether that help was the deciding factor is, perhaps, an open question, but the election was so close (what was it, 17,000 votes spread out over three swing states?) that it didn't take all that much to push him over the top.

What's also obvious is that, as president, Trump gave the Russians whatever the hell they wanted, whether it was attempts to lift sanctions on the Oligarchs or help with Russia's foreign affairs goals.

We don't yet know what Putin had (and still has) on Trump. We do know, and what has been so obvious all these years, is that he somehow, for sure, had/has Trump by the short hairs. My guess is it's all about money laundering but that will take some time to sort out.

Douglas George

Eureka

SUPPLY FIGHTERS TO UKRAINE

Editor,

While the US has watched Russia invade Ukraine, since February 24 when President Putin ordered his troops to invade the independent nation, now is the time to do a little more to aid President Zelensky’s forces. We have the option of supplying Ukrainian pilots with aircraft now stationed in Poland and Romania as well as other NATO countries.

What is going on in Ukraine is horrific, inhuman shelling and bombing of civilians. Yesterday, one thousand pound bombs rained down of hospitals, apartments and homes of Ukrainian noncombatants. The war has already produced millions of refugees.

Today eight members of the Congressional bipartisan Armed Services Committee returned from a visit ot the border where terrified women and children have taken refuge. Congresswoman Susan Wilder is calling for the release of these aircraft to the Ukrainian Air Force now. The US can resupply these nations with aircraft.

Frank Baumgardner

Santa Rosa

AL NUNEZ NEEDS A PLACE

How it's been for me lately... 

When I wake up in the morning I think everything is okay, but then I remember my bad shoulder and the need to be having to move with no place to go. All of a sudden I get this overwhelming feeling of fear and I can't shake it. My heart starts beating fast which continues on and off throughout my day causing my nerves to be rattled. My appetite has been poor which has me only eating when my stomach hurts, most likely I am losing more weight. I wish all this was over with so I can find a calm in my life if a calm life exists for me. Yesterday while checking on a appointment I have with my bone doctor this coming friday, I come to find out that they had switched my doctor to a pain relieving doctor, Dr Cottle. My guess they decided not to operate on my shoulder because they caught wind that I don't have a proper place to safely recover at. The thought of trying to recover in my motorhome while living out in the streets would be difficult or impossible for me to do. So now I'm left with the thought that I have to live with my bad shoulder wondering what kind of life I'm gonna have. This has all been too devastating for me and I can't think well. I am so sorry...

Al Nunez <allymotocat@gmail.com>

THE HAWK GOES DEEP!

Surviving Late Stage Capitalism - What's Next? on KZYX Thursday night 3-10, 7pm

Please join host Chris Skyhawk for Universal Perspectives on KZYX Thursday March 10, at 7 pm, Skyhawk will be continuing his series: late Stage capitalism, the collapse of the existing system: What’s next? His guest this episode is Audrya Chancellor. Audrya is a sacred sound practitioner and a recently certified Reikki Master. We will look at collective and personal healing modalities that may help people with the shifting times we find ourselves in, out-of-area listeners can find us on the web at www.kzyx.org

SANCTIONS ARE BLUNT INSTRUMENTS WHICH PUNISH ENTIRE POPULATIONS BUT HURT LEADERS LEAST

by Patrick Cockburn

Economic sanctions are like the siege of a medieval city. Siege engines batter at the walls and hurl missiles over them, but it is all a slow business. Those suffering the most are too powerless to surrender, while those in charge are the least affected by shortages.

The countries imposing sanctions on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine face the same problems as besiegers in the Middle Ages. Sieges take months or even years to succeed, but the crisis in Ukraine is deteriorating by the hour and the day – as demonstrated by the fighting around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. As at Fukushima, there is the risk that the electric power needed to cool the reactors will be cut off with disastrous consequences.

Yet the weakness of sanctions is not only that they work slowly, but that they give a false sense of achievement which is largely illusory. This has been demonstrated again and again in the last 30 years, ever since stringent UN sanctions were imposed on Iraq in response to its invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

Collective punishment on entire populations

The difficulty is that sanctions are the bluntest of instruments which inflict collective punishment on entire populations, but least affected are invariably the country’s leadership. In Iraq, the currency became largely worthless and one could see ruined householders trying to sell their crockery and furniture under the overpasses in Baghdad. Meanwhile, Saddam Hussein was building new palaces and giant mosques to show that his regime was not short of resources, even though everybody else was being squeezed.

In an economic siege, anybody with political and military power is well placed to profit from shortages. In the case of Iraq, it was Uday, Saddam Hussein’s eldest son, who earned millions of dollars a month by importing black market cigarettes from Turkey to take advantage of a disruption of the supply in Iraq.

I spent years writing about how sanctions were leading to children dying in hospitals because there were not enough oxygen cylinders and the forecourts of the hospitals were full of immobile ambulances which had been cannibalised for spare parts.

This was all very demonstrable, but protests by myself and others had no effect whatsoever. People outside Iraq wrongly felt that economic warfare must be kinder than the military variety. In reality, the casualties were higher, but they were less visible because those who died prematurely were the very old, the very young, and the very sick.

The victims of collateral damage 

The whole of Iraq, inside and outside Saddam Hussein’s control, became the victim of collateral damage. I once went to a village called Penjwin in the Kurdish-held north-east of the country, where sanctions-driven poverty had forced its inhabitants to earn a pittance by salvaging explosives from the minefields. They would try to defuse a particularly dangerous Italian made mine called the Valmara, which – if you did not handle it just right – would jump into the air, spraying lethal pellets like ball-bearings in all directions.

After 13 years, of course, Saddam Hussein was overthrown but by the US-led invasion and not by anything to do with sanctions. Paradoxically, it was the American, British and their allies who inherited an Iraqi economy and society that had been wrecked and criminalised by the long years of embargoes and other restrictions. The invaders thought that the misery they saw around them was long standing and did not understand their own role in producing the general ruin.

I suspect much the same process of degradation is now underway in Russia. Such is popular anger in most of the rest of the world over the invasion of Ukraine that any measure directed against anything Russian will get unquestioning support. Who does not relish the news that a $600 million yacht belonging to a Russian oligarch close to Putin has been seized? The British government is under pressure to do the same to the palatial residences of oligarchs in Mayfair, Knightsbridge and Kensington and to explain why they have not acted before.

But even a British government less lugubrious in pursuing ill-gotten Russian gains would have their work cut out. The one reasonably frank conversation I ever had with a member of the Russian mafiosi, which took place in about 2001, was less about the criminal way he made his money, which was relatively simple, than the elaborate means he had to take to conceal it. His over-riding fear was of corrupt members of the local Russian security agencies knowing how much he had got and where it was, leading them to demand an even bigger cut in his profits than he was already giving them.

The Russian kleptocracy may in future no longer be able to display their obscene wealth abroad without the risk of it being frozen or confiscated. But they have had years to hide it and to hire experts to find the best hiding places.

Proponents of the sanctions imposed on Russia since 26 February say that this time it will be different and no punches will be pulled or loopholes left unclosed. Western companies can no longer deal with Russian banks outside the energy field and they have been excluded from the normal means of making payments.

The Russian central bank is cut off from its $630 billion assets abroad, Russian share prices have dropped 90 per cent in markets abroad, and the ruble is down 28 per cent this year. Foreign companies are in flight from Russia with BP giving up its 20 per cent share in Rosneft, the oil company with links to Putin.

Damaging, but not necessarily to Putin

These are damaging blows to the Russian economy, but not necessarily to Putin and his circle or their ability to make war in Ukraine. Economic warfare seldom trumps military warfare, certainly not in the short or medium term. The Russian middle class is more likely to emigrate than rebel. Collective punishment of all Russians for what is very much ‘Putin’s war’ may even encourage national solidarity rather than turning people against the man in the Kremlin. Oligarchs may be upset by losing their grand houses in London, but they are much more frightened of being rehoused in some prison cell in Moscow.

Excesses of Russophobia such as banning the sale of vodka or ending all sporting contacts make an impressive rhetorical point about disapproval of the invasion. But such hostility also hands a patriotic card to Putin who can blame Russia’s troubles on the West’s visceral hatred of Russia and divert attention from his own cataclysmic miscalculation in launching the war in the first place.

It will be events on the battlefield and not the rise and fall of stock markets which will decide the fate of Putin and his regime. He needs to win some victories like capturing Kyiv and Kharkiv to avoid humiliation and which might, in theory, allow him to negotiate a face saving Russian withdrawal. The problem is that neither failure in the war so far, nor a potential nuclear accident, nor ferocious economic sanctions will necessarily persuade Putin that he has committed one of the greatest blunders in Russian history.

Further Thoughts

Dockers in Kent have refused to unload two tankers full of Russian gas at the Isle of Grain on the Thames estuary and forced them to go elsewhere. The Boris Vilkitsky and Fedor Litke were turned away from terminal, the largest in Europe for importing liquified natural gas. The head of energy at the transport union Unison, Matt Lay, said staff were “determined to support the Ukrainian people and uphold the sanctions imposed against Russia”.

This is a curious repeat of history since it is only just over a century since 10 May 1920 when London dockers refused to load ammunition bound for anti-Bolshevik forces in Russia onto the SS Jolly George.

The episode at the Isle of Grain is important because it shows the popular anger now propelling sanctions against Russia beyond the point originally planned by Western governments. It will also make the sanctions more difficult to remove.

Below the Radar

Over nine years have passed since the kidnapping of British photojournalist John Cantlie in Syria, a hostage of the Islamic State group. That no real news of Cantlie’s fate has been forthcoming for years is disturbing. People often try to keep this sort of story quiet on the mistaken grounds that it increases that the missing journalist will survive.

Cantlie was abducted on 22 November, 2012, along with his friend, American journalist Jim Foley, as the two returned from a weeks-long reporting trip to the rebel-held provinces of Aleppo and Idlib. En route back to the Turkish border and safety, their taxi was stopped and both men were forced out and made to lie on the ground by a cell of secretive foreign jihadis. This splendid article by James Harkin for the Columbia Journalism Review explains what happened next.

Cockburn’s Picks

A very interesting piece by Cold War historian Dr Mary Elise Sarotte in the New York Times warns that the new cold war against Russia will be far worse and more dangerous than the first.

Patrick Cockburn is the author of War in the Age of Trump (Verso).

BAD DISBARMENT BLUES

Disbarred last Tuesday.
I ain’t a lawyer no more.
Kicked out last Tuesday.
Can’t be a lawyer no more.

Wish like hell that I could lose
These disbarment blues.

Judge told me “Sit down.
Can’t hold the floor anymore.”
Yelled at me “Sit down!
You ain’t a lawyer no more!

“Can’t have everything you choose!”
Jesus, what bad news.

Laid paper on him.
He ruled against me on that.
Moved to recuse him.
He turned my motions down flat.

Every writ I try to use
Courts say I abuse.

Used to harp legal.
But ain’t a lawyer no more.
Still can write legal.
Just not a lawyer no more.

Gotta find another ruse.
Think I‘ll write haikus.

— Jim Luther

BAY AREA GATHERING FOR PEACE IN THE UKRAINE

photos by David Bacon

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - March 6, 2022 - Demonstrators oppose the Russian invasion of the Ukraine and the expansion of NATO. In solidarity with the people of Ukraine activists, under the direction of artist David Solnit, recreated a painting by beloved Ukrainian painter Maria Prymachenko, "A Dove Has Spread Her Wings and Asks for Peace." Members of the Musicians Action Group play during the rally, and protesters march along the Embarcadero. The demonstration at the Ferry Building was organized by Code Pink and other peace organizations.

flickr.com/photos/56646659@N05/albums/72177720297173982