Mendocino County Today: Friday, April 29, 2022

Weak Fronts | Teen Runaways | Skunk Ruling | Beautiful Prince | Noyo Headlands | Now Hiring | School Tours | Lamb Day | Doctor Whereas | Apfel Day | Gomes Settlement | Bookshop Events | Palace Bar | County Briefs | Spotted Towhee | Ed Notes | Mail Carriage | Expanding Montgomery | Grand Jury | Motorcycle Chase | Planning Agenda | Yesterday's Catch | Ukraine | Incline Rail | Musk Panic | Hiram Ulysses | Climate Action | Navarro Choo-Choo | Elite Entertainment | Climate Strategies | We Laughed | Phony Issue | Juan Mill | Art Institute | Go Around | Lockheed Martin | Piety Rankings

MILD TEMPERATURES will continue through Saturday with warmer conditions expected from Sunday into the first half of next week. A series of very weak fronts will graze the northern portion of the area, bringing areas of very light rain on Saturday, Monday, and Thursday. (NWS)

MENDOCINO COUNTY OFFICIALS SEARCHING FOR TWO 13-YEAR-OLDS LAST SEEN IN SANTA ROSA

On Thursday, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office received a report of two runaway juveniles from the area of Point Arena.

They have been identified as a 13-year-old boy, Legend Findsthefeather, and a 13-year-old girl, Maria Kinsman, officials said in a news release late Thursday.

The pair appeared to have taken a bus to the area of the Coddingtown Mall (Westfield Coddington), 733 Coddingtown Center, in Santa Rosa.

They were last seen at the mall at approximately 3:30 p.m., authorities said late Thursday.

There was conflicting information regarding a white SUV somehow being involved with the two children, according to a Nixle alert issued by Santa Rosa Police.

There are no known family members in the area. Both juveniles have been entered into the missing person’s system and a countywide “be on the lookout” has been issued, officials said.

If you have any information related to either of the two juveniles please contact the Santa Rosa Police Department Dispatch Center at (707)528-5222.

SKUNK TRAIN NOT A PUBLIC UTILITY

The Fort Bragg Superior Court determined today that Mendocino Railway is not a Public Utility at this time and therefore turned down its Demurrer of the complaint filed by The City of Fort Bragg.

Congratulations Fort Bragg!

— Bruce Broderick

BASHO is the coolest cat I’ve ever known. He’s friendly but not needy. As stable as he is in himself, he’s kind of a limbic steadier to people around him. He never scratches or bites. He’s been fed and well-cared for but also hunts the heck out of a rodent population, though not so much birds because he’s big - 16 pounds – so a little too large to bring them down more than occasionally. 

3 years old now, he grew up with his litter mates and likes other cats quite a bit. I’ve never seen him with a dog, but wouldn’t be surprised if he got along with one that wasn’t aggressive towards him. 

We got him after he’d been hit by a car. He survived the surgery beautifully without a hint of a limp. But he’s an outdoor cat who can’t live too close to busy roads. He comes indoors for long naps and to be pet, but adventures too far and wide to keep safely near traffic. Living on big piece of land in Philo has been his perfect life, but that’s coming to an end. So I’m looking for someone who might love this beautiful prince of cats.

He’s just gotten his yearly check up, feline leukemia shot and booster, not due for rabies for another year and is in great health. My partner and I would be more than happy to help with the cost of his care.

Gratitude,

Margot Koch – margot.koch@gmail.com or text at 415-726-8249

SKUNK OK, BUT NOT A UTILITY

Editor,

We live in our wonderful community fronting the 2+ miles of prime ocean frontage we call the Noyo Headlands. We love our historic Skunk Train, but since it was sold in 2003 to Mendocino Railway, the future of Fort Bragg has become precarious.

When the Mendocino Railway, a so-called “public utility,” obtained the 260+ acres of the Noyo Headlands from the Koch Brothers’ Georgia-Pacific by eminent domain last November, the future of our town became murky. 1) The cleanup of the toxins (e.g., dioxin, arsenic, heavy metals) is no longer guaranteed; 2) the City’s plan for environmentally protected headlands with day-lighted creeks, a wildlife corridor, modest housing, and extension of the business district is being ignored, and 3) the rare stretch of undeveloped ocean and Pudding Creek frontages may become a tourist Choo Choo Land!

To wit: The Mendocino Railway submitted a map of proposed train tracks from Laurel Street to Glass Beach to the Coastal Commission for approval. They are purchasing properties in the area (e.g., on Alger Street). They contend that they are not subject to local and state regulations for toxin cleanup, and they are advertising on commercial vehicles, airport carts, billboards, and other media.

Therefore, the City of Fort Bragg is suing the Mendocino Railway, challenging MR’s claim that they are a public utility in Superior Court, thereby challenging the ownership of the Headlands. We applaud the City and urge residents who want to preserve our community to run for City Council in November.

— Susan Nutter, Fort Bragg

COMPANY KITCHEN, PHILO, NOW HIRING

MARK THESE DATES, ANDERSON VALLEY!

Measure M School Tours Scheduled

If you would like to tour the school sites and look at the current needs of the properties, please join a school tour. Dates are as follows:

• High School, Thursday, May 12 at 4:30 PM, Architect Don Alameida will be present for this tour.
• Elementary School, Thursday, May 19 at 4:30 PM, Hosted by Louise Simson

Free yard signs are available upon request. Stop by at the district office to pick one up. The signs were not paid for with district funding.

We hope to see you at a tour!

Yes On Measure M Committee

DOCTOR APFEL GETS HIS WELL-DESERVED WHEREASES

Proclamation Of The Mendocino County Board Of Supervisors 

Recognizing And Honoring Dr. Mark Justin Apfel

For His Years Of Service To The Residents Of Anderson Valley And Mendocino County, California Upon His Retirement From The Anderson Valley Health Center, February 7, 2022 

WHEREAS, Dr. Mark Apfel has been associated with the Anderson Valley Health Center from the earliest years of its founding; and 

Whereas, in 1979, Dr. Apfel became the first full time doctor at the Anderson Valley Health Center; and 

Whereas, from 1979 to 2020, Dr. Apfel was the Medical Director of Anderson Valley Health Center; and 

Whereas, from 1976, when he began as a volunteer physician with the nascent community clinic, and then from 1979 as a full-time staff doctor until his retirement in 2022, Dr. Apfel worked diligently and unselfishly to provide low-cost medical care to the Anderson Valley community; and 

Whereas, Dr. Apfel has worked tirelessly as a fundraiser on behalf of Anderson Valley Health Center; and 

Whereas, Dr. Apfel has been a strong voice in bringing affordable medical care to Anderson Valley; and 

Whereas, Dr. Apfel has been a respected spokesperson on behalf of Anderson Valley Health Center to Mendocino County’s medical community and public health agencies; and, 

Whereas, Dr. Apfel has assisted and given emergency medical service training to volunteer members of the Anderson Valley Volunteer Fire Department and Anderson Valley Ambulance Service; and 

Whereas, Dr. Apfel has worked with volunteer organizations such as Anderson Valley Village, and Anderson Valley Senior Center to ensure that their members are educated about the appropriate medical care that is available to them in the community, and how to legally document their wishes for end-of-life care; and, 

Whereas, Dr. Apfel, since 2008, has been a local and statewide leader in establishing and maintaining the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) Program, and since 2009 has been a leader in Coalition for Compassionate Care of California; and, 

Whereas, Dr. Apfel was the Medical Director of Palliative Care at Ukiah Valley Medical Center from 2010-2015, and since 2012 has been board-certified in Hospice and Palliative Care; and, 

Whereas, Dr. Apfel, throughout his medical career in Mendocino County, worked professionally in hospitals and as an Emergency Room and/or Staff Physician and has maintained a leadership role in the compassionate delivery of medical care; and, 

Whereas, Dr. Apfel’s dedication, leadership, and commitment to providing low cost and professional medical care to the Anderson Valley community and to all people of Mendocino County has been exemplary and is very greatly appreciated, 

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Supervisors hereby recognize and honor Dr. Mark Justin Apfel for his many years of service and dedication to the people of Anderson Valley and the County of Mendocino, California. 

RECOGNIZING AND HONORING DR. MARK JUSTIN APFEL

FOR HIS YEARS OF SERVICE TO THE RESIDENTS OF ANDERSON VALLEY AND MENDOCINO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

UPON HIS RETIREMENT FROM THE ANDERSON VALLEY HEALTH CENTER, FEBRUARY 7, 2022 

A HOT LOCAL NEWS ITEM that should get a lot of attention is that the MCCSD (Mendocino City Community Services District) has lost all its appeals and are now required to pay Mr. Gomes his legal fees with 7% interest. Gomes showed that the MCCSD's Groundwater Management Plan was illegal. Partial payment of $150,000 was approved at the last MCCSD Board meeting. The actual number is to be released at the next meeting. This has also likely cost hundreds of thousands that the MCCSD has spent on legal fees. The entire mess is likely around $400,000. This is an outrage. The ratepayers within the MCCSD may be on the hook for this.  There is a LOT more to this story and it needs exposure.

(via Mendocino News Plus)

SPECIAL EVENTS AT GALLERY BOOKSHOP

Friday, April 29: Journalist, essayist, and novelist Stephen Kessler will be at Gallery Bookshop to chat with people about his latest book, Last Call (1-3pm).

Saturday, April 30:

• Author Meet & Greet w/ Katy Tahja (11-1pm)
• Meet the Authors w/ Ginny Rorby & Norma Watkins (1-3pm)
• Poetry on Demand w/ Jennifer Clark (3-5pm)

More information at 707.937.2665 or gallerybookshop.com

COUNTY BRIEFS

by Mark Scaramella

ON WEDNESDAY, we looked back at the minutes for the March 3 Board of Supervisors meeting which quoted the “Board Action” on the topic of an appeals process for cannabis cultivation permit denials.

“Action: Upon motion by Supervisor Haschak, seconded by Supervisor McGourty, IT IS ORDERED that the Board of Supervisors directs staff to work with the Cannabis Ad Hoc to create an appeal process for cannabis application denials, and return to the Board of Supervisors before May 3, 2022; look at options for full cost recovery; and look at options regarding the continuing of cultivation while an appeal is being processed.”

THE NEXT DAY, Thursday April 28, the Board Clerk posted the agenda for next Tuesday, May 3. So of course we immediately to looked see if the Haschak/McGourty Ad Hoc Committee and “staff” had met their self-imposed oh-so demanding two-months long deadline.

TO ABSOLUTELY NO ONE’S SURPRISE it’s not there. No appeals process proposal. No explanation.

SO the next question is, Will anyone ask about it on Tuesday? Do these “orders” mean anything at all?

READERS who think we’re nitpicking about these things, may be right. This is indeed small potatoes and we don’t have a particular bone to pick about these long overdue permit appeals. The point is that not only do these Supervisors regularly fail on the big stuff, which we have listed several times over recent weeks, but they can’t even manage their own undemanding minor tasks. 

BUT THEY’RE GOOD AT HANDING OUT large sums of money on the consent calendar whenever the CEO asks for it. 

Consent Item 3t: “Approval of Agreement with AECOM Technical Services, Inc. in the Amount of $1,377,948.00 for Construction Management Services to Complete Measure B Psychiatric Health Facility at 131 Whitmore Lane in Ukiah for the Period from the Date of Execution through December 31, 2025.“

TRANSLATION: The County is farming out the planning, administration and project management of the demolition and construction of the Whitmore Lane site to construct an all new Psychiatric Health Facility. AECOM will bill the county for a project director ($300 per hour), a project manager ($215 per hour), a preconstruction manager ($200 per hour), a senior construction manager ($180 per hour), a senior scheduler ($165 per hour), a senior estimator ($165 per hour) and a project coordinator ($100 per hour) and run the bill up to the amount they asked for — almost $1.4 million. (And then they’ll probably propose changes and add-ons as they go.)

IF YOU DETECT a bit of unaccountable overlap and redundancy in all this, you probably are a local contractor who naively assumes that one project manager should be able to do this. (Remember, this is not the demolition or construction contract, it’s the project management contract for those contracts. Presumably, whoever the demolition and/or construction contractor is will have their own construction manager, but in Mendo that’s not enough, not even close.)

FOR COMPARISON, one can look at the AV Schools Construction Bond project from a few years ago which was worth over $7 million and included a variety of new and remodeled construction using the full range of construction trades and taking more than a year. In that case, project manager Don Alameida did it all and did it well, including a number of re-schedulings, change orders, multiple contractors and vendors, an architect, and the school’s ill-defined original desires. 

AS USUAL not only does Official Mendo not bother to explain why $1.4 million worth of top-heavy overhead is required, but they put this large contract on the consent calendar on the assumption that there’s nothing to discuss. Business as usual in Spendocino. 

PS. You might recall that this is Measure B money that was voted for to improve local mental health services. Instead it’s going for a grotesquely wasteful consulting contract. Just like the Crisis Residential House, a $1 million house which ended up costing $5 million with similar wasteful overhead thrown in. And nobody in Mendo gives a damn. Not a peep out of Sheriff Allman or the legions of Mental Health Advocates about all this waste. And we haven’t even got to the project itself. Nor have we added in the cost of the overpriced architect consultant that’s designing and planning the PHF. Recall also that when the widely praised Measure B needs assessment consultant Lee Kemper delivered his report back in 2018, he estimated the cost of the PHF at $7.5 million which included a substantial “contingency.” When asked how he came up with that number Kemper said it was based on recently built PHFs in Butte County, Shasta and Tehama counties. Kemper did not include land cost nor demolition. The Whitmore Lane facility demolition will add some to the cost, as will the passage of four years since the Kemper estimate. But even if you add all that and round up to $10 million, you’re still at half the cost the County is currently estimating. That’s $10 million Measure B dollars that should go to services that are instead going to consultants.  

LARRY WAGNER: "There has been a spotted towhee flitting around our yard for a few years, but I was never able to photograph him. And then I did!"

ED NOTES

MATT TAIBBI: “I wrote then that press people in particular were making a huge mistake in cheering the end of the old litigation-based method for dealing with things like Jones’s Sandy Hook reporting, and turning authority over to faceless groups of executives working behind the scenes with legislators to fulfill a vague mission of preventing the ‘foment of discord.’ When Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said deleting Jones was only a ‘good first step,’ I thought that should have been a clue even to the densest media critic that much more radical changes were coming that may not work out as they expect.”

AS A GUY only vaguely aware of Twitter and no intention of ever using it, I'm still happy that Musk has liberated it from committees of blue noses and their pious algorithms. Let 'er rip, I say. The legions of the woke are much more dangerous than the foul talk and opinions they think they're eliminating by excluding it. Bottom line: The woke don't trust people to sort things out for themselves, and the woke, much as the would-be power trippers desire control of opinion, certainly can't be trusted to decide what can or cannot be expressed by the rest of us.

I ALSO liked Musk's joke that he was going to buy Coca Cola and put the cocaine back in it. He'd sell more Coca-Cola than Teslas if he did. (I better say here that I'm not an admirer of Musk for all the reasons the woke would approve of.)

MY MOTHER remembered when there was cocaine in Coca Cola, which would have been up through most of the 1920s. She said there was a man in her small Southern Illinois town who was locally famous for downing multiple Cokes a day. She said townspeople just thought he liked the stuff.

DAVE SMITH, fit as a fiddle, shares his magic fitness formula.

Longevity: What I’ve learned about health so far:

1. I walk an hour almost every day.

2. Most strokes are triggered by dehydration. I drink a full glass of water first thing in the morning and always have it nearby during the day.

3. Hydrogen Peroxide kills Coronavirus and Flu, freshens the breath, and whitens teeth. I gargle HP and rinse every morning and evening and after being around people and especially if I notice a sore throat or feel “out of sorts.”

4. After my body told me to stop drinking alcohol I seldom indulge.

5. Caffeine makes my heart beat irregularly so I seldom indulge in coffee or chocolate.

6. I try to be a pescatarian most of the time.

—Dave Smith

ED NOTE: I've gotten pretty far into old age without knowing much more about health than the five food groups me dear old mum drilled into my head. But seizing the opportunity to lay out my responses to Dave's sensible regimen…

1. I also walk for an hour a day, plus I do exactly 300 push-ups in sets of 60 over twenty-thirty minutes, and a few curls at night with twenty-pound dumbbells. I'm confident I could walk to Cloverdale if I had to.

2. I drink a lot of water because I get thirsty. I didn't know dehydration was associated with strokes.

3. Hydrogen what? Gawd no. First I've heard of it.

4. My body may have advised me to give up alcohol but my head says, “Go for it!” I still binge occasionally, meaning five or six shots of Makers, but only three or four days a year.

5. I can't live without coffee. I down five or six cups a day with no effect on my metabolism.

6. Pescatarian? You mean fish, Dave? I eat whatever's put in front of me except fish unless it's disguised beneath layers of batter and grease as fish and chips or tuna in a tuna sandwich. I don't trust fish because you can't know its provenance anymore unless you're buying it right off the boat. And even then the seas are so fouled its creatures probably are, too. I'll never forget one of the cops on the SF dive squad — the guys who bring out the bodies and swim down into the murk for weapons — saying that “Anyone who eats anything that comes out of this Bay is nuts.”

ALONG WITH EVERYTHING ELSE gone terribly wrong in this country, our celebrities are more comprehensively awful than ever. But contemporary celebs, along with political figures, who are also more offensive than they've ever been, are force fed to us by media, even media one would think wouldn't stoop so low. Madeline Albright and Johnny Depp dominated Wednesday's tv news, and even the BBC news, which usually doesn't descend so low as to cover the affairs of people like the depraved Depp and his demented ex-wife felt the BBC's upmarket audience would be interested. Albright's sendoff, though, was media-unavoidable given her major role in the destruction of the Middle East. At least she got a line-up of eulogists she deserved — Hillary and Bill and Biden — right there three harbingers of national doom lamenting the loss of another moral monster.

NONPROFIT RAISING $1.3 MILLION TO PURCHASE ATKINS PLACE EXPANDING MONTGOMERY WOODS

Save the Redwoods League today announced it has secured the opportunity to acquire and protect 453 acres of coast redwood forest in Mendocino County. The Atkins Place property is a critical habitat corridor, connecting Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve and Bureau of Land Management protected lands. It has 335 acres of coast redwood and Douglas-fir forest, 1.25 miles of steelhead and coho salmon-bearing streams, plus grassland and ridgelines. The League seeks to raise $1.3 million by June 30 for the acquisition.

mendofever.com/2022/04/28/nonprofit-raising-1-3-million-to-purchase-atkins-place-expanding-montgomery-woods/

MR. HOAGLIN’S WILD RIDE

On 04-25-2022 at approximately 10:55 AM, a UPD Officer was on patrol in the area of N. Orchard Ave. and Brush St. when he observed a motorcycle being driven. The Officer had previously seen this motorcycle parked in a local hotel parking lot with no license plates affixed to it and had also seen it with license plates affixed to it that did not match the make or model of this motorcycle. The rider appeared to notice the Officer and completed a U-turn, so as to avoid the Officer from following him. The Officer attempted an enforcement stop on the motorcycle/rider, but the rider accelerated southbound on N. Orchard Ave. The Officer activated his vehicle’s emergency lights and siren, but the rider failed to yield as required by law. The rider continued to evade the Officer while traveling throughout the City, traveling at speeds up to 85 MPH, failing to stop as required at intersections and passing other vehicles in a  reckless manner.  

The rider proceeded to the 1400 block of N. Bush St., at which time he drove through a parking lot, through a gap in a chain-link fence, into a dirt lot in an attempt to elude capture. The rider exited the motorcycle and fled on foot. Officers pursued the rider, on foot, from the dirt lot toward the intersection of KUKI Ln. and Millview Rd. The rider refused to comply with lawful verbal commands given by Officers. At the intersection of KUKI Ln and Millview Rd. the rider stopped fleeing and was taken into custody without further incident. The rider was identified as Joseph A. Hoaglin, 28, of Ukiah.

Hoaglin was transported to the MCSO Jail where he was booked for stolen vehicle, forgery of vehicle registration and reckless evasion. He was held on $35,000 bail. 

Officers verified the license plates that were affixed to the motorcycle did not belong on that vehicle. The motorcycle was towed from the scene and stored.  

(Ukiah Police presser)

AMENDED PLANNING COMMISSION AGENDA for May 5, 2022

An Amended Planning Commission Agenda for May 5, 2022 has been posted to the Departments website at: mendocinocounty.org/government/planning-building-services/meeting-agendas/planning-commission

Please contact staff with any questions. Thank you.

Adrienne Thompson, Administrative Services Manager II, 707-234-6650

CATCH OF THE DAY, April 28, 2022

AURELIO ALCARAZ, Ukiah. Marijuana for sale/sales, suspended license, probation revocation.

JESUS DELGADO JR., Fort Bragg. Concealed dirk-dagger, failure to appear, probation revocation.

OCTAVIO GASPAR, Ukiah. DUI-alcohol&drugs, child endangerment, no license.

DEBORAH LINCOLN, Covelo. Taking vehicle without owner’s consent, stolen vehicle, conspiracy.

ERIC LINCOLN, Covelo. Paraphernalia, conspiracy.

GEORGE MENDOZA, Pacoma/Ukiah. Controlled substance-narcotic possession & sale, conspiracy, bringing controlled substance into jail.

JOHN NORTON, Ukiah. DUI.

CASANDRA RAWLS, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

PAUL SCHOCK, Philo. Controlled substance-narcotic possession & sale, conspiracy, resisting.

DANIEL SHEALOR, Fort Bragg. Domestic battery.

ALEX STORKSON, Clearlake/Ukiah. Parole violation.

ANTONIO THOMAS, Ukiah. Vandalism, disobeying court order.

ROBERT VARGAS JR. Fort Bragg. County parole violation.

BRIAN WILLIAMS, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

DANIEL WOLDT, Fort Bragg. Probation revocation.

UKRAINE, THURSDAY 28 APRIL

Ukrainian officials have condemned Russia’s missile attack on Kyiv Thursday night, saying it occurred as the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was finishing a visit to the Ukrainian capital. 

President Volodymyr Zelensky, in his daily video message, said that "Today, immediately after the end of our talks [with Guterres] in Kyiv, Russian missiles flew into the city. 5 missiles. This says a lot about Russia's true attitude to global institutions, about the Russian leadership's efforts to humiliate the UN and everything that the organization represents. And therefore requires an appropriate, powerful response."

"Russian missile strikes on Ukraine — on Kyiv, Fastiv, Odesa, Khmelnytskyi and other cities — prove once again that one cannot relax yet, one cannot think that the war is over. We still need to fight, we need to drive the occupiers out," Zelensky said

If you're just joining us, here's a look at other key updates about the invasion and the global response so far:

10 Russian soldiers identified as suspects in "crimes committed" in Bucha, Zelensky says: President Zelensky said 10 Russian service members have been identified as suspects in the “crimes committed against our people in Bucha.”

In his nightly address posted to social media on Thursday, Zelensky said the investigation into crimes committed by the Russian military is underway and that the “first ten Russian servicemen from the 64th motorized rifle brigade of the Russian Ground Forces who committed crimes against our people in Bucha, Kyiv region, received the status of suspects.”

UN chief urges evacuation corridors to open in Mariupol: "Thousands of civilians need life-saving assistance": The United Nations secretary-general urged on Thursday for evacuation corridors to open up in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, saying that the besieged city is a “crisis within a crisis.” 

“Today the people of Mariupol are in desperate need for such an approach. Mariupol is a crisis within a crisis,” Guterres said in Kyiv, speaking at news conference alongside  Zelensky .

“Thousands of civilians need life-saving assistance. Many are elderly need medical care or have limited mobility, they need an escape route out of the apocalypse,” he added.  

The UN chief met with Zelensky and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Thursday following a visit to Moscow where he met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. 

Russian forces are trying to eradicate Ukrainian identity in Kherson:Russian forces occupying much of the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson are trying to extend their grip over the area and eradicate its Ukrainian identity.

They have made modest advances on the battlefield, with the Ukrainians acknowledging a loss of territory in the direction of Mykolaiv to the northwest.

In recent days the Russians have appointed their own officials to run Kherson, replacing elected Ukrainian officials. On Thursday one of those newly installed officials said Kherson would begin to use the ruble from next week and the Ukrainian currency, the hryvnia, would be replaced within four months.

Additionally, Russian television channels have taken the place of Ukrainian networks.

Now one of the Ukrainian representatives on Kherson's regional council has accused the Russian forces of threatening educators.

45 Ukrainians freed in latest prisoner exchange with Russia, official says: Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Thursday that 45 Ukrainians were freed in the latest exchange of prisoners of war with Russia. 

“Today 45 of our people have been released from Russian captivity: 13 officers and 20 soldiers, including 5 wounded,” Vereshchuk said in a post on Telegram. 

“We are also returning 12 of our civilians home,” she added. 

The deputy prime minister did not provide details on how many Russian prisoners were freed in the exchange. Russia is yet to confirm the swap.

SAVOR THE GREAT MUSK PANIC

On drinking the delicious tears of blue-check hypocrites, who've suddenly discovered the perils of a privatized speech landscape

by Matt Taibbi

The New York Times earlier this week ran a guest essay by Gawker founding editor Elizabeth Spiers, fulminating about Elon Musk’s effort to purchase Twitter. She wrote:

“What exactly does [Musk] believe can’t be said on the platform right now? It certainly doesn’t take long to find discredited race science, arguments that women are intellectually inferior, antisemitism… It is easy to assume that the banned speech that Mr. Musk is standing up for is worse even than that. As the comedian Michael Che put it on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ the $44 billion deal shows ‘how badly white guys want to use the N-word’.”

This is the elite argument against free speech in a nutshell: “If you favor ‘all legal speech,’ you really just want to slander, threaten, and harass. Now please let me tiptoe up to libel myself, as I tell millions of New York Times readers I ‘assume’ you’re a racist itching to use the N-word.”

The hypocrisy of America’s self-appointed culture-protectors this week is breathtaking. They really seem not to realize that what they’ve been seeking for years isn’t an end to speech abuses, but a monopoly on them. They see Musk as a traitor to his class, threatening to upend what they see as a natural order that in recent years placed bluenose squads in deserved roles as vanguards and truth-arbiters. Whether or not Musk ever upends anything is a different question, but critics believe he will, and now they’re panicking, in tones of maximum sanctimony. They’re even pulling out “Who will protect the children?”-style language.

I spent a good part of the last four years warning that asking unaccountable billionaires to meddle more in speech would result in exactly such a table-turning episode, in which the political mainstream’s cocky censor squad would wake up one day to find the wrong tycoon in charge, at which point they would cry foul and howl suddenly about the evils of oligarchy. For failing to cheer their vision of enlightened censorship, colleagues denounced me as a reactionary pervert in the employ of (pick one) Trump/Assad/Putin. So it’s hard to do anything but chuckle at their anguish this week. 

According to mainstream legend, Twitter executives were forced to re-think their hands-off, “free speech wing of the free speech party” approach after watching the @RealDonaldTrump account become the world’s most-followed news network during the 2016 election campaign. In doing so, they upended the power of traditional news media figures to filter out what they deemed unacceptable political candidates. The Washington Post would later describe how anguished Twitter general counsel Vijaya Gadde and CEO Jack Dorsey realized after Trump’s election that their product had escaped its pen and needed putting down:

“Twitter’s largely liberal employee base faced growing criticism, and workers complained that the first question they were asked when they told someone they worked at the social media service was, what about Trump’s account? His account was even briefly deactivated once by a rogue Twitter employee in 2017.

“By 2018, Dorsey and Gadde, whose title is legal, policy and trust and safety lead, knew they had to rethink their approach to powerful people’s megaphones. Executives began to devise new policies and product features that would enable the company to place a specific label to cover up a tweet.”

The Post went on to describe a Shakespearean tragedy, in which executives like Dorsey and Gadde tried, against all logic and evidence, to cling to doomed speech principles throughout the Trump presidency. Blind to their fate as all tragic figures must be, they held on past the bitter end, leaving Trump’s account up long enough to imperil democracy itself via the insurrection (democracy was always “democracy itself” in the Trump years). 

January 6th in this version of the story was clearly Twitter’s fault, caused by “a mob of Trump supporters, following the president’s calls on Twitter,” as the Post put it. When the company then belatedly did the right thing and deactivated Trump’s account, the Post said it “brought to an end an era of free speech online” that Twitter “itself helped create.”

That’s one version of history. I remember another. 

First, it wasn’t Twitter that undermined the authority of Beltway pundits and back-room kingmakers like Mark Halperin’s* famous “Gang of 500” to decide which candidates were and were not “electable.” Way before 2016, voters had begun the process of rejecting obnoxious elitist rituals like the “invisible primary,” in which nominees were supposedly chosen before primaries even began by faceless groups of donors, party officials, and key media figures. We saw an early preview in 2008, when Hillary Clinton won the “invisible primary” but Democratic voters chose Barack Obama instead. 

In 2016 Jeb Bush got $150 million in backing and won three delegates. That wasn’t because of Twitter, it was because Jeb Bush was a historically pathetic candidate who couldn’t fill an aisle of a New Hampshire drugstore. Media priests then cycled through one horrible candidate after another, announcing each would eventually emerge as the “real,” non-Trump Republican choice. Every single one of them — from Scott Walker to Chris Christie to John Kasich to Marco Rubio — flopped in spectacular fashion, and that wasn’t Twitter’s fault, either. Nor was it Twitter’s fault that virtually every pundit at every major news outlet declared it impossible for a candidate to win without their approval. It wasn’t Twitter that forced the New York Times to write in September of 2015 that Trump had “just about no shot” because it is “the party elites who traditionally decide nomination contests.”

A second major problem with the “Twitter’s failure to censor caused Trump” version of history is it ignores the way Democrats themselves began meddling with the platform during that same time period. When Hillary Clinton unexpectedly struggled to defeat a penniless primary challenger in Bernie Sanders, she and her pals in media launched an unforgivable smear campaign against him, using — Twitter! Sanders had gained momentum by asking painful questions about Hillary’s real history of accepting vast sums in speaking fees from crooked banks. Blue-checks stopped that dangerous story in its tracks by introducing a new one about the scourge of online “Bernie Bros”:

Thanks to this clever mid-campaign push by the Clinton campaign, suddenly the issue of the 2016 Democratic primary was a supposed online onslaught of white male Twitter trolls who hated women and minorities and were Bernie’s real base. The supporters in Bernie’s enormous real-life crowds were apparently only pretending to be diverse masses of self-effacing pseudo-socialists who supported unions and free health care. According to Clinton acolytes, and waves of their “cultivated” blue-check pundits, these Bernie fans were really a stealth hate movement. 

This began a long period in which it was deemed not just acceptable but desirable to smear people in certain ways online. Things that only a decade ago would have been considered at least libel-adjacent, like Hillary Clinton calling Tulsi Gabbard a “Russian asset” or The Guardian calling comics like Ricky Gervais or Dave Chappelle (!) “bigots” in a headline no longer inspired hesitation, while factually bogus stories about people like Julian Assange or Trump were greenlit with regularity by the same people who once rightly denounced smears of people like Hillary or Monica Lewinsky in right-wing media. 

While smearing in one direction became increasingly permissible, other types of cyber-misbehavior were declared so serious they required the intervention of some of the country’s highest elected officials. As far back as 2017, the senior executives of companies like Facebook, Google, and Twitter were dragged to the Hill and “scolded” for failing to do enough to stop “Russia’s influence operation,” by which of course they meant Trump’s 2016 electoral victory. Senators like Virginia Democrat Mark Warner made it clear that if platforms didn’t start censoring more, they would be taxed and regulated in a list of fascinating new ways. 

Soon after the “scolding,” word leaked out that the changes companies like Google dutifully enacted to their algorithms to combat “fake news” had the highly convenient effect of reducing traffic to sites critical of centrist Democrats. These were not just conservative sites, but also traditionally liberal and even socialist outlets like Common Dreams, Truthout, AlterNet, and the World Socialist Website.

Of course none of the blue-check warriors currently howling about Musk cared then, because to them, such left-leaning critics of the Democratic Party might as well have been Russian agents. The Washington Post all but said as much in late 2016 when it ran a fawning profile of the anonymous smear artists PropOrNot, who’d compiled a list of “200 websites that… wittingly or unwittingly published or echoed Russian propaganda.” Imagine the gall of the Washington Post editor who approved the line that accused sites as diverse as LewRockwell.com, Truthdig, Naked Capitalism, Antiwar.com, and the Ron Paul Institute of (at least perhaps) wittingly helping an alleged election-fixing conspiracy! But of course, that wasn’t harassment or abuse, since those were strictly Trumpian phenomena. 

The true ribbon-cutting event of the content moderation era, of course, was a move that thrilled blue-checks everywhere: the expulsion of red-faced Infowars yutz Alex Jones from Facebook, Apple, YouTube, Spotify, and other platforms.

Virtually everyone who had an opinion on this matter focused on how much of a jerk they thought Alex Jones was, and how much he deserved banishing. Only a handful took the wider view, wondering about the precedent of oligopolistic tech executives acting in concert to remove speech. Perhaps, a few wondered, it was not a good idea to have a star-chamber of billionaires deciding in secret what is and is not appropriate media.

“Governments at least purport to be acting solely in the public interest, but platforms are making these decisions based on what’s in their financial interest,” said Ben Wizner, then director of the ACLU’s speech, privacy and technology project. “So their interest might be in avoiding controversy, but do we want the most important speech platforms in the world to avoid controversy?”

This was the moment to worry about the ultra-wealthy deciding to exercise selective control over America’s media distribution systems. Because the platforms’ first target was Alex Jones, however, the commentariat roared approval. “Twitter Finally Axes Alex Jones,” was the Wired headline. “Deplatforming works,” added Vice. “Alex Jones Said Bans Would Strengthen Him. He Was Wrong,” chirped the New York Times.

I wrote then that press people in particular were making a huge mistake in cheering the end of the old litigation-based method for dealing with things like Jones’s Sandy Hook reporting, and turning authority over to faceless groups of executives working behind the scenes with legislators to fulfill a vague mission of preventing the “foment of discord.” When Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said deleting Jones was only a “good first step,” I thought that should have been a clue even to the densest media critic that much more radical changes were coming that may not work out as they expect:

“Americans are not freaking out about this because most of us have lost the ability to distinguish between general principles and political outcomes. So long as the ‘right’ people are being zapped, no one cares.”

When it soon after came out that companies like Facebook were working with think-tanks like the Atlantic Council to identify “inauthentic” accounts, and were zapping first dozens and then hundreds of real independent sites as a result (including outlets that were anti-Trump, or pro-Palestinian, or monitored police brutality cases), the reaction was again a shrug. The reason, I wrote, was obvious:

“When Facebook works with the government and… organizations like the Atlantic Council to delete sites on national security grounds, using secret methodology, it opens the door to nightmare possibilities that you’d find in dystopian novels.

“The sheer market power of these companies over information flow has always been the real threat. This is why breaking them up should have long ago become an urgent national priority.

“Instead, as was obvious during the Senate hearing with Mark Zuckerberg earlier this year, politicians are more interested in using than curtailing the power of these companies.”

For years, these folks had every chance to campaign for another, fairer way of dealing with online speech. Not only did they not do that, they specifically endorsed the model of opaque, billionaire-controlled, monopolistic star-chamber platforms, because they wanted to retain the power to smear and censor people they didn’t like on a mass scale. Moreover in just four years they went from drawing the line at Alex Jones to being unable to take a joke in the Babylon Bee. Now it might be blowback time and they’re sad. Could a less sympathetic group of people even be imagined? Is it wrong to find their angst hilarious? It doesn’t feel wrong. Enjoy the ride, knuckleheads, you built this roller-coaster.

BORN HIRAM ULYSSES GRANT at Point Pleasant, Ohio, on April 27, 1822, Grant was a soldier, Civil War hero, politician, international statesman, and the 18th president of the United States.

UNEQUAL CONSEQUENCES

Editor,

I’m increasingly alarmed at the health, economic and unequal social consequences of climate change. Each climate-related event becomes increasingly more costly, and critics often say that proposed changes are expensive. However, inaction is going to be the most consequential. Continued wildfires, extreme heat and ozone air pollution, among other things, increase health-related costs, illness, hospitalizations and deaths. Additionally, from a social perspective, those who contribute the least to climate change are suffering the most, which worsens unjust health disparities.

The conversation of environmental activism continues, but we need more action from us all. Discussions at the governmental level often feel discouraging, but even minor actions each day matter. It’s a process that requires a conscious, consistent effort. Compost. Carpool. Recycle. Join local coalitions, write to our leaders and be a part of the conversation.

Melissa Sablik

Petaluma

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

I for one am looking forward to the ‘The White House Correspondents Dinner’ on Sat. nite. Word is Kim Kardashian will be in attendance this year! Sure it’s a big Hollywood Showbiz — MSM — Lefty Pol Circle Jerk, and at a time when the international order is collapsing and the Proles out in Dirt Land can’t afford a tank of gas for their car, but so what? The dinner entre’ will be delicious, the Champagne cold … plenty of yuks will be had, lots of mutual ass kissing and back slapping amongst these American elites. Yesterday in a speech Putin stated “We will not permit NATO occupation in what is part of historical Russia”, which seems like the crux of the whole war. Putin also threatened nuclear annihilation for any NATO country directly interfering with Russian activity in Ukraine; that ought to get a good laugh out of the luminaries at the White House Correspondents Dinner.

LOWER COST, SLOWER GAINS: CALIFORNIA PREPARES CONTROVERSIAL NEW CLIMATE STRATEGY

California air-quality officials have endorsed an updated blueprint for battling climate change, choosing a plan that aims to minimize job losses and costs while slashing greenhouse gases and achieving carbon neutrality by 2045.

California has long been a global leader in addressing the climate crisis, enacting aggressive laws and policies to reduce its carbon footprint. But the state has recently come under fire from activists and some legislators for failing to act quickly enough and relying too much on carbon-trading programs.

The strategy that the staff of the state Air Resources Board plans to unveil in May requires a massive shift away from California’s reliance on fossil fuels and more emphasis on renewable energy sources. The plan, which aims for an 80% reduction of greenhouse gases below 1990 levels by 2050, would cost an estimated $18 billion in 2035 and $27 billion in 2045.

lostcoastoutpost.com/2022/apr/28/lower-cost-slower-gains-california-prepares-contro/

THE RIGHTWING'S WEDGE ISSUE, PHONY DIVISION

If transgender is such a threat, so insane, so contrary to any kind of social norm... Why is it that people have been getting treated for 70 years and nobody (with perhaps the excepton of radical feminists and separatist lesbians) made a single peep about this until about 10 years ago, and it's been a burning issue less than 5 years? What happened to a process, with rigorous medical oversight, affecting a microscopic community, that suddenly had it become the new threat to our society and social order? This makes no sense... except it totally makes sense. It's just one more wedge issue, a profound nothing burger, baked into a blunt instrument for both sides to bludgeon one another with... Except there are real people (albeit a tiny few, but real people nonetheless), suffering because political opponents have chosen to make them the new chew toy of the day.

The laws prohibiting children and their parents seeking proper medical care, ignore that in some of these states, there are no more than 2 children with the condition. How did 2 children rate the law making time with the legislature to produce unilateral decisions on the rights of parents to be parents, in the factof getting proper medical care to intervene in what could be a life threatening condition for their own children? How is it that religious zealots with NO education, training, or understanding of the condition are making the legal choices, utterly ignoring the doctors and researchers with 3, 4, and 5 decades of clinical experience in the field?

There are so many conflated conversations going on here, let's tease out a couple of the more significant;

1. There are people who need to go through the process of gender reassignment, or they die. They are rare. fewer than 1 in 10,000, less than 1% of 1% of the public. They've successfully been receiving essential medical treatment for 70 years to great success. There are STRICT medical guidelines on their treatment, because this is extreme treatment with life altering results, treating the wrong people could itself be life threatening, so it's incredibly important that ONLY those people who require this treatment, receive this treatment. For that reason, Strict guidelines were created and can be read here Wpath Standards of Care; https://www.wpath.org/publications/soc

2. In the early 2000s, the "T" people worked very hard to have themselves added to the LGB people because, being such a tiny community, their civil rights were getting stomped on, just horribly. Thinking they could hitch their wagon to a larger train, might give them a shock at finally getting some attention and protection under the law. OF course doing this had the instant result of making them the enemy of the Christian Right. They were now suddenly the target of all manner of campaigns to define them as unholy, satanic, and against the natural intention of God... and slowly but surely became a new and growing wedge issue to shock and terrify good Christians into fighting the demonic threat in their own schools and neighborhoods.

3. At the same time, as more progressive educators pushed the idea that civil rights and in particular LGBT civil rights demanded recognition and protection, the entire conversation of gender exploded as a social expression. Young people began to experiment with gender the way their parents experimented with sex in college the generatoins before, and to this day we now have about 80 distinct genders pronouns to know and bandy about. As with every generation, this was a great way to express one''s angst about the challenge of social expressions, and in the same instant piss of the Rents... Does it get any better? Unfortunately, this created a whole new community of folks who danced in or at the border of gender nonconformity. At about 1-2% of the population, they were hundreds of times more common than the folks with gender dysphoria needing clinical treatment, but still a small enough community for the bigots to call freaks. The net results being this small but loud community has pushed hard for civil rights for transgender people and the backlash by the religous right has been mind numbing.

Here is an absolutely BRILLIANT conversation into the nature of Transphobia, and phobic thinking in general... https://youtu.be/yCxqdhZkxCo

It gets directly to the bottom of skepticism and how its misapplication may force people into the conundrum of NEVER getting access to even the most basic of human rights.

It can be emotionally satisfying to see a bunch of whining, over privileged, ideologues get their logical asses handed to them, but a champion of clear thinking... But if the end result is real people getting hurt, real children getting bullied or marginalized because people's opinions displace logical solutions to recognized problems... Then who's the victor and what have they actually won, and at what cost?

The fact that this is a tiny community, whose identifying state is that they function exactly the opposite as most folks, makes them hard to understand and counter-intuitive. There are other small communities with exactly the same problem and they all tend to get a hard time from society at large. It's why we have programs for Orphaned Diseases, and organizations whose job it is to help special cases too few to fit in the normal support infrastructure. Perhaps society should have a special protected class; Miscellaneous... A catchall for folks who aren't quite fish or foul. But we don't have that, so we have to find the best balance we can between the rights of the many and the rights of the few or the one. No easy thing. But paving them over and deriding them as freaks, isn't a good look either... 

— Marie Tobias

SAN FRANCISCO ART INSTITUTE and the Bay Area Poetry Scene in the 1980s (or as we called it “The Toot”)

by Emjay Wilson Scott

My first introduction to the Art Institute was when Jerry Pelitera aka Jerome, invited me to a performance at Video Free America. Dale Hoyt, Marshall Weber, John Martin and a 4th , possibly Andrew Huestis were sitting behind a table wired up with buzzers and flashing lights of different colors. It was an Art Game Show and they competed to answer the questions, each pushing there light and the first one attempted to answer the question correctly. At least, that is what I remember. I loved it, I enjoyed these performance artists and wanted to know more about SFAI.

During that period, I was reading my poetry in North Beach and around the Bay Area. I however, was bored with the Gary Snyder  imitation drones of the poetry read,  I was looking for something more. If I was bored with the readings , surely, everyone was bored as well. I was a member of Clive Matson’s poetry workshop in Oakland, there were many amazing poets working together. We put out a few collaborations under the “ Garnett”. One of these poets also Clive’s neighbor was Rene June. A sassy poet of notable talent. She fell in love and had a baby. However, the Yuppie architect she was in love and father of her baby with kept borrowing more money while promising to marry her. Everyone was  concerned about her. She went to meet him one night, happily thinking she would be finally getting married. She never returned, no one knew where she or the baby had disappeared to, and the Oakland PD had little interest. Members of the group kept hounding the police to no avail. Finally, an investigative reporter from the SF chronicle took interest and ran a story in the Sunday Pink Section  ”What ever happened to Baby M. Baby M, Rene’s child had washed up on the shores of Tiburon, Rene was found in a shallow grave in the Redwoods. Years had passed, however, when the story came out, the Architect, who had moved to Seattle must have known his time was up. He checked into a shoddy hotel in Blaine, WA the border to Canada and shot himself. To this day, the lack of attention to disappearing women is a problem. Especially Indigenous, black or seemingly unimportant women, who cannot make a headline.

MTV had just come on television, although I did not own a TV. A friend Elliot Snyder, a doctor from Marin invited me to a big party at The Jefferson Airplane Mansion on Fulton across from Golden Gate Park. It was a celebration and viewing of Asia on MTV. She was the daughter of Grace Slick and Paul Kantner. One for the first Vjay's on MTV. It was all very exciting  with TV”s in every room and the young Asia on MTV. I wandered into the bathroom and went through a room where the beautiful Blonde Marin present wives of the Airplane, were chatting. I saw Grace in another room. A woman with the most beautiful eyes, I had seen in a while.

I heard the blondes discussing her.

“Grace is doing really well tonight.”

“Yes, she must be on her meds.”

I ignored them and walked back through, realizing that Grace must have heard this as well. I don’t know about Grace, I thought, but if it was me, I would need a drink after hearing these blonde bimbos discussing my behavior. It made me angry, what did it do to her, she was the talent of the Airplane, exactly what did they bring to the table?

After that evening , I began musing about incorporating Video with my poetry , in a way to reach a greater audience. I was already doing performance poetry, adding country western to my repertoire. I looked into attending the Performance video department and it was amazingly easy to enroll, the staff filled out the student loans and  I was accepted. I got a job from 7am to 1pm to be able to attend afternoon and evening courses. I was in, and it was there I met many amazing video artists and became good friends with Dale Hoyt. He was an inspiration . His video “My world Dies Screaming.” Particularly affected me , as it addressed the angst of the Punk generation and something I felt , I also hoped to express in my poems. Today,  I see it in the work of young female poets , who give me joy with the anger and honesty.  Clemantine Von Radics comes to mind, perhaps Rene was reincarnated.

The instructors were great. Each giving a different bit of themselves in their teaching. Doug Hall, Howard Fried and Paul Kos all inspired our work in new ways.

Dale Hoyt always jokingly referred to himself as a child prodigy. Nowadays, he would edit that as being “The Oldest Living Child Prodigy.” We were always working together in that time, someone carrying the heavy tape deck and shooting ¾ inch tapes. We counted on Kurt Lundblad to help us check out our equipment for shoots and schedule the editing room.

I met my husband Jim Scott at the Institute and we worked together to showcase all the Video artists at SFAI and many outside. Martin Weber Studio  became a great venue to showcase work as well as Steve Parr and other local venues.  I was working on a multimedia show for Martin Weber, showcasing my video Art and poems. I would be reading my Aids poem,” A Plague has Swept my City”. Once again, I would have a nurse draw my blood onstage (good thing I worked part time in a medical office). I wanted an angry man  to storm off Market Street ranting about “fucking Homos” and he would take the glass with my drawn blood and throw it against the paper covered wall. Most of the young men at the Art Institute really didn’t fit the bill. Mohawks etc. Jim a fisherman from Canada agreed and we began working together .When he did the performance, we had to restrain several audience members from jumping him Including my cousin. Jim and I started working together often and now we have been married 37 years. We continue to collaborate on many things.

Jim and I began a public access show, called “TOO Much for TV.” Jim was the producer and I the moderator interviewing different Video Artists and showcasing their work. We taped live in the Pacifica Studio and then would drop the tapes off at Local Access Channel 25. Dale was a frequent guest there, showing his work. Others were the incredible Chuck Z

Chuck Z was the most inspirational , out of the box and wonderful spirit.  He would create incredible videos based on his body. My favorite piece was “I the Love”, where he is clad in a laundry sack and borrowed my black lipstick to become a genderless person, this being holds a zucchini lovingly and whispers to it, and pets it. His love is overwhelming.  He had another  one where it looks like the Mojave Desert, and then  suddenly you realize that it was his arm up close. Sadly, Chuck Z died of a heart attack. He moved to Los Angeles in search of an Art Scene.

When Jim Scott and I got married, he gave us a myriad of plastic sex toys. A double dong and rubber chest with 3 breasts. He just happened to be working at a sex toy factory in LA. His next job was for a house cleaning company. He worked hard and cleaned some fabulous Beverly Hills estates. He finally grew tired of  making minimum wage while the owners charged the big bucks for the job he slaved to do, and he wrote a note to the owner of the fabulous house he had just cleaned , promising to cut the price if he called him direct. Sadly, it was a test house for the company owner and he lost that job. He performed weekly at El Cid in LA. He can still be seen on YouTube Strawberry Girl and other performances live at the El Cid.  Dean Decent is an incredible artist and climate activist  we still see, Think Greta Thunberg as a 6.2 gay red head living in LA. So Passionate he performs Environmental poetry in LA as RERE Duce. You can see him live or on Instagram, Tiktok or Youtube. He gave up driving years ago and will only take buses. He or RERE in drag stands over the freeway holding signs. “Really, one person to a car?”   Duh.  Dean worked at Hayes St. Grill, while attending the Art Institute and made “Bus Boys Personnel”  he put a camera in his blue apron and took a pic of the diners and then their meals before and after! One of my faves was Red Head .Dean moved on from SF to the Ferry farm in Wolf Creek , Oregon  and then on to LA. I was proud to be the first biological woman to overnight in Wolf Creek, I am just glad that it wasn’t the night the local rednecks , who are probably now “Trumpers” decided to set fire to the place. Ramon Quanta was in one of my performance poetry pieces at the Art Institute.  I had written a poem about Aids and as I read it draped in a black veil and black gown a nurse drew my blood. Ramon Quant lie naked on the stage in front of me, The blood was poured over his back. (He told me later    it felt very warm.) Ramon is a performance artist in Bilbao Spain and is still performing. Look up his name when visiting Bilbao and see if you can catch one! There were so many amazing artists at that time Chris Wilder ( a teacher at CAL Arts) Mattias Jaramillo,  Pat O'Heran, Bill Becchio, Toshi Onuki, Paula Levine, Didi Dunphy and so many others brilliant creative minds working within the department

On the set of “Too Much For Teevee”, We would be working live with a crew of people on the set who were doing community work to pay off their tickets, everyone worked together to make it work.  One of the volunteers a Vietnam vet, freaked out when he saw Chuck Z, and crawled under the camera yelling “cong.” Jim Scott the producer of “Too Much for TV” had to calm him down and to protect Chuck. The poor man obviously suffered from PTSD. Chuck Z would never say what country he was from or even what the Z stood for, he was one of the kindest and most creative artists in the department. I find it so sad that SF has become so very expensive and Techie. We lived in an incredible era of artistic pursuit. We are happy to still have these shows .

Dale Hoyt had a tremendous body of work . When I spoke to him a few weeks ago , prior to his death, we planned to meet him in May for the Tenderloin Show and the Flipper performance at Great American Music Hall.  It is truly a shame he and many more I have mentioned were not recognized in   their day. Besides creating a tremendous body of art. Dale was a performance Artist to converse with every day. He was a “teller of tales” and a “weaver of words.” He often said his father invented “Muzak” for elevators, I loved that story, it may have been true, but he wasn’t receiving residuals. He also spoke of living on a lake near New York City, where he was neighbors with Rod Serling. He once related a traumatic phone call to his wealthy real father, who his mother had just told him about. He had a job as curator for the Kitchen in Manhattan, one year, I believe it became his residence as well, considering rents. We visited him and attempted a show, but apparently the advertising budget was not available.

His “Anne Frank” Tape, which I consider his masterpiece is in the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. Farm is also a fabulous work. I am happy to possess a copy of the Complete works of DALE HOYT, which I know will always be ahead of their time. His Cat collaboration works are also amazing. So perhaps the time has come for the world to acknowledge the world's oldest child Prodigy. It is sad that San Francisco has become so very expensive that it has lost its artistic edge. I understand that there is a move to help artists with a monthly stipend. We need our artists. Dale really would have benefitted with a sponsor. I am aware many people in the community attempted to help him, one such person was Beau Takahara. He was an excellent instructor, but his jobs were few and far between. We mourn his passing as well as that of Chuck Z. Minds like these are not made for house cleaning, although many of us took those jobs in order to continue to pursue their art. I did, so did Dean Decent. Dale would have thrived in a world where Artists received Stipends.

When one dies, I remember the Buddhist Quote.

“Always say farewell, as if it might be the last time.” 

And remember “The only good artist, is a dead artist.”

BY FAR THE WORLD’S BIGGEST WEAPONS DEALER, Lockheed Martin brags about arming over 50 countries. These include many of the most oppressive governments and dictatorships, and countries on opposite sides of wars. Some of the governments armed by Lockheed Martin are Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Poland, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam.

Weapons often come with “lifetime service agreements” in which only Lockheed can service the equipment.

Lockheed Martin weapons have been used against the people of Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan, Somalia, Libya, and many other countries. Apart from the crimes its products are manufactured for, Lockheed Martin is frequently found guilty of fraud and other misconduct.

Lockheed Martin is involved in U.S. and UK nuclear weapons, as well as being the producer of the horrific and disastrous F-35, and the THAAD missile systems used to escalate tensions around the globe and manufactured in 42 U.S. states the better to assure Congress members’ support.

In the United States in the 2020 election cycle, according to Open Secrets, Lockheed Martin’s affiliates spent almost $7 million on candidates, political parties, and PACs, and almost $13 million on lobbying including almost a half a million each on Donald Trump and Joe Biden, $197 thousand on Kay Granger, $138 thousand on Bernie Sanders, and $114 thousand on Chuck Schumer.

Of Lockheed Martin’s 70 U.S. lobbyists, 49 previously held government jobs.

Lockheed Martin lobbies the U.S. government primarily for an enormous military spending bill, which in 2021 amounted to $778 billion, of which $75 billion went straight to Lockheed Martin.

The U.S. State Department is effectively a marketing arm of Lockheed Martin, promoting its weapons to governments.

Congress members also own stock in and profit from Lockheed Martin’s profiting, including from the latest weapons shipments to Ukraine. Lockheed Martin’s stocks soar whenever there’s a new big war. Lockheed Martin brags that war is good for business. One Congresswoman bought Lockheed Martin stock on February 22, 2022, and the next day tweeted “War and rumors of war is incredibly profitable…”

act.worldbeyondwar.org/stoplockheedmartin/