Letters To The Editor

ELBOW-TO-ELBOW GUN LAWS

Editor,

I heard the NRA leader in Texas on radio today and realized how prevalent mental disorders are. This guy is an obsessive, compulsive guy and not a good listener either. He proudly said how great it was that the Party of No, (Republican Representatives) sunk a benign gun registration loop hole closing law, cried out for by worried Americans.

The NRA rep. claimed that Obama was pushing through an agenda. Unlike the Party of No with a real agenda (and not the peoples,) Obama is listening to terrified Americans, concerned about violence too close to home. The NRA villianizes one man, when they need to answer to us. They have distorted the real concern: Americans wanting complete regulations. They claim that their members support them when, in fact, it is huge gun corporations with deep pockets, worried about profits. What about precious human life?

We need solid gun regulation that keeps the guns out of the hands of dangerous people, and profit focused gun handlers. Anyone, who thinks that gun registration is taking away the rights of Americans to have a small arsenal in their homes is clueless. Law abiding citizen can collect guns through a quick registration. But what these folks are missing is that stray bullets maim people permanently and are indiscriminate. Don’t believe me? Then parade through Oakland with your banners and try to understand a stray bullet that hits you, a loving daughter or son, a grand parent etc.

The premise of the NRA leader is that we should all have any sort of weapon, as automatic as possible. Damn, give em, bazookas, hand grenades, portable nukes and chemical weapon dispensers, so they can defend themselves from who?

Yeah, from who? One idiotic man at legislative hearings in Sacramento claimed his aging Mother could not defend herself from her wheelchair if she did not have more than 10 rounds in her clip. The thought scares me. Some gun folks think they can defend themselves from our government. Think again! Those that tried are either locked up or dead on arrival. Waco? Those misguided brothers in Boston?

Should Americans have weapons? I am a peace loving Quaker. It’s okay to dissent in the land of the free, no? I’m not a guntoting guy, but sure Americans should be able to defend themselves and hunt, if they pass the registration. No problemo! Letting people step around this process is criminal. That is what I said and the NRA leader, in my humble opinion, is criminal because his misguided words can lead to no real adequate regulation, upping anger and create more misguided folks, who destroy entire buildings and shoot innocent people. The NRA’s monetary war chest isn’t solely money of the people. The lion share is gun makers . They fork over big dollars to defend their profits, at our risk. We should have laws that protect us, not laws that give us rights that leave us open to violation, harm and death.

Saying “No” is not being part of the solution! It is a wimpy way to do anything. We need real elbow to elbow resolutions.

We need gun laws that work and that limit gun magazines to 10. We also need a debate that does not inflame. Palin continues to use violent language even after a Congresswoman was shot in the wake of her clamor. We need gun laws, civility and real work in Congress to find compromise that protects regular people. Not guns in schools.

Think about it.

Greg Krouse

Philo

PS: Regarding the Willits bypass. It should be called Caltrans-Winchesters path to nowhere: four lanes for a truck ever 5-10 minutes is beyond obsessive. Orange leaders in Eureka, and Sacramento are wasting our gas taxes. They should have done all of Hwy 128 instead of leaving 5 miles of pocked interstate worst then most of our back county roads! Instead Caltrans, who can’t keep roadside landscapes alive (see Cloverdale’s native dying landscapes) are going to create a wet land. Don’t make me laugh… Clueless in orange!

PSS: Ken Miller’s article on Toxics in herbicides and other product is right on the mark. All herbicides cause soft tissue lymphoma. Caltrans mixes these toxins into untested brews that destroy hemoglobin, tweak estrogens, and destroy soil life. Mendocino is doing well without roadside herbicides, but we could be doing much better without this poison in our forests and in farms.

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ONE WOULD THINK…

Dear Editor:

The article in your May 15 issue by Mark Scaramella about the Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company (NPRC) was an excellent piece of journalism. It is well known in Mendo County the NPRC which was chartered by the California State Legislature and receives funding from the State is a dysfunctional organization with a Board that with the exception of Director Meyers is incompetent. There were several areas covered by Mr. Scaramella which clearly support this view. A good example is the matter of the EIR where they have lost court cases at a heavy cost including around $3 million from the State. Also, the “sweetheart” arrangement with the separate operting company (NWP) which has resulted in a one way flow of monies to NWP. There is a litany of additional problems that may will lead to the Bankruptcy Court.

One would think the Legislature and the Governor would have a concern about the situation. But not so. As you may recall I wrote a letter to you about what happened when I wrote Senator Steinberg about the problems of NPRC, a state chartered entity which receives funding from the the State I received a rather snarky letter no doubt written by one his over paid paper pushers disavowing any responsiblity for NPRC. A similar letter to the Governor did not receive a response. I guess they do not have a concern about the waste of State funds.

Again kudos to Mr Scaramella for his “Off the Tracks” article.

In peace,

James G. Updegraff

Sacramento

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SOUNDS LIKE IRAQ

Editor,

Having debated with Mr. Baldwin countless times over the years, it should not surprise me (or anyone else who knows him) that his arguments are as specious in writing as they are in person. Namely, Mr. Baldwin routinely ignores what is actually said, and instead assaults a “straw man” of his own creation. This is evident in his reply to my earlier letter, in which he attempts to portray me as a neocon seeking the downfall of all regimes opposed to U.S. hegemony. While I am actual flattered that Phil believes I am familiar with all U.S. military interventions since the Reagan Administration, I would rather redirect my friend to the actual topic, which is our actions(or inaction) regarding Syria.

The only portion of my letter to which Phil actually responded was my mention of the tens of thousands who have been killed in the Syrian Civil War over the past two years. Mr. Baldwin would have us believe that the rest of the world should ignore the slaughter currently taking place because the numbers “cannot be confirmed at this time.” Well, Phil, that's war for you; the Assad regime is apparently unwilling to keep an accurate count of their murders for our benefit. The refugee crisis in neighboring countries is similarly messy. Should humanitarian aid not be sent to the region because the precise number of refugees is unavailable?

Phil is under the impression that the Arab Spring of 2010 was the creation western provocateurs, part of the Project for a New American Century's “regime change” strategy. Apparently, the Arab people themselves are either perfectly content to live under dictatorial rule or unable to organize a protest on their own. This attitude is nearly as racist as it it is patronizing. I would remind Mr. Baldwin that the reason why the mass protests in Syria became a civil war is because the Assad regime responded with beatings, torture, and snipers shooting into the crowds. The Syrian situation now has devolved into sectarian violence and a regional conflict in part due to the hesitancy of the United States and other western powers to support the elements of the opposition that want a secular, democratic nation that respects human rights.

Putting aside the whole “armchair quarterback” issue, I would ask my friend Mr. Baldwin not why he is opposed to US intervention in Syria(because he is always opposed to US intervention whatever the circumstances), but why he supports the Assad regime.

Sincerely,

David Lilker

Willits

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HAMBURG AS VIC

Editor,

Doesn't our sheriff have anything more important to do than to prevent Carrie Hamburg from resting in peace?

Bruce Hering

Boonville

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STILL AGAINST INTERVENTION

Editor,

We need logic from friends and hope for it from our governments. In two AVA letters from Mr. Lilker we haven’t received much of it. From our government, we increasingly get Orwellian madness.  Doublethink – “the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them... To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them.”

While it is interesting that David has shifted from having “the Assad regime” killing “tens of thousands of its own citizens” to having those thousands “killed in the Syrian Civil War.”  Civil War, David?  We know that without U.S. proxy (Qatari, Saudi, Turkish, French, British) arming of rebels dominated by non-Syrian jihadists from the get go (spring 2011) there would be no war in Syria.  And now that the sectarian terrorists have - only with U.S. approved aid - taken the lead in this war, David remarks that “the Syrian situation has devolved into sectarian violence and a regional conflict” because we did not support the good rebels early enough. Orwell would love the logic of our funding the initiation of a rebellion and saying we must now intervene because the rebellion is out of hand.

So David, joining John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice, John Kerry, Lindsay Graham, CNN, NYT, WSJ (all dutiful servants of the oligopoly), endorses U.S. military intervention in Syria.  We’re guessing he knows this intervention is included in the plan for “full spectrum” world dominance spelled out in Brookings Institute’s “Which Path to Persia?” and previously by the Project for a New American Century created by William Kristol, Paul Wolfowitz, and Robert Kagan.

Mr. Lilker claims I support “the Assad regime” (note that David, like the 1%’s MSM, always replaces government with “regime” for his bad guys).  Before answering that charge, let’s ask David to wonder with us if Bashar Assad, who presides over the last secular government in the Mideast, is responsible for more or less torture and civilian death than those two American Presidents presiding over Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, drones above Yemen and Pakistan, and U.S. wars on Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya.

I no more support Assad than I supported Saddam Hussein when I marched against our “Shock and Awe” invasion of Iraq in 2003.  That war squandered two trillion dollars and left the infrastructure of Iraq blown to smithereens, likely hundreds of thousands of dead civilians, and still hundreds dead daily from car bombs.  Afghanistan and Libya are equally devastated from our intervention.  Does David hold that these measures win the hearts and minds of people in the targeted nations?

Mr. Lilker seems to be encouraging more US generated Mideast destruction, death, and tribal warfare.  After wondering who in the heck could actually benefit from such chaos, consider attending Ukiah City Council to support our resolution against American military intervention in Syria — June 5th, around 6:25.

Phil Baldwin

Ukiah

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BYPASS SCAM

Editor,

Do you know what a roadway “Level of Service - C” means? It's the reason that Caltrans is wasting more than $300 million of our money on a huge new freeway to handle a miniscule amount of traffic. It's the reason that more than $30 million of local transportation money has been stolen from us and committed to a bloated project that even industry-written highway design manuals caution against. It's the reason that Caltrans will level scores of century-old oak trees, cover hundreds of acres of prime farmland in asphalt, and destroy more wetlands than any other project in northern California over the last half century. It's the reason that smaller, safer, cheaper, and less-impacting solutions for our traffic problems were never taken seriously by Caltrans.

It's all because of a simple phrase that Caltrans wrote into the purpose and need statement for the bypass: “[the bypass must] achieve a minimum Level of Service (LOS) 'C'.” These seven words are responsible for all this.

If you don't know what LOS “C” means, you're not alone. None of the regulatory agencies that approved the bypass understood what LOS “C” meant either, even though they signed a statement agreeing to the purpose and need statement years ago. None of them had the slightest clue that they had just been conned by Caltrans into committing their agencies to approving the massive destruction that will besiege our valley for eternity.

Level of Service (LOS) is a rating system that highway design engineers use to figure out how many lanes are needed on a new roadway to handle the traffic volumes projected to use it. The rating system attempts to estimate a driver's perception of the quality of their driving experience during near worst case, peak-hour traffic conditions, and is derived from a complex series of calculations. The calculated LOS ranges from “A” (very low traffic) to “F” (bumper to bumper traffic). Highway design manuals recommend that engineers aim for something in the middle of the range - LOS “C” or “D"- when designing new roadways in order to balance functionality with cost and environmental impacts.

The same design manuals strongly advise against building roadways that will operate at LOS “A” over their design life because the roadway would be overbuilt, wasting public funds and causing undo and unnecessary environmental damage. In the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the bypass, Caltrans declares that “A four lane bypass would provide LOS “A” upon construction, as well as throughout the 20-year design period.”

In contrast, Caltrans states that a generic two-lane bypass “would provide a LOS 'D' at peak hour upon construction, as well as throughout the 20-year design period.” If you want to experience LOS “D” yourself, drive the stretch of Highway 101 from the north city limit to Reynolds highway at 5pm. Or, simpler yet, log on to Caltrans' website (http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist1/d1tmc/1_cam.php?cam=27) to see real-time photos taken near the truck scales north of town. With a recent peak-hour traffic count of 860 vehicles per hour, this stretch of highway is well into LOS “D” according to the calculations.

But, as one recent editorial writer asked, aren't we getting a two-lane bypass? The answer, unfortunately, is a resounding “NO.” The ultimate project is and always has been a four-lane freeway. What we are getting now is 2/3 of a freeway, a Frankenstein version with nearly the same massive footprint and impacts as a four-lane freeway. The same high-speed design as a freeway without the safety benefits of lane-separation. Six miles of inaccessible pavement, suspended 20 feet in the air, with interchanges too far from town to provide any local benefit.

If you dispense with the rigid constraints of a freeway, better alternatives suddenly become feasible. For example, numerous people have suggested the unused railroad corridor as a potential route. Even though it would clearly reduce delay and improve safety, the other goals listed in the purpose and need statement, Caltrans says it won't meet LOS “C.” As a result Caltrans cast it, and all other non-freeway alternatives, aside as not meeting their own arbitrary LOS requirement. A railroad route could have completely avoided wetland impacts thereby forcing the Army Corps of Engineers to reject all the freeway alternatives from further consideration under the Clean Water Act.

Caltrans has always wanted a freeway. Be it 1950s thinking, hubris, money — but it's certainly not traffic volumes, that's been well established. They knew the purpose and need statement couldn't just plainly state “we want to build a freeway,” agencies and the public would have questioned that. So, they did the next best thing. They added seven words; a benign sounding requirement that they knew no one would understand or question. The result is the same.

Richard Estabrook

Brooktrails

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STONERVILLE 94117

Good morning,

The paper delivery industry is not what it was, I am well aware. Mine usually comes in the mail on Saturday or the following Monday. I'm grateful you are still making a paper! Thank you. Any chance of receiving the issue closer to the issue date in my San Francisco neighborhood, 94117?

Speaking of the 94117 neighborhood, I've always enjoyed your take on the downfall of the area's free love turned lowered IQ/stonerville. Most of the newfound free lovers are loaded twenty somethings from out of state enjoying the homeless “perks” this city has to offer; dental work, food, haircuts and needles. There's no rehab in sight for these folks. No more tickets to go back home where they were created. The real homeless who require mental illness care are more often left at the end of the line. And those of us paying into the city's system are struggling to stay. I am reminded each time a drunk on bad drugs wacks his dog, or an innocent bystander at the bus stop is harassed by one of these characters, and the police are riding by on horses shrugging, “call your district supervisor...” If someone was actually supervising this district I suspect the neighborhood would show signs.

Susan Clark

San Francisco

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AT THE END OF THE LINE

To the Editor:

Today I did something I've never done before. I stood in line at Social Services. My disability payments were discontinued. I'm not eligible for unemployment. I lost my job in August 2011, collected until June 2012. Then I was put on disability for anxiety. Since I haven't worked in 19 months, unemployment payments were denied; one month too late. In the month of April I have received $207 period.

I'm not eligible for emergency rent funds because I have no children in the home.

I applied for CMSP to get a second opinion on my disability three months ago. I'm waiting in line because they are understaffed (Social Services). As I stood in line for food stamps, the only thing I'm eligible for, I listened. Young adults are eligible for help with rent, schooling, food stamps, monthly stipend, etc.

You are young and have children therefore here are all your benefits.

You are a baby boomer in your late 50s, mid-60s and you are not eligible for anything but food stamps.

I have worked since I was 12 and paid for all of the programs through my taxes, but all I can get is $200 a month in food stamps.

I guess my point is this: I worked for 46 years. No alimony, no child support and no public assistance. These 30 year-olds “or less” have children, little job experience and the state will cover everything. On the other hand there are people like me who worked all their lives, paid their dues, and no one cares if I can't pay my rent or end up homeless.

I worked hard and put money in the state-federal coffers. I'm a baby boomer. We are all getting older and disabled. There are a lot more of us coming around, needing help. I don't want young families to starve, but I do want them to pay their dues.

We are the transients in Ukiah because we've lost our homes and can't get hired because of our age or limitations. We baby boomers are looking for work. We are trying — raised with ambition. We are not all alcoholics or drug dependent. We are surprised that we have landed where we are. Standing in line at Social Services. We stand at the food bank, buy our clothes from Goodwill, look for jobs, give what we can now and we get tired.

I'm your mother, your daughter, your sister, your aunt. Are you proud to stand in line at Social Services and take from me like no one cares?

You are young. People will hire you if you ask. Go ask. Try. Work. Contribute. Because your mom and grandma are close to homeless everyday. Step up.

I wrote this letter a week ago. I didn't send it because I'm ashamed and embarrassed. I didn't want to advertise my situation. I still don't. It needs to be said. I'll take the embarrassment.

Bottom line is $207 to live on in April. Six weeks later, I've got food stamps but might have to live in my car. No gas. I hope I can park it somewhere I won't get towed. I wasn't too proud to ask for help. I've asked, I've done, I'm humiliated and my government isn't helping and doesn't care.

Nobody will steal my identity because I don't think anyone would want to be me.

Cynthia Jeremiah

Ukiah

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SOCKLESS JOE FROM DEAL-MENDO

Editor,

Mr. Bruce McEwen: my name is William Jackson. I am the one who wrote a letter about the public dealmaker who didn't wear socks. To tell you the truth that got his attention. He finally came out to see me only because he read it in the AVA. He was upset and he said I was wrong because I didn't take responsibility for myself. But in all he was a good sport.

I read your article and really appreciated in a major way. Just so you know, my public defender has only been out to see me once and 120 days. The only other time was Tuesday after he saw my letter about him. All of what I put in that article is true from my heart and for real. I was reaching out and asking for help because I can do nothing but sit back and watch nothing being done.

He made it seem like it was going to have a negative effect on my case. What I was trying to do is light some fire under his ass to get a response because I called his office 100 times and never got ahold of him. And I am the bad guy.

The only thing that seemed to bother him was the fact about his socks. Nothing about being sorry, being busy, or knowing he should make more time for my case. All he said was for me to stop writing letters. He never admitted he was wrong about anything. He just made me feel worse about my whole case.

I've never written anything to a newspaper before. That's because I've never been wronged like this before. Plus, my life is in jeopardy. What else could I do, right? I was hoping to get the help I need to better my life. Instead I got a public defender who took shit personal and still is not doing his job any better. But he has made a point to joke around to his other clients about how he wears socks, as if that's the most important part, not helping people or practicing any law.

Every time I try to talk to this guy he just talks over me or tries to explain something different. He never allows me to say anything. My trial date is now set for May 30. He has not collected any evidence whatsoever. He never even asked my side of the story. But he is willing to keep offering me a deal of five years with 85%, less than two weeks before trial and he's done nothing. Really, how is that going to work? Not very well.

Anyway, sir, sorry to just vent, but I really wanted to say thank you for supporting my letter in your article. It made my day. Please feel free to write me with any advice or print anymore letters that may support this same thing. Unfortunately the no-sock wearing guy is still my public defender. Wish me luck. More like pray for me. If you have any advice please feel free to share it with me. I am still in jail and could use all the help I can get.

Respectfully,

William Jackson

Ukiah

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WINNING WARMING WAR

Editor,

How to Win the War on Global Warming without firing a single shot—

In his January 2013 acceptance speech, President Obama singled out climate change as the most important issue of his second administration. He is not alone in this view. Quietly or openly, most of us are seriously worried about climate change and what will come next.

The dangers of climate change are becoming clearer to most people. Last week we officially passed the critical 400 parts per million of carbon in the planet’s atmosphere, which scientists believe can unleash over 60 feet rise in sea level across the globe. People living in forty three island nations will be under water. As a result the venerable US Meteorological Association has started listing for the first time ‘climate change’ as a cause for the worst weather disasters of our time: extreme droughts in Missouri, record tornadoes and hurricanes that in 2012 stopped most human activity in New York City, Connecticut and New Jersey. These events are not just getting worse they are also becoming more frequent because a heated atmosphere is volatile. In practical terms three Sandy Super-storms a year will suffice to close down NYC as a center of human activity, and the situation will be worst in the rest of the world. In reality Climate Change poses a global threat to human survival. Even the Pentagon has identified in a recent report Climate Change as a major and perhaps the most important national security issue for our nation.

Yet government and corporations continue to show little or no interest in doing their part to reduce carbon emissions and avert potentially catastrophic global warming risks. The matter is mostly in their hands because the energy that the industrial sector uses is what causes 45% of the carbon we emit into the atmosphere. Burning transportation fuels produces only 18% of the global emissions. Why the apathy, why the lack of business and government action?

The reason is simple and was well articulated by Tony Blair as UK Prime Minister when he said that nobody is interested in reducing economic growth. Reducing carbon emissions means reducing economic growth, because most energy comes today from fossil fuel energy that emits carbon when burnt. Energy equals economic growth, so that reducing carbon means reducing growth. People need jobs and corporations need profits. Government needs both. Nobody is interested in reducing economic growth.

This pits the proponents of growth with the proponents of a safe climate who prefer low growth. It is an intense debate. “The War on Global Warming” was the title of an article in the Anderson Valley Advertiser last week. This is a War that human civilization must win.

How to win the War on Climate Change? Is it possible?

The answer is yes. It can be done and requires not a single shot.

First let’s take off the table what will not work. The solution cannot be to rebuild from scratch the fossil power plant infrastructure of the planet into solar energy plants, because the fossil plants are a $55Trillion asset that will require decades to rebuild. It is the right solution in the long run but we don’t have time. It will not change matters as soon as needed, we all know that. It will take decades, and this is too long. Thousands of scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2007 agree that we need a solution right now - in the next 10-15 years. I know since I used to be the US Lead Author of the IPCC. Yet doing anything in 10-15 years seems impossible at first sight. Some ‘geo-engineering’ solutions could be worse than the problem itself. Shooting pellets into the oceans to make the sea absorb more CO2 is one of them. It would acidify the oceans destroying crustaceans such as corals and krill that are at the bottom of the pyramid of life on earth.

A solution nevertheless exists. It boils down to ways to clean the atmosphere while we provide more energy. This requires building new types of power plants that are literally carbon negative©, not just eliminating emissions but actually reducing the carbon that is already in the atmosphere. These plans reverse the Tony Blair equation: the more energy they produce the more they clean the atmosphere. They clean much more CO2 than they emit. This goes at the heart of the 45% of the global emissions that comes from power pants and therefore it will work. It can work even better for developing nations in Latin America and Africa – which emit very little carbon but need a lot of energy. They could stop using women as beasts of burden and use clean energy instead, while they clean the atmosphere. Carbon negative Power Plants can create energy for development and jobs. These are desirable jobs that create clean development. How does it work?

The technology exists today, and the Kyoto Protocol and it carbon market that this author created, can shows the way. The carbon Market (EU ETS) provides funding - $215Bn per year – for such projects. The State of California recently started its own mandatory carbon market in 2012, which wishes to join forces with the Quebec Canada Carbon Market. More immediately, a new technology created developed and commercialized recently out of Silicon Valley and Mendocino County - in Elk of all places – can do all this. It is called Global Thermostat. Each Global Thermostat plant makes money. And each plant transforms a fossil power plant into a carbon sink cleaning the atmosphere. It can do the same for nuclear and for solar power plants because it operates using the “low residual heat” they emit, which is abundant in all these plants. Because these plants produce energy for development they avoid the Tony Blair “curse”.

Global Thermostat technology is unique but there may be different carbon negative technologies that offer a similar solution soon. This one has the advantage of being here now. It is developed, proven and patented. Global Thermostat plants are operating at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in Menlo Park next to Google and Facebook – but have a very different purpose. I hasten to add that, by corporate design, the intellectual property can be offered without profits to worthy developing nations projects in Africa and Latin America. The technology of Global Thermostat www.globalthermostat.com was invented by this author, a woman who created the concept of Basic Needs as well as the carbon market of the Kyoto Protocol for the United Nations, and by her prominent colleague the famous physicist Peter Eisenberger who used to run EXXON R&D globally for several years at the time that EXXON wanted to become an “energy company” and leave oil behind. Both of us are professors at Columbia University in New York, which has no relation to the technology. The authors have a home in Elk. GT technology is commercially used to feed algae that produce clean fuel – biofuel. GT can produce gasoline from water and air, gasoline that cleans the atmosphere as it runs cars and flies planes, and that enhances oil recovery – the least carbon negative but the most profitable of all applications. GT can achieve all this while each plant it builds makes profits and creates jobs. This is a solution to win the Global Warming War without firing a single shot. I am virtually sure they are other carbon negative solutions, or will be, soon. I invite the reader to comment and join your Elk neighbors in their quixotic but so far very successful quest to win peacefully the climate change war.

Graciela Chichilnisky

Columbia University New York & Global Thermostat

Elk

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HIPPIE CRACK

Editor,

City report—

Walking down Haight st, proudly wearing my AVA t-shirt, a guy points at it and says, “Great paper. Lot's of crazy shit in there.”

As for those whippets, those, and nitrous from tanks, are called 'Hippie crack” in some circles, and not in a flattering manner.

Steve Heilig

San Francisco

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TRUE COLORS

Editor,

Governor Jerry Brown's true colors emerged recently when he dismissed Caltrans criminal negligence on the Bay Bridge construction as “shit happens!”

From now on, he's gone and be “Governor Shithappens,” or better yet, “Governor Lowbeam.”

Brown and yellow: the new California colors.

Cheers,

Don Morris

Skunktown/Willits

PS. The liberals have their own Fox News. It's called faux news (aka NPR).

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WHERE’S MUFFINBUG?

Editor,

Woop, Woop, Whoof!

Just a big shout out to the KZYX&zzz crew for letting me know that my dogs, Doughnut and his canine bro MuffinBug got loose for the third time this week! A big a high five for the lost dog report! Thank Goddess someone is keeping track of our constantly escaping animals! PS. In these days of low pot prices it's hard to buy secure fences for all of our beloved doggies! Keep up the good work KZYX&zzz! Love you!

Shakti McMullins

Philo

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WATCH YOUR BACK, MR. STRAHL

Editor,

My name is Matt Strahl and I would like to introduce myself to the Point Arena staff and community. First, I would like to thank you for accepting my family into your community. In the next few paragraphs I would like to give you a snapshot view of my educational experiences and beliefs shaping my career and life, and tell you about my family.

For the last 25 years my educational involvement has spanned kindergarten through college. My career began as a private school kindergarten teacher in Sacramento. Next came elementary teacher in San Juan Unified School District for three years. I left the San Juan District because my wife, Staci, started teaching nursing at College of the Redwoods in Humboldt County.

I soon had a job teaching at McKinleyville Middle School where I spent ten wonderful years teaching. While there I earned my Masters of Curriculum and Instruction from Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. In addition, while I was completing my Masters, I also earned an administrative credential from Humboldt State University.

I left McKinleyville to begin my first administrative post at Bret Harte Union High School District. During my first seven years with Bret Harte I was an assistant principal. Four years ago I assumed the role of Principal of Alternative Education in the district. Sprinkled inside the 25 years of work I've also been an artist in residence and lectured about "creativity in the classroom" at the college level.

I am the father of 2 wonderful girls. Both girls were adopted from China when they were six months old. Abby is my oldest at 17 and she is off to college this year on an academic scholarship. Quintessa, my youngest, is a sophomore in high school and is quite the artist and writer. I am a single father because my wife of 27 years, Staci, died from stomach cancer a year and a half ago. Her loss was a blow to the family, but we are moving forward and keeping a positive attitude in all situations.

I have loved working in a rural educational setting for the last 21 years. Becoming the principle of a comprehensive high school feels like the next logical step for me, both professionally and personally.

I have always fully immersed myself in the community in which I find myself working. I've spent countless hours volunteering at church and/or coaching youth sports in my local community. My family and I look forward to the extensive outdoor activities available to us in this beautiful coastal setting.

As an educator I believe any student can learn and be successful. The key is to find what it takes to meet the specific needs of each individual student. As a teacher and administrator I have years of practice with creative ideas to make sure a student is successful in meeting their academic and social needs. At the same time, I have high expectations for the amount and quality of work that students produce, and recognize the importance of the school-parent partnership in helping students reach their potential.

In closing, I would like you to know I look forward to working and living in Point Arena/Mendocino County area, meeting members of the local community, listening to your educational needs, and continuing to build the teamwork between administration, staff, teachers and students. Thanks again for this opportunity.

Matt Strahl

Point Arena

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THE BOOZE CURE

Editor,

A life in our time --

We had it pretty good. A comfortable cabin on our used hippie commune with folk we had loved, fought, fished, frolicked and farmed with for over four decades.

We had an attractive, loving female partner who shared our political, commercial and recreational adventures. My son and daughter were well established and had produced smiling and intelligent offspring. Our book, "Captain Fathom's Fables," was sold out, reprinted and sold out again. We ventured on river and ocean in the perfect Albion skiff, the Cummings 4, sold and blessed by Jim Cummings, the late former czar of the Noyo harbor. We rolled well with a small fleet of motor vehicles. We hadn't had a drink in four years and it showed. The sheriff, Tony Craver, was a trusted and good friend. In my pocket was a medical marijuana card. With Earth First!, the IWW, and Jesus as a spirit guide and a snug place in the Albion nation, life went on. In spite of the dismal world, the never ending wars and injustice -- on a personal level life has never been better.

Then out of the clear blue sky we started to shit dark blood. The horror show began. After tests, the hospital told me that I had colorectal cancer. The doctors all agreed: I'd have to have chemo and radiation torture, then an operation to remove my insides. Then we would be given a bag to carry on my hip forever to poop in. This was an impossible situation. Captain Fathom was a nudist. Every doctor and nurse told me I'd have to have this operation or die. No chance. My life was hanging on a thread. We hoped, wished and prayed that it was a silk thread. The most hopeful doctor told me providing we went through the chemo and radiation, we'd have at best a 10% chance of survival.

Jesus was my only life insurance. The concept of chemo is very grim business. They inject poison into your system and under the best conditions your cancer is killed -- just before you are. We lost 40 pounds and our sense of humor. Methinks in the future chemo will be regarded as we now look at bloodletting.

At the end of this day and nightmare we prayed to God for deliverance. The deliverance came in the form of our former love and always pal, Our Linda. From our point of view based on several years of cohabitation and more years of friendship and mutual aid we consider Our Linda as having an "extra wire." She gives past life regression, casts astrological rejections, perforums various spirit filled functions, makes connections and "can heal the sick, raise the dead, and make menfolk howl out of their head."

Slam Bam -- Our Linda with her faithful mate Steve appeared. She arranged to get the Albion flats for healing celebration for Fathom and two other brothers, Billy Walsh and Rainbow. Our Linda imports a real-life Native American holy man to preside over the happening. Somehow without any advertisements she gathers 100 souls for a huge circle by the sea.

"Wham, slam and kazam," Fathom indeed begins to feel better. The medical team wants to begin another round of chemo. Like a lightning bolt, Fathom gets an idea. Rather than poison my body with chemo, we will begin smoking tobacco and drinking, thus poisoning my body and enjoying it more than chemo. So we had Jesus, Our Linda, local market poisons and the good vibes and prayers of our Native American rabbi plus the Albion Nation.

On the other side, we had the entire medical profession doing everything they could to terrify me into having the operation. We started drinking like a fish and smoking like a chimney. Months later we walked into the cancer office in Ukiah and shared my new cure with the assembled. They seemed astounded that we were still alive.

Captain Fathom

Albion

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THE CAT IN THE COAL MINE

Editor,

My cat has always come running at the sound and smell of a can opener opening a can of tuna as she loves canned tuna water.

A couple months ago she came, sniffed, but didn't partake. Hasn't tasted a drop of any tuna water since. Different brands irrelevant. She doesn't even come at the sound of the opener anymore.

I take it as a bad sign. I've always loved tuna. But, I have a disconcerting feeling that kitty knows best. With great sadness, I'm off the fish.

I miss the good old days.