Mendocino County Today: September 2, 2013

LABOR DAY WEEKEND in a country where less than 15% of people who work for wages are represented by a labor union, and less than that in Mendocino County unless you're a teacher or a County worker bee. And the wage slaves who are represented are mostly paying dues to people who take their dues and run, run to the anti-labor Democrat Party, anti-labor in practice, not theory. The Mendo Democrats will throw their annual Labor Day picnic heavy on trustafarians, wealthy bureaucrats, liberal judges, miscellaneous personages who have never worked, never lived with the wolf at the door, content and very pleased with their NPR-selves in a County where unemployment is the norm and, unless you hook on with some government job, you'll be paid an unlivable minimum wage if you do find work. The Democrats will be drinking wine produced by non-union workers who, the one time they did try to unionize at Roederer in Philo, Roederer — employing a union-busting law firm out of San Francisco and in-house snitches who i-deed the union guys — had the union crushed faster than the fall harvest, blacklisting and blackballing the union people who'd dared not accept a sudden and inexplicably petty field wage reduction by the French-owned firm, one of the richest in the world.

HARD TO BELIEVE that a mere 75 years ago unions were led by people like Harry Bridges, that a whole city could be shut down if Big Capital messed with Harry's ILWU.

SEPTEMBER 6, 1938: Labor was on the march yesterday. Hour after hour, mile after mile, the men and women who man San Francisco's industry marched up Market Street under a broiling sun. In solid phalanxes they marched from the Embarcadero to Civic Center in what was probably San Francisco's greatest Labor Day celebration. Led by uniformed bands, 85,000 unionists swept up the streets in a mighty tide of moving humanity that flowed unceasingly for more than five hours. The vanguard of the parade was followed by a massed band of 120 pieces from Musician's Union Local 6, and thereafter came probably the most amusing part of the show — the members of the American Federation of Actors, some in costume, all with some kind of act. The largest single unit was the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU), led by their militant leader, Harry Bridges. Bridges, dressed in jeans, a hickory shirt and white cap, as were his legions, was singled out by the crowd for countless calls of “Hello, Harry, how're ya doin'?” He laughed. Block after block, by the thousands, the longshoremen marched, laughing and calling to friends in the crowd.

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IS JOHN STAHL the latest addition to Mendocino County's roster of world class maniacs? Well, he's not a killer, certainly not in the Jim Jones or even Charles Manson class, both of whom graduated from Mendocino County to grander things. He is, however, in the Mendo tradition of Tree Frog Johnson and Kenneth Parnell, both of whom took advantage of the County's long history of Do Your Own Thing-ism. But even here where tolerance of aberrant behavior seems infinitely elastic, Stahl flourished much longer than he should have. And although Stahl isn't accused of murdering anybody, you can make a strong case that child molestation is indeed a kind of murder, the spiritual murder suffered by its victims. By that standard Stahl has killed a lot more people than Manson has. Once again, evil gets over because people, for whatever reason, don't go to the cops, forever the Blue Meanies in some neighborhoods. The following is a fuller account of Stahl's stay in the North County than we've so far been able to muster. The writer is a resident of the infected area.

“GRANTED MENDOCINO COUNTY provides a buffet of strange happenings on a daily basis, I've yet to hear anything of the county's most wanted and now captured pedo-villain John Stahl of Leggett. I pray at night that your crack court reporter will be on the case. Tell me it is so. Not often one of our own go on the lam across international borders fleeing child molestation charges, never mind that that destination is the center of the pedophile's universe.

“JOHN STAHL graduated from ivy league (Brown), fancies himself a visionary of all matters of men (and boys) via his self-published meditations tree.org. In contrast to the sinister liberties he's taken with a number of children over the years, he's a master craftsman and for years was the resident luminary among the Bell Spring's hippy community. He's a master craftsman of milled paper and early printing techniques and is widely recognized for securing one of the first permits to grow hemp from the DEA since prohibition (which was revoked shortly after).

“AS THE ESTEEMED wise man of the Bell Springs royalty he had free access to their young flock of boys. When it was discovered what John was doing to their kids many years after the fact, he was exiled from the group and I hear the worse cases were never brought to the attention of law enforcement. To the hippy royalty on the hill, exile from their clan was punishment enough, I guess. I'm not sure of the case he caught charges for, but there was a silent murmur of satisfaction at his capture which rippled through the Leggett and Bell Springs area. John defended himself to these people by preaching the historical provenance of man-boy love, which by his hand was a harmless exploration; a mutually beneficial experience of man's loving nature. After his exile he holed up in the hollow of his Leggett house, which was always open to a steady stream of very young runaway drifters that nobody in Leggett ever knew. They were only ever seen riding shotgun on his daily trip to the post office. I believe it is from these homeless youths that the current charges he faces arise.

“AS REPORTED, STAHL FLED to Sihanoukville, Cambodia. In the years since his hurried departure he seems to have built a good life for himself there. He opened a cafe/youth hostel in the seedy beachside provincial capital called Cafe Noir. The place was really popular and widely rated as ‘excellent’ on the Trip Advisor website as having the best coffee in Cambodia and being a wonderful place to stay. He was well-liked by the Sihanoukville community as the local expat happenings website noted.

“AS YOU KNOW, it all ended when a very influential area NGO (dedicated to helping the children of Cambodia's rampant child sex industry) got wind of his wanted status and persuaded the US embassy in Phnom Penh to petition for the arrest of John for extradition. The Cambodian government is all too happy to make public examples of foreigners like John, people of whom there are far to many making Cambodia a new home. Oddly, it does not seem that he kept at molesting children while in Cambodia, but I think most people who know John have their doubts about that. Perhaps more victims will come forward. At one time he had volunteered for an orphan's art program there, but I heard he was fired for being incredibly flaky, but my details on that are shaky. He had another project at some point teaching paper-making to orphan children that made their livings digging rubbish from a dump. I almost smashed my computer when I found the webpage where he touts that project. What are the odds that parentless children, children whose survival depends on rummaging through trash heaps, file an abuse report with local authorities?

“ANYHOW, it's a fascinating story and as vile as a character John presents by the fact of his crimes, he's an incredibly charismatic charlatan of sorts. Another homegrown wierdo for the county record I guess. I think the case will make interesting fodder.

“I ORIGINALLY thought I had tracked him down singlehandedly, but I learned from a contact in Shihanoukville that the word had already gotten out to the local police. These are the links I found when I was originally hunting his web trail if you are interested:

“I FOUND that rat bastard! I check John Stahl's church of the tree website a couple times a year to see if I can figure out where he is since he continually updates his news. For eight years I've been waiting for some hint to find out where he's hiding at. In this latest update he finally said he was working on a pulp mill somewhere in southeast Asia. The thought of this pissed me off imagining all the kids he's molesting. It took me a couple hours but I found his address, name of his business in Cambodia, phone/fax/cell number, multiple fictitious business names, data in TradeKey he's been soliciting for imports on and he's employing poor children and working with a poor kid's art foundation — classic chronic child molester profile. He's calling himself Roland Stahl these days, operating a coffee shop/organic bakery/holistic health/ arcane knowledge school in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. I've been there and remember billboards warning foreigners to stay away from kids. Anyhow, I let the Mendo County sex crimes detective know I had this information. Maybe they can send his file to the Sihanoukville police who can make sure they keep an eye on him since I doubt they can muster the brainpower or funds to extradite him. I'll bet Cambodia would arrest him and send him home for free if they asked! I have no doubt he's serially molesting poor children over there, no doubt whatsoever.”

http://dardhunter.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html

http://www.trademart.in/lead-0310351_rolandsholistichealth.html

http://rolandsholistichealth.com/

http://www.diytrade.com/china/manufacturer/1150545/main.html

http://www.sareka-cambodia.org/index.php?content=SCCA_paper_project&side=side_main

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IVAN ACOLTZI SANCHEZ, 22, was arrested on Monday the 26th of August on charges of beating and stabbing his 20-year-old girlfriend at an intersection in the middle of Fort Bragg. He'd pummeled the kid in their home for two hours before she was able to run outside, which is when Sanchez caught up with her and beat her and stabbed her again. Sanchez is looking at multiple counts of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and domestic battery. The question is why is this roving menace was out of jail to commit his latest atrocities.

SANCHEZ'S ARREST HISTORY:

2/4/09: Probation violation, age: 18 (no bail)

6/19/09: Assault with a deadly weapon (ADW). Bail: $50k

7/11/10 ADW, Bail: $30k

10/20/10: ADW, Bail: $30k

12/10/10: ADW, Bail: $80k

5/18/13: ADW, Bail: $55k

1/1/2013: Contributing, obstructing, destroying evidence, Bail: $15k, $15k, $15k.

THIS PUNK, a member of a Fort Bragg street gang known as such to the Fort Bragg Police, has five assaults with deadly weapons plus two other lesser offenses. Hmmm. Let's guess who the judge has been. The offenses have all occurred in Fort Bragg. The judge of Fort Bragg's Ten Mile Court is Clay Brennan. It's almost impossible to unseat a sitting judge in Mendocino County, but someone ought to at least have an electoral go at Brennan. Somehow, Sanchez keeps getting out of jail after he's done dangerous crimes, and only a judge can release a person from custody.

HOW IS SANCHEZ coming up with bail money? If he's coming up with bail money. Maybe Brennan is busting the bail down to zero when Sanchez appears, maybe the DA's office is asleep. Sanchez's bail this time for nearly killing his girlfriend is $500,000. We'll see what we shall see.

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ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY (From an LA Weekly article about Burning Man.)

Burning Man is little more than a caricature of itself. The core values — gifting, decommodification, inclusion, leaving no trace and running around naked (except for the body paint) — is exactly the type of hippie crap that nostalgic white-collar professionals gab about on their Bluetooths. If I wanted to hang out around a bunch of pseudo-bohemian trustafarians and smug yuppies slumming it, I'd move back to Portland.

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BILL ALLEN WRITES: The notion that all possible consequences and effects arising from an attack on Syria have been anticipated and can be countered is ludicrous and borders on delusional. The entire Middle East is a toxic cauldron of simmering sectarian hotspots that could explode into serious war fighting on multiple fronts. Obama and the Pelosi warhawks are willing to risk that in order for “red line” Obama to save face, or to maintain the tattered “credibility” of a declining empire? I'm no strategic war-gamer, but I can predict two effects we will assuredly see should there be an attack: 1) The gold plated cash register at Raytheon Corp. (maker of Tomahawk cruise missiles) will ka-ching a million dollars each every time one of those birds is launched. That's how much each missile costs the taxpayers. Few people are aware that the Navy fired more than 200 of them into Libya in 2011 (another undeclared, illegal war.) $200 million just for one kind of missile used in that campaign. 2) Within hours of an attack, we'll see gas prices at the pump shoot up like a rocket by at least a dollar per gallon, and after that the sky's the limit, for there are several scenarios that could unfold that might strangle a huge portion of world oil shipping, including but not limited to Iran (an ally of Syria) attempting to shut down tanker traffic through the Persian Gulf, etc. Do you think the Interventionists in DC have contemplated the disastrous effects on our barely-treading-water economy, or on 40 million citizens barely making ends meet, that $7.00 a gallon gas would precipitate?

“…we prepare for war like precocious giants and for peace like retarded pygmies.” — Lester Pearson

Onward!

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ANOTHER READER WRITES: Just a quick correx. The Indians called (and probably still call) the John Day River what they always called it, the Mah Hah River. Mah hah loosely translated means “place of plenty fish and game.” Mau Mau? What's Patterson smoking?

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ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE APPROVES ‘WOEFULLY INADEQUATE’ FRACKING BILL

by Dan Bacher, September 1, 2013

The Assembly Appropriations Committee voted 12-5 on Friday, August 30 to approve a weak fracking bill, Senate Bill 4 , strongly opposed by over 100 groups that are calling for an immediate moratorium on the environmentally destructive oil extraction method.

The passage of the controversial bill, sponsored by Senator Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, clears the way for the full Assembly to approve regulations for hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”), acidizing and other unregulated oilfield practices, according to a news release from Pavley's Office.

The weak bill was the only fracking legislation to pass through the Legislature's Committees. Other bills, including one calling for a moratorium on fracking in California, were defeated under intense pressure by the Western States Petroleum Association, the most powerful corporate lobby in Sacramento. The bill was weakened during the legislative process because of pressure from the oil industry and pro-Big Oil lawmakers.

Ironically, in one of the greatest conflicts of interest in California history Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the President of the Western States Petroleum Association, chaired the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create alleged “marine protected areas” in Southern California. Senator Pavley, the author of the fracking bill, was a big supporter of the oil industry lobbyist-overseen MLPA Initiative.

These questionable “marine protected areas,” falsely described by corporate “environmental” NGOs and state officials as “Yosemites of the Sea” and “underwater parks,” fail to protect the ocean from fracking, offshore oil drilling and spills, pollution, wind and wave energy projects, military testing and all human impacts other than fishing and gathering.

While California is often portrayed by the mainstream media as a “green” state and an “environmental model” for the nation, the reality is much different. Unlike at least 14 petroleum producing states including Texas and Wyoming, California does not currently regulate fracking.

Fracking involves the injection of water, sand and chemicals underground to crack rock formations and free up oil and gas - with disastrous results for groundwater supplies and fish and wildlife populations. The state also lacks regulations for “acidizing,” the use of hydrofluoric acid and other corrosive acids to dissolve shale rock.

Oil companies have predicted that acidizing could be the primary tool for accessing the Monterey Shale, the nation’s largest shale oil deposit with an estimated 15.4 billion barrels of recoverable oil. This oil is located both offshore, in and near the MLPA Initiative's so-called “marine protected areas,” and onshore in Kern County and coastal areas.

Fracking has already been conducted at least 12 times already in California ocean waters in the Santa Barbara Channel, due to the lack of oversight by state and federal regulators - and their cozy relationship with the oil industry.

What would the legislation do? “SB 4 would require permits for fracking, acidizing and other oil well stimulation practices,” according to Pavley's office. “It would require notification of neighbors, public disclosure of all chemicals used, groundwater and air quality monitoring and an independent scientific study. The study would evaluate potential risks such as groundwater and surface water contamination, greenhouse gas emissions, local air pollution, seismic impacts, and effects on wildlife, native plants and habitat.”

“This bill will address serious unanswered questions about the safety and environmental risks of fracking and acidizing,” Senator Pavley said. “California needs strict regulations to hold the oil industry accountable for the true costs of its activities.”

Pavley's bill gives the green light to expand fracking

However, anti-fracking activists strongly oppose Pavley's “green light for fracking” bill. A broad coalition of environmental, health and progressive groups released a letter on Wednesday, August 28 calling SB 4's regulations “insufficient” and demanding that Governor Jerry Brown immediately impose a moratorium on fracking in California.

More than 100 groups, including CREDO, Food and Water Watch, Center for Biological Diversity, MoveOn.org, California Water Impact Network (C-WIN), Environmental Protection Information Center, Butte Environmental Council and Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles, signed the letter.

“The fight to protect California from fracking has reached a critical juncture,” the letter stated. “But Senate Bill 4's effort to fill the legislative void on this dangerous practice is insufficient to protect our state, our people and our climate from the myriad dangers posed by fracking.”

The majority of Californians support a moratorium on fracking - not weak regulations giving a green light to fracking. A University of Southern California/Los Angeles Times poll in June found that 58 percent of California voters favor a moratorium on fracking.

Fracking opponents described Pavley's legislation as “woefully inadequate,” “faulty,” and “weak” - and argue that the bill will actually allow the oil industry to expand fracking in Kern County and coastal areas.

“SB4 is woefully inadequate in addressing the threat that fracking poses to Californians' air, water, health and highly valued industries like agriculture and tourism,” said Food & Water Watch California Campaign Director Adam Scow. “If we attempt to fill the legislative void with a faulty bill, we're essentially paving the way for fracking and other disastrous extraction methods. Instead of quibbling over the details of SB4, the conversation needs to focus around the reasons we need Governor Brown to issue a moratorium on fracking as soon as possible.”

“It's a sad day when we have to protest what was supposed to be an environmental bill, but SB 4 simply won't protect us or our water from the dangers of fracking,” said Becky Bond, CREDO's Political Director. “This weak bill will allow the fracking industry to massively ramp up fracking in California. What we need is a ban on fracking.”

“Gov. Brown and state lawmakers need to halt fracking now to protect California's efforts to fight climate change,” said Kassie Siegel, director of the Center for Biological Diversity's Climate Law Institute. “When it comes to climate, there's just no safe way to frack our state's dirty oil deposits. If we're going to preserve a livable future for our children, we need a moratorium on this inherently dangerous process.”

You can read the full letter, along with all the groups signing on in support, here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.credoaction.com/images/SB_4_statement.pdf

In related news, the Los Angeles City Council’s Rules, Elections and Intergovernmental Relations Committee approved a resolution endorsing Senate Bill 4. The resolution will be considered by the City Council on Tuesday.

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NOTATIONS ON THE NO-PATH

Washington DC streets are still, humid air is everywhere

The resounding echo of two hundred Occupy protesters

Chanting “Whose streets?” “Our streets!” is now unheard

Traffic drones by the Capitol building, Supreme Court steps

Are empty once more, the shadows have also left

 

The federal sinkhole within the beltway looks weighty

Airplanes, limousines, taxis, tour buses, all head for the center

With the Washington monument being the central point

And the rest of the district radiates out from it

 

Three temples have abandoned the region

Three occupiers, three moving temples of light,

Are on the road, seeking way stations on the no-path,

Resting today in Fort Worth, Texas (which is keeping its wealth)

 

The present is bright and the future is unknown

Tibetan lamas call this “braving the path of the wandering yogi.”

I don't know what Chenrezig's compass reading is this afternoon,

But I would advise him not to follow any ley lines

Leading toward the federal sinkhole within the beltway

 

Clouds drift past the house in Fort Worth

A large orange butterfly flutters overhead

Summer flies alight on this writing tablet

Money arrives on Wednesday, automatically deposited

 

The journey without destination is renewed

Green energy ensures mobility in the situation

With time aplenty for new creative writing

Today and every day; we are beginning to understand!

 

What is very important is “writing down the bones”

Sending out the message of the instant to the

Global audience. There is power in the immediate

That does not wait, much like lightning bolts

 

This is what creative writing is: a continuous flow of

Electricity that emboldens and uplifts, charges the

Individual reader and leaves the writer unharmed,

Delivering messages from a nameless source which

Has no limit, wellspring of knowledge and bliss

 

The message source, the message, and the messenger

Are unaffected, yet the philosophic current continues

To go out to internet websites, newspapers, magazines,

Recited on the radio, posted onto blogs, and emailed far and near

 

A continuous stream of primordial energy manifests

Literarily and is transmitted around the world, then

Copied, microfilmed, archived, and filed away

In a box at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.

 

It is there, according to some estimates,

Forever! Or at least until the end of the

Kali Yuga, when everything is dissolved

Back into the originating source, prior to creation,

Demonstrating the inherent emptiness of all phenomena

 

So the writing goes on and on and on, impelled by

An electrical impulse that manifests as a thought form,

Which becomes words that form sentences which

Convey a critical message, instructions to be carried out

On the earth plane, in accord with a divine plan,

 

Prior to everything, prior to the third dimension itself,

Continuous, unstoppable, a powerful current like a river

Coming down from the mountains, just flowing endlessly

Toward the sea, enlightening all, enlivening all,

Serving all but beholden to none, this river

Performs its task perfectly, and without effort, it shines.

— Craig Louis Stehr, Unnamed Emerging Artist Compound

Leander, Texas