Mendocino County Today: Wednesday, Feb 4, 2015

• Wet/Windy
• Patterson Recuperating
• Jones Jewelry
• Bridge Jumping
• Kurdish Cafe
• Nearly Daylight
• Massive Media
• SMART Money
• Vaccination Choice
• Pot Rush
• Huge THP
• White Fantasy
• KZYX Meeting
• Coate's Salary
• Goya
• Catch of the Day
• Albion Benefit
• Tort Law
• Negotiating ISIS

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA from the National Weather Service:

A series of storm systems in association with an atmospheric river will bring widespread heavy rainfall to the region beginning Thursday with on and off heavy rain through the weekend. The heaviest rainfall is currently forecast to occur Thursday night through Friday when several inches of rain is forecast. This rain will bring the threat of urban and small stream flooding, rapid rises on main stem rivers, and rock/mudslides.

In addition to the heavy rainfall, strong gusty south winds are anticipated. The strongest winds will likely occur Thursday into Friday along the immediate coast and on mountain ridge tops. However some gusty south winds will be possible through the weekend. The strong winds will bring the potential for downed trees and power outages.

With dry weather developing across much of the region today through Wednesday, now is the time to prepare for this significant storm system.

BRUCE PATTERSON, long-time writer for the AVA, is resting at his Prineville, Oregon home as he recovers from a heart attack. Bruce's wife Tricia reports, “After ICU, ER, tests, tests, tests, he's home on oxygen, meds, recovering and comfortable.”

CHECK OUT ANDY JONES' new jewelry and antiques shop in the railcars next door to Boont Berry, downtown Boonville. Andy's been in the business for over 20 years and offers a full range of jewelry services: custom design, repair, upgrade, re-fit, stone cutting and setting, restoration and he'll replace those dead watch batteries. He also has an impressive catalog of new jewelry pieces -- all at reasonable prices. And he's got some Valentine's Day Specials that would be perfect for a “friend” who might need more tangible evidence of your devotion.

THIRTY-EIGHT PEOPLE COMMITTED SUICIDE by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge in 2014, according to the Bridge Rail Foundation. 46 made the leap in 2013, 33 in 2012, 37 in 2011 and 32 in 2010. The Bridge Authority's increased patrols detained 161 people deemed suicide risks in 2014. The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District’s board last year approved a $76 million funding plan for a suicide net. The barrier is expected to be completed in 2019.

RECOMMENDED DINING: Ro Cafe, 5th and California, San Francisco. A hole-in-the-wall place operated by a Kurdish couple.

Disclaimer: I'm not a foodie. I'm a food-as-fuel guy, which isn't to say I don't appreciate good food, but which is to say three-four hour meals of the fine dining type I strictly avoid. West of I-5 in Northern California you now have to go out of your way to eat bad food. There's good food everywhere, especially from San Francisco north. Right here in Mendocino County every community offers at least one venue where you can get something good — maybe not healthy but good, although I haven't been to Covelo lately and the last time I was there it was a culinary desert. Ditto for Laytonville.

Anyway, the other afternoon, after a long walk out to the Golden Gate, I stopped to re-fuel at Ro, not knowing what to expect. Starting off with a perfect cup of coffee, I ordered feta beef rolls, recognizing feta as some kind of cheese. It came in rolls, the feta inside strips of tender beef. It was wonderful, a full meal with a side of the freshest sliced tomatoes this side of my garden, and all for $11 bucks. Ro is tiny. A couple of tables inside, a bench outside. I chose the bench to free myself from a type I instinctively flee, but this guy was also near the counter pestering the young woman staffing the place all by herself when I ordered. The type? A middle aged bald guy with a pony tail — a groovy guy. There are lots of them in Mendo, a kind of open air hippie museum, so I'm constantly on alert, ready to run. But this guy had me trapped. As soon as I walked in with my custom Kalantarian walking stick, I got an overly familiar, “Well, here comes John Muir” from the pony tail. A lady being present, a Kurdish immigrant yet, I wanted to present a good civic American example for her. I couldn't just say, “Fuck you too.” Groovy Guy, grinning like a cannibal, immediately asked, “Where you from?” I made the fatal error of replying, “Mendocino County,” whereupon GG launched into a long monologue on the general theme of marijuana legalization, medical marijuana and hemp, three mesmerizingly boring subjects that all Mendocino County residents have heard all possible versions of and zone out at the mere mention of. As Groovy Guy droned on, I tested his attentiveness by crossing my eyes and bouncing my eyebrows. (I got caught doing that once. An older lady was going on and on about how bad Bush was or something equivalently revelatory so I crossed my eyes at her. “Why are you doing that?” she demanded. I gave her some bullshit about an “eye problem” and she was thrown off topic long enough for me to escape.) But this guy was on a roll. The most extreme facial tics wouldn't shut him down. And he was still rambling on — “And you know they even make rope outta hemp” — when the young woman handed my food to me and I walked outside into the sunshine where, as a precaution against him following me, I sat down in the middle of the two-person bench and ate my first Kurdish food ever in the wan winter sun of late afternoon California Street.

IT WAS NEARLY DAYLIGHT

when she gave birth to the child,

lying on the quilt

he had doubled up for her.

He put the child on his left arm

and took it out of the room,

and she could hear the splashing of water.

When he came back

she asked him where the child was.

He replied: ‘Out there — in the water’

He punched up the fire

and returned with an armload of wood

and the child,

and put the dead child into the fire.

She said: ‘O John, don't!’

He did not reply

but turned to her and smiled.

— Charles Reznikoff

I DON’T HATE THE HALFTIME SHOW as much as the whole “run-up” to the Superbowl, or whatever you want to call it. A reporter on another network drew our attention to the Dad theme of the commercials during the game this year. Okay, sure, I’ll be sure to change the channel and watch “just for the commercials” so I can absorb whatever the propaganda is that they are pushing this year. I don’t even know who “they” is.

There has been a massive media push to turn the NFL into the equivalent of church, God, and America in the minds of Americans. All that yammering about an incident of domestic violence. I hate that kind of behavior as much as anybody, but that was a criminal matter that did not need national attention. How was that particular woman helped? She was used to blur the lines between sports, entertainment, gossip, and the things that are really going on that people should be aware of, IMO.

My local government couldn’t even get people not to leave their cars in the street so the plows could get through.

Don’t even get me started on Deflategate. That. And a snowstorm in January led the national newscasts. At least the hype gave some politicians a chance to see how readily people will comply with the imposition of martial law for a suspected “emergency.”

— James Kunstler

$20 MORE MIL DOWN THE RATHOLE

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/3473668-181/20-million-for-smarts-larkspur

GRAMMY KNOWS BEST. Hillary Clinton, reacting to the retro immunization remarks of Republicans Chris Christie and Rand Paul, tweeted her followers, “The science is clear: The Earth is round, the sky is blue, and #vaccineswork. Let’s protect all our kids. #GrandmothersKnowBest.” Christie had said that parents should have a “measure of choice” on vaccinations then, reacting to the tsunami of criticism his statement elicited said, “The governor believes vaccines are an important public health protection and with a disease like measles there is no question kids should be vaccinated.” Kentucky Senator Rand Paul told reactionary talk-radio host Laura Ingraham that he’s “not anti-vaccine at all,” but that “most of them ought to be voluntary.”

PINOLEVILLE'S INDUSTRIAL GROW

More than 100 Native American Tribes Consider Growing Marijuana

It looks like marijuana is definitely coming to a tribal land near you.

Ever since the US Department of Justice announced late last year that tribes could grow and sell pot on their lands, Native American tribes have been coming forward in droves to say they want in on it.

In fact, of the 568 federally recognized tribes in the United States, more than 100 have told Kansas-based FoxBarry Farms and United Cannabis of Colorado that they’re interested and look at it as another way to make some money. Both are companies that are teaming up to build the country’s first marijuana facility on tribal land, and since they aren’t the only companies in the marijuana cultivation business, it’s likely that marijuana dispensaries could soon be as common as casinos on Native American land.

The first pot dispensary on tribal land is being built on the Pinoleville Pomo Nation ranch in Mendocino County in northern California. The indoor cultivation facility is expected to cost $10 million to build, and while Pinoleville is the first California tribe to get into the marijuana business, several others in the state and across the nation are already inking deals to get going on their pot growing. The Pinoleville facility is expected to have between 50-100 employees.

Because the facilities would be on tribal lands those areas are considered sovereign nations within the United States, they are exempt from state and local ordinances that either prohibit or limit the number and locations of marijuana plants that are grown.

The federal government said that even though it considers marijuana to be illegal, it is up to the tribes themselves to decide if that’s the same case on their own lands. The tribes have to follow the same guidelines already in place for states that allow marijuana cultivation, including not selling to minors or conducting marijuana-related business on federal land. However, they would likely have to do something illegal on a large scale, as President Obama himself has said the federal government is focused on more important issues and doesn’t consider prosecuting marijuana users a top priority.

While marijuana is illegal under federal law, 23 states have legalized cannabis for medicinal purposes, and four states, along with the city of Washington, D.C., have voted to allow it for recreational use.

(Courtesy, sputniknews.com.)

MRC’S HUGE THP

Editor,

Subject: Cal Fire THP 1-14-80 (Mendocino Redwood Company, Lower Albion River planning watershed)

FYI, the Cal Fire timber harvest plan documents are posted to Cal Fire’s THP web site at:

ftp://thp.fire.ca.gov/THPLibrary/North_Coast_Region/THPs/THPs2014/1-14-080MEN/

Regards,

Norbert H. Dall, Partner
Dall & Associates
Advisers and Consultants in Sustainable Coastal Management,
Land Use, and Transportation
Co-author, The Coasts of California (in preparation)
930 Florin Road, Suite 200

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

The movie “American Sniper” is a bit strange. I would like to know what you think of this movie? I tend to be of the view that “American Sniper” (or rather the life of Chris Kyle as depicted in the movie) represents to blue collar white Americans what white Life should be like, i.e., the heroic selfless white American warrior who vanquishes Evil while his devoted white wife waits for him stateside with the kids. Right? They seem to have a strong desire or need that the story of Chris Kyle is true? I get the impression that many white Americans closely identify with this movie. It seems to have a very strong propaganda effect on them? I suppose that it probably beats the dim, dire Reality of working at WalMart?

JOHN SAKOWICZ WRITES:

Marco, Beth, Doug, Patricia, Denny, Sheila, King, Mary,

Because I'm unable to make tonight’s [Monday night’s] KZYX Board meeting, I'm counting on you to argue my case for me on the agenda item related to the station doing away with salaried positions, and instead pooling that money to pay for all help received by all persons now classified as "volunteers", which would include all of the station's programmers. I think there are approximately 100 programmers. None get paid. None. Not even gas money. Yet, most are retired people or folks who are otherwise low-income.

Eliminating salaried positions would mean that the station would only pay people for "hours actually worked"...not the loafing around we see in do-nothing station management hunkered down in a siege mentality. The only time John Coate, Mary Aigner, Rich Culbertson, and David Steffen actually put in real work is during Pledge Drive, but this, of course, is nothing more than station management singing for their supper.

How did things get this bad? The station's broadcast signal was down again for a full day last week. Again! For about the fourth or fifth time in a year. Equipment is old...Korean War-era. Also, we still don't have a Ukiah studio. Still. After King Collins and friends collected thousands of dollars for a Ukiah studio ten years ago. And Ukiah is the county seat. Not Philo. The population of Philo was a mere 349 at the 2010 census.

So where does the money go? Where, indeed? The money goes to salaries.

KZYX's budget is $650,000.

KMEC, an all-volunteer station, keeps its signal up with a mere $19,000. And they archive shows, have podcasts, MP3 links, blog posts, etc. KMEC can also videotape shows in its studio. Shows can also be sent out to Pacifica's www.radio4all.net KMEC's technology platform is absolutely wonderful.

$650,000 vs. $19,000.

The discussion item for tonight's Board meeting to which I refer would be Agenda Item 8.

[“8. DISCUSSION ITEMS — a. John Sakowicz: Strip KZYX management of its salaries and perks and divide the freed-up money among the people actually doing what the station is there to do (i.e. programmers: news, public affairs, music, etc.).”]

I'm counting on you. The people of Mendocino County are counting on you.

Together, we can return KZYX to the people.

The People! Power to the People!

Thank you,

John Sakowicz

MCPB Board of Directors, 2013-2016; Board Treasurer, 2014

* * *

MARCO McCLEAN WRITES:

(I'm crossposting this, so if you get it on the Announce list please don't reply there but on the Discussion list where discussion belongs.)

I would have videorecorded the meeting but I forgot the tripod nut — left it in the other camera bag — so I just recorded sound. Loud people are loud and quiet people are quiet, and clapping is piercing, but you can clearly hear what everyone has to say and also hear a little of what sort of people they are. You can hear my voice shaking — I was frightened to speak; I'm so much more comfortable on the radio, where I'm alone and prepared and I'm not buffeted by bad memories of how poorly I and people like me have been treated by KZYX for twenty-five years.

For my part, when I got home at about midnight I got email John Sakowitz had sent in the afternoon saying he couldn't make the meeting and urging me to say nearly exactly what I ended up saying anyway, which was that KZYX could pay for needed new equipment to sound better — in some cases sound at all — and not have to run so many unlistenable pledge drives, and also could pay the airpeople for doing what the station is there to do in the first place, if only the handful of entrenched managers were stripped of their ridiculously inflated salaries and instead paid at the same rate as the airpeople for hours actually worked.

My favorite part is where the chairperson mansplains how it's perfectly legal and moral for the general manager, an employee of the board that sets his salary, to use his position to influence who gets on the board, as long as he doesn't do it on the air but only privately and/or on his own time, because he has freedom of speech. Ahem.

Sheila Tracy is an impressive reporter. During the meeting she filled up an entire yellow legal pad with notes and straightened the crowd and the board out on several points of order.

MendocinoTV streaming had some technical problems and was cut off early. So if anyone needs the audiorecording of the meeting for a project or whatever, here it is, all two hours of it:

http://www.mediafire.com/listen/q1c6y1md999zq5f/KZYX_board_meeting_Fort_Bragg_2015-02-02.mp3

I had to use an unfamiliar machine to upload it and I couldn't test the link, and I only have dialup where I am right now. So if it doesn't work for you, let me know and I'll upload it again tomorrow night and get you a link that for sure works right. Mediafire is finicky.

Oh, right, all board meetings should be done live on the air on KZYX and their place-and-time advance notice should be on the main page of the station's website, not hidden several layers in. I forgot to say that. Dang.

ED NOTE: Mr. Sakowicz’s agenda item was tabled at the KZYX Board meeting on Monday night until a future meeting when Mr. Sakowicz is on hand to present it.

ACCORDING TO KZYX's 2012 990 IRS form, KZYX GM John Coate earned $54,000 for that year. During the recording of the Monday night Board meeting someone (we're not sure who) announced that Coate's salary has since been raised to $60k annually.

http://207.153.189.83/EINS/680050440/680050440_2012_09ee2a3e.PDF

(Page 10)

Here’s an audio clip of Monday night’s meeting where Coate’s salary is discussed (after some perfunctory whining):

 

THE CLAIMS of critics who say Coate is hiding his salary are incorrect. It's right there in plain public view. Whether Coate's annual work product warrants $60 grand is another question.

CATCH OF THE DAY, Feb 3, 2015

HANK WHIPPLE, Covelo. Vehicle theft, community supervision violation.

JAIME BARAJAS, Ukiah. Violation of community supervision.

JACK CARDIN, Monssula, Montana/Ukiah. Drunk in public.

CLINTON DURANT, Fort Bragg/Ukiah. Drunk in public.

MATHEW GARDINER, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

ROBERT GRAY, Ukiah. Dirk or dagger.

JASON JAYNES, Fort Bragg. Dometic battery.

STEPHEN LOCKETT, Templeton (CA)/Ukiah. DUI, fugitive from justice.

RICHARD LUCIENTES III, Clearlake Oaks/Calpella. Possession of controlled substance.

LORENZO MARANDA, Lakeport/Ukiah. Driving on suspended license.

JANICE OWINGS, Fort Bragg. Drunk in public, probation revocation.

TRENTON RAMOS, Redwood Valley. Under influence of controlled substance, probation revocation.

JOSEPH VENTURI, Ukiah. Possession of controlled substance.

SEAN WILSON, Willits. Domestic battery, court order violation.

SINGER/SONGWRITER SHOWCASE

March 22 Benefit for Albion Little River Fire Department

Mendocino Stories & Events on March 22

Mendocino Stories & Events will feature a Singer/songwriter Showcase in an acoustic concert at Little River Inn’s Abalone Room on Sunday, March 22. Sheila Fetzer and Teresa Tudury, two uniquely powerful performers, have pleased, teased and delighted local audiences several times in recent years. They will each perform a solo set starting at 7:30PM. Net proceeds to benefit Albion/Little River Fire Department. Sheila Fetzer grew up playing music inspired and influenced by Joni Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt, Dylan and Neil Young. Sharing music to influence and connect people in a positive way is her focus. An absolute original with a deep sultry voice and a scathing comedic wit, Teresa Tudury is a consummate performer who pours out her original songs with power, passion, and disarming humor. Teresa's voice has been described as a cross between Bette Midler and Bonnie Raitt (LA Weekly) with vocal stylings that perfectly complement her bluesy guitar playing. Doors open at 7:00 PM with refreshments. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at Little River Inn front desk or by phone 937-5942; Moore Used Books in Mendocino; and Music Merchant in Fort Bragg. For event info call 937-1732 or www.mendocinostories.com/events.html

TORT LAW: THE MUSCLE OF JUSTICE

by Ralph Nader

The common law of torts, which originated from English common law, has been elaborated in tens of thousands of judicial decisions with one basic message: If a person suffers a wrongful injury or harm, he or she can seek remedy in court with a trial by jury. Through tort law, our civil justice system operates to compensate victims, punish perpetrators and deter future harms. For years this system has been under sustained assault in Congress and state legislatures. Corporations, with their enormous lobbying influence, have few qualms about lobbying to limit Americans’ right to their day in court.

Tort law is one of the major pillars of our legal system. It provides crucial protections for individuals. Tort law has helped people harmed by defective products, medical malpractice, toxic chemical spills and much more. It sees that families are compensated for devastating losses; prevents future injuries, deaths or accidents by deterring dangerous products and practices; and spurs safety innovation and enforceable safety standards. Tort law provides a moral and ethical fiber for our society by defining appropriate norms of conduct and care. The late Peter Lewis, the former chairman of Progressive Insurance, once told me that tort law functions as his industry’s incentive for “quality control.”

The ongoing assault on the civil justice system in our country has resulted in a lessened public appreciation of the law of torts. Now comes the American Museum of Tort Law.

In the planning stages for many years, the museum is set to open in the fall of this year in my hometown of Winsted, Connecticut. The American Museum of Tort Law will be the first law museum in the country. This nonprofit, educational institution will seek to increase citizen understanding of tort law and its pivotal role in the protection of personal freedom and safety of millions of Americans. And it will celebrate the historical and contemporary achievements of the civil justice system.

What one can expect when visiting the museum later this year? Captivating displays will illustrate the history of exemplary cases, incorporating real artifacts and media. The exhibits will tell stories that illuminate the underlying principles of law and appeal to not just members of the legal profession but the many other Americans interested in learning about this important cornerstone of our legal system.

Some notable exhibits are cases that established new precedents for different wrongful injuries, such as the famous T.J. Hooper case. Cases of more contemporary significance range from those harmed by asbestos insulation to those harmed by the tobacco industry and defective motor vehicles.

In addition to housing these and many other physical exhibits, the museum will be an important digital clearinghouse for reports and commentaries on contemporary developments and judicial decisions in tort law. This will be a most valuable resource for students, scholars, the media, and the public.

There are thousands of museums in the United States — ones for every sport, many fruits and vegetables, even 30 timber and lumber museums! But, surprisingly, there are no law museums. The many victories and advancements to health and safety that have come from the law of torts and the constitutional right of trial by jury deserve a serious upswing in public recognition. We hope you will visit this first-of-its-kind institution later this year and be fascinated and enlightened by a unique museum experience.

(Ralph Nader’s latest book is: Unstoppable: the Emerging Left-Right Alliance to Dismantle the Corporate State.)

WHY NOT NEGOTIATE WITH ISIS?

It's Only Money

by Clancy Sigal

Being the child of union organizers, the first word I taught my infant son was “negotiate”. He learned too well. As soon as he learned to talk every time we disagreed over his behavior or a chore he demanded to “’agotiate” it. Progressive parents be warned. The first word should have been “no”.

Why not “agotiate” with ISIS if it saves even a few lives? Such as the Japanese journalist Kenji Goto and Jordanian pilot Lt. Kasasbeh if they are still alive. Who knows if the ISIS bosses will keep their word? Only one way to find out. Give them the money, we have oodles of it to waste on corrupt Afghan narco-pols, the insanely expensive poorly performing F35 Strike Fighter as an outright gift to Lockheed Martin, and anything you want to look at in the bloated Pentagon’s “defense budget”.

Sooner or later, as we learned in Northern Ireland and elsewhere, and as all trade unionists know, you have to sit down with your worst enemy and work out a deal. It ALWAYS seems impossible at first. Their atrocities and a desire for blood revenge fog our mind, and the very idea of talking to the suicide bombers’ shot-callers is “appeasement of evil”, which it is.

But why stick on a failing principle when lives are at stake? ISIS doesn’t want our money but our recognition of the Caliphate as a legitimate state. Whether we like it or not that’s pretty much where it is. They ain’t going away any time soon. Journalists have stopped calling ISIS the “so called” or “self styled”. That’s how we tried wishing away the IRA with stunning lack of success at first.

“We don’t negotiate with terrorists”? Sure, we do. After swearing on the King James Bible “no surrender to terror”, the British government, with lots of talk and some money, bought peace from the armed and quite ferocious IRA (which on one occasion bombed me out of my bed). Yet today former IRA killers like deputy first minister Martin McGuinness and Mary McCardle sit in the Northern Ireland Assembly as part of the peace agreement with Sinn Fein (alias IRA).

Israel, which trumpets the “we never reward terrorists” line, CONSTANTLY negotiates prisoner releases and swaps all the time in return for dead or alive IDF soldiers. It’s a fairly open secret that the French and probably British and Germans deal via foreign intermediaries, or their own secret services, with some pretty nasty ISIS genociders. Is there any alternative other than continuing to bomb the crap out of ISIS which I’m not against?

I’m sure Henry Kissinger would love my devious two-track proposal. Give ISIS money (and hence implied recognition) in return for lives…and then drone them back to the stone age, in Curtis Le May’s immortal warning to the North Vietnamese. (Incidentally, Hoorah! For the “low life scum” – Sen. McCain’s term – of Code Pink protestors who invaded the Senate testimony of war criminal Kissinger.)

ISIS is our original sin because of the lying, deadly way we invaded Iraq. You break it, you pay for it, in the no less immortal words of one of the chief liars, Gen. Colin Powell.

Shit, man. It’s only money.

(Clancy Sigal is a screenwriter and novelist. His latest book is Hemingway Lives.)