Mendocino County Today: Tuesday, Aug 25, 2015

• LakeCo Fires
• Wine Train
• Court Race
• Homeless Campsites
• AVHC Pharmacy
• RR Water Usage
• Rainforest Alliance
• Motel Dreams
• Author Appearance
• Yesterday's Catch
• Socialism
• Trump's Hairdo
• Nobody
• Dow Dive
• Mein Fuhrer
• Tunnels Protest
• Museum Fundraiser
• Last Chance

NO SOONER had CalFire achieved 60% containment of the 215-acre Peterson Fire, near Kelseyville, than a smaller 20-acre blaze erupted seven miles northeast of Middletown. This new "Grade Fire"  was quickly attacked by resources released from the Peterson Fire and was listed at 50% contained by late Monday afternoon.

TUESDAY MORNING PETERSON FIRE UPDATE (6:45am): "Firefighters continue to work towards increasing containment and control. The mop up phase of fire control has begun while continuing to increase containment lines. The majority of air resources have been released. The area of the fire is rural country, which is steep, covered heavily in brush and with difficult access. The threat to structures in the area has been mitigated. There are no road closures or evacuation orders in place."

ELEVEN BLACK WOMEN were kicked off the Napa Valley Wine Train on Saturday for enjoying themselves. The specific charge was that they were too loud. Accounts of the episode are flooding social media.

WINE TRAIN spokeswoman Kira Devitt said Sunday that the company “received complaints from several parties in the same car and after three attempts from staff, requesting that the group keep the noise to an acceptable level, they were removed from the train and offered transportation back to the station in Napa. The Napa Valley Wine Train does not enjoy removing guests from our trains, but takes these things very seriously in order to ensure the enjoyment and safety of all of our guests,” Devitt's press release said.

AT THE ST. HELENA station, the group had to do the “walk of shame,” as one of the ejected women put it, as they were escorted past passengers on the six other cars and met by officers from the Napa Valley Railroad and St. Helena police departments.

BUT SOMEONE from the Wine Train posted an account of the incident on Facebook that read, “Following verbal and physical abuse toward other guests and staff, it was necessary to get our police involved. Many groups come on board and celebrate. When those celebrations impact our other guests, we do intervene.”

WHICH turned out to be totally untrue. But accusations of racism are so overworked anymore that when it happens, as it clearly did on the Napa Wine Train on Saturday, the term doesn't begin to cover how dispiriting the real thing is.

PATRICK PEKIN of Fort Bragg is apparently challenging Keith Faulder for that soon-to-be-empty judge's robe. Pekin's working the phones, calling up members of the local bar hoping to line up support for the looming Superior Court vacancy. One question ought to be asked of all candidates for judge: Do you support a new County Courthouse? If the answer is Yes, vote No on that candidate.

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Re What To Do About The Homeless. My idea, and perhaps the developing idea taking root in Santa Clara county in the city of Sunnyvale, is far more realistic than this work farm/”wings” in a building solution AND will bring in money over time from those now free roaming our streets and bushes. My idea is safe grounds camping-hostel sites that will have either low rent or work-exchange. And, obviously make it easy for out patient delivery of medical and mental health services. And, also would be a site where commercial and light industrial and light agricultural activities would be encouraged. (And zoning would have to be changed to include all of that.) This is more in line with reality as well as the civil liberties assured us in the constitution. The AVA’s approach here smacks of the heavy parent state approach of course. Besides, the city-county-state jurisidictions don’t have money for these large scale operations. The number of people in this county who would be qualified for wings a and b of the AVA’s visualized facility, as determined by the last survey earlier this year, is 797 people. (Mike Jamieson, Ukiah)

HEALTH CENTER BOARD meets in the Senior Center, Thursday (August 27th) at 6pm. Everyone seems quite pleased with the Center's new director, Chloe Guazzone-Rugebregt and, after the weirdly chaotic interlude of bureaucratic confusion of last year, Anderson Valley's mini-hospital is again operating on an even keel. We understand that the Clinic's pharmacy awaits only approval from the Board of Pharmacy to resume its handy dispensary functions. It's a drag to have to drive to Ukiah to get prescription filled for cough medicine, complete with an unintentionally comic lecture about the codeine in the syrup from Rite Aid's pharmacist. "You understand, Mr. Anderson, that this medicine, consumed inappropriately...." We never did understand why our pharmacy was closed but apparently it had something to do with loose accounting.

RUSSIAN RIVER PROPERTY OWNERS to be required to provide water usage details to state water board.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/4382421-181/landowners-along-four-russian-river

SUE MILLER WRITES:

Subject: Rainforest Alliance

Hi Linda Perkins and Bruce Anderson and Will Parrish and Richard,

I looked up the Rainforest Alliance which is holding the meeting for MRC’s "re-certification" tomorrow night in Caspar. The Rainforest Alliance is a front for corporations who want to continue their resource liquidation unimpeded. They are an industry-supported self appointed group which started in 1989. The chairman is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. The vice chairman has been a corporate food brand consultant for many global brands.

They carefully word their stories on their web site to greenwash their purpose and activities, stating they "care" about the environment and peoples' culture and economics but supporting maximum resource extraction by their "certified" corporations. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is owned by the rainforest alliance and is their division where they compartmentalize all the forest liquidation activities. This layering helps hide that they are self certifying and in the business of making forest resource liquidation easier for the corporations while they say they want to protect the environment. They say they care about climate change and clean air and water and wildlife but they also state that corporations need to make their money.

They give a "certification" to among other things, coffee, bananas, tourism, and forest products (FSC). They have a yearly budget of $52 million and have 27 staff persons who make from $100,000 to over $300,000 per year! They receive funding from corporations donations and memberships, certification fees paid by corporations, and grants.

They buy national advertising to promote their "Forest Stewardship Council certifications" by green washing the destructive effects of logging and saying if it is certified by us it is and we say it is environmentally beneficial then you should buy it at Home Depot.

Their name is similar to the Rainforest Action Network which is devoted to the rainforest and climate environmental issues but has a budget of $8 million and pays 3 people $300,000 total and is not a front for corporations.

No wonder, Linda, that your input to the FSC and Rainforest Alliance has been ignored for the last decade.

WE OFTEN field inquiries like this one...

“My betrothéd saint and I will be coming up on thirty years of wedded bliss this October, and we've been casting about for someplace reasonably nearby to go for a little celebration; the thing is, wherever we go for the weekend, the poor woman still has to make it back by first thing Monday for work. As a speaker of truth unafraid to voice an opinion, and a fellow who's steered me right in the past ('Stay the hell away from Ukiah,' I believe was your first admonishment), I was wondering if you might be able to suggest someplace for us. Sonoma & Napa counties seem hopelessly given over to the sniffy 'Wine Country' thing, rather lost on locals such as ourselves, particularly a seasoned home-brewer, though I do enjoy hoisting a retail microbrewski now and then when the occasion demands. Still, neither the yobbos at Lagunitas nor the groovy guys at Mendocino Brewing have seen fit to start an in-house B&B. (B&B&B? Could there be a ready market for this?…) Since it's one of those Big Round Number anniversaries we even looked at the Big City and places we've never been to like the Claremont (and the Ritz-Carlton, the Four Seasons, St Regis, Fairmont Heritage, etc. etc.) and my jaw has been repeatedly sprained and bruised by dropping open and smacking the table when I see the prices they're asking. Oy vey. I'm not exactly a hick farmer, but Jesus, do people really pay six hundred bills + a night… for a hotel room? Whoosh. So we're thinking about going north. Mendocino township is a little artsy-pretentious for us, and Point Area too downmarket. I know you're a fan of Fort Bragg, but it might be a bit far for us and of course the vile Mr Affinito's footprints seem to be everywhere in that town's hostelry trade. Still, I trust your judgment. My uncle used to frequent some romantischer spot in Gualala for his amorous adventures — the Breakers Inn? — but I've heard postitives and negatives. Thanks in advance…”

LOTS OF PEOPLE think the Albion River Inn is the goods, right down to its bar and restaurant and its nice views out at the Pacific. Since I'd sleep outside before I'd pay more than 50 bucks for a room, I can't vouch for the place. We have a bunch of nice places to stay here in the marvelous Anderson Valley, and we have a variety of restaurants, all of them good, and I'm not just doing boosterism here. Boonville Hotel. We also have a lotta good food.

MY CORRESPONDENT WROTE BACK: “Thank you, sir, for the idea. Never thought of Albion. I did have a look at the Boonville venues, and if you can believe it, they're already booked for nearly all October. Times must be improving up there — for some, anyhow. The Boonville Hotel restaurant does look appealing for a special occasion meal, I must say. Though I still kind of miss the Horn of Zeese, myself. And speaking of the great outdoors I even suggested camping to the old girl, but she reminded me it'll be October, and even with global warming an alfresco anniversary is more than she's prepared to tolerate. Ah well. Wimmin — what can ya do but love 'em.”

WHATEVER YOU DO be sure to stop at the Yorkville Market on your way through. It's got all kinds of great take out food and the best cookies ever! I love that place.

MY CORRESPONDENT continued his search: “You know, I did feel the Boonville Hotel had a "Self-Conscious Hip" look to it, and over the years I have come to loathe the word "boutique." Back in the '70s the word invoked a nice safe sense of coy/cute — mostly it told you that stylish homosexuals were decorating and/or running the place; now it just means Snotty and Lunatic Expensive. Do they really believe I'm going to count the freaking number of threads in my bedsheets? Criminy.

I'm a bit sad to report, too, that the Albion River Inn has joined the 'Pamper' At Any Cost And Baby Do We Mean Cost trend. If you want the log fireplace and the swanky bathtub for two (featured in most of the rooms) then you're looking at about four Franklins per night. Although these days, maybe that will just cover the cost of the water? After all that's one big ol' tub-full, just for some ritual hanky-panky. The two token Proletarian rooms (shower only, gas fireplace) are a mere two Franklins.

I suppose the reassuring side is to consider that if this is indeed how them One Percenters live, at least they're being robbed at every step they take.

I still haven't investigated the 'Air B&B' thing, which I'm not inclined to use since first it's plain weird to camp out for the night in some total stranger's house, and second I don't fancy it on principle. Like the appallingly-named 'Über' (do they have a picture of Hitler on their logo?) the whole thing seems to have been created just as a way of 'cleverly' skirting around local taxes and licensing fees. I know everybody thinks starving the government is perfectly OK and even fun (or if you're a Republican, a sacred duty — except of course for their own copious paycheque) but it strikes me as smug and antisocial. We'll see, I suppose. Thanks again…”

I DIDN'T want to be toooooo unfair to Ukiah. I always try to steer people to the wonderful Grace Hudson Museum and, for those interested in a real deep dig into Mendocino County history, the Held-Poage Library. Lodging in our county seat? Well, you have Ukiah's Motel 6, perhaps NorCal's most exciting small town motel, at least since Point Arena's Sea Shell closed for a re-do, but only a fully armed sociologist would find it interesting.

THE DIALOGUE CONTINUED: “Ah, Motel 6. Growing up in LA, my family was big on Palm Springs as a weekend getaway destination, and it was also where my dad's medical faculty meetings tended to be held (until the organizers discovered Las Vegas). This was the early 1960s, before Bob Hope took the town over and re-branded it. It was rather a sleepy little burg, where side-streets (like Indian Canyon Drive?) were lined with huge oleander bushes and head-sized rocks painted white, with mostly blank stinking desert beyond; the biggest excitement my sister and I had was renting bicycles and pedaling up to Palm Canyon & back while my folks were at a meeting or were playing golf. We always stayed at Motel 6 — because it actually cost only six bucks a night. I thought it was perfectly comfy, too, even though I was usually relegated to the creaky "roll-away" bed. (I also was fascinated with the paper band on the toilet that proudly announced in pale blue lettering that it had been "Sanitized For Your Protection!" It had never occurred to me that I needed protection from toilets.)

But then, on one trip, we noticed an ominous change: the sign had been altered to read ‘Motel 6 Palms.’ The place had indeed changed hands, and my dad's face bore a thunderous countenance coming out of the office, where, as he put it, "they tried to stab me eleven dollars for the same damn room!" He did not often resort to profanity, especially not in front of my sister and me, so I knew this spelled the end of an era. I actually liked Las Vegas more, as it turned out, because back then it was Frank & Dino's town, all "booze, broads & ring-a-ding-ding," absolutely no place for a 12 year old, and wandering through the casinos (at least until I repeatedly got caught & thrown out) gave me what I felt was a rare, privileged glimpse of the soft corrupt underbelly of the Grown-Up World; respectability was an obvious thin bogus veneer, in Vegas. But the motels we stayed in were definitely back in the $6 a night league. Some were even cheaper! Sigh — it's all like some kind of dream, now.”

LITTLE RIVER RESIDENT, HARVEY CHESS, has used a lifetime of practical, hands-on expertise as a grantmaker and grant seeker to create a useful, thought provoking and all-inclusive handbook about the never ending quest for resources among nonprofit organizations.

Chess’s just published compendium is Functional and Funded: The Inside-Out Strategy for Developing Your Nonprofit’s Resources. In clear and concise language, this book offers readers a potent strategy to strengthen an organization before and after submitting its proposal for consideration - absolutely essential in today’s competitive funding marketplace.

Meet the author at Gallery Bookshop, Mendocino, hosting Harvey Chess on September 11, 6:30 p.m. Refreshments for all. http://www.gallerybookshop.com/event/harvey-chess-functional-funded

Besides being available at Gallery Bookshop, Functional and Funded can be ordered in downloadable digital or autographed print form at the author’s website, www.fundednpo.com. It can also be found in eBook and hard copy at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and other book sellers listed on the website.

For more information contact:

email: harveychess@fundednpo.com
website: www.fundednpo.com twitter@fundednpo.com
mobile: 707 272 7121

CATCH OF THE DAY, August 24, 2015

MELODY BORG, Fort Bragg. Possession of controlled substance without a prescription.

DAVID CALVO, Ukiah. Dirk-Dagger.

JENNIFER COLBERT, Valley Springs/Willits. DUI, probation revocation.

RANDALL GENSAW, Ukiah. Possession of drug paraphernalia, probation revocation.

RAYMOND JARAMILLO, Talmage. Battery, use of tear gas for non-self-defense, domestic assault.

BRYAN LOCKWOOD, Ukiah. Domestic assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, probation revocation.

SARALEE LUA, Manchester. Probation revocation.

TERESA MARKOFER, Albion. DUI.

JAMES MARTIN, Redwood Valley. DUI.

MATTHEW OBENHAUS, Cypress, Texas/Fort Bragg. Shoplifting, failure to appear.

TINA SZCZEPANEK, Ukiah. Under influence of controlled substance.

IVAN VERVOLSHAVINIVSKY, Willits. Loitering, pot cultivation, probation violation.

JOHN WALKER III, Redwood Valley. Burglary.

LYDELL WILLIAMS, Ukiah. Community supervision violation, resisting.

FAVIOLA ZAMORA, Ukiah. Drunk in public.

TRUMP'S HAIRDO WILL BE HIS UNDOING

Jeff Costello

May I suggest there's something everyone has overlooked, since it seems trivial, a joke. Trump and I are the same age, 69. Ed Sullivan, Elvis Presley and the Beatles figure prominently here, please bear with me. 1955 is the year Elvis first appeared on television (with Steve Allen first, but the Sullivan show was the mostly widely seen). Trump and I were 9 years old. Presley came on and introduced millions of white kids to "Negro" music, rock & roll, whatever we wish to call it.

Then as now, the majority of American boys and men didn't have a lot of vanity invested in their haircuts. The attention was more on Presley's shocking gyrations and "devil's" music. For some of us, however, the hairstyle became instantly all-important.

Sullivan did it again with the Beatles some years later. Elvis had given us a license to forsake the "regular boy's" haircut and dare to challenge the norm, while becoming invested in the vanity of tending to one's hairstyle. Now the Beatles came along and gave us more innocent music, but also a license to not get a haircut at all. And so, the hippies. And so on.

I'm willing to bet that Donald Trump was also impressed with Elvis Presley's hairstyle, and probably - like me - started with "hair vanity" right then.

I see on TV that Trump the candidate wears a "ball" cap at times, usually outdoors and especially in the midwest, where it likely helps him relate to the rabble at his rallies. But - I'm picturing the time spent in hair preparation for his appearances and it has to be considerable. And it is my contention that proper maintenance of his hairdo will eventually supercede his presidential ambitions, such as they may be.

We have been wasting an awful lot of time trying to rationally discuss Trump's ideas and his appeal to the dumb, angry, reactionary right. Never mind.

Vanity will triumph.

— Jeff Costello

STOCK MARKET TURMOIL: Dow Plummets More Than 1,000 Points at Open

by Erin McClam

Stocks took a stomach-turning dive on Monday, sending the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 1,000 points in a matter of seconds. The market recovered some of its losses but was still way down for the day.

The sudden plunge was reminiscent of the fear that gripped the markets during the financial crisis of 2008, and it followed big declines in Asia and Europe.

Investors around the world are worried about China, the world's second-largest economic power and a huge market for American products. China devalued its currency two weeks ago and has shown other signs of economic weakness.

Two hours into trading, the Dow was down 454 points, or 2.8%, at 16,005. At its worst point, just after the opening bell, the Dow was down an eye-popping 1,089 points, or 6.6%.

"Fear has taken over," Adam Sarhan, CEO of the investment company Sarhan Capital, told CNBC. "The market topped out last week."

Last week was the worst for the market in four years, and the Dow had already entered what is known as a “correction,” down more than 10% from its all-time high, reached in May.

On Monday, the Standard & Poor's 500 index, a broader gauge of the overall market, was down more than 5% before recovering, and the Nasdaq, loaded with technology stocks, was down more than 8%.

In percentage terms, the drop in the Dow, even at its worst point on Monday, was not nearly as severe as in historic stock market crashes. In 1987, on what came to be known as Black Monday, the Dow fell by 22%.

But the free-fall was more than enough to get investors' attention. It also got the attention of Lawrence Summers, the President Clinton’s treasury secretary: “As in August 1997, 1998, 2007 and 2008 we could be in the early stage of a very serious situation.” — Lawrence H. Summers (@LHSummers) August 24, 2015

Few stocks were immune as the free-fall extended to the biggest names in American commerce. General Electric fell 11%, Verizon 12% and Apple 11%. All recovered their losses significantly.

The sell-off on Monday swept west across the globe. Stocks closed down more than 8% in Shanghai and more than 4% in Tokyo. Markets in London, Paris and Frankfurt were all down more than 4%.

"It is going to be a bad day," CNBC's Jim Cramer said on Today. "It's probably going to be a bad week."

There was no immediate reaction from the White House, but the jolt to the market shook the presidential campaign.

“Markets are crashing — all caused by poor planning and allowing China and Asia to dictate the agenda. This could get very messy! Vote Trump.” — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2015

The worldwide market decline has extended to commodities, including crude oil, which is below $40 per barrel for the first time since the financial crisis six years ago. That is good news for drivers — the national average for gasoline is $2.59 a gallon, down 14¢ in a month — but bad news for energy stocks, which make up a significant chunk of Americans' retirement portfolios, and state economies that depend on oil.

Traders have been putting their money in investments they consider safer, including government bonds and gold.

The market's last correction was in April 2011. Cramer pointed out that the American economy is much healthier than it was then. Unemployment in April 2011 was 9.1%, compared with 5.3% today. He also cautioned that some of the factors that could send the US market far lower are unlikely — a big rise in unemployment, a spike in interest rates or inflation, or a banking crisis. For now, though, “There is just a tremendous decline coming from China,” he said, “and we are importing it.”

(Courtesy, NBC News)

WORSE THAN HITLER

by James Kunstler

Even the formerly august New York Times grants that Donald J. Trump has ignited a voter firestorm of grievance against a dumb show election process that rewards a craven avoidance of real issues. Immigration is actually a stand-in for the paralysis, incompetence, overreach, and bloatedness of government generally in our time — but it is a good doorway into the larger problem.

Immigration is a practical problem, with visible effects on-the-ground, easy to understand. I’m enjoying the Trump-provoked debate mostly because it is a pushback against the disgusting dishonesty of political correctness that has bogged down the educated classes in a swamp of sentimentality. For instance, Times Sunday Magazine staffer Emily Bazelon wrote a polemic last week inveighing against the use of the word “illegal” applied to people who cross the border without permission on the grounds that it “justifies their mistreatment.” One infers she means that sending them back where they came from equals mistreatment.

It’s refreshing that Trump is able to cut through this kind of tendentious crap. If that were his only role, it would be a good one, because political correctness is an intellectual disease that is making it impossible for even educated people to think — especially people who affect to be political leaders. Trump’s fellow Republicans are entertainingly trapped in their own cowardliness and it’s fun to watch them squirm.

But for me, everything else about Trump is frankly sickening, from his sneering manner of speech, to the worldview he reveals day by day, to the incoherence of his rhetoric, to the wolverine that lives on top of his head. The thought of Trump actually getting elected makes me wonder where Arthur Bremer is when we really need him.

Did any of you actually catch Trump’s performance last week at the so-called “town meeting” event in New Hampshire (really just a trumped-up pep rally)? I don’t think I miscounted that Trump told the audience he was “very smart” 23 times in the course of his remarks. If he really was smart, he would know that such tedious assertions only suggest he is deeply insecure about his own intelligence. After all, this is a man whose lifework has been putting up giant buildings that resemble bowling trophies, some of them in the service of one of the worst activities of our time, legalized gambling, which is based on the socially pernicious idea that it’s possible to get something for nothing.

I daresay that legalized gambling has had a possibly worse effect on American life the past three decades than illegal immigration. Gambling is a marginal activity for marginal people that belongs on the margins — the back rooms and back alleys. It was consigned there for decades because it was understood that it’s not healthy for the public to believe that it’s possible to get something for nothing, that it undermines perhaps the most fundamental principle of human life.

Trump’s verbal incoherence is really something to behold. He’s incapable of expressing a complete thought without venturing down a dendritic maze of digressions, often leading to an assertion of how much he is loved (another sign of insecurity). For example, when he attacked Jeb’s (no last name necessary) statement that we have to show Iraqi leaders that “we have skin in the game,” Trump invoked the “wounded warriors,” saying “I love them. They’re everywhere. They love me.” In the immortal words of Tina Turner, “what’s love got to do with it?”

Trump’s notion that he can push around world leaders such as Vladimir Putin by treating them as though they were president of the Cement Workers’ Union ought to give thoughtful people the vapors. It doesn’t seem to occur to Trump that other countries could easily get pugnacious towards us. He would have us in a world war before the inaugural parade was over.

The trouble is that it’s not inconceivable Trump could get elected. Farfetched, perhaps, but not out of the question. The USA is heading for a very rough patch of history — as those of you with your eyes on the stock indexes lately may suspect. The country stands an excellent chance of waking up some morning soon to discover it is broke and broken. When that happens, all the anxiety and animus will be focused on looking for scapegoats, and they are likely to be the wrong ones. World leaders considered Hitler a clown in the early going, too, you know. But the Germans were wild about him. He pushed a lot of the right buttons under the circumstances. Trump is worse than Hitler. And the American people, alas, are now surely a worse lot of ignorant, raging, tattooed slobs than the German people were in 1933. Be very afraid.

(Kunstler’s third World Made By Hand novel is available! The Fourth and final is finished and on the way — Spring 2016) … “Kunstler skewers everything from kitsch to greed, prejudice, bloodshed, and brainwashing in this wily, funny, rip-roaring, and profoundly provocative page- turner, leaving no doubt that the prescriptive yet devilishly satiric A World Made by Hand series will continue.” — Booklist)

PROTESTERS SLAM LA FUNDING OF DELTA TUNNELS FOR BIG AG TYCOONS

by Dan Bacher

Outside the plush Los Angeles headquarters of Beverly Hills agribusiness tycoon Stewart Resnick on August 19, 25 protesters chanted, "Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Corporate Greed has got to go" and “Mayor Garcetti, have some will. Don’t let Resnick raise our bills.”

The protesters, including Los Angeles ratepayers, community leaders and representatives of water watchdog groups, demanded that Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti protect LA water ratepayers from funding the massive Delta tunnels project promoted by Governor Jerry Brown to export more water to corporate agribusiness interests and oil companies on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley.

The tunnels opponents held their rally outside the corporate headquarters of The Wonderful Company, owned by Stewart and Lynda Resnick, to expose the Resnicks' campaign to promote the "California Water Fix," formerly known as the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP). The Resnicks in June unveiled their company's new name, the Wonderful Company, to replace the old corporate name, Roll Global. (http://www.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2015/06/03/influential-ag-firm-changes-name-corporation-to-the-wonderful-company-gov-brown-wants-to-change-tunnels-to-pipes)

Protesters wore giant “almond” and “POM Wonderful" face cut outs in an effort to depict how the Resnicks are pushing the tunnels plan to benefit their almond and cash crop empire. LA ratepayers also held a number of colorful signs, incuding ones saying, “No LA dollars for Big Ag Tycoons," "Stop the Tunnels," "No $ For Tunnels Garcetti," and "Tunnels = Corporate Welfare."

The rally took place during a record drought in California, one that has been badly aggravated by state and federal government mismanagement of Trinity, Shasta, Oroville, Folsom and other northern California reservoirs. The event was also held as the State is accepting public comments on the multibillion project that will hasten the extinction of Sacramento River Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt and green sturgeon, as well as imperil salmon and steelhead populations on the Trinity and Klamath rivers.

"Resnick, a billionaire agriculture tycoon who controls vast amounts of California water, is pushing the controversial tunnels in an attempt to secure more water for Central Valley corporate agriculture interests and dupe Californians into paying for massive tunnels that won’t secure new water for Angelenos," said Brenna Norton of Food and Water Watch, who spoke at the protest. "Food & Water Watch estimates the average household could be charged as much as $5000 to pay for the project."

Other speakers at the rally besides Norton included Adam Scow, the California Director of Food and Water Watch, and Conner Everts, from the Southern California Watershed Network.

"As Governor Brown and his powerful agricultural allies continue to attempt to sell this boondoggle project to California, it is critical for Mayor Garcetti to oppose any water rate hike or other L.A. funding for the tunnels," she explained. "The project comes at a time when LADWP needs to invest billions into fixing the aging pipes and water infrastructure beneath the city."

Food & Water Watch and other groups oppose the tunnels as a "massive and unfair waste of ratepayer money" at a time when better and more crucial infrastructure investments are needed.

Resnicks Expand Agribusiness Empire During Drought

Norton also noted that at a time when Californians are being forced to slash their water use, Resnick has "vowed to expand his agribusiness empire that already depends on taxpayer subsidized water - and is poised to benefit from even greater subsidies via rate hikes to finance the tunnels."

In addition, she said Stewart Resnick's corporation has been financing advertisements in support of the project, recently renamed the “California Water Fix" by the Brown and Obama administrations.

As the Brown administration mandated that urban users slash their water use, Stewart Resnick in March revealed his current efforts to expand pistachio, almond, and walnut acreage during a record drought at this year’s annual pistachio conference hosted by Paramount Farms.

During the event covered by the Western Farm Press, Resnick bragged about the increase in his nut acreage over the past ten years, including an 118% increase for pistachios, 47% increase for almonds, and 30% increase for walnuts. (http://www.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2015/04/22/well-connected-billionaire-expands-almond-acreage-as-cities-forced-to-slash-water-use)

The Koch Brothers of California Water

The Resnicks have been instrumental in promoting campaigns to eviscerate Endangered Species Act protections for Central Valley Chinook salmon and Delta smelt populations, as well as to build the fish-killing Delta Tunnels and pass Jerry Brown's corporate water grab, the Proposition 1 water bond. Last year at a rally against Proposition 1 in front of the Resnick's mansion in Beverly Hills, environmentalists and anglers accused the Resnicks of being the "Koch Brothers of California Water."

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta, exposed the enormous influence of the Resnicks and the Westlands Water District on the water and fish policies of Governor Jerry Brown and his predecessors in an April 2014 op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle. The Resnicks made $270,000 in contributions to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, $350,000 to support Gov. Gray Davis, and $102,000 to Gov. Jerry Brown, according to Barrigan-Parrilla. (http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Billionaires-influence-felt-in-state-s-water-5430496.php)

“As a result of the political influence of billionaires who receive taxpayer-subsidized water, the state Department of Water Resources functions almost as a subsidiary of the water exporters,” she said.

The Resnicks also contributed $150,000 to Proposition 1 last fall. They joined a who's who of corporate interests in California, including other corporate agribusiness interests, timber barons, Big Oil, Big Tobacco, the health insurance industry and other Big Money interests, that contributed over $21.8 million to the successful campaign to pass Governor Brown's water bond. (http://www.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2015/04/29/why-governor-brown-broke-his-prop-1-promise-big-money-interests-dumped-218-million-into-the-prop-1-campaign)

Stewart Resnick, the “Environmentalist”

The wealthy agribusinessman also wears another hat - "environmental leader." Yes, Resnick serves on the board of directors of Conservation International, a corporate "environmental" NGO noted for its top-down approach to conservation and involvement with corporate greenwashing throughout the world. (http://www.conservation.org/about/pages/board-of-directors.aspx)

Stewart Resnick sits on the board with Rob Walton, the Chairman of the board's Executive Committee. Walton, the oldest child of Sam and Helen Walton, is Chairman (Retired) of the Board of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

It is no surprise that Conservation International was the top recipient of Walton Family Foundation money in 2013, receiving $20,427,136 including $6,080,392 for the Bird’s Head Seascape, $4,345,744 for the Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape and $10,000,000 for “Other Environmental Grants.”

However, while serving on the board of Conservation International, Resnick become notorious for buying subsidized Delta water and then selling it back to the public for a big profit as Delta fish and Central Valley salmon populations crashed.

“As the West Coast’s largest estuary plunged to the brink of collapse from 2000 to 2007, state water officials pumped unprecedented amounts of water out of the Delta only to effectively buy some of it back at taxpayer expense for a failed environmental protection plan, a MediaNews investigation has found,” according an article by the late investigative reporter Mike Taugher in the Contra Costa Times on May 23, 2009. (http://www.revivethesanjoaquin.org/content/pumping-water-and-cash-delta)

Taugher said the environmental water account set up in 2000 to “improve” the Delta ecosystem spent nearly $200 million mostly to benefit water users while also creating a “cash stream" for private landowners and water agencies in the Bakersfield area.

“No one appears to have benefited more than companies owned or controlled by Stewart Resnick, a Beverly Hills billionaire, philanthropist and major political donor whose companies, including Paramount Farms, own more than 115,000 acres in Kern County,” Taugher stated. “Resnick’s water and farm companies collected about 20 cents of every dollar spent by the program.”

Resnick and his wife, Lynda, own The Wonderful Company, formerly Roll Global, a Los Angeles-based holding company that includes both global agricultural operations and well-known brands. The Resnicks' companies include Paramount Citrus, Paramount Farming, and Paramount Farms, the world’s largest growers, processors, and marketers of citrus, almonds, and pistachios.

The couple's holdings also include POM Wonderful, FIJI Water, Teleflora, Suterra, and JUSTIN Vineyard. Dubbed the "POM Queen," Lynda is behind the marketing success of POM Wonderful 100% pomegranate juice and Wonderful Pistachios.

Big Ag’s Power Couple Makes Millions Off Selling Subsidized Water

One of the largest private water brokers in the U.S., The Wonderful Company makes millions of dollars in profits off marketing subsidized public water back to the public, confirmed independent journalist Yasha Levine.

“Through a series of subsidiary companies and organizations, Roll International is able to convert California’s water from a public, shared resource into a private asset that can be sold on the market to the highest bidder,” said Levine in “How Limousine Liberals, Water Oligarchs and Even Sean Hannity are Hijacking Our Water” on alternet.org. (http://www.alternet.org/story/144020/how_limousine_liberals,_water_oligarchs_and_even_sean_hannity_are_hijacking_our_water_supply)

Last year, Lois Henry of the Bakersfield Californian revealed how the Resnicks have made a profit selling water from the Kern County Water Bank, through a complicated series of maneuvers, to supply a 2,000 acre development called Gateway Village in Madera County.(http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/columnists/lois-henry/x429884005/LOIS-HENRY-How-water-from-Kern-grows-sprawl-in-Madera)

The Resnicks are known for the influence they have exerted over California politicians from both the Democratic and Republican parties, including former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor Jerry Brown, Senator Dianne Feinstein, former Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and others, through campaign contributions. (http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/02/15/18637867.php)

The Coalition for a Sustainable Delta, the Resnicks' Astroturf group

The Resnicks exert their influence over California politics in other ways besides direct contributions to political campaigns and the manipulation of environmental and water regulations for their own profit. For example, the executives of Paramount Farms have also set up an Astroturf group, the Coalition for a Sustainable Delta, that engages in greenwashing campaigns such as one blaming striped bass, rather than water exports, for salmon and other fish declines.

The Resnicks, through their foundation, are well known for their contributions to the arts and charities, as well as the millions donated to the Resnick Program for Food Law and Policy at UCLA.(http://www.law.ucla.edu/centers/social-policy/resnick-program-for-food-law-and-policy/about/)

However, very few are aware that Stewart Resnick also sits on the Board of Advisors of UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi, made famous for serving as Chancellor when UC Davis Police Lt. John Pike pepper sprayed students during the Occupy protests in the fall of 2011. Resnick and his wife have managed to use their wealth not only to exert enormous influence over water politics in California, but over the educational sphere as well. (http://chancellor.ucdavis.edu/initiatives/board_of_advisors/resnick_bio.html)

That's not the only position in the educational system than Resnick holds. According to the UC Davis website, Resnick is a member of the Executive Board of the UCLA Medical Sciences; member of the Board of Trustees of Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY; member of the Board of Trustees of the J. Paul Getty Trust; and trustee of the California Institute of Technology. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Anderson School Management, University of California, Los Angeles.

The Resnicks' enormous influence over environmental and educational policies in the state is a classic example of how the regulated have been able to capture the regulatory apparatus in California. To combat this regulatory capture, it is essential that people back efforts to get the corporate money out of politics, including the Move to Amend and 99Rise campaigns.

To read the UK Guardian's coverage of the protest against the Resnicks' nut empire, go to: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/21/california-water-drought-almond-pistachio-tunnel

"EAST MEETS WEST–JAPAN COMES TO UKIAH"

Annual Fundraiser At Grace Hudson Museum

Event Date: Saturday, Aug 29, 2015 5:30pm - 10pm

Location: Grace Hudson Museum & Sun House

Contact: For more information and to make reservations contact the Museum at 707-467-2836 or online at www.gracehudsonmuseum.org.

Join the celebration of the last days of Modern Twist: Contemporary Japanese Bamboo Art at East Meets West - A Night in Japan. Begin the evening with Sushi and Sake' then enjoy a Pacific Rim Inspired dinner by Garbocci Gourmet Catering. As you visit with friends you will be entertained by Elliot Kallen performing Shakuhachi, the Japanese Bamboo Flute along with Naoko on Koto. Throughout the evening you will have a chance to bid on your favorite silent auction items and then end the evening with the exciting live auction featuring our favorite auctioneer, Sheriff Tom Allman. During the evening the Museum will be open so you can view the the stunning "Modern Twist: Contemporay Japanese Bamboo Art" exhibit during its last weekend at the Grace Hudson Museum. Don't miss the Fun! Visit our Facebook page for sneak peeks at auction items and the evening's menu.

https://www.facebook.com/GraceHudsonMuseumandSunHouse

NO, HILARY, NO! NOT A PENNY. NEVER!

From: Hillary Clinton <info@hillaryclinton.com>

Date: Mon, Aug 24, 2015 at 5:53 PM

Subject: Don’t miss your chance --

Friend — Last chance to get your name on the wall. Today's the last day to get your name on the official Donor Wall at headquarters. If you're with me, chip in $1 or more before midnight tonight: https://www.hillaryclinton.com/get-on-the-wall/

Thanks, Hillary