Mendocino County Today: Monday, Oct 5, 2015

• Calfire's Valley Fire Report
• Dragonhead Murder Mystery
• Univision Anchor Story
• Cancer Treatments
• Catch of the Day
• Unwanted Football Tickets
• Bernard
• Modern Fascism
• Babe Ruth Stories
• Green Fields

‘ANTICIPATE THE UNEXPECTED’

CalFire’s report of the Valley Fire Incident that badly burned four firefighters

Sequence of Events

On Saturday, September 12, 2015, at approximately 1323 hours, a helitack crew was dispatched to a vegetation fire as part of an initial attack wildland response. The vegetation fire was reported at 8015 High Valley Road, in Kelseyville, California. At approximately 1330 hours, the helicopter (C1) with two fire captains, six firefighter I’s, and one pilot lifted off from the Sonoma-Lake-Napa-Unit (LNU) helitack base. The front seat fire captain’s (FC1) report on conditions was: two acres in grass and oak woodland, a moderate rate of spread, with one structure immediately threatened and the potential to burn 20 acres.

C1 crew observed short range spotting with some isolated tree torching. FC1 and FC2 determined the left flank of the fire would be their priority. C1 landed in a field near an access road which led to the fire’s left flank. When the helitack crew started a direct attack on the left flank towards a structure (RES1), FC2 advised FC1 they should stay mobile and provide structure defense.

At 1332 hours, a battalion chief arrived at scene and assumed Valley Incident Commander, (IC). Shortly after, the Air Attack (AA) and two air tankers responded from the local airbase. The AA immediately requested three additional multi-engine type 3 air tankers.

FC1 told FC2 he was going to bump ahead of the helitack crew to scout. FC1 hiked across the black using a deer trail. After some time, FC1 told FC2, over the radio, to bump up. FC2 and helitack firefighters could see FC1 ahead of them as they approached a second residence (RES2). FC2 observed several spot fires and directed the helitack firefighters to assist FC1 in extinguishing the spot fires in the grass and on the wood deck surrounding RES2.

FC2 started hiking up the driveway and told FC1 that he was going to bump further ahead. Without direction, FF1 and FF6 followed FC2 up the driveway (Helitack B) in search of more structures to defend. FC2 observed a spot fire spreading near RES2 on the west side of the driveway, and advised FF6 to watch the spot fire. FC2 also yelled to FF1 to hustle up to their location due to the additional spot fires which spotted over the driveway. At approximately this time, FC1 directed FF2 to remain at RES2 for structure defense and told him to call on the radio if there were any issues. FC1, FF3, FF4 and FF5 (Helitack A) hiked cross country to the southeast toward a structure that was to their right on a ridge top. When they reached the ridge top FF3 observed spot fires advancing up the slope toward them. FF3 stood at the top as a lookout for a few minutes then met up with FC1, FF4 and FF 5.

The ridge top was under a canopy of pines and oaks but had very little low surface and ground level vegetation. Around the steel garage, was a 58 foot by 30 foot garden along the northwest (D) side of the steel garage, a 53 foot by 73 foot goat pen, and an eight foot wide dirt road running northwest/southeast separating the goat pen and garden.

Aerial Photo – Valley Fire

Soon after reaching the ridge top, FC1 directed FF5 to scout the southern side of a goat pen. FF5 hiked to the southwest side of the goat pen and observed a steep brush covered slope with no visible smoke or fire; the brush was approximately six to seven foot tall manzanita and chamise. Helitack A observed increased spot fires in the pine needles and leaf litter along the southwest side of the goat pen. They started to extinguish the spot fires but there were too many. FC1 directed FF3, FF4 and FF5 to get into the goat pen, which was clear to bare mineral soil.

Sketch Map – Valley Fire Deployment Site

While in the goat pen they observed the fire behavior changing. There was an increase in the wind speed, and an increased number of spot fires in the pine needle duff and leaf litter surrounding them. FF3 saw fire sheeting and swirling across the dirt driveway on the northwest side of the goat pen; several pines torched on the west side of the steel garage.

From the location of RES2, FF2 observed increased fire behavior advancing toward Helitack A’s location. FF2 communicated the increased fire behavior using the radio; FC1 acknowledged FF2’s observation.

At approximately 1402 hours, the brush covered slope to their east completely torched into a wall of flame. The wall of flame sent a significant wave of radiant heat through the goat pen and onto the firefighters. They could feel their faces burning from the radiant heat and all four firefighters ran to the fence, climbed over, and ran towards the steel garage. At the steel garage Helitack A started to deploy their fire shelters.

“May-Day” was transmitted from FC1 and was heard over the radio. From the location of a third residence (RES3), FC2 could hear FC1 say over the radio, “Four have deployed their shelters, near a barn on the right flank.” FF4 had difficulty opening the fire shelter case from the Chainsaw Pack; the clear plastic covering of the fire shelter was soft and melted. FF4 had to remove the gloves to tear the plastic away from the aluminum shell of the fire shelter. FF3 couldn’t get the fire shelter out of the case because the clear plastic cover was melted to the white plastic protective sleeve. FF3 looked up and saw FF4 at the north side (D) of the steel garage. FF3 dropped the fire shelter on the ground and ran to FF4’s location. FF3 and FF4 shared FF4’s fire shelter and stayed together in a crouched position. FC1 and FF5 deployed their fire shelters on the east side (A) of the steel garage. The heat in front of the steel garage was too intense so they moved to the north side (D) of the steel garage with FF3 and FF4 where the atmosphere seemed to be cooler.

Helitack A huddled together shielding the heat away from their already burned faces and hands; each of them could see the visible burns to one another’s faces and hands. FC1 continued to use the radio requesting bucket drops from C1 on their deployment location to cool the atmosphere. FF5 attempted to drink the water from the hydration pack but the water from the mouth piece was too hot to drink. While crouched in their fire shelters next to the steel garage, Helitack A suddenly heard explosions coming from inside the now burning structure. As a group, Helitack A moved a safe distance from the structure. Helitack A eventually crouched along the dirt driveway, separating the dirt garden and the goat pen.

From the driveways of RES3 and a fourth residence (RES4), FC2 directed C1 to make bucket drops into Helitack A’s location at the top of the ridge. C1 orbiting above and was unable to get near their location at the top of the ridge due to the thick column of smoke convecting straight up into the atmosphere.

A Division Chief (Div1) drove in the driveway of 15185 Bottle Rock Road and met up with Helitack B. Div1 drove up the driveway toward the deployment site approximately 200 yards to a fork in the driveway. At the fork, Div1 experienced heavy smoke and heat conditions. Div1 drove back to where Helitack B was standing, Helitack B loaded into Div1’s pick-up and they drove back up the driveway a second time toward the deployment site. The conditions were very smoky and hot. Div1 continued up the driveway using the line of trees on the right and left of the driveway as a guide. FC2 directed Div1 to stay left at the fork. They could see the shiny aluminum of the fire shelters ahead of them. Div1 honked the horn and drove up next to the deployed fire shelters. FC2 and FF6 exited the pick-up and assisted Helitack A into the bed of Div1’s pick-up. To protect them from the heat during the extrication, FF6 draped and held the fire shelters over Helitack A. Div1 drove down the driveway toward Bottle Rock Road to an emergency landing zone. Helitack A firefighters were stripped of their personal protective equipment and treated for their burns prior to being assisted into C1. C1 transported Helitack A to the LNU helitack base. At the helitack base, the treatment of the Helitack A firefighters continued. FC1 was transported by a medical helicopter and FF5 was transported by another medical helicopter. At approximately 1520 hours, FF3 and FF4 were transported by C1 to the University of California Davis (UCD) Medical Hospital in Sacramento.

During the time Helitack A was being transported to the helitack base, Div1 and FF6 returned to RES2 to locate FF2. FF2 was located at RES2 uninjured and they returned to the helitack base.

INJURIES/DAMAGES

FC1 suffered second and third degree burns to the head, face, ears, neck, back, arms, hands, legs and feet and has had several surgeries. FC1 remains in critical condition and is under the continued care of UCD Burn Center.

FF4 suffered first and second degree burns to the face, head, ears, arms and hands and is under the continued care of UCD Medical Center.

FF5 suffered first and second degree burns to the face, head, ears, arms, foot and hands and is under the continued care of UCD Medical Center.

FF3 suffered first and second degree burns to the face, head, ears, arms and hands and is under the continued care of UCD Medical Center.

SAFETY ISSUES FOR REVIEW AND LESSONS LEARNED

Crews must utilize L.C.E.S when engaged in firefighting operations

ALL Ten Standard Fire Orders MUST be obeyed at ALL TIMES

Personnel MUST wear ALL CAL FIRE APPROVED PPE when engaged in firefighting operations

Modifying Personal Protective Equipment can alter the protective properties

Practice and prepare for shelter deployment in adverse and extreme conditions

Be familiar with the WUI guidelines, S-FACTS, and Leader’s Intent

Maintain radio discipline and be familiar with Emergency Traffic Procedures

Maintain incident and crew accountability at all times

Correlate topographical features and changing fuel models

Recognize the alignment of the three factors that influence wildland fire behavior

Recognize extreme fire behavior indicators and anticipate the unexpected

Utilize proper risk management methods and procedures

Inspect fire shelters according to Handbook 4306.16

A FEDERAL PROSECUTOR said in court Monday in San Francisco there’s evidence that links Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow to the unsolved slaying of a Chinatown leader in 2006.

However, defense attorneys say another man who was himself killed two years ago is most likely responsible.

US Attorney prosecutor William Frentzen said in Judge Charles Breyer’s federal courtroom Monday that there will be a filing in the next week or so that will divulge some of the evidence linking Chow to the death of Pete Leung, said a spokesman for the US Attorney.

Chow, set to stand trial in early November on a series a racketeering charges for his alleged leadership of an organized crime organization group in Chinatown, is currently the leader of the fraternal organization once headed by Leung. In pretrial filings, Chow’s lawyers have been attempting to bar any mention of Leung’s death from the trial.

The prosecutors in the case, who opposed the exclusion of such information, were required by the judge to file a response to the request for suppression. That response is expected to include the new details linking Chow to Leung’s killing.

After Leung was killed Chow became the Dragonhead of the Chee Kung Tong. Before Leung’s death, Chow had reportedly asked another fraternal organization, the Hop Sing Tong — of which Leung was a member — for $120,000 for a youth group.

The day after that request was denied, someone fired shots into the Hop Sing Tong’s front door.

Leung helped the FBI with their investigation into the shooting. Then he was killed.

Chow alone wore white at Leung’s funeral, which some thought was a sign of disrespect. His attorneys say in a filing the white suit indicated respect.

The federal prosecution’s courtroom statement saying Chow can be linked to Leung’s death has been denied by Chow’s defense team.

“The white suit he wore was a sign of humility and respect, and it was his combination of life experiences and his well known reformation that caused the elders of the community [who] asked him to be Dragonhead of the Chee Kung Tong,” according to the filing by Chow’s attorneys.

What’s more, the defense argues, an FBI informant provided information about Leung’s murder, which helped exonerate Chow, yet “the FBI has never missed an opportunity to try to paint Chow guilty for this murder.”

Instead, they say evidence for Leung’s death points to another man.

“All evidence pointed at the now deceased Jim Tat Kong,” noted a Sept. 8 defense filing. “Jim Tat Kong was attempting to take control of the Hop Sing Tong.”

Kong was found dead along with his wife on Oct. 17, 2013 in Fort Bragg.

According to the defense filing, the FBI alleged Chow and Kong were feuding because Kong was acting out of line, intimidating elderly tong members. Furthermore, Kong allegedly put a hit out on Chow in 2008. But the filing goes on to say Chow had no link with that death either.

“Jim Tat Kong’s death was identified as a double suicide by responding agencies,” they noted.

NOPE. The deaths of Jim Tat Kong and Cindy Bao Feng Chen were not described as a double suicide by responding agencies. The Mendocino County Sheriff's Department said they had been shot in the backs of their heads execution style as they were seated in their van off Highway 20 near Fort Bragg. Among items found nearby was a map outlining the route from Market Street in San Francisco to the Fort Bragg area of the Mendocino Coast. Ms. Chen was a wealthy San Francisco real estate investor. Kong had associations with Chinese gangs and gambling interests. The feds later claimed they have a tape recording of Chow removing his protection of Kong and soliciting another person to murder him.

THE DOUBLE MURDER of the Bay Area Chinese couple found murdered at the bark dump off Highway 20 near Fort Bragg, was also investigated by the Fort Bragg Advocate's ace sleuth, Tony Reed. Reed, we will recall, led the Sheriff's Department to the remains of Mr. Guzman, the 70-year-old Fort Bragg man whose body was belatedly discovered, thanks to Reed, halfway down an ocean bluff north of Westport. Guzman had suffered a gunshot wound to his side, and one round from his handgun had been expended. Reed, looking around the area of Guzman's peculiar death — was it from a gunshot, a fall, murder, or all three? — located items belonging to Guzman which led to the dead man's corpse a week after he died.

REED, reporting for the Advocate two years ago, we wrote, “has been poking around the site where Cindy Bao Feng Chen, 38, and Jim Tat Kong, 51, were found dead last week from 'wounds to the head in Ms. Bao's gray Toyota minivan.' The 'wounds to the head' were subsequently revealed as gunshots to the head by the Sheriff's Department. “It's unknown,” Reed writes, “if paper and other garbage found in the area is related to the investigation, but some of it raises questions. The wooded area near the former bark dump, which is now owned by the Mendocino Coast Recreation and Park District, is barricaded with rocks and stumps to prevent off-road vehicle access. However, several trails cut through the trees and allow access to the property from Highway 20 and Summers Lane. The site has been used as an illegal dumping area for many years. Commonly found garbage includes beer cans and packaging, vehicle parts, clothing and tires. Among items found Monday within 100 yards of the scene by this reporter were a computer printout of directions from Market Avenue [sic] in San Francisco to Leisure Time RV Park, just west of the location. Also found and photographed among nearby trash was a five-inch folding-blade knife with a Masonic emblem and the words, ‘Virtus ionxut mors non separabit,’ which translates to, ‘Whom virtue has united, death will not separate.’ In and around bags of garbage in the trees next to the location was a great deal of mail, credit cards and personal information belonging to Steven Claus, of Fort Bragg. Claus has been arrested four times this year by Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies…”

* * *

Double murder investigation continues

Fort Bragg Advocate News - October 24, 2013

Tony Reed

Investigators are releasing only selective information in what they believe is a double-homicide that was discovered last week east of Fort Bragg. Asked why detectives feel the case is a double-homicide and not a murder-suicide, Sheriff's Lt. Greg Van Patten would only say, "It was the way the scene presented itself."

The investigation began about 2:30 p.m. Oct. 17 when an unnamed person reported that a van had been parked near the gate of the former bark dump, at the 31000 block of Highway 20.

"Deputies checked the interior of the van and discovered a deceased female in the front driver’s seat and a deceased male in the front passenger seat," said Sheriff's Office reports. "Both victims appeared to have suffered wounds to the head. The exact cause of death is pending the results of an autopsy."

Authorities released the woman's identity Monday as Cindy Bao Feng Chen, 38, of San Francisco and the male as being Jim Tat Kong, 51, of San Pablo, Calif.

The gray minivan, possibly a mid-90s Toyota Sienna, appeared to have been undisturbed and its windows were intact, Van Patten said. The reporting party believed the occupants may have been sleeping when the vehicle was first reported. It was towed to a county facility in Ukiah for closer inspection.

Van Patten said he could not comment on details such as how the two occupants were found, if they were a couple or were related, details about the fatal injuries or whether the two may have been robbed.

However, he did say the van was registered to the female and it appeared the two had recently traveled to Fort Bragg. Investigators are still working out a timeline of events, Van Patten said.

* * *

THE MURDER OF KONG was not a big loss to humanity. Here's a 1994 story by the Chronicle’s fine crime reporter Jim Doyle describing his activities:

2 Bay Area Men Convicted In Thai Heroin Case

Jim Doyle, June 2, 1994

A federal jury in San Francisco has convicted two Bay Area men on heroin-trafficking charges in a case that federal officials say is inextricably linked to a secret Chinese crime society.

The case marks one of the first US trials in which the government put actors on the stand to read Chinese-to-English-language transcripts of wiretapped telephone conversations.

Sam (Runaway) Chan of San Francisco and Jim Tat Kong of San Pablo were found guilty Tuesday of conspiring in 1990 to transport about $1 million worth of China White heroin from Thailand to the United States.

The two were also convicted of a racketeering charge and of selling counterfeit travelers checks to an FBI undercover agent.

During the one-month trial, English transcripts of phone calls made from Bangkok, Hong Kong, Macau and the People's Republic of China were read to the jury by actors who performed the roles of Chan, Kong and their associates.

According to a government witness, Chan is a member of the “14K” Chinese triad — an organized-crime syndicate linked to crimes including murder and drug trafficking in the United States and overseas.

During the trial, Assistant US Attorney Barbara Silano described Kong as being involved in various illicit activities including sports bookmaking and loansharking.

“In the Chinese triads, everything is fair game,” Silano said in an interview. “Unlike the traditional Mafia — where `families' divide up who's going to do drugs and who's going to do prostitution — in the Chinese triads, there are no bounds on what you can do. It's wide open.”

In return for introducing an FBI undercover operative to his heroin sources in Bangkok, Kong allegedly asked the operative — who posed as a heroin buyer — for support in taking over a $1 million protection racket in San Francisco's Chinatown.

Chan and Kong testified that they were confidence men who had no access to heroin and were simply trying to “rip off” the drug buyer.

In court documents, the government also accused Chan and Kong of participating in a human- smuggling operation that ran Chinese immigrants with false passports through the Dominican Republic and into the United States. But the two men were not charged with alien smuggling.

(Courtesy, the San Francisco Chronicle)

"THEY ONLY GO OUT TO WALMART AT NIGHT"

Important profile in the October 5 New Yorker (The Man Who Wouldn't Sit Down) by William Finnegan, who wrote that fine surfing memoir/story in June:

When Jorge Ramos travels in Middle America, nobody recognizes him — until somebody does. Ramos is the evening-news co-anchor on Univision, the country’s largest Spanish-language TV network, a job he has held since 1986. A few weeks ago, I was on a flight with him from Chicago to Dubuque. Ramos, who is fifty-seven, is slim, not tall, with white hair and an unassuming demeanor. Wearing jeans, a gray sports coat, and a blue open-collared shirt, he went unremarked.

But then, as he disembarked, a fellow-passenger, a stranger in her thirties, drew him aside at the terminal gate, speaking rapidly in Spanish. Ramos bowed his head to listen. The woman was a teacher at a local technical college. Things in this part of Iowa were bad, she said. People were afraid to leave their houses. When they went to Walmart, they only felt comfortable going at night. Ramos nodded. Her voice was urgent. She wiped her eyes. He held her arm while she composed herself. The woman thanked him and rushed away.

“Did you hear that?” he asked, at the car-rental counter. “They only go out to Walmart at night…”

(Rob Anderson, Courtesy, District5Diary)

I SAW THIS intriguing comment in the 24 September issue of the London Review of Books: "…I was diagnosed with cancer shortly after my 75th birthday. There was a big tumor in my kidney, then they found an offshoot in my left lung, and then two more in the right. But where I live, in Belgium, the surgeon was dismissive of chemotherapy. ‘We don't like the side effects,’ he remarked. Instead, their way of dealing with cancer is to cut it out with sharp knives. So I had four serious surgical operations in the space of seven months. I couldn't say there were no after-effects: I felt weak for some time. But muscles recover, and strength comes back. I wonder whether there is a debate in Britain (America) about the relative merits of chemicals and surgery for removing cancers — is one side or the other causing unnecessary suffering to its patients? — or is this just a matter of idiosyncratic national preference, like the right temperature for serving beer?”

CATCH OF THE DAY, October 4, 2015

TYLER BILLY, Hopland. DUI, DUI-suspended license, failure to appear.

WAYNE CAMPBELL, Ukiah. Interference with business, probation revocation. (Frequent flyer.)

FARRELL CLARK, Fort Bragg. Court order violation.

ADRIAN DUMONT, San Francisco/Ukiah. Domestic battery.

STEPHEN HUNTER, Ukiah. DUI causing injury.

JOSE RIVERA-DIAZ, Ukiah. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

DANIELLE SCHWALEN, Fort Bragg. Petty theft.

DANIEL STURMFELS, Ukiah. Burglary, possession of controlled substance and paraphernalia.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, Ukiah. Drunk in public, probation revocation.

KELLY WOOD, Willits. Under influence of controlled substance, resisting.

FROM FIELD OF SCHEMES:

The San Francisco 49ers‘ new stadium in Santa Clara has had some problems since it opened last year — the grass won’t stay put, it was brutally hot, getting in and out by car was often painful, and the stadium lights blinded nearby airline pilots. And now, according to KGO-TV, some seat license holders are fed up and want out of their season-ticket deals:

“If you were hoping to get your hands on a San Francisco 49ers Season Builders License, or SBL, you’re in luck. Thousands are now available, but re-sellers say it has nothing to do with the team’s current record. Still, a growing number of fans are very dissatisfied…“ Half the stadium, we get beat up by the sun. So if you’re going to watch a game, you want to enjoy, drink a few beers. Here, you drink a few beers, and you get beat up, come home with sunburn, it’s just a bad experience,” [San Jose resident Tuan] Le said.”

Other fans complained that the 49ers changed their ticket policy this year, sending only electronic tickets that can’t be printed until 72 hours before the game, making it harder to sell unwanted tickets.

Now, it’s only 3,000 licenses that are up for resale, up only slightly from last spring, and not all that much in a 68,000-seat stadium. And besides, the magic of PSLs (or SBLs as the 49ers call them) is that the team doesn’t have to give a crap about any of this: They’ve sold the licenses already, and it’s the fans’ problem if they made a bad investment.

The more interesting question is what this means for plans to finance stadiums in Los Angeles by similar means: Will L.A. fans, seeing the mess in Santa Clara, be more hesitant to plunk down for Rams/Raiders/Chargers PSLs? Nobody knows, but then nobody knows how viable those PSL sales projections were in the first place.

This is a cautionary tale for somebody, that’s for sure, but whether it’s for football fans, for city officials in Inglewood and Carson, or for cities that think they have to outbid LA for the right to keep their teams is yet to be determined.

(Rob Anderson, Courtesy, District5Diary)

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

George Orwell said, “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”

These are dark times, in which the propaganda of deceit touches all our lives. It is as if political reality has been privatized and illusion legitimized. The information age is a media age. We have politics by media; censorship by media; war by media; retribution by media; diversion by media – a surreal assembly line of clichés and false assumptions.

Wondrous technology has become both our friend and our enemy. Every time we turn on a computer or pick up a digital device – our secular rosary beads — we are subjected to control: to surveillance of our habits and routines, and to lies and manipulation.

Edward Bernays, who invented the term, “public relations” as a euphemism for “propaganda” predicted this more than 80 years ago. He called it, “the invisible government.”

He wrote, “Those who manipulate this unseen element of [modern democracy] constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country … We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of…”

The aim of this invisible government is the conquest of us: of our political consciousness, our sense of the world, our ability to think independently, to separate truth from lies.

This is a form of fascism, a word we are rightly cautious about using, preferring to leave it in the flickering past. But an insidious modern fascism is now an accelerating danger. As in the 1930s, big lies are delivered with the regularity of a metronome. Muslims are bad. Saudi bigots are good. ISIS bigots are bad. Russia is always bad. China is getting bad. Bombing Syria is good. Corrupt banks are good. Corrupt debt is good. Poverty is good. War is normal.

Those who question these official truths, this extremism, are deemed in need of a lobotomy – until they are diagnosed on-message. The BBC provides this service free of charge. Failure to submit is to be tagged a “radical” – whatever that means.

(John Pilger)

WHEN YOU LIVE IN FIRES and funerals and strikes and rats and crowds and people screaming in the night, sports is the only thing that makes any sense. And there is only one sport anymore that can change the tone of a city and there is only one player who can do it. His name is Joe Willie Namath and when he beat the Baltimore Colts he gave New York the kind of light, meaningless, dippy and lovely few days we had all but forgotten. Once, Babe Ruth used to be able to do it for New York, I guess. Don’t try to tell Namath’s people on First Avenue about Babe Ruth because they don’t even know the name. In fact, with the young, you can forget all of baseball. The sport is gone. But if you ever have seen Ruth, and then you see Namath, you know there is very little difference. I saw Ruth once when he came off the golf course and walked into the bar at the old Bayside course in Queens. He was saying how f’n hot it was and how f’n thirsty he was and he ordered a Tom Collins and the bartender made it in a mixing glass full of chopped ice and then handed the mixing glass to Ruth and the Babe said that was fine, kid, and he opened his mouth and brought up the mixing glass and there went everything. In one shot, he swallowed the mixing glass, ice chunks and everything else. He slapped the mixing glass down and said, give me another one of these f’n things, kid. I still never have seen anybody who could drink like that. After that day, I believed all the stories they told about Ruth.

— Jimmy Breslin

GREEN FIELDS

Once there were green fields kissed by the sun

Once there were valleys where rivers used to run

Once there were blue skies with white clouds high above

Once they were part of an everlasting love

We were the lovers who strolled through green fields

Green fields are gone now, parched by the sun

Gone from the valleys where rivers used to run

Gone with the cold wind that swept into my heart

Gone with the lovers who let their dreams depart

Where are the green fields that we used to roam?

I'll never know what made you run away

How can I keep searching when dark clouds hide the day?

I only know there's nothing here for me

Nothing in this wide world, left for me to see

Still I'll keep on waiting until you return

I'll keep on waiting until the day you learn

You can't be happy while your heart's on the roam

You can't be happy until you bring it home

Home to the green fields and me once again

— Frank Miller, Richard Dehr, Terry Gilkyson (1957)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re59PF_DOrk