Mendocino County Today: Saturday, Nov 21, 2015

• Fire Fee
• MRC Referendum
• Wine Tourism
• FrankenSalmon
• FB Measure
• Refugee Responsibility
• FB Rumors
• Catch of the Day
• Noyo Parkland
• Francophiling
• The Sitter
• Financing Hillary
• People Power
• Prostate Cancer
• Piano Concerts
• Fisk Article
• Cockburn Interview
• Climate Mobilization
• Library Events

MRC'S GOTTA PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE

Letter To The Editor

If you were here during the summer of 2008 you probably remember the Mendocino Lightning Complex Fires. Late in the afternoon of June 20 (summer solstice) dry thunderstorms struck, and during the following four weeks more than 125 wildfires burned throughout Mendocino County. By the time it was over nearly 55,000 Mendocino County acres had burned. Thousands of firefighters were engaged in the effort: forty seven injured, one dead (Robert Roland, an Anderson Valley volunteer).

Mendocino County's largest private landowner, the Mendocino Redwood Company (MRC), owns ten percent of the county. Given this fact, one would expect about ten percent of that burned acreage to belong to MRC. Instead, MRC hosted an astounding 42% (23,196 acres) of those fires, and more than a quarter of their burned acreage (6,000+ acres) were in Hack & Squirt zones. That means more than 10% of the total Mendocino Lightning Complex Fires took place in MRC poisoned forests.

Even though MRC owns a lot of Mendocino County (219,997 acres) they have only one habitable structure on all that land, so MRC ends up paying the same State Responsibility Area (SRA) Fire Prevention Fee as the rest of us single-structure homeowners. When first assessed in 2012, that fee was $115.

Calfire reports the cost of fighting the Mendocino Lightning Complex Fires at $48.5 million. Since 42% percent of that event took place on MRC property, their fair share of that cost would be a little over $20 million. At the rate of $115 per year, it will take MRC (and the multi-billionaire Fisher Family of San Francisco, who own the company) more than 175,000 years to pay us back. The SRA fee structure obviously needs some serious rethinking.

Meanwhile, the proposed initiative "Shall the People of Mendocino County Declare Intentionally Killed and Left Standing Trees a Public Nuisance" can help address this inequity. It says: trees "intentionally killed and left standing...are a public nuisance and the party responsible shall be liable for any resulting damage." If such an ordinance had been in place in 2008, it could have helped recover some of those costs.

Mike Kalantarian, Navarro

MRC STATEMENT ON FIRE SAFETY REFERENDUM CAMPAIGN

http://www.hrcllc.com/news/mrc-statement-on-fire-safety-referendum-campaign/

IT WILL HAPPEN HERE!

Dear Friends of the Wine Country

Rural Napa and Sonoma wine country, including the Russian River and Sonoma Coast areas, and their residents are facing serious challenges and impacts from an accelerated surge in high intensity commercial wine tourism.

This tourism surge is creating overwhelming impacts to the environment and our residents, including threats to water supply, large scale deforestation, breakdown of infrastructure and zoning protections as well as encroachment on schools from pesticide use and wine tasting proximity.

Please come and/or invite others who might have an interest to a special gathering in San Francisco November 20 at 6 pm to learn more about how citizens from these counties (including many in the wine business) are working together to preserve the rural nature and environment of these areas and the health and safety of everyone who lives or visits here.

Friday November 20 at 1390 McAllister Street, San Francisco, the private residence of Richard Ervais, at 6 pm for good food, wine, dialogue and more information about action to preserve these precious and unique areas of the Bay Area.

Please RSVP to

Hilary Avalon 707-481-8673,

Geoff Ellsworth - napavoice@gmail.com or

Richard Ervais 415-640-2288

Hope to see you there

WHAT'S FOR DINNER? GENETICALLY ENGINEERED SALMON OK'D BY FDA

http://www.sfgate.com/news/medical/article/FDA-OKs-genetically-modified-salmon-for-human-6643457.php

SHOULD FORT BRAGG'S Old Coast Hotel be converted to a homeless center? If you came in real late,  the second effort got 'er done — the measure will be on the June ballot. If passed, the town's municipal code would be amended to exclude social service organizations inside the Central Business District unless the organization was there before January 1st. The Fort Bragg City Council had previously and unanimously voted the measure down.

WHY THE US SHOULD TAKE IN REFUGEES

Editor,

When the US invaded Iraq in 2003, we destroyed much of the country, destabilized the region, and an estimated 150,000 of its citizens have been killed. If a super power would invade the US, there would be push-back. ISIS is the major push-back from our invasion of Iraq. The ensuing chaos has resulted in millions of refugees. Our actions caused this exodus but apparently we are not willing to step up and help these people. Instead, the mostly GOP is saying, in effect, "our bad" and these refugees are some other countries' problem. We seem to want to embrace the policies of the early 1940s when we sent all the Japanese Americans to internment camps. The United States of America is obligated to accept our share of these refugees since we caused this unfortunate situation in the first place.

Dick Rydelius, Moraga

COAST RUMOR MILL SHOULD ADD THIRD SHIFT: TEEN SUICIDE IN FORT BRAGG

MSP got several messages asking if we've heard about a Fort Bragg teen (female) who committed suicide today.

No, we did not, but we do recall dispatch saying this morning they had a call that wouldn't go over the air - which would be the case in something like this.

MSP also heard about a violent rape that happened in Fort Bragg two weekends ago.

While we wouldn't expect a press release on the former rumor, we'd certainly expect one from The Fort Bragg Police or the sheriff on the latter if it proved true.

According to a viewer, "They're trying to keep the rape hush-hush."

To which we replied: "Why?"

We received no answer.

(Courtesy, MendocinoSportsPlus)

CATCH OF THE DAY, November 20, 2015

DORNA KEITH, Clearlake/Ukiah. Failure to appear.

GERARD LARVIE, Fort Bragg. Domestic assault, court order violation, probation revocation.

KEVIN LITZIN, Ukiah. Drunk in public, probation revocation. (Frequent flyer.)

MICHAEL LUCAS, Ukiah. Parole violation, resisting arrest. (Frequent flyer.)

DAWN MCKNIGHT, Talmage. Probation revocation.

ADAM PEARSON, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

ERIN SCHUELKE, Ukiah. DUI-drugs.

CHERYL TOM, Hidden Valley/Ukiah. Failure to appear.

AN INFORMAL RIBBON CUTTING marks the official opening of the south parkland at Noyo Headlands Park. It’s happening Tuesday, December 1st at 12:30 at the south parking lot of the Coastal Trail. The property sale agreed to after many closed session meetings. A little more than eight acres of property is being deeded to the city of Fort Bragg. The city will exchange property for the parkland. No money was exchanged in the deal.

PARIS IS IN THE HEART

by Jonah Raskin

Every since the abominable attacks on Paris I’ve been emailing my closest French friends, Jean-Francois and Virginie, for first-hand news of the tragedy that unfolded there. From what I understand, they’ve been carrying on as best they can, as though nothing dire has happened, all the while knowing that something very terrible has happened. There’s no going back, no avoiding the future, whatever it may bring, and no choice but to be in the present, moment by moment. Jean-Francois said that he went for a run in the countryside outside the village of Saint-Sulpice, where he lives with his wife and sons, hoping to put grief behind him. It wasn’t that easy.

I carry on, too, though I feel the weight of sadness and grief. I can’t get Paris out of my head or from my heart. My attachments go back a long way and they run deep. I remember the city’s cafes, boulevards, museums, landmarks, bars, bakeries, and the Parisians I have known every since 1961 when I first went to Paris as a nineteen-year-old and spent whole days walking the city and living on fresh-baked French bread. That’s when the French were at war with the Algerians. Bombs exploded. Bullets punctured the walls, and life went on then as now.

I know that France was a colonial power and that for the most part the French did not extend “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity” to their colonial subjects in Vietnam and Algeria. I know, too, that there’s a history of French opposition to colonialism, and that Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, to name two outstanding writers and intellectuals, devoted their energies to combatting empire and genocide.

To call the attackers “barbarians” as French President Holland did was unfortunately to say the least. His word choice suggests a level of racism that lurks just beneath the surface. Yes, they’re terrorists and criminals, but to label them “barbarians” implies that they’re not part of the human community. Europeans have been calling indigenous inhabitants of the world “barbarians” for centuries and for centuries they have slaughtered, enslaved and exploited them. But I don’t assume that all the French think and speak the way that Monsieur Holland does.

My French anarchist friends in Paris, Toulouse and Bordeaux don’t echo their president. On my most recent trip to France, anarchists took me into their homes, fed me, gave me beds to sleep in, invited me on their radio stations – yes the French anarchists have their own well-run stations – and hosted events in which I talked about marijuana in the United States, a subject of great interest to them. I should also add that they describe themselves as anarchist in the sense that they believe in community control of all the issues that have to do with power, work and culture.

Yesterday, to make myself feel better, I took to wearing my French beret. I suppose I look a bit absurd, though no one has laughed or pointed a finger. I don’t know what else to do except to go on wearing my silly beret, sending and receiving emails, reading the news, looking for rays of hope and talking to friends here in California, which has long maintained cultural ties to France and the French, French wines, French food, French culture. I would like to be in France now. I would like to see my friends, to share their sorrow with them, though I know that now isn’t a good time to go. I don’t want to be a voyeur or an emotional thief living off the grief and tragedy of others. I will have to nurse my own wounds, remember my adventures in Paris, the French language and French words, the music and the movies, the City of Light tugging at my heart. It seems strange to have this kind of connection to a place so far away geographically speaking and yet so close to my innermost feelings. I wish that my friends here might put away their bickering, their big and their little annoyances, and pay homage to the indomitable spirit of the French who have welcomed Americans to their shores and brought the best of their ideals, art and culture to the United States.

OUTTA THE BLUE

Hillary’s Sociopathy Revealed in Des Moines

by Paul Street

Hillary Clinton said something remarkable and out of the blue during the second Democratic Party presidential debate in Des Moines, Iowa, last Saturday – something that ought to lead to the suspension of her quest for the White House. The comment came in response to a CBS debate moderator and Bernie Sanders pointing out that her campaign had received millions of dollars in election contributions and speaking fees from leading Wall Street financial institutions while Sanders relies on small contributions from ordinary middle- and working-class Americans. Here’s what Hillary said:

“Oh, wait a minute, senator. You know, not only do I have hundreds of thousands of donors, most of them small, I am very proud that for the first time a majority of my donors are women, 60 percent. So I – I represented New York. And I represented New York on 9/11 when we were attacked. Where were we attacked? We were attacked in downtown Manhattan where Wall Street is. I did spend a whole lot of time and effort helping them rebuild. That was good for New York. It was good for the economy. And it was a way to rebuke the terrorists who had attacked our country.”

How’s that for a wild comment out of the blue – out of the tragic blue skies over New York City fourteen years and two months ago? It’s good that most of Hillary’s individual donors are female and that she has a large number of donors. But leading major party presidential candidate typically get donations from hundreds of thousands of people. The fact remains that Mrs. Clinton is very heavily and disproportionately funded by predominantly male Wall Street elites, who back her because she is (quite reasonably) understood by them to be a good friend of the corporate and financial elite. She and her husband Bill Clinton have been leaders in the elite corporate and neoliberal takeover of the Democratic Party for nearly four decades.

The bigger problem with her statement, however, is her suggestion that the reason for her heavily Wall Street-tilted campaign finance profile is the fact that she was a Senator from New York, home to Wall Street, when lower Manhattan was attacked by al Qaeda on September 11, 2001. That’s right, America: forget that Hillary Clinton was already a heavily Wall Street-sponsored politician when she ran for the U.S. Senate in 1999 and 2000. Forget that that sponsorship continues to this day, reflecting the Clintons’ long record of serving elite financial interests by – among other things – working to keep serious financial regulation and break-up (much less overdue nationalization) at bay. Forget that the Wall Street headquarters of Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Stanley, Citicorp and the rest were left intact by the 9/11 attacks. Never mind that any New York Senator or indeed any other U.S. Senator was going to support federal money to rebuild the lower Manhattan sections devastated by the jetliner attacks. Forget that 9/11 was fourteen years ago and the financial elite makes political investments based on policy calculations today. And that that elite much wants to make sure that she prevails over Sanders, who may actually mean it when he says that the nation’s leading parasitic financial institutions should be broken up and closely regulated (too bad Bernie can’t bring himself to call for nationalization).

The “mainstream” corporate media commentary on Hillary’s astonishing remark treats it as a momentary “gaffe.” But the comment wasn’t a mistake. Secretary Clinton has made similar Nine Eleveny intimations about her Wall Street funding on at least one prior occasion in the current campaign. She and her handlers clearly decided some time ago that they could exploit the tragedy of 9/11 – when 3,000 people, many of them ordinary working people, died – to defend her financial contributions for hyper-opulent elites. They lack a basic ethical sense of this as a sociopathic tactic.

Prior to her comment, the nominal and milquetoast socialist Sanders (of whom I am no great fan) said something consistent with elementary common sense. “I have never heard a candidate, never,” Bernie observed, “who’s received huge amounts of money from oil, from coal, from Wall Street, from the military industrial complex, not one candidate, go, ‘OH, these – these campaign contributions will not influence me. I’m gonna be independent.’ Now, why do they make millions of dollars of campaign contributions? They expect to get something. Everybody knows that.”

Hillary Clinton was offended, saying that this statement was meant to “impugn my integrity.” Sanders denied that, arguing that the real issue is “a corrupt campaign finance system,” but the fact remains that he was calling Mrs. Clinton’s moral integrity into question, if all too gently. Hillary’s subsequent, eyebrow-raising comment suggests that he was right to do so – and should do so far more forcefully and comprehensively in coming days and weeks if he is at all serious about providing a progressive alternative to the Clinton machine (something about which I have grave doubts). Where is the integrity in trying to harness the deaths of thousands of New Yorkers in 2001 to the cause of defending your cozy relationship with, and sponsorship by, the wealthy Few?

In a decent political culture, Hillary’s comment would lead to the suspension of her fake-progressive campaign. In the current reigning U.S. media-politics culture, her “gaffe” will likely fade from blue to black down Orwell’s memory home as she marches on to her inevitable, dollar-drenched dismal-Democratic nomination.

(Paul Street’s latest book is They Rule: The 1% v. Democracy. Paradigm, 2014. Courtesy, CounterPunch.org)

THE ONE QUESTION REPORTERS NEVER ASK CANDIDATES

by Ralph Nader

Candidates for public office, especially at the state and national levels, are never asked this central question of politics: “Since the people are sovereign under our Constitution, how do you specifically propose to restore power to the people in their various roles as voters, taxpayers, workers and consumers?”

Imagine that inquiry starting the so-called presidential debates of both the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates. I’m not sure any of the candidates – so used to saying “I will do this” and “I propose that” would even know how to respond. Regardless of their affiliation with either of the two dominant parties, politicians are so used to people being spectators rather than participants in the run-up to Election Day that they have not thought much about participatory or initiatory democracy. Too many of them, backed by the concentrated wealth of plutocrats, have perfected the silver-tongued skills of flattery, obfuscation and deception.

Many voters oblige candidates by not doing their homework about the candidates, their records and the issues they want addressed. Such passivity lowers expectations of what voters should demand from the elected officials who, after all, are supposed to hold their delegated power in trust and not sell it to big-money donors.

Let’s begin with voters. How could elected officials empower the people they represent?

Power to the voters would mean eliminating the private money financing public elections. Big commercial interests nullify votes, and turn most elections into low-grade ditto days of tedious repetition. Well-promoted voluntary checkoffs up to, say $300, can make public financing of elections into a more politically acceptable reform. But to strengthen the power of voters there must also be more voices and choices on the ballot lines, the Electoral College should be abolished and state legislators must stop gerrymandering districts that ensure seriatim one-party domination. Same-day voter registration and a binding none-of-the-above choice can give more voters significant leverage as well. Voters themselves must demand that legislative votes by their representatives be immediately put on their public website with their justification.

Taxpayers lack the tools and resources to challenge the many hundreds of billions of federal tax dollars that each year are used illegally, corruptly or are shockingly wasted. Taxpayers have no standing, under our laws, to sue to stop such abuses. They are rendered weak and meek by this exclusion. When will voters hear a candidate pledge to give them their day in court? Another way to increase taxpayer power is to provide for a voluntary checkoff on the 1040 tax return that makes it easy for taxpayers to voluntarily contribute funds and band together with a full-time staff of watchdogs focused on the government’s waste, fraud and abuse. Big-time leverage is likely with this taxpayer searchlight.

Workers are empowered when they demand that candidates stand for the repeal of the notorious Taft-Hartley act of 1947 — the most handcuffing law obstructing union organizing and union rights in the western world. Enforcing fairer labor standards that are already on the books, protecting pensions from looting by corporate management (see http://www.pensionrights.org/), establishing full improved Medicare for all (see http://www.singlepayeraction.org/) and lifting the minimum wage (see http://www.timeforaraise.org/) – all of these initiatives increase the power of workers.

Finally, how can it be that the “customer is always right” when the consumer has no might? Consumers are becoming serfs in many ways — deceived and tied up by fine print contracts that exclude them from the courts, even if wrongfully injured, and allow vendors, using the same fine print, to unilaterally change contract terms whenever they want. Consumers have no way to easily band together either for collective bargaining or collective justice, such as negotiating away those fine-print contracts and restoring the exercise of trial by jury.

Corporate power, led by the cruel U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., is stripping consumers of class action remedies, imposing severe penalties and fines in the marketplace and intimidating them from complaining for fear of lowering their credit ratings and credit scores. Add to this the gouging prices for drugs and health care, malpractice, near-zero interest rates on their savings, high rates on credit cards, and vulnerability to unregulated foreign imports of food, medicines and other products, and you have a compelling case for a power shift from vendors to consumers.

Inserts in billing envelopes or online required by vendors — such as electric, gas and water utilities, banks and insurance companies — inviting consumers to band together in non-profit advocacy organizations, with full time champions, can be a great step forward in getting consumers seats at the tables of power (see http://www.citizensutilityboard.org/).

Consider how much of your money and assets the government spends to facilitate business organizations – with subsidies, handouts, bailouts and giveaways, with tax credits and deductions and with privileged bankruptcy laws to give mismanaged or reckless companies second and third chances.

Consumers and taxpayers pay for all these goodies. Where is the reciprocity, where is the modest payback for all these exactions? Let consumers have easy ways to organize, with full time advocates, as bank customers, insurance policyholders, car owners, energy and credit users, and those simply wanting food that is safe to eat. When enough consumers can organize, through easy checkoffs, they can defend themselves and make for an efficient and equitable economy.

The appeal of these power shifts is that they come at little or no cost to citizens. No more than the equivalent of one week of the Pentagon’s budget would comprise the aggregate costs of all of these resets for a functioning democratic society. By their own accomplishments, they would save consumers, workers, taxpayers and voters more dollars than the entire Pentagon budget. Not to mention the quality of life, peace of mind and life-saving justice that cannot be measured just in dollars.

Meet your candidates; ask your candidates “The Question Never Asked!”

To find more ideas for citizen empowerment, check out the introduction to the Public Empowerment Act of 1997 at http://csrl.org/model-laws/introduction-the-public-empowerment-act-of-1997/.

PROSTATE CANCER - Risk Factors, Prevention, and Early Detection

RISK FACTORS

Being male.

Age – Men who are 50 and older are more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Race / Ethnicity – Prostate cancer occurs more often in African-American and Caribbean men of African ancestry than in men of other races. And it occurs more often in whites than in men of Asian or Hispanic/Latino ancestry.

Geography – Prostate cancer is more common in North America, Northwest Europe, Australia, and the Caribbean islands. It is less common in Asia, Africa, Central America, and South America.

Family History – Having a father or brother with prostate cancer more than doubles a man’s risk of developing the disease.

Gene changes – Scientists have found several inherited gene mutations that seem to raise prostate cancer risk in a small percentage of men.

Diet – Men who eat a lot of red meat or high-fat dairy products appear to have a slightly higher risk of getting prostate cancer. These men also tend to eat fewer fruits and vegetables. Doctors aren’t sure which of these factors is responsible for raising the risk.

PREVENTION

Age, race, and family history are factors for prostate cancer that can’t be controlled.   However, you can control lifestyle habits that might put you at risk.

Eat a wide variety of vegetables and fruits daily.

Stay physically active.

Maintain a healthy weight.

EARLY DETECTION OF PROSTATE CANCER - prostate cancer is more likely to be curable when found early.

Tests for detecting prostate cancer include:

PSA (Prostate-specific-antigen) Test - Prostate cancer can often be detected by testing the amount of PSA in a man’s blood. When prostate cancer develops, the PSA level usually rises above 4. (Although, a PSA less than 4 does not guarantee that a man doesn’t have cancer.) If the PSA is more than 10, the chance of having prostate cancer is over 50%.

If your PSA level is high, your doctor may advise you to wait for a period of time and repeat the test, or to get a prostate biopsy. Factors such as age, race, and family history, may influence your doctor’s recommendation.

DRE (Digital rectal exam) – The doctor insets a gloved, lubricated finger into the rectum to feel for any bumps or hard area on the prostate that might be cancer. DRE is less effective than the PSA blood test for finding prostate cancer, but it can sometimes find cancers in men with normal PSA levels.

A discussion with your doctor about screening should take place at:

Age 50 – men at average risk of prostate cancer and are expected to live at least 10 more years.

Age 45 – men at high risk of developing prostate cancer. This includes African American men who have a father, brother, or son diagnosed with prostate cancer at an age younger than 65.

Age 40 – men at very high risk. This includes men who have more than one first-degree relative who had prostate cancer at an early age.

(Sources: ACS www.cancer.org; Mayo Clinic www.mayoclinic.org)

FRANK WIENS

Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2

Ukiah Symphony Orchestra

by Karen Rifkin

Frank Wiens listened carefully while his older brother and sister practiced their piano lessons and, as he began matching the notes they were playing, his mother soon discovered he had perfect pitch. Although he does not consider himself a prodigy, he fits the definition — “a person, especially a young one, endowed with exceptional qualities or abilities.” “A lot of people view those with perfect pitch as being touched by divinity; there are, however, plenty of people with perfect pitch who don’t become musicians,” says the virtuoso musician. He played by ear for a few years and at the age of seven began taking lessons. He remembers, a bit ironically, that while attending elementary school in New Haven, Connecticut, there were already three other students sharing one piano for the upcoming concert and he was asked to play the triangle. In high school he was an advanced classical pianist and it was during his senior year that he learned the first movement of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2; he completed the piece at the University of Michigan where he received a Master of Music degree in piano performance. “I’ve lived with this piece for a long time; the last time I played it was in Romania in 2006. It’s one of the most frequently played concertos performed in repertoire. With its beautiful melodies, it’s a very popular piece, easily loved by audiences,” he says. After completing his piano studies, he was offered a job at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and it was there that he began entering national and international competitions. He won contests in Denver, Colorado, and Tucson, Arizona, providing him opportunities to play with orchestras in both cities. His self-managed career began unfolding and presently includes an extensive repertoire of over 35 concertos with solo performances accompanying orchestras in New York, London, South Korea, Vienna, Romania and the Soviet Union. One of his most memorable performance experiences was in 1991 when he was invited to play as a featured soloist in the Soviet Union celebrating the100th anniversary of Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953). “The people were so appreciative; they were living on minimum subsistence wages—they had so little money—yet they would pay 10 per cent of their income to listen to a concert with a guest artist. They brought me flowers and books as gifts after the performance. I could feel their warmth and appreciation of beautiful music; it meant so much to them that I was celebrating one of their great composers,” he says. In addition to an active concert schedule, Wiens has been teaching for 38 years at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, where he holds the position of Professor of Piano and teaches master classes and lectures. Wiens is looking forward to returning to Ukiah on December 5th and 6th to join the Ukiah Symphony Orchestra as a piano soloist. “Les Pfutzenreuter is a gifted conductor and the orchestra did a beautiful job in 2011, the last time we performed together; I am grateful to be returning. I have some good friends here, as well — Elena Casanova, who invited me to play with the Ukiah Community Concert Association in 2012 and Elizabeth MacDougall, who was a former student at UOP,” he says. Romantic Russian Melodies will be performed on Saturday, December 5th at 8 p.m. and Sunday, December 6th at 3 p.m. at the Mendocino College Center Theater. Tickets are available at www.brownpapertickets.com

Mendocino Book Company at 102 South School St. in Ukiah; and Mail Center, Etc. at 207A North Cloverdale Blvd. in Cloverdale. Prices are: $25 adults, $20 seniors, and $5 for those under 18 or ASB card holders. For more information call 462-0236. Concert sponsors are Realty World/Seltzer Realty, Savings Bank of Mendocino County, and "In Memory of Esther Stirling."

A READER WRITES: I think this article by Robert Fisk is one of the most revealing and enlightened articles about what's going on in the world now I've read, and thought you would appreciate his insights.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-in-a-borderless-world-the-days-when-we-could-fight-foreign-wars-and-be-safe-at-home-may-be-long-a6741146.html

KMEC Radio, 105.1 FM, in Ukiah, CA, presented a special edition on Monday, November 2, that we called,  "Killer Drones: Analysis and Protest of the Bureaucracy of Murder".

Andrew Cockburn was our guest. Cockburn is the Washington editor of Harper's Magazine.

To hear the show, click on the following MP3 link:  http://www.kmecradio.org/a/21995/ 

Run time is 43 minutes, 29 seconds.

For more about Cockburn, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Cockburn

John Sakowicz and Sid Cooperrider were our hosts and producers for this show.

FORT BRAGG will be participating in the Climate Mobilization planned for the weekend of November 28th-29th, in advance of the climate meeting in Paris in December. The Paris demonstrations on November 29 and December 12 have been cancelled by the Paris authorities because of the recent attacks there, but the events and marches worldwide will go on as planned. Here on the coast there will be a climate event at the Bernie Sanders headquarters on Main Street for Saturday the 28th, as well as a showing the film "The Wisdom to Survive", in which Leaders and activists in science, economics and spirituality discuss ways to evolve amidst climate disruption.

Saturday, November 28th, 2015.

2 pm: March on Climate Awareness

3 pm: Film "The Wisdom to Survive"

Bernie Sanders' Headquarters

328 N. Main Street

Fort Bragg, CA

For more information: 707-962-3101

* * *

FORT BRAGG JOINS WORLD COMMUNITY IN CLIMATE MOBILIZATION

The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, the 21^st session under the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, will be held in Paris from November 30 to December 11, 2015. The objective of the conference is to achieve a universal, legally-binding agreement among the nations of the world on steps to address the challenge presented by climate change.

The organizations “350.ORG” and “Avaaz” are sponsoring world-wide demonstrations on November 29 and December 12 in support of effective progress by world leaders at the climate talks in Paris this December. The Prefecture of Paris, in the wake of the terror attacks last week, has cancelled the demonstrations in Paris itself, but demonstrations will continue on those days in cities large and small all over the world.

Here in the United States, Bernie Sanders is the political figure most clearly articulating the urgency of our making meaningful progress on addressing the challenge of climate change. While other candidates and politicians give lip service to the issue or deny its authenticity, Mr. Sanders has been clearly and powerfully saying what the entire scientific community has been stating – that climate change is the single, most important challenge of our times and deserves our full attention.

It is therefore fitting that Fort Bragg’s climate mobilization take place at the Bernie Sanders Headquarters – 328 N. Main Street, next door to Eggheads Restaurant. The Fort Bragg climate event will begin with a march on Main Street in central Fort Bragg at 2 PM on Saturday, November 28^th and will include a showing, at 3 PM, of “The Wisdom to Survive”, a deeply moving, profoundly engaging documentary showing people working in transformational, imaginative ways to address climate change that would bring about a more just and sustainable world. The public is invited.

Fort Bragg in this way will be a part of demonstrations worldwide in support of effective action at the climate talks in Paris.

As 350.ORG, commenting on the terrorist attacks in Paris this week and identifying climate action as peace action, says on its website, “The Global Climate March — a worldwide day of action scheduled for November 28th and 29th — will proceed, no matter what. We can think of few better responses to violence and terror than this movement’s push for peace and hope.”

LIBRARY EVENTS

Ukiah Branch Children’s Library Programming Beginning December 1^st

Tuesdays: 3p.m. Lego Build Hour

Wednesdays: 11a.m. Bilingual preschool story time.

3:30p.m. Therapy dog story time

Thursdays: 3p.m. Team build with blocks and pipes.

5:30-7:30 Board and Card Gaming

Saturdays: 1p.m. Family story time.

Bring the family for stories and activities. Questions, call 707-463-4580.

Bilingual Storytime

On Every Third Wednesday at 4:30 pm the Mendocino County Library, Fort Bragg Branch is hosting Bilingual Storytime.

Fort Bragg Branch Library is offering Bilingual Storytime every Third Wednesday at 4:30 pm. On December 16, 2015 at 4:30 pm Fort Bragg Branch Library will offer a Bilingual Storytime for all kids.

Check out our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/fortbragglibrary and website for more information http://www.fortbragglibrary.org/

Thursday Book Club

On Thursday, December 17^th at 6:00 pm the Mendocino County Library, Fort Bragg Branch is hosting Thursday Book Club.

Fort Bragg Branch Library will meet on Thursday December 17^th at 6:00 pm for the Adult Book Club. We will meet to discuss the book The Martian by Andy Weir. Stop by Fort Bragg Branch Library to pick up your copy and join us on Thursday, December 17^th for an evening filled with fun and great conversations.

Check out our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/fortbragglibrary and website http://www.fortbragglibrary.org/ for more information.

Zen Adult Coloring

On Friday, December 18^th from 5-6 pm the Mendocino County Library, Fort Bragg Branch is hosting Zen Adult Coloring.

Fort Bragg Branch Library is offering the latest art craze, Adult Coloring. This fun new art craze will be offered every Third Friday of the month from 5-6pm. Join us for the month of December on the 18^th from 5-6 pm, relax and enjoy being creative while coloring intricate pictures. Everyone is welcome to come to the Fort Bragg Branch Library and enjoy creating beautiful pictures.

Check out our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/fortbragglibrary and website for more information http://www.fortbragglibrary.org/

Holiday Open House

On Saturday, December 12^th, the Mendocino County Library, Fort Bragg Branch is hosting Holiday Open House.

The Fort Bragg Branch Library will once again host a Holiday Open House. This fun day welcomes the community to stop by the Fort Bragg Branch Library and learn all about the library and the fun programs and services we provide. This joyous event will be celebrated all day with cookies, drinks and holiday cheer. Stop by the Fort Bragg Branch Library on Saturday December 12^th, to meet the staff and learn what your library does for you.

Visit our website and Facebook page for more information

https://www.facebook.com/fortbragglibrary

http://www.fortbragglibrary.org/

After School Legos

On Tuesday, December 29^th from 4:00-5:00 pm the Mendocino County Library, Fort Bragg Branch is hosting After School Legos.

Fort Bragg Branch Library is offering After School Legos every last Tuesday of the month from 4-5pm. After School Legos will be offered in December on Tuesday the 29^th from 4-5 pm. Kids of all ages can come to the library to play and build a Lego Creation. This is a free event that offers kids a chance to just come and play at the Fort Bragg Branch Library.

Check out our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/fortbragglibrary and website for more information http://www.fortbragglibrary.org/

Fall Art Reception

On Saturday, December 5^th at 4:00 pm the Mendocino County Library, Fort Bragg Branch is hosting Fall Art Reception.

Fort Bragg Branch Library will be hosting a Fall Art Reception on December 5^th from 4-5 pm to showcase all the entries for the Youth Fall Art Contest. Art contest is open for children 5-16 years of age. The theme for the Art Contest is Fall. All the entries will be displayed, winners will be announced and prizes given in each category. Fall art contest closes on December 1^st. Stop by the Fort Bragg Branch Library on Saturday December 5^th from 4-5 pm to see all the wonderful art on display and learn what art has won the Youth Fall Art Contest.

Check out Facebook https://www.facebook.com/fortbragglibrary and website for more information http://www.fortbragglibrary.org/

Saturday Kids’ Craft

On Every Saturday in December from 11-12 pm the Mendocino County Library, Fort Bragg Branch is hosting Kids’ Craft.

Fort Bragg Branch Library is offering Kid’s Craft Time every Saturday morning 11:00-12:00. Kids of all ages can come to the library to enjoy a fun craft to take home. Check our Facebook page for what craft we are offering each Saturday.

Check out our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/fortbragglibrary and website for more information http://www.fortbragglibrary.org/