Mendocino County Today: Monday, Dec 7, 2015

• Another Inch
• Hospital Blues
• Rainbow Hayward
• Sequeira Loan
• PD Shuffle
• Hoop Dreams
• Yesterday's Catch
• Blum Concert
• Pseudo Profound
• Tiny Houses
• Obama's Speech
• 20 Plutocrats
• Winesong Improv
• Angry Elf
• LakeCo's KPFZ
• Caretaker's Garden
• Spoon Fed
• Water Bill
• Midnight Oasis
• KMEC Radio

ANOTHER INCH OF RAIN fell yesterday, bringing Boonville's season total up to 5.08 inches. Yet another storm is expected to arrive late Tuesday night, and deliver a couple inches between then and Friday. With the soil now being fairly saturated, we should start seeing more active runoff in the ditches. The bigger question then becomes: how long will it take before the Navarro River is able to breach its sandbar and reach the ocean once again?

COAST HOSPITAL BLUES (& REDS)

by Malcolm Macdonald

A 2013 article in Salon.com declared that “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result,” had become the most overworked cliché in journalism and public speaking. So when Mendocino Coast District Hospital (MCDH) Chief executive Officer Bob Edwards stepped to the podium at the December 3rd MCDH Board meeting to introduce a strategic plan aimed at passage of a parcel tax the first words out of his mouth were … You guessed it.

One might reasonably expect that Edwards could grasp the obvious irony of promoting a seemingly identical parcel tax to a hospital district full of voters who rejected a similar scheme less than a decade ago. Edwards doesn't appear to be overly aware of messy things like irony when they can be replaced by full speed ahead chutzpah and snake oil salesmanship.

In some sense that's part of the job of a CEO, painting lipstick on a pig. So an Emergency Room (ER) loss of $1.7 million last year for Edwards becomes just the ticket we need to sell the parcel tax to voters. From Edwards' point of view the parcel tax will help offset ER deficits. He stated, "We believe MCDH has a fundamental purpose to save lives and provide emergency care access to every person in our community.

"We believe we hold a special duty and consider it a privilege to pave the way for our neighbors to live, survive, and enjoy a quality of life by having access to life saving technologies via the access to our emergency department.

"We exist to preserve the Coastal uniqueness we have come to love, by helping those in our emergency room extend their life when accidents or illness tries to get in the way."

The flip side of this approach is the simple fact that Mendocino Coast District Hospital's ER lost $1.7 million last year. In addition, the ER has been so slow in serving patients at times that there are noticeable numbers of people simply getting up and walking out of the ER. Why would voters vote to fund such a loser?

Edwards would tell you that ERs generally are deficit departments in hospitals. The CEO's goal is to make MCDH "the best Critical Access Hospital in California." The next line in Edwards' Power Point presentation to the MCDH Board read, "We exist to make a positive difference in patients' lives through excellent care."

In other parts of the Board meeting and in more detail in the MCDH Finance Committee meeting of December 1st, Edwards acknowledged a $250,000 gift from the Hospital Foundation to go toward rectifying long overdue problems with the nurse call system. When the donation came up at the Board meeting, Chair Sean Hogan declared that when he was a patient at MCDH he bypassed the problem by using his cell phone to call the hospital's main phone line, then requesting the nurse's station nearest his room, so that he could have a nurse render the assistance he needed.

At the more lightly attended Finance Committee meeting Edwards admitted that in addition to the nurse call system MCDH also has another million dollars worth of maintenance issues. The most serious issues involve correctly ventilating the operating room and a faulty automatic transfer switching device. The hospital has a final deadline as of the end of December to get the operating room fully functional. Problems with operating room ventilation have existed at least since 2010 when the Joint Commission Accreditation Quality Report noted the OR issue. Very little has been done to rectify the problem until very recently. Part of the OR is being cordoned off by closing a door and employing a special fan in hopes that the combination will achieve adequate enough air exchange in one section of the OR to pass inspection. Of course, the relevance of air exchange in an operating room is that the proper exchange of air helps prevent infections.

It is noteworthy that at more than one public meeting CEO Edwards has implied, if not directly stated, that this year's Joint Commission Accreditation Quality Check proved the hospital had no problems with patient care. What the Joint Commission Report actually states is a re-accreditation for the Home Health Department and the Laboratory (respectively garnering re-accreditation in October and April of 2015). A close inspection of the Joint Commission Report finds that MCDH, as a Critical Access Hospital, is still relying on an accreditation dated August of 2013. In other words, as of the first weeks of December, 2015, the critical access hospital known as Mendocino Coast District Hospital has not been re-accredited as a whole yet.

Edwards' presentation did not dodge a couple of other troubling aspects in MCDH's operations. The CEO acknowledged that, "physician recruitment and retention is an ongoing issue."

At the Dec. 1st Finance Committee meeting Edwards trumpeted the prospective arrival of a new orthopedist next May. Edwards attempted to equate that arrival to a two million dollar moneymaker for the hospital. Statistics generally would prove that true except for the annoying fact that the new orthopedist is merely replacing a retiring orthopod and there will most likely be a four month gap between the retirement and the arrival of the new doctor. Using Edwards' own mathematical logic, those four months could mean a loss of a third of 2016 orthopedic earnings ($6000,000-$700,000).

Edwards has a distinct habit of talking from both sides of his mouth during public speaking. He claimed something akin to a partnership with MCDH's employees union, citing the union's willingness to work through this fiscal year with no raises whatsoever. Astute readers may remember that the AVA reported on the negotiations between MCDH and its union earlier this summer: "The idea to continue under the old contract for one more year [with no pay increase] came from the union. The bigger story lies in what the hospital administration [CEO Edwards] had previously offered the employees union. According to a source familiar with the situation, initially MCDH offered a proposed contract that would have “trashed” the health insurance benefits of the employees, greatly increasing what employees would have to pay out of pocket for less coverage in order to maintain any health benefits whatsoever.

"The union flatly refused that offer. Next, MCDH apparently attempted a divide and conquer strategy by offering the hospital's nurses, lab technicians, and X-ray techs a 10% raise. The flip side of that offer: every MCDH employee below the nurse and tech salary level would end up paying for their own insurance." Not exactly amicable negotiations.

Not everything at MCDH is downcast. Brand new Chief Financial Officer Wade Sturgeon and his staff found hundreds of thousands of dollars lost in "Bad Debt" and turned it into a tidy profit for the month of November. However, that appears to be a one-time only windfall and without the sharp number crunching MCDH would have suffered an approximate $200,000 loss for the month.

In some quarters part of the blame for the financial problems that sent MCDH into bankruptcy (a judge just signed off on MCDH's exit from bankruptcy in November) was placed on lackadaisical management by past CEOs like Ray Hino.

Mr. Hino recently hired on to shepherd the opening of Sonoma West Medical Center in Sebastopol. Sonoma West is essentially situated in the old Palm Drive Hospital footprint. Just over a decade ago, western Sonoma County voters approved a parcel tax to support Palm Drive. The hospital went bankrupt for a second time in April 2014 (the first was in 2007) and closed its doors. However, taxpayers in the hospital district are continuing to pay an annual parcel tax to the tune of $155 per parcel. Mendocino Coast voters might want to consider the ramifications of that potential irony.

* * *

MANY PEOPLE THINK the primary causes of Coast Hospital’s financial woes are overpaid administrators, costly contracts with doctors, high cost of employee health insurance, too many uninsured patients, and perhaps poor billing practices.

ALL OF THE ABOVE are factors, certainly. But the more crucial and less obvious cost-drivers are the bond payments from the 1996 multi-million dollar remodel that was supposed to provide a seismic upgrade-retrofit but didn’t; insurance company and government caps on reimbursement rates; the high cost of hospital equipment and their upgrades and software. The high cost of  pharmaceuticals. Malpractice insurance. Expansions into high-tech medical specialties for which there are not enough patients on the Coast to justify. Too small a patient volume to get price breaks on supplies and equipment.

WE DON'T KNOW the actual numbers because the finances of any modern hospital are very opaque, to put it gently.

WE ALSO FIND it ironic that the Coast Hospital employees can’t figure out a way to buy the bulk of their healthcare services directly from the Hospital where they work — instead of requiring their employer — the Hospital — to pay exorbitant health insurance premiums to the usual insurance company suspects.

A READER WRITES re the late Jack Hayward: "I might be mistaken but several years back didn’t you publish a weekly pseudo-stream-of-consciousness column in the AVA by Hayward under the byline “the Rooster”? I could tell by three weeks into it (and so could you, I gather) that they were not the insightful free form musings of a Kerouac or Ginsberg ( a generation of beat artists Hayward claimed kinship with) but merely the random and chaotic activations of meth saturated neurons. 
Anyone who knows something about the history of the Rainbow commune will probably concede that Hayward was a phony, a long-haired poseur, a racketeer in bohemian facade who would’ve been at home in 1920’s Chicago.
 May he repent in the paisley purgatory."

PS. “…I recall that during the last month of her reign as news director at KZYX Annie Esposito interviewed Hayward for his recollections and insights re. the ‘back to the land’ movement in Anderson Valley, and related topics concerning his participation in the ‘peace & love & back to the land’ movement, etc.

It was a sincere attempt (on her part) at probing for the ‘raison d’être’ of the whole thing.

The most frequent and forceful answers he gave were: everyone was ‘fucked.’ Alan Ginsberg was ‘fucked.’ Lawrence Ferlngetti was ‘fucked.’ Everyone who had any kind of utopian vision was ‘fucked,’ and etc…

Actually, the bright-eyed utopians who moved with him to ‘Rainbow’ were the real ‘fucked,’ for he was a Bohemian garbed grifter who simply saw his bright-eyed brethren (and sisteren) as marks to be exploited.

Every idealistic movement will attract bloodsuckers who take advantage of the moment. Let’s not delude ourselves that these swine don’t exist.”

I WOULDN'T be that hard on him, but he was indeed a difficult person who exhausted all his friends and, so far as I know, his entire family. I saw him fairly often before he disappeared into the Northwest. Jack seemed down to me and Jimmy Humble as just about the last people who would deal with him at all. He was clearly speeding, and often incoherent, and sad and isolated, not the place one wants to be in one's Golden Years. The last time I saw him in a more or less functional state was at the Rainbow property as it was being converted to vineyard. Susan Faludi, of all people, was with me. She was curious about Rainbow and the hippie phenomenon as it played out here at Ground Zero, hip bop a rebop. Jack, instantly in monologue mode, lay on his back on a big bed in a rambling structure that the vineyard monolith has probably since bulldozed. Outside, the old Rainbow had been desert-ified. We walked through about six inches of earth pulverized-to-dust to reach Jack's front door, where he commenced a long spiel on the general theme of walking lightly on the earth. I remember exchanging several eye rolls with Ms. F. On the way back to my house we remarked on the spectacular disconnect between people who said they were doing one thing but, in the end, did another. Myself, as an extremely uptight, rigidly puritanical, judgmental white male, I never had any first hand experience with Rainbow, naked piles and days passed in dope hazes being of zero appeal to me. Hippies generally annoyed me as deadbeats and, mostly, silly willies. And willettes. And despite a lot of rad talk they were Clintonian libs on their most lucid days. The scene was sex and drugs. Period. And pot ag. I mos def did not approve of their child rearing practices. I mean, what does a kid need? Structure and safety. Communes, that one certainly, provided the opposite, which probably accounts for a large preponderance of the children of chaos doing a 180 from their irresponsible parents, marching off in their suits and ties to careers in Free Enterprise as soon as they got away from whatever longhaired molesto was theoretically in charge of the feral flock of little ones. The famous actress, Winona Ryder, spent part of her formative years at Rainbow. It would be interesting to hear what she has to say on the experience.

* * *

"HIPPIE DREAM"

Take my advice

Don't listen to me

It ain't paradise

But it used to be

There was a time

When the river was wide

And the water

came running down

To the rising tide

But the wooden ships

Were just a hippie dream

Just a hippie dream.

 

Don't bat an eye

Don't waste a word

Don't mention nothin'

That could go unheard

'Cause the tie-dye sails

Are the screamin' sheets

And the dusty trail

Leads to blood in the streets

And the wooden ships

Are a hippie dream

Capsized in excess

If you know what I mean.

 

Just because

it's over for you

Don't mean

it's over for me

It's a victory for the heart

Every time the music starts

So please

don't kill the machine

Don't kill the machine

Don't kill the machine.

 

Another flower child

goes to seed

In an ether-filled

room of meat-hooks

It's so ugly

So ugly.

— Neil Young

IF YOU'VE WONDERED where ace Mendo prosecutor Paul Sequeira has been, he's been north in HumCo putting away a free range psycho named Jason Warren. Warren murdered a woman who was trying to help him. Prior to that he ran over three women out for a morning walk, killing one of them. He was out of jail when he did that one, and in jail for a knife assault on a cab driver and another guy. Why he was loose at all remains a big question.

"WARREN showed no signs of remorse as the verdicts were read. He sat with his elbows on the defense table, shoulders hunched forward as the court clerk read one guilty verdict after another," the Lost Coast Post reported.

HUMBOLDT COUNTY doesn't have a prosecutor capable of putting this guy away?

THE LATEST EXERCISE in self-delusion from The Press Democrat, annotated by the Boonville newspaper as a public service.

"TO OUR READERS:

After months of consideration and discussions with readers about possible changes to The Press Democrat, the new format will debut in your newspaper on Wednesday.

(We can't wait to see what you've done with 'our' newspaper.)

Many of you took the time to participate in reader panels or give us details about your news preferences in a survey that brought in an astonishing 1,600 responses.

(1600 responses in a circulation area of roughly two million is not astonishing.)

You told us that the newspaper is a part of your daily ritual, a trusted information source and, above all, valued for its range and quality of local news.

(We told you no such thing. Ritual? Maybe, for elderly shut-ins, but 'trusted information source'? 'Range and quality'? Wrong twice. If you were a quality and trusted paper you wouldn't have to pander like this, as you well know.)

To reflect that (clinical delusion), we are reconfiguring the newspaper to put local news first — literally. It will be played with prominence (sic) on the front page and then continue in the first section of the newspaper, where you will also find state news.

(In other words, same old, same old.)

The second section will be dedicated to national and world news, because you told us that while you can get this news from other sources you do not want us to become a provincial newspaper that overlooks the larger global context.

(Please. Stay provincial. You don't have the smarts for the big pic.)

When important national and international news breaks, it will be reflected on the front page.

(O hell yea. We all go to the PD for breaking news.)

The second section will showcase the rest of that news from the wider world, with a focus on analysis and perspective pieces that add dimension to the headlines.

(Syndicated hacks from the NYT seraglio and mega-feeb Pete Golis? Are you kidding?)

In the second section, there will be a consistent home for the features, advice columns and puzzles that now float throughout the paper — something else you told us you wanted.

(Very big among the three children who read the PD.)

Finally, you made it clear that you valued favorite national columnists for providing points of view that transform mere news into a deeper understanding and so they will continue on our opinion pages.

(Yes! We all need more E. J. Dionne and David Brooks, Christ save us all.) 

HOOP DREAMS 2015

Five hours South of Mendocino (but still on the Coast) is the Pescadero Hoop Dreams Small School Basketball Tournament.  Like many small school tournaments, it started with more public than private schools but now is dominated by privates.   The Potter Valley Tournament, The Redwood Classic and and the now defunct Geyserville Tournament all fall into this group.  The reason for this is not the topic for this writing.

By winning Hoop Dreams this past weekend, Mendocino made history in many ways.  Being so far away, only 9 players and 9 devote Mendocino fans were able to watch live as the Cardinals made this history.  They watched as 16 teams played for 3 days in the  small rural town of Pescadero, probably bigger, but  not looking much bigger, than Comptche.

The  2015 Hoop Dream teams I’ll mention below will be unfamiliar to most in Mendo, but, will sound familiar to small school fans who follow local tournaments.

Mendo  entered with the private schools of The Kirby School,  SF Christian, Archbishop Hanna, Orinda Academy, Contra Costa Christian, Harker and Stevenson. The Point Arena girls team was there, and the hosts Pescadero High School.

I will spare you the details of our games which can be seen on MSP and Max Preps and get right to the history:

1. The last public school team to make the finals and win Hoop Dreams was 2006.
2. This is the first known victory of Mendocino over a private school in the semi-finals or finals of any tournament, ever.
3. I know of no victories of Mendocino boys varsity in any tournament except a Redwood Classic victory more than 40 years ago when that tournament was still mostly public.  (Danny Doubiago and Chip Defer played on that team. That team probably won other tournaments)

I felt the entire town of Pescadero was behind us as a small public school, like them, ran the table.  Thank you Casey, Dee and Dave, Ellen  and everyone else who make the Pescadero Hoops Dreams continue.

Jim Young, Mendocino

CATCH OF THE DAY, December 6, 2015

JAMES ANDEREGG, Fort Bragg. Domestic battery.

KAYLA HARRISON, Willits. Possession of more than an ounce of pot.

JASON HUGGINS, Laytonville. Possession of more than an ounce of pot.

LAMONT JONES JR., Ukiah. DUI.

DANIELLE KANAVLE, Fort Bragg. Petty theft.

JESSIE LUCAS, Ukiah. Possession of meth for sale, meth sale, suspended license.

GERALD MACK, Ukiah. Drunk in public.

JEROME MCMURPHY, Ukiah. Parole violation. (Frequent flyer.)

TIFFANY MOODY, Calpella. Petty theft, probation revocation.

THERON NELSON, Fort Bragg. Domestic assault, assault with deadly weapon not a gun, court order violation.

LUCIANO SANCHEZ, Ukiah. Petty theft, drunk in public.

JUAN SAUCEDO, Philo. Under influence and Possession of controlled substance, DUI-suspended license.

ERIK STARK, Ukiah. Domestic assault.

RICHARD STRAZI, Fort Bragg. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

KIMBERLY TATE, Willits. Possession of more than an ounce of pot.

JOHN BLUM IN CONCERT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XZ0gFtt7lE

DUMB INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES, DUMBER PEOPLE

by Charlotte Lytton

A new study finds that people who love bullshit inspirational quotes have lower intelligence and more "conspiratorial ideations." Sounds about right.

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. Stars can't shine without darkness. A goal without a plan is just a wish.

Feeling inspired? Well, perhaps you shouldn't be, because those who post motivational quotes on social media have been found to display lower levels of intelligence than those who are more discerning over such “profound” messages.

"On the Reception and Detection of Pseudo-Profound Bullshit," a study undertaken at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, surveyed nearly 300 students on their reactions to so-called meaningful statements, which were in fact syntactically sound but quasi-nonsensical lines made up of buzzwords. They were asked to rate each statement on its level of profundity on a scale of one to five.

"Bullshit, in contrast to mere nonsense, is something that implies but does not contain adequate meaning or truth," the paper explains. It takes its meaning of the word from Harry Frankfurt's 2005 work "On Bullshit," which defines it as something engineered to impress yet requiring no direct concern for the truth. "It is impossible for someone to lie unless he thinks he knows the truth. Producing bullshit requires no such conviction," he wrote.

In this particular study, participants' personality traits were also analyzed in order to create a clear picture of those who were most likely to be impressed by motivational quotes.

"More analytic individuals should be more likely to detect the need for additional scrutiny when exposed to pseudo-profound bullshit," the researchers posit. For those who scored highly on the profundity levels of buzzword-filled sayings, researchers detected lower numerative and cognitive abilities, as well as lower general intelligence levels. The bullshit-lovers were also found to have more "conspiratorial ideations" than those unimpressed by such statements, as well as lesser ability in verbal fluidity and being reflective.

The paper, which uses the word "bullshit" more than 200 times, addresses Twitter's role in the surge of online meaninglessness. It cites a Deepak Chopra tweet—which reads, "Attention and intention are the mechanics of example"—to reinforce its claims.

"The vagueness...indicates that it may have been constructed to impress upon the reader some sense of profundity at the expense of a clear exposition of truth."

"Bullshit is not only common, it is popular," note the researchers of Chopra's appeal (that line is, in fact, a more meaningful tweet from The New Yorker's Maria Konnikova). Indeed, Chopra has amassed more than 20 New York Times Bestsellers and over 2.5 million Twitter followers. The latter site's stringent 140 character limit is key to the proliferation of such "woo-woo nonsense" posts, as having to shrink down statements is a surefire way of reducing the quality and clarity of meaning.

Given the popularity of inspirational quote groups on the likes of Facebook (one such page has more than 3 million likes, and numerous others have accrued hundreds of thousands), their spread is proliferating rapidly, and nonsense, by proxy, is doing so just as quickly.

Frankfurt purports that "one of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share." Perhaps inspirational quotes plastered across social media are just the most prevalent 21st-century expression of our culture's defining quality.

(Courtesy, the Daily Beast)

TINY HOUSES A BAD IDEA

To the Editor:

This subject very upsetting to me. Why would we build tiny houses to put the homeless in? This will likely encourage more homeless to come into our community, and we already have an over-abundance of them now. Do you really think they will take care of these tiny houses? They don’t now, they throw their garbage in our rivers, leave garbage strewn everywhere, they defecate anywhere they want and where I live in Calpella, the homeless living in the riverbed are always fighting and screaming and the Sheriff has to be called out to take care of it. How do these homeless people pay to stay in these tiny houses? Do we give them free food also? Free appliances, free sheets and blankets, etc. Who even came up with this plan? Did you ever stop to think what a great opportunity this would be for our seniors to have these tiny houses? We have quite a few seniors who can barely pay for their rent, with little left for food, clothing and misc. Seniors should have been thought of first, at the top of the list, we need to take care of our own seniors; after all they gave to this community, the homeless did not contribute to our town.

What’s really confusing to me is that at one point the police and Sheriff asked the community to not give anything to the homeless, they put up flyers and also in the paper, they even put an article in the paper about a homeless couple that panhandled in front of CVS and other establishments and were thrown in jail continuously, only to be let out so they could start over again.

I personally do not feel this project was thought out in the right way. I am not concerned about the homeless, most of them like living the way they do. My concern is the seniors and the handicapped. Have you given consideration to the homeless bringing in drugs and alcohol into these tiny houses? These items are a part of the homeless community. You may have to put a police officer into one of these houses to keep peace. These tiny houses for the homeless is one very big stupid mistake and a waste of good money, just to put a roof over their heads when what we really want is for them to pack their bags and get the heck out of Dodge.

Oh yes, when you do leave please take your dogs with you instead of abandoning them to the streets and leaving this problem to our animal control shelter to either try to find a home for them or to dispose of them. These are my opinions only and if anyone wants to dispute what I have to say, feel free to do that, but I could not let one more day go by without writing this letter.

Linda Warden, Ukiah

PRESIDENT OBAMA INSISTS U.S. WILL DEFEAT NEW PHASE OF TERROR

Barack Obama has vowed that the United States will overcome a new phase of the terror trying to "poison the minds" of people around the world, as he sought to reassure Americans rocked by the attacks in Paris and California.

The US president's speech on Sunday, in a rare Oval Office address, followed Wednesday's shooting in San Bernardino, California, that killed 14 people and wounded 21.

Husband and wife Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik carried out the attack and authorities say Malik had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) and its leader in a Facebook post.

"I know that after so much war, many Americans are asking whether we are confronted by a cancer that has no immediate cure," Mr. Obama said, speaking in his West Wing office. "The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it."

Mr. Obama said in his 13-minute address that while there was no evidence the California killers were directed by a terror network overseas or part of a broader plot, "the two of them had gone down the dark path of radicalization".

The president's decision to speak from the Oval Office in US prime time reflected the White House's concern that his message on the recent attacks has not broken through, particularly in the midst of a heated presidential campaign.

Yet the speech is likely to leave his critics unsatisfied. He announced no significant shift in US strategy and offered no new policy prescriptions for defeating IS, underscoring both his confidence in his current approach and the lack of easy options for countering the extremist group.

Mr. Obama did call for co-operation between private companies and law enforcement to ensure potential attackers cannot use technology to evade detection. He also urged Congress to pass new force authorization for military actions under way against IS in Iraq and Syria, and also to approve legislation to stop guns from being sold to people prohibited from flying on planes in the US for terrorist concerns.

He implored Americans to not turn against Muslims at home, saying IS was driven by a desire to spark a war between the West and Islam, but called on Muslims in the US and around the world to take up the cause of fighting extremism.

The spread of radical Islam into American communities, he said, was "a real problem that Muslims must confront without excuse".

The president's most specific policy announcement was to order the departments of state and homeland security to review the fiance visa program that Malik used to enter the US.

In his remarks, Mr. Obama referred to a visa waiver program that Congress is also reviewing, but the White House later clarified he meant the fiance program.

He also reiterated his call for broader gun control legislation, saying no matter how effective law enforcement and intelligence agencies were, they could not identify every would-be shooter. He called it a matter of national security to prevent potential killers from getting guns.

"What we can do, and must do, is make it harder for them to kill," he said.

But Mr. Obama stands little chance of getting the Republican-led Congress to agree to any gun control measures.

On Thursday, the Senate rejected legislation barring people suspected by the government of being terrorists from purchasing firearms. Gun rights advocates say such a ban would violate the rights of people who have not been convicted of crimes.

Congress also has been unable to agree any plan to authorize more force against IS and the administration's proposal has languished since February.

Mr. Obama repeated his long-standing opposition to an American-led ground war in the Middle East and made no mention of the more aggressive action others have suggested, including a enforcing a no-fly zone and safe corridors in Syria.

"Our success won't depend on tough talk, or abandoning our values or giving in to fear," he said. "Instead, we will prevail by being strong and smart, resilient and relentless."

The president's critics — and increasingly, some members of his own party — have questioned his strategy.

Hours before he spoke, Hillary Clinton, his former secretary of state and the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, said the US was "not winning" the fight against IS.

Mr. Obama has insisted that IS is contained in Iraq and Syria, but the group has set its sights elsewhere in the world, launching attacks in Lebanon and Turkey and downing a Russia airliner over Egypt.

The November 13 attacks in Paris marked the group's most aggressive actions in Europe, a coordinated effort that left 130 people dead and wounded hundreds more.

Last week, the terror threat drew even closer for Americans when Malik, 29, originally from Pakistan, and her 28-year-old American-born husband launched an attack on an office party lunch in San Bernardino.

The FBI is investigating the massacre as a terrorist attack that, if proved, would be the deadliest by Islamic extremists on American soil since September 11 2001.

A Facebook official said Malik's post pledging allegiance to IS came about the time the couple stormed the San Bernardino centre.

Republican presidential candidates Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush were not impressed with the speech.

Florida senator Mr. Rubio said people were growing scared because "we have a president who is completely overwhelmed" by the terrorist threat.

He told Fox News that he heard nothing new in the speech except a call for gun control, which would make no difference and Mr. Obama may have made things worse, rather than better.

Former Florida governor Mr. Bush said: "Obama has finally been forced to abandon the political fantasy he has perpetuated for years that the threat of terrorism was receding."

(Courtesy, London Independent Press Association)

THE RICHEST 20 AMERICANS ARE AS WEALTHY AS HALF OF THE ENTIRE U.S. POPULATION COMBINED

by Myriah Towner

The richest 20 Americans, with a combined net worth of $732billion, are as wealthy as half of the U.S. population, according to a new study.

Findings showed that the country's 20 wealthiest people, which includes Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, now own more wealth than the bottom half of the population combined or 152 million people.

The study by the Institute for Policy Studies also found that America's wealthiest 400, with a combined net worth of $2.34trillion, own more wealth than that of a staggering 194 million people — the bottom 61% of the country combined.

Among the 20 wealthiest Americans are eight founders of corporations, nine heirs, two investors and a casino mogul.

The list includes Gates of Microsoft, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and four Waltons who are heirs of Wal-Mart.

The report, which was published on Tuesday, also found that instead of resembling a pyramid, America's wealth distribution now resembles the shape of Seattle's Space Needle.

'The bulge at the top of our wealth “space needle” reflects America’s wealthiest 0.1 per cent, the top one-thousandth of our population, an estimated 115,000 households with a net worth starting at $20million,' the study said.

'This group owns more than 20 per cent of U.S. household wealth, up from 7 per cent in the 1970s.'

It added: 'The higher up you go up our contemporary wealth ladder, the greater the imbalance.'

Co-authors of Billionaire Bonanza: The Forbes 400 and the Rest of Us, Chuck Collins and Josh Hoxie, have proposed policy interventions to help close this growing, extreme wealth gap.

One suggested solution is to close 'wealth escape routes' including offshore tax havens and private trusts.

'Wealthy individuals are moving quickly to shift wealth into offshore tax havens and bury it in private trusts, avoiding accountability and taxation every step of the way,' the study said.

A second proposed solution is to implement policies that will reduce concentrated wealth such as 'seriously taxing our wealthiest households'.

They suggest to invest those founds to expand wealth-building opportunities across the economy.

According to the study, the median American family has a net worth of $81,000.

Findings in the study also showed that America's wealthiest 100 households own about as much wealth as the nation's entire African-American population combined.

The study also reported that there are only two African Americans among the Forbes 400, Oprah Winfrey and Robert Smith, and only five Latinos including Jorge Perez, Arturo Moreno and three members of the Santo Domingo family.

(Courtesy, the Daily Mail Online)

WELCOME TO MENDOCINO - WE'VE GOT IMPROV.

Here's my latest video comic strip:

https://youtu.be/Ozt-WgZblPM

Thanks again,

Scott M. Peterson, Mendocino

COMING UP ON LAKE COUNTY'S BEST NEWS SOURCE....

Sunday, December 6 - TEAM LAKE COUNTY Hour / WHAT'S NEXT? on KPFZ

Dear Friends,

Getting some wind under our wings for the takeoff of KPFZ’s new programming on Sunday afternoons . . . tomorrow we’ll hear from Vance Taylor, director of the California Governor’s Office of Access & Functional Needs:

http://www.caloes.ca.gov/cal-oes-divisions/access-functional-needs

And we’ll be joined by the founder of Portlight Strategies, in South Carolina: http://www.portlight.org

Portlight provides immediate replacement of durable medical goods to help transitioning evacuees during disaster management events.  Their representative, Susan Pniewski, was here for several weeks helping survivors in both Lake and Calaveras Counties, and she facilitated this opportunity to learn from the masters.  Their website provides some excellent resources, which are added to our outreach and advocacy toolbox (and, for those who are serious activists, some excellent presentations).

Guest Studio Engineer “Q” will be our ringmaster, and we’ll take requests for information after the first half hour.  KPFZ, 88.1 FM, streaming live from www.kpfz.org (“tunein.com” or “live365”) — see you on the radio!

— Betsy Cawn

GREETINGS FROM THE CARETAKER'S GARDEN!

As some of you are considering your yearly charity I want to ask you not to overlook the Caretaker’s Garden. I want to remind you that we are a (very) non-profit healing center and ministry. We have been serving our community, of which 80% live in financial poverty, for ten years. We provide many services for the sick, injured, grieving, homeless and troubled in the Anderson Valley and beyond. We provide health education, counseling, organic and wild crafted herbs, herbal medicines, and classes. We offer rituals for the seasons and rites of passage, and a beautiful, open and welcoming garden sanctuary. We have recently added a hot tub for therapy, classes in natural healing, and thanks to our newest Holistic Healer, Diana Graue, our community now has access to acupuncture, astrology readings, and quality bodywork.

Let’s face it, all of us know community members that are afflicted with cancer, mental or spiritual health issues, physical injury, or other debilitating conditions. What you may not know is how many of them receive services from us. Rarely when one is in a position like that do they have any money. I always offer my healing services at no cost and our very high-quality medicines at-cost to those in need. Can you help to pay for someone’s medicine or therapy this year?

Thank you for considering us on your gift list this year. All donations are always gratefully and graciously accepted. 100% of your donations go to the care of your community. We are only as strong and healthy as the weakest among us. May health and happiness flow through your lives as the mighty Navarro flows once again through our redwoods.

Wendy Read
Holistic Healer and Minister
www.CaretakersGarden.org
P.O. Box 802, Boonville CA 95415
(707) 895-9074

URGE YOUR SENATORS TO PROTECT SF BAY-DELTA

by Dan Bacher

HR 2898, an agribusiness-backed “drought relief” bill that would strip environmental protections for Central Valley salmon and steelhead and Delta smelt, is back for the third time, according to an action alert from Restore the Delta (RTD).

"Despite the efforts of Central Valley House Republicans to push the bill through, Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator Barbara Boxer have spoken out against the bill," RTD said.

Senator Barbara Boxer released this statement: "It is outrageous that Congressman McCarthy is making a last-minute attempt to place a complicated and unvetted water bill that impacts millions of Californians on the omnibus at the 11th hour."

Senator Dianne Feinstein released the following statement on the bill: “I understand that late Thursday night a drought bill was proposed as an addition to the omnibus. I am told it was proposed in my name, which I did not approve. This is regrettable, not only because I believe we remain close to an agreement on a broader bill, but also because it stands in opposition to my desire to do a bill in an open and public manner."

Senator Feinstein then  issued another statement Friday afternoon:

“I want to set the record straight. To imply that the federal or state governments have signed off on a water bill is patently false. While we have reached agreement on major provisions, there are others that we do not have agreement on at this time.

“I spoke with Leader McCarthy and clearly said that we had to have sign-off on the bill from the federal and state governments, and that was the process we were undergoing.

“To pass any bill out of the Senate, it must be supported by both California senators. Senator Boxer has urged an open process and the sign-off of both the federal and state governments, which is a very reasonable request. It is my intention to finish this process and submit the bill for regular order.

Restore the Delta urged people to call Senator Boxer and Senator Feinstein to thank and remind them to protect the Delta in future drought negotiations.

Tell them: "Thank for you for NOT agreeing to a bad drought bill for the Delta (HR 2898). In future drought negotiations, please continue to protect and save the San Francisco Bay-Delta."

Senator Dianne Feinstein: (202) 224-3841 Click to Tweet RTD’s message to @SenFeinstein: clicktotweet.com/...

Senator Barbara Boxer: (202) 224-3553 Click to Tweet RTD’s message to @SenatorBoxer: clicktotweet.com/...

Call Congressman Kevin McCarthy and tell him this simple message: "The San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary must be protected. It is on the verge of collapse."

Rep. Kevin McCarthy: (202) 225-2915 Click to Tweet RTD’s message to Rep. McCarthy: clicktotweet.com/...

For the link to the Restore the Delta action alert, go to: restorethedelta.org/…

An editorial in the San Jose Mercury News on December 2, "Drought relief held hostage to trashing the Delta," slammed HR 2898. The San Jose Mercury News wrote, "Central Valley Republicans want to strip out essential environmental protections for the Delta to quench Big Ag's thirst for more water for questionable orchard crops such as almonds and pistachios." (http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_29192771/mercury-news-editorial-drought-relief-held-hostage-trashing)

While Governor Jerry Brown has mandated that California urban users cut back on their water use by 25 percent, agribusiness has actually planted 150,000 neew acres of almond trees during the drought:  www.eastbayexpress.com/...

In July of this year, Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of RTD, pointed out the threat posed by H.R. 2898 (Valadao), an odious bill “would maximize water exports from the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary and further weaken regulations for endangered fish species.”

"Today, Delta communities face invasive plant species and toxic algal blooms as a result of inadequate flow," said Barrigan-Parrilla. "HR 2898 does nothing to help with drought relief for 55 of California’s 58 counties. It does nothing but shift public health and wealth to private hands through water transfers. HR 2898 is not in the interest of taxpayers and the general public, it is the same old water grab for industrial mega-growers.”

Section 202 of SB 1894 will mandate killing of fish!

While Boxer and Feinstein's opposition to HR 2898 is appreciated, there is also an alarming provision in Feinstein's SB 1894, the California Emergency Drought Relief Act of 2015, that fishing groups are strongly opposing.

"Included in the bill is an alarming mandate that requires the eradication of the so-called 'invasive'striped bass, largemouth, smallmouth, crappie and catfish from the Sacramento Delta," said Mike Everts, recreational angler. "This provision, if enacted, would also drastically affect the already dramatically declining numbers of striped bass in the San Francisco Bay."

"This requirement to eradicate striped bass, largemouth, smallmouth, crappie from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in SB 1894, section 202, MUST be removed," he stated.

These species are being made the scapegoats for the demise of Central Valley salmon and Delta smelt when in fact the state and federal export pumping facilities in the South Delta pumps are the largest non-discriminate predator in the estuary, according to Everts.

Everts is urging everybody concerned about the fisheries of the S.F.Bay-Delta Estuary to sign the petition posted on www.change.org by Bobby Barrack, fishing guide, and join the fight HERE: www.change.org/...

"Purposely hidden in section 202 of the 147 page bill is the mandate for the eradication of 'non native species'  in the delta and its tributaries to include largemouth, smallmouth, striped bass, crappie and catfish," said Barrack. "The inclusion of these species in this bill MUST be removed. They are being made the scapegoats for the demise of the salmon and Delta Smelt when in fact the pumps are the largest non discriminate predator in the Delta."

"This eradication mandate will decimate the natural balance that has existed for 140 years, while doing NOTHING for the drought which is what the bill is supposed to address. It will sterilize sport fishing on the California Delta, as well as adversely affect many businesses that rely on income directly generated from Delta fishing, i.e., bait and tackle stores, hotels, restaurants, tackle manufacturers etc."

MIDNIGHT AT THE OASIS

Send your camel to bed

Shadows paintin' our faces

Traces of romance in our heads

 

Heaven's holdin' a half-moon

Shinin' just for us

Let's slip off to a sand dune

Real soon and kick up a little dust

 

Come on, Cactus is our friend

He'll point out the way

Come on, till the evenin' ends

Till the evenin' ends

 

You don't have to answer

There's no need to speak

I'll be your belly dancer

Prancer and you can be my sheik

 

I know your daddy's a sultan

A nomad known to all

With fifty girls to attend him, they all send him

Jump at his beck and call

 

But you won't need no harem, honey

When I'm by your side

And you won't need no camel, no no

When I take you for a ride

 

Come on, Cactus is our friend

He'll point out the way

Come on, till the evenin' ends

Till the evenin' ends

 

Midnight at the oasis

Send your camel to bed

Shadows paintin' our faces

Traces of romance in our heads

 

Oh, come on

Oh come on

Oh, yeah

Oh, yeah

— David Nichtern

COLEEN ROWLEY ON KMEC RADIO -- MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, AT 1 P.M

KMEC Radio, 105.1 FM, in Ukiah, CA, presents a special edition show on Monday, December 7, 2015, at 1 p.m., Pacific Time, with guest Coleen Rowley. Rowley is the former FBI agent and division counsel who was named the 2002 Time Magazine "Person of the Year".

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleen_Rowley

John Sakowicz and Sid Cooperrider host.