Mendocino County Today: Tuesday, Feb 23, 2016

• Measure V
• Eberhard Trial
• Crime Stats
• Variety Show
• Hunger Moon
• Salon Holdup
• Logging Conference
• Yesterday's Catch
• Bernie 2016
• Socialism
• US Spring
• Public Radio
• Public Meeting
• Sun Observations
• Scalia's Opinions
• Campaign Observations
• Library Activities
• Drug Trauma
• Ukiah Artwalk
• Ukiah Rocks
• Saint Patrick's
• Fjell Concert

DEAD STANDING TREES INITIATIVE QUALIFIES FOR JUNE BALLOT

Mendocino County firefighters and residents have gathered the required number of signatures to qualify for the June Primary ballot. Nearly 5000 citizens signed the petition to declare intentionally killed and left standing trees a public nuisance.

“Citizens have asserted their right to mitigate hazards created by industry shortcuts where regulators and elected officials have fallen short in public protection,” said Albion Little River Fire Chief Ted Williams.

In Mendocino County millions of trees have been intentionally killed and left in place to slowly decompose. The practice of injecting herbicides, commonly known as hack and squirt, is used because it is the least expensive way to eliminate what the timber industry considers undesirable hardwoods, especially tanoaks. The main culprit, Mendocino Redwood Company (MRC) has poisoned tanoaks in nearly 90,000 acres of our county. MRC previously told residents that they would phase out the practice, but more recently indicate they plan to continue hack & squirt for another 20-30 years. 

Ecologists believe that hardwoods play an important role in restoring healthy forests.  We believe MRC is most concerned with its corporate bottom line, even at the risk to firefighters, residents, and property.

This Measure is a well-reasoned approach to public safety and corporate responsibility. Vote YES on Measure V June 7th.

Citizens for Fire Safe Forests
www.citizensforfiresafeforests.com
Contact: Ted Williams - 707-937-3600 - ted@ted.net

MSP PASSES ALONG…

Eberhard Trial Starts This Week. Photographer who took dynamic photos of the Willits bypass protests, and was arrested while covering the issue.

Steve Eberhard, a professional (and award-winning) photographer/journalist with The Willits News was arrested in July, 2013 while attempting to document a protest against the freeway bypass project.

Eberhard filed a false arrest suit almost three years ago. The case was to be heard beginning Monday, February 22nd, at the San Francisco Federal Courthouse, 450 Golden Gate Ave, Floor 19, Room 11, Judge Donato. The case is expected to take most of two weeks. Time is 9am to 2pm, four days per week, with no court on Wednesdays.

The case is against the California Highway Patrol (CHP). Steve was arrested for trespassing even though they knew he was bona-fide press. It's noteworthy that none of the demonstrators were arrested, only Steve was handcuffed and taken to jail. All this is backed up by video. It's a clear case of stifling the press.

The case was originally against Caltrans as well as the CHP. The Caltrans charges were dropped because, during discovery, no clear evidence emerged that connected Caltrans to Steve's arrest, nor to the harassment and intimidation he experienced as he tried to report the news. The connections may or may not emerge as court proceedings move forward, but for now it is only the arresting agencies being called to account.

Steve has a lot of confidence in his lawyer, and yet does not discount the power of the forces he is up against. One thing to note is that the CHP lawyers could try to paint Steve as an activist — kind of a card-carrying SOLLV (Save Our Little Lake Valley) member, or at least a sympathizer. (Sigh — these shenanigans do rankle me personally). I want to stand guard against any attempt to impugn Steve's character. He is a beloved chronicler of our beautiful rural valley. Just go see for yourself his gorgeous photographs in the current exhibit at the Willits Art Center.

Still, anything that could be construed as coordination between Steve and protesters is not helpful. This case has nothing to do with dissent, nor with political discourse, nor with the bypass. It is focused solely on the access of the press to cover news stories.

It is a long way to go, but please come to San Francisco if you can. Steve would love to see as many friends and supporters there as possible.

The case will start with seating a jury — expected to take an hour or so. After opening statements, CHP and arresting officers will be called to testify and respond to questioning. Steve will be on the stand towards the end of the first week. The second week, starting Monday, February 29 is scheduled for testimony and questioning of Sheriff Tom Allman, Madge Strong, Linda Williams and other witnesses called by Eberhard's legal team.

I expect to be attending court at least two days a week and will post regular updates. You can also call me at home on weekends with any questions.

Cheers, Robin Leler

SHERIFF ALLMAN passes along some interesting (and telling) statistics. The combined prison "reforms" of AB 109 and Prop 47 clearly have led to an increase in property crimes — thefts mostly. They amounted in value to $240,893 in 2014 but as the "reforms" kicked in Mendocino County reported a whopping increase in property crimes to $441,437 in 2015. There were five homicides in 2014 and five in 2015. Mendocino County employs 38 probation officers, an overstuffed office overseen loosely, if at all, by the Superior Court.

25TH ANNUAL AV SOLAR GRANGE VARIETY SHOW

The annual Anderson Valley Grange Variety show is almost upon us, Fri March 4th and Sat March 6th. This is our 25th year! Time flies when you're having fun, and as Variety show attendees will attest, this show is big fun.

The V-show started back in 1992 as the grand reopening of the rebuilt Grange. When the old Grange burned down there was very little insurance money to rebuild. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we found out we had to rely on each other to make a community center. Rednecks and hippies, old farmers and newer farmers, women, men and kids all pitched in. When we finished we had no money to hire a band so we decided to entertain ourselves. We had such a good time we decided to do it again and again and again. So, it's strange to note that if the old Grange would never have burned we never would have had 25 years of wonderful, oddball, revealing local entertainment. We wonder how the valley would be without it.

This year there are no presale tickets. Everyone, performers, staff and audience get tickets. There are a limited number of tickets and anyone with a ticket will get in so come early and meet your neighbors in line, enjoy the tailgate parties, (a rumor that the Teen Center may sell Mexican food in the parking lot).

Tickets are adults $10.00, kids under 12 $5.00

Get ready for a "Really Big Shew." Be There!

MSP, AS ALWAYS ALERT to the workings of the natural world, reminds us....

The Full 'Hunger' Moon Happened at 10:21am Monday. We tried to capture the "nearly" full moon Sunday night (it was 97.8%) with mixed results. Monday night, the Full (99.8%) moon was scheduled to "rise" at 6:12 pm but it will be a little later here on the coast due to the coastal range. It's 246,501 miles from earth. It will set at 7:15 am Tuesday so there should be some great photos to be taken over the ocean if the fog stays away. Here is a photo when it rose Sunday night.

A BUTTE COUNTY MAN WAS ARRESTED on suspicion of robbery Friday, after allegedly holding up employees of a salon in Ukiah, the Ukiah Police Department reported.

According to the UPD, officers responded to the Bella Vida Salon in the 400 block of Talmage Road around 5:22 p.m. Feb. 19, when it was reported that a man had just robbed the business.

The victims told officers that a male wearing a hooded-sweatshirt and a bandana partially covering his face had entered the salon while holding a knife.

The man then demanded money from the hairstylist and the customer in the salon, reportedly taking personal items from both people as well as an undisclosed amount of money from the business. He then told the victims not to call the police and ran away.

California Highway Patrol officers later detained a man near a restaurant in the 1100 block of Airport Park Boulevard identified as Michael G. Balmer, 48, of Oroville.

UPD officers reportedly linked Balmer to the robbery and recovered stolen property from the crime. Balmer was arrested on suspicion of robbery and preventing a victim from reporting a crime.

According to the UPD, the customer and hairstylist were shaken up but not physically harmed during the robbery.

THE REDWOOD REGION LOGGING CONFERENCE’S board of directors is completing the preparations for the 78th annual Conference to be held at the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds in Ukiah, March 17 through 19.

The three-day event focuses on the forest products industry and community, and hosts a wide array of educational programs beginning with Thursday’s Education Day which focuses on elementary school students. The Logging Conference provides transportation for over 1,200 students to attend a day-long educational program.

Also included during the Conference is Career Day on Friday and the High School Forestry Contest, also on Friday.

Saturday offers a wide-range of activities for families, and admission to the event is free. The Conference is closed on Sunday.

For more information about the Logging Conference, go to its website at www.rrlc.net.

CATCH OF THE DAY, February 22, 2016

RICHARD CAUCKWELL, Fort Bragg. Drunk in public, probation revocation.

KAILEB DAVIS, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

JERRY DEGURSE, Willits. Probation revocation.

RONALD HOEL JR., Redwood Valley. Attempted murder, assault with firearm, battery with serious injury, first degree robbery, brandishing, parole violation.

DAVID JOHNSTON, Ukiah. Under influence, probation revocation.

SOPHIA LOUMPOS, Ukiah. Under influence, paraphernalia.

JOSIAH MCDADE-FISCHER, Laytonville. Pot possession for sale, pot sales, false ID, evasion.

ADRIAN MCWHINNEY, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

DEVIN MOSELEY, Ukiah. DUI.

MARTHA RODRIGUEZ, Santa Rosa/Ukiah. DUI, no license.

RICARDO ROJAS, Laytonville. Drunk in public.

STEVE URIAS, Woodland/Ukiah. Vehicle theft, receipt of stolen property, burglary tools, possession of controlled substance, false ID, probation revocation.

HUGE MOMENTUM

Editor:

We should be very proud of what we accomplished in Nevada. Just last month, the Clinton campaign said they were leading by 25 points in their internal polls. And the entrance polls show we won the Latino vote in Nevada by 8 points. We’ll leave Nevada just a few delegates behind. That’s huge momentum.

The wind is at our backs. And in the next month, there are 26 primaries and caucuses.

Our campaign is funded by more than 4 million individual contributions — a tremendous number of working people giving small amounts of money to take on a campaign and super PACs funded by millionaires, billionaires, hedge funds, and Wall Street.

Bernie said from the beginning that people should not underestimate us. That is true now more than ever.

Thank you for standing with Bernie.

In solidarity,

Jeff Weaver,
 Campaign Manager, 
Bernie 2016

CHURCHILL usually gets the credit for the old saw, “Any man who is not a socialist when he's twenty has no heart. Any man who is still a socialist at age forty has no head.” I've made it headless into my seventh decade, having been a socialist all my conscious days and, in my case, the consciousness light bulb fluttered on when I was about twenty from a combination of books and experience, inchoate as the dawning was. It's surreal hearing ideas I've taken as obvious truth for fifty years being recited by Bernie Sanders on national television — not only being recited but resonating with millions of people, especially young people.

SANDERS gets derided by the hard left as merely a "nominal" socialist, more of an FDR liberal than whatever the hard left means by a real socialist. Well, there he is, while the real socialists are still in the echo chamber checking each other's credentials. Bern's soft FDR-like socialism is much more workable here in our rapidly fraying country because his socialism is based on nothing more radical than a fair system of taxation. FDR taxed the shit out of the rich, hitting the greedy bastards at 95% on the big incomes, of which there were then a lot fewer. Bern's proposals are at a positively wimpy 40%.

TO THIS SOCIALIST, almost all the left stuff I read seems dependent on theoretical models that leave out the catastrophic damage that an industrial-based society has parlayed into an iffy future for the planet itself. Substituting socialists as bosses of smoke stack economies is pretty much a lateral move. Which is why I'm drawn to James Kunstler, a libertarian doomer, who seems much more in touch with the social, eco-realities than, say, most contributors to CounterPunch. He's also a very lively, funny writer. The left hasn't had a lively, funny writer since Cockburn.

I SUSPECT that a lot of socialist thinkers would like to see themselves in the big black limos, meaning them as the ruling class in place of the present one. Which is what happened in the Leninist models of socialism that took power in Russia and China. It said, "You people are obviously too goddamn dumb and irresponsible to rule yourselves so we're going to run everything for you." To hold on to power these socialists murdered the opposition. Bernie is not that kind of socialist, hence his attraction to the millions of Americans shut out of Clintonia. I think he's this system's last hope, and I know in my bones Hillary can't be stopped, and I also know in my bones it's all going to fall apart in unpredictable but predictably ugly ways.

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

I wouldn’t count Bernie Sanders out yet. His campaign is part of a global tsunami against the plutocrats, bankster capitalism and the austerity of the privatizing elites. From Syriza to Podemos to Jeremy Corbyn’s totally unexpected victory to lead the UK Labor Party, people are rising against the global elites. There are legions of Bernie Sanders volunteers arising everywhere including my own little Transit Village where a Bernie volunteer was gathering signatures for Bernie’s name on the New Jersey Democratic primary ballot. And these grassroots supporters and Bernie Sanders himself are not like the pushover Corporate Wimpocrats of old. When Clinton’s forces tried to take away Sander’s access to Democratic voter lists, Sanders and his grassroots supporters fought it and won. Bernie’s forces are already preparing to launch a campaign to insure the superdelegates in Clinton’s pocket do not countermand the popular vote. Already progressives are jumping into political campaigns inspired by Bernie’s populist campaign.

The US Spring is coming…

AS A PROUD member of Public Radio Mendocino — oops, strike that. As a rather cringing but paid-up member of KZYX, and the station's senior banned person, preceding even Marco McClean and Mitch Clogg on that exclusive honor roll even before the station went live, I regularly pay up simply as a community-minded thing to do but don't listen much.

IS IT JUST ME but has NPR gone even fluffier? All those interviews with show biz people and idiot musicians, those burble-burble gush-gush nuzzlebum interviews by Scott Simon, America's premier audio ass kisser, NPR has never been more oppressive.

RECENT STATION RETIREMENTS seem to me not only long overdue, but their replacements radically improved the KZYX vibe, so to speak, and any enterprise fortunate enough to have the lovely and brilliant Angela DeWitt on its payroll is mos def headed in an upward direction.

OF COURSE I voted for two of the candidates for KZYX's board of directors — one vote went to Jonathan Middlebrook, running unopposed, because I like some of his prose. (He has tendencies to cute, but he's smart and literate, and if ever a non-profit needed smart and literate it's the Philo radio station. And, natch, I voted for John Sakowicz because he's got a real gift for pissing people off the right people in the castrati context of KZYX. Unlike the other candidates, whose candidate statements were like wading through a neck-high vat of lukewarm rat piss, Sako gets right to the point, pointing out that the previous management team had the entire shebang headed for the bankruptcy door. If it weren't for Sako raising the issues, KZYX would be pushing a Safeway cart up and down State Street by now, metaphorically speaking, of course.

TRANSPARENCY REQUIRED

Dear KZYXtalk, members and friends,

Reminder:

There is an “informal meeting” of the CAB (Community Advisory Board) Tuesday evening at 6:30 pm, at the Greenwood School, 5130 So. Hwy. 1, in Elk.

Topics will include:

1) Inappropriate Board Secrecy: the Board uses the closed board listserv and “confidential” meetings for most of its deliberations. We contend that the Board Should Operate Openly as mandated by our bylaws and the California nonprofit code. Legal arguments aside: We Demand Transparency.

2) Report by members of the “Ad Hoc Document Inspection Committee” (King Collins, Peter Kafin, Doug McKenty and Sheila Dawn Tracy), concerning our recent meeting with Lorraine Dechter and progress toward member Access To The Membership List, the whereabouts of the Ukiah Studio Funds, and the fate of Safe Harbor at KZYX.

3) Public Meetings: We propose a series of public meetings to discuss how KZYX can better serve our communities. These meeting should take place face-to-face, on-air and on-line. The bylaws call for an annual “membership meeting which Sheila will discuss at the CAB meeting.

Join us and official members of the CAB, Tuesday (tomorrow).

For KZYXtalk,

King Collins
KZYX board 2003-2005
king@greenmac.com
707-367-7567

RICK WEDDLE WRITES:

Dear Ed.,

Solar smarts.

Thanks to the AVA staff for including Mr. McLean's startling offerings in your webedition. I've known Marco for some decades and have always thought he was one of those rare Living Treasure guys.

Today's bit he submitted of the time-lapse film of the sun was typically striking. One of the several thoughts sparked in my li'l dome by viewing those few minutes of wonderment is this: The sun produces an inconsistent output, sort of 'sputtering' over time.

While these long-period swings in the sun's intensity might contribute to the cycles of warming/ice ages that the Earth experiences, our home planet has its own more passive response(s).

It's been shown that marine zooplankton can and do change color in response to the sun's output (more reflection/less reflection), moderating the ups and downs of Earth's surface temperatures, regulating the weather, and other menial tasks. What emerges is a pic of a world that makes adjustments to keep things comfy for Life as we know it...intentionally, and within bounds set by its own 'blueprint.' We live on and in a world that anticipates, accommodates, and regulates dynamic systems in the service of Life.

This ain't religion, it's science.

It's been observed by others far more qualified than I that Intelligence is a property of the Universe At Large. It's yet another wonder that the one species granted so little a share of it should be the very one to go on and on about it so.

Jes' sayin...

THE CONUNDRUMS OF JUSTICE SCALIA

by Ralph Nader

The passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin “Nino” Scalia evoked widespread commentary about how outspoken he was both on the Court and at law schools and other forums where he often lectured and sometimes tangled with audiences. Knowing of Justice Scalia’s unusual expressiveness for a jurist, my colleague Robert Weissman and I wrote him a challenging letter in 2006, starting with these words:

We are writing to inquire as to how the application of the Bill of Rights and related constitutional protections to the artificial creations known as corporations can be squared with a constitutional interpretation theory of “originalism.”

We referred to the Supreme Court case which was falsely reported to have decided that a corporation is a person. This was the 1886 case Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad. This case dealt with a taxation matter and the Court neither decided the personhood issue nor did it even address the issue. Instead, the court reporter (or scribe as he was called), a former railroad company president, simply wrote in the headnotes that “Corporations are persons within the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States….”

Despite this fraudulent representation of the Court’s opinion, subsequent Supreme Court cases started extending Bill of Rights protections to corporations. Nowhere in the Constitution is there any mention of the words “corporation” or “company.” The word “person” meant to the Framers in those early days a human being; the Framers never said a company or corporation is a person. The Preamble of the Constitution, we should remember, starts with “We the People,” not “We the People and the Corporations.”

This is no minor distinction. Corporations have seized on this equivalence with being a “person,” to escape health and safety regulation, consumer and labor rights, and even strong regulation or prohibition of tobacco advertising that pushes a product known to take 400,000 American lives a year.

Corporate lawyers and judges have continued to use “equal protection of the law” to include corporate behavior. In 1988, I wrote a New York Times op-ed with public interest lawyer Carl Mayer. In this opinion piece titled “Corporations are Not Persons” we argued that:

The corporate drive for constitutional parity with real humans comes at a time when legislatures are awarding these artificial persons superhuman privileges. Besides perpetual life, corporations enjoy limited liability for industrial accidents such as nuclear power disasters, and the use of voluntary bankruptcy and other disappearing acts to dodge financial obligations while remaining in business.

The legal system is thus creating unaccountable Frankensteins that have human powers but are nonetheless constitutionally shielded from much actual and potential law enforcement as well as from accountability to real persons such as workers, consumers and taxpayers.

Justice Scalia espoused the doctrine of “originalism” which meant that, in cases, he interpreted the Constitution by the “original public meaning” of the words written by the Framers as understood nearly 240 years ago. That was, he believed, the only way to insulate the Constitution from the personal values of judges and the political winds of the day. He often derided “nine unelected lawyers” usurping the popular will of the people by Court opinions that were the equivalent of legislative enactments.

Some months after we sent our letter, lo and behold, Justice Scalia telephoned me. After some conversation about a possible event at the American University Washington College of Law, I put the question to him. How can his “originalism” square with giving corporations the rights of personhood? He replied that a clear case of corporate personhood had not come to the Court, so he hadn’t “researched it,” and when such a case did, he would research it and decide.

Then he added that, like Social Security, which he believed to be unconstitutional, the according of corporations the rights of personhood is so deeply embedded in our socio-economic fabric, that it is unlikely the status quo could be reversed. After a few minutes of further discussion, I said that I was looking forward to reading his forthcoming opinions, to which he jocularly replied, “you poor devil,” and said goodbye.

Vintage Scalia alright! Yet there were other sides to Justice Scalia. He was a major force in Bush v. Gore’s 5-4 majority opinion that stopped the Florida Supreme Court’s ongoing order for a full state recount. In an utterly specious, brazenly-political opinion by the five Republicans on the Court, the recount was stopped and George W. Bush was “selected” as President by five unelected lawyers. When questioned in public about this decision, he replied injudiciously “get over it.”

Justice Scalia recently told C-span’s Brian Lamb that adherence to the text of the Constitution meant that he rendered opinions opposite to what he would have liked to decide. Presumably these include criminal defense opinions where he joined with the liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

By and large, however, Justices bring their political values about power, its distribution and impact, to their work on the Court. Justice Scalia was a corporatist, as displayed by his vote in the Citizens United case in 2010 overruling precedent and giving corporations the power to spend money without dollar limitations to support or denounce candidates for public office. Justice Scalia was inclined, with important exceptions, to defer to executive power against civil liberties. He was also inimical to fuller voting rights and hostile to government regulation of business and allowing class actions by consumers and workers.

Leading conservative thinkers often took him to task. Professor of law, Richard A. Epstein excoriated Justice Scalia’s judicial activism, especially his hostility to taxpayers “standing” to sue the government and Congress “for overstepping their Constitutional authority.” “Justice Scalia,” concludes the University of Chicago scholar, “takes a blatantly anti-originalist position by reading into the Constitution limitations found neither in its text nor its basic structure, nor in the general judicial practice running deep in our history.”

A more startling put-down from the celebrated conservative jurist and former academic colleague of Justice Scalia, Richard A. Posner, came in a lengthy critique of Scalia’s 2012 book, Reading Law: the Interpretation of Legal Texts. Judge Posner’s article was called “The Incoherence of Antonin Scalia.” The late Justice would have enjoyed debating the accusation.

People have strong opinions about Justice Scalia, but most would agree that he did make people think.

(Ralph Nader is a consumer advocate, lawyer and author of Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!)

BETWEEN THE LOATHSOME & THE UNSPEAKABLE

by James Kunstler

How reassuring is it to Hillary, exactly, that she won what amounted to a straw poll totaling less than 11,000 votes among the various Nevada hotel employees unions? You could tell from her pained, artificial smile at the victory podium that there is something booby prize-ish about that narrow triumph. And what was with the metallic red outfit that had her looking like a previously-owned Christmas tree ornament? Maybe her handlers put her in Kevlar for the occasion.

She’ll need it as this fretful election campaign moves into the middle innings. That trademark unconvincing smile masks the embarrassing truth that the fix is in for Hillary inside the dark machine that is the Democratic Party hierarchy, hijacked by chairperson Debbie Wasserman-Schultz’s league of crones. The so-called “super-delegates” have all been rounded up and branded with a big smoking “H” on their hindquarters, leaving poor Bernie in the alkali basin of dashed hopes.

Readers have noticed (and complained loudly) lo these many months that I couldn’t get on-board for Bernie. I’m glad that someone opposed Mz It’s-My-Turn, but the Vermonter-from-Brooklyn lacks the juice to drive the necessary wooden stake into her grifter’s heart. The Goldman Sachs speaking fees ($200k-plus each) should have been enough to send her to the donkey’s graveyard but, like so many awful truths in our over-amped and under-brained world, it got sucked into the TMZ alternative universe of discarded realities.

The latest simpleton’s political theory floating around the ether says that Hillary is guaranteed to get the overwhelming support of black voters. Why is that exactly? And what does it mean? Is she going to re-run the civil rights era? Is she going take up the banner for “safe spaces” on campus? Is she going to join the Oscars boycott? And, honestly, what has Mr. Obama done for black America, besides provide a model for how you can get somewhere in this society by learning how to speak English intelligibly?

So, the simpleton’s theory goes: Hillary wins the black and Hispanic vote and a big majority of women’s votes. What does that mean? That America is now split into an ethnic-and-women’s party (Dems) against a white men’s party (Repubs)? Isn’t that a nice recipe for a multi-dimensional civil war?

Actually, it would be the mere seasoning in a stew of civilizational crisis simmering on the margins of the stupidest election contest in American history that could literally blow the country to pieces. The news media is, for instance, perfectly oblivious to the awful instabilities blossoming on the financial scene. In fact, the banks and markets are behaving in a way that suggests shocking disruptions to everyday life before the general election is even held. How would the Hillary-versus-Trump match-up go in a September of bank bail-ins and empty supermarket shelves due to the inability of businesses to service one another?

Rumblings out of the banking system ought to inform us that trust in mutual obligations is dwindling to the same zero-peg (and under) as worldwide interest rates. Something’s got to give and something will give (perhaps starting with something that has the initials “DB”) and then a whole lot of other things will give — beating a path swiftly to disrupting the normal complex operations of daily life that put food in your microwave and gasoline in the convenience store pumps. At that point, of course, all bets are off. Without being too cute about it, we ought to have reason to worry that America will be too disorderly later this year to even hold the 2016 general election.

As for Mr. Trump, he remains what I said at the campaign’s outset: worse than Hitler, lacking the brains, charm, and savoir faire of the Ol’ Fuhrer, and with his darkness even more plainly visible. Even Adolf could manage to get his necktie on so that it didn’t dangle around his nutsack. I don’t mean to trivialize the difference between these two psychopaths, except to say that America will be very very sorry to follow the tune of the so-far leading Republican candidates’ pied-pipings.

Frankly, if Mr. Trump actually manages to technically snag the party’s nomination, I can imagine several consequences. One, that he will indeed succeed in destroying the party. The other leaders at the dark heart of its hierarchy will never stand for Trump. In that case, they will form a breakaway rump GOP and throw their support to Michael Bloomberg, if he decides to jump in — and he might be enough of a true patriot to do that. The less appetizing alternative consequences involve the apparatus of the runaway Deep State (NSA and the military) either bumping off Trump, or staging a coup d’état against him in the event that he manages to get elected. I’m not advocating for those outcomes, but you ought to be prepared for the possibilities.

Most of all, don’t underestimate the power of events to outrun personalities this year.

(To support Kunstler’s writing, go to his Patreon page. https://www.patreon.com/JamesHowardKunstler?ty=h)

LIBRARY ACTIVITIES

• Board Game & Chess Club Night - every Thursday 5:30-7:30pm
• Catapults & Trebuchets - Friday, Feb. 26th
• Wacky Cat People Party - Saturday, Feb. 27th
• Virtual Author Talk w/Marissa Meyer - Tuesday, Mar. 1st
• PBS/POV documentary 'Chisholm 72' - Wednesday, Mar. 2nd
• First Friday Art Walk & Book Sale- Friday, Mar. 4th
• Teen Tech Week - Mar. 8th-12th
• High Tea Party & Movie - Saturday, March 26th

VIVIAN B. BROWN, PH.D. To Offer Free Trauma Informed Training In Ukiah On March 16, 2016

A growing body of research is helping shape a new understanding of how drug courts can work effectively with participants who have substance use disorders and have experienced trauma. Trauma exposure is almost universal in adult samples of court populations; figures range up to 91% of participants experiencing one or more traumatic events. Drug Courts present an important opportunity to disrupt the substance abuse/trauma abuse cycle for individuals.

Dr. Brown is founder and former CEO of PROTOTYPES, Centers for Innovation in Health, Mental Health and Social Services, a multi-facility, multi-services, non-profit agency with services located throughout Southern California.

She has more than 40 years of experience developing innovative, community-based services, including: community mental health centers; community health programs; substance abuse treatment services including residential, day treatment/intensive outpatient, and specialized services for women and their children and families; mental health and specialized co-occurring disorders treatment; trauma-informed and trauma-specific services; domestic violence prevention and intervention services; HIV/AIDS outreach, prevention and treatment services; and services for incarcerated women and recently released men, women and youth.

This training will cover: National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) principles of drug addiction treatment; respecting the process of change; best practices for relapse; the extent of trauma in the lives of court participants; the impact of trauma on participants’ risk behaviors and their responses to court procedures; and how best to use sanctions that are supportive of healing.

Please join us on March 16, 2016 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center located at 200 North School Street for this very informative training.

For more information contact:

Kathleen Forbes
Therapeutic Courts Office
Superior Court of California, County of Mendocino
100 North State Street, Room 411
Ukiah, CA 95482
707-463-4178
kathleen.forbes@mendocino.courts.ca.gov

TAKE A BITE OUTTA THIS BABY!

From: March First Friday Ukiah Artwalk

RURAL HEALTH ROCKS Presents Grammy Award Winner Michael McDonald in Ukiah

On Saturday April 9th, Fowler Auto Center Presents 5-Time Grammy Award Winner Michael McDonald performing in a benefit for Rural Health Rocks. Joining Michael on stage will be world renown guitarist Alex de Grassi, multi-instrumentalist Gene Parsons (The Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers), David Hayes (Van Morrison) and other very special guests. This star studded event is a rockin' fundraiser benefiting the teaching hospitals of Lake and Mendocino counties. If you love hot guitars and great jamming, you won't want to miss FMEMC's first annual Rural Health Rocks concert benefitting family medicine education for Lake & Mendocino counties.

The show starts at 8:00pm at the Mendocino College Center Theatre, 1000 Hensley Creek Rd in Ukiah.

Tickets are available at Brown Paper Tickets http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2487305 or BrownPaperTickets.com under Rural Health Rocks: Michael McDonald and Friends.

Tickets are $75 each and seating is very limited, so purchase your tickets now. Visit Rural Health Rocks <http://www.ruralhealthrocks.com> .com for more information. Sponsors include Friedman's Home Improvement, Mendolake Credit Union, Savings Bank of Mendocino County, Frey Vineyards, Pacific Redwood Medical Group, Ukiah Valley Primary Care Medical Group and dozens other supportive organizations.

SINGER-SONGWRITER JUDY FJELL Returns To Ukiah, Sunday, March 13

Montana singer-songwriter Judy Fjell returns to Ukiah in concert on Sunday, March 13, at 4 PM, at the Center for Spiritual Living. Ukiah fans look forward to celebrating the release of Fjell’s latest CD with the Nobody Else’s Dream trio, featuring violinist Crystal Reeves and bass player Tami Pallingston. Opening for the concert will be local trio Chanterelle.

Judy Fjell consistently sings about the world and the planet with reverence, humor, and a beautiful musical delivery, as evidenced in over 200 songs she has written, and her 20 album collections. Fjell’s tours have brought her to Ukiah many times since her first house concert here in 1982 during the heyday of “women’s music.” For the past thirty-five years, Judy has treated folk, women’s, queer, spiritual, and political audiences throughout the West to her energetic stage presence and heart-filled delivery. Poignant love songs move seamlessly into raucous “stir-it-up political” and “slap-your-knee funny” originals. True to form, her Nobody Else’s Dream CD includes everything from “Norwegian reggae” to danceable, unapologetic rock and roll. Fjell also plays fingerstyle guitar with precision and eloquence and will include in the evening her arrangement of “Over the Rainbow” from her 2013 guitar solo CD, Goin' Over Home.

Concert tickets can be purchased at the door for $15-$25 sliding scale. More information and advanced reservations can be obtained by calling concert producer Madge Strong at (707)459-1493. The Center for Spiritual Living is located at 741 S. Oak Street in Ukiah. Further questions about the concert or the CD can be directed to Judy Fjell at (406)930-1650 or by visiting www.judyfjell.com.

See Judy on video live in Helena in the Last Chance Gulch Sessions

http://helenair.com/lifestyles/crosscut/last-chance-gulch-session-judy-fjell/article_aaf13dd6-ac8d-5d7a-bf24-543110667317.html