Mendocino County Today: Tuesday, June 28, 2016

• Election Indolence
• Kuny Report
• Defensible Space
• Assistant DA
• Silver Trial
• Tricked
• Nut Recognition
• La Bonfire
• Bimbo Story
• County Vacancies
• BOB Drama
• Feline Special
• Pampered Butts
• Library Events
• Police Reports
• Yesterday's Catch
• Phase Change
• Brexit Fallout
• Spill Update
• Art Walk
• Pruning Workshop
• Native Flutist

WHERE’S THE VOTE?

Open Letter to Mendocino County Board of Supervisors:

Today is June 27. Twenty days have passed since our Primary Election took place, yet we still lack meaningful results (more than half of our votes remain unaccounted).

Six-and-a-half hours after the polls closed 11,320 votes were tallied and posted. Two days later (June 9) we were informed that at least 16,525 ballots remained uncounted, and since that time we have received no updates.

We should not have to wait this long; therefore, I am asking you, the Board, to 1) investigate the problem, and 2) find a solution. If we need to hire temporary workers (jobs!) to get our results processed more quickly, let's do it. At the very least, a few updates along the way would be much appreciated.

Imagine if you were one of the candidates for judge this time round — their race is close. Same for the residents of Fort Bragg, who await the results of their Measure U (only 22% of the Fort Bragg vote initially got posted). Much hangs in the balance for these people, their lives currently in limbo.

As for the main event of this election, the presidential primary, a majority of Mendo's Bernie votes remain uncounted. The parade has long since moved on and many of our voices were never even heard. This is a crappy version of democracy, and we can, and should, do better.

Mendocino is one of only seven counties in California that handle election results in this unresponsive way. I suggest we leave that sorry bunch and join the other 51 counties that provide updates as their ballots are processed. You can see that list here: http://vote.sos.ca.gov/returns/status/

Thank you for your consideration of this matter (it would be nice to have this resolved before November rolls around),

Mike Kalantarian, Navarro

* * *

SEEMS TO ME there was an election earlier this month. What happened? Anybody out there know the results? Oh, the votes haven't been counted yet? This is nuts, even by Mendo standards. (See Mike Kalantarian's open letter to the Supervisors) Ah, Mendocino County, a permanent feast of misrule, as someone said of misrule on a much grander scale.

BACK IN THE DAY, the County's politically interested — left, right and center, center especially — would gather on election night in the County Courthouse. As the vote was tallied, a lady from the County Clerk's office would tally the numbers on a big chalk board in the lobby. The vote was in by midnight, and we all had a grand time visiting and discussing the results as they were tabulated. Tabulated with a piece of chalk on a big chalkboard. Now, in the age of electronic miracles, we still don't have the results from an election the first week in June! What has happened?

THE KUNY REPORT. Logger Dan is confident he'll be back in the woods some time in August after the woods almost killed him in May. "I feel pretty good," Dan said during our visit last Wednesday. "My ribs are pretty much healed, my shoulder is ok, it's only my ankle now." That ankle, crushed when the nearly fatal tree fell on Dan, is encased in a flexible new walkable cast. "I went to the weight room for the first time since the accident the other day. Did my reps with ten pounders. I felt pretty good afterwards, but about 3am I woke up sore as hell. I've got a ways to go to get back in shape." A committed weights guy since he was a kid, doctors told Dan it was his conditioning regimen that saved him. His body was strong enough to prevent damage to his internal organs. The doctors were surprised that Dan was 61 years old. "They told me if I hadn't been in real good shape I'd be dead."

THE JUNGLE-QUALITY growth behind Shorty Adams house in Boonville understandably worries the venerable Adams and his family, especially given the prevailing drought conditions. If a fire got going between Highway 128 and Anderson Creek, as it has several times in the past, once burning Shorty's garage and an antique car housed there, well, Shorty, is 87 and at an age where he shouldn't have to worry about dire possibilities of the preventable type.

The Adamses wanted to clear the growth themselves at no charge to the jungle's owner, Mike Shapiro, whose bordering property is a menacing combination of ancient orchard, tall, dry grass and miscellaneous shrubs whose tentacles are threatening to engulf Shorty's modest dwelling. Shapiro, himself at an age where venerable is not mis-applied, has responded to the Adams' offer to clear the brush to a standard fire safe hundred foot clearance with the following, which has left the Adams nonplussed:

AGREEMENT: This is an agreement between Michael Shapiro and Alton ‘Shorty’ Adams. This agreement covers the mowing/cutting of brush/clearing between the back of the property owned by Adams and the property owned by Shapiro. This agreement allows a one-time access to Adams or those employed by Adams to conduct such brush removal. The removal is limited to a swath 8 to 10 feed wide and no more. Adams or those employed by Adams are responsible for removing all debris from the brush removal; it is not to remain on Shapiro property. This agreement does not allow for any future maintenance of this swath and grants no other access to Adams or those employed by him. If any claims arise in the future Adams will pay for legal fees and costs associated with those claims.” (Blank Signature blocks for Michael Shapiro and Alton ‘Shorty’ Adams)

IF YOU'RE WONDERING why our fire authority doesn't intervene, they say they can't because Shapiro doesn't have a structure on his property bordering Shorty's so the 100-foot clearance rule doesn't apply. Which sounds to me the narrow-est possible interpretation of fire safety but, as the young people say, Whatever.

INCIDENTALLY, Marin County amended their fire code in 2014 to stipulate that neighbors have to keep their property fire safe. In other words, in Marin, it’s 100 feet period, in obvious recognition that fire does not recognize property lines.

DA EYSTER has hired his girlfriend's brother, Richard Welsh, as Assistant District Attorney. Ordinarily, the hire might look like nepotism, but we're confident the guy got the nod only after the tried and true, Mendo-specific, "national search for excellence." The nation having been duly scoured, darned if excellence wasn't sitting right there at Eyster's dinner table!  And the rest is history. Welcome aboard, bro!

CALEB SILVER, born and raised in Boonville, appeared Monday at Ten Mile Court, Fort Bragg. Caleb is accused of murdering Dennis Boardman in Dennis's Fort Bragg home earlier this year. (Dennis's body was discovered January 2nd.) Caleb had grown up with Dennis when Dennis lived on the same Redwood Ridge property west of town.

PROSECUTOR: Santa Rosa woman ‘tricked’ into sex with wrong man

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/5785385-181/prosecutor-santa-rosa-woman-tricked

THE MCN CHAT LINE seems crazier and crazier. Today, there was earnest back and forth about whether or not Michelle Obama is a woman! And long, errant discussions of the perils of vaccination without which, I daresay, some of the posters would not have survived childhood. Of course public tragedies like Orlando are "false flag" events pulled off by the "shadow government." MCN presents an entirely alternate universe of crazy assumptions and crazier talk.

Our supervisor, Dan Hamburg, has contributed some of the looniest conspiracy theories to his MCN family — 9-11 was faked and one plane of hijacked Americans is hidden away somewhere with everyone still alive — but Dan gets a lot of his information from uber-nut Alex Jones of Infowars. Only in the 5th District of Mendocino County could a guy as far removed from reality as Hamburg be elected to office. (If you google Hamburg and Alex Jones you can see the two paranoids in red hot discussion.) It's kind of unsettling, actually, to hear and read crazy talk to the degree we do in this country. But in Mendocino County we elect nuts and often give them radio shows on our public radio station. I'm assuming nuts are still recognized as nuts outside California.

WE FONDLY RECALL the day back in 2010 when we happened to encounter local Deputy Craig Walker in the Big O Sporting Goods Parking Lot in Ukiah while the deputy was shopping for a hand-held spotlight for his cruiser. Walker was in civvies but obviously driving his police vehicle to make sure the possible purchase would work in the vehicle. While we were chatting a young man in levis and a white t-shirt with slicked back black hair walked up and asked the deputy, “Are you a police officer?” Walker courteously replied, “Yes.” The man pointed at the sky and said, “See those planes. They’re poisoning us. They should be arrested.” Deputy Walker maintained his calm demeanor and replied, “That’s not exactly my jurisdiction.” “Well it has to be somebody’s jurisdiction!” the man insisted. “You’ll have to call the Sheriff’s Office about that,” Walker replied as he excused himself to continue his shopping.

HEAVY METAL FANS! The famous AC/DC tribute band, La Bonfire, will be in Navarro, Friday, July 8th, 6pm. Impresario Dave Evans assures us "they'll rock your socks off!" It should by now go without saying that Dave and Navarro Store Presents, is Mendocino County's premier live music venue.

BIMBO’S SIDE

Golden State Warriors fan Salvator Bimbo, who fell from the upper deck of Oracle Arena after a supposed altercation on June 19, recently told his side of the story to KRON. Bimbo, who is currently in the intensive care unit of Highland Hospital in Oakland, claims he was pushed by a Cleveland Cavaliers fan. In a video, Bimbo's father asks him if he remembers what happened after Game 7 of the NBA Finals, to which he replies, yes. His father then asks him if the rumors of him jumping over the ledge were true. "I did not jump," Bimbo says. "I was pushed by a Cavaliers fan." Immediately following the fall, Bimbo was cared for by Oracle Arena personnel and paramedics. Bimbo told his father he wishes peace to everyone and feels the man who pushed him is "insane" and he hopes the police find him.

THE MENDOCINO COUNTY EXECUTIVE OFFICE is accepting applications for anticipated vacancies:

http://www.co.mendocino.ca.us/bos/pdf/06-27-16_AppointmentsWeb.pdf

BREAK OUT THE CHAMPAGNE

Review by Marylyn Motherbear Scott

BOB, A Life in Five Acts by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb

Directed by the inimitable Ricci Dedola.

Mendocino Theatre Company thru July 17, 2016

Funny. Smart. Americana. Real issues. Subtle. Unique! A chorus of characters: Rachel R. Sparks, Mark Friedrich, Pamala W. Allen, Oasis’ Darryl Hasten. So well done! Alice Williams, stage master, and Brian Bello, music master. So terrific! All on stage throughout the performance. Right in front of the eyes of the audience, the seasoned actors create the people and populace, the staging and the music. BOB, the great man himself — Cory Storey, imported from L.A. Cory. He is the story man! Superb!

This on-stage-Everything! is a part of what makes this show gratifyingly different. A dozen large cubes drawn. cartoon-style, on all sides make, as director Ricci says, “an everchanging Rubik’s cube set.” The on-going reconstruction of this puzzle adds to the fast-paced action on stage. More than the staging however, is the story line — at once, a personal and a collective narrative of an American journey, it is everyday ordinary and monumentally metaphysical, a down-to-earth Twain-Circa-Now comedic yet poignant road trip.

It was Mendocino Theatre Company’s Opening of BOB, A Life in Five Acts, the Gala. Neighbors, friends, out-of-town visitors all gathered, chatting and energized. The ambiance was bubbly, like the champagne! The tables are filled with food, this time there was everything from hors d'oeuvres to take-out! The take-out was a curiosity. White boxes, the kind from Asian restaurants, with lettuce-wrapped vegies; chopsticks too. The play begins at a White Castle fast foods restaurant. I heard there might be some, but saw none. No matter. Jim Gibson, our favorite bartender, Pouring! wine, beer, champagne, spirits, and a specially-concocted drink, named Whin Cocktail. There is a reason for the choices, but I can’t tell you. It’d spoil.

The bell rang. It was time to meet BOB. A glass of champagne in hand (At MTC, drinks inside the theatre are permitted!), I entered the house. On stage, in an open proscenium, there were four actors, a lighting technician, and a musician, each seated at six “stations” with chairs and trunks at hand, all colorfully draped with costuming and props and tools, each actor posing as the character that would soon be revealed.

These characters are the pillars of BOB’s life, the aspects that feed his persona and create the BOB we come to know. Or, think we know, for Bob grows up before our eyes, changing as age and experience informs him and us. As the action unfolds, these four actors — a chorus of characters — offer various aspects of what sets BOB on his life path, what matters to him as he journeys along, the synchronicity that ultimately seems destiny-driven, the dead-ends that tend to confuse and wound, the conflicts that drive him into choice, the ups and downs of the open road, the turns and the beckonings. Bound for the life of a man born for greatness, BOB portrays a comedic yet poignant pursuit of the American dream.

BOB’s beginning encompasses what is both dismal and auspicious. Born on Valentine’s Day (the auspicious part !) in the bathroom of The White Castle, (the dismal part!), his mother, herself perhaps destined for greater things, abandons him, and he is surreptitiously rescued by a waitress who cashes in her life savings, packs all that she has into a car, and disappears into the landscape of America, BOB in tow, traveling from rest stops to diners to national parks to monuments and, … I can’t tell you. It would spoil.

Bob’s fantasy of greatness is carved into the stonework of his mindful purpose and ours as we question the metaphoric landscape that once created our own dreams, housing us in grandiose mansions of what and who-do-you-want-to-be-when-you-grow-up? BOB faces life, embraces love, is disappointed, angry, ultimately comes to know an inimical wisdom and an unbridled absurdity — the once-upon-time American dream.

In the final analysis, there is a breathing in of life force offered in each person we love and each place that gives us a space in which to experience living, leaving its indelible mark upon our mind’s eye, creating in us a greatness that goes beyond our wildest dreams; and creating, in the end, a truer home, one populated by characters of our own making, living and dying along the way. The spirit carries us along, carries us through, carries us beyond.

White Castle burgers awaited us in the lobby.

MENDOCINO COUNTY ANIMAL CARE SERVICES SHELTER’s Summer Firecracker CAT & KITTEN SPECIAL!

It's cat season, and the shelter is filled with felines. Now through the end of July, the total adoption fee for any cat or kitten is only $40! Please come on down and meet all of our felines. The Ukiah Shelter is located at 298 Plant Road in Ukiah. Call the Adoption Coordinator for more information--707-467-6453. Don't forget to visit and bookmark the shelter's official website:
www.mendoanimalshelter.com. We're also on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mendoanimalshelter/

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

It's an election year, and the Democrats need a new fundraising peg. So what better way to represent their constituents than to abandon their soft leather chairs for a soft thick carpet in a camera-ready show of solidarity against all the poor slobs being swept up willy-nilly in the Homeland Security surveillance dragnet? We have to keep guns out of the hands of those "potential" terrorists, dontcha know. They're guilty until proven innocent.

To hear the mainstream media tell it, this pseudo-strike by a bunch of liberal millionaires in the House of Representatives is a courageous act of civil disobedience against the malign forces of the Sovereign State of Republicantia. Those GOPers are such demented sadists they won't even pass a bill keeping guns out of the hands of whatever "Others" the Deep State decides to put on its secret and deeply undemocratic No Fly List.

Therefore, led by Civil Rights icon John Lewis, the House Democrats one by one lowered their pampered butts to the House Floor, their suddenly reanimated spines creaking in protest. They had their selfie-taking cell phones courageously charged and ready to document every fraught moment. And when Top Speaker Cop Paul Ryan summarily banned C-span cameras from the premises, the congress critters defiantly clicked on their Face Time apps so as to be able to communicate their marathon struggle on live TV.

It would have been considered politically incorrect to say that this act of limousine liberal disobedience was "a shot heard round the world," but Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi did her best Ralph Waldo Emerson imitation nonetheless, gushing: "It was a discussion heard round the world!" Not.

UPCOMING EVENTS HAPPENING AT THE UKIAH LIBRARY.
www.mendolibrary.org

CAIN & ABLE, LAYTONVILLE DIVISION

On 06-26-2016 Mendocino County Deputies were dispatched to Frank Howard Memorial Hospital regarding a victim of an assault. Upon arrival, Deputies contacted an adult male who was being treated in the emergency room for lacerations to his right hand. Deputies learned the adult male and his brother, Travis Manion, 34, of Laytonville, were involved in a verbal argument that turned into a physical altercation. During the altercation Manion picked up a piece of broken glass and was attempting to stab the adult male stating he was going to kill him. During this altercation the adult male suffered minor injuries to his face and right hand while fighting off Manion. Deputies observed visible injuries to the adult male's face and right hand consistent with the statements given. Deputies contacted Manion a short time later at which time he was arrested without incident for Assault with a Deadly Weapon and Criminal Threats. Manion was booked into the Mendocino County Jail where he was to be held in lieu of $30,000 bail.

* * *

DON'T GO CAMPING WITH THIS GUY

On 06-25-2016 at about 12:15 PM Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to contact a 32 year-old female at the intersection of Eel River Road and Main Street in Potter Valley, California. Deputies contacted the 32 year-old female and learned she was reportedly sexually assaulted by Robert Michael Smith, 56, of Potter Valley, on 06-24-2016 while the pair were camping together along the Eel River approximately three miles east of Eel River Road in Potter Valley. Deputies also learned the 32 year-old female's son had been physically assaulted by Smith. Deputies learned Smith had burnt the female's 9 year-old son with a hot metal tube which had been heated by a camp fire causing a significant second degree burn on the boy’s body. Deputies located Smith at a campsite located on the Potter Valley Logging Road near the Eel River. Smith was arrested for Penetration by foreign object and Infliction of Corporal punishment/injury on child and booked into the Mendocino County Jail where he was to be held in lieu of $50,000 bail.

* * *

COVELO CAMPOS GOES OFF

On 06-24-2016 at approximately 6:28 AM the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office dispatch center received a call from a 59 year-old female in Covelo, California. The female reported a disturbance that just occurred at a residence in the 22500 block of Oak Lane involving Robert Benjamin Campos, 25, of Covelo. Campos was reportedly vandalizing property inside the residence and threatening to burn down the residence. This caused the female to fear for her safety so she fled the residence. When Deputies arrived at the residence they contacted Campos in the back yard. Deputies also made contact with the female, who provided text message evidence of the threats made by Campos. Deputies determined that Campos threatened the 59 year-old female, causing her to fear for her own safety. Campos was placed under arrest for Criminal Threats. Campos was subsequently booked into the Mendocino County Jail where he was to be held in lieu of $20,000 bail.

CATCH OF THE DAY, June 27, 2016

KEVIN LEE BETTS, Willits. Shoplifting, probation revocation.

RIX CAMBA, Gualala. Domestic battery.

HALEY CASEY, Fort Bragg. Failure to appear.

ERIC DWYER, Fort Bragg. Criminal threats, civil rights: interfere with, property damage or speech.

ROMAN GARCIA, Calpella. Under influence, controlled substance.

KAREN HEID, Fort Bragg. Failure to appear.

TRAVIS MANION, Assault with a deadly weapon not a gun, criminal threats.

JOSEPH MENTON, Ukiah. Drunk in public.

NOE PEREZ, Ukiah. Controlled substance.

ROBERT SMITH, Potter Valley. Penetration by foreign object and Infliction of Corporal punishment/injury on child

ERIC STARK, Ukiah. Reckless driving with injury.

CARLOS TAYLOR-LOPEZ, Willits. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

DEATH TO ALL ZOMBIES!

by James Kunstler

Wait a minute. They’re already dead. Brexit just reveals that not everybody’s brains have been eaten. A viral contagion now threatens the zombified institutions of daily life, especially the workings of politics and finance. Just as zombies exist only in the collective imagination, so do these two principal activities of society operate mainly on trust, an ephemeral product of the hive-mind.

When things fall apart in stressed complex systems, they tend to fall apart fast. It’s called phase change. Too many things in 21st century life have depended on sheer trust that the people-in-charge know what they are doing. That trust has subsisted on the doling out of money-from-nothing: debt, reckless bond issuance. TARP, QEs, bailouts, bail-ins, Operation Twists, Ponzi schemes… the whole sad-ass armamentarium of banking necromancy. The politicians let it get out of hand. Things that can’t go on don’t, and now they won’t.

The politics of Great Britain are now falling apart landslide-style. Since just about everybody in or near power can be blamed for the national predicament, there’s nobody to turn to, at least not yet. The Labour party just acted out The Caine Mutiny, starring Jeremy Corbyn as Captain Queeg. The Tory Cameron gave three months notice without any plausible replacement in view. Now Cameron’s people are hinting in the media that they can just drag their feet on Brexit, that is, not do anything to enable it from actually happening for a while. Of course, that’s what the monkeyshines of banking and finance have done: postponed the inevitable reckoning with the realities of our time: growing resource scarcity, population overshoot, climate change, ecological holocaust, and the diminishing returns of technology.

Britain illustrates the problem nicely: how to produce “wealth” without producing wealth. It’s called “the City,” their name for the little district of London that is their Wall Street. In the absence of producing real things, the City became the driver of the UK’s economy, a ghastly parasitical organism that functioned as the central transfer station for the world’s swindles and frauds, churning the West’s dwindling residual capital into a slurry of fees, commissions, arbitrages, rigged casino bets, and rip-offs. In the process, it enabled the European Central Bank (ECB) to run the con-job that the European Union (EU) became, with the fatal distortions of credit that have put its members into a ditch and sent the private European banks off a cliff, Thelma and Louise style.

The next stage of this protean global melodrama is what happens when currencies and interest rates become completely unglued from their assigned roles as patsies in financial racketeering. Sooner or later we’ll know what’s going on in the vast shadowy gloaming of “derivatives,” especially the “innovative” arrangements that affect to be “insurance” against losses in currency and interest rate “positions” — bets made on the movements of these things. When currencies rise or fall quickly, these so-called “swaps” are “triggered,” and then some hapless institution is left holding a big bag of dog-shit. A zombie is a terrible thing to behold, but a zombie holding a bag of dog-shit is like unto the end of the world.

Once this contagion starts burning, the people-in-charge won’t be able to quell it the way they did last time: by drowning it in torrents of money-from-nowhere. At least not without inducing real-deal inflation, the kind that leads to epochal ruin and more intense political upheaval: the nation-changing kind. We’re about five minutes away from that in the USA already, with the loathsome duo of Hillary and Trump putting on a Punch and Judy show for a disgusted public. If nothing else, Hillary and Trump represent the withering of political trust in America. The parties that spawned them are also whirling around the drain of credibility. They won’t survive in the form we knew them.
Who knows what comes out of this vacuum, what rough beast slouches towards Washington.

(Support Kunstler’s writing by visiting his Patreon Page:
https://www.patreon.com/JamesHowardKunstler?ty=h)

BREXIT: ESTABLISHMENT FREAK OUT

by Robin Hahnel

The “masters of the universe” are shocked and displeased. Increasing numbers of voters are registering their anger, most recently by voting for Brexit in Great Britain. But many who voted for Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump during the recent US primary season were motivated by similar frustrations. And before that, there was Occupy Wall Street, los Indignados in Spain, Syriza in Greece, and other massive protests elsewhere in Europe as well. The reason is simple.

For over thirty years center right and center left political parties and establishment politicians have presided over massive changes in how the global economy functions which empower multinational corporations and a privileged minority at the expense of the vast majority, while creating unprecedented waves of refugees fleeing humanitarian disasters in the Mideast, Mexico, and Central America.

All while the mainstream media and establishment intellectuals pontificate about why these changes were both inevitable and for the good — when the truth is they are neither. More and more people are fed up, and tuning out establishment messengers, while new voices on both the right and left battle over leadership of a growing and disparate army of discontents. What can we say about the most recent manifestation in Great Britain?

There are two major forces driving discontent: Deteriorating economic prospects for majorities, and challenges to traditional cultural hierarchies. The left plays on the former while the right plays on the latter. The right has a coherent program regarding the latter with broad appeal among older ethnic majorities: Re-segregation and restoration of white skin privileges. But the right has no coherent economic program besides blaming ethnic “others.”

The left has a coherent critique of neoliberal economics, and offers some useful alternatives: Stop catering to finance and subject it to competent regulation. Stop pointless fiscal austerity and provide needed fiscal stimulus. And stop dismantling, and rebuild the welfare state. Moreover, this program has broad appeal among the discontented.

But the left has not been able to compete successfully with the right regarding the second source of discontent. If progressive groups campaign for a principled defense of multiculturalism and protecting immigrant rights, they win support from ethnic minorities and some among the young, but they alienate older, majoritarian communities in economic distress. Moreover, the dilemma for the left is even worse. Because the truth is that until a left economic program is won and firmly in place, principled multiculturalism and defense of immigrant rights does further aggravate the economic distress of disadvantaged, majoritarian populations.

It is comical to watch the establishment on both sides of the Atlantic panic over short-run economic damage due to market “over reaction,” because any danger of this is due to their own negligence. Only because the establishment has hitched our economic destinies to the whims of financial markets is there any need to worry that Brexit might trigger yet another global meltdown. Only because the establishment failed to implement prudent, financial regulation in the seven years since the last financial crisis crashed the global economy is there any danger today. Only because the Cameron government and the European Commission responded to the Great Recession with counterproductive fiscal austerity is a return to deeper recession in Europe quite probable. But we can be sure of one thing: All negative economic trends will now be blamed on Brexit and the populist “mob” who brought it on, rather than on the establishment’s neoliberal policies which are actually responsible.

But I suspect the political ramifications of the Brexit vote will be far greater than any economic consequences. Brexit will put more wind into reactionary political sails in France, the Netherlands, and Eastern Europe. But let me comment on two potentially positive political ramifications.

(1) Scotland and Northern Ireland voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU. I will not be surprised if we soon have a second vote on independence in Scotland which passes. Scotts clearly prefer the EU to the UK now that they must choose one or the other. Moreover, there are strong progressive forces in Scotland strongly allied with the independence movement there.

Progressives in Scotland were disappointed that independence was narrowly defeated two years ago. I think they may now get their wish, and support for progressive economic reforms in Scotland will no longer be thwarted by Westminster. I will also not be surprised if Northern Ireland now moves to leave the UK and finally become part of the Republic of Ireland, and thereby become not only a member of the EU but the EZ as well. That is 1000 years of bloody history in the British Isles which may actually be resolved in a sensible, progressive, and remarkably peaceful way!

(2) Brexit is a blow to the leadership of the EZ, EC, and ECB resisting demands for a change in course. Just as it will be seized on by reactionary political parties, left forces will put it to good use.

It may be too late for Syriza in Greece. But Podemos in Spain, Die Linke in Germany, and the coalition for change in the EU people like Yanis Varafoukis are trying to mobilize will cite the Brexit vote as a sign of what will eventually become of the EU if there is not a major change in course. This does not solve the dilemma progressive forces in EU member countries face: Should they stay and fight for meaningful reform within the EU? Or should they fight to leave because this EU will never become other than a neoliberal straightjacket? But in either case, Brexit is a blow to the powers that be in Brussels, and adds wind to the sails of progressive forces within the EU as well as reactionary forces, no matter what political strategy progressive forces opt for.

(Robin Hahnel taught in the economics department at American University in Washington DC from 1976 to 2008, where he is now Professor Emeritus. He is best known as a radical economist and co-creator of a post-capitalist economic model known as “participatory economics.” In addition to a dozen book chapters and more than three dozen articles in academic journals, he has published ten books including Quiet Revolution in Welfare Economics and The Political Economy of Participatory Economics with Princeton University Press, Economic Justice and Democracy with Routledge, and most recently Green Economics: Confronting the Ecological Crisis with M.E. Sharpe.)

VENTURE OIL SPILL UPDATE: NO OILED WILDLIFE REPORTED

by Dan Bacher

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW)'s Office of Spill Prevention and Response has confirmed that no oiled wildlife have been observed or reported — and no oil has reached the ocean or other water from the June 23 pipeline spill in Hall Canyon, Ventura.

As many as 700 barrels of crude oil — 29,400 gallons - have been spilled in the incident. The spill occurred just a year after the Refugio Oil Spill fouled the pristine waters off the San Barbara Coast, including four so-called “marine protected areas” created under the helm of an oil industry lobbyist.

“A multi-agency response has been established to manage cleanup operations in the area impacted ,” according to the CDFW in a statement. “Cleanup crews remain on-scene containing and recovering the oil. Resources include 98 responders and five vacuum trucks. Air monitoring is being continually conducted to assure safety of responders and residents in the area.”

The cause of the spill is currently under investigation. “The unified command response will be independent of that investigation and includes representatives from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Crimson Pipeline, which has taken responsibility for the incident,” the CDFW said.

The CDFW advises the public and media to avoid the impacted area and keep pets on leashes. In addition, they should not attempt to rescue any observed oiled wildlife.

“Untrained individuals who attempt to rescue wildlife may cause more harm than good and may injure themselves in the process,” the Department said.

The number to report oiled wildlife is 877 UCD-OWCN (823-6926).
Residents wishing to file a claim can do so via email at claims@crimsonpl.com or by calling 562-285-4128.
For more information, visit www.wildlife.ca.gov/...

According to information released by the Center for Biological Diversity, the company responsible for the Ventura oil spill, Crimson Pipeline, has a decade-long history of oil spills in California.

“Crimson Pipeline has had at least 10 other spills caused by corrosion, ruptures, equipment failure and other problems in California since 2006, federal data show. These incidents resulted in more than $5.8 million in property damage and over 320,000 gallons of hazardous materials being spilled into California’s environment, the Center revealed.

The Center said Crimson operates more than 1,000 miles of pipeline in California, “yet the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration does not seem to have taken any enforcement actions against the company or conducted any inspections of its pipelines in the state since 2006.”

“This company has a disturbing history of dangerous oil spills, yet federal pipeline regulators seem to have done almost nothing to protect our state,” said Kristen Monsell, a Center attorney. “The new spill is another grim example of why we have to get pipelines and oil drilling out of California’s vulnerable coastal environment. We’ve got to stop thinking about these oil spills as accidents and start seeing them for what they are: completely predictable ecological tragedies that we can prevent with strong action.”

The latest oil spill is no surprise in a state that prides itself on being a “green leader,” but is in fact the third largest oil producer in the country. The oil industry is the largest and most powerful corporate lobby in California — and the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) is the largest and most powerful lobbying organization.

Jerry Brown, who styles himself as a “green governor” and “climate leader,” has received millions of dollars in contributions from Big Oil to promote the industry's agenda.

"Before Jerry Brown signed legislation last month that promises to greatly expand fracking in California, the governor accepted at least $2.49 million in financial donations over the past several years from oil and natural gas interests, according to public records on file with the Secretary of State's Office and the California Fair Political Practices Commission," reported Robert Gammon, then editor of the East Bay Express, on October 2, 2013. (www.eastbayexpress.com/...)

Ironically, the same oil lobbyist promoting the expansion of fracking and offshore oil drilling in California served as a state regulatory official in a public-private partnership between the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the agency responsible for coordinating the clean-up of the Ventura oil spill, and the shadowy Resources Legacy Fund Foundation. (www.dfg.ca.gov/...)

In a huge conflict of interest that exemplifies how thoroughly Big Oil has captured the regulatory apparatus in California, Catherine Reheis-Boyd, President of the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), chaired the South Coast Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force that created the alleged “marine protected areas” that went into effect in Southern California waters on January 1, 2012. She also served on the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Forces for the North Coast, North Central Coast and Central Coast.

The questionable “Yosemites of the Sea” and “underwater parks” created under the leadership of Reheis-Boyd and others with numerous conflicts of interest fail to protect the ocean from fracking, offshore oil drilling, oil spills, pollution, military testing, corporate aquaculture, energy projects and all human impacts on the ocean other than sustainable fishing and gathering.

In response to the latest spill, Reheis-Boyd said the association is "working with our member companies to assess the situation as well as coordinating with emergency responders, local officials, and agencies."

"Our first priority – as it is in any incident – remains community safety and immediate cleanup efforts,” Reheis Boyd said. (www.wspa.org/...)

JULY 1ST 'FIRST FRIDAY ART WALK'

Join artists and their hosts for an evening of art, music and refreshments as you stroll from one venue to the next; each showcasing local art and artistry. Held in Historic Downtown Ukiah on the first Friday of each month, the First Friday Art Walk is the perfect way to relax your body, mind and soul. This enjoyable evening begins at 5:00 p.m. and promises to delight your senses; all while enjoying the company of others. For more information contact (707) 462-1400.

Featured Artists and their Host:

The Arts Council will be exhibiting the work of participating artists of DraW TiL You Drop. You'll find the Arts Council office at the Train Depot on Perkins Street.

The Art Center will be featuring a juried art show called "SMALL WORKS". The Art Center is located at 201 South State Street; on the corner of State and Church Street.

Bona Market Place will be featuring the oil painting of Kathleen Gordon Burke. You'll find Bona Market Place at 116 West Standley Street. (707) 468-1113

Connect Insurance and Ukiah Massage are proud to host Alisa Monique, she's originally from Ukiah, but has lived away for quite some time in the Bay Area and Nevada. She loves abstract, and dabbles with a little bit of everything. Come and join us at 304 N State before you head to see Aladdin in Alex Thomas Plaza

Craftsman Estate Jewelry & Pawn Shop at 306 North State Street is joining the July Art Walk festivities. They invite you to come and see the abstract paintings by "Chrissy".

Enoteca is pleased to be featuring an art show by Chat Ko entitled "Meditation Imagery"; exploring the correlation between the mind and the automatic. The Enoteca Wine Bar is located at 106 West Church Street.

The Grace Hudson Museum will be featuring the opening of a new exhibit, 'She Sang Me a Good Luck Song': The California Indian Photographs of Dugan Aguilar. Named after the Heyday book of the same name, the 28 photographs in this exhibit provide an intimate look into the lives of contemporary Native peoples and document the perseverance and renewal of Native California's living, vibrant cultures. The Grace Hudson Museum is at 431 South Main Street in Ukiah and is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 4:30 p.m. For more information please call 467-2836

Mama's Medicinals is one of the newer First Friday Art Walk participants and new to the downtown business community. What a perfect opportunity to meet owner Emily Held and see the hand made African clothing by Asia Sikkila. Slade Patrick Darrin will be playing the piano and Knox Gillespie will be doing palm reading. Mama's Medicinals is located at 328 North State Street.

Paradigm will be featuring Chrystal Warner's watercolors and pen & ink during the July Art Walk. Please join us at 312 North School Street.Topper's Hair Salon is pleased to be a part of the July Art Walk. They are also pleased to be featuring the abstract watercolor art of Virginia "Gini" Hoover. Topper's is located at 200 North School Street, on the corner of School & Smith.

The Ukiah Library always presents something fun for young and old alike, so be sure to make your way down to the library this Friday. The Ukiah Library is located at 105 North Main Street.

SUMMERTIME FRUIT TREE PRUNING

Sunday, July 17 with coastal orchard expert Di Scott

10:00am to 12:00pm

When it comes to basic care and pruning of fruit trees, there are many different techniques, several of which have predictable results. Summer pruning is a great way to increase your fruit and ease winter maintenance. This class will help you to optimize performance from your fruit trees, according to your own needs and the specific environment in which the trees are growing.

The spotlight will primarily be on, but not limited too, the summer pruning of fruit tree varieties appropriate to the North Coast climate, specifically apples, pears, and select stone fruits. Learn how time of year and type of pruning cut can greatly influence the success of your fruit trees. We will cover a complete year’s cycle of tree growth, from the tree’s perspective as well as our own. Workshop Instructor, Di Scott brings 17 years of coastal orchard experience and a lifetime of horticultural knowledge to this class. Class cost is $20 for members and Master Gardeners; $30 for non-members, includes Gardens admission for the day! Payment is due upon sign-up. Please note, all workshop fees are non-refundable unless the workshop has been cancelled or rescheduled by the Gardens. Class size is limited; sign up by phoning in your payment at 707-964-4352 ext. 16 or reserve your spot in person at The Garden Store at MCBG.

NATIVE FLUTE MUSIC FOR FIRST FRIDAY

On July 1st , from 5 to 8 p.m., the Grace Hudson Museum will host its monthly First Friday Art Walk event. This month visitors can tour the Museum at no cost and enjoy light snacks and entertainment. From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Native musician Thane Hake (Ojibwe/Anishinaabe, from the Great Lakes area) will provide flute music. Hake has been playing the instrument since a friend gave him a handmade cedar flute in 1994. Also a guitarist and a song maker, he has recorded CDs with his son. The flute (held directly in front of the player's mouth, not horizontally as in many Asian and European traditions) is widespread in Native cultures, and stories relate its success in wooing women. Visitors can also enjoy the Museum's current exhibit, /She Sang Me A Good Luck Song: The California Indian Photographs of Dugan Aguilar, a collection of photos documenting contemporary Native California life by Dugan Aguilar (Mountain Maidu/Pit River/Walker River Paiute). Aguilar is considered an elder statesman of Native photography. The Grace Hudson Museum is at 431 S. Main St. in Ukiah and is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 4:30 p.m. For more information please call 467-2836 or go to
www.gracehudsonmuseum.org