Mendocino County Today: Monday, July 24, 2017

• Administrative Leave
• Little Dog
• County Services
• Barn Swallow Chicks
• Anderson Valley Library
• Yesterday's Catch
• Travelogue Part 2
• The Human Condition
• Aliens Invade
• Odious Debt
• Gaza Nightmare
• Syria Question

CHIEF PROBATION OFFICER (CPO) Pamela Markham remains on paid administrative leave many months after being sidelined by Judge David Riemanschneider who appointed her in May of 2016.

THE CPO is a County employee but is hired and fired by the Presiding Judge of the Superior Court, a method of selection which seems to be designed to perpetuate a 21st-century version of the good old boy and girl culture which has been Mendo’s m.o. since its founding.

IRONICALLY, as the County's first female CPO, Markham was hired with expectations that she would reform and rebuild a department that suffered from poor leadership for decades. To give her a head start, all Probation Department employees were required to attend multiple trainings on proper workplace behavior which, given subsequent events, turned out to be vividly ironic.

INFORMATION on the Probation fiasco will not be forthcoming from the judges or the County administration. It will only be discussed here where it kicked off when we received an anonymous letter from a Probation employee which we ran under "Scandal of the Week" on April 12, 2017. That letter has since generated a whopping 62 online responses and comments to date, many of them by people writing under their own names. (The fear levels in Mendo rival those of Stalin’s Russia although social ostracism rather than execution is the typical result of an acceptable person suddenly going rogue by not only reading the AVA but writing to it under their own names.)

THE COMMENTS generally support the allegations of favoritism and workplace shenanigans. But the boss boffing a subordinate or vice versa is considered a-okay by the county and the judges unless it results in some kind of favoritism in the workplace. In fact, the trainings reportedly emphasized that supervisors, even married supervisors, could boff line staff as long as it did not result in favoritism. And good luck enforcing that one.

ONE WONDERS, however, if workplace boffing is acceptable which, one would think, could become a major distraction, especially if it occurs at the water cooler. Of course if sudden lust storms were consummated at breaks, off county time, well, our judges, the wisest of the wise, can be depended on to define “appropriateness.”

IF A MANAGER grants a promotion to a sexual chum, everyone naturally assumes favoritism. If promotion is not forthcoming, sex buddy may threaten to expose the affair. When Ms. Markham was placed on leave Judge Riemanschneider sent a notice to all Probation Department employees saying that he knew they had questions but, "We will not be able to provide answers at this time." The notice concluded with the contradictory invitation to contact His Honor or Human Resources Director Heidi Dunham "if you have questions or concerns."

OF COURSE all inquiries to Mendocino County officialdom in such situations are "personnel matters" or "under investigation." Mendocino County routinely puts highly placed employees on administrative leave with opaque announcements beyond that they’ve happened. Administrative leave with full salary and benefits at taxpayer expense — a typical fate for a fallen, upper level pal — drags out for months until everyone seems to forget about it. Then the person who’d been put on administrative leave quietly resigns or retires, usually after being paid off or bought out with a confidential settlement.

MARKHAM WAS APPOINTED after former CPO Buck Ganter retired in the wake of another lengthy investigation into charges of sexual discrimination, harassment, and favoritism. Ganter did not create the culture, things were no different under former CPO Jim Brown before Ganter. But growing frustration and more women coming into an expanding and male-dominated department combined to bring things to a head under Ganter's watch. True to Mendocino County form, Ganter quietly retired with no public mention of the lengthy and expensive investigation conducted on his management, and no report of the outcome.

SHORTLY AFTER MARKHAM was placed on administrative leave it became widely known in official circles that she and one of her subordinates, both married to other people at the time, had been having an affair on the taxpayer's dime. According to the online commentary Markham and her love interest spent hours in each other's offices during work-hours. Employees seeking direction on workplace issues were unable to contact their leaders. Off site conferences and trainings, all on the public’s dime, were also great opportunities for the lovebirds to spend quality time together.

AN INVESTIGATION was begun at the same time Markham was put on administrative leave. It was quickly determined that the allegations of in-house “inappropriateness” were credible. But Markham lawyered up, which always makes the judicial types squirm. They all love it, actually, because they can spend a lot of money driving around running up the public tab while they parse old fashioned adultery, albeit adultery during work hours. That may explain why Ms. Markan is still drawing her full salary and benefits at taxpayer expense, long after the investigation should have been concluded.

JUDGES typically don’t lose a lot of sleep determining the fate of the schlubs who appear before them, but they don't like to see their own actions scrutinized. The judges involved in this one immediately ran to their own lawyers, who directed that the investigation must go on and on. Meanwhile the Probation Department is stuck in limbo and staff morale remains in the basement. For the sake of the employees who just want to do their jobs, it is past time for the black robed ditherers to bring this farce to a close.

THE TAXPAYERS are in the dark on Boff-a-Rama but, of course, they’re funding it. If the judges were paying the freight out of their own pockets it would have been over a couple days after it came to light.

FOR STARTERS, the CPO is getting her full salary and benefits while out on seemingly endless leave. An interim CPO is also being paid full salary and benefits to do the job the CPO is not doing. The County has been forced by the judges to conduct an endless — and endlessly expensive — investigation (which appears to have run up the County’s outside counsel costs much higher than budgeted). The judges also have a team of lawyers from the administrative office of the courts overseeing the endless investigation. Anytime you have more than one lawyer involved you know the billable hours will spin ever upwards.

LOTS OF HIGH-LEVEL STAFF TIME is consumed in County offices like Human Resources, Chief Executive Office, County Counsel and so forth as the sexual hot potato is tossed from ditherer to ditherer. Much of this expense is buried in the normal budgets of the state Office of the Courts, the local courts, and the county offices. But just the hard costs of paying the Chief Probation Officer to sit home adds up to a pretty penny by itself. The taxpayers will never know the true total cost, including any confidential settlement that is probably being negotiated now.

BECAUSE THE CPO is appointed by the presiding judge but is employed by the County, he or she is in the unique position of having no direct oversight. The County has no control over hiring or firing the CPO. And there is no requirement that the CPO report to the CEO or the Board of Supervisors.

THEORETICALLY, the CPO is answerable to the presiding judge. But once the CPO appointment is made, the judges usually keep their distance, especially when problems arise. The result has been two lengthy and expensive investigations while the CPO is out on paid administrative leave for extended periods of time. One was resolved quietly with an early retirement. This one appears headed to a messy court battle or an expensive out-of-court settlement. Only in America, and only if you’re connected, can you screw up on the job and still walk out the door with a big fat check.

LITTLE DOG SAYS, “I'm sticking with Skrag and his nuts. He's worried as hell. He thinks there are more people who want 'em off than there are people who want 'em on. ‘Skrag,’ I tell him, ‘I told you before. Anybody comes running in here with scissors gotta go through me’.”

TWO YEARS AGO, in a sudden fit of acquisition, I bought a piece of bare ground in central Boonville. No sooner had I signed the deed when I got a bill for about three thousand in property taxes. It was for the full year although I'd been the owner of record for only a part of the year.

I'M NOT AN ASA PERSON, a guy who gets up in public meetings and says, "As a taxpayer......" I don't bother, because ASA taxpayer I know I'm screwed, fully aware I'm helping to fund a whole lot of stuff which, given a choice, I would not fund. For openers, I would not pay upper echelon public employees, including judges — especially judges — the kind of money and perks they've finagled themselves into. I'd halve all of 'em tomorrow, if I could.

MENDOCINO COUNTY'S annual budget, as Supervisor Gjerde pointed out to me after I’d radically under-estimated it at a quarter billion a year, is more in the neighborhood of $317 million. The county website shows us two lists. The short one enumerates the major departments, most of which sound plausible enough. Yeah, yeah we gotta have cops, we need road maintenance, we need this, we need that. A county museum? Not really, especially ours which is seldom visited and is run by a connected person plunked down in the director's chair at nice money because....Well, because. On the long list of services there's enough lard to keep every deep fryer in the county bubbling for years.

ANYWAY, here's the deceptive short list of county offices, It's followed by a long list, where most of us would find a whole lotta "services" we could emphatically do without:

ALL DEPARTMENTS:

• Agriculture
• Air Quality Management District
• Animal Care Services
• Assessor-Clerk-Recorder
• Auditor-Controller
• Board of Supervisors
• Child Support Services
• District Attorney
• Environmental Health
• Executive Office
• Farm Advisor
• Health and Human Services (HHSA)
• Human Resources
• Library
• Museum
• Planning and Building Services
• Probation
• Public Defender
• Public Health Division
• Retirement
• Sheriff-Coroner
• Transportation
• Treasurer-Tax Collector

SERVICES BY CATEGORY:

• Abandoned Animals
• Abandoned Vehicles
• Absentee Ballots
• Adopt-A-Road
• Adult Bail
• Adult Probation Services
• Adult Protective Services (APS)
• Affidavit/Lost Warrants
• Agenda, Board of Supervisors
• Agenda, Planning Commission
• Aggregate Mining Operation Permits
• Agricultural Information
• Agricultural Preserve Application
• Air Quality
• Air Quality Complaints
• Alcohol & Other Drug Programs
• Animal Adoption
• Animal Shelter
• Animal/pet Adoptions
• Archeological Commission
• Asbestos Info & Regulation
• Asphalt Production Permit
• Assessment Appeals Board
• Auto Body Shop Permits
• Bids/Requests for Proposal/RFPs
• Birth Certificate Copies
• Birth Registration
• Board of Supervisors
• Boards and Commissions
• Boiler Permits
• Bookmobile
• Boundary Line Adjustments
• Building Inspection
• Building Permits
• Burial Permits
• Burn Day Information
• Burn Permits
• Business License
• Business License
• CalWORKs
• Candidate for Public Office
• Cannabis Cultivation
• Cannabis Cultivation FAQ
• Cannabis Permits And Licenses
• Cement Storage/Concrete Production Permits
• Certificates of Compliance
• Child Abuse Reporting
• Child Protective Services
• Child Support
• Claims Against the County
• Coastal Development Permits
• Code Enforcement
• Communicable Disease (CD) Reporting
• Concealed Weapon permit
• Construction and Building Permits
• County Budget
• County Code
• County Roads
• Criminal Defense
• Death Certificate
• Death Certificates|Copies
• Debts to County-Courts
• Deeds of Property
• Demolition/Renovation Authorization
• Diesel Engine Permits
• Dimensions of Property
• Dry Cleaning Facility Permits
• eBooks & Entertainment
• Elder Abuse Reporting
• Elections
• Emergency Medical Services
• Employee Benefits
• Employee Retirement
• Employment and Family Assistance
• Employment Application
• Employment Training
• Employment Verification
• Encroachment Permits
• Explosives Permit
• Fictitious Business Names
• Filming Permits
• Financial Data
• Fingerprinting
• Food Facility Inspections
• Food Stamps
• Gasoline Station Permits
• General Plan
• Generator Permits
• Grading Permits
• Grand Jury Reports
• Gravel Extraction
• Hazardous Materials Program
• Historical Information
• HIV/AIDS Program
• House Numbering
• Immunization Clinic
• In Home Supportive Services
• Insect Identification
• Jobs
• Juvenile Hall
• Juvenile Probation
• Labor Relations
• Library
• Library Services
• Livestock Management
• Lot Line Adjustments
• Maps
• Marriage Ceremonies
• Marriage Certificate
• Marriage Certificates-Copies
• Marriage License-Issued
• Master Fee Schedule
• Medi-Cal/CMSP Eligibility
• Mental Illness Treatment
• Merger/Un-Merger of Parcels
• Microfilm/Fiche Readers
• Organic Program
• Parcel Maps
• Parks Information
• Payroll
• Permit Processing
• Pesticide Use
• Pet License
• Planning Commission
• Plant Identification & Diseases
• Plant Quarantines
• Polling Place
• Pond Permits/Exemptions
• Population & Housing Estimate
• Precinct Information
• Prisoner Information
• Property Exemptions
• Property Tax
• Property Tax Collection
• Public Defense (Indigent)
• Public Guardian/Conservator
• Public Records Request
• Purchasing for County
• Rabies Control
• Real Estate Properties Auction
• Recorded Documents
• Recruitment
• Recycling
• Refuse Disposal
• Renovation/Demolition Authorization
• Report a Crime Anonymously
• Requests for Proposal/Bids
• Restaurant Health Inspections
• Restaurant Inspections
• Retirement ' Employees
• Retirement Funds & Info.
• Rezoning of Land
• Road Maintenance
• Sand Blasting Permits
• Sanitation
• Septic Tank Permits
• Special Districts Information
• Stormwater Regulations
• Subdivision of Land
• Surveyor, County
• Swimming Pool Complaints- Public Pools
• Theft of County Funds
• Transient Occupancy Tax
• Transportation Permit
• Use of County Facilities
• Use Permits for Land Development
• Vehicles, Abandoned
• Vendor Registration
• Veteran Benefits
• Victim Witness
• Voter Registration
• Water Testing
• Weights & Measures
• Welfare Checks (Held)
• Well Permits
• WIC Program
• Worker's Compensation
• Zoning

And:

https://www.co.mendocino.ca.us/departments.htm

NOTES FROM A SMALL BOONVILLE FARM

Petit Teton Monthly Farm Report - June 2017

Hi all,

There are many difficulties in this farming gig...hard labor, of course, both in the fields and in prepping and setting up for markets twice a week, which leads to broken fingernails, pulled muscles, cuts, bruises, bug bites and sunburn; the inconvenient surprises of the unpleasant variety including broken septic, leaking plumbing, escaped animals, and downed fences, to name a few; and the really painful and unexpected ones about death - dead animals or wounded animals which need to be put down and drought-caused fruit tree deaths (our hand grafted babies)...but the direct and personal connection with nature and animals overrides all difficulties and makes every day an adventure and a wonder.

Today on the way to open the coops and feed the chickens I saw the four swallow chicks, just fledged from the nest above our entryway, huddled on the handle of an antique rototiller in the cactus garden across from our front door (see picture Juan took) while mom and dad sat, high up on fence posts, guarding them one on either side of the group. As I continued my walk to the swale coops I saw a flock of turkeys gobbling near the yaks who were at the fence awaiting their breakfast of hay flakes just as Duster, the cat, wandered past on her morning gopher hunt. ChiChi, the dog watched the scene with me, not interested in chasing anyone because it was too early and nothing was out of order.

The barn swallows have been a great pleasure to observe over the past two months. How they chose to place their nest right above our front door, I don't know, but it was a wise choice since we've done everything possible to protect them from predators. It took mom and dad nearly a month to build the clay and straw nest which clings to a perpendicular board of the roof soffit and looks like a small half-cone or sconce. They collected the mud from a nearby pond and straw from the chicken pens across the driveway and slowly glued it to the board one beakful at a time. We watched from our locked front gateway and kept track of the parents sitting on the eggs by the tail feathers that stuck up above the rim. We knew the chicks had hatched when mom and dad started doing endless fly ins to feed them. Soon we could see four wide open white beaks rimming the nest and after a week or so could hear them peeping.

As soon as the eggs were laid, a scrub jay was lurking nearby to steal them or the chicks once they hatched. Happily, when we're indoors, ChiChi lies at our doorway to guard us from intruders serving as protection against the scrub jay also. But as the pile of poop grew taller we decided to fence the dog out since we knew, she too, would love to eat any chick foolish enough to fall out of the nest. Besides, who wants bird poop in her fur? The furious and protective parents would swoop at ChiChi's head any time she'd wander close to the fence but now that they've flown the coop and only return to sleep at night, all's well. We see them in the fields and on the telephone wires and zipping about but soon they'll be ready to fly away since they're a seasonal species only appearing in the later spring. We're hoping to have five nests at our doorway next season.

Nikki Auschnitt and Steve Kreig

LIBRARY LINES

The Anderson Valley library's last open day will be Tuesday, August 1st. So come on in and get your summer reading. Our book sale is continuing until July 29th. We are located in the Home Arts Bldg. at the Fairgrounds. We charge $3 a year per family membership. Hours are Tuesday 1:30-4:30 and Saturday from 2-4.

Thank you,

Elizabeth Dusenberry

CATCH OF THE DAY, July 23, 2017

MICHAEL ALEXANDER, Elk Grove/Ukiah. Hit&run with property damage.

BROCK FULMER, Potter Valley. Pot possession for sale.

LAUREN GRANT, Phoenix/Ukiah. Suspended license.

WILLIAM HOLT, Ukiah. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

LUCY LINCOLN, Covelo. Harboring a principle wanted in a felony, controlled substance, probation revocation.

WILLIAM PARKER, Willits. Stolen vehicle, probation revocation.

JEREMIAH RAY, Covelo. Harboring a principle wanted in a felony, probation revocation.

MARCOS RODRIGUEZ-TURNER, Ukiah. Domestic battery.

CARLOS WHITE, Ukiah. Threat of injury made to officer in perforances of his duties, counterfeiting, under influence, concealed dirk-dagger, convicted of certain misdemeanor with ten years: own/possess/receive, probation revocation. (Frequent flyer.)

MARK WHITTAKER, Kelseyville/Fort Bragg. Kidnapping, rape, aggravated assault, kidnapping for robbery-rape, human trafficking to obtain forced labor or service.

FEW COMFORTS FOR OLD MEN, A TRAVELOGUE (Part 2 of 4)

by Jake Rohrer

“Jacobus!” calls out Harry from the porch as I pull in alongside the house.  “Harribus!” I call, returning the greeting. These playful bynames have sprung up between us over the years, as though Jacobus and Harribus are third-persons of ourselves, informal beings who represent our true natures and likes, void of rules, social requirements, or expectations we remember from our past lives, encompassing humor and all that we've brought forth from our experience that is intellectually worthy, morally upright and artfully rewarding.

We have much in common, but our foremost bond has been music, especially guitar pickers and boogie woogie piano players. Our appreciation of Doc Watson and Mississippi John Hurt as guitar players is close to worship; and of Pete Johnson, Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis, “The Holy Trinity” Harry calls them, regarded among the finest purveyors of boogie woogie piano. There is of course a whole world of music beyond these favorites that gets our favor and attention as well, and there seems to be what I call an “earth-connection” to all of it, music that radiates and breathes its origins when you hear it, having nothing to do with generation and everything to do with the heart and soul of those who create it, music that will live for lifetimes.

About two years ago I came into possession of a number of audio cassette tapes containing broadcasts from legendary radio station KFAT, “The Wide Spot on your Dial” (1975-83; Gilroy, CA), whose range of genre encompassed everything from western swing, to early blues, to 50's rock & roll, hillbilly, rockabilly, country, bluegrass, folk, early and traditional jazz, stride, boogie woogie and blues piano, Hawaiian, Tex-Mex—you name it. What it all had in common was that it was “fat,” the expression the station used for music worthy of its broadcast. This was the station that occasionally compelled me to pull to the side of the road so I could write down the name of an artist or a song when I heard something that grabbed my attention and wouldn't let go. I painstakingly mastered the best of what I had onto a series of CDs and passed them out to friends who I believed would appreciate the music of KFAT, knowing particularly that Harry would be  captivated. He says music that doesn't make the grade, lacking soul and connection, is “unclear on the concept.”

Among many things, Harry is also a fine cook and I have never come from his kitchen without learning something new and worthwhile, nor from his table without an acute appreciation for what I had been served. I had only three days in the company of my beloved friend before I was to leave for Napa and the second half of my journey. We would spend our time together as always, around food, conversation, music, and our now tempered vices. We no longer go fishing as we once did, too much work for old men who really don't want to kill anything, not even a fish. We seated ourselves in the gazebo, ringed with evergreens and overlooking distant Canadian islands and the strait that serves as a northern gateway to the Pacific, ravens and an occasional eagle overhead, fishing vessels and a tanker plying the waters below, a magical panorama.

“Mannerly of you, Harribus, my old friend, to offer me some of your joint, but at the moment I'd prefer a glass of wine.” Harry can no longer tolerate the fine red wines we used to enjoy when he lived in the Napa Valley, but he's right at home with a joint, or a dark beer known as a Porter, or an occasional jigger of Irish whiskey. I no longer engage cannabis with the frequency I once did, but still indulge in a toke or two now and then if the mood strikes me. Neither of us is tempted, and haven't been for decades—not even remotely—by the cocaine we once used all those years ago, considering that era and indulgence, apart from some fine musical interludes, mostly wasted time. I save Harry the trouble of serving me and rummage through his kitchen until I find a bottle of what looks to be a nice Washington cabernet and pour myself a glass.

Soon enough I pick up Harry's vintage Martin guitar and pick the Freight Train song and a couple of selections from my John Hurt repertoire. The Martin feels like an old friend, and indeed it is. I've always loved playing that guitar. Here's an example of what true friendship is all about: Harry offered that fine Martin guitar to me, to take with me on loan, for those few years I spent in the federal pen for drug transgressions, greatly enhancing the time spent. I left my Gibson Dove with Harry, a fanciful-looking guitar but lacking the Martin's resonant soul and playability. Before the afternoon passed us by, Harry banged out some classic boogie woogie on the baby-grand that has a place of honor in the living room among countless and memorable possessions of a lifetime, strewn casually about the house. He still has a great left hand (though right-handed), reminding me of  the praise among a lot of pickers I've known for John Hurt's right thumb, able to keep time in a dexterous and extraordinary manner. Harry had the whole house jumping to the Raven's Haven Boogie Woogie Stomp, a goofy smile on his face that spoke to his love of the music coming out of him.

For dinner we were joined by one of his nearby friends, Bette, a delightful woman who belies her purported eighty years. Harry grilled fresh local halibut and served it with a pasta dish and veggies, along with various aperitifs, antipastos, tidbits and hors d' oeuvres. It had been more than five years since Harry and I had seen one another but it felt like only days, our celebrations of life and one another fully intact.

For all the years we've known each other, Harry's been a lawyer. He was practicing labor law in San Francisco when I first met him and several years later he moved his home and practice to the Napa Valley where he resided with his lady friend, Pam, at “Masked Man Ranch.” A smart and enlightened woman, it was she who introduced me to Harry, recognizing our similarities and likes, knowing we'd hit it off.  I believe Raven's Haven will be Harry's final setting in life, there for the long haul in the great Pacific Northwest where he grew up. I don't know what he called his home when he lived in Marin County, but I am certain it had a name and a personality that fit Harry, like Harribus, Masked Man Ranch, and Raven's Haven. He's an educated man with graduate and law degrees from heady institutions. In contrast the only degrees I hold are honorary, citing completion of a stint at a Federal Correctional Institution and a release from parole, forever branding me a felon. Harry nonetheless alleges a certain value to my honorarium, thinking it somehow relevant to my search for a full and rewarding life. He is also an experienced stage actor and a storyteller with a unique and wonderful sense of humor, a bright humanitarian, and a worthy opponent if you happen to be sitting across from him at the negotiating table, a hard man to bullshit. I also find it typical of Harry that he doesn't own a television. How on earth can he follow the near-daily outrages of our president without MSNBC to guide him?

Harry would sometimes tell me stories of his lawyering from bygone years, many of them humorous in a mild locker-room sort of way. When loggers feared the protectors of the environment would put them out of business, he told me of their rallying cry: “Now you can wipe your ass with a spotted owl because there won't be any more toilet paper!”  I don't recall if he actually represented one side or the other in that struggle, or if he was merely following the dispute as a matter of professional curiosity; what I recall most is his delight and laugh at the motto which made its point, tough, divisive and humorous all at the same time.

Representing heavy equipment operators in a San Francisco labor dispute, his crusty, belligerent and blustering legal opponent told him in response to a client settlement proposal, “You can auger them the gristle with that!” Years ago I thought “Auger the Gristle” was some misogynistic character of legend before Harry gave me a brief rundown on how otherwise to interpret what was meant: his opponent was telling him that his clients could bend over and accept defeat along with a certain humiliation. As it turned out, Harry won the case handily. “We augered them the gristle,” he said.

Harry sent me on my way with a pancake breakfast, complimented with bacon and fresh fruits. He came out to the porch to wave me on my journey as I loaded my stuff into the rental car.  He moves slower than he did five years ago and carries himself slightly askew from upright, favoring some joints (no pun) over others, but his smile and spirit are undeterred. Bless you, Harry Andrew Jackson, and thank you for your friendship and for making my life a richer and more rewarding experience than it otherwise would have been. So long my friend, “'Til we meet here again or above,” says one hillbilly gospel song.

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

I sort of agree that the overall human condition does not change as much as we would like to think it does sometimes but to say that what we are living through now is no more chaotic than previous times is wrong.

Previous times experience bad things like pestilence starvation war and disease but hope for better times was real and legitimate because the earth had room to grow and resources were not depleted.

Now we are overpopulated and relative to other times completely dis-empowered. Technology has destroyed the possibility of revolution and change because it has solidly entrenched the existing order.

“Turn on, tune in, drop out” was once a possibility but now dropping out only means you are a bum. There is no place to drop into once you drop out and only the matrix remains.

SOCIAL SECURITY, THE 14TH AMENDMENT AND ODIOUS DEBT

Editor,

The Republican Party prepares to violate the 14^th Amendment to the US Constitution:  Social Security — the 14^th amendment and “odious debt.”

For decades the working people have been paying millions more than was needed into Social Security and for years the excess money has been borrowed by the government.  Presently there is almost $3 trillion owed by the government to the Social Security Trust Fund.  The Republican Party now controls the government and has a budget plan that will give less than was promised to millions of people who have paid excess into Social Security for years[1].  This proposed budget is in fact a default on the debt owed to the Social Security Trust Fund and the people of the United States. The proposed Republican budget cut to Social Security is a violation of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. The 14^th amendment reads as follows: “the validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, includes debts incurred for payments of pensions….. shall not be questioned.”

For decades the politicians have not only borrowed from Social Security to run the government, but 70% of the national debt has been borrowed from banks, financial institutions, corporations and rich individuals.  The politicians borrowed because instead of taxing the rich banks and corporations, they cut their taxes.  As a result, workers taxes and Social Security payments provide almost 90% of the federal government’s revenues[2].  Over decades the politicians have allowed major corporations to escape paying billions in taxes, they have given subsidies in the billions to corporations and agribusiness, and they have allowed tax breaks for the oil and gas companies in the billions of dollars[3]. The Government has also spent trillions of dollars for multiple wars and on bailing out banks and insurance companies.

Politicians have borrowed money and spent it on the military industrial complex. Over half the national budget goes to the military in spite of the fact that over the past 46 years the general population has been opposed to the government’s decision to spend so much money on the military[4], and have repeatedly indicated that they would rather  the money be spent on social services, healthcare and education.

A 2014 study by Princeton University came to the conclusion that the majority of the American public actually has little influence over the policies the government adopts.  The study concluded that  “economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impact on US government policies while the average citizen have little or no independent influence.”[5]

Politicians now tell us that there is too much debt and they want to pay off the creditors rather than provide public service to the average citizen.  This debt is clearly against the interests of the general population.  This debt was obtained without the people’s consent and with the full awareness of the creditors. Thus this fulfills the International Legal Definition of an “odious debt”.  We the people  have no obligation to pay and consider this debt invalid.  We will not pay this debt; the rich who benefited from this debt must repay it!

Stand together for a Stronger, Improved and Expanded Social Security!

Dr. Nayvin Gordon

Oakland

(PS. Dr. Gordon is a Family Physician in California who has written many articles on Health and Politics. gordonnayvin@yahoo.com.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] New York Times, July 19, 2017

[2] The White House Office of Management and Budget, “Historical Tables”, Table2.1  https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals/

[3] Take The Rich of Welfare, by Mark Zepezaur and Arthur Naiman.1996; The New York Times, 3/10/17

[4] http://www.gallup.com/poll/181628/americans-split-defense-spending.aspx

[5] Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens, by Martin Gilens, and Benjamin I. Page, American Political Science Association 2014

HOW ISRAEL'S 10 YEAR BLOCKADE BROUGHT GAZA TO THE BRINK OF COLLAPSE

https://www.thenation.com/article/how-israels-10-year-blockade-brought-gaza-to-the-brink-of-collapse/

WILL CIA END SUPPORT FOR REBELS IN SYRIA?

Reuters reports: "Trump ends CIA arms support for anti-Assad Syria rebels: U.S. officials."

As a CIA analyst for 27 years, McGovern led the Soviet Foreign Policy Branch and, during President Ronald Reagan’s first term, conducted the early morning briefings with the President’s Daily Brief.

He recently wrote the piece "The Syrian Test of Trump-Putin Accord" for Consortium News, which states: "The U.S. mainstream media remains obsessed over Russia’s alleged 'meddling' in last fall’s election, but the real test of bilateral cooperation may come on the cease-fire in Syria."

McGovern writes: "The immediate prospect for significant improvement in U.S.-Russia relations now depends on something tangible: Will the forces that sabotaged previous ceasefire agreements in Syria succeed in doing so again, all the better to keep alive the 'regime change' dreams of the neoconservatives and liberal interventionists? ...

"Last fall’s limited ceasefire in Syria, painstakingly worked out over 11 months by Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and approved personally by Presidents Obama and Putin, lasted only five days (from Sept. 12-17) before it was scuttled by 'coalition' air strikes on well-known, fixed Syrian army positions, which killed between 64 and 84 Syrian troops and wounded about 100 others."

McGovern now works with Tell the Word, a publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington. He serves on the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).

Also see from Gareth Porter "How America Armed Terrorists in Syria" for the American Conservative.