Mendocino County Today: Wednesday, Sep. 6, 2017

THREE TEENS SHOT

(Mendocino County Sheriff's Office - Press Release)

Crime/Incident: 664/187 PC [Attempted Murder]

Location: Lake Mendocino Drive at Portlock Lane, Ukiah CA 95482

Date of Incident: 09/05/2017

Time: 6:39 PM

Victim(s): 18 year old male, Ukiah CA
17 year old male, Ukiah, CA
17 year old male, Ukiah, CA

Suspect(s): Three (3) Hispanic males, late teens or young adults, no further description

Written By: Lieutenant Shannon Barney

Synopsis: On 9/5/2017 around 6:39 PM, Mendocino County Sheriff Deputies were dispatched to a report of gunfire with three young males being shot at the intersection of Portlock Lane and Lake Mendocino Drive in Ukiah. Deputies responded to the area where they learned two 17 year old males and one 18 year old male had all been shot at least one time by what has been described as three young Hispanic males, either in their late teens or early twenties. One victim sustained a gunshot wound to the chest, one a gunshot wound to the leg, and the third victim suffered a gunshot wound to the groin area. The three victims appear to have been shot while walking on Lake Mendocino Drive. All three victims were transported to various hospitals to be treated for their wounds. Initial contacts indicate the three victims appear to be uncooperative with law enforcement.

Sheriff's Detectives were called to the scene, which is in the roadway near the above intersection. Lake Mendocino Drive has been closed while law enforcement crime scene work is being conducted on the roadway. At this time it is unknown if the suspects were in a vehicle or on foot. At this time it is unknown if there was one shooter or more than one shooter. The shooting does appear to be gang related. The Mendocino Multi-Agency Gang Suppression Unit was called to assist the Mendocino County Sheriff's Detectives with the investigation.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff's Communications Center at 707-463-4086 of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Tip Line at 707-234-2100.

===============================

AIR QUALITY ADVISORY LIFTED

North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District:

An air quality ADVISORY has been issued for today, but there are no longer any air quality ALERTs currently in effect. Smoke dispersion conditions will improve significantly with the arrival of cooler temperatures and South winds through Thursday. The arrival of this system will bring forecasted scattered to isolated thunderstorms mainly in Eastern Humboldt, Del Norte, and Trinity Counties. With the Southeasterly flow there is a possibility that some of this moisture may reach the coast.

In addition to smoke from inland fires, the smoke from the Chetco Bar Fire in southern Oregon will remain localized (affecting mainly Smith River) and move northward.

For further information, visit the District’s website at www.ncuaqmd.org

===============================

LORETTA ANN ELVIN HOLSTEN HERRON

October 25 1914 - July 21 2017

Loretta Ann Elvin Holsten Herron peacefully passed away on July 21, 2017 at her home in Napa, California. Loretta was born in Vallejo, California on October 25, 1914. She was raised in Vallejo by her parents, James Howard and Genevieve Elvin. Loretta had two beloved younger sisters, Genevieve and Barbara, who both predeceased her. Her first husband of 42 years, “Red” Wilbur Holsten, predeceased her in 1982. Loretta’s second husband, James Herron, predeceased her in 2014.

She attended Catholic schools at St. Vincent’s in Vallejo until her final year of high school when she transferred to Vallejo High School to take a concentrated business course of study. She also studied dance for many years and performed in the local area. Loretta graduated from Vallejo High School and entered the work world with great enthusiasm. Her work over the years included writing for the Vallejo Times Herald and eventually wrote for the Society Column. She also worked at the JC Penney store in Vallejo in the business office and for Sperry Mills as one of the executive secretaries. One job that she was very proud of was when she worked for the Department of Employment. At that time, this was a federal office. When the time came for the shift to the California State Department of Employment, there was a mandatory test for those wishing to continue in Management. She successfully passed and became one of only two women managers in the state of California. Loretta transferred to the Woodland Office Department of Employment where she lived with family friends and continued to send money to her parents. One memory of that time was how desperate people were for work. When individuals were able to secure a job, they often dropped by to say “thank you”. A particularly memorable thank you was when a young man brought Loretta a live chicken to show his gratitude. That was quite a day at the office! Loretta and friends spent free time going to the large dance halls in the Bay Area to dance the night away to the Big Band sounds of the era.

Loretta married her high school boyfriend, “Red” Wilbur Holsten in 1940 where they resided in Vallejo. When Loretta and Red had their first child, Joan, she made the decision to stay at home and raise their daughter. She, together with her husband, Red, and daughter, Joan, made a big move to the Anderson Valley in 1953 where they finished building the Philo Motel. They purchased the motel from Loretta’s sister, Barbara, and Barbara’s husband Fred Vierke. Red worked at the Philo Lumber Mill and Loretta ran the motel. It was during this time that Loretta joined the Unity Club and started working on the musical Variety shows. Her mother, Genevieve Elvin, was a valley favorite when she joined the productions! Loretta and Red expanded their family with twins, Lorene and Jamey, in 1956.

Loretta and family left the valley in 1958 to live in Napa. They never forgot the Anderson Valley and returned regularly for visits with dear friends in Philo and Boonville. Loretta and Red retired to Boonville in 1976 where they purchased the Boonville Emporium and were both very active in the community. Loretta was an avid student of Boontling. She could be seen at the Emporium telling tourists about the rich culture of the valley and its unique language. One favorite story is when she stood on a tourist bus telling the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears in English and then in Boontling and then listening to the tour guide translate the tale into Japanese! Loretta wrote and directed the very talented local musicians and actors in numerous Boontown Players productions. These years were some of Loretta’s favorites. She loved the challenge of working with others to put on the musical shows to benefit local groups and organizations in the valley. Loretta was an active member of the Anderson Valley Historical Society and the Chamber of Commerce. Red unexpectedly passed away in 1982. Loretta eventually sold the Boonville Emporium. She married her second husband, James Herron. They moved to Corona, California and remained there for ten years until returning north to Napa. In Corona, Loretta pursued her love of painting scenes of flowers and landscapes. Loretta won a number of local, regional, and state awards for her paintings while in Corona. Loretta continued to paint and finished her last painting of Bodega Bay at 101 years of age. Bodega Bay was a favorite destination for painting inspiration. One of her paintings of the local Little Red Schoolhouse is displayed in the Anderson Valley Historical Museum in Boonville, California.

Loretta is survived by her three daughters, Joan Jorgenson, Lorene Peterson (Todd), and Jamey Myers; her four grandchildren are Lisa Doshier (David), Alex Myers (Leslie) , Erin Myers, and Sean Peterson; her three great grandchildren are Sam and Ted Doshier and Rutherford “Ford” Myers. Loretta joyfully held and laughed with her 5-month old great-grandson, Ford, just a few weeks before her passing.

Our mother tackled life with a funny, joyful, and determined spirit each and every day. She loved learning and challenging herself and all of us to be the best that we could be. Her passions were dancing in her younger years, painting, friends, and family. Boonville and the Anderson Valley held a special and very important place in her heart. Loretta dearly loved her family and was loved in return.

The family will lay Loretta’s ashes to rest at the Evergreen Cemetery in Boonville.

Loretta with her husband, Red Holsten, as owners of the Boonville Emporium.

Loretta in the center. She is flanked by her mother, Genevieve Elvin, on the left and friend, Alice Gallagher, on the right performing in 1954 in a Unity Club Variety Show.

1954 Unity Club Variety Show performed in the valley.

Loretta as a young woman.

===============================

NO, NO KATINA

On 08-24-2017 Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a disturbance involving Katina Gowan, 44, of Philo, at a residence in the 6800 block of Highway 128 in Philo. Deputies arrived at the residence however Gowan had left in a vehicle prior to their arrival. Deputies searched the area and located Gowan parked in her vehicle not far from her residence. While speaking with Gowan, Deputies observed she was displaying symptoms of illicit drug usage. Gowan was determined to be under the influence of a controlled substance and a loaded .22 caliber rifle was found inside the vehicle. Gowan was arrested for Under influence of controlled substance and in possession of firearm and booked into the Mendocino County Jail where she was to be held in lieu of $15,000 bail.

===============================

VAN, VAN… IS THAT YOU?

Editor,

Statues and nut jobs—

I think that this country should treat the Confederate statues the same way the former Soviet block nations treated their statues after the fall of communism: put them in museums, in the basement, guarding the bathrooms…

On another note, have you heard of the legend of the poor person wandering the streets mumbling the same line over and over: "That was Van Morrison… from the coast!" I'm hoping that Sheriff Allman's Measure B proposal related to mental health will somehow help put a stop to this rampant insanity.

Kirk Vodopals

From the Deep End

===============================

QUICK BOOK REVIEW,

"My Absolute Darling" by Gabriel Tallent.

"Poised to become the breakout debut of the year." —The New York Times"Nearly impossible to put down." —NPR"The word 'masterpiece' has been cheapened by too many blurbs, but My Absolute Darling absolutely is one." —Stephen King

* * *

The author grew up on the Mendocino Coast. His book has received rave notices and is blurbed by Stephen King. It's about a violent male psycho and his incestuous relationship with his 14-year-old daughter, who "has never been south of the Navarro River, and never north of the Mattole." The women in the novel are all brilliant, warm and nurturing, as liberal Mendo will be thrilled to read, as the book becomes a local best seller.

THIS IS THE WORST NOVEL I've ever read, but hey! if you think 14-year-olds talk like this, Darling is the novel for you:

"We could farm mealworms," Jacob says, warming to the idea, "our Styrofoam deserts. They can subsist entirely on plastic. I can see us now: farming our mealworms by day, and by night reading Plato aloud to one another beneath the constellations of a foreign sky, accompanied by the vast grind of an entire continent of plastic bottles churning in the current and by the ethereal whisperings of grocery bags saltating across the mounded plastic dunes."

PLEASE PRAY for American lit if this is the future of it. Just sayin', but the author's mom is a writer affixed somewhere to the Stanford faculty, and a lot of the prose here is strictly writer's workshop-precious: "They climb onto a stone causeway that runs into the surf, standing just above the water. The stone is the pitted black of cast iron and old tide pools have left crusted rings of salt. Springs from the sandstone bluffs above the leach out across it in trails of shaggy green algae, where minute frogs watch the ocean. (Ed note: How the fuck do you know what the frogs are looking at?) At its tip, this long arm of rock is capped with a forest of knee-high sea palms...."

THERE ARE LOTS of psychos raising children in Mendocino County; Albion all by itself teems with cho-mo's. But the psycho depicted here is a totally implausible, politically correct compendium of Evil Male as conceived in the Women's Lit faculty lounge, and faithfully transcribed by a son raised, as the book jacket tells us, "by two mothers."

UNABLE to endure so much as one more false line, I dropped out when one of the little twits name-dropped Angela Carter, and if you think a 14-year-old would know who she is, again, this is the book for you, a book that makes the Mendo lit oeuvre even skinnier.

I ASKED a female writer for her opinion:

Not only have I not read it, I hadn't even heard of it. Somebody gave me a book of stories by his mother a while ago, and I found the writing solemn and mediocre, contaminated with politically correct 'messages.' And now that I think about it, the one story of hers I read had a similar theme to her son's novel, I gather after reading some online page about it. The blurb I just read ended with this gag-me treacle: Turtle’s escalating acts of physical and emotional courage, the reader watches, heart in throat, as this teenage girl struggles to become her own hero—and in the process, becomes ours as well."/ And Stephen King compares it to CATCH-22 and TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD? Somebody must be holding him hostage with a gun to his head. Send a SWAT team to Maine immediately. I swear to Christ, this kind of shit is turning me bitterer than Mark Twain on his deathbed.

THANK the goddess there's still a few Americans out there who can read:

From an Amazon.com on-line review:

Pretentious self-indulgence — Wow. What a ridiculous book. Proof of the complete phony intellectual posturing of some people. Disregarding the obvious tragedy and emotional power of a young confused girl being sexually terrorized by her monster father, this simple child, unable to understand middle-school vocabulary words, nevertheless thinks to herself in terms, concepts and language that would be more appropriate for a college senior English lit major. Two high school freshmen she encounters in the woods speak to,each other and her in similar complex terms. Really? Other than throwing in a "dude!" here and there, their conversations bear absolutely no resemblance to ANY high-school-freshman conversation that has ever taken place. Four chapters into the book the utter absurdity of the "thoughts" and "conversations" described completely killed any interest I had in finishing. The high praise and 5 star reviews of this claptrap ought to embarrass anyone who actually posted any such review.

===============================

WE GOT TO WITNESS first hand the problem with the homeless and the business people in the Central Business District. We were in Los Gallitos having an early lunch when a skinny toothless very smelly guy came in asking to use the bathroom. The waitress let him use it, he then came out and grabbed a beer out of the cold case but could not figure out how to open it. He then sat a table and started ordering food and then had a loud fit with the server because they did not have chorizo. She told him they had it next door at their other restaurant. He started yelling at her and the owner woman came out from the kitchen and asked him if he had money to pay for the food? He screamed no ! She told him to leave. He then started screaming on the way out the door he was going to destroy them! It was upsetting and ruined our only time out this weekend!

Julie McHenry, Fort Bragg

===============================

ARMED & DANGEROUS

On 08-26-2017 Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputies received information that Trevor Jackson, 34, of Redwood Valley, was observed walking on the property of a residence located in the 4800 block of Black Bart Trail in Redwood Valley.

Deputies knew Jackson was wanted for felony arrest warrants and considered him to be armed and dangerous. Deputies responded to the residence and set up a perimeter around the residence and property. While conducting a search of the property, Deputies located Jackson hiding in a tractor truck storage trailer on the property. Deputies surrounded the trailer and Jackson was taken into custody without incident. Jackson was booked into the Mendocino County Jail for First Degree Robbery & First Degree Burglary and was to be held in lieu of $700,000 bail.

===============================

LITTLE DOG SAYS, “So today a fire truck goes past and every dog in the neighborhood starts yowling. Except me. I think these group dog-offs are an embarrassment to our whole species. Makes us look real dumb.

===============================

TRAITOR MONUMENTS

Editor,

On August 26 the forum question of the East Bay Times was “Should monuments honoring confederate soldiers be removed from public display?” Most of the letters printed were ill-informed or mean. You can see them here.

http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/08/25/letter-writers-respond-in-big-way-to-confederate-statue-debate/

I wrote a reply which they ran today and I thought you might like to read it:

===============================

HUFFMAN ON TRUMP'S CHICKENSHIT ATTACK ON YOUNG PEOPLE

President Trump’s decision to terminate the DACA program is a cruel, broken promise that will harm hundreds of thousands of young immigrants who were brought here as children and have lived as Americans for their entire lives. When Trump promised to spare DREAMers from his unforgiving deportation plans, he was, yet again, blowing hot air. This is not just another broken Donald Trump promise, it’s a violation of the core values that America and our communities are built on.

These DREAMers have grown up in America: they’ve studied at our schools, enrolled in our universities, served in our military, and contribute every day to our economy and our society. Now President Trump — who pardoned Joe Arpaio for unforgivable racial profiling and violating a judge’s order — believes that these young people ought to be deported, or that they should stop working and instead disappear into the shadows.

Congress must now act to give the DREAMers a chance to earn their way to citizenship and stay in the country that they call home. This is a test for the leadership of the House and Senate: will we just hear empty expressions of concern, or will they actually take a stand and work with us to immediately bring the American Hope Act of 2017 to a vote, to protect these deserving young people from Donald Trump and set them on a path to earned citizenship. Congress needs to act now to fix our broken immigration system.

Every community around the country will feel the effect of Donald Trump’s reckless DACA reversal. In my own district, I have met with young DREAMers who are upstanding members of the community, including children whose parents are already facing deportation orders. I will continue to do everything in my power to defend these families from Donald Trump’s cowardly, destructive, and un-American decision to end the DACA program.”

Congressman Jared Huffman

* * *

What is DACA?

DACA is short for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which protects certain people who were brought into the country illegally as children from being deported. Former President Barack Obama launched the program in 2012, saying he wanted to provide a reprieve for young immigrants who have established lives in the U.S., often don’t know any other home, and sometimes don’t speak another language besides English. For those who qualify, deportation is deferred two years, with a chance to renew. Recipients can legally obtain work permits.

Who is covered by DACA?

About 800,000 people nationwide, and more than 200,000 in California, have been approved for DACA protection. To qualify, applicants must have been younger than 31 on June 15, 2012, when the program started, and have come to the U.S. before they were 16, living here continuously since at least June of 2007. The majority of recipients, often called Dreamers, are from Mexico.

What did President Trump do?

The Trump administration, which claims that Obama’s executive order creating DACA was an unconstitutional overreach, announced Tuesday that it would wind down the program, which will take a few years. Recipients will remain protected through their current term. But new applications for DACA will no longer be accepted, and those with current protection must renew their two-year legal status by Oct. 5. Starting March 5, tens of thousands of recipients will begin to see their status expire, and could be deported.

What happens next?

By ensuring there will be no deportations of DACA recipients for six months, the Trump administration is giving Congress time to pass legislation that would determine the fate of Dreamers. Many in Congress, including Republicans who favor tighter immigration policy such as House Speaker Paul Ryan and Arizona Sen. John McCain, have supported protection for DACA recipients, but lawmakers for years have been unable to reach consensus.

What happens to Dreamers?

If Congress doesn’t enact a policy by March 5, those who lose protection will be subject to removal. Trump said he told immigration officials that DACA recipients should not be considered priorities for deportation “unless they are criminals, are involved in criminal activity, or are members of a gang.” But since Trump took office, the government has deported people without criminal records.

===============================

LOUIS BEDROCK RECOMMENDS:

Department of Unsolicited Suggestions:

1. Yesterday I did a 35 mile bike ride and the ensuing endorfin high impelled me to post about 20 comments in the AVA. 20 comments are too many. Maybe we should all be restricted to two or three comments daily. This would force us, one would hope, to be more concise and also to not waste our comments on insults or snide remarks. ( I plea guilty with extenuating circumstances. One should not ride his bike and post comments on the same day.)
2. You might find this interview interesting. I sure as hell did. I like Kuntsler.

http://prn.fm/resistance-radio-guest-james-howard-kunstler-09-03-17/

===============================

CATCH OF THE DAY, September 5, 2017

FRANCISCO BARAJAS, Ukiah. Brandishing, probation revocation.

ROBERT BROCKWAY III, Laytonville. Felon-addict in possession of firearm, concealed dirk-dagger, evasion, probation revocation.

JOSE CORNEJO, Ukiah. Vandalism.

JENNIFER CRAM, Ukiah. Stolen property, failure to appear, probation revocation.

JONI DEARING, Fort Bragg. Under influence, probation revocation. (Frequent Flyer)

ALEXIS FERNANDEZ, Talmage. Vandalism.

AARON GONZALEZ, Ukiah. Resisting.

JUAN LOPEZ, Ukiah. Domestic abuse, community supervision violation.

JACOBO MUNOZ, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

ELIAS RUTHERFORD, Laytonville. Under influence, controlled substance, paraphernalia, failure to appear, probation revocation.

RONALD TEGTMEYER, Las Vegas/Comptche. DUI.

RONALD VALENTINE JR., Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol. (Frequent Flyer)

===============================

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

When I worked in the auto industry, it was on the service/warranty side, not new car sales where the real action is. So I don’t have serious dirt, but channel-stuffing (i.e. ramming new vehicle inventory down dealers’ throats whether they wanted it or not) was a way of life.

You live and die by the sales targets. Are we making the nut for this month or not? The monthly target is always a few percent higher than the same month last year, after you adjust for the number of selling days. (I.e. a 30-day month that begins on a Saturday will end on a Sunday, leaving 20 weekdays to do your selling; but if it begins on a Monday then it ends on a Tuesday and you have 22 selling days, so you had better have 10% more sales that month and then add the targeted growth rate on top.) The targets accumulate year-to-date, so if you have a good month that gives you an edge to maybe survive a slow month to come. On and on it goes, a never-ending treadmill.

Summer 2008 was memorable first because as credit dried up, we stopped offering leases and went to sales only (i.e. getting out of the liability to take the vehicle back and figure out how to re-sell it after the lease expired). Then sales tanked as well, and all my metrics went haywire as the denominator (# of vehicles sold) dropped off a cliff. Fun times.

I guarantee you a lot of mid-level regional sales managers whose territories cover southeast Texas are heaving a sigh of relief — those whose own homes didn’t flood, anyway. Their lives for the rest of this year just got a lot easier.

===============================

“HAPPY. Just in my swim shorts, barefooted, wild-haired, in the red fire dark, singing, swigging wine, spitting, jumping, running—that's the way to live. All alone and free in the soft sands of the beach by the sigh of the sea out there, with the Ma-Wink fallopian virgin warm stars reflecting on the outer channel fluid belly waters. And if your cans are redhot and you can't hold them in your hands, just use good old railroad gloves, that's all.”

Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums

===============================

DIE-IN AT WOODY'S

Die-in" rally in support of SB-562, the Healthy California Act

The barrier to Health Care as a Human Right isn’t cost, it’s politics.

On Wed Sept 13 at 12pm please come to Jim Wood's office at 200 South State St. Ukiah valley Conference Center) to add your voice to the growing support for SB 562.

SB 562 <http://www.healthycaliforniaact.org/> would create a single-payer "Medicare for All" health care system in CA. It has already passed the CA state senate, and is now stalled in the CA Assembly.

Sept 14 is the deadline to get SB562 into committee, where evidence, hearings and testimony could heard and amendments offered.

Join the North Coast People’s Alliance, the Green Parties of Mendocino & Humboldt Counties, Health Care for All -- Humboldt, California Nurses Association, CA Nurses United, National Nurses United, and many others to voice your support of Health Care as a Human RIght, and your disappointment in Assembly person Jim Wood for refusing to support SB 562. Wear all black if you can, and bring signs if you have them!

Let him know that we demand that he do what we elected him to do. This is an issue that transcends partisan politics - let's all come together at this pivotal moment to fight for universal access to basic primary care! Wed, Sept 13

12pm-2pm Rally outside Jim Wood's office 200 South State St in Ukiah (the air conditioned Ukiah Valley Conference Center)

===============================

WHO SAYS THE RIGHTWING CAN'T BE FUNNY?

Finally Feeling Safe!

I took down my Rebel flag (which you can't buy on eBay any more) and peeled the NRA sticker off my front window. I disconnected my home alarm system and quit the candy-ass Neighborhood Watch. I bought two Pakistani flags and put one at each corner of the front yard. Then I purchased the black flag of ISIS (which you CAN buy on eBay) and ran it up the flag pole. Now the local police, sheriff, FBI, CIA, NSA, Homeland Security, Secret Service, and other agencies are all watching my house 24/7. I've never felt safer and I'm saving $69.95 a month that ADT used to charge me. Plus, I bought burkas for me to wear when I shop or travel. Everyone moves out of the way, and security can't pat me down. If they say I'm a male wearing a burka, I just say I'm feeling like a woman today. Safe at last! Is this a great country or what?

===============================

EVEN IF YOU AGREE that single payer is the goal, there will be debate on how to get there.

Check out the inaugural Single Payer Action Podcast -- Jon Walker and Dr. Margaret Flowers Debate The Road to Single Payer.

Hope you enjoy it.

Onward to Single Payer.

Single Payer Action

===============================

THE POETRY OF HEROISM appeals irresistibly to those who don't go to a war, and even more to those whom the war is making enormously wealthy. It's always so.

— Louis-Ferdinand Celine

===============================

SEPTEMBER 9 & 10 UKIAH SYMPHONY CONCERT CANCELLED

The opening concert of the Ukiah Symphony Orchestra's 38th season on Saturday, September 9, and Sunday, September 10, has been cancelled due to the soloist's unforeseeable illness. The concert has been rescheduled for Saturday, April 7, and Sunday, April 8, at the Mendocino College Center Theatre. Ticket holders may use their September concert tickets in April or for any of the other season's performances.

The Ukiah Symphony Orchestra and board members wish Paula Samonte a complete and speedy recovery.

For further information, please visit www.ukiahsymphony.org. Questions/messages may be left on the Ukiah Symphony phone line: 707-462-0236.

===============================

SPENDING THE NIGHT OUT OF DOORS has nothing attractive about it in London, especially for a poor, ragged, undernourished wretch. Moreover sleeping in the open is only allowed in one thoroughfare in London. If the policeman on his beat finds you asleep, it is his duty to wake you up. That is because it has been found that a sleeping man succumbs to the cold more easily than a man who is awake, and England could not let one of her sons die in the street. So you are at liberty to spend the night in the street, providing it is a sleepless night. But there is one road where the homeless are allowed to sleep. Strangely, it is the Thames Embankment, not far from the Houses of Parliament. We advise all those visitors to England who would like to see the reverse side of our apparent prosperity to go and look at those who habitually sleep on the Embankment, with their filthy tattered clothes, their bodies wasted by disease, a living reprimand to the Parliament in whose shadow they lie.

George Orwell

===============================

THREAT OF CATASTROPHIC HIGH-ALTITUDE NUCLEAR ATTACK on U.S. Escalates at Cyberspeed

Dear Friends at the AVA,

I believe you're the only place that might possibly publish this, an informative warning to our neighbors that we may be going back to the horse-and-buggy era in a flash. Please edit it for length if you wish.

John Lewallen, Philo

* * *

U.S. Nuclear Posture of Escalating First-Strike Threat Causes Increasing Danger of Catastrophic Nuclear Attack on U.S. Homeland

The nuclear confrontation between the U.S. and North Korea is escalating at cyberspeed. The possibility of a high-altitude nuclear EMP attack on the U.S. homeland has increased radically since Sept.2, when North Korea tested "a multifunctional thermonuclear nuke with great destructive power which can be detonated even at high altitudes" to launch an EMP attack.

I'm a backwoods expert on high-altitude nuclear EMP weapons and strategy. Since I self-published High-Altitude Nuclear War in 2000, I've found that the topic is too unbelievable and terrifying for most people to contemplate at all, even though there's plenty of incontrovertible information about it on Wikipedia under "nuclear electromagnetic pulse" and "high-altitude nuclear explosion."

Quite simply, a hydrogen bomb detonated between 25 and 70 miles above Earth would emit a very brief and powerful electromagnetic pulse, which doesn't harm people but can literally melt computer chips in line of sight.

This means that here in Anderson Valley, everything that depends on computer chips would stop working. Computer chips become more vulnerable to EMP as they become smaller and faster. Throughout the continent and in space communication satellites, computer chips would be wiped out.

The U.S. Congress "Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack" in 2004, which I printed from Wikipedia, judged the near-term threat of nuclear EMP attack to be "moderate," with a lethal range of 1,500 miles in radius, vulnerable targets being "electronics, computer chips, sensors, communications, vehicles, power transmission systems, civilian infrastructure." In one of their scenarios, a "Russian spy satellite" already in orbit explodes over the central United Stastes, "releasing a high altitude electromagnetic pulse that blankets the entire continent." This throws the U.S. back into the Nineteenth Century, with electronics and computerized civilization shut down. Only a few critical military systems have been "hardened" to survive such an attack. Question: would anyone know the source of this attack?

Why isn't the government, the press, "experts" of all political stripes, telling us about this? Why is it left to North Korea to remind us of this deterrent threat?

I'm asking everyone who wants to avoid a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the United States homeland by Russia, China, or North Korea, to urgently appeal to the Trump administration to immediately abandon the long-standing U.S. nuclear posture of escalating nuclear first-strike threat against these nations.

Writing in the September/October 2017 Foreign Affairs (p.64), Professor Andrew J. Bacevich succinctly stated the problem: "Even as the actual use of nuclear weapons becomes increasingly unimaginable, however, the United States' own vulnerability to these weapons will persist."

Nuclear war, quite simply, is a catastrophically unfavorable field of battle for the United States. Missile defense is a very expensive myth in a world where high-altitude nuclear electromagnetic pulse weapons can be placed in satellites, ready to detonate if struck, destroying computer chips in space and on land in line of sight.

China, Russia, and North Korea have had decades to develop and deploy high-altitude nuclear EMP weapons, in addition to missiles with decoys designed to evade missile defense. These nations have experienced the reality of war. I believe they are doing their best to avoid nuclear war.

Today the United States encircles these nations with first-strike weapons systems and other military deployments and exercises. Every year, the U.S. Space Command "war games" pre-emptive nuclear strikes against Russia and China.

Now President Trump threatens to attack North Korea with "fire and fury like the world has never seen before" unless it abandons its development of nuclear missiles, prompting North Korea to respond with pre-emptive nuclear strikes of its own, and missile launches.

Russia has at least a thousand strategic nuclear missiles ready to launch against the United States on a few minutes' notice. U.S. economic sanctions against Russia weaken its ability to keep all these missiles "fail-safe," increasing the likelihood of accidental launch.

China's nuclear strike force and posture is a lot more low-key and secret. China now has the world's second-largest annual military budget, and is well-known for "leapfrogging" industrial phases to develop the most advanced strategic nuclear missiles and EMP weapons.

If President Trump announces that the United States is no longer threatening pre-emptive nuclear strike against anyone, and begins withdrawing THAAD missiles and other potential first-strike weapons from the borders of China, Russia, and North Korea, I believe he will be hailed as the President who averted nuclear attack against the United States.

If the United States persists in its strategy of escalating first-strike threat, I'm afraid the end-game will be nuclear war affecting the whole Earth, for no reason at all. There will be an "accidental" nuclear launch, the U.S. will attempt a disabling first-strike; or a threatened nuclear nation, believing a U.S. nuclear attack is imminent, will launch a "use it or lose it" strike against the U.S. homeland.

--John Lewallen is publisher and editor of High-Altitude Nuclear War (2000), a study of nuclear electromagnetic pulse weapons and strategy, and author of Ecology of Devastation: Indochina (Penguin Books, 1972). Contact him at lewallen@mcn.org, or P.O. Box 455, Philo, CA 95466 (707) 895-2996.

===============================

===============================

4TH ANNUAL CRUSH RUSH, 5K BENEFIT RUN

Sunday, October 1ST, 2017—Parducci Wine Cellars in Ukiah will host the fourth annual Crush Rush 5K benefit run. The race will begin at 8:30 AM and Parducci invites runners, joggers, and walkers of all ages and abilities to tour the scenic 115-acre Parducci Home Ranch vineyard and winery.

The Parducci Crush Rush is a community fundraiser to benefit the Ukiah Unified School Gardens Program. Last year over $5,000 was raised for the Garden Program. Fortunately, 100% of the registration fees will go directly to the local school garden and nutrition education, due to the generous donations and contributions from sponsors.

Race entry fee is $35 for adults and $20 for participants seventeen and under. Pre-registration for this year’s race is online only and will be open until 11:59 PM Wednesday, September 27th. Runners may also register day of event (adult increases to $45, no increase on youth reg.). Entry includes race t-shirt, brunch, and special deals in the Tasting Room while supplies last. To register online, please visit Active.com. Entrants should arrive at 7:15 AM on the race day to receive their racing bibs.

More medals will be awarded this year, going to the top three male and female finishers in nine age divisions, including: Under 10, 11-14, 15-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70+.

The race is 5 kilometers, or 3.1 miles, and follows mostly dirt, and some paved roads. The route brings runners through ripening Petite Sirah, Zinfandel and Cabernet vineyards, two winery crush facilities, Parducci’s secluded Upper Home Ranch, and Parducci’s famed wetland wildlife preserve. The race is followed by a locally catered brunch with organic vegetables and farm-fresh produce, and an awards presentation at 10:00 AM.

Parducci Wine Cellars invites those who cannot participate in the Crush Rush to cheer on their friends and family, and attend the awards presentation at 10:00 AM on the Parducci Tasting Room Patio. Non-racers may pay $10 for brunch and $10 for an extra race t-shirt while supplies last.

For those who can't participate but would still like to support Ukiah Schools, cash and check donations can be brought into the Parducci Tasting Room between 10am - 5pm. Parducci Wine Cellars is located at 501 Parducci Road in Ukiah. For more information or directions visit us online www.parducci.com.

Press Contact:

Jess Arnsteen

707-489-1485

jessa@parducci.com

===============================

FALL PLANT SALE at Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens

September 16th - 24th, Daily from 9:00AM to 5:00PM

FALL IN LOVE with our healthy plants, beautiful home décor, and more... perfect for the changing seasons at a wallet-friendly price! It is time to stock up on plants, gardening tools and books, and much more at Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens' annual Fall Plant & Store Sale—at Nursery on the Plaza and The Garden Store at MCBG. Members of the Gardens receive a 20% discount on all plants and select store items. Non-members receive 10% off all plants and select store items. Grab a delicious fresh lunch or sweet afternoon treat from Rhody’s Garden Cafe while you still can! Rhody’s will be closing for the season after September 17 and reopening in April of 2018.

Proceeds from this annual sale help to support our non-profit botanical gardens! Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens is a unique botanical treasure that can only be maintained, strengthened, and shared through the support of our donors, members, volunteers, community, and visitors like you!

Be sure to take advantage of the low prices during the sale and remember, there is never an admission fee to visit the Nursery, Store, or Café.

===============================

WILDFIRE IN LAKE COUNTY

Lake County firefighters battling 15-acre wildfire

===============================

A WOMAN HAS TO LIVE HER LIFE, or live to repent not having lived it.”

D.H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover

===============================

JOHN ASHBERY

theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/04/john-ashbery-obituary