Mendocino County Today: Monday, Oct. 22, 2018

• Mild Temps
• Davi Date
• Volunteer Benefits
• Grapes 1946
• Save Yokayo
• FB Safety
• Little Dog
• Prop 11
• Haschak Endorsement
• Ed Notes
• Foodshed Gathering
• Fair Meeting
• Yesterday's Catch
• Prop 6
• Unfriending Democrats
• Saudi Flag
• Toughen Up
• GOP Platform
• Waiting
• Premium Increase
• Education
• Autumntana
• Art Salad
• Mindfulness Meditation

A WEAK FRONT will bring a chance of light rain on Tuesday. Otherwise, dry weather with mild daytime temperatures are expected through the week. (National Weather Service)

CORRECTION

A Celebration Of Life for Bonni Davi will be held at River’s Bend (formerly Wellspring) in Philo on Sunday, October 28 (not Saturday, October 27 as one of the posters says), 2018 from 2-7pm. For more information call Seasha at 533-5094.

TINA WALTER started helping out with the Yorkville Community Benefit Association (YCBA's) Ice Cream Social when she first began spending time in Anderson Valley.

At some point Sarah Farber asked if she'd be interested in joining AVFD and Tina's reply was, "No, I'm 46!" She didn't think she'd fit in, since she only knew former fire chief Colin Wilson and Sarah and imagined the rest of the crew were "young, buff guys." She ended up joining the fire department in 2006. A year later she took the EMT class but with no intention of staffing the ambulance. These days, in addition to serving as Lieutenant at the Yorkville station, she spends regular 12 hour ambulance shifts at the crew quarters. "Initially, it made me a 'serious' member of the community, gave me an entrée to meet people and make friends, instead of just being someone who comes up from LA and just 'tries' to live here. And of course everyone is family now, so I'm hooked. I'd never felt community like I have before I moved here." (AV Fire Department Facebook Page)

1946: MENDOCINO GRAPE GROWERS ‘Co-operative Winery opens’

This Savings Bank of Mendocino County advertisement was published in the Oct. 16, 1946 edition of the Ukiah Republican Press. (Ukiah Daily Journal archives)

Sept. 25, 1946

Ukiah Republican Press

Million dollar concrete structure operating

What grape growers hail as the greatest advancement in the nature of protection to independent vineyardists is the opening of the Cooperative Winery, which is now in actual operation, north of this city.

Is strictly modern

The winery is of all concrete construction. It has a capacity of 1,000,100 gallons and is the most modern winery in this section.

Entirely co-operative

The building was erected as a non-profit cooperative handler of grapes for the grower who, in the end, receives all of the profits.

Grapes $115.00 a ton

As an indication of the benefit this community is destined to receive from operation of the winery, it is given out the grower will get $115.00 a ton for his grapes, this in cash, at the time he makes delivery, plus the profit derived from the sale of wine. The plant is operated and owned by the Mendocino Grape Growers, Incorporated, of which Fred G. Stevens is President.

Mendocino Grape Growers was at 2399 N. State St.

(Courtesy, the Ukiah Daily Journal)

KEEP YOKAYO BOWL OPEN

To the Owner of Yokayo Bowling Center Building:

Please sell this building or give Mike Schutz another lease contract. Mike has done such a wonderful job of making this one of the best places to bowl that I have ever seen with his artwork, paint jobs and cleanliness. This is the only bowling center in Mendocino and Lake County. The one in Fort Bragg closed a number of years ago and the one they had in Lakeport has also been closed for quite a few years.

So many people, from young children to even folks in their 90s, enjoy the sport of bowling here and some compete in weekly leagues. You will be taking a great source of socialization and exercise for many of these people that faithfully bowl in weekly leagues, some year round.

This is where I met my husband over 40 years ago and he is bowling in four leagues a week now that he is retired and there are many others just like him who bowl in more than one league.

It is one of the few things to do in this town in the wintertime, for the young and old alike. We already lost our skate rink, let’s not lose this too. We also won’t be able to go bowl in State and National tournaments and represent our community abroad, because we won’t have an average of 21 games to compete in those tournaments.

There are many birthday party memories in this town that have been held at Yokayo Bowling Center. Our Special Olympic participants also bowl a season and we have Pro Bowlers come one weekend in November to bowl with them.  This is very special for them. Other groups and people have all kinds of meetings and parties in the back room. Mike has comedy shows once a month, which entertains folks in the area, not just bowlers.

Please reconsider your sell of this property to someone that is not going to keep it open for bowling your local community to enjoy and entertainment and sell it to Mike Schutz, who has been someone there for this community in so many ways for a long time. Thank you.

Pam St. Martin

Willits

STREET SAFETY (ON LINE COMMENTS)

[1] I sometimes hear people say that safety is an issue in Fort Bragg. What are they talking about? I'm sincerely wondering. I've lived here for 20 years and have walked or jogged literally every single block, including every single alley, at all hours of the day and night. I've never witnessed a crime. I've never been the victim of a crime. I've never felt threatened, and I'm often alone on the streets in the dark. (Of course there's the usual sexual harassment, a given if you count that, but it is not a “crime.”)

[2] I feel much less safe walking around in Fort Bragg at night than I do in a big city. That's partially because I am a city person by nature, and something about more people makes a place feel more safe. I very rarely am out at night, but when I am I feel like I run into more vacant-eyed drug casualties than I do in a big city where you get a mix of all kinds of people doing any number of things at night.

[3] True. When I'm out at night I prefer the more populated spaces, even in Fort Bragg. I figure even if the sidewalks are empty the houses are not, so if I did need help ... But in a big city you have plenty of people out and about and there's security in that too. Also sometimes I worry about mountain lions. Ha!

[4] I moved to the coast from San Francisco and still spend time in Oakland/Berkeley. From a subjective standpoint, Fort Bragg feels much safer generally than either of those places. I suspect that many people in larger cities do not report crimes that are reported in Fort Bragg, and this skews the statistics. I know people who have not reported muggings, car break ins and burglaries in the cities, unless they need to do so for insurance purposes, because they feel it would be pointless.

LITTLE DOG SAYS, “Dodgers vs Red Sox in the Series? Not interested. Go, Giants!”

A READER WRITES: I am mother of an 18-years-of-service paramedic in San Francisco.

Rachel [Binah] is correct to say VOTE NO on 11,  which is the thing to do, but just so you all know, these EMTs and paramedics work 12-hour shifts and take their breaks when they can.  They ALREADY get paid for “breaks.”  The language of the proposition was written by American Medical Response, my son’s employer and a huge nationwide company.  Their tag line to this proposition infers that these first responders do not get paid for breaks which is totally untrue because the workers get paid for their 12-hour shift whether they have back-to-back calls or no calls at all.  Think about it—when others in similar position (firefighters, police) sit down to eat a meal or grab a sandwich on the run, they drop everything to respond to their calls. This is what their respective jobs entail.

Upon further research, I discovered that American Medical Response “donated” over  $22 MILLION to this phony Prop. WHY?  Because if Prop. 11 is passed, they will avoid an even bigger lawsuit.

I realize most people do not have the time or inclination to thoroughly read voting material/info—but if you’re in any area with AMR ambulances, just ask an EMT or medic what they think of their employer.  They’ll say, and I quote, “Vote NO, it’s crap!"

PS:  if workers have had NO break in their 12-hour shift, which occasionally does happen, they fill out a form and get paid an hour’s pay.

Please share this, and again, many thanks.

* * *

My son adds:

I’m trying to reach more people at SF Chron, etc.  There’s more to it, but I can’t write more now, hope I can get it together tomorrow.  AMR is noted for its anti-union stance, I think the company is headquartered in Texas, and the workers are forever complaining about AMR’s complete dedication to money-making with not much concern for much else.

Also, I’m getting a good page or two from my son about the scandalous state of emergency medical services in SF which you will certainly like.  There are not enough ambulances and partially because of street people calling 911 several times a day just for the hell of it but, in its mired state of political correctness, if you say anything about the city gov’t not doing anything really effective about “the homeless” the many well-intentioned homeless advocates go nuts.  Lots of money has been spent to deal with this situation, but throwing money at it has, obviously not solved the problem.  Lots more to stay about this.

HASCHAK: NOT A GOOD OLD BOY

Editor,

John Haschak for Supervisor

In the race for Mendocino County 3rd District Supervisor between rancher, John Pinches, and teacher, John Haschak, Pinches has accused Haschak of being bought-off by contributions from labor unions. While Haschak has responded to this charge directly by saying he is proud to represent working people in Mendocino County who have never had representation on the Board before, I would like to expand on this matter of campaign contributions and representation.

First, all the money Haschak has received from unions has come from individual members who made a personal choice to contribute, so in fact, these contributions are coming from regular working folks, not from some big commercial special interest that does business in the County.

Pinches criticizes Haschak for raising enough money to run a competitive campaign in this way, comparing it unfavorably to his own small donation, low budget campaign. This comparison is disingenuous. As a first time candidate with little name recognition beyond Willits, Haschak had to start from scratch, whereas Pinches, as a three time former Supervisor, was already well known around the District and he already had campaign signs left over from previous runs. Real campaigns are expensive, and on a teacher’s salary, Haschak could not have afforded to run without significant support from working people.

Pinches claims that since he doesn’t need much money to run, he is not beholden to anyone and therefore he can represent all the residents of the 3rd District; at the same time, he openly invites business people to step to the front of the line at his office. That includes himself, when as a Supervisor, he voted for a contract to pay the US Department of Agriculture $140,000 per year to provide a trapper in the County to kill wild coyotes, bobcats and mountain lions to protect the livestock of ranchers like him. Commercial interests don’t have to contribute to Pinches’ campaign to get special treatment, that’s just what he does.

If, like me, you’re tired of good ol’ boy politics up here in the 3rd District, then you’ll be voting for John Haschak for Supervisor.

Sincerely,

Jon Spitz

Laytonville

ED NOTES

WITH A LOCK on his own re-election because the Northcoast is gerrymandered to keep conservative liberals in office forever, Rep. Jared Huffman is pulling for his housemate and fellow Democrat Beto O’Rourke, who is running to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz. The Press Democrat, a conservative liberal newspaper owned by former Demo rep Doug Bosco, ran a front pager on this non-story. The purely local angle? Seven miles south of Boonville, on the east side of Highway 128, there's a Beto campaign sign.

* * *

ANNOUNCEMENT from the Ukiah Daily Journal: "Mendocino College invites the community to join the festivities as the college faculty, staff and students host the sixth annual Día de los Muertos celebration this year." I'm going way out on a limb here and suppose that the college's celebration bears faint, if that much, resemblance to the traditional ceremonies where Mexicans visit the graves of their departed, leaving their favorite food and drink. As soon as authentic traditions cross the border into Gringolandia they become one more Mexican hat dance. Day of the Dead makes a lot more sense than Halloween, which hasn't made any sense since way back times when it was a kind of harvest celebration.

* * *

AMEN BRO: "When I look at the 1960s I’m not saying that civil rights, or feminism, or any of these unquestionably good, virtuous pieces of progress were bad. But there was a blurring of the real and the fictional, and adults trying to be young forever … I don’t want to so much blame the Baby Boomers, but they were, by virtue of their size and their timing, the crucial generational agents of this change. And then we got the internet, and now we’ve all gone to hell." — Kurt Andersen

* * *

IRENE SOTO, the unfailingly gracious cashier at Boonville's Pic 'N Pay, told me Sunday morning that the store has set an all-time record for lottery sales. "People have even called up to ask if they could get tickets here as they head to and from the Coast," she laughed. I wondered if I was the first sucker this morning to buy a Mega Mil? "Oh, no. I've been selling them all morning," Irene said.

THE POLITICS of lottery fever? Most buyers, I daresay, have incomes under 50 thou a year, many much lower.

* * *

AV RESIDENT SEASHA ROBB sent the following note to a colleague of ours who sent it to us: “This is Seasha Robb.  I was notified that the AVA may have made a mistake and posted the date of my mother in law's memorial incorrectly. Please make sure it says Sunday the 28th of October.  At Rivers Bend. 2-7pm.  Thank you.” Ms. Robb “was notified” that the AVA “may have made a mistake," but doesn't tell us what the mistake was. We finally figured out that the “mistake” was the date in a poster that’s floating around which said that memorial services for Bonni Davi were Saturday, October 27, which we printed as a Valley People item last week on the assumption that the poster maker had the dates right. So the “mistake” was not made by “the AVA,” but by whoever made up the poster.

* * *

LOCAL ELECTED OFFICIALS ought to be required to respond to reasonable inquiries. Carmel Angelo, County CEO, is not elected and we're on her case constantly. But she replies to our questions, and for that we give her major kudos. McCowen will respond, Gjerde is often petulantly out of contact when we're critical of him, Carre Brown never answers, and ditto for the Willits temp, Croskey. Hamburg is.... well, to be gentle it, about only in the 5th District of Mendocino County could a guy this bogus get over. Pinches is always available to talk or argue, and candidate Haschak has also established himself as a guy who isn't afraid to mix it up. If an elected person can't or won't defend him or herself he/she ought to get into another line of work. Not an admirer of Willie Brown or establishment Democrats period, I always admired Brown for wading straight into the media scrum and giving as good as he got, partly because he's smarter than most of the chuckle buddies of Bay Area media, but Brown mostly because he has the combative personality necessary to defend his  positions. Mendo? We elect too many people who want to be loved.

* * *

LOTS OF US are sorry to see Mary Lynn Hunt retire from the Planning and Building Department. An absolute rock of reliable information re building projects for something like 39 years in an office where, well, contradiction often seems the policy, Ms. Hunt was always friendly, always helpful, always responsive.

* * *

AL, YOU'RE ALRIGHT, and don't let anybody tell you different. Al writes:

"Sometimes I think to go to church like I did today but when there I feel a little out of place because of how I been living my life and how I feel from it. I listen and hear good stuff at church and see happy people but then I feel more sad and lost and then I leave. The devil has wrecked my life in so many ways and now I have shame that vamps me like a dark cloud always hanging over me. If you’re not serving god, you must be serving the devil what I keep hearing which makes me feel terribly different and distant from others. Sometimes I think I will make it but I don't know if my mind will let me."

Keep punchin' Al.

AT THE BOONVILLE FOODSHED GATHERING

(Photos by Bonnie Clark Johnson)

(Top to bottom, Left & Right)

Alicia Perez, Amanda Bontecou

Chloe & Lebrun, JuJuFoley

Michelle Parzyk & Fallon

Andy Jones, Lama Nasser Gammett

Renee Wilson, Sarah Ryan

And others

DONNA PIERSON-PUGH WRITES: Hi Folks, What a great fair we had this year with the participation and attendance up from the previous year in everything!! Thanks for being part of the fun. The Mendocino County Fair Annual Meeting is Monday, November 12 at 6:00pm. The fun is not over yet because the November Annual Fair Meeting is coming up next month on Monday 11/12 at 6:00 for the report about all things fair that happened this year, along with voting for the two board positions that are open. Come to one of the best potluck dinners that happens in the valley at 6:00. Hope to see you there! — Fair Boosters

CATCH OF THE DAY, October 21, 2018

SHANNON ARNOLD, Fort Bragg. Failure to appear.

ELECTRA BEARD, Mendocino. Domestic battery, protective order violation, resisting.

DONALD BOWMAN, Fort Bragg. Controlled substance, transportation, possession for sale, failure to appear.

NICHOLAS BRITTON, Covelo. Concealed weapon, pot for sale, probation revocation.

ALAN BURFEIND, Quincy/Ukiah. Resisting.

ANTONIA GONZALEZ, Ukiah. Under influence, probation revocation.

CHRISTOPHER KOSKINEN, Willits. DUI, probation revocation.

SHAWN LANE, Ukiah. Domestic abuse, probation revocation.

DEBORAH LAWRENCE, Ukiah. False ID, failure to appear, probation revocation. (Frequent flyer.)

PATRICK LEE, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, failure to appear.

SAUL LUALUPIAN, Clearlake/Ukiah. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

BRYAN MARTIN, Ukiah. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

DAVID MELTON, Pacifica/Ukiah. DUI.

JOEL RAMOS, Hopland. Community supervision violation, failure to appear, probation revocation.

IAN ROBERTS, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

JESSE RODGERS, Ukiah. Parole violation.

REBECCA RODRIGUEZ, Clearlake/Ukiah. Probation

DAYNIECE SHILLINGS, Ukiah. Under influence, probation revocation.

ROBERT TARBAH, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

TINY WHIPPLE, Covelo. Burglary, firearm theft, conspiracy.

SHANNON WILSON, Santa Rosa/Ukiah. Disobeying court order.

NO ON PROP. 6

We don’t usually take positions on all state ballot propositions but there is one on the Nov. ballot that we believe voters need to reject. And that’s Prop. 6. Our sister newspaper The San Jose Mercury News said it clearly and we agree with their view:

Proposition 6 is the sort of public vote on a tax increase that Jerry Brown promised when he ran for governor in 2010 but later reneged on.

Instead, the governor’s political opponents gathered signatures to place an initiative on the ballot that would overturn his gas and car tax increases. So, voters will have a say, after all, on the transportation funding plan.

But when they cast their ballots, they should side with Brown. They should uphold the increases by voting no on Prop. 6. Note that we said vote no. A yes vote would overturn the transportation plan; a no vote leaves it in place.

The plan, approved by the Legislature at Brown’s urging last year, will raise $5.1 billion annually by 2020 to help fix our deteriorating freeways and local streets and refurbish our commuter trains and buses.

About two-thirds of the money goes to highways and roads, mostly for repairs and maintenance. The rest goes primarily to public transit operations and capital projects, and for improving congested transportation corridors.

It’s reasonable to put the financial burden on those who drive for it is they who use our streets and highways. Just as important, they should be encouraged through pricing mechanisms to seek environmentally friendly options, such as more fuel-efficient or zero-emission vehicles and public transportation.

The transportation plan increases gas taxes by about 18 cents a gallon, roughly 5 percent of the current cost, and registration fees by $25 to $175 annually, depending on the value of the vehicle.

Opponents are right that Californians already pay, directly and indirectly, the nation’s highest surcharges for gas. When you total all state and federal taxes, fees and production-cost increases due to government mandates, they added about a dollar to the price of a gallon of gas. That was before Brown and the Legislature’s 18-cent increase.

But a significant chunk of that is because Californians pay more to ensure the gas we burn and the process for producing it is more environmentally friendly. It’s worth it. We need to clean our air and limit our carbon footprint.

The transportation package has flaws. For example, it lacks tough cost controls for road construction and maintenance or for transit agencies that receive state funding. But no legislative deal or ballot measure is perfect. Such is the reality of political compromise.

Which brings us to the other troubling part of Prop. 6. It would require a statewide vote for future tax or fee increases on vehicle fuel or registration — the sort of vote Brown promised when he vowed in 2010 that he would never raise taxes without voter approval.

It was a politically expedient move to bolster his tight-spender image. He did later go to the voters to raise income taxes on the wealthy to help balance the state budget.

But once he won re-election to his final term, he abandoned his pledge and promptly went to work on the transportation package, for which he narrowly won two-thirds approval of the Legislature.

Backers of Prop. 6, including Republicans statewide and nationally, want to raise that bar by requiring voter approval as Brown promised. Ironically, their use of the initiative system to put the issue on the ballot demonstrates that we already have sufficient checks on the Legislature and governor’s taxing authority.

To now lock in voter approval for fuel and car tax increases is excessive. The two-thirds approval of the Legislature and initiative threat are enough. At some point, we need to let our lawmakers do their jobs. And if we don’t like what they’re doing, we should replace them.

So, in sum, Prop. 6 misses the mark on two counts: It reverses badly needed funding for roads and transportation, and it imposes unnecessary restrictions on future fuel and car taxes. For either or both reasons, voters should say no.

(K.C. Meadows. Courtesy, the Ukiah Daily Journal)

AMERICAN TRIBALISM & THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY

by Larry Minson

There are lines that have been drawn that reveal fascist tendencies on both sides of our governmental duopoly.  Loyal Democrats in our county believe that it is verboten to criticize their political club.  They insist that they are the most liberal people in the world – whatever that means – and that anyone who is critical about their party is a dirty Repugnican pariah to be shunned and abused.

One extremely “nice person” who is a loyal Democrat recently posted a quote from Barack Obama on Facebook, whose message was you have to vote in November or else it’s your own fault for what might otherwise ensue.  This was met with tons of people jumping on board to agree that this quote was awesome.  I offered the humble opinion that every candidate in American over the last 70 years of my life has said the exact same thing.  That this was really weak and actually blames the victims, the tens of millions of Americans – mostly Black, Native and Hispanic – that have been denied suffrage.  Furthermore, that tribal thinking like “Democrats are pure as the driven snow while Repugnicans are just pure evil” is predicated on the same twisted ratiocination that makes a huge number of people declare that Mr. Trump can do no wrong.

The lynch mob response was swift and illogical.  What, I was challenged, have the Democrats ever done wrong?  My words were also purposely misconstrued to take cheap shots at me.  If I believed in democracy, I was told, then I should never say anything critical about their party – ever.

I responded that America has never been a democracy and that, among the two major political clubs, the Republican one was far more democratic than the Democratic club.  The Republicans choose their candidate by majority rule while Hillary had won the nomination before the first primary ballot was cast, thanks to “super delegates”.

I was mocked for calling the Democratic Party a political club.  Apparently, I was supposed to treat it with awe as though it were the holy State Religion.  I responded that both of those parties were private corporations that wrote their own bylaws any way they wanted.  The Democratic club could have established rules to maintain it as a democratic organization but they consciously decided to go another way.

I briefly responded to where the Democrats have ever gone wrong.  First of all, they are spineless cowards who don’t offer real resistance to the fascist agenda taking over our country.  The majority of Black people killed by police lived in cities that are totally dominated by the Democrats who have the political power, but not the will, to stop this.  This has been going on my whole life and the Democrats have almost nothing to show for it – especially when you edit out all the dog and pony shows.  Under Obama’s watch, the death tolls at the hands of American soldiers and drones skyrocketed, as did the deportation of Latin Americans.  He famously said he couldn’t act without a great groundswell of popular support, but the bloated Executive has far more power than it should and he could have done a hell of a lot more.

Well, people kept taking shots at me, so I responded to each of their comments.  The person who started this conversation was furious at me, she ordered me to stop responding to comments that continued to take one false shot at me after another.  She judged me harshly for not being her yes man, told me to get off her page because I was too judgmental, meaning that I brought facts into the discussion, and thus proving once again that fascists have no sense of irony.  Negative attacks of me continued, so I just “unfriended” her.

I’m not saying that the Democratic Party is fascist, but the “liberal wing” of Mendocino Democrats has a huge fascist streak.  This person used to teach Anthropology for Mendocino College, but I’ve never met a anthropologist who so lacks the most elementary knowledge of her native sociology.  I knew she got her job because her husband was the dean, but I had no idea she was such an idiot.  Welcome to Mendoland where relationships trump fair employment practices every time.

So my question is a simple one:  Who is dumber, Republicans who believe that Michele Obama is really a man or these Mendolibs?  That’s a hard one to answer.  All I know for sure is that they are both complete hypocrites and a fascist revolution is in the works.  Don’t worry, though, Chuck Schumer will protect us all, won’t he?

FOR CHRISSAKE. If there’s a human being on the entire planet who’s earned the right to spout off about the need to crush the Republican leadership into Soylent Green and then distribute it in sacks to the poor, Hillary Clinton is it.

After three decades of calmly putting up with an Augean stable’s worth of lies and attacks and assorted other forms of vicious bullshit, if she says it’s time to fight back, maybe we should listen.

…This is not your grandfather’s Republican Party anymore. Not for a long time. This is the Republican Party of Newt Gingrich and Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan and Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson.

They care about nothing except kowtowing to the rich. They lie constantly about everything. They launch vile personal attacks a dozen times a day. They gerrymander and pass ID laws and refuse to let students vote and do anything else they can think of to make it harder for Democrats to cast ballots. They do all this without a smidgen of guilt and their base loves it.

But for some reason, a simple acknowledgement that Democrats could stand to be a little less civil about this produces the heebie jeebies...all of these independents and swing voters don’t seem to feel all that queasy about the Niagara Falls of malice and degeneracy produced on a daily basis by Republican candidates and cable talkers. Maybe, just maybe, they can handle the bare truth about all this from Democrats.

(Kevin Drum, Mother Jones)

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Well, I have been waiting for the economy to crash for 8 or 9 years, sooo I am still waiting. My Father has prepared a place for us, as it says in the Bible. In Texas. On a farm. He has already stocked up gun, ammunition, food, tools, etc. It is away from big population areas.

Crops are growing on it. My whole family has instructions to pack up our SUVs (which are kept pretty much full of gas) and load up our own survival stuff and head that way when TSHTF. I am thinking about going ahead and moving my shoe collection there.

Although, I recently sold my house, and purchased a mobile home. If there is enough advanced notice, I will just have the whole durn thing moved there and have one of the movers drive my car while I drive the SUV. That way I can take all my books, and guitars, and cats.

In the meantime, popcorn.

I'M SUPPOSED TO BE CONSIDERATE, generous, compassionate, inclusive, supportive and I don't know what-all, in contrast to Republicans, who, as a rule, are not like that and not expected to be.

Consider Reagan's welfare Cadillacs and queens, a rich governor's, then president's direct attack on the pestilential have-nots in America. George H.W. Bush's direct attack on Panama, killing 3,000 civilians by fire, arresting veteran CIA spy Manuel Noriega (because he knew too much) and covering up the whole thing, the plunging of a tiny country into catastrophe by the world's biggest bully--us.

Consider Nixon, if you can stand to. Ford granted him an unconditional pardon. Bush2 profited from 9/11 by creating endless war in the middle east. War, in developed countries, is the most efficient funnel ever conceived for transferring the substance of entire populations to the few who serve the insanely expensive military-industrial complex. W's bit of piracy dwarfs any other in human history. He pauperized us, reducing living standards for everybody everywhere except the already-wealthiest and advancing the Project for the New American Century, which justified any crimes in the name of American Exceptionalism.

You know these stories. They go on and on, and they illustrate this paradox: If I choose to be nice, how can I expect to prevail in a world where force is the deciding factor, always.

During the dark Kavanaugh circus, my email inbox had an invitation to join Californians everywhere on October 3 in a vigil to stop his nomination.

What?

Can you imagine the hilarity this produces in such eminences as Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Orrin Hatch, Karl Rove, Donald Trump and scores of other Republicans?

(Let me insert right here that saying all Republicans are bad and mean is ignorant. Lots of people hold to a belief that they, and not me, are entitled to what they work for and that the Democratic Party wants to tax and spend their hard earnings. That's just as simplistic and mistaken, but there's enough validity embedded in these positions to guarantee their continuance.)

So: What if ruthlessness, corruption, murder, lies and indifference to morals, ethics and human welfare will always prevail over the supposed Judeo-Christian virtues (and they will!) of decency and kindness?

When I was at Cal, my awareness of reggae music started, driven forward by the tireless, then dead, Bob Marley. It was all protest music, denouncing the evil that feeds off living flesh in Haiti, Jamaica and so many other once-heavenly places. I liked reggae music, its cheekiness and sense of purpose. Years went by. The Tonton Macoutes, created in a mighty flash of inspiration by a prince of evil, Haiti's François "Papa Doc" Duvalier, upped the price of resisting a deadly government to watching your females and infants penetrated by rape and bayonets, then yourself being collared by a burning tire.

While I was enjoying reggae, I was criticizing psychologist-philosopher B.F. Skinner, then teaching at Berkeley, joining the chorus that called him a fascist. I still put a premium on individualism, but I'm not sure my preference is right and Skinner's wrong. China is Skinnerian.

I came to hate reggae, still do, and the fruitless acts of vigil and protest that soothe our senses of helplessness, cowardice, incompetence, immaturity and--you can finish this paragraph, too. Wastes of time for the purpose of comforting our intimidated selves.

So, what do I propose and what chance would any proposition by me have of fulfillment?

I don't know and damn little.

There's this: Psychopathy is not Homo sapiens default condition. All in all, we're nicer than we are evil, but if Good does not assert itself successfully over Evil, which wins? Duh! And if evil is usually better paid than good, how can I expect a world different from this one?

Religion won't do it, not ever. Religion usually ends up bringing more evil down on us. Wicked priests and priesthoods are in every belief-system. Religion uses fear, violence and extravagant wealth (Google "Roman Catholic Church wealth") to suppress inquiry, dissent and poor people. Forget religion.

Democracy guarantees nothing, absolutely nothing. Democracy still exists in the realm of "good idea" (and I'm not perfectly convinced it is--look at us!). I've always been a fan of the democracy fantasy, but, in truth, it doesn't much matter what governing system you have. If you have enough food, security and leisure, what's the difference who governs or how--as long as they do it right, maximizing the prospects for the greatest number? (Note that this would require elimination of the Republican Party. It vehemently does not advocate the most for the most.)

As I see it, the only means to peace & prosperity is (choose your word): indoctrination, training, acculturation, internalization of humanistic values (lovely!), or--wait for it--EDUCATION--free and full, compulsory and rigorous, no exceptions. Goodness is not inherent. It has to be taught and reinforced, constantly and forever, cradle to grave, and it can't be sugar-coated. Education is hard. Goodness, like citizenship, requires work. Have we become a nation of layabouts? If so, we'll lose our station in this hungry world.

If there's another way, folks, somebody please tell me. In the meantime, won't it be nice when schools have all the funding they can use and the defense industry has to hold a bake sale?

(Mitch Clogg)

AUTUMN IN MONTANA

WHAT GARLIC IS TO SALAD, insanity is to art.

— Homer Saint-Gaudens

MINDFULNESS MEDITATION GROUP OF THE MENDOCINO COAST

Saturday, November 10th from 10:30 am - 12 pm (reoccurring monthly) We'll be meeting at: The Gathering Place, in The Company Store 303 North Main Street (back hallway), Fort Bragg.

Mindfulness meditation is based on the four "mindfulnesses" as taught by Master Ji Ru abbot of Mid American Buddhist Association (MABA). (see more about MABA at maba-usa.org/ )

The four mindfulnesses are:

Mindfulness of the body; Mindfulness of the feelings; Mindfulness of the mind; Mindfulness of what is mindful

Initially, we are starting with mindfulness of the body and work primarily with the breath, intent and sense contact during sitting, standing, walking and laying down postures. Master Ji Ru meets in Oakland, CA a few times a year to teach his method. He has suggested I start my own group up here to meet regularly between his visits since I’m too far to attend the regular group meetings in Oakland.

Master Ji Ru’s approach is an authentic form of Buddhist meditation innovated for a modern world and modern people. His concern is making genuine meditation assessable and practical to everyone interested, in a way that will lead to fruition.

Please be aware we will not be meditating during the entire time. Our meetings will consist of instruction on meditating in the four postures of sitting, standing, laying down and walking, and the corresponding time of day that's best to practice each of these postures. In addition, we will cover the breathing exercises (qi gong) that are associated with the meditation, which help revitalize the body and oxygenate the brain so we can be fully awake for the meditation. If time permits, we’ll cover the yoga stretches as well, which help to unblock stuck parts of the body to further enrich your meditation.

Donations are greatly excepted [sic].

Here is a link to a Youtube video of the Master. I encourage you to watch this before attending the meeting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItR-NFC8j8U

All my best,

Kurt Baker, 350 S. Franklin St, Suite A, Fort Bragg CA, 95437 (707) 489-6892