Mendocino County Today: Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018

• Hazardous Air
• Fatal Collision
• Quake Response
• Insane Shooter
• Little Dog
• Car Wash
• AVHC Hiring
• Pathetic Salaries
• Go Back
• Water Supply
• Champagne Lady
• Military Losers
• Aurelius Carpenter
• AV Village
• FB Priorities
• Yesterday's Catch
• Russia-Gating
• Liturgy
• Corporate Dems
• Getting Results
• Improv Comedy
• Dingleboxers
• Sandman
• Alien Discussion
• Alternative Medicine
• Rightwing Neoliberal
• Amazon NY
• Public Policy
• Obviously Married
• Marijuana Meeting
• Hopeless Puerility
• Ukiah Symphony
• Marco Radio

DARKNESS AT NOON. Blood red sun, fires raging at both ends of the state, suffocating smoke for miles, mass shootings, Trump, stock market gyrating, and even a 3.7 earthquake in Willits. The great beast stirs.

AIR QUALITY in Ukiah on Friday afternoon was the worst in the world, ahead of perennial champs New Delhi and Beijing. The Ukiah air monitoring station showed small particulate matter (PM2.5, i.e., smoke) at an air quality rating of 367, meaning it’s bad, in the worst (or “severe”) range on the chart:

About a quarter of the people on the streets in Ukiah had medical grade masks on. Traffic was light for a Friday. Business seemed to be down. Temps seemed to be cooler than the weather people predicted due to smoke cover.

* * *

BOONVILLE WAS BAD ALSO

ANYTHING OVER 250 is described as: “May cause respiratory impact even on healthy people, and serious health impacts on people with lung/heart disease. The health impacts may be experienced even during light physical activity.”

THE HIGHEST LEVELS in Beijing we could find on-line for Friday were 155.

SCHOOLS WERE CLOSED throughout Mendocino County. Smoke was heavy in the Anderson Valley and especially tough on allergy sufferers, ash falling on cars, hills not visible from the valley floor. Smoke much heavier than during the Valley Fires. The County admin office closed for the day.

THE AV HEALTH CENTER has a limited stock of N95 masks available for anyone in need of a face mask. Stop by to pick one up or call ahead. The air quality is poor please stay protected!

* * *

THE ‘CAMP FIRE’ SMOKE OVER POINT ARENA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

MSP would like to thank Carri Thorpe for sending this photo to us of the smoke entering Point Arena Thursday.

* * *

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE described the situation in Southern California as “critical to extreme fire weather.” According to the national weather service, high pressure conditions will bolster dry conditions and coastal winds, potentially further fanning the sprawling Butte County blaze. While the high pressure may drop on Saturday, weakening the winds, a return of high pressure may prompt a return of “gusty winds” by the weekend’s end.

* * *

FROM A COAST LISTSERVE POSTER: Folks, stay alert. Even though the fires are quite a ways from us here, the winds and dry conditions persisting across much of the State right now should make us all extra attentive to the reality of fire in woodland regions. Have a plan, and stay tuned to the news. And get a respirator if you can - not those paper dust masks - they won't do anything to keep the fine particulates out of your lungs. Be safe, y'all.

* * *

ADVISORIES FOR MENDOCINO COUNTY AIR QUALITY AND PUBLIC HEALTH

Friday through Monday, November 9-12, 2018

November 9, 2018 10:30 AM: The smoke and haze currently degrading the air quality and reducing visibility in inland areas of Mendocino County are primarily the result of the Camp Fire in Butte County. Currently air monitors show particulate matter concentrations in the “Hazardous" range in Ukiah, and “Unhealthy” range in Willits.

Other areas of inland Mendocino County are expected to have periods of “Unhealthy” to “Hazardous” conditions depending on the wind. The Mendocino Coast is currently experiencing “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups”. These conditions are expected to impact the County intermittently until the fires are out.

Based on meteorological forecast, current conditions will persist for the next three days.

Please see the accompanying Public Health Advisory for recommendations of personal protection for sensitive groups, as well as, everyone during “Unhealthy”, or more severe, air quality conditions.

Mendocino County Air Quality Management District continuously monitors the air quality, reporting particulate matter and ozone concentrations hourly to our website: mendoair.org.

In the sidebar on the right of our webpage (scroll down if using a mobile device), under “Air Quality for Mendocino”--Click Here for current conditions, forecast, and email alerts. For additional information, click on an air quality index range, or the colored tabs below the map.

For more air quality information visit: airnow.gov

To sign up for air quality notifications visit: enviroflash.info/signup.cfm

When the Mendocino Air Quality Management District advises that the air quality is“unhealthy” or “hazardous:”

1. A primary concern is that ‘high-risk groups” --people over 65, under 12, pregnant women, and those people with pre-existing lung disease (such as asthma, bronchitis, COPD) or heart problems-- are at particular risk from breathing this air and should take extra precautions. Leave the smoky area, if possible, or at least stay indoors and limit physical activity.

• People with pre-existing illnesses should carefully adhere to their medical treatment plans and maintain at least a five-day supply of prescribed medications.

2. Clearly, everyone is a risk when the air quality is in the “unhealthy” or “hazardous” range. If it is not possible to leave the area where smoke is present, recommendations are to limit outdoor activity and unnecessary physical exertion.
3. Smoke from wildfires contains chemicals, gases, and fine particles that can harm health. The greatest hazard comes from breathing fine particles, which can reduce lung function, worsen asthma and other existing heart and lung conditions, and cause coughing, wheezing and difficulty breathing.
4. Wearing a protective mask may offer some protection. N-95 masks can reduce contact with some of the harmful particulate matter, but they also increase the work of breathing and they don’t keep the smoke out, so they are not terribly effective as a general protective measure. It is much better to avoid the smoky air, if possible.

• There are not effective masks for children.
• If you would like N95 masks, they can be obtained for free at the libraries, and at Public Health.
• Dust masks (different from N95) are not protective and really should not be used.

5. If you have air conditioning, turn it to interior recirculation or turn off and use fans. This prevents the intake of the outside, smoky air. Avoid vacuuming (which stirs up the dust) or increasing smoke in the house (for example burning candles or incense, or smoking cigarettes).
6. If you, or someone with you, begins to experience significant symptoms, such as dizziness, shortness of breath, or chest discomfort, get them out of the smoke and have them rest. If symptoms continue, seek medical attention.
7. Getting enough rest and drinking plenty of fluids may be helpful.

* * *

A CHRONOLOGY OF FIRE EVENTS

PARADISE, Calif. (AP) – The latest on the Camp Fire in Butte County (all times local):

ksby.com/news/fire-watch/2018/11/09/the-latest-northern-california-blaze-quadruples-in-size

* * *

COUNTY ADMINISTRATION CENTER CLOSING TODAY DUE TO AIR QUALITY CONCERNS

There is very large and thick smoke in Mendocino County due to a large fire in Butte County, the Camp Fire. Due to the poor air quality and concerns for our employees, the Administration Center will be closing at 1pm today, November 9, 2018. The public is urged to call a department’s office number in advance to confirm the availability of services. All emergency and 24 hour services will remain open.

As of 11:00 a.m. the current air quality condition is listed as Hazardous. During Hazardous conditions, the Environmental Protection Agency recommends everyone should stay indoors and reduce activity levels. Mendocino County residents and visitors can check the air quality for Mendocino County at the Mendocino County Air Quality Management District's website at http://www.co.mendocino.ca.us/aqmd/ or www.airnow.gov.

For more information, please contact the Mendocino County Executive Office at (707) 463-4441 or ceo@mendocinocounty.org.

FATALITY ON OLD RIVER ROAD

141 RESPONSES (& COUNTING) TO USGS ON WILLITS 3.7 QUAKE

THE THOUSAND OAKS SHOOTER seems to have been something of an intellectual. According to one of his last FaceBook posts: "I hope people call me insane... (laughing emojis).. wouldn't that just be a big ball of irony? Yeah.. I'm insane, but the only thing you people do after these shootings is 'hopes and prayers'.. or 'keep you in my thoughts'... every time... and wonder why these keep happening..."

LITTLE DOG SAYS, “I don't understand. This lone nut had a dog in Afghanistan. I guess he didn't bring him home with him.”

THE ANDERSON VALLEY TEEN CENTER will be having a car wash to raise funds for future trips to colleges and experiences. Please come and support some great teens and a great cause!

ANDERSON VALLEY HEALTH CENTER IS HIRING! Contact us at 707-895-3477 for more information on the available positions listed.

PATHETIC

Editor,

This letter is in response to an article in the Ukiah Daily Journal dated Oct. 18, 2018, ‘Salary Report expected next year.’

First comment, some are making ‘Below-market’ salaries and this is while others are paid above average.

Second, it was mentioned that the Board of Supervisors were quick to give themselves a raise. Try living on $11 an hour for just 152:55, hours/minutes, per month. I cannot believe anyone can give themselves a raise. Are you kidding me?

I work for IHSS and the federal, state, and county pay my wages. The county pays the most of it. The program is funded through Medi-Cal. And to add insult to injury the county decides how much I make. No vacation, one day of sick leave per year. Big whoop. I have not had a day off since 12/19/2016. I’m not making this up.

Third, Why are you comparing your wages to other counties? If you don’t like what you make, hold down two jobs. I do. This is just pathetic.

Kristina Dalerio

Ukiah

RAIN STUDY IN UKIAH HELPS CONVINCE ARMY CORPS TO STORE MORE WATER IN LAKE MENDOCINO

A maximum of 3.8 billion gallons (11,650 acre-feet) of additional water could be stored in Lake Mendocino between Nov. 1 and Feb. 28.

by Justine Frederiksen

Two years ago, two graduate students studying rain events called “atmospheric rivers” visited Ukiah as part of an effort to gather enough scientific data to help convince the Army Corps of Engineers to store more water in Lake Mendocino. This week, the Corps announced that effort was successful.

“The Corps will allow additional water to be stored in Lake Mendocino during this winter’s rainy season to improve water supply reliability and environmental conditions in the Russian River, while continuing to ensure flood management capacity of the reservoir,” the Corps announced in a press release, adding that “under the approved request, a maximum of 3.8 billion gallons (11,650 acre-feet) of additional water could be stored in the reservoir between Nov. 1 and Feb. 28, which is enough water to supply approximately 97,000 people for a year.”

In March of 2016, Reuben Demirdjian was a meteorology graduate student with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego when he released tracking balloons into the clouds above the Ukiah Municipal Airport with Zhao Yang, who was studying Hydrometeorology at the University of Arizona at the time.

Demirdjian and Yang chose to visit when they did because of the “atmospheric river” expected to dump several inches of rain in Ukiah that week.

“Meteorologists, hydrologists and water resource managers are very interested in knowing how much water will be delivered and where it’s going to land,” said Demirdjian, explaining that he and Yang were collecting data as part of a research effort called Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations, or FIRO, which came largely out of a partnership between the Scripps Research Institute and the Sonoma County Water Agency, which operates the lake with the Corps and Sonoma Water. While the Corps manages the “flood pool,” SCWA manages the “conservation pool,” or water storage, and also maintains minimum in-stream flows in the Russian River below the lake.

Demirdjian said the group he was a part of hoped that the forecasting model they were creating would eventually be used by the Corps to help dictate how much water is released from Lake Mendocino.

“We are focused on hydrometeorology, which combines hydrology, the study of water on the ground, with meteorology, the study of water in the air,” said Jay Jasperse, chief engineer for the SCWA. “If we know where, when and how much water is coming, we can better manage our water supply.”

Which is why the group focused on atmospheric rivers, because they are the events that fill reservoirs. If you get them, Jasperse said, you’re likely to get flooding. If you don’t, you’re likely to have a drought.

In fact, it was an atmospheric river storm in December 2012 that led the Corps to release a significant amount of water from Lake Mendocino just before 2013, now “the driest year on record,” because at the time it still used a Water Control Manual created in 1959 to dictate flood-control releases.

The FIRO group successfully argued that if much more modern forecasting models were relied upon instead, more of the water could have been retained, lessening the effects of the drought on the area.

After the scientists visited in 2016, in 2017 the Lake Mendocino FIRO Steering Committee filed a request with the Corps to allow a deviation from its established flood control operating rules. According to the Corps, the deviation request was supported by a Preliminary Viability Assessment, which contained detailed modeling, analysis and scientific research. The assessment demonstrated that FIRO can provide water managers the information they need, with adequate lead time, to selectively retain or release water from reservoirs. Then the Corps approved the request earlier this month.

“The FIRO effort that has led to this approval by the Corps is the result of a highly collaborative effort between engineers, physical scientists, biologists and forecasters,” F. Martin Ralph, director of the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography and co-chairman of the FIRO Steering Committee, is quoted as saying in the Corps press release. “Sonoma Water and the Corps are to be commended for their leadership and innovation on FIRO at Lake Mendocino, which is setting the stage for further exploration of this promising approach.”

“This collaboration will have far-reaching benefits for the resiliency and reliability of our water supply system in the face of a changing climate,” James Gore, chairman of Sonoma Water’s board of directors, was also quoted as saying. “Improved forecasting provides us with the ability to store more water and still maintain the flood protection benefits of our reservoirs. This is another great example of the benefits of a multi-agency partnership that addresses our most challenging issues.”

(Courtesy, the Ukiah Daily Journal)

SOME THOUGHTS FOR VETERANS DAY WEEKEND:

Despite having the world's largest military budget, five times larger than the next six countries combined, the largest number of military bases -- more than 180 -- in the world, and the most expensive military-industrial-complex, the U.S. has failed to win a single war in the 21st century. The U.S. has engaged in multiples wars and coups since the beginning of the 21 century. These include Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Palestine, Venezuela and the Ukraine. Moreover, Washington's secret intelligence agencies have financed five surrogate terrorist groups in Pakistan, China, Russia, Serbia and Nicaragua. The U.S. has suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties -- dead, maimed and deranged soldiers. The more the Pentagon spends, the greater the losses and subsequent retreats. When will it end?

From www.globalresearch.ca - Printed in the Catholic Agitator Newspaper by The Los Angeles Catholic Worker, October 2018 issue

MAKING MONEY WRITING A CENTURY AGO

by Katy Tahja

As an historian nearing the end of writing my first draft of a history of Mendocino County from 1852-2002 I can’t help but being intrigued by some of the people I’ve researched — like Aurelius O. Carpenter of Ukiah.

First, let me say that anyone wanting to know more about this person can go to the Grace Carpenter Hudson Museum in Ukiah or read Anderson Valley author Marvin Scheck’s excellent book “Aurelius O. Carpenter: Photographer of the Mendocino Frontier.” This column below makes suppositions about Carpenter’s life and career I can only wonder about.

There existed in the American Midwest and West from the 1880’s to the 1920s an industry based on writing county histories. These books acknowledged the pioneers, founding families and businessman who helped establish the county. These were weighty hard-covered tomes with hundreds of pages of text, etchings and photographs. While actual history published in these books might cover 200 pages all the rest, often another 800 pages, was biographical entries.

Two such volumes were written about Mendocino County. Coming first was “History of Mendocino County. California” by Lyman Palmer in 1880.

With 700 pages at publication an addendum in the 1960’s added almost 200 pages more of biographical sketches. A.O. Carpenter’s volume in 1914 was titled “History of Mendocino and Lake Counties” had 169 pages of history and over 900 pages of biographies.

The history sections were gleanings from newspapers and county courthouse records but the biographical sections were what made money for the authors. Now I can only assume this was a profitable venture because so many of these volumes were produced in so many places and to have your family listed you paid to be included.

These were “subscription” volumes in that every biography, every etching of the house or farm, every photo of the man of distinction (and sometimes his wife) was paid for in advance of publication. Some of the fee paid publishing costs and I’d bet some of the fee went into the editor’s pocketbook. I am assuming a “fill-in-the-blanks” form was given every applicant. In it the featured person’s ethnicity, parents, place of birth, and education, travel to Mendocino County, experiences in the area, marriage and children, fraternal organizations and political persuasion was noted.

Then the editor stepped in and rewrote the facts into florid prose. If the person in question was dead his family could have him included by filling out the form. Entrepreneurs could pay to have their businesses included.

A.O. Carpenter was born in 1836 and educated in the East. By 1851 he was apprenticed to a newspaper publisher and worked as a journalist often in his later life. After a stay in Kansas he became involved in the Abolitionist Movement, married in 1856, and came west on the California Trail arriving in Potter Valley in 1858. With the Civil War approaching he helped begin the pro-Union newspaper, the Mendocino Herald in Ukiah and was part owner until 1864.

It’s not known when he took up photography but he opened a photographic gallery in Ukiah in 1869 and by 1879 he owned and edited the Ukiah City Press newspaper and his photo studio was producing portraits, landscapes, regional scenes, promotional materials and family photos. Writing, both in Ukiah and the Bay Area, and photography in the county occupied his next 35 years.

So this curious columnist’s mind wants to know:

Did A.O. Carpenter see the money Lyman Palmer was making collecting subscriptions for that first county history? Did he help Palmer with that volume? After all Carpenter was a newspaperman. Carpenter did pay to have his biography in that first volume. Did he think, “As years go by there will be a whole new market for a bigger collective biography!”

Whatever the answer, he found a publisher and started the years long task of collecting and rewriting history and biographical contributions. He decided to include Lake County and had Percy Millberry, a newspaperman there, write 35 pages of their history and 120 pages of biographies. And, of course, as Carpenter’s work went along, for a fee he would photograph the contributor who was paying an additional fee for his biography. He probably also charged the publisher for all the photos he took and included in the history section.

Perhaps because I’m a journalist I love his verbose wording. Instead of saying, “They could build a dam here,” he extols “the properties of the county and possibility of water and power development is aided by deep valleys and close-locked canyons in a land with heavy unfailing rainfall.”

The county’s educational facilities “compared favorably with any in the state” and “various grains luxuriate growing here with fruits grown to perfection.” It was never too hot in summer, rather…”the dryness of air in summer, devoid of the sultriness of eastern climates, makes the degree of heat endurable.”

Biographical contributors stood for progressive citizenship and fine public service. Their endeavors beautified the land with extensive improvements and development. A man was a friend of progress and good government, and had admirable qualifications for his position requiring accuracy, promptness and a high degree of intelligence. Men had unexcelled business judgment and quick perception Women found their husbands when acquaintance ripened into affection and they all had well known social connections and were involved in betterment and uplifting of their community. Women were also the presiding genius in the home.

When the volume was produced in 1914 I’ll bet many an evening was spent reading by the fire about those folks prominent in all local matters. I wonder if Carpenter used his flowery speech in everyday conversation? Did he ever say anything negative about anyone or anything? How much did that book cost new? A.O. Carpenter is a person I’d have loved to meet.

ELECTION ANTICIPATION

Yesterday, I completed a survey for the League of California Cities on Legislative Priorities for the next year. The survey asked me to consider whether certain issues were not a priority, a low priority, medium priority, high priority, or unknown for Fort Bragg. Not surprisingly, I ranked most of the issues presented as a high priority. Those issues included increasing costs, affordable housing needs across all income levels, homelessness, climate and environmental quality, funding for various city services and infrastructure, adequate water supply, responding to disasters and specifically reducing wild fire risk, economic development, access to high-speed internet, reforming the district-based election system, loss of sales tax to online sales and increasing pension and post-employment benefits costs.

The only issue, I believe I didn’t mark as a high priority was regulating drones. The process of completing the survey reminded me of the many challenges our community will face in the next few years. It also provided some comfort to know that most other cities in California and even elsewhere in our nation, are facing many of the same challenges and seeking solutions that may provide us guidance on how we deal with these issues.

In the days after the preliminary election results for our City have been posted, I speculate whether or not Measure H, the City’s proposed 3/8th of a cent sales tax increase, will gain votes as the final ballots are counted. The hospital’s parcel tax picked up enough yes votes in the post-election day counts to narrowly pass. It was down by about the same percent as Measure H – with 1,159 City ballots counted, 46.9% of the votes are in favor of the tax and 53.1% opposed. I heard this morning that there are still approximately 1,300 ballots to count for Fort Bragg, so there is certainly opportunity for the final outcome to shift. The funds from that sales tax would allow the City to meet the rising pension cost challenge and make it easier to respond to the other competing priorities and challenges that face our community over the next few years.

Although I am certain that the seven City Council Candidates are also anxious to get the final results from the election, I am not worried about those results. The candidate pool was strong. The current frontrunners will certainly serve the City well as would the other candidates, if the outcome flips in the final election certification. Nevertheless, I am anxious to get the final results, so that the new City Council and staff can start working on the issues that will challenge us in the next few years. Whether we have the financial resources from Measure H or not, working with the community, we will create solutions to our challenges. I am hopeful.

Tabatha Miller, Fort Bragg City Manager

CATCH OF THE DAY, November 9, 2018

DANIEL ESCAMILLA, Ukiah. Resisting/threatening peace officer.

CHRISTINA (formerly Bradley) GALLAGHER, Fort Bragg. Disobeying court order.

JOHN GIBSON, Covelo. Signing a promise to appear with a false name.

DAVID GIUSTI, Ukiah. Probation revocation. (Frequent flyer)

JUAN GONZALEZ-MAGANA, Ukiah. Domestic battery.

JOSEPH GOODWIN, Daly City/Ukiah. Failure to register as felony sex offender with priors.

KYLE MASON, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

TARA MCCOMAS, San Francisco/Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

DAVID NICKS, Fort Bragg. Failure to appear.

DAVID RIVAS, Hollywood/Ukiah. Battery by prisoner.

PETER ROSE JR., Point Arena. Probation revocation.

MATTHEW THOMSON, Fort Bragg. Probation revocation.

POSTMORTEM

by James Kunstler

And so, with the midterm election in the rearview mirror, behold the rush into the next phase of Civil War 2. The Golden Golem of Greatness (aka, President Trump) finally requested the resignation of the feckless Attorney General, Mr. Sessions — a fine point as we shall see. The New York Times, of course, played it as an opportunity to litigate the constitution in their headline the day after:

Jeff Sessions Is Forced Out as Attorney General as Trump Installs Loyalist

WASHINGTON — President Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday, replacing him with a loyalist who has echoed the president’s complaints about the special counsel investigation into Russia’s election interference and will now take charge of the inquiry.

Notice that in the headline and the lede The Times is trying to establish the legalistic meme that Sessions was fired rather than resigned, hoping to trigger an obscure DOJ rule that a fired AG cannot be replaced by a temporary appointment. (Well, Mr. Sessions did sign a letter of resignation stating that…uh… he resigned.) At the same time, The Times tries to establish that the incoming Acting AG, Matthew G. Whitaker, is too biased to serve, setting the table for a constitutional food fight.

Of course The New York Times is no longer a newspaper in the traditional sense, but an advocacy and propaganda arm of the Democratic Party. They’re pushing this desperate gambit because it’s clear that Mr. Trump is taking the gloves off now in this long-running battle. What’s at stake is whether the DOJ will prosecute the actual and obvious collusion that occurred during and after the 2016 election — namely, the misconduct of the highest DOJ and FBI officials in collusion with the Hillary Clinton campaign to cook up the bogus Russia-gate case, and the subsequent scramble to cover up their activities when Mrs. Clinton lost the election and they realized the evidence trail of this felonious activity would not be shoved down the memory hole by Clinton appointees.

The result has been two years with no evidence of Trump-Russia collusion and two years of DOJ/FBI stonewalling over the release of pertinent documents in the matter. There is already an established and certified evidence trail indicating that James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Bruce and Nellie Ohr, Lisa Page, and others (including former CIA Director John Brennan and former DNI James Clapper) acted illegally in politicizing their offices. Some of these figures have been subject to criminal referrals by the DOJ Inspector General, Mr. Horowitz. Some of them are liable to further criminal investigation. Many of them have been singing to grand juries out of the news spotlight.

Whether Mr. Whitaker remains in his new role, or is replaced soon by a permanent AG confirmed by the Senate, the momentum has clearly shifted. The Democrats, and especially the forces still aligned with Hillary, are running scared all of a sudden. Thus, all the bluster coming from party hacks such as Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY 10^th Dist), and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). Mr. Nadler takes the gavel of the House Judiciary Committee in January and is promising a three-ring circus of investigations when he does. If the House moves to a quixotic impeachment effort, they will find that to be a dangerous two-way street, since Mr. Trump’s legal team can also introduce testimony in his defense that will embarrass and incriminate the Democrats. Anyway, the Senate is extremely unlikely to convict Mr. Trump in a trial.

Mr. Mueller is said to be writing his final report on Russia-gate. One might adduce that he did not turn up anything significant, since, if he had discovered treasonous collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, it would have merited public action by now. You can’t uncover something like that and not act on it for more than a year.

More mysterious, though, is whether Mr. Mueller even bothered to look into the well-documented misdeeds of the officials cited above. How could he not? If he failed to do so, would he not appear to be himself involved in the cover-up of their activities? The Inspector General’s report would be sufficient to alert him.

There is a lot to get to the bottom of in all this: the mis-use of FISA court warrants, the outsourcing of US intel activities to Britain’s MI6 intel agency to spy on US citizens, the role of Hillary Clinton and her campaign with FBI and DOJ officials in providing so-called opposition research used to provoke spying operations on Mr. Trump and his associates, and to confound the performance of his duties in office. And much more.

Readers seem perplexed as to why I keep writing about Russia-gate. It should be self-evident that an attempt by the party then in power to use federal agencies to interfere in a presidential election is serious business in the highest degree. It is corrosive of the rule-of-law and the fate of the nation, and attention must be paid.

(Support Kunstler’s writing by visiting his Patreon Page.)

from YubaNet.com

HOUSE PROGRESSIVES Will Have to Fight Like Hell Against the Establishment. "More progressive Democrats in the House must be prepared to fight like hell against the Pelosi-Schumer establishment, which will try to make them quiescent and go along with corporate priorities. What 2016 showed is that that platform is a formula for humiliating defeat and irrelevance."

– Juan Cole

truthdig.com/articles/house-progressives-get-ready-to-fight-like-hell-against-the-establishment/

HIT & RUN THEATER returns next Friday & Saturday, November 16 & 17

Dear Mendocino Folks!

Hit and Run Theater returns next weekend for improv comedy shows on Friday and Saturday, November 16 & 17 at 7:30pm at the Matheson Performing Arts Center at Mendocino High School, 45096 Cahto St., Mendocino, CA 95460. The show will include Jill Jahelka, Ken Krauss, Doug Nunn, Kathy O’Grady, Christine Samas, Dan Sullivan, and Steve Weingarten. The team will return to the boards for this weekend of comic scenes and songs—all based on audience suggestions. Backing them up will be famed San Francisco keyboard star, Joshua Raoul Brody of Bay Area Theatresports. General Admission tickets will be $18, with a special admission price of $12 for Seniors over 65 and kids under 18.

To reserve tickets or for more information, please call Doug Nunn at 937-0360 or write dnunn@mcn.org or on Facebook.

Thanks very much! And hope to see you there.

Doug Nunn

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

I am sure that you recall the old statement of being “all thumbs”. That phrase, for the young folk who have not been learned in the ways of history, was a statement of ineptitude. Of being unable to do anything because the only fingers that were on your hands were thumbs, you know like the Dingleboxers of today. All they can do is tippy tap. They cannot work, they cannot build or solve, all they can do is tap, tap, tap, and there are far too many of them. All they have is thumbs. Those who cannot must have everything done for them and there are less and less of us that still do. Our workloads are huge and getting bigger. One day it will kill us off, but fortunately, at least for me, dying in the attempt is an honorable way to go. Another massive problem that will never be addressed is that in order to build or fix anything it is necessary to “offend" at least a few people in the process. With an agenda of nobody can be offended, well, then nothing can ever get done, or fixed, or even improved. Only the newest, shining Dingleboxes can be perpetrated upon the mindless minions without uproar and in the end, it will be their end, won’t it? Good.

THE OLD MAN & THE SEA

IF ALIENS EVER VISIT THE EARTH, what else would we talk about other than physics? And if we want to talk about physics, we have to agree on a set of units, but if we say our unit of mass is based on a lump of metal we keep in Paris, we'll be the laughing stock of the universe.

— Dr. Stephan Schlamminger, 2018, US National Institute of Standards and Technology, discussing re-calibration of the kilogram

YOU KNOW WHY they call it alternative medicine? Because if it worked it would be medicine.

I just read about a woman developing symptoms of cancer, and one of these fake doctors took her for thousands and thousands of dollars for /balancing her body’s pH/ with diet and “baking soda infusions” and meditation and magical psychic massage in his healing retreat. She eventually panicked and went for, you know, medicine, and she has a chance now. But they hauled that schmuck to court and she was awarded over $100 million. The fake doctor is all, /Unfair! Unfair! She knew I wasn’t a real doctor!/ He will appeal the verdict. He has to; where’s he gonna get that kind of money?

At least he didn’t touch her in an inappropriate fashion or take pictures up her dress. So there’s that.

(Marco McClean)

FOR A MOMENT, I had a spark of anticipation that the two kids in the photo were being giving leadership positions in the Democratic House Caucus… But no, just another bait-and-switch for the same decrepit wrecking crew.

Nancy Pelosi: “It might surprise you that the president I quoted most on the campaign trail was Ronald Reagan.” This was no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to Pelosi’s career for the past 20 years. The rightwing titan exerts a powerful hold over the political consciousness of the neoliberal. There is much truth buried in Margaret Thatcher’s quip that “Tony Blair is my greatest accomplishment.”

True to form, Pelosi wasted no time revealing her eagerness to engage in a political Devil’s Triangle with Trump, announcing that the Democrats are ready to embrace the “bipartisan marketplace of ideas.”

Pelosi: “We are not going after Republicans the way they went after us.” They didn’t go after YOU, Nancy, they went after the poor, the atmosphere, the rivers, people’s health care, the banking regulations, Syrian refugees, migrant children, undocumented workers…Get over yourself.

David Swanson: “The last time the Dems won the majority they escalated the war on Iraq they’d been elected to end. Luckily they haven’t been elected to do anything this time.”

(Jeff St. Clair)

DO YOU HAVE ANY THOUGHTS ABOUT THE LEADERSHIP IN THE HOUSE?

I will let them work that out themselves. I’m obviously not a member of the House anymore. We’ll let them make their own decisions. But this is what I absolutely do believe. I absolutely believe that from day one, the Democrats in the House have got to come out with a progressive agenda that speaks to the needs of working people. And that leads to — as you know, the Medicare-for-all bill I introduced, which is to be implemented over four years, lowers the eligibility age from 65 to 55, covers all of the children, and lowers the cost of prescription drugs. My guess is that about 80-percent of the American people would support a proposal like that. It’s wildly popular. And that’s what the Democrats have got to do. They’ve got to raise the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour, they’ve got to make public colleges tuition-free and they’ve got to lower student debt. All of these proposals are enormously popular. And they’re good public policy. And here’s what I think, Matt, that maybe nobody else in the world believes. As you know, Trump is a 100-percent political opportunist, who has no political views other than how he can win elections.

— Bernie Sanders talking to Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS TO HOLD A CANNABIS MEETING ON NOVEMBER 16TH

The Board of Supervisors will hold a cannabis meeting on November 16, 2018, to discuss the proposed cannabis overlay and Cannabis Ad Hoc recommendations regarding the Cannabis Cultivation Ordinance.

Mendocino County has engaged Michael Baker International to amend the County’s cannabis regulations to establish two types of overlay zones: areas with modified cannabis cultivation regulations to allow operators to enjoy more flexible cannabis regulations and development standards (Opt-In Zones), and areas where new commercial cannabis cultivation would be prohibited and existing permitted commercial cultivation would sunset (Opt-Out Zones). The proposed overlays were reviewed by the Planning Commission on October 18, 2018, and will be before the Board of Supervisors on November 16, 2018.

The Cannabis Ad Hoc Committee hosted a community meeting on October 29, 2018, on proposed revision to the Cannabis Cultivation Ordinance (Code Section 10A.17 and 20.242). The community meeting gave residents a chance to hear directly from the Ad Hoc Committee and for the public to provide feedback on the proposed revisions. The Cannabis Ad Hoc will be presenting their proposed revisions to the Board of Supervisor at the meeting on November 16, 2018.

The cannabis Board meeting will be held Friday, November 16, from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. at the Mendocino County Administration Center in Board Chambers. The meeting will also be live streamed on the County’s YouTube channel at: www.youtube.com/mendocinocountyvideo. The meeting agenda is available online at: https://mendocino.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx.

What: Board of Supervisors Meeting on Cannabis

When: Friday, November 16, 2018, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Where: Board Chambers

501 Low Gap Road, Room 1070 Ukiah, CA 95482

For more information, please contact the Mendocino County Executive Office at (707) 463-4441 or ceo@mendocinocounty.org.

FROM THE FIVE OF HEARTS:

[Henry] James must have felt somewhat misplaced among the Americans at Surrenden in the summer of 1898. Far from sharing their zeal for the conquests of Cuba and the Philippines, he looked at the war and saw "nothing but madness, the passions, the hideous clumsiness of rage."

Like his psychologist brother William, who believed that Theodore Roosevelt was "still mentally in the Sturm and Drang period of early adolescence," Henry James was deeply suspicious of the brand of patriotism exalted by the most famous of the Rough Riders.

The same week the United States declared war on Spain, the novelist had reviewed American Ideals, Roosevelt's collection of manifestoes on "The Manly Virtues," "True Americanism," and kindred matters. A hopeless puerility muddled Roosevelt's thinking, James said, and he frostily observed that in a task as momentous as the shaping of national character, "stupidity is really the great danger to avoid."

GRACE UNDER PRESSURE:

Ukiah Symphony delves into classical music's heyday

by Roberta Werdinger

The Ukiah Symphony presents Vienna's Masters at the Mendocino College Center Theatre on December 1st and 2nd, featuring Mozart's Overture to Don Giovanni; Janice Hawthorne Timm conducting the Mendocino College Choir in Haydn's Paukenmesse (also known as “Missa in Tempore Belli/Mass in time of War”); and Beethoven's Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano played by the Milou Trio.

This unusually rich program directs the audience's attention once again to the centrality of music in troubled times. As the violinist tunes his or her strings to create just the right force of tension across which to draw the bow, and the oboist breathes just enough force into the instrument to produce a resonant sound, so the orchestra as a whole delivers a sonic force field that unifies musician and audience through the power of each member's effort. "Music goes through almost every synapse and helps remap the brain," claims Hawthorne Timm, who will be making her orchestral directing debut for this concert.

Mozart wrote the first part--the overture--to his famous opera Don Giovanni last. The 31-year-old composer, harried by creditors as usual and trying to repeat the success of his last opera (The Marriage of Figaro), boarded a coach in Vienna and headed north to Prague on October 4, 1787. With the rest of the music for the opera written, Mozart still had to direct the parts to be copied for the orchestra, singers, and chorus as well as write the overture. He finally did so, in what orchestra director Les Pfutzenreuter describes as "one of his huge bursts of creativity." Scholars disagree on whether he completed the opera on the day of the first performance or the day before--but either way, Pfutzenreuter marvels at "how fast Mozart worked, under pressure and not."

Honoring the musical legacy of 18th century Vienna is also expressed with the Milou Trio playing Beethoven's Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano in C Major. Beethoven composed the piece for the Archduke Rudolph of Austria, a lifelong friend, patron and student of the composer. As the concerto was a departure for Beethoven--"really something new" he wrote to his publisher, of the unprecedented combination of instruments--so it is also the first time the Milou Trio will perform this lyrical and moving work in concert.

Composed of three highly accomplished musicians and teachers from the San Francisco Bay Area--Diane Nicholeris, violin; David Michael Goldblatt, cello; and Gwendolyn Mok, piano--the trio was formed when Nicholeris and Mok met up again at San Jose State University, having been fellow students in the 1980s. As Nicholeris describes it, "we decided to pick up where we left off," telling Mok, "I know a wonderful cellist." The three of them have a busy schedule performing in the Bay Area and on the east coast, in addition to Mok's teaching at San Jose State and Nicholeris and Goldblatt's membership in the San Francisco Symphony, along with other performing and recording activities. "It's really a joy to work with Gwen and David," Nicholeris states. "Everyone brings so much to the table." She describes their job as getting across to the audience "what Beethoven is trying to convey; what is great about this piece and why we are playing this now."

The program also includes Haydn's 1796 Paukenmesse (Timpani Mass), a rousing series of movements which Pfutzenreuter calls "truly symphonic in concept and scale." Also named Missa in tempore belli (Mass in Time of War) to commemorate Austria's longstanding war with France, the persistent use of the timpani (kettledrum) in the piece is thought to suggest the cannons of war.

"I do feel like I've been waiting for 25 years to do this," comments Janice Hawthorne Timm, the interim director of the Mendocino College Choir after Pfutzenreuter retired from his faculty position last year. With a master's degree in choral conducting and 30-plus years of experience of vocal coaching and directing choirs, Hawthorne Timm relishes the opportunity choral work provides to train people of all ages and backgrounds in a supportive environment. "I like to let people make music and edit it once it's out there. I'm the editor," she explains. This approach means that Hawthorne Timm believes in organizing and encouraging people to sing in groups and then working on technique, rather than the other way around. "The breath supports everything," she adds. "I don't wait until people have learned the notes to make music."

"I believe every person is born musical and the instrument we are born with is our body," Hawthorne Timm muses. "Babies have an immediate response to music; even deaf babies respond to sound vibrations. Helping people find that music inside themselves enables them to withstand the stress of the world and stand up for what they need."

Vienna's Masters takes place Saturday, Dec. 1 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 2 at 2 p.m. at the Mendocino College Center Theatre. The Theatre is wheelchair accessible. Tickets are $30 for adults, $25 for seniors age 65 and up, and free for ASB card holders and everyone under 18. Tickets are available at the Mendocino Book Company at 102 S. School St. in Ukiah or online at www.ukiahsymphony.org. For further information please call the Ukiah Symphony hotline at 707 462-0236.

Sponsors for the concert include Robert Axt, Rich and Jean Craig, Dr. Herschel and Susan Gordon, Pacific Redwood Medical Group, and the Rural Communities Housing Development Corporation.

MEMO OF THE AIR: Good Night Radio tonight live from Fort Bragg on KNYO-LP and KMEC-LP Ukiah.

Tonight, Friday, November nine, 9pm to 5am, there's Memo of the Air, live from the KNYO performance space at 325 N. Franklin, next door to the Tip Top bar. Enter out of the smog, waft toward the classily cluttered, well-lighted space at the back, and you can show-and-tell and/or perform your act or musical composition, or talk about your project, or offer thoughts and prayers regarding the latest atrocity either local or global, or teach the world all about something only you have been privileged to grasp, in a new and exuberant language that occurs to you on the spot, if you find yourself at that point in your cycle.

If you'd rather stay home crouching over the HEPA filter, the deadline to email your writing to be read on the air tonight is 6pm or so. Also the number in the Fort Bragg studio is 707 962-3022, so you can read your own work with your own voice right there on the phone in real time. If there will be swears (in English), please wait until 10pm for that, because otherwise it agitates the weasels, /as you well know/. Also you might listen for a short while before you call, because I'm gonna try to remember this time to turn off the phone bell while a guest is performing, and I don't want you to feel like nobody cares about you. I mean, I might or might not care about you, but I'm never ignoring the phone just because it's you.

This coming Wednesday (Nov. 14) the 80-year-old Western radio comedy-drama /Destry Rides Again/ will be performed on KNYO /from/ the Helen Schoeni Theater in the middle of the Art Center in Mendocino with a live audience and SFX both canned and practical. For infomation about getting your cowboy butt in a fancy theater seat for pure enjoyment or heckling purposes, find info via http://MendocinoTheatre.org and then Season and then Reading Series. Or call the box office: 937-4477.

Okay, that's it. But tell your friends about Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio: /Every/ Friday, 9pm to 5am on 107.7fm KNYO-LP Fort Bragg, and 105.1fm KMEC-LP Ukiah. Also there and anywhere else via http://knyo.org

Some bonus tracks, for while you wait:

The Gashlycrumb Tinies was one of the first Edward Gorey stories I ever read. It was the early 1970s. Here's the new GhastlyGun Tinies, regarding the 2nd Amendment's well-regulated militia and the mess it leaves after itself for the rest of us to clean up or look the other way from.

https://imgur.com/gallery/eSvwrD1

Ze Frank on dragonflies and damselflies. "This hardcore little bastard."

Circle of life.

https://laughingsquid.com/ze-frank-true-facts-damselflies-dragonflies/

And I have an eight-inch-tall antique stuffed plush baby dinosaur I got at the St. Vincent de Paul for like 50 cents a couple of years ago. It took a long time to run the batteries down that came in it, and I replaced them with two AA batteries (from a pack of eight from the dollar store). You touch its tongue and it woggles its head and chews (!) and waves its little arms and makes a baby roar/scream and a happy eating sound, and you touch its tongue again and it does much the same but makes a different sound. Five sounds, total. It is so cute; I keep it by the door and touch its tongue when I go out or come in, like that Jewish blessing thing, you know? Now: here's the 2018 version of that toy on steroids and literal roller skates. I don't want it, don't buy it for my birthday on Monday, I mean that, but the ad is very nicely produced, and budding salesmuffins can learn a great deal from the presentation.

https://theawesomer.com/alpha-training-blue-robot/500568/

Marco McClean,

memo@mcn.org,

https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com