Mendocino County Today: Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018

• Bad Air
• Camp Fire
• Rain Coming
• Tree Crews
• Forensic Dentist
• Little Dog
• Violet Chappell
• Jerry Reeves
• Thanksgiving Chopper
• Building Fees
• Ambulance Service
• Ukiah Drifters
• Election Updates
• Budget Busting
• Pimentel Popped
• Yes Problem
• Yesterday's Catch
• Intelligentsia Blindspots
• Swamp Gas
• No Hope
• Who Burns
• Festival Benefit
• Country Christmas
• Processing
• Marco Radio
• Holiday Express

MENDOCINO AIR QUALITY AND PUBLIC HEALTH ADVISORY

Friday through Monday , November 16-19, 2018

November 16, 2018 3:36 p.m. Smoke and haze primarily from the Camp Fire in Butte County continue degrading the air quality and reducing visibility in inland areas of Mendocino County. Currently air monitors show particulate matter concentrations in the “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” to “Unhealthy” range in Ukiah and Willits. Other areas of inland Mendocino County are expected to have periods of “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” to “Unhealthy” conditions depending on wind. The Mendocino Coast is currently experiencing “Good” to “Moderate” concentrations. These conditions are expected to impact the County intermittently until the fires are out.

Current conditions will persist for most of today. However, based on the meteorological forecast, smoke impacts from the Camp Fire will increase over the weekend, due to southeast winds and consistent high pressure. Some relief is expected in the Bay Area. 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 and AirNow.gov. 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 the District’s preferred online source of certified, accurate regulatory air quality data. Other networks that provide air quality data are still under evaluation and may provide unverified data.

CAMP FIRE STATUS: Now up to 148,000 acres at 50% containment. Latest count is 9,844 residences destroyed(!) and 336 commercial structures destroyed (up 30 from two days ago) plus over 2,000 other structures. 71 confirmed civilian fatalities. Over 5600 firefighters on scene. Cause: “under investigation.” Unfortunately, winds are expected to pick up over the weekend and even additional firefighters are being brought in to mitigate whatever fire growth that will accompany those winds.

Camp Fire, November 17 (click for full map) Camp Fire Progression, November 8-16 (click for full map)

NOW THE GOOD NEWS

The National Weather Service is saying "Rain will return to the area by the middle of next week and continue through next weekend....This will be the heaviest bout of precipitation seen so far this year. Precipitation is expected to start late Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning, with several waves of precipitation continuing through next weekend. While exact precipitation amounts remain uncertain this far out it appears highly likely that most areas will receive over an inch of rain before all is said and done next weekend."

Thursday, 2pm — NEED 5 MAN TREE CREWS! Top Dollar paid.

Please pass this on to everyone you know to help me spread the word, but please remember this ad is for five man Crews only, no individuals! All individual laborers can apply online at: p31enterprises.com/employment

ASSEMBLYMAN JIM WOOD — A FORENSIC DENTIST — IS IN PARADISE, HELPING IDENTIFY THE DEAD

If you caught NPR’s Morning Edition earlier today, you may have heard their on-the-ground interview with Dr. Jim Wood, a forensic dentist who is working with teams at the Camp Fire to identify the remains of people who were killed in the disaster. Wood — who did similar grisly duties at the sites of the Sept. 11 attacks and during Hurricane Katrina — spoke eloquently of the particular challenges he faces in Paradise, given that so many of the deceased’s dental records were also destroyed in the fire. Yes — that’s our Jim Wood, elected representative of California’s Second Assembly District. The reporter didn’t mention that his interviewee was a California legislator, either because he thought it beside the point or he simply didn’t know. But it’s the same man.

At least 71 people have been confirmed dead in the Camp Fire, and over 600 people remain unaccounted for.

LITTLE DOG SAYS, “The Boss wants me to share my igloo with Skrag and Alice. I told him No. He flipped, and yelled, 'Godammit, Little Dog, I thought you were a liberal, but you either share space with them or...' I'm still waiting for the 'or'."

VIOLET PARRISH CHAPPELL, 88, prominent Native American educator, dies

by Chris Smith

Violet Parrish Chappell lived most of her life on the Kashaya Pomo reservation near Stewarts Point in northwestern Sonoma County, and she was dedicated to the preservation of that culture.

She died Sunday September 16, 2018 at a Santa Rosa hospital from complications of recent strokes. Chappell was 88.

She learned the language and traditions of her people, who have inhabited the Sonoma Coast for thousands of years, from one of the best teachers possible. Her mother was Essie Parrish, for most of the 20th century a spiritual leader of the tribe and one of Sonoma County’s most accomplished and most prominent figures.

One of Parrish’s 13 children, Violet Chappell grew up to become a lifelong educator. She taught at the reservation’s school and for years traveled with a sister, Vivian Wilder, to schools across Northern California to instruct teachers on how to deepen and bring alive the teaching of native history.

Among those who count themselves as grateful students of Chappell are Sonoma State University anthropology professor Margaret Purser and Caltrans archaeologist Kathy Dowdall, both of whom worked with Chappell on an exhaustive, yearslong Pomo cultural study that in 2016 was awarded the Governor’s Historic Preservation Award.

“She was a mentor,” said Dowdall, who considered Chappell not only her teacher but one of her best friends.

Dowdall was among the people who were closest to Chappell and was with her when she died.

“I’m heartbroken,” Dowdall said, “and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

SSU professor Purser praised Violet Chappell as “a true cultural hero.”

Purser said Chappell, along with her sister, Wilder, her brother, Otis Parrish, and other members of her family, “worked tirelessly for decades to document and preserve Kashaya language, stories and traditional knowledge to make sure it was there to pass on to the next generations, as a body of knowledge that belongs first and foremost to the tribe itself.”

Chappell also kept alive Kashaya Pomo art and crafts. She was well-known for her bead work and for the traditional baskets she made.

“She learned from her mother a lot of things,” said Paul Chappell, her husband of 60 years. “She stuck to her mother’s ways.”

The former Violet Parrish was born on Aug. 4, 1930, in the Mendocino Coast settlement of Manchester.

Her father, Sidney Parrish, was a member of the Point Arena-Manchester area’s Central Pomo or Boya tribe. Her mother was born Essie Pinola to the Kashaya Pomo, whose traditional lands extended from about the Gualala River south to Salmon Creek and inland to about what is now Lake Sonoma.

Violet Parrish grew up speaking the languages of both the Kashaya Pomo and the Point Arena Pomo. As a young woman, she left the reservation near Stewarts Point to earn a degree in early childhood education at the college known now as San Jose State University.

She returned to the reservation to become a Head Start teacher, while all the time studying and teaching Pomo language and culture.

She was 28 and was dancing in Sebastopol when she met Paul Chappell.

“There was a nightclub and they had live music,” he recalled. “She happened to be there with her cousin, Rosalie.”

Paul Chappell and Violet Parrish married on the last day of 1958 in Reno. They lived for a time in Richmond and in Cedarville, in Modoc County, before settling about 50 years ago on the Kashaya reservation.

Violet Parrish matured into one of the native community’s most respected elders. Sustaining one of her mother’s priorities, she worked to preserve the Kashaya’s language, beliefs, moral teachings and traditions.

Dowdall, the Caltrans archaeologist, first met Chappell and sensed her passion for preservation of Kashaya Pomo culture 30 years ago. Then, Dowdall did research for her Sonoma State master’s thesis at the Sonoma Coast’s Salt Point State Park.

She said of Chappell, “She educated me and I went back and got ethnology training so I could be of use.”

The Kashaya elder and the state highways archaeologist came together again when, in 2008, Caltrans, the tribe, state parks and Sonoma State University began work on the Kashaya Cultural Landscape Project. Caltrans took the lead to better understand the coast Pomos because Highway 1 slices right through their historic lands.

Mindful of the historic importance and longevity of the area’s native residents, the ambitious endeavor documented the tribe’s known archaeological sites and recorded many of its practices, traditions and stories.

Professionals directed the project, Dowdall said, “but this was Violet’s baby, I can tell you that.”

The archaeologist said that though the Kashaya Landscape Project was officially completed in 2015, the work of documenting and preserving Pomo culture continues. Just two weeks ago, said Dowdall, who lives in Santa Rosa and is proud of her own Sonoma County ancestry as a member of the deeply rooted Bertolini family, she and Parrish worked at the Pomo elder’s kitchen table on the reservation.

“She was an educator from beginning to end,” Dowdall said.

Purser, the SSU prof, said of Chappell, “I’m grateful for her generosity, her tenacity, and her willingness to teach what were often difficult lessons.”

In addition to her husband on the Kashaya reservation, Chappell is survived by her sister, Vivian Wilder of the reservation; her brothers, Otis Parrish of Windsor and Ronald Parrish of Renton, Washington; and by numerous nieces and nephews.

Visitation is from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Eggen & Lance Chapel in Santa Rosa. Services are at 1 p.m. Friday at the community center on the Kashaya reservation.

(Courtesy, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

* * *

Background: www.theava.com/archives/11490

JERRY ALVA REEVES JR. Age 57, born June 19, 1961, he passed away in Santa Rosa, California, on November 10, 2018.

He was surrounded by family who loved him dearly. Jerry was a loving husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle. He was raised by his great aunt Victoria Frasier. Jerry loved his cats, the ocean and going up to Loleta to watch the UFC fights with his boys. He was my life partner for 35 years. I will miss our special outings together. He will be dearly missed.
(Gloria Reeves)

A Wailaki, Concow, Pomo Indian from Round Valley who loved to attend the Big Times and Bear Ceremonies! Also, loved wearing traditional necklaces. He loved his grandkids and loved to bead and draw. Jerry was a rocker, he loved AC/DC and Nazareth. Jerry is preceded in death by his parents, Phylis Peters and Jerry Reeves and great aunt, Victoria Frasier; his brother, Michael Reeves; sister, Charlotte Smith; and uncle, Tommy Reeves He will be loved and remembered by his loving family, Gloria Mitchell Reeves, his wife of 35 years; his children, Danny, Moses, Geronimo, Vanessa, Jerrica and Vivian; grandchildren, Janice, Frankie, Bella, Mandy, Ritchie, Delilah, Noelani, Penelope, Noah, Little Dove and Little Bear; his brothers and sisters, Lorin, Cherie, Antoinette, Daniel and Arylis; aunts, Victoria, Elaine, Karen, Carmalita, Luella; and uncle, Coyote. Thursday, November 15, 2018, at 10 a.m. we will be following him from Eversole Mortuary in Ukiah to 1009 Manzanita Circle at Robinson Rancheria. The only red house on the block. Sunday, November 18, 2018, we will be sending him off to Eversole Mortuary in Ukiah for a viewing from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and back to the house for dinner. Eversole Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.

CALTRANS HELICOPTER TO INVADE ALBION During Thanksgiving Week

Just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday week, Caltrans plans to begin its geotechnical drilling operations at the historic Albion River Bridge beginning as early as Monday, November 19. Drilling operations are expected to continue every weekday through January 25, 2019, except during Christmas week.

Caltrans has already scalped the bluff top on the northern side of the bridge, removing roughly 100 trees and other vegetation from an erosion-prone bluff. Next week, the agency plans to scalp the small freshwater wetland at the base of the south-facing bluff, where it meets the long-established dune-berm immediately west of the historic bridge, to build the first of eight drill pads.

Between this coming Monday and Wednesday, Caltrans is expected to use a helicopter to move two steel platforms, a drill rig, and other drilling equipment and supplies into place. Each piece of equipment will be suspended from the helicopter by a 190-foot long cable, an operation known as an “external swing load.”

The complex operation will require complete closures of Highway 1 for twenty minutes (or more) at a time, multiple times per day.

In between delivery operations, Caltrans plans for the helicopter to hover off North Albion Head or return to its base at Little River Airport by flying over the Albion River Valley or along Highway 1 and over the Dark Gulch unit of Van Damme State Park.

Caltrans claims the geotechnical drilling will help inform decisions relating to maintenance and rehabilitation costs of the existing historic structure. However, the agency has also admitted — on the record, at Coastal Commission meetings — that additional drilling would be necessary to fully investigate rehabilitation.

In other words, the upcoming drilling operations seem directly aimed at one goal: destroying the last remaining timber trestle bridge on Highway 1, a bridge that has both state and federal historic designation.

The Albion Bridge Stewards have already documented roughly a dozen violations of the coastal development permit issued to Caltrans by the California Coastal Commission last September, and has shared these violations with Coastal Commission staff. The Coastal Commission has rebuffed a request to revoke the Caltrans permit based on these and other violations — perhaps in part because of a “interagency agreement” in which Caltrans pays the Coastal Commission almost a million dollars a year to streamline its permitting endeavors.

Albion Bridge Stewards will be monitoring the drilling operations closely and will continue to document and report violations.

A READER WRITES: Not sure, but we may be seeing a huge increase in Planning and Building fees (probably to help offset their budget problem). I was processing a building permit and the fee doubled from last week to this week. Again, not sure if this will apply to all permit applications, but if it does, it might be something for you to report. Might have to investigate some more.

ED NOTE: Off our recent experience with P&B, and anecdotal evidence gathered from many locals, no one looks forward with anything except extreme trepidation in dealing with Planning and Building, Mendocino County. Why? Because it's going to be an arbitrary, contradictory, expensive, and infuriating experience. And the Supervisors, oblivious of the true functioning of the bureaucracies they allegedly supervise, claim they're actively supporting strategies to create housing.

TAKE a shorthanded rural ambulance service and add Tom Melcher, a guy truly deserving of an Above and Beyond award, not that any of Anderson Valley's ambulance volunteers are any less deserving.

HERE'S THE STORY: Antoinette von Grone and Thom Elkjer, the seemingly indefatigable husband and wife team who are on-call for days at a time, took a rare break from their grinding ambulance duties for some rare time off, leaving town for three weeks. Melcher, a former resident of Navarro and a fully certified emergency services provider with the perennially short-handed Anderson Valley Ambulance, flew back to The Valley from his new home in Vermont to fill in for Antoinette and Thom while they were away, staying in their Boonville home while he made himself available round-the-clock to respond to the usual variety of local disasters.

MELCHER covered 18 shifts over the three weeks, keeping the ambulance in full response mode when it would otherwise have been mostly out of service. Fortunately, there were not many calls and things worked out just fine. But it wouldn't have worked out well if it weren't for Melcher.

IT ALL GOES to show how difficult it is to recruit, train and keep EMTs and to keep our struggling ambulance service alive if a magnanimous dude has to fly clear across the country to respond to our emergencies.

AMBULANCE MANAGER Clay Eubanks covers a lot of shifts himself, much as Dave Severn did not long ago, the whole of it being that Anderson Valley Ambulance needs people to step up to keep this invaluable life saving service fully alive — if not as an EMT, then as a driver.

A SENSIBLE COMMENT out of Ukiah: "As far as the homeless problem, it’s nothing we’re going to cure here. There’s been studies done, and for some reason the county and the city … will pay money for good advice, but then they won’t take it. So there has to be a situation where the city has to actually admit to themselves that there are actually people that need the help, and there are people that don’t want the help and make it a lifestyle choice to be living on the streets and urinating on our streets. Hopefully that gets addressed soon, because the last two projects (before us) we’ve heard that they’ve changed their plans to accommodate for the homeless and transient population that has now populated Ukiah. I’m concerned about how we are enabling people to do things when basically we should be deterring them, and I’m sure there are ways that can be done.”

— Ukiah Planning Commissioner Chair Mike Whetzel

LARA PULLS IT OUT, THURMOND LOOKING GOOD

Democratic state Sen. Ricardo Lara has defeated Republican-turned-independent Steve Poizner to become the state's next insurance commissioner, according to new vote totals Friday.

Vote counts updated since Election Day made Lara the winner with nearly 4.9 million votes, or 51.6 percent.

Lara will be California's first openly gay statewide officeholder. Poizner, a former insurance commissioner, would have been the first independent to win such an election.

* * *

(Previously) — Kounalakis, Yee, Ma among statewide victors in California

Two men vying for California insurance chief in wildfire aftermath Lara, of Bell Gardens, will head the Department of Insurance, which enforces insurance laws, licenses and regulates companies and investigates fraud, now that commissioner Dave Jones is termed out of the office. Lara previously authored a failed bill that would have provided state-run health insurance and has said that remains a top priority. Poizner, of Los Gatos, is a wealthy Silicon Valley technology entrepreneur who lost a bid for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in 2010. He ran as an independent because he said the office should be free of politics, though both men promised not to take insurance money. Lara's win leaves just one statewide race too close to call.

* * *

Assemblyman Tony Thurmond had a 74,000-vote lead over Los Angeles schools executive Marshall Tuck in the race to become the state's top public education official. Thurmond had nearly 4.3 million votes, or 50.4 percent. Thurmond and Tuck are Democrats but the race is nonpartisan. Thurmond has the backing of powerful teachers unions while Tuck is supported by wealthy charter school and education reform proponents. — Don Thompson, AP

LAST JUNE when the County’s crack Budget staff was presenting the 18-19 budget (July 2018 to June 2019), we posted the following about the Sheriff’s overtime budget which had at first been set at zero so that the budget would appear balanced, then raised to $300k when Supervisor Croskey pointed out that zero was a bit low seeing that the prior year there was $1.6 million in Sheriff’s overtime:

Deputy CEO Janelle Rau said they put zero overtime in the budget because they plan to keep close track of the overtime.

Rau: “I have been working with the Sheriff's office on their budget. They did go through some budget balancing strategies [translation: they made some ridiculous assumptions]. And working with their budget officer Kyra [the Sheriff’s budget analyst] and the Sheriff himself they did do some reductions to meet net County cost. [Arbitrary cuts.] With that is an understanding that the executive office is going to be working with them hand in hand and in turn with the board, meaning that we will be coming to you -- and there are descriptions in the information to you -- monthly, not quarterly. We will be coming to you with adjustments as they are necessary. We have made that arrangement with the Sheriff to say, you let us know when there is an issue so we will have discovered that between all of us here if there is one. Overtime was one of them. We knew it was out there. It is a strategy that we will watch. And that we will look at their vacancy factors as well to see in their total 1000 series [general fund] where they will be. It's a different approach this year. But we have been working on it effectively. Kyra and I started working on it this last year in July to make sure we could come here and feel good about what we are giving you and actually give you the confidence that we will be informing you as we go along as well.”

So the CEO’s Office and the Sheriff are going to start providing monthly reports on overtime! Does anybody believe that? They should have been doing routine monthly overtime tracking all along and now all of a sudden they’re going to start monthly reporting on something?

Never happen.

This reporting will either be non-existent or — if it happens at all — will be lame to the point of uselessness. Mendo just does not do monthy budget and staff reporting. In all likelihood they will ignore the overtime as it routinely goes over-budget like they do everything else and wait until it’s a problem, then make some equally preposterous declaration like the magic assumption change from 5% position vacancy to 10% position vacancy and cover the overtime like they always do by shorting other already short departments.

[CEO Angelo then grudgingly agreed to put $300k in the budget for Sheriff’s overtime.]

Supervisor Georgeanne Croskey wanted to hope — in spite of her gut knowledge that even $300k is nothing more than a place holder — that this still-ridiculous $300k approach would help.

Croskey: “That helps. I certainly have concerns. But we have nothing budgeted for overtime. It's not as if overtime won't happen. I understand we will be looking at it as we go. But it's — it's not as if — I don't know — I have concerns that we are pretending that that $1.6 million is — that we will find a way as we go. But…” [Shrugs.]

WE HAVE ALREADY HEARD from several patrol deputies that this discussion is as far from their reality on the street as it could be. And nobody has told them about any changes in overtime procedures or authorizations.

SO MARK YOUR CALENDARS. This was the first meeting in June. We will be looking closely at the first July agenda (July 10, to be exact) to see what kind of monthly overtime tracking Ms. Rau, Ms. Angelo, Mr. Allman and the crew actually come up with.

* * *

SINCE THAT JUNE DECLARATION, there was one (1) passing mention of Sheriff’s overtime in August casually noting they had already expended 45% of the budgeted amount in just two months. (Presumably of the $300k, but it could be 45% of the $1.6 million that’s still showing up in their budget charts, which would make the situation worse.)

ON TUESDAY, November 13, the CEO’s budget staff reported that the Sheriff’s office (not counting the jail) was about $2.1 million over-budget, primarily due to a significant (but unspecified, unreported) amount of overtime and some success in filling vacancies (not leaving them open) leading to somewhat less overtime but more base salary.

REMEMBER that the Sheriff’s office represents about half of the General fund budget. So expecting under-runs in other General Fund departments to make up for the Sheriff’s office overrun is naïve in the extreme. Yet that’s what they’re doing, albeit also without actual numbers for any of it.

NEVERTHELESS, Supervisor John McCowen, who tries harder than his colleagues to make sense of the budget, made the following silly remark concerning the Sheriff’s Office budget overrun: “I do believe the Sheriff’s office is working hard to mitigate the overtime.”

I DO BELIEVE that the County is NOT working hard to mitigate the budget problems.

BUT BELIEFS do not a budget report make.

NEITHER McCOWEN nor his colleagues asked about how much overtime has been expended, nor how much of the $2.1 million was overtime, nor did they remind the staff about their (obviously empty) promise to keep track of overtime to see if the Sheriff really is “working hard” to mitigate it.

THIS IS THE KIND OF THINKING that keeps everyone in the dark on the budget — as expenses go up and up and revenues are flat at best, probably down. We’ll have more on the revenue info gap in our next budget report.

PIMENTEL’S BAD PAINT JOB

On November 16, 2018 at approximately 8:17am hours, a concerned citizen called the Ukiah Communications Center to report he observed a possible stolen County of Lake vehicle on SR-20 at Pomo Pumps, traveling eastbound. Officer C. Ogburn responded to search the area and observed a vehicle matching the description of the stolen vehicle parked unoccupied in a vacant lot on Frontage Road, west of Rancho Vista Drive. The vehicle had a license plate from another vehicle attached to the rear. Officer Ogburn ran the Vehicle Identification Number located inside the driver's door and the vehicle returned to a stolen vehicle belonging to the County of Lake. Officer Ogburn observed a male briskly walking away eastbound from the area near the shore of Clear Lake and go through the backyards. Officer Ogburn responded to the adjacent side of the houses and located the suspect. Officer Ogburn detained the male, later identified as William Pimentel, without further incident.

The stolen vehicle had fresh white spray paint over the County of Lake emblems on the doors. Pimentel also had fresh white paint on his fingertips. There were recently stolen bank cards within the vehicle which had been used to withdraw a large sum of money the same morning. Upon inventory of the vehicle, cards and a booklet with Pimentel's name were discovered within the vehicle. A deceased fox was located within the bed of the truck which is illegal to possess. Pimentel was subsequently arrested and booked at Lake County Jail.

(CHP Press Release)

HEY! NO PROBLEM!

Editor:

I’d like to know when and how “no problem” became the response to “thank you.” The young generation of our community answer the salutation “thank you” with this disgusting response of “no problem.” I didn’t know there was a problem. Our world could make huge improvements in the way people communicate.

You’re welcome.

Sue Hart

The Sea Ranch

CATCH OF THE DAY, November 16, 2018

BRET BENGSTON, Ukiah. Taking vehicle without owner’s consent, obtaining a vehicle by theft or extortion or purchase or receipt of same, prison prior, prior strike, parole violation. (Frequent flyer.)

ALVARO BRICENO, Ukiah. Controlled substance, paraphernalia, resisting, probation revocation.

BRYAN JAGGERS, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

ALTON KEATON, Dallas, Texas/Ukiah. Failure to appear.

TREVOR SHUSS, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

ROBERT THING, Ukiah. Second degree robbery, conspiracy.

DESTINEE WALKER, Nice/Ukiah. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

There is hope. It’s a question of people being able to adapt quickly enough. Do they change or do they become bug-splat on the wind-shield of on-rushing events?

I read the September-October 2018 edition of Foreign Affairs. Usually it’s nothing but what you’d expect from what Ben Rhodes called The Blob ie the foreign affairs establishment, Blobsters putting forth the same-old stuff, blissfully unaware that the world has changed, to a large extent with their complicity and connivance, so that the same-old is no longer viable.

But now, lo and behold, Foreign Affairs has Francis Fukuyama saying things that the bi-coastal intellectual establishment would never have been so forthright in saying, in effect, that the rise of the middle class in China came at the expense of industrial working classes in formerly prosperous western countries because of offshoring of work to the former, political tumult in Europe and America being the result.

Now, this is real progress. Unfortunately, events don’t wait for enough people to wake the fuck up. Guys like David Remnick can squawk all they want that Trump’s election was all racism and misogyny and this phobia or that, or that it portends the rise of fascism, that it’s all because of the unwarranted fears of under-educated and inadequately striving country-folk. But history has its own currents, the generators of these societal tides and tsunamis rooted in human needs and drives.

Facts being inordinately stubborn things, the Remnicks of the world put themselves in grave peril by ignoring them. What facts? For example, that human intelligence is many-faceted, that it isn’t defined only by facility with symbols on a page or words and images, that much of it is defined by the ability to shape objects or to manipulate the physical world.

The average construction worker may not posses the erudition of a writer for the New Yorker, but it’s also fair to say that the average writer for the New Yorker would be baffled by the tool-belt of a construction worker. So who would you say is “smarter”, the trades-men on a building site, the farmer tending his fields, the machinist shaping a piece of metal, or the staff for a big-city magazine?

This is a long way of saying that human talents and abilities come in many forms, the current definition of who’s smart and who ain’t is dreadfully straightened by those who think they’re really “smart”, who put too high a value on their own abilities and disregard or disdain others.

It’s my contention that those people that currently think they’re intelligent are in fact very limited in skills and knowledge, that they would be dead in three weeks without the knowledge and abilities of people they look down on.

One of those dreadfully stubborn facts is that what drives people who write for magazines, who work at colleges and on Wall Street, who consider themselves opinion makers and leaders, also drive the people that are currently devalued and disparaged ie meaning in life, some worthwhile prospects, some useful function, adequate ability to provide for family. This doesn’t come from racism, it’s not resurgent fascism or this preposterous phobia or that. It’s basic human nature, the survival instinct at work.

And when you yank these basic things from people and then call them vile names there’s hell to pay. This ought to be common sense. But maybe among the “intelligentsia” it isn’t. How did Trump get elected? Trump didn’t deride the people that Hillary and Remnick insult and laugh at, that’s how.

The Remnicks of the world ought to be smart enough to realize that. Maybe they’re not.

AN ODOR OF PERFIDY

by James Kunstler

I suspect there’s a hidden agenda behind the announcement in The Wall Street Journal op-ed by former Hillary Clinton aide Mark Penn that the Ole Gray Mare is actually eyeing another run for the White House in 2020. No, it’s not just that she would like to be president, as she averred on video last week in a weak moment, or that she has decided late in life to go full Bolshevik policy-wise. It is to establish her in the public mind as a serious candidate so that when she is indicted a hue-and-cry will arise that the move is a purely political act of revenge by the wicked Trump.

Of course, she’s not a serious candidate because too many people recognize her naked corruption, and she’s carrying so much noisome baggage that her entourage looks like one of those garbage truck convoys hauling New York’s trash to flyover country. Prosecutors don’t even have to search very hard for evidence of her misdeeds. It’s smeared all over the swamp-scape in the established facts about the Steele Dossier and its engineered journey through the highest levels of the FBI and Department of Justice, and the wild machinations that ensued when the cast of characters in those places scrambled to cover their asses following the debacle of Hillary’s election loss.

Little is known about what is going on inside the Mueller commission. But if, as it appears, the Special Counsel is still stalking Russian Facebook trolls and ignoring the slime-trail of huggermugger left behind by Hillary & Company, then we are seeing one of the most fantastic failures of law enforcement in history. Still, there’s a possibility — low-percentage in my view — that Mr. Mueller might disclose a raft of charges against the Clinton gang and her errand boys.

The trouble is that such charges may lead to the some of the highest former officials in the land, including former CIA director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and perhaps even the sacred former President Obama. Even Mr. Mueller himself is suspect in the 2009 Uranium One deal that conveyed over $150-million dollars from Russian banks into the Clinton Foundation coffers.

If it turns out to be the case that Mr. Mueller’s report completely overlooks all that, then there is going to be a mighty collision between his office and the new management of the Justice Department, Mr. Whitiker, the Acting Attorney General, and whomever is finally confirmed as the new regular AG.

Personally, I don’t see how Mr. Mueller can evade the questions over these matters. Too many wheels have been set in motion, and some of these wheels are coming loose — such as the mischief promulgated by the international man-of-mystery Joseph Mifsud, who was likely working for US intel via the British MI6 to game George Papadopoulos into a Russian collusion set-up that he demurred from. The set-up failed spectacularly, and now that the facts are becoming known about it, Mr. Mifsud has come out of hiding, and his lawyers are preparing to serve him up to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Won’t that be fun?

Many of the other characters involved in these perfidious schemes — Comey, Strzok, Page, Ohr, McCabe, et al — have been keeping remarkably low profiles lately (except for the reckless and feckless John Brennan, who apparently can’t keep his pie-hole shut on MSNBC). Hillary has been making the rounds, too, on some kind of phony-baloney “listening” tour. But she looks sore-beset and worried on stage, slumped in her easy chair, and I’m persuaded she’s simply going through motions to pretend that she’s still a credible political figure so that when the hammer comes down on her she can issue the war whoops that will start Civil War 2 in earnest.

Meanwhile, a giant archive of documents in these matters is awaiting declassification. The buzz is that Mr. Trump delayed this before the midterm elections due to threats from our “intel community” that the documents would compromise our relations with foreign intel outfits in friendly lands — namely the aforementioned MI6 of the UK. The collusion was apparently done to avoid legal questions about using US intel to spy on members of the Trump election campaign. But Theresa May’s government is imploding now, and that nation will be preoccupied with other problems going forward, so it is more likely that the garbage barge of unredacted emails, texts, and agency transcripts will sail right into the public domain in the days ahead, whether Mr. Mueller likes it or not.

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

(Text at bottom) — The purpose of this diagram is not to be mean, not to be a bringdown. We’re not trying to make sensitive little girls depressed. The purpose of this diagram is to convince you earnestly and in all sincerity that there is NO HOPE so that you will be transformed by the cold, hard truth. Once you accept the reality of NO HOPE you can begin to approach your life in a new way. Now you can take your head out of the clouds, quit looking to some illusion of a perfect future and start living in the present. Knowing that there is in fact NO HOPE, and feeling this great realization with your whole being will slam you back to the real world like you’ve never been before. Come on! You can handle it!

RICH MAN, POOR MAN - WHO BURNS?

"The ultimate realization we are compelled to confront, in the face of private firefighting in Hidden Hills, is one that has plagued class society from its inception. It is a dark and uncomfortable realization, but it is nonetheless threaded through almost all aspects of class society. If we are OK with the wealthy having access to forms of disaster protection that are unavailable to the poor, then we’d have to admit that we, as a society, believe the life of a rich person is worth more than the life of a poor person...As climate change bears down on us, we are going to be confronted with this realization over and over. As a society, are we OK with allowing wealth to determine who survives and who dies?"

huffingtonpost.com/entry/california-wildfires-neoliberalism-climate-change_us_5bec0d2ce4b0caeec2c012a0

FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS GALA THIS SATURDAY!

There are still a few tickets left for tomorrow’s Festival of Lights annual benefit GALA. Join us for a preview of the lighted gardens complete with live music, bubbly, food, wine, beer, and more!

As crisp fall air gives way to long winter nights, we gather in the spirit of the season offering an exclusive viewing of the Gardens aglow. Be the first to stroll the scintillant paths of brilliant color. The cozy tent will be transformed into a dazzling fantasia of sparkling ice and snow complete with music, drink, and sumptuous bites.

Sway to lively jazz performed by the Dorian May Trio with guest vocalist Sharon Garner. This year’s Gala will include a bountiful hors d'oeuvre menu assembled by the Noyo Harbor Inn & Restaurant and KBistro.

Here is a sneak peek at the menu (more delicious bites to be added):

Begin with bubbly provided by Fathers & Daughters Cellars, North Coast Brewing Company craft brews, and some of the best wines Mendocino County has to offer. Savor an elaborate cheese fondue station with non-dairy vegan dip, Dungeness crab bisque, local mushroom risotto, a variety of appetizers, oyster bar provided by Caito Fisheries, cheese and charcuterie platters provided by Roundman’s Smokehouse, and a decadent array of desserts provided by Harvest Market!

Tickets are $100 per person and include live music, food, wine, beer, bubbly, a special preview of the lighted gardens, live auction, and the chance to win raffle prizes! All proceeds from this fundraiser event help to support Festival of Lights and the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. Tickets are limited and selling fast! Purchased yours today at The Garden Store or by calling 707-964-4352 ext 10.

COUNTRY CHRISTMAS DEC. 8

This year, Mendocino Study Club's Country Christmas will be held on December 8th in conjunction with Rainbow School's Crafts Faire. The event will be at Preston Hall (next to the Mendocino Presbyterian Church) 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 8th. This a great place to find locally handmade gifts, fresh wreaths, jams, jellies and pickles, and much, much more! See you there!

Joe and Ruth Sparks <jsparks@mcn.org>

“Give me a minute. I need some time to process before we get the shovel out, Eddie.”

MEMO OF THE AIR: Good Night Radio tonight (Friday, Nov. 16) on KMEC-LP Ukiah and KNYO-LP Fort Bragg, live from 325 N. Franklin, next door to the Tip Top bar. /Hang/ the electricity bill, as they used to say, the weirdly buzzing heater will be on in the back room the whole time, so expect that but dress warmly anyway. Dress in layers. I'll be in my fluffy slippers, cowboys-and-Indians pyjama pants, raggedy turtleneck sweatshirt that I've been sleeping in all week, and the extra-thick crimson bathrobe with soup discoloration shaped like Yugoslavia on the right arm.

There seems to be a hitch in getting Doug Nunn's world-class local/global Snap Sessions shows automatically regularly scheduled on KNYO, so until Jerry gets that accomplished I'll just play each latest one in place of the old-time radio show at the end of MOTA. They're up to Snap Sessions No. 6.

Deadline to email your writing to be read on the air tonight is around 6pm. If you're not done by then, send it anyway whenever it's ready and I'll read it next week.

Okay, that's all I'm gonna tell you now. 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: Sasha Frolova.

http://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/comments/sasha_frolova

Charts from analyzing 40,000 Dear Abby letters.

https://pudding.cool/2018/11/dearabby/

Driving out of the fire. https://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/2018/11/driving-in-california-yesterday.html

And here we have the spectacular snowy Devil's Poopmittens, a real place on this amazing planet that we just got for free and so apparently feel we can do anything we want with it, but we haven't got around to trashing up the Poopmittens yet, so.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4418/37002375676_d7234bd209_o.jpg

Marco McClean, memo@mcn.org,

https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com

HOLIDAY EXPRESS

Roots of Motive Power in partnership with the Mendocino County Museum presents: Holiday Express a FREE Family Event on December 1st from 12 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Holiday Express Includes Free Holiday Fun for the Whole Family:

• Free Steam Train Rides
• See Santa and Receive a Free Small Gift
• Wagon of Gifts Raffle
• Refreshments: Cookies and Hot Chocolate
• Large Decorated Trees with Train Themed Ornaments
• Free Admission to the Mendocino County Museum
• Crafts for Kids

Holiday Express Event Location: Join us at the Mendocino County Museum and Roots and Motive Power at 400 E. Commercial Street, Willits, CA 95490

December 1, 2018

12 p.m. - 5 p.m.