MCT: Wednesday, February 20, 2019

• Cold Front
• Covelo Gunplay
• Undercover Neighbor
• Urban Renewal
• Jap Hannah
• Mental Health
• Wannabe Supervisor
• Dance Day
• Trashy Service
• Pension Assumptions
• Life Values
• Fish Farm
• Yesterday's Catch
• Hank 18
• Propped Up
• Bern 2020
• Oligarchy ROI
• Weathering Storms
• California Cannabis
• Ayn Rand
• Troublesome Sentence
• Kindle v Book
• Confused Normal

A COLD FRONT associated with a weak area of low pressure will pass through northern California today. Showers will impact most of our area, especially north of Mendocino county. Light snow accumulations will make for slick travel across some of the mountain passes. Cool and dry conditions with frosty mornings are expected Thursday and Friday, before another round of rain and mountain snow arrives this weekend. (National Weather Service)

AT 7:07 TUESDAY MORNING, a woman reported that multiple “kids–approximately 17 to mid-twenties” were shooting up her property in the Covelo area of Mendocino. Later, the woman said that “all four subjects had pistols” and said that they might be trying to come in her back door. Eventually, she reported that the suspects fled in a white Chevy Suburban with no license plates. After the suspects left, she said that her living room had bullet holes in it. The suspects were described as Native American. Two had baseball caps and the driver had a bushy mustache.

COVELO SHOOTING first reported by MendocinoSportsPlus this morning: Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office responded to aid Tribal Police and requested the California Highway Patrol respond also. At about 7:38 a.m., law enforcement located a white SUV and one suspect armed with firearm. One suspect was detained there. One suspect “failed to comply” when told to stop and sped off in a new model white Toyota Sequoia with black rims on Crawford Road towards Henderson, according to the officer relaying information over the scanner. One suspect was reported walking in another area and armed with an AR-15. By 9 a.m., according to the scanner, at least three possibly four subjects were detained.

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MSP’s DETAILED ACCOUNT:

SCANNER: 'SHOOT 'EM' UP IN COVELO TODAY

MSP was listening to scanner reports of a residence (we're withholding the address) that was shot up this morning.

The first reports came over the scanner from a woman who stated that there were 'shots fired, 5 - 6 kids shooting, they were coming towards her back door."

She then reported they were shooting at a shed, then at the house and near a motorhome parked on the property.

She said four subjects had pistols and were associated with a white Chevy Suburban but there was no entry into the house. They had red baseball caps and the driver of the vehicle had a bushy mustache.

Mendocino Sheriff units responded "Code 3" (lights/sirens).

The vehicle, that had no front or back license plates, left the scene and was reported to be heading toward Crawford Road.

Once they left, the reporting party said there were bullet holes in her living room walls and the male adult living in the motorhome had his life threatened by the individuals who said they were going to kill him. He said he did not know the people.

At 7:40 am, Tribal Police pulled over the Suburban and had one detained - another occupant fled with a long gun in his hand. An AR-47 type gun was seized from the vehicle.

At 7:42 am, it appeared the other individual got into a white Toyota Sequoia possibly driven by a female.

Shorthly thereafter the Toyota was pulled over in the 400 block of Crawford and another was detained.

At 8:58 am, another was reported "detained at gun point" on Henderson Road.

We'll have to await the Mendocino Sheriff press release for the "rest of the story."

JOE MUNSON: I MEET HOYLE & HENDRY

As Told to Jonah Raskin

Someone, I don’t remember who, said “Joe Munson has a target on his back. He’s an outlier with a history.” In fact, it’s not much of an exaggeration to say that I’ve had guns pulled on me in every state west of the Mississippi. Mark Twain, who tangled with western gunslingers, would know what I’m talking about and he’d be tickled by my account of dancing with Pete Hoyle, who called me “a drug dealer”—though I was growing medical marijuana for patients. I called him a “rogue cop.” I also told him to make sure not to perjure himself in front of Judge Faulder because Judge Faulder would bounce him around like a rubber ball. There’s no escaping the righteous wrath of Faulder.

Before I get into my days with Peter Hoyle, when there was never a dull moment, I want to say this about cops as a group. I’ve often heard it said that cops rip off dealers and growers. Hey, man, cops don’t take pot, except once in a great while. It’s not because cops are inherently honest, but rather because the higher-ups are watching them like hawks and they know it. If a cop were to grab $100,000 in cash, which might be lying around at the scene of a bust, and if he’s also making $100,000, he’ll get in trouble, especially if he starts spending it. Most law enforcement guys are career cops. They don’t want to jeopardize their salary, their pension and their status in the community.

But now let’s get back to Hoyle. I often thought that he had a hard-on just for me, but in fact he had a hard-on for everyone. He was a terminator cop: one bad hombre and a very cocky baldheaded white boy. I must have pissed him off a few times. I didn’t realize it when I moved to Redwood Valley, but there I was living right next door to old Pete. It was quite a coincidence. He’d drove by in his undercover cop truck or ride his bicycle past my place. He was on recon.

Soon after I arrived in Redwood Valley we had words. I wished him a good morning and he asked if he could turn on his tape recorder so that he had an accurate account of our conversation and it couldn’t be misunderstood, misheard or misconstrued. I told him to keep it off because I wasn’t going to talk nice. I told him that whatever was going to happen, ought to play itself out in court and not on the side of the road, so he wouldn’t have to live through his nightmare twice. We parted company.

Then, a couple of days later, I’m driving in my beater—a piece of shit vehicle—with my wife, Atsuko, and my mother-in-law Nobuko, who was visiting from Japan where she’s a famous calligrapher. She had been invited to take part in the haiku festival in Ukiah and to bring it up a notch or two with her art. There was also an exhibit of her calligraphy.

We’re on our way to the festival. I look in the rearview mirror and I see Pete right behind me, and then right behind him are four Mendocino County sheriff’s vehicles. I turn to my wife and say, “They’re probably for us.” She says, “Hai,” which is “Yes” in Japanese. At the Gobi Street exit there are six cop cars behind us. I pull into the parking lot for what was Wendy’s and that burned down. Pete disappears. He knows that I know he’s an undercover cop, but he doesn’t want the whole county to see him with the real cops and to realize he’s undercover. So he makes himself scarce.

The sheriffs put on their cherries, the swirling lights on the roof of the vehicles. Deputy Hendry, the biggest, baddest cop in Mendo is there, but oddly enough, or maybe not, he seems to like me. He’s a muscle-bound, ex-marine type guy. In the parking lot, Hendry is civil to me. My mother-in-law gets out of the car, which she’s not supposed to do, but she doesn’t know the rules. She starts cussing the cops in Japanese.

My wife sees Hendry reaching for something. She says, “He’s gonna shoot grandma.” Hendry says, “No, I’m not, I’m turning down my radio.” Then, oddly enough, the cops let us go. They figured we were Hoyle’s target and they didn’t want to mess with us. We went to the haiku festival where my mother-in-law sold some of her work and we had a fun time. That was the last time I saw Hoyle, except once I ran into him when he was buying a 12-pack of beer at a convenience store. His truck and his boat were in the parking lot. I figured he was going to the lake. “Have a lovely day,” I say. He turns to me and says, “Thanks James.” Only he and Keith Faulder have ever called me by my birth name.

"URBAN RENEWAL -- A Dozen-Plus Years On …"

(Photo by Harvey Reading)

SANTA ROSA PRESS DEMOCRAT, February, 25, 1942:

Fort Bragg wife voted 22 years, held as Jap citizen.

Mendocino County Clerk Harry M. Burke has taken up with the US Naturalization department the status of Mrs. Hannah Piggott of Fort Bragg as an alleged citizen of the United States. Mrs. Piggott whose maiden name is alleged to have been Hori, owns property and a small home on McPherson Street in Fort Bragg. Harry Piggott passed away in 1934; he was registered as a jockey. Mrs. Piggott who is reported to be a Japanese alien has been a registered voter in Mendocino County since November 2, 1920. The certificate of registration states that she was born in Japan. According to the records on file in the office of the County Clerk, Mrs. Piggott was registered by a deputy in Fort Bragg and claimed citizenship under naturalization through marriage to the American citizen prior to September 22, 1922. The Piggotts were married in Seattle, March 23, 1914. It is not charged that there is any deception practiced in the claim of citizenship. Mrs. Piggott did not register as an alien as it was well understood in Fort Bragg she was a registered voter. She claimed to have had no contact with other Japanese for the past 20 years. Her case is under investigation by federal authorities.

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Ukiah Daily Journal, March 2, 1942:

Hannah Piggott is Alien Enemy.

Mrs. Hannah Piggott, Japanese, who has been registered as a citizen of the United States and voted in Fort Bragg for 21 years, has not the right of citizenship and never could have according to Paul Armstrong, assistant director of Immigration and Naturalization Service office in San Francisco. County Clerk H.M. Burke consulted the immigration authorities when investigation developed that Mrs. Piggott was a Japanese born in Japan. She had been given the right of citizenship under the law which granted that right under marriage to an American citizen. Hannah Hori and Harry Piggott were married in Seattle on March 23, 1914. Immigration authorities state that under no conditions could Mrs. Piggott become a citizen of the United States if she were born in Japan and of Japanese parents. County Clerk H.M. Burke has advised Mrs. Piggott that he was in error in believing that she was a qualified citizen of this country. She has a home in on McPherson Lane in Fort Bragg and has lived in that city for more than 40 years. She is a woman of 70 years or more. In reply to Mr. Burke's inquiry Mrs. Piggott replied that she was born in Japan and of Japanese parents. Her registration certificate on file in the clerk's office gives her birthplace as Japan.

(Mrs. Piggott died in Fort Bragg in 1949 at the age of 63.)

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According to findagrave.com:

Married in Mendocino County, April 1912.

Hannah & Harry lived in Fort Bragg.

Hannah was widowed in 1934.

The 1940 census documents Hannah living alone in her own home at 121 Harrison St. in Fort Bragg. She rented out the rear of the house to a family of 3.

At the age of 57 years old, she was forced to leave her home and belongings behind, except for one suitcase.

Per Ancestry records; specifically, documentation entitled "Final Accountability, Records of the War Relocation Authority," Hannah was forced into a Japanese American internment camp during World War II.

After Pearl Harbor was attacked on Dec. 7, 1941, President Roosevelt authorized the forced relocation of Japanese Americans living on the West Coast. Over the spring of 1942, about 120,000 Japanese Americans were evacuated and placed into temporary assembly centers, before being transferred to a more permanent and isolated relocation center.

Hannah Piggott, was first sent to the Merced Assembly Center in Merced County. Her official date of entry is Sept. 8, 1942.

She was then sent to the permanent internment camp, called the Granada War Relocation Camp, aka "Camp Amanche," located in southeast Colorado.

She was released on January 18, 1945.

In total, she spent 2 years, 4 months and 10 days inside both detention centers. Longer still being detained and transported both ways to and from Fort Bragg.

THE FUTURE OF MENTAL HEALTH CARE

Letter to the Editor,

The Mental Health care of the future can be seen in Change Your Brain, Change Your Life by Daniel Amen, MD, The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, MD, and at amenclinics.com, and chopra.com.

Redwood Community Services (RCS) upper management knows about this. I believe they will institute as much of it as possible for crisis care, with the resources they are given.

Many people can and want to learn lifestyle changes that support healthy living by taking classes in healthy eating, meditation, and stress reduction techniques. These classes can be taught as part of a CRT (Crisis Residential Treatment) Program to support people in their healing, preventing relapses, making healthy lifestyle choices that can lead to a better and more meaningful life.

A CRT is a voluntary program to help people in early stage crisis. A PHF (Psychiatric Health Facility) helps people in advanced stage crisis when they are a danger to self or others or gravely disabled. A CRT and PHF meet all our needs for crisis care.

Many of us know the mental health services failures of the past. The CSU failed here in 2000 because it was too expensive with 3 shifts of medical staff and not enough people who only needed 23 hours of care. Let’s stop looking at the old mental health system as something to do again.

RCS offers us the best chance of bringing the mental health care of the future here. Let’s support them in doing this. We need a ready-to-go modular unit for the Orchard Street property so people can be helped now.

Sonya Nesch

Comptche

HERE WE GO AGAIN. I assume she means well, but Ms. Mulheren is yet another wannabe Supervisor who has shown no interest in County matters or affairs. Hasn’t attended a single meeting, hasn’t written a single letter about the County or its functioning, hasn’t mentioned a single County-managed or County-controlled issue which the candidate is interested in or wants to improve, hasn’t engaged in any County business as it relates to Ukiah (such as the consolidated dispatch services exercise currently underway, albeit slo-mo) which would benefit both Ukiah and the County), can’t cite a single accomplishment during her tenure as Ukiah mayor, doesn’t seem interested in budgetary matters… And yet, like several other candidates before to various degrees, this candidate pops up for Supervisor. McCowen can be annoying as hell, but he’s a serious pol and if you're going to take him on, you should have reasons for doing it. Is this what the Board meant when they raised the salary to a ridiculous $84k saying it would attract the best candidates? (Mark Scaramella)

GOTTA DANCE!

To whom it may concern:

I am Hannah Woolfenden, a student with Anderson Valley High School. For my senior project, I am putting on a free dance day. I chose to do this project to expose more children to dance, as both an art form and a physical activity. Dance has done so much for me and it is incredibly important that other children get the opportunity to dance as well. I attached a PSA for my event which will take place on March 30 at Mendocino Ballet in Ukiah. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at this email. I hope you will help me get the word out about this. Thank you for your time.

Warmly,

Hannah Woolfenden

Who: Free Dance Day at Mendocino Ballet

What: Bring your kids to enjoy a blast of an afternoon with a series of free dance classes for ages six to thirteen. It doesn’t matter whether or not you’ve taken a dance class before, just be ready to move, groove, and have fun.

When: Saturday, March 30, 2019 from 1:00 to 4:15 pm

Where: Mendocino Ballet, Ukiah

Information: Hannah Woolfenden, hlwoolfenden@gmail.com

707/489-2290, Mendocino Ballet, 205 South State Street, Ukiah CA

Mendocino Ballet is a non-profit 501c3 corporation. Tax ID: 68-0037489.

UNHAPPY IN ELK: So, the peeps that are supposed to pick up trash and our recycling once a week have not been doing so for the past few weeks in Elk. First, the recycling wasn't picked up. This last week, the trash wasn't picked up, BUT they continue to charge us!!! I don't know if any other areas are affected, but it's not okay to say a service is provided, charge for it and not do it. I'm planning on calling today, but am interested to find out if others in this District have also been affected. If so, maybe this is something for the Supervisors to deal with since they are the ones who set the policy for what Solid Waste of Willits can charge.

PENSION BLUES REVISITED

Editor,

I just saw the editor's response to a Letter on 2/6/19 from Sako titled "Pension Blues". I'd like to point out something you may not be aware of.

From the response:

"The Pension Board can't just go off on their own and say, ‘We don't think the stock market will produce that much so Mendo has to pay more.’ They need revised numbers before they can do anything like that. "

Well. in fact they can "just go off on their own" and lower the assumed rate of return. The County doesn't establish the assumed rate of return - the Retirement Board does. Yes - they'd need appropriate professional analysis to satisfy the "prudent person" standard. But they've gotten analysis from their investment advisors that they are more likely to earn less than the rate of return they told their Actuary to use. The Actuary - Segal Consulting - recommended the higher rate that was adopted by the Board (as I recall). BUT - it would be legally and financially justifiable for the Retirement Board to conclude that especially given the history of creating what really is a huge debt relative to Mendocino County's population and local economy, it is "prudent" to assume a lower rate of return to have a higher confidence level that the Pension Fund will in fact achieve that return.

The "best" public pension funds I know of are in the Netherlands. Currently they are assuming somewhere around 4% returns!!! They purposefully choose to make sure pensions are funded so that ever-increasing debt is not imposed on the public and future retirees can have greater confidence they won't get the shaft.

There are other important things about the assumed rate of return. When their Actuary says "this is what we expect the Pension Fund will earn," what they are really saying statistically is "we think you have a 50-50 chance of earning our recommended rate". That means they have a 50% chance of earning less! Take a six-shooter revolver and put three bullets in it and spin the chamber and play Russian Roulette. Would you be happy with those odds? I can't imagine ever wanting to play that game but if I did I'd sure rather have only 1 bullet than 3.

Also - the County itself could decide to pay more into the Pension Fund than they have to. They really have the authority to do that and there are actually some local governments around the US who have indeed made that decision to pay down the unfunded pension debt faster. But if they did that employees would not be obligated to pay more.

However - if the Retirement Board lowered the assumed rate of return - employees WOULD be obligated to pay more (probably subject to whether or not they could get the County to pay some of that increase in Collective Bargaining - which is done behind closed doors).

Another thing - it is an absolute certainty that if significant unfunded pension debt develops that means the Retirement Board's pension funding plans FAILED!!! PERIOD!!! There is no other possible conclusion. So what if there's a terrible recession - you're supposed to plan for that. So what if people are living longer - you're supposed to plan for that. Given that history of failure wouldn't it be prudent to assume a lower rate?

And - another thing. Very few people understand how Actuaries actually use the assumed rate of return to develop pension fund plans. Step One - they project how much pensions will be paid out in each year in the future to people who have already earned those pensions in the past - both current retirees and employees - until the last of all those people dies. THEN Step Two - they 'DISCOUNT' each of those payments in the future by the "assumed rate of return" to determine how much should be in the Pension Fund today so that all those future pensions that have already been earned can be paid. The "fancy" name for that is the "Actuarially Accrued Liability". If the Fund has that much and earns its target rate on average over the long run AND all the assumptions about life spans, survivor benefits, when employees will retire, what their final "pensionable" compensation will be, inflation - and on and on - "come true" - then pensions earned in the past will be paid.

BUT - if there's less money in the Fund then the Pension Fund is "underfunded". Obvious. But there's a subtle issue here.

Let's say a Pension Fund is supposed to have $100 million and assumes it will earn 10% (to make the math easier. What if it only has $50 million? (This is a very simplified example.)

Well - the Fund could earn its target return of 10% next year which would be $5 million. Most officials would celebrate saying everything's fine because they hit their target rate. Well - No. In order to not fall deeper in the hole it really needs to earn $10 million! They don't pay pensions in percentage points - they pay dollars. They really need to earn 20% next year which is $10 million to not go deeper in debt - assuming all other assumptions come true. If they only earn $5 million then the Fund will add $5 million to its unfunded pension debt.

And - ONLY THE COUNTY has to pay more to pay off that additional $5 million.

Bottom line - the RETIREMENT BOARD establishes ALL the Actuarial Assumptions that are used by Actuaries to develop pension funding plans - including how much needs to be paid into the Fund next year - NOT the County. Of course they look like they consider what the County may want — but I believe they are not under any legal requirement to incorporate any County proposed assumptions. (I MAY be slightly off here - not looking at the absurdly complex County Employees Retirement Law - but if I am missing assumptions the County can establish in practice they have nowhere near the impact of those the Retirement Board has the sole legal authority to set.)

ENOUGH! I've got work to do.

John Dickerson

Redwood Valley

yourpublicmoney.com

RYAN BURNS: Let’s Take a Closer Look at This Big Fish Farm Proposal for the Samoa Peninsula

There have been lots of ideas in recent years for how to maximize the economic potential of Humboldt Bay. “More cruise ships!” some suggested. “More oysters!” “Less-restrictive zoning!” “How about a new railroad or two?” But as far as we can tell, no one even dreamed of suggesting that the Samoa peninsula could host one of the world’s largest indoor fish farms. No one imagined that Redwood Marine Terminal II, a contaminated brownfield site still littered with the rubble of an abandoned pulp mill, could be chosen to house a 600,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art aquaculture facility capable of supplying the West Coast with nearly 60 million tons pounds of fish per year. That concept, and the Norwegian company that plans to bring it to fruition, found us.

lostcoastoutpost.com/2019/feb/18/lets-take-closer-look-big-fish-farm-proposal-samoa/

CATCH OF THE DAY, February 19, 2019

MICHAEL DONAHE SR., Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol. (Frequent flyer.)

LUIS OLIVER, Covelo. County parole violation.

SARAH SKAGGS, Ukiah. DUI.

JOSHUA WEBB, Laytonville. Controlled substance, probation revocation.

SILAS YOUNG, Willits. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

SEE THE YOUNG MAN in this picture?

He was 18 years old when it was taken at the train station in Mobile, Alabama, in 1952. There is $1.50 in his pocket. In that bag by his foot are two changes of clothes. (And if his mama was anything like most other mamas in the South, probably some sandwiches and other snacks.) He was on his way to Indiana to take a job. He was going to play baseball for the Indy Clowns of the Negro Leagues. Apparently, he was pretty good at it. A couple of years later, he was signed by the (then minor league) Milwaukee Brewers. He played for the Brewers for two seasons, then moved across town to the Braves, and later followed them to Atlanta. Eventually, he was the last Negro League player to be on a major league roster. He still hangs around the baseball world. At the moment, he's the senior vice president of the Atlanta Braves. Even though the team has changed stadiums (twice) since then, his retired number, 44, still hangs on the outfield wall of the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium near where he belted a homer to break Babe Ruth's all-time record (which he held for 33 years). Happy 85th birthday to "Hammerin' Hank" Aaron.

— Cal Davis

WHAT THE BERNIE SANDERS 2020 CAMPAIGN MEANS FOR PROGRESSIVES

by Norman Solomon

Presidential candidate Kamala Harris began this week in the nation's first primary state by proclaiming what she isn't. "The people of New Hampshire will tell me what's required to compete in New Hampshire," she said, "but I will tell you I am not a democratic socialist."

Harris continued: "I believe that what voters do want is they want to know that whoever is going to lead, understands that in America today, not everyone has an equal opportunity and access to a path to success, and that has been building up over decades and we've got to correct course."

Last summer, another senator now running for the Democratic presidential nomination, Elizabeth Warren, went out of her way to proclaim what she is. Speaking to the New England Council on July 16, she commented: "I am a capitalist to my bones."

A week later, Warren elaborated in a CNBC interview: "I am a capitalist. Come on. I believe in markets. What I don't believe in is theft, what I don't believe in is cheating. That's where the difference is. I love what markets can do, I love what functioning economies can do. They are what make us rich, they are what create opportunity. But only fair markets, markets with rules. Markets without rules is about the rich take it all, it's about the powerful get all of it. And that's what's gone wrong in America."

In the obvious contrasts with Harris and in the less obvious yet significant contrasts with Warren on matters of economic justice as well as on foreign policy, Bernie Sanders represents a different approach to the root causes of -- and possible solutions to -- extreme economic inequality, systemic injustice and a dire shortage of democracy.

It's not mere happenstance that Bernie is willing to use the word "oligarchy" to describe the current social order in the United States. What's more, he pointedly ties his candid analysis of reality to more far-reaching -- and potentially effective -- solutions.

Now that Bernie has announced he's running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, progressives will need to decide on how to approach the contest. Anyone with feet on the ground understands that the Democratic nominee will be the necessary means to achieve the imperative of preventing a Republican from winning another four years in the White House. So, who is our first choice -- whose campaign deserves strong support -- to be the nominee of a Democratic Party that has remained chronically dominated by corporate power?

The "tweak options," represented by Sen. Harris, recycle the kind of mild populist rhetoric that served the presidential aspirations of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama so well. Corporate interests backed them from the outset, and corporate interests benefited. Overall, Wall Street soared while Main Street got clobbered.

The "regulatory options," represented by Sen. Warren, would be a positive departure for the top of the Democratic Party. Yet the constrained analysis (markets "are what make us rich, they are what create opportunity") puts forward constrained remedies, more palliative than cure.

The tweak options are fully compatible with further consolidation of the reign of corporate power that has enthroned oligarchy in the United States.

Strong regulatory options, if implemented, could roll back some excesses of corporate power, and that would certainly be progress. But we live in a world where mere plodding progress won't be enough to halt catastrophic trends.

The concentration of wealth in fewer and fewer hands is directly related to more and more disastrous momentum, from vast income inequality to out-of-control climate change to rampant militarism. For those who want the next president to fight for solutions that match the scale of such problems, the choice should be clear.

One of the most exciting aspects of the upcoming Bernie campaign is the enormous potential for synergies with social movements. There are bound to be tensions -- that's inherent in the somewhat divergent terrains of seriously running for office and building movements -- but the opportunities for historic breakthroughs are right in front of us.

Meanwhile, corporate media outlets are poised to be even more negative toward the Bernie campaign than they were last time. This time, independent progressive media outlets -- especially online -- will be vital and could prove to be decisive.

The only real hope for the 2020 Bernie Sanders campaign is that a grassroots uprising will become powerful enough to overcome the massive obstacles. It's a huge cooperative task, but success is possible.

Norman Solomon is cofounder and national coordinator of RootsAction.org. He was a Bernie Sanders delegate from California to the 2016 Democratic National Convention and is currently a coordinator of the relaunched Bernie Delegates Network. Solomon is the author of a dozen books include War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Yes I moved a good ways off the beaten path. That was 20 some odd years ago but with the gentrification (or marijuannafication) of Colorado I am not as far out as I once was. It seems everyone and their entire families are moving to Colorado at an unprecedented pace. Still I am at 7000 feet in the Rockies and around 50 miles from a decent size city. I’m here more as a lifestyle preference vs being worried about any SHTF scenario. Quite frankly there are no perfect hide aways left in the US. Whereever a person can drive too for their abode anyone else can drive to as well.

Still being away from city life is more comfortable for me. That being said I agree with you and have not become too isolated. I can weather any social unrest better than most but I am more concerned with things such as forest fires and winter storms. As I type there is a storm bearing down on my world scheduled to hit here in a few hours. We’ll probably get between one and two feet of snow out of this one. But as I said the larder is full, the inside and outside firewood storage bins are loaded, and if the electricity goes (more than likely) there is my aforementioned library.

CANNABIS TAX REVENUES FOR FOURTH QUARTER OF 2018

California Department of Tax and Fee Administration

Sacramento – The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) reported revenue numbers today for cannabis sales for the 4th quarter of 2018. Tax revenue reported by the cannabis industry totaled $103.3 million for 4th quarter returns due by January 31, 2019, which includes state cultivation, excise, and sales taxes. It does not include tax revenue collected by each jurisdiction.

As of February 14, 2019, California’s cannabis excise tax generated $50.8 million in revenue reported on 4th quarter returns due by January 31, 2019. The cultivation tax generated $16.4 million and the sales tax generated $36.1 million in reported revenue. Retail sales of medicinal cannabis and medicinal cannabis products are exempt from sales and use taxes if the purchaser provides a valid Medical Marijuana Identification card and valid government-issued identification card.

Previously reported revenue for 3rd quarter returns was revised to $100.8 million, which included $53.3 million in excise tax, $12.6 million in cultivation tax, and $34.9 million in sales tax.

Revisions to quarterly data are the result of amended and late returns, and other tax return adjustments.

In November 2016, California voters approved Proposition 64, the Control, Regulate, and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act. Beginning on January 1, 2018, two new cannabis taxes went into effect: a cultivation tax on all harvested cannabis that enters the commercial market and a 15 percent excise tax upon purchasers of cannabis and cannabis products. In addition, retail sales of cannabis and cannabis products are subject to state and local sales tax.

To learn more, visit the Tax Guide for Cannabis Businesses on the CDTFA website.

HERE’S WHERE we stopped reading a recent CounterPunch article called, “Troublesome Possibilities: The Left and Tulsi Gabbard,” by Daniel Falcone and Richard Falk: “In this interview, Professor Richard Falk breaks down the potential for Gabbard, and suggests that while the questioning and analyzing of her flaws are important, it might also be helpful to allow her candidacy time to develop and to see if her evolutions politically can adequately translate to governing effectively and progressively.” (Mark Scaramella)

LOOPY

Very little in my world makes sense any more. No. Mirroring the world out my door, it makes no sense whatever, at all. Sleeping and waking every hour or so to pee (these damned pills), when I got up a few minutes ago, I thought Facebook had disappeared from my computer. I found a dictionary in my bookcase that I thought I had lost. Yesterday, my Bluetooth keyboard worked, but I couldn't find the apostrophe. I thought I had left a burner on my stove on and I hadn't. This morning it is as dead as I will be soon. I am afraid that if I mistakenly touch the wrong symbols at the bottom of my screen or keyboard, this essay will just disappear. Like I said, I'm confused.

I just want to be normal, but no one else is normal. They're just average. But there must be millions like me. This is normal? Or average? Egad! My never ending, never moderating confusion leads to no answers, I think. I just want to be normal. Yesterday, my daughter was here. The one who saved my confused life. She wants me to take walks, ride the bus and be normal. I don't think she liked what she saw. But I'm just trying to be normal.

When normal people turn on the news, they must be as horrified as I am. So maybe I'm more normal than I think. The news is not normal. To think that it is is not normal. I'm confused. But I have not pushed the wrong button. Yet. The clock ticks. A comforting sound. Normal.

(Bruce Brady)