MCT: Saturday, March 9, 2019

• Weak System
• McCall v Mendo
• Your Place
• Seneca Girl
• Helping Al
• Firefighter Graduation
• Locals Night
• Homicide Investigation
• Peeping Percussionist
• Denver Flights
• Split Decision
• Yesterday's Catch
• Population Control
• AVA Physics
• Manafort Sentence
• Injustice
• Symphony Fundraiser
• Future Economy
• Ecological Calamity
• Military Votecard
• Matching Donors
• Ilhan Courage
• Demonizing Omar
• Hot Air
• Craft Beards
• Charter Schools
• Insurance Exec
• F&G Agenda
• No-Fly Zone
• Bourke-White
• Dead Bread
• Church
• Wildlife Films
• Marco Radio
• AOC Fixation
• Rodeo Refinery

A WEAK STORM SYSTEM just off the northwest California coast will move south through Sunday, bringing rain and mountain snow. Drier weather and some sun are expected on Sunday and Monday. Another shot of precipitation is expected on Tuesday, followed by drier weather to end next week. (National Weather Service)

WHY IS JESSICA MCCALL SUING MENDO & THE DA’S OFFICE, “et al”?

The following item appears on the Supes agenda for next Tuesday:
“Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(a) - CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL - Existing Litigation - Jessica McCall v. Mendocino County, District Attorney’s Office et al. Case No. SCUK-CVG-18-70457.”

Ms. McCall was a prosecutor in the DA’s office but is now listed as an attorney practicing in Sacramento. She hasn’t been an attorney for long, having received her bar card in 2013. According to our records she prosecuted cases for Mendo in early 2016 and as recently as February of 2017.

A PLACE OF YOUR OWN

by James Kunstler

Do you know your place? In these days of hysterical Wokesterism, the question would surely provoke a riot of cowbell-clanging Antifa cadres, fainting spells in the congressional black caucus, and gravely equivocal op-eds from David Brooks of The New York Times. Yet it’s a central, unacknowledged quandary of our time that so many Americans have no place and suffer terribly from it.

Human beings need a place in the social order, in the economic order, and in actual geography in order to function optimally in a life fraught with the normal challenges and difficulties that reality presents. Let’s take these places in reverse order.

It’s a fact that most Americans live in everyday environments that are, at best, not worth caring about, and at worst actively punishing to human neurology. Have you taken a good look at the American landscape and townscape lately? How do you feel venturing down the six-lane commercial boulevards lined with cartoon architecture? Either anxious or numb, would be my guess. Or a Main Street of empty storefronts? Or an avenue of looming, despotic glass skyscrapers? Or a vast subdivision of identical McHouses where the buffalo once roamed? Is it any wonder that Americans require more antidepressant medication than people in other lands? Or, that failing to find treatment, they self-medicate with alcohol, opiates, sugary snacks, and anything else that takes them out of the soul-crushing reality of their surroundings.

I don’t think you can overstate the damage we’ve done to ourselves in the sheer material arrangement of our national life. A decade ago, I sat in on many zoning board meetings called to approve new WalMarts and other chain-stores around my region of upstate New York and southern Vermont. Inevitably, the companies organized a claque of locals in the meeting hall — itself a depressing, low-ceilinged chamber of cinder blocks and fluorescent lighting — to fill the seats and yell in support of “bargain shopping.”

That was some bargain they got. The chain-stores got approved and the Main Streets died, but that wasn’t the end of it. This dynamic also destroyed networks that gave local citizens an economic and social place. Locally owned business people were the caretakers of the town. They took care of two buildings — their place of business and their home. They sat on library, school, and hospital boards and donated money to running local institutions. They employed people who lived in town and there were consequences for treating them well or badly. There was even a time in this country when local business people wouldn’t dare to put up an insultingly ugly building.

A lot of this economic behavior has produced the social perversities of our time. Exterminating an entire class of local merchants has eliminated the heart of the American middle-class and grotesquely concentrated the nation’s wealth among corporate leviathans who comprise one percent of the population. It also eliminated the place where young people learned how to do business, preparing themselves to try ventures of their own, and to make a place for themselves in the world.

What is your place now? A cubicle in the marketing department of Old Navy? An aisle in the Home Depot? A desk in the Diversity and Inclusion office of some State University, pushing to sort the student population into racial and sexual categories because all other ways of belonging in society are gone? Or do you occupy ten square feet of sidewalk with a tarp and a shopping cart? None of those places are liable to furnish a personal sense that life is worth living.

Those of you out there still sincerely clamoring for “change” might start asking yourselves if you have a clue about finding a place worth caring about in this country and what it might actually take to get there, including the revision of a lot of ideas in your head that you take for granted. Hint: if you’re looking for it in the current political leadership you are probably wasting your time and energy. If you’re looking for it in some group identity, you may not ever discover the power in your own individual ability to make choices for yourself.

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

I'VE BEEN FOLLOWING Mr. Nunez's struggles as he describes them on the MCN chat line, and am happy the two Coast women commenting below have offered Al solace as graciously and pertinently as they have. In this country at this cruel time a man or a woman aging alone is a frightening prospect for them. Here in the socially blitzed former community of Anderson Valley entirely gone over to industrial tourism pegged to minimum wage labor, a small group of people is organizing the Anderson Valley Village, a kind of mutual aid society aimed at helping locals "age in place" who might otherwise prematurely die in place, isolated and forgotten, assuming their hurry-up children or relatives haven't hustled them off to some barred-window senior stalag the instant they mutter something "inappropriate."

---

MCN post by Mr. Nunez:

Seems to make me realize that i'm doomed. All on my own with no real friends or family for any kind of mental support or help. I been on my own seems like forever, ever since i ran away from home when i was 16 years old and now i am 60 working my handyman gig to survive and to have, but it seems like it will all be coming to a end soon. To think it all has been a waste of my life to be one of the best and nobody cares. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Humanity Sucks…

---

Response by “Liz”:

Dear Al,

Please tell me (us) that this post is not a suicide threat, just another deep despairing sigh you send out into the universe in hopes of rescue.

I feel for your runaway 16 year old self. Though you have added many layers (think growth rings of a tree) over the years, this part of your being seems to be expressing himself to the Listserv this evening. What would your older, more experienced, accomplished, creative, surviving self say to that boy?

Anyone who has made his way in this hard world relying only on his skill & muscle & heart (as you have) cannot reasonably claim his life was wasted. Though your hassles with housing & the difficulties in keeping aging body & equipment in service, plus your unfulfilled yearning for the ideal companion, all clearly overwhelm you at times.

Please let me remind you: We are all doomed. We will all leave this life as alone as when we came into it. On the way out, we lose everything we know ourselves by.

And the times we live in look like the Dark Ages. It's no news that the deck is stacked in favor of the rich. If wishes were horses, some would ride, others would muck out the stable.

You have the gift of reaching out, expressing yourself vividly. I am sorry if someone skulking under cover of the listserv has tossed you a toxic putdown. They remind me of those wretched kids who pull body parts off small living creatures. The majority of listers, I believe, cheers you on.

It's a cold night in skinny times, Al. Those of us in your community who care for you send you steadying thoughts. May your lifelong practice of pulling something out of nothing keep you level. Please hang in, maybe involve yourself in some volunteer service that will distract you, confirm your worth, & break into your isolation. Please make another appointment with the counselor you had the wisdom to see when you were in despair.

Respectfully, Liz

---

Response by Sylvia:

Liz, thank you so much for your beautifully worded and wise advice. Please know that although these words are directed to Al, they are valuable for many of us.

Al, you are not alone, there are many in this community and in the world who are struggling, many with bigger challenges than we have. May you be the person you wish to find.  I have found that when I risk dropping into that dark place, I need to put my thoughts and energy into what I want, rather than what I don’t. As Martha Washington said: “I’ve learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our disposition and not on our circumstances.”

Just in case you’re interested, I am the speaker at the Center for Spiritual Living this coming Sunday and part of my talk will focus on self-care. We are a non-denominational Spiritual Community and meet at our Gathering Place down the hall in the Fort Bragg Company Store. There is an optional meditation at 10:30 am and the Sunday Service starts at 11.

Al and anyone interested, I’m including a link for a free ‘virtual event’ with teacher Andrew Harvey that I got just today from a group called The Shift Network. It may be something worth exploring that might give some insights into how to handle these dark nights of the soul.

https://theshiftnetwork.com/DarkNight

Here's to kindness,

Sylvia

MENDOCINO COLLEGE FIRE SCIENCE AND EMS PROGRAMS

On Thurday night graduated 18 new firefighters graduated from Mendocino College’s fire science training program. Next academy starts Jan 2020.

AV HISTORY MUSEUM PRESENTS LOCALS NIGHT, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20

The Anderson Valley Historical Society welcomes one and all to Locals Night at the Anderson Valley History Museum, a.k.a. the Little Red School House, Wednesday evening, March 20, from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. Celebrate the first evening of Spring with friends old and new at this Free event. Some tell us they haven't been to the AV History Museum in years. Some folks tell us they've never been there! Well, here's your chance. We'll have snacks, wine and other beverages, too. No guided tours, just mingle and wander as you wish through our rearranged, spiffed up and otherwise improved displays, with docents on hand to guide and explain as needed. Check out the Rose Room, our recently refurbished meeting space. All free! All invited! The AV History Museum is located just north of Boonville at 12340 Highway 128. (As if you didn’t know!)

Thanks!

Jerry Karp, Boonville

ROLLING MURDER ON HIGHWAY 20

The California Highway Patrol’s Northern Division Investigation Service Unit (ISU), Clear Lake CHP Officers and Northern Division Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team (MAIT), along with Department of Justice (DOJ), Lake County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Investigation unit, have uncovered new details during the investigation into the death of Patrick Weber [age 41 of Santa Clarita]. At this time, Weber’s death has been determined to be a homicide. Weber sustained a gunshot wound while driving eastbound on SR-20, west of Walker Ridge Rd. When investigators arrived on scene, they found a large quantity of marijuana in the cargo area of Weber’s vehicle. Investigators contacted the California Department of Cannabis Control and determined that Weber was not legally licensed to transport marijuana. Investigators are still working to identify the motive of the suspect and are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Anyone with information regarding the incident is encouraged to contact the California Highway Patrol, Ukiah Communication Center at 707-467-4000, or during business hours contact the Clear lake CHP Office at 707-279-0103.

MENDOCINO MAN

Former Stanford lecturer and Juilliard-trained musician, 60, 'is caught peeking into California homes while naked and smoking'

Surveillance footage shows a nude man prowling the streets of San Jose. Police say they have arrested Mark Veregge, of Mendocino, in connection with the incident. Veregge now faces multiple counts of misdemeanor peeping and prowling. He is accused of carrying out the acts between February 15 to March 5. In 2017 he reportedly pleaded no contest to stalking the home of his former student while dressed in only a bra and high heels. Neighbors have called the footage 'scary, creepy and very, very unnerving'

sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2019/03/07/naked-peeping-tom-san-jose-arrest/

---

Ed Note: Mr. Veregge is (or was) listed as “personnel manager” for the Mendocino Music Festival and a percussionist (on the marimba) lecturer on the Stanford staff. According to a county permit re-roof application he lives on Suntrap Meadow Circle in Mendocino. We have no record of any encounters with law enforcement in Mendocino County.

From the Music Festival’s facebook page: “Mark Veregge, the Orchestra's amazing percussionist, has had a very busy time indeed since the Festival ended.”

CHRIST JESUS SAVE US ALL

From the Mile High City to Wine Country: 1st Denver flight arrives in Sonoma County

A decade in the making, the long-awaited eastbound connection began Friday, heralding a new era for travel on the North Coast

pressdemocrat.com/business/9358090-181/united-airlines-begins-denver-sonoma-county

TEAR GAS & PRIORS

FORT BRAGG, Thurs., March 7. -- A Mendocino County Superior Court jury returned from its coastal deliberations Thursday afternoon with a split decision against the trial defendant.

Defendant Darrin Duane Lee Willitt, age 52, of Fort Bragg was found guilty of the unlawful use of tear gas against another person, a felony. The jury also found true special allegations alleging that the defendant has served four prior prison commitments.

Because the defendant has two or more prior felony convictions, he will be presumptively ineligible for a grant of probation at the time of sentencing absent a judicial finding of unusual circumstances.

The jury, however, found the defendant not guilty of a separate count of felonious assault with a knife against the same victim on whom he deployed the tear gas.

After the jury was excused, the defendant was referred to the Adult Probation Department for a background study and sentencing recommendation. The defendant was ordered to be back in court on April 29th at 9:30 that morning for judgment and sentencing.

The attorney who presented the People's evidence at trial was Deputy District Attorney Tim Stoen. The investigating law enforcement agency was the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office, with trial preparation assistance by the District Attorney's own investigators.

CATCH OF THE DAY, March 8, 2019

JASON ARDENYI, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

ROBERT BROCKWAY III, Albion. Probation violation.

LAKE CARRIGG, Willits. Controlled substance, paraphernalia, failure to appear, probation revocation.

JON CARTER, Mendocino. Probation revocation.

MELINDA CASTORENA, Redwood Valley. Smuggling controlled substance or liquor into jail.

DREW ERSLAND, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

PIUS HILLSENDAGER, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

HEIDI HOLLOWAY, Fort Bragg. Harboring/concealing wanted felon.

ANDREW HOLM, Ukiah. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

KARAFAYE INGRAM, Ukiah. Domestic battery.

ERREON JACKSON, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

DEVAUN JOHNSON, Calpella. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

SCOTT MAINGI, Ukiah. Controlled substance, disobeying court order, probation revocation.

HEATHER ROGERS, Willits. Paraphernalia, probation revocation.

MANUEL SILVA, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

PATRICK SWIFT, Redwood Valley. DUI-alcohol&drugs.

RONALD VALENTINE JR., Ukiah. Failure to register.

U.S. MILITARY FORCES were directly responsible for about 10 to 15 million deaths during the Korean and Vietnam Wars and the two Iraq Wars. The United States was also responsible for 14 million deaths in Afghanistan, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, East Timor, Guatemala, Indonesia, Pakistan and Sudan. The United States most likely has been responsible since WWII for the deaths of between 20 and 30 million people in wars and conflicts scattered over the world.

— James A. Lucas

HOPE. AND ONWARD, EH?

I promised last night when I was heading for bed that I would look through the Earth Island Institute's magazine which I receive in the mail like clockwork every month. Addressed to me at my new address on Pearl. Even though I am pretty sure I never changed my address with them. How did this happen?

The AVA said this morning that their internet is down. Yet their online news is still there. I read this on the internet. How? If anyone reading this can explain, I'm all ears. Anyone over seven or eight could likely explain this in a minute. And find my location within 150 feet or so, and anywhere else in the world. But their explanation would likely be expressed in a language that might as well be medieval Amazonian. I was a teacher for thirty-two years, and yet if I were to find myself in front of a class, even an AP class at the high school, I would have little ability beyond telling geezer-teacher stories until next period. Physics, for most of them. I wish I understood physics better. This is hard. I am confused. But I am writing this. There is hope. Much hope. Onward!

(Bruce Brady)

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY #1

It should not surprise that a country that encourages police, by its actions, to empty their weapons into unarmed men and boys, reload and empty another clip into the stilled, leaking bodies, that this country finds a rich white traitor and bank robber to be "blameless" except for a few recent missteps and punishes him with the slap of a ruler on the back of his hand. Judge Ellis--remember the name for when the guillotines go up--said he was surprised that Paul Manafort didn't express any regret for his wrongdoings, only for the humiliation and inconvenience of his treatment since his arrest. Then he sentenced Paul, in case you've been in a coma today, to 47 months in jail. Manafort, in the argot of organized crime, is a standup guy.

Legal injustice is not uncommon in the court of justice, and miscarriage of justice has retarded the dispensation of true justice.

– Dr T.P.Chia

"THE INK AIN'T DRY" - Fundraising concert for Ukiah Symphony: March 24

On Sunday, March 24, from 2 to 4 p.m., the Ukiah Symphony presents "The Ink Ain't Dry," a fundraising concert for the Symphony. "The Ink Ain't Dry" is a unique collaboration of four local composers in a two-hour exposition of new works, some written specifically for this concert. Clovice Lewis, Jeff Ives, Bill Taylor, and Joseph Nemeth will be presenting new works, along with commentary on their inspiration for the pieces, and their process of composing. The music offers a wide range of musical styles and emotional landscapes, from lush romantic harmonies to edgy atonal works.

"The Ink Ain't Dry" takes place at the First Presbyterian Church at 514 W. Church Street in Ukiah. Tickets for the fundraiser are $30 general, $25 seniors, youth under 18 and students with ASB cards free. Tickets can be purchased at the Mendocino Book Company and online at www.ukiahsymphony.org.

Sponsors for the concert include the Mendocino Community Health Clinic, Inc.

FOR REAL

Editor:

I grew up in Akron, Ohio, and watched my hometown decline as the rubber industry moved out. Now the Lordstown, Ohio, GM plant will close, crushing that city. Let’s be clear: These decisions are made by CEOs and boards of directors, not politicians. And no politician will save your factory, no matter what they tell you. But the fact that they do tell you is troubling for those who hear it and especially for those who believe it.

The current president made any promise he could to get attention. He told coal miners, steel mill workers, farmers, motorcycle manufacturers and, yes, auto workers that he would bring back the jobs. It was never in his purview to do this, and yet voters bought it.

He’s failed. Maybe the closing of the GM plant and the continued decline of manufacturing jobs will awaken these folks. Maybe they will accept that alternative energy jobs are the future. There are millions of those, if we get on board and vote for those who understand the truth of the matter.

What is the truth? Start with the Green New Deal. As Donald Trump once said, “What do you have to lose?” The difference is, this will be for real.

Bob Marketos

Petaluma

IF THE GLOBAL WARMING CATACLYSM – already significantly underway in vast swaths of the planet – isn’t averted and soon, then nothing else we care about is going to matter all that much. We’ll just be arguing about how to fairly slice up a badly overheated pie – how to turn an overcooked world upside down (or right-side up) and how to properly manage a living Hell. You’d hardly know this from the reigning U.S. media and politics culture, where the climate crisis and other critical environmental issues are pushed to the margins of public discussion. It is chilling (no ironic pun intended) to behold. With every passing fossil-fueled day, the specter of “man-made” ecological calamity looms ever closer and larger. — Paul Street

DID YOU KNOW that 19 Americans die each day waiting for organ transplants, most of them for kidneys? The good news is that MatchingDonors.com is helping to change that.  MatchingDonors.com is a 501 c3 nonprofit organization that links organ donors with people in desperate need of kidneys and other transplants.  And now, you don't need to donate a kidney to save a life. You can donate your boat, car or real estate, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to help save the lives of people needing organ transplants. Visit matchingdonors.com or call 800-385-0422.

Stand out from the crowd by being a living organ donor on MatchingDonors.com,

UPDATE ON ILHAN OMAR

Update on the Attack on U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar

by Lawrence Davidson

We all owe Representative Ilhan Omar a debt of gratitude for doing what no Washington politician has had the courage to do, perhaps since Senator William Fulbright’s 1963 investigation of AIPAC. That is, she challenged the Zionist lobby’s role as an operative of the Israeli government.

It is perhaps Omar’s lack of historical awareness on the subject of American Zionist power (Nancy Pelosi explained that Omar did not understand the “weight of the words she used”) that allows her to speak out with such courage. Whatever the case might be, her forthright honesty is like a breath of fresh air wafting through the halls of Congress. That is, of course, why the Zionist lobby and its fellow travelers have their daggers drawn and are showing such public bloodlust.

The knee jerk charge that Omar’s statements are anti-Semitic constitutes an obvious red-herring. As Omar tellingly points out, it is a tactic that is designed to keep people from dealing with the real subject at hand—the inhumane treatment of the Palestinian people.

Here is how she put it: “If every single time we say something regardless of what it is — about foreign policy or — about ending oppression — we get to be labeled something — that [labeling] ends the discussion. Because we end up defending [ourselves] and nobody ever gets to have the broader debate of what is happening with Palestine. So for me, I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country.”

Omar’s statement describes reality in Washington and there is nothing anti-Semitic about it. When it comes to Israel, it is not just Jewish-American politicians who are expected to be “loyal” to the Zionist state. Every politician is expected to support Israel or, at the very least, keep their mouth shut about Israeli demands for support.

So, it is at once very encouraging to see Omar take a stand — and this writer hopes she will continue to do so — but at the same time it is depressing (actually it is downright disgusting) to see the temper tantrums thrown by Israeli loyalists in the Congress no matter what their religion or ethnicity. After all, they are jumping up and down in support of a state that practices apartheid-style racism against Palestinians. That means Israel and its supporters are also a threat to the moral character of the Jewish people.

Lawrence Davidson, ldavidson@wcupa.edu

DEMONIZING ILHAN OMAR: Why The Entire Political Establishment Wants To Crush One Woman

I wish I could say I were surprised at the demonization of Ilhan Omar by an establishment that remains eager to whitewash Elliott Abrams' record of war crimes. But I’m not. In fact, it’s exactly what I’ve come to expect. The super-strict (yet simultaneously sloppy) language policing to which Omar has been subjected is ludicrously asymmetric.

salon.com/2019/03/08/demonizing-ilhan-omar-why-the-entire-political-establishment-wants-to-crush-one-woman/

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY #2

Everything used to be right there before Walmart. It was called Main Street. It had dozens of shops whose owners you knew and you went there to shop and you paid maybe 25% more than you do now. But the community had jobs making those things sold in the local shops. Now they don’t. People talk from both sides of their mouth here. They want everything American, but then they love Walmart. They want a world that is impossible to exist. They just want to make noise. They don’t care if it makes sense. Just go to any Trump rally. A lot of hot air. I’m surprised the domed building don’t float away like some giant balloon.

CHARTER SCHOOLS, ON-LINE COMMENTS

(1) The public school system has been a shit show for decades. They have removed countless schools from operation, increased the ratio of kids to teachers, and been more focused on removing the pledge of allegiance than getting kids to read. Hell these dipshits don't even teach cursive anymore….. I think the funding should follow the kids, if you are operating a meaningful program you don't need to threaten or force your way to higher enrollment, it just happens. A good school doesn't need Newsom to enact a law to force kids to go to a crappy school. All this preaching about financial impact means one thing, they care about money over education, much the same as higher education is now, a joke!

(2) A good way to avoid a hardened class system, and racism at the same time, is to have standardized education for everyone. Everyone should have the same access to the best educational systems, and it should all be free. No more private rich schools only for rich kids to fast track into an expensive private college.Let people who want to come to this country come and be educated also. America would be the smartest strongest country in the world if we took care of everyone, starting with healthcare and education. This is not socialism. Governments pay for things. I would rather our government pay for education and health care, not a wall, or nuclear bombs, or submarines. If we did this everyone would envy us, instead of wanting to kill us!

THE AGENDA FOR THE TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019 REGULAR MEETING OF THE MENDOCINO COUNTY FISH AND GAME COMMISSION IN UKIAH.

mendocinocounty.org/government/planning-building-services/fish-game

TRUMP’S POSSESSION of Mar-a-Lago has brought one golden benefit to his neighbors. In 1995 he filed a lawsuit against Palm Beach County, complaining about aircraft flying overhead. Palm Beach International Airport is a ten-minute drive away. I remember one Friday lunchtime when it felt and sounded as though a plane was taking off or landing every two minutes. The airport, astonishingly, agreed to change flight patterns to spread the noise over a wider area. In January 2015, Trump sued again, asking for damages of $100 million, accusing the county of “creating an unreasonable amount of noise, emissions and pollutants at Mar-a-Lago”, and alleging that the air traffic to PBI was being made to fly over the estate in a “deliberate and malicious” act. That November a Florida court disallowed four of Trump’s six claims. Having won the election, however, he dropped the action, since a no-fly zone is imposed anyway when the president is in residence.

— Paul Levy on living next door to Mar-a-Lago, from the blog: lrb.co.uk/blog/2019/march/next-door-to-mar-a-lago

HIPPIES USED TO READ THIS BEFORE THEY DROPPED ACID…

I am a man who has bread in Heliopolis. 

My bread is in heaven with the Sun God Ra. 

My bread is here with the God of the Earth Keb.

The floating bark of evening and morning

Brings me the bread that is my meat

From the house of the Sun God. 

—Egyptian Book of the Dead, ~1550 BCE

SMALL TOWN CHURCH

WILD EDGES AND EPIC MIGRATIONS

Two Atlantic Coast films featured at Wildlife Film Fest

Wildlife along the wildlands of coastal Ireland and New Jersey’s Delaware Bay will be the focus of the International Wildlife Film Festival Tour on Friday, March 15 at the Civic Center in Ukiah, 300 Seminary Avenue. Doors will open at 6:15 p.m. with snacks and live music by Sheridan Malone. Films begin at 7. Tickets are available at Mendocino Book Company or at the door for a suggested donation of $10 for adults and $5 for children.

In the stunning documentary "Wild Ireland: The Edge of the World,” (60 min.) Emmy-Award-winning wildlife cameraman Colin Stafford-Johnson takes viewers on an odyssey along Ireland’s rugged Atlantic coast featuring the creatures and places that make it so special. From the ancient ruins and wildlife of the Skellig Rocks — stormbound ocean pinnacles off the country's southwestern corner — to Clew Bay, an iconic inlet halfway up the west coast, Stafford-Johnson provides a spectacular journey.

“Birds of May” (28 min.) explores the challenges faced by Calidris canutus rufa, a Northern sandpiper otherwise known as the red knot, when it arrives on the sandy beaches of Delaware Bay in New Jersey. The red knot has one of the longest migrations in the animal kingdom, an epic journey of 19,000 miles per year, from the southern tip of South America to the northernmost reaches of the Arctic where the species nests. Delaware Bay provides a refueling stop where red knots gobble down the fat-rich horseshoe crab eggs that coat the shore. Increasing demand for oysters is inspiring entrepreneurs to farm them in Delaware Bay; conservationists worry about the potential problems this may create for these threatened shorebirds. Wildlife biologist Larry Niles of the Delaware Bay Shorebird Project

Comments: "You start to see how interconnected the globe is and to be captured by the elegance of it, the complexity, the beauty … it just compels you to want to do something to protect it."

This film series benefits the Redwood Valley Outdoor Education Project (RVOEP), a special program of the Ukiah Unified School District serving over 2,000 students each year. To learn more about the RVOEP and see a full film schedule visit rvoep.org. For further information contact Maureen Taylor, RVOEP Education Coordinator, at 707-489-0227.

MEMO OF THE AIR, Friday March 8, International Women's Day night, 9pm to 5am, I'm reading Memo of the Air by live remote from Juanita's apartment, not from the back room of the KNYO performance space at 325 N. Franklin, next door to the Tip Top bar, so alter your plans to instead show-and-tell there next week, Friday March 15, when I'll be there rather than here, and I'll be delighted to see you.

Deadline to get your writing on the air tonight is around 7pm. If you're still working on it after that, just email it whenever you're done and I'll save it and read it on the show next time. Or save it yourself for next time and come in and read it in person, see above.

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. And also there and anywhere else via http://knyo.org and click on Listen.

You can always go to https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com and hear last week's show, and shows before that. By Saturday night, tonight's MOTA will also be there, right on top. And then of course there's the whole rest of the world of information underneath that, going down and down into the nebulous center of time itself where a person with a prodigious attention span like yours can really go to town.

Here are a few items to occupy your rather more superficial sticky mental cilia while you wait for tonight:

12 ways to actually get smarter in one infographic featuring an arbitrarily multicolored clip-art brain. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/12-ways-smarter-mental-models/

Clit Me is a mobile game, produced by the National Board of Education of Canada, that openly explores female sexual satisfaction, with the focus on the only organ designed exclusively for pleasure: the clitoris. I'll bet you didn't know that some women don't even have one. That doesn't seem right or fair, but it's a fact. https://www.nfb.ca/interactive/clitme/

A pleasant musical ad for some kind of beer whose selling point seems to be that you enjoy all aspects of your relationship with your significant other while still holding a bottle of this stuff in your hand. https://tinyurl.com/HandThatHoldsTheBeer

And in ancient Hieronymus Bosch's famously busy painting Garden of Earthly Delights there's a tiny person bent over, with one of the creatures in the painting pointing at where there are lines of music painted across the person's bare butt. Here are both that section in visual detail and one of many historical interpretations of that music: https://tinyurl.com/MedievalButtMusic

- Marco McClean, memo@mcn.org, https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com

ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ IS COMING FOR YOUR HAMBURGERS!

Sebastian Gorka, late of the Trump Administration, stood before the annual gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference last week and made plain the inner frenzy of a party that must place its hopes for 2020 on a President who had just been described before a congressional committee as “a racist,” “a con man,” and “a cheat.” Hence the rhetorical smoke bombs. Wild-eyed Democrats are coming! Gorka declared, “They want to take your pickup truck! They want to rebuild your home! They want to take away your hamburgers! This is what Stalin dreamt about but never achieved!”

newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-is-coming-for-your-hamburgers

TOWN HALL EXPOSES THE RISKS OF RODEO REFINERY EXPANSION TO LOCAL HEALTH, CLIMATE AND S.F. BAY

by Dan Bacher

RODEO, CA — A coalition of local and community groups hosted a town hall on Thursday evening, March 7, in Rodeo, drawing over 150 people to discuss the risks of a proposal by Phillips 66’s San Francisco Refinery in Rodeo to bring in more oil tankers and process more heavy crude oil like tar sands. 

The tar sands expansion proposal would impact local health and the climate by increasing refinery emissions and worsening air quality for nearby communities while also increasing tanker traffic and the risk of a devastating oil spill in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to the groups. A video of the event is at facebook.com/standearth.

The Rodeo Citizens Association, Crockett-Rodeo United to Defend the Environment(CRUDE), Fresh Air Vallejo, Idle No More SF Bay, Sunflower Alliance, 350 Bay Area, Communities for a Better Environment(CBE), and Stand.earth sponsored the town hall. A chairperson from the Benicia Planning Commission also presented.

“Many of our First Nations relatives in Canada are doing all they can to resist the Trans Mountain Pipeline, which would allow the transport of tar sands through our Bay via over 120 tankers,” said Pennie Opal Plant, Idle No More SF Bay. “This type of oil cannot be completely cleaned from water. What are we willing to lose?" 

“The refinery’s latest plan to expand dilbit imports, cracking of that bitumen, and recovery of those diluent oils threatens to lock in a worst-case future for our climate, air, health, safety, and Bay,” stated Greg Karras, Communities for a Better EnvironmentPeople have a right to know about this unnecessary threat.”  

“As a physician who is also trained in public health, I’m deeply opposed to this proposed refinery expansion. It will expose the community to toxins that cause or worsen lung and heart disease, lead to stroke and other nervous system abnormalities, and cause reproductive problems, as well as cancer and leukemia,” said Jan Kirsch, M.D., M.P.H. “Together, let us be guided by the motto of medicine: ‘First, do no harm.’” 

“Our community knows refinery expansions are a dead end,” said Isabella Zizi, Stand.earth. “We need our public officials like the Contra Costa County supervisors to stand with us in preventing new pollution sources from harming our health, and supporting real solutions like a just transition for refinery workers and local economic development that protects air and water quality."   

“We had such a beautiful turn out for the Town Hall: No Tar Sands Refining in Rodeo,” said Zizi after the event. “This was the first town hall I’ve ever organized and had a crowd of over 150 community members flowing from Marin, Berkeley, Kensington, El Cerrito, Richmond, Hercules, Rodeo, Crockett, Vallejo, Benicia, Pittsburg and many more!”

“Thank you to the elected officials, health experts, scientists and community organizers for passing on so much knowledge about climate change, health concerns, environmental impacts and most importantly connecting the dots that we all need to rise together,” Zizi concluded. 

Bay Area residents, including the communities of Richmond, San Pablo, Pinole, Hercules, Rodeo, Crockett, Vallejo, Benicia and Martinez, are deeply concerned over plans to bring in more oil tankers and process more heavy crude oil like tar sands at Phillips 66’s San Francisco Refinery. 

“The refinery is currently seeking permits to expand its wharf capacity and increase the number of oil tankers traveling to its refinery through San Francisco Bay. No environmental impact report (EIR) has been released for this project. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District asked Contra Costa County to lead that environmental review, but the County has not yet agreed to do so,” according to the groups.

“If the refinery’s full expansion and increased wharf capacity is permitted, more than twice as many crude oil tankers could travel to the refinery, many of them carrying tar sands from Canada. The refinery expansion alone could mean a tenfold increase in the amount of tar sands passing through San Francisco Bay. A September 2018 panel in Oakland detailed the connection between Canada’s Trans Mountain Pipeline and the Phillips 66 San Francisco Refinery expansion,” the groups said.

“Tarsands is one of the dirtiest crude oils on the planet and is extremely difficult to clean up in the event of an oil spill. Tar sands is high in sulfur and heavy metals. Extracting and refining it creates an outsize climate impact, and refining it increases disparately severe health impacts in nearby communities. Tar sands is so thick when it comes out of the ground that it is thinned for transport, creating diluted bitumen or dilbit. The toxic and flammable diluent makes it unsafe to approach a tar sands oil spill until the chemicals have evaporated,” the groups concluded.  

To take action, go here: www.stand.earth/…

The reason for why the tar sands expansion proposal at Phillips 66’s San Francisco Refinery is being  even being considered is because of #Big Oil’s capture of the regulators from top to bottom in California. The oil and gas industry is most powerful corporate lobby in Sacramento, spending many millions of dollars every years to block, weaken and stop legislation and regulations protecting public our streams, rivers, lakes, bays and ocean waters, public health and vulnerable communities throughout the state. 

The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) — the organization that has topped lobbying spending in California most years — spent $7,874, 807 to influence California government officials in 2018. WSPA was outspent only by the $9,580,357 spent by embattled Pacific Gas and Electric Company in 2018. 

The powerful association spent all of its money in the 2017-2018 session on general lobbying, with nothing spent on the CPUC. Of the four quarters, WSPA spent its most money lobbying, $2,649,018, in the eighth quarter, from October 1 to December 31, 2018.

The Western States Petroleum Association is led by President Catherine Reheis-Boyd, who served as the chair of the controversial Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create so-called “marine protected areas” in Southern California from 2009 to 2012, as well as serving on the task forces for the Central Coast, North Central Coast and North Coast from 2004 to 2012.

The total lobbying figures for WSPA in 2018 are below: cal-access.sos.ca.gov/…

For the entire 2017-2018 Session, WSPA spent a total of $15,768,069.

WSPA represents a who’s who of oil companies, including oil giants BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon, Shell, Valero and many others. The companies that WSPA represents account for the bulk of petroleum exploration, production, refining, transportation and marketing in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, according to the WSPA website, www.wspa.org.

Chevron and its subsidiaries took third place in the “lobbying competition” in 2018, spending around $4 million on lobbying.

Over the past decade, WSPA and Big Oil have topped the list of spenders on lobbying the Legislature in California. During the 2015-2016 Legislative Session, the oil industry spent a historic $36.1 million to lobby lawmakers and officials in California.

WSPA was the top overall oil industry spender during the 2015-16 session, spending $18.7 million. Chevron, the second overall oil industry spender, spent $7 million in the 2015-16 session.  

In 2017, Big Oil also dominated three out of the four top spots of expenditures by all lobbying organizations. Chevron placed first with $8.2 million and the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) placed second with $6.2 million. The Tesoro Refining and Marketing Company finished fourth with $3.2 million.  

That’s a total of $17.6 million dumped into lobbying by the three top oil industry lobbying organizations alone. That figure exceeds the $14,577,314 expended by all 16 oil lobby organizations in 2016.

In the first six months of 2017, the oil industry spent more on lobbying in California, $16,360,618, than was spent by the industry in all of 2016, $16.0 million.  

WSPA and Big Oil wield their power in 6 major ways: through (1) lobbying; (2) campaign spending; (3) serving on and putting shills on regulatory panels; (4) creating Astroturf groups: (5) working in collaboration with media; and (6) contributing to non profit organizations.

Because of this money and the power that Big Oil wields in California, the Jerry Brown administration, in stark contrast with its “green” facade, issued over 21,000  new oil and gas drilling permits in California. That include more than 200 permits for offshore wells in state waters -- wells within 3 miles of the California coast.

In addition, the state of California under Brown — and now under Gavin Newson - controls four times as many offshore oil wells in state waters as Trump’s federal government controls in California. You can view the map showing the location of wells here: http://brownvtrumpoilmap.org.

This money and power also allowed allowed the oil industry to write the cap-and-trade bill, AB 398, that Governor Brown signed in September 2017, as well as to twice defeat a bill to protect a South Coast marine protected area from offshore drilling.

Ironically, the same WSPA president that led the charge to defeat a bill to protect the Vandenberg State Marine Reserve from offshore oil drilling CHAIRED the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create “marine protected areas” on the South Coast.

For more information about WSPA and Big Oil, go to: www.dailykos.com/…