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Posts published in December 2013

Immigration Law & Its Casual Cruelties

This is the story of Rafael Morales, a Mixteca native of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico who “sneaked” into the United States, and eventually landed in Healdsburg, California, where after 8 years he brought his…

Cannabis Ironies & Hypocrisies

“Legalize pot!” What was once hippie heresy has become a bandwagon. This past weekend's “Emerald Cup” in Sonoma County has just been covered by the San Francisco Chronicle and other media as if the holy…

River Views

It has been a cold, cold December by California stan­dards, though by the time this is read nighttime tem­peratures should return to seasonal norms. What is abnormal is the lack of autumn rainfall. Walking upstream…

Caruso’s Cigarettes

Listening now to Enrico Caruso’s last recording made in September of 1920, you would never suspect that you are hearing the voice of a heavy smoker. Caruso favored strong Egyptian cigarettes, even enjoying them between…

Letter To Japan

Dear Hiroshi, I’ll see you soon in Kochi on Shi­koku, southern Japanese main island; most beautiful, least populated, mostly agrarian, putatively “lightly” bombed during WW II. Shikoku, the birthplace of revered 9th Century Shingon Buddhist…

Mendocino County Today: December 17, 2013

HOPLAND FIRE CHIEF JOHN BARTLETT has an interesting sense of humor. Last week he briefly had a plastic Santa peeing off his roof all modeled in tiny Christmas lights. That one's gone, but in its…

Christmas Spirit?

Dear Editor, I feel the need to share in a Christmas light display that I saw on Saturday night, December 15th -- which is a gift to all Hopland residents, as well as any others…

Mendocino County Today: December 16, 2013

THE MAJOR & THE BUMP IN THE NIGHT… THE MAJOR & THE BUMP IN THE NIGHT… (Updated, rewritten…) Cruising down the Willits end of the Willits Grade last Tuesday evening about 6:30, traveling in the…

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