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Posts published in January 2015

Flying Rivers & Mega-Droughts

When it comes to areas of the world being racked by drought, one of the few that has had at least as hard a time as California is central and southern Brazil. Whereas the US's…

Easy In Washington Square Park

It’s commonly believed that more than 20,000 people are buried under Washington Square Park, used as a cemetery and home to freed slaves in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Scoring Pynchon

The baroque density of Thomas Pynchon’s novels for half-a-century has dissuaded filmmakers from trying to turn any of them into movies. Paul Thomas Anderson’s valiant—or perhaps just plain crazy—cinematic confrontation with Inherent Vice is the…

Mendocino Talking: Mike Zarkowski

Mike owns Hobo Guitars in Ukiah. He has been a working musician all his life while also building and repairing guitars and other musical instruments.

Letters (Jan 21, 2015)

About 18 months ago, I was present in Ten Mile Courtroom when Judge Brennan presided in a sentencing hearing. The defendant was an older man who suffered from a mental disturbance and was on government disability. He had clearly experienced a hard life. He was a first-time offender for the crime at hand, and he had, as I recall, plead guilty to possessing internet pornography of underage females. This material had been found during a search of his home by a probation officer.

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