MCT: Wednesday, May 15, 2019

• More Rain
• Servando Gomez
• Ancient Stoner
• Indie Film
• Ransackers Sacked
• Book Sale
• Catpology
• Silent Dan
• Dragnet 54
• Email Protest
• Police Reports
• Lookalikes
• Page 3
• Weed Spray
• Yesterday's Catch
• Helpful Guide
• Mysterious Sabotage
• Orphans
• Vax Facts
• Neoliberalism
• Brooksides
• Pandora's Inbox
• Reasons
• Pundit Pikachu
• Pollinator Friendly
• Garden+Library
• Park Reservations
• Same Taste
• Improv Shows
• Daisy
• Festival Volunteers

MAY RAIN (and probably will). After a light mist overnight Tuesday, rainfall of up to a quarter of an inch is expected Wednesday, with more of it in the afternoon and evening and overnight when another half to three quarters of an inch could arrive. Wind will gust up to 20mph. Another half to three quarters is expected Thursday with 10-15mph winds as a spring storm moves across the area from the Pacific. A few sprinkles on Friday will be followed by more occasional light rain into and over the weekend.

THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT has identified Servando Gomez as the man who died Saturday after falling off a horse near Fort Bragg. 

GOMEZ, 54, of Fort Bragg, fell from the horse around 7 p.m. off Simpson Lane.

A REACH Air Medical Services helicopter was dispatched to airlift Gomez to a hospital, but crews were unable to land anywhere near the scene of the accident because of the rough terrain. An ambulance took Gomez to the Mendocino Coast District Hospital where he died from his injuries. 

WHEN YOU LIVE OUT ON THE EDGE, your life goes in cycles and at this particular moment, it's time to look for subscribers for what I do, patrons, if you will.

It's time now to move into reality. I would like to bring internet services into my cabin and, with the help of my web designer, expand my web footprint. Across the board.

If you feel inclined to help in this process, go to PATREON.com, an Internet site that links producer of ideas, to people who are willing to toss in a few bucks each month and receive an exclusive piece from the artist… If you go to PATREON.com under the heading Poets, I am listed . There is also a link from my website.

In my case, for a subscription of $10 a month I will send you frameable broadsides of my work, signed.

The whole financial transaction is done through PayPal. None of your financial information goes beyond PayPal.

On my web site I have created a Totem Pole, pictures and stories, bits of bent grass and several found deer skulls with antlers still attached, excavated from the far hills, mountain lion work, I assumed.

Bill Bradd.

---

Faces In The Fire, Voices In The Stream

Getting you're shit together in Precambrian times.

The first stoner was an ancient Celtic guy named Dud, found fully preserved, sunk in a muskeg bog in Hochdorf, Germany.

Of course we can't be sure his name was Dud, after all he'd been moldering away there for a few thousand years.

When they opened him up for study, they found he had in his gullet, cannabis.

Turns out —

His last meal he had the munchies. They found burnt bannock, and pollen of mistletoe.

Wow never been that stoned! "hey, pass the burnt bannock willya, I need something to help choke down this mistletoe, dang it's spicy."

Let's imagine ourselves, an ancient Celtic stoner, living in a wattle hut near a stream.

None of the kids are useful for anything but war, but I have the Druid weed, a pinch in

The pipe and I begin to divine the future by reading the lines on people's foreheads.

I once drifted off into a dream where I thought if I climbed this tree, I'd be able to see if

There are bears. I was busy climbing up and the bear was busy looking down at me.

Everything is so dang dangerous, dreams for example.

IN THE WAKE OF 9/11, an immigrant worker considers the future

Ryan Guzman plays Fernando, a son from Mexico searching for his father, an undocumented immigrant who worked at the World Trade Center’s famed restaurant and disappeared after 9/11 in “Windows on the World.”

At the Vogue Theatre, SFJazz Center, the SFFilm Society and UpCal Entertainment sponsored two screenings last week of “Windows on the World,” an indie movie co-written by Robert Mailer Anderson and Zack Anderson, and produced by the former, who also wrote a whole lot of music for the film. Edward James Olmos is one of the stars of the movie, and his son, Michael D. Olmos, is its director.

All that to say that although there’s nothing amateurish about the indie movie, it has a handmade/custom-made feel. “It’s an independent film, so naturally we ran out of money,” Mailer Anderson told the audience. “So naturally, you get jazz musicians.” Mailer Anderson loves jazz and has supported SFJazz; several of the musicians in the movie are members of the SFJazz Collective. “Their bread and butter is to help you and not get paid.”

The “custom-made” applies well to its plot, about a Mexican immigrant working in the kitchen at Windows on the World, the restaurant on top of the World Trade Center, when the building is attacked and collapses. Although 9/11 happened in 2001, the issue of immigration, central to the story, is central to American concerns right now. Latinos make up something like 18% of the population of the United States, said Mailer Anderson, but are represented in only 6% to 8% of films and TV programming.

Miramax had signed on to do the project in 2004, but after a series of negotiations with Hollywood folks — What if one character was a drug dealer? Could they get Jeff Bridges to play him? — that deal never reached fruition.

As to the music, said Mailer Anderson, licensing is “really expensive. We spent our whole budget on ‘New York, New York,’” an essential piece of which is used in the movie. Plans to use a piece of Tony Bennett singing “Rags to Riches” were scrapped in favor of a Mailer Anderson composition for financial reasons. Mailer Anderson was fearless. “I can write a ‘fire of desire’ form,” said the composer, who did just that.

(Leah Garchick, the SF Chronicle)

DANIEL MICHAEL FOX was taken into custody March 28th with his co-defendant Alexandra Marie Long, for ransacking and vandalizing an elderly person’s home. The co-defendants made a dash into some bushes about 11:50 am, leaving their car in the middle of Vichy Hills Road, where they were later apprehended by Sheriff’s deputies. At the time Mr. Fox was on probation in two other cases, both misdemeanors. He was sentenced Tuesday morning by Judge Eric Labowitz (of Anderson Valley, retired, filling in).

Mr. Fox’s lawyer, Douglas Rhoades of the Office of the Alternate Public Defender asked Judge Labowitz to impose only a 100 days in jail, along with the 36 months of formal felony probation, even though Probation was asking for 180 days. Mr. Rhoades said that Fox’s mother was scheduled for surgery in the near future and his client would like to be out of jail by then to be there for his mother.

Probation was opposed to the proposed leniency. Labowitz imposed not only the 180 days but added on 30 more for violating his probation in one count; and he may well have imposed another 30 days for the second probation violation, had not the People’s advocate, Deputy DA Tom Geddes, dismissed the charge in that case with a Harvey waiver (basically dismissed for purposes of sentencing).

When he gets out, Fox is to report to Probation, and have no association with Ms. Long; and he will have to stay away from the house he burglarized, submit to search and seizure, obey all laws and pay some hefty fines. He will get 58 days credit for time served, and may do some of his time in custody in a day-for-day treatment program.

(Bruce McEwen)

BOOK SALE FOR HISTORY LOVERS

by Katy Tahja

In what’s becoming an annual tradition the Kelley House Museum in Mendocino is hosting a book sale of history books Saturday May 25 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the west porch. Book donations come from excess materials in the archives combined with books donated by local historians Bruce Levene, Thad Van Buren and Katy Tahja.

Having just finished the text for a new history of Mendocino County I speak from experience (and old age) in looking at a title on my bookshelves in my library and thinking “Will I ever need/use this again?” If the answer isn’t YES the item goes to the book sale. Looking through the donations boxes here are some of the things a visitor might discover.

First, I bless little old ladies who gathered local history decades ago and turned it into paperback books. “Caspar Note Book School Days” by Ann Connor, 1979, was typewriter text and old photos. From Mendocino Beacon issues 1896-1905 it is news of Caspar and it’s schools and then 57 photos of schools, teachers and students, identified, extending to 1959. The book is indexed by last name and is 140 pages long. Out-of-print for decades surely this is worth $20 to someone.

Along the same line is a volume for the Mendocino area of “What Became of the Little Red Schoolhouse?” by the Mendociono Coast Genealogical Society in 1986 it has facts and figures with tales and photos of every school in the area. Or how about “Lore of the Coast…fact or fiction?” published about 40 years ago by the Mendocino County Historical Society? Only 7 typewritten pages it has five great stories about local history including one about the singing fish in Big River.

Then there is “Henry’s Wonderful Model T 1908-1927” by Floyd Cramer. A hardcover published in 1955 It’s full of photos, cartoons, Ads, songs, jokes and text about this car of long ago. Perfect for history told through one automobile. “A Guide to Old American Houses 1700-1900” by Henry Williams in 1962 provides a reader with 200 years of American domestic building styles.

There exists a delightful series of books called the “Roadside History of…” and someone donated New Mexico and Utah to the sale. Spreading further afield is “Boldt Castle” by Roger Lucas celebrating a huge private mansion on Heart Island in the Thousand Islands chain of the St. Lawrence River in New York. “First Ladies of California" by Lynn Cook is shopworn but shares the stories of all the governor’s wives in the state’s history.

Some old textbooks were donated, but “Wildlife Communities” by Clarence Hylander in 1966 will take a reader from the tundra to the tropics. Some areas of knowledge leave old texts outdated and useless, but knowing that a mountain lion, cougar, puma, and catamount are all names for the same feline is useful.

A “Great Canadian Beer Guide” by Stephen Beaumont in 2001 will be for sale expanding the world of beer for some lucky buyer and a “Yankee in a Confederate Town” by Calvin Robinson in 202 finds the story of a native of Vermont transplanted to Jacksonville Florida during difficult times. Find all these treasures Saturday May 25 from 10a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Kelley House porch. Call 937-5791 for more info.

GJERDE'S LONG SLUMBER — Dan & Ted

by Rex Gressett

In the afternoon at last Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, the words fell like stones of truth into the pond of public consciousness and the ripples thereof have manifested as an existential threat to Dan Gjerde. In spite of the genuine deference newbie Supervisor Ted Williams showed to his colleague Dan Gjerde, the contrast between the two young supervisors became more evident every time Ted uttered a phrase, expressed a thought, registered an objection or refused to back down. Not that Supervisor Williams was ever anything but carefully restrained and flawlessly procedural. It was just that the words that he was speaking were rocking their world.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife is sitting on towering piles of pot growing applications, Williams wanted to sue their ass.

Supervisor Williams proceeded to push for concrete action in the context that in the breathing historical heart of the emerald triangle local marijuana regulation is choked, burdensome cumbersome, complex, and irrational. All agree. Openly or secretly. One might with objectivity say the dog don't hunt.

Supervisor Williams questioned the rationality of the Mendocino regulation and obliquely damned the Board of Supervisors with its painful inertia and trademark ludicrous inefficiency. He stood firmly for his reasonable points under fire and made a pretty irrefutable case that the Rube Goldberg pot regulations are crippling the local economy. People are hurting. Do something.

The County Attorney was so condescending and arrogant that if it had been me at the very least I would have thrown something.

Ted persisted with quiet eloquence and firm logic. He got nothing from the process virtuoso Carre Brown. McCowen and Haschack both had the political wit to know that in any kind of reform, he himself would be left owning the bad. McCowen just endured the logic and tried unsuccessfully not to roll his eyes.

And then there was Gjerde. Apparently, Dan calculated, that doing his thing which is just sitting mute would make him invisible as Williams did his I am your representative and I take it seriously thing. Dan hoped that radiation of personal integrity would pass over him like a malign fog and be forgotten or at least Dan himself might be forgotten in reference to the moment.

That did not happen. Everyone will remember Ted Williams stepping out of the box but it was Dan Gjerde and his slinking silence that everyone noticed. Everybody knew Ted was brilliant and principled when he ran. Everybody was waiting through a necessary and reasonable period of acclimation and, bam, he was down with his promises. It was silent Dan Gjerde who stood out.

Like him or don’t like him, Dan Gjerde is by all accounts the avatar of a philosophy of government. Trained as it were from infancy, and grown in a test-tube to be a quiescent and modest manager, Dan Gjerde is down with the status quo to the tips of his fingernails. Any status quo. In Gjerdeland, wise administrators cooperate to achieve consensus. There must be amiability and agreement in all things. If the founding fathers had imagined the degree of harmony and inclusion possible we have achieved in Mendocino County, they would not have wasted all that energy on such a complicated political process. All that law to permit and actually encourage public participation, the adversarial resolution of interests, opposing community values and controversial dialogues within the community. Those old guys thought we were going to innovate and grow and evolve and they thought the process would necessarily be contentious and need strong institutional provision to protect the power of representative government. The Mendocino Board of Supes and a whole subculture of bureaucrats know how silly all of that is. We are in good hands. Don’t ask.

Dan will tell you all of the things are resolved according to the proper dispensations of power administrative agreement and the people exist only to be informed by every gesture and word of our professional leaders that there is nothing to see. It is the lubricant of their efficiency to carefully agree in all things. It was a system we embraced for almost two decades in Fort Bragg. I wonder, how did that work out?

In those days, we had a City Manager who misplaced $3 million out of a sequestered fund (water) which somehow found its way into her rather glamorous agenda. We are still paying it back. She was inspired to simply ignore what was once thought to be the impending fatal blow from the CalPERS contribution, (bureaucratic pensions) which was and is coming up and which left even Lindy Peters her second strongest pal on the Council, wringing his hands and declaring impending bankruptcy and restriction of services. She hid the budget deficit or spun it. I had the impression that the Council discovered the 10 years of Ruffing budget deficits after Tabatha Miller took the helm.

Maybe not, but very certainly no one ever talked about it.

Ok, super administrators can run deficits without impeding public confidence. But they can't do it all alone. The City Council in those days was so subservient, incompetent and irrelevant to the City Manager that the whole relationship had a kinky vibe. City Development Marie Jones at the height of her influence used to call Doug Hammerstrom “Sparky.” We had a City Council that was so debased that for two election cycles no one even ran for office. It would be a lapse in public engagement inconceivable in modern ultra-political Fort Bragg. The last election we had five candidates and a 70% turnout. Linda Ruffing was a long dry haul and through 14 years of it, we had Dan Gjerde. A Linda loyalist. No, the Linda loyalist on the Fort Bragg City Council.

Supervisor Williams will no doubt lead the fight for radical reform of the insanely complex economy-devastating pot regulations that we bought for top dollar from our consultant. He said he would go after it and I am very certain that he will. Williams will undoubtedly make mistakes but he sure is leading. I would note in passing that the mind-numbing inertia and bone-deep in transparency at the Board of Supervisors makes our local Fort Bragg City Council look like statesmen (statespeople).

Williams has a tougher fight. Reform is possible in Fort Bragg. We do it all the time. But I think Tuesday afternoon was probably round one in a 100-round fight. Still, when Ted stepped into the arena everybody cheered.

Gjerde's long apparently permanent quietude is assisted politically by his flawless technique of taking personal credit for pork and on his confidence-inspiring personality. Some may have noticed that all of that works a little to the detriment of principle. On a fatal Tuesday afternoon, his knee jerk affirmations and his ever so gentle nudges to the occasional triviality only looked weak as Ted Williams challenged the corrupt status quo. That’s what it was. It was a moment and Supervisor Williams owned it.

As soon as the dust settled age-old Gjerde supporters started falling off the wagon. The AVA speaks for itself, and when MSP posted it, Dan blasted back at MSP claiming calamitous confusion over motives purer than snow. I have to think that an honor student like Gjerde would understand that the issue and the rumble and the sudden questioning is because the Board of Supervisors is showing astonishing signs of life in Ted Williams, and Gjerde is suddenly standing out as a confirmed zombie. Even outnumbered 4 to 1 Williams carries a mighty clout by virtue of persistent common sense and an admirable personal intelligence. I don’t think they can stop him. Ted tried to get Dan to come on board. Dan Gjerde no doubt understood the danger very clearly as he sulked through the revolution and crossed his hands. It was what he was trained for a lifetime to do.

EMAIL BLAST the 25-yr CIA Veteran from the Kent State 50th

Dear Friends & Supporters of Kent State Truth,

In response to Kent State President Beverly Warren’s recent appointment of a 25-year CIA veteran to Chair the Kent State 50th commemoration, we request your participation in sending an Open Letter PROTEST email to President Warren, and we encourage you to TAKE ACTION today. Time is of the essence.

Our goal is to have KSU President Warren’s email overflowing with input and protest from an “organized opposition” to Ms. Smith’s appointment for the Kent State 50th Chair.

It’s EASY to participate. All you need to do is copy and paste the Open Letter below (also attached in a word document for ease), then send your email to this address: beverlywarren@kent.edu.

To make this email protest effective, please do not forward this instruction email to Beverly Warren. Instead, create your own email, copy and paste our content and don’t forget to include the meme. Feel free to add your own words and edit as you wish before sending your email.

PLEASE join us and send your email on or BEFORE Thursday, May 16, 2019. We have learned there is a significant deadline approaching on May 16th, so the earlier the better.

To help expand the REACH of the Open Letter Protest email, please forward this instruction email to at least 10 of your friends who care about the Kent State massacre. ;-)

Thank you for your action and solidarity. It’s definitely gonna take all of us!

Peace & healing,

Laurel Krause

707-357-2855

"Flowers are better than bullets” ~ Allison Krause

www.TruthTribunal.org

www.MendoCoastCurrent.wordpress.com

Content from the Open Letter Protest email follows:

---

An Open Letter to Dr. Beverly Warren, President of Kent State University

We are sending you this broadcast email to protest your appointment of Stephanie Dane Smith for Chair of Kent State University’s 50th commemoration of the Kent State massacre where on May 4, 1970 four students were killed, nine wounded by Ohio National Guard gunfire at an antiwar protest against the Vietnam War.

We see Ms. Smith’s appointment and career background as “a travesty and an insult to all those that seek peace and social justice.” --from CommonDreams article, May 10, 2019 “CIA Veteran to Chair Kent State 50th May 4 Commemoration Advisory Committee” READ http://bit.ly/2HfOb4y

In this August 8th interview Ms. Smith shared her perspective as a CIA operative, “I was often the “first” woman in my field to achieve something; I was promoted at a speed that astounded even me. And in the process, I came to live by a standard that is really pretty troubling when I look back on it and see it clearly now: Get there first, and clean up your road-kill later.” Ms. Smith’s CIA experience, words and directives fly in the face of those who honor the Kent State fallen and wounded.

Ms. Smith’s Kent State faculty page shares that she “co-founded the Department's Counterterrorism Communications Center to strengthen and integrate all United States Government counter-terrorism messaging,” pictures Ms. Smith in her CIA photo and highlights her abilities in PR.

Will Ms. Smith be tasked with Kent State re-messaging and hiding Kent State Truth?

Appointing Ms. Smith obstructs the participation of Kent State massacre survivors, disrespects the original Kent State protesters’ stand for peace and, 49 years later, what loved ones died for and the wounds all Kent State survivors carry.

Your hiring Ms. Smith was “an astonishing insult to the memory of the martyrs of the Kent State Massacre, the Kent State administration [naming] Stephanie Smith to chair the 50th May 4 Commemoration Advisory Committee.”

Questions on your appointment of Stephanie Dane Smith:

1) With regard to Ms. Smith’s vetting, did you as President consult all Kent State massacre family representatives of those who were killed and injured on May 4, 1970 at Kent State? Who was asked to consider Ms. Smith’s placement from the original 13 Kent State families?

2) How was Ms. Smith recruited for appointment as Chair of the 50th commemoration?

3) We have learned Ms. Smith was hired in advance of the 49th commemoration. Additionally, Ms. Smith’s appointment is still not publicly announced. Since you appointed Ms. Smith before the 49th, please explain your plan to announce Ms. Smith’s appointment, and your reason for not mentioning her placement in your 49th speech.

Dr. Warren, your administration has pledged a commitment to transparency to the Kent State massacre surviving families, the M4TF and the greater Kent State University community.

4) How were you transparent and inclusive when you appointed Ms. Smith?

Ms. Smith is yet another Kent State placement with government, intelligence and military background now employed to commemorate an anti-government protest against the Vietnam war, the military industrial complex and the CIA.

5) How will your chosen military and government professionals at Kent State commemorate the peace protesters massacred by the same military and government?

We see a pattern in your commemoration hiring Dr. Warren:

• Before employment at the May 4 Visitors Center, Dr. Mindy Farmer worked in a very similar capacity, for more than five years at the federal Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. 
  
• Executive Director of University Media Relations at Kent State University, Eric Mansfield “a retired Major with the U.S. Army and the Ohio Army National Guard with deployments to Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, Central America and others during a 20-year military career.” 

6) Dr. Warren, where are our representatives for peaceful protest and against war to administer your Kent State University vision for the 50th?

We respectfully demand Stephanie D. Smith step down and resign.

THE OTHER WASHBURN

On May 8, 2019 at approximately 11:55 PM Mendocino County Sheriff Deputies were dispatched to a reported domestic violence incident at a residence in the 1500 block of Reisling Court in Ukiah. Upon arriving, Deputies contacted an adult female in front of the residence and learned she had been assaulted by Dylan Washburn, 27, of Ukiah, who had fled the scene prior to the Deputies arrival.

The adult female and Washburn were living together at the location and had a young child in common. During the investigation Deputies learned Washburn and the adult female had become engaged in a verbal argument which escalated into a physical altercation. Washburn reportedly assaulted the adult female by grabbing her by the arms and pushing her onto a couch in the living room of their residence. He then grabbed her by the neck and choked her to the point she could not breath for a few seconds. Deputies noticed the adult female had visible injures to her arms and legs consistent with the reported physical assault. Washburn was later located in front of a residence at the 100 block of North Court Street a short time later by Ukiah Police Department Officers. Deputies responded to the location and placed Washburn under arrest for felony domestic violence battery. Washburn was subsequently booked into the Mendocino County Jail where he was to be held in lieu of $25,000 bail.

---

HURRICANE HURTADO

On May 12, 2019 at approximately 9:30 A.M., Deputies from the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to a reported physical fight occurring at a trailer park in the 29000 block of Highway 20 in Fort Bragg. When responding to the above location, a Deputy observed Andrew Hurtado, 20, of Fort Bragg, walking westbound on Highway 20 leaving the area where the reported fight occurred.

Hurtado was bleeding from a wound on his face so he was contacted by the Deputy. The Deputy determined Hurtado was involved in the incident and was struck several times in the face during the fight. Hurtado was known to be on formal probation in Mendocino County for an unrelated offense. When the Deputy attempted to search Hurtado, he resisted and obstructed the Deputy's attempt to conduct a search. After Hurtado was placed in handcuffs, the Deputy searched Hurtado and located a large amount of prescription pills. Hurtado was placed under arrest for Possession of Controlled Substance for Sale, Violation of Formal Probation, and Resisting or Obstructing a Peace Officer. Upon further investigation at the campground, Deputies learned that Hurtado was witnessed vandalizing a trailer at the location. Hurtado reportedly broke out several windows and caused other damage to the trailer, in excess of $400 in damage. Hurtado was also charged with Felony Vandalism - over $400 damage. Hurtado was subsequently booked into the Mendocino County Jail where he was to be held on a no-bail status due to him violating his formal probation terms.

---

WHEN LAKE COUNTY VISITS MENDO….

On May 11, 2019 at about 4:00 PM an on-duty Mendocino County Sheriff’s Deputy observed a vehicle being driven in the area of the 7000 block of north State Street in Calpella. The Deputy noticed the vehicle registration was expired and observed the driver of the vehicle driving into a business parking lot. The Deputy made contact with the occupants of the vehicle and contacted the driver (Christopher Ray) and passenger (Suelamatra Castillo).

The Deputy learned Ray’s driver’s license was suspended and Castillo had provided the Deputy with a false name. During a search of the vehicle, the Deputy located illicit drugs and drug paraphernalia belonging to Ray. The Deputy also learned Castillo had an outstanding no-bail felony warrant for her arrest from Lake County California for Felon in possession of a firearm charge. Ray was issued a notice to appear citation for the misdemeanor possession of illicit drugs, misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, and driving on a suspended driver’s license, and was released at the scene. Castillo was arrested for the listed felony arrest warrant and for providing the Deputy with a false name Castillo was booked into the Mendocino County Jail and was to be held without bail per the felony arrest warrant.

VALLEY LOOKALIKES

Hans Christian Andersen and David Severn

PAGE THREE SHOCKER

Dear Editor,

When I saw page 3 in the April 17, 2019 AVA, I wondered what misfortune had befallen you or your family. I hope you and yours are all well. That notwithstanding, I am in agreement with Mr. Simon. As a self identified for “transcendental atheist," I was taken aback. Since when are liberals (even the greatest) imagined to be our saviors? I don't hold a 2000 year old historical figure responsible for all the hypocrisy and evil — i.e. the Inquisition, etc. — perpetrated in his name, but the resurrection myth is more absurd than our creation myth — a singularity of no volume and infinite mass! It is your paper and your right to print what you wish but we simpleminded folk have a tin ear for satire, if that is what it was. I was shocked to read it as I am a recovering Catholic, 12 years of indoctrination. I can feel the guilt outside the confessional box regarding those "impure thoughts." I always preferred churchgoers over nihilistic coworkers. And I know of many good people who are Catholic. And the current Pope is the best in 60 years. But it was quite a surprising page 3!

Best wishes,

Iggy Ignoffo

Chicago

PS. Did you have a road to Damascus moment?

CATCH OF THE DAY, MAY 14, 2019

AARON KOSKI SR., Fort Bragg. Indecent exposure. (Frequent Flyer)

SEAN KURILKO, Fort Bragg. Paraphernalia, disobeying court order, failure to appear, probation revocation.

ROBERT MASSARELLI, Fort Bragg. Probation revocation.

ALI MCGUIRE, Hopland. Failure to appear.

MICHAEL OLSON, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

JOSE VIGIL, Leggett. DUI.

THE MYSTERIOUS ‘SABOTAGE’ OF SAUDI OIL TANKERS: A Dangerous Moment In Trump’s Escalating Conflict With Iran

by Patrick Cockburn

Saudi Arabia’s claim that two of its oil tankers have been sabotaged off the coast of the UAE is vague in detail – but could create a crisis that spins out of control and into military action.

Any attack on shipping in or close to the Strait of Hormuz, the 30-mile wide channel at the entrance to the Gulf, is always serious because it is the most important choke point for the international oil trade.

A significant armed action by the US or its allies against Iran would likely provoke Iranian retaliation in the Gulf and elsewhere in the region. Although the US is militarily superior to Iran by a wide margin, the Iranians as a last resort could fire rockets or otherwise attack Saudi and UAE oil facilities. Such apocalyptic events are unlikely – but powerful figures in Washington, such as the national security adviser John Bolton and secretary of state Mike Pompeo, appear prepared to take the risk of a war breaking out.

Bolton has long publicly demanded the overthrow of the Iranian government. “The declared policy of the United States should be the overthrow of the mullahs’ regime in Tehran,” he said last year before taking office.

“The behavior and the objectives of the regime are not going to change and, therefore, the only solution is to change the regime itself.”

Bolton and Pompeo are reported to have used some mortar rounds landing near the US embassy in Baghdad in February as an excuse to get a reluctant Pentagon to prepare a list of military options against Iran. These would include missile and airstrikes, but it is unclear what these would achieve from the US point of view.

Paradoxically, the US and Saudi Arabia have been talking up war against Iran just as economic sanctions are seriously biting. Iranian oil exports have dropped from 2.8 to 1.3 million barrels a day over the last year and are likely to fall further. Inflation in Iran is at 40 per cent and promises by the EU, UK, France and Germany to enable the Islamic republic to avoid sanctions on its oil trade and banking have not been fulfilled. Commercial enterprises are too frightened of being targeted by the US treasury to risk breaching sanctions.

Iran is becoming economically – though not politically – isolated. This is in contrast to previous rounds of sanctions on Iran under President Obama prior to the nuclear deal when the reverse was true. One reason why it is unlikely that Iran would carry out sabotage attacks on Saudi oil tankers is that its strategy has been to play a long game and out-wait the Trump administration. Though the Iranian economy may be badly battered, it will probably be able to sustain the pressure. Much tighter sanctions against Saddam Hussein after his invasion of Kuwait in 1990 did not lead to the fall of his regime.

The circumstance of the alleged sabotage at 6am on Sunday remain mysterious. Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Khalid al-Falih says the attack “didn’t lead to any casualties or oil-spill” but did cause damage to the structure of the vessels.

The incident has the potential to lead to conflict in the context of an escalating confrontation between the US and Iran. The rise in temperature reached particularly menacing levels this month as the US sent an aircraft carrier to the Gulf and Iran suspended in part its compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal after President Trump withdrew last year.

However, Iran has made serious efforts to show moderation and cultivate support from the EU, Russia and China. For this reason, it appears unlikely that it has had a hand in attacking the Saudi oil tankers. Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Abbas Mousavi asked for more information about what had really happened to the tankers. He warned against any “conspiracy orchestrated by ill-wishers” and “adventurism” by foreigners.

It is the unpredictability of US and Saudi foreign policy that has exacerbated the danger of military action – particularly when it comes to Iran. President Trump has accused the country of supporting “terrorism” and aggression in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia policy is even more mercurial ever since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman took charge in 2015, initiating a war in Yemen, detaining the prime minister of Lebanon, locking up Saudi businessmen, and being accused by the US congress of being behind the assassination of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul last year.

The crown prince has displayed extreme hostility towards Iran since he took power. Saudi Arabia executed 33 members of its Shia minority on 23 April, accusing 11 of them of being spies for Iran, an overwhelmingly Shia country. The defendants said they had been tortured into making false confessions and Human Rights Watch said that none of them had received a fair trial.

In this febrile atmosphere, almost any incident, true or false – such as the unconfirmed sabotage of tankers or a few mortar rounds fired towards the US embassy in Baghdad – might provide the spark to ignite a wider conflict.

(Patrick Cockburn is the author of The Rise of Islamic State: ISIS and the New Sunni Revolution. Courtesy, CounterPunch.org.)

VAXX FACTS

Editor,

Jackie Braun points to two “facts” to argue the anti-vaccine position in a recent letter to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. Her first fact — that most contagious diseases are handled by better sanitation — has been proven false by the latest outbreak of measles. That outbreak is the direct result of parents not having their children vaccinated, which undermined the herd effect of vaccinations.

Her second fact — that the US government has paid $4 billion compensation to those hurt by vaccines — is meaningless without additional facts about the number of people vaccinated versus the number of people injured by vaccines. That is the crucial data that allows us to undertake a cost/benefit analysis.

I don’t know how old Braun is, but I would venture that she is too young to remember the awful consequences of polio, measles, chicken pox, mumps and German measles that my generation witnessed, not to mention the terrible consequences of small pox, whooping cough and diphtheria experienced by my parents’ generation.

Those of us who remember how many children were harmed and, yes, killed, by those diseases recognize what a gift vaccines are and are appalled by the ignorance of those who refuse to recognize the importance of vaccines to a healthy society.

Nancy Pemberton

Sebastopol

PSEUDO-MODERATES AND THE BOTH-SIDES-DO-IT LIE

David Brooks in a recent NY Times column: “But Trump is far from the only villain in this showdown. If the House of Representatives wants to preserve its oversight power on the executive branch, then it has to be willing to oversee. It has to be willing to use its power in positive ways to improve the governance of this country. If Congress uses its power simply to destroy the president, then of course any president is going to clam up and refuse to cooperate. If Congress picks fights merely to gin up the political passions of the donor base, then of course the system of checks and balances is going to break down.

Rob's comment:

This is really stupid, even for Mr. pseudo-moderate, split-the-difference David Brooks. Though Donald Trump himself is the personification and immediate cause of our national crisis as he pushes the right-wing agenda of a proto-fascist Republican Party, somehow Brooks finds Democrats equally to blame for the ongoing damage this party and their despicable leader are doing to the country.

I recommend Driftglass's description of the intellectually contemptible mindset of this brand of idiocy:

“…Each week for the past 15 years, the New York Times Action Zeitgeist Van has dropped Mr. David Brooks off in the middle of literally hundreds of life-or-death national issues, all laid out and easy pickings for anyone with a national media platform who is even remotely interested in, say, establishing Justice, insuring domestic Tranquility, providing for the common defense, promoting the general Welfare, securing the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity or any of the other cool stuff in that song. Furthermore, we are now chest-deep-and-sinking-fast in the Age of Trump, so in addition to the usual perversions and crimes against democracy that Republicans have been carrying out for decades, we are now faced with a nakedly fascistic madman in the White House who is gleefully executing the Republican party's Final Solution to the impediment of constitutional checks and balances by destroying every norm that supports our democracy.

Example: as of this writing, 375 former federal prosecutors [now over 650] have signed an open letter saying that Donald Trump has committed felony-level obstruction of justice. And every week for the past 15 years, Mr. Brooks has ambled down the block, mentally jiggling the handles on each obscenity committed by his Republican Party…and then moving on. Because for the past 15 years, Mr. Brooks has only had one story to tell his readers. One fairy tale he has spun over and over and over again, with grim, inhuman persistence. The story of Both Sides Do It.

(Rob Anderson, District5Diary)

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

You said, There is no reason such a large and resource rich country as ours cannot produce most everything we need.”

Reasons:

1. an oligarchic class that hates you and will not permit you to build a factory because it might diminish their wealth;
2. an infantilized, drug addicted population which has been engineered to not solve its own problems;
3. a lack of skilled workers, from carpenters to tool makers;
4. global warming which will put every city on the coast half under water;
5. global warming which will make every city not on the coast uninhabitable in the summer;
6. global warming which is setting the countryside on fire;
7. political warfare openly declared by the Republicans in 1993 and renewed by them in 2009;
8. a population with the attention span of earwigs, an attention span so short that they cannot remember anything from 1993 or 2009, or even be made to believe that there ever was such a time.

Other reasons will occur to you, I'm sure.

WHO’S USING MY GARDEN?

A Program by Katy Pye

What makes us change how we see the world? Often it’s the little things. Local author and photographer, Katy Pye, read about pollinator decline and got curious whether her garden was contributing anything to their survival.

Her presentation on May 19, 2019 at 2:00 pm will include photographs and a discussion of the pollinators in her yard and her vision of neighborhoods that can become vital pollinator-friendly, life-support corridors for native wildlife.

For more information, please email Julia Larke larkej@mendocinocounty.org or call the Coast Community Library at (707) 882-3114.

MENDOCINO COUNTY PARK RESERVATIONS Now Administered by the Cultural Services Agency - Effective May 14, 2019

Post Date: 05/14/2019 5:00 PM

Effective May 14, 2019, Mendocino County Parks group picnic area reservations for Low Gap Park, Mill Creek Park, and Redwood Valley Lion’s Club Park will be moved to the Cultural Services Agency administrative offices located at 880 N. Bush Street, Ukiah (located on the corner of North Bush Street and Low Gap Road next to the Farm Advisor Building). Day use or group picnic area reservations will no longer be administered by the Mendocino County Executive Office as of May 14, 2019.

Group picnic area and outdoor theater reservations at Bower Park (located in Gualala) will continue to be made by calling the on-site caretaker at (707) 884-1136. Campground sites at Indian Creek Park and Campground (located in Philo), will continue to be on a “first come first serve,” basis during the open season (first weekend in April through the last weekend in October) at the self-service station.

The public is invited to make park reservations (accepted up to one week before with a full payment) for Low Gap Park, Mill Creek Park, and Redwood Valley Lion’s Club Park at the Cultural Services Agency administrative offices. For more information about reservations, applications, rates, and restrictions please visit our website: www.mendocinocounty.org/parks

Mendocino County Cultural Services Agency Administrative Offices Parks Reservations

Address: 880 N. Bush Street, Ukiah, CA 95482

Hours of Operation: Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Phone Number: (707) 234-2875

Fax Number: (707) 463-6951

Reservation Fee Payments: Check or exact cash payment accepted

(Security deposit is also required)

Website: www.mendocinocounty.org/parks

For more information, please contact the Mendocino County Executive Office at (707) 463 4441 or CEO@mendocinocounty.org.

HIT & RUN THEATER MAY & JUNE

Senior Center Benefit — May 25

Hit and Run Theater will return to the stage Saturday, May 25, 2019 at 7:00pm at the Redwood Coast Senior Center at The Fort Bragg Middle School, 490 N. Harold St., Fort Bragg, CA 95437. This show will benefit the Senior Center and raise funds for their various actions. The Senior Center Benefit will follow on Hit and Run’s first show at the Senior Center last spring. Scheduled for Saturday evening, May 25 at 7:00pm the show will be fully improvised with all skits and songs based on audience suggestions. For this evening, Hit and Run Theater will include Jill Jahelka, Ken Krauss, Doug Nunn, Kathy O’Grady, Christine Samas, Dan Sullivan, and Steve Weingarten. For ticket information, please call 964-0443. We look forward to a lively evening to benefit the Senior Center.

Hit & Run Theater Community Improv Comedy Workshops —May 29 through June 19 On Wednesday, May 29 Hit and Run Theater begins a series of 4 Improvisation workshops running Wednesdays, May 29, June 5, June 12, and June 19. The workshops take place from 6:30-8:30pm at the Community Center of Mendocino, 998 School St., Mendocino, CA 95460. Hit and Run’s newest workshop series is open to all interested students. The course will include basic improvisational games and acting exercises. No previous theatrical or improvising experience is required and mature teens are welcome as well as adults and seniors. A workshop contribution of $15 per night for Hit & Run Theater will cover the workshop fees. Wednesday night, June 19 will be set aside for a “workshop show” including all participants. What a deal! To register or for further information, please call 707-937-0360 or email Doug Nunn —dnunn@mcn.org dnunn@mcn.org or connect on Facebook. We look forward to seeing you there.

Hit & Run Theater Matheson PAC Improv Shows June 28 & 29 On the weekend of Friday and Saturday, June 28 & 29, Hit & Run Theater will present two nights of improvisational comedy and music at the Matheson Performing Arts Center at 45096 Cahto St., near Mendocino High School in Mendocino. Both shows are at 7:30pm. The cast includes Jill Jahelka, Ken Krauss, Doug Nunn, Kathy O’Grady, Christine Samas, Dan Sullivan and Steve Weingarten, with a possible appearance by Nicole Paravicini. San Francisco keyboardist, Joshua Raoul Brody will supply improvised music and sound effects. General Admission is $18, with tickets for seniors and kids at $12 and all ages are welcome!

For reservations or further information, call Doug Nunn at 707-937-0360, write him an email at dnunn@mcn.org dnunn@mcn.org, or write Doug Nunn or Hit and Run Theater on Facebook. We look forward to having you with us!

MENDOCINO MUSIC FESTIVAL VOLUNTEER SIGN UP DAY

SAT. MAY 18 1pm-3pm

Join us Saturday, May 18, from 1pm-3pm at the Community Center of Mendocino, corner of School and Pine St. in Mendocino, to sign up as a volunteer for our 33rd season, July 13-27.

There are a variety of volunteer opportunities to choose from. Working in the concert or concession tent at day or evening Concerts.

Daytime non-concert tasks before and during the Festival

Staffing a special event

For non-concert jobs, we offer tickets to selected concerts as a token of our appreciation.

Enjoy tasty treats and visit with friends in our hospitality room

No more standing in line. Your name will be called to sign up in the order of your arrival.

For more information you can check the Festival’s web site.

www.mendocinomusic.org or contact Arlene Reiss at

volunteer@mendocinomusic.org.