- Survival Training
- No On The Avalon
- Turnabout Target
- When Donations Are Not Donations
- Getting Heavy In The Bay Area
- Whew!
- What’s It All About, Ralphieeeeeee!
- Trump’ll Pull Us Through
- Should Not Pay
- And Don't Forget...
SURVIVAL TRAINING
Editor,
Don't let them grind you down!
In light of the media driven coronavirus scare I would like to try to give a little prison wisdom to AVA readers. First of all I would like to say that I do not believe all the scare tactics the mainstream media is inflicting on the poor gullible public. But I am also not an idiot, contrary to popular opinion, so I'm being safe but sane.
Hopefully people are being smart enough to find the right balance of caution and not sacrificing their mental health by beleiving the MSM’s irresponsible fear mongering.
"Social distancing" and "sheltering in place" is something long-term prisoners are experienced at, obviously not voluntarily, but those of us who manage to survive it have learned to not only make the best of it but to actually benefit from it.
Suffering is an essential part of life and without it we don't benefit from its lessons. Isolating yourself to dodge the coronavirus may seem like suffering to some I'm sure, but don't let it drive you crazy. Even if you are alone (no cellie) you cannot surrender to the loneliness and isolation. Now is the time to make this time work for you. As foreign as it may be for some people, this is the time to strengthen your mind, discipline your body and be grateful you still have your health. This last thing is by far the most important. Being grateful and thankful is a wonderful medicine for the soul. It is the exact opposite of being selfish and bitter. Since you have to go through this segregation, why not get as much out of this time as possible?
"Don't be so hung up on where you'd rather be that you fail to make the best of where you are."
Think of this time as "survival training" and it may be. To start, be aware of your thoughts. No negative or hateful thoughts about others or yourself. Some people are more susceptible than others to depression and this is a dangerous state of mind to be conquered as soon as possible. I know, easier said than done. But start with monitoring your thoughts. It's hard to have negative feelings when you are having positive thoughts and vice versa.
This is not the time or place to get into this subject and I'm not qualified to even think in public, let alone to help someone else get their head together. That is beyond me. (Hopefully reader you are not suffering with depression.)
Next, keep busy. Don't just sit on your ass picking your nose. Find ways to flex your head and your muscles. Keep your brain working. As square as it sounds, do crosswords, Sudoku, read, whatever. Just don't let your mind dwell on negative crap. Do not watch the news! And a little extra exercise is 100% better than none at all. You would be surprised how quickly your muscles will atrophy when you are stuck on the couch doing nothing but watching TV. Whatever you do — move something.
The Department of Corrections is on statewide lockdown. I'm stuck in a 6’ x 12' cell with another person. If we can figure out how to stay active, you have no excuse. An excellent but light full-bodied exercise is the "Sun Salutation." (Look it up on the Internet.)
Take this time to help yourself. Ignore the media's attempt to scare you into submission. Instead, ask yourself why they are doing what they are doing?
Have you noticed the ridiculous things they expect you to believe? Facemasks are not as good as a bandanna blocking the virus? Really? The real issue is the average person who is social distancing should not use a valuable asset such as an N-95 mask, but instead use bandannas, scarves etc. But the MSM thinks the American public is too stupid to understand this. In some cases they may be right, but damn! Give us the benefit of the doubt.
And telling us that we need to keep buying liquor to help certain businesses stay afloat? They really just think the public with all this extra time on their hands should be intoxicated instead of clearheaded so they don't see through their weak deceptions?
Again, why is the MSM pushing all this fear at the public? I'm not going to pretend to know. But there is some reason and I'm sure it's not in our best interests.
Look at this time you've been given as a gift, not a punishment, not a do or die situation. The odds of the average healthy person dying from this virus are so low that it's almost a slight possibility. No more. More people die from hit and run accidents in Los Angeles than from this crap. So instead of huddling in fear, enjoy your vacation, get a little exercise, teach your cat to fetch and smile! You're only as happy as you let yourself be.
Remember, thoughts are things, so have positive thoughts and you will have positive feelings. Let the media clowns wallow in their own negativity. The AVA is the only news you need for now. When there's good knows you will hear about it. Meanwhile, don't let them grind you down!
Scott Pinkerton J-87837
CSP/LAC — C4/218
P.O. Box 4610
Lancaster, CA 93539
PS. Check out my blog at: betweenthebars.org/blogs/1347
NO ON THE AVALON
To the Fort Bragg City Council and Fort Bragg Planning Department:
Greetings:
I am commenting on Mr. Hunt’s Avalon Hotel project.
It is obvious to me at least that the scale of this project is off the charts. The design is overwhelming, an overwrought piece of work which in my estimation qualifies as "celebrity architecture."
It is not in keeping with the existing three motels along the Haul Road. It is too massive and too high.
Allowing a development of this size will have an impact on the city's water supply, and cause congestion on Highway 1 as so many cars leave the hotel, restaurant and convention Center. And it will provide lots of minimum-wage jobs and will make Fort Bragg ever more reliant on tourists to prop up the economy.
Do we really want to be beholden to tourists? Isn't there a better use for this property? How about our seniors and lower-income workforce? Are only tourists have can pay $200 a night entitled to enjoy life along the Haul Road?
Does Mr. Hunt have any social philosophy, an egalitarian ethic? Or is the only concerned with making money? A two story condo would fit in that space quite nicely, less enabled seniors on the first floor, more agile workers on the second, perhaps with a dining room to help the seniors. A project like that would serve some of the immediate needs of Fort Bragg and provide jobs also. I realize you cannot stop him from planning anything he wants on his property, but you can deny it, or better yet, try to encourage him to build something that will benefit local residents and not just cater to tourists.
Many of us believe the coronavirus will be around for quite some time. Social distancing may be the new norm. Do we want development that is dependent on bringing people from faraway places? Do we want to put additional strain on our small hospital?
This project will have a deleterious aesthetic effect on the Haul Road enjoyed by so many as well as the look of Highway 1 as people are approaching town.
I urge you to think twice before giving your stamp of approval to this project. Please enter my comments into the official record.
Thank you,
Louise Mariana, RN
Mendocino
PS. Despite my Mendocino address I do most of my business in Fort Bragg and have done so for 40 years.
TURNABOUT TARGET
Editor,
While they were flying high and making lots of money, the nation’s airlines were merciless in squeezing passengers every way they could. Now, they are begging for $40 billion of our money. C’mon, Congress, let’s see some bargaining. An inch more on the seats? Two inches more legroom? One free bag? A snack? For billions of dollars, the sky’s the limit!
Doug Bosco
Santa Rosa
WHEN DONATIONS ARE NOT DONATIONS
Editor,
With so many vacation home owners in the community now, choosing to stay home at their getaway home, donations made to the Gualala Food Bank should be fresh, edible items, not old, outdated items from the pantry. Please do not “donate” old, outdated pantry items; throw them out. You don’t feed outdated food to you children, so why should we?
Thanks for your genersity during these challenging-more-than-usual times.
Sue Hart
The Sea Ranch
GETTING HEAVY IN THE BAY AREA
Editor,
I can't vouch for the accuracy of this story but find it interesting. Maybe your readers would too...
At 7:45 am today at a grocery store that opened at 8am for seniors only. A young man came from the parking lot and tried to cut in at the front of the line, but an old lady beat him back into the parking lot with her cane.
He returned and tried to cut in again but an old man punched him, then knocked him to the ground and thrashed him with his walker.
But then the guy came back again and approached the line a third time! This time the guy says, "Look, if you damned old codgers don't let me unlock the door, none of you will ever get in there!"
Rich Bolecek
San Rafael
WHEW!
Editor,
Whew! Local law enforcement officials are deciding that gun stores are essential to the safe operation of a home. Now I can pick up a couple of extra assault rifles to defend my toilet paper!
Stephen Hawkes
Healdsburg
WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT, RALPHIEEEEEEE!
Editor,
When we last encountered our westbound contestant La Gringa Grandota (aka Anne Fashauer) she was on her bicycle coasting south through the Japanese islands. Everything southbound in Japan is downhill. Whenever she stopped at a small village people gathered around her. They wanted to know everything about the Donarold, sometimes confusing him with mak-koo Donarolds.
The eastbound contestant, the Scarmellah Fellah was trying to figure out how to get away from Nantucket. He knew the that Paul Thoreau had written in his book "Fresh Air Fiend” about paddling his kayak between Nantucket and Cape Cod, not that the Marquis S. was afraid to try it, but his bag of clubs wouldn't fit in a kayak.
Anchored a few yards from the dock in Nantucket was a big yacht belonging to the Robert Mercer family which was about to leave for Bermuda. A crew member told the S’mellah Fellah that they needed a galley man to peel the potatoes, wash the pots and pans, mop the deck. Marquis S. thought he could handle that and was excited about Bermuda, home to many golf courses. Guests on the yacht included Marie Le Pen, Steve Bannon, Newt Gingrich, Arriana Huffington and Al Sharpton.
Arriving in Bermuda our eastbound contestant found that all golf courses in Bermuda had signs: "members only." After hauling his bag of clubs from Boonville to Bermuda the Marquis decided to give up golf, perhaps singing would be a better hobby.
After the Robert Mercer party headed back to Long Island, the Mellah FElla was stranded in Bermuda.
In 1607 the Spanish galleon “Nuestra Barca Ultimo Feo y Sin Verguenza” loaded with silver bars ran aground in the Bahama passage and sank. Recently divers located the ship which seemed to be in good condition. A Dutch seagoing tugboat from Rotterdam got a line on her and proceeded to tow her to Cadiz. While stopping in Bermuda for supplies our hero told the tug’s crew that he was forbidden to travel by air and requested a ride. "Nothing doing," said the Dutchman, “but you can ride on the hulk we are towing but keep your hands off the plata.” Marquis S. secured some beans and rice, some reading material (James Boswell's Life of Johnson) and jumped aboard.
In Japan the Gringo Grandota continued coasting — looking for a three-star restaurant. In the provincial city of Yokobama the Gringa was offered a one hour TV show "Rachel Maddow at Pearl Harbor" in which she bobs and weaves, flails her arms and hands about and comments on controversial subject matter in Japan before.
A pause in the Boonville to Boonville race is expected as our contestants will probably not leave Spain and Japan for some time.
Ralph Bostrom
Willits
TRUMP’LL PULL US THROUGH
Editor,
Our wonderful Marxist Dictator left wing anti-American son of a bitch Governor Gavin Newsom is trying to make himself a hero to the American people of California by throwing a few cans of oxygen to some other states supposedly to help with the virus. In the mean time he has California locked up tighter than a drum, no golf, no baseball, no basketball, no football, no church, no gathering of any kind, and all of us wearing a facemask at all times while in public except him. No visiting beaches, no parks, no going to restaurants, no bars, etc. etc. This is how the rotten liberal governors of the blue states are doing their best to downplay and ruin the economy just to try and ruin President Trump. Did you hear the liberal democrats are trying to blame President Trump when all he did was shut down the traffic to and from Wuhan, China where the virus began in January to try and stem the flow of people coming into the United States that may have been infected or carriers of the virus?
In the mean time the rotten filthy liberal democrats Chuck (the tumor) Shumer Nancy (Wharf Rat) Pelosi, Adam (Shit Face) Shiff and all their liberal cronies were trying to impeach President Trump, which failed miserably. Remember the Muller investigation with the Russians accusing President Trump of interfering with the election that went on for two years, which failed miserably and cost the American tax payers $50 million and then they attacked Supreme Court nominee Kavenaugh and that failed and the ridiculous impeachment that cost the taxpayers yet again another $50 million? The democrats should be ashamed of themselves for our President having to defend himself and deal with the virus at the same time while the democrats did nothing to help America.
So you people out there with your heads buried in the sand that can’t see what is going on I feel sorry for and the outcome of which you’re going to face. I hope all the blue states especially California get this whole charade shoved back at them. And I hope President Trump squashes them like a ripe tomato.
God Bless Donald Trump
Jerry Philbrick
Comptche
P.S. If the liberal democrats would stop trying to interfere which they have been doing for three years with President Trump and how he is trying to run the country we would be a lot better off as American citizens.
SHOULD NOT PAY
To the Editor:
A key piece of information is missing from the March 7, front page article in the Ukiah Daily Journal entitled “Non-lethal Wildlife Option Explored.” It’s laudable that the Board of Supervisors is investigating non-lethal means when it comes to wildlife/human conflicts. But the Board’s current proposal is to have taxpayers continue to foot the $170,000 bill for the County to contract with USDA Wildlife Services to kill thousands of wild animals annually, using neck snares and other brutal killing methods that have been proven to be wildly ineffective and even counterproductive in protecting livestock.
Ranchers and homeowners would continue to receive this lethal, inhumane and ineffective taxpayer subsidized service from Wildlife Services for free but would have to pay to have an animal removed using non-lethal means. Human behavior dictates that most people will opt for the free service, thereby setting up a non-lethal program to fail and perpetuating dependence on the cruel and arcane status quo approach.
What’s needed is an alternative model that replaces Wildlife Services with a locally administered non-lethal program that addresses the site-specific nature of human-wildlife conflicts. An increasing number of counties across the west are rejecting the status quo top-down approach of USDA Wildlife Services and adopting new and innovative methods to address human-wildlife conflicts that are cost-effective, ecologically sound and ethically defensible.
The cost to County taxpayers to employ non-lethal means is estimated to be significantly less than the current contract with Wildlife Services, given the experiences of Marin and Sonoma Counties.
It’s time for the Mendocino County Board to abide by the science, signal their respect and compassion for wild animals, commit to saving the County scarce funds, and redirect taxpayer monies to support an effective and humane non-lethal program instead of killing the public’s wildlife at taxpayer expense.
Project Coyote and Mendocino Non-lethal Wildlife Alliance
Camilla Fox, Rose Ireland, Carol Lillis, Don Lipmanson, Carol Misseldine, Jon Spitz
AND DON'T FORGET...
Editor:
Just in case no one else has written about this, we all need to remember that car batteries can run down over prolonged periods of nondriving, as may well be the case for many of us during our sheltering at home. Every 10 days or so, taking your vehicle out for a spin of 5 miles or more to do a little sightseeing, even if you don’t get out for any reason, should keep things in good working order for a time when you may have an urgent need to drive somewhere.
Jim Lobdell
Santa Rosa
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