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Mendocino County Today: July 19, 2013

ANOTHER REASON not to shop at Walgreens. The Starbucks of drug stores is 
refusing to sell the current edition of Rolling Stone because it has a
 picture of crazy-boy Boston bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, on the mag's cover.
 A range of demagogues from Boston's mayor to rollodex faculty “experts” 
claim the photo of Tsarnaev flatters him and insults his victims. But 
that's what the killer happens to look like and the article inside 
certainly cannot be described as flattering.

tsarnaevcoverTHE MAGAZINE has issued this entirely reasonable statement: “The fact that
 Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is young, and in the same age group as many of our 
readers, makes it all the more important for us to examine the
 complexities of this issue and gain a more complete understanding of how a
 tragedy like this happens."

TRANSLATION: This guy is so much like the many young people who 
read Rolling Stone, that we wanted to try to understand how a kid who smokes dope and 
listens to bad music all day could go out and kill large numbers of 
people.

FOR THIS the magazine is banned?

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Illston
Illston

A COUPLE of weeks ago, Susan Ilston, a Frisco-based federal judge, told 
the FBI it couldn't withhold information the agency had “gathered” on
 NorCal's Occupy movement. The G-Men claimed “privacy, security, law 
enforcement concerns, and that the national security” forbade them from 
revealing the documents to the suing party, the ACLU.

ONE OF THE SPY DOCUMENTS, the FBI claimed, “would threaten serious damage to 
the national security” because it would reveal “penetration of a specific target."

THE JUDGE pointed out that the FBI hadn't explained how the national 
security might be damaged by these revelations.

I’LL BET THE FBI will come back with one of their black-out specials, a seemingly random pile 
of paper with every other word blacked out, and the judge will say, “Thank
 you, boys. Keep up the great work keeping US safe."

RedactedI MAKE these cynical remarks from first hand experience observing the SF 
federal courts in drug cases involving Mendo people and the case of my 
friend, Pol Brennan, an Irish nationalist. (And random other high profile
 events and personalities over the years.) The judges were… well, let
 me put it this way: if these people are all that stand 
between US and a straight-up police state, get ready for a police state.

BACK A WAYS, I sent off for my own federal file. Among other laughable 
inaccuracies in between whole paragraphs of blacked-out gibberish, the FBI placed me on a continent where I did 
not happen to reside at the time. Conclusion? Not only does the FBI and,
 presumably, the umpty-many other tax-funded spy agencies allegedly keeping
 US from “harm's way,” a phrase I was tired of the second time I heard it,
 routinely violate what are supposed to be our guaranteed protections 
against this stuff, they're so incompetent that much of the information 
they collect is wrong.

SORRY for grabbing you by the shirt collar and shrieking at you like this,
 but, as most of our readers know, all of this is occurring in a context of 
summary global execution. The killing of alleged terrorists via drones is
 creating more terrorists faster than we can kill the real ones, and not only the real ones (maybe) but their
 wives, their children, and whoever else is unlucky to be with them when
 some dull-normal sitting in a recliner at an Air Force base in Omaha
 murders them from six thousand miles away.

IssaDoc========================================================

HELEN BUSHBY

Helen Bushby, age 75, born December 29, 1938, passed away Monday night, June 24th at her home surrounded by loved ones in Ukiah, California. Helen is survived by her husband Tony Bushby, sister Betty Phillips, seven children, 16 grandchildren and all the great-grandchildren. Helen was preceded in death by her parents Bill and Ann Riggs, and her brother Earl Riggs. She married Tony her love of 49 years on May 9, 1964. She owned and managed many restaurants including The Greenwood Cafe in Elk and The Flicker Inn in Redwood Valley, Sambo's and Club Fort Bragg just to name a few. Helen liked selling crab and fish at Ukiah Farmers Market. She loved her having all her pets and working outside in her flower garden. No services will be held at her request. The family wishes to extend their gratitude to Dr. Ives and the staff at DCI and Ukiah Hospice. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to HOHS Dialysis Fund.

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ManningCourtroomJUDGE DENISE LIND, who’s presiding over the Bradley Manning leak-trial, did not dismiss the “Aiding the Enemy” charge against Bradley Manning, stating that the Army did present evidence that Manning should have known, based on his training, that the enemy would be able to access the information he released to Wikileaks. She also stated that evidence was presented that Manning did know that the enemy could use the SIGACTS (mapping of incidents in a region) he leaked in the same manner that the Army uses them. Judge Lind read into the record the evidence that she determined met the elements for the charge. If the judge gives weight to that evidence when she enters her final verdict at the conclusion of the case, it does not look good for Manning or Press Freedom in America. The result would be chilling for whistleblowers or anyone that publishes information on the internet that could be used by the “enemy.” Manning has already pleaded guilty to illegal use of information that he had the right to access. The chilling issue here is that with no contact with the enemy, Manning could served life in prison without the possibility for parole. Bradley Manning did not give the information to an enemy of the United States, he gave it to the media. Even if you don't believe Wikileaks is the media, Judge Lind asked the Army on two occasions the following: If the documents were released to The New York Times and not Wikileaks would you still have brought the same charges? The Army's response on both occasions was “Yes Ma'am.” So precedent that would be set here with a guilty verdict is that providing information to any media organization can result in a conviction for aiding the enemy. Where is the line? How often have we all crossed it? (— Scott Galindez, co-founder of Truthout, now Political Director of Reader Supported News.)

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22ND ANNUAL ART IN THE GARDENS — BIGGEST & BEST EVER! The 22nd Annual Art in the Gardens 2013 is shaping up to be the biggest and best Art in the Gardens the coast has ever seen, with 50% more vendors participating over last year! http://www.gardenbythesea.org/enews/gate.cfm?issue=164&ea=ava@pacific.net&xfa=enews.article&article_id=246

RHODY'S GARDEN CAFE OPENS! The Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens is proud to announce that it has opened a new cafe; on premises serving reasonably priced, fresh, locally produced foods in a garden setting. The initial response has been wildly enthusiastic. http://www.gardenbythesea.org/enews/gate.cfm?issue=164&ea=ava@pacific.net&xfa=enews.article&article_id=247

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SUPPORT WILL PARRISH! Write to District Attorney David Eyster In Brief: Will demanded a jury trial, and District Attorney David Eyster responded by throwing the book at him. Will is being charged with 16 misdemeanors. His maximum jail sentence is eight years. Get guidance on writing to DA Eyster by clicking on the link below! Joined by a crowd of two dozen supporters, Little Lake Valley Defender Will Parrish attended his arraignment yesterday morning, July 12th, at the Mendocino County Courthouse. Local attorney Omar Figueroa is representing him pro-bono and doing an excellent job. County District Attorney C. David Eyster had charged Will with three identical infractions, meaning Will would be ineligible for a jury trial where he could argue his case to other members of the public. Supporters suspect this move was aimed to exclude such a trial. Will intends to take the case to jury and, for that reason, was looking for the charges to be elevated to misdemeanors. The judge stated that he wasn’t aware of any statutes allowing this to occur, but defense attorney Omar Figueroa was ready with case law supporting Will’s right to have a jury trial. Eyster, who seems to be taking a personal interest in the case, said that he had already found charges that would be mutually agreeable. Then he stated that he would be filing different charges now that they need to be misdemeanors. More than simply re-filing the case charging Will with misdemeanors, Eyster decided to throw the book at the locally well-known journalist and activist. Will is being charged with 16 misdemeanors, which include a separate charge of “Unlawful Entry” for every day he was on the wick drain derrick. He is facing a maximum prison sentence of eight years! Will opted to maintain his right to a speedy trial, meaning as of now there will be a quick turnaround in the case. Will’s Court Schedule:

July 24th, Pre-trial conference.

Aug 1st, “Motion in limine.”

Aug 5th, Jury trial begins at 9am

(Courtesy, SaveLittleLakeValley.org)

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AN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD GIRL WAS KILLED yesterday when a gunman shot up a home in the Dimond area of Oakland, an area of town usually spared the mayhem now prevalent in Oakland. Two other children, 4 and 7, and the children's grandmother suffered minor injuries. The Chron's comment line instantly filled with sarcastic remarks from white (undoubtedly) wahoos along the lines described here by a sane commenter: “We can all make the 'where are the protests now?' comments, but the sad truth is that this will not become a national news story, will not be picked up by cable channels, and will fade away with the next big atrocity. In places like Chicago, New Orleans, Camden, and yes Oakland, 'communicide' is barely newsworthy, and it's always somebody else's fault anyway. You used to be able to run to the suburbs, but they're no better these days…”

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FRIENDS OF THE EEL RIVER and Californians for Alternatives to Toxics have filed an appeal challenging a Marin judge's dismissal of the groups' lawsuit against the North Coast Rail Authority. In May, a Marin County judge dismissed a two-year lawsuit aimed at stopping the North Coast Rail Authority from expanding rail operations from Napa County to Willits. The original lawsuit was filed a July 2011 when the two groups contended the NCRA should be forced to conduct an in-depth environmental review along the entire length of rail line from Napa County to Arcata before expanding rail operations along any corridor. It typically takes between 18 months and two years to resolve an appeal of this type. Freight railroad operations were restored to Windsor in 2011. Restoring rail service north of Windsor remains a matter of financing, says NCRA Executive Director Mitch Stogner. The total cost to fix the tracks to Redwood Valley was estimated at $12 million in 2012. A short term goal for the railroad is to restore the 23 miles rail between Windsor and Cloverdale. The cost for this stretch was estimated at about $5 million in 2012. The restoration would likely occur in even smaller increments. Restoring the 5.3 miles of track from Windsor to Healdsburg is estimated at $1.3 million. The 8.9 miles from Healdsburg and Geyserville, including about 90 feet of major repairs at Foss Creek, is estimated to cost $2.2 million. The 8.5 miles from Geyserville to Cloverdale is estimated at $1.5 million. Other than the area at Foss Creek the work is primarily to make track, signal and bridge repairs necessary. Typical track repairs include replacing ties, rails and leveling the track. The NCRA is seeking federal grants to help fund track restoration efforts, says Stogner.

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