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Mendocino County Today: Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015

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BOONVILLE LOWS the past five mornings: Friday 33; Saturday 29; Sunday 29; Monday 35; Tuesday 29.

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THE MENDOCINO COUNTY Continuum of Care for the Homeless has announced "operating guidelines" for the Extreme Weather Shelter, Fort Bragg division. It's "coordinated and operated" by the Hospitality House, natch, and, natch, the hostess with the mostess, Ms. Anna Shaw, also the vertex of a much discussed fog belt love triangle, deciding who gets in and who doesn't. A grizzled veteran of the street approaches the cooly appraising Brit barring the door of the extreme weather shelter. "May I come in, Ms. Shaw?"

Ms. Shaw. "Wait until we see if you're reimbursable, old sod."

The warm wonderfuls at Hospitality House define extreme weather as 36 degrees or below, "and/or wet." If it's 39 and dry, well, tough it out, buddy.

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LIKE ALL REGISTERED DEMOCRATS, I get daily appeals for money from Hillary Clinton. I haven't gotten a single pitch from The Bern, whom I feel.

WHEN HIS CAMPAIGN complains that Sanders is being sabbed by the Democrat's national committee, I believe them and assumed Sanders would be sabbed by the Clintons every which way anyway.

BUT EVEN BY CLINTON standards of perfect pitch phoniness, Hillary's casting herself as an abuela to drag Latinos onto her One Percent express and changing her Twitter logo to a Kwanzaa graphic takes phony into a whole new dimension of bogus.

SO, THIS FRIEND of mine sez, "If you don't vote for Hillary over whoever the Republicans nominate I'll never talk to you again."

COMMENCE SILENCE, PLEASE. My life's path is strewn with lost friends. But I haughtily replied, and with positively aristocratic disdain, "I find it impossible to seriously consider Hil either intellectually or emotionally. If it's Hillary or death, give me death."

FRIEND, instantly breaking her vow of silence, comes back with, "I know you were one of those morons who voted for Nader over Gore to give us four more years of Bush. So you're going to help us get Trump?"

YES, I WAS one of those morons who voted for Ralphie, and I did it twice. And the difference between Trump and Hillary is that Trump will get us into full chaos mode faster than Hillary, but either one is a sure road to national collapse. And by the way, Gore and the Democrats lost to Bush. Nader didn't beat him.

LIB LOGIC amazes me. We're all supposed to vote for their repellent candidates because the other guy is worse. Not me. Drum roll… trumpets… I'm voting for truth!

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CAPITALISM, the gift that just keeps on giving. Tens of thousands of minimum-wage workers in California will be making an extra dollar an hour as of New Year's Day when California's minimum wage jumps from a munificent nine dollars to ten dollars an hour. Labor wants at least $15 an hour, considering rent, even in the dumps of South Ukiah, will run you $1500 a month, $4000 a month in San Francisco if you can find a place. An annual wage of $21,000 is one big reason a lot of people are sleeping in their cars or outside.

THE MILITANTS AT SEIU (and to think there were once real labor leaders in this country) are promoting separate ballot measures next November. One would raise the hourly wage to $15 by 2020 and mandate six paid days off for illness. The other would raise the wage by the same amount by 2021. In the mean time, starve. San Francisco and Los Angeles, two cities run by those great friends of the working person, have already passed $15 minimum hourly wages that go into effect in 2018 and 2020. The national minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Congressman Jared Huffman of San Rafael and Brad Sherman of Sherman Oaks have added their fearsome signatures to a Congressional letter to the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of the Treasury to see if certain of their constituents who get water conservation rebates have to pay taxes on the rebates. Right now the IRS considers water rebates taxable income but Huff and Puff say the IRS should reconsider the rebates as a reduction on the purchase price of a home improvement.

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A. CHOTEAU WRITES: "After the urchin roe is harvested, the leavings can be fermented with water added to create a highly effective gopher repellent. A local lady gardener made and sold this product during the urchin boom, and it was powerful stuff. Injected into gopher holes with a turkey baster, one could see exit tunnels the next day. Yes, the stench was horrendous, but only for a short time. A cottage industry for someone lacking olfactory sense?"

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TRUTH IN LABELING

http://theantimedia.org/california-politicians-could-soon-be-forced-to-wear-logos-of-top-corporate-donors/

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CATCH OF THE DAY, Dec 29, 2015

Blackwell, Choate, Dunsing, Fernandez-Rodriguez
Blackwell, Choate, Dunsing, Fernandez-Rodriguez

ERIN BLACKWELL, Ukiah. Paraphernalia, probation revocation. (Frequent flyer.)

ERNEST CHOATE, Ukiah. Under influence.

NICKOLAS DUNSING, Calpella. Petty theft.

TOMAS FERNANDEZ-RODRIGUEZ, Boonville/Ukiah. DUI, failure to appear.

Litzin, Malicay, Myers
Litzin, Malicay, Myers

KEVIN LITZIN, Ukiah. Drunk in public. (Frequent flyer.)

RACHEL MALICAY, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

DONNA MYERS, Ukiah. Suspended license.

Tobie, M.Zynda, W.Zynda
Tobie, M.Zynda, W.Zynda

FLORENTINO ‘TURK’ TOBIE, San Francisco/Ukiah. Petty theft.

MONICA ZYNDA, Willits. Domestic assault.

WILLIAM ZYNDA, Willits. Domestic assault.

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ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

It would take a lot to get people out of their comfort zones and make a stand. The majority of the population goes through life fat, dumb, and happy thinking that all food comes from the store, the lights will always go on, and the government is taking care of them and looking out for their best interests. I have tried to make a stand but as one, without any financial reserve to bolster me up, all that happens is I wind up in handcuffs again. I was on a Smart Meter panel and voiced my concerns that, while I had no problem with EMFs or the accuracy of the meters, I had a problem with PG&E's pricing where the hourly KW hour rates meant that in a 24 hour period the cost would be the same, but with the convoluted chart they had, everyone's monthly bill would go up. I was not asked to return for the next meeting and the next week I came home and found a tech installing a smart meter at my house. After physically stopping him and getting a visit from a manager and two deputies I was allowed to sit quietly (while cuffed) until the installation was done. Of course when I asked the tech how many others he installed in this area, I find that I have the only smart meter in a 4 mile radius. It's been three years and they still have a reader come by every month. We won't even go into the blatant 4th Amendment violations we are subject to while flying commercial. Suffice it to say my name is on a list there too.

Lee Johnson, Livermore

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RURAL SONOMA COUNTY PROPERTY OWNERS who haven’t filled out forms related to water use could be fined as much as $31,500 beginning in January. But grape growers are exempt.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/home/4962717-181/sonoma-county-landowners-could-be

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ON DECEMBER 24th at about 9:33 pm, UPD officers were dispatched to a residence in the 300 block of West Mill Street for a report of a burglary that had just occurred. Upon arrival the officer spoke with the victims, who reported that they had left their home around 6pm to attend a Christmas party. When they returned home around 9:30pm, they discovered that their house had been burglarized. The victims reported over $6,800 worth of property stolen from the residence, which included jewelry and a laptop computer. Through investigative leads the suspect in this case was identified as Justin Blake, age 34, of Ukiah. On December 25th at about 10:33am, officers were dispatched to the Sunrise Inn on a report that one of the victims in this case had located the suspect at this motel. Upon arrival officers were directed to room #118 where they contacted Tiffany Moody age 27 and Ryan Campbell age 34, both of Ukiah.

Blake, Moody, Campbell
Blake, Moody, Campbell

Officers learned that Blake had fled the motel out a back window just prior to their arrival. Inside the motel room officers found and collected numerous items of suspected stolen property. Officers were aware that the Ukiah Police Department has recently taken numerous theft or burglary reports, in which items including jewelry and electronics had been stolen. An officer immediately recognized some of the stolen property related to recent UPD burglaries. Illegal drug paraphernalia was also located, suspected illegal controlled substance, burglary tools, an ASP baton, tear gas, and items to manufacture a control substance. Moody was placed under arrest for possession of stolen property, possession of a baton, manufacturing a controlled substance, possession of an illegal controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of burglary tools, and possession of tear gas. Moody was booked into county jail on these charges with bail set at $150,000. UPD Officers were actively searching for Justin Blake, when at about 4pm a UPD officer saw Blake in the 600 block of South State Street. Blake fled from the officer on foot but did not get far, as responding officers had set up a perimeter and took him into custody. Blake was taken into custody for resisting arrest, possession of stolen property, manufacturing a controlled substance, possession of an illegal controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of burglary tools, and conspiracy. Blake was booked into county jail on these charges with bail set at $150,000. The case and collected property were turned over to the Ukiah Police Department Detective Division, who is in the processes of identifying the stolen property and returning it to victims. If anyone has information regarding these recent burglaries or questions, please contact the Ukiah Police Department Detective Division at 463-6262."

Ukiah Police Department press release

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GOVERNOR BROWN has signed three bills into law called the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act. It kicks in Friday. There will be a new state agency to regulate, suspend, and even take away licenses from dispensaries beginning in 2018. The law will also mean that the Medical Board of California can investigate doctors who do nothing but write pot prescriptions. The law also tightens the screws on marijuana farmers who pollute streams and rivers.

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HATCHERY SALMON COUNTS DON’T REFLECT HIGH OCEAN ABUNDANCE ESTIMATES

by Dan Bacher

National Marine Fisheries Service ocean abundance forecasts released in February, 2015 indicated there would be approximately 652,000 adult Sacramento River fall Chinook salmon and 423,800 adults from the Klamath River fall run in the ocean this year. That’s a total of 1,075,800 salmon.

Yet preliminary figures from Central Valley fish hatcheries reveal that the numbers of salmon that have returned to Sacramento River tributaries to date are below the large numbers projected by the federal government earlier this year.

The numbers of salmon that have been counted this fall dovetail with the spotty commercial and recreational fishing reported on the California coast this year.

In the coming two months, state and federal government fishery managers will be tallying up the data on spawning escapement in the Central Valley rivers and hatcheries to be used by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) when it crafts the 2016 ocean and river seasons.

The good news is that the numbers of jacks and jills (two year old fish) that the fishery managers largely base their abundance on are larger than those counted last year on the Sacramento, Feather, American and Mokelumne rivers.

The Coleman National Fish Hatchery reported that the amount of salmon counted in Battle Creek is less than half of last year’s numbers. “This year a total of 17,328 salmon were counted in the creek, whereas last year a total of 45,000 salmon were counted,” said Brett Galyean, the hatchery’s acting project manager.

Fortunately, the jack and jill count this year, 1802, is above that of last year’s numbers, 831 fish. The hatchery has trapped 14,498 total fish total this season. In addition, the hatchery has enough eggs to meet its annual smolt production goal.

The Feather River Fish Hatchery trapped approximately 16,349 adult salmon and 7,763 jacks and jills, a total of 24,112 fish this season. That compares to 24,893 adults and 6,620 jacks, a total of 31,513 fish, in 2014. That puts the run 7401 fish below last season.

The hatchery has taken enough eyed eggs, 11-1/2 million, to produce their goal of 8 million smolts, according to Anna Kastener, hatchery manager.

“The fish were really healthy, although they appeared to be smaller than normal. We saw a lot of jacks and jills this season,” she observed.

The Nimbus Fish Hatchery on the American River has also finished spawning salmon for the season.

The numbers of fall-run Chinook salmon, including jacks and jills (two-year—old fish) showing at Nimbus are above those trapped last year. The facility has trapped 9,716 salmon, including 7,326 adults and 2390 jacks and jills this season.

Last year hatchery staff counted a total of 8,343 salmon, including 7,048 adults and 1,295 jacks and jills.

The hatchery has taken 8 million eyed salmon eggs. “Overall, the numbers of salmon are typical of those we’ve seen here in recent years,” said Gary Novak, hatchery manager.

“The water at the hatchery was warm in the beginning, but the cold snap we got cooled the water down and brought up fresh fish from the Sacramento,” he said.

The Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery in Clements has trapped a total of 6,199 fall-run Chinook salmon, including 3,822 adults and 2377 jacks and jills, according to the latest available data. The numbers for last year to date weren’t available at press time. The Mokelumne is a tributary of the San Joaquin River.

“We got all of the eggs we need for our production goal this year,” said Eric Barrow, office technician at the hatchery. “We’ve taken a total of 6 million eggs so far — and fresh fish keep coming into the hatchery. It’s a late run this year.”

The number of salmon counted in the river over Woodbridge Dam in Lodi in 2015 is 10,857 fish. That compares to around 12,000 fish last year at the same time

Fishing groups, Indian Tribes, environmentalists and public trust advocates have criticized the Bureau of Reclamation and Department of Water Resources for mismanaging Trinity, Shasta, Oroville and Folsom reservoirs during the drought. Over the past three years, the federal and state water agencies have drained the reservoirs to record low levels to divert water to corporate agribusiness, Southern California water agencies and oil companies conducting fracking and other extreme oil extraction methods.

The result is that over 95 percent of the winter-run Chinook salmon juveniles have perished over the past two years in lethally warm water conditions.

Fish advocates point out that the spring and fall runs of salmon have also suffered greatly, due to mismanagement by the state and federal water agencies.

“The drought has severely impacted the wild salmon populations,” said Dick Pool, administrator of Water for Fish. “A successful fishing outlook for 2016 and 2017 and maybe even 2018 is very much in question. Lethal egg temperatures in the rivers and tributaries destroyed 95% of the incubating eggs in 2014 and likely did the same in 2015 when mismanagement of the Shasta Reservoir let the temperatures again go lethal.”

“In addition, millions of fall-run eggs were dewatered in the mainstem Sacramento River when the flows were dramatically dropped by the Bureau of Reclamation after the fish had spawned along the edges of the river. There is plenty of blame to go around for these problems and the lack of responses. We will pay the price in 2016, 2017 and 2018,” Pool noted.

I will update you on the abundance estimates for the upcoming ocean and river salmon seasons as soon as the data comes in – and the CDFW holds their annual salmon fishery Informational meeting in Santa Rosa.

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MARCO BY A KNOCKOUT

BC wrote:

Must you frame everything in that sense of "commercial" interests Marco? The philosophy and humanity in this piece was valuable to the list, but when you urinate on it it loses much of the value it contains - and consumes bandwidth and personal time that should be spent on the basic philosophy rather than the anti-commercial sentiment that you are imbuing it with. Take a break for the new year; it will renew you. ~BC

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I'm using up all the bandwidth? You asked for money for something you care about, so I asked for money for something I care about. And you asked for money in the discussion group, so I joined in the discussion.

Speaking of urine -- when I read Mercola, I thought of Ricola; that's why I mentioned hard candies. Cough drops are just candy, and sugar is sugar just like soap is soap. I realized I was mistaken, though, so I looked up Mercola and found a trove of critical information, beginning with this:

"Joseph M. Mercola is an alternative medicine proponent, osteopathic physician, and web entrepreneur, who markets a variety of controversial dietary supplements and questionable 'medical' devices through his website." It's kind of a commercial sentiment, right? Have you written to Dr. Mercola to bitch at him for being all commercial and wasting bandwidth? He's a multimillionaire as a result of the wasted bandwidth of societal credulity.

Have you read a Dr. Bronner's soap bottle label?

I want you to imagine a conversation between Doctors Bronner and Mercola. It would be a rap battle of heroic new-age nuttiness. Bronner is dead, though, so that's not happening. Too bad. I'd pay to see that.

Anyway, if those guys' pseudoscientific moonbat-suckering financial empires are the champions of your philosophy, and they are, apparently, to the tune of a big fat matching grant, then...

Wait a minute. Who cares? You're right. That's better.

Never mind.

Marco McClean

memo@mcn.org

http://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com

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“THE LUNCH BUNCH,” Ukiah Library’s new Cook Book Club on Friday, January 15th at Noon.

On Friday, January 15th, at noon, the Mendocino County Library, Ukiah Branch is hosting a planning meeting for The Lunch Bunch, a new cook book club.

During our first meeting, we’ll be discussing and choosing recipes from popular cookbooks, then preparing them for our next meeting in February. Join us in the Meeting Space in the Northeast corner of the library at noon to pick your recipe.

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CRAIG WILL NEED YOUR COOPERATION ON THE OTHER END

Warmest spiritual greetings, My newest exit date at Berkeley's Piedmont House travel hostel is Sunday January 3rd at noon. I am willing to get on an airplane and go once more in the direction of the New York City--Washington D.C. power strip, for the expressed purpose of going against the current of materialistic stupidity, while being philosophically fully opposed to the idiotic national political primaries, all the while responding eco-offensively to global ecological disintegration, and last but not least, waging spiritual warfare against the "WHY DON'T YOU GO FUCK YOURSELF?" general attitude coming from the New York City financial district and the Washington D.C. capitol hill region. I am asking you for cooperation, since I will need a place to go to upon arrival, wherever that is going to be on the east coast, and secondly, I am seeking longer term creative associations, to realize advanced spiritually-based street theater, including appropriate rituals, and anything else which has deeper roots and is effective, which we may ultimately introduce. Meanwhile, I am OMing on the outbreath constantly

Craig Louis Stehr

Email: CraigStehr@inbox.com

23 Comments

  1. LouisBedrock December 30, 2015

    Nor will I vote for a Clinton. I didn’t vote for her sleazy, rapist husband in 92 or 96; I won’t vote for Governor Clinton’s bag lady in 2016.

    I’ll vote for the most qualified candidate no one has heard of: Dr. Jill Stein.
    She won’t win, but at least I’ll be able to look at myself in the mirror without being ashamed of the face that looks back at me.

    • Craig Stehr December 30, 2015

      I plan to vote for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party.

  2. Rick Weddle December 30, 2015

    re: voting…

    For President of the U.S., I’m gonna write-in Etta James. Yes, she’s deceased. No, I don’t have to explain my choice.

  3. BB Grace December 30, 2015

    re: “voted for Nader twice”: THANK YOU!!

    I met Nader in 1992. Had been working with Jack Herer (and Chris Conrad when they were a “team”) on, Help End Marijuana Prohibition, H.E.M.P.. I asked Nader for his opinion on industrial hemp. Nader admitted he didn’t know what hemp was and to please educate him. I wound up working for Nader on three campaigns.

    Professional petition companies refused to handle Nader’s petition because of, “attacks on employees”. We used cardboard with jumbo rubber bands to hold the petitions in place and carry about a dozen of these banded carboards to dispurst in a crowd as quickly as possible. We always asked permission to petition where ever we went, and were often rejected from petitioning at Post Offices, Government buildings, libraries, public parks, knowing we had a right to petition at those places from past experience. No matter where we petitioned, within minutes the police would show up and ask us to leave telling us that people had called and filed complaints. Managers who had given us permission would come out to the parking lot and tell us they were sorry but customers were complaining and we needed to leave, including typical petitioning spots, like Trader Joes.

    What was the difference between parties to a Nader petitioner? Nader petitioners were from many third parites. We debated issues and still worked together. To me, Nader voters will always be the people who get along with many kinds of people. Maybe the greatest reward is the experience to work with people who have opposite political ideas, but come together over the one thing we all had in common, nno voice and no choice on the ballot.

    Republicans: I will always see them ROTFLTAS, because that’s what they did when they saw us. The majority had no interest in signing a petition with NADER on it, “spoiler” or not. Seeing us out there made them feel very secure there was no chance in hell Nader would be anywhere near the debates.

    Democrats. There are many Democrats named “Mickey Mouse”, “Fuck Bush”, and “FUCK you” according to the names on the petitions that they didn’t “accidently” tear, rip in half, strike names off, or spit on. There was plenty of vandalising Nader petitioners cars and property, fist fights, black eyes, broken arms as Nader petitoners fought to collect names. The dirty tricks applied differently from state to state, but CA Democratic Party was definately working to stop us by all means. I received a call from a detective in Los Angeles, where Nader and Camejo had recently rallied. This detective tells me that a nameless person filed a complaint against me for assult. I had no idea what the detective was talking about and was dumbfounded, how? who? what? I did what? The detective threatened me that it’s up to the L. A. DA whether to press charges against me. It was harrassment. It just proved how deeply corrupt Democrats were.

    So THANK YOU for voting for Nader twice because it was a lot of blood, sweat, tears, broken bones, noses, black eyes, jail time, false charges that got Nader’s name on the ballot despite the Democrats and their fearmongering LIE calling Nader a “spoiler”. Calling Nader a spolier is truely being a moron.

    • Mike December 30, 2015

      Don’t forget the history of the DNC using the courts to stifle Nader ballot access. That’s just as creepy.

      The AVA would be served by having someone step up as a Hillary advocate in these comments thread. To many reverberating echoes bouncing off the wall here.

      (Like in days of old, now, the sound “OBUMMER” used to bounce off the walls here. That sound is gone, I’ve noticed. Probably because he aint no bummer. In reality. Backstage and all.)

      • BB Grace December 30, 2015

        Oregon! Boy was that some shenannigans.

        I will never forget.

        As for Hillary, I was informed by the Press Democrat last election that they refused to publish my letters because, “This is Hillary Country”. Just more of the same Party of Jim Crow.

        • Mike December 30, 2015

          Wild……BB, this really bad winter fog phenom in the Sonoma Co valleys is likely what has made that region “Hillary Country”, LOL.

          We wouldn’t have this problem if the “suggestion” I made to Catherine Cortez-Masto at a picnic in 2010 came to pass:

          Me: “Would you please run for the Senate against Heller in 2012 so you’re ready for the next thing in ’16?”

          Attorney General Cortez-Masto: “What’s that?!?!”

          Me: “The Presidency”

          The NV AG: “Oh….”

          There’s an interesting crop of House and Senate candidates out there!

        • BB Grace December 30, 2015

          Advocating for Hillary is all about being invited to the “right” parties. My pet name for them is “Willy’s Winkers”, for they communicate to each other that they’re “in”:

      • Bruce Anderson December 30, 2015

        The Democratic Party apparatus of Mendocino County does not do debate. They hog the airwaves at election time in one guise or another on public radio where dissenting opinions, i.e., support for Jill Stein or other third party candidates, are shut out. This is at KZYX, which bills itself falsely as free speech public radio. Don’t know about KMUD but friends tell me it has also developed constipation problems. Third party people and dissent generally still gets a hearing at KPFA, and here in print Mendo the Ukiah Daily Journal is open to dissenting opinion. For all the prattle you hear around here about how progressive Mendo is, it isn’t, as the daily functioning of our public institutions proves.

  4. Mike December 30, 2015

    Re: Craig’s specific plans. Crafting rituals and pujas is a great idea to accompany the street theater. May I suggest crafting a book or booklet for that, as well as skits, songs, and dances to be put out there for wandering street performers (and also for “performers” in sheltered venues).

    While I can agree there is some entertainment value in The Donald, he’s a star in a show called Breaking Bad. The politicians will be ineffectual in confronting his type of energy. To counter this really really big breaking bad trend, we need some of that old time yippie religion.

    • Mike December 30, 2015

      If you (Craig) decide to work on such a book, the things Allen Ginsberg would do in the way of rituals, like the levitation attempt of the Pentagon, may be helpful.

  5. Mike December 30, 2015

    Re: Bruce’s loss of a friend.

    This is California. It’s electoral votes will go to HRC. No question. So….why does anybody actually care who votes for who?!!!???

    I don’t understand why people are tripping so much on political “identity”. Politics and politicians are theater and actors. This is all a show. All of it. Everybody is on stage.

    Backstage, no one buys the casting….or the storyline.

    • Harvey Reading December 30, 2015

      No question? Seems to me the CA electoral vote in ’80 and ’84 went to a scumball named Reagan, and those same fine folks voted him in as guvner in ’66 and ’70. California liberal? Ha. I was born there, lived there 52 years, and know better. The Central Valley, the state north of Sacramento, the foothills, and much of SoCal are more right-wing than WY.

      I agree that the election is a show, something to make us feel we actually live in a democracy. But then, it has been that way from the beginning. We have always had a “choice” between two scumballs who have been vetted by the wealthy rulers, as was the intent when the wealthy rulers ginned up the Constitution, which had ONE purpose: to ensure that the wealthy remained in control in the absence of the English monarch.

  6. Jim Updegraff December 30, 2015

    If you are going to vote for Dr. Jill Stein and are serious about her then get off your butt and start ringing doorbells, making phone calls and writing a good size check. If you are not willing to campaign for her or write a sizable check then why are you voting for her?

    • Mike December 30, 2015

      Everybody on record here saying they will be voting for her have ALL stated she won’t even come close to winning. (Apparently in any parallel reality Earth too.) Why are you suggesting that people waste their time and money in building up a candidate and a party that will find no appeal beyond a very small percent of the voting public? A more viable approach right now would be to give that door knocking energy and $$$$$ energy to Bernie! AND, following Bernie’s endorsement of HRC in the spring sometime, focus on House and Senate races.

      There’s some serious tilling work to be done with the proverbial white blue collar male voter, adrift now in a world where the “labor market” has less and less use for the skills he brought to the table in the past. Right now, they are listening to the bad angel. Like they did in 68 after Bobby died, they started listening to George Wallace.

      Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren know what needs to be done here. Both of them have already started this tilling work. They are both also starting to go for the evangelicals also. There are some surprises to be had for the “politicos” out there (of all stripes, including the most righteous missionaries of the far left and right). I think the parties are both going to collapse and we will be moving towards an open primary approach. Not only do we have to neutralize the impact of Big Money on politics and governing, we have to untie and take off those straight jackets, the political parties.

      Once those, who are now very upset by the spread of gay marriages, legal cannabis, and the other rapid cultural changes, start relaxing about their reshaping culture and refocus on the bread and butter stuff, the tilling to be done by Sanders, Warren, and other characters will begin to bear fruit.

      I do understand that most of you will turn on Bernie soon, When he endorses HRC. But, don’t lose your fire for this. I think I know what Sanders will do next: till the soil in many red southern Congressional districts. Both he and Warren get good crowds in the south!!

  7. Jim Updegraff December 30, 2015

    Interesting fact: There are 900 Muslims in the New York City Police Department. Doesn’t Donny boy realize some of his police protection may be muslims.

  8. Harvey Reading December 30, 2015

    Re: LIKE ALL REGISTERED DEMOCRATS, I get daily appeals for money from Hillary Clinton.

    Not me. I gave the SOBs a piece of my mind by phone and the calls stopped. The mailings stopped long ago. I wouldn’t give two cents for the whole bunch of those lying, wealth-serving scum. They’re nothing but a bunch of soft-spoken rethugs.

  9. Jim Updegraff December 30, 2015

    Sometime ago I got an appeal letter from Sanders and sent him money. Don’t understand why others have not received an appeal letter.Are you sure you are not a registered Republican?

    • Harvey Reading December 30, 2015

      If you’re asking me, then, yes, I’m a registered democrap. But I let the party leaders know years ago that I consider them to be nothing more than rethuglican lite and have never given them a dime. My contributions over the years have been to third-party candidates only.

      I got one call this year from a ‘crap soliciting money and let him know just what I thought of the con artist, Obama, Hillary, Sanders, and the rest of the scum who dare to call themselves Democrats. As you might guess, the “party” hasn’t called again.

      My parents, New-Deal Democrats, would be turning over in their graves at what their beloved party has become, or what is has returned to … next thing you know, it’ll be calling for reinstatement of the Jim Crow laws.

      So, love that phony, Sanders, to pieces. I despise him and the rest of the pretenders who dare to call themselves “democrats”.

  10. Jim Updegraff December 30, 2015

    About the only places where direct democracy is actually practiced is a couple of small cantons in Switzerland.

  11. Jim Updegraff December 30, 2015

    Tristan da Cunha Island with a population of 245 had direct democracy but it wasn’t working so the went to a island council for decision making.

  12. Rick Weddle December 30, 2015

    Direct Democracy would seem to be the prescription for a lot of what is ailing ‘our’ politics. After all, the present arrangement of ‘re-presentatives’ as middlemen for expressing the public will is past obsolete. It’s so thoroughly corrupt as to be dead on the vine, and further, for all their voicing of democratic principles, they’re working for almost anyone EXCEPT their lawful charges…US.

    There’s some deep differences on how to proceed, but there’s almost universal recognition of an urgent need for deep and lasting change right now. Maybe the U.S., all overfed and complacent, deserves the likes of a Trump; the rest of our world definitely does not.

    Once again, this country is in political kindling up past where it says ‘shoulder blades.’

  13. Jim Updegraff December 30, 2015

    instead of a lot of whining I suggested getting out and working for the Green Party There have been a couple of successes in CA and it could happen again in Mendo County Get a good candidate say for one of the elected offices and get out and ring the doorbells.

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