Bruce Bratton hosts University Grapevine, linking local and campus issues, every Tuesday 7:30-8:30 p.m. on KZSC 88.1 fm.
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WHOLE FOODS MORE & MORE LIKE WAL MART. Read the entire article from AlterNet by Rob Smart http://www.alternet.org/story/142229 . In it he says, "When you consider Whole Foods in this light, you see yet another national, multi-billion dollar corporate giant entering regional markets, amassing market share through lower prices (leveraging economies of scale from its large-scale distribution partner, United Naturals Food Inc.), chronically injuring or killing off local and regional businesses, and exporting massive financial value out of each region. Do they care that regional farmers and food processors are stuck having to find new channels to market or entirely new markets? Difficult to say, but smaller suppliers don't work well within Whole Foods' centralized distribution system, which clearly favors large-scale sustainable food suppliers, many of which are now owned by the world's largest food processors, e.g., Stonyfield Yogurt, Kashi, Muir Glen (more).
The unfortunate part of all this is that most people associate Whole Foods with organic and sustainable food, which is deserved for the good work the company has done over the years, but less so when you consider the overall sustainability of the large-scale, nationally-controlled food system that Whole Foods is now part of. In my book, Whole Foods is only slightly better than Wal-Mart or Krogers, respectively the first and second largest supermarkets in America, which is what the debate should really be focused on".
GROCERY STORE DEBATE. (forum) Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Savemarts, Nob Hills, huge Safeways, Raleys, national and international chains ("food casinos")- learn how the David vs. Goliath legend plays out in Santa Cruz as local groceries function in the shadow of mega-chains. What are the effects of big box stores holding a portion of space for products which local growers and bakers provide? Join us Tuesday September 15th at 7 p.m. at the Quaker Meeting House, 225 Rooney St. (at the end of Morrissey) to hear representatives of local grocers (Staff of Life, New Leaf, Food Bin ) discuss how they are standing firm in the face of corporate food giants - and how we can support those local businesses which are supporting our community. With New Leaf's six stores where do they fit? Whole Foods just had one in Austin when they began. This forum is being presented by the Santa Cruz Chapter of WILPF the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.
SHOCKING CHART. One of the links above takes you to this amazing chart showing the commercial and producing connections of what we might consider healthy food to the worlds biggest processors. Take for example, Hain Celestial, WestSoy, Cascadian Farm, Alexia Foods, Dagoba, Boca Foods....who can we trust???...
COUNTY FOOD INSPECTIONS. It's amazing that with more than 46 pages of food handling inspections there aren't very many of our favorite places that got even little dings. Places like the Buttery, Carpos, Chocolate, El Paisano, Fuji Buffet, Gabriella's, Hoffman's' and Kelly's just got minor zingers like hand washing warnings...and most of them have been taken care of. Check them all out - it's better reading than those restaurant lists when you're trying to figure where to eat.
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EVERY DAY I HAVE THE BLUES
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WOMAN RUNNING FOR JUDGE TOO. Many folks sent in news that Rebecca Connolly is running for judge too. Check out her website http://www.rebeccaforjudge.org
Very odd endorsement group...Marilyn Liddicoat, Barbara Sprenger, Tim Morgan, Gayle Ortiz, Sue Raney, Paul Elerick, Chris Finnie, Stephanie Harlan, Karen Hibble, Sister Julie Hyer, Pat Liberty, Emily Maloney, Anthony Calciano, Lorette Wood, and she's worked for the Grunsky Law firm for many years. We'll find out more later.
JEFF TOWLE DIED LAST SUNDAY. Jeff Towle was a minister, a genuine Shakespeare enthusiast, gentle, empathetic, good singer, and he had a massive heart attack after being treated for a hernia the week before. Jeff along with Don Young led our Shakespeare Study Gang in Aptos for the last eight or more years. "The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes". " Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow". There will be a service next Saturday (September 5) at 2p.m. at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church 2402 Cabrillo College Drive, Aptos 95073.
PATTONS PROGRAM. Gary talks about ground water and future planning. The devilish details behind the incorporation of Carmel Valley are laid out. He explains the Simitian Bill SB211 and why it's being held back a year. Then there's the Monterey Coastkeeper which we should know about and Gary wonders why this attorney attacks Mark Stone's new job on the Coastal Commission. Nope, Gary doesn't mention the Arana Gulch decision. (Gary Patton is "Of Counsel" to the Santa Cruz law firm of Wittwer & Parkin, which specializes in land use and environmental law. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton's.)
Community TV comes through again. Earlier in August, the Campaign for Sensible Transportation and other like-minded groups sponsored a Town Hall meeting on the subject of Public Transit, with Assemblyman Bill Monning being invited as keynote speaker. A lively Q & A session wrapped up the Forum, with the audience asking for ways to keep our Metro bus system afloat following the Governor's slashing of ALL Public Transit capital funds for the next five years, throughout the state. For those that missed it, Community TV is rebroadcasting the 1 hour 23 minute Forum on Channel 25 and Charter Channel 71.
9/2/2009 at 10:00 AM
9/2/2009 at 9:00 PM
9/3/2009 at 7:30 PM
9/4/2009 at 4:30 PM
9/6/2009 at 11:30 AM
Sam Farr comes through again too! The ability for our Congressman Sam Farr (and other Dem leaders) to host Town Hall meetings on the subject of Health Care Reform is remarkable. There are actually people who attend these meetings who want to learn more about health care, but it seems like there are too many whackos that show up to slam the speakers and blast the Obama health care reform plan. Case in point is where some man drove all the way to Santa Cruz from Daly City to rail at our Congressman and health care reform. The verbal abuse gets pretty old, after watching the same on the network TV news shows. Could be this is a strategy by the Obama team to let the nation see how stupid the opponents of health care reform really are? Personally, I think it's time for the Democrats to push ahead, end the Town Hall meetings on the subject and pass it. They need only to convince the few foot-dragging Electeds in their own party to join them.
Meanwhile, Congressman Farr and others should get a huge thank-you from their constituents for carrying the flag for health care reform. They have earned it!" ( Paul Elerick is an Aptos resident, active in mid-county political issues, member of Nisene 2 Sea, Seacliff Improvement Association, Aptos Neighbors Association, and the countywide Campaign for Sensible Transportation).
Honduran crisis: freedom of the press to LIE? by Yaineris Martinez
Again the Washington Post said it! I can't believe it. "...some Republicans in the U.S. Congress, who note that ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya was removed after the Honduran Supreme Court ruled that
Zelaya had broken the law by organizing a referendum that could
have allowed him to evade the one-term presidential limit[i]."
That is a bold-faced lie... and the free press just keeps saying it and saying as if it will magically become the truth. Although the facts are easily available[ii] and the rest of the Americas, the United Nations and the world GET IT, the main stream US media still keeps getting it WRONG. Let's look at some facts.
- Zelaya wanted to hold a binding referendum to call a Constituent Assembly to rewrite the constitution—as several other countries in Latin America have recently done and like President Arias of Costa Rica has just proposed to do last week.
- The Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional to write a new constitution and thereby the referendum would be unconstitutional as well.
- SO, Zelaya said, Ok. Instead let's hold a NON-BINDING poll just to take the pulse of the nation. Let's see what the people think about constitutional reform.
- The polling question was: "Do you think that the November 2009 general elections should include a fourth ballot box in order to make a decision about the creation of a National Constitutional Assembly that would approve a new Constitution?" Response choices were "yes" or "no".
- Notice that the question mentions NOTHING about presidential terms limits.
- The current Honduran constitution allows a person to be president ONE time in his/her life.
- Zelaya's 4-term ends January 2010.
Ok so, what would have happened IF the poll would have taken place? If it got little or moderate support, the initiative would have probably died instantly. But what IF it would have received overwhelming support? Well, a popular movement might have formed calling for the fourth ballot, but undoubtedly the question would not have been added. In the short run, the court, the congress and the media could have seen to that. However, the presidential candidates running to take Zelaya's place in the November elections would have had to take into account the public's interested in revamping their constitution.
Let's be clear: Zelaya could not be one of those upcoming candidates, regardless of whether the fourth ballot was added or not.
So, why would Micheletti and gang resort to a coup against a man on his way out and his little poll?
Well, IF the poll got really overwhelming support, it might occur to the next presidential candidates, as well as other elected officials, to take up the idea of challenging the Supreme Court once they are in office as part of their platform.
Maybe the candidate who picked up the torch would win. Maybe governors and Assembly members would win on that platform as well. Maybe that would lead to a strong popular movement.
So then, what if an Assembly was called and a new constitution was written? Your guess is as good as anyone's because that would be many years into the future and we have no idea what would be on the minds of those who got elected on the reform platform or those who would subsequently comprise the Assembly.
But one thing that MIGHT have happened—MAYBE term limits could have ended up on the table. And what if the term limit rules were changed at that point—at least 4 years in the future, but probably further out? The military and the ruling families would lose their absolute control over the country –oh, and theoretically Zelaya could run for president again.
You see, when a president only has 4 years in office, he/she comes in as a lame duck and is accountable to no one. Powerless with no incentive to represent the people who elected him/her—basically a figure head who has 4 years to make as much money for himself and his friends as possible, while the Generals, who have no term limits, and the handful of elite families who have for decades owned the media, land, means of production and many seats in government, go on running the county to their benefit.
One would think that such powerful people would not be so cowardly. Perhaps they are feeling a rumbling beneath their feet. Is Bolivar awakening in Honduras too?
Why do the US media continue to promote Micheletti's fairy-tale version of this story? Is it just a matter of laziness and incompetence or is there something more insidious going on. Based on the way the media is covering healthcare reform, it is hard to not guess the latter. But, hey, who cares? Freedom of the press to lie is guaranteed by the US constitution. Hmmmmmm.... constituent assembly anyone?
[1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/27/AR2009082704483.html?hpid=moreheadlines
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Honduran_constitutional_crisis
KSBW DOES KISSY POO WITH DAVE POTTER. Pat Matecjek sent this KSBW editorial saying that Dave Potter got a raw deal when he was ousted from the Coastal Commission...and was replaced by Supervisor Mark Stone. Read it and snicker and then decide how far apart KSBW is from the Sentinel's editorial policy is and they call it a liberal press!!!! http://www.ksbw.com/asseenon/20606359/detail.html
Labor Unions to Host Labor Day Picnic on Monday. The Monterey Bay Central Labor Council will once again be hosting its annual Labor Day Picnic on Monday, September 7 at DeLaveaga Park in Santa Cruz. It is the place to be for all local elected officials and potential candidates for public office. The Labor Council is the coalition of nearly 60 labor unions throughout the Monterey Bay area. There is always good food and plenty of political speeches regarding issues of concern for union members. Tickets are $12.50, $9 for retirees, and $7 for children 6-11 and the event runs between 12-3:30pm. For more info, see: http://www.montereybaylabor.org/Picnic.html.
Assemblywoman Anna Caballero Co-Authors $11.7 State Water Bond. 28th District Assembly member Anna Caballero (D-Salinas) is leading the effort to craft a potential $11.7 water bond that will include at least $3 billion for water storage. It will also include billions more for repairs to the collapsing Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, a major peripheral canal, new dams, levees, and water conservation efforts. The proposal is not yet in the form of a bill, but it is sure to cause serious debate these next few weeks. The state's current financial crisis is also sure to make this effort even more challenging. For more info, see the story in the Capitol Weekly.
If the total costs of automobiles, externalities as well as direct costs are included, the cost of a gallon of gas should be about 4 times what it is. And that is without efficient cars. A generally unconsidered problem with hybrids is that many of the externalities, highways and their maintenance, hospital costs etc., are unfairly cheap for hybrids because the cars use much less fuel and hence pay less fuel tax. We are hoisted on yet another petard.
Trains and busses are indeed efficient. But they are efficient only when they are substantially full. She didn't say it, but a major cost advantage of Pod cars or Personal Rapid Transit is that the service is based on demand---cars or pods do not operate unless there is demand, and then they only go to where passengers are and where they want to go.
Bus Rapid Transit is fine, but it is only fine where there are dedicated bus lanes. Where in Santa Cruz can they be accommodated without causing extreme congestion on adjoining lanes or streets? Would dedication of some street lanes for busses only or for bicycles reduce carbon emissions? Maybe not, if diverted traffic causes more congestion and hence more emissions per mile on other streets.
So what's the solution? Ms Deakin says walking and cycling are the keys, but must end at some kind of public transportation. New technologies, she says, must blur the distinction between cars and public transport. And they must adapt to such things as ageing populations, the relationship between transport and density as well as other imponderables that currently dog us. Hybrids, alternate fuels or no, we are approaching the death of the car or the death of the cities. .(Reed Searle is a retired attorney, active in Santa Cruz Residents for Responsible Planning (SCRP), the Community Water Coalition (CWC), The Tidelands Alliance, and he is a member of CCSTTF. (Cynthia's Citizens Silly Tax Task Farce), and he's a longtime community watchdog).
WATERS WEIGHS IN. Christina claims she'll be chatting up the gorgeous Eduardo Carrillo show at MAH, plus unpeeling a few choice dry-farmed tomatoes and more on Wagner in Seattle. All at http://christinawaters.com
TARANTINO on FRESH AIR INTERVIEW. To hear Quentin Tarantino describe his directing secrets for Inglourious Basterds with Terry Gross for 45 minutes is an amazing experience. Aside from saying I. Basterds is a fairy tale using Spaghetti western techniques to poke fun at WWII films is ingenious. Hear it, then see Inglorious Basterds again. I did, and loved it even more.
EAGAN'S DEEP COVER. Check out Tim's sage advice on the dangers of early neighborhood warming...scroll down to the end of this week's and every week's column.
LANDAU'S PROGRES. Saul Landau writes about Moby Dick, China, and Typhoons. Read it here
Saul Landau is an Institute for Policy Studies fellow whose films are on DVD from Saul Landau is an Institute for Policy Studies fellow whose films are on DVD from roundworldproductions@gmail.com
Short Cuts & Helpful Hints.
There are several "keyboard shortcuts", as they are known, that will be very handy to get to know and use. First... remember that before you can perform any action on text it must first be selected. One way to select text is to place the cursor at the beginning of your text, hold the SHIFT key down and move the cursor to the end of your selection. The text will be highlighted indicating it is selected.
The Ctrl (Control) key is located at the lower left of the keyboard. In order to use "Copy, Cut & Paste" with keyboard shortcuts use the Ctrl key plus a letter as shown below. Windows program key combinations
• CTRL+C: Copy
• CTRL+X: Cut
• CTRL+V: Paste
• CTRL+Z: Undo
• CTRL+B: Bold
• CTRL+U: Underline
• CTRL+I: Italic
• CTRL+A: Select ALL
The Undo has saved me many times: CTRL + Z
Here is a link to several more commands from Microsoft. They are really handy to learn and will speed up your navigation on the computer. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/126449 Another good way to select/highlight different objects on your desktop is to hold the CTRL key while you click on your desktop item (one time) or click, hold and drag the mouse across the item. To select additional items continue holding the CTRL key, release the mouse key and select some more items by clicking the mouse key again. This way you can select several items on the desktop that are NOT next to each other and perform your next action. Such as Drag the items into a folder, or delete them. This can be done in a text document as well, where you may want to select several lines of text either by clicking and dragging the mouse to highlight the text, or hold the CTRL key and select discontinuous text items. After they are selected you can perform the keyboard short cut to BOLD or underline or make your text Italic. It is also possible to hold the mouse key down and drag across items to select them. This is a really fast method once you get the hang of it. I hope this is not confusing. Please feel free to write me at computer_casey@yahoo.com
EXTRACT. A miserable film about a guy who runs an extract factory ( like vanilla extract), and everybody in this mess is incapable of making an intelligent decision. So if you like laughing at some real misfits go see it...but go warned.
FINAL DESTINATION IN 3D. I went to Watsonville's Green valley Cinema to see this in 3D. The 3D is as good as it gets but the movie is terrible. Clichés stack up rapidly, no discernible acting, amateur photography...a waste.
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BIG MOMMA THORNTON
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UNIVERSITY GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:30-8:30 p.m. I host University Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer at WWW.KZSC.ORG. This Tuesday September 1st Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld from the Capitola Book Café will tell us what's new in the book business and attorney Patrick Reilly will reveal the secrets behind Intellectual Properties and the legal side of the internet world. Later on like September 29th activist Frank Bardacke will discuss problems centering on The Watsonville Adult School. On September 15th Jane Lazzereschi and Tom Eklof from the TM organization will tell us about what's happening with them. On October 6th Assemblyman Bill Monning will be my guest and later Congressman Sam Farr will reveal what's new in the State and Nation's Capitol. Later we'll talk to Supervisor Mark Stone about County Politics and probably swimming.
QUOTES. "The difference between divorce and legal separation is that a legal separation gives a husband time to hide his money", Johnny Carson. "We sleep in separate rooms, we have dinner apart , we take separate vacations. We're doing everything we can to keep our marriage together", Rodney Dangerfield. "I like only two kinds of men---foreign and domestic", Mae West. "After we made love he took a piece of chalk and made an outline of my body", Joan Rivers.
Deep Cover
Bruce critiques films every Friday on KZSC-FM (88.1) on The Bushwhacker Breakfast Club at 8am.
It's free! Click here.
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