Greensite… on the Wharf Reopening… Steinbruner… Sewage sludge, desal, or brackish water conversion… Hayes… What’s in the air… Patton… A Force For World Peace… Matlock… certification…banana republicanism…hilarity…gravitas… Eagan… Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover… Webmistress serves you… Pseudoscience Support… Quotes on… “Wildfires”
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Dateline: January 8, 2025
SOCAL BURNING. Los Angeles is in flames, and there will not be any containment until the winds die down. There are five fires, and entire neighborhoods have been obliterated. “Only” five deaths have been reported so far, but obviously that number could go up. Evacuation orders are in place for thousands of people, and the chaos is just unimaginable. My heart goes out to all the people – and wildlife – affected by these fires. If you feel moved to help, the American Red Cross is the organization that Jamie Lee Curtis recommends. She was just on the Tonight Show where she mentioned this as she was talking about her neighborhood burning.
As for us here in Santa Cruz County… if you have a house, do you have a defensible perimeter around it? Have you cut back trees, trimmed bushes, made sure your house isn’t surrounded by piles of burnable materials? If the answer is no, then you might want to think about that. That, and packing a bug-out bag to have on hand. It can happen so quickly.
MOVIE REVIEWERS. Please join me in welcoming our intrepid trio of movie reviewers: Hillary Bratton, Jennifer Bratton, and Jeffery (Sarge) Sargent! It seems fitting to me that we need three people to attempt to fill Bruce’s shoes, and I absolutely love that both his daughters have graciously agreed to take part. The first reviews are coming right up!
SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE. PrimeTV. (6.9 IMDb) 
A quietly ponderous Christmas tale set in a small town in Ireland in 1985 (swear to god it feels more like the 1940s…). Cillian Murphy plays a loving father and quietly likable coal delivery man, who comes into conflict with the steely “kind” Mother Superior (Emily Watson) of the local school and “Magdelene Laundry” for fallen girls. A bit of a slow walk, and as heartening as it could be, given the Laundries wouldn’t be eliminated till the mid 1990s. Excellent performances all around, particularlly given how little dialogue there was. ~Sarge
EMILIA PÉREZ. Netflix. (6.8 IMDb) 
A musical for those who don’t like musicals. Emilia Pérez is a spectacular film with a compelling story. A ruthless drug cartel leader, Juan “Manitas” Del Monte (played by Karla Sofía Gascón), seeks the help of attorney Rita Mora Castro (played by Zoe Saldaña, who just won a golden globe) to undergo gender affirmation surgery and begin a new life as Emilia Pérez. However, things go awry when she invites her unsuspecting former wife Jessi (played by Selena Gomez) and her children to live with her. The musical numbers are strong and short. ~Jennifer
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN. In theaters. (7.8 IMDb) 
I don’t know what I can say about this movie that you haven’t heard from your friends or read about in social media or reviews. It’s one of best movies I’ve seen in a long, long time – and I’m not a fan of biopics, especially musical biopics, but this one is so well done! Although the director, James Mangold, did ‘Walk the Line’, the Johnny Cash movie with Joaquin Phoenix, and that was great too. Timothée Chalamet captures our vision of a young Dylan to a T. He’s an incredibly soulful actor, and Ed Norton as Pete Seeger is uncanny. They edited the songs down from their original versions, but they did in such a way that they never feel like they’re being yanked out from under you; it just makes you want to go and listen to the originals. My 25 year old son loved it too. Run, don’t walk, and believe all the hype because it’s true. ~Hillary
BABYGIRL. In theaters. (6.6 IMDb) 
“Babygirl” aka “Nicole’s mid-to-late life crisis” feels false in so many ways, including, if not especially, the sound of her orgasms. A lot of reviews have focused on the exchange of power, particularly female empowerment because the traditional male-female age gap is turned on its head. I found the deeper message to be that no matter how successful a woman becomes, what she truly craves is to be objectified and bossed around by a man. Have 50 years of feminism and a powerful #metoo movement taken us nowhere? Kink part aside, her young buck gets abusive in other ways and she’s just there ready to forgive and forget and go another round. In real life she would have ended up alone with nothing in a studio apartment going to Sex Addicts Anonymous meetings. Besides being distracted by facial tweaks and procedures, I couldn’t help wondering what compelled Nicole to do this movie in the first place other than to show off her toned 57 year-old body while she can. Which begs the old adage, just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. ~Hillary
THE LAST NIGHT AT TREMORE BEACH. Netflix series. (7.0 IMDB). An extra dramatic and moody plus scary drama about a composer/ pianist. It centers on his composing plus memories of his deceased wife. It’s all in Ireland at a beach house/cabin. It deals with fate, his predictions coming true. You’ll be mesmerized, don’t miss it.
BLITZ. Apple movie. (6.4 IMDB). This is much more of a saga of a young half black boy and what he has to deal with after he and his mom are separated. Apple pushes the Blitzkrieg attack on London by Hitler at the start of World War II. The prejudice, bigotry, and inhumanity are much more the main thrusts of the plot.
LA MAISON. Apple series. 
(6.0IMDB). All about two of the top French fashion houses and their internal and external pressures to be number one in the world of fashion. It’s foolish, pointless, not funny, nor meaningful…do not watch, no matter what or who says so.
THE SECRET OF THE RIVER. Netflix series. (8.2 IMDB). Frida Cruz and Mario Guzman are two Oaxaca born boys who accidentally watch the accidental death by drowning of a neighbor. As they become older they grow closer and try to determine whether or not they are gay. 20 years later they reunite and deal with the ongoing issues. Definitely worth watching.
MARTHA. Netflix movie (7.2 IMDB). This is an amazing, even shocking. interestingly created documentary centering on the world’s most successful businesswoman Martha Stewart. Marrying into wealth, she parlayed her love and her acumen into becoming one of the most influential world citizens. Open, honest, even charming, she made one or two stock investment mistakes. Her failure, plus prison time, involves Justin Bieber and it’s hard to believe, but you will when you watch this portrait. Inspirational.
Monday January 6, 2025
The reopening of the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf on Saturday January 4th was good news for all, especially the workers. The sea lions’ barking competed with the dignitaries’ speeches which were short and positive in tone. There was no finger-pointing or scapegoating from those who spoke. That would come later.
Santa Cruz City Council member Scott Newsome, whose district includes the Wharf, spoke of “the character of a community that is revealed in times of crisis.”
He was referring to the positives. I’m experiencing the negatives. Both are part of the character of the community. The negatives are whipped up by scapegoating and social media. I was disappointed to see the Sentinel give a mouthpiece following the ceremony to Council member Renee Golder to further the finger pointing. Her statement in Sunday’s Sentinel that “the unfortunate impact of the litigation we were in was that it stopped some of the funding and some of the construction from happening that absolutely needed to happen” is just plain false. The lawsuit did not stop any funding. Maybe the city decided to not apply for funding to replace the pilings at the Wharf end but that is a different matter. Nor did the lawsuit stop “construction that needed to happen.” The only construction at the end of the Wharf that needed to happen was the replacement of the damaged pilings identified in 2014. For some members of the community, these false accusations are as a red flag to a bull. They get stirred up and aggressive.
Social media is a platform for anyone who has a strong opinion based on limited, skewed or no facts. Their postings come with sarcasm, nastiness and sometimes threats. Don’t Morph the Wharf! is getting many hurled our way.
Perhaps the lowest was from someone who is impersonating the group, and particularly me, on X. He’s posted some nasty stuff, looking like it is coming from me. People re-post it, and it takes on a life of its own, amplified. Social media make dead fish seem almost quaint.
On the topic of misinformation, many people saw the CBS News Bay Area interview with the retired Wharf Supervisor who opined that the collapse of the end of the Wharf would never have happened had they been able to proceed with a 2013 Plan to strengthen the shear of the Wharf with an eastern and western walkway. He said they had a Plan plus funding ready to go in 2013 but were stopped by a CEQA lawsuit. No mention of the damaged pilings at the end of the Wharf. Nor that those walkways are a long way from the Wharf end.
Where to begin? First, there was no Plan in 2013. The Wharf Master Plan wasn’t on paper until 2014. Then, even with no lawsuit, any large project must go through proper environmental review and public hearings which can take years. It was six years before the Plan finally made it to City Council in 2020 prior to any legal challenge. There was no funding associated with the Plan.
Besides hyperbole, there’s factual inaccuracies. I met with the retired Wharf Supervisor early on, probably around 2016, bringing to his attention the concerns of many community members about the changes and additions proposed for the Wharf in the Wharf Master Plan. We had a pleasant discussion in his office where he showed me many historical photos and shared his vast experience of the Wharf. Towards the end of our conversation, I brought up the subject of the western walkway. He shared that it was an idea from a staff member of the Coastal Commission, that its inclusion was about increased public access and it could probably be removed from the Plan. I left feeling somewhat hopeful. The labelling of the western walkway as “essential” for Wharf stability came much later, after members of the public found problems with its inclusion.
Finally, it bears repeating that the context for the end of the Wharf’s collapse includes the city’s failure to replace documented damaged pilings requiring replacement since 2014. As for the work being done during the collapse, a legitimate question is, what was the quality of pile replacement work being done by the consulting engineering firm? Not pointing fingers; just asking an appropriate question.
A noticeable absence on the dais at the Wharf Reopening ceremony was the current Wharf supervisor. If there is to be an investigation, as surely there must be, maybe the city will ask the Wharf crew for their observations and conclusions. That would be far more productive than scapegoating community groups and regurgitating false narratives.
| Gillian Greensite is a long time local activist, a member of Save Our Big Trees and the Santa Cruz chapter of IDA, International Dark Sky Association http://darksky.org Plus she’s an avid ocean swimmer, hiker and lover of all things wild. |
COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS MANAGER RESIGNS
Some in the know feel that Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds CEO Zeke Fraser was likely instructed by the State to resign “for health reasons”. Apparently, other problematic CEO’s in the California Fair industry have also left quickly “for health reasons”, having received advice letters from the State. The problems that came about under CEO Fraser’s watch were largely, in my opinion, due to his willingness to let those in charge of the Fairgrounds Foundation (Jeannie Kegebein) and Ag History Project (Dave Kegebein, former CEO who was fired after a State Audit), and a debacle involving Granite Construction dumping a mountain of soil next to a creek from Highway One expansion. The idea was to expand the parking lot, but went awry when State officials became aware of the unpermitted and unauthorized project. CEO Fraser presented three different versions of the contract he supposedly had with Granite, yet claimed publicly he was unaware of what Granite was doing. Hmmm….
The Press Release states that last year’s Fair was the most profitable ever. I wonder how that can be known when CEO Fraser never publicly presented any financial accounting of the Fair to the Board or the Public?
Pajaronian: The Fairgrounds CEO resigns
Stay tuned to see who comes in the revolving door at the fairgrounds. Purportedly, legal teams from the California Dept. of Food & Ag (DCFA) hand the Fair Board of Directors a short list of who they feel can step in as Interim CEO. Do you know someone who would do a good job managing this gem that is critical for emergency sheltering as well as a great venue for events, and a County Fair that brings everyone together? If so, please contact Michael Flores <michael.flores@cdfa.ca.gov>
DEVELOPERS LOBBYING TO PREVENT STRICTER REGULATIONS ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEALS FUNDED BY MUNICIPAL BONDS
Last year’s Santa Cruz County Grand Jury Report “Housing for Whom?” brought forth some shocking investigative information about the lack of Santa Cruz City’s tracking around affordable housing occupancy that was largely ignored by the City Council:
The City Municipal Code requires that local residents and workers in the City of Santa
Cruz who meet income eligibility requirements are given preference (priority) for
Inclusionary Housing. But is this happening?
The Grand Jury investigation determined that the City keeps no records, does no
tracking, gathers no data, and has no evidence to determine if preference is being given
to local residents and local workers when renting Inclusionary Housing units.
The City has conflicting and contradictory policies on whether Inclusionary Housing
applies to low, very low and extremely low income earners only, or whether moderate
income earners are also eligible. The City cannot state what percentage of the City’s
affordable housing is occupied by income-verified UCSC students.
Grand Jury Housing Report
I wonder if the County has the same problem with data tracking regarding whether developers and non-profits who build and manage affordable housing projects for the County, thereby reaping the benefit of ZERO property tax payments on government-owned developments, are charging tenants a reduced rent reflecting this savings?
Apparently, this is a big problem in California, according to an investigation.
The report was published December 31, 2024, and revealed large sums of money developers spent to lobby legislators to stop laws that would tighten regulations about what “affordable” rents really can mean, and require developers and non-profits managing the units to potentially pay property taxes if the rents did not reflect the financial benefit of no property taxes paid to the municipalities.
Take a look at this excerpt:
“But the rents the developers charge also don’t abide by the same strict regulations as federally subsidized affordable housing. About half of the units at the 13 Northern California essential housing properties charge higher rents than comparable nearby market-rate buildings, the Bay Area News Group previously reported.
Meanwhile, for the 3,401 units across those properties, developers have collected $25 million in upfront fees and stand to make millions more in interest payments over the 30- to 40-year lifetime of the bonds. Another $48 million in fees has gone to the bankers and law firms that issue the bonds. Meanwhile, cities forfeit an annual $21 million in property taxes to support the program, though each city is meant to recoup property taxes lost at the end of the bond’s term, as the agency gives them an option to purchase or sell the property.
In 2022, the legislature proposed regulating these deals to ensure the rent discounts would be commensurate with the tax benefits the program received. Working with the California Housing Partnership, Assemblyman Chris Ward, a San Diego Democrat, introduced a bill, AB 1850, to establish stricter affordability standards and cap developers’ fees on the essential housing deals — what he hoped would prevent “abuse” by some for-profit players that “snookered” cities into giving up property taxes without delivering on middle-income housing promised.
Waterford and Catalyst hired top lobbyists to fight the bill — Catalyst Housing spent $186,565 to hire lobbyists at Actum, and Waterford spent $135,000 to hire lobbyists at Axiom Advisors, including Jason Kinney, a friend of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who attended an infamous 2020 dinner party at the French Laundry with the governor despite pandemic-era restrictions.
As AB 1850 went to the Senate Governance and Finance Committee for a second hearing, two votes were in play: Majority Leader Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, and Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Merced, the committee’s chair. With Hertzberg not voting, Caballero cast the deciding vote that killed the bill.
Four months later, Caballero’s reelection campaign received $4,000 from a group that had never donated to her before: Waterford. In March 2023, they donated another $4,000.
But there are limits to that influence. In 2023, for example, essential housing came under a new threat when a county tax assessor in Southern California argued that moderate-income housing didn’t qualify for a property tax exemption and used an obscure provision of tax law to start billing Waterford, as well as some tenants, for taxes. Waterford fought back, saying that neither the company nor its tenants should foot the bill. If Waterford is forced to pay taxes, the company said, it will eat at the company’s profits to the point where the projects would be unfeasible.
Assemblyman Josh Lowenthal, a Democrat from Waterford’s home district in Long Beach who has received $50,000 from Waterford’s founders and their partners in campaign donations, introduced AB 2506, a bill to stop county assessors from charging tenants these taxes. A spokesperson for Lowenthal said in a statement that Waterford “was one of many stakeholders involved in discussions on this program,” among housing advocacy groups, tenants and county assessors.
Lowenthal later pulled the bill after it stalled in a committee where staff were highly critical of the precedent it would set.”
Please ask your County Supervisor about how Santa Cruz County tracks the rents of affordable housing projects here, and what tax breaks the agencies managing them receive:
Affordable Housing Project Tracker — Housing Santa Cruz County
I wonder how much money each Supervisor received from developers and housing non-profits during the last election?
Contact your Supervisor
WHEN WILL COUNTY UPDATE SUPERVISOR WEBSITE?
I hope the Board of Supervisor website is updated soon. As of this writing, the website still shows the former Board member’s smiling faces and contact information. Board of Supervisors However, according to a social media post below by the new 5th District Supervisor, Monica Martinez, she and 2nd District Supervisor Kim DeSerpa were sworn in December 23, 2024. If that is true, I wonder why Supervisor Zach Friend and Bruce McPherson presided over the SPECIAL BOARD MEETING on December 27 to declare a state of emergency regarding storm damage?
“Yesterday was an unforgettable day as I was sworn in by Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, alongside Supervisor Kim DeSerpa of District 2. Having my children by my side reminded me why this work matters so much—for their future and for every family in our community.
It’s an incredible honor to serve as your 5th District Supervisor, and I’m filled with gratitude for the trust you’ve placed in me. I’m ready to get to work, listen, and lead with compassion and determination. Together, we will make a difference.” Monica Martinez 12/24/2024
AUDITOR URGES BETTER ACCOUNTABILITY
Two years ago, the State Auditor determined that the State’s Housing & Community Development (HCD) had used questionable data and methods to calculate the new round of the State’s housing mandates, known as Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA).
RHNA Audit Background Paper
Now, the State Auditor is finding other departments have serious weaknesses in their methods and financial reports as well.
[California State Auditor urges departments to tighten accounting controls]
Ask your elected representatives to follow up on this and require better financial accountability and transparency.
Contact:
- Senator John Laird
- Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas
- Assemblymember Dawn Addis
- Assemblymember Gail Pellerin
WHY NOT USE BRACKISH DESAL INSTEAD OF SEWAGE WATER?
The City of Antioch will soon begin operations at a brackish desalination plant that will produce 5,500 AcreFeet of drinking water for the residents. Couldn’t the same sort of project be used in areas of the County using brackish wells near the Bay, or even near the mouth of the San Lorenzo River where summer water tables rise so high that brackish water flows out of streetlight electrical boxes? [Antioch brackish desalination plant set to begin operations]
Take a look at what Antioch is doing:
Antioch Brackish Water Desalination Project
Brackish Water Desalination Facility Project
Wouldn’t it make sense to use brackish water, rather than sewage water, as a supplemental water source? I think so, in addition to increasing surface water runoff. While both require energy-intensive reverse-osmosis, using treated sewage water adds a high-level dependency on hazardous chemicals and the unknown long-term health impacts on vulnerable segments of the population because not all contaminants can be removed completely. Who knows what the cumulative impacts of injecting nitrate, chloride, DEET, Ibuprofen, sucralose and a host of other chemicals that are known to persist in these treated waters.
Soquel Creek Water District’s PureWater Soquel is set to start injecting treated sewage water into the MidCounty area aquifer in April. Write the Board with your thoughts:
Soquel Creek Water District Board of Directors <bod@soquelcreekwater.org> and copy the Clerk of the Board, Emma Western <emmaw@soquelcreekwater.org>.
In Monterey County, two such similar projects have been proposed. Deep Water Desal and CalAm’s Brackish Well Project in Marina. Regulations and litigation have stalled both, Deep Water Desal has been stalled by changes in ocean water intake permitting, and may be either studying methods to eliminate harm, or examining subsurface intake, but the project still seems active:
[DeepWater Desal General Information]
[Deepwater Desal has long been out of the public eye, but expect that to change in 2018.]
CalAm Water wants to build a new brackish well desalination in Marina but has met with resistance from the City of Marina.
Purportedly, Sand City has had a brackish desal plant since 2010, the first of such in California:
Sand City Coastal desalination plant
Sand City Coastal Desalination Plant in Monterey County was the first full-scale brackish seawater desalination facility in the state of California. It became operational in May 2010 and can produce 268,000 gallons/day (300 acre-feet/year)
Status of desalination plants in California
The plant supplies more than enough water for the needs of the City:
Sand City Desalination
Current General Manager of Soquel Creek Water District, Ms. Melanie Mow-Schumacher, actually worked at Deep Water Desal for a short time before returning to the golden halls of the District. I wonder why?
SEWAGE SLUDGE CONTAMINATES FARMLAND WITH CARCINOGENIC PFAS
Where does the City take it? The Central Valley? According to many reports now emerging, farmland where sewage sludge has been applied as a fertilizer are now contaminated with the “forever carcinogen” PFAS. and the farms must now idle, due to contamination.
Forever chemicals tainting food supply, destroying American farmers
New York Times article (paywall)
I forwarded this information to the County Water Advisory Commission. One Commissioner who has shown great interest replied with a recommendation to watch the movie Dark Waters; a 2019 American legal thriller film, directed by Todd Haynes and written by Mario Correa and Matthew Michael Carnahan. The story dramatizes Robert Bilott’s case against the chemical manufacturing corporation DuPont after they contaminated a town with unregulated chemicals.”
2,700 ACRE RANCH GIFTED TO UC REGENTS FOR UCSC RESEARCH AND EDUCATION
Since 2013, the UC Regents have been considering a gift of the 2,700-acre Strathearn Ranch in San Benito County. The transfer finally happened last November, complete with an endowment fund of $7-$10 million for operational costs and improvement.
UC Santa Cruz announces a new 2,400-acre UC Reserve after Regents approval
“Consisting of 2,700 acres of real property located at Tres Pinos, San Benito County, California, Strathearn Ranch is a bequest under the Lee Von Hasseln Living Trust (the “Living Trust”) that requires the Regents to establish the Strathearn Ranch Reserve as a separate reserve under the UCNRS within 12 months after the donor’s death, which occurred in January 2024.”
DESIGNATION OF THE STRATHEARN RANCH RESERVE (SAN BENITO COUNTY) INTO THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA NATURAL RESERVE SYSTEM
The UC Regents Study Committee had anticipated annual operational costs could be $550,000 annually. (see page 9)
I wonder what the UCSC researchers and students will study, and how the students in K-12 will be folded into the educational experience?
WRITE ONE LETTER. MAKE ONE CALL. ATTEND A PUBLIC MEETING AND ASK QUESTIONS, HOLDING OFFICIALS ACCOUNTABLE.
MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE THIS WEEK BY DOING JUST ONE THING.
Cheers,
Becky
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Becky Steinbruner is a 30+ year resident of Aptos. She has fought for water, fire, emergency preparedness, and for road repair. She ran for Second District County Supervisor in 2016 on a shoestring and got nearly 20% of the votes. She ran again in 2020 on a slightly bigger shoestring and got 1/3 of the votes.
Email Becky at KI6TKB@yahoo.com |
Have you heard the question “What’s in the water?” I’ve encountered that question recently posed in the context of a situation when odd, inexplicable things had been happening at an organization. Then, new, seemingly fresh and rational personnel are hired, but those people quickly seem just as odd and inexplicable, less fresh and innovative and then things just stay the same kind of weird. How can that possibly happen?! And we exclaim, “What’s in the water?” It’s as if people are being medicated through their drinking water into a kind of sub-par state of being. “They drank the Kool-Aid” is another way of saying that same thing, I guess, except less innocuously referencing a terrible tragedy in South America some time ago. Judging by the amount of filtered water, bottled water, and such that people purchase, it does seem as if we are very, very concerned about what is in our water. What about the air? What’s in our air?
The Direction of the Wind
In my daily routine, each time I walk outside I try to pay attention to the wind. Which way is the wind headed? I feel the breeze on my skin or watch the swaying of the grass and trees. I tilt my body until I face straight into it, to know best the precise direction. Ialso ask how is the wind blowing right where I am versus farther away? Sometimes the wind is gentle close but raging nearby, on higher ground, where trees ‘talk’ and sway.
The directions of the wind can be predictable, but it is becoming less so. Winds around the Monterey Bay are often from the north or northwest, mainly cool breezes. Winter storms especially sweep in with gales from the northwest. Bomb cyclones come from that way. Atmospheric rivers tilt the direction more from the west. Especially cold storms come more from the north. Once the breeze starts coming from those other two ways, things get weird.
The downslope, Santa Ana winds of southern California (aka devil winds) make things really weird to our south. Those winds are from the east and can be very strong; fires rage, people freak out. Luckily, that phenomenon doesn’t happen here, but we do get occasional winds from the east. I swear I can smell the desert on those winds, the smell of creosote bush. Those breezes are warm and dry just like the winds from the south. I can very well recall the stormy winds from the south: those brought us the CZU Lightning Complex Fire as well as a couple other tattered hurricane remnants that created havoc across the state. When winds come from the south or east, beware of fire and keep your eye out for the odd human behavior associated with Santa Ana winds in southern California. We might also be concerned about the better-documented situation where those breezes carry the spores of fungi that cause Valley Fever, an air quality concern…borne on the wind as they say.
Air Quality
Once you recognize the direction from which the wind blows, the next question becomes what is that air carrying? When the wind blows ‘just right’ (from the northeast), we get a nasty soup of smog hanging out to sea, blown out of the Golden Gate and then generally downcoast where you get to appreciate that the Bay keeps us a bit sheltered and inland from those toxic breezes. Northeast winds are rare, but that smog carries lots of ugly chemistry. There’s stuff you don’t want to breathe for its toxicity, but there is also lots of fertilizer from car exhaust. Catalytic converters do a good job of turning exhaust into readily available nitrogen compounds that are fertilizing the landscape. Healthy? Nay. Fertilizer makes habitats more weedy, weeds grow bigger and make a bigger wildfire danger when they dry. The tall weeds outcompete native wildflowers. Fires carried by those weeds are devastating California’s deserts, endangering things like Joshua trees. The Golden Gate (NE wind) is one of our passages for nitrogen-laced air pollution, the other is the Pajaro Valley, belching out smog pushed by the more northerly breezes passing down through the southern end of the Silicon Valley.
Those ‘Fresh’ Westerlies
If you are like me, you feel lucky to have that great expanse of clean ocean air to keep us breathing well. Think again. We are seeing more and more pollution from China reaching our shores. Those giant cargo containers full of ‘stuff’ isn’t the only thing coming from the east. Coal fired power plants are making a yuckola mess of chemicals that are polluting California’s air. But, let’s not rest all of the blame on human’s insatiable appetite for stuff in the present. Some of the toxic air particles are from greed of the deep past: gold mining. Mercury was used in processing gold in California. That mercury flowed downstream and into the ocean; it is now being carried back to land in fog and rain, concentrating up the food chain and poisoning mountain lions in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Famous Air Quote
“We have some incredibly talented people that know environment and what we’re doing probably better than any people on Earth.
From day one, my administration has made it a top priority to ensure that America has among the very cleanest air and cleanest water on the planet. We want the cleanest air. We want crystal-clean water, and that’s what we’re doing and that’s what we’re working on so hard.”
I’m guessing you know the source of this quote by now. If not, you can probably guess from the recognizable style. We hope that President Trump, like all politicians, recognizes how much the vast majority of citizens value clean air, so that there is ample motivation to do something about it. If politicians don’t act on these things, we all suffer. Unfortunately, few journalists hold any politician accountable to their clean air record: after all, it is anti-business to do so, and the news needs money.
Our Work
Vote. Get an air purifier for your house. Buy less. Go outside and think about the breeze…the direction of the wind…the strength of the wind…and what is carried on those breezes.
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Grey Hayes is a fervent speaker for all things wild, and his occupations have included land stewardship with UC Natural Reserves, large-scale monitoring and strategic planning with The Nature Conservancy, professional education with the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, and teaching undergraduates at UC Santa Cruz. Visit his website at: www.greyhayes.net
Email Grey at coastalprairie@aol.com |
Saturday, January 4, 2025
Paul Krugman, pictured above, won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2008. He writes for The New York Times, and and on October 19, 2024, Krugman’s “Opinion” column in The Times was titled, “Trump’s Radical Tariff Proposal Could Wreck Our Economy.”
Click right here for the column (understanding that you may be stymied by a paywall imposed by The Times). I, personally, think that this column is very much worth reading. It is a relatively short and pretty understandable explanation of tariffs, and explains how they work (or don’t work, I guess you’d have to say).
I want especially to highlight the following point, which isn’t really about the “economic” impact of tariffs, but speaks to another aspect of what lowering trade barriers can mean:
Some of Roosevelt’s officials, especially Cordell Hull, his long-serving secretary of state believed that closer trading ties between nations were a force for world peace.
We are “in this together” not only on a national basis, but on a global basis, as well. “Beating” other countries, economically – putting national economic self-interest as a top priority – is contraindicated.
“World Peace” ought to be on our New Year’s Resolutions List, so I am urging you to think about the point that Krugman is making!
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Gary Patton is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor (20 years) and an attorney for individuals and community groups on land use and environmental issues. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. You can read and subscribe to his daily blog at www.gapatton.net
Email Gary at gapatton@mac.com |
Well, it had to happen…Donald Trump’s election victory was certified by a joint meeting of Congress presided over by his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, a thirty minute tragedy that was only delayed for a couple of minutes by unhappy Blue Staters trying to crash the proceedings by breaking down the doors…naaahhh, that didn’t happen! But the peacefulness and decorum of the process was in stark contrast to that of the “normal day in DC” of 2020, as now described by MAGAs of course. Those charged with crimes during the storming of the Capitol are in Trump’s sights to avoid accountability with his pardons…as many as 1500 may avoid charges, slates wiped clean from the ugliness of that day. As Representative Jamie Raskin, a former member of the House Select Committee said, “This is an asymmetry we’ve been pointing out from the beginning that there has been relative accountability up until this point for the people who smashed the police officers over the head with Confederate battle flags or speared them with Trump flags or stormed the Capitol and so on — vis a vis the masterminds behind the whole process.”
Trump’s indictments for his role in seeking to block the peaceful transfer of power in Georgia have hit a snag, and Special Prosecutor Smith’s request to dismiss the J6 case without prejudice, leaves the door open for possible refilings in the future, but admittedly, the likelihood fades with the passage of time. Representative Zoe Lofgren, another House Select Committee member, adds, “Trump won the election…it is pretty pathetic that the officers who defended our lives are so disrespected and that the criminal who egged them on is now going back into the White House. You know, he has vowed to pardon the criminals who attacked the Capitol. People died. I always make a point of calling some of the officers who were injured on the sixth so they know it’s not the whole world that has forgotten their sacrifice.” Federal prosecutor Mary McCord, former acting head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division warns, “There’s no question that some of the defendants are currently still very empowered, and you have to imagine that they’re not going to be nearly as deterred from engaging in behavior that violates the law — particularly something that Trump may want them to do — in the future.” Former federal prosecutor in the US attorney’s office in DC, Rizwan Qureshi, declared, “I think the bedrock of a true democracy is a peaceful transition of power. That’s why those who engaged in actual violent conduct on that date need to be held accountable…because accountability and respect for rule of law are necessary to deterring violence and preserving our democracy that I think we take for granted every day.”
The rule of law was dealt a poke in the eye with a secretive Saturday night party at Mar-a-Lago, reportedly celebrating efforts to overturn the 2020 election…no publicity, no press invitations, just attended by the likes of John Eastman, Michael Flynn, Jeffrey Clark, Rudy Giuliani, and Peter Navarro as they watched a documentary film about Eastman. Attorney Eastman was delegated to pressure Vice President Pence not to certify the results of the presidential vote of 2020, to the praise of Trump’s introductory remarks on Saturday. “I’m a big fan of John Eastman. Y’know, he was right. He happened to be right. That’s why they changed the law and nobody wants to talk about that. They said he’s not allowed to do it, he’s not allowed to do it, and they convinced him he’s not allowed to do it, our vice president, then right after the election they changed the law so he can’t do it.” Hosts of MSNBC Weekend, in discussing it on Sunday, prompted Michael Steele to ask, “What was the sense in this room, what was the purpose of this gathering, is it just an in-your-face-moment or just a tale of things to come?” Vaughn Hilyard’s take is that it was clear from Trump’s guest list that it was no coincidence about the purpose. Symone Sanders Townsend tersely responded, “Let’s just put a finer point on it, this is sickening! This is sickening, I am sick. Navarro, Clark, the people that went to the Capitol to take up arms against the US government, because the president at the time lied to them, that’s what happened. Those are not patriots. What Donald Trump did last night is a disgrace to the country and Constitution, and the fact that they didn’t tell anybody about it lets you know that they knew what they were doing was untoward, and they wanted to do it anyway.”
Steve Schmidt writes on The Warning that many have called for President Biden to issue preemptive pardons for the likely targets included in Trump’s promised retributions in his abuse of presidential powers. Schmidt is against such action, calling the Constitution and our own dignity as our protectors. Accepting a pardon means admitting a crime, and the necessity of opposing Donald Trump is not a crime. It is necessary, and will continue to be necessary, he maintains. Opposition to Donald Trump doesn’t need explanation or justification, so fight against criminalization of matters of conscience under a regime that doesn’t tolerate criticism or dissent. The fear that Trumpers have instilled throughout America “isn’t just unseemly…it is disconcerting, pathetic at some level and cynical at another,” Schmidt says. The premise that Biden should issue preemptive pardons is “among the worst ideas ever floated. It is a gateway to banana republicanism through a side door.”
Andy Borowitz writes in The Borowitz Report, “In a series of scathing Truth Social posts on Tuesday, Donald J Trump lambasted President Biden for issuing a pardon without being paid for it. ‘Pardoning someone for free was an incredibly selfish act,’ Trump wrote. ‘This will lower the market value of every future pardon I give. The framers of the Constitution gave the president pardon power for one reason: to make money,’ Trump continued. ‘I have too much respect for the Constitution to pardon people for free.’ In perhaps the strongest denunciation of Biden’s actions, he added, ‘Any decent father would have made Hunter ambassador to France.'”
In response to Trump’s promise of pardons, bootlicking Republicans are sucking up to him in a time-honored and traditional way: by being cowards. And, all those Senators and Representatives who hunkered down for safety on January 6, 2021, are all lined up to show him they can roll over for him. Senator Lindsey Graham said, “We’ll see what he does. I mean it’s been four or five years (since J6). The ones that hurt cops, they’d be in a different category for me, but we’ll leave that up to him.” Trump’s charge that the House Select Committee destroyed evidence that would have exonerated him, and fantasizing Liz Cheney before a firing squad, all seem to be fine with the GOP. The detailed events in the 850-page report from the committee were terrifying, illuminating and damning, and most voters oppose Trump’s plan to pardon insurrectionists, but what most voters want has never been the Republican Party’s bag, writes Walter Einenkel on Daily Kos.
Author Charles Pierce, in discussing presidents of his lifetime, says they were not perfect men, but for the most part, “they approached the job, and they took to the podium, with all the gravitas they could muster as appropriate for the job. They tried, at least, to reach for something in the presidency that was beyond their grasp as ordinary human beings. They were not all ennobled by the attempt, but they tried nonetheless.” Looking at our current prospect, he moans, “And comes now this hopeless, vicious buffoon, and the audience of equally hopeless and vicious buffoons who laughed and cheered when he made sport of a woman whose lasting memory of the trauma she suffered is the laughter of the perpetrators. Now he comes, a man swathed in scandal, with no interest beyond what he can put in his pocket and what he can put over on a universe of suckers, and he does something like this while occupying an office that we gave him, and while endowed with a public trust that he dishonors every day he wakes up in the White House. The scion of a multigenerational criminal enterprise, the parameters of which we are only now beginning to comprehend. A vessel for all the worst elements of the American condition. And a cheap, soulless bully besides…Watch how a republic dies in the empty eyes of an empty man who feels nothing but his own imaginary greatness, and who cannot find in himself the decency simply to shut up even when it is in his best interest to do so…Watch him behind the seal of the President of the United States. Isn’t he a funny man? Isn’t what happened to that lady hilarious? Watch the assembled morons cheer. This is the only story now.”
As if to echo Pierce’s words, the president-elect will be attending an interfaith prayer service in DC the day before he is inaugurated — his wealthiest supporters are invited if they write a big enough check. This news is reported by Religion News Service, which gathered the information from Trump’s inaugural committee which has a list of different tiers of ‘benefits‘ for the various donor contribution amounts. On January 18, donors can get tickets to a ‘Make America Great Again Rally,’ a cabinet reception and a dinner with VP-elect Vance, to be followed the next day with the “pay-to-pray” event, so dubbed by RNS reporter Jack Jenkins.
Humorist Dave Barry had the perfect summation of the 2024 election season in his 2024 yearly wrap: “But what made 2024 truly special, in terms of sustained idiocy, was that it was an election year. This meant that day after day, month after month, the average American voter was subjected to a relentless gushing spew of campaign messaging created by political professionals who—no matter what side they’re on—all share one unshakeable core belief, which is that the average American voter has the intellectual capacity of a potted fern. It was a brutal, depressing slog, and it felt as though it would never end. In fact it may still be going on in California, a state that apparently tabulates its ballots on a defective Etch-a-Sketch.”
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Dale Matlock, a Santa Cruz County resident since 1968, is the former owner of The Print Gallery, a screenprinting establishment. He is an adherent of The George Vermosky school of journalism, and a follower of too many news shows, newspapers, and political publications, and a some-time resident of Moloka’i, Hawaii, U.S.A., serving on the Board of Directors of Kepuhi Beach Resort. Email: cornerspot14@yahoo.com. |
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Wildfires
“I’d rather fight 100 structure fires than a wildfire. With a structure fire you know where your flames are, but in the woods it can move anywhere; it can come right up behind you.”
~Tom Watson
“My father was a wildfire. Really. Nobody could save him from anything. His family turned away from him, and he broke up with his first wife. It just happened to be that when he was going to get back up on his feet, my mother was there.”
~John Carter Cash
“No matter the natural disaster I’ve covered, whether it’s a wildfire or flood, I always come back with a much greater perspective.”
~Ginger Zee
“Due to climate change, wildfires are growing in size, frequency, and intensity, and wildfire seasons are becoming longer.”
~Mikie Sherrill
“It is known that wildfires behave unpredictably – this is fundamental – but it is my experience that humans in the presence of wildfire are also likely to behave in aberrant and unpredictable ways.”
~Michael Leunig
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Wired does this whole series of different professions doing “tech support”, answering questions from people on the internet. This one is really good, it’s called Pseudoscience Support. |
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