Bratton Online

CABRILLO COMMUNITY CAMPUS 1967. Remember these good old days when the entire community was so proud of Cabrillo College? Remember when the teachers were so active and sincere and involved? What ever happened to the mutual pride we had for that College and the pride it had in itself?

photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

Additional information always welcome: email bratton@cruzio.com

5 SANTA CRUZ WOMEN ARTISTS.

MARY HOLMES & SARA BOUTELLE HOLMES DESCRIBE THEIR UPBRINGING. 1997. These two sisters are legends in the world and especially in Santa Cruz. Wallace Boss filmed them; Wallace is Coeleen Kiebert’s son.

DATELINE May 1, 2017

“MEMORY OF JUSTICE”. This is a documentary available now on HBO. It gives us a world history of terrible holocausts. Starting with the Nuremberg Trials, Dachau and Auschwitz it also includes many of the United States induced holocausts. Starting with Little Big Horn, and including Hiroshima, Dresden Bombing, Mai Lai, Vietnam, Nagasaki, it has terrifying newsreel footage. Filmed in 1976 and directed by Marcel Ophuls it has everyone from Joan Baez to Herman Goering, Yehudi Menuhin…and Hitler. It is four hours and thirty-eight minutes long. And Ophuls interviews more than forty people…including Daniel Ellsberg in a very significant role.

Huffington Post says the film’s thesis is : Any group in power is capable of war atrocities.

More than all those recent atrocities it could cause you to wonder just how much the killing fellow humans is an integral part of “being human”. The archeologists tell us of early millennia old battles, we know Hawaiian islanders and the brutal warfare that happened between islands and even between their own families. We see it in Santa Cruz with the hate and disdain against the homeless and the hungry.

Keith McHenry of Food Not Bombs told me on last week’s Universal Grapevine that the same hate and animosity against the poor is the same at all the Food Not Bombs sites around the world (except Thailand and Sumatra!) As we watch battles in Berkeley, pro vs. anti Trump, and gun buying increase, so dramatically we must wonder if humans like all other animal species kill because it is in our heritage. And that we never will stop it. See Memory Of Justice…go to a friend’s house who has HBO, it’s worth it!!

REASONS FOR OPTIMISM

May 1, 2017

As someone who tends towards the ruthless criticism of everything existing, I am not a pessimist. With an eye for hidden agendas behind politicians and non-profit profiteers, I am delighted to expose such folly. This trait does not endear me to many and I understand that reaction. Some is simple sexism. Females are supposed to be cheerleaders not critics. Some of it is a desire to see only the positive in a world of negatives. I understand that worldview. I feel better guided by Gramsci’s approach. “Pessimism of the mind: optimism of the will.” Hold both sides of the tension. Yes, it is bad and yes, we can make the difference. Sometimes it’s good to adjust the balance. Two experiences this week amplified “optimism of the will.”

The first was at Cabrillo College from students in response to my presentation on rape in their Human Sexuality classes. After deconstructing gender and rape historically, I asked for their ideas on how they would make a difference towards constructing a world freed from male violence. One woman had already made a difference by confronting sexual harassment towards her students by a male “leader” which led to his removal from a position of influence. That took courage. Male students talked of speaking up when they were around other males whose behavior was ignorant of gender justice. I left inspired.

The second was at the Monterey Bay Aquarium for its Ocean Plastic Summit.

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~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).

May 1, 2017
THE STAMPER STUMPER: IS THIS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE?

In November of 1999, with my five-year old daughter in tow, I left Santa Cruz for Seattle. The previous evening the Santa Cruz City Council unanimously passed a resolution condemning the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) head-long rush toward globalism. Little did I know, as I arrived to San Jose airport on a chilly November evening that my daughter, Sophia that we were headed into one of the largest protest events ever in U.S. history. On, and off the airplane, I casually ran into UCSC professor Dana Frank, Santa Cruz Culture Czar Grant Wilson, peace activists Ruth Hunter and Skip Spitzer (who were both eventually arrested and detained by Seattle police), and Santa Cruz Action Network SCAN (remember that?!) board member, Bob Guzley. I began to believe something might be happening in what today is known as the “Coffee Capital.”I would run into dozens of Santa Cruzans in Emerald City that week, and when I arrived to see more than 60,000 taking to the streets, I knew the anti-globalization movement had arrived and Santa Cruz could say, “presente.”

Protesters—students and labor, Teamsters and turtles—held demonstrations and teach-ins at various intersections, at school playgrounds and in a soccer stadium. The goal of the protesters was to stop WTO delegates, including UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright from ever reaching the Seattle Convention Center. Mission accomplished. At least for a couple of days Seattle was shut down. But what began as a tranquil protest—the police chief was complemented by protesters after Day 1—ended badly with police shooting tear gas at peaceful protesters and some black block partisans turning over everything in sight including garbage cans, dumpsters, and newsstands. November 30 and December 1 of 1999 were the major protester head-banging days, and by Day Five Seattle was a city on the brink and definitely looking to rid itself of anything WTO-related. Between multiple tear-gassings, seeing pepper spray being dropped from six inches away onto large groups occupying most intersections, and stun grenades launched to simply clear these intersections, the city had become a war zone and Sophia and I were simply targets.

I carefully avoided most of these running street battles while pulling on my daughter’s arm as we moved briskly from the outskirts of one battle scene to another. I feverishly passed out our city council’s resolution, handing copies to the army of news media people who were covering the Battle. On Day Two we witnessed the giant metal letters of the Nike building being pried off and dropping onto the sidewalk below. The social, political and financial toll for this port city was enormous:$20 million in damage to businesses; $6 million spent on security by the city of Seattle; and arguably, the incumbent mayor thrown out of office, and the police chief forced to resign.

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Now, fast forward to this past weekend (4/29-4/30) in Santa Cruz…Norm Stamper, the then disgraced and retired Seattle police chief has been on a “forgive-but-never-forget-that-he-tear-gassed-peaceful-protesters” tour to discuss police reform and promote his informed brand of social change. He was in town peddling his new book, To Protect and Serve: How to Fix America’s Police, and expound his reformist philosophy of policing—1) “end the drug war, 2) set and enforce national police standards, and 3) form a grassroots movement to reform the police in America.” How ‘bout that! During a Saturday panel discussion and Sunday post-movie, “Do Not Resist “discussion, Stamper was nothing short of brilliant. His folksy, earnest and at times erudite commentary on the state of policing gave his audiences much food for thought as local organizer, Lee Brokaw has high hopes of using Stamper’s appearance to boost support in placing a police commission model of police review on the ballot locally.

Best quotes from Stamper:

On tear gassing protesters at WTO protests in ’99 “It was the single worst decision I made. When you launch tear gas it is no longer a demonstration, it is a riot. I came to the conclusion that I was not only wrong, I was colossally wrong.”

On Ferguson, Missouri Protests “Very reminiscent of Bull Connor in Birmingham, Alabama.”

On American culture “What is it about the people and the police? A free and democratic society belong to the people. Look at structure and culture, if structure does not change the culture (of policing) will not change.”

About the police “American policing is broken and in need of repairing.”

Stamper ended his Nickelodeon Theatre talk by telling a story. He said that he was interviewing an African-American activist and he asked him, “Why now? Why so many protests in Black communities now? So, he grabs my cell phone and holds it up and says, ‘Because now, white middle-class people can see what we’ve experienced for generations.” Cell phones matter?

City Council Meeting Addendum, April 25, 2017 Agenda

It didn’t seem like a big issue, #19. After all, it was on the Consent Agenda, likely to sail through to a yes vote, and it was only spending $140,000 out of the H2O department budget “for the preparation of a Desalination Feasibility Update.” And all I did was put forward a motion to NOT spend this money for a desal update because the people of Santa Cruz, in 2012, said that they wanted to vote if desal was going to be pursued. I saw this agenda item as a backdoor way of avoiding that vote. A bit of controversy erupted when Councilmember Mathews called my motion, “ridiculous,” and then called the water director to the podium to explain what the money was for. I knew what the money was for and after spending $15 million to pursue an errant desal plant my sense is we should spend no more until the people of Santa Cruz have their say. By the way, got more conservation?

The biggest issue for me on this agenda was the council unanimously agreeing to send a letter to UCSC’s chancellor, George Blumenthal, letting him know that we would like the university administration to address a whole series of questions concerning growth and the upcoming Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) that he and his cohorts will be pushing when they come to present at the upcoming May 23 city council meeting. The student population is now around 18,700 students and only half live on campus. The housing situation in town, as every councilmember is keenly aware, is dire. Any new students have to be housed on campus because there is NO room left in town, and “room” is currently only created by charging $3200 rents for a 2-bedrooms, which thus evicts any occupants who cannot pay. (And this just in: I am told the new Darwin Street apartments, across from Staff of Life, are renting two bedroom units for $3500! That could be a new high $ in Surf City.)

Of course, the council also unanimously passed a resolution denouncing the building of any Trump Wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and perhaps more importantly “recommending that the City of Santa Cruz divest from any companies involved in the construction of a border wall.” In addition, we also passed a significant ban on doing business with Well Fargo…”to immediately ban Wells Fargo Securities as the City’s broker dealer and terminate within 90 days any investment holdings with institutions funding the Dakota Access Pipeline for a period of five years …” How about that?! Nice.

Finally
I attended a panel discussion at UCSC’s Cowell College last Saturday. It was set up by alum, Mathew Waxman, and was about the current growth of UCSC and the LRDP process, all part of the “Alumni Days” festivities at UCSC. The current California Secretary for Natural Resources, John Laird a Cowell alum, was part of the panel and he recalled suing the university over growth back in the 1980’s when he was also the mayor of Santa Cruz. He said that it was odd that back then it took the first 44 days of a 45-day negotiation period “to figure out who was the decision-maker” for UCSC as the mediation was carried out between Town and Gown.

It will be hard to look towards the next LRDP process without looking at the failures—housing, traffic, transportation—of the current one that is set to expire in 2020. The planning for the next one should begin in earnest by 2018.

~ Chris Krohn is a father, writer, activist, former Santa Cruz City Councilmember (1998-2002) and Mayor (2001-2002). He’s been running the Environmental Studies Internship program at UC Santa Cruz for the past 12 years. He was elected last November to another 4-year term on the Santa Cruz City Council.

RANCHO DEL MAR MATURE TREES SAVED.

Thanks to everyone who contacted Mr. Bruce Walton Senior Vice President of Development for Terramar Retail Centers (RC Retail), about keeping the mature trees in the remodeling of the Rancho del Mar Center. Mr. Walton left a message for me stating that in response to public comments, consultants are reviewing the logging plans. Good work! Stay tuned.

WHY DOES FARMING MATTER?
Why is it important to grow your own food…or know the farmer who does? What does the future hold for small organic farmers? Aptos organic farmer Ms. Erika Knudsen will discuss this and more at the Aptos Library, Saturday, May 6, 1pm-3pm. The event is free and part of the “Aptos Agriculture… a nod to the past, a look to the future” display this month in the Library.

WONDERING ABOUT SANTA CRUZ CITY WATER DEPARTMENT’S NEWEST WELL?
Here is an opportunity to learn more about the city’s newest Beltz 12 well and treatment plant: Wednesday, May 17, 10:30am-noon. RSVP to 831-420-5220. Does Santa Cruz City plan to use treated sewage water in the near future? That could work for the DeLaveaga Golf Course, which currently is irrigated with potable water.

COUNTY PARKS STRATEGIC PLAN WORKSHOP IN APTOS VILLAGE PARK
Saturday, May 6, 10am-noon at Aptos Village Park. Join your neighbors to help shape the future of parks Countywide. Take a look on your way at the vertical hillside in the area where Granite Way meets Aptos Creek Road (on your right as you travel into Nisene Marks Park). That is the vertical hillside that Barry Swenson Builder gave to the County for a park to sa tisfy the requirement to provide an active recreation park. Swenson supposedly paid half-a-million dollars for the hillside, and will not have to pay to develop it into an active recreation area.

In exchange for the land, the County granted Barry Swenson Builder FREE drainage easement across the Aptos Village Park land to dump storm water from the Aptos Village Project parking lots and roof runoff into Aptos Creek. I am sure the salmonids will love that.

The County also WAIVED ALL DEVELOPER PARK FEES for Barry Swenson Builder. Other developers in the County are required to pay $1000/bedroom to help develop parks that will serve the occupants of their project. There are 69 new residential units approved for the Project, some are 3,000 square foot condominiums.

It seems the County Planning Department, former County Supervisor Ellen Pirie and current Supervisor Zach Friend highly value that future hillside active recreational park…or maybe another form of green? Hmmmm…. Ask about the future of that valuable hillside park, and why County Parks is putting out to bid $35,000 for work on the Aptos Village Park driveway and parking lot.

SUPERVISOR ZACH FRIEND ANNOUNCES VALENCIA ROAD TEMPORARY BRIDGE WILL NOT BE INSTALLED IN TIME TO ALLOW VALENCIA SCHOOL KIDS BACK BEFORE JUNE.

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Well, now that we know the delay for beginning the Valencia Road repair was not due to staff at State Fish & Game (as was stated at a couple of neighborhood meetings by Supervisor Friend and other County staff), the blame now goes to delaying so that a two-lane temporary bridge can be installed, rather than a one-lane temporary bridge. That extra work will, according to Supervisor Friend, cause the temporary bridge installation to be delayed until early to mid JULY. Coincidentally, that is the same time the County’s $2 million-dollar Phase I road work and Trout Gulch traffic light project will finish up. Handy, don’t you think? One cannot deny that having the Valencia Elementary School traffic out of the way makes the road work benefiting Aptos Village Project much easier, especially when the railroad crossing has to be closed down for excavation and track replacement.

The Pajaro Valley Unified School District leadership and Valencia Elementary School families (600+ students) need to press the County Public Works Department to move on the temporary bridge faster, to allow the students and staff back before the end of the year. The front page article in last Wednesday’s Santa Cruz Sentinel (4/26) interviewed Valencia Elementary teachers who must arrive daily at their temporary classrooms in Mar Vista Elementary by 6:30am to set up, and by 2pm, take everything down because the space is shared with other uses. The article also stated that routine facility maintenance at Valencia Elementary stopped when the school closed on January 23.

A temporary one-lane bridge was installed in three weeks for residents on Nelson Road in Scotts Valley…why is the County dragging its feet on the Valencia temporary bridge?

Assistant Public Works Director, Mr. Steve Wiesner assured me that staff is working as quickly as they are able to on this project, but that there are other projects to work on in the County. There are 22 civil engineers on County payroll (according to Transparent California website), and the Board of Supervisors recently approved contracting with outside engineers for the next 3-5 years, at a cost of $15-$25 million to the taxpayers. Mr. Wiesner did not appreciate my reminding him that the Valencia problem is the only road problem that has caused a public school to be closed. He did not like my explaining that people I know who have installed similar emergency bridges in the military are, like many people in the Aptos community (as well as Fish & Game) wondering why no work is taking place. He invited anyone with plans to visit him…maybe you know someone, too.

Steve Wiesner Steve.Wiesner@santacruzcounty.us, 831-454-2160 Dept. Of Public Works
Tim Bailey Timothy.Bailey@santacruzcounty.us, 831-454-2160

In the meantime, Supervisor Friend sent a message to Valencia Elementary School families and Rolling Green Estates residents that PG&E and Trout Gulch Water Mutual Company will begin moving utilities this week or next….three full months after the closure. Hmmm….

COUNTY ROAD WORK BLOG RARELY UPDATED FOR CITIZEN INFORMATION
Before the County’s roadwork in Aptos Village to benefit the developers began, Supervisor Zach Friend assured the community that their source of current information regarding traffic delays and road construction timelines would all be available on a project website.

Well, here is the website.

Because I must travel through the construction zone daily, I check the website frequently for updates. There are none. The site is merely a documentation of what work has occured in the past, and is rarely updated. I suppose it really doesn’t matter because very few people even know the website information exists. The two orange construction project information signs that are required to be positioned at each end of the road construction zone are both located facing sparsely-traveled Aptos Street, and are difficult to read through the orange plastic netting.

I have asked more than once that Public Works staff re-position the signs. No response.

Maybe you will have better results: Traffic Engineer Jack Sohriakoff Jack.Sohriakoff@santacruzcounty.us

And…

County Supervisor Zach Friend Zach.Friend@santacruzcounty.us (he says he loves to hear from us)

SPEAK OUT AND WRITE FOR FURTHER ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW FOR APTOS VILLAGE PROJECT AT MAY 12 PUBLIC HEARING. Friday, May 12, 9:30am 5th Floor Board of Supervisors Chambers, 701 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz.

Due to several Brown Act violations, the County Planning Department has scheduled a re-do of the public hearing for the Aptos Village Project Apple Barn proposed changes to the Historic Resources Preservation Plan. This is a discretionary approval by the County Historic Resources Commission, and therefore is a legal time for members of the public to bring forth new information that warrants the County to require the developers to conduct further environmental review.

The case can be made for this demand on several issues. Contact me for this information:

Becky Steinbruner ki6tkb@yahoo.com or 831-685-2915.

The letters must be submitted before the close of the public hearing on May 12. Address them to the County Board of Supervisors and the Santa Cruz County Planning Dept., and the County Historic Resources Commission.

C/o Ms. Annie Murphy Annie.Murphy@santacruzcounty.us,
Ms. Wanda Williams Wanda.Williams@santacruzcounty.us,
Chairman John Leopold John.Leopold@santacruzcounty.us

MIDCOUNTY GROUNDWATER AGENCY BOARD WILL MAKE BIG DECISION: WHO WILL CREATE THE WATER PLAN & POLICY?
The MidCounty Groundwater Agency, a joint power required by the State to develop and implement a sustainable groundwater management plan for the overdrafted aquifers in the area will meet Thursday, May 18, 7pm at the Simpkins Swim Center. There will be representatives of Soquel Creek Water District, Central Water District, Santa Cruz County, small water companies and private well owners available at 6pm to discuss related issues and answer your questions.

One of the items on the agenda (I have been told) will be deciding who will be able to participate on the Advisory Committee that will help MidCounty Groundwater Agency Water Planner, Ms. Darcy Pruitt, develop THE PLAN and how it will be implemented. I have been told that members of the general public can and should ask to be on that committee. The Board will be discussing how to choose just who will be included on that Committee. Private well owners and customers/owners of small water companies in particular need to be involved. The Board has repeatedly stated that there is no need to make an effort to notify these water users “until we have something to tell them.” I think it is better, for transparency, to have those parties at the table BEFORE decisions are made, rather than AFTER the decisions have been made.This is critical. I hope that you will attend the Board meeting Thursday, May 18, 7pm at Simpkins Center.

www.midcountygroundwater.org

SUPPORT THE APTOS/LA SELVA FIREFIGHTERS AT MAY 11 BOARD MEETING
Since last month’s action by Aptos / La Selva Firefighters Local 3535 to vote UNANIMOUS NO CONFIDENCE against Chief Jon Jones, and a massive show of community support at the April 13 Board meeting, there has been no action from the Board. Many citizens requested Chief Jones submit his resignation, and that the Board demand it.

The firefighters have sounded the alarm bell for the public to take action to protect the level of community service that the District is known and trusted to provide. Chief Jones has taken actions to cut funding and staffing such that critical services such as child car seat programs to educate new parents and fire protection inspections are gone. The surf rescue program, which saves lives, is under duress due to slashed funding for training. The busiest fire engine is routinely taken out of service to staff a small medical response unit as part of an agreement with the ambulance company (American Medical Response or AMR) that Chief Jones neglected to re-negotiate and now cannot for another 18 months. Dedicated seasoned high-level staff resigned early due to poor conditions and disrespect from Chief Jones.

The firefighters need your support. Attend the May 11 meeting, 7pm at the Aptos/La Selva firestation near Cabrillo College.

‘DO NOT RESIST’ FILM SCREENING LAST SUNDAY (4/30) AND DISCUSSION WITH MR. NORM STAMPER WAS A REAL EYE-OPENER.
Last weekend, the local American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Veterans for Peace, and the Resource Center for Non-violence teamed up to host Mr. Norm Stamper, former Seattle Chief of Police, and present the movie “Do Not Resist” documentary about this country’s police militarization. There was also a panel discussion that included Chief Stamper, Santa Cruz Councilmember Ms. Sandy Brown, journalist/broadcaster John Malkin, and attorney Ms. Samora Marion from the San Francisco Department of Police Accountability.

Chief Stamper resigned from his post in 2000 after his department pepper-sprayed a crowd of 50,000-60,000 non-violent protesters at the World Trade Organization Conference in Seattle. He apologized to the audience Sunday after the documentary “Do Not Resist” ended.

He explained that at the time he authorized the pepper spray, the importance of clearing the crowded intersection was paramount. “We did what we thought we had to do,” he said. It was not until later that he realized the action quickly turned a peaceful protest into a perilous riot.

The documentary focused on SWAT teams and the “pumped-up” tactics used during raids that often occur in the middle of the night. It discussed the danger of local law enforcement juridictions accepting the free “surplus” military equipment (BearCats, etc) just because it is offered by Homeland Security. It showed excerpts of Congressional inquiries bearing the fact that 36% of the “surplus” equipment is actually brand new. It discussed the lack of oversight by the federal government regarding how the equipment is used, even though there is a stipulation that the equipment CANNOT be used to control unruly crowds.

Other information in the documentary showed a disturbing use of blanket area facial recognition software that allows local law enforcement to identify any and all people in public and to track their movements. The company Persistent Surveillance Systems CEO stated that there would be mistakes but it didn’t really matter. Use of racial information to bolster Predatory Policing (PredPol) models is arguably unnecessary, said the CEO, but practiced any way. A Los Angeles police officer demonstrated the license plate reading and tracking technology already in use in patrol cars. It disturbed me to see law enforcement’s use of artificially-intelligent observation drones in public places being tested, with independent AI “decision-making” regarding use of lethal force if a “person of interest” is detected. These drones can fly over large areas in formation, and can communicate with one another for decision-making. “When people are in public places, they no longer have privacy rights” stated the officer explaining the technology.

Well, that was enough to tie my stomach in knots, but the movie’s end with a clip of Dave Grossman, the nation’s number one trainer for law enforcement, pumping up the conference crowd by referring to citizens speaking out against police use of lethal force as “slimey little things that must be squashed and crushed back into their holes and kept out of sight” threw me and half the theater audience over the edge. In the film, Mr. Grossman’s students stood and applauded.

Mr. Stamper’s ensuing discussion was rich. He advocates for citizens to demand change of the broken system that seems to have forgotten the motto “Protect and Serve”. He points out that it is unconstitutional for American military troops to use force against citizens on American soil, so the Department of Homeland Security offers free military equipment to local law enforcement jurisdictions and calls upon their SWAT to conduct initial drug raids and crowd control. The federal agents then move in for further action. Over 40% of America’s SWAT are freshly from active military duty.

“80% of the SWAT raids in this country are against nonviolent drug offenders,” he said. The film showed a SWAT team nearly raiding the wrong address, and then being angry because they could not find the weed listed in the warrant.

Mr. Stamper stated that there are …

THREE THINGS CITIZENS MUST DO TO CHANGE THE BROKEN SYSTEM:

Demand an end to the “Drug War“. When President Nixon declared the “War on Drugs” in 1971, it was really declaring a War on citizens. The U.S. government has spent $1.5 trillion in prosecution of mostly low-level drug offenses (chiefly cannabis). Mr. Stamper insists that this money would be better spent on treatments for addiction and mental illnesses.
Set and enforce NATIONAL STANDARDS for law enforcement procedural standards regarding use of force, requiring self discipline to refrain from weapons use at all. The National Standards will be used in conjunction with local jurisdictional additional restrictions crafted by grassroots efforts.
Put the Community back in a people’s police force, create a definition of community policing with the use of census tracks, election models, and include a citizen panel for making hiring policies, crisis management policies and civil demonstration policies. Create a partnership between the public and law enforcement that gives meaning to transparency and rebuilds trust.

Mr. Stamper encouraged the audience to become familiar with local law enforcement personnel by volunteering for ride-alongs. He said that law enforcement leaders need to begin each shift with the words “Nobody is going to die today” and actively work to change the police mentality that “I never back away from a fight” and “I always win”. David Grossman, the country’s #1 law enforcement trainer said however, “You are men and women of violence, and you will win by using superior violence.”

Before he returns to the peaceful San Juan Islands, Mr. Stamper will meet with Chiefs of Police and the County Sheriff to advocate for re-instatement of citizen police review commissions in the local law enforcement jurisdictions. What will you do?

“Sheriff Jim Hart” Jim.Hart@santacruzcounty.us
Kevin Vogel – Santa Cruz Chief of Police Contact: (831) 420-5810
Steve Walpole, Jr. – Scotts Valley Chief of Police Contact: (831) 440-5670
Terry McManus – Capitola Chief of Police Contact: (831) 475-4242 policechief@ci.capitola.ca.us
David Honda – Watsonville Chief of Police Contact: (831) 471-1151

MAKE ONE CALL. WRITE ONE LETTER. MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE.

DO SOMETHING TODAY.

Cheers, Becky Steinbruner

~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.

#121 Monday May 1, 2017

AGAINST NARCISSISM

It is thought by many that our current president manifests narcissistic behavior to a significant degree. Kim Jong-un, the Chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) and the supreme leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, commonly called North Korea, is another national leader who many think may be dangerously narcissistic.

Narcissistic behavior is not, generally, considered to be a good thing, and it is listed as potentially pathological in the DSM, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Here is my question for the day: “Can nations (apart from their leaders) also be narcissistic?”

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Ben Sasse seems to think so. Sasse is a Republican, and is the junior United States Senator from the state of Nebraska. He recently wrote an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal, “The Challenge for Our Disruptive Era.” Here is how he leads off his article:

I am a historian, and that usually means I’m a killjoy. When people say we’re at a unique moment in history, the historian’s job is to put things in perspective by pointing out that there is more continuity than discontinuity, that we are not special, that we think our moment is unique because we are narcissists and we’re at this moment. But what we are going through now—the past 20 or 30 years, and the next 20 or 30 years—really is historically unique. It is arguably the largest economic disruption in recorded human history. And our politics are not yet up to the challenge (emphasis added).

Sasse’s suggestion that “we are narcissists” (meaning the nation as a whole, as I read it), is worth thinking about. The implications are important.

Believing that we are a “special” nation can lead to some mightily destructive and counter-productive behavior. Claims that “we are special,” particularly when we are NOT that special, can get us into trouble.

Could Americans get their heads around the idea that we are NOT special? Is it possible that we are NOT (as our recently-appointed Ambassador to the United Nations has claimed) “the moral conscience of the world?”

Narcissism comes in various flavors, and while I’m concerned about how narcissism is manifesting itself in our current president, our national narcissism may be even more dangerous.

When a nation claims, through its leadership, that it is “special,” and is able to say what is “right” and what is “wrong” for the entire world, other nations may well see a degree of national narcissism that demands some kind of resistance and intervention, and that reaction to our national narcissism could put our nation, and all other nations, in great danger.

For instance, meet Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, and his claimed ability to bombard the West Coast of the United States with nuclear missiles.

Let’s not try to out-narcissist a narcissist! Kim Jong-un might just try to prove that he is more “special” than we are. Claims of American “exceptionalism,” claims of an American moral goodness not possessed by others, can easily become pathological.

As Nikki Haley’s claims make clear, we have been staring into the pool way too long!

~Gary is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor (20 years) and an attorney for indivuduals and community groups on land use and environmental issues. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. You can read his blog at www.gapatton.net

CLASSICAL DeCINZO. DeCinzo points out one of our many seasonal foibles, scroll down just a bit o’pages.

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. While Tim’s gone on vacation he’s gifted us with some of his more than classic and classy ” Subconscious Comics” which you’ll find down a few pages. As always, at TimEagan.com you will find his most recent Deep Cover, the latest installment from the archives of Subconscious Comics, and the ever entertaining Eaganblog.

PAUL WHITWORTH & MIKE RYAN IN AURORA THEATRE’S “TEMPLE” PLAY NOW!

This is the U.S. Premiere of the play about the very important OCCUPY LONDON action that happened in October 2011. Watch the trailer here…

It runs now through Sunday May 14. Get info and tickets here

SYLVIA RETURNS TO THE JEWEL THEATRE. This play by A.R.Gurney runs May 3-28. Juile James, Shaun Carroll, Diahanna Davidson and J.T.Holstrom have the leads.

Empty nesters Greg and Kate have moved back to Manhattan after twenty-two years in the suburbs. As “Kate tells Greg: “The dog phase of my life is definitely over.” But life has a way of giving you what you think you don’t want. Greg finds Sylvia, a street-smart lab/poodle mix, and brings her home. She promptly becomes a bone of contention between Greg and Kate, testing their marriage to hilarious and touching effect. For info and tickets go to www.JewelTheatre.net or call 831 425-7506.

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “You don’t have to be a sucker for movie about writers (like I am) to get a kick out of Their Finest, a sharply funny, if bittersweet story of movie scriptwriters concocting a morale-boosting epic in WWII-era London. Read all about it this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com).” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

THEIR FINEST. Bill Nighy and Gemma Arterton lead off in this British semi-comedy set during WWII as England is being bombed while they are making a film trying to encourage the USA to enter the war. Jeremy Irons is in it for about 8 seconds. The film waves back and forth between drama and comedy. You won’t remember much of it afterwards, but it’s one of the best out and around at the moment.

THE CIRCLE. This weak plotted pointless mess earned a 17 on Rotten Tomatoes… I would have given it maybe 18 because it was fun to see the making fun or evil of the Apple empire in Cupertino where I’ve visited a number of times. Tom Hanks does his usual job or being the perfect Steve Jobs – Mark Zuckerberg type guy. Emma Watson proves again that she can act…most of the time. Friends tell me that in the book Emma does not turn out to be a nice girl as she does in this flick but joins Hanks in trying to rule the world by controlling all personal data on everybody in the world.

BORN IN CHINA. In 1952 my photography teacher in Pasadena Norm Wakeman shot hours of footage for Walt Disneys’ Water Birds. Coincidentally, he shot the water Ouezel footage up here on Swanton Road at The Big Creek falls!! He told me at the time just how severe Disney Nature films are anthropomorphized and edited/faked/dubbed to make them into the glossy, sweetened versions we still see in Born In China”. The photography is only stunning, amazing, and beautiful. Pandas, Snow leopards and cutesy monkeys are the main feature…if you can make it through all the added verbal poop.

COLOSSAL. Nacho Vigolondo directed it….and that should be a clue..He’s a wild Spanish young director who did Timecrimes and Open Windows. Anne Hathaway tries very hard to make this into maybe a comedy or possibly a sci-fi fantasy, but the studio and the director were against her. It has Godzilla monsters under her control, it’s got her battleing a serious drinking problem, and a very brutal boyfriend who actually beats her up a few times. I can’t imagine anyone liking this stuff, but it’s strictly up to you!!!

LOST CITY OF Z. A pointless and true plot based on a book about a Brit who keeps trying to find what he thinks is a lost civilization deep in the Amazon jungle. Its 2 hours and 20 minutes long, but you’ll think it’s longer. It has everything jungles always have except Tarzan…and suspense. The hero leaves his wife and kids at home for years on end and you’ll wish you had stayed there too. The true name of the hero only adds to the boring trek… Percy Fawcett.

THE PROMISE. Oscar Isaac and Christian Bale lead this sad story of how the Germans under the Kaisers rule watched and supported the Turks back in 1915 as they murdered the Armenian segment of their population. ( 1.5 million Armenians). For some unknown reason James Cromwell has a two minute role and Jean Reno is also on screen near the end of the film. IF you do go, see if you feel like Christian Bale who plays an Associated Press newsman somehow is too big for the screen. Sounds odd but check it out. There is a very serious love interest dealing with tradition, religion, fidelity that seems to offset the too real tragedy of the Armenian slaughter. The Republic of Turkey still denies all this ever happened…more of the insanity of world politics. Ends Thursday 5/4.

GET OUT. Rotten Tomatoes gives this one an amazing 99%. Plus, it’s a huge box office hit !!! That’s surprising to everybody because it’s a low budget, semi horror-comedy, black and white theme film. Probably released in February because that’s when they release films that aren’t expected to make much money. Catherine Keener is about the only actor whose name any of us might know. It’s a white girl brings home a black boyfriend topic. Only it goes into zones and situations that will amaze and get you laughing!! Wild, inventive, new, fine acting, twisted…you’ll love it.

YOUR NAME. This beautiful Japanese inspired animated film makes Disney animation look like Walter and Margaret Keane’s “Big Eye” paintings in San Francisco in the 60’s. It is drawn with such skill and a sense of what animation can create that even Pixar should hang their well-financed heads in shame. The story behind Your Name is complex and thought provoking. Centering on youth and growing up, and sex changes, and ghosts, and family… it is just brilliant. See the subtitled version to get the full Japanese sensitive touch.

GIFTED. Hollywood stars Chris Evans (who usually plays Captain America) and Octavia Spencer along with British star Lindsay Duncan lead the cast of this feel good saga of a 7 year old girl who was born into a mathematical genius family and who becomes another mathematical genius. It’s too soapy, too cute, too unbelievable, too contrived to be a good movie. I can’t think of any solid reason to recommend it to any group except to families who may have a genius child and are wondering what to do OR not do, with her.

GOING IN STYLE. Another tired re-hash is Going In Style starring Morgan Freeman-79, Alan Arkin-83, Michael Caine-84, Ann Margret –76, and Christopher Lloyd – 79 as the same grumpy old geezers who decide to rob a bank. That these actors would align themselves with Steven Mnuchin who was the National Finance Manager for the presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump, and who Trump just appointed as Secretary of The Treasury is a shame. The first version was in 1979 and starred now long gone stars George Burns, Art Carney and Lee Strasberg. Making our senior citizens the butts of jokes is about as funny as Mantan Moreland, Aunt Jemina, Gordo, and any overused stereotypes that come to mind.

UNFORGETTABLE. Katherine Heigl plays the absolutely perfect ex-wife who haunts, plots, and damned near demolishes the new relationship her husband is having with Rosario Dawson. It’s more like a 1940’s B movie plot that we’ve seen too often. Lies, deceit, trust, sex, stabbing, and who loves the 10 year old perfect daughter most is about the entire story. You don’t need to see it any more times.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Total 100% Disney sights, sounds and drech. You couldn’t possibly tell the songs from this Disney production from any of the last 30 years of Disney product songs. A wasted cast includes Emma Watson, Kevin Kline, Ewan MacGregor, Ian McKellan, Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci, and Audra McDonald. BUT most of these actors play the roles of animated tea pots and candlesticks. There is or are no reasons to see this re-hash of every commercial triumph the Disney Factory has turned out for more than 50 years. And the kids will probably love it.

LOGAN. Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart lower themselves considerably by playing the lead roles in this last of the Wolverine series. I’ve tried hard and failed to stop thinking that this is exactly the kind of film I’ll bet that Donald Trump likes. Even though the Wolverine (Jackman) is a comic book character and the special effects are just about 90% of the picture, the cruelty, killing, blood, evil, are all so typical of today’s biggest boxoffice hits, it’s too over the top for me. No plot, no emotions, no humanity…just more blood and more killing. Even the ending when Wolverine is in a stone covered grave I kept worrying and watching to see if some of the stones didn’t start shaking, meaning we’ll be tortured by an even worse Wolverine # 10. Yes Jackman has played the part nine times!!! Go – if you like Donald Trump type movies.

FATE OF THE FURIOUS. Just about everybody who watches or reads the news knows that the Fate of The Furious (better title “Fart of the Furious” as in exhaust) movie topped almost every box office record ever set. Vin Diesel (real name Mark Sinclair) was born in Alameda in 1967 and has been the lead in all eight exact copies of one of the dumbest plots ever filmed. To see such stars as Helen Mirren sink to a three-minute role, Charlize Theron half act some part as a Russian killer is just sad. There’s a street race in Havana and somehow it ends with cars taking on the Russians in some sort of war. The USA reaction and most of the world’s reaction to such a crap of a film is an embarrassing statement of our collective taste. Dwayne Johnson is in it too but he is always in these sorts of things.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer, (live only or archived for two weeks… (See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. . On May 2nd UCSC Film Professor emeritus Earl Jackson talks about films and his Asian teaching experiences in Taiwan on my turn at Pledge Drive night!!… May 9th has director Kinan Valdez discussing the traditions behind the new version of the “Zoot Suit” play opening May 26-June 4 at UCSC. Kinan is followed by artistic director Anita Monga coming down here to talk about The San Francisco Silent Film Festival (June1 -4). Cruzio co- founder Chris Neklason tells us about Net Neutrality and the Cruzio position on May 16. Then Phil Collins from The New Music Works talks about their wild new fun raiser. Bookshop Santa Cruz features its top Short Story Winners on May 30. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always and only at bratton@cruzio.com

I can spend way, waaay too long watching these kinds of craft videos. Now, where did I put my gluegun?

NEW UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVE FEATURE. Stuff changes at KZSC a lot. If you missed either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… http://www.radiofreeamerica.com/dj/bruce-bratton You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 9 years here’s a chronological list of some past broadcasts. Such a wide range of folks such as Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, and Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011.

QUOTES. “MAY”

“Lots of people go mad in January. Not as many as in May, of course. Nor June. But January is your third most common month for madness”, Karen Joy Fowler,

“May: the lilacs are in bloom. Forget yourself”, Marty Rubin

“At last came the golden month of the wild folk– honey-sweet May, when the birds come back, and the flowers come out, and the air is full of the sunrise scents and songs of the dawning year”, Samuel Scoville Jr.,

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Snail Mail: Bratton Online
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