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DATELINE October 31, 2016
DAUGHTER HILLARY & NEW YORK CITY MAYOR BILL DI BLASIO. (See photo)
On her last business trip to NYC my daughter Hillary Bratton almost literally bumped into New York City Mayor Bill Di Blasio. Knowing he was working hard for Hillary Clinton she asked if she could take a picture. As you can see, he did more than that. She said he’s easy going, kind and has a great sense of humor. (He’s also 6’5″.. she’s 5’7″). I looked up his political bio…you should too. Amazing, and some incredibly progressive principles. Plus a long record of working with and for Hillary Clinton. He’d be a great president, or maybe a vice president. Read his Wikipedia info. Wish we had local candidates with his record.
(Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton was 13 years old when we named my daughter Hillary, and quite unknown at the time…even in Berkeley).
| WILD TURKEY SOUNDS. I just hadn’t heard how a wild turkey sounds…have you?? |
| GHOSTLY AND BEAUTIFUL SOUNDS WITH MUSIC. It’s called “Flowers For Body Snatchers”. Listen quietly, and even with my small desk speakers it’s captivating….and beautiful. |
NO ON “D” DEMONSTRATION AND THE MONEY BEHIND THE MEASURE.
Highway Expansion Is Not Healthy
No on D Campaign Asks Voters to Consider the Impact of Big Money in Local Politics
During the last week of the campaign season, The No on D group, Widening Won’t Work, will hold a public demonstration in front of one of the major corporate donors to Measure D, the Palo Alto Medical Foundation that contributed $25,000 to the Yes on D campaign Rick Longinotti, chair of the group, says, “This is the most expensive Santa Cruz County ballot campaign in memory. Contributions to Yes on D total more than $380,000. We believe it is important for County residents to understand who is behind the financing of this measure.”
Public records show who is behind the Yes on D campaign:
- Over half the contributions come from the construction industry and unions.
- Half of all contributions come from outside the county.
- 97.8% of Yes on D funds comes from large contributions of $1000 and over.
- There are no legal limits to campaign contributions for ballot measures.
Measure D is a 30-year half-cent sales tax, expected to raise revenue of $500 million dollars, more than $100 million of which will fund expanding Highway 1 for auxiliary lanes (lanes that end at the next offramp).
According to Longinotti, “No amount of special interest money can alter the conclusion of last year’s Caltrans report that the widening project won’t relieve congestion.”
Longinotti explains why the No on D group also choose Graniterock for a demonstration on Tuesday November 1st. “I spent over twenty years working in electrical construction, and I disliked working on projects that increased energy consumption. Let’s put people to work on transportation projects that offer real solutions to congestion and help us break out of our dependency on fossil fuels.”
On Friday, Nov. 4th at noon at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (Sutter Health) the No on D campaign will present a copy of the book “Urban Sprawl and Public Health” to the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, at which has contributed $25,000 to Yes on D. PAMF offices are located at 2025 Soquel Avenue by Capitola Road across from Jeffrey’s Restaurant. The book describes the enormous health impacts of automobile dependency, including injuries and deaths from collisions, chronic asthma due to air pollution, obesity, and diabetes connected to the decline of walking, and the crumbling of neighborly connection due to the spatial isolation of auto-dependent communities.
TOP CONTRIBUTORS TO YES ON D. Click here to see such familiar names as PAMF, Seaside Corp, SEIU, Land Trust, Graniterock, Redtree, even Sorensons, Colligan, Physicians Medical Group, Plantronics, and on and on…
Source: Santa Cruz County Elections Department
| California Alliance for Jobs – Rebuild California Sacramento | $50,000.00 |
| Northern California Carpenters Regional Council Issues PAC Oakland | $25000.00 |
| Plantronics Santa Cruz, CA | $25000.00 |
| California Alliance for Jobs – Rebuild California Sacramento | $25000.00 |
| Palo Alto Medical Foundation for Healthcare, Research and Education Santa Cruz | $25000.00 |
| CA Legislative Board United Transportation Union Sacramento | $20000.00 |
| Service Employees Int’l Local 521 Issues PAC Sacramento | $20,000.00 |
| Santa Cruz Seaside Company Santa Cruz | $15000.00 |
| Operating Engineers Local 3 Issues PAC Alameda | $10,000.00 |
| John Colligan Capitola | $10000.00 |
| Land Trust of Santa Cruz County Santa Cruz | $10000.00 |
| Graniterock Watsonville | $10000.00 |
| United Contractors San Ramon | $10000.00 |
| Northern California District Council of Laborers Issues PAC Sacramento | $10000.00 |
| Granite Construction Watsonville | $5,000.00 |
| Santa Cruz County Business Council Freedom | $5,000.00 |
| Allen Property Group Aptos | $7,500.00 |
| Sorensen’s Resort Hope Valley | $5,000.00 |
| Redtree Partners LP Santa Cruz | $5000.00 |
| David Lyng & Associates, Inc. Capitola | $5000.00 |
| Physicians Medical Group of Santa Cruz Scotts Valley | $5000.00 |
| Geo. H. Wilson, Inc. Santa Cruz | $5000.00 |
| Reiter Watsonville | $5000.00 |
| David Olson, Inc. Watsonville | $2500.00 |
| Don Chapin Company Salinas | $2500.00 |
| Joseph J. Albanese, Inc. Santa Clara | $2500.00 |
| Rebele Aptos | $2500.00 |
| RRM Design San Luis Obispo | $2500.00 |
Reminder… Yes, I printed these before and the rest of need reminding…tell your friends…
ARBORETUM…Tom Karwin wrote and sent this in. (For still more details listen to our interview that happened on Universal Grapevine Tuesday November 1st. It’s archived for two weeks).
A New Approach for the UCSC Arboretum
Tom Karwin, October 2016
The UCSC Arboretum began when the UCSC campus began, just over fifty years ago. A favored project of the founding chancellor, Dean McHenry,theoriginal director, Professor Ray Collett (who received only a tiny stipend and a very small budget), and an enthusiastic cadre of volunteers from the campus faculty and staff and the community. This was an ambitious project for volunteers to build a nationally important collection of trees and shrubs at California’s largest public garden. The following years saw significant developments: the collection grew to national prominence, as expected; paid staff took over most of the work; and expenses (for salaries, mostly) grew beyond the reach of vigorous fund-raising effortsand the minimal funds budgeted by the campus.
Consequently, the Arboretum has a large and growing debt. Despite vigorous ongoing fund-raising efforts, the debt keeps growing and the Arboretum is unable to meet fully the ongoing expenses, or to repay the debt, other than through a dramatic and hypothetical increase in philanthropy.
The university can’t just “write off” the debt, which is real money that could only be deducted from the academic program. Closing the Arboretum seems very unlikely. It is campus property, and to abandon (or bulldoze) a highly regarded plant collection would be both a great embarrassment to the university and an offense to science.
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BOOKSHOP SANTA CRUZ’S BIG “50” Friday, November 4. For way beyond 30 years our Hot Damn String Band has played for Bookshop Santa Cruz’s Birthdays. We played right next to the rocking horse when the “Shop” was across the street. One year we even played downstairs with the textbooks. Most of those years writer Jim Houston played string bass and sang with our group. We also played over in front of Neal’s house on a flatbed truck along with Tom Scribner and Lacy J.Dalton to entertain hundreds of customers who brought in their own books to donate to the “Shops” recent loss after the ’89 earthquake. We’ll be back again this year on Friday night with Annie Steinhart on fiddle, Jim Reynolds on guitar, Dave Magram banjo, Dore Coller mandolin, Gary Cunningham on string bass, and if all goes well… I’ll be playing washboard. You should be there, we start at 7:30. Then around 8 pm. there’ll be some talks, best wishes, and I think Sam Farr will be there too. It’s a big deal for any bookstore nowadays to have a 50th Birthday Party. The Hot Damn String Band will play again right after the speeches, free cake and ice cream and glorious frivolity. Next year the Bookshop might even mention the name of our band in their promotions!!! (I think the Damn may offend them???)
CYCLOCROSSED THE LINE
Some things clearly cross over into the profane. The Space Billboard scheme from 1993 comes to mind. This plan to launch into low orbit a Mylar, illuminated billboard, of the apparent size and brightness as the moon and be visible from Earth, thankfully never got off the ground. Of course some found it a fun idea and advertisers drooled but for most people it was a desecration of something sacred. This analogy occurred to me as I watched the transformation of peaceful Lighthouse Field into a cyclocross course for a bike race involving 250 Elite, Masters and Junior competitors from 9am until 4pm on October 22nd.
At first I had trouble figuring out what was happening as vans of people in the Field laid out yards of blue tape, steel poles and green plastic netting along the trails. All sorts of possibilities crossed my mind, none involving a bike race. Like many others, I have come to accept as given, this peaceful oasis of nature in the midst of an increasingly urbanized Santa Cruz. Of course Lighthouse Field has been given a bad rap of late due to the neglect by the State Parks to do their duty to keep out campers, keep the Field clean and enforce the laws to protect people and wildlife. When pressed, supervising rangers claim a lack of resources and budget cuts for the neglect but somehow they managed to have two rangers in attendance at the cyclocross race. That’s two more than I’ve seen in the Field in years.
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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).
NEWS FROM RANCHO DEL MAR SHOPPING CENTER…ANOTHER TWO BITE THE DUST…
Those of you who frequent the Rancho del Mar Shopping Center in Aptos have no doubt noticed an increasing number of empty stores. The closing of the Aptos Cinema last winter got the attention of many, and prompted a high number of citizen calls and e-mails to local publications and the Second District County Supervisor. Well, in the past two weeks, two more stores emptied out and are now vacant. That makes the Center about 50% vacant. Aptos Bike Station relocated to Capitola. Kentucky Fried Chicken is gone. What will become of the existing merchants? What does the current property owner, Terra Mar Centers (based in Carlsbad, CA) intend to to with the Rancho del Mar Shopping Center?
Last April, representatives of Terra Mar held a community meeting at the Seascape Resort to update the public and gather input. CEO Mr. Bruce Walton was surprised by the 300+ people who attended and were very vocal about what they hoped to have and NOT have come to the Aptos Community. Mr. Walton explained that Terra Mar Center had purchased the Rancho del Mar Center in 2014, along with 31 other shopping centers. He said there would probably not be major changes made to the Center, mostly modernizing existing facilities and making the Center more accessible for those with mobility disabilities. The theater would probably not return, he said, because Terra Mar had not been able to locate a replacement tenant for such a venue. Many in the audience had suggestions for entertainment tenants and other types of businesses they would like to see in the Rancho del Mar Center.
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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).
PATTON’S PROGRAM. From Gary’s Two Worlds website…
#301…”SOME GOOD ADVICE FROM TOM”
Tom Hayden died on Sunday, October 23rd. In the obituary published in the Tuesday, October 25th edition of the San Francisco Chronicle, Tom was quoted as offering the following advice: Mr. Hayden maintained that a citizen was obliged not only to vote, but also to disagree with those he had voted for. “Dissent has been crucial to positive social change throughout our history,” Mr. Hayden said. “The American Revolution, abolition, women’s suffrage, the labor movement, the environmental movement. Where would we be as a country without that kind of dissent?”
I think Tom is dispensing some very good advice here, with his observation that we may well need to disagree with those politicians for whom we have voted. In that spirit, and having already voted for Hillary Clinton, let me suggest that there is some wisdom to be gleaned from a commentary published in the October 22, 2016 edition of The New York Times, and republished in my hometown newspaper, the Santa Cruz Sentinel, on October 25th, the date I read that Hayden obituary in the Chronicle.
The commentary I am citing, titled “The Dangers of Hillary Clinton,” was written by Ross Douthat, a columnist whom Wikipedia properly characterizes as a “conservative voice.”
Below, I am providing a lengthy excerpt from Douthat’s commentary, providing a warning that I believe is consistent with what Tom Hayden has said about disagreeing with those candidates for whom we have voted.
In the Democratic Primary Election, Hayden did support Clinton over Bernie Sanders, to the distress of people like me, who were hoping that Sanders would be the candidate to go up against Mr. Trump. I think it’s important, after Hillary Clinton is elected, as it seems ever more likely that she will be, not to lose sight of Hayden’s warning. We may well need to disagree with Clinton as President, and to oppose her policies, particularly on the issues of war and peace.
Here is Douthat (with my running commentary inserted):
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~Gary is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor (20 years) and an attorney who represents indivuduals and community groups on land use and environmental issues. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. Gary has his own website, Two Worlds at www.gapatton.net
(Brattonote…Tom Hayden and Bill Monning were guests on my Universal Grapevine October 30, 2008).
CLASSICAL DeCINZO. “Like father like daughters and sons” see DeCinzo a few pages below.
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “Operation Obama” 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.
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “The Japanese anime Miss Hokusai, is strictly for fans of the genre, often great-looking but woefully uneven in the storytelling department. But find out why its subject, O-Ei Hokusai, daughter of the maser 19th Century painter, and unsung artist on her own right, is worth discovering, 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.
Due to a mysterious malady which put me out of order for a few days, I didn’t see any new movies this week. AND or but…I want to suggest a much better alternative than any films currently on our big, local screens.
It’s watching a number of a specific, great, exciting, relatively unknown HBO Latin America Series. It’s been around for years and there are dozens of these series that rival or surpass any American TV series…even “The Sopranos”. There are cheap ways to subscribe to HBO instead of linking to it on the highly expensive Comcast (which I do!!)
The acting,the photography, the plots are far ahead of the typical fare we are used to. The Series have been filmed in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Argentina (and are all subtitled). Comedies, thrillers, action, family dramas…everything. Here are my favorites which I’ll compare with any of your favorites: Capadocia. Praemar. Epitafios. Sr. Avila. O Negocio. Profuegos. Magnifica 70. Mandrake. Carnavale. Right now I’m in the middle of a new one, Dios. Inc.
Some series are two seasons long, others run way up to 5 seasons and more. Brilliant stories, and even the opening and closing photography behind the credits are amazing.
DENIAL. A subject like denying the holocaust has about as much relevance as alien kidnappings, the earth is flat, and denying climate change. And this is a very serious film starring Rachel Weisz, Tom Wilkinson (one of his very best roles), and the evil and believable Timothy Spall. Courtroom, Auschwitz, anti-semitism, Adolf Hitler, and it’s all true. It’s full of suspense, and you’ll think a lot about a Trump- run USA.
A MAN NAMED OVE. A Swedish film with subtitles. Whew…93 on Rotten Tomatoes!!! It’s worth every tomato too. The film centers on 59 year old Ove and his attempts at suicide. He fails many times and dreams back to his near perfect and lovely wife who died, and why he wants to join her. He’s beyond crabby, he’s angry, mean and yet, and yet, there’s something so magnetic and powerful and redeeming in him that you’ll watch and wait for his every move. It’s a wonderful film…and I think he’s older than 59, and I remember 59 fairly well. Rolf Lassgard who plays Ove is actually 61 and has been in many films and even played Puck in a production of Midsummer Night’s Dream!!
HELL OR HIGH WATER. Jeff Bridges, Ben Foster and Chris Pine make this one wonderful, exciting, involving, and well acted film. Go see it ASAP. Cops and bank robbers in Texas, internal conflicts, evil bank laws and practices, and ethics and morals are all integrated. It’s hard t o believe that “Hollywood” could still make a film this good after all these years of junk.
SULLY. Tom Hanks, Laura Linney and Aaron Eckhardt do their dependable, professional jobs in this formulac Hollywood treu life drama. Plenty of tension, a great true story that we knew most of already. It’s how airplane Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger landed that passenger plane in the Hudson river and saved everybody’s lives. Speaking of airplanes, you might t hink about right wing director of the film Clint Eastwood and that the executive producer of Suicide Squad and Sully is Steven Mnuchin who is Donald Trump’s finance director, if it matters who you give money to!
THE DRESSMAKER. Kate Winslet leads the cast which includes Liam Hemsworth and a snarly, memorable, mugging Judy Davis.I don’t know if it’s supposed to be a comedy or tragedy set in an Australian cowboy town. It’s foolsh, non-sensical, and has no reason to exist. Stay home instead.
THE ACCOUNTANT. Ben Affleck plays an autistic criminal bookeeper who is also a ruthless killer, and yes, that makes as little sense as does 98 % of this murder filled mess of a movie.
Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons, Jeffrey Tambor and even John Lithgow all do what they can in such a miscast cast that makes you feel like you’re watching an audition session, that nobody cares if they get the parts or not. You won’t believe the plot, or the acting, or the fact that you paid money to see this flick. ps. Jack Reacher is better…if you like these type flicks.
JACK REACHER: NEVER GO BACK. It’s actually one of the better action –merciless- blood filled- escapist movies. There’s a semblence of a plot that makes even Tom Cruise seem human at times!!! It only got a 39 on Rotten Tomatoes so maybe Cruise’s Scientology friends haven’t gone yet!!! The skimpy plot has maybe a daughter for Cruise, several incredibly manic mindless, brutal killings BUT some scenes are very exciting. But you must really like this type of film before paying to see it.
GIRL ON A TRAIN. Emily Blunt stars in this heavily/crazily adapted book to film release. You’ll figure it all out about three-quarters of the way through the flash back-fast forward sections. What’s also a problem is that (on purpose) some of the women look like each other! Ex-wives, murder, drinking, cliches galore. I think you’d be better off reading the book. I’ll bet most of your friends have.
MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (take # 3). This movie should be sued for using the same title as the earlier classics starring in 1960 Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Colburn, Robert Vaughn and of course Eli Wallich. Then there’s the genuine Akira Kurosawa classic “Seven Samurai” from 1956 (which both of above films ripped off), that starred Toshiro Mifune. The new one has Denzel Washington as the big honcho and he’s about as impressive a leader as Pee Wee Herman would be, but he’s not as funny. Don’t go.
MRS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN. Tim Burton who was born in Burbank in 1958 has made cinema greatness by directing Beetlejuice, Pee Wee Herman, Edward Scissorhands, James and The Giant Peach. Miss Peregrine is a mess, and unfathomable, confusing, pointless. And even sad and painful..DO NOT TAKE OR SEND CHILDREN…it is not a children’s movie, or yours either. Besides all that, the film is heavily critized for having one very evil character in it…played by the one Black actor in the cast Samuel L. Jackson.
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. November 1st has Georgia Johnson and Connor Jang Editors-in-Chief of City on a Hill Press talking about their newspaper after which gardening expert Tom Karwin discusses UCSC Arboretum issues. Voting Night Nov.8 we have former Mayor Celia Scott discussing politics and elections the first half hour. Then, former Santa Cruz County Supervisor Gary Patton also talks about local and national elections, issues, and politics. Nov. 15 has Deborah Muth talking about her new book on Scotts Valley history. Attorney Bob Taren returns that same November 15 to share views on THAT election. Christina Waters guests November 22 talking about her new book. After Christina, Sean Michael Conley discusses genealogy and their local chapter functions. Sean Van Sommeran emerges on Nov. 29 to tell us about the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation. Keeping traditional, The winners of Bookshop Santa Cruz Young Writers Contest read their entries the full hour on December 6. 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
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This is great. Joss Whedon has a thing called Save The Day, encouraging people to vote. 🙂 |
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 Monsnippetsga, 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. “FLOODS”
“The only thing that stops God from sending another flood is that the first one was useless“, Nicolas Chamfort
” The flood of print has turned reading into a process of gulping rather than savoring”, Raymond Chandler
“Are you upset little friend? Have you been lying awake worrying? Well, don’t worry…I’m here. The flood waters will recede, the famine will end, the sun will shine tomorrow, and I will always be here to take care of you”. Charlie Brown to Snoopy
“The flood of money that gushes into politics today is a pollution of democracy”, Theodore White
COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS. Subscriptions: Click and enter the box in the upper right hand corner of each Column. You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!) Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!
Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Direct email: Bratton@Cruzio.com
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BEST OF VINTAGE STEVEN DeCINZO.
Deep Cover by Tim Eagan.
