Bratton… Webmistress says take a breath… Greensite… on 831 Almar St…. Steinbruner… about the non-library, water, water, and passenger rail?… Hayes… Power and Pitfalls of Experiential Learning … Patton… OMG. Really?… Matlock… Cheerios…friendship obligation…none of (y)our business… Eagan… Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover… Webmistress serves you… Princess Bride behind the scenes Quotes on… “Take a Break”
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Dateline: November 20, 2024
JUMPING IN TO SAY… Webmistress here, just reminding everyone that it’s ok to take a break when it feels like whole world is going crazy. Stop and breathe. Go for a walk if you can! I have started doing this every morning, which is an entirely new way of life for me! I had no idea we had so many dogs in our neighborhood… One foot in front of the other, life goes on.
EMILIA PEREZ. Netflix movie. 
(7.3 IMDB). An amazing mix of musical and drama like I’ve never seen before. Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez take leads in this Mexico City mystery that flips between sex changes and family values. We’ll see more of this film around Oscar time as Netflix continues to sell it. DO not miss it.
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.
BILLIONAIRE ISLAND. Netflix series. (6.3 IMDB). We learn from this drama that Norway is the world’s salmon producer. Because of this there’s a ruthless woman rival who works very hard and only partially honestly to take the Salmon farm and business from her. It also tells us the difference between farmed and wild salmon. There’s lots of rich people living their lives with golf and generally focusing on making more money. Interesting but not compelling.
NOBODY WANTS THIS. Netflix series (8.1 IMDB). Adding a so called “romantic comedy” is rare for BrattonOnline but this one has a 8.1 IMDB AND THAT’S RARE. It stars Kristin Bell as the shiksa (now 44 years old) and Adam Brody as the Rabbi. It’s all in L.A. and it’s fast paced and focuses on the relationship between LA Angelenos and the large and influential Jewish population. Plus the gay population gets their share of the comedy in their 25 minute programs.
Just a reminder…
SLOW HORSES. Apple series. (8.2 IMDB) There’s been five seasons or series of Slow Horses so far and the reviews are stupendously great and RARE. Slow Horses is British slang for “slough house”. And Slough House is where the wild, clever talking M15 British agents who have made professional mistakes hang out between cases. Gary Oldman is the lead and he’s a perfect fit as are Kristin Scott Thomas and Jonathan Price. Set aside some down time and watch this one. It’s been nominated for 9 Emmy awards.
CIVIL WAR. Max movie (7.1 IMDB) Has some fine scenes, but falls apart en toto. Kirsten Dunst, Jessie Plemons and Wagner Moura lead the cast. It really is about a new civil war right here in the USA. Reporters, photographers and politicians all race around headed to Washington D.C. to talk to and change how the president is thinking. Texas and California withdraw from the union and more hell breaks out. Watch it only if this seems and looks like a nightmare to you.
THE DELIVERANCE. Netflix movie. (5.1 IMDB) 
Glenn Close leads the first part of this haunted house re-hash and she does a fine job. Then all the other characters turn it into the old Hollywood scary movie vehicle and take the thrills and fun out of it. As apparently required nowadays the racial issues are thrown in to give us some thoughtful stuff to focus on. Avoid this one.
THE PERFECT COUPLE. Netflix series. (6.6 IMDB) It takes place on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts. Nicole Kidman, Live Schreiber and Dakota Fanning are the lead stars. A big and important wedding is about to happen and there’s a murder of all things. So the movie is all focused on whodunit! Suspicious darts are thrown and there really isn’t much of a surprise left to care about. It’s about a blah movie and you’ve seen it many, many times before.
BREATHLESS. Net series. (6.3 IMDB) This Spanish production centers and details the business side of running a hospital. It deals with, and carefully exploits the union angles of labor managing, it revolves around the constant conflict between medicine and money. There doesn’t seem to be much difference between Mexican and United States in hospital operations
KAOS. Netflix series. (7.5 IMDB). 
Even after viewing this one I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be a comedy or a semi serious religious Greek drama. Jeff Goldblum and David Thewlis play their darndest at being Zeus and Hades stomping around Olympus trying to influence any survivors who’ll listen to them. Read a good book instead.
SLOW HORSES. Apple series. (8.2 IMDB) There’s been five seasons or series of Slow Horses so far and I never watched any of them. Slow Horses is British slang for “slough house”. And Slough House is where the wild, clever talking M15 British agents who have made professional mistakes hang out between cases. Gary Oldman is the lead and he’s a perfect fit as are Kristin Scott Thomas and Jonathan Price. Set aside some down time and watch this one. It’s been nominated for 9 Emmy awards.
MONSIEUR SPADE. Netflix series. (6.9 IMDB) Clive Owen is either paying off a bet or simply forgot how to act…he plays at being the Dashiell Hammett character Sam Spade in this political drama set in France in 1963. He lives in the south of France and is supposed to be 60. A priest, an investigator, a mess of a cast all looking for a young girl named Teresa, don’t even think about this one!
HORIZON: AN AMERICAN SAGA. HBO series (6.8 IMDB) Kevin Costner (who must have had some lifting of face) not only directed this saga but is one of many featured costars along with Sienna Miller, and Luke Wilson. There is a murder in Montana during our civil war and the movie features a large focus on “Native Americans” being careful to respect them as important humans in a rare drama.
THE WATCHERS. Max movie.(5.7 IMDB) An incredibly puzzling movie set in Ireland with Dakota Fanning delivering a parrot to a more than unbelievable and invisible bunch of humans hiding out in an impossible part of a forest. Full of legends, myths, and puzzles, it’s worth your time.
AMERICAN MURDER: Laci Peterson. Netflix series. (7.0 IMDB) It’s a documentary about a murder that happened in 2002. Laci Peterson was murdered and her husband Scott was convicted, and more than 20 years later he and his family are still working to disprove his involvement. It takes place in Berkeley and Modesto and gives us some concept of how big a role the media plays. There’s more documentaries being produced on the Peterson case and we are advised to wait for a better version.
November 18, 2024
Burying the Heart of Santa Cruz
The pace of new high-rise projects in the city of Santa Cruz accelerates to a point where it is hard to keep track. My photo captures the massive equipment being used to move fill into the space between the outside levee and the Riverfront building under construction on Front Street. I recall the Planning Commission meetings when this project was touted and approved. The newly filled space will serve as a splendid linear public park we were told. Time will tell. Concepts and reality may or may not align.
Perhaps you have attended one of the recent zoom meetings offered by the city for the pre-planning stage of new high-rise projects. These are done in conjunction with Workbench, which appears to be developer du jour. I recently attended the zoom for 831 Almar St. I had to leave early so could not stay to ask a question or comment, but I did listen to the recording made available on the Planning Department project website. The zoom meeting was well-run by the city planner who recorded public comments and gave plenty of time for those members of the public out of the sixty-eight in attendance who chose to speak or write questions. Councilmember Renee Golder, whose district includes the project, submitted important questions of concern regarding the loss of industrial land and tailoring the housing for UCSC students.
The project architect, Mark Primack gave an overview on why this site, zoned for industrial, is perfect for a six-story mixed-use housing project. According to Primack, “zoning is always behind the times.” He omitted to mention that the return on investment for housing outstrips any other land use. The far west side includes some of the last remaining industrial zoned land in the city. There was a time when it was deemed critical to preserve industrial lands for major worksites; to avoid developing a city with all housing and little else.
In 2008, the live/work project on Delaware, on industrial land west of Swift St. was approved by council. This was a zoning compromise. A few years later, the developer came back to council and begged to be let off the hook for the “work” part of the project. He got his way. More recently, that land has been approved for UCSC student and staff housing on a 5-2 council vote. So much for preserving scarce industrial lands. For 831 Almar, zoned industrial, Workbench tried to make ceramics, breweries and chocolate factories that sell cakes pass as industrial enterprises.
There was a time when developers had to give lip service to supplying housing for essential workers to gain council approval for their projects. Never mind that such housing turned out to be mostly occupied by students, the illusion was necessary. No longer. The Food Bin is presented as future student housing, the Delaware project is approved for 600 students and now 831 Almar with a projected occupancy of 400 to 600 students markets itself as providing students flexibility in housing. With an expanding UCSC, developers can assure investors of top tier returns.
To promote this project, there’s some fiddling with the facts. According to architect Primack, “the city has an ongoing battle with the university for them to provide half the housing that students need on campus. That’s the limit that the city set.” Wait on, the city has set no such limit! The city, and particularly the community, would very much like UCSC to provide housing for most of its students on campus, not just fifty percent. That would sure lower rents in the city!
With respect to off-campus housing, the 2008 Comprehensive Settlement Agreement states that,” UCSC agrees not to construct high-density off-campus housing in the city unless consistent with city zoning.”
So that is what Primack meant by “zoning is always behind the times.” With developers eager to construct student housing once the land is re-zoned, we can forget about workforce housing. No wonder the city council avoided answering the Grand Jury when it required a response to whether inclusionary housing was occupied by residents and local workers as mandated by city code. It all makes sense in a sick sort of way.
| 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. |
THIS IS NOT A LIBRARY AND SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN BUILT WITH MEASURE S LIBRARY BOND MONEY
The Live Oak “Library” Annex is having a grand opening this Saturday, 11am-1pm. Maybe a guest will bring a book or two to donate to the site because the shelves are all empty.
Please join the protest at 11am to let the elected officials know that it was wrong to use Measure S money to build this Live Oak Library Annex that has NO books and NO librarian but instead relies on Parks Dept. staff at the Simpkins Swim Center desk to answer questions.
The 2021-2022 Santa Cruz County Civil Grand Jury investigated the County’s use of Measure S special tax money that was supposed to be restricted to use for improving libraries:
How a Community Center Became a “Library”, The Transformational Power of Measure S Funds
“The Grand Jury has concluded that the Annex is an expansion of the Live Oak
Community Center and not an expansion of the Live Oak Branch Library. Following the
State’s elimination of redevelopment agencies, County Parks was left without a ready
source of capital funds needed to complete the vision of the Community Center.
Measure S filled the void. The Grand Jury recommends that the County Board of
Supervisors reassess its decision to use Measure S funds to improve the Live Oak
Community Center and restore the voters’ trust.”
The required responses by the Board of Supervisors were dismissive and totally inadequate. The Board disagreed that Measure S monies were restricted to use for libraries and should not have been used to expand the Community Center, stating that the Live Oak Library needed space for programs and did not have it, so the Annex fills that need.
The Board disagreed that having the Annex would adversely affect the Library System’s Operating Budget. We now know that was a lie because all but one branch, the Downtown Branch, is closed on Sundays because there is not enough money to staff another library, such as the Live Oak Branch, on Sundays for four hours of patron use.
The Board simply rejected the single good recommendation the Grand Jury made, stating it was “not appropriate.”
Recommendation:
“The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors should
reassess its decision to use Measure S funds to improve the Live Oak
Community Center and either reimburse the Library Facilities Financing
Authority or commit additional funds to establish the Annex as a library
resource consistent with other SCPL branches.”
The Live Oak Annex is not staffed. The folks who are stationed at the Swim Center desk adjacent are expected to make themselves available for any questions that arise, and are responsible for any problems that occur.
Please join us in reminding the elected officials that what they did still stinks and that they need to regain our trust. Maybe the one who is responsible for this egregious travesty, former First District County Supervisor John Leopold, will dare to show his face.
SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT BOARD IS INSULTED BY QUESTIONING
On November 19, the Soquel Creek Water District Board of Directors waved through on their Consent Agenda Item 4.6, approving a two-year contract with the Eurofins and MBAS Labs to conduct sampling and analysis of the finished Project water that will be injected into the groundswater. I timely requested the Board pull this item from their Consent Agenda for better public discussion and staff response to 13 questions I submitted. The Board refused to pull the item, and Board President Bruce Jaffe scolded me harshly for personally insulting him by asking questions. Director Tom LaHue chimed in that it is obvious that I just don’t understand the Project. Director Carla Christensen simply told me not to worry because the lab would be able to do work that the District employees cannot. Directors Rachel Lather and Jennifer Balboni sat smirking.
Such arrogance has consumed the District’s attitude in general.
No staff offered to meet with me to answer my questions that included how the public would be able to see the data generated by Eurofins and MBAS, and concerns that there is no mention in the contract to include sampling and reporting of biological contaminants responsible for fouling the reverse osmosis membranes, thereby rendering them less effective at removing contaminants while also increasing energy demand to operate the system. [Reverse osmosis membrane biofouling: causes, consequences and countermeasures]
That worries me, and should worry the District Board but they didn’t seem to care. They approved this contract as a consent agenda item while dismissively rejecting all public questioning, deeming it an “insult”.
SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT HISTORY OF NO CONSIDERATION OF REALITY
Last month, the Soquel Creek Water District Board held a lively discussion about how to make their ugly PureWater Soquel Project more attractive, feeling “out-done” by the whale motif on the new Chantlcleer Pedestrian Overcrossing adjacent.
Supposedly, an ad hoc committee will bring recommendations to the Board sometime soon, so I thought I would help them by providing a compendium of documents showing that the District failed all along to recognize the Chanticleer Overcrossing impacts on the ugly PureWater Soquel sewage water treatment facility. I submitted the correspondence in a timely fashion, so that it would be included in the November 19, 2024 Board Correspondence packet.
The Board said nothing, NOTHING AT ALL, about the documents. I guess they had other things on their minds, such as whether to increase rates January 1, 2025 by 12%.
They did that. Even though the rate increases are to pay for a service the ratepayers are NOT receiving…basin sustainability and the PureWater Soquel Project. That is the basis for the legal challenge in Case 24CV00566.
Of interest was the fact that District Finance Director Leslie Strohm announced that “the District has not posted a net gain in position in four years, and have not increase unrestricted revenue (cash). In effect, we are below where we need to be in reserves.”
The District is in financial trouble, but continues to hire consultant after consultant…and the Pure”Water Soquel Project operational costs, initially thought to be $2.5 million/ year, are now forecast at $6.2 Million annually.
Wow.
NO NEW PROJECTS … REDUCING THE COST OF NEW WATER SERVICE IN SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT
On November 19, the Board of Soquel Creek Water District decided that since there are no capital improvement projects on the drawing board, once PureWater Soquel Project treated sewage water injection comes online, they must re-evaluate the cost for new water service hookups for ADU’s.. Effective January 1, 2025, the cost for a new construction service line will cost about half of what the District has charged in the past. Except for 4″ service lines…those will increase 9%. Hmmmmmm…
Ms. Leslie Strohm, Director of District Finance, could not explain why the new 4″ connections would have a 9% increase when all other connections will decrease. When questioned, she said “I will have to talk with our consultant about that.” Isn’t it amazing that the Director of Finance, who is receiving a $1,000/month bonus until PureWater Soquel Project comes online, is clueless about a financial issue she presented to the Board?
Unfortunately, her slide presentation was not provided to the public in advance of the November 19 meeting, and at the time of this writing, still has not been posted to the website.. [Agenda – 11/19/2024]
I asked how the District will allay the upset of ADU applicants who paid $22,000 for a new hookup, but would have paid about $11,000 under the new adjustment had they waited? Staff said they have been letting applicants know about possible water capacity fee changes since June. That added six month to peoples’ projects…if they felt it worth the wait.
WATER STORAGE, NOT DRINKING TREATED SEWAGE WATER
A reader kindly sent me the link below to news that the State is investing heavily in raising the levels of dams in California, including San Luis Reservoir. The reader implored that this is a superior idea and opposes Soquel Creek Water District forcing customers to drink treated sewage water from the PureWater Soquel Project. I could not agree more.
Deal reached to expand massive reservoir near Bay Area to increase water supplies
The City of Santa Cruz has also increased the height of the Newell Creek Dam to allow for more storage at Loch Lomond Reservoir. That is good news. However, the City is still looking to PureWater Soquel, possibly doubling the treatment capacity, in order to meet the City’s anticipated future supply needs in a prolonged drought. That would be in addition to the City injecting potable water into the aquifer, and pumping it back out in the summer. That is known as aquifer storage and recovery (ASR).
The City is, in my observation, looking at ways to make use of water when it is plentiful, and to avoid the need to rely on Soquel Creek Water District. The famed Water Optimization Analysis Report, outlining how the City’s ASR and PureWater Soquel Project would work in tandem has not yet been completed. Earlier models the Montgomery & Associates consultants did showed that if the two projects occurred at the same time, water would spew out of the ground surface. Heidi Luckenbach, Director of City Water, reminded the Soquel Creek Water District Board about that when she spoke to them on October 15.
Montgomery & Associates consultant is also doing the Water Optimization Analysis. The date for completion of that report keeps getting pushed out.
What also is not being done is a follow up Airborne ElectroMagnetic (AEM) resistivity study by helicopter that would give a clear indication of where the saltwater/freshwater interface is in the areas of PureWater Soquel injection wells and the MidCounty Basin in general. That was done in 2017 to provide a snapshot of the situation. However, no current information exists, other than the monitoring wells showing groundwater levels increasing or stabilized.
I have asked the MidCounty Groundwater Agency (MGA)as well as Soquel Creek Water District to fund a new AEM study before the PureWater Soquel Project comes online to verify the conditions the Project is supposedly correcting. While a few on the Board of the MGA nodded in agreement, no action was taken. The Soquel Creek Water District Board scoffed, with President Bruce Jaffe attempting to take District credit for the 2017 study. He was set straight by new General Manager Melanie Mow-Schumacher. Good luck getting the District to do anything that could possibly show there is not a saltwater interface problem to the extent that they have screamed and used to justify their expensive Project that has thrown the District into deep debt.
The State did an AEM helicopter survey a couple of years ago, but chose to only make two very broad passes over the area that could have provided a comparison with the 2017 flight results, and chose to fly inland over areas that the initial study supposedly could not include due to flight over residential areas.
I have asked the MidCounty Groundwater Agency Board many times to have another AEM flight over the same areas as they paid to have done in 2017. How else can they determine if the PureWater Soquel Project, the capstone of their Groundwater Sustainabilty Plan, is working or not? How will Soquel Creek Water District otherwise know if the Project is actually supporting groundwater sustainability, for which they have already approved action as a basis for increasing their customer rates last February?
The Project start-up has been pushed back to March, 2025.
WILL THERE EVER BE PASSENGER RAIL HERE?
There have be a couple of recent gatherings to discuss passenger rail plans in Santa Cruz County and Monterey County, but both make me think it will not happen in my life time. The RTC held a presentation at the Mello Center in Watsonville. I was glad there was an initial presentation. That dissolved into an open house format where no one could hear questions of others or the answers provided. People were supposed to festoon the maps with sticky notes and colored dots, thereby allowing the RTC to check off the box that there was “robust community involvement’. Sigh. What I found interesting is that the passenger rail is not being planned to continue beyond Santa Cruz, failing to link Davenport and the San Vicente Redwood area or Cotoni-Coast National Monument.
When I asked staff about that, they suggested I write it on a Comment Card.
The second passenger rail public event was across the Pajaro River to learn more about the Pajaro Rail Station, presented by TAMC, the Monterey County equivalent to the Santa Cruz County RTC. This was a noisy open house format that was well-attended.
The large maps of the Salinas Road area at Railroad Avenue in Pajaro is the focal point to build a new passenger rail station that would allow CalTrain and Amtrak passenger rail service with links to the Bay Area and beyond. i learned that TAMC is embarking on an environmental study of the potential train station area, and that Union Pacific Railroad has alot to say with how this all gets done. They do not want a passenger rail loading platform on a curved track, ostensibly for visibility of other on-coming train operators. How long would that straight section of track need to be? Who knows, said the staff, but TAMC is planning for 800′.
Construction could begin in 2029…with more studies to yet be done. Sigh. I asked why links to Santa Cruz rail lines could not be suited to buses with rail conversion ability? Staff said the State won’t fund something like that. I got discouraged by learning that the State and Fed. government will not subsidize passenger rail operation and maintenance. Why is it different than bus systems, which do seem to get grants for operations and capital improvement?
Weigh in with your comments and ideas before December 6.
WHAT WILL MOBILE HOME RESIDENTS DO?
Please listen in this Friday at 2pm to “Community Matters” online radio to hear Ms. Roxanne Stanley talk about what is happening along the RTC-owned Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line in the areas where mobile home parks have been deemed to be encroaching. Roxanne is working to organize her neighbors in an effort to reason with the RTC, who has put all residents there on notice that encroaching units will be moved on or by June, 2025. The second hour will be an interview with Mr. Tony Crane, to do a election follow up on Monica Martinez in the Fifth District Supervisor race, and a review of the local media’s affect on the election. Listen in from your computer or smart device.and join the conversation.
WRITE ONE LETTER. MAKE ONE CALL. SEND IN COMMENT ON A LOCAL PROJECT.
MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE THIS WEEK BY JUST DOING SOMETHING.
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 |
Power and Pitfalls of Experiential Learning
Most people I know rejoice when they hear about students engaged with experiential learning, but what does that term mean and how far should it go? Ronald Reagan was largely responsible for making it less affordable to attend colleges and universities, and when he did many cynics muttered about industry and their political party lackies wanting cheaper, more subservient labor. This purposeful dumbing down of our society is having grave consequences, and not just in one spot on the political spectrum. Backlash is occurring, but not the kind of backlash you might hope for: increasingly close relationships between industry and university systems. Industry hungers for skilled workers. And so, we are witnessing the rise of the trade school. Well-run trade schools could nurture collaboration, fostering Democracy, but this runs counter to oligarchical aspersions of the 1%. How will we solve this tension?
California’s Public Institutions of Higher Learning
What is the difference between the 4 different public institutions of higher learning in California: the 116 “community colleges,” 3 “polytechnic state universities,” 20 other “state universities“, and 10 “UC’s?” Community colleges are sorting machines to bridge the ‘better’ students into higher division courses at the other institutions. Around 20% of lower division students in California’s universities drop out; to keep the machine running, there must be replacements in line –community colleges produce those replacements. The “mission of the California Community Colleges is to advance California’s economic growth and global competitiveness through education, training, and services that contribute to continuous work force improvement.” In other words, community colleges are the first step for students entering trade school in California’s higher education system. As such, community colleges are primarily designed to feed students into the polytechnic universities, the purest type of university trade school. The term ‘polytechnic’ refers to vocational training, aka “trade school.” For administrative efficiency as well as similarity of mission, California’s 3 polytechnic universities are administered by the California State University (CSU) system. The other 20 CSU’s are a bit more abashedly also trade schools. The UC’s are clearly distinct from trade schools by their promotion of teaching theory and nurturing critical thinking, conducting research that advances theories, not current practice – they eschew applied research.
The Danger of Trade Schools in California
Trade schools are often proud of experiential learning, a key component of skills-based training. Industry saves money if the State spends the money building skills in the soon-to-be workforce. The current overrated excitement about training grade school students in STEM is a symptom of this thinking. Skills based training, including STEM training, is a big problem when things change as rapidly as they are changing. Most skills we teach to make widgets today are not the skills that will be needed a short period of time. Despite this, trade school curricula leave little room for elective courses. By their sophomore year, students must define their major, and to succeed at that declared major a student has no room in their schedule to explore other subjects. On top of this, trade schools are teaching a narrow set of ‘soft skills,’ related to obedience to process: students who can navigate the bureaucracy are the ones that succeed. The result of this system is an emerging workforce trained narrowly in already irrelevant job skills excepting the skill to navigate protocol.
Faltering Trade Schools
Years ago, California’s trade schools hired professors with experience in private industry. After Reagan gutted public higher education funding, competition increased between colleges and universities for other revenue sources from skyrocketing student fees, public:private partnerships (industry funding), and alumni donations. This competition led trade schools to attempt to become more like UCs: “top-tier” universities. And so, trade schools turned changed the old model of hiring professors experienced in “real world” industries to hiring the same types of professors UC would hire. Lucky for them, there is a glut of academically aspiring PhDs. Trade school administrators increasingly apply the screws to faculty, who are caught in demoralizing stress. Professors at trade schools must teach as many tuition-paying students as possible: low faculty:student ratios are more profitable. To be successful these faculty must help with fundraising, meeting with industry officials to keep up reputations of building a skilled workforce. On top of those obligations, trade school faculty play the game of courting ‘top tier’ status for their university by somehow, miraculously wedging in time for publication-quality research.
Long-Lasting, Relevant Workforce Skill: Collaboration
Instead of, or at least in addition to, training trade school students on ‘how good are you at navigating protocol,’ trade schools might also focus on collaborative skills. What if experiential learning at trade schools focused on student engagement to solve real-world problems, interacting with real world stakeholders? In this case, faculty and students would interact with the stakeholders involved in any given issue…perhaps industry representatives, regulators, policymakers, financiers, interested citizens, labor leaders, etc. Students would be reviewed by their ability to critically evaluate situations and for the feasibility of their creative solutions. Faculty would be reviewed by the quality of their student mentorship on collaboration skills. Collaborative skill training would focus on power analysis, defining success, facilitating dialogues for mutual understanding, identifying gaps in knowledge, and identifying solutions of greatest benefit.
Contextual Shift
Training a future workforce skilled in collaboration would increase productivity while creating a more peaceful citizenry, but would also likely threaten wealth inequality…and so is a major threat to industry leaders. If those entering the industrial workforce understood the regulatory context of their work, they might favor solutions that meet regulatory expectations, rather than attempting to challenge or circumvent the rules. On the other hand, if those entering regulatory workforce understood industrial context of their work, they might be less likely to apply rules inappropriately in favor or in contravention of industry. In either case, accusations of a ‘dark state’ would evaporate and the people’s will for regulations would likely be more fully realized. Core to collaboration training is the idea that we can achieve more through collaboration than trade-offs faced with compromise. Those in power like the frame where the only pathway to solution is compromise because they think they always win as much as could be won. That mistaken assumption is evident in the politics of the USA.
DEI is the Answer
Even trade schools are teaching Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), which holds great promise as a back door to training in collaboration. The skills I outlined above are inherent to implementing a more DEI-oriented society. The question is…will DEI suffuse everything at trade schools (and beyond), or will it be siloed as yet another idea in the world of ideas? In some places, we are seeing an attack on DEI training…after reading this essay, I hope you can think more critically about why that might be.
I also hope you will consider the implications of higher education tilting towards trade schools, away from the humanities, history, critical thinking, and theory.
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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 |
Robert Reich is pictured above, but I’m betting that you didn’t need me to tell you that. I think it’s fair to say that Reich is one of our better known “public intellectuals.” Most of the people I hang out with, anyway, would immediately recognize Reich if they saw him on the street. Click this link if you would like to learn more about Reich. That link will also furnish you with a picture of a much younger Robert Reich.
My blog posting today comes as a reaction to one of Reich’s own blog postings, as published on Substack. Reich’s posting on November 14, 2024, had this title: “Trump wants Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be Health Secretary. OMG. Really?”
Reich doesn’t have much good to say about other recent nominations, either:
Friends,
Trump is giving his middle finger to America.
Nominating the alleged sexual trafficker Matt Gaetz to be Attorney General, Fox News host Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense, and bizarro Tulsi Gabbard to be Director of National Intelligence are acts of nihilistic disruption.
Now, nominating conspiracist and fabulist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the nation’s leading health job — overseeing the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control, and the National Institutes of Health, among other sensitive positions — is an act of utter hubris.
At a time when the truth is a precious common good, and the public’s health is already precarious, RFK Junior has made a name for himself spreading dangerous health lies…. I knew Robert F. Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy Junior is no Robert F. Kennedy. If not for his lustrous name, RFK Junior would be just another crackpot in the ever-growing pool of bottom-feeding fringe characters encircling Trump like ravenous slugs.
In my immediate reaction to the election of Donald J. Trump to the presidency, I said that “we are now likely going to be presented with an incredible opportunity to renew the vigor and effectiveness of democratic self-government in the United States.” This rather optimistic statement was based on my prediction that Trump, as president, would do things that would, ultimately, discredit him, and discredit his Administration, and would thus let concerned citizens make some very much-needed changes to our federal government.
So far, these early nominations (aptly characterized by Reich) provide some evidence that I may have been correct in my prediction. We may well find ourselves, sooner rather than later, with an opportunity to make real, substantive changes.
But to take advantage of the opportunities that will come, however and whenever they do, we will need to be actively engaged, ourselves.
“Self-government” does require that we be engaged, ourselves.
Let’s not forget that. Let’s not drop the ball!
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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 |
JOKING DOGES, ADJOURNING POWER GRAB, RESIGNATION, A CIRCUS
Comedian Wanda Sykes said on Jimmy Kimmel Live last week that though she “got her hopes up,” about a potential Kamala Harris win, she wasn’t surprised that Trump won. “I mean it’s so many reasons why you can say it happened. But, I think, you know, a lot of us aren’t, like, totally shocked, because sometimes America is just gonna America.” Not comfortable with the outcome, she asserted, “I’m a Black woman and a lesbian…how do you think I’m doin’? It’s like ‘Okay,’ you get your hopes up, you think you’ll move forward.” She pinned the blame for Trump’s victory with, “I blame those damn Cheerio commercials, showing all those interracial couples. You scared the [crap] outta white people. What are y’all doin’? Just sell the damn cereal…why you gotta be bringing us into this?”
HuffPost reports that eight years after a win in 2016, a defeat in 2020, The Don is now the next president-elect of the country, regaining “the seat of immense power with fresh grievances, threats of being a dictator on ‘day one’ and calling for retribution against his ‘enemies within.'” Don’t look for any respect for the rule of law…only the rule of one, “the greatest challenge to our democratic experiment since the Civil War.” HP says, “This is not a drill…now is not the time to cower or capitulate,” pledging to cover actions of the Trump administration “with the same rigor and honesty that we always have.” JoJo from Jerz posted on X: “How sad it must be believing that doctors, scientists, scholars, historians, economists and journalists are all lying to you, but a criminal conman, business cheat, reality TV game show host with a lifelong history of blatant, unapologetic, nonstop lying, is telling you the truth.”
In just the couple of weeks since the election, Trump’s old buddy Vlad Putin, is messing with his orange head. It took Putin two days to congratulate him, during a news conference, on his election success, which surely raised the former president’s uncertainty about the ‘friendship’ with his favorite strongman. Trump then claimed there had been a phone conversation with Putin, during which he warned the Russian leader not to escalate the war on the Ukrainians. Then came a poke in the eye from the Kremlin, denying that there was a phone call, which allows Putin to go ahead with plans to use North Korean troops to retake some occupied Russian territory, and move back into Donbas province. Will Trump learn a lesson about the limits of a misconstrued personal relationship as he is forced to consider our national interests early on? Naaahhh! Russia’s chief of intelligence, Nikolai Patrushev, made a comment in the Moscow newspaper, Kommersant, “The election campaign is over. To achieve success in the election Donald Trump relied on certain forces to which he has corresponding obligations. As a responsible person, he will be obliged to fulfill them.” Obligations to certain forces? This psychological punch is telling Mr. Trump that Russians now deserve payback for contributing to his election victory with their phony videos against Harris, and phoning in bomb scares to polling stations! Some are speculating that this is a blackmail threat by communicating that they have compromising information pointing to Trump or his staffers about colluding in these Russian ‘contributions.’
Throughout the campaign Trump made his wishes known that he wants a realignment with Putin, but Patrushev’s response simply reveals that Russia’s main goal is to sow chaos, breed mistrust, and weaken the bonds of democracy in the West, no matter who is president of the USA. Trump’s MAGAts are willing to go along with their leader for better relations with Russia as they seek to weaken China’s influence in the world. We can only speculate how Trump will proceed, whether he will change, or whether he even has the capability to change his standpoint as it becomes more apparent that Putin wants us to fail. Trump has a history of keeping private his conversations with Putin, the Washington Post finding at least sixteen private conversations…that we know about…during Trump’s first three years in office. A 2018 closed-door meeting in Helsinki is still a mystery, with Trump confiscating notes from his interpreter, ordering him to not disclose any details of the conversation. It’s notable that he told reporters ahead of the 2019 G20 summit in Osaka, Japan that his meetings with Putin were “none of your business.” The ambiguousness is alive and well today!
Trump, being true to form, continues to poke fun at his lackeys. Elon Musk was a victim last week when Trump accused him of hanging around Mar-a-Lago for too long. “Elon won’t go home. I can’t get rid of him…until I don’t like him,” he mocked his billionaire buddy, addressing Republican lawmakers on the Hill at their first meeting following his election victory. Musk has accompanied Trump on the golf course, in the dining room, and sharing conversations with world leaders whom Trump has called. MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell sees Trump’s comments about Musk before the assembled audience as an assertion of his dominance in front of a group that has to laugh along with him. O’Donnell says, “Everyone laughed. They laughed that uncomfortable laugh. But they laugh when Donald Trump makes a joke about someone on his team, a joke that everyone knows is true, a joke that paints that person as pathetic, as Donald Trump’s personal sense of superiority demands that he do.” O’Donnell believes that the new agency, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is a joke as well, a humiliating demotion, with co-leader Musk being responsible in a “fake job that holds little more power than that of a K Street lobbyist.” As an added insult, he was given a working partner in Vivek Ramaswamy…not even a billionaire! Lawrence pointed out that Trump’s other cabinet appointments have been for standing federal departments…DOGE is not. Tech journalist, Kara Swisher, predicts the relationship between the two egotistical, narcissistic and indomitable entities is destined to fail. Donald owes Elon, but if he garners too much attention…poof! It’s all over a la Steve Bannon. Swisher notes that “Trump goes through people like tissues, essentially…they’re going to clash at some point.”
The provocative Cabinet picks Trump has made are stirring up outrage and shock in DC, even among the GOP, triggering a melt-down just as the president-elect intends. Most outrageous has been naming Matt Gaetz as his attorney general. Tulsi Gabbard will be director of national intelligence if confirmed, and Fox News anchor Pete Hegseth is headed for the defense secretary position. Those three individuals pose questions about The Don’s motivations and the direction of his second term, not least because of their professional, ethical or experiential qualities, or lack of them, reports CNN. Their commonality is an unfailing loyalty to Trump, all avid proponents of the stunt politics he spearheaded on social media; and if his “retribution” is to be carried out they will obey his orders. Trump rocked the boat further with his naming of Robert F Kennedy, Jr. as secretary of Health and Human Services, who it seems will be given free rein to carry out whatever he wants, should he pass muster with the Senate…unless…
Trump has no intention of seeking Senate permission! Fearing that even a GOP-controlled Senate might be hesitant to confirm his choices, it’s speculated that he will adjourn both houses of Congress under the never-used Article II, section 3 of the Constitution, enabling him to recess-appoint his Cabinet nominees. Can you say, ‘Power Grab?’ This move allow him to impose on the government, everyone he wants, no matter how corrupt, extreme, inexperienced or controversial they might be. If Trump attempts this, and can get away with it, he will effectively remove the Senate’s confirmation powers forever, a norm-shattering disruption of politics, governance, and presidential power. With certainty, a high-stakes face-off followed by litigation would erupt, with no guarantee about the result. Conservative legal activist, Ed Whelan, hopes the rumor to take this path is wrong, being appalled at the idea. “It’s a fundamental general feature of our system of separated powers that the president shall submit his nominations for major offices to the Senate for approval. That feature plays a vital role in helping to ensure that the president makes quality picks,” he says. Whelan points out that it would take cooperation of Speaker Johnson and the House majority, being far from clear whether Republicans in either chamber have the spine to stand up to this unprecedented wrecking ball.
Black sheep, blackballed, ex-Vice President Pence jumped into the conversation, albeit uninvited, to plead with Republicans to reject RFK Jr. as our next Health & Human Services secretary. As odacationnews says, “before you go wondering if Pence has suddenly found something resembling a moral compass, his reasoning is entirely predictable: Kennedy is pro-choice. Pence is most certainly not. RFK Jr.’s certifiably nutty views on vaccines and other conspiratorial musings aren’t the problem, mind you. It’s Kennedy’s unforgivable opinion that a woman should have the right to make important medical decisions for herself. Noted, Mike. Don’t you have somewhere irrelevant to be?”
The Meidas Touch Network on You Tube has a presentation by Francis M. Maxwell, sharing videos of global impressions of Trump’s election, many of which have invoked fear and laughter around the world. The Scottish First Minister was ridiculed by a parliament member addressing his colleagues, for “offering his congratulations on behalf of the Scottish government to convicted felon Donald Trump…words fail me.” On Tik Tok, both the Finnish and Norwegian female parliament members proclaimed “our American sisters are not alone.” Referencing the Musk super pac’s $200M fund for Trump’s election, Australia has introduced a new bill that will ban billionaire Elon Musk and others from buying elections in that nation to insure that what happened in the US does not happen in their country. French President Macron called the Trump election “a moment of acceleration,” as he sees the possible trade war between China and the US as a time for adjustment of power, both economically and commercially, within the European community. He asked, “Do we want to read history as written by others, or do we want to write our own history? Now is the time to defend national and European interests.”
California Attorney General, Rob Bonta, said his organization “will be there” if Trump attacks the rights of the state’s citizens, and will insure that California will remain “a steadfast beacon of hope and progress.” This tack is being taken up by attorneys general across the country to legally defend against Trump administration excesses. In Trump’s first term, states brought on a wave of lawsuits to block moves like his travel ban, and family separations, as we even now face threats of mass deportations and rolling back of environmental regulations. Democratic governors see the trifecta of the White House and Congress, and a more conservative judiciary shrinking the number of venues for advancing Democrat’s policies at the federal level. The actions of governors and state AGs can make a difference not only in their own states, but across the nation. Preparations for several months entailed monitoring comments from Trump and his colleagues, studying Project 2025, and scrutinizing the conservative Heritage Foundation’s framework for Trump II. Preparations include prewriting briefs needing only slight editing in preparation for filing as needed. Bonta says, “What we learned from the first Trump administration is that he can’t help but break the law. It’s part of his brand. It’s part of what he does.” Trump’s first go-around brought in a world of heightened AG activism, resulting in current legal officers “much more proactive in getting ready for challenges that don’t even exist.” As the Turkish proverb tells us: “When a clown moves into the palace, he does not become king. The palace becomes a circus.”
The New York Times reports that Special Counsel Jack Smith is said to be assessing how to wind down his two federal criminal investigations and prosecutions of Donald Trump, with plans to beat the president-elect’s threat to fire him “within two seconds” of taking office by resigning first. With the Justice Department’s long-standing policy of not prosecuting a sitting president, Smith has notified prosecutors and FBI agents on his team that they can begin planning their own departures.The Supreme Court’s ruling that presidential conduct can’t be prosecuted even after a president leaves office covers such a broad swath, that their decision that a “president is immune from being held liable for ‘official acts'” pretty much frees Trump from many of his actions, anyway. DOJ regulations require that Smith make a final report on his investigation, allowing him to lay out the case against Trump on charges related to his role in the J6 Capitol attack and the mishandling of classified documents. It’s a race against time to see if he can complete that report to be made public before Biden’s term ends, but his intention is to leave no “significant part of his work for others to complete.” Is that Bill Barr hiding in the wings? Both House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan and Representative Barry Loudermilk have requested that Smith’s office preserve all records in the Trump probes, signaling that a congressional inquiry is in the making, prompting Elon Musk to laud the move on X, posting, “Jack Smith’s abuse of the justice system cannot go unpunished.”
Late Show host, Stephen Colbert charged that Trump, since his election, has “already managed to be way worse” than he expected, by bringing up the Matt Gaetz nomination. “During the campaign, I thought if Trump won, he would do the worst things I could imagine. Turns out, I don’t have much of an imagination,” he said. Colbert then directed his anger to Attorney General Merrick Garland for failing to prosecute Trump earlier, saying, “Are you sorry you didn’t speed up those Trump trials, you schmuck?” Can’t say he wasn’t warned!
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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. |
EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS. View classic inner-view ideas and thoughts with Subconscious Comics a few flips down.
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “Deep Cover” 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.
Take a Break
“Try to pause each day and take a walk to view nature.”
~Lailah Gifty Akita
“Almost everything will work if you unplug it for a few minutes…including you.”
~Anne Lamott
“Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from cares which will not withdraw from us.”
~Maya Angelou
“Wisdom is knowing when to have rest, when to have activity, and how much of each to have.”
~Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
“Sometimes you need to give yourself a break when you’ve had a lot of life change.”
~Barbara Freethy
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One of my favorite movies of all time, here’s a deep dive on the Miracle Max scene. |
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