Bratton… days of the week… Greensite… out this week… Steinbruner… Chloramine in water, Midtown crisis, and passenger rail comments due soon…. Hayes… People for Fire… Patton… Caitlin Johnstone’s Discouraged Comments… Matlock… …dominance & inevitability…ethics pledges…locked & loaded……Eagan… Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover… Webmistress serves you… MTV Nostalgia Quotes on… “Thanksgiving”
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Dateline: November 27, 2024
GIVING THANKS! Once again, we are at Thanksgiving, which these days is followed by Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday. amd Giving Tuesday. What will be the next one, Woeful Wednesday? And whatever happened to Sunday? Do let us know if you have any ideas.
THE LAST NIGHT AT TREMORE BEACH. Netflix series. (7.0 IMDB). 
An extra dramatic and moody plus scary drama about a composer/ pianist. It centers on his composing plus memories of his deceased wife. It’s all in Ireland at a beach house/cabin. It deals with fate, his predictions coming true. You’ll be mesmerized, don’t miss it.
BLITZ. Apple movie. (6.4 IMDB). 
This is much more of a saga of a young half black boy and what he has to deal with after he and his mom are separated. Apple pushes the Blitzkrieg attack on London by Hitler at the start of World War II. The prejudice, bigotry, and inhumanity are much more the main thrusts of the plot.
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.
Gillian will be back next week!
| 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. |
CHLORAMINE BY-PRODUCT STUDY…WILL PUREWATER SOQUEL PROJECT INJECT IT IN THE GROUNDWATER?
Many thanks to reader Judi who sent information about newly-discovered potential health risk associated with chloramine disinfection in drinking water.
Newly identified chemical in drinking water is likely in many homes and could be toxic, study finds.
I could not help but wonder if Soquel Creek Water District’s “PureWater” Soquel Project injected treated sewage water will be injecting chloramine into the groundwater, affecting the drinking water supply of the MidCounty area?
The Regional Water Quality Control Board looked the other way last December and approved the two permits for the District to inject 1.67 Million gallons/day of this treated sewage water that will include 33mg/L chloride. The original permit application had stated the injected waters would have 3.1 mg/L per day, but staff “caught” the discrepancy, along with another one regarding nitrate levels.
The Board’s staff acknowledged that injecting this treated sewage water into the groundwater will degrade the high-quality clean water that exists, but that it was within the limits of 10% of the assimilative capacity of the aquifer, and was allowable under new State recycled water regulations.
What remains to be seen is the cumulative impacts of injecting this stuff into the drinking water supply, and what will the increased chloride (a number monitored by the MidCounty Groundwater Agency to track the amount of saltwater intrusion happening) do to the geochemistry of the area’s water? Similar projects in Orange County experience increased arsenic in water as a result.
Here is what the Regional Water Board staff dealt out in meaningless information to the Board last December, accepting all evaluations and analysis supplied by Soquel Creek Water District’s paid consultants:
“Changes Related to Chloride Concentration
The title 22 engineering report and antidegradation reports inadvertently reported the chloride concentration of the reverse osmosis (RO) permeate prior to product water post-treatment, which add chemicals to the water that include chloride. The anticipated chloride concentration after product water post-treatment should be 33.0 mg/L, not the 3.1 and 10.1 mg/L described in the antidegradation and title 22 engineering reports, respectively. A technical memorandum describing the anticipated chloride concentration in the product water is included in Attachment 2.Although the new chloride concentration is higher than previously reported, it is still lower than the ambient concentration of 46.0 mg/L in the target injection aquifer, Purisima Unit A. Because the product water will have a lower concentration than ambient groundwater, the project is still expected to improve water quality with respect to chloride, and assimilative capacity will be gained not consumed, as was the case at the previously reported lower concentration. As such, staff has not made any changes made to the findings in the proposed permit. An errata to the title 22 engineering report has been approved by the Division of Drinking Water, and a revised antidegradation report was submitted to the Central Coast Water Board reflecting the change in chloride concentration.”
The question now to ask is will the chloride be in the form of chloramine?
The District has divulged that it would use chloramine injection in the treated sewage effluent supplying the Project treatment plant in Live Oak as it travels under pressure in large pipes from the Santa Cruz City Wastewater Treatment plant. I worry about the potential leaks in this large pipe now attached to both sides of the Laurel Street bridge, crossing the San Lorenzo River.
This photo shows the District’s contractors installing bird netting over the large pipes attached to the Laurel Street bridge. The pipes will carry pressurized chloramine-laden secondary treated sewage flowing to the Live Oak treatment facility, and on the other side, the pressurized contaminant concentrate flowing back from the Live Oak treatment facility to get dumped along with the City’s wastewater into the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
Both will likely have high levels of chloramine, which is toxic to all aquatic life and, unlike regular chlorine, does not dissipate in water or in air.
Write the Central Coast Regional Water Board staff Harvey Packard <harvey.packard@waterboards.ca.gov> and ask.
You could also try asking the Soquel Creek Water District Associate Manager who handles “all things PureWater Soquel”, Cameron Kostigen-Mumper [LinkedIn].
Here is the RFP for bulk chemical delivery contracts to the PureWater Soquel Project
CITY OF SANTA CRUZ PROPOSES BUSINESS REDEVELOPMENT ZONES FOR FEES
Last week, I happened to see a small group gathered in the Branciforte Library Community meeting room at closing time. What caught my attention through the window was the slide projected for the group, showing a colored map of the local corridor, and then a table showing how much proposed commercial and residential fees would be. The library was closing, and I was told it was a “private meeting”, so I did not enter the in-progress presentation.
Since then, my curiosity compelled some research, where I learned that the plans I saw projected are likely part of the City of Santa Cruz Economic Development Plan for Midtown.
This led to some interesting information on the website of developer WorkBench, whose principal, Tim Gordin, sits on the County Planning Commission at the appointment of Supervisor Manu Koenig, who happens to be a licensed real estate broker. The “Midtown Plaza” that Workbench is planning is quite a divergence from the character of the area.
Here is a bit more: 6-story apartment proposal in Midtown Santa Cruz prompts Sept. 16 meeting – Santa Cruz Local
Hopefully, I will have more about the Midtown Economic Development Plan next week when City staff Katie Ferraro returns from the holiday break. My late friend Ed Silviera would always loudly protest the use of “Midtown” as the City’s way of eliminating the cultural and historic names of the area…once known as Villa de Branciforte and Seabright.
VIRTUAL PUBLIC MEETING FOR 232 RIVER STREET SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT
While searching the Santa Cruz City Planning Dept. website, I found the information below about a new large project that would demolish existing homes in the area near the San Lorenzo River, and where the historic-looking Santa Cruz Down Works building is located.
Here is what the project looks like: 232 River Street
Virtual Community Meeting (PL): 232 River Street, Project Number: CP24-0131
Meeting Date: Tuesday, December 3, 2024 at 6:00 p.m.
- Date: 12/03/2024 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
- Location: Zoom Meeting
- Introduction: You are invited to attend the virtual Public Community Meeting, to be held on Tuesday, December 3 from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM, for the project application related to 232 River St, Project Number: CP24-0131.
Join the Virtual Public Community Meeting for 232 River Street on December 3, 2024 at 6:00 PM.
You are invited to attend a Public Community Meeting, to be held on Tuesday, December 3, from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM, for the project application related to 232 River Street, Project Number: CP24-0131.
Community members can click the link below to join the community meeting:
- When: December 3, 2024 06:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
- Topic: Virtual Community Meeting for Project 232 River Street, Project Number: CP24-0131
- Webinar Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88687259149 (Updated: 11/14/2024 5:45 PM)
- Webinar ID: 886 8725 9149
- Call: +1 669 444 9171 US
ABOUT THE PROJECT:
- Project Size: Significant Development Project
- City of Santa Cruz Project Number: CP24-0131 (Preapplication)
- Address: 232 River Street
- APN: 008-311-30
FORCING 24 FAMILIES TO MOVE
Show up on December 5 at the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) meeting at 9am in Scotts Valley City Council Chambers to advocate a compassionate solution to forcing 24 families and elderly mobile home residents be allowed to stay in their homes along the rail corridor between 38th and 41st Avenue.
Here is why:
Last January, the RTC sent notice to residents in the Castle Estates and Blue and Gold Star Mobile Home Parks notifying them that their homes are encroaching into the railroad right-of-way and must be moved by June, 2025. The residents own their homes but not the land on which they sit. Both Parks were originally built in the 1960’s, with full approvals of the County and City of Capitola. At that time, multiple freight trains were running daily to serve Davenport Cement Plant and lumber industries.
So why do the people have to move their homes now, and who would pay for doing so?
According to RTC staff, the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line purchase in 2012 was completed without a thorough right-of-way survey. The RTC did not have or did not spend the money to do this critical work until about three years ago and determined there were many encroachments along the 32-mile rail corridor between Watsonville and Davenport. The rail line was purchased primarily for potential passenger rail service, but later, in 2013,, Congressman Sam Farr encouraged the RTC to squeeze in the Monterery Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail on the corridor, too. The RTC adopted that Master Plan on November 7, 2013. MBSST Network Master Plan FEIR [pdf]
That is the problem. The rail line right of way widths are inconsistent, and in many places it is too narrow to accommodate both rail and trail. This dilemma is propelling the RTC to add new staff to deal with easements and acquisitions in an effort to make it all fit.
But what will happen in the case of the mobile home residents along the tracks between 38th and 41st Avenue, many who have lived with a train running in their backyard, now being told to relocate their homes by six months from now? The RTC hired a consultant, HMH Group, to evaluate alternatives. That report was presented to the County Mobile and Manufactured Homes Commission in April, but has yet to go to the official Commission. RTC staff has stated that doing so would be redundant.
The HMH Alternative Analysis merely provides estimates for the cost of moving the encroaching mobile home units, some by inches, others by feet. There is no alternative analysis of simply moving the trail, Costs per unit range from hundreds to tens-of-thousands of dollars and do not include the costs of the affected families living elsewhere during the relocation work..
Take a look at the Report and put yourself in the shoes of these folks:
Mobile Home Encroachment Removal Options [pdf]
Regardless of the distance the unit must be moved (if that is possible) it means the residents and their pets must move out for an extended period of time while all infrastructure is torn out and replaced. Many of the units are old, and may not withstand the move without being damaged. Moving the units further into the Park’s thoroughfares could require a variance from Central Fire District.
Understandably, the residents, some who are elderly and have lived in the Park for decades, are extremely worried. The RTC has not corresponded with the residents since serving notice last January.
The two landowners, Millenium Housing (Castle Estates) and a private individual owner (Blue and Gold Star) are ultimately the parties responsible for working with the RTC to address the problem. While Millenium Housing has been actively corresponding with the RTC, the other Park owner has taken a hands-off approach.
The RTC’s Open House last week to gather input on the Zero Emissions Passenger Rail Transportation project did in fact present the alternative to move the trail to either Brommer Street or Nova Avenue (likely making Nova a one-way street). This would allow the possibility of the two mobile home park owners to either lease the land under the encroaching units for 99 years, or purchase the land outright. Alternatively, the encroaching units could be replaced over time as they are sold.
Doing so would allow the multiple families to stay in their homes until there is again a train running on the tracks. The last freight train ran in 2017. The RTC estimates that construction on the passenger rail project could begin in 2032.
What do you think? Please send your thoughts to the RTC and show up on December 5 at 9am in Scotts Valley City Council Chambers to support the many families who are afraid they will become homeless. Agendas – SCCRTC
PUBLIC COMMENT DUE DECEMBER 6 FOR PASSENGER RAIL ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW IN SANTA CRUZ
Santa Cruz ZEPRT Online Meeting
RAIL AND TRAIL MAP SEGMENTS MADE UNDERSTANDABLE
Do you find all the talk of “Segments” of rail trail projects confusing? Join the crowd. For that reason, I was very grateful to my friend, Al, for sending a recent explanation posted by Santa Cruz Local.
LIVE OAK LIBRARY ANNEX FINALLY GOT SOME BOOKS
Last Saturday, the Live Oak Library Annex had a grand opening ceremony. Library Director Mr. Christopher Platt opened the festivity with an announcement that “the books arrived at 7am this morning.” Indeed, the empty shelves were populated with books for all ages. He rightly called it a Community Center. County District Supervisor Manu Koenig also spoke, and declared this to be a perfect use of Measure S library funds.
Protesters were there, too, reminding the officials and public that the County Civil Grand Jury investigation determined it was not a proper use of Measure S library revenues. A few members of the public and library staff privately told us they agreed. The 2021-2022 Grand Jury Report recommended that the County and Joint Library Authority review the decision to use Millions of Measure S library funds to build the Community Center, consider returning the money and restore trust of the voters. to the voters.
Neither he County nor the Joint Library Authority agreed to that, dismissing the significance of the Grand Jury investigation and findings that the Live Oak Library Annex is NOT a library.
Board of Supervisors’ response to 2021-2022 Grand Jury Report
Library JPA response to Grand Jury Report
A few days following the Grand Opening ceremony, I visited the Annex to see if the books were still there. They were, however, I could not check out a “Lucky Day” novel that caught my interest because the self-checkout equipment was not operational. The receptionist at the Swim Center desk (there is NO staff at the Annex) also tried the equipment but without success.
While I could have walked away with many free copies of valuable books, I did not. Instead, I returned the volume for display on the shelves…and accepted the situation as my “Not-so-Lucky Day” at the Live Oak Annex.
Library Director Mr. Christopher Platt did not acknowledge protest behind him.
The only way to check out a book is this self-checkout station that does not work.
The “Lucky Day” books are those that are in high-demand with long wait lists, available for three weeks without renewal (if you are able to check them out!).
The shelves were magically filled with books at 7am on the day of the opening ceremony of the Live Oak Library Annex.
CORRECTION TO PREVIOUS POST RE: CITY OF SANTA CRUZ WORK AT LOCH LOMOND
Many thanks to reader Doug who advised me that the City of Santa Cruz Water Dept. has not increased the level of the Newell Creek Dam that creates Loch Lomond Reservoir, but rather did other capital improvements to allow better use of the water stored by replacing the inlets and outlets for water supply.
My apologies. I regularly attend the City Water Commission meetings and enjoy learning about the many good projects the City is doing to improve the ability to collect rainwater when it is abundant, and to treat it and inject it as potable water into the aquifer for storage (Aquifer Storage & Recovery or ASR).
The City’s good work at Loch Lomond Reservoir is described here…quite an amazing feat of engineering and construction in the interest of providing a reliable source of potable water for customers:
[construction of the Newell Creek dam inlet outlet replacement project]
These forward-thinking projects will make a regional water sharing management scheme possible, and not contaminate the groundwater with chemicals, hormones, nitrate and chloride that Soquel Creek Water District’s “PureWater” Soquel Project will inflict despite energy-intensive treatment processing.
WRITE ONE LETTER. MAKE ONE CALL. ATTEND A PUBLIC MEETING AND SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS.
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 |
People for Fire
Nature around the Monterey Bay has been adjusting to changing wildfire regimes; we should expect that to continue, but how that happens is up to us in many different ways. Very recently, we are putting purposeful, good fire back onto the land. This may help restore the land while protecting human infrastructure from catastrophic damage, but there are too few projects to learn from…we must learn more!
Burning History
The Monterey Bay area has been getting hotter and drier for 20,000 years, which coincides with the era of fire-lighting humans. Laguna de las Trancas is an ancient pond that lies on a geological fault on the North Coast. Ancient ponds record the history of their place in strata. Scientists have taken sediment cores from that pond and recorded layers of pollen and volcanic ash, going back through time as the deeper sediment is older. Volcanic ash has properties that allow us to know from which volcano it originates and scientists have used various methods to chart the age of ancient volcanic eruptions. So, volcanic ash serves as milestones marking known years in the sediment’s past. This is how we know that this region changed to a much more fire-prone landscape around 12,000 years ago, consequent with the widespread archeological evidence of humans. Before that, the dominant forest trees were firs; after that, fire-adapted redwoods came to dominate. More recently, for the past 1200 years, fire scars on ancient redwoods illustrate a 4-6 year burn return interval. Indigenous people likely managed the fires sweeping frequently through redwood forests, but their fire tending of this landscape tragically ended during the genocidal colonist period. Purposeful fire has been almost entirely absent on most of this landscape for 230 years. In its place, long-interval catastrophic wildfires have caused all sorts of mayhem and loss of life.
Indigenous Pyro Management
Oral history, written accounts at the time of colonist contact, pollen records in ponds, burn scars on ancient trees, and vegetation patterns on this landscape are things that can teach us bits about thousands of years of intentional use of fire by humans. One early written account from early Old-World colonist explorers notes that many of the meadows around Monterey Bay were burned black. We know now that without burning and/or grazing all of this region’s prairies change quickly into forests, so fire must have been maintaining meadows for a very long time, in the absence of grazing and tree-pulling by the Pleistocene megafauna. The blackened meadows hampered the progress of invading Old-World explorers because they had trouble feeding their horses, which they relied on for transport. In this case, we might contemplate the use prairie fire as self-defense, but we also know that indigenous peoples used fire to cultivate native plants that served as medicine, salad greens, grain, basket materials and much more.
Good Fire Emerging Now
California’s governor has set a goal of using prescribed fire on a half million acres a year. It has been 1/10th of that for too long but indigenous folks probably burned more like 3 million acres (or more) a year previously.
Most people do not see the natural landscape as their pharmacy, grocery store, or fibershed, but many people look to the hills and know the danger of wildfire. Purposeful, good fire is starting to address this last concern and one day will help people reunite with the land in those other ways.
I was recently fortunate to interact with the Central Coast Prescribed Burn Association as they purposefully burned big patches of brush on Santa Cruz County’s North Coast. After much planning and preparation, forty volunteers gathered one Saturday to light big patches of hillside on fire. The goal was to restore coastal prairie and to train more wildland fire lighters in order to expand our region’s capacity to reintroduce fire on the landscape. These volunteer groups are growing around the world, including here in California. We have learned that their work is essential for everyone’s safety, and for the stewardship of the land, which provides us so much: water, timber, livestock, recreation, clean air, food, health, and solace.
Value-Added Fire
As we realize the importance of good fire in natural lands, entrepreneurs are envisioning profit. People are cashing in on the wildfire crisis by managing wildland fuels to power electrical generators. Some are seeing a potential to power electrical land stewardship equipment with generators fired by the fuel that equipment is removing. Others are already hauling wildland fuels to generation facilities supplying regions in Northern California with power. New technology allows burning wildland fuels to create charcoal, which is added to agricultural areas improving water holding capacity and maybe even soil fertility. That carbon is captured to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The machines are called ‘carbonators’ and they use thousands of gallons of water a day to keep them cool, which is the trick to making charcoal.
There was a lull for a bit, fand now there’s a rejuvenation of wood fired heaters for rural homes. The new woodstoves are engineered to be very efficient with very low air particulate output. Greenhouse gas (carbon) output is from recently grown wood rather than ancient fossil fuels.
The Future?
I envision a time when robots harvest biomass for fuel, farming every square inch of Planet Earth for energy. Imagine micro technology…ant-sized robots that prune plants in cultivated landscapes and natural areas, hauling bits of biomass back to larger robots which haul it to biomass energy production facilities…one big conveyor belt of fuel stolen from natural food webs. I do not like that future, but it seems inevitable in our ‘civilized’ world. How far off is that future? Without another way of managing wildfire, the day of that scenario is coming closer, quickly. The alternative is for more people to be involved with community groups managing purposeful, good fire across large areas, like the Monterey Bay region.
Your Role
Each of us has a role in helping Good Fire gain traction. Start with getting an air filter for your house: you need one anyway for wildfire smoke. Air pollution is a great concern, even with purposeful fires. The recent burning exercise I was a part of was delayed a week because of air quality concerns, and that week delay caused a bunch of issues with people’s schedules, wasted catering food, etc. If we can all be better prepared for smoke, it will be easier to get Good Fire on the ground. If you are able, help to figure out a way to get air filters to folks who can’t afford them!
We can’t expand Good Fire unless everyone feels safe in their homes. So, helping people get safe in their homes is an important thing. And, even when those homes are well secured against wildfire, people still need to be talked to, shown Good Fire, and helped to shed their fears. We can try to experience purposeful fire and see how well it is managed and then tell those stories to more people: there is a lot of fear about even professionally managed, purposeful fire.
The last thing I think more people might do: volunteer to help! The Prescribed Burn Associations could use more volunteers. Learning to manage purposeful fire is hard work and many people are needed.
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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 |
Sunday, November 24, 2024
#329 / Caitlin Johnstone’s Discouraged Comments
Observer Media, based in New York, identifies Caitlin Johnstone as “a reader-supported independent journalist from Melbourne, Australia.” Johnstone publishes a Substack newsletter (“Caitlin’s Newsletter”) in which she regularly attacks the United States Government for all of its many failings, and for all of its affirmatively bad acts. On September 6, 2024, Johnstone titled her commentary as follows: “Revolution Is Now.”
Sometimes, Johnstone identifies the United States Government as “The Empire.” I may be engaging in a bit of oversimplification here, because “The Empire” named by Johnstone is probably more than just the United States government. However, our government is certainly right at the center of “The Empire,” in Johnstone’s analysis – and that is not a good thing!
An example of how Johnstone employs the term can be seen from the following excerpt from Johnstone’s September 6th edition:
People are always asking me what we can do to fight the tyranny and depravity of the empire and create a healthy world.
“But what can we do?” they ask. “You always talk about the problems, but we need solutions! How do we solve the problems you keep pointing to?”
It’s especially common during US election season, because I tend to spend a lot of time pointing to the fraudulent nature of western electoral politics and saying Americans will never be able to vote their way out of their problems.
Which is of course fair. If I’m saying “Not that way, it’s a dead end,” it’s only fair that I should be asked which way actually leads to the exit.
Trouble is I talk about solutions all the time here, and I’m always practicing what I preach and leading by example; some people just can’t seem to hear what I’m saying. It goes in one ear and out the other, because I don’t have any solutions that are as easy and immediate as “Cast your vote for Donald Trump, he’ll fight the Deep State” or “Cast your vote for Kamala Harris, she’ll stop fascism.”
The truth of the matter is that in the here and now there are no easy and immediate solutions to the problems we face in our world. The system is far too deeply entrenched, and people are far too deeply indoctrinated with propaganda to be persuaded to fight against it right now (emphasis added).
Not having a specific and positive program to recommend, Johnstone suggests that those concerned should be trying to spread discontent and dissatisfaction as the next best thing:
An effective solution that we can all begin applying in the here and now is working to foment a revolutionary zeitgeist by spreading awareness of the depravity and deceit of the empire. The primary obstacle to real change is the fact that far too many people are far too brainwashed by propaganda to rise up against our rulers, so our first task is to begin working to wake people up out of that propaganda-induced coma so they can see how desperately real change is needed … We cultivate a habit of small acts of sedition, trying to do something every day to de-normalize the abuses of the empire in the eyes of the public. Our historically unprecedented ability to share ideas and information around the world in real time makes circulating unauthorized materials much easier than it used to be, and much more democratic. This is something we can all dedicate ourselves to.
For what it’s worth, I don’t think this is the right approach. The approach Johnstone is recommending is similar, I think, to what “Adbusters” is recommending, cultivating widespread anger and outrage, with the idea that this can, and will, precipitate the kind of positive revolutionary changes we truly do need.
I, personally, think that we need to tell ourselves the absolute opposite of what Johnstone is saying. Instead of telling ourselves how powerless we are to make the changes we need to make – and truly “revolutionary” changes are definitely called for – it’s my suggestion that we take seriously the idea that our system of “self-government” will, in fact, allow us to govern ourselves. But let’s be candid. As we look around, we can’t really say, in fact, that we are directly engaged, most of us, in the governing process.
We are spectators and critics, and we don’t like what’s happening. If that’s where we leave it, then we have no one to blame but ourselves. Let’s take Patti Smith seriously when she says, in her wonderful song, “People Have The Power.”
We have the power, but we are not using it as we could, and “spreading awareness of the depravity and deceit of the empire” is not a way to motivate the kind of unified (revolutionary) actions that can change the world. Rather, it’s a way to convince ourselves that we aren’t, and can’t be, in charge, which leads to the opposite of the kind of empowerment we need to mobilize.
It’s a Sunday today, so let me quote Jesus: “whoever loses their life will find it.” We, in the end, are in charge of “The Empire.” But to exercise the power to which we have access, those who choose to undertake a “revolution” will need to “lose” our present lives, and to decide that the purpose of our lives is something else, entirely, from what we are doing today.
Don’t we have positive ideas about how our world should be constructed – how things could be made better? I think we do, and we need to get to work on that. It’s a whole new and different life we need, and while criticism can motivate, what we really need to do is not to criticize what exists, but to create what needs to be.
And don’t tell me that we can’t do that.
We can.
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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 |
A LEOPARD MANDATE, TRANSITIONING, NO GUARDRAILS, HIDING SLAVERY
“I never thought leopards would eat MY face!” complains the voter who helped elect the leader of the Leopards Eating People’s Faces Party. This Twitter meme will simply be schadenfreude for the next four years for those who voted against Donald Trump’s third run at the presidency, enjoying every look of disbelief as the leopard takes a bite – you did this to yourself, America! Two bar patrons enjoying a beer are discussing politics when one says to the other, “Okay, you voted for Trump…convince me I’m wrong about my worst fears.” The MAGA-hatted companion replies, “Are you kidding?! I hope you’re right!!” Yeah, we’ll see about that when the leopards are loosed.
Trump and his MAGAts are crowing that the election victory is a mandate for his policies, but as it now stands, neither he nor Harris won even 50% of the popular vote; and while Trump narrowly won the popular vote contest, he had -2% winning margins in the key Blue Wall states…his victory being decided by a handful of people in a handful of states. Yet his reactionary followers still want him to blow up the government and impose the Project 2025 objectives on the whole country, while his other supporters outside the MAGA pale simply want lower prices and a secure border. If he is smart, Trump will be satisfied with inheriting the best economy in the world and a border that is reasonably secure, freeing him up to gloat on his victory and go play golf. He is not smart; he will be only be more resolute in his wish to impose tariffs, deport people, and exact revenge on his “enemies within” as he hacks away and runs roughshod over our civil liberties. As he moves quickly to appoint a regime of loyalty in his cabinet selections, which will allow him to operate autocratically, disillusioned supporters will find that expressing their displeasure only unlocks the leopard cage. Matt Kerbel writes on Wolves and Sheep on Substack, that Trump’s “driving rationale was dominance and inevitability” during his campaign, and that will permeate his second term. “Claiming a non-existent mandate for unpopular policies that harm his voters stands to weaken him politically, and can be used by the opposition to undermine the perception that he is strong. Trump’s MAGA base will never abandon him, and he owns the Republican party regardless of how much damage he does. They will always prop him up. But the way the rest of the country reacts to Trump will matter. We cannot end Trump’s presidency. But we can reduce Trump’s ability to use his presidency to end the republic,” Matt concludes.
Trump continues to flout ethics laws and norms ahead of his inauguration date, by accepting donations to fund the transition and refusing to sign ethics pledges or deliver an ethics plan mandated by the Presidential Transitions Act. The transition team also has not signed an agreement with the FBI allowing the agency to do background checks on Trump’s nominees. Deadlines were missed in September and October to sign memorandums of understanding with the Biden White House to facilitate the outgoing administration’s collaboration with Trump’s transition team, despite promises from Trump team leaders to do so. A New York Times story reports that the transition team has privately created an ethics code and conflict-of-interest guidance for transition staff, but those documents do not include the legal requirement of a statement regarding how Trump will handle conflicts of interest as an officeholder. Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote to Biden’s staff saying, “This failure undercuts the fundamental purpose of presidential transition laws. In effect, president-elect Trump is undermining his administration’s ability to manage urgent national security threats, health and safety threats, and serious conflicts of interest starting on day one of his presidency.”
In the past, even in Trump’s 2016 transition, incoming administrations have signed an agreement to receive financial assistance from the General Services Administration which monitors the transition process. Acceptance of the funds, signing the agreement requires the teams to abide by conditions that would limit individual donations to $5000 and mandate transparency about donors. One concern with nondisclosure, is that of foreign influence, there being no restrictions on international donations to transition teams. Public policy Professor Heath Brown of John Jay College, and a presidential transition expert told the The Times, “When money isn’t disclosed, it’s not clear how much is donated, who is donating, and what they are getting in return for their donation. It’s an area where the vast majority of Americans would agree that they want to know who is paying that bill.”
The Trump transition team is conducting its own, private background checks with the excuse that the FBI is too slow and could disrupt Trump’s desire to get to work quickly. CNN has been told that Trump has privately questioned whether background checks are even necessary. Trump’s noncompliance with background checks, transparency rules, and ethics are simply groundwork for a corrupt administration worse than his first term, when he used his position to enrich himself and grant favors to his wealthy cronies. By not signing the transition agreement, Trump doesn’t have to work within the confines of the fundraising limits or disclose what interest groups are funding his transition to the Oval Office…the door is wide open. And we, the taxpayers, will pay for any favors that Trump bestows upon his generous benefactors.
The president-elect has made known his belief that at times laws can be ignored, even those in the US Constitution. And this dictum has now tainted the beliefs of his inner circle of aides, advisors, and the MAGA base. ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl reported that one Trump adviser told him, “If you are on the wrong side of the vote, you’re buying yourself a primary. That is all. The president gets to decide his Cabinet. No one else.” Here’s what The Appointments Clause in Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the US Constitution says: “…and [the President] shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law.” Not clear enough? The Senate advises and consents, not the MAGA mob! But can it hold up after a Trump takeover?
Following the defeat of the British, several attempts were made to arrive at a cohesive document to unite the new society to defeat the struggle for sectional supremacy. Benjamin Franklin’s 1775 draft presented to the Continental Congress to form a national government was ignored, as were attempts by several others. Three distinct societies had developed in the colonies, each one largely determined by the role of slavery in the labor force. Pennsylvania’s John Dickinson headed a committee that arrived at a plan in 1776 which was revised for seventeen months, becoming weaker with each revision before being presented in its final form in 1777. Because it was drafted during war, it had much to do with a mutual defense mechanism, but Southern states were put off because it made no distinction between slaves and white men in the apportionment of taxation. Slaves were property, not people, and Dickinson’s lack of awareness was offensive!
The inside cover blurb of Lawrence Goldstone’s 2005 book, ‘Dark Bargain: Slavery, Profits and the Struggle for the Constitution,’ reads, “On September 17, 1787, at the State House in Philadelphia, thirty-nine men from twelve states [Rhode Island refused to send delegates] signed America’s Constitution after months of often bitter debate. They created a magnificent, enduring document, even though most of the delegates were driven more by pragmatic, regional interests than by idealistic vision. Many were meeting for the first time, others after years of contention, and the inevitable clash of personalities would be as intense as the advocacy of ideas or ideals.” Over the next several months, that number of thirty-nine men would increase or decrease with the comings and goings of individuals, to a total of fifty-five participants debating the merits of their own wishes to rescue the states from the totally inadequate Articles of Confederation.
The text continues: “No issue was of greater concern to the delegates than that of slavery: it resounded through debates on the definition of treason, the disposition of the rich lands west of the Alleghenies, the admission of new states, representation and taxation, the need for a national consensus, and the very makeup of the legislative and executive branches of the new government. Goldstone provocatively makes clear, ‘to a significant and disquieting degree, America’s most sacred document was molded and shaped by the most notorious institution of slavery.'” Goldstone’s book chronicles the forging of the Constitution through the prism of the crucial compromises made by men both driven and repelled by slavery, and the needs of the slave economy. State House debates, backroom conferences in taverns and inns lasted until the wee hours, with the philosophical contributions of James Madison waning, gradually being usurped by South Carolinian John Rutledge, a lawyer and plantation owner. Madison was particularly perturbed at Maryland’s Luther Martin, a successful attorney and an antifederalist, who was seen by many as a drunken buffoon, especially after holding the floor with a two-day speech…though being praised by many, as well. Later in his career, Martin was retained by a Quaker in a land dispute, being asked “not to drink a drop” during the trial. The trial became stressful and Martin was afraid he would lose the case by remaining sober, so during a lunch break he purchased a bottle of brandy and a loaf of bread, pouring the brandy over the loaf as he ate it with a knife and fork. Promise kept! He then proceeded to win the case having fortified himself sufficiently.
After the participants had finally agreed on the final document and returned to their various regions, the next task was to convince their state governments to accept to the results of their work, convincing which included wining and dining, cajoling, arm-twisting, and even lying to get a consensus on an instrument which specified that growers’ importation of slaves would end in twenty years…we know how that turned out! Years later, Abraham Lincoln was quoted as saying, “Slavery was hid away in the Constitution, just as an afflicted man hides away a wen or cancer, which he does not dare cut out at once, lest he bleed to death.” Goldstone ends his volume in a chapter entitled ‘Supreme Law of the Land,’ in which he writes, “But, in the central role it played, the weight of evidence leads inescapably to the conclusion that the Constitution was drafted by highly pragmatic men who were pursuing limited and self interested goals. Philosophical concerns seemed to play only a minor role in the proceedings, and only then with but a few of the participants. Nonetheless, for all that, precisely because the delegates in Philadelphia were pragmatic, and were there to represent specific, parochial interests, they were able to draft a document that was workable, adaptable, and able to survive challenges that could never have been imagined in 1787. It is distinctly possible that had idealism dominated in Philadelphia, American democracy would have failed.”
Now, after standing fast, close to 240 years, we have a buffoon and his army who want to take an axe to the hard-won document, to make small changes like enshrining the right of billionaires and corporations to bribe judges and politicians, or insert the doctrine of corporate personhood, or simply throw the whole thing out and start over. At this point, 19 Republican-controlled states have signed on to a call for a convention under Article V, heavily funded by rightwing billionaires. In fact, we might consider that the Constitution is being rewritten already…consider the decisions of the six judges on the Supreme Court when they turned a law-breaking president into a king, ended rights of women to make decisions about their own bodies, gutted the power of federal agencies to protect consumers and the environment, and legalized bribery of politicians as long as the bribes are paid AFTER a vote…simply a ‘tip’ of appreciation, you see? The encore has in its sights gay marriage, contraception, pornography and banned books, union rights and religion in schools. The American public be damned in their overwhelming desire to see gun control, an end to gerrymandering, higher wages, money out of politics, climate action, fair taxation with enforcement for the morbidly rich and corporations, and SCOTUS term limits…and on and on.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat writes on her Lucid blog on Substack, “Before Bill Barr became Donald Trump’s third attorney general, he circulated a memo that was more or less an audition tape for the job he ultimately got. In it, Barr argued in favor of what had previously been a fringe theory of a powerful ‘unitary executive,’ – a president able to consolidate power at the expense of the other two branches as a very powerful leader…even Bill Barr would have never dreamed of arguing the president could use SEAL Team Six to assassinate a political rival and walk away with no consequences…now, the Supreme Court says it’s so.” Ruth calls Trump’s naming of Russell Vought to lead the Office of Management and Budget as context for the turn to the monarchical, away from the democratic, since Vought was the godfather of Project 2025 which will restructure our institutions. Though Trump claimed no knowledge of P2025 during his campaign, it is clear that was a lie, since he spoke at a Heritage Foundation conference in April 2022, where he told the audience that the groundwork was being laid with detailed plans for exactly what the movement would do.
Ben-Ghiat continues, “Project 2025 is a wrap. It’s locked and loaded, and ready to go. If you believe it’s about to disappear or that Trump won’t use any of it, I have some swampland in Florida for you.” She says that as recently as August, Trump had “blessed” the project and that it was ready to put into action, because British journalists secretly recorded him making such claims. “Now it’s clear that all of the horribles are on the table, everything from the end of the Department of Education to the discontinuation of the weather warnings NOAA provides,” she declares. As Kevin Roberts of the Heritage Foundation said in July, ‘We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.’ The leopards are hungry and ready to perform their facials. The guardrails are down. We can only wait and see, as we put our efforts behind the Planning for a Better Day Party…
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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.
Thanksgiving
“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”
~Oprah Winfrey
“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.”
~Henry David Thoreau
“Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence.”
~Erma Bombeck
“Even though we’re a week and a half away from Thanksgiving, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.”
~Richard Roeper
“An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day.”
~Irv Kupcinet
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The first 12 minutes of MTV, back on Aug 1, 1981. |
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