Bratton… how to vote… Greensite… Back next week… Steinbruner… No on Measure Q, Don’t Trust This Person, Office of Inspector General Report Maybe a Good Start… Hayes… Natural Areas Recreation Changes Everything… Patton… … [Fill In The Blank] Isn’t The Enemy… Matlock… …pbj…cheaters…Jesus counts…favorites… Eagan… Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover… Webmistress serves you… death masks…Quotes on… “Hope”
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Dateline: October 30, 2024
HOW TO VOTE. We can just about predict perfectly that every BrattonOnline reader cares a lot about voting. We can also predict that our readers want all the research and advice possible to make the best choices. So we’ve scoured some of the best political/local minds and have put it all in black and white….READ ON
- PRESIDENT/SENATE/CONGRESS/STATE
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- President – Kamala Harris/Tim Walz
- US Senator – Schiff (Partial and Full Terms)
- Congress Member – Panetta (huge disappointment)
- State Senate – John Laird
- Assembly – Gail Pellerin
- STATE MEASURES
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Prop #2 – YES (School Bonds) Prop #3 – YES (Right To Marriage) Prop #4 – YES (Bonds For Environmental Protection) Prop #5 – YES (Bond Approval With 55% Vote) Prop #6 – YES (Eliminates Involuntary Servitude For Incarcerated Persons) Prop #32 – YES (Raises Minimum Wage) Prop #33 – YES (Expands Local Government Ability To Enact Rent Control) Prop #34 – NO (Restricts Spending Of Prescription Drug Revenues) Prop #35 – YES (Permanent Funding For MediCal Health Care) Prop #36 – NO (Increases Sentences For Certain Crimes)
- MEASURE Q – Parcel Tax For Environmental Protection
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Comment – Measure Q
Raising new money to be applied for the various purposes spelled out in the proposed ordinance is, we think, attractive – in general, the purposes for which the money can be spent should have a largely positive impact on the environment. However, the parcel tax is pretty steep, and, of course, this parcel tax will raise housing costs, when lots of people are having a hard time maintaining themselves. We have, specifically, heard from people (particularly elderly people on fixed incomes) who say that they will be very hard pressed to come up with the extra money. They complain that there is no exemption for senior homeowners, which could have helped with this problem.There are also significant questions about a lack of real specificity with respect to what the money will be used for, presuming that the tax does go into effect. In essence, the County Board of Supervisors (which, increasingly, means the County Administrative Officer) has very broad discretion with respect how to spend the money; anyone who has questions about how well the County Government makes decisions about governmental spending has a reason to be cautious. This concern, I believe, is what has motivated the opposition of local fire chiefs. Their opposition is a “red flag warning.”
- MEASURE Z – Tax On Sugar-Sweetened Beverages – [See Comment #2, Below]
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Comment – Measure Z
It is undoubtedly true that reducing the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages would have health benefits. While we have not looked for studies, personally, we think it is true, from what we have heard about the experience of other jurisdictions, that the tax will reduce the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages to some degree. However, there are real problems with this measure.First, it is undoubtedly true that the proposed tax will disproportionately impact lower income persons. Second, because this tax would apply ONLY within the City of Santa Cruz, it will tend to disadvantage local (City) stores, because a significant number of people will simply move their grocery buying to areas outside the City, defeating the purpose of the measure, and hurting stores located in the City. The monies raised, if the tax is imposed, are not dedicated to any specific, health-related purpose, and this just gives more money to the City Council (and that means the City Manager and City staff). Currently, the City of Santa Cruz hires consultants to do work that we believe could and should be undertaken by existing City staff. If Measure Z passes, there will be a lot of new money for such expenditures.
The measure did not come from any broad-based community coalition, but is essentially a “political statement” by a couple of City Council Members (Kalantari-Johnson and Watkins) who received support from City staff and other Council Members, all of whom will get significant new spending authority if the measure passes. We would have preferred to see a countywide effort, along the lines of the recent County Measure banning the sale of filtered cigarettes, which will have to have support from the cities before it will go into effect. It is also true that there are some significant legal issues with Measure Z, and that litigation is likely (the cost of which will be borne by City taxpayers).
Final thought: The amount of spending by beverage companies to urge a “NO” vote is huge, and hugely disproportionate (almost $2 million, we think it is – what really can be called an “obscene” level of political spending). That fact, by itself, makes us want to consider a “Yes” vote, just to make clear that massive spending can’t “buy” the local legislative outcomes that wealthy businesses want. In the end, though, we don’t urge any specific vote, but think that voters should take all of the various items listed here into account as they make up their own minds on what to do about Measure Z.
More new movies soon.
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.
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. |
JUST SAY NO TO MEASURE Q
The Land Trust has sure spent alot of money stuffing our mailboxes with expensive, glossy mailers that deceptively claim Measure Q money would help reduce wildfire risk.
This disgusts me, knowing that the Land Trust leadership repeatedly rejected the Santa Cruz County Fire Chiefs Association’s diligent efforts before the measure was finalized to persuade them that earmarking a certain dollar amount for fire risk reduction projects would be wise, and to ensure that some part of the anticipated $7.3 Million annual FOREVER windfall would indeed be spent on fire reduction public safety projects. “We have no appetite for that.” the Land Trust’s leader purportedly told the Fire Chiefs.
The Land Trust also insisted on keeping the banner language for the Measure to include “Wildfire Risk Reduction”, even though the County Fire Chief’s Association requested it be removed. The Land Trust rejected that because they know that people tend to support such critical project language…whether or not it ever really happens.
That is why the Santa Cruz County Fire Chiefs Association filed the Argument in Opposition to Measure Q. It is unprecedented. However, they know how the County works, having painfully witnessed the fact that the County CAO refuses to give any state Public Safety money from Prop. 172 (a statewide 1/2 cent sales tax meant to fund public safety) and even handed over the full unanticipated $1.7 Million in Prop. 172 revenues the County received recently to the Sheriff….ZERO dollars to fund County Fire Department.
Measure G in 2018 was sold to voters as a way to fund fire agencies and emergency response…but ZERO has been spent for that public safety benefit, at least as far as the murky County records show. Measure B in 2022 again claimed the increase in Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) monies would help fund emergency response. Again, ZERO dollars went to the fire agencies from that windfall. Measure K in March 2024 again promised money for emergency response…who knows how that will pan out, but thanks to Mr. Bruce Holloway’s lawsuit settlement, the County will have to be transparent about the expenditures of the new countywide 1/2cent sales tax.
Take time to read the vague and overly-broad laundry list of what the Land Trust and other non-profits whose political action committee has raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars in this campaign to fool you again. Don’t be deceived by the sneaky trick the Land Trust played to bribe Central Fire District’s Local 3535 to endorse Measure Q, in opposition to their Chief, and in turn receive a large donation for Measure R that would fund new fire stations if approved.
I hope you, will stand in solidarity with the County Fire Chiefs and VOTE NO ON
MEASURE Q!
SHOULD YOU TRUST THIS PERSON TO BE YOUR SUPERVISOR?
Last month, I wrote about the lawsuit involving Fifth District County Supervisor Monica Martinez, and questioned her ethics. She has never responded to my article, and cancelled an interview I had scheduled with her on Santa Cruz Voice to discuss her candidacy. To date, she has not spoken publicly about the lawsuit, to dispel any clouds of questionable behavior or bad decisions she might have made.
Nothing. Take a look at what Santa Cruz Local published about this and ask yourself….Should you trust this person to be your County Supervisor??? If I were a voter in the Fifth District, my answer would be NO.
Fact check: A lawsuit against Encompass and Monica Martinez – Santa Cruz Local
READ YOUR VOTING GUIDES CAREFULLY BEFORE VOTING
Many thanks to the Santa Cruz Local for providing balanced and impartial information on State Propositions and local issues:
Santa Cruz Local’s Election Guide: Nov. 5, 2024 – Santa Cruz Local
COMMENT NOW ON 908 OCEAN STREET PROJECT
A massive development proposed at 908 Ocean Street has a draft EIR now open for public comment until November 15. Take some time to look at this project that would demolish much of the area between Water Street and Hubbard Street , and between Ocean Street and May Avenue to make way.
The Draft EIR will be published and circulated for review and comment by the public and other interested parties, agencies, and organizations for a 45-day public review period from October 2, 2024, through November 15, 2024. The Draft EIR will be available for public review during the comment period at the following locations:
- City of Santa Cruz Planning and Community Development Department, located at 809 Center Street, Room 101, from 7:30 to 11:30 AM, Monday through Thursday.
- Reference Desk of the Downtown Public Library, located at 224 Church Street.
- The online is broken: Page Not Found….
Written comments on the Draft EIR may be submitted to the City of Santa Cruz at the address below or may be submitted by email by 5:00 pm on November 15, 2024, to: Ryan Bane, Senior Planner City of Santa Cruz Planning and Community Development Department 809 Center Street, Room 101 Santa Cruz, CA 95060 rbane@santacruzca.gov
The online link to the project comment is broken, displaying this message:
Sorry, this site/page is currently unavailable.
Some customers are seeing intermittent errors with this site/page. We’re aware of the issue and are working on it urgently.
Likewise, the link to the 908 Ocean Street project is broken on this City website:City of Santa Cruz Upcoming Housing Projects | Santa Cruz Economic Development
The City’s “Significant Projects” website lists the 908 Ocean Street project, but upon clicking the link for project address, all that I found was a Google map of the project area, but I discovered that by clicking on the project address title, another page is recommended.
After following a few links, I get to the message on this page.
*Please Note:
This application package and proposed project has been submitted by a new applicant and exists separately from an already existing proposal at this location. (For information on the previously submitted project, please visit the alternate 908 Ocean Street web page).
Here you will find information about this project including the projects description, plan set(s), and all future meeting details relating to this project. You can also contact the City Project Planner by using the Question or Comment section below.
Project Description
- Project Size: Significant Development Project
- City of Santa Cruz Project Number:
- Pre-Application Project No. CP22-0085
- Formal Application Project No. CP23-0030
- Project Status: Visit Etrakit for Most Current Status and the Assigned Planner
Clicking on yet another link to the new application information, yielded this message:
Page Not Found…
The page you are looking for may have been removed, renamed, entered wrong, or is temporarily unavailable.You can go to the home page but why not send us information that may help resolve this issue?
Isn’t this amazing???? Please contact the planner:
Planning Staff Contact Information:
Senior Planner Ryan Bane
Phone: (831) 420-5141 Email: rbane@santacruzca.gov
WHY DID VALLEY WOMEN’S CLUB ATTEMPT TO THWART MEASURE U EDUCATIONAL FORUM?
The Press Banner reported on the drama caused by the Valley Women’s Club (VWC) representatives and San Lorenzo Valley Water District incumbent Layng at a recent educational forum on Measure U, the citizen ballot initiative to control water rate increases for equity among customers.
According to the report, Incumbent Layng shouted from the audience that there was a Brown Act violation, and a VWC representative tried to remove pro-Measure U speakers from the forum, even going so far as to snatch away their personal papers and water bottles.
[Pressbanner article]
For those wishing to watch the SLVWD Candidate and Measure U Forum, the full and unedited version of the event may be found by searching for “SanLorenzoValleyCommunityForum” on YouTube.com. The edited version of the forum is available on the YouTube page of the Valley Women’s Club of San Lorenzo Valley.
Sadly, Mr. Mosher rejected an invitation I extended to interview on “Community Matters” to discuss Measure U on Santa Cruz Voice.com. I felt it only fair to offer him equal air time, after Bruce Holloway had been interviewed discussing the making and reasoning behind the grassroots initiative.
PAJARO VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT TRANSPARENCY LACKING
Should you trust the Pajaro Valley Unified School District when they claim in Measure M that a $331 Million bond is necessary to upgrade classrooms and playgrounds when the District cried wolf in 2016 with Measure L that gave them $150 Million to do the same, but the projects were not completed? Should you believe the proponents that the money in Measure M would pay for construction of a new performing arts center for Pajaro Valley High School when that project is not even mentioned in the ballot language?
Should you question the cost of the many large signs throughout the District, including many large expensive banners posted on school grounds within the District, and an expensive glossy color mailer cites a “Friends of Measure M Pajaro Valley” paying for it all, yet that Committee has not filed any financial reports with the FPPC?
Campaign Finance: Friends of measure M pajaro valley
| FILER PHONE: |
| (415) 218-9150 |
| SUMMARY INFORMATION – FRIENDS OF MEASURE M PAJARO VALLEY (ID# 1475213) | |
| CURRENT STATUS | ACTIVE |
| This committee has not electronically filed a Form 460/461/450 for this election cycle. For further information, click on prior sessions to see if historical filings are available. Also check for late contribution filings if a major filing deadline has not yet occurred for this election cycle. | |
Schools always have their hand out for more, but in my opinion, it is with a priority of feeding their bloated administrations.
Measure M promises “independent citizen oversight”, yet the committee that is supposed to provide that for the 2016 Measure L bond money approved by voters has not met in over two years to review the expenditures of those funds. Oversight? I don’t think so.
IS TASERING A PRONE NEARLY-HANDCUFFED SUSPECT IN THE GROIN TRIVIAL?
The new County Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued it’s first report on the Sheriff Dept. this week, both at an evening public meeting and to the County Board of Supervisors. The evening meeting was interesting because of the comments and questions posed by the audience (8 in person, 20+ online).
The Report is publicly available, and includes 21 Recommendations for improvement. One recommendation is described as merited following body cam documentation that a deputy arrived at scene to see two deputies struggling struggling to apply handcuffs on a prone suspect. Without warning, the third officer activated his taser on the suspect’s leg, then again to the groin.
Was that use of force necessary? It was a violation of procedure and policy to shoot the prone suspect without any prior warning…twice. What did the Sheriff do about that incident? The OIG did not investigate it. Second District County Supervisor Zach Friend opined at Tuesday’s Board meeting presentation that it was minor and cited his previous career related to law enforcement. Hmmm…
The public meeting was interesting. One person who had been incarcerated described the main jail as “inhumane”. One family member of a formerly incarcerated man talked about the fact that the locks on many units did not work, so other inmates could enter at will. Ms. Seryno responded that “the work to repair the locks is nearly completed,” and that the exterior surveillance would soon be installed. Hmmmm…. Haven’t they been saying that for years in response to the Grand Jury investigation report recommendations?
More than one member of the public questioned the fact that OIG had not done any in-depth investigations of any of the 11 complaints received or the 34 random reviews of use of force incidents (of 336 total such incidents). One man pointed out that the OIG merely accepted the documents and information handed them from the Sheriff Dept. and did not inquire further. Because I remembered that, under the terms of the contract, the OIG must first obtain permission of the Sheriff to launch any further investigation, I asked if the Sheriff had denied any such requests? “No” replied Mr. Jennaco, the OIG, “We did not ask because we found no reason to do a further investigation.” Hmmm….
The question looming over all of the OIG reporting is this: Will it make a positive difference?
Take a look at the OIG website and read the Report available here: Office of Inspector General
Hopefully, the Assistant CAO, Ms. Seryno, will post the recording of the October 28 public meeting soon.
Look at the recommendations and discussion on page 25 where it describes the officer’s actions to taser the suspect in the groin. That did not merit an independent investigation by OIR? Why?
Will the new Sheriff Clark implement any of the 21 recommendations the OIG report includes? Contact him and ask:
Chris Clark <chris.clark@santacruzcountyca.gov> 831-454-7612
SAD INFORMATION ABOUT GARBAGE AT THE COUNTY FAIR
Last Tuesday, County Recycling Director Christina Horvat told the Santa Cruz County Fair Board that Greenwaste dedicated staff to sorting every single bag of garbage generated during the County Fair last month, and separated the organic waste that could be composted. “It was beautifully done,” Ms. Horvat said, and would have diverted tons of food waste from the landfill.
Unfortunately, Fairgrounds staff, vendors or people living at the site dumped a mountain of trash on the dumpster of organic waste, causing the entire dumpster contents to go to the landfill because it was contaminated.
Here is the waste diversion report:
Diversion Overview:
Trash: 22.17 Tons
Recycle: 0.85 Tons
Organics: 0. Tons (Organic was contaminated)2023 Total Overview:
Trash: 30.70 Tons
Recycle: 0.89 Tons
Organics: 0. Tons
Greenwaste must donate staff to help reduce trash at 10 events each year as part of their contract with the County. The County Fair is a large event, but Greenwaste chose to donate staff time in order to help make a positive difference in landfill hauls.
How sad that Fairgrounds staff did not take to heart the training video information that County staff provided Fairgrounds CEO Zeke Fraser. for training his staff and volunteers. Ms. Horvat reported that NONE of the vendors complied this year with recycling and organic waste separation.
Write the Santa Cruz County Fair Board and demand that the 2025 County Fair waste stream is improved. Fair Board Correspondence
PROJECT HOMEKEY PARK AVENUE PROJECT IS PROGRESSING, BUT WHERE IS THE PARKING?
The modular pieces of the Park Place affordable housing project are installed, and very colorful. This will include 35 affordable units, financed under Project Homekey State grant monies. The question is…where is the parking? I don’t see any at all. This issue was of great concern to the neighborhood at the time this 2838 Park Place project was approved.
The parking area seen in the foreground is that for the businesses there, but the Novin developer vehicles are clearly taking most of the spaces. The rear of the housing structure, which is in a riparian corridor, has no parking.
2838 Park Ave., Soquel, Park Haven Plaza – Santa Cruz Local
MONTEREY MUSHROOM LOCAL FACILITY CLOSING
Here is some sad news for the local agricultural community. The largest mushroom farm in the area will soon close.
Big Monterey County mushroom farm blames closure on “sour business” climate in California
DID YOUR HOME INSURANCE CARRIER DROP YOUR POLICY?
Many in Santa Cruz County and statewide have received notices from insurance carriers that their policy will not be renewed. Are you one of them?
To assist the thousands of California residents in rural and suburban areas who are struggling to keep and afford insurance on their homes, the consumer non-profit United Policyholders (UP) announced today they are partnering with the Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC). UP and RCRC are asking all California homeowners to participate in a confidential, short survey.
WRITE ONE LETTER. MAKE ONE CALL. READ YOUR VOTER INFORMATION CAREFULLY BEFORE VOTING. VOTE!
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 |
Natural Areas Recreation Changes Everything
Humans just visiting natural areas changes everything in those parks. The sound of our voices drives large mammalian predators away. When those predators flee, other critters feel comforted and move in. Those changes in animal dynamics portend much for conservation. And, as always, conservation outcomes impact human wellbeing.
The Puma Project
Having a world-class research institution right here in Santa Cruz sometimes means a lot for local wildlife conservation. The Puma Project is one example. Some locals have had the good fortune of seeing Dr. Chris Willmers present to packed auditoriums around town – he’s a global expert on how the presence, or absence, of top predators changes entire ecosystems. Dr. Willmers and the many smart folks in his lab have been studying mountain lions in our region for a long while. Occasionally, those studies result in publishable findings. I want to highlight one such paper in this article: “Fear of humans as apex predators has landscape-scale impacts from mountain lions to mice.“
Recreation and Wildlife Conservation = Conflicting Goals
Parks managers have a difficult time managing for both recreation and wildlife. Locally, most of those managers find it impossible to publicly state the truth that those two goals are in direct conflict. You are much more likely to hear from local land trusts as well as local, state, and national conservation lands managers that you can have your cake and eat it to. I have written much about this previously. When presented with scientific data about such conflicts, parks managers and recreation proponents will variously suggest that it doesn’t matter, that they have accounted for those conflicts with their management/planning, or that there are no local data showing anything is wrong. The publication we are focusing on here is an excellent example of good local data and why recreation matters.
Study Design
How can we know how the presence of humans in natural areas is having an impact on wildlife? There are many ways, and Dr. Willmers’ lab found a particularly interesting method. They monitored motion-triggered speakers near deer carcasses and those speakers variously played back male or female human voices alternating with treefrog vocalizations. As is often the case with smart scientists, a humorous side note included the male voice as Rush Limbaugh and the female voice as Rachel Maddow. When a treefrog croak played back, the mountain lion kept eating the carcass but when either Rachel’s or Rush’s voice played back, the lion left the carcass rapidly and didn’t return. This has profound implications for lions who need about one deer per week to stay healthy. And this also has great implications for the design of a virtual exclosure for mountain lions: set up a large grid of close-enough speakers murmuring human voices and you can ward off lions and study what happens. The team did just that in two locations, virtually excluding pumas on 250 acres.
Talking Humans Changes Wildlife
The study found very interesting things about human-wildlife conflicts. As expected, mountain lion presence was much less and more distant from human vocalizations – good news if you fear the extremely miniscule potential of encountering a puma while visiting a park. And other wildlife were also negatively affected by the recordings of human voices. Bobcats stopped moving during the day and skunks avoided the human voice areas even more than lions. On the other hand, mice and rats benefited from the pseudo-human presence. Deer mice presence increased and small mammals in general foraged more intensely in the areas where human voices were present. Makes sense, right? Remove the carnivores and the rodents move in.
Implications
These documented human voice-induced changes in wildlife movement have big implications for conservation. First and foremost, I believe that this study can help people to understand that the conflict between recreation and wildlife is real, even right here on the Monterey Bay. Second, this analysis can help us to begin to understand how much wildlife habitat has already been sacrificed for recreational use. Third, as the mountain lions in our region will soon be recognized as an endangered species, parks managers will have a clearer-than-ever mandate to re-orient their trails and management of parks visitors to accommodate the recovery this species. They can use the findings of this study to support their case.
Response
What should we do with this story? Shouldn’t we now expect conservation lands managers to take into account this science when designing and managing visitor use in natural areas? Ideally, we would know which areas are being set aside so that mountain lions have enough habitat to survive. Can you recall hearing about any such areas? I have seen very little, but some examples might illustrate a bit about how the future will unfold.
There are two examples of mountain lion protection zones, though not well published. The first is an area of the San Vicente Redwoods (SVR) conservation/recreation property on the North Coast of Santa Cruz County. If the voters approve it, SVR will most likely be a primary benefactor of Measure Q: it will allow managers to build more extensive trails and manage a piece of property that includes a recreation-free mountain lion preserve. The second is an area of BLM’s Cotoni Coast Dairies property. BLM set aside just over half of this property to not have recreational trails, choosing to sacrifice the other half of the habitat for recreational use. This was the perverse result of the land being designated as National Conservation Land, which mandates that the primary objective of the land be for conservation: BLM can point to 51% of the property being set aside as the evidence they need.
Now that you know this story, you are able to say “Balderdash!” to anyone suggesting that wildlife conservation and natural areas recreation are compatible goals.
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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 |
Monday, October 28, 2024
#302 / [Fill In The Blank] Isn’t The Enemy
The Wall Street Journal is not a paper whose editorial positions often reflect my own views. I read it anyway. In fact, in large part, I read it because of that fact. Business gurus worry about the “silo effect.” We all ought to worry about it, and I specifically recommend watching out for the “silo effect” as we discuss “politics.”
Don Bacon, who is a Republican Member of Congress representing Nebraska’s Second Congressional District, wrote a column in the September 10, 2024, edition of The Wall Street Journal that addressed the issue, although the term “silo effect” was not employed. The title on Bacon’s column was this: “The Other Party Isn’t The Enemy.”
Among other things, Bacon’s column contained this statement:
Our politics have become toxic. Too many voters treat their political party as the most important thing in their lives. They consider the other side to be their enemy or, even worse, evil. This phenomenon spans both parties.
I am in agreement with this statement. Bacon also told the following story about a meeting he had with some of his constituents. In fact, he began his column with this story:
At a March GOP meeting in my congressional district, I said, “I am a Christian first, an American second, and then a Republican.” Immediately, an older gentleman yelled out, “That is why we don’t like you!” I wondered what bothered him more, the Christian or the American part.
As I read Bacon’s column, and generally agreed with Bacon’s warning about the dangers of a “toxic” politics, two thoughts came to mind. I thought I’d share them here.
First, Bacon begins his column by ennumerating the various “identities” which he believes best define who he is (you could call them “silos,” if you wanted to). His identities are “ranked,” so Bacon’s identity as a “Christian” comes before his identity as an American, and his identity as an “American” comes before his identity as a “Republican.”
Please note that Bacon does not suggest that his identity as a “human being” is the same kind of category, and that this category (or identity) supersedes all other “identities.” Bacon is also “White,” and a “male,” and is probably a “college graduate,” etc.
The attributes of our persons are manifold. Using them as ways to distinguish ourselves from others is perilous, because to decide that we know who or what we “are,” and that who or what we “are” is an identity that excludes other human beings, and puts us in a separate category in which we are “better than,” or even just “different from” others, leads to the kind of “toxic” politics to which Bacon properly objects. A common phrase is “Identity Politics.” I have just described what that means. Such distinctions, based on the “identity” with which we feel most comfortable, will lead not only to a “toxic” politics. The use of such identity-based distinctions will lead to a “toxic” set of human relationships in general, “politics” aside. I have put it this way, in earlier blog postings: “Comparisons are odious.” I can thank my mother for that one. And I do!
Bacon is totally correct that this “comparison” way of thinking about things is emphatically not restricted to “Republicans.” For instance, I have a Facebook Friend who made a comment, sometime ago, in response to something I posted on my Facebook Profile Page. My friend ended a comment on politics with the thought that we need to “get rid of Republicans.” The implications of that suggestion could be dramatic, and don’t strike me as very good. As a Democrat, I get LOTS of comments from other Facebook “Friends” who suggest that the world would be better if it were only possible to get rid of me. I have written about this phenomenon before. “In-person,” the kind of comments that Don Bacon is talking about often resolve themselves rather positively. Less so when the comments are delivered by way of online invective or are given credence by candidates for president who are currently past their “safe to use” date.
Here is my second comment about Bacon’s column. I think Bacon’s title is under-inclusive. The “Other Party” is, I agree, not “The Enemy.” But who is? Who is “The Enemy”? Do we really want to decide that there are categories of “Friends,” and catagories of “Enemies,” and that we need to know which one is which, and then act accordingly – “getting rid” of those “Enemies” being the obvious task at hand?
I would like to suggest that a “fill in the blank” approach to the phrase that Bacon uses in his headline is, in fact, the correct approach. Whoever or whatever we might want to put in that “blank” space in the sentence I have used for my title, the sentence is correct. “Enemies” is not a category that we should be using to distinguish those who are different from ourselves, or with whom we disagree.
Just by chance, as I looked for a photo for the top of today’s blog posting, and thought some image associated with The Wall Street Journal would be appropriate, I came upon the photo you can see above, Putin and the Pope. Whatever your political or religious views might be, neither Putin nor the Pope are “The Enemy.” Looking at the photo, it seems that they might both understand that, too!
There is a phrase that I often utilize (and I am always tickled to find that Joyce Vance uses it, too, in her daily postings to her Substack blog, “Civil Discourse“). Here it is, right at the end of this paragraph. This is the reason you can “fill in the blank” in that sentence I have used as a headline, and disscover that the sentence will absolutely be true (no matter what you put in the blank space). Whoever we put into the blank space “Isn’t The Enemy.” Why not? As Joyce Vance and I both say:
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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 |
DONNY TWO-TONE, MCDONALD’S VS BURGER KING, LOSER TRIAD
From a recent Trump campaign rally in Nevada, Texas’ GOP Senator John Cornyn released a photo of himself and the candidate which immediately went viral. Viewers zoomed onto the former president’s face which had a dramatic color difference between his face, and his ear and temple areas. MSNBC contributor Brian Taylor Cohen posted the image on X, quickly gathering 9.2M views and a fever-pitched collection of comments. Over the past few weeks many have been saying that The Trumpster wears more makeup than does Kamala Harris…Maybelline eyeliner king is still JD Vance…with some having flashbacks to their first use of makeup in middle school, one poster confessing that it looked similar to her discovery of L’Oréal Dream matte mousse. Humorist Mrs. Betty Bowers believes Donny Two-Tone has the same approach to liquid foundation as he does to racial politics: no blending, keep the colors separate! Others were united in being reminded of the Tupperware look after microwaving of tomato-based pasta, while others felt it was a definite match for the MinWax Wood Finish color chart, Colonial Maple. Some felt he was simply getting into a pumpkin-faced Halloween spirit, with a few suggesting this represents a true border crisis…another saying a pressure washer wouldn’t leave a dent.
And the deranged guy just can’t get it straight in his head that he was found guilty of 34 felony charges for his scheme to silence porn star, Stormy Daniels, by buying her silence about their previous affair during his 2016 presidential run…he’s trying to do it again! MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow revealed a few weeks back that she had in-hand recorded phone calls, documents and emails from July to prove that Trump was once again attempting to buy her silence in a hush money deal. The new offer involved a lowering of the debt she owes from a failed 2018 lawsuit for defamation if she agreed in writing not to make “defamatory or disparaging statements” about him. Daniels turned down the deal but settled the case for $627,500, yet she still got in a shot last week when she affirmed “Trump is no Arnold Palmer.” A political cartoon making the rounds depicts a cartoonish MAGA-hatted elephant pointing to a wall shelf weighted down with a Trump Bible, Trump trading card collection, a Trump wrist watch, an over-long red tie, Trump golden tennis shoes, and a framed 8×10 glossy of The Trumpster. The MAGA-protagonist is saying, “Up here I used to keep my conservative, moral, and Christian values, but I had to get rid of them to make room for my Trump merchandise.” You’ll need another shelf before it’s over, buddy!
Anita Chabria writes in the LA Times that “we have passed the point of discerning reality from satire.” As an example, she marvels that she “had to write the sentence about whether the speaker of the House argued with a CNN host about whether it was appropriate that the former president talked about the size of the late golfer Arnold Palmer’s junk at a rally.” Trump is quoted as saying, “Arnold Palmer was all man and I say it with all due respect to women…we have women who are highly sophisticated here.” To this Chabria responds, “Ah yes, I am currently eating my peanut butter and jelly sandwich with both pinkies lifted, fancy-lady style, so I can tell you with authority that sophisticated women love (this type of) joke, almost as much as fart jokes.” Trump welcomed a few steelworkers onstage, asking them if they liked the Palmer story, garnering praise, to which Chabria says, “Which, to make a long story short, is all that matters to Trump.” She then brings in Trump’s adventure at a McDonald’s in Feasterville, PA, where he went for a photo-op of dress-up in a Mac apron (no gloves or hairnet) to run the fry cooker to pass out fries to a hand-selected group of drive-thru customers…25,000 he says. NOT! Chabria closes with, “Trump is many things, but he’s not stupid – especially when it comes to his base. Both his Palmer story and his minimum wage dress-up are forms of aggressive anti-intellectualism and anti-elitism that please his supporters to no end because the rest of us find it offensive. The offense is the point. As Trump said at the Palmer event: ‘The basic is easier to understand.’ In MAGA world, he’s not the joke. We are.”
Satirist Andy Borowitz writes of the McDonald’s appearance: “Calling the selection process ‘rigged,’ Donald J. Trump refused on Tuesday to accept that he was not chosen Employee of the Month at a McDonald’s where he briefly worked over the weekend. ‘I’ve been treated very unfairly by McDonald’s,’ he complained to reporters. ‘Frankly, I did win this selection.’ The Republican nominee alleged that he had ‘the most votes for Employee of the Month in the history of employees and months,’ but that ballots cast for him were stolen by a sinister individual he called ‘The Hamburgler.’ Trump said he would never work at McDonald’s again, asserting that ‘Burger King is better, quite frankly, because it’s a monarchy.’ A co-worker of Trump’s, however, offered a downbeat assessment of his job performance: ‘He kept on stealing fries and whatnot, and when I caught him doing it, he threw ketchup against the wall. That guy sucks.'”
Yale professor and historian Timothy Snyder writes on Substack, “We have seen this before. We know what Trump losing looks like. Three Trumpian actions are predictable. We know them from the last election. Last time around, when Trump lost, when Trump knew he lost, he: 1. Claimed that he won, 2. Filed lawsuits, 3. Encouraged violence. He did these three things because he lost. They comprise the loser triad. Judging from past behavior, though, a repetition of the loser triad would signal that Trump believes that he has lost. In 2024, though, the sequence will be different. Allies of Trump have already filed dozen of lawsuits. Pro-Trump violence is likely to begin around election day rather than in January. But the timing of Trump’s claiming of victory will likely be the same, shortly after the election but before the outcome has been confirmed. To be clear anything can happen. Either candidate can win. That is why we vote and count the votes. And that is exactly why we should not engage in behaviors like the loser triad. The loser triad indicates that a loser is trying to break the system. This time around, the three actions will likely come in the following sequence. Trump, in the 2024 loser triad: 1. Files lawsuits, 2. Encourages violence, 3. Claims that he won shortly after election day. If Trump again claims too early that he won, this is not just a statement like any other. It is part of a plan to take power by a candidate who believes that he has lost an election – a repeat of a behavior that we know very well. If Trump claims victory, that is a good sign that Harris has won the election.”
Of course, he is setting the stage to contest a potential loss by blustering about the vote’s legitimacy and portraying the Democrats as a bunch of “cheaters” in their campaigning. He continues to escalate his doubts regarding the integrity as election day approaches. Recently, in Erie, PA, he incoherently ranted, “I would’t bother to campaign if they didn’t cheat. I wouldn’t even be here today – you know why? I wouldn’t have to campaign. I’m only here because they cheat. And they cheat in this state. Especially in Philadelphia…Philadelphia is out of control. Detroit is out of control. Atlanta is out of control. Places are out of control. Out of control.” Got that? Out of control! “If God came down from on high and said, ‘I’m going to be your vote tabulator for this election,’ I would leave this podium right now because I wouldn’t have to speak. We wouldn’t have any problem. We have to have a landslide because they cheat so damn much.” Academics and election officials, and even a voter data expert hired by Trump, all agree there is no evidence to support his claims regarding the 2020 election, nor did the few fraudulent votes cast, always exceedingly rare, have any effect on the final numbers in the race. Hello, America…he just needs to “find” 81 million dopes…
During an interview with Dr. Phil McGraw, Trump attacked California and its extensive and successful vote-by-mail program, saying he’d win the state if not for the supposed fraud. “I guarantee you, if Jesus came down and was the vote counter, I would win California. In other words, if we had an honest vote counter, a really honest counter, I do great with the Hispanics, great, I mean I had a level that no other Republican’s ever done, but if we had an honest vote counter, I would win California,” he claims. Weave on, Weaver! The Harris campaign released a statement saying Trump “reached a level of delusion difficult for even Dr. Phil to diagnose.” Social media wasn’t having it either. One poster on X wrote, “If Jesus came down, Donald would demand that he be deported,” and in a similar vein another posted, “If Jesus came down you’d demand to see the birth certificate and then call him a liar, and don’t even get me started on what you’d say about his mom.” Another doubter wrote, “I’m just an ordinary Catholic, but I’m thinking that Jesus probably wouldn’t come down for a man found liable by a jury for sexual assault.” In digs at Dr. Phil, one posted, “A real doctor would be scheduling Trump for a rush visit to get an MRI,” with another posting, “Bro is completely delusional. I wonder if Dr. Phil is ready to make his diagnosis yet?” A closer writes, “If Jesus, Mary, Shiva, Krishna, Holy Spirit and Buddha all came down as vote counters, he would still lose California.” That’s a wrap!
According to Raw Story, if Trump loses, he will likely lobby House Republicans to refuse to certify the results, not a problem in 2020 when Democrats held a majority, but with Republicans now holding a slim majority, it could become a legitimate issue. Politico has reported that a bipartisan group of House lawmakers have banded together to jointly pledge to certify the results of the 2024 vote, and the group so far includes six House Republicans, who if they honor their pledge to certify a win for Harris, Trump allies would be unable to block certification with the current membership of the House. Republican Don Bacon of Nebraska says the group’s pledge is a reflection of traditional American values. “In America we respect election results especially once the courts and appeals work through the process. We fight hard to win during the campaigns and then respect the results when the votes are counted,” Bacon says. For more than two centuries the country enjoyed a peaceful transfer of power between presidential administrations, until Trump in 2020 pushed his MAGATs to refuse certification, lobbied states to “find” votes for him, and pressured VP Pence to reject the election results, before sending angry insurrectionists to fight police, break into the Capitol and ransack legislator’s offices. Four years later, Trump is sending the same message: election results will not be accepted unless the election is “fair” – meaning, if he wins. “If we don’t win, you know, it depends. It always depends on the fairness of the election,” he threatens.
Donald Trump, on a break from visiting his golf courses in Ireland and Scotland, sneaks away in a rental car, finds himself down in Wales, a bit lost with no food or water in the bleak countryside. Spotting a gentle, crystal clear stream running at the roadside, he starts to take a drink. A man shouts in Welsh, “Don’t drink the water…the sheep pee in it!” Know-it-all-Donny yells back, “Speak English when you’re in England!” The man shouts back in English, “Use both hands…you’ll get more water.”
Time for a rerun of an old joke: Interviewer asks, “So, Mr. Trump, of the 30,000 lies you’ve told the American people, which is your favorite?” Trump replies, “I don’t lie.” Interviewer responds, “Yeah, that’s my favorite one, too.”
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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.
Hope
“But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.”
~Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”
~Desmond Tutu
“Remember: hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”
~Stephen King
“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”
~Martin Luther King, Jr.
“A whole stack of memories never equal one little hope.”
~Charles M. Schulz
“Hope is a waking dream.”
~Aristotle
“It’s always something, to know you’ve done the most you could. But don’t leave off hoping, or it’s of no use doing anything. Hope, hope to the last.”
~Charles Dickens
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Fascinating video about death masks and funerary masks. Take a minute and check it out. |
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