Bratton… Preposterous pennies…Farewell Marcia McDougal … Greensite… Gillian is out this week … Steinbruner… Questions about Fifth District Candidate Martinez, Candidate Forums, Inequity in County Building Permit Rules …Hayes… Food movements … Patton… Pascal’s Wager Goes MAGA … Matlock… Texas vigilantes…eight seconds & counting…vitriol to go… Eagan… Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover… Webmistress serves you…moments before disaster strikes… Quotes on… “Santa Cruz”
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Dateline: September 11, 2024
STOP MAKING CENTS. I wish I had a for sure link to this article in New York Times Magazine. (Do try it!) They printed an article including the cover of an article titled STOP MAKING CENTS by Caity Weaver. The facts and statistics are not only unbelievable, but preposterous. The point is that we in the USA don’t use pennies, we just store them in boxes, jars, baskets…but we don’t use them. It says that there are 240 billion pennies stored around the USA. It costs more than 3 cents to produce one. There’s a small private company in Tennessee named Artazn that makes zinc blanks which our government then stamps into pennies. Among other surprising facts is that General Motors used to punch holes in pennies and use them as washers. The article tells how other countries stopped using, or never used in the first place, pennies.
MARCIA McDOUGAL DIED. Marcia and Bruce McDougal created and operated Big Creek Pottery up on Swanton Road in Davenport more than 50 years ago. They were the closest and most influential friends of my life and I moved here to help them in the late 60’s, and am still here! The pottery created many, many new pottery artists and changed the creative life here in Santa Cruz. Marcia also opened a fine specialty store The Ego’s Nest in Santa Barbara and was always busy inventing new jewelry and clothing items. We became very close and loyal friends because a mutual friend who was a professor at UC Berkeley was murdered. That unsolved murder remained a sensitive but shared topic for the three of us forever. Marcia was open and kind to everyone and had an artistic talent that never left her.
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.
GYEONGSEONG CREATURE. Netflix series. (7.3 IMDB). This Korean horror flick reminded me of some of the films we studied in Earl Jackson’s film classes at UCSC. It’s a deeply detailed and bloody story of military lives, husbands, wives all being chased and threatened by this creature. It’s mostly fun and preposterous. Sit back and enjoy it.
THE UNION. Netflix movie. (5.5 IMDB) A very unfunny attempt at a comedy that stars Mark Wahlberg, Halle Berry and J.K. Simmons. There’s not a laugh in it, and the actors behave like they’re paying off some debts. The photography is dutiful as are the various locations. Do remember that there are songs interspersed and that makes it more weird and hard to remember that it’s a story about some Americans acting as tourists.
LADY IN THE LAKE. Apple series (5.9IMDB). Natalie Portman (who is now 43 years old) plays a Jewish author in the 1960’s Baltimore. There’s some black politics thrown in and the plot gets lost after some extreme editing. The entire plot is reversed and not as well thought out as they figured. Don’t give up anything important to watch this.
EXIT PLAN. (AMAZON PRIME SINGLE). An insurance investigator checks in to a very special hotel in Denmark exclusively inhabited for patients who make their own plans on dying. Then he too realizes that he’s dying from a tumor. It’s an excellently told and deep and depressing story about assisted suicide. Full of time and personality shifts you’ll be transported into moments thinking about your own demise. Watch it when you’re in a good mood only.
MIDNIGHT RUN. (1988 RELEASE) (NETFLIX MOVIE) (7.5 IMDB). An absolutely brilliant comedy plus crime plot that will have you rolling on the floor with pathos and delight, see it again even if you remember the best scenes. It stars Robert De Niro as the cop and the ever subtle Charles Grodin as the robber being escorted across country by De Niro. The laughs are both outrageous and subtle and the rest of the cast looks like outcasts from The Sopranos.
VANISHED INTO THE NIGHT. Netflix movie (5.2 IMDB) An Italian family’s two children are kidnapped and a huge ransom is demanded. The acting is poor, the plot is questionable and only Santa Cruz small boat owners will stay awake to solve the twists and inadequacies.
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. |
SHOULD YOU TRUST THIS PERSON TO BE YOUR COUNTY SUPERVISOR?
Would you trust someone who wrote checks on your bank account for at least $1 million without your approval, then withheld your account records when you asked to see them? That is what Ms. Monica Martinez did as Executive Director of Encompass, as has been brought to light in legal action that the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County filed against Encompass.
Recent posts on FaceBook brought to light some very troubling information about this legal action involving Fifth District County Supervisor candidate, Ms. Monica Martinez and her actions as CEO of Encompass.
Santa Cruz County Superior Court Case #19CV01084 reveals shocking information and might lead one to question the ethics of Monica Martinez.
On April 9, 2019, Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County filed legal action against Encompass, claiming that Encompass CEO Monica Martinez wrote checks transferring funds from the Foundation’s bank account to the Encompass bank account without any approval or loan authorization by the Foundation. She did this twice, with the full knowledge the second time, transferring $850,000, that the Foundation had rejected the Encompass attorney’s terms and conditions of a loan for this amount.
How did Monica Martinez have access to the Community Foundation’s bank accounts?
Strangely, the Foundation had signed an Administration Services Agreement with Encompass that CEO Monica Martinez signed on June 21, 2018, that the Foundation would pay Encompass $30,000/month to “maintain accurate, complete and separate records” of all income and expenditures regarding the Foundation’s accounts, pay their Board-authorized expenditures and manage the Foundation’s accounts, business and files. The Foundation was to have “free access to all of Encompasses’ books pertaining to the Administrative Services Agreement.”
Seemingly, this was an effort by the Foundation to assist Encompass beyond the $750,000 loan made to them on June 5, 2017, that was due October 1, 2017 but in default.
According to Court records, the trouble began immediately upon Encompass CEO Monica Martinez having access to the Foundation’s bank accounts.
- On June 29, 2018, CEO Monica Martinez used access to the Foundation’s bank accounts to transfer $150,000 to Encompass bank accounts without any loan documentation or approval of the Foundation. The Foundation learned during the summer of 2018 that Encompass had defaulted on a $1 Million bank loan.
- On August 29, 2018, the Foundation became aware of the unauthorized $150,000 transfer by CEO Martinez and offered Promissory Notes for the $150,000 unauthorized transfer amount, and $850,000 for a loan agreement.
- On September 12, 2018, Encompass attorneys offered a different loan Agreement that was significantly different regarding the terms and conditions. The Foundation twice rejected it (Sept. 12 and again on Sept. 13).
- On September 17, 2018, knowing she was not authorized to do so, Encompass CEO Monica Martinez used her access to the Community Foundation bank accounts and transferred $850,000 to the Encompass bank account, without authorization of the Foundation, and sent the Foundation the version of the loan Agreement that the Foundation had rejected.
- On September 18, 2018, several members of the Community Foundation Board of Directors met with Encompass CEO Monica Martinez. Court records show that CEO Martinez refused to answer any questions and refused to provide the Board with basic information regarding Encompass’s dealings with third parties on behalf of the Community Foundation properties. She also refused to provide the Community Foundation with their bank account numbers or statements to which Encompass had access. Court records show that the Foundation’s Board had reason to believe that other instances of Encompass using Foundation funds to make unauthorized payments existed.
- On April 9, 2019, Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County (CFSC) filed legal action against Encompass for breach of contract (Santa Cruz County Superior Court Case #19CV01084), because CEO Monica Martinez still had not handed over the Foundation’s financial records and still had not repaid any of the two unauthorized money transfers she made, totaling $1Million, and was still in default of the initial $750,000 loan made in 2017.
- On January 7, 2021, after a series of legal actions, which included Encompass filing a complaint against the Community Foundation and asking the Judge to make a judgment without trial and dismiss the case, Judge Timothy Volkmann issued a judgment that the Community Foundation could sue Encompass for breach of feduciary duty and breach of Administrative Services Agreement. He agreed with the Foundation that the Administrative Services Agreement with Encompass CEO Monica Martinez had financially benefited Encompass because the Foundation had since hired another entity for less than what Encompass was paid ($30,000/month) for the same service.
Judge Volkmann was not persuaded by CEO Monica Martinez’s claim (made in a sworn Declaration) that “Encompass was in desperate need of the money it took from the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz bank accounts.” He also rejected the Encompass argument that “CFSC had a duty to provide direct funding and financial support to Encompass and that it therefore had a valid right and claim to these funds, and cannot have improperly taken funds from or damaged CFSC.” (see page 3 of the January 7, 2021 Order After Hearing)
The Court further stated “A triable issue of material fact exists as to whether Encompass misappropriated these funds.” (see page 4 of the January 7, 2021 Order After Hearing)
All of this happened under direction of Monica Martinez as the CEO of Encompass. Do you think we should trust her as a County Supervisor in the Fifth District?
Please take time to read the initial Complaint filed on April 9, 2019 by the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz (CFSC, INC. vs. ENCOMPASS COMMUNITY SERVICES). Note that the State Attorney General is also shown as an actively retained Counsel involved in the matter. The Order is shown as filed on January 7, 2021.
You may also find it interesting that a number of Encompass Community Services employees have filed legal actions against Encompass for failure to pay timely wages, failure to provide meal and rest breaks, failure to keep accurate employment records, and wrongful termination. (Santa Cruz County Superior Court Cases 21CV01946, 21CV02110, 21CV02782, 22CV02565, and 23CV01904)
Be mindful that Mr. Tony Crane ran for Second District County Supervisor in March, 2024, for the purpose of having the Candidate Forums to expose other serious wrongdoings Ms. Martinez has committed as CEO of Encompass that have significantly and adversely affected his neighborhood.
Mr. Crane has internal emails received through a FOIA request which clearly show the premeditated intent by Monica Martinez and County officials to deceive the public in order to illegally secure a $1.26M state grant.
People can email him at: vote4transparency@gmail.com
RULES ARE RULES…UNLESS YOU ARE A LARGE DEVELOPER
Why did the developer in Live Oak get “waiver after waiver” while area property owners who tried to build a simple ADU were held to strict compliance, and told by the Planning Dept. that, “we can’t give you a waiver because if we did, we would have to giver everyone a waiver.”
Why did the developer of 21 new units not have to do a traffic study, and was exempt from CEQA for taking one of the last remaining open spaces on Maciel that was supposed to be a County park? Residents stated that the Chairman of the Planning Commission noted the lack of a traffic study, but none of the Commissioners did anything to require one. Conveniently, it became known that the Director of Public Works, Mr. Matt Machado, had developed the numbers of anticipated new vehicle trips and the numbers for this 21-unit project magically worked out to be 19 new trips…just one below the number that would trigger a required traffic analysis by the developer.
Matt Machado charged up to the podium without invitation during the Board of Supervisors consideration of Item #9 on August 27 of the new development at 1960 Maciel. and assured the Supervisors there was no need for a traffic analysis because “Maciel has plenty of capacity.”
Supervisor Koenig admitted that many motorists on Capitola Road use Maciel as a cut-through. Residents agreed and said it was very hazardous.
Santa Cruz County. CA | Agenda Item DOC-2024-685
As a result, Supervisor Koenig asked that the developer put in speed bumps on Maciel Avenue as a crumb thrown to the people, and there will be a bicycle repair station with tools available to encourage residents in the new subdivision to bicycle.
So, why did the park-thirsty County snub its nose at following through on their plan to make this remaining wildlife refuge a park, instead choosing to pave it over and create significantly increased stormwater runoff in an area that already has problems with drainage?
County Parks Director Jeff Gaffney did not speak, and the Board of Supervisors had no questions about that. However, here is an excerpt from the Project’s previous examination by the Planning Commission:
“Though the project site is located in the Designated Park Site Combining District, Park Site Review has been waived by the County of Santa Cruz Department of Parks, Open Space, and Cultural Services (County Parks Department). Upon review of the project, the County Parks Department determined that they would not be interested in acquiring the parcel for future park or open space purposes,”
Here is the reasoning of County Parks Director Jeff Gaffney, as stated in his letter to the developer on July 6, 2022 (provided to the Planning Commission as Exhibit H):
“The County of Santa Cruz Department of Parks, Open Space, and Cultural Services (County Parks Department) has received and reviewed the Discretionary Permit Application for 1960 Maciel Avenue, APN No. 029-391-09, which has a D-Overlay for future park use. The County Parks Department has determined we are not interested in acquiring the parcel for future park or open space purposes since
1) two existing County parks (Chanticleer and Coffee Lane) are located within 0.25 mile and 1.0 mile, respectively, from this parcel and
2) the County Parks Department does not have the resources to acquire the parcel.”
I wonder what the County will do with the Park Impact Fees the developer must pay? That could amount to nearly $18,000.unit, according to the new formula the Board of Supervisors adopted in 2021?
The new Ordinance amended Sections 13.03.050, 13.10.418.A, 13.10.352.B and 14.01.411, and Chapter 15.01 of the County Code and to add Chapters 15.03 and 15.05 in order to revise the methods for calculating park land dedication or in-lieu fees, create parks and recreation impact fees:
On all Single Family residences: $9,400 per residence
Multi-family $7,050 per unit
When the Planning Commission reviewed this project on June 25, 2024, the Chair, Ms. Alyson Violante, purportedly questioned the lack of a traffic study, but no Commissioners took that further. The only recommendation, above hurtling it forward to the Board of Supervisors for rubberstamp -approval was to require a bat house to be installed somewhere on the property. That was a nod to the demolition of the 1800SF former chicken house, built in 1921.
Supervisor Manu Koenig said “I am sad to see this last bit of open area go that has escaped time, but we need housing, and actually we should be building 32 units, not 21, because we need the housing.” (Minute 2:38 for Item #9)
Of the 21 units to be built, three will be deemed affordable for moderate-income. All three affordable units would qualify as deed-restricted affordable units for sale through the County’s “Measure J” Affordable Housing Program. That allowed the developer to get “waiver after waiver”. Supervisor Koenig agreed that it was not fair to allow larger developers to get waivers when individuals trying to help solve the housing crisis by building an ADU are not afforded these favors.
Construction at 1960 Maciel Avenue would be expected to occur over a period of approximately 18 months. Construction would require approximate cut and fill volumes of 3,313 cubic yards and 4,960 cubic yards, respectively, with a net volume of 1,647 cubic yards of fill. How will this affect the nearby residents and wildlife? The Supervisors seemed unconcerned.
The Board took a short break after waving through approval of this new subdivision. I was troubled to see the smiling developer glad-handing a jubilant County Public Works Director Matt Machado (who saved them alot of money by not having to do a traffic or drainage study) and his Assistant Deputy Stever Wiesner. I heard Matt Machado congratulate the developer, expound upon how great the project is, and hand him a business card.
Meanwhile, in another corner of the chambers, the distraught residents circled around Supervisor Manu Koenig, trying to understand why the Board paid no attention to their pleadings to point out the unfairness of waivers awarded the developer, and hoping to save the safety and pastoral quality of their neighborhood.
1960 MACIEL Ave, Santa Cruz, CA
Sadly, the residents of the First District, which is destined to absorb a great proportion of the State-mandated requirement forcing the County to build more than 4,600 new units in the next eight years, will not have an ally in Supervisor Koenig, who is a licensed real estate broker, working under Montalvo Realty.
You can listen to the Board’s deliberation of the new Subdivision Tract for 1960 Maciel Avenue in Live Oak: (click on Item #9 to go directly to that point in the meeting)
MORE COST OVERRUNS ON HIGHWAY ONE EXPANSION
Last Thursday, the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) had no choice but to approve nearly $5 million more for CalTrans to widen Highway One between Soquel and 41st Avenue. “How did we get ourselves into this situation?” one Commissioner wanted to know, reminding the CalTrans staff that only two months ago, they had received an additional $3 million for the project’s cost overruns. CalTrans controls the Project, but the RTC is paying for it.
RTC approves up to $3 million to Caltrans for Highway 1 project cost overruns The CalTrans staff replied that there had been factors recently discovered, unknown at the time of the initial bidding. “Signs?” asked one Commissioner. CalTrans staff admitted that some signs were already installed, but some had mistakenly been left out of the initial bid, and could not be made in-house but would be maintained in-house once installed.
“Why didn’t we do this in-house within the RTC?” another Commissioner asked. The newly-appointed CEO for the RTC, Ms. Sarah Christensen, explained that it would have required the RTC to hire on temporary expert staff to handle the projects (Highway One is being widened in three phases), and it would be uncomfortable to have to let those experts go at the end of the work. “CalTrans is an expert at this work,” she said.
Commissioners wanted to know if CalTrans had learned anything in this Phase One of the three-phase project that would prevent the significant cost-overrun from being repeated in the other two Project phases? CalTrans staff replied they are evaluating that now.
“The fact is, it states in the staff report you will be returning again in the future,” said an irritated Commissioner. CalTrans had no comment. Earlier, the CalTrans staff explained that they had done their best but no project design is perfect.(Minute 1:05 of the meeting recording).
You can listen to this discussion here, as Item #27 of the September 5, 2024 RTC meeting begins discussion at Minute 55:30
Stay tuned, because the Phase 2 is happening now.
SANTA CRUZ FAIRGROUNDS MUST PAY $400,000 FOR SOIL MITIGATION
Last Tuesday, the Santa Cruz County Fair Board held a Special Meeting and approved spending up to $400,000 to pay the California Construction Authority (CCA) to determine the mitigations necessary addressing the mountain of questionable soil the Fairgrounds CEO allowed to be dumped next to the creek adjacent to the parking lot. The creek drains directly into College Lake, now the site of a large water reclamation project by Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency.
CEO Fraser initially claimed the soil was “good dirt” and came from the nearby College Lake project. However, a Public Records Act request revealed he signed an Agreement on May 31, 2024 to allow Granite Construction to dump soils from the Highway One Project at the Capitola Overpass, acknowledging the soils were potentially contaminated with lead. Strangely, that version of the Agreement was not signed by anyone from Granite Construction, but the version CEO Fraser included in the August 27 Board meeting packet was signed on June 4, 2024 by Mr. Jim Hovde of Granite Construction. Before that, CEO Fraser had been unable to produce any further information after “diligent searches of the records” responsive to the Public Records Act request.
See pages 51-59 of the August 27 Board meeting agenda packet. He also had been unable to produce any soil test results of the Highway One soils dumped next to the creek, yet included lab test results in the August 27 Board meeting packet.
CEO Fraser also accused the public of “fabricating information to fit your narrative” when other agencies, including CCA, California Dept. of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW), and the State Water Quality Control Board, were notified of the stream bank alteration and 12″ diameter drainage pipe leading from the 30′-high mountain of Highway One soils into the creek. (See page 10 of the Correspondence included in the August 27 Board packet).
CEO Fraser initially had claimed the soils came from the College Lake Project (See page 2 of Correspondence in the August 27 Board packet)
Hmmm…….
Once the authorities were notified of this problem, CEO Fraser and Granite Construction had worked out another deal to just haul the soil away and cover up the disturbed parking lot area with asphalt grindings. Somehow, CDFW had quickly agreed to that, even though runoff from asphalt grindings is known to be potentially toxic to aquatic life.
However, on Tuesday, September 3, the Board held a Special Meeting at 9am. In Closed Session with Mr. Randy Crabtree, Director of CCA attending in person and California Dept. of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) legal counsel calling in, the Board approved spending up to $400,000 to pay CCA to conduct soil analysis and structural composition of the problem and determine what mitigations are necessary. The Fairgrounds is owned by the State, and therefore CCA is responsible for all construction and improvement projects that happen there.
Granite Construction staff were waiting in their vehicles in the Fairgrounds administration parking lot for the Closed Session to end, stating they would be “meeting with people from it afterwards.” Their staff took drone imagery of the soil and creek bank problem that morning.
You can listen to the Fairgrounds Board August 27 discussion of this at minute 7:10
You can listen to the September 3 Fairgrounds Board Special Meeting testimonies and report out of Closed Session here
Stay tuned.
THE DROUGHT IS OFFICIALLY OVER FOR SOME
Last week, Governor Newsom officially declared an end to the drought in several California counties, including Santa Cruz.
He initially declared the drought in an Executive Order in 2021.
Please, folks, for many reasons, keep conserving water,
CALFIRE AWARDS BIG MONEY TO LOCAL PROJECTS TO REDUCE WILDFIRE RISK AND HELP SAFE EVACUATION ROUTES
Santa Cruz County received some good news last week from CalFire, with two awards for reducing local wildfire risk. The County FireSafe Council received $999,998 to reduce fuels along 5.2 miles of Soquel San Jose Road (wow, that’s $192,307.31/mile!) in an effort to improve public safety on this major evacuation route.
The UC Regents received $93,622 to increase safety at the UCSC Campus on 1,22.7 acres by removing two large eucalyptus groves on the main campus and remove approximately 30 invasive acacia trees at the Center for Agroecology’s Chadwick Garden near McLaughlin Drive, and to purchase equipment and supplies to support hazardous fuels reduction work year-round in moderate fire zones.
You can take a look at what other projects in the State that CalFire has funded this year
VOTE NO ON MEASURE Q!
It was a sneaky trick for backers of the Land Trust’s well-funded Measure Q to convince the Central Fire District Firefighter Union Local 3535 to endorse Measure Q when in fact the Santa Cruz County Fire Chief’s Association opposes it. The folks associated with the “Smoke and Mirrors” Measure Q, deceptively called the Santa Cruz Clean Water and Wildfire Protection Initiative”, purportedly paid a visit to Central Fire District’s Local 3535 and offered to help support their Measure R, a $221 MILLION bond on the ballot to fund three new fire stations. Suddenly, the Local 3535 endorsed Measure Q.
What a disappointment that the firefighters chose to go against the wisdom of the County Fire Chiefs Association in order to get a favor.
Please vote NO on Measure Q. It will not benefit local fire agencies or actually accomplish much benefit except to fill the County’s deep pockets and help the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, Peninsula Open Space, and Sempervirens to slurp up more money from those who are already struggling to be able to live here and make ends meet. There are no exemptions for seniors, disabled or veterans.
Think about it…in a County deemed the most expensive in the nation to live, does it make sense to make it even MORE expensive by adding a myriad of permanent taxes??
Please read up on these measures, and vote with those who are struggling in mind.
CalFire FY 2023-24 Wildfire Prevention Grant Awards
WRITE ONE LETTER. MAKE ONE CALL. ATTEND A CANDIDATE FORUM AND ASK QUESTIONS THAT MATTER TO YOU AND YOUR COMMUNITY.
JUST DO SOMETHING
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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 |
Food Movements
There are so many initiatives, or ‘movements’ with our food: local, slow, organic, regenerative, natural, whole, conventional, fair trade, salmon-safe, sustainable, and bird friendly…to name a few. Very few people read food labels, and even fewer are members of any of the tribes that associate with these food movements. What does all of this mean for people and the natural world upon which we survive? What’s the latest push by the few people that are trying to change the way we eat?
Artificial Intelligence, Robots and GMO’s
With the conventional food movement, and perhaps with other agricultural initiatives, the cutting edge is with artificial intelligence (AI). AI feeds into other emerging food production technologies, including rapidly developing robots and genetically modified organisms that some hope will increase productivity and profits. Silicon Valley and other technology entrepreneurs from throughout the world see a place for increased innovation in agriculture. With more monitoring, and more data, AI has the potential to improve agricultural production by ‘smarter’ applications of water and nutrients…pest control including pesticide application…planting and harvest techniques…packing, storage, shipping, etc. There is a push for technology, mechanization, and even robots to reduce labor in the fields, processing plants, and shipping. At the molecular level, farmers are looking for genetic modification to increase yields including by making crops less susceptible to pests and more efficient at growing with less water and fewer nutrients. There may even be a push for genetically modifying soil organisms to improve soil fertility by more efficiently breaking down crop residue to make it more available for growing the next crop. Are we headed for genetically modified super-predators…improved ladybugs? Our intelligence agencies have already warned us of genetically modified agricultural pests being used in warfare, but who could be so stupid- what goes around comes around…war was never smart, anyway.
Emerging Regenerative and Local Agriculture
“Regenerative agriculture” is the latest food movement to gain momentum. Read the Democratic Party Platform, unveiled during their national convention recently and you’ll see that this political party has an intention to support regenerative agriculture (here, 15th paragraph) alongside the local food movement (here, 27th paragraph). But, what IS regenerative agriculture? Ask around and you’ll hear something like this ‘we need something better than ‘organic,’ which is meaningless, and is very destructive’ for instance, see this.
The thing is there ARE standards for organic agriculture…standards that are measurable and meaningful. But, there ARE NOT standards for regenerative agriculture, nor will there ever be because the philosophy of the regenerative agricultural movement conflicts with science and the scientific process.
What’s Wrong With “Organic?”
To answer that question, you have to know what ‘organic’ means when applied to your food. Over the past few years, I’ve heard more and more people say things like ‘organic doesn’t mean what you think’ or ‘organic didn’t turn out to be any healthier for you.’ For me, the three things that resonate with organic are: 1) no synthetically derived inputs, 2) no genetically modified crops, and; 3) organic livestock are fed organic foods. There have been a lot of misconceptions about the term ‘organic’ – it is worth doing some homework about the term if you are interested; this is a good start.
Chicken Shit Farmers
When the organic food movement started building steam in the 1990’s, I heard criticism that the standards being developed would allow organic farmers to replace synthetic chemical fertilizer with high nitrogen chicken manure. Hence was born the short-lived term ‘chicken shit farmers,’ referring to farmers who didn’t really care about improving the Earth, they were just looking to make a fast buck. You see, high nitrogen chicken manure is easy to purchase and apply and provides quickly available nutrients for crops but adds little soil organic matter, and might not improve the soil as much as soil amendments preferred by more ‘holistic’ organic farmers. You see, the debate about regenerative vs. organic farming has been going on for a long time…especially on this topic of soil health.
Soil Carbon
Part of the popularity of the current iteration of regenerative agriculture is the premise that agriculture can be a significant part of the solution to climate change. The philosophy goes…if only farmers focused on increasing organic matter in their soils, they would increase water and nutrient holding capacity and sequester carbon from greenhouse gas emissions, creating a solution for global warming. That sounds great on the surface, but any measurable standard would need to be region, soils, and crop specific…and we are far, far away from that level of understanding. And, because the regenerative agriculture movement realizes that we are so far away from that understanding…there is Big Danger afoot.
Regenerative Danger
The regenerative agriculture movement is dangerous in a couple of important ways. First, at its core is science denial. As with the antivaccination movement and climate change denialists, the regenerative agriculture movement has friends both on the far left and the far right. All of these factions share the belief that science has been corrupted, can no longer be relied upon, and a sense of urgency that humans need to turn to other means of action to save themselves and the world. Second, the regenerative agriculture movement seeks power by destroying others who have accomplished so much. The organic food movement has made great inroads in reducing the use of synthetic pesticides and in battling the proliferation of genetically modified organisms in food systems, and yet the regenerative agriculture movement fails to partner with, and strengthen, the organic food movement…and instead portrays it as problematic.
A Generation of Marketing
I worry that the current push for regenerative agriculture is an outlet for a generation of people that are frustrated at the speed of change and titillated by the easier, quicker rewards of shiny marketing. The organic food movement has done a lot of hard work over decades creating, renewing, and negotiating standards at the state, national, and international level. The organic food movement has funding for many full-time staff that are vigilant and working to maintain and improve standards against monumental pressure. On the other hand, because there is no chance of any of its goals being supported by science, the regenerative agriculture movement is a frustrated bunch that sees success more in marketing…recognition of terms…in bandying phrases like ‘increased soil carbon on farms can save the world’ and seeing how many others can feel that they are a part of this bandwagon.
Watch Out
I am sure we will see certification, aka food labeling, standards proliferate for ‘regenerative’ food products. And, I worry that, because those standards will be, by necessity, so subjective there will one day be a point of reckoning when the media finds out. Everyone will hear about some massive failure and fraud in the regenerative movement, and the costs…to the organic food movement, to agriculture science and policy, to the public’s trust in science in general, and to new generations of people interested in food…will have been tremendous and unnecessary.
As you see the regenerative agriculture movement take off…and take off it will, watch for the sense of urgency (science moves too slow! We have to act NOW), watch for the technology-heavy solutions (big data!), and check out how this movement becomes co-dependent on the (failed) cap-and-trade approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, to generate the funds to pay farmers to become ‘regenerative.’
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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, September 9, 2024
#253 / Pascal’s Wager Goes MAGA
Pictured in the MAGA cap is Blaise Pascal, whom Wikipedia tells us was “a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic writer.” Pascal’s “dates” are as follows: June 19, 1623 to August 19, 1662. Among other things, Pascal is remembered for “Pascal’s Wager,” which is explained this way:
Pascal’s wager is a philosophical argument advanced by Blaise Pascal (1623–1662), seventeenth-century French mathematician, philosopher, physicist, and theologian. This argument posits that individuals essentially engage in a life-defining gamble regarding the belief in the existence of God.
Pascal contends that a rational person should adopt a lifestyle consistent with the existence of God and actively strive to believe in God. The reasoning behind this stance lies in the potential outcomes: if God does not exist, the individual incurs only finite losses, potentially sacrificing certain pleasures and luxuries. However, if God does indeed exist, they stand to gain immeasurably, as represented for example by an eternity in Heaven … while simultaneously avoiding boundless losses associated with an eternity in Hell.
Axios Markets suggests that some business-oriented people seem to be supporting the presidential aspirations of Donald J. Trump using a similar logic (emphasis added below; the article was published before President Biden decided not to run for reelection this year):
Business leaders who support Donald Trump for president might be doing so because they think he’d be better for business — or they might be supporting him because they want favorable treatment from any future Trump administration.
Why it matters: A key question in any presidential election is which candidate would be better for the economy. One problem with asking CEOs is that they have an incentive to support Trump even if they think Biden is the better candidate.
Between the lines: Trump, more than any other U.S. politician, is open about the way he favors individuals who publicly demonstrate personal loyalty to him, through statements, donations, fundraisers, and the like. Business leaders who support Trump do not need to fear being punished should Biden win in November. Biden’s team of economic technocrats don’t play favorites.
Conversely, however, any leader who endorses Biden for president can reasonably assume that Trump might carry a grudge against them into the White House.
How it works: Trump has not laid out detailed economic policies, but tariffs in general, and much higher tariffs on China in particular, are emerging as a central part of his vision. Because tariffs can differ markedly between industries and even between products within an industry, CEOs with the ear of the president would be well placed to garner a competitive advantage by lobbying to minimize the adverse effects on their own companies.
Flashback: Pascal’s Wager, developed by 17th-century French philosopher Blaise Pascal, is an argument for believing in God because (oversimplifying massively) believing in God is a good thing if God exists, and makes no difference if God doesn’t exist. A similar argument exists for supporting Trump: that it will prove helpful if he’s elected, and it won’t be harmful if he isn’t…
The bottom line: When a business leader says that they’re supporting Trump because he’d be good for business, it’s not easy to tell whether they’re saying that because they believe it — or whether they’re saying that because they want to be able to cozy up to Trump in the event he’s elected.
There is a fallacy in the logic just outlined by Axios Markets. I thought I should draw it to the attention of any business leaders who might be reading this blog posting – though I know that it is pretty unlikely that any business leaders are actual subscribers to or followers of “We Live In A Political World.”
Still… Here is what is wrong with the Axios logic, suggesting that it makes sense for business people to state their support for Trump, even if they don’t actually think he’d be the better president.
Whether someone believes that God exists, or doesn’t – and makes that belief or non-belief public – doesn’t actually change what happens in the world. As Pascal makes clear, your belief, or not, may make a difference in the “next world,” if there is one, but your statement that you believe in God, if there isn’t one, doesn’t have any immediate impact in the world of here and now. That is the reason that “Pascal’s Wager” is such a good bet. If you bet that there is a God (and you’re wrong), nothing in this world, or the next, is made worse for you.
The same thing is not true if you, as a business person, tell people that you prefer Trump (even though you may not actually believe that). Why? Well, your statement of support for Trump might actually help elect him. That then does affect the world of here and now. In fact, since stating support for the election of Donald J. Trump as president will likely help to elect him, that statement by any “gambling” business leaders, who don’t actually think Trump is better, could turn our very “mixed bag” existence in this world into a real Hell.
If you are a “business leader,” and don’t think that this is a real possibility, you’re not thinking clearly. If you don’t think that stating your opinion in support of Donald Trump will have real impacts in this “real world,” where we face challenges to everything from “democracy” and “self-government” to the survival of human civilization, as we confront the dangers of Global Warming and thermonuclear war, think again.
In political terms, in the context of the 2024 presidential election, saying you support Trump, thinking you can have it both ways, is a really bad bet.
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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 |
Several media outlets are reporting that Rudy Giuliani is very close to losing a large segment of his remaining wealth to the two Georgia election workers that he defamed, causing them to be threatened and harassed for their work in the 2020 election that saw Trump’s defeat. Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss won almost $150M in their court victory; their patience has grown thin as they are now asking the Manhattan federal court to demand that the former New York City mayor hand over his cash accounts, jewelry, and ownership of an upscale Madison Avenue apartment. In his request, their attorney claims, “At every step, Mr. Giuliani has chosen evasion, obstruction, and outright disobedience. That strategy reaches the end of the line here.” For good measure, they are going after his Palm Beach Florida residence, as well. As BlueStar99 writes on Daily Kos, “Maybe we will soon some real justice in this case, and America’s disgraced Mayor can see what it is like to live on limited means. Now he might have to start buying the really cheap hair dye.” JD Vance should start thinking ahead…a really cheap eye shadow may be in his future, and Rudy may be his ticket to that source. Maybelline, JD?
The Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, just can’t seem to stay in his own lane, having recently filed suit against Travis County over its voter registration policies, the third Democratic-leaning area in the state that he has targeted. The county, which is the home of the state capital and liberal bastion of Austin, had hired a third-party firm to assist with voter registration, which Paxton believes is not authorized by the state. The AG charges that the company’s CEO has expressed “his interest in getting people to vote for progressives candidates.” He says that Travis County’s blatant violation of hiring Civic Government Solutions is allowing partisans to conduct unlawful identification efforts to track down people who are not registered to vote, therefore inviting fraud and reducing public trust in elections. Hector Nieto, a Travis County spokesperson, says they are “proud of our outreach efforts” while remaining “steadfast in our responsibility to uphold the integrity of the voter registration process. It is disappointing that any statewide elected official would prefer to sow distrust and discourage participation in the process.” Earlier, Paxton had filed suit against Bexar County, home of San Antonio, the state’s fourth-largest urban county and a Democratic stronghold. He has also issued warnings against Harris County to discontinue its own registration drive, which it had actually halted after threats from state Senator Paul Bettencourt of the Houston area, and chair of the Senate Committee on Local Government.
Defiantly, San Antonio, and Bexar County, pushed against Paxton, arguing that the Texas laws around voter registration are far more permissive than its laws around vote by mail, which the AG had quashed in 2020 in Houston/Harris County…to Trump’s advantage. So, in the current scenario, Paxton is again rallying his troops for Trump, and Senator Ted Cruz, as the margins narrow with election day drawing closer. The Texas GOP argues that such steps are necessary to prevent widespread voting by non-citizens, in spite of countless findings that non-citizens virtually never vote. Last month, in an act of intimidation, Paxton directed his agents to search homes and offices of Democratic organizers, and one candidate for a legislative seat desired by the GOP. This voter suppression effort has coincided with the removal of 6,000 non-citizens from voter rolls according to Governor Greg Abbott, with claims that 2,000 of those had voted. With no evidence, AG Paxton is insisting that the state’s progressives are registering non-citizens, and repeated appearances on conservative media as he charges Democrats with conspiring with Mexican criminal organizations in order to move undocumented immigrants into swing states to gain control to achieve a one-party reach. Paxton’s ‘The Big Lie’ history has him fighting a lawsuit from the State Bar of Texas, which seeks to discipline him for false claims as he attempted to overturn the 2020 election of Joe Biden. The AG continues to argue that counties can only do what the state expressly permits them to do, and if that permission is not given, the assumption should not be made that the authority exists. “Counties in Texas are limited to exercising those powers that are specifically conferred on them by statute or the constitution,” he writes, even as he admits that Civic Government Solutions is required per their contract to verify that those registered are, indeed, US citizens…who are then cross-checked by state and federal authorities!
A story from the UltraViolet Action Team’s website tells of 87-year-old Lidia Martinez who has helped other senior citizens in Texas register for the vote. She recently filed a complaint that some seniors in her community were not receiving their mail-in ballots, which precipitated a raid on her house by nine police officers in tactical gear, with firearms, while forcing her to stand outside her house in her nightgown as they searched her home for over two hours. They confiscated her watch, her phone, blank voter registration forms and her certificate to conduct voter registration…all courtesy of MAGA Attorney General Ken Paxton of Texas! His authoritarian overreach is just one in a long line of his vile actions, from suing a Texas woman to stop her from getting an abortion, to taking nonprofits supporting undocumenteds to court, in a continuing campaign of violence and oppression against the most vulnerable in communities in Texas. Paxton and his MAGA cohorts have demanded of the Biden administration that they allow states with abortion bans to obtain the private medical records of patients seeking legal health care in other states. They have fought to end a requirement for Kansas to allow transgender people to change their birth certificates, and on and on, all abuses made possible by corporate donors including Johnson & Johnson, T-Mobile, General Motors, and CVS – all of whom have claimed support of gender and racial justice, yet providing funds to the very people seeking to send our country back to the 1950s to ‘make America great again!’ These corporations are sensitive to external pressures but constantly balance their public image with the benefits of behind-the-scenes dealmaking to support their bottom lines. They may make a big show of pulling support should something scandalous or outrageous occurs…January 6 being a perfect example…but as soon as soon as the atmosphere cools, they are back in the cesspool.
Greg Palast shares a story online of air-conditioning repairman, David Zuniga, who stopped to help someone who appears to be in trouble, only to have Mark Anthony Aguirre, a vigilante vote-fraud hunter put a gun to Zuniga’s head, demanding he open the back of his truck. Aguirre believed Zuniga was smuggling forged absentee ballots in favor of Joe Biden to influence the Texas vote. Of course, once the truck was opened up, nothing was in evidence beyond the usual boxes of switches, wiring, mother-boards, ducting and pipes, and not one ballot. Aguirre was not some loner on a mission; in October 2020, he was paid $266,400 by a right-wing Texas billionaire, Steven Hotze, who had hired dozens of vigilantes, hoping to prove that the Biden organization was attempting to steal the election by stuffing ballot boxes with forged ballots. Palast talked to the man who supposedly had forged the 750,000 ballots in Houston, Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis. “I was accused that I had masterminded this scheme to forge all of these mail-in ballots,” the commissioner said. Palast pressed him on how he miraculously faked so many ballots, noting that at eight seconds per ballot, it would take several years to sign them all. Ellis told him, “First, I’m too lazy to forge hundreds of thousands of ballots. You’ve got to be nuts. The vigilante stopped the air-conditioner repair guy, saying he was a police officer…had him on the ground with a pistol pointing to his head.” “Ellis is the first African-American elected Harris County Commissioner, and, that’s a BIG problem for Donald Trump,” says Palast, adding, “By the way, it’s particularly difficult to stuff ballot drop boxes in Texas – because there are none. Never mind. The MAGA-nauts don’t let facts get in the way of their stolen-election fever-dreams.”
Palast says people may be wondering, “Why would Democrats think they could steal Texas? Texas is redneck red.” Even with a million fake ballots, you’d think Biden could not have possibly won the state; not so, he says! Texas has the highest Black population of any state in the USA. Absent the truly vicious vote suppression tactics instituted by the state’s GOP rulers, Texas would be Democratic blue. The back story on Commissioner Ellis is, because he didn’t want Houston residents to contract COVID while waiting in 2020 voting lines, he was on the verge of mailing out ballots to all eligible Houston voters, a la California and Georgia. Up popped MAGA AG Ken Paxton who put a stop to it, and as he told Steve Bannon on War Room, “Ellis was going to mail out 2.5M ballots, all illegal, and we stopped them. If we had not done that, Donald Trump would have lost Texas.” Ellis explained to Palast, as they walked in downtown Houston with armed guards, “I have to take the protection now after men with assault weapons surrounded my house while my frightened daughter held a pajama party. There were people outside my home with signs one day reading ‘STOP THE STEAL.’ One idiot is out there with a rifle on his shoulder. I take security now.” The Texas voter suppression list now includes ‘armed terror.’ Palast explains that this doesn’t mean the state has abandoned Jim Crow/Jose Crow assaults on democracy, because since 2021, Texas has purged 1.1M voters from the rolls to prevent voter fraud when not one voter has ever been convicted of casting an illegal vote.
Governor Abbott is so concerned about Commissioner Ellis turning out voters in November that he’s threatening Vladimir Putin-style prison sentences for Ellis and his fellow officials, telling Fox News that Harris County is refusing to follow the laws. “And two things need to happen. One is investigations and prosecutions need to take place against those County officials,” says Abbott. Harris County recently made the decision to send out voter registration forms to Houstonians, and now Abbott and Paxton are threatening a state takeover of the county’s elections operations. Commissioner Ellis is concerned, but undaunted, saying, “The level of vitriol out there, it’s just amazing.” Ellis is featured in Palast’s new film, ‘Vigilantes Inc.: America’s New Vote Suppression Hitmen,’ which is just finishing a one-week-run in Hollywood, before beginning an Oakland showing on September 25.
The jury trial, Cervini v Cisneros, opened in Austin, Texas last week, stemming from the final days of the 2020 presidential election, when a Biden-Harris campaign bus was surrounded on a main highway by around forty vehicles flying MAGA flags. The plaintiffs allege that they were ambushed, terrorized and intimidated for more than 90 minutes as they canvassed for the Democratic ticket by this so-called ‘Trump Train,‘ as they tried to run the bus off the road in a machination termed as a “madcap game of highway chicken” in the suit. Plaintiffs include the bus driver, and Biden staffer Wendy Davis, a former Texas senator who was also a gubernatorial candidate. Davis says they were forced to cancel events in fear of further intimidation. Pursuit of damages sought, both punitive and compensatory, will be under Texas law, as well as the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, a federal statute from the Civil War Reconstruction period, enacted to end political violence and voter intimidation. Co-counsel John Paredes, a litigator for Protect Democracy, a participant in bringing the case said, “The violence and intimidation that our plaintiffs endured on the highway for simply supporting the candidate of their choice is an affront to the democratic values we hold dear as Americans.” This precursor to the January 6 riot in Washington, DC is sizable, with five named defendants and an unknown number of additional unidentified John Does and Jane Does alleged to have been a part of this terrorist campaign.
The announcement by the Biden-Harris campaign on October 27, 2020, of its three-day “Soul of the Nation” bus tour through Texas for rallies and gatherings of Democrats, raised the hackles of MAGAnation, increasing the chatter on social media for organizing their ‘trains.’ A Trumper in Alamo posted that they should “flood the hell out of them,” as the MAGA– and American-flagged pickemup trucks gathered for their romp on the highway. Donald Trump, Jr. posted on Twitter, “It would be great if you guys would all get together and head to McAllen and give Kamala Harris a nice Trump Train welcome. Get out there. Have some fun. Enjoy it.” The flag-festooned vehicles began their ‘escorts’ on October 28 and 29, one being adorned as a “Trump hearse,” with the message “collecting Democratic votes one dead stiff at a time.” Even larger numbers of cars had answered the call by October 30, being lured by the erroneous rumor that Harris would be on the bus…she was campaigning in McAllen and Fort Worth…as they planned an ambush on Interstate 35 between San Antonio and Austin. The bus was mobbed by vehicles which came within inches of it, forcing the driver to slow to a crawl to prevent collisions, as MAGAnation live-streamed their operation on social media, gloating about their aggressiveness, as the plaintiffs are alleging.
Defendant Eliazar Cisneros is accused of side-swiping the SUV following the bus, being driven by a Biden-Harris campaign staffer, and later bragging about “slamming” the vehicle. The bus riders had implored the police to escort them safely, but none showed up, and in a separate case last October, local law enforcement admitted they had fallen short of their standards, agreeing to pay compensation to the plaintiffs. The current lawsuit claims that the plaintiffs have endured “ongoing psychological and emotional injury,” with bus driver, Timothy Holloway, being so traumatized that he has given up his tour bus business, not being able drive buses again. Wendy Davis says she suffered “substantial emotional distress” and has not spoken publicly about the experience for fear of physical harm from Trump supporters. The lawsuit reads, “Where groups are permitted to terrorize those with whom they disagree into forgoing their constitutional rights, the functioning of our democracy demands accountability.” Free speech doesn’t protect intimidation and threats against those with differing political ideologies! Any volunteers to drive this home to AG Ken Paxton and Governor Abbott and their Texas vigilantes? Vote!!
It is reported that former first lady, Melania Trump, has a new book ready to hit the shelves on October 1, and it has already reached Amazon.com’s top ranking on its ‘Best Seller’ list for pre-orders. Entitle simply, ‘Melania,’ it is number one in the ‘Memoirs‘ category, number one in the ‘US Presidents‘ category, and number one in ‘Political Leader Biographies.’ Melania explained to Fox News Digital that, “although daunting at times, the process has been incredibly rewarding, reminding me of my strength, and the beauty of sharing my truth. It was an amazing journey filled with emotional highs and lows, each story shaping me into who I am today.” The press release describes the volume as “a powerful and inspiring story of a woman who has carved her own path, overcome adversity and defined personal excellence. The former First Lady invites readers into her world, offering an intimate portrait of a woman who has lived an extraordinary life. Melania includes personal stories and family photos she has never before shared with the public.” It is expected that many pre-orders will be canceled once the news gets out that there will be no full-color centerfold photo of her from her previous life as a nude model. For certain there will be no reproduction of her 2016 plagiarized speech from the RNC that she copied from Michelle Obama. National security lawyer, Bradley Moss, joked, “I understand this book is a riveting tale of growing up as a young black woman on the south side of Chicago.” And where is that “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U? jacket as it becomes relevant?
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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. |
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Santa Cruz
“Well I teach in the History of Consciousness Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz. So that’s my primary work. I lecture on various campuses and in various communities across the country and other parts of the world.”
~Angela Davis
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~Ellen Bass
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~Tom Hanks
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~David Talbot
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~Cobie Smulders
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Sometimes I find these things so fascinating… |
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