NO SUPERBINKIES
Hi Bruce
Well I am overjoyed that Japan is going off the absurd nuclear power track. Nuclear is the great hope, banking the planet’s future on a toxic power source that really is exorbitant costwise and hardly carbon free. In other words a word game to disaster and financial loss. All nuclear should be associated with the general term of Nuclear waste. This fits into thermodynamics, man increasing entropy in this case, so a few can get rich. Seeing as all Nuke plants are leaking tritium or deuterium (versions of water we can drink and experience severe injury from and many have,) plus radioactive isotopes have been discovered with a 50 mile radius of plants in children, cows and plants, and there is no where to safely store it permanently, seems like one hell of a stupid idea. Now the Japanese, who are experiencing first hand the fragile danger of this very toxic stuff, are saying “No!” along with Germany. Americans are propagandized that it is safe and green. How hideous can you get as it is neither and it maims all life.
My main reason to communicate is to challenge ATT to get smart and give us wired internet. In the same realm of stupid as early computer makers, who used a starved main chip to save dollars that cost them many many limitations, ATT thinks that busting into Fiber optics is too expensive for us even though we will use this for decades. They think we will all go superphone, superbinky direction, but actually most of the Internet stuff happens in homes or offices on computers. They sell it as T-1 lines for some $800.00 per month to businesses, but foolishly can not even divide it off at major distribution points like the panel on Indian Creek. Let’s use a little forwarding think hutzpah guys and get it done.
Last is the idiotic “democratic” elections which the Republican party championed as anything democratic (hanging chads-think Florida-State of infamous representation via laws not stop voter registration) followed by Democrats who joined with the Party elite demons to keep other political fractions out of the democracy via two party debates. Obama asks for support money yet panders only to the corporation and even though I think the word is pokey, the corporatocracy. We live and breath in a corporate environment which we as consumers can pull the plug on if we stop listening to them. Obama should be ashamed of himself for not standing with his multi-colored brothers, stepping on the backs of innocent immigrants that could have been Irish, German, Swedish, etc, but are now Latino, allowing big oil to dirty our lives more with lies about a resource soon depleted but destine to do more damage with unregulated drilling and idiotic pipelines that leak persistantly along their paths. Breath. With lots of perfume, a c clamp on my nose, I will probably voted for the Big O whose call line was Hope but really was Hype. Republican candidates are just too extreme and wacky. Think about Clinton’s surplus going into trillion dollar Bush deficits. Repugs wanna kill government. But I can not vote for Huffman even if Thompson does everything the Demo party wants him to, to keep us Democrat. I respect Thompson, if nothing else because he communicates with his constituency, but doesn’t really attend to our concerns. For example, Thompson as a veteran allows Solders to experience and be maimed by not-really-depleted Uranium. Huffman is part of the do-a-little-bit-to-placate-the masses politicians and he wants yor vote. His Smartmeter bill was not much, did not protect anyone and he pulled it prematurely when it should have been there to keep the CPUC honest (which they are not.) He has his finger on his election and not our pulse. It is easy to vote for Parks, anti flag burning etc., but it takes real listening folks with guts to support the peoples concerns. I add, after all it is our efforts and money that makes this whole thing work and we forget that constantly. If we say no, or literally don’t buy it, businesses stop. So for God sake, the planet’s sake and the living being’s sake, don’t buy it. I am voting for Solomon although I genuinely respect my determined friend, John Lewellyn for keeping the issues up in the air. John has been a steadfast worker towards truth and fairness. Kudos to him to do this arduous task now, but it is in his blood. I think Solomon can pull it off and I think he may have oily skin to ward off corporate tinting. There is one thing for sure, what they are calling government is not for the people who are paying for it. Let’s change it now.
Hats off to the Japanese, who are wise folks. A swift kick to ATT to do the right thing. And watch out for those Democrats, just part of the same corporate iceberg. Our economy unsinkable, just like the Titanic!
Greg Krouse
Philo
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PLACE YOUR BETS
Editor,
C`mon folks step right up step right up and place your bets your home, your pension, your health care, children’s education.
Now let’s spin the wheel awww you lose. Tough luck but hey the house always wins and of course the senate gets its slice.
Casino capitalism at its very finest .All your representatives unindicted co-conspirators supported by their buddies and the criminal conspiracy called the Financial Sector and the scions of Wall street and their corporate friends.
This cabal of crooks have sold us out to China to Taiwan and to wherever they can manufacture cheap and worthless consumer gee gaws.. We have been sold out over and over and yet the same idiots continue to get re elected.
Every four years they roll out two more fools to much gasping, cheering and general blather.
It’s extraordinary popular delusion and the madness of crowds. Ho Hum.
The good news is we are waking up. The bootheels of crony capitalism no longer licked.
Occupy is the first bottom up movement I have seen in 30 years. People are not just mad as hell they are doing something about it.
So join us; we need your ideas and energy. Occupy your heart, your mind, your community. Become the leader you know you are.
Help stop Foreclosures, push for reigning in the excesses on Wall Street and the financial sector. And on and on.
Humbly
Tim Hemlock
Ukiah
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SOLOMON’S THE GUY
Editor,
Voting recommendations
I’m asking you to vote for Norman Solomon to be our next US Congressman.
Why? Several reasons are given in the newspaper article below, but the bottom line for me is that, on key votes, like whether or not to start another war, bail out the banks, support single-payer health care, or tax the rich, I’m confident Norman will vote like the principled progressive he has proven to be for 40 years, whereas I fear the other Congressional candidates would cave in to pressures to compromise, like Democrats too often do. Ie, in crucial votes, Dems often fail us; but having followed Norman’s history of long-term progressive activism, I’m pretty sure he would not.
We need more reps like Bernie Sanders, Dennis Kuchinich and Barbara Lee in Congress, not more mainline Democrats like Mike Thompson and Jared Huffman. I’m confident Norman would fight for progressive issues and not wither under pressure.
Perhaps this is why Norman Solomon has been endorsed by Jim Hightower, George Lakoff, Barbara Ehrenreich, Daniel Ellsberg, Sean Penn, Helen Caldicott, Phil Donahue, United Farmworkers co-founder Dolores Huerta, Congressman John Conyers, Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Raúl Grijalva, our former Congressman and present County Supervisor Dan Hamburg, plus numerous unions.
As stated in the article below, “If elected to Congress, Solomon said his first priority would be to boost public investment in green jobs, education, housing, infrastructure, health care, public transportation, environmental protection and retirement security while cutting military spending, imposing a transaction tax on Wall Street, plugging tax loopholes for corporations, and ending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.”
Norman has refused to accept any corporate donations, so he can work for us alone and not be obligated to Big Business donors. Please help us get a reliable progressive on Congress. Vote for Norman Solomon.
Tom Wodetzki, Mendocino Coast Alliance for Democracy, Move To Amend, KZYX radio show Corporations & Democracy
Albion
PS. Good news! We’ve gathered 4000 of the 5000 signatures needed to place our Amend proposition on the November ballot, as part of a nationwide, grass-roots campaign to curtail corporate power and restore democracy. It lets all county voters say whether or not citizens should be able to limit money in elections, if corporations should not be considered persons, and if corporate spending in campaigns should not be considered “free speech.”
Help us get the final 1000 signatures needed in these final 3 weeks by contacting Carrie Durkee, Coast Petition Captain, 937-2554, CDurkee@mcn.org
And, after we’ve submitted our petitions, we begin our countywide education campaign, to encourage voters to support our ballot measure. We need your help in this effort, too. For example, we could produce these 3 events… if we get enough help:
* Mendocino 4th of July parade entry. Last year 60 folks participated in our Amend entry, had fun, passed out hundreds of flyers and educated many folks about this issue. We need a couple people to head this up.
* Swami Beyond-ananda, a popular comedian, is willing to do a fund-raiser for us in mid-August. Will you help make this happen?
* David Barsamian, of Alternative Radio on KZYX, is willing to do a fund-raiser in mid-Sept. Will you help with this?
If you’re willing to help with our final signature-gathering push &/or any of the 3 events above, please contact Carrie Durkee, 937-2554, CDurkee@mcn.org
Thanks for your support!
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SUSAN ADAMS IS THE ONE
Dear Editor,
12 candidates are seeking to represent our newly created 2nd congressional district running the entire Northcoast from Marin County all the way to the Oregon boarder.
Why would anyone seek a job that 90% of the people disapprove of?
Washington is gridlocked. I’m looking for a new approach, someone who holds strong democratic ideals but will talk to the opposition and PLEASE get things done! I don’t see promoting budget failure in Sacramento as a solution. I want an alternative to the status quo.
I met and spoke to each of front runner candidates. Susan Adams stood head and shoulders above the pack.
Adams is a fiscal conservative who walks the walk. She balanced her district’s budgets for ten years, created jobs in clean energy and in a non-profit public health system. She declines her county’s pension and car allowance and has promised to do the same if she’s elected to Congress.
She’s also a true progressive who supports Medicare For All, protecting Social Security, and ending these senseless wars.
Susan is a life long Democrat, but she is not part of the “party machine.” She’s earned diverse support the old fashioned way: she listens. Susan leads by example, helping people on both sides to listen. She understands that solutions come from considering the concerns of all. This is a skilled mediator, just the tonic for what ails Washington.
Why would Susan Adams contend for an unpopular job? Because she can do the job better than anyone else, better than anyone before. She’ll fight for a better future for all of us.
After endorsing Susan Adams, I proudly accepted a position with her campaign and it’s been a honor to work with so many of her enthusiastic supporters.
Donate, endorse or volunteer at: SusanAdamsForCongress.com or call the campaign at 707.376.VOTE to get involved.
Vote for Susan Adams on June 5th
Richard Salzman
Humboldt County
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THE SAGE OF MULE CREEK
Dear Editor,
Since I’m 15th in line to share one subscription of the AVA at Mule Creek State Prison, I only today learned that you printed my last letter on February 15 and that on February 22 you also printed a reply to me from Marcy Fleming of San Francisco. Please allow me to again reply to her:
Yes, World War II was a much bigger war than Vietnam, but LBJ, not FDR, was a warmonger because the Vietnam war was so less necessary. Believing Hitler’s claim that he only wanted mostly German Danzig (now Gdansk) is bizarre. He told a group of generals in 1939 that he intended to “wipe out the Polish race.” In 1941 he had a written plan to attempt to kill 80 million Russians by starvation in one year.
Yes, Hitler at one time had wanted to force Jews out of Europe, but clearly he decided to kill them all when that failed. Yes, Hitler didn’t want to fight Britain, but accepting his peace offer would have been both deeply immoral and in the long run very dangerous.
As to FDR and Churchill being “Japanophobic,” Japan was itself engaged in mass murder in China. It is true that Russia and China on their own might have eventually beaten Germany and Japan, but that would have left them much more powerful and furious at us. We might have had World War III instead of a Cold War. Morality and self-interest are often the same.
Ms. Fleming is right that FDR wasn’t much of a leftist and his New Deal badly failed. He did at least calm the masses, preventing a possible communist uprising which would have led to a fascist military coup. (Prescott Bush wanted Douglas MacArthur as a dictator. He also, by the way, supported the rise of Hitler in 1932.)
Yes, we all have some very bad things in our past, but falling Britain united with rising America in the 1940s was much better for all humanity than letting Hitler and the Japanese fascists have their way. I will always be proud that my mother and father both fought in that war, as I am that I refused to fight in Vietnam. I still say pot is better than alcohol, and most humans will always use some sort of drugs. I said earlier that Jews were driven out of our own country three times in 1700 years. (A misprint said “three times in 13 years.”) And I reiterate: God damn Romney! (Though I am no great fan of Obama, I am in principle a libertarian. I join Ms. Fleming in again thanking you for providing such a great forum.
Sincerely,
Michael Bear Carson
Ione
PS. For anyone who doubts the scale of atrocities in Europe in the 30s and 40s, I recommend “Bloodlands,” a new book by Timothy Snyder of Princeton. I must salute Mr. Snyder, a scholar who did original research in ten languages including Yiddish, Polish, Ukrainian and Czech! Alexander Cockburn by the way is right on Syria, as he was in Libya. Almost no one else is. Israelis know America’s real leaders on Wall Street would gladly betray them which is why they insisted on having their own nuclear weapons. Starting a war with Iran would be a big mistake. Let Iran have their bomb.
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LIFE WITHOUT — COMPUTERS
To the Editor:
I want to thank you for renewing my subscription. I can’t tell you how much I and my buddies enjoy America’s Last Newspaper. What will we do if the post office is a thing of the past? Believe me, computers may be big in the free world but many state prisoners haven’t even used a cellphone, much less a computer.
I really enjoyed the piece on “Real San Francisco Natives” but I wonder how the “Palm Gardens” and “Foster’s” restaurant were left out? And how about the Bayview Theatre or the Crystal Palace? All the real Frisco natives I know always called the city “Frisco,” at least the ones born and raised south of the slot!
Thank you again for the kindness and generosity of providing us with a subscription.
Peace and love,
‘Wild Bill’ Keller
Susanville
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THE HOOTER WHOOPER
Thanks Mitch.
Re: “The Magic Coast’s Underside by Mitch Clogg (AVA, 5/16/2012)
In the acknowledgements to his book “Drunk and Disorderly, Again,” “Hoots” Hooten, the hooter whooper, thanks “HP” — AKA his “higher power” — whom he “chooses to call God” — for giving him “the courage and words to express himself.”
Though it’s clear Hoots has the audacity to speak for God, I question whether God actually sanctions this book, or the use of his divine authority to give Hooten the ample balls and verbiage to have laid before us another tired and disgusting drunkalog.
Is it a dry-drunk, or God, who calls honored old guard genius DJ’s like Marco McClean, who are dearly missed here on the North Coast — losers?
David Gurney
Fort Bragg
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FOX — NOT SO DUMB
Editor,
Regarding last week’s ‘We Don’t Have to Follow Your Laws’ by Hank Sims
A few corrections. It is United States District Court for the Northern District of California. It is Magistrate (not judge) Spero. The case is already back in Marin Superior Court where a status conference will soon be heard and a trial date on the CEQA issues will be set.
At most, this is an attempt to garner state money to subsidize extending the rail line to service gravel and hard rock mining options purchased on the cheap by various North Coast griftos.
Look at the “quarry” you see on the left headed north, coming up White Deer Summit just before you get to Willits. Now imagine state money extending the rail line to a place in Mendo just like that so the valuable gravel and rip rap can be hauled southward.
And imagine who — or whose father in law — might have bought options on such places, feeling confident that their son-in-law — or even Mr. Corrupto himself — will be able to flex enough lobbying muscle to get the rail line there and turn an option into a steal.
Psychopathy on stilts.
William Verick
Redway
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TIME TO OUTLAW PITBULLS
To the Editor:
I want to say thank you to Animal Control for the care and concern they showed to me when I was attacked by two pit bulls in my own driveway last month. I was not injured, but a newfound fear crept into my heart that had not been there before. I have been an animal lover all my life and that day I did all the right things to ward them off — to no avail. I was truly terrified for my life. If my young grandchildren had been there, well, I can’t even think about that. Only the squeak from my front door as my husband opened it, alerted by my screaming, scared them away.
I promptly called 911 and gave a report to deputies. It was a Saturday so I knew Animal Control would have to wait until Monday. Officer Rachel Verdot took my report and started patrolling the area. The following weekend we learned where the dogs lived. By the time the officer got there the dogs were tied up. She warned them about them being loose or injuring anyone, and cited them for no licenses. I continued to be watchful walking to the mailbox, always looking over my shoulder.
Yesterday, Officer Verdot called me to tell me the dogs were no longer a threat. She had picked them up far from home with the help of CHP and Sheriff’s officers. They were held at the shelter for 10 days and then euthanized. Yes, I can breathe a bit easier now. Except there was a report of a new attack in the neighborhood yesterday.
These dogs will continue to be a problem as long as the pot growers use them to instill fear in the masses. Do you know how violated one feels to not feel safe in you own yard? Last Spring my old cat was torn apart in front of me by a different pair. My close friend had her tiny poodle murdered right in her own driveway by one. Our office has had horses injured, killed and maimed by them. When is this going to stop? These dogs are a threat to the safety of all people and pets and livestock in this county. If any more come onto my property they will be shot on sight. I urge all my neighbors to do the same.
They are outlawed in some counties, why not this one too?
Thank you Officer Verdot for following through on this matter. We can make things better even if it’s one or two at a time.
Roni McFadden
Willits
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TO THE FLEET
Dear Kathy Bailey and all of you who “Saved Hendy Woods,”
You were the swiftest, the smartest, the steadiest and our whole community won (and so did the redwoods!) Thank you SO very much. The Anderson Valley Community Action Coalition salutes you, bows down to you and blesses you.
Talk about Community Action.
Wow.
AVCAC
Boonville
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47.9 MPG!
Editor,
Recently there was an item on the Fair and Balanced news channel that provided the results of a survey of owners of Hybrid cars. An overwhelming number said they would never buy another as the cars didn’t get the advertised fuel efficiency, not good enough to make up for the premium paid for the new car.
Well, I’m here to tell ‘ya — I purchased a new 2009 Toyota Prius on December 7th, 2008. From day one I have kept track of every drop of fuel. I have driven from Alameda to San Antonio, Texas, up to Canada a couple of times always driving well over the speed limit from sea level to 14000 foot elevations and lots of local driving. I never babied it.
The numbers including today’s fill-up are: 55,651 miles on 1162 gallons = 47.9 MPG! When driving around town in cold weather and using the heater, the mileage drops slightly as the engine has to run almost all the time in order to make hot water for heating the cabin. Using the refrigeration system in the summer doesn’t seem to make a difference.
Anyway, 47.9 MPG since new, and that’s no BS.
Carl Flach
Alameda
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RESISTING FORECLOSURE
Dear Editor,
Recently I read about a desperate homeowner who committed suicide because of the run-around the bank had been giving him in the process of foreclosing on his and his wife’s property.
Changes in the law to protect homeowners in the Homeowners Bill of Rights legislation is coming too late for some homeowners.
CJ Holmes website reports that 146,240 residential auctions are currently scheduled from May 11 to 7/19/12 and will be putting thousands of California homeowners out of house and home. In Fort Bragg 49 foreclosures are expected between April 23rd through August 9, 2012 and 33 more are expected on the coast by then.
A court injunction may be available for some California homeowners, according to CJ Holmes, realtor. Go here. CJs strategy:
If a notice of Default has been filed on your property, there may be an easy way for some California homeowners to stop the foreclosure by a judge’s order, based on code 2923.5. If the California Declaration required by 2923.5 is not filed with the notice of default (or NOS), the foreclosure broke the law, but people have to pursue this strategy with a lawsuit. Everyone should check out their situation as soon as possible, according to CJ Holmes.
Agnes Woolsey
Mendocino
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CRIMINAL COURT RESPONDS
Editor,
Delighted to confirm acknowledgement of our Kent State letter from the ICC at the Hague in their letter, 21 May 2012:
“Dear Sir, Madam The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court acknowledges receipt of your documents/letter. This communication has been duly entered in the Communications Register of the Office. We will give consideration to this communication, as appropriate, in accordance with the provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. As soon as a decision is reached, we will inform you, in writing, and provide you with reasons for this decision.”
* * *
To the Hague: Justice for the May 4th Kent State Massacre?
A formal request for Kent State Justice was sent to the International Criminal Court at the Hague:
May 7, 2012 To the International Criminal Court at the Hague,
On May 4, 1970 Allison Krause, my sister, was shot dead by an Ohio National Guard bullet as she protested the Vietnam War, the American war draft and the military occupation of her college campus at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, USA.
For almost ten years following the massacre, my parents fought for truth and justice for Allison in the United States justice system. In the end we received a statement of regret and $15,000 for Allison. The United States government admitted no wrong doing and immediately following, a high-ranking Ohio National Guard officer commented that the Kent State statement of regret was not an apology.
Please read our recent Kent State letter to President Obama at the White House. On 5/1/12 we sent our letter registered mail, requiring signature to the White House. Here is the 5/1/12 Kent State Letter at President Obama from the Krause Family.
Our call to President Obama for truth and justice at Kent State was brought about by the April 23, 2012 U.S. Justice Department’s decision and refusal to examine the new evidence in the May 4th Kent State Massacre. News story from the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
The Department of Justice April 2012 responses to Congressman Dennis Kucinich and Alan Canfora (a wounded student at May 4th Kent State) also fail to recognize that four American student protesters were murdered on May 4, 1970. Congressman Dennis Kucinich’s 4/24/12 response to the Department of Justice,
Recent letters on Kent State from the Justice Department address only civil rights and point to double jeopardy in bringing forth new court cases against the National Guard although we have no interest in pursuing new law suits against the National Guard at this time.
The Department of Justice questions the authenticity of the enhanced Kent State tape as they report the F.B.I. Cleveland office destroyed key Kent State evidence, the original Strubbe Kent State tape, in 1979.
In the U.S. Justice Department’s refusal to recognize the authenticity of the enhanced Kent State tape recording, they also choose to ignore leading forensic evidence expert Stuart Allen’s new analysis, even though Allen analyzed the very same tape recording entered into evidence in my father Arthur Krause’s Kent State court cases.
In the 2010 forensic analysis of the enhanced Kent State tape, Allen verified the existence of the long-denied Kent State Command-to-Fire as well as four pistol shots fired by FBI informant/provocateur Terry Norman 70 seconds before the Command-to-Fire. It is believed when Norman fired his pistol, he signaled the National Guard with the ‘sound of sniper fire’ to shoot live ammunition at unarmed American students. Watch this 4/29/12 CNN report on the Kent State Tape with Stuart Allen.
Human rights ended at Kent State the moment the first shot was fired, transforming the historic May 4th Kent State Massacre into homicides in the killing of Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandy Scheuer and William Schroeder. For more than 42 years the United States government refuses to acknowledge loss of life resulting from their actions on May 4, 1970. It is for this reason we implore the ICC to consider the May 4th Kent State Massacre.
In the United States government’s actions to only address the wrongs of May 4th Kent State from a civil rights perspective, the killing of American protesters remains legal and wholly-unaddressed. Because of this, we have grave concerns for the welfare of Occupy protesters in America now.
The US Federal government crossed the line in firing live ammunition at young Americans, killing four and wounding nine students on the Kent State University campus, just past noon on May 4, 1970. From the 2010 analysis of new evidence at Kent State, we have learned the truth at Kent State is the May 4th Kent State Massacre was a planned American government action managed by the F.B.I.
In our email to the Hague, and for the reasons indicated above, the Krause family asks for the May 4th Kent State Massacre to be considered before the International Criminal Court.
No More Kent States,
Laurel Krause, Director
Kent State Truth Tribunal
Mendocino Coast
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NO ON 29
Editor,
The wrecking of the United States Constitution—
The villain in this case is the state of California. The government has the obligation to tell you of problems and their solutions. If it doesn’t affect anyone but yourself, that’s as far as they should go.
But here we go again. Prop 29 in June raises the cigarette tax as a measure to make people quit tobacco. What it will do if it passes is to increase the already black market in tobacco substantially, making us increase our costly law enforcement agencies and jails which are already overcrowded with drug violators. Now we will add tobacco bootleggers. Last I heard was that half the prison population was there on drug violations.
Again, the government not just telling us what’s good or bad for us, but making us do what they feel is good for us. The city of Richmond wants to put a big tax on soft drinks to fight obesity. Next they will march all overweight citizens to the courthouse each month and if they’re overweight, off to the weight reduction center until their weight is correct (in their opinion).
Then we simply have to do something about the 40,000 people killed each year in auto accidents. Most police officers will tell us that speed is by far the biggest villain in auto accidents. But here it’s OK to gamble our lives. Speed is enjoyed by so many including judges, attorneys, and cops. Most of our population loves speed so the carnage is OK. Here is a case that can and does affect other people. But that’s OK since so many people love speed.
Prop 29 is also supposedly for cancer research. There are enormous amounts of money spent by drug biotech companies and many other companies all over the world. Their reason is that when they find some cure it means billions of dollars worldwide and if the cure is for major diseases like cancer or diabetes, it could mean trillions of dollars.
Their motivation is money. The real success comes from whoever dreamed up the measure picked Lance Armstrong as a poster boy. But the real reason is to raise another tax which is like the old saying: the straw that broke the camel’s back. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is where California is closely followed by Uncle Sam. What this Prop 29 will do if passed is create another temporary bureaucracy which will become permanent with nothing to do so they dream up more regulations to show their brilliance. Vote no to save our state and country.
Emil Rossi
Boonville
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STONED DOGS
Dear Editor,
There is truth to these stories about “stoned dogs,” temporarily disoriented, unable to move normally.
But it’s not a dangerous situation, as stated by Glenda Anderson in the 5/17/12 Press Democrat: “Animals, mostly dogs, are being brought staggering into veterinary hospitals high on pot, a toxic and potentially lethal condition.”
Marijuana is not toxic and it is not potentially lethal, at least in humans. There has never been a single recorded human fatality associated with cannabis use over centuries of worldwide use, precisely because it is non-toxic. It is the safest plant-medicine on the planet.
However, to the unaccustomed, it can be disorienting, especially when eaten, rather than smoked. Cannabis edibles in humans normally take 30-60 minutes to take effect (unlike when smoking which has immediate effect). So the effect is surprisingly strong when it comes on, especially to the inexperienced, which most dogs are.
A first time experience for a dog doing edibles may be very different than for most humans. Plus when leaf has been cooked as opposed to eaten raw, it significantly enhances the high. Perhaps dogs don’t have endo-cannabinoid systems and receptor sites that work the same way they do in humans.
This came to my attention when a neighbor brought over their dog, who ate a big helping of left-over damp marijuana leaf we had processed into edibles and left in a pile in the yard. It quickly became obvious that there was still juice left in the leaf when the dog stood on the porch on all fours, swaying back and forth, barely able to balance, unable to walk. After awhile, we couldn’t find him, so we figured he must have made it down seven steps and into the woods.
My friend was distressed about where her dog was and what might be wrong. I told her he’s probably off somewhere getting a long deep sleep; he’ll be back refreshed.
As it turned out, that’s exactly what happened — two days later the dog returned, romping and playing with his dog friends, with no signs of the previous disorientation experience.
We know the endo-cannabinoid system is ubiquitous and runs throughout nature from the two-celled hydra to the human brain. I don’t know anything in particular about endogenous cannabinoids in dogs and cats, but they are likely to be cannabinoid deficient and unacclimated to a cannabinoid diet, so a little can be a lot. You can overdo it if you’ve never done it before. Perhaps many of these vet trips are with first-timers.
Frequently when humans overdose in this way — eating rather than smoking it — it’s because they didn’t know the brownies they were eating were tainted. They found them in the frig — ate a few — and half an hour later it came on.
The dogs don’t know either. They eat what’s there, with no concept of a measured dose.
I have a friend whose dog had a similar disorienting experience from eating a batch of leftover cooked leaf. He says when his dog ate the raw cannabis leaf, there was no such experience.
We often see dogs and cats nibble at blades of raw grass or other herb, presumably to aid their digestion. That is how it happens naturally in nature, but perhaps eating leaf enhanced through cooking by humans is not suited for dogs.
What could explain this unusual reaction where dogs eating weed seems to super slow down their biological processes, similar to sleep?
Perhaps Dr. Courtney can tell us something about the endo-cannabinoid signaling system in dogs and if it works fundamentally different than in humans.
Pebbles Trippet
Elk
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LEWALLEN FOR CONGRESS
Editor,
Why I’m voting for John Lewallen—
Every candidate I’ve ever voted for has been unelectable. I don’t choose them for that characteristic, it’s just that it is my opinion that significant change is necessary, while for the majority of America the idea of such change seems to take folks out of their comfort zone.
In a panel discussion down in Santa Rosa John Lewallen introduced himself as “…the candidate for the hopeless because I am the most hopeless candidate. If I’m elected politics won’t be the same in Washington DC.”
In a seaweed wrap, John is pro environment, antiwar and a strong believer that the current economic model isn’t working. He isn’t affiliated with any political party (thank god especially not the Democrats) and everything about him represents the kinds of changes I feel are important.
I urge everyone to join me in making the statement that we on California’s North Coast do want and need the level of change promised and reneged on by our current Democratic president. Vote for John Lewallen for Congress.
David Severn
Philo
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NO ARGUMENT
Editor,
Haiku in response to Nate “Sure can dish it out, but sure can’t take it” Collins, who says he skips all my writing but still sends 1000 words of rambling incoherent irrelevant angry erroneous words critiquing it and me, whom he’s never met and knows nothing about:
Like my father said,
Never argue with a nut
so OK, you’re right.
Cool runnings,
Steve Heilig
San Francisco
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SOLOMON’S BAD AD
Bruce:
I am disappointed in the Solomon campaign’s tri-fold nastiness on the theme Lawson/Jeopardy. I’d hate to have my contribution go for that kind of crap.
Jim Armstrong
Potter Valley