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How I Became An Atheist, by Harry Fisher
Fisher After a childhood in the Hebrew National Orphan Home and a youth spent as a labor activist and merchant marine, Harry Fisher volunteered to fight fascism in Spain as a member of the Abraham...
View ArticleSupes Spike Laura’s Law
“Laura’s Law has always been a non-starter in Mendo. We can’t afford it,” said one County official involved in the preparation for last week’s two-and-a-half-hour presentation on the “court assisted...
View ArticleAlexander Cockburn, 1941-2012
I last saw him in person a year ago in San Francisco. He looked thin and drawn but, as always, he was in good spirits. I’d been on long hikes with Cockburn where he walked me into the ground, and he’d...
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Reine Claude (Green Gage) Plums by Anne Fashauer
My aunt and uncle had a small orchard outside the house where I now live and in that orchard are two plum trees that occasionally deliver some of the tastiest plums around – green gage plums. I...
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Accreditation: Going Through the Motions
Is your kid’s school accredited? Of course it is. And of course you assume the solemn-sounding word represents an educational licensing process overseen by scholarly people deployed to...
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Washington’s Rules Of Civility & Decent Behavior
110 maxims about civility and decent behavior in public which originated in the late 16th century in France were popularly circulated in Virginia during George Washington’s boyhood in the first half of...
View ArticleThe Case Of The Purloined Pick-Up
Last week Linda Pitman got a notice from Small Claims Court Judge Jeanine Nadel informing Pitman that her request to have her $3,000 truck returned from impound was denied “with prejudice” — which...
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A Thanksgiving Quiz
1. What was Squanto’s real name? a. Tisquantum. b. Hiawathasquan. c. Squanto. d. Mabotesquantimentocontik. 2. Who was considered the leader of the Pilgrim settlers whose ship, originally bound for...
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Aesop’s Fables Quiz
There are well over 600 Aesop’s Fables. Some are well known. Some are obscure. Here are a few of them. We’ll give you the fable, you tell us what he moral is. (Note: Since the morals of the fables can...
View ArticleHoyle, Frase & Other Briefs
• Special Agent Peter Hoyle of the Mendo Major Crimes Task Force has brought another Bulgarian pot pharma to justice. This one is Dimiter Kostantinov, formerly of Sofia presently of Huntington Beach....
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An Accounting Quiz
1. What does CPA stand for? a. Can’t Pull Attorneys b. Certified Public Accountant c. Certified Professional Adder-upper d. Certified Public Annoyance 2. What should you ask a CPA before you hire...
View ArticleCitizen O’Brien Sues
Dennis C. O’Brien v. County of Mendocino, Raley’s, et al First Cause Of Action: Unlawful Interference With Freedom Of Speech 1. Plaintiff Dennis C. O’Brien is a competent adult and a resident of...
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Mendocino Media
My uncle, the late 5th District Supervisor Joe Scaramella, was an avid reader all his life. He described the county’s media during his tour in office in the 1950s and 60s as “mostly duplicative and...
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Blast From the Past: A Wasteful Watershed Meeting, July, 1995
(Note: This is a typical report from a “watershed group” meeting almost 20 years ago to discuss the status of a “study” costing hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars which produced nothing but a...
View ArticleMendo Broadband Denied
Supervisor Hamburg last Tuesday told his Board colleagues about a Friday, May 17 meeting in Fort Bragg to discuss internet broadband service in the county. “The focus will be broadband planning in the...
View ArticleFROM THE ARCHIVE: Should Tim ‘Coke’ Elliot Get A New Trial?
“I respect Ms. Thompson, but this is basic stuff, right out of criminal law procedure 101,” attorney Jan Cole-Wilson said. “Any lawyer should know this.” Ms. Cole-Wilson, as she argued for a new trial...
View ArticleThe Press Democrat’s Labor Fantasies
Last week the Santa Rosa Press Democrat ran a story titled, “Winegrowers facing labor hurdles as harvest season approaches.” The story began, “Grape growers and farmers throughout the state are facing...
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Bravery Beyond Belief
When I was in the Air Force in the 1970s I had access to classified information about the Soviet Union’s air defenses, logistics support systems, likely invasion scenarios in Eastern Europe, military...
View ArticleMemo Of The Week
MEMO OF THE WEEK Mendocino County Fire Chiefs’ Association President: Larry Tunzi; Vice President: Mike Suddith, Secretary/Treasurer: Jeff Schlafer PO Box 164, Comptche, CA 95427 September 4, 2013 TO:...
View ArticleOne Man’s Mental Health Experience
Ed note: a former county Mental Health staffer on the Mendocino Coast wrote the following letter to the Hospitality House Board of Directors earlier this month after being fired from the County when...
View ArticleHeeeeeeeeeeere’s Dino!
This is Dino from somewhere in Mendocino. I might be nuts but I’m no dummy. I’m sure you’ve seen the Daily Journal of October 10 where the Board of Supervisors gets up to date on the mental health...
View ArticleUnderstanding Emotional Abuse
The Case of Peter Keegan, Susan Keegan, and the Ukiah homicide (Courtesy, justice4susan.com) Before she was a victim of homicide, Susan Keegan was a victim of emotional abuse. When we think about...
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