“From bicycle lanes to socialism…”

When I attended UC Santa Cruz there was a fight for City Council where there were two distinct factions of the city roughly equal in voting numbers.  When four seats were up, each side ran a slate and each side won two races with the progressive coalition maintaining the narrow 4-3 majority.

It was the closest the conservatives would ever come to retaking the council after having lost it in the mid-1970s.  In their effort to win it back they hired a firm to manage their campaigns to create “the All Santa Cruz Coalition.”  This firm had managed the “All Berkeley Coalition” and the “All Santa Monica Coalition” in past elections.  With such a stellar win-loss record (yes, that’s sarcasm) it was no wonder that the conservatives would hire this firm.  I guess they figured that sooner or later Bullwinkle would pull the rabbit out of the hat.

I don’t remember the name of the firm, but the Santa Cruz Action Network, the progressive group which provided aid to candidates and campaigns, brought to the public attention an old pamphlet the firm had generated in their failed effort to “save” Santa Monica (defeated by Tom Hayden’s “Economic Democracy” campaign).  The pamphlet outlined the dreary path of the loss of the culture war – it was entitled, “From Bicycle Lanes to Socialism.”  Basically, bike paths were the first step in the journey.  After that came food coops, women’s health collectives, tenants unions, and a long list on to more frightening items rent control, homeless shelters, and ultimately…….socialism.

It is in this context I read Anthony Mantova’s rant against proposed changes to H and I Streets in Eureka.   The proposal involves changes to make it safer for crossing students, and the dedication of one of the three lanes on each street to….. bicycle lanes!

This is where it happens folks!  This is the beginning of the hippie takeover!  And ultimately, socialism!

Seriously, I drive those streets about a dozen times a week.  I have never seen traffic which requires three lanes.  We’ve had some construction lately where travel was actually narrowed to one lane and I think maybe on one occasion it slowed my trip by as much as 3 or 4 seconds.  Maybe.

Kim Bergel’s kick-off event is Wednesday Evening at the Madaket Plaza.  5:30.

And Leslie Castellano is sponsoring a Ward 1 bike tour on Sunday.

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Marion Brady challenging Richard Marks for Harbor Commissioner

So says John Chiv.

Didn’t he help her get elected to the Eureka City Council?  Like something out of Game of Thrones.

I will be very surprised if Marks doesn’t win handily.

My first John Trudell experience

I was in my second year of college and this event was my introduction to John Trudell. He did a kind of concert-monologue performance with a couple of percussionists and a woman chanting while he delivered a very long verbal essay which took me somewhere I had never been.

This was November 20, 1983. If you check Wikipedia you will learn/remember that this was the evening The Day After was aired. The Day After depicted an all out nuclear war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. It led to crazy discourse in American politics, with Jerry Falwell demanding equal time and a wild debate on Nightline with a bunch of figures including Carl Sagan, William Buckley, and Elie Wiesel. And you had psychiatrists warning parents to send their children to bed.

It was a choice that evening. We could attend the John Trudell event in the Merrill Dining Hall, or we could watch the movie in the Baobob Lounge just a few feet away. Having already seen On the Beach, Failsafe, Dr. Strangelove and other movies about nuclear war, and been active on the issue of a nuclear freeze and disarmament since high school, I didn’t feel that the film would teach me anything I didn’t already know. But during moments of quiet in Trudell’s presentation, we could hear the nuclear explosions coming from the television in the Baobob. I think Trudell let those moments extend and improvised some words of hope earlier than he had intended. People watching the film told me that they could hear the chanting and drums which gave them some comfort even as it added some intensity.

I think I saw Trudell about 5 more times before he died, the last being at Beginnings about 15 or 16 years ago. KPFA and KMUD played him often. I didn’t agree with everything he had to say, including his abstention from voting. But I really miss his presence on this earth.

I found this poster in some boxes of old stuff tonight.

The signs are coming out!

Election season is formally begun.  Driving up H Street I noticed two or three Natalie Arroyo (for City Council) signs and one Heidi Messner sign (for Mayor).  Then in my neighborhood on M Street I saw one sign for Michelle Constantine, who is running for Mayor.  Susan Seaman has already been to my home canvassing.

So we’re off!

CLMP Town Hall Meeting August 23 at the Mateel

PRESS RELEASE

The Civil Liberties Monitoring Project and the Mateel Community Center will host a Town Hall Community Meeting on Thursday, August 23rd, from 6:00 to 8:30 pm at the Mateel Community Center in Redway to discuss the impacts of marijuana legalization on the citizens, the economy and the communities in Southern Humboldt.

A panel of county and state representatives including our 2nd district Supervisor,  Code Enforcement, Sheriff’s Department, California Fish and Wildlife and Water Quality will be available for questions and comments from the public.

   Topics will include permits, abatements, fees and fines and more within Humboldt County.

The Mateel will have drinks and snacks available for sale.  Doors open at 5:30pm, the meeting will start promptly at 6pm.

For more information or to volunteer, call the Civil Liberties Monitoring Project office at 923-4646 or email to bonnie@civilliberties.org

TNT Tonight – The state of the local progressive movement with Allen McCloskey

Local labor and political activist Allen McCloskey will join me this evening to discuss the current politics of Humboldt County.  Are we experiencing a progressive surge?  Another reallignment?  Join the discussion tonight at 7:00.

Another Sunset Blvd. lawyer letter sent

This time to LoCo.

So basically, you’re going to prove that two news services acted with actual malice?  Good luck with that!

Local Republican Office Vandalized

Someone marked up their windows.

It’s way out of line folks.  Sure, nothing was broken and it’s easily cleaned up, but it’s wrong and could lead to retaliations/escalations.  We have a history around here of yard signs being stolen or vandalized and lots of intensity.

Almost as embarrassing as the act itself is the misspellings.  It’s “indict” not “indite.”

Or maybe it was intentional.  Indite is actually a word which means to write.

I hope that the Democrats will take this up at their next meeting and issue a public statement.  This election season is as likely to be as intense as the last.

When Don Jr. was first asked about Russian involvement

Video through the link.  Now think about these comments in light of what we now know.

I mean it’s just so effing blatant!

Second threatening attorney letter sent to Mad River Union

Ms. Drooz sent another letter in response to the article about her first one.

Her letters remind me of why I would hate to practice law in Southern California.  They think these letters scare people.

Apparently Ms. Drooz is a First Amendment specialist.  Her letter makes no sense then, as Mr. Wruck is clearly a public figure which means she would have to prove that Kevin acted with malice, and I don’t even see a case for negligence.

I’m trying to stay out of HSU politics as my wife is on the CAB, and I was kind of rolling my eyes at the latest meeting when Jana said that Mr. Wruck and the HSU administration don’t understand the local community.  I tend to roll my eyes when people who have been here longer than I accuse me of not understanding the community – as if Humboldt County is so unique that outsiders just can’t grok.  But from these letters, it turns out she was right and I was wrong.   Humboldt County is not Sunset Boulevard.  Nor is any rural county to which any transfer of venue would be made.