Open Thread - Gone to Reggae Rising

I won't be bloging for a few days as I will be camping with groovy Rastafarians on the Eel River.
Feel free to make your own criticism of the blog or other discussions here while I'm gone.

Homeless Man Brutally attacked in Old Town Eureka

On Wednesday night, 7-30-08 at about 8p, a homeless man was brutally attacked in Old Town Eureka near the corner of 1st and E streets. The victim's jaw appeared to be broken and he suffered additional small wounds around the head area.
His belongings, a tent and a bag of clothes were stolen from him. He was transported to the hospital by paramedics. The assailants were reported to be three white teenagers.
This is the second such brutal attack against houseless people in Eureka in the last two weeks. The other one was near the Adorni Center on the water front. The assailants in that incident were also reported as 3 white teenagers.
A call to EPD was not returned by Sgt. O'Neal as of this posting. Anyone with any information on these brutal attacks should call the Eureka P.D. at 707-441-4060.

Bush Drug Warrior Crashes Pot Press Conference

This is from the Rawstory.com

Nick JulianoPublished: Wednesday July 30, 2008

President Bush's drug warriors must really, really want to protect their ability to throw non-violent marijuana users in jail.
The White House sent at least three party crashers to a press conference Wednesday with Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), who has introduced a pot-decriminalization bill.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy's "chief scientist" and two aides who were dispatched to provide instant rebuttal to Frank and the bill's cosponsors, all of whom acknowledged that marijuana was likely to remain very much illegal in the foreseeable future.
Given the bill's essentially non-existent chances of passage, ONDCP's Dr. David Murray's impassioned arguments that seemed more appropriate in Reefer Madness were greeted with plenty of puzzled glances.
Why did the White House feel it necessary to send at least three staffers to Capitol Hill to place in every reporter's hand a copy of its 20-page, color-copied "2008 Marijuana Sourcebook?" RAW STORY posed this question to Murray.
"It is our responsibility to be aware of policy developments," said Murray, who clarified that he had a PhD and was not a medical doctor. He explained that Frank's attempt to modify the controlled substances act was very much of interest to the Bush administration's pot prohibitionists.
The Marijuana Policy Project's Rob Kampia, who stuck around to listen to Murray's post-press conference diatribe, said he suspected ulterior motives behind the propagandistic pontificating.
"Nothing's going to happen on this before he loses his job," the decriminalization advocate said, acknowledging that Frank's bill won't move forward until at least next year, when President Bush -- and his appointees -- would be out of office. "This is him emptying the clip."

The rest of the story

Locals Demand Coroners Inquest Regarding Three Dead Men

PETER STEWART,MARTIN COTTON,& JAMES “HANS” PETERS
These three young men died within three months of each other (2007) in”unexplained and violent deaths.”Each of these men died in custody of and/or during an interactionwith local ‘law enforcement’ officers. See blog Highboltage for the whole story.

Privatizing the Commons

The President wants more toll roads and privatization of mass transit systems. It seems that since we are driving less and using more fuel efficient vehicles, we are paying less fuel tax. Fuel taxes are what are used to finance roads and bridges. Wall Street Journal story.

Our infrastructure is crumbling and what could be better than private roads, funded by well to do people with pay pass transponders on their dash boards? How about roads we all can use? Why would the private sector build transit projects in areas where they are not assured of a good return on their money? Rural areas would be stuck with expensive toll roads and little or no alternative. Are private companies going to build hiking and biking trails into their toll roads? Probably not. What would be their incentive? Would the private sector be U.S. companies or are we talking about selling off the country to foreign interests sitting on piles of U.S. dollars?

Another problem is right of way. Is it right for a government to take private property and give or sell it to another private concern because they want to make a profit? Wouldn't this be fascism? Oh yeah, and just because they are private doesn't mean the state would have much say over how they are built. See fight over O.C. toll roads.

It is my opinion that we should raise the Federal Excise Tax and the tax at the gas, hydrogen and ethanol pumps to pay for our nations roads and bridges.

As for mass transit, private companies don't do it very well, the airlines have to be bailed out all the time, and slow bus and train routes need to be subsidised anyway. Why give up control over these things when we are the ones that pay when they aren't making money?

Bush Gives Russians 125-thousand Square Miles of Oil Sea Beds

Right winged web site World Net Daily says that 8 Alaskan islands were given to Russia without approval from Congress. The area around the islands is said to contain a lot of oil.

Excerpt:Eight islands and their surrounding sea floors were ceded to the former Soviet Union as part of the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Maritime Boundary Treaty in 1991, a treaty signed by the U.S. Senate and President George Bush but never ratified by the Soviets. Nonetheless, an executive agreement enforcing the terms of the treaty until ratification has been in place through three presidencies, meaning the State Department officially recognizes the islands as Russian territory

Mervyns Files Chapter 11

The A.P. is reporting today that retailer Mervyns has filed for bankruptcy today. The company, based in Hayward California, says all 175 stores will remain open while it reorganizes under Chapter 11.

5.4 Magnitude Earthquake Hits L.A. Area

At about 11:42 this morning, a 5.4 magnitude quake hit near the Chino Hills. No injuries were reported as of yet. Ground runway radar is out at LAX due possibly to the quake. A water main broke according to CNN, not sure where though.

There were several aftershocks reported.

Bad formula for determining how much lumber is in a tree

This is from George Kangas and is an eye opening break down of how Palco and other timber companies determine how much lumber is in each tree.

The PALCO case is based on the timberlands being worth $605 million by Forester James Fleming and his use of Scribner's Book of Scaling Logs. This formula determines how much timber there is in a tree. This Book was created in the 1880's to try and determine how much timber there was in an oldgrowth Redwood tree that had 10 inches of bark. It was updated in the early 60's.
Today, this means that the Actual Board Feet in a tree using the Scribner's Method is under valued by 100%. In these terms: One-half of every load of logs, on most logging truck you see, isn't documented. A load of small logs, with a butt end of 5", or 'pecker poles', are worth 200% over the Scribner Method and are not documented, either.
The true value of the 210,000 acres, that are up for grabs, in a Texas Courtroom, is worth more then the noteholders realize.

I have sold logs to P/L in the 90's and got one/half of actual value. McMillian Logging explained the Scribner's formula to me and there wasn't anywere else to go. I have had other tree's milled up on my property, since then, using the portable LUCUS sawmill, with an air cooled engine,and it cuts one hundred per cent over Scribner's. I paid the difference in money.

Win Reggae Rising Tickets today on KGOE 1480 am

We are going to give away another pair of Reggae Rising tickets on air today. Radio listeners won't know when, but I am letting blog visitors know that it will be in the 4pm hour of the Peter B. Collins show TODAY FRIDAY 7-25-08!
Camping is additional and the tickets are actually a guest list. Tickets are non transferable and photo ID is required.

JACKIE AND SHERI WON 2, THREE DAY PASSES TO REGGAE RISING!
CONGRATULATIONS.

A call to action by Jack Nounnan

(Corrected to read: "meeting July 30" ...as shown below)
Public Service Announcement July 26, 08'
Don't miss this chance to participate in these mass demonstrations ...Denver
Aug. 24th through the 28th, ... helping to expose this sham democracy being carried on at the Democratic National Convention. This is an extraordinary point in our lives with so much at stake across the world. All who deeply care and will make time are asked to join.
We're meeting locally to plan out our part in this huge event. PLease join us....
Wed. July 30, 6:00 PM...The Labor Hall, 8th and E streets... Eureka.
Call 442-8733 for getting involved early in the organizing
Billions of people have been disillusioned while building their lives on constant, but empty hopes. Again and again they've been shunted aside or suffered far worse, their most cherished beliefs and critical needs ignored for more aggressions and greed. There are no easy answers, for this system shows it's unpreparedness to make amends, in going right on with its fatally flawed agenda.
We demonstrate to make certain they see our resistance to such methods and the devastating results, which we dare not ignore.
THE WORLD CAN'T WAIT
. Humboldt County Chapter

Former U.S. astronaut says aliens exist

FORMER NASA astronaut and moon-walker Dr Edgar Mitchell - a veteran of the Apollo 14 mission - has stunningly claimed aliens exist. See Story.

He claimed our technology is "not nearly as sophisticated" as theirs and "had they been hostile", he warned "we would be been gone by now".

Any body out there ever seen one of these creatures or something flying that just didn't make sense?

Am I in Hustler Magazine?

Today is July 23rd and that means my small article should be in the October edition of Hustler, due to come out today. I wrote a short piece in listener feedback about military recruitment in schools and suggested that if they can recruit to those under 18 years old, Hustler should do the same.

The magazine is always a couple of months ahead at the news stand, on line at the hyperlink you will only see the July issue. (WARNING, YOU MUST BE 18 YEARS OR OLDER TO VIEW THIS STUFF)

I haven't gone across the street to see if the new copy is on the news stand yet. There are no pictures of me, that would be even too scary for the October, (Halloween) edition.

Bill Press, Stephanie Miller, Brad Friedman at Brad blog and Thom Hartmann have all been in Hustler this year.

Now it's my turn.

All of a sudden by accident, the sun came out!

For some reason, that large orange ball in the sky made an appearance over Humboldt Bay today.

The recently allusive ball of fire was welcomed by almost everyone except Diva of the Dark, Dana Riebl ( KGOE board op for Crabs baseball). http://www.myspace.com/thedivaofthedark

Arcata Eye says Deputy Drug Czar was in town

As I reported last Friday on this blog, the feds are still interested in grow houses in Arcata. According to the Eye, Scott Burns, deputy director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy participated in the recent pot raids in Eureka and points south last week. He met with city officials and dismissed any notion of medical usefulness of marijuana. After leaving Arcata, he headed to Sacramento where he said he met with the U.S. Attorney, officials with the Drug Enforcement Administration and other drug enforcement personnel including the FBI, county sheriffs and police chiefs. He said he will soon discuss what he found with John P. Walters, ONDCP director in Washington D.C. He said local owners of medical marijuana dispensaries are at risk of losing their property via asset forfeiture which he said "I predict will happen soon".

http://www.arcataeye.com/

KHSU to concede progressive talk to KGOE?

Rob Gunsalus, Vice President of Advancement at Humboldt State University announced on July 17th that General Manager of KHSU-FM, Elizabeth Hans McCrone has resigned to pursue other endeavors. She says she was forced out. See story at the Humboldt Hearald.
http://humboldtherald.wordpress.com/2008/07/18/khsu-gen-manager-forced-out/#more-1717 We didn't get the press release here at Bicoastal Media but no matter, I read the Humboldt Hearald.
Elizabeth Hans McCrone said Gunsalus told her that he had a different vision for KHSU.
One of the visions he had was the elimination of Democracy Now!, I'm not shouting, that's the way it's spelled. Also of concern was Thursday Night Talk with David Cobb. Read the story from Hans McCrone at the Humboldt Hearald and you can see that those that control the purse strings at HSU don't like the liberal slant of these shows. Instead of putting a Conservative, pro war show on for balance, they decided to can the G.M. and possibly those shows.
Since those shows were widely popular on KHSU and they are supposedly the #1 listened to radio station in Humboldt(I'm not doubting that since they have more signals than any one else), one would think that shows like Democracy Now!, played a part in the stations success.
It is my belief that if they drop the progressive shows and stick to non political, classical music and car show type content, KGOE stands to pick up more listeners. We at KGOE 1480 am are already having the best year ever in terms of ad revenue and we offer more progressive talk radio than any other station in Humboldt Co. If this decision to let Elizabeth Hans McCrone go is what I think it is, than KHSU has just conceded the progressive talk audience to KGOE and we welcome all of them to their new home.

Tomatos rot in fields and packing houses.

WHY? Why are farmers ploughing under tomatoes or letting them rot in packing houses? In the old days, when there were too many tomatoes, they made catsup or ketchup, or spaghetti sauce.


When salmonella is cooked, it dies. Canned, cooked tomatoes are safe to eat. Why let them rot?


It probably has to do with keeping the price up. http://www.cfbf.com/agalert/AgAlertStory.cfm?ID=1022&ck=93D65641FF3F1586614CF2C1AD240B6C
Tomatoes have never been more plentiful or more expensive according to the California Tomato Growers Association. http://www.ctga.org/newctga/production.htm

Has the salmonella scare stopped you from eating fresh tomatoes?

Has Michael Savage finally lost his mind?

According to CBS in New York:http://cbs2.com/national/michael.savage.autism.2.775524.html
On July 16th Michael Savage, heard locally in Humboldt County on KWSW 790 am, claimed that autism is "[a] fraud, a racket. ... I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot.' "
Local Blogger HighBoltage has this:http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/
High Boltage has links to advertisers and the company that syndicates of the Savage Nation and seems to be calling for a boycott.
I support the right of Michael Savage to say stupid things. I just don't think I would want my business (I don't currently have one but did some years ago) associated with such ignorance and controversy. It's one thing to be on the political right or left but Savage is on the political wrong on this issue and many others. I don't support boycotts of advertisers, I support boycotting the station he is on and suggest you turn into KGOE 3 to 6pm instead of KWSW and enjoy the Peter B. Collins Show.

More Fed Raids to Come

I have it from a source that the raids on Humboldt County aren't' over yet. Big bust just this week finds $3-million in pot and heroin. This involved several locations around Humboldt County. Word is that the #2 guy from the DEA is still around and 215 grows are on the agenda.

Soon, property owners will be receiving notice to evict growers ( even legal ones in the eyes of California), within 30 days or face having their property seized by the feds.

King of Jordan cruises through Eureka

The King of Jordan came through Eureka today. I got a tip from one of KGOE's listeners that a major motorcade was spotted on the 101 near the Broadway Cinema. Tyler said there was a police motorcycle motorcade with about 15 other motorcycles. All the riders were wearing the same black helmets and jackets followed by about a dozen Crown Victorias with tinted windows, followed by more police. A call to E.P.D. was help full, they said it was King Abdullah II, of Jordan. I hope he has a nice trip and enjoyed the sights here on the North Coast.

New Multi Fuel Stove for good times and bad times

Made in the United States!

This is sort of an advertisement for a new product available at one of kgoe's clients.

This thing runs on charcoal, wood or a kit is available for propane. It uses much less fuel than a normal BBQ and even holds a 12 inch dutch oven!

Patented Heat Chamber
Conducts heat more efficiently than conventional stoves. Designed for use with 12" dutch ovens, any size wok, skillet, griddle or pot.
Double Wall
Minimizes heat transfer to the outer body and to the bottom of the stove, allowing your Volcano to be used on any surface.
Collapsible Body
Collapses to 5" tall for convenient portability and storage.
Instant Setup
Lifting the handle raises the upper body while the legs swing out and lock in place. Lifting the lower section of the body collapses the stove for storage. Includes Storage Bag.
Adjustable Vents
Adjust how fast your fuel burns. Insures maximum heat efficiency and versatility.

The Volcano II stove is available at 3 G's Hay and Grain in Arcata. 707-826-9537

Use to boil water in an emergency, take camping or just BBQ and use less wood or charcoal.

California Ballot Initiatives

Freds Humboldt blog has compiled a list of the Initiatives on the California Ballot this November.
Monday July 14th. Posting:http://humboldtlib.blogspot.com/

Brad Friedman in Eureka

Today I got to meet Brad Friedman of the Brad Blog. He is one of my heroes and has spent the last 4 years or so working on election integrity issues around the country. Brad and his photographer/videographor and confidant, Desi Doyen are traveling around on vacation shooting video and having a great time. Their latest video is on Brad's web site http://www.bradblog.com/.
The video takes viewers on the 120 foot span of the "D River" in Oregon. Known as the country's shortest river the journey takes viewers from the headwaters to the Pacific Ocean in just 120 feet.
Brad and Desi came by KGOE today and we spoke about blogs, progressive talk radio, the Peter B. Collins Show (Brad is a regular Fridays from 5 to 6pm on Peter B. heard locally on kgoe1480 am), and other exciting things possible in the new world of blogs and electronic media.
I asked if he and Peter B. were going to do extended election coverage again this year on election night, he wasn't sure but said he would talk to Mr. B. about it. I also invited him to join Peter B. this year when he comes to town to do his show live from the F. Street Eureka Theater. He said he would try to make it. ( Possibly in October)
Brad Friedman does a radio show that can be heard at http://www.bradshow.com/
And is involved in the Velvet Revolution at http://www.velvetrevolution.us/
Keeping them honest, Brad is kicking ass and taking names. Thanks Brad for the work that you do! Have a great vacation and we hope to see you back in Eureka later this year.

Die or Give Up Trying

More than 28-thousand veterans may have been cheated out of their pay.

This is from the Oversight and Government Reform Committee chaired by Dennis Kucinich D-Ohio.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
to
Die or Give Up Trying": How Poor Contractor Performance, Government
Mismanagement and the Erosion of Quality Controls Denied Thousands of Disabled
Veterans Timely and Accurate Retroactive Retired Pay Awards.
Retroactive pay awards to eligible retired veterans with disabilities were enacted by
Congress in2003 and2004. But delays in delivering the new benef,rt were signif,rcant.
The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) determined that more than
133,000 potentially eligible veterans were waiting for adjudication of their claims three
years after Congress enacted the laws. The backlog grew to over 2I7,000 veterans as the
delays compounded.
DFAS awarded a no-bid, Cost Plus Fixed Fee contract to Lockheed Martin ("Lockheed")
for the VA Retro program, as the work to compute the retroactive pay awards was
known. Lockheed originally had a deadline of November 2007 to work through the
backlog of VA Retro cases. But Lockheed missed that deadline and every succeeding
one. By March 1, 2008, over 60,000 eligible veterans still had not had their cases
reviewed for payment. SEE FULL STORY HERE:
http://domesticpolicy.oversight.house.gov/documents/20080715083250.pdf

Sequoia Voting Machines in N.Y. Flawed

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org
In this evening’s “Featured Article”, Kim Zetter of “Threat Level Blog” at Wired reports about the failure of new Sequoia voting machines to get through state and local testing. So far about 50 percent of the voting machines delivered to the state have problems. Doug Kellner, co-chair of the New York State Board of Elections, is quoted as saying something that the Election Integrity community has known for a long time. He said, “There's no way the vendor could be adequately reviewing the machines and having so many problems. What it tells us is that the vendor just throws this stuff over the transom and does not do any alpha- or beta-testing of their own before they apply for certification testing. Get the rest of the story here at the brad blog:http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6176#more-6176

Cynthia McKinney Green Party Pick

The U.S. Green Party has chosen Former Democratic Representative Cynthia McKinney to represent their party in the upcoming presidential election. Cynthia is the only candidate openly talking about a proper 9/11 investigation. Lets get real, 9/11 changed everything. It changed the lives of over 4,100 U.S. troops that have died because of 9/11 and the wars it spawned. It changed the way our government spies on us. It changed the way FEMA does it's job because it became part of the Department of Homeland Security. It changed the way the White House archives e-mails. It changed the way we profile people who are suspects. It changed the U.S. economy. It showed that someone armed with only box cutters could evade our entire military apparatus and attack the Pentagon without a single shot being fired. Because of 9/11, congress has given the president almost dictator like authority that will be in place for the next president. The list goes on and on! If 9/11 was such a significant event, why was more time and effort spent by authorities here on the North Coast of California last month investigating marijuana grows? 11 million dollars and 21 months were spent on the official 9/11 investigation that didn't even get going until after 441 days after the event took place. Put into perspective, independent prosecutors spent almost 80 million dollars investigating Bill and Hillary Clinton for White Water and Monica Lewinski. 4 and a half years were spent investigating Hillary Clinton before Monica entered the investigation. It should seem obvious to anyone that a real estate deal and sex in the oval office changed little for the average citizen of this country yet more time and energy were spent on that than the event that "CHANGED EVERYTHING".
Cynthia McKinney gets this and is the only presidential candidate that does. Because of the serious lack of priorities displayed by the top tier candidates for president of this once great country, I can only support Cynthia McKinney for president. She is not afraid to speak truth to power. She is not a fear monger. She gets it.

Route 299 closed 7-14 and 7-15

Starting at 11am today, Route 299 will be closed at Buckhorn Summit to east bound traffic and at Buenaventura Blve to westbound traffic.

299 also closed between Rock Creek Road and Whiskey Creek Road due to increased fire activity from 11 am to 9pm 7-14 and 7-15-08.

Route 199 is currently open as of the writing of this update.

For the latest road conditions call 1-800-427-7623 or 1-800-GAS-ROAD.

No news is good news

I wasn't able to do news on KGOE this afternoon because the station is sold out! We still have 2 updates from J.B. Mathers and ABC news at the top of the hour in the afternoon drive segment from 3 to 6pm. I'll try to get something on for tonight where there are some available times still open. Since we are an ad driven format, this is actually good news! 2008 is on track to be the best year ever for KGOE AM 1480 in terms of revenue. Thank's to our local advertisers that help keep KGOE on the air.
Years ago, when we broadcast right wingged talk radio, the afternoon segment was so void of advertisers that I started doing my own news casts to fill the time. Those days are over.
So if you don't hear me in the afternoon drive time, check in during Clark Howard or Mike Malloy 6p to 9p weekdays for KGOE News, or when all else fails, check this blog.

Bohemian Grove Party Starts Today!

They're back. The rich and powerful are once again strolling around in the redwoods of Northern California. It's actually a 2,700 acre grove called Monte Rio Grove where heads of state, business icons, Hollywood elite and other males get together to party and plot the next move for the rich and powerful. The Art work to the left is from David Dees and you can check out his gallery at:

www.deesillustration.com

Here's a story about it in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat:

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080710/NEWS/283060042/1033&title=Elite_meet_at_Boho_Grove#

Looks like a fun time had by all. Watch those matches though.

Bad Boys, Bad Boys, Watcha Gonna Do?

T.V. Show Cops is in Eureka. They arrived yesterday and will be here for an undetermined amount of time. A friend of a friend received a ticket today and was asked if she wanted to go on the show. She declined the show but had to take the speeding ticket. The Hollywood crew is riding around in the cool looking black Dodge Charger that, for some reason the Eureka Police Department felt it needed. Maybe they knew Cops was coming to town and wanted a really cool car to ride around in. If you get pulled over remember to smile, you could be on T.V.

UPDATE

Heraldo over at Humboldt Hearald says and employee from North Coast Horticulture supply said the crew is from a show called "Speeders".

Greg Hill from EPD was to get back to me today with particulars but had not called back as of 4pm today.

They can Spy on us and there is little we can do about it

From The RawStory.com
Wiretap immunity bill heads to president's desk

Nick JulianoPublished: Wednesday July 9, 2008
The Senate gave President Bush what he wanted Wednesday, sending him a bill expanding his surveillance authority and granting legal amnesty to telecommunications companies that facilitated his warrantless surveillance program.
On a 69-28 vote, the Senate approved an administration-backed update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act after striking down amendments to modify its immunity provision. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) voted for the FISA update, while his former primary opponent Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) voted against it. Republican candidate John McCain skipped the FISA vote altogether.
Opponents of legal amnesty for telecommunications companies that facilitated President Bush's extra-legal warrantless wiretapping program were dealt a decisive blow Wednesday, but advocates vowed to challenge the bill in court.
An amendment sponsored by Sens. Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Russ Feingold (D-WI) to strip telecom immunity from an update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act failed 32 to 66, although that was more support than the 31 votes a similar amendment received in February. The shift appears to be a result of Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) voting in favor of the amendment -- she did not vote last time -- and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) skipping the vote -- he opposed the measure last time.
Immediately after the vote on Feingold and Dodd's amendment, the Senate voted down another offering from Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), which would have let the court decide not to grant immunity if it decides the warrantless spying was unconstitutional. The amendment failed 37-61. Senators then moved to an amendment from Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), which would have delayed a decision on immunity until Congress receives reports on the warrantless wiretapping from inspectors general of the agencies involved in the program. That measure failed 42-56.
Obama voted in favor of the Feingold/Dodd and Specter amendments, although he has said he will vote for the final FISA bill even if the immunity provision remains. The Illinois Senator has taken heat from supporters for reneging on an earlier pledge to oppose any FISA update that would grant immunity.

Read more at the rawstory:http://www.therawstory.com/

David Cobb Weekly Column Pulled

The Times-Standard has pulled David Cobb's Weekly Column after a two year run. David is a progressive Green and his column expressed his views and opinions on matters from local politics all the way up to the Federal level. David strives for ideas and answers to the many problems that face the world these days. I will offer space on my blog for him to do guest blogs just as I have to veterans advocate Carl Young. David Cobb ran for President in 2004 on the Green ticket and helped spearhead the Ohio recount. He is an asset to Humboldt County and he will not be going away.

No Fireworks on the Beach

I have heard that environmentalists are the ones that have pushed for fireworks free beaches locally. Rumors are that they upset the Snowy Plover or something. Does anybody know if this is true? I know they close Clam Beach to vehicles every time they think there will be a big draw of people to that beach. Even on 4-20 last year Clam Beach was closed due to anticipated traffic on the beach. It seems absurd to allow fireworks in Westhaven and Cutten and other places full of trees and duff, and ban them on a strip of sand adjacent to the Pacific Ocean. Could there be a safer place to light fireworks than on the beach? Does anybody know of a beach in Humboldt County where fireworks are still legal? Were beaches closed due to an endangered bird or due to the mess of fireworks?
If it's the mess and not the bird, there could be a beach clean up day just after the 4th. I would give such an event a free plug on KGOE and I'm sure other media would help get the word out. This would be a lot easier to clean up than the aftermath of another forest fire.
I have always considered my self an environmentalist and wish no harm to nesting birds but are we being sold a bag of crap with these beach closures?

Welcome To Humboldt County, home of the highest gas prices in the nation!

$4.82 and 9/10 a gallon in Trinidad Ca. on 7-7-08. Average in Eureka Ca. $4.75 and 9/10 to $4.79 and 9/10 for regular unleaded. The best price is Hansens Truck Stop south of Fortuna at $4.69 and 9/10 a gallon. Can any other metro area in the United States beat our high prices? If so, leave a reply. I have a liner on KGOE AM 1480 that says just that, " Welcome to Humboldt County, home of the highest gas prices in the nation". It runs regularly on the air and no one has challenged it!

Fireworks On, Music off in Eureka

Thanks to the efforts of Mike Jones, this year Eureka will still have fireworks. However there will be no music to go with them this year. Usually, KGOE's sister station KRED 92.3 fm plays a simulcast of the fireworks music during the show. The last minute save by Mike Jones and the many contributors will bring to town a different pyrotechnics crew that doesn't have a musical accompaniment. A big festival is still planned for Old Town including over 100 vendors, live music on 2 stages, great food, fine art, crafts, kids activities, kids carnival and more. For more info on the Eureka celebration call 707-442-9054.

Fireworks will also take place in Arcata following the Humboldt Crabs game as well as a display at the Humboldt County Fair Grounds in Ferndale.

The Garberville show has been cancelled due to fire danger and lack of resources.

I'm not ordinarily the kind of local news guy that gets a scoop, but as for the lack of musical accompaniment, you read it here first.

Mack Press/As It Stands ‘Secret’ raid panics blogsters

This is from Dave Stancliff, columnist for the Eureka Reporter. It is reprinted here with permission from Dave Stancliff.
July 1st column
By Dave Stancliff
Don’t you just love secrets?
I know I do. It’s exciting to have one, or to discover one.
Gary Moore, the game show host for "I’ve Got a Secret," that ran from June 19, 1952 until April 3, 1967, successfully tapped into American’s love for secrets. Curiosity is a very human trait and it often makes life more interesting.
Last week’s worst-held secret award goes to the hoards of DEA and FBI types gathering in Humboldt County. The last time a successful secret raid was conducted here was in 1990 when "Operation Green Sweep" surprised and angered a lot of Humboldt residents who resented having 200 armed National Guardsmen and BLM officers swarm over their land.
This time the internet ratted the feds out. Anonymous blogs sprang up overnight and the word that hundreds of feds were gathering in town got around. I suspect that sources close to the operation probably shared their secret with the wrong person. But who knows?
If this was a military operation it would have ended badly for the attackers. Informed defenders are hard too sneak up on. Just think what would have happened if we had the internet back in the forties. D-Day would have been impossible.
Secrets are harder to keep these days with the popularity of the internet. I can’t help wondering how all those agents felt, knowing everybody in town knew they were there for a "secret" raid. It must have been somewhat unsettling wondering who was reporting your every movement.
One government spokesperson did tell Channel 3 News they were aware of the blogs and were actually getting information from them. That raised my eyebrows for a moment. As far as I can tell, after following all the blogs closely for the past two weeks, the only real information they got was that most of Humboldt County knew they were there and even had the dates right.
Another government official who had been passing out misinformation on what the feds mission was prior to the June 24th raid in Southern Humboldt, tried to play off the fact that their operation wasn’t a secret to anyone in the area.
As far as secrets go this was too big to elude cyber talk coming from informed sources and observers with blogs. There was a lot of paranoia on the internet, and every indoor grower in Humboldt County probably panicked at the thought of a sudden visit from the DEA.
We’ll never know how many growers decided to pull up their precious pot plants in a blind panic over the last two weeks. It’s safe to say some did however. Perhaps the panic worked in the feds favor if you consider the end results.
One of the most persistents rumors was that PG&E was sharing customers bills with the feds. This one is a case of part wrong and part right. PG&E doesn’t just hand out customer bills for anyone to examine. They do however, yield to warrants which, of course, the feds had. Their official line (as of this writing) was that they were just after one big growing operation.
The ripple effect of private growers shutting down their operations in a panic has to have the feds smiling. I can’t help thinking that the blogs were two-edged swords. Yes, the alarm went out to all marijuana growers, but it also hurt those who panicked and pulled their plants for no reason.
Humboldt County was outed by magazines like High Times decades ago. All you have to do while visiting other states, or even abroad, is to say, ""I’m from Humboldt County," and they immediately think marijuana. You might as well have a pot patch sewn on your forehead.
I still think that secrets are interesting and will always be with us for a whole slew of reasons. Right now I’m betting that there’s a lot of people shaking their heads and thinking about the difference between hearing about a secret, or a rumor. Secrets, like rumors, don’t have to be true. Their just something that is kept from you.
As It Stands, it’s no secret that our local economy is boosted by local marijuana growers who spend their money in the county.
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