This Blog Is No Longer In Service

I am now blogging over at http://tomsebourn.blogspot.com/

Good Bye

For reasons beyond my control. I have been ordered to kill the blog.
This will be my last post.

On the Street and On Facebook: The Homeless Stay Wired

Check out this story in the Wall St. Journal about houseless people with laptops and email.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124363359881267523.html

Health Care Protest In Eureka

It started at 5 pm but I didn't get off work until after 5:30 so I got to the Humboldt County Courthouse just before 6 pm. I was handed a small hand bill that said:

PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY supports the right to health care. No nation can be healthy whose citizens are not healthy.

Call your Representative Mike Thompson 202-225-3311 and ask him to support the National Health Insurance Act HR 676

Call Senator Feinstein 202-224-3841 and ask her to support the Senate Companion Bill S 704

Call Senator Boxer 202-224-3553 with the same message.

An opinion piece by Star Parker in today's Times-Standard newspaper said that doctors didn't want this system, but doctors and nurses were behind today's event.

Star Parker supports the Republican plan that instead of covering everyone, would give tax breaks. What if you don't owe any taxes? Once again, a Republican program that favors insurance companies and those with jobs, money or that owe taxes.

The Democrats are also holding up Single Payer Health Care. Chairman of the Finance Committee, with jurisdiction over the major public health insurance programs, Democratic Senator, Max Bacus said he doesn't want to waste his time on S 704

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2009/02/max-baucus-on-single-payer-im-not-going.html

http://missoulian.com/articles/2009/05/29/news/local/news02.txt

Rally for Single Payer Health Care Friday In Eureka

Doctors and nurses along with many others will put on a show at the Humboldt County Courthouse to educate people about the need for health care reform in the U.S.
The rally is set for Friday 5-29-09 that's tomorrow, today or in the past, depending on when you discovered this post.
Single Payer Health Care is the main subject of the rally and the public is invited to join in and participate.

H.R. 676 is the House Resolution that advocates for a single payer health system similar to Medicaid, that would cover all taxpayers and more.
We are already paying for the non insured, and we might as well include them as a part of the pool.
http://www.familiesusa.org/issues/uninsured/
Small business would be more competitive if the cost of their employee health care were not on their backs.
Rally tomorrow at 5;pm Friday 5-29-09
Be there,or enjoy for profit executives deciding which health care procedures they should provide to you based on their bottom line.

Arcata Stop The H-8 Rally

The Arcata rally was in full swing when I got there. People were gathered around the statue and taking turns speaking into a megaphone. After a while the crowd got mobile and marched around the plaza. Then more speakers, some more marching and chanting.

Eureka Anti Prop.H-8 Rally 5-26-09

Close to 100 people gathered at the steps of the Humboldt County Courthouse today. The crowd assembled at 6pm when I took the picture, but grew while I spoke to some in the crowd.

Most of those I spoke to could believe that the California Supreme Court would uphold a proposition that takes rights away from a minority with a simple majority vote of the people.

As a Republic, California's system was supposed to keep this from happening.

The opinion is that this will be back before voters as soon as they can get the signatures on the petitions to qualify. Maybe as soon as 2010.

If a simple majority can take rights away, a simple majority can restore those rights.

Anti Prop. 8 rallies Today In Humboldt County.

In response to today's decision by California's Supreme Court to remove same sex couples right to marry, protesters are planning protest rallies at 6pm today. In Eureka, the rally will be at the Humboldt County Courthouse. In Arcata, a rally is planned for the Plaza.

More Photos

Kinetic Grand Championship Race Today

Some 37 engineering marvels began their 3 day trek from Arcata to Ferndale Ca.

There will be a large party at 5 pm tonight at Halvorson Park in Eureka. That's where leg one of the race ends today. The public is invited and it's free. Food and beer will also be there. This is a great place to get up close and personal with the crews and their machines. I took some photos along Samoa Blvd this afternoon. The largest traffic jam in recent Humboldt history was found by people trying to get to Dead Mans Drop. A steep tall sand dune the racers have to climb and descend.

Robin Arkley To Register In Louisiana To Avoid Taxes

Speaking as a Republican to the local Republic(an) Party, local billionaire Robin Arkley said to the Humboldt County Women's Federated Group, that he would register to vote
in Louisiana to avoid Arnold Schwarzenegger's new taxes. It is comforting to know that Mr. Arklyey will no longer be voting in Humboldt County. He has and will continue to try to effect local politics and that is his right as a U.S. Citizen. Even though unions only make up less than 10 percent of U.S. workers, they are his main argument for the fall of California. Evidently, California is a big union state. It should be noted that while he has said in the speech you can hear at the link below, that he would move his registration for voting to Louisiana, he said in the clip that he would not be moving. Robin Arkley in this clip says that he will vote in a prescient that he does not call home. Next time he tries to effect local politics he should be called out as a carpetbagger. In reality, he should only be called a carpetbagger in Louisiana where he votes but does not consider home.
Mr. Arkley, thanks for your contributions to the local commons. Sorry to hear that you no longer support them.
See the man for yourself courtesy of Old Glory Radio
Mr. Arkley, by your own admission, you are no longer a Californian. If you think that Louisiana has superior emergency management and a better quality of life, than say so. Stop trying to fill the heads of our Republic(an) women with false visions of a state you do not support.
(Arkley, with all of his education does not know how to pronounce the most popular political party in the U.S., the Democratic Party. He calls it the Democrat Party. This is why I referee to the Republic Party). Good Bye Mr Arkley, don't let the door hit you in the ass.

Darth Cheney Emerges From His Bunker To Offer Advice On Keeping America Safe From Terrorism

Just what we needed. Advice on keeping America safe from terrorists from the guy who made us less safe. It was on Dick Cheney's watch that the second worst terrorist attack occurred against the U.S. since the war of 1812 when the British burned down the White House.

Cheney said he was in his bunker at the Pentagon when we were attacked on 9/11. Former Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta said in public hearings on May 22 and 23, 2003:

Mineta: "During the time that the airplane was coming into the Pentagon, there was a young man who would come in and say to the Vice President...the plane is 50 miles out...the plane is 30 miles out....and when it got down to the plane is 10 miles out, the young man also said to the vice president "do the orders still stand?" And the Vice President turned and whipped his neck around and said "Of course the orders still stand, have you heard anything to the contrary!??"
http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20050724164122860

Cheney knew the plane was coming and was still unable to stop a commercial jet from taking out the Pentagon. Not a single shot was fired.

Now Cheney is lying to Americans: http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/05/cheney-lied-repeatedly-in-speech/

This guy should be tried for war crimes and people are taking his advice on how to keep America safe? If he couldn't do it when he knew we were under attack, why would anyone listen to his lies?

I don't actually believe the conspiracy theory set forth that day by the press or the Bush Administration. Steel buildings don't just melt and the Pentagon is capable of defending itself.

Any Cheney supporters want to have it out with me?

Photo is from: www.opinionatedoldfart.wordpress.com

Trinidad Artisans Market Opens Today

You know summer is coming when the Trinidad Artisans Market opens. The market runs through Labor day every Sunday from 11 am to 3 pm.

The town is packed today with locals and tourists and many of them stopped by to enjoy some music from "The Fabulous Blue JayZ" Karrie Wallace on guitar and vocals and Marla Bartlett on a cool looking base. You can check them out at http://www.bluejay.pnn.com/

Penny Gunn is the organizer of the weekly events ( giving peace sign in photo). She tells me plans are in the works for a Thursday or Friday, once or twice a month music event, on the patio at Kihishs Catch Cafe located in front of Murphy's Market.

I also heard from my neighbor Sue that her horse drawn wagon will be available for rides in town as soon as the insurance clears. She was going to a meeting today at the museum to see about establishing a hitching post at that location. Rides will go from there down to the light house and up around the old Catholic Church, past the Eatery and school and back to the museum.

I will do a whole blog about the wagon rides as soon as things are finalized so check back for that.

KGOE Goes Mobile

Wow! We have our own station vehicle!

O.K., we do share it with our sister stations, but it's still pretty cool for KGOE as we have never had our logo on a vehicle.

Recently we built another studio here too.

We had 5 stations and 4 studios. Sometimes this can be a problem. We're still putting the finishing touches on it to make it a full fledged on air studio but hope

to have it done within the next few weeks.

Times are tough but we are making plans for the long run.

Maybe we will even have bumper stickers one of these days.

I can't complain though, we are getting special hats made with

the KGOE logo and Crabs Baseball on them and we hope to have

those in time for Crabs Baseball which starts on June 6th.

We are the radio home of the Humboldt Crabs.

It's a short season so don't miss it!

Go Crabs!

Crabs picture courtesy of Solo Sports, KGOE logo on vehicle courtesy of our new G.M. Robert Endsley. Thanks Rob.

Are The FBI In Town?

I have an unconfirmed report of the FBI staging at the Red Lion this morning. My informant believed that they were here to serve some 70 or so warrants. The subject of the warrants is said to be Campaign Finance.

We're still waiting for a callback from the FBI.

Does anyone have any information about this?

Free Lawn Mower, Needs Work

There is still some good tread on those tires.

We're talking Tecumseh quality.

Needs carb and some rust work.

Sad thing is, this thing ran until it was unsafe to operate.

Tecumseh makes a pretty good engine.

Humboldt winters in a car port however, are brutal on a chassis.

Why Did God Give Man A Penis?

Really, why? The bible says that God recreated the earth from what had become void and a wast land. He or she added the oceans, the sky and stars. He or she created land and filled it with animals and birds and put fish in the seas. Last but not least, he or she created man in his or her image. The story says God created man and it was good! God and the man spent time exploring the wonders of the earth and naming the animals. After some time, God changed his or her mind and decided that it was not good and that man was lonely. God put man asleep and took a rib and made woman. If woman was an after thought, why did God give man a penis?
Originally, man was created to rule the world without any women on it. It is unclear how God intended for man to reproduce. There must have been a plan that didn't include woman but did include a penis. No one seems to know what that plan was. Luckily for us that like women, the original plan was scrubbed and our penises now have a purpose other than writing our name in the snow.
I bring this up because of all of the anti gay rhetoric I hear from so called Christians. They say that gay sex is unnatural. Really? What do they base this on? The evidence in their own book would suggest otherwise.

DUI Check Point Cancelled in Eureka

The Eureka Police Department DUI Check Point has been cancelled tonight due to forecast of inclement weather.

This doesn't mean you can drink all the Tequila you want and then get into a car and drive.

The check point has been cancelled, not the police force.

It is Cinco De Mayo and the battle of Puebla celebration is as good as any reason to celebrate, just be safe.

photo from www.socalimages.com

Nice Rain Storm

This first picture is what I call Tom Creek. The drainage area that goes into this is over half an acre of mostly grass and trees.

The small drainage ditch that emerges from underneath the patio is about half full tonight. Earlier today, dad said it was up to the top!

It's good to see the rain gutters getting a work out again.

This water flows about 6 feet from dad's front door.


The warm storm is racking up some numbers on the old rain gage.

We got over 2 inches of rain here just south of Trinidad. From 7 am today we measured about 2.18 inches at 7 pm this evening.

More rain to come before it's all over.

Hainging out with J.B. Mathers, Tag and The Super Fan

News and Sports guy J.B. Mathers takes his sports talk show on the road twice a week. On Mondays, they do the show from Six Rivers Brewery in Mckinleyville. Tonight is Thursday and that means a live broadcast from Big Pete's (New York Style) Pizzeria in Arcata.

Pictured from left to right are Tag Wotherspoon, Gary Batini (Super Fan), J.B. Mathers and Coach Robert Miranda, currently coaching Ferndale Baseball but open for suggestions.

The show usually runs for an hour and a half and includes interviews, local and national sports talk, girls, beer and pizza. Sometimes the show time moves to accommodate games. This is the case tonight as we wait for the H.S.U. Lady Jacks post season softball game to end. You can normally catch the show at 4pm, Mondays and Thursdays on AM 1340.

Learn more about J.B.'s world at www.jbmathers.com

It's after six and we are still waiting for the show to begin. That's where the beer and pizza enter the picture.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Tea Bags!

There is another "Tea Bag Party" or protest a brewin'. May Day 5-1-09. It all starts at 11:00am at 1624 E. St. in Eureka. That's where you can pick up your signs. From there you will march to Assemblyman Chesbro's and State Senator Wiggins' office on 7th and E. streets. From there it will go to Old Town ending at Congressman Mike Thompson's' office at 317 3rd street.

This rally is going to focus on the special election coming up on May 19th. They are urging a no vote on propositions 1-A through 1-F.

Proposition 1-A is to set up a rainy day fund for the state to draw upon during budget shortfalls.
This seems to make sense to me. Our state has a budget the size of a large country but it can't print it's own money. Current law requires extra tax money to be returned to us tax payers, a good idea until we are short and have to come up with the cash at the last minute. This sounds like the Conservative thing to do rather than borrowing money and paying interest on it.

If tea bagging isn't your thing, you can make a difference at the Planning Commission meeting on April 30th, at the Supervisors Chambers, 825 5th st. or if the crowd is too large, at the Eureka High School Gym at 1915 J st. Eureka. Do you want urban sprawl or growth that focuses more in infill development? Let them know!

Dave Meserve on Laura Ingram Show Tomorrow

The voice behind Measures F and J, the Arcata and Eureka Youth Protection Acts says he will be on the Laura Ingram Show tomorrow 4-29-09 at about 10:30 Pacific to discuss the measures and the fight with the feds over passage of the two measures. Both ban military recruitment to anyone under the age of 18 without parental consent.

The Laura Ingram Show is aired locally in a delay from 9 am to Noon on right wing radio station KWSW 790 am.

This will give Dave a large, right wing audience to enlighten.

Photo from North Coast Journal.

Friday Night On The Beach At Sunset

On the beach, just feet from the mouth of the Little River south of Moonstone.

I caught some folks enjoying the beach tonight mixing fire and water.

It looked like they were having a good time.

Here's to the weekend!

TGIF

Free Movie, If You Can Handle It!

I just watched Alex Jones' latest movie called "The Obama Deception". I was turned off by the title and thought it should be called something more like "The Great Banking Deception". All in all I thought it was worth seeing by anyone. I have a couple of problems with the movie. One, Alex doesn't always have a lot of reference to back up his arguments. Another was the short section on global warming. I think the science is on the side of things getting warmer, but is it just sun spots?

With that said, make up your mind and watch it for free if you like at the link below.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaQNACwaLw

Humboldt Creamery files for bankruptcy

According to tomorrows Times-Standard.

Humboldt Creamery has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in San Francisco today.

X Marks the Spot

Not sure why but strange flight patterns over Eureka today.

I took these pictures just before noon 4-21-09.

Another beautiful day in Trinidad

Hope you enjoyed the weekend. Godwit Days was going on all over the county. It usually rains for the birding event but this weekend was perfect for wildlife viewing and picture taking.

Anyone that ended up in Trinidad on Saturday would have seen things looking like this photo. More sun was available on Sunday along with a few contrails.

I thought the photo would make a nice screen saver so if anyone wants to copy it for that purpose, you have my permission.

Fox News’s ‘coverage’ of tea parties: 23 segments, 73 on-air promos in eight days.

Think Progress.org posted this yesterday.


As ThinkProgress has documented, Fox News has aggressively promoted today’s conservative, anti-Obama tea parties. A Media Matters analysis found that Fox dedicated 23 separate segments to the tea parties between April 6 and April 13; it aired at least 73 in-show and commercial promotions for the parties as well. Of all the Fox programs, Neil Cavuto’s “Your World” dedicated the most time to the tea parties:
See Media Matters’s full findings, including an analysis of Fox’s weekend programs, here.

If anyone really wants to protest, there will be a demonstration at Rep. Mike Thompson's office on 3rd street in Old Town Eureka on Friday 4-17-09, from 11am till at least 1pm. People are asked to bring questions including the subject of war, CIA rendition, FISA or any other question you want to direct to your congressman.
The event is sponsored by Communities For Justice and Peace.
P.O. Box 1052, Eureka Ca. 95502

Tax Protest in Eureka Today!

Hundreds of revolting tax payers came out in force today.

I find it hard to believe that all of these people attended the Tea Party at the Humboldt County Court House. Do any of them think that their federal taxes will be going up next year?

If they make less than 250-thousand dollars after deductions, they will be getting a tax break.

None the less, most of them seemed very patriotic but didn't fully understand what the Boston Tea Party was all about.

Here's some info from Thom Hartmann writing over at CommonDreams.org.

Published on Wednesday, April 15, 2009 by CommonDreams.org
The Real Boston Tea Party was an Anti-Corporate Revolt
by Thom Hartmann
CNBC Correspondent Rick Santelli called for a "Chicago Tea Party" on Feb 19th in protesting President Obama's plan to help homeowners in trouble. Santelli's call was answered by the right-wing group FreedomWorks, which funds campaigns promoting big business interests, and is the opposite of what the real Boston Tea Party was. FreedomWorks was funded in 2004 by Dick Armey (former Republican House Majority leader & lobbyist); consolidated Citizens for a Sound Economy, funded by the Koch family; and Empower America, a lobbying firm, that had fought against healthcare and minimum-wage efforts while hailing deregulation.
Anti-tax "tea party" organizers are delivering one million tea bags to a Washington, D.C., park Wednesday morning - to promote protests across the country by people they say are fed up with high taxes and excess spending.
The real Boston Tea Party was a protest against huge corporate tax cuts for the British East India Company, the largest trans-national corporation then in existence. This corporate tax cut threatened to decimate small Colonial businesses by helping the BEIC pull a Wal-Mart against small entrepreneurial tea shops, and individuals began a revolt that kicked-off a series of events that ended in the creation of The United States of America.
They covered their faces, massed in the streets, and destroyed the property of a giant global corporation. Declaring an end to global trade run by the East India Company that was destroying local economies, this small, masked minority started a revolution with an act of rebellion later called the Boston Tea Party.

Click for entire story.

9/11 Commission Counsel: Government Agreed to Lie About 9/11

From PrisonPlanet.com

New book from man tasked by government to help investigate attacks unveils how “official story is almost entirely untrue”

Paul Joseph WatsonPrison Planet.comTuesday, April 14, 2009
The senior counsel to the 9/11 Commission - John Farmer - says that the government agreed not to tell the truth about 9/11, echoing the assertions of fellow 9/11 Commission members who concluded that the Pentagon were engaged in deliberate deception about their response to the attack.
Farmer served as Senior Counsel to the 9/11 Commission (officially known as the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States), and is also a former New Jersey Attorney General.
Farmer’s book about his experiences working for the Commission is entitled The Ground Truth: The Story Behind America’s Defense on 9/11, and is set to be released in September.
The book unveils how “the public had been seriously misled about what occurred during the morning of the attacks,” and Farmer himself states that “at some level of the government, at some point in time…there was an agreement not to tell the truth about what happened.”

Only the very naive would dispute that an agreement not to tell the truth is an agreement to lie. Farmer’s contention is that the government agreed to create a phony official version of events to cover-up the real story behind 9/11.

Click here to see entire story.

More CEOs received pay hikes than cuts in 2008.

This is from Thinkprogress.org

According to a new AFL-CIO survey of 946 companies, last year, 480 executives received pay raises, while 463 received pay cuts. Furthermore, the “median CEO salary rose 7 percent in 2008. CEO perks at the companies surveyed also went up, nearly 13 percent to an average value of $336,246, according to the survey. Of CEOs whose compensation increased, the average was $5.4 million, including salary, bonuses and stock options.” Today, the AFL-CIO also launched a new Executive PayWatch site.

Wow the Clinton Administration sure did a lot for CEO pay according to this chart.

Dobson concedes that the far right has ‘lost’ the culture war.

From ThinkProgress.org

Posted on Easter Sunday

In a farewell address to the staff of Focus on the Family, James Dobson conceded that evangelical conservatives had lost most of the recent so-called “culture war” battles. Attributing the right’s recent failures to the “internet” and the election of Bill Clinton, Dobson said, “Humanly speaking, we can say that we have lost.” He added that the nation is now “absolutely awash in evil“:

Trinidad Easter Bunny?

What appeared to be the Easter Bunny was spotted just off the road on Trinidad Head.

Actually, there were two of them but only one was willing to pose for me.

Happy Easter everybody!

Google Helping Local Transit?

Referring to to Humboldt County:
They have one of the best fare box return ratios of any rural transit system in California.
See Trillium Solutions blog

Public Input on Off Shore Drilling on the West Coast

The following is an excerpt from the Humboldt Herald is guest blogged by Jim Ferguson.

On Thursday, April 16, 2009, the U.S. Department of Interior will be holding a public hearing on the opening of the outer continental shelf (OSC) to oil and natural gas exploration and production. This hearing, the only one scheduled for the west coast, will be at the University of California-San Francisco’s Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco, California beginning at 9:00 a.m.

If you can't attend, see Humboldt Herald for other ways to have input.

Photo courtesy of : weblogs.sun-sentinel.com