Lately, we have seen government, first under Bush then under Obama, give away billions of dollars to Wall Street, to mitigate the damage caused to the nation by obscene and cynical greed. Republicans objected mildly, for good form and to placate their constituents.

Faced with possible and urgently needed health care reform, Republicans are becoming absolutely hysterical, screaming “socialism” every time an aspect of legislation appears to even mildly favor the people at the possible expense of industry.

Let’s put this in perspective: all forms of government bailouts, industry subsidies and corporate tax incentives, which by the way have always been equally endorsed by both parties although both are equally good at playing the blame game to fool the electorate, are for all intent and purpose socialism for the wealthy, what has also been called corporate welfare.

To heavily subsidize an industry with taxpayer money is a socialist policy, contradicting basic free-market principles. In true socialist nations, the government owns industry. In pseudo-socialist nations like the US as well as in fascist nations, industry owns the government. The end result is the same, which is that government and industry have a romantic love affair, and ordinary people get screwed.

The US government has always subsidized industry, in essence intervening heavily to favor and sustain unsustainable industries, such as industrial farms, and damaging or bankrupting others, such as small farmers.

This, obviously, invalidates all claims to the existence of an American free-market system. However it should be noted that the point here is not ideology, but profit. It is not about capitalism or socialism, but about the bottom line, as America is a highly pragmatic nation, not inclined to fight over concepts but over concrete results.

Profit at the very top is the name of the game, which is why there is no left in this nation, not even a center, but a “right” (Democrats) and “far right” (Republicans), because government of the people, by the people and for the people would be denounced as a radical leftist agenda and completely un-American if actually applied.

It is rather simple: in America, all policies that favor ordinary people are denounced as “socialist,” and all that favors the rich, even through blatantly socialist policies, is called “capitalism.”

We are told that we live under a free-market system. False. We are told that this is a form of representative government. Who is represented? Who benefits from the government anti free-market, socialist policies? The rich and powerful, such as Big Oil.

Who funds elections? The rich and powerful. Who controls government, who controls policies?

There is no need to come up with an elaborate conspiracy theory to plainly see that the crooks are in charge, and it requires a certain amount of naivety on the part of the public to still be disappointed by government, it takes a certain amount of denial to even give in to cynicism: would anyone become bitter learning that a thief steals, that a liar lies?

The American government is not worse than any other … as all governments are more or less corrupt. The problem is that it has more power than any other, and consequently has the ability to strongly influence world policies and global trends, such as subsidizing industries like oil that depend upon and lead to ever more wars and suffering, rather than subsidizing industries and technologies that would sustain peace.

According to the Women’s Environmental and Development Organization, the estimated funds needed to look after basic global human needs are as follow: to provide shelter, $21 billion; to eliminate starvation and malnutrition, $19 billion; to provide clean safe water, $10 billion; to eliminate nuclear weapons, $7 billion; to eliminate land mines, $4 billion; to eliminate illiteracy, $5 billion; to provide refugee relief, $5 billion; to stabilize population, $10.5 billion; to prevent erosion, $24 billion. Total estimated budget for human needs, $105.5 billion.

The actual global military spending comes to $900 billion … $900 billion spent to oppress, destroy, and kill with ever more efficacy, versus $105.5 billion to protect and sustain life. Is this such a difficult choice? Should we really keep calling subsidizing peace and harmony between nations a socialist agenda because it benefits ordinary people and the poor, and subsidizing conflict and war a capitalist agenda because it is extremely profitable to some industries and to the rich, while allowing for the expansion of governmental bureaucracies and powers, such as Homeland Security and the Patriot Act, and an ever more effective control of a populace made to live in fear?

Don’t be fooled by ideological labels … The only ideologies of the wealthy and powerful are power and money, by whatever means necessary. If you still believe in the relevance of political ideologies, you are believing in fairy tales.

Raphael Montoliu lives in Lakeport.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As an advocate for the Robinson Rancheria membership that protests the leadership Nicholas Medina attempts to defend, I can first and foremost state that it is a sad attempt to instigate negativity in all directions “Medina: Tribe disputes eviction story,” Sunday, Sept. 13). He desires to discredit the editor, degrade the memberships’ complaints and put a spin on their efforts to evict those who simply oppose them.

Nick solely wants to demean our efforts for his belief that our tribal issues should stay in a tribal forum that he and his leadership control. They do not want to reveal the way the Robinson Rancheria tribal leadership treats their constituents.

Nicholas Medina attempts to justify the evictions of issues that were prevalent for quite some time, and now in the light of disenrollment; have become key points of leverage in an attempt to rid us from their sight and mind.

They intend to neutralize our efforts that will prove their lack of adherence to federal regulations, federal funding agencies, The Indian Reorganization Act, Civil Rights Act (U.S. and Indian) and tribal constitutional laws.

Instead of resolving our tribal disputes, he would much rather argue his points of interest, to avoid touching on the real problem that led to where we are now: the June 14, 2008k election, and Oct. 25, 2008, general council meeting.

He has argued those “moot” points before and does not want to touch on subjects that question their integrity, would reveal their intention to gerrymander tribal elections, and uncover all actions of their goal to disenfranchise membership for higher profits to their selves and few supporting parties.

“A land use fee” is what he is referring to when describing tenants' “failure to pay rent”, and is what Nicholas Medina, Tracey Avila (tribal chair, “failure to pay rent” tenant since 2000), and Judy Anderson (appointed housing chair, “failure to pay rent” tenant since 2000 as well) had heavily opposed prior to 2006. They had convinced numerous members to not pay “land use fees” and promised membership they would wipe the slate clean once in power, of course because their slate was in the red as well. Now that it can be used as a tool to rid of people, why not.

Nicholas failed to mention that the Robinson Rancheria Housing Commission is a five-member board, comprised predominantly of his immediate family relatives: Judy Anderson (his mother), Deborah Anderson (sister of Judy, Nick’s aunt), Audrey Gutierrez (Judy’s niece, Nick's close cousin) and Michelle Monlo (Judy’s niece, Nick's close cousin). There is one non-immediate relative committee member, but any opposition would put that person in a position to be dealt with one way or another. Take into consideration the multiple Robinson employees, customers, members and sister Pomo tribal members who have been banned, beat up, demoted, disenrolled, or fired for opposition or even speculative opposition.

The same is true of the enrollment committee, election committee, and gaming commission; they are a cabinet of related individuals who carry out the same agenda that Nicholas and Tracey pursue. They know if they follow along they will reap the benefits of that same agenda. Is this nepotism or not? How can an individual tribal member receive fairness and due process from this totalitarian state ruled by the scheme of Nicholas Medina and Tracey Avila’s autocratic leadership?

They do not accept those who do not follow the status quo and their group think mentality of the “sovereignty cloak.” This belief is that they can do as they wish without any repercussions from any higher echelon, outside authority or entity. With our tax dollars, this group continues to mismanage, waste and utilize federal dollars to their tribal political advantage with the “sovereignty cloak” mindset. They are ruining it for Native Americans as a whole. Nicholas and his colleagues are using bully tactics to avoid facing innocent people who have done nothing but oppose them and pursue a transparent leadership that will not rule in a despotic manner

Medina utilizes common analogies of property management topics to grasp support of Lake County landlords, tenants, and potential homebuyers. This is an attempt to shed light off of our issues, and give a façade of “just leadership” trying to conduct everyday business. He also attempts to brand opposing members, tenants and protesters as tribal members who are taking advantage of “tribal assets.” If that is not the pot calling the kettle black, I do not know what is.

Robinson Rancheria is what it is because of their actions, and we are simply tired of allowing it to be unnoticed. To clean up their impetuous past decisions, they utilize people that have poor ethical and moral standards to assist them in solely controlling the tribe as a kleptocracy. For the rest of the membership to receive any of the so called “interfered revenues,” we are to just be satisfied with whatever the leadership blesses us with, or accept quid pro quo offerings.

These issues are simply derivative results of the June 14, 2008, election, and despite Medina's belief of it being a “moot point,” the Robinson Rancheria Members and anyone else who does not obtain a special interest can read right through their ploys and justifications.

In essence this group of individuals is the neo-Indian scout; diminishing cultural tribes into oblivion for short-term gain.

It is quite interesting Nick, how you contradict yourself by requesting qualities such as “thorough and accurate reporting” and “investigating the facts of a situation” from the editor. You and your colleagues have consistently neglected those specific qualities on all issues that include the June 14, 2008, election, disenrollment proceedings, housing allocations, California Tribal TANF (CTTP) directives and many other haphazard actions you have taken to maintain control of this tribe.

Eddie J. Crandell is de facto chairman of Robinson Rancheria after being elected last year. However, the tribe's election committee decertified the election, allowing Avila to remain in power. Crandell lives in Nice.

It has been my standing practice to avoid comment about any matter pending before the courts so as not to influence a potential jury in any case. That applied to the matter involving Bismarck Dinius and the thousands of other cases that have been processed through the Lake County courts since I have been the sheriff.

In 29 years of law enforcement I have never seen an incident generate so much discussion, and consequently, so much concern for many citizens. The only problem with the discussion is that much of it has revolved around inaccurate sound-bites that served to evoke an emotional response. Even the most supportive citizen can become concerned when this kind of information is circulated repeatedly without confirmation of – or challenge to – its accuracy.

Of course, this department could do neither before the matter was resolved in the court. Now that the Dinius case has concluded, I want to assure that the public has accurate answers to their questions about this department’s involvement in the investigation.

It is my intention to release this department’s entire case file as a PDF on our Web site for the public’s review. Obviously very few citizens will have the time to read through a voluminous record like this. But those same people may have important questions about their Sheriff’s Department’s role in the investigation and they deserve answers to those questions. It will take a few days to get the PDF created but I will have it posted the moment that it is ready.

On Aug. 18, as closing arguments were being made in the Dinius case, I began coordinating with three people to assist with collecting questions from the public. The reason for using outside parties to collect and sort the questions is to allay concerns that we would choose only the questions to which we prefer to respond. This working group will include:

• Elizabeth Larson, Editor and Publisher of www.lakeconews.com : I have asked Elizabeth to chair this committee because she is well known for being an unbiased collector of facts.

• Phil Murphy, pear farmer from Kelseyville: I have asked Phil to serve on this committee because he is known as a citizen with a strong will, and a healthy skepticism of many aspects of government – including me and my department.

• Helen Whitney, former county supervisor from District 1 and community volunteer: Helen is known as a fair and independent person who truly cares about this county and I wanted to assure that the south county was represented in this working group too.

This committee will review the questions to assure that they are relevant to our department. They will also synthesize multiple questions about the same topic or issue and assure that the questions represent the scope and the breadth of our involvement in this case.

Please send your questions to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

It is my duty to take every step necessary to fulfill our mission – SECURE THE PUBLIC’S TRUST. Transparency is an important part of that process. It is also my obligation to ensure that the members of this department are able to function effectively. They are both community members and service providers who must operate secure in the knowledge that the general public maintains confidence in them.

As a person who has responded to many tragedies, I know the impact that they can have on all parties involved.

Public safety officers often conduct a “debriefing” after a critical incident. This is a process of providing clarity where there are questions and healing where there are wounds. Asking and answering questions is a very important part of that process.

The fatal boat crash was a tragedy for all parties involved and for the many people who know and love them. The aftermath of this particular tragedy has made this a critical incident for the broader community as well.

Through this process we are inviting you to participate in a community wide debriefing of this critical incident and I look forward to the opportunity to answer your questions.

Rodney K. Mitchell is Lake County's sheriff, coroner and Office of Emergency Services director.

The economic challenges facing our country, county and our educational system do not limit the moral imperative that “every kid counts.” When you look at schools through this lens, it becomes clear that we must have programs for our kids that address their individual academic, physical, artistic and emotional needs.

This also has to be the charge of our community. We need to make sure that we give our children our time, energy and support.

The local service clubs have been very generous to our youth and have made them as a priority. Many adults in our neighborhoods have provided assistance to the our youth through Youth Football, the South Shore Little League, the Konocti Basketball League, Youth Soccer, The Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, FFA, clogging classes, the skate park and church youth groups through their church – just to name a few.

These are the activities that create wonderful memories and help our children grow. We need to continue these efforts more than ever because “every kid counts.”

The Konocti Unified School District has embarked upon a concept of “neighborhood schools.” These schools are the “hub” of their neighborhoods providing intellectual enrichment and assistance to our kids, as well as, athletics, music, art and family activities.

Our budget is balanced and we have kept our dedicated teachers and support staff. We have the maintained our small class sizes in kindergarten, first, second and third grades. We have preserved our classroom music program in the primary grades and the band and drama programs for seventh and eighth graders.

The After School Opportunity programs will still be available to for students needing academic assistance. We have planned a full intramural athletic program that will involve more students than ever before and include county-wide competitions. We’ve done this because “every kid counts.”

Our children deserve the best experience that our community can provide. We need our parents, grandparents, foster parents and caregivers to make sure that their kid makes it to school daily. This is a key to making sure our kids get what they need.

Good attendance means missing no more than one day per month or being present at least 95 percent of the time. National research proves that less than 95 percent attendance is the break point at which a student starts to fall behind and disparities in learning begin to appear.

If our students don’t have good attendance, they miss out and so do the schools which lose the funding needed to continue the programs. We took the chance, kept the programs and we are counting on our kids coming to school.

We are all connected. If the students don’t come to school, we lose the programs. If we lose the programs, people will be less inclined to move into our community or they will leave to communities that have more to offer. If people leave, our businesses cannot prosper.

We are tied together and we can either do what it takes to create neighborhoods and communities that flourish or we can watch the whole thing slowly fall apart.

I love this community. It has given me the opportunity to serve others and has given me a clear purpose in life. The friends and family I have made here over the past 20 years are the most valued things in my life. This community has taught me that helping others flourish is tremendously important and satisfying.

Let’s join together, volunteer at a school, help a kid, and in turn, help yourself because we know that every kid counts.

Dr. William R. MacDougall, Ed.D., is in his first year as Konocti Unified School District's superintendent. He writes periodic updates with community members to let them know the state of the district.

 

 

 

Our lake, formally known as “Clear,” has recently gained “celebrity status” attention from Bay Area reporters inspecting our Cyanobacteria pandemic with their refined scope of discernment.

Local residents rant and rave when corporate media moguls exploit a good story at the cost of tarnishing Lake County’s public relation’s image.

Locals do not like headlines from news stations miles and miles away such as “toxic algae blooms” displayed across their computer or television screens.

When a corporate branded reporter hunts down and seeks out a good lead, they don’t usually consider the issue’s ramifications on the general populous.

They see the story as a great gem they found covered in mud.

Once taken back to the “studio” and polished, it’ll be turned into a diamond that’ll impress their bosses and shareholders and allow them to make their next BMW payment.

Don’t bother complaining about the “out-of-county” reporter’s spin on this local story.

If you have to waste the effort and place blame somewhere, try blaming the people interviewed by these vultures who were the ones that tipped them off to the story in the first place.

Those big city suits preyed on us and used our information, spitting us back out with a smug look on their face, knowing our simple minds wouldn’t realize the mess our need for attention had created until it was too late.

First reported on by the Press Democrat on Aug. 9 as a “Stinky mess along Clear Lake’s south shore,” CBS 5 in San Francisco ran with the story and turned it into a typical corporate media news package on Aug. 12, varnished on the surface by a catchy buzz word such as “toxic” to entice and sell the reader.

What else could we expect from a news outlet controlled indirectly by one of the six corporations that owns the rest of the electronic mediums we flock to in order to find our “news”?

Their motive for writing stories is the same as their bottom line: Profit.

The only people their bosses care about and need to impress are the shareholders.

KPIX is a CBS affiliate owned by Westinghouse Inc.

CBS is a publicly traded stock on the NYSE that is currently being traded at $10.55 a share. Their first quarter profit for 2009 was $3.2 billion.

Jeffrey Schaub, CBS 5 Greenbeat reporter, referred to all Lake County residents at the end of his piece as “those people” when attempting to correct his assessment of the situation.

The other clown-faced anchors merely bobbed their heads and said “those poor resort owners.”

Indeed, we should all be upset and feel sympathy for the lake shore business community, especially on the south end of the lake, that have been affected negatively from this ancient environment condition.

But what about the rest of the population that resides in this county of lake that doesn’t own a business? Doesn’t this issue affect them as well?

 

 

 

 

 

Is the drinking water safe?

The water supply seems to be the most important natural resource that could possibility be impacted by this problem.

Aside from the obvious negative impact to the tourism industry, this problem is making the environment unpleasant to live in for local residents and the water unfit for swimming and other lake related recreational activities.

In a press release published back in June, our government representatives declared the water unsafe to drink. County Health Officer Dr. Karen Tait advised people to stay away from areas with visible algae mats and not drink the water.

However, there was a distinction made between raw water and treated water running out of the pipes.

On face value, the general population that drinks and bathes with this water on a regular basis is supposed to trust our water companies and believe that they are doing the best they can in adhering to state standards.

One would think these companies would want to reassure their customers that their product is safe and healthy for human consumption.

There are three water companies that do business in the Clearlake community: Highlands Water Co., Konocti County Water Co. and Golden State.

None of them wished to speak about the quality of product they were selling to our local constituency.

However one of them, Golden State Water Co., actually scheduled an open house for Tuesday, Aug. 25, to discuss their general operations and “water quality” after being probed on the issue.

What we do know is very little about the treatment process our drinking water undergoes before reaching our lips.

Inside sources at Highlands Water Co., who requested anonymity, attempted to explain the treatment process for the raw water that is pumped out of Clearlake for treatment at their plant.

This source explained that when the pipeline transports the water from Beakbane Island to the Highlands treatment facility, the turbidity level is 11.68 percent.

After being treated, our drinking water’s turbidity level is reduced to 0.07 percent, which is significantly lower than the state’s 0.3 percent standard.

Turbidity merely refers to the clarity and clearness of the water before and after treatment.

There are several steps involved in the entire treatment process such as filtration through clarifiers with ozone, carbon filters and a final chlorine dose.

Potassium permanganate is also added during the process to aid in treating the algal cells present in the raw water.

This inorganic chemical compound can be purchased at pool supply stores and has historically been used to disinfect drinking water and to remove that “rotten egg” smell from well and wastewater.

Since the other two companies declined comment, we can merely assume that the entire treatment process all our drinking water undergoes is affectively “disinfecting” and killing all algal cells in our drinking water.

Although temporary solutions have already been enacted, such as breaking up the mats with various machinery, the county’s Web site details the most important long-term solution that needs to be addressed:

“Working in cooperation with the State Department of Water Resources and the University of California, Lake County officials completed studies that have shown there is an over-abundance of nutrients (food for the algae) within the lake. Because the lake is so large, spraying algae to reduce nuisance conditions is not a practical long-term solution. Reduction of lake nutrient levels is anticipated to reduce the quantities of nuisance, blue-green algae.”

The county recognizes that excessive nutrient levels in the lake are the main contributing factor causing the excessive algal blooms this season and are "anticipating" that in the future they might attempt to reduce nutrient levels.

How this feat will be carried out and what caused these excessive nutrient levels are questions left unanswered.

Two town hall meetings have already taken place down at Clearlake City Hall within the last two months. Economic and environmental concerns arising from the cyanobacteria problem were subjects of concern.

The next public forum addressing the issue will take place Monday, Aug. 31, at 6 p.m. at the Main Street Bar and Grill.

Joyce Overton, Dian Gibson and 15 residents will dine, discuss and conduct the first of hopefully a series of algae volunteer committee meetings aimed at creating an open dialogue about the problem, as well as encouraging possible long-term solutions.

An anonymous poster on this very site named “Ray” responded to an earlier commentary on the issue stating: “This is the greatest lake west of the Mississippi. Like a wife she’s not consistent, but you have to support her.”

Indeed, we must support our lake and her natural beauty for it makes all of us look good to the outside world.

Instead of blaming the out-of-county press for making us look bad, we should concentrate our efforts on fixing the problem and giving our tourists something to brag about.

Gabby Fellows is a freelance journalist from Humboldt County. She can be reached by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 

In response to the recent article submitted by the Lake County Public Works Department concerning the quagga and zebra mussels, there were several inaccuracies and expectations that need to be addressed.

Although Tthe California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) assigned these quagga and zebra invasive mussels an “A” rating, however, it doesn’t change the current roles of the CDFA and the Lake County Agricultural Commissioner (LCAC) concerning these pests. The rating simply recognizes that these two mussels are harmful invasive species. The rating is merely a policy statement;, it carries no legal authority to take action. It signifies that an organism is of known economic importance that is not yet known to be established permanently in the state. Because neither species is a direct pest to agriculture, regulatory or other action does not fall under our jurisdictions.

Prohibition of the entry into the state of quagga and zebra mussels is authorized under the California Fish and Game Code and both species are named as prohibited species in its Fish and Game regulations. Accordingly, the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) Department has been, and continues to be, the lead enforcement agency concerning the quagga and zebra mussels.

The CDFA collaborates with the DFA by enforcing its regulations by inspecting incoming boats at its border protection stations and taking action if either mussel is found to be present still needs to be granted authority by Fish and Game to enforce any regulations beyond the current inspections they perform at the borders. The LCAC would do the same if either mussel was found during its regular inspection activities.

According to Fish and Game regulations, the CDFA will continue to inspect watercraft coming into California at the border stations to prevent infested watercraft from entering the state, and the LCAC will continue to assist Lake County Public Works in issuing boat stickers to resident and non-resident boat owners.

An “A” rating signifies an organism of known economic importance which requires serious enforcement action, but it requires no legal action by state and/or local government to establish a quarantine. Under California regulations, Lake County cannot establish a countywide quarantine regardless of the presence of an “A” rated organism.

Fish and Game DFG will continue to monitor the Quagga and zebra mussel situation s’ progress and will determine, if and when, it would be necessary for a state and/or local action is needed quarantine to be imposed.

Steven Hajik is Lake County agricultural commissioner and sealer of weights and measures.