Coastal Post Online

MARIN COUNTY'S NEWS MONTHLY - FREE PRESS
(415)868-1600 - (415)868-0502(fax) - P.O. Box 31, Bolinas, CA, 94924

August, 2005

Letters To The Editor

Osama Wins Again
Osama bin Laden won an important victory in the United States House of Representatives today as Congress voted to give up the basic freedoms that our forefathers fought and died for. And they have the guile to call it the "Patriot Act". What it really should be called is the "Cowardice Act" because it shows that America is so week that we are willing to surrender our freedom over the loss of a mere 3000 lives and 2 buildings.
Why did hundreds of thousands of soldiers fight and die for just to have Congress vote our freedom away. Every time we give up our freedom the enemies of freedom win. Congress should vote against what bin Laden wants - not with him.
Marc Perkel
San Francisco, CA.

Bush And The Fourth Of July
The Bush speech (June 28) took the 4th of July and militarized it, when we know the 4th of July is the day we celebrate the governed and their courage to stand up to tyranny.
But let me start at the beginning...
Watching the Fort Bragg speech, what can be weirder than seeing George aWol Bush speaking from a position of "authority" to all those REAL enlisted people who are willing to strive for excellence and serve? It is weird and lacks reality somehow -- like hearing him encourage enlistment as the greatest service when he himself avoided that service.
In fact, most everything George aWol Bush does, lacks grounding in the real world.
When he mentioned the July 4th holiday and encouraged a special expenditure of energy and effort in "honoring" troops, that too was weird. Shouldn't this kind of respect be a given all the time? Indeed, if an expenditure of effort is needed by the mass of Americans, it would be a worthier effort to pressure Bush himself to instruct Rumsfeld to spend some of the billions allocated to the DOD directly on needed equipment for troops and benefits for returning vets.
But there's something weirder still. And that is George aWol Bush attempting to co-opt the 4th of July for the propagandist promotion of his war in Iraq. It shows how the most powerful people in this nation are totally ignorant of their place in the history of world events. Bush and his elite group created a war by perverting intelligence, fabricating documents, and fashioning a lie as though they are above the law. It is an act of corruption so venal, it displays no care or concern for those who must fund and fight and suffer this atrocity. The entire Iraq affliction stands before the world community as transparent -- and just the kind of thing the Declaration of Independence rose up to challenge! The 4th of July after all celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence from the Tyranny of mad King George III. And it reads:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are institutes among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...." Further on the document indicts King George III for purposefully infringing those rights in order to establish an "absolute Tyranny". (New Columbia Encyclopedia)
The key phrase here is "consent of the governed". It is just this "consent of the governed" that George aWol Bush has mutilated. Bush has attempted to trick the governed into consenting to the fabricated necessity for war in Iraq, but his disgusting trickery is now exposed in detail by the Downing Street Minutes.
Which brings us to: What was missing from Bush's Fort Bragg speech? And the answer is: All that actually makes up the reality of the situation. In Bush's speech we are given a propagandist's invention, and it can only strike us as weird because it IS. It has nothing to do with the reality of the situation--neither how the situation came about nor how it exists in present time!
The Bush policy to disregard laws against torture and due process is the Totalitarian's attempt to seize the ultimate power of Tyranny. And on the gameboard of the Iraq Invasion, the whole world is already on the square marked "The Deception Revealed", while George aWol Bush and his cabal are still on Square One pretending the rest of us don't know their schemes, their scams, their war profiteering and murder of our children, and the destruction of the Iraqi descendants of one of the greatest civilizations on Earth.
George W. Bush can no longer be AWOL. It is time to declare our Independence from this twisted Despot, and make him report in real time. It is time to impeach this Tyrant.
Wm. H. Jelinek
San Anselmo

Don't Blame Bush
Never in our history have we experienced such betrayal to special interests, and abuse of powers, as from the Bush administration. Impairment of vital environmental and health reforms, opposition to fuel efficiency measures, derailment of world health and family planning programs, reckless fiscal policies, and inept defensive actions are some examples.
The harmful effects of these policies, and the deception and intimidation tactics used to promote them, have always been apparent--and especially during the 2004 election--even to those who had made only minimal efforts to be informed.
Blame for these unprecedented abuses of power falls not on Bush's team--but instead on the apathetic voters who put him in office, and our legislators who have defaulted their duties by allowing this outrage.
Robert Settgast
San Rafael, CA

Draft Resistance
Would you be willing to remind everyone about www.draftresistance.org? It's a site dedicated to shattering the myths surrounding the selective slavery system and building mass civil disobedience to stop the draft before it starts.
Our banner on a site, printing and posting the anti-draft flyer or just telling friends would help.
I think each banner up represents a "paper cut" for the SSS. Hopefully we can get enough banners so they bleed to death.
Scott Kohlhaas
scott@draftresistance.org
PS. Another great site is www.mothersagainstthedraft.org

Miller: Mea Culpa
In my July letter to the editor "Miller Responds To Sheldon" I stated that Begin, at the time of his 1948 visit to the United States had already become Israel's Prime Minister." My error. Begin visited as leader of the " Freedom Party", a party whose platform, and behavior, had convinced Albert Einstein and a group of liberal Jews, had embraced fascism. Einstein's letter printed in the New York Times as a full-page add read as follows:
"Among the most disturbing political phenomena of our time is the emergence in the newly created State of Israel of the " Freedom Party " ...a political party closely akin in its organization, methods, political philosophy and social appeal to the Nazi and Fascist parties. It was formed out of the membership and following of the former Irgun Zvai Leumi, a terrorist right wing chauvinist organization in Palestine.
"The current visit of Menachem Begin, leader of this party, Éis obviously calculated to give the impression of American support for his party in the coming Israeli elections. And to cement political ties with conservative Zionist elements in the United States. Several Americans of national repute have lent their names to welcome his visit. It is inconceivable that those who oppose fascism, throughout the world, if currently informed as to Mr. Begin's political record and perspectives, could add their names and support the movement he represents. É.A shocking example was their behavior in the Arab village of Deir Yassin* Éthis incident exemplified the character and actions of the Freedom Party. Within the Jewish community they have preached an admixture of ultranationalism, religious mysticism and racial superiority. Like other Fascist parties , they have been used to break strikes, and have themselves pressed for the destruction of free trade unions.
"The discrepancies between the bold claims being made by Begin and his party and their record of past performance in Palestine , bear the imprint of no ordinary political party. This is the unmistakable stamp of a Fascist party for whom terrorism (against Jews, Arabs and British alike) and misrepresentation are means, and a 'Leader State' is the goal.
In the light of the foregoing considerations it is imperative that the truth about Mr. Begin and his movement be known in this country. It is all the more tragic that the top leadership of American Zionism has refused to campaign against Begin's efforts, or even expose to its own constituents the danger to Israel of support to Begin. The undersigned therefore take this means of publicly presenting a few salient facts concerning Begin and his party, and of urging all concerned not to support this latest manifestation of fascism.
Albert Einstein, Sidney Hook, Hannah Arenot and Seymour Milman were among the signatories to this letter which appeared in the Times on December 4, 1945 "
(The Zionist Connection II by Alfred M. Lilienthal, pgs. 352-3)
* In this massacre, carried out in the peaceful Arab village of Deir Yassin while the village men were away working in the fields, Begin's Irgun Zvai Leumui and Stern Gang, without warning, dynamited the villager's houses and as inhabitants fled, savagely murdered 254 women, children and old men and threw their bodies down a well. Israel's policy of deliberate terrorism stampeded 750,000 Palestinians out of their country into Lebanon and surrounding Arab countries.
Edward W. Miller, M.D.

Anti-Semitic Nature Of Anti-Zionism
"And what is anti-Zionist? It is the denial to the Jewish people of a fundamental right that we justly claim for the people of Africa and freely accord all other nations of the Globe. It is discrimination against Jews, my friend, because they are Jews. In short, it is anti-Semitism.
Let my words echo in the depths of your soul: When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews--make no mistake about it." Martin Luther King, Jr.
It would take many pages to refute every one of Ed Miller's falsehoods, since practically every sentence is incorrect. A public debate might be a more appropriate forum. I would certainly welcome that opportunity.
One thing I can't ignore is his continued maligning of Albert Einstein. Miller writes: "Begin, a confirmed terrorist himself, was Israel's Prime Minister when Einstein's letter was written." Einstein died in 1955. Begin became Prime Minister in 1977. An even casual acquaintance with history would have revealed this.
Over and over again, Edward Miller has demonstrated a marked indifference to the truth. The point of his ravings is not to edify, but to demonize "Zionists" (Jews). Does your paper have ANY standards regarding veracity, or does the cause of Israel bashing trump all else?
Elaborating on Martin Luther King's quote above, one can look at Miller's ravings and easily discern the anti-Semitic nature of his "anti-Zionism."
First, it must be stressed that Zionism is an inherent part of Judaism; it is not a modern phenomenon. Judaism defines itself as consisting of three components: the People, the Book, and the Land. Jews have always identified with the Land in the same way that other native peoples see themselves as part of their land. A religious Jew prays for the return to Jerusalem and to Zion dozens of times a day. It is an essential part of the Prayer after meals, it is the traditional closing of the Passover Seder; it is the reason a glass is broken at a Jewish wedding (to remember the destruction of the Temple and the Exile from our homeland).
Jews have been continuously returning to the Holy Land for 3000 years. Jews have been a majority in Jerusalem for most of that time.
Just as there are Jews who don't believe in God, there are Jews who don't believe in the return to Israel, but they are denying one of the religion's core values.
Modern Zionism is an incredible story of a people driven from their Holy land and subjected to more continuous worldwide persecution than any group in history. It is the story of these outsiders, these oppressed people, returning to their land after 2000 years. They came from all over the world, absorbing millions of immigrants, building a thriving democracy despite constant existential threat from her neighbors, respecting the civil rights of all her citizens, including non-Jews, with all their different religions and holy places. It's about these people healing their beloved, ravaged land and literally making the desert bloom. Israel is the only country on the planet that had more trees at the end of the twentieth century than at the beginning. It is a story of hope for all persecuted peoples and a powerful sign that we are influenced by a world beyond the merely material, and there is a reason for this existence.
Now, what do you call someone who obsessively singles out Israel for censure? What do you call someone who devotes considerable time to condemning Israeli policies, yet who ignores much more serious human rights abuses around the world? There are places where slavery is still practiced, where ethnic cleansing truly IS taking place (e.g. the Sudan, and elsewhere in the Moslem world), where women are treated as slaves, where homosexuals are murdered for their sexuality, yet we don't hear Israel-bashers devoting anything approaching the same time and vitriol to these horrendous abuses. Instead, we hear rabid condemnation of the bulldozing of terrorists' homes, of the building of a fence. Singling out Jews for criticism is anti-Semitic.
What do you call someone who freely resorts to lies in attacking Israel? The notion that "the Jews stole the Palestinians land" is a lie, but a convenient one for someone who believes in an even larger Zionist conspiracy in our courts, in our media, in our schools, controlling our government. What do you call someone who recycles the same lies that have been used for centuries to demonize Jews, but changes the word from "Jew" to "Zionist?"
What do you call someone who eulogizes Yasser Arafat? Arafat was a pathological liar, from his claim to be Palestinian (he was Egyptian) to his claim that he sought peace with Israel. Arafat devoted his life to the destruction of Jews, and history will regard him as one of the top 2 or 3 Jew haters of the twentieth century, not to mention one of the most murderous villains of our time.
What do you call someone who compares Jews to Nazis? This is grossly offensive in addition to being blatantly false. To compare building a fence, or sending people through a checkpoint, to the systematic, continent-wide murder of millions of people is morally repugnant. The reason Miller and other Jew haters do it is clear. By comparing Jews to Nazis, it has the double effect of negating the emotional impact and uniqueness of the Holocaust (and any sympathy Jews might obtain from that event), as well as demonizing Jews and making it acceptable to hate and murder them (thus actually furthering the Nazi agenda).
So Ed, as much as you would like to see yourself as some crusader for the downtrodden, as some compassionate hero defending the poor gentiles from the evil Jews, I am exposing you as merely one of the latest incarnations of a many-millennia phenomenon. I'm sorry that the continued existence of the Jews, and the re-emergence of the Jewish state, makes you uncomfortable, but I won't join you in your struggle against fictional Jewish demons. What do you call someone like you, Ed? I call you what you are, a Jew hater.
Sheldon Whitten-Vile
San Rafael, CA

Don't Dishonor Fallen Soldiers
The article "Sixty one more names", came up on a search that I did to locate different sites that would be memorializing my soldier friend. This article was written by Carol Sterritt. I sincerely hope these brave soldiers families never see this article. I know, the war can be aggravating to people, but, this is no way to voice ones anger. It is abuse of their memories and an insult to their beliefs. Please find some control.
By the way, I do not see any articles admonishing the Iraqis for murdering and torturing their women in ways that are unimaginable. Or, anything about Teddy Kennedy leaving a young woman to die a very slow death. Please, either find fairness, or control your anger. Their are good counselors to help with anger management. Seek them out if needed. But, please do not dishonor the fallen soldier.
Rita Behr
Grass Valley, Ca.

Honoring The Dead
Hundreds of soldiers have left their severed arms, legs and eyeballs scattered throughout Iraq to fertilize the soil for democracy and yet President Bush is ashamed to honor the rest of their bodies brought home in flag draped coffins at Andrews AFB.
It is reported when soldiers killed in Iraq are brought to Dover AFB in England they are received by an honor guard and treated with dignity and respect by the attending service people. But neither Bush nor his staff can take a few hours off to visit and honor those who gave their lives for his questionable mission in invading Iraq?
Is it because Bush feels guilty about their deaths and any visit by him would be shown on TV and reveal too well to the American people the folly of instigating a war with Iraq?
In his speeches before carefully selected audiences he extols their bravery and courage in fighting and dying for his cause. But he seems to sneak out the back door when it comes to honoring these same brave and courageous soldiers when brought home dead and wounded at Andrews AFB.
If Bush is so proud of them, and thinks his cause so worthy, then why hide the horror inflicted on them from his countrymen? That is the horrendous cost caused by governments who cast a greedy eye on another nation's real estate.
Smiling glibly at conferences and cracking jokes at banquets may mask the horror for a while from the American people, but many of them will eventually find out the ugly reality of the war when the wounded and the dead are brought back to their hometowns.
David A. Whelan
P. O. Box 446
Forest Knolls, CA 94933

China Has Persecuted Falun Gong For Six Years
The severe persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese Communist Party has now gone on for six years. The fact that there is no freedom of belief in China is played out every day on the streets, in the jails, labor camps (slave labor factories) and brainwashing centers of the world's most populous nation.
Falun Gong has born the brunt of China's latest campaign of suppression because of the large number of people who practice it and because of their refusal to abandon their belief in truthfulness, compassion and tolerance. However, Christians, Buddhists and Muslims are also routinely harassed and imprisoned for their beliefs. As Americans celebrated independence earlier this month, Catholic bishop Jia Zhiguo was arrested for the sixth time in the last eighteen months.
Conditions in China's detentions facilities are brutal and often deadly. A person can be sentenced to three years in a laogai or forced labor camp without a trial. Millions of people are held in these slave labor facilities, making products that often end up on American shelves. Torture is commonplace and thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been tortured to death.
Recent Chinese diplomatic defectors in Australia have detailed how China sends thousands of spies to western countries, especially the United States to spy on and harass Falun Gong overseas. Practitioners here have been threatened, assaulted and had there homes or computers broken into.
Despite the grim picture, history has shown that peaceful people who refuse to fear in the face of violence will finally succeed. Please support these courageous people by signing a petition on the friends of Falun Gong website and in your hearts and prayers. Thank You.
Michael Courter

Praises Frank Scott
Frank Scott is your crown jewel. How did you ever manage to lasso such a brilliant commentator on the current scene? He really should be syndicated country wide!
Thank you for providing a journalistic venue for his sage observations and commentaries. I wish we had an outlet for his monthly columns here in Sacramento.
Leon Lefson
llefson@earthlink.net

The "Deadwood" Dnd "Rodney King" Of Sutter's Marin General Hospital
If you have been viewing a magnificent series (Deadwood) on HBO about a gold mining town in the latter 19th Century West, you know that a crooked Deadwood businessman controls what the local newspaper prints.
In Marin County, the Marin Independent Journal has been emulating the Deadwood newspaper's biased performance. The I J has done everything conceivable to preserve and protect Sutter's financial interests in Marin County for many years, but reached a new low this weekend.
On Sunday (July 17), it deified Dr. Severinghaus, the Chairman of the Marin Health Care District Board. Apparently, Dr. Severinghaus is a man of the last century, if he was quoted accurately. http://www.marinij.com/lifestyles/ci_2866499
And its online Editorial, which will likely appear Monday (July 18), misrepresents and distorts The Lewin Report. http://www.marinij.com/editorial/ci_2866493 The Lewin Report is already sufficiently ambivalent. Boldly and blindly, the I J.'s fabrications, presumably deduced from The Lewin Report, includes an assertion that "... they (Marin residents) don't want a top-quality community hospital ..." I cannot find anything in The Lewin Report suggestive of the notion that Marin residents don't want a top-quality community hospital. As for the IJ's claim that Marin residents don't want to lose control of their hospital, they have no control to lose. They lost it many years ago. Will they regain it? Not if the I J has anything to do with this tragic story.
Quality, patient safety, cost considerations, malpractice lawsuits and other matters of little consequence to the I J's interests cast aside, no Sutter public relations razzle dazzle targeted for Marin County shall ever match the I J's very public "Can't We All Get Along" message. When the Sutter-Marin General Hospital history of public betrayal is writ, never will so many owe so little to so few.
The one-two I J punch should certainly have the effect of ensuring that both the I J and Dr. Severinghaus take their hallowed places in the on-going saga of chronic healthcare deficiencies in Marin County.
Journalists are supposed to inform and protect people who are otherwise insufficiently informed to protect themselves. The I J has chosen to confuse people who are already poorly informed and prioritize its business interests far above the public interest.
Terry B. Brauer, CEO
HealthCare Initiatives
HealthCare Management Consultants

Help For Exchange Students
I would like to take this time to applaud the local families who opened their homes to international exchange students. It is the time of year when schools are out and families take a moment to pause and consider not only the year past, but also the year to come. Students from Brazil, Germany, South Korea, and Norway had been staying with these families since last August. And now August approaches again; the time where past students will be replaced by record numbers of new students from as many as thirty-five different countries.
All this is made possible by the support and care of local volunteers working for Pacific Intercultural Exchange (P.I.E.). Volunteers serve as mentors to the students throughout the school year. They help by first interviewing the potential families. Once the students arrive, they meet with the families, students, and the schools once a month, either in person or by telephone, to help them adjust to one another. At the same time, the volunteers develop friendships with the students that can last a lifetime.
More volunteers in the community are desperately needed to help with the new arrivals. Those who are interested are urged to contact me (Cindy Knight) right away at 866-234-9923. Experience is not necessary, as training will be provided.
Many thanks to all the families for a great year, and thanks in advance for the wonderful families to come.
Cindy Knight

John Roberts? Whew!
John Roberts has spent just two years as a judge, but a lifetime as a partisan hack. His history of curtailing individual freedoms and meddling in the 2000 Florida recount, indicates he would function more as The White House's Ambassador to the Court than an impartial Justice.
President Bush rushed his nomination so people would stop talking about Karl Rove's illegal behavior. But the man Bush nominated for the post has as little integrity as Mr. Rove, and threatens to do a lot more damage to our way of life.
Roberts earned his nomination in the worst of ways, crusading against reproductive rights, free speech, and individual rights--he ruled it was constitutional to arrest, fingerprint, search and humiliate a 12-year-old girl for eating a french fry on the subway.
If the media are complacent enough to focus on the Radical Right's opinion of Roberts' 'brilliance', the truth about John Roberts the partisan ideologue will never be told.
Josh Pearce
San Mateo

Human Arrogance
John Roberts thinks that the Endangered Species Act is "unconstitutional"! Is there ANY limit to human arrogance? Life existed on this planet for 3.8 billion years, before humans ever thought of appearing. What kind of hubris allows someone to say that a given species, however insignificant IN OUR MINDS, does not deserve to exist, simply because it conflicts with some human's petty wishes? Such ignorance doesn't deserve to be on the bench, much less the Supreme Court. John Roberts may appear to be intelligent and knowledgeable, within the narrow context of "constitutional law", but no human being can today afford to be ignorant of the biological basis for life on Earth, and we cannot afford to have such a person in a position of power.
Mike Vandeman, Ph.D.
Hayward
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8 years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)
http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande

Smuggling Wounded
Regarding the article about, Smuggling Wounded into Walter Reed or the Naval Hospital in Bethesda.
To whom it may concern, I would say this... I personally drove ambulance at Walter Reed from 1962 until 1963. Even then, most of the overseas troops that had been in accidents (since we weren't at war!) came in late at night, as I picked them up at Andrews Air Base. Flying into Andrews from most anywhere overseas takes hours, not minutes or seconds.....and, you are dealing with time zone changes, etc.!
Why have none of these anti-Bush idiots ever interviewed the ambulance or ambulance bus drivers that have the job of picking up those wounded??
Also, don't these idiots understand that soldiers get hurt in Peacetime, and their wounds are just as bad as the wartime ones and most arrive after darkness!!
The 'Cussin' Woodworm....
Nate Adams
in Chester, Vermont

Little Marxist Rag
Typical little Marxist disinformation rag that has to survive with donations. I guess if
the Puerto Rican government says that the real casualties in Iraq are double what the Federal Government says, it must be true... Strange though that none of the families of the ''other'' 1900 or so casualties haven't manifested themselves yet... and that Michael ''fatass'' Moore hasn't made a documentary about it yet. You're asking for donations???? I wouldn't give you sad fucks a black penny with shit on it! You want advertizers??? How many of your rags do you sell per week??? 20??? 50??? To the Marine county little Marxist fucks like you???? L-O-S-E-R-S!!!!!
Jean-Benoit

The Death of Liberty And Freedom On the 4th of July
Freedom: 1 ;the quality or state of being free: as a : the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action
Liberty: 1 : the quality or state of being free: a : the power to do as one pleases b : freedom from physical restraint c : freedom from arbitrary or despotic control d : the positive enjoyment of various social, political, or economic rights and privileges e : the power of choice
There was neither freedom nor liberty, by any definition, on this 4th of July in Stinson Beach. The cause? The Marin County Sheriff's Office. Their heavy-handed application of the law (no fire works being the subject of this letter) is unwarranted, unnecessary, and completely offensive. Do we really need a strong police presence (with an attitude) in a town of 700 with little or no crime, and where many in the community haven't locked their front doors for over 30 years? Not really.
On the 4th, I was walking on the beach around 11 p.m. with some fellow Stinson residents, and we witnessed the harassment of numerous individuals and groups by the Sheriff's department. These were not beer swilling depraved criminals, but rather families, locals, and vacation renters out for a fun time and celebration. The entire evening, my friends and I did not witness one dangerous act, a statistic related to the nature of the event and the people present, not the presence of authority.
I am not some drug addled anti-authority rebellious 16 year old (who were all behaving very well), but rather a 33 year old businessman out for a walk with three close friends; a 32 year old school teacher, a 33 year old engineer, and a 60 year old accountant and editor.
We were shocked, and infuriated with the actions we witnessed of the Sheriff's deputies. Two officers were continually driving up and down the beach on quads (4-wheelers), with another in a truck doing the same, and with an additional 2 or 3 more on foot lurking in the shadows ready to pounce on anyone setting off any fireworks larger than a sparkler.
We were all very disturbed, and a little sick to our stomachs, as we watched the officers patrol the beach. Shockingly, it reminded me of my time behind the iron curtain in Eastern Europe, and in countries around the world that don't have the claimed freedoms we espouse and fight wars over. Search and flood lights were mounted to the vehicles, which were continually shone in the faces of everyone, many barbecuing peacefully, or sitting enjoying the beautiful night on the beach.
Groups were harassed, high school kids were questioned and detained, all through the night, until we finally got so angry we left. We saw one poor kid who set of a small firework get chased down by two officers, slammed to the sand face first, and held there, with one officer standing over him twisting his arm at the wrist, while the other deputy (hand on his gun) signaled for their colleagues who came racing up the beach on their quads (creating a much larger hazard than the puny firework that was set off).
What struck us so strongly, was the irony that this heavy police force was out there simply to harass, detain, arrest, and ticket the community that pays their salary, on a day when we're supposed to be celebrating freedom. The blatant trampling of civil rights, outweighed the safety issue of fireworks, and the laws governing them. The officers were attempting (very ineffectively) to stop our community from celebrating independence and the casting off of tyranny. The officers were oblivious to the irony, as they obviously were not capable of realizing that their actions were in direct contradiction to everything July 4th stands for.
Let them not forget that law enforcement is not here to keep the community in line, but to SERVE us. This is why we pay their salaries with our taxes, this is why they exist. One of the stated goals of the Sheriff's Department (as listed on their website) is to "work together" with the community, and that "it is through the consistent practice of honest communication and interaction with the community that our partnership will be effective."
We did not see any effective communication or interaction on July 4th. We did not see any partnership. We saw no effective actions by deputies. We saw needless and superfluous law enforcement tactics aimed to intimidate the very people they work for. We saw overbearing, and glaring attempts to eliminate all fun and community spirit. We saw an attempt to assert authority that was as offensive as it was pointless.
Unfortunately this is not an isolated incident, but rather a strengthening trend in Stinson Beach. There is little positive interaction with the locals, and even less so with the tourists. Smart and effective application of the law is what is needed, not hand-cuffing kids for lighting off fireworks in a safe environment, or getting out a tape measure to make sure local's cars are parked the legal full 6 feet from the center of the road.
Maybe a more effective use of law enforcement and money would be to get them to direct traffic on busy weekends. Or maybe we can sell some of their fancy equipment (like their 4-wheelers), and use that money as an incentive for officers to SMILE and introduce themselves when interacting with the community. A serious change needs to occur in the practices of the Sheriff's department to quell the anger and growing resentment of the community, or officers will one day wake up to find a populace that no longer supports them, and actively defies them.
The Kane
Stinson Beach

Protect Birds
It's a little late for the current nesting season of young birds, but everyone should be alerted not to prune, or to prune them very carefully at this time. Federal laws which apply to migrating birds apply, so it is very serious
Residents should also keep house cats from disturbing the nests. Feral cats destroy a large number of birds each year. The birds protect from insects and some small animals, so the should be protected as much as we can.
Charles Smith
Berkeley

Seeking People From The Hippie Invasion
A group of Mt. Tamalpais serious history buffs is researching the "Hippie Invasion" on Mt. Tam in the late 60's/early 70's. Our intent is to gather and preserve the historical information before they all get "away" from us. Many are in their 60's and older now.
Our history group is sponsored by the Mount Tamalpais Interpretative Association, http://mttam.net, (the non-profit, volunteer arm of the California State Park) and the Mt. Tamalpais History Project, a non-profit group of individuals dedicated to collecting Mt. Tam historical information.
By way of background, our most recent project was a 2-year effort to catalog (photograph, GPS, map and describe) over 60 historical camping-related sites on Mt. Tam. This work was completed three years ago, and bound volumes of our report are in the references rooms of our local libraries. We meet quarterly to discuss and keep the history alive.
We would like to interview anyone who lived/camped on Mt. Tam during this time period, or who visited the mountain for other activities. We also would like to build a print and digital photographical historical record, to be held/maintained by the California History Room of the Marin County Library.
Should you be interested in helping us out on this project with publication of notices seeking response from the public's remembrances, conversations, personal anecdotes or references, we would appreciate that. We believe that those events should be recorded in Mt. Tam history, so your insight, background or references would be appreciated.
John Catalano
MTIA
Ed. Note: Anybody out there?

The Pride Of Land Ownership
Now that I have become a landowner, wouldn't you know, the US Supreme Court has decided to loosen the noose on imminent domain. The decision not only settled the fate of seven homeowners who were resisting proposed development by the king of tumescence, i.e. Pfizer Corporation in New London, Connecticut; but, it also served as a warning shot to the rest of us squatters. We, the hoi polloi, are hereby served notice that we are merely temporary custodians of land, of potential value to developers or corporations who may covet our estates.
To get the Supreme Court in its corner, New London described itself as a "crumbling city" that "was desperately in need of redevelopment" in order to "save itself." Having just finished a search for affordable housing in Alameda, I am curious as to exactly what the term "crumbling city" means. Does it mean that the real estate agents in New London do NOT describe a porta-potty sitting on a postage stamp of land as "a unique fixer upper opportunity?" Does it mean that a fire gutted crack house, like the one I recently contemplated, sells for UNDER $600 thousand in New London?
When a city like New London claims to be "saving" itself by giving a nod and a wink to corporate bulldozers, what exactly is it "saving?" Is it saving the Kafkaesque city bureaucracy? Preserving the ratcheting pay scales for apparatchiks, political hacks, cronies and sinecures? Continuing with mega driving allowances for the Superintendent of Schools?
Because of Vermont Maple Syrup, the New Hampshire Primary and the Boston Red Sox, New England already exercises more clout in America than its diminutive land mass would otherwise indicate; now it has prompted this recent Supreme Court ruling.
Kvetching critics of the ruling claim that developers and corporations exert more "influence" over city planning boards than do the squatters who selfishly argue private property rights over the health, prosperity and burgeoning growth of municipal government. "Influence" means that with the right campaign contribution, kickback or greased palm, even the most obtuse, obdurate city official can see the superiority of arguments set forth by bulldozer operators over those set forth by a loose coalition of sentimental preservationists and whining homeowners. To a cynic, exerting more "influence" sounds like a euphemism for "winning a bidding war" in the scramble to buy city council members.
Basically, if the developer or corporation can promise more tax revenues for a city then imminent domain can be invoked and wrecking balls can start to swing. If for example a developer promises more tax revenues if it is allowed to raze a row of prissy Victorians, a stodgy Carnegie Library and a Benedictine Monastery, in order to toss up a fancy strip mall-replete with a Petco, Cigarettes Cheaper, Liquor Barn, Kinkos and a Check Cashing facility, then the Supreme Court says, "why impede progress?"
But, what happens if the promised tax revenues never materialize? Does the developer apologetically go into the slammer? Or, do the fatuous city planners have to give back the gratuities and booty they received from the developer to suspend their sense of disbelief?
Defenders of the expanded use of imminent domain claim that it will only be invoked as a last resort. Were imminent domain not used as a last resort, what would be used? Lighter fluid? Dynamite? Stampeding cattle?
Once again it looks like big business and the US Government have taken a giant leap towards a more profitable commensality.
Jeffrey R Smith
Alameda