Stormy Stories..

with Mick Von Caw...

it was wet outside...it was cold outside...it was wet and cold outside...so I went outside where it was wet and cold..I sat down on a bench and the bench was wet..it made my pants look wet on the back side...my underwear were wet, too..so I went back inside and took off my pants and Jockeys and sat there naked while they dried..it was dry inside..and when I turned on the heater, it was warm..it was warm and dry and naked... I waited and my pants dried and I put them on then saw a pretty girl walk past my window, so I took them off again..then put them back on....

then I went outside again and there were clouds in the sky..big white clouds with some black ones in there too..the sky was integrated..

I saw a dog, I saw a cat, I saw some birds but I didn't see a bat....just then the wind picked up and swirled around..it was cold and it felt good on my face....you know what else feels good on my face, ladies??

then I turned on the scanner and the weather report confirmed my suspicions....the tides are influenced by the God, not by the moon...

stay tuned for more stormy stories!

mother nature's punk...

keep pushing me..go ahead..I'll end this blog NOW and start a Weather Blog...Mick's Storm Stories...is that what you want??

see this picture..that's hail and snow..yesterday in Carp....I've never seen that before..I should get an award! or maybe I'll charge a subscription..$4 per month x 7 readers = $28 in my pocket!

now, one of my punk ass readers asked what does nature have to do with the News-Press? he's bored with my nature talks! listen punk, I won't be bullied to write what you want me to write..got it?? I write what I want, not you...now, what does nature have to do with the News-Press? I'll tell ya what: Wendy passes herself off as an animal advocate yet she supported the slaughter on the Channel Islands..so that makes her a phony...now, as far as comments go, I've designed this blog to be so honest yet offensive that only either geniuses or fools will comment...my little punk ass reader is a fool..obviously..

however I do get emails just like Wendy..some professing love and others professing hate....make up your minds!!

ok so now where does that leave me? I don't know..how 'bout we visit some old Wendy words.. and my interpretation of her words in red...her hypocritical words....

Opinion: McCaw: Setting the Record Straight

July 25, 2006 7:34 AM

Since the recent resignation of several newsroom staffers, I have done my best to take the high road and not involve the paper in a name-calling contest. I continue to feel that moving the paper forward and putting this behind us is the best course of action. But in light of the recent deluge of misrepresentations, misperceptions, personal attacks and outright lies, I feel I owe it to you to set the record straight. (ie, lie to you)

First and foremost, this is not a freedom-of-the-press issue. I completely support the rights of a free press. I always have and I always will. It is one of the reasons I bought the paper. I support and understand the need for separation between the editorial, news and advertising pages. There is no place for personal opinion or agendas in news coverage. (hahahahaha!)

Violations of our paper's policies and standards are what brought on this conflict. As owner and co-publisher, it was my responsibility to step in and handle this internal matter. Nine members of the staff, out of more than 200, chose to resign rather than accept my decisions. I respect their right to do so.

Earlier this month, I appointed Travis Armstrong (who??) to temporarily act as publisher. We are in the process of hiring a new editor who is a strong journalist with impeccable credentials to be the buffer between the newsroom and the publisher. Arthur Von Wiesenberger and I are the co-publishers of the News-Press. (cuz he's my honey)

It is personally painful for me, and I know it is for all dedicated News-Press staff, to be placed in such a situation. Our energies can and should be focused in positive ways to work together, not on divisive rhetoric. For the quiet majority who sent e-mails and notes of support to me and my staff, I say thank you. I want to assure you that I remain totally committed to overcoming this adversity and staying the course (thanks to my ex hubby's money) Let me put a rumor to rest. The paper is absolutely not for sale. (because I've driven the value down so low no one will buy it!)

Some newsroom staff has indicated that they wish to be represented by the Teamsters Union. (ie, the devil) The National Labor Relations Board has rules and procedures under which a collective bargaining unit can be established and employees can express their uncoerced views, including a secret ballot election. (however, I don't have to obey the law)
While I don't believe that union representation is in the best interests of our employees, the paper or this community, I respect our employees' rights to make their own decisions. (except when they conflict with mine!)

Our staff members understand they are free to publicly discuss unionization issues and I expect there will be a full and open debate regarding the attempts by the Teamsters to unionize our paper. ( I tried duct tape over their smarty mouths, but it didn't work) Meanwhile, we are taking the necessary steps to ensure the paper is published every day as usual, thanks to our dedicated and hard-working staff. (who know howta kiss my butt)

Our staff members understand they are free to publicly discuss unionization issues. (but will be fired!) There was no attempt to gag or otherwise hinder free speech. I would not permit such a thing. (besides, none of our reporters are over 15 years old and they don't know what a union is!)

One of the basic tenets of good reporting (so I've heard) is that there are always two sides to every story. Up to now, most of you have only heard the attacks being hurled at the News-Press by those with other agendas besides journalism. That's over now. I will stand up for this paper, my employees and our community whenever and wherever it is needed.

A new chapter in this paper's history is unfolding. I invite you to join me in making a difference in our community -- instead of forming the great divide which makes for good tabloid coverage but benefits no one.

I would like to personally thank all of our loyal advertisers and readers for staying with us through this difficult time. I am gratified that in July our new subscriptions exceeded cancellations, resulting in a net subscription increase of 406. (I'm rich, I can lie) While the vocal minority has tried to make a lot of noise, the quiet majority are showing their support.

Many years ago, I accepted the fact that the difficult decisions I must make as owner and co-publisher do not make me popular. I am not running a popularity contest. I am running a newspaper (into the ground). I will always do what I think is best for the News-Press and our community.

Wendy McCaw is owner and co-publisher of the News-Press.

well I am running a popularity contest! ok so who's more popular... me or Wendy??

live let live...

not die...

a few years back I was having lunch at Peabody's in Montecito with a pretty blonde lady...there were just a few folks there that day..TC Boyle was one of them.. he was sitting at the bar, not saying much, turning around now and then but minding his own business; there was a drunk guy swaying at the bar and talking very loudly, hitting on my friend...I was getting a bit jealous as she flirted with him...my burger arrived..we ate and drank and the banter continued...it was like a scene in a TC Boyle novel! now, I've long questioned conservationists' commitment to killing as a means to preserve certain populations....kill kill kill....indiscriminate killing where all species die, where land is poisoned, where bastard plants are demonized...conservation by wealthy non-profits is a huge scam...and it is going on everywhere..all around the world from Alaska to Spain...so TC Boyle has a new novel out that examines the Channel Islands killings...

T.C. Boyle's When the Killing's Done (Viking, $26.95)

Boyle is a fantastic writer, so I'll read the book....from a review:

In one corner of the ring stands Alma Boyd Takesue and her partner, Tim Sickafoose, National Park Service biologists involved in programs to exterminate invaders — think rats and wild pigs — decimating the islands' native species.

Standing opposite are dreadlocked local businessman Dave LaJoy and his partner, folk singer Anise Reed, charter members of For the Protection of Animals, a radical animal rights group opposed to killing animals under any circumstances...

if you've followed the Channel Islands saga, you'll remember Rob Puddicombe and Scarlett Newton as the animal rights folks (CHIAPA) who brought attention to the bloody restoration, so I think Boyle used them as central characters....

I think this is all good..take a look at bionativism that demands non-native people return certain areas to a native environment..it's absurd..the conservationists have gone too far with their rescuer complexes..they want to save everything..but their efforts have fallen short...the reality doesn't support their conclusions..or their actions..and the unintended consequences of killing and poisoning the landscape has led to phony PR releases claiming populations are rebounding when they aren't...and when a non-profit like the Nature Conservancy is involved, I must be skeptical as they were a big supporter of BP..you know, the oil company that covered the southern coast with crude oil and devasted lives....keep this issue front and center!

surfer girl...

the ocean..I love the ocean..always have..from Boston to California..I won't live anywhere unless there's the ocean close by....

Channel Keeper, yet another fucking non-profit, (for those of you offended by the word "fucking", pls substitute an "s" for the "f"..for those of you offended by the word "sucking" pls substitute..oh forget it!!) wants to keep you afraid of going in the ocean...if you are afraid, you'll send them money so they can do studies and lab tests and monitoring to confirm what they think they know...that the miles and miles of sewer lines beneath the streets are leaking sewage everywhere..and when non-profits need money, they usually start screaming bloody murder..in order to scare you...in order to get money...so the Channel Keepers you may have heard just sued, actually threatened to sue, the City of Santa Barbara for not maintaining their sewer lines, thus causing leaks...or spills..

now I know Channel Keepers has a few pampered princessses running it, and if I could bang some sense into them, I would...bang bang bang!! bang a gong!! and they always pull out slacker surfer Shaun Thompson as some sort of water expert!! The fact is the city already does tests and lab work and maintains sewer lines and that's what you pay taxes for..sewer lines occasionally back up because of stuff that people throw in there, grease, rags, or whatever..that's why the city has a few vactors.. huge high pressure cleaning trucks..that's why they have a maintenance crew..and that's why they replace lines as needed, or on a schedule of some sort...
ok, so I hope a judge throws out this latest lawsuit..I wouldn't trust Channel Keepers to wash my laundry let alone tell me when and where I should go to the beach..I go to the beach when I say, not when they say! Their warnings and numbers don't mean squat to me because they are not a legit agency..

now let's get real: Heal the Ocean was on a similar tear a few years ago, blaming the city for polluting the beaches...at least HTO is willing to admit when it's wrong and get their facts straight...

the city is not in business to pollute the beaches, that's why they own a treatment plant and staff it with professionals...

in 2007:

city officials say the sewage overflows are not the result of neglect or age. Monday’s spill was caused by private sewage cleanings, which are encouraged through a city-sponsored rebate system. More often than not, plumbers will clear tree roots from around private sewage lines, and flush them through the public system, which causes problems down the line when pipes make sharp turns.

After Monday’s spill, D&C Superintendent Romero said the pipes were inspected with cameras and no structural damage was found, leading him to believe the spill was caused by roots.

"Our data shows that we’ve never had a blockage or overflow on this particular section of sewer drain," he said.

here's a snippet from a story by Melinda Burns back when the N-P had real writers: ok, so citizens’ groups such as Heal the Ocean have long suggested that the city’s aging sewer system was leaking into the ground water and travelling underground into the surf. But preliminary results from the study, which is funded in part by Heal the Ocean, suggest that city sewers are not to blame, the authors say. John Izbicki, a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) hydrologist from San Diego who heads the study, said that hundreds of samples taken from 13 ground water wells, Mission Creek and the ocean for more than two years do not show that city sewers are polluting the ground water.

and if you see osprey in the area, plucking fish from the sea, that's good indicator that the water environment is quite healthy!

There are many factors that can influence the concentration of bacteria in a sample of water," said Alexandria B. Boehm, the Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford and lead author of the ES&T study. After conducting extensive field studies of Southern California beaches, Boehm is extending her research to the sandy shores of Northern California not far from the Stanford campus.

"A lot of water sampling is done once a day, but there usually is a one- to four-day delay between the time a sample is taken and testing results are known," she explained. "In our study, we found that a lot of pollution events last just one day or one hour, so the problem is likely to have passed by the time a warning sign is posted."

The result, Boehm said, is that people may be barred from swimming at beaches that are actually clean, while contaminated beaches may be inadvertently kept open, exposing swimmers, snorkelers and surfers to a wide range of illnesses -- some producing mild symptoms (such as chills, fevers and upset stomachs) and some that are potentially lethal (including hepatitis and meningitis). Beach closures also can have a serious economic impact on restaurants, shops and other local businesses.

"Decisions to post or close a beach should not be based on the concentration of indicator bacteria in a single grab sample," Boehm noted. "It's not that the single sample standard doesn't protect people, it also overprotects them and says the beaches are dirty when they're not."

so the bottom line is the ocean is safe for me even though I understand and have signed a document which states that the ocean is full of fish, mammals, birds that die and produce waste and is not a pristine environment...birds that crap on the beach, at the shoreline, in the seaweed can add to elevated bacteria levels and shut down beaches!! do you think I'm gonna stop going to the beach because a seagull craps on me?? no way!!

and unless there is a giant malfunction at the plant which is unlikely due to the many back up functions, then I will continue to enjoy the ocean while Channel Keepers, a tax-exempt non-profit, keeps selling fear.....and collecting money.... to file frivolous lawsuits..and the rate payers will have to pick up the tab....

Koch Suckers...

the billionaire Koch Brothers..aka Americans for Prosperity, behind anti worker movement....

well, it's easy to punk a Teabagger because they are so clueless..and the Teabagger Governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, got it good..he and a handful of conservative governors are going crazy trying to end collective bargaining rights for the middle class..that's you and me bub...public and private sector!

and Scott Walker laid it out to his patron, one of the billionaire Koch brothers..in a telephone conversation..the Kochs gave the maximum allowable in Wisconsin, $43000 to Walker's campaign and

spent 3.5 million attacking Walker's democratic opponent...the Kochs want to own America....there's three kock suckers I want you to worry about: Rupert Murdoch, the Kochs and Wendy McCuckoo....ok?

Walker, like a Jack-in-the-Box, was very excited to talk to a Koch..at least he thought it was a Koch..it turned out to be an online journalist pretending to be Koch, taping the phone call, and getting Walker to admit his attacks on unions are part of an orchestrated plan among rightwingers, and not part of a budget solving issue in Wisconsin..the story is everywhere and now the righties are dropping some provisions from their bills...while the rich Kock suckers are ramping up efforts to prop up their puppet Walker...

I got no issue with people making tons on money, but when they use it to try to punish honest workers, that's another story..so who are these Koch suckers anyway?

Koch-backed groups like Americans for Prosperity, the Cato Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the Reason Foundation have long taken a very antagonistic view toward public-sector unions. Several of these groups have urged the eradication of these unions. The Kochs also invited Mark Mix

, president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, an anti-union outfit, to a June 2010 confab in Aspen, Colorado;

The Americans for Prosperity group, a Tea Party group that is a Koch Brothers front, has put up a website and petition called www.standwithwalker.com. The website attacks all collective bargaining – not just for public employees’ unions. Americans for Prosperity is also organizing a rally tomorrow in Wisconsin to support Gov. Walker.

Why are the Koch Brothers so interested in Wisconsin? They are a major business player in the state.

This from Think Progress:

Koch owns a coal company subsidiary with facilities in Green Bay, Manitowoc, Ashland and Sheboygan; six timber plants throughout the state; and a large network of pipelines in Wisconsin. While Koch controls much of the infrastructure in the state, they have laid off workers to boost profits. At a time when Koch Industries owners David and Charles Koch awarded themselves an extra $11 billion of income from the company, Koch

slashed jobs

at their Green Bay plant:

Officials at Georgia-Pacific said the company is laying off 158 workers at its Day Street plant because out-of-date equipment at the facility is being replaced with newer, more-efficient equipment. The company said much of the new, papermaking equipment will be automated. [...] Malach tells FOX 11 that the layoffs are not because of a drop in demand. In fact, Malach said demand is high for the bath tissue and napkins manufactured at the plant.

According to the Government Accountability Board's website, the firm has seven lobbyists who "represent various Koch Industries Inc. companies on public affairs matters, including Flint Hills Resources, LP, an energy purchaser and refiner & transporter of petroleum and Georgia-Pacific, LLC a manufacturer of paper, wood products and building materials." The group's lobbying interests are listed as "the environment, energy, taxation, business, policy and other areas affecting Koch Industries, Inc.

now, these guys don't want the American worker to have a voice in the work place or the voting booth, and they will spend millions to try to silence it..and their bootlickers like Lanny Ebenstein will join them..this is class warfare...and it's only just begun..are you ready??

br'er fox..

eats br'er rabbit..sorry!!

so I hear that UCSB is planning to save a species of bird called the light-footed clapper rail ...it's been hanging out in the Carpinteria Salt Marsh because it likes marshes..UCSB owns a sliver of the Salt Marsh with the City of Carpinteria and other entities like me..I own some of it since I pay taxes...years ago, Carpinteria saved the marsh from being paved over for condos!

now, my encounter with an osprey was wonderful...this once threatened bird is healthy and thriving...remove DDT from the equation and the bird survives...DDT. insectides, poison bait traps in the wild..I have confirmed there is no end to human stupidity....not all of us, but many are just doggone dumb!

saving the osprey didn't require killing, trapping or harassing other species..it required that people stop doing things that harm their environment....believe me, if I had a choice of saving that obese slob New Jersey governor Chris Christie or an osprey, I'd pick the osprey...

so the UCSB biologists have decided that family of red foxes living at the Salt Marsh are a threat to the clapper and want to "relocate"them..that means killing or harrassing them...this pisses me off..I like foxes..they are cool and to know they are living at the marsh is even better...and if they kill to eat it is because they are predators...why oh why do biologists hate predators?? predators are our friends!! even in their own research they can't determine why the clapper population fluctuates...they tried removing foxes years ago somewhere else, but it didn't matter to the clappers..they lived and died anyway!

Implementation of predator control programs have resulted in an increase of rail numbers,

specifically at Seal Beach NWR. In 1986 the Service and the U.S. Navy began trapping and

removing red foxes from Seal Beach NWR. The first red fox den on the refuge was found in

1980. A total of 59 foxes were removed during the first year of trapping in 1986. Over the next

two years 185 red foxes were removed and by 1989 the rail numbers rebounded to the highest

levels recorded. Since that time the rail numbers have fluctuated and are currently down again.

The stimulus for the decline is unknown but one possibility could be raptor predation...

....the biologists are playing a guessing game because they don't know WTF they are talking about..unlike me, who knows what he's talking about..know what I'm talkin' about??

leave the Carpinteria Salt Marsh marsh red foxes alone!!!

white bird...

it was a day..like any other day.. or so I thought

so it was Presidents' Day and everyone had fun things to do..so I went for bike ride...it was a beautiful day..sunny, cloudy, a little windy and cool...but warm in the direct sun...so I go down Via Real....the usual midday run...then I'm on Santa Claus Lane..aka "the Lane" for you neo-hipsters to the area..

It was one of those clear, sharp, mustless days
That summer and man delight in.
Never had Heaven seemed quite so high,
Never had earth seemed quite so green,
Never had the world seemed quite so clean
Or sky so nigh.

ocean looks good and fresh... I look up and there's this bird flying overhead with a fish in its mouth..it was large bird and I watched it fly north..then I headed up Via Real and saw the bird again..it had landed on top of a telephone pole....wow..it's big and awesome..I creep up and start taking pictures....he watches me, I'm watching him for at least a half hour...he just posed for me...now, I've been called a lot of names in my life and poser is one of them! just like this bird..we're both posers!

The sun’s warm rays,
And the white cloud’s intricate maze,
And the blue sky’s beautiful sheen.

I looked to the heavens and saw him there,—
A black speck downward drifting,
Nearer and nearer he steadily sailed,
Nearer and nearer he slid through space,
In an unending aerial race,
This sailor who hailed
From the Clime of the Clouds.—Ever shifting,

I don't think I've ever seen an osprey..maybe I have..but I've never seen one this close...I was just in awe... what an honor to be in its presence and to know it has recovered from the 1970s DDT insanity...now this is a proper restoration or recovery of a population...Then I left as the osprey stood guard and watched..I turned and waved and said good-bye my new found friend..

On billows of air
And the blue sky seemed never so fair,
And the rest of the world kept pace.

instant karma...

In Focus

Bruce Corsaw: Lanny, you own a bunch of houses right?

(you shoulda said GROW HOUSES, Bruce, GROW HOUSES!!)

Lanny: that's not the issue..

Lanny Ebenstein: the role of gov't is to provide services, not pay employees...

oh really dumbass?? well who is gonna provide those services for free..the non-profit sewer fairy??

so I saw the In Focus segment, hosted by KEYT/ Tracy Lehr... a debate about public employee compensation with Lanny Ebenstein "economics professor" and Bruce Corsaw, union rep..Lanny looked really nervous and his eyes were shifting back and forth like a hillbilly on a cob of corn..Bruce kept asking Lanny "what are you talking about dude" referring to Lanny's zombie-like repetition: public workers make too much, public workers make too much... Bruce gave examples of some real numbers while Lanny trumped up the numbers for political purposes...

Tracy's first question to Lanny was: why are you crying now about pensions but not during the healthy stock market when the private sector was reeling in the cash..and gov't workers were saving their money, working and retiring...

Lanny looked perturbed at the question, had no answer and kept repeating his prepared statement: public workers make too much money...blah bla blah

actually, it was quite funny watching him squirm like a worm puppet for the wealthy!!

Tracy..good questions! finally, a journalist with some spine!! you hit it right on the head.... the point of all this is the stock market crashed near the end of Bush's presidency, and to stop a total financial disaster, his economic team tried to bail out the big banks and insurance companies with taxpayer money.... and now the rich interests who fear fair taxes/regulations are trying to blame the public sector workers!! the private sector are going after the wrong people!!! and this is simply a political attempt to bust unions..well financed by you know who.....

if Wall Street goes down again for the same reasons, the private sector won't have a 401k, they'll have a .005k and they'll be sitting on a bench on State Street asking me for money..and you know what I'll tell them?? I will say: real change not spare change!!

shoot out the lights...

Q: How many conservatives does it take to change a light bulb? A: Four, one to do it and three to complain that the old bulb was a lot better.

I was watching the Mr. Wimpy Show (Jim Worthen-wooten) and his guest was Mary Belle Snow, the Republican socialite from Montecito..apparently they were hosting a luncheon at the Montecito County Club. Mary is trying to "take back California" and she is doing by trying to repeal a ban on incandescent lightbulbs! says Mary: I like these old lightbulbs, I can put on my makeup and see myself..the other squiggly bulbs don't put out enough light...ok, that's their platform...ban the ban on incans!! I met Mary at a retreat she put on years ago at the Biltmore...it was a conservative-fest with guests like David Horowitz..a crazy dude with a little man complex... he's only 5 ft tall!! Now, these aren't bad people, just clueless...Mary doesn't do the retreats anymore because the attendance was dropping off, or the Republicans were scattering...but it looks like she's morphed into Snow White's step-mom Queen after drinking the witch's brew! what happened, Mary??

the last time I read about her she was suing one of her conservative contractor friends for some work he did on her house... but hard times have fallen, souls survivors...and what distinquishes Mary Belle as a true bottom feeder is her statement about Gabby Giffords..she said we are treating her like a princess and ignoring the troops who come back wounded..failing completely to understand the distinction...Giffords was shot by an American on American soil while doing her job... the troops were deployed to invade sovereign countries due to faulty American leadership..they should expect to be shot at..and when they return to our shoddy veterans' care, we won't let them sit on a bench on State St!!

no wonder Mary Belle can't figure out which light bulb to use!! and Mr. Wimpy didn't add much to the conversation except to call Dems pimps and whores and said he wanted to go start a fight with one! Tipper Gore could kick your ass, Mr. Wimpy!!

so this is what's left of the Republican Party..worrying about light bulbs....

While conservation groups back the change and the lighting industry has invested heavily in new technology, not everyone supports the law. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, who could not immediately be reached for comment, reintroduced legislation this year to repeal the law.

"People don’t want Congress dictating what light fixtures they can use," said Rep. Barton on his website. "Traditional incandescent bulbs are cheap and reliable."

Adam Gottlieb, spokesman for the California Energy Commission, acknowledged that the change has resulted in a "great deal of hue and cry" on some blogs as well. Recent postings have included the titles "More dim bulbs: California banning 100-watt incandescent light bulbs" and "More evidence that California is nuts."

Gottlieb, however, said it was not a ban and that consumers can still buy whatever bulbs they want as long as they meet the new standards.

"After 130 years Tom Edison’s old-fashioned light bulb is getting a 20th century makeover," he said. "The simple truth is consumers will save money.

any other bright ideas???

PS: don't miss the debate between the slumlord/grow house operator /trust funder/ Wendy puppet Lanny Ebenstein versus the working man/ County workers Union head Bruce Corsaw on KEYT tonight!

I am a child...

Santa Barbara business owners: take responsibility for your own lives!!

it seems the only ones hurting the tourist trade is the Chamber of Commerce: promoting fear, crying to the council: stay away tourists!! there's a homeless problem in Santa Barbara, crime is rampant, county workers making too much money, unions, there's pedophiles in the library bushes, drug addicts outside my window, I'm afraid to walk to work...look..everyone must take responsibility for their own lives..is that clear? I'm tired of all these little drama-queen victims!!

the Santa Barbara City Council is like the Huffington Post...Arianna sold out to conservative AOL for 300 million dollars; and the city council is selling out to anyone with a heartbeat...I swear Grant is going conservative and Dale is going liberal! First with the nutty bench twister and now the latest is the mini-facelift to the downtown Library entrance...the library..a Santa Barbara landmark, an institution is the target of the Redevelopment Agency..the RDA..PLEASE GOV BROWN..PUT THIS THING DOWN!! RDA just use tax money for pet projects for political pals...I watched the hearing and during public comment this little femme rentboy from Sullivan Goss pleaded with the council to makeover the central library plaza because dopers, pedophiles and rapists hang out there now....the council fell for it except my new pal Mike Self, who voted no...

now we all know about Sullivan Goss right..the art gallery/cafe right acrross the street from the library..have you seen this big ugly bald bearded bear that owns it..he is part of the problem! People don't shop downtown as much begoss of guys like him..in other words, Santa Barbara is gettin' ugly!! I would not set one foot in his shop for fear of being molested..just google his name..I will not show a picture because he is too ugly..even for this blog! and the same goss for the head of the chamber of commerce, Steve Cushman..dude, you is ugly!! you are driving away the tourists, too..get in shape get a face lift..both you guys...get a personal trainer!! do something!! stop blaming me!!!

so voters..how's that conservative majority on the SB city Council working out for ya??

Ventura Highway...

in the sun....shine...

one of the coolest places on earth is about 15 minutes away...Ventura! I used to go back and forth alot, to Great Pacific Iron Works, to look at houses, the pawn shops..this place is glorious old working class California...and the ocean views are unbeatable!

When I heard that the Santa Barbara nonprofit

Wood-Claeyssens Foundation

had recenty purchased some land by the Ventura River at Highway 101, I was relieved because they beat out a conservation non-profit..you know the "restore this restore that" guys...

then there was a story in the VC Star that Wood- Claeyssens just cut down 200 Eucalyptus trees on farm property in Ventura...some folks were mad, some said it's ok because eucalyptus trees are non native...I say if there were less fucking idiots in the world, there would be more eucalyptus trees! and if nonprofits paid their fair share, we'd have less budget issues..I HATE NON-PROFITS..95% of them anyway..just scams and parasites..and Wood Claaeyssens takes money and gives to other charities, but I don't know how buying prime farm land by the Ventura River fits into that!

anyway, I took a look..drove the 101 on a windy day..it is just beautiful..pass the Rincon and everything is green...I love this highway..so I exit at Emma Wood State Beach off ramp and see the damage..

well, they cut some trees down, not 200, but a sizeable amount..supposedly to get more sun to the new strawberry crops..these were Blue Gum eucs and just lovely...it's across from the Ventura RV Park..I love this spot, too..I'd grab a Whopper at Burger King then park under the eucs and enjoy it..it's a very popular biking walking running spot...also it's been a hobo jungle since the 1950s and that was one excuse the nonprofit used for cutting the trees..too many homeless in the area!!

ok, so there are still plenty of trees by the river, hopefully not on their property..and hopefully those trees will stay..raptors live there!

there is nothing dumber than a bunch of non- native people trying to "restore" nature back to her "native" state..or a non-profit pretending to be for charity....

please, let's end this charade and leave the plants, animal and trees alone.....and don't give anymore money to these shady non-profits!! let the trees provide the shade....

a hard rain's gonna fall...

economic comics

now all this hoopla over the county budget creates some strange images..a bunch of folks clamoring to get in front of a camera to let us know they have the solution...and it's always the same: ask the government workers to give the money back..now, what makes my boots kick is guys like Brooks Firestone, who stand up in front of the same cameras and try to solve the county budget by taking a political shot at Doreen Farr, who got union support last election...it's not complicated Brooks..workers want pro-labor leaders, duh...and Brooks is so part of the problems but is a sacred cow among conservatives because he's rich..inherited his wealth and owns some wineries, which explains the comical nose...and while I was working 25 years protecting the environment, Brooks was leasing land to GREKA who was spilling oil and fucking up the environment..and as a county supervisor he tried to cover it up..then Greka hired Stoker as a spokeman!! Stoker is Brooks' boy we know...so all this tangled political incest is typical of north county folks...we should definitely split the north and south and send these hillbillies back to their holes..

Brooks who was a county supervisor with Centeno (who paid a drunken assistant $70000/year!) and Gray, caused tremendous havoc with the budget, then split..his half-witted private sector ideas to lavish expensive pensions on the cops and make incompetent Mike Brown the CEO of the county is typical corporate madness...how do you think the money sitch got so out of hand? PRIVATE GREED: Enron, the banks, the real estate over-building..and now all these conservative wankers who claim to be taxpayer advocates want to blame public workers..and keep an eye on Wisconsin..the governor wants to stop collective bargaining of that great state and has called in the National Guard to stop any protests!! ARE WE IN AMERICA?? or North Korea??

oh, and Mike Brown is the personification of the private sector Peter Principal..he reached the highest level of incompetence, and was rewarded handsomely...so now the Board and staff are hammering out the budget mess that Firestone left them with.. and now he blames them.. and the unions..what a fucking hypocrite!! this is not about taxpayers, this is about power..the workers have the power and the wine makers don't like it..the county has been mismanged for too long..supervisors making $80000/year for what??
it's time to split it up and let the chips fall where they may.....and they may fall hard

fight club...

tougher than the rest...

ok..so I got two cameras now and they are kinda new...I got a megaphone just in case the crowd gets rowdy...I'm ready to see what the Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association has to say about county workers different from what Lanny has been writing in the News-Press.. I head off to Santa Barbara and park close to the event, the County Administration Bldg....I'm early so I wait around, then go inside..the County building is very nice and well maintained..there's a Planning Commission meeting going on..

I watch the girls go by..then I see Joe and some other guy from the SBCTA standing out front...I go over and Joe sees me coming and heads toward a little partitioned area where a bulletin board is, then says: oh no, here he comes...then he launches into a tirade about my blog and tried to belittle me in front of what's-his-name! he called me names!! he called me a bully!! I'm not a bully, I'm a pussy..really!! but we were just kind of kidding around...

Then I ask if Lanny is going to be here and Joe says no....I wanted to ask him about the grow house issue in Eureka..then Joe starts raising his voice.. you should email Lanny, he says....then I ask what the official comment of the SBCTA is about Lanny and Joe starts peppering me with questions, all the while he's getting more perturbed! No official comment and why should anyone care what Lanny's up to in Eureka!! he says

I'm talking and snapping pictures then he yells "get that camera out of my face" and swipes at it, hitting the lens and my hand..hey...I've just been mini- assaulted by the director of the SBCTA and Carpinteria City Councilman with the other dude as a witness!! Joe just bitch-slapped my camera!!!

damn...now the lens is messed up so the pictures are blurred..then I inspect it, pull the lens out manually and it's ok! whew!! well well..I didn't know Joe had such a temper.. like an angry little Chihuahau!! or Shitzu!! he takes his jacket off...
I said hey, you just hit me, I could sue you...then he says "I hit your camera" and walks away, then comes back..pacing... and goes off on me and my little blog again...SantaBarbarbaNewsPressBlog.com....

he's barking at me now: "I think you're disgusting, you're nobody, look at you, get a life, you're pathetic, nobody reads your stupid blog, you have pictures of naked women, you tell lies about me"... (well Joe, at least I'm taller than you!)

I'm trying to interject but he's two inches away from me yelling..I thought he was gonna kiss me!!
I said "don't you believe in free speech??" then he calls me a fucking asshole...like I haven't heard that before... and are Christians allowed to swear???

Now, I've learned from Buddhism when someone is angry with you, just let it be and guide him as he leans into you...so I'm Buddha now and Joe is Rocky! Then newbie cub reporter Scott Hurst from KEYT shows up and I tell him that Joe tried to break my camera, he stands there like a salt shaker and says nothing, then walks by and smiles...Scott, there's a story right in front of your eyes! get on the ball, dude!

so I go back to Joe to talk about his nonprofit and his Wendy ties..I'm clearly getting under his skin..then he says he doesn't know Wendy and she wouldn't recognize him if they met! She's never given him a cent... I said Joe, stop lying..then he turns red and takes off his jacket again and says to me: you're such a tough guy, take a shot..hit me... he challenges me to a fight!!

I started laughing and said I'm not gonna hit you, Joe..then he said "yeah because you'd lose in a situation like this"....I thought to myself, Joe you're about to address the people in front of the County Administration Building and KEYT, and you wanna do it with black eye?? I said "Joe, put your jacket back on"..(see pic) then he says he's gonna sue me for character assassination and I said Joe, you gotta have a character first!!

just then, SB City Council lady Mike Self comes walking up....Joe's settling down a bit, then I shake Mrs.Self's hand and Joe tells Mike how horrible my blog is..again..I say to Mike, hey you're a nice lady, not half as bad as I thought....I ask her why I'm getting Joe so pumped up...I tell her my blog is just a satire and she says satire can be very biting at times..I think Joe feels bit!! and Mike knows what the score is!! now I support her..NO MORE BULB-OUTS!!

then she says "boys, calm down now"....we chit chat for awhile then others come to talk to Mike and Joe..so I start to head off and Joe's watching me like a parolee...
don't worry Joe, I'm just giving the private sector a little taste of what your pal Travis and Wendy gave/give the public sector workers..hope you enjoyed it, though I will admit, you are pretty tough!
It's about 11:00 am and there's a handful of people there and no Lanny, so I went home and did the wash....

but next time I'll have some questions for Lanny and Mike and Brooks... and I'm bringing the stun gun!

I Heart You!

so today my loves it's St. Valentine's Day Massacre... I will try to get Lanny Ebenstein to answer some questions that local reporters refuse to ask...the SBCTA is holding an anti-worker rally at 11:00 AM at the County Administration Building across from the Court House...I'm hoping Lanny will be there and talk to me...

here's my questions:

so Lanny, any comments on your grow house issues in Eureka?

is SBCTA really a taxpayer advocate, or just another shady political non-profit?

if you succeed in taking away collective bargaining rights from county workers, would you support them if they made up the monetary losses by operating their own grow houses...

you seem to be going after the Sheriffs, is it because Sheriff Bill Brown told me he wouldn't consult with you again..are you mad at him??

Mikey...is Brooks Firestone your sugar daddy??

it's a well know fact that Wendy McCaw is your meal ticket, are you against the unions because she is?? did she put you up to this?? you advocate the county should break union contracts.. would you support Wendy giving her divorce settlement back..break that contract too?

when are you going to write an editorial on the bank bailouts and golden parachutes for corporate plunderers??

are you a slum lord Lanny??

the Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association seems to have a lot of folks with substance abuse issues, have you seen a county psychologist about that?

that should do it for now, but I'll be watching Lanny and his cronies like a hawk for awhile..

butterflies are free...

the nature of things...

years ago Butterfly Lane in Montecito was home to surfers, kids, golfers, teenagers, hippies, moms and dads..and butterflies... poet and nature woman Diane Ackerman writes that four monarch sites in Santa Barbara have been cut down or paved over, and one of them was Butterfly Lane, once the most famous monarch site in America...

now it's home to excess...giant gaudy mansions a la Ty Warner, overly manicured trails, and designer dogs..lots of pampered dogs..the beach, Butterfly Beach was one of the best, but the dogs have taken over there, too....the dogs are heren the butterflies are gone, so why not name it Dog Lane and Dog Beach...the Monarch Butterflies are migrating and roosting in their favorite Eucalyptus and Pine Groves....some famous ones being the Coronado Preserve in Goleta.... the ones in Pacific Grove, Big Sur and by Hearst Castle...eucalyptus and pine trees, that's what the monarchs like..the menthol oils...I must be related to the butterfly because I like the eucalyptus oils too..they smell sooo gooood!! I've loved the smell since I as a kid...that's why I get pissed off when people cut down eucalyptus for no good reason; or recently in Santa Barbara a guy got the ok to remove a beautiful palm tree because it spoiled his view; or people who smoke in my vicinity; it messes with my senses and therefore my well-being...and you know better than to mess with my well being!!! so why should I care about the migration of the monarchs?? because the crows taught me to care...

the look of love...

is in your eyes....

can anyone explain SB Councilman Grant House's recent swing to the right? Well, I think I can....it's curious until you read the body language during council sessions...plus the nomination of that funny little character Randy Rowse who supported the stupid expensive bench turning idea with Grant and Dale Francisco...

now the obvious indicator here is the eyes..just watch next time as Grant and Dale sit next to each other at a meeting...notice the glances Grant gives Dale..those aren't glances of hate..those are longing looks of lust! I think Grant has fallen in love with Dale! Nothing wrong with that..I support whatever disgusting things consenting adults want to do to each other..but's it's pretty obvious..but I would hope these two blades would stop obsessing on the unions and start cutting waste in government..we don't need a creeks dept paying hundreds of thousands to people who decide which weed or native belongs where..the creeks don't need a bunch of fancy bioswales..they need a hands off approach and maybe cleaning every few years by volunteers or Fish and Game...so let's get busy and work together as colleagues, friends or who knows, maybe even lovers...

I can hardly wait to hold you, feel my arms around you...

the Fountainhead Shrugged...

Dear Aynnie,
Living through this political era is mentally exhausting, mainly because it has lately dawned on me that all the really stupid people are on our side. Why is that?
Doubting Clarence

Dear DC,
You've answered your own question. "All the really stupid people" covers everyone on both sides. It cover you, too. The only people to whom it doesn't apply is me, Howard Roark, my Siamese cats and my drinking companions, whoever they are at the moment. Everyone else can go take a flying leap off a fictitious skyscraper for all I care. Being an Individualist and an Objectivist means never having to say you're sorry. YOU are the only important being in all of existence. All other beings are to be used, abused, controlled and ignored. Why do you think I LOVED the Bush Administration? They are all so stupid and yet they are so abusive of all the other stupid people. It's a win-win situation for me.
love Aynnie

oh gosh..NewsPress..you make my job so easy! there he is..on the front page..looking like a wannabe Howard Roark ...taking potshots at public workers behind Wendy McCaw's dress..
now, who does Lanny Ebenstein think he is, a character in an Ayn Rand novel?? this is an anti -worker movement by people who don't work for a living! who were handed everything and keep close to the rich interests that feed them..of course Ayn Rand visions of the tough individual being more desirable than the collective good was very romantic, but not based in reality..no man is an island and the whole process won't work unless you have people contributing and working...even the ones propping up her myth.
and Lanny was on KEYT last night being interviewed by John Palminteri...what a softball fluff piece...no questions about Lanny's grow house/slumlord issues in Eureka?? no questions when Lanny said the public employees compensation might be an issue, but he wasn't sure...geez John, I was expecting you to get down on your knees and start sucking Lanny's dick after that..pathetic excuse for a reporter..the "Palm"...what a putz...WTF is up with reporters in this town!!
and Lanny likes to use Orange County and Vallejo as examples of cities that went bankrupt due to pension obligations..in reality, poor management caused the problems...Vallejo is an old port and military town that lost big in the real estate/ stock market decline, but the city didn't negotiate or plan accordingly..Orange County went belly up in 1994 due to their treasurer, Robert Citron (google him) gambling the city coffers away on derivitives! the City of Santa Barbara finance dept was in the pool and lost about five million dollars on Harriet Miller's watch!! you gotta plug in the holes with facts to get the full story....

ok so are Wendy and Lanny et al part off the Ayn Rand cult?? check this out:
Basically, anybody who wants to elevate selfishness and "out for Number One" to the level of a religion quotes Ayn Rand as justification to do so.

Last night, in connection with our long discussion about Randianism, a reader sent me Murray Rothbard's 1972 article, "The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult." It's long, over 8,000 words, but I read the whole thing with engrossing interest at one sitting. Many years ago I read Nathaniel Branden's fascinating, horrifying, and revelatory Judgment Day, and Barbara Branden's The Passion of Ayn Rand, so I knew that Ayn Rand was a crazy dictator, turning her own desires (particularly her desire for the 25-years-younger Nathaniel Branden) into an absolute law of the universe, and that the Rand movement was a cult. But I had no idea of the totalitarian structure of this cult, which Rothbard explains in detail. The Rand movement during its heyday from 1958 to 1968 was a kind of Communist party, demanding of its members absolute obedience and conformity in every area of life, ranging from philosophical beliefs to one's choice of marriage partner (marriage to a non-Randian was forbidden and was grounds for instant expulsion from the movement) to the music one liked to whether one smoked or not (smoking was considered moral and was obligatory, apparently for no other reason than that Rand liked to smoke), and with members constantly being examined for their behaviors and thoughts and continually being expelled from the movement for the slightest failure to conform in all respects; and living in constant fear of expulsion and behaving like robots to avoid expulsion.
I have long said that Rand was a Communist turned inside out, a dictator for individualism. When I said that, I was thinking of her ideas, especially in Atlas Shrugged. But now I've learned that that my comment was not just a metaphor. Now I realize that in practice Rand really was a type of super Stalin, the leader of her own personality cult, surrounded by terrified, self-dehumanized followers...

"A government is the most dangerous threat to man's rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims."
— Ayn Rand

nonsense!!

from Russia with love...

I am communist..I hate capitalist vat keeps yealing at me!!

the corrupt Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association (financed by sugar mommy Wendy McCaw) will gather to throw a temper tantrum against gov't workers on Monday at 11:00am in front of the Big O downtown....I hope Lanny will be there so I can ask him some point blank questions!!

The SBCTA is Joe Armendariz who crashed his car in Montecito a few years back in a drunken stupor causing taxpayers to clean up his mess; and Lanny Ebenstein, grow house operator/slumlord whose problems in Eureka are causing taxpayers to clean up his mess!! Joe Centeno, former supervisor who employed a drunken assistant, Gil Armijo, at about $70000/ year!! and Mike Stoker..failed politician....Wendy McCaw is sugar mommy to all these guys who couldn't do an honest day's work if their lives depended on it!! and they haven't updated their SBCTA website since 2009!

I think the SBCTA is really the News-Press now... and...they want to steal the paychecks of cops, teachers, nurses and firefighters who have been providing services for years...contracts will be honored..pure and simple..and this latest hocus pocus by the News-Press and SBCTA cronies is pure politics and tired old conservative attempts at union busting...

in SLO, the cops and firefighters are calling out the members of the business community who are hypocrites:

The decision by the San Luis Obispo police and fire unions to shun an upcoming annual appreciation luncheon held in their honor led the committee in charge of the event to cancel it Tuesday.

Union leaders say the intention of boycotting what would have been the 19th annual Public Safety Appreciation Luncheon scheduled for March is to show that union members are done being publicly attacked by chamber leaders.

Both union leaders, Matt Blackstone, president of the San Luis Obispo Police Officers' Association and Erik Baskin, president of the San Luis Obispo City Firefighters Association, say that recent positions taken on pension reform and binding arbitration by chamber leaders have become too politically charged against city employees. The fallout between the unions and the chamber became public when Blackstone and Baskin pulled out of the Financial Sustainability Task Force created by City Manager Katie Lichtig citing concerns about elite special interests.

Read more:

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2011/02/08/1475480/police-fire-unions-boycott-luncheon.html#ixzz1DVve9LY1

look for similar fights in Santa Barbara!! mit lots of yealing!!

sit down, I think I love you

Santa Barbara resolves bench issue!

so the Santa Barbara City Council voted to table the bench issue for a year until better uses for their brains were discovered...still.. Francisco, Grant and Rowse were intent on spinning the benches...even though Frank and Mike voted against the benches, they came up with some ideas to keep people wary..Frank proposed that the benches be designed in such a way that folks wouldn't sit on them more than 20 minutes..Mike Self expanded that by saying the city could tip them to an angle that would cause you to slip off after ten minutes...or the city could make them uncomfortable enough so that you wouldn't want to sit down for too long! how can the city go wrong with such brilliant minds on the council!!

so I had to meet a lady about a fish on Pedregosa..East Pedregosa..and something happened while I waited for her..I was gently guided into a dream state of sublime peace..a possible peak experience you've heard Maslow speak about..Pedregosa..the street that may save Santa Barbara...it was a lovely day..the sky was blue...a warm sun covered all in a honey glow..I watched..the birds were all in harmony..swiftly flying back and forth across the street to the trees in the neighbors' yards..the crows and doves were like brothers and sisters..no fighting, just understanding...they were so well-behaved and the doves looked both ways before crossing the street..and the houses are beautiful and stately...nothing gaudy, just well-cared for with rich, lush gardens...when I heard that the City has spent over 7 million dollars on sidewalks on State St. I was shocked...the Downtown Org has got everyone so uptight about sidewalks, no one wants to walk on them..no one wants to shop on State St..not because of the homeless, but because of the crazy business owners..before I came to Pedregosa, I was on a State Street sidewalk and a shop owner came out and started screaming at me: did you wipe you shoes?? don't scuff our sidewalks!! did you buy something!!

well, I think we can solve Santa Barbara's problem by looking to E. Pedregosa..no fancy sidewalks, pride of ownership, live and let live, Santa Barbara the way it used to be and the way it should be...I suggest the Downtown Org and City Council take a walk on E. Pedregosa... before it's too late....