Almost all the camping grounds within 100 miles of Los Angeles are now filled with people living in them

The United Nations special rapporteur, Raquel Rolnik, was in Los Angeles listening to people on the streets.

Rolnik had waited more than a year to tour cities across the US to prepare a report for the UN’s human rights council on America’s deepening housing crisis following the subprime mortgage debacle.
The Bush Administration had refused her entry to the U.S.

See story from the Guardian UK

Dungeness Crab Season Opens Today!

You've got your boat, check.  Your crab pots, check. Bait, check.  A price set at $1.75 per pound, check. You've got 6 to 8 foot wind waves and 11 to 13 foot northwest swell, what?

Crab pots line the parking lot near the pier in Trinidad this morning as most crab fishermen are not in a big hurry to navigate the blender that the Pacific Ocean has become.  Winds were also a problem with 45 mile per hour gusts overnight.

Winds are dying down a bit, and some boats were being readied for the season that opened today at 8:00 am.

Wow! Art Bell Back On The Air Live Coast To Coast Tonight.

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/

He only does about 5 show a year these days.  The voice overnight that isn't afraid to talk about the internal workings of our government, ufo's, time travel, ghosts, and other stuff not talked about on normal talk radio.
Art Bell is heard on hundreds of talk stations including 1480 am here in Eureka Ca.
He will be on live until 2 am Pacific Time.

Alice's Restaurant On The Peter B. Collins Show

A Thanksgiving tradition lives on in a podcast.
Peter B. Collins used to be on 1480 AM in Eureka and other radio stations before he went to podcast this summer.  He would always play this Arlo Guthrie song about the justisce system, war and Thanksgiving on the holiday.  Now it is available on demand.

"If you want to end war and stuff, you have to sing loud".

Meat Based Life Forms Eat The Strangest Things!

We're getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. We got a 23 pound Diestel Ranch turkey from Wildberries in Arcata. Everything is as it should be with pies already made and friends coming over. We'll have a fire in the stove and pop a few corks on some wine and enjoy.

We have a vegetarian coming over so we said we would make a Tofurky. It comes in a box like a kit. We read the instructions and decided we should do a cold smoke on it for about 20 minutes before roasting it. Never having cooked one of these I hope it turns out. It looks a little complicated but we are up to the task.

Still, if anyone out there has any suggestions, please tell.

The Sun Brings Out The Artists

After about a half an inch of rain last night, the sun came out today and I got outside to take a picture of the coast from Trinidad looking south toward Westhaven.

I wasn't the only one taking in the view.  I saw local painter Steve Porter painting the same scene I had just photographed.

Below is one of his paintings.

This watercolor is of trinidad head looking south at low tide . 10.5" x 14" on 300 lb rough wc paper. It is still available. to inquire about this or more info, email me at steveporter@suddenlink.net

Steve just put up a blog and said he would email the link to me.  When I get it, I will add it to this post.

Another place to find Steve Porter is here.
Here is Steves blog.  http://steveporterart.blogspot.com/

Healthcare bill passes first Senate test

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A sweeping healthcare overhaul narrowly cleared its first hurdle in the Senate on Saturday, with Democrats casting 60 party-line votes to open debate on the biggest healthcare changes in decades.

In the first Senate test for President Barack Obama's top domestic priority, Democrats unanimously backed a procedural motion to open debate over the opposition of 39 Republicans. Republican George Voinovich did not vote.
Democrats needed 60 votes to approve the motion in the 100-member Senate and had no margin for error -- they control exactly 60 votes.
See entire story.
Now is when things will start to heat up.  Who knows whether anyone will even want the final proposal.  This is still an historic vote tonight in the U.S. Senate.
Pnoto from http://www.inebriateddiscourse.com/

US lawmakers: New tax should pay for Afghan war

They are all Democratic allies of Barack Obama and they say that those that fought in Afganistan would be exempt.
"Share The Sacrifice Act of 2010."

If the war is not paid for, its costs "will devour money that could be used to rebuild our economy by fixing our broken health care system, expanding educational opportunities and job training possibilities, attacking our long term energy problems and building stronger communities," they said.

Manifest Positivity

Dave Berman over at Manifest Positivity had some more positive news on the homeless front today.


If you don't see the video go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hEiRA0Q-4s

Patti's Wagons  is the name of her one person campaign to help get food, clothes and other things to the local homeless population.   She is trying to build a kitchen and has much of the equipment already.  She especially reaches out to veterans in need.
You can help and donate to her cause by going to  /http://pattiswagons.org/

Just another person with positive solutions for some of  the most vulnerable people in Humboldt County.

People Project – Eureka Safe Sleep Zone

See story at Highboltage blog

Also at Tree Sit Blog

Organic Myths and Realities

This is a no nonsense look at the pros and cons of organic agriculture on the planet.

This is from a blog that also make a good argument for electric rail transport.  Check it out!

UN investigator accuses US of shameful neglect of homeless

A homeless man in California. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

This from the Guardian UK

A United Nations special investigator who was blocked from visiting the US by the Bush administration has accused the American government of pouring billions of dollars into rescuing banks and big business while treating as "invisible" a deepening homeless crisis.

Raquel Rolnik, the UN special rapporteur for the right to adequate housing, who has just completed a seven-city tour of America, said it was shameful that a country as wealthy as the US was not spending more money on lifting its citizens out of homelessness and substandard, overcrowded housing.

"The housing crisis is invisible for many in the US," she said. "I learned through this visit that real affordable housing and poverty is something that hasn't been dealt with as an issue. Even if we talk about the financial crisis and government stepping in in order to promote economic recovery, there is no such help for the homeless."

She added: "I think those who are suffering the most in this whole situation are the very poor, the low-income population. The burden is disproportionately on them and it's of course disproportionately on African-Americans, on Latinos and immigrant communities, and on Native Americans."
See the rest of the story.
 
There are many in this county that think we do too much for those without homes.  I think the country as a whole, has done little to address this issue.  Since Ronald Regan closed all the mental hospitals and kicked the people there to the streets, it seems we just accept the situation as normal.  Our country can do better, our county can do better and yes, even Arcata can do better. 
Arcata is home to a blogger that just takes pictures of homeless people and people living in the cars and vehicles.  He mocks them and offers no real solutions to the problem.  There are many that believe that if we don't feed them and allow them to sleep that the problem will just go away. 
Contrast that with the work being done in this county by John Shelter, Paul and Betty Chinn, St Vincent De Paul, the City of Eureka considering parking lots for people to be allowed to sleep in their cars, and other positive steps to improve peoples lives and I think that Humboldt County is in the lead when it comes to real solutions to the problem.

The War Prayer By Mark Twain

In case you missed it on the Mike Malloy Show tonight.  Here it is.
Happy Veterans Day!

One Spawning Ground Left: Rare Green Sturgeon to Get Needed Recovery Plan

SAN FRANCISCO - November 11 - The National Marine Fisheries Service announced that it will develop a recovery plan for threatened green sturgeon. The notice will appear in Thursday's Federal Register. A recovery plan is a legally mandated roadmap to how an endangered animal or plant species can be brought back from the brink and eventually be secure enough from the risk of extinction to be removed from the endangered species list.


Loss of suitable spawning habitat is a major threat to green sturgeon; the southern green sturgeon population only spawns in the Sacramento River system below Shasta Dam, making it especially susceptible to habitat destruction. In October, as the result of a settlement that arose from a Center for Biological Diversity lawsuit, the Service protected 8.6 million acres of critical habitat for the southern population of green sturgeon in California, Oregon, and Washington. Including river habitat, estuary, and coastal habitat, that includes the Sacramento River, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and coastal areas from Monterey Bay to Cape Flattery, Washington.

"Recovery planning and habitat protection are the keys to bringing this rare and majestic fish back from the brink of extinction," said Miyoko Sakashita, oceans director at the Center. "Recent surveys have shown some of the lowest recorded numbers of spawning green sturgeon in the Sacramento River. With so few sturgeon left, recovery planning is essential to help green sturgeon regain some lost ground."

Read more here at Commondreams.org

Study: Antarctic ice melt actually slowing climate change

By Agence France-Presse

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 -- 6:25 pm

Global warming has been blamed for the alarming loss of ice shelves in Antarctica, but a new study says newly-exposed areas of sea are now soaking up some of the carbon gas that causes the problem.
Scientists led by Lloyd Peck of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) said that atmospheric and ocean carbon is being gobbled up by microscopic marine plants called phytoplankton, which float near the surface.
After absorbing the carbon through the natural process of photosynthesis, the phytoplankton are eaten, or otherwise die and sink to the ocean floor.
The phenomenon, known as a carbon sink, has been spotted in areas of open water exposed by the recent, rapid melting of several ice shelves -- vast floating plaques of ice attached to the shore of the Antarctic peninsula.
Over the last 50 years, around 24,000 square kilometres (9,200 square miles) of new open water have been created this way, and swathes of it are now colonised by phytoplankton, Peck's team reports in a specialist journal, Global Change Biology.
See rest of story.

As I am watching the movie "The Day After Tomorrow" I stumble on this. The movie is based on ice melt changing the Atlantic Ocean currents due to the increase of fresh water added to ocean. An ice age comes because the warmer currents that flow up the eastern side of the Atlantic suddenly stop. This causes the area to freeze.
We end up freezing to death in the U.S. or moving to Mexico.

It was just a movie but is the new carbon sink good news or just a bait and switch from mother earth?

High Water And Surf At Moonstone Beach Today

If you don't see video, click here.

The storm has brought high tides and storm surge as well as some big surf.  Moonstone Beach is under water and the waves come right up to the parking lot.

Update:
The levee along the railroad tracks between Elk River, on the south end of Eureka, and the PG&E power plant was eroded by large waves from the same storm surge. The levee lies directly in front of the opening to the bay, so large waves came directly at it on Saturday. They spilled green salt water onto the cow fields there and swept away large boulders. Work crews were busy dumping sand and more boulders along the washed out sections today. No cows were harmed by the salty intrusion.

Should Corporations Be Allowed The Same Rights As Real People?

Thom Hartmann debates Michael Medved highlights before a live audience.
It took place on March 23rd. of this year.
The first video isn't specifically about corporate personhood but it shows Thom doing what he does best.
Not much Medved in this one though.


Here's the link to the You-Tube video with Thom and Dan Gainor about Corporate Personhood.
Thom Hartman can be heard on Am 1480 in Eureka, on satellite radio and on Free Speech TV.
Is show airs live locally from 9 am to Noon.

US attorney For The Northern District Of California Says Federal Pot Raids To Continue

From RawStory.com  By Daniel Tencer

'Not a change' in policy 'at all,' US attorney says


Operators of medical marijuana dispensaries in California are quickly learning that, contrary to recent news headlines, federal raids of medical marijuana clubs aren't going to stop -- an assertion the US attorney for northern California is unequivocally making.
Read More

Wage Peace Film Festival Tonight In Arcata

Marriage Protection Act Might Be On Next Years Ballot

A ballot initiative to make divorce illegal in California.



See Part II here

I wonder how married people will feel about single folks voting on this?  I am single so it doesn't effect me.

It might not get enough signatures to get on the ballot in 2010, but if it does, I'm sure the Catholics and Mormons will want to get their few million dollars in.   After all, divorce has been illegal for 99 percent of mans existence.