Humboldt At War
Local military contractors feed and clothe soldiers, keep birds and bats safe
Cover Story
Humboldt At War
This Thursday, March 20, marks the five-year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. In Humboldt County, the occasion will be marked, this Saturday at 1 p.m., by the county’s annual peace march, which will start at the Eureka Municipal Auditorium. As always, the peace marchers will bring all sorts of issues to the event. Some…
Should Thompson Change His Superdelegate Vote?
The Napa Valley Register is asking its readers to chime in on whether Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, should endorse Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama with his superdelegate vote (right now, he’s pledged it to Clinton). However, the February primaries indicate that the First District favors Obama over Clinton. (For an idea of the how…
Blog Fans: Help Is Here
Despite what you may have thought, the problem with the Humboldt County blogosphere isn’t that it’s too stupid. On the contrary, the problem is that it’s not stupid enough. Every day, all around the world, the bar for brainlessness is set a little bit higher, and as usual Humboldt County is behind the curve. We…
Do The Test
Here’s this week’s coolest thing. It was sponsored by London’s transport system, and it’s meant to raise driver awareness of bicyclists. It’s like something Green Wheels might do if Green Wheels had a budget. [vodpod id=ExternalVideo.487013&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26] from www.dothetest.co.uk posted with vodpod
Urine Trouble Now …
The Associated Press reported that a Crescent City woman is facing three years in prison after allegedly trying to steal back her own urine sample. Krystal Evans and a friend intercepted a DHL van and tried to reclaim her bodily fluid, but they were caught yellow handed. Anyway, it’s a good thing that Evans wasn’t…
‘Happiness’ Is Runner-Up
We’d heard that Jessica Knapp from North Coast Prep was chosen to go to Sacramento for the California Poetry Out Loud state finals, a contest that involves reciting other people’s poems. She didn’t win, but she did make it to the tie-breaking third round, as noted in this press release: Sacramento – Placer County student…
Pulp Mills, the Chinese and a Pinch of Xenophobia
David Hillman , an independent pulp and paper consultant, wonders if the sale of American pulp mills to foreign investors — mostly Chinese — is good or bad. The analysis is published on-line by the Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG), which, according their website, manages the world’s leading network of experts. The major implication is that…
Short Attention Span
A couple of weeks ago former Arcata City Councilmember Elizabeth Conner told us that she was "seriously considering" a run for supervisor in the wake of long-time Third District incumbent John Woolley’s surprising decision to take his name out of the running for this year’s election. We assumed that Conner was speaking euphemistically. Political language…
Forging Dinner
The islands of Erba Verde, reached by secular humanists fleeing the late 15th century Venetian tyrant-priest Girolamo Savonarola, remained a lost, mythical place for centuries. Tales of this magical land, whose name could mean "green grass" or "green herb," fascinated the Portuguese and Spanish, but did not distract them from their obsessive pursuit of gold.…
The Irish Connection
Monday is St. Patrick’s Day, which makes this St. Paddy’s weekend — a time when Celtic bands are sure to find work. In oh-so-green Humboldt County that pretty much boils down to two bands: the quartet Good Company, who play Saturday at Muddy’s Hot Cup, and Scatter the Mud, a somewhat wilder band that leads…
March Badness
Previews Rhona Mitra (The Practice; Boston Legal)leads a team of scientists to a quarantined Scotland in Doomsday in an attempt to find a cure for a lethal virus known as the Reaper, which is once again threatening the human race. The team failed to account for survivors of the original virus, who may turn out…
In Formation
The V-formations of honking Aleutian Cackling Geese that decorate our skies pose the question as to whether they fly in formation for social cohesion or to conserve energy. The reason military jets fly in V-formation is not to conserve energy, but to permit trailing pilots to remain in visual contact with the leading pilot. Fortunately,…
Greg Brown
In concert March 8, 2008, at the Van Duzer For some people in the crowd last Saturday night at the Van Duzer, the first half hour of the Greg Brown show was fraught with doubt, confusion, even a little disappointment. Who was that masked man up there on stage? He was good, but he sounded…
Heretic Pride
CD by The Mountain Goats. 4AD. Singer/songwriter John Darnielle, when touring alone with his acoustic guitar, would often introduce himself with, "Hi, we’re the Mountain Goats." Darnielle is The Mountain Goats, just as much as Mark E. Smith is The Fall. A prolific songwriter, Darnielle has released his 15th recording: Heretic Pride. He has been…
Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain
Book by Oliver Sacks. Published by Knopf. Music, this weird and wonderful do-re-mi, welling up from the same ineffable place as our most basic expressions of instinct and desire — where does this stuff come from? Neurologist Oliver Sacks (Awakenings, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat) doesn’t know, but he offers some…
Untitled
I hear the sound of wings beating against…
North to Alaska
Part Two of Dan the Faller Man’s story. Read Part One: My Worst Job In which Dan the Faller Man remembers his choker-setter days, Feb. 28, 2008 Dan’s week-long stint in the Headwaters Forest was just one of many part-time jobs he held outdoors and in the woods while a student at the College of…
Tenants’ rights, postmortem
Wanda Taylor, 51, died unexpectedly on Wednesday Feb. 27, on her bed inside her apartment — No. 5, at 607 Summer Street in Eureka. Later that night, Taylor’s sister, Barbara Mitchell, received the news by telephone from their brother Michael. Mitchell lives in Orick. The rest of the family lives elsewhere in California and in…
