YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW & THEY'RE NOT LAZY THEY'RE JUST NAPPING

LAZY SLUGS?

   Stretches of the Pacific Coast in central California are breathtakingly rugged.

  And there are stretches that break from jagged to sand. About 30 years ago a colony of elephant seals migrated to one of those sandy expanses north of San Simeon and this late in the "season" those who remain behind are a few adult males, a lot of juveniles and those recently born. They share a habit-napping. Soon they'll depart for their solo journeys north. Males to Alaska and females to Canada for the eating  season. Once they've had their fill they will return for birthing, mating and more napping.

YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW

    Sunshine Week is observed by what is left of America's Newspapers. It has been a time to reflect on the public's right to know including openness and access to public records. This year essays and articles have explored the First Amendment in light of new communications technology.

    Anders Gyllenhaal, vice president for news at McClatchy wrote an especially thoughtful piece which you can read here, courtesy of the American Society of News Editors.

    The Apple - FBI issue is undergirded by our first freedom amendment. I wonder when we will confront whether artificial intelligence is also entitled to our full constitutional rights, especially as regards freedom of speech and freedom of the press. That day is coming, but in the meantime there are more mundane questions about whether advertising is covered by the First. Corporations are trying to find shelter there.

     As political correctness and what some call our new social media activated "shame culture" continue to erode our skill of reason, what happens to freedom of speech? Should a professor not raise a controversial concept in fear of perpetuating a "micro aggression?" What does that say about academic freedom? Can Texas school boards get away with eliminating slavery from their texts teaching of the civil war?  Is a computer generated search of information covered by the first freedoms? Thorny issues and as Gyllenhaal points out those who have stood up for the first amendment in the last 200 years have been news papers, news groups and journalists. In 2016 those groups are shrinking and loosing influence while tech companies and social media are gaining power and users. They do not have the same raisons d'etre or mission as a news organization. Their values may not be founded on the First Amendment. Ultimately it is the role and even responsibility of citizens to know, understand and act wisely about these matters. Sunshine week is a time to let a little light into your brain.

THE BACK HILL

FAVA UPDATE

   The formation of pods is a good thing. A first harvest can not be too far off and that means prepping one of my favorite dishes; orecchiette pasta, browned sausage, sautéed favas in the appropriate seasoning, grated parma-reggiano and topped a dollop of creme fraiche.

    Be of good cheer.

    See you down the trail.

WORDS MATTER & CREATING VIOLENCE

WORD SHOPS

 Courtesy of Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library Indianapolis

Vonnegut in his writing studio

Courtesy of Henry Miller Library Big Sur

Miller in his writing studio 

     Intriguing as they are these images cannot begin to capture the depth of thought, soul searching, intellectual ardor, soaring imagination and the just plan hard work of writing.

     Words matter. They build our world; hope, love, peace, war, inspiration, desperation, life, death.

VIOLENT WORDS

      I can't decide if many of the current crop of presidential candidates are lazy and refuse to think deeply and consider the words they use or if they are specimens of a declining intellect. Donald Trump is coarse, vulgar, impulsive, childish, mean spirited and a braggart. He is also the leading Republican in America.
     Journalist Ezra Klein tweeted recently "Violence is scary. But violence-as-ideology is terrifying. And that's where Trumps campaign has gone."
      It will be telling but not surprising if violence continues to hound the Trump campaign. His tone has been violent and provocative. He advocates violence even actions that would put the US outside the Geneva Accords. He appeals to racists, neo-nazis and some of his supporters have been photographed giving a Hitler style salute.
      We've seen a few Republicans begin to move toward Trump as others become apologists. It is beyond me to know how any one of intelligence can condone or support Trump, regardless of how fed up with conventional politics they may be.

      While analysts and pundits track the Trump ascendancy to the recent behavior of the Republican party arguing he is the logical result of their coddling of kooky fringe elements, lack of constructive proposals, naked political obstructionism, denigration of a federal government, poor choice of leadership in congress and other legislative sins, I want to put blame elsewhere, as well.

     Political media. The proliferation of saturation coverage has brought us to the age of a crowded set where political operatives of dubious experience and background shout and yammer while another crowded desk of political journalists weigh in with their own interpretations. Everyone talking, nobody listening. Each with their own "expertise" or take. Contrast that to time when political reporters spent more time asking questions and digging than pontificating. 

     A 24 hour news cycle fills time and space. But the tone of political discourse has continued to devolve. It is verbal combat and spew.

     I wonder how a Lawrence Spivak, Bill Monroe, Marvin Kalb, Herb Kaplow, Nancy Dickerson, Cassie Mackin, Bob Clark, Doug Kiker, Tom Petit, Howard K. Smith, Sam Donaldson, Sander Vanocur, Carol Simpson, John Chancellor, David Brinkley, Walter Cronkite, Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather, Peter Jennings and etc, etc would handle a Trump, or a Cruz.  Previous generations of journalists would  not permit what has been said to go unchecked, unchallenged and not confronted for the sake of civility and decency. 

     We joke that Trump is good for ratings and so the hustler is allowed to insult, demean, embarrass, rant and in general lower the relative decorum of public discussion and no one calls him out, until now. It appears protesters are doing just that.

     The other dynamic is how anger and frustration with a broken system-entitled professional politicians enjoying the perks of office while doing little to benefit the public-has welled up to such a point where just being angry is more important than having ideas. The words we hear are anger. The words we don't hear are constructive ideas or solutions. It takes little thought to rant and rave. It requires intellect to craft workable plans and find a way forward. 

     Once there were gatekeepers. Today our future may well be in the hands of low information; low information candidates, low information voters, low brow culture and low performers.

      It is as though the D students have taken over political operations and even news sets. 

BEAUTIFUL FAVA

There is beauty in this season, the crop of fava beans Lana has cultivated.

      Good things are coming.

      See you down the trail.

WELCOME BACK TO THE 21st CENTURY

PARDON THE INTERRUPTION

    About 3:30 AM Monday Lana said it sounded like something fell over in the garage. I mumbled groggily about the cats and went back to sleep.  A few hours later I spotted this. What she heard falling was the power pole with PG&E, Charter and AT&T lines. 

      We were back in the old west and stranded. We were unable to leave our driveway, even on foot. The road was closed as well. 

    Some 12 hours later a PG&E crew that had been following the storm damage down the coast showed up and began the first step of liberation, cutting the lines across the drive and removing the downed pole. 

    The drama heightened. 

    Fortunately our gas fireplace and gas range permitted us some heat and the opportunity to prepare warm food as the power remained off into the night. We read by lantern. I dug out my shortwave radio that had been my steady companion on assignments when I was off the grid and in the wilderness or in areas of conflict.

    The already tired PG&E crew was surprised to learn a pole was down. Their assignment said lines in trees. None the less they labored on until 4:00 AM Tuesday and after about 24 hours we had a new pole and power again.

   But as one day lead to another and to another and to another we were without those essentials of life-the internet, cable tv and phones.  But the high drama continued

   The shot below is of one of my new heroes. Evan was the cable tech who put us back into modernity. He and a delightful local Charter employee Harmony are stars on this street. Neighbors compared notes as we chatted around our drive ways. Trying to speak to a human, let alone a local person over the course of 3 days gave us plenty to talk about. The tech calls were frequently frustrating, useless and it seems we never got a straight answer. When? That is all we wanted to know. Just give us an idea, a guesstimate, tell us something!  Instead we sometimes heard, "we have no report of an outage in your area," a not particularly soothing response, or "turn on your television and tell me what you see." What did they not understand about "my cable is in a mud puddle!?" To be sure there were a few helpful and sympathetic types, but it was not until I was able to speak with Harmony that we finally got straight and knowledgable answers.

   This adventure leaves me with a couple of new wonderments.

       As one of the Charter guys said of an AT&T man who was in the area-he's not a happy guy. Nor were the Charter guys who there a couple of days ago.  Cut lines like these are still

     stringing through the area. When the PG&E crews arrived a lot of lines got cut and tossed. So I wonder why there isn't some courtesy or first response protocol that would enable these utilities to watch out for each others back. Shouldn't/couldn't there be a kind of combined mutual protection? There's a lot of useless hardware, cable, lines and etc. Ever the Scot, I see this and calculate loss that translates as increased costs.

    Another wonderment is why can't businesses and utilities  respond with greater facility when it comes to keeping customers informed. PG&E has an exemplary service of texting or calling with frequent updates so even though you may be in the dark, you are not in the dark about where the recovery is. 

   So with lots of reading caught up on we can now rejoin the 21st Century just in time for the beginning of March Madness!

    See you down the trail.

PLAY TIME FOR BIG KIDS and THE HILLARY v. DONALD KNIFE FIGHT-

   We will rejoin the adventures of these lovely citizens of the Republic, but first a reflection on this business of Campaign 2016.

WHO DON'T YOU LIKE, LEAST?

    Remembering that in politics 24 hours is a long time and one should never say never, the pundits none-the-less are at work.

     IF the yacking heads are correct Donald Trump (Drumpf)

and Hillary Clinton will take saber and machetes in hand and make like human Popeil slicers and dicers. The one with the most body parts still attached November 9th will get stitched together so they can start driving the ship of state in January 2017.

    Lets assume the "experts" are correct. We then face a unique Presidential Election; two candidates with some of the highest negatives in history. What a start huh? Negatives always rise during the knife fights so there is a chance the new President will be one of the least liked people since Adolf Hitler. Charming!

     And there is a chance that one, or perhaps both could be indicted. Actions of both are being investigated; Hillary for the classified e-mails on a private server and Trump for alleged fraud at his now folded Trump University. Even more charming!

     I'll go against my own borrowed wisdom (borrowed from Eric Sevareid) and predict if Hillary Clinton and Donald Drumpf are the candidates, there will be a lot of cross over voting. The angry and more racist stripe of Democrats for the Donald and educated and moderate Republicans for Hillary. And a lot of folks may not vote which would probably help Drumpf.

    Much can and likely will happen so we stay tuned to an election that could have been an appendage to a 1976 Paddy Chayefsky script.  So, enough of that!

LETS PLAY

     The ever pleasing sounds of the Bellmores offer forth from

  a mountain top on the west side of Paso Robles.

      A red letter day-Le Cuvier pick up day. Club members are 

  treated to a gentle and sunny afternoon of wine and food pairings, great music and no politics.  

  Respected and well collected artist Ken Christensen set up shop for additional visuals on the mountain top with a view. 

AND....

SOMETHING NEW AT A CLASS ACT
back to the beginning

  Lana and Diane emerge from an inspection of the new public tasting room at the extraordinary Halter Ranch Winery.

   The following two photos are taken from approximately the same spot a couple of years apart.  The photo directly below is on the new public tasting room patio, near the entrance to the 22 thousand square feet of caves.The second photo shows the entrance previously.

  Views inside the new tasting room are also spectacular

    And in this new facility on the Halter Ranch complex, construction is stunning.

    The office, work space and members lounge is evidence of the state of the art nature of the operation.  Owned by a Swiss-German philanthropist and land conservationist he asked his staff to find best case design and standards. They did and the place is testament to excellence. It could be the most efficient and best designed winery in the world. 

  The works area was specifically designed; cement, iron, light, ventilation, work flow, access all customized.

    Friends are coming next month for a visit and we were concerned they were coming on a day when the members lounge is not open. After our inspection of the public tasting room our concerns drifted away.

    See you down the trail.