Marin Maven » Bay Area News

Going Down Avenue Q?

marinmaven — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 19:40:00 +0000

I said that I couldn’t endorse Measure Q, the quarter cent sales tax to fund the SMART train. It doesn’t matter because Q won.

I have been contacted by supporters who say that BART is so much more expensive with its proprietary track system. I don’t mind spending the tax money to invest in alternative transportation, I just want a system that goes somewhere. BART goes somewhere and goes somewhere with a frequency that allows people to be flexible.

SMART simply does not have enough trips back and forth. People have to get into work early, or work late. It doesn’t help that our feeder buses tend to be expensive and don’t run frequently or conveniently enough to make sure we get to our SMART station on time. Just try to plot out a route on 511.org on the Golden Gate Bus system sometime, it takes 2 or 3 times longer to get anywhere in the county.

I live in Marinwood and work in Bel Marin Keys, am I going to take a bus to Civic Center to take a train to Hamilton and walk to work or to Safeway at Nave?

In the times I drive on South on 101 during commute hours, the build up is at the Richmond Bridge. After you pass the Richmond Bridge the traffic lightens. We need a system that gets us across the water to Richmond, Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco as well as points along the North Bay 101 corridor.

If I lived in Sonoma, it would make more sense to support Q, but still I would think that there are very many jobs in the North Bay, it would be better to invest in a system that will not lock you into having to work in the North Bay. There are just not a lot of jobs here in comparison to San Francisco and the East Bay. Wouldn’t investing in a system that can take you where the jobs are be better? There are people who think that it may be possible to use SMART to meet up with the Richmond BART station or maybe someday they could increase the frequency. This is not what we are voting for in November.

I hope I am wrong about this because the increase of the sales tax will be going to this system that needs a lot of work before it can be useful to the North Bay.

Rather than the SMART train, we really need to connect Novato to Marinwood and Lucas Valley with San Anselmo, Fairfax, Downtown San Rafael, Ross, Corte Madera, etc. Basically we need to connect all the downtowns throughout the county, so we don’t have to get on 101. Unfortunately, SMART is on the wrong side of 101. I would love to see street cars that could get me to Downtown Novato or Downtown San Anselmo. SMART will not get me to San Anselmo or Corte Madera and Golden Gate Transit takes too long forcing you to take take way too many buses to get where you want to go and costing way too much to get there.

I am sad we will never see BART here now and we will continue to be cut off from the rest of the Bay Area. I am concerned that we will be investing in a system where there are no guarantees it would solve the horrible traffic on 101. Again, I hope I am wrong.

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Poisons, Poisons Everywhere Edition

marinmaven — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:03:21 +0000

A lot of developments are happening on the Light Brown Apple Moth and it is pretty disturbing. It seems that when the State announced that they would halt spraying over urban areas, it didn’t mean the entire program halted. They are still going to spray in undisclosed areas. The planned ground eradication programs are troubling. This program may include truck fogging and splats on thousands of telephone poles with permethrin, a neurotoxin that has been shown to toxic to humans and bees. These splats can easily blow off in windy conditions and find their way into our yards and playgrounds. It is clear that we need to re-engage and renew the fight.

Next Monday, July 28th, there is going to be a Town Hall Meeting and Potluck at the First United Methodist Church
9 Ross Valley Drive, San Rafael, CA at 6pm. Medical expert Dr. Ann Haiden and Frank Egger will be speaking. There will be a short documentary shown. For information contact Craig Slater at 721-7241 or craigyes@sbcglobal.net. This is sponsored by Marin Peace and Justice Coalition and First United Methodist Church.

This will be an excellent way to prepare yourself to participate in a public scoping meeting in Sacramento by writing a letter or appearing in person.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
California Department of Food and Agriculture
1220 N Street (auditorium)
Sacramento, CA 95814
Your written response must be sent at the earliest
possible date, but not later than 30 days after
receipt of this notice to: Jim Rains, Staff
Environmental Scientist, California Department of Food
and Agriculture, 1220 N St., Sacramento, CA, 95814.
Fax (916) 654-1018 or email jrains@cdfa.ca.gov

SUPPORT AB 977

Did you know that California has a pesticide pre-emption law? That means that no ordinance or regulation of local government may prohibit or in anyway attempt to regulate any matter relating to the sale, transportation, or use of pesticides. Bottom line, California prohibits local citizens from protecting their health even if it is a mere neighbor notification law. We have already seen in the case of LBAM, that California isn’t really thinking through the public health consequences for it citizens. It is time for local control.

State Assemblyperson Fiona Ma has introduced AB 977 to overturn that state law that prohibits local control of pesticides. On August 4th, 2008 the bill will be heard by the Senate Environmental Quality Committee. It is important that this legislation doesn’t get referred to the Senate Agriculture committee where it will die a certain death. We need to write and call our local and state representatives and urge our neighbors and friends to do so too.

E-Mail Assemblymember Jared Huffman
Email Senator Carole Migden

SPARTINA?

Activists have just learned of the annual spraying of toxic pesticides along the shorelines of the Bay Area in order to fight an invasive cord grass, Spartina. Which has been found to choke channels that the clapper rail uses and displaces the native pickleweed marsh which is habitat of the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse. The solution? Spray chemicals that cause, “bleeding and congested lungs” in rabbits dermally exposed to imazapyr. Save the salt marsh harvest mouse by poisoning! Brilliant Plan!

They are spraying imazapyr which is corrosive to the eyes and can cause irreversible damage. It can persist in the soil for over a year. It has been shown to move readily in soil contaminating surface and ground water following ground and aerial forestry applications.
“Adverse effects found in laboratory animals after chronic exposure to imazapyr include the following: fluid accumulation in the lungs of female mice, kidney cysts in male mice, abnormal blood formation in
the spleen of female rats, an increase in the number of brain and thyroid cancers in male rats, and an increase in the number of tumors and cancers of the adrenal gland in female rats.”

They are also spraying Glyphosate.

You can contact the folks in charge of the spraying.

THOUGHTS

Isn’t it amazing how much junk is being sprayed without knowing it? It is often where we hike, bike, and camp with our friends and family. It can get in our water, effect our food supply via messing with the bee population. They want to go into our neighborhoods. They tried to spray our neighborhoods, now they are trying to push questionable ground methods.

In the past couple of years I have lost two dear people to pancreatic cancer (one of them recently), which has a terrible survival rate because there is no screening for it and by the time it is detected it has often spread to other organs. Just a casual google shows a whole listing of scientific articles linking “occupational exposure” to pesticides and pancreatic cancer. There are other cancer risks as well.

http://database.healthandenvironment.org/index.cfm?id=729

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0854/is_3_23/ai_n18609867

I believe the calculations California are making are completely skewed. They make the short term expediency of using chemicals for the Agricultural Business interests more important than the health and welfare of our people, animals, and beneficial insects that help agriculture. They ignore the cost of clean water, air, and health care required as a result of these pesticides.

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Post Headcold Edition: Night Time Children’s Cold and Cough Syrup Rocks

marinmaven — Wed, 21 May 2008 21:34:01 +0000

I slept like a baby through last night’s episode of The Endless Primary Show. I couldn’t take any more sadness about Ted Kennedy or China. I have been suffering through this head cold from hell since I got back home from going to Carole Migden’s house party. It started with a sore throat, and then explodes into this soul-stealing condition of searing throat pain, nasal congestion, coughing, sneezing, dripping, and head-floating dizziness.

Obviously, I am behind in my phone calls since it hurt to talk, and behind on my blogging, since it hurt to think.
My voice and my brain are partially back. Why not start blogging again?

WHASSSUP KENTUCKY?

Did Kentucky Democrats really vote based on race yesterday like many of them said in the exit polling? Will the Democratic Party really hitch its fortunes on a demographic that cannot see a man of color as president? Is that really what the party is about? It is not just the exit polling, but the anecdotal experience of those including myself who have called out-of-state for Obama. You can clearly hear irrational hatred of Obama, even before the Rev. Wright or Bitter comment.

As I have said before, I am a decline-to-state voter, who is thinking of rejoining the democratic party based on who and why they nominate their candidate for president. When Obama gets the nomination, I will change my registration before the October registration deadline.

THE DENVER 08 CONVENTION OR BUST? SNIFF!

A couple of months ago I considered getting press credentials for the Democratic Convention in Denver. According to the rules, I would meet all the criteria for inclusion. My problem is that I certainly couldn’t afford a trip for a week and it would be difficult to be away from my son so long. Too bad the credentialing is closed, it would have been nice to go. Any ideas?

Congrats to my friend, Brian Leubitz and all the guys over at Calitics.com for not only getting press credentials, but being selected to be seated with the California delegation. Kudos to Brian for co-singing a letter to the DNC stating that the selection process for bloggers to be seated with their state’s delegates be improved and more transparent. There has been quite a stir at some of the DNC selections in other states that seemed arbitrary or favoring more commercial blogs rather than true grassroots blogs. We will depend on Brian’s blog to bring us news from the front.

Calitics.com also posted a cool looking promotional video tour of the proposed California high-speed train. They also found a cool flash application that will allow you to pick a start point and an end point along the system and lets you visualize taking the trip. This is exactly what SMART needs to do to sell their plan. Are you listening, SMART?

My hubby is totally against SMART and this High Speed Train. After all, he is reading, Free Lunch by David Cay Johnston, which explains how major public works projects end up being a boondoggle only benefiting corporations. Many public works (like Stadiums) ends up transferring wealth to the rich, and never really delivers what was originally promised. My hubby agrees with me that what is needed is an expansion of BART along the Richmond bridge to serve the North Bay and farther north. BART should be expanded to Sacramento and to Monterey.

Congratulations, Mark Leno! Calitics.com has endorsed you!
“Brian Leubitz works for the Mark Leno campaign, but his vote was not counted. Mark Leno has been a friend of the netroots from Day One. While his net neutrality bill ultimately died a swift death, on cannot underestimate his willingness to fight for sometimes unpopular issues. That is not to say that Leno himself is not popular around the Capitol. He has managed to maintain a presence of collegiality in the Assembly, and it will be valuable in the Senate.

Joe Nation is a good guy, but he’s just too moderate for this district. While I might be willing to support him for, say, McClintock’s old seat, SD-03 is not the seat for him. Carole Migden’s blatant disregard for campaign finance rules is troubling, despite her record of fighting for progressive causes. Mark Leno will be the most representative for the district in the Senate. ”

MARIN MAVEN’S HUBBY MAKES AN ENDORSEMENT

Mr. Marin Maven endorses Joe Nation for State Senate. While my husband and I are both registered “decline-to-state” he is far more moderate than I am. I am a leftie — flaming, devout and unapologetic . My groom is all over the board.

He is also a curmudgeon, whose knee-jerk reflexes are trained on voting against the incumbent always. Migden is out of consideration, despite her accomplishments, because she is an incumbent.

When it comes to political parties, my hubby is very promiscuous, completely unable to stay faithful to any one party. His party preference cycle is Peace and Freedom, Libertarian, Green, and Republican. If there is a person who he really likes — it doesn’t matter which party. He strongly supports Obama despite the fact he is in the Democratic Party. He supports Joe Nation because he believes that Joe will focus more on Marin and Sonoma county’s issues and appreciates Nation’s moderate views.

My hubby also enjoys being a gadfly, he appreciates that Joe Nation gets flak from both the left and right. He also agrees that after 30 years, it is time to bring the State Senate back to the North Bay. Every attack ad we get, emboldens him to vote for Nation.

Am I bummed that we could potentially be canceling each other’s votes? Our 14 year old marriage is littered with such cases – ultimate proof that I love him. I really tried to open his mind to the other candidates, but he is as stubborn as he is intelligent and makes fabulous pasta sauce.

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Local “Lion of the Left” Pleads Guilty

marinmaven — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:47:42 +0000

There was a time when my husband and I listened to KGO radio and especially Bernie Ward. We enjoyed how skillfully he rhetorically cornered right wing callers, became a part of his Sunday morning program church of the Holy Donut, and mourned with him when his friend Duane Garrett committed suicide off the Golden Gate Bridge. We eventually couldn’t handle listening to KGO because they started to become the Dr. Laura radio station despite our complaints. We have long switched to listening to KQED almost 24/7, but still remember waking up to Amazing Grace in the morning to listen to God Talk and smile. That was until recently when we heard about allegations of child pornography.

Bernie Ward has plead guilty to distributing and receiving child pornography. I am shocked and saddened by this all. There are so little proud liberal voices in the world of mainstream radio (sans Air America) to have one silenced by his behavior is just a shame. It is clear by his quilty plea that he understands that he needs to deal with the consequences of his actions. He has lost his job and our hearts go out to his family. We remain confused, disturbed, and disappointed.

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