Humboldt Hash and Re-hash

What Say You Now, Sarah Baby??

2010-05-29T18:50:00.000-07:00

The Gulf of Mexico is being smothered.

So far, no one can stop the carnage.

Where are all you

DRILL-BABY-DRILL pinheads now?

Dark Horse Contender in Supe's Race to Debate Leonard

2010-05-02T10:33:00.000-07:00

An unexpected latecomer to the Eureka Board of Supervisor's race took voters, wannabees, and the incumbent by surprise in Old Town last night, stepping into the electoral fray right along with Neely, Bass, and Leonard.

Jeff Leonard in particular was so taken by the straightforward mien of his new opponent, he enthusiastically approached their camp with a heartfelt offer of a public debate.* More on that as it develops. Campaign information on the new candidate, FU-90210, available here:

Stick with Humboldt Hash and Rehash for coverage of the Leonard / FU smackdown!

*NO REALLY, HE DID.

Don't Get Screwed

2010-03-06T13:39:00.000-08:00

A few months ago my little old Mazda started making noise. At first it was kind of cool, sort of like a Porche. But over time it was more like a 1973 Impala with a rotten muffler.

So, I took my car into a local muffler franchise. They ordered a new resonator--who knew there was such an electronic-music-sounding part on my car?--and got it installed in a couple of hours.

When I started the car it was wonderfully quiet. When I pulled onto the street it became clear that my formerly silky-smooth transmission was way balky. Balky, as in, I'll have to build up a bicep like Tina Turner to be able to move my stick shift without breaking a sweat.

Back at the office I call said muffler place. Why, I ask, should working on the exhaust system tweak the transmission?

The--oh, let's call him a service technician--who worked on my car was also puzzled.

"Huh. No, the transmission shouldn't be affected at all. Oh! Hehehehehe. Hehe...oh yeah, I know what it is.Hehehe." He explained the problem.

I took the car back down, he fixed it, and I asked him to write it up. You know...just in case. Here's what he documented (verbatim):

Service Requests:
a block of wood to saport the exhaust while
working on veh. was left in and made the car
harder to shift gears. customer came back and
block was removed.

That's right. He left a block of wood in my car.

A Gentle Reality Check

2010-01-06T21:36:00.000-08:00

There are things one cannot disguise about oneself. For instance, I have a massive (though luscious) bottom. I wear a lot of full skirts and A-line dresses. This is not to hide my extremely womanly backside--that would be impossible--but to incorporate my personal physical reality in a relatively pleasing fashion.

Here’s another body trait that is almost impossible to disguise:

You know who that is in the picture, don't you? Sure you do. And you know what that head really looks like under all that long...stuff blowing around The Donald's head .

I like to watch the Eureka City Council meetings on public access TV. There is a particular person who gets plenty of camera time who REALLY NEEDS someone close to him to give him a clue: The loooong, stringy hair that trails down his forehead does not fool us. We see his hair is thin. We know that the smooth area underneath is his scalp. There are three words for the straggly wisp hairdo: IT LOOKS BAD.

It looks bad like me in lycra bike shorts. There. I said it. And if I were in the habit of wearing lycra bike shorts, I would hope some kind person would clue me in that IT LOOKS BAD.

Ain't none of us look as cute as we did at 18. The trick is to love what you have left.

The Supes are Safe

2010-01-05T17:14:00.000-08:00

I had to stop by the Board of Supe's meeting this morning in case they wanted a word from a representative of the nonprofit I work for. (Ouch, that sentence hurts my English major's soul, but hey, it's colloquial.) I didn't realize that our courthouse now runs a security gauntlet and unfortunately had a nice little pocket knife in my bag. Emphasis on the word LITTLE, as in 2" blade plus corkscrew.

I didn't have time to take the knife back to my car. I asked the officer, oh so nicely, if they could possibly hold on to it for me, that I'd only be in the supe's chambers for 10 or 15 minutes. There were three security officers--the one doing her duty with me and two others chatting. It wasn't exactly O'Hare airport, if you get my drift.

"We can't do that, ma'am."

Sigh...of course not. Because those overworked security folks can't be held responsible to watch over the TONS of confiscated weapons they no doubt garnered this morning.

I wanted to whisper that if she'd just slip the tiny little knife in the pocket of her olive drab britches, I'd tip her a fin or let her hold my driver's license. But she didn't look like she had much of a sense of humor. Or the ability to think around corners.

Hey, I won't argue with you: Security is good. Then again, so is critical thinking. I'm just glad I didn't get busted for my underwire bra.

Larry, Curly, and Moe? Groucho, Harpo, and Zeppo?

2009-11-04T19:34:00.000-08:00

Whatever side of the Balloon Track controversy one falls on, surely we expect our elected city officials to read documents upon which they will be expected to vote. At the October 27 city council meeting, when it came time to vote on whether to approve the environmental impact report on the massively polluted tract, Frank was a bit wiggy on the whether he actually needed to read the admittedly dense document.

"I’d like to make a motion without being tasked with reading the whole thing.” Well, sure.

This was after Mike Jones asked for clarification about...what, exactly they were voting on? Tonight? Um?

Jeff Leonard rounded out this trio of informed brilliance by taking a moment to express that this EIR is a jewel compared to the many, many EIRs he has read in his long, long life. Oh, and as a postscript, please please don't sue us until we do what we want. Please

Boys, I for one would really like encourage you to do as much homework as is necessary to do your jobs, without making excuses or waxing lyrical .

Yes, Frank, I task thee.

(photos shamelessly lifted from the Humboldt Herald, Northcoast Journal, and Humboldt Sentinel)

Haunting Memoir

2009-10-14T20:06:00.000-07:00

Sarah Palin's book is ready to debut, ghost written by Lynn Vincent, editor of the evangelical mag, WORLD. Geoffrey Dunn makes some excellent points on the Huffington Post about Palin's notorious inability to communicate coherently.

Attributing this 400 page load of moose manure to Palin is just more of the woman's shuck and jive. In May she said to the AP: "There's been so much written about and spoken about in the mainstream media and in the anonymous blogosphere world, that this will be a wonderful, refreshing chance for me to get to tell my story, that a lot of people have asked about, unfiltered" [emphasis mine].

Ghostwriter = unfiltered. Tell us, Sarah, what do you think about the Bush Doctrine?

For this--slapping her name on a book someone else wrote--she threw over her responsiblities as governor of Alaska. I'd bet an elk pot pie she'll never convince a majority of voters again, for anything.

People, people, people

2009-10-09T22:32:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I’m feeling pretty fed up. I know there are Nelson Mandelas and Desmond Tutus out there. There is a Dalai Lama and a Tich Nhat Hanh. There was a Mother Teresa. But man, those folks are few and far between, and they have to work inordinately hard to hold back the dark side.

A perusal of various forums in the cyberworld seems to point to a dearth of intelligence, a lack of empathy, an inability allow for ideas other than those one espouses. Civility, courtesy, and simple human kindness seem to be disappearing from the planet. American citizens use the most heinous racist language to talk about the President of the United States, his wife, his young daughters. Fortune and fame are lavished on the nastiest and most vicious social pundits.

It is as if our vast population has turned into a pack of dogs, overbred, overpopulated, reflexively biting our own kind. Our differences terrify us. We can’t share. We can’t allow. We want to overtalk, overpower. We use whatever influence we have to create the world in our own image. We hate each other. We kill each other.

Yes, I’m feeling a little sick of our species today.

(photo credit)

Early Environmentalism, Humboldt Style

2009-10-08T22:26:00.000-07:00

The Daily Humboldt Times, Wednesday, November 25, 1896:

"M. J. McIntosh killed two northern or spotted owls on the island opposite Carson's Mill Monday morning. The largest measured four feet, ten inches from tip to tip. These birds are seldom seen as far south as this. Rotermund, the taxidermist, will mount them."

(Photo credit)

Do we really need healthcare reform?

2009-09-18T15:52:00.001-07:00

Yes.

Guess where I'm posting from? St. Joseph hospital. Chest pain, ER, overnight observation. While in the ER, the older lady in the next cubicle explained to the doctor that she hadn't taken her medication for the past few days because she couldn't afford to refill the prescription

This is bullshit.

I had to decide whether I should risk going home or stay in the hospital overnight--the doctor's recommendation--because I can't afford this bill, even though I have insurance.

This, also, is bullshit.

If I were wealthy, I could afford my healthcare and would not stress out about how I could pay for even basic care. If I were poor, I could get Medi-Cal, etc. But no, my husband and I are just super hardworking lower middle class folks, living quite low on the proverbial hog--and we can't afford to take care of ourselves because of the outrageous state of American healthcare

Those of you who are hysterically screaming "socialism" can pucker up and kiss my ass--it's right there, hanging out of this be-frigged hospital johnny.

THE REAL TRUTH ABOUT HEALTHCARE REFORM!!

2009-09-07T17:36:00.000-07:00

I found out what the Obama Administration is really cooking up behind closed doors. You want to talk end-of-life issues? You want to talk death panels??

Here's what's really happening:

SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!!

Would you like to ride....

2009-08-27T22:56:00.000-07:00

...in my beautiful, my beautiful balloooooooon...tract?

As regards the Arkley's druthers to convert one type of blight into another type of blight altogether, you can peruse the Supplemental Interim Remedial Action Plan being considered by the California Regional Water Quality Control. Their website is a bit of a pain to navigate, but said supplemental plan may be read in Part 1 and Part 2 .

The opportunity for public comment is very short and nearly over. (It ends September 10.) You can get the gist of the issue here, and find the GeoTracker info on the balloon tract here.

Health Fair

2009-08-27T17:16:00.000-07:00

My husband got into a healthcare discussion with the friend of a neighbor yesterday--we'll call her Piglet, after the naive little Winnie-the-Pooh sidekick. Whoo, we learned a lot!

She is a low-income individual whose healthcare is covered. By me, via my taxes--but I digress. According to this nice lady, if universal healthcare goes through, people in her financial circumstances will lose their healthcare entirely. Gosh no, says my hubby. It will actually make sure everyone gets the care they need.

"B-b-but, they'll raise our taxes to pay for it!" said Piglet. (If she's paid a dime in income tax in the past umpty-dozen years, I'll eat my panythose--oops, there I go again.) Actually, said hubby, the tax burden will be distributed to those who make more than $250,000 per year.

"Oh," said Piglet, blinking. Then her little eyes opened wide. "Well," she said, apparently sure she'd reel in the Good Man with this tidbit, "do you know that if they pass the healthcare reforms, people over 55 will be forced to go to the doctor every year to decide whether they can still get services? The government will be able to just let you DIE if they want to!" (Good job, Sarah P.)

No, no, no, said my husband. Older patients will have the opportunity to discuss end-of-life needs if they want and need them. We will be able to rest assured that our choices remain our own, even at the end of our lives. And, elderly people will not have to live in fear that, if/when they develop health problems, they will lose their homes and every cent of saving they managed to put away after a lifetime of hard work.

Then the penny dropped. "I stopped at a booth at the Humboldt County Fair," said Piglet, "and they said...." Oh. Kay. Here comes the REAL SOLID HEALTHCARE INFORMATION. "There was this woman in England who had to have her baby in the hallway because all the beds were full. And this one man in Canada..." Yadayadyada.

Do we really want to start basing our decisions about healthcare by comparing anecdotes? Trust me, for every terrible tale you have about socialized medicine, I can quote you three about horrific healthcare right here in the good old U. S. of A. It is screwed up, people. Many, many Americans choose between seeing a doctor and buying food, or paying the gas bill. I've been one of those, and I HAVE BLUE CROSS. It costs about $800 a month to cover my husband and me, and then the thieves at Blue Cross deny coverage for huge chunks of our expenses. And we're pretty damned healthy!

AMERICANS SHOULD NOT HAVE TO LIVE IN FEAR THAT IF THEY GET SICK THEY WILL GO TO THE POORHOUSE!

That's just not fair.

Huzzah!

2009-08-26T19:10:00.000-07:00

As reported by the intrepid Heraldo and the talented Mr. Burns in the NCJ: The byzantine, well-intentioned disaster that was the proposed ordinance based on Bill No. 808-C.S. has, mercifully, kicked the bucket.

Mr. Glass, I think I may be able to vote for you again, after all.

PS: At the Wharfinger discussion, some of the people from the task force looked like they either a) were afraid of being eaten or b) wished they could eat us. Raw. City Attorney Sheryl Schaffner tried to suggest that those of us in attendance who were in opposition should refrain from showing too much emotion, as we might make it difficult for those with a minority opinion to express themselves. What is this, the Dr. Phil Show? Larry told her we were free to express to our hearts content. Thanks, Lar. Sheesh, Sheryl, we're trying to have a democracy here.

Farewell, Mr. Kennedy

2009-08-26T16:10:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know about Chappaquiddick, and I don't disagree that there should have been consequences. I also really hated that, instead of divorce, he had his first marriage annulled (which basically says there was no marriage), but that's a function of being Catholic, and I ain't goin' there. (None of us have that much time, believe me.)

AND, I think that Ted Kennedy turned his life around and dedicated himself to the effort of making life better for other human beings. Even if you hated his politics, the fact is that he lived a life of action and service. There are a lot of people burning up the message boards and forums out there, making the most cruel, hateful, inhuman remarks imaginable. Do they hear their conservative leaders in Washington saying how very much they will miss their colleague? If all the haters would lace up their sneakers and DO something to make the world a better place, imagine what sort of world we could live in.

My mama was a hard-drinking union organizer, yellow-dog-democrat. I'd like to think that, after things settle down a little, she'll have a chance to lift a pint with Teddy in the afterlife. Not that I'm certain about the afterlife thing. Again...let's not go there.

Great condolences to the Kennedy family. He will be missed by millions.

Confusion Fusion

2009-08-25T16:12:00.000-07:00

Driving back and forth between Palo Alto and Eureka every every few weeks for the past two years gave me an up-close-and-personal look at the Confusion Hill bridge project. A few pics below:

September 2008

September 2008

March 2009

Of course, just days after settling back home, the bridge became functional. Yep, I'll miss those winter creeps along the crumbling rock wall. Oh, and engineers are awesome.

Attitude is Everything

2009-08-24T22:03:00.001-07:00

Oh, how I would love to wake up one day and have all the cardboard signs miraculously speak the truth! This guy got me through some grim days at The Farm. Hey, I love Eureka!

Freak Parade

2009-08-16T08:40:00.000-07:00

(Painting by Mark Ryden)

My little home sits squarely between Humboldt Recovery Center and Cooper Gulch. I have a large picture window that looks out on a passing cross-section of humanity. What a show.

A few minutes ago, a woman went lurching past, being more-or-less dragged along by a large and muscular pit bull (not in its jaws, but holding a leash). She barely had it under her control. A few minutes later, the dog comes trotting in the opposite direction, leash dragging free on the street, woman walking several paces behind. There are many cats and small children in my neighborhood, and I find this dog owner's callous disregard of others both stupid and irresponsible. And yes, I know the drill: Oh no, not MY pit bull. MY pit bull is an angel. A 160 lb. ball of muscular, fanged LOVE. Whatever. Eureka ordinance declares that dogs must be on a leash. When I went to the front door and yelled at her (I kind of had to yell, as she was now a block away) to "put that dog on a leash," she, of course yelled back that the dog was on a leash. People, if you are not HOLDING the leash, it is not a leash. It is a long, long collar.

We have a steady stream of people, from the dreadlocked disc golf aficionados, to the toothless tweaker riding a child's bicycle while pulling another bicycle alongside. When I was a kid and this house was my grandparents', the gulch was just a gulch, the kind of semi-wild place where kids could play all afternoon among the blackberries, scrub alder and skunk cabbage. You could climb up into the backside of the Myrtle Grove Cemetery and scope out the historic graves and mausoleums. Good stuff. Now it's a thoroughfare with scary offshoot trails scattered with trash and clothing. The back of the cemetery is fenced off, which is good, since in recent years it was the site of a stabbing and a grave robbery.

I've had an ongoing series of neighborly issues with Humboldt Recovery Center. I believe they perform a needed service in our community, but if you think having their houses tucked into a residential neighborhood doesn't cause problems, you definitely don't live in my neighborhood.

Before the aforementioned stabbing incident, the problems were basically just annoying. For example, residents standing in the middle of the street, leaning on the car windows of friends and not moving a whit when one of their non-addicted, taxpaying 'neighbors' was trying to drive past and, oh say, GET TO A JOB. Then there were those days when a rare spate of warm Eureka weather precipitated rows and rows of pasty recovering addicts, all lined up and lying on towels on the front lawn. It looked like beachfront property in hell.

Then pets got to come into recovery. Yay! One afternoon I was in my own damned living room, sitting at my desk, when a strange noise made me look up. There was a HUGE dog standing there--and I don't own a dog! It was an HRC addict's pet that had gotten into my backyard and waltzed right in through the open kitchen door. My cat and I jumped about five feet, the dog made a run for it, then started barking and growling at me when I tried to get it to leave my yard. Nice doggy.

The recovering addicts aren't nearly as problematic as the ones who SHOULD be in recovery, though. Last week, I stepped out of the shower and heard a commotion in the living room. My son was in the midst of calling EPD. He had just gotten home from work. When he stepped out of his car, a gregarious fellow was ambling by with not one, but two rifles, one in each hand, waving them around and stopping to aim them at my neighbors' homes. EPD pursued him into the gulch--and hey, you know how they love THAT!

Until he moved a couple of weeks ago, a registered sex offender lived across the street. He was convicted for sexually molesting a child under the age of fourteen. Did I mention that I live one block from Ross Park? From the molester's front door, the park was a straight shot of about 150 feet. We went on the Department of Justice website to mention it, but no one seemed to care.

I happen to love my neighborhood. I have some quite grand neighbors, nice normal folks who are more than holding up their fair share of the community. But man, sometimes I wish the parade could take a detour down someone else's street.

Commercials at the Movies: Baaaaahd

2009-08-09T17:05:00.000-07:00

Does anyone remember being disgruntled when Coming Attractions bought all the local theaters and started bombarding North Coast audiences with commercials? I participated in several impromptu sessions of audiences chanting "No more commercials!" Does anyone still care?

There was such an initial hubub that, for a while, they chose not to advertise at the Minor. When did they manage to slide back in?

And hell, in the beginning there were only one or two advertisements. Now there are EIGHT larger-than-life commercials forced down my throat even before the film trailers begin. I'm still mad as hell that I'm forced to watch that crap when I have PAID to see a goddamned movie.

Fifteen minutes, people. Fifteen fricking minutes of this garbage. Mark my words, someday they will have commercial interruptions during the movie if we allow it.

Some days I feel so much like a sheep I can smell the lanolin.

Wow, That Stinks

2009-08-05T13:26:00.000-07:00

A Message to Mayor Bass and the Eureka City Council Members

Ladies and Gentlemen:

We are concerned citizens and owners of a small rental in Eureka. Our residence has an attached-mother-in-law unit that we have rented to a tenant under the Section 8 housing program for approximately nine years.

As a Section 8 participant, our rental is inspected annually under the auspices of Humboldt County Housing Authority. There are drawbacks to the Section 8 program. It is part of a bureaucratic system, one which places restrictions on the property owner. For example, we are not able to easily adjust the price of our rental as market conditions change; if our tenant is unsuitable, we must give that tenant three months notice of termination. However, we choose to participate in the program because we feel a strong responsibility to those who may need economic assistance with their housing costs. We are blessed with a wonderful tenant.

We object to introducing a system that subjects us to additional fees and inspections, on housing that is already being inspected by the county. As Harley Smith and others pointed out at the Eureka City Council meeting last night (8/4/09), the proposed ordinance is redundant in this way for other landlords, as well.

The proposed ordinance penalizes good landlords for the infractions of those who are out of compliance with health and safety codes, not to mention common human decency. It also lays the entire onus for funding a code compliance position onto landlords, despite the fact that many of the offending properties are owner occupied. Our next-door-neighbor, a convicted methamphetamine dealer, keeps a slovenly disaster around the perimeters of his house, which we have to constantly monitor as it tries to spill over onto our property. Where are the inspectors for owner occupied dumps such as this one? It appears the city has eyeballed a convenient source of revenue by targeting only landlords in this ordinance.

We also have serious concerns with the gaping white spaces in this ordinance as written. Where are the specifics as to what equals compliance in a rental property? It is quite conceivable to us that, although we are responsive landlords who go above-and-beyond on behalf of our tenant, we could be placed in a position of having to relinquish our tenant if a code inspector loaded us down with fix-its (fix-its unforeseen by us or by our tenant). There are no end of disastrous scenarios we can imagine becoming embroiled in, and it is the nebulous parts of the ordinance that allow room for every one of them.

Many years ago, a whale washed up on the shores of Florence Oregon. The powers that be decided that the most efficient way to deal with it, was to blow it up. Instead of solving the problem, giant pieces of dead whale hit people, smashed cars, and became an even larger clean-up problem. In 1940, Eureka decided to end its electric streetcar service. To celebrate this move toward modernity, the city set on fire a beautiful old streetcar. It became a conflagration and threatened to burn down nearby businesses. As it is currently espoused, the proposed ordinance sounds like another plan that seeks to solve a problem by blowing it up or burning it down.

As was mentioned at last night's council meeting, Eureka is not Los Angeles or Riverside. Plans implemented in sprawling metropolitan areas have been adopted, and then gutted to try and fit them to Eureka. Perhaps this is contributing to such an untenable plan. Surely council can find examples of code compliance regulations from cities that more closely resemble the profile of Eureka.

We urge you not to adopt this plan as it is written, but to take the time to craft an ordinance that is truly of benefit to the greatest number of Eurekans. Please take the time to create an ordinance that does not place the burden of compliance on one sector, does not threaten the privacy of those who live in rentals, does not encourage an expensive, time-wasting system of complaint-for-revenge. If the goal is to have a cleaner, safer Eureka, then code compliance must be the responsibility of ALL Eurekans equally.

[Note to readers: Larry Glass et all will have an open meeting for interested parties to discuss this cockeyed idea on Tuesday, August 11, 2009, 6:30 pm at the Wharfinger. Express your opinion and demand reasonable answers.]

Mommy and Daddy Still Love Each Other

2009-08-03T14:11:00.000-07:00

My dear alma mater, College of the Redwoods, is embroiled in a battle of wills over its own governance. Last week's North Coast Journal explained it in some detail. It reads like a classic power struggle, with both sides frustrated, suspicious, and of the opinion that the other side is not making choices that advance the best interests of the school.

I have no doubt that both camps have valid concerns. Administrative decisions are not necessarily best implemented by consensus, with heavy faculty input. But neither does a high-handed autocracy create an environment of cohesion and inclusivity.

I love CR. I owe my former instructors there a tremendous debt of gratitude. They help set me on the academic path that ended up at Stanford. Stanford, for crying out loud. Before I graduated, I participated twice as a speaker during Stanford's Community College Honors Symposium. My take-away message was that, with hard work, community college students can hold their own in even the most rigorous academic environments.

On behalf of all the students currently enrolled at College of the Redwoods, and for all those who look to the community college system as a viable means of improving their lives, I say this to all factions of the friction: Get it together, people.

Like kids who are stuck between squabbling parents, the vast majority of CR students just want the warring parties to resolve their differences. With the college's infighting and the threats to its accreditation, the hard work and sacrifices of students are put at risk. Isn't a college education is tough enough?

Coffee and Curmudgeons

2009-07-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

I went down to Ramone's Old Town a few days ago to do a bit of writing. The joint was jumping--a nice thing to see in the heart of a Humboldt summer. As I set up the laptop and got ready to check in on my little fictional world (I'm rounding into the final turn on my novel draft), I was treated to the musings of the table next to mine. It went something like this (imagine a sour, whiny, crotchety tone of voice, pretty close to verbatim):

Person 1: "The problem is all the people taking Social Security who haven't paid in."
Person 2: "How can someone get Social Security without paying in?"
Person 1: "Oh, it's all those government things like WIC and that...that...SID."
Person 2: "You mean SDI? Isn't that for people who get injured?"
Person 1: "What happens is you get these illiterate illegal immigrants [that is a direct quote] who come here with children and can't feed them."

Oh, it was everyone out of the pool at that point. I turned around to the speaker, a SERIOUSLY well-fed white male well over the age of 60, maybe closer to 70.

"We wouldn't want their children to go hungry, would we?" I queried...as I yanked the plug on my laptop and stomped over to another table.

"They can go hungry in their own country," the fellow mewled at my rapidly retreating backside.

Three items for the record:

Item 1. I needed to use the services of WIC when I had my oldest son. At the time I was a) literate b) young enough that I had paid next to nothing into Social Security (see item 2) and c) white enough to read by in a dark room. Having WIC ensured that I was well-nourished and carried my healthy baby to full term. He is now 30 years old, healthy, intelligent, and a hard-working American taxpayer.

Item 2. Social Security....WIC....not the same pot of money, bub. If you're going to bitch, especially publicly, at least make it an informed bitch.

Item 3. Remember, fella, unless you're Native American (and you looked most decidedly Anglo to this old gal) you come from immigrant stock yourself, somewhere back in the family tree. Aren't you lucky your people arrived when Lady Liberty was still beckoning the huddled masses, yearning to breathe free? And wasn't it serendipitous that, for your people, the tribes weren't able to build a fence and staff it with 'minute men?' My forebears certainly benefited from that inequitable circumstance.

Many immigrants, even those here illegally, are better educated than I am, holding post-graduate degrees. Almost all of them, regardless of their literacy level, are warm, kind, studious, and hard-working, usually out there doing backbreaking grunt work. As far as I'm concerned, WIC is one program I am delighted to have my tax dollars supporting.

Entitlement, legality, need. These are issues not easily solved, no matter how strident and self-righteous the argument might become. If my fellow coffee joint patron is actually the type of person who could sit across the table from a child who needs nourishing food and say 'go starve in your own country' then I am left to wonder just who it is eating blackberry scones at the next table.

Have heart much?