COUSINS AND COUSINS OF COUSINS.

Toni Moore is my cousin by marriage. Her husband of 26 years, Commander James Moore of the Sheriff's Department (deceased) is my first cousin. Our fathers were brothers.  But, our relationship goes deeper than that. I attended High School with Toni and introduced her to Jim. While visiting the archive, I discovered she was planning a family reunion and she asked me to join them. The afternoon of the Archive meeting, March 16th, I went with her to Costco to shop. Toni is handicapped and can't drive. On the 17th, it was St. Patrick's Day, she took me out to dinner for corned beef and cabbage. I think we licked the plates clean.

Her oldest son is Kurt Moore. He and my son Ken are close in age. We raised our kids together, often camping since no one had any money in those days. We all lived on tight budgets.

Her middle son, Todd, was closest to my son Doug's age, and the two of them were pals growing up. Toni's youngest son, Barry recently died and everyone is still trying to heal from loss. Todd lives nearby and is indispensable, taking Toni to her appointments, shopping and helping Todd keep up the place. He has one daughter, Briana, and I somehow failed to get a picture of her and her boyfriend.

The relationships get complicated for me to keep straight. Kurt's youngest children Teddy and Alex, with Gramma Toni are the reason for the reunion. They live on the East coast with their mother and visit twice a year. They normally come for Easter vacation and this year came early. So, Toni planned an early Easter.

Always smiling, Leslie Nolan, is Bob Moore's partner, who is a brother to Jim.  He doesn't like having his picture taken and ruins your picture, if he has a chance to.  You have to get one surreptitiously.

Here he is with his nephew, Teddy.

Kurt's oldest daughter, Sandy arrived with her husband Josh.  Kurt's son, John is serving in the Army and couldn't attend.

Now, this is Grandpa Kurt, hauling Sandy's two newest members of the family over his shoulder into the back yard. He knows a little about how to handle young boys. They are Caleb and Jacob ages six and four, recently adopted.

It rained off and on all day, but no one melted. The kids played bean bag toss. Emma, Sandy's daughter teamed with Teddy and Alexandria, Sandy's half-brother and sister, and her father Josh.

Emma gets a big jump closer because she is the shortest and youngest in the game. Cousin works as well as any moniker, and "cousin" Teddy doesn't mind.

As the day went on, the kids turned to hunting for treasure. Caleb is trying to figure out how to get up in the tree holding an egg.

An egg hiding in plain sight, up high, gives the older kids a shot at the eggs. Some contain money, some contain candy or little toys.

Heavy competition comes with a smile as Bob and Josh pair up with...

...Todd and Kurt.

Looks like Josh nailed it. The rules are much like horseshoes.

The kids enjoyed their treasures. Emma, in Easter finery, with a full bag.

Jacob enjoyed a green chick that is special because it has a squeaker inside.

Caleb liked his rubber Easter chick, too.

After dinner, everyone enjoyed dessert. Emma looking sweet 16 instead of 12 with frosting pink lipstick.

Alexandria, kissable in blue, is a freshman in High School.

Emma with her frosting lipstick plants one on cousin Alexandria.

Caleb wanted to try my camera. A quick learner, he took a bunch of pictures and did quite well.

This picture by Caleb is a tad blurry. But, not bad for a six year old's first time with a sizable camera.

This one was my favorite, where he caught his little brother taking pictures with my phone.  Maybe photography in his future, but without a doubt, a good time was had by all. HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE.

ALAMEDA COUNTY SHERIFF'S ARCHIVE RE-ENERGIZED.

Dale Toussaint, right, has re-energized the Alameda County Sheriff's Archive. Gary Nelson stopped by and took a shot at identifying a photo Toussaint scanned into his laptop.


Bill Selles and Dave Hoig pondered identities. Everyone who arrived knew everyone else, but some of the guys are new faces to me and so very welcome.


In one of the display rooms is a sign left by protestors during the riots on the U. C. Berkeley Campus. Blue Meanies was a term coined by the protestors given to Alameda County Sheriff's Riot Squad, when they switched from regular uniforms and dressed in mechanics coveralls by request of the deputies. Their uniforms reeked of tear gas from one fracas to the next. Mechanics coveralls could be tossed in the washing machine after each shift.  In fact, the Sheriff's Department didn't actually have a so called "Riot Squad". The Civil Unrest that began in Berkeley was the first of it's type. During worker strikes or mob situations of the 1920's and 30', the deputies waded in and beat senseless anyone within reach. They arrested those who fought back.The right to civil protest was not respected. In fact, old-timer, George Wisner told me it was department policy and the same with Oakland Police Department to always side with the Company during confrontations with union organizers or strikes.  Another policy of the times, to become a cop, you had to be Republican.



Marc Thompson and a bunch of guys from squads one and two signed the sign. He pointed to his name and I took his picture.


If you recognize your name, come visit and I'll take your picture with the now famous sign. Well, famous among the deputies, anyway. The riots were an important thing for deputies. They were never paid overtime, and wages were decided at the whim of the board of supervisors. old Captain Creel would give you compensatory time-maybe. Many deputies worked side jobs to make ends meet. Sheriff Houchins had no choice but to ask the board of supervisors for contingency funds to pay overtime for deputies who were on the streets for 10 to 15 hour shifts while others covered regular duties with equally long workdays. The riots brought wages up to the rest of society.


People don't think they can contribute anything of value to the archive. Behind Dale showing me this picture is a group looking at the Sheriff's assignment board. We guessed it was from 1994. But the guys knew what year they were assigned certain shifts and they informed us the board was pulled off the wall in 1997. Everyone has knowledge of their time and place and can add to the history of the department in big and small ways. All are welcome on the third Thursday of the Month unless it is a holiday.

Bill Smith

A woman named Connie came in. I thought she might be a retired deputy.

It turned out her husband was the retired Deputy. I didn't remember either of their names. But thanks to Pat Higgins, I now know they are Rich and Connie Krimm.


Ralph Streicher, one of the new volunteers, with Bud Harlen, one of the old volunteers. The place was
humming with shop talk and laughter.



And part of that hum was a busy Ralph Streicher. He kept saying, "I love this place." He is the fastest talker I ever met. I know I've gotta get him to sit down for an interview some day. I've got three promised now. I keep telling myself life is getting easier with age and retirement.


Tell your friends, Dave.


Don't wait. Get involved. Its fun.

STOP TAX LOOPHOLES.

Why should working people be expected to pay the lion's share of taxes?  Wouldn't it be nice if we could all pop over to Ireland and escape paying our fair share like corporations do. I wouldn't want to do it as I watch American infrastructure go down the tubes; National and State parks in trouble by Corporate challenges; Climate deniers running for President in the face of sound science; established politicians, both Democrat and Republicans swilling at the corrupt well of donations from special interests; Well here is information on at least one fix:

These organizations are watchdogs for fair taxes. Right now, Pfizer is paying a low tax in Ireland while getting all the benefits of the U.S. This loophole needs to be closed. Go to: The Nation to insist that Obama close the loophole. Click this link:  http://www.signforgood.com/stoppfizer/?code=nation
Will you join us in calling on President Obama and the US Treasury Department to stop Pfizer and other corporate deserters?

American Family Voices
Americans for Tax Fairness
Campaign for America's Future
Corporate Accountability International
Courage Campaign
Daily Kos
Deluge
Economic Policy Institute
Left Action
National People's Action
National Priorities Project
People For the American Way
The Nation
The Other 98%
The Zero Hour
USAction
Watchdog.net

I CAN'T COMPLAIN ABOUT THE RAIN

Spring is trying to spring, but the weather turns from warm with spots of sunshine to cold to windy to rainy to stormy to gale force downpours,  all within a short time. The last two days were wet and miserable. I feel guilty when I complain.


Whenever something blooms, I take a picture before the rain washes it away. Forsythia is one of three plants I have that bloom on the branches before it leafs out.


That is, excluding the fruit trees, like this wild Indian peach.


Dancing between the drops, I caught Karen, the Pied Piper with the chickens. They adore her and vice versa. They love getting out and wallowing in the green, grass. I love the green, too.


Paul was back in the hospital. Now he is in a convalescent home. Living is sometimes an uphill battle.


Pam, Wanda, John and I with our CCTV manager, Ed Lark had an important board meeting over the studio. Hopefully we'll get it transferred to new owners by the end of the year, freeing us to do things we like better. None of us produce television shows anymore. We are just cogs in the management wheel.


These last two years, we've taken to having dinner meetings. It makes things pleasantly social. John told us a great history about Hazel Fischer, a teacher who taught "everybody" in the old days, in a one room school-house. There are many stories about her quirky personality-some he claims are untrue. John is an "old-timer" to this area and he knew Miss Fischer.


I read in my local paper that Califoria is subsidizing low flush toilets. They'll reimburse you $100 for each toilet. So, I managed to put one in for me and one for my rental. I had already put in a low flush several years ago, but the new ones are better. It boggles the brain that they work. The engineering is so smart. I also have on demand water heaters in both houses. But the gas one needed a new computer board, which the company mailed to me free by Fed Ex. In all this cold, it was nice to have hot water again. The rain kept me inside long enough to read two days worth of newspapers and put a dent in my taxes. No, I can't complain about the rain.

HOW DO THESE PEOPLE GET IN OFFICE?

I'll never move to Florida. It is a genuine mess. Maybe a cushy place for rich whites to vacation, or to buy second homes? Or maybe the problem is ordinary people don't vote?

Flint Michigan is a mess, too. Mayor Kathryn Weaver allowed poisoned water to go unchecked until someone squealed. Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has not managed to come up with money to fix the problem-yet.  But, Florida Governor, Rick Scott is worse.  He pays lip service to ordinary people and personally profits from his policies.

• He closed public health clinics in Florida so that they wouldn’t compete against his own chain of clinics.
• He ordered drug testing of basically everyone other than rich white males, to be done at . . . his own chain of clinics.
• He vetoed funding for 30 rape crisis centers.
• He slashed paychecks for teachers, police, and firefighters.
• He cut $300 million from public universities, and $1 billion from K-12 schools.
• He shut down the only tuberculosis center during the worst tuberculosis crisis in twenty years.
• He abandoned a rescue dog that he adopted as a campaign press stunt.
  

It is almost embarrassing to continually point out Republican Opportunists. I call them bad guys. Surely there has to be Democrats that are just as bad. I recently subscribed to three different "right wing"  newsletters. I thought it would give me a balanced view. The Unfiltered Patriot, The American Spectator and  The National Memo.  I just got my first National Memo. It gives doomsday scenarios of the coming downfall of the United States with pictures of Obama;  and people downcast from Social Security that is supposed to fail on April 30th. No facts, or attribution, of course. And the material is called an Advertorial. What in the devil is an Advertorial?  Is it really a word?

Yup!  Here it is:

An advertorial is an advertisement in the form of editorial content. The term "advertorial" is a blend (see portmanteau) of the words "advertisement" and "editorial." Merriam-Webster dates the origin of the word to 1946.^[1]
In printed publications, the advertisement is usually written in the form of an objective article and designed to ostensibly look like a legitimate and independent news story.
Well, there you have it. I guess I'll unsubscribe to the advertorial. But, I learned a new word today.

THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS DEAD?

R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr., founder and editor of the American Spectator, claims liberalism is dead. It looks to me like the Republican Party is in disarray, befuddled and crying out for help. Asking Mitt Romney to step in and diss Trump. They have two presidential candidates who have the lowest voting records and attendance in Congress, Rubio has produced NO legislation and missed 35 per cent of the votes on bills in congress and Cruz has the third worst attendance and missed 24 per cent of votes in congress. (Republican Lindsay Graham, is in second place, having missed 28 per cent of the votes.)  And, their leading candidate continually has a problem with the truth?
The party hopefuls are confessing to hold their nose if they have to support Cruz. Tyrrell sizes up President Bill Clinton saying "He did little to resuscitate liberalism."   He may not have resuscitated liberalism, but he turned the party progressive. He got the country moving. Jobs were soaring, the biggest national debt in history, at that point, left by Reagan, was paid off. Clinton poured surplus money into social programs that conservatives had "borrowed"from like Social Security. And he left us with a balanced budget, and a huge surplus.
Then G.W. Bush spent it all on a war started with a lie. His Vice President, Cheney claimed, "...deficits don't matter." Huh!
 And, now Tyrrell for the second time is declaring that the Democratic Party is a relic?  In his words, "It is astonishing that so few Americans-even conservatives-recognize it." Maybe it is the Republican Party that needs an autopsy.
 People are tired of a do-nothing congress controlled by conservatives. People are tired of conservatives starving institutions like the Food and Drug Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency, and The United States Forest Service so they can't do their jobs. People are tired of a party that denies the very existence of science. Looks to me like revolution in the country and we have Trump and Sanders to thank for that.