"Lot 4"
Painting by RUSSELL BRUTSCHE
Santa Cruz: Our Downtown, Our Future
By CHRIS KROHN
It’s now official, the Our Downtown, Our Future petition is now being circulated. It commits to keeping the Farmer’s Market permanently where it is, renovating the library on Church St. to anchor a civic plaza, designates city-owned downtown lots as affordable housing sites, and invests parking revenue into affordable housing. A tall order indeed, but we have done monumental things before and can accomplish this one.
We have a solid team behind this initiative and I hope you will join us.
Editor's note: Painter of the above picture and polymath Russell Brutsché, is also just releasing a new album, "California Style." Visit his website or call 831-426-4825.
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Support Santa Cruz County Workers and Watsonville City Council Candidate, Vanessa Quiroz-Carter
By JEFFREY SMEDBERG, SC4Bernie
Join the rally to suppport SEIU in Greening California, Dec 7, 8:30am, at the Santa Cruz County Supervisors Chambers, 701 Ocean St. 5th Floor.
Santa Cruz County workers, represented by SEIU Local 521, have been working without a contract for nearly half a year. At a critical element in their stalled contract negotiation campaign, they are demanding from county management a commitment that carbon neutrality be part of their labor contract. Click This Link to listen to county social worker and SEIU Chapter President Veronica Velazquez explain how climate change impacts union members and the community. And send a message to your County Supervisor to support SEIU's carbon neutrality campaign.
This weekend is the last chance to help Vanessa Quiroz-Carter win in Watsonville's District 2 Council Race in the Dec. 7 special election. Meet
Dec. 4, 10am, at 641 Lincoln St, Watsonville to knock on doors of people who have not yet returned their ballots and be treated to a breakfast burrito. At our October forum, Santa Cruz for Bernie members unanimously endorsed Vanessa Quiroz-Carter. Now let's follow through and help this great Bernie-inspired candidate get elected. Let Vanessa's campaign manager Celeste know you're coming at 831-840-0101 or gutzceleste@gmail.com. Can't make it? Donate at www.vanessaquirozcarter.com.
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Looking at COVID as a Progressive
By KEITH McHENRY
I can understand wanting to get the COVID injections and I support your right to do so. The fear of death from COVID is compelling. The images and reports frightening. I would never interfere with someone’s desire to participate in these vaccine trials. I can understand how much more terrifying the world looks to those who quarantined at home for weeks relying on social media, NPR, CNN and the New York Times for information unaware of the reality on the streets. Had I been inside quarantined I may have also internalized that fear and found a logic in the everchanging information about COVID, the vaccines and the boosters.
As progressives I think we should be standing against attacks on our freedoms and supporting the civil rights of all essential workers, people who like myself spent every day of the pandemic outside meeting the needs of our community. I would think that my anti-war, anti-capitalist friends would be open to questioning the story about COVID since it is being pushed by the same people who also told us there were WMDs in Iraq and that we were winning the war on Afghanistan.
I first wrote a letter on this subject when I received an invitation to attend a meeting forming a new progressive alliance. To participate you had to provide proof of a vaccination or a negative COVID test. I wrote to invite the progressive community to stand in solidarity with the working class by refusing to meet in facilities that demand proof of participation in the vaccine experiments.
I had shrugged off the proof of vaccine requirement to attend the ACLU awards ceremony since I had to cook that day. But when I came to understand that the outdoor venue for the meeting did not require this proof, nor does the Simpkins Family Center where the progressive alliance meets this week nor the Del Mar Theater where I was barred from seeing a film that I was in, I became even more concerned.
Initially the demand for proof of vaccination or negative test may have seemed reasonable to those implementing the policy based on the messaging allowed in the media and on-line platforms. Since so much scientific debate has been censored to protect the profits and power of those institutions pushing the vaccines it is easy to understand why such measures would be considered.
Those local progressives initiating these policies are well meaning I am sure, thought it would slow the spread of COVID and I believe had no idea what role they were playing in implementing the first of what could become an ever-tighter noose choking what is left of our freedom and democracy.
I remained silent about my objections to COVID policies, self-censoring to protect the global movement Food Not Bombs from smears and a withdrawal of support. That was until I was personally impacted by demands by my friends for me to prove my vaccination status.
I have been organizing against corporate power, censorship, the military and the CIA for 50 years and plan to continue. I helped start the Santa Cruz Homeless Union COVID-19 Relief Center and Food Not Bombs meal. Like many I was freaked out about COVID in those early days and even spent $20,000 of my own money on hotel rooms for the homeless worried that if my friends were not indoors and quarantined, they could die. Food Not Bombs organized our first COVID safety meeting at LuLus the morning of March 14, 2020. My seven bleach-stained t-shirts illustrate the hours I spent sanitizing our equipment. I posted the latest California Health Department safety measures on the Food Not Bombs website starting in early April 2020. The fading six-foot apart circles I spray painted at the Town Clock and Garage10 and the white dashes that decorate Lot 27 are a testament to my concern. So, I can understand the fear people have of COVID. I can understand wanting to get the injections and again I support your right to do so.
Things started to change for me when I first heard about Trump's secret military program Warp Speed, and became concerned that the vaccine program may not be about health. The six or seven NPR programs a day about massive COVID deaths and the rush to get everyone a vaccine also made me suspect there was another agenda.
Like many of you, when I saw people called anti-vaxxers armed with AR-15s waving confederate and Trump flags I was horrified. There is no way I would ever join people like the Proud Boys and Trump supporters in protesting the lockdowns and other COVID policies. The questioning of Dr. Fauci was framed as a position taken only by racist gun-toting Trump supporters effectively driving the left into the arms of the military and big Pharma.
My dear friend and virologist, Dr. Shannon Murray came to visit in November 2020. I knew her when she was helping develop the Moderna vaccine at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. She feared there could be major health problems from the vaccines since the first human trials had not taken place yet and more study was needed before they could be considered safe in humans. The animal trials had not been promising at that point, killing nearly 80% of those vaccinated animals who were exposed to SARS-CoV-1. She also expressed concern that the research in these vaccines had become a secret military program when her access to data had suddenly been removed. At that time, she was still using an alias as did her coworkers so they could share their concerns without fear of being banned from their life’s work. Like many at the NIH, she refuses to get a jab.
Until that time I had the impression I was one of only a couple of progressives that thought something wasn’t right. I would slowly learn that several other left friends also shared my perspective. I connected Shannon to an old journalist friend, Sam Hussini who had been writing on gain of function research and bio-warfare at places like the Fort Detrick Biological Warfare Laboratories. I learned that another colleague of mine, the director of the Organic Consumers Association, Ronnie Cummings and my friend Vandana Shiva were also starting to express concerns that mirrored our work together against Monsanto. So even though I remained publicly silent I started to feel less alone.
We now see that the vaccines do not protect from the spread of COVID or protect us from becoming ill from COVID. I have a number of friends who contracted COVID from a fully vaccinated person. To highlight the failure of the vaccines the Santa Cruz Health Department reported that four fully vaccinated people, one partially vaccinated person and three unvaccinated people died of COVID in our county during October 2021. The unvaccinated may have been classified as such because they had their last jab less than two weeks before their death or they had not had a booster or maybe they had not had any vaccination for COVID.
Now things are getting scary. I never thought my friends would feel justified in segregating me from their places of business or banning me from participating in their events. That was upsetting enough but now I have to face the possibility that these same friends will remain silent as those of us who are refusing the experimental jab are criminalized and possibly interned. When Austria announced plans to place all unvaccinated under house- arrest I found that particularly unsettling. The open assault on the unvaccinated had started. News came that Australia had started to force the unvaccinated into quarantine camps followed by media reports that the Dutch police had fired live ammunition at unarmed anti-mandate and anti-lockdown protesters, shooting three people in Rotterdam. This has been followed by the lockdown of the unvaccinated in Germany and a call by the leaders of the European Union to force everyone in the Euro Zone to get a vaccine.
I believe that left progressives will be crushed if the current trend is not stopped. The very reasons a new Santa Cruz progressive alliance was proposed was to stop the gentrification of our community. The building of ghost condominiums is in coordination with the COVID policies that have closed small businesses letting hedge funds scoop up property. So far there has been no local, state or national plan to house the millions of Americans facing eviction. Will the unhoused be placed on military bases as suggested by former mayor Donna Myers? This push for control also includes a drive to pass H.R. 350: The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2021, which targets anti-capitalist, anarchists and other progressive activists like myself. Progressive voices questioning US interventions, the Occupation of Palestine or the increase in surveillance programs are now regularly removed from social media platforms. It won't be long before Digital IDs are required to participate in commerce and your vaccine status could be linked to your income, access to education, health care and your personal freedom if we don’t unite now against the corporate clampdown.
Aren’t these the issues that we progressives have been organizing against?
As a progressive, I am still against censorship by groups like Henry Kissinger's CIA dominated Atlantic Council, the Aspen Institute and Imran Ahmed who are tasked with deleting social media accounts that do not support the corporate agenda. I am also still against the exploitive corporations with a history of deceit and harm like Pfizer who has paid out billions in damages for their products that have killed or maimed. Why are we progressives defending the goals of global corporate power, the US military and the CIA by demanding proof of vaccination when we know they don’t work as advertised?
We should start our resistance by insisting that progressives only hold events in facilities where all working-class people can participate regardless of vaccine status. As progressives we must also speak out against mandates, vaccine passports, segregation, the current increase in bio-warfare research, the domestic terrorism law and all censorship.
You may have seen video of the vaccinated in Italy burning their green vaccine passports in solidarity with the unvaccinated. We need such solidarity here in Santa Cruz.
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Sustento
By BOB GOMEZ
Just as the smallest field mouse
feeds, feasts on the winter persimmon
which is as large or larger
than itself,
So we too find essential nourishment
in all seasons everywhere
in love which is abundant,
omnipresent, eternal and large
as ourselves
but larger than ourselves.
Find, feast, live on
and live long!
Tal como el más pequeño ratoncito del campo
come, se festeja con el pérsimo invernal
que es tan grande o más grande
que él,
Así nosotros también encontramos el sustento esencial
en toda estación y todo lugar
en el amor abundante,
omnipresente, eterno y grande como uno
pero más grande que uno.
¡Encuentra, festeja, vive
y revivifícate amando!
I'm rerunning Bob's poem because I misspelled the title in the Nov. 14 issue and also because it is so beautiful.
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"With no education, you have neocolonialism instead of colonialism, like you've got in Africa now and like you've got in Haiti. So what we're talking about is there has to be an educational program. That's very important."
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Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Black-necked stilts wade the shallows of Elkhorn Slough in Moss Loanding.
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Santa Cruz County Covid-19 Report
By SARAH RINGLER
The Santa Cruz County Health Department regularly releases data on the current status of Covid-19 in the county. The number of cases on Thursday, Dec. 2, totaled 21,214 up 403, from Nov. 18. In the last two weeks, the number of deaths has risen by two to 224. Click to view a graph of hospitalizations here.
There have been few changes in the last two weeks. Active cases in north county continue to rise at a faster rate that mid or south county. See details in the chart below.
On the county's vaccination webpage, as of Nov. 29, 75% of the county have had at least one dose and 68% have had two doses. Here are more details on the county's vaccination data.
This webpage also has a link where you can get a digital copy and scannable QR code of your vaccination record. Keep track of your four digit code because that is your access to the site.
The county's Effective Reproductive Number is above one as it has been since Nov. 17. In the Nov. 19 issue, it was mistakenly reported as being below one althought the chart was accurate. See chart below. Numbers above one show the spread of the virus is increasing. Below one means the spread is decreasing.
There are many COVID-19 testing locations around the county and a few sites have free testing. For information on how to get tested, visit this site. Click here to make an appointment to get tested.
Any Californian age 12 or up can get vaccinated for free. For information on getting vaccinated, click here.
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% deaths by ethnicity:
White - 55%
Latinx - 37%
Black - 1%
Asian - 7%
American Native - 1%
Unknown - 1%
% deaths by gender/% of population:
Female - 49%/50%
Male - 51%/50%
Deaths by age/224:
25-34 - 2%
35-44 - 3%
45-54 - 4%
55-59 - 1%
60-64 - 6%
65-74 - 18%
75-84 - 21%
85+ - 44%
% active cases testing positive by region/% of population:
Mid-county - 12%/12%
North county - 65%/56%
South county - 19%/32%
Under investigation - 3%
Weekly increases in positive tests:
June 12-19 - 7%
June 19-26 - 23%
June 26 to July 3 - 22%
July 3-9 - 23%
July 9-16 - 40%
July 16-23 - 20%
July 23-30 - 27%
July 30-Aug. 6 - 13%
Aug. 6-13- 12%
Aug.14-20 - 16%
Aug.20-28 - 10%
Aug. 28-Sept. 3 - 10%
Sept. 3-10 - 6%
Sept. 10-17- 8%
Sept. 17-24 - 7%
Sept. 25- Oct.1 - 5%
Oct. 1 - 9 - 4%
Oct. 9-15 - 4%
Oct. 15-22 - 5%
Oct. 23-29 - 4%
Oct. 30-Nov. 5 - 6%
Nov. 5-12 - 10%
Nov. 12-19 - 11%
Nov. 19-26 - holiday
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Nov. 19-Dec. 3 - 29% 2 weeks of data for this week only
Dec. 3-10 - 16%
Dec. 10-17 - 17%
Dec. 17-24 - 14%
Dec. 24-31 - 19%
Jan. 1-7 - 13%
Jan. 7-14 - 14%
Jan. 15-21 - 11%
Jan. 21-28 - 5%
Jan. 28-Feb. 4 - 5%
Feb. 5-11 - 2%
Feb. 11-18 - 2%
Feb. 18-25 - 1%
Feb. 25-March 5 - 1%
March 5-11 - 1%
March 11-18 - 2%
March 18-25 - .5%
March 25 - Apr. 1 - .7%
Apr. 1-8 - 0.1%
Apr. 9-15 - 1%
Apr. 16-22 - 2%
Apr. 22-30 - 2%
Apr. 30 - May 6 - .3%
May 6-13 - 2%
May 13-20 - 0%
May 24 - Data readjustment by county means percentages cannot be calculated this week.
May 27 - June 3 - 0%
June 3-10 - 0%
June 11-17 - .25%
June 18-24 - 0%
June 25-July 1 - 0%
July 2-8 - .3%
July 9-15 - .2%
July 16-22 - .5%
July 23-29 - 1.2%
July 30-Aug. 5 - 2%
Aug. 6-12 - .7%
Aug.13-19 - 4%
Aug. 20-26 - .7%
Aug. 26-Sept. 2 - 3%
Sept. 2-9 - 2%
Sept. 10-16 - 1%
Sept. 17-22 - 1%
Sept. 23-30 - 2%
Oct. 1-7 - 0%
Oct. 8-14 - 1%
Oct. 15-21 - 1%
Oct. 22-28 - 1%
Oct. 29-Nov. 4 - 1%
Nov. 5-11 - 1%
Nov. 12-18 - 2%
Nov. 19 - Dec. 2 - 2 weeks 2%
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Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Fashion Street - Man with Bright Carts
A man wheels his belongings through Freedom Centre in Watsonville.
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Labor History Calendar for December 3-9, 2021:
Dec. 3, 1866: Textile strikers win 10-hour day in Fall River, Massachusettes.
Dec. 3, 1910: IWW union Brotherhood of Timber Workers organized
Dec. 1946: General strike in Oakland
Dec. 3, 1997: Jobless requisition food from luxury hotel in Montreal, Quebec.
Dec. 4, 1969: Chicago police kill Black Panther Fred Hampton.
Dec. 5, 1955: Anti-segregation bus boycott begins in Montgomery.
Dec. 5, 2008: Republic Windows’ workers seize factory to prevent shut-down.
Dec. 5, 2013: Thousands of fast-food workers strike across US.
Dec. 6, 1907: 361 coal miners killed at Monougah, West Virginia.
Dec. 7, 1918: 100,000 textile workers strike in Lancashire, UK.
Dec. 8, 1962: 114-day newspaper strike begins in New York.
Dec. 9, 1842: Birth of Peter Kropotkin.
Dec. 9, 1869: Knights of Labor founded.
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Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Jackson Pollock Gnocchi
By SARAH RINGLER
These little free form drops of boiled dough served in browned butter and crispy sage leaves is divine. But, making them was a real challenge. You might have run across recipes like this in the past; they look simple enough on the page. But, when you start putting it together, you encounter some difficulties that did not appear in the brief description. It harks back to the Latin origin of the word recipe, "recipere" or "take!" In other words, as in this case, "take this stuff and you figure out what to do with it." It calls for creative thinking. I'll try to describe some of the obstacles and solutions I ran into but I can't guarantee you won't have your own. I used unbleached white wheat flour but you could experiment with different flours.
Although called gnocchi in the recipe from Nancy Lynn Jarvis's "Cozy Food" cookbook featuring recipes from 128 Cozy Mystery Writers, these are a different kind of gnocchi than I was familiar with and are actually a more ancient Roman version. Rather than making little pillows of soft dough, you make thick soupy dough. Spoonfuls are dropped into boiling water where they take on bizarre splat-like forms. Boiling dough resulted in a lot of foam. I ended by thickening the dough by adding more flour.
I have presented recipes from Nancy's book before. She is a local woman I met at a holiday bizarre when I was trying to sell the crocheted potholders I make. This particular recipe is from Maria Grazia Swan who writes Mina's Adventure series.
Buttermilk does wonderful things to baked goods like pancakes and biscuits.. Originally it was the liquid left after churning cream into butter. Now it often refers to slightly sour fermented milk. The acid in it reacts with baking powder and causes the dough to rise, which is why it works so well in pancakes. I rarely use it so I bought dried buttermilk powder that can be reconstituted with water. It keeps a long time in the cupboard.
Gnocchi:
2 cups flour - more if necessary
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
Sauce:
6 tablespoons butter
10 sage leaves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Topping:
Parmesan cheese
Put the flour and the buttermilk in a bowl and whisk until smooth like thick custard.
In a large pot, bring 4-5 quarts of water. Add some salt. When the water is boiling, drop in a teaspoon of the buttermilk mixture and observe what happens. I had a big foamy mess here which is why I whisked in more flour. Work in batches of 5-6 at a time. When the drops return to the surface they are done. Scoop them up and drain in a colander.
Make the sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the sage and nutmeg. Cook over medium low heat for about 10-15 minutes until the butter browns and leaves turn crispy but not burnt. Pour over the gnocchi and serve immediately with Parmesan cheese. Serves about 4. Goes well a salad or grilled vegetables.
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Your story, poetry or art here: Please submit a story, poem or photo of your art that you think would be of interest to the people of Santa Cruz County. Try and keep the word count to around 400. Also, there should be suggested actions if this is a political issue. Submit to coluyaki@gmail.com
If you are enjoying the Serf City Times, forward it on to others. We need readers, artists, photographers and writers.
Thanks, Sarah Ringler
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Welcome to Serf City Times Over time, our county has grown more stratified and divided with many people feeling left out. Housing affordability, racism and low wages are the most obvious factors. However, many groups and individuals in Santa Cruz County work tirelessly to make our county a better place for everyone. These people work on the environment, housing, economic justice, health, criminal justice, disability rights, immigrant rights, racial justice, transportation, workers’ rights, education reform, gender issues, equity issues, electoral politics and more. Often, one group doesn’t know what another is doing. The Serf City Times is dedicated to serving as a clearinghouse for those issues by letting you know what is going on, what actions you can take and how you can support these groups.This is a self-funded enterprise and all work is volunteer.
Copyright © 2021 Sarah Ringler - All rights reserved
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