Stagecoach?

Charlie Two Crows Wrote: "Did the stage follow the coast to mattole then come inland? Or did it follow the EEl river. Jack told me the stage from eureka went to center ville after stopping in fern dale. Jack said the stage went down the beach and came to a stage stop at there mazeppa ranch then on the wild cat route to mattole then inland. Does any one have info. On this stage line."

Charlie... Back in "The Horse and Buggy Days" all inland transportation was by saddle horse, mule train, team wagons, ox trains, or horse and buggy. Stage coaches went everywhere that they could go. The only thing that I can tell you for certain is that the the roads went down the ridges. Nobody was dumb enough to try to build a road down by the river, too many bridges, too many slides, too many river and creek crossings. Newcomers brought us the riverside technology. They reckoned that they would be below the snow level. If they had built the train higher up on the ridge, we would still have one.

Having said my piece, I'll try harder to answer your quetions. The main stage from San Francisco to Eureka, came through Ukiah, Willits, Sherwood, (up on the ridge) Strong Mountain Road into Cahto, Lick Skillet and Spat out, (Laytonville) south through Long Valley, up the Bell Springs Ridge, to Bell Springs, where they had a way-station. They changed horses and lodged there for the night. From there they went to Harris, Alderpoint, Blocksburg, Bridgeville, Carlotta, and then into Springville, near Fortuna. There was a stage that went to ferndale and points west, and another stage that went to Eureka and points north. There were numerous "Feeder" stage routes. Like the "Mud-dobber"  that ran from Mina and Covello over the Dos Rios road into Laytonville. A man by the mane of John Snider drove it. John Snider also drove a 6 horse team wagon hauling dynamite from Sherwood to Island Mountain when they were builting the Island Mountain tunnel.

Now for the "bullshistory" part, because I don't really know for sure. But, when I was a wee lad I heard that there was a coach that went from Fort Bragg, Westport, Rockport, Usal, Four Corners, Thorn, Briceland, Garberville, Spuce Grove and Harris. There is still a building that they call "The Stage Stop" on a flat north of Whitethorn. I do know that there was sporadic stage coach operations on the north coast. They were about as consistant as todays coffee shops.

Humboldt Feast, Garberville Rotary Club

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their service club. At least, so say the other Garberville Rotary Club members. So they are holding my fingers to the keyboard.

We are in the midst of the final stages of having an environmentally correct fund raiser for the many great pursuits of our small Rotary Club, September 17th 2011. We are calling the event “Humboldt Feast”, where everything served is organic and from the local area, within a hundred miles, or with good justification for coming from further away, like organic pineapples will have to come from somewhere more tropical. We will have numerous booths from which artisans will serve samples of their ware.

The tickets will be $50.00 each. Ticket buyers will be presented with an etched wine tasting glass to taste the various wines that will be presented. The glass will be your souvenir, to keep with your collection of event wine glasses. Various cheeses will be there. Some of the world’s finest cheeses come from right here in Humboldt County. Did you know that? This will be your chance to taste some. Local produce will be presented, maybe some local mustards, or sauces. Who knows? Many people are just beginning to sign up for booths. There will be acoustic bands playing, and some organizations will be passing out brochures on what they are doing to improve the environment.

The event is what, nowadays, is called "a green event", where everything is environmentally correct. The foods served will be grown and presented in an earth responsible manner. Whether the foods are oysters, beef, barley, or mayonnaise it will be earth friendly, or at least the earth friendliest product available. Each item served will be able to justify it’s “Green-ness” The event will be held in the Garberville Community Park, in the back south-east corner, what is popularly known as, “The wedding Grove”. You will be able to stroll through the widely spaced booths on the mowed grass. You will have the opportunity to observe the many wild birds of the park, and listen to their songs. The area is tucked away from outside noise. It will be like you are attending a private party, which, indeed, you will be. It will be for ticket holders only

Rotarians by their nature have a tendency to be too modest. For instance, not many people know that in 1985 the Rotary International took on the project of curing polio in the world. We knew that it would be the largest project that we had ever taken on. We estimated (hoped) that it would take us five years to immunize everybody in the world. As you know we are far beyond that five years, but we have effectively cured polio, you probably don’t know any recent polio victims. But, we still have to immunize everybody until the disease is dead like smallpox.

The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation gave the Rotary Club 355 million dollars to finish curing polio in the world, with the stipulation that the Rotary International would match 200 million of that amount. I have no idea how much that I have contributed to cure polio but I have given a significant amount. (To me, it’s significant) Altogether we will be spending 555 million dollars more to finish curing polio.

Curing polio is something that is near and dear to my heart. When I was a child growing up in Laytonville, I went to school with a kid that got polio. He was a great athlete, he loved to play baseball, he was vigorous and active in every way. One day I went to school and he was gone. The teacher, in tears, explained to us that he had gotten polio, and that “we should pray for him because polio was a very serious disease“.  It was about a year before he came back to school, he was puffy from lack of exercise, and he had braces on both legs. He could barely get around on crutches. You have no idea what an impact that had on my young mind. Since then Polio has been a bitter enemy.

Wherever you see a child being immunized for polio in the world, you will see a Rotarian. They are down in the trenches doing the work. Rotarians are the heads of airlines, trucking companies, pharmaceutical companies, and every other walk of life. They make it happen. Whenever that I get discouraged about some small thing that someone in the local club is doing wrong, I think of my childhood friend, and know that I can put up with just about anything to cure Polio. We as Rotarians are curing polio.

The Humboldt Feast is only one of the things that we do to raise funds for the many, not just polio, but many worthwhile projects that we do. We will all be there.

Ask Dennis what the Garberville Rotary club has done for the schools. Ask Karen about, personally, planting trees in a South American rainforest to offset the carbon usage of the Garberville Rotary Club. Ask Brian Walker about traveling all over the world to cure Cleft Pallets. Ask about the orphanage in Mexico, or the one in Kenya. Ask about earthquake relief. Ask Seth about what it’s like to host a foreign exchange student. Ask Nancy about all the things that we do for the hospital and the projects that we do in the local community. Ask me about the local Culinary Arts project, or Nicks Interns that are working to revitalize the local forests and streams, or ask me what we are doing to help local workers and businesses. Ask any Rotarian what they are doing. You will be amazed at how involved that they are in the world around them.

Please link to Humboldt Feast for more information here: Humboldt Feast.



E

Hartsook Inn

The Hartsook Inn

We have such incredibly wonderful history along the South Fork of the Eel canyon. Some places more than others. It is especially sad for me to drive through Richardson Grove and realize that I'm one of the few people left around here that had seen it in it's heyday.

I’ve often said that “I’m not really a historian, but I do know where most of the bodies are buried”. So, as one might guess, I know quite bit about the fabled Hartsook Inn. The Hartsook Inn was built by Fred Hartsook, (1876-1930) a man who was mostly known as a famous photographer. Fred Hartsook operated about twenty photography studios. He owned what was reputed to be “The largest photography business in the world”. He took the official photographs of most all of the famous people of the day, and all the great movie stars. He made the official Presidential photograph of Woodrow Wilson.

In 1919 Hartsook married Bess Hesby who was “Miss Liberty in the 1915 San Francisco “Pan-Pacific Exposition“. Fred took his honeymoon at a cabin in the redwoods, at the present location of the Hartsook Inn. I’m not sure how he got there, but it was about the time that Highway 101 was opened through Richardson Grove. According to Nona James, she drove up highway 101 before it was opened to the public. She said that it was in 1917 or 1918.

Bess Hartsook

Fred and Bess Hartsook had three children: Helen, Frederick, and Delyte. Fred Hartsook also had a daughter, Francis, from a previous marriage.

In the early 1920s Fred and Bess purchased 37 acres of pristine redwood forest and built the Hartsook Inn. By 1926 the resort was given it’s own township status, and was granted a United States Post Office. It even had a gas station! That makes it a bona fide town! The town was called “Hartsook” California. In August of 1927 the Hartsook Inn burned to the ground in a large forest fire. Uncontrolled forest fires were very common back then. They had no real way to fight them. Fortunately the redwoods were not permanently damaged and they grew back better than ever. The Inn was rapidly rebuilt and reopened. Fred had a good rapport with the Hollywood crowd, having taken most of their photographs. The Hartsook became the Hollywood group’s playground. Many would take extended vacations up here in the redwoods. The more notable among them were Mary Pickford and Bing Crosby.

As a side note, my grandfather Bill Rathjens, who owned a service station in Laytonville, was also a Kohler Light Plant dealer. He provided the Hartsook Inn with their first electricity.

On 30 September 1930, Fred Hartsook died of a heart attack at the age of 53. That often happens to old men that marry beautiful young women. Bess Hartsook outlived her husband by forty-six years and operated the Hartsook Inn until 1938. In 1938 the Hartsook went into receivership, strangely, the place burned down again… ( due to a fire in the kitchen… WINK) The Inn was rebuilt and reopened in 1941, just in time for world war II.

The Lingenfelters, Darrell and Dorothy, took over the management and ownership of the Hartsook Inn. They did quite well with it through the years. A fellow by the name of Chet Willows managed the place with his wife, Julie, who retired to Phillipsville and just recently died. I’m not sure of the ownership of the Inn during that tenure. Maybe the Willows owned it. I remember the Harsook kitchen back in the 60's. They had an executive Chef. (I'm sorry, but I forgot his name) The chef was the typical Chef, he ran things like an orchestra conductor. He was very firm, and he checked every plate that left the kitchen. If it wasn't perfect, there was hell to pay. Everything in the kitchen would stop, on the spot, there would be a lecture as to what went wrong and why it would never happen again. The kitchen had a "pantry chef" that did all the salads, pates, and cold appetizers. There was a souse chef, a pastry chef, and various cooks and helpers, plus a bus staff that cleaned and reset all the tables. They had a dishwashing staff that kept all the plates and silverware cleaned and polished.

 The female summer help, mostly high-school and college students from Eureka, lived over the kitchen. It was hot up there, in every way. I remember coming down to the dances next door at French's campground. The girls from Hartsook would come over to dance, but they had a 10:00 PM curfew, so they had to leave early. They had a house mother that lived up there with them and she did periodic nose counts, much needed nose counts, because the girls all imagined themselves to be in love with one of the local "country boys".

While under the propriety of the Lingenfelters, there was no alcohol served at the Hartsook. No way. Absolutly not. Don't even bring your own Bottle! If God had intended for you to get drunk he would have given you alcohol! Alcohol is the root of all evil. I have heard many lectures about alcohol from the Lingenfelters. Back in 1983 I was the president of the Garberville Rotary club. Any thought of alcohol was sternly disaproved of by Darrell, who was also a member of the club. I was a juror on a drunk driving trial with Dorothy. The judge asked her if she had ever taken a drink of alchohol. She firmly stated that she had not! Taken aback, he went on to ask her, "Not even a sip? Do you know what it tastes like?" That is the first and last time that I ever heard a judge get a lecture and give an oppology. He then thanked her and excused her. It was hilarious.

My mother Elsie Branscomb and my aunt Vivian Newland owned an ice cream parlor, soda fountain, and sandwich shop in Garberville. They made premium, high butterfat content ice cream, 14% butterfat. A few people even rave about it today. (me) They made Creme-de-menthe ice-cream for the Harsook Inn. I often chuckle about knowing that mom made it with creame-de-menthe Liquor. 20% ALCOHOL.
The Inn burned down again in 1973. I was a firefighter at that fire. C.D.F Battalion Chief Harry Pritchard was the Incident Commander on the fire. Harry went on to become Humboldt county 2nd District Supervisor. I also might add that Harry and I were relatives. Both from old local families that go back to the 1800’s. I was assigned the north end of the building. AHEM… the part of the building that was saved! Never mind that it was also the only part of the building that was not on fire yet when the firefighters got there. We sent a pumper truck to the river to provide the water to fight the fire. We didn’t save much, but once again it was rapidly rebuilt. What you see today when you drive past the rapidly deteriorating building is the 4th Hartsook Inn to be built on the same basic foundation.

The most recent history of the Hartsook is, that it was bought by Richard Head, who also owned the Phillipsville Trailer Park and the Deerhorn Lodge. Head added a liqour license and bar, he also upgraded the kitchen. He had a very popular local Chef in the kitchen by the name of  Kieth Tommson (sp?) Tommson operated the Trees Restaurant in Garberville, until it burned down. Homeless people had moved into the basement. Nobody asked them to leave because they felt sorry for them. It is unknown whether the fire was caused by the homeless, or if somebody burned them out. Sadly, any building the the homeless occupy, unsupervised, burns down. Fact of life #23. I've seen far too much of it.

Richard Head didn't do as well as he hoped that he would, he consequently took out a timber harvest plan to log the redwoods on the property. He cut a few, but the save the redwoods league asked him to stop. He did, and they purchased the Hartsook property. They in turn sold it to the same people that bought Heartwood College at Island Mountain, Bennett and Delphina Dorrance. I've heard numerous rumors that it may become a branch campus of Heartwood.

It's sad the way things go with some of our local history. Maybe the Dorrences will revive some of The Harsook Inn's former glory.


http://www.groupsrv.com/movie/about75181.html Click on link, then scroll down a bit for the story.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Hartsook
http://savetheredwoods.org/newsroom/pr/pr_hartsook.pdf
http://rosieradiator.com/id3.html



e

Wallmart?

In keeping with my newly adopted policy of being the kinder, gentler Ernie, I’m not going to lecture, or berate. I’m simply going to underline a few things that deep down in our hearts we already know. I just want to add some food for thought. Some of us are saddened to see the direction that America has taken lately. Some haven’t paid attention, then maybe some of us are too young to know how great America once was, where a man could support his family, buy a new car every three years, pay off a mortgage, send the kids to college, and take a two week vacation to, say, French’s Campground or Richardson Grove. All that on a simple manufacturing or construction job.

The fact that Walmart may move into the defunct Gottschalk building is all over the news and blogs of late. Everybody has an opinion about how fair or unfair Walmart is to their workers. Some vow to never shop there, others don’t give a darn about anybody, all they want is the low prices. The “right or wrong” of either position is not something that I want to debate. I have thoughts about both sides and I even understand the reasoning behind both positions. So, you ask, where am I headed???

As Americans, we have been sold down the river by the ultra-wealthy. How many times have you heard the phrase “We live in a world economy now. Too bad you don’t have a job. The only thing that you can do is educate yourself, because now we live in the information age”. We can buy Chinese products for a dime on the dollar compared to American manufactured products. Our Wall street investors have shipped buying to China and other places with cheap manufacturing. On the surface you think that the Chinese are simply willing to work harder for less. When actually their choice is to work or starve. They are only paid enough to keep themselves alive. Americans have not slipped that far…. Yet.

We, in America, treasure our antiquities. We would not think of building anything on or near an old Indian burial ground. We consider our heritage as being sacred. We would not even cut two 8” redwood trees to make our highways safer through Richardson Grove. We value trees more than human life itself. Again, I’m not criticizing. Just pointing out facts that I, also, mostly agree with.

The counterpoint to America valuing our treasures is what China does with its Antiquities. They used up the world supply of scrap-iron to make re-bar reinforcement iron for the Three Gorges Dam. They also used up the world supply of premium cement for the concrete in the dam. Now, here is the part that I really want you to think about: The three gorges that they are flooding has been occupied and civilized so far back that it is forgotten in history. At the time that all of the British Isles, and much of North America were covered with sheets of ice, the three gorges were occupied by humans! Think of the antiquities, burial grounds, and simple treasures that are being flooded with water. The dam is so big that it is expected to change the worlds weather and cause earthquakes in the local region.

The reason that the Chinese built the dam was, in part, to provide free hydro-power to manufacture products to sell to people like Walmart, and in turn you and I, John Doe American.

We are supposed to be protected from unfair competition like this by our elected political leaders. But they are elected by wall street, we don’t have the money. The ultra rich also own the media. You can expect to hear “That we live in a world economy now” until you believe it. I don’t know which is the saddest. The fact that Americans would protect American trees while using Chinese toilet paper, or the fact that we are encouraging the Chinese to deface their heritage by buying their products. We would be far better off as Americans if we had a fair balance of trade. We give China Billions of dollars a year more than they buy from us. At one time, back when America was the Great American dream, we had trade laws that protected us from unfair competition. It’s my job to get the best deal that I can get for my family. Whether or not we boycott Walmart will make no difference. We need to get back the vote and elect people that will take care of us.

Any thoughts?
 
 
 
 
e

What ever happened to "Electric on the Eel"?

Electric on the Eel was a dead-head event, where the grateful dead were the headliners. Jerry Garcia "got sick" during one of his famous visits to the Eel River at Frenches Campground. Jerry had a life long problem with health issues. He was overweight, diabetic and he dabbled into too many drugs. At one of his last events here, he  had to postpone for a while to "get well". It was a bad week for Garberville, Jerry's fans were quite willing to take things without paying. They called it "taking back from the man".

 Out of the ashes of "Electric on the Eel" rose "Eclectic on the Eel" with Ry Cooder and David Llindley. They did a lot of Sam the Sham songs. Eventually, Reggae on the River became very popular and soon surpassed all other events, and became the main focus of the local venues. Then the reggae wars started, and it hasn't been quite the same since.

Funny that you would ask, I'm listening to some great Reggae music as I type this... Reggae on the River is this weekend, and it is across the street from my house. They have moved the event to Benbow Lake State Park. They only play music until 10:00 pm, no dope allowed, Jerry would not have been welcome. Bummer.

Don't pass "Pass"

I got a note the other day from an old friend and acquaintance, Mary Ann Machi. She sent me a picture of Bill Pass, and asked if I knew anything about his history. I know quite a bit of history on Bill, but my cousin Oregon knows more, if he will give us some, it would be great. Bill lived across the street from him on Oak Street in Garberville and his dad and bill pass were in the fire department together.

Mary Ann has a great history herself, being a child raised in Shelter Cove from the days when it was a simple sheep ranch, and not a town, to now, where it is a community of city expatriates. It sadens me that she thought that I might not remember her, but it is the way of things nowadays. We went from a community where everyone knew everyone else, to a community full of people with made up names, and identities. We don't know each other anymore, and when we do recognize someone, you still don't know who they are for sure. It seems that most people live lives of secrecy now.

I remember Mary Ann as a very pretty, sweet and shy person. Much like most of the local girls a few years ago. I also remember her as a very good cook... Much like most of the local girls a few years ago.

Anyway, this is what she had to say:

Hi Ernie, I'm thinking you remember me, or at least the family name (of course!) Hope this finds you well. I learned about your blog some time ago and enjoy your articles about the old days. I am scanning my Shelter Cove info collection and came across a couple pages about Bill and Ethel Pass that are attached. I know they lived in the Cove at one time. Looks like they ran a cafe in Garberville next to the theater. Would you know the name of that cafe? Would have been in the late 40's or early 50s, I think. I've looked at the theater's website and see the Black & White Cafe but that was in the 1930's. Could be theirs, or not. Also thought he ran the Shelter Cove Grotto at one time. Is that correct? Thanks so much for any info
Mary Ann

PS I've made the chowder recipe many times and it is delicious. I make it a little differently in that I only add enough water to cover the clams and vegetables and I don't do the additional 2 hours. Seems like everything is tender and tasty after the 30 minutes.

The legend of Suzy Blah Blah

Because many people like to remain anonymous on blogsites, I’ve often wondered; How much reality should I attach to what they say. If their identity can never be known, there is no accountability. However, their thoughts become pure. Sadly, in most cases their thoughts are pure crap, or more often than not, pure evil, or pure hate. Other times their thoughts are delightfully filled with poetry, love, and wisdom.

I am a person that “reads” people well. If I know a person, I can tell how they want their statements to be taken. If you don’t know a person, what they say can only be taken at word value. Much of the humor and wisdom is lost. I remember one time when a person was talking about a humorous situation, where he said with great outrage: “that’s just wrong”. I remember thinking what a great sense of humor he had. Then I saw that he wasn’t kidding around, and the complexion of the situation changed dramatically. After that, anything that I said or did around this person was couched with the wisdom that he was slightly insane. So knowing who a person is can be a clue as to how they will react.

Of course you know, those of us on this blog can’t think about anonymous posters without thinking about Suzy Blah Blah. Normally, I wouldn’t post about a “Person”. I wouldn’t dane to post about somebody if I thought that it might hurt or embarrass them personally in any way. But, how can you hurt somebody that you don’t even know? Nor does anybody else know? So I’m doing a post about Suzy Blah Blah, kind of an unauthorized biography about an imaginary person.

Back in the very start of "Suzy Blah Blah", she would post as a spaced out hippie chick. She made many typo’s but her text was easy to read. There is a premise that if you use all the right letters or make a word look like what it should be, that people will read it as the word that it really should be. If you follow me there… Her comments were always a delightful play on words, and her content was usually a play on the facts of what your post was about. Just a sample of “Early Suzy” after a radio show that they did on BioDiesel:

suzy blah blah said:
Wow!! It was such a grate show on bio-deisel! On the enviramant show on kmud tonight that i am inspird to rite a free virse poem o about it!!! Did you here the Word? O lard wonncha by me a Mursaydees Bendz…!! LOL!!!

EVERY HUMAN BEEN

Every humin bean as well as soybeen is created by god and one is not too kill or commit forniication unless you do it righteously surving god so i told billy and he says that his gandmoter is of the Juicer religeon and told him that thiss is the basick ‘concept……………………….

(And so on. Ernie)

Suzy went on to comment on everybody’s blogs in the same delightful and cheerful way. Some people were critical of her and said some pretty nasty things to her. I made the comment that: “Say what you will about Suzy, she has never said anything but kind things to anybody”. Then she started to change. She started writing in full intelligent script. She stared criticizing some of what people said. Some of her criticism even became unfair. I’m reminded of when she criticized Ben’s interpretation of the Indian legend of how the three pools of Salmon Creek came about.

She started delving deeply into spiritual things. Some funny and interesting, and some in a critical manner. When Suzy really started to change was when she wrote that she got caught with a bunch of marijuana, Billy left her, she was pregnant, and she was living south of here. Recently, I asked her on Erics blog what she had done in her life that caused her to change so much, her reply was that she was not the same person. That the real Suzy got tired of it and asked her to take over. I’m not sure what really happened to “Suzy”, but she had, and still has, a considerable fan base. Many of the things that she said struck me how smart she was/ is? I made the statement once that, she was smarter than all the rest of us that post on this blog put together.

Although I’ve often wondered about who Suzy really is, but deep down, I’m not sure I want to know.

I have a habit of always listening to the things that people say, and I try hard to understand them. The one thing that Suzy said that moved me the most, and I still have it framed and hung on my office wall to remind me:

“love is always preferable to understanding anyway--- except sometimes i think maybe theyre close to the same thing…”
Suzy Blah Blah

Here's to "Understanding" Suzy

Pot Country

My cousin “Oregon” was complaining that he didn’t have any redneck stuff to watch on television so I went looking on the internet for something interesting with a few rednecks in it and look what popped up. I found a couple of trailers that were hanging out there. The name of the film is “Pot Country”. Which only points out how far we’ve gone in the last 40 years, I remember when it used to be called “Timber Country”. Oh well, out with the old, and in with the new.

Last winter two Berkley university students showed up, Kate McLean and Mario Furloni. They had city clothes on, and they had squeaky clean faces and clear eyes. My first though was that they would never be able to find a job “trimming” looking like that. They said that they were trying to do a film about what the transition from logging to marijuana growing in Humboldt county was like. They said that they had tons of growers that they could talk to, but they wanted to talk to somebody that knew the history of the area. So I started by telling them about how the rocks got here, but they said that they wanted to start about 1950, the heyday of the timber industry in “Pot Country”.

We spend a couple of days talking and driving around. It was a nice trip down memory lane for me. They actually seemed to be fairly open minded. They didn’t really say much about all the trees that I slaughtered, and they didn’t seem to be down on the marijuana industry either. They tried to get along good with everybody and simply get the story. I felt that I had a lot in common with them, because the “Good Story” is what I live for.

My wife and I went down to Berkley for the premiere viewing of their film. I have not seen the final edition yet, so I don’t know if I die in the film like John Wayne did in "The Cowbys". But, I understand that the final edition was shown on KQED in San Francisco last night. Kate and Mario promised me a copy of the film once that it was published, and I have no reason to believe that they won’t send me one. They have such sweet faces, my wife fell in love with them, and I‘m sure she would have adopted them if it was possible.

The film won the “Hearst Award” which is apparently the top rated award at the school. Something like the Academy Award for best documentary at the university of California Berkley School of Journalism.



Pot Country | Trailer | 1min17sec from Mario Furloni on Vimeo.





Kym did a post on this film also: Pot Country



e

Vent your Spleen

Do you feel like venting your spleen? Speaking your mind? Getting something off your chest? Expounding your brilliance? Expressing your anger, or in rare cases, your joy? Now is the time, no subject is of limits, as long as you realize that your mamma probably reads this blog.

I often get the feeling that some of you would rather talk about something else here, but you are too polite to say. So if something is heavy on your mind, now is the time to say so.

But ha, ha, I get to go first, because this is “Ernie’s Place”. Executive privilege, and all that, apply.  So here goes: I’ve lost a whole bunch of faith in humanity as I have aged. It always seemed to me that people were basically honest, and they sincerely cared about what other people thought about them. (This is where that loud obnoxious claxon horn sounds when a person makes a wrong answer) Blaaaaaattt! I’ve come to the conclusion that some people would do just about anything as long as they knew that they would never get caught. Not only would they do it, they would be happy that they would get away with it, after all, “It’s all about them!”

What got me started on all of this, is that I got to thinking about Casey Anthony. She has absolutely no principles whatsoever. While she was in jail awaiting trial it came out that she had used a friends credit card and ran up a bunch of bills on it that she had no way of paying. She stole her friend’s checks and used them to buy beer and clothes. She pleads guilty to 13 felony fraud, bad check, and credit card theft counts. On top of being a thief and a fraud, she is a liar and a slut. Only a fool would think that she doesn’t have at least a small idea of what happened to her daughter.

Now, having said all that, I got to thinking about “Karma” which I absolutely don’t believe in , because I can’t hit it with a hammer, so it doesn’t work for me. The strange thing of it is, Karma always seems to come around. You will see it in most cases. Do something bad and Karma will bite you in the butt. I thought about; what is it going to be like when Casey gets out of Jail? Would you hire her to work for you? It will be darn near impossible for her to find work. Sadly, there are men out there that would like to take advantage of her drop dead gorgeous body. Maybe she could become a prostitute, it wouldn’t be much of a life style change for her, she apparently would go to bed with any man that was “Hot”. I guess the true test is what would the average man think of her?

Nobody will rent her a house. Nobody would want her next door. The tattoo that she got that says “Bella Vita” (Good Life) will be wasted. Remember the man that killed the gay San Francisco supervisor, Harvey Milk? When he got out of jail he got so much harassment that he started his car in the garage and killed himself. That was his Bella Vita after he got out of jail.

Now, I’m not sure what killed little Kaylee Anthony, but I’m sure that Casey probably knows. The one thing that I know, beyond any reasonable doubt, is Casey’s Bella Vita is over!

Spleen two: Every Lawyer that I know seems like a real nice person. So why does it seem like they are all involved in some evil lawyer conspiracy to strip the world of money? The Judges all seem like they are the sugar daddies in keeping the lawyers rich. Every legal decision seems to go toward lawyers making money in the courtroom. Hey, I know that’s probably wildly unfair. But, check the name at the top of the blog, I have privilege here, and I will make any ruling that pleases me. To say the legal system feeds its own greed pleases me.

Where I’m headed is, we have our own local Casey Anthony. Her name is Claudia Pedreros. I’m going to say that everything on this blog is alleged and everybody is entitled to be found guilty or innocent in a court of law, so I’ll just give you the hearsay. But, the hearsay is that young Claudia drove her little two year old daughter to Trinity County, took her daughter down to the creek, took her out to the middle, held her little body under until she was dead, then she just let her float down the stream. Claudia then took off all her clothes and waked down the middle of the highway. When they picked her up, she didn’t remember a thing. It was only later that she remembers and told the cops what happened.

The judge found her competent to stand trail. The lawyers are going to have to bring their wheelbarrows to take home all this money.

My spleen feels better now… How about yours?

Casey Anthony already a fellon

Claudia Pedreros

e

More American System of Justice, Casey Anthony

Well, I'm surprised that I am only one of a few bloggers that is going to do a post about this trial. Casey Anthony was found not guilty of killing little Caylee Anthony by a jury of her peers. To began with, I have always found "Jury of their peers" to be a humorous phrase. It implies that a persons "peers" would be like them, as close as possible. What it really means, is people just like them, as close as possible without having committed the same crime, so that way a juror might have a better background in being able to understand if a person was really capable of committing the crime or not.

So, I guess that Casey Anthony should have had a jury of "liars and sluts", because that is what her lawyer openly called her in his summation speech. I was shocked when he first called her that, then it struck me that he had just made a masterful move. Everybody on the jury knew, beyond any reasonable doubt, that she was a liar and a slut. So, the jury was ready to believe whatever else he had to say. Her lawyer went on to say that there was not one shred of evidence that Casey was anything but a loving, caring mother. Then, that there was no evidence as to how little Caylee died, or in who's care.

The prosecutor stated to, essentially, forget all the rhetoric about evidence, and go with what you know in your hearts, that Casey killed that little girl.

If I was a juror, I would have came to the same verdict, there was no evidence that laid any direct blame on Casey.

So, what REALLY happened to little Kaylee?

American System of Justice

First, this is not about the guilt or innocence of Mr. Strauss-Kahn. Nor the veracity of the hotel maid, 32-year-old, Nafissatou Diallo. It's about the American system of justice.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn was the leader of the International Monetary Fund, an organization that controls the purse strings of the world. Upon the accusation that he had sexually assaulted the maid in the hotel that he was staying, he promptly and wisely resigned his office. He knew that it wouldn't be good for one of the most powerful offices in the world to be involved in a scandal. He was jailed and held on a six million dollar bail for release.

He was a potential candidate for the president of France. On the word of one hotel maid he was jailed and his life was placed in ruin. Now, please don't get me wrong, if he was guilty of what he was accused of, he would be the lowest scum on the face of the Earth, lower than a snake, he should have to "eat dirt and die" (old Biblical saying) Remember the joy that we felt when he was arrested? Nobody, no matter how powerful, should be allowed to take advantage of a woman's charms without her permission. (Period) Most everybody would agree with me there. Say so if you don't!

Now, later, we find out that maybe, just maybe, the lady was making a little fib. I know, maybe she was telling the truth, and this is all just politics. My whole point of this post is that the man was arrested May 14th, he was released without bail on July 1st. If we are so proud of our justice system, why does it take so long to put such an important case together? There is NO excuse big enough to justify ruining a mans life. We now look like fools in the whole world.


e