PAGE CONTENTS ( Click on topics to go to articles):
Click. HERE WE GO AGAIN! THE POLYGRAPH SOLUTION TO THE LOS ALAMOS SECURITY PROBLEM by Steven Aftergood © 2000
CLICK. MAE BRUSSELL--HUMAN RIGHTS HEROINE. Special tribute to civil rights and gay activist Paul Bernardino!
By Virginia McCullough BayCities Observer.
Click. GAY PRIDE COMETH BEFORE A FALL! THE POLITICAL LONG KNIVES ARE WAITING!
HERE WE GO AGAIN! THE POLYGRAPH SOLUTION TO THE LOS ALAMOS SECURITY PROBLEM
by Steven Aftergood © 2000
Nobody is quite sure precisely what the problem is with security policy at
the nuclear weapons laboratories-- but Congress seems convinced that
polygraph testing is part of the solution.
Tuesday night, the House approved an amendment to the Energy and Water
Development Appropriations Act for 2001 (H.R. 4733), offered by Rep. Jack
Kingston (R-Georgia), that states:
"None of the funds in this Act may be used to pay the salary of any employee of the Department of Energy at the Los Alamos National Laboratory
who has failed to undergo a polygraph examination pursuant to section
3154(3) of Public Law 106-65."
That section 3154, from last year's Defense Authorization Act, requires
polygraph testing of "covered persons" who have access to "high-risk" programs, such as special access programs. The text of that law may be found here:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/othergov/polygraph/doe_ci.html
A December 1999 DOE regulation, promulgated in response, is here:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/othergov/polygraph/polyreg.html
Meanwhile, the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday approved the
"Nuclear Secrets Safety Act" introduced by Rep. Duncan Hunter
(D-Calif.). That measure would establish a new polygraph requirement "for
individuals who have access to any vault containing Restricted Data" at the
nuclear weapons laboratories.
The proposed Act would also create a rather daunting requirement for "an
inventory of each document or device at each national security laboratory
that contains Restricted Data," to be submitted to Congress within 90
days. See the text of the Nuclear Secrets Safety Act (H.R. 4737) here:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/congress/2000/hr4737.html
In a press release yesterday, Rep. Hunter said his proposed Act would
"require the DOE to protect our secrets with the same effort in which they
were gained."
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/2000/06/hunter.html
This is a rhetorical leap, since the resources available for security are
not remotely comparable to the resources devoted to nuclear weapons
research and development.
While it has been enormously expensive to generate new nuclear secrets, it
has been comparatively easy and inexpensive to disclose them, whether
through official declassification, independent research, foreign
disclosure, bureaucratic error, leaks, or dissent.
Furthermore, nuclear secrets are not replenished on a daily basis, as are
the secrets of diplomacy or intelligence.
As a consequence, the simple reality is that nuclear secrecy is a
diminishing category. One must anticipate that in the not very distant
future, there will be no nuclear secrets left of any great significance.
___________________
Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
http://www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
FREAK-OUT! THERAPIST MUST REVEAL THERAPY CONFIDENCES RE: WHO ABUSED A CHILD IN SLANDER SUIT BROUGHT BY THE ALLEGED ABUSER OR GO TO JAIL!
Therapist's dilemma: Keep a confidence, go to jail
San Francisco Examiner July 27, 2000
SCOTT WINOKUR © 2000
OF THE EXAMINER STAFF
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/examiner/archive/2000/06/27/NEWS13909.dtl
BECAUSE she did the right thing, Elena Storer faces fines and jail when she goes to court Thursday and once again refuses to provide information in a
slander suit in open court.
Storer, a Belmont mother of two young sons who practices psychotherapy in San Francisco and San Mateo, did something courageous last year on behalf of South Bay children she believed were being sexually abused. She informed the Belmont police and the suspected molester's wife.
Storer, 44, knew the alleged abuser and his children. She'd socialized with him and she'd previously witnessed one of his kids acting out sexually - a strong sign of abuse. It worried her. But she'd done nothing.
Then, in July of last year, she learned from an unidentified adult that the same man allegedly had masturbated in the presence of a small boy in the locker room of a local community center in 1997.
For Storer this confirmed what she'd suspected. Now she acted. But the police already were investigating, it turned out; they'd been tipped off by the same person who had told Storer.
The summer of 1999 turned into the fall, and the investigation proceeded. Nothing would come of it, however. There wasn't enough evidence, police decided. Time had passed and the overall account of sexual misconduct hinged on much adult hearsay.
Case closed? Hardly.
The suspected abuser was a highly educated professional with plenty to protect. In October, he sued "Does 1-20" for slander in San Mateo County Superior Court, proclaiming his innocence.
He argued that he'd been defamed and deserved monetary damages, regardless of the fact that no one outside a very small circle of individuals was aware of the allegations against him.
He didn't know the name or names of whoever had originally snitched him off to the cops. But he was determined to find out and exact revenge.
The cops wouldn't help him; under law, they had the right to protect informants' identities.
That left Storer. The suspect knew that she knew, and he decided to squeeze her.
But he underestimated this woman. Even if she had not been advised by the police to remain silent, she knew from her own professional training that truth and confidence were priceless. She couldn't give up her secret.
Storer's attorney, Lee Danforth of Redwood City, argued that at least three state laws entitled Storer to remain silent.
But P. Terry Anderlini of San Mateo, attorney for the suspected abuser, claimed that since Storer wasn't the actual police informant, she had no such privilege under law.
On May 10, Judge Phrasel Shelton ordered Storer to talk. Nine days later, an appeals court upheld his ruling. On June 6, she was ordered to return to Superior Court this Thursday and spill the beans - or face at least 5 days in jail and fines totaling $11,000.
In a prepared statement last week, Storer told the judge:
"I believe I am doing the right thing . . . even if it means that I will be found in contempt . . .
"Regretfully, the opinion of this court as it stands is that the alleged perpetrator's interest in a slander suit outweighed the public policy of protection and anonymity given to informants, child abuse reporters and the victims of the abuse and their families.
"I feel your decision will ultimately undermine the public's willingness to report suspected child abuse . . ."
Storer is willing to tell the judge the informant's name privately, in chambers, but not in open court. Anderlini says that's fine with him, "if the judge tells me." Of course, Storer won't talk if she has any reason to believe that will happen.
She won't buckle, I predict. For that, she deserves our gratitude. Storer is essentially in the same position as a journalist compelled by a court to reveal the identity of a confidential source. And, like a journalist who holds her mud, Storer knows that something more important is at stake than her personal fate:
The truth.
She knows you can't get at it without the unimpaired ability to protect those who possess it, which means speaking to them in utter confidence.
Ninety-nine percent of the time such arrangements are in the public's interest. They are good deals. Those who make them - particularly nonjournalists who aren't paid to go out on a limb - should be praised, not punished.
THE CATEGORIES OF MERCENARIES:
AirScan -- http://www.airscan.com/ -- aerial reconnaisance and resupply. Openly operates in Angola. Said to provide surveillance and security for U.S. classified assets, military and otherwise, worldwide.
Armor Holdings, Inc -- http://armorholdings.com/. Owns Defence Systems, Ltd, Eggington House; 25-28 Buckingham Gate; London, England SW1E 6LD; (0171) 233-5611, FAX: (0171) 233-7434; DSL provides security for British Petroleum in Algeria, Colombia, and Angola; trains military and police in Saudi Arabia, Botswana, Brunei, and Singapore; and provides security for U.N. operations in Afghanistan, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, and Tanzania.
Beni Tal -- http://www.beni-tal.co.il/ -- ``provides military security services and projects throughout the world, with specially chosen Israeli personnel.'' And, ``In any place, no matter how far, where local professional have failed, BENI TAL manages to do the impossible - whether within residential homes, beneath the sea, in the air and on land, coming face to face with physical violence, harsh weather and difficult terrain conditions. Here we use ex-soldier from the elite battle units of the Israeli forces as well as from the Sea Commando.''
Bob Denard -- http://www.bobdenard.com/. This guy's been around. Angola, Biafra, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, French Indo-China, Gabon, Libya, Morocco, Rhodesia, Vanuatu, Yemen, Zaire, etc. Not always successful, mind you, but certainly active. After running yet another failed coup in an ex-French colony (Comoros, or maybe Seychelles), France tried to shut his operation down.
Chilport -- From their web page: ``SPECIAL OPERATIONS -- Chilport (UK) is able to provide specialist operatives covering a wide range of disciplines related to the military sphere. [....] INTELLIGENCE GATHERING -- Using fully trained former military operatives, Chilport (UK) can provide total intelligence gathering and investigations services, world-wide. Full use is made of current state-of-the-art audio and optical devices. [....] SURVEILLANCE -- Chilport (UK) employs former military and Police trained surveillance personnel able to undertake sensitive covert operations in the UK and world-wide.''
Close Quarters Protection Operators Association -- ``an international association of security organizations conducting high-risk protection, tactical training, and other specialized services'', http://www.cqpoa.org/
DynCorp -- The U.S. federal government contracted with DynCorp to provide 150 American personnel as on-site military monitors for Kosovo, taking the place of U.S. military personnel (Soldier of Fortune, February 1999 pg 31). Presumably this is the same DynCorp as http://www.dyncorp.com/, which initially seems to do information technology only, but when you look further does support some DOD operations.
Executive Outcomes -- http://www.eo.com/ -- South African mercenaries with a presence in Angola, Congo, Sierra Leone, and Uganda. Suspected of having operated in Colombia, Mexico, and Papua New Guinea. Note -- in the winter of 1999 this page disappeared, and I realize that Sandline International seems to have taken over their operations. Recent laws enacted in South Africa made it illegal for them to base their operation there. The last point of contact was P. O. Box 75255, Lynnwood Ridge, Pretoria 0040, South Africa, fax: +27-12-348-1158.
French Foreign Legion -- A branch of the French military. However, although run by a major Western government, le Legion Etrangere is in many ways a large and very well-organized mercenary organization
Global Studies Group -- http://gsgi.org/ -- executive protection, asset protection, military and paramilitary training.
Gormly International -- http://www.gormlyintl.com/bgormly/brochure.html -- offers ``Commercial and Pleasure Craft Anti Piracy Countermeasures '' and in Russia, personal and facilities protection, and air and vehicular transport.
Grupo Golan -- http://www.grupogolan.com/home.html -- ``Israel's Elite Security Services''. Very serious security services, training in weapons and hand-to-hand combat, vehicle armoring. Active in the Middle East, Guatemala, El Salvador, and the U.S.
Marine Risk Management S.A. -- http://www.marinerisk.com/ -- asset recovery and protection, maritime anti-hijacking operations, world-wide. See The Economist, 18 Dec 1999, pp 91-93.
MPRI, Military Professional Resources, Inc. -- http://www.mpri.com/. Contracted by the U.S. to provide foreign military training and support of the form traditionally done by DOD personnel. In Croatia since 1995. In Bosnia since 1996. Suspected of having a presence in Angola. Also see Soldier of Fortune, April 1998, pp 54-57,66; and May 1998, pp 56-59,67.
Pistris -- http://www.pistris.com/ -- ``PISTRIS, Inc. provides services specializing in all manner of Maritime Special Operations (MSO), including coastal and riverine warfare, law enforcement, waterborne special operations and maritime antiterrorism. Our multinational team can help you achieve your waterborne objectives, whether you need to conduct riverine interdiction, defend your sovereign or economic rights along your coast, or conduct a counter-terrorist assault on a moving and evasive vessel.''
Read World Rescue -- http://www.realworldrescue.com/ -- training, evacuation services, terrorism intel and analysis.
Royal Gurkha Rifles -- http://www.army.mod.uk/army/organise/infan/gurkha/ -- Actually the Gurkhas likely don't belong in this list, but as it's a part of one nation's armed forces made up entirely of non-nationals, Nepalis in the British army in this case (and thus somewhat analogous to the French Foreign Legion), I guess someone might find the URL useful.
Rubicon International -- http://www.rubicon-international.com/ -- Promise to ``... help your organisation to contain the threats that emerge from operating in hostile security environments. We will provide risk and crisis management solutions that are tailored to your needs, drawing upon the full experience of our specialist team. [....] Rubicon offers low-profile, high-value risk and crisis management solutions. Detailed intelligence and threat assessments, security advice, staff training, and contingency planning will equip you with the inner resources you need to be confident that you are ready for any eventuality. Our security consultants, medical team and 24-hour crisis response service provide you with the back-up when you need to call for help.''
Sandline International -- http://www.sandline.com/site/index.html -- With the disappearance of Executive Outcomes, Sandline Intl is the biggest name in the field. Recently active in Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone, and elsewhere.
Satellites Maritime Security -- -- Establishing maritime security teams in Philippine, west African, and Caribbean waters. They are reported to have set up an operations center at the Subic Bay naval base, formerly a U.S. Navy base, and staffed it with up to 225 former Dutch Marines (plus former members of the Dutch BBE anti-terror unit, Dutch SBS, and British SAS). They are also reported to have operations centers in Curaçao and Gambia.
Sayeret Group -- http://www.sasops.com/sayeret.html -- ``Sayeret Group is a professional service organization specializing in Intelligence Collection, Direct Action, Protection Operations and Tactical Training programs. All staff are former members of U.S. and foreign military special operation forces and U.S. law enforcement agencies. Sayeret will only provide lawful services to recognized "friendly" governments or legitimate organizations with a professional need.''
Special Ops Associates -- maritime security and recovery, corporate protection and security, clandestine surveillance, tactical training. http://specialopsassociates.com/main.htm
Swiss Guard -- http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/swiss_guard/ -- Well, they are a mercenary force. The Vatican is a (very small) independent state, and they just contract out the guard duty.
Tactical Response Solutions International -- Security, counter-piracy, anti-piracy, cargo security, medical services and training, operating from Australia and Florida.
Vinnell Corporation -- http://www.vinnell.com/ -- part of TRW, they operate facilities and equipment for the U.S. military and provide training for non-U.S. military forces.
US International -- http://the-south.com/USInternational/ -- advertises information collection, commercial intelligence, and high-risk protective services.
Counter-mercenary uses of the net -- The Free Algerian Officers Movement, Mouvement Algerien des Officiers Libres, has a page denouncing and listing, down to birthday and military background, mercenaries allegedly in the employ of the current Algerian government. http://www.anp.org/merc/mercengl.html
Private intelligence services They don't provide military action, but they are very busy serving oil companies and other private multi-national concerns as private for-hire intelligence gathering and analysis services. It seems that they fit in and deserve mention somewhere -- I'm just not sure where!
THE FIRE AT THE OLD KORNELL CHAMPAGNE CELLARS WAREHOUSE.
WHERE IS ACCOUNTABILITY AND ENFORCEMENT?
One needs only to visit the Napa County Planning office and request a copy of Napa County Use Permit No. 95661-MOD, to expose the trails that cover up Richard Frank and Koerner Rombauer II, the principals who own the former Hanns Kornell Champagne Cellars which caught fire or were torched on June 15, 2000. The fire reportedly caused a loss of nearly 90,000 cases of wine. Who are the owners? Richard Frank, is a former, i.e. deposed Walt Disney executive and a member of Eisner's "Inner Circle." Koerner Rombauer II, doing business as Rombauer Vineyards, is a "fly boy" with a lobster red face from non-stop over consumption of his own product.
Koerner and Rich are known in California as the Mickey Mouse Mafia (a handle given to the mob in Southern California by their OWN compatriots in Chicago aka "The Chicago Outfit" which also has huge stakes in Napa County). Koerner and Rich, along with a bunch of Napa attorneys who love Anaheim and development, would sell their souls to Disney-related and other development interests because they can't stand the dust of the vineyards. They place their own people in the Judiciary as well. It's "anything for a buck" these days as the county is over-populated with attorneys who want their names on labels of wine bottles.
What does Napa County Use Permit No. 95661-MOD reveal? The "permit" actually provided to the public by the Napa County Planning and Conservation Department is a copy of what they (Frank/Rombauer) requested, not what was approved by the Napa County Planning and Conservation Department.
The actual approved document rests with Mike Miller in the Planning Department. That document, Use Permit 95661-MOD, was signed and dated 8/20/97 following a number of Planning Commission hearings on the matter which began in May, 1997.
Below is a report of what has been ascertained from a search of available internet sites following the reading of Koerner Rombauer's statements to the press in the aftermath of a fire that devastated the inventories of innocent, start-up wine-makers at his facility.
Will someone come to the rescue of these innocent wine-makers? Or is this another case in which the various county, state, and Federal agencies can't decide who is responsible for investigating both the fire and the operations, so that no one does anything?
NEWSMAKINGNEWS REPORTS THE RESULTS OF A PUBLIC RECORDS INVESTIGATION OF 1091 LARKMEAD LANE, THE "SITE" OF THE WAREHOUSE FIRE. THE TRUTH ABOUT THE WAREHOUSE INVENTORIES AND OPERATIONS, AS COMPARED TO KOERNER ROMBAUER'S DISCLOSURES TO THE PRESS. Dateline: June 26, 2000.
FIRST. A COMPARISON OF ROMBAUER'S PRESS DISCLOSURES AND CALCULATIONS OF WHAT WINE WAS ACTUALLY STORED IN THE WAREHOUSE, REVEALS THE ROMBAUER "BURN BABY BURN" CAPERS!
It can be established from Koerner Rombauer’s disclosures in press articles (Santa Rosa Press Democrat 6/16 and subsequent issues; Napa Valley Register 6/15, 6/16, and subsequent issues including 6/22) that:
a. 85,000 to 90,000 cases of wine stored on the second floor were lost in the fire.
b. 60,000 cases belonged to other people (Napa Valley Register 6/16 and 6/22).
c. Some of the cases belonged to Rombauer Vineyards which was required to keep its inventory elsewhere as its ownership is different from Frank-Rombauer operations that include Kornell Champagne, Napa Cellars LLC, and Frank-Rombauer.
d. 1,500 oak barrels were safely removed; at least 3,000 oak barrels remained; up to 30,000 cases were safely removed from the first floor; at least 12 pallets of Pride Mountain cased goods remain on the first floor post fire.
e. Stainless storage tanks were full, in a different building, undamaged by the fire, and stored 100,000 gallons + per statements of Koerner Rombauer at time of fire and at Planning Commission.
SECOND: CALCULATIONS, PER ROMBAUER'S OWN DISCLOSURES, OF THE AMOUNT OF WINE IN THE WAREHOUSE AT THE TIME OF THE FIRE, SHOW JUST HOW THE ROMBAUER CAPER SMOKES HIM OUT!
Calculations per Rombauer's own disclosures of amount of wine in the warehouse at the time of the fire:
90,000 cases x 2.5 gallons/case = 225,000 gallons
4,500 barrels x 55 gallons/barrel = 247,500
stainless 100,000
Total: 572,500
Other wine:
case, riddle in stone winery
case goods in retail room
additional oak
30,000 cases were reputedly safely removed from 1st floor of warehouse.
THIRD. THE CAPER TURNS TO ASHES! CHECKING ROMBAUER'S NUMBERS AND INVENTORY AGAINST THE RULES, ROMBAUER'S FIGURES EXCEED THE MAXIMUM APPROVED ANNUAL FLOW PER #95661-MOD!
The above amount of wine - 572,500 - per Rombauer's calculations exceeds the maximum approved annual flow through of 564,500 at site at time of fire (see condition 1 a. of #95661-MOD).
FOURTH: ROMBAUER'S HIDDEN EMBER CAPER? WAS ALL THE WINE IN THE WAREHOUSE NAPA VALLEY WINE?
Did 100% of the above gallons over 350,000 consist of grapes grown in Napa County? (see condition 1(b).
FIFTH: ROMBAUER'S SIZZLING CAPER TO BYPASS CUSTOMER PRODUCERS AND ALTERNATORS LIMITS!
Condition 1(c) limits operations to 17 custom producers, including 12 alternators. Press articles revealed the identities of more than 30 non-proprietors operating at the site at the time of the fire. These have been confirmed from ABC records. Those licensed to do business at the site include the following with "02" wine producer permits (alternators)
- Bacio Divino Cellars, LLC (Claus Janzen; formerly Cloudy) - spaces 13 & 14.
- Colby Vineyards (Grace Colby) - spaces 1 & 2.
- D-Cubed winery (Duane Dappen, winemaker) - spaces 5 & 6.
- Robert Foley - not specified.
- Perry vineyards (Richard Perry) - 11 & 12 or 13 & 14.
- Salvestrin Wine Company (Ed Salvestrin) - not specified.
- Spelletich Family - not specified.
The following had custom operations, and some among them MAY have been alternators - Type 17, 20 licenses:
- Blair Vineyards (Chris Johnson).
- Brown Estate Vineyards (David Brown).
- Catahoula Winery.
- Eklund Wine Co. (Jim Eklund).
- Elyse Wine Cellars (Ray Coursen).
- G. Graham (Gregory Graham - license transferred 3/00).
- Hendry Ranch Winery (George Hendry).
- Inniskillin (UTL ABC records).
- Kathryn Hall Vineyards (Kathryn Hall).
- Le Ducq (New VaVin).
- Miura (reported as Mura in Press Democrat).
- Point Reyes Vineyards (Stephen Doughty).
- Pride Mountain (Carolyn Pride).
- Rowland Cellars (Gerald Rowland).
- Shypoke Vineyard (Gary Heitz).
- Smith, Jeff dba Dusinberre.
- Soda Canyon Vineyards (John Furtado).
-Sparrow Lane Vineyards (Phil Toohey).
- T Vine (Greg Brown).
- Tonics Wines & Beers (Martene Miller).
There were additional services provided for major wineries, at minimum including either custom or warehousing operations, who had substantial inventories on the 2nd floor at the time of the fire:
- Duckhorn Vineyards (The St. Helena Wine Co.).
- Rombauer Vineyards (prohibited from warehousing because this is a different legal entity and bonded winery from owner Frank-Rombauer).
- V. Sattui Winery*.
Other wineries cited by Koerner Rombauer as losing wine in the fire:
- Catculet Ranch (which appears to be Catahoula Ranch, the former Bar 49; Steve Giglio).
- Parador (which could be either Paradigm or Pyramid Vineyards)
- Greenfield Wine Company.
* None of the above (Duckhorn, Rombauer Vineyards, V. Sattui had duplicate "02" licenses).
Others reported (per common knowledge, i.e. hearsay) as having wine at the site:
- Folie a Deux.
- St. Clement (photo only of one scarred bottle).
Wines reported by the Proprietors as owned by Proprietors :
Figures related to the operations of Frank-Rombauer that are permitted at their site and which represent the owner/proprietor ANNUAL production figures.
Napa Cellars LLC Wines/Vines + St. Helena Star 6,000 cases
Kornell Champagne " 10,000-12,000
Frank-Rombauer 4,000
Total cases: 22,000 per year produced x 2.5 gallons/case = 55,000 gallons. Because grapes are harvest in say the Fall of 1996, and NOT released until May - August 1998, they can be deemed as having 2 years of inventory on hand. However, one year of the inventory was completely safe as it was stored in oak or stainless--most commonly oak by this time. The stainless contained "more dump and run" stuff from out of county, most likely.
SIXTH: ROMBAUER'S RED-HOT EXCESSIVE CUSTOM OPERATIONS CAPER!
THE CALCULATIONS PROVE THAT ROMBAUER HAD MORE CUSTOM OPERATIONS WINE STORE IN THAT BURNED- OUT WINE WAREHOUSE THAN THE PERMITS AND LAW ALLOWED, AND FAR MORE THAN HE TOLD THE PRESS HE HAD STORED THERE.
A shown by the figures stated in the Fifth point above, it appears Frank-Rombauer clearly exceeded the number of custom operations permitted at the site. There are at least 35 different licensed entities/legal entities listed BY HIM and ABC records as operating at the site instead of 17.
SEVENTH: ROMBAUER'S WILD-FIRE "MIX OF OWNERSHIP" CAPER:
As shown by the figures stated in the Fifth point above, it furthermore appears that condition 1(b) of the use permit was violated with respect to the "mix of ownership" of wine processed at the center, which was to be limited to 1/3rd by custom customers (including the alternators) and 2/3rds owner-proprietor. The 60,000 cases of "other people’s wine" totals 150,000 gallons.
Frank-Rombauer disclosed late in 1999 a production of only 55,000 gallons. Did Frank- Rombauer own 2/3rds of the total inventories on 6/15/00?
EIGHTH: ROMBAUER'S BROILING BULK WINE CAPER:
Condition 1(c) appears to have been violated: Condition 1(c) states:
No more than 150,000 gallons of bulk wine shall be received at the site from up to 5 entities not associated with Rombauer Vineyards, Napa Cellars, or custom processors licensed at this site.
In addition to fulfilling Condition 1(c), Frank-Rombauer was going to provide by January 30 of each year during a review period, a report of the number of trucks and amount of bulk wine delivered to the site to better monitor the truck traffic at the site. No reports appear to be on file at Napa County Planning.
NINTH: ROMBAUER'S STEAMY WAREHOUSE PERMITS CAPERS:
How did Frank-Rombauer Cellars LLC obtain a Type 14 Warehouse Permit from ABC #354004 (originating 5/98 as Koerner Rombauer II and Frank Family Trust 5/12/98) when Use Permit #95661-MOD dated 8/20/97 did not permit use of the building as a Public Warehouse?
How, and why, did the ABC issue a Type 14 Public Warehouse license to Koerner Rombauer II and Frank Family Trust in May, 1998? Was this because the Use Permit (#95661-MOD) requested by Frank Rombauer Cellars was turned down? Were the principals then being treated as unique and separate entities? Why then would the same ABC transfer the Use Permit from Koerner Rombauer II and Frank Family Trust to Frank Rombauer Cellars, essentially the same entity which had been denied any public warehousing privileges?
Note: To retrieve ABC data that has not been suppressed see: http://www.abc.ca.gov. At the first page "click" on "License Query." Then enter the name Rombauer (under Licensee name) and retrieve a list of licenses. Or search the License Number, simply enter #354004.
TENTH: THE GOVERNMENT'S NO-SAFETY- INSPECTION BONFIRE ASSISTANCE:
Were inspections made by any government-related officials with issuance of the Type 14 Public Warehousing license to determine the safety compliance of the building which did not have a sprinkler system at the time of the 6/15/00 fire? When the building was constructed, it was used as an area to riddle champagne, bottle, and store the private inventory of The Hanns Kornell Champagne Cellars; sprinkler systems were not required at the time.
FINALE: THE LITTLE SMOKING GUN SNAP SHOT OF ALL THE HELL-FIRE CAPERS WHICH WILL END ALL ROMBAUER'S CAPERS!
IT SEEMS THAT UNBEKNOWNST TO ROMBAUER, THE FIRE PROVIDED A "SNAPSHOT," of a point in time, a one-day-in-the-life of the Frank-Rombauer operations. From Rombauer's press disclosures regarding the wine in the warehouse at the time of the fire, the amount and nature of INVENTORIES stored at the "warehouse" are deduced. Exactly what wine has flowed through the Rombauer facilities in the past, cannot be precisely determined, but logically, that amount must be far in excess of the permitted annual volume. Napa County has supported a California assembly bill to prevent mislabeling. Will Napa County allow operators who produce bulk dump and runs of out-of-county products to get away with their illegal capers, even when they are caught in the light and the heat of their own fire?
Notes regarding relevant ordinances:
Below is some language from Ordinance No. 947 incorporated in Napa County Code (aka "Winery Definition Ordinance), with quotes.
Section II ..." One of the purposes of enacting Sections 12201 (g) and 12231 (h) is to recognize the legal existence of such wineries and their need to operate as legal conforming uses; provided, however, that the intent in recognizing these uses as legal is not to permit expansion beyond the level which legally existed as of July 31, 1974, except as was specifically authorized as part of a subsequent use permit approved in accordance with County regulations." There is nothing of record PRIOR to 1974 for the site suggesting expansion above 350,000 gallons at the 1091 Larkmead Lane site.
Section III however states "... however, that expansion above and beyond that allowed by the approved use permit may only be permitted upon securing a modification of said use permit ..." which is the basis on which Frank-Rombauer expanded above 350,000 gallons. What was highly irregular is that this is a less than 10-acre parcel, and no other winery on less than 10 acres, save Martini which has operated since 1939, can produce much more on ten acres because they are tied to city services and have pond access for wastes. At 1091 Larkmead, they overload a septic and leach system, there is no room for a pond, and people have one heck of a time flushing ... "honey dippers" appear regularly to bleed out the system with overflows ... which have been going into the neighbor's vineyards even before the hearings and increased volume.
Section 11 (g) "The following (are permitted) uses in connection with a winery:
(4) Bottling and storage of bottled wine and shipping and receiving of bulk and bottled wine, provided the wine bottled or received does not exceed the permitted production capacity."
In addition, no public warehousing ever occurred at the Kornell Champagne Cellars warehouse site before the fire.
Letter to the editor of the Napa Register: Why is Rombauer allowed to store?
Sunday, June 25, 2000
Dear editor:
It is sad to read about the damage that occurred at the Rombauer Cellars warehouse. Many people have put so much hard work into developing the fine wines stored there.
However, as I read the articles about the tragedy, I have to ask myself a land-use planning question: Why were so many wines stored there that had no tie to the vineyards of Rombauer and Hanns Kornell?
Was it not the purpose when all the winery regulations ("what is a winery?" debate) to limit commercial enterprises in agricultural zones? I understood the regulations to be that commercial structures in agricultural zones had to be incidental to the agricultural activities being performed on the parcel.
To me, this means it is OK to store the wines made from that vineyard and others owned by the same winery. When you are storing wines and champagnes made by others, does that not belong in an industrial warehouse in an appropriately zoned area? After all, proper land use planning suggests that warehouses belong in industrial parks served by urban fire departments, sprinkler and fire hydrants.
I hope the county looks at the space requested by the owners when the request to rebuild takes place.
Scott Atkinson
Calistoga
What's in a name?
Vintners ask supes for help in protecting Napa's wine reputation
Saturday, June 24, 2000 By JAY GOETTING © 2000 Napa Register Staff Writer NAPA
If something isn't done to halt deceptive wine labeling practices, Napa Valley's name and reputation will erode. That was the message from Napa Valley Vintners Association president Jack Stuart to county supervisors asking them to back a bill, AB 683 by Assemblywoman Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa), that would require any brand using the Napa name or any of the county's appellations to qualify for the Napa County appellation of origin. The legislation that would protect wines bearing the Napa name -- if, indeed, they are Napa wines -- is currently moving through Sacramento. It will be heard by the Senate Governmental Organization Committee next Tuesday.
Vintner officials gave as an example a brand such as "Napa Caves" that was created before 1986. It is produced from grapes grown in another area -- but labeled "Napa Caves."
Probably more to the point is the recent construction of a huge bottling facility near the Napa County airport by the Bronco Wine Company which recently acquired the popular Napa Ridge brand from Beringer Wine Estates.
Other brands in their portfolio include Rutherford Vintners, Domaine Napa, Napa Creek, Charles Shaw, Grand Cru, Hacienda, Estrella, J. W. Morris and Black Mountain.
They are completely legal to use as long as other labeling criteria are met, but Napa Valley Vintners believe such names are misleading and should be banned by passage of the pending bill.
Bronco is the firm that received a permit late in 1998 to construct the county's largest wine production facility. While the facility is classified as a winery, it will serve primarily as a bottling plant. A permit issued to Barrel Ten Quarter Circle indicates the nearly 95,000 square foot plant is permitted to bottle 44.5 million gallons of wine per year. That figure equates to 18 million cases of wine per annum, twice the annual grape production of the entire Napa Valley during a good year.
The label may show the wine was actually produced with grapes from another area. Napa Valley Vintners contend this confuses the public and that eliminating consumer confusion is a primary goal of the bill.
Supervisor Mark Luce cautioned this is not a protectionism bill but rather termed the measure, "a truth in labeling" law aimed at consumer protection.
The board took a unanimous position in support of the legislation.
The Wine Institute has maintained a neutral position on the proposed law. Stuart called that "a very important step," since the organization represents the entire industry. He added there were only two wineries in California opposed to the bill.
A companion measure, SB1293 by State Senator Wes Chesbro (D-Arcata) is also before legislators.
Asked if the legislation helps Napa catch up with the French who are well known for their specific methods of appellation designation and labeling, Stuart told the board, "We're maybe 70 years behind the French, but we're getting there."
THE BAYCITIES OBSERVER
Virginia McCullough
"Have I missed the mark, or, like a true archer, do I strike my mark?
Or am I a prophet of lies, a babbler from door to door?"
Cassandra, as reported by Agamemnon
© 2000 Virginia McCullough. All Rights Reserved. Use only with written permission.
MAE BRUSSELL
HUMAN RIGHTS HEROINE
The following article is dedicated to the gay and lesbian community on their weekend of pride in San Francisco. I want to single out one particular individual whose dedication and activism has left a legacy worthy of being honored as one of the greatest of Brussellsprouts. The man's name is Paul Bernardino. A large part of Bernardino's historically important library was donated to the Mae Brussell Collection in March of 1997. Paul Bernardino and his Information Network Against War and Fascism worked hand in glove with the late, great Mae Brussell to assure that people of all colors, sexual orientations, and religions are respected and given the equal opportunity they deserve. Long before the words "Hate Crimes" were conceived, Paul understood that the problems those labeled as socially "unacceptable" faced. Paul reached out to others -- documenting abuses, putting up posters, speaking out at public meetings, holding conferences and placing himself between those who would take civil rights away from those too afraid to stand up for themselves. To Paul Bernardino, and all of you who share his daily struggle, this posting is dedicated.
On Saturday, July 16, 1988 a conference entitled "The Fourth Reich in America: The Politics of Repression in the Warfare State" was sponsored by Bound Together Books and the Information Network Against War and Fascism at the Union Hall at 250 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco, California. The description of this conference describes the battle for equal rights behind the work of both Paul Bernardino and Mae Brussell.
This conference will bring together speakers and panelists who will trace the evolution of contemporary Fascism from the "fall" of the Third Reich in Hitler's Germany to the rise of the Fourth Reich in the Americas today. As well as presenting a historical perspective of contemporary Fascism, we hope to analyze the relationship between the politics of Fascism and current events. We also hope to engender discussion as to what we, and you, can do about it.
The politics of Fascism, of racial superiority, are not new in the United States. Before World War lI, a racist Eugenics Movement flourished in the United States, resulting in the castration and sterilization of countless so-called "undesirables". A 1922 U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Immigration and Naturalization published the model Eugenics Sterilization Law which listed categories of people who were subject to mandatory sterilization. This law became the blueprint for the 1933 sterilization law in Nazi Germany. Two million people were sterilized under Hitler's Third Reich. Eventually sterilization led to "euthanasia" -- the outright murder of those countless people as "undesirables". The influence of Fascist ideology marked countless people as "disposable", to be used as testing populations in the name of scientific advancement. It still does today. We can see the results of this genocide ideology in our government's treatment of Native Americans today; in low intensity warfare and genocide in Central America; in the disproportionate incarceration of Third World people in US prisons and psychiatric institutions; in US dumping of toxic waste in Third World countries; in the CRACK on our streets...
Now we must face the awesome and hideous specter of what can only be termed: AIDSGATE.
Fascism is a cancer in our body politic. Henry Ford (Hitler's admitted mentor and reputed financial supporter) is dead. Father Coughlin (his widely heard radio spokesman) is dead. But Fascism is alive today, festering, deep under cover..... and not so deep.....
As conference speakers will prove conclusively, a "Creeping", "Friendly" Fascism has nearly overwhelmed us, and we didn't even notice.
This ideology of Fascism in the Americas today has been implemented by the actual personnel of the Axis which we have been led to believe lay defeated.
The Fascists did not lose WWlI. SOME Fascists lost WWlI. Others went underground, and lived to fight (and thrive) again. A week before the collapse of the Third Reich, six thousand SS men disappeared with $800,000,000.00 in loot. Where did they go? Which one attended Reagan's inauguration?
Imperial Japan's germ warfare lab staff never stood trial for war crimes. Where are they now? What have they done recently?
Hitler's secret spy network in the Soviet Union defected en masse to fuse with the OSS, forming the CIA. Now, where are they not?
Men like Ishii, Gehlen, Skorzeny, Von Braun, Barbie, and even Mangele himself, have shaped our world. In spite of us, behind our backs, without our consent, against our better interest, they were saved from justice and intentionally recruited by Western Intelligence to form the basis of the post-war covert government. Now the chickens have come home to roost.
Their power is immense. Our ignorance is their main strength. Learn, before it is too late, the trail from Auschwitz to AIDS; from the Schutstaffel to the Medallion Cartel; from the Reichsbank to the Vatican; from the ruins of the Third Reich to the still resistible triumph of the Fourth.
This describes the overall view of the Fourth Reich that Mae Brussell and Paul Bernardino fought so hard to expose and conquer. Little did either one of them know that Mae Brussell had only months to live. Mae Brussell died at the age of 66 on Monday, October 3, 1988. One of the bright lights in the crusade for human rights, succumbed to cancer and her beloved Brussellsprouts around the world mourned. In 1989 the entire 12 hour conference described above was televised by Channel 25 Viacom Cable Vision of San Francisco, in honor of Mae Brussell.
This author was honored by being invited to speak at another conference sponsored by the Information Network Against War and Fascism on October 19, 1996, where I first had the opportunity to meet with Paul Bernardino and his fellow activists who had been fighting the honorable war for so long. It was an evening I will always remember.
So many battles are necessary to win the war against the Fourth Reich that one has to wonder what wounds these soldiers of honor suffer along the way. It was rumored that Mae Brussell and her family suffered a great deal for her intellectual honesty and her outspoken nature. In reviewing the information and reference data sheets that accompanied each of Mae Brussell's one-hour radio shows between the years of 1978 and 1979, I found confirmation that the rumors were true.
In Tape #360 on Sides 1 and 2, Mae discusses the impact her research has had upon her and her family. The best evidence of just what an irritant Mae Brussell was to the United States Government is an FBI memo dated 9-18-67. It reads as follows:
TO: SAC, Dallas (89-43)
FROM: Director, FBI (62-109060)
ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT
JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY
NOVEMBER 22, 1963
DALLAS, TEXASRe DL Teletype 9/16/67 and SF teletype 9/17/67
Referenced communications set forth information relating to Mrs. May Magnet Brussell of Carmel, California. Due to the fact Mrs. Brussell has been in contact with James Garrison at New Orleans and has made public comments concerning the assassination investigation, Dallas and San Francisco are to immediately incorporate the information received concerning her into an appropriate letterhead memoranda suitable for dissemination both to the Department and U.S. Secret Service.
Copies of the memoranda are to be furnished to the New Orleans Office for dissemination to U.S. Secret Service locally and U.S. Secret Service at both Dallas and San Francisco are also to receive appropriate copies.
This matter is to be handled immediately, and replies are to be marked for the attention of the General Investigative Division.
NOTE:
On 9/15/67 at 6:45 p.m., a reservation agent at Delta Airlines, Dallas, received a call that a bomb was on board Delta Airlines, Flight 827. Flight 827 originated at Atlanta and was enroute to San Francisco via Dallas. A search of the aircraft failed to locate any bomb.
Mrs. Mae Magnin Brussell who was boarding this flight for San Francisco made comments at Love Field, Dallas, she had conducted research on the Kennedy assassination and had been in conference with DA Jim Garrison, New Orleans, for three days. San Francisco determined that Mrs. Brussell in the past has expressed great alarm over the fact that the United States is becoming fascist. She is the daughter of Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin of Los Angeles. It has been reported Mrs. Brussell has "left-wing" leanings and is not in good favor with her father. She supports Mark Lane's book, "Rush to Judgment" and takes the view Lee Harvey Oswald was not a communist. She pictures America as controlled by conspirators in the Government which view she has stated publicly. She is writing a book on the assassination and claims the Government is withholding information on the assassination and the press is suppressing news on the investigation being conducted by New Orleans DA James Garrison. Mrs. Brussell is described as an author and a playwright, and due to her thinking which she has expressed publicly, Dallas and San Francisco are to incorporate information into letterhead memoranda suitable for dissemination to the Department and the U.S. Secret Service.
Mae Brussells' recollections dated October 17, 1978 differ sharply from those described by the FBI agent writing the memo. On the bottom on the data sheet are Mae's notes:
P.S. I "didn't make comments at Love Field" about Jim Garrison. Before I got into the airport, two Dallas police came into the plane and escorted me out, to a separate room, by myself, apart from all other passengers. This FBI report written September 18, 1967. They stated that "Mrs. Brussell in the past had expressed great alarm over the fact that the United States is becoming fascist".
QUESTION:
How long were they following me?
Where "in the past" were these FBI agents?
My Martha Mitchell, Realist article came out in 1972.
KLRB news programs began in 1971.
Where did my "fear of fascism" come to
the attention of the FBI?"Fear of Communism" would make me
kosher for the FBI.
"Fear of Fascism demands a "letterhead memoranda."
Three years after this FBI memo was written Mae Brussell paid the ultimate price for her activism. On December 14, 1979 the school bus containing her two daughters and other children was run off the road in Carmel, California. On November 3, 1978, Mae Brussell finally wrote about it on Side 1 of the Data Sheet that accompanied Tape #361.
December 14, 1970
Death of Bonnie Brussell, Cecil Neill, Sharon Elliot. Near death of Barbara Brussell, who had broken back, two broken legs, compound fractures, broken arm, broken nose, facial cuts. In 1971, Barbara had more surgery on her left leg, reset bones.
Americans in the new millennium still believe they are free. Lying politicians say Americans should speak out and participate in their government, however, those who have spoken out face retaliation. Mae Brussell was a good citizen seeking the truth through her research and participating actively in her democracy. She firmly believed that if one does not learn from history, one is bound to repeat it. One of her favorite quotes was contained in a book review of Colin Simpson's Lusitania published in American Opinion, 1974, and authored by Medford Evens:
"History does have a plot to unravel. The world is bewildering, most bewildering to those who study it most. The world is terrifying, especially to those who have the courage to face it. The consolation is that nothing is without meaning, whether we can explain it or not. The Lusitania is interesting, not because of Pearl Harbor, or the Kennedy assassination, BUT BECAUSE OF THINGS TO COME.
Why should one feel that what happened to the Lusitania is one of "those old, far off things", while the secret of Pearl Harbor, or the Kennedy assassination, now ten years old, is an unresolved controversy still on the docket?
THE ANSWER IS THAT ALL THESE MATTERS ARE STILL ON THE DOCKET. HISTORY IS NOT A SUCCESSION OF DISCRETE EVENTS, BUT A TAPESTRY WOVEN OF MANY STRANDS IN WHICH MOTIFS, AND TYPE CAST CHARACTERS APPEAR AND REAPPEAR, IN WHICH PLOTS AND SUBPLOTS ARE INTERFACED."
Mae Brussell also believed that the Fascist take over of the government of the United States resulted in our new Fourth Reich using Agent Provocateurs to instigate violent events that would then be used to limit ever more severely our civil rights. On Side 1 of the 2 page Data Sheet dated September 14, 1979 accompanying World Watchers International Tape #406, Mae supplies her favorite definition of an Agent Provocateur.
"An agent provocateur is a police agent who is introduced into any political organization with instructions to foment discontent... or to fake a case in order to give his employers the
right to act against the organization in question.
**Quote from Victor Kaledin, Col. Imperial of the Russian Military Intelligence.
Mae often talked about the murders by Agent Provocateurs to produce the desired result wanted by the government. She discussed: the murders of Rock and Roll musicians to stop the peace movement; the murders of foreign government officials to satisfy the greed of big business; the murder of judges, attorneys, and jurors to dictate the outcomes of trials; the murders of high priced whores to silence loose tongues, etc. Her outspoken honesty earned her the anger of many.
Mort Sahl, writing in his book HEARTLAND [1976] on page 156 asked the question:
"How many more have to die before some Americans realize murder is not a way of life? Hugh Hefner (Playboy) is now reduced to attacking Mae Brussell, who is an assassination researcher who pursues the murders among us selflessly."
Harassment of Mae Brussell continued until her death. "Automobile happenings" are described by Mae on Side 2 of the Data Sheet dated November 3, 1978 that accompanied Tape #361:
Mercury Station wagon on fire, trip from Vancouver to Oregon, 1970.
Saab Station wagon on fire, from San Francisco to Carmel, same reasons given, 1974.
Large bold, 4" long, wide, flat bottom, into new tire, Washington, 1978.
Wheels came off, large "nuts" missing, 1978.
The Data Sheet dated July 27, 1979, Side #1 for tape #399 lists Mae's "Mail Harassment's" as follows
Five checks mailed to me. Letters, envelopes kept by Post Office. "Lost"
Letter from S.F. sent to IRS, Fresno, Calif. "Opened in Error", cut open.
Letter mailed in Carmel, post marked S.F., "Opened in Error" empty.
Letter from Oakland, "Opened in Error", stapled.
Letter from Fresno, Calif., response by Carmel Post Office, "What can I do for you?"
Letter from Concord, Calif. mailed to IRS, Fresno, "opened in error".
Correct name, address, zip code. They ran out of excuses. "G-2 on back.
Books mailed to Chicago. "Lost".
Soldiers of war fighting for justice and truth in this land of the free and the home of the brave must expect to be wounded over and over again. The only hope for this great land of ours is that these are the soldiers that survive and that those inflicting the wounds die, so that freedom will ultimately prevail.
Virginia McCullough © 2000
[email protected]