Odds and Sods

Listening to the radio, watching TV news and reading the paper has given me grist for thought and chuckles. The chuckles started with Stephanie Miller and one of her mooks coining the adjective Massengillatude to describe the douchery of Jeff (racist) Sessions. That should be in the dictionary tomorrow.

One a more serious note, the San Joaquin Valley is going through ground water (well) depths lowering severely. It is causing the actually ground to lower. State Highway 158 or 152 (the one to Los Banos and Dos Palos) has dropped 4-6 feet. Other areas areas have subsdided more. The problem with this is that the dirt does compact and the aquifer, if were to ever receive water again does not expand. The aquifer keeps getting smaller the more the earth subsides. Another problem is the canals from Sacramento that feed the agriculture in the Central Valley are subsiding along with the ground and have developed low spots so they cannot carry as much water as their design calls for. Less water for LA and San Diego and the Central Valley. When will people think about the sustainability of practices, rather than how to USE the water as a MASTER of THE Universe. I mean,how big does your dick have to be? Do you want to bludgeon buildings with it? source Sac Bee

Another is the State Water Resources Control Board is finding that the rivers have too much pesticides washing down from peope's yards and it is killing zooplankton and miniature shrimp. The feature story of today's SacBee showed the drainage right behind my house a major source. I drive the state a lot and see planes applying pesticides to rice fields by the river and KNOW that they overspray and it gets in the water. Household owners overapply weed and bug sprays. Where do you think it goes? Into the river and people wonder why fish don't spawn here anymore. One thing of note in the story is that Stockton does not have these pesticides and herbicides in the effluent of their wastewater plant. It seems they settle out in the ponds or something. I wonder what the sludge has in it? It is probably composted, but the heat of compost will break these down. Iam sure no one has sampled the sludge or compost for that as it is not regulated. These compounds were not even a blink in the eye of regulators when sludge (biosolids) were being regulated.

Here is one that made me want to cry yesterday. The town that was flooded with coal ash is still inundated. And children are getting sick. Of course the Tennessee Valley Authority said everything is safe. The heavy metals in the coal ash are completely safe. Think! The TVA is the largest employer in the State. They produce the water and the power and they have billions of gallons of coal ash waste sitting there. Of course it is safe. They just don't know what to do with it and even if they did know how to get rid of the waste, the cost would be prohibitive. Do they think people are that stupid?

Also, gun sales in Sacramento are up 40+%. In other areas of CA, gun sales are up about 30%. Greatest cause when asked why--We are afriad of what Obama is going to do. (source, Sac Bee, yesterday) What????? Why are people so afraid? I don't get it. Maybe we should quit being so damned afraid. It is not easy, but why are people so afraid of the government? They are going to take my guns in the future so I better buy them now while I can still get them. Are you going to shoot urban deer with your handguns? Take on the army? I can see protection, but I can see myself upon hearing someone trying to break into my house, waking up in a sleep-induced mental fog, try to find my gun, aim it and not kill my houseplants, dogs or my wife as I save my big screen TV. Yes, I am afraid I will have to retire and live in a meth head trailer court with nothing to my name because of the recession. No question about it. But keeping my stuff just is not that high on my list to cause me to start packing in my house. Aside from that, I think if someone tries to break in, my pit bulls bark really, really loud! and scare people. Little do they know that they think they are lap dogs (at 60 pounds).

rojo