Thoughts from Yesterday
Let's see--Obama was identified as a killer and an international menace by a member of Congress. Diaper David Vetter leads the moral indignation charge against ACORN. Munitions makers cannot keep up with the demand for bullets (many people do not think 10,000 rounds at home is enough for a coming revolution.) There is a poll calling for Obama'a assasination. The Republicans bitch because Obama is going to try to get the summer Olympics for Chicago and it is taking focus away from the war in Afghanistan. As if they did not botch that job themselves for the last 8 years. Who can forget Bush did not care where Obama was?
A Christian woman who runs interference for Phyllis Schafly's organization and heads a state for them calls for Obama's assasination.What part of insane am I missing? We enter into an unjustified war, but do get to strut our stuff as a country, kill maybe a million and have not set up a stable regime, go bankrupt, and start torturing--lose any moral high ground we ever had--and that is great. It shows we have BIG BALLS. Now we have a black instead of a Texas (yeah, sure) shitkicker, someone who can speak (no, I do not agree with his policies all the time, too centrist for me) who can do things by political dialogue and no blood, and at least 20% in the country wish they could kill him. Openly. Yes, I know there were closet poeples who wanted to kill the last administration. I read blogs. However, spoken openly and repeatedly. Not hardly.
Hell, the Denver Three were locked up for wearing T-Shirts and others were taken away from Presidential meetings because their cars had anti-war bumper stickers. Yet, Obama is seen as a Nazi.
I was shocked at the last set of teabagger videos showing people screaming about czars and how they were given fiefdoms already waiting for a communist takeover. After all, they stated czars were Russians and so were commies. They did not even realize the communists killed the czars. and became autocrats themselves. The irony of this is almost too much.
God help us, the President tells kids to buckle down, stay in school and dammit learn something and this is Democratic or Communist indoctrination.
What these people are are pissed that the world is changing. They handle change by anger against. They are easily manipulated, just like a high school football team being motivated by a coach to get their emotions to a fever pitch and then kill the opposition. Physiologically, there is a response to fight in over 25% of the population. That is how they are hard-wired. They make great fighters, short-term heroes, etc. Warriors and protectors of countries are needed.
However, these people are being manipulated by crass bastards who want power and others to do their dirty work, or who want money and need worker bees. The lack of media attention and real reporting on this crassness is getting crazy. The Fourth Estate used to be somewhat reliable to keep America from losing its collective mind. Now we have a lot of was it Father Joe? who used to scream about commies? and the Family talking about Christian brotherhoods to rule the world. and being succesful at above the scenes and behind the scenes manipulation.
I just talked to three men at a gas station in Kern County CA where they had six rifles turned into fully automatic weapons for the coming revolution. I tghink this country is losing its center and going nuts.
The question is how do we bring it back? Can it be brought back? Or will it become a police state, or a money corporate state?
rojo
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Salmon, Anyone?
Today starts a ten-year project to start a restored flow to 150 miles of a long-dried up river in CA. 150 miles have been dry for years. Little obstacles like moving a house that has been built in the river bed need to be accomplished. The hopes are to restore an annual salmon run. Salmon in Fresno? Who knew? details.
rojo
Today starts a ten-year project to start a restored flow to 150 miles of a long-dried up river in CA. 150 miles have been dry for years. Little obstacles like moving a house that has been built in the river bed need to be accomplished. The hopes are to restore an annual salmon run. Salmon in Fresno? Who knew? details.
rojo
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Environmental Issues
Yes, we take care of the defenders of liberty. Other details. with an explanation. All it needed to remove the carcinogens would have been a GAC (granulated activated carbon) system. These are used all the time. We operate two of them in CA alone. We can spend TRILLIONS on weapons but poison the soldiers. Grrrrrrrr!
rojo
Yes, we take care of the defenders of liberty. Other details. with an explanation. All it needed to remove the carcinogens would have been a GAC (granulated activated carbon) system. These are used all the time. We operate two of them in CA alone. We can spend TRILLIONS on weapons but poison the soldiers. Grrrrrrrr!
rojo
Saturday, September 26, 2009
I Wish I Were So Gung Ho As These Guys, not really
The following is a letter that I have written to the founder of an organization "In God We Trust America".
The following is a letter that I have written to the founder of an organization "In God We Trust America".
I came across your booth at the CA League Of Cities show. I was originally appalled that "In God We Trust" was replacing e pluribus unum as the national motto in the opinion of some. I had to do some research and found that it actually was the national motto. It came to prominence during the days of the Red Scare. I knew that "under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance at that time, but was unaware of the change of the national motto.
I am very glad you made me aware of that. Now I will do my damnedest to return the national motto to the previous Latin one. It is embarrassing to think the national visionary approach to our great country is based in fear of communists and heathens, defeating the spirit of e pluribus unum. I see people tout this motto of "In God We Trust" and wonder in whose God we trust? Is it the Catholic God? the Protestant God? the Muslim God? The Deist Deity? the Buddhist One?
After seeing the fracturing of the current political landscape of the United States, where good will has taken a back seat, I am leery, if not frightened by a group who can further polarize the spiritual make up of this great country. I challenge you to prove to me that this organization is not an organization that marginalizes belief systems of others and includes them in an attempt to unify the citizens of this country. Prove to me that this organization does not breed contempt, but rather promotes a healing balm based upon the love exemplified in the New Testament. Then I could back this group.
If your group marginalizes or can be used to breed prejudicial judgment of various social and spiritual organizations, then you have taken a step backwards from the creation of this country.
e pluribus unum.
rojomojo
I am so tired of groups who claim to know how everyone else should believe. It exhausts me. I am reminded of why I don't like consensus government (yes, I lived in a variety of decision-making systems in communes). The one with "the loudest voice and the thickest skin" normally wins. Typically, in America, it is the one's with the funding. How sad.
rojo
I am so tired of groups who claim to know how everyone else should believe. It exhausts me. I am reminded of why I don't like consensus government (yes, I lived in a variety of decision-making systems in communes). The one with "the loudest voice and the thickest skin" normally wins. Typically, in America, it is the one's with the funding. How sad.
rojo
Friday, September 25, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
I read my daily water world news (Brown and Caldwell Water News) and just shook my head. First story was of a shallow lake that is filled with DDT and other chemicals. and, you guessed it! There is no money for remediation. The costs are either $12,000,000 to dredge the lake or $1,400,000 to cap it. I am sure the wildlife will love the latter alternative. Anyone remember when there was an EPA with Superfund clean up moneys? Just know that the Bush Administration closed down the tax to corporations to help fund those projects and there is no money. Thanks.
I see the news is not so good in England, too. Or upstate New York. The two latter instances are of the same problem. Sewage technology has grown by leaps and bounds in the past fifteen years. You can remove nutrients. In the future, you will be able to remove trace pharmaceuticals. Actually have pristine water. But, all this costs money. I work with so many Districts, cities and boards. They are manned by people who want to be elected. Some to do the right thing, others for power. One thing that is common is that you can't raise taxes or rates and stay elected. People like clean drinking water and swimming and water sports, but few want to pay for it. In England and in NY, you have wastewater systems that are outdated. The issue in NY is that when the collection sewerage systems were built, they combined the sanitary sewers with storm sewers. If you had a heavy rain, excess flow just goes out to the sea, lake or river. Yes, that includes the diluted pooh from everyone's toilets. In the western US and more modern systems that is not a problem. Imagine the difficulty of digging up a whole city to separate the two sewer systems. and the cost. It is no wonder that Obama wanted "shovel-ready" projects to start on. There are so many issues like this to deal with, and the solution is funding and political will. And with the world economy crapping out, it will take real planning (hint, don't elect those who don't want government to govern because they can't do it).
Here Florida is cited as having toxic public water. The whole NY Times is here. I have to love the one article where how much weedkiller (poison) is in your water glass. Makes me feel all fuzzy inside. and we wonder why cancer spreads. Many mutagenic changes happen at concentrations as low as 0.01 parts per billion.
and sadly, what happens when you dam rivers with disregard of the downstream population. As if the rape of their country were not enough, let's steal the water.
just a bundle of joy today.
rojo
I see the news is not so good in England, too. Or upstate New York. The two latter instances are of the same problem. Sewage technology has grown by leaps and bounds in the past fifteen years. You can remove nutrients. In the future, you will be able to remove trace pharmaceuticals. Actually have pristine water. But, all this costs money. I work with so many Districts, cities and boards. They are manned by people who want to be elected. Some to do the right thing, others for power. One thing that is common is that you can't raise taxes or rates and stay elected. People like clean drinking water and swimming and water sports, but few want to pay for it. In England and in NY, you have wastewater systems that are outdated. The issue in NY is that when the collection sewerage systems were built, they combined the sanitary sewers with storm sewers. If you had a heavy rain, excess flow just goes out to the sea, lake or river. Yes, that includes the diluted pooh from everyone's toilets. In the western US and more modern systems that is not a problem. Imagine the difficulty of digging up a whole city to separate the two sewer systems. and the cost. It is no wonder that Obama wanted "shovel-ready" projects to start on. There are so many issues like this to deal with, and the solution is funding and political will. And with the world economy crapping out, it will take real planning (hint, don't elect those who don't want government to govern because they can't do it).
Here Florida is cited as having toxic public water. The whole NY Times is here. I have to love the one article where how much weedkiller (poison) is in your water glass. Makes me feel all fuzzy inside. and we wonder why cancer spreads. Many mutagenic changes happen at concentrations as low as 0.01 parts per billion.
and sadly, what happens when you dam rivers with disregard of the downstream population. As if the rape of their country were not enough, let's steal the water.
just a bundle of joy today.
rojo
Sunday, September 20, 2009
End of Summer Thoughts
First, an environmental story. Apparently the government of China does help produce cheap stuff. And we all need more stuff. But you think that perhaps they might have learned from the Cuyahoga River burning, and disasters like that. The fact that cancer is way up is one thing. The other is that they know they are selling contaminated rice. Makes you fell good inside. yeah.
And, if it isn't global warming, what could it be? Even if it a short-term cyclical climactic change, we is going to have issues. The question then becomes, what do we do? If the coral reefs die, there goes the basis for the marine life cycles. And many people rely on that for food. That is the one thing I don't get. Who cares if it global warming or a cycle? One can be forestalled with stewardship. Both need major changes in our food chain. What we do now is unsustainable.
And I saw my first roller derby game live last night. One of my ex-apprentices does that in her spare time. The score was Denver 319 to Sacred City (Sacramento) 12. OW! The women of Denver were ready and able. Better coached and in way better shape. It was very much fun to watch. Athletes having at it.
The description was something like this in the program--
"there are basically 5 chicks skating at a time. There are four blockers and one designated jammer. The pack starts skating at the whistle, A second whistle is blown twenty seconds later and the jammers start. They have to get throught the blockers and lap the pack. Once they lap the pack, they score points by passing members of the opposing team."
Damn, it was fun to watch. The Denver team is used to either the Coliseum of the Fillmore, where they perform to groups of betweee 2500-5000 fans. Here in Sacto, there were maybe 350. My ex-protege is a 6 foot woman who is just a tad buff. Used mostly as blocker, but twice as a ajammer where she uses her strength more than her speed. But a bit of a ham. As she laps the hapless opponent she goes into crouches, doing one skate variations, skating backwards and doing hand signs like Beavis and Butthead while rocking out. and if blockers got in her way, instead of evading them, she often hip checked them. The crowd loved it. It was effective enough she had to do the action shots for about 20 people with digital cameras after the show. What a hoot. and to think she is the one who helped me clean digesters and stuff.
BTW, the only beer served was PBR. That and vodka shots. More tats in the audience then I have seen in a while!
and as summer comes to an end
rojo
First, an environmental story. Apparently the government of China does help produce cheap stuff. And we all need more stuff. But you think that perhaps they might have learned from the Cuyahoga River burning, and disasters like that. The fact that cancer is way up is one thing. The other is that they know they are selling contaminated rice. Makes you fell good inside. yeah.
And, if it isn't global warming, what could it be? Even if it a short-term cyclical climactic change, we is going to have issues. The question then becomes, what do we do? If the coral reefs die, there goes the basis for the marine life cycles. And many people rely on that for food. That is the one thing I don't get. Who cares if it global warming or a cycle? One can be forestalled with stewardship. Both need major changes in our food chain. What we do now is unsustainable.
And I saw my first roller derby game live last night. One of my ex-apprentices does that in her spare time. The score was Denver 319 to Sacred City (Sacramento) 12. OW! The women of Denver were ready and able. Better coached and in way better shape. It was very much fun to watch. Athletes having at it.
The description was something like this in the program--
"there are basically 5 chicks skating at a time. There are four blockers and one designated jammer. The pack starts skating at the whistle, A second whistle is blown twenty seconds later and the jammers start. They have to get throught the blockers and lap the pack. Once they lap the pack, they score points by passing members of the opposing team."
Damn, it was fun to watch. The Denver team is used to either the Coliseum of the Fillmore, where they perform to groups of betweee 2500-5000 fans. Here in Sacto, there were maybe 350. My ex-protege is a 6 foot woman who is just a tad buff. Used mostly as blocker, but twice as a ajammer where she uses her strength more than her speed. But a bit of a ham. As she laps the hapless opponent she goes into crouches, doing one skate variations, skating backwards and doing hand signs like Beavis and Butthead while rocking out. and if blockers got in her way, instead of evading them, she often hip checked them. The crowd loved it. It was effective enough she had to do the action shots for about 20 people with digital cameras after the show. What a hoot. and to think she is the one who helped me clean digesters and stuff.
BTW, the only beer served was PBR. That and vodka shots. More tats in the audience then I have seen in a while!
and as summer comes to an end
rojo
Monday, September 14, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
You Can Lead A Whore to Culture
But You Can't Make Her Think!
Little did i know when I moved to CA I was moving to the Wild West. I thought Wyoming was weird enough. Where men are men and sheep are nervous. But no, you get to CA, and Congressmen who profess family values and say the gays are ruining marriage not only have affairs, but brag about it on tape in session. Yes, gays made him have those affairs.
They had nothing to do with the fact that she was an energy lobbyist and he was on some sort of Energy Committee. Let's see, want votes, boff the Pillsbury doughboy blind and see if he votes in your favor. Wait, isn't that called prostitution? and then he is a john. Yes, we have comer a long ways since Miss Kitty's. I mean, we can't really buy votes with a night with a lobbyist, can we?
I am reminded of a business trip to Pahrump, NV to see the progress on the construction of a water plant. We were short $4Mill and the first thing the constructor did was take me to the Chicken Ranch and offer me anything on the menu.
Run Away!!! Run Away!!!! Yes, we lost our ass on the deal. oooops.
And looking at Rep. Duvall, I am reminded of the Joe Jackson song--"Pretty Girls Going Out With Gorillas on My Street..."
rojo
But You Can't Make Her Think!
Little did i know when I moved to CA I was moving to the Wild West. I thought Wyoming was weird enough. Where men are men and sheep are nervous. But no, you get to CA, and Congressmen who profess family values and say the gays are ruining marriage not only have affairs, but brag about it on tape in session. Yes, gays made him have those affairs.
They had nothing to do with the fact that she was an energy lobbyist and he was on some sort of Energy Committee. Let's see, want votes, boff the Pillsbury doughboy blind and see if he votes in your favor. Wait, isn't that called prostitution? and then he is a john. Yes, we have comer a long ways since Miss Kitty's. I mean, we can't really buy votes with a night with a lobbyist, can we?
I am reminded of a business trip to Pahrump, NV to see the progress on the construction of a water plant. We were short $4Mill and the first thing the constructor did was take me to the Chicken Ranch and offer me anything on the menu.
Run Away!!! Run Away!!!! Yes, we lost our ass on the deal. oooops.
And looking at Rep. Duvall, I am reminded of the Joe Jackson song--"Pretty Girls Going Out With Gorillas on My Street..."
rojo
Monday, September 07, 2009
Happy Wealth Stealing Day, Part 2
And whay is the government paying for this instead of the "wealth creator" class? O yes, because that way, they get to keep their wealth. Thank god for socialism and government handouts.
rojo
And whay is the government paying for this instead of the "wealth creator" class? O yes, because that way, they get to keep their wealth. Thank god for socialism and government handouts.
rojo
Happy Steal the Wealth Day!
from an article by Michael Lind on Salon.com--
"Today is Labor Day, when we celebrate the wealth destroyers – at least if the libertarian right is to be believed.
from an article by Michael Lind on Salon.com--
"Today is Labor Day, when we celebrate the wealth destroyers – at least if the libertarian right is to be believed.
According to many free-market conservatives, economic growth is almost exclusively the result of investment decisions by a small number of rich individuals – the "wealth creators." The wealth creators, according to the conservative press, are constantly being threatened from above by government, which seeks to destroy wealth by taxation, and from below by workers, particularly those organized into unions, who threaten to destroy wealth by insisting that capitalists share a decent amount of their profits with employees. The entire basis of conservative "trickle-down" economics is the idea that the economy will grow faster if the supposed wealth creators keep more of the profits of private enterprise, with less going to taxes and worker compensation.
If you believe this theory, then Labor Day should be a cause for national mourning. We should all pause to mourn the loss of capital that might have gone to a fifth or a sixth mansion or a private jet, but instead was conscripted against its will to pay for a public school or higher wages in a factory.
We should weep for the capital that might have given its life for high-end caterers but instead was forced by government to be spent on public hospital nurses. And we should grieve for the dollars that were wasted on public police protection, when they might have gone instead to private security guards in a gated community.
But maybe instead of mourning we should celebrate. Maybe Labor Day should be replaced by a new holiday to celebrate the tiny number of brilliant investors who, more or less single-handedly, are responsible for long-term economic progress. We should abolish Labor Day and replace it with Capital Day – a festive time when we, the majority of parasitic wealth destroyers whose income comes from wages rather than investments, can give our collective thanks to the small number of people who have most of the money."
rojo
Sunday, September 06, 2009
JFC!!!!
So we have a Sarah Palin who was part of a secession party and now this. It is a must read for those who wonder about things in this world.
rojo
So we have a Sarah Palin who was part of a secession party and now this. It is a must read for those who wonder about things in this world.
rojo
Why, oh Why?!
Here I sit and know that school children can opt out of a presidential address that is supposed to accentuate the need for effort, academic excellence and other things of that ilk. Yes, they can opt out because of clauses that education that may be objectionable like sex education may not be forced upon their delicate belief systems. In school systems in Weld County, CO the address will not even be shown because of the possibility of indoctrination into Democratic ideals.
I am horrified that such topics as hard work and excellence are seen as possibly detrimental to the well-being of students. And that people can opt out of it. Yes, let's remain insulated and stupid. While I actively disliked the swaggering election stealer, Curious George Bush for his ham-fisted approach to diplomacy and leadership ("Bring It ON!" and "Mission Accomplished" will always resound to me as remarks more fitting from a beauty pageant loser than a world leader. and wearing a flight suit codpiece looking like a character from Clockwork Orange is always classy.), I never said no one should listen to him. In fact, would have wanted my kidlettes to listen to him and then do research to pick apart or agree with his arguments.
I am reminded of the three monkeys hearing, speaking and seeing no evil. Sorry, the world is not that way. There is weird shit out there and you better learn how to discern what is bullshit and how to obviate the consequences of the bull. This is education for the world stages. How far afield was Rumsfeld's statement of WMD being somewhere North, South, East and West of Tikrit. He should have been so ripped badly for that, he could no longer show his face in public. Hell, Hitler is somewhere North, East, South or West of Sacramento. And the fish logos on the back of cars show the way to the largest used car dealership in the nation. And Ashcroft covering Lady Justice's breasts because he fantasized about suckling from them so much it disturbed his good judgment was unbelievable, but better than Gonzo trying to get him to sign paperwork just out of surgery and under the influence of anesthetics and painkillers. Real class there. You have to learn to sense bullshit in the world and not be influenced by it. But also to know how to interact with those you disagree with so that discourse can be established and changes wrought. Or how to walk away and start something constructive on your own if the gulf is too large.
Protecting children so they can be innocent and untouched by Democratic indoctrination is as bad as the dude in Antioch, CA who abducted a young female and held her in his backyard, had children by her and kept them all away from TV, school and doctors, so they could be perfect innocent mates. And listen to his word of God. Oh yes, he was a preacher too. Teaching them the Word of God according to him. In fact, that was how he got caught after 15 years of this double life. He brought his daughter with him to UC Berkeley to ask for a prayer meeting permit. And the security guard thought "What is wrong with this picture?" and did research into him.
I am very sensitive to issues such as this after living in a commune that really was cultic in its belief systems. The guys there thought there dicks were magical conduits of God's energy. They were rationalizing their importance as messengers of God rather than that sex was really fun and a good outcome of the human condition and potential. and divine in nature, by its very existence. Not that there wonderfulness in the sight of some God somewhere was being channeled through their magic Dicks. Hell, Magic Dick was just a hell of a harmonica player (J Geils), not a bodily and spiritual function.
Being secluded does not guarantee innocence. Stupidity does not guarantee cultural purity. It is a crime to let children opt of of the Presidential address to keep them from being indoctrinated. Teach them to think and participate. Any less than that breeds monocultural nightmares where "Peace is War" can be ideologically achieved as a truism. It is a form of abuse.
rojo
Here I sit and know that school children can opt out of a presidential address that is supposed to accentuate the need for effort, academic excellence and other things of that ilk. Yes, they can opt out because of clauses that education that may be objectionable like sex education may not be forced upon their delicate belief systems. In school systems in Weld County, CO the address will not even be shown because of the possibility of indoctrination into Democratic ideals.
I am horrified that such topics as hard work and excellence are seen as possibly detrimental to the well-being of students. And that people can opt out of it. Yes, let's remain insulated and stupid. While I actively disliked the swaggering election stealer, Curious George Bush for his ham-fisted approach to diplomacy and leadership ("Bring It ON!" and "Mission Accomplished" will always resound to me as remarks more fitting from a beauty pageant loser than a world leader. and wearing a flight suit codpiece looking like a character from Clockwork Orange is always classy.), I never said no one should listen to him. In fact, would have wanted my kidlettes to listen to him and then do research to pick apart or agree with his arguments.
I am reminded of the three monkeys hearing, speaking and seeing no evil. Sorry, the world is not that way. There is weird shit out there and you better learn how to discern what is bullshit and how to obviate the consequences of the bull. This is education for the world stages. How far afield was Rumsfeld's statement of WMD being somewhere North, South, East and West of Tikrit. He should have been so ripped badly for that, he could no longer show his face in public. Hell, Hitler is somewhere North, East, South or West of Sacramento. And the fish logos on the back of cars show the way to the largest used car dealership in the nation. And Ashcroft covering Lady Justice's breasts because he fantasized about suckling from them so much it disturbed his good judgment was unbelievable, but better than Gonzo trying to get him to sign paperwork just out of surgery and under the influence of anesthetics and painkillers. Real class there. You have to learn to sense bullshit in the world and not be influenced by it. But also to know how to interact with those you disagree with so that discourse can be established and changes wrought. Or how to walk away and start something constructive on your own if the gulf is too large.
Protecting children so they can be innocent and untouched by Democratic indoctrination is as bad as the dude in Antioch, CA who abducted a young female and held her in his backyard, had children by her and kept them all away from TV, school and doctors, so they could be perfect innocent mates. And listen to his word of God. Oh yes, he was a preacher too. Teaching them the Word of God according to him. In fact, that was how he got caught after 15 years of this double life. He brought his daughter with him to UC Berkeley to ask for a prayer meeting permit. And the security guard thought "What is wrong with this picture?" and did research into him.
I am very sensitive to issues such as this after living in a commune that really was cultic in its belief systems. The guys there thought there dicks were magical conduits of God's energy. They were rationalizing their importance as messengers of God rather than that sex was really fun and a good outcome of the human condition and potential. and divine in nature, by its very existence. Not that there wonderfulness in the sight of some God somewhere was being channeled through their magic Dicks. Hell, Magic Dick was just a hell of a harmonica player (J Geils), not a bodily and spiritual function.
Being secluded does not guarantee innocence. Stupidity does not guarantee cultural purity. It is a crime to let children opt of of the Presidential address to keep them from being indoctrinated. Teach them to think and participate. Any less than that breeds monocultural nightmares where "Peace is War" can be ideologically achieved as a truism. It is a form of abuse.
rojo
Monday, August 31, 2009
Another Day, Another Gun
There was a story in the LA Times yesterday showing that one section of American manufacturing is going gangbusters. Hooray for recovery. The firearms and munitions firms just cannot produce enough to keep up with the accelerated demand since Obama was elected. The NRA (I know they are just hunters, and no Catholic boys ever masturbated, too) has many actions committees and sponsored websites that basically state that since Obama has come to power, all YOUR GUNS WILL BE TAKEN BY THE SOCIALIST STATE!
This is just one the things most progressives don't get, in my opinion. There is a real ground swell of paranoia out there that we are going crazy socialist. Some of the crazies who believe all this are those who "Don't want the government to fool with their Medicare!" They logically don't know that Medicare is a government program. And these folks are buying so much guns and ammunition that manufacturers just can't meet the demand.
We have crazies shooting police in Pittsburgh becasue the cops may come and get his guns. You know, if you did not fetishize your guns, they wouldn't give a damn about you. There have been at least four instances of authority killings this year alone that were fueled by crazy paranoid fantasies. If this were to keep up, then their prophecies would be self-fulfilling.
The fact remains they got the guns.You notice the raging far right was not this active with Bush/Cheney in office because he was their guy. Strutting in flight suit, saying "Bring it on!" and then torturing people. It is frustrating to realize that this faction is about 25% of the American population, so all the conservatives need is to influence another 20% to win elections. The rabid right will come out to vote.The passion they bring is seldom matched by the liberal end of the equation.
I saw Kerry and Hatch on some newstalk thing yesterday. Kerry made logical nice comments about how torture was wrong. When Hatch went on about its virtues, did Kerry ream him a new one? Nope. Just said it was illegal. AAArrrggghhh! I fear we are getting past reason in this country and the debate will be won on emotionalism that is so illogical (see the Medicare comment above) your jaw will drop repeatedly. And Health Care could be the Waterloo. I hope someone is playing multi-dimensional chess, but if the Admnistration pooches this one, the majority in the Congress may be lost.
BTW, Bobby "Exorcist" Jindal said that the Obama adminstration is doing more for New Orleans in the short time they are in charge than the Bush boys ever did. Did that make the front page anywhere? Competency does not fuel that raw emotionalism. I found it on the bottom of page 8 in the SacBee.
rojo
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Long and About Water
Actually, I have as long as I need. I just had a really busy week where I drove 1600 miles for work this week. That is a lot of windshield time, considering I had at least 5 hours of meetings every day. To say the least I am tired. And I have not kept up on journaling or anything else.
I did take 20 minutes and go through the water museum or exhibit at Pyramid Lake outside of LA. There, they have more or less models of the California water system with all its canals. It is worth the stop just to see what the history of water diversions has been in CA. The pictures of the Sacramento-San Juan Delta region before all the diversions are amazing. There are only a few, but it gives you an idea of the raw beauty there.
I had the heartbreaking site on the ride down to LA from the north of dead orchards. Miles of them. There is no water for them in natural form and the water rights that were used to obtain water for these trees were junior rights (meaning that in drought they weren't available and being planted in near desert conditions they died) or the water rights were sold to developers so they could build more subdivisions around LA. Just yesterday an orchard sold the water rights that had been used for 2200 acres of fruit trees to developers in LA county so they could have water. It is sad to see so much dead wood. But I have to ask, is it worse to have dead trees or a mall where neither should be in the first place.
The Central Valley in CA is a very fertile place, when there is water. You just have to pump it from somewhere else. Look at a map and see how far it is from Sacramento to LA. That is how far the water is pumped, and over at least two mountain ranges. I just found out that much of the water for the coastal cities, like Santa Barbara, also comes from Sacramento in another diversion.
CA is so weird about water, it dries up lakes, moves rivers, kills all native wildlife just to move water for farming. Right now there are signs all up and down the state that say "Congress Created Desert!" This means that CA is trying to keep water flowing to the Delta, just to keep a salmon population alive. It has dropped by almost 98% in the past few years. It is simplistically put as pitting farmers and their needs against fish. More realistically, it is farmers needing water in near desert conditions against fishermenr and the global food chain. Or global food chain versus cities. LA and San Diego could not exist without the water from the Delta and the Colorado River. The Colorado River used to reach the ocean in Mexico. It barely does now and is so saline it has little life in it. The whales that used that bay to mate and raise young cannot go there any more because it is a mudflat. Almost no water gets there! The US had to build a desalinization plant on the river to guarantee fresh water to mexican residents. The salt comes from irrigation. Water used for irrigation pulls the salts from the soils and deposits them back into the river when it flows back to the river.
There is a need for common sense here. CA (maybe the world) has outdated water thinking. There is only so much to go around. And what are the available stores in a drought condition. What is sustainable? A Dutch water geek came up with a term "virtual water" that makes sense. Trouble is it can change national economies. Why grow corn in Phoenix? Wheat in Egypt? when it is more water-wise to ship it in from a moist place? In Colorado, water law has gotten to the point that if you take water out of one river system, you have to return it to that system in clean enough form to be reused in drinking water and for wildlife. Water rights are determined in acre-foot units, meaning in drought time or times of low snow pack you may only get a percentage of an acrefoot, depending on availability. CA has no such restrictions. They do not monitor well pumping in CA either so wells are being pumped so hard, the ground in some areas is dropping one foot per year. Other states monitor well withdrawal to disalow ground compaction and sink holes.
Another area that I saw signs raling about current conditions is that Sacramento and Stockton discharge sewage to rivers that becomes irrigation water. Hey, no kidding. The issue is not that this exists, it exists all over the world. The Boulder, CO wastewater outfall is upstream from the Louisville water intake. The issue is that there are not tight discharge standards for wastewater. The excess nutrients discharged from wastewater plants can cause water degradation. This is a new topic for the EPA to address nationwide. This causes real big dead spots in waterways. You know, areas where algae grew so thick because of excess nutrients, when the algae dies (at night, no light to keep it growing) it sucks up all the oxygen in the water and everything there suffocates. period. Most fish kills are caused by this. Again CA is way behind the curve. There was one sign of hope last week as San Diego now has to treat their sewage to secondary standards before discharging iot to the ocean. Until now, they had allowed settling and chlorination. Think of what goes down your toilet, mix it up real good (use your imagination) and let it settle and then think if this is what you want sent out to the lake or river next to you, knowing that the settled goods will only settle maybe 60-75% of the debris. YUCK!!! and people swim in that. San Diego was so surprised they have no real contingency plan. They thought they were immune because they were too big.
One other item that has come up is that small amounts of herbicides are more dangerous that what was previously thought. It is becoming obvious that weedkillers are overused and make their way into the waterways. And they can cause cancer and mutagenic changes at much lower doses than previously thought. Nice.
Another bright note, though, is that CA is ahead of the EPA in regulating Chromium 6 in drinking water and has come up with standards. There are no federal standrards to date. This is a pollutant made famous by Erin Brokovich.
So much for water musings over one week.
Let's Dance. Even Sir nose has to dance when hit with the Bop Gun! Turn up the Bass!
rojo
Actually, I have as long as I need. I just had a really busy week where I drove 1600 miles for work this week. That is a lot of windshield time, considering I had at least 5 hours of meetings every day. To say the least I am tired. And I have not kept up on journaling or anything else.
I did take 20 minutes and go through the water museum or exhibit at Pyramid Lake outside of LA. There, they have more or less models of the California water system with all its canals. It is worth the stop just to see what the history of water diversions has been in CA. The pictures of the Sacramento-San Juan Delta region before all the diversions are amazing. There are only a few, but it gives you an idea of the raw beauty there.
I had the heartbreaking site on the ride down to LA from the north of dead orchards. Miles of them. There is no water for them in natural form and the water rights that were used to obtain water for these trees were junior rights (meaning that in drought they weren't available and being planted in near desert conditions they died) or the water rights were sold to developers so they could build more subdivisions around LA. Just yesterday an orchard sold the water rights that had been used for 2200 acres of fruit trees to developers in LA county so they could have water. It is sad to see so much dead wood. But I have to ask, is it worse to have dead trees or a mall where neither should be in the first place.
The Central Valley in CA is a very fertile place, when there is water. You just have to pump it from somewhere else. Look at a map and see how far it is from Sacramento to LA. That is how far the water is pumped, and over at least two mountain ranges. I just found out that much of the water for the coastal cities, like Santa Barbara, also comes from Sacramento in another diversion.
CA is so weird about water, it dries up lakes, moves rivers, kills all native wildlife just to move water for farming. Right now there are signs all up and down the state that say "Congress Created Desert!" This means that CA is trying to keep water flowing to the Delta, just to keep a salmon population alive. It has dropped by almost 98% in the past few years. It is simplistically put as pitting farmers and their needs against fish. More realistically, it is farmers needing water in near desert conditions against fishermenr and the global food chain. Or global food chain versus cities. LA and San Diego could not exist without the water from the Delta and the Colorado River. The Colorado River used to reach the ocean in Mexico. It barely does now and is so saline it has little life in it. The whales that used that bay to mate and raise young cannot go there any more because it is a mudflat. Almost no water gets there! The US had to build a desalinization plant on the river to guarantee fresh water to mexican residents. The salt comes from irrigation. Water used for irrigation pulls the salts from the soils and deposits them back into the river when it flows back to the river.
There is a need for common sense here. CA (maybe the world) has outdated water thinking. There is only so much to go around. And what are the available stores in a drought condition. What is sustainable? A Dutch water geek came up with a term "virtual water" that makes sense. Trouble is it can change national economies. Why grow corn in Phoenix? Wheat in Egypt? when it is more water-wise to ship it in from a moist place? In Colorado, water law has gotten to the point that if you take water out of one river system, you have to return it to that system in clean enough form to be reused in drinking water and for wildlife. Water rights are determined in acre-foot units, meaning in drought time or times of low snow pack you may only get a percentage of an acrefoot, depending on availability. CA has no such restrictions. They do not monitor well pumping in CA either so wells are being pumped so hard, the ground in some areas is dropping one foot per year. Other states monitor well withdrawal to disalow ground compaction and sink holes.
Another area that I saw signs raling about current conditions is that Sacramento and Stockton discharge sewage to rivers that becomes irrigation water. Hey, no kidding. The issue is not that this exists, it exists all over the world. The Boulder, CO wastewater outfall is upstream from the Louisville water intake. The issue is that there are not tight discharge standards for wastewater. The excess nutrients discharged from wastewater plants can cause water degradation. This is a new topic for the EPA to address nationwide. This causes real big dead spots in waterways. You know, areas where algae grew so thick because of excess nutrients, when the algae dies (at night, no light to keep it growing) it sucks up all the oxygen in the water and everything there suffocates. period. Most fish kills are caused by this. Again CA is way behind the curve. There was one sign of hope last week as San Diego now has to treat their sewage to secondary standards before discharging iot to the ocean. Until now, they had allowed settling and chlorination. Think of what goes down your toilet, mix it up real good (use your imagination) and let it settle and then think if this is what you want sent out to the lake or river next to you, knowing that the settled goods will only settle maybe 60-75% of the debris. YUCK!!! and people swim in that. San Diego was so surprised they have no real contingency plan. They thought they were immune because they were too big.
One other item that has come up is that small amounts of herbicides are more dangerous that what was previously thought. It is becoming obvious that weedkillers are overused and make their way into the waterways. And they can cause cancer and mutagenic changes at much lower doses than previously thought. Nice.
Another bright note, though, is that CA is ahead of the EPA in regulating Chromium 6 in drinking water and has come up with standards. There are no federal standrards to date. This is a pollutant made famous by Erin Brokovich.
So much for water musings over one week.
Let's Dance. Even Sir nose has to dance when hit with the Bop Gun! Turn up the Bass!
rojo
Friday, August 28, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Nail on the Head, Alfredo!
Robert Reich on executive compensation--
"Comparable" pay is a ridiculous standard to begin with, and the argument that $10 million, or even $7 million, is necessary to keep talent is absurd on its face. I needn't remind you that over the last several years Wall Street has exhibited a truly astonishing lack of talent. So why do any of Wall Street's big banks have the audacity to offer this sort of pay? Because the Street is back to the same, relentlessly untalented tactics that made it lots of money before the meltdown -- which also forced taxpayers to bail it out, caused the world economy to melt down, and tens of millions of people to lose big chunks of their life savings. Goldman Sach's chief financial executive asserted recently that its business model hadn't changed one bit from what it was before the meltdown. Goldman is making big money again, but its business model got it into such deep trouble it needed a multi-billion dollar taxpayer bailout as well as a bailout of AIG, which owed it money. Without these bailouts, there'd be no "talent" because there'd be no Goldman, no Citi, no Street.
Even if you believe Wall Street needs "talent," I suspect that firms such as Citi can get all the talent they need for far less than an average of $10 million each. Maybe even $1 million? The whole system of "comparable" pay is propped up by a zero-sum self-perpetuating competition in which the price of so-called "talent" is determined by how much every other bank is willing to pay for "talent." If every bank decided to pay $1 million, that would be the "comparable" price of talent on the Street. I mean, it's not as if this economy has so many other $1 million-a-year positions begging for Wall Street executives and traders.
There's a more basic issue here. The fact that these big banks have been judged "too big to fail" means their top executives and traders know they can take even bigger risks now, because we taxpayers will bail them out. So inevitably part of their firm's earnings, based on such risk-taking, now come as a result of this public insurance policy. When risks pay off, as many are doing now that the stock market is showing signs of life, they reap large rewards. When the risks turn really bad, you and I and other taxpayers will pick up the pieces.
back to me. This is absolutely correct. Why pay outrageous sums for those who failed? It is the same stupidity that elects a deserter for President and calls Kerry a war criminal and faker. In order for them to get the big money, the government had to interfere, give them cash and then gets castigated for interfering. Note this only happened on Wall Street. For car manufacturing, CEOs were let go (with huge bonus packages), companies were scuttled, downsized or sold. But Wall Street is too big to fail. If the same practices were followed we would give meth addicts money and then be surprised when they got high again.
Bang my head on the wall. Bang my head on the wall.
Part of me just once wants the chance to to ruin a multi-national corporation just for the platinum parachute. Then I can run for politics like HP destructor Carly Fiorina, or whatever her name was. Going for the Senate against Boxer. Wow! Just what we need, another failed leader who kisses business' ass.
rojo
Robert Reich on executive compensation--
"Comparable" pay is a ridiculous standard to begin with, and the argument that $10 million, or even $7 million, is necessary to keep talent is absurd on its face. I needn't remind you that over the last several years Wall Street has exhibited a truly astonishing lack of talent. So why do any of Wall Street's big banks have the audacity to offer this sort of pay? Because the Street is back to the same, relentlessly untalented tactics that made it lots of money before the meltdown -- which also forced taxpayers to bail it out, caused the world economy to melt down, and tens of millions of people to lose big chunks of their life savings. Goldman Sach's chief financial executive asserted recently that its business model hadn't changed one bit from what it was before the meltdown. Goldman is making big money again, but its business model got it into such deep trouble it needed a multi-billion dollar taxpayer bailout as well as a bailout of AIG, which owed it money. Without these bailouts, there'd be no "talent" because there'd be no Goldman, no Citi, no Street.
Even if you believe Wall Street needs "talent," I suspect that firms such as Citi can get all the talent they need for far less than an average of $10 million each. Maybe even $1 million? The whole system of "comparable" pay is propped up by a zero-sum self-perpetuating competition in which the price of so-called "talent" is determined by how much every other bank is willing to pay for "talent." If every bank decided to pay $1 million, that would be the "comparable" price of talent on the Street. I mean, it's not as if this economy has so many other $1 million-a-year positions begging for Wall Street executives and traders.
There's a more basic issue here. The fact that these big banks have been judged "too big to fail" means their top executives and traders know they can take even bigger risks now, because we taxpayers will bail them out. So inevitably part of their firm's earnings, based on such risk-taking, now come as a result of this public insurance policy. When risks pay off, as many are doing now that the stock market is showing signs of life, they reap large rewards. When the risks turn really bad, you and I and other taxpayers will pick up the pieces.
back to me. This is absolutely correct. Why pay outrageous sums for those who failed? It is the same stupidity that elects a deserter for President and calls Kerry a war criminal and faker. In order for them to get the big money, the government had to interfere, give them cash and then gets castigated for interfering. Note this only happened on Wall Street. For car manufacturing, CEOs were let go (with huge bonus packages), companies were scuttled, downsized or sold. But Wall Street is too big to fail. If the same practices were followed we would give meth addicts money and then be surprised when they got high again.
Bang my head on the wall. Bang my head on the wall.
Part of me just once wants the chance to to ruin a multi-national corporation just for the platinum parachute. Then I can run for politics like HP destructor Carly Fiorina, or whatever her name was. Going for the Senate against Boxer. Wow! Just what we need, another failed leader who kisses business' ass.
rojo
Friday, August 14, 2009
Les Paul is Dead!
He was still playing two nights a week in New York until this June. His most notable accomplishments were inventing the solid body electric guitar and multi-track recording. Try to imagine Yellow Submarine recorded on a single track! Or Electric Ladyland. hee. Oh yes, he started giving Steve Miller guitar lessons when Steve Miller was 5.
So without further ado--
rojo
He was still playing two nights a week in New York until this June. His most notable accomplishments were inventing the solid body electric guitar and multi-track recording. Try to imagine Yellow Submarine recorded on a single track! Or Electric Ladyland. hee. Oh yes, he started giving Steve Miller guitar lessons when Steve Miller was 5.
So without further ado--
rojo
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