Badlands Journal

 The nattering nabobs of National Security have been at Ed Snowden, who leaked the material about the NSA domestic spying ("all legal, all legal the nabors say) by insult and invective. They have called his behavior traitorous and treasonous and everything else bad that they can possibly imagine.

But the worst thing they have said about Ed Snowden is that he is a high school dropout. 

A HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT?

May the Millennial Diety that still rules our scrambled official psyche strike him dead, over there in Hong Kong!!

A HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT!!!

It reminded one Badlands Journal editor of a topless dancer joint barker on Broadway in San Francisco who some years ago made his pitch thus: "We got six college coeds and A HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT."

Perhaps Mme. Sen. Dianne Feinstein also heard that immortal barker in the local politics phase of her career, back when her hearing was a little better.

A HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT!!

There is something "sinful and lewd" about a high school dropout. You just try to say the term without a sneer, every so slight, that reflects your ontempt for anyone who the lacks the formal American education and academic credentials.

Certainly no one of that class ought to have had such enormous responsibilities. A HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT, fer Chrissake!!! 

In its annual article of self-congratulation called "Sunshine Week," the McClatchy Co. local outlet, the Merced Sun-Star finished with the following errant graphs:

Acknowledging local efforts

In Merced County, government agencies generally do a good job of getting out the word about public meetings and posting agendas on websites, even making printed copies available in a timely way.

Law enforcement agencies also make a solid effort to get out information about crime and other incidents in the various communities, especially if they deem such information important for public safety. The district attorney's office goes the extra mile to honor requests for public records about court cases.

When it comes to public records requests, government agencies generally respond within the allotted time -- often, but not always, providing the desired documents or records.

2-24-13 

Sacramento Bee

 

 

Editorial: Ending federal funding for levees is a reckless idea

 

http://www.sacbee.com/2013/02/24/v-print/5210709/editorial-ending-federal-funding.html

 

Should the federal government end its historic role in helping state and local governments pay for upgrades to flood control levees, including those that are part of federal flood control projects?

2-19-13
Merced Sun-Star
Our View: Report eyes water jobs of the future
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2013/02/19/v-print/2827639/our-view-report-eyes-water-jobs.html
The eggheads at the Oakland based Pacific Institute have produced a report for the people: "Sustainable Water Jobs, A National Assessment of Water- Related Green Job Opportunities," (which) identifies 136 occupations that could emerge or
expand as the country looks to make wiser use of its water, through conservation, recycling, reuse and more.
Most of the job categories already exist -- from engineers to plumbers to landscape architects and landscapers."

Merced water management group eyes state funding 2-11-13

You bet it does! But there are two reasons the Merced Integrated Regional WAter Management Plan group meets. The IRWMP, pronounced "Ear-Wimp" meets because the state Department of Water Resources has bond money to spend and entities like the Merced Irrigation District, the City of Merced and Merced County have the desire and the credentials to qualify to spend it.
The decision making group consists of those entities. The rest of the group, known as "advisors" or "stakeholders," are the usual group of powerless members of the public who come because on the one hand they are invited as democratic window dressing and to keep tabs on what the big shots are saying.
Having decided flood control was important, MID has proposed some flood control projects and dam automation for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Disadavantaged communities are so important to the state that the Planada Community Services District has proposed water metering, always a boon for la gente. Actually the entire area of the "Mear-Wimp," basically equivalent to the MID district boundaries -- the east side of the county -- qualifies as one grand disadvantaged community, another kudo for the wealthe distribution created by American agribusiness. Curiously Stevinson, described by one of its illustrious

The state is going mad again. It is happening more frequently these days as it is necessary for the rulers to grasp at evermore absurd propaganda campaigns to mask their purposes. You can't even blame Jerry Brown. It is just the system, grinding on and on.

One of the dipbleep campaigns is to name the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta a "national heritage area," as plans move forward to excavate huge tunnels underneath it to take most of its fresh water supply from the Sacramento River above the Delta to the big north-south canals below the Delta.

Whoop de do! National heritage and all that entails. Puts us right up there with the Mississippi Delta Heritage Area, which claims:

Much of what is profoundly American -- what people love about America -- has come from the Delta, which is often called 'the cradle of American culture.'

Yes, oh yes, how fondly we recall all the the Mississippi Delta has brung us. Now touting itself as a tourist destination, once it was another kind of destination, expressed in the common American expression, "sold down the river."

Home of the blues. Yes, indeedy. And, of course, the blues is worth so much more than all the suffering that went into its creation, down there in the "cradle." Art hurts, after all.

The Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area -- home of the fabled Parchman Farm., where slavery went on and on so long after the visit by Grant and Sherman to Vicksburg.

DESPAIR!!

Once again, as She does every year now, since its population hit 30 million, Mother Nature is betraying California by not providing enough rainfall to allay the anxieties of the finance, insurance and real estate special interests. The Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite is only 1150 percent of normal capacity for this time of year; Shasta Lake is only 111 percent of normal; and lesser reservoirs are above or at 100 percent capacity.

It's just awful. -- ed

1-30-13
Merced Sun-Star
Hopes for a wet year are drying out…San Jose Mercury News
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2013/01/30/v-print/2787530/hopes-for-a-wet-year-are-drying.html

When it comes to rain and snow in California, this winter began with great promise. But hopes for a bountiful year appear to be evaporating.

The Sierra Nevada snowpack is at 93 percent of the historical average for the end of January, according to the state Department of Water Resources survey completed Tuesday afternoon.

That's not bad -- but a month ago, it was 140 percent.

What happened? Huge storms in early December dumped lots of snow across the Sierra, and rain filled reservoirs all over the state. But there has been almost no rain or snow in January.

But there's a practical lesson in those stats on why it's smart to hit the books: The estimated median annual earnings for someone with a bachelor's degree is around $50,846, almost double the $26,834 of someone with a high school diploma. -- Merced Sun-Star editorial board, 1-12-13.