March 2009

3-1-09

 
3-1-09
Modesto Bee
Delta must be saved, say all speakers at symposium...Bee Staff Reports
http://www.modbee.com/local/v-print/story/615763.html
LODI -- The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is not only worth saving but it also is essential that it be saved was the message delivered loudly and clearly by a wide array of politicians, activists, lawyers and environmentalists Saturday at symposium attended by about 250 people.

Thatcherism reflux

We received this morning a quote from Margaret Thatcher:
The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.
It is an extremely well-crafted statement, a veritable capitalist proverb.
However, the problem with a speculative real estate boom is that you also eventually run out of other people's money, whereupon, having privatized the profits, you socialize the debt.

3-2-09

 
3-2-09
Merced Sun-Star
Merced looks for way to bridge $10.2 million budget gap
Two-day workshop examines what can be cut and what is needed...SCOTT JASON
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/714584.html
Merced's leaders asked Saturday that government staff look at all city programs to see if any of them can be eliminated or outsourced to help close a $10.2 million budget gap.

3-3-09

 
3-3-09
Merced Sun-Star
Future of dams could pit farms against fish
Irrigation district's federal license to operate water outlets expires in 2014...JONAH OWEN LAMB
The Merced River begins its journey high in the Sierra before rushing down the foothills and crossing the Valley to finally empty into the San Joaquin River.
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/716157.html

3-4-09

 
3-4-09
Merced Sun-Star
Planners offer forum for high-speed rail...Scott Jason
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/718147.html
Residents will be able to offer their thoughts on the proposed high-speed rail system during a public meeting March 18.
The rail system's planners are beginning to work on the report that will chronicle the project's effects.

3-5-09

 
3-5-09
Merced Sun-Star
Wal-Mart critics want more time, translations to review environmental summary
Some say 1,000-plus-page report warrants more consideration and Spanish, Hmong versions...SCOTT JASON
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/720392.html
A handful of residents are pushing Merced government leaders to expand the comment period about the Wal-Mart distribution center.

3-6-09

 
3-6-09
Merced Sun-Star
Jobless rate soars to 18.9 percent in Merced County
As stores closed, retail sector shed 500 jobs in January...JONAH OWEN LAMB
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/722694.html
Merced County continues to hemorrhage jobs, with an unemployment rate so steep it prompted a U.S. congressman to declare the county and environs an "economic disaster area."

3-7-09

 
3-7-09
Merced Sun-Star

Politicians pressure Obama on Valley relief
Congressmen write letters to try improving our prospects...MICHAEL DOYLE, Sun-Star Washington Bureau

3-10-09

 
3-10-09
Merced Sun-Star
UC Merced to build new stem cell facility
A $6 million on-campus building will replace Castle center plan...DANIELLE GAINES
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/728504.html
UC Merced's four-year-old Science and Engineering Building will be getting a face-lift as part of a new plan to bring the university's stem cell research facilities to the core campus.

3-11-09

 
3-11-09
Sacramento Bee
California must step up to save salmon, experts tell legislators...Matt Weiser
http://www.sacbee.com/378/v-print/story/1688882.html
California has most of the laws and regulations it needs to protect dwindling salmon populations. What it lacks is money and willpower to do it, a panel of legal and fishery experts told legislators Tuesday.

The fish

"Capitalists forget the masses. Socialists forget the money." -- Mike Tharp, executive editor, Merced Sun-Star.
"Capitalists and newspaper editors work without aid of memory." Badlands Journal editoral board.

3-16-09

 
3-16-09
Badlands Journal
The fish...Badlands Journal editorial board
http://www.badlandsjournal.com/2009-03-15/007133
"Capitalists forget the masses. Socialists forget the money." -- Mike Tharp, executive editor, Merced Sun-Star.
"Capitalists and newspaper editors work without aid of memory." Badlands Journal editoral board.

3-17-09

 
3-17-09
Merced Sun-Star
Merced City Council forges ahead on Wal-Mart distribution center
City leaders vote 5-1 to keep April 28 deadline for public comment on the environmental impact report...SCOTT JASON
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/740924.html
The public's time to comment on the proposed Wal-Mart distribution center will remain on schedule, a split Merced City Council decided Monday.

3-18-09

 
3-18-09
Merced Sun-Star
Panel approves plans for UC Merced campus growth
Environmental report also gets a green light; board of regents to vote on it today...DANIELLE GAINES
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/743009.html
The UC Merced long-range development plan and final environmental impact report received support from a key University of California Regents committee Tuesday.

3-20-09

 
3-20-09
Badlands Journal
Don't let Bush's ESA rules stand...Badlands Journal editorial board
http://www.badlandsjournal.com/2009-03-20/007138
This item below courtesty of the Center for Biodiversity, brings us up-to-date on Bush's lame-duck anti-Endangered Species Act regulations, what Obama has done about them, what he hasn't don't about them, and what remains to be done to get rid of them in the next several weeks.

Don't let Bush's ESA rules stand

This item below courtesy of the Center for Biodiversity, brings us up-to-date on Bush's lame-duck anti-Endangered Species Act regulations, what Obama has done about them, what he hasn't don't about them, and what remains to be done to get rid of them in the next several weeks.
 
 
3-18-09
Center for Biological Diversity
(415) 632-5319 for more information
Secretary of Interior Should Rescind Bush Endangered Species Act Rules —

State of the birds and of the Endangered Species Act

The unprecedented "State of the Birds" Report 2009 caused a small stir in some circles during a week otherwise devoted to stories of unprecedented extortion by finance, insurance and real estate representatives in and out of the Obama administration.
The Wall Street Journal, in an apparent lapse of syntactical clarity, offered this line:
Among the more than 800 bird species in the U.S., 67 are listed as endangered or threatened by the federal government, the report says.

State of the birds and of the Endangered Species Act

The unprecedented "State of the Birds" Report 2009 caused a small stir in some circles during a week otherwise devoted to stories of unprecedented extortion by finance, insurance and real estate representatives in and out of the Obama administration.
The Wall Street Journal, in an apparent lapse of syntactical clarity, offered this line:
Among the more than 800 bird species in the U.S., 67 are listed as endangered or threatened by the federal government, the report says.

3-21-09

 
3-21-09
Badlands Journal
State of the birds and of the Endangered Species Act...Badlands Journal editorial board
http://www.badlandsjournal.com/2009-03-20/007140
The unprecedented "State of the Birds" Report 2009 caused a small stir in some circles during a week otherwise devoted to stories of unprecedented extortion by finance, insurance and real estate representatives in and out of the Obama administration.

3-22-09

 
3-22-09
Sacramento Bee
U.S. high court deals blow to tribe's Amador casino plans...Diana Lambert
http://www.sacbee.com/288/v-print/story/1717599.html
The U.S. Supreme Court may have done something that Amador County couldn't manage in two years of legal battles. It may have indirectly stopped another Indian casino from locating in the rural county.

Toward agricultural intelligence

One of the Badlands Journal editors mentioned this article months ago but we failed to post it. We're sure, however, that readers that haven't already seen it will recognize Pollan's fine essay as a policy statement worth studying, particularly here in the Valley, where farm and land-use policy are the sacred precincts of the Zombies. (random bolded sections added by BLJ editors)
Badlands Journal editorial board
10-9-08
New York Times

Farmer in Chief ... MICHAEL POLLAN

3-25-09

 
3-25-09
Merced Sun-Star
UC Merced professor warns of stimulus mistakes
Teacher says government may intervene too much, stifling growth...SCOTT JASON
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/754915.html
The federal government's effort to prime the U.S. economic pump must be focused and aimed at fostering long-term growth, a UC Merced economics professor said Tuesday.

3-26-09

 
3-26-09
Badlands Journal
San Joaquin River Settlement approved by Congress...Badlands Journal editorial board
http://www.badlandsjournal.com/2009-03-25/007149
National Resource Defense Council
Historic Lands Bill Will Restore Water Flow and Salmon to San Joaquin River
Congress Passes Package That Will Protect America's Land, Water and Rivers

3-27-09

 
3-27-09   
Merced Sun-Star
Our View: Public lands bill a boost for the Valley
San Joaquin River restoration, water bank among its many positive elements...Editorial
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/181/v-print/story/759138.html
The mammoth public lands bill passed by the House on Wednesday has plenty to like when it comes to the Valley and the Sierra Nevada.

Predictive economists

There is only one reason to read economists. After your eye has been caught by an article that seems to reflect a current situation (Dean Baker in 2004 on the speculative housing boom is a good example), you keep reading them in the hope of learning more. Their terminology is often pure Greek to the general reader. Still, if they predict something that comes to pass, you continue to read them because they are telling the truth.

Predictive economists

There is only one reason to read economists. After your eye has been caught by an article that seems to reflect a current situation (Dean Baker in 2004 on the speculative housing boom is a good example), you keep reading them in the hope of learning more. Their terminology is often pure Greek to the general reader. Still, if they predict something that comes to pass, you continue to read them because they are telling the truth.