Badlands Journal
Social, Economic, and Environmental Justice
10-1-09
Merced Sun-Star
Our View: 6-1 vote for Wal-Mart: 'Let's do it!'
Forget about lawsuits; the time has come to start building distribution center.
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/181/v-print/story/1088645.html
The perfect is the enemy of the good.
So wrote Gustave Flaubert, the French author and philosopher.
10-2-09
Merced Sun-Star
UC Merced earns honor for environmental efforts
Governor's award recognizes green practices...DANIELLE GAINES
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/1091070.html
The UC Merced campus, flush with solar energy programs and Earth-friendly buildings, has been recognized once again for its environmental stewardship.
10-3-09
Modesto Bee
Valley's pain not endured equally by all...Michael Doyle
http://www.modbee.com/local/v-print/story/879222.html
WASHINGTON — San Joaquin Valley cities remain mired in the great economic meltdown, though a new study shows some are suffering more than others.
10-1-09
Capitol Weekly
Grassroots Latino Water Coalition registered to ag industry lobbyist
By Malcolm Maclachlan
http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?xid=yb3fzxmc87lqzt
10-3-09
Contra Costa Times
Court orders government to pay for water losses
decision could open door for more districts to seek payment for water shifted to fish...Mike Taugher
http://www.contracostatimes.com/top-stories/ci_13472637
It's important for Valley residents to understand just how mean and greedy their "leaders" have been for the last decade as -- without any concern whatsoever for the consequences of real estate speculative bubbles -- they used their local land-use authority to sell land for the benefit of very few, establish our cities as among the least affordable in the nation at the height of the bubble, and then plunge us into economic depression with a rotted safety net.
"How could this not affect the human environment?" Wanger asked of the smelt rules, which are known as a biological opinion. "It has had catastrophic effects."
10-4-09
We have no appreciation for the Hun, our governor. We think he is a public embarrassment. But, in terms of the time-honored political phrase – the people get the government they deserve – the Hun is a tribute to the political idiocy of the California population, composed of people who all think state history began when they got here, either is immigrants from the US and elsewhere, or as babies.
Daniel M. Kammen, director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, predicted that as intensive renewable energy development spreads, water issues will follow.
At the most basic level, it's a matter of the West yet again trying, in the energy sphere, to bypass Russia. For this to happen, however - and it wouldn't hurt if you opened the nearest atlas for a moment - Europe desperately needs to get a handle on Central Asian energy resources, which is easy to say but has proven surprisingly hard to do.
10-5-09
Badlands Journal
Water and alternative energy in the West...Badlands Journal editorial board...10-4-09
http://www.badlandsjournal.com/2009-10-04/007449
Daniel M. Kammen, director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, predicted that as intensive renewable energy development spreads, water issues will follow.
9-29-09
10-5-09
Indybay
California Waterloo – Tide of Debt May Shift from General Fund to Water Users...Dan Bacher
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/10/05/18624477.php
10-6-09
Merced Sun-Star
Bill Lockyer on a good day: unravelling the legacy of Father Brown...Badlands Journal editorial board
http://www.badlandsjournal.com/2009-10-05/007451
10-5-09
Indybay
California Waterloo – Tide of Debt May Shift from General Fund to Water Users...Dan Bacher
10-5-09
Fresno Bee
Uncertainty looms for west-side farmers...Robert Rodriguez
http://www.fresnobee.com/local/v-print/story/1662771.html
This time of year, farmers on the Valley's west side usually have a fairly good idea what they will be planting next season, and if they will be getting a loan to pay for it. But this is not a normal year.
10-7-09
Progress?...Badlands Journal editorial board
http://www.badlandsjournal.com/2009-10-07/007454
10-03-09
Boston Globe
Chamber of overstated horrors
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/
"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste," Rahm Emanuel, Mr. Obama's new chief of staff, told a Wall Street Journal conference of top corporate chief executives this week. – Nov. 21, 2008, “In Crisis, Opportunity for Obama, Wall Street Journal
United States Senator Dianne Feinstein
California
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Senators Feinstein and Boxer Introduce Measure to Allow New Water Transfers in California’s Drought-Stricken Central Valley
10-8-09
Badlands Journal
News of the Westside water crisis...Badlands Journal editorial board
http://www.badlandsjournal.com/2009-10-07/007456
"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste," Rahm Emanuel, Mr. Obama's new chief of staff, told a Wall Street Journal conference of top corporate chief executives this week. – Nov. 21, 2008, “In Crisis, Opportunity for Obama, Wall Street Journal
United States Senator Dianne Feinstein
California
10-9-09
Merced Sun-Star
Merced County residents get a peek at high-speed rail route options...SCOTT JASON
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/1104032.html
Merced leaders and local residents Thursday night blasted alternative high-speed rail routes from San Jose to Merced because they would interfere with farms or neighborhoods.
Too big to fail -- lenders to the CA dairy industry
If Washington had had any real concern for the dairy industry, in California or anywhere in the US, it would have dealt with the artificially low milk prices that have plunged the entire national dairy deal into unprecedented debt.
10-10-09
Where the manure don't stink...Bill Hatch
http://www.badlandsjournal.com/2009-10-10/007459
Too big to fail -- lenders to the CA dairy industry
If Washington had had any real concern for the dairy industry, in California or anywhere in the US, it would have dealt with the artificially low milk prices that have plunged the entire national dairy deal into unprecedented debt.
10-11-09
Modesto Bee
Wanted: Your opinion on North County Corridor...Garth Stapley
http://www.modbee.com/local/v-print/story/889211.html
The time for speaking up about the North County Corridor has arrived.
People with axes to grind or rose petals to scatter have registered hundreds, if not thousands, of comments about the future expressway stretching across north Stanislaus County.
10-12-09
Merced Sun-Star
UC Merced founding chancellor Carol Tomlinson-Keasey dies...JONAH OWEN LAMB
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/1108829.html
The founding chancellor of UC Merced, Carol Tomlinson-Keasey, who saw the institution through its infancy, died Saturday of complications related to cancer, according to a statement from the university.
She was 66.
10-13-09
Modesto Bee
Modesto landowners fund growth campaign...Garth Stapley
http://www.modbee.com/local/v-print/story/891216.html
All of Measure E's campaign donations came from landowners hoping their rural properties eventually would be annexed to Modesto and developed, according to finance disclosure forms.
10-14-09
Our View: A final farewell to a visionary
Dr. Carol Tomlinson-Keasey's determination put the University of California in Merced.
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/181/v-print/story/1112385.html
Dear Dr. Carol Tomlinson-Keasey,
It's too late for you to read this thank-you letter yourself, but we want your family, friends and all Mercedians to know how the Sun-Star feels about your contributions to our community.
10-21-09
CounterPunch.com
New Shockwaves From Courts and Accounting Board
The Next Financial Crisis Hits Wall Street, as Judges Start Nixing Foreclosures ... Pam Martens
http/www.counterpunch.com
The financial tsunami unleashed by Wall Street’s esurient alchemy of spinning toxic home mortgages into triple-A bonds, a process known as securitization, has set off its second round of financial tremors.
The claims for economic, social and environmental justice are ultimately based a moral claim not to waste, oppress or despoil the biosphere. The idea is that if people rationally consider the arguments, they will go and do better in these areas. However, a completely different side of those arguments is provided by natural reality: the economy is based on oil, the quantity of oil is diminishing, therefore the economy will have to
10-29-09
Sacramento Bee
Sacramento let developers get jump-start before formal permits...Ryan Lillis
http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/2290221.html
For three years, the city of Sacramento has allowed developers to start work on their projects before receiving formal permits.