May 2011

The casino option

Finance, insurance, real estate special interests in the north San Joaquin Valley, home of the worst foreclosure rate in the nation, are suffering high anxiety that the University of California might convert UC Merced, anchor tenant for the real estate boom and bust, into a liberal arts college.
Furthermore, this idea is being advanced on the floor of the state Senate by none other than that notorious liberal, former mayor of Berkeley and wife of the present mayor of Berkeley, state Sen. Loni Hancock.

Klass with a Capital B

The last time we remember best seeing Don Bergman was in the parking lot of a church, sniggering with a group of men from out of town wearing identical black caps distributed to them before a meeting inside the church during which the men interrupted, jeered at, swore at and verbally threatened a woman in her mid-70s whose offense in their eyes was opposition to the Riverside Motor Sports auto race track. Bergman wasn't for the fancy pants UC Merced campus that night. He was a man of the mob.
"Gentlemen, start your engines," he told them.

What we can learn from pure flak

State Assemblymember Cathleen Galgiani, who represents Merced and parts north, recently attacked state Sen. Joe Simitian, who represents the rail SAnta Clara, San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties for attempting to steal money from the funds for the high-speed rail system. Galgiani, launching her campaign for statewide office -- Secretary of State -- is posing as the Mother of High-Speed Rail, a reputed statewide issue. Simitian appears to be trying to use $1 billion of the $9-billion fund to refurbish and improve the existing commuter trains and tracks running from San Jose to San Francisco.

San Joaquin Valley Uncontrollable Air Pollution Board

Just imagine how it feels when year after year some federal or state environmental agency or non-governmental organization like the American Lung Association,  announces once again that the south San Joaquin Valley has the worst air pollution in the nation and it is getting worse and worse, and year after year, the newspaper reporting the grim news -- in the interest of "balanced" reporting, contacts the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control Board's chief spokesman, known to readers of the Valley press as "Seyed the Mendacious," who contradicts the outside authorities with news that actu

Cardoza: a legend in his own flak

Cardoza: the lies that keep on coming.
Just because something is repeated over and over again doesn't make it true. The propaganda machine of Rep. Dennis Cardoza, the Pimlico Kid, is in full gear again this month with an "edition" of something they call "Valley Views," suggesting the verbiage it contains is something other than the personal vision of Cardoza and his wealthiest backers in the region.

Three great laws from California

It is good that Rep. John Moss, D-Sacramento, is remembered for his authorship of the federal Freedom of Information Act, passed in 1966, in an interview with his biographer, Michael Lemov.
The article reminds us of two great California State Legislature laws governing public access to government meetings and information pertaining to state government only.

Ralph M. Brown Act, 1953, describes its purpose and intent: