December 2015

Holy Nut recently venerated in Modesto

 
 
While the government compelled urban residents to let their lawns die and cut back on showers last summer,  California almond growers prevailed upon the same government to subsidize the planting of millions of new trees, all of which needed water. and will need more as they grow.  This led to the phenomenon, especially apparent here in Merced in the heart of the state almond deal, of dusty brown towns and lush green orchards in the country, irrigated with new, deeper wells causing more over-drafting and land subsidence while municipal wells in some towns dried up.

Minding the "Watchdog"

 
Minding the "Watchdog"
Rightwing propaganda is evolving fast these days as the rich consolidate their political power. Heavier doses of propaganda emerge monthly. Aping the global corporations who underwrite it, rightwing propaganda is constantly acquiring new subjects to be merged into the grand conglomerate of its authoritarian view.

McMalaprop left whimpering in dust

 Last week, the famous federal California drought bill fizzled in a pool of bile. Republican Majority Leader of the House, Kevin "Malaprop" McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, and his rural California Republican delegation, condemned the characters of the state's two Democratic senators, Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, both from the Bay Area.

“Sadly,” McCarthy said Friday, “our senators have once again failed to rise and meet the challenge with us.” 

 
Feinstein's complaint was more specific:
 

New York Times: A constant wonder

 With its patented combination of intellectual sloth and arrogance, the New York Times has once again ventured to the arid West to render the opinion of Wall Street on the California water situation.
We find it fascinating that the ultimate bigshot newspaper in the nation can pretend to cover the water story, focusing on the Friant Dam, without one mention of the San Joaquin River Settlement (see Notes) mandated by federal court and funded by Congress.
It's a wonder!
--blj