March 2017

 It seems inadequate on many levels to try to select news articles regarding the president's on-going authority issues that are of interest to our readers and that might not have already read. This was struck us because it went beyond the mere event of FBI Director James Comey's request to the Justice Department to a discussion of the short, lurid history of Trump's term in office. Trump attacked the New York Times, making it the poster child for the "very, very dishonest press."

 3-7-17
Los Angeles Times
Our wild, wet winter doesn't change this reality — California will be short of water forever
Jay Famiglietti and Michelle Miro
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-famiglietti-miro-after-the-dr...
Over the last 18 months, California has experienced one of the driest, wettest and wildest rides in its recorded water history.

 Under normal circumstances the liar is defeated by reality, for which there is no substitute; no matter how large the issue of falsehood that an experienced liar has to offer, it will never be large enough, even if he enlists the help of computers, to cover the immensity of factuality.

 We are grateful to Congressman Jim Costa, 16th Congressional District of California, for this excellent rundown on the consequences of the Plutocrat's First Budget on the Valley, its poor people, small businesses, and even its wealthy farmers. -- blj
 
March 17, 2017
US Congressman Jim Costa
https://outlook.live.com/owa/?path=/mail/inbox/rp
 
Dear Friend,

 Cut from the same cloth as former Valley congressmen Richard Pombo and Dennis Cardoza, Rep. Devin Nunes, Cowboy-Visalia, has made his way in life by being just smart enough to figure out where the money is -- water -- and corrupt enough to go down the drain. And, as is in the nature of corrupt things, he threatens to bring everything around him down with him. But this is of no concern to Nunes, just as long has the farmers in his district get more water than they deserve regardless of the climate. But will his touching faith in Trump's promises be rewarded?--blj
 

 Merced City Council members Jill McLeod and Michael Belluomini advocated for quieter trains at last week's council meeting. They targeted the BNSF tracks in the northern part of central Merced because Amtrak adds more trains to the already busy tracks. But when Ms. McLeod, known in some central Merced circles as "Strawberry Jujube," repeatedly said that the area has an "industrial" feeling, we wondered how long before the council would mandate the Strawberry Jujube Aesthetic for our neighborhoods.