March 2017

Another chapter in Trump's authority problem

 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."

The shape of water dilemmas to come

 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.

Safe drinking water for children in Planada and Le Grand!

 It's a sign of our fragmented times that children in these rural schools should need special clean water dispensers at the same time as the same communities plan for more growth. If you don't have enough clean water for the children of your community, how can you in good conscience plan for more growth? Planners, of course, will argue how much worse it would all be if the new growth weren't planned because planners are pawns in the real great game of Finance, Insurance and Real Estate.1. 2 .3.

"Do not take your CDBGs from our Valley..."

 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,

Horses and mules in the Army, Marines

 

 

Not quite everything in the arsenal of the Superpower is the result of  a win-win public-private, high-tech/bio-tech partnership for growth, like, say, the $95-milliom F-35 fighter jet, the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier ($17.5 billion), drone warfare,1. or thermo-nuclear obliteration. -- blj

Nunes: a paper tiger up the river in a paper canoe

 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
 

Towards a quieter dine-and-dope experience in central Merced

 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.