December 2018

Political economy or political ecology?

 Gov. Jerry Brown, reflecting on the fires in northern and southern California last month in light of a recent "dire climate report" for the state, said:

"This is not the new normal. This is the new abnormal. And this new abnormal will continue, certainly in the next 10 to 15 to 20 years. And unfortunately, the best science is telling us that dryness, warmth, drought, all those things, they're going to intensify."  NPR, Steve Inskip, Nov. 20,  2018.

And who will govern Merced County now?

Merced County citizens will get the government they deserve next year. They voted for it.
The west side replaced longtime District 5 Supervisor Jerry O'Banion with Scott Silveira, a third-generation dairyman. O'Banion served on the board since 1991. He takes with him almost all the skill and leadership the board had.

What is it about ICE and the high school girls?

"It's a problem of moral perpitude." -- Badlands Journal leader

A theory about the latest US Immigration and Customs Enforcement fiasco: 15-year-old Jakadrien Lorece Turner of Houston TX just wanted to travel to exciting foreign countries. She lacked foreign language as does the overwhelming majority of American high school students, but that was no barrier to her adventurous spirit.

And she found the perfect free tour, ICE, an agency that has such a weakness for high school girls that around here its dark minions ambush school buses in the morning.