Badlands Journal
Social, Economic, and Environmental Justice
About 80 percent of our smog-causing pollutants come from mobile sources over which the air district has no jurisdiction. More than ever, we will need the state and federal government to do their fair share for the Valley by providing funding and regulatory assistance to reduce emissions from cars, trucks and locomotives. -- Merced Sun-Star, May 19, 2007
Sonny "Loose Lips" Star mentioned the name of a real nice lady Friday night. We miss her. But, under cover of this fine person, Sonny took another shot at the county's natural resources. Sonny's taste is all in his mouth.
"Now the Cold War is over, and our excuse for this behavior is gone. We need a new and better vision. I'm exploring ways to define that vision. I would be satisfied with small but definite steps in a new direction, but what direction? Neither technology nor economics can answer questions of values. Is our path into the future to be defined by the literally mindless process of technological evolution and economic expansion or by a conscious adoption of guiding moral precepts? Progress is meaningless if we don't know where we're going.
The latest milk production figures for March 2007 show that 13 out of 23 top dairy states produced less milk in 2007 than they did in March of 2006. Most of the states producing additional milk are Western states. That additional milk from Western states is not the result of efficiency or market forces. Milk production in Western states is driven by California real estate values and the IRS tax code 1031.
The north San Joaquin Valley public might benefit from considering a few remarks made by Boston University professors regarding the Bio Safety Level-4 laboratory under construction in Boston now. Although the National Emerging Infectius Diseases Laboratory is sited in a densely populated lower income neighborhood, while the proposed site for the UC/Bechtel, Etc./Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory BSL-4 is in the middle of a bomb-testing range east of Tracy, what the BU professors said pertains.
To begin skip-loading the mountainous manure pile of propaganda that has grown up beside both the UC Merced and the Riverside Motorsparts Pork (RMP) project, let us start the tractor engine with a few simple words: both are bad projects according to state and federal environmental law and regulation. The legal arguments are included in numerous lawsuits. They are public information.
This document, signed by George Bush, president of the United States in 1990, appears to be out of date. Nevertheless, a web search for "federal employees code of ethics" recycled it. We were intrigued to note that, prior to the end of history, Rapture Time and the little tyrant, federal employees were not apparently required or permitted to cave to pressure brought by members of Congress on behalf of special interests, particularly in this region, finance, insurance and real estate special interests anymore than they were required or permitted to cave to special interests directly.
"The region has come alive. It's awakened," said Carol Whiteside, the Modesto-based center's founder and outgoing president. "We are no longer isolated and invisible." ...Other speakers said the valley still faces an uphill climb in many troubling areas. Laurie Primavera of CSU Fresno noted that rates of teen pregnancy, uninsured people and substance abuse continue to outpace those elsewhere. "We have a lot to do in health care," Primavera said.
Under the new contract, the team, which includes Bechtel National Inc., BWX Technologies Inc. and Washington Group International Inc., would receive $297.5 million over the seven-year contract. The consortium also includes Battelle Memorial Institute, Texas A&M University and several small businesses...consortium is nearly identical to the group that took over Los Alamos, though the relative shares that each member has in the corporation is different. At Livermore, the University of California controls half of the six-member board, said Gerald L.
What should be noted by the public living in the north San Joaquin Valley is that this region has been the focal point of one of the strongest drives to destroy the Endangered Species Act in the nation. This destruction was led by:
Julia McDonald, a Bush political appointee to the Fish and Wildlife Service who, among other things, concocted an "economic" study on the vernal pool critical habitat designation that was thrown out of court;