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"Aqua," the puppet show

Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on Saturday, 12 April 2008

During the real estate bubble the government pumped too much water out of the Delta. This caused such a loss of salmon smolts that now the commercial salmon season has been shut down for a year in California and Oregon. This means emergency relief must be found for fishing towns and villages dependent on the Pacific salmon fishery. Meanwhile, the credit crunch, in the wake of the crash of the real estate bubble goes on. Students can't get loans. Banks must increase their capital, and the California state Legislature must pretend it is coming up with a water policy.

"Freedom to farm" goes on

Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on Saturday, 12 April 2008

Apparently, Congress is going to come up with a new Farm Bill sometime this month. Below, we've included notes from a long perspective piece done by Dan Morgan and two other reporters on the Washington Post staff last July, which provides a little idea of what we're getting into with the 2007 (now 2008) Farm Bill again, in a presidential election year.

Badlands Journal editorial board
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Panic

Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sunday, 30 March 2008

California, particularly the San Joaquin Valley, staked its whole future on the real estate speculation. And things are now coming apart in a big way.

Harbingers of Spring 2008?

Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sunday, 30 March 2008

Harbingers of spring include the arrival of the swallows and the departure of the Sandhill cranes. The article below, about idle railcars, forgot to mention another harbinger of this spring viewed Friday while waiting for a frieght train to pass through town: a man, riding a flatcar between rolls of steel.

Bill Hatch

What's happening here?

Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on Monday, 24 March 2008

In his history of the Great Crash, economist John Kenneth Galbraith noted, “Congress was concerned that commercial banks in general and member banks of the Federal Reserve System in particular had both aggravated and been damaged by stock market decline partly because of their direct and indirect involvement in the trading and ownership of speculative securities.

Qualified praise for Cardoza’s move to Washington

Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sunday, 16 March 2008

To get the qualifications out of the way, we don’t like many of the political positions taken by Rep. Dennis Cardoza, Shrimp Slayer-Merced. His record on environmental law has been a disgusting sellout to finance, insurance and real estate special interests in his district and his stint as the rear end of the Pomboza (head having been Rep. Richard Pombo, Buffalo Slayer-Tracy) was disgraceful. Nor do we imagine those positions are likely to change.

Loose Cheeks, March 10, 2008

Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on Monday, 10 March 2008

Loose Cheeks
FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT

Loose Cheeks: Hot Tips
By Lucas Smithereen
Loose Cheeks Senior Editor

Got a hot tip for Loose Cheeks? Call the Loose Cheeks hot-tip line: (000) CHE-EEKS. We’ll get back to you whenever.

A member of the public recently directed the attention of Loose Cheeks’ intrepid reporter A.J. Gangle to the wild, wacky world of agbiz, beginning with the Merced County Farm Bureau's February 2008 newsletter, the New York Times and the Environmental Working Group's Farm Subsidy Database for a few enlightening items.

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