Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Closing the 'Collapse Gap': the USSR was better prepared for collapse than the US | EnergyBulletin.net | Peak Oil News Clearinghouse

http://www.energybulletin.net/23259.html
This maybe a reasonable time to consider reviewing this comparative
presentation on the possible collapse of the U.S. expanding empire and the
nation as well.

As i don't believe at this point their are many people who are not
...somewhat aware that this nation is bankrupt at all levels of government
and we seem to be with out direction though vocal with reaction in finding
some cause outside ourselves and our national borders for what is happening.

Our mostly recently defined national enemy is the Muslims and this
comparison is to our former defined enemy Russia.
And though their is no mention of China in this essay... they with 1.5
billion people to our 300 million apparently is designated to be next and
soon followed by all nations with the exception of the UK and Israel.

As the author points out all empires fail from within and it is doubtful we
will be an exception to that historical dynamics.


Saturday, June 7, 2008

Fw: What was surfacing before 9-11 happen?

What ever the motivation for 9/11 and i am not discounting these
conclusions... we sure have not heard much about any of this long list of
issues and concerns since 9/11.
So again it brings up the issue of just how much our news is selected for us
and of course continually filtered.
As and example... the news stories concerning Israel recent statements that
they intend to bomb Iran at some point. It's out their and all over the
European and middle east press. But definitely not featured on our press
reports.
And it is clearly stated that this could ..not happen with out the nod from
the Bush administration.
As we would immediately be at war with Iran aswell but this is not consider
significant or appropriate news for the U.S. public to read in the papers or
even as a 'major news' story on Google.
You can search the story but it's not offered in the news section which i
found interesting. Nor did i see on the front page of the SF Chronicle, SJ
Mercury News or the NY Times.
Though BBC news and Reuters both carried it on line.
----- Original Message -----
From: John Law
To: larry lewis ; dave
Sent: Saturday, June 07, 2008 7:23 PM
Subject: Fwd: What was surfacing before 9-11 happen?

I just found this in my email files - lends more support to the
"letting it happen" or other various 911 conspiracy theories.


--- On Thu, 10/31/02, Peaceful Warrior


From: Peaceful Warrior
Subject: Fwd: What was surfacing before 9-11 happen?
To: list
Date: Thursday, October 31, 2002, 9:30 AM


>From: "Thomas Husted"
>Subject: What was surfacing before 9-11 happen?
>Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2002 13:49:43 +0000
>
>Hello,
> This is an interesting article about some of the things that
>were coming to the surface before 9-11. Especially interesting is
>the last part of the article about "The Disclosure Project". Oh
well
>another wake up call for America. Namaste,
> Thomas
>
> WHAT WAS HAPPENING JUST PRIOR TO 9-11?
>
>By Steve Meyers
>
>With all that's going on these days it important for us to pause,
>stop and think about "What was happening just prior to 9-11?" Many
>'critical issues' were coming to the attention of the American
>people in a very big way.
>
>Since 9-11, most all of those issues have been swept from conscious
>memory; there has been myopic focus on "Terrorism" and the 'War on
>Iraq' - to the exclusion of other important issues.
>
>After review of the following, it's possible to conceive that 9-11
>was allowed to happen (left the door open) to divert out attention.
>The list is by no means complete - but it's a good start; perhaps
>some of your readers can add their own insights.
>
>What follows is a summary "re-cap" of the major issues which were
>coming to light just prior to 9-11. Hopefully, it will help us
>regain our memory of who we were, and what we used to know before
>9-11.
>
>In view of the following, it appears very probable that 9-11 was
>allowed to happen to divert our attention; it seems the U.S.
>Government became frightened that the American People would finally
>discover "the Truth".
>
>It will help to read the following "as a whole" as opposed to focus
>on 'single issues' disconnected from one another.
>
>--------------------------------
>
>1 - THE FAILURE OF THE 'WAR ON DRUGS'
>
>There was a mounting backlash against the "Drug War"; the American
>People began to realize that "The War On Drugs" was doing far more
>damage than anything the 'drug users' were capable of doing. The
>"war on drugs" had turned into a very profitable 'business'. The
>U.S. has now incarcerated more people in prison than any other
>country, regime, dictatorship or tyrant in the world. That 'trend'
>was coming to light.
>
>Likewise, the complicity and involvement of the CIA and George Bush
>Sr. in drug dealing was coming to light. And the laundering of
>billions of dollars of drug money through Citibank, JP Morgan, Bank
>of America, etc. was coming to light.
>
>9-11 … Poof! All was forgotten; how convenient.
>
>-------------------------------------------------------
>
>2 - FBI COMPLICITY IN THE WACO COVER-UP was 'coming to a head.'
>
>"As the FBI's deputy general counsel, Thomas A. Kelley (the FBI
>official in charge of ferreting out information about the FBI for a
>joint congressional intelligence panel) - obstructed a Justice
>Department probe of the bureau two years ago. Kelly was the FBI's
>point of contact for special counsel John C. Danforth's inquiry
into
>the 1993 Waco debacle in which 75 Branch Davidians died in a fire
>after a 51-day standoff. According to a December 2000 internal FBI
>memo, Kelley (the head of the FBI) "continued to thwart and
>obstruct" the Waco investigation to the point that Danforth was
>forced to send a team to search FBI headquarters for documents
>Kelley refused to turn over."
>
>------------------------------------------------------
>
>3 - CHEMTRAIL CRIMES & COVER-UP DOCUMENTED
>
>Increased Public awareness of the reality of chemtrails; chemical
>analysis reports coming in; nationwide 'epidemic' of mycoplasma
>upper respitory infections; there were calls for a Congressional
>investigation (Rep. Dennis Kucinich).
>
>http://www.carnicom.com/contrails.htm

>
>This information was coming to light before 9-11.
>
>--------------------------------------------------------
>
>4 - AIDS VIRUS CREATED BY UNITED STATES
>
>Research program to create as bio-weapon 'gentically targeted'
>specifically to kill blacks (DNA induced genocide)
>
>Dr. Leonard G. Horowitz
>http://www.tetrahedron.org/articles/aids-coverups/Kissinger-Rockefeller-AIDS

>.html
>
>Boyd Graves, J.D.
>http://www.bashar.com/GSP/Congress_Moran_aids.htm

>
>This information was coming to light before 9-11.
>
>-------------------------------------------------------
>
>5 - ILLEGAL USE OF 'DEPLETED' URANIUM
>
>Understanding the effects on the environment in Iraq, Kosovo,
>Yugoslavia
>
>http://www.globalissues.org/Geopolitics/Kosovo/Environment.asp

>
>This information was coming to light.
>
>(see also: Gulf War Disease / Gulf War Veterans)
>
>---------------------------------------------------------
>
>6 - "FINAL REPORT ON OK CITY BOMBING"
>
>(was scheduled for release on Sept. 19, 2001)
>
>http://proliberty.com/observer/20011216.htm

>
>The report is the product of six years of investigation by the
>Oklahoma Bombing Investigation Committee led by Oklahoma State
>Representative Charles Key. The 550-page work exposes in minute
>detail, based on hard evidence, that the federal government began
>obstructing the bomb investigation almost immediately after the
>Ryder truck explosion.
>
>The report was submitted to the U.S. Congress and is a matter of
the
>Congressional Record. Conclusions (excerpts):
>
>1) The Murrah Federal Building was not destroyed by one sole truck
>bomb. The major factor in its destruction appears to have been
>detonation of explosives carefully placed at four critical
junctures
>on supporting columns within the building.
>
>2) ['Demolition Cover-up' - similar to WACO] "It is truly
>unfortunate that a separate and independent bomb damage assessment
>was not made during the cleanup - before the building was
>'demolished' on May 23 and hundreds of truck loads of debris were
>hauled away, smashed down, and covered with dirt behind a security
>fence."
>
>3) When the picture at Tab 4 was made, all evidence of demolition
>charges had been removed from the building site...
>
>4) All ambiguity with respect to the use of supplementing
demolition
>charges, and the type of truck used could be quickly resolved IF
the
>FBI were required to release the surveillance camera coverage of
>this terribly tragic event. [same for Pentagon surveillance as
>regards 9-11 'jetliner crash']
>
>5) "I read the report carefully and examined the exhibits appended
>to the text. Your observations and photographic analysis are
>meticulous in the extreme, and you are to be commended for your
>insights regarding the effects of blast vs. distance from the
>detonation. ... "In conclusion, General, I find myself in awe of
the
>technical achievement that your report represents. I can find no
>scientific flaws in either your observations or your conclusions. I
>am therefore in full agreement with the conclusion of strategically
>placed small explosive charges being responsible for the
destruction
>of the (Murrah) building." (Rodger A. Raubach Ph.D)
>
>Kenneth Gow (Whittier, California) with over one-half century of
>engineering experience in the aerospace industry, writes in his
>evaluation of the EBES: "The Eglin Test Structure report ...
further
>reinforces the conclusion that a substantial portion of the Murrah
>Building damage was by internal explosions."
>
>OK CITY BOMBING: Some Questions that Deserve an Answer:
>Q: If the bombing of the Alfred E. Murrah Federal building in
>Oklahoma City was a 'terrorist' reprisal for the Federal massacre
of
>the Branch Davidians at Waco - why were no BATF or FBI agents
>injured? Why was EVERY BADGE-CARRYING FEDERAL AGENT absent from
work
>at nine o'clock on a weekday morning, their offices staffed only
>with civilian clerical workers?
>
>Q: Did the Alfred Murrah building warehouse (contain the) documents
>related to the government attack on the Branch Davidians at WACO?
If
>so, what happened to those documents? Were they destroyed? If so,
>were any copies kept elsewhere? If not, why not?
>
>Q: Will the missing papers affect former Attorney General Ramsey
>Clarke's lawsuit against the ATF and FBI on behalf of the Branch
>Davidian survivors?
>
>Q: Why was the physical evidence at the WACO compound, the Murrah
>Building and 9-11 Trade Towers 'immediately removed and buried'?
>This is contrary to ALL bombing, fire, arson, air crash, and crime
>scene investigations. Who ordered and authorized the "destruction
>and burial of evidence" rather than preserving the evidence to
>complete a credible forensic investigation? Why the 'big rush' to
>get rid of the physical evidence?
>
>This above information was coming to light before being
>'overshadowed' by 9-11.
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------
>
>GATA (lawsuit against Federal Reserve; SEC - manipulating the gold
>markets. (note: the lawyers offices and key evidence in support of
>the GATA case - were in the World Trade Towers.)
>
>http://www.gata.org/

>
>This information was coming to light before 9-11.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------
>
>7 - CAFR (Comprehensive Annual Financial Report)
>
>Research showing that State and local governments have huge
excesses
>(surpluses) of the taxpayers money they are not using.
>http://www.cafrman.com/

>
>This information was coming to light before 9-11
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------
>
>8 - OMB Report: $59 Billion missing from HUD:
>http://projects.is.asu.edu/pipermail/hpn/2000-October/001649.html

>
>"Subcommittee chairman Stephen Horn, R-Calif., is said to be
furious
>that HUD's most recent financial report shows the agency is unable
>to balance its checkbook and cannot account for $59 billion. For
>most Americans, it is incomprehensible that $59 billion could be
>missing from the ledger of a single agency."
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>
>$2.3 TRILLION MISSING FROM THE PENTAGON?
>(dwarfs Enron/Worldcom corruption)
>
>"CBS News Correspondent Vince Gonzales reports, while its own
>auditors admit the military cannot account for 25 percent of what
it
>spends." "According to some estimates we cannot track $2.3 trillion
>in transactions,' Rumsfeld admitted."
>
>This information was coming to light before 9-11.
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------
>
>10 - TAX HONESTY MOVEMENT - CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS
>"The 300 Questions"
>
>"The terms of the original hearing back in September 2001 required
>We The People Foundation to provide the Department of Justice and
>IRS attorneys with a complete list of all the "first tier"
questions
>that were to be asked of the government attorneys at the hearing."
>These questions were hand delivered to all members of the House and
>Senate; DOJ; IRS, etc."
>
>NOT ONE OF THEM RESPONDED to 'the 300 Questions'.
>
>A leader of the "tax honesty movement," whose hunger strike last
>year convinced federal officials to agree to answer in public tough
>questions about the income tax's legality. After reviewing the
>questions the government reneged on the offer ....and now remains
>silent. Their silence speaks volumes.
>
>This information was coming to light before 9-11.
>
>=======================================
>
>11 - GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CATASTROPHE UNFOLDING
>
>Hundreds of reports coming in supporting the fact that all Humanity
>is now facing a catastrophic global environmental crisis. It is
>developing exponentially. It involves POPs, endocrine disruptors,
>dioxins, gender benders, destruction of the ozone layer; UVB
>radiation, thousands of "toxic time bombs" (waste disposal sites);
>nuclear reactors and radioactive waste; tilting the global heat
>balance and triggering "super storms"; collapse of the oceans; the
>present rate of species extinction is exceeding anything known in
>the geologic record; 'background pollution'; particle pollution; a
>global water crisis.
>
>On this subject - one could not say enough to do it 'justice' as
far
>as what this means in terms of human suffering ... to our Children
>and future generations.
>
>"George W. Bush, who was not legitimately elected, has set new
>standards for ecological irresponsibility, greed, and shame:
>
>In his first 100 days:
>
>- He repealed Clinton's reduction of arsenic levels in drinking
>water.
>- He broke his campaign promise to cut CO2 emissions.
>- He abandoned the Kyoto treaty on greenhouse gases.
>- He weakened energy efficiency standards for heating and cooling
>equipment.
>- He reduced funding for renewable energy programs.
>- He has pushed aggressively for unregulated global trade, allowing
>polluters to move their factories to countries with weak
>environmental laws.
>
>Perhaps the most important of all the above reports, "Trade
Secrets"
>(corporate environmental corruption far worse than Enron) was
coming
>to light prior to 9-11.
>
>---------------- The 'Big One' ----------------------------
>
>12) - THE DISCLOSURE PROJECT
>
>The Disclosure Project eclipses all the above issues in light of
the
>combined intelligence of the 450 high level military witnesses
ready
>to come forward to testify under oath as to their personal,
>first-hand knowledge of the reality of the extraterrestrial
>situation. In 'reality', the Disclosure Project holds great promise
>for AVOIDING and SOLVING most of the problems now facing all
>humanity.
>
>THE DISCLOSURE PROJECT
>
>"We are way, way past time for bringing this information to the
>public, acknowledging it and entering into the sort of discussions
>at the highest levels of congress and the government - to make this
>information available to the public. It's far, far past time for
>this. If we don't do it here, I don't know when we'll ever going to
>be able to do it.
>
>"I think our representative democracy is in danger ... I think
>events are moving so fast, so very rapidly, that no one is really
on
>top of it, and if we don't get the people mobilized here to demand
>that we get to the bottom of these issues we're talking about today
>... we're not going to have an opportunity forever. This is a key
>issue that we are talking about." Dr. Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14
>Astronaut Jan 5, 1998.
>
>===============================
>
>SUMMARY CONCLUSIONS:
>
>The significance of The Disclosure Project is: "There are some
>groups out there "who might know something about improving our
>chances of success" as a planetary civilization. What to us would
>seem 'an impossible task' (cleaning-up the environment; solving
>world hunger and poverty; providing clean energy) to 'them' might
be
>'a trivial engineering task'. If only we cared enough to listen.
>
>The present 'distracting news trivia', war mongering and
terrorizing
>people with the threat of war (here and abroad) is meant to
distract
>everyone from recognizing the combined significance of the above
>reports. And so far, it seems to be working.
>
>========================================
>
>"Whenever legislators endeavor to take away and destroy the
property
>of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power,
>they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are
>thereupon absolved from any further obedience." -- John Locke, 1690
>
>"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established
>should not be changed for light and transient causes; and
>accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more
>disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right
>themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."
>
>"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing
>invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under
>absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw
>off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future
>security."

Israels nuclear weapons and bombs are the problem in the Middle East

http://www.daily.pk/world/middle-east/83-middle-east/4314-israels-nuclear-weapons-and-bombs-are-the-problem-in-the-middle-east.html


Jun 6, 2008 Pressure Points in the Bank Bust Jim Willie CB 321gold . . . Inc s

And speaking of a national investment bank melt down in my last message this. Willie is offering a detailed conformation analysis. He is also naming the major players and how they are trying to submerge their liabilities in new packages. Oh well, some may say as that's 'them' and not us. Not quite the plan as we are the hostages that they plan to throw to the wolves while they escape.... though maybe not whole but with our purse as a consolation.
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/willie/willie060608.html

Thursday, June 5, 2008

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Exclusive look at the Tata Nano

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7431881.stm
And also the following video is an interview with Mr. Bajaj who seems to be a rather 'forceful' fellow.
No mention of miles per gallon as that more than the sticker price would be the issue for the American market.
But as to and endorsement of their marketing brilliance these are the guys that Ford unloaded the Land Rover and Jaguar on. Maybe they can cut a deal for the Hummer which GMC is in the process of dumping and replacing with the Volt which is a plug in electric


Governor declares drought in California

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/06/05/MNF5113OBN.DTL
Here is the California Governors announcement in regards to the drought.
They have been aware of this for months and we are being spoon fed the
details.
But the end result will be a large bond issue which we will have no choice
but to vote for....or so they think if we never hear anything other than
what they tell us.

Oh, it's crisis coming our way and soon but if you click on the graph to the
right which looks some what like a chart it shows the major reservoirs for
the state. And all but three are located in northern California and two of
the others are in central California.
Their intention is to increase the capacity of the reservoirs as well as the
pumping and delivery system primarily for southern California.
Will this work?
Maybe...if we have heavy snows on the Sierra/Nevada mountain range for a
number of winters we could continue faking the water issue. And of course
building enlarged reservoirs would make that situation more flexible.
But what our fair leaders are not telling us is they have climatologist
whose predictions for the western states having wet winters is just plain
bleak.
So i assume they want to get us in a corner with few options for water
relief and then tell us either cough up the money or your kids are going to
go thirsty. Would they actually be so devious?
Before answering that i suggest you look in to the 'compassionate' eyes of
our movie star governor.
What i believe would be the realistic though politically suicidal response
to this water crisis by the state bureaucrats would be to tell us the truth.

And that is that the game is over and the states future water resources are
going to drastically change. The glaciers all over the world are melting and
why should our range of mountains be the one exception?

They could maybe hint that the semi desert which is southern California will
soon again be a desert. And any water delivery plan proposed depends on
water from the mountains which nolonger experience snow in the winter. So
building reservoirs which will never be filled with water is a senseless
proposal.

But what maybe the fall back plan if the public decides they will not join
them in mass stupidly and vote for a super bond issue to play: lets make
water from air?

We'll i haven't seen this mentioned...so far... but you know that green wet
spot up North and which the natives refer to as Canada. And we just see as a
raw material source. Yeah, that's the one.... Canada!
And Dude! Do they have just what's needed...water? Why by the lakes full.
And Bechtel Engineering will happily build a pipe line to the north pole if
the state has the money...which of course it doesnt.

Their are little problems around taking... i mean acquiring Canada's water.
As they are not into bulk sales of their water ....at this time. But worry
not if the state of California wants water for corporate farms and industry
they will us every means possible short of nuking them to get it.
As i said this doesnt have to be rational. The aquatic cannel from northern
California is long term insanity so why not build on it by using 30 million
peoples fear. Why thirty million well their are 23 - 24 million in SoCal and
the rest of us live in fear of that voting block so we have gone along...so
far.

And i could leave it their but since we are on the subject of reality and
right here even in the western home land. We do have a couple of other
crisis issues coming right at us though i believe the water crisis could
lock it up first.
The nation is in and continuing to enter a deep across the board economic
recession.
And 'Peak oil' is very real how much we would like to believe it is just a
matter of Hedge Fund speculation and it will turn out to be another energy
crisis caused by ENRON or Duke look alike market speculators. Crude oil
production world wide was off a million barrels a day in 2007.


Fw: drought effect

The Fresno Bee is a good source for water/drought information and we thank you Charlie. I try and follow this issue as closely as possible as this is the issue for the west. Even the significantly diminishing petroleum energy sources is second to this one.... as a regional issue. And you can be very sure the state administration and all branches of industry are all over the water resource issue. So today's news from the governors office has been in the works for sometime. Their has been no announcement as we are being spoon fed the details. We'll actually some of the details. I will also send along today's SF Chronicle front page story on the water crisis.
----- Original Message -----
From: olcharlie
To: larry
Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2008 8:00 AM
Subject: drought effect

Expect higher food costs with drought
By Dennis Pollock and Mark Grossi / The Fresno Bee
06/05/08 00:00:00

The drought -- marked Wednesday with an official declaration by Gov. Schwarzenegger -- is expected to deliver a tremendous blow to the San Joaquin Valley's multibillion-dollar agriculture industry.

Shock waves also could spread throughout the local economy, experts say.

Food prices will climb. More farmland will be fallowed. Farm jobs will be trimmed.

Many growers on the Valley's west side will be shopping for extra water. Many will be pumping water from the ground and lowering the underground water table.

In the region's cities, residents will hear more pleas for conservation, but there probably will be no water rationing, say many water officials.

Here are answers to some questions about the drought's effect:

Farms

Question: Could this trigger higher costs for food?

Answer: Yes.

Farmers already face higher costs for fertilizer and fuel, and now some of them -- dairy operators, for example -- will see higher costs for feeds such as alfalfa, said Dan Sumner, an agricultural economics professor at University of California at Davis. Those increased costs likely will mean higher prices at the grocery store, he said. He didn't offer an estimate of how much the increase might be.

And the effects could be felt across the nation and even the world -- especially in wine and almonds, because of California's hefty market share.

Will jobs be lost?

Many farmers in the Westlands Water District believe water shortages will force them to abandon crops already planted.

"Any time crops are taken out of production, that means fewer jobs," said Dan Errotabere, who farms on Fresno County's west side.

Mark Borba, a Riverdale farmer, said workers who make $8 or $9 an hour are already distressed because of skyrocketing gas prices.

Do farmers have alternative water sources?

They can pump well water onto some crops, but that can take longer and it lowers the aquifer.

And well water from the Westland's district is not a solution for crops such as vegetables and almonds because it's high in boron, which can be damaging to crops, said Sarah Woolf, a spokeswoman for the Westlands Water District.

Farmers also may be able to purchase water through exchange systems with farmers in other districts. But that can be costly and -- because the drought is a statewide phenomenon -- sellers of water may be scarce.

The governor's declaration is aimed at speeding water exchanges in response to emergency shortages. It also directs the Department of Water Resources to work with local water districts and agencies to improve coordination, help those water districts and agencies improve efficiency and conservation, identify risks to the water supply and help farmers suffering losses.

Will farmers choose to plant other crops?

Most farmers settled on the season's crop mix earlier this year. However, those who planned to plant lettuce for a fall harvest are expected to cut back acreage.

Many growers -- anticipating a water shortage -- already switched from crops that take a lot of water, such as cotton, to those that take less, such as safflower.

The lack of water is one reason that cotton, once a crop that topped a million acres in California, has shrunk this year to its lowest level since 1935 -- a total of 280,000 acres of upland and pima varieties.

Will farmers install water-saving irrigation?

Many already have taken that step, installing miles of drip irrigation in recent years in the Westlands district alone.

It's likely that the trend toward putting water exactly where it's needed -- and only there -- will continue.

Are farmers on the east side of the central San Joaquin Valley as affected by the drought as those on the Valley's west side?

The growers on the east side are not as affected, because they generally do not rely on water that goes through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, which is facing restrictions to protect threatened fish.

On the east side, many farmers get their water from regional rivers, including the Chowchilla, Kaweah, Kern, San Joaquin, Merced, Fresno and Kings.

Cities

Will cities in the San Joaquin Valley run out of water this summer?

No. Most Valley cities pump water from underground to supply their residents. It is not likely city wells will run dry in places such as Fresno, Bakersfield, Visalia or Madera this summer, most experts say.

Some cities, such as Orange Cove, get water from the federal Central Valley Project, which delivers river water. State health and safety codes prevent large cutbacks in these deliveries, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

Can I still water my lawn?

Yes. But many cities have landscape watering restrictions. Fresno, for instance, allows residential landscape watering three times a week.

People living at even-numbered addresses can water on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Residents with odd-numbered addresses can water on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. No one is allowed to water on Mondays.

Water inspectors sometimes cruise the city and write citations for violations of the restrictions.

How dry was it this spring in the Valley?

For March, April and May, three cities had their lowest rainfall total on record. They are Stockton, 0.08 of an inch; Modesto, 0.10 of an inch; and Bakersfield, 0.08 of an inch.

Fresno's three-month total was a scant 0.32 of an inch of rain, most of which fell in May. It raised the city's total high enough to avoid being the lowest on record for the three months.

Will it really help if I cut back my water use?

Yes. Officials from Valley cities say a reduction in water use will save money on the electricity bill for pumping water. It also saves money on water treatment.

Conservation also helps keep the underground water table from sinking. If there is another dry year, a slumping underground water table will drive electricity costs higher because the water must be pumped from lower depths.

The reporters can be reached at dpollock@fresnobee.com, mgrossi@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6364.


Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Economist's View: "The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class"

This lady is smart and has got the facts to justify her conclusions. It is well worth watching and especially for those who may consider themselves safely imbedded in the middle class. Though i suggest you just skip the intro which is a requirement of the 'Jefferson Lectures' but not a part of this talk.
The U.S. middle class has been under intense economic attack for over thirty years and it is usually attributed to the lower class doing the attacking. "Those people are dragging us down." or maybe: Sucking the life blood of those of us with a steady salaried job and then even questioning the middle class most sacred values such as... God's resting place: suburbia.
We'll their is no doubt the attack is going on and it is very effective but it really is the transfer of the economic burden from the corporations and the upper class to the middle class. And to the extent that the former functional middle class is becoming extinct. And yes, i am old enough to remember when they told us and frequently their are no class distinctions in America. Though i have to admit i forget what they said was the diff between the guy driving the Caddy and the guy pumping the gas. Most people just kept it simple and said $$$ so their was no classes back then just money. Gee, now i understand.
This is all very subtle as we are continually told it is the poor and the immigrants which are causing the middle class it's pain. But looking at it from the figures the government compiles and then prints in VERY small print. The economic stress on the middle class has actually developed by transferring burdensome expenses from the... upper... class to the remaining or dwindling middle class. And to the point the middle will actually disappear. Though unfortunately not their beer and burger bellies which the males will be allowed to retain as a reminder of their hay days.
This lecturer is predicting that soon... if it hasn't already happened their will only be two definable classes.... the working (poor) class and the very rich (elite) upper class. People may not realize that traditionally the definition of middle class was the managers, self employed professionals and shop keepers. The rest of us fitted into the working class which also had some economic definitions. We'll the middle class definition has been morphed and from a smudged image we now are experiencing a actually disappearing middle class.
And though unstated here amongst all these charts and numbers the middle class was 'mentally and emotionally" defined as white, with rarely apparent sexual 'deviations' and who loved their home and the 'two' children. This also indicated they where Christian 'Protestant' based. "My God! do 'those people' ever do anything but breed?" with reference to the Catholics. They (middle class) where also expected to have descend from northern European ancestors so of course they did not eat allot of garlic or onions and which also made everyone but them have darker and smelly skin. Is any of this true or factual? What's that got to do with fear and loathing in suburbia? When you are painting a pastoral landscape you sure don't put the slaughter house in the forefront.
And of course in middle America when not mowing the lawn Dad was polishing the car while also barbequing burgers as the kids shot hoops in the driveway. And this was all taking place in the safe new concrete and plastic America where neither the mex's or blacks dared roam.
Is the middle class as races as the defined 'working class'? We'll when it comes to neighbors the 'middle class' will move fifty miles from the work site so they don't have 'them' for neighbors. Am I implying these folks are evil? Not abit! But they are biased and fearful and trying to improve themselves and their living environment and in the process it can get pretty twisted at times. And did all that 'getting ready' education for joining the middle class smooth the rough edges? No, but it got us corporate jobs and good ones too. We'll until the U.S. corporation started turning into flight cadets or more recently... corpses.
I recall my mother telling me that when she was a kid no one wanted to live with the 'dirty Irish'. Irish was apparently always prefaced so she grew up thinking their was only one kind of Irish. 'dirty and poor'. She was resentful that people had seen her that way but she also would then smile when telling this story and say. "Well, of course we where both!" Also, my mother didn't drink but the rest of the relatives didn't hold it against her as it just meant more for them as they sat and babbled into delirium. One of my uncles once said: Gaelic is what you hear when two drunken Irishman are trying to talk and it has became such a national pass time they now call it a language.
Will we soon see any of these facts regarding the middle classes shabby underside reported on Fox media? Since Fox media viewers is mostly composed of people in economic pain and looking for simple solutions that don't involve questioning their economic betters. I just don't think we will be hearing about this on AM talk shows.
Oh, just so we all know..... the upper class would not be caught dead listening to Rupert's Murdock's "propaganda for the losers". Or so i have read is the way the upper class views Fox Media and it's listeners.
And though the speaker at this forum did not mention it as i believe it took place before the recent big spurt in gas prices, i think we will soon begin to see the true visible definition of upper middle class as well as the wealthy class. As 'our betters' (I'm expecting the term to be revisited) will continue to drive SUV's and expensive pick up's while the rest of us the "sinking scum" will be sitting in anything that gets us from A to B the cheapest.
And since middle class is some times equated with that expensive education for mom and dad aswell as the kids and of course the pay off ...the stuffed box with the 30 year adjustable. But it now seems it didn't prepare us for being scammed by the investment banks and anyone else who had a plan to bleed us dry.... And that's before sending the sheriff to evict us from heavens gate...Suburbia.
Thank you, John L. for sending this along as this is info 'they' would prefer that we didn't know.