Now That Dr. Tiller is Dead,

how much responsibility does Bill O'Reilly bear for having incited such hatred towards the late abortion provider?

But there's no other person who bears as much responsibility for the characterization of Tiller as a savage on the loose, killing babies willy-nilly thanks to the collusion of would-be sophisticated cultural elites, a bought-and-paid-for governor and scofflaw secular journalists. Tiller's name first appeared on "The Factor" on Feb. 25, 2005. Since then, O'Reilly and his guest hosts have brought up the doctor on 28 more episodes, including as recently as April 27 of this year. Almost invariably, Tiller is described as "Tiller the Baby Killer."

This kind of demagoguery would never happen if we had a Fairness Doctrine.

Southern Oregon Coast

Wild iris were everywhere on the southern Oregon coast.










Up at Gold Beach is a sanctuary for stray and abandoned cats. Not only are there little houses for the cats, but volunteers feed them, provide them veterinary attention, and, where possible, adopt the cats out. One of them was there when we arrived and decided to pose for the camera.

This is an article about the cat sanctuary:

Because the Curry County Animal Shelter doesn't accept cats due to space and limited resources, a few dedicated Gold Beach residents have created their own cat haven on the north jetty adjacent to the Port of Gold Beach, called the "North Jetty Cats Plus Sanctuary."

About 10 miniature, hand-made houses, big enough to comfortably fit anywhere from one to four felines, cluster along the bank of the jetty with the Isaac Lee Patterson Bridge in the background. The wooden structures mimic cottages, castles, fortresses and modern homes all intended as shelter and safe places to eat for the feral cats that are living among the rocks in the jetty.

Ursula Elliot, known by many as The Cat Lady, drives to the sanctuary almost every day to feed her family of wild cats, and to check if there are new additions. If any of the cats are tame, she scoops them up and takes them to her home where she tries to adopt them out.

Currently, her home is owned by 20 cats strutting their stuff across her carpet, furniture and counters.

"I've been feeding the jetty cats since I moved here in 1989, and then started rescuing them about three years later," she said. "It never occurred to me to stop saving them, because people would resort to dumping their unwanted pets some other place."

Today we drove over to the southern Oregon coast, including Brookings and Gold Beach. The weather was in the low to mid fifties, so it was a bit cold and overcast. Still, it was well worth visiting.

We always go to Harris Beach just north of Brookings. Today there were scads of mussels and barnacles washed up on shore. I thought they made a neat picture.

We also stopped along the way at other beaches, where I snapped some pictures of the coastline, and some wildflowers including wild iris. We drove back through the redwoods, part of the national park system.

Miscellaneous News

Nadya Suleman was indeed right when she decided to have a slew of kids in order to exploit them for money. She is slated to have her own reality television show.
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At least one anti-abortion fanatic has proven he cares about life when he shot Dr. George Tiller of Kansas dead in front of his church today.

Tiller was committed to his patients despite the threats on his life:

Since first performing abortions after the monumental U.S. Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, Dr. Tiller had been threatened, shot, his Women's Health Care Services clinic bombed.

Despite the assaults against him by people who believed what he did was murder, he continued to make available what he thought was right, friends say: a woman's right to choose.

"He was far too committed to what he did to let all of those situations -- and there were many and they were constant -- stop him because he had a commitment to his patients," said Peggy Bowman, who served as his spokeswoman in the 1990s.

Bowman said one only had to read the hundreds of thank-you letters lining the walls of his clinic, Women's Health Care Services, to know how he helped people facing decisions that others never face.

"Dr. Tiller always used to say that women are under the most stress at two times in their lives: when they are pregnant and don't want to be and when they want to be and can't," Bowman said.

He was 68 years old.
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Robert Reich

continues with his bullshit about "symbolic analysts" instead of talking about what really should be done, such as raising tariffs and penalizing the hell out of companies that move jobs overseas.

Nothing less will do. Reich advised Bill Clinton, and Clinton, despite my liking the guy, didn't do much to halt the bleeding of jobs overseas.

What is really needed, in addition to what I mentioned above, is public financing of elections. This wholesale bribery of politicians in order to represent the few to the detriment of the many is at the root of our mess, and it won't be undone until we get rid of the process of making politicians on the take.

Miscellaneous News

This is just so unbelievably outrageous I had to post the link here:

When the sharp pain shooting through Lisa Strong's back got worse, she thought it was another kidney stone and expected the discomfort to pass. This time was different.

Through a series of mistakes, miscommunications and misdiagnoses, she wound up having her arms and legs amputated. She sued the doctors, who essentially blamed one another for what everyone involved agrees were profound errors.

Everyone except the jury that ruled against Strong.

The verdict came in the face of such overwhelming evidence that in a rare move, the judge tossed out the jury's decision and ordered a new trial.

Good for the judge. This was obvious medical malpractice.
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Diversity trumps average-looking people.

But she will do okay with recording contracts and all. She appeared to crack under the pressure of newfound celebrity:

For weeks she seemed to be a shoo-in for victory. To see a middle-aged woman from a small town — who lives alone with her cat, Pebbles, and seemed at first to be almost comically awkward — open her mouth to reveal such a beautiful voice was revelatory and inspiring. Celebrities like Demi Moore said she they were rooting for her.

But in recent days there were worries that Ms. Boyle — who is said to have suffered slight brain damage when she was deprived of oxygen at birth, and is so unworldly that she has no computer — was cracking under all the pressure. Various tabloid reports had her paralyzed with nerves, lashing out at reporters and swearing uncharitably about her competitors. She was said to be a packed suitcase away from quitting the competition and going back home, to the town of Blackburn in Scotland.

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Yours truly didn't win the %232-million Powerball lottery. Somebody living in a tiny South Dakota town did.

The town, appropriately enough, is named "Winner."

Brief Video of Hat Creek Valley Overlook

This is a brief clip of the overlook above Hat Creek Valley, California, near Old Station on Highway 44. One can see both Lassen Peak and Mount Shasta from there. The weather was a little bit hazy, but Shasta can be seen.

Sometimes Robert Reich

hits it on the head, but then I remember he was one of the chief propagandists during the Clinton administration of "globalism," which was to destroy all of the good-paying jobs and sending them overseas. He peddled some horseshit concept called "symbolic analyists" or whatever, labeling those very few jobs requiring "manipulation of symbols," whatever the fuck that is.

The problem is simple to fix: raise tariffs to bring our jobs back and penalize the hell out of companies which outsource. Forget this shit about "retraining" for jobs that don't exist.

I, Like NAPTA Founder Karen Horwitz

ask the question as to why there are so many unstable teachers in the field of education, what with all of the recent cases of teacher/student sex.

I don't recall it EVER being this way when I was in school; it was a rarity, I believe. I think the teachers were of better psychological caliber then.

Some Pictures from My Quickie Trip to and from Reno

Hat Creek Valley from the vista point.







Despite the haze and clouds, Mount Shasta can clearly be seen from the Hat Creek Valley vista point.


Lassen Peak from the Hat Creek Valley vista point. Today was the first time I had stopped there to get a great view of both Lassen and Mount Shasta.


Mount Shasta at around 6:00 tonight from Interstate 5 near Weed, California.


Mount Shasta at around 6:30 this morning.

Justice, Etc.

While I was in Reno eating at Toucan Charlie's at the Atlantis, Phil Spector received his sentence today for second-degree murder in the death of actress Lana Clarkson. He received a life sentence, which in all probability will be the rest of his life. The sentence is 19 to 30 years, and he won't be up for parole until 2028, when he is about 88 years old, if he is still alive.

Spector pulled the gun one too many times, and he's getting what he deserves.

What a waste. He could have been remembered as one of popular music's greatest producers, but especially to younger people, he will be remembered as a zonked-out killer.

The only "wall of sound" he has are the walls of his prison cell.

Belmont Stakes 2009

Since she almost ran out of gas in the Preakness, Rachel Alexandra, not surprisingly, will not be running in the Belmont next Saturday.

More.

Friesan Fire, the favorite in this year's Kentucky Derby, will not run, either. He has been sidelined with an injury.

Rachel Alexandra's not the only one who's run out of gas. I drove from Medford to Reno and back to pick up my bike and a few other things. I am going to be up here for another three or four weeks, at least.

More Education Wars

I wish teachers in Nevada could appeal to real courts--not fraudulent arbitrators--when there is an unfair disciplinary action.

This guy won, and it sounds like the principal, as well as the district, was using every excuse in the book to get rid of an older, long-time employee.

Snip:

But five years later, Mr. Storman, 57, is embroiled in a legal dispute over allegations that he committed corporal punishment. A 27-year veteran of the school system, Mr. Storman denies hitting the student and is seeking to erase an unsatisfactory rating that a principal gave him. The Department of Education, however, has defended the rating, arguing that Mr. Storman did indeed touch the student, who was in the fifth grade.

The case shows the difficulties teachers can face in disputing the ratings they receive each year from principals. The ratings can determine whether they are eligible for lucrative teaching opportunities outside of the normal school year. The case also sheds light on the fine lines of interpretation surrounding the question of corporal punishment: Did Mr. Storman’s paper brush against the student? If so, was that intentional, and did it rise to the level of corporal punishment?

Teachers who receive unsatisfactory ratings are allowed to appeal to a court, and this month a judge in Manhattan ruled in Mr. Storman’s favor, saying she did not find evidence of corporal punishment. The unsatisfactory rating, wrote the judge, Acting Supreme Court Justice Shirley Werner Kornreich, “shocks the conscience, was arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion.”

How true. As I said, Storman is one of the lucky, lucky few teachers or counselors to win and still be employed.

Miscellaneous

Reality television superstar Susan Boyle appears to be having a meltdown.
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Many same-sex marriage advocates are saying the lawsuit filed by Boies and Olson is not the way to go, for they feel it would lose. No doubt that is true; few courts will go anywhere near the issue.
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The Education Wars

Looking at only the excerpt provided on this site, I would say Suze Orman is actually more correct than Ohanian is willing to give her credit.

Teachers DON'T have any self-worth because they are NOT powerful; in fact, they have no rights whatsoever. They allow administrators to get away with murder for they fear retaliation if they speak up. The kids soon realize teachers don't command respect at all, and more than a few of these students have no respect for them, either.

How can teachers get self-respect if they don't report wrongdoing or even lie for their superiors?

Public education is turning into a sewer, and things aren't likely to turn around. Privatizing schools won't work, either, as long as teachers are belittled.

Miscellaneous News and Olds

Today marks the 100th birthday of Delores Hope, widow of Bob Hope and a one-time singer. Bob, of course, died at the age of 100 in 2003.

Born in New York City and raised in the Bronx, she knew at an early age that she wanted to be a singer. She changed her name to Reade after Broadway actress Florence Reed and started a professional singing career on the New York night club circuit.

It wasn't a long career. She met a young actor and comedian and quickly fell in love.

Bob Hope told the story of meeting Dolores many times: “It happened in 1933 when I was in ‘Roberta' on Broadway. I went to the Vogue Club on 57th Street to hear a pretty girl sing. Her name: Dolores Reade.

“She had a low, husky voice — soft and sweet. She sang “It's Only a Paper Moon.” That did it.”

The pair married on Feb. 19, 1934, in Erie, Pa.

I doubt it is very common for both partners in a marriage to have lived to be 100 or more.
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Proposition 8

Despite some victories in the past year, mostly by courts, supporters of gay marriage have a very tough row to hoe, especially when it comes to voters.

Put it to a vote, and same-sex marriage loses, often big time. Supporters of SSM haven't learned about the fine art of public relations, so they have gone overboard with their protests and their talking points (for example, their offensive comparison between gay rights and civil rights marches, etc.). I have long felt the entire matter was a loser for at least several decades.

The ruling leaves five states that allow same-sex marriages -- Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Vermont and Iowa -- and four of those are in New England. The other states on the verge of approving gay marriage or debating it -- New Hampshire, New York and New Jersey -- are all in the Northeast, making same-sex marriage appear increasingly to be a regional phenomenon rather than a national trend. The exception is Iowa, a heartland state with a long progressive tradition, where a state Supreme Court decision cleared the way for marriage rights.

The rest of the map looks far less hospitable to gay activists. About 30 states have constitutional amendments that define marriage as between a man and a woman. The South appears solidly against same-sex marriage. The Mountain West and the Plains states seem largely opposed, with New Mexico as a possible exception. In the Midwest, gay advocates have hopes in Illinois and Minnesota, but nowhere else. And on the West Coast, Washington shows a measure of promise.

I'd say this poll by Gallup is accurate. While it is true younger people are more supportive of SSM, it does not necessarily follow that SSM will be legal nationwide as a result. People tend to be more "conservative" as they get older, especially with regard to social issues. As it is, it is a loser, and getting court approval makes people antagonistic towards the idea.

The WSWS

predictably takes a very dim view of the Obama/Cheney show of last week:

The essential continuity between these two administrations is based not on some common perception of an existential terrorist threat, but rather on the class interests that both these governments have defended and the profound contradictions of American capitalism in crisis. Neither the unprecedented social polarization and inequality that prevail within the US, nor the explosive growth of militarist violence that characterizes its role on the world stage, is compatible with democracy.

The indifference of the media to the dangers posed in the Obama-Cheney exchange only underscores the political reality that there exists no genuine constituency for the defense of democratic rights within America’s ruling establishment. The predominant sections of the ruling elite see democratic forms of rule and fundamental civil liberties as impediments to resolving the present crisis by means of war abroad and the decimation of the social conditions of the working class within the US itself.

Proposition 8

I was right, as were most observers, when we said the California Supreme Court would uphold Proposition 8 while allowing the same-sex marriages performed prior to last year's election to remain valid.

It was a middle ground, but it was the only decision the court could make. A court cannot overturn a constitutional amendment; courts interpret constitutions.

The decision was 6-1.

Details:

The 6-1 decision was issued by the same court that declared a year ago that a state law defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman violated the right to choose one's spouse and discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation.

Prop. 8 undid that ruling. The author of last year's 4-3 decision, Chief Justice Ronald George, said today that the voters were within their rights to approve a constitutional amendment redefining marriage to include only male-female couples.

Justice Carlos Moreno, in a lone dissent, said a majority should not be allowed to deprive a minority of fundamental rights by passing an initiative.

The justices ruled unanimously that Prop. 8 was not retroactive and that gay and lesbian couples who relied on the court's May 2008 ruling to get married before the Nov. 4 election will remain legally wed.

Prop 8 opponents will try and overturn it by initiative, but I have a feeling that despite a recent poll showing an almost even split, such an initiative will fail. Why? Primarily because of the way the opponents conducted themselves following last year's election.

In a truly bizarro development, a federal lawsuit has been filed over this ruling, and the two lead attorneys, David Boies, and our friend, Ted Olson, are on the same side.

The California Mess

I totally agree with the sentiment Proposition 13 is ultimately to blame for the state's financial woes:

I really don't think that California should be bailed out, at least without making them pay. California voters need to learn the harsh lessons about the wisdom, or lack thereof, of voting for abominations like Proposition 13.

It permitted the Republicans to whip up childish anti-taxation sentiment to such a weird level that they actually enshrined it into their state constitution the notion that, not only can the state be prohibited from assessing higher property taxes as the assessed value of the property itself increases, but that ANY tax increase or new tax must receive a two-thirds majority in BOTH houses of the state legislature. It didn't even take inflation into account. This is just stupid and California is paying the price.

Now, I don't mean that this should cause such a calamity to fall on the most innocent among California, its children, whose medical care under Medicaid is being curtailed in the wake of the state's budgetary woes. I think that maybe the Federal government might take over some of this, and subsidize their public (exclusively their public) educational system under the bailout package. But in return for this Federal largesse, all California property owners -- JUST the property owners -- should have a SERIOUS surtax, perhaps 30%-40% or maybe even more of their Federal tax liability -- added to their Federal income taxes until the onerous anti-taxation initiatives they passed into their constitution are repealed. The rate of the surcharge should be based on the ratio between the property tax paid and the current assessed value of the property owned -- the greater the disparity, the greater the surtax on a steeply progressive scale.

Such irresponsible behavior on the part of Republicans and their extremely sophisticated PR apparatus that resulted in these outrages being enshrined into the California state constitution should be punished. They shouldn't just be allowed to get away with it and have the rest of us cover it.

Of course, we could say the same for the executives and shareholders of the financial and insurance corporations that created this mess, and indeed I have said the same, and will again.

Miscellaneous News [Updated]

This is truly tragic about Mike Tyson's little daughter:

The near-fatal strangulation of boxer Mike Tyson's 4-year-old daughter appears to be a "tragic accident," police say.

Exodus Tyson was on life support Tuesday after apparently accidentally hanging herself on a cord dangling from a treadmill in her modest central Phoenix home.

"Somehow she was playing on this treadmill, and there's a cord that hangs under the console - it's kind of a loop," police Sgt. Andy Hill said. "Either she slipped or put her head in the loop, but it acted like a noose, and she was obviously unable to get herself off of it."

Tragic beyond belief.

Update: Exodus Tyson has died.
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I mentioned some time back about the 48 Hours broadcast of the case of Sonia Rios Risken, the so-called "Black Widow of Lomita" (California) who was suspected of masterminding the deaths of her two husbands for insurance money and herself was murdered in 2007. This article is a month old, but I thought I'd post it here that two people were arrested in connection with her murder, one of whom was mentioned on the show, and who Peter van Sant tried to interview, Eric Delacruz.

link

Background:

Risken, whose body was found at her home in a pool of blood on April 27, 2007, had been suspected for a year in the death of her second husband, Law "Larry" Risken, who was killed April 18, 2006, while on a trip to visit his wife's family in her native Philippines. His wife did not accompany him.

Larry Risken, a retired Naval officer who taught special education courses at Lawndale High School, was ambushed outside a hospital where he had taken his wife's niece for medical treatment. A gunman shot him in the head.

Following his death, investigators became suspicious when they learned that Risken's first husband, retired U.S. Marine Earl John "Duke" Bourdeau, also was shot to death in the Philippines 19 years earlier.

Another story is here.

Is this the motive?

The Lomita woman suspected of masterminding the slayings of two husbands 19 years apart in the Philippines might have been shot to death because she didn't pay her hit man, according to information in a court affidavit.

Eric Santander Delacruz, the Carson man charged with killing Sonia Rios Risken, 60, in 2007, suggested that possible motive as he tried to deflect detectives' attention from himself.

"Suspect Delacruz stated that he had learned via rumor, from relatives in the Philippines, that the victim did have Larry Risken killed," sheriff's homicide Sgt. Michael Rodriguez wrote in a search warrant affidavit. "He said that he learned that a possible motive for her own killing may have been that she did not pay who she was supposed to pay for having Larry Risken killed."

Delacruz, 29, and his friend, Fernando Romero, 25, of Highland have pleaded not guilty to killing Sonia Rios Risken, the so-called Lomita Black Widow, in her 252nd Street home April 16, 2007. Risken died while under suspicion in the 1987 shooting death of her first husband, Earl John Bourdeau, and the 2006 killing of her second husband, Law "Larry" Risken, 43.

Bourdeau and Larry Risken died while visiting her family in the Philippines without her. Police there arrested Sonia Rios Risken's brothers in the 1987 killing, but they were released.

In both cases, police in the Philippines suspected Sonia Rios Risken committed the crimes for thousands of dollars in life insurance money. She received a payout after her first husband's death, but insurance carriers did not release money when the second death occurred and brought suspicion upon her.

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The Education Wars

One of the major reasons there are serious problems in public schools is the fact principals are too damned young for the job; they have less classroom experience, and they are more likely to lack the maturity needed for the job, especially when dealing with older subordinates.

Some of them are trained in corporate America's ideas, but the real problem is they may know a little bit of pedagogy, can deal with the parents a bit, but they don't know squat about employment law, special education law, and how to deal with people they supervise. Employee relations are what get these kids in trouble, and these principals ARE kids--time was when principals weren't much under fifty and were most likely just a few years away from retirement, meaning well into their sixties. They used to get these jobs in order to increase their retirement benefits, but they had the maturity and wisdom to deal with their workers. Of course there were bad principals, but it isn't like it is now. It seems bad administrators are rife in public education.

They are younger than their predecessors, have less experience in the classroom and are, most often, responsible for far fewer students. But their salaries are higher and they have greater freedom over hiring and budgets, handling a host of responsibilities formerly shouldered by their supervisors.

...

Nearly 80 percent of the city’s principals were not on the job in 2001; Chad A. Altman, the 28-year-old head of a Bronx elementary school, was still studying public policy at Carnegie Mellon University when the mayor was petitioning Albany for school control. Indeed, 22 percent of today’s principals are under 40, compared with 6 percent in 2002; about 20 percent of them have less than five years of teaching experience, double the percentage in 2002.

This is scary shit. What the fuck is a 28-year-old doing in charge of a school? There is NO real classroom experience there. There is no experience and no maturity there. Age discrimination against older workers is rampant in education, and if principals sack you, they don't understand that lying under oath or committing perjury, even if it's an arbitration hearing, is not only a criminal offense, but they can have their licenses revoked. That's what happened to me in my case as my principal, who committed perjury at my hearing, was only 39 years old and had been a principal for five years. Many are not knowledgeable about special education law, so they try to cut corners on the law and threaten teachers if they don't get their way. These and other problems are exacerbated by the fact principals have almost unlimited power, since there is no real oversight by superintendents and school boards, neither of which is on site. And when these principals are in trouble when teachers complain, the higher ups do everything in their power to keep these unstable types in their jobs.

Why is the quality of principals so poor? Karen Horwitz over at NAPTA has a theory:

On a business level, Education has to be able to attract bright, competent idealists since idealists do not care about money and will work diligently for low salaries. If the truth comes out that being a teacher is not an opportunity to really help children, and that teachers do not have equal rights, idealists would avoid this profession. EducRAT$ would be left with only materialistic types. Given that materialist’s value money, only those with unmarketable skills consider teaching and do so out of desperation – it is a relatively easy degree to obtain and they will be hirable. Hence incompetent and unstable types will increasingly dominate a marketplace known for limited salaries, while idealists will use their marketable skills where they feel respected and can find meaning.

This explains the increase in teachers with odd behavior, including those having sex with their students and those who cannot spell, do math, or even possess common sense. This profession has opened the door to a different caliber of people in order to maintain the kind of army that EducRAT$ need to hold our schools hostage from parents. I suspect that the courts realize that allowing the truth about teachers being denied constitutional rights will diminish the quality of teachers even more and thus they need to keep the truth from the public. As the courts work to support the EducRAT$ that are intentionally dumbing down our schools, they are a huge part of the reason reform will not happen in our schools. Rather than face the fact that we have criminals running our schools, our courts are trying to plug the holes in the dam that these criminals are causing and advance an agenda of deceit to attract better teachers. Not only is this foolish, but it makes a case for what our forefathers taught us: if we stop becoming a nation of laws, our nation will self-destruct. Since, as it pertains to teachers, our courts legislate from the bench rather than follow the existing laws, they remove the checks and balances against the criminals running our schools, while euthanizing the only governmental watchdog.

link

Since principals are usually promoted from within, school districts have a much worse pool from which to select. Currently there is a shortage of principals nationwide, and few but the most unscrupulous, unethical, or just plain stupid people apply. The really good ones have tended to take early retirement.

It's Sonia Sotomayor

as Obama's pick to the USSC to replace retiring justice David Souter.

She can't be any worse than Alito or Scalia, that's for sure.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

If confirmed, she will be the first Hispanic person on the high court.

Judge Sotomayor, 54, who has served for more than a decade on the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, based in New York City, would become the nation’s 111th justice, replacing David H. Souter, who is retiring after 19 years on the bench. Although Justice Souter was appointed by the first President George Bush, he became a mainstay of the liberal faction on the court, and so his replacement by Judge Sotomayor likely would not shift the overall balance of power.

But her appointment would add a second woman to the nine-member court and give Hispanics their first seat. Her life story, mirroring in some ways Mr. Obama’s own, would add a different complexion to the panel, fulfilling the president’s stated desire to add diversity of background to the nation’s highest tribunal.

Judge Sotomayor’s father died when she was 9 years old, and her mother worked six-day weeks to earn enough money to send her and a brother to Catholic school. She got into Princeton University, where she once said she felt like “a visitor landing in an alien country,” but graduated summa cum laude.

At least she is not younger than I am, unlike Chief Justice John Roberts.

Jimbo Eruptions

Jimbo, a two-time loser and two-timing loser who wants to preserve traditional marriage at all costs, says domestic partners legislation is a violation of what the voters decided upon several years ago when they put in a constitutional amendment limiting marriage to "one man, one woman." Just how domestic partnerships have anything to do with marriage is a mystery to yours truly, but then again Jimbo isn't the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree.

He vetoed a Nevada bill which granted rights to unmarried partners regardless of sexual orientation.

If California Goes,

will the nation follow? One can certainly blame the disastrous Proposition 13 of 1978 for the mess. Taxes can't be raised at all without a supermajority, which is completely anti-democratic.

Moreover, while Democrats run the state legislature, there are enough Republicans there to block any meaningful reform.

Peter Schrag wrote a book over ten years ago, Paradise Lost, which foretold the disaster California would find itself in. Proposition 13 was at the core of the state's problems then, and it continues to be a ruinous piece of legislation now.

We can't just shrug California's economic mess off; the state has one of the largest economies in the entire world.

Krugman may be hitting it on the head when he wonders whether California's insanity as reflected by the Republican Party will go national:

But that presumes that we’ll be able, as a political matter, to act responsibly. The example of California shows that this is by no means guaranteed. And the political problems that have plagued California for years are now increasingly apparent at a national level.

To be blunt: recent events suggest that the Republican Party has been driven mad by lack of power. The few remaining moderates have been defeated, have fled, or are being driven out. What’s left is a party whose national committee has just passed a resolution solemnly declaring that Democrats are “dedicated to restructuring American society along socialist ideals,” and released a video comparing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to Pussy Galore.

And that party still has 40 senators.

So will America follow California into ungovernability? Well, California has some special weaknesses that aren’t shared by the federal government. In particular, tax increases at the federal level don’t require a two-thirds majority, and can in some cases bypass the filibuster. So acting responsibly should be easier in Washington than in Sacramento.

But the California precedent still has me rattled. Who would have thought that America’s largest state, a state whose economy is larger than that of all but a few nations, could so easily become a banana republic?

Roxy Ann Peak

I recommend clicking on the pictures to be able to see the pictures better.


A view from the north side of the peak.




One of the antennas familiar to residents of the Rogue Valley.


Despite the haze, Mount McLaughlin is still visible from both sides of Roxy Ann Peak.






Mule's ear also thrive in this area.


Camus plants live up here.


Sharon decides to take a break.


Another view of the valley.



Yours truly looks like shit, as always.




Sharon poses in near the edge.












It was a bit hazy today, but what a view of the valley!


Today my sister and I hiked up to the top of Roxy Ann Peak, which overlooks the Rogue River Valley. The hike is strenuous in places, but it is worthwhile. The view of the valley looks almost like seeing it from a landing plane.



From Wikipedia:

Roxy Ann Peak is a mountain in the western Cascade Range which may be of volcanic origin. It is located at the eastern edge of Medford, Oregon. The peak is approximately 30 million years old. It rises 3,573 feet (1,089 m) above sea level, and over 2,000 feet (610 m) above the surrounding Rogue Valley. It was named after Roxy Ann Bowen, an early settler of the mountain.

The Nutroots Chronicles

This link, among others, has a video an interview with writer Eric Boehlert talking about the joys of blogging and its (dubious) impact on political discourse.

I for one am very upset at the recent newspaper/traditional media downsizings or even closures. For all of the hype, "alternative" media can't possibly give readers the quality of traditional media. They also don't have the manpower or the resources to make the traditional media obsolete. At best alternative media is a supplement to traditional media.

Yes, the nutroots have a lot to answer for its mindless support for Barack Obama last year. Now that Obama is president and the Kool Aid has worn off, more than a few of them are shocked--SHOCKED--Obama is not the "progressive messiah" he was made out to be last year. He is just another politician, a neoliberal, just as he always was for those who bothered to look behind the 24/7 hype. And more of these people are pissed off at him.

As for me, blogging is merely an outlet for expressing my opinion on many things, as well as having a permanent document on personal matters. I used to have journals, but this more or less replaces them.

I Totally Agree

with this commentary about the necessity of emphasizing skilled trades for young people; not that they are recession-proof, but they provide a way to earn a decent living for people who have no desire to even aptitude to attend college and train for careers that don't exist.

Early Retirement

With the economy in the crapper, is it any wonder more people are taking Social Security earlier than they had planned?

Full retirement age should be 55; that would free up more jobs for younger workers and far reduce age discrimination. Ditto for Medicare.

Memorial Day 2009

Here is a closeup of the bench, with a broken limb blocking the view a bit.


This is the tree near the old schoolhouse where my dad went to school. Benches were put in between the trunks, but they eventually grew together.


Ranch where my dad grew up, off the Greenhorn Road in Yreka, California.


Sister Sharon poses in front of the house where she was born. This is in Hornbrook, California.




We went the back way from Yreka, California, and stopped at this bridge, which was once the highest in California.






Catholic church near Hornbrook, California. It was built in 1877.



City hall.






A bird sits on the back of a horse nearby.


Rick and Sheryl add some flowers to Dad's grave.



Hard to believe my dad has been gone 12 years.



A breeze blew these little flags.




Mom's grave marker.


Rob, Pat, Rick, and Sherry look at the graves of Rick's dad and his uncle.



Putting flowers on his Uncle Don's grave.


Entrance to Hillcrest Memorial Park in Medford, Oregon.