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Tuesday, May 07, 2002
Pim Fortuyn's Killer
via Instapundit comes this article which mentions the writings of the killer.
My Dutch isn't so good, but a quick google search of the phrase "Protecting animals is civilizing people", turns up an interview at AnimalFreedom.com that appears to be from someone named Volkert van der Graaf.
Not sure if it's the interviewee or interviewer, but that may be our unnamed suspect.
Wednesday, May 01, 2002
Plan offered to slow business exodus from Marin
The latest offering from MarinIJ offers an interesting perspective on zoning issues. I find this rather fascinating because I just had a discussion with my wife yesterday on some of these points, and it’s fun to see some of them bearing fruit. So here we go:
A countywide overhaul of zoning laws may be needed to stop more companies from leaving Marin, business leaders told the County Board of Supervisors yesterday.
This is going to be very difficult. They’ve already submitted their General Plan to the State (as required by law). The current zoning has been in place for a long, long time, and so has achieved an almost religious, “but it’s always been this way” status. A major overhaul at this point will effect every resident of the county, and no one is going to like it, because it’s change, and change is bad…except when it’s a good change, which business isn’t.
"What are we going to do about it?" he said. "It's going to take bold action from public officials - some type of mixed-used zoning."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! “bold action” HAHAHAHAHHAH!!!! From “public officials” HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
[Supervisor Hal] Brown, however, said that, in general, he thought "business is doing pretty darn good."
"Fair, Isaac just signed a big deal (to buy HNC Software)," Brown said. "They may have shifted their management to Minnesota, but they just bought an $810 million company."
The only way they could make that work in the long term, I’ll wager, is by moving operations. The long term plan has to be getting operations out of California. And therein lies the rub. They’re not mentioning where the 43 companies that left the county moved to. I don’t know either, but I’ll be it’s out of state. Marin is not a very pro-business county to begin with, and California is doing it’s best to make sure that the more successful businesses look to greener pastures as well.
Supervisor Annette Rose, in response to comments about the county's high commercial rental rates, said "there isn't a lot the county government can do" to regulate office space rental costs in Marin.
Actually, there are a few things Ms. Rose, but I doubt you’d consider them. One, just off the top of my head, is granting the difference in rental rates between Marin and the State average as a direct tax incentive. If the annual rental rate is $12000 per year over the State Average, then that company could receive a $12000 credit towards county taxes. Of course, this system is wide open to abuse, but of course it’s abuse in the form of lowering taxes paid to the state, so I’ll leave that as another exercise. The point is, there are ways, and they don’t require county “regulation” per se.
"It's more advocacy than analysis," Schonbrunn told supervisors. "As structured, the report clearly functions as a voice of the business community."
When the mother asked the lifeguard to rescue her son who she felt was drowning in the swimming pool, it was more advocacy than analysis. Again, is it a valid request? Please focus on the merits of the proposal and not on it’s source or agenda as it relates to yours.
Anyway, I’m a big fan of lot’s of mixed use zoning, because it maintains a lot of flexibility. I’d actually prefer to see zoning relating itself more to “look-and-feel” issues than “this business here, that one there” type stuff. I wonder if Virginia Postrel will include something like this in her upcoming book?
UPDATE: Where is Michele Rodriguez, the Principal Planner of Marin in all of this? Why is the Marin Economic Commission making recommendation directly to the Supervisors?
Hey World! I'm an alcoholic visionary!
Friday, April 19, 2002
A Tale of Two Companies
This post at Sand in the Gears got m thinking about how Arthur Anderson is taking this whole DOJ thing.
I think this is actually an interesting development. And I think I also know the cause of Anderson's...ummm....intestinal fortitude. Microsoft.
Microsoft set an intersting precident that you can stare down the governement. IF you've got enough resources, you can play to the end game. Remember, you don't need to have all the resources of the government, because they can't put 100% to fighting you. They can make things awkward, and they do have resources...but not the fulll $2 trillion dollars worth.
Anderson is goin to take this through a few election cycles, let the players change a bit, while they slowly sell the company off, piece by piece...basically engineering another fait acompli just like Microsoft did. The DOJ may have resources, but they can't stop the hands of time, and they have so much regulation and politicing in the back room, that while the machinations are going on, you can maneuver yourself out of the situation they're attacking.
It's a good strategy, and it also demonstrates just how much the Microsoft campaign disproved the mindset "You can't fight City Hall". Prepare to see more of this in the future whenever some Representative looking to make a move to the Senate or a Senator looking to make a move to the White House levels short-term, politically motivated attacks against anyone. Overtime, as the precident has been set, smaller and smaller players will step up to the plate to fight, knowing the can lose a battle or two to win the war.
Thursday, April 18, 2002
A Tale of Two Controversies
ok, so why do I support condom education in schools and not familiy engineering?
Here's my rationalization.
The booth in question with information on condom use is a) concrete information b) can quantitativly improve peoples lives by slowing the spread of disease, unwanted pregnencies, and teenage abortions, and c) doesn't cost the school anything.
The video in question is part of a social engineering campaign that a) is opinion, b) has no quantifiable affect on "hate crimes", and c) will cost the district money to pay for the tapes and takes away education time for things that are more important.
We're also talking about a booth set up that any 17 year-old can go to of their own free will versus a tape with objectional material that may be working into the social science/history curriculum at the elementary school level.
I would not have a problem with the school making the tape available to parents so they could check it out and watch it with their children at home and discuss it there, the same way I would assume that any smart parent has had a "birds and bees" discussion with their children long before prom night.
Wednesday, April 17, 2002
Hypocrisy!!!
Boxer's "Statement On Nuclear Waste Disposal At Yucca Mountain"
Yucca Mountain is bad for Nevada, it is bad for California, and it is bad for the millions of Americans whose communities would become the chosen route for deadly nuclear waste transfer.
It is time for President Bush to stop paying lip service to the idea of states' rights and listen to our states.
Let's listen to local county supervisors in my home state of California. They oppose the Yucca site. Three counties have contacted me – Ventura, San Bernardino, and Inyo. They are very worried for two main reasons:
First, groundwater contamination. Tests have shown that Yucca Mountain "leaks" – despite earlier beliefs that the Mountain would serve as a fail-proof container. Water from the Mountain goes into the aquifer that California and Nevada share. If that water is contaminated by nuclear waste, it will endanger the drinking water and the water for wildlife in at least these three counties.
Second, much of the nuclear waste will be transported through these counties on the way to Yucca – possibly as many as five trucks full per day. In fact, the transport of this waste could impact my entire state because now officials are saying that the waste may have to be trucked all the way north to Sacramento as it makes its way to the Yucca site.
After September 11, this could be a nightmare. The terrorists have not gotten hold of nuclear materials yet. Why give them 74,000 opportunities in California alone during the next 39 years to get these materials?
America is on the cutting edge of science. I believe in the genius of our people, and I believe that we can soon find a way to neutralize and compact this waste.
It's time to start paying attention to science and safety – rather than politics.
I love that last line...it would seem to nullify her entire statement. If she was for real, it would read more like this:
Nuclear Energy is an important rescource that we should be looking at to relieve our dependence on foreign oil. While it has it's potential hazards, few abundant energy resources do not.
It is time for everyone to come together and stop bickering over partisan positions. Nuclear energy is here right now. And while it produces a waste product that we must dispose of in a safe manner, at least nuclear energy offers this option compared to fossil fuels being released into the atmosphere everyday.
Local counties from my home state have expressed concern over the proposed routes for moving this waste from the site of nuclear plants to its destination in Nevada. I would like to invite all local leaders to come to Washington to express their concerns in a civilized manner, so that all voices can be heard, and all consideration be taken into account to try to ensure the safety of every individual and community while taking into account the needs of the nation as a whole.
While the ingenuity of this country is great, and I'm sure that over the next decade our scientist will come up not only with original, safer ways to handle this waste, along with entirely new and unknown forms of energy production, the nuclear waste situation is something we need to face right now.
It's time to start paying attention to science and safety – rather than politics.
Lack 'o Posting
between that silly thing called a life and finishing up some music projects, it's been a little tough to find posting time...I should probably try to stick to a rule of at least one post a day, even if it's dribble to keep me in the habit.
in the meantime, I give you this to draw your own conclusions about: Novato to air disputed film about families
Friday, April 12, 2002
Tiburon antenna critics claim proposal is flawed
Well, once again, Tiburon is coming out with all guns firing.
The Radio Authority has proposed building a 65-foot monopole but its license authorizes an antenna of only about 35 feet, said Gary Izing, an engineer with VikinGlobal Corp. hired by the antenna opponents.
"It's a major flaw," said Izing, who has overseen the deployment of wireless networks in metropolitan areas. "I'm telling you this is a serious matter."
The licensing discrepancy was discovered by the Washington D.C.-based law firm of Patton Boggs, which the opponent groups recently hired. A challenge to the modification of the license could tie the project up for months if not years, Izing said.
He also questioned the effectiveness of placing an antenna at the Mt. Tiburon site. Izing said his analysis showed better radio coverage could be provided by placing an antenna at the Fort Baker sewage treatment plant, south of Sausalito.
"Opponent groups" (read: the local residents) not only hired a Radio Systems Expert, but also a Washington D.C. based law firm! The Patton Boggs web site says:
We solve problems, often in unconventional ways.
but this one is my favorite:
Patton Boggs was among the first national law firms to recognize that all three branches of government could serve as forums in which to achieve client goals.
Tiburon will probably win this one. The project is over budget and behind schedule as it is. The heat is going to start turning up very soon to get this project complete, so time is on their side. Although the Radio Authority has some intersting plans in the works as well:
Tiburon Town Manager Alex McIntyre said yesterday that he was concerned, however, by the Radio Authority's vote to consider altering the indemnification of its members, which includes the town of Tiburon. McIntyre said the proposed change, which could be approved at the Authority's next meeting, would remove the legal protections that Tiburon and other members of the authority currently enjoy related to the radio system.
Monday, April 08, 2002
Views differ on housing plans
Back to the St. Vincent's land development project...I just have to start going to these meetings (I hear the last one had over 30 people!).
The proposal of a major housing development in San Rafael that has polarized environmentalists and advocates for workforce housing drew mixed responses among city residents yesterday.
But all agreed on one thing: Marin needs more affordable housing.
As long as it's not near me:
Karpman said she'd prefer to see affordable housing created on smaller pockets of land within already developed areas.
You know...there's already al those, like, warehouses and stuff...why can't they just live there?
And today's obvious statement award goes to Haley Nolde:
Density, however, means business to many local merchants.
Now, of course, the reason for the "affordable housing" (units start at $195,000) is because of a state mandate requiring a certain number per capita as part of the general plan. The developer has upped the percentage from 20% to 25% to curry favor with locals and blunt the protests, but all it's really doing is showing the true colors of the locals. They don't want them po' people around. (There's also the envirofanatics, but you get those everywhere.)
Now, if county residents could figure out a way to exempt themselves from the "affordable housing" mandate, without coming across as heartless Grinch's, they would be all over it. I know how it could be done, but I'm hesitant to give them any ideas (add to that, I'm against the technique that would be used to make it happen, as well).
More kind-hearted voices from the great progressive North Bay ;)
Plan to protect views debated in Strawberry
The County of Marin is considering an ordinance :
A proposed ordinance that would allow Strawberry residents to require neighbors to remove trees or other landscaping if they blocked views or sunlight that existed when they bought their property is causing some people in this unincorporated area of Mill Valley to see a brilliant color of red.
Now the article goes into details of extra property rights this would grant to some over other based on when property was purchased blah blah blah. This is really the wrong reason to attack this ordinance and here's why. Consider this (horrid) diagram:
Consider that to the North (the top) is a bad view (some kind of blight) and to the west is a good view. There is a row of trees along the north that block the blight to the benefit of Homes A, B, and C. Now, on property A there is a tree that is part of that growth. However, it blocks a piece of the good view from property B. To cut down that tree would increase the property value of House B while lowering the value of House C, probably by an equivalent amount. So who decides this one? Not to put too much of a fine point on it, please remember that the tree exists on the property of House A, and is at least 75 feet away from any structure, so it does not present a threat.
Put yourself in each Homeowners position, and then remind yourself that the tree is on the property of Homeowner A.
Thursday, April 04, 2002
Passionate debate on housing plan
More wholesome goodness comes from San Rafael. This is actually a fun little event going on, because it crosses a lot of different issues. There are disadvantaged children, open space/environmental concerns, affordable housing, and traffic concerns. This represent a good litmus test to see what's really, really, REALLY important to people, so let's get to the quotes.
Needy children: Good
Only by selling some of its land can the St. Vincent's School for Boys build a badly needed campus for its residential treatment center, which serves youths between the ages of 7 and 17. Its historic buildings are suffering the damages of age, he said.
Unless some of those folks who want the open space so much could put their money where their is and make a nice donation, right buddy? *wink* *wink*
Open Space: Very Good
San Rafael resident Keilman asked audience members who oppose any development to raise their hands. Gesturing toward the response, he said, "Here are people who want zero building. These are the zero people," drawing laughter from the crowd.
Affordable Housing: Good
One critic disputed that any units could be sold for as little as $195,000, expressing astonishment when Koch explained the affordable-housing guidelines that mandate below-market-rate prices.
"Some people say Shappell is in this to make a fast buck and get out," Koch said. "And if you believe this is the best way to make a fast buck, folks, give us a little more credit. We're not that slow."
Neither are we dude, selling undervalue makes a great tax write-off.
Traffic: Bad
"I know traffic is a big concern, but it is not fair to hold us accountable for a problem that starts in Windsor and ends in San Francisco."
Things won't be so bad by 2006...trust us.
Corporations: Bad
"This is all a lot of corporate doublespeak," said San Rafael resident Kyle Keilman. "The majority of people I've spoken to think it's a horrific idea. Many of the people who are for it are making money off it."
This guys just pissed because he's not making any money off of it.
Jobs: Bad
Don Dickerson of the Marin Conservation League disputed whether the development would solve the county's crisis in affordable housing or exacerbate it, since the commercial component will create more jobs than there are affordable units.
What?!?
Little risk if cousins have kids
This story made front page above the fold at the Contra Costa Times...I'm trying to figure out what that means.
Transbay projects leading nowhere...
I just love the way the Chron turns a phrase. There's a little blurb up on SFGate "reporting" on various options to alleviate transbay traffic around here. The problem is, well...they're expensive...and the article makes no bones about pointing out just how expensive:
A report released to a regional panel studying potential bay crossings placed the cost of a new toll bridge between Interstate 238 in San Lorenzo and Interstate 380 in San Bruno, just north of San Francisco International Airport, at $8.2 billion.
It also placed high price tags on two other big potential projects: a second transbay tube for BART -- estimated at $10.3 billion -- and a rail tunnel to handle commuter trains and high-speed rail -- estimated at $11.8 billion.
"I don't think they're going to happen," said Sue Lempert, San Mateo's mayor and head of the panel, "unless Sacramento or Washington want to fund them. We can't afford to pay for them ourselves with bridge tolls or gas taxes or sales taxes."
What is failed to be reported in this instance is that infrastructure should be one of the highest priorities of local governement (police, fire, infrastructure). Land is scarce up here, and as the metro area expands out, it's going to take more and more time to get around. If the local governements don't deal with this problem, it's going to put a major stopper on the economic prospects of the entire region. What we have here is the local governments billing other projects that should be lower priority as mandatory, while pushing off primary duties to the state and federal governement. This is exactly the process that creates statist, hyper-centralized, over-taxing, patriarchal governements, and we're watching it in action.
Sand in the Gears
This is one of the best sites I've had the fortune to run upon in the last who knows how long. I've been reading for the last week or so, but this posting really drives home how much this cat is on the ball:
So while the nature of man is to do evil in pursuit of his ends, perhaps we can make meaningful distinctions between those whose ends are peace, and those whose ends are murder; between those whose moral systems give pause in the face of violence, and those whose moral systems celebrate atrocity.
To use a phrase I've tried to avoid until now, "read the whole thing".
Wednesday, April 03, 2002
News Flash
It seems as though Megan McArdle is now officially Jane Galt (as would appear by the signings on her postings).
This is cool...I always liked her moniker anyway, but I thought since she made her name available, edicate dictated refering to her by it...I now see she really wants to be refered to as Jane Galt...it's not just a cool "side reference, this is where I'm coming from" thing.
I, personally, hold Jane up there with Virgina Postrel. I know this is a sexist view, but intelligent women are still a little low on the radar...it doesn't mean they're not out there...just that most seem to be flying low and you have to pay attention to see them. Especially when what qualifies these days seems to be the Susan Sontags et. al. which don't hold a candle to the Postrels, Jabobs', and Galts.
Anyway, I enjoy keeping an eye out for intelligent women, which is why once I found the woman that is my wife, there wasn't a whole lot in this world that was going to keep me away from her...and there still isn't.
Anyway, from this little backwater on the web...Go Jane!
Zoning Against Cigarettes
Here's a more blatant abuse of zoning based on ideology (in yellow, down the right side of the page):
Retailers specializing in the sale of tobacco products will find it harder to open new stores in unincorporated areas of Marin County following the passage of a new ordinance by the Board of Supervisors yesterday.
[...]
Given the large number of youth-oriented locations in unincorporated areas, Supervisor John Kress asked if the ordinance would leave any areas for tobacco retailers to open new stores.
"It will be very limited," said Brian Crawford, deputy director of Planning Services. "More than one, perhaps, but not a whole lot more than one."
The ordinance will not affect existing tobacco retailers, but the supervisors left the door open to expand the law's scope.
The most interesting thing I've noticed about people up here is that smoking marijuana is OK, but tobacco is bad. I'm trying to figure out if this is simply based on a "big corporation bad/small distributor good" ideology, or if stoner's are just stupid.
Mideast carnage speaks louder than U.S. words
Well, Rob Morse over at the Chron gives us some great insight, although he seems to keep vacillating between we should react with force/shouldn't react with force. I think he's mainly saying we should stick to sitting at a negoiating table, but by the end, I'm not really sure of that either. Let's take a walk, shall we?
This is not my idea of a war on terrorism. These are examples of terror in answer to terrorism. We paid for it. We should own up.
[..]
If America's interests are threatened by war over small pieces of land by two intransigent peoples, one funded with almost $2 billion in American military aid, we damn well have to do something about it. We did in the past, under presidents as diverse as Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush.
[...]
Meanwhile, Bush refused to condemn Arafat as a terrorist because "he has agreed to a peace process." If Arafat, the man who brought us Fatah and the PLO, escapes the label of terrorist, obviously, the word is useless.
[...]
There's no solution. Both sides deserve each other. Each side wants to eliminate the other. "The peace process" was as fake as processed cheese.
[...]
There's no power in the world but America that can stop the war process -- and we must stop the war process because it's taking us into a new world disorder of Muslims versus Jews and Christians.
I dunno...somebody else want to give the whole thing a read and provide me with a translation of what he actually is saying? Thanks.
UPDATE: InstaMan provides a link to a rather good op-ed that's on topic. And as he says "More proof that even footwear is smarter than the editorial-writers at the New York Times, something I've often suspected." Same goes for the Chron, I guess.
More Zoning abuse
Eminent domain may end up in court reads the line from the Oakland Tribune. This story releates to a few holdouts in a Hayward City "redevelopment zone":
Eminent domain refers to the right of a city to take land for public use. Usually, it is used when a city wants to build a freeway or park.
The C-D-Watkins-Atherton block is different. The city wants housing, and state law allows it to invoke eminent domain because the block falls within a redevelopment district.
So once again, all the city has to do it redefine it's zoning arrangments and all bets are off. The courts can be invoked, but at this stage in the game everything is already in progress, most of the land has been purchased, and the new development project has already been designed. The process needs more checks and balances before the project begins and without court involvement....of course, I would stick to the track that eminent domain should ONLY be used for infrastructure purposes, not pet development projects.
Notice, too, that this is in Hayward...a few miles SouthWest of the previous articles location in Contra Costa County where there rezoned to ensure open space.
Tuesday, April 02, 2002
Holy Shit!
Andrew Sullivan's latest article is up at Indymedia, although it's only credited as A. Sullivan.
I wonder how long it will take for them to figure it out...assuming, of course, they ever read dissenting opinions.
How we know progress is being made
Suicide bombers get their wish, but no goes along for the ride with them.
Contra Costa group eyes open land
This starts out as a little piece talking about converting some land to open space over in the East Bay, but then it comes to this backgrounder paragraph:
For Gerber, the new open-space plan would deliver on a promise she made a few years ago during her campaign for a new county urban-limit line.
A unanimous county Board of Supervisors adopted the new line in August 2000 that made some 15,000 new acres of undeveloped land off-limits for housing development.
"This is all part of what I promised when I said I wanted to keep lands in agriculture," Gerber said later. "There is no legal right to be able to convert farmland to residential, but I do believe we should figure out a way to compensate landowners who are engaged in agriculture or ranching."
You get all that? The country rezones some land to absolutly disallow development, then is going to swoop in after the fact to buy it up. There is no legal right? This is where bad zoning and planning laws at the hand of folks with an agenda are just plain dangerous. No to go to the next move, they will have to implement some kind of additional tax to pay for the land...but if that doesn't pass, that's no problem. The land isn't going anywere as the only purpose it serves is as open space or agriculture. These landowners do not have the power to sell the land to whomever they want at this point, as the land has been pretty much zoned out of usefulness.
Protesters call 'one-strike' eviction ruling unfair for blacks
So here's the premise:
The one-strike policy against drugs targets those who live in public housing
Most residents of public housing are black.
Therefore, the policy targets blacks and is racist.
"This is a blatant disregard for the rights of blacks and other oppressed people," said Bakari Olatunji, president of the Oakland chapter of International Peoples Democratic Uhuru Movement. "Mostly black people live in public housing in Oakland."
I really hate it when the race card is played like this. There is, of course, no pointing of any specifc times whan a non-black has been found with drugs and this policy is not enforced. THAT would be racist. What Olatunji needs to be doing is proactivly monitoring and patroling the streets with the members of the IPDUM to keep the drugs as far away from the housing projects as possible before the Housing Authorites get involved. That keeps the area clean, and people can keep their homes - a COMMUNITY enforced drug free zone. But I guess that would solve the problem instead of creating a photo op.
SFO's oldest business closes shop
There's a piece running on SFGate (Chron) about how the oldest shop as the SF Airport is closing up it's doors (or, at least, transfering employees and lease to the See's Candy store). This paragraph proved especially enlightening:
Despite ABC's staying power at SFO, changing times eventually did in the family-run operation. San Francisco's living-wage ordinance, the high cost of quality merchandise and the need to bid to do business at the airport made it tough to continue, said Givens.
Of course, everyone who had clue one has said from the begining that Living Wage ordinance would squeeze out the smaller businesses. But aren't the same folks who are for Living Wages usually against the big mean corporates? (Sorry, I know this argument is pretty old, it's just interesting to watch it all happen now).
And the bidding on store space is a whole different animal, pretty much coming into existance to generate revenues to pay for all kinds of expansion plans, that may or may not pay off. I hope they don't jack up the prices with all these crazy overpriced leases, thereby making more and more people make sure they stock up on whatever before they get to the airport, thereby lowering revenues, thereby causing stores to close up, thereby causing a rise in unemployment, and an inablilty to pay back the loans from the city, thereby creating a massive debt crisis in SF, thereby....
...oh, nevermind.
I'm actually going with Burton on this one...
There's currently a bill in the state Senate that would allow the State to force inmates to give DNA samples. This unsigned peice in the Chron is coming out in favor, while Burton is against it because "He's concerned that protesting inmates may be injured, perhaps fatally, by the forced sampling. "
I don't think he needs to be that wishy-washy, though. The bill is an obvious violation of the 5th and 8th Ammendments. There is already a process in place for obtaining evidence under subpeona, which should just be clarified for this issue.
I hate resolutions
One of my estimeed Senators, Barbara Boxer, has release this little blurb:
Reacting to the third suicide bombing in the Middle East carried out by a woman in recent months, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) called on world leaders to add their voices to the 13 women of the Senate who united together, earlier this month, to sponsor a resolution condemning the alarming trend of women becoming suicide bombers.
This resolution was preceded by a Boxer amendment passed by the Senate in October 2001, which condemned suicide bombings as horrific acts of terrorism.
"sponsoring" a "resolution" "condemning" "women becoming suicide bombers", in addition to that other thing that, oh yeah, "condemed" "bombings" as "acts of terrorism". I feel so much better.
At least Israel is really doing something. They've been asking Arafat for 18 months to put a stop to these war crimes, and he hasn't..so they will. And when it's all done, Israel will go back to the bargaining table with a set of conditions of their own.
Monday, April 01, 2002
Local Bias
So first Matt Welch hits the Chron, now Tim Blair hits HotCoCo...I just can't seem to stay focused on my own backyard. But there's one section from this article that I'd like to hit:
The nobility of self-sacrifice, albeit not always a mortal sacrifice, for the sake of victory is not an unusual ideal in American society. For example, schoolchildren are taught "Remember the Alamo," the battle cry inspired by Texans who fought to the death against Mexican general Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna in 1836.
"We even indoctrinate this in our football teams," said Windmiller, the San Francisco State professor. "How many fight songs are 'do or die'?"
How...is...this...even...comparable? Football? And the Alamo? IN the Alamo, the Texans hunkered down and staved off an invading army...they didn't just go rolling in for the sake of dying to make some kind of point. If anyone out there can draw comparisions between Sam Houston and a whacked out Suicide bomber, I'm all ears...really I am.
One more thing is this article seems to refer to "lots of experts" a lot of the time.
Just for contrast...
...compare the Tal G. posts to those over at indymedia.
Surprise, Surprice, Surprise
Well, the National Taxpayers Union has released their '01 report, and here's where we're lucky enough to stand right now:
Feinstein - F (18%)
Boxer - F (6%)
Woolsey - F (11%)
And I'm getting what from this, again?
Friday, March 29, 2002
Arafat RIP
So my question is this:
How will the world react when Arafat is killed and Americans do not dance in the street laughing and handing out candy to children? Think anyone will notice? The anyone will get the difference?
Didn't think so.
Thursday, March 28, 2002
More local zoning goodness
There's a piece up at SFGate regarding zoning, parking, and landscaping...always a pleasant combination.
Seems the city isn't too happy about some residents paving over their front yards to create some parking goodness:
Shrub-loving neighbors are saying enough is enough, and this week persuaded Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval to call for a crackdown on the illegal loss of urban greenery. He wants to tighten requirements for property owners to landscape the front of their houses and keep cars out of the yard, and asked city officials to develop a plan.
uh oh...there going to "develop a plan"...maybe
let's hear what a local resident has to say
Simms, whose front yard on Ralston Street sports a couple of trees, bushes and ground cover, said the paving of her neighborhood lowers property values and is just plain ugly -- replacing soul-soothing flowers and greenery with cars.
notice this isn't a direct quote...so what's this about soul-soothing flowers and greenery? and what kinda car, exactly does Ms.Simms drive? now let's hear from a non-vehicularly-challenged citizen:
"I'm not about to spend my weekends mowing a lawn or tending roses," said the Ingleside resident, who would not give his name because he didn't want the city to come after him. "And so what if I get rid of my yard? Whose business is it, anyway?"
indeed.
One State, Two State, Red State, Blue State
Virgina Postrel has a great NYT article about how over-active planning affect housing pricing, while also bringing the "affordable housing" aspect into the fold.
The difference between the land prices is the implicit cost of all the local land-use controls, from zoning to the time it takes to get a permit. Some regulations simply raise the cost of building by slowing down the process. Others limit density, making it illegal to subdivide expensive land.
I wonder in anyone in Marin County is capable of understanding these cause-and-effect relationships?
The French Connection
ok, I just find this strange. Aventis Pasteur found a stash of Smallpox vaccine they didn't even know they had:
A pharmaceutical company has discovered 70 million to 90 million long- forgotten doses of smallpox vaccine in its freezers, instantly increasing the known U.S. inventory of the vaccine six-fold and ensuring the nation an adequate supply in the event of a bioterrorist attack, according to government sources familiar with the find.
I'm sure there a good set of linkages that a conspiracy theorist can use to construct something together. I'm still working on mine, though...it's not my particular forte.
I can't feel my face
I hope to put the whole drug thing behind, so I'll try to finish up with this:
In response (once again) to Megan McArdle's question
If we legalize drugs, do we allow money to flow into the inner city, by creating a more stable environment, or pull money out of the inner city, by removing idiot bankers dropping $500 on a whiff of cocaine?
Here's my take on how it plays out...Initially there's a big free for all party, with most of the idiot bankers dropping like flys...but that's OK, because they're probably the ones who pitched Enron antway, so karma's quick on the uptake.
The distribution channels are already in place, and if legalization did occur, there would probably be some be regulation rigormoral to get through, which only the big playas could get through. Initially things would still be sold in thier curent quantities/concentrations, and the end-point distribution would still be the street corners. At some point, some enterprising persona would decide to distribute too as many locales as possible...what you would see would be the appearance of the equivelant of caffine-doped mints, but using cocaine, and herbal tea made with marijuana.
The big compaies already in existance would stay out at first to try and maintain corporate reputation, until the "small" entrepreneurs proved market potential, and started to remove the stigmata.
I'm not sure how much of the raw cash gets dropped into the inner city right now, anyway, what with all the Gucci, Coach, Tommy Hillfiger purchases that are related to drug money as it is, but I would say with a production/distribution network of end-user products that's more out in the open, local factories warehouses would start to appear inside the local neighborhoods that the distributors already control, which could place more money into the system that currently exists.
On the flip side, legalized drug dealers missing their phat profit margins and tax exempt status could decide to just vacate productions to some tax haven, shipping in final product, in which case the inner cities would be a bit more peaceful, but still just as poor...except for the piece of the pie that Uncle Sam scraped of the top of $0.75/pack heroin gum and redistributed into social works programs.
End Call: Overall Money flow doesn't change, but a more peaceful environment occurs which allows a renaissance of inner-city culture to emerge, which may provide a new revenue stream that would allow rebuilding infrastructure and commerce over the long haul...which can only occur in a peaceful environment anyway (sound familiar?).
Wednesday, March 27, 2002
I really hate Indymedia (con't)
So, while perusing the lovely quotes that Damian Penny provided, I clicked on through to the other side and noticed the Indymedia now has a Palestinian site that is located at jerusalem.indymedia.org.
There is NO israel.indymedia.org, there is NO palestine.indymedia.org. WTF does the Indy part of Indymedia stand for again?
I'm pretty sure these cats are only pro-palestine becuase it's anti-american...5'll getcha 20 that if the U.S. switch and supported Palestine, they would switch right over to Israel in a New York minute.
What's the difference? Well, how about we wouldn't do that to Israel, and we don't extol the virtues of terrorist cowardice.
In the spirit of Libertarian Samizdata
The Marin County Hot-Tubber slogan of the day:
"Silly anarchist! Logic is for intellectuals."
--The Marin County Hot-Tubber
Ahhh….drugs
Seeing as this is from Oakland, I think I’ll go ahead and jump into it here. Megan McArdle has some posts relating to the Supremes upholding the statute that a tenant can be evicted if a family member or guest uses drugs. Her posting is along the lines that sans legalization, this is a good thing, and I agree with her.
The comments are deviating along another line, as well, so I figure I’ll hit them here with a biggo, humongous screed.
There are two options available at this point. One is the legalization of drugs and the other is enforcement of laws like these: Here’s my comment from her site regarding legalization:
Drugs are illegal, so I can't sell product on a Wal-Mart shelf. I, therefore, need to acquire my own distribution channel. The most widely available is the public streets. Problem is, my competition also wants the same lucrative outlet location. Seeing as it's a public street, property rights do not come into play...you can't go to the police or city council to help you with your...ummm..."dispute". Your competition has guns, so to compete you'll need some too. You'll also need a private, armed police force just like your competition has. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.
To try to create an economy of scale, and not be too conspicuous, product needs to be delivered in small packages, mandating higher concentrations, which will throw most people over the bell-curve of addiction. The addicted person can't pay $4.75 for a pack of crack at the convenience store, as the price of the private police force has been rolled into the price of merchandise. To feed a high-level addiction, and artificially inflated market prices, general mayhem ensues (you know...mugging, armed robbery, B&E).
For historical perspective see Alcohol/Chicago circa 1927. Also see Nicotine/San Francisco circa 2027.
So legalization is the preferred route. But of course, that’s going to take a while to work through the system. In the mean time, there is the rule of law and the protection of innocent citizens to contend with. With the first paragraph above in mind, the way to accomplish this is to raise the cost of doing business in certain locations. If we can agree that innocent citizens should be afforded some level of protection, regardless of their class, then decisions like this are not only acceptable, but required according to the laws as they exist today. And according to the current state of affairs, the government and the community is basically saying that they will not let these projects become havens for illegal activities, but it’s mainly referring to the ensuing violence and other petty crime that comes along with the illegal drugs.
Everyone agrees that the illegal drug activity is the root cause of the violence. Some of us say “legalize drugs and the violence will go away” while others say “keep the drugs out and the violence will go away”. The only problem with option #2, is that it just moves the activity from one location to another, which drives up the value of locations to sell drugs from as it becomes scarce, which means that violence is likely to increase.
However, if the violence and other crimes associated with illegal drug activity can be confined to locales away from general living areas, by moving the "competition zones" to warehouse districts, allowing "product providers" to fight amongst themselves at night, then OB-LA-DI OB-LA-DA, life goes on.
Is it the best solution? No. But if the law must be the way it is right now, then let’s pick our battles. Drugs are illegal, and if anyone around you has them, or participates in violence associated with them, then be prepared to suffer the consequences. This ruling basically enforces the concept of “keep your backyard clean”. Everyone in the family must ensure that no one is involved in illegal drug activity and the activity that goes along with it WHILE YOU’RE LIVING IN GOVERNMENT SUPPORTED HOUSING, and unless you hold a pure Thoreauian moral philosophy, this should seem OK.
One must also wonder if someone is selling or involved in the distribution of drugs, which can be quite lucrative, what exactly they are doing in low-income housing.
Essentially, this requires being a realist. Sans the government legalizing drugs, exactly how would you deal with removing crime from these low-income neighborhoods?
Tuesday, March 26, 2002
Update to planning issues
So, as an update to my previous post on city planning comes not only this intruiging piece from Libertarian Samizdata.
It seems as though David is mainly speaking of indivisual building codes and HOA type rule sets, in which case I agree with him completely. However, from the stand point of a city or a county, useually some high level direction is needed (very subtle direction, I might add). Cities are comprised of different section, some of which include habitat, some of which include commerce. The biggest problem alsways comes into "how do you get people from "home-to-work" or "home-to-store" or "work-to-store"? Sans Hummer, you'll probably need a road, and roads are funded by the overall community. Some may say that roads should be taken over by private enterprise, but I don't agree with that completly. I don't mind private enterprise providing auxillary infrstructure, but in all reality our current Interstate road system would not be in existance today if it weren't for a few well places works projects, and they've been a mojor boon for the overall commerce. Anyway, rant over.
But also, the main update mainly comes from the MarinIJ, who unmasks the private citizen who purchased that swath of land that got the mayor in a major tizzy...and guess what? He plans to maily leave it alone, maybe build a soccer field for kids. You know why? Well, seems he's a coach for his daughters soccer team.
Once again, private individuals trump City Hall when it comes to land use.
Sunday, March 24, 2002
Twofur from MarinIJ
The two leading artices at MarinIJ:
Film shines light on mental patients' plight
Marin woman reclaimed life after battling illness
Neither one specifically mention Andrea Yates, but of course, "bias by omission is more difficult to catch".
The Rise and Fall of Western Leftism
Andrew Sullivan has a little blurb up regard gay involvment in conservative-libertarian politics.
MY feeling on this is that it's going to be a continuing treand from a lot of other groups. The Democrats have consistently casted themselves as that party who are not Republicans. And this has been fine for a while, especially during the civil rights movement. But it starts to lose weight as the economy picks up and becomes stronger.
Escentially, Democrates need a weak economy to be in power...or at least a small percentage of the population to be sucessful. It's in the Democrats best interest to have strong class divisions, so a small percentage of the population is earning dollars that can be taxed at a disproportionate rate, will the larger part of the population is barely scraping by, dependant on the governement programs advocated by Democrats.
As more and more individual liberties get begrudginly passes along to past "fringe groups" (like gays, for instance), and the fringe groups get rolled into the folds of larger society, those groups will start to reevaluate what it is they want next in the world, and will see that the Democrats are not providing it. Once the rights have been granted, and can't be taken away, the tradeoffs that at one point seemed OK in the past will begin to suddenly seem not OK anymore. Once a group that has been previously unitlized "identity politics" ceases to have an identity all that decernable from the nation as a whole, the strategy of identity politics loses it's efficacy.
The same can be seen in the current goings on in the realm of granting amensty to current Mexican illigal immigrants. Right now, the current presumption is that Mexican-Americans are socially conservative while being economically progressive But as the Americanization process takes it's effect over the course of a few generations, and the grandchildren become rolled into successful American society, and the distinction between a Mexican-American and an American become blurred, the identity politics losses it's weight.
All this really points to is as more and more "identities" get woven into the fabric of this society, it errods at the base of the Democrates platform, and all they'll be left with are the core socialist types.
Also add that with a new wave of networking technologies over the Internet - the ability for "identity groups" to connect over large geographic areas and assert their voice, the need for a party that tries to encompass all their POV's will lose weight as well. That's why, for better or worse, I like sites like GlobalExchange and FreeRepublic. These site allow people who hold a certain idea to coordinate and lobby elected officials effectivly.
The transition is from "identity politics" to "issue politics", but it will take some time, a strong economy, and folks like Andrew Sullivan to help isolate "this is my identity" from "these are my politics". The only thing the Republicans need to do is separate themselves from the fringe ultra right Christian Coalition types, and they will see a big insurgance from the center, as Professor Reynolds has argued recently.
So you'll see a growing trend of the Democrates getting hit from the left by the Greens, and the Republicans move more to the center and hit them on the right, while giviing up a little on the far right to the Pat Buchanan crew, but overall taking a net gain, while the Democrats take a net loss. But this will probably take another 10 years for the effects to be truly seen, but the new CFR bill will probably help hasent it along, on the Unconstitutional parts of it are struck down.
anyway, that's enough screed from me right now, I'm nursing a hangover at this point.
Saturday, March 23, 2002
Oh Yeah...BTW
Is it really that easy to forget?
Nothing happening today...
but that only means that I found this piece over on A Voyage To Arcturus and really got a chance to read this piece from Megan McArdle.
Oh well...Saturday Night...off to Sam's
Friday, March 22, 2002
A note on City Planning
A part from the last peice got me thinking. My grandfather and Aunt are City Planners. My Grandfather was a Urban Planning Professor and my Aunt is now a Director of Community Development in SoCal. I grew up around this stuff, and one thing you never, ever do is open up zoning calls to a public ballot initiative. There is so much to this, and you usually have to have an entire city/county view in mind when you do anything. This is what mayors and city planners are for. To take the will of the people and the long term view for the path of the city, look at it all in the big picture, and make decisions from there...it's a big job, with about 3million variables to take into account. To open the fine grained, what should this block do details up to mob rule, NIMBY postering is a big mistake.
ok...back to Marin...
well, I've decided to take a crack at this one, fresh MarinIJ hapnins':
The Marin Town and Country Club property - one of the largest remaining open spaces within the boundaries of any Marin municipality - is changing hands.
There aren't a lot of Marin municipalities, and the ones that are here are small, and everything that isn't a "Marin municipality" is pretty much... Open Space!
Smith said the prospective buyer has no immediate plans to develop the land and intends to continue managing the property's 38 rental units. News of the sale was a blow to community leaders who had been seeking a way to purchase the property and convert it into a public park.
The buyer has no immediate plans, so maybe you still can...
"I'm very disappointed," Fairfax Mayor Lew Tremaine said. "I knew we were on a time clock with this thing and this could happen."I was hoping that the communities would be able to get it together and be the ones to buy it."
The town of Fairfax had recently contracted to have the property appraised. This was a preliminary step in a scenario in which officials envisioned the towns of Fairfax and San Anselmo forming a joint powers authority to purchase the property.
yet another example of why private initiative will always win...too slow bubba!
A poll of 300 Fairfax and San Anselmo residents last year found that 83 percent would support a public park on the sprawling parcel, just south of Center Boulevard behind the Fair-Anselm Plaza.
oh my! 300 people...that's scientific...wher these people who were polled at the park around the corner at the time? Anyway, 83% of 300 is 249. It's estimated that the property sold for $5.5 million ($230K per acre). So let's see..that's works out to be about $22K per person if they just wanted to create a private co-op and buy it themselves. Add another 750, and it would be about $5K a pop.
San Anselmo is 12,000 people, Fairfax is >7000.
Various proposals for developing the property have been rejected by Fairfax residents over the past three decades. Voters approved a ballot measure in the 1970s that rezoned the land commercial residential - effectively barring residential development.
Smooth move...now there are dozens of ballot initiative to create "affordable housing" in all the precious "open space" areas. Jesus H. Christ people, think these things through for once!
Tremaine expressed skepticism that - given the property's asking price - the buyer intends to maintain the status quo.
"Nobody would do that," Tremaine asserted. "You'd have to have some vision, some plan."
That's right! Don't you wish you were in on it... ;)
Dirth of Leftist Blogs
A while ago, Nick Denton posited the question "Where are the liberal weblogs?". I didn't give it much thought at the time because, well, I really don't care. But today was kinda slow, so I decided to go Wabbit Hunting™. Anyway, I came across one, as was going to rip through it, but discovered I was beaten to the punch.
Anyway, Nick had four possible ideas for the why:
I think there are four main reasons why liberal weblogs are hard to find. First, the American right feels shut out of mainstream media, and has embraced weblogs with more enthusiasm. Second, conservative opinions tend to be punchier, whether offline or online, and lend themselves to a format founded on brevity; the conservative weblogs are just more readable. Third, liberals are wusses: there are plenty of well-written liberal weblogs out there, but the authors avoid politics, fearing flames from nasty neo-cons. Finally, the conservatives were the first to reach critical mass, and they keep the business within the circle, like any sensible establishment.
I'd like to add another:
Liberals, inasmuch as I think he's placing them, tend toward using groups to advance their causes. Unions, non-profits, coalitions, all of which have a goal or set of actions that are reached by concensus which may or may not use a figurehead be vocal. Blogs do not lend to this thought process or worldview. Blogs are all about this is me and this is what I think, Liberals live in a collectivist world of the "we".
And any that are out there tend to reguritate vague ideologies, without a whole lot of substantive thought backing them up.
That's my view, anyway.
Local Gossip
I took my wife out to dinner at Cafe Milano last night, and who should we get a table next to? Why, I do believe a certain Maynard Willms, who was having dinner with an unidentifed woman, possibly a MarinIJ reporter.
At this time, I'm purely speculating, but look for an article soon over there as Mr. Willms is jockying for a Council Seat, and there's also quite a bit going on the affordable housing front these days, which seems to be a strong issue for Mr. Willms. The possibly Mr. Willms had a lot to say on this topic, as well as "Lexus driving Mommies blocking traffic to drop the kiddies off at the bus stop" and repeated use of the phrase "long haired liberals".
Thursday, March 21, 2002
Two steps forward, Two Steps back (and to the left)
ahhh...more Cali Electricty goodness, with the most contradictory headline I've read this week, California power regulators continue electricity competition.
What this means is that the PUC has graciously allowed companies who are buying power from someone besided the big, bad, failing PG&E can continue to do so, but will probably end up having to pay an "exit tax".
This, of course, is to blame on California's "failed experiment with deregulation", as NPR put it on the ride in this morning.
Of course, it wasn't really deregulation now, was it?
More STAR testing
but this time more from the slant of this article in the Contra Costa Times. Essentially it's about the big question about when to more a "non-English" speaker into the "English speaking" category.
The testing is actually broken up into two categories, mandated for students you have been "non-English speaking" for less that 12 months, and non-mandated for those in the program over 12 months.
This seems like a tester piece to get some reference material published...this will probably be used by Gray Davis to offer more support for his education record (even through a lot of this stems from the effects of Proposition 227, approved in 1998...the same year Davis was elected...which he opposed) and to take the wind out of Simon's sails on the bilingual education issue.
Marin IJ
now 99% Fact-Free!
ok, so there's this little story about school testing and all that, which really has nothing substanstive, just some quote like there:
They have raised questions about the use of the tests and the fairness of the tests," said Derr, after listening to presentations by Raznikov and Anderson.
"The inherent problem with standardized tests is it standardizes education," Raznikov said. "Somebody somewhere decided there are specific things to learn - something that can be tested and run through a machine and graded that way."
the general gist of the article makes you go "What the Fuck?"...but with a little research, it comes together:
try this piece from Joanne Jacobs
then read this from Alex Caputo-Pearl
get the gist? the discussion at the panel probably closely resembled the Caputo-Pearl piece, and Henry Derr backed down, straight from a chapter from Bias.
Now, I'm not really a fan of standardized testing, but when Moonbeam Raznikov, a Marin District trustee, starts questioning whether or not you can truly quantify what, like, knowledge is, man...then I start siding with Jacobs. Remember, it's all about picking your battles.
ahhh....Marin
yes, you see...articles about 40 cats is major news....
Wednesday, March 20, 2002
Yeah, but chicks dig Clinton
One thing Rand Simberg is maybe missing in this piece, is that the folks who are libertarians at heart, but feel culturally aligned with Democrats are probably mainly guys. And it's a lot easier to get laid talking about "caring about the blah blah blah" while aligning yourself with Mr. Empathy. No one ever got laid supporting Bob Dole (not even Bob Dole)
The Comical
This is a great quickie analysis of the status of the SF Chronical (via Matt Welch).
I have noticed a mixed bag coming out of there, and I wonder how it'll shake out over the long haul. It would be nice if some of the better reporters/columnists abandoned ship to do some L.A. Examiner-type stylin's.
A Twofur
this page has two articles on it...one reports on an econimists POV/Speech that rising housing cost will force Marin businesses out of the area, the second talks of affordable housing going in at Point Reyes...
I'll hit the second part first with this map...Pont Reyes is about an hour from the largest city in Marin...it's a curvey, Highway 1, two-lane, scenic road...this really isn't the place for "affordable housing"
1st part last:
ok...well, there's this peice from Cato that pretty niftily explains how rent control actually raises overall rent in an area...there are a lot of towns up here that institute rent control, which I can say from simple observation is a big contributor to the hyper-inflation of housing costs here.
The article is mainly talking about those who work in services type industries, but really the aggrivated rise in housing prices is caused by two factors: that big piece of water out there called the San Francisco Bay with only 5 bridges that caues absolute bottleneck for getting to any job, and the mis-planning, rent-control driven arrangement of the various cities south of here.
Add to that the absolute isolationist nature of Marin (BART does not come up here...think that's an accident?) and the self-propelled cachet of just "living" here, and of course housing is going to be more expensive.
Marin has already basically exclusionaried themself out of the real world, and the Bay has only helped to create additional obstacles for keeping the rif-raf that would fill these jobs on the other side. Starbuck's pays $9+ per hour to just get ANYONE in...without a city/county/state mandated minimum wage.
Tuesday, March 19, 2002
The Rabbi's packing heat...
If this wasn't so sad, I'd say it belongs in a Mel Brooks film...
The Religious Affairs ministry agreed to a request by security officials that four people in each synagogue be given weapons and cell phones. Orthodox Jews are banned from operating mechanical devices on holidays and the Sabbath, except in emergencies.
"Synagogues are not normally the place for guns and cellular phones, but these are special arrangements for this holiday because of the situation," ministry spokesman Uri Revach said.
Boxer's latest:
Thanks Barbara...but maybe...ummm.. you think he's trying to get illegal immigrants deported instead of put in storage in the California desert...
...just a thought
Horoscopes from around the Bay
San Francisco
Cool it with the barbs. Though meant in jest, they're beginning to take on an edge. Things are tense with a sparring partner so ask what's up.
Wazzzup!!!
Oakland
An unknown benefactor will bring you offers, intrigue and ultimately friendship. In your business life, utilize the resources that outside periodicals can provide to help increase your present occupational aims. Lively discussions can yield new information. Try to take disagreements in stride and move on. Your fortunate astrological number for today is 379. Your financial outlook for today is weak. Your compatible sign for today is Taurus.
My portfolio is up for the day.
Marin
Learning is the key to future success. Long-distance communication may hit a snag, but everything will work out in the end. Prioritize your social obligations. Stretch your budget to meet unexpected family demands in the future.
Either the Internet is going to crach or the in-laws are moving in.
East Bay
Whether in a romance or because someone sets your heart into a flurry, you want to get to know another better. Whatever excuse you use, a St. Patty's party or a drive into the country **** works. Let Cupid romp away, and you might make this a most memorable few days.
Looks like thier program hit a snag, all the 'scopes have the little astrisks, meaning something should be there :(
San Jose
Focus on organization, recognition of priorities. Keep health resolutions that include exercise, diet. Relationship intensifies; you could get more than can be handled!
I don't exercise or diet, so I'll focus on resolutions that include smoking and drinking.
Jerry Brown keeps swingin'...
OK this is cool, and relates strangly back to my previous post.
The piece ends off by mentioning that CalTrans could save $30 million dollars by using the waterfront land as a staging area, but fail to include how much revenue the proposed Hotel/Casino will generate...not only in some additional short-trem construction revenue, but also additional long-term jobs. This is also close to the areas on the fringes that were claimed as being left behind in the previous SF Chron article.
more goodness
wow! A decent piece in the SF Chron against politcal influence and bad city planning and it's effects on the big picture...more of these please, less of these...
and now some good news
things, overall, aren't that bad...
Monday, March 18, 2002
Social Justice Center: Continued
Well...I was going to continue posting each item, but then I finally came accross this, which is the complete list of 10 reasons as part of a campain by GlobalExchange.org, who seem to be closely aligned with IndyMedia up here.
UPDATE: More Top 10 action from GlobalExchange:
Number 1: New Terrorists Made; US disreard for collateral damamge
Number 2: More refugees; no food; brutal Afgan winter;
Number 3: Northern Alliance as bad as Taliban
Number 4: More drugs (I would think they'd be in favor of this one)
Number 5: Wrong target; hijackers Egyptian/Saudi; funded by Gama'at al-Islamiyya
Number 6: Destablizes Pakistan (do they need our help?)
Number 7: "Turning bin Laden into a media superstar"
Number 8: <Too mind bogglingly dumb to try to paraphrase>
Number 9: Trap; Quagmire; Soviet Union mentioned
Number 10: long-term impact not concidered; "Lots of smart, experienced people..." don't agree with it
the way of the horse
Caught the end of an interview with the author of this on public radio last night...KQED, I think....it was late, and St. Patrick's Day...
The Tao of Equus...
One reviewer says:
I initially thought that surely she must be joking and that this is a putdown on new age pop psychology. Not so. This is the belly of the beast...
I know this is outside of my neighborhood, I think the author is from Tucson, AZ...and I havn't actually read it, but she seemed pretty flighty at best...my wife managed to grab the digital voice recorder device I keep in the car, so maybe later this eve I'll update the post with some special quotes if they came through...
Social Engineering, Bay Area Stylin'
Actually, this isn't too bad. It's a private development, people can move their of their own choice, and they even had to go up against some city ordinances,
Of course, I don't think Virgina Postrel would agree with this part:
The Serpas wanted a shop in Redbridge so people wouldn't need to use a car to fetch paper towels or milk. To guarantee foot traffic, they hatched the idea of locating all post office boxes for the community in the same building.
Sunday, March 17, 2002
Jerry Brown under...fire, I guess
Our favorite, the SF Chronicle has this piece on Jerry Brown as mayor of Oakland.
Overall, to me it seems that he's doing a great job revitalizing downtown Oakland. Mayor Brown seems to understand the concept of building a sustainable core and then structuring everything off of that over time. If you look at the crime statistics, Oakland has managed to push a lot of its crime from the center out to perifery, which would indicate a good trend. Also, homicide is down since Mayor Brown took office four years ago, yet another positive sign.
A Lot of this is reminiscent of the fire Mayor Giuliani started to take in New York, although Mayor Brown hasn't instituted as much of a police state as Giuliani did...probably largely because of the fire Giuliani drew back then.
Reeves said Brown has failed to ensure that progress and development benefit blacks. The mayor could, for example, work to make sure black residents get jobs on the new Bay Bridge construction, he said.
Unfortunatly, the bridge is a one time project, and when it's over, that's it...and I doubt there will be another bridge project for a while. Mayor Brown is taking the right path for rebuidling Oakland with a long term strategy, and is gaining a lot of support where his programs are making a positive effect. It would be a shame if the Chron managed to motivate opposition against Mayor Brown because they're upset that thier Democratic Socialist pals could only manage to kill the city in the first place (see also that hub of economic acheivment, Berkeley).
Change doesn't happen over night...and when it does, it's usually a bad thing.
School bans playing cops and robbers
From the Contra Costa Times
BARSTOW - Lewis Elementary School officials have banned students from playing "cops and robbers" on school grounds.
The temporary ban was set on the game, in which kids shape imaginary guns out of their fingers and pretend to be officers of the law and criminals, while school officials decide whether it is dangerous.
Silver Valley School District Superintendent Gary Thomas said officials just want to establish guidelines for the game.
Dan Pecaro has removed his 9-year-old son, Justin, from the school after Principal Brian Soukup said last month he might expel the third-grader if the boy did not stop playing the game.
More on Junk Food Tax:
This time from the LATimes. This one at least calling the finding of the study "anecdotal", but also mentioning a plan from Sen. Deborah Ortiz to tax soft drinks. There are no opposition quotes.
Oh No! What a conundrum...
What happens when Berkely is faced with three opposing forces: health, recycling, and coffee.
Social Justice Center: Reason 1
Israel Systematically Violates the Human Rights of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories
Everyday, Israeli security forces in the West Bank and Gaza violate articles of the 4th Geneva Convention on Human Rights. Palestinian homes and agriculture fields are routinely demolished to make way for illegal Israeli settlements. Israeli solders also regularly arrest and detain---often for years---Palestinians without due process. According to Amnest International, Israel is the only country in the world that legalizes torture.
Here's the Amnesty International take on it. At the very end, ti gives a little wrist slap to Palestine, as well:
Amnesty International has also raised its concern at abuses by Palestinian armed groups, including Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The prohibition against the wilful killing of civilians in the Geneva Convention should also be respected by all armed groups and individuals. Through shootings and suicide bombs Palestinian armed groups have deliberately killed more than 230 Israelis including more than 170 civilians. At least 35 of those killed were children.
Of course, there's also this take on it.
Overall, I'd say there are violations coming from both parties, but AI seems to have a slight bent towrd chastizing Isreal, and it seems irresponsible of the Justice Center to use this slant when Palestinian organizations are guilty of thier own set of violations .
More NIMBY
So, they want to put a radio tower in Tiburon to complete a multi-agency emergency communications network (Police, Fire, Ambulance, etc.), but Tiburon ain't going for it. This should come to no surprise...I can't believe anyone thought this would be a slam dunk.
So here's my question, if we can put up a satelite to watch the Earth's Aurora, why can't we put up a big, national communications satelite for every agancy to use, that could offer communications with every other agency? This is 2002, people...let's use some technology besides 80 foot microwave antenna towers (suceptible to earthquake, terrorism, vandalism, lawsuits) with some big ol' space birds.
1993: Jerry Brown interviews Noam Chomsky
Interesting reading, especially in historical perspective.
Matt Welch kicks ass
well, not only does Matt Welch kick ass in LA, he's also doing a great job sticking it to SF (the Chronicle, that is).
more signage
and if they're going to protest, they could at least try to get things right.
*spit*
ok, so I went to the "Social" "Justice" "Center"s little car caravan. Notice the cats driving around in the SUV, burning foreign oil at 20 MPG if they're lucky. There were about 10 cars...mainly Volvo's and SUV...pretty much everyone was an aging hippie over 40...most past sixty. These folks just havn't realized that they're a self-paraody.
I got a flyer, and would like to properly refute it line by line, but in the meantime, I give you this link.
Happy St. Patrick's...
Friday, March 15, 2002
Oh boy...this could be a while
Social Justice Center has a links page that got me to this.
"An index to about 1000 organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area that may be of interest to progressive activists..."
*sigh* Sisyphus comes to mind...
Marin WTF Alert
So, I was trying to find out info about when the meeting about the "Justice Boards" was going to take place, when I can across the Social Justice Center of Marin.
Tomorrow moring at 10:00 they will be having a little get-together to "make signs in support of human rights and against U.S. monetary and military support for Israel.", and they'll be metting "at the Manzanita Parking Lot at Highway 101 exit to Mill Valley."
I think I'll try to head out and see if the work will actually take place in the parking lot...at which point, I'll try to take notes like Jane Goodall. This is the scary element up here that I would like to expose for all to see, the pols will wait.
Feinstein in the news
More fun from Feinstein in the battle between open technology and closed off intellectual property law.
With $446,168 coming from Lawyers/Law Firms(1) and $214,638 coming from TV/Movies/Music (4) versus $103,016 from Computer Equipment & Services, one can easily predict where Sen. Feinstein will side on issues such as these.
But this issue really isn't the big deal that the Media industries are making it out to be. DVD's are so cheap these days, that most people I know buy them rather than rent them...and the ammount of time it would take to D/L a movie versus just buying it (and a better quiality version to boot) just doesn't add up.
Sure, people may download early pirated versions to see movies before they hit the theater, but that's either for crap movies that people won't see anyway, or maybe they'll like the little taster enough that they will go see it in the nice big theater with the big screen and killer sound system.
May you live in interesting times
Boy, just when you thought things were quiet.
This should make for some interesting maneuver's over the next year or two...I can't wait to watch it all shake out
Thursday, March 14, 2002
Mo' Money! Mo' Money! Mo' Money!
Well, it had to happen. The tax on junk food may or not be present, but dig this opening paragraph:
If California is serious about improving academic performance, it will have to look beyond textbooks and examine such things as children's eyesight and a possible tax on junk food to pay for dental care, a report being released today said.
Because nobody never learnt nothin from buks anyway. This is an interesting train of thought...we need to check eyesight (which was already done to me back in High School, I hadn't realized they dropped it. And of course, we'll also need a new tax. If you don't agree with these things, then you are obviously against education you heartless bastard! Remember, this is for the children!
Assemblywoman Wilma Chan, D-Oakland, will introduce a package of bills intended to start the state on the road toward better children's health.
Bless her heart...
Chan said the high rate of absenteeism -- the report estimates that about 10 percent of children miss more than 18 school days a year -- is one symptom of the underlying problem.
One "symptom" of an "underlying" problem? How many of those ESTIMATED 10 percent are suffering from non-dental related illnesses? What method did they use to ESTIMATE that figure? Alas, the article fails to inform...it's obviosly not pertinent...just stick to the quotes from that nice Assemblywoman.
"If we could get kids to be there when they are supposed to be, they'd be doing a lot better," she said.
Bless her heart...
Republican Assemblyman John Campbell of Irvine said the state should wait until the budget situation has improved before making such sweeping proposals.
"It is irresponsible to be throwing this kind of thing out in this environment," he said.
Booo...Hisssss....mean Republican from Orange County...don't you know this is for the children?
One way to finance these projects is to generate revenue. Chan said she will propose a study to determine whether a tax should be put on junk food to pay for children's dental health.
Bless her heart...
Anyway, this artile, bill, and idea will probably gain a lot of traction up here. Why? Well...because not too many around here actually eat "junk food" (it's never really mentioned what exactly that is), so not too many people around here will actually have to pay for it. This is more social engineering, placing taxes on "bad" actions to pay for "good" causes.
Justice Boards
Along the lines of this piece and this followup over at Samizdata comes this peice from the MarinIJ.
This could be a very interesting thing...not only does it take some weight of the court system, it also puts the concept of justice back into the community, but should also be able to throttle the 'mob mentality' down and keep things civil.
There are still some questions, like how is the board selected, what scope of punishment is available, and is due process or an appeleat route still available if the verdict is extreme or seems based more on a past grudge from a neighbor.
I'll plan on being at the meeting this Saturday to see what all the gory details are...
Wednesday, March 13, 2002
Oh My! *blush*
Well, it seems that Gov Davis is already feeling a little hot, with eight months left til the primary. Scroll way down on this link and you'll this tasty exchange:
The best part, however, came when someone brought up the charge that he had panicked and signed those long-term electricity contracts at a very high price.
"If I didn't panic, you wouldn't be able to put out your paper," the governor shot back. "I saved this friggin' paper. I kept the lights on. Do you understand that? I kept the lights on."
And as for those "experts" who say he shouldn't have signed the contracts?
"They don't know squat."
I remember back in High School really hoping politicians would just break down, tell it like it is, and even pepper with a few colorful euphemisms. That day seems to be coming rapidly...but I'm not sure how I feel about it.
And Feinstein
The is Sen. Feinstein's comment regard the Florida Flight School getting Visa's for Atta et al in the mail on Monday:
"The fact that the Immigration and Naturalization Service sent out two letters regarding the student visas of two known terrorist hijackers -- a full six months after the terrible events of September 11th -- is outrageous. My fear is that it is still business as usual at INS, even in the aftermath of the most devastating terror attack on American soil.
This clearly demonstrates the immediate need for improvements in the data systems and visa operations at the INS through the Senate's swift enactment of the visa reform legislation that I have introduced with Senator Kennedy."
I'm still unable to locate the text of the Bill as of this writting, but if Sen. Kennedy is involved, I would tend to think the only operation that will be streamlined at the INS is the cafeteria operation.
It's stuff like this that drives me up the wall. Through pork programs, the people bring in the almost unhirable to perfrom low-level beauracratic operations, give them job for life status, and then sit around wringing their hands when something goes wrong proclaiming somebody must do something and that someone is me.
I think I have to second this one.
More Boxer
"The people of California were not laughing then, and we are not laughing now. Our state will not rest until justice is done."
--Sen. Boxer speaking about Enron, not about Sept. 11
Boxer waves arms in air, runs in circles
The latest offering:
"My bill includes three ‘Ts' to prevent terrorists from using false identification – technology, training, and tough sentences."
The legislation introduced by Senator Boxer would curtail the use of false identification by requiring the following:
Mandatory training for airline personnel who are responsible for checking the identification of passengers. Placement of ID scanning technology in every airport to check the validity of IDs. This technology would also include optical or facial scanners to determine if an individual is in a terrorist database. Mandatory prison time for anyone who produces, transfers, possesses or uses a fake ID in connection with terrorism.
Item 1: Training? "This is a picture. THis is a terrorist. This is a picture of a terrorist. Any Questions?"
Item 2: Facial Scans? Terrorist Database? Would this have done ANYTHING 6 months ago? No...not really.
Item 3: Mandetory prison tim for use of a fake ID in connection with terrorism. Are there any other laws with mandetory prison time simply for any act of terrorism? Yes. Will the prison time be sentanced posthumously for suicide attackers?
And oh yeah, the terrorists had valid, legitment identification...remember? That's how we found out about them so quickly afterwards.
Then there's Woolsey
So, kinda strange that there's all this government mandated development going on, while Rep. Woolsey gets her biggest contributions from construction unions. I know it's a state mandate, but it still makes you wonder.
