LOS ANGELES ‐ For more than a century, California has been the state where people flocked for a better life ‐ 164,000 square miles of mountains, farmland and coastline, shimmering with ambition and dreams, money and beauty. It was the cutting-edge symbol of possibility: Hollywood, Silicon Valley, aerospace, agriculture and vineyards.
But now a punishing drought ‐ and the unprecedented measures the state announced last week to compel people to reduce water consumption ‐ is forcing a reconsideration of whether the aspiration of untrammeled growth that has for so long been this state's driving engine has run against the limits of nature.
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The 25 percent cut in water consumption ordered by Gov. Jerry Brown raises fundamental questions about what life in California will be like in the years ahead, and even whether this state faces the prospect of people leaving for wetter climates ‐ assuming, as Mr. Brown and other state leaders do, that this marks a permanent change in the climate, rather than a particularly severe cyclical drought.
This is a long winded NYT article...California as seen from the other coast. Much more at the link and a very dramatic picture.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/05/2015 11:09 ||
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#2
It's outta my sector but from what I've been able to gather, it's not 'endless growth' that is the problem, but rather endless regulations and gummit meddling.
#3
You need to add to growth, regulation and immigration the amazing failure to create more water capacity to capture the run off. Above ground, below ground, desalinization, pipelines, all done in a timely manner and growth could have been managed.....but no, instead now we're building a train for the loony Jesuit in Sacramento....
#4
I was here in san Diego during the 88 to 92 drought. We cut our water usage in a major way. So as the water utilities bill by the amount you use rather than free market pricing or access charges they doubled the rates. Next two years we were clobbered by El Nino's with massive flooding. If we quit flushing freshwater out the Delta for an invasive bait fish, dumped the high speed rail, California could build dozens of desalination plants, even inland at the Salton Sea. Imperial Co has Geothermal power perfect for desal plants. Carslsbad is trying to license a desal plant next to the Natural Gas power station right on the coast, but it means expanding the plant -so of course the greenies are trying to block it.
#5
The problem with desal is that you are left with a highly concentrated brine that you have to dispose of. Nasty stuff.
The better solution in my opinion is to convert all of the municipal wastewater plants to be able to fully, or nearly fully, recycle that water to drinking water standards. This type of water is not a significant challenge to clean (I'm in the wastewater treatment business). The hundreds of $billions that will be spent on that stupid train should be diverted to this task.
#6
That is exactly what the Santee lakes system does. Santee is in east San Diego Co the effluent goes to a regular waste water plant, then flows through 5 small lakes for biological cleaning. the water at the end is potable, but is used in purple pipe irrigation systems by the City, County and State for highway, parks and public area landscaping.
[DAWN] LAHORE: A sessions court on Saturday got a man kept in illegal detention by his wife recovered and set him at liberty, allowing him to go with his brother.
The detainee, Syed Ali Raza, told Additional District and Sessions Judge Naveed Iqbal that his captor Mahwish alias Mahi "is my wife".
"I do not want to live with her anymore. She kept me locked in a room of the house where she herself or her servants would often give me a sound thrashing. She neither allows any member of my family to see me nor permits me to make a call to them. I fear for my life," Raza submitted before the judge. Hmmm... I think I used to be married to her, too...
Syed Wasim Abbas had, in a habeas corpus petition, alleged that his younger brother was illegally detained by his employer, Mahi, who was not allowing Raza to leave his 'workplace' and subjecting him to torture while threatening him with dire consequences.
When a court bailiff raided Mahi's house to recover the detainee, the woman present there revealed that she was his (Ali Raza's) wife and not the employer.
In a statement recorded before the bailiff, Mahi said she and Raza contracted marriage seven months ago. The woman also revealed that she was four-month pregnant and wanted to live with her husband.
However, a woman is only as old as she admits... Raza begged the bailiff to take him to the court as he faced life threat from his wife who "often takes me to the cop shoppe where officials thrash me at her behest".
Posted by: Fred ||
04/05/2015 00:00 ||
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[NPR.ORG] True story: The other day, I attended a speech by IRS ...the Internal Revenue Service; that office of the United States government that collects taxes and persecutes the regime's political enemies... Commissioner John Koskinen, who said phone scammers are swarming the country in the run-up to April 15, aka Tax Day. The graphic at the head of this article is from the first email I got the "IRS." I can't remember if I was working at Goddard or at Aberdeen Proving Grounds. If Aberdeen it was prior to 2007, if Goddard it was 2004 or earlier. NPR is just noticing?
These criminals call taxpayers and insist they must "immediately give up their personal information or make a payment," Koskinen warned. Don't fall for it. Crooks swarm where there's money. They don't stop unless you track them down and jug them.
"If you are surprised to be hearing from us, you are not hearing from us," Koskinen said. "Our way of contacting you is by letter." Maybe when they let the druggies out of jail they'll have room for this sort of scammer.
So after the speech at the National Press Club, I went home -- and found a voice mail message from the, um, IRS. Did you indeed?
A stern woman had left this message: "This is the IRS. We have been attempting to reach you. The IRS has filed a lawsuit against you. You must call 202-xxx-xxxx immediately. There will be no further warning." Where's the notice? You get notice of lawsuits against you. It doesn't come by telephone unless it's a reporter.
How could I resist? I called the number, and a man with a heavy accent answered. It sounded as though he was in a room with lots of other people making calls. I could barely understand him. What kind of accent? I got a call on my cell phone the other day from a guy named "Derek" who sounded like he's never been outside Bangalore, trying to sell me Viagra.
MG: "Hi, I got a call yesterday about the IRS."
GUY: "How can I help you?"
MG: "Just so that you know, I am Marilyn Geewax and I work for NPR. I am covering IRS issues. I was wondering ... do you work for the IRS?"
GUY: "Yes, I am with the IRS."
MG: "Are you based in Washington?"
GUY: "No, I'm in New York. "
MG: "Could you repeat that?"
GUY: "OK ma'am, don't worry."
CLICK. He hung up.
A proper govt agency answers the phone "Internal Revenue Service, Philadelphia regional office. This is Joe Doaks speaking." They may add which department it is and they may even ask "How may I help you?" It's standard phone etiquette, or it used to be. They haven't yet outsourced that sort of thing to India.
Apparently, it quickly dawned on him that I might not be the right person for his particular brand of tax advice. So just like that, the "lawsuit" against me disappeared. "OK ma'am, don't worry." Who's the 202 (Washington, D.C.) phone number point to? A reporter with something on the ball should be able to find out.
But I am worried. I am worried about potential victims out there -- especially elderly ones who might not be able to hear or think as clearly as they once did. They're the target, aren't they?
Please call your parents and grandparents and spread the word. This is what Koskinen said at the National Press Club: "The last thing you'll ever hear from an IRS agent of any kind is threats that we are about to throw you in jail unless you pay us immediately or put money into a particular account," he said. Sounds more like the Tataglias than the IRS, and I don't even like the IRS.
"The number of reported calls is going up," Koskinen said. But because good people are spreading the word to their friends and relatives about these con artists, "the number of people who have fallen prey to this scam is down significantly." Y'gotta work harder to steal fewer dollars, huh? Times is tough all around.
And another thing: Don't fall for a trick where "you get an email and it looks like an IRS website," he said. Check the details and "you will see it's not from the IRS," he said. Been there. Laughed at it. The logo said "IRS." Hang the mouse over the link to click and it led someplace like "jsxjhpdjnd.com/20986."
Remember that these con artists may know the last four digits of your Social Security number -- and try to use that to trick you.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/05/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
My responses are some combination of "Whar? What? Can you speak louder? Please speak English! What?"
Then I make them an additional number on a contact named Priceless Spammer. Answer, as soon as the computer gets the guy on the line, hang up. Maybe with a choice comment.
[BUZZFEED] A San Diego man was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Friday for operating a revenge-porn website in the first criminal prosecution of a cyber-exploitation site operator in the U.S., California’s Attorney General’s office said. Kevin Bollaert operated a revenge-porn website and charged victims to remove nude pictures.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/05/2015 00:00 ||
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[Daily Caller] Police used surveillance video to identify a woman they believe lured a Washington D.C. lawyer to a hotel room in February and brutally stabbed him to death.
On Wednesday afternoon police arrested Jamyra Gallmon and charged her with first-degree felony murder. Soon to be upgraded to the award of the Humanitarian Assistance Medal.
The Washington Post reported that David Messerschmitt posted an ad on Craigslist looking for a homosexual encounter, but instead wound up coming face to face with a 21-year-old woman looking to rob him. Things went wrong when Gallmon showed up and the hotel room door was already open. Come on in please. You like stories about dive bombers ?
Gallmon allegedly walked in the room, but then decided to leave before she saw Messerschmitt. According to Gallmon, the lawyer grabbed her arm as she was walking out the door, causing her to flashback to a previous time when she was assaulted. She then pulled a knife out of her sweatpants and stabbed him repeatedly in the abdomen, groin and heart, according to police. Attacked by frustrated lawyer. Sounds like self-defense to me !
Before leaving, Gallmon stole the man's cash and Metro card, according to the police report. Stabbed him right in the oil pump. So she had a flashback which caused her to stab the guy. And then take his money. Ooooookay... It's okay if you're having a flashback, I guess.
#3
"posted an ad on Craigslist looking for a homosexual encounter, but instead wound up coming face to face with a 21-year-old woman looking to rob him" Actually, sounds like things were going according to plan. Just not his plan.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
04/05/2015 12:43 Comments ||
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#4
A better defense would be to claim she wanted to bring a pizza but no one would make a pizza to celebrate anonymous homosexual encounters by a lawyer in a swank hotel.
For months, the U.S. economy's strength has been flagging. Not that you read about it anywhere.
Manufacturing slowed. Fewer homes were built. Cheaper gas failed to ignite consumer spending. Yet month after month, employers kept on hiring vigorously. Curiously, that part was always in the news.
In March, the economy's slump finally overtook the job market.
Employers added 126,000 workers ‐ the fewest since December 2013 ‐ snapping a 12-month streak of gains above 200,000. At the same time, the unemployment rate remained at 5.5 percent. And if you can't believe the government's unemployment rate, what can you believe?
The slowdown reported Friday by the Labor Department puzzled economists. Puzzled or muzzled?
Was the tepid job gain a temporary blip mainly from a harsh winter and an economy adjusting to much lower oil prices? Well, there were a lot of West-Texas oil field workers laid off recently.
Or did it mark a return to the middling performance that's defined much of the nearly 6-year-old recovery from the recession? Six-year "recovery". Is it just a coincidence that time period corresponds to someone's term of office?
No one will know for sure until the government's monthly employment reports later this spring help gauge the direction of the job market. That leaves the U.S. economy ‐ until recently the envy of other industrialized nations ‐ facing renewed uncertainty. That's really been the only constant for the last six years - uncertainty.
"We knew less than we thought we did," said Tara Sinclair, a George Washington University professor and chief economist at Indeed, the job-posting website. Refreshing candor!
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/05/2015 07:59 ||
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#1
It's like MMGW. Somehow the numbers never add up. Math doesn't care.
#2
Spend an extra trillion a year, print another 800 Billion to buy our own bonds and yet the economy only grows an average of ~2% (~$300 billion) per year. Jeez what could go wrong in the long run.
Expect a Krugman article to tout a leaner more efficient economy as a benefit to the Obama economic policies.
#3
Considering that most of the recent hiring was to make things compatible with Obumblecare and companies did little else with the money... like invest and grow to create jobs... there will be little growth from here on out.
#4
And even if you do keep your job, they are doing fun things like 30% pay cuts. On top of your money being worth less than before. Very not fun at the moment.
#8
The way Obama tracks unemployment is a fraud. In 2008 when Obama took over the first thing that was done was to remove the U-6 (unemployed who have exhausted their benefits) from the tallies. The next change was to eliminate the U-3 (unemployed drawing benefits)who did not actively seek work for a one week period. Next since the unemployment numbers continued to tank the entire system of actual unemployed was scrapped in favor of a mathematical model. The model has 60,000 make believe workers that the government tracks based upon the percent unemployed that Obama wants. The present unemployment numbers are hollow propaganda. It is estimated that if the original counting of the unemployed used in 2008 was applied today the unemployed would be 22.8%
How when 200K people lose their jobs weekly and 200K are hired monthly can unemployment numbers decline.
#9
thank you David, this is the most concise description I have ever seen about the way government now lies with partial truth regarding unemployment. 2007-present is the second great depression and absent a war t create jobs, how will this one turn out? Imagine in 1941 if the Japanese had all the money and our jobs....makes it hard to tell the ChiCOms to FO.
#10
The present unemployment numbers are hollow propaganda.
Spot on! Then entire process has silently and quite methodically transitioned to a permanent Social Security Disability system, the numbers of which have now spiked through the clouds.
SSI Disability enrollment was nearly nine million 'in current pay status' at the end of Feb, 1015, according to SSI estimates, which should be taken with a grain of salt.
#11
an impartial inquiring media, it would seem, would make those distinctions and differences known at the top of their lungs,. The lack of which explains their declining credibility
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/05/2015 17:23 Comments ||
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h/t Gates of Vienna
The Swedish military is launching a major equipment design overhaul in the interests of equality. The aim is to ensure all military gear, from uniforms to weapons, is suitable for everyone serving, regardless of gender or body size. Low hanging fruit
#3
The enemy doesn't care. The enemy wants to win. They're not concerned about 'equality' only results. Darwin rules the battlefield, not judges, not administrators, not EEO personnel.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
04/05/2015 12:44 Comments ||
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#6
The important thing is that in the unlikely event that Sweden does get into a real war, they will have a MORAL victory. Their army will be fully equal, even if they get slaughtered.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
04/05/2015 12:53 Comments ||
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[DAWN] SWABI: The beheaded body of a girl was recovered in the jurisdiction of Topi city cop shoppe here on Saturday.
Qamar Zaman, SHO Topi cop shoppe, said that they were informed by the villagers that a beheaded body was lying in the area. He said that the police reached there and took the body into custody.
It was not immediately known whether the victim belonged to Swabi or some other area. Sources said that nothing was found on the body to help them identify it. The police registered the case against unidentified suspects and started investigation.
In another incident, a man was killed, while another was injured when two parties clashed over a petty issue in the Batakara village. The victim was identified as Abdul Hakeem Shah. The police registered the case on the complaint of Zubir Shah, brother of the dear departed.
The injured man, Sajjad, also lodged an FIR with the police against Sohaib Khan. He told the police the cause of the incident was exchange of harsh words between them.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/05/2015 00:00 ||
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[Wash Times] By Kellan Howell - Saturday, April 4, 2015
A new State Department and Department of Homeland Security Program will fly immigrant children from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador to their parents in the U.S. for free.
Parents can apply to have their children picked up and flown over the border to them on the taxpayer's dime, as long as they have some kind of legal immigration status, The Daily Caller reported Wednesday.
Continued on Page 49
#1
"Si, I have 47 children. The ninos range in age up to 32 or 38, I can't remember exactly. Can you pick them up, por favor?"
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/05/2015 9:06 Comments ||
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Obama just can't get enough of that stuff.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/05/2015 14:07 Comments ||
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Victor Davis Hanson didn't know how prophetic his 2003 book 'Mexifornia' would become. Probably just as well. He'd have become too depressed to write it had he known what we know today.
#6
Chain migration - the Chinese have been doing this for years. Son get an H1B - then a green card. Brings Mom and Dad here - cause he is their only support - and they go on SSI.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
For months, the U.S. economy's strength has been flagging.
