Why The Ship Is Sinking

It's no wonder California is sinking and the water's reached the upper decks- it's the people that live here. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that a faily solid majority of Californians support Senator Dianne Feinstein's probable reelection bid next(?) election. I can only assume that most people don't pay much attention to what Feinstein does in office. I think that's a safe assumption to make as most people don't generally follow politics like folks like me, who don't have lives, do.

Dianne Feinstein is an Authoritarian (take the World's Smallest Political Quiz to see if you're an Authoritarian or Libertarian), who always votes for more and more government in every aspect of our lives. At least Barbara Boxer has cast a few decent votes in her time. Feinstein fails on pretty much every issue I can think of, at least as far as Liberty is concerned, and even left leaning California should feel nothing but contempt for her. But, I guess you can't expect that in this state.

When you're on a sinking ship, and the water reaches the upper decks, follow the rats...

I wish I could.

Grand Jury Hammers D.A.s Office

Paul Gallegos takes a hit from the Grand Jury with the jury citing all sorts of deficiencies in the District Attorney's office. This gives Worth Dikeman some ammo for his campaign. Problem is, the paper says this was the first look into the D.A.'s office in ten years, so some of these deficincies might well have existed before Gallegos took office and Dikeman was working there. I don't know but we'll see how this plays out.

HTL Board Blows It

Unbelievable: The City Council sets up a meet with representatives of the Taxpayer's League Board of Directors, yesterday, and the League is a no show. One of the Directors says they don't think it would be appropriate to discuss the issue in public and get involved in a "media circus". As if that hasn't already happened with the threat of the lawsuit and all. The Board of Directors blew it big time. I think the Taxpayer's League might well be toast at this point as they've likely lost all credibility.

Kelo and Redevelopment

I was trying to avoid any comment on the recent Kelo decision by the Supreme Court, since everyone seems to have already said what needs to have been said about it. But, once again, one of my favorite columnists, Dan Weintraub, wrote a great commentary on the decision with some history of redevelopment attempts in California. It kinda had me wondering what the Eureka, and other local city councils, might have on their mind for the future.

Get Out The Vote?

One thing that always irks me is these Get Out The Vote campaigns and the similar sob stories in the newspapers about how shameful it is that so few people vote. Why would anyone want someone else, who may not have the slightest idea of what the issues are, to vote? I'm not talking about some Left or Right wing group trying to get people of like feeling on an issue to vote. That makes sense from a Left or Right perspective. But these people that keep trying to come up with a way to get "more voter participation" really don't have a clue, as I see it. They seem to think there's some communal wisdom of the masses that will bring us all a better world if everybody would just turn out to vote.

It appears that at least one study says that isn't the case. Caught this little gem in Dan Weintraub's 'California Insider' blog yesterday:

"A new study by a professor at the University of Missouri says increases in voter turnout do not change election results. The preferences of non-voters, his study shows, tend to break down pretty much the way voters do, with the caveat that in some cases they would increase the margin of the winning candidate. The study is not online but I can email you the 26-page pdf file if you are interested."

There, I wish everyone who keeps hollering for higher voter turnout would read that and maybe we'll hear less whining about poor voter turnout.

North Coast Railroad Authority

The Sacramento Bee's, Dan Walters, did a good job of slamming the North Coast Railroad Authority in today's commentary, using it as an example of how screwed up the state legislature is. I'll have to admit that I don't know much about the NCRA but I do agree with Walters that it's a sham.

I'll never understand why some insist on trying to get the old railroad up and running. Sure, it would be neat to have a railroad coming and going out of Eureka, but at what cost? What would the railroad be used for? This idea of passenger service is a pipe dream. Rail just isn't that popular a form of transportation anymore. The rail lines up here are likely even more expensive than lines elsewhere because every time we get more than an inch of rain a day, the tracks get damaged and it costs megabucks to repair. Let's drop this talk of getting the railroad running again until we have something up here that would make it worth the cost of maintaining the railroad.

Kudos to Dan Walters for making public knowledge of what a scam the North Coast Rairoad Authority is.

Other Humboldt Blogs

I thought I'd get away from strictly political stuff today and comment on some of the other local blogs, at least the ones I'm aware of. I only found two listed in Humguide: Mine and This North Coast Place.

TNCP seems to be pretty well kept up, unlike some blogs that haven't been posted to for weeks. The blogger, Bill Kowinski from Arcata, is one of those rare local bloggers that actually identifies himself. He seems to deal with a lot of outdoor issues as of late, specifically earthquakes. I found his last few posts interesting reading and made my first comment on his blog today. Looks like I'm the only one that's ever commented on his blog, at least from what shows from the last few posts. I'll have to bookmark that one. Hey, any blogger who uses his own name deserves to have at least a few visits to his blog.

Flip It Off by "Stringy", is another one I check every day and make a comment on every now and then. Stringy posts comments here fairly often so I figure I might as well return the favor. Haven't been visiting his blog for too long so don't know what he really tends to write about. Seems to write about pretty much whatever strikes his fancy at the time. I suppose I kinda do the same but I tend to try to deal with local politics most of the time.

The Plazoid is one of those where the blogger writes anonymously. I find anonymous bloggers somewhat annoying if only because I find it disturbing that people don't want themselves linked to their written opinion. Nonetheless, his is a political type page so I figure I should visit it every day and see what's up. He seems to deal with issues surrounding the Arcata Plaza and related issues like homelessness. His blogs tend to ramble a bit and I have a hard time following his line of thought some of the time.

The Buhne Tribune is probably my favorite local blog, if only cause I like his writing style. I'd hoped, when I started my blog, to come up with the same sort of satirical commentary he does, at least occasionally. He uses the pen name Captain Buhne, which although could be considered as posting anonymously, doesn't bother me in this case since the site is usually prone to satire and I think it fits in well. His last couple of posts seem more along the line of serious commentary but generally I find his writing quite entertaining. He's gotten some attention, too, as the North Coast Journal wrote a short piece on his irreverent commentary not long ago. Well done, Cap'n!

Arkley's Propoganda is an attempt to slam Rob Arkley, the local developer and philanthropist. Looks like the blogger, Sean Ryan of Eureka, doesn't have much slam ammo as he hasn't made a post since May 31. I keep checking back to see if anything new shows up. Eventually I'll probably give up since it might be just another abandonded blog at this point.

Those are the only local ones I have bookmarked and check regularly. Seems to me I must have seen some others but, since they're not listed on Humguide, I have no way of remembering them or finding them without doing a lengthy web search. If you know of any good ones I've missed, let me know about them.

Meetings

A couple local meetings that I might actually try and make time for:

Tuesday, the Taxpayer's League Board of Directors is going to present their complaints that led to the lawsuit against the developers and the Redevelopment Advisory Board to the Eureka City Council at noon. Should be interesting. I'd like to see what the complaints consist of. Specifically, who they claimed was "harmed" and thus required a lawsuit be filed. Not sure if I'll be able to fit that one in my schedule. I imagine the local papers will cover it, though.

Next, Larry Henderson, a past president of the Taxpayer's League, has called a special meeting of the rank and file on July 7 to discuss opposition to the lawsuit. The e-mail he sent out announcing the meeting actually made the Times Standard in the same article that mentioned the City Council meeting. It listed the names of all the members that signed an electronic petition opposing the lawsuit, which included me. Once again, my name in the paper- I'm famous!

I've only been to one Taxpayer's League meeting in the three or so years I've been involved with them. I guess I'm just not a meeting person. I might try and make an exception to that, this time, so I'll see if my schedule will adjust itself to go to this one.

Debbie August Case Dismissed

The last charge against Debbi August has been dismissed. I've questioned earlier here whether this case should have been brought before the court to begin with. So, her life can try to go back on track but it will never be the same. She's supposedly spent her retirement account money on legal fees. This kinds stuff really burns me up, especially when I hear, as I have so many times, "Let's just take it to court and see what the judge says....", like it's just some casual trip to the grocery store, or some such. Seems to me I've heard such comments a number of times, often by lawyers, as one would expect.

But it's not just lawyers that feel that way. A lot of people who should know better don't realize, not just what a disruption in one's life going to court can be, but the financial and personal cost of such actions as well. Filing criminal or civil charges against someone should never be taken lightly.

Dikeman Vs. Gallegos

Actually, it's too early to tell but Deputy D.A., Worth Dikeman, will once again be taking on his boss, Paul Gallegos, for the District Attorney seat. Will anyone else throw their hat in the ring?

I didn't vote in the D.A. race back when Gallegos defeated Terry Farmer. Didn't have any strong feelings in that race at the time. I voted No in the Gallegos recall but voted for Dikeman in the event the recall was successful. Not sure what I'll do this next time around. One concern I've developed over the years is when law enforcement backs one candidate over another. I suspect law enforcement will back Dikeman this next time like they did last time.

I've been through the C.R. Police Academy and have a half assed law enforcement type background, of sorts, but I've gotten leery of the cops telling us who we should elect for their prosecutor. This might be one race where I'll actually pay some attention to the candidate debates and decide how to vote, assuming I vote in that race at all, after I hear what the candidates have to say.

More Anti Higher Ed Heresy

Along the lines of my earlier rant about higher education, got this little gem in today's National Center for Policy Analysis daily e-mail that suggests spending on higher education isn't the great benefit that educrats say it is:

COLLEGE SHEEPSKINS ARE A BAAD INVESTMENT FOR STATES
------------------------------------------------------------------------

The plea from all university presidents is the same: more money please.
They argue that if the government invests more money in higher education
the economy will grow. In a sense this is true; but, increased funding
for universities does not lead to greater prosperity, in fact, it may
even reduce it, says Richard Vedder (Forbes).

A comparison of the growth in real per capita income of states that
spend more on higher education than states that do not supports Vedder's
assertion.

o Low-support state New Hampshire surpassed neighboring Vermont on
nearly all economic measures, even though Vermont spent more than
twice as much of its personal income on higher education (2.3
versus 1.15 percent).

o Missouri, another low-support state (1.32 percent), grew faster
than its neighbor Iowa (2.41 percent).

o Additionally, Vedder compared 10 states with the highest state
funding with the 10 lowest and found that the low-spending states
had a median growth rate of 46 percent in real income per capita
versus 32 percent in high-spending states; the median income for
low-spending states was found to be $32,777, or 27 percent higher
than high-spending states.

Vedder says colleges have devoted little funding to the core mission of
instruction. Instead, they prefer to "assist research, hire more
nonacademic staff, give generous pay increases, support athletics and
build luxurious facilities."

o In 1976, three non-faculty professional workers were hired for
every 100 students; since 2001, that number has doubled.

o Additionally, nearly 40 percent of students fail to graduate
within five or six years.

Moreover, he says, taxes reduce private-sector activity, so increasing
funding to universities would move resources from the relatively
productive private sector to the less productive and efficient sector of
higher education. The cure, concludes Vedder, is for state governments
to slash their support.

Source: Richard Vedder, "College Is a Bad Investment," Forbes, June 20,
2005.

For text (subscription required):
http://www.forbes.com/business/forbes/2005/0620/046.html?_requestid=17065

For more on Higher Education Issues:
http://www.ncpa.org/iss/edu/

More On Garbage

Looks like Eureka is going to raise their rate for garbage pick up again. Didn't they raise rates less than a year ago? Oh well, I still think the rates for garbage pick up are a bargain.

What's disturbing is that, yet again, the issue of "universal garbage service" is brought up with one council member, Chris Kerringan, obviously supporting it and another who doesn't seem to object to the idea. Kerrigan seems to be obsessed with the idea. Don't mean to be a conspiratorialist(?) but it makes me wonder if there's some other more nefarious reason for this obsession. As I mentioned earlier on this blog, I wonder if some want universal service so they have another source for taxes and fees since, once everyone has to pay for pick up, they can start adding a few pennies here and there to your service fee for any sort of reason as they do now with phone service?

The most disturbing thing about this issue is how easily it is for city council critters to accept the idea of forcing something on everyone in the city like it's no big deal.

HELP or Healthy Humboldt?

One of these days I'll have to really take a look at these county development plans, other than just browsing thru the articles in the newspaper. I'll be the first to admit that planning and development issues bore me. Don't know why.

I need to take a closer look, though, because it is an important issue. Also a complex issue, from my type of Libertarian view:

The two most discussed plans and/ or organizations are HELP, an acronym for something which I can't remember off the top of my head, and Healthy Humboldt. HELP is the one that seems to be backed by the real estate/ developer crowd and Healthy Humboldt is the one the Left/ Progressives are pushing. Healthy Humboldt seems to be much less aggressive in converting open land into housing or industrial development than the plan HELP is proposing.

I suppose I'll end up somewhat in the middle on both these plans. I'll stick my neck out, though, and say I tend to lean toward Healthy Humboldt because I don't want this county to become an endless expanse of tract housing. But, I'm sure each side is overexaggerating the potential negative effects of each other's plans.

There is something to be said for open space, though. Even such a thing as an empty lot in the center of town is a good thing to have. Burns me up every time I see someone cram another house in a small lot just cause someone can't stand to see an empty space. When we bought our house, my father in law mentioned our yard was big enough we could subdivide it and build a house in one of the lots. Why the hell would I want to do that? Of course, he's a retired construction contractor and I guess he's got that development thing ingrained in him. Nope, I like having some space between me and my neighbors. I think most people do, too.

Will The Housing Market Bubble Burst?

Steve Greenhut, of the Orange County Register, wrote an interesting piece on his concerns about what will happen if housing prices take a big hit, which some say is inevitable and others say won't happen. I happen to think it can't go on like this forever, with fewer and fewer people being able to afford to rent, much less own a home. I know the place next door to us is renting for $1000 a month, too pricey for me, and that's about the norm. It might be good to see the bubble burst in that respect although, of course, those that have bought homes in the recent past would be taking a hit.

I had one other concern about the high prices, though: With the increase in home values, also comes an increase in property taxes, since homes are reassessed when bought and/ or sold. The person buying the property may pay many times more in property tax than the previous owner who benefitted from Prop 13 tax increase protections. So, should the housing market bubble burst, and home prices drop as dramatically as they've gone up the last few years, what will happen to the revenues that local governments have enjoyed as a result of the past increase in housing prices?

I'm not really sure how the reassessment of property works and I'm sure it would take a few years to actually take place and make an effect. Seems to me, though, it might be like the state's .com boom of a few years ago in smaller scale. Sure, the county doesn't have a big surplus, but it seems to be making do. You can rest assured, though, that local governments will spend every penny of the increased property tax revenues and, when that bubble bursts, will have set the prior year's budget as the baseline on which to build so screams will be heard around the state because of lack of property tax revenue.

We'll see if I'm right, assuming the bubble bursts. I e-mailed Steve Greenhut and told him of my concerns. Wonder if he'll respond? He has before.

Taxpayer's League Disintegrates

The County Board of Realtors withdrew itself from the Humboldt Taxpayer's League. I know of at least one of the Directors has resigned and one other simply wanted his name removed from the Board's member list. That's just what I've heard of, so far, and I suspect that's just the tip of the iceberg. Can't believe the Board of Directors hasn't withdrawn the suit if only because of the public pressure. One thing is certain, though: This lawsuit has really cause some long term damage to the League.

A So So Day In Congress

On the good side, our congresscritters in DC voted to limit some parts of the PATRIOT Act yesterday. Probably doesn't go far enough but let's not look a gift horse in the mouth.

On the downside, a bill to get the Justice Department to stop prosecuting medical marijuana users and in support of states' medical marijuana laws got defeated by quite a large margin. Kudos to our very own Mike Thompson for voting for the bill and, in fact, being one of the co sponsors. Only something like 27 Republicans voted for the bill, which was to be expected but is still troubling. The Republicans sure have lost their claim to being the big supporters of state's rights. That's just the kind of thing that got me to leave the Republican Party back in '92. I've never looked back.

If only we had a majority of Libertarians in congress. Then we could have, both, put some limits on the PATRIOT Act AND passed the State's Rights To Medical Marijuana Act and had a good- good day in Congress. Maybe someday but probably not in my lifetime.

Palco Suit Thrown Out?

Well, well...looks like the judge in the lawsuit against Pacific Lumber Company threw the case out. I'm kinda glad to see that but have some mixed feelings. I wonder if the D.A. will appeal?

That's not to say that a Libertarian would necessarily oppose such a lawsuit. Libertarians should oppose fraud by business as well as individuals. But, the environmental lobby has been discredited over the years, in my eyes, by throwing out too many "The Sky Is Falling" stories that I'm skeptical whenever they come up with another one- Global Warming supposedly caused my human activity being an example. But, I digress.

I don't know if Palco fudged the reports to get their logging plans approved or not. I certainly wouldn't blame them if they did since California has some of the toughest, if not the toughest, logging regulations on the planet. If they wrote a completely objective report on what affects their logging might have on the watersheds and forest lands, they probably wouldn't get it approved. Can't hardly blame someone for a little "creative writing" to paraphrase a law enforcement term.

Some would deny that our regulations are so strict but California, being at least one state that imports the majority of its lumber, certainly must be since we buy so much lumber from other states and countries that don't have such strict regulation. It would probably be better, assuming such strict regulation is needed, to loosen up and have that lumber harvested here, where there is some consideration given to environmental issues, rather than keep importing from other places where there such consideration might not be given.

No comments yet from D.A. Gallegos. Be interesting to see what he has to say.

Dems Say Budget On Time This Year

The Democrats say the state budget will be on time this year, one of those rare moments in history. Breath a sigh of relief? I think not. I believe the last time a budget came in on time was the one during the dot com boom where they had major surpluses and spent every penny of it on permanent spending thus leading the state into near bankruptcy that we still haven't recovered from. I'm almost afraid to see what they'll come up with this time.

Special Election Is On!

Looks like the Governor went ahead and scheduled a special election for November 8. His four "reform" initiatives will be on the ballot along with four others, according to this news brief from the San Francisco Chronicle.

I've said before that while I'm somewhat in agreement with the Governor's proposed reforms, I really don't see a need for a special election, as the Governor's reforms really won't accomplish much in the short or long term. About the only positive thing that will come out of this, if Arnold's initiatives win, is it will be a moral defeat for the government employee unions and those trying to maintain the status quo in the state legislature.

As far as an in depth look at the initiatives that will be on the ballot and how to vote on them, rest assured, I'll be putting up yet another Fred's Election Recommendation web page for the November 8 election. The beauty of my Elections Recommendation Pages is that I do all the thinking on the issues for you so you don't have to. I'll announce the page and add a link here when it's ready. It will take some time to gather the necessary info so stay tuned.

Taxpayer's League and the FPPC Fiasco

Disclosure again: I'm webmaster for the Humboldt Taxpayer's League

Not to keep focusing on the Taxpayer's League but I do think something keeps coming up that needs to be addressed:

Some eyebrows were raised last election cycle when the League came out opposing Measure L and they didn't properly file some forms with the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC). Apparently they didn't keep accurate records of who gave how much money to the League which was required to be reported since they were using that money in a campaign. The issue comes up again in Saturday's Times Standard saying the League may have violated its bylaws by not keeping accurate records. So what?

It does indeed look bad for an organization that expects accurate accounting from government agencies to not be keeping accurate records itself. But, so what? That should only be of concern to the League's members. A membership list was available to those who want to know who's in the League. If it's not accurate enough, don't vote the way the League proposes, if you make decisions simply on fincancial disclosure issues.

Some critics at the time seemed to be infering that there were nefarious reasons for the League not disclosing who gave what to the organization being akin to the same sort of thing that went on in that hit campaign against Chris Kerrigan in which the "investors" hid their identities.

It wasn't the same sort of thing. It's hard to keep records in a volunteer organization. It's hard to keep up with all the does and don't of campaign finance law. Heck, even experienced politicians run afoul of these laws every now and then. There have been candidates that dropped out of races when they realized all the campaign reporting requirements. The only thing the League can be blamed for is not keeping more accurate records than they should have, perhaps even if they weren't involved in campaign activity.

Say what you want about the League's lawsuit against the developers, but leave the campaign reporting fiasco out of it.

City Employee Pay Raises

Looks like the town of Trinidad wants to give their three full time employees a raise because they don't make enough to live in the town, none of them making over $16.00 an hour. Interesting, since there's a lot of people outside of government work that don't make that much. Wonder how they get along on less?

Someone points out how much city employees doing the same work in other places make. Seems like it makes a good case except they don't mention that Trinidad is much smaller than Arcata and Eureka and thus has a much smaller budget. Trinidad may or may not be able to afford the kind of wages and benefits larger towns can. Let's wish those three employees luck in getting their raise and hope Trinidad can afford it.

Maybe it's just me but there seems to be a lot more in the news lately about government employees, what a tough job they do and how dedicated they are. While I find it somewhat annoying, I'm still amused that these folks seem to be in a position where they're forced to justify their pay and benefits to the public. That's a good thing to see happen. Maybe it means the public's attitude toward government is shifting towards the negative? Ahhh, just wishful thinking on my part.

What An Event...

that meeting of the Taxpayer's League must have been yesterday. Looks like most people that attended were strongly opposed to the League's lawsuit. There may be light at the end of the tunnel, though, as the League seems to have decided to possibly hold off on the suit and will be discussing their problems with the powers that be hoping for a resolution. One wonders why they didn't do that in the first place. I think the League really got a black eye over this.

Taxpayer's League Getting Slammed

Disclosure: I'm the webmaster for the Humboldt Taxpayer's League.

Whew! The Humboldt Taxpayer's League sure is getting slammed by just about everyone over their lawsuit against those two developers. Both the Eureka Reporter and the Times Standard have not so complimentary stories on the League and the lawsuit in today's issues. Yesterday, Dolores Vellutini, one of the defendents in the lawsuit, placed a full page ad in the Times Standard slamming the League's Board of Directors which was quite nicely done, I thought.

From what I can see, I don't blame those who are pissed off over the lawsuits. It really gets my goat to see people file lawsuits without trying to resolve a problem informally first.

I'd also like to know how the Board of Directors of the League proposes developement and redevelopement in Eureka be handled, as opposed to the way it was handled in the matter at issue? Seems to me it's there's always gonna be some wheeling and dealing between the City and developers- that's the nature of the beast. How are they suggesting it be done as opposed to the way it was done? I wonder if they have an answer?

Do You Deserve A Discount?

My colleague, Howard Rein, had a My Word column in the Times Standard today. Not available online, apparently. He's complaining, once again, about some seniors being denied the senior rate for sewer and water service. Eureka, as does many municipalities, offers seniors a discount on water and sewer service. While many seniors take advantage of the discount, some were denied because they waited too long, perhaps being unaware of it.

I can understand the frustration of missing out on something like that. Have to wonder just how far one should go in complaining about it, though? Heck, nothing says the City has to offer a discount. If you make too big an issue out of it and the City thinks it's become too much of a hassle, they might well get rid of the discount altogether. Even if you didn't get one, it still might not be a good idea to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Raising Taxes To Stop Tax Increases

The Sacramento Bee's, Dan Weintraub, is one of my favorite political writers. I think he's a bit naive, at times, though. In today's commentary he suggests the Republicans might be wise to accept a tax increase now, thus avoiding a similar tax increase in the future. He cites Rob Reiner's proposed pre school initiative, which would increase taxes on the wealthy, just as Dan suggests the Republicans ought to accept. His thinking seems to be that if the taxes are raised before the next election, the pre school initiative won't get passed by voters.

I don't see how he can think that as we just passed a new tax on the "rich" to fund all that mental health crap in the last election. Now we're talking about doing it again. If the Republicans go along with an early tax increase, Reiner's tax increase might likely pass whether or not the Republicans cooperate and a year or two from now Reiner and the Democrats will propose even more tax increases.

Of course, Weintraub qualifies his proposal by saying the Democrats must accept some spending "reforms" in return for the tax increases. Most important would be a spending limitation agreement. Nice thought but any "limitations" the Democrats agreed to would likely not be any kind of spending limitation at all. They'd likely be just cosmetic fixes as that's usually what happens in Sacramento.

Nope, the best way to avoid new taxes is to simply not pass any new taxes.

Taxpayer's League Vs. Eureka and Developers

I've known there's been at least a bit of conflict between some on the Humboldt Taxpayer's League and the Eureka Redevelopment Agency for some time, but was nonetheless surprised to see it come to a lawsuit. I think there's certainly some valid points to the League's complaints and I get the impression the City has basically ignored them. Shows one thing, though: The Taxpayer's League obviously isn't just a front for conservatives or developers.

I've said before I'm not totally against government being involved in redevelopment schemes. I'm just not sure how much it should be involved. I am uncomfortable to the extent that developers are involved in the various redevelopment agencies, though, although I also wonder just how much they should be involved as well.

More Proposing Universal Trash Service

Looks like the City of Arcata might be dropping the fee they charge on top of water and sewer service that helps fund waste diversion because of the threat of a lawsuit by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association. Now they're scrambling to find alternative funding for waste diversion. Interesting that one proposal is establishing Universal Waste Service, or whatever they call it. Basically that means everyone gets garbage pickup service whether they want it, need it, or not.

Since this proposal seems to be circulating amongst the "progressives" in Eureka, as well, I can't help but wonder if there is some ulterior motive for wanting mandatory trash pick up? Might it be that they feel if everyone is required to subscribe to something it makes it an easier and more profitable source to add fees to?

Startled For A Second

Had to do a double take on todays editorial in the Times Standard. Apparently, some other blogger is using articles from the Times Standard and altering them on his or her web site. Kinda startled me, at first glance, cause there's only one other blog I know of that comes from Humboldt and, as I often link to the Times Standard articles, assumed they must of been referring to my blog. But, they weren't.

I have seen at least one instance where someone threatened legal action against a web site owner for having a link to something on the complainant's web site, which isn't what happened here. If one were to complain about that, they'd be way off base, in my opinion. If you have a web site that's viewable to the public, that makes it public domain, as far as I'm concerned.

That's not what the Times Standard was complaining about, though. They didn't like their news articles copied, edited and posted as if that was the original article which is a fair complaint.

I'll have to try and see if the editor will give me a link to that blog. I'd love to know who's doing it.