Not An Agreement, A Press Putsch

What was that book, Lies, Liars and the Liars Who Lie?

Something like that. Al Franken. Meaty.

Same thing's happening here today. But it's not from the list of Lefty Enemies.

Nope.

It's the Lefties themselves. Oh, and a moron by the name of Gordon Smith.

First, the dope from the Lefties.

"Release: Klamath Basin Settlement Announced, Dam Removal Reccomended"(sic) (Press Release, Severn Williams Media, January 15, 2008, no link, Severn Williams Media 931 Isleta Ave Santa Barbara CA 93109.)

"Klamath Basin, California/Oregon Border - The details of a proposed Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement were released today by the Klamath Settlement Group. The Group includes representatives from diverse Klamath Basin communities and officers from tribal, federal, state, and county governments that all have a stake in water and power management in the area. The Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement is the result of more than two years of negotiation among interest groups as varied as farmers who rely on irrigation water from the Klamath watershed system to conservation groups dedicated to improving habitat for fish and other wildlife."

Pretty phenomenal, huh? After three years, in a process started by Pacific Power to help them meet the re-licensing needs imposed by FERC, the Agreement has been reached. Cool.

Well, the press releases just keep on a keepin' on. Here's one from Green Media Toolshed (Press Release, "Group Releases Proposed Klamath Restoration Agreement", January 15, 2008, link.)

"Representatives of diverse communities in the Klamath Basin, working with federal, state, and county governments, have developed a Proposed Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement to rebuild fisheries, sustain agricultural communities, and resolve other longstanding disputes related to the allocation of water resources. The non-Federal parties released the Proposed Agreement today to inform the public and to provide public review and comment before taking final action."

And then, my favorite moron, United States Senator Gordon Smith issued a press release. Hold on to your hats. This man obviously wrote this sentence himself. See if you can make any sense of it:

“I have long encouraged a locally developed solution that doesn’t create winners and losers and doesn’t leave out anyone who depends on water to make a living."

Obviously, the Senator believes in solutions that aren't solutions, winners that never win and losers that never lose. A perfect post-Modern fantasy. Well done, Senator.

He goes on:

"I applaud all parties for their efforts. This is a complex and multifaceted plan and I look forward to feedback from farmers, tribes, fishermen and all stakeholders involved.”

Senator Smith is working at, or near, his intellectual capacity with this sound bite. But there is a little problem.

Well, yeah. Something's missing with this little agreement. The Senator couldn't figure it out. And who do you think this might be? Who, as a party, might have some say in all this? Here's a list of all the parties that are represented by this "agreement". Can you figure out who is missing?

Here's a list of the parties represented by this "agreement". (From Green Media Toolshed, 1212 New York Ave Suite 300, Washington, DC 20005 United States.)

Farmers and Ranchers
Klamath Water Users Association
Off-Project Water Users

Tribal
Hoopa Valley Tribe
Karuk Tribe
Klamath Tribes
Yurok Tribe

Federal
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service
U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Marine Fisheries Service
U.S. Department of the Interior, including Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and Fish and Wildlife Service

State
California Department of Fish and Game
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Oregon Water Resources Department

County
Humboldt County, California
Klamath County, Oregon
Siskiyou County, California

Conservation and fishing groups
American Rivers
California Trout
Friends of the River
Klamath Forest Alliance
National Center for Conservation Science and Policy
Northcoast Environmental Center
Northern California/Nevada Council Federation of Fly Fishers
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations
Salmon River Restoration Council
Trout Unlimited.

Notice anybody important missing from this list? No? This is not an agreement. This is a publicity stunt. Gordon's not bright enough to ask the critical question, "What does Pacific Power have to say about this proposed agreement?" because he's a fascile idiot and a fool. But now, beyond showing that he's a political whore, he's also intellectually deficient.

There's no agreement "there". Somebody buy a big bag of clue and hand it to Gordo, okay?

UPDATE: A related post by KlamBlog. And Severn Williams of Santa Barbara does a Google search for "Klamath" and dam and visits this site. Thanks for the visit, Sev! Kinda like watching a house burn down...after you start the fire, huh?

Mad Skillz of Governor Kulongoski

If there are 57 men out of work, and it used to be fifty, is that what the Oregon Employment Department means as "virtually unchanged"?

Odd what is generated from Ted Kulongoski's "You will be the instrument for my office to shape policy and advocate" world. Remember when the forestry guys pointed out that harvesting trees would help prevent landslides? Governor K ran out the Geology Guys and their powerpoint proved that the forestry guys were whack.

Now that the policies of Governor Ted, a Man With Vision, are being felt by the state of Oregon, his Employment hacks have uttered:

"It went up just one-tenth of one percent to 5.6 percent, viturally unchanged from the 5.5 percent figure in November."

"Oregon’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate has ranged between 5.0 and 5.7 percent over the last 25 months. The rate has risen somewhat since reaching a low of 5.0 percent the middle of the year, and now it’s up to 5.6 percent.” (Press Release, December Unemployment Rate: Audio News and Press Release, January 14, 2008.)

A really interesting thing is the choice of words for the release we received and the one posted on their website. There we're told the unemployment rate is "essentially unchanged". What they're not dealing with, however, is that in the last two years the unemployment rate in Oregon increased from 5 percent to 5.7 percent. Two years ago 50 men out of a thousand who wanted work couldn't find work. Today 57 men out of a thousand who want to work can't find work.

That, to me, is a trend. Not a virtual or essential "no difference". And for the thousands out of work, the Governor's lack of concern should be appalling. But it isn't. After all, "You will be the instrument for my office to shape policy and advocate."

It's all about a mad Governor. With sciency skillz. And a Vision.

"OregonGuy," You Say, "How Can You Believe This Stuff?"

An example of the kind of overcrowding that must be stopped or Oregon will be lost. Thank God for Governor Kulongoski.

In my post, "Can You Tell Which Way the Bus Is Moving? " I mention Professor Cathcart's work with the idea that the State, or any governmental organization, will take a study as flawed as this (pp 157-174, pdf), and turn it into a reason, or cause, to stop logging.

And that is ridiculous.

This came in this morning from the Lefty news service, "Oregon News Service" (Press Release, Jan. 13, "BLM’s Controversial “WOPR” – What Happens Next?):

"Joe Kirkvliet of The Wilderness Society sees at least one potential problem area – increased logging doesn’t fit the state’s greenhouse gas reduction mandate."

Yay. I figured it out before you did. Yay. I've got mail.

"This plan will actually put carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, to the tune of over 8 million tons of carbon. At today’s prices, this is over $80 million worth of carbon that would be removed from Oregon’s forests and put into the atmosphere." (mp3)

You don't believe the Left is arrogant? Here's the prescription for economic development, courtesy of the Wilderness Society:

"Kirkvliet believes Oregon’s rural areas would do better to keep their forests intact, and focus on diversifying their economies, attracting retirees and business owners who appreciate the great outdoors.'

You got it. Let's attract old guys and work cleaning up after them. I guess if you think about it, given the level of education most of our high school kids are receiving, changing sheets and bussing dishes will fit comfortably with this skill set.

This came in the morning mail from AAA:

"You may notice changes in your gas mileage when you fill up your tank with an ethanol blend. Some studies have shown that fuel economy may decrease slightly by one to four miles per gallon." (Marie Dodds, Press Release, AAA Oregon/Idaho, Jan. 14, 2008)(no link)

Don't worry. It's part of the Governor's energy plan. I live in a county the size of Rhode Island. There are around 33-thousand people in this county.

I'm glad the the Governor is making sure we don't have the kind of pollution Rhode Island does. By forcing me to buy more expensive, less efficient gasoline, we 35-thousand will be able to stave off the industrial age for another 5-6 years with this kind of help from the Governor. I was walking through the Industrial Ghetto just yesterday. The pressure 35-thousand people can put on a society is pretty intense. Clear evidence of gang violence. A public transportation system severly taxed and unable to meet the demands of this county's transportation needs. High teen pregnancy and drop out rates. Add to this the filth of this county's industrial base, and it's a quagmire.

We are forced to share land and space with our neighbors. Every square mile of this county is forced to be shared by almost 33 people. They've done studies on over-crowding on rats. We're moments away from the kind of crowding experienced in Rhode Island, which is forced to support 864 people per square mile. (Of course, Multnomah county carries 1416 people per square mile, and the "planners" are planning even higher population densities. They gotta pay for the light-rail, I guess.)

The governor is protecting us from ourselves. Oregon will be a public park for old guys and outdoorsmen. We will be green, regardless of the costs. Because, if we're not very, very careful, we might grow. And that would violate the State's greenhouse gas reduction mandate.

The New Face Of Fascism: It Cares About Feelings

What do you do when you have a viewpoint that hurts someone else's feelings?

If you're just saying it to be a jerk, I'd recommend that you hold it in. But if it's important to you, to your safety, your children's safety, for the safety of the community to you in, you have a responsibility to talk about it.

Not to dwell to long on this, but it's the reason I hate McCain-Feingold. Right before an election is the most important time to talk about the negatives surrounding a candidate for election...or more importantly, re-election.

What happens when speech hurts feelings? So far, in the U.S., this speech has been protected. Remember the Skokie marches? Horrible. But we have a right to say whatever we choose to when we are speaking politically. So far.

But the march towards thought control is advancing in the land up north. Remember the Zappa song, "It Can't Happen Here"? Of course, not!

But it is happening in Canada. You can view the video here.