A couple of quick local items: The heat has been turned up a
little on the proposed 193 lot subdivision called Deer Creek
Park II east of Nevada City. Opponents of the project, including
the city of Nevada City which hired a lawyer in an attempt to
stop the county from approving the project, failed to persuade
the county Board of Supervisors to roadblock the environmental
report. Final approval of the project still is pending, however,
and the opposition is picking up steam. There’s been a slow
boil in Nevada City for decades over the county allowing the
development of Cascade Shores and then Deer Creek Park, with the
most logical exit route running down Boulder Street into
downtown Nevada City. The opponents of Deer Creek Park II also
are complaining about the cutting of trees, but the real rub is
the vision of 193 new households driving down a narrow old
street and gridlocking the hub of Nevada City.
And there’s also news of a proposal before the county to
develop 76 home sites at the Indian Springs Winery near Penn
Valley. The winery has been owned for several years by a company
whose primary business is residential development, so it was
just a matter of time. The basic idea is to build big expensive
houses around the vineyards, McMansions for rich people on what
used to be agricultural land. One of the people making noise
against the Indian Springs proposal is former Grass Valley city
councilman Steve Enos who’s also one of the people opposing
the plan for the Hospitality House intake center to take up
residence in the Grass Valley neighborhood where he lives. He
seems to be taking issue with the rich people and the poor
people at the same time. Let’s hear it for the middle class.
* * *
Whatever you think of him, you have to admit that John Do
Little keeps his name in the news. His press hasn’t been
especially good, lately, but there’s no such thing as bad
publicity. We’re getting conflicting reports. Some of the
mainstream analysis lumps Doolittle with other Republican
Congress members around the country who are in tough reelection
fights because the Bush gang’s warmongering foreign policy
seems to have become unpopular. Actually, Doolittle’s flagrant
"shut up and give me the money" attitude should be
enough to put his east coast home on the market, but I tend to
concur with what Shawn Garvey said on KVMR earlier this week. In
the 4th Congressional District, anyone with an ® in
parentheses after his name could get elected from prison.
In the past couple of weeks, I’ve received three slick
paper, full color mailers from The National Republican
Congressional Committee, not authorized by any candidate,
directly and specifically attacking Charlie Brown, the Democrat
running against Doolittle. Two of them claimed Brown wants to
raise everyone’s taxes, and the other claimed Brown is
supporting terrorists. One of them even used familiar Charles
Shultz artwork to trade on Brown’s name.
Both of these charges seem to be the Republicans’ bread and
butter this election season. Any Democrat who dares to question
the military occupation of Iraq is branded a supporter of
terrorists, and any Democrat who wants to shift the tax load
more in the direction of the wealthy just wants to raise YOUR
taxes. Governor Arnold’s entire reelection campaign is based
on the slogan that Angelides wants to raise YOUR taxes. But the
war is what’s biting Republicans in the butt. Even though
almost all Democrats in elected office were painfully slow to
recognize it, most of the people are against the U.S. putting an
army in Iraq or anywhere else in the middle east. Even Dianne
Feinstein has shifted to a "timetable for withdrawal"
position. I expect Hillary Clinton will grab the caboose just
before that train leaves her behind.
* * *
I’ve been wanting to talk about voting with your wallet,
and Doolittle figures into this too. Sometimes, I make choices
about what I buy which might be considered political statements,
but I do business with a lot of people whose politics probably
wouldn’t please me. If they give me a good product for a fair
price, I’m good, but some businesses push the limit during
election season. I’m talking about a couple of gas stations in
the Glenbrook Basin that are displaying big pro-Doolittle signs.
That forces the issue. If you see me filling my tank in one of
those places, I’m endorsing Doolittle. The proprietor is
telling me, "If you’re not voting for Doolittle, I don’t
want your money." That’s fine with me. I don’t give my
money to people who don’t want it. If we’re casting a vote
every time we spend a buck, why do we need elections? We can
just let the people with the most money make all the decisions.
Do you think, maybe, that’s what we’re doing anyway?
* * *
According to the Associated Press, elementary schools in
Cheyenne, Wyoming, Spokane, Washington and a Boston suburb have
rules preventing children from playing tag, touch football, or
any other unsupervised chase game during recess for fear that
someone will get hurt and hold the school liable. Maybe the
world is run by the people who make the most money, but the
rules are made by lawyers and insurance companies.
* * *
Also from the AP, if you’re a Boy Scout in the Los Angeles
area, you can earn a merit badge by studying copyright law and
learning that it’s not nice to make recordings of movies and
music without paying for them. Get ‘em while they’re young,
if you can, but I think that technological horse already has
beat it through the open barn door.
* * *
Finally, despite his reputation for malaprops and
mispronunciations, the Bushwhacker has brought some linguistic
clarity to the American people. The guy who thinks he’s the
president clarified that "stay the course" means
"constantly shifting tactics," and "a study in
constant motion."
