George Rebane
California’s Siskiyou County is the latest jurisdiction in the land to voice its opposition to the growing de facto condition of regulation and taxation without representation. Their stated desire to secede from California is but another cri de coeur in the growing national chorus that laments growing statism. The success of such movements is unlikely, but the clarity of the delivered messages should not be dismissed.
As Charles Murray has pointed out in Coming Apart (reported here), it is an established part of human nature that people like to live with people who are more than less like themselves. One of the prime reasons of that is that living with people whose behaviors you can predict more or less reliably is both efficient and gives comfort. This strong tendency has given rise to distinct cultures, and contributed to the richness and diversity of our world. It is such a valuable part of human life that wars have been and continue to be fought over the preservation of cultures – in short, people with cultures worth preserving are often willing to sacrifice all in such preservation.
These ideas are foreign or invisible to those of the Left who see the salvation of Mankind in the homogenizing of the world’s cultural differences (witness the great social experiments in cultural homogenization in the USSR, China, Yugoslavia, …). In these pages I have yet to see a liberal reader who understands the Great Divide. They all seem to restrict their thinking to hip level reasoning as they start spouting the usual slogans about racism, etc.
Nobelist Daniel Kahneman (along with the late Amos Tversky) devoted their careers to the study of human rationality. Their findings demonstrated that humans are not reliably rational critters, that the ‘economic man’ was more of an academic fiction than a mathematically predictable agent. Kahneman and other behavioral economists “call people reasonable if it is possible to reason with them, if their beliefs are generally in tune with reality, and if their preferences are in line with their interests and their values.”
However being a rational person does not necessarily mean that he is reasonable. The test of rationality involves assessing “whether a person’s beliefs are internally consistent”, in short do they reliably conform to a system of logic. As Kahneman points out, “a rational person can believe in ghosts so long as all her other beliefs are consistent with the existence of ghosts”, in short “rationality is logical coherence – reasonable or not.”
This conforms to the ideas of utility and multiple logics which I have attempted to illustrate over the last years. In Thinking Fast and Slow, Kahneman describes numerous experiments and instances in which humans behave irrationally. In this development he appears to be a supporter of ‘libertarian paternalism’ of the brand that Cass Sunstein, co-author of Nudge, advocates. Libertarian paternalism is a means of delivering public policy “in which the state and other institutions are allowed to nudge people to make decisions that serve their own long-term interests.” (And it is, of course, some set of elites who determine our ‘long-term interests’.)
Perhaps nowhere have we seen such a massive demonstration of human irrationality as in the constituencies that voted for Barack Obama. Here we are talking about women, the young, blacks, Hispanics, etc, all of whom have suffered under the Obama years as their financial fortunes declined after measurable gains and progress over the preceding 25+ years. And given the evidence in their everyday lives and pocketbooks, they returned the man to office in 2012. Stephen Moore in ‘Obama’s Economy Hits His Voters Hardest’ in the 4sep13 WSJ goes into the relevant numbers.
It is all of a piece when we consider the Great Divide in the context of our polarized nation.
[update] Talk about reason and logic going beserk. Today we attended Congressman LaMalfa’s frogs and toads public hearing at Nevada County’s Rood Center. There are some yellow bellied, double suckered, single crested frogs or something similar that the US Fish & Wildlife Service tells us is threatened, and it needs a critical habitat and recovery area set aside for it that covers a good swath of the Sierra. The hearing’s purpose was to inform the public on the progress of this newest endangered species initiative, and allow people to ask questions. I’m sure that The Union and Yubanet will cover the details, so I won’t bother you with them here.
The public received assurances that the FWS isn’t going to do anything to restrict property rights or hurt the region’s economy. It doesn’t have the power to do that, so all such damage will be done by other agencies that will subsequently cite the FWS ruling that the multi-toed, yellow-beaked, one-eyed toads need such and such acres for the critters’ recovery, and that will then require another list of things that we can’t do on the affected public lands and private properties.
The supes chambers were filled with people mostly very agitated about the feds continuing to turn the screws on us. Public trust of the federal government doing anything productive in protecting species and the environment is pretty much gone. Much of the testimony included citations of the decades’ long mismanagement of the nation’s forests – which now contain fuel densities that create Dresden type firestorms (that some idiots conveniently blame on AGW) – and protection of species (look up the miserable history of the spotted owl).
That progressives are dangerous to your pocket book and health is also highlighted by the Pacific Legal Foundation which has called our attention to (seatbelts please) the feds intent to list polar bears as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. This is beyond cynical, and again exposes the overall Agenda21 underbelly of progressive public policy initiatives. The already protected polar bears are among the healthiest species in the world, now populating their ancestral habitats in numbers that are fivefold of what they were fifty years ago.
But the gratuitous listing of them as ‘threatened’ under the ESA will allow another tranche of land and water use regulations to kick in that will ratchet down more of the wilderness areas that are available for recreation and commercial use. The broad spectrum stack & pack initiatives are visible under every bureaucratic rock that you care to turn over. Meanwhile, the Left denies that any of this has been happening, but assures us that more of it needs to happen.
One of the more comedic moments at the Rood Center was when a member of the public held up maps that compared the contemplated frog and toad recovery habitats to the notorious A21 wildlands map that has been much debated for the last 20+ years. The FWS folks had never seen or heard of it. Again we saw Exhibit A that government is the employer of last resort.
California’s Siskiyou County is the latest jurisdiction in the land to voice its opposition to the growing de facto condition of regulation and taxation without representation. Their stated desire to secede from California is but another cri de coeur in the growing national chorus that laments growing statism. The success of such movements is unlikely, but the clarity of the delivered messages should not be dismissed.
As Charles Murray has pointed out in Coming Apart (reported here), it is an established part of human nature that people like to live with people who are more than less like themselves. One of the prime reasons of that is that living with people whose behaviors you can predict more or less reliably is both efficient and gives comfort. This strong tendency has given rise to distinct cultures, and contributed to the richness and diversity of our world. It is such a valuable part of human life that wars have been and continue to be fought over the preservation of cultures – in short, people with cultures worth preserving are often willing to sacrifice all in such preservation.
These ideas are foreign or invisible to those of the Left who see the salvation of Mankind in the homogenizing of the world’s cultural differences (witness the great social experiments in cultural homogenization in the USSR, China, Yugoslavia, …). In these pages I have yet to see a liberal reader who understands the Great Divide. They all seem to restrict their thinking to hip level reasoning as they start spouting the usual slogans about racism, etc.
Nobelist Daniel Kahneman (along with the late Amos Tversky) devoted their careers to the study of human rationality. Their findings demonstrated that humans are not reliably rational critters, that the ‘economic man’ was more of an academic fiction than a mathematically predictable agent. Kahneman and other behavioral economists “call people reasonable if it is possible to reason with them, if their beliefs are generally in tune with reality, and if their preferences are in line with their interests and their values.”
However being a rational person does not necessarily mean that he is reasonable. The test of rationality involves assessing “whether a person’s beliefs are internally consistent”, in short do they reliably conform to a system of logic. As Kahneman points out, “a rational person can believe in ghosts so long as all her other beliefs are consistent with the existence of ghosts”, in short “rationality is logical coherence – reasonable or not.”
This conforms to the ideas of utility and multiple logics which I have attempted to illustrate over the last years. In Thinking Fast and Slow, Kahneman describes numerous experiments and instances in which humans behave irrationally. In this development he appears to be a supporter of ‘libertarian paternalism’ of the brand that Cass Sunstein, co-author of Nudge, advocates. Libertarian paternalism is a means of delivering public policy “in which the state and other institutions are allowed to nudge people to make decisions that serve their own long-term interests.” (And it is, of course, some set of elites who determine our ‘long-term interests’.)
Perhaps nowhere have we seen such a massive demonstration of human irrationality as in the constituencies that voted for Barack Obama. Here we are talking about women, the young, blacks, Hispanics, etc, all of whom have suffered under the Obama years as their financial fortunes declined after measurable gains and progress over the preceding 25+ years. And given the evidence in their everyday lives and pocketbooks, they returned the man to office in 2012. Stephen Moore in ‘Obama’s Economy Hits His Voters Hardest’ in the 4sep13 WSJ goes into the relevant numbers.
It is all of a piece when we consider the Great Divide in the context of our polarized nation.
[update] Talk about reason and logic going beserk. Today we attended Congressman LaMalfa’s frogs and toads public hearing at Nevada County’s Rood Center. There are some yellow bellied, double suckered, single crested frogs or something similar that the US Fish & Wildlife Service tells us is threatened, and it needs a critical habitat and recovery area set aside for it that covers a good swath of the Sierra. The hearing’s purpose was to inform the public on the progress of this newest endangered species initiative, and allow people to ask questions. I’m sure that The Union and Yubanet will cover the details, so I won’t bother you with them here.
The public received assurances that the FWS isn’t going to do anything to restrict property rights or hurt the region’s economy. It doesn’t have the power to do that, so all such damage will be done by other agencies that will subsequently cite the FWS ruling that the multi-toed, yellow-beaked, one-eyed toads need such and such acres for the critters’ recovery, and that will then require another list of things that we can’t do on the affected public lands and private properties.
The supes chambers were filled with people mostly very agitated about the feds continuing to turn the screws on us. Public trust of the federal government doing anything productive in protecting species and the environment is pretty much gone. Much of the testimony included citations of the decades’ long mismanagement of the nation’s forests – which now contain fuel densities that create Dresden type firestorms (that some idiots conveniently blame on AGW) – and protection of species (look up the miserable history of the spotted owl).
That progressives are dangerous to your pocket book and health is also highlighted by the Pacific Legal Foundation which has called our attention to (seatbelts please) the feds intent to list polar bears as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. This is beyond cynical, and again exposes the overall Agenda21 underbelly of progressive public policy initiatives. The already protected polar bears are among the healthiest species in the world, now populating their ancestral habitats in numbers that are fivefold of what they were fifty years ago.
But the gratuitous listing of them as ‘threatened’ under the ESA will allow another tranche of land and water use regulations to kick in that will ratchet down more of the wilderness areas that are available for recreation and commercial use. The broad spectrum stack & pack initiatives are visible under every bureaucratic rock that you care to turn over. Meanwhile, the Left denies that any of this has been happening, but assures us that more of it needs to happen.
One of the more comedic moments at the Rood Center was when a member of the public held up maps that compared the contemplated frog and toad recovery habitats to the notorious A21 wildlands map that has been much debated for the last 20+ years. The FWS folks had never seen or heard of it. Again we saw Exhibit A that government is the employer of last resort.
Oh good, the cookies stayed true. How do you separate out the Economy belonging to Obama, from the one created by rampant capitalism? http://www.clarkhoward.com/news/clark-howard/shopping-retail/retailers-take-spying-new-level/nZhT5/
Posted by: Douglas Keachie | 04 September 2013 at 10:57 AM
How do you separate out the Economy belonging to Obama, from the one created by rampant capitalism?
You should drink more....it might help excuse the poor quality of your reasoning?
Posted by: fish | 04 September 2013 at 11:15 AM
I'm sorry Doug....the messiah is trying to be prudent with the nations finances.
Asked by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) about how much those countries would contribute, Kerry said they (The haus of Saud) have offered to pay for all of a full invasion.
It would seem that the Obama administration has put our otherwise non-revenue generating armed forces on the path to profitability.
Welcome to TEAM Mercenary Doug.
Posted by: fish | 04 September 2013 at 11:20 AM
First of all I did not vote for Obama but the idea here that Romney, whom I assume you are presenting as the one who should have been elected instead of Obama and the one who smart people should have voted for is beneath the standards usually presented by our host. Romney the rational voters choice!!!! Really
Posted by: Paul Emery | 04 September 2013 at 01:48 PM
Paul...and I say this as someone who is truly concerned about you both politically and as a human being......it is possible to criticize an individual without endorsing another individual.
Posted by: fish | 04 September 2013 at 02:06 PM
PaulE 148pm - no Paul, Moore's point is that ALL the programs that Obama has started tremendously impeded (and continue to impede) the country's recovery from the recession. And everything that he has promised to pursue in his second term will do more of the same. And it damages his cognitively impaired constituents the most.
But since you bring up Romney, yes I was willing to bet the ranch that Romney would have repeated the Reagan recovery which had to take off from 10 years of malaise, stagflation, and finally recession. The secret was then and is now to get government out of our wallets and way (Keynesians notwithstanding).
Posted by: George Rebane | 04 September 2013 at 02:09 PM
Nudge? More like a nudge from the judge. The ole Websters defines suggestion as a subtle command.
While the libs are getting their panties all in a bunch over Dr. Rebane promoting separate and unequal and casting the usual stones with smug contempt, all I can say is "Have you ever ever ever heard of black neighborhoods, rich neighborhoods, poor neighborhoods, suburban neighborhoods, Korean , Thai, Chinese or Filipino neighborhoods"??? Russian neighborhoods in Sac. Birds of a feather flock together.
The old saying "If you get tried of getting sand kicked in your face, change your sand box." Dr. Rebane would call that mobility, something that is mysteriously too rational for the Ivy Tower crowd to grasp.
All them super intelligent folks who rule over us become quite unreasonable when their premises are challenged. Including academia. Beyond snaky. Snarky is just a side dish as they go after revenge for the perceived slights. They take being questioned as being dissed, a cardinal sin. "Not a slight, just a reasonable, rational and fair question, professor."
The good rational folks who voted for the reelection of Barrack Hussein Obama are beginning to look like the finish line of a potato sack race.
Posted by: Bill Tozer | 04 September 2013 at 04:52 PM
I call your attention to today's update to this post.
Posted by: George Rebane | 04 September 2013 at 09:47 PM
Doug at 10:57 - how does some store tracking my eye movements cause high unemployment for blacks? As for your nightmarish 'capitalism' scenario - why not just shop elsewhere? Don't take your phone inside the store or just turn it off? Or wear shades? Or in your case Doug - a full tin foil suit.
George - thanks for bringing that term to my attention. "libertarian paternalism"
Googled it and found the nonsense written by C Sunstein. I loved the part about preserving 'freedom of choice'. Glad I wasn't drinking hot cocoa when I saw that.
Plays havoc with the sinuses. You must do an entire post on that topic.
Posted by: Account Deleted | 04 September 2013 at 10:54 PM
Well Dr. Rebane, guess we won't be seeing you on Breaking Bread in the immediate near future. Seems the former County Superintendent of Public Schools stuck our National Treasure local TV studio in an unsafe building after he took over, took credit, and before he left town.
Building codes are for our own safety. All that state of the art high tech video equipment and all that money dumped into fixing up the Amoury just to have it declared unsafe at any speed. Its a crying shame. Well, the one crying bloody murder the loudest is a producer who makes his livelihood off this non profit. More than just a labor of love. A producer's income. Saw this coming for a few years now. Once the volunteers got burned out and folks started talking about paid staff, well, that was the end. Like a worm farm, one paid director eats up all the operating revenue. Good way to fall behind in rent. Plus workman's comp and payroll taxes, and insurance, oh my. Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my.
Hey, isn't workman's comp a sexist term?? How about workingperson's comp? Whatever. Think I need to bring up this horrid sexism to my local government worker. There ought to be regulation against the antiquated term. Yep, it will behoove me to bring this up to my nearest public servant.
I for one will sleep peacefully tonight knowing that the inmates have taken over the asylum. I will count cute furry polar bear cubs and delta smelt and one eyed cockring horned toed lounge lizards until I drift into sweet dreamland. Wake me up when its over.
Posted by: Bill Tozer | 04 September 2013 at 11:01 PM
I should drink like a fish during the high holidays? The loss of the Imaginarium was a bigger loss, same building, which will not survive all the earthquakes we have here. The video folks will find a new home, and be done with the non video producing admins, who ran it into the ground.
Posted by: Douglas Keachie | 05 September 2013 at 12:12 AM
I have been trying not to comment here because at your core you are full of sh*# (and intentional misinformation), however I could not pass up this opportunity to de-bunk the "Agenda 21 Wildlands Map", linked above and regular used by whacks like you to represent what the government wants. The map was never created by The Wildlands Project, was never created by the UN, was never created by any agency of the US government, was never adopted by any federal agency in any way.
The more people trot this bullshit piece of propaganda around the crazier they look...so kudos to you for bringing it up again for
The "Map" was created by right wing activist Dr. Michael Coffman and was constructed from his interpretation of core, buffer, and corridor area parameters from the Wildlands Project.
Here is Michael Coffman's biography from his major current associations, Environmental Perspectives, Inc. and Discerning Times.
http://www.epi-us.com/about.htm
And his bio from the
http://www.discerningtoday.org/dr__michael_coffman.htm
I added a You Tube video for those of you who like to see Goebbels live!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG1mWX9p8Bs
Posted by: stevenfrisch | 05 September 2013 at 06:16 AM
Sorry for the slight garbling in the above post. Ipad touchscreen problems.
Final thought: I find it telling that the "Widlands" map, which shows up in almost every millennialist, separatist, Agenda 21, anti-government, Doomsday prophesizing, sky is falling, "America is going down", "Constitutionalist" blog post in the country, and is a proven fake, would be presented here under the headline "Reason and Rationality".
Posted by: Steve Frisch | 05 September 2013 at 07:57 AM
stevenfrisch 616am - Thanks for the links and your always invigorating comments.
The provenance of the so-called A21 Wildlands Map was never ascribed to the agencies you have listed. The drawing of such a map by the proponents of A21 objectives would be a dead giveaway of the horrific future that A21 and other such 'biodiversity preservation' initiatives prescribe for us. The details of such objectives are better left hidden in pages of dense text.
The now famous map is the product of a studied compilation from the mandates of "the Convention on Biological Diversity, The Wildlands Project, UN and US Man and Bioshpere Program and NAFTA Border 21" as clearly stated on each copy of the map.
The points to note regarding this map, in addition to the protesting howls of government über alles acolytes like you, is that no one has come forward to dispute the map's correctness in representing its claimed graphical interpretation of the written words, and presented an alternative version that they would like to enter into the record with the imprimatur of ANY of the agencies/organizations listed. None of these people want to blow their cover as they continue their sub rosa prescriptions for our 'smart growth' future aka 'stack & pack'.
And comparing Coffman to Göbbels doesn't speak well of your knowledge of the Nazi propaganda minister.
Posted by: George Rebane | 05 September 2013 at 08:12 AM
Bullshit George, pure bullshit on your part. First, this map has been published and referred to for years by anti-Agenda 21 conspiracy theorists like yourself as the A21 wild lands map, inferring that it had some meaning or sanction by 'proponents' of A 21. Second, you have linked to it several times without informing your readers that it was created by Coffman. Third, it is almost always labeled as coming from The Wildlands Project, and this map did not come from The Wildlands Project, they are clearly on record saying the map is bullshit. Fourth, individuals working on an idea can publish any kind of mp they damn well please, perhaps you could take a crack at a map of libertarian unicorn habitat, it does not mean the map means a damn thing. This map is one persons fanciful interpretation of a bunch of unrelated documents. Finally, I'm not comparing Coffman to Goebbels, I'm comparing you to Goebbels, because you are clearly smart enough and personally familiar enough with propaganda to know this is bullshit, yet you reprint it for your feeble minded followers.
Posted by: Steve Frisch | 05 September 2013 at 08:42 AM
Finally, I'm not comparing Coffman to Goebbels, I'm comparing you to Goebbels, because you are clearly smart enough and personally familiar enough with propaganda to know this is bullshit, yet you reprint it for your feeble minded followers.
Wow....see there is something that will rouse Steve from his torpid slumber!
Posted by: fish | 05 September 2013 at 09:30 AM
Wow! While the Frisch was failing inb his Passages, I and CABPRO were getting well educated on the Wildlands Project back in the early to mid 90's. Mr. Frisch doesn't know what he is talking about (not unusual though). But, he and the SBC have a vested interest in the WP since the "trusts" are part of his "business". So I would suggest his veracity is in question with his definite conflicts of interest. His torrid name calling and denials that the WP maps are a crock is proof to all that he is the true Goebbels since his position is the one of propaganda. What a hoot!
Posted by: Todd Juvinall | 05 September 2013 at 09:40 AM
Speaking of veracity Ron Paul was on MSNBC this morning and referred that the war in Iraq was fueled by lies from the Bush administration (WMD's) to get us into war. He applauded Julian Assange for spreading the truth about the war.
Posted by: Paul Emery | 05 September 2013 at 09:48 AM
Posted by: Todd Juvinall | 05 September 2013 at 09:40 AM
Isn't it just like Todd to miss the point...the map itself is a fraud. It was never published by The Wildlands Project, it was published by someone saying this was what the Wildlands Project would do. It is a straw man. Classic propaganda ploy. So if you responded to this map in the 1990's Todd you were responding to a fraud. But I have no doubt that you believe it, so my point is really made, gullible moron in the 1990's, still a gullible moron today.
I just hate it when you guys think people are too stupid to know when you are lying, lying, lying.
Posted by: stevenfrisch | 05 September 2013 at 10:54 AM
Speaking of veracity Ron Paul was on MSNBC this morning and referred that the war in Iraq was fueled by lies from the Bush administration (WMD's) to get us into war. He applauded Julian Assange for spreading the truth about the war.
Good on him! He would have been my candidate had not the eastern republican establishment blessed the Romniac 5000 presidential unit.
Posted by: fish | 05 September 2013 at 11:40 AM
On a lighter note, our fine committee has ben tarred and feathered once again
in the national media for another "feel good" endeavor.
The great chicken airlift. At a cost of 50 grand. Instead of feeding the "hungry", and using those funds for "human suffrage" the usual side
demands us to "support",, it's goes to refugees of KFC.
Yes,, this has made it into the national media pages.
Thank You local PETA,, you have managed once again to make our fine county
the laughing stock of the nation.
I'm sure the wildlife back East will love the taste of imported Ca. chicken.
Free range,, means "free lunch".
Posted by: Walt | 05 September 2013 at 11:47 AM
Fish
I voted for Gary Johnson but would have supported Ron Paul had he been an independent. As you recall he was doing well in the polls till he spoke on foreign policy and Iran then he was dumped like dead flowers by the Pubbers. The Pubs and Dems will join hands and bomb Syria for sure.
R.
I have vast differences with Paul on many issues but he would have been a step in the right direction especially on Foreign Policy and the War on Drugs and States Rights.
Again George Romney???? Say it isn't so.
Posted by: Paul Emery | 05 September 2013 at 12:41 PM
Re the ‘A21 wildlands map’. On RR the map was presented and referred to by its commonly known label. The map as displayed makes it clear by chapter and verse as to where the data for its various boundaries were derived, and that Environmental Projections Inc is its publisher. There has been no effort made to hide any of this. However, the efforts to hide the graphically explicit implications of the map, as it connects to the seminal restrictions presented in ‘Agenda 21’, these are truly intended to be hidden by the proponents of limiting human occupation and use of the clearly indicated lands. My 812am comments stand on why this is so.
(BTW, as the ongoing and detailed revelations of Obamacare hit sunlight, in reams of foggy text we see a continuation of how the Left obfuscates its socialist advances to the max; this time to the consternation of many of the members of Obama’s own ideological choir who now find their tits in a wringer.)
Regarding the bizarre bit of wordsmithing about Göbbels from SteveF’s 616am – “I added a You Tube video for those of you who like to see Goebbels live!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG1mWX9p8Bs” – which, of course, is a video of Dr Michael Coffman. Then in characteristic progressive doubletalk, in his 842pm the man unblinkingly claims, “Finally, I'm not comparing Coffman to Goebbels, I'm comparing you to Goebbels, because you are clearly smart enough and personally familiar enough with propaganda to know this is bullshit, yet you reprint it for your feeble minded followers.”
I’m not aware of any RR readers so “feeble minded” as to swallow this revealing coda to the already twisted logic that preceded it – well, perhaps, save one.
Posted by: George Rebane | 05 September 2013 at 01:02 PM
Paul
Preferred Paul to Johnson...would have taken either over what was offered in the general election.
Posted by: fish | 05 September 2013 at 01:03 PM
Since we're on the topic of false propaganda perhaps it's appropriate to link Bush with Goebbels.
Posted by: Paul Emery | 05 September 2013 at 01:33 PM
The Frisch totally misreads his own intent on the use of Goebbels. Apparently so does PaulE. We on the right are the antithesis to those Goebbels-like folks. We are trying to preserve freedom and stop left-wing policies where the left-wingers like the Frisch and the E's are trying to implement the policies. Goebbels was foisting National Socialism on the German people and that truly matches what the Frisch is doing. Also, the Frisch is protecting his livliehood, grants and non-prfit staus income by being part of the massive left-wing entity of eco extremists. So from my view, the only uneducated person commenting here is the Frisch. The man who campaigned vociferously against 32 and claimed he was just a "citizen". Sorry but no one believes anything you say Steve Frisch. We have lived your attempts to throttle America and we know you can't speak the truth.
Posted by: Todd Juvinall | 05 September 2013 at 02:02 PM
PaulE 133pm - given ToddJ's 202pm, in what way would you fashion that "link" Paul?
(BTW, no doubt ToddJ meant to say "... campaigned vociferously for AB32 ...")
Posted by: George Rebane | 05 September 2013 at 02:21 PM
It's all about propaganda based on lies.
Posted by: Paul Emery | 05 September 2013 at 02:53 PM
No George, what Todd meant to say was "campaigned vociferously against Proposition 23". And as a citizen who has a right to free association and free speech I did that as a 'citizen'. I hold no other office. Being associated with an organization is still legal protected activity under the Constitution that I revere.
Todd, I am the 'real American', and you are nothing but an aberrant outlier in the American political system.
Posted by: stevenfrisch | 05 September 2013 at 02:53 PM
Take it easy on Todd Stephen. He can't help it. Probably the result of playing in Sierra streams as a kid that were contaminated with Mercury, something that you and other environmentalists are doing their best to raise awareness about.
Posted by: Paul Emery | 05 September 2013 at 04:12 PM
I have added a few thoughts and some data on the Yellow Leg Frog Meeting at my new blog Sierra Foothills Commentary Link: http://wp.me/p3RtiD-e
Posted by: Russ Steele | 05 September 2013 at 04:37 PM
Frisch, you know nothing about the WP except for your Wiki cut and paste. Try harder. You really are a nothing in the political circles though so I do understand your frustration at being miniscule. Too funny. Oh, and anyone using the word "outlier" is a lib pinhead. No rational person uses those PC words. I think that high mountain air (lack) is affecting your brain.
PaulE, never ate the fish and my recent tests show no mercury in my body. I would say though if someone was putting a foreign substance in their body it is probably you. LOL!
Posted by: Todd Juvinall | 05 September 2013 at 05:30 PM
Todd
Good move Todd not to eat the fish. You must have been reading up on Mercury problems thanks to the awareness provided by environmental groups. It's likely lead poisoning then. Symptoms include difficulty learning or concentrating, aggressive behavior...
Posted by: Paul Emery | 05 September 2013 at 06:42 PM
Yeah Todd, how dare I use a common word. I really can't help it if you are a friggin' moron.
Posted by: stevenfrisch | 05 September 2013 at 07:04 PM
PaulE, actually I don't care for fish. Apparently you are unaware of the study showing no mercury in the fish produced by the state.
SteveF, I am surprised you refuse to acknowledge my superor intelligence over someone lacking any uch as you. You are really not thought of well by anyone here or in your area. What did you do to PO so many people?
Posted by: Todd Juvinall | 05 September 2013 at 07:34 PM
Looks like something hit too close to home for one poster. Won't be the first toad licker that has blown a gasket here. Shame on Dr. Rebane for being a Nazi. Oh, boyz will be boyz. Hope to read more entertainment before the dust settles. Come on, feed me Seymour.
Government as the employer of last resort? Now, that warms the cockles of me weary heart.
Posted by: Bill Tozer | 05 September 2013 at 09:47 PM
I'm not aware of that study Todd. (no mercury in California fish) Can you share a link with me to further my education?
Posted by: Paul Emery | 06 September 2013 at 01:21 AM
Todd
Here's mine. Show me yours.
http://oehha.ca.gov/public_info/facts/fishfacts.html
Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey indicated that some species of fish in these watersheds contain high levels of mercury and could pose harm to people who eat them frequently. The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has evaluated the health effects of eating these fish and developed a draft report and health advisory with proposed guidelines for limiting the consumption of fish from certain lakes, rivers, and creeks in this region.
"The draft report and advisory propose guidelines for eating bass, channel catfish, and other types of fish from Camp Far West Reservoir, Lake Combie, Lake Englebright, Rollins Reservoir, Scotts Flat Reservoir and portions of Bear River, South Yuba River, and Deer Creek. One set of guidelines applies to females of childbearing age and children age 17 and younger, who are particularly sensitive to methylmercury (the most prevalent form of mercury in fish). A second set applies to adult males and females beyond their child bearing years."
Posted by: Paul Emery | 06 September 2013 at 01:28 AM
PaulE, it was in the FERC EIS for the Yuba-Bear. YYou can go read it.
Posted by: Todd Juvinall | 06 September 2013 at 07:26 AM
OK, vow I recall. Here is the link from the study done by the State Water Board. There is little problem outside of the Delta where the study found higher levels. So, mea culpa.
http://westernminingalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Fact-Sheet-Summary-Contaminants-in-Sport-Fish-20111.pdf
Posted by: Todd Juvinall | 06 September 2013 at 08:30 AM
Posted by: Todd Juvinall | 06 September 2013 at 08:30 AM
Yeah, I guess that mercury is naturally occurring and bubbling up from the ground in the Delta like the water does...not coming from a legacy of using mercury for mining or mercury deposition from burning fossil fuels...what is it about ecosystems that conservatives just don't understand?
I can't wait until we have to start dredging the sediments from behind dams to recover their original storage capacity as reservoirs fill with silt from a legacy of badly managed timber practices as well. I guess then the mercury we find will be form mars.
Posted by: stevenfrisch | 06 September 2013 at 12:39 PM
The mercury was mined in Los Gatos and that mine produced the greatest dollar total of any mine in California history. It became the source for the mercury used in gold extraction in the state. No one talks about the mercury recovered by the dredgers SteveF. Why is that? Many pounds were recovered and then the State came in and started making the miners liable for the disposal of the mercury which led to them saying forget it. Try to do a good thing and get punished.
It shows us all here that you don't know diddly about the issue so maybe you should stick to restaurants and rent seeking. Mercury is in the sediments behid a few dams but the only ones who want to disturb them are you and your buddies who want to tear down the dams. So, please, stay out of these conversations of which you are ignorant. Thanks.
Posted by: Todd Juvinall | 06 September 2013 at 05:20 PM
Todd
Thanks for verifying that Mercury polution exists. It's even recognized by the lobby group you link to
at 08:30 AM
By the way, would you recommend to anyone that they eat the fish they might catch in Deer Creek?
Posted by: Paul Emery | 06 September 2013 at 05:44 PM
If you like to swim in sewage from Deer Creek then you will like the fish.
Posted by: Todd Juvinall | 06 September 2013 at 07:27 PM
What do you propose we do about the sewage in Deer Creek Todd?
Posted by: Paul Emery | 06 September 2013 at 11:56 PM
Todds solution is simple Paul, build more un-permitted housing on septic systems by eliminating code enforcement, attack non-profits trying to clean it up, defund and insult government agencies monitoring health impacts, allow the shit to flow downstream, and sow fear and dissention to leverage political power that will allow it all to happen again, and let the free market take care of it since they have done such a great job screwing it up in first place!
Posted by: stevenfrisch | 07 September 2013 at 02:41 AM
PaulE, the City of Nevada City has their sewage treatment plant on Deer Creek and they dunp their citizen's pooh water in it. I would suggest we triple the monthly bills to their citizen's and sell the sludge to Frisch. He would pay top dollar for it I am sure. Since he is so full of it. LOL!
I actually attended a ribbon cutting 25 years ago at the plant. They were getting some loans or grants to upgarde the facility. But the plant still sends a Frisch down the creek all the time.
Posted by: Todd Juvinall | 07 September 2013 at 07:19 AM
PaulE 1156pm - I'm not familiar with any pollution issue connected to Nevada City's sewage plant on Deer Creek. But it seems that if there were a problem, wouldn't Lake Wildwood's residents be up in arms about it since that is their prime recreational and property value asset. Could you review some history on this issue for us?
Posted by: George Rebane | 07 September 2013 at 08:02 AM
Well kids, I'm back from the desert. And I see that the same monkeys are still flinging excrement from their cages at the reluctant zoo patrons. Ick.
Todd, you'll be happy to know that your art project was a big hit. Thousands enjoyed the "TSA Todd Hustle," an interactive piece where art lovers blew into a tube to expand and contract the faux love package of a certain former Nevada County stuporvisor. Unfortunately, halfway through the event the package blew a gasket; in the final days all that remained was a deflated vinyl gasbag, covered in playa dust.
Re. the alleged Wildlands Project map, we've all known for a long time that it is total bullshoy. Met some very nice BLM rangers out on the big dusty, and we traded some fun stories about propaganda acolytes who just make a lot of noise while the rest of us are doing the hard work of figuring out how to manage our natural resources.
Posted by: Michael Anderson | 07 September 2013 at 10:33 AM
MichaelA 1033am - Welcome back. I see that you are still orating from Olympus. But from a careful perusal of your comment I can't quite make out whether you are once more wearing your monkey suit under the courtly robe.
Posted by: George Rebane | 07 September 2013 at 10:43 AM
Well hey, if the figurine was an accurate depiction of me it would be inflated the whole time and without assistance from any objects.
It is truly hilarious to me that MichaelA does his best best imitation of an intelligent person but can't get his mind off of my privates. Too funny. Jealous it appears.
Regarding the Wildlands Maps. MichaelA is totally ignorant and his gleaming of information to spread here is from a casual discussion with BLM cops is too funny. I always knew he didn't know anything and he just proved it again.
Regarding "monkey suits", I would say regarding the pictures from Burning Man on the internet that MichaelA is in those suits. Burning Man is a gathering of perverts and exhibitionists and anyone attending that cannot be taken seriously. I'll check Megan's list to get educated.
Posted by: Todd Juvinall | 07 September 2013 at 10:55 AM
Todd you give new meaning to the phrase "shit for brains".
Posted by: stevenfrisch | 07 September 2013 at 10:03 PM
So Todd throws his brains from inside the monkey cage?
Fascinating!
Todd, your art project was deflated vinyl at the end. Covered in dust. Like Dodge City: no electricity, water, or sewer services. Just a mangy bedroll, a coupla expired tokens from Hair of the Dog, and NoCall/NoShow notices at Thunderdome.
Todd, you could have been a contender. Now...all for naught.
Maybe this will help: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/09/photos-of-burning-man-2013/100584/
Posted by: Michael Anderson | 07 September 2013 at 11:27 PM
Todd, your "privates" are the secret ingredient of my comedy soup. Delicious!
Let's talk about this: http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/I-thought-Burning-Man-would-be-more-interesting-New-Yorker-Cartoon-Prints_i9082871_.htm
Posted by: Michael Anderson | 07 September 2013 at 11:41 PM
SteveF and MichaelA, you two girls are too funny. What a hoot!
Posted by: Todd Juvinall | 08 September 2013 at 07:17 AM
Here is a little breakfast reading for Todd Juvinall who says there is ," no mercury in the fish produced by the state."
http://www.auburnjournal.com/article/placer-county-which-fish-are-safe-eat
Posted by: stevenfrisch | 08 September 2013 at 07:38 AM
SteveF, you missed my correction apparently.
Posted by: Todd Juvinall | 08 September 2013 at 07:56 AM
Here is the link once again on the State's Water Board 's findings on Mercury. Please SteveF, read it and ten tall us all what it means oh smarter than the average bear. What a hoot.
http://westernminingalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Fact-Sheet-Summary-Contaminants-in-Sport-Fish-20111.pdf
Posted by: Todd Juvinall | 08 September 2013 at 07:59 AM
Gentlemen - now that everyone has had a chance to show their mettle, let's have mercy on the other readers and cease fire on the mud balls.
Posted by: George Rebane | 08 September 2013 at 08:12 AM
I'm sorry Todd, I did not miss it, I merely wanted to point to your propensity to make declarative statements then back off on them when you are proven wrong....time and time again.
I think Gregory had it right many months ago when he pointed out that your lack on intellectual clarity is usually more damaging than helpful to your causes.
I have read both the State Water Resources Control Board report on mercury in fish and the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. You see I actually read most of this stuff because it is my business to do so, instead of pontificating from a purely ideological position.
Oh and by that way, the link you provided above is not to the report, it is to a fact sheet, in short...the Cliff Notes. The OEHHA study is much more detailed and locally relevant.
Posted by: stevenfrisch | 08 September 2013 at 08:14 AM
George you are correct. We see the responses from the Frisch are full of ad hominems and curse words as your readers can make their judgements on him. I for one get a kick out of his childishness here. I am told by many people that I am of a superior intelligence to him and his ilk but in my humbleness I must be careful. The USA is in deep trouble because the Frisch ilk are in charge of the bureaucracy down to dog catcher and we can all see what a terrible job his and their policies have done to our once great country. Then he and the MA's come to these places and prove to the readers their shortcomings.
My link is a official summary of the mercury issue and still the Frisch debates as if he knows more than the Water Board. These findings prove the dredgers were not a problem but people like the Frisch could care less that 40,000 miners and all the ancillary people in stores and sporting goods are out of work. That alone shows his insincerity to the real issue of jobs and proves that rent seekers such as the Frisch cannot be believed.
Rent seekers like the Frisch and the MA's are why we will prevail in the battle of ideas and we don't get paid for it. They are simply bureaucrats while we are free thinkers.
Posted by: Todd Juvinall | 08 September 2013 at 08:26 AM
Hey very interesting blog!
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