MaxRedline

Another Blow By The Big O

The Portland Oregonian has a long and storied history of growing vegetables, rather than actually informing folks.  One of their latest exposes has to do with underground Portland, which they publish as "Shanghaiing History".  Just one little set of problems.  The tunnels under Portland, like those in Chicago and elsewhere, were designed to transfer freight from ships expeditiously.  They weren't built as a way to transport unconscious men onto ships to be used as slave labor.

After the tunnels in Portland fell into disfavor as a means of transport of freight, they were employed by the then-disfavored Chinese.  They were a way to get from one place to another without encountering unpleasantries at street level.  And of course, subsections became used for gambling, opium, and other vices.

If you look at The Oregonian "expose", you'll note that there are, in one shot series, numerous chairs.  Why would chairs be set up in a tunnel system dedicated to snagging drunks and forcing them onto ships?  Perhaps the Shanghaiing folks forced them all to play a game of "Hearts" along the way.

Or perhaps The Oregonian has predictably got the story wrong.

Too Much Immigration

Even prominent lefties in Britain have come to understand that their "hundreds of thousands" of immigrants produce a net drain on their economy.  Now, that's news!  We have somewhere between 12 and 20 million illegals, but that's not supposed to affect our economy?  That argument just doesn't stand up, and the study commissioned by Channel 4 illustrates the fallacy.  More than one crime in five in London is now committed by a foreign national, raising fresh fears over the impact of immigration.  Of course, that's not so bad - 650,000 or so immigrants are committing only 1/5 of the crime.  But compare the numbers to the population statistics, and a different view emerges.  Mind, these crimes are committed by foreign nationals, not naturalized citizens.

And as for the economic impact:

The Channel 4 report indicates that fewer than half of Britain's 650,000 Somalis, Bangladeshis, Turks and Pakistanis, have jobs and the four communities have the highest levels of benefit dependency.

It's worth noting that the problems facing the Brits are in no way dissimilar to those facing the USA - we simply have many millions of illegal aliens from developing countries, whereas they have only hundreds of thousands.

Washroom Wobblies

It appears that Larry Craig isn't alone.

Holly Martins

In weird Northwestern issues, the name "Holly Martins" keeps cropping up in some of the popular blogs.  She comments frequently, and bizzarrely.  It appears, however, that she's a he:  "Holly Martins is Peter Heimlich," - the son of the guy who developed the Heimlich maneuver that has been credited with saving the lives of choking victims.

An attorney retained by Henry Heimlich's institute said he tracked Peter Heimlich's home to Oregon.

Oregon.  We Love Nutballs.

hat-tip to Ted Kennedy's Liver.

Mutiny In Rangoon?

Reports indicate that soldiers in Rangoon have refused to fire upon crowds, and in fact may be turning their arms upon those who do.  Oviously, reports from the area are sketchy at best, as telephone lines have been cut and internet connectivity has been terminated by the Burmese junta.  Mobile telecom services have likewise been disrupted, but some reports continue to leak out.

The organisation Helfen ohne Grenzen (Help without Frontiers) is reporting that "Soldiers from the 66th LID (Light Infantry Divison) have turned their weapons against other government troops and possibly police in North Okkalappa township in Rangoon and are defending the protesters. At present unsure how many soldiers involved."

Light Rail: Reducing Carbon Emissions? Nope.

Although Sam the Tram and Earl the Pearl and their pals often deploy the mantra that in order to reduce CO2 emissions, we need more light rail and less roads, their efforts in this regard are actually counterproductive.  By deliberately increasing congestion, they actually increase emissions, because cars, trucks, and big-rigs idling in gridlock produce more emissions than they do when rolling at normal highway speeds.  Engines are meant to run free, and they perform at their best when allowed to do so.

As more light rail has been constructed at a financial cost of billions of dollars in the Portland area, we've noted the following effects:  road congestion has increased, crime has exploded along light rail lines, and transit ridership has actually decreased.  Desperate to make their failed dream finally work, Sam and Earl and their pals continue, however, to throw money into project after project.

Boys: it hasn't worked, it isn't working, and it's not ever going to work.

But they can't take no for an answer.  Just last week on Rob Kremer's radio show, Senatorial wannabe Jeff Merkley was interviewed.  And in response to Rob's point that if all Kyoto protocols were implemented, the net result would be a decrease in temperature of 0.8 degrees centigrade, Merkley's reply was that it just makes him want to do more.  Translation: we haven't been interfering in your lives as effectively as we might.

We're All Gonna Die (And It's All Your Fault)

Twenty years ago, we were told that anthropogenic chloroflurocarbons (CFCs) used in our refrigerators, air-conditioners, and deoderant sprays were killing the planet by creating the notorious "ozone hole" over the Antarctic in a complex set of chemical reactions that ultimately destroyed our protection from solar ultraviolet rays and won a Nobel Prize in chemistry for the three distinguished scientists who reported the connection. As a result, the world banned CFC production.

The hysteria engendered by this revelation laid the groundwork for the hysteria currently being exploited in regard to Global Warming. Unfortunately, it turns out that the CFC reportage was not exactly accurate.

"This must have far-reaching consequences," Rex says. "If the measurements are correct we can basically no longer say we understand how ozone holes come into being." What effect the results have on projections of the speed or extent of ozone depletion remains unclear.

"Our understanding of chloride chemistry has really been blown apart," says John Crowley, an ozone researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Chemistry in Mainz, Germany.

Much like the scares regarding DDT and Alar, the CFC link to ozone hole formation appears to be linked more to faulty analysis rather than objective fact. However, never much for letting a few facts get in the way of a good story, the anthropogenically-based Global Warming hysteria continues unabated. The latest to jump on this bandwagon is none other than Chicago's Field Museum, which is now selling "carbon emissions offset credits" for a buck a pop.  This is incredibly important.  Not because it'll do anything to "save the planet", but because it removes more money from more wallets and keeps people scared.  And that's what counts.

After all, the whole global warming issue is all about money.  It's even causing economic hardship in place like Bulgaria: 

Brothel owners in Bulgaria are blaming global warming for staff shortages.

They claim their best girls are working in ski resorts because a lack of snow has forced tourists to seek other pleasures.

Tryphorgetin

This is a great little ad over on Mover Mike.  He, of course, copped it from somebody else, but in the great tradition of blogging, that's what we do - we share the good stuff.

Could This Be The Answer For Portland City Council?

Ashland City Council agrees to get therapy.  Now, there's a concept!  Sure, it'll cost the taxpayers around 40 grand.  That may be a big deal in Ashland, but in Portland, Mayor Potty can toss that kind of cash around just to keep the toilets open at City Hall all night.

Therapy may be just what the Portland City Council needs.  Not so much for conflict resolution, as all of the members of the Council are in agreement that feeding at the public trough is a great thing.  No, the Portland City Council needs therapy in order to curb its collective wild urge to throw taxpayer dollars around like candy from a clown car at the Starlight Parade.

Streetcars, trams, couplets, computer systems that don't work, covers for the historic reservoirs, keeping the City Hall bathrooms open all night for the pushers and the hookers - they can find thousands of ways to spend millions of your dollars.

Ashland City Council's definitely on the right track.  And they don't even have a streetcar.

Vaya Con Carne!

Given the way that Mexico enforces security on its southern border, it seems odd that as America adds security to its southern border, they complain.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon told U.S. governors Thursday that immigration is an inevitable, natural phenomenon and he urged the U.S. Congress to approve reforms that would allow more Mexicans to work legally north of the border. Calderon demanded that the United States respect "the right to work wherever one can make the greatest contribution."

Now, if ol' Felipe really believed that line, wouldn't he apply a similar philosophy at his own southern border?  Why is it always the case that rules espoused by others should apply solely to the USA?

But Felipe's got Nancy on board:

EDINBURG, Texas (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called a plan to build fencing along parts of the Mexico border a "terrible idea" that overlooks local communities.

Good ol' Nancy!  She may not accomplish much, but she's always good for an anti-American sound-bite.  Meanwhile, back home in the USA, illegal aliens are packing up and moving back home as states and cities step up to do the jobs (enact the legislation) that our Congress-critters won't do.

"People now are really frightened and scared because they don't know what's going to happen," says Juliana Stout, an editor at the newspaper El Nacional de Oklahoma. "They're selling houses. They're leaving the country."

Three weeks ago, one couple dropped their three children at school, then returned after lunch with their belongings packed in an SUV and trailer. Feary says they took the kids and said they were moving back to Mexico. "They were afraid and cited the immigration law," she says.

People are really frightened and scared?  It's good to know that one can be frightened without being scared.  That's some hard-hitting reporting, there.  Be that as it may - as we've noted time and again, you don't need to deport 20 million illegal aliens.  Enact and enforce laws that prevent illegals from being hired by unscrupulous employers, and these folks will self-deport.  Now, we're seeing the validity of that perspective bearing fruit.

Bearing fruit?  Oh no!  Who's going to pick it?