Amazingly, it looks as though some of those damaged Japanese nukes will have to be scrapped. Golly, who'd have thunk? It's been simply bizarre to read "news reports" describing heroic efforts to "save" the reactors. Most sane folks could recognize that at least half of them were dead, and that efforts were focused not on "saving", but limiting damage. TEP and most government bureaucrats seem to believe that all they have to do is send in a P.R. type to "reassure" folks, and everything will be fine.
There's one of their problems, right there: unlike the highly-paid members of the P.R. crew, most of the general public are smart enough to understand what's going down over there. P.R. people aren't paid to be smart; they're paid to be affable.
Just how do you "scrap" half a dozen nuke plants? Especially given that no amelioration efforts thus far have worked?
Possibly anticipating big losses from their Japanese operations, General Electric paid no taxes for 2010. While this story has been widely reported in US media, one outlet has remained curiously silent on the issue. Fox News, widely castigated by the Left as "Faux News", reported on it. So did CBS, ABC, and various print media.
A number of Democrats are looking at the office of Portland Mayor, and New Seasons co-founder Eileen Brady is already looking at replacing Sammy's "Ban Wal-Mart" window sign with some tasteful draperies. Given current choices so far: re-electing Sammy, or electing Charlie Hales or activist Steve Novick, Brady seems like a shoo-in.
Oregon and Portland are all over the news. The dysfunctional Oregon Senate says muy bien to illegal aliens; giving them in-state tuition rates for college (even though they wouldn't qualify for a job, once graduated). In someplace sane (obviously, not in Oregon), this approach would simply be window-dressing designed to let illegals sign up - after which, they'd be escorted to their new dorms, which would just happen to be a rail-car (we love rail!) attached to a non-stop train heading for Juarez. Ah, but this is Oregon: our senator's crazy; did you hear what he said?
Continuing their policy of tackling only the toughest of issues, Oregon Senators are now grappling with the pressing issue that involves space allocation for chickens. Some Senators believe that the chickens should be allowed to roam free, kinda like in the "Free Willy" movie. Of course, people who actually know about chickens understand that some of the Senate proposals will actually do more harm than good: increasing the probability of hen-to-hen aggression and pathogen exposure. The senators backing the changes have never seen hens peck one another to death, and they don't believe that a chicken would do that to another chicken. That's because they derive most of their information from two sources: The Disney Channel and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) - and HSUS is nothing more than an animal "rights" organization with an avowed goal of ending the "exploitation" of chickens and other animals.
State bureaucrats have been busy, as well. That they're not elected and are not accountable simply makes their agenda that much easier to fulfill. It's time to force you stupid vehicle drivers to take a crime-train to nowhere, and they're plotting ways to make that happen.
The feds are helping as much as they can; being broke isn't an issue for them. It's thrilling to see that they've given the green light to another light-rail project that nobody but bureaucrats want. The Portland/Milwaukie light rail line is a done deal, and next up is the Portland/Laaka Swego streetcar line that nobody wants.
And Metro councilor "Bicycling Burpholder" has been cleared of charges that he lied during the last election cycle; an administrative law judge agreed with Rex Burkholder's argument that, as a complete idiot, he cannot be held accountable for making false claims in his 2010 voter's pamphlet statement.
That's a lot of flotsam, and the tsunami debris from Japan isn't expected to hit until next year.
At least, that's what happens to residents every time they pay their water and sewer bills, according to a recent audit. Of course, if you live here, you've likely been suspicious for a long time - but it's interesting to see it in print: A new audit questions recent decisions by the Portland City Council to spend funds collected from water and sewer users on city programs such as scholarships and model homes.
Finally, city code, state law and bond covenants require that ratepayer money go toward ratepayer services. When it doesn’t, money collected from water and sewer users for purposes unrelated or loosely related to the utilities could be considered an “unauthorized tax,” Griffin-Valade writes in the 28-page report.
It's the latest example of mission creep by city utilities that use money collected from ratepayers to pay for non-utility programs or projects that should instead receive money from the city's discretionary general fund, critics say.
The audit also found that sewer money is being increasingly used to pay for parks and planning -- annual spending that has increased from less than $200,000 four years ago to $2.5 million today.
Nobody cares what the city goals are - that's irrelevant. What matters is that Portland City Council is stealing money from ratepayers, then jacking up the rates. The audit findings support what ratepayers have suspected all along, and it provides great ammunition for a class action suit against the City.
Portland City Councilor Randy Leonard, who "oversees" the water bureau, had this to say: "The audit's wrong. If I say something relates to water, that's the way it is. You can believe that I'll be working very diligently in the coming months to get rid of these stupid auditors. That is all."
"I'm out plowing driveways, and we can't even find the houses," said Norm Sayler, who used to run Donner Ski Ranch along Interstate 80 and now operates a snow-plowing business near the top of Donner Summit. "I've been up here since 1954, and personally this has been the toughest winter I've ever had here."
When Rivest arrived earlier this week at the cabin near Soda Springs, about 90 miles northeast of Sacramento, the snow was so deep it nearly touched the power lines crossing in front of the cabin. Snow was piled at least 10 feet high on top of the deck of the A-frame home.
Here in Oregon, we've had the coldest, wettest March ever recorded.
And still, warmists persist. It never seems to occur to them that the planet is a lot bigger than the state of Oregon, or the USA. Spending ourselves deeper toward bankruptcy will have zero planetary effect, and at least one of our Senators (not from Oregon, of course) understands that:
While Barry's firing hundreds of Tomahawk missiles into Libya, nobody's talking about the "carbon footprint", much less the fact that the Tomahawks run around a million dollars a pop. As long as you put a recycling bin out front on pick-up day, then you're doing your part to Save The Planet™.
Hey, the missiles and stuff are on the other side of the planet, while our side will be "Clean and Green". And hey - Europe, as they so often do, is showing us here in the USA The Way. Naturally, Oregon followers "leaders" are falling all over themselves to follow suit: The rules could result in higher fuel taxes, fees based on how miles vehicles are driven, road tolls to reduce congestion, and increased downtown parking charges.
Perhaps the most controversial scenarios involving increasing transportation costs. They involve the use of charges, fees, taxes and tolls to increase driving costs.
“These actions and programs focus on raising the cost of vehicle miles traveled and fuel consumption, which have been shown to result in people driving less — thereby reducing carbon emissions,” the memo reads.
Rockets at your feet; you don't seem to worry how to make ends meet.
Obambi has really given it up: your dog could run against him in the next election, and win. People thought that nobody could possibly be worse than Jimmuh Cahtah, but they were wrong. Obambi makes Cahtah look like a piker.
Obambi tried to explain the new war in Libya, and he totally blew it. The Great Orator simply demonstrated his complete disregard for the American Constitution and his own oath of office. He said his actions were authorized by the United Nations and approved by the international community. In other words, Congress is irrelevant.
Not only is he narcissistic, nor is he merely arrogant. He is the most dangerous inDUHvidual ever to have been granted the White House. Unfortunately, impeachment and forcible removal - which should happen today - simply is not possible in Washington. We'll have to wait for the next election cycle.
And sadly, once he's out of office, Americans will continue to pay for years.
They can't report the news, and they can't get technology right.
As most people have come to recognize, The New York Times is nothing more than a mouthpiece for the Left. Oh, they claim to be "journalists", but they've become obvious shills. They've been losing print readership in droves (though The Oregonian has them beat in that department), so they decided to implement a pay-wall: if you want to read their drivel, you have to "subscribe". And a lot of Leftists probably will. Self-righteously, of course. It's what they do.
The "pay wall" hasn't even gone live yet in the USA, though it's been tested in Canada - and predictably,failed. Four lines of CSS/Java shuts it down. The Times is fighting back. It won't work.
