MaxRedline

The Zero Wants I-5 Light Rail

And in their zeal, the editorial board attempts to paint an engineering professional, newly elected to serve on the Clark County Commission and who adamantly opposes the light rail component, as an ignorant neanderthal. Stay classy, Zero!

Oh, Crap

Portland has about 2500 miles of sewer lines, and about 815 miles of them are 80 years old or more. Rather than taking a reasonable approach and regularly scheduling maintenance/repair, the city "leaders" diverted ratepayer funds toward their own pet projects; apparently in the hope that the sewer fairy would take care of the work. That approach hasn't proven entirely successful, as on occasion a break in the sewer lines will reveal itself in spectacular fashion. One line managed to erode away the substrate beneath a city street, creating a rather impressive sinkhole, as the crew of this Portland Bureau of Environmental Services truck belatedly discovered.

So it seems that there's nothing for it other than to bite the bullet and commence spending ratepayer money on the mundane stuff, like line maintnance and repair. Of course, they're so far behind the curve that crews will be able to attend to only around 2% of the backlog per year. And for this, Portland residents pay the fourth highest rates for "services" in the country.

On the plus side, ratepayer funds constructed a whole lot of bioswales and bike paths while the good times were rolling.

15 Years After

Following the grand tobacco settlement with the states, ostensibly to be used on cessation programs and other health-related goals, what's really happened? Massachusetts is instructive in that regard:

“Roughly 99 percent of all the tobacco dollars that come into the state are used for something else,” said Stephen Shestakofsky, recently retired executive director of Tobacco Free Massachusetts, an anti-tobacco advocacy group. He was referring to the nearly $254 million in tobacco-related legal awards given to Massachusetts in 2012. More than $561 million in tobacco taxes was also collected, bringing the state’s total tobacco tally to just over $815 million, the CDC reports.

Of that $815 million in tobacco money, only about $4.2 million will be spent in 2013 on smoking cessation and prevention programs in Massachusetts, state health officials said. Since there is no requirement to spend either revenue from the state’s tobacco taxes or the millions awarded annually as part of a 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement between 46 states and four of the nation’s largest tobacco companies, the remaining funds will go into the state’s general fund to pay for other cash-strapped programs, often unrelated to smoking.

 In releasing his proposed state budget last week, Gov. Deval Patrick called for a $1 per pack increase in the state’s cigarette tax that is projected to raise $118.5 million annually. An additional $18.54 million in revenue would come from raising taxes on other related products, such as snuff and chewing tobacco.

Most states, including Oregon, have likewise diverted proceeds from the tobacco settlement, along with millions in tobacco tax receipts, into projects and programs that have nothing to do with public health. Whyever would that be? Imagine the financial impacts upon the states if everybody actually stopped using tobacco products! They'd have little choice but to actively support other forms of revenue-enhancing addictions, as their income streams depend upon hooked lower and middle-income people to (ahem) cough up that additional nearly $1 billion annually.

And a soda-pop tax ain't gonna raise that kind of dough. It's one thing to bump up the tax on a pack of cigarettes by a buck in order to raise another $118 million annually, but that only works because the victims of the tax will pay what it takes to get their fix.

Until, of course, the bootleggers show up.

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Behind The Mask

As previously noted here and elsewhere, Barky's efforts to rule by executive order and "recess" appointments have revealed a degree of contempt for the American system of government unprecedented in our nation's history, and when brought to the attention of the courts, it's become almost routine for them to slap him down - as was the case recently when a federal panel found Barky's "recess" appointments unconstitutional:

"An interpretation of 'the Recess' that permits the President to decide when the Senate is in recess would demolish the checks and balances inherent in the advice-and-consent requirement," wrote Chief Judge David Sentelle for the court, "giving the President free rein to appoint his desired nominees at any time he pleases, whether that time be a weekend, lunch, or even when the Senate is in session and he is merely displeased with its inaction. This cannot be the law."

Eager to advance his redistributionist and "green" policies, Barky has appointed thugs (at least one of whom currently faces criminal charges) to the National Labor Relations Board and the EPA, among other agencies, and his defense of racist criminal Eric Holder in the face of clear evidence of Holder's involvement in the illegal gun-running operation known as "Fast and Furious" serves as a reminder of just how far Barky's willing to go in order to achieve his objectives.

Now, on the other side of the planet, sting operations conducted by Italian agents reveal that the Mafia is deeply involved in "renewable energy" projects on a global scale. Given the formula for the way  these projects operate, in which the various companies receive millions in federal and local subsidies and subsequently declare bankruptcy, it seems a perfect milleu for oranized crime.

And given the culture of corruption actively promoted by the Barky administration, it's a match made in heaven.

Smart Stuff

Ever noticed how everthing's "smart", of late? It's kind of spooky.

Your "smart phone" can be used to track your every move; police and other agents don't need to hide a gps unit on your car any more - doing so has been ruled unconstitutional, after all - you buy them yourself, these days; it's a "service" embedded in each smart phone.

And how about those Smart cars? Essentially a motorized roller-skate, they get great gas mileage and are easy to park. They're also easy to get yourself killed in.

Now, the big thing is the "smart grid" and its component "smart electric meter". Oh, they aren't an issue; they simply allow the power company to read your meter without sending somebody out to your home. Of course, they can do much, much more: in some locales where the things are installed, customers can now opt to have the power company save them some money by dialing down the amount of power consumed in the home. Eventually, of course, it won't be an option - it'll be a requirement.

And so it begins: in Chicago's suburban community of Naperville, police arrested two housewives last week for refusing to allow "smart meters" to be installed on their homes. One claimed that she was simply exercising her right as an American to protect her property. Silly woman; such rights do not exist in the surveillance state.

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Smart Grid May be Shortest Route to Obama's Green Energy Goals

Metro And TriMet Start To Catch On

Ruh-rho - they're running out of other peoples' money to spend on shiny trains. What a surprise.

Now, they're being forced to consider a formerly unthinkable, less expensive alternative: bus rapid transit. That really sticks in their craw. They may even have to abandon plans to run light rail lines down SW Barbur Blvd. to Tigard, King City, and points west. It has nothing to do with the fact that voters have balked at the idea, and everything to do with the fact that they can't find enough pots of other peoples' money to ram another unwanted crime train line through.

Oh, the horror, the horror. 

Low Achievers Turn To Race Wars

Blacks and Latinos are among the least-educated people currently living in the USA. That's not racist, it's fact borne out by test scores and high school graduation rates. And here's another fact to chew on: Latinos are among the most racist people as well. Maybe it's because so many are here illegally. Whatever the cause, however, Compton, California - formerly a largely black enclave - is now 65% Latino, and the Latino gangs are determined to drive the niggers out. The place has turned into a war zone, and it's an instructive look at what to expect if the enablers of illegal aliens get their way. It ain't pretty.

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2 Latino Men Arrested For Alleged Hate Crimes Against African-American Family

Time, Time, Time, See What's Become Of Me

26 years after the area around Chernobyl was closed, few humans are around - but wildlife abounds. They may be radioactive, but seem to be doing fine. And you thought only cockroaches would survive.

The Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys

High heels. Staples of the porn and modeling industries, impractical footwear that gets caught in lawns, can only be worn on artificial surfaces, somehow associated with feminine allure. Who the hell thought those up, and why?

Surprisingly, perhaps, they were originally mens' footwear - a gift from the feared Persian horseback-mounted warriors. The extended heel made standing in the stirrups far easier, and allowed warriors to take better aim when loosing arrows upon the enemy. Fascinating story of innovation and repurposing over the course of hundreds of years in human history.

Green Over-Reach

A U.S. federal court slapped down the EPA once again, this time for fining petroleum refiners some $8 million for failure to incorporate 8.65 million gallons of cellulosic biofuel into their fuel blends. As mentioned on this site previously, that form of biofool doesn't exist.

The court sided with the country’s chief oil and gas lobby, the American Petroleum Institute, in striking down the 2012 EPA mandate that would have forced refineries to purchase more than $8 million in credits for 8.65 million of gallons of the cellulosic biofuel. However, none of the biofuel is commercially available.

“[W]e agree with API that EPA’s 2012 projection of cellulosic biofuel production was in excess of the agency’s statutory authority,” reads the court decision.

Once again, EPA exceeded its authority, demonstrating the pressing need for Congress to either eliminate the environmental nazis altogether or at least to considerably shorten their leash; the arrogance of EPA bureaucrats is nothing short of astounding, as it's simply ludicrous to mandate incorporation of an imaginary "green" fuel into refinery output.

Meanwhile, Californians can look forward to an increase in their electricity bills of some 33% due to "green energy" mandates imposed by state bureaucrats. With power rates already the most expensive in the nation, government there appears committed to driving businesses and taxpayers out of the state. The problem is that nobody else wants them; when the loons migrate to other states, they invariably bring their stupid and destructive voting patterns with them. Forget a fence along the USA's southern border; it's time to build one around California to prevent their disease carriers from leaving.

And here in Oregon, another predictable "geen energy" fiasco is unfolding right on schedule: having received $100 million in state subsidies and tax incentives, SolarWorld is laying off another 50 employees as the German-owned company's stock and bonds dropped by 31% yesterday. The solar panel manufacturer's stock closed at 1.04 Euros, and analysts anticipate that it'll go fully bankrupt in the near future, barring the appearance of somebody dumb enough to buy the company.

It's all good, though; former governor Teddy Kulongoski milked it for PR when the company located here. SolarWorld sold a lot of panels to ODOT, to Portland Community College, and to other government agencies in Oregon, but nobody else is buying.

UPDATE: WHITE HOUSE RULES COURT ACTION "NOVEL AND UNPRECEDENTED"

In the Barky Regime, courts, congress, and constitution are irrelevant.

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