What's Wrong With This Picture?

The following list of newspaper articles came from the Times-Standard starting Christmas day page A3 with the pictures about the "Miracle on Wabash" that "warms hearts, bodies." Where "scores of people enjoyed free food, clothing and toys from local businesses, churches and nonprofits at an unused church on Wabash Avenue in Eureka on Christmas Eve. The volunteer-run community celebration also featured face painting and live music."

Saturday, December 26, 2009: County predicts minor revenue loss with decreasing property taxes
and the "My Word" by, Richard Twiddy: Slow down and clarify the issues. Really scarry times when they can just ram through these kinds of increases and changes. No gift of peace here!

Next we've got the newspapers Editorial in the same issue: Walking the walk about Michael Winkler – Arcata City Councilman and the front-page article, Waste not ... written about THE Michael Winkler, "Arcata council member keeps his garbage to a minimum."

Then let's jump a day or two to today, Tuesday December 29 to the front-page article, Cough it up ... with it's brilliant, but relevant comment by Fortuna Police Chief Kris Kitna, “We'd have to be more selective on who we put in jail.” Which suggests, WHAT? That they are NOT selective?
On Sunday, December 27, 2009 the T-S page A5, headlines the Opinion "My Word" by Sylvia De Rooy, Are we losing what matters in Humboldt? Where she's whining about Caltran's opening up the highway, Big Box stores because the “cost of them is too high.” Now compare this to the pictures about the "Miracle on Wabash" and then you tell me what really matters in Humboldt, the people that only think of themselves, specially during these Christmas holidays or those that think of their neighbor?

At the bottom of the page is Amy Goodmans's article, Climate discord: From Hopenhagen to Nopenhagen where she concludes by saying, “Many feel that Obama's disruption of the process in Copenhagen may have fatally derailed 20 years of climate talks. But Pica (Erich Pica, president of Friends of the Earth) has it right. The Copenhagen climate summit failed to reach a fair, ambitious and binding agreement, but it inspired a new generation of activists to join what has emerged as a mature, sophisticated global movement for climate justice.” I'm not so sure the nay-sayers wouldn't call them "a new generation of extremists" and target them as terrorists.

And then on Tuesday, December 29, 2009 we get the meaningless, but “thoughtful and sensitive” words of the newspapers city editor James Faulk, The post-Christmas let-down? “So I guess there's no real solution. Just call it the post-Christmas let-down. It is what it is, I guess.” Coupled with more meaningless words of a Crescent City lawyer, Jon Alexander, “The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars, but in ourselves.”

Joe says, “I would would guess, too”!

Whereas the banks are no longer making home equity loans (T-S Pg. A6, Saturday, Dec. 26, 2009) and with the value of homes and property going into the tank and now limiting the tax base, we're looking at less resource for government stuff. (My sophisticated word "stuff" for government expenditures, costs, give-aways and the like.) In the above article, "County predicts minor revenue loss with decreasing property taxes," they, Philip Smith-Haynes County Administrative Officer, “said he would be discussing the decrease with each department as well as with the Board of Supervisors during the mid-year budget report.” Does anyone believe for a moment that "they" will actually talk about cutting costs to reflect the actual tax base? The question is probably redundant in the face of our changing climate situation that no one wants to deal with in a positive way. That little situation will answer all our problems.

If the above sampling is any indicator, I'd say there's a lot wrong with that picture. There can be no peace gift when your sole purpose or reason for existence is to dominate and exploit the recourses of the poor.
 

--Joe

Karuk's Run Amuck

(updated below)

Wouldn't the world be a whole lot more peaceful and profitable if there were a few less "activists" getting in the way?

"Activists" are always "blocking" something. If it's not doors, it's roads. When they're not blocking something they're ranting and raving, or camping in trees, on street corners, occupying banks, universities, but mostly they're just getting the crap kicked out of them and wasting their time and energy in lockups for all their troubles.

The Times-Standard newspaper for Thursday, December 17, 2009, greets everyone with the frontpage headline: Karuk activists block logging road - "Claim breached promises ..."

The US Federal Government "breached promises"? Don't these Indian people ever learn?

Just look at the history of "breached promises." When do they start making binding "agreements"? As long as these kinds of important matters are resolved on a personal level, all that's ever going to happen is another betrayal. Just look at what's happened to the world in the last year and a half. The greatest "hope" for mankind and their Earth since Jesus Christ appeared over 2000 years ago has done nothing but breach promises while all the time enabling and facilitating the greatest looting EVER of the American Working and Small Business Classes. Mr. Obama preaches peace and wages war. He talks reform, prosperity, jobs and help to stop the foreclosure looting and gives away trillions of worthless paper dollars to the rich, enables the health-care industry continue their looting of the American people, and torpedoes the UN Climate Conference. Breached promises equals betrayal.

So, what's their excuse? Why, it's the "incompetence" argument of course. The problem wasn't a personal betray. What makes those Karuk's think they're so important? It was just a simple "oversight." This is what the Six Rivers Supervisor Tyrone Kelley calls being "sensitive to the tribes."

Equally incompetent is Karuk Eco-cultural Resources Specialist Bill Tripp who admittedly "participated in good faith in the forest Service's collaborative process." For one thing, he did not "collaborate" with "the U.S. Forest Service." He collaborated with Tyrone Kelley and other individual persons. These promise-breakers have names. If what Tripp says it true, then THEIR actions violate federal law. Don't you think it's time to make those flesh and blood people actually responsible for violating the law, accountable? The least you could do is make that criminal bum irrelevant and stop cooperating with him. But then, that would require some form of competence and maybe even a little self-worth, wouldn't it?

I wonder who is being sensitive to all those contract workers? When you consider their medical insurance and mortgage payments needs, those jobs become might important. Specially when you line them up with "sensitivity" over the commercial use of "sacred forests" and their "spiritual trails."

When you consider the consequences and importance of this operation, you would think anyone with even a modicum of integrity would "work through the issues" before putting it to the "tribes" and force them into a confrontational "activists" stand. That would have been the peaceful way to proceed. Now all anyone can see are a bunch of extremist "activist" blocking poor working people from trying to make an honest living and maybe keep from losing their homes.

If those forest lands are as valuable as the Karuk Tribe says they are, then it's time for them to stand and act like that value. Deal with what is, not what you want. Expecting someone to keep their word when that person is without integrity is just plain stupid. More than that, it is what justifies their right to violate your trust and break promises.

UPDATE:  Some third person, "Six Rivers Forest," according to John Driscoll writing for the Times-Standard Wednesday, December 23, 2009, gave the "Karuk activists" a Christmas present: "Six Rivers Forest halts operations until it can meet with Karuk Tribe." Whatever that meeting is good for is questionable when only one side is looking for "good faith" and "commitment." Be interesting to know how the "Karuk Tribe" plans on getting any "good faith" or "commitment" when they keep working in the third person.

--Joe