Recent Blog Posts: Bakersfield.com

Back up talk with money

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 17:08:30 PDT

PUBLISHED 7-12-2007

So what’s it going to be, Arnold? Is California’s farmland worth saving? Or is conservation nothing but talk?

In his proposed budget, Gov. Schwarzenegger wants to stop paying about $39 million to counties to backfill property taxes lost as a result of the Williamson Act. The 1965 Agricultural Land Conservation Act is named after its author, Kern County’s Democratic Assemblyman John Williamson.

For more than four decades, California farmers have entered into 10-year Williamson Act contracts, agreeing not to develop their land in exchange for paying lower property taxes. The goal is to keep farmers from being priced off their land by escalating property taxes.

Rather than paying a tax rate based on the highest use of the land — which in some cases is sprouting houses, rather than crops — farmers pay from 20 percent to 70 percent less for agricultural land covered by Williamson Act contracts.

The state partially reimburses counties for the loss at a rate of $8 per acre for urban prime agriculture land and $1 per acre for nonprime land covered by the act.

Last year, Kern County Planning Director Ted James reported to the Board of Supervisors that Kern County had more than 1.5 million acres of prime and nonprime agricultural land covered by Williamson Act contracts. The state reimbursed Kern County in 2006-07 nearly $4.8 million.

That reimbursement would go away — poof! — if the governor has his way. It would be a $39 million savings to the state and a stab in the back to counties that struggle to preserve California’s farmland.
To the howls from farmers and county officials, the governor responds that he supports the act and its goal to protect farmland from urban sprawl, but doesn’t want to pay for it.

H.D. Palmer, the governor’s spokesman in the Department of Finance, told the Modesto Bee that counties can afford the loss. After all, the housing boom has more than adequately filled county treasuries with property taxes.

Oh yeah, right. Would that be the housing boom that has fizzled, with property values declining? And what about the increasing cost of providing the local government services that taxpayers demand and deserve?

If the governor wants to talk big about protecting California’s farmland from being gobbled up by housing tracts, he will have to put the state’s money where his mouth is.

Nixon library elevated

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 17:06:53 PDT

PUBLISHED 7-12-2007

Changes to the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda will bring enhanced credibility to the legacy of one of the most conflicted presidents in modern U.S. history.

Two changes — among many likely ones to come — symbolize the elevation of the memorial to the status of a true federal presidential library.

• The appointment of Timothy Naftali as director. Naftali was a well-known presidential historian at the University of Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson.

• The complete reconstruction of the room dedicated to the Watergate political scandal. Originally the exhibit was zealously one-sided, reflecting Nixon’s personal assessment that often ran counter to indisputable facts.

Even a Nixon scholar described the exhibit as: “It’s level of reality is only slightly better than Disneyland.”

The new display will accurately reflect the course of events and will portray critics’ assessments, as well as Nixon’s perspective.

Naftali says he is neither a Nixon hater nor blind devotee, pointing out that Nixon had major flaws, but also made significant achievements in geopolitics, the environment, civil rights and other areas.

The library was founded in 1990 with $21 million in private foundation funds. Seed money for most presidential libraries comes from private sources.

But to become a true presidential library and receive federal support and possession of offical papers and documents, libraries must meet certain standards and have credentialed staff members.

With the changes, the support of Nixon’s daughters and Naftali’s presence, the Nixon library is poised to take its place with other presidential libraries under National Archive rules.

That status is the best memorial to the president.

Missing: Black Dog

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:40:11 PDT

Back in May we were excited to discover that Bakosphere's resurgence coincided with that of blogger John Jones, a.k.a. Black Dog. This week, however, a customary visit to The Black Dog Experience yielded only a Blogger "Page Not Found" placeholder.

One of his earlier posts on that blog called it "the final incarnation of [his] blogging." Say it ain't so, John! Well, I'm leaving your link in our blogroll (over there to the left), just in case, okay?

[And to our other prolific local bloggers writing beyond the confines of Bakersfield.com, please look over our blogroll and make sure you're on there! If not, please let us know.]

--Jason Sperber

Street legal Indy car w/ video! For sale

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:26:21 PDT

Check out this ex-Indy race car available for sale. Street legal in Florida but not here in California.

Good luck if you get in an accident though. Not exactly a daily driver.

Find the video embedded in the ebay auction.
Ebay Auction

Web article

Details:
1999 Dallara Ex-Eddie Cheever Indy Race car. This was Eddie Cheevers back up car for the 2000 Indy 500. It still has the Spec stickers on the car. It is now Street legal here in Florida! It has indicators, Headlights and brake lights.

Green Gardens

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:16:56 PDT

After my last post, a reader asked me to explain a little more about the Green Gardens concept. Here it is in a nutshell.

Green Gardens is an apartment complex run jointly by Golden Empire Affordable Housing, Kern County Mental Health and the Kern County Housing Authority. It was created to provide safe, affordable and stable housing for the mentally handicapped.

There is a full-time metal health staff on the premises provided by Kern Linkage, a division of Kern County Mental Health. There are 104 apartments, with about 80 of those being Section 8 units, where the rent is set at 30% of the tenant's income.

One-on-one and group counselling are available. The staff has a van to take tenants grocery shopping, to doctor's appointments, and on social outings. It is a safe and pleasant place to live. I have lived here for three years and I love it. I wouldn't even consider living elsewhere.

For more on Green Gardens, see my article "Green Gardens Celebrates Staff" in the People section of Bakersfield.com.

The Board of Supervisors and Me

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 15:28:22 PDT

On July 10th at 9:00 a.m. I appeared before the Kern County Board of Supervisors, where I made a proposal for the Supervisors to take under advisement. I told the Board that I had been in the Kern County Mental Health system for almost twenty years, and I think the green Gardens concept is the best program that Mental Health administers.

I would like to see this concept expanded to other parts of the county and the state. I told them there is an urgent need for housing for the mentally ill. I told them that Diane Kotech, the Director of Kern Mental Health was behind my efforts, as well as Bill Drakos, Director of Kern Linkage. I started lobbying all of the politicians of Kern County on the need to expand this program about six months ago.

The Kern County supervisors are Don Maven, Michael Rubio, Mike Maggard, Ray Watson and Jon McQiston.

How to improve court system

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 15:12:47 PDT

The court system in California needs help, it is inefficient, wastes time and money. Just picking jurys for trials, we need to change it now, by having permanent jury members. Give them a fair salary, and medical benefits, and stop harassing the public citizens, and making big mistakes, like O.J. Simpson trials. Hiring professional jurors would make better trial decisions, and would not waste weeks just picking jurys, and cut down the panel of jurors to only five. Only three to make decisions and two as alternatives. Jurors could be preassigned as random number picks, and trials would start immediately, and not tie up the courts for weeks. We could save over three billion dollars a year, in just one year. And also the 33% of illegal aliens we have in our jails, send them back to their own country. We should not be paying for them to sit in our jails, while receiving better health and dental care, than I can personally afford. Help us not them!

(Bagh)dads gonna kill me

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 14:44:01 PDT

I really respect the blogger over at "Its My Right To Be Left of Center". This morning while reading her most recent post, Dusty made mention of a collage she made up of our soldiers using the Richard Thompson song; "Dad’s gonna kill me" and has posted at youtube video, so I am posting it here for your enjoyment. Thanks again Dusty!

1 of the grounds for impeachment of Bush and Cheney

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 14:28:24 PDT

I am aware that another blogger here has recently taken on this topic, because I do not know how to post this video on as a commentator, and because I really want to share it, I am posting it, as well as this "pasted" argument in it's favor. Monte
Conspiracy to defraud Congress regarding Iraq

We Use The Term “Conspiracy” because Bush Didn’t Act Alone

Prosecutors consider conspiracy to be an easier crime to charge, in most cases, than
the underlying crime. So it is with Bush and Cheney.

There is ample evidence of violations of laws by officials at all levels of the Bush
administration. A conspiracy can be shown to exist in the pattern of allowing these
abuses of power, in not punishing those directly involved, and in covering up the
behavior.

The lies that Powell, Rumsfeld and Rice told Congress can, therefore, be connected
with Bush as part of a conspiracy to defraud Congress and support the charges for
impeachment.

Misrepresenting the Threat from Iraq

To justify going to war, Bush manipulated and then misrepresented the intelligence
about Iraq, deliberately misleading the public, the Congress and the UN about the
threat from Iraq. Evidence shows that President Bush was not simply misled by faulty
intelligence about the threat from Iraq. Bush was given confidential information that
contradicted his public statements. He knew or should have known that his statements
to Congress and to the public were false, or at best unreliable.

By lying to Congress, Bush undermined the principles of democracy that require an
informed electorate and a balance of powers. Bush properly sought approval from
Congress before invading Iraq, but that approval was meaningless if it was based on
his fraudulent statements. Bush also directly violated US Laws related to Fraud and
False Statements, 18 U.S.C 1001, and Conspiracy to Defraud the United States, 18
U.S.C. 371.

Evidence that Bush knew or should have known his statements were false when he
made them prior to the war include:

doubts expressed at the time by the intelligence community, especially from the
State Department,

contradictory evidence available at that time from the Defense Intelligence Agency
(DITSUM 044-02),

contradictory evidence raised at that time and recently made public by CIA agent
Terry Drumheller in his 60 Minutes interview,

doubts raised at the time by Ambassador Wilson regarding uranium from Niger,
doubts raised at that time by the Department of Energy regarding aluminum tubes,
doubts raised at the time about the reliability of the informant called “Curveball,”
and the passing “B” grade given to Hussein for cooperation by U.N. inspectors before
the war.

For many months preceding the Iraq invasion, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice
made hundreds of speeches, press statements, and wrote letters that consistently made
the point that Iraq was a threat to America. There were two main themes that they
used. One was that Iraq was somehow involved with 9/11 and Al Qaeda. The second
was that Iraq had, or was attempting to build, weapons of mass destruction.

Source :

Guide to the Impeachment of Bush and Cheney 8/4/2006

http://impeachbush.tv/downloads/guide_to_impeachment.pdf

Do You Know Me?

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 13:37:25 PDT

I'm a sweet little female terrier mix. I was found in heavy traffic Saturday, 07/07/07, on Rosedale Hwy, just east of Jenkins Road. Lucky for me, this nice lady opened the door to her truck and I jumped in. I've been staying with her family since. There is a Found Ad currently running in the Californian, but we thought it might be nice to get my picture out there just in case the description in the paper doesn't do me justice. I prefer the indoors, and I like to jump! I'm mostly black, with tan and white markings and my tail curls! It's the cutest thing you've ever seen! I don't sit still for long and I love to lie on my back. (Notice the crazy pics?) If you think you know me, please check the paper, or e-mail Debra. She's wants very much to reunite me with my family.

Wives are kings in the husband's castle

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 13:27:53 PDT

A new study has found that women have more power at home.

Like we didn't know that already.

But the study by Iowa State University examined 72 married couples and found that women were more demanding—asking for changes in the relationship or in their partner—and were more likely to get their way than the husbands.

That assumes, of course, that husbands ever get their way.

I think the downfall of men can be traced back to "I Love Lucy" where Desi Arnaz rarely got a word in edgewise with that redhead.

Still, there were only 72 couples. And they were in Iowa. That state used to count but now that they've consolidated the primaries, maybe not so much any more.

What do you think? Do you think wives rule the roost?

Posted by Steve E. Swenson

Goodbye exit exams?

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 12:29:16 PDT

Texas is getting rid of its exit exam ... sort of.

This is from the Austin American-Statesman:

"The Legislature has ordered educators to stop giving the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) in high school and replace it with 12 end-of-course exams. They'll be similar to final exams in a class, but they will come from the state instead of local teachers. ...

End-of-course exams will differ from the TAKS in two significant ways. For one, students must average a passing score on the 12 tests to graduate instead of having to pass each major subject area. In other words, there's more room for a bad day, but only one or two.

Second, students will take the tests right after the material is taught to them, avoiding the lags between learning and testing that can now last a couple of years or more."

California just started counting its exit exam in 2005-2006. California students have to pass the exit exam to graduate. They have to pass two parts -- English and math. There's no averaging between the two like what Texas is going to do. Also, California students have many shots at the exit exam starting in 10th grade, but they take the whole thing at once, not in parts.

What do you think of Texas' new approach? Will it work? Is it better or worse than California's exit exam program?

Go here for the full Statesman story:
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/07/08/0708tests.html

Patron saint of Bakersfield, via Fresno

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 11:53:03 PDT

A lot of people don't know that Bakersfield has a patron saint.

She, of course, has never been here. As far as I know, no one who has lived in Bakersfield has ever been formally recognized as a saint.

She never lived in Fresno either.

But St. Therese de Lisieux, for whom Mother Teresa was named, got to be the patroness of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno (which includes Bakersfield) because a Fresno bishop happened to be in Rome when St. Therese was canonized.

Bishop John G. MacGinley was chatting with Pope Pius XI in 1925 at the declaration of sainthood. That was just 28 years after Therese died of tuberculosis on Sept. 30, 1897, at the young age of 24, in a Carmelite convent in Lisieux, France.

The bishop asked if the newly sainted could become the patron saint of the Fresno diocese.

I'm guessing the Pope felt the Fresno area really needed a saint (what with the Grapes of Wrath just a few years away), so he said okay as long as a church was named in her honor.

The former Our Lady of Victory Parish, established in 1919, was changed and ,
became the first parish in the world dedicated to St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

She was born Marie-Françoise-Thérèse Martin on Jan. 2, 1873 to Louis
Martin, a watchmaker, and his wife, Zélie-Marie, both very religious people.

She wanted to be a nun and she nudged her way into the convent a little sooner (age 15) than was the norm at the time. She kept a diary that was later made into a book, Story of a Soul, and was so profoundly theological — but in a light and breezy way — that it was the cornerstone of her sainthood.

A patron saint is a protector and an advocate for a person to God.

So we have a young French woman who lets God know about the special people in the southern San Joaquin Valley.

Now you know.

Posted by Steve E. Swenson

P.S. The Californian will soon have a full-length story about her

Coming to a newspaper near you ...

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 11:52:20 PDT

Just wanted to touch base if anyone is out there perusing bakersfield.com. We've just begun the planning for our high school football preview section, and I think everyone around the county will be excited.

Look for it Aug. 24 — the same day that West and BHS face off (along with Garces/Tehachapi among other games) to get the season started. Can't wait!

followup on impeachment and views on political dilema of the day

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 11:38:53 PDT

Freedom2soar@yahoo.com

Contact Person and Author

Under pen name:

Sam Sammurai

SIR/MADAM IT IS TIME TO PUT IMPEACHMENT ON THE TABLE BECAUSE THE WAR WAS BASED ON BREACH OF TRUST BY THE TRUSTEE OF THE NATION

Iraq and Iraq equals impeachment

"For whom the Bells Toll"

I too stayed up all night, not because I know anyone in Iraq, but I saw the orphans lying in their own fesses in an orphanage in Iraq!

I too could not stop wonder why the American masses are silent?

I too stayed up and shed tears for the millions left maimed, dead, eaten by dogs, and lost because Mr. George Bush and Tricky Dicky Cheney wanted to punish someone for September 11, 2003.

I too wondered about American compassion, and where they lost it, when they looked the other way, knowing full well the Iraqis were innocent of that crime, and Saddaam Hussain and his sons were killed along with innocent Iraqi citizens for a crime they did not commit.

Is that not what the American constitution says, you are innocent until proven guilty.

While the whole world knew Saddam and his men may have been guilty of other crimes, but no one can say the Iraqi citizenry had blood on their hands.

But that did not stop Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Pearl, Dick Cheney and the American President George Bush to bombard the Iraqis by Aerial and Land bombs; machine guns and weapons of mass destruction, under color of evidence based on false allegations of purchase of "yellow Cake" i.e. weapons of mass destruction.

If that makes sense, then I and the rest of the 75% of this nation are stark raving lunatics; and if 75% of the nation is not crazy then those who are responsible for turning the world upside down must be punished.

It is incumbent upon the speaker of the house and her buddies to show some courage to perform the job they were hired to do, and legislate.

Both Cheney and Bush need to answer the questions on everyone’s mind, why did they cook the evidence, for we have passed the stage of whether the evidence was cooked.

The nation is tired and wants to sleep!

If the nation fails to unite on this the next bell that tolls will not be for the citizens of Iraq!

Topics:

posted by sweetmotherofgodisthisamerica on Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at 06:41 PM
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Iraq and Iraq equals Impeachment, the time is now

"For whom the Bells Toll"

I too stayed up all night, not because I know anyone in iraq, but I saw the orphans lying in their own fesses in an orphanage in Iraq!

I too could not stop wonder why the American masses are silent?

I too stayed up and shed tears for the millions left maimed, dead, eaten by dogs, and lost because Mr. George Bush and Tricky Dicky Cheney wanted to punish someone for September 11, 2003.

Is that not what the American constitution says, you are innocent until proven guilty.

While the whole world knew Saddam and his men may have been guilty of other crimes, but no one can say the Iraqi citizenry had blood on their hands.

It is incumbent upon the speaker of the house and her buddies to show some courage to perform the job they were hired to do, and legislate.

Both Cheney and Bush need to answer the questions on everyone’s mind, why did they cook the evidence, for we have passed the stage of whether the evidence was cooked.

The nation is tired and wants to sleep!

If the nation fails to unite on this the next bell that tolls will not be for the citizens of Iraq!

Constitutional Basis for Impeachment

The US Constitution is the foundation of our legal system. It was written and adopted by the Founding Fathers at the Federal Convention in 1787. The Constitution spells out the process by which Bush can be impeached. The full text of the Constitution is available online.

Article II, Sec. 4 states that:

"The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.".

That means that Bush, Cheney, Rice, Gonzales and other cabinet members could all be impeached. Impeachable offenses include clear violations of criminal law but also misconduct that undermines the integrity of the office or violations of public trust that injures the state.

Article 1, Section 2 states:

"The House of Representatives shall chuse[sic] their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment."

That means that the House of Representatives, not the Senate, is the body that starts the process. They are the one who would formally accuse Bush of high Crimes or Misdemeanors.

Article 1, Section 3 states:

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.

That means that the Senate conducts the actual trial after the impeachment in the House. It takes a 2/3 majority to convict.

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.

That means that whoever is impeached will lose their job and cannot be reappointed, reelected, or given a juicy government contract. The Senate cannot send Bush to jail. But once he is out of office then he would be subject to lawsuits, war crimes tribunals, and other charges in other courts.

Article 2, Section 2 states:

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

That means that Bush cannot pardon himself or his cohorts.

Resources

· Constitution, Bill of Rights, Federalist Papers and related documents.

· Cornell Law School's "Backgrounder on Impeachment"

Constitutional Basis for Impeachment

Article II, Sec. 4 states that:

Article 1, Section 2 states:

"The House of Representatives shall chuse[sic] their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment."

That means that the House of Representatives, not the Senate, is the body that starts the process. They are the one who would formally accuse Bush of high Crimes or Misdemeanors.

Article 1, Section 3 states:

That means that the Senate conducts the actual trial after the impeachment in the House. It takes a 2/3 majority to convict.

Article 2, Section 2 states:

That means that Bush cannot pardon himself or his cohorts.

Resources

· Constitution, Bill of Rights, Federalist Papers and related documents.

· Cornell Law School's "Backgrounder on Impeachment"

Topics: Iraq, Iraq and Iraq

posted by sweetmotherofgodisthisamerica on Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at 10:45 AM
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George Bush says he cares about the health of other people

HOW MANY READERS OF THE BAKERSFIELD cALIFORNIAN IN THE UNITED STATES DO NOT HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE/

HOW MANY OF YOU ARE SELF EMPLOYED?

AND WHAT DO YOU PLAN TO DO ABOUT IT?

Topics: LETS JOIN TOGETHER AND FIND AN ANSWER TO THE HEALTH CARE CRISES

posted by sweetmotherofgodisthisamerica on Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at 02:35 AM
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Do U believe in = access to Justice or Less Justice for U than Myself

Location: the world, ,