Category: Government

Government: who rules us.

Santa Cruz CA traffic solutions: Greenway multi-modal roadway & walkway scores BIG on flexibility, takes people where they want to go, moves more people, provides choice

  Santa Cruz CA traffic solutions: Greenway multi-modal roadway & walkway scores BIG on flexibility, takes people where they want to go, moves more people, provides choice.

The East Bay got money from California to do a Greenway — let’s do likewise in Santa Cruz CA?

East Bay Greenway Awarded Active Transportation Program Grant

Sep 19, 2014 at 11:23am

$2.656 million state grant will help fulfill community vision to transform 15 miles under the BART tracks from Oakland to Hayward into a bicycle and pedestrian path.

The following is a comment from Rail Trail post written by Will 3/12/18  

“Westcliff  [Santa Cruz CA’s] multi-use path is not wide enough to function as a active transportation facility, period. At 10 feet wide it has built in conflicts for all user groups.

“This is why the Monterey coastal recreation trail is being widened to a width of 26 feet. 16 feet for the Bikeway allows for faster wheeled vehicles to pass in each direction. The separated 10 foot wide pedestrian sidewalk allows groups of two or more walkers walking side by side and pass each other.

“The plan is for the Greenway to use this same 16 + 10 formula wherever possible.

“The 26 feet needed for a proper active transportation facility does not fit over most of the rail corridor, particularly within the “Central Reach” of the system.

“From a Active Transportation perspective there is no comparison of the functionality of the bike and pedestrian facility embodied in the MBSST plan and what has been the proposed Greenway multi-modal roadway and walkway facility.

“As far as mass transit goes, the use of buses in a dedicated transit lane on Hwy 1 is three times faster than the headways predicted by the RTC for passenger rail between Santa Cruz and Watsonville (16 minutes vs ~42 minutes). Likewise for Santa Cruz and the Pajaro Station (20 vs ~60 minutes).

“There are over 220,000 trips daily on Hwy 1 today vs a prediction of 4,500 trips with the most ambitious plan described in the RTC’s rail feasibility study.
Do the math.

“The Greenway + a highway 1 based Bus Rapid Transit could serve 10 times the number of users and goes to where people are going to today: Cabrillo College, the greater Dominican Hospital complex, UCSC, Santa Cruz City and County government buildings, downtown Watsonville and Santa Cruz, etc.

“The existing freeway corridor is more central to the major employment and population centers than the rail corridor.

“From the standpoint of “social equity”, reductions of GHG emissions, active transportation users, health, sustainability and recreation all favor the Greenway and the democratization of the freeway to support and prioritized bus transit.   written by Will-

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Aptos Psychologist: Consider traffic needs of our  most vulnerable  residents and build  solutions  into the overall transportation/  Greenway plan:  how mothers get two small children to school in AM, how the elderly get to medical appointments, how the very sick get to hospitals.

So far, I’ve not heard how to creatively use the frontage roads on either side of Highway #1 and integrate those roads in how better to allow people to move.

Consider ALL ways to move traffic NORTH in the AM and SOUTH in the PM.   For example, we could usse Soquel Avenue as done on the Golden Gate Bridge  — more lanes in AM versus PM.  We could use Traffic Persons rather than Lights to move the traffic on Soquel Avenue.

What say you?  How solve our traffic mess?

written by Cameron Jackson  DrCameronJackson@gmail.com   

Monerey Bay Forum

127 Jewell Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
United States (US)
Phone: 831 688 6002
Fax: 831 688 7717
Email: jaj48@aol.com

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Santa Cruz CA Traffic mess –YES a Rail Trail, NO Train says Jack Brown

Cyclists on Otago Rail Trail – New Zealand

written by Jack Brown

“Unfortunately most of the other commenters are part of the trail advocacy groups that spread misinformation about the trail and  couldn’t care less if the trail is built at all.

“They are rail advocates plain and simple.

“For those of us that do ride know that the the trail design advocated by the rail group is substandard.

“A good percentage of the trail would be diverted back onto the road where the trail will not fit with a train. Their train (unfunded and not scalable) takes priority.

“Also note that all of us of that support a trail only on the rail corridor are not seeing it as an ‘end all’ solution.

“We know a trail by itself will not solve Santa Cruz County’s transportation crisis.

“A trail will not solve the problem, but a train definitely will not solve the problem.

“Those of us on the Trail only in the corridor would like to see Bus Rapid Transit along Soquel Avenue,

 

bus on shoulder of Highway #1 can reduce conjustion

Bus on Shoulder  on Highway 1 along with on ramp metering and other transportation technology improvements to improve flow between all parts of our county.

“A train that is unfunded will not be of the most expensive electric one noted by others on this thread. It will be a noisy, dirty diesel.

“Most of the rail advocates are now pushing for Progressive Rail to take over and to start moving frieght and hazardous materials through the corridor.

“A trail will best protect our environment and keep commuter and freight traffic where it is already allocated, but moving at a higher speed. This has a far greater impact than trying to place a commuter train where there simply is not the width, nor the population to support it.

“The cost for rail will be astronomical with no relief to current traffic. The current proposals run well over $100M to $600M and history of rail projects are massively overshooting their budgets.

“A simple example is the California High Speed Rail project where it was sold to the people as only costing $33B with the federal government paying a third and private business investment covering the rest. Today the cost if esitmated at $77 to $98B with the federal government only proviiding $3.5B in grants and no private investment.

Rail in Santa Cruz is a sham.

There are better, more efficient ways to solve the problem and it’s time we stop spending more good money on a bad idea for Santa Cruz.

written by Jack Brown March 11, 2018 

Aptos Psychologist:  What do the Rail Trail advocates suggest  for managing health and safety issues? Our hospitals are hard to get to  due to traffic issues.  What about   human feces, people  sleeping along the  Trail,  drug needles? For certain kinds of crimes   Santa Cruz County has some of the highest crime rates in CA.

Cameron Jackson, Ph.D. Licensed Psychologist PSY14762

Monerey Bay Forum

127 Jewell Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
United States (US)
Phone: 831 688 6002
Fax: 831 688 7717
Email: jaj48@aol.com
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Failing Health or Trump’s “button” bigger than North Korea

Trump’s “button” bigger or failing health of North Korea’s leader OR ….

Failing health or Trump’s comment that his red  “button” is bigger than North Korea….?

North Korea leader’s failing health: Some analysts speculate that another factor in North Korea’s diplomatic opening could be Kim Jong-un’s declining health due to anything from obesity, diabetes, and gout to mental issues or a sexually transmitted disease.

Intelligence experts caution that solid information about his health is difficult to come by, but the North Korean government has obliquely conceded health problems for the dictator on a few occasions.

Persistent speculation also exists that North Korea’s nuclear missile program has suffered setbacks or hit serious stumbling blocks, problems that would be exacerbated by tight sanctions with vigorous enforcement. There is also much speculation that China has grown exasperated with North Korea, accompanied by personal animosity between top Chinese and North Korean leaders, exacerbated by North Korean suspicions that Beijing tried to stage a coup against North Korea.

Aptos Psychologist:  Neither Obama or Bush “pushed” back.  Trump has.

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Clean up time! Sanctuary State of CA sued by US govt for violation of Supremacy Clause of Constitution

 

Clean up time for CA’s ‘sanctuary state’ laws with CA sued by the  U.S. government

Clean up time for California’s ‘sanctuary state’ laws.

Attorney General Sessions sues  the State of California for violation of the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

The federal government reins supreme over state laws concerning immigration. Attorney General Sessions came to California to deliver the message. 

The ‘sanctuary state’  laws targeted by the federal government are:

SB 54  — the California Values Act — prevents state and local authorities from reporting illegal aliens who were arrested for other crimes to ICE.

AB 450 — Gov. Brown’s law threatens business owners with persecution if  they cooperate with ICE without first seeing whether ICE has a warrant/ correct documents.

AB 103 — gives oversight to California over ICE as the law allows the State of CA to inspect illegal aliens held by federal authorities.

At his  press conference Wednesday, Gov. Brown did not defend Oakland Mayor’s actions alerting the community of soon-to-occur ICE arrests. ICE says that the Mayor’s actions put ICE personnel in danger and 800 persons were not detained.

The governor offered the following points in rebuttal to Sessions’s clear and cogent case that the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause forbade California from blocking the enforcement of federal immigration law:

1. Sessions is a liar. “The Trump administration is full of liars. They [sic] pled guilty already to the Special Counsel.”

2. Sessions is from Alabama — “a fellow from Alabama coming to talk to us about secession and protecting human and civil rights.

3. Sessions is a Nazi. “We don’t need a Gestapo kind of tactic with vitriol spewing out of Jeff Sessions’s mouth. “

4. Sessions is … a French revolutionary. “The attorney general is basically initiating a reign of terror.”

5. Sessions is sucking up to President Trump. “Jeff thinks that Donald will be happier with him and I’m sure Donald will be tweeting his joy at this particular performance.” (Trump has not tweeted about it.)

California Attorney General Becerra’s line of attack was simple denial.

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Aptos Psychologist:  Yes, it’s ‘clean up’ time here in CA.  About time.  Maybe fixing the ‘sanctuary state’ laws will impact California’s quality of life rating –  currently at the bottom.

Monerey Bay Forum

127 Jewell Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
United States (US)
Phone: 831 688 6002
Fax: 831 688 7717
Email: jaj48@aol.com
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ICE arrests woman smuggler here in USA illegally

The  ICE arrest of a woman smuggler  on the streets of National City, CA   –  she was in U.S. illegally — separated the woman  from her children.

A teacher aide of one of the children  videotaped the arrest. What the woman and smuggling organization were smuggling is not known.

The Border Patrol says Perla Morales-Luna was identified as an organizer for a transnational criminal smuggling organization and was arrested for being in the country illegally.

Aptos Psychologist:  One hears some say, “Why arrest undocumented persons just because they are here illegally?” Answer:  mothers should ‘mother’ mot smuggle.

 

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Justice denied for 30 years [female genital mutilation in Britain]

   The latest Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) case to make it to court has been dismissed, with the judge claiming the child had denied harm and medical evidence was inconclusive.

The Somali origin father, who lives in Bristol, had allegedly admitted to allowing his seven-year-old daughter to be cut on the clitoris, telling a charity worker it would stop her “feeling sexy all the time”.

However, Judge Julian Lambert described the prosecution’s case against 29-year-old former Uber driver as “deeply troubling” and slammed witnesses as “inconsistent”, the Daily Mail reports.

He also stressed that the child had denied being harmed and dismissed the medical evidence as “wholly inconclusive at its highest”.

Not a single person has been found guilty of FGM offences in Britain, despite the practice being illegal for 30 years, thousands of cases being logged annually, and there being hundreds of successful prosecutions in France.

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Firenze Sage:   “The child denied harm.”  It is up to you dear judge to protect children from themselves and scheming adults who greatly influence the child’s opinion. Do you expect the child to denounce the father who permitted her to be attacked   with a razor and who she will go home with  — you idiot!!

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Firenze Sage: who is Elizabeth Carisle? fake name AG Loretta Lynch

  Stay on outlook for fake stuff:

Fake names used by top USA govt officials:  Illustrating how government hides information from the American public, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch used a fake name to conduct official Department of Justice (DOJ) business in agency emails obtained by Judicial Watch. As the nation’s chief law enforcement officer Lynch, Barack Obama’s second attorney general, skirted public-records laws by using the alias Elizabeth Carlisle in emails she sent from her official DOJ account. In the records provided to Judicial Watch, the DOJ explains it as necessary to “protect her security and privacy and enable her to conduct Department business efficiently via email.”

This begs the question of how many other government officials use fake names and whether those aliases are searched when agencies process Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Besides Lynch, we have only discovered the use of such aliases among government operatives to conduct official business at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Obama’s EPA administrator, Lisa Jackson, famously used the alias Richard Windsor in a government email account to conduct official business and communicate with staff. Jackson even took required EPA computer training under the fake identity with the handle Windsor.Richard@epa.gov. She eventually resigned over the scandal, which brought to light the agency’s violations of federal open-records laws.

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Firenze Sage:  Did anyone in the Obama administration follow the rules?    More screw the  public from the most transparent admin in history.

 

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which RAIL TRAIL best for people living in Santa Cruz County? Still time to tell the RTC what you think!

Which RAIL TRAIL best for people who live in  Santa Cruz County?

Do we want a wide TRAIL  that can handle electric bikes and wheel chairs and walkers or do we want  a narrow trail  along a high fence that preserves the rail tracks for a train that may never happen?

There’s still time for you to tell the Regional Transportation Center what you think.

Measure D — which passed in 2017  — preserves the current  rail tracks and permits only a narrow trail.

Maybe there’s a better solution?  Read and decide.

Click  here   for a comparison of the wide one versus narrow one.

Go to the link below to sign petition.

https://www.change.org/p/santa-cruz-county-rtc-help-build-a-world-class-greenway-in-santa-cruz-county-by-removing-the-train-tracks

Thank you Dana Abbott, a gardener with Aptos Community Garden, for providing information.

written by  Cameron Jackson   drcameronjackson@gmail.com

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You must pay union fees to get & keep a govt job? Your money supports political views you disagree with. That’s question Supreme Court will answer

You must pay union fees to get & keep a govt job? Your money  spent to  support political views you  fundamentally disagree with? That’s wrong.  This violates your freedom of speech rights.

For example, the SEIU  supported Obama in 2008 & 2012   and supported Hillary Clinton in 2016.   The SEIU pours millions of dollars into the Democrat Party each election cycle.   Why should  union dues you must  pay to keep your job be spent  for  politics you disagree with?

The Supreme Court hears a case on this issue starting Monday, February 26.  This is from the Wall Street Journal:

“Across the U.S., more than 500,000 state and local workers have objected to funding union advocacy but are nonetheless required by law to pay “fair share” fees to labor unions they have refused to join. The Supreme Court upheld the practice in a 1977 case, Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, reasoning that otherwise workers could “free ride” on the union’s collective bargaining. Prohibiting unions from charging nonmembers directly for political speech, it believed, would protect their First Amendment rights.

“On Monday the justices will hear oral arguments in a challenge to that 1977 decision brought by Mr. Janus. They should heed Justice Felix Frankfurter’s observation, in an earlier case on mandatory union fees, that it is “rather naive” to assume “that economic and political concerns are separable.” As Mr. Janus argues, bargaining over wages, pensions and benefits in the public sector involves issues of intense public concern and thus core First Amendment-protected speech. A state law that forces public employees to fund that speech violates their rights, no less than compelling them to speak. ( Janus v. Afscme doesn’t consider these questions for unions in the private sector.)

 “Other unions that held pro-Clinton rallies include the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association and the Service Employees International Union, which represents about one million public workers. The SEIU convention passed a resolution that the union will “elect Hillary Clinton” as president “by mobilizing millions of voters.” Unions and state governments maintain that nonmembers can be charged for these conventions because they are where the unions adopt bargaining strategies and representational policies.
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Aptos Psychologist: Stop taking money from government workers’ paychecks.  People are smart and can decide for themselves what politics they want to support.
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Firenze Sage: electrocute me or stab me but don’t boil me? [lobsters are protected in Switzerland]

 

boil a lobster? Not in Switzerland

It’s OK to electrocute or stab lobsters in Switzerland but you cannot boil them.

And you cannot punish barking dogs.  

Switzerland regularly ranks as one of the best places on earth to live. Beautiful scenery, picturesque cities, robust, friendly people, and, if you like winter sports, a winter wonderland.

But few nations outdo the Swiss in nanny statism. Their national legislature proved that again by banning the practice of putting live lobsters in boiling water. I guess the Swiss can’t stand the thought that in the few seconds it takes the lobster to give up the ghost, it might experience pain.

The Swiss banned the manufacture and sale of fois gras, the delicacy where geese are force fed to bursting in order to harvest their enlarged livers. But banning the boiling of live lobsters? That would appear to be another effort to micro-manage society.

The first national legislation of its kind in the world calls for a more humane death for lobsters, by “rendering them unconscious” before plunging them into scalding water. Two methods are recommended: Electrocution or sedating the lobster by dipping it into salt water and then thrusting a knife into its brain.

   The same law also gives domestic pets further protections, such as dogs can no longer be punished for barking.

 

The measure is part of the broad principle of “animal dignity” enshrined in Switzerland’s constitution, the only country to have such a provision. The constitution already protects how various species must be treated and specifies that animals need socialization.

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Firenze Sage:  How do you stop a barking dog? Electrocute or stab him?

https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=four+more+obama+years

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