The Fresno Bee editorial board cheers the First Family putting in a garden on the South Lawn of the White House. It's a great symbol for the nation, and just might be a reminder that California farmers need water to grow their crops. Click here to read today's editorial.
While we don't think an 1,100-square-foot vegetable garden is going to change federal water policy, it just might bring urban dwellers a bit closer to what it takes to nurture crops. That has to be a good thing for farmers.
One of The Bee's letter writers had a similar thought. Click here to see what Dale Briggs of Clovis had to say about the White House Garden
Bart Turnipseed | March 23, 2009 4:50 PM | Reply
I'll bet they don't worry about hordes of environmental lawyers suing them over water use. Gadzooks folks it's D.C.. Every species there except d-partyers and amateur crooks must be endangered. Good idea though, the garden may turnout to be the productive center of this administration.
I still agree. Much of the world is shovel ready, already.
That thing with names; is it a he Dale or a she Dale Briggs? The water issue is very timely, but is there anything the Obamas can do right without the inevitable but???? I think the Obamas should be acutely aware of the fact that a great number voted against Mc Cain and not for Obama. I don't care for our President, and therefore I am extra mindful to be fair. I did not care for President Lynden B.Johnson either, but he was great for the American consumer. The greatest, post World War II. But Obama is not history yet. I am not holding my breath, waiting for OBAMA greatness.
...Eco-systems need water too. The history of our nation is a legacy of fouling nests and moving on...now we know better. Had we learned from the nations that lived here for thousands of years we would have understood land-use issues long before we had "Superfund" cleanup projects on hold for want of corporate interest in "externalities."
...water for beef is a waste of
perfectly good ag water, and a demonstrable health and environmental hazard for the "consumer." sugar beets and cotton in time of draught? ridiculus.
It's a river, and healthy rivers mean healthy eco-systems. The ecosystem that was Tule lake is now a man-made construct, and should be at the end of the line for water, that's fair, the infrastructure that delivers water around this state is a wonderful testament to what can be done when the rich pay more taxes, but we all paid for that 'miracle' and big ag's interest shouldn't supercede an entire river's health, (our rivers,our systems,)...even if the farmworkers' needs are indeed their newfound passion, it's not a 'trade-off' decision. Rivers run to the sea for a reason.
"Oh-Oh"...Curious about your reason that rivers run to the sea. Was this by design? It reminded me of an "Alan Parson's Project" song I was listening to the other day.
If you were driving along in Mendota and just happened to see an unemployed farmworker sitting on a bench about to eat a dehydrated delta smelt, what would you do first?
1) Offer to trade the endangered fish for a cotton T-shirt with its picture on it?
2) Lecture him about the reason for rivers.
3) Grab it from him and then throw it in the weeds for ants to eat.
4) If Turnipseed happens to be around, let's do him #3. It might let the unemployed farmworker eat in peace.
" osage orange" I never gave it any thought, but all big rivers seem to flow to an ocean. In Europe all the navigable rivers flow south/north except the Danube which flows west/east. It made the Danube the most important waterway during the mass migration during 4th to 6th century A.D. and the expansion of Rome into what is today Austria , toward (what is today Hungary and Czechoslovakia ) under Marcus Aurelius. But the Danube too flows into an ocean; the Black Sea. Without doubt, there is a rhyme and reason for it....but I am ignorant of it. I can only guess that it has something to do with altitudes on earth. The Netherlands have the ocean flowing into it, but the Rhein still makes it to the sea.
"Anti-stupidos...another nameless,gutless bomb thrower comes to the blog...Welcome.
That is unless the river water is used to fuel an entire regional economy in the San Joaquin Valley. Here it is used to grow food, and maintains employment for hard working folks from before it is planted, to harvest. People eat the food that is grown. They wear cotton garments derived from the plant fibers, with cool wildlife logos on them. The cotton shirts are offered as incentives to entice public radio and TV listeners into giving money. They are important. Spandex has limited value, and they are not nomex...very nasty in thermal situations.
...or (4)none of the above
...tell him to go get a hundred friends in need and give them one million dollars each, with the stipulation that they spend it locally, do the same thing in Huron, Tranquility, and ten more farming communities.
Voila! A one billion dollar cash infusion...trickle-up economics.
Overnight the valley gains a thousnd new millionares,...for chump-change.