Sunday, June 14, 2015

"We’re not all equal when it comes to water"

"Rich Californians balk at limits"
People “should not be forced to live on property with brown lawns, golf on brown courses or apologize for wanting their gardens to be beautiful,” Yuhas fumed recently on social media. “We pay significant property taxes based on where we live,” he added in an interview. “And, no, we’re not all equal when it comes to water.”

“California used to be the land of opportunity and freedom,” Barbre said. “It’s slowly becoming the land of one group telling everybody else how they think everybody should live their lives.”

Jurgen Gramckow, a sod farmer north of Los Angeles in Ventura County, agrees. He likens the freedom to buy water to the freedom to buy gasoline.

“Some people have a Prius; others have a Suburban,” Gramckow said. “Once the water goes through the meter, it’s yours.”

Yuhas, who hosts a conservative talk-radio show, abhors the culture of “drought-shaming” that has developed here since the drought began four years ago, especially the aerial shots of lavish lawns targeted for derision on the local TV news.

“I’m a conservative, so this is strange, but I defend Barbra Streisand’s right to have a green lawn,” said Yuhas, who splits his time between Rancho Santa Fe and Los Angeles. “When we bought, we didn’t plan on getting a place that looks like we’re living in an African savanna.”

28 comments:

bagoh20 said...

I disagree. Freedom does not release you from the facts of climate, and geography. Technology and infrastructure can sometimes, but a place is always at risk of reverting back to it's natural state if the artificial one is poorly managed, and run by thieves or fools.

Elections have consequences, and quite predictably the left has run California into the ground. They talk about infrastructure all the time, but when in power, only use it as a ruse and a con for wealth transfer to those in power and those keeping them there. The water problems in California, while based in a climate of limited resources, are not due to the natural limits, but rather to poor management, neglect, and mostly ideologically driven stupid decision by crazy people who didn't care about the consequences beyond their narrow view, personal greed, and desire for control.

Much of the state is desert next to ocean, but desalination or any other water infrastructure is not considered worth our time while we engage in the most expensive public works in history building a nonsensical slow choo choo to take people to places they either don't want to go or where they can get to faster and cheaper already. It was not always like this, which is why California got to be such a great and attractive place at one time. We built dams and pipelines, and real needed infrastructure. Then we got stupid. It is now the real-life Idiocracy - not one created by dumb people out-reproducing the wise ones, but by dumb people out-voting them.

edutcher said...

IOW, some Califonians are more equal than others.

ricpic said...

The future, Mr. Gittes, the future!

Turns out the movie Chinatown was 100% wrong. The hero was Mulholland.

AllenS said...

Great points, bags. As I've said before, there are now more stupid people in this country than smart people. I'm afraid that it will only get worse.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

When Yuhas wants to make water from scratch then his opinion would have some validity. At this point these guys are at war with the basic economics of supply. Not to mention the fact that water has much more immediate and necessary uses. He would definitely be the first one thrown off the island and fed into the volcano. How easily conservatives forget. Maybe they will just learn to create water from nothing the way the old alchemists sought for centuries to do so with gold. That seems to be how crude their understanding of chemistry is, anyway.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Much of the state is desert next to ocean, but desalination or any other water infrastructure is not considered worth our time…

That's funny. The first photo in the post I assumed was a shot of Israel, where they just took desalination online and to a whole new level. It makes sense, too - given how much polar ice conservatives seem to want to melt away into the ocean. But I guess their sense of survival is more acute, as are their priorities when it comes to planning. They're not busy worrying whether Kim Kardashian's stepfather should or shouldn't feel like she has had the mind of a woman from birth. I say we station a few hundred thousand Arab terrorists around Southern California and see if that doesn't wake them up and get them more sober, quick.

AllenS said...

Yep, just as I said: there are now more stupid people in this country than smart people

chickelit said...

There are serious plans to build a desalination plant in Carlsbad which is not too far from Rancho Santa Fe:
link

Of course the Greens fought this tooth and nail, but it looks like they lost this one.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

If it was, the Israelis would be skipping showers and flushing their toilets once a week for water…

You say that as if you don't understand the difference between an immediate mitigation strategy and a long-term resolution. Oh wait, you don't!

Israel's been mitigating water use for years, much more effectively than California ever did or even tried to do. (Not that immediate mitigation there isn't taking effect, anyway). But I suppose Israel was just wrong for not wasting more water when it couldn't afford to any more than it can now.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Seriously, I would rather trust a dozen chimpanzees to elect our government from now on. How could they do worse?

Your capacity for imagination must be a lot lower than I'd assumed.

bagoh20 said...

Ritmo again demonstrates how he does not understand conservatives at all with his worn out straw men. He has convinced himself that they are anti-science and anti-progress so that he can attack an easy target because real conservatives aren't the cartoon characters his side hopes they are fighting. The disappointment of leftist policy is devastating to real people on all sides, and the left wants to fight imaginary foes. Here's a clue: you aren't helping. You're hurting people, and all for partisan points and fairy tale goals. Wise up - real people are being hurt, and they are not your enemies, although you might be theirs. The difference between conservatives and liberals now is mostly whether you realize when you are being screwed over.

Methadras said...

You know, this country and it's politics has become the Game of Thrones and Ritmo believes he is Tyrion Lannister when he just might be Ned Stark.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Great speech. Bravo!

Doesn't address at all the point of there being a difference between immediate mitigation and a long-term resolution (and both are necessary), but then, avoiding that distinction in itself just proves the point.

I know who the chimpanzees will vote for first.

bagoh20 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
bagoh20 said...

California's water problems lie directly at the feet of government - big government - the kind the left can't get enough of. They decided how to manage the resource and forced it on the people. They messed up the free market and encouraged wasteful use and unnecessary discharge to the ocean, much of it by force of law. Now the market can't bear to switch back to sustainable market pricing, so huge damage will be done to everyone. It was all unnecessary. There is plenty of water if it was priced fairly, freely distributed and infrastructure was built to make good use. Those things have all been either ruined or neglected precisely by big government. Now, as usual, after causing the problem, the government will insist only it can solve it. So it will create new worse problems, but at least the Governor didn't take a shower today,and let us all know it. That should take care of it.

Leland said...

Allen, I'm not so sure. I think it is just that the really stupid think the more they write the smarter they may look. Still, it is quite a bit of hate leading to very destructive results.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

But people who know they are ignorant of and uninterested in everything (and keep quiet to illustrate that effect) are surely the smartest, Leland! And they have no hatred or insecurity at all!

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Sounds like nonsense, Bag. Throw in a fact or two on top of all that typical boilerplate and I might believe you're not just making a speech and actually know what you're talking about. But everyone who cares (which might not include Leland, because he thinks sharing knowledge makes you stupid and destructive), knows the Mulholland quote: "There it is. Take it." The history of LA's and SoCal water use regulation has been about as much of a government-bereft free-for-all ever since.

As for "plenty of water", you know that's total nonsense, but since your pathological lying is technically a medical condition, I'll do my best to extend a sympathetic nod rather than the morally normal opprobrium that such evil should warrant.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

For the record, I'm not ideologically opposed to "market-based pricing" of water, either, whatever that means. But I suspect it's more complicated than that. If inordinate use is going toward agriculture, there might be a reason, due to the importance of CA's agriculture industry. And if you think repealing subsidies to agriculture is going to happen any time soon, good luck. Isn't that a federal issue, anyway?

Rabel said...

You two guys aren't really so far apart. Bags says that government is responsible for California's water problems and Ritmo's "nonsense" link (and linking proves support I've been told) says that the government controls the weather and is using it as a weapon against the people. I see a consensus in the making.

edutcher said...

bagoh20 said...

The geniuses of Los Angeles elected a city council that raises the minimum wage by over 50% and then tries to make it illegal for employers to pass on the cost by raising prices, and wants to exempt union workers from the minimum wage. Seriously, I would rather trust a dozen chimpanzees to elect our government from now on. How could they do worse?

Can I just say Old Greek Proverb, or do you want me top spell it out?

Leland said...

Leland, because he thinks sharing knowledge makes you stupid and destructive

ritmo sees another unicorn, sun rises in the east.

chickelit said...

I fixed my sprinkler system today so that I can water the grass in the middle of the night when no one is looking.

rcocean said...

If you want open borders you're going to get 50 million people in California and that means drought and a water shortage. Of course, the millionaires/Billionaires who want 50 million Californians also want to insulate themselves from any blow-back.

Let them and Agri-business suffer the consequences of uncontrolled population growth. They wanted it, they deserve it.

chickelit said...

Here is a more direct link to the desalination plant. The Israelis are involved. The plant is expected to supply 7% of San Diego County's water. And yes, Ritmo, carbon emission offsets have been purchased.

Methadras said...

Rhythm and Balls said...

Great speech. Bravo!

Doesn't address at all the point of there being a difference between immediate mitigation and a long-term resolution (and both are necessary), but then, avoiding that distinction in itself just proves the point.

I know who the chimpanzees will vote for first.


You just keep on supporting the monkeys that have for decades allowed total and complete wasteful spending in California when they could have been building infrastructure or attempting to at least on water waste mitigation, reservoirs, cisterns, et al. and yet, the fools of california voted to spend nearly $100 billion for a choo-choo. A choo-choo 99% of them would never use and goes to places they will be dead by the time it ever, if it ever gets finished. The choo-choo is nothing more than a legacy penile ediface to Governor Choo-Choo's ego. But water waste? WTF is that? You keep flinging your poo monkey. I'm sure it will hit something that matters.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I don't live in California. I don't vote in California.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

but if you did, you'd vote for the clowns.