174 responses to “Sandbox – 16feb16”

1. 

   Russ Steele

   21 February 2016

   Governor Brown Call Your Office:
   EPA air pollution scare debunked by best data set ever assembled on particulate matter and deaths
   Airborne Fine Particulate Matter and Short-Term Mortality: Exploring the California Experience,2007-2010.
   Executive Summary
   The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulates ambient airborne fine particulate matter (PM2.5) on the basis that it is causally associated with short-term mortality — i.e., daily increases in PM2.5 cause increases in daily deaths. This is the first epidemiologic study to test that hypothesis on a systematic basis, i.e., using all the relevant and available data from a large contiguous geographic area. Based on a comparison of air quality data from the California Air Resources Board and death certificate data for 854,109 deaths from the California Department of Public Health for the years 2007-2010, no correlation was identified between changes in ambient PM2.5 and daily deaths, including when the analysis was limited to the deaths among the elderly, heart and/or lung deaths only, and heart and/or lung deaths among the elderly. Although this is only an epidemiologic or statistical study that cannot absolutely exclude the possibility that PM2.5 actually affects mortality in some small and as yet unknown way, these results also illustrate that it would be virtually impossible to demonstrate through epidemiologic study that such an effect actually exists. Notwithstanding the limits of the epidemiologic method, if a significant causal relationship between PM2.5 and mortality existed, that relationship should have been visible in this study. But it was not.
   California business are forced to spending billions to reduce the death rate from diesel exhaust ( PM2.5), yet there is no facts based evidence to support the need.

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2. 

   Don Bessee

   21 February 2016

   Walt, Russ, someone needs to remind the Dark Lord of liberal lament land that Measure S had 12 plants indoors on R zoned parcels. So why when the ASA suggests 12 plants indoors for individuals and so does W it becomes an issue on W? The prime difference is that W closes down profiteers and S would have allowed virtually unfettered commercial growing. Reasonable access to patients and no full commercial mmj is the heart of W and that’s why it will succeed. 😉

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3. 

   George Rebane

   21 February 2016

   RussS 1014pm – Good report Russ. But I’m afraid it will not impact the idiotic policies issuing from Sacramento because of two factors – 1) the Left’s electorate is terminally ignorant and don’t have the mental assets to understand the results, and 2) the Left has a phalanx of NGOs up and down the state that will misrepresent/suppress what the science shows. Their Agenda21 is paramount and must continue forward unabated. We are the victims of the zombie brained.

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4. 

   Gregory

   21 February 2016

   Stoners generally don’t get BS/MS/PHD’s in math based disciplines. Pot use by high tech knowledge employees on their own time is a non-issue in the vast majority of Silicon Valley sweatshops… it’s about performance on the job. That’s just they way it is, Russ. No one cares.

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5. 

   Michael R. Kest

   22 February 2016

   Gregory 21Feb16 11:24 PM
   That depends on what you mean by “stoner.” If you mean thos who are stoned all day every day then I agree. On the other hand, I have known dozens of engineers and designers that use marijuana recreationally and responsibly (Yes, it can be and is done!) have the degrees, too.

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6. 

   Bill Tozer

   22 February 2016

   Caution: if you do drugs, you will end up like me. You have been forewarned.
   Quote of the Day from a surprising source. Go figure.
   I really like (Chief Craig). I know you aren’t supposed to like police, but there are some good ones,” Farrakhan said.
   “…Every Muslim is not good and it would be good to get some of them out of our ranks.”

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7. 

   Todd Juvinall

   22 February 2016

   Ah those stoners. So many around. Then they gravitate to meth and heroin and really become great engineers. Wow, who knew? All those people on drugs are so valuable to the greater culture.

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8. 

   Gregory

   22 February 2016

   “Then they gravitate to meth and heroin and really become great engineers.”
   Todd, you get too much of your drug culture knowledge from Reefer Madness. Mom and Dad’s liquor cabinet is the gateway that hard drug users first passed through.
   I remember at the late lamented US Robotics Advanced Development office here in town, we got stuck with drug testing for new hires thanks to policy from the anal retentive Skokie main orifice… and that kept us from a great hire from the then hemorrhaging TDK/Silicon Systems office. The guy was a great engineer, well liked, his wife a local teacher… but he smoked dope on the weekend. Didn’t pass the piss test, took a job elsewhere. Our loss.

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9. 

   Gregory

   22 February 2016

   Kesti 10:03, with an AA in Technology, you missed an opportunity to live, attend classes and socialize with the BS bound. Let me assure you the two top colleges in the country in terms of math, science and engineering PhD among the alumni both had dorms well known as being dope friendly in the ’70’s and ’80’s, perhaps beyond.
   “We take drugs seriously at our house”- Firesign Theater.

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10. 

    Todd Juvinall

    22 February 2016

    I think you are incorrect Gregory. One drug leads to another until they kill themselves or others. Booze is also a gateway drug.

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11. 

    Gregory

    22 February 2016

    Todd, that’s Reefer Madness, not reality. Trust me.

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12. 

    Russ Steele

    22 February 2016

    I wonder if The Union Reporters and Staff have to pass the piss test? Does anyone know, is The Union a drug-free workplace? If not, that could explain a lot of things, lost text, weak proofreading, missed story significance . . .

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13. 

    Gregory

    22 February 2016

    Russ, The Union’s standards in such things seems more solid than yours. Just an observation.
    And, just to be even handed, Pelline has more than his share of bloopers.

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14. 

    Michael R. Kest

    22 February 2016

    Gregory 22Feb16 12:04 PM
    You are making incorrect assumptions concerning the opportunities to which you refer.
    Todd Juvinall 22Feb16 12:05 PM
    The depth of your ignorance is breathtaking.

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15. 

    Russ Steele

    22 February 2016

    Gregory@12:52PM
    Several months ago I took your criticism to heart and vowed to improve my posts on RR. Have you not noticed the improvement in my writing, spelling and punctuation? Have I been wasting my time and money?

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16. 

    Russ Steele

    22 February 2016

    California Sun worshipers please take note Aloe Vera has been added to the state’s Prop. 65 List:
    You read that correctly: Aloe vera. In December of last year, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) published its intent to list Aloe vera, whole leave extract to the Proposition 65 list of chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer. Despite the widely accepted extensive health benefits of Aloe vera, an unelected regulator in Sacramento can now tell you and all consumers it will cause cancer, even if no cases of cancer from Aloe vera exposure exist.
    The problem is that the 800+ chemicals listed in Proposition 65 are not devised to protect consumers, but rather serve as a cash cow for private trial lawyers to sue small business and reap the hefty settlement payout. Since 1986, nearly 20,000 lawsuits have been filed, adding up to over half a billion dollars in settlement payments by business owners.
    Unfortunately, the most profitable thing regulators give to trial lawyers at the expense of job creators is confusion. Recent Proposition 65 proposed regulatory revisions create compliance difficulties, increase frivolous litigation, and add consumer confusion.
    California is such a business friendly place!

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17. 

    Gregory

    22 February 2016

    Russ 1:23, the point was, of course, that such errors have many reasons, and you were something of an ass to suggest The Union’s quality control might be the lack of fealty to your ideal of drug testing and casting the unclean to the wolves if their piss ain’t right.

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18. 

    Todd Juvinall

    22 February 2016

    Michael R. Kest | 22 February 2016 at 01:01 PM
    But still I am much more intelligent than you. I truly feel sorry for you.

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19. 

    Michael R. Kest

    22 February 2016

    Todd Juvinall 22Feb16 02:03 PM
    Heh. You’re in good company, Todd. Anna Haynes likes to claim she feels sorry for me, too.

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20. 

    Todd Juvinall

    22 February 2016

    Well you are a very sad man. No friends, no job, no hope.

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21. 

    Gregory

    22 February 2016

    “You are making incorrect assumptions concerning the opportunities to which you refer.” Kesti 101
    What assumption are you referring to? We are essentially agreeing, but you seemed to think (Zarquon only knows why) I needed to be informed by the likes of you that there really are good engineers who smoke pot on their own time. That seems to be an incorrect assumption on your part.

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22. 

    Michael R. Kest

    23 February 2016

    Gregory 22Feb16 04:21 PM
    The assumption you made was concerning my educational experience and that I “missed an opportunity to live, attend classes and socialize with the BS bound.”
    Sorry to be so late to respond. I was partying with some friends that Todd says I don’t have.

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23. 

    rl crabb

    23 February 2016

    For all this talk about how “straight” Republicans (or if you prefer, conservatives) are, it sure looks like someone has been spiking your Kool-Aid. I expect to see the Donald get a standing ovation for mooning the audience any day now.

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24. 

    George Rebane

    23 February 2016

    Hard to follow the above topic threads when commenters respond to the anonymous ‘you’ and ‘your’. They must think readers can read their minds. RR comment streams consist of multiple topic threads into which commenters enter and leave at will. Not even using their names, let alone comment timestamps, makes following a thread range from hard work to nigh impossible. I for one am too busy to dig out who the unlabeled ‘you’ might be. Perhaps this is not a problem in single-threaded comment streams found on less populated discussion forums.

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