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  • The ERC vs Economic Development as Usual

    George Rebane

    This morning ERC held its annual meeting at the Holiday Inn with over 85 of the community’s leaders and interested parties there to enjoy breakfast and see what will pass for economic development (ED) this year.  Gil Mathew, ERC CEO, presided over a well-organized gathering and gave a fine welcoming speech. In it he pointed out to all that the first thing we really need is to agree on ‘what exactly is ED?’, else down the line some will be zigging while others are zagging.  At the end of his talk each of the tables were given some questions to discuss for about ten minutes and then present their thoughts to the whole group.  Well enough.

    We duly bent to the task in the short time allowed, and came up with something between little and not much.  However our table’s leader, as most of the folks in attendance, was no slouch, and when he rose to speak, gave a good demonstration of what may charitably be called realtime synthesis – he put together a fine sounding group of words from which it was hard to get any, well let’s call it, semantic purchase.  Which itself was OK, since we gave him even less to work on.  Other tables delivered similar reports; with the ones who actually took notes doing a bit better.

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  • Calexico, here we come!

    George Rebane

    CalexicoflagOne of the least pleasing of my predictions for the next twenty years is the demise of the United States as a democratic republic (see ‘Two Twenty-Year Views’ ).  Peering into the foggy future, I see our country transforming itself into a loosely formed confederacy, this conclusion is due to a number of geo-political forces working us in that direction.  Recently, this thesis received some more confirmation with Kosovo’s declaration of independence that is being hailed by the international community save Russia and, of course, Serbia from which the breakaway occurred.  The fact that our own government is celebrating this cleaving portends badly for our own future as a sovereign nation-state.

    A correspondent in the 3mar08 Wall Street Journal put it very succinctly –

    Regarding your editorial “The Birth of Kosovo” (Feb. 19): In 2025 or 2030 or 2035 or whenever, Latinos will constitute the majority of the population in California, Texas, New Mexico and whatever other state.

    At that time, reflecting the democratic will of the majority, leaders of the Latino community will appeal to the United Nations and demand that the world body recognize California, Texas, New Mexico and whatever other state as independent countries. A vote in the U.N. will legitimize this demand over the vehement protestations of the U.S. and on July 3, 2025, or whenever, California, Texas, etc., will unilaterally declare their sovereignty.
    Russia and other countries will immediately extend diplomatic recognition to the new states whereupon in Washington excited mobs will burn down the Russian embassy in protest. 

    You say it’s an implausible and ridiculous scenario? Think Kosovo.

    As if to underline the long-festering mood in our own southwest, a series of pictures along with the report of a large group of Latino students raising the Mexican flag at southern California’s Montebello High School is now circulating on the internet.  What made this portentous celebration even more sinister was their placement of Old Glory, upside down, under the Mexican flag.  For the civics-challenged, Old Glory flown upside down is our historical distress signal. 

    The politically correct mainstream media did not want to touch this incident with a ten-footer – after all, aren’t we multi-cultural and inclusive?  My usual reaction is to check such reports out with Snopes.com, one of the web’s rumor control and verification sites.  Here is what they reported.  For those readers not familiar with major national trends, a perusal of ethnic advocacy organizations such as MALDEF and La Raza is recommended as a start.

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  • Attention Local Pols – Are You Making the Already Bad Worse?

    George Rebane

    When was the last time you heard something like ‘The park will now stay open until one hour after sunset instead of closing when the sun goes down.’ or ‘From now on you again get to put any kind of lights you want into your kitchen when you remodel.’?  Don’t hold your breath.

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  • Economic Development in Nevada County – Another View

    George Rebane

    Well, economic development planning season is upon us again.  Meetings and workshops are coming down the pike in a regular procession with the next being ERC’s breakfast get together on 6 March at the Holiday Inn.  A small group of us met last week with ERC’s CEO Gil Mathew to discuss various approaches to economic planning which I hope Gil will incorporate into a framework that will organize the 6 March meeting into something productive.  In this piece I will summarize a takeaway from the several meetings I have recently attended and conversations with various people on the matter.  Even though some may share some of these thoughts, ultimately I take responsibility for any of the remaining orphans, setting them all down, and doing my best to defend or mend them in response to reasonable criticism.  As you will see, almost all of these points are difficult for elected leaders, public officials and employees to consider in open forums.  In any event here they are to be discussed and/or dismissed, but hopefully, not overlooked.

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  • William F. Buckley Jr., 1925-2008 – RIP

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  • Ooga Labs is James Currier is What’s Happening Now!

    George Rebane

    Today RR has belatedly established a link to the Ooga Labs Blog that is the online voice and vision of James Currier.  To you people of my generation, James is an exemplar and phenom of the young 21st century.  He is a recognized and successful dotcom entrepreneur popped from one of the east coast’s elite leadership mills.  The man is educated, smart, brilliantly instinctive, a deep thinker, loving husband and caring father, … well, at this point it gets a little overdone no matter how true it is.  Let me just say that he’s also good looking and has a great singing voice.  Oh, and did I mention that his educational pedigree lists degrees from Exeter, Princeton, and Harvard.  His ideas are not to be trifled with, and if you do decide to debate him, don’t show up at the gunfight with your pocket knife.

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  • More “yellowdogs” correspondence

    George Rebane

    The “yellowdogs” piece has generated a lot of back channel chatter.  Russ Steele posts one correspondent’s contribution on NC Media Watch.  Here’s an exchange from this morning with Phil from New Hampshire who lets us know that we in Nevada County are not alone – yellowdog hails from a prolific family and has cousins all over the place.

    ****

    Hi, George, Just forwarding along Kurzweil’s most recent optimistic view for our energy future just in case you are too busy getting yourself beat over the head and run out of town in your wheelchair dragging your trailer full of money behind you, to have caught his latest newsletter.  I am sorry to have to admit to you that I have had one of those wonderful laughs reading the "yellowdog" saga.  His letter to you re: the backwater town is priceless.  And don’t think for a minute we don’t have same exchanges here in Bedford, NH between some of our more priceless citizens.  It’s absolutely great.  I hope my enjoyment of it is not offensive.  Perhaps it’s rising to the seriousness of the Hatfield&the McCoys.  I hope not.  Take care of yourself and of Joanne.
    Voila!  Phil

    And my response …

    ******

    Good morning Phil – Thank you for the good words, and it did occur to me that our latest hoorah is probably repeated in many places across the country.  The problem of the ignorant disaffected is, however, real enough as I’m sure it is in Bedford.  You now see how our local paper in its desperation to seek circulation is creating these little dust-devils by also seeding the comments of its online edition with unregistered correspondents which can only be insiders – e.g. ‘General J’ is most likely our anonymous editor talking to himself.  Laughing at this is good medicine for all of us, but I hope that in the longer run the debate will generate more than a giggle before our short attention spans lapse into the next outrage du jour.

    To the Republic!
    gjr

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  • Bill Gates on IT Careers and the H-1B Visa tragedy

    George Rebane

    As a lifelong technician I have witnessed the downfall of America’s interest in maintaining a cadre of wealth generators coming out of our schools – and in my small way I continue to spread the alarm (e.g. here).  Today our higher centers of technology and science mainly educate students from overseas who are taking courses in how to eat our lunch.  We make it difficult to for them to stay here and help us make the lunch.  Calls to change, as the one below disseminated by the Association for Computing Machinery, go unheeded.  Any high school teachers reading this should strap an appropriate notice on the walls of their school.

    Gates to Students: Consider IT Careers
    eSchool News (02/25/08)

    Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates says the widespread shortage of information technology graduates in North America is forcing Microsoft and other software companies to look to developing countries such as China to meet their needs. "When we want to hire lots of software engineers, there is a shortage in North America–a pretty significant shortage," Gates says. Speaking at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, Gates told students that IT workers are in high demand and urged students to consider a career in IT. Gates criticized the United States government for its strict adherence to the H-1B visa and argued that there should be a free flow of talent going into the United States. He said if there is a bright person who wants a job it should not be difficult to cross a boarder to get one. Gates also recalled when he want to college in "the Dark Ages" and learned about computers on his own time, and told students how lucky they are to be learning during this period. "Fortunately for all of you, you’re in a generation where all of these courses are going to be online and basically free," Gates said. "I’m taking solid state physics from MIT, though MIT doesn’t know it." Speaking at Carnegie Mellon University, Gates predicted that people will increasingly interact with computers through touch and speech rather than with a keyboard, and said that software is proliferating into different branches of science such as biology and astronomy. Gates said that researchers have to manage so much information that the need for machine learning is absolutely essential.

    Click Here to View Full Article

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  • Singularity Signposts – 25feb2008

    George Rebane

    Solar Power Will Rule in 20 Years:  So say a panel of experts and futurists who see the confluence of two of the big three ‘Singularity technologies’ bringing about this milestone in human history.  Ray Kurzweil pointed out that the sun bathes us with 10,000 times more energy than all of us can use, and it will be the rapid advances in nanotechnology and machine intelligence which will make harvesting this energy possible at an ever increasing rate.  Investors, prepare for a massive sector shift.  Activists, don’t screw things up by pushing the dufuses in Congress to hinder this through the joys of socialism.  More here.

    Desktop box outdoes medicos on another task.  AI is advancing so fast that every month new applications in diagnostics, prognostication, and treatment design are being developed that out-test human physicians.  These are quietly being incorporated into the healthcare industry.  The future here looks very bright and soon we may even see the death rate from medical mistakes start going down (now almost 100,000/year, but don’t tell anybody), and perhaps, just perhaps, the lawyers and lawmakers (same crowd) will allow healthcare costs to follow suit.  Here is the latest on an Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

    Hello ‘Matrix’, Goodbye Outdoors:  Since 1987 outdoor activities such as camping and hunting have been declining in America.  We like to have our fun more virtually than put up with all those pesky insects, blisters on feet, and poison whatever on our skin.  As the realism of computerized games, worlds, and, yes, even athletics improves, we may have to start closing all those national and state parks, monuments, and forests.  Why drive for hours, stand in line, and then stand shoulder-to-shoulder looking over the edge at the Grand Canyon when you can sit comfortably and pilot your own flyer (F-22, car, helo, …) through and over that beautiful piece of erosion while listening to your favorite music?  Have you picked out the color motif of your personal cacoon yet?  More on this changing mood here.

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  • The “yellowdogs” of Nevada County

    George Rebane

    An interesting dust-up occurred in the online Union that involved me.  My rapid response is contained in the post ‘Beaten About the Head and Shoulders’, but upon reflection, a more considered response is due since the county is headed into another season of planning for economic development.  The cited piece by Jeff Pelline served as a launch point for someone calling himself ‘General J’ who diverted attention from the Pelline piece.  It is a good thing that this General J doesn’t pretend to be a journalist, for his charged and inaccurate reporting would earn him low marks even in today’s schools of journalism.  Nevertheless below we record his comment in its entirety.

    The same…

    George Rebane that said at the recent county economic meeting in Nevada City that the County should cater to the whims of rich retirees and write everyone else off?   If I remember correctly his statement was something like;  If you don’t do what we(rich retirees)want we’ll take our money and move somewhere else and Nevada County can become a backwater foothills community made up of poor and(supposedly) useless people.  That’s the kind of "community spirit" that makes me proud.  Now that was a "Chilling" presentation!

    by General J on Sat, 23 Feb 2008 07:49:41 PST

    My real intent here is to shine a light on the influence of the county’s “yellowdogs” – see comment from The Union below – on the hesitant planning process now getting under-way to improve or goad economic development in Nevada County.  These yellowdogs (henceforth quotes understood) are ignorant yet passionate folk who mourn a phantom limb more magnificent than the one they once had.

    Mr Rebane can hit the road!!

    Backwater my a**, this was a great place to grow up , before the wealthy S. Cal., Bay area retirees came!!We had local businessmen supplying the needs of our community , traffic was nothing, and you knew everybody, especially your neighbors. People you could trust!!Leave your home unlocked , keys in the car in downtown N.C. or G.V. anytime. A great place to raise your family, we HAD vol-unteer firemen who gave their all without question and would be there to help anybody, anytime! They are all gone , thanks to people like Mr. Rebane!! I’ll take the old Nev. County anytime, but it’s long gone, and we have really no one to blame but ourselves for letting them come here to begin with!! If the local blood would have stayed in Nevada County politics , instead of letting people like Re-bane in, well, the rest is history, we didn’t see it coming!!Our family had many generations in Nev. Co. , logging , local shops, volunteer firemen ,graduates of Grass Valley high & Nevada City High, Nevada Union, Football on friday nights, we bleed blue & gold, But , they are all leaving because of the attitudes like Re-bane, sad day!!

    by yellowdog on Sat, 23 Feb 2008 10:11:48 PST

    We find from the start that the county’s yellowdogs believe they lived in a ferociously insular region wherein they had fascist-like powers to determine who came and went – “no one to blame but ourselves for letting them come here to begin with!!”  I can imagine the distress of having my tires shot out in 2002 as my wife and I crossed the Bear River bridge from the south.

    The complete post of The "yellowdogs" of Nevada County can be downloaded from here Download yellowdogs080224.pdf

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5 comments on The ERC vs Economic Development as Usual