the more you rely on corporate media, the less you know

David Brooks, the sociopath stenographer to the elites, gives us an interesting column for a change, where it seems that some of the elites are recognizing the same things that peak oil folks have -- that we're inevitably headed to a much rougher, much more localized future, in the absence of the lifeblood of modern mechanized empire, cheap oil.

Also note how Brooks has to bow to the "both sides are the problem" meme and concoct a huge lie to do it -- that the "defense" budget has been slashed (which he wants to blame on the Democrats, to complete his false equation or irresponsibility by "both" "sides.")

The NY Times should run a correction tomorrow, just as it would if anyone, even an editorialist, wrote that Thomas Jefferson wrote and issued the Emancipation Proclamation.  But it won't. 

This is why the more you rely on corporate media, the less you know. 

They rarely lie on the major premises of their articles, the parts everyone reads closely. What they do is wrap clearly labeled opinions in a thick gauzy blanket of seemingly objective/neutral statements that are perfectly phrased to slide through your BS detectors with the least chance of setting off the alarm, and all of which are screaming lies.  Today, Brooks' task is to make sure that none of the proles get the idea that, if we're not going to be throwing our weight around so much, we should stop spending more on war toys than the next 20 countries.

Anyone who thinks the "defense" budget has been slashed, please contact me, I have some good investment opportunities for you, including some notable infrastructure in Brooklyn.

http://mgpaquin.wordpress.com/2014/04/29/brooks-cohen-nocera-and-bruni-39/

All around, the fabric of peace and order is fraying. The leaders of Russia and Ukraine escalate their apocalyptic rhetoric. The Sunni-Shiite split worsens as Syria and Iraq slide into chaos. China pushes its weight around in the Pacific.

I help teach a grand strategy course at Yale, and I asked my colleagues to make sense of what's going on. Charles Hill, who was a legendary State Department officer before going to Yale, wrote back:

"The 'category error' of our experts is to tell us that our system is doing just fine and proceeding on its eternal course toward ever-greater progress and global goodness. This is whistling past the graveyard.

"The lesson-category within grand strategic history is that when an established international system enters its phase of deterioration, many leaders nonetheless respond with insouciance, obliviousness, and self-congratulation. When the wolves of the world sense this, they, of course, will begin to make their moves to probe the ambiguities of the aging system and pick off choice pieces to devour at their leisure.

"This is what Putin is doing; this is what China has been moving toward doing in the maritime waters of Asia; this is what in the largest sense the upheavals of the Middle East are all about: i.e., who and what politico-ideological force will emerge as hegemon over the region in the new order to come. The old order, once known as 'the American Century' has been situated within 'the modern era,' an era which appears to be stalling out after some 300-plus years. The replacement era will not be modern and will not be a nice one."

When Hill talks about the modern order he is referring to a state system that restrained the two great vices of foreign affairs: the desire for regional dominance and the desire to eliminate diversity. Throughout recorded history, large regional powers have generally gobbled up little nations. Powerful people have generally tried to impose their version of the Truth on less powerful people.

But, over these centuries, civilized leaders have banded together to restrain these vices. As far back as the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, dominant powers tried to establish procedures and norms to secure national borders and protect diversity. Hegemons like the Nazis or the Communists tried to challenge this system, but the other powers fought back.

Today that system is under assault not by a single empire but by a hundred big and little foes. As Walter Russell Mead argues in a superb article in Foreign Affairs, geopolitics is back with a vengeance. Whether it's Russia seizing Crimea or China asserting itself, old-fashioned power plays are back in vogue. Meanwhile, pre-modern movements and people try to eliminate ethnic and religious diversity in Egypt, Ukraine and beyond.

China, Russia and Iran have different values, but all oppose this system of liberal pluralism. The U.S. faces a death by a thousand cuts dilemma. No individual problem is worth devoting giant resources to. It's not worth it to spend huge amounts of treasure to establish stability in Syria or defend a Western-oriented Ukraine. But, collectively, all the little problems can undermine the modern system. No individual ailment is worth the expense of treating it, but, collectively, they can kill you.

John Gaddis, another grand strategy professor, directs us to George Kennan's insights from the early Cold War, which he feels are still relevant as a corrective to the death-by-a-thousand-cuts mentality. He argues that we should contain these menaces until they collapse internally. The Moscow regime requires a hostile outside world to maintain its own internal stability. That's a weakness. By not behaving stupidly, by not overextending ourselves for example, we can, Gaddis argues, "make sure Putin's seeds of self-destruction are more deeply rooted than our own."

That's smart, but I think I'm less sure that time is on our side. The weakness with any democratic foreign policy is the problem of motivation. How do you get the electorate to support the constant burden of defending the liberal system?

It was barely possible when we were facing an obviously menacing foe like the Soviet Union. But it's harder when the system is being gouged by a hundred sub-threshold threats. The Republicans seem to have given up global agreements that form the fabric of that system, while Democrats are slashing the defense budget that undergirds it.

Moreover, people will die for Mother Russia or Allah. But it is harder to get people to die for a set of pluralistic procedures to protect faraway places. It's been pulling teeth to get people to accept commercial pain and impose sanctions.

The liberal pluralistic system is not a spontaneous natural thing. Preserving that hard-earned ecosystem requires an ever-advancing fabric of alliances, clear lines about what behavior is unacceptably system-disrupting, and the credible threat of political, financial and hard power enforcement.

Why come watch "The Healthcare Movie" Thursday night May 1 @ Grand Theater 7 p.m.

http://www.upworthy.com/his-first-4-sentences-are-interesting-the-5th-blew-my-mind-and-made-me-a-little-sick-2?c=reccon1

What The Hell Do People Believe In If They Don't Believe In God? This Guy Has One Heck Of An Answer.

http://www.upworthy.com/what-the-hell-do-people-believe-in-if-they-dont-believe-in-god-this-guy-has-one-heck-of-an-answer?c=pm1

THIS is what Salem should model itself after, not carburbia

   http://read.feedly.com/html?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.resilience.org%2Fstories%2F2014-04-25%2Fcreating-a-durable-local-economy-lessons-from-the-burlington-vt-model&theme=white&size=medium

Chris Martenson: Welcome to this Peak Prosperity podcast. I am your host Chris Martenson, and today we're going to continue our dialogue on how to take your money away from Wall Street and put it to work on Main Street. It is our mission to surface and promote the sorts of investments that make our world a better place. And, fortunately, there are more and more examples to choose from thanks to dedicated and hardworking people everywhere.

I was really intrigued by something by something that came up in a 

recent interview

 with Michael Shuman on local investment opportunities when he said this:

What I attribute Burlington's success to is that for the last twenty-five years, their economic development team, led in part by a fellow named Bruce Seifer, focused not on the attraction of global companies but focused instead on the nurturing of local business and local entrepreneurship. And they did it in a hundred different ways. They have done it through very careful downtown development of Burlington, they have done it through entrepreneurship programs and lending programs targeted to women, immigrants, minority groups. They have done it through interesting types of smart growth. They have done it through helping to organize small local business alliances as something different from the typical Chamber of Commerce, which usually gives bigger companies a louder voice. And I just feel like, you know, that is a testament—that is a design of economic development that more and more communities should be paying attention to.

(Much more at link ...)

And it's still the right thing to do

        The only honest way to evaluate electoral reforms is to forget about your political preferences and simply seek reforms that fix problems for everyone, without worrying about whether it helps you or hurts you in the present tense.

Although the claim linked here is that the National Popular Vote would help Republicans, in fact it would help everyone, because the Electoral College is an absurdity that produces idiots like W.  Every American's vote should count the same in electing to our sole national elected office (the veep position aside).

Here in Salem, we have the usually thoughtful Sen. Peter Courtney refusing to allow NPV to come for a vote, and, worse, refusing to justify his position or even explain it.

http://read.feedly.com/html?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.beaumontenterprise.com%2Fopinions%2Fcolumns%2Farticle%2FTHOMAS-TASCHINGER-Popular-vote-is-GOP-s-only-5430879.php&theme=white&size=medium
----

Opportunity Pounding On Our Door -- will we open it?

All the emails mentioned are in one lump at the bottom, along with a sample letter you can modify to suit yourself. 

 The words you use matter less than the fact that you care enough to write and make clear that you want us to seize this truly once-in-100-years opportunity, creating a tremendous resource for the future.

Silverton to Stayton Rail to Trail

The railroad between Silverton and Stayton is only weeks away from being abandoned. After the application to abandon the line is filed with the Surface Transportation Board, we have only a few weeks to file an application with the STB to let them know of the intent to convert the railroad right of way to a trail. 

Our application should come from a public agency such as Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. The OPRD manages several rails to trails in Oregon.

Rocky Houston, state trails coordinator, said that he needs to see a large, grassroots effort in support of the trail in order to make this a priority for OPRD.  

Action Item #1

Do This:  Call or email Rocky Houston, OPRD trails coordinator, email is best: rocky.houston@state.or.us;or call 503 986-0750, leave a message since he is out frequently.

Just tell him that this is an important project and the Silverton to Stayton rail line should become a state park.

You may also want to contact Steve Kay, Recreation Grants and Community Programs Manager (Rocky's boss). 503 986-0705; steve.kay@oregon.gov .

Action Item #2

Call your state representative or senator and to say this is an important project and should be a state park. 

The legislature can set the priorities for park acquisition if given enough encouragement. 

Vic Gilliam and Kevin Cameron are the State Representatives for most of the trail, 

Rep. Cameron is also running for Marion County Commissioner. 

Rep. Cameron's phone is: 503 986-1419  and his email is: rep.kevincameron@state.or.us .

Rep. Gilliam's phone number is: 503 986-1418 and his email is: rep.vicgilliam@state.or.us

Jackie Winters and Fred Girod are the State Senators for this area.

Senator Winters phone number is: 503 986-1710; her email is Sen.JackieWinters@state.or.us.

Senator Girod's phone number is: 503 986-1709; his email is: Sen.FredGirod@state.or.us.

If we can get 100 people to send emails or make calls, we could convince the OPRD that this is an important project.

Please contact all these people this weekend (and ask your city council to submit a resolution in support too!)

All the emails mentioned above (though it wouldn't hurt to write your own state rep and senator, and the other Marion County Commissioners too)

rocky.houston@state.or.us 

steve.kay@oregon.gov 

rep.kevincameron@state.or.us

rep.vicgilliam@state.or.us

Sen.JackieWinters@state.or.us

Sen.FredGirod@state.or.us.

Sample letter:

I am writing to you because it is urgent that we act quickly to submit our application for Rails-to-Trails conversion for the Stayton-Silverton Shortline RR that is being abandoned.

This creates a tremendous and unexpected opportunity to leave a wonderful lasting legacy that will be among the proudest things we will do for ourselves and our area.  And you will be able to look back proudly and explain to your kids and grand kids and all your friends and neighbors how you were instrumental in helping make a great trail come to be.

Please do not let this once-per-century gift be squandered and lost! If this Rails-to-Trails application project doesn't get submitted and get strong public backing NOW, the moment will be lost, and will never be available again, as the rail right-of-way will revert into fragmented pieces.

Please do your part for a better future, make this a top priority for Oregon and Marion County.

Thank you,

(Your name and contact info)

Likely the first thing Hovde has ever written that is spot-on

       O "guest columnist" Elizabeth Hovde has a very poor batting average for worthwhile opinion pieces. She seems like a decent enough person individually but her position of privilege and fealty to supposedly "conservative" positions regularly leads her to write absurd things in defense of the indefensible.  She is so busy trying to police the morals of the poor that she pays no mind to the the moral delinquency and destruction in what the 1% are doing to destroy America and most of the people in it, including folks like Hovde.

But, credit where credit is due, she knocks this one out of the park.  Amazing what a little personal experience with a health crisis or injury can do.

http://www.oregonlive.com/hovde/index.ssf/2014/04/elizabeth_hovde_take_time_to_c.html

Advanced directives -- everyone should do one as part of graduating from high school or GED class, and then sign it on their 18th birthday if they couldn't before.  And then review it annually each birthday thereafter.

Greet the future or gut transit and blow hundreds of millions on auto-enabling relics

To the Salem Area Mass Transit District (Cherriots) Board:

Gee, we could either bow to the wishes of the Chamber of the 1% and funnel hundreds of millions into their pockets by building a neighborhood-destroying transit-impeding Eisenhower-era highway through town to open up more sprawl development opportunities (for that same crowd of 1%ers) or we could, for just pennies on the dollar compared to that, give Salem a functioning transit system that let's everyone in Salem participate in work, play, schooling and worship seven days a week, which would attract the kind of people we need for vitality and real development that adds value to the community, instead of just mines it for the benefit of the few.

 If Cherriots refuses to stand up and name, shame, and reject the demands of the anonymous bullies on the "Salem River Crossing" Oversight Team who hate even the idea of thinking about transit options, then Cherriots board is acting like an abused wife, constantly being beaten and abused and groveling to ask for forgiveness from her abuser, while making excuses and enabling that same abuse.  

There is no way that anyone whose duty it is to promote the interests of mass transit in Salem can support watering down the already weak tea resolution on this misbegotten money-grab, turning what should be a full-throated "Hell No" on the "Salem River Crossing" into an even more servile statement of no principles.

7. Survey: Little car love among urban Millennials
More than half the adults between ages 18 and 34 questioned about transportation said they would consider moving to another city if it had more and better options for getting around, according to a new national survey. Nearly half of the young adult vehicle owners surveyed agreed they would seriously consider giving up their car if they could count on a range of transportation options.  
USA Today, April 24

Group plans motion to defend Oregon same-sex marriage ban

        From the "You're doing it wrong" file ... Attention-slut homophobes plan to "defend" marriage by keeping people they hate and fear from participating in it.  

Still waiting for their campaign to abolish divorce for straights. . . .

----
Group plans motion to defend Oregon same-sex marriage ban
// StatesmanJournal.com - News

The National Organization for Marriage announced plans today to file a motion to defend Oregon's state ban on same-sex marriage in federal court.
----

Great evidence of no need to commit to road expansions: DOT: Vehicle Miles Driven decreased 0.8% year-over-year in February [feedly]

The goal of the sprawl lobby has never been to build the Bridgasaurus Boondogglus anytime real soon, they know there's no stomach for that. Rather, their goal has always been to get into the transportation plan now, so that years from now, they can turn to people fighting the absurd bridge and say "it's too late" (because it's in the transportation plan).

That is always the sprawl lobby's plan and a key part of their modus operandi. They subject citizens to decades-long planning processes that seem to go nowhere, and they avoid allowing citizens to have a clear choice early in the process when there's a chance of stopping the steamroller before it starts. If the Citizen advisory group doesn't come up with the recommendation programmed by the elites pulling the strings from the sprawl lobby seats, they just ignore the recommendations. 

That's what happened here in Salem. Despite a stacked panel expressly designed to build support for the Bridgeasaurus Boondogglus, the advisory panel never even excepted the idea that we needed a new bridge at all. The "no build" option had the highest support of any of the options considered by the citizens advisory panel.

But the millions of dollars in spending keep going on, lining CH2M Hill's pockets. Make work for consultants and planners is all that it has been so far.

Now the Chamber of Commerce is backing four clone candidates for city Council, all of whom argue that we need a new bridge, although we have no way to pay for it, and there's no evidence that this bridge would do anything to address the problems the so-called "environmental impact statement" process was intended to address.

The hypocrisy of the so-called "business" types is astonishing and would be hilarious if it wasn't so deadly and expensive for Salem. The Chamber and the business lobby around Salem love to present themselves as hard-nosed, clear-eyed thinkers, guardians of the taxpayers wallet, able to read a budget in the spreadsheet and draw the right inferences. But dangle enough taxpayer money in front of them, and they salivate like Pavlov's dog on steroids, and they throw out any notion of looking at the data and the need before deciding on the solution. When it comes the big infrastructure projects, their position is clear and consistent:  the more wasteful the better.

They retreat into gauzy phrases about "moving forward" and "progress" — all the empty phrases they would eviscerate if it came from a hippie in a dress talking about things like community building and proposing the tiniest of taxes to pay for her proposals.

One of the chamber clone candidates is a poohbah in the restaurant Association, the lobby group that has done great harm to Oregon in its fanatic opposition to paying living wages. Workers in fast food joints and restaurants throughout Salem suffer greatly from the lack of a functioning transit system, with absolutely no transit all on weekends. Thus, these workers are dependent on automobiles, which helps keep them poor. Anyone who actually gave a fig about the interests of the Oregon restaurant Association, its members, or the people of Salem, would oppose the Bridgasaurus Boondogglus vociferously. 

Tax the people of Salem 200+ dollars a year for 20 years to build an expressway to connect Polk County and Keizer, and Salem is going to take a severe economic hit. Any candidate who supports that should not be running for election to anything in Salem.

       
DOT: Vehicle Miles Driven decreased 0.8% year-over-year in February
// Calculated Risk


The Department of Transportation (DOT) reported:

Travel on all roads and streets changed by -0.8% (-1.7 billion vehicle miles) for February 2014 as compared with February 2013.. . .

In the early '80s, miles driven (rolling 12 months) stayed below the previous peak for 39 months.

Currently miles driven has been below the previous peak for 75 months - 6+ years - and still counting.  Currently miles driven (rolling 12 months) are about 2.3% below the previous peak.

The second graph shows the year-over-year change from the same month in the previous year.

 In February 2014, gasoline averaged of $3.43 per gallon according to the EIA.  that was down from February 2013 when prices averaged $3.73 per gallon.


As we've discussed, gasoline prices are just part of the story.  The lack of growth in miles driven over the last 6 years is probably also due to the lingering effects of the great recession (high unemployment rate and lack of wage growth), the aging of the overall population (over 55 drivers drive fewer miles) and changing driving habits of young drivers.