Mixed Econuts: The Moonbat Open

Even after appellant Scotty Cornelius stated "I can't say it's because of anything WSU did ... There's not enough data for me to draw any conclusion." and after being eviscerated by a Palouse hydrogeology expert from the University of Idaho who testified that the golf course will not be a threat to existing wells, the attorney for the aquinuts opposing the Palouse Ridge Golf Course at WSU "said she plans to take the case to the Washington Supreme Court regardless of the outcome of the hearing." Can someone please tell me where in the hell these people are getting the money for all these lawsuits and appeals?

From last Thursday's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

Expert: WSU wells not threat to nearby wells

Opponents will have opportunity to rebut testimony of UI professor

A local hydrogeologist said Wednesday the well system at Washington State University should not impair the wells of neighboring domestic properties.

James Osiensky, a professor at the University of Idaho, testified on behalf of WSU and the Washington State Department of Ecology during the second day of an appeal hearing over the state's decision to allow WSU to consolidate its water rights.

The first two days of the appeal to the Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board took place at the Lighty Student Services building at WSU. Each side was given six hours to present testimony, and the board will render a verdict within 90 days after the hearing is complete.

That could be some time after a board decision allowing the group of appellants to provide rebuttal to Osiensky's testimony.

The appellants - the Palouse Water Conservation Network, the Palouse Group Sierra Club and Pullman-area resident Scotty Cornelius - claim the consolidation will allow the university to pump more than three times as much water per year as it currently does. They argue that the university has contributed to the dropping levels in the Grand Ronde aquifer, and point to an 18-hole golf course under construction as a project that will create more drawdown of the area's primary water source.

Cornelius, who lives outside Pullman, has said his well is decreasing at a rate of 10 inches per year.

WSU currently has the rights to operate seven wells, though two large wells pump a majority of the water needed on campus at 2,500 gallons per minute. Additional wells can be used in case of emergency.

Wednesday's testimony was dominated by expert witnesses who said measures were taken to ensure the university's consolidation would not decrease water availability on neighboring properties.

Osiensky said he has determined the drawdown of the Grand Ronde aquifer should not exceed two feet every 10 years through any combination of the university's seven wells pumping water. His research has shown that the aquifer will decrease 1.95 feet in 10 years if WSU continually pumps water. The aquifer will only decrease another half-inch in the same time frame with WSU operating its wells under the consolidation.

"Drawdown is a necessary evil," he said. "You can't get water without drawdown."

Rachael Paschal Osborn, the appellants' lead attorney, made a motion to strike Osiensky's testimony from the record. She said the respondents pulled a "bait and switch" by bringing in Osiensky when another expert witness could not take the stand due to a scheduling conflict. She added that the respondents did not disclose Osiensky's testimony and strayed from questions relevant to his deposition, which was taken last fall.

"We think allowing Dr. Osiensky's testimony is a violation " Osborne said. "They come in and it's trial by surprise."

Board members met in private to discuss the motion. Board Chairwoman Andrea McNamara Doyle said Osiensky's testimony does violate the respondent's duty to disclose, but instead of striking the testimony from the record she allowed the appellants to provide rebuttal to his testimony at a later date.

The board will have a conference call this afternoon with attorneys from both sides to set a time and place for closing arguments and the appellant's rebuttal to Osiensky's testimony.

The appellants agreed to proceed with the cross examination of Osiensky on Wednesday, questioning the equation he used to formulate the data from his testimony. They argued the method he used assumes the aquifer is not confined to an infinite area and is not isotropic or uniform in thickness, among other things - most of which do not pertain to the Grand Ronde.

Osiensky said there may be "some discrepancies" because the data used in his method was not spot-on regarding the Grand Ronde. He noted that the drawdown would be slightly more in some cases, although the "relative impact would stay the same."

Osiensky said the drawdown in Cornelius' well is a sum of drawdowns from all pump wells in the Pullman-Moscow area.

Guy Gregory, a senior hydrologist with the Department of Ecology in Spokane, testified that he did an analysis of wells that could be affected by the consolidation. He found no evidence that the change would impair the water rights of other wells.

"We know there's water in the area," he said.

Osborn said she plans to take the case to the Washington Supreme Court regardless of the outcome of the hearing.

She said the appeal in front of the board only addressed whether WSU was impairing the water rights of other residents in the region. It's on more-complex issues, such as the university allegedly "water hording" unused water rights and the interpretation of the municipal water law, that demand an appeal to a higher court.

"This isn't over," she said.

Mixed Econuts: No Growth Worms

I love this quote: "The giant Palouse earthworm and the Palouse habitats that it depends on are on the edge of extinction and will be lost forever if we don't act soon."

Is it any wonder people can't take the filthy, treehugging econuts seriously? Where is the science? We don't know where the giant Palouse earthworm's habitat is. We don't know how many there even are. They could all already be dead or there could be millions. BUT WE MUST ACT NOW AND HALT ALL DIGGING OR THEY WILL BE GONE FOREVER!!!! Everyone can see that this is a embarrasingly transparent attempt by the dopey local hippies to halt growth on the Palouse.

From last Friday's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

Environmental group files suit to save earthworm

Group suing U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over decision not to list the giant Palouse earthworm as endangered

The battle over the giant Palouse earthworm is heading to the courts after an environmental group filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over its October decision to deny protection for the worm under the Endangered Species Act.

The environmental group - which includes the Palouse Prairie Foundation, the Palouse Audubon Society, Friends of the Clearwater, the Center for Biological Diversity and three private citizens - sought protection for the earthworm in August, claiming that the threat of destruction and modification of habitat, disease and predation, the inadequacy of regulatory mechanisms, and other natural and man-made factors make the earthworm a prime candidate for the Endangered Species List.

In its denial, the Fish and Wildlife Service indicated the group's petition did not contain enough information regarding the range, distribution and population size, and that data on the earthworm was too limited to add it to the endangered list. There also was not enough data to conclude the potential threats discussed in the petition posed a risk to the existence of the species now or in the future.

In a news release issued Thursday, Friends of the Clearwater board member Steve Paulson stated there may not be much time to waste if the earthworm is to be saved.

"The giant Palouse earthworm and the Palouse habitats that it depends on are on the edge of extinction and will be lost forever if we don't act soon," Paulson stated. "The earthworm needs the protection of the Endangered Species Act to survive."

The giant Palouse earthworm is the largest and longest-lived earthworm on the continent and can reach a length of three feet. It has a pinkish-white color and is reported to have a flowery smell. It lives in permanent burrows as deep as 15 feet and has been reported to spit at attackers.

The earthworm's only known habitat is the grassland of the Palouse in west-central Idaho and southeastern Washington, much of which has been destroyed by agricultural development, invasive species and pesticides.

The earthworm was described as very abundant in 1897, but has not been sighted since May 2005. Before that, it had not been sighted since 1988.

"Commissioners schedule third public meeting to discuss Hawkins proposal"

I applaud the county commissioners' efforts to clear up the misconceptions, misunderstandings and outright lies about the Hawkins bond proposal. However, I also hope that they pull the trigger quickly and not get bogged down in endless public hearings. The naysayers will only garner more press as a result, as we have seen with the WSU golf course. And private development does not have the fiat of the state government to keep things moving forward.

A comment on the Daily News website in response to Moscow Civic Association member Jack Porter's letter yesterday sums it beautifully:

What ignorant oaf first said Hawkins was looking for a subsidy and how dumb are those who keep repeating that falsehood?

Check the record. Hawkins is proposing a government entity supply it the same kind of services provided to most existing businesses within the political subdivision. For that service, it proposes to repay the capital and operating costs as well as providing a positive revenue stream into the foreseeable future through payment of taxes and fees. If the numbers available in public documents are correct, the Whitman County stands to do quite well by the deal.

Of course Mr. Porter is no ignorant fool. He's bright enough to see where a considerable sum of money which now flows into Moscow and Latah County will go and to use rhetoric proven to strike a chord with and manipulate both anti-growth activists and anti-government reactionaries.

Nice try, Jack but I think there are enough people in Whitman County who can “do the math” to win the day. Fortunately, it appears we can count our county commissioners among the enlightened.

From today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

Whitman County commissioners want to hear more public input before they make a decision on selling $10.5 million in bonds to cover the costs of public infrastructure at the proposed site of the Hawkins Companies' development just west of the Idaho state line.

A third public comment session is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Monday in the commissioner's chambers at the Whitman County Courthouse. The bonds and Hawkins' proposal to form a public/private partnership with the county for the purpose of constructing the infrastructure will be discussed.

The commissioners hoped to make a decision on the proposal Monday, but Commissioner Jerry Finch said they have decided to delay their decision after several county residents raised concerns about the development during last Tuesday's public input session.

"It was obvious after that meeting last week people had a lot of questions in their minds, and we want to clear up some of those misconceptions," Finch said.

One way the commissioners hope to clear up questions is by making a fact sheet available to the public, detailing the proposal and the county's plan.

Finch said the fact sheets should be available early next week and can be obtained by calling the courthouse at (509) 397-6200.

"Bonding idea shows promise for corridor plan"

In land navigation, you orient yourself and figure out where you are standing by looking at what's around you. The same goes with politics.

To all of you Hawkins development skeptics and opponents, I realize there are still unanswered questions and the bonding proposal is not 100% risk free. But what great accomplishment has ever been obtained without risk? Do you want to be on the same side as CAVE (Citizens Against Virtually Everything) people like Chris Lupke, Don Orlich, Janet Damm, Cheryl Morgan and the Liberal Women Voters?

From last Saturday's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

It's getting closer now.

Corridor development in the past few years has gone from a subject for casual conversation to that for serious discussion.

The planning stage is next and, to that end, one of the latest ideas has positive economic potential for Whitman County and the region.

Boise-based Hawkins Companies plans to build a 700,000-square-foot retail center in the corridor along the border with Idaho.

Hawkins officials have proposed the center's infrastructure be paid by $10.5 million worth of bonds sold by the county. The money would pay for a well water system, roads, sidewalks and a sewer system. Hawkins also has stated it will build a fire station for District 12.

The resulting public-private partnership would have Hawkins constructing the infrastructure and the county purchasing it back at a predetermined price.

That's a sound idea.

Development in the corridor has been stymied by the lack of available water and sewer hookups. To extend those services from Pullman would cost millions per mile.

Most developers and business owners can't afford to foot that kind of bill, and Moscow thus far has not indicated an official willingness to sell those services across the state line.

For the past few years much has been debated about how to proceed with economic growth on the Palouse: some want to control it, some want to encourage it and still others want to find a middle ground.

The Pullman-Moscow corridor will be developed - it's just a matter of time.

Hawkins Companies has the ability to see its development to fruition. The result will be that economic boom many look for in the terms of jobs, tax revenues and money spent on the Palouse.

There are many hurdles left in the process and more opportunities for the public and entities to share input. The dialogue should be extensive - surprises tend to alienate people, and we all know what transpires when that happens.

Nothing is perfect. The bonding plan has a slight risk but such projects rarely fail. And this is a risk worth taking.

That's the Pullman Way

Malone: And then what are you prepared to do? If you open the can on these worms you must be prepared to go all the way. Because they're not gonna give up the fight, until one of you is dead.

Ness: I want to get Capone! I don't know how to do it.

Malone: You wanna know how to get Capone? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That's the Chicago way! And that's how you get Capone.

- The Untouchables, 1987

If you recall, a few months back, Businesses & Residents for Economic Opportunity received an unsolicited petition supporting a Wal-Mart Supercenter from a group of seniors who live in the Pioneer Square Apartments in downtown Pullman. BREO issued a press release, which was shamefully ignored by both the Moscow-Pullman Daily News and the the Daily Evergreen (even though every PARD press release gets front page coverage.)

One of the ladies that signed that petition, Samantha Petri, apparently wanted to make her voice heard even if the newspapers wouldn't cover the story. So she bravely wrote a letter to the editor that was published Friday in the Daily News.

Predictably, the crazed anti-Wal-Mart cockroaches have scurried out to attack Petri with dastardly anonymous comments posted on the Daily News website.

I have just been reading the unprecedented libelous and defamatory online comments posted in response to my letter that ran in the Daily News last Tuesday. In my letter, I defended Dale Hammerly, the owner of the Pullman RadioShack, against PARDner Chris Lupke's arrogant berating. I couldn't care less if the moonbats come after me. I was much more concerned whether Adrian Peterson would start today for my struggling fantasy football team (he did and already has 116 yards rushing and 2 TDs at the time of this writing!)

First of all, the PARDners' comments crack me up. There is nothing more humorous than seeing a bunch of overeducated poltroons shadow box with someone who was two thousand miles away and not even aware of what they were posting. Apparently, I am some sort of all-purpose boogeyman, the evil Lord Waldemart, hiding in the shadows behind every pro-Wal-Mart sentiment, every comment in favor of free enterprise and liberty, and every nefarious corporate conspiracy. I'm flattered!

Secondly, these comments have allowed Palouse residents to see these PhDs, these "heroes" act like a bunch of third grade schoolyard toughs and to truly realize the depth of the cancerous hatred these people feel towards Wal-Mart and the people that shop there and to see what big cowards they really are. Agree with me or not, at least I have the cojones to have taken a very public stance on a very controversial issue USING MY REAL NAME and thus subjecting myself (and my family) to all these tirades.

And lastly, in the military, this is what is known as bomb damage assessment. To have stirred up such a nest of angry hornets, my latest letter to the editor must have hit PARD where it did the most damage. This is extremely rewarding and energizing. It is confirmation that I am on target and doing the right thing. Every PARD sobriquet is a badge of honor to me. My worst fear is to be completely ignored and irrelevant.

However, I will not stand idly by while the PC Gestapo harrasses college kids for exercising their First Amendment rights. And I'm not going to tolerate a libtard professor insulting a respected local businessman. But where I really draw the line is when craven scumbags hide behind internet aliases to hurl insults at a defenseless elderly lady. I have never stated that people who oppose Wal-Mart or exercise their free speech rights should be "run out of town." But I would be more than happy to escort outside city limits someone who hates something so much that he would stoop to the level of a nameless and faceless online mugging of an old woman.

That is why I will NEVER quit, nor will I EVER "apologize" for telling the truth and identifying these people for who they really are. I will NEVER give up this fight, not as long as there are people like Ms. Petri and other seniors, struggling college students, young couples with children, single mothers, immigrant and blue collar families, and all the common everyday working class heroes of Pullman who don't have the luxury of a tenured professorship to allow them to be political when choosing a place to shop for the essentials in their lives.

As to Lupke, the one PARDner who has had the guts to post on the Daily News website using his real name, I have another quote from The Untouchables:

One more thing, you have an all out prize fight, you wait until the fight is over, one guy is left standing. And that's how you know who won.

December 19 is rapidly approaching. Let's see who is left standing after that, Lu Laoshi.

From Friday's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

Some seniors want Wal-Mart

As a senior citizen living in Pullman and loving it, I and many of my friends are waiting for Wal-Mart. Many of us have no personal transportation (we use Dial-A-Ride, which is a lifesaver) so "one-stop shopping" would be a blessing for us. If we use Dial-A-Ride to go to several different places to get things, it is a real hassle and gets expensive. To have everything in one place would be a dream come true. The newly remodeled Safeway is very nice but things are very expensive there.

I have lived in places with Wal-Mart Superceners as well as Sam's Club and it really gives you a sense of free enterprise in that competition keeps prices down and more variety is available.

These ridiculous delays and appeals by the Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development are a ploy to make Wal-Mart go somewhere else, which I hope won't happen. The PARD people don't need the advantages the rest of us need as I'm sure they can drive anywhere they desire to shop. It's costing tax money to have all these hearings.

Pullman needs more tax base. People, don't be so selfish! Moscow has benefited from our isolationism and progress will come to Pullman one way or another - it's not a bad thing.

Samantha Petri, Pullman

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The Idiots Took the Bait

I had prayed that someone from PARD would be foolish enough to publicly attack Radio Shack owner Dale Hammerly by name, in addition to the cowardly, anonymous attacks they have made on the Daily News website. Now everyone can see how they really feel about "local business." It's all about Wal-Mart hatred, not "Mom and Pop." I can only imagine the torrent of anti-PARD letters this is going to set off.

And I should have known it would be the supremely arrogant and ever loquacious Chris Lupke. Nice move, Poindexter. But you might as well enjoy it while it lasts. And I looked, and beheld a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Jack McCullough, and Attorneys Fees followed with him. From today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

Market has spoken with its silence

One of the nicest things about Pullman is that it preserves the small-town appeal lost to most of America these days. It's a place where the person at the bank who decides whether I get a loan, the person who cuts my hair, who bags my groceries, who sold me my truck, and who sold me my home all know me by my first name.

It came as an unpleasant surprise, therefore, that Dale Hammerly, in whose RadioShack I've made many purchases (and hope to continue to), would write so churlish a letter (Opinion, Nov. 16), wondering aloud why the "silent majority" in Pullman were not outraged over the prolonged wait for a gigantic Wal-Mart Supercenter to grace our horizon on Bishop Boulevard.

I believe I can answer his question regarding this deafening silence: Most Pullmanites have little appetite for such a superfluous addition to the retail landscape, and many recognize Wal-Mart's real and well-documented harms to communities like ours.

Leaving aside the litany of self-contradictions pervading Hammerly's letter (that Wal-Mart is free-market when it predicates its reputed cheap prices on the backs of a work force in part reliant on government-subsidized health insurance, that it will increase local tax revenues when we taxpayers are footing the bill for this subsidy, that the free market somehow magically granted China the MFN status necessary for Wal-Mart to establish its sweatshops abroad, and that big-box retail duplicated in Pullman would form a regional magnet), I was most taken aback by Hammerly's ungracious call for those who recognize Wal-Mart's inhumanity to "pack up and ship out." That could be bad for business, for if all who disdain Wal-Mart were to "ship out" of Pullman there would scarcely be enough of us left to shop at your store.

Christopher Lupke, Pullman

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Revenge of the Nerds

The Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development's position paper of March 2005 ranked Radio Shack as one of the local businesses that would see a "High Impact" from Wal-Mart's entry into the Pullman market.

In December of last year, PARDner Cynthia Hosick wrote "We are customers of..Radio Shack...We support Pullman businesses."

And who can forget PARD's "Buy Local" campaign to support Pullman businesses?

Of course, the eggheaded sociology and English professors of PARD know as much about running a business as they do about fornicating. They never actually bothered consulting with the owner of Radio Shack to see if he felt his store was at risk. In a letter to the editor of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News published Friday, Dale Hammerly, the owner of the Pullman Radio Shack said he welcomed Wal-Mart. In fact, Hammerly recently purchased the Radio Shack in La Grande, OR and moved it on to the La Grande Wal-Mart parking lot.

Now that Hammerly has stepped out of line and publicly supported the Great Satan, the "defenders of Pullman business" are rising up like the crazed jihadis they are with stones in their hands and curses on their lips.

Hammerly asked why the "silent majority will not stand up and shout that the protestors should pack up and ship out." If Dale has an online subscription to the Daily News and reads the comments posted there about his letter, he'll have the answer to that question.

The hissing PARD cockroaches have scurried out from their dung piles to engage in cowardly character assassination, libeling and defaming Hammerly's business and reputation, as well as spewing their usual tripe about Target, Republicans, and their worthless petition.

For example:

And radioshack?!! Such good service from the snot nose highschool kids who think they know tech (but don't) that are too busy to give real help to a customer because they're busy playing with the toys in the shop. Do people really still shop at RS?

It seems like Hammerly is one of the "flies" that is begging to get stuck to the "flypaper" that Wal-Mart is, small businesses and franchise owners who first think that Wal-Mart will miraculously improve their business but turn out to be a big sucking sound in the community, taking small businesses and decent jobs elsewhere away.

So, Hammerly, would you kindly mind paying my portion of the insurance costs for all the Walmart employees who are being screwed out of it by their employer -- one of the richest corporations in the world? I don't think ordinary citizens who hate what Walmart has done to our country should have to foot the bill.

I noticed Hammerly mentions "foot traffic" in his letter. I wonder if he thinks people will be walking across the great horizon of asphalt from Walmart to his store. No. They will be driving (mostly PAST his store, not TO it).

Hey Hammerly, is Radio Shack still selling the TRS-80? That's about the last time I was in one of your shops.

I am intrigued by the contradictions inherent in Mr. Hammerly's letter to the editor. On the one hand, he seems to endorse "free enterprise." On the other, he endorses Wal-Mart, a corporation that better than almost any has availed itself of the government welfare system by subsidizing the health benefits of its employees through state-based health programs for the working poor.

I guess Hammerly has never tried to get an untrained Wal-Mart employee making minimum wage help trying to figure out a product in their store. Such "service" is hardly "beyond reproach."

I am rather concerned that this businessman would take such an impertinent attititude toward the residents of Pullman, demanding that those who disagree with his attitude toward Walmart should "pack up and get out." Dale: why don't you take a page from your own book?

I can't believe the angry tone of Dale Hammerly. I guess he wasn't around when all the protests against Wally World occurred. Get with it, man.

So, this is how you "clearly win the PR battle?" Is this the "civil discourse" the Pullman League of Women Voters want to impose on new businesses desiring to move into Pullman?

The "silent majority" remain silent because they do not wish to be subjected to such public scorn and ridicule. It is the heckler's veto that the leftist scumbags at WSU love to use to suppress thoughtcrimes.

The majority of business owners in Pullman who privately support Wal-Mart cannot do so publicly. In a small college town, they can ill afford boycotts of their stores.

That is why I admire Dale Hammerly. He had the cojones to lay it all on the line for what he believes is right. Meanwhile, the PARDners continue to turn off even more Pullman residents with their ad hominem attacks on a hard-working local entrepreneur.

From Friday's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

Waiting for Wal-Mart

I have been watching the nondevelopment of the Wal-Mart in Pullman for the past few years. And for the life of me, I fail to understand why the silent majority will not stand up and shout that the protestors should pack up and ship out.

As a business owner in Pullman I would very much like to see this store come in ASAP. Why you ask? If we had a store such as this imagine the amount of revenue it would generate in sales tax dollars for our government needs, the jobs it would create for the students, and help by retaining our local residents with their shopping needs. And overall, I, too, would benefit from the foot traffic that this store would create.

Ask me and every other retailer where would be the best place to put a store, and I would say next to Wal-Mart. Look at most major shopping areas - when a Wal-Mart comes in who follows right behind?

I recently purchased the RadioShack in La Grande, Ore., Where did I move it? Right on the Wal-Mart parking lot. And let me say it was the best move I could have ever done.

As for those who go out of business when a Wal-Mart comes in. I would say maybe those businesses might still be there if they would be willing to step up and give their customers the service that goes beyond reproach. This is how you compete in our free-enterprise system.

So, Wal-Mart, come on in. I'm waiting and will endorse you.

Dale Hammerly, CEO DLH Electronics, Pullman RadioShack Dealer

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Dork-Mart

The two Wal-Mart hating doofuses featured in the Penn & Teller: Bullshit! episode , Tarraccas Obremski and Chanelle St. Pierre, gave an interview a couple of years ago to Something Cool News of Canada (Canadians never miss a chance to laugh at us rubes south of the border.)

Here's my favorite quote:

Actually, no Wal-Mart officials have contacted us to the best of my knowledge. HEL-MART is a small fish compared to the big problems they actually have to deal with.

Of course they haven't contacted you, moron. The gang in Bentonville are too busy laughing their asses off. Bigoted, ignorant hippie freaks like you pretty much guarantee that no halfway normal person is ever going to hop on the wacky Anti-Wal-Mart Express.

By the way, Tarraccas will design your website for only $12.00 an hour. The average wage for regular, full-time hourly Wal-Mart associates in Washington is $11.39 per hour...

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It's Only Wrong When It's Israel

Headline:

Lebanese army shells refugee camp
-- BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press
I'm waiting for widespread Arab/Muslim condemnation of Lebanon, for Ahmadinejad to call for Lebanon's destruction, for Al-Qaeda to do the same, for the usual cast and crew of anti-Israeli national governments to threaten Lebanon with this and that, for a chorus of loons to condemn the U.S. for supporting the democratically elected Lebanese government, and for our own homegrown lefties to hold an anti-Lebanese candlelight hackeysack/lack of bar soap/save the rainforest/cause-of-the-week peace vigil, with lots of pictures of Che Guevara.

I will not hold my breath for this, however.

Gee, No One Invited Whitman County?

There was a story in yesterday's Moscow-Pullman Daily News about the Moscow Congress, which is part of the process of rewriting the city’s comprehensive plan. Shockingly, no Whitman County residents participated.

I guarantee you that if there were any such gathering in Whitman County, Moscow residents would demand to attend. In fact, some quotes from the story demonstrated that attitude:

“We can’t talk about land use without including Pullman,” Moscow resident Bill McLaughlin said.

“We need to focus on the region when we think about economic development. The changing of the character is affected by what both communities do.”

No thanks, Bill. As it is, in today's Daily News, Mayor Moonbat, in discussing Moscow's new "sustainability" intern, said:

"Sustainability doesn't stop at jurisdictional boundaries; it exists within an ecosystem or a region."

"Sustainability" may not stop at the border, but your kingdowm does, Queen.

I may have been wrong about Bill Parks, however:

Moscow resident and Northwest River Supplies owner Bill Parks said the opposite of sprawl is “extremely high prices for housing.”

“Smart growth means high prices,” he said.

Absolutely true. And some Moscow residents do get it:

Moscow resident Laura Taylor said Moscow needs to make it easier for businesses to locate without putting a bunch of conditions on development.

“Both (Whitman and Latah) counties are starved for tax dollars,” she said. “We don’t have the option to manage growth that is going to occur outside of our boundaries.”

Moscow is Pullman's "Automobile Sprawl"

An excerpt from a story in today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

Moscow resident Nils Peterson, who was a member of two subcommittees designated to craft amendments to the ordinance, said the cumulative effects of big-box stores clustered together and a size cap were lost in the amendment process.

"The dark store provision and cap are important because they are sprawl busters," he said. "It's time for you to step up on the climate-change issue and take action to bust automobile sprawl."

Louise Ashmun said she has been involved with climate-change issues in Moscow.

"I walk almost everywhere and I've gone a whole month without riding in my car," she said. "I have an amazing wonder that such a place exists as Moscow and a large retail store at 130,000 square feet is enormous and completely off character. A walkable city needs to be encouraged and enhanced."

You know, the only thing funnier than barking moonbattery like this, is when the barking moonbats help to prove your point.

If Nancy Chaney, Aaron Ament, Nils Peterson, et. al., were paid double agents, they couldn't be more useful for Pullman. At a critical moment in our history, as big-box stores and developers start to discover the Palouse, Moscow is being sabotaged from within, undoing in the process three decades of retail dominance. I love it!

Plus, think about it. Nils Peterson and No SuperWalMart's own retail demand study concluded last year that, "As a whole, the Moscow/Pullman area is adequately supplied with retail space, with sales surpluses in Moscow more or less offsetting sales leakages in Pullman." According to Mr. Peterson's own words, we can no longer tolerate that paradigm, as it involves the internal combustion engine. There is no "walkability" BETWEEN cities. In effect, Moscow is Pullman's "automobile sprawl" and we must "bust it" to stop global warming!

And let's not forget PARD's battle cry:



You can't say "One Wal-Mart is Enough" AND stop global climate change, particularly if you offer to give people rides to the Wal-Mart in Moscow. I'm going to repost some information I posted earlier about a Pullman Wal-Mart and global warming.



Two studies have shown that Pullman shoppers spend nearly $100 million annually outside of town, primarily in Moscow, Lewiston, Clarkston, and Spokane.

Based on data derived from the Sightline Institute, the average car with a solo driver produces 1.1 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per mile traveled.

Therefore, the average round trip between Pullman and an outside shopping destination produces the following carbon dioxide emissions:

Moscow - 20.9 pounds
Lewiston - 70.73 pounds
Clarkston - 73.898 pounds
Spokane - 164.46 pounds

That one-stop shopping "behemoth" known as a Wal-Mart Supercenter could put an end to unnecessary driving and make Pullman a "Cool City." In fact, as the new Wal-Mart will be well-served by city bus lines and bike and pedestrian paths, shoppers theoretically wouldn't have to drive at all, especially as PARD claims, it will be possible to do all your shopping at Wal-Mart. We could reduce our "carbon footprint" by hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of pounds annually!! In addition, Wal-Mart certainly qualifies as "smart growth," as it is infilling an already highly developed area on Bishop Boulevard!

That my friends, is how you bust "automobile sprawl," save the planet from global warming, and cause elitist liberal moonbats to short-circuit all at one time!

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Co-Opted Out of a Living Wage

The liberal chic place to shop on the Palouse is the Moscow Food Co-Op. Among the elitist denizens who you'll find browsing down the organic, fair trade aisles at the Co-Op are members of No SuperWalMart and PARD.

One of the monotonous left-wing canards offered against Wal-Mart by its fanatical haters is that Wal-Mart fails to pay its employees a so-called "living wage."

The Penn State University Living Wage Calculator figures a living wage for one adult with one child in Moscow to be $12.33 an hour. The City of Moscow established a "living wage" last year of $10.00 an hour for all businesses that conduct business with the city.

That's why this admission from Co-Op board member Bill London last week was a bit startling:

Most starting jobs (after training) at the Co-op pay from $7.25 to $8.75 per hour. A very few lowest-rung jobs do begin at $6.75.

Benefits to workers of 20 hours/week or more includes:
2 week paid vacation
sick leave
18% discount on purchases and free lunch
Benefits to workers of 30 hours/week or more includes those plus health/dental insurance (retirement benefits if work longer than 2 years)

$7.25 to $8.75 an hour? A starting wage of $6.75? Wal-Mart in Moscow pays $8.50 to $10.00 an hour, with a starting wage of $7.25. The Wal-Mart medical benefits plan is open to all part time workers, regardless of hours worked, after one year of service, and all other Wal-Mart benefits are much more generous than the Co-Op.

One could hope that the Co-Op might be an oasis of sanity, where socialist rhetoric meets capitalist reality, or where the realization could sink in that stocking shelves or working a cash register are never going to be high-paying careers. One could hope. Instead, anyone think it's time for a petition?

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Crow Can't Spare a Square

We've all heard of the "courtesy flush." But now enviro-wacko singer Sheryl Crow informs us on her blog that we can help stop global warming by "putting a limitation on how many squares of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting.... I think we are an industrious enough people that we can make it work with only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where 2 to 3 could be required."

By the way, Crow and environmentalist Laurie David have been traveling across America on a biodiesel-powered bus conducting a two-week Stop Global Warming College Tour. Whew! After two weeks on a bus with everyone using one square per toilet visit, every day is a winding road.

University of Rhode Island Student Senate Dumps College Republicans

Institutions of higher learning are attacking College Republicans. We have seen this with here at WSU with the C.R.'s being attacked by two militant professors. Will ASWSU attack the College Republicans like the student senate did at URI?

University of Rhode Island Student Senate Dumps College Republicans
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) ^ | April 18, 2007 | Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE)

PROVIDENCE, R.I., April 18, 2007—Displaying a dramatic disregard for students’ constitutional rights, a committee of the University of Rhode Island (URI) Student Senate voted on Monday to derecognize the College Republicans student group. For months, the Student Senate has demanded that the group publicly apologize for advertising a satirical $100 “scholarship” for white, heterosexual, American males. The College Republicans refused to apologize and contacted the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) for help. FIRE is now calling upon URI President Robert Carothers, who has already informed the Senate that it could not compel student speech, to reverse the decision to derecognize the group.

“Neither the Student Senate nor anyone else at URI has the power to force the College Republicans to say things against their will,” FIRE President Greg Lukianoff said. “As bad as it may be to tell people what they cannot say, it is still worse to tell them what they must say. The Supreme Court has long recognized that compelled speech is not compatible with free societies. It is stunning that URI’s student government would show such contempt for fundamental rights, especially after URI’s own president explained it to them.”

The College Republicans student organization first advertised the satirical “White, Heterosexual, American Male” “scholarship” in November, 2006. The scholarship consisted of a nominal $100 to be awarded to someone fitting those criteria who submitted an application and an essay on the adversities he has faced. College Republicans President Ryan Bilodeau explained that the point was to use satire to protest scholarships awarded on the basis of race, gender, or nationality. Over 40 URI students applied for the “scholarship,” many submitting equally satirical application essays.

In a meeting on February 19, the Student Senate’s Student Organizations Advisory and Review Committee (SOARC) prohibited the College Republicans from disbursing the money. The group agreed that it would not give out the $100, but SOARC decided that even advertising the satirical “scholarship” violated URI’s anti-discrimination bylaws and demanded that the group publish an apology in the campus newspaper. Unwilling to apologize, Bilodeau appealed SOARC’s decision. The Senate denied that appeal.

FIRE wrote to Senate President Neil Cavanaugh on March 13, stating that because the Student Senate derives its authority from a public university, it must comply with the First Amendment prohibition on compelled speech. The Student Senate, however, in a memo to the College Republicans on March 27, ruled again that the College Republicans must publish an apology and claimed authority to force them to do so. That sanction was later reduced to an “explanation” to be published in the campus newspaper and a mandatory apology to be sent to all of the students who applied for the scholarship.

The College Republicans agreed to publish an explanation of its intentions, but refused to write any apologies. FIRE wrote to URI President Robert Carothers the following day to urge him to intervene in the situation. FIRE wrote, “URI administrators have a legal duty to step in where the Student Senate has failed and to check its attempt to trample upon students’ most basic freedom of conscience.” And in a letter dated April 6, President Carothers did indeed instruct the Senate in no uncertain terms to drop its unconstitutional demand for an apology. Carothers wrote that the mandatory apology “does not meet constitutional standards as laid forth in the First Amendment and in subsequent court decisions interpreting the standard.”

But at a meeting on Monday night, SOARC nonetheless unanimously voted to ignore both its constitutional obligations and Carothers’ directive and derecognize the College Republicans for refusing to issue an apology. SOARC’s decision will be voted on by the entire Student Senate on Wednesday, April 25.

FIRE wrote another letter to Carothers yesterday calling upon him to immediately reverse SOARC’s decision to derecognize the group. FIRE wrote that “[b]y fulfilling this responsibility as a public official, you can teach the Senate leadership that they must respect the rights of URI students and help to instill in them an understanding of the full repercussions for repeatedly and recklessly defying the Constitution.”

“URI’s student government thinks it is above the law—that it can take fees extracted from students by a state university and yet ignore the constitutional obligations that come with them. It is sadly mistaken,” Lukianoff said. “President Carothers must act now to stop this rogue organization from conducting these unlawful acts under the aegis of the university.”

FIRE is a nonprofit educational foundation that unites civil rights and civil liberties leaders, scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals from across the political and ideological spectrum on behalf of individual rights, due process, freedom of expression, academic freedom, and rights of conscience at our nation’s colleges and universities. FIRE’s efforts to preserve liberty universities across America can be viewed at www.thefire.org.