Ed, Elaine, and The Southern Poverty Law Center

[Cobalt Shiva]

Ah-nold is the second actor turned governor for CA, the other one went on to bigger and better things in 1980......

Arnold is the 3rd actor-turned governor. Jesse Ventura was the second, being elected in 1998.

Jesse was governor of Minnesota, not California. Arnold is the second actor turned governor for California.

[LPC]

Arnold is the second actor turned governor for California.

I was going to ask why you didn't count Ronald Reagan as an actor, thinking that George Murphy had been governor, but I double-checked and he was a Senator, not a governor.

(Damn!)

[grixit]

[quote="CaptainKickback"]
And to be fair, the one state the US cannot do without - California:
/quote]

Gotta be careful on this one. Even though i often feel my California citizenship is more important than my US citizenship, the fact remains that without the Union, California would not be in its current cultural and economic dominance position.

We'd have to print our own money.

We'd need our own armed forces. Food would be more expensive: we may be self sufficient in lettuce, broccoli and strawberries, but we'd have to import grain and potatoes. And there'd be tarrifs.

There'd also be tarrifs on the export of marijauna.

We'd all be using macs.

Not enough fanbase to support all of our naked, drunken, beserk, or murderous celebrities.

And the celebrities that turn out to actually be canadian would have somewhere else to go.

In a peak wildfire season, California needs up to 150% of its regular number of trained firefighters.

The phrase "Slick Willy" would refer to president Willy Brown.

GTE and its awful service would still exist.

[grixit]

And you get bonus points if you can name the only movie to feature TWO future governors.

Oh come on, even i know that one: Predator.

[TheSaint]

By 2050, CA, TX, FL, AZ, GA, NC, SC, VA will probably have 40%+ of the US population.

You're overlooking one important factor, my friend: the cost of living. TX and GA, and probably the Carolinas, will continue to grow, because they've got growing room. They can expand the suburbs further and further out to provide housing supply for people who wish to move there. Hell, the Atlanta metropolitan area is something like 25 counties now. But CA, FL, and maybe AZ, are going to run out of room to grow, and become way too expensive for people to move to. When I visit my family in Florida, every other house is for sale. When all the old people die, the growth rate there is going to slow quite a bit.

[LPC]

But CA, FL, and maybe AZ, are going to run out of room to grow,

Room? You mispelt "water."

[Florida]

But CA, FL, and maybe AZ, are going to run out of room to grow,

Room? You mispelt "water."

http://www.floridasprings.org/protectio ... nsumption/

Speaking of water, I finally decided to stop and visit the town my fave water is named after - Zephyrhills. It was rather non-eventful.

[jg]

But CA, FL, and maybe AZ, are going to run out of room to grow,

Room? You mispelt "water."

From http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... d=11097869

Traditionally water-rich regions throughout the eastern United States have been threatened in recent years by some combination of overuse and drought. At the National Drought Mitigation Center, housed at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, director Don Wilhite says researchers who have long worked on the water problems of the West are being called upon increasingly to help cities, farmers, and others in the East.

"We're seeing that the number of basins or watersheds at the point of being overappropriated is increasing. This has long been a problem in the West, and now it's more and more of a problem in the East," Wilhite says. "And we're seeing a tremendous reliance on groundwater in cities in the East as well as the West. Florida is just one of many areas where the groundwater is not going to be able to sustain the growth."

Without the deep reservoirs of the West, many fast-growing eastern cities already were vulnerable to temporary water shortages. Intense population growth and the spread of development have made water problems perpetual. In Raleigh, a combination of overpumping and drought has nearly emptied Falls Lake, the only water supply for North Carolina's capital city. Residents tied up 911 lines trying to report their neighbors for washing cars. Some had to limit showers to four minutes.

In northeastern Massachusetts, parts of the Ipswich River so famous for its namesake clams go completely dry each summer—as soon as the Boston suburbanites who rely on the river for water turn on their sprinklers and fill up their swimming pools. In New Jersey, the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy Aquifer, the state's largest source of drinking water, dipped precipitously as population growth and development hiked groundwater pumping. Water levels dropped a hundred feet, threatening saltwater intrusion.

As water shortages flow east, so do a river of consequences—far more serious than quick showers. In Ipswich, low river flow regularly devastates fish and wildlife habitat, leading to fish kills and closing of the clam beds. During a state of water emergency in New Jersey in 2002, the government halted use of water for construction or use by any new "building, dwelling or structure" in three southern New Jersey townships.

The same year, New York City's water supply reached the most dangerously low levels in more than thirty years, resulting in a drought emergency declaration for the city and four upstate counties. More than 9 million residents were ordered to restrict water.

Today, water managers in a majority of the states believe they will see shortages within a decade, and that is without drought. But nowhere in the country are water shortages more puzzling and prophetic than in notoriously wet Florida—a regular guest on the Weather Channel thanks to its violent hurricanes, thunderstorms, and floods.

Excerpted from Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S. Copyright © 2007 by Cynthia Barnett.

[Imalawman]

Getting back to the law, there is a whole body of law regarding riparian rights (rights to water) and I bet a bulk of that law was formed and established in the west where land was plentiful and water scarce.

Actually not at all. The western states abandoned the riparian water rights system for the prior allocation system. Under the riparian system, water was allocated around the ownership of land adjacent to the water and owners could make reasonable use thereof. Prior allocation (or "Colorado doctrine") gives precedent to the first beneficial user of the water source and subsequent users must not infringe on the prior user's access to the water. Under the prior allocation doctrine, the right can be even be mortgaged or sold (depending on where you are).

At least this is as much as I can remember from the only class I am jur'ed in law school.

[grixit]

When i was in jr college, i took a course called Human Ecology. This was a systemic approach to environmental systems, looking at global cycles and such. One item in the textbook was about a project proposed in the 1920s by the Technocrat Party. It would have created a series of gated canals connecting all the major lakes and rivers in Canada and the lower 48. I don't recall if Mexico was involved.

The idea was to be able to redress disparities in water levels so that both floods and droughts could be abated, and incidently gain more barge routes.

This was described as a terrible piece of hubris that we were fortunately spared. But i've often wondered if this judgement was too hasty.

[Cobalt Shiva]

And you get bonus points if you can name the only movie to feature TWO future governors.

The Running Man, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura.

[Cobalt Shiva]

And you get bonus points if you can name the only movie to feature TWO future governors.

Oh come on, even i know that one: Predator.

Then there's TWO movies with future governors: Jesse and Arnold were also in The Running Man.

[BBFlatt]

Make that 3, they were both in Batman and Robin (1997) as well.

[Cobalt Shiva]

Oh come on, even i know that one: Predator.

Then there's TWO movies with future governors: Jesse and Arnold were also in The Running Man.

In the third or fourth Batman movie Arnold played Mr. Freeze and Jesse Ventura one of the guards guarding him at Arkham Asylum.

So that is three.

Does the Batman movie count? I haven't seen it, and neither has anybody I know--and, if the critics' reviews are any indication, nobody will ever ADMIT to having seen it, or having starred in it, for that matter (c8

[LDE]

Captain Kickback wrote:

The local authorities ther are gutless, ditto state authorities and double ditto the Feds. I repeat, Ed would have gotten away with this for about 48 hours in CA (or TX, NY or NJ) then police or sheriff's SWAT would have moved in and forcibly extricated him.

Captain, it's been stated several times here that a similar standoff in Texas has been going on for five years. So your assertion is contradicted by the facts.

Plainfield, NH, is a very small town (I've been there) and I doubt its local police are equipped to handle an armed assault. Nor should they have to; it's a federal matter and the Feds should handle it.

We know that the Branch Davidian and Elian Gonzalez affairs were directed from the top of the DoJ, in Washington. I imagine nothing will happen in this case without a call from D.C.

[Demosthenes]

It's my guess that the call from the top has told the Marshals to stand down for now. Too many Democrats are calling for Gonzalez to resign. A Waco like event would be a disaster for him politically.

There is nothing unusual so far about the amount of time this is taking. They waited more than a year from the date of the arrest warrant to move in on Randy Weaver. What is unusual is the level of interest in the case, thanks to the internet. One might think that Reno has been the biggest enabler so far in this standoff, but interestingly, it's Fred Smart who has provided the most aid to a known fugitive.

The case in Texas is a little different, though. Gray hasn't been convicted on any crimes.

[ErsatzAnatchist]

George Clooney was in it, as well as
Anywho...back to the law.

It seems to me that the Browns, especially Ed have adopted a policy that no law that impinges upon their actions is valid and the rest of the world be damned.

But, I would bet real money that if someone committed a wrong against Ed or his property, he would squeal and demand police action like he was the king of the world.

Yeah, I somehow suspect that if someone owed Ed money, he would be willing to use the Courts to try to collect it. I'm really surprised no one has looked.

[gezco]

Yeah, I somehow suspect that if someone owed Ed money, he would be willing to use the Courts to try to collect it. I'm really surprised no one has looked.

Anyone think Ed’s going to step up to the plate and pay for that girl’s car? After all, had he had insurance, his insurance company would have.

[.]

pay for that girl’s car?

Of course not. She was obviously part of the evil plot to seize Elaine's vehicle.

[Demosthenes]

There's a rumor going around that the girl was at fault and was cited by the police.