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Grinning_Dragon 
rideo draconigena
Group: Members
Posts: 3095
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Aug. 30 2003,2:59 pm |
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More evidence that Gov't spending is outta control. Money is tight and they throw it around like confetti, Keep this up and the people will revolt, and then where will they get their precious money to do stupid crap like this. *SIGH*
While road kill may be a dead issue to some people, transportation and environmental experts addressed the problem in a series of meetings in upstate New York this week.
The group gathered in Lake Placid at the Conference on Ecology and Transportation to discuss life and death issues as they relate to snakes, frogs and turtles. Meanwhile, critics blasted the event's $100,000 price tag.
That didn't seem to sway Nelson Hoffman of the Vermont Transportation Agency, who was on hand to explain how putting up fences helped his state preserve the life of its waning frog population.
"It's making sure frogs are fat and not flat," he said.
Among other things inspiring him to address the issue, Hoffman said, was a question posed to him by his 5-year-old son.
"Why do you need to spend a whole week talking to people about that? Why don't we just tell people to stop running over animals?" Hoffman reported his son asking him.
That essentially was the argument being made by the forum's critics, who are thoroughly convinced that such extravagant sums of money should be spent on improving the quality of life for humans, not animals.
Organizers, on the other hand, were quick to point out that the issues addressed by the conference also pertain to driver safety.
"Over 200 people a year in the United States are killed hitting or trying to avoid hitting large animals," said Bill Ruediger, of the USDA Forest Service.
Still, plenty of attention was paid to the animals and the effect of transportation on their environments. Among the topics were the impact of highways on Dutch Breeding birds and the highway mortality of turtles.
Clutching the body of one victim — one even possibly killed by an event attendee — Kimberly Andrews of the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory seemed more motivated than ever to tackle the issue head on.
"This right here is exactly what has inspired me to do this work of research, just noticing from driving around, hey, there are a lot of dead snakes around here," Andrews said.
Florida State University professor Mathew Aresco seemed equally amazed by what he considered to be just as riveting a phenomenon: the effectiveness of prevention methods.
"There has been quite a change in the ability of a turtle to make it across four lanes," he said of areas where steps have been taken to deal with the problem.
A possible solution to the road kill dilemma is the installation of roadside animal detection systems across the country.
Prototypes, and their correspondent costs, vary on different prevention methods, but some taxpayers might also offer a suggestion for saving the needed resources: Stop wasting them on seminars more likely to cure insomnia than save lives.
Source: Fox News Service
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*SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS / MOLON LABE / Se Defendendo
memoria of cado frater ,Semper fidelis
*The object of war is NOT to DIE for YOUR Country, but to make the OTHER BASTARD DIE for HIS...Patton
My Constitutional Rights trump your dead.
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hoosier
Group: Members
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Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Aug. 30 2003,3:12 pm |
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Grinning Dragon, I was watching O'Rielly and I seen that during a break, what abunch of crap. Did you see the guy that was probably sent there by his state or county, taking a nap while the meeting was going on? But hey, our politicians are hard working people with our best interest in mind. LOL, I almost couldnt get that typed without pukeing on my keyboard.
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The power of accurate obsvervation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.
George Bernard Shaw
The devil begins with froth on the lips of an angel entering into battle for a holy and just cause. Grigory Pomerants
We have crossed the boundary that lies between Republic and Empire. Garet Garrett
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1adam12
Group: Members
Posts: 61
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Aug. 30 2003,3:12 pm |
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Well, the crows gotta eat too  . Maybe we could stick out the sleeping guy if they want to discourage roadkill.
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Grinning_Dragon
rideo draconigena
Group: Members
Posts: 3095
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Aug. 30 2003,3:18 pm |
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Yeah, thats where I first seen that was on Bill O'Reilly's, but didn't get to hear or see much of it, dang kid!!!!!
Also seen that guy sleeping on the job, at taxpayers expense, if you or I were to sleep on the job we would either get fired, or severly reprimanded...
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*SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS / MOLON LABE / Se Defendendo
memoria of cado frater ,Semper fidelis
*The object of war is NOT to DIE for YOUR Country, but to make the OTHER BASTARD DIE for HIS...Patton
My Constitutional Rights trump your dead.
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hoosier
Group: Members
Posts: 1476
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Sep. 07 2003,9:43 am |
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Thats why we need the media to uncover these things. Thats what the local news paper doesnt understand. Without a media that doesnt kiss the politicians ass, no one would have ever known about things like that meeting.
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The power of accurate obsvervation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.
George Bernard Shaw
The devil begins with froth on the lips of an angel entering into battle for a holy and just cause. Grigory Pomerants
We have crossed the boundary that lies between Republic and Empire. Garet Garrett
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MADDOG
Group: Moderator
Posts: 7821
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Sep. 08 2003,9:00 am |
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1Adam12:
| Quote | | Well, the crows gotta eat too |
Ever wonder why crow is never road kill? It's because while one is eating, the other watches and when a vehicle is coming, the one watching yells, "CAR, CAR, CAR!"
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Actually my wife is especially happy when my google check arrives each month. Thanks to douchbags like you, I get paid just for getting you worked up. -Liberal
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hoosier
Group: Members
Posts: 1476
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Sep. 11 2003,8:58 am |
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Doug Grow: Taking the dumb, making it dumber
Doug Grow, Star Tribune
Published September 11, 2003 GROW11
The feds don't make mistakes. An example of this governmental infallibility can be seen around a landscaping project going on outside the U.S. Courthouse in downtown Minneapolis.
At first glance, the activity makes it appear the feds might be admitting that an absurd error was made when a landscape architect was allowed to cover the plaza in front of the courthouse with berms, scrawny trees and logs. The design -- along with silly sculptures that were added later -- was sold to us as "whimsy" when the courthouse opened in 1997.
Does the new landscaping work show that the feds understand that the original idea was a bust?
Of course not.
A sign at the project shows that the feds are confessing nothing.
"This unique plaza designed by renowned landscape architect Martha Schwartz will be rehabilitated over the next eight weeks to be brought back to its original design intent by spring 2004," the sign reads.
Berms outside the U.S. Courthouse in Minneapolis
Deb Pastner
Star Tribune
That's right. The feds are "rehabilitating" a bad idea into a bad idea. Cost of "re-uglification" -- $307,000.
In fairness to the feds, it should be noted that this is cheap if you look at the cost of the re-renovation of the plaza at the Hennepin County Government Center, which is only a few hundred feet from the U.S. Courthouse plaza. Hennepin County officials expect to spend upwards of $6 million in a third effort to get a 30-year-old plaza right.
And it should be noted that Minneapolis officials were partly responsible for the remarkably unattractive U.S. Courthouse plaza. Initially, the plaza landscape was going to consist of trees, grass and flowers. But city officials whined that this was far too ordinary a plan for a place as classy as Minneapolis.
So the General Services Administration (GSA), which manages the courthouse from offices in Chicago, hired Schwartz, of Cambridge, Mass., to work her magic. (She is not, however, involved in the redesign.)
And she gave us the berms, jackpine and logs.
Many people assume these berms, covered with patches of dirt, dried-out grass and weeds, must be part of the building's security system. After all, why else would anyone place 22 bunkers on a plaza in the middle of a city?
Alas, they have nothing to do with security.
These beauts are art. The berms, the artist explained, recall the glacial drumlins of southwestern Minnesota.
"You can sit on the grass and picnic or have your own little island," said Schwartz when her creations were unveiled.
Pastoral words. The fact is the berms have been brutal to maintain and the logs have begun to rot, as logs are wont to do. The Thomas Otterness sculptures, which were planted into the midst of all this in 1999, have perfectly complemented the bizarre scene.
But again, the feds aren't tearing apart the landscaping. That would indicate a mistake.
Why is it necessary to spend $307,000 on landscaping that's just seven years old?
"Basically, they're redoing the mounds," said David Wilkinson, a GSA spokesman.
Wilkinson's an artist in his own right. His spin is that the only problem with the berms is that they've been so popular with the public.
Rehabilitation of the berms is necessary, Wilkinson said, "because they have attracted, as anticipated, a lot of people. People just standing on them, or sitting on them at lunchtime or demonstrating. That's caused the grass to become unrooted."
I didn't have the heart to tell Wilkinson, who works in Chicago, that few of us in Minneapolis have ever seen people enjoying a picnic on the berms. I just listened, silently, to his masterful spin.
This time, the feds have "a double strategy" for preventing the grass from unrooting.
They're going to install two different sorts of plastic mesh into the soil and grass. They're also using special soils for each berm because, Wilkinson said, each berm has its own "microclimate."
"We hope to have the project done by the end of October, though it may stretch into November," he said. "But very soon, everything will be back to its original condition so people can enjoy it again."
Doug Grow is at dgrow@startribune.com.
Return to top
© Copyright 2003 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
But hey, there are still people out there that think we need to raise taxes, LOL. Its crap like this that the politicians spend money on. Like Arnold said from California last night on O'reilly, why punish the people with more taxes because the politicians cannot control there spending?
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The power of accurate obsvervation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.
George Bernard Shaw
The devil begins with froth on the lips of an angel entering into battle for a holy and just cause. Grigory Pomerants
We have crossed the boundary that lies between Republic and Empire. Garet Garrett
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1adam12
Group: Members
Posts: 61
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Sep. 11 2003,9:05 am |
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Maybe we could persuade Behling to go to work for these guys - he seems to be in their universe, not ours.
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jimhanson
Group: Moderator
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Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Sep. 11 2003,9:38 am |
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ONLY $307,000? HENNEPIN County citizens should look at FREEBORN County, and be grateful! What IS it about Courthouses that makes people go off the deep end?
Mr. Trow, and 259 other "arbiters of good taste", signed a petition to "leave the 1880s building, reconstruct the bell tower, and remove the 1954 building". This was signed off by the County Commissioners, without much public debate. A lot more than these local, self-styled "movers and shakers" OPPOSED the move, but were given short shrift by the County Commissioners. When about 160 of them showed up at the meeting, the motion was tabled, and the Board reconvened after the protesters went home. When the Fairness Committee tried to have a court FORCE A VOTE on the issue, the County Administrator used the full force of County power to stop it--threatening to ruin the individuals involved.
Have you looked at the Courthouse construction lately? Flat-roofed 1954 building, Victorian Gothic in between, flat-roofed new section. Which one looks out of place?
It seems that both Boards of Commissioners have things in common--build something not wanted or needed, nobody "minding the store" or questioning the expediture of such frivolous expenditures, no comment from the boards themselves--they let their "spokesmen" make the statements, put a masterful "spin" on what is obviously a pile of manure, and never admit an error.
I WOULD say "God help us!"--but we have the power to help ourselves in November 2004--too late for this project, though. What ever happened to the "reverse referendum" proposal?
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"If you want to anger a Conservative, tell him a lie. If you want to anger a LIBERAL, tell him the TRUTH!"
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hoosier
Group: Members
Posts: 1476
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Sep. 11 2003,9:51 am |
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Amen Jim. That kind of reporting would never happen in this town either. The people up there should be grateful for that also, a press that will actually tell the people what is going on with their money.
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The power of accurate obsvervation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.
George Bernard Shaw
The devil begins with froth on the lips of an angel entering into battle for a holy and just cause. Grigory Pomerants
We have crossed the boundary that lies between Republic and Empire. Garet Garrett
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