Comments by Barry Parr
December 22, 2010
There are certainly problems with paper ballots, but the issues that Dan raised are unique to electronic ballots.
While paper ballots aren't immune to fraud, electronic voting raises the prospect of undetectable and unauditable fraud becoming institutionalized.
We have no idea whether the system we use in SM County is secure. How is that possible?
November 24, 2010
I'm not talking about the Big Wave in particular, but the mindset that sees open space as "unimproved" and prefers landscaping to natural vegetation. Having said that, Princeton will soon have a 5pm rush hour that will be reminiscent of a Newport Beach, only on rutted two-lane streets, rather than glorious six-lane avenues.
Although that image of Princeton and Moss Beach today, reminds me of this one of Newport Beach in 1934:
November 24, 2010
I would have phrased it differently: A desire to emulate Newport Beach in Half Moon Bay.
I'm tired of testimony that begins with the speaker saying how much they love the natural environment of the Coastside before plumping for some boneheaded megaproject.
We got some of that from commissioner Rankin yesterday who told us he moved to the coast because it was so beautiful as a result of the good work of "longtime antidevelopment advocates" before he cast his vote in favor of Big Wave.
November 21, 2010
Mr. Byers's presentation was enlightening.
He predicted nine ways in which Big Wave opponents would attempt to block the EIR. This was hardly prescient, since that just showed he had read the public comments.
Then he failed to refute any of them.
When the facts and the law are against you, pound the table.
November 21, 2010
I've uploaded Lee's spreadsheet to:
https://coastsider.com/images/uploads/2010/WaterRate-MWD-11-20-2010-rev1.xls
November 17, 2010
Representing the community to the county on issues like Big Wave is what the MCC is chartered to do. Several members of the MCC know as much about the project as anyone in San Mateo County, including the County's planning staff, and certainly more than the members of the Planning Commission who will be voting tonight.
My concern is that the MCC is scrambling to get this letter out, when the FEIR was released a month ago.
November 12, 2010
The problem of Navy sonar and whales has been an issue for years.
http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2002/07/54077
Black helicopters and so-called chemtrails are an entirely different sort of thing.
November 05, 2010
Jude, thanks. I corrected it.
November 04, 2010
I'm surprised that the city's residents will find what's about to happen preferable to a 1 cent sales tax.
I know HMB has its share of anti-government nihilists -- and I think the city might be better off outsourcing its cops -- but that's just the beginning of the hurt that's about to be visited on the community.
October 25, 2010
Of course, the Coastside was pretty much treeless a hundred years ago -- and is still surrounded by wide swath of chaparral. But you'd think the squirrels would have followed the people and their trees.
October 23, 2010
If the public seems less prepared than the developers and their supporters, now you know why.
October 22, 2010
I'm glad to see the district is no longer trying to soak the Cub Scouts, which provide an important activity for Farallone View families. The rate hike always seemed punitive.
This is especially important in the unincorporated Midcoast, where we have very few public facilities.
October 14, 2010
Ray, I don't have any interest in having this argument again. But that's one messed-up chronology you've got there. To put it another way, Judge Walker found that the "taking" was in the old guard city hall creating the wetlands, it was never a regulatory taking. Property rights fundamentalists continue to ignore that fact, despite claiming to have read the decision. For the record, I disagree with Judge Walker's finding, but he never consulted me. Please, let's move on. I'd be interested in your…
October 14, 2010
Water's a funny thing to price. Without it, your home is worthless, but we get agitated about price increases in fractions of a penny per gallon. Ideally, our water prices should encourage conservation while supporting maintenance and development of our supply. My guess is that we're relatively heavy users in our household. I'd be comfortable with higher rates per gallon at higher volumes because heavy users place more demand on the system and probably have more opportunities to conserve. MWSD is…
October 14, 2010
This has been argued to death for years, but there is reason to believe that the ground was wet long before then. Ken King and John Muller don't agree on much, but they both agree that the property was wet long before that, based on personal experience. Also, keep in mind that that property was supposedly flooded by the failure of a drainage system that was installed by the city to drain...what? Dry land? The property is buildable. The Coastal Commission gave Keenan the right to build a certain number…
October 11, 2010
Is it possible (or fair) to base the rate on the number of people in a household?
I'm confused by your second observation, and I'll bet I'm not the only one. It might be a good idea to lay out the proposed changes and your proposed alternative a little more clearly.
October 06, 2010
As always, Darin provides the best video coverage of Coastside events.
October 06, 2010
I'm pretty sure that this is outside the authority of the local governments these days. You'll need to take it up with the state. Comcast has been working on that for years. We've been Comcast/satellite/broadcast-free for two years now. Between dvd's, web streaming, hulu, netflix, itunes, and more we have more than enough video to keep us busy. We're seeing a lot fewer commercials, we're watching less junk just because it's what's on, and our eight-year-old doesn't know who Hannah Montana is. MCTV's…
October 01, 2010
Definitely the theme from The Great Escape. The familiar part kicks in at about 0:25 on this clip.
October 01, 2010
Yeah, the surface they punched through was totally faked-up and this was strictly a pseudo event that was put on for the TV cameras (and ours as well). That's why I opened with a shot of the cameras. It actually took a lot longer than the video indicates. There was about 15 minutes of grinding on the other side of the wall before they punched through. I have no idea what took them so long. Having said that, it was kind of dramatic and satisfying. Despite the phoniness of the punch-through, these…
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