Perfect headline for April Fools, right?
Except, mark my words, in the minds of the paranoid right wing, this will be a thing
You read it here first.
In a historic move, California is ordering water use to be slashed by 25 percent across the state to deal with a drought that just won’t quit.
With more than 98 percent of the state suffering from a drought that has stretched into its fourth year, Governor Jerry Brown issued an executive order from the mostly snow-bare Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada mountains — an area that would usually have snow pack more than 66 inches deep at this time of year.
“Today we are standing on dry grass where there should be five feet of snow. This historic drought demands unprecedented action,” Brown said in a statement. “Therefore, I’m issuing an executive order mandating substantial water reductions across our state. As Californians, we must pull together and save water in every way possible.”
Similar measures were considered during California’s 1970s drought but were never implemented, according to the governor’s office.
Brown announced the emergency measures at one of the regular surveys researchers take of the snow pack at what in wetter, colder times is a popular ski destination. Snow built up over the winter provides an important measure of the amount of water that will be available for California’s taps and irrigation systems in the months to come.
Even before the governor’s order on Wednesday, that supply wasn’t looking good. Statewide, snow surveys were at about 5 percent of their average for the start of April, according to the California Department of Water Resources.
In his press conference above, Gov. Brown warned new water rationing regs would “affect golf courses, people’s lawns, universities, campuses, all sorts of institutions..”
Oh my God.
Ted Cruz Warned us.
In an article that would appear to be a poorly-executed parody of Texas Senate candidate Ted Cruz’s (R) right-wing beliefs if Cruz had not posted it on his own website, the Tea Party stalwart touts a truly ridiculous conspiracy theory about George Soros secretly partnering with the United Nations to come into our cities and eliminate our right to play golf:
In 1992, the United Nations adopted Agenda 21 to “achieve a more efficient and equitable world economy,” outlining a process to eliminate environmental decay and social injustice through micromanaging industries, communities, and culture. They will meet again next year to discuss its “progress” in over 100 nations.
The originator of this grand scheme is George Soros, who candidly supports socialism and believes that global development must progress through eliminating national sovereignty and private property. He has given millions to this project. But he is not the only one promoting this plan; in fact, the International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) now consists of over 600 cities in the United States.
Agenda 21 attempts to abolish “unsustainable” environments, including golf courses, grazing pastures, and paved roads. It hopes to leave mother earth’s surface unscratched by mankind. . . . Agenda 21 subverts liberty, our property rights, and our sovereignty.
In reality, Agenda 21 is a twenty year-old non-binding resolution which speaks largely at a very high level of generality about reducing poverty and building sustainable living environments. The United States is one of 178 nations that signed onto this non-binding agenda — and we did so during the Bush Administration. So if Agenda 21 actually were a nefarious Soros plot to destroy paved roads and take away our sacred right to golf courses, it has worked very badly. Two decades after Agenda 21 was produced, Ted Cruz himself is still allowed to sell golf shirts on his website with minimal intrusion from UN peacekeepers.
Sadly, however, Cruz’s conspiracy mongering about George Soros’ war on Tiger Woods is par for Cruz’s course. When Cruz isn’t inventing fantasies about international plots to turn fairways into rough, he invents unconstitutional proposals to nullify federal laws or calls for a radical rereading of the Constitution that would lead to Medicaid and most federal education programs being declared unconstitutional.
If it’s one thing the right have become very good at, it’s mind control.
I first heard about Agenda 21 which Monckton was prattling some nonsense, which is every time he opens His Lordly Piehole.
It’s as though they’re able to transmit “brain” waves straight from Alex Jones to the dittohead faithful in a matter of days, and then Fox and Friends make it mainstream.
Why is this even a point of contention?
We have water rationing in Australia all the time. It is so common, that we have water restriction ‘levels’ that describe what can and cannot be done, and we move into different levels depending upon the severity of the drought.
Its just normal people – get over it.
Because FREEEDOOMMMM!
A point mentioned in this PlanetExpert article by Treepeople – learn from others experience on drought……………………….
“Australia endured a devastating 12-year drought from 1997 – 2010. Because they have similar climate, and very similar people and economy, their story, their powerful successes, and some of their painful mistakes and lessons can serve as a guide to us in Los Angeles and California…to ensure we succeed and thrive. This is good news that gives hope and strength, instead of fear.”
http://www.planetexperts.com/save-water-save-trees-save-ourselves/
“Perfect headline for April Fools, right?”
More than perfect. And Cruz is a total nutcase if he think his pandering to the most ignorant and paranoid of the “base” is going to get him elected president.
The info on CA snowpack is really scary, and it’s not much better for the entire Colorado River watershed. 2015 is going to be a year to remember out there, and if 2016 and 2017 follow the pattern, the refugees from CA are going to be “californicating” the whole country (and the folks in CO already have bumper stickers warning against that).
The Dust Bowl exodus in reverse (Can we then call CA the “No Water Bowl”).
Now my understanding is that golfers are not easily deterred from their sport by adverse conditions, so why not Flood Plain Golf, Sand Dune Golf, Strip Mine Golf, and most challenging of all, Melting Glacier Golf? Of course for Cruz, plain old Goofy Golf should suffice.
BTW, true story, when I was around 12, my friends and I set up a ‘golf’ course in a dumping ground, and used crushed beer cans for balls, and shillelagh style sticks for clubs, and had a very good time…no irrigation required 😉
“Of course for Cruz, plain old Goofy Golf should suffice.”
Funniest thing I’ve read in awhile! Thanks for injecting a little levity into an otherwise disturbing reality.
RE: Strip Mine Golf
One of the things that the mountaintop removal miners back east tout as a rehabilitative use for the ‘flattened” mountains is to put golf courses on them. And malls and industrial parks and school campuses too—-lots of room for playing fields at schools and parking lots for all.
(And for Glacier Golf, moulins will be a real hazard)
Moulins are what Chuck Norris calls bunkers… 🙂
I would think of the moulin as the 18th hole on a mini-golf course. Once the ball goes in, you can’t get it back again…Chuck Norris excepted 😉
or Chuck Norris water slides… 🙂
I like that “water slide” idea. We could also tell the Repugnant golfers like Boehner that there was a pot of “free” campaign money from the Kochs at the bottom and they’d jump right in even faster!
(When the glacier spits Boner out years later, wanna make a bet on whether his tan will have faded?)
California and the various Snowmaggedons have been getting a lot of press but looking back through the Drought Monitor archives, the Southwest and big swaths of Texas have been very dry for several years.
Cruz is one of those educated above his ability.
Not only do golf courses misuse precious water but the herbicides and pesticides used tend to make golf course an ecological desert.
Expect some noise from Trump of Scotland who looks to be exposed a second time for the socio-path he acts:
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jun/22/a-dangerous-game-edinburgh-2014-review-golf-donald-trump
Trump another who failed to deliver on promises:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/donald-trump-fails-to-deliver-on-golf-resort-jobs-pledge-8693854.html
which makes him a good fit for Cruz.