Antelope Valley Blogs

Do we have a larger problem than oil? While every one has their eye on the need for oil we are a sleep while others are stealing us blind. One thing we just cannot live without is water. Did you know corporations are now buying up our water rights across not only America but the world. These corporate giants are buying up complete aquifers, buying up land and the water rights, buying just the water rights from farmers and the list goes on. Water that now may cost us $120 per acre foot could go to $10,000 per acre foot. Please read the following: T. Boone Pickens thinks water is the new oil-and he's betting $100 million that he's right. If water is the new oil, T. Boone Pickens is a modern-day John D. Rockefeller. Pickens owns more water than any other individual in the U.S. and is looking to control even more. He hopes to sell the water he already has, some 65 billion gallons a year, to Dallas, transporting it over 250 miles, 11 counties, and about 650 tracts of private property. The electricity generated by an enormous wind farm he is setting up in the Panhandle would also flow along that corridor. As far as Pickens is concerned, he could be selling wind, water, natural gas, or uranium; it's all a matter of supply and demand. "There are people who will buy the water when they need it. And the people who have the water want to sell it. That's the blood, guts, and feathers of the thing," he says. Foreign Companies-Buying Up Our U. S. Water Rights, and we are worried about oil? What about the water being purchased right out from under us and know one is watching. This same water will then be sold back to us at very high rates, how much are you paying for Gasoline per gallon? You better be thinking how much per gallon we will be paying for water per gallon. These corporations are buying land and water rights in all the dry areas of this county to be sold back at very high rates and profits. This isn't just happening here but in countries where the people can hardly by food. Now they are even losing their houses because the cannot afford the water. The water companies are foreclosing on their homes for non payment of their water bills.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!!

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his Ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters.

He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.

Remember: Freedom is never free!

I hope you will show your support by sending this to as many people as you can, please. It's time we get the word out that patriotism is NOT a sin, and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics, and baseball games.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. 

 

 

Water who needs it?

Water, every one talking about water or the lack of water. It seems so many just do not understand much about water other than they turn on the tap and water flows. People do not seem to real care about the water unless it affects them and that is the way life is in most cases. Tell some one their pretty green lawn may have to be replaced by rock and desert plants and now they want to talk about water.

Water, don't you just drill a hole and water comes up out of it? We live in a desert and that means it really doesn't rain that much here but we do get rain and snow in the mountains. This rain and snow runs down to this valley floor sinks into the soil and makes its way down to what is called an aquifer. Our aquifer is called the Lancaster sub basin. The deep part of our aquifer is under the land that is now called Lancaster city limits and most of the aquifer sets under the same city. Palmdale is on the outside edge of the aquifer. Lancaster holds most of the underground storage and Palmdale holds most of the re-charge. Re-charge is when the water flows from the mountains to the valley floor and goes underground filtering as it moves down down down to the aquifer below. The aquifer is the storage area for all the water, in one part of the aquifer the depth is around 8,000 foot deep. This part has water that is thousands of years old.  The aquifer is made up of three aquifers you might say the upper, the middle and the lower aquifer.

Council denies use permit for skating rink.
Monday, June 30, 2008

To: Mayor Rex Parris and all city council members of Lancaster.

I picked up my Sundays Valley Press and could not believe what I was reading. I may not have the complete details of your decision so that may be a problem with my thoughts.

However, I feel that every one in business should be able to make a living with the investment they have made. Making it in today's economy is getting harder and harder. So many businesses are failing and the only way to save so many of them is to be creative. This skating rink has served the city of Lancaster for years and many of kids have skated in that skating rink. However, times are changing and with the changing times, businesses must change to survive. To tell some one they cannot change their operation to stay a float in a changing time is total bull crap. This skating rink was built in a out of the way place and for you the city council to deny a place of business the right to have there business make a profit just isn't going to get it. It would be like you Mr. Mayor having the city council say you have to many clients so you cannot have any more. Alternatively, to tell Ron Smith that he can only print certain material at his place of business because he never printed this new stuff before so he can't do it now. Maybe Sherry's Church cannot expand any more because it is not fair to the other churches that cannot. Alternatively, how about Ken Mann's place of business, he cannot change what he is doing because the city council doesn't think it is good for the public? I believe the public will make that determination if the change is good for the public or not. If it is not good for the public, the public will not use the skating rink any more and it will close down. If the skating rink shuts down skating because they find out more money can be make renting the building out to wedding and parties, isn't that their right as a business owner. Have we become a land that will now tell each business owner what is good for their business? Have we gone that far? I believe you should all rethink what you are doing, you not only have to protect the business owner and their right to make a living but the tax base for your town. Losing businesses because of failures is not good for the cities economy. You must help the business owners stay in business not work to put them out of business.

 

You know when you get right down to it I believe we all want what each of us think is best for the country.

Some think its fine for people that are poor and want a better life to come to America by crossing the border illegally.

Subject: 1967 V.S. 2007

1967 vs. 2007 Scenario: Jack goes quail hunting before school, pulls into school parking lot with shotgun in gun rack.

1967 - Vice pr incipal comes over to look at Jack's shotgun. He goes to his own car and gets his shotgun to show Jack. 2007 - School goes into lock-down, and FBI is called. Jack is hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Scenario: Jeffrey won't be still in class, disrupts other students.

Those Oklahoma hills sure do bring back memories, do you remember the song "Those
Oklahoma Hills Where I Was Born". I don't know who wrote the song but I'm sure his or her memories of those Oklahoma hills were the same as mind. Around where I was born which was Bartlesville they called the hills circle mountains but they were only hills. Hills covered with Blackjack trees and Hickory trees and a little of this and that make up the full beauty of the Oklahoma Hills. Out cropping of sandstone with moss all over them and small caves are a vital make up of the hills. Wild life is abundant in the hills and mixed with the trees and sandstone make up the complete picture. In the fall the hills turn wonderful colors and give the rustic setting for the log cabins that still can be found back in the hills. Along the bottom of the hills where I lived you can find Indian cemeteries with sandstone fences and over grown with weeds and grass. Small old school houses that are now being used for houses are also around the bottom of the hills. Yes those Oklahoma Hills are something to see and a good place to hike around. When you get hungry just look around and you will find wild Berries to eat and water from fresh springs that stream down the hills and over the sandstone on its way to the river
below. At the foot of the hills lays a carpet of grass that form meadows and feeding grounds for the Deer and wild Turkeys to hide in. Yes those Oklahoma Hills are great and the memories of my younger days are just as great.

Ladies and Gentleman, if you think gasoline prices are high now just watch and see them climb higher and higher. The question why, and that question is asked over and over. The blame for it is always the gas companies are ripping us off. But are they really?

They are making great profits because like all businesses they put on the price a certain percentage of profit, as the price goes up so does the profit. This isn't the reason the prices are high at all, no it's the people that will not let us drill in places like Alaska, off the coast and change coal into fuel oil or change shale into oil by removing the oil from the shale.

Its because we will not let the oil companies build refineries and we think the only place to get the oil is from some where else besides here in America. We have around 825 billion barrels of oil in our coal three times more that what Sandi Arabia has in oil, but do you see us removing it from the coal? No they would rather see us rely on foreign oil, oil that could be cut off to us at any time then where would we be?

Stop the Delta pumps to save the Smelt and lose a aquifer.

Does this make since? The Antelope Valley Aquifer is endanger of caving due to lack of water in the upper aquifer. We could start seeing land subsidence all over the Antelope Valley. Land Subsidence has already happened at Edwards Air Force Base and other places in the valley. These groups of people that are out to save a small fish that isn't worth saving even for fish bait is costing this valley a problem that will destroy our aquifer if we don't start recharging this aquifer with water from the Delta. This is a time bomb just waiting to happen. What happens if we don't recharge and a earthquake shakes and empty aquifer and it caves? The land above will sink and this aquifer will be lost forever. I believe these same people that would rather save a fish better start thinking of another way to save it, like fish hatcheries for the Smelt but the pumps must keep pumping, it's the blood of the Antelope Valley and Southern California. They talk about and endangered species, I'm talking about an endangered aquifer that can not be saved once it caves in on itself. Which must we save the fish species or the humans species. Water is something we just cannot live without and water shortages are happening throughout the world. We have to start banking and recharge this Antelope Valley Aquifer if we have to take the State and Federal government to court on this issue. Smelt can be moved, Smelt can be raised in a hatchery designed for them. The human species must be protected and put first above the Smelt, the water pumps must keep pumping.

The Water Problem
Our city planners haven't been taking care of business when it comes to water. In every tract of homes they have installed holding ponds to stop run off that use to run until it hit recharging areas and go back down to the aquifer. Now the water is stopped and is held to evaporate and raise mosquitoes.

Storm drains should have been installed all over the valley where the water that use to flow naturally can make it to recharging areas.

We can not afford to wait any longer on getting ready to recharge from the aqueduct. Recharginging areas should be getting ready to except water now and pipe lines to those recharging areas neen to be installed now. This all takes a lot of time getting ready it doesn't happen over night.

We have to pay for a certain amount of water from the aqueduct even if we don't use it. We have wasted water that was paid for because we didn't need it and didn't have any place for that water to go.