If you can get past this being an "opinion piece"...

Inkara1

Inkara1

Well-Known Member
...then there's some real food for thought here. Obama took the time to visit some school kids in California that posted youtube videos in order to let them know he's "listening," yet he was just a couple hours' drive away from some of the poorest, hardest-hit areas in the entire nation. We're talking towns with 40-percent-plus unemployment, in a usually-conservative county that he actually won with his message of "hope" and "change we can believe in."

But he did correctly pick 14 of the 16 teams to make it to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.

Anyway, here's the article that ran in the Fresno Bee on Saturday. I'm sure I'll get a reply of "hey, look, it's an opinion piece so I'll just ignore what it has to say," and possibly I'll get other people actually paying attention to what the opinion piece has to say and debating the merits of that.
 
One of the things I don't get, and I don't get it from either "side," is why anyone expects him to be anything other than what he is, a politician. :shrug:
 
I can't get over the fact it's an opinion piece.

Now if he was invited to the town, and ignored the invite, maybe it would be newsworthy.
 
Inkara1 said:
here's the article that ran in the Fresno Bee on Saturday.
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oh, poor little him. not getting the attention he deserves. i don't care that it's an opinion piece. it's whining.

now, when is obama going to come and visit me? and when is he going to appoint the people i want appointed? oh, woe is me.

anyone who is reading deeply into a president enjoying basketball is a fucking idiot, and needs to get a life of their own. does obama need to be super somber and at the verge of tears all the time for the sake of the children?

um, no.

grow up, pussies.

"fresno... nobody goes to FRESNO any more."
 
No, he should erupt in riotous laughter at the mere mention of the word "money" and "problems".
 
Considering just how much of the nation's food comes from California's Central Valley, and how much the cost of food affects every American, it seems like Obama would have been well-served to extend his California trip for one day and visit the Valley, even if not necessarily the city of Fresno.
 
2minkey said:
"fresno... nobody goes to FRESNO any more."
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Fresno is the heart of the San Juaquin Valley. When the guy spoke of "food and fiber" je was speaking about the heavy ag industry there which feeds a good portion of America.

Agriculture

Historian Kevin Starr has referred to the San Joaquin Valley as "the most productive unnatural environment on Earth." By some estimates, fully 25% of the United States' agricultural production (as measured by dollar value) comes from California, and the vast majority of that is in the San Joaquin Valley. Grapes—table, raisin, and to a lesser extent wine—are perhaps the valley's highest-profile product, but equally (if not more) important are cotton, nuts (especially almonds and pistachios), citrus, and vegetables. The J. G. Boswell Company's farming operation in Kings County is the largest single cotton farm in the world, occupying over 162 km² (40,000 acres). Certain places are identified quite strongly with a given crop: Stockton produces the majority of the asparagus consumed in the United States, and Fresno is sometimes incorrectly credited as the birthplace of the raisin.

Cattle and sheep ranching are also vitally important to the valley's economy. During recent years, dairy farming has greatly expanded in importance. As areas such as Chino and Corona have become absorbed into the suburban sprawl of Los Angeles, many dairy farmers have cashed out and moved their herds to Kings, Tulare, and Kern counties. Since dairy farms emit considerable quantities of methane and other pollutants, this has exacerbated the region's air quality problems. In addition, several high-profile incidents in which farmhands have drowned or suffocated in manure pits have led to calls to slow the proliferation of dairies in the region, with Kern County going so far as to declare a moratorium on new dairies in 2004.

Between 1990 and 2004, 28,092 hectares (70,231 acres) of agricultural land was lost to urban development in the San Joaquin Valley.[2] In an effort to confront the problem of urban sprawl, the eight Valley counties are participating in a "regional blueprint planning process" that may result in denser developments and more public transportation.[3]
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Actually he visited a lot of people that were hurting and had town halls with them.

Why do you need to lie Jim?
 
jimpeel said:
Fresno is the heart of the San Juaquin Valley. When the guy spoke of "food and fiber" je was speaking about the heavy ag industry there which feeds a good portion of America.
Click to expand...

thanks for the lesson jim. my family bought a large spread in that valley after they got paid to leave the old country some generations back.
 
chcr said:
One of the things I don't get, and I don't get it from either "side," is why anyone expects him to be anything other than what he is, a politician. :shrug:
Click to expand...

maybe when he was portrayed to be more?

now yank your knee back in socket. i saw through it then as i do now. but i happen to be smarter than the average liberal. i also happen to be smarter than the smartest liberal but she doesnt know that yet
 
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