Re: Hurricane Bertha

On Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:52:56 -0700, Joerg
<notthisjoergsch@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Jonathan Kirwan wrote:

Out here (and I can provide court cases to read, if you like, which
cite the federal measure I mentioned), about the only thing that a
local gov't can do to control some particular construction project is
to show that it is in some fashion unsafe, engineering-wise. In some
extreme cases where there is a serious traffic change problem to a
very low traffic neighborhood, there is room for them to insist on
paying for appropriate flow changes for safety in the area (lights,
etc.) There are plenty of web sites discussing the changes in land
use permitted after Clinton signed the RELIGIOUS LIBERTY PROTECTION
ACT in 2000. Our state no longer can require much of any conformance,
though there are successes here and there to restrain them a bit. I'd
assumed this is the same circumstance pretty much elsewhere in the US,
now. But I could be wrong about it. State courts do what state
courts do, I suppose.

I spoke with the manager at a Methodist facility called Alder's Gate
here in Oregon, a few years ago, about this. He was talking about
some repairs they were doing and an expansion they were making (I'd
seen the work and asked about it.) I brought up the point about the
religious liberty act and asked him if it was true that the local
authorities couldn't really interfere, except for engineering and
safety issues and he said, "Yes," and then went on to explain some
details about their interactions with the county officials to confirm
that. So I have at least ONE, first person, informed story about this
besides the court cases I've also read.

At the end of the day all this boils down to who has the most clout. In
politics clout equals money. The local authorities usually don't have
any but if they overrun the budget they don't seem to have a worry in
the sky because it's "only" taxpayer money. A church and most other
organizations have a higher level of financial discipline and they can't
run up tens of thousands in attorney fees to put up a fight.

Well, it seems Oregon is a bit of a backwater in that way. For
example, Don Bowey had brought up the issue of an expensive-home
project near the coast of Oregon which the local authorities fought
for a while because it was not safe ground to build on. However, the
developers had far more money and literally _scared_ the local gov't
by sueing them. They couldn't afford to fight the legal battles and
gave up. The houses, a few years later, wound up sliding into the
ocean and there were fingers pointing at the local gov't for having
permitted them. Oh, well. Anyway, the gist of this is that Oregon's
local gov'ts are generally poor for the most part -- except Multnomah
County (Portland area), which is quite a power unto itself.

Being a church is VERY GOOD MEDICINE for any business. Sadly, this
makes them VERY TEMPTING for people with... less than honerable
intentions.

BTW, Jon, well said.
On the point about the nugget of what it means to be Christian?
Thanks. I just wish I met a few more of them than I seem to.

I have closely watched your comments about your faith, when you are
kind enough to share it, and you express it with a rare natural
beauty. Even the humble, and only in appropriate conversational,
fashion by which you rarely speak about it contributes nicely.

I have been impressed.
Thanks, very kind. I try just to live it and not force faith on people.
IMHO that and volunteer help are the only way.

That's what pleases me so much about it, Joerg. It's how it should
be, I think. Our world, our country, our communities would all be so
much better if more Christians felt like you do. I'm an atheist and
despite that personal defect I would be proud and honored for the
privilege to live and work together with such a community of
Christians.

WRT volunteering I am probably way behind you. Somewhere you mentioned
north of 10,000 hours. I have quite a few years to go to reach that
level. Whether someone working next to me is an atheist or of other
religion doesn't matter much, at least not to me.

Agreed. I've been holding a consistent activity for well more than 20
years now, which is why I can rack up the numbers.

One of the HUGE benefits I have, though, is a wonderful wife who is my
first and only. She used to babysit me when we were kids and I've
known her from my days of life. She's two years older and probably
the only girl who treated me at all nicely when I was a bratty 10 year
old. She left me for 12 years, when I was about 12, but I had very
fond feelings for her by then. When she came back to the area when I
was 24, she needed a place to stay and I had been renting her parents'
home at the time. So we shared for a bit, and talked again for over a
year before becoming involved, finally. I hadn't ever dated up to
that time -- I was chased, even a teacher at high school ordered me to
kiss her after hours one time, and I had many girls ask... but I was
scared spitless of just how important all this was to me and literally
ran from such encounters. With Becky, though, I was comfortable and
although I frankly had no idea at all where things would go with us
living in the same house (yes, I was that dense) and no intentions at
all, she finally just said, "You know where all this is leading, don't
you?" I was kind of shocked, but pleasantly so once the idea settled.

We've been through everything together, and I mean most everything
conceivable that any pair can experience which breaks others up. In
the process I've learned what it means to be a best friend to someone
you love. Best friends first, lovers second. Creating a safe place
for her to be with me, unjudgmental, and with a love and desire to
help her achieve her goals that is unconditional. Each day she
chooses to stay with me is a blessing for me. But I do not own even a
single second of her time. She is completely free, like a bird on an
open palm. If I want to continue to keep her presence, I need to
continue developing as kind of person she wants to be around more than
others so she freely makes that choice.

I have been so terribly lucky, Joerg. Not just in relationships, but
I also live in a fantastic wonderland of natural beauty, in a huge
majestic home of 5000 sq ft and another 3000 of decking around it,
nestled deep in beautiful, rich wooded land in a wonderful climate for
growing things. None of this I deserve. Every single day when I go
out into the national-forest-like beauty of my property and walk among
the ferns, rhododendrens, douglas fir trees, the squirrels,
woodpeckers, chipmunks, coyotes, hawks, and my animals (chickens,
guineas, turkeys, peafowl, and so on) and do my daily chores on this
huge property... I sometimes just cry with tears of joy for what I
have and know I don't deserve.

To give something back (and never enough, really) for all this, we
have tractor rides and regular walks for the disabled and we take in
regular families and help where we can. We have even provided housing
(elsewhere) for 'street people' and others in need for years, as one
of several activities.

I don't deserve any of this, but I am so grateful for the luck I've
had. Hard work, smarts, and all that mean nothing really if you also
don't have opportunity. Some folks imagine that they get to where
they are because of who they are -- they may say it is because of
hard, dedicated work; they may say it is because they are better or
smarter than others; but I know that no matter how smart I am or how
hard working I may be, there are others who are smarter and harder
working than I am who don't have what I have. And I know that it also
takes luck. The smarts and the hard work just mean you can take
advantage of more opportunities that come your way... but you still
must have the luck to have the opportunities themselves. The fortune
of being in the right place at the right time. So it takes all of
that plus luck.

I've just also had far more luck than anyone deserves to have.

.....

By the way, Joerg. I have mentioned this before, but I want to point
you to http://www.gcrio.org. In particular, ask them for free copies
(shipping is also free) of:

IPCC, CLIMATE CHANGE 2007, The Physical Science Basis, WG I
IPCC, CLIMATE CHANGE 2007, Mitigation of Climate Change, WG III
IPCC, CLIMATE CHANGE 2007, Synthesis Report

There is other material at the site that you can also ask for. It is
all free, including the shipping. Takes a week or so, though. Anyway,
the first one is probably the most important to read. It's not the
full WG I report (that will cost you money) but it is a reduced
version that includes the summary for policymakers, the technical
summary, and frequently asked questions -- which is enough to get
started on.

Jon
.

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