Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

Here’s a post from the website “Republicans for Obama”. We are so polarized, it’s interesting to note there are groups like this:

It is written by John Martin:

“Bachmann, Cain and that other guy.

“Don’t get me wrong– there is a real benefit to keeping these wackjobs in the game. The longer they’re out there campaigning, facing the media and flubbing things up in debates, the more voters are exposed to just how crazy the Republican party has become. For whatever reason, there’s this feeling by many on the right that the nuttier a candidate is, the better. If nothing else, I hope this campaign teaches us a lesson, and we do more to vet and shut the nuts out from the start.

“But the fact remains that I love my party. Just as you wouldn’t stop loving your family members if they start drinking, or doing drugs or behaving irresponsibly in whatever way, I feel like I can’t stop being a Republican. But even I reach a point where I feel like I’ve suffered too much embarrassment and shame, and just want things to get better.

“This morning, party leaders should be talking about one thing and one thing only– how to marginalize or push out the worst of the Republican field, and save us from making us look even worse. Thankfully, there are strong signs out there that Perry’s moment in the sun is about to set.”

The full post is here.

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Editor’s note: We enjoy the books about our local history by Gage McKinney and own most of them. I quoted from “When Miners Sang” in the current issue of Sierra FoodWineArt magazine. So I was glad to learn that Gage had written a new book focusing on local poet Clarence Urmy. The details are below:

In his newly-released book California’s Troubadour (Comstock Bonanza) Gage McKinney tells the story of Clarence Urmy, the state’s first native poet and first from the San Juan Ridge.

The son and grandson of pioneer Methodist ministers, Urmy was raised at North San Juan and Downieville, where his father served churches. His first poems were published about 1880 when he lived in Nevada City.

For the next 40 years Urmy’s work appeared regularly in national magazines. “He wrote,” McKinney said, “in the genteel tradition of popular literature and provided the local color that editors wanted.”

“Beyond that,” McKinney said, “Urmy’s life is a window on 19th century California .” Urmy witnessed and deplored the rapacious development of the state and worked all his life to establish cultural values.

McKinney will talk about the life of Clarence Urmy on Saturday, November 12, 3:00 pm, at the historic Nevada City United Methodist Church , 433 Broad Street . Admission is free. Refreshments will be served. McKinney will sign books after he speaks.

California ’s Troubadour: A Life & Selected Poems of Clarence Thomas Urmy is available at The Book Seller in Grass Valley , the Harmony Shop in Nevada City and at comstockbonanza.com.

McKinney descends from Cornish miners and five generations of his family have lived in Nevada County . He lives in Sunnyvale . His other books on the county’s history include The 1930s: No Depression Here and When Miners Sang (both by Comstock Bonanza Press).

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For the first time, Grass Valley also will host a Wild & Scenic Film Festival program.

The Nevada City-based Film Festival, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this coming Jan., will include a program at the historic Del Oro Theatre.

“This year we have moved the venue to the Del Oro Theatre in Grass Valley in order to include more of the area’s students and allow Grass Valley students to walk to the venue,” according to the Festival.

Zeb Hogan, a National Geographic biologist, will be the speaker.

All the other programs will be at venues in Nevada City — as always. I’m glad to see both cities’ participating in this event on January 13-15. The largest film festival of its kind, it draws many thousands of visitors to our area.

The festival’s website is here.

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“McHenry Crowdfunding Bill
The collaborative consumption movement scored a huge victory yesterday: The Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives with overwhelming bipartisan support,” according to insteading.com.

“’It’s clear that we need new ways to help small businesses and entrepreneurs take their ideas from the dinner table to the production line, said Congressman Patrick McHenry (NC-10), who championed the bill. ‘The first step is to modernize outdated regulations that stand as barriers to American innovation. This legislation will ensure that our small businesses are not left behind. Crowdfunding can help give them the means to create jobs for hard-working individuals here at home.’

“Of course, the bill will still have to survive the tense partisanship of the U.S. Senate before it becomes law, but this victory in the House and a written statement of support from the President is a good start.

“What makes this “Crowdfunding Bill” so important?

“First and foremost, it makes it much easier for small businesses and entrepreneurs to seek capital from individual public investors in very small amounts, and without all the regulation and oversight of the SEC. (Note: these regulations are good and important when we’re talking about international mega-corps and billions of dollars in securities. But when it comes to the local solar company or mom and pop bakery down the street, the rules should be different).”

The rest of the article is here.

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“Homeowners and businesses have now installed one gigawatt of roof-top solar panels, according to a report released this week by the advocacy group Environment California,” according to KQED News.

“A gigawatt – or a thousand megawatts – is enough energy for about 600,000 homes. Only five nations — let alone states — including Germany and Japan, have reached that level. ‘Even in a bad economy, the solar industry has been growing exponentially by 40 percent per year,’ says Michelle Kinman of Environment California.

“The goal comes five years after California’s Million Solar Roofs Initiative began, which mandates three gigawatts of rooftop solar by 2016.”

The rest of the article is here.

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