Today B-Line assigned the new Orion buses to general routes including the 40 Route going to Paradise. One of the best photography platforms I've experienced, riding the new buss is almost like riding a living room on wheels. In the lower section, the passengers conversed as though in a friend's living room.

It may be because of the newness of the buses, but there was a much better feeling on the new buses than on those they will augment/replace. These buses may make the daily commute much more convivial.

it crossed the New York Times silicon this morning that they have a new security program under the headline of "City Would Photograph Every Vehicle Entering Manhattan and Sniff Out Radioactivity". Project Sentinel will install over 3,000 public and private security cameras to keep track of traffic in the moneyed section of New York City, Manhattan.

This isn't any different from the new camera badges approved for Paradise Police. While the official excuse for both is Homeland Security, which will satisfy most of the pigeons out there, the real reason these measures exist is to collect information and intimidate the citizenry. As long as the powers that be can keep the masses at arms length from the classes, they can exploit the masses without worry.

I've already written on this as all of the technology used here, until directly challenged in the United States Supreme Court, has in effect obsoleted the Constitution of the United States. When did security become one of the Bill of Rights, or for that matter its need become part of the Constitution? Is life more important than honor?

Or more likely, is all this a means to keep the people in control so that any possible objection to what they want to do will be flagged for early warning so that they can do something about it without difficulty, or without serious consequence to the uber-rich?

One of my jpgmag correspondents calls pigeons rats with wings. but as this picture shows, even they have concerns. Well, if the shoe fits...

Only the fifth Smart car sited in Butte County, this little convertible was parked at Safeway in Paradise. The closest dealer is still in Sacramento, but according to Mari Buckley, these cars are the rage in Europe.

Traffic was diverted this morning by Paradise Police after a power cable was cut on Clark Street between Wagstaff and Bille. Pacific Gas & Electric had the incident repaired and power restored before 10 am. The B-Line 40 route bus was delayed 20 minutes during the repairs.

My corespondent in England, Mari Buckley, observed at jpgmag.com; "Awwww !! It looks so tiny on your spacious American roads !!!"

The march of time and technology has finally changed that. While the powers that be declare that the intersection is now safer, once more Paradise has lost something that has made it special.

photo by Gary D. Brune copyright (c) 2008

When a bank replaced a video store on Clark and Wagstaff a few years ago, they quickly leveled an old wooden bus shed. The Town of Paradise helped them by promising and building a metal bus stand, under the reasoning that modern is better.

What this shows is that the voice of the people does not matter around here. Money is all that counts, and it is better to move money faster than help people. Only when it is convenient for the rich to do a thing does it get done for the poor.

Just like the dog and pony shows that were BCAG's Unmet Transit Needs meetings, where the people came to speak to their needs, only to find that BCAG ruled that there were no needs that they could do reasonably, this is an indication of how Butte County deals with the poor folks.

We have no voice, so why bother?

My mission over the next year was to have something that when it matures, it will be something to be proud of. As the strains of Airwolf and other television themes erupt from my conputer, I etch this in silicon in the hopes I will succeed.
Mail has come in from Connecticut, New York, Las Vegas and Chicago. Mari Buckley, who lives in England, note my highlighting of a small car; “Aha - a Smart Car !! Yes, we have them running round all over the place in our cities - have you ever seen the wonderfully multicoloured ones, some of them are bright green or pink. A very interesting website with loads of great photos.”
Then there is Tammy Espino from Las Vegas, who observed; “What amazing capture you had of the fires in C.A. I live in Las Vegas and every year we get the smoke from the fires and I can not even imagine what it would be like to be in it. We even get the smell. I was just leaving San Francisco when the fires started this year and could see a bit of the smoke starting! Applause to you for such great photo's and the eye to capture it all!”
Here is a retrospective of my year's work

theme "The Rebel" sung by Johnny Cash

Obviously, this weblog would not be complete without a bit of writing. As the editors of the ER lifted quotes to fill their weekly Blog Log, a few of my controversies got some focus, like this;

Cade's County by Henry Mancini now erupts as I close this filing. With a bit of luck I'll graduate from California State University, Chico with a degree in Journalism, and just a little help from An Internet Globetrotter. We'll see.

I have never seen either extreme before, but there has been a lot to remember about 2008. And I was just trying to get the helicopter visible at the top of this tree.

photo by Gary D. Brune copyright (c) 2008

My favorite point of irony just changed hands. The Money Saver on Fair Street in Chico is now a Beacon to the ongoing rush to $5 a gallon gasoline. It's starting out with a comparably low price, but that won't be around long.

Woke up this morning to the strangest pall I've seen in Paradise. With my nightlight still on at 9am, there was a lot of smoke up from the Concow fire.

At Wagstaff and Clark in Paradise, there was an unusual spectrum to the car headlights cutting through the smoke.

This cyclist forded through the smoky traffic on Clark and Wagstaff in Paradise this morning

Paradise Town Manager Chuck Rough is one of the most authoritative and concerned officials to speak

The Red Cross is using the C&MA facilities to help area residents during the last two weeks of fire emergencies. This is one of 12 such vehicles that the Red Cross uses nationwide.

The communications equipment that the Red Cross uses for emergencies stands ready to help the people of Paradise.

Butte County Supervisor Kim Yamaguchi discusses the emergency with a concerned citizen while Wally Herger stands ready to further assist.

photos by Gary D. Brune copyright (c) 2008