California Megathread: Best State

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Lycus: Aug 5, 2008; Half the posters in this forum have been made up. This website is a goddamn ghost town.

I hate Taco Bell. If I want fast lovely tacos, I'm going to Del Taco.

# ? Sep 26, 2013 03:29

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# ? May 15, 2024 06:14

Chinatown: Sep 11, 2001; by Fluffdaddy; Fun Shoe

I don't get Del Taco, its like they are Taco Bell minus the even slight sense of giving a poo poo about anything.

# ? Sep 26, 2013 03:42

Rah!: Feb 21, 2006

Trabisnikof posted:

There are large swaths of northern california where the local "taqueria" is in fact worse than Chipotle.

Not in the Bay Area, Central Valley, or Salinas Valley/Monterey Bay Area. There are poo poo tons of Mexicans in those parts, and plenty of great Mexican restaurants/taquerias.

# ? Sep 26, 2013 03:50

Trabisnikof: Dec 24, 2005

If you're including "within driving radius" sure, but there are vast sections of suburban terribleness that peaks at chipotle especially in the blandest parts of the bay.

# ? Sep 26, 2013 04:18

nm: Jan 28, 2008; "I saw Minos the Space Judge holding a golden sceptre and passing sentence upon the Martians. There he presided, and around him the noble Space Prosecutors sought the firm justice of space law."

Trabisnikof posted:

If you're including "within driving radius" sure, but there are vast sections of suburban terribleness that peaks at chipotle especially in the blandest parts of the bay.

I can get you great Mexican in Fairfield (Costa Azul -- make their own tortillas too) of all places, so I don't know.

# ? Sep 26, 2013 04:27

cheese: Jan 7, 2004; Shop around for doctors! Always fucking shop for doctors. Doctors are stupid assholes. And they get by because people are cowed by their mystical bullshit quality of being able to maintain a 3.0 GPA at some Guatemalan medical college for 3 semesters. Find one that makes sense.

Trabisnikof posted:

If you're including "within driving radius" sure, but there are vast sections of suburban terribleness that peaks at chipotle especially in the blandest parts of the bay.

The entire bay area is located squarely in the burrito zone so I don't know what you are talking about. Honestly, maybe 10 years ago I could see this argument being legit but even Jose's Taco Street Corner Cart has a yelp page now. Once or twice I've been deepest depths of East Bay White Suburbia (I'm looking at you Walnut Creek) and even there, its a matter of "Do you want to spend 15 minutes driving to Concord or just eat at something close and good, but not a taqueria".

# ? Sep 26, 2013 04:37

Rah!: Feb 21, 2006

Trabisnikof posted:

If you're including "within driving radius" sure, but there are vast sections of suburban terribleness that peaks at chipotle especially in the blandest parts of the bay.

You said "large swaths" of Northern California have Mexican food no better than Chipotle. Maybe you should define what you mean by "large swath"? There are definitely neighborhoods in the Bay Area (or Sacramento, or LA, or San Diego) that only have lovely Mexican food options, but you'd have a hard time finding an entire city that has absolutely no good Mexican food. Even in many (most?) suburbs.

# ? Sep 26, 2013 04:42

Armyman25: Sep 6, 2005

Lycus posted:

I hate Taco Bell. If I want fast lovely tacos, I'm going to Del Taco.

It's too bad you don't have Taco John's in California.

# ? Sep 26, 2013 04:50

A Winner is Jew: Feb 14, 2008; by exmarx

Leperflesh posted:

Did you know there are local hamburger restaurants in California! Why would anyone eat at Burger King?!!

They're all called In N Out Burger to. :smug:

Lycus posted:

I hate Taco Bell. If I want fast lovely tacos, I'm going to Del Taco.

If you live in So Cal, try Miguel Jr. You can get actual street taco's from a drive though, and not those fake rear end ones Del and Bell are always trying to push on everyone.

A Winner is Jew fucked around with this message at 04:55 on Sep 26, 2013

# ? Sep 26, 2013 04:52

Miss-Bomarc: Aug 1, 2009

Going to a Chipotle in California is like going to a Sbarro in New York.

# ? Sep 26, 2013 04:59

Trabisnikof: Dec 24, 2005

Rah! posted:

You said "large swaths" of Northern California have Mexican food no better than Chipotle. Maybe you should define what you mean by "large swath"? There are definitely neighborhoods in the Bay Area (or Sacramento, or LA, or San Diego) that only have lovely Mexican food options, but you'd have a hard time finding an entire city that has absolutely no good Mexican food. Even in many (most?) suburbs.

If we're talking about whole swaths, I'd wager anything east of Redding has slim pickings. But if we're talking about in the Bay Area there are many culturally dead suburban cities that have no good mexican. Especially not mexican that is both: tastier, safe, and better for you than Chipotle, which was the original claim about the superiority of the ever present local taqueria.

Trabisnikof fucked around with this message at 06:02 on Sep 26, 2013

# ? Sep 26, 2013 05:02

Lycus: Aug 5, 2008; Half the posters in this forum have been made up. This website is a goddamn ghost town.

A Winner is Jew posted:

If you live in So Cal, try Miguel Jr. You can get actual street taco's from a drive though, and not those fake rear end ones Del and Bell are always trying to push on everyone.

Looks like they have a location in the neighboring town so I'll try them some time.

# ? Sep 26, 2013 05:30

SirPablo: May 1, 2004; Pillbug

Oh look, another loving food argument in the California thread :rolleyes:

Meanwhile, Moonbeam signed the minimum wage bill today. Goes from $8/hr now to $9/hr next summer and $10/hr in 2016. I mean, that is nice, but $10/hr would be great now. My wife works in a school as an aide (working directly with the kids in the classroom) and she barely makes much more than that ($11/hr).

# ? Sep 26, 2013 06:31

All Of The Dicks: Apr 7, 2012

Rah! posted:

Not in the Bay Area, Central Valley, or Salinas Valley/Monterey Bay Area. There are poo poo tons of Mexicans in those parts, and plenty of great Mexican restaurants/taquerias.

There are poo poo tons of gringos, too. That is no guarantee that a single one of them can cook decent gringo food.

# ? Sep 26, 2013 06:32

cheese: Jan 7, 2004; Shop around for doctors! Always fucking shop for doctors. Doctors are stupid assholes. And they get by because people are cowed by their mystical bullshit quality of being able to maintain a 3.0 GPA at some Guatemalan medical college for 3 semesters. Find one that makes sense.

SirPablo posted:

Oh look, another loving food argument in the California thread

Meanwhile, Moonbeam signed the minimum wage bill today. Goes from $8/hr now to $9/hr next summer and $10/hr in 2016. I mean, that is nice, but $10/hr would be great now. My wife works in a school as an aide (working directly with the kids in the classroom) and she barely makes much more than that ($11/hr).

Meanwhile, even 10 dollars an hour (at your 35 hour a week job because no one gives full time benefits to low wage hourly employees but a handful of companies) remains a painfully low wage in the bay area/so cal. I've lived on that and its god drat miserable.

# ? Sep 26, 2013 06:38

Lycus: Aug 5, 2008; Half the posters in this forum have been made up. This website is a goddamn ghost town.

I guess that's a very best we can even get out of a Democratic supermajority.

# ? Sep 26, 2013 06:53

FCKGW: May 21, 2006

Are you guys ready for the State of Jefferson?

quote:

Second county votes to secede from California

Along Interstate 5 near Yreka, a Northern California town of about 8,000 people, the roof of an old hay barn informs drivers in bold, black letters they have entered the "State of Jefferson."

For over 70 years, a group of citizens in Northern California and Southern Oregon have pushed to unite their rural counties and secede from their respective states, creating a new state following the small-government ideals allegedly professed by Thomas Jefferson.

On Tuesday, a second California county joined the growing movement. Modoc County supervisors voted 4-0 in favor of secession, following in the footsteps of neighboring Siskiyou County that made a similar decision earlier this month.

Modoc County Board Chairwoman Geri Byrne told Al Jazeera that public sentiment was strongly in favor of passing the resolution. In a packed public meeting of about 40 people, Byrne said only two people spoke against secession.

Her constituents, Byrne said, are "frustrated," because rural counties have "no voice in the state of California."

Supporters of secession say that urban California holds sway in the halls of Sacramento, where both legislative houses are elected proportionally. Since California's 33 rural counties make up only 9 percent of the total population, rural residents simply are not represented, Byrne said.

"People in LA have no clue what we face," Byrne said. "We don't tell people in Los Angeles how to manage crime, so why should they tell us how to farm potatoes?"

Liz Bowen, a member of the Jefferson Declaration Committee, said it takes six hours to drive through her state senator's district. Senate District 1, which includes Modoc and Siskiyou counties, covers 10 counties. In contrast, Los Angeles metro area has 18 Senate districts. Without influence in Sacramento, she said, "So many laws, rules and regulations have been placed on us that our freedom has been eroded."

Over the years, many rural residents have been frustrated by federal environmental laws restricting logging and other forestry activities. Byrne said becoming a state would finally allow them to push the federal government to alter the onerous restrictions on government-owned land.

Not everyone in Northern California, however, supports the proposed new state. Mark Lovelace, a district supervisor in nearby Humboldt County, said that the state of Jefferson "is a romantic idea," but that it's "not economically viable."

Rural California receives more money from the state than it provides. Lovelace said in the proposed new state, taxes would have to rise to make up the difference. Humboldt County, where a local meeting is set to discuss secession on Friday, has an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent, well above the national average of 7.3 percent. With the decline of the timber and mining industries, health care, schools and government now account for more jobs than logging and mining, according to The Associated Press.

The secessionist movement, Lovelace said, "is a cry for help, but there needs to be a reality check."

The goal of the secessionists is to get about 14 counties to vote in favor secession, Byrne said, and then head to California's legislature, which according to the U.S. Consitution has to approve the split. The U.S. Congress would also have to vote for such a move. No state has been severed since West Virginia split off during the Civil War.

Supporters admit the path to statehood is steep. Byrne said while "on paper, the state would work. Whether it could get through the legislature and Congress, that's another story."

Running a state is actually pretty easy guys. I'm not sure why most of these rural counties don't spin off into new states every week.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/9/25/second-county-votestosecedefromcalifornia.html

The website is great too
http://jeffersonstate.com/
http://jeffersondeclaration.net/

FCKGW fucked around with this message at 18:40 on Sep 26, 2013

# ? Sep 26, 2013 18:22

raminasi: Jan 25, 2005; a last drink with no ice

Having the minimum wage be actually livable isn't exactly a mainstream Democratic position.

# ? Sep 26, 2013 18:22

Jerry Manderbilt: May 31, 2012; No matter how much paperwork I process, it never goes away. It only increases.

Man, it always gives me a good chuckle to see how rural areas think they're getting sucked dry by non-real-American moochers who just don't understand what the country really needs, but then they're subsidized by the big cities :v:

# ? Sep 26, 2013 18:25

Shes In Parties: Apr 30, 2009; Imperialism is a manifestation of state terrorism.

Saw that in our local paper. I really like living in California and really don't want Arcata to be part of Idaho With Beaches. People are lame.

# ? Sep 27, 2013 01:09

Slow News Day: Jul 4, 2007

FCKGW posted:

Are you guys ready for the State of Jefferson?

Running a state is actually pretty easy guys. I'm not sure why most of these rural counties don't spin off into new states every week.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/9/25/second-county-votestosecedefromcalifornia.html

The website is great too
http://jeffersonstate.com/
http://jeffersondeclaration.net/

So what? Let them secede and see what life is really like without aid from the California government.

# ? Sep 27, 2013 08:22

Moridin920: Nov 15, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Rural (red) states in general take a lot more funding than they give in tax dollars, versus urbanized (blue) states paying more than they receive. Not surprising that it's true on a smaller scale, too.

Anyway I just had a 4x4 with onions and it was pretty awesome.

# ? Sep 27, 2013 09:44

Kobayashi: Aug 13, 2004; by Nyc_Tattoo

enraged_camel posted:

So what? Let them secede and see what life is really like without aid from the California government.

Eh, they'd just strip-mine their natural resources and parcel it out to the highest bidder to avoid footing the higher tax bills they'd face. The county that would come back would be a barren, hollowed-out ecological disaster area that was even more bitter and dependent on people who aren't loving insane.

# ? Sep 27, 2013 10:03

Ardennes: May 12, 2002

enraged_camel posted:

So what? Let them secede and see what life is really like without aid from the California government.

The only problem is giving them 2 senators and a representative, maybe give them commonwealth status.

# ? Sep 27, 2013 10:22

FilthyImp: Sep 30, 2002; Anime Deviant

This reminds me of when Hollywood attempted to secede from Los Angeles*

*(they would require use of LA's municipal services for at least 10 years if it were successful).

# ? Sep 27, 2013 18:13

Laphroaig: Feb 6, 2004; Drinking Smoke; Dinosaur Gum

FCKGW posted:

The website is great too
http://jeffersonstate.com/
http://jeffersondeclaration.net/

Hehe.

http://jeffersonstate.com/history/doublecrossed.html

ReadsLikeTheOnion posted:

Thus politics. Millions having been dumped into populous Los Angeles county for roads until everything form cow trails to movie actresses hearts are concrete coated, the state is forced to create a recreation project to woo the voters. The Prison Board announced the convicts would build two artificial lakes, which will be stocked with fish "for fly fisherman only." The convicts will also build a swimming pool, and 250 (count �em) camping and picnic sites.

While this tomfoolery is going on, trucks laden with vital defense ores will wallow hopelessly in the Klamath River mud, fine timber will remain isolated, and the several thousand inhabitants of one of Siskiyou county �s most valuable regions will remain orphans of the storm.

...If America-we almost said when- goes to war, it may be necessary to rush quantities of men and materials from the interior to the coast in a hurry, to repel possible enemy raids. There are few useable routes now. In such circumstance, an adequate Klamath highway would be not merely important, but terribly essential.

When the big bombers with their grim Swastikas roar overhead, we sincerely trust the gentlemen responsible for diverting competent prison labor from a needed defense road building job to do a half baked recreational project will realize their error.

Perhaps we should not be too pessimistic. Perhaps we will get a decent road down the Klamath after the war.

Did Klamath ever get its road, or has this historic grievance gone uncorrected?

# ? Sep 27, 2013 18:23

Trabisnikof: Dec 24, 2005

Drain the Hetch Hetchy! Surely the valley will be perfectly preserved under that water.....

# ? Sep 27, 2013 18:26

paranoid randroid: Mar 4, 2007

Lady Dank posted:

Saw that in our local paper. I really like living in California and really don't want Arcata to be part of Idaho With Beaches. People are lame.

What, are you kidding? Humboldt & Mendocino counties are the only ones up there with anything like a population. You guys could run poo poo for a change. State capitol'd probably have to be frickin' Eureka, unfortunately.

Unless Jackson county in Oregon got in on this too. Then you might have a problem.

# ? Sep 27, 2013 18:37

Bip Roberts: Mar 29, 2005

FilthyImp posted:

This reminds me of when Hollywood attempted to secede from Los Angeles*

*(they would require use of LA's municipal services for at least 10 years if it were successful).

West Hollywood did in 1984.

# ? Sep 27, 2013 20:01

Keyser_Soze: May 5, 2009; Pillbug

Kobayashi posted:

Eh, they'd just strip-mine their natural resources and parcel it out to the highest bidder to avoid footing the higher tax bills they'd face. The county that would come back would be a barren, hollowed-out ecological disaster area that was even more bitter and dependent on people who aren't loving insane.

5 people would get really loving rich though, so SUCCESS, FREEDOM and LIBERTY!

# ? Sep 27, 2013 20:13

Casual Yogurt: Jul 1, 2005; Cool tricks kid, I like your style.

Dusseldorf posted:

West Hollywood did in 1984.

West Hollywood didn't secede it was incorporated to a city.

quote:

This reminds me of when Hollywood attempted to secede from Los Angeles*

*(they would require use of LA's municipal services for at least 10 years if it were successful).

Was that the same for the valley when they both tried to secede in the early 2000s? Would they just have contracted LAPD/LAFD and DWP?

# ? Sep 27, 2013 22:08

FilthyImp: Sep 30, 2002; Anime Deviant

Casual Yogurt posted:

Was that the same for the valley when they both tried to secede in the early 2000s? Would they just have contracted LAPD/LAFD and DWP?

Yep! That's the other city that tried to loose the yolk of los Angeles.

Which is kind of ... um... get your own city infrastructure if you're that desperate to break free, no?

# ? Sep 28, 2013 00:29

Ardennes: May 12, 2002

Yeah, West Hollywood was just an irregular piece of county land that became incorporated, although it was usually considered more "lawless" because it was only patrolled by sheriffs (and still is). Hollywood trying to secede was mostly pushed by Scientology because they have some much property around Hollywood, and they wanted much more "direct control" over the area, the actual residents didn't seem to really care.

Also, Jackson wouldn't join simply because it is politically divide 50/50 at this point, Ashland would fight it every step of the way. The other countries surrounding Jackson are very conservative though but at this point they need Salem to bail them out due to the timber money running out.

Pity there isn't a Oregon thread around here, for a state with a population a 10th of the size of California, it has plenty of its own absurdity.

# ? Sep 28, 2013 15:42

Family Values: Jun 26, 2007

When you read about abortion these days, the news is mostly about restrictions�new state laws, regulations, and court challenges that aim (depending on your point of view) either to make the procedure safer for women or to put providers out of business. But California is going in the opposite direction, with two bills that could lead to the one of the biggest expansions of access to abortion in the United States since the FDA approved mifepristone, aka the abortion pill, in 2000.

http://www.propublica.org/article/california-poised-to-broaden-access-to-abortions

# ? Oct 2, 2013 02:13

Miss-Bomarc: Aug 1, 2009

That actually sounds good. It's true, as they say in the article, that most of the historical restrictions on abortion are based on it having been a felony crime--and most of the new restrictions (or requirements, or regulations) are really just about restricting access to it.

# ? Oct 2, 2013 02:35

Pigasus: Dec 26, 2009; Too fat to wear pink.

I checked this thread to see if anyone was talking about UC Berkeley exploding last night, but I see it hasn't come up yet!

UC Berkeley had a simultaneous explosion, blackout, and ammonia leak last night. Read all about it here!

Apparently, some vandals were stealing copper wire last week. Somehow this caused the explosion that occurred after a blackout across the UC Berkeley campus. Has there been any history of copper wire stealing in the Bay Area? I would be especially interested in ones that led to explosions.

# ? Oct 2, 2013 02:54

withak: Jan 15, 2003; Fun Shoe

Pigasus posted:

Has there been any history of copper wire stealing in the Bay Area? I would be especially interested in ones that led to explosions.

You might say that there is a history.

http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/copper-wire-thieves-target-state-parks/nHTjx/
http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/proposed-crackdown-on-scavengers-might-curb-pricey-problem/Content?oid=2198567
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Scourge-of-metal-pilfering-hits-parks-3692113.php
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/BART-copper-theft-SF-man-held-after-home-searched-2393201.php
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Historic-St-Mary-s-church-bell-found-in-Oakland-2325758.php
http://sfappeal.com/2011/08/sunset-district-schools-hit-with-copper-thefts/
http://www.ktvu.com/news/28401652/detail.html
http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/asketh-the-city-where-art-thou-shakespeare-plaques/Content?oid=2153597

I'm not sure if my favorite is the high-voltage cabling from BART or the 2.7-ton church bell.

My impression is that if you own a building in Vallejo and don't have someone watching the premises 24/7 then your building does not have any copper left in it.

withak fucked around with this message at 03:20 on Oct 2, 2013

# ? Oct 2, 2013 03:16

Pigasus: Dec 26, 2009; Too fat to wear pink.

withak posted:

You might say that there is a history.

http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/copper-wire-thieves-target-state-parks/nHTjx/
http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/proposed-crackdown-on-scavengers-might-curb-pricey-problem/Content?oid=2198567
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Scourge-of-metal-pilfering-hits-parks-3692113.php
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/BART-copper-theft-SF-man-held-after-home-searched-2393201.php
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Historic-St-Mary-s-church-bell-found-in-Oakland-2325758.php
http://sfappeal.com/2011/08/sunset-district-schools-hit-with-copper-thefts/
http://www.ktvu.com/news/28401652/detail.html
http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/asketh-the-city-where-art-thou-shakespeare-plaques/Content?oid=2153597

I'm not sure if my favorite is the high-voltage cabling from BART or the 2.7-ton church bell.

My impression is that if you own a building in Vallejo and don't have someone watching the premises 24/7 then your building does not have any copper left in it.

I guess it just happens so often up here that it's not really an interesting news story anymore.

At least there were explosions.

# ? Oct 2, 2013 03:33

Papercut: Aug 24, 2005

Pigasus posted:

I checked this thread to see if anyone was talking about UC Berkeley exploding last night, but I see it hasn't come up yet!

UC Berkeley had a simultaneous explosion, blackout, and ammonia leak last night. Read all about it here!

Apparently, some vandals were stealing copper wire last week. Somehow this caused the explosion that occurred after a blackout across the UC Berkeley campus. Has there been any history of copper wire stealing in the Bay Area? I would be especially interested in ones that led to explosions.

They stole all of the copper ground rods and copper grounding electrode conductors, supposedly. If they had access to the electrical rooms, which there are some reports that they did, they easily could have also taken copper ground bars inside switchgear. An ungrounded generator may have been the cause of the explosion, but who knows.

# ? Oct 2, 2013 03:41

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# ? May 15, 2024 06:14

VideoTapir: Oct 18, 2005; He'll tire eventually.

Miss-Bomarc posted:

Going to a Chipotle in California is like going to a Sbarro in New York.

When I was at the Defense Language Institute, drat near everyone I knew there talked about Chipotle like it was the second loving coming. GO TO PAPA CHEVOS YOU FUCKS.

# ? Oct 2, 2013 03:56

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tourism & Travel > California Megathread: Best State

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