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Zeitgueist posted:Another interesting choice in LA rail design is the Green line, which runs down the center of the 105 freeway to LAX airport. Or rather, near LAX airport. It stops about 100 yards from the property but does not go in. You have to switch to a bus for the rest of the trip, despite the fact that there is literally a turn-off built into the track for an LAX connection. Mysteriously, nobody with the City can quite explain why this connection never got built. We're also building a north-south Train along Crenshaw that will come just as close to the airport, but also not enter. As far as I'm aware, LA is the only city in the US with a light rail system that doesn't connect it to the airport. Oakland and Albuquerque also do this. Why, I do not know.
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Jun 28, 2013 21:44
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Zeitgueist posted:Not even that is true. A Ponzi scheme is not a catchall term for "things that are unsustainable that I don't like". You can call a bubble whatever you like -- but it's functionally the same as a Ponzi scheme. Future returns are promised to more and more investors until they are no longer sustainable and everything collapses.
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Jun 28, 2013 21:46
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Can someone explain the purpose of San Diego? Look at this poo poo. Why, yes, I would love some dry ground beef and cilantro on a corn tortilla the size of a quarter. That sounds loving fantastic. Give me a whole plate of them. All Of The Dicks fucked around with this message at 22:06 on Jun 28, 2013 |
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Jun 28, 2013 22:02
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All Of The Dicks posted:Can someone explain the purpose of San Diego? I'm not sure why you're blaming SD when that's pretty much what you'll get if you order tacos anywhere in NW Mexico. SD is also the chief exporter of fun people into OC as well so you better step off, friend.
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Jun 28, 2013 22:15
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All Of The Dicks posted:Look at this poo poo. Why, yes, I would love some dry ground beef and cilantro on a corn tortilla the size of a quarter. That sounds loving fantastic. Give me a whole plate of them. That's fine, more for me. That's not ground beef by the way. I'm pretty entertained this thread went immediately to discussion of traffic and Mexican food. California in a nutshell.
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Jun 28, 2013 22:21
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Slobjob Zizek posted:You can call a bubble whatever you like -- but it's functionally the same as a Ponzi scheme. Future returns are promised to more and more investors until they are no longer sustainable and everything collapses. Bingo! I don't even dislike the idea of pensions, but there is a point at which a benefit becomes unreasonable and unsustainable, one that I think most CA public employee pensions have crossed by a considerable margin to the detriment of everyone and everything else.
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Jun 28, 2013 22:21
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Slobjob Zizek posted:You can call a bubble whatever you like -- but it's functionally the same as a Ponzi scheme. Future returns are promised to more and more investors until they are no longer sustainable and everything collapses. Honestly explaining basic concepts to you is a derail for this thread, but what you're doing here is trying to make a false equivalence in order to support an argument. This specific post is you trying to change definitions of words after getting called out. A Ponzi scheme is one where the investors are directly paying to the previous investors. A stock market bubble does not operate this way, as it is an open market. The stock market is a stupid gambling house, one prone to silly bubbles, but it is not even remotely the same as a ponzi scheme, or similar. Now putting that aside, even if CalPERS literally invested in a Ponzi scheme, it would have no bearing on whether a PAYGO pension system was a Ponzi scheme, which it is not. Please just come out and say that you don't like pensions or unions or whatever, rather than this disingenuous crap. redscare posted:Bingo! I don't even dislike the idea of pensions, but there is a point at which a benefit becomes unreasonable and unsustainable, one that I think most CA public employee pensions have crossed by a considerable margin to the detriment of everyone and everything else. You have no idea if it's sustainable or overgenerous. You've merely scapegoated the victims of bad legislation because you don't understand what PAYGO is.
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Jun 28, 2013 22:29
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Revener posted:I'm not sure why you're blaming SD when that's pretty much what you'll get if you order tacos anywhere in NW Mexico. SD is also the chief exporter of fun people into OC as well so you better step off, friend. That is my point. Food from NW Mexico can suck it. The San Diego question was supposed to be separate and open-ended. Explain that city to me so that I get it, I guess.
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Jun 28, 2013 22:32
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I think you're all missing the point, Asian fusion food is where it's at. Seriously, bulgogi (Korean bbq) burritos are loving amazing! I didn't know there was a distinct "Cal-Mex" different than general Americanized Mexican food. I always equate "California style" or "LA style" as meaning with avocado  Edit: also, I don't know if El Salvadorean food is common in Texas, but pupusas own. Pellisworth fucked around with this message at 22:40 on Jun 28, 2013 |
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Jun 28, 2013 22:37
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All Of The Dicks posted:The San Diego question was supposed to be separate and open-ended. Explain that city to me so that I get it, I guess. One of the best zoos in the world, as well as exciting close-up views of Nature's unsung masterpiece, the firestorm.
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Jun 28, 2013 22:37
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Arsenic Lupin posted:One of the best zoos in the world, as well as exciting close-up views of Nature's unsung masterpiece, the firestorm. Pfff, every city in California is a cigarette butt away from a massive conflagration for about half the year.
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Jun 28, 2013 22:40
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Zeitgueist posted:Honestly explaining basic concepts to you is a derail for this thread, but what you're doing here is trying to make a false equivalence in order to support an argument. This specific post is you trying to change definitions of words after getting called out. I don't really know what you are talking about here as PAYGO is a term specific to balancing the federal budget (and was created in the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990), but I suspect that you mean that the state makes up shortfalls in pension earnings by either raising revenue or cutting spending. This is obviously bullshit as it essentially robs current taxpayers and current recipients of government services. You can claim that pay-as-you-go pension systems are "fair" in that future growth will make up for current losses, but there's no guarantee of that. Either pick a universal 401k system where everyone is subject to market risk, or a universal Social Security system. It isn't fair to publicly privilege the investments of some employees over others.
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Jun 28, 2013 22:40
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I was born is southern California, but I eventually migrated north and have been much better off since. California really should be split into two states. Anything south of San Jose can fall into the ocean for all I care. Southern California is a giant poo poo hole, and the valley is only good because it is where a ludicrous amount of food is grown. I'll stay up here in my semi-liberal haven of Sonoma county. I am happy that the state is finally getting its head out of its rear end, but it isn't some perfect place by any means. Our prisons are the worst places you can possibly be, and the prison lobby is incredibly entrenched. There's quite a bit of bigotry in the rural areas. Our water supply is hosed because we have to pipe it all to the loving desert to support the people that choose to live there. All the while our streams are polluted, and our aquifers are drying up. I can understand why people rail against unions, but they are the only thing keeping wages up to a living standard, and sometimes not even that. I have huge problems with the UC and CSU system, where schools have become places where administrators take home twice as much pay as professors, and there are 5 admins per teaching faculty. The president of my university made 200,000+ as well as a house, a car, full benefits, travel expenses paid, and more that I'm sure I don't know about. The year I started it was 3K per semester, by the time I left it was 6K. In that time they cut half the full time teachers, shut down student services, and gave the admins a 5% raise. I don't know the solution to the problem, but I hate that it is so common. That school president retired the year after I left with a retirement income close to 90% of his last years salary. he gets to make triple figures off of the state until he dies. That isn't right. Meanwhile my wife struggles to find a living wage job, and can only manage to find jobs that give 20-25 hours per pay period at less than 10$ an hour. Then they just stop scheduling you if you ask for more hours or a raise. if you try to file for UI benefits you cant get them because the company never actually fired you. they just didn't schedule you for any hours. gently caress at will employment. One of the worst things to happen to this state. I hate it when people blame unions when it is the businesses that are squeezing people to get every last drop of money out of them. The state does it as well with the fines, fees, penalties, and surcharges that are tacked on to every governmental transaction. The working class in the state are living pay check to pay check and the investor class takes their capital gains check laughing all the way to the bank. California is no perfect place. Luckily we have beautiful scenery where you can get away from it all, or I would go insane. All Of The Dicks posted:Can someone explain the purpose of San Diego? It looks loving delicious. You back the gently caress up off of my Tacos. First, That isn't ground beef, it's carne asada. Second, dual layered corn tortillas are the ONLY way to eat tacos. If you use flour tortillas you are commuting a crime. It's even worse of a crime if you use a hard shell of any kind. The only thing wrong with that picture is that you don't have enough chips, or salsa to dip them in. Heck Yes! Loam! fucked around with this message at 23:07 on Jun 28, 2013 |
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Jun 28, 2013 22:59
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Slobjob Zizek posted:I don't really know what you are talking about here as PAYGO is a term specific to balancing the federal budget (and was created in the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990), but I suspect that you mean that the state makes up shortfalls in pension earnings by either raising revenue or cutting spending. Ironically, I may be using an incorrect term myself. What I mean is that we have a pension system where both the employees contribute, and the government contributes. The state of California has previously not met it's end of the funding obligations, for various budget magicking, pushing it off until later. Now it needs to make up what it owes out of the current budget, current workers paying in through taxes. That is not a Ponzi scheme. Additionally, CalPERS has funding issues due to investing in financial instruments fraudulently rated as AAA(the only risk level it can invest in). This has nothing to do with the underfunding, and is also not a Ponzi scheme.
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Jun 28, 2013 23:01
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Zeitgueist posted:Ironically, I may be using an incorrect term myself. You realize that this is exactly what governments doing and that it's what is consuming all of these budgets, right? This either means the employees aren't paying enough, there aren't enough employees, or that the benefits are too generous. Expecting taxpayers to endlessly fill the shortfall for a class of government employees that is already considered over-compensated and over-protected is about as sustainable as the entire setup itself. Ponzi may not be the most accurate term, but the eventual crash and underlying causes are the same because budget allocations for pensions and public (especially public safety) employees on LA's scale are unsustainable and unfair.
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Jun 28, 2013 23:13
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redscare posted:You realize that this is exactly what governments doing and that it's what is consuming all of these budgets, right? This either means the employees aren't paying enough, there aren't enough employees, or that the benefits are too generous. Actually you left out the option that's actually happening: The government didn't pay it's share. It passed the buck and now it's due. quote:Expecting taxpayers to endlessly fill the shortfall for a class of government employees that is already considered over-compensated and over-protected is about as sustainable as the entire setup itself. Ponzi may not be the most accurate term, but the eventual crash and underlying causes are the same because budget allocations for pensions and public (especially public safety) employees on LA's scale are unsustainable and unfair. How is not paying the pensions you said you'd pay fair? The underlying cause of all the problems is not some bus driver living high on the hog, but our hosed up budgets and tax base. The government employees aren't considered over-compensated and over-protected, other than by people like you who are attempting to victim blame because they have an ideological problem with them.
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Jun 28, 2013 23:18
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Sword of Chomsky posted:You back the gently caress up off of my Tacos. First, That isn't ground beef, it's carne asada. Second, dual layered corn tortillas are the ONLY way to eat tacos. If you use flour tortillas you are commuting a crime. It's even worse of a crime if you use a hard shell of any kind. The only thing wrong with that picture is that you don't have enough chips, or salsa to dip them in. Why would you want chips when you could have more tacos? Especially if you find one of those places that sells tacos for less than a buck a pop. 
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Jun 28, 2013 23:20
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So, now that the Democrats have a supermajority in California, is there any avenue for them to, you know, get rid of that "you need 2/3rds to raise taxes" law? To prepare for when they don't have a super-majority.
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Jun 28, 2013 23:22
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The Burrito. Truly the symbol of California and the West and cause of internal tension leading to a civil war. Flour tortillas are fine. Fries in burritos? I am down with it if it's tasty. Crispy fish tacos are awesome. Though that portion is weak. I get more from the midwest in Ohio from the Mexican places though I doubt it's as good. Hell even the Chipotles here serve twice as much than the one in New York. Let's get some chicken tandoor and bismati rice and/or chicken biryani in that bitch too with cucumber yogurt raita. Go whole hog Tex-Mex-Paki. I've only been to the west coast and California once as a child and really want to visit again.
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Jun 28, 2013 23:26
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There is a food truck in SF that does a chicken tikka masala burrito. It is awesome.
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Jun 28, 2013 23:29
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Amarkov posted:Why would you want chips when you could have more tacos? I love that I can get three tacos, a mexican coke, and an order of ships and salsa for about 6$. For some reason I HAVE to have the chips and salsa. It just isn't right without them. withak posted:There is a food truck in SF that does a chicken tikka masala burrito. It is awesome. Holy gently caress I have to try this. I always forget that there is amazing Indian food everywhere here as well.
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Jun 28, 2013 23:31
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JT Jag posted:So, now that the Democrats have a supermajority in California, is there any avenue for them to, you know, get rid of that "you need 2/3rds to raise taxes" law? To prepare for when they don't have a super-majority. It's being chipped away at. We can pass budgets with only a simple majority(it used to be super) as of 2010. The 2/3 tax raise is part of Prop 13, and would need another prop to rescind. Repealing Prop 13 completely would be a political non-starter because it would be a big tax increase, especially for rich people and businesses. You're also assuming a significant portion of the legislature aren't basically Republicans in terms of taxation. You'd be wrong. The governor describes himself as a "born again tax cutter".
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Jun 28, 2013 23:33
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Sword of Chomsky posted:Holy gently caress I have to try this. I always forget that there is amazing Indian food everywhere here as well. http://www.curryupnow.com/ I think it was these guys.
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Jun 28, 2013 23:39
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Sword of Chomsky posted:I was born is southern California, but I eventually migrated north and have been much better off since. California really should be split into two states. Anything south of San Jose can fall into the ocean for all I care. Southern California is a giant poo poo hole, and the valley is only good because it is where a ludicrous amount of food is grown. I'll stay up here in my semi-liberal haven of Sonoma county. I guess it'd be more safe to do that now, since the ten counties from SLO, Kern and San Bernardino voted like 58% for Obama in 2012 (compared to 51% for Kerry in 2004)
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Jun 28, 2013 23:39
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Apparently there's growing popular support for repealing Prop 13 for businesses. That would certainly help.
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Jun 28, 2013 23:39
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Man, in more news from "My dad is a moron and always tries too hard with the "truth is in the middle" bullshit, whenever I talk about how repealing Prop 13 would solve a lot of our issues he always just brings up an anecdote from New Jersey where a woman fell through the floor of her home because she didn't have enough money to maintain it after property taxes.
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Jun 28, 2013 23:43
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withak posted:There is a food truck in SF that does a chicken tikka masala burrito. It is awesome. The delicious food exists to help distract people from all the contradictions in California.
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Jun 28, 2013 23:58
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Well it appears the stay of Prop 8 has been lifted--allowing homosexuals to be married immediately.
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Jun 29, 2013 00:01
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John Nance Garner posted:Well it appears the stay of Prop 8 has been lifted--allowing homosexuals to be married immediately. That didn't take as long as I thought it would. Call it an early independence day gift!
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Jun 29, 2013 00:03
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John Nance Garner posted:Well it appears the stay of Prop 8 has been lifted--allowing homosexuals to be married immediately. Pride in SF tomorrow is gonna be bananas.
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Jun 29, 2013 00:09
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All Of The Dicks posted:Can someone explain the purpose of San Diego? San Diego is LA if the people in LA didn't want LA to be like LA. And staying classy. And Sea World.
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Jun 29, 2013 00:16
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Dusseldorf posted:Pride in SF tomorrow is gonna be bananas. Haha yes, yes it is. I'm not gay but I'll be there to support the cause and also just to fucken party
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Jun 29, 2013 00:19
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Glass of Milk posted:San Diego is LA if the people in LA didn't want LA to be like LA. No no no no no. SD is LA, if LA had a bunch of if a bunch of military folks and conservatives loving around in the Valley, if ethnic/cultural enclaves were more removed and less contiguous, if 20 cars in your peripheral vision on the 5/101/10 were considered "heavy traffic", and if there were slightly more hippies and beach bums.
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Jun 29, 2013 01:04
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To celebrate gay rights, I'm eating some nachos. With some sticky black beans and white cheese. 
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Jun 29, 2013 02:13
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Have you seen my apex seals? I seem to have lost them.
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Like a proper Californian, I had a vegetarian salad today.
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Jun 29, 2013 02:47
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A real Californian would have had a vegetarian salad and a craft beer.
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Jun 29, 2013 02:48
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So does California qualify as the most regressive state considering: 1. it is probably the most blessed economic plot on Earth 2. its citizens claim to, and arguably, tend to "know better" I've heard that conditions for dairy cows in California are the worst in the nation and Wisconsin's dairy trade group has thought about suing California's, saying that a claim on television that California cows live anything short of a tortured existence is a lie demonstrable in court. I thought California was pretty liberal until I heard about your prisons. You must be a model society by now, having removed so many impure elements from your ranks. What the loving gently caress? The number of prisoners alone negates completely, all by itself, any claim at all the state ever had of being a cut above. I see those documentaries and am weirded out when I don't hear deep South drawls, and the guards drive Lexuses instead of F350's. Also, what's with all the loving driving. Even the bay area is car-dependent as poo poo. Are the nice things I hear about this place private propaganda put out by creative types? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW8UlY8eXCk
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Jun 29, 2013 04:15
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agarjogger posted:Are the nice things I hear about this place private propaganda put out by creative types? Considering that California has a long tradition in film, TV, and advertising, I'd say yes.
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Jun 29, 2013 04:35
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FilthyImp posted:No no no no no. SD is LA, if LA had a bunch of if a bunch of military folks and conservatives loving around in the Valley, if ethnic/cultural enclaves were more removed and less contiguous, if 20 cars in your peripheral vision on the 5/101/10 were considered "heavy traffic", and if there were slightly more hippies and beach bums. Isn't that what I said? LA has more concentrated ethnic groupings in different neighborhoods, shittier traffic and a bunch of people trying/pretending to be in the entertainment industry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNWtPOGFv1k agarjogger posted:
The prison unions pretty much own the Democrats along with teacher unions, so the prison system is ridiculous. Public transit is a joke. BART in SF is nice, all other metro systems are pretty crappy. I once tried to take the trolley in SD to a football game, and the system only allows you to buy one ticket per credit card swipe. And all our poo poo is spread out everywhere, so everyone drives. LA/SD are not bike friendly, and SF is only a bit better, especially compared with Portland or something. Glass of Milk fucked around with this message at 05:00 on Jun 29, 2013 |
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Jun 29, 2013 04:56
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I've been contemplating a California thread for a while, but I never got around to writing it out. California is a state with a great deal of potential that's being squandered. To quote the West Wing:Arnold Vinick posted:I don't have a 50-state strategy anymore. I have a one-state strategy: the one state that has everything: big cities, small towns, mountains, deserts, farms, factories, fishermen, surfers, all races, all religions, gay, straight, everything this country has. There's more real America in California than anywhere else. Rude. posted:I wish I could move back to Kern county but I don't think I could put up with the insane politics. Or heat. Why would anyone think this Guidos Python posted:Could someone do a write up on the water issue? I'm from Bakersfield and I see signs saying how farmers have had rates increased yet they only revive 25% of the water they were getting 4 years ago. I don't think this counts as a write-up but I think a lot of the Central Valley farmers are just mad that their profit center monsoon crops are more expensive to grow in the desert. Seriously, who the hell would think that corn and rice make sense anywhere south of Fresno? And yet last time I drove from Santa Cruz to LA on I-5 I spotted massive fields of soybeans, corn, grapes, and various other water-intensive crops. Zeitgueist posted:I'll have to dig it up, but I believe the numbers state that erasing prop 13 would easily fix California's deficits. You could double the property tax, run a surplus, and still be below the national average of property tax rates. People always seem to forget, California has a bigger economy than all but the biggest countries. Our deficits are insignificant compared to our GDP. Yeah, the biggest problem with Prop 13 is that it applies to commercial property as well as residential property. Commercial property is mostly only re-evaluated when it's sold, leading many companies to play shell games to dodge tax increases. If the Dems would revise the Constitution (yes I know that requires a ballot initiative as well) the revenue from commercial property that's effectively being taxed on 1970s property values would take care of a lot of our problems. ---- One of my pet projects has been the idea of a state bank, like the Bank of North Dakota. I did a paper on the idea a few years ago since I couldn't find a group with any solid figures on what it would mean for California specifically. I lost the original paper that had the figures, but the state paid the biggest banks about 8 billion dollars for the privilege of watching California's money. That 8 billion was just under half the 2011 budget deficit. The 150 billion that the banks have under management would be one of the 50 biggest banks in America in terms of assets. This doesn't include the value of CalPERS or other pensions run locally. The magic of modern banking would allow such a hypothetical bank to issue very favorable bonds and loans for infrastructure projects; if the charter were correctly written a bank could serve as a 'rainy day fund' without effectively taking that money out of circulation. The bank could also pull up to the Fed discount window and leverage Federal zero interest dollars into real California projects. I fully recognize that this will never ever happen. It's just another one of those ideas that would help ameliorate the effects of modern late-stage capitalism.
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