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Bizarro Watt posted:I remember when Brown came to my university to give a speech in favor of the tax proposition and at the start he spent a couple minutes talking about being fascinated by the redwood trees on campus. I like the guy, but by all accounts (including friends of mine who have sat in on meetings with him) he is an odd man. Christie will attempt to claim a eating contest is a athletic activity.
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Jun 28, 2013 05:33
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Arsenic Lupin posted:Jerry Brown cemented the Coolest Governor of the 1970s title when he was sleeping with Linda Ronstadt *without being married* gasp! It's also the porn basket of the US, a role for which the many red states are very grateful.
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Jun 28, 2013 06:00
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Ardennes posted:I wish the lack of winters in SoCal, but every time I visit the traffic reminds me how much living in LA sucks. It is really nice to live in a city with a functional transportation system, even Chicago is more livablet from that perspective. LA just needs to bite the bullet at some point and spend the billions it is going to take to make the city livable. A good amount of trainwreck in LA is how similar to many other big US cities, the whole mass transit system of electric trolleys got gutted post-World War II to make way for the more efficient automobile and freeway system. You can still find leftovers of the old transport system since some of the trolley/train routes were converted to multi-use paths:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogeuinHxlqw etalian fucked around with this message at 15:23 on Jun 28, 2013 |
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Jun 28, 2013 15:00
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Yeah LA is really huge at 503 sq miles due to how the city aggressively annexed surrounding areas over the years.
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Jun 28, 2013 15:28
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It's amusing how despite all the higher costs of during business big name companies such as SpaceX/Google/Loral would rather be in California for their corporate HQ than at a lower cost place like Texas or the South.
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Jun 28, 2013 17:24
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Lady Dank posted:I love our little liberal stronghold up here in Humboldt County. And the people. Hoping it never changes and we keep our Dem majority for the near future. It's also a impressive weed stronghold.
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Jun 28, 2013 20:22
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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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Arsenic Lupin posted:e: High-speed rail is still hung up in court. Sort of a predictable trainwreck given the scale of the project and all the unknowns.
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Jun 29, 2013 18:01
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Vincent Van Goatse posted:I don't know, I'd rather be in prison than live in Fresno.  The Biggest Jerk posted:Are there any viable/realistic options for politicians to tackle the prison industry in CA? As a politician how would you even begin to reign in such a thing without blowback from the industry leading to the public calling for resignation for not being "tough on crime"? I'd imagine many politicians would love to do such a thing but having the prison groups against you seems like you would be out of a job in no time. Not really it's a destructive feedback system due to the power of prison unions and the tendency for the public to want a tough on crime approach. For people not famliar with the prison union it does everything in its power to block prison reform such as helping to fund a campaign for the origina Three Strike system and also manipulating the whole proposition system to block common sense reforms such as reducing prison time for non-violent crimes. I'm a supporter of organized labor but influencing the whole political progress to get more people thrown in jail is a pretty disgusting concept. Link: http://www.policymic.com/articles/41531/union-of-the-snake-how-california-s-prison-guards-subvert-democracy etalian fucked around with this message at 05:16 on Jun 30, 2013 |
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Jun 30, 2013 05:09
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nm posted:The prison is likely in Kings County. 
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Jun 30, 2013 05:33
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Nonsense posted:Gavin Newsom, is he a PC charlatan as Adam Carolla states? Or is he something else entirely? He's actually a Nexus 5 replicant according to a test administered by the now defunct Wave Magazine. http://www.onlisareinsradar.com/archives/001698.php quote:
etalian fucked around with this message at 14:19 on Jun 30, 2013 |
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Jun 30, 2013 14:15
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Mayor Dave posted:I can't help feeling like the prison industry in California is akin to the defense industry in America: lots of money spent on bullshit that's immune from budgetary pressure. I hate that we spend more money oppressing poors and minorities than we do on educating them. You also have a entity (Prison unions) actively shooting down attempts at prison reform because more warm bodies in jail means better pay and more job security for the union. It's also a union that actively opposed things such as prison guard searches/metal detectors despite guards being caught smuggling in cell phones and contraband for inside organized crime. Arsenic Lupin posted:San Francisco wants high-speed rail (and so do I) but holy cow is the San Francisco Peninsula NIMBY about it. A lot of businesses and people's backyards are at stake, to say nothing of noise issues. Plus ambitious projects on such a scale always go over budget by a significant amount due to all the unknowns and technical problems. etalian fucked around with this message at 21:40 on Jun 30, 2013 |
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Jun 30, 2013 21:38
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Yeah it's basically a negative feedback loop the encourages counter-productive behavior instead of reducing jail time or at least reducing recidivism. Besides having the worst overall prison population, CA also gets the dubious honor of having high recidivism rates. Then you have everyone from corporations to prison unions trying block genuine reform of the system since it would reduce their income.
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Jun 30, 2013 21:54
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Ah Pook posted:Yeah honestly all it's going to take is one knucklehead with a bomb glued to his junk for the TSA or whatever to make sure you never board a train without 90 minutes of lines in the way. Plus you can virtually guarantee that some no-bid contractor is going to end up millions over budget and months behind schedule after accidentally building 1/4 of the line out of plywood. I really want rail to work, but California. Plus in typical fashion the republicans in places such as Central Valley are trying to wreck the project and nationwide republicans in other states effectively killed the projects.
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Jul 1, 2013 03:47
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Looks like people who depend on BART will be in for a miserable commute over the next few days: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57591713/san-fran-bay-area-transit-workers-go-on-strike/
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Jul 1, 2013 13:52
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Gatts posted:Is it just me, but does something like this not sound like slavery? Don't prisoners also do some kind of work as well for no cost/low cost? Especially in areas with (I don't have a source, just anecdotal info) higher rates of incarceration or stricter sentencing for African Americans...I don't know how or why it's possible. Pretty much also similar to slavery in that they often get exposed to hazardous work conditions such as story from a Nevada prison which had them recycling electronics without proper protection.
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Jul 1, 2013 14:17
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Zeitgueist posted:Well the linked article and FCKGW's comment pretty much put the problem in a nutshell. The article says a train from Victorville to LV, and honestly everyone who's made the drive knows that after you've hit Victorville it's smooth, if boring, sailing. Maybe worse coming back on Sunday, but you're still going to spend 2+ hours in traffic getting to Victorville. It's a pretty bizarre concept, ideally any rail system would at least provide point to point connectivity between major economic center/tourist traps 
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Jul 1, 2013 23:51
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coolskillrex remix posted:Whats ridiculous is i bet this is including their pension and benefits as part of their salary, just like how every single source of "journalism" was quoting RIDICULOUS UAW numbers because they were including all their pensions and poo poo. I don't see how people could survive in the bay area without good raises, the cost of living is impressively expensive especially for how the tech sector boom made rents go crazy over the last decade.
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Jul 2, 2013 00:09
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Quantum Mechanic posted:Actually yes, I guarantee you there IS a reason that the train shuts down at that time. It has been given to you in the thread - the staffing would become too expensive. Do you expect other people to work longer hours for less pay for your convenience? What you're essentially saying is you'll support the union as long as they acquiesce to the demands of the legislature. If you want a BART service past 12:30 maybe you should be doing some lobbying for more money to go into public transportation, because the fault lies entirely with the legislature who will not approve more money to run the service for longer. Plus the BART light was never designed for round the clock operation due to having only two tracks. Without extra track redundancy there's not enough time to do basic track safety checks and repairs on a almost 24 operation schedule. Most big US cities with metro don't offer operating hours like NYC, even other big cities such as Chicago send off the last train around 1AM.
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Jul 2, 2013 05:06
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Dusseldorf posted:Chicago Red and Blue lines run 24 hours. Even LA metro runs trains until 2 AM on Fridays and Saturdays. Running trains late on weekends really is such a simple step to increase public safety. Yeah it's much safer way to get the drunk crowd home at night than the driving deathtrap.
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Jul 2, 2013 05:24
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withak posted:http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/BART-talks-in-limbo-as-strike-paralyzes-commute-4641826.php Well in negotiations the first side to make the initial offer ends up with a worse hand.
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Jul 2, 2013 21:50
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AshB posted:Does anyone know of any relatively objective reads about all this stuff going on with BART? I want to see something that gives both sides some fair consideration, but most of what I've heard from people I know is anti-union chatter. Somehow I doubt the whole thing is so black-and-white. Certain people don't like the unions especially the whole needless whining over unsafe working conditions.
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Jul 3, 2013 05:30
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GD_American posted:NSFW has a grand piece by Yasha Levine in this month's print issue (I'll unlock it for the thread when they put it online) that's basically a tour guide for outsiders to the oligarchs of the San Joaquin Valley. I moved away from Cal in the early 90s, so while I knew about Cowschwitz and Tejon, I never knew about the massive poo poo plant or the Fiji water assholes' massive mansion there. Thanks for the link, was a interesting read.
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Jul 4, 2013 03:03
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Van5 posted:God Dammit you guys It's a eye opening article, I always wondered why things looked so bad in the Central valley for things such as the unemployment rate.
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Jul 4, 2013 21:07
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enraged_camel posted:I understand. Some companies give you all the info in a yearly brag sheet, as a somewhat unsubtle encouragement to stick with the company. Usually for a decent white collar job all the benefits especially the health insurance subsidy easily add 15% to even 25% to the salary.
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Jul 6, 2013 21:46
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Trabisnikof posted:Name in one way how the Unions did anything wrong? Demanding raises and safety improvements in one of the most expensive US metro areas.
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Jul 6, 2013 22:39
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withak posted:Yeah that is how negotiations work. If the initial offer doesn't offend the other party then you are doing it wrong. The side that makes the initial offers tends to do worse in the negotiation too.
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Jul 7, 2013 14:17
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On another note looks like CA actually has a real world version of this Plague Inc disease: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/05/health/a-disease-without-a-cure-spreads-quietly-in-the-west.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
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Jul 8, 2013 21:56
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All Of The Dicks posted:OK, see, this project that connects millions of people so that SF and LA aren't the only bits of California connected to civilization should happen. If some rich NIMBY whiners in Palo Alto or some conservative obstructionist fuckers in Tehachapi have to get the gently caress over it in the process, that is a bonus! RAHOWA and vive la revolucion, chooo chooooo! Don't forget mass transit makes it easier for poors to invade and ruin pristine neighborhoods.
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Jul 11, 2013 21:43
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Seeing the exploding projects costs, it's good all the GOP controlled states bailed on the project.
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Jul 11, 2013 21:54
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Glass of Milk posted:Bob Filner, the mayor of San Diego, has gotten caught in a sexual harrassment suit, but seems to be avoiding resignation, despite calls from basically everyone. Doesn't the office of San Diego mayor tend to be a revolving door of corruption and scandal? etalian fucked around with this message at 03:27 on Jul 12, 2013 |
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Jul 11, 2013 23:48
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GD_American posted:also Maureen O' Connor (gambled so bad she extorted money from her own foundation, although that was after her terms) and Roger Hedgecock (forced from office due to corruption, white supremacist) and I guess we can throw in the fact that it catapulted noted gubernatorial failure Pete Wilson's career They need to put up one up something similar to the days without injury sign, "Over 60 days without a scandal"
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Jul 12, 2013 04:15
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GD_American posted:I remember the U-T being a fishwrapper even when I lived there as a teen, apparently it's gotten worse: Well seeing how San Diego is so close to the sea it's a very convenient arrangement.
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Jul 12, 2013 23:30
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Leperflesh posted:Anyway people from low-tax, low-regulation Nevada coming to California to spend their money is a good demonstration of why (to the consternation of conservatives everywhere) California is not, in fact, crippled by excessive taxes and regulation. People actually want to live here, more than they want to avoid state income tax or smog checks or whatever. Because it's gorgeous here, and we have a lot of nice stuff. It's sort of flawed dream with being a playground for the rich but still preferable to getting stuck in Nevada.
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Jul 14, 2013 00:47
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VideoTapir posted:What taxes exactly are strangling business in California? It's sort of a myth, the business tax rate is in line with many other states (4.8%). The corporate tax rate is higher than most states(8.7%) but it cancelled out by things such as generation R&D credit system/flat rate regardless of corporate income. The state also doesn't even have a extraction tax for oil unlike other states such as Louisiana and Texas. It's pretty much the standard US job creator story in which companies such as HP sometimes even get a big tax refund from the state due to their legions of clever accountants and lawyers. Pretty much the same sad song where corporations whine about taxes despite gaming the system in clever ways and only paying a small percentage of the max tax rate through things such as the Google offshore business plan. The multi-national nature of companies such as Google means they pretty much abuse the offshore tax tricks to the maximum potential. For example Google uses Ireland to declare its EU zone revenue since Ireland offers a special 12.1% rate to corporations. More in-depth article: http://articles.latimes.com/2010/oct/24/business/la-fi-adv-biz-taxes-20101024 Article on actual tax collected by CA for big names companies such as Broadcom and Google: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/-299457--.html etalian fucked around with this message at 16:18 on Jul 14, 2013 |
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Jul 14, 2013 16:06
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Ardennes posted:Nevada itself is basically the "Ireland" of the West Coast, businesses only have a 200 flat fee. The state makes most of its money off of gambling, liquor and sales taxes. That said overall it hasn't been that successful, and Las Vegas isn't exactly a great place to live. In fact, Las Vegas is probably one of the saddest places on the planet (writing this from Moscow, Russia). Las Vegas is pretty much captures some of the worst aspects such as sprawl, sense of isolation, lack of unique neigborhoods and lots of cookie cutter Mcmansion developments.
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Jul 14, 2013 16:52
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withak posted:It is surreal flying into Vegas over residential subdivision that have been graded, had some streets built, then abandoned. I loved how the newest remake of Fright Night with Colin Farrell changed the setting to a foreclosure plagued Vegas subdivision.
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Jul 14, 2013 21:38
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Ponsonby Britt posted:Re: California: how is global warming going to affect California's water situation? I know that it's going to cause faster snowmelt in the Rockies, which will lead to less water capture from the Colorado (which will screw with LA), but what about the Sierras? I imagine those see more frequent rainfall (on the west side), which would lead to more frequent replenishing of rivers... But there's still going to be a negative effect, right? Are there any plans to deal with that? The bigger near term problem is the lack of water conservation for places such as Central valley using the irrigation ditch system, using water hungry crops in what is basically a mediterranean type climate or places like LA trying to have perfect green lawns year around. The biggest use of water is agriculture, which takes up 85% of the total water consumption for the state. It's a also a sore point for the old North vs South infighting. This is pretty decent summary of all the issues: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_in_California
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Jul 15, 2013 13:28
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Someone post a CA newspaper tier.
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Jul 16, 2013 00:10
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Leperflesh posted:Just the police blotter. The rest is utterly banal ho-hum typical small-town shite journalism, unfortunately. I liked this  columnhttp://www.arcataeye.com/2011/08/kevin-hoover-the-infinite-world-of-arcata-%E2%80%93-september-3-2011/
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Jul 16, 2013 01:36
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