"I don't care how you did things in California"

When I lived in Renton, WA back in the 00's I often saw a bumper sticker that read: "I don't care how you did things in California". Suburban Seattle was then awash in economic refugees from the Golden State then. Sadly, many had moved to Washington and then immediately started agitating to make over  the Evergreen State into another California. Now it appears that another wave of ex-Cali's are headed outward. Of course they sure aren't gonna come here, but they are gonna end up somewhere. Word to the wise.

Weblog

Killer’s return unnerves west Michigan residents
But he's okay as long as he stays on his meds though, so no worries.
Bankrupt Hollywood Video still out to collect late fees on video rentals
One guy had his $2 late return fee snowball into $125 by additional fees added by a collection agency.
Motown legend and ex-Detroit City Council member Martha Reeves admits she's no politician
True enough on several levels.
The fading appeal of Glen Beck
I never could see what his appeal was.
Libya: inside the SAS operation that went FUBAR
Yet another justification for a MYOB foreign policy.
 The Actual Reasons the BATF Smuggled Guns Into Mexico
Incompetence and corruption head the list.
Californian Democrats face the reality of class warfare 
Government employees live, work and retire better than the taxpayers.
Is there a such a thing as a "thug gene"?
That would sure would explain a lot.

weblog

A formulator of the "Cloward-Piven strategy" in 1966 wants to revive the concept to force action on employment - Have the unemployed march on D.C.?  (Frances Fox Piven) The Nation
Jerry Brown begins his third term as governor of California - (Joel Kotkin) NewGeography
China announces the introduction of it's new stealth fighter aircraft - Aviation Week
And ahead of schedule, too. Hmm...

Capitalism and Degrowth-An Impossibility Theorem - (John Bellamy Foster) Monthly Review

Some real problems with this notion.
Marx's carbuncles; a symptom of alienation caused by capitalism? - (Phil Gasper) ISR
"According to the paper’s author, a professor of dermatology at the University of East Anglia in England named Stephen Shuster, medical evidence suggests that Marx suffered from a disease known as hidradenitis suppurativa in which the apocrine sweat glands—found mainly in the armpits and groin—become blocked and inflamed. According to Shuster while Marx complained of excruciating boils, he was actually a victim of this chronic skin disease."

weblog

Bell, California: "Home rule" cities and their problems.
To wit: Massive corruption, insider politics and nil oversight just name a few.

Annals of democracy

Two blogging heads tell us why the think that the ballot initiative in California to legalize marijuana lost in last week's election.

Sign of the times...

Recalling South L.A. as it used to be - LA Times

Nostalgia for the way SoCal used to be when it was dominated by white European immigrants and Okie migrants.

Sign of the times...

California's first civil servant millionaire. - LA Times

As California goes, so goes the nation it is said. I really hope not. The Bell, CA ex-city manger's pay was over a $1 million a year. The police chief @ $750k and the part-time city council members & mayor @ $100k. This in a poor city of 38,000 people. Takes my breath away.

Sign of the times...

High times with legalized pot? It all depends - SF Chronicle

Hmm...yes legalization would bring in more revenue to California's local governments but you'd have to be crazy to think the price for an ounce of weed would stay at +/- $400. I predict after the dust settles it would be more like the price of a fifth of premium liquor, say $35-$50. Also too the massive Narco-Police-Prison Industrial complex could be cut back and and/or redirected toward different and better priorities and so IMHO legalization is a net positive.

What will the feds do? Just like with sanctuary cities, nuclear free zones, military recruiter bans and other thumbs-to-the-nose by state and local governments toward the feds it'll just have to play out. But given that California is a huge if not the biggest element in the Democratic party's coalition I doubt that Obama would really do that much. Some huff & bluster from the usual suspects and then....nuthin'.

Legalization is also a good hard kick in the balls to all the drug cartels too. Watch for them to dump cash into the hands of the anti-legalization forces. What else can they do? Drive-by shootings, bribery and rest of their normal tactics just ain't gonna work this time, eh?

weblog

City of Maywood, CA functionally ceases to exist - LA Times
Lays off 100 percent of employees, contracts out all services.
Photographic proof of cougars in northern Michigan! - Detroit News
US court of appeals says Hutaree defendants will remain in jail - Michigan Messenger
No bail. 2-1 decision.

weblog

Top 13 worst fictional corporations from sci-fi movies. - Topless Robot blog

Slumurbia - the newest trend in California real estate. - NY Times
"Come see: this is what happens when money and market, alone, guide the way we live." Live blogging the Great Recession.
Illinois senator to D.C. residents: It was a snow storm not "a nuclear attack." - The Hill
Black & Decker MSW100 Ready Wrench - Amazon.com/
"...This all-in-one wrench puts 16 of the most popular standard and metric socket sizes at your fingertips--just spin either of the tool's two rotating heads to find the right size. With no socket set to store or organize.." Maybe.
Olympic boondoggles -iSteve blog
"You would think it would be easy to make money on a sporting event where you don't pay the athletes in anything except glory, but after the 1984 LA Olympics, which made a fortune by using old stadia, it hasn't worked out like that."
Google's Buzz a big fat privacy invader - LA Times
Malcolm X's daughters talk about him. - New Yorker
Andy Warhol actually had signed it, dedicated it, and dated it, but it's still a fake. - NY Review of Books
A sci-fi podcast on how the world could end - Escape Pod
EP229: Little Blossom Makes A Deal With The Devil

weblog

Ridicule, mockery, and derision are Obama's Achilles Heel - A Conservative Lesbian blog
Looking Back on the Space Shuttle Era's Disasters and Successes - Popular Mechanics
Young Blood Reverses Signs of Aging in Old Mice - MIT Technology Review
Antioxidants aren't always good for you and can impair muscle function - Eureka Alert!
Levitating magnet could make fusion faster and cheaper - Ars Techica
Ultimate Geek Accessory: 80 Port USB Panel - Gizmondo
The blog post that got ESPN writer fired - FlipCollective blog
"I haven’t donated to the Haitian relief effort for the same reason that I don’t give money to homeless men on the street. Based on past experiences, I don’t think the guy with the sign that reads “Need You’re Help” is going to do anything constructive with the dollar I might give him. If I use history as my guide, I don’t think the people of Haiti will do much with my money either."
California wants to register as historical resources the space junk (high-tech and otherwise) left behind by the Apollo 11 crew. - LA Times
University of Michigan Athlete with prosthetic leg - enhanced or handicapped? - Michigan Daily
At some point we're gonna all have to discuss this, uncomfortable or not.
You Are Not a Gadget Book Review - The New Yorker [Powell's Books link here.]

Charles Daly 12-Gauge Tactical Pump Shotgun for $299 + shipping. - Gunsamerica.com