Valencia Street: After the Storm.
Posted: March 21, 2011 Filed under: Everything Else | Tags: California, mission, mission district, san francisco, storm, valencia Leave a comment »
Good. That crepe place sucks anyways. Zaytoon's and the Salvadorian restaurant are good though.
California Town Illustrations
Posted: February 22, 2011 Filed under: Artwork | Tags: California, cartoon, illustration, maps, small town Leave a comment »From the Vault (2002)! Also check out the much more recent Mission Dolores Map.
Ferry Building, San Francisco
Posted: January 14, 2011 Filed under: Everything Else | Tags: California, ferry building, fog, night, san francisco 1 Comment »
Snapped this picture with my camera phone at 11:00pm on 1/13/11.
California Ballot Measures.
Posted: October 19, 2010 Filed under: Readings | Tags: California, california state, sacramento 1 Comment »
Proposition 19: Tax, Regulate, and Control Cannabis: YES. By far the most important item on the ballot. Proposition 19 represents a huge and painfully overdue blow to the insanely expensive and completely ineffective “war on drugs”. Sane drug policy cannot, and will not, ever come from the Federal Government, unless it first comes from the states. This is our chance. I cannot overstate the importance of this piece of legislation.
Proposition 20: Redistricting of Congressional Districts: YES. Remember way back in Politics 101 the term “Gerrymandering”?–the drawing of ludicrously shaped political districts designed to keep incumbents safe? This would end that. Californians approved a similar measure last election, but that law covered only the state legislature. This one covers Congressional districts and thereby completes the job.
Proposition 21: Vehicle Registration Fee for State Park Admittance. YES. Proposition 21 would tack on an $18 fee every time you register your car. The money would go entirely to the cash-starved state-parks, and would remain out of the reach of state legislators. In exchange, every California registered vehicle would receive free-entry to every state park. Now, I’m not one for compulsory membership, but I’m also not one to pass on a good deal. Saving the State-Parks while gaining unlimited access for $18? That is a GREAT deal.
Proposition 22: Prohibits State Raids on Local Government: YES. Sacramento is actually worse of than you think. For years, Sacramento has been disguising the full scope of it’s financial woes by stealing money from local governments. Proposition 22 would make such raids illegal, and force state-politicians to come to grips with a structurally dysfunctional business model.
Proposition 23: Suspend Environmental Protections: NO. This insulting attack on California’s burgeoning clean-energy industry is spearheaded by Texas Oil companies. Fuck them.
Proposition 24: Close Corporate Tax Breaks: YES. An extremely complicated array of closures and repeals of tax-loophole and tax-breaks for people who aren’t you.
Proposition 25: Democracy in Budgeting: YES. California is one of only three states in the union where the budget is controlled by minority-rule. This arrangement is actually principled in feudal-era notions of class and privilege, and it is in every way bad. Proposition 25 restores majority rule to California’s horrific budget process.
Proposition 26: No more democracy in fee raises: NO. Takes away majority rule in regards to state-fees. The reverse of Proposition 25 above.
Proposition 27: Abolishes sanity in redistricting reforms from last year: NO. This cynical and insulting measure comes from the state Democrat and Republican party leadership, and would give party bosses the ability to pick their voters rather than voters pick their representatives. Big NO.
Stutzman vs. Jacobs
Posted: July 31, 2010 Filed under: Everything Else | Tags: 2010 forum modern direct democracy, California, courage campaign Leave a comment »A bit of a disagreement between Rob Stutzman, a conservative political consultant, and Rick Jacobs of the Courage Campaign. Stutzman earlier praised the Initiative process as a way to prevent “blood from flowing in the streets” by letting voters vent. Jacobs takes umbrage, cites Proposition 8, and makes the case “direct democracy was never intended to pit the civil rights of one group against those of another. This is how you spark a revolution, not avoid one.”
2010 Forum on Direct Democracy: John G. Matsusaka.
Posted: July 31, 2010 Filed under: Everything Else | Tags: 2010 forum modern direct democracy, ballot initiative, California, john g. Matsusaka, new america foundation Leave a comment »John G. Matsusaka is the president of the Initiatives and Referendum Institute at the University of Southern California. Lock-in spending associated with ballot initiatives, according to Matsusaka, account for approximately $39.407 billion of the state’s nearly $110 billion budget, representing, at most, 33%.
Whether this is a large or small percentage is besides the point, he argues. The chief complaint with the initiative process is that it assaults the mechanisms of representative democracy by voters locking-in spending without the consent of the legislature. The Wall Street Journal reported on this very debate in an October 2009 article. Matsusaka plainly doesn’t find the argument convincing: he notes that $34 of the $39 billion locked-in come from a single ballot initiative, Proposition 98, which locked levels of K-12 funding which, he argues, would have likely remained similar regardless of Proposition 98.
Matsusaka shows polls comparing the attitudes of citizens of non-initiative states with those in initiative-states. The polls suggest citizens in initiative-states enjoy policies closer to their own opinions.
2010 Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy.
Posted: July 31, 2010 Filed under: Everything Else | Tags: 2010 forum modern direct democracy, California, joe matthews, new america foundation Leave a comment »The New America Foundation, also known as “Joe Matthews”, launched this morning the 2010 Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy. Thus far, about two hours in, we’ve seen some commentary on Californian’s support of the ballot initiative by race, voter competence (with regards to understanding initiative language…they’re better at it than you think), and the nail-biting quest to dethrone serpentine from its lofty perch as the official State-Rock.
Students: Don’t Blow it.
Posted: February 28, 2010 Filed under: Readings | Tags: budget cuts, cal riot, California, student protests Leave a comment »
As a member of the late Repair California campaign, I was recently invited to participate in a panel discussion on the state of government reform efforts, put on by the University of California Students Association. The panel was part of their annual summit, held in Sacramento, and was designed partly as a strategy session for the upcoming “March Forth” protests. The event plans to be huge: Universities from around the world are reportedly taking part, as students everywhere highlight the social, economic, and cultural value of higher education.
I gladly accepted the invitation, and delivered this message: This is your moment. Don’t blow it. For the record, “blowing it” looks like what happened in Berkeley last Thursday: a riot.
In what the local media referred to as a “warm-up” protest, several dozen young people were filmed destroying downtown Berkeley. The Daily Cal featured amateur video of young people tipping trash cans, lighting them aflame, insulting police officers, smashing windows, and chanting something about the littered streets being “their streets”. With their faces sheathed behind bandannas, it wasn’t entirely clear if the crowd was protesting Sacramento or holding-up the railroad.
It took a little bit of diving into the reports to find that most of the people involved weren’t students, just typical street kids taking a break from their usual activities of asking me for money and not bathing.
That the rioters weren’t students should matter. It doesn’t. Student leaders were mute in their disapproval of the pointlessness, assuming they disapproved at all. The result was the disconcertingly powerful way in which conservatives wed their narrative to the news reports pouring in from a conflict-seeking media: somebody else’s ungrateful spoiled-brat kids are running amok in a beautiful city and wasting your hard-earned money.
Make no mistake, this is a bad development for the students and the universities. Students have been shouldering a disproportionate share of California’s great budgetary burden, and thus have legitimate, no, very legitimate, grievances. In response, many students have worked hard to build an opposition movement. With the national attention span measurable only in iotas, students cannot afford to surrender a single headline to packs of street kids who care little, and understand even less, about California’s perilous financial system and the network of world-class colleges and universities that depend on it.
One gets the troubling sensation that students were loath to forcefully condemn the riots out of deference to the Bay Area’s tradition of civil activism. This is the sort of thing Berkeley does. If so, this is an unspeakably pitiful development. A mob that masks the sound of breaking glass and smoldering refuse with here-and-there chants plagiarized from the civil rights movement is still a mob. And while such incantations may be enough to placate professors, students, and liberal pundits, I’d be surprised if the shopkeeper or the taxpayer are as impressed. Shame on those who turn their cheeks while the reputation of a worthy and important movement is dragged through the mud by hooligans, left-wing or not.
Instead of anger, chaos, and anarchy, instead of hanging effigies of the Governor, the students should make it their singular mission to rekindle the hope and confidence that was once called the California dream, and to make themselves that dream’s indispensable component. Students, almost by definition, stand for youth, energy, and idealism: ingredients for inspiration that are perennially ripe. So here’s an idea. Drape yourselves in California flags and, by the tens of thousands, and walk peacefully up streets singing the Beach Boys. Doing so will impress not just your cosmopolitan university neighbors, but your redneck uncle too.
Constitutional Convention Leadership Forum Tomorrow
Posted: February 10, 2010 Filed under: Everything Else | Tags: California, california state, california state constitutional convention, constitutional convention, convention, repair california, repaircalifornia.org, www.repaircalifornia.org Leave a comment »California is facing a crisis. Our state’s broken governance system has left us with a $20 billion debt and facing down the possibility of bankruptcy. Repairing California requires real action and substantive reform, like calling for a state Constitutional Convention.
This is truly a grassroots, citizen-led movement to fix our state by calling for the first Constitutional Convention in California since 1878. After years of leaving our state beholden to special interest groups and the dysfunctional initiative process, California’s Constitution has become incapable of serving the people of our state.
In order to spread our campaign’s message and generate support for this people’s movement, we will be holding our first Leadership Forum this Wednesday.
Date: February 10
Time: 6:30pm to 8:30 pm
Location: Santa Clara County Convention Center, 5001 Great American Parkway, Santa Clara in Meeting Room #209.
Members of the Convention Movement will be on hand to speak about the process of calling a state Constitutional Convention as well as address some of the major issues that have contributed to California’s decline. This is a great opportunity to come and learn more about this truly historic campaign.
We are all undoubtedly aware that California needs help to become great again. And as Californians, we want to do whatever we can to accomplish this. Our movement will take a big step on Wednesday evening and we hope to see you there.
Signature Gathering Firms Colluding to Stop California Constitutional Convention
Posted: February 3, 2010 Filed under: Readings | Tags: California, california state, california state constitutional convention, constitution, constitutional convention, convention, lawsuit, repair california, repaircalifornia.org, signature gathering firm, state constitutional convention, www.repaircalifornia.org Leave a comment »
Repair California Prepares Lawsuit To Protect Citizens’ Movement To Break Special Interest Stranglehold On California’s Broken Government (Press Release).
SAN FRANCISCO and LOS ANGELES, February 3, 2009 — Today Repair California, a group of everyday Californians, reformers, and advocacy groups demanded that signature gathering firms, their regional coordinators, and some crew chiefs, immediately cease the improper, unethical, and illegal boycott of the Constitutional Convention movement, and stop the threats, intimidation, and other dirty tricks that are interfering with California citizens’ right to collect signatures for the Convention campaign.
“We are building an organization that can survive the dirty tricks, but rather than cover up these moves to snuff out this citizens’ movement, we felt it best to expose them to sunlight,” said John Grubb, Campaign Director of Repair California. “Here lies the dark underbelly of California’s political control. It’s a very bad sign for our democracy that reminds one more of ‘Caligula’ than ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.’ We need help from political leaders and everyday Californians willing to stand up and loudly say this is not right.”
Repair California has turned in ballot language to call the first Constitutional Convention in
California in more than 130 years. Citing a broken system of governance, the measures would call a limited Constitutional Convention to reform four areas of the constitution: the budget process; the election and initiative process; restoring the balance of power between the state and local governments; and, creating new systems to improve government effectiveness. The Convention is specifically prohibited from proposing tax increases or from considering changes to social issues such as marriage, abortion, gambling, affirmative action, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, immigration, or the death penalty. Voters will decide on calling the Convention on the November 2010 ballot, the Convention would be held in 2011 and its proposed reforms would require voter approval in one of the three scheduled statewide elections in 2012.
“Californians deserve better,” said Jim Wunderman, the President and CEO of the Bay Area Council, the organization that started the Convention movement. “Our entire democracy is demeaned when the question of calling a Convention is denied a fair fight on the field of ideas before the voters.”
The letters sent today by Repair California’s attorneys at Hanson Bridgett alleges that certain signature gathering firms are engaged in conduct that violates State and Federal Antitrust law, and the Constitutional rights of Repair California and the people supporting it. The “blacklisting” of Repair California has harmed the Convention campaign by limiting and interfering with its right to engage a signature collection firm, and has resulted in a drastic increase in prices offered Repair California. A group boycott violates Section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1, and it is also contrary to the California Unfair Competition Law (UCL). Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200, et. seq, which protects California businesses and consumers from unfair and anti-competitive activities. In addition, the Convention campaign alleges that people actually or apparently acting on the signature gathering firms’ behalf are engaged in behavior intended to threaten and intimidate persons who are circulating petitions calling the Convention. Also, there is evidence of “dirty tricks” designed to thwart the Constitutional Convention petition effort. For example, persons acting on the signature gathering firms’ behalf may have thrown valid signatures away. Hanson Bridgett, lawyers for the Convention campaign, have notified those who may be responsible for such illegal activities that Repair California, and the citizens it represents, have the Constitutional right to circulate petitions to qualify an initiative for the ballot, and that any interference with this right is a basis for a lawsuit.
