http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/04/california-failing-state-debt

So, what do you guys have to say about this?





And it goes on...

California Proposition 187 (also known as the Save Our State initiative) was a 1994 ballot initiative designed to prohibit illegal immigrants from using social services, health care, and public education in the U.S. State of California. It was initially passed by the voters but later found unconstitutional by a federal court, with appeals against the judgment being halted by Governor Gray Davis.


Any more questions?

The article paints a pretty dark picture of California, it ends with a sense of optimism, but only if they sort their shit out.

NY State is heading on a similar course to financial ruin....We have a 3 billion state deficit and instead of a tax hike they're going with cut services (police, schools) and grants for college students. Yeah good luck with that.

i dont need to read this to know that the state i live in is fucked

i saw an l.a. city councilman speak yesterday. he said that although the unemployment rate in los angeles is commonly reported as being 14%, it may be as high as 20%.

'Reported' unemployment rates are based on those receiving unemployment benefits & does not include those who have lost their benefits. It also has nothing to do w/ all the folks w/ reduced hours. Glad the stock market is better - just wish the beginnings of the 'turnaround' would trickle down to the street. CA is the canary in coalmine known as the USA.

You have sunshine and the beach . . . fuck the economy! . . .

truth.. don't forget all the pretty ladies... i'm trying to get alex to see the greatness in southern california.. hopefully he'll wake up soon and move down here.

“California Republic” by The Bodies

We got the surf, we got the sand.
We got the sun so we got the fucking tans.
We got the wine ‘cause we got the grapes.
So why the fuck do we need the other states?

Let’s secede today, California republic.

We got the oil, we got the gas.
We got the farms, computers, and the cash.
We make our missiles, we make our own planes.
So why the fuck do we need the other states?

http://www.myspace.com/thebodies

Good stuff.


I'm always astounded how They keep reducing investments in education. Like seriously, where do governments think that the future lies?

Funny you should ask....The future is in the prisons.

Gross, I hate the sunshine and heat. It's why I moved back to Chicago, my pasty complexion is FINALLY coming back.

Stick a fork in Arnold, he's done.

Who should we try next? Jim Carrey? How about Carrot Top?

Seriously though, what is the general feeling on Arnie?

Arnie should stick to making movies and driving his Hummers. Perhaps he can start working out again. Recently, he vetoed a law that would prohibit healthcare companies from giving members the boot (after they become sick).

Very unpopular at the moment. He's shown himself to be surprisingly immature in office. A petulant man and a name-caller, prone to hissy childlike threats (I won't sign any bills unless I get my way!) and unwanted "special" elections that annoyed the votership and turned many in his own party against him. For a long time his swagger worked for him, but with such high unemployment rates, the allure of personality has worn thin. He's a bridge-burner, which is odd given that he's not exactly the most far-right of Republicans.

I get a slight feeling that he knows he's toast and is suddenly experiencing a change of heart on some matters. That is, to go with what he knows to be right rather than playing the usual games for political expediency and career longevity.

At the moment the leading candidate is former governor Jerry Brown, yes, he of "California Uber Alles" and the Doonsbury moniker "Moonbeam." He's become a lot more practical and I daresay conservative since those days. The other two most-talked-about candidates are Democrat and San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, almost universally despised for a large number of reasons, and Republican former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, whose campaign is failing to catch fire due to doubts about her commitment, experience, consistency and credibility. I suspect that confidence in Brown has to do with his experience. He was about as impressive as mayor of Oakland as one could be given that impossible-seeming job.

I believe it'd be erroneous to cite illegal immigration as the sole reason for California's failing economy. It has more to do with fiduciary irresponsibility and mismanagement.

This.

I move around the country a lot (I've moved 1000+ miles 5 times in 9 years), and I'm planning on getting the hell out of CA within the next 2 years unless something amazing happens to make me stay. Plus if Comic-Con ends up moving, that's just one less reason to stay in SD.

I'm planning moving up the coast, either to Portland or Bend, or maybe all the way to Seattle.

I've been hearing nothing but good things about Portland for years.

Portland - Where old punks go to die.
Like the spikey hippy Florida of the North West.
But, yeah, nothing but good stuff.

Wait, isn't the entire rest of the North West full of separatists, militia men and neo christian pagan nazis?

The US is fucking weird.

Isn't that the south?

They think that korans and prayer mats are going to be mandatory next year.

Meanwhile the Texas governor has talked about Texas seceding from the union.

I don't know about "full" but yeah, there have been "tensions" up north in the past twenty years or so as ex-Californians have moved up there.

I dunno. There's a place here in NorCal called Boulder Creek, not far from Santa Cruz where rednecks and peacenicks are neighbors without there being any conflict, aside from trying to keep poachers out of the more rural parts.



Yeah but you guys get more crop circles than us, so there.

Yep...and I'm all three! Seriously, though...it's mainly east of the Cascades, closer to and including Idaho (at least as far as WA goes...I can't speak for OR). Not much of that in or around Seattle.

No offense to anyone intended, but I rather like the idea of a Christian Pagan. Back to basics and all that.

No, no, no...Jesus WAS born on 12/25!

Don't come to Portland - we've got no jobs for you. Plus, there's serious talk about turning Multnomah County (where Portland is located) into a dry county.