MetaFilter posts tagged with California and politics

in Oakland, the revolutionary pilot light is always on

gerryblog — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 17:19:05 -0800

Requiem for an Occupation: The New York Times visits Oakland, California, "the last refuge of radical America." Previously and previouslier. In this context, May Day — and Occupy Oakland, more broadly — looks less like an expression of the city’s indomitable radical spirit than the last gasp of a protest movement overmatched by the encroaching forces of capitalism. Oakland is simply too geographically well positioned and financially underexploited not to absorb the creative, professional and entrepreneurial overflow from more expensive places like San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Berkeley. And as it continues to develop its own gritty-chic cachet, there’s a good chance Oakland might become more than just a default option for some of the Bay Area’s nouveau riche. ... The utopian vision for a post-capitalist Oakland clung to by Boots Riley and the rest of the city’s revolutionaries will soon be dead. But radical Oakland will live on, awaiting its next opportunity to rise up, even as the city itself evolves. For every young tech worker moving into a downtown condominium tower or entrepreneur gobbling up cheap, deserted retail space, there’s sure to be a militant graduate student drawn to a city that has just added another chapter to its long radical history.

California Dreamin'

jaduncan — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 03:08:05 -0800

California rejects top rate tax increase, removes all state funding for CA libraries. Funding cut for "literacy programs, InterLibrary Loans, and miscellaneous expenses such as librarian training programs and books." Library Journal goes into more of the technicalities.

'South California' for 51st state?

reenum — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 15:14:07 -0800

Jeff Stone, a politician from Riverside County, wants 13 conservative Southern California counties to secede and become the country's 51st state.

A Darker Shade of Golden

Trochanter — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 11:35:45 -0800

As California goes, so goes the country, they used to say. Well, yikes. Golden State, an n+1 piece by Nikil Saval, presents a bleak picture of paralysis and conflicted interests that has rendered "The Bellwether State" all but inoperable. (via Arts & Letters Daily)

...And it was called Proposition 19

Taft — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:26:43 -0800

This November, California citizens will decide whether or not to legalize the possession, buying and selling of, and recreational use of marijuana. Early polls concerning proposition 19, also known as the "Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010", reveal a slight majority for legalization, as well as an interesting case of status quo bias. (Previously)

Read the initiative in full.
Proposition 19's direct clash with federal law sparks a debate about federal involvement.
The official Facebook group has exceeded 130,000 fans.

The Seedier Side of Avocado Prices: Protectionism in California's Avocado Industry

thisperon — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 01:43:48 -0800

Yummy avocados. So delicious...so contentious...and at times...so expensive. Why have prices in the U.S., particularly California, been so high? And why have they dropped? Weather and a bad crop? Or are the causes often more insidious? A one act play sums up one perspective on the situation. Seriously, are California avocado growers trying to limit the competition in the guise of pest control? Since 1914, avocados from Mexico (currently the world's #1 avocado producer) have been banned in the U.S. due to claims over pest infestation. In 1994, NAFTA opened the US to Mexican avocados, but avocado growers in California vehemently fought against the measure, claiming Mexican avocados would bring pests into the country. Are pests a legitimate issue? The answer varies on the source. While some sources claim legitimate pest issues exist, other sources claim the pest issue is unfounded. While hard evidence of the pest threat is still being sought, California avocado growers, through groups like the California Avocado Commission, have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on lobbying activity and lawsuits, in an effort to stop the importation of Mexican avocados. A report by the CATO institute provides a detailed breakdown and history of the avocado wars, claiming Californian avocado growers are abusing inspection standards to protect their share of the industry. The battle continues. In 2007, more than two decades after NAFTA, and after much stalling, Mexican trucks are finally allowed to bring Mexican avocados into California and Florida.. The California Avocado Commission decides to file suit. Even more recently, Mexico sues the California Avocado Commission for "spreading falsehoods" about Mexican avocados.

This may be the "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" of political ads

Asparagirl — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:11:51 -0800

Carly Fiorina, perhaps best known as the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, is attempting to become the Republican candidate for Barbara Boxer's long-time Senate seat. But her nomination isn't sewed up yet; her potential GOP challenger is former Congressman and Stanford Law professor Tom Campbell. So earlier today, Fiorina's campaign released this political attack ad against Campbell. It features her newly-minted acronym "FCINO", it's about six times longer than most political ads, it makes copious use of stock photography, and it stars demon sheep with red glowing eyes. Wait, what?

Frederic, Prinz von Anhalt, for Governor (warning autoplay national anthem)

Ironmouth — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 07:57:04 -0800

Frederic, Prinz von Anhalt is running for Governor of California Zsa Zsa Gabor's 9th husband, Frederic, Prinz von Anhalt wants your vote as governor of California. Originally Hans Robert Lichtenberg, the son of a German police officer, he was adopted by the octegenarian Princess Marie von Anhalt. Now he's running for governor, promising to return the good life to California by promoting its world-class "avocados, wine, weather beaches and marijuana." According to the Prinz, after a 1 1/2 hour conversation with Ronald Reagan in the White House, the President encouraged him to go into politics. Frederic promises to raise a sin tax on marijuana, open the borders to Mexican workers so we can tax them and reduce those terrible DMV fees. He also proposes to "throw divorce lawyers a bone" and "quiet the gays" by overturning Prop 8 and letting them "be as miserable as the rest of us." If elected, he will demand a recount.

Hasta la vista, Gertrude Chataway.

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:56:54 -0800

Veto is a four-letter word (google quickview, here's the PDF):.Governor Schwarzenegger of California, at odds with the state legislature but ever the poet, vetoes Assembly Bill 1176 with a nice little acrostic.

Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams

shakespeherian — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:39:47 -0800

Is California finished?

Politics 101: Don't Brag About Your Sexploits in Public

zarq — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:35:08 -0800

Conservative Republican California State Assemblyman Michael Duvall (Orange County) didn't realize his mic was live, moments before the start of a legislative hearing this past July. So when the 54-year-old married father of two began describing his ongoing affairs with two different women in very graphic detail for the benefit of a colleague seated next to him, he had no idea that he was being recorded. The story was picked up by KCAL, who cited unnamed sources that said Duvall was describing affairs with two married lobbyists. The problem: The KCAL report also tentatively identified one as a utility company representative. (The OC Weekly story says she works for Sempra Energy.) Duvall is the vice chairman of the California State Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce. Duvall "announced his immediate resignation from the Assembly this afternoon."

Coming to a town near you... Prop 8 Protests

Glibpaxman — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:14:56 -0800

Proposition 8. Saddened? Curious? Outraged? Happy? Dont Care? On Saturday, November 15 in every state across America and even in cities worldwide there will be a day of action. The response has been so overwhelming the website organizers needed to open up a sister website to handle to traffic overload. In many cases, police are being updated repeatedly by event coordinators with exponential expectations for attendees. A taste of the action: Alabama, California, Texas, Iowa, New York, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Washington DC, International

Prop. 8 is a money boon

nospecialfx — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 11:39:16 -0800

While millions are flowing into California on both sides of the gay marriage battle, California's anti-gay leaders are raking it in through their nonprofit orgs.

Also, make sure to bring a number two pencil

Rhaomi — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 04:26:22 -0800

Something is rotten in the state of ~~Denmark~~ California. The California-based Courage Campaign is making noises about voter disenfranchisement in the Los Angeles area. For the 776,774 ~~independent~~ "Decline To State" voters in the primary there, casting a ballot for a Democratic nominee is a bit more difficult than you'd think would be necessary (the Republican primary is (un?)fortunately closed to independents). These "DTS" voters must request a Democratic Party ballot (as opposed to a generic nonpartisan one without a section for the Presidency), and then (somewhat redundantly) fill a bubble at the top of that ballot reiterating their intent to participate in the Democratic primary. Sounds simple enough. But the average voter has been confounded by less than simple procedures before. In spite of the potential for confusion, the local board of registrars has made the brilliant decision to have the scanning machines invalidate all ballots that do not have that extra bubble filled in -- without informing the voter of the mistake. Furthermore, poll workers will not be required to inform DTS voters of their right to a Democratic ticket unless asked, a policy which State Senator Dean Florez said "violates the spirit of the law" in a stern letter (scroll down to read) to California Secretary of State Debra Bowen. While the issue at first glance seems purely local, the effects of any disenfranchisement will have great influence on Tuesday's results. It is common knowledge that independents are drawn to Barack Obama's campaign, and with them locked out of supporting John McCain in the state's closed GOP primary, he was counting on their turnout to help top Hillary Clinton's erstwhile formidable lead. With the ballot issue threatening that support, the campaign was quick to explain the problem. And for good reason -- the three quarters of a million DTS voters in Los Angeles amount to three-fourths of the votes cast in the all the Democratic primaries to date. Their influence can easily sway California, which itself will sway the media narrative coming out of Super Tuesday. For its part, the aforementioned Courage Campaign is hard at work spreading awareness with websites, (minor) celebrity radio ads, and cheesy YouTube skits. Here's hoping their efforts pay off, and that we can finally get through an election -- even one as crucial as SupercalifragalisticexpialaTuesday -- without an intractable struggle for recounts and justice.

Mo' money, mo' legislation

djgh — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 10:19:20 -0800

Is there a link between donations given and bills passed? MAPLight.org aims to help you find out, giving you the ability to compare contributions with how legislators voted. [Via]

Mr. Universe's muscular agenda

kliuless — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 23:09:51 -0800

California's Governor Seeks Universal Care: Under a plan by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, California would become the largest state to attempt to provide near universal health coverage.

Congressman Matsui (D-CA) Dies of Rare Disease

expriest — Sun, 02 Jan 2005 12:13:47 -0800

Congressman dies of rare disease Congressman Bob Matsui, who was recently elected to a 14th term in Congress, has died due to a rare stem cell disease. Matsui, who was one of the leading opponents of President Bush's plan to eliminate Social Security, was the ranking Democrat on the Congressional subcommittee on Social Security.

Declaration of Independence Banned at Calif School

acrobat — Thu, 25 Nov 2004 03:46:54 -0800

Declaration of Independence Banned at Calif School? WTF? That's what I thought when I first read it. I read more and again I said: WTF? This can't be right! So, I looked around a bit and I realised some people had already a different perspective on this.

Promoting a candidate could get you thrown in jail

calwatch — Sat, 30 Oct 2004 06:57:26 -0800

David Dreier doesn't like free speech. The California Congressman and the Republican Party have filed a felony federal complaint against one of their own, which could possibly lead to jail time, all for opposing the incumbent. Apparently, spending a million dollars wasn't enough. More coverage of Dreier here and here.

Pro-active pro-evolution resources

KirkJobSluder — Thu, 15 Apr 2004 10:43:09 -0800

Just found this one. The San Francisco Chronicle reports on a Berkeley website for supporting science teachers teaching evolution. The project was built with a grant from the National Science Foundation and has received an additional grant to expand the site to develop content for students and adults. More coverage from The Daily Bruin at UCLA and a brief clip from Science News.

"I will hire an outside independent auditor, free of political influence..."

insomnia_lj — Thu, 09 Oct 2003 18:10:16 -0800

"I will hire an outside independent auditor, free of political influence..." Schwarzenegger breaks promise to Californians, hires Donna Arduin to head the 60-day audit of California. Arduin is "on loan" from Florida, where she is Jeb Bush's Budget director. Arduin has been criticized by economists and even prominent Florida republicans for "surreal",misleading, unrealistic, and risky accounting procedures. During her stint as Budget Director, Ms. Arduin oversaw numerous tax cuts aimed at the wealthiest Floridians, while most Floridians saw no significant decrease in taxes. Infact, today Florida has the second most regressive taxes in the nation.The effects of these tax cuts? Unprecidented shortfalls in state tax revenues, with massive budget cuts for public schools, universities, child welfare, vision services for uninsured children, etc.
Class warfare, anyone?!

Escher in 2003!

mathowie — Wed, 08 Oct 2003 14:02:52 -0800

The results are in! the MeFi guesses weren't too far off, and Escher wins the domokun, while ook wins the booby prize.

The Cali candidates: Adam to Zellhoefer

Artifice_Eternity — Wed, 01 Oct 2003 00:57:53 -0800

The Cali candidates, Adam to Zellhoefer, are all listed at California-Recall.com ...and each gets their own page to tell you about themselves. Interesting lesser-known candidates include: Angelyne ("I'm EXTRA large on top, I have a TINY waist, and my hips are JUST RIGHT!"), Joel Britton, "retired meat packer," Art Brown - "I started for publicity, but now that I'm running, I kind of want to run" (such enthusiasm!), William Chambers, "railroad switchman/brakeman," Mary Cook, an "adult film actress" who wants to tax breast implants and wire the Governor’s Mansion with live web cams ("We've had Brown, we've tried Gray, now it's time for some blonde").

Then there's Michael Jackson (no, not that one; this guy's a Satellite Payload Project Manager), Trek Thunder Kelly, "Business Executive/Artist," Paul "Chip" Mailander, "Golf Professional," and Paul Mariano - "I am the only candidate who will appoint Davis as Chief of Staff in charge of the day-to-day governance of California, the job he was duly elected to do." And many more...

Candidate Camera

pzarquon — Mon, 22 Sep 2003 23:15:49 -0800

Not quite moblogging. Though basically a publicity ploy by the cowbox folks, Candidate Camera is still worth a browse. A digital camera has been offered to every single one of the candidates in the California recall election — from Adam to Zellhoefer — and they're sending in shots from the campaign trail. Clearly some are having fun with the project, from the unknown to the infamous. And while others are going for the mom and apple pie constituency, at least a couple are aiming at the Maxim mindset. Having David Hume Kennerly at the helm adds some credibility, and while his featured photo picks are always good, you can always — in true blogger style — just jump to the latest entries.

Federal Appeals Court Delays California Recall

y2karl — Mon, 15 Sep 2003 20:23:03 -0800

The Gropenator will have to spin his wheels for awhile: California's Vote Delayed by Court Over Punch Cards. And here's the kicker--it's deja vu all over again, Bizarro stylee: Bush v. Gore Outlives Its Limited Warranty for Use in California

The Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore was meant to be a ticket good for one ride. "Our consideration is limited to the present circumstances," the justices said in their unsigned opinion in 2000, "for the problem of equal protection in election processes generally presents many complexities." Three judges on the federal appeals court in San Francisco, all appointed by Democratic presidents, decided yesterday to use it for another ride anyway.