In an effort to emulate my colleague Duane, and post something up on this blog that has nothing to do with politics, I thought I would throw out there my new dilemma.

Recently I picked up a new LG "Chocolate" cell phone. I have only been using it for a few days, and we’ll see if it is an improvement over the RZR or not. I won’t go into any more of that for fearing of being too "Duane-like" in this post.

While monkeying around with the phone, I found out how to download ring tones from the ether — and after spending nearly an hour listening to snipets of cool music, ultimately settled on downloading "What’s Going On?" by the amazing Marvin Gaye (pictured), whom I consider to have been one of the most amazing contributors to the music industry of all time (despite his left-wing politics).

There was also some irony my phone ringing out with "What’s Going On?" when someone… Read More

After years of effort and prodding from Supervisors Roberta MacGlashan and Susan Peters (and a looming budget shortfall) the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors finally tackled a multi-million dollar budget problem by eliminating costly “extra” benefits for future retirees.

It’s a start — but it’s not the only budget busting pension issue: Sacramento County has nearly $950 Million in pension obligation bonds that have to be serviced from the General Fund – at the same time they’re facing significant budget cuts.

The scary thing is, Sacramento is not alone – all across California, bloated and under-funded (how did they manage to do both?) pensions have spawned a financial monster; and with few exceptions, no one is dealing with it. Public employee retiree pensions and benefits threaten to swamp already stretched budgets – throwing taxpayers into a fiscal nightmare. It’s the monster under the bridge everyone tries to… Read More

A judges decison this week to shut off the Delta pumps that 25 million Californians rely on has sent a shock wave through the water user community, [which is everyone in California]

This additionalbit of judicial policy making, was ostensibly to save the all so handy species du jour, a fish calledthe Delta Smelt.

Thankfully we Californians can draw from reservoirs, such as San Luis,that store water for when situations that affect available water supply, such as drought caused by weather or by activist judges. 50 years ago, leaders had a vision for providing for future needs with our State Water Project. The elected legislatures reaction weeks ago when this possiblejudicial action first came public?

Why, it was to vote down a bill in Senate Water Committee that would build more of the reservoirs that store water that a million Californians, new to this stateeach 2 years, will need!

Maybe we’ll luck out and have a ‘climate change’ that causes it to rain more in the summer. What was it Albert Hammond said about it back in… Read More

After years of effort and prodding from Supervisors Roberta MacGlashan and Susan Peters (and a looming budget shortfall) the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors finally tackled a multi-million dollar budget problem by eliminating costly “extra” benefits for future retirees.

It’s a start — but it’s not the only budget busting pension issue: Sacramento County has nearly $950 Million in pension obligation bonds that have to be serviced from the General Fund – at the same time they’re facing significant budget cuts.

The scary thing is, Sacramento is not alone – all across California, bloated and under-funded (how did they manage to do both?) pensions have spawned a financial monster; and with few exceptions, no one is dealing with it. Public employee retiree pensions and benefits threaten to swamp already stretched budgets – throwing taxpayers into a fiscal nightmare. It’s the monster under the bridge everyone tries to… Read More

In my "vacation" mail I received an unexpectedinvitation to a fundraiser for Harry Sidhu, the Anaheim City Councilman who is running for the 33rd State Senate seat against GOP stalward and conservative Assemblywoman Mimi Walters. The event is a special seating at an Angels game, but it featured recently-elected Board of Equalization member Michelle Steel as a cosponsor. Michelle Steel is a leading light in the Republican Party, like Walters,and the highest ranking Korean-American elected official in the nation. Like her husband, Shawn, she is a "hard-core" conservative. The fact that she is co-chairing a fundraiser for Sidhu (whom I do not know) seems to be significant, given Walter’s conservative credentials. Can an endorsement for Sidhu from former GOP state chair Shawn Steel also be in the offing? My head is realing! Is this seat really up for grabs?… Read More

I just returned from a trip to Vancouver, B.C. and even in that beautiful city had occasion to think of a few things political and legal:

1. Our Governor was all over the news during my five days in British Columbia! While his activities as diplomat do not include the force and effect of a formal treaty, he seemed to get a lot done on a "voluntary" basis. He signed memoranda of understanding with Canadian provincial leaders and with the conservative Canadian Prime Minister on a range of issues, including the environment, and also some conservative icons too, such as copyright protection. Know which place in the world is the biggest infringer on intellectual property rights of theentertainment industry, through pirated copying? Phillipines? China? Nope! Guess Quebec and you got it right! The Governor inked an agreement with the P.M. which will include a promise to introduce legislation that for the first time will make copyright infringement of this type a crime.

2. No recall in Canada? Can you imagine a Mayor of a city in California who gets drunk, goes to his girlfriend’s house, assaults her, publicly admits he is… Read More

One of the first things a candidate does when the declare their intent to run for a state legislative race, is decide whether to accept the voluntary spending caps. This is a product of the Proposition 34 “campaign reform”. The idea behind Prop. 34 to give a benefit to candidates that agree not to spend so much money. The benefit is that the will be acknowledged in the ballot pamphlet as agreeing to obey spending limits. Sort of like a “that’s a god boy (or girl)” pat on the head for voters. They also get to buy a ballot statement that is sent to all voters in the official sample ballot. The cost varies based on numbers, but is in the several thousands dollars range. You can seesome Prop. 34 info here. If you don’t agree, you don’t get these benefits, but you do get to blow the spending caps. The caps are currently $483,000 in an Assembly … Read More

Santee Councilman Brian Jones is taking a hard look at an anticipated open 52nd Congressional seat next year, and has filed committee paperwork with the FEC. Brian tells me "I am planning onmaking an announcement the first part of July…I am still makingcontacts and generating support."

As posted here several times, the media and blogs have been rife with stories about son Duncan D. Hunter taking a shot at dad’s seat. Several other lookers have been mentioned, but movement has been relatively slow.

Congressional Quarterly details Jones’ foray into the realm of the "big boys" today (see CQ article). Brian notes to me that his background in the story should be "ministry leadership" instead of "industry leadership," as he previously had six yearsexperience on staff at Sonrise Community Church. (The CQ reporter subseqently corrected this… Read More