Some people really know how to spoil a good time. I was at one of San Bernardino County Supervisor Paul Biane’s signature first-class fundraisers November 2nd in Rancho Cucamonga, sipping Biane Brothers wine and anticipating later hearing Paul’s announcement for re-election next June. Read about it here.Then the keynote speaker, Hugh Hewitt, took a detour from his characteristically rousing speech and spent a full five minutes describing to the hushed audience a potential bird flu pandemic that could kill millions of people. He discussedthe possibility that the new avian influenza "H5N1" strain in Southeast Asia could become communicable among humans in the future, and noted that in Asiapeople in their prime who’ve contracted the virus from bird sources are dying at a 50-percent rate. By contrast, most influenza bugs are generally only life threatening to the very young and elderly, as well as those with compromised immune… Read More

MY CALCULATOR DOESN’T HAVE ENOUGH DIGITS $100,000,000,000.00 (I think that is a $100 Billion). This is the figure I have heard bantered around for a massive ‘infrastructure’ bond measure for California. I need help from some financial experts now. My understanding is that a bond is, in essence, a loan. We float bonds out there for immediate cash. Then, like with any other kind of loan, we make incremental payments on the loan over a period of time (like with a home loan, you typical spread the payments over 30 years). Of course, the interest on the loan adds up considerably, so that by the time you have paid off the principle borrowed (in this case, supposedly that "MEGO" – My Eyes Glaze Over – number above) you also have paid out a huge amount in interest as well. I have no clue what the annual payments would be on an additional $100 billion in bonded indebtedness would be for California taxpayers.… Read More

Props to Carla Marinucci, a very capable political reporter over at the San Francisco Chronicle. While I don’t agree with Carla on all things, I love her reporting.

I took a trip over to the San Francisco Chronicle Elections 2005 blog, and she has sent in a post from China, where she is traveling with the Governor. The best thing about the SFC’s Blog is that it is a forum for their reporters to pass along the kind of information that would bore the average newspaper readering (diminishing as they are), but is of real interest to we political hacks.

While the big stories that ‘everyone’ wants to read are about the reception the Governor and Maria are receiving, the content of the various gubernatorial guests, or even the VIPs with whom the Governor and First Lady will meet — count on Carla to give us the run down on who is traveling with the Gov. from his government and political staff!

Check… Read More

Ending any speculation that he might enter the race himself, Assemblyman Chuck DeVore announced today that he was supporting Dana Point Councilwoman Diane Harkey for the 35th State Senate seat.… Read More

The Democratic victory dance is now entering its sixth day, and like the riots sweeping France’s cities and suburbs, this anger masked as celebration shows no sign of ebbing. The question that preoccupies Sacramento at the moment, now that Schwarzenegger has adopted a conciliatory approach in the aftermath of last week’s election results, is whether the Democratic legislative leadership will accept the governor’s olive branch, or wrap it around his neck.

The original Democratic response, coming from Democrats and all, seemed to contradict itself. Senator Perata, who shows an occasional and fleeting willingness to separate himself from the public employee unions, talked of peace. Assembly Speaker Nunez, better attuned to their wishes, hinted of continued war. A smart bettor would take war and give the points.

In this arena, warfare usually means passing bills designed to embarrass the governor. So rather than cooperation and compromise, the instinct of many of Schwarzenegger’s foes will be to move legislation to his desk… Read More

San Francisco’s metrosexual mayor, Gavin Newsom, traveled to Iowa this weekend to headline at a fundraiser for Democrat state legislators. Newsom, who made national headlines when he allowed gay couples to legally marry in San Francisco, helped the Hawkeye Dems raise $50K over the weekend. Newson’s on-again-off-again wife, Kimberly Guilfoyle Newsom, was not along for the trip.

Although they have filed for divorce, the two continue to be seen together in public. Guilfoyle Newsom was at his side last week when the mayor hosted Prince Charles and his wife, Camille, at a number of events in San Francisco.… Read More

U.S. REP ROHRABACHER – CONSERVATIVE VOICE The lead item in today’s FlashReport is an exclusive column from Orange County Congressman Dana Rohrabacher. The FlashReport has written a lot lately about the grave economic threat to America by seemingly-unchecked growth in domestic spending in Washington, D.C. (yes, under a Republican President and a Republican Congress). Dana Rohrabacher has been a leader among those conservative members of Congress who believe that the GOP Congress must shrink the size of the bureaucracy, not preside over its growth. With the horrific tragedy of Hurricane Katrina last month, Congress is at a crossroads. Or, as Congressman Rohrabacher puts it, the GOP Congress is going to have to ‘define ourselves’ – the column is a ‘must read’ and you can do that right… Read More

This will be a novel post. I am flying in an eight-passenger twin-prop plane, flying over the active volcano on the south end of the Big Island of Hawai’I. I can see the lava bubbling and splashing around in the crater. Down the volcano are massive pillars of steam where the slow lava flows hit the ocean, heating the water to over 140 degrees farenheit. . In the last 3 months, this island has grown by 15 acres. Not sure of my nexus to California politics, but how often can one file a blog post from 600 feet above an active volcano? Aloha!… Read More