Today is an important milestone in world history. Israel celebrates its birthday as a sovereign nation amid a period of great uncertainty and tension in the Middle east region. As it has for many of its years, Israelis will be marking the anniversary of their nation with joy and glee, but also a sense of guarded optimism and concern for the future of a country that has been at the forefront in the battle against militant extremism. Israel’s existence is extraordinary, and not just to those of the Jewish faith. For many Americans, however, today’s birthday for Israel may not appear as significant in the overall state of international affairs, but I can assure you Israel’s 60th anniversary is more than a milestone marking the birth of a nation, it is a metaphor for the struggle against radical anti-American extremism. If one listens to the radical jihadists, one can see that militants are hell bent on the destruction of western civilization as we know it. Many Americans will correctly point out that the United States on 9-11-01 was… Read More

I won’t take credit for being the first political columnist to take umbrage with Fontana Mayor Mark Nuaimi, but I will say that it seems to have caught on… I will now refer to him as the "embattled King of Fontana" who is at the center of swirl of controversy… Or should I say controversies (plural)? This guy is now commonly referred to as "The Conflict King" because of his dual role as the Mayor of Fontana while also being the Assistant City Manager of the nearby city of Colton.

He is controversial to this columnist because he is a Republican, but yet seems to have no trouble using his office to overtly and covertly push his personal vision for the city of Fontana on private property owners, regardless of what they want to do with their property. You can read through to what I’ve written or posted on Nuaimi in the past by going here. But I have one heck of a column coming your way based on information sent to me after I first started writing about "The King" — so stay tuned.

In the meantime, I have yet another video about… Read More

Today the Governor announced that he is taking steps to make the State Capitol "wi-fi" friendly, with the first phase being a wireless "hotspot" in the Governor’s Press Conference Room on the first floor. Outstanding. The next phase of his plan is to make some portion of the Capitol cafeteria a "hot spot" – which is cool. These are great first steps.

But the big project, to which any project to bring wireless to the State Capitol must include, is making the Senate and Assembly Chambers wireless, so that people up in the galleries (or the press corps or guests in the back of the chambers) can access wireless. After this, it should be the Committee Rooms where the most influential meetings take place.

Speaking on behalf of the blogging community, it really would enhance our ability to live-blog about the goings-on in state government.

Now I don’t know where the boundaries are between where the Governor has jurisdiction to create "hot spots" versus the legislature — but someone should get right on this!… Read More

After years of litigation – costing millions of taxpayer dollars – the California Department of Education has finally settled with a whistle-blower turned former employee. This whistle-blower claimed retaliation by the Department and former Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin when he reported massive fraud in the department.

According to the Sacramento Bee (April 23, 2008), the California Department of Education paid "$4.25 million to the former worker who said he suffered retaliation after he reported corruption to then Superintendent Delaine Eastin." The trouble began when the California Department of Education dished out millions of dollars, not to California’s classrooms, but to people seemingly just trying to make a buck off the system. "The case centered on corruption in a program that handed out money to community-based organizations between 1995 and 2000 to teach English and citizenship to recent immigrants. Some of the schools that got grant money didn’t even exist."… Read More

With Doug Ose pounding the TV airwaves with millions of dollars of ads, the Tom McClintock for Congress campaign needed some reinforcements from fellow conservatives. Well, the Club for Growth has just announced that they are launching their own TV ad to introduce/reiterate Ose’s liberal tax-and-spend voting record in Congress.

According to Club for Growth’s press release, “the ad seeks to educate voters about Doug Ose’s liberal record when he served in Congress. Ose is currently running millions of dollars in ads but he is leaving out the most important pieces of the puzzle, including his votes to waste billions of tax dollars on wasteful pork projects. These projects include The Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Texas, peanut competitiveness, and an indoor rainforest in Iowa. Ose also voted for a Democrat budget and huge new entitlement spending—votes he conveniently neglects to mention in his own ads.” I’ve also heard similar Club for Growth radio ads on local talk show stations. … Read More

Late last week, California’s esteemed Lieutenant Governor, Democrat John Garamendi, took a break from his statewide "we need taxes not spending cuts" tour to fire off a petulant letter to his successor as Insurance Commissioner, Steve Poizner. The subject? Garamendi is upset because after reviewing them since he was elected to office, Poizner has determined that a bunch of last minute regulations that Garamendi adopted literally on his way out of the office were in need of revision, which he is doing. I will spend more time soon delving into the policy issues involved with these regulations. For your Monday morning entertainment, though, I want to encourage you all to take five minutes to read the back and forth between Garamendi and Poizner. Garamendi’s letter, which you can view here, reads like it was written by a small child, at least in… Read More

Late last week, California’s esteemed Lieutenant Governor, Democrat John Garamendi, took a break from his statewide "we need taxes not spending cuts" tour to fire off a petulant letter to his successor as Insurance Commissioner, Steve Poizner. The subject? Garamendi is upset because after reviewing them since he was elected to office, Poizner has determined that a bunch of last minute regulations that Garamendi adopted literally on his way out of the office were in need of revision, which he is doing. I will spend more time soon delving into the policy issues involved with these regulations. For your Monday morning entertainment, though, I want to encourage you all to take five minutes to read the back and forth between Garamendi and Poizner. Garamendi’s letter, which you can view here, reads like it was written by a small child, at least in… Read More

UPDATE: No action taken on 2747 today. This Thursday is the likely date or ???

Many of you may have received an email last night about a bill, AB 2747, that relaxes the use of "end-of-life" sedation to one much closer to assisted suicide. The current practice is known as "palliative sedation" and would be dramatically expanded under this new bill.. The bill will be eligible starting today on the Assembly Floor, and can be taken up any day we’re in session. You can find more info at www.Californiaprolife.org… Read More