Californians on vacation in recent weeks may not be aware that their Governor Jerry Brown attended a conference about climate change on July 21-22, 2015at the Vatican, with Pope Francis in attendance. In addition to arranging for the attendance of Governor Brown, the Vatican also invited mayors of cities “of international importance” to attend the conference.

The mayors of San Francisco and San Jose accepted their invitations, along with mayors from eight other American cities. (The Mayor of Los Angeles did not attend but participated in a joint statement of support.) All attendees were Democrats, although the Vatican claimed that Republican mayors had been invited but declined.

Governor Brown also attended, and he came bearing a gift from the… Read More

Those on the left who wail incessantly about “income inequality” need look no further than California academia. While the left focuses like a laser beam on private sector CEO salaries, the salaries in government and state run academia are soaring.

There’s no risk being a public official; the real risk belongs to CEO’s who can be tossed out of their jobs on the whim of boards of directors. Private sector employees are subject to performance reviews and standards — it’s called merit. When was the last time anyone in government was terminated for poor performance? The faulty Oakland Bay bridge… no heads have rolled yet on that.

Income Inequality Belongs to California Academia

The UC Regents approved 3 percent raises for 15 of the University of California’s highest-paid executives. The new pay scale for the five UC chancellors are: $772,500 for UC San Francisco’s Samuel Hawgood; $516,446 for UC Berkeley’s Nicholas Dirks; $441,334 for UCLA’s Gene Block; $436,120 for UC San Diego’s Pradeep Khosla; and $424,360 for UC Davis’ Linda… Read More

[Publisher’s Note: As part of an ongoing effort to bring original, thoughtful commentary to you here at the FlashReport, we are pleased to present this column from Catrina Rorke.]

Hard as it may be to believe, we’re beginning to hear rumblings of sensibility from California’s electricity markets. Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison both have written to the state’s Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce to request a smart and much-needed change to the state’s… Read More

The Fish and GameCommission Ignores California State Legislature – So, Who Has Oversight?

Given the recent criticism surrounding the California Fish and Game Commission, it’s only a matter of time before a state investigation is launched looking into their actions.

Assemblyman Adam Gray, D-Merced, addressed the California Fish & Game Commissionin February about legislation dealing with Bobcat trappings. Gray explained the legislative intent of Assembly Bill 1213, dealing with bobcat trappings, and said the legislature voted on the bobcat trapping bill with the anticipation that any decisions would be scientific and fact based. Gray asked the commission to hold to the Legislature’s findings, which narrowed the bill from a complete statewide ban “…because of the lack of reliable Bobcat assessments in California, and impact on local businesses which rely on hunting and trapping,” Gray explained. See the video:… Read More

A 2015 U-T survey of home water bills for the 30 largest U.S. cities found that for 200 gallons a day usage, San Diego has the 3rd highest cost – 73.7% higher than the median city surveyed. At 600 gal/day, San Diego was again 3rd highest – 81.7% higher than the median city.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/jul/27/drought-water-prices-rise/

Here’s a couple interesting tables from the story:

… Read More

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[Publisher’s Note: As part of an ongoing effort to bring original, thoughtful commentary to you here at the FlashReport, we are pleased to present this column from Arnold Steinberg.]

Only ten candidates will participate in the first Republican presidential debate, ten days away, hosted by Fox News in Cleveland. The remaining six may be awarded a lesser debate, an improvement over excluding them entirely.

The decision is based on the placement in averaging five recent polls. It’s still unclear which polls will be selected. But we do know that these polls have different sample sizes. Further, the number of actual Republican registered voters likely to vote in the primary election is only in the 150-300 range for each survey, with a substantial margin of statistical error – perhaps plus or minus five to eight percent, and that doesn’t even count non-sampling error. For example, the surveys have different methodologies and even ask the ballot question differently. Most do not even indicate whether the candidate is a governor or senator. Reading just the names of the sixteen candidates favors those candidates… Read More

California Assembly members want Planned Parenthood investigated for the illegal trafficking of illegal aborted baby organs — especially now that athird video has been released of Planned Parenthood doctors, Katherine Sheehan and Savita Ginde casually discussing the sale of aborted baby body parts, while negotiating, and making the arrangements.

The revelation of the… Read More

Emperor Palpatine: There is a great disturbance in the Force. Darth Vader: I have felt it. Emperor Palpatine: We have a new enemy, the young Rebel… Darth Vader: How is that possible? Emperor Palpatine: Search your feelings, Lord Vader. You know it to be true. He could destroy us.The Force is strong with him. – Quote (edited for brevity) fromStar Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, 1980

There are indeed great disturbances in the force. There are indeed challenges to the imperial monopoly that, for nearly 40 years, has eroded the quality and escalated the costs for California’s system of public K-12 education. And the imperial stormtroopers who enforce their educational edicts on California’s state legislature, its thousands of public school boards, and by extension, millions of parents and children, are all part of an evil empire called the California Teachers Association, or CTA. In plain English, the teachers union.

A comprehensive summary of just how harmful… Read More