Category: Politics

Hide Your Lunch

Admittedly that title may be hitting slightly below the gigantic supposedly anti-capitalistic designer belt.  Michael Moore is coming to Sacramento today to lecture the legislature on how to handle health care.  Because the musings of a filmmaker who, by the way, couldn’t look less healthy, are relevant to such a complex problem.  I guess in a state where portraying yourself as a robot from the future counts as gubanatorial portraying yourself as an expert on government conspiracies makes you qualified to pontificate on health care.  Glad to know our legislature is spending its time so wisely.  Perhaps to beat summer doldrums they can get George Clooney or Bono to come talk about Africa.   

Elk Grove essence

The City of Elk Grove is requesting feedback from the general public on a variety of new logos and taglines to go with. I’d put up a sample of what they are considering, but apparently I’d have to get permission first and hell if I do that. You can check out all the different logos and taglines here.

Personally, I think that a picture of an elk standing in front of a grove of big box stores would be the best logo, but hey, that’s just me.

(Note to City of Elk Grove: if you don’t want people to steal your pictures, don’t put them on the internet.)

CSU Strike Update

Just a quick note to let you all know that the labor dispute at the California State Universities has been all but settled with negociations to be finalized over the next few weeks.

The deal gives all CSU faculty guaranteed base salary increases of 20.7% over four years (retroactive to July 2006) and step salary increases of up to 2.65% each year. In addition, it assigns $28 million to fund two new merit-based programs that will provide raises for senior and junior faculty. As part of the deal, faculty would receive an extra 1% raise for each of the last three years of the contract, contingent on additional state budget funds for the university system.

A labor dispute is still brewing, however, over at the University of California over equitable pay for janitors and other maintenance staff.

California considers banning lead bullets

We’ve banned lead paint. Lead dishes. Lead cookware. Lead pencils. Lead candy. Lead medicine (it’s a traditional Mexican cure for diarrhea).

But we still have lead bullets.

California might be moving towards a ban on the use of lead in bullets due to new studies on the effects of lead on endangered species, particularly the California Condor, the largest terrestrial bird in the United States.

Continue reading “California considers banning lead bullets”

Fabulous!

Today is the second annual Queer Youth Advocacy Day at the State Capitol.  “Representatives from the more than 600 Gay Student Alliances (which are at 45% of public high schools), and other youth under the age of 24, are meeting in Sacramento to lobby for Senate Bill 777 (Kuehl).”  This bill will standardize the anti-discrimination policies in all schools receiving public funds to give all students equal protection from harassment, bullying and discrimination.

The students attended a lobbying training at the Crest Theater before meeting with legislators this afternoon.  A handful of protesters were on hand to inform the youth than they were sinners, but were scared off by the inclement weather (maybe God was trying to tell them something about tolerance, loving thy neighbor, and casting the first stone).

Continue reading “Fabulous!”

Sac State and other CSU faculties authorize strike

The Sacramento Bee reports today that the California State University faculty has voted to strike. Statewide, 82% of the more than 11,000 members of the California Faculty Association voted, with 94% of them authorizing the strike. Tensions have centered upon the lack of a contract and extreme disparity in the salaries of various faculty members. A possible strike will take the form of a rolling walkout, with individual campuses striking for two days at a time.

Here at home, the faculty of Sac State met as a body for the first time in 30 years. Among the budget discussions, a vote of no confidence in University President Alex Gonzalez was proposed. As next week is Spring Break, the vote will not occur until the next Faculty Senate meeting on April 5.

Sign this…or else

On Thursday, February 15 at 7pm the Arden Arcade Incorporation Committee will be holding a petition drive celebration and informational meeting at Arcade Church (3927 Marconi Avenue). For those of you who haven’t been accosted by the for hire signature gatherers in the area recently, some folks in the Arden Arcade area are trying to incorporate. In order to do so they must “obtain” a certain amount of signatures from the public.

Now I’m all for taking it to the streets and letting the people decide, but these signature gatherers are just plain jack-holes. So much so that I am all for voting against incorporation in protest.

Has anyone else encountered these scoundrels? Runner-eats? Sac-girl? What say you?

What a haul!

Lost in all the blah-blah over King Ron’s dog problems and astronaut love-triangles was this little gem about a state worker accused of using her procurement card to spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dough on everything she could think of:

A state Department of Child Support Services analyst used a state credit card to embezzle $320,000, buying a flat-screen television, hot tub, gazebo, iPods, handcuffs, chains and whips, according to California Highway Patrol officials.

Carey Renee Aceves, 34, later fenced many of the items to buy a new Lexus, officials said. But even as her bosses began probing her purchases in January, Aceves was being trained to be make purchases for another state agency.

Wow, that’s some haul! Especially since, as recounted in the local beancounters blog, it can be difficult under normal circumstances for state workers to buy day planners.

Frankly, I think Ms. Aceves has a future with Halliburton.

More fun with CC&R

Following up on this discussion from 2005 regarding CC&R, it appears the bill (AB 394) that went to the Governor’s desk was put into law last year. From cbs13.com:

County clerk recorder Craig Kramer said residents can buy the official CC&R and strike the clause, making it good for all properties in the subdivision. The Morris’s plan to do that, as a happy 21st century family, they say some sometimes history needs a little rewriting.

As discussed in the earlier post, this law went into effect on January 1, 2006. So why is it only getting press in 2007? And can one person “buy” the official CC&R and strike the clause for the whole neighborhood? And if so, how?

Well, loyal reader, you’ve come to the right place.

Continue reading “More fun with CC&R”