Category: Politics

A little heart scare for Arnold last night, but he’s okay now. “Don’t worry,” Schwarzenegger said to worried reporters, (say it with me…) “it’s… not a tumor.”

When I saw it the finished “Alhambra Project” the other night in all its neon-sign glory it reminded me of a former public art project. Am I crazy, or was there at one time a giant laser beam running east-west from Old Sac toward Fair Oaks, as if the Broderick Boys were trying to destroy the El Dorado Hills with a destructo-ray?

In my research I also stumbled upon the Sacramento Arts Commission site, [snark] circa 1997 [/snark]. I don’t think we’re supposed to be looking at it, though–navigation links on some of the subpages point directly to documents on somebody’s “S drive”…

I never really waste much time worrying about the divisiveness of American politics. Supposedly the people are too polarized, neighbors don’t see eye to eye, cats can’t get along with dogs, nerds and jocks fight constantly. A couple of quotes today in reference to yesterday’s election caught my eye, however. Here’s Governer Schwarzenegger on the apparently failed Proposition 73:

I wouldn’t want to have someone take my daughter to a hospital for an abortion or something and not tell me. I would kill him if they do that.

He talk funny. Well, Arnold could perhaps be forgiven for taking such a tone; he’s a parent, he’s talking about serious issues. But then there’s Democratic political consultant Garry South, who is confused by right-leaning reforms because, in his words, the state “just got raped by corporations in the energy crisis.” Whoa there, egghead. Save the men’s room talk for the men’s room. Grody!

A source inside the Sacramento county administration building reports on suspicious signage:

Our whole County building is under construction, and now all the handicapped restrooms are blocked by construction walls, so that there is only one in the entire administration building. On the doors to all the other ones, which are now blocked off, there is a huge poster meant to explain the delays. The poster says, “What happened to the ADA restrooms? Remodeling projects always have surprises…” and then goes on.

Oh, that’s what it is? A “surprise?” As in, “Surprise! You wheeled yourself all the way over here to go to the bathroom but now you have to go down 5 floors and wait in line for the one that’s available.” That’s a pretty crappy surprise. Also I love how they’re specifically referred to as “ADA restrooms” as in “the restroom you only get to use because of a court order, not because we care about accommodating handicapped people.”

Take your best guess. Is the following the work of a) the California State Assembly or b) the Evil Network of Hooded Skeletal Overlords:

Lawmakers voted Thursday to ban school districts from purchasing textbooks longer than 200 pages.

The bill, believed to be the first of its kind nationwide, was hailed by supporters as a way to revolutionize education.

Surprise, that bit of soul-killing genius was brought to us by the good folks at the Assembly right here in California. And thank God, too, because I would never want my daughters to have to read a book as long as The Secret Garden or The Trumpet of the Swan or any of the textbooks I have ever encountered in my entire life.