California Megathread: Best State

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JesusSinfulHands: Oct 24, 2007; Sartre and Russell are my heroes

Bizarro Watt posted:

I'm assuming that Kamala Harris may be more likely to run for governor when she feels good and ready, which doesn't bother me since I'd probably vote for her. The more likely future candidate for a position on SCOTUS would probably be Goodwin Liu, rather than Harris, now that he's on the CA Supreme Court.

Would Liu stand a chance of getting confirmed though? Some Democratic senators were squeamish about him even back in 2011

# ¿ Jun 28, 2013 05:40

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 12:18

JesusSinfulHands: Oct 24, 2007; Sartre and Russell are my heroes

What is the latest news on the construction of it anyway? I thought they were supposed to start building it in the Central Valley soon under the premise that "once we start building it, it will be very hard to stop the project".

# ¿ Jul 11, 2013 01:07

JesusSinfulHands: Oct 24, 2007; Sartre and Russell are my heroes

Big story in the New York Times of all places today about San Jose's difficulties with their general fund and particularly the effort to cut the pensions of city employees. I'm of mixed opinion on this issue, and I think the article has a bit too much scare-talk from cops about how their lives are now ruined, but I found this part in the article particularly telling:

quote:

Cities in California are under particular pressure because it is so difficult to raise property taxes in the state, and because in 1999, at the height of the tech bubble, the Legislature voted for a huge benefit increase allowing, for instance, police officers to retire at age 50 with 90 percent of their salaries.

�We have this all over the state of California,� said Karol K. Denniston, a bankruptcy lawyer with the firm of Schiff Hardin in San Francisco, who is advising a number of local taxpayer groups. �There is growing recognition that there is not enough money to keep doing what they�re doing, and something�s got to change.�

Yet another drawback of Prop 8! Even so, state minds seem to think the solution is to go after local unions instead.

# ¿ Sep 24, 2013 11:45

JesusSinfulHands: Oct 24, 2007; Sartre and Russell are my heroes

So......Leland Yee, anybody?

quote:

In a stunning criminal complaint, State Sen. Leland Yee has been charged with conspiring to traffic in firearms and public corruption as part of a major FBI operation spanning the Bay Area, casting yet another cloud of corruption over the Democratic establishment in the Legislature and torpedoing Yee's aspirations for statewide office.

Yee, D-San Francisco, highlights a series of arrests Wednesday morning that included infamous Chinatown gangster Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow, whose past includes a variety of charges including racketeering and drug crimes. Targets of the early-morning raids appeared in federal court in San Francisco on Wednesday afternoon.

A 137-page criminal complaint charges a total of 26 people -- including Yee and Chow -- with a panoply of crimes, including firearms trafficking, money laundering, murder-for-hire, drug distribution, trafficking in contraband cigarettes, and honest services fraud.

Yee is charged with conspiracy to traffic in firearms without a license and to illegally import firearms, as well as six counts of scheming to defraud citizens of honest services. Each corruption count is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000, while the gun-trafficking count is punishable by up to five years and $250,000.

The charges are particularly shocking given that Yee has been among the state Senate's most outspoken advocates both of gun control and of good-government initiatives.

There's so many :psyduck:

things about this I don't know where to start
- That the anti-gun advocate is specifically charged with conspiracy to traffic in firearms without a license
- That hes running for secretary of state and had a pretty good chance of winning
- That he was in league with Shrimp Boy
- That the FBI raided said gangster's den with a saw to gain access to a motherfucking safe

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_25423273/leland-yee-indicted-corruption-bay-area-fbi-state-senator
http://sfist.com/2014/03/26/oh_no_leland_yee_shrimp_boy_arreste.php

# ¿ Mar 27, 2014 00:16

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