Chris Norby, the Assembly’s Poet Laureate, Waxes Fulsome

This is a portion of the Irvine Republican’s electronically promulgated Norby Notes 4 from early March 2011 — with annotation:

My weekly Monday flight from Orange County to Sacramento was particularly spectacular as the wintery majesty of our Golden State below gives no hint of the paralysis of its government.    Read more »

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A Tidbit from the Controller’s Redevelopment Agency Audit

FINDING 4 — Most Redevelopment Agencies Charged Expenditures That Were Questionable can be found on Page 9 of State Controller John Chiang’s audit, released March 7, of 18 large and small redevelopment agencies around the state.

As an example of such expenditures, the audit cites the City of San Jose which charged 25 percent of the salary and fringe benefits of the mayor, the 12 members of the city council and 40 city council staff members to the redevelopment agency.    Read more »

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Controller Releases Findings of Redevelopment Agency Audit

SACRAMENTO – State Controller John Chiang on March 7 released the results of a five-week, limited-scope review of 18 redevelopment agencies across the State of California.

The Controller found no reliable means to measure the impact of redevelopment activity on job growth because redevelopment agencies either do not track them or their methodologies lack uniformity and are often arbitrary.    Read more »

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Unemployment Rate in January Down Slightly to 12.4 Percent

SACRAMENTO – California nonfarm payroll jobs increased by 12,500 in January, with 5 of 11 industry sectors showing gains, according to data released March 4 by the California Employment Development Department from two separate surveys.

The unemployment rate was 12.4 percent, following an annual revision of monthly employment estimates.

The U.S.    Read more »

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More than 2,000 Pieces of Legislation Introduced in February

Shattering its January output of 248 bill introductions, the Assembly and the Senate produced nearly 10 times as many measures in February – 2,023, to be exact.

In the Senate and the Assembly, the deadline to introduce bills was February 18 although committee bills rather than those introduced by an individual members could be logged later.    Read more »

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Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy, Page 366

“It is strange that the last men of intellectual eminence before the Dark Ages (the fall of the Western Roman Empire came in the fifth century) were concerned not with saving civilization or expeling the barbarians or reforming the abuses of the administration but with preaching the merit of virginity and the damnation of unbaptized infants.    Read more »

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Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1, Page 339…

“In the matter of slavish imitation, man is the monkey’s superior all the time. The average man is destitute of independence of opinion. He is not interested in contriving an opinion of his own, by study and reflection, but is only anxious to find out what his neighbor’s opinion is and slavishly adopt it.    Read more »

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Of Mount Lola and Lotta Crabtree’s San Francisco Fountain

At 9,148 feet, Mount Lola is the highest point in Nevada County.

It’s located north of Donner Pass and Interstate-80.

The peak’s namesake is Lola Montez, baroness, collector of men, shrewd entertainer and embellisher of stories, many of which involving her life

Montez portrayed herself as Spanish dancer Maria Dolores de Porris y Montez:

Lola for short.    Read more »

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