Vote “No” on Proposition 35

By Maxine Doogan and Manual Jimenez 

Proposition 35 falls short of its promise and voters ought to send it back to the drawing board.

Criminalization does not bring protection.

If passed, California will be writing another blank check to the proponents of Proposition 35.

This shortsighted ballot measure relies on a broad definition of pimping.    Read more »

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August 22 is Ray Bradbury’s Birthday

He would have been 92.

The Writer’s Almanac quotes Bradbury — arguably the greatest short story writer of the 20th Century  — saying at age 80:

“The great fun in my life has been getting up every morning and rushing to the typewriter because some new idea has hit me. The feeling I have every day is very much the same as it was when I was 12.”    Read more »

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State Releases 2012 High School Exit Exam Results

California High School Exit Exam Results Show Continued Growth

95 percent of Students Meet Graduation Requirement

LOS ANGELES—The percentage of students from the Class of 2012 meeting the California High School Exit Examination graduation requirement increased slightly over last year to 95 percent, marking the sixth straight year of improving performance, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today.    Read more »

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Ouch

“I have spent half my life trying to get away from journalism but I am still mired in it — a low trade and a habit worse than heroin, a strange seedy world full of misfits and drunkards and failures. A group photo of the Top 10 journalists in America on any given day would be a monument to human ugliness.    Read more »

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California Seeks to Excise the “R-Word” — Sort Of

“Mentally retarded’ is supposed to be eliminated from all California laws and replaced with “intellectual disability” under a measure unanimously passed by the Senate August 21.

That’s what supporters say the bill does.

“Our state should not use outdated terms that spread negative stereotypes,” said Sen. Tony Strickland, a Thousand Oaks Republican who shepherded the measure through the Senate.    Read more »

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A “Confidential” Letter from GOP Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney

Recently — on a Monday according to the letter below — Mitt Romney sent a letter stamped in 36 point, all-caps red ink:

“CONFIDENTIAL” 

Despite the warning, the contents seemed very similar to what he has been saying in very public campaign appearances all over the country for any number of months.     Read more »

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Word to the Wise

 “A public opinion poll is no substitute for thought.”

— Warren Buffett

— Warren Buffett    Read more »

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Charities Clash over Unattended Collection Bins

A bill awaiting action August 20 on the Senate floor would restrict the placement of unattended donation boxes on private property.

Sponsored by several Northern California chapters of Goodwill Industries, the measure stalled August 13 but won reconsideration. 

AB 1978 by Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani, a Tracy Democrat, would require written permission by a property owner or their designee before one of the large, usually metal containers can be placed on a site.    Read more »

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Employment Up in June, Revenues Down in July, Brown Administration Says

State tax collections for the first month of the fiscal year that began July 1 are $376 million below forecast for the month, the state Department of Finance Bulletin for August said August 17.

The bulletin said that of the $376 million shortfall, $197 million is revenue that arrived later than expected and will be counted in the next few months.     Read more »

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Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, a San Diego Independent, on the Assembly Floor August 13, Supporting a Measure to Change State Tax Law and Use the Proceeds to Increase Scholarships for University of California and California State University Students    Read more »

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