El Niño a bust, the drought goes on

And the Politicians are Clueless

• The political hacks keep authorizing the building more and more water using homes and businesses during a drought.
• California's population keeps increasing. The quality of life keeps decreasing.

(Capital Public Radio)  -  The U.S. Drought Monitor says warmer weather has increased concerns of early snow melt in California and the overall trend is for the multiyear drought to continue or even worsen.

"Out west, progressively warmer weather heightened concerns of early snow melt, with early-week rain and mountain snow falling short of weekly normals and doing little to ease long-term drought," according to the weekly report released Feb. 25.

"Despite some welcomed rain and mountain snow at the beginning of the weekly drought assessment period, a return to dry, warmer weather by week’s end renewed concerns of a sub-par Water Year even with the ongoing strong El Niño," the update noted.

The overall trend was toward maintaining or increasing the multiyear drought in California and other parts of the western U.S.

The Drought Monitor intensity levels are Abnormally Dry, Moderate, Severe, Extreme and Exceptional drought.

California remains 99.5 percent abnormally dry, 94 percent moderate, 81 percent severe, 61 percent extreme and 38 percent in exceptional drought.

"In the core drought areas of California and western Nevada, welcomed early-week rain and mountain snow gave way to warm, dry weather," the report says. "Despite locally impressive precipitation totals during the 7-day period (ending Feb. 23 at 4 a.m., PST), wetter-than-normal conditions for the week were confined to the northern-most counties in California as well as portions of the Sierra Nevada."

But precipitation over the past two weeks "has fallen well short of normal over most of the state."

"Nevertheless, a boost to northern California’s SWE (snow water equivalent) and reservoir storage led to a small reduction of Extreme Drought (D3). However, the recent overall trend toward warmer, drier weather - despite the ongoing strong El Niño - has raised concerns over increasing short-term drought impacts in addition to the region’s ongoing long-term ("L" Impact) drought.

"To illustrate, a pronounced pocket of short-term dryness extends from the foothills of the San Jacinto Mountains southeast of Los Angeles northwestward to Santa Barbara, where rainfall has averaged a meager 33 to 50 percent of normal during the current Water Year (since October 1)."

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GOP voter registration tanks in California

A Republican Disaster

                            43.1%  -  Democrat
                            29.2%  -  Independents and small parties
                            27.6%  -  Republican


(Editor  -  The California Republican Party is worthless and increasingly voters have no interest.  The smart move for right-of-center voters is to form a California Party that is independent from the national GOP.)


(Los Angeles Times)  -  Californians may be more disenchanted with political party labels than at any time in modern history, as new voter registration data show another shift away from party affiliation coming at the same time as a presidential race that exposes deep partisan divides nationwide.

The report issued by Secretary of State Alex Padilla on Monday finds that 24% of California voters now officially have "no party preference," the term used by elections officials to describe independents. That's up almost three percentage points since the last presidential election in 2012.

While the migration away from Californians picking formal party labels has been evident for most of the past decade, the trend has picked up speed since 2008.

"The Democratic share of registrants has been flat, the independent share has been climbing fast, and the Republican share has been sinking just as fast," said Eric McGhee, an elections researcher at the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.

The newly released report shows the gap between Democratic and Republican voter registration is now more than 15 points. Republicans represent 27.6% of the state's electorate, a drop of almost three points since the start of the 2012 election cycle.

Democrats, while also shrinking in overall share, retain their plurality of voters at 43% of registration.

The shift to a less centralized political landscape in California is likely to accelerate, said McGhee, given the generational differences between younger and older voters.

"New, young registrants are heavily independent and to a lesser extent Democratic, while elderly people are much more likely to be Republican," he said. "Since people tend to stick with their party registration even if their politics change, this means we should expect these registration trends to continue."

In the January 2008 report, almost one in five California voters were unaffiliated with a political party. In the last open presidential election, 2004, only 16% of voters were counted in the category of independent.

Republicans have suffered the greatest blow from the shifting allegiances of California voters. No statewide GOP candidate has been elected since 2006, and the party's share of the electorate since then has plummeted by seven percentage points.

Mike Madrid, a Republican political strategist, attributes this to "the national brand." As a result, he says, most unaffiliated voters aren't in play for GOP candidates.

"More Californians are consciously saying no party represents my views, but are saying if they have to choose, then they'll choose Democrats," he said.

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Voter Registration
The Weakest GOP Counties
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7.9%  -  San Francisco
13.1%  -  Alameda
16.1%  -  Santa Cruz
17.2%  -  Marin
20.2%  -  Los Angeles
.Strongest Major GOP Counties
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40%  -  Orange
38.2%  -  Riverside
34.3%  -  San Bernardino
32.6%  -  San Diego
29.7%  -  Sacramento
.
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Forced Condom Use - Leftists lack one vote to impose their will

Condom Police Put on Hold

Leftist Democrats lacked only one vote to impose their condom requirements on the film industry.

(AP) — California officials in charge of workplace safety voted down a proposal Thursday that would have specifically called for putting condoms on actors in adult films, heeding the call of scores of industry officials who said adding that and other restrictions would force them to make films nobody would watch.

The state Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s Standards Board voted the measure down when only three members supported it, Cal/Osha spokeswoman Julia Bernstein said. Four yes votes from the seven-member board were required for passage. The vote was 3-2 in favor, with one member absent and one board position currently open.

The board will now begin considering a new worker-safety measure for the industry, Bernstein said.

Board members appeared influenced by the dozens of adult-film industry representatives who filed to the dais during a public hearing in Oakland to argue forcefully but politely that adopting the condom measure would either destroy their multibillion-industry or force it underground. Doing the latter, they said, could make it more dangerous to performers by eliminating safeguards such as the industry’s requirement that actors be tested every 14 days for sexually transmitted diseases.

“I know you guys work really hard and have our best interests at stake, but we need you to work with us to find a solution,” said actress SiouxsieQ, who also reports on the industry for various publications. “When you criminalize sex work in any way, you make it more dangerous.”

Mike Stabile, a spokesman for the industry trade group the Free Speech Coalition, said after the vote that adult-film producers hope they can work closely in the future in crafting safety requirements that the industry can accept. He didn’t say what those might be.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has lobbied Cal/OSHA for years to adopt workplace safety standards specifically for the industry that are similar to what it has for other businesses.

Although disappointed by Thursday’s vote, foundation spokesman Ged Kenslea said his organization was impressed that adult-film industry representatives said they recognize a need for some sort of regulation. He added his group would be interested in working with them to achieve that goal.

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Protective sex gear as designed by 
government drone workers.
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A few months back Leftists were pushing for special "sex goggles" to be worn 
during the filming of movies.
.
See More:
Breitbart News

California hospital computer system taken "hostage"

Cyber Crime Does Pay

LOS ANGELES (CBS)  --  The FBI is leading the investigation of a hostage situation at a California hospital -- but it's not people who were being held, it was the hospital's computer system.

Inside Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, computer screens were dark since hackers took over the data network almost two weeks ago.

Calls to the hospital's media line were met with a voicemail recording.

"We want to assure you that patient care at CHA Hollywood Presbyterian has not been compromised, as we continue to address this incident," the voice recording said.

The attack used what's known as "ransom-ware" -- malicious software that encrypts files which can only be unlocked with a software "key" after a ransom is paid.

In this case, hackers demanded, and the hospital paid an $17,000 in the digital currency bitcoin -- which is nearly impossible to trace.

The hospital released a statement Wednesday evening saying, "The amount of ransom requested was 40 Bitcoins, equivalent to approximately $17,000. The malware locks systems by encrypting files and demanding ransom to obtain the decryption key. The quickest and most efficient way to restore our systems and administrative functions was to pay the ransom and obtain the decryption key. In the best interest of restoring normal operations, we did this."

Since the attack, the medical center staff had resorted to pen and paper and even fax machines for communications.

In the statement, the hospital said the system is back up and running.

"HPMC has restored its electronic medical record system (EMR) on Monday, February 15th. All clinical operations are utilizing the EMR system. All systems currently in use were cleared of the malware and thoroughly tested. We continue to work with our team of experts to understand more about this event," the statement read.

The FBI confirmed the attack but declined to comment on its investigation. Hollywood Presbyterian has not responded to CBS News' requests for comment.

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Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital.

 CBS NEWS

California has no voice on who should be President

We are ruled over by idiots

Both Democrats and Republicans want nothing 

at all to do with voting for President.

By The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board

Iowans have caucused. New Hampshirites have cast their primary ballots. South Carolinians are now mingling with the men and woman who want to be the next president of the United States. And Californians? When will residents in the most populous state and the eighth-largest economy in the world get to choose among the candidates? On June 7 — the absolute last day of state presidential primaries. They'll be lucky if there is still a choice to be made.

It wasn't always like this. In 2008, California mattered because lawmakers scheduled a super early Feb. 5 presidential primary. As a result, Hillary Clinton talked about foreclosure assistance in Compton, Barack Obama championed childcare tax credits to mothers in San Francisco and John McCain wooed voters with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in San Diego. Both parties hosted debates in California that year — the GOP at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley and the Democrats at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. The Times called it "candidates gone wild" in Southern California.

And voters responded. A record 9 million votes were cast in the primary, an increase of 2.4 million over the 2004 primary.

The California legislature is called to order

The price of participation, however, was steep. California spent nearly $100 million on the February presidential primary, which was held in addition to the regularly scheduled June primary. And four years later, Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers abandoned the race for relevance. A state law passed in 2011 moved the presidential primary back to June, on the grounds that it was too expensive and too complicated to schedule an early primary.

And look where that has gotten us. California is now on the sidelines and all but ignored by the candidates (except for when they drop in to fundraise from the state's numerous billionaires and their friends). It's impossible to know whether an earlier California primary might have persuaded Donald Trump to tone down his racist rhetoric about Mexicans, whether Bernie Sanders would have tempered his pitch for higher taxes in a state with one of the highest tax burdens, or whether any of the candidates would have talked more about climate change, affordable housing, renewable energy or transportation infrastructure if they had to campaign in California. But they might have.

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Nuns who help homeless face eviction in San Francisco

The Super Rich of California 

Ignore the Homeless

• I just love the ultra wealth liberal do-gooders of the People's Republic.  They have the power to help people but they ignore the problems of society.

(ABC News)  -  Nearly one year after the ABC7 Chicago I-Team reported on a group of nuns whose West Side heating system broke down, the nuns' organization is now in similar dire straits in San Francisco, where the Sisters of Fraternite of Notre Dame is facing eviction.

In San Francisco's Tenderloin district, the group of Chicago nuns are facing eviction from the building where they run a soup kitchen - although they may end up saved by a public relations campaign very similar to the one seen in Chicago a year ago when the boiler went out at their West Side church and feed-the-homeless center.

The Sisters of Fraternite Notre Dame have been feeding the homeless in San Francisco's Tenderloin district for eight years. Their landlord recently informed them of a rent hike from $3,500 to $5,500 a month. The past two days, the sisters' story has been on TV and in the newspapers, with the nuns saying that they cannot afford such a rent increase.

"But you have to think to the other people. The people who are suffering and struggling on the street," said Sister Mary Benedict. "You have to make money, you can make money, but you have to help the poor people. So you have to find the right balance," said Sister Mary Benedict, Fraternite Notre Dame.

Homeless in San Francisco

That is the same approach they used in Chicago one year ago after their boiler broke down during a cold snap. But in San Francisco, the very same nun was deployed from Chicago to make the public appeal. Sister Marie Valerie publicly criticized the landlord, whose lawyer now says he will meet with the nuns in an effort to work something out.

"The owner of the building is kicking us out," Sister Marie Valerie said.

After the boiler break-down, the I-Team learned their French religious order owned millions of dollars in homes, buildings and land in McHenry County and was planning a multi-million dollar construction project near rural Marengo. That controversial project was shut down by McHenry zoning authorities and the nuns' organization is now suing because of the denial.

One thing not reported in the San Francisco coverage is that the nuns are not recognized by the Vatican or the Roman Catholic Church. They call themselves a "traditional Catholic religious order" and some donors may believe that the organization is approved by the church, but it isn't. They are part of an unsanctioned French order and overseen by a priest who the Chicago Archdiocese has said is not in good standing with the church.

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The Liberal Bullshit of Silicon Valley
The super rich Internet billionaires shelter their money in non-profit foundations to avoid taxes. Other than paying high salaries to their staffs and covering massive "overhead" these foundations do next to nothing to solve real world problems.
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Phony ass clowns like Bill Gates could get off his yacht for a few minutes and write a check to the Sisters of Fraternite of Notre Dame to cover the extra rent.  But obviously living his ultra wealthy lifestyle is more important to him than the plight of average people.

Bill Gates' $330 million yacht vacation
Gates "cares" so much about people
k
Microsoft founder Bill Gates is more concerned with helping to save the world than creating the next big gadget. But when the world’s richest man goes on vacation, he does it like no one else.

The New York Daily News captured some photos of Gates aboard “The Serene,” a $330 million dollar yacht that Gates and his family are renting for $5 million per week.

In addition to its 12 staterooms, the 450-foot, seven deck vessel also comes equipped with its own saltwater pool, climbing wall, library, health spa, outdoor theater and even a nightclub spread out over the boat’s combined 48,000 square feet.  Read More . . . .

Republican lawmaker folds US Senate campaign in California

Assemblyman Rocky Chavez
R-Oceanside

California GOP nears extinction

--- The GOP is so pathetic that even with an open U.S. Senate seat they cannot attract a candidate.

(Fresno Bee)  -  Republicans are hoping for a surprise this year in California's U.S. Senate race.

It won't be coming from Rocky Chavez.

The Republican legislator and retired Marine Corps colonel abruptly ended his campaign Monday, after piling up nearly $43,000 in debt and displaying scant evidence he was gaining ground in the race.

Chavez was one of several little-known Republicans hoping to upend conventional political thinking this year. Democrats are favored to hold the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, in a state where the party holds every statewide office and controls both chambers of the Legislature.

However, Chavez's exit could bolster the chances of one of the remaining Republicans who face a difficult challenge: making it through a June primary in which only the top two vote-getters advance to the November ballot.

Democrats have two prominent candidates in the race: state Attorney General Kamala Harris and 10-term congresswoman Loretta Sanchez of Orange County.

Last year, the San Diego County lawmaker expressed confidence that he could win in a state that has sent Democrats to the Senate for a generation, and he contrasted his background in the military with the credentials of Harris, a former San Francisco district attorney.

But he struggled to find financial support and independent polls showed him stalled in the single digits.

He made the announcement at the start of a debate with other Republicans on KOGO-AM radio in San Diego. He says he's decided to seek re-election to the Assembly.

Republicans left in the race include two former state party chairmen, Silicon Valley attorney Duf Sundheim, who has positioned himself as a moderate, and Tom Del Beccaro, a lawyer aligned with the party's conservative base.

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Curious Californians gather to view the rare
and nearly extinct Republican elephant.

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/state/california/article59248033.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/state/california/article59248033.html#storylink=cpy

Celebrity donors pour money into California congressional seat

Director James Cameron, from left, actor Christopher Lloyd and
director Ivan Reitman have all contributed to candidates in the wide-open
race to represent the 24th congressional district in the Central Coast.

Perhaps the #1 Targeted Seat

(Los Angeles Times)  -  What do Christopher Lloyd, the director of “Ghostbusters,” one of the nation’s largest coal companies, James Cameron and a political action committee representing the nation’s dentists have in common? They all have opened their wallets to influence what is shaping up to be the hottest open-seat congressional race in California.

Among the four open seats in California’s congressional delegation, the race to replace retiring Democratic Rep. Lois Capps (Santa Barbara) is attracting some of the most attention. As the crowded field of at least seven candidates prepared to debate Thursday, here is a look at the dollars flooding the district.

2014 General Election

The Central Coast’s 24th congressional district

Capps’ retirement, and her daughter’s decision not to seek the seat, prompted a mad scramble in a peculiar district where Democrats have a slight advantage in voter registration — 37% Democratic, 34% Republican and more than 23% of voters choosing no party preference. Though President Obama carried the district by 11 points in 2012, tea party favorite Chris Mitchum — actor Robert Mitchum’s son — came within four percentage points of ousting Capps in 2014. A last-minute influx of $170,000 worth of attack ads and phone banking from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee may have saved the party an embarrassing upset.

This time around, Democratic Santa Barbara County Supervisor Salud Carbajal and 27-year-old Republican businessman Justin Fareed are building formidable war chests, hoping to make it out of the top-two primary on June 7.

It isn’t surprising that Carbajal leads the money race with just under $1.38 million raised over the course of the year and $970,309 in the bank. He has received Capps’ endorsement and a seal of approval from the party’s leadership — including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco). Over the weekend, he also won the support of 82% of local Democratic delegates giving him strong odds of winning the California Democratic Party’s backing at its convention later this month.

The lion’s share of his campaign’s money —$1.2 million — came from individual donors ranging from famous Santa Barbara County philanthropist Michael Armand Hammer to filmmaker Peter Douglas and hundreds of other donors. The most common profession listed on federal forms for Carbajal’s donors? Retired, attorney, president/CEO and owner.

Another sign of his strong establishment support: $134,096 of his campaign’s money has come from political action committees and leadership committees: $5,000 from House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer’s AmeriPac, $10,000 from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers PAC and $10,000 from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ fundraising PAC, called the Committee for Hispanic Causes/Building our Leadership Diversity PAC, or CHC BOLD PAC.

Santa Barbara Mayor Helene Schneider, a Democrat, is lagging far behind in the money race, though her campaign touts her support from women’s rights groups and a summer poll she conducted showing her leading Carbajal.

Schneider raised $479,183 in 2015 and ended the year with almost $246,947 in the bank. That means Carbajal raised $900,774 more dollars than the next best Democrat in the race.

Schneider boasts financial support from environmental activist Suzy Amis Cameron and her husband, “Avatar” director James Cameron. “Back to the Future” actor Christopher Lloyd gave $5,400 to Carbajal while the original “Ghostbusters” director, Ivan Reitman, gave to both Fareed ($2,500) and Schneider ($2,700).

Achadjian (L) and Fareed

Republicans Katcho Achadjian and Justin Fareed

Republican State Assemblyman K.H. “Katcho” Achadjian of San Luis Obispo is the fourth-best fundraiser — though he enters the race with perhaps the best name recognition among local voters. The former San Luis Obispo County Supervisor led both the poll released by Schneider’s campaign last year and one released by his own campaign this week, showing him with 20% of voters while the two Democrats each got 12%. The rest of the field all had less than 7%.

He raised just under $386,915 in 2015 and has $257,084 in cash on hand. He received $2,000 from the American Dental PAC as well as a few thousand dollars from other members of the state assembly, the San Luis Obispo County Wine Community PAC and the San Luis Obispo Deputy Sheriff's Association PAC. Achadjian received $345,000 from individuals, including several Central Coast businessmen. Among that group was developer Gary Grossman and vineyard owners George and Daniel Daou.

Fareed — who works for his family’s business, Pro Band Sports Industries Inc. — raised more than any other candidate in the last quarter with $438,353 to cap off a year with $869,398 raised. He ended the year strong with $767,265 in cash on hand.

He also received most of his money from individual donors, including Santa Barbara County Supervisor Peter Adam and investor Stephen D. Bechtel Jr., the former chairman of the Bechtel Corp.

He also has received support from GOP Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (Alpine) as well as Kentucky Rep. Ed Whitfield’s leadership committee, Thoroughbred PAC, which contributed $5,000. Fareed once worked for Whitfield in Washington, D.C. Murray Energy Political Action Committee, the political wing of coal mining giant Murray Energy Corp., gave Fareed’s campaign $5,000.

Fareed, who came 615 votes short of beating Mitchum in the 2014 primary to face Capps, is making a strong run for the seat. He hired Kay­la Berube, who was Wis­con­sin Gov. Scott Walk­er’s state polit­ic­al dir­ect­or in New Hamp­shire, to be his cam­paign man­ager. He also has hired Gridiron Communications as consultants — a firm that counts presidential hopeful Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as a client — and Harris Media LLC, an online and digital strategy firm that has worked for Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s presidential campaign, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud party.

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High Speed Rail Corruption Goes On and On

The Train to Nowhere

• The corrupt Bullet Train is sucking down tax dollars and destroying homes and businesses all over California's Central Valley.
• Keep in mind that an Amtrak train from Bakersfield to the Bay Area and Sacramento is available right now. There is no need for "high speed."

(Fresno Bee)  -  More properties in the San Joaquin Valley continue to fall in the crosshairs as the California High-Speed Rail Authority pushes forward on building the first stretches of a statewide bullet-train line.

The State Public Works Board, acting on requests by the rail agency, adopted five resolutions Friday declaring a need to use eminent domain to acquire about 27 acres of land in Madera, Fresno and Kings counties. Those resolutions bring to 305 the number of actions taken by the Public Works Board since December 2013, targeting more than 1,160 acres in Fresno, Kings, Madera and Tulare counties.

Eminent domain, or condemnation, is a legal process by which a government agency can go to court to acquire property for a public project when the agency and property owner cannot agree on price or terms.

The first step is adoption of a resolution of necessity, and then the agency can file an eminent domain lawsuit in the county where the property is located. A judge first decides whether the agency is entitled to the property; in a second phase of the case, a trial determines the fair market value and other “just compensation” due the owner. The verdict can be no lower than the agency’s offer and no higher than the owner’s counteroffer.

Aaron Fukuda has been fighting for a number of years to protect his
home from the California High-Speed Rail Authority. Fukuda's 2-acre
property sits on one of the proposed rail routes.
(Apolinar Fonseca/The Sentinel)
Hanford Sentinel

The land identified in the state’s resolutions of necessity – some are only partial pieces of larger parcels, while others are complete properties – are needed by the state as right of way for the high-speed train line as well as for associated structures such as road over- or underpasses and bridges.

The Public Works Board is made up of the heads of the state’s Finance, Transportation and General Services departments. The board governs property acquisition and fiscal issues for state construction projects and programs.

One piece involved in the latest resolutions is just under eight acres of a larger 47-acre property along the BNSF Railway tracks west of Kingsburg, and is proposed as a radio communications site for the high-speed rail project as well for the actual rail line between Kamm and Conejo avenues. The smallest is about three-quarters of an acre – part of a larger 14-acre parcel of farmland – that is about a mile farther south, on the east side of the BNSF tracks at Clarkson Avenue, and is needed by the rail authority for the realignment of Clarkson.

Another notable parcel is the former Lamoure’s Cleaners building on G Street between Tuolumne and Merced streets in downtown Fresno. The Public Works Board’s resolution describes it as a full acquisition of the entire 0.84-acre parcel.

To the north, in Madera County, the fifth resolution calls for the condemnation of about 12 acres of a 316-acre piece of farmland between Avenues 10 and 11, west of the BNSF tracks, for construction of the rail line and new overpasses at both avenues.

Right of way acquisition has been one of the factors that has slowed progress by the California High-Speed Rail Authority on its first 29-mile construction segment in Fresno and Madera counties.

As of Nov. 20, the rail authority reported that of the 711 parcels needed in that section, 376 had been delivered to its contractor. Major construction began near Madera last summer for a bridge that will span the Fresno River, Highway 145 and Raymond Road. Several other sites in downtown Fresno are expected to become active construction sites in the next couple of months.

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/high-speed-rail/article55308165.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/high-speed-rail/article55308165.html#storylink=cpy

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