Scientology neighborhood bucks Hollywood, goes for Trump

An Island of Conservatism in Hollywood

LOS ANGELES (Washington Examiner)  —  It surprised no one last fall when Los Angeles and California at large overwhelmingly backed Hillary Clinton in her failed bid for the presidency. Just seven of the city’s 1,700 precincts went for Donald Trump.

But while nearly all of the surrounding region voted for the Democratic former secretary of State, one little chunk of Hollywood best known for the Church of Scientology’s “Big Blue” complex went red, picking the Republican billionaire instead.

The precinct, wedged between Hollywood Boulevard and Fountain Avenue, tipped to Trump by just three votes, 347-344. It marked the first time since at least 2000 that the area went Republican. In 2012, President Barack Obama defeated Gov. Mitt Romney by 81 votes, 316-235.

“I honestly can’t begin to fathom how or why that happened,” said Erin Lee, a precinct voter and one of several Clinton supporters who said they were shocked to learn that Trump had carried their neighborhood.

“How can that be?” asked Lemuel Balagot, another local voter. “I went for Hillary, and everyone I know besides me went for Hillary. … Who were the Scientologists for?”

Church of Scientology sign and logo on Hollywood Boulevard

Good question, and one that’s not easily answered — voting records don’t reflect how individual ballots are cast. The church, like other tax-exempt religious groups and nonprofit organizations, is barred by law from participating in political campaigns and assiduously avoids taking sides in elections.

“The Church does not engage in election activities and cannot do so,” Scientology spokeswoman Karin Pouw said in an emailed statement. “Such decisions are not a matter of faith. The Creed of the Church makes clear that Scientology is open to all. This would include anyone regardless of their race, color, creed or political affiliation.”

Church members and others in the neighborhood said there was little advertising or campaigning for either presidential candidate, and none they knew of related to the church. Nor did voters with stated Scientology ties appear to contribute significantly to either side: One man, who listed his occupation as “public relations” for the church, contributed $28 to Trump’s campaign, election records show.

Pouw said that nothing in the Los Angeles Times’ analysis of results “suggests a significant difference to the general leanings of the American people,” noting that Trump won by just a few votes, with neither candidate landing a majority. She also said the Times’ findings “inaccurately suggest a unique trend about a single religion.”

“Scientologists live and work in many other precincts in Los Angeles,” Pouw said. “The Church remained neutral in the presidential election as we always do. We support this country’s electoral process and America’s representative form of government, and respect the right of parishioners, our staff and clergy to vote for the candidate of their choice.”

The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

Of the roughly 1,100 voters registered in the precinct, about half list addresses of Scientology properties. More than 250 voters listed addresses on L. Ron Hubbard Way, named for the science fiction writer who founded the church in 1954 and parlayed his self-help system, Dianetics, into a worldwide religion without a deity.

Some 170 voters in the precinct listed phone numbers at Scientology organizations as their primary numbers, according to the Times’ analysis. Although phone numbers are not required, statewide voter registration records show the most common one listed in California belongs to the church. So does the second most common number. And the fifth. And the sixth.

“Church staff members list whatever phone numbers they choose,” Pouw said. “I couldn’t speak for them. Many, but not all, have cellphones. Perhaps you should look at the voting trends of the religious orders of other faiths to see what phone number they may list or whether they vote.”

Few of those contacted by telephone or on public sidewalks near the landmark Scientology building, a former hospital on Fountain Avenue that serves as the church’s West Coast headquarters, would speak for the record about their votes.

Two women who identified themselves as church representatives approached a Times reporter on several occasions and told her she was making parishioners feel “harassed and uncomfortable” by asking questions — and then hovered nearby. A few times, church security guards rolled up on their bicycles. One suggested to a church member that he move along to his next course.

“We don’t talk to the press,” the member said.

Several spoke with reporters on condition of anonymity or using only their first names. None said there was any concerted effort by the church, its members or staffers to push for one candidate over the other.

“Scientologists are very conservative socially,” said one church member, who voted for Clinton. “Scientologists are very conservative in terms of economics and business. It really does make sense that it would be more aligned with the Republican Party.”

He said he based his perceptions of the political leanings of the church and its members on conversations with acquaintances, as well as Scientologists’ postings on Facebook and Twitter.

“They were divided between pro-Trump stuff that’s anti-government and seeing Hillary as part of the establishment, seeing Hillary as part of the elite,” he said. “Part of it was pro-Trump. A lot of it was more anti-Hillary.”

Among those who did proffer a theory for publication was James Kronwall, a registered Republican who lives on L. Ron Hubbard Way, and said he knew why the precinct went for Trump.

“Scientology is the No. 1 foe of psychiatry,” he said, adding that he and others in the church perceive Clinton to be an advocate for psychiatric programs.

Kronwall, a carpenter who said he’s been a member of the church for 40 years, didn’t vote for either Trump or Clinton. Instead, he was one of about 50 in the area who cast their ballots for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson.

“I wanted to make at least some kind of statement if I could,” he said.

Read More . . . .

California may force the use of condoms

Ballot proposal to drive adult film making out of California

"Corruptus in Extremis"

• As if by "magic" a new proposal to force the use of condoms in adult films allows every lawyer in the state to sue in court. Could it possibly be about the money?

(Washington Post)  -  California voters probably will have a chance next year to weigh in on a controversial regulation affecting a multibillion-dollar industry: whether adult film stars must wear condoms while performing.

Democrat Secretary of State Alex Padilla said Wednesday that he plans to certify a ballot measure that would put the question to voters next November after supporters gathered the required signatures to qualify for the ballot.

“The Number One way that young people learn about sex in this day and age is pornography on the Internet,” Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, told the Associated Press. “In porn, real people are having real sex. They’re transmitting actual diseases, and the audience knows it. It’s not like a fictional Hollywood film.”

The Lawyer Full Employment Act
Follow the money for the answer to all of life's questions. This condom ballot measure allows everyone in the state to sue adult film makers.  Everyone!

The Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation proposed the ballot measure.

The initiative was modeled after a similar measure that passed in Los Angeles County in 2012. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the county measure “has been tied up in litigation and never enforced.” Still, the number of porn permits issued in the county for adult films dropped by 90 percent the year after the measure was approved, and some in the industry have lamented the harmful economic impact of the regulation, the Los Angeles Times reported last year.

The ballot measure could cost the state tens of millions of dollars in lost state and local tax revenue, according to the official initiative summary. It also probably would cost a few million dollars annually to administer.

The Free Speech Coalition, an industry trade group, strongly opposes the measure.

“Performers, who are currently tested every fourteen days, have long protested mandatory condom legislation, expressing that they are unnecessary given the extensive testing regimen,” the group said in a statement. “There has not been an on-set transmission of HIV in the regulated adult industry since 2004.”

The initiative would grant any state resident the right to sue over a violation of the condom mandate, prompting concerns among performers of being unduly targeted.

“If the proposed initiative were to pass, adult performers would immediately be targeted by stalkers and profiteers, who would use the initiatives’ sue-a-performer provision to harass and extort adult performers,” Diane Duke, chief executive of the Free Speech Coalition, said in the group’s statement. “This is an unconscionable initiative that would take a legal and safe industry and push its performers into the shadows.”

Read More . . . .

A
Democrat Party Condom Police
Will Democrat run California will send condom inspectors to the sets of porn movie shoots to make sure the condoms are properly installed and snug with no leakage? Moron Democrats want to get a firm grip on both our wallets and deployed condoms.

US TV series are being filmed outside of California

More Jobs Flood Out of California

• Moronic Democrats play the game of taxing businesses out of California.
• But trendy Leftist film makers prove they are more anti-tax that the more hardcore Libertarian by moving productions out of the People's Republic.

Hollywood’s big-budget blockbuster movies have often been filmed overseas, particularly in England because of the tax incentives offered. Now television is following suit and more US series than ever before are filming outside North America. Why?

US TV networks are increasingly drawn by accommodating tax breaks, the easy availability of professional crews and the novelty of fresh scenery and different landscapes. This combination has greatly increased the attraction of shooting their shows overseas.
 

Smaller nations such as Sri Lanka have begun offering tax incentives, and others such as New Zealand have improved their own production infrastructures to make them state-of-the-art. Iceland recently lured the HBO series Game of Thrones as well as the feature films Noah and Prometheus.

 

In Japan, government and film industry officials are considering an incentive programme that would bring them in line with the more than 30 foreign countries trying to lure US TV series reports the UK Telegraph.
 

Even shows which are specifically set in California, such as the Fox TV series Alcatraz, have gone abroad. Alcatraz, whose story begins in the infamous prison in the San Franciso Bay, is in fact filmed in Vancouver, where now-cancelled series such as The X-Files were filmed in the past.

Joe Chianese, executive VP at showbusiness payroll giant Entertainment Partners Financial Solutions, says: “The US manufacturing industry has basically been lost to overseas and now we’re looking at the same sort of situation with the TV and film industry.

"You can't blame film-makers for taking their business elsewhere. They're taking their work overseas for the same reasons manufacturers are: it's cheaper."

There are drawbacks to filming in locations far from Hollywood, however. Cast and crew members have to change their lives and relocate to foreign locales for months at a time. Writers and Los Angeles-based executives have to deal with unfamiliar time differences.

Parks and Recreation filmed several episodes in London for tax reasons.

Here are some of the American TV series which have recently, or are currently, filming abroad:
 
NORTHERN IRELAND
Game of Thrones has been shooting there for four years because of varied terrains – rolling hills, mountains, rocks and castles. And of course, UK tax incentives. 

CROATIA
Game of Thrones' Second Unit has been filming there regularly because of the scenery, medieval architecture and rebates. 

ICELAND
Game of Thrones is also filming some episodes in Iceland this year, primarily for the country’s dramatically rugged coastline and scenery. “We’re fortunate now to have rebates from the UK, Croatia and Iceland,” says the series executive producer Bernie Caulfield. “Productions on our scale need these incentives to survive.”

SPAIN
Game of Thrones will film portions of its new season there despite the fact the country offers no financial incentives. “But,” says Caulfield, “they have been great at working with us to find alternate avenues of cost cutting.”

Homeland. The new series of the popular espionage drama, which
stars Claire Danes, has relocated to South Africa.

ENGLAND
Parks and Recreation filmed several episodes in London for tax reasons and to give the storyline a boost, allowing the characters to meet a British lord and film outside Buckingham Palace. Elementary filmed episodes in England for a storyline in which Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) and Joan (Lucy Liu) go to London to find missing Scotland Yard Inspector Lestrade. They also come in contact with MI6 and Sherlock meets up with his brother Mycroft who has moved into 221 B Baker Street. 24: Live Another Day. The entire series was filmed in London, accumulating rebates and giving a new location and twist to Jack Bauer’s adventures. 

IRELAND
The horror romp Penny Dreadful films in Ireland for its second season, as does Vikings, now starting its third season. For both series the advantages are the scenery, crews and tax incentives. 

SOUTH AFRICA
Homeland. The new series of the popular espionage drama, which stars Claire Danes, has relocated to South Africa, which is standing in for Kabul and Islamabad. 

ISRAEL
The Middle East drama Tyrant, which is set in the fictional country of Abbudin, began filming in Israel which meant avoiding the need to re-create exotic locations from scratch. Producers estimate they saved at least £500,000 an episode by not having to build the lavish sets essential for the story. The series was eventually forced to move to Turkey because of political unrest. 

COLOMBIA
Narcos, the new series based on the life of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, is filming in his native country because the producers believe authenticity has to be on the screen. “We not going to make the life of Pablo Escobar anywhere but Colombia,” says producer Ted Sarandos. 

SCOTLAND
The new science-fiction/romance series Outlander is shooting in Scotland to capture the setting of the popular Outlander book series by Diana Gabaldon on which it is based, and also to reap the benefits of tax incentives. 

AUSTRALIA
Modern Family filmed an episode Down Under last season for a storyline involving jellyfish and a kangaroo.

The TNT show Falling Skies was filmed in British Columbia.

$2 Billion in film business flees California



The actors of The 100 may have American accents but it is an international cast and the production and its jobs are located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

More Jobs Leave California

• The Democrat Hollywood Elite pretend to be bleeding heart Leftists, but when it comes to paying taxes themselves they suddenly turn into rabid anti-tax Libertarians and flee California.
• It has gotten to the point where Hollywood productions (and the jobs they create) no longer leave California.  Knowing the California tax code, now many productions never started here in the first place.

The People's Republic of California lost nearly $2 billion in production spending over the last four years, as film and TV projects took their business out of state, according to a new report.

In a study released Wednesday, the California Film Commission found that from 2010 to 2014, so-called runaway projects accounted for almost $2 billion in production spending outside of California.

The commission, which administers California's film and TV tax credit program, analyzed projects that applied for, but did not receive, a state tax credit due to limited funding reports the Los Angeles Times.

The state allocates $100 million annually in sales and income tax credits to the film industry, but funding is used up on the first day it is available. This year, the state received a record 497 applications for the funds on June 2, the deadline for an annual lottery that is used to divvy up the credits. Only 26 projects made the cut, while the remainder were put on a waiting list.

So what happens to the projects that don't win the lottery?

The California Film Commission concluded that the vast majority opted to shoot in states and countries where tax credits were available.

Last year alone, 42 projects that applied for California's credit spent more than $1 billion outside the state, while another 26 projects remained in the state and spent $211 million in California.

Fleeing California
The Walking Dead producer Gale Anne Hurd has said that because of taxes there was no possible way the show could have been made in California.  So they decided to film in tax friendly Georgia.



No Vikings in California
Vikings was developed and produced by Octagon Films.  The series began filming in July 2012 at Ashford Studios, a newly built studio facility in Ireland, chosen as a location for its tax advantages.

Governor George Clooney? - Why the Hell not?

Governor Clooney?

• Could he possible be any worse than the bozos running the People's Republic today?
• Plus Clooney needs to be given major credit in standing up against the “Darfur Genocide” of Christians in the Sudan.

Democrat George Clooney is planning to run for Governor of California, according to his friends.
.

The actor, a noted political activist, is said to be be making the same move as fellow actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and planning the career change after he weds Briton Amal Alamuddin in September.

 

Clooney, 53, is known to have numerous political contacts - and even counts president Barack Obama as a close friend.
.

The actor and director's friends say the president's Democrat party now want him to run for office in the 2018 race.

 

Clooney once famously declared he could never run for public office because he’d ‘slept with too many women, done too many drugs and been to too many parties’.

He has often played politicians in his career - including the character of Governor Mike Morris in 2011 film The Ides of March.

 

'George is hugely popular with the Democrats and where better a place to put him than as the Governor of California the home of Hollywood,' a friend told the Sunday Mirror.
.

'It has always been a huge stronghold for the party and one that has a proven record for getting politicians in to the Oval office.

'Now that Amal is by his side it has boosted his credentials even higher.
.

'She is as far removed as some of the girls he has previously dated and possesses incredible intelligence that bodes well if she ever does become First Lady.'

 

It was confirmed that the couple were engaged earlier this month following an eight-month romance and are said to be hoping to host their upcoming nuptials in the Italian city in September, exactly one year to the day after they met.
.

Ronald Reagan was voted in to the White House after becoming governor of the Golden State and if Clooney was successful in gaining victory in California it would put him on course to follow his lead.

Read more: Daily Mail.

 

Governor and Senator
GOP Actor and future California Governor Ronald Reagan with
actor and future U.S. Senator George Murphy.
.
Hollywood and politics has been a long tradition.

 

Congressman Sonny Bono
With Cher in the olden days.  Sonny became a GOP Congressman
for the Palm Springs area.

 

Mayor Clint Eastwood
California has a long tradition of actors in politics including
Republican Clint who served as Mayor of Carmel.

 

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Yes, a Republican but not much good to say about his term.

California Film Industry in Collapse - Welcome to Socialism

A publicity photo for the Hollywoodland subdivision's groundbreaking includes a plow, mules and surveyors. It was taken from the book "The Hollywood Sign" by Leo Braudy and appears courtesy of the Bruce Torrence Collection of the Hollywood Sign Trust. Erected in 1923 as a giant ad for the housing development, the sign's letters are 45 feet tall and 36 feet wide.

Hollywood wants protection from Democrat Taxes

• To avoid insane Socialist Democrat tax rates film industry jobs are flooding out of California to low tax states.
• California’s share of the one-hour TV series market declined from 64 percent to 28 percent, resulting in the loss of an estimated 8,500 jobs.
• In the past 15 years, feature-film production in Los Angeles alone has declined almost 60 percent.

California created the film industry.  But high Socialistic Democrat taxes are driving jobs out of the state.  You know things are bad when Hollywood liberals are asking California for a tax break. . . . a break for themselves but not for all Californians.

Film Works, an entertainment-industry advocate organization, recently launched an online petition asking California’s film and TV enthusiasts to lobby lawmakers to create greater incentives for production to stay within state borders.

While operating costs in California have grown more expensive over the past decade, other states and countries have established film tax credits in an effort to bring production to their territory reports the Daily Caller.

If California does not pass similar legislation, Film Works warns, the state will lose hold of one of its most iconic industries.

“We are now greatly concerned that the state’s status as the epicenter for motion picture production is at risk,” the petition reads.

“If policymakers fail to make our state more competitive, the film industry in California will face the same fate as other industries, including aerospace, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of jobs permanently leaving California for other states.”

“It’s time for California to wake up,” reads one of the organization’s blog posts.

The industry’s decline in the Golden State has been difficult for individuals working in the entertainment industry to ignore.

From 2005 to 2013, California’s share of the one-hour TV series market declined from 64 percent to 28 percent, resulting in the loss of an estimated 8,500 jobs, the Film Works petition notes.

According to a report conducted by the San Francisco Film Commission, these job losses not only impact those who were formerly employed, but take a negative toll on the economy as a whole. The study found that every job lost in the film industry results in a loss of $112,000 in spending in the local economy.

And in the past 15 years, feature-film production in Los Angeles alone has declined almost 60 percent.

Saying "No" to Hollywood
Lower taxes caused the Syfy Channel production "Bitten" to be 
filmed in Toronto, Canada.

In an attempt to curve the drop in production, California passed a $100 million film tax incentive in 2009, but it was not enough to keep producers within state borders.

A growing list of states, including Georgia, Louisiana and New York, have established tax incentives that far exceed those passed in California.

These business-friendly policies have added millions to states’ economies. Louisiana is just one example of this phenomenon. The year before it enacted its tax credit (2002), production spending in Louisiana was only $3.5 million. By 2010, that figure had jumped to $674 million, making for a 19,000-percent increase.

Many leading businesses and organizations involved in the entertainment industry recognize how California’s tax-heavy policies are threatening the survival of the film industry and have thus aligned themselves with Film Works, demanding that California Gov. Jerry Brown sign into law legislation that will re-energize one of the state’s major cash industries.

Among many others, the petition’s supporters include Warner Bros, FilmLA, the city and county of Los Angeles, and the national labor union representing working actors, SAG-AFTRA.

Although Hollywood is still recognized as the mecca for actors and directors, some worry that this legacy may soon become a distant memory.

“It is hard to call yourself the capital when you are making less than half of the product,” the president of FilmLa inc. Paul Audley noted about California’s waning industry in an interview with Film Works.

“We do not have much time left to bring this industry back and keep it here before the infrastructure, the crews, the vendors, and the studio systems have moved out of the state and then we have nothing left for this industry to call home,” he added.

Good-Bye Hollywood
AMC's "The Walking Dead" is filmed and creates jobs
in the low tax state of Georgia.

Actor Rob Schneider turns Republican, citing Democratic ‘disaster’

Rob Schneider

Lifelong Democrat turns Republican

Just a few weeks shy of his 50th birthday, movie and TV star Rob Schneider has announced that he is switching his lifelong political affiliation from Democrat to Republican.

The man who gave us “Deuce Bigalow, Male Gigolo,” SNL’s iconic “Rich, the copy repair guy” (think catchphrase comedy – “Makin’ copies!”) and a host of other roles in mostly Adam Sandler produced movies made the announcement to PolitiChick Ann-Marie Murrell.

 

 

But Schneider didn’t just change parties, he also made a ringing endorsement for California Assemblyman Tim Donnelley’s run for Governor of California.

 

In a surprisingly candid interview, Schneider ties the Democratic supermajority in California’s legislature to the lack of work for actors in Hollywood reports The Blaze.

 

“The state of California is a mess, and the super majority of Democrats is not working. I’ve been a lifelong Democrat and I have to switch over because it no longer serves the people of this great state. The last time I made a movie was seven years ago, and that’s because we’re not being competitive,” he said.

 

Rob Schneider added to his case for less government by talking about the vitamin company that he owns with a friend, “We moved out of the state because of over regulation. It isn’t helping businesses. We’re chasing businesses away.”

 

The newly-minted Republican made note of Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s visit that actually pulled businesses out of California and enticed them to come to Texas.

 

Schneider summed up his opening statement by saying, “Another four years of a Democratic administration will be a disaster, as it already has been.”

 

New Mexico steals California jobs

'Breaking Bad'
Bill would help New Mexico steal California film jobs

• The entire world is stealing film industry jobs from high tax and over regulated California.
• Anti-business Democrats are clueless as entertainment industry jobs flood out of state. 

Supporters have dubbed it the "Breaking Bad" bill.

For five seasons, the AMC TV series has been a hit for the cable network and an economic boon to the state of New Mexico, where the drama starring Bryan Cranston is set and produced.


GOP Governor Susana Martinez
is eagerly stealing California jobs.

Now that the series is shooting its final season, however, New Mexico is attempting to beef up its film incentive to attract new dramas to help restore the state's position as one of the leading destinations for film production outside of California.

State legislators recently unanimously approved a bill that would boost New Mexico's TV production refundable tax credit to 30% from 25%. The incentive works like a rebate, giving filmmakers credit toward what they spend on crews and vendors in the state.

To qualify, TV productions would have to film at least six episodes in New Mexico and hire local crews reports the Los Angeles Times.

The credit also allows producers to bring in outside crews so long as they make a good faith effort to hire in state and contribute to local job training programs.

Producers of feature films also could get an additional 5% rebate on what they spend to hire local crews.

If the state Senate and New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez approve the bill, it could be passed as early as the spring, raising the competitive stakes for California, which offers a tax credit of 20% to 25% of qualified spending.

Iowa GOP Gov. Terry Branstad
came to California to take jobs away.

The proposed legislation comes at a time when Los Angeles already has seen a sharp falloff in production of one-hour dramas and television pilots because of competition from New York and other states.

The proposed legislation also is intended to put New Mexico in a more competitive position relative to other states, especially Georgia, Louisiana and New York, that already offer a 30% credit.

New Mexico still attracts some big productions — "The Avengers" and "The Lone Ranger" filmed there — because of its proximity to L.A., its local crew base and varied geography.

But it's no longer considered the chief rival to California as it was five years ago, when Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, aggressively courted the film industry with rebates, loans and job training programs.

Massive new production facilities sprouted, and several vendors and support companies followed suit.


Iowa Governor Terry E. Branstad On Why His State is a Top State for Business 

Shows like The Walking Dead have fled high tax
California for tax friendly Georgia.

Filmed in tax friendly Canada.

Filmed in tax friendly New Mexico.
The filmmakers had originally intended to begin filming on in Budapest or Australia, but a 25 percent tax rebate and absence of an interest rate cap and floor made the filmmakers seek the cheaper New Mexico.

Filmed in tax friendly Georgia.

Huell Howser dies at 67

It is a sad day in California.

Iconic TV host Huell Howser has died, according to KCET.

Howser, who hosted several public television programs including California's Gold, was 67.

He died Sunday night of natural causes, said Ayn Allen, communication manager for KCET, which produces California's Gold.

"This is a tremendous personal and professional loss to his friends and colleagues, as well as his legions of fans," the station said in an emailed statement. " "Huell elevated the simple joys and undiscovered nuggets of living in our great state. He made the magnificence and power of nature seem accessible by bringing it into our living rooms. Most importantly, he reminded us to find the magic and wonderment in our lives every day."

A tribute to Huell Howser of California's Gold

The statement applauds Howser for bringing attention to previously obscure parts of the state and showing the wonder of them.

"From pastrami sandwiches and artwork woven from lint to the exoticism of cactus gardens and the splendor of Yosemite--he brought us the magic, the humor and poignancy of our region," the statement says. "We will miss him very much."

He retired in November, amid speculation that he might be ill, but he didn't provide details at that time.

Howser moved to Los Angeles in 1991 from his native Tennessee, according to his website, Huell Howser Productions.

The Tennessee native and Marine Corps veteran began his television career in Nashville on commercial television. After stints in New York City and Los Angeles, Howser joined public television station KCET in Los Angeles.

"California's Gold," after 19 years in production, has been called unslick and charming. His shows are often sprinkled with Howser uttering "That's amazing!"

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/01/07/5097913/california-gold-host-huell-howser.html#storylink=cpy

Steven Spielberg & Disney want to raise your taxes

The Ultra-Rich Steven Spielberg and Barbra Streisand along with Disney want to fuck the people with higher taxes.



The Hollywood super-rich living in their mansions in Beverly Hills and Malibu want to soak those fighting hard every day to get ahead with brand new income and sales taxes.

The super-rich kiss the Socialist ass of Jerry Brown and donate money to his tax increasing Proposition 30.  Playing a rich Socialist in Hollywood is more important than thinking about the little people they are fucking over.

The lion's share of campaign donations for Comrade Governor Jerry Brown's Socialist tax-raising Proposition 30 has come from public employee unions, but the effort also has the backing of many businesses, some of which do not appear to have a direct connection to the initiative.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that billionaire entertainment businesses have given Prop. 30 a total of nearly $1 million.

• Disney
• Sony
• CBS
• NBC
• Viacom
• Warner Brothers
• Pacific Gas and Electric Co., Occidental Petroleum and other energy companies have thrown in roughly $1 million between them.

Soft-drink companies - which are spending millions to try to defeat soda taxes in Richmond and El Monte (Los Angeles County) - have dipped into their campaign coffers to give half-a-million dollars to Brown's effort to temporarily raise state sales and income taxes.

Other business donors to Prop. 30 include real estate groups, casinos and racetracks. Entertainment moguls and celebrities, including Steven Spielberg and Barbra Streisand, also have made donations.

Private and public employee unions have by far been the biggest donors to the effort, which has raised more than $41 million total. But Dan Newman, a spokesman and strategist for Prop. 30, said winning the support of major businesses was "critical" for the ballot measure.

Read more at: San Francisco Chronicle

Screw Disney
The Evil Disney Corporation wants you to pay more in taxes.
Stop buying Disney products and going to their parks.

George Lucas: Why California does not work

George Lucas is closing up shop in Marin County, California.
The business climate is shipping jobs out of the state.

George Lucas and the jobs he creates are leaving

• Lucas will no longer build a film studio.
• Will he leave the state for Texas, Florida or even New Zealand?
• The Socialist Democrats in Sacramento are clueless.

A top Lucasfilm official says it is "too late" for George Lucas to reconsider his decision to pull the plug on plans for Grady Ranch.
                                 .
Lynne Hale, director of communications for Lucasfilm, said that while the firm appreciates the unprecedented outpouring of public support for the company triggered by news the filmmaker was scuttling a film studio project at the ranch, there's no turning back now.
                                                                  .
"We have to move on," she told the Marin Independent Journal.

Hale underscored her point: "You asked if Lucasfilm would reconsider. Unfortunately the answer is no. We truly appreciate the outpouring of support over the last 24 hours but based on our experience we realize that even with the support of the majority, the minority has the ability to drag the process out to the point it makes it impossible to do business."
.
A last-minute bid by state and federal fisheries and water agencies for more review of a unique creek restoration project, and bitter opposition from Lucas Valley Estate residents including developer and next-door neighbor Thomas Monahan, posed more delay and potential lawsuits, prompting Lucas to bail out after spending millions and years pursuing the plan. The creek project promised to be a model watershed restoration program — one far too expensive for public agencies to finance.
                                                                       .
As Lucas executives said they would sell the land for housing development and build the studio elsewhere, a raucous conversation raged online across Marin as residents chimed in, many expressing support for Lucas and contempt for neighborhood foes.

                                                    .
(Marin Independent Journal)

.
Jobs are leaving the People's Republic of California.

The Mega Hit movie "Fast & Furious 5" was filmed in Brazil and Puerto Rico.  The Socialists in the California legislature fail to understand how high taxes are forcing the jobs in the movie industry to leave the state.

They also fail to understand a simple fact.  With all the nations of the world to chose from, what  businessmen would open up a new business in high tax - high regulation California?

The game show "Family Feud" moved to Atlanta, Georgia.

Are Democrats Stupid?

Oil Drilling  -  To liberals the source of all evil in the world.
Never mind that the state would generate new tax money on every barrel of oil pumped out of the ground.  New taxes that could pay for all the Socialist Big Government Programs that Democrats want.

Is there anything more stupid in the world than a Democrat?

• Democrats won't drill for oil and collect the taxes from pumping that oil. Then wonder why they are short on tax money to spend.
• High Socialistic taxes are forcing thousands of jobs to leave the state.
• New businesses do not even want to open in California.

There is a slow drip-drip-drip of jobs leaving the People's Republic of California.  It is a big world out there and companies have discovered that they can run their business just fine in Nevada, Texas or Mexico.  In its most recent annual ranking of "business friendly" states, Forbes magazine had some blunt advice for investors: "Utah and Colorado have maintained strong business climates. Forget about California."

In an act of insanity, Democrats appear to have no interest in growing business and then collecting taxes on those businesses.  They would rather wave the red flag of Socialism and jack up the taxes on an ever shrinking pie of business owners and taxpayers.

Californians like to dismiss such assessments of the Golden State and instead point to its natural beauty and quality of life. They tend not to worry what people in other states think. But they should.

Hi Tech   -   California is no longer the economic miracle it once was. Silicon Valley no longer has a monopoly on high-tech talent and innovation.  Tech jobs are rushing out of California to China, Texas and India among others.

Hollywood   -   The monopoly is gone and Hollywood jobs are leaving the state.  Movies are being filmed in Utah, New Zealand and Morocco.  Even the game show Family Feud is filmed in Atlanta, Georgia.  Hell,   SoCal porn producers know they don't need huge wardrobe containers to move to Nevada.

• In the Forbes rankings, the state also comes in at No. 40 in the category of regulatory environment.
• California also ranks a disappointing No. 32 in the "labor supply" category, based largely on its low high school and college graduation rates. This ranking represents a precipitous decline from the days when California's colleges were ranked among the best in the world.
• The Canadian-based Fraser Institute compiles a similar ranking for the 50 states and the 10 Canadian provinces. Fraser's ranking is based on 10 statistical indicators that more narrowly focus on business concerns (tax rates, minimum-wage levels, unionization rates, public-sector employment and the like). The Fraser rankings came out in January. In that ranking, California scores even worse — a dismal No. 44 among the 50 U.S. states. South Dakota, Delaware and Texas top the Fraser list, while Vermont, New York and Alaska reside at the bottom.

Is there any chance Socialist Democrats will wake up and smell the bullshit they are shoveling?  The chances are slim to none.

(Los Angeles Times)      (Gale Anne Hurd)

The "Walking Dead" is filmed in Georgia.
Mega-producer Gale Anne Hurd (Walking Dead, Terminator, Aliens, The Hulk) has not filmed in California since 2003.  High taxes have forced her projects and the jobs connected with them out of  California.  

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Oil creates new jobs, wealth and taxes . . . but Democrats oppose new jobs, wealth and more tax money.