Million Solar Roofs

From Emerging Energy News: California to use more solar power

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed on Wednesday that the state would use more solar power to "meet our long-term renewable energy and climate change goals."

The governor said he was encouraged to see that Californians installed twice as many megawatts (MW) of solar power in 2008 than the year before.

To give credit where it's due...Arnold's support of The California Solar Initiative has done amazing things for the alternative energy movement in California.

For every dollar that CSI puts in...6 dollars from the private sector are invested in solar. Not a bad deal.

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Where BART Went Wrong

From SFGate

BART police allowed a train full of witnesses to pull out of the Fruitvale Station in Oakland early New Year's Day after Officer Johannes Mehserle shot Oscar Grant, then made little effort to contact the witnesses as they got off at other stations.

None of the seven officers at Fruitvale broadcast over their radios that there had been an officer-involved shooting. Supervisors who left headquarters for Fruitvale were initially in the dark, while officers at stations down the line did not know to expect a train full of witnesses.

A key video showing that another officer on the station platform struck Grant two minutes before he was shot was available to BART, but police did not launch a full investigation into the officer's actions until a TV station aired the footage Jan. 23.

BART has failed to provide basic and important information about the case to the public, even while promising transparency. The vacuum has been filled by attorney John Burris, who is seeking $25 million for Grant's family, and by speculation over amateur video footage broadcast on television and the Internet.

Sounds like BART has pretty much screwed this thing up at every step of the way. As if, worrying if you're going to get shot on your way home from work wasn't enough. I'm sure the public will start feeling better in the next few months, when they're fees are raised and they're routes are reduced. I'd say BART has got a major PR issue on it's hands.

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Teachers Rally

From Los Angeles Times

Thousands of teachers and other union members rallied today at Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles to oppose state and local cuts to education that are widely expected to result in larger classes for students as well as layoffs and more expensive healthcare.

The public overwhelmingly supports tax hikes for the wealthy, especially when it comes to protecting K-12 education...so why are we punishing the teachers and state employees?

Oh, that's right...the republicans took an oath...and I'm not talking about the Oath of Office.

I'm talking about Grover Norquist.

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Let the Sunshine In

From San Jose Mercury News

A federal judge today denied a request to keep the names of donors to California's anti-gay marriage initiative secret, saying the public has a right to know who's giving money to state ballot measures...

U.S. District Judge Morrison England Jr. sided with the state. In his ruling from the bench, England said California's campaign disclosure laws are intended to protect the public and are especially important during expensive initiative campaigns.

"If there ever needs to be sunshine on a political issue, it is with a ballot measure," England said.

The hypocrisy in even bringing this case is astounding, considering it was the "Yes on 8" campaign who sent blackmailing letters to businesses that were opposed to Prop 8, demanding equal contributions.

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2/3rds Iron Hot

From San Jose Mercury News

A new poll shows California voters are so incensed with the state's budget gridlock that they are embracing a far-reaching reform soundly rejected at the ballot box three years ago: removing the two-thirds threshold for approving the budget...

For the first time, a majority of respondents said they would do away with California's two-thirds majority requirement for passing a budget and replace it with a 55 percent threshold.

There has been a whole lot of talk on the intertubes, especially of late, about the need to get rid of the 2/3rds requirement. This new poll proves the public is just as eager. Time to start collecting some signatures.

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Sen. Fiorina?

From SFGate

Scary thought, but...

Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina is making some moves that strongly suggest she's got her eye on a political future in California -- and the buzz is that it may even have something to do with that 2010 race against Democratic U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer.

Word of caution to potential office seekers...start using landlines.

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No New Offshore Drilling

From Sacramento Bee

The State Lands Commission on Thursday rejected a proposal that could have led to the first new oil drilling project off the California coast in 40 years.

The panel voted 2-1 against Plains Exploration & Production Co.'s request for approval of its bid to expand drilling off Platform Irene in the Santa Barbara Channel. Commission Executive Officer Paul Thayer said the project is effectively dead unless the oil company takes it to court or reapplies to the commission with a new proposal.

Thank You, Chiang & Garamendi. Oil is not going to solve our energy problems...and it's certainly not going to solve our environmental problems. We need to start focusing on alternatives...now.

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Shameful

Shameful

$18 billion.

That’s what Wall Street bankers pulled down in bonuses over the past two months, according to a report from the New York State comptroller -- even as many of these institutions received billions in taxpayer dollars.

Can you guess what blog this came from?

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Arnoldbucks Are Here

Print your own Arnoldbucks!

How will you use yours? Share your ideas with the Courage Campaign.

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Ten Percent

From the Sacramento Bee

A Sacramento Superior Court Judge today ordered state Controller John Chiang to implement a Schwarzenegger administration plan to furlough state workers two days a month, resulting in a 10 percent pay cut.

Well, the timing on this just couldn't be better.

As the state reaches towards double digit unemployment, and services will be needed more than ever...we've just increased state employees already full workload to something completely unmanageable.

All while cutting their below average pay by 10%.

Now the republicans are going after their pensions.

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Newsom Looking at SF Children's Fund?

From SFBG Politics Blog

I think it's fair to say the Mayor Newsom will be taking aim in the next few months at all of the set-asides in the city budget. I think he is looking toward a November ballot measure that will include "budget reform" -- which means no more special earmarked programs.

The official story is that the director of the Department of Children, Youth and their Families took another job. She's telling friends she was fired. SFBG speculates...

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State Lottery Wins the Lottery

From Los Angeles Times

Although ticket sales are down and the state budget is in a deep hole, the California Lottery Commission is planning to build some fancy new digs.

The panel today approved the design contract for a new $185-million, six-story headquarters and "campus" in Sacramento. The project will include two buildings to be leased to other state agencies, a retail building and a parking structure.

How in the hell does the lotttery commission have 185 million to spend on a new office? Wow. Sure glad all that lottery money is going to the schools like it was meant too.

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Arnold Threatens Layoffs

From Sacramento Bee

"To me, labor has the choice, and I made this very clear: They can help us make the decision in how we can save the ($1.3 billion)," Schwarzenegger said at the Sacramento Press Club. "So our recommendation was furloughs, where everyone takes a haircut rather than laying people off. That's the last thing I want to do, is lay people off. So it's their decision."

"The fact of the matter is in the end I have the authority, if they don't go along with the furlough, to lay people off so we have a savings of ($1.3 billion)," he added.

Why raise the taxes on the guy making over 200,000 a year when you can just layoff a few people making less than $50,000. Who cares what happens to their families. Poor suckers.

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Protect Pensions

From Calitics

75 years ago, the last time California was in an economic crisis this dire, one of the groups that suffered the most was the elderly. Too old to work, with no jobs available even if they could, with savings wiped out in the collapse of the banking system and with no pensions whatsoever, poverty among the elderly reached epidemic proportions, burdening their children and grandchildren with the cost of care.

So a Long Beach doctor named Francis Townsend proposed to do something about it, and through a grassroots movement built a nationwide mass base for the Townsend Plan - which we now know as Social Security.

The 1930s saw us react to crisis by ensuring the elderly had enough to live in their old age, freeing the rest of society for productive work. FDR also promoted stable pensions, ensuring that honest work would be rewarded.

Now, in this economic crisis, conservatives want to destroy pensions. Instead of protecting and bolstering the elderly, they want to attack them, rob them of the pensions they worked hard to earn, and steal what remains of their economic security.

Robert has more over at Calitics, but this is an issue that hits close to home.

My wife is a state employee, and for the last 12 year has been working for far lower pay than than she would earn in the private sector. In return, she has been promised the security of a pension when she retires. Now, the republicans want to take those pensions away and replace them with the same 401k's that just lost a third of their value in the Wall Street shell game.

I don't know what the republicans are thinking with their timing, but if they want it, this will be the next big fight in California. I'll be doing everything I can to make sure they lose.

...and as an aside...doesn't it just figure that the point man on the right is a former assemblyman by the name of Keith Richman. Rich Man...of course.

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Bye-Bye Joseph Schmidt, Scharffen Berger

From SFGate

The Hershey Co. said Tuesday it plans to close Scharffen Berger's West Berkeley manufacturing plant as well as the San Francisco factory that makes Joseph Schmidt chocolates and consolidate production at other facilities.

While I was disappointed last year when Scharffen Berger was sold to Hershey...this is the final nail in the coffin. It's sad to see what had become a San Francisco hallmark over the last 12 years, closing its doors and moving to a giant Hershey factory. They better not try to mess with my See's.

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Video Works Both Ways

From The Snitch

News has just come out from Iran that the nation's first mixed-gender soccer game since 1979 was discovered by the authorities - and the "perpetrators" have been punished.

How could the authorities prove it happened? The same way the state intends to prove that Johannes Mehserle shot Oscar Grant: Witnesses captured the crime on cell phone cameras, and passed the videos along.

Just a little something to think about.

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Stolen Chihuahua

From SFGate

Around 4:30 p.m. Friday, two men in their 20s entered the Animal Care and Control shelter at 15th and Harrison streets and, unobserved, climbed a flight of stairs to the puppy room on the second floor. The door to the room is normally locked, and it was unclear how the men gained access.

Only seconds later, the video showed the men leaving with the puppy.

The Chihuahua, a stray with no name, had been at the shelter for five days and was about to be made available for adoption. Brown said the suspects had probably seen the puppy on an earlier visit before returning to snatch it.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Who the hell steals a puppy from the pound?

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New BART Logo

From Matthew Williams Design

I made some improvements to the BART logo to better reflect their get-tough approach to crime. Please feel free to distribute this new logo everywhere. You can purchase T-shirts here. All sale proceeds will be donated to the family of Oscar Grant.

Won't be long before these start popping up all over the Bay Area.

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Corbett Protects Consumers from Car Dealers

From ContraCostaTimes

The bill, SB95, introduced Tuesday by Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, would make it more difficult for dealers with shaky finances to sell cars by boosting the bond amount they'd have to pay to operate, and would require dealers to pay off liens on used cars before reselling them.

"Consumers should not be those that have to finance the failures of car dealers in California," Corbett said. "This is a practice that must stop. It's not fair. We should not be balancing the economic downturn of dealerships on the backs of consumers."

In California alone, 480 licensed car dealers went out of business last year, with just as many expected to falter this year, Corbett said. When dealers fail to pay off the liens on cars the results can be catastrophic — from damaged credit ratings to repossession of cars to bankruptcy.

If you trade in your car and the dealership goes out of business, you shouldn't be stuck with the tab on a car you no longer own. That is just ridiculous. Thank you, Sen Corbett. I don't see why there should be any trouble getting this bill passed.

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4 More Days

From San Jose Mercury News

Having raided every state fund and borrowed the max, the state will start issuing IOUs. College students won't get Cal Grants. Counties will borrow from reserves to cover social services. State contractors won't get paid, and taxpayers won't get refunds. The state already has shut down billions of dollars worth of construction projects. By April, as bills mount up, California, for all practical purposes, will stop functioning as a state.

The Democrats have been to the bargaining table time and again to make the concessions that are sure to frustrate their base...while the Republicans in Sacramento continue to put the needs of right wing idealogues over the needs of the State to which they serve. Then we have the "Governator" who hasn't managed to bring one single vote to the table...not one. Pretty sad that our tough-guy governor is getting his ass kicked by the likes of Grover Norquist. Who's the economic girly-man now, Arnold?

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The Furlough Fight

Sacramento Bee

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Patrick Marlette on Thursday will hear oral arguments in labor unions' challenge of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's move to furlough state employees two days a month beginning Feb. 6. Marlette has received written briefs and could issue a tentative ruling before Thursday.

The Sacramento Bee has a great breakdown with all of the relevant info.

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Housing Prices Plummet

From SFGate

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Farmlands Turn to Dust

From Calitics

As if we didn't have enough going on to make these times feel like the 1930s, the Salinas Californian reports on widespread abandonment of fields by farmers in the Central and Salinas Valleys. A devastating combination of drought and recession are leading to a crisis in California farming, endangering our food security

Seriously. What's next? Raining Locusts?

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Record Foreclosures

From SF Gate

A total of 236,231 homes statewide, or 2.8 percent of all the state's housing stock, were repossessed by banks last year, according to the report from real estate information service MDA DataQuick of San Diego. In the nine-county Bay Area, lenders took back 35,709 homes, or 2 percent of all homes and condos.

I hate to say it...but I think next year will be even worse...especially as unemployment is expected to rise into double-digits. It just doesn't make any sense to me that the lenders don't renegotiate with the homeowners. How does the bank sitting on an empty house help anybody?

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SF Sues Poizner

From Los Angeles Times

The suit contends that Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and Cindy Ehnes, director of the Department of Managed Health Care, approved a system that allows the insurance companies to impose "gender rating" when pricing policies, resulting in women paying as much as 39% more for coverage then men.

At issue in the suit are rates for individuals and not group policies. These policies are often purchased by people who are unemployed or work for businesses that don't offer health insurance or adequate coverage.

On the one hand...it sucks that women are having to pay more for insurance then men...on the other...women generally incur higher healthcare costs then men. Personally, I wouldn't mind paying a little extra to have it all even out...but I am sure there are plenty who would disagree. I do know this...if the courts find it unconstitutional to charge women more for health insurance, then they need to revisit auto insurance next...men have been getting screwed for years in that arena.

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Emergency Docs Sue State

From Los Angeles Times

Frustrated emergency room doctors filed a class-action lawsuit against the state Tuesday, saying that California's overstretched emergency healthcare system -- which ranks last in the country for emergency care access -- is on the verge of collapse unless more funding is provided.

The problem is only going to be getting worse as more and more cuts are made to medi-cal in coming weeks.

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McNerney Bill To Conserve H2O

From The Bayne of Blog

The Healthy Communities Water Supply Act, H.R. 700, will authorize $250 million – double the 2007 proposed authorization – in funding for projects that increase the usable water supply by encouraging innovation in water conservation, recharge, recycling, reuse, and reclamation.

With California facing drought conditions and water rationing, this bill couldn't come at a better time...actually...years ago would have been better...but you catch my drift.

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McNerney Rallies For Vets Facility

From Rep. Jerry McNerney

On Friday, January 30, at 10:30 a.m., I will join with veterans, elected officials, medical professionals and business leaders from across our region to demonstrate the incredible level of support there is for locating new veterans’ facilities in French Camp.

I encourage you to join me.

Read more at The Bayne of Blog

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Camp Courage Reviews

The inaugural Camp Courage training in West Hollywood was absolutely incredible. Thank you to the trainers, planners, facilitators, and most of all campers for collectively making Camp Courage live up to its motto: Respect- Empower- Include.

There have been a few reviews popping up on the tubes. Rather than me explain what it was like for the Campers, here they are in their own words:

Read more at Courage Campaign

I'm curious to see when the next Camp Courage will be held. If you haven't already, go vote to have the next Camp Courage held in your town.

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Webster Tube Closed

From SFGate

The Webster Street Tube was closed tonight after a 60-square-foot piece of concrete plummeted from the ceiling of the tunnel that connects Oakland to Alameda, and it's not clear when it will reopen, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Bummer. Sounds like Park Street is going to be moving a little bit slower for a while.

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Bay Bridge Cracked

From SFGate

Inspectors hired by Caltrans to monitor the fabrication of steel girders that will support the tower's roadway reported finding cracked welds last year, Caltrans records show.

The discovery has raised the question whether Bay Area taxpayers are getting a substandard product that could wear out prematurely and require costly repairs in a decade or two.

Caltrans and others in charge of the bridge construction say the welds are safe and that fixes have been made - but also say the inspectors interpreted the welding standards too rigidly.

I call BS. Cracks are cracks...cracks lead to more cracks...more cracks leads to more repairs...more repairs leads to higher costs...higher costs means more taxes and higher tolls.

So we all get screwed because they couldn't do the job right the first time.

Anti-Freeze in toothpaste...Melamine in Dog Food...Lead in Children's Toys...and now...Cracked Steel for our Bridges. Thanks China.

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Experts Make Lemonade

From Reuters

experts say the most populous U.S. state and the world's eighth-largest economy is well placed to rise again and that this crisis could spur major changes in the economy that will pay dividends in the long term.

Abundant natural resources, big ports, access to the Pacific Rim, a large, relatively young work force, entrepreneurial draw and tech-oriented industries augur well for the future, economists and historians say.

"The prophets of doom and gloom are just not looking at the reality of California," said Jerry Nickelsburg, senior economist at the UCLA Anderson Forecast.

I tend to agree. Sure, times are tough..and likely will be for some time...but in the long term...California is in a good spot to bounce back. After all, in the immortal words of Jim Morrison...

"The West is the Best"...

Allthough...the song is called "The End"

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Surprising

From The SacBee

Here are the surprising results of a poll taken last week on whether Californians think it would be a good idea to dock legislators' pay when the budget is overdue. Two-thirds of the respondents said it was a good idea. The surprise was that 21 percent thought it wasn't a good idea. The rest weren't sure.

I would actually be considered one of those 21 percent. Frankly, I get tired of people in this state that are so eager to throw our state workers and legislators under the bus. For the most part, and especially in the case of state employees, these are people with mortgages, and families, and tuitions, and bills to pay just like everybody else. Most of these people made the choice to go into public service for lower pay than the private sector provides, in exchange for the promise of security. Screwing them out of their paychecks isn't going to fix anything for anybody.

If this is the route we want to go...why don't we just throw out all of the Republicans in Sacramento? It'd save money and we could pass a budget at the same time. A Two-fer!

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BART Board Calls for Resignations

From KTVU San Francisco

Two members of BART's Board of Directors have called for the organization's general manager and the BART Police Chief to step down after KTVU broadcast the latest controversial video connected to the New Year's Day shooting of Oscar Grant.

"If I just walked up to you and just hit you for no good reason, I'd go to jail," said Sweet. "I don't think we need to act like our police officers are above the law."

"You wonder what happens in incidents when there isn't video," explains Radulovich. "Is the internal investigation good enough? I think we need some change at the top."

You wonder...

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Fore!

From the Fresno Bee

Teed off at Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal to tax their game, golf course owners, pros and superintendents are mobilizing like never before.

They've got a lobbyist, launched a Web site and rallied course owners across the state, including in the Valley -- all in an attempt to stop the proposed sales tax on golf, an activity that long has been exempt along with other sports and services.

It's a new game for golfers, who have lobbied before but never to this extent.

So, Arnold is looking to reap some green off the greens. I don't golf, but my take is that if you can afford to be out golfing in the first place...this tax certainly isn't going to hurt you as much as it would to pull funding from your kids school. I'll be interested to see how golfers in the state mobilize to fight back.

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Stun Guns Kill

From SFGate

The researchers analyzed sudden death data from 50 law enforcement agencies in the state that use Tasers. They compared the death rate pre- and post-Taser deployment - analyzing data for five years before each agency began using Tasers and five years afterward.

They found a sixfold increase in sudden deaths during the first year of Taser use - amounting to nearly 6 deaths per 100,000 arrests.

"I didn't expect what we found," said Lee. "I thought we would find no difference in the rate of sudden death. But there was a rather dramatic rise."

From everything we've heard it sounds like the officers defense in the Oscar Grant shooting will be that he thought he was pulling his taser. The next question needs to be why did he think it was ok to draw his taser. Too many officers, and too many people in general seem to think these things are safe. They're not.

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No Snow This Week

From SFGate

A light snowstorm in the Sierra slowed traffic headed back to the Bay Area on Sunday in what is expected to be the last of January's light snowfall...

"After today, nothing this month," he said of the chance of snow in the mountains or rain in the Bay Area. "We'll have to wait until February."

Bad news for skiers and boarders is bad news for California's depleted reservoirs. Throw a brick in the toilet tank and get ready for rationing.

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Prop 8 on Broadway

From Playbill News

A host of actors from stage and screen will take part in Defying Inequality: The Broadway Concert — A Celebrity Benefit for Equal Rights, which will be held Feb. 23 at the Gershwin Theatre, the current home of Wicked.

It sure is nice to see all of the enthusiasm to overturn Prop 8 from all across the country...it's too bad that same enthusiasm didn't exist in the run up to the election. If Prop 8 isn't overturned in the courts...I sure hope the same level of engagement exists into 2010, when an initiative will likely re-appear on the ballot.

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Gung Hoy Fat Choy

From SFGate

Monday marks the beginning of the Year of the Ox. People born in that year are dependable, patient and methodical. They do not back down in the face of obstacles. President Obama is an ox.

Visit chineseparade.com for more information on San Francisco's famous Chinese New Year Parade.

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Pessimism or Pragmatism?

From San Jose Mercury News

Despite the message of caution, several groups already have started raising money and organizing supporters with an eye toward next year. The Courage Campaign, an online political advocacy group, held a training camp for gay marriage activists on Sunday modeled after the grass roots organizing method President Barack Obama used early in his campaign for the White House.

Given the anger same-sex marriage supporters felt following Proposition 8's passage, Courage Campaign chairman Rick Jacobs said he thinks it is inevitable that some marriage-related measure will make it to the ballot soon.

"I don't think anybody knows when is the best time to go back," Jacobs said. "My philosophy is having it go every time, and eventually we will win."

I'm with Rick on this one.

If you haven't allready...go check out the Courage Campaign.

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California's Cut

From The SacBee

A new analysis shows that California would get a whopping $21.5 billion under an economic stimulus plan that's expected to be approved by the House next week, making it the biggest winner among the 50 states...

On Thursday, staffers of the House Transportation Committee estimated that California would receive $4.5 billion to spend on highways, bridges and other projects. But that's only a small part of the overall package, as the new numbers make clear.

Other stimulus money would be aimed at programs for child care, job training and energy assistance for the poor, among other things. House Democrats say the overall package would create or save up to 4 million jobs in the next two years.

Last week we were at $11 Billion...This week its $21.5.

California has been paying in far more than it gets back for years now...

Keep it coming, Congress...Keep it coming.

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BART Brutality

From The Raw Story

Moments before he was killed, Oscar Grant was punched in the face -- but not by the BART officer who shot him.

A new cellphone video shows another BART officer punching Grant just before he was shot by BART Officer Johannes Mehserle, who was arrested on murder charges nearly two weeks ago.

So let's see...

BART officers get reports of fighting on a train and pull off the first black kid they see... they put the kid up against a wall... and then punch him in the face... after that he is slammed to the ground... 3 officers, all of which appear to outweigh Oscar, jump upon his neck, back, and legs... Although completely unnecessary in the situation, the inevitable defense will be that the officer thought he was pulling his taser... Instead he draws his gun... and stands... and extends his arms...
and fires...
There is still some controversy as to whether the victim was in cuffs at the time...Oscar lay bleeding...Oscar is dying...rather than worrying about Oscar...they are worrying about covering their own asses...The cops spend the next half hour collecting up cellphone cameras...Oscar dies.

I'm always hearing about asshole cops out there giving a bad name to the good ones.

Tell me...in this situation...who was the good cop?

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Buy Buckets

From SF Gate

"Right before the earthquake and fire, the fire chief kept telling the Board of Supervisors they needed to upgrade the water system, but they wouldn't listen," said Charles Fracchia, founder of the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society. When the quake struck, "the water mains coming from the reservoir in San Mateo County snapped, water poured out, and it was unavailable to be used in San Francisco."

...and the same thing will happen again to their 100 year old water system, if something isn't done to fix it before the big one hits.

Don't let "Katrina II:The Revenge of San Andreas" happen on your watch President Obama. Before you sign that stimulus bill, you might want to just make sure California's retrofitting needs are addressed.

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They're Catching On...

From DC Examiner

On his way home from work recently, Republican Congressman Howard “Buck” McKeon of California stopped at Best Buy and got a tiny Flip video camera for approximately $129.

The next day, one of his staffers filmed and quickly posted a video showing the affable McKeon taking viewers on a completely unscripted, impromptu tour of his Washington office, during which he introduced members of his staff -- the woman who sets up Capitol tours for constituents, the staffers who are responsible for different policy issues, for example.

McKeon’s video was an instant hit, generating positive local media coverage in his California district, as well as positive blog reviews nationwide. In the process, McKeon was able to use these cheap, easy-to-produce videos to humanize himself and his staff, so the next time some political opponent inevitably tries to portray him as the Prince of Darkness, many of his constituents will likely give him the benefit of the doubt.

“The response has been phenomenal,” McKeon told me in an interview this week. “It was an interesting kind of thing. I thought the people (in my district) knew me... yet it was like they’d never heard of me before. It was a whole new Me, but nothing changed - it’s just the way we let people see what we’re doing... All of a sudden we’re human!”

Obama's success has shown the Right the light, as far as online political engagement is concerned. They're starting to figure out that the internets is the place to be for politics.

State & Local Dems take notice.

Throw a simple video of a speech on YouTube... post pictures from your events on flickr... share your thoughts & opinions with a blog... let constituents follow your day on Twitter... or get to know you better through Facebook...

Don't get beat to the punch in your district by Republican framing online. Next month, when IOU's start going out and the voters in California start waking up to the true scope of our states problems...they're going to be looking for somebody to blame.

Don't let it be the Dems.

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Poll Suggests Pols Safe

From San Francisco Bay Times

Voting for same-sex marriage or against an attempt to ban same-sex marriage is a safe move for politicians, a new study by the group Freedom to Marry has found. A review of such votes in 21 states by more than 1,100 legislators found that the legislators were consistently re-elected. The report revealed:

* Legislators who voted to end marriage discrimination in California, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts had a 100 percent re-election rate in all 499 instances in three consecutive elections.

* Legislators who changed their position from opposing to supporting same-sex marriage had a 100 percent re-election rate in consecutive elections.

* Legislators who voted for marriage equality in their state’s lower house and then sought higher office all won.

* None of 664 legislators from 17 states lost re-election after voting against a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

“For politicians, standing up for marriage equality is not touching a third-rail; rather, it is a track to re-election,” said Freedom to Marry Executive Director Evan Wolfson. “Legislators should take the findings of this report as proof that there’s no reason to back down from supporting the freedom to marry and opposing anti-gay measures. And those of us outside the legislature should not be afraid to ask our representatives to do the right thing.”

I still think the Democratic Party could have and should have done more to oppose the passage of Prop 8. This new survey proves that democratic or republican leaders don't need to fear electoral defeat should they speak out for Human Rights.

...just stay away from the whole "Whether you like it or not!" angle.

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Mellow is Yellow. Brown goes Down.

From SFGate

The rainfall expected in the region through Monday will be too little, too late to turn around a month that usually delivers about 20 percent of the rain and snow needed for the year, officials added.

With no blockbuster storms on the immediate horizon and forecasters predicting a longer-term dry spell, water managers around California are busy calculating just how far they can stretch supplies already drained by two previous dry winters.

So far, two dozen California water districts have extended rationing imposed last year - and more and steeper cuts likely are on the way.

I really need to look into the legality of my property manager bitching about keep the lawn green during imposed water rationing.

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Watch Whitman

From Capitol Alert

Whitman may be yet to announce her candidacy -- or tap into her billions of dollars -- for the governor's race. But she runs ahead of Villaraigosa by a 41 percent to 34 percent margin in a hypothetical November 2010 match-up, and she also bests Newsom by 37 percent to 34 percent.

In a match-up against Brown, Whitman trails by just two percentage points, 40 percent to 38 percent, according to the Rasmussen survey of 500 California voters

I don't know how much stock I'd put into a Rasmussen poll...but still...something to keep an eye on.

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President Obama's First Weekly

From The White House

"This is not just a short-term program to boost employment," he said. "It’s one that will invest in our most important priorities like energy and education; health care and a new infrastructure that are necessary to keep us strong and competitive in the 21st century."

With a $40 billion budget gap and unemployment in the Golden State about to reach double digits...Let's hope Obama plans on kickin' a whole bunch of that stimulus out California's way.

I know I should have taken care of it during the Clinton years...but please President Obama...save California's schools...I'd really like to get back to one of them one of these days.

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New Routes for USPS

From SFGate

In response to the economic downturn, the Postal Service is adjusting routes across the country, with some being consolidated. That means some customers may be seeing new carriers and getting their mail delivered at a different time of the day - perhaps earlier than usual, or perhaps not.

New carrier...New time...Same Junk Mail.

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UC President Wants More For Low-Income

From San Jose Mercury News

University of California President Mark G. Yudof wants the UC system to fully cover tuition costs for low-income students, an attempt to encourage diverse students who might be intimidated by talks of state budget cuts and tuition increases to still apply to college.

The proposal would cover tuition and fees — at least $7,500 — for students whose families earn below the $60,000 median for California households. Currently, most low-income students receive grants covering part — but not all — of their tuition and fees.

I'll be interested to see how this goes over...while everybody else in the state is talking about slashing education funding. I hope he gets it.

Money...one of the biggest reasons I've never finished school.

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LA Ad Busters

From Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles would outlaw new digital billboards and slash the size of all new commercial signs under a proposed ordinance intended to end proliferation of outdoor advertising that critics say have overwhelmed neighborhoods and L.A.'s busy roadways.

Thank You LA. I hate those damn things. Every time I drive down south to visit my mother-in-law I feel like I'm driving through a corporate disco. The advertising is is just too loud & obnoxious. I'm glad somebody is doing something about it.

I really don't need a huge flashing billboard to tell me that the porn convention is coming to town next weekend...I have the internet...I already know the porn convention is coming to town next weekend. Always the weekend after we visit.

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Keep Your Fingers Crossed...

From Los Angeles Times

The economic stimulus package congressional leaders are drafting would wipe out nearly a quarter of California's budget shortfall, a potential windfall that could help end the impasse over how to close the nearly $42-billion gap.

The House bill, which is likely to be voted on next week, would bring the state more than $11 billion in healthcare and education money that could go directly to reducing the deficit through mid-2010, state officials learned Thursday night.

"This takes a big bite out of the state's budget gap," said Jean Ross, executive director of the California Budget Project, a Sacramento-based think tank. "It is better news than many of us had anticipated."

While it doesn't come anywhere near solving all of our states budget problems...covering a 1/4 of the gap is no small potatoes either. For the sake of California, let's hope DC gets this through...quick. In fact, call your Representatives, ask them to try and slip some more in there...we need all the help we can get.

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BART's Busted Budget

From abc7news.com

BART is facing a shortfall of up to $90 million over the next 18 months, so it's considering job cuts, service cuts, increasing fares, and increasing the price of parking by $1.

Fares are already set to go up 5.5 percent in January 2010 to adjust for the consumer price index. One proposal is to do that sooner and another would increase fares by 10 percent in May or July 2009.

BART Board member Tom Radulovich thinks they should suspend payments for the various BART extension projects.

So not only are their going to be fewer trains running, that are more expensive to ride; When I'm not on BART I get to spend my time staring at an ugly iron box in the middle of 580, as it slows up traffic for who knows how long. That new Dublin station was a dumb idea in the first place...the Dublin/Pleasanton Station is practically within walking distance...but now they're thinking they may not finish it for a while? That's great.

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Prop 8 Briefings Conclude

From GLT

A brief authored by Hastings Law Professor Donna Ryu and joined by 20 constitutional law experts, argued: “Proposition 8 represents the first time that the California initiative process has been wielded to abolish a fundamental freedom for an unpopular minority group and to alter the Constitution so as to mandate governmental discrimination against that group. In this way, Proposition 8 attempts to breach some of the most elemental textual and structural promises of our state Constitution. It revokes a fundamental right that, in the words of the Constitution, is ‘inalienable.’ It dismantles constitutional equality for a single group of Californians – a group that, because of its history of oppression and stigma, is entitled to the highest level of constitutional protection against discrimination.”

So if Prop 8 is allowed to stand...which I don't see happening...who's right's are we going to take away next? Is it time to revisit inter-racial marriages? inter-religious perhaps?

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The Trees are Dying

From SFGate

While no trees are immune from the accelerating death rates, the victims are primarily the conifers whose abundance throughout California's Sierra Nevada makes the mountain forests famed throughout the world. Varied species of pines, firs and hemlocks are most at risk, the scientists said.

The research involved nearly a dozen leading forest ecologists who studied mortality rates of individual trees in 76 plots of unmanaged forests, located primarily in California, Oregon, Washington and southwestern British Columbia. They also looked at trees in a few interior states: Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Arizona.

The increase in death rates for the trees has been "pervasive," said PhillipJ. van Mantgem, a forest expert with the U.S. Geological Survey's Western Ecological Research Center in Arcata (Humboldt County) and a leader of the research team.

"If current trends continue, our forests will eventually become sparser, the ages of our trees will decrease by half, and they will be able to sequester less carbon - further speeding up the pace of global warming," van Mantgem said during a teleconference sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

I really hope that Obama plans on making the environment a priority...fast. So far I'm not so convinced. Even if we did have the political will in the US to do something about climate change...Good luck convincing China.

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SF Retrofit Report

From SFGate

San Francisco should force owners of the city's weakest buildings to evaluate their properties' seismic safety and complete any necessary retrofit work, according to a new report.

At a minimum, such a mandate would cover about 2,800 large, wood-frame buildings that are liable to collapse or sustain serious damage in a major earthquake. Such a temblor is likely to hit the city before 2032, the report states.

There is a big one on the way...and these buildings do need to be retrofitted...but let's see what the property owners have to say. This could get interesting.

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It's Hard Out Here For A Kid

From Los Angeles Times

The economic crisis is pushing growing numbers of college freshmen to look for part-time jobs, scrounge for financial aid and turn down admission offers from schools that were their dream campuses, according to a national survey by UCLA researchers.

Even in the early days of the current recession, money worries were evident among the students polled for UCLA's 43rd annual "American Freshman" survey, which is being released today. The study found that 43% of students viewed financial aid as very important or essential to their choice of a college. That figure was up from 39.7% last year and was the highest in the 36 years the question has been asked.

The survey also says that this years freshman class is more liberal and politically engaged than in past years. Good news. They're certainly going to have more time to get involved after admissions are reduced, and their financial aid is cut even further.

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SSI/SSP Safe Through Feb/Mar

From California Progress Report

The office of State Controller John Chiang, the statewide elected official responsible for paying California’s bills, said today (January 21) that recipients of the SSI/SSP (Supplemental Security Income/State Supplemental Payment) program that provides small grants to low income persons with disabilities, the blind and low income seniors, will not face a delay in getting their full checks in February. That information was confirmed by the Department of Social Services, which oversees the program. It also appears that those persons receiving SSI/SSP will see no delay in getting their full checks in March.

Chiang is on a role. Guy has got an impossible job, but he's managing to keep things together so far.

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Chiang vs Schwarzenegger

From the SacBee

Democratic State Controller John Chiang announced Wednesday that he will refuse to carry out Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's order to cut state worker pay in February unless a judge demands that he do so.

Thank you, John Chiang. We need a budget. Screwing state employees because Arnold & the republicans can't figure out how to compromise is not the answer.

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Mehserle Lawyers Up

From East Bay Express

Johannes Mehserle, the former BART cop who killed Hayward resident Oscar Grant and started this whole shebang, has hired expert cop lawyer Michael Rains to defend him, the Chron reports. Rains is one of the best lawyers in the state, and when he isn't busy representing Barry Bonds, he specializes in defending cops accused of misconduct; he kept the Riders defendants out of jail, for example.

East Bay Express wrote a profile on Rains in 2002.

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Hospital Death Rates

From SFGate

California patients now can find out whether they are more or less likely to die in their local hospital - compared with the state average - when being treated for certain conditions.

Well that's good to know. Definitely want to stay away from the ones where you are more likely to die. Kind of defeats the purpose of going to the hospital in the first place.

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Lost Generation

From metroamv

This video was created for the AARP U@50 video contest and placed second

Hat Tip: Matt Lockshin

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Taxes vs Schools

From California Budget Bites

Republican lawmakers have called for the Legislature to place a “hard spending cap” on the ballot in return for Republican support of a tax increase to help close the state’s budget gap. First, it is important to note that California already has a hard cap in the state’s constitution. In fact, we’ve had one since 1979. Proponents of a harder cap would return the state’s spending limit to its pre-1990 version, a limit based on the annual change in population and inflation. In contrast, the current cap is based on the change in per capita personal income, which is designed to limit public spending as a share of the state’s economy.

This chart shows how much would have been cut had the Republicans plan been implemented in 1995. Unacceptable. Keep working on it guys.

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Tom Hanks on Prop 8

From Pink News

"The truth is that a lot of Mormons gave a lot of money to the church to make Prop 8 happen," said Mr Hanks, one of America's biggest box office stars.

"There are a lot of people who feel that is un-American and I am one of them.

"I do not like to see any discrimination codified on any piece of paper in any of the 50 states in America.

"A little bit of light can be shed and people can see who's responsible and that can motivate the next go around of our self correcting constitution and hopefully we can move forward instead of backwards.

"So let's have faith in not only the American, but Californian constitutional process."

Tom Hanks...Born & Raised in the East Bay.

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ABC Rejects Gay Ad

From CNSNews

The ABC affiliate reportedly said the ad -- featuring two black men who are raising five children -- was too controversial to air during the inauguration, when “many families will be watching.”

“They were firm in their rejection,” said Chris Yokogawa, the media buyer who tried to place the ad with KABC. “We went back and forth a couple of times. I explained that this family is far from controversial.”

The ad is one of five 30-second commercials featuring families headed by same-sex couples produced by a nonprofit group called GetToKnowUsFirst.org. Each ad carried the message, “Marriage promotes families. Support marriage equality. Get to know us first."

Could it be that the issue might be controversial because ABC makes it controversial by not airing the ad? Just a thought.

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Vote for Camp Courage

From Courage Campaign

Last week we asked our members to match a $25,000 donation from Dr. Bill Resnick and Dr. Doug Cordell to fund our Camp Courage training this Sunday in Los Angeles, and they came through big time. Courage Campaign members raised $68,000 online - most of it from small donors giving under $100. And that stunning display of support has inspired our friends at MoveOn.org to support Camp Courage as well, joining SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West and the California Nurses Association as major organizational sponsors of these training events.

Because of that incredible financial support, we are asking our members to help decide where to schedule at least 3-5 more Camp Courage trainings across California, as we work to give thousands of activists the tools they need to repeal Prop 8. These votes will help our staff make some tough decisions on where to locate our Camp Courage trainings in the months ahead.

We will weigh many factors, including prioritizing trainings in communities that will likely not receive as many votes as major metropolitan areas. Ultimately, we want to make strategic decisions and pick locations that will help build the Marriage Equality Movement across California.

The Courage Campaign is a great organization that is taking the lead on so many of the important issues facing Californians. Take a minute to go vote on the next grassroots training location for Camp Courage.

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1.2 Million for Newsom

From CBS5.com

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's exploratory campaign for governor of California has raised almost $1.2 million in the six months since its inception, the campaign announced Wednesday.

According to figures from Secretary of State Debra Bowen's office, Newsom raised $1,179,348.94 through Dec. 31.

Not bad. Can certainly do a whole lot of exploring on a million dollars.

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Prop 8 Propositions

From the SacBee

Two groups took the first step toward qualifying a ballot measure last week with the state Attorney General's Office, asking for an official title and summary. A third group is expected to follow suit this week.

"Our logic is that we should not put all our eggs in one basket and wait for the Supreme Court," said Charles Lowe, who after campaigning against Proposition 8 founded a Davis-based group called Yes! on Equality. "By doing so, we lose anywhere from 8 to 12 months."

Brian has more over at Calitics.

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Register to Vote

From 760 KFMB

Registrar of Voters Deborah Seiler urges San Diego County residents to apply now to vote by mail in future elections.

"We expect Governor (Arnold) Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers to call a special election sometime during the next few months, so it is a good time to update your registration," Seiler said. "Getting your ballot by mail is convenient and allows you to take your time when filling out the ballot."

If you haven't registered...register.

If your friends & family aren't registered...get them registered.

If you have some spare time...register strangers.

A Special Election is coming...Be prepared.

Even if you don't live in San Diego.

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Celebrate Sully on Saturday

Say that 10 times fast.

From SFGate

The public will finally get its first glimpse Saturday of the Danville pilot hailed as a hero for safely setting his crippled airliner down in New York's Hudson River - but don't expect a lot of words from the man.

The family of pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, 57, says it wants no parade or hoopla, so their hometown of Danville will instead hold a low-key party in the town square with a few dignitaries and a marching band.

Three Cheers for Captain Sully!

Quietly though...the investigation is still pending.

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Keeping You Regular

Proclamation by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim January 2009, as "California Dried Plum Digestive Health Month."

Enjoy your breakfast...with some dried plums.

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Bay Area Rents Fall

From SFGate

Bay Area rents succumbed to growing economic pressures during the fourth quarter, dipping for the first time in years and upending the balance of power between tenants and landlords, according to a report by Novato research firm RealFacts Inc.

For homeowners, the economic downturn has been hell...but for renters like me, things are finally starting to look up.

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Rain Returns

From SFGate

It began sprinkling in San Francisco and several other locations this afternoon, barely enough to get windshield wipers to wiping. Only 0.01 of an inch had fallen at San Francisco International Airport by late afternoon.

There is a 40 percent chance of rain Thursday and Friday, the National Weather Service said. Unsettled weather will continue through early next week.

Keep on pouring. We can use the water. We've got enough trouble in this state as it is.

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Budget Cuts by the Numbers

From Calitics

•  Personal tax refunds: $1.91 billion
•  Cal Grants: $13 million
•  SSI to Aged, Disabled, Blind: $188 million
•  CalWorks: $114 million
•  County Public Assistance Workers: $122 million
•  Medi-Cal County Administration: $22 million
•  Developmental Centers for Developmentally Disabled: $280 million
•  Mental Health: $77 million
•  Operation of trial courts: $205 million
•  Miscellaneous: $515 million

Wow. I don't think most people in this state quite get it yet. They're about to.

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It'll Be Like Camp

From the AP

California should be ordered to transfer up to 7,000 ailing prison inmates to facilities with access to better medical care, a court-appointed receiver said in a court filing Tuesday.

Receiver Clark Kelso is in charge of improving inmate medical care but has become frustrated as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers have so far balked at providing the $8 billion Kelso seeks to build new medical facilities.

A federal court ruled that the quality of health care in California's 33 adult prisons is unconstitutional and placed Kelso in charge of finding solutions...

While waiting for a court decision on its transfer proposal, the receiver's office is adopting an emergency plan to deal with a backlog of inmates seeking care at the four prisons. That includes adding medical staff and setting up military-style hospital tents.

We spend how much on prisons in California? And they're going to be housing sick prisoners in tents? The state is falling apart.

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CA Dems Back Gay Rights

From the SacBee

Assembly Bill 103 by Assemblyman Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, would allow two people, including same-sex couples, who co-own a home to avoid having their property tax reassessed and raised when one dies.

Meanwhile, Sen. Mark Leno plans to re-introduce legislation – vetoed last year by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger – that would designate each May 22 as Harvey Milk Day and encourage schools to commemorate the life of the late gay-rights activist.

Right on! I really don't see how the state Supreme Court can let Prop 8 stand. We shall see.

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Catholics Cry Foul Over SF Taxes

From EDGE Boston

Arguing that property transfers among various Catholic organizations amounts to a substantial tax-generating array of business transactions, the city of San Francisco has moved to collect $15 million from the church--while onlookers declare that the tab is "retaliation" for the church’s support of Proposition 8.

The Archdiocese of San Francisco has contested the tax, saying that similar internal transfers of assets have not resulted in other denominations being taxed.

Fine. Which denominations made the transfers? Collect their back taxes too.

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CA Environmental Projects Freeze

From the LA Times

"The will of the people has been completely ignored," said Mark Gold, president of Heal the Bay, a nonprofit devoted to Southern California's coastal waters that has had its funding frozen. "Overwhelmingly, these bond measures got approved . . . by the people of the state of California."

In most cases, the freeze has meant postponing plans for new roads, dams and schools. But many of the environmental projects are ongoing efforts being done through nonprofits charged with conserving parks, wildlife, water and mountain areas of the state.

I wonder how many people are going to come home sick from the beaches this summer. Fire season should be interesting. Conservation groups are folding as they run out of funding. It's not as if our environment doesn't need all the help it can get right now.

We need to overturn the 2/3rds rule...or recall Arnold...or something...

This is getting scary...and it's only just begun.

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1 in 3 Children...but only the poor ones

From San Jose Mercury News

Poverty experts say one in three California children on the state's welfare rolls could be cut under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget plan, which calls for restricting eligibility in the program designed to serve working-poor families.

And those who continue to receive grants would be hit as well: Despite soaring food prices and burgeoning unemployment, maximum monthly payments for a family of three would equal $43 less than what a similar-size family received in 1989.

Same ol story...Republicans screwing the least amongst us.

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Jackpot?...Not So Much

From the SacBee

As California government verges on going broke, one long-promised elixir – Indian casino gambling – is proving to be not such a sure bet.

Tribal revenue-sharing payments to the state will total a third less than expected this fiscal year and are expected to fall further short of projections for the following year, according to new state budget estimates.

The forecasts raise doubts about the anticipated windfall from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's pursuit of new casino deals and unprecedented expansion of Indian gambling.

These republicans sure love to gamble with California's future. Just look at how the lottery saved the schools. Another bad bet for California. Way to go Arnold!

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California is Ba-Rockin'...Literally

From Los Angeles Times

Several small earthquakes have rattled the same area of Northern California.

Seismologist Jessica Sigala of the U.S. Geological Survey says the four largest temblors struck late Monday and early Tuesday.

They ranged from magnitude-3.5 to magnitude-3.8 and were all centered near the city of Tres Pinos, about 10 miles south of Hollister and 50 miles south of San Jose.

Every 140 years, on average, there is a major earthquake on the Hayward Fault.

It's been 150.

Is the East Bay ready?

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Danville Prepares Hero's Welcome

From San Jose Mercury News

Town offices were closed Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but behind the locked doors Town Manager Joe Calabrigo was scrambling to work out details for a hero's welcome for Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, the US Airways pilot who has turned the town into an international media destination.

Three Cheers for Capt Sully!

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BART Attempts to Restore Trust

From SFGate

In the aftermath of this tragedy, we seek to restore your trust in BART as a responsible public agency. We must examine actions that can work to improve our role in public safety, and restore your confidence that we will protect our riders and guard against crime on the BART system.

It's good to see that they are at least trying.

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Two Buck Chuck...Out of Luck?

From LA Times

A proposal to raise the state tax on wine to a level more than six times higher to help close California's giant budget deficit would kill the $1.99 price for Charles Shaw wine, said Fred Franzia, who created the famous label sold by the Trader Joe's grocery chain.

Charles Shaw, of course, is the formal name for the California wines sold since 2002 that are now widely known by their nickname Two Buck Chuck.

The proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would raise the tax on wine to 29.6 cents for a 750-milliliter bottle from 4 cents.

Is this the end of an era? Stock up!

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RUN DC

Best.Inauguration T-Shirt.Ever.

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The Purple Ticket of Doom

They flew in from all over the country...they had the official ticket...they started showing up at 4 am to wait in line...

and they waited...and waited...and waited...

...and so thousands watched the Inauguration from the Purple Tunnel of Doom, as the survivors are calling it.

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Senator Kennedy Collapses

MSNBC is reporting that Sen Ted Kennedy has collapsed at the Congressional Luncheon this afternoon. He was taken from the room on a stretcher and apparently placed in an ambulance, which has not left the building yet.

Waiting for more details.

UPDATE: Sounds like Sen. Kennedy went in to convulsions and the situation is possibly quite serious.

UPDATE: Sen. Byrd was also taken from the luncheon after some trouble eating. He was conscious when he left the building, and his situation is being described as less serious.

UPDATE: via Politico

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who attended the lunch, said he had heard Kennedy was "doing better," citing Kennedy's fellow Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry.

House Chaplain Daniel Coughlin, who observed Kennedy's treatment by paramedics, said he appeared to be conscious and "responding" to treatment.

UPDATE: From NYTimes.com

Dr. Aulisi said Mr. Kennedy was “feeling well” and would rest in the hospital overnight before being discharged in the morning.

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Praise Song For The Day

From NYTimes.com

Praise song for the day.

Each day we go about our business, walking past each other, catching each others' eyes or not, about to speak or speaking. All about us is noise. All about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din, each one of our ancestors on our tongues. Someone is stitching up a hem, darning a hole in a uniform, patching a tire, repairing the things in need of repair.

Someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.

A woman and her son wait for the bus.

A farmer considers the changing sky; A teacher says, "Take out your pencils. Begin."

We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; words to consider, reconsider.

We cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of someone and then others who said, "I need to see what's on the other side; I know there's something better down the road."

We need to find a place where we are safe; We walk into that which we cannot yet see.

Say it plain, that many have died for this day. Sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges, picked the cotton and the lettuce, built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of.

Praise song for struggle; praise song for the day. Praise song for every hand-lettered sign; The figuring it out at kitchen tables.

Some live by "Love thy neighbor as thy self."

Others by first do no harm, or take no more than you need.

What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance.

In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.

On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light.

-Elizabeth Alexander

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Obama's First Official Act

From The White House Blog

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 20, 2009, a National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation, and call upon all of our citizens to serve one another and the common purpose of remaking this Nation for our new century.

...and call upon all of our citizens to serve one another and the common purpose of remaking this Nation for our new century.

Yes We Can!

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Change Has Come To America

...and there's a new website.

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Obama's Inaugural Address

From ABC News

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many.

They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn. Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.

To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages.

We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

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Inauguration Live Blog

Over a million people chanting Obama! Obama! ...

Wow...

Hey! It's DiFi. California Represent!...

F Rick Warren...

God Bless America! Sing it Aretha!...

Biden is the VP..."That's quite a Bible!"...

Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman...I've seen both live...dig it...

Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America...Change is in the Air!...Yes We Can!...

The 44th President is speaking...

Wow...Just wow!...I'll post a transcript later...

and the crowd chants "Yes We Can!"...

Poet Elizabeth Alexander...Praise Song For The Day...

Benediction from Rev. Josephy Lowery...Yes We Can work together to achieve a more perfect union...Amen!

Star Spangled Banner...

The bottle of champagne has been cracked...Cheers!

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Yes We Can!

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Watch the Inauguration Online

From CNN.com

• Our sister site CBS News will have day-long live coverage January 20 on TV and the Web, starting at 7 a.m. EDT. Katie Couric will also host a special Webcast that night with reporters and punditry, for which viewers can submit questions.

• CBS streaming coverage will also be Webcast on Joost's Everything Obama page, which also features interviews, campaign highlights, and satire clips.

• MSNBC will be live streaming the event on its home page and politics section, and visitors can embed the video into their own sites. Its inauguration page also features videos of inaugurations from decades past.

• Fox News will provide live streaming coverage via Hulu beginning at noon for about two hours. After the live stream, Hulu will provide on-demand access to the ceremony. The live stream is embeddable, as is an inauguration countdown from Hulu. The video site's Obama Presidency page also features related content like speeches, commentary, satire, and past inaugural speeches.

• C-SPAN will debut its Inauguration Hub on January 20, featuring an online "control room"--a multichannel grid designed by Mogulus with Webcasts of inauguration activities. Visitors will be able to choose from one of four live feeds featuring events like the swearing in at the Capitol, the parade, and a number of inaugural balls.

• CNN is partnering with Facebook to provide live streaming of the swearing in and Obama's speech. Viewers can "RSVP" for the event on Facebook, and as they watch, they will be able to provide status updates with their thoughts on the events. A Facebook window on the CNN.com Live channel will show viewers their friends' relevant status updates.

• Current TV and Twitter are teaming up, as they did during the election, to add real-time tweets to Current's broadcast and Webcast of the swearing in, which starts at 11:30 a.m. EDT and will be replayed throughout the day.

• The New York Times, the AP's online video network, and the Online NewsHour will also live stream inauguration coverage.

For those of you stuck at work on this historic day.

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Dems Look For Fed UnEmployement Aid

From La Prensa

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) and Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) announced the fast-tracking of legislation that would make California eligible for up to $900 million in federal unemployment insurance incentives and would allow Californians to bring in more part-time income while they are receiving unemployment insurance benefits and looking for permanent full-time work.

How much federal cash or we going to get screwed out of when we can't pass a budget and offer matching funds? We'll take the $900 million, but if this budget thing doesn't get fixed quick...There may be a whole lot more unemployed to be taking care of.

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