Teaching Global Warming in Our Schools?

Gasp, NO. Why would we teach about global warming in actual schools, where kids are suppose to learn things?

A bill requiring global warming to be taught in science classes and textbooks passed the state Senate by a vote of 26-13.

Of course, some legislators are concerned about the "controversial" topic.

I, for one, am tired of the use of the word 'controversial' to mean people disagree. Journalists overuse it. Not everything's controversial, especially not to actual people. Are you shocked and appalled? Because I'm usually not.

The "debate" over global warming is no longer controversial in any real sense. The globe IS warming. End of debate.

We can keep commissioning studies while entire island populations have to be relocated and continue to "debate" this "controversial" topic while our own cities flood. Because, you know, it isn't proven that cigarettes cause cancer either, so we should probably keep smoking while we talk about it some more.

In Lovely Glenn County

A Sheriff's deputy shot a man with a Taser for riding his bike at night without proper lights.

After being checked out at a hospital, Rivera was held in the county jail on suspicion of resisting arrest, riding a bicycle without proper lighting, riding under the influence of alcohol and using false citizenship government documents.

The sheriff's spokesman said the deputy's decision to use the Taser was proper.

I'm so glad the police are looking out for our safety.

There's jerky and then there's jerky

Everyone agrees that former Pro Temp Burton could yell, swear, and abuse staff with the best of 'em. But sexual harassment? Most people say no way. The attorney for the woman who's filed a lawsuit against the California political legend says she's had tons of women call to offer support and money toward the cause and that Capitol commentary defending Burton comes from fear of repraisal, not truth.

I heard plenty of his, er, salty language and saw the fuming from time to time, but I never heard anything of the sort he's being accused of. Doesn't seem right.

This computer takes better vacations than I do

Whoopsie:

A laptop computer containing psychological screenings of 441 applicants for California peace officer jobs was stolen in Mexico this month, State Personnel Board officials said Wednesday. . . . .

The computer was stolen Jan. 11 while the psychologist, whom Evans declined to name, was vacationing in Mexico. She said the psychologist was apparently unaware of a recent state requirement that all state information stored in a private computer be encrypted so as to be unreadable without a special code.

A state requirement? How about a professional requirement? Do her other clients know she takes their problems on vacation? Ugh. Man, those must be some uncomfortable conversations. Bummer!

Obamollywood

From Surf Putah, a link to a fabulous YouTube clip bringing together what we love best about Obama and Bollywood films.

You won't be able to resist liking it. You may not get it. But you'll like it.

Two burning questions

According to Chris Matthews, the two questions Americans want the President to answer tonight during his final [insert Snoopy dance here] State of the Union address are:

1.) When do we get our checks?

and

2.) When will the war end?

I can't help but think that he's set us up to ask questions 1 so that we don't notice that question 2 still lingers.

Are we Still Talking about that?

The Daily Democrat reports on 4 stories that are still with us in this new year.

Like the gang injunction. I mean, puh-lease, why are we still dealing with that, gangs are so last year.

The gang injunction is an interesting plan and it has alot of potential to actually work really well in West Sac to stop some of the problems there, but of course people are throwing around all kind of accusations.

Opposition members charge the mayor of West Sacramento, Christopher Cabaldon, of trying to uproot the neighborhood's minority population to make room for more big-box stores in his never-ending quest to gentrify the city.

Right, because this couldn't be about actually stopping gang violence. No, it obviously a conspiracy. I'm sure Best Buy's in on it too.

Propositioned

Ah, term limits. I hate them. A lot. For every waste-of-space legislator removed by operation of law we lose a really good one. Bye, Mr. Burton. Bye, Mr. Keeley. Have term limits given access to more women? Yes. To more people of color? Yes.

Would we have reached that point eventually? Yes.

Have we already run out of women and people of color to promote to state service? Kinda. But that's another post.

In a week or so, we'll have another chance to undo - er - redo the evil, democracy-robbing beast that is term limits.

Naturally, I'll be voting against it. Yesss, I said against. Hey, I hate term limits, but this change reduces the total amount of time people can serve in either house and doesn't really fix the broader issue. We'll still have limits even if it passes. You know what term limit I support?

The one where I get to vote the bastards out, thankyouverymuch.

The Bee has an interesting piece on what happens to legislative leadership if Prop 93 does or does not pass:

Potential successors to Núñez and Perata already are quietly lining up support in case Proposition 93 fails.

Among Senate Democrats, Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento has emerged as the front-runner over Alex Padilla of Los Angeles to become the next leader.

Assembly Democrats are expected to choose from among Karen Bass, Kevin de León and Mike Feuer of Los Angeles, Hector De La Torre of South Gate, Fiona Ma of San Francisco, Alberto Torrico of Newark, Chuck Calderon of Whittier and Ted Lieu of Torrance.

Ooh, that Senate race is tough. Darrell Steinberg is beloved by many for his fairness, integrity, smarts, and savvy. And Alex Padilla is hot and from Los Angeles - oh, and politically savvy, accomplished, and young. And hot. On the Assembly side, Karen Bass would continue a geographic and network dynasty of Assembly leadership. The others are all young and up-and-coming. Fiona Ma is great, so is Ted Lieu. Oh, there's a Calderon, but let's just skip past him. There's always a Calderon around.

So who really would be next? And would any of them be in the running later if 93 passes? It's too late for me to do the math . . . .

GOTOV

A group of local youngsters walked to Get Out The Older Vote this weekend in several Sacramento neighborhoods this weekend, trying to get registered voters who skipped the last election to get out on February 5. Researchers are going to see if the direct contact gets these people out - they want to determine what is the most effective way to reach voters.

All my training and experience says direct contact is the most effective method, with direct mail coming in second. Right? Have I been out of the game too long?

Donald Green, a political science professor at Yale, says more human contact generally yields better results. Personal phone calls trump messages left by a machine, he said. And face-to-face interaction may be best of all.

Around 9 a.m. Saturday, about 35 students wearing brown "Sac Votes" T-shirts crowded into a Luther Burbank High classroom to practice greeting prospective voters.

"Don't knock on the door like you're bothering them," suggested Cedric Sydnor, Burbank's junior varsity girls' basketball coach. "Knock on the door like, 'I have something to give you.' "

That almost sounds ominous.

KJ Mayor

Kevin Johnson may be running for Mayor of Sacramento.

That's right KJ may run in the June election.

I met him once. And based on that 30 second interactions, I say he'd do a fine job.

Pick Flick

Slate has an amusing take on the Clinton/Obama match up:



If you recall the underlying narrative tension in Election you recall that the Obama analog was a nice enough guy, but Flick really was getting a bum rap at the hands of our someone bent narrator. Who's the Matthew Broderick in the 2008 cycle?

Does this mailer make me look fat?

From our "doh" files: a congressional candidate is getting grief for a doctored campaign mailer that depicts his head on a more svelte body. If you click the link you can see the slim candidate and the candidate shown actual size. Frankly, I can't really see much of a difference. A dude in a suit is a dude in a suit and if his face stays slim enough to match a smaller body, hey, more power to him - lord knows this fish's fat gills couldn't pull it off.

I'm sure he only did it because of the pressure applied on today's candidates in candidate fashion magazines. Those poor candidates - impossible standards . . . .

Prepared for the Worse?

Ironically, the Vallejo school district's past poor financial health has local officials feeling more confident about weathering the state's budget storm.

Since, you know, managing your finances so badly you lose millions of dollars is good experience for not having alot of money.

"We've gone through levels of devastation," Grant-Dawson said. "We've gone through a tornado, a hurricane and a flood. Because of that we're better prepared."

Did you guys see that?

Here I am, trying to enjoy Celebrity Apprentice (maybe with enough wine I can make it be 30 Rock in my mind. It still has a Baldwin, after all) and what to my wondering eye should appear?

A presidential campaign ad!

In a California market! In our market! Right here! It's almost like we're . . . dare I say . . . relevant? Could it be?

I suddenly feel so . . . enfranchised.

It was a Hillary Clinton ad, by the way. In my shock at seeing a campaign ad, I failed to pay any attention to the ad's message, but at least I retained the name of the candidate. So, good job, Mrs. Clinton. And thanks, Iowa and New Hampshire, for disagreeing.

Bill Clinton in Davis?

Ah, primary season, that wonderful time of year. And now that our primary matters, maybe we can pull a New Hampshire and insist on personally meeting every candidate.

Though I will accept Bill Clinton as a substitute.

The ex-Pres was at UC Davis and, yes, he's supporting the Sodexho workers

Which industry and best how?

'Cause I could apply some pretty heavy snark to that statement, if I wanted to:

The White House has acknowledged recycling its backup computer tapes of e-mail before October 2003, raising the possibility that many electronic messages — including those pertaining to the CIA leak case — have been taped over and are gone forever.

The disclosure came minutes before midnight Tuesday under a court-ordered deadline that forced the White House to reveal information it has previously refused to provide.

Among the e-mails that could be lost are messages swapped by any White House officials involved in discussions about leaking the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame.

Before October 2003, the White House recycled its backup tapes "consistent with industry best practices," according to a sworn statement by a White House aide.

And Speaking Of Water Stuff

I know we've just met and it might be too soon to reveal intimate personal details, but, I trust you guys. Let's share a bit about ourselves, eh?

I love the word Klamath. I don't understand all of the controversy surrounding the management and restoration of the Klamath River, but I will always gladly read about it because I love fish, duh, and I love the word Klamath. I'm glad I shared that.

Anyway - there's a new deal in the works. Good things: more salmon. Bad things: the fish killing dams stay. No! I blame the Oregonians. They hate fish.

A Great Neighborhood for Fish

I don't think it takes a degree in geology to conclude that the land in Natomas is really smooth and flat for a reason. Like, thousands of years of flooding washing the slate clean on a regular basis.

No worries, we have levees now, keeping all that excess housing inventory straight. Don't get me wrong, I'm no Na-to hater. Not by a long shot. I may not live there, but I appreciate the services offered there and its proximity to downtown. Seriously, it's not so bad.

But, wisely, there might not be more Natomas for awhile:

A building moratorium is likely for Sacramento's fast-growing Natomas basin after federal flood-control officials said Tuesday they will designate the area as having a high risk of devastating flood damage because of inadequate river levees.

Next December, when the new federal flood hazard mapping is finalized, any new building - or substantial reconstruction of an existing building - would have to leave the structure as much as 20 feet above ground, high enough to avoid the most damaging of flood waters. But the cost of building that high up will result in practically banning new construction in Natomas, officials said.

The proposed designation also will require holders of federally backed mortgages to buy flood insurance in December. However, officials today recommended that property owners buy that insurance right away.

It'd be great if, unlike some Southern California communities, Sacramento took the initiative to halt construction in the face of probably natural disaster. Did you see those photos of the Nevada towns drowning in flood waters - and then ice?

Flood insurance is smart! Smart building is smart!

Maybe Natomas's motto can be: "Natomas: We're Not Malibu. In A Good Way!"

(By the way, someone once told me that West Sac levees are six feet higher - or something like that (a less lazy fish would google up the confirmation for that factoid - I am not that fish). So there's a point in its favor. But no SMUD coverage. Oooh, the choices . . . .)

Did Paris Hilton's ordeal teach you nothing?

It seems there were more drunk driving arrests than usual this holiday season.

There were 39 DUI arrests made in Yolo County from Dec. 14 to Jan. 2, representing a more than 300 percent increase from 13 DUI arrests in 2006 during same time period.

The sharp rise in holiday arrests mirror a general increase annual DUIs which are up 11 percent countywide from 2003...

Seriously? Didn't you learn anything from those classes? Or TV?

Where Did the Money Go?

The Governator proposed his budget this morning.

I don't suppose it surprised anyone that there's not much money. From my memory of Consumer Education back in high school, that's what happens when you spend money and you don't make any.

He wants to cut school funding, release 'low-risk' prisoners and close parks.

The proposal immediately triggered howls of protest from lawmakers across the political spectrum and among some of the most powerful interest groups in the Capitol. The governor said he hopes to start a debate among Californians about what services they want from state government and how to pay for them.

Or maybe he's just trying to propose something so horrible, people will beg him to raise taxes....Naw.

See what parks are closing. There goes Sutter's Fort, and the less acknowledged State Indian Museum.

Who's the Mayor?

I hope everyone's homes are still intact and now that we have power again....

The old Mayor is suing the new Mayor or something like that.

In Vallejo,where Cloutier won the machine count by 5 votes and then lost the manual recount by 2 votes, Cloutier is now suing to be reinstated as Mayor.

If the court does not reinstate him as mayor, Cloutier said an alternative solution would be a special mayoral election in June or November, open to all comers. Cloutier said he is not seeking another recount.

And what is Vallejo suppose to do until this special election? I guess they don't need a Mayor that much.

It's Raining Outside

In case you haven't look out your window yet, we're in the middle of a storm.

66mph winds were reported at Sacramento airport and 105,000 people have lost power. Not to mention the trees that were falling down when I tried to get to work.

"If you don't have to go out this weekend, it might be a nice weekend to stay at home after the holidays," said Frank McCarton, chief deputy director of the state Office of Emergency Services.

Assuming you have heat, of course. And leftovers.

Happy New Year

Here are the Davis Vanguard's Top 10 Stories of 2007.

What is with all these people picking boring stories? Didn't they hear about Paris Hilton and Britney Spears?