The Weimarian

When the Donald Hits the Phone

2016-04-22T18:21:00.001-07:00

Imagine my surprise when "Donald J Trump" flashed across my landline phone display while it rang. Of course I had some idea as to what would happen next so it was no surprise to hear a recorded message. Robo-Donald wanted me warn me that I wouldn’t be able to support him in the California primary. A web address was given to obtain instructions so that I might vote for the Donald.

I know what the instructions will be because I make it my business to know such things and because my local registrar’s office has been sending cards and letters on the subject of Independents getting the most from California's contorted process since March. Sorry Robo-Donald but I belonged to a political party for thirty years before I outgrew them like I did plastic firearms and miniature trucks. I am not only an independent voter but I am proud to be one. I wear my No Party Preference status like a badge of common sense in a political world where inmates have been allowed to run the asylum for far too long. Even when I belonged to a party I was an independent voter that gave volunteer work and donations to campaigns for members of both the major parties. If I learned anything from the experience it is that too many Americans never grew out of high school and view election season like it was spirit week.

I might have considered Robo-Donald’s request if election reform was a major plank in his campaign. It would be a sign of mature analytical thinking. Until I see that from a candidate I will continue on as an independent because to be anything else would make me more a part of the problem than the solution.

This primary season California will get a taste of what battle ground states endure every election year. Unfortunately when the general election arrives we will return to our role as a true blue state to be ignored as anything but an ATM for two candidates that couldn’t care less about us. If we feel used when it is over it is because we have been but at least the Robo-calls and TV ads will end on June 7th.

Weimarian News for April 1rst 2016

2016-03-31T11:37:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately Sundance the cat is no longer with us however he did work on his third and final April 1rst edition of The Weimarian before passing. Most of this information could not be verified for a multitude of reasons including but not limited to the language barrier between feline and human. His hard investigative work should however give a cat’s eye view on the 2016 political landscape. We cannot really consider this news but a feline reporter is still probably more accurate than most what your friends share on social media.

Voters for Dignity is active once again. Government institutions were reported to have started issuing bottled water to all elected officials and their staff to avoid the truth dumps from last April brought on by a drug in the water supply so VD stepped up their efforts for political honesty. What had once been thought of as brain food for the tin foil hat crowd known as contrails turned out to be none other than VD operatives spraying and airborne version of their truth drug. An anonymous communique said that they planned to spread VD across the country. This has caused confusion with staffers that spent time outside making announcements that staffers stuck indoors must quickly disavow.

Anonymous sources inside VD say that all social media sights have blocked their new app that eliminates any political share that proves to be inaccurate, bigoted or just plain foolish. It turns out that there were too many users that thought their social media feeds had quit working because of the lack on anything political on the system. When asked, progressive bloggers felt the software did not work correctly because for their audience one can insult Caucasians, Christians and males without it being considered bigotry. Conservative bloggers tended to respond in one syllable four letter words not used on The Weimarian.

Several unnamed unverified staffers of the Bernie Sanders campaign now define anyone that uses the slogan "Feel the Bern" more than three times as a Bern Out. The new designation came after several fervent Sanders supporters spontaneously combusted while watching the candidate speak. Other Bern Outs actually tried to feel the Bern physically and could have been charged with elder abuse. The Senator was said not to have pressed charges but instead given them press passes and sent them to a Trump rally.

When asked what she should be called when she won the presidency she replied "a simple Your Highness will do. First spouse Bill Clinton will be given an ambassadorship to Cuba because of its tightly controlled media and his affection for cigars.

Donald Trump has announced that he will no longer give interviews to any news agency other than Kid News USA. He wants an audience that understands the concept of "he did it first" and those over nine just don't get it. Trump supporters have also been rumored to have been issued brown shirts. We can find no validity to the rumor that the next rally is to be called Trumps Night of the Long Knives.

Ted Cruz has adopted a new slogan inspired by the endorsement of Lindsey Graham from now on the campaign slogan will be "Yes, my party has gone bat shit crazy".

What the Kasich campaign is doing nobody seems to know but the words "tread water" come up often.

Several experts in the field of politics have done a careful analysis of campaigns and came to the conclusion that the Sanders and Trump campaigns has surprisingly similar messages. In a nutshell they both say that everyone can have dessert for every meal without getting fat, no one has to eat their veggies and they will get someone else to pay for it.

Stories left unfinished by our cat reporter planned to follow up on were internet chatter that CNN has change its name to the Clinton Nomination Network and the Democratic National Committee change their to Democrats Nominating Clinton. We thought about finishing this work but after watching election news coverage for the last few months felt there was no sense in following things that appear obvious.

Once again if we have to say April Fool you just ain’t payin attention. Drink coffee, repeat then read again.

Auburn Storytelling Event

2016-01-25T17:06:00.000-08:00

The Foothill Storytellers Guild is putting on a Winter Storytelling event. It is an all day event with many activities. Admission is free however donations would be greatly appreciated.

Here is a link to the Guild's website for more information. Foothill Storytellers Guild

Here is a link to the Auburn Journal's announcement of the event. Tell Me a Story

I have seen some of the featured tellers and they are impressive for sure.

Time to move

2016-01-18T17:19:00.000-08:00

I have decided not to renew the domain name that this blog has used for years. I will keep the blog up by allowing it to revert back to: weimarian.blogspot.com for those interested in seeing anything new that might be posted.

Apologies for any inconvenience that this might cause.

All Trumped Up

2015-07-20T21:06:00.001-07:00

Last week I noticed a pop culture event called Trump Your Cat. Pop culture is something that this country boy usually avoids but this sounded fun. As usual Sundance and I disagreed on the definition of fun. His defined as using my hand for a chew toy and my arm for a scratching post. I was however able to get a couple of pics before he ran over to a bag of cat treats demanding modeling fees.

It just wasn't enough. I was a blogger possessed. So I Trumped cat statues left over from the 60's

Then there was the hubbub about John McCain's military service and with it came such clarity of thought that it might have been divine.

Weimarian News for April 1rst 2015

2015-04-01T09:35:00.000-07:00

Well Sundance the cat is at it again. I told him that once was enough but something about a twenty pound cat with an attitude sitting on your chest at five in the morning convinced me to publish Sundance’s April 1rst news post again. I am not sure where he gets his material since he cannot read or write but he has been hogging the remote watching cable news channels lately.   He also seems to be listening intently to my friends and neighbors telling me about what they have read on political blogs. If those are his sources I would advise a bit of healthy skepticism.

Federal:

Domestic terrorists slipped truth serum into the capital water supply. A small riot developed on the House floor with all members trying to be the first in announcing that getting their party on top is more important that taking care of the country. As speakers took the floor “We serve big donors and special interests, the middle class are just a tool to serve that purpose” was frequently heard. There were also many references to low voter turnout and apathy being validation to their true cause. A communique by Voters for Dignity said “The joke is on them, truth is addictive and they may end up having to use it more often than they want to from now on.   VD plans on spreading throughout the entire US political system.”

The Red State Farm Caucus unanimously decided to switch from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party. They all felt that saying they were for fiscal responsibility while supporting farm subsidies was hypocritical. While one staffer sipped a Perrier he commented that “There seems to be something in the water around here. I have no idea what caused this but I am not looking forward to the 2016 campaign season.” Their name will change to the Big Government Handout Caucus.

State:

California Jerry Brown was said to have privately admitted that most of what he takes credit for in his state’s turn around could have been accomplished years earlier were it not for an overly zealous group of Democratic partisans in the state legislature. The gevernor was heard saying things like “They just didn’t like poor Arnie.” over and over.

Civil Engineers were able to convince California’s Governor Jerry Brown that more carbon is created by cars moving east/ west in California than north/ south. He has instructed the Brown Streak Rail Authority to build the feeders first because reducing carbon is more important that his ego’s need for a state with infrastructure project.

Former President Pro Tem of the California State Senate admitted that having ten percent of the California State Senate either under indictment or convicted of a felony in 2014 constituted a corrupt state government.

Local:

Placer County wineries plan on approaching the Board of Supervisors requesting that wineries of five acres or more be allowed to build recreational facilities such as roller coasters, water slides, shooting ranges, auto racing and fireworks displays. Sales of sound proof insulation, ear plugs and kitchen remodels soar while outdoor furniture and outdoor cooking equipment drop sharply. One member was quoted as saying "We want our customers to have a pleasant rural experience. If our neighbors want a pleasant rural experience we suggest that they become customers."

Local interest groups will combine their efforts to stop solar energy farms, wind farms, nearby shopping and hydro electric generation. The new organization will be called Nimby’s Against Gobal warming or NAG for short. Their first order of business will be lobby state government to apply carbon fees to everything including unemployment benefits. Their spokesman Ludd Ite made the announcement while standing at a podium made in Indiana, using a mic made in China and later munched on refreshments that were all grown or prepared in Texas. ”Director of Communications Nathan Nimby proclaimed We plan to shutdown any new clean power infrastructure while preaching the gospel of global climate change at the top of our lungs. “

The City of Auburn will consider litigation against Placer County once again. This time they felt that the County violated CEQA regulations when the allowed the use of portable toilets at a weekend event in Tahoe City. When asked why they were so concerned about something that happened so far away undisclosed members of the council said “what the heck, we just like sticking them for lawyers fees”.

Well that is the news from Sundance the cat. While I am not so sure about this as a tradition Sundance has already started working on his 2016 journalistic endeavor. With all of the clowns that are thinking about entering the presidential race. The 2016 spring primary season should be a circus worthy of his effort.

Upcoming events at the Weimar Institute

2014-11-17T10:29:00.000-08:00

A couple of neighbors from the Weimar Institute dropped by to pass out handouts for upcoming events. Check out the scans to see what is happening. You can click on them for a larger view.

Just a few

2014-11-14T11:09:00.002-08:00

Just a bit of interesting reading for the weekend.

Granite Bay firm in Bloomberg.

Bloomberg
House Committee Chairman Helps Company Linked to His Son

Matt Taibbi is back with Rolling Stone an blowing the whistle on....
Rolling Stone
The $9 Billion Witness: Meet JPMorgan Chase's Worst Nightmare

By comparison Nixon looks pretty good.

Pew
Public Trust in Government: 1958-2014

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

IVN
America is Not a Two-Party State… It Is a Single-Party State

I suggest early retirement followed by a twelve step program.

Esquire
Help, We're in a Living Hell and Don't Know How to Get Out

Is it really any wonder why there is voter apathy in this country?

Time to vote

2014-11-04T11:02:00.003-08:00

I guess this is a day where all good bloggers should urge people to get out and vote. A noble topic and one that I have written about many times in the past, however media types have been pushing the point for years and voter participation keeps going down. Once again California is projecting low turnouts. Maybe it is time for new ideas so I have come up with a few suggestions.

Instead of the sticker saying I voted they should give each voter a digital license to a copyrighted logo and merchandise the process. You could use the logo on coffee mugs, t-shirts, blogs, social media even temporary tattoos. The logo should have the month and year incorporated so that we all know when the point of last voter participation was. From then on we can shun the political opinion of anyone that cannot validate their participation. Essentially they had their chance to express an opinion at the ballot box when it mattered and should not bore the rest of us with it until they do.

Another approach would be a series of ballot initiatives. The first initiative would be that ballot initiatives can be put on any available ballot. Once that is done we can use initiatives to get people involved. Youth voter participation has always been a problem so we can try an initiative that would raise the drinking age to twenty five. I am sure that it would bring them out in droves. In almost all demographics a one dollar per cup tax on prepared coffee proposal should increase turnout but to make sure that it gets shutdown we should try for two dollars a cup. Being a coffeeholic I don’t want to get too extreme and actually get something like that passed. An initiative to tax television viewing would certainly get more participation than something dull like jobs or healthcare.

The creation of Ballot Bars might help. One could vote and get a free beer or glass of wine instead of a sticker. In some states maybe even a puff off of the old pipe. Let’s face it when you look at our track record on election picks it is arguable that this might be going on informally already. It is hard to believe that sober individuals actually elected this sorry group in congress.

Another possible solution is that we should just wait. The US Congress already has approval ratings suggesting that only their friends and family feel they are doing a passable job. When the inevitable happens and they lose those supporters as well maybe just maybe we will get some real voter participation.

Oh yeah, time to get my blogger ticket punched. Get out and vote.

Scared Stupid

2014-10-31T14:48:00.000-07:00

California is about 69% vote by mail with a few counties being 100% vote by mail. Our ballots arrived last week so the only thing keeping us from voting is sitting down to fill out the forms. Those that earn their living by promoting innuendo, half truths, lies and damn lies are very much aware of the election calendar. This means that October is when average folks are forced to lay tarps across the living room floor to keep the slime from dripping out of their televisions and on to the carpets. Seriously it isn't my district but after watching Bera and Ose go at it on TV I can't see why anyone would vote for either of them. My negative view is not based on the points made by either candidate but the intellectual insult perpetrated by both campaigns.

Being an Independent that rarely donates cash to political campaigns I receive far less stinky stuff in the mailbox but my more generous and partisan friends have kept me up to speed. On the left the Boogie Persons of choice has been either the Koch's or the Tea Party. On the right the Boogie Persons are President Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi. One can only assume that they think the electorate can be scared into stupidity. My advice is to keep you money in pocket unless you are donating to a specific candidate that you really think should be in office. Trust me, none Boogie people mentioned are going to sneak in and eat your children while you sleep. It is just politics as usual. Besides we made it through eight years of Bush proving that one person cannot wreck the country in the next two year no matter how had they appear to try.

Things are far worse with social media like Facebook where about 80% of anything I see would not stand up to a ten second fact check. Just because we are alarmed about something we read on i-dont-bother-to-check-facts.com doesn't mean that we should hit the share button without checking it out. Well unless of course we intend to turn the internet into a giant organic garden by spreading manure around for fertilizer. Unfortunately that is what most of our Facebook friends do and they do it often enough to make me wonder if I should start watering my laptop and get ready for harvest.

Now for you compulsive fact checkers out there don't think that you will earn your friends respect by pointing out that their post is factually incorrect. It just serves to make them mad. Science has found out that when one challenges a persons belief system with facts a believer just digs in deeper. You may think that you should get an award but more than likely you will be chastised or unfriended for your effort. Better to just watch and see which ones are not bright enough to hire, lend money to or believe any other thing that they post in the future. Lets face it if our friends don't know that politicians and pundits are lying to them we should probably take all of their council with a bit of sodium chloride.

Much of the negativity in political ads is there just to disgust voters to the point where they don't bother to vote. This is a favorite tactic of partisan hacks because it actually helps when only the most loyal and brainwashed participate in the process. Don't fall for it. Negative campaigning should make us all the more aware of how flawed our current system is. It should motivate us to turn out and take our disgust out on those that use these tactics.

There is one bright spot about election year Octobers. It means that the first Tuesday in November is just around the corner and you will have two more years before they try to make you Scared Stupid again. Boo!

Open Letter to my friends in Oregon on Measure 90

2014-10-23T10:06:00.002-07:00

In California we have enjoyed a top two open primary system since 2010. We have had a couple of election cycles to kick the tires and while there was plenty of consternation about a new system nothing earth shaking has come to pass. The effects while subtle build the potential for long lasting and positive effect.

The old partisan system rested as much power as possible in as few hands as possible while giving an illusion of real democracy. In reality very few people controlled the money and the access to resources needed to run. Partisan power brokers could tell potential upstart candidates that if they ran they would never get financing or support from traditional sources ever. Someone that ran as an outsider had to have enough money of their own to at least kick off the campaign and see if they could attract nontraditional cash. To upset a system controlled by a very few one had to be part of an even smaller group, the very rich. Toss-up districts were almost non-existent and upset races even more rare. Since the outcomes were predictable the monetary flow was also predicable. It was what one might see as great for the business of politics. It was however a nightmare for governance.

During the 2012 primary here in the First Assembly district we had two Republicans and one Democrat to choose from. As an Independent I had my choice from all three as did anyone else without regard to their party of registration. I didn’t make my choice based on ideology but on a combination of electability and things that I read from good source about one candidate that caused me some concern. I tend strongly toward the conservative but being more interested in problem solving not much of an ideologue. After the election I found that my friends that strongly lean to the left made the same decision and for the exact same reasons. As a district we found a candidate that we felt would represent most of the districts constituents. That is Top Two’s strength: the system has a bias toward consensus as opposed to partisanship.

A battle between someone that is sure to win and someone that is sure to lose isn’t an election, it is a rigged system and that is what our old partisan Primary system was. Between gerrymandering and the partisan primary for most of our districts it was almost a waste of money to go through the election exercise. It is no wonder that California has had a declining turnout for a very long time. Those that say recent low turnouts were due to the top two are conveniently ignoring that it is just another step in a long trend of declining turnout going back much further than our new choice of primary systems.

Minor parties are doing as well as they ever have. The Top Two Primary only restricts them from losing two elections instead of just one. They have as much winning as anyone. The candidate that wins just has to prove that they will represent more voters than just one other and they move on to November. It is a very simple test.

One should not worry that Measure 90 will make Oregon more like California. Measure 90 passing should make Oregon more like Oregon because more of Oregon’s citizens can participate in the process. Based on how things went where I live, I can with confidence recommend that my friends in Oregon vote yes on Measure 90.

The Loma Prieta; Part Two

2014-10-20T08:00:00.001-07:00

While local officials were telling everyone to stay home my fellow techs and I were being paged to let us know that the next day we would start twelve hour shifts. When computers run emergency services and hospitals those that repair them are considered emergency responders. The boxes that this company built had a well deserved reputation for reliability and it turned out to be the dullest duty that I ever pulled. There were however a few interesting memories.

We had an office in San Francisco’s financial district. San Francisco would not allow the buildings to be occupied until checked out by the building department. A few of our people were in the building before that announcement and loaded two vans with parts, rented a hotel room in South San Francisco and used that for an office. They did not have near as much as they needed so we became San Francisco’s stockroom.

The Bay Bridge was missing a section so parts were being hauled all the way down to the San Mateo Bridge and up the peninsula to customer sites in San Francisco. It took half a day to get done. When asked me to run four cases of parts to San Francisco, I grabbed my pal Henry and said “this is dumb Bart is still running you grab two cases I will grab two and we can do it in an hour. Henry was not warm to the idea but after a few digs about his lack of courage he agreed.

Our Alameda office was a few miles from the Coliseum Bart Station and the customer site was on top of the Market Street station. About half way under the bay the train just stopped and the lights went out leaving us in pitch black and under water, oops. Henry had a tiny keychain flashlight and when he turned it on the look on his face was far from pleased. In fact if looks could kill I would have been listed as a casualty of the quake. There were about ten of us on that car and everyone was scared. In fact the lady sitting in front of me went into a complete and frenzied panic she flailed about so wildly that a couple of people held her down to keep her from hurting herself. After a few minutes the lights came back on and after a few more the train began moving. It happened a few times on that trip but for such a short duration that we had no time to be frightened over it. Needless to say there would be no more talk of moving parts via mass transit after that.

IA fed days later was paged to service a software company down the street in Alameda. The customer had a normal problem unrelated to the quake but did need a mundane repair. They had interesting landscaping coming up to the door. It was a strip of grass about thirty feet long and four feet wide surrounded by brick trimmed concrete walkways. The grass was all torn up at the end nearest the building. The repair was an easy fix and I chatted with the system manager while the system came back up. He said that he had started out the door to his motorcycle and realized that he forgot something when he turned toward the building the shaking started. He noticed a lump about the size of a small dog at the end of the grass furthest from the building. After a few seconds it ran the thirty feet length looking like an animal under a blanket. When it got to the far end water and sand explode and a piece of brick work broke off. It was quite a lesson in liquefaction. He handed me the piece of brick and with his permission I took it back to our office. I gave it to my boss as a paperweight and memento of her first earthquake. No matter where you went or who you talked to there was a story.

The Loma Prieta...as I recall

2014-10-17T18:39:00.000-07:00

As I write this it was twenty-five years ago that we experienced the Loma Prieta earthquake. I was a tech for a computer company. It was a busy but otherwise uneventful work day. Our office was a new building on the south side of Alameda. Several of us were turning in old parts and picking up new ones in preparation for the next day. It could have been any other day. I was last in a rather loosely formed line at the parts counter. I needed a suitcase full of parts for an appointment at 08:00 the next day.

Jerry was a long time friend, smart as a whip and first in line at the parts counter. He did his parts work and set off to pick up his wife at her office in Oakland. His commute was well scripted, pick up the wife get on the Cypress take it to I-80 and finally home.

Next in line was Claire; a hard working single mom and just about as nice a person as one might ever meet. Unfortunately for Claire her pager went off. In our business a page that near quitting time usually meant you were working late. Sure enough Claire had to grab some parts, jump in her van and get to Berkeley pronto. While she got ready we talked about what traffic she might hit on 880 going through Oakland and what effect the World Series might have on the commute.

Once my friends were out of there I took care of my business and decided that since I skipped lunch I would grab a candy bar to eat on the way home. I lugged the heavy kit case over to the break room vending machines. Behind me at the vending machine was Arlene, a recent immigrant from Washington DC. Arlene was tough as nails and a lot of fun to be around. I got a Baby Ruth said “see ya” to Arlene and headed for the door when the building started shaking. Having lived in California for all but two years of my life I didn’t think that it was a big deal. I literally set the kit case in the break room doorway, opened the Baby Ruth and started eating it. I looked across a large room full of cubicles to see my boss stick her head out of her office door and realized that she had only moved to California from New Jersey and was not yet earthquake tested. I stood up, waved her back into her office and yelled for her to get under the desk. She wouldn’t have got five feet in those heels with all of that shaking. It did feel strange shouting orders at my new boss. As went to sit down I realized that Arlene was still in front of the candy machine trying to get her balance. It was 1989 and heels were still standard office attire. My mind flashed to something that I heard on the radio about all of the vending machines on military bases being bolted to the floor because the young soldiers would shake them to get free stuff and the near one ton machines had fallen on a few of them. I ran over and guided Arlene a few feet to my suitcase chair. It seemed like it went on a long time long time but the shaking only lasted about 15 seconds.

First I called the wife; all the circuits were busy. Everyone around me seemed okay and in truth this new earthquake safe building made me feel like this was nothing to worry about. On the way home I found just how wrong that I was. Not one traffic signal worked and no radio station would stay online for more than a few seconds. It took over an hour to drive the eleven miles home. At home it was obvious that this was a big deal because everyone on the block was outside talking. It was how our block handled all big events, talk and drink beer in front of Buds house He always had a fridge full of beer in the garage. He also had a small battery powered TV and as I saw the coverage on the Cypress structure my heart sank, I had friends on that structure and at that time. With no phones working I could not check on them and if I paged them they probably could not call back. It was a very long night.

Jerry picked up his wife got on 880 and when the freeway started to shake everyone went for their brakes. Jerry thought it was a traffic jam and was right next to an off ramp. He got off the freeway as soon as the brake lights lit up and took the back roads home. It was his standard commute plan B and this time it really worked for him.

Claire was on the freeway when the shaking started, she thought she was getting a flat tire. When she looked in the mirror to move over to the right all she could see behind her was a huge dust cloud. A couple of minutes earlier would have made a very big difference.

There are more stories about the weeks that followed but this post is long enough already. Just remember everything you know can change in a few minutes or even as little as fifteen seconds.

Applegate Fire

2014-10-09T18:56:00.000-07:00

We rural folk tend to distrust outsiders and dislike loud mechanical noises. Unless of course there is a nearby wildfire and then it is welcome and thanks to those mutual responders from afar. A special feeling of relief comes with the constant din of helicopters filling their buckets nearby and the roar of a low flying DC10 tanker known as a VLAT (Very Large Air Tanker). For me the sound of our local Cal Fire Battalion Chief's voice on the scanner was particularly comforting as I know how experienced and capable he is. One must make due with good sounds at times like this because when we live in a land of canyons and tall trees it is hard to see anything.

Best wishes and prayers for our fire fighters and neighbors that this fire comes to a safe and quick conclusion.

Here are a few links about the fire.

Thursday 10/09/14 Video of Community Meeting about the fire (very informative).
http://placer.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=6

Yubanet
http://yubanet.com/nevada/Applegate.php

Placer County
http://www.placer.ca.gov/applegatefire

Caltrans road conditions to see if I-80 is open.
http://www.dot.ca.gov/cgi-bin/roads.cgi

Caltrans traffic cams to see how bad the backup near Applegate might be.
http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist3/departments/traffic/cameras/

Get a Warrant!

2014-08-01T20:05:00.003-07:00

I caught wind of this News 10 investigation on Facebook. In light of legal decisions over the last few years it is difficult to believe that anyone in law enforcement could consider this type of snooping legal without a warrant. Probably the most frightening thing about the use of such technology is the level of secrecy involved with the manufacturer requiring non disclosure agreements and law enforcement refusing to release even anonymous data on level of use. Not being a legal scholar I picked up a few articles for readers to check out and form their own opinion.

News10
Sacramento sheriff admits to use of cellphone spying technology

USA Today
Cellphone data spying: It's not just the NSA

WSJ
Supreme Court: Police Need Warrants to Search Cellphone Data

Washington Post
Supreme Court limits police use of GPS tracking

EFF
Cell Tracking

News Links Nostalgia

2014-07-23T12:01:00.001-07:00

Feeling a bit nostalgic for the old newslinks days. Below is a bit of reading just for old times sake. Pretty soon we can have fun with ballot initiatives. I have heard there are some cooking on the burner that take cynical politics to a level that just beg for snark and sarcasm.

A classic 23 question quiz designed to drop you into a political category. As one that was categorized as Steadfast Conservative and in the 12% to the right of the chart. I would have to say that there were very few "good" answers to pick from.

Pew
How We Identified Your Typology Group

Once folks are categorized ...

Pew
Section 10: Political Participation, Interest and Knowledge

Surprise, surprise, surprise

Gallup
Congressional Approval Rating Languishes at Low Level

IVN
Gerrymandering Reduces Competition, Fuels Partisanship in House Elections

Ya Think?

Vox
Here are America's most polarized, and most extreme, state legislatures

Sit down and have a cup of tea while reading this one.

Pew Research
GOP Has Midterm Engagement Advantage

Want to fix our political system? Start with election reform.

2014-07-23T11:41:00.000-07:00

There has been plenty happening with primary election reform across the country. Here in California we have improved our primary system but election reform is a state by state battle. In nutshell; partisan primaries make it too easy for a small special interest to gain too much control of the process. By contrast a top two system makes it easier for coalitions to rise up and force the process to represent a larger portion of the electorate. Below are some links that are worth a glance. Most noteworthy is an op-ed by US Senator Charles Schumer on the topic.

Hmmm the good Senator and I actually agree about something.

New York Times
Charles Schumer: End Partisan Primaries, Save America

IVN
U.S. Senator Charles Schumer Says We Need to End Partisan Primaries

If Oregon goes top two that will be the entire West Coast. California and Washington are already there.

IVN
Initiative to Adopt Top-Two Open Primary in Oregon Qualifies for Ballot

The Las Cruces Sun-News
New Mexico independent challenges ballot access

BOS Raises. What plan would you support.

2014-07-21T20:28:00.000-07:00

Before tomorrow's meeting in Tahoe where the BOS raises will be discussed it might be good to consider what one might approve in November. Your humble blogger brought the topic up over coffee with a few Placer County voters and this plan met with everyone’s approval.

Supervisors should be paid the average wage of the average Placer County resident. That should be around 52-54K. I am sure that there are numbers out there to be tapped into. The number itself is not as important as the spirit of the formula. In fact it might be a good idea for all elected officials compensation to be kept more in line with constituents.
The Supervisors should get a benefit package, the same package that the rank and file gets. While we are on the topic maybe we need to have one package for all Placer County employees and the only difference from one position to the other be salary.
It should also be acknowledged that some supervisors are more involved than others and a small stipend should be allowed per meeting attended other than board meetings. However rules about what meetings would be allowed a stipend should be rigorously scrutinized. A MAC meeting would qualify but a celebrity golf tournament would not. Also the attendance would have to be personal "if you send your aide, you don't get paid".

I would add no pre-programmed COLA’s to the list. After 2008 it seemed to be the main sticking point foe all that I spoke with on the topic. Everyone else has to come back and negotiate periodically the BOS should be no exception.

Now it will be more interesting to watch the next meeting and see how far their formula is from from the coffee klatch formula.

BOS Raises: The phone survey.

2014-07-14T20:16:00.000-07:00

Friday evening we got a call from a survey worker. The worker wanted to ask questions about different aspects of the Placer County Board of Supervisors compensation increase proposal. There were many questions split between two general topics. Since only a sampling are likely be surveyed it seemed prudent to write about it.

Topic one was the largest and focused on what aspects of a proposal one might support. Questions about salary formulas, benefit types and salary amounts. When they ask about salary amount they start high and work their way down until you say yes. The incremental drops are rather large so don’t be surprised if it drops from “seems a bit high” to “wow that makes me sound like a cheapskate”.

Topic two was what would be the best arguments and endorsements to win ones support. I thought that we did a pretty good job of exposing absurd arguments in a previous post but there were all of those and many more asked about in these questions. Multiple choice and a need for quantification keeps one from really giving an opinion to the questioner but none of those mentioned moved me to much more than a chuckle. One that stood out was the argument that with higher salaries the BOS would not have to depend so much on staff as they would be able to work on the boards' work full time. That argument is only true if some senior staffers are removed due to a reduced workload from the change and any supervisor accepting the raise would have to agree that it is the only job that they can have. This is about the legitimacy of the argument and not a suggestion for either addendum to it be used. I support a reasonable raise for what I think they do now, not on something that may or may not actually happen in the future.

Toward the end of the call questions were asked about the sway certain endorsements might hold. The Placer County Republican Central Committee was mentioned but the Placer County Democratic Central Committee was not. The League of Placer County Taxpayers was brought up but I am not sure if it was the old League dissolved by Wally Reemelin in 2011 which was the driving force behind the 30K ceiling back in 1992, or the League that Reemelin felt had high jacked that groups name and collected an FPPC fine in 2013. A Sherriff’s Deputy organization as well as the League of Women Voters of Placer County were also asked about.

Placer isn't the only foothill county discussing BOS compensation

2014-07-07T20:56:00.001-07:00

A hardworking bot popped this into the inbox today. It appears that BOS compensation is a topic of discussion just across the river in Nevada County as well. While reading the column bear in mind that Nevada is a county that has a population that is less than a third of Placers population.

Boardman: Believe it or not, the job of supervisor deserves a living wage

BOS Raises Absurd Arguments Abound

2014-07-07T12:48:00.000-07:00

I wanted to get this done before tomorrow’s meeting so that it will not appear to be personal. I know a couple of these board members and have huge respect for them. Politics is a business with plenty of absurd arguments and this topic is no exception. It is natural for people to gild the lily or even spin things a bit. While absurd arguments abound there is only one question that really needs to be answered: Is 30k per year adequate compensation? That is not however where we are going with this discussion. Below are pro and con arguments that were used from the last failed measure attempt to change county supervisor compensation.

Con: It is a part time job.

I can’t speak directly for all of the BOS but I have watched my own 5^th District Supe and she is very active, for her it is absolutely a full time job and she puts in long hours to do it. The list of meetings that she attends to represent the county and reach out to constituents is very long. While we are on the subject we should not count community events such as fund raisers etc. Many community members not on a government payroll attend and work these functions without compensation; a supervisor should be no exception. Even with this caveat people that call it a part time job probably have no idea what their supervisor does.

Pro: I don’t care about this myself but it is for future boards.

It is hard to avoid being snarky at this argument but if that is true then I have an idea. The ballot measure should be worded to take effect January 1^st, 2020. Then no current board member will enjoy the increase in compensation without their constituent’s approval. It might also help to get it passed in November by quieting the naysayers that use past board positions as a reason. Call me a cynic I am not thinking that I will see a measure with that wording come Election Day.

Con: Your board does not deserve addition compensation because they voted to…..

I would expect that we will see plenty of this. I remember it from the last time. We cannot hold this board and board members not yet elected responsible for their insensitivity to whatever cause you hold dear. This issue should be decided on what we expect them to do and what we feel that is worth. We hold our elected officials accountable every four years, not before we might have even met them. If you don’t like the vote on your issue then get out and find someone that you can support to run against them.

Pro: The Charter Committee unanimously voted to recommend…

While it is accurate one cannot make this point without also mentioning that the Charter Committee was appointed by the board and one of the voting members was a paid senior staffer that served at the pleasure of the Board. It may be an accurate statement but it is a questionable argument at best.

Pro: Lower salaries could affect the ability of Placer County to attract people of quality

I saved the most absurd for last and longest. First let us consider well compensated elected bodies such as the California Legislature, need I say more? We have counties and cities that paid their boards and councils far better that were recently on the verge of bankruptcy. If we do things by comparison to our board there should be a statewide effort to reduce every politician in the state to 30K per year. We have done very well for what we are willing to pay. We have been paying 30K per year since 1992 and never once have I heard that we had to beat on doors in every village in the county looking for someone dumb enough to run. In 2012 District 5 had five candidates running for that 30K a year job and at least three of them were qualified to do the job. The same district in 2008 had three candidates and all were qualified. In 2006 District 2 had a race that some accounts say the hard and soft money went over a million dollars. We do not have to provide adequate compensation to get great talent but we should do it because it is the right thing to do.

Placer County BOS to Discuss Raises (their own)

2014-07-06T12:39:00.000-07:00

This post is just a heads up. The hot topic of whether Supervisor raises should be on the November ballot will be discussed at the next BOS meeting. Filing for the November ballot start on July 14th and it will have to be discussed at least one more time before filing closes. I do not expect a huge turn out for this meeting based on its calendar proximity to Independence Day. I do expect that this process will end up at the ballot box in November.

The last time that we went through this process most of the arguments for both pro and con were absurd enough to merit a discussion of their own. Before I start work on that post I should point out that I support an appropriate compensation increase in concept. What is still to be developed is whether the measure language fits the qualifier of appropriate. My support is based on the only argument that makes sense. I think that the job merits more than 30K per year based on how much work goes into the job and how much knowledge it takes to do the job correctly.

Here is a link to the proposed action item from staff. You can also find a link on item 8a of the agenda.

Proposed Amendment to the County Charter

Top Two and CA-04

2014-06-23T10:02:00.000-07:00

One district that seems to get a lot of play in the post election analysis of California's Top Two Primary is Tom McClintock's CA-04. Tom McClintock has been a conservative fixture in California politics for as long as I can remember. In the old partisan primary system all he had to to was find a district that would be a platform for the McClintock brand and not have the "D" word next to his name to win. In Top Two he may be up against Republicans that don't share his lack of pragmatism, Democrats and some Independents. Whether that coalition will form around challenger Art Moore remains to be seen.

Since CA-04 used to cover Weimar until redistricting and still covers our friends just down the hill it seemed a good topic to bring up. Here are a few links about Top Two that mention the CA-04 race.

SFGate Jim Wildermuth
Top-2 primary adds to choices in November

IVN Steve Peace
Peace: Top-Two Primary About Voter Rights, Not Political Parties

IVN Crystal Innabi
Republican Candidates in CA-4 Must Look Outside Party to Win

Who are Independent Voters

2014-06-22T15:45:00.000-07:00

There are plenty of opinions on what what might motivate an independent voter. Most of those opinions tend to filter through people that earn their living and gained their experience through the partisan system. It is easy to see why the information that one gets about independent voters from traditional sources is so far from reality,

Recently the Director of California's Independent Voice Jason Olson gave a talk about independent voters and California's Top Two primary system. The twenty three minute You Tube clip is worth viewing so I am sharing the link.

Independent Voters and the Top Two Nonpartisan Primary

California 2014 Primary Not With a Bang

2014-06-04T10:35:00.000-07:00

But it was Sooo Lonely

The results have not yet been certified but by all accounts California probably hit an all time low for voter turnout. Of course when anything appears to go wrong folks start blaming whatever may be new to the process in this case many used the new Top Two Primary. The problem with that theory is that California voter turnout has been trending down for a couple of decades. It is doubtful that the new primary system had as much affect as other factors such as campaign spending. There was not one campaign flier in the mail box here. It actually appeared as though those with campaign cash wanted to keep turnout low because they know that they can count on the base to show. After all why fire up a bunch of question mark voters to turn out when the base will be there in traditional numbers.

Another indicator is who got the most votes Statewide races were a veritable love fest for incumbents. If one goes by this election California must be the political happy place of all time. In actuality there were a lot of candidates that just didn't have the cash to introduce themselves. Without the top two they would have not even tried. Even indicted Leland Yee got third place with 9.8% of the Secretary of State vote. High incumbent reelection was one of the fears about Top Two but one election is not yet a trend.

One race I have to point out is CD-04 which isn't even Weimar's district anymore but used to be. McClintock beat both of his opponents put together, even in Moore's home county of Placer. Think about this, Moore could not make a good showing against one of the most extreme candidates in the state, if not the country and doesn't even bother to live in his own district. I know almost as many Republicans that would like to see McClintock go as Democrats but it didn't show in this primary. One still needs a strong candidate with cash to pull it off.

We may expect too much, too soon from Top Two. The type of change that Top Two should bring are likely to be gentle and over time. Kashkari beat Donnely which might not have happened in a partisan election. We will have two Republicans running in CD-04 which could not have happened in a partisan election. Top Two was always about opportunity and never a sure thing. In a partisan election we don't even get the opportunity. It is up to an involved electorate to do something with it.

As far as the turnout goes all I can say is that we need a new dialog. We have worn out the old "If you don't vote don't complain axe". Instead all of this year's political opinion commentary should start with "I voted in the primary and..." We should expect the same from others so we know who we can ignore. Remember, whether you like it or not and whether you believe it or not in a democracy we get the government that we want and we get the government that we deserve. So, what do we deserve when we just don't show?