Life's A Beach In The South Bay.

Hermosa Beach:

Manhattan Beach:

Glad to see that two of my South Bay beaches are good, clean fun--literally.
(But que pasa, Redondo & Torrance beaches?)

From HuffPo:

The cleanest beaches are picked from a list of the 200 most popular U.S. beaches, and NRDC awarded one star each for:

1) Meeting water quality standards in 2009.

2) Meeting water quality standards in 2008.

3) Testing frequency (more than once a week).

4) Promptly issuing a closing or advisory warning when a water sample exceeded state standards.

5) Promptly posting closing or advisory signs (online and at the beach) when necessary.

Now if we could actually have some real South Bay summer weather...

Endless Summer?

I can't wait for summer.

From the L.A. Times:

The unusually cool summer continued in Southern California, where several new record-low temperatures were recorded on Wednesday.
The 68-degree low at Los Angeles International Airport broke the old record low for the day, which was 70 degrees in 1991. Santa Barbara (68) and San Luis Obispo (69) broke records as well.
The temperature at USC, 75, tied the record low set in 1999. UCLA also set a record, 56 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
While the region saw a heat wave a few weeks ago, temperatures have been gradually going down again as July comes to an end.
June was also marked by gloomy conditions and lower-than-normal temperatures.

@#$%&!

Schwarzenegger Terminates One Of His Bad Ideas.

From the Los Angeles Times:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, citing the damage caused to the environment by the massive oil spill in the Gulf Coast, said Monday he is yanking from his state budget plan proposed new drilling off the coast of Santa Barbara.
The governor had been a proponent of the Tranquillon Ridge project, which he'd said could generate $140 million for the upcoming budget year to help prevent cutbacks in state parks. Despite the governor's support, the project has stalled amid opposition from lawmakers and the state Lands Commission, which has jurisdiction over such oil leases.
Schwarzenegger said Monday he will not include the project in his revised budget plan, to be unveiled May 14. He said the environmental risk is too great.
"My support for the T-Ridge project here in California was based on numerous studies and making me feel that it was safe to drill," he said. "All of you have seen when you turn on the television the devastation in the Gulf. And I'm sure that they also were assured that it is safe to drill. I see on TV the birds drenched in oil, the fishermen out of work, the massive oil spill, oil slick destroying our precious ecosystem. It will not happen here in California."

Great news. Too bad it took the BP nightmare along the Gulf Coast for Arnie to come to his senses.

Here's an environmental history lesson from Paul Krugman.

7.2.

It rocked and rolled here today, they closed the piers and I came home. The floor where I was ribboned and rolled for what was certainly close to a minute. We knew that wherever the epicenter was had been hit hard.

Mucho amor, Mexicali...

Some info is here.

California Dreamin'?

From the Los Angeles Times:

State election officials announced Wednesday that an initiative to legalize marijuana will be on the November ballot, triggering what will likely be an expensive, divisive and much-watched campaign to decide whether California will again lead the nation in softening drug laws.
Los Angeles County election officials Wednesday turned in their official estimate of the number of valid signatures, putting the statewide figure above the 433,971 needed for the measure to make the ballot. The county, where one-fifth of the signatures were collected, was the last to report its count, filing just before 5 p.m.
Polls have indicated that a majority of voters in California want marijuana legalized, but the margin is not enough to ensure the initiative will win. Two years ago, opponents defeated an attempt to relax the state's drug laws despite being outspent. "It's always easier for people to say no than to say yes for an initiative," said Mark Baldassare, the pollster for the Public Policy Institute of California. "Generally, all it takes is for people to find one reason to say no."
The initiative would allow adults 21 or older to possess up to an ounce for personal use. Possession of an ounce or less has been a misdemeanor with a $100 fine since 1975, when Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, who was then governor, signed a law that reduced tough marijuana penalties that had allowed judges to impose 10-year sentences. Legalization supporters note that misdemeanor arrests have risen dramatically in California in the last two decades. The initiative would also allow adults to grow up to 25 square feet of marijuana per residence or parcel.
But the measure, known as the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, goes further, allowing cities and counties to adopt ordinances that would authorize the cultivation, transportation and sale of marijuana, which could be taxed to raise revenues. It's this feature of the initiative that supporters hope will draw support from voters who are watching their local governments jettison employees and programs in the midst of a severe budget crisis.

Legalize It.

The first step to legalize marijuana in California could happen Tuesday.

From NBCBayArea.com:

Lawmakers will vote on Assembly Bill 390 -- legislation to tax and regulate marijuana. The assembly's Public Safety Committee is expected to vote after a hearing that begins at 9 a.m. hearing.

The bill, authored by San Francisco Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, would essentially treat pot the same way alcohol is treated under the law and would allow adults over 21 to possess, smoke and grow marijuana.

The law would also call for a fee of $50 per ounce sold and would help fund drug eradication and awareness programs. It could help pull California out of debt, supporters say, raising up to $990 million from the fees.

UPDATE: the measure passed committee today. More here.

Hey, Asshole: Is that The Same Knife You Used To Gut California's Schools, Seniors and Poor?

You Can Run, But You Can't Hide.

From ThePlumLine.whorunsgov.com:

Senator Dianne Feinstein has already taken a hammering from Dems and health care reform advocates for casting doubts on the prospects of President Obama’s health care reform efforts. MoveOn, for instance, aired an ad against her in California, demanding she show some leadership and fight harder to get the president’s reform plan passed:

Now Feinstein has hit back at the criticism from the left in an article about lefty groups targeting Dems for waffling on key components of health care reform:

“I do not think this is helpful. It doesn’t move me one whit,” she said. “They are spending a lot of money on something that is not productive.”

(Editor's note: Your arrogance is stunning, Senator.)

That sharply dismissive tone won’t exactly smooth over tensions.

Feinstein’s claim that criticism from the left is “not productive” also raises an important question: What does the White House think of the lefty criticism? Do White House advisers agree with Feinstein, and want the liberal groups to muzzle themselves, or are they tacitly happy about it?

When liberal groups hit Dems during other policy fights earlier this year, the White House let it be known that it didn’t approve. In the case of health care, though, the White House hasn’t said word boo about the efforts by liberal groups to force Dems into line, suggesting the possibility that Obama advisers are perfectly content with it for the time being.

Feinstein may be running for governor of California next year. We already have a bad actor in Sacramento, and Feinstein lost my vote a long time ago by channeling California Republicans. She is a sell-out and her alleged "liberalism" is vastly overstated.

Feinstein has other credibility issues with Democrats and progressives in the Golden State. Matt Silver at FiveThirtyEight.com had a great piece in late March about Feinstein's "F.U." to labor regarding the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). She currently claims that she is in favor of a compromise, which is her way of saying that she doesn't want to piss off potential business donors if she does run in 2010.

Do I Vote Every Other Tuesday Or Does It Just Seem That Way?

Once again with the propositions...