The California Dream was built on a system of public schools and colleges that gave every Californian access to the education needed to get ahead. Gov. Jerry Brown is pushing hard for Prop. 30 because he says “we can’t keep cutting our schools and still keep the economy strong for the next generation.”In the last four years alone, California schools have been hit with $20 billion in cuts, over 30,000 fewer teachers and class sizes that are among the largest in the country. Brown says his Prop. 30 stops the cuts, stops the steep tuition hikes, and invests in our schools and colleges to prepare the next generation for the jobs of the future. To protect schools and invest in the future, Prop. 30.Prop. 30 asks California’s wealthiest to pay a little more so that the middle class doesn’t have to bear the burden; families making below $500,000 a year will pay no additional income taxes, and the sales tax will be established at a level lower than it was last year.
The governor says that Prop. 30 protects taxpayers with tough accountability measures: all new revenues are put into a dedicated account that Sacramento politicians can’t touch, and Prop. 30 requires annual audits posted online for everyone to see. Rejection of Prop. 30 would trigger $6 billion in state spending cuts on January 1, mostly from K-12 schools, which would be authorized to cut short their school year. Additionally, there would be a 5 percent tuition hike at the California State University system, 20 percent tuition hikes at the University of California, and a reduction in funding to community colleges.
Governor Brown has said,”There are a lot of people who I am confident will vote ‘yes’ if they get the facts.” Come hear the governor up close – and bring your questions.
Location: SF Club Office Time: 11 a.m. check-in; noon program Price: $25 standard, $15 members; Premium (seating in first rows) $45 standard,$30 members
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PURCHASE TICKETS TO THIS EVENT ONLINE HERE, OR CALL OUR BOX OFFICE AT 415-597-6705.
The headline says it all, but here’s the entire release:
“SAN FRANCISCO DISTRICT PTA LEADERSHIP AGAIN URGES STATE PTA TO MAKE A DUAL ENDORSEMENT ON PROPS 30 AND 38
San Francisco — The Second District (San Francisco) PTA leadership recommended in July a dual endorsement of state ballot measures, Propositions 30 and 38, to the California State PTA after hearing from PTA members across the City that funding education was a high priority. At that time, the State PTA held its “Yes” on Prop 38 and voted to approve a “Neutral” position on Prop 30.
In light of recent public polling and campaign dynamics with both initiatives, and again with the encouragement of its members, the District PTA leadership is re-recommending the State PTA take a “Yes” position on Prop 30 to add to its current “Yes” on Prop 38 at the State PTA Board of Managers Meeting October 27.
It is critical that education be funded at a higher level, or at the minimum, maintain current funding in order for all of California’s children to be prepared to be successful in college, career and life. Either Prop 30 or Prop 38 must pass for this to happen. The District PTA also strongly encourages both campaigns to refrain from negative messaging about the other to increase the possibility that at least one measure will receive the required 50% + 1 votes.
Prop 30 would prevent further cuts to K-12 public schools and higher education funding through an increase of around $6 billion per year for 7 years to the state’s general fund budget. Prop 38 would increase funding to K-12 schools, early education and school bond debt payments by $10-11 billion per year for 12 years. Prop 38’s increase in funding would greatly mitigate the result of state education budget cuts of over $20 billion statewide and the laying off of over 40,000 educators over the last three years alone.
[UPDATE: According to somebody who ought to know, this is not what a Lt. Gov. motorcade looks like these days. So, my bad.]
I don’t know, why are the lights on on these CHP prowlers?
To make the people inside feel good?
Looks that way.
I mean, this is the entire motorcade, so it’s not like cross-traffic is being stopped or anything.
I mean, don’t you want to be kind of low profile? Oh, I see, you feel that not enough people pay attention to
you, so everybody stare at me while I ride to the Starbucks?
OK fine:
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IMO, our California Highway Patrol shouldn’t always do what the Lt. Gov VIPs want.
IMO.
But here’s why it’s generally in the interest of the CHP to patronize electeds.
Oh well.
(Oh, and next time you roll through town, CHP, in addition to the flashing lights, you should honk your horns and activate your sirens, like every minute. Hurray!)
Here he is at 595 Market, along with Commonwealth Club Past President J. Dennis Bonney:
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All the deets:
“Scotland targets Fortune 500 in US push for business - First Minister writes to top global companies in California ahead of trade mission
EDINBURGH, Scotland, June 17, 2012 — Over 70 leading California-based companies, including all Fortune 500 companies in the state, are being targeted as part of a new campaign to attract inward investment to Scotland.
The country’s leader, First Minister Alex Salmond, has personally written to top executives at leading companies which have been identified by Scottish Development International as potential investors in advance of his visit to the US on a trade mission.
In his letter, which is part of a wider SDI campaign to encourage some of the world’s most successful companies to consider setting up operations in Scotland, the First Minister highlights the benefits of choosing Scotland over any other nation.
The First Minister will be reinforcing the message that Scotland is ready to do business during his four-day visit to California. He stresses in his letter that Scotland - with its highly-skilled workforce and a cost-competitive business location – is a land of opportunity.
The First Minister said:“Scotland is already an economic success story and we make no apologies for going after new business at every opportunity. We perform better economically than everywhere else in the UK bar the southeast of England and that brings major business opportunities.
“Scottish Development International’s campaign is backed by a number of companies already investing in Scotland such as Pfizer and Amazon and the message is absolutely clear.
“Scotland is a land of major opportunity and it is open for business. We have a long and impressive track record in life sciences, sciences, technology and creative industries developing an environment where ingenuity and innovation can create jobs and wealth for Scotland.
“Even without our offshore oil and gas reserves, Scotland has the highest GDP in the UK outside London and southeast England.
“We have five universities in the world’s top 200, we rank first in the world in research productivity per unit of GDP and second in the world in research impact.
“Business operating costs for key functions can be almost a third lower here.
“This campaign will also send the message directly to the heart of US business community with print and online advertising running in The Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Business Times, New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle.
Danny Cusick, President, Americas, Scottish Development International, said:
“SDI has seven offices across North America, including a significant presence in California, to provide support and collaboration opportunities for key North American companies.
“This campaign is part of a global drive to attract new investment to Scotland. There has been a significant level of inward investment success over the last 12 months, with Amazon, FMC Technologies and State Street all making significant investments in Scotland. SDI is building on this with a continued focus on securing new, sustainable jobs and opportunities.
“It is clear that Scotland remains a location of choice due to our winning combination of qualities, including our highly skilled and educated workforce and efficient operating costs.
“This is an excellent opportunity to highlight Scotland’s competitive advantages to some of California’s biggest companies.”
And here are some Upcoming Events at the Commonwealth Club:
Uhhhhhhhhhhh, I’m not going to articulate myself on this one.
But you, you go right ahead, feel free to tell your buds what you think. (But first, please email me your FB account names / passwords, and your intimate photos and whatnot.)
All right, off you go:
“California Senate Approves Social Media Privacy Act - Yee’s SB 1349 will prohibit employers, colleges from seeking Facebook, Twitter passwords
SACRAMENTO – On a bipartisan 28-5 vote, the California Senate today approved legislation authored by Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) to stop employers from formally requesting or demanding employees or job applicants provide their social media usernames and passwords.
Yee’s bill also prohibits public and private colleges and universities from requiring such information of students.
The bill comes after a growing number of businesses, public agencies, and colleges around the country are asking job seekers, workers, and students for their Facebook and Twitter account information.
“I am pleased by today’s overwhelming vote to end this unacceptable invasion of personal privacy,” said Yee. “The practice of employers or colleges demanding social media passwords is entirely unnecessary and completely unrelated to someone’s performance or abilities.”
In addition to the privacy of students and workers, accessing social media accounts may also invade the privacy of family members and friends who thought they only were sharing information with their own social media network.
“These social media outlets are often for the purpose of individuals to share private information – including age, marital status, religion, sexual orientation and personal photos – with their closest friends and family,” said Yee. “This information is illegal for employers and colleges to use in making employment and admission decisions and has absolutely no bearing on a person’s ability to do their job or be successful in the classroom.”
“SB 1349 is a significant step towards securing Californians’ constitutional right to privacy, both online and offline, in the workplace and in school,” said Jon Fox, Consumer Advocate for CALPIRG.
“If employers are permitted to access the private information of job applicants, unscrupulous hiring managers will be given greater leeway to circumvent anti-discrimination laws,” said Joe Ridout of Consumer Action.
Rather than formally requesting passwords and usernames, some employers have demanded applicants and employees to sit down with managers to review their social media content or fully print out their social media pages. SB 1349 will also prohibit this practice.
Shannon Minter, Legal Director for National Center for Lesbian Rights, said that the practice of requesting social media passwords is the equivalent to reading a personal diary, and also LGBT employees, job applicants, and students already face significant obstacles when applying for schools and jobs.
Minter said that SB 1349 helps ensures individuals are “judged by their qualifications and performance, rather than elements of their private life.”
IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law professor Lori Andrews, who specializes in Internet privacy, told the Associated Press that these practices even when given voluntarily should not be allowed.
“Volunteering is coercion if you need a job,” Andrews told the AP.
Johnny Veloz, an unemployed photographer, told KCRA Sacramento that he was asked for his Facebook password during a recent job interview. Veloz was denied the job after refusing to provide the information.
“For me, that’s rude and it’s not respectful,” Veloz told KCRA. “Someone has privacy and you expect them to respect that.”
Yee’s bill would also prohibit employers and colleges from demanding personal email addresses and login information of employees, applicants, and students.
SB 1349 will now be considered by the State Assembly before heading to the Governor.”
And oh, if I ever crafted a “social media privacy act,” I can just about guarantee you that Facebook WOULD NOT LIKE IT. Not one bit.
He was hanging out at an area Starbucks the other day, gesticulating wildly, and that attracted attention of nearby Safeway shoppers, who assumed that this blacked-out SUV with waiting driver was his driver.
I mean, Gavin is obsessed with Hollywood, of course, and Hollywood just loves blacked-out SUVs, so who knows.
Hey remember when he was running for Governor and he said that Californian Democrats needed to vote for him in order for us to head in the “right direction” and not the “wrong direction” and the wrong direction person referenced was Jerry Brown?
I do.
And remember when Jerry Brown was on AM radio and he was asked about a idea of literally racing against Gavin by climbing up the stairs of a 50-story building and Jerry Brown declined by challenging Gavin to an IQ test instead (and in this way mocked Gavin’s high double-digit IQ)?
I do.
Hey, whatever happened to Gavin? What’s he up to these days?
Les mise-en-scene, Howard Street. What you’re seeing here is Gavin’s former ride (a gas-powered SUV with monstrous 6.0-litre engine) next to some mayoral types and some San Francisco Chronicle people in an off-the-record excloo interview:
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And here’s Gavin raging at Matier and Ross* over this story. Let’s listen in, shall we?
“…YOU GOT ME DOWN THERE IN THE GULF…” “…WITH ALL THIS OIL COMING UP…”
Now he’s saying all this while waving his arms up and down in unison, pantomiming the out-of-control oil gushing up from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico.
Isn’t that funny?
From left: Gavin, Gavin’s engorged carotid artery, Andrew Ross, and SFGov security staring down the barrel of my camera lens through a pair of Foster Grants:
This was for tout le monde to hear right in front of Moscone Center West.
“Congratulations to Mayor Ed Lee for winning the mayor’s race. November 10, 2011, from the Ed Lee-Randy Shaw-Mid-Market-special-project-corrupt-Twitterloin-tax-area 4 more years of this – yay, Yep, he ‘get’s it done’ all right”
Marinello School of Beauty betwixt Sixth and Seventh:
“Affirmative action has always been a touchy subject in California, a state with many high achieving white and Asian students. In 1996, California residents passed Proposition 209, which prohibited public schools from considering race in the admissions process. After Proposition 209, the number of Asians in the elite UC college system surged. But now, a California legislator has put forward Bill SB 185, which would allow public universities to consider race. The Berkeley College Republicans fear the effects this bill might have on the UC system. They hosted a “diversity” bake sale to protest the possible effects of the law. Will the bill go through? Maybe – but some foresee it being vetoed next month.
Check out NMA’s latest video on the Berkeley Bake Sale:
Here was the scene down at the State Building this morning.
See, it’s Senator Leland Yee, PhD, telling one and all the virtues of online voter reg.
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Like, 11 other states allow voters to register online, so why can’t California?
All the deets:
“Governor Urged to Sign Online Voter Registration Bill - Senator Yee, San Mateo Elections Chief, Common Cause, Students push bill to bring California voter registration system into the 21st Century
SAN FRANCISCO – Today, Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) was joined by San Mateo County Chief Elections Officer Mark Church as well several organizations to urge Governor Jerry Brown to sign legislation that would allow citizens to register to vote via the internet.
Several other states already offer online registration, yet California has lagged behind awaiting implementation of the statewide online database system known as VoteCal, which has been delayed until at least 2015 and probably later.
“In the 21st century, especially here in California, it is long overdue to have online voter registration,” said Yee. “SB 397 will not only help protect the integrity of the vote, but will allow many more individuals the opportunity to register and participate in our democracy.”
Yee was joined at a press conference in San Francisco by Common Cause, SEIU, League of Women Voters, Californians for Electoral Reform, and the University of California Students Association, to highlight the major provisions of the bill including provisions that place greater safeguards to fraud than the current paper registration process.
Under SB 397, citizens would input their voter information online and the county elections office would use the voter’s signature from the Department of Motor Vehicles to verify authenticity. That signature could be matched against the voter’s signature at the polling place. Currently, signatures at the polling place are only compared to the paper registration signature, which potentially allows for greater occurrences of fraud.
SB 397 would also minimize the practice of individuals being paid to collect voter registration cards and instead sending in fake names in order to fulfill a quota or to make more money.
County elections officers are also hailing the bill as a potential cost-savings and a way of eliminating administrative errors from incorrect data entry of the paper registration. By using online registration, the voter would enter their own information helping to eliminate spelling errors or an election office being unable to read the paper registration. The new system will also save time and money on data entry by election clerks.
“This law will increase voter registration, increase the accuracy of the registration information, and reduce election costs,” said Church. “Everyone wins.”
In Arizona, implementation of online voter registration saw a decrease of up to 83 cents per a registration for some counties. Mariposa County – the largest election jurisdiction in Arizona – has saved over $1 million since implementing online registration 5 years ago.
“With the passage of Senator Yee’s online voter registration bill, we can finally move California’s voter registration system into the 21st century,” said Kathay Feng, Executive Director for California Common Cause.
The Governor has until October 9 to sign or veto the measure.”
