the day after they will tell you you need to die to save the planet.

so I won't bother you with the details.

suffice it to say, there is great interest in reducing the population of the planet by 80% to 99% in the near future by many who consider themselves ABOVE the rest of us. Oh, they write about it openly, figuring people like you will ignore it as usual.

I'm not sure why people hate us so much. I am here, in my too expensive apartment (rents driven up my real-estate madness, don't you know) near Dodger Stadium, reading letters from people who seem to think that an entire state full of people deserve to hang because of what? hollywood crap? arnold? undocumented immigrants? some strange resentment the world has? I dunno. it's weird. I work as one of those parasitic leeches I keep hearing about, providing mental health services to abused and at-risk kids at a community mental health center (and whoo-boy, I gotta tell you, the money to be made in social services is just so grand- EVERYONE should rush out and become a parasite too! long hours and low pay-can't be beat) Medi-cal funds these kids' services. That will be slashed soon. My agency (and other non-profits here) will be receiving IOU's starting this week it looks like. It'll be a little while before I start getting them I guess, providing I have a job still. The kids who no longer receive medi-cal will also not receive medical or dental care. And we'll lose the matching funds from the feds. And, we'll pay on the back end with increased crime rates, homelessness, incarceration costs, emergency care for illnesses, etc. This is sort of a disaster, and it's truly bizarre to hear so many people gloat about it. I have been hearing that letting California sink could hinder the rest of the country recovering, and I wonder at the nihilism of people who don't seem to care. I grew up here. when I was a kid, it was just like what one of the other letters wrote- good to excellent schools, safe streets, art and music programs in the schools, libraries and parks open at night. Prop 13 really did change all that. It took time, but that, the 3 strikes law, the pandering to the prison guards union, term limits- all that- changed this state. It has been amateur hour here for some time. And unfortunately, many, many states copied these ideas. Guess we'll start finding out how that works out too, eh? The people here are really not apathetic- partly the problem, as Mr. Kamiya pointed out. We have this initiative process that has gotten totally out of hand, but which is the only way Californians get a real say in what happens. The 2/3 requirement to pass a budget just guarantees that nothing gets done-fine by far-right republicans and libertarians, but not so fine with the majority of us who are neither. And prop 8 only passed because it only takes a simple majority to amend our constitution. This state is gorgeous, the weather is amazing, and it should be the dream state it used to be. Really, it is a lovely place. And most of the people here are actually really nice (except on the freeways, granted). But we are held hostage by a minority of voters and by politicians who care more about ideology and securing a lobbying gig when their term runs out than they do about actually governing. I'm not sure what y'all want us to do about it- armed revolt? We vote, and vote, and vote here (we probably vote more than any other place on earth), we march, we picket, blah, blah, blah. I could go on forever. I think we are a mirror for what this country has become, and that this is why everyone seems so happy at our downfall. We're scapegoats. Only scapegoating us won't stop this from coming to you. It's coming, you all voted for it just as much as we did, and it won't be any more fun when it is your kids not being taught or going without medical care. And I won't gloat at all because I think the whole thing is just awful. Every day I see my clients and wonder if we're going to be able to keep helping them and their families.And these people are already stretched so thin it's heartbreaking. People are going to go under and it will be such a waste, such a shame. Jesus, I'm rambling. But honestly, can't people come up with a better response than this 'glad I got out in time' shadenfreude shit?

If you are from one of those states where things really are still run well and you avoided these pitfalls, my hat's off to you and none of this applies. good job, keep it up, and don't do what was done here. Have a nice day, because that is what we Californians say to people...

So, you think you're lowering the National Smugness Index any?

I'm always in california...IN MY HEAD DUDE

shit, we just handed over $8 TRILLION to the bankers who started this mess in the first place, gambling irresponsibly then pulling back. You think that was an ACCIDENT?

the fault really lies in each one of us not doing our parts to be aware of what is really going on and on NOT banging that drum to alert everyone else to it.

the second axe blow to the body politic is coming, possibly even this year, to lay waste to what is remaining of this sad sorry country. We will get more money crises, diseases run amok, martial law being declared, FEMA camps everywhere scooping up people off the street, weather wars, chemical releases, and finally massive planned dieoffs. At that point, California's worries will not seem so unique.

will this be before or after the new tv season?

I found the pitch for Austin to be somewhat compelling but TX does not have a lot of natural resources other than nearly tapped out oil. Nat gas a is a very short-term item. TX suffers from the same Population/low carrying-capacity issues that CA does. This is going to be a big issue in the next 20 years. Too many people using too little water running into fossil fuel scarcity.