What is wrong with California?

[Pelado]

My vote this fall for Congress is between two Republicans. One labels himself a patriot and has a picture of a Minuteman on his signs. I'll be voting for the other guy.

Probably a good choice.

[wapiti]

A prop 65 warning. Isn't pure democracy a wonderful thing? And the really neat thing is that there are more than a few plaintiff's lawyers who have made a nice living from litigating against establishments that fail to post adequate warnings.

Prop 65 is the worst. Pure democracy + activist judge = rich lawyers, weaker economy, and no public benefit.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

A tale of California in three acts:

California moves to ban effective rat poison:
https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics...l-14083165.php

LA is becoming the "City of Rats":
https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2019...lth-emergency/

Are medieval diseases coming next to your city?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckde.../#440a1ba3610d

[falafel]

That's hilarious and frightening.

[swampfrog]

In the matter of reforming things, as distinct from deforming them, there is one plain and simple principle; a principle which will probably be called a paradox. There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.” To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: “If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.

G. K. Chesteron

[Color Me Badd Fan]

That's hilarious and frightening.

The breakout of "medieval" diseases (I'd say 19th century civil war POW camps is more accurate) isn't some unrealistic thing, it's happening right now. I guess a few years back they had an outbreak of tuberculosis. For the number of children that ingest rat poison and die, there are probably 50 kids that drown in a swimming pool. And the tradeoff between preventing the California mountain lion population ingesting some of the poison and inhibiting methods that stop the spread of Typhus and Typhoid seems to be a really stupid bargain.

The reality is this -- the population this really affects are the homeless and those others in extreme poverty. I'm not sure if this would ever really spread to more affluent parts of LA (never say never, I suppose). Advocating for the use of effective rat poison is also a way of standing up for the homeless, and a fairly substantial one at that. But in 2019, it's not exactly one of the trendier issues. I believe there was a UN paper/report that compared conditions in Skid Row to the Syrian refugee camps.

[originalsocal]

That's hilarious and frightening.

I realize that this can be seen as funny to some, but the reality of this is not hilarious at all. In nearly 25 years living in So. Cal, I've never seen the homeless situation worse. Skid row has spilled over into otherwise nice areas. In Orange County, where I live, there was a literal city of homeless living next to Angel Stadium, very similar to the favelas in Brazil. Many of the homeless living in these tent cities have jobs, but simply cannot afford living in even the cheapest housing. My city is Fullerton. In the past 10 years the homeless population has boomed. I live in a fairly nice neighborhood, and see homeless individuals frequently wondering in and around our cul-du-sac. With the disease and crime that goes along with that, frightening doesn't begin to describe what's happening in what was once an awesome place to live. I love California and always will, but man it's getting bad!

[falafel]

I realize that this can be seen as funny to some, but the reality of this is not hilarious at all. In nearly 25 years living in So. Cal, I've never seen the homeless situation worse. Skid row has spilled over into otherwise nice areas. In Orange County, where I live, there was a literal city of homeless living next to Angel Stadium, very similar to the favelas in Brazil. Many of the homeless living in these tent cities have jobs, but simply cannot afford living in even the cheapest housing. My city is Fullerton. In the past 10 years the homeless population has boomed. I live in a fairly nice neighborhood, and see homeless individuals frequently wondering in and around our cul-du-sac. With the disease and crime that goes along with that, frightening doesn't begin to describe what's happening in what was once an awesome place to live. I love California and always will, but man it's getting bad!

Yes, this is the frightening part (actually, just one of them).

The hilarious part is the state's decision to prioritize rodent and animal life above human life, and then watch as that decision blows up in their face.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

I realize that this can be seen as funny to some, but the reality of this is not hilarious at all. In nearly 25 years living in So. Cal, I've never seen the homeless situation worse. Skid row has spilled over into otherwise nice areas. In Orange County, where I live, there was a literal city of homeless living next to Angel Stadium, very similar to the favelas in Brazil. Many of the homeless living in these tent cities have jobs, but simply cannot afford living in even the cheapest housing. My city is Fullerton. In the past 10 years the homeless population has boomed. I live in a fairly nice neighborhood, and see homeless individuals frequently wondering in and around our cul-du-sac. With the disease and crime that goes along with that, frightening doesn't begin to describe what's happening in what was once an awesome place to live. I love California and always will, but man it's getting bad!

I don't think it's insanely expensive housing, otherwise Monaco would be loaded with homeless people. People are free to move to find less expensive places to live -- but that's fairly difficult to pull off when you're a drug addict and haven't held a job in years/decades. So you go to places where drugs are easier to find and the cops don't harass people as much as other places. I'm sure the city leadership in Seattle were patting themselves on the back for the "humane" and enlightened treatment towards drug users by basically telling the cops to ignore possession of quantities that would signify merely a personal supply and not a distributor. Those policies have consequences and I imagine it's fairly difficult to deal with sprawling encampments of homeless people rather than the sporadic pan-handling bum in downtown.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I don't think it's insanely expensive housing, otherwise Monaco would be loaded with homeless people. People are free to move to find less expensive places to live -- but that's fairly difficult to pull off when you're a drug addict and haven't held a job in years/decades. So you go to places where drugs are easier to find and the cops don't harass people as much as other places. I'm sure the city leadership in Seattle were patting themselves on the back for the "humane" and enlightened treatment towards drug users by basically telling the cops to ignore possession of quantities that would signify merely a personal supply and not a distributor. Those policies have consequences and I imagine it's fairly difficult to deal with sprawling encampments of homeless people rather than the sporadic pan-handling bum in downtown.

Tons of homeless people in Seattle these days.

[Walter Sobchak]

Tons of homeless people in Seattle these days.

You don't like stepping over human excrement on the sidewalks or in the city parks?!

I rarely go downtown anymore. It's bad.

[Uncle Ted]

You don't like stepping over human excrement on the sidewalks or in the city parks?!

I rarely go downtown anymore. It's bad.

OMG... Seattle is a sh*thole!

They need to tax the hell out of those companies like Amazon, Microsoft, FaceBook, etc. so they can hand out more needles... Make those rich capitalist basturds pay!

[BigFatMeanie]

What's fascinating about the Seattle is Dying documentary is the responses to it. Some folks labeled it "right wing propaganda" because the KOMO station is owned by Sinclair. Others responded exactly like Ted's caricature - "tax the rich". Others began immediately attacking the connection the documentary stated between homelessness and both drugs and mental illness.

[Joe Public]

A lot.

[beefytee]

What's fascinating about the Seattle is Dying documentary is the responses to it. Some folks labeled it "right wing propaganda" because the KOMO station is owned by Sinclair. Others responded exactly like Ted's caricature - "tax the rich". Others began immediately attacking the connection the documentary stated between homelessness and both drugs and mental illness.

Ted's wasn't exactly a "tax the rich" caricature. It was more of a "burden Apple's competitors" caricature.