Silicon Investor - California - The Golden State?

[Selectric II] [X] Swalwell’s congressional & campaign senior staff are out with a new stmt ...

Selectric II — 4/13/2026 5:57:04 AM

[X]

Swalwell’s congressional & campaign senior staff are out with a new stmt

“We’re horrified by the recent reporting in the San Francisco Chronicle and by CNN”

“The behavior detailed in these reports is abhorrent, beneath the dignity of those serving in public office and betrays… pic.twitter.com/Ho9NqkQqin
— Brennan Leach (@brennanleach) April 11, 2026

[/X]

[X]

pic.twitter.com/EZcQbNEczi
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) April 11, 2026

[/X]

[Selectric II] Yeah, but that was then, and this is now. Or, that was him, but this is ME! Or...

Selectric II — 4/11/2026 12:09:54 PM

Yeah, but that was then, and this is now.

Or, that was him, but this is ME!

Or, I didn't do it, and I'll never do it again!

lol.

[miraje] I hope he's clueless enough to stay in the race. It ain't just "Fang Fang, baby,...

miraje — 4/11/2026 10:44:50 AM

I hope he's clueless enough to stay in the race. It ain't just "Fang Fang, baby, sweet poon tang" any more. Now it's karma, baby. LOL!

foxnews.com

Swalwell ripped for changing his tune on how sexual assault victims 'deserve to be heard'

California gubernatorial candidate Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., is facing backlash on social media after it was reported that his lawyer was sending cease-and-desist letters to Swalwell's accusers a day before multiple bombshell allegations were published on Friday.

Swalwell, who once called on lawmakers to hear out women raising allegations against Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh during his 2018 confirmation hearings and said they "deserve to be heard," is now being slammed for hypocrisy.

[Thomas M.] Morocco is less dysfunctional than Gavin Newsom's California: [graphic] Tom

Thomas M. — 4/9/2026 2:57:08 PM

Morocco is less dysfunctional than Gavin Newsom's California:

Tom

[Broken_Clock] He blocked me. Wierd. He's the only SI-er I've ever met in person. He brought...

Broken_Clock — 4/5/2026 7:43:14 PM

He blocked me. Wierd.

He's the only SI-er I've ever met in person. He brought an offshore rig buyer out here to the old Kona Village Resort and we had dinner.

[miraje] I don't think that Big Dog is active on SI any more. He's certainly not moderati...

miraje — 4/5/2026 5:53:24 PM

I don't think that Big Dog is active on SI any more. He's certainly not moderating that thread now. Why don't you try to PM him and see what happens? The Politics of Energy thread is also not being moderated since Brumar died.

[Broken_Clock] I'm still banned from the Dog's thread after 18 years for having the audacity to...

Broken_Clock — 4/5/2026 1:59:09 PM

I'm still banned from the Dog's thread after 18 years for having the audacity to post this

Message 30149253

[miraje] You want more inflation? Here it comes. 8 bucks a gallon and climbing.. Message...

miraje — 4/5/2026 12:43:35 PM

You want more inflation? Here it comes. 8 bucks a gallon and climbing..

Message 35479526

[Selectric II] Speaking of miracles, So. California hospices miraculously cure vast majority of...

Selectric II — 4/4/2026 7:17:57 AM

Speaking of miracles, So. California hospices miraculously cure vast majority of terminal illnesses...

SoCal hospice owners bilked taxpayers for millions in false claims, federal officials say

latimes.com

[Thomas M.] California’s only nuclear plant, Diablo Canyon, just won approval to stay open u...

Thomas M. — 4/3/2026 9:14:29 AM

California’s only nuclear plant, Diablo Canyon, just won approval to stay open until 2045. It was scheduled to shut down in August 2025.

sanluisobispo.com

Tom

[Thomas M.] In California, you had more people applying for unemployment insurance benefits ...

Thomas M. — 4/2/2026 10:58:40 AM

In California, you had more people applying for unemployment insurance benefits than you had people over the age of 18.

Inside Gavin Newsom’s empire of fraud

California is a cash machine.

The state collects some of the country’s highest income, business, and fuel taxes, and now spends more than $300 billion per year.

And yet, everywhere you look, California seems to be falling apart.

The roads are crumbling. Mismanaged wildfires have turned neighborhoods into ash. Drug addiction and homelessness have metastasized, turning parts of Los Angeles and San Francisco into no-go zones.

And the cost-of-living crisis is pricing middle-class taxpayers out of basic necessities like groceries and gas, even as the state spends billions on welfare programs that never seem to lift anyone out of poverty.

Californians are beginning to ask: Where is all this money going?

On paper, it funds public services. But beneath the surface, something else is happening: massive, systematic, brazen fraud.

We conducted interviews with public officials, fraud experts, and political figures, and reviewed hundreds of pages of government reports, state audits, criminal indictments, and other public records on California fraud.

Seemingly every state program has been compromised by criminals.

The best estimates suggest that, on the governor’s watch, fraudsters, scammers, and organized crime rings have stolen at least $180 billion from taxpayers.

Welcome to Gavin Newsom’s empire of fraud.

Fourteen months after Newsom began his first term as governor, the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world. The state’s leaders imposed some of the country’s most restrictive public-health measures. In response to the crisis, Newsom sought to dump pallets of cash across the state — as quickly as possible.

One way to inject money was through California’s massive unemployment insurance program (UI). Unemployment insurance is administered by the state’s Employment Development Department (EDD), which can process billions of dollars in payments monthly. Before the state turned on the cash machine, however, experts had warned that the system was ripe for fraud.

Haywood Talcove, one of America’s leading fraud specialists and CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solutions for Government, said: “I was begging [federal officials] not to let the money go out like that, because it was going to be the biggest fraud in the history of our country. Obviously, I wasn’t successful.”

For many reasons, California was particularly susceptible to the large-scale fraud schemes that Talcove foresaw.

“They literally suspended all of the rules for the [unemployment insurance] program,” Talcove said. “[That made] it possible for anyone to get that benefit even if they weren’t entitled to it. It was very intentional. They knew what they were doing. But it caught up to them because it just got so out of control.”

The scams began almost immediately, with criminals from around the world reportedly siphoning cash from the program. In one case, a Romanian-led fraud ring orchestrated a $5 million unemployment-insurance scheme. Many of the fraudsters wired the stolen funds to Romania.

Around September 2020, Fontrell Antonio Baines, a rapper from Memphis known as Nuke Bizzle, released a music video on YouTube entitled “EDD.” In the song, Baines bragged about ripping off California’s UI program. “Go to the bank with a stack of these,” Baines rapped, holding up EDD envelopes. Another rapper can be heard saying: “You gotta sell cocaine, I just file a claim.” All told, Baines obtained more than $700,000 in stolen funds using preloaded EDD debit cards. He pleaded guilty to federal charges.

California’s prison population apparently got in on the action, too: The EDD allegedly paid out hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent claims in prisoners’ names, including those of at least 133 inmates on death row.

Remarkably, EDD not only failed regularly to cross-reference its unemployment payouts with a list of state prisoners, but it also had just two bureaucrats assigned manually to inspect reports of suspected fraud.

State officials eventually admitted to having paid out approximately $20 billion in fraudulent claims during the pandemic, and to making an estimated $55 billion in improper payments. Talcove claims those figures don’t even tell the full story: “In California, at one point, you had more people applying for unemployment insurance benefits than you had people over the age of 18.”

While Newsom has conceded that “bad actors” took advantage of the UI program, he has also defended his government’s record, saying they took swift action as soon as the alleged prison scheme surfaced. The EDD, for its part, has a webpage documenting its anti-fraud efforts. But any suggestion that California has fraud under wraps is contradicted by findings from its nonpartisan state auditor.

Newsom also came to power vowing to pursue “guaranteed health care” for Californians. Under his leadership, the state extended Medi-Cal coverage to illegal aliens, covered sex-change surgeries for Medi-Cal enrollees, and offered “gender-affirming care services” to enrollees of “all ages.”

Total budgeted Medi-Cal spending — which includes federal, state, and local contributions — has more than doubled on the governor’s watch, rising from $93.5 billion the year before he took office to $196.7 billion in the current annual budget. During the same period, California’s resident population declined by 0.2%.

In-Home Supportive Services, a Medi-Cal sub-program, has presented major fraud concerns. In 2009, former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger estimated that IHSS fraud could be as high as 25%. That same year, a Sacramento grand jury report on the county’s IHSS program claimed IHSS fraud was “reported to be rampant and out of control.”

Yet, even in light of these worries, Newsom has dramatically increased funding for IHSS. According to recent estimates, taxpayers are funding nearly 800,000 IHSS providers, who offer caregiving, cooking, shopping, cleaning, and laundry services to elderly and disabled people. In about 70% of cases, providers and recipients are family members. According to co-author Schrupp’s reporting, the IHSS program is responsible for 41% of all “job gains” during the Newsom administration.

The IHSS program almost seems designed to facilitate scams.

According to sworn testimony summarized in the Sacramento report, IHSS participants have falsely represented recipients’ needs; misrepresented hours worked timecards; and even secured payment after a recipient has died. The system operates largely on trust, with providers “working” in the privacy of the recipient’s home. The state’s IHSS protocols explicitly prohibit random unannounced home visits, which would be the best tool to uncover any potential rackets.

Beginning in 2024, federal officials announced multiple prosecutions for IHSS fraud. In one case, prosecutors alleged that Cindy Lynn Fromm claimed to have provided services for more than a year while the recipient was incarcerated. In others, prosecutors said that IHSS caregivers falsified timesheets and claimed to have provided services while beneficiaries were in hospitals, care homes, other facilities — or dead.

The other major target for fraudsters is California’s expansive welfare state. The state is famously home to enormous wealth, but also to millions living in poverty, and, as of 2024, to more than 180,000 homeless people.

Responding to these realities, Newsom has unleashed a wave of spending on welfare initiatives.

He has overseen much of a $24 billion state spend on homelessness projects, roughly doubled food-stamp benefits during the pandemic, and has maintained high levels of cash assistance. Just like unemployment insurance and Medi-Cal, though, these welfare programs proved easy targets for swindlers. The homelessness spending, for example, was a massive transfer of funds into a complicated web of nonprofits and other contractors, with apparently little oversight.

Unsurprisingly, fraud cases followed.

Cody Holmes served as chief financial officer of Shangri-La Industries, a Los Angeles–based affordable-housing developer. His company reportedly received nearly $26 million from the state to develop properties under a program aimed at housing the homeless. Prosecutors allege that Holmes, who pleaded not guilty, embezzled roughly $2.2 million to pay for “exotic cars” and monthly rent for a “6,500-square-foot mansion.”

In addition, a 2024 report from California’s state auditor highlighted the government’s limited data on homelessness programs. For three of the five initiatives the auditor examined, it was “unable to fully assess” their success because of a lack of outcome data.

For many California watchers, the 2024 audit came years too late. In 2020, Rep. Kevin Kiley, then serving in the California Assembly, requested a similar report, he told City Journal, but state legislative Democrats rejected the proposal after Newsom intervened. “They likely knew what the audit would show and didn’t want taxpayers to get that window into how their money is, quite frankly, being squandered,” Kiley said.

Notwithstanding this steady drumbeat of fraud cases, at least one California Democratic lawmaker is pushing to lower penalties for those who steal from state welfare programs.

In April 2025, state Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas sponsored a bill that would raise the threshold for felony welfare fraud from $950 to $25,000. The measure would also make it more difficult to charge perjury based on misstatements to county welfare departments. Republican state Assemblyman Carl DeMaio has said that if the bill becomes law, it will effectively “legalize welfare fraud” in California.

Federal prosecutors, however, are stepping up enforcement. Last year, Bill Essayli, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, announced the creation of a federal task force to combat fraud and corruption in the state’s homelessness programs. The task force has already brought charges in several multimillion-dollar homelessness-fraud cases — and Essayli has vowed that more are coming.

The culture of fraud in California is so pervasive that it has allegedly reached the governor’s own office. Between 2022 and December 2024, Newsom’s chief of staff was Dana Williamson. In November 2025, she was charged with fraud for allegedly “siphoning campaign and COVID-19 recovery funds into her and an associate’s pockets.” Two other “well-connected aides in state politics were also charged” and struck plea deals that reportedly confirmed the scheme’s existence. Williamson has pleaded not guilty.

Newsom’s office said they were made aware of an investigation into Williamson in late 2024 and immediately moved to place her on leave. When she officially left the governor’s office a month later, though, Newsom’s send-off message applauded her “insight, tenacity, and big heart,” while making no mention of the investigation against her.

The pattern that emerges in California is that of a vast system that almost seems to invite fraud.

According to California Assemblyman David Tangipa, “Sacramento is pervaded by a culture of corruption.” And he points the finger right to the top: Newsom, he says, has helped “create an environment where corruption thrives.”

Still, California’s fraud crisis is not a lost cause, nor is it beyond correction. On March 16, President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud. The effort, led by Vice President JD Vance, will “coordinate government-wide efforts to combat widespread fraud, waste, and abuse in federal benefit programs.”

The Minnesota fraud scandal, brought to national attention by City Journal, offers a revealing case study of what can happen when a seemingly hidden problem — one long in plain sight — finally comes into view.

The extent of fraud in Minnesota had been an open secret for years. But once the scandal drew national attention, investigations snowballed, ultimately derailing the political career of Tim Walz.

It may seem unlikely today, but a similar outcome is possible for Newsom in California.

Newsom is not untouchable, and the scale of fraud in California appears far larger than in Minnesota.

Despite his claim to have taken “decisive action” against one form of fraud, the broader problem is real and ongoing, and taxpayers, in California and across the country, have reason to be furious.

Newsom will no doubt rely on charisma and partisan appeal to downplay the extent of these abuses. But listen closely, and you can still hear the California cash machine, steadily dispensing untold billions to criminals, scammers, and organized crime rings — funds taken from taxpayers and diverted from those most in need.

nypost.com

more: christopherrufo.com

Tom

[miraje] Lions and tigers and bears, oh my. California's "wildlife" bridge to nowhere is ...

miraje — 3/27/2026 2:45:45 PM

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my. California's "wildlife" bridge to nowhere is the latest taxpayer funded boondoggle..

foxnews.com

Newsom still backing $114M 'bridge to nowhere' for mountain lions and butterflies

...Nearly four years after the ceremony, the bridge is past due and the project some $21 million over budget. What was supposed to be the world’s largest wildlife crossing has become a jobs program for environmentalists, with taxpayers on the hook for what WAWC leader Beth Pratt told us is an overpass "for everything from monarch butterflies to mountain lions."...

[miraje] California 'functionally bankrupt'. Trillion dollar shortfall looming and no eas...

miraje — 3/27/2026 9:17:02 AM

California 'functionally bankrupt'. Trillion dollar shortfall looming and no easy way out. They've really screwed the pooch. Full article at the link below..

foxnews.com

... Friedberg was asked to share an under-discussed "hot take" on politics and policy. He framed California's financial outlook as a largely overlooked issue with implications that could extend beyond the state.

"People don’t realize how screwed California is, and I worry that if California falls, so does the union," Friedberg said...

[Thomas M.] California Governor Debate Canceled After Criticism Over Lack of Diversity The ...

Thomas M. — 3/25/2026 8:55:03 PM

California Governor Debate Canceled After Criticism Over Lack of Diversity

The debate would have featured six candidates, all white.

nytimes.com

Tom

[Thomas M.] Gavin Newsom’s $114 Million Butterfly Bridge In 2022, California Governor Gavin...

Thomas M. — 3/19/2026 10:38:39 AM

Gavin Newsom’s $114 Million Butterfly Bridge

In 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom broke ground on the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing (WAWC), a project featuring an overpass for animals atop ten lanes of the 101 Freeway in Southern California. At the ceremony, Newsom boasted that the state had committed $54 million. He promised to “complete the job within another $10 million,” before seeming to hedge on whether that final sum would do the trick. Officials projected a 2025 completion date for the overpass, and estimated that the entire project—which includes the bridge and other ancillary developments—would cost $92 million, some of it coming from private philanthropists.

Nearly four years after the ceremony, the bridge is past due and the project some $21 million over budget. What was supposed to be the world’s largest wildlife crossing has become a jobs program for environmentalists, with taxpayers on the hook for what WAWC leader Beth Pratt told us is an overpass “for everything from monarch butterflies to mountain lions.”

city-journal.org

[X]

California already spent $114 million on this unfinished wildlife crossing bridge (leading nowhere) pic.twitter.com/sGzJ8fIkMj
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) March 18, 2026

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Tom

[Thomas M.] Home inheritances now outnumber new home sales in California. In California, Ab...

Thomas M. — 3/10/2026 11:41:01 AM

Home inheritances now outnumber new home sales in California.

In California, About the Only Way to Get a House Is to Inherit One

Nearly one out of every five property transfers last year was made through inheritance, a record for the state and double the national share

wsj.com

Tom

[miraje] California voters might be finally waking up. foxnews.com California voter ID ...

miraje — 3/6/2026 11:35:01 AM

California voters might be finally waking up.

foxnews.com

California voter ID initiative clears signature threshold, setting up November showdown with Newsom

'Polling overwhelmingly shows a supermajority consensus for voter ID requirements,' said a petition organizer

A petition to require voter ID and allow only U.S. citizens to vote has gained momentum in California and surpassed the required 875,000-signature threshold to qualify for the November ballot, the group leading the effort said.

According to Reform California, a nonpartisan political activism group, organizers submitted the "California Voter ID Initiative" petition to county authorities with 1.3 million signatures. The group says the petition has garnered bipartisan support, with signatures from Californians representing all walks of life and political persuasions across all 58 of the state’s counties.

Reform California believes the measure has a solid path to passage in November, citing polls showing 71% of Californians favor the initiative. If passed, the measure would bypass the Democratic legislative supermajority and amend the state constitution to require voter ID when casting a ballot, require election officials to verify the citizenship of registered voters and require the state to maintain accurate voter rolls...

[Broken_Clock] Convicted Child Sex Offender To Run For Office In California by Tyler Durden S...

Broken_Clock — 3/1/2026 1:56:41 PM

Convicted Child Sex Offender To Run For Office In California

by Tyler Durden

Sunday, Mar 01, 2026 - 07:15 AM

You can already hear some liberals and left-leaning libertarians now: "He paid for his crime, right? So what's the problem? What about the politicians mentioned in the Epstein files...?"

But "whataboutism" is not a valid argument for rationalizing societal decay. And if America isn't capable of applying the most basic standards at the lowest levels of government, then America is lost.

Rene Campos, a registered sex offender, is seeking elected office in California - launching a campaign for Fresno City Council amid fierce backlash and renewed questions about whether someone with his record should hold public office.

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Campos was arrested in 2018 following a cyber tip to the Central California Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. He was found in possession of child sex abuse material, according to court records. In 2021 he entered a no-contest plea to a single misdemeanor charge of possessing and controlling child pornography/child sex abuse material (likely under California Penal Code § 311.11). He served only one month in prison and a two year probation period.

Campos describes himself as a gay man who is running for office on the platform of "reduced crime and rehabilitation."

Possession of child pornography is typically treated as a felony, even in a woke haven like California. How the Fresno candidate was able to make a deal for a misdemeanor charge and spend only one month in prison is a mystery, but this does help to confirm ongoing suspicions that California's legal system is falling into steep decline.

California is notoriously soft on child sex abusers. Recently, a Sacramento parole board released Daniel Allen Funston, who was convicted in 1999 of sixteen counts of kidnapping and child molestation after a horrific crime spree in Sacramento County, during which he kidnapped, raped, and beat eight children ages 3 to 7.

Funston was originally sentenced to three consecutive life terms plus 20 years, but was set free at age 64 due to a California elderly inmate program (maybe he'll run for office, too).

Data from 2022 shows that the Golden State released over 7000 child sex offenders after less than one year of incarceration. Interestingly, "digital blocks" were added to the Megan’s Law website that prevent more recent analysis.

[url=][/url]

State Senator and LGBT activist Scott Weiner has supported multiple pieces of legislation that help to reduce punishments for sex offenders. He authored a bill in 2017, signed into law, which created a three-tier sex offender registry system in California. It allows some "lower-risk" offenders (including those convicted of misdemeanor possession of child pornography) to petition for removal from the registry after 10-20 years (Tier 1 or 2), rather than lifetime registration.

Perhaps the most disturbing factor is that in California a candidate like Campos actually has a good chance of winning. He is a member of the LGBT community, a minority, and he appeals to the progressive desire to prove that laws are "artificial constructs" and that criminal convictions should not "define a person." In other words, Campos could win the election simply because he gives leftists an opportunity to prove that even the worst criminals are merely downtrodden victims who were never given a chance to succeed.

[Broken_Clock] Outrage In Sacramento: California Parole Board Grants Release Of Serial Child Ra...

Broken_Clock — 2/25/2026 6:20:48 PM

Outrage In Sacramento: California Parole Board Grants Release Of Serial Child Rapist

by Tyler Durden

Wednesday, Feb 25, 2026 - 03:20 PM

Authored by Debra Heine via American Greatness,

The California Parole Board’s decision to release a serial child molester who used candy and toys to lure children as young as three years old has sparked outrage from victims, prosecutors, and law enforcement officials.

David Allen Funston, 64, was convicted in 1999 of sixteen counts of kidnapping and child molestation after a horrific crime spree in Sacramento County, during which he kidnapped, raped, and beat eight children aged 3 to 7.

[url=][/url]

The judge described him as “the monster parents fear the most” and sentenced him to three consecutive life terms plus 20 years.

Funston was recently granted parole under California’s Elderly Parole Program, which allows inmates over 50 who have served at least 20 years to be considered for release.

He was initially denied parole in May 2022 but was granted suitability for release in September 2025.

Governor Gavin Newsom (D.) requested a review of the decision and the Board of Parole Hearings reaffirmed it on February 18, 2026.

Newsom did not override the decision.

Former prosecutor Anne Marie Schubert, who prosecuted Funston in what she called “the worst child predator case I’ve ever seen,” has urged the state to screen him for the Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) program, which would allow civil commitment to a state hospital instead of public release.

“He was hunting for young children,” Schubert, now a victim’s rights advocate, told the Modesto Bee.

“It boggles the mind. He’s the poster child for why sex offenders should be exempt from elderly parole.”

Court records at the time showed Funston had a prior sexual assault conviction in Colorado before moving to California. According to authorities, he served time in a Colorado prison for third-degree sexual assault but was never required to register as a sex offender when he relocated to Sacramento County.

“He is a serial predator is what he is,” Deputy District Attorney Hillary Bagley said in 1996 as charges mounted ahead of his 2½ month trial, according to previous Bee reporting. “He is every parent’s worst nightmare.”

Schubert provided graphic details to the Los Angeles Times of a horrible case in 1995, where Funston used candy to lure a 5-year-old girl into his car, and then took her up into the hills and molested her.

“He beat her. He took her underwear and shoved it down her throat because she was screaming. He then raped her to the point that she has vaginal trauma,” Schubert recalled.

Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper held a press conference Monday and blasted the parole board’s decision to release the dangerous predator back onto the streets.

“He lured them with candy and Barbie dolls. He stole their childhoods. I’ve seen the reports. They’re horrific,” Cooper said.

The sheriff described how Funston kidnapped one little girl in 1995, “viciously” raped her and then drove her to another location where he punched her and kicked her out of the car.

“There’s no explanation. There are some folks who deserve a second chance at life—someone who does these types of things doesn’t deserve a second chance at life,” Cooper said. “The people of Sacramento and every parent across California, deserve answers.”

The sheriff questioned why California would “be okay” with this releasing an infamous child predator like Funston back onto the streets and said California’s parole program needs to be changed.

Sergeant Rafael Rodriguez, who had worked the case in the 1990s as a detective, said he was “outraged” when he read that the monster he helped put behind bars was about to be released. Rodriguez told reporters that the entire Sacramento police bureau has not forgotten the appalling Funston case.

The sergeant said he immediately called Sheriff Cooper and said, “we can’t allow this. This is wrong.”

He lamented that while Funston is being released back onto the streets, his victims are serving the life sentences that come with severe trauma.

“Wherever he is going to be released to better watch him,” Rodriguez warned.

During the presser, Undersheriff Mike Ziegler stressed that child molesters like Funston cannot be rehabilitated.

“There are certain crimes that cannot be rehabilitated and this is one of them,” Ziegler said.

Amelia, who was 3-year-old when she was molested by Funston, also spoke during the presser to plead with the state to keep him incarcerated for life.

“I feel that he does not deserve his freedom,” she said. “He does not need to be back in public society. He is a criminal child molester who is dangerous and deserves to spend the rest of his life behind bars,” she added.

The Sacramento Sheriff’s Office provided additional details about the case in a statement on X Monday.

“The Elderly Parole Program was meant for those who no longer pose a danger. In cases like this, it fails. Our number one responsibility is to protect children. That should never be controversial or partisan,” the sheriff’s office stated. “Protecting children is not rhetoric. It is common sense. Protect children first. Always.”

Funston remains incarcerated at the California Institution for Men in Chino, and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has not disclosed his release date or location, citing safety and security reasons. Ziegler told reporters however that the likelihood of Funston being released right back into Sacramento was “very high.”

[Thomas M.] [X] It's hard to capture the true scale of Oakland’s illegal dumping crisis in ...

Thomas M. — 2/19/2026 9:29:29 PM

[X]

It's hard to capture the true scale of Oakland’s illegal dumping crisis in words alone.

Simply put: they don’t really care about us. pic.twitter.com/EtTofD0c5b
— Seneca Scott (@SenecaSpeaks21) September 1, 2025

[/X]

Tom

[Selectric II] [X] Palantir CTO @ssankar in 2024: “For $10 billion, @elonmusk put 300 rockets...

Selectric II — 2/15/2026 11:41:27 AM

[X]

Palantir CTO @ssankar in 2024:

“For $10 billion, @elonmusk put 300 rockets in orbit.”

“For $11 billion the state of California has built 1600ft of elevated rail, with no rail.” https://t.co/phcs8e4Urw pic.twitter.com/ilhfPNSvIG
— Jawwwn (@jawwwn_) February 5, 2026

[/X]

[Thomas M.] [graphic] Tom

Thomas M. — 2/15/2026 10:56:27 AM

Tom

[miraje] The latest on Newsom's choo choo train to nowhere. A fake photo op.. foxnews.co...

miraje — 2/7/2026 12:19:34 PM

The latest on Newsom's choo choo train to nowhere. A fake photo op..

foxnews.com

...California governor uses diesel freight train on conventional track to create appearance of progress on high-speed rail boondoggle

In the dystopian novel "1984," George Orwell wrote, "The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." The true meaning of that line was never more clear than watching the truly bizarre photo op of Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom heralding the success of the greatest boondoggle in history: his high-speed train to nowhere. Without laying a single yard of track after burning $12 billion, Newsom showed a diesel freight train on a conventional track to create the appearance of a working railroad...

[Broken_Clock] Prepare for whattaboutTrump? in response

Broken_Clock — 2/5/2026 3:48:10 PM

[miraje] Mayor Bass facing blowback over explosive report that she altered wildfire repor...

miraje — 2/5/2026 3:09:37 PM

Mayor Bass facing blowback over explosive report that she altered wildfire report to downplay city's role

foxnews.com

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is under fire this week after a Los Angeles Times report claiming she successfully altered in her favor a critical after-action report on the devastating southern California wildfires that killed 31 people.

While Bass has repeatedly denied that she interfered with the report, the Los Angeles Times reports, citing two sources, that Bass was concerned that the city could be exposed to legal liability for its lack of preparedness and removed or softened language implicating the city.

One of the key changes, according to the Los Angeles Times, was altering details about failures to fully staff and deploy resources leading up to the fire, an issue that has drawn intense scrutiny over the past year.

The report cites a "Bass confidant" who said "the mayor didn’t tell the truth when she said she had nothing to do with changing the report."

SPENCER PRATT ENTERS LA MAYOR RACE, ACCUSES CURRENT LEADERSHIP OF 'CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE' OVER FIRE RESPONSE

Bass, who has also drawn criticism for flying to Africa for an event days before the fire broke out despite hazardous conditions in the forecast and warnings about fire risks, has denied the accuracy of the reporting.

Still, widespread outrage has resulted both on social media and from politicians.

"There’s no moving forward until we get the answers and the people that are responsible are fired, and that includes the fire chiefs, the fire battalion chiefs, that includes the mayor, it includes anybody that had anything to do with this," reality TV star Spencer Pratt, running for mayor of Los Angeles, told Fox Los Angeles while standing next to the burnt remains of his Palisades home that was destroyed in the fire.

Businessman Rick Caruso, who unsuccessfully ran for mayor against Bass and is said to be mulling another run, called the report an "outrage" and said that Bass "actively covered up a report meant to examine the most significant disaster in Los Angeles history."

[Broken_Clock] The Golden State lives up to its billing... California's Hospice Fraud Explosio...

Broken_Clock — 2/3/2026 7:48:05 PM

The Golden State lives up to its billing...

California's Hospice Fraud Explosion: Billions Drained From Taxpayers

by Tyler Durden

Tuesday, Feb 03, 2026 - 02:15 PM

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

The massive hospice fraud racket thriving under California’s lax oversight is finally getting the spotlight it deserves, as the Trump administration’s CMS chief Dr. Mehmet Oz hits the streets of Los Angeles to call out the billions in stolen taxpayer dollars.

[url=][/url]

With organized crime rings, including Russian-Armenian mafia elements, infiltrating the system through ghost patients and fake companies, the scam highlights how globalist policies have opened the door to foreign exploitation of U.S. resources. As fraudsters traffic beneficiaries like commodities, real Americans suffer denied care while the deep state looks the other way.

Los Angeles County alone accounts for 18% of the entire country’s home health care billing, a staggering figure that screams foul play.

One California physician billed the government $120 million in a single year, claiming to oversee 1,900 patients—a workload that defies logic and reeks of corruption.

The county boasts almost 2,000 hospice agencies, more than 36 states combined and 30 times the number in Florida or New York.

Dr. Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, was forthright during his on-the-ground tour: “Hospice is crazy here… You’ve got hospice that’s grown seven-fold in the last five years. They represent about three and a half billion dollars of fraud, we believe, just in LA County.”

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has admitted the problem’s scale, calling it “an epidemic in California, specifically in the greater Los Angeles area.”

The fraud operates through recruiters who lure seniors with freebies like walkers or cash, harvest their Medicare numbers, and sell them to providers for $1,000 to $3,000 each. Providers then bill the feds $260 per day per patient, often for nonexistent services, while shuffling enrollees between sham outfits to evade detection.

In LA’s San Fernando Valley, particularly Van Nuys, the density is absurd: 210 agencies crammed into one square mile, with one building listing 112 hospices showing no actual operations.

Sheila Clark, president of the California Hospice and Palliative Care Association, exposed the human cost: “A Medicare MIB number is more lucrative than a credit card… They’re human traffickers. They’re trafficking beneficiaries in and out of hospices, home health.” She added, “We need to listen to these people when they say, ‘I’ve been scammed.'”

A notorious example is the Mirzoyan-Terdjanian ring, where 73 members were prosecuted for $100 million in fraud using phantom clinics, netting light sentences for racketeering and money laundering.

This constitutes a direct assault on American seniors and the integrity of the U.S. healthcare system, enabled by years of Democrat-led neglect that prioritized open borders over accountability.

While Governor Gavin Newsom claims credit for a 2021 moratorium on new hospice licenses and revoking over 280, the damage was done under his watch, with fraud ballooning unchecked for years. Critics point out that the Trump administration’s renewed federal push, including DOJ investigations, is what’s truly turning the tide against these scams.

Newsom has responsed by filing a civil rights complaint against Dr. Oz for highlighting Armenian community ties to the fraud, a move that reeks of deflection rather than real reform.

This mess underscores the failures of unchecked immigration and weak enforcement, allowing foreign actors to siphon billions meant for American citizens. It’s time for America First policies to root out these parasites and protect seniors from exploitation.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

[Selectric II] Eric Swalwell, CA Rep. and now gubernatorial candidate. I'll just put this here...

Selectric II — 1/17/2026 7:30:06 AM

Eric Swalwell, CA Rep. and now gubernatorial candidate.

I'll just put this here:

Swalwell campaign in the hot seat after accepting almost $15K from CCP-tied law firm: 'Stop playing footsie'
foxnews.com

###

U.S. Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-15) speaking with attendees at the 2019 California Democratic Party State Convention at the George R. Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, June 1, 2019. (Photo: Gage Skidmore)

Eric Swalwell Campaign Takes Nearly $15K from CCP-Tied Law Firm Where is Fang Fang?

By Katy Grimes, January 16, 2026 11:47 am

Rep. Eric Swalwell’s California gubernatorial campaign recently received almost $10,000 from the California-based office of a top Beijing law firm that has deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party, and another $5,000 from a Chinese national, Fox News is reporting Friday:

A filing that was released this week reveals that Swalwell’s campaign received $9,999 from the DeHeng Law Offices PC on Dec. 30 and said that the office is based in Pleasanton, Calif. The law firm’s website reveals that this office is their “Silicon Valley Office” and appears to only have one lawyer who works there.

Keliang “Clay” Zhu, who donated $5,000 to Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign this past November and previously donated over $10,000 to his House campaigns, is a partner at the law firm and is the only name listed for the “Silicon Valley Office,” according to their website.

Oh my. Eric Swalwell already had serious issues when he dated accused Chinese Communist government spy Fang Fang, also known as Christine Fang, who successfully infiltrated a number of Democrat congressional campaigns in California, and even served as a fundraising bundler for Swalwell. Not only did Fang Fang fundraise for Swalwell, she was also sleeping with him.

She even placed an intern in his Washington, D.C. office... (cont'd)

californiaglobe.com

[Selectric II] Who could possibly have seen that coming? lol.

Selectric II — 1/11/2026 7:23:43 PM

[miraje] Heading for the exits. Full article at the link below.. foxbusiness.com Califo...

miraje — 1/11/2026 3:02:57 PM

Heading for the exits. Full article at the link below..

foxbusiness.com

California wealth tax proposal hemorrhages $1T as billionaires flee

Silicon Valley investor warns middle class will 'foot the bill' as ultra-wealthy residents leave state

Venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya says California’s proposed billionaire tax is accelerating an exodus of ultra-wealthy residents, a shift he argues will worsen and not solve the state’s budget deficit.

Palihapitiya, who has been tracking capital flight from the Golden State, said California has so far lost an estimated $1 trillion.

"We had $2T of billionaire wealth just a few weeks ago. Now, 50% of that wealth has left - taking their income tax revenue, sales tax revenue, real estate tax revenue and all their staffs (and their salaries and income taxes) with them," Palihapitiya wrote on X on Sunday.

Even as the measure remains under consideration for the November statewide ballot, some of Silicon Valley’s most prominent figures warn it could trigger an exodus of founders and capital...

[Selectric II] New media entrant to focus on California launching later this month, sister pub ...

Selectric II — 1/9/2026 7:08:42 AM

New media entrant to focus on California launching later this month, sister pub to the New York Post:

Roll out the red carpet! The California Post to launch on January 26: ‘A game-changer’ for the Golden State
By Post Staff Report
Published Jan. 5, 2026, 2:00 p.m. ET
nypost.com

Maria Bartiromo on FBN just interviewed the newly appointed Opinion Editor. Their convo centered on the LA fires and CA state and local government obstacles to reconstruction. What a failure. Just the debate over whether to waive permitting fees, which can be $30-$40k to rebuild homes lost through no fault of their own (vs. elective, like a kitchen remodel), has lasted for a year without action.

Publication launch is on Jan. 26.

[Selectric II] Everything's going according to plan: Vacant Lots for Sale Are Piling Up After...

Selectric II — 12/30/2025 10:21:40 AM

Everything's going according to plan:

Vacant Lots for Sale Are Piling Up After the L.A. Fires; Investors Are Buying 40% of Those That Sell

08:00:00 AM ET, 12/30/2025 - Business Wire
Redfin reports investors purchase roughly 2 in 5 lots that sell in the Pacific Palisades, Altadena and Malibu areas; many of these lots once held homes destroyed in the January fires

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 30, 2025--Real estate investors are buying roughly 40% of the land selling in areas impacted by the January 2025 California wildfires, according to a new report from Redfin, the real estate brokerage powered by Rocket.

In the 90272 zip code (Pacific Palisades), investors purchased 48 of the 119 lots (40.3%) that sold in the third quarter. That compares with zero lot purchases a year earlier—from both investors and other buyers.

In the 91001 zip code (Altadena), investors bought 27 of the 61 lots (44.3%) that sold. That also compares with zero lot purchases a year earlier from investors and other buyers.

And in the 90265 zip code (Malibu), investors bought 19 of the 43 lots that sold (44.2%). That’s more than double the 21.4% share of a year earlier.

“In Altadena, there’s a real push around the idea that the community is not for sale,” said Redfin Premier real estate agent Sylva Khayalian. “People who plan to stay are encouraging others not to sell because of how much it could change the neighborhood—but for some residents, selling is the only option that makes financial sense.”

A lot of the homes that burned down in Altadena were built in the 1940s or 1950s. Khayalian said many investors are making lowball offers for the lots, with plans to flip the land into new homes. Some owners are rejecting these offers, but others are signing on the dotted line because they’re desperate to sell, she said. A lot of the residents who plan to sell are elderly or were underinsured when their home burned down, meaning they don’t have the money to rebuild. The rebuilding process has been painstaking for many residents, who have been waiting nearly a year for permits, but Khayalian said she has seen more builders break ground in the past few weeks. Many homeowners who lost their homes are living in rentals nearby, while others have left town.

In Pacific Palisades—a much more affluent neighborhood—some people whose homes burned down have purchased another home to live in while they decide whether to rebuild, said Redfin Premier real estate agent Justin Vold. One of Vold’s clients bought a $3.75 million home near Santa Monica, and plans to work with a renowned architect to rebuild their house that burned in Pacific Palisades. Another client whose Malibu home was destroyed by the fires recently purchased a $4.68 million Pacific Palisades house, which didn’t burn in the fires but faces landslide risk.

Vold expects to see more buyers enter the market as insurance stops covering temporary rentals for people whose homes burned down and as more residents give up on the idea of rebuilding. If more people decide against rebuilding, the pileup of vacant lots on the market will grow.

There’s a Pileup of Land for Sale in the Areas Hit by the Fires

It’s not uncommon for investors to buy and develop land after natural disasters. And while investors have been active in areas impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires, Redfin agents say there’s so much land for sale that much of it is sitting on the market unsold.

In all three zip codes Redfin analyzed, there are far more listings—of both vacant lots and single-family homes—than sales.

In Pacific Palisades, there were 309 lot listings during the three months ending November 30, up from just seven a year earlier. In Altadena, lot listings jumped to 225 from two over the same period, and in Malibu, they rose to 214 from 125.

“There are so many lots sitting on the market that sellers are starting to cut prices to attract offers,” Khayalian said. “Many of the lots that are selling in Altadena are in the $500,000 to $600,000 range. If there was still a home on them, they might sell for $1 million or more.”

The typical lot that sold in Altadena during the three months ending November 30 went for $510,000, while the typical lot that sold in Pacific Palisades went for $1.6 million. In Malibu, the typical lot that sold went for $1.3 million.

Some properties in areas impacted by the fires have been hard to value because there’s not much turnover and the surrounding infrastructure has been destroyed, noted Redfin Premier agent Carlos Castillo.

Housing-Market Summary for Areas Impacted by Fires: Three Months Ending Nov. 30

	Three months ending Nov. 30, 2025	Three months ending Nov. 30, 2024
Pacific Palisades (90272)
Vacant lots for sale	309	7
Vacant lots sold	107	0
Single-family homes for sale	118	140
Single-family homes sold	31	45
Altadena (91001)
Vacant lots for sale	225	2
Vacant lots sold	80	0
Single-family homes for sale	124	122
Single-family homes sold	58	67
Malibu (90265)
Vacant lots for sale	214	125
Vacant lots sold	37	12
Single-family homes for sale	283	279
Single-family homes sold	37	33

Home Sales Tick Up in the Palisades and Altadena But Remain Below Pre-Fire Levels

There were 31 sales of single-family homes in Pacific Palisades during the three months ending November 30, up from a record low of just six in the three-month period after the fires started, but down from 45 a year earlier.

In Altadena, there were 58 sales of single-family homes, up from a record low 26 in the three-month period after the fires started, but down from 67 a year earlier.

There are far fewer sales of single-family homes than there are sales of vacant lots in Pacific Palisades and Altadena—a reversal from before the fires.

In Pacific Palisades, there were 107 lot sales during the three months ending November 30, up from zero a year earlier. In Altadena, there were 80, also up from zero a year earlier. In Malibu, lot sales rose to 37 from 12.

“The homes for sale that didn’t burn are only attracting offers if they’re priced reasonably and the owner has remediated ash and smoke damage,” Khayalian said. “The most important thing someone looking to buy in this area can do is figure out if they can afford insurance. Mortgage lenders in California require homebuyers to have fire coverage, and premiums have gone up by 35% to 50% since the fires.”

One wall of Khayalian’s house burned in the fires, but fortunately members of the community put out the flames with pool water before they could spread. Still, the cost to clean up the damage has been in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. A remediation company cleaned up the ash and smoke residue, which cost nearly $70,000 and was covered by Khayalian’s insurance. But there was also lead exposure due to the fires, which cost $160,000 to clean up—an expense she’s still fighting to get her insurer to cover. The wall that burned cost $20,000 to repair, and there was nearly $30,000 of landscaping work that needed to be done because there was heavy rain after the fires, which created two inches of mud.

“The cost of cleaning up smoke and ash damage can be so exorbitant that some homeowners are morbidly joking about how it might be easier if their house had just burned down.”

To view the full report, including charts and methodology, please visit: cts.businesswire.com

About Redfin

Redfin is a technology-driven real estate company with the country's most-visited real estate brokerage website. As part of Rocket Companies (NYSE: RKT), Redfin is creating an integrated homeownership platform from search to close to make the dream of homeownership more affordable and accessible for everyone. Redfin’s clients can see homes first with on-demand tours, easily apply for a home loan with Rocket Mortgage, and save thousands in fees while working with a top local agent.

You can find more information about Redfin and get the latest housing market data and research at cts.businesswire.com. For more information about Rocket Companies, visit cts.businesswire.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: businesswire.com

Contact Redfin Journalist Services:
Kenneth Applewhaite
press@redfin.com

Source: Redfin

[Broken_Clock] LOL That dude nailed it on Newsom. Silicon Valley censorship rules.

Broken_Clock — 12/27/2025 4:16:35 PM

[miraje] Possible answer.. Message 35372384

miraje — 12/27/2025 2:21:47 PM

[miraje] Video unavailable. YouTube account terminated? I wonder why..

miraje — 12/27/2025 1:01:14 PM

[Broken_Clock] [youtube video]

Broken_Clock — 12/26/2025 7:02:31 PM

[Thomas M.] This success story is brought to you by Governor Gavin Newsom and a Democrat sup...

Thomas M. — 12/12/2025 10:51:18 AM

This success story is brought to you by Governor Gavin Newsom and a Democrat super-majority in the legislature:

Home prices: highest in the nation
Gas prices: highest in the nation
Electricity rates: highest in the nation
Water bills: highest in the nation
Tax rate: highest in the nation

Tom

[Thomas M.] Los Angeles's worst slumlord is a "charity" that gets discounted HIV drugs from...

Thomas M. — 12/11/2025 1:28:19 PM

Los Angeles's worst slumlord is a "charity" that gets discounted HIV drugs from the government, which they then sell for a profit. They use the profits to buy and rent out homes (without proper maintenance) and to lobby for homebuilding restrictions to block competition.

Inside the world’s largest AIDS charity’s troubled move into homeless housing

A Times investigation has found that many of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s more than 1,300 residents live in squalid conditions, with dozens under the threat of eviction.

latimes.com

Tom

[miraje] Running on empty? Message 35339776

miraje — 11/24/2025 1:38:14 PM

[Thomas M.] The FCC is stopping California’s misuse of federal dollars. California is all f...

Thomas M. — 11/20/2025 11:20:01 AM

The FCC is stopping California’s misuse of federal dollars.

California is all for sending your taxpayers dollars to people here illegally.

And Governor Newsom recently signed a bill that makes it effectively impossible for the FCC to ensure that the federal Lifeline dollars we administer go to their intended recipients.

The new California law now prohibits the state from collecting social security numbers and from sharing relevant data with the federal government.

The FCC is stopping California’s abuse today.

We are revoking California’s “opt-out” status and now requiring California to use a federal verification process to ensure that Lifeline benefits only go to lawful recipients.

Thank you.

x.com

Tom

[Broken_Clock] New film leaves no doubt: Gavin Newsom, Karen Bass abandoned LA as it bur...

Broken_Clock — 11/13/2025 12:41:47 PM

New film leaves no doubt: Gavin Newsom, Karen Bass abandoned LA as it burned

By
Joel Pollak

Published Nov. 12, 2025, 6:04 p.m. ET

A new documentary about the Palisades Fire of January shows California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass touring the Pacific Palisades as it burns behind them — with a contingent of Los Angeles Fire Department firefighters accompanying them instead of fighting the blaze.

The film, “Paradise Abandoned,” scheduled for release in December, is a reminder that the Palisades Fire will continue to haunt Bass as she seeks re-election — and Newsom as he seeks the presidency.

Newsom addressed adoring crowds of Democrats in Houston over the weekend, even picking up a presidential endorsement or two, though he has not yet officially launched his campaign.

ring January's Palisades Fire, Gov. Gavin Newsom was:

He is touting his success in passing Proposition 50 — which gerrymanders California’s congressional districts for Democrats’ benefit — as he casts himself as the leader of the party.

LA firefighters warned that brush fire was still smoldering before it sparked Palisades blaze, but officials did nothing: report

And any change may already be too late for residents who have been forced to sell their lots because of a lack of support from the state.

“Paradise Abandoned” claims authorities diverted firefighting resources during the fire, which burned over 23,000 acres (36 square miles), destroyed nearly 7,000 structures and killed 12 people.

It notes that despite the fact that Pacific Palisades was situated in “a region of maximum fire risk” ahead of predicted extreme winds Jan. 7, not one additional fire truck was deployed to the area.

Residents are shown having slipped past roadblocks on the second day of the still-burning fire to find out what happened to their homes.

They discover many have burned, with few firefighters in sight.

“The response is so f–king minimal,” one says.

Meanwhile, the film notes, many fire trucks were stationed on the outer perimeter of the fire — or at a command post in a beach parking lot below the town, where they served as a backdrop for local officials to stage press conferences.

One resident recalls watching the Chase Bank building catch fire on the second day of the fire and burn completely through — while the governor and mayor toured the area.

“The mayor and the governor were in the middle of town, doing a news conference. And in the background, you see the Chase Bank building burning to the ground. They weren’t doing anything. The whole thing just burned right to the ground, with the mayor and the governor within a block of the place.”

Newsom and Bass are seen flanked by firefighters.

“They weren’t doing anything,” the resident says.

Another resident who lost his home reiterates his disappointment at the apparent lack of help from firefighters.

“You’d think they would have made some sort of effort to try to save this neighborhood, and others,” he says. “And they didn’t come.”

He said a neighbor who tried to alert firefighters on the beach saw them eating “breakfast burritos,” and was told they had been ordered to “stand down.”

Gavin Newsom nursed bottle of tequila at home while LA burned and Trump lobbed blame: ‘Everything collapsing’

Local firefighters have pushed back against such claims, explaining that they had to keep engines in reserve, given the lack of water, and that the wind — which reached almost 100 mph atop nearby mountains overnight — was simply too strong to have stopped the spread of the blaze

Many residents have also shared stories publicly of firefighters struggling valiantly to save their homes — sometimes successfully, often in vain.

Still, for some locals, who watched fire trucks drive by as their homes burned, a sense of trust has been shattered.

And many continue to feel neglected by Newsom and Bass, as the politicians try to take credit for what they have called “the fastest fire recovery in modern history.”

True, the federal government cleared the burned lots in record time — but most still sit empty.

Many residents blame the state for not forcing insurance companies to pay out and also blame local government for bureaucratic delays in approving rebuilding permits.

The LA City Council has not even voted to waive permitting fees for fire victims yet, despite months of promises by Mayor Bass.

The Post reported last month that Newsom “nursed a bottle of tequila in his mansion while Los Angeles burned in the Palisades Fire — and pouted that President Trump was blaming him for the devastating blaze.”

“Paradise Abandoned” leaves little room for doubt.

“The people in power made a decision: not incompetence, not an inevitability, but a conscious decision to give up,” it declares.

Joel Pollak is opinion editor at The California Post, a sister publication of The New York Post that launches in early 2026.

[Broken_Clock] California cancels 17,000 CDLs following federal audit Newsom issued lice...

Broken_Clock — 11/13/2025 12:30:57 PM

California cancels 17,000 CDLs following federal audit Newsom issued licenses to “dangerous foreign drivers,” according to Trump administration

John Gallagher
· Wednesday, November 12, 2025
California is revoking thousands of illegal CDLs, according to US DOT.

WASHINGTON — The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has cancelled 17,000 non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses following a federal audit of the state’s CDL program, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

In a press statement on Wednesday, DOT asserted that state officials admitted to illegally issuing the CDLs “to dangerous foreign drivers,” and that DMV sent notices to the license holders that their license no longer meets federal requirements and will expire in 60 days.

“After weeks of claiming they did nothing wrong, Gavin Newsom and California have been caught red-handed,” said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg. My team will continue to force California to prove they have removed every illegal immigrant from behind the wheel of semitrucks and school buses.”

FreightWaves has reached out to California’s DMV for comment.

FMCSA Chief Counsel Jesse Elison notified Newsom and his DMV in a September 26 letter that a sampling of the roughly 62,000 drivers in California holding unexpired, non-domiciled CDLs or commercial learner’s permits issued by the state revealed that 26% – which extrapolates to roughly 16,000 – failed to comply with federal requirements.

“Even more concerning is the fact that, for three of the transactions, the DMV was unable to provide documentation showing that it validated the drivers’ lawful presence documents before issuing a non-domiciled CDL,” Elison stated. “Consequently, based on the documentation provided, it appears that the DMV issued a non-domiciled CDL to three drivers without validating their lawful presence.”

Duffy posted a statement on the day of Elison’s notification letter warning that “California must get its act together immediately or I will not hesitate to pull millions in funding,” starting at nearly $160 million in the first year and doubling in year two.

DOT reiterated on Wednesday that it “will continue to push California’s to revoke all illegal non-domiciled CDLs or pull $160 million in federal funds.”

[miraje] I'm sure that the rate of Calexit will accelerate. Full article at the link.. f...

miraje — 10/30/2025 9:27:17 PM

I'm sure that the rate of Calexit will accelerate. Full article at the link..

foxbusiness.com

California billionaires face proposed one-time wealth tax

California’s wealthiest residents could face a one-time 5% tax on their net worth under a new proposal aimed at replacing billions of dollars in federal funding cuts to healthcare.

The measure – called the "2026 Billionaire Tax Act" – seeks to counter $30 billion in potential federal funding cuts to California's Medicaid program, with a portion of the revenue earmarked for public education, according to supporters, which include the Service Employees International Union (SEIU)..

[Broken_Clock] zerohedge.com California's Retirement Fund Lost 71% Of $468M Investment In Clea...

Broken_Clock — 10/29/2025 7:31:20 PM

zerohedge.com

California's Retirement Fund Lost 71% Of $468M Investment In Clean Energy And Won't Say How

by Tyler Durden

Wednesday, Oct 29, 2025 - 01:25 PM

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) lost roughly 71% of its $468 million investment in a clean-energy and technology private equity fund - and won’t explain how. The losses highlight growing concerns about the pension giant’s private equity strategy, which relies heavily on opaque, illiquid investments and leaves taxpayers ultimately on the hook.

[url=]Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images[/url]According to state records analyzed by the Center Square, the CalPERS Clean Energy & Technology Fund (CETF), launched in 2007, has seen its value fall from a total commitment of $468.4 million to $138 million as of March 31, 2025. That represents a loss of more than $330 million, even after paying $22 million in fees and costs to private equity managers.

CalPERS’ overall returns for fiscal 2024–2025 were 11.6%, with public equities returning 16.8% and private equity 14.3%. The similar performance between the two asset classes has raised questions about whether the complexity and cost of private equity are worth it.

“If you can get these kinds of returns on the public markets, why bother with all the complexities and the illiquidity involved in private equity?” said Marc Joffe, a public finance expert and visiting fellow at the California Policy Center, in an interview with The Center Square.

Joffe said the CETF losses underscore “the combined dangers of private equity and ESG investment,” describing it as an opaque strategy that appears driven by “green credentials” rather than returns. “CalPERS would be better off focusing on a diverse portfolio of publicly traded equities to get better long-term returns,” he said.

A Fund Born in the Green BoomCalPERS created CETF during the early years of the Obama administration, when government and investors poured billions into clean-energy ventures. According to PEI reports, the fund was managed by Capital Dynamics, which focused heavily on U.S. solar energy projects.

Capital Dynamics’ then–managing director Benoit Scaysbrook defended the fund’s narrow focus, saying the team preferred to specialize in solar projects rather than take a generalist approach to renewables. But many solar ventures of that era collapsed amid competition from low-cost Chinese producers. “Once a rock star in the solar industry, evergreen solar was not able to keep up with the competition from China,” a Capital Dynamics–sponsored book on clean energy investing later noted.

The best-known casualty of that boom, Solyndra, left taxpayers with more than $500 million in losses after its government-backed factory shut down.

CalPERS Shifts Strategy — But Defends Private EquityCalPERS spokesman Abram Arredondo said CETF predated the fund’s current approach.

“The CalPERS Clean Energy & Technology Fund dates back to 2007, before the pension fund’s board and staff worked together to tightly focus our private equity strategy,” Arredondo wrote to The Center Square.

He said CalPERS has since diversified investments, selected higher-performing asset managers, and reduced fees through co-investments.

“Since that time [2022], we have reduced fees by 10 percent. The private equity class has been our best performer for the past 20 years and we believe our members deserve access to its income-producing opportunities.”

Pension Gaps and Public ExposureDespite this defense, CalPERS remains only 79% funded, according to its own data, leaving $180 billion in unfunded liabilities, based on estimates from the Reason Foundation. That gap leaves California taxpayers indirectly responsible for any shortfall.

To make up ground, CalPERS has boosted its private equity allocation - from 7% in 2021 to 17% in 2024 - even though the valuations of private holdings are less transparent and based on internal estimates rather than market prices.

Private equity managers earn fees, among others, on money managed, and a large share of the profit over a certain level. These fees, estimated to cost CalPERS 6-7% per year on its private equity investments, mean that these private equity investments have to significantly outperform the broader market to overcome the fees, let alone make up for the elevated risk. -Center Square

Calls for TransparencyWhen The Center Square filed a public records request seeking details on the CETF’s investments and management contracts, CalPERS declined to provide them, citing exemptions under state law for alternative investments.

“The public should have a right to know how public money is being invested,” said David Loy, legal director for the First Amendment Coalition, in an email to The Center Square. “This is a serious transparency concern if the public doesn’t have visibility into how public money, especially pension funds, are being invested and to what degree of risk.”

The Cost of a Bad BetHad CalPERS simply invested the CETF money in an S&P 500 index fund with dividends reinvested, the stake would be worth around $3 billion today.

That gap illustrates the long-term impact of compounded losses. Negative returns erode the base of capital available for future investment - making it harder to recover. Pension managers often emphasize risk control over chasing high returns; consistent, moderate performance can outperform more volatile peers over time.

[Thomas M.] Newsom's "Field of Schemes" Stolen Athletic Valor x.com If baseball got him in...

Thomas M. — 10/28/2025 10:00:09 AM

Newsom's "Field of Schemes" Stolen Athletic Valor

x.com

If baseball got him into college because his grades and SATs sucked, why is he not on the official Santa Rosa all-time baseball roster, below?

Why can't John Savage, the current UCLA baseball coach whose time at Santa Clara University overlapped with Newsom's, remember him playing baseball at all?

We investigated this go-to Newsom fabrication in our book, ??Fool's Gold??, and provide the receipts.

The entire Newsom narrative about pulling himself up by his cleat laces is a myth:

--Over the last THREE DECADES, Newsom has claimed to be a baseball high school standout who managed to win a partial althetic scholarship to Santa Clara University, a well-regarded small Jesuit liberal arts school in the heart of what is now Silicon Valley.

--In California, Newsom’s claims that he was scouted by the Texas Rangers, a major league franchise George W. Bush would go on to own has been repeated so often it’s morphed into an urban legend in San Francisco. In a 2004 home opener, the San Francisco Giants invited Newsom, then the city’s newly minted mayor to throw out the first pitch, As he took the mound, the announcer stated that Newsom had “played first base for the University of Santa Clara and was drafted by the Texas Rangers.”

--And Newsom continues to mislead and embellish his claims that his high school baseball skills got him into Santa Clara University despite bad grades and SAT scores. He used the same lines during his recent podcasts -- even the one with Charlie Kirk

--He fails to mention, while playing up his baseball admission, however, that he had a personal letter of recommendation from none other than former California Gov. Jerry Brown, who had finished serving his first tenure as governor two years prior, accompanied his 1985 application to the school.

--Those famous political and moneyed San Francisco connections also played a key role in getting Newsom on the university’s JV baseball team, where he played for one season before getting hurt and dropping off the team and heading out for a semester in Europe to clear his head.

-When Crabtree contacted Santa Clara University, where Newsom graduated from, there were no records or photos of him playing on any of the school’s baseball teams.

-That’s because he only played on the JV team as a freshman and then dropped off the team, and the university’s athletic division didn’t keep any photos of JV teams at the time.

-Newsom’s assistant baseball coach at Santa Clara University who now is the head baseball coach at Cal State University, East Bay, told Susan Crabtree, that Newsom was a left-handed pitcher and first baseman on the JV team as a freshman.

"Then he got hurt, I can't remember what the exact injury was, and then he just decided not to play anymore."

-Cummins said he remembered that Newsom was connected "to some alums," including William Connolly, who played for the Santa Clara baseball team in the early 1960s and went on to become a wealthy San Francisco banker who had ties to Newsom’s father.

Crabtree asked Coach Cummins if he remembers him having a baseball scholarship of any kind.

-Cummins responded: "I do not remember that, okay? Because he came from -- obviously, you know his history -- he came from wealth."

"And the alums that were pushing us to take him or recruit him were very tied into that group, and, obviously, as a private school in Santa Clara, that was a huge part of keeping donors happy."

--Then Cummins said this: "I've heard him speak a few times and he kind of embellishes his time [playing baseball at Santa Clara]." Cummins also remembers there were some baseball star alums, such as John Savage, the current UCLA baseball coach who played two years for the Cincinnati Reds, whose time at Santa Clara University overlapped with Newsom but they couldn't remember him playing baseball at all.

"They would call me, you know, when he became governor because he would talk about being on the team, and they couldn't remember him playing at all," Cummins recalled. "And I would tell them, yes, he was on the team, but he was on the javees so they never really bonded with him or whatever."

Tom

[Thomas M.] Harjinder Singh is an illegal alien truck driver from India who killed 3 people...

Thomas M. — 10/23/2025 8:50:36 PM

Harjinder Singh is an illegal alien truck driver from India who killed 3 people in a crash in Florida in August.

Singh failed his CDL test 10 times in a 2-month window between 3/10/2023 and 5/5/2023 in the state of Washington.

Singh also failed his air breaks knowledge test twice. Also, the company that provided Singh's behind the wheel CDL training attested he could speak English proficiently, when he couldn't.

Both Washington and California issued him a license.

x.com

Gavin Newsom gave 62,000 CDL commercial truck driver licenses to illegal aliens.

[X]

Jaw dropping.

CA Governor Newsom gave 62,000 CDL commercial driver licenses to illegals.

pic.twitter.com/ooP2yW1qy6
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) October 23, 2025

[/X]

Tom

[Thomas M.] LA County CEO given $2 million settlement after she says Measure G caused "emoti...

Thomas M. — 10/17/2025 9:23:29 AM

LA County CEO given $2 million settlement after she says Measure G caused "emotional and mental distress"

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a $2 million settlement for the county's CEO due to what she called distress caused by Measure G, which turned the selection process for her position into an election.

Fesia Davenport was appointed as the LA County CEO in January 2021, but come 2028, voters will now decide who assumes the job, versus what has always been an appointment from the other supervisors. Davenport said in a letter obtained by the Los Angeles Times that the change, which would require her to re-run for her position and went into effect when Measure G was passed by voters in 2024, has caused her "physical, emotional and mental distress."

"People seem to think that a county job is a Supreme Court appointment. A life-long term," said Sara Sadhwani, a professor of politics at Pomona College who is also on the Measure G task force. "That's not the case. ... This idea that her job was being harmed was not very clear to me, and seems like somewhat of a frivolous claim."

Davenport accepted her settlement during a meeting where supervisors addressed a barrage of financial woes, stemming from the January wildfires, tumultuous economic conditions, the unpredictable support from the federal government and $4 billion in payouts to victims of sexual abuse crimes that occurred in county juvenile facilities stretching back decades.

"When taxpayer money is used to enrich a public official, it erodes public trust and undermines the very foundation of our democracy," said a statement from Morgan Miller, with the Yes on Measure G campaign. "Under Fesia Davenport's leadership, the county told its workers there was sparse money for fair pay — and then she turned around and demanded a multimillion-dollar payout for herself. That's hypocrisy at its worst."

cbsnews.com

Tom

[Selectric II] To put it gently, Gavin Newsom might be the biggest phoney in today’s political ...

Selectric II — 9/30/2025 9:41:57 PM

To put it gently, Gavin Newsom might be the biggest phoney in today’s political arena. Such a disingenuous, dishonest freak.

And that’s with lots of competition for that ignominious honor.

[Thomas M.] Gavin Newsom repeatedly used the woke term "Latinx", then later claimed he didn'...

Thomas M. — 9/30/2025 12:39:24 PM

Gavin Newsom repeatedly used the woke term "Latinx", then later claimed he didn't.

Sociopath.

[X]

After telling me that no one in his office ever used the term Latinx, CNN put together a brutal compilation of Gov. Gavin Newsom personally and repeatedly using the phrase.

If he'll lie like this, directly to my face, on camera... pic.twitter.com/mx2nskMGhe
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) March 21, 2025

[/X]

Tom

[Thomas M.] I swear there are 20% fewer people around in LA than usual. Certainly true at ...

Thomas M. — 9/23/2025 9:07:41 PM

I swear there are 20% fewer people around in LA than usual. Certainly true at the popular overpriced market I go to, where there are now empty parking spaces right next to the door. But traffic is lighter all over. You can get around. Nobody can explain why.

COVID? ICE? Work from home? Amazon? Hollywood's collapse? Too poor to go out? Nobody came back from their vacation homes? They're all in Texas? They're still there, Ozempic just made them smaller?

x.com

Tom

[miraje] So stupid. Just another example of California politics at its worst. Full articl...

miraje — 9/6/2025 6:38:49 PM

So stupid. Just another example of California politics at its worst. Full article, pics and comments at the link below...

hemmings.com

Leno’s Law is Dead: California Kills Classic Car Smog Exemption Bill

By
Tara Hurlin September 3, 2025

Lawmakers in California rejected “ Leno’s Law,” otherwise known as Senate Bill 712, during a hearing on Friday, August 29th. The bill, which had bipartisan support in the Senate and was backed by Jay Leno and the SEMA organization, would have exempted classic cars older than 35 years from the state’s biennial smog checks. The Assembly Appropriations Committee’s decision effectively killed the bill, despite its appeal to classic car enthusiasts. The law was seen as a way to protect and celebrate California’s car culture..