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Stupidity? Not really. Other people have replied and made the point that it's not that difficult to find more than enough clueless people in a state of 35+ million to sign a petition to recall Gray Davis.

I live in California too, in southern California, and my electrical bills are high too. Unlike you however, I don't solely blame Gov. Davis for the high prices. Unless you've forgotten your civics classes you'll remember that the government of California is not a dictatorship and that two other branches of the government are responsible for what goes on here. Recalling Gray Davis accomplishes nothing of note accept undermining the election process.

Oh, and then there's the whole Texas/power provider thing going on. Had our illustrious President stepped up to the plate and actually given a shit about something other than his friends in Texas, there wouldn't have *been* a problem. Instead he protected his ass and his bud's profits.

Simon saw an opportunity to get a second shot at being govenor and took it. Without his backing the recall never would have happened. And if Georgy gets elected, you think there *won't* be another recall? Yeah, right.

California has lots of problems but they're not all Gov. Davis's fault. Maybe you should stop blaming him and figure out who you should really be ticked at. Or even better, contact your representative or senator and let them know how you feel.

You may be among those unhappy with his record, but his record does not warrant a recall. Perhaps if he held secret meetings with energy officials after working for a defense contractor, then gave no bid contracts to your former employer, then I say let's recall him but of course, we got CA's circus to compete with Florida's- we just need the supreme's to get involved.

And yes, it is a republican vendetta. Republican's have become increasingly more vindictive since Clinton splattered Bush I on Gore's information superhighway after Bush I lead us from a war into a recession.

The California Energy Commission has some info on different types of distributed energy resources from solar/wind/fuelcells to good ole ICE and turbines; listing their fuel sources, efficiency, environmental hazards, production capabilities and current availability; along with best applications, costs, performance, strengths & weaknesses, future developments, and where to buy them.

The page for microturbines is currently down, but the rest are up.

- State sales tax is nowhere near 10%. In Los Angeles County it's 8.25% and I think ours is the highest. At least 1.5% of that is county tax. State sales tax is 6.something percent. That's closer to 5% than 10%.

- If state income tax was 10%, I would have owed another $6370.70 last year when I sold a house. I paid 7.77% in the highest possible tax bracket.

- State sales tax is nowhere near 10%. In Los Angeles County it's 8.25% and I think ours is the highest. At least 1.5% of that is county tax. State sales tax is 6.something percent. That's closer to 5% than 10%.

- If state income tax was 10%, I would have owed another $6370.70 last year when I sold a house. I paid 7.77% in the highest possible tax bracket.

If you live in California, you can put a security freeze on your credit record. That means that nobody but you (or the usual government agencies, I suppose) can request a credit report unless you unfreeze it. Although this doesn't prevent someone from using your identity, it does make it harder for them to get credit or open accounts, since most banks or other entities will want to check your credit report first.

AFAIK, California is the only state that has security freezes. Needless to say, it's not something that the credit agencies have been exactly jumping for joy about, since they are in the business of selling reports.

In all states, you can request (and pay for) a security alert, which means you are notified when somebody pulls a credit report.

I don't think you or the others who quote that article understand how bond's work. Read THIS

I dare say that California doesn't even have a deficit. Go to this site and see for yourself. Politicians are NOT to be trusted; they love to hide money from you. Kinda like a beggar asking for money when his pockets are full of twenty dollar bills.

Oh, BTW, the info is correct. It comes from here.

Lets look at your generally assumed positions - 1 at a time...

They pay taxes. Federal taxes deducted from their paychecks.

Where exactly is that fscking line item on the envelope full of singles that they get at the end of the day?

They are not a draw on social programs?

The county of Los Angeles ALONE - in 1 year paid out $350 MILLION (one county, one year) last year in medical expendatures to "undocumented workers". How do they know this? If you have a valid SSN, you get MediCAL. If you don't have a valid SSN, they simply bill your (ficticious) residence. The cost last year was $380 million. (LA Times)

If they get arrested they get tossed out?

It costs the state of California 7 times more to incarcerate "undocumented" Californians than it will cost to run this recall election.

They do not have to pay any insurance costs for their "vehicles" because they do not bother to register them, because, like you said, they avoid the DMV.

They most often use public transportation - which is by all accounts in every location in California a tax user, not a tax producer - because all state county, and city public transportation systems run at a loss, they do not make the cities/state money.

They do not pay for the cost of their children's education - because they do not pay income tax because they do not, on average, make enough to pay taxes since most of them make less than $22k a year.. below which, you do not pay federal income tax, and they can actually GET money back from the federal govnerment because you get $1000 for each child you have - the child tax credit.. so in the end, they MAKE more money off of the tax system alone than they put in.

They pay sale tax (on good that they buy in stores, but not on goods such as private sale of foodstuffs like what the farmers will sell to them at the end of the day). And they pay property tax (as part of their cost of rent) - but since they live disproportionately more people/dwelling, the revenue generated per captia is far below non-Latino rates.

In short - California is 100 times better than where they came from. Where they cam from they did not get free medical, free childbirth medical, free schooling for their kids, nearly free transportation costs, they don't get extorted by the cops as much as they did back in Mexico, China, Korea or whetever central American country they are from... and they get to be guarded by the best police, fire, and military protection in the world - without paying most of those nasty taxes that go to provide it all.

The employers of these people have an unfair tax advantage - but far far more importantly, they do not have to pay worker's compensation insurance on them - which in the State of California is running around 75% of worker's wages right now/year... it may go to 125% within 5 years. That means if you hire a guy for $40k a year, it will cost you nrealy $100k to hire them - when its all said and done...

This state is on the verge of total colapse - and it is because this state is responsible for the care, feeding (school lunches and breakfasts), and medical of non-trivial portions of other country's populations.

I did not sign up for the recall because I want to see at what point people will "get it" - that you cannot run a state like this, or it will collapse. With the party in power now standing up things like the "end poverty in California committee" movement in the state legislature - perhapse you remember that from the past.. Stalin and Lennin were both big proponents of the same ideals.

I want Americans to feel first hand what socialism does to a state... i want them to experience total colapse of a state under the weight of open borders and unlimited government programs. Because it is obvious to me that most people still left i

Lets look at your generally assumed positions - 1 at a time...

They pay taxes. Federal taxes deducted from their paychecks.

Where exactly is that fscking line item on the envelope full of singles that they get at the end of the day?

They are not a draw on social programs?

The county of Los Angeles ALONE - in 1 year paid out $350 MILLION (one county, one year) last year in medical expendatures to "undocumented workers". How do they know this? If you have a valid SSN, you get MediCAL. If you don't have a valid SSN, they simply bill your (ficticious) residence. The cost last year was $380 million. (LA Times)

If they get arrested they get tossed out?

It costs the state of California 7 times more to incarcerate "undocumented" Californians than it will cost to run this recall election.

They do not have to pay any insurance costs for their "vehicles" because they do not bother to register them, because, like you said, they avoid the DMV.

They most often use public transportation - which is by all accounts in every location in California a tax user, not a tax producer - because all state county, and city public transportation systems run at a loss, they do not make the cities/state money.

They do not pay for the cost of their children's education - because they do not pay income tax because they do not, on average, make enough to pay taxes since most of them make less than $22k a year.. below which, you do not pay federal income tax, and they can actually GET money back from the federal govnerment because you get $1000 for each child you have - the child tax credit.. so in the end, they MAKE more money off of the tax system alone than they put in.

They pay sale tax (on good that they buy in stores, but not on goods such as private sale of foodstuffs like what the farmers will sell to them at the end of the day). And they pay property tax (as part of their cost of rent) - but since they live disproportionately more people/dwelling, the revenue generated per captia is far below non-Latino rates.

In short - California is 100 times better than where they came from. Where they cam from they did not get free medical, free childbirth medical, free schooling for their kids, nearly free transportation costs, they don't get extorted by the cops as much as they did back in Mexico, China, Korea or whetever central American country they are from... and they get to be guarded by the best police, fire, and military protection in the world - without paying most of those nasty taxes that go to provide it all.

The employers of these people have an unfair tax advantage - but far far more importantly, they do not have to pay worker's compensation insurance on them - which in the State of California is running around 75% of worker's wages right now/year... it may go to 125% within 5 years. That means if you hire a guy for $40k a year, it will cost you nrealy $100k to hire them - when its all said and done...

This state is on the verge of total colapse - and it is because this state is responsible for the care, feeding (school lunches and breakfasts), and medical of non-trivial portions of other country's populations.

I did not sign up for the recall because I want to see at what point people will "get it" - that you cannot run a state like this, or it will collapse. With the party in power now standing up things like the "end poverty in California committee" movement in the state legislature - perhapse you remember that from the past.. Stalin and Lennin were both big proponents of the same ideals.

I want Americans to feel first hand what socialism does to a state... i want them to experience total colapse of a state under the weight of open borders and unlimited government programs. Because it is obvious to me that most people still left i

...requires that all the source code in a voting machine be turned over to the state. Although, I doubt we have a team of experts checking it over. It's probably just sitting in a vault somewhere.

But still, with these fancy gui kiosk voting machines, doesn't that mean the state of california should have a copy of the Windoze (CE?) source code?

See CA Code, section 19103

I keep it within reason based on the quick-moving traffic around me, so my insurance is just fine (despite driving a late-model rear-wheel sports car), as is my driving record (no moving violations or accidents, knock on wood).

What really annoys me is that the police enforce the speed limits, but don't enforce statues like California's V.C. 21654, which reqires you to be as far to the right as practicable when travelling at a speed less than the normal speed of traffic. That's a moving violation, too. Idiots camped out in the left lane going slow are just as dangerous as speeders, and deserve to have moving violations and insurance hikes for their behavior as well.

Governor Joe Davis
I think you mean Governor Gray Davis .

This is totally off topic, but look at the report at CAFR.

In short it says: "The State of California at the State-level has approximately $63.39 billion of the taxpayer's money it is not using, i. e. surpluses equal to $1,790 for every man, woman and child in California or $7,158 for a family of 4. This does not include all the additional surpluses that exist in the school districts, cities, or counties in California."

This is not made up - the information comes from the California State Controller's Office. Read the report and then get mad as Hell. They are struggling alright; struggling to get more of your money! Bunch of damned crooks - Democrats and Republicans alike.

Lane splitting is legal. At least in some states

After watching "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones", I am disgusted at the amount of shameful homosexuality present in the film. Not since the 50s have Godly Christian viewers been subjected to such hedonistic filth. Consider, for example, Anakin (effeminately nicknamed 'Annie'), the precursor to Darth Vader. Played by "wanna-be" pretty-boy actress Natalie Portman, Anakin lusts after the slutty Queen Naboo, engaging in filthy acts of oral copulation next to a fireplace (obviously symbolising the fires of Hell in which they will surely roast to death after their final judgement). But wait, fellow Christians, there is more! A grizzly-green munchkin by the name of Yodo engages in an inter-species affair with the burly jedi Mace Windu, so vile and contemptible it would sure make the residents of Sodom and Gomorah blush! If that is not enough to upset your pure and innocent mind, harken that a flooded world is visited in which giant, walking tampons amass a huge army, an obvious insult to the original giant tampon, Noah, and his army of Beasts.

I hope these revelations allow you to make a just and informed decision in choosing movies Our Lord won't send you to Hell for watching.

Rosebud...

Not to be like Spike Lee or anything, but I'm mildly annoyed by the use of the term "architecture" in regards to software design. For the most part, I can let it go, but damn, using it as a verb? With marketecture and tarchitecture?

I spent 5 years of my life to get an architecture degree, worked 3 years for firms, and yet I can't put my name anywhere near the word "architecture" until I get my license or I get popped for a section 5536 (Practice Without License or Holding Self Out as Architect).

I don't mind the geeks having it, just keep it away from the damn marketing droids.

http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/newcomframeset.asp? committee=129

Voted For:

Assemblymen Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood
Assemblymember.Koretz@assembly.ca.gov

Mark Leno, D-San Francisco;
Assemblymember.leno@assembly.ca.gov

Joe Nation, D-San Rafael;
Joe.Nation@asm.ca.gov

Juan Vargas, D-Chula Vista;
Assemblymember.Vargas@assembly.ca.gov

Leland Yee, D-San Francisco;
Assemblymember.yee@assembly.ca.gov

Voted against:

Assemblymen Greg Aghazarian, R-Turlock
Assemblymember.aghazarian@assembly.ca.gov

Bill Maze, R-Visalia
Assemblymember.maze@assembly.ca.gov

Voted against by abstaining:

Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana
Assemblymember.Correa@assembly.ca.gov

Rudy Bermudez, D-Bellflower
Assemblymember.bermudez@assembly.ca.gov

Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro
Assemblymember.Corbett@assembly.ca.gov

Shirley Horton, R-San Diego
Assemblymember.Shirley.Horton@assembly.ca.gov

Abel Maldonado, R-San Luis Obispo
Assemblymember.maldonado@assembly.ca.gov

Mark Wyland, R-Vista
Assemblymember.Wyland@assembly.ca.gov

http://www.sen.ca.gov/ftp/sen/committee/STANDING/B USINESS/_home1/PROFILE.HTM

Members:
Senator Liz Figueroa (Chair)
Senator Samuel Aanestad (Vice-Chair)
Senator James Brulte
Senator Gilbert Cedillo
Senator Michael Machado
Senator Kevin Murray
Senator Edward Vincent

The news link doesn't mention this, but Senator Bowen's bill was actually written by Greg Maddox of Spam Prevention Early Warning System (SPEWS) fame

It's odd that this would come up right now, but I've got a friend in the California state senate (he's a page), and apparently there's rumor that this bill may have been killed because some topless photos of Senator Debra Bowen have been floating around on the internet. It's ironic that the spam bill would be killed because of free porn spam.

The news link doesn't mention this, but Senator Bowen's bill was actually written by Greg Maddox of Spam Prevention Early Warning System (SPEWS) fame

It's odd that this would come up right now, but I've got a friend in the California state senate (he's a page), and apparently there's rumor that this bill may have been killed because some topless photos of Senator Debra Bowen have been floating around on the internet. It's ironic that the spam bill would be killed because of free porn spam.

"I don't have an Australian Drivers licence, and my local video store requires *australian* photo ID."

I have no idea what the government options are in Australia, but here in the U.S., if you don't have a drivers license, you can get a government ID card. (California information)

One of the main reasons for getting an ID card is exactly the reason that you stated above -- so you can do business with stores/companies that require a valid government ID. (In the U.S., you can also use a military ID instead of a drivers license.) Perhaps Australia has something similar...

Okay.

You pointed out an extreme (the top 500 of overpaid), so I pointed out an extreme (regular McDonald's working joe who isn't overpaid sucking off the welfare system to get ahead of the regular guy).

You see, when you take things to extremes, anything works.

Fact is, the VAST majority of CEOs are NOT overpaid.

In the state of California ALONE, 75,000 businesses are incorporated per year.

Assuming the impossible, that all 500 on that list were incorporated in California, they'd represent no more than 0.67% of all businesses this year alone. The actual number is MUCH LOWER than that, because we have to take into account how many businesses stay alive each year. I might put it somewhere around 0.01%

Like I said, your local corner store is probably incorporated. Those 500 companies represent the true reality of corporations just as well as the Mafia represents an employee's union.

You have to do better than that. I'm incorporated, and I'm going to make a grand total of $300 this month, and I'm not alone. In fact, some directors of some corps are going to be making NEGATIVE bucks this month.

Imagine if your boss told you to open your wallet and give your money to the company!

Well, highschool chemestry classes will show you that all you need to perform electrolysis (separating Hydrogen and Oxygen in water) is electricity.

Here's an explanation.

So, all we need is electricity. Solar cells are one of our technologies that is particularly good at generating electricity without having to do much more than set them in the sun.

On a more interesting note, I was recently talking to a chemist-friend at Northwestern University who was telling me that one of the other research groups there was working on catalysts for solar photocatalytic hydrogen production. Basically the idea is to introduce a catalyst into water that will cause hydrogen to be released when the mixture is bombarded with photons (light). Apparently hydrogen is being separated this way (in research labs), but the process isn't efficient enough yet to make it worthwhile for production purposes.

I just found a page from the Florida Solar Energy Center listing many forms of solar hydrogen production research projects at the center.

Well, logically, ya, you should be able to listen to anything being broadcast at you.. But, look at what they do if you descramble satellite feeds without paying..

But, I don't think they accidently picked up the signal. They said they were sitting just outside of the school's office, with the proper equipment (ya, laptop and wifi card, big deal), but that's intent. Not only that, but sitting outside that office ("Using a laptop with a wireless card outside the district's main office") they sent data to retrieve data ("the Weekly gained access to such data as ...") . They were trespassing, just as much as if they reached in the window to pick up files sitting there. It could be arguable if they happened to walk past with their laptop in hand, and made a connection but did nothing on it, that they were simply receiving passive communications, but the reporters went as far as to connect, and dig through the confidential files of the students. Being that they were students, and not only were there contained school records, but medical records ("emergency medical information complete with full-color photos of students and a psychological evaluation")

Ahhhh, and here we go with the law (I've been busy with work, not much time to play). The summary of this is, yes, they broke the law, and it's punishable by $2,500 and/or 1 year in jail on the first offense, and $10,000 and/or 1 year in jail on the second offense.


PENAL CODE
SECTION 630-637.9


631. (a) Any person who, by means of any machine, instrument, or
contrivance, or in any other manner, intentionally taps, or makes any
unauthorized connection, whether physically, electrically,
acoustically, inductively, or otherwise, with any telegraph or
telephone wire, line, cable, or instrument, including the wire, line,
cable, or instrument of any internal telephonic communication
system, or who willfully and without the consent of all parties to
the communication, or in any unauthorized manner, reads, or attempts
to read, or to learn the contents or meaning of any message, report,
or communication while the same is in transit or passing over any
wire, line, or cable, or is being sent from, or received at any place
within this state; or who uses, or attempts to use, in any manner,
or for any purpose, or to communicate in any way, any information so
obtained, or who aids, agrees with, employs, or conspires with any
person or persons to unlawfully do, or permit, or cause to be done
any of the acts or things mentioned above in this section, is
punishable by a fine not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars
($2,500), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one
year, or by imprisonment in the state prison, or by both a fine and
imprisonment in the county jail or in the state prison. If the
person has previously been convicted of a violation of this section
or Section 632, 632.5, 632.6, 632.7, or 636, he or she is punishable
by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by
imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or by
imprisonment in the state prison, or by both a fine and imprisonment
in the county jail or in the state prison.

I won't say that the school didn't fuck up, because honestly they did.. But, as any stumbler/wardriver knows, they're not the only ones. It doesn't take a computer expert to get into most networks. They should have done a better job, but failed. This is barely news, it's just a reporter bragging how they broke the law, invaded the privacy of thousands, criminally trespassed, and are flaunting it as news. It's as criminal as if they broke into a bank and took out cash, even if handing it back in the morning, to prove that it could be done.

With that said, ya, my laptop is set up for stumbling too. :)

If you're making less than $41 an hour, you can file a grievance if they try to make you work these hours without time-and-a-half and double-time compensation. The California labor code is very specific about computer work and overtime. The state's website gives a complete rundown of your rights.

Another considerating: talk to your manager. Any manager worth the title will look out for the welfare of anyone involved in helping the company be successful. If your manager isn't sitting down with you individually and as a team and setting out a plan of action for making the schedule without killing you, look for another place to work.

I worked at a place where management usually didn't have to demand 12-20/7 of us; we did it on our own, if we had to. But that's because we had managers--for the most part--who thanked us for agreeing to do it, pampered us while we were doing it, and kept close account of what we did. Comp time, bonuses, and other compensation made up for the crunches afterward.

Take care of yourself; no one else will. HTH and good luck.

Ok, I consider myself an environmentalist and these people who bitch about wind farms really have no business claiming to be so. Their choices are according to my recent utility supplied info are along with my half-assed pissed-off descriptions:

1) Oil - Polluting
2) Coal - Seriously Polluting
3) Natural Gas - Clean compared to other fossil fuels, but still requires us to fight wars for it.
4) Nuclear - Cart toxic waste across country to bury it in Yucca Mountain. Also, BOOOM!
5) Wind - Unsightly, similar in price to fossil fuels.
6) Solar - Still too expensive in cents/kWh.
7) Biomass - Can't really increase the supply unless you want to start collecting cow farts.
8) Hydro - Most rivers that can generate hydro already are.
9) Imported Power - Mysterious Power!
10) Municipal Trash - Burning stuff is not clean.

Now, of the above choices, what should we focus on until something better becomes available? I think wind is the obvious choice. But no, they are unsightly! OMG! Everything has a negative and wind power's is pretty minor compared to the others. The land that wind power is on can also be used for other purposes such as farming or grazing.

I have a feeling that the people who whine would really like all their power to come from number 9, Imported Power. You know, that magical, free power that some poor schlub in another community has to suffer the environmental consequences for. Now, unless they want to whip out their magic fairy-wand and produce energy out of thin air, they have to use something and they should wake the hell up and realize that wind is a very good choice.

If you are interested in costs, check out the California 1996 Energy Technology Status Report Summary. For a summary, it weighs in at 93 pages. Bleah.

There is a Links page from the front that will provide a huge compendium of lists to other resources for the road geek in you.

According to California Business and Professions Code 17538.41 et seq., mobile phone spam is illegal and the victim may recover $500 plus court costs should he bring an action against the spammer.

Actually it's the Franchise Tax Board of all the stupid damn names. Like I'm a franchise outlet of my Mom or something. Look at their mission run on sentencrrr... Mission Statement:

The purpose of the Franchise Tax Board is to collect the proper amount of tax revenue, and operate other programs entrusted to us, at the least cost; serve the public by continually improving the quality of our products and services; and perform in a manner warranting the highest degree of public confidence in our integrity, efficiency and fairness.

Ah, California! The only place in American society where something "proper" is usually on the rise.

Remember when Slashdot reported that the State of California got a database hacked and had the identity of all of their government employee's data comprimised?

So with this law, the State of California would notify their employees that hackers have their data. Well, technically they did what they are proposing. Too bad this was after the Sacramento Bee newspaper reported it first! At least they provide a government link for help.

When this law passes, the State of California should sue themselves into compliance!

#1 - When I was talking class action, usually it's been my experience that the lawyers who go looking for plaintiffs, not the other way around. So I wouldn't have to pay a thing - I'd just wait until some enterprising lawyer went after Ralsky and other spam gangs. and just sign up.

#2 - You don't need to hire a lawyer to claim damages under a civil statute. In California, you can file small claims for any amount less than $5000, which entails a minor filing fee ($22).

Obviously a lawyer isn't going to take a time-consuming case unless there's a definite payoff at the end (like taking down Ralsky and all the property he owns, or getting a piece of all that Viagra money.) So big deal - for all the other scum, we'll just use small claims.

Here's the Amtrak reform report Amtrak reform report (PDF, 111pp, 1.8 MB) I was talking about. (Or (one PDF per chapter))

The report is by the Congressionally-appointed Amtrak Reform Council, dated February 2002. It details some poor financial-management and borrowing decisions, and recommends splitting Amtrak into three companies. Page 9 discusses the Midwest Regional Initiative I don't know whether it's being implemented, and nobody in the Midwest I ask has heard of it. It has an alternative view to the long-distance train issue saying the long-distance routes are important because they feed into other routes. My objections still stands; how can they "feed" other routes when they don't go where most people want to go?

Acela wasn't thought through correctly. A one-way Acela trip from NY to DC takes 2.25 hours and costs $137. On a regular train it takes 3.5 hours and costs $72.00. I might be willing to pay a proportional premium ($40) for the saved time, but not the $65 difference. Actually, the time saved is worth only $20 for me. Only businesspeople with money to burn would pay the $65 premium, and even they would have problems if they travelled more than once a month. Amtrak should have checked how many passengers wouuld ride Acela at that fare before building it.

California is building a high-speed train from San Diego to LA, Sacramento and the Bay Area along the existing routes, so it's just a matter of time (and money). It doesn't mention the SJ - Oakland - Sacramento route; maybe they'll eventually beef that up separately.

In July 2002, Amtrak was going to shut down entirely, but then it got some emergency stopgap funding from Congress. That funding is also all that's keeping the Empire Builder (Seattle-Chicago) route from being deleted. You mentioned the San Joaquin. I read somewhere the San Joaquin line is subsidized by California because Amtrak would have cancelled it otherwise.

The Internet.com Story has a reference to the actual bill, but I doubt many folks followed it.

For me, the senate floor analysis was the most interesting. According to that, the effect of the bill would be $21 Million, assuming that they get 5% more companies to pay. This strikes me as optimistic, but what can I say.

Federal law already says you can only demand taxes from companies with a "nexus" in the state. This bill tries to "clarify" that a nexus includes service and support, as well as related companies that share a trademark name.

The legality of the law seems open to question, since some companies purposefully define their mail order and on line units as separate companies to avoid having a nexus in a state.

At most this bill will have a minor effect on a few companies. It is not a major change to sales taxes on internet companies.

The Internet.com Story has a reference to the actual bill, but I doubt many folks followed it.

For me, the senate floor analysis was the most interesting. According to that, the effect of the bill would be $21 Million, assuming that they get 5% more companies to pay. This strikes me as optimistic, but what can I say.

Federal law already says you can only demand taxes from companies with a "nexus" in the state. This bill tries to "clarify" that a nexus includes service and support, as well as related companies that share a trademark name.

The legality of the law seems open to question, since some companies purposefully define their mail order and on line units as separate companies to avoid having a nexus in a state.

At most this bill will have a minor effect on a few companies. It is not a major change to sales taxes on internet companies.

and if not US citizens you don't have to worry about that health care problem or is it the other way around? I can never remember who gets better health care, I guess it probably depends on who I'm talking with. of course I don't think even migrant farm workers spray one weed at a time. Usually they're working the fields while some airplane flys overhead and crop dust them with toxic chemicals. (yes it still happens) I should probably link to cesar chavez here http://www.sfsu.edu/~cecipp/cesar_chavez/chavezhom e.htm p.s. why is it i feel guilty calling mexicans mexicans and i never feel guilty calling canadians canadians? hmm, I wonder what Richard Rodriguez would say on the matter - here it is: "The interesting thing about Hispanics, of course, is that you can travel all over Latin America and never meet one. There are no Hispanics in Latin America. There are Bolivians, Chileans and Mexicans. You have to come to Miami or Sacramento to meet a Hispanic. There is a large controversy among us as to whether we are Latinos or Hispanics. Hispanics are nothing if not people preoccupied by fathers and ceremony, and we worry a great deal about which is the right word for us. The argument against Hispanic is that it gives too much of our identity to Spain." in my case I'm actually referring to people from mexico, so mexican is appropriate. there I feel better now. Thanks Richard.

I'll probably get slammed for this, but...

<rant>
Seriously, if you are too lazy to check with the local governments, you might want to stick with a job where you can just "get by".

If you live in California you can look here.

This isn't "rocket science" all you have to do is look around a little. Somehow I doubt California has cornered the market on a web site like this.
</rant>

Good luck on your new venture.

I enforce the law by not putting peoples Social Security Numbers up on my website (in California). Does this make me "Law Enforment Personnel"???

484. (a) Every person who shall feloniously steal, take, carry, lead, or drive away the personal property of another, or who shall fraudulently appropriate property which has been entrusted to him or her, or who shall knowingly and designedly, by any false or fraudulent representation or pretense, defraud any other person of money, labor or real or personal property, or who causes or procures others to report falsely of his or her wealth or mercantile character and by thus imposing upon any person, obtains credit and thereby fraudulently gets or obtains possession of money, or property or obtains the labor or service of another, is guilty of theft. [Irrelevant stuff at the end is omitted]

I'll be damned if some Javascript kiddie could call himeslf an engineer, too! The term "Engineer" should mean something, like a basic ability to perform scientific and mathematical tasks correctly.

Well, we were just looking at a new development here in Orange County. There are quite a few houses, and they go from the 300's up through the 600's (decent homes for those prices in this area). The development looks just like most others in the county, and is near to a new shopping center (that we now frequent).

All the homes feature Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH). Basic "free" service looks to be 3,000 Kbps, with "Expanded Service" upwards of 31,000 Kbps. The service is being provided by Greenfield Communications (no, I am not associated with the housing development nor tGreenfield).

One of the areas/subdivisions/whatever in it just opened phase 7 yesterday, and it's already sold out. Just in case others were wondering if these units were moving.

Existing law prohibits a person or entity conducting business in the state from e-mailing or causing to be e-mailed documents ...

... Existing law requires unsolicited e-mail advertisements to contain a heading of "ADV:" or "ADV:ADLT," as specified.

This bill would remove delete these provisions and would instead prohibit the sending, as defined, of a person or entity from initiating an unsolicited commercial e-mail advertisements advertisement either from California or to a California electronic mail address. The bill would provide that if any part of these provisions or their application are held invalid, the invalidity shall not effect the other provisions or applications that can still be given effect. The bill would also make it unlawful for a person to sell or provide a list of e-mail addresses to be used to initiate the transmission of unsolicited commercial e-mail advertisements from California or to a California e-mail address. (The strikethroughs did not come through, but you can see them on the ammended bill at the link above).

So it looks like you can sue someone who spams you from outside CA, but who knows if it will be possible to actually recover the damages.

d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or restrict the rights of an electronic mail service provider under Section 230(c)(1) of Title 47 of the United States Code, or any decision of an electronic mail service provider to permit or to restrict access to or use of its system, or any exercise of its editorial function.

This doesn't look like such a good idea to me. It seems to limit the liability of an ISP. They could conceivably say, "We didn't acutally send it. Someone else sent it using our server."

There was a thread a couple of weeks ago where MS was supporting a law that will exempt ISPs from monetary penalties. Washington's current setup holds the ISP liable as well (which is how it should be). It would be nice if more states did that, especially since ISPs have legit operational facilities in the states in which they do business. This makes it easy to go after the ISP, which of course motivates them to stop the spam from coming through.

Existing law prohibits a person or entity conducting business in the state from e-mailing or causing to be e-mailed documents ...

... Existing law requires unsolicited e-mail advertisements to contain a heading of "ADV:" or "ADV:ADLT," as specified.

This bill would remove delete these provisions and would instead prohibit the sending, as defined, of a person or entity from initiating an unsolicited commercial e-mail advertisements advertisement either from California or to a California electronic mail address. The bill would provide that if any part of these provisions or their application are held invalid, the invalidity shall not effect the other provisions or applications that can still be given effect. The bill would also make it unlawful for a person to sell or provide a list of e-mail addresses to be used to initiate the transmission of unsolicited commercial e-mail advertisements from California or to a California e-mail address. (The strikethroughs did not come through, but you can see them on the ammended bill at the link above).

So it looks like you can sue someone who spams you from outside CA, but who knows if it will be possible to actually recover the damages.

d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or restrict the rights of an electronic mail service provider under Section 230(c)(1) of Title 47 of the United States Code, or any decision of an electronic mail service provider to permit or to restrict access to or use of its system, or any exercise of its editorial function.

This doesn't look like such a good idea to me. It seems to limit the liability of an ISP. They could conceivably say, "We didn't acutally send it. Someone else sent it using our server."

There was a thread a couple of weeks ago where MS was supporting a law that will exempt ISPs from monetary penalties. Washington's current setup holds the ISP liable as well (which is how it should be). It would be nice if more states did that, especially since ISPs have legit operational facilities in the states in which they do business. This makes it easy to go after the ISP, which of course motivates them to stop the spam from coming through.

SB 342, "Unsolicited email advertisements" (Florez)

SB 186, "Privacy: unsolicited e-mail advertising" (Murray)

SB 12, "Electronic Mail Advertising" (Bowen)

AB 567, "Unsolicited electronic mail advertisements" (Simitian)

For those about to rejoice, remember this is simply the first step. It still has to finish going through the state assembly, and then get signed by Governor Davis. Let's get some of this stuff pushed through for the better of the anti-spam community, shall we?

SB 342, "Unsolicited email advertisements" (Florez)

SB 186, "Privacy: unsolicited e-mail advertising" (Murray)

SB 12, "Electronic Mail Advertising" (Bowen)

AB 567, "Unsolicited electronic mail advertisements" (Simitian)

For those about to rejoice, remember this is simply the first step. It still has to finish going through the state assembly, and then get signed by Governor Davis. Let's get some of this stuff pushed through for the better of the anti-spam community, shall we?

SB 342, "Unsolicited email advertisements" (Florez)

SB 186, "Privacy: unsolicited e-mail advertising" (Murray)

SB 12, "Electronic Mail Advertising" (Bowen)

AB 567, "Unsolicited electronic mail advertisements" (Simitian)

For those about to rejoice, remember this is simply the first step. It still has to finish going through the state assembly, and then get signed by Governor Davis. Let's get some of this stuff pushed through for the better of the anti-spam community, shall we?

SB 342, "Unsolicited email advertisements" (Florez)

SB 186, "Privacy: unsolicited e-mail advertising" (Murray)

SB 12, "Electronic Mail Advertising" (Bowen)

AB 567, "Unsolicited electronic mail advertisements" (Simitian)

For those about to rejoice, remember this is simply the first step. It still has to finish going through the state assembly, and then get signed by Governor Davis. Let's get some of this stuff pushed through for the better of the anti-spam community, shall we?

SB 342, "Unsolicited email advertisements" (Florez)

SB 186, "Privacy: unsolicited e-mail advertising" (Murray)

SB 12, "Electronic Mail Advertising" (Bowen)

AB 567, "Unsolicited electronic mail advertisements" (Simitian)

For those about to rejoice, remember this is simply the first step. It still has to finish going through the state assembly, and then get signed by Governor Davis. Let's get some of this stuff pushed through for the better of the anti-spam community, shall we?

SB 342, "Unsolicited email advertisements" (Florez)

SB 186, "Privacy: unsolicited e-mail advertising" (Murray)

SB 12, "Electronic Mail Advertising" (Bowen)

AB 567, "Unsolicited electronic mail advertisements" (Simitian)

For those about to rejoice, remember this is simply the first step. It still has to finish going through the state assembly, and then get signed by Governor Davis. Let's get some of this stuff pushed through for the better of the anti-spam community, shall we?

I sure hope they've done to cost calculations correctly. The Santa Barbara desalination plant is an example of jumping before thinking. During the drought years of the late 80s and early 90s, Santa Barbara undertook the expensive proposition of building a desalination plant. A few months after it went online, rainfall boosted water reserves to a high enough level that drought conditions were no longer in effect. Because it's darn expensive to run and maintain a plant like this, Santa Barbara shut down its plant indefinitely. All that money spent and the city doesn't even use it. Click for more details.

Bottom line: make sure you really need something before you go building it. I hope the Tampa Bay people have done their math right.

GMD