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Engineers are good at making useful things out of worthless land

Except there are lots of places where desert land is EXPENSIVE. Phoenix isn't as bad as Los Angeles, but it's not a cheap place to live. Median home prices in Indian Wells are $700,000. In fact you can't afford a 2-br apartment in Palm Desert. Land in Detroit is probably MUCH cheaper than desert land anywhere in California, yet no engineers running out there.

Edison looked at a small village in the California desert and thought it would be a great place to produce his new moving pictures.

Edison made his films in New York or New Jersey, and NEVER had any desire or intention to move anywhere. Hollywood was founded by other film-makers, in large part to get away from Edison's patents, which were enforced in New York, but not so much on the other, distant, coast.

And just as importantly, Hollywood is NOT A DESERT. Never has been. Southern California's water problems are due to a huge and thirsty population, with insufficient surface water sources in the area.

Also, your gun policy is pretty weak for fighting terrorists

ah, it's funny you mention that...

not only are people without practice horrible shots, they're not going to carry a pump action shot gun to the grocery store,

In your home, dealing with one intruder in a hallway, a pump action shotgun is a fine piece of equipment, especially if sawed short so that it's not inconvenient in hallways. In a mall, a shotgun is mostly a way to throw lots of ricochet material around the place. You want a semi-automatic handgun for dealing with the ranges and necessary accuracy involved.

Now, many states don't let you carry a firearm around with you, and that is a violation of our constitution. So while you are correct, it's not our fault. That actually stems from state gun policy contradicting federal gun law, as stated in the second amendment: "Keep and bear arms." And since somehow the second amendment seems to be immune from incorporation, the states don't have to follow the constitution there.

The 2A was meant to avoid the need for a standing military, and to put the means of overthrow of the government into the hands of the people. States which don't permit you to carry your weapon are deliberately sabotaging our constitution.

California actually used to have a law on the books saying that you could carry your gun in any public place. Alas, they decided to build a police state instead of a free state, and wiped that one away. It doesn't do to have the citizenry armed if you mean to implement fascism, and that's precisely what has been done in our worst neighborhoods. Onwards towards profit!

Feinstein claims she doesn't carry her purse gun any more, but we only have her word for that. She is protected by criminals in uniform, who are most certainly armed. Here's a fun one: laws will allow people to obtain a 21-day restraining order barring a family member from owning guns if it is believed that they are in danger of committing a violent act. A person concerned about the mental state of a family member will be able to make a request to police, who after investigating the claim would submit the petition for a temporary restraining order to a court. If granted, police will require the subject of the order to surrender any guns and ammunition they already have. I know someone who was committed to a mental institution for being gay, admittedly not in California. Took them two weeks to get out. If you've got shit family they can just tell lies about you and hey, the cops will come get your guns just like they said wasn't going to happen. I bought my handgun due to the immediate threat of violence presented by a family member. You know what would be more fucked up than that? Not being able to do so.

The right to self-defense is a basic tenet of common law. It really doesn't matter whether the defense is from internal or external attackers. The only reason governments want to disarm citizens is so that it can treat them like garbage. Happy, educated citizens don't shoot one another up for no reason.

You mean that largest reservoir that keeps losing depth every year?

The answer turned out to be about 80 million gallons per year.

Yeah I had that same question but the article cites "The company claims 700m gallons a year". Where did you get your number that could be off by an order of magnitude? And this article http://www.desertsun.com/story... says anywhere from 200M to 450M gallons....

In California we are still releasing felons after little or no jail time due to lack of space. It sometimes is almost funny.

Recently Dorris Payne, an international jewel thief, was sentenced to four years for a $40,000 theft from a jewelry store in Palm Desert, California, a crime committed while on probation for a prior theft in Los Angeles. She was released by the sheriff after about a month as a "low -risk" offender (her thefts had never involved weapons) when there was no room available in the county jail. She was in the jail instead of prison because the prisons were so overcrowded that the governor ordered that most "low-risk" convicts be held in county facilities. Not that the county jails had room for them, either.

She was re-arrested for probation violation a few weeks later, but was released in a few days as there was still no room and probation violation does not change her "low-risk" status.

So she committed a crime, was released from LA, committed another in Palm Desert and is still not locked up. Seems like the system is neither protecting the public nor discouraging the criminal from continuing her life of crime.

Did I mention that Dorris Payne is 83? I don't see her as likely to become a model citizen in the future.

Clearly, California has no surplus of jail cells!

I saw a story last week of an AirBnB "issue" Palm Springs Airbnb 'squatter' protected under law. In CA, if a person stays in your house for longer than 30 days they are recognized as a tenant. At which point all sorts of tenant protection laws kick in, and the only way to remove them is to start a lengthy legal process.

I'd say its nigh on impossible to circumvent laws like this in CA while still keeping your house as a private home. So I see jumping into AirBnB arrangements without understanding the legal framework of what you are doing as the equivalent of skipping through a minefield - regardless of the "good" intentions of this disaster preparedness scheme.

From the article, it sounds like CVUSD isn't an independent organization.

CVUSD is an independent organization. It put "Measure X" on the ballot in 2012 to raise $41 million for iPads. 66% voted "Yes".

CVUSD board members are elected, including Juanita Duarte, a three-term board member who is facing trial on charges of embezzlement, and Anna Lisa Vargas, a soft-spoken freshman board member who was targeted by a recall effort last year.

CVUSD is also laying off 147 workers including pre-school teachers to avoid bankruptcy.

From the article, it sounds like CVUSD isn't an independent organization.

CVUSD is an independent organization. It put "Measure X" on the ballot in 2012 to raise $41 million for iPads. 66% voted "Yes".

CVUSD board members are elected, including Juanita Duarte, a three-term board member who is facing trial on charges of embezzlement, and Anna Lisa Vargas, a soft-spoken freshman board member who was targeted by a recall effort last year.

CVUSD is also laying off 147 workers including pre-school teachers to avoid bankruptcy.