California

[aircommuter]

To answer the water problem. The water is one of the most crooked operations in the state. First you have the LA basin, a group of developers and others who could profit from having more down there, formed an innocent sounding company that went up the Owens valley buying land that water sources then built canals to get it down there, then started draining creeks and lakes. This was years ago. I stayed in a hotel down there when taking my kids to Disneyland, the water came out of the shower so fast the the drain could not handle the volume. When I was finished getting pelted and shut off the shower the water was 4" over my ankles. The valve was a type that could be adjusted for temperature but not for flow.
The recent drought could have been managed by retaining more water in the reservoirs, instead it was let out as if the drought did not exist. They claimed they were required to keep the flow for the fish, but what would the fish do if the reservoir did not exist? They would only get the flow that was coming in, but they were getting 4-6 times that much, meanwhile they were rationing the homes and telling them they would soon be without water.
The water usage in this state is 50% enviromental, 40% agriculture ,and 10% housing and business, so it doesn't make sense to reduce the 10% number by 20% as that is only 2% but they could cut eviromental by 10% and the housing usage would matter.
Bottom line is that it is run crooks, money is being made, environmentalists are happy and the governor acts like he doing something.

 

[mapper]

Some years back California was eyeing the Columbia river with the idea of building an aquaduct from here to there. Washington and Oregon both did not much like that idea!
About thirty years or so we were vacationing in southern Oregon and ran into some folks wearing Oregon Border Patrol caps, we got along just fine with them:laughing:. Gives me a good feeling that we have neighbors to the south to help keep the water pirates at bay.

 

[Aquamoose]

You should google up the number of water districts. Insane! And calculate what it cost to pay the committee members for EACH water districts.

I left Calif 6 years ago and never looked back!

Meanwhile...

 

[ultrarunner]

What is also insane is the incompetence in leadership...

My city has gone through 3 Chiefs of Police in a week...

Oakland loses third police chief in just over a week - CBS News

The department of 800+ is now under the civilian city manager and the mayor has said it will be going forward.

We had a good guy that simply got fed up and resigned.

 

[downsizingnow48]

Los Angeles sucked Owens Valley dry then Colorado River now they want to suck the Sacramento River dry too. I am sure they have not forgot about the Columbia river either.

 

[EddieWalker]

During the dot com bubble in the 90's, government realized that they could claim just about anything as success and the media would support them without questioning their numbers. Then number of people without a job has increased by millions nationwide, yet in a country with well over 300 million people, when 35,000 jobs are added, they claim unemployment goes from 5 percent to 4.7 percent. That math is impossible.

I question the math on the economy in CA. The people I know who still live there do not see it. When I moved away, the cost of a moving van was less then half going into CA then it was moving out of the state because so many people where leaving and they where desperate to get more vans into the state to rent to people moving out. Crime is out of control and under reported. If the real numbers ever came out, there would be panic.

Having said that, it is still one of the most beautiful states in our nation!!!

 

[aircommuter]

I can tell you more about those water districts. One in a neighboring county (Tuolumne) named Groveland Community Services District is crooked beyond belief. The now retired manager borrowed several million dollars with board approval. The reason given was state mandated regulations. They approved the money without any proof like bids or engineers estimates. Then 30% was used for system up grades and 70% was used for staff increased wages, including his own. Some was also spent with certain contractors with extremly over priced work some of which was never done. One of those contractors was the brother of a board member. That board member is now a county supervisor. The rates are now $129.00 monthly before you turn on the water. The retired manager gets $160,000.00 annualy. The information and records I have is too big for this forum.

 

[flusher]

Moved to CA from MO 26 years ago.
Love every minute here. Not the slightest urge to return East.

 

[Cramby]

Kalifornia, don't even think about tapping our Great Lakes. It would be one heck of a pipeline though.

 

[Wagtail]

Kalifornia, don't even think about tapping our Great Lakes. It would be one heck of a pipeline though.

Wadda'ya mean "our Great Lakes", Mate? :laughing: Last I heard the fresh water there is internationally shared and managed.

My Aunt is a retired Regional Manager for Fisheries/Oceans Canada for the Great Lakes. Water there is tightly regulated & monitored.

 

[jeff9366]

National Business News
California's jobless rate dips to 5.2 percent, 9 year low
The Associated Press
Posted: Jun. 17, 2016

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) California's unemployment rate dropped to its lowest point in nine years as it continued a steady decline last month, the Employment Development Department reported Friday.

The jobless rate fell to 5.2 percent in May, down a tenth of a percentage point from April.

The rate was last this low in May 2007, before the Great Recession.

"There are less and less unemployed individuals in California and fortunately more and more job opportunities," said department spokeswoman Loree Levy.

California's unemployment is still higher than the national rate, which was 4.7 percent in May. But the state's jobless rate exceeded 12 percent for more than a year during the height of the economic downturn.

More than 2.2 million jobs have been created since the recovery began in February 2010, the department said, including more than 15,000 nonfarm payroll jobs last month.

That was a smaller increase than April's revised gain of 70,000 jobs.

There were 16.4 million nonfarm jobs in California in May, up 2.2 million since the recovery began in February 2010.

The number of unemployed dropped below 1 million for the first time since August 2007, the 67th consecutive monthly decline. Unemployment topped 2.2 million people at the peak of the recession.

There were nearly 43,000 new unemployment insurance claims last month, down nearly 4,000 from April.

Professional and business services and educational and health services saw the strongest jobs growth.

The information, financial activities, other services, and government sectors also saw gains, for a combined increase of more than 32,000 jobs.

Manufacturing had the largest job loss.

Mining and logging, construction, trade, transportation and utilities, and leisure and hospitality also were down, for a combined loss of more than 17,000 jobs.

 

[Cramby]

Wadda'ya mean "our Great Lakes", Mate? :laughing: Last I heard the fresh water there is internationally shared and managed.

My Aunt is a retired Regional Manager for Fisheries/Oceans Canada for the Great Lakes. Water there is tightly regulated & monitored.

Wagtail, greetings, we do share our Great Lakes with our good neighbor to the north. I have heard rumors about trying to pipe freshwater to the west. I say California should not have all those swimming pools, green golf courses, and other wasteful uses of freshwater. Drinking, washing, and agriculture is what water is for.

 

[orezok]

Yeah, all those companies are moving out of California. But then, why does CA lead the nation in job creation?

 

[Wagtail]

Wagtail, greetings, we do share our Great Lakes with our good neighbor to the north. I have heard rumors about trying to pipe freshwater to the west. I say California should not have all those swimming pools, green golf courses, and other wasteful uses of freshwater. Drinking, washing, and agriculture is what water is for.

It's all good, Cramby.

My Aunt told me a story about a developer in Toronto who built an 'Estate' of McMansions and then couldn't get a water consession. He kept staring & pointing at Lake Ontario and all the fresh water and couldn't understand why he couldn't have access to it. Yes, there's a huge amount of volume but a limited amount of flow between all of them. Take too much from one of the Lakes and it will effect all of the others.

 

[downsizingnow48]

Map showing job growth 2015. Based on Bureau of Labor Statistics survey.

 

[EddieWalker]

Map showing job growth 2015. Based on Bureau of Labor Statistics survey.



View attachment 472229

Something funny about this map. If you notice the red colored county where jobs are declining in North Eastern Texas, that's where I live.

There is only one place that I can comment on with any accuracy, and that's where I live. We have one of the best economies in the nation here in Tyler TX with oil money, hospitals and universities. Growth has been very good and there are help wanted signs everywhere. Manufacturers have been coming here on a steady basis, and then expanding after getting here.

 

[RSKY]

Help wanted signs are no sign of employment. I have been told that in our small town 28% of working age adults are on some type of public assistance. Yet all the businesses have help wanted signs in the windows. The landscapers working in our back yard as I type are very hard working Mexicans. Because the business they work for cannot get Americans to work. The lady in charge said they had one guy last three days earlier in the year. He lasted longer than the other six or seven they hired.

Why work when you can get money for sitting on your butt?

RSKY