California Is Off the Rails
Having a happy New Year this year won’t be easy in California.
The state is a fiscal, social and economic train wreck that just keeps on wrecking.
As we roll into 2024, we’ve learned we’re looking at a projected budget deficit of $68 billion.
The Los Angeles Times explained the cause of California’s huge shortfall this week in its usual biased way — without pinning blame on the Democrats in Sacramento whose policies are responsible for it.
The deficit is not just because the state’s tech economy has cooled, unemployment is up and state income tax revenues are projected to fall by 25 percent. Or because gazillionaires like Elon Musk have taken their big companies and fortunes to Texas.
The experts in the Los Angeles Times pointed to another important contribution to the budget shortfall — more and more well-off, well-educated, ordinary Californians are leaving the state.
The escapees — the middle-class people who average about $150,000 a year — have finally had it with California’s higher taxes and permanently higher cost of living.
And, though the Los Angeles Times article does not mention it, the escapees have also had it with the general decline of the California Dream.
The state’s $68 billion shortfall is bound to grow even larger next year when a wave of costly new illegal immigrants arrives and a few hundred thousand more Californians flee to income-tax-free states like Florida, Texas and Tennessee.
But don’t worry, a mere $68 billion in red ink won’t stop California’s Democrats from spending more money than they have.
It’s the way they roll.
I remember what happened way back in 1966, right after my father became governor after defeating incumbent Pat Brown in a landslide.
On his way out the door after cleaning out his desk, Brown’s budget director stuck his head in my father’s office.
“By the way,” he said, “We’re spending a million dollars more a day than we’re bringing in.” Then he left.
My father just sat there, shocked. He had no idea. No one did.
Ultimately, because the state constitution says the budget has to be balanced, my father was forced to do something he never would have done otherwise — raise taxes.
But then he did something else. A few years later, his budget guy came in and said, “Governor, we have an issue.”
“What is it,” my father said.
“We have a surplus. We need to know what to do with a budget surplus.”
My dad simply said, “Well, give it back.”
“We don’t have a way to do that,” the budget guy said. “No one has ever done that before.”
My dad told the budget guy to find a way to give the money back to the taxpayers who had overpaid and given the state a surplus, and that’s what happened.
If you want to know the difference between a Red State and Blue State, that’s a pretty good example.
Of course, what my dad did almost 60 years ago is not how things work in Sacramento today.
We’re living in a one-party state run by Democrats who, whenever they get a surplus, yell “Windfall!” and spend and tax us even more.
It’s really sad to see what’s happened to California.
In the 1960s and 1970s it truly was the Golden State. Everything the Beach Boys said about it was true.
But it wasn’t just the sunshine and the beaches that made California a paradise.
Back then it was America’s model state. It had a sensible government, the best infrastructure and its economy was wide open, healthy and growing.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans came out to California from dull or dying places like Des Moines and Pittsburgh every year. They lived better, happier, more prosperous lives — and never dreamed of leaving.
Every year I look forward to the New Year. I don’t feel too good about what 2024 will bring for my wrecked state. But there’s always hope that the people still here will wake up and put California back on track
https://patriotpost.us/opinion/103213-california-is-off-the-rails-2023-12-29
**************************************************The Left are Consistently Inconsistent
You can always rely on the radical Left to be inconsistent, can’t you. They make an art of it.
We know how strongly they feel about the claim of Aboriginal people to be the original owners of our land. That bold clarion cry, “Always was, always will be,” has become very familiar to all of us.
What a strange thing it is, then, to find that the claim of the Jewish people to Jerusalem and the land of Israel is not upheld by the Left with the same vigour.
In fact, ask the average Leftie, and you'll not only get a firm denial of any Jewish title to the land, but probably also a very immoderately expressed imprecation against Jews in general.
That’s an understatement, because the radical Left hates Jews.
Their hatred is usually partly concealed by the use of such limiting terms as “anti-zionist” or “anti-semitic,” but the loathing behind the widespread celebration of the bestial savagery of Hamas in October has sadly been plain to see.
They do have a case, admittedly—and the Western media are determined to make the most of it.
Israel partly contributed to modern terrorism. The bombings and other violent activities of the Stern Gang in the 1940s were deeply shocking to Western sensibilities. And it appears that Israel’s use of force in the current conflict has been excessive on occasion.
But that’s war for you. If you think it can be sanitised, and that soldiers—any soldiers—never get frenzied or cruel in the heat of battle, you’re dreaming.
The Media Bias
But if you watch the coverage of this war on “our” ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) you'll conclude that Israeli soldiers alone offend against the agreed “decencies” of war.
They will show you the bloodied bodies of Gazan civilians being brought into what’s left of the hospital emergency rooms. And the shocked and weeping relatives. You will share some of the anger.
But wait a minute.
Are the Israelis gratuitously and pointlessly bombing and hammering an inert, defenceless civilian population? Is that all that’s going on?
Is the fighting over? Are they persevering in violence just for the heck of it, as a form of spiteful payback, or maybe just to test the power of their weapons? That is absurdly implausible. Hamas is still fully engaged in the conflict, and they too are sending their victims to hospital.
The only way Hamas will give up their fight—for the complete destruction of Israel, let’s remind ourselves—is if they are well and truly eliminated.
That’s why the fighting continues. Hamas doesn’t know the meaning of surrender.
But don’t expect clarity on that from mainstream media. If you watch the news on ABC or SBS (you’re probably wasting your time, but it’s your choice) you'll notice that almost every time Hamas is mentioned it is accompanied by a kind of mantra—“Hamas, regarded as a terrorist organisation by many countries, including Australia.”
This terminology makes it clear that most of the ABC’s correspondents do not share that view. Their bias is palpable.
Picking and Choosing What to Report
That said, they cannot rationally explain their affection for the Arab cause because they are blind to both the best and the worst qualities of Islam.
For example, the secular Left in the West cannot appreciate, just cannot get its head around, the genuine Muslim’s prayerful devotion to Allah, the merciful and compassionate.
The spirituality of Islam, and of Christianity too, is a completely closed book to the almost wholly secularised West.
Sure, the Left appears or pretends to understand Aboriginals’ spirituality, and their “connection to the country” (whatever that means), but that’s just an excuse to further their agenda.
Being told by a modern secular thinker that he respects your religion is a bit like being told by a crocodile that he loves your humanity.
Here’s another big inconsistency. They ignore one of Islam’s grimmer aspects, namely its intolerance towards homosexuality.
Intolerance is an understatement: Israel is probably the only country in the Middle East in which homosexuality is legal.
In many, it is not only illegal but actively persecuted—and the penalties can be heavy indeed.
Radical Islam’s tendency (let’s say no more than that) to undervalue women’s education is another matter on which Western secular feminism is mysteriously silent.
If you’re looking for examples of inconsistency you can hardly do better than the West’s heartfelt sympathy for the muscular goals of Islam, while turning a blind eye to its less attractive prejudices, and its refusal to countenance the legitimate territorial claims of democratic Israel.
Legitimate claims? Well, if any claims to hereditary and historical land rights deserve respect, Israel’s surely do. You couldn’t make up a better pedigree. Jerusalem, the ancient capital of Judea, is one of the world’s oldest continuously occupied cities, founded at least four millennia ago. Israel’s city of peace was already ancient when Jesus walked its streets.
Another six centuries passed before Muhammed appeared on the scene.
The persecution and expulsion of the Jews by more powerful neighbours such as Egypt and Babylon, then by the Romans, then by so many others, and their subsequent diaspora throughout the world, are as well documented as any events in history.
The Jewish claim to be the original owners of their land is impeccable. They want their land back, not the whole of the Middle East, but that which originally was their home.
Many of their neighbours, on the other hand, especially the Shiites, are less conciliatory: they want it all.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/opinion/being-consistently-inconsistent-5554341
****************************************************A Word of Warning About International Aid Organizations
Many well-known international aid organizations for decades have not given anything to Israel or helped Israeli citizens. Think twice before giving them a penny of your hard-earned money.
Telling readers of Townhall that the UN is a garbage organization is wholly unnecessary. That said, I want to tell a personal story related to one of those self-important international aid organizations, Doctors Without Borders, or as it is known in this house, Doctors Without Morals.
I have mentioned more than once that our oldest son and I were wounded in a suicide bombing here in Jerusalem in 2002. Our son spent most of his initial recovery in Hadassah Hospital’s Pediatric ICU (PICU for short). One day while we lived our new lives there, staff came in and out in a great hurry. Security guards with guns showed up periodically. Sensing that something was happening, I took the liberty to ask what all of the commotion was about. I was told the following: a wanted Palestinian terrorist was identified in his car. An Apache helicopter sent a missile to get him in the express lane for his 72 virgins. The terrorist jumped out of the car at the last second and conveniently left his son in the exploding vehicle. The boy was burned over 90 percent of his body. The staff there spent hours at a time changing his bandages, washing him, and helping him to recover. He was not treated any less well or any differently than any other child, Jewish or Arab. The security guys were there should his dad decide to come uninvited.
While I was sitting in the parents’ lounge outside of PICU, two French fellows showed up. I knew exactly who they were and I blocked the door, saying, “Only parents are allowed in.” The two guys were from Doctors Without Borders and Reuters. Security came and took them somewhere else in the hospital. The mother apparently was trying to get permission to visit her son, and Doctors Without Borders claimed that they were representing the family in her absence.
After the two fellows departed, I got to thinking. Doctors Without Borders never inquired about our son. Not that I would want them anywhere near our boy. But our son had had the head of a Philips screw pass fully through his right brain. He was at the time blind and paralyzed on his left side. The hypocritical doctor of the Hippocratic Oath could not find the time or interest to check on the health and well-being of a Jewish child? His argument would probably be that the Jewish kid had family with him, but the burned Arab boy did not. But that was not the issue. He simply couldn't care less as to the well-being of a Jewish child. And for that reason, I won’t give a dime to any of these antisemitic international organizations. A real doctor would want to check up and maybe even bring some cheer to any child. A modern Mengele would not.
I was reminded of this story when my lawyer, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, released on X a tape her organization, Shurat Hadin, had recorded. They had their people call UNICEF-UK and UNICEF-Australia in order to donate money to Israeli children who have been harmed by the pogrom and ensuing war. Those who answered the phones said that they had active programs in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and Gaza—but nothing in Israel. The UK fellow tried to convince the caller that Gaza and Israel were one and the same. When the caller insisted on giving money to Israeli children, the staffer admitted that he had nothing to offer. My mother warned me 50 years ago when people went trick-or-treating with those little blue charity boxes that UNICEF was anti-Israel, and nothing has changed.
During the height of the second intifada, the Palestinian observer to the UN introduced a non-binding resolution to the General Assembly asking for the protection of Palestinian children from harm. It was a very general resolution and passed easily. Dan Gillerman, the Israeli ambassador to the UN at the time, very cleverly changed “Palestinian” to “Israeli” and submitted the modified version. It was rejected by a large majority. The resolution was non-binding and only asked for the general protection of children during the rampant bloodshed. The nations of the world were not having it. The UN has condemned Israel in the past decade more than all other nations combined.
This tendency of international organizations to be anti-Israel and effectively antisemitic is not surprising. Muslim and third-world countries dominate the UN and their position with respect to Israel is well-known. Look at Turkey's Erdogan going off on Israel non-stop since the mass murder of Jews on 10/7. And as to the Western do-gooders who populate antisemitic organizations like Doctors Without Borders or Oxfam, we have seen for the past two months that they are enamored with psychotic Jew killers. Thus, the hapless UNICEF staffers could not find any program for Israel—their only goal is to help the next generations of rapists, beheaders, butchers, and kidnappers in Gaza. Why would they also want to help the enemy?
Americans are the most generous people in the world. If there is a catastrophe anywhere, American organizations are often among the first to arrive (ditto for Israeli groups). Americans give generously to help those affected by hurricanes, tsunamis or the like anywhere on the globe. While I would certainly want Americans to keep that generous spirit, I would strongly encourage them to give their money carefully. If an organization can differentiate between a Jewish and non-Jewish child or Israel and any other nation state, then I would suggest that you find a better place to give your money. Let the antisemites at Doctors Without Borders get their money from elsewhere. Your money can be better spent.
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Australian unions warn the government not to allow religious schools to hire based on faith
A clear attack on freedom of religion. Wars were once fought to achieve it. This amounts to a call to abandon religious teaching -- precisely what many parents enroll their kids for. One wonders what Muslim parents will make of it
Union leaders have raised concern over signals from Labor that it will introduce religious discrimination laws in the first half of this year, arguing the focus should be on cost of living and not on rules that could allow bosses to hire staff based on their faith.
Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has told faith leaders he is working on a draft bill that will be ready before July as part of the government’s promise to deliver on legislating against religious discrimination, which the Coalition failed to do before the 2022 election.
Health Services Union national secretary Lloyd Williams said his union’s membership – nearly 50,000 people – would stand against any legislation that allowed an employer to preference hiring someone of faith.
“The Coalition’s bill would have allowed discrimination towards workers of a particular faith, and certainly people of a different sexual orientation,” he told The Australian.
“We would hope that this government, when it goes forward with any bill, will put protections in there for workers so they can’t be discriminated against based on what religion they do or do not follow.”
CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith also declared his union stood for the clear principle that “no one should be discriminated against at work”.
Mr Smith cautioned Labor not to lose focus on addressing the cost of living and housing crisis in 2024, declaring his union would push the government hard on a more ambitious housing plan.
“Alongside delivering on its promises from the last election, the federal government must use 2024 to tackle the two biggest issues facing working people today,” he said.
Electrical Trades Union secretary Michael Wright said he was “confident” the government could address both the cost-of-living crisis and legislate the religious discrimination laws at the same time.
The debate over faith protections came as the Coalition accused Labor of “mounting an attack” on religious charities and non-government schools after a draft Productivity Commission report recommended changes to the tax treatment of charity donations. The report called for deductible gift recipient status to be scrapped for non-government primary, secondary, childcare, aged care and other religious organisations.
Opposition education spokeswoman Sarah Henderson said the PC’s recommendation to scrap the “basic religious charity status” would also increase red tape and reporting requirements for almost one in five charities.
“This proposed school building tax is a direct, ideological attack on independent and faith-based schools and must immediately be ruled out by the Albanese government,” she said.
Assistant Minister for Charities Andrew Leigh said the Coalition knew the Productivity Commission was independent and its recommendations were “not government policy”.
“When we ask an independent body like the Productivity Commission to conduct an inquiry, it’s important that we respect their independence and let them complete the process,” Mr Leigh said.
“The Productivity Commission has not made any final recommendations as it is midway through its work.”
After winning government, Labor tasked the Australian Law Reform Commission with providing advice on designing religious discrimination legislation.
However, an alliance of faith leaders raised alarm with a draft proposal from the ALRC released early last year, which recommended the government allow religious preference only where “the teaching, observance or practice of religion is a genuine occupational requirement”.
In response to the criticism, the government extended the ALRC’s reporting deadline to December 2023, with Mr Dreyfus confirming he had received the ALRC’s report.
When asked if the legislation would allow institutions to take staff’s faith into account when hiring, a spokesman for Mr Dreyfus said: “The government is now considering the ALRC review of anti-discrimination law.”
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My other blogs. Main ones below:
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs
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Kristina Pimenova, once said to be the most beautiful girl in the world. Note blue eyes and blonde hair
Bliss: What every woman wants: to feel safe and secure in the arms of her man. Robert Irwin and Rorie Buckey. See
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