Well, we don’t mean to depress you, since the UC budget crisis, general economic malaise and midterm season were probably already doing that pretty effectively. But we thought we’d point you in the direction of this article by Paul Harris, US correspondent for the British newspaper “The Observer”, which argues—a little more convincingly than we’re comfortable with—that California may be well on its way to becoming America’s first failed state. read more »
A new house in North Berkeley is to be the Superman of Bay Area houses, with the low, low asking price of $1,980,000. It’s novelty is in its sustainability, from its energy-saving solar panels to its retrofitted design, built to outlast The Big One. On top of all that, this not-so-humble abode is supposed to be quite a looker, built in a “high Italian” style.
We wonder if the future owner of Wonder House will enjoy living in lavish style when they are the last living person in California in the era of post-Mother of All Earthquakes. Time will tell.
Image Source: ewen and donabel under Creative Commons
A pricey house in north Berkeley is built to last [SF Chron]
Posted by
Danica Li on Sunday, October 05, 2008 08:17 pm
There be some mutinous mutterin’ going on not an hour’s drive from San Francisco. Sick and tired of being ignored by lawmakers and political somebodies in Sacramento, a dozen Northern California and Oregon counties are plotting to form a brand new state. ‘Tis truth! If approved, Jefferson State would become the nation’s 51st – thereby ruining the beautiful proportions of the American flag, not to mention that one sing-along happy song that’s still being taught to toddlers by angelic grade-school mommies across the nation.
In scores of stores between Klamath Falls, Ore., to Dunsmuir, Calif., the hypothetical state’s flags hang in brazen tribute to the secession movement. Of course, the venture’s looking a mite quixotic at the moment, with one million signatures needed to even land the proposal on the California ballot. Tough deal, when Siskiyou County’s got 15,000 more bovines than it does people.
Advocates raise legitimate concerns – that Oregon and California aren’t taking care of their own, and that the region’s lifeblood industries, like fishing and timber, are being unfairly hampered by state regulations. Other concerns, like the effects of the flat-lining economy, rank as well. Get in line, guys.
Image Source: melynaguona under Creative Commons
A move to secede on California-Oregon border [SF Chron]
Posted by
Jill Cowan on Sunday, October 05, 2008 02:04 am
What, with the economy in shambles, and the BART system threatening to crumble under our feet unless it gets some Tender Lovin’ Care (a.k.a. funding), we see no better time to take on the time-consuming and costly task of making California a little bit more like Europe. Though, as the Daily Cal reports, “Bullet trains used to be a luxury only found in foreign metropolises,” this all could change as early as, um, well, eight years from now.
If Proposition 1A gets passed in November, we’d be one step closer to beginning construction on every Southern California-based Berkeley student’s pipe (or rail) dream–a high-speed train system “that would span from San Francisco to Los Angeles.” All California has to do is vote to funnel $10 billion in state bonds into the project, and gather up a bunch more in private capital. No biggie. read more »
Fortunately for you perpetually under-dressed, SoCal-bred Cal students, UC Berkeley and Texas Tech University researchers say that gloomy interruptions to the Bay Area’s summer sunshine may soon be in the past. And it’s all thanks to climate change.
If you can remember last summer, you know that Berkeley weather was consistently dull. The air was cold, foggy and overcast all day, every day–and it wasn’t until September that the sunshine actually showed its face. Such ugly weather was typical of a Bay Area summer, and we got used to it.
This year, however, the dull weather is hardly noticeable–one day it can be much too breezy for your favorite pair of short-short cutoffs, but soon enough it feels like a lemonade-sipping summertime that lasts for two weeks straight.
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