California often gives me reasons to be proud, but this one may be a contender for the upper echelon of awesome:
California welfare cards can be used in many casino ATMs
Times review finds that in more than half of the state’s casinos and gaming rooms, welfare recipients can get cash from state-issued EBT cards. Officials say they’re moving to block such transactions.
This reminds me a little bit of stories I’ve always heard about students at BYU using their “Dining Plus” cards for basically anything they wanted on campus.
I am doing a first today–I will be attending a book signing Bill Simmons is holding at Disneyland to promote his new book, The Book of Basketball. I am utterly ignorant as to how a person is supposed to behave at such an event, but from reading Simmons’ article on ESPN.com the other day regarding earlier book tour stops, I can infer that asking him to sign my chest is not likely to be considered appropriate. Read more…
Are Mormons really worried about the California Supreme Court overturning Prop 8? Or, having fought the good fight, are they satisfied with their effort and just content to let the chips fall where they may?
This question was raised (sort of) in the comment section of an earlier post, although I have actually been thinking about it for a long time. It’s a fantastic question, and I, as a California Mormon and resident know-it-all, am clearly qualified to opine on the matter. Unfortunately, like so many interesting questions in life, the answer is the ever-unsatisfying, “Well, it depends.” Read more…
It may not be the most interesting legal case in the California courts these days, but the recent ruling by a Sacramento Superior Court judge striking down a mandate for all 8th graders to take Algebra rubs me a little bit wrong. I’m not a big fan of public education, but I was impressed with the ambitious mathematics requirements and thought they were a clear step in the right direction.
Here is an article in the LA Times discussing the ruling, as well as the parties on both sides. Unsurprisingly, the state teacher’s union was a primary source behind destroying all that is good in the world the lawsuit to overturn the requirement. No lobby is more effective in halting any form of progress in education than a teacher’s union–I learned this several years ago while working as a grad student on a study of private education incentives, but that is a story for another day. Read more…
There are several topics that I have written about extensively in the past, but because I took three weeks off from blogging (as well as reading the news, watching the news, or doing anything but studying and traveling), I’m really just out of touch with what is going on in the world. Instead of trying to write about things I am no longer educated on, I am just going to post a few categorized links for those who are interested. Once I catch up on things, then I’ll do less of that and more of my own commentary. Read more…
Here is the link to the full list of cities, grouped by size and ranked by safety. Also note that Logan, UT (where I was born), Irvine, CA (where I live), as well as neighboring Mission Viejo–all with substantial and growing Latino populations–are in the top 10 overall. I’m so proud.
I haven’t written about immigration for a while, but long-time followers will likely recall how I feel about immigration: Open doors = Good.
Note: I added a few things to this post…that’s why I re-posted it. Apologies to the couple of comments that were deleted.
Since the outcome of Tuesday’s vote, and the aftermath that is now spilling out all over California and other places, I’ve struggled deeply to get my mind around what–if anything–to say next. It feels silly to start writing about the recent sports contest, about the funny thing I saw on the Interwebs the other day, or even other more-serious topics. Things have changed in ways that are not easy to define or capture in a few sentences. I’d like to keep writing as I did before, but I just don’t know how. I tried to post something else the other day, but it just seemed too trivial and out of place. My friend said something last night that summarizes things well: “The only certainty here is that none of us will ever be the same.” Remember what Frodo Baggins said at the end of the movie The Return of the King?
How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on, when in your heart you begin to understand. There is no going back. There are some things that time cannot mend. Some hurts that go too deep…That have taken hold.
Dear Mr. Seriously,
Who are your favorite people in the world this election season?
-Anonymous
Anon–
That’s an easy one. My favorite people are the good folks who made up the schedule for the Utah Jazz. Nothing makes my heart fill with warm fuzzies during a time of stress* more than seeing the first three games be against Denver, the Clippers, and the, uh, Clippers again. 3-0, and things are looking fine, with games against Portland, Seattle OK City, and the Knicks upcoming. Read more…
A few actual and lots of fake Dead Seriously readers!
Dear Dead Seriously,
Why go all Mailbag on us? I mean, isn’t that kind of vain of you to brag about how much fan mail you get?
-Rick in Omaha
Good question, Rick. Over the past couple of months, I’ve received a lot of email and comments with questions about various aspects of Proposition 8, including the LDS Church’s involvement in the campaign, my personal feelings about Prop 8, gay marriage generally, and other things. I’ve tried to address these questions in other posts, but have often not had time or energy. Since time is running out and all other more creative attempts have not come to fruition, I’ve decided the easiest way to do this is to go Mailbag-style the rest of the way. As far as bragging is concerned, I’m doing my best not to be an arrogant prig, but 29 years of conditioning is tough to fight against. Read more…
Does anyone have information about how many California voters are using early-voting to cast their ballots this year?
This article says that nationally, the proportion could be as high as 30% by election day (but, is a November 3 vote really an early vote? By definition it is, but I doubt it really translates into anything meaningful*.) That number seems really high to me, especially when 19% of that estimated 30% have only said they plan to vote early. I think we can all agree that when voters say they’ll vote and when they actually vote may be very different dates. Suppose half of that 19%–10% for ease–actually does vote in a meaningfully early fashion–by tomorrow, for example. That puts the national early voting at 20%. Is that really something to base your advertising campaign’s decisions on? Hmm…
*By “meaningful,” I mean “early enough that any last-hurrah-advertising or endorsements would have an impact.” Obviously, if a voter voted last month, then the answer to that question is no.
I’m very hesitant to post this, because it is so inflammatory, but it is so relevant and potentially affects so many people I know, that I feel it is worth passing on. It reminds me a lot of something that this one guy said this one time, albeit in a less life-and-death way: Make the Mormons stop, or we’ll stop them with force. Read more…
Lots of Mormons vote for Republicans. As noted in an earlier post, this tendency has drawn criticism and consternation from supporters of the Democratic party. The purpose now is not to explain why most Mormons vote for Republicans, but simply to explain why I don’t vote for them with any kind of regularity.*
(I must warn you, though…this may not be a coherent piece of writing, because I’m kind of under the weather right now, I’m home by myself, it’s late, and I’m scared of the dark.)Read more…
“After all, they’re not selling porn, they’re not selling drugs, all they’re selling is food.”
You sure can’t argue with that kind of legal reasoning. At the same time, I’ve seen some taco trucks that could probably rival porn and drugs as far as self-destructive outcomes are concerned.
Never the sort of government to leave the food industry alone, the Governator just signed a new law that requires “Chain Restaurants” to list calorie content on menus. This requirement alone isn’t so bad, I suppose, but the statement from the bill’s sponsor–Alex Padilla, of the San Fernando Valley– didn’t make it past my laugh test:
Wow. Thank you, Alex. I think we can all expect big things from the widespread community empowerment that will surely result from this legislation. I, for one, can already feel the empowerment flowing into my bones. From this point on, the way I order food is going to change. No longer will I simply order a steak; nay, I will now order a steak with the power of truth and knowledge. Never again will I order a piece of cheesecake under the–apparently false–understanding that it is a health food.
Of course, the question of why this law only applies to chain restaurants is not addressed. The only explanation I can think of is that, deep down inside, Alex doesn’t like poor or middle-income people. Imposing more menu costs on firms will inevitably raise the prices consumers pay for the same food. Chain restaurants appeal largely to poor and middle-income folks, so it stands to reason that the highest income folks will be the least affected by it.
Of course, even if the cost were imposed on all food service providers, this essentially amounts to a sales tax after pass through, and we all know that sales taxes hurt affect low income people far more (by requiring a higher percentage of their total income). Well done, Alex.
In other matters of ridiculousness, the Governator “rejected a proposal to remove ‘communism’ as a reason for dismissal from state employment.” I am not making this up.
Here is a “looking back” piece on the disaster that almost derailed the opening of UC Irvine’s new law school. I don’t know how much press this got around the country, but it was front-page stuff for us out here in Irvine for weeks. In a nutshell, UCI hired Erwin Chemerinsky as the new dean, succumbed to political pressure and unhired him, then succumbed to political pressure again and rehired him. Off to a flying start, I would say.
Here is the UCI Chancellor’s original explanation for unhiring him. Here is more about him being rehired. Here is more on the faculty that have been hired at UCI. I have spoken briefly with one of the new faculty members at the law school, and and handful of other folks I know (including past students of his) speak very highly of him.
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