Vacation

Will be on vacation through the 25th . . .

Wine Notes #12: Argyle 2004 Nuthouse Pinot

Argyle Nuthouse Pinot Noir 2004: This wine arrived via winery list sales-retail distribution will begin in the spring. The wine is still closed and very young (being FedExed two weeks earlier is probably not the best thing for the wine either). At this point in its development, the key features are the good structure of the wine and its very creamy texture and mouthfeel. The wine felt very alcoholic on the first night, befitting its 14.5% ABV. However, the alcohol was much less noticable after 24 hours, pointing to how the wine will develop. As might be expected, blackfruits are the dominant flavors at this point, although there is room for this to change.

Arcadia bumps up retention efforts

Facing the loss of numerous department managers within the past year, City Manager Bill Kelly has worked with Arcadia's City Council to offer an expanded benefits package for employees. New benefits will include a supplemental longevity pay schedule and retirement health care benefits for spouses. Full story

More zombie props?

The campaign forces behind Propositions 86 (tobacco taxes) and Proposition 90 (eminent domain/regulatory takings/etc.) have vowed to return again. They are apparently undaunted by the experience of the parental notification campaign-after Proposition 73 failed in 2005, they gave it another shot in 2006, producing Proposition 85. And it failed again. I don't see any reason to believe how either of these Propositions would fare better the next time around, outside of radically reducing their respective scope. Full story

Bill Lockyer managed the impossible?

His treasurer campaign raised nearly $300,000 more than he spent to win the office. This leaves him with a campaign chest of more than $10 million. Full story

Be wary of CA negociants?

Fresh off of hyping up the glories of negociant wine, the LA Times conducts a panel tasting of 21 current California offerings. The panel recorded that "many were undrinkable."
Full story

Election wrap-up

So, everything else aside, what were my goals?

Pass 1A and 1B
Defeat 90

All three were accomplished with room to spare. Thank you Cali! Life is good . . .

"There's nothing sadder than sipping goopy Australian shiraz with a room of depressed ACLU lawyers and child molesters"

Humorist Joel Stein on the sadness that is the No on Prop 83 and Angelides victory parties

Step up, get your $23!

Well, much less than that for us apartment dwellers, no doubt.
Hearings were held in Rosemead to determine what amount Edison should refund to its customers. Under PUC rules, Edison can collect additional profits if its customer service numbers are good (aka "Performance-Based Rate-Making"). Perhaps unsurprisingly, the 37-employee unit in charge of the surveys conducted mass fraud to boost those numbers. As a result, Edison collected $48 million more in profits than it should have. The Utility Reform Network (TURN) is asking the PUC for another $70 million in penalties. Full San Gabriel Valley Tribune story

A question for our conspiracy-minded friends

Wheels within wheels . . . was last week's small rise in gas prices:
A) Manipulated by those controlling prices to their own political benefit to show that they don't actually control price or
B) Proof that such a cabal does not in fact exist?
You make the call!
Full story

Montebello scales back plans

According to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Montebello's City Council is in the process of scaling back its plans with the Alameda Corridor-East Construction Authority. Montebello had originally planned to fund a $200 million trench in which rail lines would be lowered under four crossings. ACE pledged $65 million if Montebello could come up with the balance (ACE's traffic studies in 1997 found that Montebello merited only one grade separation under the approved formula, which measured service grades and overall traffic amongst other factors). Additional funding has not materialized, so ACE is redirecting the funding to other ready-to-go separations. Full story

Wine Notes #11: Anderson Valley Pinot

2004 Londer Vineyards Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
This Pinot received a 92 from Wine Spectator, earning it a Highly Recommended citation when combined with its $29 price tag. The first glass tended towards red fruit, although black fruits dominated after some time in the decanter. A bit of vanilla followed. The finish is nice and long, and taste and bouquet are excellent. My chief problem with this wine is that the no less than 15% ABV is not integrated well-on the whole the wine sufferes from being somewhat too hot. It's not enough to ruin the experience, but it makes the wine seem a bit unbalanced.

"As far as torture goes . . . it seems like a pretty efficient method"

Chalk this up as another thing which is simply wrong yet possessed of gravitas: watch a FOX correspondent get waterboarded. Full story and vid

Public pensions in doubt?

The New York Times reports that state and local governments are increasingly searching for loopholes to cut the cost of their pensions. Traditionally, pensions were regarded as sacrosant obligations that could not be breached. Full story

Because defiling Facebook wasn't enough

Fresh off of YoungFeds.org, your government is hard at work co-opting and inevitably proving worthless (wait for it) Wikipedia. The government has created a new system, Intellipedia, to share information between intelligence agencies using Wikipedia's proprietary software. Full story

Update

So, yes, the forthcoming election has kept me rather busy, hence the lack of new posts this week. It's a tragedy, but life progresses nonetheless.

In place of actual news items, I'm offering my prognostications on the forthcoming election. Cherish and wait to see how they turn out . . .

At the federal level:

The overwhelming trend in the punditry is towards predicting an almost Democratic victory in the House with some chance of a Senate swing. Tradesports has the Republicans down to about a 1 in 4 chance of keeping the House. This is ridiculously low. Yes, Republicans are facing many hard races this cycle. Democrats have certainly gained from the multitude of resignations-the Foley, Ney, and DeLay districts, to mention a few, favor challengers. However, the special election to replace the Dukester in North County San Diego shows that while these replacement races are close, they can still end favorably for the Republican side. In terms of the general climate, there are many close races across the country. However, any swings in momentum will preserve numerous incumbents. My prediction? The punditry has good reasons to favor a Democrat takeover in the House, but I'd put my money on a GOP retention. Blessed are the cartographers . . . As far as the Senate, without a gripping new issue, the bar is too high for the Democrats here. It won't happen. Period. In '08, if things don't change, maybe. But not this year.

Here in Cali:

Nothing much will change in terms of federal and state legislative districts. One or two marginal districts, perhaps. But nothing of any real importance-Republicans will still have a 1/3rd or greater minority which gives them input on the budget, and that's really the only key question in this state.

As far as statewide offices, Schwarzenegger is a shoo-in for re-election. Tradesports' ask was something like 99 for a payout of 100 on the guv. Sorry Phil, this race is over. The most interesting election is for Lt. Governor, with a close race. My money is on Garamendi though. Lockyer almost certainly has Treasurer sown up. Chiang will probably take Controller, although that race will be a bit closer. Poizner will probably trounce Cruz for Insurance Commissioner. Secretary of State is a toss-up, while Attorney General almost certainly goes to Brown as well. The result? Republicans will probably move from 2 constitutional offices to 3, although as many as 5 are possible.

For the ballot measures . . .

Propositions 1A-1E: Pretty much in the bag. 1C may have some troubles, but at least three of the five here will pass. These bonds are popular and will get needed things built. Voters are sympathetic to this.

Proposition 83: Regardless of the flaws it may have, expect a 70% or more Yes vote.

Proposition 84: Running behind the 1A-1E package. Voters like parks, but it's not part of the official package and is further down the ballot. 50-50 chances.

Proposition 85: Very close-I'm thinking No, but lukewarm Democratic turnover could put it over the top.

Propositions 86, 87, and 88: After voting for bonds, voters will not be in the mood for new taxes. 86 has the best chance, but 87 and 88 are basically dead in the water.

Proposition 89: Voters have not been supportive of campaign reform in the past. Don't expect this to change in '06.

Proposition 90: Probably the most interesting question in California for 2006. If voters have enough energy at the end of the ballot to read down to the fiscal impact summary, it will fail. If they're tired of voting and want to vote No on everything at certain point (esp. following 86-89), it will fail. If they only read the part about eminent domain . . . it will pass.