Moving to California

[Purplehood]

I lived for years in Orange County, San Diego and 29 Palms area. You have my condolences.

[The Annoyed Man]

I lived for years in Orange County, San Diego and 29 Palms area. You have my condolences.

With the exception of my college years (UTEP/TAMU) and 3-4 years living in NYC, I lived my entire life in southern California before moving here for good in 2006.

California sucks. Period. Yes, it has great weather. Yes, it has beautiful geography (which is the only thing I miss about California). But also is a terrible place to live if you cannot afford to get yourself a good job along the central coast, or like my mother, to own a multi-million dollar home on the cliffs overlooking the ocean with beachfront below, north of Malibu. California is overrun with people who fancy themselves to be social engineers, who have no problem forcing you to live under unconstitutional laws, penalizing small businesses, and requiring high taxes to support entitlements for the shiftless, and supporting out of control public employees unions, etc., etc., ad nauseum. The 9th Circuit court is a joke.

And, it isn't just the bay area and Los Angeles that are liberal enclaves, like nitrogen erroneously reports. Look at voting patterns in San Bernardino. I have an aunt who lives in Santa Maria whom I love dearly, and who calls herself a Republican, and who is politically indistinguishable from Barbara Boxer. Boxer is a known idiot and a vacuous twit. How anybody can have common cause with her is beyond me, but I have yet to meet a serious thinker who takes Boxer seriously.

The population of California is 36,961,664. The population of Los Angeles County — not just the city, but the county, which is overwhelmingly liberal — is 9,862,049. The counties making up the "bay area" are, from north to south, Sonoma, Napa, Solano, Marin, Contra Costa, Alameda, San Francisco, and San Mateo, with Santa Clara County almost qualifying. The aggregate population of those counties (Santa Clara excluded) is 5,331,839. Santa Clara County, which is also a liberal county, is another 1,784,642. Add in San Bernardino County which also votes liberal, and you have another 2,017,673 people.

That makes a total of 18,996,203 voters, or a tad more than 50% from just 11 of the state's 58 counties. Many of the state's more rural counties have been trending toward the liberal also, particularly along the coast. This map image (below) shows the national red/purple/blue distribution going into the 2008 elections (source):

As you can see, along the coast, where the bulk of the state's population resides, they trend extremely toward the (liberal) democrat. The rather large areas of red elsewhere in the state are significant because almost nobody lives there!!!.

California is a broken state, and it isn't going to get any better until it it collapses in on itself, and it is forced to reform itself. If I was a billionaire and could afford anything I wanted, you couldn't get me to move back there. They are stupid and refuse to learn. Instead, they keep digging themselves a deeper and deeper hole. Well, you can't fix stupid, and stupid should hurt. Apparently, it doesn't hurt enough there to make them wake up and realize what they've done to themselves.

You can always get a CCW anywhere in california, as long as you want to bribe the sheriff. Going rate 10 years ago was about a $10,000 donation to the sheriff's re-election fund (Alameda county, at least)

You say that like it's a good thing. And yet, it is a direct result of a liberal-dominated political landscape. I hate the place.

[WildBill]

You can always get a CCW anywhere in california, as long as you want to bribe the sheriff. Going rate 10 years ago was about a $10,000 donation to the sheriff's re-election fund (Alameda county, at least)

You say that like it's a good thing. And yet, it is a direct result of a liberal-dominated political landscape. I hate the place.

I think that nitrogen was being facetious. At least I hope he was. Besides, if you were a billionaire you could easily afford it. Tell us how you really think about California. TAM.

[RPB]

Apparently, it doesn't hurt enough there to make them wake up .....

TAM, I'm not sure they can "wake up"
If they did wake up, they'd all be hungry, and some might try to use the agricultural supplies for FOOD crops, causing a civil war there in that country.

http://www.rantrave.com/Rave/Oakland-iG ... store.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Oakland, of course, is the ideal place to open a marijuana superstore.
You've probably heard of “Oaksterdam University,” where you can take classes ...
In Oakland, Calif., a trade school is training students to work in the state's thriving medical marijuana business.

[Bullitt]

California is a broken state, and it isn't going to get any better until it it collapses in on itself...

This is what I am banking on. At that point I will step in and take over. Viva La Revolucion!

[WildBill]

California is a broken state, and it isn't going to get any better until it it collapses in on itself...

This is what I am banking on. At that point I will step in and take over. Viva La Revolucion!

Can I have a land grant?

[olafpfj]

You can always get a CCW anywhere in california, as long as you want to bribe the sheriff. Going rate 10 years ago was about a $10,000 donation to the sheriff's re-election fund (Alameda county, at least)

You say that like it's a good thing. And yet, it is a direct result of a liberal-dominated political landscape. I hate the place.

I think that nitrogen was being facetious. At least I hope he was. Besides, if you were a billionaire you could easily afford it. Tell us how you really think about California. TAM.

Actually there has been a lawsuit brewing over the sheriff of Contra-Costa county doing just that. He created a civilian mounted posse that was purported to be a volunteer parade group. The reality was that the members were large campaign contributors and were deputized and issued CCW's. The going rate was something like $10k.

Until I moved out here in July I had spent my entire life in the Los Angeles area and spent all of 2009 in the bay area. I don't know if the state changed or if I changed but I cannot stand anything about california anymore. The "Big One" can't come along and level the bay area soon enough (human tragedy aside). The populace is truly as messed up and narcissistic as popular culture makes them out to be and the cost of housing is off the hook. I miss the mountains and the sea and its too bad that its inhabited by such dysfunctional people and politicians. There is a reason people are fleeing the state en masse.

I thought the approved handgun roster was just for new purchases? Might want to double check that.

This applies to any imported handgun. The only way to have a non-roster handgun in California is to purchase one that is already in state using a personal transfer through an 01FFL. DO NOT attempt to bring a non-roster gun into california. This has caused the used prices of those guns to go through the roof. The ONLY .22 revolver on the list is a smith and wesson and you will pay $700 for it. 22 revolvers are next to impossible to find there because of it. Many guns are LEO only as well. You can actually have them but you have to find an officer who is selling one as the 01FFL's cannot sell them. Its a mess.

[Bullitt]

I crossed the border today. There is actually a border checkpoint at Blythe, CA on I-10. It's like I am entering a whole other country. I was asked at the border if I was bringing in fruit or vegetables. what the heck? Neither NM or AZ had these checkpoints. They did not ask about guns.

[srothstein]

I was asked at the border if I was bringing in fruit or vegetables. what the heck?

California is very protective of its agriculture industry. They were extremely worried about certain pest infestations in other states and banned the importation of fruits and vegetables to prevent the pests from riding them in and infesting California.

IMHO they worried about the wrong kind of pests and have an infestation of a much worse type now. notice that this was about the only state to move further Democratic on Tuesday.

[The Annoyed Man]

I crossed the border today. There is actually a border checkpoint at Blythe, CA on I-10. It's like I am entering a whole other country. I was asked at the border if I was bringing in fruit or vegetables. what the heck? Neither NM or AZ had these checkpoints. They did not ask about guns.

Those are INS/Customs checkpoints, but they also check for (among other things) fruit with contaminating parasites from being brought into California where they can attack the California grown fruit crops - particularly fruit flies. They've been doing that for at least 40 years now. There are similar stations on the westbound I-40 outside of Needles, on the northbound I-15 north of Escondido, and the northbound I-5 south of San Clemente.

[Purplehood]

I was asked at the border if I was bringing in fruit or vegetables. what the heck?

California is very protective of its agriculture industry. They were extremely worried about certain pest infestations in other states and banned the importation of fruits and vegetables to prevent the pests from riding them in and infesting California.

IMHO they worried about the wrong kind of pests and have an infestation of a much worse type now. notice that this was about the only state to move further Democratic on Tuesday.

Perhaps they can offer tax-incentives to residents of Austin to move to CA. I can hope, can't I?

[RPB]

I was asked at the border if I was bringing in fruit or vegetables. what the heck?

California is very protective of its agriculture industry. They were extremely worried about certain pest infestations in other states and banned the importation of fruits and vegetables to prevent the pests from riding them in and infesting California.

IMHO they worried about the wrong kind of pests and have an infestation of a much worse type now. notice that this was about the only state to move further Democratic on Tuesday.

Just cracks me up, yes, they want to protect their cash crops, like Mexico does. That's why guns will be illegal in CA. some day, like they are in Mexico.

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_16513223" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Tunnel, 20 tons of pot found at California-Mexico border

http://tijuana.usconsulate.gov/tijuana/warning.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Information For residents and visitors
Guns are Illegal in Mexico

That's why the anti-gun laws+border crossings+agricultural checks at the border

[Bullitt]

Hilarious! Most of the CA produce comes from Mexico, and they are worried about me bringing something from Texas?

BTW, I was rear-ended on US101 while I was going 65 mph. Hit by a van, two Middle Eastern guys. I wonder if they had a dirty bomb in the van.

[olafpfj]

65 on the 101!!!!
70+ minimum and some places 75-85
You must be from Texas

[nitrogen]

You can always get a CCW anywhere in california, as long as you want to bribe the sheriff. Going rate 10 years ago was about a $10,000 donation to the sheriff's re-election fund (Alameda county, at least)

You say that like it's a good thing. And yet, it is a direct result of a liberal-dominated political landscape. I hate the place.

I think that nitrogen was being facetious. At least I hope he was. Besides, if you were a billionaire you could easily afford it. Tell us how you really think about California. TAM.

Not saying it as a good thing at ALL. I am also very serious. This conversation happened in 2002, though it was not as cut and dried as I made it sound.