Tag: california

Researchers quietly planned a test to dim sunlight. They wanted to ‘avoid scaring’ the public.

A team of researchers in California drew notoriety last year with an aborted experiment on a retired aircraft carrier that sought to test a machine for creating clouds.  

But behind the scenes, they were planning a much larger and potentially riskier study of salt-water-spraying equipment that could eventually be used to dim the sun’s rays — a multimillion-dollar project aimed at producing clouds over a stretch of ocean larger than Puerto Rico.

The details outlined in funding requests, emails, texts and other records obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News raise new questions about a secretive billionaire-backed initiative that oversaw last year’s brief solar geoengineering experiment on the San Francisco Bay.

They also offer a rare glimpse into the vast scope of research aimed at finding ways to counter the Earth’s warming, work that has often occurred outside public view. Such research is drawing increased interest at a time when efforts to address the root cause of climate change — burning fossil fuels — are facing setbacks in the U.S. and Europe. But the notion of human tinkering with the weather and climate has drawn a political backlash and generated conspiracy theories, adding to the challenges of mounting even small-scale tests.

Last year’s experiment, led by the University of Washington and intended to run for months, lasted about 20 minutes before being shut down by Alameda city officials who objected that nobody had told them about it beforehand.

That initial test was only meant to be a prequel. Even before it began, the researchers were talking with donors and consultants about conducting a 3,900-square-mile cloud-creation test off the west coasts of North America, Chile or south-central Africa, according to more than 400 internal documents obtained by E&E News through an open records request to the University of Washington. 

“At such scales, meaningful changes in clouds will be readily detectable from space,” said a 2023 research plan from the university’s Marine Cloud Brightening Program. The massive experiment would have been contingent upon the successful completion of the thwarted pilot test on the carrier deck in Alameda, according to the plan. The records offer no indication of whether the researchers or their billionaire backers have since abandoned the larger project.

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Single US Water Utility Receives 6 Million China-Based Connection Attempts In 1 Week: Security Report

A single water utility in California has received more than 6 million hits from China-based addresses within a week, pointing to the Chinese communist regime’s ongoing efforts to scan for U.S. critical infrastructure vulnerabilities, according to security experts.

The South Coast Water District (SCWD) blocked these connection attempts between July 15 and July 23.

It revealed the figure in a July 23 industry webinar hosted by the Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center, showing a firewall dashboard by security company ThreatSTOP.

SCWD provides potable water, recycled water, and wastewater services to about 40,000 residents, 1,000 businesses, and 2 million visitors annually in Orange County, California.

During the webinar, ThreatSTOP CEO Tom Byrnes and chief scientist Paul Mockapetris, who invented the Domain Name System, advised water industry professionals to tailor who is allowed access to their servers and said that there are some obvious limits one can set.

“If you’re a water district in southern California, you probably don’t have any customers in China,” Mockapetris said.

A ThreatSTOP case study on its website shows that as far back as 2011, even a school district’s network printers in West Memphis, Arkansas, were receiving regular access attempts from China.

Byrnes stated that the 6 million figure had increased overnight from 5 million, demonstrating that critical infrastructure, such as water systems, is constantly being scanned for vulnerabilities.

SCWD’s ThreatSTOP firewall dashboard also showed more than 34,000 blocked connection attempts originating from Bulgaria and more than 21,000 from Iran.

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Report: California’s $20 Fast Food Minimum Wage Led to 18,000 Fewer Jobs

California’s new $20-per-hour minimum wage for fast food workers has resulted in a significant decline in employment in that sector, leading to 18,000 fewer jobs than would have been the case otherwise.

That’s according to a new paper released by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) this month, which said:

We analyze the effect of California’s $20 fast food minimum wage, which was enacted in September 2023 and went into effect in April 2024, on employment in the fast food sector. In unadjusted data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, we find that employment in California’s fast food sector declined by 2.7 percent relative to employment in the fast food sector elsewhere in the United States from September 2023 through September 2024. Adjusting for pre-AB 1228 trends increases this differential decline to 3.2 percent, while netting out the equivalent employment changes in non-minimum-wage-intensive industries further increases the decline. Our median estimate translates into a loss of 18,000 jobs in California’s fast food sector relative to the counterfactual.

HR Grapevine added:

The Employment Policies Institute estimated that “non-tipped restaurant workers [lost] 250 hours of work annually,” translating into up to $4,000 in lost income. That drop equates to seven weeks of work each year per employee.

The California Globe reported that “thousands of fast food jobs were shed by companies in anticipation for the higher costs,” including 1,200 drivers at Pizza Hut. Once the law took effect on April 1, 2024, “restaurants automated what they could to avoid the higher wages,” and “some fast food restaurants also closed.”

By June 2024, Stanford University data indicated “over 10,000 fast food jobs were already lost.” While the Governor’s office disputed the figure, saying fast food jobs had increased, it “stopped by the fall when it became apparent that federal data wasn’t on their side.”

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California High-Speed Train Boondoggle Reveals Collusion of Blue Government and Environmentalists

Socialists and Communists love trains for the masses.  They go where they are told, and Citizens do not have the freedom to change their mind and go somewhere else.  Cars and Freeways allow too much freedom.  The utopia of passenger trains in America was supposed to be the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) project to connect San Francisco and Los Angeles with over 800 miles of tracks.  From 1981 to 2008 plans were made and a vote to proceed was approved by Californians with funding via a state bond plus Federal Funding.  In 2015 the initial construction commenced.

Fortunately, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and President Trump brought an end to this insanity and announced on July 16 that the Federal Railroad Administration was terminating and clawing back approximately $4 billion in unspent federal funding for California’s High-Speed Rail debacle.

Secretary Duffy’s announcement said, “After 16 years and roughly $15 billion spent, not one high speed track has been laid by the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA). The $135 billion projected total cost of the project could buy every San Francisco and LA resident nearly 200 roundtrip flights between the cities.

Secretary Duffy went on, “This is California’s fault. Governor Newsom and the complicit Democrats have enabled this waste for years. Federal dollars are not a blank check – they come with a promise to deliver results. After over a decade of failures, CHSRA’s mismanagement and incompetence has proven it cannot build its train to nowhere on time or on budget.  It’s time for this boondoggle to die.”  Governor Newsom recently appeared on the Shawn Ryan show and lied about all the progress on the CHSRA project.

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Billionaire at Bohemian Grove told staff to clean his underwear by hand, lawsuit says

The famous Bohemian Grove encampment, which draws some of the richest and most powerful American men to the Sonoma County redwoods every July, recently settled a wage theft lawsuit brought by three of its employees, but not before some embarrassing allegations came to light. 

Three Bohemian Grove employees sued the nonprofit Bohemian Club and related companies in 2023 for allegedly violating California labor laws, such as by not providing meal breaks and not paying the minimum wage during the event, which is restricted to men. The nearly 150-year-old party is shrouded in mystery, but it takes place in a 2,700-acre camp outside Monte Rio along the Russian River and lasts about three weeks before ending with a rumoured burning of a human effigy and a giant owl. 

The three employees — Shawn Granger, Anthony Gregg, and Wallid Saad — said they were forced to work close to 100 hours per week during the event but were instead instructed by their employers to only clock in 40 hours, according to a November 2023 filing. Gregg also said he was mocked by club members “for complying with a request from famous billionaire William Koch to hand wash his underwear.” 

William “Bill” Koch is a billionaire industrialist and the twin brother of David Koch, a fellow billionaire and Republican megadonor. Both men inherited part of their father’s company Koch Industries, although William sold his shares in the 1980s. Forbes currently estimates William’s net worth to be $2 billion.

Brad Goldstein, a spokesperson for William Koch, denied the allegations regarding underwear washing in an interview with SFGATE Friday. He said that it was likely just an attempt to pressure the club’s owners into paying a settlement. 

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As Newsom Campaigns, California Has Highest Unemployment Rate in U.S.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has already started his 2028 presidential campaign — but his state has the highest unemployment rate in the United States.

As Breitbart News reported earlier this month, Newsom left California in the midst of over a dozen wildfires to travel to rural South Carolina, testing the waters for a presidential run in the state Democrats have promoted to the first in the list of primary contests.

However, while Newsom has led Democrats in criticizing President Donald Trump and other Republicans, his performance in office is a drag on his prospects. Last month, the San Francisco Chronicle reports, the state had the highest unemployment rate in the nation:

California’s unemployment rate rose slightly, by 0.1 percentage point, to 5.4% in June, tying Nevada for the highest rate in the U.S., according to new federal data released Friday.

The state lost a net 6,100 jobs, including 9,900 layoffs in business and professional services. Health care and government saw job gains, but other sectors all shrunk.

…

California’s May jobs gains were also revised downwards to a 11,700 increase, down 6,000 jobs compared to a preliminary estimate of 17,700.

5.4% is not historically high; it is below the 5.5% that economists once believed was the “Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment” (NAIRU), the lowest rate possible before inflation would begin to rise.

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Newsom’s Office Brags About Beautiful CA Locations, Then Uses Pic from Different State

When you’re running one of the largest economies in the world into the ground, you probably don’t have time to fact-check your vacation photos.

On Tuesday, the official Governor Newsom Press Office account tried to clap back at a critic on social media platform X. Instead, it ended up showcasing Nevada.

Newsom had posted a video of his interview with podcaster Shawn Ryan, in which he defended and in some cases downplayed his record of gun control.

A user named “One Bad Dude” replied, “FACT: Democrat run states are sh**holes.”

Rather than respond to that policy criticism with, say, facts or statistics, the Newsom Press Office fired back with four scenic photos and a caption that simply read: “sh**hole.”

Because when you’ve got nothing else, just say “nuh uh!” and post a couple of pretty landscapes.

There’s just one problem: one of the images — specifically the lower left one — wasn’t even from California.

It was from Sand Harbor. That’s not a California location. It’s the main beach of Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park.

Yes, Nevada. As in, not California.

To be fair, Lake Tahoe does straddle the state line. But Sand Harbor is clearly and entirely within Nevada’s borders.

So if you’re keeping score at home: Newsom’s team tried to prove California isn’t a “sh**hole” by promoting a different state.

This is the same governor who’s been in office for nearly six years. (I observed open-air drug use myself in a large homeless encampment in Los Angeles just months ago in broad daylight on a Tuesday.)

In any event, who posts state tourism photos and forgets to check which state they’re actually from?

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US Rep. Salud Carbajal – Part of Violent Mob Attacking ICE at California Marijuana Farm – Likely Entered US Illegally Himself

US Rep. Salud Carbajal was part of a violent mob that attacked and shot at ICE at a California Marijuana Farm.  It turns out that Carbajal’s passion for illegals may be because he entered the US illegally himself.

On Sunday The Gateway Pundit reported on US Rep. Salud Carbajal.  Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) revealed that Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-CA) was “part of a violent mob of protestors attempting to obstruct federal law enforcement as they executed a criminal search warrant at a marijuana facility”.  Carbajal also doxxed an ICE agent by handing the individual’s business card to members of the violent group.

According to ICE, the doxxed agent was also “left bloody” after the mob hurled rocks at agents who were doing their job.

The officers were conducting criminal warrant operations at marijuana farms operated by the Glass House Brands Inc. in Carpinteria and Camarillo when the chaos unfolded.

Carbajal claimed in an X post that ICE agents were “using unnecessarily aggressive and militarized tactics against local farm workers and peaceful protesters.”

But ICE responded on X to Carbajal’s tweet:

Rep. Salud Carbajal was part of a violent mob of protestors attempting to obstruct federal law enforcement as they executed a criminal search warrant at a marijuana facility. He cites “peaceful” protestors, when in fact these rioters were launching rocks at officers, injuring at least one ICE employee who was left bloody.

According to agents on the ground, the congressman doxed that same ICE employee by sharing his business card with members of the violent mob.

THIS is precisely the rhetoric that has led to orchestrated attempts to murder officers and a 700% increase in officer assaults.

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Oops: Gavin Newsom’s ‘Strawberry Farmer’ Turns Out to Be a Child Predator

Democrats have been flooding the airwaves and social media with desperate messages trying to paint the ICE raids on a California marijuana farm as proof that the Trump administration is comprised of Nazis who want to punish hard-working, law-abiding crop pickers who are just trying to “feed the nation.”

In reality, many of the illegal alien workers picked up were inadvertently trying to get the nation stoned, and multiple instances of forced illegal child labor were uncovered.

Golden State Gov. Gavin Newsom stayed busy, of course, preening for the cameras as he readies his expected 2028 presidential run. He waxed poetic about the wonderful souls working on the farm and blasted the feds for trying to help clean up the disastrous mess that he helped create.

“Trump calls me ‘Newscum’ — but he’s the real scum.” 

Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott replied to Newsom: “Here’s some breaking news: 10 juveniles were found at this marijuana facility – all illegal aliens, 8 of them unaccompanied. It’s now under investigation for child labor violations.” 

“This is Newsom’s California.”

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ICE Announces that Rep. Salud Carbajal DOXXED ICE employee who was “Left Bloody” by Left-wing Rioters at California Pot Farm – Carbajal Shared Agent’s Business Card with Violent Mob

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has revealed that Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-CA) was “part of a violent mob of protestors attempting to obstruct federal law enforcement as they executed a criminal search warrant at a marijuana facility” and that he doxxed an ICE agent by handing the individual’s business card to members of the violent group. 

According to ICE, the doxxed agent was also “left bloody” after the mob hurled rocks at agents who were doing their job.

The officers were conducting criminal warrant operations at marijuana farms operated by the Glass House Brands Inc. in Carpinteria and Camarillo when the chaos unfolded.

Carbajal claimed in an X post that ICE agents were “using unnecessarily aggressive and militarized tactics against local farm workers and peaceful protesters.”

Following the operation in Carpinteria, Carbajal posted a video on X, where he goes on a dishonest rant about ICE, calling their job “deplorable.”

He further claimed that he was there to fulfil his “congressional oversight responsibilities,” despite participating in the violent riots.

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