Tag: california

DOGE Finds 3 States Are Responsible For Over Half Of All Unemployment Fraud

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has identified California, New York, and Massachusetts as the primary states responsible for over half of the fraudulent unemployment claims in the United States since 2020. According to DOGE’s findings, these three Democrat-led states accounted for $305 million out of the $382 million in improper claim payments.

DOGE’s survey revealed numerous fraudulent claims made by individuals with improbable ages , including those listed as over 115 years old, between one and five years old, and even with birthdates that have not yet occurred. These fraudulent claims amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars, with $254 million claimed by children aged one to five and $69 million by individuals with future birthdates.

Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer emphasized the department’s commitment to recovering these funds, stating, “We will catch these thieves and keep working to root out egregious fraud.” Meanwhile, Elon Musk , who is spearheading the DOGE effort, highlighted the absurdity of the situation, noting that tax dollars were being used to pay fraudulent claims for “fake people born in the future.”

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A secretive billionaire manages a California city like a one-man HOA… dictating how people run their lives

Welcome to Irvine, CA., where the median price of a home is $1.56 million. The winding streets are spotless, there’s no telephone polls visible, and every house has the exact same terracotta roof.

In the meticulously planned city, which continuously tops hottest housing market lists, streets run in perfect circles, everyone’s house must have windows on all four sides, and lawns are spaced accordingly.

Each village inside Irvine gets its own landscape design where only certain types of imported greenery and brightly colored plants are approved.

The mastermind behind the design and upkeep of Irvine is 92-year-old Donald Bren, CEO of Irvine Co., and the wealthiest real estate developer in America, according to Bloomberg. He’s reportedly a peculiar personality, and keeps personal information about himself private. 

Under his leadership, Irvine has become a bubble away from the rest of the world. 

Every corner of the city has surveillance cameras operated by local law enforcement, who also drive Tesla trucks designed for their specific police department. 

In 2024, Irvine made the list of the top five cities to raise a family, according to WalletHub. 

‘The appeal of Irvine is top ranked education, incredible employment centers, renowned health facilities, and an incredible master planned community with loads of open space, family activities and parks,’ local realtor Cathy Haney, a broker from First Team Real Estate, told the Daily Mail.

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Secretive Billionaire-Filled City in California Is One You’ve Likely Never Heard of—Because Residents Don’t Want You To

Tucked into the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains is a tiny California town that is home to approximately 1,000 people and just 355 houses—yet it is also one of the wealthiest ZIP codes in the country, with many of its residents boasting either billionaire or multimillionaire statuses.

But unlike Beverly Hills or Bel-Air, the odds are that you have never heard of Bradbury, CA—largely because the wealthy and very secretive people who live there prize their privacy above all else, helping to turn the tony enclave into a veritable sanctuary for high net-worth individuals who want to hide their lives from prying eyes.

According to the Census Bureau‘s 2023 statistics, 39.5% of households in the community, which is bordered by Monrovia and Duarte and is located just a 20-minute drive east of Los Angeles, earn more than $200,000.

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Navy crew reports dramatic encounter eerily similar to iconic ‘Tic Tac’ incident

Sailors aboard a U.S. Navy warship off the coast of Southern California reported having a dramatic encounter with four unknown objects that seemingly flew away in a synchronized formation.

That formation seemed eerily similar to the now-famous “Tic Tac” object seen in those same waters in 2004 and investigated by a secret government program based in Las Vegas.

It appears the “Tic Tac” is back, or maybe never left, as the crew members aboard the USS Jackson said that they saw four of the oddly shaped craft, one of which emerged from the ocean.

The sailors were able to record video of two of the “Tic Tacs” as they appeared on a thermal sensor in the ship’s command center. That video was made public Tuesday in a podcast that 8 News Now Investigator George Knapp co-hosts and is likely to rekindle questions about who is piloting these objects.

When Navy aviators first encountered a “Tic Tac” shaped object off the coast of Southern California in 2004, it was largely ignored until 2008 when a new UFO program based in Las Vegas learned about the incident.

The program, dubbed AAWSAP, was launched by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), with support from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Bigelow Aerospace as the contractor.

As it turns out, the 2004 “Tic Tac” is pretty much identical to the 2023 model. In February 2023, crew members aboard the Navy’s USS Jackson saw an illuminated object emerge from the ocean off the coast of Southern California — in the same general area where the original “Tic Tac” was seen.

Inside the ship’s command center, the sailors saw a familiar shape on the thermal sensor. The thermal system, known as Safire, is a heat sensor, not a camera. A closer look showed that there were two of the objects, not just one. The witness said they saw four “Tic Tacs” in formation.

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Supreme Court Rejects Fire Chief’s Religious Freedom Case

Ronald Hittle was fired as Stockton, California’s fire chief after facing misconduct allegations, including an anonymous letter that labeled him a “corrupt, racist, lying, religious fanatic.”

One factor behind his dismissal was his attendance, along with other managers, at a church-sponsored summit for Christian leaders during work hours.

Hittle attempted to sue, arguing that he was terminated because of his Christian faith, but lower courts ruled that his case wasn’t strong enough to proceed to trial. Hittle maintains that the Supreme Court’s standard for evaluating workplace discrimination claims—a test established over 50 years ago—warrants reexamination.

But on Monday, the Supreme Court declined to hear his case, sidestepping a potential showdown over workplace religious discrimination at a time when the Court is also scrutinizing issues related to religion in schools and religion-based tax exemptions.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch indicated they would have accepted the appeal. Thomas noted that Hittle presented ample evidence of discriminatory intent, and that his case could have provided clear guidance on when workplace discrimination claims should proceed, the outlet reported.

Hittle was terminated in 2011 after a city investigation found that he lacked effectiveness and judgment, failed to report time off, engaged in favoritism, and attended a religious event with other managers while on the job, among other issues.

The event—a church-sponsored summit for Christian leaders—was something Hittle attended at the city’s direction for leadership training, USA Today noted.

Hittle contends that his attendance at the Global Leadership Summit was the main reason for his dismissal, alleging that the deputy city manager accused him of being part of a “Christian Coalition.”

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Climate Change Policies Driving California’s Golden Road to Decline

The first of two reported essays on the issues facing California. Read the second installment here.

“From the Beginning, California promised much. While yet barely a name on the map, it entered American awareness as a symbol of renewal. It was a final frontier: of geography and of expectation.”

— Kevin Starr, “Americans and the California Dream, 1850-1915” 

California’s economic, academic, media, and political establishment still embraces the notion of the state’s inevitable supremacy. “The future depends on us,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said at his first inauguration, “and we will seize this moment.” Others see California as deserving and capable of nationhood, a topic that has resurfaced with Trump’s presidency as it reflects, as a New York Times column put it, “the shared values of our increasingly tolerant and pluralistic society.”

Critics say this vision is at odds with the facts on the ground. Rather than the exemplar of a new “progressive capitalism” and a model for social justice, California both accommodates the highest number of billionaires and the highest cost-adjusted poverty rate. It has the third highest gap, behind just Washington, D.C., and Louisiana, between middle- and upper-middle-income earners of any state. Nearly one in five Californians – many working – lives in poverty (using a cost-of-living adjusted poverty rate); the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) estimates another one-fifth live in near-poverty – roughly 15 million people in total.

“California” is a model that no longer delivers. To be sure, California has a huge GDP, paced largely by high real estate prices and the stock value of a handful of huge tech firms. It retains the inertia from its glory days, particularly in technology and entertainment, but that edge is evaporating as tech firms flee the state and Hollywood productions are shot around the world. For all its strengths, California has the nation’s second-highest rate of unemployment with lagging job growth, particularly in comparison to its neighbors and chief rivals, notably Texas, Arizona, and Nevada.

The signs of failure are evident on the streets. Roughly half the nation’s homeless population lives in the Golden State, many concentrated in disease- and crime-ridden tent cities in Los Angeles or San Francisco. Barely one in three state residents – and only one in four younger voters – now considers California a good place to achieve the American dream. Increasingly, California is where this dream goes to die.

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California Lawmakers Reject Bills To Ban Males From Female Sports

California state lawmakers have rejected a change to state policies that would have required male student athletes identifying as transgender to compete on sports teams consistent with their sex.

On April 1, Democratic lawmakers on the state Assembly’s Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports and Tourism rejected two bills introduced by Republican lawmakers—AB 89 and AB 844. Democrats hold a supermajority on the committee.

AB 89 would have required the California Interscholastic Federation, which governs high school sports, to follow rules banning male students from playing on girls’ sports teams at school.

AB 844 would have effectively repealed the 2013 California School Success and Opportunity Act, which permits students to play in sex-segregated school programs, including on sports teams, as well as use bathrooms and other facilities based on their gender identity. The bill would have applied to K-12 and college students.

Democratic Assemblyman Chris Ward, the committee chair and leader of the legislative LGBTQ+ caucus, alleged the bills to be part of an attack on transgender youth.

“Let’s be clear—this isn’t about fairness,” he stated in a post on Instagram.

“It’s about fear and exclusion, and I won’t stand for it.”

“Targeting trans athletes doesn’t protect anyone—it harms all girls,” said Ward, who represents large parts of San Diego. 

“This must stop.”

Republican Assemblyman Bill Essayli, author of AB 844, said the measure would restore fairness to women’s sports.

“California will come into compliance with Title IX either through the legislative process or the court process,” Essayli said during the hearing on Tuesday. “Title IX was passed to protect sex-based sports, to protect girls so they could have their own teams, so they can compete and be champions.”

Essayli said that even one woman disenfranchised due to current state law is too many.

“You’re taking rights away from women,” Essayli said.

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Police Watch and Do Nothing as Masked Antifa Vandals Violently Attack TPUSA Students, Staff at UC Davis

Masked Antifa vandals violently attacked TPUSA staff at a tabling event at UC Davis on Thursday.

The far-left protestors completely destroyed TPUSA’s “Prove Me Wrong” tabling event with former police officer Brandon Tatum. They stole the tent, ripped down the TPUSA banners and tried to steal the TPUSA staffer’s iPad and electronics.

Police officers stood by and did nothing to stop the Antifa thugs as they destroyed the TPUSA canopy and assaulted students.

“Antifascista! A! Anti!” Antifa protestors chanted as they destroyed the TPUSA table.

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California’s Regulations, Not Price Gouging, Cause High Gas Prices, USC Study Finds

Gov. Gavin Newsom stands behind his claim that “Big Oil” is responsible for California’s higher gas prices and vowed on April 1 to continue his fight against the industry. The pledge comes after new research put the blame on state regulations and policies for the high prices at the pump.

California’s Democratic leaders have come out strongly against the oil industry in recent years, saying the companies’ gouging was causing record-high gas prices.

“Gov. Newsom has done more than any other governor in recent history to tackle the challenge of rising gas prices—despite what the oil industry and its allies say,” a spokesman for Newsom told The Epoch Times in an email Tuesday.

A new study published March 16 by Michael Mische from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California says the evidence contradicts Newsom. Mische’s research indicated California’s high gas prices were caused by the state’s regulations and policies.

“There is no economic data to support the allegation of price gouging,” Mische told The Epoch Times. “It just doesn’t exist.”

The professor also pushed back against Newsom’s claim that he was an industry ally.

“The data is the data,” Mische said.

Mische has been on the USC faculty since 1997, where he coordinates the business school’s management consulting undergraduate and graduate programs.

In March 2023, the governor signed a “windfall-profits penalty law” to target oil companies. The new law created a slew of regulations and extensive oversight for oil companies.

Newsom’s office said the governor saved Californians billions of dollars at the pump by signing the law.

The measure allows the governor’s appointed Energy Commission to fine and penalize oil companies if they earned profits beyond state-imposed limits.

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FBI Weaponizes Background Checks To Enforce California Gun Ban

When you go to a gun store to buy a new gun, you can expect a few things to happen.  First, some paperwork.  Second, you can expect to have to pass a background check before leaving with your gun.  And third, you can expect that the gun store will keep a record of your purchase for as long as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”) requires.  After all, that is how the government traces crime guns back to their original purchasers.

But what you might not expect is an FBI agent receiving a ping that you – yes, you – just successfully bought a gun.  And you might be surprised to learn that this agent has been receiving notifications of your purchases for months – or years.

Of course, such a surveillance scheme would be flatly unconstitutional – not to mention a violation of several safeguards already codified in federal law.  Yet slowly but surely, the government has been building a record of the private collections of thousands of American citizens, even though federal law expressly prohibits that “any system of registration of firearms, firearms owners, or firearms transactions or dispositions” be established.

Of course, even though they are being monitored, these victims remain law-abiding, meaning the government has no probable cause to justify seeking a warrant authorizing such a search in the first place.

Now, Gun Owners of America has discovered that the FBI has been using its Second Amendment surveillance program not only to enforce federal law, but also to help California target owners of newly banned “assault weapons.”

FBI’s NICS Monitoring Scheme

When news first broke of the FBI and ATF’s joint “NICS Monitoring” surveillance scheme, the public was shocked.  As journalist John Crump reported in April of 2021, “monitoring of NICS isn’t for prohibited people,” but rather those who are eligible to purchase firearms but who law enforcement agents nevertheless suspect might commit a crime.

GOA learned that targets of NICS Monitoring – which exploits records in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (“NICS”) before they are deleted within 24 hours – never receive notice that their firearm transactions are being monitored.  Thus, there is no way to challenge the FBI’s surveillance.

In fact, in order to enroll a target for NICS Monitoring, an agent only needs to complete an internal request form. At no point does an agent seeking NICS Monitoring have to convince a judge (or anyone other than himself, really) that this surveillance comports with the Fourth Amendment.  Entirely usurpingly, then, the FBI’s abuse of NICS Monitoring is rampant.

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