We are back in business! Folks we had to wait an agonizing few days prior to our benevolent king Gavin Newsom reopening the state, but we are back to doing restaurant reviews.
Ambiance: Hungry Pecker opened about 9 months or so ago “allegedly” since all bars were ordered closed by King Newsom. The place is an old warehouse I think they used to refurbish hot tubs out of it. However, it was very nice inside, they had a few seating tables, a high-top bar area, and a separate room where the beer making process is located. They also had ample outdoor seating. This seems like a cool place to grab a cold one with the fellas after work. While the outside could use a little fixing up, I call it a work in progress, and I give a slight pass. 4.3/5
Drinks: They had about 8 beers on tap, with typical varying alcohol amounts. A couple took the names of local streets in Elk Grove. I tried, I believe it was called the Porto Rosa Porter, it’s about 8% alcohol and it was quite good.
Johnnie Does Sr. had a light beer, he felt the same, even ordering a second. I would give it a 4.5. Just a note, I am not a drinker, basically gave it up years ago, I’ll have a cold one with my father every so often, but I choose to “hoof it home” as the kids say.
Overall: It’s a cool local joint, has some potential… quite a bit actually. I would argue between this joint, Waterman Brewing Company, Tilted Mash, and Flatland–just to name a few–my home zip code is more than covered with local brew pubs. I seriously would wonder about cannibalization.
My overall grade will look bad, and this is not the intention, but man a couple things need to get cleaned up here…. badly…..and pronto. First, the bartender gal (likely owners’ daughter, wife) had a “what do you want” attitude rather than a “welcome in” one. This was largely off putting, and she couldn’t be bothered to explain the drinks to us. We only asked about which beers are lighter vs darker. She served us and pointed to a couple tables over yonder. She came by later to check on us and lamented the very sparse crowd for a Saturday at 6pm. She said they had tried everything, axe throwing, corn hole, and even have BBQ here every Saturday, nothing has been working. Might be due to having no atmosphere and very little in the way of customer experiences. In many ways this reminded me of a fundraiser bar for a crab feed. What do you want? Ok, here ya go. NEXT! 1.5/5 Gotta get this turned around quickly.
Bonus Review: JP B QUE located in the Hungry Pecker as a food option. It’s an Indy BBQ guy, who judging by his size, looks like he loves his own cooking. He had menus out on the tables and had a buffet type set up outside. I was actually looking for some decent BBQ. Had a taste for it. There was no BBQ, smoker, or grill anywhere to be found. Odd, since, well half the experience is the smell trying to draw you in or make you crave BBQ. Weirder yet as the owner walked to the restroom right near us; he said under his breath “Its leftover from an event earlier today”. Yikes 0/5 avoid this place like the black plague! This is not a surprise as most “mobile” operations do this, rather than cook fresh they offer to re-heat after taking the leftovers from another gathering. This is a dangerous practice, first it was quite hot outside, and the pans were half covered. This causes very serious food borne illness bacteria to form. As much as I hate to say this, JP B Que will never get another look from this reviewer. Quite frankly I do not think the owner fully understood what he was doing. He could get folks extremely sick.
Proof JP has a grill even if you don’t see it at Hungry Pecker
Full disclosure: I have seen a smoker out there on the patio before, not sure why he changed it up this day. But Yikes.
Johnnie Does
P.S. I saw the attempted clean shot by the “Troll” calling me a waste of time and resources on this news site, well let me fire a clean shot at him. Dear Troll: maybe Jake the Snake would like to discuss “Thou shalt not commit adultery” with you, as you seem to love a married woman, Carli Lloyd. Stick to what you do best; namely, ogling celebrities in your basement and cranking out 1 blog a month when your mom’s not home.
In what passes for journalism and reporting in the 24/7 news cycle, it doesn’t matter if you are right, it matters if you report it first. Don’t believe me? Just watch the local or even major news networks as they stumble over each other to be “first.” They do not care about the truth as long as they can strike first blood in the ratings war. If they are wrong, they will ignore it, brush it under the table, blame an anonymous “source,” or issue a retraction several days later on the page where the obituaries are listed. Ironic as those listed in that section are brand new Democrat voters!
Now to the story which prompted my ire. On June 19th in Wilton Manor (Ft Lauderdale) the Stonewall Democrats (a far left LBGTQIAHSUHNCKMAHNXLANAETS 1 issue club) had their annual Pride Parade. Present were Congressperson Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Ft Lauderdale mayor Dean Trantalis. The parade was a typical one, floats, bands, walking, etc. The procession was about to begin when a white pickup truck rammed into the waiting participants killing 1 and injuring 2.
Debbie Wasserman-Schultz
All would agree this is a tragedy, now to my point….. Trantalis, like most Democrats, are far superior to the unwashed so he decided to run to the press with this statement.
“This is a terrorist attack against the LGBT community,” Trantalis told Local 10 News. “This is exactly what it is. Hardly an accident. It was deliberate, it was premeditated, and it was targeted against a specific person. Luckily they missed that person, but unfortunately, they hit two other people.”
Of course, the folks at MSNBC ran with it. I happened to see their report while paying a visit to a local gym. The narrative quickly turned into a white male driver (this part was true) Trump supporter who hates gay rights rammed the parade. Only things left out were “MAGA hat wearing, AR-15 holding, male making out with wife, mows down pride parade participants.” Wasserman-Schultz was devastated, the parade was cancelled. It wasn’t until the following day when things got a little more clear. The man driving the car was a white male, 77-year-old Fred Johnson Jr. His truck emblazoned with a rainbow-colored pride flag flying from it. MSNBC doctored the photo to not show the flag; remember it’s about optics and a narrative, truth before facts folks. Johnson Jr. was later shown wearing a pride shirt and was identified as “one of us” by members of the gay man’s chorus. Johnson Jr. has a handicap, so he was chosen to drive for the parade. Maybe not such a great idea looking back on it?
Once the facts started leaking out, the Democrat media machine took over. This was much ado about nothing, and an unfortunate accident. The police began to investigate, I find this odd since police types are generally not allowed near Democrat events…oh wait it as a white man who did the deed…proceed! The men’s chorus even put out this statement, because well … it was just an unfortunate thing.
“This was a horrible accident,” he said. “I offer my sincere regret to those who were impacted. I love my chorus family and the community. I would never do anything to intentionally harm anyone.”
Trantalis issued a kind of apology, mostly just walking it back slightly, and now it’s all a non-story. Mostly because it doesn’t fit the narrative any longer. Why beat on one of their own, it’s more fun to do it to the other side. End of story. Anyone wonder why the ratings for left leaning news, and readership of daily newspapers are falling fast? There is your answer.
Let me now offer my “first take” on this story, and if I’m wrong, we may or may not issue a retraction, but if the libs can do it, I will too.
Far left deranged, whacko, white, male, Fred Johnson Jr. fled his old person home, revved up his truck, overdosed on opioids, and rammed a far-left demonstration. Johnson was unhappy about his role in the gay man’s chorus and decided he had enough. He rammed 5 innocent folks, killing 1, seriously injuring four. He was aiming for the mayor and congresswomen but like most Democrats, his aim was horrific. Johnson, for his part, admitted being gay afterwards, but everyone knows that’s just a lie. His actions led to a far-right militia of folks to show up with lights flashing and the words “police” inscribed on their cars. Thankfully no black or brown folks were around as massacre would have taken place.
Johnson must be held accountable for his actions. As a white man, this was a hate crime, and it took place on June 19, the new federal holiday to celebrate Juneteenth, as a result he must hate black people. Sentence him to death ASAP, no trial, no counsel to be provided. This deranged human must be wiped from earth. Also, Johnson Jr. needs to pay reparations for what he did, on Juneteenth mind you!
On a recent call, the General Counsel or the California Republican Party claimed there was NO fraud or corruption in the November 2020 election in California. The CRP Chair, Jessica Patterson has not refuted that claim. By NOY suing to stop live ballots, 440,000, going to dead people and those living outside of the Sate, the California Republican Party has normalized corrupt elections in California. We also found that 3500 Californians voted in the November election is California and Nevada—but neither government nor the GOP can find any corruption. Now this:
“Approximately 3,000 mail-in ballots counted in the Nov. 3 election were supposedly cast by UCSB students residing in a voting precinct that, along with other dorm buildings, includes the Francisco Torres/Santa Catalina Residence Hall at 6850 El Colegio Road in Goleta.
Problem: Due to COVID-19, the Torres Building, which normally accommodates 1,300 students, was empty and locked down through most of 2020, as were all other UCSB dorms.
This means no students/voters were residing inside the Torres Building (nor any of the other dorms) during the election season.
Thomas Cole of Analytics 805, which monitors elections, uncovered the Goleta precinct’s voting irregularities during the course of his routine analysis. Alarmed by the phantom ballots he’d pinpointed, Mr. Cole called the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office for advice on how to file a criminal complaint alleging Fraud Corruption of the Voting Process.
The D.A.’s Office directed him to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.
Mr. Cole’s subsequent complaint, filed with the Sheriff’s Office, alleges that:
Someone in charge of the mail at the building illegally filled out those ballots for the students and sent all those ballots directly back to the election board, which is a felony.
Someone in charge of or with access to the ballots and signature machines simply ignored the phony signatures on the ballots returned from the Torres Building, which is a felony.
Or officials turned off the signature inspection machine.
Or officials lowered the threshold of the machine inspection on the Torres Building precinct ballots, thus allowing the approximate 3,000 fraudulent ballots to be counted, a felony.
Only a student actually residing in the Torres Building during October-November 2020 could have received a ballot to vote. And since the building was closed and locked down, that is impossible.
Thus, the 3,000 votes counted from the Torres Building are illegal.
When Fulton County, Ga., poll manager Suzi Voyles sorted through a large stack of mail-in ballots last November, she noticed an alarmingly odd pattern of uniformity in the markings for Joseph R. Biden. One after another, the absentee votes contained perfectly filled-in ovals for Biden — except that each of the darkened bubbles featured an identical white void inside them in the shape of a tiny crescent, indicating they’d been marked with toner ink instead of a pen or pencil.
Adding to suspicions, she noticed that all of the ballots were printed on different stock paper than the others she handled as part of a statewide hand recount of the razor-thin Nov. 3 presidential election. And none was folded or creased, as she typically observed in mail-in ballots that had been removed from envelopes.
In short, the Biden votes looked like they’d been duplicated by a copying machine.
“All of them were strangely pristine,” said Voyles, who said she’d never seen anything like it in her 20 years monitoring elections in Fulton County, which includes much of Atlanta.
She wasn’t alone. At least three other poll workers observed the same thing in stacks of absentee ballots for Biden processed by the county, and they have joined Voyles in swearing under penalty of perjury that they looked fake.
What do we do when it appears, later than we like, that the 2020 election was thrown after all?
BIG TIME!
The latest story from Just the News is that the Georgia audit documents expose “significant election failures” in the state’s largest county.
“Documents that Georgia’s largest county submitted to state officials as part of a post-election audit highlight significant irregularities in the Atlanta area during last November’s voting, ranging from identical vote tallies repeated multiple times to large batches of absentee ballots that appear to be missing from the official ballot-scanning records,” said the story.
This is big. And coupled with Arizona early results of an audit conducted in Maricopa County, Wisconsin, which apparently shows more votes than voters, Pennsylvania’s anomalies, Michigan and several other states, it’s really looking like Donald Trump won the 2020 election – and probably broke Joe Biden’s crooked record.
To put it into perspective, the irregularities in predominantly Democratic Fulton County, Georgia, could impact thousands of ballots in a race that was initially certified by fewer that 12,000 votes.
And the real surprise is that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s own private contractor commissioned the report. He probably lied to “60 Minutes” when he claimed Georgia had conducted its most sacred kind of election.
The memos included the handwritten tally sheets for all absentee ballots counted by the county as well as a private report that chronicled seven days of problems and recorded troubling behavior like the mysterious removal of a suitcase of sensitive election data known as polls pads, used to authenticate voters.
The revelations come as a state judge has taken the extraordinary step of ordering absentee ballots in the county unsealed so that a private audit led by lawyer Bob Cheeley can examine the actual papers and resolve discrepancies. Cheeley told Just the News on Wednesday the evidence he has seen so far points to “election tabulation malpractice.”
* More than 100 batches of absentee ballots – each containing approximately 100 or more ballots — were assigned tracking numbers before being sent to one of the five absentee vote-counting machines in Fulton County but are not subsequently recorded in the handwritten logs showing which batches were scanned and counted, raising concerns the ballots may be missing.
* More than two dozen batches of absentee ballots were identified as having been double-scanned as actual votes.
* Five sequential batches of absentee votes each appeared with the exact same vote count of 392 for Biden, 96 for Donald Trump, and three for the libertarian candidate, which defy all odds.
* Many control sheets for absentee ballot batches counted during the state’s audit did not check a box indicating the ballot came from a secure container, raising the possibility that ballots were stored insecurely or that multiple batches of ballots were sealed in a single container.
Some ballots in Fulton County
Led by longtime Georgia poll watcher Garland Favorito, founder of VoterGA.org, the court petitioners say the state has failed to inform the judge overseeing their case that they broke the chain of custody over the pallets of shrink-wrapped absentee ballots warehoused in a locked county facility in Atlanta.
“If the secretary of state’s office did that, they tampered with the ballots and violated Georgia state law,” which restricts the handling of ballots to authorized elections officials involved in the tabulation and care of the ballots, Favorito said. He also noted that Judge Amero had placed the ballots under a protective order in January. “They would have had to ask for a court order to unseal and inspect those ballots and they never did that.”
The state of Pennsylvania has removed over 20,000 deceased voters from being able to vote following a settled lawsuit filed by The Public Interest Legal Foundation.
The suit, filed in November, alleged that at least 21,000 deceased individuals were still on voter rolls during the 2020 presidential election. Data compiled by the Watchdog group showed that more than 9,200 of the people registered had been dead for at least five years, in addition to nearly 1,990 that had been dead for 10 years. An estimated 197 voters were dead for at least twenty years.
“This marks an important victory for the integrity of elections in Pennsylvania,” PILF President and General Counsel J. Christian Adams said. “The Commonwealth’s failure to remove deceased registrants created a vast opportunity for voter fraud and abuse. It is important to not have dead voters active on the rolls for 5, 10, or even 20 years. This settlement fixes that.”
But what about the forensic audits in the key contested states? Starting with Arizona, then Georgia, then Pennsylvania, then…
The forensic audit of the popular votes in Arizona being conducted right now is intriguing and also a little scary. The forensic audit of the popular votes should be able to catch and identify voting irregularities, cheating, abnormalities, and felonious actions. What happens if not only Arizona flips, but also Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin?
The vote-winning margins in these four states were about 1%, or even much less. Not a whole lot of cheating and theft required to flip the states, if that is what actually historically happened. With Arizona’s 11 Electoral College votes, with Georgia’s 16, with Pennsylvania’s 20, and with Wisconsin’s 10, if those slim margins went to President Trump rather than Biden, the Electoral College vote would be 289 votes for Trump and just 249 for Biden. With Trump needing only 270 for the win, maybe that is why the Progressives are so determined that the forensic audits should not happen. Maybe that is why the Deep State cabal does not want light to shine in on the actual votes last November.
Folks, its not that I don’t believe the election was stolen but that nobody will voluntarily give-up the power. If Biden leaves the White House before the end of his term, it will be feet first in a bag with a zipper. Then we get President Harris or Pelosi, either of which will be worse than Hidin’ Biden. We are in the decline for our republic, whoever the President is the biblical lament applies that President X “did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him.”
In economic terms, the only difference between socialism and fascism is who owns the means of production. In classical definitions, both are directed by a central government. In the United States, we have elements of both systems; however, currently there is a wrinkle in the way things work that people in the past never envisioned, that businesses would not only be cooperative with such tyrannies but would be directing their actions via innovation. In essence, businesses are enabling and monetizing tyrannical activities. What we have now is an incestuous cooperation between both. Thus, we are not run by a conspiracy but separate interest groups that are all on board with the same philosophy.
In terms of Covid, many states are moving towards vaccine passports—although they are calling them something else in hopes of avoiding the label of “vaccine passports”. Governments are being encouraged to implement tracking systems which are designed to limit the freedom of movement and commerce by the usual tech suspects such as Microsoft and Oracle.
FAANG is Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google
What is happening now is that there are Two Americas. Two Americas does not mean what it once did when invoked by Democrats like Johnathan Edwards. Edwards and others once argued Two Americas was the economic gulf between “haves and have nots.”
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards 2008
No, in modern terms it is those that are vaccinated and those that are not. Technically, only those who have knelt at the throne of the big state and submitted to Dr. Fauci & co. who can attempt to return to a pre-Covid lifestyle; however, those that are not vaccinated are an inferior, ignorant, and dangerous lot and cannot be allowed to access the opportunities of our nation.
Unvaccinated in California
In biblical terms, “and he decrees that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.”
The Mask of the Beast
While the modern iteration of the mark of the beast is a vaccine, the state has a visible mark it wishes to place on the unvaccinated. You see the Book of Revelation also speaks of God’s mark upon the elect. God’s mark is invisible to us, but the state’s mark is not. It is the modern equivalent of the Star of David which the Nazis required Jewish citizens to wear in the 1930’s. It is the continued use of wearing a mask.
Soon to be required again
If you dig into the edicts by local, state, and national government officials, only the vaccinated can enter a place of business without a mask. You cannot attend a government sponsored college in California without proof that you have been vaccinated. You cannot gather together for church, a concert, county fair, attending a movie, or any other activity without a mask unless you attest or are willing to prove that you are vaccinated.
In many jobs, refusing to get a vaccine whether for health, medical, or religious reasons will result in your immediate termination. Please note that it is illegal under HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability of 1996) laws to ask questions about someone’s medical status. Under law, this is supposed to be legally private and protected information. It is supposed to only be released if you specifically authorize it.
For many that have not been vaccinated, discrimination against them is a violation of a number of various state and federal laws. However, when the law stands in the way of what those in power want, it often takes a backseat.
My own employer released a memo this week that is both disturbing and illegal. However, I think many others are being subjected to similar requirements.
FACE COVERINGS/MASKS
Effective immediately, employees who are “fully-vaccinated” against COVID-19 are no longer required to wear masks in the office. To comply with the ETS, the department must maintain documentation that vaccinated employees meet certain requirements. Employees may self-attest that they meet these vaccination requirements by completing the COVID-19 Vaccination Self-Certification form, and emailing it to their manager. Managers should not request, and employees should not reveal any other medical information. Managers must retain this documentation in the employee’s secure medical file, in compliance with the Personnel Management Handbook, Sections 3-9400 through 3-9430.
Employees who are not fully vaccinated, who choose not to disclose their vaccination status, and those who have not completed the COVID-19 Vaccination Self-Certification form, must continue to wear face coverings at all times when they are in the workplace with limited exceptions. Respirators (N95 masks) will soon be available at no charge for unvaccinated employees, upon request. Orders have been received by the warehouse and are being delivered to each office. Detailed information related to updated face covering requirements, including how to ensure proper fit for respirators, is available on the Safety SharePoint page.
Cloth face coverings continue to be available to all employees, upon request. All employees, including vaccinated employees, may continue to request and wear face coverings without fear of retaliation, discrimination, or reprisal.
Please note the above, carefully. My employer is forcing me to disclose some of my private health information or if I hold to the existing law (HIPAA) that its none of their business, then I must continue to wear a mask indefinitely.
Just to show how ignorant these guys are, who needs an N-95 mask? They are ineffective for three reasons, most people are not trained on how to don them properly, they have a limited life of just a few hours, and the cloth mask is to protect others from you, but N-95 is to protect you from others. Lastly the presumption of the above memo is that all unvaccinated people are contagious without any symptoms.
Just to prove that I’m right, please note this gem from the same memo.
CUSTOMER REQUIREMENTS
Masks are now required only for unvaccinated customers. If an individual without a face covering enters a state building, the department should assume the individual is complying with the requirement.Employees should not inquire about a member of the public’s vaccination status. Customers are no longer required to complete pre-screening health questionnaires prior to their appointments.
Why can’t employees inquire about a customer’s vaccine status? Its rude and also a violation of HIPAA law. In other words, it’s none of your bleepin’ business.
Given the hostility to those employees that are unvaccinated or think its none of the government’s business one other sentence requires comment.
Remember to be respectful in your interactions with all persons. For example, vaccinated employees should not exclude or avoid an unvaccinated employee or customer. Individuals should not ask others questions about why they are not vaccinated, or start discussions about mask wearing/non-wearing.
This is just stupid. The memo’s author has spent the last page and a half setting up a dual track system in our office. One set of rules for the masked and another for the maskless based on vaccine status and then you are supposed to pretend it doesn’t exist and never say anything because we don’t discriminate.This whole memo is all about discrimination but as long as we don’t call it that, somehow its, ok? WTF?
The EDD remains committed to demonstrating equality among employees by recognizing and respecting individual differences, treating all employees fairly, and creating equal opportunity for everyone.
If they really respected individual differences, then why write this memo? This is nothing but a justification to treat people differently, unfairly, and create inequality.
My freedom is not an option. If it were then the memo should operate from the presumption that no one needs a mask, but you may continue to wear one if you like. It is the polar opposite of freedom of conscience or thought. Such rules are tyranny.
Also note that there is no scenario envisioned where mask wearing will not be required between now and the time of my death. I could probably make the argument that vaccination and mask wearing is tantamount to a religion test oath. Think Nebuchadnezzar and the fiery furnace in Daniel chapter 3. Bow the knee to the State or else…
Thus, I either agree to receive multiple doses of an experimental cocktail of chemicals build from the corpses of aborted children or I continue to be treated as an inferior and second-class citizen. How soon until I get to wear my gold Star of David as a Scarlet Letter warning all that pass by that I am unclean.
Conforming to propaganda is easy, standing for what is right has a cost. Sadly, a cost most are unwilling to pay.
Folks we are experiencing one of the worst droughts in the history of California and nobody living in a populated area has any clue that its unfolding. Why?
When Jerry Brown was Governor, we had certain days that we could water our yard. Water companies would pay you several thousand dollars to rip out your lawn and replace it with rocks. The media was publicizing conservation at much the same pace and intensity that they have been pushing social distancing, masks, and vaccinations during Covid yet there is hardly a word about water.
Each story of the drought is treated as a separate and unrelated event with no real consequences. However, for those of us native Californians, the conclusion is unmistakable. Below are a few examples that should cause you concern.
The state’s more than 1,500 reservoirs are 50% lower than they should be this time of year, according to Jay Lund, co-director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California-Davis.
A recent AP news release was titled ‘Water crisis ‘couldn’t be worse’ on Oregon-California border’. And the unfolding historic drought is predicted to worsen.
Clearly, the growing needs for domestic water to support human needs and food production as well as wildlife habitats must not be ignored. That said, dam removal proponents are short-sighted and are merely looking to their own needs, which do not consider the big picture.
The shocking truth is that; in the middle of a record period of historic drought and ‘water crisis’, the governors of Oregon (Kate Brown) and California (Gavin Newsome) have collaborated with Berkshire Hathaway’s profitable Pacific Corp and a relatively few minority stakeholders to circumvent a Congressional Act, the Klamath River Basin Compact, and wrongfully remove 4-dams during a drought that’s intensifying.
Three of the four Klamath River dams proposed for removal are in Siskiyou County, CA, where a referendum proved that 78.84% of voters were against the Klamath dam removal project.
In Klamath County Oregon, where one of the Klamath River dams is located, voters considered whether the four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River should be removed. That vote proved 72% of voters are opposed to the Klamath River dam removal project.
Shasta Lake
Lake Shasta this summer is facing possibly its lowest level in at least 44 years, and that could be bad news for the people who rely on it for drinking and irrigation water, as well as endangered salmon that depend on it to survive.
Dam operators have to go all the way back to 1977 to compare how bad this year’s water situation is shaping up to be, said Don Bader, area manager for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the dam.
“It’s dry. It’s second worst, so far. It’s probably going to exceed ’77.But the kicker is in ’77 we didn’t have all the requirements that we have now,” Bader said.
Because of the drought and low lake level, several of those communities have already had their water allocations from the bureau reduced about 45%.
Most water being released from Shasta Lake now is not for farmers but fish.
Shasta Lake discharging most water for fish not farmers
A study from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center tends to support that. The study says that more than 80% of the salmon eggs in the river could die this summer as a result of warm water in the Sacramento River.
As of Tuesday, Shasta Lake was at 54% of average for the date and Trinity Lake was at 62% of average, according to the bureau.
The rainfall total at Shasta Dam was just under 24 inches since Oct. 1, according to the California Department of Water Resources. The previous record for low rainfall was 24 inches in 1977, Bader said.
“Things have just fallen off the cliff in the last six weeks. So that’s where we are now. Day to day, they’re making all kinds of decisions down in Sacramento about what can we do to salvage the rest of the season,” Bader said.
DWR State Water Project Chief of Utility Operations John Yarbrough said Friday the lake capacity measured at 709 feet, where at normal capacity it would be sitting at 900 feet.
The last time the water was this low was during the 2014-2015 season, when the lake’s lowest point was 715 feet — making 2021 even drier, according to DWR Public Information Officer Liza Whitmore.
Yarbrough confirmed the department projects the lake could drop even lower than the historic low from 1976-1977 of 645 feet, by late summer or early fall.
“The thing that’s different this year and unique from other droughts we’ve experienced is this year the snow pack … the amount of runoff was only about 20% of what we expected,” he said.
“We started with a snow pack that was smaller than average but from that snow pack the amount of water we got was dramatically less than what we expected.”
Water in a key California reservoir is expected to fall so low this summer that its hydroelectric power plant will be forced to shut down for the first time, officials said Thursday, straining the state’s already-taxed electric grid.
An unrelenting drought and record heat, both worsened by the changing climate, have pushed the water supply at Northern California’s Lake Oroville to deplete rapidly. As a result of the “alarming levels,” officials will likely be forced to close the Edward Hyatt Power Plant for the first time since it opened in 1967, California Energy Commission spokesperson Lindsay Buckley told CNN.
The water in Lake Oroville — the state’s second largest reservoir — is pumped through underground facilities to generate electricity, which can power up to 800,000 homes when operating at full capacity.
Conditions were ripe for exploring the lowest depths of Folsom Lake, which is a reservoir of the American River. California’s historic drought meant water levels were incredibly low in the reservoir, just over a third of its usual storage capacity.
Around 6,600 farmers in the Central Valley — which encompasses Sacramento County to Kern County — may face potential disaster after being warned by the state of possible water cutoffs.
The warning is more than just a cautionary notice for the agricultural community, as farmers say it could lead to catastrophe.
The State Water Resources Board notified the affected farmers Tuesday that they could face water cutoffs as the state deals with the ongoing drought that has already cut off federal and state irrigation supplies.
“We are seeing unprecedented amounts of fallowing. We’ve already lost several corn crops across the state,” Raudabaugh said. She explained that a number of farmers have fallowed land, meaning acres will not be used and will be left untouched.
“If you have orchards or vineyards and you’re told to cut back your water, cut off your water, you’re essentially killing that orchard and that vineyard,” Bruce Blodgett, the executive director of the San Joaquin Farm Bureau said.
For about half of what California has spent at EED since Covid started, we could have fixed the water infrastructure enough to last for the next 30 years. A few years ago, the number was about 75 – 80 billion dollars. Instead, in the last few years California has dismantled three dams and has zero intentions of building any new water storage despite billions authorized by voters for just that purpose.
Given the above, how come Governor Newsom is not enacting draconian water restrictions? I suppose he has a reason, but clearly Newsom can’t recall.
Joe Biden doesn’t believe in tax cuts, but he is willing to mess with your refund and possibly prevent you from getting one.
My introduction to this brazen tampering with taxes was a form letter the I received from the IRS.
You may be eligible to receive advance payments of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) . If you’re eligible for advance CTC payments and want to receive these payments, you don’t need to take any action. You will receive a letter with more details.
The American Rescue Plan, signed into law in March, made important changes to the CTC for most taxpayers in 2021. The credit amounts increased for many taxpayers, and the credit is fully refundable, which means taxpayers can benefit from the credit even if they don’t owe any income taxes. The credit also includes qualifying children who turn age __ in 2021. The American Rescue Plan directs the IRS to make advance monthly payments of half the estimated annual CTC. The IRS will make payments from July through the end of this year.
For tax year 2021, the advance CTC payments will be half of the estimated CTC. The maximum annual CTC will be $3,000 per qualifying child between the ages of 6 and 17, and $3,600 per qualifying child under age 6, at the end of 2021. In general, qualifying children must live with the taxpayer in the United States for more than half the year.
The maximum credit is available to taxpayers with a modified Adjusted Gross Income of:
• $75,000 or less for single taxpayers,
• $112,500 or less for head of household,
• $150,000 or less for married couples filing a joint return and qualifying widow(er)s and• the maximum credit phases out for higher income taxpayers.
If you don’t wish to receive advance CTC payments, instructions on how to unenroll from these payments will be available by the end of June. Please continue to check www.irs.gov/childtaxcredit2021 for additional information about these advance CTC payments.
My first question after why, is what will this do to my taxes when I file on or before April 15th next year?
Folks, the question of whether you wish to participate in this is “dazzle the voters program” is in two parts. First what does the child tax credit do to my taxes? and second, how much will I get?
I took a look at my taxes from last year (2020 tax year). The Child Tax Credit in 2020 was $2,000.
The child tax credit is deducted directly from the amount of taxes that you owe.
Suppose per the tax tables, you owed $15,000 in Federal tax. The child tax credit is deducted directly from this amount. Thus $15K minus $2K is $13K. If you had $13K withheld from your pay, then you’d owe zero in additional taxes.
Biden is doing two things simultaneously with the credit this year. First, he raised the credit from $2K to $3K per child. (I’m omitting the amount for children under 6 in my example.) Then Uncle Joe is going to send you a series of checks between July and December which will total $1,500. The other $1,500 will then be available to deduct from your taxes.
Now I’m going back to my previous example to demonstrate the math.
Taxes per tax table $15K, minus Child Tax Credit of $1,500 is $13.5K. If you had $13K withheld from payroll, then you get to write a check to Uncle Joe for $500 next year. So much for free money. Thus, for every child between 7 and 18 years of age, you get to send in $500 per child to the government, come April 15th next year. So much for free money. Now granted, your mileage may vary but even if you usually get a refund at tax time, you will still get to pay by getting a smaller one or maybe having to pay.
If you are near the top of any of the earning amounts listed in the letter, then you probably better opt out. If you are in the bottom income brackets, then enjoy spending your refund this year instead of getting it next year like you usually do.
Frankly, I think this scheme will bite me in the fiscal butt, so I decided to opt out. Please note that doing so is difficult and time consuming. But I did it. Here is my guide.
Your adventure in opting out begins at IRS.GOV.
On right side, click on Get Answers on the Advance Child Tax Credit
Select Unenroll From Advance Payments
On next screen again click on Unenroll from Advance Payments
And just when you thought you were on your way, you hit a hard stop. You must verify your identity with ID.me. If you’re like me, you now get to create an account. Folks this process is cumbersome, frustrating, and time consuming.
You begin by entering your email and creating a password.
You then get to select a method of two factor authentication.
Then you need to switch to your phone and then take a photo of the front and back of your driver’s license.
You cannot do this step on a PC even if you already have the photos ready, the ID.me program is broken and won’t let you. Instead, ID.me asks for your cell phone number and then sends you a text message with an embedded URL in it. It reminds me of the U-Haul self-return process. You can only take live photos of your driver’s license.
After a few tries, you’ll get both sides of your driver’s license uploaded and then you get to take a live selfie with your front facing camera. It checks your face against the photo ID that you submitted. This step is especially buggy.
Plan on 20 minutes to do the ID.me process.
At this point, I was then able to return to my desktop PC and completed the process.
Click on UNENROLL FROM PAYMENTS
Click on I UNDERSTAND AND WANT TO PROCEED
Make sure box is checked and click on SUBMIT
Then you get a confirmation screen Unenroll From Receiving Advance Child Tax Credit Payments
Except, if you’re married and file jointly, the opt out process is not complete. Your spouse now gets to do the whole process that you just completed. Yep, when I opted out, I only opted out of half of the automatic payment. In order to truly opt out, my wife now has to go to the IRS site and do everything that I just did.
Folks opting out is painful but for many, I think you will experience more pain on Aril 15th if you don’t.
What a couple weeks it has been. CA has now safely re-opened so that weak link of this blog, Johnnie Does, can finally start reviewing food again. Seriously that guy pulled off a bigger heist than the criminals did to EDD.
Well, here we go. Let’s start with a story:
I left a copy of the Babylon Bee’s recent article about Gavin Newsom giving 5 lucky winners in the vaccine lottery a free U-Haul to move out of state. The Babylon Bee is a satirical publication; call it a rightwing version of The Onion. Well, a certain colleague walked by and felt he needed to read it. He bought it hook, line, and sinker. He asked why the Governor would be paying for people to leave the state? I responded saying well only 5 people are so lucky. He became lost in thought wondering why we would shrink our tax base by choice, and with prizes funded by taxpayers like him to boot. I told him think of it this way, getting the shot could get you a one-way, all expenses paid trip to move out. The only other “trip” in CA I am aware of involves the hippy grass and that is never free.
Look at the freebies we are giving out! I mean Arkansas was giving out a 12 pack of Busch Light and a scratcher for Christ sakes! He bought it again folks, even saying Alabama offering free photos of you and your sibling’s wedding! Oklahoma is offering free horseback lessons with Liz Warren! The list was so funny as well as preposterous! Michigan offering a free abandoned house? Minnesota free admission to the police academy? But he bought it. Even Connecticut giving away “a crappier version of what New York is giving away.” Not to be outdone as I was trying to convince him this was satire, I showed the article saying “Putin, puts sign on Joe Biden’s back saying “if found return to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.” He still bought it. For a while, I thought I was being trolled but nope, he believed every outrageous syllable. I guess I will go ahead and say, Babylon Bee 2, New York Times 0, naïve folks 0. This was a brutal week for low information cable viewers.
I did follow-up with him, and he said he still believes that to be true. To which I replied, well you got the vaccine, so you’re in the lottery, best of luck to you. I still feel I was trolled!
US Women’s Soccer Star Megan Rapinoe becomes new Victoria’s Secret model/ambassador: Rapinoe best known for saying “f**k Donald Trump” every chance she can, as well as speaking loudly about equal pay, BLM, and other anti-American rhetoric signed on after bad mouthing Victoria’s Secret for a couple years. I guess if the check clears the bank… right?
Soccer Star Megan Rapinoe Photo courtesy of AMC’s TWD
Rapinoe will be joining Priyanka Chopra Jonas (a trans model) and someone named “Sampaio” as the new models. They ditched the term “Angel” and these women are claiming they won’t be modeling skimpy underwear. First of all, you couldn’t have picked either of Rapinoe’s more attractive teammates? Like any of them? Maybe favorites of the Troll such as Carli Lloyd or Alex Morgan? Why an America hating troll? Are they trolling me? Look on a serious note, I get the whole inclusive thing and rape/sex culture thing, but if you are the best like top 5% of what you do, shouldn’t you be allowed to hit the red carpet? I know Rapinoe likes a different kind of carpet, and that’s ok. But like Top Serial Killers for example? We can have Ted Bundy and co strut their stuff? Just saying. Last thing on Rapinoe, we will be exposing you’re really sad 180 you have done on all issues since Biden got elected, but hey if the check clears right!
And finally for this week. A US Senator Trolled far better than I ever could. Seriously, Rand Paul tweeted this at Dr. Anthony Falsie after it was reported the publisher would not publish his book. Just a classic burn by Senator Paul, maybe I have lost my fastball as a troll?
Til next time, admire the lovely yet out of work Hope Hicks, Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, and Jen Anniston.
Editor’s Note: we have previously published photos of Hope Hicks and Jen Anniston for Troll so due to space considerations please views his previous posts for classic photos of these women. However, since he has added two more to the mix, I had to look them up and this is what I found for Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan.
Alex Morgan too hot for the woke version of Victoria’s Secret
Carli Lloyd too hot for the woke version of Victoria’s Secret
Folks we have chronicled the fall of my fellow Dominican University of California alumni Dominic Foppoli over the last few months. We are putting a bow on the series today with a summary and concluding thoughts on the former mayor of Windsor.
Dominic has been accused of rape/sexual assault by 9 women publicly, we believe there have been at least 30 privately. We also believe that number is closer to 60 or 100 when you take into account most survivors never come public with their story. Foppoli finally stepped down as Mayor when a celebrity of MTV fame, Farrah Abraham, came forward publicly and said she had turned over digital, and I believe, video evidence to local police in Florida.
Like any coward, Foppoli resigned on a Friday, the slowest day in the news cycle and one most folks pay zero attention to. However, this does not stop the upcoming criminal and civil suits against Foppoli, the town of Windsor, and his family winery. Truth be told, his resignation should have come a long while ago.
You see Dominic is a larger-than-life character who fancies himself relevant, he wore a sash emblazoned with the word “mayor” like he was Mayor Quimby or something.
His Honor, the Mayor
He also had polo shirts and a jacket custom made with his name and the word “mayor” on them. This is typically not sanctioned, but Ken McNab doesn’t have a brain, so Dominic got a free pass. Seriously Windsor has a population of around 30k, my hometown has one over 170k and hardly anyone cares about our mayor. Dominic wanted the title and the power that comes along with it. This was evident when he was telling folks to “mute or unmute” when they spoke at the infamous council meeting where the council was voting to ask him to resign. It came to my attention last night that Dominic tried to bully out Rosa Reynoza when she was going to run for mayor in 2020. Dominic told Reynoza that he would “get way more votes than her, and he would make several campaign donations in her name to local charities if she bowed out.” This is illegal use of campaign funds and speaks to the character of this wannabe “Godfather type character.” All this for a job paying 10k a year by the way. Makes sense when you find out he drove a Range Rover with a custom plate reading “DOMSRANGE,” he was also quite proud of his white Tesla.
In reality, he was just a real-life version of a character from the movie Wedding Crashers.
Wedding Crashers: Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn
He never wanted to be involved in that dance club or Active 20-30 for legitimate reasons, he couldn’t care less. He needed dumb titles and meaningless committee assignments in order to go to the conventions and pick up chicks. He would find a victim, ply them with alcohol, and likely add a date rape drug, and wait for it to take its course. If that failed, the only other play in his playbook was to wait until he found someone too drunk to stand and “become the good guy” by walking them to his room or diverting the Uber/Lyft cab to his personal residence. Thus, giving the victim no chance of escape. Even more cowardly, he would claim he had video footage of the deed that he held over the head of the survivor as leverage. Quite the sick human this Foppoli is huh?
We interviewed a former girl friend of mine who is a criminal defense lawyer in the Bay Area County of Alameda. She told me Dominic is in a heap big trouble and he didn’t realize it until it was too late. His comments about the women amounted to “they wanted it” or “well they seduced me” are not going to work in front of a jury. Worse yet, he instructed Robert Stryk to make claims of a sex tape and he has, in a sense, called the victims “alcoholics, philanders, and adulterers.” Hate to break it to you, but none of that matters, only the events of the night in question matter. She told me the firm she worked for would likely only take a case like this on a large retainer and would need to convince the client that he likely is looking at an unfavorable plea deal at best. If he thinks attacking the survivors at trial is smart, he will get an even harsher sentence, most judges are none too lenient on sex crimes, especially a serial rapist like Foppoli. Worse yet Foppoli thinks a defense of “it was all consensual” will work, not likely when 9 women are all reciting the same story without any of them knowing one another. It’s over Dominic.
What we think will happen: We think Dominic is toast as far as Florida is concerned. It seems as if Abraham handed over plenty of evidence and likely it comes down to how many crimes he will be charged with. The holdup is they are likely waiting on California. We feel CA is dragging its feet because Dominic has played so many games in the past. As things sit currently in CA, it comes down to 2 witnesses the night Esther Lemus was assaulted/raped. The two folks are Amy Holter and Chris Grabill. Holter and Grabill are not being charged with any crimes, nor do we believe either will be, but both were present during the assault/rape of Lemus. Holter is a former girlfriend of Foppoli’s and Grabill a friend. Both are saying the right things publicly and are “cooperating with the police” but what does that really mean? Seems like, if they were cooperating fully, Dominic would be in handcuffs doing the perp walk? Florida is waiting, and will swoop in if CA fails to act, or do anything. Remember this, Deb Fudge, Ken McNab, and Ruben Martinez have helped Dominic at every turn so far, why would they stop now? Think I’m joking? Ask yourself this question, how many folks do you know like Dominic who were allowed to roam free after 9 women have come forward accusing them of rape/assault? Bet you can’t name anyone.
The good news is FL has no allegiance to Dominic hence the reason he stepped down immediately. He now knows his number 1 job is to fight these charges and he is dispatching his small group of friends to do so. One thing is for certain, he will be charged and convicted in CA, FL or both places. We feel he will be getting about 10 years of hard time in jail and will be forced to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life. It seems like both states are trying to feel each other out, if CA moves first, FL likely hits him with a fine and minimal jail time to be served at the same time as CA and a felony. If FL moves first, it will be a very strict, as the crime with the most evidence happened on their soil. Disclosure: I am not an attorney, nor do I play one on TV. I’m going off what my friend told me.
Some closing thoughts on his enablers: I really hope some of you take the time to grow up or disappear from this earth. Dominic, through your aiding/abetting and ignoring, has raped/sexually assaulted 9 women. To the former editor who spiked the story at the Press Democrat, by my count 4 additional women were assaulted/raped after you refused to run the story. Deb Fudge I hope your career goes up in flames. You are a joke of a human and a horrific actor. You personally enabled Dominic by spiking the emailed complaint directed to you about your “protégé.” Ken McNab, you are lucky that government jobs exist because in the real world, I don’t think you would even be hired to work the overnight shift at a Jack in the Box once folks find out about you covering Dominic’s rear better than an adult diaper.
Ruben Martinez and Mark Essick, I truly hope for both your sakes that Dominic is charged and convicted in FL and CA. I guess you could save face slightly if your department ends up arresting him. What truly is sad is that Fudge, Martinez, and Essick took an oath upon being elected/sworn in as an officer/councilmember to protect your fellow citizens from all enemies both foreign and domestic…. Just to point this out, you allowed a domestic enemy (rapist) to wreak havoc on your home city/county. Let that sink in.
Just for the record here, I want to let you in on some of the witnesses/people I spoke to regarding Mr. Foppoli. A Lyft driver who constantly ferried folks to and from his parties at his Christopher Creek Winery after hours. This person told me that the parties were constant, drunken debauchery with Dominic making crude comments toward most women present. A vendor who made frequent stops at his winery now refuses to step foot anywhere near his properties after hearing the way he speaks to his own staff and talk about other women. Some of Foppoli’s comments (to his female staff mind you) included: “What is your cup size” “Do thongs hurt you or feel like a wedgie?” “Let’s have a guess what underwear you’re wearing contest!” and my personal favorite line of his “are they real or fake? Can I touch them?” Yeah, this guy is one sick puppy dog. Keep in mind these statements were made to staffers likely between the ages of 21-30 by a male who was 33-38, this makes him a disgusting creep. I was also told he would threaten termination or retaliation should they go to HR. I would love to see the personnel files and get the opportunity to reach out to former tasting room workers between say, the ages 18-33, as to why they voluntarily separated from the winery. Dominic fancied himself as a real-life Van Wilder of National Lampoon fame, too bad this ain’t Hollywood.
National Lampoon’s Van Wilder
More disturbingly, we spoke to two folks who witnessed the same behavior from 2 campaigns of his. One while running for mayor, the other for State Assembly. During the campaign for mayor, Dominick made crude comments to two 17-year-old volunteers. Check this statement out “I want to apologize for my large (manhood) and I’m sorry if it makes you uncomfortable, but I do like showing it off.” WOW. I spoke to another person who was on the ill-fated Assembly campaign. This person spoke of Dominic making similar crude remarks. Again, to underage co-eds, saying he “only buys magnum sized condoms (if you’re curious, magnum is the largest/biggest condom made) so it’s a reference to his large “manhood.” He also spoke about how he likes wearing tight pants to show it off. The sick part, his campaign manager, who he named by name (her maiden name), was a couple feet away, laughing and joking about the matter. Disgusting.
Is there a single grown adult around Dominic? The answer is no. The folks—McNab, Fudge, Martinez, Essick, and his former Assembly campaign manager—feel a close connection to Dominic. They ignored his behavior and in the case of some, encouraged it more. You see, around rapists like Dominic, there are naïve folks, just the way the rapist wants it. Dominic needed you more then you needed him, he could comp you wine or whatnot, he just needed you to look the other way. Each of you willingly did. Sadly, if any of you were to jump from the height Dominic has inflated your ego and fall the distance necessary to land on your actual IQ, the fall would kill you instantly. Dominic needed a group of useful idiots. You all had no idea, but he carefully recruited you, vetted you, and lured you into his web of deceit. How else would you explain McNab, Fudge, Essick, and Martinez stonewalling investigations and papering over email complaints from constituents? How would you explain this one? Shortly after the Chronicle article, his former campaign manager called me hyperventilating as she told me that she saw “so many bad things” during Foppoli’s campaign for Assembly yet in the next breath saying that I can’t use her name on any post about Dominic because she still communicates with Dominic on social media and wants to remain his friend! This was less than 3 months ago! The answer to all these questions is easy, you all support his lifestyle and behavior, only when he became toxic did some of you publicly denounce him. Shame on all of you, you all have blood on your hands.
We consider this the final post on this issue. Thank you for your time, and mostly I want to thank the former campaign manager for sharing my blog with Dominic and his “friend.” I don’t want to name his name since apparently just the word “Liam” triggers a “cease and desist letter.” Keep in mind I never knew Liam’s last name, nor his involvement with Dominic necessitated hiring a lawyer until the lawyer told us. Due to your wanting to alert Dominic and his friend, this blog went viral. We got over 900 hits in one day! Even better, 2 local papers picked it up, as well as the attorney for the survivors. I was even told it was the “talk of the town.” Thanks to you helping Dominic, you made this blog famous in a county I think I have only stepped foot in once! Even better, I can say I have never been to Windsor, and I couldn’t likely find it on a map! Not bad for a tiny blog five counties away.
The Chief
PS to the campaign manager, you lied to me about your involvement with Dominic. I have a request in to the CA Secretary of State Elections Division as to when you separated from the campaign, I hope for your sake there is a termination form on file. If not, as the kids say, I plan on “firing you directly into the sun” on this blog.
