truth be told: oh zee TV: Jews in the Box! This is Classic!

truth be told: oh zee TV: Jews in the Box! This is Classic!: oh zee TV: Jews in the Box! This is Classic! : This is Hilarious! The Jews in the box! Free Music Player for Myspace at ReverbNation.c...

Free Music Player for Myspace at ReverbNation.com

oh zee TV: 4409 -- PIRATES say I look suspicious...WTF

oh zee TV: 4409 -- PIRATES say I look suspicious...WTF: Police are overstepping their bounds all of the time they are patrolling.

A Map that shows America's hardest hit regions

More CA Cities are Going Belly Up

By The Record
July 15, 2012 12:00 AM
And then there were three. First Stockton. Then Mammoth Lakes. Now San Bernardino. Three California cities. All unable to pay their bills. All in bankruptcy court or about to be there.

Not since 2008, when Vallejo filed, has a California city filed for bankruptcy protection. Now in the span of 15 days three have.

Like Stockton, San Bernardino's woes stem from too much exuberance during the boom years when the state's Inland Empire was on a roll and San Joaquin County became what amounts to a bedroom community for the Bay Area. Big projects. Big pensions. Big pay. (Mammoth Lakes' financial problems stem from a multimillion dollar court judgment the city says it can't pay.)

When the boom ended - as they always do - there were big problems. The river of revenue became a stream, then a creek and now a trickle.

"We have an immediate cash flow issue," San Bernardino Interim City Manager Andrea Miller told Mayor Patrick Morris and the seven-member City Council last week.

At 210,000 residents, San Bernardino is smaller than Stockton, but it faces a bigger deficit. It has a budget shortfall of $45.8 million compared with Stockton's $26 million deficit. San Bernardino has stopped paying some vendors. Stockton stopped making bond payments. San Bernardino officials said they may not be able to make payroll over the next three months. Stockton adopted a "pendency plan," a kind of day-to-day budget so it could pay its bills as bankruptcy plays out.

Likely these California cities will not be the last to take the drastic step of bankruptcy. Cities and counties throughout the nation are facing financial stress. In Scranton, Penn., the mayor has defied a court order and slashed all city workers' pay to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. He faces a contempt of court charge but said he has no choice. Scranton is out of money.

Since Congress added Chapter 9 to the bankruptcy code in 1937 to allow municipalities to seek protection, about 640 government entities have filed.

We probably will see more the next few months. What's different this time is the size of the cities in trouble. Stockton is the largest city in U.S. history to ever file. San Bernardino is the second largest.

Bankruptcy is an ugly, unpredictable and ultimately expensive choice. But as Stockton determined and San Bernardino decided, it was the only choice left.

Stockton Internet & Innovation Conference - 4th Annual

Back by popular for the 4th year!

4th Annual Stockton Internet & Innovation Conference. It's a full day on inspiring talks from industry leaders. Lean the keys to why some organizations succeed and others don't. Some of the topics:
- Innovating ideas that change our lives and how local organizations can excell as well.
- Network security at the office and home.
- To Cloud or not and other questions you were fearful of asking
- Valley Economic Outlook with updated information and opportunity for growth for local businesses.
- Generating revenue with eBay
- Social Email marketing
- Improving your businesses online exposure

Advanced registration required. Last year's event was a sold out.

For registration or more information visit www.StocktonInternetConference.com or call (209) 957-8629.

Location: University Plaza Waterfront Hotel
110 West Fremont Street Map

Date: 7/26/2012 to 7/26/2012

Hours: 8:00am to 5pm

Prices: See below

Ticket Info: For more information
call 209-957-8629.

A town that is on their toes

Stockton, Calif., to file for bankruptcy

June 27, 2012

Its crazy in Stockton California - Bankruptcy!

City officials say Stockton has run out of options. Stockton's $26 million shortfall if the city files for bankruptcy, as expected, by Friday.

"The average citizen will not put up with this. Their home prices have plummeted, they have no jobs, a lot of people are getting fed up so that they have to resort to crime." said Gregory Pitsch, a 26-year-old unemployed resident who made an unsuccessful run for mayor. "I'm asking you to make the right decision, not destroy the property values in this city, which bankruptcy will do."

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: "They" Have all of us confident, but weary!

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: "They" Have all of us confident, but weary!: Ron Paul and Mitt and Mitt Romney will be splitting california's delegates. Each picking up 53 delegates. So Let's Review the total count...

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: The Future of Stockton is with EVI

GREG PITSCH FOR MAYOR 2012!


Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: The Future of Stockton is with EVI

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: Why can't Romney win delegates like Ron Paul?

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: Why can't Romney win delegates like Ron Paul?: by Thomas Mullen TAMPA, May 10, 2012 – With his wins in Maine and Nevada last weekend and imminent wins at state conventions in six more...

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: Mitt Romney: A new generation, a new political era awakens

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: Mitt Romney: A new generation, a new political era awakens

Submit your site to the Hotvsnot.com web directory! Find sites like this in the Business Directory

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: THE ROAD TO TAMPA: RON PAUL’S “STUNNING UPSET” IN ...

Wholesale Priced Electronics,
OPEN to the Public
www.knkt.me

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: THE ROAD TO TAMPA: RON PAUL’S “STUNNING UPSET” IN ...: Reports the Denver Post: Colorado Republicans are heading to their national convention with their most conservative delegation in year...

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: Calif. Democratic treasurer perpetrated $7M fraud

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: Calif. Democratic treasurer perpetrated $7M fraud: By TOM VERDIN and DON THOMPSON Associated Press Published: Tuesday, Mar. 27, 2012 - 10:20 SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Democratic campaign t...

French Camp man guilty of child porn

By The Record
March 23, 2012 12:00 AM
SACRAMENTO - A French Camp man pleaded guilty in federal court on Wednesday to receiving child pornography, the Department of Justice announced.

Prosecutors said Terry Alan Snider, 65, offered files of child pornography through an Internet file-sharing service in August and September.

Law enforcement downloaded the images from him on Aug. 26. In a search of Snider's home computer, authorities found about 350 video files and 190 image files of child sexual molestations, including toddlers and prepubescent boys and girls.

Snider is scheduled to be sentenced on June 27, facing a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of law enforcement supervision.

The case was part of the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative against child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information visit project safechildhood.gov.

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: Quote for Today March 6th, 2012

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: Quote for Today March 6th, 2012: "To some, Money Matters None." - oh zee 2012

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: Bay Area Wakes Up To Magnitude 4.0 East Bay Quake

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: Bay Area Wakes Up To Magnitude 4.0 East Bay Quake: EL CERRITO (CBS 5 / KCBS) — An earthquake with a magnitude of 4.0 shook the Bay Area at 5:33 a.m. on Monday. The shallow quake was cen...

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: Dozens arrested protesting education cuts at Calif...

Oh Zee's Words of Wisdom: Dozens arrested protesting education cuts at Calif...: By Greg Lewis SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - Dozens of protesters angry over fee hikes and budget cuts at California's public universi...

Help me Launch my Campaign

Stockton's Bankruptcy Unlikely to Stop any Cuts

By John Rudolf

Stockton, Calif., took a major step toward becoming the largest U.S. city ever to file for bankruptcy with a city council vote to begin a state-mandated mediation process with creditors and municipal unions after a contentious public meeting Tuesday night.

City leaders described the vote as a last-ditch attempt to forestall further cuts in public services including policing, which have been slashed in recent years. "Our safety and the safety of our citizens depend on this process to move forward,” Stockton Mayor Ann Johnston said at the meeting.

But municipal finance experts warned Stockton's projected future deficits mean that neither bankruptcy nor a negotiated settlement with creditors and unions were likely to fully shield the city budget from further service cuts.

Tuesday's vote clears the way for a bankruptcy filing, as all municipalities must now go through mediation under a 2011 state law before filing for bankruptcy protection.

The 6-1 vote in favor of beginning mediation came after Bob Deis, Stockton's city manager, told council members that the housing bust, the mounting cost of public employee retirement health benefits and poor fiscal management by prior administrations had left the city on the brink of insolvency. The city has retained Marc Levinson, the attorney who represented nearby Vallejo, Calif., after it declared bankruptcy in 2008.

Stockton, a foreclosure-wracked city of nearly 300,000 in California's Central Valley, has slashed its city government in response to mounting deficits, including reducing the police force by nearly 25 percent, despite a sharp increase in violent crime. Without major concessions by city unions and bondholders, more service cuts were the only option, Deis said.

"We have cut to the bone," Deis said at the meeting. "There are no alternatives." Further cuts to the police and fire departments "will put our citizens at risk," he said.


But according to Matt Fabian, a municipal bond analyst at Municipal Market Advisors, even substantial concessions by creditors and unions would not save public services from more cuts, due to the size of the city's looming budget deficits.

"I think more cuts in services will happen," said Fabian. "That process will probably continue, even if they are able to restructure a portion of their debt or if they are able to get concessions from retirees."

Stockton faces a deficit of $20 million to $38 million the next fiscal year, which begins this summer, and financial projections anticipate similarly large shortfalls for the following two fiscal years. A large portion of those deficits are tied to bond payments from redevelopment projects and underfunded liabilities for retired city employee health care.

Under Chapter 9, the U.S. bankruptcy code that applies to municipalities, those liabilities can only be restructured, not abandoned entirely.

"They don't have the same power to write down or walk away from debt," afforded to individuals in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Fabian said.

Bondholders will likely fight any attempt by the city to force a write-down of the loan principal -- in part to discourage other financially-strapped communities from following suit. "Creditors will strongly resist," Fabian said. Residents hoping for a bailout from state legislators in Sacramento should temper their expectations, Fabian added. "California is not the kind of state that helps its local governments very much," he said.

Further cuts to vital services like policing are almost guaranteed to spark community outrage. At Tuesday's public meeting, many speakers described their experiences with deteriorated public safety in the city.

Damian Perez, 17, a senior at a city high school, told council members that his neighborhood had gone "from bad to absolutely unacceptable" and that his brother had been robbed twice in the past year.

"Stockton is not safe," he said. "Don't neglect the police. We need them now more than ever."

The rise in violence is most apparent in Stockton's soaring homicide rate, which set a record in 2011 with 56. The city has seen eight homicides already this year, well ahead of last year's pace. The most recent murder was a 14-year-old boy shot to death at a party on Stockton's south side.

In 2008, when the Stockton Police Department reached its highest-ever number of sworn officers, the city saw 24 homicides, a 28-year low.

In the years since, the police force has fallen by roughly 25 percent, through retirement and other attrition. Police officer salaries were also reduced by about 20 percent last year after the city declared a fiscal emergency and voided the department's labor contract.

Teen Killed At House Party

STOCKTON — Authorities said a teenager was killed when shots were fired at a south Stockton house party late Friday night. The victim, identified as Arturo Marquez Jr., 14, was shot in the upper body around 11:55 p.m. in the 1900 block of South B Street, according to the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office. Multiple shots were fired during the incident and Marquez Jr. was attempting to run from the gunfire when he was struck, officials said. Several people at the party were interviewed by detectives, but authorities said no description of the shooter or shooters is available.

Stockton, CA: Worst Place in America