Greetings from the West Coast, Messed Coast™, where your humble correspondent keeps track of some of the important, weird, yet interesting, stories from the breeding ground of bad ideas of the country. These three states, Oregon, Washington, and California, are sanctuaries for every cockamamie fad, yet neither safety, security, nor low taxes are given sanctuary.
This week's installment will not disappoint. Oregon's about to step on another rake, Washington is deploying flak to distract voters from what's important, and California is a beautiful mess.
Let's get started.
Since the beginning of the legislative session in Washington, the super majority lefties have set out to undo the will of the voters in the name of "democracy." Say it with me now, "THIS is what democracy looks like!"
George is boring, so Washington Democrats plan to change the flag.
As I pointed out in this piece recently, Washington State Dems Vote to Protect High Taxes, Kid Diddlers, and Illegals, Democrats have some mighty weird priorities. These are not at all what these "public servant" politicians were sent to Olympia to do, yet here we are.
Conservatives have flooded the halls of the legislature to testify, cajole, and try to persuade these lefties not to undo the tax limitations passed by voters, to stop prioritizing kid diddlers over neighborhood safety, and to stop using their hard-earned money giving sanctuary to illegal aliens. But the lefties have decided that there's been a dearth of civic engagement in Olympia so they want to take the father of our country, during the month in which we celebrate Presidents Day, to scrape George off the state's "boring" flag.
The left wants a redesign of the state flag due to the entreaty of ONE constituent, according to Rep. Strom Peterson (D) proponent of House Bill 1938.
Related: West Coast, Messed Coast™ — 'Newsom-Proofing' California Has a Nice Ring to It
But we know where this will end up sometime in 2028 when this redesign is wrapped up. Much like King County when Democrats rebranded the name King from a historical local man to Martin Luther King, Jr. and what the Pentagon is doing with the name Hood in Fort Hood, we perceive some historical disappearing will be taking place.
One of the features of this remake of the flag includes the usual unknown stakeholders, tribes, the arts community, and wokesters who will design five finalists and winnow the choice down to one—which then the voters will be allowed to vote on.
"THIS is what democracy looks like!"
Watch this space.
You'll want to lock your bag if you fly in or out of Seattle on Alaska Airlines. According to KIRO 7 News, two women reported that their luggage had been rifled through, items stolen, with the remaining items covered in urine and a "brown" substance.
A frenzy of flu has overtaken the West Coast, Messed Coast™. I can attest that it's a particularly nasty bug, that came in hot and has stayed for weeks. I had two bouts and eventually, on the second wave, went to the doctor and got antibiotics because the bug had hung around so long it had morphed into a bacterial lung infection. I got right well in time to go see Janet Jackson in Vegas (thanks kids!).
The bug for me was far worse than COVID. Indeed, it is the worst flu season in more than a decade. A fourth teen in San Diego has died from the flu amid an outbreak there.
Alex Berenson believes a new study explains why.
In a Fox News interview, the health journalist explains that a new Yale study shows the spike protein contained in the mRNA COVID shots can and have suppressed Americans' immune systems making them far more susceptible to the virulent bug.
He also said that T-cell depletion fights off infected cells in our body. Both of these could be connected to the clot shots.
Related: West Coast, Messed Coast™ — Oregon Kills its 'Genderful' Mascot
It may not be the only reason we're having a record-bad year, but it sure seems more than a little coincidental.
The state of Oregon is beginning to count the cost of federal worker layoffs. In the Portland metro area, government workers hold an outsized number of jobs compared to the private sector.
Oregon Catalyst reports that Portland has 19,000 federal workers and another 10,000 working around the state.
Oregon has been so busy scaring away private companies with its anti-business regulations, high taxes, and preciousness, that government is the biggest employer. That's a sad, sad place to be.
Nike, Lithia Motors, and Schnitzer Steel, now known as Radius Recycling, remain the only three Fortune 500 companies that call Oregon home.
Here are the companies from Oregon that used to be on the Fortune 500 list. They've either fallen off the list, left the state, or been acquired.
If any state needs diversity of business to make it a more successful place, Oregon is it.
The socialist cattle call that is now the expanded Portland City Commission under ranked-choice voting has decided that it will defund the police again.
In light of the city's profligate spending, the police department is going to take a $20 million hit. Instead of opening its doors and spending taxes on illegal aliens as a "sanctuary city," as Portland could have done to save money, it will lay off 35-45 cops and other emergency workers instead.
KATU TV reports those other spots being cut includes, "Police, fire, and the 911 center say they would have to lay off people—fewer police officers, firefighters, and 911 dispatchers—at a time when the city can hardly keep up with its current workload."
Memories.
This means that after the city just restocked the pond of some of the law enforcement who left in disgust, because of the clot shot, or other excellent reasons, the city is setting the table for more unrest.
The cuts go into effect this summer — just in time for another Summer of Love.
California lawmakers have called for an investigation of the billions spent on the high speed rail system that has laid not one foot of track since it was approved by voters in 2008. The "Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century" was passed to spend $9.95 billion with the total cost being somewhere around $33 billion. Costs are now estimated to be <gets out calculator> $106 billion.
Trump is now investigating clawing back $4 billion in federal funds from the moribund project.
This is what larceny looks like!
Karen Bass, the wholly talentless and communist L.A. Mayor, has rewritten the story of how she was caught off guard about the possibility of a catastrophic wind event in her city that spread a Calflagration that is believed to be the worst in state history, if not the country.
Related: West Coast, Messed Coast™—And Suddenly 'Trump-Proofing' California Seems Like a Really Dumb Idea
In my story, You'll Never Guess Who L.A. Mayor Karen Bass Blames for Her Ghastly Fire Response we learned that Bass, rhymes with, blames the fire chief. Oh, and Joe Biden gets some of the blame too.
We also found out this week that L.A.'s Water Bureau Protects Itself Better Than It Protected Fire Victims by getting a killer "discount" deal on lawyers to defend the Department of Water and Power because of its idiotic actions surrounding the fire and the bureau's lack of preparation.
Last week, after getting to Southern California, I met up with two of my Oregon West Coast, Messed Coast™ informants in town for a little sun. It was Taco Tuesday. The Victoria beers were flowing, and I got some very interesting insights and tips.
Stay tuned for those.
I've shortened the letter to protect the writer, but hoo boy, are the NGOs having a meltdown over DOGE!
This West Coast, Messed Coast™ reader from Washington State explains:
So I messaged a friend who has been working at a Head Start Grantee in Clark County, Washington for over 20 years and we worked together [and] sent the [Trump] Executive Order [explaining] that no tax dollars be spent on illegals recently signed by President Trump. [W]e both know the agency goes out of their way to serve illegals and their children and avoids documenting them as such. I then stated it's time Head Start and Early Head Start get with the program. She said this was unfortunate and good bye. She unfriended me and blocked me. [A]nyway, they must be stressed out about the audits too! These grantee's waste so much money it's sick. USDA money and everything else they get their hands on. The focus is more on documentation for the grants than actually serving the community.
The inanimate trolls are still cute.
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