GuiananZone

Unless the state of California, and its governor and lawmakers come to a decision by July 2 on how to solve the budget crisis the state will beginning handing out IOUs rather than cash.

State Controller John Chiang said that the state faces “a fiscal year with a massively unbalanced spending plan and cash shortfall not seen since the Great Depression.” The state faces a $2.8 billion shortfall in July, increasing to $6.5 billion in September, with a “double-digit freefall” in the following months, he said.

IOUs will be paid to local governments for social services, private contractors, state vendors, income and corporate tax refunds, and payments for state operations, including legislative per diem.

A rare Prickly Shark was captured today off the coast of California in a submarine canyon at a depth of about 3,000 feet. This is only the second time a shark of this type has been captured, and the first time it has ever been on display.

The Prickly Shark was held at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but only for fifteen hours. The shark was tagged and released when the aquarium staff realized it wasn't doing well in captivity.

Little is known about the Prickly Shark, which has rough scales on its upper body and two dorsal fins towards its tail.

It is a sad sad day for California today. The Supreme Court today announced its decision to uphold Proposition 8 which bans same sex marriage.

I am actually surprised by the outcome. California has always been a very forward thinking state, and I really believed that after all of the momentum moving towards equality for the gay community Prop 8 would have been overturned.

The really sad part is that California had a chance to make a statement to the nation and the world about its acceptance, and we chose not to. The thing that pisses me off though is that the majority of the funding money to ban same sex marriage came from out of state (namely from the Mormon state of Utah).

Another thing that really bothers me is that gay marriage is a HUGE industry. Think of all of the florists, bakeries, photographers, dress designers, wedding planners, invitation makers, and the like - think of the huge chunk of money they are mission out on!! In times of economic downturn we should be looking for a boost anywhere we can.

So to all of my friends out there, I am sorry my state has labeled you a second class citizen. Now when I go protest this outcome and I walk by a gay man, I will walk by knowing that I have more rights than him - and that really makes me sad.