California’s failed state has successfully pissed off the one group with the free time to do something about it. Or at least the group most willing to go on a rampage. This was a planned protest across the UC system with the support and participation of hundreds of professors and other faculty. The protest at UCLA is obviously getting out of hand in the video, but what do you expect from a congregation of rightfully angry college students.

They voted to pass a 32% tuition hike. Effective winter semester tuition will increase by $500 and over time the tuition will increase the entire 32%. There was also a  much bigger demonstration on the first day of classes when most of the school walked out of classes. There is also another protest planned for today. No word as to it’s status due to the arrests.

The regents had to vote to pass this hike due to the nearly $15 billion in state funding for higher education that was cut by the budget passed by the State Assembly and Senators. Some might even ask “Why are you protesting at a Regent’s meeting? It’s not their fault. You should be protesting at Sacramento.” Which is a completely fair point. But then again, these are the ones responsible for making the budget.  Some  see it as though it as more laziness than greed. They couldn’t figure out where to make budget cuts, so they raised tuition.

The sick irony of it all is that value of the degree is in free fall, but there’s no question it’s still the basis for any professional career. Many of these students will eventually graduate and try to join the workforce and realize how tough it is to not only get a job in your field, but any job at all right now.

Carly Fiorina formally announced she’s running for U.S. Senate in California a couple days ago.

Fiorina faces Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (R-Irvine) for the Republican nomination.

“I’m a lifelong registered Republican but I haven’t always voted,” she said Thursday during an event in Sacramento. “And I will provide no excuse for it. You know, people die for the right to vote. And there are many, many Californians and Americans who exercise that civic duty on a regular basis. I didn’t. Shame on me.”

Will you remember to vote as a Senator? If you’re not committed enough to the political process that you vote, then why run for office? where she’s only voted 5 times in the last 18 elections. Was she just trying to avoid jury duty?

I suppose her competition, the incumbent Barbara Boxer really isn’t all that accomplished either for a 4-term, 18 year member of the Senate.

“Barbara Boxer has been a senator for almost 18 years. During that time, she’s only gotten three laws enacted – naming a river in Virginia, a courthouse in Fresno, and bringing bridge repair money to the Bay Area, where she is from.  One piece of real work in 18 years isn’t much of a track record.”

Like Carly said “That’s not good enough for California,” but neither is someone who “was fired by her last employer after taking $100 million for herself,” per John Burton, California Democratic Party chairman.

It is quite ironic that the state that introduced the practice of no-fault divorce to the country and forever changed marriage would want to stop divorce entirely. Here’s a quick history lesson for all of you, in 1970, State Assemblyman Jim Hayes of Long Beach was going through a nasty divorce. To make life easier for people like himself he introduced a bill, which resulted in the nation’s most progressive no-fault divorce law.

The first full year of the no-fault law, the state registered a record 112,942 divorces, a 28 percent increase from just the year before. To put that number in perspective consider that, in 1960, there had been only 105,352 marriages in California. By 1980, embarrassed by the divorce plague in their midst, California lawmakers implemented a quick fix of world class caliber: they would no longer keep or publish statistics.

Anyway, now RescueMarriage.org, has proposed an amendment would change California’s constitution, to eliminate the ability of married couples to get divorced. They could, however, still seek an annulment. Its not on the ballot yet and would require 700,000 signatures to get an up or down vote.

The measure is being pushed by those who support gay marriage to make a point to those who argued for Proposition 8 last year. Remember those people saying that gay marriage should be banned because it ruins the sanctity of marriage and the family unit? Well this campaign is a direct, and hilarious, response to them.  I think I’m more excited for the opposition’s response than anything.