"... I don't know why, you call some place Paradise, then kiss it goodbye..." sang Don Henley of The Eagles, the quintessential California band on "The Last Resort". Peak Stupidity could post hundreds of songs about California here, but one could not go wrong with The Eagles' "Take it Easy" or "Peaceful Easy Feeling" "I wanna sleep with you in the desert tonight with a billion stars all around..." These songs and many others evoke images of an amazing place and time that may never be seen again in this world. That's what makes this a sad post.

One doesn't have to be very old to remember a time when he had a friend that "made up my mind, I'm gonna make a new start, going to California with an aching in my heart." "Someone told me there's a girl out there with love in her eyes and flowers in her hair." Whether it was work, the wife, the climate, or the whole rat race that wasn't working out, things were going to be different and better out there, where one could leave the old ways behind and start a new life in an environment that couldn't be more beautiful. It usually did work out better. I doubt many people regretted it and wanted to move "back East". This was a place where people a little bit different would not be bothered about it. There was not the family and friends around with the discouraging words about one's new weird habits or lifestyle. There was so much freedom, but no, you wouldn't get tired of it!

According to a new report from the Manhattan Institute, California Governor Gavin Newsom not only allowed thousands of illegals to pour into his state, he paid a massive amount of money in order for it to happen.

This was done mainly through grants that were given to charities which then turned around and aided in all of this illegal immigration.

Assembly Bill 1967 is moving through the California Legislature with barely a ripple of public attention. The bill, authored by LGBTQ rights activist-turned-Assemblymember Rick Zbur, would allow children of any age to initiate state dependency proceedings against their own parents. The parents will not even know this has happened until the die is already cast.

The bill allows any minor residing in any residential facility to file a legal application against their parents, without cause or evidence of harm.

Residential facilities include drug rehabilitation programs, boarding schools, wilderness therapy programs, faith-based residential programs, and runaway shelters It does not matter whether the facility is safe and an appropriate placement chosen by the parents. The child can petition the court to strip the parents of custodial authority and substitute county child welfare control or foster placement. The application need not be corroborated by any adult and need not be served on the parents. The child’s statement alone is sufficient to trigger a mandatory assessment of the parents’ home. This assessment can occur without the parents’ knowledge.

The investigation includes a social worker assessment of the parents’ home. The use of the word “assessment” instead of “investigation” is legally significant: an assessment carries no requirement of a physical home visit and can be completed entirely on the basis of the child’s statements alone, without the parents ever being contacted.

The application requires an allegation of physical or emotional abuse, but emotional abuse is a nebulous category that can be stretched to cover a wide range of parental decisions with which the child disagrees. A parent who refuses to call a daughter a boy may qualify. A child in a pro-reality therapeutic setting can use AB 1967 to move herself into a home or institution that will affirm her transgender identity. California welfare laws require children under state control to be “affirmed” in their gender identity, housed in accordance with their identity and not sex, and given access to sex-rejecting interventions.

Even if the social worker determines that the parents are not abusive or neglectful and declines to file a petition, the child’s attorney can demand mandatory court review. The court must rule within 14 days on whether to order the petition filed, and if it does, the next court day, a detention hearing must be held. At no point in this entire process has any notice been required to reach the parents. Even if a parent receives notice shortly before the detention hearing, the opportunity to mount a meaningful defense is illusory: there is no time to retain an attorney, gather evidence, or respond to allegations built entirely on the child’s unverified statements.

A nonprofit can receive up to $17,616 per month in state and federal funding for a short-term residential therapeutic placement. Meanwhile, the parent faces a long, expensive legal battle to regain custody. Under California law, as many as 60 days can pass before the parents have a meaningful opportunity to contest the allegations at a disposition hearing, and up to 18 months before final resolution of the dependency. Throughout that period, the county controls where the child lives, what therapeutic program he receives, and how often his parents may see him.