Oscar Charlie
@oscarcharlie.bsky.social
A mile wide and an inch deep
The only things backstopping CEA are its own reserves (built up from policy payments) and the reinsurance it buys. It has no claim on state taxpayers.
December 17, 2025 at 8:47 PM
The only things backstopping CEA are its own reserves (built up from policy payments) and the reinsurance it buys. It has no claim on state taxpayers.
Yes, I live close to the latter. I'm just saying that a SoCal quake first wipes out the fund and the reinsurance, leaving nothing in the kitty for us.
December 17, 2025 at 5:25 AM
Yes, I live close to the latter. I'm just saying that a SoCal quake first wipes out the fund and the reinsurance, leaving nothing in the kitty for us.
Fair enough. Limited to ~8 bn currently? My assumption is that if a SoCal quake happens first there's little value in maintaining a CEA policy in NorCal.
December 17, 2025 at 5:19 AM
Fair enough. Limited to ~8 bn currently? My assumption is that if a SoCal quake happens first there's little value in maintaining a CEA policy in NorCal.
Right, but it's limited to the trust assets.
December 17, 2025 at 4:50 AM
Right, but it's limited to the trust assets.
CEA risk is limited to the assets in the fund, no?
December 17, 2025 at 4:34 AM
CEA risk is limited to the assets in the fund, no?
Their commitment is to people who currently have a rent controlled unit. They don't care about anyone else or any other issue.
December 17, 2025 at 4:15 AM
Their commitment is to people who currently have a rent controlled unit. They don't care about anyone else or any other issue.
Back when Bush Jr was promoting H technology for decarbonization it was obviously just good for sounding plausible as a way of putting off genuine energy reform. I was kinda shocked that ACT actually bought the idea.
December 14, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Back when Bush Jr was promoting H technology for decarbonization it was obviously just good for sounding plausible as a way of putting off genuine energy reform. I was kinda shocked that ACT actually bought the idea.
Hey that's my line!
December 10, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Hey that's my line!
Berkeley "corridor rezoning" meeting! I enjoyed watching Zelda Bronstein and her cheerleaders get told to sit down & shut up.
December 7, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Berkeley "corridor rezoning" meeting! I enjoyed watching Zelda Bronstein and her cheerleaders get told to sit down & shut up.
The result of 50 years of choosing to spend vast sums on an enormously bloated military and next to nothing on any infrastructure except wider roads.
December 7, 2025 at 9:48 PM
The result of 50 years of choosing to spend vast sums on an enormously bloated military and next to nothing on any infrastructure except wider roads.
In California there are two primary sources of opposition to YIMBYism: inner suburb NIMBYs and urban nonprofits that intermediate affordable housing. Neither of them is really concerned with "justice" - the latter especially is just protecting their turf.
November 28, 2025 at 5:47 PM
In California there are two primary sources of opposition to YIMBYism: inner suburb NIMBYs and urban nonprofits that intermediate affordable housing. Neither of them is really concerned with "justice" - the latter especially is just protecting their turf.
Those unionized blue collar jobs are coming back any day now.
November 25, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Those unionized blue collar jobs are coming back any day now.
Presented with this fait-accompli, the arts commission wanted to remove it, but Fierstein got enough signatures to get it on the ballot and then won by a small margin. I lobbied all my professors & fellow grad students to vote no.
November 17, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Presented with this fait-accompli, the arts commission wanted to remove it, but Fierstein got enough signatures to get it on the ballot and then won by a small margin. I lobbied all my professors & fellow grad students to vote no.
LOL. My first act of Berkeley civic engagement was to lobby against the ballot initiative to make permanent the "Guardian" sculpture down at the Marina. There was an arts competition for what would go there & when Fierstein lost he installed it anyway in the middle of the night.
November 17, 2025 at 8:38 PM
LOL. My first act of Berkeley civic engagement was to lobby against the ballot initiative to make permanent the "Guardian" sculpture down at the Marina. There was an arts competition for what would go there & when Fierstein lost he installed it anyway in the middle of the night.
What's so confusing about that op-ed? It seems fine to notice that Albany has done a much better job of promoting a lively pedestrian-oriented streetscape on lower Solano than Berkeley has on its streets. And it does have to do with planning and permitting. Albany has made it super easy.
October 25, 2025 at 9:01 PM
What's so confusing about that op-ed? It seems fine to notice that Albany has done a much better job of promoting a lively pedestrian-oriented streetscape on lower Solano than Berkeley has on its streets. And it does have to do with planning and permitting. Albany has made it super easy.
When was the most recent one?
September 8, 2025 at 2:46 AM
When was the most recent one?
It's a "problem" that every other 1st world country has already solved. Basic amenities of communal life shouldn't be such a challenge.
August 19, 2025 at 1:37 AM
It's a "problem" that every other 1st world country has already solved. Basic amenities of communal life shouldn't be such a challenge.
This is giving me Zelda Bronstein flashbacks.
August 19, 2025 at 1:23 AM
This is giving me Zelda Bronstein flashbacks.
JB, you are a remarkable fount of local history!
August 19, 2025 at 1:18 AM
JB, you are a remarkable fount of local history!
Once you see by comparison the damage car centric low density building has done to American cities you can't unsee it.
July 22, 2025 at 4:44 AM
Once you see by comparison the damage car centric low density building has done to American cities you can't unsee it.
Dense housing is "communist"? That's a new one. Anyway, it happened in Berkeley so it probably is.
June 27, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Dense housing is "communist"? That's a new one. Anyway, it happened in Berkeley so it probably is.
Lol. Where did you find this gem?
June 26, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Lol. Where did you find this gem?
I take it you find the regime currently in power preferable.
June 6, 2025 at 1:44 PM
I take it you find the regime currently in power preferable.
That's the one on San Diego? It's always struck me as weird to have a design meant to highlight views to the west stuck in a creek under such a dark tree canopy.
January 19, 2025 at 9:45 PM
That's the one on San Diego? It's always struck me as weird to have a design meant to highlight views to the west stuck in a creek under such a dark tree canopy.