Los Angeles County is a good place to file goofball lawsuits!  Di-Fi outta the Gov race to be a Senate Spy Diva?  Wanna buy the Padres?

The American Tort Reform Foundation has named Los Angeles county #6 on it’s annual list of “judicial hellholes.” According to the ATRF, Los Angeles County jury verdicts are so high that attorneys call the civil courts “the bank.” There’s also a monstrous racket where plaintiffs’  attorneys shake down mom-and-pop businesses for alleged Americans With Disabilities Act violations because their counter is 1 inch too high or a wheelchair ramp is one degree too steep. The lawyers get a cash settlement and then dismiss the lawsuit. Read all about it.  [ATRF/Judicial Hellhole]

Larver Version of L.A. County – Judicial Hellhole Report

The San Diego Padres are for sale. Since they’re not really a professional baseball team anymore you can probably get ‘em cheap. [SD Union Tribune]

The Republicans in the state legislature unveil their “budget plan.”  Same ‘ol same ‘ol.  But this article is worth a read if you want to see the comparisons between the Dems, GOP, and Governor’s plans.  [Sac Bee]

Sen. Feinstein has been nominated/appointed  to Chair the Senate Intelligence Committee.  This is a super powerful job (you get to work on spy stuff).  She’ll take the Chairwomanship in January.  This means that Di-Fi will most likely not run for Governor in 2010.  [SF Chronicle]

Private-Eye-To-Paranoid-Stars Anthony Pellicano got 15 years for running an illegal wiretapping scheme and racketeering.  [LA Times]

How bad is California’s water crisis?  In Orange County, they’re recycling raw sewage into drinking water.  Yum! [Aquafornia]

But according to these “patriots”, elected officials in California are not legally holding office since nobody takes some goofy loyalty oath that they claim is required by the California Constitution.   [Free Enterprise Society]

At Phil Spector’s re-trial, his defense attorney admitted to the jury that Spector is, in fact, a misogynist gun-wielding maniac who occasionally points guns at men too.  Interesting strategy. [LA Times]

Get ready for paperless traffic tickets.  CHP is experimenting with an “electronic traffic citation tracking system” in parts of San Bernardino, Orange, and San Diego counties.  [Inside SoCal]

SF Mayor Gavin Newsom is planning a 7 1/2 hour state-of-the-city speech serialized on his very own YouTube channel.  Yes.  Seven and a half hours. [SF Chronicle]

Phenomenal sort-of-hard-to-find-never-officially-released 70s era Neil Young songs for legit free download, great stuff.  [Aquarium Drunkard]

If anyone lost 10,000 pounds of weed off Newport Beach, give the coast guard a call [OC Register]

And speaking of weed, here’s a list of the most underrated Muppets — we completely agree with #1  [Topless Robot]

After reading this report, we’re thinking that the state should just dry all the weed out, sell it and tax it. [Capitol Alert]

Selling it is an especially good idea since there’s no more room in California prisons.  At the prison healthcare trial yesterday, Corrections Department officials from around the country called California prisons “unmanageable.” [San Jose Mercury News]

A very good article about ballot proposition reform, 78% of Californians want a system where ballot measures are looked at, before they get on the ballot, to make sure they are enforceable and drafted correctly.  Gee…what a novel idea! [Oakland Tribune]