California hit the wall? So I live in california and so not a newsom fan. I think his ideas cost us way too much. His taxes are killing us. So to list out a couple points -

1. The "Big Business" Exodus

The Paul Mitchell and Blue Diamond departures aren't isolated incidents; they are part of a trend where the "math" of staying in California no longer adds up for legacy companies.

• The Revenue Trap: California relies on the top 1% of earners for nearly half of its income tax. When a billionaire like John Paul DeJoria moves his HQ to Texas, it’s not just about the jobs—it’s a massive hit to the state's tax base.

   

• The Regulation Wall: Many companies leaving in 2026 cite the state’s aggressive new climate mandates and labor laws as the final straw. They feel the state is making it too expensive to simply exist.

2. The Oil Pipeline & Energy Crisis

There is a major showdown happening right now over the Las Flores pipeline system.

• The Probe: Just this week (February 4, 2026), federal investigators (DOJ and SEC) began demanding documents from Sable Offshore, the company trying to restart offshore oil pipelines near Santa Barbara.

   

• The Conflict: Newsom’s administration has been fighting to keep these lines closed to meet climate goals, while critics argue that shutting down local production just makes California more dependent on expensive foreign oil and drives up gas prices for regular people.

3. The High-Speed Rail "Burn"

The High-Speed Rail remains the ultimate symbol of government waste for many.

• The Money Pit: Despite being billions over budget and decades behind, the state is doubling down. Just last month (January 2026), they launched a new push to find private investors because the state can no longer afford to fund it alone.

• The Deficit Link: It is hard for the Governor to justify spending billions on a train through the Central Valley when he is simultaneously cutting healthcare benefits for immigrants and stripping funding from homelessness programs to plug a $3 billion to $18 billion deficit (depending on whose math you trust).

So i am wondering if Sheriff Chad Bianco ideas would not be good as well?

I myself find it quite conserning that some of these old business are leaving my suspect is high costs.

California hit the wall? So I live in california and so not a newsom fan. I think his ideas cost us way too much. His taxes are killing us. So to list out a couple points -

1. The "Big Business" Exodus

The Paul Mitchell and Blue Diamond departures aren't isolated incidents; they are part of a trend where the "math" of staying in California no longer adds up for legacy companies.

• The Revenue Trap: California relies on the top 1% of earners for nearly half of its income tax. When a billionaire like John Paul DeJoria moves his HQ to Texas, it’s not just about the jobs—it’s a massive hit to the state's tax base.

   

• The Regulation Wall: Many companies leaving in 2026 cite the state’s aggressive new climate mandates and labor laws as the final straw. They feel the state is making it too expensive to simply exist.

2. The Oil Pipeline & Energy Crisis

There is a major showdown happening right now over the Las Flores pipeline system.

• The Probe: Just this week (February 4, 2026), federal investigators (DOJ and SEC) began demanding documents from Sable Offshore, the company trying to restart offshore oil pipelines near Santa Barbara.

   

• The Conflict: Newsom’s administration has been fighting to keep these lines closed to meet climate goals, while critics argue that shutting down local production just makes California more dependent on expensive foreign oil and drives up gas prices for regular people.

3. The High-Speed Rail "Burn"

The High-Speed Rail remains the ultimate symbol of government waste for many.

• The Money Pit: Despite being billions over budget and decades behind, the state is doubling down. Just last month (January 2026), they launched a new push to find private investors because the state can no longer afford to fund it alone.

• The Deficit Link: It is hard for the Governor to justify spending billions on a train through the Central Valley when he is simultaneously cutting healthcare benefits for immigrants and stripping funding from homelessness programs to plug a $3 billion to $18 billion deficit (depending on whose math you trust).

So i am wondering if Sheriff Chad Bianco ideas would not be good as well?

I myself find it quite conserning that some of these old business are leaving my suspect is high costs.

When it comes "the global warming debate," there are often third ways that are ignored. Often the framing is global warming and climate deniers or something like that.

but it seems like there are obviously multiple perspectives here, and these two black and white boxes keep us from really seeing potential solutions.

Bjorn Lomborg for example believes in man-made climate change, but also doesn’t like the alarmism. Although he cherry picks data like he accuses others of, he also I think rightfully points out lots of flaws in the arguments that help us identify solutions. Much of the hurricane damage increase over time is because we’re building bigger and more expensive houses in hurricane alleys; for this problem, we can stop building there; everybody stopping flying altogether until 2100 delays increases the increase by a few weeks, so stopping flying isn’t the solution. Often the solutions are smaller, more local, less sexy: want less polar bears to die? Increase regulation on poaching. (Polar bear populations are up over the past decade because of this, apparently). I would love to identify and popularize these solutions, so they are spoken in the same breath as global warming rather than it being all gloom and doom and end of the world.

There are real tricky questions about what we’re trying to preserve and for whom, as well. If all we care about are humans and climate migration, then building infrastructure in places like Haiti and even evolving to coal power would be more helpful.

When it comes "the global warming debate," there are often third ways that are ignored. Often the framing is global warming and climate deniers or something like that.

but it seems like there are obviously multiple perspectives here, and these two black and white boxes keep us from really seeing potential solutions.

Bjorn Lomborg for example believes in man-made climate change, but also doesn’t like the alarmism. Although he cherry picks data like he accuses others of, he also I think rightfully points out lots of flaws in the arguments that help us identify solutions. Much of the hurricane damage increase over time is because we’re building bigger and more expensive houses in hurricane alleys; for this problem, we can stop building there; everybody stopping flying altogether until 2100 delays increases the increase by a few weeks, so stopping flying isn’t the solution. Often the solutions are smaller, more local, less sexy: want less polar bears to die? Increase regulation on poaching. (Polar bear populations are up over the past decade because of this, apparently). I would love to identify and popularize these solutions, so they are spoken in the same breath as global warming rather than it being all gloom and doom and end of the world.

There are real tricky questions about what we’re trying to preserve and for whom, as well. If all we care about are humans and climate migration, then building infrastructure in places like Haiti and even evolving to coal power would be more helpful.

When it comes "the global warming debate," there are often third ways that are ignored. Often the framing is global warming and climate deniers or something like that.

but it seems like there are obviously multiple perspectives here, and these two black and white boxes keep us from really seeing potential solutions.

Bjorn Lomborg for example believes in man-made climate change, but also doesn’t like the alarmism. Although he cherry picks data like he accuses others of, he also I think rightfully points out lots of flaws in the arguments that help us identify solutions. Much of the hurricane damage increase over time is because we’re building bigger and more expensive houses in hurricane alleys; for this problem, we can stop building there; everybody stopping flying altogether until 2100 delays increases the increase by a few weeks, so stopping flying isn’t the solution. Often the solutions are smaller, more local, less sexy: want less polar bears to die? Increase regulation on poaching. (Polar bear populations are up over the past decade because of this, apparently). I would love to identify and popularize these solutions, so they are spoken in the same breath as global warming rather than it being all gloom and doom and end of the world.

There are real tricky questions about what we’re trying to preserve and for whom, as well. If all we care about are humans and climate migration, then building infrastructure in places like Haiti and even evolving to coal power would be more helpful.

Noticing how I'm watching the debate. My system is naturally watching for whose answers seem more solid, confident. So far, JD Vance seems a little more stable. Tim Walz seems comfortable when attacking, but very nervous and uncertain when trying to answer the core content of a question. It’s a little funny and surprising to see his nervousness – e.g., constantly repeating and overusing the term fundamental.

Vance seeming better is kinda unfortunate for me because on values I’m way more aligned with Walz!

Also noticing that I’m initially much more focused on style than substance and who’s winning… will see if that shifts.

Current Session "instructions" (Feb 26): Converse, and see if nudges happen. nudges 

We launched a system where the AI bots can automatically detect intervention points. We need you to make a bunch of comments and new posts to see if they'll engage. So this week we're asking you to engage a bunch, if you can!

It's a little rudimentary at the moment so sometimes you'll get multiple bots responding on multiple posts. We'd love your feedback on which ones you like, don't, when it seemed to miss the spot, anything else you notice. 

Thanks and love yall

J (and the UpTrust team)
p.s. this week I'm at an investor meeting so dara will be with you

# [Optional Zoom](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86795216050?pwd=TllxSzYrTFFXTW5LRmg3WUQrT04vdz09) with Jordan and Dara at least, for faces, questions, help, etc: