👙🍕🎲 60 Seconds of Vegas 🍾🤮💰

Last week an 80 year old woman who killed an entire family with her SUV after driving 75mph the wrong way down a 25mph street and crashing into a bus stop was sentenced to probation. That family was waiting for the bus on their way to the zoo.

The Chicago Teachers Union will be protesting ICE agents this weekend. This comes AFTER the tragic murder of Sheridan Gorman in Chicago by a criminal illegal alien. Teachers unions are proving yet again that politics comes first and students come last.

The ballpark in San Francisco is over a quarter century old but still wows as much as it did in 2000. It’s unbelievably ageless. The Giants knocked it out of the park and into McCovey Cove. Should forever be Exhibit A in “how to build a new stadium”. Fits a visually stunning city

🚨 BREAKING: TSA officers are reportedly sleeping in their cars, selling blood and plasma, and picking up second jobs as they struggle financially amid the ongoing DHS shutdown.

California's pension fund pays its biggest check to its own former investment manager: $𝟰𝟱𝟯,𝟲𝟵𝟱 𝗮 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿. The state's pension systems owe $𝟮𝟲𝟱 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 more than they have, and taxpayers are covering the tab. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟵 𝗟𝗶𝗲 In 1999, CalPERS told the legislature that SB 400, a massive retroactive pension boost, would cost "not a dime of additional taxpayer money." They gave cops and firefighters 𝟯% 𝗮𝘁 𝟱𝟬, meaning 90% of final salary as a pension at age 50 with 30 years of service. CalPERS's own actuaries used fantasy investment returns to justify it. The result in FY2024: - 𝗖𝗛𝗣 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲: $915.6M in annual pension payouts, average full-career pension $99,832 - 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗙𝗶𝗿𝗲: $426.5M in payouts, average $97,626 - 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘆: $841.6M in payouts, average $100,061 "Not a dime." Now cities pay 𝟱𝟬-𝟳𝟬% 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹 just to cover pension contributions. That's money not going to roads, parks, or actual public safety. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 Before PEPRA reforms in 2013, employees gamed the system to inflate their pensions for life: - 𝗩𝗮𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀: One sanitary district manager cashed out 17 weeks of unused leave, spiking his pension by 37% to $217,216/year - 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴: Safety employees maxed overtime in their final year to inflate the salary their pension is calculated on - 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗮𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴: Housing allowances, car stipends, bilingual pay, education bonuses, all counted as pensionable income - 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗺: That $551,688 pension from the hook? A city administrator serving 112 residents. CalPERS eventually slashed it to ~$115,000 after finding most of it was based on non-pensionable pay The top legitimate CalPERS pension in 2024: $𝟰𝟱𝟯,𝟲𝟵𝟱/𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 to a former CalPERS investment manager. The fund's own employee gets the biggest check. You can't make this up. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 $𝟭𝟬𝟬𝗞 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗯 Those spiked pensions add up. The number of CalPERS retirees collecting $100,000+ pensions: - 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟮: 14,650 - 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟲: 22,826 - 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟬: 40,060 - 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵: 173% in eight years These 40,000 retirees are 5.5% of all CalPERS pensioners but collect 19.5% of total payouts. Statewide across all pension systems, an estimated 𝟴𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬-𝟵𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬 California government retirees pull six figures annually. 𝗣𝗘𝗣𝗥𝗔 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 The 2013 reform only applies to employees hired after January 1, 2013. Every "classic" employee hired before that date keeps the old formula. The $100K club tripled 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 PEPRA passed because the reform doesn't touch existing employees or retirees. The spiking-era pensions will keep paying out for decades. It gets worse: CalPERS returned 𝟲.𝟴% 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 while the S&P 500 returned 𝟭𝟬.𝟰%. If they'd just bought an index fund, the unfunded liability wouldn't exist. Instead they plow 37% of assets into "alternative investments" and rank 𝟯𝟲𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝟱𝟬 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 in 5-year returns. And that $265 billion hole? That's using CalPERS's own rosy assumptions. A private-sector discount rate makes it far worse. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝘅 Every private-sector worker in America funds their own retirement through a 401(k). If the market drops, they eat the loss. Government employees get a 𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 regardless of market performance, and when CalPERS comes up short, taxpayers cover the gap. The answer is simple: move new government employees to defined-contribution plans like 401(k)s. Match their contributions generously. But end the guaranteed-benefit structure that forces cities to choose between pensions and potholes. The "public employees accepted lower pay for better benefits" argument doesn't survive contact with the data. California state workers already earn 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 than private-sector equivalents in most categories, collect massive health benefits, enjoy job security private workers can only dream of, and then retire on six-figure pensions funded by people who will never see one. $𝟮𝟲𝟱 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗯𝘁. $𝟱𝟭 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀. 𝟰𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝘅-𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗯. 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗮 𝘀𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝟰𝟬𝟭(𝗸)𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘂𝘀?