So the Mother Jones magazine does one on the California Secessionist Movement.  Yeah, and Southern Oregon with some Northern California becomes the state of Jefferson, Eastern Washington splits into its own state, and the rest of Oregon joins the rest of Washington — perhaps along with Vancouver and British Columbia — to form Cascadia.  (Or is Ectopia?)

The following day, a rival group of independence supporters gathered on the north side of the state capitol in Sacramento. Speaking through a bullhorn to a crowd of around 20 people and 2 dogs, Louis Marinelli, the 31-year-old cofounder of Yes California, called for “a political divorce on Valentine’s Day based on irreconcilable differences.” 

The noontime rally was the official “relaunch” of Yes California’s “Calexit” campaign, which got off to a bumpy start in late 2016. Marinelli was living in Russia at the time, sparking skepticism about his intentions. (The California National Party tweeted, “Hands off California, Putin. We won’t take orders from your puppet Moscow Marinelli.”)

Sure.  But the question that looms — when the Russian government starts cheering the secessionist movement on, playing it up hard and fast on their state “Russia TV” show, maybe even tossing in a whole bunch of facebook pages algogrithmed right at you…

What are you supposed to do then?

But now Marinelli says he has moved back to California for good. Asked if the cloud of his Russian interlude still hangs over Calexit, he laughs. “Clouds bring rain, and rain makes flowers. We’re looking forward to springtime.”

Springtime for…

Then there’s this movement:

In 2014, Silicon Valley billionaire Tim Draper floated a plan to create “Six Californias,” perfectly highlighting the state’s cultural and economic divides by establishing four affluent bluish enclaves and two poor conservative ones. (He has since downsized his plan to three Californias.)

I vote for 12 Californias.  Any fewer and it’s just bandages on the problem.  Of course, now I’d have to look at California and poke up a map.

Yes California paints independent California as a progressive utopia with universal health care, free college, lower taxes and a bare-bones military. However, Marinelli says, breaking away doesn’t just appeal to disaffected coastal liberals. He cites Yes California supporters who also back Jefferson, a nearly eight-decade effort to break off Northern California (and part of Oregon) into a new state. “A lot of people up in the Jefferson movement think that if they help Calexit become a reality, and California secedes from the union, they then can have a self-determination referendum of their own to secede from California and rejoin the American union as the 51st state. That’s kind of a workaround, right?”

Citizens of Jefferson: Don’t put the cart before the horse.  This could end up badly for you.

Polls find that about one-third of Californians support secession. (About a quarter of all Americans say states should be able to secede.) But none of California’s elected officials support it. Marcus Ruiz Evans, Yes California’s president, said the political mainstream will eventually come around.

Sooner or later, there’ll be a Ron Paul (even a left wing variant of one — say someone from the “Socialist Alternative” so hopped up about a city council woman in Seattle) gadfly figure, who’ll have his following, spew a bunch of things, then… you’ll see about one third of Californians sending his/her seccessionist speeches all about facebook.  And that’ll get us … something… of some worth.

Steve Bannon has jumped over to France over this weekend, to participate in the National Front’s big hullaboballo convention, just — I suppose — as Marine Le Pen made her appearance at America’s CPAC conference — to some embarrassment amongst some conservatives.  Except, Steve Bannon wouldn’t have made an appearance at CPAC — what with his break from the Trump Administration…

… though, correct me if I’m wrong.

The big news at the National Front conference is the decision — or plan — to scrap the name National Front.  And what do we have now instead of the boot-strapping sounding “National Front” name?

The National Rally!

I hear the crowing on the Italian election results.  They say, or so people interviewed on NPR, Italy,s always further along than everyone else in trending.  They gave us fascism first, as too a larger Communist party.  Now check us out… We are out Brexiting Britain, out Trumping America…  actually so much so, Bannon may just think to hide out there…

One problem… Who gave us the Jacobins… not Italy…

The Chinese censors are right now have banning the phrase “Cult of Personality” from China’s Internet, due to the announcement of Chairman Xi that he’s dumping the term limits — an announcement, I may as well add, that is being met with widespread cheers by the Chinese People… or, you know… “The People” ™.

Also banned are images of Winnie the Poo.  Satirical likeness — it is here that I may add the shame that Ed Milibrand didn’t make it in as Prime Minister just for the sake of seeing more of Wallace of Wallace and Gromit fame.   (Well, that and Brexit wouldn’t have happened.)  I don’t know if Winnie the Poo is banned permanently, or just at highly sensitive moments as when Xi announces he’s going to stay for life.

The big shame for Xi’s march here is that it wasn’t his predecessor who made the move.  Just to enjoy the periodic Abbot and Costello riffs that greeted Hu.  Then again, maybe Xi translates into something in some other language with some other cultural artifact to riff off of… who knows?

Appreciating the odd shifts of “Classic Rock” / “Album Oriented Rock” radio playlists, on what is considered “classic” now.  It’s not so much the idea that some 90s (for lack of a better term) “Nu Metal” slides through in the “what the demographic that was listening to Led Zeppelin at the time was listening to now” manner — that’s understandable enough.  It’s the sudden appearance of Twisted Sister — “We’re Not Going to Take It”, and Dio — “Rainbow in the Dark”, or… the music that was just passe at the time finds its way… sliding back into the mix.  Back in the day, you had Dio used as a punchline — playing at the South Park dance — the joke being, of course:  of no interest or use to the hep kids of South Park.

Beyond it… Rock appears to be dead.  For the Millionth Time. Or at least the variant thrown to whatever geo-socio-demographic this is fragmented down toward.