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*NEW MISS CALIFORNIA USA 2011,
ALYSSA
CAMPANELLA*
Model/Actor ALYSSA CAMPANELLA
wins the Miss California 2011 crown at the Agua Caliente Resort
& Spa in Rancho Mirage, CA. 4th runner up, Miss Los Angeles
County, 3rd runner up, Ventura County, 2nd runner up, Miss LA,
1st runner up, Miss Laurel Canyon, MISS CALIFORNIA 2011, ALYSSA
CAMPANELLA. CONGRATS! at her Fan's page she said:
Wow!! I am so
humbled and honored
to be your new Miss
California USA! All
217 ladies worked
extremely hard this
weekend to put on
such an amazing
production for you
all! Thank you for
all the well wishes
and kind words and
support! For those
of you in
California, I will
be on KTLA tomorrow
at 9:15 am and CBS 2
News at noon :-)
For more info go to:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alyssa-Campanella/215389354860
V
[ MAKE SURE TO SCROLL
DOWN V TO FIND ALL KINDS OF INFO ABOUT CALIFORNIA!
] V
FEATURED RESTAURANT OF THE MONTH :
:
VICTORIO'S RISTORANTE
FEATURED EVENTS OF THE MONTH : :
To view more Pics or Videos of this event :
Click here!
Note Only to the Artists, Singers, Musicians in
these photos or Videos: High Resolution Photos & Videos without
"Proof/Text" available for purchase. Call 818.919.8891
Note Only to the Artists, Singers, Musicians in
these photos or Videos: High Resolution Photos & Videos without "Proof/Text"
available for purchase. Call
818.919.8891
Check out a couple of photos at the
"World's premier of AVATAR THE MOVIE".
Check out a couple of photos of
OSCAR'S WINNER ADRIEN BRODY at the
"82nd Academy Awards. OSCAR'S After party by Vanity Fair @ Sunset
Tower, Hollywood, California". (Click to enlarge photos).
For more info or more
photographs &/or videos go to:
In the 19th century, the
California Gold Rush brought about dramatic changes, with a large influx of
people and an economic boom that caused San Francisco to grow from a hamlet of
tents to a world-renowned
boomtown. Key developments in the early 20th century included the emergence
of Los Angeles as center of the American
entertainment industry, and the growth of a large, state-wide
tourism sector. In addition to California's prosperous agricultural
industry, other important contributors to the economy include
aerospace,
petroleum, and
information
technology. If California were a country, it would rank among the ten
largest economies in the world, with a
GDP similar to that of
Italy. It would be the 35th most
populous country.
The word California originally referred to the entire
region composed of what is today the state of California, plus all or parts of
Nevada,
Utah,
Arizona, and
Wyoming, and the Mexican peninsula of
Baja California.
The name California is most commonly believed to have
derived from a fictional paradise peopled by
Black
Amazons and ruled by a
Queen Califia. The myth of Califia is recorded in a 1510 work
The Exploits of Esplandian, written as a sequel to
Amadís de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer
Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo.[6]
The kingdom of Queen Califia or Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a
remote land inhabited by
griffins and other strange beasts and rich in
gold.
Know ye
that at the right hand of the Indies there is an island named California, very
close to that part of the terrestrial Paradise, which was inhabited by black
women, without a single man among them, and that they lived in the manner of
Amazons. They were robust of body, with strong and passionate hearts and great
virtues. The island itself is one of the wildest in the world on account of the
bold and craggy rocks. Their weapons were all made of gold. The island
everywhere abounds with gold and precious stones, and upon it no other metal was
found.[7]
The name California is the fifth-oldest surviving
European place-name in the U.S. and was applied to what is now the southern tip
of
Baja California as the island of California by a Spanish expedition
led by Diego de Becerra and
Fortun Ximenez, who landed there in 1533 at the behest of
Hernando Cortes.[8]
In the middle of the state lies the
California Central Valley, bounded by the
coastal mountain ranges in the west, the
Sierra Nevada to the east, the
Cascade Range in the north and the
Tehachapi Mountains in the south. The Central Valley is California's
agricultural heartland and grows approximately one-third of the nation's food.[10]
Divided in two by the
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the northern portion, the
Sacramento Valley serves as the watershed of the
Sacramento River, while the southern portion, the
San Joaquin Valley is the watershed for the
San Joaquin River; both areas derive their names from the rivers that
transit them. With dredging, the Sacramento and the San Joaquin Rivers have
remained sufficiently deep that several inland cities are
seaports. The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta serves as a critical water
supply hub for the state. Water is routed through an extensive network of canals
and pumps out of the delta, that traverse nearly the length of the state,
including the Central Valley Project, and the State Water Project. Water from
the Delta provides drinking water for nearly 23 million people, almost
two-thirds of the state's population, and provides water to farmers on the west
side of the San Joaquin Valley. The
Channel Islands are located off the
southern coast.
Bridalveil Fall flows from a U-shaped hanging valley that was created by a
tributary glacier.
To the east of the Sierra Nevada are
Owens Valley and
Mono Lake, an essential
migratory bird habitat. In the western part of the state is
Clear Lake, the largest freshwater lake by area entirely in California.
Though Lake Tahoe is larger, it is divided by the California/Nevada border. The
Sierra Nevada falls to Arctic temperatures in winter and has several dozen small
glaciers, including
Palisade Glacier, the southernmost glacier in the United States.
About 45 percent of the state's total surface area is covered
by forests, and California's diversity of pine species is unmatched by any other
state. California contains more forestland than any other state except Alaska.
Many of the trees in the
California White Mountains are the oldest in the world; one
Bristlecone pine has an age of 4,700 years.
In the south is a large inland salt lake, the
Salton Sea. Deserts in California make up about 25 percent of the total
surface area.[citation
needed] The south-central desert is called the
Mojave; to the northeast of the Mojave lies
Death Valley, which contains the lowest, hottest point in
North America,
Badwater Flat. The distance from the lowest point of Death Valley to the
peak of Mount Whitney is less than 200 miles (322 km). Indeed, almost all of
southeastern California is arid, hot desert, with routine extreme high
temperatures during the summer.
California climate varies from
Mediterranean to
subarctic. Much of the state has a
Mediterranean climate, with cool, rainy winters and dry summers. The cool
California Current offshore often creates summer
fog near the coast. Further inland, one encounters colder winters and hotter
summers.
Northern parts of the state average higher annual rainfall
than the south. California's mountain ranges influence the climate as well: some
of the rainiest parts of the state are west-facing mountain slopes. Northwestern
California has a
temperate climate, and the Central Valley has a Mediterranean climate but
with greater temperature extremes than the coast. The high mountains, including
the
Sierra Nevada, have a
mountain climate with
snow in winter and mild to moderate heat in summer.
The east side of California's mountains produce a
rain shadow, creating expansive
deserts. The higher elevation deserts of
eastern California see hot summers and cold winters, while the low deserts
east of the southern California mountains experience hot summers and nearly
frostless mild winters.
Death Valley, a desert with large expanses below
sea level, is considered the hottest location in
North America; the highest temperature in the
Western Hemisphere, 134 °F (57 °C), was recorded there on July 10, 1913.
California is one of the richest and most diverse parts of
the world, and includes some of the most endangered ecological communities.
California is part of the
Nearctic
ecozone and spans a number of
terrestrial ecoregions.
California's large number of
endemic species includes
relict species, which have died out elsewhere, such as the Catalina Ironwood
(Lyonothamnus floribundus). Many other endemics originated through
differentiation or
adaptive radiation, whereby multiple species develop from a common ancestor
to take advantage of diverse ecological conditions such as the California lilac
(Ceanothus).
Many California endemics have become endangered, as
urbanization,
logging,
overgrazing, and the introduction of
exotic species have encroached on their habitat.
California boasts several superlatives in its collection of
flora: the
largest trees, the
tallest trees, and the
oldest trees. California's native grasses are
perennial plants.[11][12]
After European contact, these were generally replaced by
invasive species of European annual grasses; and, in modern times,
California's hills turn a characteristic golden-brown in summer.
Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last
10,000 years, California was one of the most culturally and linguistically
diverse areas in pre-Columbian
North America; the area was inhabited by more than
70 distinct groups of
Native Americans. Large, settled populations lived on the coast and hunted
sea mammals, fished for salmon, and gathered shellfish, while groups in the
interior hunted terrestrial game and gathered nuts, acorns, and berries.
California groups also were diverse in their political organization with bands,
tribes, villages, and on the resource-rich coasts, large chiefdoms, such as the
Chumash,
Pomo and
Salinan. Trade, intermarriage, and military alliances fostered many social
and economic relationships among the diverse groups.
Spanish
missionaries began setting up twenty-one
California Missions along the coast of what became known as
Alta California (Upper California), together with small towns and
presidios. The first
mission in Alta California was established at
San Diego in 1769.[13]
In 1821, the
Mexican War of Independence gave
Mexico (including California) independence from Spain; for the next
twenty-five years,
Alta California remained a remote northern province of the nation of Mexico.
Cattle ranches, or
ranchos, emerged as the dominant institutions of Mexican California.
After Mexican independence from Spain, the
chain of missions became the property of the Mexican government and were
secularized by 1832. The ranchos developed under ownership by
Californios (Spanish-speaking Californians) who had received land grants and
traded cowhides and tallow with
Boston merchants.
Beginning in the 1820s, trappers and settlers from the United
States and Canada began to arrive in Northern California, harbingers of the
great changes that would later sweep the Mexican territory. These new arrivals
used the
Siskiyou Trail,
California Trail,
Oregon Trail, and
Old Spanish Trail to cross the rugged mountains and harsh deserts
surrounding California. In this period,
Imperial Russia explored the California coast and established a trading post
at
Fort Ross.
In 1846, settlers rebelled against Mexican rule during the
Bear Flag Revolt. Afterwards, rebels raised the
Bear Flag (featuring a bear, a star, a red stripe, and the words "California
Republic") at Sonoma.
“
[We] overthrow a Government which has seized upon the
property of the Missions for its individual
aggrandizement; which has ruined and shamefully oppressed the laboring
people of California.
”
—William Ide, Declaration from the Bear Flag
Revolt
The Republic's first and only president was
William B. Ide,[14]
who played a pivotal role during the
Bear Flag Revolt. His term lasted twenty-five days and concluded when
California was occupied by U.S. forces during the
Mexican-American War.
In 1848, the non-native population of California has been
estimated to be no more than 15,000. But after gold was discovered, the
population burgeoned with U.S. citizens, Europeans, and other immigrants during
the great
California Gold Rush. On September 9, 1850, as part of the
Compromise of 1850, California was admitted to the
United States as a
free state (one in which slavery was prohibited).
The seat of government for California under Mexican rule was
located at
Monterey from 1777 until 1835, when Mexican authorities abandoned
California, leaving their missions and military forts behind.[15]
In 1849, the Constitutional Convention was first held there. Among the duties
was the task of determining the location for the new State capital. The first
legislative sessions were held in
San Jose (1850–1851). Subsequent locations included
Vallejo (1852–1853), and nearby
Benicia (1853–1854), although these locations eventually proved to be
inadequate as well. The capital has been located in
Sacramento since 1854[16]
with only a short break in 1861 when legislative sessions were held in
San Francisco due to flooding in Sacramento.
Travel between California and the central and eastern parts
of the United States was time-consuming and dangerous. A more direct connection
came in 1869 with the completion of the
First Transcontinental Railroad through
Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevada mountains. After this rail link was
established, hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens came west, where new
Californians were discovering that land in the state, if irrigated during the
dry summer months, was extremely well-suited to fruit cultivation and
agriculture in general. Vast expanses of wheat and other cereal crops, vegetable
crops, cotton, and nut and fruit trees were grown (including oranges in Southern
California), and the foundation was laid for the state's prodigious agricultural
production in the Central Valley and elsewhere.
During the early 20th century, migration to California
accelerated with the completion of major transcontinental
highways like the
Lincoln Highway and
Route 66. In the period from 1900 to 1965, the population grew from fewer
than one million to become the most populous state in the Union. The state is
regarded as a world center of technology and engineering businesses, of the
entertainment and music industries, and as the U.S. center of agricultural
production.
California's population is estimated by the
US Census Bureau at 36,756,666 for the year 2008, making it the most
populous state.[4]
This includes a natural increase of 2,549,081 since the last census (4,498,700
births minus 1,949,619 deaths). During this time period,
international migration produced a net increase of 1,825,697 people while
domestic migration produced a net decrease of 1,378,706, resulting in a net
in-migration of 446,991 people.[17]
The state of California's own statistics show a population of 38,292,687 for
January 1, 2009.[18]
With regard to demographics, California has the largest
population of White Americans in the U.S., an estimated 21,892,718 residents,
although most demographic surveys do not measure actual genetic ancestry, which
in the case of the large number of people of Hispanic origin who are largely of
mixed racial ancestry can be misleading. (See e.g.
Demographics of Mexico). The state has the fifth-largest population of
African Americans in the U.S., an estimated 2,273,292 residents. California's
Asian American population is estimated at 4.6 million, approximately one-third
of the nation's 15.2 million Asian Americans. California's Native American
population of 375,093 is the most of any state.[25]
According to estimates from 2005, California has the largest
minority population in the United States, making up 57 percent of the state
population. Non-Hispanic whites decreased from 80% of the state's population in
1970 to 43% in 2006.[26]
While the population of minorities accounts for 100.7 million of 300 million
U.S. residents, 21% of the national total live in California.
2,569,340 veterans of US
military service – 504,010 served in World War
II; 301,034 in the Korean conflict; 754,682 during the Vietnam era; and
278,003 during 1990–2000 (including the Persian Gulf War).
As of 2005, 57.59% of California residents age five and older
spoke
English as a
first language at home, while 28.21% spoke
Spanish. In addition to English and Spanish, 2.04% spoke
Filipino, 1.59% spoke
Chinese (which included
Cantonese [0.63%] and
Mandarin [0.43%]), 1.4% spoke
Vietnamese, and 1.05% spoke
Korean as their
mother tongue. In total, 42.4% of the population spoke languages other than
English.[28][29]
Over 200 languages are known to be spoken and read in California. Including
indigenous languages, California is viewed as one of the most linguistically
diverse areas in the world (the indigenous languages were derived from 64 root
languages in 6 language families).[30]
About half of the indigenous languages are no longer spoken, and all of
California's living indigenous languages are
endangered and there are some efforts toward
language revitalization[which?].
The
official language of California has been English since the passage of
Proposition 63 in 1986. However, many state, city, and local government
agencies still continue to print official public documents in numerous
languages.[31]
With a Jewish population estimated at more than 550,000, Los
Angeles has the second-largest Jewish community in North America.
There are about 1 million Muslims, which has the largest
population than any other state, mainly of African American descent and
immigrant populations.[33]
According to figures, approximately 100,000 Muslims reside in
San Diego.[34]
California has more members of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints and
Temples than any state except
Utah.[36]
Latter-day Saints (Mormons) have played important roles in the settlement of
California throughout the state's history. For example, a group of a few hundred
Mormon converts from the Northeastern
United States and
Europe arrived at what would become
San Francisco in the 1840s aboard the ship Brooklyn, more than
doubling the population of the small town. Before being called back to
Utah by
Brigham Young these settlers helped build up the city of
Yerba Buena. A group of Mormons also established the city of
San Bernardino in Southern California in 1851.[37]
According to the LDS Church 2007 statistics, just over 750,000 Mormons reside in
the state of California, attending almost 1400 congregations statewide.[37]
However, a
Pew Research Center survey revealed that California is somewhat less
religious than the rest of the US: 62 percent of Californians say they are
"absolutely certain" of the belief in God, while in the nation 71 percent say
so. The survey also revealed 48 percent of Californians say religion is "very
important," while the figure for the United States is 56 percent.[38]
As of 2007, the
gross state product (GSP) is about $1.812
trillion, the largest in the
United States. California is responsible for 13 percent of the United States
gross domestic product (GDP). As of 2006, California's GDP is larger than
all but eight countries in the world (all but eleven countries by
Purchasing Power Parity). However, California is facing a $26.3 billion
budget deficit for the 2009–2010 budget year.[39]
While the legislative bodies had appeared to address the problem in 2008 with
the three-month delayed passage of a budget they in fact only postponed the
deficit to 2009 and due to the
late 2008 decline in the economy and the
credit crisis the problem became urgent in November 2008. One problem is
that a substantial portion of the state income comes from income taxes on a
small proportion of wealthy citizens. For example, in 2004, the richest 3% of
state taxpayers paid approximately 60% of all state taxes.[40]
The taxable income of this population is highly dependent upon capital gains,
which has been severely impacted by the stock market declines of this period.
The governor has proposed a combination of extensive program cuts and tax
increases to address this problem, but owing to longstanding problems in the
legislature these proposals are likely to be difficult to pass as legislation.
By 2008, California had the 6th highest tax burden of any
state, when measured as a percentage of
GDP.[41]
State spending increased from $56 billion in 1998 to $131 billion in 2008, and
the state was facing a budget deficit of $40 billion in 2008.[42]
In terms of jobs, the five largest sectors in California are
trade, transportation, and utilities; government; professional and business
services; education and health services; and leisure and hospitality. In terms
of output, the five largest sectors are financial services, followed by trade,
transportation, and utilities; education and health services; government; and
manufacturing. California currently has the 4th highest unemployment rate in the
nation at 9.3% in December 2008, up significantly from 5.9% a year earlier.[43]
California's economy is very dependent on trade and
international related commerce accounts for approximately one-quarter of the
state’s economy. In 2007, California exported $134 billion worth of goods, up
from $127 billion in 2006 and $117 billion in 2005, surpassing the 2000 peak of
$125 billion for two consecutive years. Computers and electronic products are
California's top export, accounting for 36 percent of all the state's exports in
2007.[44]
Agriculture remains a very important sector in California's
economy. Farming-related sales have more than quadrupled over the past three
decades, from $7.3 billion in 1974 to nearly $31 billion in 2004. This increase
has occurred despite a 15 percent decline in acreage devoted to farming during
the period, and water supply suffering from chronic instability. Factors
contributing to the growth in sales-per-acre include more intensive use of
active farmlands and technological improvements in crop production.[45]
Per capita GDP in 2007 was $41,805, ranking 7th in the nation.[46]
Per capita income varies widely by geographic region and profession. The Central
Valley is the most impoverished, with
migrant farm workers making less than
minimum wage. Recently, the
San Joaquin Valley was characterized as one of the most economically
depressed regions in the U.S., on par with the region of
Appalachia.[47]
Many coastal cities include some of the wealthiest per-capita areas in the U.S.
The high-technology sectors in Northern California, specifically
Silicon Valley, in
Santa Clara and
San Mateo counties, have emerged from the economic downturn caused by the
dot.com bust. In spring 2005, economic growth had resumed in California at
4.3 percent.[48]
California levies a 9.3 percent maximum variable rate
income tax, with six
tax brackets. It collects about $40 billion per year in income taxes.
California's combined state, county and local sales tax rate is from 7.25 to
8.75 percent.[49]
The rate varies throughout the state at the local level. In all, it collects
about $28 billion in sales taxes per year. All
real property is taxable annually, the tax based on the property's fair
market value at the time of purchase. This tax does not increase based on a rise
in real property values (see
Proposition 13). California collects $33 billion in property taxes per year.
In 2009 the California economic crisis became severe as the
state faces insolvency.[50]
In June 2009 Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger said "Our wallet is empty, our bank is closed and our
credit is dried up."[51]
He called for massive budget cuts of $24 billion, about 1/4 of the state's
budget.[51]
California, as the most
populous U.S. state and home of
Silicon Valley, is one of the country's largest users of energy.
However, due to its mild weather and strong environmental movement, its
per capita energy use is one of the smallest of any U.S. state.
