Facebook's Sean Parker bulldozes redwood grove
for his wedding 
New Government Documents Show the Sean Parker Wedding Is the Perfect Parable for Silicon Valley Excess
Nothing says, "I love the Earth!" quite like bringing bulldozers into an old-growth forest to create a fake ruined castle.
Hey, if a billionaire couple wants to spend $10 million on their wedding, it's neither all that surprising nor interesting, as far as I'm concerned. So, when news and statistics started to trickle out about Sean Parker's wedding here in California -- namely that it'd cost millions of dollars to create Kardashian-level over-the-topness -- I was ready to chalk it up to the standard excesses of crazy rich people.
But that was before I read the California Coastal Commission's report on the Parker wedding's destructive, unpermitted buildout in a redwood grove in Big Sur. Parker and Neraida, the LLC he created to run his wedding, ended up paying $2.5 million in penalties for ignoring regulations. (Move fast. Break things.)
Here's what the CCC says happened. Neraida cut a deal with The Ventana Inn, which is a private company that manages both a higher-end inn and a lower-end campground. The campground runs along Post Creek under massive redwood trees. While not wild, it is an ecologically sensitive area: Steelhead run through the creek and the trees are ancient. In 2007, the Inn closed the campground because of septic issues, though it kept all of its high-end units open. Pursuant to a 1980s deal that let the Inn expand, they were also required to maintain a public parking lot at Cadillac Flats, which offers a good jumping off point for hikers and backpackers. But they'd stopped doing so, using the lot as overflow parking for the Inn. You with me so far? Basically, what was supposed to be a facility that people of all incomes -- including the general public -- could visit had become a high-end resort with no camping or public parking. Still, it remained a beautiful place. It looked like this:
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Continue reading at link
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/13/06/new-government-documents-show-the-sean-parker-wedding-is-the-perfect-parable-for-silicon-valley-excess/276521/
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Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg will host a fundraiser next month in his Palo Alto home for Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, both camps confirmed to BuzzFeed.
Christie, who is up for reelection this year, first met Zuckerberg in 2010, when the Silicon Valley billionaire donated $100 million to Newark public schools. But the backing from Facebook's chairman and chief executive offers far more than money: It is a mark of how Christie, almost alone among his party, has emerged as the sort of natural figure who can cut deep into traditionally Democratic constituencies, like powerful young tech magnates.
What also makes this fundraiser notable is that this is the very first known political fundraising activity by Zuckerberg. Aside from the opening contribution to Facebook's political action committee, the 28-year-old has not made a publicly disclosed political contribution in his life and is not known to have held a fundraiser for any other politician.
Zuckerberg's wealth, estimated at $9.4 billion, puts him in the stratosphere of political donors -- people such as casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson, hedge fund manager George Soros and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who can fund any form of political effort they so please. His decision to aid a Republican will certainly focus attention on his heretofore undisclosed political allegiances.
Next you'll be telling me Steve Jobs didn't, either! 
They may have D's after their names, but they are not our friends.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022945924#post29
I am so mad at her I could spit and let her know in no uncertain terms. While she does do some good work (mostly "politically correct"
, it lets me know I was right in supporting Darcy instead of her well gilded ass! The head of the budget committee in their legislature is a former MSFT exec. Try to contain your shock when I tell you he got a bill through to slash WA's royalty tax by two-thirds.
