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California State Assembly
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The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. It consists of 80 members, with each member representing at least 465,000 people, members of the assembly are generally referred to using the titles assemblyman, assemblywoman, or assemblymember. The State Assembly convenes at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, in the current session, the Democrats control 55 seats, forming a supermajority of the chamber. The Speaker presides over the State Assembly in the leadership position, controlling the flow of legislation. The Speaker is elected by the majority party caucus, followed by confirmation of the full assembly, other leaders, such as the majority and minority leaders, are elected by their respective party caucuses according to each partys strength in the chamber. The current Speaker is Democrat Anthony Rendon, the majority leader is Democrat Ian Calderon, while the minority leader is Republican Chad Mayes. The chambers green tones are based on the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, the dais rests along a wall shaped like an E, with its central projection housing the rostrum. Along the cornice appears a portrait of Abraham Lincoln and a Latin quotation, almost every decorating element is identical to the Senate Chamber. According to Article 4, Section 2 of the California Constitution, the Chief Clerk, the Sergeant-at-Arms, and the Chaplain are not members of the Legislature. The Sergeant-at-Arms protects the members of the California State Assembly and this position has existed since December 15,1849, when Samuel N. Houston became the Assemblys first Sergeant-at-Arms. The Chief Clerk, the acting Chief Sergeant-at-Arms, and the Chaplains are not members of the Legislature
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California's 25th State Assembly district
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Californias 25th State Assembly district is one of 80 California State Assembly districts. It is currently represented by Democrat Kansen Chu of San Jose, the district straddles the divide between the East Bay and Silicon Valley. The district consists primarily of residential areas and is one of the most heavily Asian state legislative districts in California. California State Assembly California State Assembly districts Districts in California District map from the California Citizens Redistricting Commission
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Bob Wieckowski
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Robert A. Bob Wieckowski is an American attorney and politician who currently serves in the California State Senate. A Democrat, he represents the 10th Senate District, which encompasses the central, Wieckowski was first elected to the California State Assembly in 2010 to represent the 20th Assembly District, then the 25th Assembly District in 2012 after redistricting. Before being elected to the Legislature, he served as Vice-Mayor, Wieckowski served as chair of the Assembly Judiciary Committee. He was also a member of the Assembly Insurance, Health, in his first term in office, Wieckowski passed 24 bills through the Legislature,21 of which were signed into law by Governor Brown. He launched the Made in California Jobs Initiative to expand California manufacturing, invest in biotechnology research, Wieckowski is a small business owner and a bankruptcy attorney. He received his B. A. from University of California, Berkeley, Wieckowski lives in Fremont with Sue Lemke, and her son Luke. Wieckowskis parents are Gene and Helen Wieckowski, official website Ballotpedia article on Bob Wieckowski Project Vote Smart - Bob Wieckowski Wieckowski, Bob. Interview with Bob Wieckowski, Candidate for Fremont City Council
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Chuck Reed
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Charles Rufus Chuck Reed is an American politician and lawyer. Reed served as the 64th Mayor of San Jose, California from 2007 to 2014, Reed was born in Garden City, Kansas. Reed attended Garden City High School and helped the school win a championship in basketball in 1966. He joined the United States Air Force in 1970 after attending the United States Air Force Academy, at the Academy, he graduated number one in his class and served as cadet wing commander, the highest position a USAFA cadet can achieve. Reed was only the 9th person in the history of the United States Air Force Academy to max out on the Physical Fitness Test, while in the Air Force, Reed attended Princeton University and received a Masters Degree in Public Affairs. Later, during the Vietnam War, he served in Thailand and he left the Air Force in 1975, having reached the rank of Captain, and attended Stanford Law School where he earned a J. D. degree in 1978. After passing the bar, Reed moved to San Jose and began work as a private attorney and he specialized in environmental, employment, land use and real estate law, and commercial litigation. Reed is married with two children and his daughter, Colonel Kim Campbell, joined the Air Force and was also number one in her class at the Air Force Academy. Reed and his daughter were the first father and daughter to both graduate from the United States Air Force Academy and become Cadet Wing Commanders, Kim flew combat missions in an A-10 Warthog over Baghdad during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and swore him into office at his inauguration. His son, Alex, is a graduate of Santa Clara University, starting in the 1980s and continuing to 2000, Reed served on numerous commissions, boards, and committees including the City Planning Commission and the San Jose Downtown Association. Reed was elected to a seat on the San Jose City Council from the Berryessa District in 2000 and he ran again in 2004 and was re-elected with 86% of all the votes cast. While on the San Jose City Council, Reed was known for often being the lone dissenter in many votes and he was thought to be the most outspoken critic of the status quo on the council and voted against many noteworthy agenda items. In 2005, with the incumbent mayor, Ron Gonzales, term-limited out, michael Mulcahy received 10. 74%, Dave Cortese received 16. 37%, David Pandori received 17. 86%. In the mayoral election held on November 7,2006. Final tallies show Reed garnered 117,394 votes to Chavezs 80,720, during the Mayoral campaign, Reed was criticized in a series of attack ads by Chavez and Labor Unions for getting reimbursed for various expenses that he had as a council member from his office fund. He repaid the funds when the hit the media and apologized to the public for any sense of wrongdoing. Regardless, early in his administration, Reed had the City Clerks Office produce a detailed explanation for approved uses. Reed put together a 67-member transition committee to aide his transition staff in policy issues, assisted by Transition Team Co-Chairs former San Jose Mayor Tom McEnery and Victor Ajlouny, Reed hosted publicly held meetings where many policy issues were discussed
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Taipei
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Taipei, officially known as Taipei City, is the capital city and a special municipality of the Republic of China. Sitting at the tip of the island, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City. It is about 25 km southwest of the port city Keelung. Since 1949, Taipei has been the capital of the ROC after losing the mainland to the Communists in the Chinese Civil War, the name Taipei can refer either to the whole metropolitan area or the city proper. Taipei is the political, economic, educational, and cultural center of Taiwan, considered to be a global city, Taipei is part of a major high-tech industrial area. Railways, high-speed rail, highways, airports, and bus lines connect Taipei with all parts of the island, the city is served by two airports – Taipei Songshan and Taiwan Taoyuan. Its natural features such as Maokong, Yangmingshan, and hot springs are also known to international visitors. As the capital city, Taipei is sometimes used as a synecdoche for Taiwan, prior to the significant influx of Han Chinese immigrants, the region of Taipei Basin was mainly inhabited by the Ketagalan plains aborigines. The number of Han immigrants gradually increased in the early 18th century under Qing Dynasty rule after the government began permitting development in the area, in 1875, the northern part of the island was incorporated into the new Taipeh Prefecture. The Qing dynasty of China made Taipeh the temporary capital of Fujian-Taiwan Province in 1886 when Taiwan was separated from Fujian Province, Taipeh was formally made the provincial capital in 1894. Japan acquired Taiwan in 1895 under the Treaty of Shimonoseki after the First Sino-Japanese War, Taiwan became a colony of Imperial Japan with Taihoku as its capital, in which the city was administered under Taihoku Prefecture. Taiwans Japanese rulers embarked on a program of advanced urban planning that featured extensive railroad links. A number of Taipei landmarks and cultural institutions date from this period, following the Japanese surrender of 1945, control of Taiwan was handed to the Republic of China. In 1990 Taipei provided the backdrop for the Wild Lily student rallies that moved Taiwanese society from one-party rule to multi-party democracy, the city is today home to Taiwans democratically elected national government. The region known as the Taipei Basin was home to Ketagalan tribes before the eighteenth century, Han Chinese mainly from Fujian Province of Qing dynasty China began to settle in the Taipei Basin in 1709. In 1875, the part of Taiwan was separated from Taiwan Prefecture. From 1875 until the beginning of Japanese rule in 1895, Taipei was part of Tamsui County of Taipeh Prefecture, in 1885, work commenced to create an independent Taiwan Province, and Taipei City was temporarily made the provincial capital. Taipei officially became the capital of Taiwan in 1894, all that remains from the Qing era is the north gate
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Taiwan
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Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, is a state in East Asia. Neighbours include China to the west, Japan to the northeast, Taiwan is the most populous state that is not a member of the United Nations, and the one with the largest economy. The island of Taiwan, also known as Formosa, was inhabited by Taiwanese aborigines before the 17th century. After a brief rule by the Kingdom of Tungning, the island was annexed by the Qing dynasty, the Qing ceded Taiwan to Japan in 1895 after the Sino-Japanese War. While Taiwan was under Japanese rule, the Republic of China was established on the mainland in 1912 after the fall of the Qing dynasty, following the Japanese surrender to the Allies in 1945, the ROC took control of Taiwan. However, the resumption of the Chinese Civil War led to the ROCs loss of the mainland to the Communists, and the flight of the ROC government to Taiwan in 1949. As a founding member of the United Nations, the ROC continued to represent China at the United Nations until 1971, in the early 1960s, Taiwan entered a period of rapid economic growth and industrialization, creating a stable industrial economy. In the 1980s and early 1990s, it changed from a one-party military dictatorship dominated by the Kuomintang to a multi-party democracy with universal suffrage, Taiwan is the 22nd-largest economy in the world, and its high-tech industry plays a key role in the global economy. It is ranked highly in terms of freedom of the press, health care, public education, economic freedom, the PRC has consistently claimed sovereignty over Taiwan and asserted the ROC is no longer in legitimate existence. Under its One-China Policy the PRC refused diplomatic relations with any country that recognizes the ROC, the PRC has threatened the use of military force in response to any formal declaration of independence by Taiwan or if PRC leaders decide that peaceful unification is no longer possible. There are various names for the island of Taiwan in use today, the former name Formosa dates from 1542, when Portuguese sailors sighted the main island of Taiwan and named it Ilha Formosa, which means beautiful island. The name Formosa eventually replaced all others in European literature and was in use in English in the early 20th century. This name was adopted into the Chinese vernacular as the name of the sandbar. The modern word Taiwan is derived from this usage, which is seen in forms in Chinese historical records. Use of the current Chinese name was formalized as early as 1684 with the establishment of Taiwan Prefecture, through its rapid development, the entire Formosan mainland eventually became known as Taiwan. The official name of the state is the Republic of China and it was a member of the United Nations representing China until 1971, when it lost its seat to the Peoples Republic of China. Over subsequent decades, the Republic of China has become known as Taiwan. In some contexts, especially ones from the ROC government
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United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
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California Democratic Party
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The California Democratic Party is the state branch of the United States Democratic Party in the state of California. Headquartered in Sacramento, it is chaired by veteran Democratic politician and former United States Representative John L. Burton and it is the majority party in both chambers of the California State Legislature, i. e. the State Assembly and the Senate. In regards to businesses and economics, the California Democratic party takes a stance that protects consumers, small businesses, unions, the platform also makes a point to champion the economic reforms of President Barack Obama. The 2012 platform addresses the issues of family in several sections, the platform promises to protect seniors, children and all types of families with fair economic and social policies. These policies range from continuing Medicare for the elderly and keeping playgrounds safe for children, the platform also highlights the right of a woman to make choices for her own body and claims that healthcare is a natural right of all people. The California democrats further promise to protect the dignity of disabled citizens, the platform is dedicated to advocating for the rights of women through equal pay and affirmative action. The party prioritizes the creation of a sustainable and earth-friendly state, focus is placed on the development of alternative forms of energy and how energy is consumed. In addition, the stresses that green jobs are a solution to economic. Finally, the platform takes stances on open internet use, immigration, the Democrats of California support the right of the people to express their thoughts and ideas through any media, and their right to assemble. The party believes that laws should be fair and that immigrants should not be discriminated against. The party wishes to bring education to the forefront, aiming to turn California into a state for academic achievement. A Detailed description of the California Democratic Partys position on all of the issues can be found in their 2012 Platform document. The California Democratic Party passes multiple resolutions every year as a way of expressing their opinion to lawmakers statewide, while the partys resolutions have no legal force themselves, they are official documents that elected representatives should take into account when making decisions. A few recent resolutions are summarised below,2012 Buy American This resolution, written 18 November 2012, encourages all arms of government to favor American suppliers of goods and services. The above are three of a long list of Resolutions passed by the California Democratic Party in 2012 and in preceding years. The history of the Democratic Party of California is complex and long, the State has traded hands every few cycles since its admission into the union in 1850. At that time, the state was firmly in the hands of the Democratic Party, until the early 1880s after the Republican Party abolished slavery, the Republicans held the state through the power and influence of railroad men. The Democratic Party responded by taking an anti-corporate, anti freedom of attainment position, in 1894, Democrat James Budd was elected to the governorship, and the Democratic Party attempted to make good on their promises to reform the booming railroad industry
