Slog tipper Simone thinks this LA Times story by Jessica Guynn is worth your time:

Veteran technology investor Tim Draper wants to reboot California...Here’s how it would work. California would be split up into six states. Jefferson would be to the north, with North California below it. Central California would be in the middle east of the state, while Silicon Valley would be to the West. West California, including Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, would be in the south, with South California at the very bottom of the state.

There's apparently a big push in Silicon Valley to secede from the rest of California right now. Which isn't surprising: Many venture capital people are big Ayn Rand fans, which means they hate the idea of paying taxes that might wind up benefiting someone besides themselves. This is their way of going Galt, of breaking free from the perceived leeches who do nothing but feed off the fruits of their genius. The end of the article notes that Draper wants to put "as little" of his money into this effort "as possible," which is definitely a line that would make Rand smile.

People are always proposing to break states up along ideological lines. My home state of Maine has always had a schism between the northern half of the state, where the "real Mainers" live, and the south, which has become infested with liberal yuppie scum from Massachusetts. The attempt to make North Colorado into a state fell apart earlier this year. And eastern Washingtonians are always talking about their desire to be freed from the shackles of Seattle. I don't expect this idea to get any further than any of those other ideas, but I do applaud Draper for his restraint in not trying to name his imaginary Silicon Valley state "Galt's Gulch."