-
-
Grey's Anatomy star donates $50,000 to support gay marriage
Grey’s Anatomy star T.R. Knight donated $50,000 to 'No on 8' to fight Proposition 8, which would outlaw same-sex marriage in the state.
The donation comes one day after Equality California called for an emergency LGBT media briefing and reported that contrary to published reports, Yes on 8 is ahead in the polls.
Knight’s donation comes after Ohio entrepreneur Jonathan Lewis issued a challenge of sorts to Los Angeles's entertainment industry -- raise $500,000 for No on Prop. 8, and he and his family will match the contributions dollar for dollar. Grey’s Anatomy star T.R. Knight donated $50,000 to 'No on 8' to fight Proposition 8, which would outlaw same-sex marriage in... more -
(Video) Goodbye, Sanctuary
As San Francisco's sanctuary policy comes under attack, ICE steps up its arrests of suspected undocumented families.
Since 1989, San Francisco has adopted a sanctuary policy that shields undocumented workers, political and economic refugees from federal deportation. Yet, in the wake of increased federal scrutiny and a high profile triple homicide allegedly committed by a 21-year-old undocumented man, the city's policy has come under fire.
This week, statewide immigration raids throughout California resulted in 1,157 arrests. As San Francisco's sanctuary policy comes under attack, ICE steps up its arrests of suspected undocumented families. ... more -
Soundscapes: DJ Phatrick
An educator and DJ talks about music, activism and why Los Angeles is fresher than you think.
There are two subjects that Patrick Huang can talk about endlessly: soul music, and educational pedagogy. The 26-year-old, known universally as DJ Phatrick, has a foot planted firmly in both worlds.
He burst onto the national scene as the DJ and producer for Native Guns, a popular political hip-hop group. Still fresh out of college, Huang co-founded the Bay Unity Music Project (BUMP), a youth record label and development program that works with aspiring musicians in West Oakland. Three years later, he left, frustrated with institutional bureaucracies. He returned from a trip to Southeast Asia in 2007 and soon after started a bi-weekly soul music party called Devil's Pie.
Huang began DJing in his hometown of Sugarland, Texas, a Houston suburb. He grew up in an upper middle-class, Chinese-American family. He says he later realized how much suburbs work to "deaden differences." After his parents sent him to an exclusive Houston-area private school (where the movie Rushmore was filmed) he developed an admittedly uncritical "fuck whitey" complex. Later, as an ethnic studies major at the University of California, Berkeley, he finally found activism he could get down with. After earning a strong reputation in the Bay Area's hip-hop scene, Huang recently took his talents to Los Angeles.
Last spring, he released a mixtape called Asian American Hip-Hop for Dummies, which showcases a spectrum of politically infused Asian Pacific Islander (API) artists. While he fears being typecast as "that Asian American hip-hop DJ," the former Mohawk-sporting, James Brown-loving dude, with a tendency to geek out, is anything but typical.
Huang sat down to talk with us about music, activism and why Los Angeles is fresher than you might think.
**********INTERVIEW FOLLOWS AT LINK**************** An educator and DJ talks about music, activism and why Los Angeles is fresher than you think. ... more -
AIG spends $440,000 on Corporate Retreat Days after $85bn Bailout
The world's largest insurance company, AIG, spent $440,000 on a lavish corporate retreat at one of California's top beachside resorts a few days after accepting an $85bn emergency loan from the US government to stave off bankruptcy.
Details of the week-long getaway enraged legislators at a congressional hearing yesterday where AIG's former bosses were accused of spending taxpayers' money on pedicures, golf games and cocktails.
Crippled by losses on financial insurance companies, AIG was bailed out by US taxpayers on September 17 to avert a collapse which risked causing further failures.
The House oversight committee, which is investigating the company's problems, confronted AIG executives with an invoice from the St Regis resort in Monarch Beach, south of Los Angeles, detailing an eight-day company event which began five days after the rescue.
"Average Americans are suffering economically," said Henry Waxman, chairman of the committee. "They are losing their jobs, their homes and their health insurance. Yet less than one week after the taxpayers rescued AIG, company executives could be found wining and dining at one of the most exclusive resorts in the nation."
The bill shows that AIG spent $139,375 on rooms, $147,301 on "banquets", $23,380 on spa treatments and $6,939 on golf at an eight-day company event which began on September 22.
"US taxpayers will be, in effect, paying for this," said Elijah Cummings, another Democrat, who demanded to know who was responsible for the outlay. "I think that person ought to be fired." The world's largest insurance company, AIG, spent $440,000 on a lavish corporate retreat at one of California's top beachsid... more -
Gay marriage opponents outraise supporters in California
A just-released poll conducted by Lake Research Partners shows the yes side leading by four percentage points. Currently, 47% of voters support the banning of gay marriage in California, while 43% would vote against a ban, according to the poll.
During an "Emergency LGBT Media Briefing," Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California and a member of the No on 8 executive committee, stated: "We are going to lose this ... if we don’t raise the money we need to compete on the airwaves."
The poll showed a major shift from recent polling results that claimed opponents of the ban, Proposition 8, had a five-point advantage among voters. The reason for the shift, Kors explained, is simple: Yes on 8 is raising more money, and its most recent ad campaign has been highly effective.
Though Lake Research Partners' Celinda Lake said studies show the No on 8 ad campaign has proved to be effective with voters, Kors said the additional money raised by Yes on 8 has allowed ban supporters to get their message out to a wider audience.
On the conference call, Smith and Kors put it a little more plainly -- No on 8 needs to raise at least $10 million in the next 28 days. That money, they say, will be used to directly combat the Yes on 8 ad campaign's strategic advantages. Smith stressed that No on 8 is having great success reaching young voters through grassroots and Internet viral marketing campaigns, but that more money is needed to compete with television advertising. A just-released poll conducted by Lake Research Partners shows the yes side leading by four percentage points. Currently, 47% of voter... more -
Becoming a Nun
A progressive woman discerns if God is calling her to religious life as a Catholic nun.
-
State will change marriage licenses to say 'bride' and 'groom'
Bride and groom are in. Party A and Party B are out.
California state officials, saying they had heard from residents all over the state who would like to be identified as "bride" and "groom" on their marriage license, announced Monday that state forms will be changed. Again.
Couples filling out the license will now have the option of declaring themselves bride and groom, bride and bride or groom and groom. They can also leave the space blank. The new forms will be available in county offices in November.
A spokesman for the California Department of Public Health which oversees vital statistics denied that that changes are in response to the couple's lawsuit which was filed last week. Spokeswoman Suanne Buggy said the new language had been discussed for some time.
"These options are consistent with court rulings," said Buggy.
State officials changed the forms after the May state Supreme Court ruling that legalized same sex marriage. After that ruling, courts mandated state paperwork to use gender neutral language. State officials dropped the terms "bride" and "groom" and replaced them with the word "Party A" and "Party B." Bride and groom are in. Party A and Party B are out. ... more -
World's Largest Trash Heap Lies in the Ocean
The Great Pacific Garbage Dump Stretches From California to China
By DARCY BONFILS and IMAEYEN IBANGA
Aug. 6, 2008
The world's largest trash dump doesn't sit on some barren field outside an urban center. It resides thousands of miles from any land — in the Pacific Ocean.
Known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the "dump" is composed mainly of plastic, which isn't biodegradable.
Instead, the plastic breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces in the patch that extends thousands of miles, from California's coast to China.
A series of currents in the Pacific Ocean create a circular effect that pulls debris from North America, Asia and the Hawaiian Islands into a toxic stew. Then it shoots it into a graveyard of 3.5 million tons of trash that's 80 percent plastic.
Moore said he has noticed an alarming trend. The quantities have increased dramatically — more than doubling in five years. And Moore said there is no reason to believe the trend will slow.
And the plastic isn't just floating around in the ocean; new evidence suggests it is making its way into wildlife.
"I found 26 pieces of plastic, all different colors inside one stomach," said marine researcher Christiana Boerger.
Birds also are making a meal of the plastic, and large quantities have been found in their stomachs.
But the biggest debate surrounding the patch isn't its existence or its environmental impact, but rather how to clean it up.
"The experts say there is no silver bullet. We are going to keep looking, but at the moment it is not clear what the best course of action would be to deal with the materials that are already there," said Steve Russell of the American Chemical Council.
Moore, the patch's discoverer, said it's virtually impossible to clean it up. He said that stopping it from growing may be the best approach, which also may prevent other ocean dumps from forming.
Beach cleanups and improved recycling could help.
"The planet is a closed system. So everything that happens on Earth stays on Earth," said Steve Fleischl, president of the Waterkeeper Alliance . "What we need to do is to accept responsibility at the local level and rescue the amount of plastic that comes down our waterways and into our ocean."
Check out the links below for more information on the garbage patch and ocean conservation.
http://www.algalita.org/
http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/PageServer?pagenam...
http://www.waterkeeper.org/ The Great Pacific Garbage Dump Stretches From California to China By DARCY BONFILS and IMAEYEN IBANGA Aug. 6, 2008 ... more -
Kanye West (Live at TWO DOLLAR TUESDAYS)
Kanye West (Live at TWO DOLLAR TUESDAYS)
-
Jefferson to Secede from California & Oregon
Some folks around here think the economic sky is falling and state lawmakers in Sacramento and Salem are ignoring their constituents in the hinterlands. Guess the time is ripe to create a whole new state.
That's the thinking up here along the border between California and Oregon, where 12 sparsely populated, thickly forested counties in both states want to break away and generate the 51st star on the nation's flag - the state of Jefferson.
You can see the signs of discontent from Klamath Falls to Dunsmuir, where green double-X "Jefferson State" flags hang in scores of businesses. You can hear the talk of revolution at lunch counters and grocery lines, where people grumble that politicians to the north and south don't care.
You can even hear the dissent on the radio, where 21 area FM stations broadcast from Oregon into California under the banner of "Jefferson Public Radio."
"We have nothing in common with you people down south. Nothing," said Randy Bashaw, manager of the Jefferson State Forest Products lumber mill in the Trinity County hamlet of Hayfork. "The sooner we're done with all you people, the better." Some folks around here think the economic sky is falling and state lawmakers in Sacramento and Salem are ignoring their constituents i... more -
California May Need $7 Billion Federal Loan
Just when I finished reading about the acceptance of the Bailout Bill, I ran into this....seriously, do they want to leave us with no money?? Just when I finished reading about the acceptance of the Bailout Bill, I ran into this....seriously, do they want to leave us with no ... more
-
Governor Schwarzenegger vetoes medical marijuana bill
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a bill sponsored by medical marijuana advocates that would have protected most employees from being fired for testing positive for pot that they used outside the workplace with their doctor's approval.
The measure, AB2279 by Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, would have overturned a state Supreme Court ruling in January that allowed employers to punish workers for using medical marijuana that was legalized by a state ballot measure in 1996. Under Leno's measure, the only workers who could have been fired for using medical marijuana would have been those in safety-related or law-enforcement jobs.
"The intent of 215 was to treat marijuana like other legal pharmaceutical drugs," said Dale Gieringer, a co-author of the ballot measure and California coordinator of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
The court ruling upheld a Sacramento County company's firing of a computer technician who tested positive for marijuana. The employee, Gary Ross, had a doctor's note to use the drug for pain caused by back spasms. He said he had never used marijuana at work or been impaired by its effects on the job.
But the court said neither Prop. 215 nor California's disability discrimination law requires employers to allow workers to use drugs banned by federal law. Congress has classified marijuana among the most dangerous drugs and does not recognize any legitimate use.
Leno's bill passed both houses on bare-majority, party-line votes. It would have prohibited employers from firing or discriminating against employees whose marijuana use has been approved by their doctors, as long as they did not take the drug at the workplace or during work hours. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a bill sponsored by medical marijuana advocates that would have protected most employees from be... more -
California can't pay the bills
SACRAMENTO, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- California may need an emergency loan of up to $7 billion from the federal government to fund day-to-day operations, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger warned.
Schwarzenegger's warning comes as the U.S. financial markets are in crisis and the state's government is unable to access short-term loans it usually relies on to remain solvent, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.
California is the biggest of several state governments that are frozen out of the bond market by the global credit crisis, the Times said. If the state can't access cash, payments to schools and other entities could be suspended and state employees could be furloughed, state officials said.
"Absent a clear resolution to this financial crisis, California and other states may be unable to obtain the necessary level of financing to maintain government operations and may be forced to turn to the federal treasury for short-term financing," Schwarzenegger wrote Thursday in an e-mail to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
Among other things, money must be in state accounts by Oct. 28 to be available for a scheduled $3 billion payment to more than 1,000 school districts, state officials said. SACRAMENTO, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- California may need an emergency loan of up to $7 billion from the federal government to fund day-to-day o... more -
California may need emergency $7 billion loan
California may need an emergency loan of up to $7 billion from the federal government within weeks as it the Los Angeles Times quoted Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as saying in an email to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
"Absent a clear resolution to this financial crisis, California and other states may be unable to obtain the necessary level of financing to maintain government operations and may be forced to turn to the federal treasury for short-term financing," Schwarzenegger wrote in the email on Thursday, according to the paper.
A top Schwarzenegger aide followed up the letter with a call to the Treasury secretary on Thursday night, the paper said.
The California governor's office and the U.S. Treasury department could not immediately be reached for comment.
According to the paper, California is close to running out of cash to fund day-to-day government operations and is unable to access routine short-term loans that it typically relies on to remain solvent.
Credit markets worldwide have frozen up in the two weeks since the failure of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers, prompting concerns that issuers will run into trouble rolling over previous loans.
-------no more $ @ link!!!!
Watch out...thats just one, yes 1 state chiming in for money. Pretty soon we'll have all 50 states crying for money. Why? Well, my friends, like I've been saying all along...Greed, Corporate Greed, selfishness, false economy...what else???? name it for us California may need an emergency loan of up to $7 billion from the federal government within weeks as it the Los Angeles Times quoted ... more -
Watching the '08 VP Debate (photos)
Photographs from New York and San Francisco on Thursday, October 2, 2008.
-
Remains found at Steve Fossett crash site
More than a year after the mysterious disappearance of millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett, searchers found the wreckage of his plane in the rugged Sierra Nevada, along with enough remains for DNA testing.
A small piece of bone was found amid a field of debris 400 feet long and 150 feet wide in a steep section of the mountain range, the National Transportation Safety Board said at a news conference Thursday. Some personal effects also were found at the site.
Officials conflicted on whether they had confirmed the remains were human.
"We don't know if it's human. It certainly could be," Madera County Sheriff John Anderson said late Thursday, hours after the leader of the NTSB had said the remains were those of a person. "I refuse to speculate."
The mangled debris of the plane was spotted in the air late Wednesday near the town of Mammoth Lakes and was identified by its tail number. Investigators said the plane had slammed straight into a mountainside. More than a year after the mysterious disappearance of millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett, searchers found the wreckage of his plane... more -
David Bereit's West Coast Tour
CULTURE OF LIFE JOURNAL
David Bereit visits Sacramento and Tahoe City, CA during his trip to the west coast, promoting 40 DAYS FOR LIFE. CULTURE OF LIFE JOURNAL ... more -
Death to Public Cable in California!?!
Save the Public Cable Channels: A Video Call to Action
Municipal Control of channels & content threatens public voice
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Full Disclosure
Network(R) is releasing an eight minute video Call to Action entitled
"Death of Public Cable Channels?" to alert the public and cable subscribers
nationwide to watch out for legislation enacted into law in California
known as DIVCA (Digital Infrastructure Video Competition Act of 2006) which
has authorized local governments to take over the operations and content
control of the 20 year old "public access" cable television system. The
legislation was sponsored by Southern California legislators Assembly
Speaker Fabian Nunez and Lloyd Levine.
In 1984 the bi-partisan Federal Communications Act mandated the public
access to cable channels to counter balance the dominance of
government-funded cable channels.
The video debate and struggle to save public cable channels is
currently taking place in Los Angeles, in the heart of the television media
world and promises to set the agenda for other states and major cities
where similar legislation is proposed and or enacted, according to David
Hernandez, Chamber of Commerce Executive.
The Full Disclosure Network(R) video features Los Angeles City
Councilman Bill Rosendahl, a former Carter White House official, who served
as a Western Regional cable executive and public affairs television show
host for Century Cable, Adelphia and Time Warner Cable companies in the
Southern California area for over 20 years.
David Hernandez questions the City plan for cable operators to pay a
franchise fee in lieu of providing public channels and studios. Councilman
Rosendahl confirms the City is poised let the public cable channels go dark
saying "my only suggestion is that somehow Channel 36, since we control
channel placement, should get involved in a Public Access block of time."
David Hernandez, long time civic activist has set up a blog at URL:
http://savepublicaccess.wordpress.com for the Los Angeles Public Access
users to promote discussion and debate on how to save the public cable
channel system. Hernandez discusses the City's failure to prevent the
public channels going dark after December 2008.
The Full Disclosure Network(R) is a public affairs cable television
show, billed as "the news behind the news" since 1992 and is featured on 47
cable systems throughout California and some eastern states. The programs
are produced by Leslie Dutton and T. J. Johnston and are a twice nominated,
Emmy Award winning program. http://www.fulldisclosure.net
CONTACT: Leslie Dutton of the Full Disclosure Network, +1-310-822-4449,
ldutton@fulldisclosure.net, WEBSITE: http://www.fulldisclosure.net
__________________________________
And media continues to be consolidated. What are we going to do when the entire media is run by one or two people. The media is supposed to support a democracy by keeping the public informed about the issues that we face. What happens when the problem is the media? They have absolutely no incentive to report that, in fact they have a lot of incentive to not report it. Save the Public Cable Channels: A Video Call to Action Municipal Control of channels & content threatens public voice ... more -
Fossett's plane wreckage found
The plane wreckage was located about 10,000 feet (3,200 meters) up the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the vicinity of Mammoth Lakes, California. The plane wreckage was located about 10,000 feet (3,200 meters) up the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the vicinity of Mammoth Lakes, Calif... more
-
Train engineer texted 22 seconds before LA crash
LOS ANGELES - A commuter train engineer sent a cell phone text message 22 seconds before his commuter train crashed head-on into freight train in Southern California last month, killing 25 people, federal investigators said Wednesday.
Cell phone records of Robert Sanchez, who was among the dead, show he received a text message a minute and 20 seconds before the crash and sent one about a minute later, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a news release.
The finding led Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph H. Boardman to announce an emergency order prohibiting use of personal electronic devices by rail workers operating trains and in other key jobs. The order must be published in the Federal Register to take effect. Spokesman Rob Kulat said that would happen "soon." California regulators have already enacted a ban.
Investigators are looking into why Sanchez ran through a red signal before the Metrolink train collided with a Union Pacific train Sept. 12 on a curve in the San Fernando Valley community of Chatsworth. The time of the final text suggests it is unlikely he had become incapacitated for some reason.
The records obtained from Sanchez's cell phone provider also show that he sent 24 text messages and received 21 over a two-hour period during his morning shift. During his afternoon shift, he received seven messages and sent five.
Sanchez sent his last text message at 4:22:01 p.m. According to the freight train's on-board recorder, the accident occurred at 4:22:23 p.m.
Metrolink board member Richard Katz said in an interview that the NTSB told his agency that another engineer on a Metrolink train has been suspended for sending a text message from his cell phone at about the same time as the Sept. 12 collision. That engineer was not identified. LOS ANGELES - A commuter train engineer sent a cell phone text message 22 seconds before his commuter train crashed head-on into freig... more
-
related topics
California
Contributors (1,809)
California
