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Next time you step on a glob of tar on a beach in Santa Barbara County, you can thank the oil companies that it isn't a bigger glob.

Old Glory Radio's children programming host, Uncle Abdul, along with ever present companion…The “Little Shiek”, (Uncle Abdul’s Madrassa) protested on the city streets of Eureka Ca in front of the Humboldt County Courthouse today.

SAN JOSE, Calif., July 18, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A former San Jose City College biology professor is suing the college after she was fired for answering a student's question on the relationship between homosexuality and heredity.On June 21, 2007, June Sheldon, an adjunct professor teaching a human heredity course, answered a question about how heredity affects homosexual behavior by citing the class textbook and a well-known German scientist.  She noted that the scientist found a correlation between maternal stress and homosexual behavior in males but that the scientist's views are only one set of theories in the nature-versus-nurture debate...

Sorry,source material cannot be posted http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/07/amazing-stat-ca.html

A bare majority of California voters would continue to allow gay marriage, according to a new poll released Friday. The Field Poll of 672 likely voters found that 51% oppose Proposition 8, which would amend the state Constitution to define marriage as only between a man and woman. Forty-two percent of voters support the November ballot measure. Poll director Mark DiCamillo said the results indicate a substantial change among voters since 2000, when Proposition 22, a similar ballot measure, was approved with 61% of the vote. Proposition 22 and other laws that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation were...

In the 1960s, California Gov. Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown laid the foundation for building modern, suburban California with massive new highway projects and one of the most significant public water projects in history. The resulting infrastructure gave us broad, low-density developments with room for millions of Californians to have a home with a backyard and two cars in the driveway. Those were the good old days. Today, Pat Brown's son Jerry is waging war on the very communities his father helped make possible. Why? Global warming.

Ongoing weekly - Saturday from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM, Laguna Beach To confront wacos for Peace in the Middle East and through out the World. these folks are really goofy Main Beach, Pacific Coast Highway and Ocean Avenue. Bring your flags and signs, time to get this state full of nut jobs squared away. If you have any contacts in CA. that do not come to the forums often please forward this alert to them

Arguments were heard today in a federal district court case to determine whether a state university system can dictate that private Christian schools in the state teach their college prep courses from exclusively secular, Bible- and God-free textbooks. As WND reported earlier, the University of California system adopted a policy last year that basic science, history, and literature textbooks by major Christian book publishers wouldn't qualify for core admissions requirements because of the inclusion of Christian perspectives. Robert Tyler, who is representing Calvary Chapel Christian School and five students in the case against the University of California, told WND that...

Andy Dick is at it again with the law. I have recently learned that Andy Dick has been arrested and released on a $5,000 bond after allegedly being caught with marijuana and xanerax in his possession. This is only the tip of the iceberg, though; he was also arrested for allegedly fondling a 17-year-old in Murrieta, California, outside a restaurant, causing her bra to come down and expose her breast. This allegation was what led to the finding of the drugs, as reported by Los Angeles Times.

California Proposes Sales Tax Hike To Fund Transport, Government Services July 18, 2008 11:32 a.m. ESTVittorio Hernandez - AHN News WriterSacramento, CA (AHN) - To close California's $17.2 billion budget deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger considered on Thursday hiking the state sales tax and using funds intended for transportation and government services.State legislators proposed the two measures, which the governor initially described as bad ideas, but he did not rule out adopting the measures to avoid a cash crisis in California.The lawmakers plan to close the budget gap by collecting $5.6 billion income tax increase on the rich and borrowing $1.1...

The Third Annual Latino Congresso started today at the Bonaventure Hotel.. John McCain and Barak Obama was originally listed as speaker, then "invited" and in the end their names were not on the final program at all. Spanish Media was there, as was KTLA and the Associated Press. The event opened with the leaders of the various groups outlining their agendas. The two main issues were Latino Voter Registration and Immigration. The have committed Five Million Dollars to getting Latinos registered to vote for the presidential election. The speakers seldom used the term "Latino" constantly referring to "our community, our...

Hollywood is quickly losing its grip on the kind of easy money once readily available through Wall Street. The collapse of Paramount Pictures' $450-million film financing deal underscores how dramatically the global credit crunch is prompting weary investors and several industry-friendly banks to shy away from a popular form of funding that has fueled Hollywood's production growth in recent years. The pullback could set the studios scrambling to find alternative sources of capital to help mitigate risk on their movie slates as filmmaking and marketing costs continue to climb. With the debt markets depressed and money drying up, studios like...

Californians are likely to support same-sex marriage in the coming November election, suggests to an opinion poll released Friday. According to the Field Poll, 51% of California voters surveyed said they would oppose Proposition 8, a ballot measure that would amend the state constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman, thus banning same-sex marriage. Forty-one percent of voters surveyed said they would vote "yes" on the measure, according to the statewide survey that was completed this week. Those results are nearly identical to findings of a Field Poll in May that found 51% of Californian voters...

The Modesto Bee is moving forward with plans to print the newspaper at The Sacramento Bee. In an update to employees, Publisher and President Margaret Randazzo said that based on an analysis of printing The Modesto Bee in Sacramento, "it is clear that this move makes both financial and operational sense." "This regional synergy with our sister McClatchy paper allows us to combine resources and streamline processes, resulting in significant cost savings and the avoidance of future capital expenses," Randazzo said in her memo Friday. "This is consistent with combining operations across the entire industry," including at other McClatchy papers....

UC Berkeley, eager to resolve the tree-sitters' standoff outside Memorial Stadium before football season begins, asked a judge Thursday to allow construction on a sports training center to begin as soon as next week. The university also asked the city of Berkeley, a neighborhood group and a group of oak tree advocates, who have sued UC to block the project, to put up a $1.5 million-a-month bond if they choose to appeal the judge's ruling on whether the $125 million training center can be built safely and legally. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Barbara Miller said she will decide soon...

Just received this from my assembly member Fuller. I don’t know if they will listen, but it can’t hurt to give them an opinion.

California on Thursday became the first state in the nation to approve green building standards to cut energy and water usage, a move that officials say will help the state meet its ambitious goals to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The plan, adopted by the California Building Standards Commission, requires that all new construction - from commercial buildings to homes, schools and hospitals - reduce energy usage by 15 percent, water use by 20 percent and water for landscaping by 50 percent. A voluntary form of the code is scheduled to kick in on July 1, 2009. "There is no statewide...

Fifty-one percent of likely voters in the state oppose Proposition 8 on the November ballot, a constitutional amendment that bans same-sex marriage by defining marriage as only between a man and woman, according to a Field Poll released today. The poll shows voters are divided by where they live, their age, gender and political party. For Prop. 8: "I see nothing wrong with gay marriage. It's only controversial to narrow-minded people. ... I think the opposition (to same-sex marriage) has to do with being close-minded about homosexuality. Or maybe people are afraid of it."

WASHINGTON: Upon entering Congress in 1987, Representative Nancy Pelosi quickly became part of the solid California front against oil drilling along much of the nation's coast. The 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill and the steady push to tap the potential reserves off the state's rugged coast had galvanized Californians and made opposition to offshore drilling part of the political DNA of up-and-coming figures like Pelosi.

Pelosi: Let Them WalkNancy Pelosi is an unlikely choice for Speaker Of The House of the United States. She is stupid, greedy, ignorant, vengeful, and stubborn. All poor qualities for someone in leadership, particularly someone that is third in the line of succession to be President. While these apparent political attributes have served her well, they have made the country less secure. Pelosi stands firm against offshore drilling The 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill and the steady push to tap the potential reserves off the state's rugged coast had galvanized Californians and made opposition to offshore drilling part of the...

A hotel owner’s $125,000 donation to support a ballot initiative banning same-sex marriage in the state has become a flashpoint, with opponents calling for a boycott of two of his hotels and supporters highlighting the donation in a fund-raising letter. The hotelier, Doug Manchester, donated the money to support the collection of signatures to qualify the initiative, which would amend the state’s Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage, for the November ballot.

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Former Fresno County sheriff's detective Ron Vaughn Jr. was sentenced today to 14 years in federal prison on child pornography charges.

Today the President and First Lady attended Tony Snow's funeral, the President made a wonderful speech about how special Tony was and I have chosen these words to be the quote of the day as the content does much in putting things into perspective. We may get tied up on the minutiae of life but Tony Snow showed where our priorities should be never compromising his beliefs but always bearing in mind what was important and treating the rest with good humour and a smile. After attending the funeral the President travelled to California to view some of the damaged...

San Francisco voters will be asked to decide whether to name a city sewage plant in honor of President Bush, after a satiric measure qualified for the November ballot today. Backers of the measure, who for several months circulated a petition to place the measure on the ballot, turned in more than 12,000 signatures on July 7, said organizer Brian McConnell. The Department of Elections today informed those supporters, the self-proclaimed Presidential Memorial Commission, that they had enough valid signatures - a minimum of 7,168 registered San Francisco voters - to qualify for the November ballot, he said. McConnell, who...

The state Supreme Court in California is allowing voters this November to consider a plan to define marriage as one man and one woman, a move that could overturn that same court's ruling in May that same-sex duos should be recognized as "married." Jennifer Kerns, communications director for Protect Marriage.com, which collected more than 1.1 million signatures on petitions in support of the vote, confirmed that the high court today simply dismissed the pending challenge to having Proposition 8 on the ballot. "Obviously, the Supreme Court decision delivers a significant blow to our opponents," she told WND. "It does send...

New York City has long been the highest tax jurisdiction in the United States, but California politicians are proposing to steal that brass tiara. California faces a $15 billion budget deficit and Democrats who rule the state Legislature have proposed closing the gap with a $9.7 billion tax hike on business and "the rich." ... The plan would raise the top marginal income tax rate to 12% from 10.3%; that would be the highest in the nation and twice the national average. This plan would also repeal indexing for inflation, which is a sneaky way for politicians to push middle-income...

California state government spent $145 billion last fiscal year, $41 billion more than four years ago when Gov. Gray Davis got recalled by voters. With all that new spending -- a whopping 40% increase -- we ought to be in a golden age of government with abundant public services for all. So why does it seem like the quality and quantity of government is not all that different from 2004? How many of us feel like we are getting 40% more public services, 40% better schools, roads, parks and so on? The Legislature and governor, grappling with another huge budget...

Andy Dick was arrested early Wednesday for investigation of drug use and sexual battery after the comedian allegedly pulled down a teenager’s top, police said. The former co-star of the TV sitcom “NewsRadio” was released from a detention center after posting $5,000 bail. Calls to his representatives seeking comment were not immediately returned. Police were called to the Buffalo Wild Wings in Murrieta at about 1:13 a.m. to investigate a report of “an intoxicated male” urinating outside the bar and causing a disturbance, according to a police statement. When they arrived, a 17-year-old girl told police that she was outside...

Students attending a youth leadership conference were reprimanded by capitol security on July 10 for singing the National Anthem and God Bless America in the state capitol rotunda. The patriotic expression was apparently so egregious that state troopers were called in to the rotunda to rebuke the students. As the students ended their singing, several armed troopers entered the rotunda along with capitol sergeants-at-arms. They confronted conference staff and informed them that such singing is prohibited in the state capitol without a permit from the Rules Committee. Undeterred by their shocking treatment at the hands of government officials, the students...

Frustrated that the state has no budget more than two weeks into the fiscal year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday he may insist that legislative leaders begin marathon negotiating sessions until they secure a deal. "It is almost like there is no emergency there," Schwarzenegger told The Bee in an interview. "At one point or the other, you have to say, like they do with labor negotiations, 'let us sit in the room and not leave the room until it's done.' We have done that in the past, we have sat here until three in the morning. Eventually, I'm going...

A long overdue civil grand jury report released Wednesday says that the city should be proud of getting over 4,000 homeless people into housing since 2004 but distressed at the scene on the streets. Panhandling, public drunkenness and street loitering are still an unpleasant reality downtown. The mayor and others are now admitting what the grand jury reported - that a majority of those on the streets are not homeless. The head of the city's homeless program, Dariush Kayhan, estimates that 50 to 75 percent of street people live in supportive housing. "We just warehouse addicts," said the grand jury's...

A Rochester native has filed a civil lawsuit against an Arab sheik who was convicted of beating him in the bar of a posh hotel in Geneva, Switzerland. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Diego, Calif., Silvano D. Orsi asks for an unspecified monetary amount from Sheik Falah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan for past, present and future physical pain and suffering, mental anguish and loss of earning capacity. A police tribunal last month convicted the sheik, a member of the ruling family of the United Arab Emirates, of inflicting "bodily harm with the...

This is only one State...............If this doesn't open your eyes nothing will ! From the L. A. Times 1. 40% of all workers in L. A. County ( L. A. County has 10.2 million people)are working for cash and not paying taxes. This is because they are predominantly illegal immigrants working without a green card. 2. 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens. 3. 75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles are illegal aliens. 4. Over 2/3 of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal...

SAN FRANCISCO – The California Supreme Court refused Wednesday to take up a case by gay rights advocates that sought to keep a same-sex marriage ban off the November ballot. The justices' unanimous decision to reject the petition means that barring further legal action, voters will consider a constitutional amendment that would again limit marriage in California to a union between a man and a woman. If it passes, the amendment, known as Proposition 8, would overrule the Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage in the state as of June 16. “This was a frivolous lawsuit. It was a...

California is poised to become the first state in the nation to ban restaurants and other food facilities from using trans fats, which are known to increase the risk of heart disease, under a bill approved by the state Legislature Monday and sent to the governor. The measure, passed with a bare majority, comes two weeks after a similar ban in New York City became fully effective. California doctor and consumer groups support the law, while restaurant groups have offered a lukewarm response. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not taken a position, a spokesman said. Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia (Los Angeles...

SAN FRANCISCO -- The state Supreme Court refused today to remove a proposed ban on same-sex marriage from the November ballot. The initiative, Proposition 8, is a state constitutional amendment that would overturn the court's May 15 ruling allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry in California. Gay-rights advocates sued June 19 to block a vote on Prop. 8, arguing that the measure would destroy fundamental rights that can't legally be abolished by an initiative.

Deploying a long-promised tool to track high school dropouts, the state released numbers today showing that 1 in 4 California students quit school in the 2006-07 school year, including 1 in 3 in Los Angeles. The rates are considerably higher than previously acknowledged but lower than some independent estimates. The figures are based on a new statewide tracking system that relies on identification numbers that were issued to all California public school students beginning in fall 2006. The ID numbers allow the state Department of Education to track students who leave one school and enroll in another, even if it...

San Francisco community organizer Julie Lee, whose questionable fundraising helped push former California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley out of politics, has pled guilty to state criminal charges just days after a jury found her guilty on federal charges. Lee, 62, pleaded guilty to all nine counts brought against her in state court, including grand theft, embezzlement and forgery. The charges relate to an alleged scheme to funnel part of a $500,000 state grant intended for a community center into Shelley's 2002 election campaign. The community center was never built.In a statement released today, The San Francisco District Attorney's office...

WASHINGTON – Republican Tom McClintock is atop the money chase in one of California's most expensive congressional races, but his Democratic challenger has more than five times as much cash in the bank, according to new campaign spending reports. While Democrat Charlie Brown had virtually no opposition for the Democratic nomination, McClintock won the right to advance by clubbing former Republican Rep. Doug Ose in the June primary. But McClintock's victory cost him: He raised nearly $1.6 million in his bid to replace Republican Rep. John Doolittle in the state's 4th Congressional District, and he finished the quarter with but...

History was made in Thousand Oaks California on the corner of Hampshire Boulevard and Royal Oaks Street, Saturday July 12. Hundreds of illegal alien day laborers have been crowded in this peaceful city owned park area along Hampshire Road in Old Thousand Oaks. For many years, hundreds of possible illegal alien day laborers have littered this area. Sadly, this rundown area is the first thing outside tourists see when tourists exit the 101 Freeway on their way to visit the state-of-the-art Thousand Oaks City Theater complex. This Thousand Oaks city sponsored day laborer center was essentially CLOSED for that one...

Editorial: Assessment ruling won't serve state well Monday's state Supreme Court decision striking down an assessment by the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority was one more nail in the coffin of California's quality of life. Not that the court was unreasonable. The justices were interpreting Proposition 218, as convoluted and mean-spirited an anti-tax law as California voters ever passed. The 1996 initiative aimed to tighten the rules set by Proposition 13 to make it even harder for government to raise revenue, and it's succeeding all too well. Californians must come to grips with the kind of place they want...

When San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris held her press conference Monday to announce the arrest of techie Terry Childs for allegedly plotting to hijack the city's computer system, one key figure was notably absent. That would be Mayor Gavin Newsom - Childs' ultimate boss and the person you'd think would be most concerned about the supposed breach."I have no idea what motivates the mayor," Harris said Tuesday. "I do know that he was invited."It's no secret that the politically ambitious mayor and equally ambitious Harris have never been close. Often, each thinks the other is trying to pull rank.And...

San Francisco's political establishment has long prided itself on providing a haven for illegal immigrants. Mayor Gavin Newsom even launched a taxpayer-funded $83,000 "public awareness campaign" earlier this year assuring illegal immigrants that the "sanctuary city" by the bay was in their court. And indeed it is. Under the city's 1989 voter-approved sanctuary ordinance, police officers and other city employees are prohibited from inquiring into immigration status. In addition, the city will not direct municipal funds or employees towards assisting federal immigration enforcement, unless such assistance is required by federal or state law or a warrant. No doubt such protections...

Smokers would find it harder to buy their cigarettes and light up in public under two proposals under consideration by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Mayor Gavin Newsom has proposed prohibiting tobacco sales in pharmacies, including Walgreens and Rite Aid. The city's public health chief said the proposal is modeled after rules in eight provinces in Canada but has not been tried anywhere in the United States. Supervisor Chris Daly has proposed legislation that would vastly limit areas where people can smoke. Gone would be smoking in all businesses and bars, which now make an exception for owner-operated ones....

A San Francisco city and county board resolution that officially labeled the Catholic church's moral teachings on homosexuality as "insulting to all San Franciscans," "hateful," "defamatory," "insensitive" and "ignorant" will be challenged tomorrow in court for violating the Constitution's prohibition of government hostility toward religion. Resolution 168-08, passed unanimously by the City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors two years ago, also accused the Vatican of being a "foreign country" meddling with and attempting to "negatively influence (San Francisco's) existing and established customs." It said of the church's teaching on homosexuality, "Such hateful and discriminatory rhetoric is both...

Interesting grass roots piece about a protest this weekend at a neighboring town. Labelled "the safest city in the country", Thousand Oaks' average income is in the six digits. I was pretty amazed to learn there was even a day laborer center THERE since they don't even allow RV's on the streets.

Religion’s Role in Politics by: Melinda Zosh, July 15, 2008 With Barack Obama attempting to reach out to conservative Christians, and Focus on the Family’s James Dobson’s rejection, one questions remains: what role should religion play in politics? David Hollinger, Preston Hotchkis Professor of American History, University of California-Berkeley, quotes Obama in an essay saying that: “I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God’s will…” Hollinger spoke at the Center for American Progress discussing CAP’s...

Gadfly or Watchdog? by: Bethany Stotts, July 15, 2008 Some controversies never die. As Accuracy in Academia recently reported, Dr. Alan Schatzberg and around thirty medical researchers are now under investigation by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) for financial conflicts of interest. In Dr. Schatzberg’s case, the conflicts reach as far back as 1998, when he co-founded the company that purchased a patent for mifepristone from Stanford University, his then (and current) employer. To this day Dr. Schatzberg continues as the principal investigator on Stanford’s National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to study the anti-depressant effects of mifepristone, an abortion drug....

California state Sen. Jack Scott says he didn't intend to "be a party pooper." It's just that helium-filled foil balloons -- like those found at hospital gift shops and office parties -- are dangerous. They float into electric lines and cause power outages, more than 800 in California last year, utilities say. He drafted a bill to ban foil balloons; it sailed through the state Senate and now awaits a vote in the Assembly. ***** The pro-balloon people are hoping that even if the bill does pass, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will veto it. At a recent news conference, the governor...