Free Republic

WASHINGTON – Californians have an overwhelmingly negative view of Congress, with two of every three voters disapproving of its performance, according to the latest Field Poll. Only 23 percent said they approve of the way Congress is conducting itself. It's the highest disapproval rate since 1996. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco doesn't fare much better, with more Californians rating her negatively than positively. About one in three – or 34 percent – gave her good marks, while nearly half – 44 percent – said they disapprove of her performance. That's a sharp turnaround from March, when 48...

Last Wednesday, conservatives held coast-t0-coast "TEA parties" designed to send the message to Washington and state governments that the partiers feel "taxed enough already." The exercise struck me as more than a little out of touch with the political realities of President Obama's America. The next day, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar held a public hearing in San Francisco on a Bush administration proposal to sell federal leases to drill for oil and gas off the California coast. The hearing became the Left Coast equivalent of the right-wing TEA party. The only difference is that the overwhelmingly anti-drilling crowd was in...

Many of nation's green leaders from Bay Area Sunday, February 1, 2009 A Bay Area jeansmaker clothed miners in the dusty Sierra Nevada gold fields, creating what would become a fashion staple around the globe. Nearly a century later, two Stanford graduates birthed the high-tech age in a Palo Alto garage. Today, Bay Area entrepreneurs, scientists and policymakers hope to join the vanguard of another revolution - one that aims to reinvent the way people use water, power their cars, build their houses and live their lives. President Obama has promised sweeping changes to the nation's energy grid, auto emission...

Letters in Response to Capt. Lund and Code Pink • Editors, Daily Planet: Thank you for printing the letter by Captain Richard Lund. I work in a building on University Avenue. I am a woman, I am a mother, I am the wife of a veteran, I am a liberal, I am a democrat, I am a staunch opponent to this war, and I am an enemy of President Bush. And I am ashamed. Wars aren’t created by the military, they are created by politicians and their self- serving constituents. The Code Pink protest is an insult to the sacrifices...

A veteran San Francisco police officer is under departmental investigation - and could be suspended - for writing a letter to The Chronicle criticizing the way Mayor Gavin Newsom and the Police Department are handling the homeless problem in Golden Gate Park. According to police sources, Sgt. John Lewis of Park Station is being investigated for authoring a letter that "undermines the efficiency of the department." Lewis' letter, published on The Chronicle's editorial page Aug. 15, questioned the Newsom administration's tactic of sending cops and outreach workers into the park before dawn to steer campers into social programs or, if...

Thornhill's View

Newsom welcomes the fleet with fierce defense of San Francisco as pro-military Susan Sward, Chronicle Staff Writer Sunday, October 7, 2007 (10-06) 16:55 PDT SAN FRANCISCO - Mayor Gavin Newsom, attending Fleet Week festivities on the Marina Green on Saturday, lashed out at conservative critics who mocked San Francisco's consideration of a measure to ban the Navy's Blue Angels from flying over the city during this week's celebration. He cited that criticism and reports that the city turned down a Marine request to make a television recruitment commercial in the Financial District as examples of what he called exploitation by...

Residents are 'green' hypocrites, poll finds Californians want immediate governmental action, but are unwilling to make personal sacrifices By Steve Geissinger MEDIANEWS SACRAMENTO BUREAU Contra Costa Times SACRAMENTO -- Many Californians' alarmed talk about global warming amounts to a lot of hot air. Experts say residents are growing more opinionated on the issue -- and hypocritical. A survey by the Public Policy Institute of California shows most residents think dirty air from cars is helping foster disasters such as drought and hurting their health through ailments such as asthma. They want immediate action from government officials and presidential candidates with...

Alimony still required after ex-wife enters domestic partnership ASSOCIATED PRESS July 24, 2007 LOS ANGELES – A judge has ordered a man to continue paying alimony to his ex-wife – even though she is in a registered domestic partnership with another woman and uses the other woman's last name. California marriage laws state alimony ends when a former spouse remarries, and Ron Garber thought that meant he was off the hook when he learned his ex-wife had registered her new relationship under the state's domestic partnership law. An Orange County judge didn't see it that way. The judge ruled that...

Neighborhood alarmed to learn ice-cream truck vendor is registered sex offender 01:13 AM PDT on Saturday, July 14, 2007 By SARAH BURGE The Press-Enterprise A group of Perris homeowners has launched a campaign to run their local ice cream man out of the neighborhood. Anthony G. Toles, his neighbors discovered recently, is a registered sex offender who has been living and driving his ice cream truck in the Villages of Avalon, a newer housing development near Lake Perris. On the Fourth of July, about 10 neighbors distributed 500 custom-printed door hangers alerting residents to "a potential threat to our children"...

Board won't bar alleged molester from schools School psychologist won't lose his license. The alleged victim's mother is 'outraged.' By Garrett Therolf, Times Staff Writer June 28, 2007 A former educational psychologist for Los Angeles schools who allegedly molested a boy hundreds of times two decades ago will not lose his state license and will be able to continue working with children. In a terse letter last month, the California Board of Behavioral Sciences informed the alleged victim's mother that it had concluded a nearly yearlong investigation, and no action would be taken against Peter J. Ruthenbeck because the statute...

Summer of love: 40 years later Hippie Hippie Shakedown: But where was love? BY DAWN EDEN, Guest Columnist LA Daily News WHEN it comes to inappropriate names, "Summer of Love" has to be right up there with "Joy Division," the name the Nazis reportedly gave to the sections of concentration camps that housed the guards' sex slaves. For one thing, it was not just a summer event. The countercultural happening that swept through San Francisco and beyond began with an April1967 planning announcement by concert promoter Chet Helms, aka Family Dog, creating the "Council for the Summer of Love." It...

Daly backs move to ground Blue Angels show Joshua Sabatini, The Examiner 2007-06-07 10:00:00.0 Current rank: # 165 of 6,519 SAN FRANCISCO - The annual aerial show by the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels — a San Francisco tradition dating back to 1981 that pumps millions into the local economy — is running into opposition from three local peace advocacy groups that are calling for a permanent halt to the popular Fleet Week flyover. CodePink, Global Exchange and Veterans for Peace, Chapter 69, are working with Supervisor Chris Daly on a Board of Supervisors resolution to address concerns over the Blue...

California lawmakers among Congress' richest By Erica Werner ASSOCIATED PRESS Article Launched: 06/15/2007 03:05:17 AM PDT WASHINGTON -- California boasts some of Congress' wealthiest lawmakers, annual financial disclosure forms filed Wednesday show, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco and the state's senior senator, Dianne Feinstein, among the most well-off. Both Democrats are married to wealthy investors worth many tens of millions of dollars. Pelosi and her husband, Paul, own a vineyard. Feinstein and her husband, Richard, boast a condo in Hawaii, another one in Tahoe City and interest worth $5 million to $25 million in a hotel. The...

BERKELEY Council passes plan to stop bad street behavior Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, June 13, 2007 Berkeley's City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to pass most of a sweeping plan to clear the streets of aggressive and disruptive behavior. The Public Commons for Everyone Initiative passed 9-0 after months of debate among the council, homeless advocates, merchants and residents. The council instructed City Manager Phil Kamlarz to develop details of the implementation, which he will bring back to the council for further approval. "This is a tolerant and caring community, but we do have our boundaries,'' said Mayor...

A horde of decaying zombies invaded San Francisco's downtown Apple store on Friday evening, hunting for brains, terrifying the customers, and gnawing on iMacs. Zombie gnaws on iMac but prefers human brains (Credit: Declan McCullagh) I've placed some photos here. I'm pleased to report that the zombies ultimately decided human brains were tastier than plastic iMacs, although it wasn't for lack of effort in trying to vary what must be a monotonous diet. It was difficult to judge the exact number of zombies that shuffled through the city's shopping district, losing limbs, blood, and unmentionable body parts along the way,...

Hustler Hollywood will open a retail store in Berkeley in June By Kim Bell and Norm Parish ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH Wednesday, Apr. 25 2007 BERKELEY — Larry Flynt, the publisher of Hustler magazine, is opening a retail store in June not far from Lambert Field that will sell sex toys, lingerie and other adult-oriented products. A vinyl fence in the rear of the property, to be called Hustler Hollywood, separates it from a Berkeley neighborhood. And Preston Park, a playground with children's climbing equipment and a slide, will sit below a Hustler Hollywood sign the store plans to hoist atop...

Columnist ill Catherine Seipp, longtime West Coast columnist for National Review Online (www.nationalreview.com), remained hospitalized yesterday. "She's sedated, with painkillers among other things," daughter Maia reported yesterday at her mother's blog (http://cathyseipp.journalspace.com). Mrs. Seipp was diagnosed in 2002 with inoperable lung cancer. "Lungs collapsed so right now we just want to make sure she has dignity and is not in pain," Maia wrote yesterday. "The doctor says she has a couple days left. ... I'm at her bedside now, holding her hand. I tell her she has 292 comments on the latest blog post ... but she just squeezes my...

FOR decades, companies that make everything from after-shave to lip gloss have conducted safety testing on grooming products and shipped the cosmetics to stores to be sold to consumers, all with very little government involvement. And over the years, there have been few health or safety problems associated with the myriad grooming products and cosmetics on the market. Nonetheless, momentum has been building for greater oversight of the chemicals in everyday products, with the European Union and California taking the lead in imposing new rules for monitoring what is in the perfumes, creams, nail polish and hair sprays that are...

Judge Says He Intends to Order Google to Turn Over Some Internet Records to Justice Department SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- A federal judge said Tuesday he intends to order Google Inc. to turn over some of its Internet records to the U.S. Justice Department, but expressed reservations about requiring the company to divulge some of its most sensitive data -- the actual requests that people enter into its popular search engine. U.S. District Judge James Ware told the Justice Department it can expect to get at least some of the information sought from Google as part of the Bush...

Warriors and wusses I DON'T SUPPORT our troops. This is a particularly difficult opinion to have, especially if you are the kind of person who likes to put bumper stickers on his car. Supporting the troops is a position that even Calvin is unwilling to urinate on. I'm sure I'd like the troops. They seem gutsy, young and up for anything. If you're wandering into a recruiter's office and signing up for eight years of unknown danger, I want to hang with you in Vegas.

Sacramento—In a bold, yet unexpected move, California has decided to dissolve all ties with the United States of America. It is reported, that on Tuesday, November 15, 2005, the California legislature will vote to secede from the Union. The vote comes in an answer to the agonizing defeat of Governor Schwarzenegger’s propositions at the voting booths. The voters have made it clear that they don’t want any change in California. They have demonstrated to Governor Schwarzenegger that they want to leave things alone, keep the status quo. “I’m glad the propositions went down,” stated Autumn Keely, a registered Democrat. “I’m...

Into the storm -- no pun intended -- that is Katrina and Rita's wake, comes no less an expert than Barbra Streisand. In an interview with ABC's Dianne Sawyer to promote her upcoming CD with Barry Gibb, she veered off course and declared a "global warming emergency". Maybe the waves are getting too close to her seaside estate, not sure. "For the United States not to be part of the Kyoto treaty is unforgivable" said the singer, ignoring for the moment that this was a pretty lopsided (i.e., 95-0) vote in the US Senate, including many recipients of her largess...

LOS ANGELES - California receives millions of dollars in tax revenue when movies are filmed in the state, but about 60 percent of all productions last year were shot elsewhere, according to a study to be released Monday. The state, for example, loses more than $10 million when a $70 million movie is made outside the state, and $3 million for a 12-episode drama, the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. said. Sponsored by labor and industry groups, the 20-page showed that 236 features, or about 40 percent of all productions, were shot partially or exclusively in the state last...

LOS ANGELES - Congressional Republicans are hoping yet again to split the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers nine Western states and has issued some rulings to the dismay of conservatives. The Republicans say a breakup is the best way to reduce the circuit's caseload. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., plans this week to introduce a bill to split the circuit into three parts. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, has already introduced legislation this year that would create at least one, if not two, new appellate courts for the area, which includes Arizona. "The situation is continuing to get worse...

LOS ANGELES -- Back east, well-placed Democrats have agreed that the party's 2008 nomination is all wrapped up better than three years in advance. They say that the prize is Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's for the asking, and that she is sure to ask. But here on the left coast, I found surprising and substantial Democratic opposition to going with the former first lady. Both the Hollywood glitterati and the more mundane politicians of Los Angeles are looking elsewhere. They have seen plenty of Sen. Clinton over the last dozen years, and they don't particularly like what they've seen. Two...

DEMOCRATIC WALLWEED Judging by where Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean has spent the last few days, he almost certainly attempted to get invited to Sen. Hillary Clinton's and Sen. Harry Reid's fundraising events in Los Angeles. According to DNC sources, Dean intentionally planned a West Coast swing around the dates Clinton and Reid had circled for their events. On Sunday, Dean was in Seattle, a quick shot down the Left Coast to Los Angeles, with plans to fly to San Francisco for events Monday. Before Seattle, Dean spent time with Democratic donors in Montana. There is an increasing whiff...

Anyone who’s lived in the United States over the past few decades knows what Fonda’s life’s been about — sexual liberation, the anti-war movement, health and nutrition, the entrepreneurial spirit, feminism, etc. — because our own lives have been about those issues. In an eerie way that urges us to consider how deeply celebrities reflect and affect our culture, Jane Fonda’s life has mirrored America’s life. Especially the lives of American women. Still, there are a few surprises in her book that will catch you off-guard. For example, it’s pretty obvious from page one that Fonda’s no bimbo actress. She’s...

Stay home, you pathetic whining maggots By Ian Robinson -- Calgary Sun In the wake of the U.S. presidential election -- in which I cheerfully took a Sun assistant city editor, who figured Senator John Kerry couldn't lose, for $10 (a quick pause to gloat here) Americans disenchanted with President George W. Bush's re-election romp back into the White House, continue to deluge the Canadian immigration website. How anybody can be unhappy with the president's re-election is beyond me. Bush has my admiration in no small part because he manages to simultaneously annoy France and Germany, not to mention those...

Rather than star quarterback Donovan McNabb or any other members of the Eagles, it seemed natural that the often-tacky Terrell Owens was the player who once again managed to find the gutter. Out here on the Left Coast, we observed the Owens act for six seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. He openly feuded with coaches, teammates, and opponents. Owens' end zone antics such as the Sharpie incident became legendary. And embarrassing to anybody who believes athletes should be held to a higher standard! After the 2003 season, the self-centered and disruptive Owens had to go. With his talent, the...

When I titled my book “Conservatives Are From Mars, Liberals Are From San Francisco,” I could just as easily have pointed out that liberals are from Hollywood. It really is a different planet from the one most of us live on. To begin with, it is populated with high school drop-outs and drama majors making millions of dollars a year, convinced they should decide how the rest of us think, live and vote. What you must never forget about these pampered pets is that the first lesson they learned in acting class was to get in touch with their feelings....

Sherry Lansing, the soon-to-be-retired Paramount studio honcho and friend of Sen. John Kerry, is said to be "depressed." Actress Sharon Stone, who stumped for Mr. Kerry in Wisconsin, reportedly was "traveling" yesterday. It wasn't clear whether the "Basic Instinct" star had fled the country, as she had hinted that she might do if the Democratic nominee lost. There were tears and tribulations. Long sighs and short tempers. Shock and bawl. For a rich and powerful demographic used to getting its way, Hollywood was downbeat yesterday as President Bush — more heinous than a mid-February release date to so many celebrities...

Arriving home from the hospital after being treated for a heart attack, 84-year-old Carol Barnes inched up the steps into her Sunset District home and headed straight for her absentee ballot. "She said, 'That ... Bush, I can't allow him to be president again,' " said her son, Bo Barnes. " 'I want to vote for Kerry to make the world safe.' " Too exhausted to do more than cast votes for president and two propositions, the widow of an Army major signed the ballot and told her son they'd complete the rest later. Three days later, on Oct. 17,...

I don't want to completely stick my neck out on this, because when you hope something is true, it clouds your judgemenet (as Dan Rather has found out!)But it appears to me that tickets are available at all the gigs for the "swing states" pro-Kerry/anti-Bush tour. Curiously, New York and New York have not been added to this "swing states" tour. Odd. Now, this is not 1980, but it seems even the Springsteen shows still have tickets available. A bad sign for the left?

FUTURE SOUNDTRACK FOR AMERICA Barsuk Records is set to release a fundraising CD compilation, titled future soundtrack for america, a joint project with MoveOn.org and Music For America, on August 10th. The compilation will include R.E.M.'s "The Final Straw (MoveOn mix)." McSweeney's Publishing is also releasing a book with similar fundraising goals that will include a copy of the CD; the future dictionary of america features contributions from an astounding group of almost 200 writers, from Paul Auster to Michael Chabon to Jonathan Franzen to Joyce Carol Oates to Kurt Vonnegut to Wendy Wasserstein. One hundred percent of the proceeds...

WASHINGTON — Barack Obama, the U.S. Senate candidate from Chicago who has become the Democratic Party's latest rising star, is drawing enough support from the entertainment industry to put on his own variety show. From comedian Chris Rock to singer Barbra Streisand to musician Herbert Hancock, entertainers have written out checks of $1,000 or $2,000 to help the 42-year-old Illinois state senator win the seat being vacated by retiring GOP Sen. Peter Fitzgerald. Film directors Rob Reiner ("The American President") and Edward Zwick ("The Last Samurai" and "Courage Under Fire") both contributed in the past three months, according to Obama's...

John Kerry raised about $5 million for his campaign at a couple of events in Los Angeles on Thursday night, the second of which featured performances by Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Billy Crystal and Willie Nelson. Amongst those who contributed in order to attend: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, Jamie Foxx, Ben Stiller and Robert DeNiro. Crystal "joked" about President Bush, according to multiple media accounts, "I realize that 9/11 is also his SAT scores." The New York Times touted how "the much-heralded highlight was the Barbra Streisand-Neil Diamond reunion duet, 'You Don't Bring Me Flowers,' which they had not performed...

Out on the Left Coast, Democrat foes of the Second Amendment want to ban gun shows from a taxpayer-owned property but keep allowing a porn expo. "Foreplay got the nod over gunplay Wednesday by state senators deciding what types of shows to allow at the Cow Palace," the San Francisco Chronicle reported today. California Sen. Jackie Speier is having a cow over firearms shows at the Cow Palace in suburban Daly City. Democrats defeated attempts by Republicans to amend Speier's bill to ban the annual Exotic Erotic Ball as well. Exotic Erotic Ball, which touts itself as "the world's wildest...

Could there really be a no-pinko zone on the Left Coast? Yes, thanks to those who actually know what they're talking about. "Memories of the Red Menace may be fading in much of America, but they are very much alive in Orange County's Little Saigon," the Los Angeles Times reported. "In a gesture that says a lot about the uncompromising anger that many Vietnamese emigres feel toward the regime they fled, leaders want to declare a no-Communist zone." Officials in Garden Grove and Westminster, home to many escapees from Vietnam, want to ban visits by officials from Hanoi. The Times...

.........Supervisors such as Sandoval, Aaron Peskin and Jake McGoldrick also are facing re-election in November and know that full-out opposition from an increasingly popular mayor would make their races a lot tougher. Many of the city's progressive leaders don't know what to make of Newsom's populist leanings. They aren't sure whether he is operating from principle or politics when he repeats many of their own lines. "The fear is that (Newsom is) building up some credibility on the progressive side, and then in a year or so the hammer will come down on groups like us,'' said Ted Gullicksen, executive...

According to my COM101 class notes, to win a libel suit, one must generally prove six things of the defendant: 1. Identity of the person damaged 2. Publication of the material 3. That the published material was actually defaming 4. Falseity of the defaming material 5. Fault: if the plantiff is a public figure, he/she must prove actual malice: either a) knowingly lying, OR b) reckless disregard for the truth; if the plantiff does not hold any sort of public or celebrity status, he/she must merely prove negligence 6. That the material in some way caused injury or harm to...

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUN NOV 30, 2003 20:42:05 ET XXXXX HOLLYWOOD DEMS GATHER FOR 'HATE BUSH' MEETING AT HILTON **Exclusive** Top Hollywood activists and intellectuals are planning to gather this week in Beverly Hills for an event billed as "Hate Bush,' the DRUDGE REPORT has learned! Laurie David [wife of SEINFELD creator Larry David] has sent out invites to the planned Tuesday evening meeting at the Hilton with the bold heading: "Hate Bush 12/2 - Event" The message reads: "This is the most important meeting you can attend to prevent the advancement of the current extremist right wing...

In an unlikely attempt to gain star backing for a slow-burning campaign, the Democratic presidential candidate, General Wesley Clark, is spending late nights talking politics with Madonna and wooing sympathetic supergroups such as The Eagles, with whom he recently shared the stage during a rendition of Hotel California. Gen Clark, who had a cerebral and somewhat austere reputation during his military career, has spent much of the past month seeking out the late-night company of west coast rock stars, screen idols and movie producers. While his rivals preach to the worthy but unglamorous residents of early-voting Iowa and New Hampshire,...

<p>Click on the link above, or HERE to take 6 polls, on IRAQ and Calif Governor....</p>

<p>The conservative commentator James Hirsen, a columnist for Newsmax.com and a regular on Fox News and "The Sean Hannity Show," once played keyboards for the touring Temptations. At the time he was the only white face in the group.</p> <p>His hiring, he says, was "no affirmative action decision. I really had to be funky, or I lost the gig."</p>

OLYMPIA -- Californians didn't stop moving to Washington state when the dot-com boom went bust.Washington continues to attract about 1,700 California residents a month, according to data from the state Department of Licensing.That's down some from the masses of Californians who moved north during the 1990s. According to Census data released this week, about 2,600 Californians moved to Washington every month between 1995 and 2000.Many of those '90s newcomers may have gone to seek their fortunes elsewhere now that Washington's economy has sunk.But new Californians arrive daily to take their places. The number moving to Washington in May, June and...

<p>An autopsy is scheduled for today for a fetus found early Friday in the trash container of a west-central Fresno apartment complex. A resident of the Ashmark Arms apartments found the full-term female fetus wrapped in a blood-soaked bed comforter while he dumped garbage about 3:15 a.m., Fresno police Lt. Dennis Bridges said.</p>

Scroll below to read an excerpt of James Hirsen’s “Tales from the Left Coast: True Stories of Hollywood Stars and Their Outrageous Politics.” He lists 17 reasons why Hollywood leans left. 1. The San Andreas Fault has caused the continental plate located under Hollywood to buckle left. 2. Extraterrestrials have bombarded the West Coast area with brain-wave projections that are capable of turning minds into macaroni and cheese. 3. Going from waiting on tables to waiting to board private jets has created an epidemic of “afluenza” in Tinseltown, the side effects of which are pangs of liberal guilt. 4. Most...

Clark's ChoiceAs retired Army General Wesley Clark ponders throwing his hat into the ring for the 2004 Democratic Presidential Nomination, associates say he is being wooed by Republicans as well.They say that he is so popular within the California GOP that there is talk of starting a 'Republicans for Clark Organization.'

<p>WASHINGTON — West Coast dockworkers and shipping companies reached a tentative six-year contract agreement early today, potentially ending a long, caustic labor dispute that closed the ports and prompted presidential intervention.</p> <p>Chief federal mediator Peter Hurtgen praised both sides, saying lead negotiators in San Francisco "demonstrated statesmenlike leadership, which made this agreement possible."</p>