California
updated
5:08 p.m.
We’ve seen it umpteen thousand times. We’re sure many of you have as well. Some of you might even be guilty of it—-white gay person uses to support their argument or criticism aimed at the government/military/Obama/society in general/etc—a dark chapter from black history in America to underscore their point in regards to any opposition or [...]...
RENWL (Restore Equality Now~West Adams/Los Angeles South) - 4:49 p.m.
Here's an interesting article on the banks that are trying to kick us out of our home . And an interesting video... Nineteen months after the catastrophic failure of one of Sacramento's top lenders, Pasadena-based IndyMac Bank, a flurry of local lawsuits alleges that the bank's successor – OneWest Bank – is systematically working to push home loan borrowers into foreclosure. The allegati...
Last Left Before Hooterville - 4:29 p.m. - 2 clicks 
And with that comment, the leader of the state Senate seemed to make it pretty clear today what's going to be at the center of budget fighting this year: funding for public schools. Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg told Capitol reporters this afternoon that Democrats won't go along with Governor Schwarzenegger's approaches to funding schools [...]...
Capital Notes - 4:28 p.m.
Both GOP candidates Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman want to suspend or delay California's global warming law, AB 32, with Whitman calling for a year-long moratorium on the law and Poizner taking the additional step of endorsing an initiative (recently revealed to be funded by Texas oil companies) that suspends the law until the unemployment rate in California is 5.5 percent. Both ignored the evidenc...
California League of Conservation Voters - 4:28 p.m.
I haven't been able to watch CNN for years. Now they just get worse. "Feminazis?" "Ugly feminists? Seriously, why not just watch Fox news if you want to expose yourself to horrible right-wing crap? ...
Seeing the Forest - 3:08 p.m.
Connie & Lois at the Women's Campaign Forum last week -by Mary Jean Collins Bart Stupak Democrat (MI-1) clearly wants to be remembered as the Democrat who destroyed health care reform proposed by a Democratic President and Congress. Together with Republican Joseph Pitts (PA-16) he offered the amendment to the Affordable Health Care Act that used the health reform effort to extend t...
Down With Tyranny - 3:08 p.m.
Yesterday Marcy Winograd's campaign put out a press release extolling the virtues of Alan Grayson's Medicare-at-cost approach to healthcare reform. It's a great campaign issue for her district, particularly since the conservative Blue Dog running against her, Jane Harman, refuses to co-sponsor Grayson's elegantly simple and straightforward legislation. Very frequently now when I'm talki...
Down With Tyranny - 1:29 p.m. - 7 clicks
I'll have to admit, I'm a bit shocked by this: Boston MA - The four members of California's legislative leadership who in 2009 led a bi-partisan effort in a bid to close the state's devastating budget deficit have been named this year's recipients of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award?. Dave Cogdill, California State Senator and former Senate Republican Leader; Mike Villines, Californ...
Calitics - 1:28 p.m.
The document shows that U.S. agents are logging on surreptitiously to exchange messages with suspects, identify a target’s friends or relatives and browse private information such as postings, personal photographs and video clips. Source: www.huffingtonpost.com ...
yaman's amateur ramblings - 12:50 p.m.
This morning the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research is out with a study that shows 1 in 4 Californians now lacks health insurance: Nearly 2 million Californians lost their health insurance during 2008 and 2009 - years characterized by a deep recession and mass layoffs - bringing the total number of uninsured in the state to more than 8 million, according to new estimates from the UCLA Cent...
Calitics - 12:01 p.m.
Nothing has helped me get back into the swing of things more, after losing my sweetheart, than getting up on stage and giving life to a delightful old goofy character named Wilmer in a play called "Funny Little Thing." Wilmer, like I have been in real life, is crazy about his wife, Paula, and she feels the same about him as my Nancy loved me - in spite of the little "things" that come along in a ...
OB Rag - 11:03 a.m.
They said it couldn't be done. They said we were nuts. They said the time wasn't right. But it can be done - we're doing it; we're not nuts; and the time is now. The perfect storm, the trifecta of technology, politics, and demographics is upon us here in California, and we're seizing the day. In this diary I'll explain this magic moment and how the Restore Equality 2010...
DailyKos (California) - 11:02 a.m.
One commenter asks me yesterday about N Pelosi, and I wish start today's diary answering this important question. This series want give an overview to state level for every state finding the three best democrats looking to the three higher level elected offices (2 senate seats and the governor's office). For that some national figures like the President, the Vice-President, the Speaker of the Hou...
DailyKos (California) - 11:02 a.m.
This post originally appeared at Campaign for America's Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture as part of the Making It In America project. I am a Fellow with CAF. China argues that some American companies will suffer if China stops subsidizing manufacturing and adjusts their currency to... ...
Seeing the Forest - 10:22 a.m.
The courts resolved a slew of disputes about the initiatives over the last few days. As we mentioned recently, Prop 14, the "open primary" measure that would result in a lot more Dem-on-Dem fights, was the subject of much legal wrangling . In the end, Prop 14 will largely stay the same: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other supporters said they beat back an effort by union officials and l...
Calitics - 10:22 a.m.
Mayor Gavin Newsom has entered the race for Lieutenant Governor, a job he ridiculed while running for Governor - and his supporters include San Francisco progressives who figure it's an opportunity to get rid of him. Nonetheless, an endorsement list that includes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the California Teachers Association and Sacramento's legislative leaders (along with an opponent with ...
Calitics - 9:30 a.m. - 3 clicks
Here's a little exercise: Go to Google News Type "California Teacher Layoffs" in the search box Hit "Return" And... React. ...
DailyKos (California) - 9:30 a.m. - 2 clicks
U.S. troops opened fire on a car in western Baghdad, killing an Iraqi journalist and her husband, a police official said Thursday. Source: news.yahoo.com ...
yaman's amateur ramblings - 9:01 a.m. - 2 clicks
These people all wish you the worst; can you identify them all? There are some demented souls who are so certain that Obama is an illegitimate president-- hey, he's not even white-- that they just want to shut down the government and let everything, the whole kit and kaboodle, go to hell. Talk to some teabaggers; they think that way. I mean, they believe it . They really and truly are 10...
Down With Tyranny - 9:01 a.m. - 9 clicks
LEGAL EXPERT, BIOLOGIST FIND SIGNIFICANT FLAWS IN PROPOSED CALIFORNIA BEAR HUNT EXPANSION SACRAMENTO (March 16, 2010) – A leading environmental attorney and wildlife biologist retained by wildlife protection organizations filed comments with the California Fish and Game Commission citing serious concerns with state proposals to expand bear hunting. In their comments to the commission...
DailyKos (California) - 6:56 a.m.
[Cross-posted at The Left Coaster. ] I was born only 34 years after the Great Depression, yet growing up the era was treated as if it was in the Cambrian epoch of human development, a world in black and white film far, far away in the past, the methods of market and society as stilted and clumsily jerky as human figures in the grainy images. The smug hubris of our very wealthy and educated is...
DailyKos (California) - 6:56 a.m.
By Steve Maviglio Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present Exhibits A and B as evidence of why California’s initiative system is broken. Exhibit A : The Part-time Legislature Initiative. This initiative, drafted by Sacramento Republican attorney Tom Hiltachk, was the brainchild of a Sacramento political consultant. The consultants created an Astroturf political group, “Citizens for ...
California Progress Report - 6:45 a.m.
By Randy Shaw “I cannot underscore strongly enough how pissed off the base is over the lack of action” -- Gabe Gonzalez, Center for Community Change Last week, immigrant rights groups became the first major progressive constituency to issue a release publicly denouncing the Obama Administration. Blasting the White House for “escalating deportations and detentions” while taking no action t...
California Progress Report - 6:45 a.m.
By Robert Cruickshank Walking around at the California Republican Party convention in Santa Clara on Friday night, I could see signs that the GOP has renewed confidence going into 2010. But I also saw signs that this confidence is misplaced and frankly delusional. Although 2010 might be more favorable to California Republicans than most elections since 1994, the extreme right-wing nature of ...
California Progress Report - 6:45 a.m. - 3 clicks
When Tom DeLay was forced to resign from the House after being indicted for "ethical improprieties," Denny Hastert decided to appoint fellow closet case David Dreier as Republican Majority Leader. The howls of rage from Capitol Hill were so loud that George Bush was woken from his late afternoon nap. Roy Blunt, a particularly nasty homophobe, had some choice words about poor Dreier's well-kn...
Down With Tyranny - 6:42 a.m. - 11 clicks
The Davis School District had been holding onto the 9-acre Nugget Fields, a parcel of land that was donated by the original developers of Wildhorse in the mid-1990s for use as a future elementary school. However, the district never needed the additional school and it has been used as soccer fields. In 2008, the school district formed a 7/11 Committee, an advisory committee pursuant to Calif...
The People's Vanguard of Davis - 6:04 a.m.
Another Swastika Found in UCD Dorm Hallway - The rash of hate related incidents continued on Sunday nigh as police received a report from a resident adviser in Kearney Hall about a 5 inch by 3 inch swastika cavered into a bulletin board. According to police, the swastika may have been carved into the bulletin board earlier but covered by fliers. As part of the investigation, the police ...
The People's Vanguard of Davis - 5:42 a.m.
In 1996, the City of Pleasanton adopted Measure GG, which set a strict housing cap. Under Measure GG, no more than 29,000 units could be built within the city. Although it took awhile, fourteen years later, Pleasanton’s housing cap has finally been ruled to be illegal. Judge Frank Roesch, of Alameda County Superior Court, issued [...] ...
Transbay Blog - 3:02 a.m. - 2 clicks
I hate the health care bill. I hate that they are going to order us to buy insurance form the greedy monopolistic corporate snakes. But it gets people care they need, and we can immediately start working to fix it, get Medicare buy-in and ultimately single-payer. If it doesn't pass, then there... ...
Seeing the Forest - 1:44 a.m. - 3 clicks
There is news about the irrational ban on men who have had sex with another man since 1997 from donating blood. Federal health officials announced Friday that they would reexamine a 27-year-old set of restrictions on blood donations by gay men. The restrictions, enacted in the early years of the AIDS epidemic in the United States, impose a lifetime ban on men donating b...
The Mad Professah Lectures - 1:24 a.m.
FWIW: I encourage you to protest the black-out of millions of single payer advocates by mainstream media news coverage on tv, radio, in magazines and newspapers. read more ...
Sacramento For Democracy - Mon 11:06 p.m.
Links: Judge rules that Pleasanton needs to build more housing within current city limits instead of adding jobs and forcing other cities to house them. Such policies contribute to urban sprawl, and while it shouldn't take a judge to end them, this is a good ruling. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoes tax relief for homeowners in order to protect corporate tax cheats . In case anyone w...
Calitics - Mon 8:26 p.m. - 2 clicks
Six faith-based LGBT organizations are splitting a whopping grant award of $1.2 million to expand the number of churches that welcome LGBTs into their congregations as well as support these churches in building a strong LGBT infrastructure. The 6 recipient organizations are: National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Foundation’s Institute for Welcoming Resources (IWR), which works with [...]...
RENWL (Restore Equality Now~West Adams/Los Angeles South) - Mon 8:01 p.m.
A Democratic House member from Pennsylvania is asking the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee to add the Pennsylvanian’s foreclosure prevention plan to the Senate version of financial oversight reform. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.) asked Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) to add an emergency mortgage assistance program to the financial reform [...]...
The Democratic Daily - Mon 7:24 p.m.
by Kristin Condon The building with Ace Tattoo and El Rodeo is looking spiffy - it has gotten a new paint job and new banisters and signs, including the new "L Rodeo" sign. Ciao Bella Ristorante e Pizzaria at 4953 Newport opened at the end of February, and appears to be doing a brisk business. Their extensive menu features soups, salads, antipasto, pasta, panini, risotti, pizzas, and handmade de...
OB Rag - Mon 6:00 p.m.
New York State's 13th Senate District, in northern Queens "This guy is a violent asshole, and it would be great to send him on his way once and for all." -- a colleague of ours, about former NYS Sen. Hiram Monserrate by Ken Usually when I burden you with breaking news regarding the toxic-waste dump that is our New York State Legislature, it's because I sense that non-New Yorkers ...
Down With Tyranny - Mon 6:00 p.m. - 34 clicks
Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman are scheduled to debate in about an hour and a half. The debate is sponsored by California New Majority, so you are likely to see some full-on wingnuttery on display. Watch it on CBS2 , Ustream is down. http://cbs2.com/ The folks at the California Accountability Project have even produced a Viewer's guide (PDF) to all of the likely (mis)statements a...
Calitics - Mon 6:00 p.m. - 3 clicks
With the news that the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is supporting Meg Whitman for Governor and now joining two Texas oil companies in supporting an initiative to repeal AB 32, the question once again is being raised if the Association's endorsement is for sale? Dan Morain, editorial writer at the Sacramento Bee, seemed to imply that in a recent story http://www.insidebayarea.com/trivall...
California Majority Report - Mon 5:21 p.m.
COSTA MESA– Meg Whitman. Steve Poizner. 60 minutes of debate in the race for the GOP gubernatorial nomination. More fun than you can possibly imagine on a Monday night. Wait, strike that last one. And yet, tonight's debate features a first, and perhaps most important, chance for the candidates to set the [...]...
Capital Notes - Mon 5:05 p.m. - 3 clicks
Last we heard from NOM, they were busy getting into trouble for interfering with Maine's election system and not wanting to disclose donors. Well, they've also been writing about the federal Prop 8 trial, but they have no official capacity in that. But, they are now back in California! Huzzah! And as you can see from the ad to the right, they're still up to their old fear-based ...
Calitics - Mon 2:45 p.m. - 3 clicks
UPDATE: CTA reports the number of pink slips is now 23,225. Original post begins here: In 2009, 16,000 teachers and other public school employees lost their jobs. The devastating effect on the quality of education in this state is just beginning to be felt. Now we learn that insane policy of mass firings of teachers and school employees is going to be renewed, as 20,000 more have received pi...
Calitics - Mon 2:16 p.m. - 2 clicks
I'll be doing my regular segment on the Fairness Doctrine radio show shortly. You can listen live at the link. I'll be talking about the Chinese Currency Showdown. ...
Seeing the Forest - Mon 2:04 p.m.
This morning James Oliphant's L.A. Times report had some disheartening news for progressives , especially for progressives disappointed with Obama's mediocre performance of healthcare reform, Wall Street reform, civil liberties, party politics and Afghanistan who at least felt the former law professor would get the judiciary right. He hasn't. An early chance for the Obama administration ...
Down With Tyranny - Mon 2:04 p.m. - 31 clicks
The so-called National Organization for Marriage claims to have gone up on the air in California with an ad designed to take down Republican Senatorial frontrunner Tom Campbell. The ad alleges that Campbell and Boxer both support increased income taxes, increased gas taxes and gay marriage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEpbNqqnIro&feature=playe ...
California Majority Report - Mon 2:03 p.m. - 2 clicks
The California Accountability Project, has released a debate-watchers guide for the Whitman/Poizner smackdown tonight. Click http://bit.ly/CAPDebateWatch. ...
California Majority Report - Mon 2:03 p.m. - 2 clicks
Kucinich, Other Progressives Stand Ground Against Attacks For OpEdNews: Rob Kall http://www.opednews.com/articles/Kucinich-Other-Progressiv-b I interviewed congressman Dennis Kucinich and other progressive leaders invhealth care reform to get his response to recent attacks and to find out hisvmotivation and what would move him to change his vote. While Markos "Kos&qu...
Sacramento For Democracy - Mon 1:18 p.m.
The title is tongue in cheek of course, we all know why the mercenaries are in Iraq and Afghanistan. But this piece in the NYT really lays it all out. From the writeup: Under the cover of a benign government information-gathering program, a Defense Department official set up a network of private contractors in Afghanistan and Pakistan to help track and kill suspected mil...
My Right to be Left - Mon 11:34 a.m.
This post originally appeared at Campaign for America's Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture as part of the Making It In America project. I am a Fellow with CAF. China is holding down the value of its currency, which means goods made there cost less everywhere else. This undercuts American... ...
Seeing the Forest - Mon 11:18 a.m.
From Editorial: AB 32 foes are slick – and predictable "Looking for hot air about global warming? You don't have to look very far. You can find it in columns by George Will and other pundits who dismiss the preponderance of scientific literature that global climate change is happening, and that human activities are contributing to it. You can find it in the propaganda of front gro...
Sacramento For Democracy - Mon 11:09 a.m.
“Magic” Johnson Endorses Bass' Congressional Bid Speaker Emeritus Karen Bass continues to roll up the endorsements in her Congressional bid. Today Legend-turned-businessman Earvin "Magic" Johnson announced his support ...
California Majority Report - Mon 11:09 a.m.
Last week in my Texas Focus I concentrated on some absolutely critical School Board races. I got a comment that I was burying the lead in my story. What I failed to emphasize, though I mentioned, was that the Texas School Board DOMINATES the school textbook market. They are the ones who keep almost getting creationism in our science books, downplaying of slavery in our history textbooks, and Chri...
DailyKos (California) - Mon 10:41 a.m. - 6 clicks
By Anthony Wright Health Access A vote is likely for next week on health reform in the House of Representatives, with votes to reconcile differences and make improvements in the Senate the week after that. So difference would this reform make? The biggest changes, like the expansion of Medicaid, would not fully kick in until 2014 (these changes take time and some need to be phased in) but ...
California Progress Report - Mon 10:10 a.m.
Does Democratic whip Jim Clyburn know something about anti-Choice fanatic Bart Stupak that no one else does? Yesterday on Meet the Press Clyburn predicted that Stupak would vote for the final bill. "There will be no federal funds for abortion," Clyburn reiterated, the Democratic position from the earliest negotiations. "And I think that most people that look at this have now come to ...
Down With Tyranny - Mon 10:09 a.m. - 32 clicks
“You should have never taken that loan, you should have just moved out of your house; you don’t know anything about money, budgeting, etc., etc. It’s all your own fault so why should you be able to stay in a house you can’t afford?” And then someone will inquire as to whether you eat out in restaurants for lunch when you should be brown-bagging it. Well, I can tell you that, in spite of the ups a...
Last Left Before Hooterville - Mon 9:21 a.m.
After the previous selection, this is the list of candidates what are in this series today for select the first democrat from California. I think they are so interesting politicians in the list and the people will can select between much of the bests and the more popular politicians in the state. This was the goal of the previous selection. Habitually I feel the people from California so disap...
DailyKos (California) - Mon 9:02 a.m. - 6 clicks
The failure of the city to properly create the type of ongoing savings needed to balance its budget during the contract negotiations and the newly signed MOUs with the bargaining units, now means the wholesale elimination of departments and positions within the departments. The city will have a budget workshop on Tuesday where it will fully discuss the options for reducing what is now being cha...
The People's Vanguard of Davis - Mon 6:10 a.m.
They'd get more coverage if they had placards of Obama that screamed "socialism!" The media has spent an awful lot of time and energy on pumping up-- some would say inventing -- the bogus tea party "movement," a rag tag collection of racists, xenophobes, and self-righteous malcontents. Meanwhile a real grassroots movement, one not being pushed by Dick Armey's partisan, lobbyist-driven ag...
Down With Tyranny - Mon 6:09 a.m. - 22 clicks
By Peter Schrag The Schwarzenegger Administration hit the Trifecta this month, three loud raspberries from the feds for its shabby funding of California schools and the inadequate resources it provides, particularly for the education of poor and minority children. As usual, the real losers are the kids. The first embarrassment, by now old news, was the state’s failure to make even the fir...
California Progress Report - Mon 5:49 a.m. - 4 clicks
Robert Cruickshank Carly Fiorina thinks California should file bankruptcy (Earth to Carly: the state can't). And many right-wingers have argued that California has to reduce its level of spending, adopting austerity budgets to avoid the kind of financial problems faced by Greece. Along with other Mediterranean countries, Greece has been pushed to adopt austerity budgets that threaten a Europ...
California Progress Report - Mon 5:49 a.m. - 2 clicks
By Jonathan Kim So it's been over a week since Texas oil refiners (and two of California's worst polluters) Valero and Tesoro ponied up close to $2 million to launch a petition drive to get an initiative on the November ballot to kill AB 32, California's nation-leading legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels and encourage job creation in the booming green/clean energy a...
California Progress Report - Mon 5:49 a.m. - 3 clicks
The rumors had been flying for two weeks from reliable sources that Community Development Director Katherine Hess would be making some sort of a lateral move out of the Community Development Department. The rumors heated up last week but City Manager Bill Emlen did not return calls from the Vanguard on Friday. The Davis Enterprise however, reported this development buried deep within their sto...
The People's Vanguard of Davis - Mon 5:49 a.m.
A Pennsylvania district attorney took campaign funds from an organization which promotes killing live pigeons in contests, and then refused to allow the prosecution of animal cruelty charges against a gun club that hosts pigeon shooting contests. DA John T. Adams of Berks County accepted $500 campaign contributions from the Flyers Victory Fund in August 2008 [...]...
The Democratic Daily - Mon 3:08 a.m.
It’s been declared dead before, only to be resurrected — and Democracy for America (DFA) hopes to pull that rabbit out of a hat one more time. The progressive advocacy organization is rallying supporters to push House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to include a provision for a healthcare public option in the final bill lawmakers approve and [...]...
The Democratic Daily - Sun 8:21 p.m. - 2 clicks
-by Doug Kahn Having visited family and friends in Phoenix, Arizona so many times over the past few years, it finally made sense to get a place and park my own couch. I had been told it was customary to wedge oneself between sofa cushions before posting on a legitimate (so to speak) blog, so here I am. (Two years ago I even bought a condominium in Phoenix as an investment, but that item bel...
Down With Tyranny - Sun 6:03 p.m. - 20 clicks
This isn't a diary, just an FYI to Kossacks who care about real progressives winning. Marcy Winograd, a real Democrat is running against Blue Dog Jane Harman for Calfornia's 36th Congressional District. The district is very blue, with a Cook PVI score of D+12. Yelp and Facebook both mentioned the event today. Coming tomorrow, I'll look at this race more in depth. ...
DailyKos (California) - Sun 5:46 p.m. - 3 clicks
Walking around at the California Republican Party convention in Santa Clara on Friday night, I could see signs that the GOP has renewed confidence going into 2010. But I also saw signs that this confidence is misplaced and frankly delusional. Although 2010 might be more favorable to California Republicans than most elections since 1994, the extreme right-wing nature of the party, their desire to u...
Calitics - Sun 5:46 p.m. - 4 clicks
After Israel's "insult" -- announcing new settlements just as the US Vice President arrived to launch peace talks -- VIce President Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu that Israel's intransigence, “is starting to get dangerous for us… What you’re doing here undermines the security of our... ...
Seeing the Forest - Sun 4:30 p.m.
People started showing up early. I was standing outside Lestat's - the famous Adams Avenue coffeehouse in Normal Heights twenty minutes before the noon meeting was to start. A half dozen older folks had joined me in front. I joked, to laughter: "Is this going to be a gray-haired movement?" One woman replied "And I spent all this money trying to hide my gray." Even though I had been joking, I did...
OB Rag - Sun 4:30 p.m. - 4 clicks
So soon after Supreme Court Clarence Thomas votes to allow corporations to put unlimited money into politics his wife sets up an organization that will accept unlimited money from corporations hoping to influence politics. I wonder how much she'll be paid? Is this the quid-pro-quo that it... ...
Seeing the Forest - Sun 4:00 p.m.
From the book Healing ADD by Thom Hartmann: There’s a perhaps-apocryphal story commonly told among therapists about the famous psychotherapist Judith Fromm-Reichmann. She had a client, a young woman, who came to her a bundle of nerves and fears. This young woman was certain she would soon be the victim of a terrible disaster, that the government had been taken over by madmen, and that her...
Sacramento For Democracy - Sun 3:47 p.m.
Just as President Obama and congressional Democrats could nearly see a day in sight where healthcare reform would become law, their year-long struggle hit another pothole as the legislation came under fire from a global human rights group. Amnesty International’s report, Deadly Delivery: The Maternal Health Care Crisis in the USA, urges action to tackle a [...]...
The Democratic Daily - Sun 2:25 p.m.
“The tea party movement needs to insist that candidates believe in the sanctity of life and the sanctity of marriage.” -- AFA loon Bryan Fischer, quoted by Politico 's Ben Smith in " Tea parties stir evangelicals' fears " by Ken I suppose it's possible that Bryan Fischer, the American Family Association's "director of issue analysis for government and public policy," didn't mean t...
Down With Tyranny - Sun 2:01 p.m. - 31 clicks
Abel Maldonado is running for LG, whether or not he gets confirmed by the Legislature. Just going on resources, Maldonado should have a big leg up. Sen. Sam Anestad, the only serious threat to Maldonado in the primary, had less than $100K at the end of last year. At this point, the race is his to lose. So, in his speaking slot, Maldonado is trying to recast the framing of Latino...
Calitics - Sun 12:45 p.m. - 2 clicks
Driving Drunk in Jerusalem [Biden] should have snapped his notebook shut, gotten right back on Air Force Two, flown home and left the following scribbled note behind: “Message from America to the Israeli government: Friends don’t let friends drive drunk. And right now, you’re driving drunk. You... ...
Seeing the Forest - Sun 10:20 a.m. - 2 clicks
What could be more festive than the burning of heretics? The beginning of the auto-da-fé scene from Herbert von Karajan's Don Carlos at Salzburg, 1986. "At the monastery of San Yuste, where my grandfather Charles V ended his life, tired of his grandeur, I seek in vain peace and forgetfulness of the past. Of the one who was stolen from me the image wanders with me into this icy cloi...
Down With Tyranny - Sun 10:20 a.m. - 3 clicks
When Lamar Heystek announced on Friday for a second time, "the decision I announced on October 17, 2009 stands" it was a huge blow to those in the city of Davis who have been fighting for fiscal responsibility, against special monied interests, and against future sprawl development. While many will undoubtedly come to support his decision to focus on his future marriage and family, from a pu...
The People's Vanguard of Davis - Sun 7:48 a.m.
LaHood and Schock, havin' a party Since there isn't a single Republican in the House or Senate who isn't too scared to death of Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh and that pack of far right media hyenas and their raucous, self-righteous followers to make the argument for meaningful healthcare reform, Obama's Republican Secretary of Transportation did it yesterday in the Chicago Tribune . LaHood...
Down With Tyranny - Sun 6:00 a.m. - 27 clicks
Probably no more blogging from me today since I landed at LAX after 4am Instead of around 10:30pm. I will never fly through O'Hare again if I can help it, even if I have to go to Chicago! ...
The Mad Professah Lectures - Sun 5:03 a.m.
SANTA CLARA — Leave it to Tom McClintock, long the favorite son of the California Republican Party, to say what only others hinted about all weekend. eck, what they'd hinted about all year. Arnold Schwarzenegger, we're breaking up with you. Granted, the freshman congressman and former longtime state legislator threw his punch via video from Washington, [...]...
Capital Notes - Sun 3:07 a.m. - 4 clicks
A friend passed along the Hamlet clip above, and I couldn't resist sharing it, along with the Romeo one below. They're from the Second City Network, with Second City alum Brian Gallivan as the Sassy Gay Friend, Colleen Foy as Ophelia, and Stephanie Allynne as Juliet. -- Ken # ...
Down With Tyranny - Sat 9:05 p.m. - 8 clicks
This is pretty serious: Following Israel's astonishing announcement -- issued just as our Vice President arrived in their country -- that they would increase building settlements after the US asked them to hold off, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made it clear that the United States sees this... ...
Seeing the Forest - Sat 6:45 p.m.
My husband and I are on the verge of losing the house he bought in 1983. We are musicians by profession, with all the financial ups and downs that go with our job, but until a few years ago, we were able to make the 'up' times last us through the 'down' times. Due to a particularly long 'down time' we refinanced our home, and ended up with a predatory loan. We were told that if we accepted a v...
Last Left Before Hooterville - Sat 6:45 p.m. - 2 clicks
The American Humanists Association has announced that they will host and pay for an LGBT-friendly prom for Itawamba County Agricultural High School in Mississippi. The school made headlines earlier this week when they cancelled the senior prom rather then permit openly gay student Constance McMillen to bring a same-gender date. The ACLU has a lawsuit [...]...
RENWL (Restore Equality Now~West Adams/Los Angeles South) - Sat 6:26 p.m.
We had a wonderful turnout - 75 people signed in and signed the civility pledge! It was wonderful to see the packed house, it was standing room only. Lots of people stood and attested to why they had come, many saying they were frustrated the way the media was portraying the average citizen and that they felt we needed a voice, a sane and civil voice, to be heard on the issues that matter to us a...
OB Rag - Sat 6:06 p.m. - 5 clicks
Dimitri Hvorostovsky sings King Carlos's recitative (" Gran Dio! . . . ") and the aria " Oh, de' verdi'anni miei " from Act III of Verdi's Ernani . That's the orchestral introduction to [a] tacked onto [b] and [c] in the scene translation below. Scene: The tomb of Charlemagne at Aix-la-Chapelle The tomb bears the inscription "Carlo Magno." A staircase leads from a large door...
Down With Tyranny - Sat 6:05 p.m. - 5 clicks
At the California Republican Party convention in Santa Clara today, failed CEO Carly Fiorina launched another of her campaign's ridiculous and, in this case, even offensive web video ads. This one portrays Barbara Boxer as a blimp (because she's "full of hot air" - get it?!) terrorizing California from above. The ad reaches new lows in both the pathetic and the bizarre. It is also dee...
Calitics - Sat 4:45 p.m. - 5 clicks
You know you’re a Sacramentan when … 100 miscellaneous things that define us and our region By Kimberly Brown, Ted Cox, Cosmo Garvin, Jenn Kistler, Rachel Leibrock, Nick Miller, Kel Munger, R.V. Scheide, Shoka and Melinda Welsh Living in Sacramento is an art. Those who call this city home know what it takes to be a Sacramentan; they’ve survived the initiation rights and discovere...
Sacramento For Democracy - Sat 4:03 p.m. - 3 clicks
Remember in the last post I said that Michael Chertoff was going to get his own post in this series? Well, he's going to get at least two, and this is the first one. It's very serendipitous for him that he just happens to represent a company, ironically called Rapiscan (as in raping of civil rights) that is positioned to make a huge profit from the rhetoric generated by Chertoff in the wake the...
Sacramento For Democracy - Sat 3:46 p.m.
By Assemblymen Mike Feuer and Felipe Fuentes SACRAMENTO – In this Democratic weekly address, Assemblymember Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles), Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Improving State Government, and Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes (D-Sylmar) discuss the Legislature’s introduction of reforms crafted with bipartisan good government groups including California Forward. Click onto the...
California Progress Report - Sat 3:30 p.m. - 14 clicks
The Rev. Dennis Meredith, center, pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Atlanta, began a change in his preachings against homosexuality eight years ago when his son Micah told him he is gay. (photo courtesy of New York Times) “The ascendancy to power of many of our African-American religious leaders has been predicated for so [...]...
RENWL (Restore Equality Now~West Adams/Los Angeles South) - Sat 2:46 p.m.
With Democrats moving ever-closer to moving healthcare reform across the legislative finish line, initiatives to block that reform on the state-level have expanded to 38 states, according to a conservative organization promoting the so-called Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act. Virginia earlier this month became the first state in the nation to enact legislation [...]...
The Democratic Daily - Sat 2:45 p.m.
No gay stereotypes here I've been speculating that my friend Eric Massa has been having a nervous breakdown because he spent his life so tightly closeted that he had never had to really confront the possibility that he was... bisexual or something. When he was outed, his entire world came crashing down around him, including his inner world-- all in the bright, unforgiving klieg lights of ...
Down With Tyranny - Sat 2:06 p.m. - 22 clicks
This is just horrible: Isn't It Time To Euthanize Reid's Wife? Of course, the press will dig up something that was posted in a comment on a liberal blog several years ago, and tell the public "both sides do it." ...
Seeing the Forest - Sat 1:24 p.m. - 2 clicks
I got a funny e-mail yesterday-- unintentionally funny-- from a friend who works at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The subject line had a glaring typo: "DSCC Fail: Handpicked candidates melting down coast-to-coast." I couldn't imagine what snark it could be and hurried to open it. I mean, where they about to announce they had made a grievous error in recruiting Cal Cunningham a...
Down With Tyranny - Sat 11:05 a.m. - 30 clicks
Just as Meg Whitman's "solution" to the unemployment crisis in California is to eliminate tens of thousands of jobs , her plans for the state budget crisis appear to center on making that deficit bigger. At yesterday's California Republican Party convention in Santa Clara, eMeg finally talked to the press. But what was more relevant than the fact that she talked to them was what she said. As KQ...
Calitics - Sat 10:21 a.m. - 4 clicks
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts...except in TX evidently. From the NYT : After three days of turbulent meetings, the Texas Board of Education on Friday approved a social studies curriculum that will put a conservative stamp on history and economics textbooks, stressing the superiority of American capitalism, questioning the Founding Fathers’ commitment...
My Right to be Left - Sat 9:07 a.m. - 2 clicks
Former Speaker of the California Assembly Karen Bass received endorsements from Congresswoman Maxine Waters and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in her recently announced attempt to represent the 33rd Congressional District of California, which Diane Watson represented for over a decade. The endorsement by Rep. Waters is noteworthy , because it signals a unanimous blessing of...
The Mad Professah Lectures - Sat 7:24 a.m. - 7 clicks
Coastal Florida-- but Mica, Stearns & Miller put their dangerous ideology ahead of the interests of their own endangered constituents Brian Baird (D-WA) is retiring from Congress and will hopefully be replaced by a more progressive Democrat, state Sen. Craig Pridemore. I've had my disagreements with Baird-- plenty of them-- but he's one of the only members of Congress willing to be even...
Down With Tyranny - Sat 6:09 a.m. - 28 clicks
SANTA CLARA — So what did we learn on this first day of the 2010 winter California Republican Party convention? In a nutshell, that messaging is king… and that part of that message is candidates love reporters. And press conferences. And questions. Lots of them. ure, that last part of the daily lesson [...]...
Capital Notes - Sat 1:05 a.m. - 4 clicks
Tax-free municipal bonds are selling like crazy because they pay a very high yield. The thing is, they have a high yield because so many states and municipalities are on the edge of going broke, like California. If they go broke the bond holders are supposed to lose their money. But California's... ...
Seeing the Forest - Fri 11:09 p.m. - 7 clicks
Confidential to the operaphobic: There's hardly any singing in tonight's music (UPDATED with answers) by Ken A B It should go without saying that great composers, just like great writers, worry a lot about how they start a piece, how they grab an audience's attention while preparing us in some fashion for what's to follow. C D It took the fledgling form of oper...
Down With Tyranny - Fri 9:08 p.m. - 3 clicks
Hello again. This is another one of these photo diary things. Most of these photos were taken the past two afternoons as I strolled around the condo complex here in Oahu looking for birds to shoot just for the heckuva it. I am also including a few other, older, shots that I have recently reprocessed. For example, this one... North Shore Sunset ...
DailyKos (California) - Fri 8:20 p.m. - 4 clicks
Mmm, how yummy! And how gooey! "I like people with a fair amount of self-confidence, who are going to be comfortable with expressing their views and defending those views without, you know, wilting." -- Chief Justice John Roberts, at the U. of Alabama by Ken At first this story sounds not only interesting but surprising from our one and only chief justice. It suggests more a...
Down With Tyranny - Fri 7:46 p.m. - 6 clicks
It’s called the Fair Sentencing Act, and it would have eliminated what has been a decades-long vast disparity in how those convicted of crack cocaine offenses receive punishments much more harsh than those convicted of powder cocaine crimes. Now, perhaps, it ought to be more honestly renamed the “Not So Unfair Sentencing Act,” or the “Still [...]...
The Democratic Daily - Fri 7:22 p.m.
RE: &nb AIN’T NO SUNSHINE WHEN SHE’S DISTRICT ATTORNEY This week the San Francisco Bay Guardian ran a piece “Some teeth for the sunshine law” urging the city’s elected leaders to start enforcing the law passed by the city’s residents to require prompt and open d...
California Majority Report - Fri 7:21 p.m. - 5 clicks
The Los Angeles Times has a thought-provoking article today about whether or not candidate for governor and former eBay executive Meg Whitman's investments in firms that profited from the country's credit crisis, in venture capital and hedge funds, and in oil, gas, healthcare and "other concerns seeking to influence state policy" represent a powerful conflict of interest. ...
California League of Conservation Voters - Fri 5:46 p.m. - 9 clicks
We have to admire California conservatives. Their tenacity and endless array of game plans and responses to the unthinkable possibility of fairness for one and all can be head spinning. It isn’t enough that they voted out a minority group’s civil rights–they want to police and run the whole kit and kaboodle. We’re guessing due to [...]...
RENWL (Restore Equality Now~West Adams/Los Angeles South) - Fri 5:01 p.m. - 5 clicks
For its next governor, California does not need a blowhard relic from another era or a showboating corporate executive trying to wow us with her cash flow. Right now California needs a nerd who will actually do the hard work. Is Steve Poizner the nerd for the job? Maybe....
Johnny California - Fri 2:05 p.m. - 6 clicks
Stupak, a Dem trying to keep Connie Saltonstall from protecting Choice Maybe Inside the Beltway journos-- what we call The Village-- ought to venture out of the bubble before they make sweeping generalizations like the headline in today's Hill about how Democratic candidates are distancing themselves from healthcare reform. That's just plain wrong . "Hardly any Democrat running for Congr...
Down With Tyranny - Fri 2:05 p.m. - 26 clicks
San Diego's Coffee Party Movement officially forms up this Saturday, March 13th, as its first "kick-off" meeting is being held at a local coffeehouse - of all places. This initial gathering - organized for the City of San Diego - will be at LeStat's coffee house on Adams Avenue at noon. There's also chapters forming in North County and Ramona. And there's hundreds of such meetings occurring acro...
OB Rag - Fri 1:42 p.m. - 8 clicks
This post originally appeared at Campaign for America's Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture as part of the Making It In America project. I am a Fellow with CAF. Pat Buchanan has a column today on manufacturing, The Disemboweling of America, that hits the nail on the head. In fact, if I... ...
Seeing the Forest - Fri 12:36 p.m. - 2 clicks
Carly Fiorina thinks California should file bankruptcy (Earth to Carly: the state can't). And many right-wingers have argued that California has to reduce its level of spending, adopting austerity budgets to avoid the kind of financial problems faced by Greece. Along with other Mediterranean countries, Greece has been pushed to adopt austerity budgets that threaten a European-wide severe recessi...
Calitics - Fri 12:36 p.m. - 4 clicks
David Wells is arguably one of the most famous (living) Ocean Beach residents and locals. Class of 1982 at Point Loma High, Wells became a major league baseball pitcher, amassing amazing awards such as a record of 239-157 during his twenty year league career that included a perfect game (1998) and two stints with the San Diego Padres. Recently, he has received numerous accolades, having the high...
OB Rag - Fri 12:21 p.m. - 4 clicks
Microtentacles' on tumor cells appear to play role in how breast cancer spreads (w/ Video) March 12, 2010 --> VIDEO: The video shows two breast tumor cells attaching to each other. The r...
Sacramento For Democracy - Fri 12:21 p.m. - 5 clicks
Yesterday the 11th of March, we heard from Ted Caplaneris, the owner of The Old Town House Restaurant on Newport Ave, that the television production "Terriers" is coming back to film at his restaurant. Ted wanted us to know and to help spread the word that: The Old Town House Restaurant will be closed on Tuesday March 16th to facilitate this production. We apologize for any inconvenience. Last ...
OB Rag - Fri 12:21 p.m. - 4 clicks
Hi, happy Friday, etc. First off, let me introduce myself and give you a little of my background. My name is Pixie and I was born in Sacramento, CA back in 19 mumble-mumble and I am a product of the California public school system. I have never lived anywhere but CA and I'm currently a resident of the beautiful East Bay. For all the fellow lifetime or long term Californians,...
DailyKos (California) - Fri 12:02 p.m. - 5 clicks
(Update - to all of you who have taken the time to stop by with your support and advice - thank you! I really appreciate it.) After writing to my friend Blue Gal , and getting my situation on paper, so to speak, I've decided to put it on my blog. This is the one of the hardest things I've ever done as a blogger. The last thing I want to do is have a pity-party for myself. I am really blessed in ...
Last Left Before Hooterville - Fri 11:04 a.m.
When I woke up yesterday, the first thing I heard was someone on CNN babbling about how a former Obama political advisor was predicting the Democrats would be slaughtered in November. It was Steve Hildebrand, and here's the quote: I think that there is a real shot we [Democrats] are going to get slaughtered in elections this fall if we aren't leading the efforts to reform Washington. We cam...
Down With Tyranny - Fri 10:05 a.m. - 17 clicks
Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present Exhibits A and B as evidence of why California’s initiative system is broken. Exhibit A: The Part-time Legislature Initiative. This initiative, drafted by Sacramento Republican attorney Tom Hiltachk, was the brainchild of a Sacramento political consultant. The consultants created an Astroturf political group, “Citizens for California R...
California Majority Report - Fri 10:05 a.m. - 2 clicks
So it's been over a week since Texas oil refiners (and two of California's worst polluters) Valero and Tesoro ponied up close to $2 million to launch a petition drive to get an initiative on the November ballot to kill AB 32, California's nation-leading legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels and encourage job creation in the booming green/clean energy and tech industries. Na...
Calitics - Fri 9:55 a.m. - 6 clicks
With the entry of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Sen. Dean Florez has become something of a long shot. And so, today, he announced that he's stepping out of the race. I wanted to share with you, first hand, some news regarding my campaign for California's Lieutenant Governor. First, let me express my deepest gratitude for your support, words of encouragement and friendship throughout this ve...
Calitics - Fri 9:55 a.m. - 7 clicks
By Dan Bacher The ripping away of public trust access to our waterways and ocean waters by extreme property rights folks and the Bush and Schwarzenegger administrations is something that many sportsmen don't seem to understand. I get sick and tired of some ill-informed sportsmen who point to "animal rights groups," "environmentalists," and "liberals" as the reason why we are seeing more and ...
California Progress Report - Fri 8:10 a.m. - 8 clicks
By Willie Pelote AFSCME Participants in a 260-mile trek from Bakersfield to Sacramento attended a rally at Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park as part of the “ March for California’s Future ” to highlight how budget cuts have forced the closure of state parks throughout California. Marchers reached Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park after walking almost 13 miles from Delano, Ca...
California Progress Report - Fri 8:10 a.m. - 6 clicks
By Dick Pool It’s not exaggerating to say that salmon are my life. As an engineer, I hold numerous patents for salmon tackle. My company, Pro-Troll Products in Concord, specializes in equipment designed especially for salmon angling. I’ve spent the last 30 years fishing for salmon, teaching other people how to fish for salmon, thinking about salmon and volunteering my time and money to organ...
California Progress Report - Fri 8:10 a.m. - 6 clicks
By Natasha Minsker ACLU of Northern California Robertson County, Texas, November, 2000. A 24 year-old single mother of four, Regina Kelly , is caught up in a drug sweep triggered by the uncorroborated word of a single police informant. Even though Kelly has no prior drug record and no drugs were found on her or in her home, District Attorney John Paschall offers her one terrible choice: ple...
California Progress Report - Fri 8:10 a.m. - 6 clicks
By Dan Aiello California Progress Report Republican Senator Roy Ashburn, the conservative state legislator from Bakersfield who garnered scrutiny last week following his arrest for suspicion of DUI after leaving one of Sacramento's downtown gay bars, acknowledged during a radio interview Monday he is gay, but remained unapologetic about his solidly ant-gay voting record. In response to the...
California Progress Report - Fri 8:10 a.m. - 5 clicks
Nhojj has the #1 video on MTV's Top100 list . And he's openly gay. Born in Guyana but raised in Trinidad, he has a degree in Economics from NYU. And now he is being considered the vanguard of a gay music revolution by Billboard magazine. Represent! Here's the award-winning video for the song called "Love." ...
The Mad Professah Lectures - Fri 7:23 a.m.
A couple days ago I mentioned that DCCC Stalinist Debbie Wasserman Schultz, plus anti-Social Security fanatic Allen Boyd (Blue Dog-FL), had forced the DCCC's professional staff to add reactionary Blue Dog and corporate shill Lori Edwards to the Red to Blue program, tainting and devaluing it for everyone else in the eyes of progressives and grassroots Democrats. I asked Doug Tudor, the grass...
Down With Tyranny - Fri 6:09 a.m. - 26 clicks
Finally the full version of the ad for Calvin Klein's new X underwear featuring celebrities Mehcad Brooks, Kellan Lutz, Hidetoshi Nakata and Fernando Verdasco that I have been talking about for the last several weeks has been released. In it, all four hotties say some version of "Do you wanna see my (bleep)?" I think the answer is "Yes, please!" (Especially Mehcad and Fernando....
The Mad Professah Lectures - Fri 5:26 a.m. - 3 clicks
The San Francisco Planning Department has prepared an environmental document (mitigated negative declaration) for 555 Fulton (link to off-site 2.3 MB PDF). 555 Fulton is a five-story mixed-use residential and commercial project to be constructed on Fulton between Octavia and Laguna, in Hayes Valley. In terms of zones, the project site is in the Hayes-Gough [...] ...
Transbay Blog - Fri 12:28 a.m. - 6 clicks
This week's Capital Notes Podcast stretches from the halls of the state Capitol to the campaign trail of those who want to be governor, and some political stories that we may be talking about for a long time to come. First up, the latest back-and-forth on budget solutions approved by the Legislature but rejected by the [...]...
Capital Notes - Fri 12:05 a.m. - 2 clicks
by Ken News today, as reported on the NYT website by Sewell Chan: The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, hoping to break a months-long logjam on the biggest overhaul of financial regulations since the Depression, will unveil his own proposal on Monday, without yet having a single Republican endorsement. You want to think that this could be a a breakthrough for Democratic congress...
Down With Tyranny - Thu 6:00 p.m. - 28 clicks
Just three weeks ago, Eric Massa was a scrappy freshman congressman, rallying liberals to fight for single-payer health care. Now, as I write this, it’s just a day after he resigned the House seat that he worked so hard to win, and he’s on right-wing talker Glenn Beck’s show as a friendly guest. It’s a turn [...]...
The Democratic Daily - Thu 5:23 p.m. - 3 clicks
This post originally appeared at Campaign for America's Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture as part of the Making It In America project. I am a Fellow with CAF. There is a great deal of pressure on the Obama administration to declare China as a currency manipulator, and with very good... ...
Seeing the Forest - Thu 5:23 p.m. - 3 clicks
A shout to Cleo Manago for posting on his Facebook profile a brilliant essay written by the Salon’s Kate Harding defending Mo’ Nique’s controversial acceptance speech last night about “not playing the game.” In addition to breaking it down, Ms. Harding makes some inciteful references to Hattie McDaniels (as did Mo’ Nique in her acceptance [...]...
RENWL (Restore Equality Now~West Adams/Los Angeles South) - Thu 2:42 p.m. - 6 clicks
Photo: Ugandan supporters of the anti-gay bill yesterday demonstrate in Uganda’s eastern town of Jinja against US president Barrack Obama and all those who support homosexuality (Feb’ 2010) Now this is an interesting development that has received next to no coverage from the LGBT news scene. Two US diplomats from the US Bureau of African Affairs–Geeta Pasi, [...]...
RENWL (Restore Equality Now~West Adams/Los Angeles South) - Thu 2:42 p.m.
Can we say how proud we are to know Lisa Powell? We met her at the very first Camp Courage for Courage Campaign in West Hollywood last January. It feels like a thousand years ago—seems like we’ve been through so much trudging this crazy equality road together. She is one of our mentors, a co-conspirator, [...]...
RENWL (Restore Equality Now~West Adams/Los Angeles South) - Thu 2:42 p.m. - 4 clicks
This is the cutest video and demonstrates that homophobia and other discriminatory beliefs are learned behavior. This kid after working through an explanation that these two men are married to each other could give a shit. But he’s most def’ down for some ping pong. File under cute kid stories. See the full story at the Truth [...]...
RENWL (Restore Equality Now~West Adams/Los Angeles South) - Thu 2:42 p.m.
Yep. The loser admitted on live radio that he’s gay. California Republican Senator Roy Ashburn—who has consistently voted against gay rights and was arrested last week after leaving drunk from a gay bar with another man came out today on a Bakersfield radio station talk show. “I am gay. Those are the words that have been [...]...
RENWL (Restore Equality Now~West Adams/Los Angeles South) - Thu 2:42 p.m. - 4 clicks
If healthcare reform is shaping up as the equivalent of political combat in the Senate, then consider the issue of climate change as its Cold War. Legislation to limit greenhouse gas emissions through a new cap-and-trade system has languished in the Senate for the better part of a year. The bill has gone nowhere, despite the [...]...
The Democratic Daily - Thu 2:26 p.m.
In This Issue Join Our Call to Action Democratic Dinner - Save the Date, May 7, 2010 Final Countdown to Health Care Reform Humor BreakQuick LinksCalendar of EventsSee all the upcoming events or suggest your own at our online Calendar.Watch Democratic......
Santa Clara Democrats - Thu 2:25 p.m. - 4 clicks
Now, what's his excuse? -by Noah Like most progressives, I am disappointed about the Eric Massa situation . It’s not the first time a politician has disappointed the public and, it unfortunately, won’t be the last. Eric Massa was even one of the very few politicians who ever took the time to write me a no BS, bright, articulate note in response to something I sent him. As I write this, ...
Down With Tyranny - Thu 2:25 p.m. - 24 clicks
Listening to today's news conference from legislative leaders announcing a package of proposals to fix the dysfunction that permeates the state Capitol brought to mind those late night TV commercials for incredible whiz bang products, where after you're offered more items for a low price than you could ever imagine, the announcer always says, "But [...]...
Capital Notes - Thu 1:21 p.m. - 2 clicks
Yesterday the Senate finally approved H.R. 4213, the tax extenders bill, ( 62-36 ) that will extend unemployment benefits to American workers who have been thrown out of work by the unsustainable Bush economic policies. The Senate measure contains one-year extensions of unemployment benefits and COBRA health insurance, plus extra funding to help states pay for Medicaid. The bill would also...
Down With Tyranny - Thu 12:21 p.m. - 34 clicks
Research 2000 for Daily Kos. 3/8-10. Likely voters. MoE 4% ( 8/2-12/09 results) Let's start with the governor's race: Republican primary Meg Whitman (R) 52 (24) Steve Poizner (R) 19 (9) (Tom Campbell, then in the governor's race, got 19 percent in August 2009 poll) General election Meg Whitman (R) 41 (36) Jerry Brown (D) 45 (42) St...
DailyKos (California) - Thu 11:20 a.m. - 6 clicks
When the former CEO of eBay decided to play "Bait The Press" Tuesday in Oakland I confess I wasn't exactly surprised. CEOs have been stealing this page from the old Reagan playbook since he perfected it in the 80s. That someone running as a Republican would use it seemed almost de riguer. What upset me is that the press corps (with a couple of exceptions) still lets itself be used. Pictures th...
DailyKos (California) - Thu 10:02 a.m. - 2 clicks
By Ray Hiemstra Orange County Coastkeeper Last week in Ontario, the California Fish and Game Commission held its first southern California meeting of the year on the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA). The room was packed with south coast residents eager to weigh in on ocean protection plans, and the Commission heard over four hours of public testimony from more than seventy-five people...
California Progress Report - Thu 8:10 a.m. - 8 clicks
By Marty Omoto California Disability Community Action Network In what is likely to be a forerunner in what is to come in the battle to close the projected nearly $20 billion budget deficit, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed on Monday ABx8 2 [the “x8” stands for the 8th special or extraordinary session of the Legislature it has held since the start of the 2009-2010 Legislative session]&nb...
California Progress Report - Thu 8:10 a.m. - 5 clicks
There is mass confusion in Virginia (and the traditional media and the blogosphere ) about the status of LGBT citizens' civil rights to employment, public accommodations, housing and education thanks to the recent actions by its recently elected Governor and Attorney General. Thanksfully, legal eagle Chris Geidner can clear it all up for us, in an article entitled " No, ...
The Mad Professah Lectures - Thu 8:07 a.m. - 2 clicks
Finally buckled down and read Jeffrey Eugenides ' Pulitzer Prize-winning Middlesex awhile back as part of gay male book club. It was quite interesting to read this fictionalization of a child of Greek immigrant parents who experiences firsthand knowledge that sex is not always a binary selection between male and female. I had heard many things about Middlesex because it had won the Pul...
The Mad Professah Lectures - Thu 1:06 a.m. - 6 clicks
OH, HELLO. Here’s some good news, after years and years of promoting the necessary destruction of Iraq and Iraqis, all for the purpose of a war that diverted the United States from pressing issues of national security, Tom Friedman has declared the Iraq misadventure to be a success and has officiall… Source: www.huffingtonpost.com ...
yaman's amateur ramblings - Wed 9:23 p.m. - 2 clicks
While Republicans slug it out, Democratic candidate Justin Blake is consolidating Democratic support in his bid for an upset win in the 37th District State Senate seat. Blake, of Rancho Mirage, has received the endorsement of both the California Democratic Party and Riverside County Democratic Party Central Committee in the race for the 37th District senate seat. “In selectin...
California Majority Report - Wed 9:23 p.m. - 6 clicks
Stung By "Race To The Top", Will California Repeal So-Called Reforms? by: Robert Cruickshank Mon Mar 08, 2010 at 13:00:00 PM PST It was an idea so audacious that even the Bush Administration didn't dare try it. Arne Duncan, President Obama's radical Education Secretary, pushed for and received $4.35 billion in stimulus funds for K-12 education. But Duncan didn't plan to just hand the mone...
Sacramento For Democracy - Wed 6:24 p.m. - 8 clicks
I'm moving this a little out of order to make a point. Click read more to find out where due process and some semblance of rule of law apparently still exists Glen Greenwald: At least 100 detainees died in U.S. custody, many as a result of interrogation practices and detention conditions. Gen. Barry McCaffrey put it this way: "We tortured people unmercifully. We probably murde...
Sacramento For Democracy - Wed 6:24 p.m.
Serena Williams won her 3rd career Laureus World Sports Award in Dubai on Wednesday after she was named Laureus Sportswoman of the Year for 2009, 7 years after she won her first. In 2007, she won the Laureus Comeback Award, bringing her total to three, the most won by a female. Only Roger Federer , who has four, has won more. Federer was up for Sportsman of the Year for 2009 but lost...
The Mad Professah Lectures - Wed 5:42 p.m. - 3 clicks
I received junk mail from Anthem Blue Cross this afternoon. You know, the company that recently sent out letters to its existing self-insured customers telling them to die quickly that their rates would be going up immediately by 30% or more? That one. Here's what they had to say. "Dear ((me)) ((okay, they spelled my name right)) "GOOD NEWS! There's an AFFORDAB...
DailyKos (California) - Wed 4:24 p.m. - 2 clicks
In a major blow to the two Texas oil companies funding a suspension of AB 32 initiative, one of the co-authors of measure now says he will vote against it. Ted Costa of the People's Advocate, told the Sacramento Bee, that the campaign had been "'stolen' by big-money interests." ...
California Majority Report - Wed 3:27 p.m. - 12 clicks
Two giants of the effort to ensure that polluting industries can continue to sicken the people of California and wreck the climate are squabbling over corporate money. Both Ted Costa of the interestingly named People's Advocate and Assemblymember Dan Logue (CLCV lifetime score 5%) were early backers of the initiative that, according to the California Attorney General, "Suspends Air Pollution ...
California League of Conservation Voters - Wed 3:27 p.m. - 6 clicks
The claim? That a “tea party” candidate in Nevada is a ‘ringer’ for Harry Reid, to split Republican opposition. But here’s the festering stinker in the tale by CNN [emphasis added]: March 10, 2010 A Tea Party Fake ?Posted: March 10th, 2010 12:25 PM ET From CNN National Political Correspondent Jessica Yellin … A spokesman for Tea Party Express, a [...]...
The Democratic Daily - Wed 1:49 p.m. - 9 clicks
Steve Pougnet, who is challenging Mary Bono Mack in CA-45 is one of thirteen candidates that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has identified as likely to flip a seat from the red to the blue column. While the DCCC typically identifies other such candidates, as the cycle progresses, the first named Red to Blue candidates are considered the strongest. Per Roll Call, quo...
California Majority Report - Wed 11:27 a.m. - 7 clicks
The votes are in and here's the results of the OB Planning Board election, held yesterday. The results are: District 1 - Landry Watson - District 2 - Barbara Schmidtknecht District 3 - no candidates District 4 - Seth Connolly - District 5 - Giovanni Ingolia - District 6 - Catherine Cappellucci - District 7 - Ronson Shamoun - COME INSIDE FOR ACTUAL VOTE TOTALS.... ...
OB Rag - Wed 10:26 a.m. - 2 clicks
The independent expenditure group, Level the Playing Field 2010, today challenged GOP gubernatorial candidates Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner, to hold press conferences at the GOP convention. Here's the statement spokesperson Sean Clegg issued this morning. “Yesterday, at her own ’press conference‘ CEO Meg Whitman unceremoniously ejected reporters when they began to ask h...
California Majority Report - Wed 10:26 a.m. - 2 clicks
Shawn Steel, a former California Republican Party chairman and currently a RNC National Committeeman, trashed Tom Campbell and his alleged associations with Sami al-Arian in a post published on the conservative Flash Report. After Campbell's ill fated support for the atrocious Prop 1-A, last year, mercifully defeated by over 60% of the voters, helping initiate [...]...
Matt Ortega - Wed 9:47 a.m. - 8 clicks
Hilarious but insightful coverage from the San Francisco Bay Area's CBS affiliate, KPIX, and political editor, Hank Plante, and Meg Whitman's continued attempts to dodge questions from the media. In a report from the San Jose Mercury News, Whitman's meeting with Union Pacific (a big-time corporate donor to her campaign) sounded like it was a field [...]...
Matt Ortega - Wed 7:45 a.m. - 8 clicks
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-ashburn10-2010mar1 Los Angeles Times has an incisive editorial on the curious case of GOP State Senator Roy Ashburn , the anti-gay legislator who was caught driving under the influence leaving a Sacramento gay bar with another man and his weak explanation for his consistently anti-gay record in his long legislative career that "[...
The Mad Professah Lectures - Wed 7:08 a.m. - 7 clicks
The rightwing nutters, Beck and Limpbaugh, really were hoping this fuckwit would break a corruption story..god, they got hard just thinking about it I bet.... But Massa gave them nothing. Below is Lawrence O'Donnell on Countdown, showing Becky's pathetic attempt today. I love it! Adio's Massa...you fucking douche nozzle. ...
My Right to be Left - Tue 7:46 p.m. - 11 clicks
Toyota executives last week backed down under the glare of congressional scrutiny, saying that they would allow data from one of their vehicle “black boxes” to be read in order to try to shed light on the fatal unintended acceleration plaguing the embattled automaker. Toyota previously had denied a request by the parents of Chris Eves, [...]...
The Democratic Daily - Tue 7:04 p.m.
[I'm going to break my rule and give a ton of links. Sorry if it's too much info at once] This video clip is from the BBC documentary The Century of the Self , and it explains how the media allows itself to be manipulated and used to further the ends of those in power. They did it 50 years ago. They did it to sell the war in Iraq . And they're doing it today. The lobbyists are people t...
Sacramento For Democracy - Tue 6:46 p.m. - 9 clicks
It was a good year to be rich. Or ultra-rich, for that matter. The number of U.S. households with a net worth of $1 million or more -- excluding wealth derived from a primary residence -- grew 16 percent last year, according to a new report by the Spectrem Group, a Chicago-based consulting firm. After a 27 percent decline in the number of millionaire households in 2008, the ranks of U.S. milliona...
OB Rag - Tue 6:20 p.m. - 3 clicks
By Leo Hindery Jr./ Huffington Post //March 9, 2010 | Two old friends, civil rights activist David Mixner and former U.S. Senator (and my oft co-author) Don Riegle (D-MI), believe that in the economic recovery, not enough attention is being given to 'who's really poor' now. David and Don have for years advised me -- and others -- on the issue of poverty in America, and they are worried that ...
OB Rag - Tue 4:21 p.m. - 3 clicks
Over the last couple of weeks there has been an intense escalation of the debate over global warming policy and California's environmental leadership. As many have likely already heard and read elsewhere the Big Oil companies are targeting California's landmark global warming legislation, also known as AB 32. This is the story of a group of citizens who are standing up to Big Oil and ...
DailyKos (California) - Tue 4:21 p.m. - 7 clicks
In a fall election that's looking like a monumental case of information overload, it appears voters will be asked to revisit the issue of independent political redistricting — as backers of an initiative to add congressional districts to the list say they've collected more than enough signatures for a spot on the November ballot. The "Voters [...]...
Capital Notes - Mar 9 - 3 clicks
Jane Harman is the current office holder for the 36th Congressional District in California. She is no friend to progressives and people that care about protecting our privacy rights. And she has a primary challenger in June by the name of Marcy Winograd. ...
DailyKos (California) - Mar 9 - 7 clicks
The Fox television show Fringe , created by J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman has been renewed for a third season . The science-fiction drama is the first of several sci-fi-oriented shows like ABC's Flash Forward and V as well as SyFy's Stargate: Universe ( already renewed ) and Caprica to be renewed to take the mantle when Lost ends its series run in several weeks. ...
The Mad Professah Lectures - Mar 9 - 4 clicks
The Arkansas members of a large U.S. labor union Monday announced their support of Lt. Gov. Bill Halter in the U.S. Senate primary challenge to incumbent Democrat Blanche Lincoln. The backing of the United Steelworkers (USW) members in the Natural State adds a dimension to the Halter campaign, which up to now, had attracted support largely [...]...
The Democratic Daily - Mar 8
