President Trump sarcastically had predicted the lawsuit last week. He's slammed the Ninth Circuit multiple times as "disgraceful" and politically biased.
Showing posts with label California. Show all posts
Showing posts with label California. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
President Trump sarcastically had predicted the lawsuit last week. He's slammed the Ninth Circuit multiple times as "disgraceful" and politically biased.
Friday, March 23, 2018
Complaints were made against Benzel by some who said her questions were “anti-abortion,” resulting in the teacher being placed on leave.
Monday, August 3, 2015
California's New Website Lets You Tattle On Water Wasters
By Juliet Bennett Rylah, Aug 01, 2015 LAIST
Droughtshaming isn't going away any time soon. California has launched a website that allows you to tattle on any water wasters you encounter.
The new site, SaveWater, went live on Thursday, according to CBS LA. It allows users to anonymously submit reports and photos of water wasting. This can include people who are watering lawns when they're not supposed to, leaky sprinklers and people hosing down sidewalks or driveways. There also a couple ones weird ones: if a server brings you water at a bar or restaurant that you didn't ask for, you can tell on them. You can also report hotels or motels that don't give you an option to save used towels or linens for repeated use.
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Thursday, July 16, 2015
By Larry Elder, July 16, 2015 Town Hall
The Los Angeles Times headline was cheerful: "It's Official: Latinos Now Outnumber Whites in California." The Times said, "As of July 1, 2014, about 14.99 million Latinos live in California, edging out the 14.92 million whites in the state."
Is this good news or bad news?
The L.A. Times seems to think the former. The article cites the chief demographer for the state finance department who asserts, "A young Latino workforce helps the economy by backfilling retiring baby boomers." Really?
Education professors Patricia Gandara of UCLA and Frances Contreras of University of Washington wrote the 2009 book "The Latino Education Crisis: The Consequences of Failed Social Policies." Heather Mac Donald, a contributing editor of City Journal, reviewed the book. She wrote: "Hispanics are underachieving academically at an alarming rate, the authors report. Though second- and third-generation Hispanics make some progress over their first-generation parents, that progress starts from an extremely low base and stalls out at high school completion. High school drop-out rates -- around 50 percent -- remain steady across generations. Latinos' grades and test scores are at the bottom of the bell curve. The very low share of college degrees earned by Latinos has not changed for more than two decades. Currently only one in 10 Latinos has a college degree."
Before the book came out, co-author Gandara wrote an article for the National Education Association, where she said: "The most urgent problem for the American education system has a Latino face. Latinos are the largest and most rapidly growing ethnic minority in the country, but, academically, they are lagging dangerously far behind their non-Hispanic peers. For example, upon entering kindergarten 42 percent of Latino children are found in the lowest quartile of performance on reading readiness compared to just 18 percent of white children. By fourth grade, 16 percent of Latino students are proficient in reading according to the 2005 NAEP, compared to 41 percent of white students. A similar pattern is notable at the eighth grade, where only 15 percent of Latinos are proficient in reading compared to 39 percent of whites.
"With respect to college completion, only 11 percent of Latinos 25 to 29 years of age had a BA or higher compared to 34 percent of whites. Perhaps most distressing, however, is the fact that no progress has been made in the percentage of Latinos gaining college degrees over a 20-year period, while other groups have seen significant increases in degree completion."
The New York Times, in 2006, wrote an editorial called "Young Latinas and a Cry for Help": "About one-quarter of Latina teens drop out, a figure surpassed only by Hispanic young men, one-third of whom do not complete high school. Latinas, especially those in recently arrived families, often live in poverty and without health insurance.
"Another piece of the puzzle is how to address the complication of very early, usually unmarried motherhood. Religious beliefs in Hispanic families often limit sex education and rule out abortion. Federal statistics show that about 24 percent of Latinas are mothers by the age of 20 -- three times the rate of non-Hispanic white teens. ... One in four women in the United States will be Hispanic by the middle of the century. The time to help is now."
Dr. Anna Sanchez performs deliveries at a hospital in Orange, California, where the mothers are often Hispanic teenagers. She says: "(The) teens' parents view having babies outside of marriage as normal, too. A lot of the grandmothers are single as well; they never married, or they had successive partners. So the mom sends the message to her daughter that it's OK to have children out of wedlock. ... The girls aren't marrying the guys, so they are married to the state."
Married to the state?
City Journal's Mac Donald, in a 2006 article called "Hispanic Family Values? Runaway Illegitimacy is Creating a New U.S. Underclass," writes: "Hispanics now dominate the federal Women, Infants, And Children free food program; Hispanic enrollment grew over 25 percent from 1996 to 2002, while black enrollment dropped 12 percent and white enrollment dropped 6.5 percent. Illegal immigrants can get WIC and other welfare programs for their American-born children."
"The Latino Education Crisis" authors Gandara and Contreras fear a "permanent underclass." They write, "With no evidence of an imminent turnaround in the rate at which Latino students are either graduating from high school or obtaining college degrees, it appears that both a regional and national catastrophe are at hand."
City Journal's Mac Donald quotes Anita Berry, a case manager who works at Casa Teresa, a California program for homeless single mothers. Berry says: "There's nothing shameful about having multiple children that you can't care for, and to be pregnant again, because then you can blame the system. ... The problems are deeper and wider. Now you're getting the second generation of foster care and group home residents. The dysfunction is multigenerational."
Whether this can be turned around remains to be seen. But it certainly casts doubt on the Times' blissful assertion that "a young Latino workforce (will help) the economy."
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Thursday, July 9, 2015
It's Official: Latinos Now Outnumber Whites In California
The demographers agreed: At some point in 2014, Latinos would pass whites as the largest ethnic group in California.
Determining when exactly that milestone would occur was more of a tricky question. Counting people isn't like counting movie ticket receipts.
The official confirmation had to wait until new population figures were released by the Census Bureau this summer. The new tally, released in late June, shows that as of July 1, 2014, about 14.99 million Latinos live in California, edging out the 14.92 million whites in the state.
The shift shouldn't come as a surprise. State demographers had previously expected the change to occur sometime in 2013, but slow population growth pushed back projections. In January 2014, the state Department of Finance estimated the shift would take place at some point in March.
Either way, the moment has officially arrived.
Read More: http://www.latimes.com
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Sunday, June 21, 2015
Obama's Penchant For Desert Golf Faces Scrutiny In Drought
PALM SPRINGS, CALIF. —One question for President Obama as he heads for Palm Springs, Calif. this weekend: whether it's appropriate to play on plush green golf links in the desert amid a severe drought.
"This administration's commitment to helping those affected by the drought is second to none," said White House deputy press secretary Eric Schultz Thursday in answer to a reporter's question on that topic before the president headed to the West Coast.
"I know that many courses have taken water mitigation steps aimed at water conservation," Schultz said.
That's true. Golf course managers convened a task force in 2013 to focus on reducing the water footprint of their properties. Since then, more owners have replaced some acres of grass with desert landscaping, and it's possible that more still will follow to cut back on watering during the drought.
More: ww.usatoday.com
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Friday, June 5, 2015
California Lawmakers Advance Aggressive Climate Change Plans
By Judy Lin, Jun. 3, 2015, Washington Post
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California lawmakers on Wednesday pushed through an ambitious climate change package to further reduce the state’s carbon footprint and boost the use of renewable energy to 50 percent in 15 years.
The state Senate passed proposals to enact Gov. Jerry Brown’s call to curb greenhouse gas emissions by setting what the administration calls the most aggressive benchmark in North America over the objection of Republicans who characterized such regulation as coastal elitism that would kill working-class jobs.
California aims to boost statewide renewable electricity use to 50 percent, have drivers use half as much gasoline and make buildings twice as efficient under the proposal by Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles. His bill, SB350, advanced to the Assembly on a 24-14 vote.
“California has demonstrated our global climate leadership over the last decade,” de Leon said, adding, “These policies will further cement our leadership, further strengthen our economy while protect the health of our communities.”
Read the full story: www.washingtonpost.com
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Thursday, May 28, 2015
Video Shows Barstow Cops Slamming Pregnant Black Woman To Ground
By David Edwards, May 27, 2015, RawStory.com
Officials with the city of Barstow, California insisted this week that officers had acted properly when they used force to arrest a pregnant woman who refused to show them her identification, even though the charges were later dismissed.
In police body camera video obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California (ACLU SoCal), an officer is responding to an apparent traffic dispute between Charlena Michelle Cooks, who is 8 months pregnant and black, and an unidentified white woman.
The officer first talks to the white woman, who accuses Cooks of acting “all crazy.”
“I don’t see a crime that has been committed,” the officer admits after examining the woman’s car. After promising the woman a police report, the officer heads over to talk to Cooks.
By David Edwards, May 27, 2015, RawStory.com
Officials with the city of Barstow, California insisted this week that officers had acted properly when they used force to arrest a pregnant woman who refused to show them her identification, even though the charges were later dismissed.
In police body camera video obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California (ACLU SoCal), an officer is responding to an apparent traffic dispute between Charlena Michelle Cooks, who is 8 months pregnant and black, and an unidentified white woman.
The officer first talks to the white woman, who accuses Cooks of acting “all crazy.”
“I don’t see a crime that has been committed,” the officer admits after examining the woman’s car. After promising the woman a police report, the officer heads over to talk to Cooks.
Read the full story: www.rawstory.com
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Thursday, May 14, 2015
Home invasion suspects terrorize California family with knives
By ABC Eyewitness News 11, May 13, 2015
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- A couple in the upscale Evergreen neighborhood of San Jose, California is still in shock and wondering if they'll ever be safe in their house after a brazen home invasion Friday morning.
Surveillance cameras captured video of the intruders and they're hoping it will help police catch them.
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By ABC Eyewitness News 11, May 13, 2015
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- A couple in the upscale Evergreen neighborhood of San Jose, California is still in shock and wondering if they'll ever be safe in their house after a brazen home invasion Friday morning.
Surveillance cameras captured video of the intruders and they're hoping it will help police catch them.
BRAZEN BURGLARY: San Jose police are searching for home invasion suspects accused of terrorizing a family with knives....Join us - become an Elderado today at: LarryElder.com
Posted by ABC7 News on Tuesday, May 12, 2015
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Monday, April 6, 2015
Jerry Brown on California drought: ‘Climate change is not a hoax’
California Gov. Jerry Brown said on Sunday the water rations he imposed in the wake of an historic drought should serve as a “wake-up call” not just for residents of his home state but everyone.
“I can tell you, from California, climate change is not a hoax,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.” “We’re dealing with it, and it’s damn serious.”
Brown mandated a 25% cut in the Western state’s water consumption in an executive order signed on Wednesday. The emergency actions also planned for the addition of “drought tolerant landscaping” to 50 million square miles of California lawns.
“It’s requiring action and changes in behavior from the Oregon border all the way to the Mexican border,” Brown said of his mandate. “It affects lawns. It affects people’s – how long they stay in the shower, how businesses use water.”
Read the full story: www.msnbc.com
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Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Ca Handgun Sales Skyrocket, Gun-Related Homicides Plummet
Handgun sales in California broke a 21-year-old record in 2014, and at the same time, firearm-related murders fell to their lowest rate in over 20 years.
Moreover, accidental gun deaths decreased as well.
According to The Sacramento Bee, a record-breaking 510,000 handguns were sold in the state of California in 2014, easily breaking the previous record of 433,000 handguns sold in 1993. The rise in handgun sales reflects a national surge that was the result of “calls for more gun control in response to several mass shootings.”
The correlation between more guns and less crime was also seen nationally.
According to the FBI, violent crimes and property crimes fell in the first half of 2014 following a recording setting 21,093,273 background checks for firearm purchases in 2013.
On December 4, 2013, Breitbart News reported on a Congressional Research Service (CRS) study showing that an increasing rate of private gun ownership nationally, over a 15-year period, correlated with a sharply declining “firearm-related murder and non-negligent homicide” rate.
Read the full story: www.breitbart.com
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Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Fight For NFL Team(s) In Los Angeles Heats Up
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| Photo: MANICA Architecture |
By Josh Peter, Mar. 25, 2015, USAToday.com
LOS ANGELES -- Tumbleweeds might as well have rolled down the 405 freeway that runs through this city as far as the NFL was concerned for the last two decades. But suddenly the city that seemed an afterthought is being touted by the league as …
The gateway to Asia.
The hub of NFL West.
The home of two teams as early as 2016.
Previous rumblings of the NFL returning to Los Angeles ultimately went nowhere. But there has been a more specific message this week at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix, where owners and league officials have discussed their hopes and dreams for a return to the country's second-largest metropolitan area.
"The probability that we will get something done in Los Angeles has gone up," said Eric Grubman, executive vice president of NFL ventures/business operations. "My estimation is there is a good possibility of 2016."
LOS ANGELES -- Tumbleweeds might as well have rolled down the 405 freeway that runs through this city as far as the NFL was concerned for the last two decades. But suddenly the city that seemed an afterthought is being touted by the league as …
The gateway to Asia.
The hub of NFL West.
The home of two teams as early as 2016.
Previous rumblings of the NFL returning to Los Angeles ultimately went nowhere. But there has been a more specific message this week at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix, where owners and league officials have discussed their hopes and dreams for a return to the country's second-largest metropolitan area.
"The probability that we will get something done in Los Angeles has gone up," said Eric Grubman, executive vice president of NFL ventures/business operations. "My estimation is there is a good possibility of 2016."
Read the full story: www.usatoday.com
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Thursday, January 15, 2015
The Twisted Saga Behind California’s Bullet Train
Andrew Romano, Jan. 14, 2015, Yahoo! News
The groundbreaking ceremony for California’s long-awaited, long-debated, long-delayed high-speed rail system — a 220 mph, $68.4 billion bullet train designed to zip between Los Angeles and San Francisco in two hours and 40 minutes — was set to start at noon on Tuesday, Jan. 6.
Read more: news.yahoo.com
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The groundbreaking ceremony for California’s long-awaited, long-debated, long-delayed high-speed rail system — a 220 mph, $68.4 billion bullet train designed to zip between Los Angeles and San Francisco in two hours and 40 minutes — was set to start at noon on Tuesday, Jan. 6.
Read more: news.yahoo.com
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Friday, January 9, 2015
California's Bold Attack On Climate Change
Los Angeles Times, Jan. 8, 2015
Though the numbers are specific, what's left uncertain at this point is how California would reach such lofty goals, how much it would cost and whether it's even possible within the 15-year time frame. The governor's speech was appropriately a statement of grand vision, not a catalog of new regulations and funding schemes. But on Friday, when he unveils his budget proposal, we hope Brown will make the outlines of his plan, and the price, clearer.
Read more: www.latimes.com
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Though the numbers are specific, what's left uncertain at this point is how California would reach such lofty goals, how much it would cost and whether it's even possible within the 15-year time frame. The governor's speech was appropriately a statement of grand vision, not a catalog of new regulations and funding schemes. But on Friday, when he unveils his budget proposal, we hope Brown will make the outlines of his plan, and the price, clearer.
Read more: www.latimes.com
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Sunday, January 4, 2015
Why Alabama's Minimum Wage ($7.25) Is Higher Than California's ($9)
Brendan Kirby, Jan. 2, 2015, AL.com
A dollar goes much further in low-cost Alabama than it does in almost every other state. One way of measuring this is the "regional price parities" data published by Bureau of Economic Analysis, which uses Census information and economic data to calculate the relative value of earnings in each state.
The federal data examines the cost of various goods and services, including rents. Those costs are lower in only two states, Mississippi and Arkansas.
Read more: www.al.com
A dollar goes much further in low-cost Alabama than it does in almost every other state. One way of measuring this is the "regional price parities" data published by Bureau of Economic Analysis, which uses Census information and economic data to calculate the relative value of earnings in each state.
The federal data examines the cost of various goods and services, including rents. Those costs are lower in only two states, Mississippi and Arkansas.
Read more: www.al.com
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Sunday, November 16, 2014
Can California Ban Gun Stores From Advertising Handguns On Their Signs?
Eugene Volokh, Nov. 11, 2014, Washington Post
That, we argue, violates the First Amendment. The government generally may not ban advertising of lawful products — indeed, of constitutionally protected products — on the grounds that such advertising is offensive, or stimulates consumer interest in such products. We’ll be filing a more detailed legal argument in due course (what I link to is just the Complaint); when that happens, I’ll post it as well.
Read more: www.washingtonpost.com
That, we argue, violates the First Amendment. The government generally may not ban advertising of lawful products — indeed, of constitutionally protected products — on the grounds that such advertising is offensive, or stimulates consumer interest in such products. We’ll be filing a more detailed legal argument in due course (what I link to is just the Complaint); when that happens, I’ll post it as well.
Read more: www.washingtonpost.com
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Sunday, November 9, 2014
California Faces Death By Pension
Steven Greenhut, Sept. 2014 Issue, The American Spectator
When the November election was still a long way off, Sacramento-area streets were already plastered with campaign signs for a little-noticed political race: candidates are running to serve on the board of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, better known as CalPERS. While not as high-profile as the statewide and congressional races, these seats are arguably of equal importance to Golden State taxpayers. CalPERS, the largest state pension fund in the country, not only manages more than $257 billion in assets, but also loves to use its political muscle to prod corporate America into “socially responsible” (read: leftist-friendly) investing.
Sacramento, as the state capital, is Public Employee Central, so the race has become heated and costly. The campaign signs that caught my eye promised “pension security” and were paid for by the Service Employees International Union. This election is a touchstone for the entire pension issue in California—and, per usual, it doesn’t look good for the taxpayer.
Read more: www.spectator.org
When the November election was still a long way off, Sacramento-area streets were already plastered with campaign signs for a little-noticed political race: candidates are running to serve on the board of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, better known as CalPERS. While not as high-profile as the statewide and congressional races, these seats are arguably of equal importance to Golden State taxpayers. CalPERS, the largest state pension fund in the country, not only manages more than $257 billion in assets, but also loves to use its political muscle to prod corporate America into “socially responsible” (read: leftist-friendly) investing.
Sacramento, as the state capital, is Public Employee Central, so the race has become heated and costly. The campaign signs that caught my eye promised “pension security” and were paid for by the Service Employees International Union. This election is a touchstone for the entire pension issue in California—and, per usual, it doesn’t look good for the taxpayer.
Read more: www.spectator.org
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Monday, November 3, 2014
Man In Fox News Costume Beaten In California
Joel B. Pollak, Nov. 2, 2014, Breitbart
A California man dressed as a Fox News reporter was violently assaulted in the left-wing haven of Santa Cruz, California during the annual Halloween parade this weekend.
A 29-year-old man, Scott Kory, allegedly shouted "I hate Fox News!" before grabbing the victim's microphone, making an obscene gesture with it, and beating him with an aluminum tennis racket.
Read more: www.breitbart.com
A 29-year-old man, Scott Kory, allegedly shouted "I hate Fox News!" before grabbing the victim's microphone, making an obscene gesture with it, and beating him with an aluminum tennis racket.
Read more: www.breitbart.com
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Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Bicycle Traffic Deaths Soar--Calif. Leads Nation
Jerry Hirsch, Oct. 27, 2014, Los Angeles Times
California, with 338 cyclists killed in collisions with motor vehicles, and Florida, with 329, had the highest totals during that period, the report said.
They also had the largest increases in annual cyclist traffic fatalities from 2010 to 2012. Florida’s deaths rose by 37 to 120 in 2012 while cyclist traffic fatalities in California rose by 23 to 123. California had the most bicyclists killed of any state in 2012.
Read more: www.latimes.com
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| Photo via Geograph |
California, with 338 cyclists killed in collisions with motor vehicles, and Florida, with 329, had the highest totals during that period, the report said.
They also had the largest increases in annual cyclist traffic fatalities from 2010 to 2012. Florida’s deaths rose by 37 to 120 in 2012 while cyclist traffic fatalities in California rose by 23 to 123. California had the most bicyclists killed of any state in 2012.
Read more: www.latimes.com
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Sunday, October 19, 2014
Census: Calif. Still Has Highest U.S. Poverty Rate
California continues to have – by far – the nation’s highest level of poverty under an alternative method devised by the Census Bureau that takes into account both broader measures of income and the cost of living.
Nearly a quarter of the state’s 38 million residents (8.9 million) live in poverty, a new Census Bureau report says, a level virtually unchanged since the agency first began reporting on the method’s effects.
Under the traditional method of gauging poverty, adopted a half-century ago, California’s rate is 16 percent (6.1 million residents), somewhat above the national rate of 14.9 percent but by no means the highest. That dubious honor goes to New Mexico at 21.5 percent.
But under the alternative method, California rises to the top at 23.4 percent while New Mexico drops to 16 percent and other states decline to as low as 8.7 percent in Iowa.
The only other state to approach California in the alternate rankings is Nevada at 20 percent, although Washington, D.C., is close at 22.4 percent.
Read the full story: www.sacbee.com
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| Candidate for Governor Neel Kashkari / AP |
By Dan Walters, Oct. 16, 2014, Sacbee.com
California continues to have – by far – the nation’s highest level of poverty under an alternative method devised by the Census Bureau that takes into account both broader measures of income and the cost of living.
Nearly a quarter of the state’s 38 million residents (8.9 million) live in poverty, a new Census Bureau report says, a level virtually unchanged since the agency first began reporting on the method’s effects.
Under the traditional method of gauging poverty, adopted a half-century ago, California’s rate is 16 percent (6.1 million residents), somewhat above the national rate of 14.9 percent but by no means the highest. That dubious honor goes to New Mexico at 21.5 percent.
But under the alternative method, California rises to the top at 23.4 percent while New Mexico drops to 16 percent and other states decline to as low as 8.7 percent in Iowa.
The only other state to approach California in the alternate rankings is Nevada at 20 percent, although Washington, D.C., is close at 22.4 percent.
Read the full story: www.sacbee.com
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