California and the Nation
Chinese Pollution “Blowing Back across the Pacific to Haunt” West Coast
China’s trans-Pacific emissions also cause up to 25% of the sulfate pollution on the West Coast on certain days, according to the study. Chinese manufacturing for the export of goods to the United States was responsible for between roughly 5-7% of harmful emissions in its own country. read more
Judge Rules in Favor of ex-Stanford Student Stranded on No-Fly List for 9 Years
Ibrahim, a Muslim, was banned in 2005 when she attempted to fly with her daughter from San Francisco International Airport to her native country, Malaysia, where she was to present her doctoral research at a Stanford-sponsored conference. Ibrahim filed a lawsuit and suggested that her inclusion on the list was a mistake. read more
Long Beach Loses Shot at Lower-Paying Boeing Jobs after Union Caves in Seattle
The union voted to freeze workers’ defined-benefit pension fund and replace it with a defined-contribution 401-k type plan. The deal paves the way for $8.7 billion in subsidies to Boeing that the state of Washington offered through 2040 as an inducement to stay in Puget Sound. The contract also reduces future wages, ratchets up employee healthcare costs and extends the contract eight years, guaranteeing labor peace through the length of a contract to build Boeing’s new 777X aircraft. read more
Stanford Grad Students Show NSA Metadata Threat Is Larger than Admitted
“You have my telephone number connecting with your telephone number. There are no names,” the president told Charlie Rose on PBS. But two graduate students at Stanford University conducted a small study and quickly determined that it was irrelevant whether the NSA database of metadata had names, because the associated names were readily obtainable. read more
U.S. Forest Service Wants to Log Burned Rim Fire Area
A lot of smart scientists and natural resource managers have a problem with the U.S. Forest Service plan to log 29,648 acres in Stanislaus National Forest after the 69-day Rim Fire burned 275,000 acres in the Sierras four months ago. read more
California Congressman Issa Takes an Unhealthy Look at Healthcare.gov
“This is a system, exchange and portal, that lets me go into the Department of Homeland Security, lets me go into the IRS . . . Social Security,” Issa told CBS. “Think about what's at Social Security, what's at IRS, what's at Department of Homeland Security. That's the vulnerability.”
Issa has no evidence any of that is true. read more
L.A. Seeks Sanctuary under Cool Roofs from the Onslaught of Global Warming
Los Angeles last week became the first major city in the nation to require that new and refurbished roofs use light- and heat-reflecting building materials to save money on energy bills. They can reduce surface temperatures 50°F, lowering temperatures inside by several degrees—just in time for global warming. Recent research at UCLA projected that Los Angeles would grow 3.7° to 5.4° warmer by 2050. Downtown can expect three times as many days when temperatures top 95°. read more
High Court Gives Affirmative Action Foe a Peek at Private State Bar Admissions Data
Adam Liptak at the New York Times in 2005 said Sander’s theory of “academic mismatch” had “ignited what may be the fiercest dispute over affirmative action since 2003, when the [U.S.] Supreme Court found some forms of it to be constitutional.” Sander argued that affirmative action reduced the number of black lawyers by helping place them in law schools that are too tough. At lesser schools, they would have thrived and passed the bar in larger numbers. read more
China Bans Shellfish from West Coast over Arsenic and Toxin Levels
After repeated U.S. bans on imports of food from China over the years, China returned the favor by banning, for the first time, imports of certain shellfish from Washington state, Oregon, Alaska and Northern California over high levels of arsenic and a toxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). It will take a particular toll on Washington’s Puget Sound, where 5 million pounds of giant geoduck (pronounced “gooey-duck”) clams are harvested annually. read more
Conservative Talk Radio Takes over Last Commercial Progressive Stations in L.A. and S.F.
Randi Rhodes, Thom Hartmann, Bill Press, Stephanie Miller and their fellow travelers will be replaced by Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and others. As Larry O’Connor at the conservative Breitbart website gleefully noted, “When the dust settles, the landscape of the Los Angeles talk radio scene will be striking. The nation's #2 market will have four conservative talk radio stations with Salem's KRLA and Cumulus' KABC joining KFI and KTLK.” read more
Detroit Bankruptcy Reverberates through California’s At-Risk Cities
Judge Steven W. Rhodes, presiding over the Motor City’s Chapter 9 bankruptcy, ruled that longstanding pension agreements will not be off-limits during negotiations over how Detroit will cover billions of dollars in debt, despite a state constitutional protection similar to one in California. His decision ignited efforts to appeal the ruling, and set the stage for a showdown that pits bondholders, bond insurance companies and other creditors against municipal workers and retirees. read more
U.S. Gives Wind Farms 30-Year Permits to Kill Eagles
In a change of policy, the department extended—from five years to 30—permits that protect companies from being penalized for killing the birds. The industry has sought the change for years, arguing that it needs the legal protection to attract long-term investment. Opponents fear that the extension makes it easier for companies to avoid seeking mitigation measures to lessen the killings. read more
California Congressman Is Ready to Nuke Iran with “Massive Aerial Bombardment”
Hunter told a C-SPAN interviewer that Middle East culture fosters lying and deceit and Iran is irrational. He hopes this doesn’t mean war is inevitable, but, “I think if you have to hit Iran, you don’t put boots on the ground. You do it with tactical nuclear devices, and you set them back a decade or two or three. I think that’s the way to do it—with a massive aerial bombardment campaign.” read more
The GOP’s Guide to Navigating Obamacare for the Ill-Informed Worrier
The website has been promoted by Republican politicians as a guide to navigating the health care system. Among the helpful links the site does provide is one to a list of 18 frequently asked questions. Apparently, the only questions asked of them were about how badly everyone was going to get screwed by Obamacare. The answer to pretty much all the questions was the same: “a lot.” read more
Four House Members Plead with U.S. Attorney to Stop Medical Marijuana Crackdown
The members of the House—Democrats Barbara Lee, George Miller, Sam Farr and Eric Swalwell—join a long list of state and local officials who have complained that the federal raids and attacks on dispensary operators should stop. The letter argues that Haag’s actions appear “to directly counter the spirit of Deputy Attorney General Cole’s memo, and is in direct opposition to the evolving view toward medical marijuana, the will of the people and, by now, common sense.” read more
Record Slaughterhouse Abuse Settlement, while States Try to Stop Investigations
Images of sick cows being kicked, prodded with electric shocks and hauled around with forklifts prompted the recall of 143 million pounds of beef. About a fourth of that was in the school lunch program. Although the final judgment against Westland Meat Packing will be entered as $155 million (down from the original $497 million deal), the company lacks the assets to pay it and the government agreed to accept a much lower figure. read more