California and the Nation
State Water Planners Complain that Feds Are Ignoring Climate Change
Geoff Rabone, a project manager for Yuba County Water Agency, told KQED reporter Molly Samuel that his agency is working on 44 separate reports related to its Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license extension application for the giant New Bullards Bar Dam northeast of Sacramento.
But none of the reports have anything to do with climate change. read more
LAPD Uses Anti-Terrorism Devise to Track Cellphone Users
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is using an anti-terrorism device that indiscriminately sweeps up cellphone communications of innocent bystanders during burglary, drug and murder investigations.
LA Weekly wrote back in September that the police agency purchased Stingray technology in 2006 using Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funds, and is deploying the portable equipment for routine police operations. read more
5 California House Republicans Voted to Help Victims of Katrina, but Not Sandy
Ten California Republicans in the House of Representatives voted against providing aid to victims of Hurricane Sandy last week.
Five of those 10 found that whatever their objections were to funding the relief effort under a Democratic president, they had no compunction about voting for aid to Katrina victims in 2005 when a Republican was president. read more
Obama Intensifies War against Marijuana . . . The Matthew Davies Case
President Barack Obama, an admitted former pot smoker, told a national television audience last month that he had “bigger fish to fry” than going after marijuana users in states where it is legal.
He did not mention Matthew R. Davies or Aaron Sandusky by name. The U.S. Department of Justice is going after Davies, a 34-year-old entrepreneur with no prior criminal record, for operating medical marijuana dispensaries in Sacramento and Stockton. read more
State Ranks at the Bottom for Providing Services to Its 1 Million Kids with Special Needs
Around half of California’s 1 million children with special needs don’t receive “effective coordination” of their medical treatments, earning the state a national ranking of 46th, according to a report sponsored by the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health.
That’s actually a tad better than the state’s 50th ranking in the percentage of children who have problems obtaining referrals for specialty care. read more
Toxic Releases in California Increased 10% in 2011
Major industrial sectors in California released 10% more toxics into the air, water and land in 2011 than the year before, according to an annual report released by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), using data gathered from 1,265 state facilities, calculated that 38.3 million pounds of toxic chemicals were released on-site in 2011. read more
8 U.S. Sailors Stationed in San Diego Sue Japanese for Lying about Radiation at Fukushima Plant
The lawsuit, using blunt language, goes on to say, “The Japanese government kept representing that there was no danger of radiation contamination to the U.S.S. Reagan (CVN-76) and/or its crew, that ‘everything is under control,’ ‘all is OK, you can trust us,’ and there is ‘no immediate danger’ or threat to human life, all the while lying through their teeth about the reactor meltdowns.” read more
House Ethics Probe of Countrywide Financial Loans to Lawmakers Comes up Empty
Lawmakers who have been the subject of congressional investigations for possible VIP treatment from California-based Countrywide Financial, a firm at the heart of the mortgage meltdown in 2008, got a clean bill of health from the House Ethics Committee last week. read more
Judge Slams Government for “Stubborn Refusal” to Follow the Law in 8-Year-old No-Fly Case
A novel legal challenge to the federal government’s no-fly “terrorist” list gained some traction in U.S. District Court when Judge William Alsup ruled that the federal government should stop delaying and go to trial over a lawsuit brought by Stanford University Ph.D. graduate Rahinah Ibrahim.
Alsup criticized the government’s “persistent and stubborn refusal to follow the statute” that governs the no-fly list, which the Malaysian citizen ran afoul of nearly eight years ago. read more
Assemblywoman Climbs on Board Sparsely-Populated Bandwagon Behind NRA Proposal for Armed School Guards
When National Rifle Association (NRA) Vice President Wayne LaPierre arrived at his much anticipated press conference Friday he came armed with a slogan—“The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun” —and ready to do battle.
Republicans were relatively quiet, although California Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen from the Modesto area emerged as an early booster. read more
Feds Want to Know What Brokers Who Market Data on Consumers Know
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has ordered nine data brokerage companies to tell the government what it currently doesn’t tell consumers—how it collects and sells the personal information of Americans. Two of the companies, CoreLogic of Irvine and ID Analytics of San Diego, are headquartered in California. read more
Southern California a Hub for Birthing Tourism
A large house in the San Bernardino County city of Chino Hills, allegedly home to a series of pregnant Asian women enjoying a brief stay, has attracted the scrutiny of neighbors and local authorities. It is suspected that the home is part of low-key industry that caters to foreign women who want to give birth in the United States to obtain U.S. citizenship for their child. read more
A River of Rain Threatens Onslaught from NorCal Mega-Flood
An atmospheric river, unheard of in the meteorological world before 1998, is carrying water in a narrow conveyor belt of vapor from the equator, up to 8,000 feet above Earth, and dumping it on Northern California in a series of storms.
Between 15 and 20 inches of rain had fallen as of Monday and at least another 5 inches was expected within days. read more
California Graduation Rate Near Bottom Third of States
A new national standard for gauging high school graduation numbers is adding yet another subpar assessment of California accomplishments compared to other states.
The U.S. Department of Education ranked California 32nd out of 50 states and the District of Columbia for 2010-11 based on a uniform metric that replaces the variety of measurements used by states. read more
IRS Accused of Losing $100 Billion a Year by Allowing Politicized Churches to Remain Tax-Exempt
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has allowed churches to engage in partisan advocacy while also not enforcing nonprofit rules on them, according to a lawsuit filed by a religious freedom group.
In its civil complaint, the Freedom From Religion Foundation claims the IRS is failing to collect $100 billion a year by permitting churches to maintain tax-exempt status, even though many are violating rules that prohibit tax-exempt entities from engaging in electioneering speech. read more
California Joins Secession Movement
As of Wednesday, 10,064 people have signed a petition for California to secede from the United States and create its own government, joining residents in more than 30 other states who find the elections last week unpalatable.
If a petition gathers 25,000 signatures within 30 days, it will be reviewed by the Obama administration. But 150 signatures get you a searchable posting on the whitehouse.gov website. read more