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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009

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California Dreamin'

Started by S Goldstein; Last updated by K Schwartz

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California Dreamin'

"I have seen purer liquors, better segars, finer tobacco, truer guns and pistols, larger dirks and bowie knives, and prettier courtesans here in San Francisco than in any other place I have ever visited; and it is my unbiased opinion that California can and does furnish the best bad things that are available in America." - Hilton Helper

California, the state where fortunes are made and lost in a weekend, muscle-bound movie stars become governors, and box office takes carry as much weight as football scores. Lesser regions may affect to snub the Golden State, but with the largest GDP in the country and the eighth largest in the world, California doesn't care.

Stories

Stories 1 - 20 of 373

1 2 3 4 5 ... 19 Next >>

June 2009
- Schwarzenegger Seeks Switch to E-Textbooks
  
  San Jose Mercury News | Jun 17, 09 10:17 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Arnold Schwarzenegger wants kids—and California’s budget—to stop lugging around paper textbooks, the San Jose Mercury News reports. The governator is advocating a switch to digital textbooks, in an effort to cut the $350 million the state spends on old-fashioned hardbound tomes each year. But critics worry that the cost of buying and maintaining more computers for schools will swiftly eat up any savings. More »
- As Calif. Righty Bastion, Orange County Cedes to Rural Placer
  
  FiveThirtyEight | Jun 16, 09 3:20 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Placer County, Calif.—stretching from Sacramento east to Lake Tahoe—is this generation’s Orange County, and that bodes ill for conservatives, Tom Schaller writes on FiveThirtyEight.com. Placer’s demographics and voting record are similar to the Orange County of the 1960s, which birthed the modern conservative movement. But, Schaller writes, “Placer is simply too small and remote” to effect that kind of change again. More »
- How Prop 8 Could Help Everyone
  
  Los Angeles Times | Jun 16, 09 12:28 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Proposition 8 could turn out to be a win-win for everyone, “if we can stop all the shouting,” writes Douglas Kmiec, a Catholic, pro-Obama Republican law professor. The California Supreme Court’s ruling “is as inconsistent as it is incomplete,” declaring that gay couples must be given equal treatment, and that Prop 8 denies them the marriage nomenclature only. In that contradiction, Kmiec sees a solution. More »
- Feds Reject Plea for Calif. Bailout
  
  Washington Post | Jun 16, 09 6:09 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The federal government has rejected pleas for emergency aid from top California officials, reports the Washington Post . State officials warn that its budget crisis is approaching the point of a "fiscal meltdown" that will cause massive cuts and deepen the state's recession. But the Obama administration fears bailing out California will open the door for similar demands from other states. More »
- Legal Pot Backers Target 2010 Calif. Vote
  
  San Francisco Chronicle | Jun 11, 09 10:30 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Advocates of marijuana legalization—and taxation—have stepped up their efforts to include the issue on California's November 2010 ballot, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Backers say the tide of public opinion has turned strongly in favor of legalizing and taxing pot for personal use, especially in light of its potential to help alleviate the state's catastrophic budget woes. More »
- Converts Plan Islamic College in Berkeley
  
  East Bay Express | Jun 3, 09 3:45 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Two superstars of American Islam are at the helm of what they hope will be the nation’s first accredited Islamic college, tasked with creating scholars who can usher a religious renewal. Hamza Yusuf and Zaid Shakir, both converts, aim to admit Zaytuna College’s first class next year in Berkeley, Calif., immersing students in modern culture as they seek traditional training, the East Bay Express reports. More »
- LA Mayor Moves On to Another Anchor Gal Pal
  
  Los Angeles Times | Jun 2, 09 11:59 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Two years after Antonio Villaraigosa had the affair with a local newscaster that led to the breakup of his 20-year marriage, the LA mayor has a new flame—yet another TV news anchor. Lu Parker, a former Miss USA contestant who reports for television station KTLA, has been dating Villaraigosa since March, according to the Los Angeles Times . But that hasn't stopped her from mixing business with pleasure: She presented a story on his possible run for governor over the weekend. More »
- Gay Marriage Debate Key to SF Mayor's Future
  
  Associated Press | Jun 1, 09 12:32 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - As San Francisco’s mayor looks to become California’s next governor, his gay-marriage activism may threaten his success—especially if voters are again asked to decide the issue for themselves, the AP reports. Though all the Democratic candidates support gay marriage, Gavin Newsom has a particularly strong association with the issue: He directed city clerks to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in 2004. More »
- Calif. Branches Into Forests to Fight Climate Change
  
  Los Angeles Times | Jun 1, 09 3:10 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The California government is preparing to enter into the "forest bank" business in a bid to save woodlands and battle carbon pollution and climate change, reports the Los Angeles Times. The state is expected to roll out a California "cabon market" that may be expanded elsewhere in the West if it works. The program will allow forest owners to sell "carbon credits" saved when they don't log their land. The credits will help offset carbon pollution in upcoming development. More »
May 2009
- Battle Over Prop 8 Moves to Federal Court
  
  Los Angeles Times | May 27, 09 1:11 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - California’s gay marriage battle continued today as lawyers for the American Foundation for Equal Rights announced a lawsuit challenging Proposition 8 and called for the restitution of marriage rights while the suit is decided, the Los Angeles Times reports. The lawyers—Theodore Olson, then the solicitor general, and David Boies—were on opposing sides of Bush v. Gore in 2000. They plan to file suit on behalf of two same-sex couples denied marriage licenses because of Prop 8. More »
- Celebs Likely to Fight Harder for Gay Marriage in 2010
  
  Variety | May 27, 09 9:26 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - For those who believe Hollywood came too late to California’s “No on Prop 8” party during last year’s election, yesterday’s Supreme Court decision to uphold the voter-approved ban on gay marriage brings a question: Will Tinseltown get it right this time around? “I think the message of today’s decision is we have to tone down the rhetoric and start building some bridges,” publicist Howard Bragman tells Variety . More »
- Gay-Marriage Supporters Take to Streets After Ruling
  
  San Francisco Chronicle | May 26, 09 2:30 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Supporters of same-sex marriage were disappointed but not surprised by the California Supreme Court’s decision today to uphold Proposition 8, the San Francisco Chronicle reports, as a crowd that had gathered at the state courthouse moved through city streets, blocking traffic and prompting arrest. “This is a serious blow on religious freedom, and it opens the door for discrimination against any minority,” said one of the case’s plaintiffs. More »
- Calif. Court Upholds Gay-Marriage Ban
  
  Los Angeles Times | May 26, 09 12:29 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - California’s Supreme Court today upheld a state ban on gay marriage, but ruled that same-sex marriages that took place before voters approved the measure will stay valid, the Los Angeles Times reports. A court rejection of Proposition 8, which passed 52% to 48% in November, was considered highly unlikely. The move “virtually ensures” another voter referendum on the matter, writes Maura Dolan. More »
- Calif. Gay-Marriage Ruling Comes Next Week
  
  Los Angeles Times | May 22, 09 2:26 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The California state Supreme Court will issue its opinion on gay marriage Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times reports. The court will rule on three questions, including two challenges to the constitutionality of Proposition 8, which outlawed same-sex nuptials. One challenge comes from gay-rights lawyers who argue that Prop 8 was an illegal revision of the constitution, and not an amendment as it was sold. More »
- Hollywood Bends to Yogi's Rocking Style
  
  New York Times | May 21, 09 10:05 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Vinnie Marino is as likely as yoga teacher as Led Zeppelin is meditation music. Yet the recovering drug addict stretches some of Hollywood’s most elite muscles—Heather Graham and Adrien Brody among them—to his own tune. Marino, 50, has a cult of followers who live for his rocking, sweat-heavy sessions, as much about socializing as yoga, the New York Times reports. More »
- Schwarzenegger Blew Chance for Real Reform
  
  Los Angeles Times | May 21, 09 7:59 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Arnold Schwarzenegger came into politics with an uncommon opportunity to tell Californians hard truths about taxes and governance, using his surprising mandate to press for reform. Instead, he became just another governor repeating "the same lies and the same nostrums," pretending citizens can have good public services without paying for them. "California is not ungovernable," writes Michael Hiltzik in the Los Angeles Times, "it's just been ungoverned." More »
- Calif. Voters Torpedo Budget Crisis Measures
  
  San Francisco Chronicle | May 20, 09 6:00 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Californian voters soundly rejected five ballot measures that would keep the hard-hit state economically solvent until the end of the year, on a turnout of little more than 10%. The vote against extended tax increases and capped spending is a sharp rebuke to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state legislators who put together the last-minute budget deal, reports the San Francisco Chronicle . More »
- SF Smokers May Have to Cough Up for Butt Cleanup
  
  New York Times | May 19, 09 5:26 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - San Francisco's mayor believes non-smokers shouldn't have to cover the costs of cleaning up cigarette butts, the New York Times reports. Gavin Newsom has proposed a 33-cent tax on each pack of cigarettes sold, which he says will cover the $10 million a year it costs to pick up after smokers who treat the city like an ashtray—as well as helping persuade more people to kick the habit. More »
- Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Calif. Pot Law
  
  Los Angeles Times | May 19, 09 1:52 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The US Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to California's medical marijuana law from two holdout counties, the Los Angeles Times reports. The court, without giving a reason, declined to hear the case brought by San Diego and San Bernardo counties that argued federal anti-drug laws contradicted the state's authorization of medical marijuana use. More »
- 4.7 Quake Shakes Southern Cal
  
  Los Angeles Times | May 18, 09 3:29 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A 4.7 magnitude earthquake rattled much of southern California last night and caused minor property damage, reports the Los Angeles Times . Windows were broken and items toppled off shelves when the temblor struck east of Los Angeles Airport. No injuries were reported. The 15-second shaker was deep, originating some 8.4 miles below the earth's surface, which "tends to make it less of a jerky, abrupt motion," said a seismologist for the US Geological Survey. More »

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Related Threads

Gay Marriage • Gay Rights • Land of Broken Dreams • Tinseltown • Environment • San Fran • Gay News • Film • Going Green • Strange Stuff

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