Category Archive 'California'
05 Mar 2009
California’s San Francisco Bay area is notorious for both its inhabitants’ lack of enthusiasm for conventional religion and their hair-trigger political sensitivities.
Zomblog was consequently therefore more than a little surprised at the lack of protests, condemnations, or even public discussion of a new Islamic advertising campaign, funded by the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), the North American branch of Jamaat-e-Islami, the fundamentalist Pakistani political party.
“No enemies to the left” seems to apply even to Islamic fundamentalism, and even in the Castro, despite the obvious problems with regarding organizations dedicated to the imposition of sharia law as being on the left.
26 Jan 2009
Bad news from the LA Times:
A flurry of recent stable closures has generated talk where equestrians gather about whether the Southern California horse culture can survive the sprawl of suburbia and its relentless appetite for onetime ranch land.
In December, a collection of ramshackle stalls near the city of Industry abruptly shut down, forcing out a small group of Mexican immigrants who had boarded their horses there at low cost.
The stables had been a gathering place for vaqueros from Zacatecas and Guerrero, and the closure prompted some of the families to give up their horses altogether. The loss follows the disappearance of many other stables along the San Gabriel River watershed.
Weeks later, officials in Orange County announced they might turn the county’s Fairgrounds Equestrian Center into a parking lot — the latest of many Orange County casualties. “There used to be stables all up and down the Santa Ana River, more than 20,” said Jim Meyer of the advocacy group Trails4All. “Now there are two left . . . and one of them is up for sale.”
The picture in other urban-adjacent areas around the state is similar.
Earlier this month, the Cevalo Riding Academy in San Jose closed its doors — the land prized for homes over equines even in this post-bubble environment.
Other stables giving way to homes or parking lots include the Wild Horse Valley Ranch in Napa, the equestrian showgrounds at the state fair in Sacramento and San Diego’s famed Miramar Stables, said Deb Balliet of the Equestrian Land Conservation Resource, an advocacy group based in Lexington, Ky.
It’s happening all over the country, but California “is being really hard hit,” Balliet said.
06 Jan 2009
Tule Elk
There were 28 categories of Big Game animals taken by archery in the Pope and Young record book before the Tule Elk (Cervus canadensis — or elaphus– nannodes), a subspecies of Roosevelt Elk (Cervus canadensis roosevelti) was recently added.
The New York Times (of all sources) describes one hunter’s attempt to complete the new North American Archery Big Game Grand Slam.
02 Jan 2009
California “Global Warming Score” Sticker
Starting this year, thanks to the Solons of Sacramento, residents of America’s open-air asylum will find all new cars bearing prominently displayed, in the manner of Hawthorne’s Hester Prynne, a visible badge of their alleged sinfulness.
Marc Sheppard, at American Thinker, explains:
These so-called “Global Warming Scores” range from 1 to 10, with 1 representing a vehicle selfishly emitting an excess of 520 “CO2 – equivalent Grams per mile” and 10 given to those altruistically checking in at under 200.
Okay, so CO2 grams emitted per mile would appear a tangible, albeit excruciatingly inconsequentially silly, measure. But just what is a “CO2 – equivalent?”
Well, so as not to burden its citizenry with potentially enlightening science, the Governator’s State has conveniently lumped all “Greenhouse gases (ghg) emitted from vehicles includ[ing] carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (NO2), and hydroflurocarbons (HFCs) from air conditioner refrigerant” together into one “CO2 equivalent Value.” Pretty slick move — while CO2 is the least significant of all so-called “Greenhouse Gases,” its unique status as chief byproduct of industrial progress makes it by far the most valuable to regulation-hungry eco-maniacs.
But given all its artifice, “CO2 Equivalent Score” lacks the magical connection sought by the legislation’s makers. So, having successfully misrepresented an amalgam of gases as one, the next challenge was to label arbitrary output ranges of that arbitrary blend as a vehicle’s “Global Warming Score.” …
Section 1 of the new Bill explains the convoluted reasoning behind this mind-boggling leap, opening with these deceiving declarations of scientific certitude:
(a) The use of fossil fuels in motor vehicles is one of the primary human sources of global warming gases that trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere, leading to a warming effect on the planet.
(b) Increasing concentrations of global warming gases in the atmosphere are likely to accelerate the rate of climate change in California.
(c) Scientific research indicates that the impact of global warming on our environment will be profound. Global warming will significantly impact the state’s air quality, water resources, forests, agricultural regions, coastal regions, and the health of the state’s residents.
Considering that all three points are at the very least unproven and recently all but disproved alarmist propaganda, this new mandated metric is neither any less comical nor any more relevant than would be a Dragon Repellant Score.
27 Nov 2008
Where Massachusetts goes, California follows.
KABC-TV:
There is a costume controversy in Claremont. The school board changed a decades-long tradition of students dressing up to celebrate Thanksgiving, and some parents are outraged.
The tradition involves kindergarten students at Mountain View and Condit elementary schools. The kids usually dress up in costumes. Each school takes turns dressing up as pilgrims and Indians, and then join together for a Thanksgiving feast.
This year, however, there is a big change. The school board decided to continue holding the feast, but they are not allowing the students to dress up. The board is concerned the Indian costumes may have negative connotations.
“Out of respect for the native American heritage, we have made the decision to ask the children not to dress up,” said Devon Freitas, assistant superintendent for human services, Claremont Unified School District.
That decision has infuriated many parents. Some of them have ignored the school board and dressed their kids up anyway.
2:23 video
20 Nov 2008
The latest anti-crime crusade in liberal San Francisco is focused on people lighting fireplaces on the wrong day. It’s important to have the right priorities about these things, after all.
SF Chronicle reports.
For the first time ever, residential fires are illegal under a new law, passed in July, that bans home burning on winter season Spare the Air days.
The first such ban took effect at noon. Seventy inspectors from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District planned to spend the day and evening patrolling residential neighborhoods, looking for telltale chimney wisps.
Violators will get warnings by mail. Repeat offenders face fines of as much as $2,000.
The fireplace police say they are determined to keep law and order in the living room.
“We’re serious,” said district spokeswoman Kristine Roselius. “This is a major health threat. The weather conditions are such that smoke is trapped closer to the ground and anyone with respiratory problems will have a hard time breathing.”
With 1.4 million fireplaces in the Bay Area, Roselius said the district is hoping for voluntary compliance. It notes that wood burning produces about one-third of the particulate pollution on a typical winter night.
The district predicts as many as 20 Spare the Air days during the winter season, which air quality officials define as Nov. 1 through Feb. 28. That means it could be illegal to fire up the fireplace as often as one day in every six.
Similar bans have been in place in the San Joaquin Valley and in the Pacific Northwest for several years.
After the initial warning, repeat violators will face fines, some as high as four figures. In other no-burn districts, offenders have been permitted to do penance by attending “smoke school,” similar to traffic school. But the Bay Area is a no-school zone.
17 Nov 2008
Pursued by screaming homosexuals, San Francisco Police last Friday had to escort a Christian group, which regularly prays and sings hymns at the corner of Castro and 18th for the conversion of homosexuals, out of the district.
KTVU disingenuously portrays the police as “keeping the peace” between two groups of demonstrators. One group numbering about ten or twelve confronted by a hostile and threatening crowd large enough to fill the street for more than a block isn’t my idea of equivalence.
4:45 video
17 Nov 2008
Philip J. Berg’s federal lawsuit challenging Barack Obama to document his US citizenship was dismissed last month in Philadelphia on the grounds that the plaintiff lacked standing.
Now, Alan Keyes, who does possess standing, having himself appeared on the California ballot this year as candidate for president of the American Independent Party, is suing the Secretary of State of California in Superior Court in Sacramento, asking the court to order that she refrain from certifying the election of the democrat party’s individual presidential electors until Barack Obama provides proof of his eligibility with respect to citizenship for the presidency.
Keyes v. Bowen pdf
In case Senator Obama cannot present proper documentation verifying his citizenship, he cannot be elected President of the United States, and SOS (Secretary of State) has a duty to bar the casting of votes by California Electors in support of his candidacy.
67. To avert a constitutional crisis which would certainly accrue after the election through laborious legal challenges, this writ seeks to resolve such complaints. It was incumbent on the candidates to present the necessary documentation confirming his citizenship, but, to date, Senator Obama has failed to do so.
68. At this point, Senator Obama has not allowed independent or official access to his vault (original hospital) birth records and supporting hospital records. Senator Obama’s citizenship status has been, and is being, challenged in 17 different legal actions in various federal and state courts, which challenges cast doubt on the validity of the electoral process, regardless of outcome, if not resolved prior to the certification of the election by the Electors. SOS is specifically charged with certifying and guaranteeing the validity of official documents and overseeing the elections in California, such that the people’s confidence in the fundamental aspect of democracy is maintained. To date, in this regard, SOS has not carried out that fundamental duty.
69. This writ requests a court order barring the SOS from both certifying to the Governor the names of the California Electors, and from transmitting to each presidential Elector a Certificate of Election, until such documentary proof is produced and verified showing that is a “natural born†citizen of the United States and does not hold citizenship in Indonesia, Kenya or Great Britain. In addition, this writ requests a court order barring the California Electors from signing the Certificate of Vote until such documentary proof is produced and verified showing that Senator Obama is a “natural born†citizen of the United States and does not hold citizenship in Indonesia, Kenya or Great Britain.
70. Should Senator Obama be discovered, after he takes office, to be ineligible for the Office of President of the United States of America and, thereby, his election declared void, Petitioners, as well as other Americans, will suffer irreparable harm in that an usurper will be sitting as the President of the United States, and none of the treaties, laws, or executive orders signed by him will be valid or legal. …
74. A press release was issued on October 31, 2008, by the Hawaii Department of Health by its Director, Dr. Chiyome Fukino. Dr. Fukino said that she had “personally seen and verified that the Hawaii State Department of Health has Senator Obama’s original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures.†That statement failed to resolve any of the questions being raised by litigation and press accounts. Being “on record†could mean either that its contents are in the computer database of the department or there is an actual “vault†original.
75. Further, the report does not say whether the birth certificate in the “record†is a Certificate of Live Birth or a Certificate of Hawaiian Birth. In Hawaii, a Certificate of Live Birth resulting from hospital documentation, including a signature of an attending physician, is different from a Certificate of Hawaiian Birth. For births prior to 1972, a Certificate of Hawaiian Birth was the result of the uncorroborated testimony of one witness and was not generated by a hospital. Such a Certificate could be obtained up to one year from the date of the child’s birth. For that reason, its value as prima facie evidence is limited and could be overcome if any of the allegations of substantial evidence of birth outside Hawaii can be obtained. The vault (long Version) birth certificate, per Hawaiian Statute 883.176 allows the birth in another State or another country to be registered in Hawaii. Box 7C of the vault
Certificate of Live Birth contains a question, whether the birth was in Hawaii or another State or Country. Therefore, the only way to verify the exact location of birth is to review a certified copy or the original vault Certificate of Live Birth and compare the name of the hospital and the name and the signature of the doctor against the birthing records on file at the hospital noted on the Certificate of the Live Birth.
76. An unprecedented and looming constitutional crisis awaits if a President elected by the popular vote and the electoral vote does not constitutionally qualify to serve in that capacity. In addition if Senator Obama is not a “natural born†citizen and not eligible for presidency, Senator Obama will be subject to the criminal Provisions of the California Elections Code, stating, “Any person who files or submit for filing a nomination paper or declaration of candidacy knowing that it, or any part of it, has been made falsely is punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months or two or three years or by both the fine and imprisonment†(California Elections Code § 18203). …
79 However, there are a number of separate reasons that would make Senator Obama ineligible to serve as President of the United States. On August 21, 2008, Mr. Phillip J. Berg, former Deputy Attorney General of the State of Pennsylvania, filed a legal action against Senator Obama and the Democratic National Committee. With his action, and in the subsequent appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, Mr. Berg provided documents to the effect that Senator Obama was born in what is now Kenya (the British East African Protectorate of Zanzibar at the time) and that his paternal grandmother was present at his birth. Senator Obama claims that he was born in Hawaii. According to statements made by his half-sister, Maya Soetoro Ng, he was born in Kapiolani Hospital in Hawaii. According to his biography posted on Wikipedia, Senator Obama was born in Queens Hospital in Hawaii. However, he has never provided the original hospital birth certificate from 1961, with the name of the hospital and the name and the signature of the doctor in attendance. All that Senator Obama has posted on his website is a Registry of Live Birth (short version), obtained in 2007, that does not provide the name of the hospital or the doctor. Clearly, one human being cannot be born in three different places. Hawaii Revised Statute 338-178 allows registration of birth in Hawaii for a child that was born outside of Hawaii to parents who, for a year preceding the child’s birth, claimed Hawaii as their place of residence. The only way to know where Senator Obama was actually born is to view Senator Obama’s original birth certificate from 1961 that shows the name of the hospital and the name and signature of the doctor that delivered him. From August 21, 2008, for over two months, Senator Obama has refused to provide his original birth certificate, even though, in his book, Dreams of My Father, page 26, he states, “… I found the article folded between my birth certificate and old immunization records…†which shows that he clearly has his birth certificate, or that he lied in his book. Particularly telling is the fact that not one single person has come forward, not a doctor, not a nurse, not a hospital administrator, nor anyone else, to state that he or she was present during this birth, except for Obama’s paternal grandmother, who affirmed that she “was in the delivery room in Kenya when he was born Aug. 4, 1961.†Additionally, when Mr. Berg served subpoenas on the hospitals mentioned above, Senator Obama refused to sign a consent form that would allow the hospitals to release any of his information. Instead, Senator Obama has hired three law firms to defend himself, and has challenged the action by Mr. Berg on a technicality, claiming that an ordinary citizen does not have standing to bring the suit. This matter is currently being reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court. The parties in this case have standing to bring this litigation, due to the fact that Dr. Keyes and Dr. Drake, Sr., are candidates on the California ballot for President and Vice President of the United States, and Mr. Robinson is an Elector for the Keyes-Drake ticket, and Vice Chairman of
America’s Independent Party, of Fenton, Michigan, which nominated Dr. Keyes for President. He is also a Chairman of the American Independent Party (California), which nominated Dr. Keyes and Dr. Drake for President and Vice President, respectively. Based on the foregoing, it is imperative for SOS to be provided proof that Senator Obama is a “natural born†citizen.
80. If he was born in Hawaii, there are four (4) other obstacles to Senator Obama’s eligibility. In and about 1967, Senator Obama moved to Indonesia, took the last name of his stepfather, Soetoro, and went by the name Barry Soetoro. In original legal action filed by Mr. Berg, he presented Senator Obama’s school registration, showing him registered as Barry Soetoro, Citizenship-Indonesian, Religion Islam, signed by L. Soetoro. From 1945, Indonesia has not allowed dual citizenship and, therefore, Ms. Dunham-Obama-Soetoro, Senator Obama’s mother, had to relinquish her son’s U.S.citizenship in order to obtain Indonesian citizenship for him, which would make him ineligible to become a United States President. Additionally, the United States could not allow dual citizenship with Indonesia at that time, as Indonesia did not allow dual citizenship, and it was prohibited by the Hague Convention of 1930, as interfering with the internal affairs of another sovereign Country.
81. In addition, upon return to the United States in and around 1971-1972, Senator Obama would have been required to go to the then current immigration procedures to regain his U.S. citizenship. There is no record of him ever doing that. Even if he had done so, he would be considered a naturalized citizen and not a “natural born†citizen.
82. Additionally, assuming Senator Obama was born in what is now Kenya, at the time of Senator Obama’s birth in 1961, (now) Kenya was the British Protectorate of Zanzibar and Senator Obama was automatically accorded a form of British citizenship under Section 32(1) of the British Nationality Act of 1948, effective date January 28, 1949, based on his father’s citizenship.
83. Finally, in 1981, Senator Obama traveled to Pakistan, when there was a ban for U.S. citizens to travel to Pakistan. The only logical possibility for him to do so was by using one of his other passports: Indonesian, Kenyan, or British.
84. Based on all of the above, it is the duty of the SOS to obtain proper documentation of Senator Obama’s citizenship to confirm his eligibility for the office of the President of the United States.
If Keyes, Berg, et. al. are correct in their suspicions, it appears that Americans will have inadvertently elected Joseph Biden president.
14 Sep 2008
A McCain campaign sticker on a car is enough to provoke road-rage in LA, Judy Gruen testifies.
Hours after I slapped a McCain bumper sticker on my car, somebody tore it off in the parking lot of a local courthouse. No problem; I had bought a pack of ten and replaced it when I got home. I laughed when I thought that whoever had done it probably claims to support “diversity.”
Perhaps it was the shock of seeing a McCain sticker in very blue Los Angeles, where such sightings were rare, that caused the individual to rip it off. I had certainly seen very, very few, and not a single McCain lawn sign. Meanwhile, Obama bumper stickers seem to be standard equipment on every Prius in the land. Yes, I was feeling every bit the lonely Republican.
About a week later, I also felt scared. While driving in my neighborhood one afternoon, I was suddenly distracted by the sight of the driver behind me, threateningly close on my tail. She was screaming and was very clearly thrusting the finger at me. (You know, the rude one.) She alternated this gesture with making an “M” with her other fingers, and jabbing them as well.
I knew I had not cut into her lane or violated any other rules-of-the-road etiquette. I could come to only one conclusion: my McCain sticker was causing road rage! I was consoled by the fact that, as an extreme liberal, she probably didn’t have a gun on her. On the other hand, she seemed dangerous, and I wanted an exit strategy faster than the one Obama wants for Iraq. I pulled over as soon as I could to let her pass and get to her anger management session, but instead of speeding away from me and my odious political convictions, she pulled up alongside of me, still screaming and gesturing. I pretended to look impassive, but by the time she finally drove off, emitting more than just greenhouse gasses, she wasn’t the only one who needed calming down
09 Sep 2008
The LA Times notes that the foreclosure market is working for some home-seekers.
A family of bobcats (Lynx rufus) has taken up occupancy in an empty (bank-owned) house in the Tuscany Hills development of Lake Elsinore, California.
—————————————-
Hat tip to Karen L. Myers.
20 Aug 2008
Surprise, surprise.
Last week’s story of the discovery of a deceased Sasquatch in northern Georgia has been debunked. When the block of ice enclosing the alleged body was melted, a rubber Bigfoot suit emerged. California Bigfoot “researchers” claimed they had been deceived and were disappointed. George’s Clayton County Police said they were going to fire the police officer involved.
An unnamed news agency reports.
You can buy your identical Sasquatch suit.
————————–
Original story.
14 Aug 2008
Looks like a gorilla mask, a buffalo rug, and a bear paw to me
Searching for Bigfoot, Inc. of Redwood City, California announced the alleged recent discovery of a deceased male Bigfoot in the woods of northern Georgia by a Clayton County police officer named Matthew Whitton and a friend, Rick Dyer. Robert Barrows, a Burlingame, California publicist, and Tom Biscardi, Las Vegas promoter and long-time Bigfoot “researcher,” made the announcement and claim to have seen the body personally.
DNA and photographic evidence are promised to be presented at a press conference to be held Friday, August 15, 2008, at noon at the Cabana Hotel-Palo Alto, 4290 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, California 94306.
KTVU.com story
Searching for Bigfoot, Inc.’s announcement says:
A body that may very well be the body of the creature commonly known as “Bigfoot†has been found in the woods in northern Georgia.
DNA evidence and photo evidence of the creature will be presented in a press conference on Friday, August 15th from 12 Noon to 1:00pm at the Cabana Hotel-Palo Alto at 4290 El Camino Real in Palo Alto, California, 94306. The press conference will not be open to the public. It will only be open to credentialed members of the press.
Here are some of the vital statistics on the “Bigfoot†body:
The creature is seven feet seven inches tall.
It weighs over five hundred pounds.
The creature looks like it is part human and part ape-like.
It is male.
It has reddish hair and blackish-grey eyes.
It has two arms and two legs, and five fingers on each hand and five toes on each foot.
The feet are flat and similar to human feet.
Its footprint is sixteen and three-quarters inches long and five and three-quarters inches wide at the heel.
From the palm of the hand to the tip of the middle finger, its hands are eleven and three-quarters inches long and six and one-quarter inches wide.
The creatures walk upright. (Several of them were sighted on the same day that the body was found.)
The teeth are more human-like than ape-like.
DNA tests are currently being done and the current DNA and photo evidence will be presented at the press conference on Friday, August 15th.
Alas! the publicity scheme worked only too well. Searching for Bigfoot’s web-site quickly exceeded its bandwidth limit. You can see the original press release in the Google cache, or go to the Inquisitr, who managed to get a copy via Cryptomundo (whose site is also swamped by traffic and unresponsive).
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