Wednesday, October 12, 2011
By Mike Adams, NaturalNews Editor
October 10 - Insanity prevailed in California once again today as Governor Jerry Brown signed bill AB499 allowing 12-year-old children the ability to consent to being injected with Gardasil vaccines without their parents' knowledge; yet at the same time the Governor banned the use...
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/#ixzz1aZfVmwlj
Labels: California, gardasil, Jerry Brown
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
LA Times
A measure to bar Californians from openly carrying weapons is supported by Sheriff Baca and LAPD Chief Beck, but opposed by 2nd Amendment activists who pack heat in coffee shops and restaurants.
Tammy Cude of San Pedro wears a banana in her gun holster as she passes a Redondo Beach police officer while participating in a South Bay Open Carry event at Redondo Beach Pier. The group was prohibited from carrying firearms, even unloaded, on the pier. (Christina House / For the Los Angeles Times / August 7, 2010)
On Gov. Jerry Brown's desk is a bid to bar Californians from openly carrying firearms, legislation that could open a new front in the state's decades-old gun control debate.
The measure, aimed at an increasingly popular tactic used by 2nd Amendment activists, would make California the first state since 1987 to outlaw the controversial practice of publicly displaying a weapon.
The governor — a gun owner — has not taken an official position on the bill, passed by the Legislature last week. He has argued both sides of gun control issues in the past.
Existing law allows the open carrying of unloaded firearms. The measure before Brown would thwart activists who stage "open carry" demonstrations and want, ultimately, the right to legally display loaded guns. Such aficionados drew national attention last year when they walked into Starbucks outlets in the Bay Area and elsewhere, pistols holstered on their hips.
Participants in the open-carry movement, contending it is a way to show that normal people pack heat, take advantage of most states' relative silence about the practice. Only seven states, including Illinois and Texas, prohibit the open toting of guns, and most of their laws were adopted in the 1980s or decades earlier, according to the Legal Community Against Violence and other groups involved in the debate...[Full Article]
Labels: 2nd amendment, California, gun control
Sunday, August 14, 2011
San Francisco Cellphone Censorship
SF cell shutdown: Safety issue, or hint of Orwell?
Breitbart
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - An illegal, Orwellian violation of free-speech rights? Or just a smart tactic to protect train passengers from rowdy would-be demonstrators during a busy evening commute?
The question resonated Saturday in San Francisco and beyond as details emerged of Bay Area Rapid Transit officials' decision to cut off underground cellphone service for a few hours at several stations Thursday. Commuters at stations from downtown to near the city's main airport were affected as BART officials sought to tactically thwart a planned protest over the recent fatal shooting of a 45-year-old man by transit police.
Two days later, the move had civil rights and legal experts questioning the agency's move, and drew backlash from one transit board member who was taken aback by the decision.
"I'm just shocked that they didn't think about the implications of this. We really don't have the right to be this type of censor," said Lynette Sweet, who serves on BART's board of directors. "In my opinion, we've let the actions of a few people affect everybody. And that's not fair."...[Full Article]
To Prevent Protests, San Francisco Subway Turns Off Cell Signals
PC Magazine
Bright idea, poor timing? Or just bad idea?
Pundits are panning leaders of San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) subway system for the actions they took to stifle potential station protests this past Thursday. According to officials, underground cellular service at select BART stations was turned off from around 4 pm to 7 pm that day in an attempt to prevent protest organizers from communicating and organizing via mobile devices...[Full Article]
Labels: California, cell phones, protests, San Francisco
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
UK Daily Mail
A shocking video has been released allegedly showing police officers tasering and beating a homeless man to death who they claim was resisting arrest.
Though the video is not clear, eye witnesses say the homeless man - Kelly Thomas, 37 - was unable to put up any resistance and was lying on the ground on his front when the attack took place on July 5.
His screams and cries for his father can be heard amid the tasering noises.
Scroll down for video
Dead: Mentally ill homeless man Kelly Thomas, 37, was beaten and tasered to death by police for allegedly 'resisting arrest'
Shocking: This picture shows the extent of the injuries Thomas received after being beaten up by six police officers
The video was shot by a student in Fullerton, California. Kelly Thomas was beaten so badly he died in hospital several days later...[Full Article]
Labels: California, Fullerton, Kelly Thomas, taser
Friday, July 1, 2011
UK Telegraph
First, China made cut-price clothes and knick-knacks. Then it learned how to make mobile phones and iPads. Now it is making a 2,050ft-long bridge spanning the San Francisco bay.
Next month, four enormous steel skeletons, the last of the 12 segments of the bridge, will be shipped 6,500 miles from Shanghai to San Francisco before being assembled on site.
The bridge, which will connect San Francisco to Oakland on the other side of the bay, is a sign of how China has moved on from building roads and ports in Africa and the developing world and is now aggressively bidding for, and winning, major construction and engineering projects in the United States and Europe...[Full Article]
Labels: bridge, California, China, San Francisco
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
UK DailyMail
America's second-largest schools district is giving students a break with a new policy ruling that homework can only count for 10% of a student’s grade.
Los Angeles is joining the growing list of school districts across the country that are downgrading the importance of time children have to spend working on assignments at home.
The idea is to allow students to spend more time with their families or on extracurricular activities such as sports or hobbies.
Parents are increasingly worried that the competition to get into good colleges is leaving their children exhausted with all their free time taken up doing hours of homework.
But teachers worry that the move penalises hard-working youngsters who are eager to improve by taking on extra studies at home.
Critics also say the Los Angeles Unified Schools District is effectively rewarding slackers who don’t bother doing their homework...[Full Article]
Labels: California, dumbing down, education, Los Angeles, school
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The California Assembly approved a bill Monday to prohibit openly carrying unloaded handguns in public after a debate that pitted gun rights proponents against chiefs of police.
The bill, AB144, would make it a misdemeanor to carry an exposed and unloaded gun in a public place, street or vehicle except in some unincorporated areas. It was approved 45-29 largely along party lines and moves to the Senate.
Several states ban openly carrying handguns and at least one applies the ban to unloaded weapons.
The National Rifle Association was one of several groups that opposed the California bill and reportedly plans to sue if it becomes law...[Full Article]
Labels: 2nd amendment, California
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A federal judge ruled Monday there is no constitutional right to carry a hidden gun in public — a decision that dealt a setback to gun-rights advocates who had challenged how much discretion California law enforcement officials have in issuing concealed weapons permits.
U.S. District Court Judge Morrison England Jr. in Sacramento supported a policy by Yolo County Sheriff Ed Prieto that says applicants must have a reason, such as a safety threat, to legally carry a concealed weapon in his county northwest of Sacramento.
Prieto was sued by opponents claiming sheriffs, who issue most concealed weapons permits, must give the documents to any applicant as long as they are not mentally ill, do not have a criminal background and complete a training course.
England signed the ruling Friday and it was filed in court on Monday.
Gun rights groups have filed similar lawsuits in Maryland, Massachusetts and New York, but Alan Gura of Alexandria, Va., an attorney for the gun groups, said none of the cases have been resolved...[Full Article]
Labels: 2nd amendment, California
Sunday, May 1, 2011
'The purpose appears to have been to censor them'
World Net Daily
A lawsuit has been filed in California to protect the rights of three men who were arrested after being accused of "impeding an open business" even though the "business" was the local department of motor vehicles, and it was closed.
Oh, and the men were standing at least 50 feet from the entrance, impeding no one, according to the case that has been filed on behalf of the three men by the Advocates for Faith and Freedom....
The arrests happened on Feb. 2, 2011, when the assistant pastor from Calvary Chapel of Hemet and two church elders went to the public property. Mackey then started reading the Bible aloud.
Listen to an audio report of the situation in California
He was arrested less than 30 minutes later, and the two others were arrested a short time after that, even though they had not actually been reading the Bible aloud.
The men believed they had a First Amendment right to free speech and they were standing in a planter in the parking lot and were on public property.
A member of the California Highway Patrol approached Mackey, grabbed his Bible and arrested him. Then Coronado and Flores asked the officer, "What law was he breaking?"...
[Full Article]
Labels: 1st amendment, California
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Raw Story
The San Francisco Entertainment Commission was scheduled Tuesday to consider a proposal that would mandate ID scans for every person entering a "place of entertainment" attended by more than 100 people -- a move that immediately sparked the fears of civil libertarians, who saw it as yet another encroachment of a creeping "police state" culture...[Full Article]
Labels: California, ID scans, identity, police state, privacy, San Francisco
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Santa Monica Synagogue Bombing
LA Times
Part of the confusion surrounding the synagogue blast, authorities say, was connected to the device itself: An explosive layered under hundreds of pounds of concrete poured into a trash bin is not something bomb technicians typically encounter.
Santa Monica firefighters remove a 300-pound metal pipe encased in concrete from the roof of a home after it was catapulted into the air from a plastic bin containing construction debris. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times / April 7, 2011)
First it was believed to be a bomb, then it was dismissed as a freak industrial accident, and now authorities are again saying that the explosion last week near a Santa Monica synagogue was, most likely, deliberately planned.
Part of the confusion, authorities say, was connected to the device itself: An explosive layered under hundreds of pounds of concrete poured into a trash bin is not something bomb technicians typically encounter.
"This is clearly not a traditional type of explosive device," said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller. "Clearly if it were, our investigators would have been able to identify it immediately."...[Full Article]
Police seek suspect in blast near Santa Monica synagogue
(Reuters) - A blast outside a Los Angeles-area synagogue this week was caused by an explosive device and police on Saturday were looking for a suspect, authorities said.
The explosion on Thursday near the Chabad House in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Monica injured no one and was blamed by police that day on a mechanical failure.
The blast sent a pipe hurtling through the air and crashing onto an apartment building next to the synagogue.
Santa Monica police said in a statement late on Friday that they were looking for a transient suspect named Ron Hirsch in connection with the blast...[Full Article
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQOvNcm_RWs
Uploaded by TheVinVid on Apr 9, 2011
Santa Monica, CA - Authorities say an explosion outside a synagogue and Jewish school in Santa Monica was caused by a homemade explosive device and not an accident as previously believed.
Synagogues in California have been put on high alert after the bomb blast.
Jewish organizations around Los Angeles were urged to be extra vigilant after the explosion, which shattered windows at a synagogue and sent a 300-pound block of concrete flying into the roof of a nearby house.
Police spokesman Sgt. Jay Trisler said Friday that further forensic examination led investigators to conclude the blast that broke windows at Chabad House Lubavitch of Santa Monica on Thursday was intentional.
Trisler says police have linked the device to Ron Hirsch, a transient known to spend time at synagogues and Jewish community centers seeking charity.
Police are searching for Hirsch, whom they describe as "extremely dangerous."
The explosion sent a 300-pound pipe (136-kilogram) into a house where a child was sleeping and spurred police to evacuate several blocks, but no one was injured.
Investigators earlier said the blast was caused by an industrial accident. But "technicians and detectives conducted further forensic analysis at the scene and, after unearthing much of the large portion of the cement found, uncovered materials indicating that the device appeared to have been deliberately constructed," the FBI said in a statement. "Investigation has determined that items found in and around the mechanism are linked to an individual by the name of Ron Hirsch, identified as a transient."
Law enforcement sources told LA The Times that gun powder was among the items found in the explosive device. Officials have not said exactly how they linked the evidence inside the explosive device to the suspect.
A large hole is left in the roof of a home after police and firefighters removed a device from the roof of a home next to the Chabad House Lubavitch in Santa Monica, Calif., on Thursday, April 7, 2011. An early morning explosion sent the object into the air, lodging it in the roof. Concern that it was a bomb due to its proximity to the Chabad House Lubavitch caused authorities to evacuate about 100 people in the surrounding area. (AP Photo/David Zentz)Hirsch, 60, also known as Israel Fisher, is thought to be behind the blast on 17th Street between Broadway Street and Santa Monica Boulevard. Police described Hirsch as a transient.
"Hirsch should be considered extremely dangerous," said a police bulletin sent to other law enforcement agencies.
He is described as white, 5 feet, 7 inches tall, 207 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes.
The bulletin said Hirsch was known to frequent synagogues and Jewish community centers in search of charity, among them Congregation Bais Yehuda on North La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles.
The motive for the attack was unknown, police said. Joining local authorities in investigating the case were the FBI and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
On Friday afternoon, the Anti-Defamation League issued a security alert to synagogues and other Jewish organizations in the Los Angeles area.
Amanda Susskind, the league's Los Angeles regional director, said in an interview that the alert was "not intended to create panic or a drama," but rather to keep people on the outlook for a man who seems to be disturbed.
She also said there was no indication that the suspect was part of a terrorist plot.
"[The incident] seems more in the nature of a disturbed individual," she said.
"If he's out there and has nefarious goals, we wanted people to be extra vigilant and careful," she said.
Susskind also said she hadn't heard of Hirsch being seen at synagogues or community centers on Friday night, when Shabbat services were held. She added that "if there had been another incident, we would've heard about it."
During Shabbat, observant Jews are not allowed to use the telephone. But an exception was made Friday night, according to Susskind.
"We had indicated that this was worthy of breaking the rule," she said. "If anybody did see [Hirsch], we instructed them to call law enforcement directly."
Susskind said she isn't sure if he is Jewish.
"We're all wondering that," she said. "Both the name and alias are Jewish names, but I don't have any independent knowledge [if he is Jewish]."
Mirel Levitansky, who works at the Chabad House and is the wife of co-Rabbi Eli Levitansky, told Santa Monica Patch on Friday that Hirsch had stopped by the synagogue "over the years." She said she didn't interact with Hirsch when he visited the Chabad House.
"He makes his rounds, looking for handouts, for money," she said. "He hasn't caused any trouble [in the past]. He needs a little bit of help."
Hirsch is 60 years old, has brown hair and green eyes, is 5' 7" and weighs 207 pounds. Those with information about him are asked to call SMPD Det. Derek Leone at 310.458.8949.
Labels: bomb, California, pipe bombs, Ron Hirsch, Santa Monica, synagogues
Friday, March 4, 2011
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – The Sacramento Police Department will soon have more eyes on the streets.
They’re going to be partnering with public and private entities to tap directly into existing surveillance cameras across the city...[Full Article]
Labels: California, police, police state, Sacramento, surveillance
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Anaheim School District Tracks Students with GPS
San Francisco Chronicle
Officials in the Anaheim school district in southern California are taking a new technological approach to cutting high school truancy: GPS devices.
According to the Orange County Register, students in seventh or eighth grade who cut class more than a few times can avoid "continuation school" or juvenile prosecution by agreeing to carry a handheld GPS device the size of a cell phone. Then, at critical times of day where they might skip out -- like on the way to school and at lunch -- they are supposed to enter a code that tells officials where they are...
[Full Article]GPS To Track Truant Students In Anaheim
ANAHEIM (CBS) — Call it a last-ditch effort to tackle truancy in Orange County.
Two Anaheim schools have become the first in California to adopt GPS tracking to prevent students from cutting class...
[Full Article]Schools use GPS to track students who skip
MSNBC
Skipping class, though frowned upon, is practically a rite of passage for young teens, but thanks to an elaborate system involving GPS being used by some school districts, it is practically being eliminated completely.
The Orange County Register reports that the Anaheim Union High School District in California is currently participating in a pilot program which involves using a combination of Global Positioning System technology, automated telephone reminders, and one-on-one coaching to cut down on truancy. It's similar to programs being used in Baltimore and San Antonio...
[Full Article]Anaheim Program Tracking Students Through GPS Devices
Review of Electronics
The Anaheim Union High School District in California is currently cracking down on students who have a penchant for missing classes. The Cali school district is currently taking part in a pilot program in association with The Orange County Register Reports, which will be tracking lackadaisical students who have 4 or more unexcused absences throughout the year. How will they track them? Through a complex GPS
“Each morning on schooldays, [students will] get an automated phone call reminding them that they need to get to school on time. Then, five times a day, they are required to enter a code that tracks their locations – as they leave for school, when they arrive at school, at lunchtime, when they leave school and at 8 p.m...
Labels: Anaheim, big brother, California, education, privacy, school
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
While other cities are slashing employee benefits, Berkeley is slated to add one more: paying for sex-change operations.
The City Council is poised to vote tonight to set aside $20,000 annually for city workers' gender-reassignment surgery. The procedure is not covered by the city's two health insurance providers, Kaiser and Health Net...
[Full Article]Labels: Berkeley, California, sex change
Thursday, January 6, 2011
If you get arrested in California, better hope there are no incriminating texts or e-mails or sensitive data stored on your phone.
On Monday, the California Supreme Court ruled that police in that state can search the contents of an arrested person's cell phone.
Citing U.S. Supreme Court precedents, the ruling contends that "The loss of privacy upon arrest extends beyond the arrestee's body to include 'personal property ... immediately associated with the person of the arrestee' at the time of arrest."...
[Full Article]Labels: California, cell phones, warrant, warrantless
Friday, December 24, 2010
Sacramento-Area Pilot Punished For Explosing Airport Security Flaws
SACRAMENTO, CA - An airline pilot is being disciplined by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for posting video on YouTube pointing out what he believes are serious flaws in airport security.
Update: Whistleblowing pilot explains why he did it
The 50-year-old pilot, who lives outside Sacramento, asked that neither he nor his airline be identified. He has worked for the airline for more than a decade and was deputized by the TSA to carry a gun in the cockpit.
He is also a helicopter test pilot in the Army Reserve and flew missions for the United Nations in Macedonia.
Three days after he posted a series of six video clips recorded with a cell phone camera at San Francisco International Airport, four federal air marshals and two sheriff's deputies arrived at his house to confiscate his federally-issued firearm. The pilot recorded that event as well and provided all the video to News10...
Labels: California, pilots, Sacramento, Transportation Security Administration, TSA
Saturday, September 25, 2010
The rules of the state's home healthcare program, as interpreted by a judge this year, permit such felons to work as aides. Among their crimes are rape, assault and theft.
Data provided by state officials show that at least 210 workers and applicants flagged by investigators as unsuitable to work in the program are nonetheless scheduled to resume or begin employment.
State and county investigators have not reported many whose backgrounds include violent crimes because the rules of the program, as interpreted by a judge earlier this year, permit felons to work as home care aides. Thousands of current workers have had no background checks.
Only a history of specific types of child abuse, elder abuse or defrauding of public assistance programs can disqualify a person under the court ruling. But not all perpetrators of even those crimes can be blocked.
In addition, privacy laws prevent investigators from cautioning the program's elderly, infirm and disabled clients that they may end up in the care of someone who has committed violent or financial crimes.
"We are allowing these people into the homes of vulnerable individuals without supervision," said John Wagner, director of the state Department of Social Services. "It is dangerous…. These are serious convictions."...
[Full Article]
Labels: California, convicts, felons, home healthcare
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
San Francisco Chronicle / SFGate.com
Labels: California, condoms, jail, San Francisco
NBCBayArea.com
Condom machines are the latest step in a program to promote safe sex at the San Francisco Jail's San Bruno lockup.
The Chronicle's Matier and Ross reported this week that authorities at the jail installed 16 condom machines throughout the facility -- one in each jail pod -- even though sex is technically illegal in the cell block.
Health workers have been handing out condoms to inmates at the jail since 1989 as part of a safe-sex program aimed at getting them ready for their release back into society.
Distributing condoms to inmates is "worth it," said Kate Monico Klein, who's directing the program under the City's Public Health Department, because it could save lives.
Labels: California, condoms, jail, San Francisco
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Workers at Lindbergh Field have begun installing the full-body scanners inside Terminal One.
Labels: big brother, body scanners, California, San Diego, surveillance
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