Easter Sunday 2014 coincides with the 20th of April–otherwise known as 4/20 Day, for 420, a number that has come to symbolize marijuana smoking for the pot subculture. Legends abound as to the origins of the symbol, but Ryan Grim
In the summer of 2008, while the U.S. presidential election was in full swing, I took a break from the political fray to visit Prague, where my girlfriend (now wife) Julia was studying Czech. I intended to stay for a
The lawyer who defended California’s Proposition 8, the 2008 referendum defining marriage as being between a man and a woman, is now planning his daughter’s lesbian wedding, the Associated Press’s Julie Pace reports. “My daughter Ashley’s path in life has
The Associated Press reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection has approved plans for “the nation’s first cross-border airport terminal.” The terminal, run by Otay Tijuana Venture, would include a pedestrian bridge connecting Tijuana, Mexico and San Diego, California. The company would
Two Democratic Party candidates in the primary race for California’s 33rd congressional district in West Los Angeles have accused local party officials of using an arbitrary fundraising minimum to favor established insiders–then raising that minimum at the last moment to
The Associated Press reports that a man robbed a bank in the East Bay city of Hayward, CA wearing a t-shirt that said, “I Have Issues.” According to the AP: Hayward Police Department Sgt. Eric Melendez said Thursday that the
Amidst the general gloom about Republican electoral fortunes in California, past and present, came some good news last week: Pete Peterson, director of the Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership at Pepperdine University, is leading the race for Secretary
Gary Cohn, writing at the Huffington Post (and Capital & Main), takes on the “Corporate Democrats” of California–those Democrats who support moderate policies despite the overwhelming power their party enjoys in the state legislature. He advances two theories for their behavior:
California has become one of the most reliably “blue” states in the Union (the Democrats having convinced the rest of us, somehow, to assign to Republicans the “red” that used to mark both Democrats’ electoral victories on the map and
A new Field Poll yields a surprising result: by 54% to 35%, California voters “say they prefer lower taxes and fewer government services to higher taxes and more government services.” In addition, an astonishing 73% of California voters believe government
Californians may be rethinking widespread opposition to using recycled water for drinking, reports Brian Resnick of National Journal. In the past, the option of using treated wastewater to augment the state’s drinking supply has been rejected by voters. But in
The Wall Street Journal has published a scathing editorial in Thursday’s edition, castigating California Attorney General Kamala Harris and her proposed ballot initiative to raise damage caps on medical malpractice suits. Calling the state’s 1975 reform–under Jerry Brown, in his first
Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is leading a congressional delegation to Ukraine during the two-week April House recess, the Orange County Register reports. The delegation will also visit Azerbaijan to discuss regional security issues,
The Pacific Palisades Democratic Club set a standard for Democrats vying to replace retiring Rep. Henry Waxman (D) in the 33rd congressional district: You must have raised $200,000 by April 8 to qualify. The club used that standard to whittle down
David Crane, a lecturer at Stanford University’s Institute for Economic Policy Research, admits that he donated to Gov. Jerry Brown and voted for him in 2010. And yet, says Crane, Brown is guilty of many of the same tricks that
Since the 2010 midterm election, we’ve seen many Democrats and the mainstream media attempt to label mass shootings by deranged people as political “hate crimes” by conservatives and the Tea Party. The enthusiasm for such prejudice has declined somewhat recently,
Among the many dubious legacies of “moderate” Republicans is the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, also known as “New START,” which the Senate ratified in December 2010, just after the electorate had delivered a resounding condemnation of the Obama administration’s left-wing
In 1999, as I was preparing to leave my home town of Skokie, IL for six months of study in Israel, an antisemitic white supremacist fanatic went on a shooting spree in the area. He wounded several Jews, none of
A grandfather and grandson were among the victims in a shooting at the Jewish Community Center of Kansas City in Overland Park, Kansas, according to the Kansas City Star. The alleged shooter, a man in his 70s, opened fire at
Three people are dead and one is reportedly in critical condition, according to ABC News, after a shooting spree at a Jewish community center and retirement facility in Overland Park, Kansas. The Kansas City Star reports that police arrested one male
A rare “blood moon tetrad” will arrive with the start of a total lunar eclipse, beginning late on Monday evening–or, for most of the East Coast, early Tuesday. The eclipse, in which the full moon will be darkened by the
The California state government announced last week that federal and state water management agencies had agreed on a new plan for managing the state’s water needs over the next several months, in the midst of one of the most severe
In a new business plan submitted to state legislators last week, the California High-Speed Rail Authority offered lower revenue projections than it had two years before, predicting that revenue will be “5 percent lower than originally projected by 2025 and
President Barack Obama can’t stop the California drought, but he is making it rain–for the Democratic Party. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Obama will return to the Bay Area in early May for two fundraisers–one at the home of Yahoo!
A Field Poll released Saturday indicates that Republican Ashley Swearengin, the mayor of Fresno, leads the race for State Controller, garnering 28% of the support of likely voters, 9% ahead of her closest rival. However, the combined total of the second-
Ahead of the April 15 tax deadline, a record-high 60% of Californians say that they pay “much more” or “somewhat more” in taxes than they should, according to a recent survey by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) (and
Tesla, the electric car manufacturer that discovered a new enthusiasm for the free market when the state of New Jersey tried to block direct sales to customers, is lobbying in Sacramento to protect the large taxpayer subsidies that have helped
My father boasts that he is the only person ever to have walked out of Disney World with his family and asked for his money back. We children have less rosy memories of the episode. We arrived at the Magic
The federal Department of Justice took the surprising decision of siding with advocates of the Mount Soledad cross, arguing that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals should hear the case en banc, in front of a full 11-judge panel. A
A new Field Poll released Friday morning reveals that Republican Pete Peterson leads the field of primary candidates in the race for Secretary of State–the same office that State Sen. Leland Yee had sought prior to his arrest on corruption
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti delivered his first “State of the City” address Thursday evening, promising to bar any rate increases for water and power, and to begin phasing out the city’s business (or gross receipts) tax. His speech, which
Democrat Bobby Shriver–nephew of John F. Kennedy, brother to Maria Shriver, and (for now) still brother-in-law to Arnold Schwarzenegger–has canceled an “exclusive” campaign evening at a Rolls-Royce dealership in Beverly Hills, blaming a lower-level staffer for scheduling the event, according
Drought-stricken California could face torrential rains next winter, according to federal meteorologists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center in Maryland, who have forecast a 2-in-3 chance of an El Niño event this year, the Contra Costa Times
In February, Secretary of Energy dedicated the Ivanpah Solar Energy Generating System in southeastern California, calling it a “shining example of how America is becoming a world leader in solar energy” [no pun intended, apparently]. However, the project–funded by $1.6 billion
Several news sources in the Middle East are reporting that the U.S. is set to release convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard in exchange for Israel releasing a final batch of convicted Palestinian terrorists, while freezing settlement construction. Pollard has been
A new Field Poll released Thursday reports that California voters now have a negative view of the state legislature, with 46% of registered voters now saying they disapprove, and only 43% saying they approve of its performance–a nine-point negative swing
Los Angeles is falling fast on a downward economic spiral, and has been for a generation. The city ranks worst in the U.S. in job creation–behind even bankrupt Detroit–and near the bottom in public pension liabilities. Longtime residents complain of
The Los Angeles Times has blamed Breitbart California, which launched Sunday evening, for what it predicts will be a Republican “slide” among women and Latino voters. The Times cited a satirical poster by street artist Sabo, depicting U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy
Daniel Mael, a senior at Brandeis University, blasted the administration’s decision to withdraw an honorary doctorate from feminist Ayaan Hirsi Ali due to her past criticisms of Islam. “I am appalled by the hypocrisy of the University administration and their
A lawyer for Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow, the alleged Chinatown gang boss involved in the federal case that snagged State Sen. Leland Yee, claims that his client is a victim of “unadulterated racism” by the government. The San Francisco Chronicle reports: “They
