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California Tag

Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 08, 2016 19 Comments
As I noted in my post on the AP announcing that Hillary Clinton has clinched the nomination ahead of the California election, the November 2016 battle is ultimately between the elite media and average Americans. As predicted by many, the American press has started pressuring Bernie Sanders to stop his campaign entirely. This gem from the San Diego Union Tribune is just one example of many attempts to cajole Sanders voters into supporting Clinton.
This is why we urge Bernie Sanders to drop his now-futile challenge to Clinton for the Democratic nomination after the final primary next Tuesday in Washington D.C. At this stage, after a historic speech as a major party’s first presumptive female presidential nominee, Clinton shouldn’t have to spend her time and resources defending herself from Sanders and his allies.
But the California media has not mentioned that Clinton has not experienced smooth sailing they portray in their coverage.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 04, 2016 21 Comments
As a proponent of serious scientific review of environmental policies, I have been blessed to share news related to climate change with Legal Insurrection readers. Little did I realize this might have made me a criminal in my home state! Fortunately, it looks like I have dodged a bullet...legally. California Senate just sidelined a bill to prosecute climate change skeptics.
Senate Bill 1161, or the California Climate Science Truth and Accountability Act of 2016, would have authorized prosecutors to sue fossil fuel companies, think tanks and others that have “deceived or misled the public on the risks of climate change.” The measure, which cleared two Senate committees, provided a four-year window in the statute of limitations on violations of the state’s Unfair Competition Law, allowing legal action to be brought until Jan. 1 on charges of climate change “fraud” extending back indefinitely. “This bill explicitly authorizes district attorneys and the Attorney General to pursue UCL claims alleging that a business or organization has directly or indirectly engaged in unfair competition with respect to scientific evidence regarding the existence, extent, or current or future impacts of anthropogenic induced climate change,” said the state Senate Rules Committee’s floor analysis of the bill.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 02, 2016 14 Comments
My campaign field report series continues today with the Hillary Clinton speech in San Diego. The underlying reason for the event is that Clinton is barely clinging to a 2-point lead in California polling data, ahead of its June 7th primary. Based on my observations, the "national security address" at the Prado in Balboa Park was an utterly astonishing failure. Furthermore, the arrangements associated with her appearance show that if she does win, Clinton will extend the Obama imperial style of presidency. I will begin my analysis with crowd size comparisons:

Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 01, 2016 31 Comments
Legal Insurrection readers will recall that security was tight at the Donald Trump rally I attended, and was full deployed after the event to avoid a another Albuquerque-style riot from occurring. Most San Diegans were thrilled that our police department was diligent about implementing effective security measures. However, progressive activists were exceedingly unhappy at the level of containment our police force achieved. A group of their "leaders" held a press conference in Barrio Logan, the staging area of anti-Trump marchers that day, to complain about....martial law!

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 28, 2016 8 Comments
The U.S. has investigated numerous naval officers over possible connections to a Malaysian businessman Leonard Glenn "Fat Leonard" Francis, who bribed leaders with whiskey, prostitutes, and cash. A California court unsealed three indictments on Friday against three Naval soldiers to face charges of working with Fat Leonard. The courts already charged Cmdr. Michael Vannak Khiem Misiewicz, 48, with bribery and conspiracy. From The Los Angeles Times:
Cmdr. Michael Vannak Khiem Misiewicz, 48, pleaded guilty earlier to one charge of conspiracy and one charge of bribery. Prosecutors said that for nearly two years, he accepted gifts, travel, stays at fancy hotels and the services of prostitutes — all paid for by Leonard Glenn “Fat Leonard” Francis, the owner of a port servicing company that supplied Navy ships across the Pacific. In exchange, Misiewicz gave Francis confidential information on ship schedules for the U.S. 7th Fleet, for which he served as deputy operations officer in 2011 and 2012. He also used his influence to try to steer ships to ports in Asia that were controlled by Francis’ company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia, prosecutors said.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on May 28, 2016 19 Comments
In 2015, Kate Steile was killed by an illegal alien who had been deported five times prior to this crime and had a lengthy criminal record; San Francisco's status as a well-known sanctuary city is believed to have contributed to the senseless murder. Kate's relatives are now filing suit. Fox News reports:
Relatives of the woman shot to death on a San Francisco pier last year filed a lawsuit Friday saying the illegal immigrant accused in the killing should have been in custody if not for a series of mistakes by city and federal workers. . . . .  The sheriff at the time of the killing, Ross Mirkarimi, is named in the lawsuit, along with ICE and the Bureau of Land Management. Mirkarimi previously defended the release of the suspect, a repeat drug offender and habitual border-crosser. Frank Pitre, the lawyer for Steinle's family, said the lawsuit points out "failures at every level." "We're approaching the one year anniversary of Katie's death and it is a particularly difficult time for the family."

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 27, 2016 18 Comments
In case you're one of the holdouts not yet convinced the Idiocracy is upon is, here's a little story for you. Seventeen-Year-Old TJ Khayatan placed a pair of glasses on the gallery floor of San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art to test patron's responses. And well... yeah...

Posted by Leslie Eastman on May 27, 2016 7 Comments
I have long sensed that the 2016 California primary would be very memorable. Kemberlee Kaye just reported that Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders may debate ahead of the California primary, as Hillary Clinton declined to debate Sanders recently. Hillary Clinton may want to rethink the non-engagement approach that led to this development, as Sanders is now closing the gap in recent polling.
The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) poll, conducted May 13 – 22 and released Wednesday, found: “Among Democratic primary likely voters, 46 percent support Clinton and 44 percent support Sanders. These voters include Democrats and independents who say they will vote in the Democratic primary. Clinton has a slight lead over Sanders among registered Democrats (49% to 41%)."

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 26, 2016 18 Comments
Bernie Sanders agreed to debate his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, in a Fox News-hosted debate. Not surprisingly, Hillary declined. But what about a Sanders/Trump debate? On Jimmy Kimmel Live Wednesday night, Trump said he was open to the idea of debating Sanders, provided a network paid them for their time and those remunerations went to charity. "If I debated him [Sanders] we would have such high ratings and I think we should take that money and give it to some worthy charity," said Trump.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on May 24, 2016 11 Comments
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders predicts that the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia could be "messy" as he presses his progressive platform planks: "Democracy is not always nice and quiet and gentle." If the upcoming California primary is any indication, the Democratic Party could get messier far sooner. Both former President Bill Clinton and Sanders held rallies in the San Diego area this weekend. Sanders' first rally had at least 10,000 attendees.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on May 07, 2016 7 Comments
Finally, some good news from the Golden State! It looks like we have solved all our other problems, so Governor Jerry Brown was able to focus on the issue of paramount importance: Smoking!
Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday signed a package of bills that will regulate the manufacture and sale of e-cigarettes and increase the legal smoking age from 18 to 21. Other bills the governor signed will close loopholes in existing smoke-free workplace laws and require that all K-12 schools be tobacco-free.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on May 04, 2016 18 Comments
In the wake of Bernie Sanders' shock win in Indiana, and now substantially narrowed GOP field, the center of the Democratic Party's political universe is now California. Since there is currently a mere two point poll gap between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, every vote in this state is critical. So, both Clintons will be in California for various events over the next few weeks. Yesterday, I read that the former President would be in San Diego's Balboa Park Club for a speech. So I donned by Star Wars t-shirt (May the Fourth be with you) and attempted to blend in with Clinton fans for a on-scene report.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 29, 2016 48 Comments
Anti-Trump protesters surrounded rally sites, waved Mexican flags, and ventured to prevent Trump supporters from seeing The Donald speak. The term "protesters" being used to describe these thuggish demonstrators is an inaccurate, weak description. They harassed and intimidated Trump's supports who were attempting to hear the candidate speak at two separate California events.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 22, 2016 5 Comments
Regular Legal Insurrection readers may recall that prior to signing the new state minimum wage law, California Governor Jerry Brown was heckled at the Paris Climate Conference. Brown was challenged by a group of protesters opposed to carbon offset programs they said could hurt indigenous people. However, his enthusiasm for imposing draconian rules limiting carbon dioxide emissions has remained quite vigorous.
“This is one skirmish, but I’ll tell you, it’s increasing the intensity of my commitment to do everything I can to make sure we reduce oil consumption in California,” he said. “My zeal has been intensified to a maximum degree, and nothing, nothing is going to stop this state from pushing forward on our low-carbon fuel standard and our cap-and-trade and our ZEV [zero-emission vehicle] mandate.”
Brown's zeal was such that about a year ago he issued an executive order setting a goal for greenhouse gas emissions to be 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. The California Governor's mandate was short on specifics about how his new goal will be achieved, and relied on currently undeveloped or uninvented technology to ultimately achieve the goal.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on April 18, 2016 27 Comments
Minimum wage hikes tend to hurt lower income-wage earners more than help. California recently mandated a $15 minimum wage. Now, facilities maintenance and food service workers at UC Berkeley may find their jobs imperiled. Justin Holcomb writes for Townhall:
The $15 minimum wage hike in California has sent financially troubled UC Berkeley into decision making mode, and "the people who clean buildings, who work in food services or health clinics,” says Todd Stenhouse, will be the ones without a job.
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