(Reuters) - Republican Meg Whitman has opened up a 7-point lead over Democrat Jerry Brown in their closely watched race for California governor, the latest poll of likely voters showed on Friday.
Whitman, a billionaire former eBay chief executive who has already poured more than $100 million into the campaign, leads Brown, a former governor, by 47 percent to 40 percent ahead of the November 2 election, according to the SurveyUSA sampling.
That reflects a 3-point gain by Whitman, who is making her first run for public office, from the last SurveyUSA poll conducted in August.
Whitman hopes to capitalize on her outsider status and deep pockets to beat Brown, currently state attorney general, in what is considered a reliably Democratic state.
The next governor will inherit a state struggling with double-digit unemployment, a budget deficit of tens of billions of dollars and an unpopular, often gridlocked Legislature.
California, the nation's most populous state, has a huge economy and is home to the Silicon Valley technology hub.
The SurveyUSA poll, which sampled 569 likely California voters on Tuesday and Wednesday, found incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer in a statistical dead heat with Republican Carly Fiorina, a former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, in their U.S. Senate race.
Boxer, a powerful liberal voice in Washington and strong supporter of President Obama's agenda, is seeking her fourth term in the Senate. She is in a tough re-election fight in a year when high unemployment and fears about the economy have left Democrats and incumbents vulnerable.
Showing posts with label California. Show all posts
Showing posts with label California. Show all posts
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
EEOC rides to the defense of muslims, filing discrimination suits in Nebraska, California, Colorado over headscarfs, prayer
The Obama Administration’s taxpayer-funded Islamic defense program has been quite busy this week, filing several discrimination lawsuits on behalf of Muslims in different parts of the country and holding Justice Department meetings to discuss prosecuting “anti-Muslim hate speech.”
The legal actions come on the same week that the White House and various federal agencies—including the Department of Homeland Security—hosted a special workshop to provide members of radical Islamic groups with direct access to U.S. government funding, assistance and resources. Read all about that here.
Now the administration is flexing its legal muscle in its ardent quest to befriend the enemy. A federal civil rights agency known as the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed discrimination lawsuits against companies in Nebraska, California and Colorado for discriminating against Muslims by not accommodating prayer breaks and forbidding a headscarf on the job.
The government sued meatpacking plants in Greeley Colorado and Grand Island Nebraska for religious and racial harassment because dozens of Muslim employees were “denied prayer time” during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The lawsuit seeks changes to policies and procedures to accommodate Muslim workers, payment for past and future damages and punitive damages.
In a third lawsuit filed this week the EEOC claims that an outdoor apparel store discriminated against a Muslim female job applicant in northern California because she wore a headscarf known as a hijab. The company has a longstanding employee dress code banning any sort of head covering but the government asserts that in this particular case it’s discriminating on the basis of religion.
Also this week, the Justice Department met with a coalition of Islamic groups that demand the administration criminally prosecute anti-Muslim rhetoric as hate speech. Besides investing more resources to combat discrimination against Muslims, coalition leaders want Attorney General Eric Holder to “make a strong public statement” condemning hate crimes, harassment and discrimination against Muslims.
The legal actions come on the same week that the White House and various federal agencies—including the Department of Homeland Security—hosted a special workshop to provide members of radical Islamic groups with direct access to U.S. government funding, assistance and resources. Read all about that here.
Now the administration is flexing its legal muscle in its ardent quest to befriend the enemy. A federal civil rights agency known as the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed discrimination lawsuits against companies in Nebraska, California and Colorado for discriminating against Muslims by not accommodating prayer breaks and forbidding a headscarf on the job.
The government sued meatpacking plants in Greeley Colorado and Grand Island Nebraska for religious and racial harassment because dozens of Muslim employees were “denied prayer time” during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The lawsuit seeks changes to policies and procedures to accommodate Muslim workers, payment for past and future damages and punitive damages.
In a third lawsuit filed this week the EEOC claims that an outdoor apparel store discriminated against a Muslim female job applicant in northern California because she wore a headscarf known as a hijab. The company has a longstanding employee dress code banning any sort of head covering but the government asserts that in this particular case it’s discriminating on the basis of religion.
Also this week, the Justice Department met with a coalition of Islamic groups that demand the administration criminally prosecute anti-Muslim rhetoric as hate speech. Besides investing more resources to combat discrimination against Muslims, coalition leaders want Attorney General Eric Holder to “make a strong public statement” condemning hate crimes, harassment and discrimination against Muslims.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Trend favors GOP Senate candidates in CA, WA, WI, GA, IA
It’s hit that point in the election cycle where the competitive nature of Congressional races are shifting rapidly. Unfortunately for Democrats, the overwhelming majority of those shifts are in favor of Republicans.
The latest Senate race rating changes by CQ Politics includes five changes — in California, Washington, Wisconsin, Georgia and Iowa — that benefit Republican candidates. And Democrats can’t even catch a break on the sixth change, which moves Florida’s Senate race from Leans Republican to the more competitive Tossup category based solely of the strength of the Independent campaign run by Gov. Charlie Crist .
When Crist announced this spring that he was abandoning the GOP primary to seek the Senate seat as an Independent, Democratic strategists saw real opportunity. Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (N.J.) went so far as to call the move a sign of “divided Republican Party cannibalizing itself.”
But in four months as an Independent candidate, Crist hasn’t tried to carve away conservative Republicans and instead focused on reaching out to Democratic voters. Crist has gone out of his way to block legislative priorities championed by state Republicans and has flirted with the idea of caucusing with Democrats if he is elected. On the financial front, Crist has made inroads in state and national Democratic circles as a way to make up for the fundraising avenues that were cut off after his decision to leave the GOP. Those efforts have kept him from being blown out in the money chase. As of early August Crist had raised a total of $12.5 million and had $8 million in cash on hand. Former state Speaker Marco Rubio, who chased Crist out of the GOP primary, had raised $12.8 million and had $4.5 million in the bank.
The latest Senate race rating changes by CQ Politics includes five changes — in California, Washington, Wisconsin, Georgia and Iowa — that benefit Republican candidates. And Democrats can’t even catch a break on the sixth change, which moves Florida’s Senate race from Leans Republican to the more competitive Tossup category based solely of the strength of the Independent campaign run by Gov. Charlie Crist .
When Crist announced this spring that he was abandoning the GOP primary to seek the Senate seat as an Independent, Democratic strategists saw real opportunity. Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (N.J.) went so far as to call the move a sign of “divided Republican Party cannibalizing itself.”
But in four months as an Independent candidate, Crist hasn’t tried to carve away conservative Republicans and instead focused on reaching out to Democratic voters. Crist has gone out of his way to block legislative priorities championed by state Republicans and has flirted with the idea of caucusing with Democrats if he is elected. On the financial front, Crist has made inroads in state and national Democratic circles as a way to make up for the fundraising avenues that were cut off after his decision to leave the GOP. Those efforts have kept him from being blown out in the money chase. As of early August Crist had raised a total of $12.5 million and had $8 million in cash on hand. Former state Speaker Marco Rubio, who chased Crist out of the GOP primary, had raised $12.8 million and had $4.5 million in the bank.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Fiorina up 5 and gaining on Boxer; Whitman up 2 on Brown
California Republican U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina has increased her lead over Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer to five percentage points according to a new CBS 5 KPIX-TV poll released Thursday, which also shows gubernatorial candidates Democrat Jerry Brown and Republican Meg Whitman in a dead heat.
The CBS 5 poll, conducted by the research firm SurveyUSA, showed Fiorina edging Boxer 47 percent to 42 percent, compared to a CBS 5 poll one month ago showing Fiorina over Boxer 47 to 45 percent.
The poll results indicated Fiorina's support was essentially unchanged among men and women, young and old, white and Hispanic while Boxer had lost small ground among men, younger voters, and independents.
The poll also showed Fiorina tripling her lead in the Central Valley, from seven points one month ago to 21 points in this latest poll.
Meanwhile, the CBS 5 poll has gubernatorial candidates Whitman and Brown at 44 and 43 percent, respectively, effectively even within the poll's 4.1 percent error margin. Compared to a CBS 5 poll one month ago, Whitman is down two percent, while, Brown is up four percent.
The CBS 5 poll, conducted by the research firm SurveyUSA, showed Fiorina edging Boxer 47 percent to 42 percent, compared to a CBS 5 poll one month ago showing Fiorina over Boxer 47 to 45 percent.
The poll results indicated Fiorina's support was essentially unchanged among men and women, young and old, white and Hispanic while Boxer had lost small ground among men, younger voters, and independents.
The poll also showed Fiorina tripling her lead in the Central Valley, from seven points one month ago to 21 points in this latest poll.
Meanwhile, the CBS 5 poll has gubernatorial candidates Whitman and Brown at 44 and 43 percent, respectively, effectively even within the poll's 4.1 percent error margin. Compared to a CBS 5 poll one month ago, Whitman is down two percent, while, Brown is up four percent.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Maywood CA: A city that died of an overdose of radical policies
Boasting a population that is 97% Hispanic, more than half foreign born, and 40% illegal, the Los Angeles County, Calif., incorporated city of Maywood has achieved the Reconquista goal. It is now as lawless and chaotic as any place in Mexico. Maywood is a warning to every city and town in America.
The Maywood City Council announced this week that after years of radical policies, corruption and scandal, the city was broke and all city employees would be laid off and essential city services contracted out to neighboring cities or to L.A. County government.
How did this happen? Until recently, Maywood was the model for "brown power" politics.
Maywood was the first California city with an elected Hispanic City Council, one of the first "sanctuary" cities for illegal aliens, the first city to pass a resolution calling for a boycott of Arizona after that state passed a law to enforce federal immigration laws, the first California city to order its police department not to enforce state laws requiring drivers to have licenses to drive, the first American city to call on Congress to grant amnesty to all illegals.
Council meetings were conducted in Spanish. Maywood was the leader in the peaceful, democratic achievement of the La Raza goal to take power in the U.S.
(clip)
Today, Maywood is broke. Its police department dismantled along with all other city departments and personnel. Only the city council remains and a city manager to manage the contracts with other agencies for city services in Maywood.
Maywood is the warning of what happens when illegal immigrants, resisting assimilation as Americans, bring with their growing numbers the corruption and the radical politics of their home countries. Add the radical home-grown anti-Americanism of Hispanic "leaders" and groups like La Raza and you get schools where learning is replaced with indoctrination, business and jobs replaced by welfare and gangs, and a poisonous stew of entitlement politics.
In too many American communities, this sad tale is all too familiar.
The Maywood City Council announced this week that after years of radical policies, corruption and scandal, the city was broke and all city employees would be laid off and essential city services contracted out to neighboring cities or to L.A. County government.
How did this happen? Until recently, Maywood was the model for "brown power" politics.
Maywood was the first California city with an elected Hispanic City Council, one of the first "sanctuary" cities for illegal aliens, the first city to pass a resolution calling for a boycott of Arizona after that state passed a law to enforce federal immigration laws, the first California city to order its police department not to enforce state laws requiring drivers to have licenses to drive, the first American city to call on Congress to grant amnesty to all illegals.
Council meetings were conducted in Spanish. Maywood was the leader in the peaceful, democratic achievement of the La Raza goal to take power in the U.S.
(clip)
Today, Maywood is broke. Its police department dismantled along with all other city departments and personnel. Only the city council remains and a city manager to manage the contracts with other agencies for city services in Maywood.
Maywood is the warning of what happens when illegal immigrants, resisting assimilation as Americans, bring with their growing numbers the corruption and the radical politics of their home countries. Add the radical home-grown anti-Americanism of Hispanic "leaders" and groups like La Raza and you get schools where learning is replaced with indoctrination, business and jobs replaced by welfare and gangs, and a poisonous stew of entitlement politics.
In too many American communities, this sad tale is all too familiar.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Repeal of California's global warming law will be on 2010 ballot
From the Chico Enterprise Record:
SACRAMENTO — Assemblyman Dan Logue, R-Linda, was elated this week to learn his initiative to suspend the state’s anti-global warming law made the November ballot.
In a phone interview, Logue said he found out Tuesday the initiative had enough valid signatures.
He said the initiative needed 440,000 signatures and it got 800,000. The names were collected by volunteers and paid “signature gatherers,” he said.
AB32 became law in 2006. It provides that between 2012 and 2020, greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced to the levels they were in 1990.
Logue’s initiative would postpone the implementation of AB32 until the state’s unemployment rate stands at 5.5 percent for a year. Now the jobless rate is around 12 percent.
Suspending AB32 only makes sense, Logue said. “We can’t afford it. We’ll lose another million jobs. It will drive business out of the state.”
SACRAMENTO — Assemblyman Dan Logue, R-Linda, was elated this week to learn his initiative to suspend the state’s anti-global warming law made the November ballot.
In a phone interview, Logue said he found out Tuesday the initiative had enough valid signatures.
He said the initiative needed 440,000 signatures and it got 800,000. The names were collected by volunteers and paid “signature gatherers,” he said.
AB32 became law in 2006. It provides that between 2012 and 2020, greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced to the levels they were in 1990.
Logue’s initiative would postpone the implementation of AB32 until the state’s unemployment rate stands at 5.5 percent for a year. Now the jobless rate is around 12 percent.
Suspending AB32 only makes sense, Logue said. “We can’t afford it. We’ll lose another million jobs. It will drive business out of the state.”
Saturday, May 22, 2010
In California, an awakening seems to have taken place in 2007
Hoven's Index for May 22, 2010
California statistics:
Top marginal personal income tax rate: 10.55%
Top marginal corporate income tax rate: 8.84%
State minimum wage: $8.00
ALEC-Laffer Competitiveness Index ranking: 46
Texas statistics:
Top marginal personal income tax rate: 0.00%
Top marginal corporate income tax rate: 5.56%
State minimum wage: $7.25
ALEC-Laffer Competitiveness Index ranking: 19
Source: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index, 2010.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
California students reprimanded for U.S. flag-themed clothing
Wearing T-shirts with the American flag is now “incendiary,” “disrespectful,” and of course racist … in America.
On Cinco de Mayo, five students at a California public school were reprimanded and ordered to remove American-flag inspired apparel … in America.
During a lunch break, four students claim that the vice principal asked two students to remove their stars-and-stripes bandannas and for the other two to turn their American flag T-shirts inside out.
“They said we could wear it on any other day,” student Daniel Galli told NBC Bay Area. “But today is sensitive to Mexican-Americans because it’s supposed to be their holiday so we were not allowed to wear it today.”
Galli and his friends also say school administrators at Live Oak High School – a school with a predominant Mexican-American student-body – called their apparel “incendiary.”
“They said if we tried to go back to class with our shirts not taken off, they said it was defiance and we would get suspended,” Dominic Maciel, also involved in the incident said.
Although Maciel’s mother defended her son – calling the entire situation “absolutely ridiculous” – Annica Nunez, a fellow student at Live Oak High, argued the boys should be the ones apologizing.
“I think they should apologize cause it is a Mexican Heritage Day,” Nunez said. “We don’t deserve to be get disrespected like that. We wouldn’t do that on Fourth of July.”
On Cinco de Mayo, five students at a California public school were reprimanded and ordered to remove American-flag inspired apparel … in America.
During a lunch break, four students claim that the vice principal asked two students to remove their stars-and-stripes bandannas and for the other two to turn their American flag T-shirts inside out.
“They said we could wear it on any other day,” student Daniel Galli told NBC Bay Area. “But today is sensitive to Mexican-Americans because it’s supposed to be their holiday so we were not allowed to wear it today.”
Galli and his friends also say school administrators at Live Oak High School – a school with a predominant Mexican-American student-body – called their apparel “incendiary.”
“They said if we tried to go back to class with our shirts not taken off, they said it was defiance and we would get suspended,” Dominic Maciel, also involved in the incident said.
Although Maciel’s mother defended her son – calling the entire situation “absolutely ridiculous” – Annica Nunez, a fellow student at Live Oak High, argued the boys should be the ones apologizing.
“I think they should apologize cause it is a Mexican Heritage Day,” Nunez said. “We don’t deserve to be get disrespected like that. We wouldn’t do that on Fourth of July.”
Friday, April 30, 2010
While Arizona Americanizes its schools, Washington and California welcome Chinese communists to teach classes
A communist government notorious for human rights violations will implement curriculum in U.S. public schools despite concerns from educators who assure it will lead to the indoctrination of innocent children in the classroom.
Public school districts in Washington State and California have agreed to allow China’s communist regime to conduct “Confucius Classroom” programs supposedly aimed at promoting Chinese language and culture in this country. China provides the curriculum—including instructors and teaching materials—and administers it through a “nonprofit” (Hanban) that’s controlled by the country’s Ministry of Education.
It doesn’t cost U.S. taxpayers a cent, which certainly makes the deal quite appealing to cash-strapped public school districts nationwide. Southern California’s Hacienda La Puente Unified School District and Washington’s Seattle Public School District are among those that have accepted the Chinese government’s offer.
In Seattle education officials are thrilled about the concept of “opening up China” and one of the Confucius offices is housed at a local middle school. The California project has been met with more resistance from educators and parents who assert the curriculum is a means for the Chinese Communist Party to maneuver into free societies under the false pretext of promoting a benign philosophy.
They claim the real agenda is propaganda, such as fostering goodwill and acceptance of the communist regime despite its well-documented record of atrocious human rights abuses. In fact, the vice president of the Society of Confucian Studies of America (Jeanne Meng) said she would be “very worried” if her kids were in a Confucius Classroom because traditional teachings are being used to fulfill a communist political agenda.
Another veteran Society of Confucian Studies official (Victor Wang) says China’s overseas school programs are a common communist tactic that provides benefits that appear harmless to make friends and infiltrate the target group. In this case Western society, Wang points out.
Public school districts in Washington State and California have agreed to allow China’s communist regime to conduct “Confucius Classroom” programs supposedly aimed at promoting Chinese language and culture in this country. China provides the curriculum—including instructors and teaching materials—and administers it through a “nonprofit” (Hanban) that’s controlled by the country’s Ministry of Education.
It doesn’t cost U.S. taxpayers a cent, which certainly makes the deal quite appealing to cash-strapped public school districts nationwide. Southern California’s Hacienda La Puente Unified School District and Washington’s Seattle Public School District are among those that have accepted the Chinese government’s offer.
In Seattle education officials are thrilled about the concept of “opening up China” and one of the Confucius offices is housed at a local middle school. The California project has been met with more resistance from educators and parents who assert the curriculum is a means for the Chinese Communist Party to maneuver into free societies under the false pretext of promoting a benign philosophy.
They claim the real agenda is propaganda, such as fostering goodwill and acceptance of the communist regime despite its well-documented record of atrocious human rights abuses. In fact, the vice president of the Society of Confucian Studies of America (Jeanne Meng) said she would be “very worried” if her kids were in a Confucius Classroom because traditional teachings are being used to fulfill a communist political agenda.
Another veteran Society of Confucian Studies official (Victor Wang) says China’s overseas school programs are a common communist tactic that provides benefits that appear harmless to make friends and infiltrate the target group. In this case Western society, Wang points out.
California too broke to deal with imaginary threats dreamed up by social engineers
California is broke. Its nearly bankrupt status leaves residents with few financial resources to deal with imaginary threats to health and safety.
Yet in the face of an economic meltdown, the state still allows special interests to dictate high cost administrative procedures.
The reasons California is suffering severe economic woes is clear: It has the highest sales tax in the country and the 6th largest overall tax burden. As its voluminous environmental restrictions are based on political interests rather than sound science, they significantly hamper the ability of California’s entrepreneurs to conduct business profitably.
According to a recent California Legislative report, regulation costs Golden State businesses approximately $493B in lost output and 3.8M jobs – resulting in a tax revenue loss of $16M.
The annual regulatory burden per person is $13K.
Yet in the face of an economic meltdown, the state still allows special interests to dictate high cost administrative procedures.
The reasons California is suffering severe economic woes is clear: It has the highest sales tax in the country and the 6th largest overall tax burden. As its voluminous environmental restrictions are based on political interests rather than sound science, they significantly hamper the ability of California’s entrepreneurs to conduct business profitably.
According to a recent California Legislative report, regulation costs Golden State businesses approximately $493B in lost output and 3.8M jobs – resulting in a tax revenue loss of $16M.
The annual regulatory burden per person is $13K.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
How public sector unions are destroying California
The camera focuses on an official of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), California’s largest public-employee union, sitting in a legislative chamber and speaking into a microphone. “We helped to get you into office, and we got a good memory,” she says matter-of-factly to the elected officials outside the shot. “Come November, if you don’t back our program, we’ll get you out of office.’
The video has become a sensation among California taxpayer groups for its vivid depiction of the audacious power that public-sector unions wield in their state. The unions’ political triumphs have molded a California in which government workers thrive at the expense of a struggling private sector. The state’s public school teachers are the highest-paid in the nation. Its prison guards can easily earn six-figure salaries. State workers routinely retire at 55 with pensions higher than their base pay for most of their working life. Meanwhile, what was once the most prosperous state now suffers from an unemployment rate far steeper than the nation’s and a flood of firms and jobs escaping high taxes and stifling regulations. This toxic combination—high public-sector employee costs and sagging economic fortunes—has produced recurring budget crises in Sacramento and in virtually every municipality in the state.
How public employees became members of the elite class in a declining California offers a cautionary tale to the rest of the country, where the same process is happening in slower motion.
The video has become a sensation among California taxpayer groups for its vivid depiction of the audacious power that public-sector unions wield in their state. The unions’ political triumphs have molded a California in which government workers thrive at the expense of a struggling private sector. The state’s public school teachers are the highest-paid in the nation. Its prison guards can easily earn six-figure salaries. State workers routinely retire at 55 with pensions higher than their base pay for most of their working life. Meanwhile, what was once the most prosperous state now suffers from an unemployment rate far steeper than the nation’s and a flood of firms and jobs escaping high taxes and stifling regulations. This toxic combination—high public-sector employee costs and sagging economic fortunes—has produced recurring budget crises in Sacramento and in virtually every municipality in the state.
How public employees became members of the elite class in a declining California offers a cautionary tale to the rest of the country, where the same process is happening in slower motion.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Swift upward mobility in Islam: one-time U.S. goat herder rallies muslims to holy war against U.S.
KARACHI, Pakistan - Adam Yahiye Gadahn, a U.S.-born spokesman for al-Qaida, has been captured in Pakistan, government sources said Sunday.Earlier from longwarjournal.org:
Gadahn was arrested in recent days, two officers who took part in the operation told The Associated Press. A senior government official also confirmed the arrest. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
An intelligence source confirmed the report to NBC News, adding that Gadahn was detained in Sohrab Goth, a suburb of Karachi, and was later moved to the capital Islamabad.
Earlier:
Reports from Pakistan indicate that the American-born al Qaeda spokesman who has been charged with treason in the US was captured today in Pakistan's port city of Karachi.
Adam Gadahn and an associate are reported to have been captured during a raid by Pakistani special forces on a home at the Super Highway in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city.
US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal said they believed Gadahn has been detained but would not confirm the report.
Gadahn's capture was first reported in the Pakistani press; he was not directly named, however. Geo News identified the captive al Qaeda leader as Commander Abu Yahya Azam while Dawn identified him as Abu Yahya Mujahdeen al Adam. Adam Gahdan's nom de guerre is Abu Azzam al Amriki.
"The Pakistani press often incorrectly reports the names of foreign fighters arrested in the country, especially Arabic noms de guerre," Arif Rafiq, the editor of The Pakistan Policy Blog, told The Long War Journal.
Read more:
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2010/03/american_al_qaeda_sp.php#ixzz0hWJYlX2G
CAIRO (AP) - Al-Qaida's American-born spokesman on Sunday called on Muslims serving in the U.S. armed forces to emulate the Army major charged with killing 13 people in Fort Hood.
In a 25-minute video posted on militant Web sites, Adam Gadahn described Maj. Nidal Hasan as a pioneer who should serve as a role model for other Muslims, especially those serving Western militaries.
"Brother Nidal is the ideal role-model for every repentant Muslim in the armies of the unbelievers and apostate regimes," he said.
Gadahn, also known as Azzam al-Amriki, was dressed in white robes and wearing a white turban as he called for attacks on what he described as "high-value targets."
Gadahn grew up on a goat farm in Riverside County, California, and converted to Islam at a mosque in nearby Orange County.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Even California is turning against Democrats
Just a year ago, the Democratic Party looked at California as a base for adding to its majorities in Congress. Now, it could be a the place where it loses them.
Even Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer now faces the toughest race in her 28 years representing California in Congress.
Democrats hold both of California's U.S. Senate seats and 34 of its 53 seats in the U.S. House. A year ago they were looking to pick up as many as eight more from Republicans in districts that President Barack Obama won in 2008.
That list of takeover targets has now been winnowed down to three. Republicans, meanwhile, have expanded their takeover list.
Even Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer now faces the toughest race in her 28 years representing California in Congress.
Democrats hold both of California's U.S. Senate seats and 34 of its 53 seats in the U.S. House. A year ago they were looking to pick up as many as eight more from Republicans in districts that President Barack Obama won in 2008.
That list of takeover targets has now been winnowed down to three. Republicans, meanwhile, have expanded their takeover list.
Banker: forget Greece; worry about California
Mr Dimon told investors at the Wall Street bank's annual meeting that "there could be contagion" if a state the size of California, the biggest of the United States, had problems making debt repayments. "Greece itself would not be an issue for this company, nor would any other country," said Mr Dimon. "We don't really foresee the European Union coming apart." The senior banker said that JP Morgan Chase and other US rivals are largely immune from the European debt crisis, as the risks have largely been hedged.
California however poses more of a risk, given the state's $20bn (£13.1bn) budget deficit, which Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is desperately trying to reduce.
California however poses more of a risk, given the state's $20bn (£13.1bn) budget deficit, which Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is desperately trying to reduce.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Marco Rubio goes national
On February 26, conservative Marco Rubio, former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, will be in Southern California for a series of fundraisers in San Diego, Orange County, and Los Angeles.
Speaker Rubio has become a national cause for conservatives, as well as Tea Party activists, in what has been characterized as a battle for the future of the GOP. His Republican primary opponent is Governor Charlie Crist, who after leading in polls by as much as 37% after his announcement, now trails Rubio by 14%.
Speaker Rubio has become a national cause for conservatives, as well as Tea Party activists, in what has been characterized as a battle for the future of the GOP. His Republican primary opponent is Governor Charlie Crist, who after leading in polls by as much as 37% after his announcement, now trails Rubio by 14%.
Monday, November 23, 2009
ACORN official hints California going after whistleblowers who outed ACORN through videos
On October 1st, 2009 California Attorney General Jerry Brown announced that an investigation had been opened into ACORN’s activities in California, resulting from undercover videos showing employees seemingly offering to assist the undercover film makers with human smuggling, child prostitution and even tax advice to boot.
Although ACORN has denied any wrongdoing, some of the employees involved were terminated, and ACORN has publicly stated that they would fully cooperate with any investigations that followed.
Interestingly, the local head ACORN organizer in California, David Lagstein was caught on tape earlier this month speaking to an East County Democratic Club.
Mr. Lagstein stated: “…the attorney general is a political animal, but certainly every bit of the communication we have had with them has suggested that the fault will be found with the people that did the video and not the people with ACORN.”
Continuing, Mr. Lagstein stated: “…we are fully cooperating, some of the investigators visited our office this morning and I think they really understand what’s going on.”
Although ACORN has denied any wrongdoing, some of the employees involved were terminated, and ACORN has publicly stated that they would fully cooperate with any investigations that followed.
Interestingly, the local head ACORN organizer in California, David Lagstein was caught on tape earlier this month speaking to an East County Democratic Club.
Mr. Lagstein stated: “…the attorney general is a political animal, but certainly every bit of the communication we have had with them has suggested that the fault will be found with the people that did the video and not the people with ACORN.”
Continuing, Mr. Lagstein stated: “…we are fully cooperating, some of the investigators visited our office this morning and I think they really understand what’s going on.”
Friday, May 22, 2009
Does California vote signal antigovernment tide?
"Americans should look carefully at the anti-politician, anti-government mood exhibited in California this week. Just as Proposition 13 and the anti-tax movement of 1978 were the forerunners of the Reagan presidential victory, so the results of Tuesday's vote are a harbinger of things to come.
The repudiation of the California establishment in the series of initiative defeats could hardly have been more decisive. Five taxing and spending measures were rejected by 62.6 to 66.4 percent of the voters. That is a consistent majority of enormous potential. An even larger majority, 73.9 percent, approved the proposition limiting elected officials' salaries when there is a deficit.
This vote is the second great signal that the American people are getting fed up with corrupt politicians, arrogant bureaucrats, greedy interests and incompetent, destructive government."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
article/2009/05/21/AR2009052103724.html
The repudiation of the California establishment in the series of initiative defeats could hardly have been more decisive. Five taxing and spending measures were rejected by 62.6 to 66.4 percent of the voters. That is a consistent majority of enormous potential. An even larger majority, 73.9 percent, approved the proposition limiting elected officials' salaries when there is a deficit.
This vote is the second great signal that the American people are getting fed up with corrupt politicians, arrogant bureaucrats, greedy interests and incompetent, destructive government."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
article/2009/05/21/AR2009052103724.html
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