DOMA Unconstitutional; California Ban on Marriage Dead
ADVOCATE.COM: The Supreme Court made history today by deciding two landmark cases on LGBT equality today with far-reaching implications.

With the Supreme Court's rulings today, the part of the Defense of Marriage Act that prevented federal recognition of same-sex marriages is no more. And the Proposition 8 law that banned same-sex couples from marrying in California is once again overturned, clearing the way for marriage equality to resume in California.

The Supreme Court today ruled the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, meaning that legally married same-sex couples can begin claiming a litany of federal benefits immediately, according to the New York Times.

In a 5-4 decision written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the nation's highest court ruled that DOMA denies equal protection to a group of people protected by the Fifth Amendment for no other reason than the group's political unpopularity. » | Advocate.com Editors | Wednesday, June 26, 2013

California Wildfires Continue to Rage
Much of southern California's landscape is still engulfed in flames on Saturday, as firefighters struggle to extinguish the wildfires. The hills of Camarillo, near Los Angeles, have been burning since Thursday morning and officials say the blaze may burn for another two days. The fire marks the start of California's fire season, expected to be severe this year due to high temperatures and drought

UCI Muslim Students Host Islam Awareness Week
ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER: A group of Muslims at UC Irvine isn't looking for fellow students to walk a mile in their shoes, but rather to try a hijab – a traditional headscarf – for a day.

The invitation to campus co[-]eds is among the events the Muslim Student Union has scheduled for Islam Awareness Week.

Tuesday through Friday, the group and several invited speakers will offer discussions on freedom of speech relative to Islam, women's rights and a look at the Quran titled "Beyond Blind Faith." » | Kimberly Pierceall | Orange County Register | Thursday, January 17, 2013

What’s the point of ‘Islam Awareness Week’? I think we are all aware of what Islam is all about by now. – © Mark

Tehrangeles

BBC: Tehrangeles: How Iranians made part of LA their own – Google maps recently recognised "Tehrangeles" as a neighbourhood of central Los Angeles. How did this upmarket part of LA become home to the largest community of Iranians outside Iran? » | Shoku Amirani | Saturday, September 29, 2012

California Man Behind Anti-Islam Film Jailed for Probation Violation
FOX NEWS: LOS ANGELES – The surrounding mystery of the man behind the crudely produced anti-Islamic video that sparked violence in the Middle East took a strange turn after he appeared in court and gave yet another name in a string of aliases.

Arrested on Thursday after authorities said he violated his probation from a 2010 check fraud conviction, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula told a judge his real name was Mark Basseley Youseff. He said he'd been using that name since 2002, even though he went by Nakoula in his fraud case.

The full story about Nakoula and the video "Innocence of Muslims" still isn't known more than two weeks after violence erupted in Egypt and Libya, where Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others were killed in Benghazi. Violence related to the film has since spread, killing dozens more. » | Associated Press | Friday, September 28, 2012

VOICE OF AMERICA: Moscow Threatens YouTube Over Anti-Islam Video: MOSCOW — Russia's communications minister is threatening to ban YouTube in the country if the popular Internet site doesn't remove a video mocking Islam. » | Jessica Golloher | Thursday, September 27, 2012

Anti-Islam film-maker arrested in California

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The convicted fraudster behind the anti-Islamic video that caused violent protests in the Middle East has been arrested on suspicion of breaching his probation.

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, was taken into custody in Los Angeles, where he was due to apear at a closed court hearing.

Nakoula, a Coptic Christian originally from Egypt, was behind "Innocence of Muslims." A 14-minute trailer for the film was posted on the internet and caused days of rioting.

In June 2010 Nakoula was convicted of a bank fraud which involved obtaining credit cards in the names of other people.

He was sentenced to 21 months in prison and ordered to pay $794,700.57 in restitution. » | Nick Allen, Los Angeles | Friday, September 28, 2012

Family of Anti-Islam Filmmaker Joins Him in Hiding
ABC NEWS: Family members of the California man who wrote and produced the controversial anti-Islam film "Innocence of Muslims" fled their home early Monday morning to join the filmmaker in hiding.

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula has not returned to his Cerritos, California home since being interviewed late Friday night by federal probation officers about his role in the creation of the film, excerpts of which have ignited violent anti-American protests across the Muslim world.

Shortly before 4 a.m. Monday, officers from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department escorted members of Nakoula's family, who had their faces covered, out of the house and into police vehicles so they could rejoin Nakoula at an undisclosed location.

"They decided they would be safer where they could move about and live a normal life," said Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Department. "All we did was pick them up and reunite them with Mr. Nakoula."

Whitmore said the family's current whereabouts are unknown to him, and it was his understanding that they won't ever return to their Cerritos house, though that decision was "entirely up to the family." (+ video) » | Frank Elaridi and Randy Kreider | Monday, September 17, 2012

Feds Interview California Filmmaker, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, Linked to Anti-Islam Movie: LA Sheriff

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: The 55-year-old was interviewed but not arrested or detained, according to authorities. Nakoula has previously been convicted of financial crimes.

LOS ANGELES — A Southern California filmmaker linked to an anti-Islamic movie inflaming protests across the Middle East was interviewed by federal probation officers at a Los Angeles sheriff’s station but was not arrested or detained, authorities said early Saturday.

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, was interviewed at the station in his hometown of Cerritos, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Don Walker said.

Federal officials have said they were investigating the activities of Nakoula, who has been convicted of financial crimes. If the probation department determines Nakoula violated terms of his release, a judge could send him back to prison.

Walker said Nakoula traveled voluntarily in a squad car with deputies.

“He went to the Cerritos station to talk with probation officers. He’s not under any arrest,” Walker said. Read on and comment » | The Associated Press | Saturday, September 15, 2012

California Bans Use of Controversial Therapy Aimed at 'Curing’ Homosexuality
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: California’s assembly has approved a bill prohibiting the use of therapy designed to “cure” homosexuality in teenagers, bringing the state closer to becoming the first to ban the practise in the US.

Gay rights advocates hailed the decision of the Democrat-controlled assembly as a major victory for gay rights. Gay right advocates have long insisted there is no medical foundation to conversion therapy, because homosexuality is not a disorder.

John Perez, a member of the assembly and the first openly gay speaker of California’s lower house said during the debate on Tuesday: “It is inappropriate for anyone, including parents, to subject anybody to dehumanising activity.”

The bill to prohibit children and teenagers from undergoing conversion therapy was passed by a vote of 51 to 21.

Conversion therapy is an attempt to change the sexual orientation of a person, from homosexual or bisexual to heterosexual.

Opponents of the practice claim the therapy can cause depression, and lead to substance abuse and suicide. » | Rose Troup Buchanan | Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Gruselbilder: EU-Kommission will Rauchern Angst machen
FRANKFURTER RUNDSCHAU: Politiker in Brüssel wollen die Regeln für die Vermarktung von Zigaretten deutlich verschärfen. Vorbild könnte das australische Modell sein, das auf eine besonders drastische Methode setzt.

Die EU-Kommission plant die Regeln für die Vermarktung von Zigaretten noch einmal deutlich zu verschärfen. Das sagte am Donnerstag ein Sprecher von Gesundheits- und Verbraucherkommissar John Dalli der Frankfurter Rundschau. „Wir wollen Jugendliche noch stärker davor abschrecken, mit dem Rauchen anzufangen“, erklärte er. Die neuen Vorschriften wolle die EU-Kommission Ende Oktober oder Anfang November vorstellen.

Schon jetzt sickern einige der Ideen der Brüsseler Politiker durch. Von Gesundheitskommissar Dalli ist bekannt, dass er Sympathien für das rigorose australische Modell hegt: Dazu gehören Einheitspackungen für alle Zigarettenmarken mit gruseligen Abbildungen von missgebildeten Babys oder kranken Lungen. Zudem würden die Markenlogos von den Schachteln verschwinden.

Die Tabakkonzerne sind gegen diese Vorschriften vor das höchste australische Gericht, den High Court in Canberra, gezogen. Sie beklagen unter anderem, dass sie enteignet würden, wenn sie ihre Logos nicht mehr verwenden dürften, die sie mit Milliardeninvestitionen aufgebaut hätten. Dafür wollen sie entschädigt werden, was für Australien im Falle einer Niederlage teuer würde. » | Von Daniel Baumann | Freitag, 13. Juli 2012

RT.COM: Californian city extends smoking ban to include apartments: The ability to light up a cigarette in Santa Monica is about to go up in smoke for many residents of the coastal town outside of Los Angeles. The city’s board voted this week to soon impose a ban inside the homes of local tenants. » | Friday, July 13, 2012

Tobacco Companies Blitz Airwaves to Block California Tax on Cigarettes
THE GUARDIAN: Two-thirds of California voters backed the $1 extra tax, but two months later, the margin is narrowing in run up to Tuesday's vote

An advertising blitz funded by tobacco companies has eroded Californians' support for a ballot measure to raise taxes on cigarettes, putting the vote's outcome in doubt.

Philip Morris and RJ Reynolds have flooded airwaves with warnings that the proposed $1 tax on cigarette packs is a flawed idea which would bloat government bureaucracy and funnel money out of the state.

The energetic $47.7m campaign – more than triple the yes campaign – has been fronted by anti-tax activists and dramatically reduced support for Proposition 29, a June 5 ballot measure backed by anti-cancer groups.

"We are still ahead but it's very close. Big tobacco has a bottomless budget to tell lies," said David Veneziano, head of the American Cancer Society's California chapter. "They are trying to protect their profits."

Two months ago about two-thirds of voters backed the measure but that has tumbled to just over half, according to a Public Policy Institute of California survey. "Today, 53% say they will vote yes, 42% say they will vote no, and 5% are undecided on the measure." » | Rory Carroll in Los Angeles | Monday, June 04, 2012

Son of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Suing Los Angeles over 'Mega-mansion'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The son of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah is suing the city of Los Angeles in a dispute over plans to build a sprawling “mega-mansion” in the Beverly Hills 90210 postcode.

A land development company belonging to Prince Abdul Aziz, the king’s third son who also serves as deputy foreign minister, has gone to court in an attempt to push through the project after objections from neighbours.

The planning row began after the prince’s firm, Tower Lane Properties, spent $12 million on five-and-a-quarter acres of land in the wealthy enclave of Benedict Canyon in 2009, and applied for permits to build a palatial residence.

Even in an area dotted with multi-million dollar homes, other occupants were outraged by the initial proposal for an 85,000-square-foot compound, and likened it to “building a Walmart in our neighbourhood.”

That was later scaled back to a 60,000-square-foot project but opponents argued it was still out of proportion with surrounding houses.

They called for an environmental impact study, objecting to the disruption and damage that could be caused by construction crews moving up and down narrow canyon roads. » | Nick Allen, Los Angeles | Wednesday, May 23, 2012

VANITY FAIR: There Goes the Neighborhood: Tucked away in Beverly Hills, the secluded neighborhood of Benedict Canyon is home to the sprawling estates of Jay Leno, Bruce Springsteen, and David Beckham, as well as moguls David Geffen and Ron Burkle. But when a mysterious Saudi prince announced plans to build a big spread of his own—85,000-square-feet big, complete with servants’ quarters and a private “sons’ villa”—the claws came out. Led by Martha Karsh, the hard-charging wife of a billionaire investor, the neighbors have hired a team of lawyers and launched a publicity blitzkrieg to stop construction. Michael Shnayerson documents the real-estate war galvanizing this once quiet Los Angeles enclave. » | Michael Shnayerson | Saturday, October 29, 2011

California to Vote on Whether to Repeal Death Penalty
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: California voters are to vote on whether to repeal the death penalty, after activists collected the more than 500,000 signatures needed to put the measure on the ballot.

The ballot initiative focuses on the high cost of the death penalty in a state that has executed 13 people since capital punishment was reinstated in the nation in 1976. Another 723 inmates sit on death row pending lengthy and expensive appeals. Nearly a quarter of the nation's death row inmates are in California.

The move, which comes as a number of states reconsider capital punishment, would abolish execution as the maximum sentence in murder convictions and replace it with life imprisonment.

If the measure passes, it was expected to save the state in the "high tens of millions of dollars annually," according to an estimate of the fiscal impact of the bill that is included in the text of the measure.

"We've spent billions of dollars killing 13 people. There is a much better system," said Steve Smith, a campaign consultant for SAFE, which got the initiative on the ballot. By contrast, Texas has executed 481 people during the same time period.

The ballot measure was approved as a growing number of states question the use of the death penalty, and comes less than two weeks after Connecticut lawmakers voted to repeal the death penalty there. » | Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Oakland School Shooting: Six Dead at Christian University
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Six people have been confirmed dead and several others injured after a gunman opened fire inside a small Christian university in California.


Police said a suspect had been detained in custody following a search that lasted several hours.

The khaki-clad attacker, described as a heavy-set Asian man in his 40s, opened fire inside a lecture room where a nursing class was being held at the religious Oikos University, in East Oakland, California, at around 10.40am local time.

The college is popular with students from the Catholic Korean community.

Afterwards, four bodies outside the school could be seen covered in tarpaulin, while rescue workers removed others from inside the building on stretchers.

Nearby Highland Hospital said it had treated four victims following the incident, and others were still being taken out of the university hours after the shooting stopped. » | Rosa Prince | New York | Monday, April 02, 2012

Man behind ‘Kony 2012’ Arrested – for Masturbating in Public

RT.COM: The blonde-haired, blue-eyed, Christian filmmaker behind the Internet’s most recent famous activism campaign, “Kony 2012,” has been arrested. For masturbating. And being drunk. And vandalizing cars. In public. In the morning.

Jason Russell, 33, was arrested Thursday morning by the San Diego Police Department in Southern California and the earliest reports detailing the incident suggest it was one hell of a day already for the Invisible Children co-founder and proclaimed “mastermind” behind the Kony 2012 viral video. Police say he was described as "in his underwear" when the first 911 calls were made. » | Saturday, March 17, 2012

California Town Set to Ban Smoking Anywhere Outside...
MAIL ONLINE: A town in California is proposing to ban smoking outside, even for residents lighting up on their own property.

Smoking is already banned indoors in public places in most of the country, and in California it is illegal to smoke in parks and playgrounds too.

The town of Rocklin, near Sacramento, could take the draconian regulations further by extending them to private property as well.

The unusual legislation was prompted by a local family annoyed with their neighbour smoking outside and causing smoke to waft near their house.

They claimed their children's health had been jeopardised by second-hand smoke, according to CBS 13. » | Daily Mail Reporter | Saturday, February 25, 2012

My comment:

The 'Land of the Free' has sadly become a misnomer. The USA ceased to be truly free many, many years ago. The country is over-regulated in the extreme, California especially so. Americans have forgotten the concept of 'joie de vivre' if indeed they ever knew it. As much as I love the States in many ways, Americans have lost sight of what's important. If they keep on like this, nobody from the outside world will want to travel to the country. – © Mark

Press Conference Following Federal Court Ruling on Gay Marriage, Calling Its Ban “Unconstitutional”

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

'Chilling' Footage of Protesters at UC Davis Being Pepper Sprayed Prompts Outrage
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Footage of protesters being blasted with pepper spray by a police officer while demonstrating on the UC Davis campus, has prompted international outrage and calls for the chancellor's resignation.


The video shows a member of the university police force, displaying a bottle before spraying its contents on the seated protesters in a sweeping motion while walking back and forth. Most of the protesters have their heads down, but several were hit directly in the face.

Some members of a crowd gathered at the scene scream and cry out. The crowd then chants, "Shame on You," as the protesters on the ground are led away. The officers retreat minutes later with helmets on and batons drawn.

Nine students hit by pepper spray were treated at the scene, two were taken to hospitals and later released, university officials said.

The protest was held in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement and in solidarity with protesters at the University of California, Berkeley who were jabbed by police with batons on November 9.

As the video images circulated on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter over the weekend, the university's faculty association called on University's Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi to resign, saying in a letter there had been a "gross failure of leadership."

"The Chancellor's role is to enable open and free enquiry, not to suppress it," the faculty association said in its letter.

It called Ms Katehi's authorisation of police force a "gross failure of leadership." Read on and comment » | Josie Ensor | Sunday, November 20, 2011

California: Occupy Oakland Strike vs Tear Gas, Flashbangs, Rubber Bullets

Obama Told 'You Wouldn't Treat Jews Like This' As He Orders Black Caucus to 'Stop Complaining'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A leading black congresswoman has criticised Barack Obama for telling the Congressional Black Caucus to "stop complaining".

Representative Maxine Waters of California claimed Mr Obama "never would say that" to Hispanic, gay or Jewish groups.

She took umbrage at Mr Obama's fiery weekend speech in which he told black members of Congress: "I expect all of you to march with me and press on. Take off your bedroom slippers, put on your marching shoes.

"Shake it off. Stop complaining, stop grumbling, stop crying. We are going to press on. We've got work to do, CBC."

Mrs Waters, a former CBC chairman, told CBS News that she found the comments "a bit curious" and "not appropriate". She said that she was "not sure exactly who the president was talking to" when he made the speech.

"The president spoke to the Hispanic Caucus – he certainly didn't tell them to stop complaining," she said. » | Toby Harnden, Washington | Tuesdaay, September 27, 2011