things that can and never should

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 26, 2009

Media Contacts:

Court Upholds Prop 8; State Continues To Recognize 18,000 Marriages

SAN FRANCISCO—Today, in a 6 to 1 decision, the California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8, the ballot measure that eliminated the right of same sex couples to marry.  In the ruling authored by Chief Justice Ronald George, the Court stated “We emphasize only that among the various constitutional protections recognized in the Marriage Cases as available to same-sex couples, it is only the designation of marriage — albeit significant — that has been removed by this initiative measure.” At the same time, the court unanimously ruled that the more than 18,000 marriages that took place between June 16 and November 4, 2008 continue to be fully valid and recognized by the state of California. The decision reaffirmed the Court’s prior holding that sexual orientation is subject to the highest level of protection under the California Constitution.

In a strongly worded dissent, Justice Carlos Moreno stated, “The rule the majority crafts today not only allows same-sex couples to be stripped of the right to marry that this court recognized in the Marriage Cases, it places at risk the state constitutional rights of all disfavored minorities. It weakens the status of our state Constitution as a bulwark of fundamental rights for minorities protected from the will of the majority.”

“Today’s decision is a terrible blow to same-sex couples who share the same hopes and dreams for their families as other Californians,” said Shannon Minter, Legal Director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, who argued the case before the California Supreme Court in March. “But our path ahead is now clear. We will go back to the ballot box and we will win.”

The National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal, and the ACLU represent Equality California, whose members include many same-sex couples who married between June 16 and November 4, 2008, and six same-sex couples. David C. Codell and Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP are also counsel on the case. 

At a press conference this morning, all of the groups vowed to return to the polls to restore the right to marry for same-sex couples.

Elizabeth Gill, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Northern California, said, “Same-sex couples yearn for the same dignity and respect that others enjoy. The current situation in California is fundamentally unfair, and it is deeply disappointing that the Court let this injustice stand. But we are committed to restoring equality at the ballot box.”

The National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal, and the ACLU filed the legal challenge on November 5, after Proposition 8 was approved by just 52 percent of the voters on Election Day.

An unprecedented 43 friend-of-the-court briefs, representing hundreds of religious organizations, civil rights groups, and labor unions, and numerous California municipal governments, bar associations, and leading legal scholars, were filed in the case, urging the Court to strike down the initiative.

“Public opinion is moving in the direction of fairness and equality, and it is only a matter of time until the freedom to marry will again be secure for all Californians,” said Jennifer C. Pizer, Marriage Project Director for Lambda Legal. “Achieving equality always requires struggle, but over time people come to accept that equal treatment and equal protection of the laws is the best way to protect the rights of all.”

“By upholding Prop. 8, the Court has moved our state backward and has put all Californians at risk of losing fundamental rights at each and every election. Our Constitution must ensure that all Californians are treated equally by our government,” said Geoff Kors, Executive Director of Equality California.  “Despite this injustice, we are prepared to return to the ballot box together with our allies to restore the freedom to marry.  As more and more states across the nation allow same-sex couples to marry, and as we continue our efforts to win the hearts and minds of Californians through real conversations in homes, in neighborhoods, online and on the air, we are confident that same-sex couples will soon enjoy the honor, dignity and protections that only marriage provides.”

The case is Strauss et al. v. Horton et al. (#S168047). For more information, go to: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/supreme/highprofile/prop8.htm

The National Center for Lesbian Rights is a national legal organization committed to advancing the civil and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education. www.nclrights.org/overturn8

Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work. www.lambdalegal.org

The American Civil Liberties Union is America’s foremost advocate of individual rights. It fights discrimination and moves public opinion on LGBT rights through the courts, legislatures and public education. www.aclu.org

Equality California is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots-based, statewide advocacy organization whose mission is to achieve equality and civil rights for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Californians. www.eqca.org

Thrillpeddlers have been performing authentic Grand Guignol horror plays, fetish vignettes, and lights-out spookshows in San Francisco for more than 15 years.

via Thrillpeddlers » Grand Guignol in San Francisco.

this is super old now. i am sucking at using the internet.

San Francisco, Bay Area, & CA Cannabis News Forum:

http://www.thegreencross.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=420

San Francisco supe makes push for city to sell marijuana
April 15, 1:42 AM •

The next place to buy marijuana? Perhaps if one San Francisco
supervisor has his way.

Legislation proposed by a San Francisco supervisor would make the city by the bay the first city with the Mary Jane.

Supervisors Ross Mirkarimi proposed legislation on Tuesday that would create a pilot program for the city to get into the medical marijuana business, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Mirkarimi said he has asked city attorney to craft a measure that would allow the Department of Public Health to distribute medical marijuana.

Federal law does not recognize California’s legalization of medical marijuana. But U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said last month the federal government would no longer conduct raids on legal medical marijuana facilities, a move Mirkarimi believes opens the door to the city getting more directly involved in the sale and distribution of legal, medical marijuana.

“We’re spending much more money keeping marijuana underground, trying to hide a fact that is occurring all around us,” Mirkarimi said. “Now is the time to take responsibility for something we’ve deflected to others and to test our ability to take responsibility.”

San Francisco is also the home turf of state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano who has legislation in committee in Sacramento this year to legalize all marijuana sales in the state, a move that could make the state more than $1 billion in annual tax revenue and save the state the same amount from its prison costs.

Mirkarimi authored legislation in 2005 that regulated medical marijuana dispensaries in the city, which led to the closure of more than a dozen such facilities. His latest foray into legal marijuana is not designed to put more facilities out of business, he said, but to “alleviate the burden on neighborhoods,” according to the Chronicle’s report.

Mirkarimi proposal: Let S.F. sell medical pot
Marisa Lagos, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 15, 2009

San Francisco would be the first city in the nation to sell and distribute medical marijuana under legislation proposed Tuesday by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi.

Mirkarimi, who spearheaded legislation more than three years ago to regulate the city’s proliferating medical marijuana dispensaries, asked the city attorney to craft a measure that would create a pilot program for medical cannabis sales. The details are still being worked out, Mirkarimi said, but he envisions a pilot program under which the Department of Public Health could distribute pot to medical marijuana patients of city clinics.

Mirkarimi called the legislation the “next step” toward codifying the state laws that legalized medical marijuana, adding that he wanted to introduce the legislation in 2005 when the city was passing the laws regulating the city’s marijuana clubs. But he said he waited out of concern that federal law does not recognize California’s legalization of medical marijuana.

However, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced last month that federal authorities would prosecute only “those people who violate both federal and state law,” implying that the government no longer would try to shut down California pot dispensaries. “We’re spending much more money keeping marijuana underground, trying to hide a fact that is occurring all around us,” Mirkarimi said. “Now is the time to take responsibility for something we’ve deflected to others and to test our ability to take responsibility.”

Mayor Gavin Newsom’s office wasn’t so sure. Although the mayor supports medical marijuana, Newsom has said he does not favor efforts to legalize pot, and his office was noncommittal about the proposal for the city to sell it.
“The mayor will have to hash this out with public health officials,” press secretary Nathan Ballard said. “It’s the mayor’s job to weed out bad legislation. And to be blunt, this sounds pretty bad.”

San Francisco’s successful dispensary regulations, which are now being used as a model for other cities, arose out of concerns that the clubs were operating with no oversight and often attracting criminal elements. The regulations mandate who can run cannabis clubs, limits where they can be located and requires the businesses to receive a city permit that must be approved by four agencies.

The city laws led to the closure of at least 15 clubs. Mirkarimi said he doesn’t anticipate the pilot program putting the remaining clubs out of business but said it could “alleviate the burden on neighborhoods” and provide a more “prudent approach to regulation” by moving some pot purchases into city facilities.

Where the city would get the marijuana would be determined later, he said, adding that he views the proposal as “cost-neutral” because the city could recoup any money spent on acquiring and distributing marijuana through sales.

Federal authorities in San Francisco, who have clashed with local officials over federal prosecution of medical marijuana sellers, seemed caught off guard by the proposal. A spokeswoman for the Drug Enforcement Agency said only that federal law has not changed, while U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello said the proposal was too vague to comment on.
He noted that a municipality taking over the distribution of medical marijuana doesn’t solve the problem that the drug is still illegal under U.S. law.
“I expect that their objective here is to avoid some problems of the disparity between federal and local laws, but I don’t know that such an effort – that is, a government takeover – would be to the exclusion of other dispensaries,” Russoniello said. “They would just be creating another entity … and it assumes the city government would act in strict compliance with state regulations, which is a significant assumption.”

At least one marijuana advocate praised the proposal. Richard Lee, director of the Oakland dispensary and education group Oaksterdam University, said it’s a step in the right direction.
“In general I’m more of a private, free-enterprise guy – I’d rather see the free market do it than the government,” he said. “But I’m in favor of anything we can do to legitimize (marijuana) and make the federal position out of date and unenforceable as possible.”

E-mail Marisa Lagos at mlagos@sfchronicle.com
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/15/MN10172HH8.DTL
This article appeared on page A – 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Octopods (or octopi) have been making waves in the news lately.  From the frisky female who flooded an aquarium in California to the recent video of one squeezing itself through an inch-wide hole, there seems to be a surge of interest in the creatures.  And it’s no wonder, really, as they are among the most uniquely fascinating animals on the planet.  Wickedly smart with a one-of-a-kind body shape, scientists are striving to discover just how these animals have become so intelligent.

more at Science News Examiner: Against the odds ancient octopus fossils discovered.

California Conservatives: Get a job

Today at 2:33pm

Train of thought:

I was intrigued by a map that multiple people posted today regarding an unemployment map of the U.S. by county. After scrolling over the major metropolitan areas (and noticing that our Native populations are either getting killed by the recession or not working, or both) I went to California. Something struck me; I had seen this map before, very recently. In fact, some of the coloring distribution reminded me of a specific map I had seen … the Proposition 8 results map! Here’s the Prop 8 map again:

http://www.kcra.com/california-proposition-8/index.html

And here’s the unemployment map:

http://www.sacbee.com/1098/story/1418076.html

Notice any similarities? I did the math for you:

30 counties have at least 10% unemployment, out of a total of 58 (51.7%).

42 counties voted for Prop 8. 27 (64.3%) of them have 10% unemployment.

16 counties voted against Prop. 8. 3 of them (18.8%) have 10% unemployment.

The 5 counties with the lowest unemployment rates? Four “No” counties and one “Yes” county.

The “Yes” counties have the 8 highest unemployment rates. Then comes Monterey County. Then the next 15 highest unemployment rates. So that’s 23 of the top 24. Practically the whole top half of the unemployment figures belong to “Yes” counties.

The average unemployment rate for the “Yes” counties? 11.6%.

The average unemployment rate for the “No” counties? 8.4%.

I’m ell aware that this could be mitigated by population, geography, and other external factors, but

It’s good to know that when they passed Prop. 8 they didn’t take away homosexuals’ right to work. Say what you want, at least the gays can keep a job.

reposted fromc Facebook | Peter Fyfe’s Notes.

from DNA Sequencing:

Here’s what I’ve been dealing with for the last few months.

The short version:

The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control is trying to put DNA Lounge permanently out of business. They are accusing us of “running a disorderly house injurious to the public welfare and morals”, and are trying to permanently revoke our liquor license.

We’re fighting this, obviously. The appeals process will be lengthy, and even if everything goes wrong, we’re not going anywhere any time soon. We are open, and will remain open for the foreseeable future.

The longer version:

see DNA Lounge: 13-feb-2009.

From:	thegreencross.org
Date:	Feb 12, 2009 10:31 AM
Subject:	This video will break your heart!
Body:	Hi, Have you heard that Ken Starr — and the Prop 8 Legal Defense Fund — filed legal briefs defending the constitutionality of Prop 8 and attempting to forcibly divorce 18,000 same-sex couples that were married in California last year? The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in this case on March 5, 2009, with a decision expected within the next 90 days. The Courage Campaign has created a video called “Fidelity,” with the permission of musician Regina Spektor, that puts a face to those 18,000 couples and all loving, committed couples seeking full equality under the law. Please watch this heartbreaking video now. If you have the same reaction that I did, you can help spread the word by sharing it with your friends ASAP — before the Valentine’s Day deadline: http://www.couragecampaign.org/Divorce The more people who see this video, the more people will understand the pain caused by Prop 8 and Ken Starr’s shameful legal proceeding. After you watch the video, please join me and over 150,000 people who have signed a letter to the state Supreme Court, asking them to invalidate Prop 8 and reject Starr’s case. Thanks.

via MySpace.com.

Life The following essay by James Benning, in the Nov-Dec (2007) issue of Frieze is so beautiful it hurts! Thanks to Girish & David Hudson for this one!

James Benning has been making films since the early 1970s. His most recent works, RR and Casting a Glance (both 2007) are about freight trains crossing American landscapes and Robert Smithson’s 1970 Spiral Jetty.

“Every so often I teach a course at California Institute of the Arts entitled ‘Looking and Listening’. Each week ten or 12 students and I go somewhere to practise paying attention. We spend a whole day crossing an oilfield, an early morning watching the sky gain light, ten hours on the local buses or a night along 5th Street in the homeless section of downtown Los Angeles. We find looking and listening to be a political act, our differences in perception reflecting our individual prejudices. Occasionally I am asked to teach this course elsewhere. Last spring I did it in Mexico City. After spending the day in a large industrial area, I asked, ‘What did you see and hear?’

Student one: There was a white wall on the opposite side of the street. It was very bright. On the right there was a small door that was recessed a foot or two, causing a rectangular shadow to fall upon the door. On the left side there were two more doors that were quite large, but they had no shadow, since they weren’t recessed. It was relatively quiet – that is, just an overall industrial ambience. Then after some minutes someone exited through the small door. The shadow went from a rectangle to a triangle and back as the person opened and closed the door and disappeared down the street. Then nothing happened for a long time. But finally the two other doors opened inward, revealing a negative space with the faint presence of two men working somewhere in the back of the black void. One of the men ignited a welding torch and sparks flew. The outside wall remained bright. The rectangular shadow got longer.

Student two: There was a small green area. A path crossed it diagonally from left to right. Two men were cleaning the path with long straw brooms. One of the men worked his broom from left to right, and then right to left. He made a swish-swish, swish-swish, swish-swish sound. He worked methodically, taking no break. The other man worked from left to right only. His sound was continuous and faster: swish, swish, swish, swish … until he took a break. It was very musical.

Student three: A railroad track curved its way back between two old factories. They sounded like foundries but weren’t. I’m not sure what they were. People lived in makeshift homes along both sides of the tracks. There were children and dogs. Right where I stood a road crossed the tracks. Vehicles coming down the street would brake due to the bad condition of the crossing. As they passed, I could hear part of a conversation or the sounds of a radio. Words and songs came and went. A large truck didn’t slow and crossed with a loud bang. All the dogs began to bark.

Student four: I watched three men unload a boxcar full of yellow powder. They had a long tube that sucked the powder out of the car. One of the men held the tube, alternately filling burlap bags held by the other two men. As soon as a bag was full, the man would seal it and place it on a pallet. When the pallet was full (about 50 bags), a forklift driver would haul it away. Then one of the men had the added task of getting an empty pallet to replace the full one that had just been carted away. I watched for two hours. The process never stopped. The sound was like flowing sand but was hard to hear over the noise of a gasoline-powered compressor. They were working on their third pallet when I left.

Student five: There were about 20 workers outside the factory on a break. Some sat on benches provided by the factory. A man in dark blue overalls was talking to an attractive young woman. They were both standing. She too was in blue, but it was a very fine dress. You could see the shape of her body through the fabric. Perhaps she was a secretary or part of management. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I could tell they were flirting by their body language. Three women in yellow overalls were sitting together, smoking cigarettes and laughing. Two men on the left were engaged in a serious conversation. They too had blue overalls. Then a bell rang, and they all walked back into the building. It was orange.

Etc. etc. etc. … and it’s one of the best films I have ever seen or heard.

Oh, and this morning I saw another amazing film. I was at my school, which has been rented out to a high school summer arts programme. The halls were filled with teenagers. Off to the side in one of the main galleries a young man was playing Erik Satie’s Vexations (1893), a piano piece with 840 repetitions that is composed to go on for ever. I went in and listened for a few hours. What a treat and surprise to hear this being performed. Occasionally a few students would come in, most of the time for less than a minute, and then wander off. Two young girls stood in the doorway for 30 minutes, mystified and perhaps a bit afraid to enter the genius of this work. They reminded me of myself, the first time I saw and heard John Cage. Then a blind student came in and sat down. He carried a red and white cane that folded into itself. He listened intently and was still there when I left. Imagine what he saw.”

-James Benning (c) 2007 by Frieze.

via Invisible Cinema: Life In Film by James Benning.

A California father says he discovered his 13-year-old daughter sent 484 text messages per day last month — one message every 2 minutes of every waking hour.

read more | digg story

The Mega64 crew in one of their most funniest skits.
Also one of the least seen videos due to the fact that it was released in a series of Mega64 dvd’s packed in issues of EGM back in 2005.

I don’t claim ownership of this video, I’m just doing the Mega64 guys a favor by showing the world one of their best skits and therefore, gain more viewers and fans for them.
They rock.

Brief and brilliant description of Mega64 by SestrenNK:

“Men who fear nothing: They fight for a better future. Fight for their country. Bust evil. Or in the case of these guys, risk it all for the sake of portraying their favorite games in real life and making us laugh till we cry in the process.”
Category: Comedy
Tags:
mega64 mega 64 california games skating funny video game skits rocco botte derrick acosta kokiko bribon