Tag: california

Gavin Newsom’s Wife Rakes in Cash Charging California Public Schools To Screen Her Woke Movies

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D.) wife has charged the state’s public schools as much as $1.5 million to screen her documentaries on “gender justice” and “corporate exploitation.”

“First Partner” Jennifer Siebel Newsom has raised nearly $1.5 million from film licenses and nearly $1.7 million from sales since 2012, according to the watchdog group Open the Books. Her nonprofit, the Representation Project, charges schools an average $270 to license documentaries like The Great American Lie, which says sexism causes economic inequality, and Fair Play, about women who want to do less housework. While the group does not specify how much it earned from schools, Open the Books says it could easily account for all or nearly all her $1.5 million in streaming revenue.

Siebel Newsom’s nonprofit could pose an ethical problem for her husband as he considers a presidential run. The Representation Project drew criticism in 2019 for accepting $358,000 in donations from the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), the utility company responsible for some of the state’s worst wildfires. PG&E is listed as an associate producer on two of Siebel Newsom’s films and hosted a screening of her first movie, Miss Representation, in 2011, when Newsom was mayor of San Francisco.

PG&E isn’t the only Newsom donor with ties to the Representation Project. The governor and his wife for years have raised money from the same donors and corporations—he for his political campaigns and she for her nonprofit.

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I’m a successful female minority truck driver. California’s AB5 forced me to leave the state I love

To most people, owning your own business is a way to become successful. For me, it was a mission – a lifeline to a brighter future for myself and my daughters.

 That journey began in California more than three decades ago, when I dropped my nursing studies to get a commercial driver’s license. As a woman, the thought of working in a male-dominated field was intimidating at first. But those initial fears soon gave way to the rewarding opportunities that a career in trucking offers.

The change was unexpected. As a single parent raising four daughters, I needed both flexibility and the opportunity to provide for them. Which is why, in 2015, I partnered with Prime Inc. to become an independent contractor. 

Being an independent truck driver empowered me to run my truck as my own small business. I loved traveling on the job, the freedom to be my own boss, and the option to take my children with me on long hauls when I could. 

Making good money while seeing the country, I built a wonderful life back in California – a place I was proud to call home. I was living my version of the American Dream. But lawmakers in Sacramento soon had a very different plan for me. 

When the state legislature began debating Assembly Bill 5 – a law effectively banning independent contractors in trucking – my dream was put in jeopardy. AB5 would have demoted me from small business owner to company employee – affecting my hours, benefits, flexibility and overall ability to earn on my own terms. It would effectively kill the dream I worked so hard to build over so many years.

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District administrator calls for ‘privileged white voices’ to be dismissed from curriculum plans in California

A California district administrator involved in overseeing curriculum, Samia Shoman, called for “privileged White voices” to be removed from influencing against a far-left ethnic studies curriculum. 

Shoman oversees curriculum in the San Mateo Union High School district as manager of English Learners and Academic Support Programs. The email was dated March 2021 and was obtained via public record request by Zachor Legal.

Shoman contacted the California State superintendent, Tony Thurmond, in March 2021. Shoman blasted “white voices” and said they should have no part in influencing the curriculum.

“We urge the [state board of education] not to give in to the pressures and influences of political lobbyists, racist & privileged white voices, and individuals,” she said. 

Another issue Shoman took up with the proposed ethnic studies curriculum was the idea of “multiple perspectives.”

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‘He Was Looking for People’: What We Know About the Monterey Park Shooter

A 72-year-old man shot and killed 10 people on Saturday night at a dance studio in Monterey Park, California, where decades earlier he had met his wife.

On Sunday night police named the shooter as Huu Can Tran, and confirmed that he had taken his own life earlier in the day. Police found his body inside the van he used as a getaway vehicle the night before.

Authorities have yet to identify why the gunman did what he did.

“We still are not clear on the motive,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said at a press conference Sunday night.

The gunman’s ex-wife and former friends have described him as irritable and  “quick to anger,” while police sources told the LA Times that the gunman had recently gone to a police station close to where he lived to claim his family was trying to poison him.

Saturday night’s massacre happened as thousands of people gathered to celebrate the Lunar New Year festival in Monterey Park, a city of 60,000 people located seven miles from downtown Los Angeles. The city is a haven for Asian Americans, who make up almost two thirds of the population. It was once described by a developer as the Chinese Beverly Hills.

The massacre on Saturday is the 36th mass shooting to take place in the U.S. since the year began, according to Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that defines a mass shooting as a shooting where four or more people are injured or killed. It is the deadliest attack since the Uvalde school shooting last May when 21 people, including 19 children, were killed.

As a mark of respect to the victims, President Joe Biden ordered flags to be flown at half staff on the White House and all federal buildings until sunset on Thursday.

“I still have questions in my mind, which is, what was the motive for this shooter? Did he have a mental illness? Was he a domestic violence abuser? How did he get these guns, and was it through legal means? Well, those questions will have to be answered in the future,” said Rep. Judy Chu, whose district includes Monterey Park and who served three terms as the city’s mayor, during a news conference on Sunday night.

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Reckless Reparations Reckoning

The last time racial reparations made the major news was on the eve of September 11, 2001 attacks. The loss of 3,000 Americans, which for a time fueled a new national unity, quickly dispelled the absurdities of the reparation movement, and turned our attention toward more existential issues. 

Now the idea is back in vogue again. Here are 10 reasons why the nation’s—and especially California’s—discussions of reparatory payouts are dangerous in a multiracial state, and why reparations are not viable either in an insolvent state or a bankrupt nation at large.

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After Approving Mass Mail-In Balloting, California Loses 10 Million Ballots In November Midterms

The 2022 midterms were the first major elections to occur in California after the Golden State approved all-mail voting in September 2021. Under the new system, all registered voters in the state are automatically mailed a ballot for each election cycle (Californians can still opt to vote in person if they wish). But during California’s first foray into mass mail-in balloting for the 2022 midterms, 226,250 mail ballots were rejected and more than 10 million remain unaccounted for, according to a new report by the Public Interest Legal Foundation.

Per the report, the most common reason for rejection of mail ballots in the 2022 cycle was late arrival (48 percent of rejects). Under California law, mail ballots must be postmarked no later than Election Day and arrive at the tabulation center within seven days. For the state’s 2022 general elections, more than 57,000 ballots arrived after Nov. 15 (the seven-day mark). Largely as a result of the switch to mail-in balloting, more than 57,000 Californians were disenfranchised. Such voter disenfranchisement is sure to continue as long as the state keeps its vote-by-mail system. 

“Mail ballots disenfranchise,” PILF President J. Christian Adams said in a statement. “There are many reasons mail ballots fail ultimately to count. No one casting a ballot at home can correct an error before it’s too late. California’s vote-by-mail demonstration should serve as a warning to state legislators elsewhere.”

Another concerning figure coming from California’s midterm election cycle is that 10 million ballots still remain unaccounted for, after processing all polling place votes and rejected ballots. The assumption by election officials is that the majority of these ballots were ignored or thrown out by recipients. But such an information gap increases the risk of fraud. As the report notes, “The public cannot know how many ballots were disregarded, delivered to wrong mailboxes, or even withheld from the proper recipient by someone at the same address.”

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Residents earning as much as $141,550 eligible for taxpayer-funded rent relief in California city

In a California city where the school district asked for community members to rent rooms to teachers who they said couldn’t afford housing, a person making $141,550 is eligible for a rent and relief program paid by taxpayer dollars.

The city of Milpitas is spending $950,000 from the federal American Rescue Plan on its rent and mortgage relief program “to help low- and moderate-income residents who have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.” The program was launched in December.

Households can receive up to $5,000 in rent relief and up to $15,000 in mortgage relief in the program. To qualify, participants must have suffered an economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A household of four people could have an income of up to $202,200 and still qualify.

The Milpitas Unified School District made national news when it asked community members to offer up rooms to rent for its teachers who it claimed could not afford to live in the area. The district didn’t respond to emails asking if any community members had rented rooms to teachers.

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Language Police: USC Removes ‘Field’ from ‘Field Work’ Because It May Be ‘Anti-Black or Anti-Immigrant’

USC’s School of Social Work is removing the word “field” from its curriculum and practice, arguing that it “could be considered anti-black or anti-immigrant” to say someone is “going into the field” or conducting “field work.” The university explains, “our goal is not just to change language but to honor and acknowledge inclusion and reject white supremacy, anti-immigrant and anti-blackness ideologies.”

“We have decided to remove the term ‘field’ from our curriculum and practice and replace it with ‘practicum.’ This change supports anti-racist social work practice by replacing language that could be considered anti-black or anti-immigrant in favor of inclusive language,” a letter from the Practicum Education Department read.

The letter was shared by Houman David Hemmati, a board-certified MD Ophthalmologist and Ph.D. research scientist, who said the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work “will no longer use the word ‘field’ (as in ‘conducting field work’) because it’s perceived as racist.”

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Researchers: California’s Digital License Plates Could Allow Hackers to Track Location

Security researchers were able to gain “super administrative access” to Reviver, the sole provider of California’s digital license plates, and track the GPS location of all of vehicles they are associated with.

A team of security researchers successfully obtained “full super administrative access,” which allowed them to perform a slew of tasks involving the company’s user accounts and vehicles, according to a blog post by researcher Sam Curry.

After gaining access, a hacker could track the physical GPS location of all license plates of Reviver customers, as well as change the slogan or personalized message at the bottom of the plates to arbitrary text.

The personalized messages on the license plates involves a feature that allows customers to digitally update the bottom section of their plates to display different messages, such as, “Go Team!” or “looking for a trail.”

Additionally, a hacker could update any vehicle status to “STOLEN,” which would alert authorities.

“An actual attacker could remotely update, track, or delete anyone’s REVIVER plate,” Curry wrote in his blog post, revealing that he and his team had found security vulnerabilities across the automotive industry, not just with Reviver.

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Large Trucks and Buses Made Before 2010 Now Banned From California Roadways

Big rigs and buses made before 2010 are now banned from operating on California roadways.

The law, which went into effect on New Year’s Day, was part of a set of clean air regulations the California Air Resources Board passed nearly 15 years ago.

According to truck lobbying groups, the new law will prohibit about 10 percent of the commercial motor vehicles that are operating in the state.

“The rule applies to diesel vehicles that weigh at least 14,000 pounds. The air resources board said there are an estimated 200,000 vehicles that have yet to comply with the rule just days before the new year, including roughly 70,000 big rig trucks, or about 10% of the commercial motor vehicles operating in the state, according to trucking lobbying groups,” KCRA reports.

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