At least 10 California House Members elected or re-elected in 2010 won’t return to Capitol Hill in 2013, with today’s primary results offering fresh clues about others who might not make it back in a year of upheaval in the Golden State.
A nonpartisan redistricting commission’s remap of district lines mixed with an aging delegation and a rush of ambition is resulting in an unusually competitive election cycle in a state largely uncontested at the presidential or Senate levels.
The state is holding its first-ever “jungle” primaries in a federal election cycle, and there is no shortage of races to watch tonight — especially the 31st district, where Rep. Gary Miller (R) could be the first incumbent to lose. Under a new primary format approved by voters in 2010, all candidates will appear on a single primary ballot, and the top two vote-getters will advance to the general election, regardless of party preference.
The unconventional process adds another layer of intrigue to California, where the Congressional delegation, once a model of stasis, will see more turnover than any other state this cycle. Just one seat changed party hands in the past decade. At the start of the 112th Congress, the average tenure for a delegation Member was eight terms.
California is vital to Democrats’ efforts to win back the House, and the party hopes to net as many as a half-dozen pickups. Although the Democrats controlled redistricting 10 years ago, the lines drawn by the nonpartisan commission following the latest census are set to put more seats in play than did the 2002 remap.
However, Republicans have pickup opportunities of their own. The GOP is targeting several Democratic incumbents and could potentially keep Democratic gains to a single seat.
Among the highlights of primary day are a pair of Member-vs.-Member races; a Democrat-targeted district where the party could have no candidate on the general election ballot; and an incumbent, Miller, who could be the first California Congressman of 2012 to be ousted.
After being drawn into the 39th district with Rep. Ed Royce (R), Miller decided to run in the new 31st district — Democratic-leaning territory and none of which he currently represents. With Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar (D) expected to advance, it will come down to Miller and state Sen. Bob Dutton (R), whose state legislative district overlaps considerably with the 31st.
In Ventura County, the Democrats’ preferred candidate, state Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, might not make it out of the primary thanks to Ventura County Supervisor Linda Parks’ independent bid and the potential for a splintered Democratic vote. State Sen. Tony Strickland is the only Republican running and will face either Parks or Brownley in the general.
There are two pairs of Democratic incumbents facing each other in the Los Angeles area on Tuesday: Reps. Howard Berman and Brad Sherman, and Reps. Janice Hahn and Laura Richardson. All four are likely to advance to the general election, where two are sure to lose.
The Members elected in 2010 who have already resigned or are retiring are: former Rep. Jane Harman (D) and Reps. Dennis Cardoza (D), David Dreier (R), Elton Gallegly (R), Wally Herger (R), Jerry Lewis (R) and Lynn Woolsey (D). Rep. Bob Filner (D) is running for San Diego mayor.
California Primary Races
1st district
Retiring Rep. Wally Herger’s (R) successor in this rural, Republican-leaning Northern California district will likely be decided today. The heavy favorite is state Sen. Doug LaMalfa (R), whom Herger endorsed on the day of his retirement announcement in early January. LaMalfa’s biggest challenge is to make sure he finishes ahead of former state Sen. Sam Aanestad (R). There are enough Democrats here that Herger’s 2010 opponent, Jim Reed (D), will likely advance and possibly even finish with the most votes, but a Republican will win in November.
2nd district
It’s a race for second place in this coastal, heavily Democratic district. Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D), a leader in the Congressional Progressive Caucus, is retiring, opening perhaps the most liberal district in the country. State Assemblyman Jared Huffman (D) will likely finish first and is favored to win in November, followed by one of a handful of other Democrats: activist Norman Solomon, former tech executive Stacey Lawson and Marin County Supervisor Susan Adams. However, it’s possible investment firm adviser Dan Roberts (R) will take enough Republican votes to advance.
8th district
A Republican will represent this open High Desert district, which stretches from inland Southern California near Los Angeles all the way to the Nevada border. But with so many candidates, it’s impossible to call which two will emerge from the primary and from which party. Ten of the 13 candidates vying for this safe Republican seat are Republican. The top GOP contenders are state Assemblyman Paul Cook, San Bernardino County Commissioner Brad Mitzelfelt, Victorville Mayor Ryan McEachron, anti-immigration activist Gregg Imus and accountant Phil Liberatore, who loaned his campaign $250,000.
10th district
It’s unlikely there will be any general election scenario here other than freshman Rep. Jeff Denham (R), an Air Force veteran, versus former NASA astronaut Jose Hernandez (D). The intrigue comes from the independent bid of Chad Condit, the son of former Rep. Gary Condit (D). Condit would have to overcome any remaining scars from the scandal that led to his father’s primary defeat in 2002. This Modesto-area district, among the most competitive in the state, includes much of Gary Condit’s former territory.
15th district
Rep. Pete Stark (D) is not in danger of losing in the primary in this Northern California seat southeast of San Francisco. But a poor showing against Dublin City Councilman Eric Swalwell (D) on Tuesday could portend trouble in November. The 80-year-old recently announced the endorsement of President Barack Obama, which he hopes will overshadow a string of embarrassing gaffes that breathed life into Swalwell’s challenge, once seen as a long shot.
21st district
It’s unclear how competitive Democrats will be here in November even if the national party’s preferred candidate, Fresno City Councilman Blong Xiong, is able to advance in the three-
candidate primary field. State Assemblyman David Valadao (R) will be the favorite to win this open seat against Xiong or John Hernandez (D), the CEO of the Central California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. But a Xiong primary loss could take this district off the map completely for Democrats. If Xiong pulled off an upset, he would be the first Hmong-American elected to Congress.
24th district
Rep. Lois Capps (D) is waiting to see which of two Republicans makes it out of the primary in this competitive Santa Barbara-area district. Former Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado and actor Chris Mitchum, the son of actor Robert Mitchum, are both in the National Republican Congressional Committee’s Young Guns candidate program. But Maldonado, who is not a favorite of conservatives, has had to weather some recent bad press, including a Los Angeles Times report that he and his family business owe the IRS more than $4 million.
26th district
A splintered Democratic vote could result in no Democrat advancing to the general in a top pickup opportunity for the party. Ventura County Supervisor Linda Parks, most recently a Republican, opted to run as an Independent, potentially helping her win votes from across the spectrum. National Democratic groups have spent heavily to boost the profile of state Assemblywoman Julia Brownley. State Sen. Tony Strickland is the lone Republican and is assured of advancing.
30th district
Known simply as Berman-Sherman — or Sherman-Berman — this is the race to which all other Member-vs.-Member contests are compared. But unlike most others, this one is highly likely to continue until November. Longtime Democratic Reps. Howard Berman and Brad Sherman are facing off in the San Fernando Valley and have spent heavily ahead of the primary. Both campaigns want the momentum a first-place finish would offer. Sherman currently represents about 60 percent of the district.
31th district
This primary offers the best chance for a California incumbent to lose before November. That possibility led the National Association of Realtors to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars on behalf of Rep. Gary Miller (R), who opted to run here after being drawn into the 39th district with Rep. Ed Royce (R). Miller doesn’t currently represent any of the district. State Sen. Bob Dutton (R) does, and he could prevent Miller from returning to Congress. Highly touted Democratic recruit and Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar will advance.
41st district
Both parties expect a general election matchup between Riverside Community College Board Trustee Mark Takano (D) and Riverside County Supervisor John Tavaglione (R). Both men heavily outraised their three opponents for this seat, situated in Southern California’s Inland Empire. This will likely be one of the most competitive races in the state, and it’s one that Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), are focused on picking up.
44th district
There are only two candidates here, so the primary will act as a dry run for November. But there is still plenty of interest in the primary results of Democratic Reps. Janice Hahn and Laura Richardson, one of two Member-vs.-Member races in the state. Hahn, whose family name is synonymous with Southern California politics, was endorsed by the state party and is heavily favored over Richardson, who is under investigation by the Ethics Committee.
47th district
This is one of the odder primaries, in that it includes a husband and wife, Jay and Usha Shah, both running as Democrats. Seven candidates are running in this Democratic-leaning district in Long Beach. State Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D) is likely to advance. Long Beach City Councilman Gary DeLong, who is in the NRCC’s Young Guns candidate program, and former Rep. Steve Kuykendall (R) are vying for the second spot. Both boast big-name endorsements, but DeLong has spent more than twice as much.
51st district
Rep. Bob Filner’s (D) decision to run for San Diego mayor opened a safe Democratic seat. There is no love lost between the two leading Democratic contenders, state Sen. Juan Vargas and former state Sen. Denise Moreno Ducheny, whom Vargas succeeded when he was elected in 2010. They’ll likely advance and keep the slugfest going for another five months.
52nd district
Redistricting forced Rep. Brian Bilbray (R) into a Democratic-leaning district. The two leading Democrats vying to take him on are San Diego Port Commission Chairman Scott Peters and former state Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña. Peters loaned his campaign $1.25 million in May and spent about half that on mail and TV. Saldaña spent a total of $163,000 in the preprimary fundraising period, but Progressive Kick, a liberal super PAC, ran a late TV ad opposing Peters.
California Races To Watch in November
There are four competitive districts to watch in the general election that aren’t among the top primaries today. All four involve incumbents who are near the top of national party target lists.
3rd district
John Garamendi (D) vs. Kim Vann (R)
7th district
Ami Bera (D) vs. Dan Lungren (R)
9th district
Jerry McNerney (D) vs. Ricky Gill (R)
36th district
Raul Ruiz (D) vs. Mary Bono Mack (R)
Other Primaries to Watch
Montana At-Large
Businessman Steve Daines (R) is the frontrunner in the race to succeed Rep. Denny Rehberg, who is running for Senate. Daines has nominal competition in today’s primary and has far outraised anyone in the highly competitive Democratic race. The top Democratic contenders include state Senate Minority Whip Kim Gillan, state Rep. Franke Wilmer, tech executive Diane Smith and Missoula City Councilman Dave Strohmaier.
New Mexico's 1st
The winner of the heated, three-way Democratic primary will emerge as the heavy favorite in November. It’s been a true horse race over the past year, as the long-perceived frontrunner, centrist former Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chávez, could end up running third against two more liberal opponents. State Sen. Eric Griego and Bernalillo County Commissioner Michelle Lujan Grisham ran neck and neck in recent private and independent polls, and both ran attack ads against each other in the past week. The primary victor will take on former state Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones (R) in the general election.
New Jersey's 9th
Thanks to redistricting, Democratic Reps. Bill Pascrell and Steven Rothman are locked in a dead-heat primary. The entire delegation and many Garden State operatives have remained unaligned in this contest. But President Bill Clinton endorsed Pascrell, and President Barack Obama is supporting Rothman. Rothman has numbers on his side, but Pascrell has fire in his belly. This could go either way.
New Jersey's 10th
All eyes are on Newark City Council President Donald Payne Jr. today in the Democratic primary to succeed his late father, Rep. Donald Payne (D). The younger Payne is seen as having the edge over state Sen. Nia Gill and Newark Councilman Ron Rice Jr. because of his name identification and establishment support. But with such low turnout and complicated circumstances, anything can happen. Names will appear on the ballot twice today, once for the full two-year term beginning in 2013 and once for the special election to serve out the remainder of the late Congressman’s term after the November election.
Source: www.rollcall.com
'Lost' Aboriginal community painting returned - ABC Online
Posted
An Aboriginal painting that has been missing for more than a decade is being returned to a remote community in central Australia.
The painting once hung in a health centre at Kintore, about 530 kilometres west of Alice Springs, but disappeared in the early 1990s.
It was rediscovered last month at a Melbourne auction house as part of an art collection bequeathed to Columbia University from the estate of American billionaire John W. Kluge.
Indigenous art specialist Shaun Dennison says the painting had been due to be auctioned but the university is now giving it back to the people of Kintore.
"We felt the fact that the health service had contacted us, that it showed the importance culturally of the painting and the desire to have the painting returned," he said.
"We felt that Columbia University would be open to that.
"They saw the fact that it was returning to the homeland was more important than putting it up for sale and receiving some proceeds.
"They were very amenable to the whole process and I am very happy that they were."
John Keane was working in Kintore in early 1985 as acting manager of the health clinic and says he commissioned the painting to celebrate the return of local people to their country.
He is now an independent Aboriginal art consultant living in Melbourne.
He was pivotal in having the painting returned after being told it was going to auction.
He says it is rare that a painting of such historical significance is returned to Aboriginal people, and everyone is happy the university withdrew it from auction.
"It is great," he said.
"It is a really significant painting and I think it was done at a time of real optimism, when Pintubi people had left Papunya and returned to their country.
"It sort of has all that kind of optimistic feel to it."
Topics: visual-art, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, regional, kintore-0872, alice-springs-0870, melbourne-3000
Source: www.abc.net.au
California Chefs Mount a Repeal of Foie Gras Ban Set for July 1 - New York Times
THE countdown to foie-mageddon has begun.
With less than a month until California’s first-in-the nation ban on foie gras takes effect, fans of the fattened duck and goose liver are buying out stocks of the delicacy, searching for legal loopholes and sating themselves at a series of foie-heavy goodbyes.
“We want to get our fill before it’s gone,” said Terrance L. Stinnett, a lawyer from Alamo, Calif., who attended a farewell lunch here recently. “This is a wake.”
July 1 is the start date of the hotly debated and divisive ban, which prohibits the sale of any product derived from the force-feeding of birds to enlarge their livers — the most common way to mass-produce foie gras. . (The law was passed in 2004, but included a seven-and-a-half-year grace period.)
As the deadline approaches, some of the best-known chefs in California — including Thomas Keller, Gary Danko and Michael Mina — have been mounting a repeal effort and promising new ethical standards. But they are also making practical preparations for the likelihood that they won’t be able to overturn the law before it takes effect. Even opponents of the ban say going to bat for high-priced foie gras, after all, isn’t exactly an easy political stance in an age of animal rights and fiscal austerity.
So how will chefs replace foie gras, with its butter-soft texture and rich, subtle taste? The short answer, they say, is that they can’t, and the sense of loss is palpable.
“It’s unlike any other animal product that I know of,” said Jon Shook, an owner of Animal, a meat lovers’ paradise in Los Angeles where foie gras regularly appears in sauces, as a torchon and in other forms. “We’re working on dishes to replace it, but you can never really replace foie gras.”
That sentiment was echoed by Michael Ginor, an owner of Hudson Valley Foie Gras in Ferndale, N.Y., who likened it to delicious Play-Doh.
“You can shape it into anything you want,” he said. “You can sauté it, you can serve it cold, you can serve it hot, you can cook it at high heat.”
You get the idea. The menu at an April lunch at the Pebble Beach Food and Wine festival was indicative of the product’s versatility across land and sea, entree and dessert. Prepared by several opponents of the ban, the meal featured oysters and raw foie gras; lobster and foie gras noodles (created by squeezing liquid foie gras into a broth); beef tenderloin with seared foie gras and a foie gras emulsion, and vanilla and foie gras crème brûlée.
As that suggests, foie gras is not for the weak of heart or the high of cholesterol. Mr. Ginor said that ducks are much more commonly used today because geese are more labor intensive, more susceptible to disease and temperamental, all factors that make the ducks “more economically sensible” to use, though some believe the taste of goose foie gras is more delicate.
Casey Lane, the chef at the Tasting Kitchen in Los Angeles, said his restaurant almost never serves a portion of foie gras smaller than six to seven ounces, making the dish “a genuine indulgence.” He might counter the dish’s richness with the sweetness and acidity of a peak-of-the-season apple.
“It’s like having the trump card year round,” he said.
He, too, bemoaned its loss. “The people that build Porsches, you don’t want your gasoline taken away from you,” he said. “You’re trying to work at the top of your field.”
Beyond the kitchen, there are other responses in the works, including whispers of culinary civil disobedience, in which restaurateurs would continue to serve the dish — and risk fines of up to $1,000 per violation. Others have suggested that they could skirt the law by offering the foie gras free (with $20 glasses of wine).
The end result, however, will likely be very little, if any, foie anywhere in California. And that disheartens people like Greg Daniels, who runs the Haven Gastropub in Pasadena, Calif., and worries about the state’s culinary reputation. “How seriously can you take our culinary efforts when we can’t even use this product that’s being used everywhere?” he said.
Mr. Daniels warned that the foie gras ban could also limit access to other duck-based dishes, including duck confit and duck-fat French fries. “Even if you can get duck fat, it’s probably going to be too expensive for you to fill up a fryer with it,” he said.
But such concerns have done little to sway the law’s supporters, who see the ban as a victory for humane treatment of animals.
John Burton, the former California legislator who drafted the law, has shot back at the chefs, likening the tradition of foie gras (which dates back centuries) to waterboarding and female genital mutilation.
“Why don’t you tell those chefs to have a duck cram a lot of food down their gullets and see how they like it?” he asked.
Such passions are not so surprising. Food fights have become increasingly common in statehouses and at kitchen counters alike, as new generations of chefs and their customers drift toward more animal-friendly products and methods of production. Indeed, opponents of the ban argue that factory farming — not foie gras, which has just two producers in the United States — is a much more serious issue in terms of public health and humane treatment of animals.
That view was shared by Michael Pollan, the author of “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto,” whose examinations of the modern food chain have placed him on the front lines of many battles over what is on the menu. Even though he is not much of a foie gras eater, he does not see the point of the ban.
“I think it’s really a way for people to feel like they’ve done something without doing anything,” he said. “There’s so many more serious problems we’re not dealing with.”
But as the Humane Society of the United States points out, many states are moving toward more protections for farm animals, including veal cows, hens and feedlot cattle and pigs. At least two other states, New York and Hawaii, have considered bans on foie gras.
“California is leading,” said Wayne Pacelle, the society’s president and chief executive. “But it’s not alone.”
Mr. Pacelle rejected the idea that animal rights activists were singling out a small industry rather than taking on bigger fish. “The notion that we’re picking on foie gras is soft,” he said. “There’s nobody that takes on big agriculture businesses like we do. And foie gras is just cruelty for a table treat.”
It remains unclear exactly how painful force feeding (known as gavage) is. The Humane Society says that the process can cause bruises, lacerations and sores, and that the ducks’ livers may grow to 10 times their normal size.
The American Veterinary Medical Association says that that is true, though ducks’ livers also naturally fluctuate seasonally, but not to such extremes as those of force-fed birds. The association says it is difficult to say how much pain the animals are in when tubes are in place, though it also says that “force feeding overrides animal preference.”
David Kinch, the acclaimed chef at Manresa in Los Gatos, Calif., who opposes the ban, said part of the problem with the ban’s logic was that its supporters had mistakenly anthropomorphized the ducks’ experience of being force fed. “They imagine a tube being shoved down their human throat,” he said. Rather, he said, ducks have no gag reflex, nor are geese as cuddly as they appear.
“They are the nastiest animals on the planet,” Mr. Kinch said. “They are guard dogs in France.”
The group fighting the ban, the Coalition for Humane and Ethical Farming Standards (or CHEFS), has suggested a variety of measures that might make gavage more appetizing, including hand feeding, cage-free birds and regular inspections by animal welfare officers.
None of those seemed to sway animal rights supporters like Bryan Pease, of the Animal Protection and Rescue League in San Diego, who called the chefs’ efforts “false and disingenuous.”
“All the ducks are already hand fed,” he said. “They’re hand fed because that’s the only way to force a tube down their throat.”
Nor was that sort of image likely to sway foie gras aficionados like Mr. Stinnett and his wife, Annette, who spent $200 each to eat seven courses of foie gras in Pebble Beach. They said the ban had already foiled their plans for Mr. Stinnett’s birthday in July: Ms. Stinnett said she had tried to bribe a local chef to set some foie gras aside, but no luck.
“I said, ‘Will $500 find me some foie gras?’ ” Ms. Stinnett said. “They said no. He doesn’t want to take a chance.”
Source: www.nytimes.com
California can't get enough of the Chevy Volt as sales surge - Detroit Free Press
Just a few weeks after General Motors curbed production of Volts, Chevrolet dealers in California are scrambling to get the extended-range electric cars on their lots as sales surge because of special state incentives for electric vehicles and West Coast gas still above $4 a gallon.
It's ironic because lower demand, in general, prompted GM to shut down production for five weeks during April and May. GM still plans a three-week shutdown this summer at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant.
"I've had more people talk to me in the last couple months about the Volt than I have in the last year," said Bill Cumming, general manager of Ron Baker Chevrolet in National City, Calif., a San Diego suburb. "Currently, I have none in stock."
U.S. sales of the Volt remain mediocre at best -- just 1,680 in May. But the car is gaining momentum in California, where hybrid and electric car owners are allowed to use carpool lanes no matter how many people are in the car. Through the first quarter, the Golden State accounted for nearly 23% of all Volt registrations, according to R.L. Polk.
It's more difficult to supply the California market because Volts must have a special low-emissions package for owners to qualify for special state incentives. And the package cannot be added after production.
Considering that GM's market share in California was only 9.3% during that period, compared with 17.4% nationwide, Chevrolet can't miss any opportunity to meet demand in the most populous state. Buyers registered 837 Volts in California in the first quarter. The next-best market was Michigan, at 232 registrations, or 6.28%.
"It is crucial that the Volt performs well there. Volt's success there says that Volt is indeed an environmentally advanced and friendly vehicle," Polk analyst Thomas Libby said in an e-mail. "GM and the other domestics have for years struggled in California; the success of the Volt in California will help GM in its efforts to be viewed as a competitive manufacturer that offers contemporary and competitive products."
The supply and demand issue for GM is complex when selling Volts in California.
For Volts headed to California, GM tweaks the exhaust system to reduce emissions from its gas generator to virtually zero. The low-emissions package qualifies owners to drive solo in special carpool lanes and receive a $1,500 state tax rebate. All Volt owners, regardless of state, qualify for a $7,500 federal tax credit.
Starting at about $39,000, the car remains expensive for most consumers. But in California, which has a high concentration of wealthy car buyers, the sticker price isn't as shocking.
Lure of carpool lanes
The carpool lane incentive has been in effect since February. The state has 1,400 miles of carpool lanes that are coveted real estate for commuters grappling with congestion. Some resort to inflatable dolls and mannequins to appear to qualify for the lanes.
GM says the Volt is selling particularly strong in the San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego markets -- areas notorious for intense congestion.
Mike Luner, executive manager of Del Grande Dealer Group's Capitol Chevrolet in San Jose, estimated that carpool lanes were the "primary deciding factor" for nine in 10 Volt buyers.
"Time is the most valuable commodity to these people," Luner said. "Our idea is that we want to take the opportunity to capture them with the Volt but for them to consider the other products that Chevrolet has in the future."
"There is a shortage of Volts for us," said Darryl Holter, CEO of Downtown L.A. Auto Group, whose Felix Chevrolet dealership had sold 29 Volts this year as of May 29. "We'll look to other dealers to see if they have any."
GM spokeswoman Michelle Malcho said GM was "really just starting" to meet demand for the Volt in California within the last several weeks.
"We sold everything we had out there basically," she said.
Calling on other states
The Volt has been a target of conservative pundits who have tied it to the government's rescue of GM through the 2009 bankruptcy restructuring. GM began engineering the car at least as early as 2007.
Two fires in Volt battery packs on cars that had been crash-tested generated another round of criticism. No Volt owners have experienced a fire in their cars.
When GM backed off its 2012 production targets for the vehicle, the criticism got louder, and CEO Dan Akerson lamented that the car had become a "political football."
But in California, the positive buzz for the Volt seems to be drowning out the criticism.
Some California dealers are so desperate for Volts that they're offering to buy more from dealers in other states.
"They had that shutdown for five weeks, which gave us no inventory," said Steve Krueger, inventory and fleet manager for Courtesy Chevrolet in San Diego. "We were buying them from out of state and selling those."
California dealers said buyers are quicker to embrace new technology, and the Volt's reputation as an environmentally friendly car is gaining traction.
Shaun Del Grande, president of Del Grande Dealer Group in the Bay Area, said Volt supply at Capitol Chevrolet has improved in recent weeks. He said the carpool lane ruling has been a "tremendous" boon to sales.
"We're seeing new customers at Chevrolet that we've never seen before," he said.
Contact Nathan Bomey: 313-223-4743 or nbomey@freepress.com
Source: www.freep.com
California faces threat at sea from drug smugglers - msnbc.com
Drug smugglers are now moving their product across the ocean in the dark of night, coming ashore in Southern California, and showing no signs of backing down. NBC's Mark Potter reports.
MALIBU, CALIF. -- On a starry night in the hills overlooking the Pacific Ocean north of Los Angeles, a two-man California National Guard special forces surveillance team sets up a sophisticated night scope. Their mission is to search the horizon and the waters below for an increasing number of Mexican drug traffickers offloading multi-ton loads of marijuana--and sometimes illegal immigrants--on remote U.S. beaches.
"These service members are the eyes and ears of federal law enforcement here," said Lt. Kara Siepmann, of the Guard's National Drug program. When asked about what specifically they are looking for, one of the surveillance team members said, "We're looking for blacked out vessels and any suspicious activity we can find, any unusual boats coming through the area."
Used to smuggle drugs from Mexico, this panga boat was captured near Huntington Beach, Calif., in August 2011. The faces of the three men being arrested have been obscured at the request of the HSI.
The soldiers work quietly and in the dark, aware that the Mexican traffickers have their own spotters here watching out for U.S. law enforcement personnel. "They don't want to land where the National Guard or the Border Patrol are looking for them," said Siepmann.
Turning fishing boats into drug boats
In the last few years, law enforcement officials said they have seen a considerable spike in smugglers loading drugs or immigrants onto boats in Mexico's northern Baja Peninsula, then motoring north to offload their illegal cargo along a 300-mile-long stretch of California beaches, sometimes within sight of the many luxury homes on the coastline.
Courtesy of HSI/ICE
Used to smuggle drugs from Mexico, this panga boat was found in California's Ventura County in January 2012.
Related: Debate rages over Mexico 'spillover violence' in U.S.
Federal agents said this is the latest smuggling technique employed by Mexico's notorious Sinaloa drug cartel, headed by that country's most-wanted criminal, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. The boats are small, open-hulled commercial fishing boats called pangas, which are commonly found in the inshore waters of Mexico and Central America.
With their low profiles, the pangas are hard to spot in open water, but they can carry a large payload. Sometimes these 30- to 40-foot boats will have as many as four outboard engines, allowing them to outrun most vessels used by the authorities.
"The trend is pretty much going straight up," said Lt. Stewart Sibert, the captain of the US Coast Guard Cutter Halibut, which patrols in search of Mexican smugglers near the California coast.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agent Troy Matthews describes sea smuggling techniques and the dangers associated with it.
"The past few months have been very busy for us," he said. "We caught more drugs in these past two months than in the past two years."
According to arrest statistics reported by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or ICE, there were 183 known "events" in fiscal year 2011 along the California coast involving the maritime smuggling of drugs or immigrants, up considerably from the previous three years. During the first seven months of this fiscal year, there have already been 113 such events as the numbers climb even faster than last year.
California National Guard members work on secret nighttime surveillance operations to locate smugglers on the seas, attempting to reach the California coast. They use night vision goggles and infrared technology that allows them to see for miles out to sea.
"We're seeing four and five tons of drugs come in per run and we're seeing dozens of runs. It's almost one or two per week at this point," said Sibert.
A dangerous trade heading north
Law enforcement officials have argued the rise in maritime smuggling is a direct result of their crackdown on smuggling operations along the U.S. land border with Mexico. As they first interdicted smuggling boats headed for beaches in southernmost California, near San Diego, they began to see the traffickers moving farther north to drop off their loads, which are then distributed across the country.
Related: Patrolling 'smugglers' alley' by air along the Rio Grande
U.S. Coast Guard LT. Stewart Sibert/Captain of the U.S.S. Halibut describes smuggling operations and how they bring drugs and migrants in to the country illegally.
"As we stop them in one area, they’re trying to go around us. We're sort of leapfrogging up the coastline," said Sibert. Recently, an abandoned panga and a hidden marijuana stash were found near San Simeon, Calif., more than 300 miles from the Mexican border.
"They go far out to sea to try to evade interdiction efforts along the border," said Claude Adams, the special agent in charge for ICE Homeland Security Investigations. "They typically go 100 miles out or farther due west, and then they come north," to reach the U.S. coastline.
While the panga boats are considered relatively stable when used for fishing in calm inshore waters, officials said, they can be quite dangerous in rougher waters offshore, especially if they are overloaded with drugs or illegal immigrants. The boats rarely have adequate safety equipment and authorities speculate that many may have been lost at sea, along with their passengers.
Courtesy of HSI/ICE
Used to smuggle drugs from Mexico, this panga boat was found on California's Leo Carrillo Beach in August 2011.
"It's a direct indication of these criminal smuggling organizations' complete disregard for human life. They are driven by profit and nothing else," said Troy Matthews, of the U.S. Border Patrol in San Diego. "You'll have somebody driving the ship who is not necessarily highly-trained. You'll have poorly maintained vehicles that will break down and subsequently they are loitering out at sea for days."
A border security threat
As they find more boats on the beaches and make more arrests, U.S. authorities are learning more about how the smuggling operation work, and the degree to which they are coordinated with land-based trafficking operations.
"We've seen some pangas that run directly up onto the beach and upload their cargo," said Sibert. "And then we've seen some that will come in and transfer their load to recreational boats that look less suspicious and try to run them directly into the marinas and yacht clubs."
Many times the panga boat operators will land at night on remote beaches near roads or a highway where they met by other members of the smuggling group. "There's usually an offloading team that will have a rental boxcar, U-Haul, or something of that nature to take the payload and transport it to a stash house where an organization begins the distribution process," said Adams.
A particular concern voiced by many U.S. authorities is the potential national security threat these boats and smugglers represent. "They're just as willing to smuggle perhaps a weapon of mass destruction as they are a load of narcotics," warned Adams. "And they're just as willing to smuggle a terrorist as people coming here to work."
In the middle of a presidential election year, there's a big debate between Democrats and Republicans, and law enforcement and ranchers, over how much violence from the Mexican drug war has spilled over into the United States, making it hard to get straight answers. NBC's Mark Potter reports.
To coordinate their interdiction efforts, federal, state and local law enforcement officials have formed a coastal-area task force. "As they adapt, we will adapt, and they'll continually try to find new ways to get contraband and people into the country, and we're going to be right there nipping at their heels," said Adams.
Authorities conceded, however, that so far they are seeing no let-up in the Mexican maritime smuggling trade, and, in fact, are actually seeing bigger drug loads on boats now than in recent years.
"It's a huge challenge," said Matthews, from the U.S. Border Patrol. "It's an immense geographical area that we have to cover. There is not only single agency that can cover it by itself."
Source: dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com
California gay marriage ban nears US Supreme Court - BBC News
Backers of California's same-sex marriage ban say they will appeal to US Supreme Court, opening up the chance of a binding ruling on the issue.
The move comes after a US federal appeal court declined to reconsider its earlier decision striking down the ban.
Gay marriage supporters also welcomed the news.
Last week, another appeal court declared unconstitutional part of a federal law that bans recognition of same-sex marriage.
The timing of both cases means it is possible they will be heard together at the Supreme Court, although new cases are not likely to be heard until October.
Andrew Pugno, a lawyer for the ban's sponsors, said they would "promptly file our appeal to the nation's highest court".
"Our case has entered the final chapter," said Chad Griffin, president of American Foundation for Equal Rights, which is funding the effort to overturn the ban.
Same-sex marriages were briefly legal in California before a statewide referendum in 2008, known as Proposition 8.
The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in February that California's "Prop 8" ban discriminated against gays and lesbians by removing an existing right, but limited its decision to California.
Backers had appealed to have their case heard in a wider panel in the appeals court, but were denied.
Same-sex marriage is legal in eight states and the District of Columbia, but has been expressly banned in many other states.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
California Primary: Two Longtime Valley Dems Compete For New Congressional District - Neon Tommy
"We're running a really aggressive get-out-the-vote effort," Howard Berman spokesman Zack Tupper said, while dozens of supporters worked the phone lines at the Encino campaign headquarter. "It's been packed in here with folks working hard to get people to their polling locations and making sure they hear our message about Congressman Berman's unmatched record of delivering for the Valley."
Voters in the region went to the ballot in Tuesday's primary to decide between a liberal Democrat, and, well, another liberal Democrat in the race for the 30th Congressional District.
As a result of redistricting following the 2010 Census, Berman (CD-28) and Congressman Brad Sherman (CD-27) will give voters the option of choosing who gets to represent neighborhoods like Tarzana, Encino and Sherman Oaks in the 113th Congress.
Under a new California law, the two candidates with the highest vote total in the primary will advance to a November runoff, meaning Sherman and Berman's contest could drag on another five months if pre-primary poll numbers hold true. A USC Dornsife Online Survey conducted from May 29-31 showed that 32 percent in the new district would vote for Sherman, while 24 percent said they would support Berman.
More than half of the new district is drawn from Sherman's current territory, while only 20 percent comes from Berman's.
"It's true that Congressman Berman has entered this race at a disadvantage," Tupper said. "It's very hard to strategically introduce him to areas of the 30th District that he hasn't represented before."
On the surface, distinguishing between the two men might require a bit of research from the voters. Both men of Jewish faith graduated from UCLA, voted along party lines more than 90 percent and serve as members of the Foreign Affairs committee. Both campaigns also champion the success of receiving funding for expansion of the 405 Freeway as a major accomplishment.
But Berman's supporters say his three decades of representing the Valley sets him apart from his opponent. Tupper alluded to the False Claims Act Amendments of 1986 — a piece of anti-fraud legislation he worked with Republican Senator Chuck Grassley to pass — as one of the major highlights of Berman's time in Congress.
"It's an example of Congressman Berman reaching across the aisle and working with Republicans to pass a landmark piece that saved taxpayers over $30 billion," Tupper said. "During his 15 years in Congress, Brad Sherman has authored three bills that became law. Two of those were for naming post offices."
Although Sherman might not have the same amount of time in office as his rival – the 57-year-old has served in the U.S. House since 1997 – his backers insist that he is more in tune with San Fernando Valley residents. Sherman holds frequent town hall meetings and interacts with district residents at local high school graduations, a campaign representative said.
"Brad Sherman takes care of business in his district," campaign press secretary John Schwada said. "Howard Berman has spent a lot of time on foreign junkets."
Sherman representatives also criticized Berman for joining a small group of Democrats in voting to authorize the invasion of Iraq.
"[Sherman] has exercised his intelligence and experience to make sure that his voters are getting the best deal possible out of their Congressman and is not just somebody who marches in lockstep with whatever the President wants," Schwada said.
The battle for the 30th District figures to be a costly one. The two campaigns combined have spent between $4 million to $5 million, according to The Daily Beast. That figure is expected to rise to $12 million by November’s general election, said the chair of the Los Angeles Democratic Party.
"We've got $3 million in the bank," Schwada said. "He's got lots of support, lots of energy, lots of money and he's able to carry this fight all the way to the finish line."
Berman's supporters, knowing the two candidates will cross paths again in November, barring unexpected returns, said that momentum is shifting in their favor as they prepare for the runoff.
"The difference in their records is clear," Tupper said. "We look forward to continuing to make the case that Congressman Berman should be re-elected to Congress."
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Source: www.neontommy.com
California's Push for More Moderate Candidates Totally Backfires - Rolling Stone
In 2010, California voters approved an overhaul of the state's primary system in an attempt to bring more moderates into the state's political races. But when the votes are tallied from today's primary election, the GOP candidate chosen to go up against Sen. Dianne Feinstein in the fall could turn out to be none other than Orly Taitz, queen of the birther movement and nobody's idea of a moderate. It's safe to say this isn't what the voters had in mind.
Under the 2010 reforms California shifted to a system where candidates from both parties face off and the two with the most votes advance to the general election. In theory, you could wind up with two Republicans – or two Democrats – taking the top two spots and going on to compete in the fall. Today, though, Feinstein will come out top. The big question is, who will come in second?
Now, it's quite possible that a totally legitimate moderate Republican will emerge as the Republican candidate (there are a few – just a few – in the 23-person, 14-Republican field). But the extremely limited polling on the race shows that there's also the jokes-on-them likelihood that Taitz, running as a Republican, could take the #2 spot behind Feinstein. None of the other 23 potential candidates, Taitz included, polled higher than 2 percent in April, but Taitz leads the pack, probably on name recognition alone. Also a possibility: that the Republicans don't get a candidate in there at all.
Establishment Republicans didn't really put up a candidate this year to challenge Feinstein, a powerful incumbent with a considerable war chest. Nor did any self-funded 1%-er come forward like last cycle (when Carly Fiorina ran for Senate against Barbara Boxer, and Meg Whitman ran for Governor against Jerry Brown, in both cases unsuccessfully, as it turned out). So instead, Republicans have the likes of Taitz and others like right-wing "Surfing" Rabbi Nachum Shifren to choose from.
Taitz says that her platform is not only about proving the president is not an American (though her numerous unsuccessful lawsuits over the years indicate otherwise), but you can practically hear the gleeful laughter coming from the Feinstein campaign. "If [Republicans] think the embarrassment over Donald Trump is bad, having the woman who brought all these lawsuits would be even worse," Bill Carrick, Feinstein's chief campaign adviser, told the San Francisco Chronicle.
As Chris Thompson wrote here yesterday, since the 90s the Republican party in California has been basically self-destructing. "Two decades of immigration and changing demographics have steadily eroded the Republican base in the Golden State," Thompson wrote. "But rather than adapt to this new reality, the state party lurched deep into the far-right swamplands of American politics. As the state grew more socially liberal, the last of the Republicans doubled down on conservatism, and sank into irrelevancy."
If things go Taitz's way tonight, you can bet this won't change anytime soon.
Source: www.rollingstone.com
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