Tag: California

California Democrats Approve Amendment Creating a “Right” to Kill Babies in Abortions

Micaiah Bilger – June 15, 2022

California Democrat lawmakers rapidly advanced a radical pro-abortion bill Tuesday that would create an explicit state constitutional “right” to abort unborn babies.

KTXL reports two Democrat-run committees passed the bill on the same day, the state Senate Judiciary Committee in a 9-1 vote and the Committee on Elections and Constitutional Amendments in a 3-1 vote.

State Senate pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, introduced the proposed constitutional amendment in response to the likelihood that the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade this summer.

“In California, we cannot standby as women and families are left vulnerable as our highest court moves to strip away our rights and put people in harm’s way,” Atkins said.

Her bill, state Senate Constitutional Amendment 10, would add the following language to the California Constitution: “The state shall not deny or interfere with an individual’s reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions, which includes their fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and their fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives.”

State pro-life organizations slammed the dangerous proposal and urged pro-lifers to contact their state lawmakers to oppose it.

In an email Tuesday, the California Family Council described the amendment as “deadly” because it would “enshrine abortion as a protected right in the state constitution.” And the California Catholic Conference warned that it would allow unborn babies to be aborted up to birth.

“This constitutional amendment as written will legalize and protect abortion up to the point just prior to delivery,” executive director Kathleen Domingo said. “It is distressing that so many California legislators would sign their names to legislation that allows the taking of a human life moments before birth.”

The AP reports lawmakers are pushing the amendment forward at an “unusually fast pace,” and another hearing is scheduled Thursday in the state Senate Appropriations Committee.

https://www.lifenews.com

Confirmed: Pro-abortion law threatens babies already born!

Bob Unruh – May 5, 2022

There have many critics who have charged that as states such as Colorado and California move to re-create themselves as abortion-tourism destinations, the extreme laws they are adopting in their agendas actually have created the possibility that live babies, after birth, could be killed without penalty.

Now we know that it’s true, based on the legal analysis staff members provided to the pro-abortion majority in the California State Assembly Committee on the Judiciary.

According to a report from the American Center for Law and Justice, that analysis confirmed the threat to children already born.

The bill, according to the staff warnings, “may not be sufficiently clear that ‘perinatal death’ is intended to be the consequence of a pregnancy complication. Thus, the bill could be interpreted to immunize a pregnant person from all criminal penalties for all pregnancy related outcomes, including the death of a newborn for any reason during the ‘perinatal’ period after birth, including a cause of death which is not attributable to pregnancy complications…”

Olivia Summers, an associate counsel with the ACLJ, explained California Assembly Bill 2223 “contains a provision preventing any person from being subject to civil or criminal liability ‘based on actions or omissions with respect to their … alleged pregnancy outcome, including … perinatal death.’ You may recall that the ‘perinatal’ period covers roughly from 28 weeks of pregnancy to 1-4 weeks post birth.”

Such outrages by a legislature could, she explained, “effectively legalize infanticide.”

She said the analysis by the chief counsel for the California Assembly said, “the ‘perinatal death’ language could lead to an unintended and undesirable conclusion.”

https://www.wnd.com

New California Bill Would Legalize Infanticide by Permitting ‘Perinatal Death,’ Pro-Lifers Say

Michael Foust – March 24, 2022

A new California bill backed by prominent leaders would permit infanticide by legalizing “perinatal death,” a medical phrase that includes the time after birth, pro-life activists are warning.

Supporters of the bill, AB 2223, say it would ensure that pregnant women cannot be prosecuted for an abortion, miscarriage or stillbirth. The bill’s language, though, extends beyond those three categories, critics say.

Specifically, AB 2223 says “a person shall not be subject to civil or criminal liability or penalty” due to their “miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion, or perinatal death.”

Further, the bill protects anyone “who aids or assists a pregnant person in exercising their rights under this” bill.

Merriam-Webster defines “perinatal death” as “occurring in, concerned with, or being in the period around the time of birth.” A 2005 article in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health defined perinatal as the “time period starting at 22 completed weeks (154 days) gestation and lasting through seven days after birth.”

AB 2223 was named a priority bill by the California Future of Abortion Council, which California Gov. Gavin Newsom supports. The council lists Newsom as a participant. Members of the council include Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice California.

“Although definitions of ‘perinatal death’ vary, all of them include the demise of newborns seven days or more after birth,” Greg Burt of the California Family Council wrote in a blog on the organization’s website.

The bill, Burt said, would “codify the killing of unborn children throughout all nine months of pregnancy but to decriminalize killing newborns days or even weeks after birth.”

https://www.christianheadlines.com

Billions of GMO Mosquitoes Set to Be Released in California, Florida

Center for Food Safety  – March 8, 2022

In defiance of science and public health concerns, Monday the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the mass release of billions of experimental genetically engineered (GE) mosquitoes into the U.S.’ most populous and agriculturally significant states.

The British biotechnology company Oxitec was granted an experimental use permit for the release of a genetically engineered version of the species Aedes aegypti across Fresno, Tulare, San Bernadino and Stanislaus Counties in California and in Monroe County in Florida.

This will be the biggest release of GE insects in the world.

EPA’s approval came despite growing concerns raised by scientists, public health experts and environmental groups about potential impacts of the experimental releases on public health, the environment and endangered species.

No publicly available data supports Oxitec’s claims that GE mosquitoes will reduce incidence of mosquito-borne diseases.

An independent peer-reviewed study from Yale University scientists revealed that over two years of continual releases of the GE mosquitoes at a test site in Brazil failed to reduce populations of Aedes aegypti.

The Yale study also found that the GE mosquitoes bred with local Aedes aegypti, resulting in hybrid mosquitoes in the wild that may be more aggressive, more difficult to eradicate and may increase the spread of mosquito-borne disease.

“Scientists have found genetic material from GE mosquitoes in wild populations at significant levels, which means GE mosquitoes are not sterile. GE mosquitoes could result in far more health and environmental problems than they would solve,” said Dana Perls, food and technology program manager at Friends of the Earth, and a California resident.

https://childrenshealthdefense.org

Statewide crisis! 19 million people under drought emergency in Southern California – That’s nearly half of all California residents

Strange Sounds – November 12, 2021

Nearly half of all California residents are under a regional drought emergency as record dry conditions continue to exacerbate a statewide crisis.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, a wholesaler to 26 local agencies that together supply some 19 million people with water, declared a state of emergency Tuesday in a resolution that calls for increased conservation efforts.

Last month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom expanded a statewide drought emergency, which authorizes the state water board to ban wasteful water uses, such as using potable water for washing sidewalks and driveways.

Tuesday’s declaration, which also pertains to businesses, supports Newsom’s proclamation, activates additional conservation efforts and expands water efficiency programs.

“We need immediate action to preserve and stretch our limited State Water Project supplies,” board Chairwoman Gloria D. Gray said in a statement. “Southern California on average gets about one-third of its water from Northern California via the state project. Next year, we’ll be lucky to get a small fraction of that.”

The declarations come as California struggles with unprecedented dry conditions and an ongoing strain on state water resources. California’s last two water years were the driest two-year period on record for precipitation. In August, Lake Oroville — the main reservoir in the State Water Project — reached its lowest point since the 1970s.

https://strangesounds.org

California experiences driest water year in 100 years of record keeping

Ricky Scaparo – October 19, 2021

In a year of both extreme heat and extreme drought, California has reported its driest water year in terms of precipitation in a century, and experts fear the coming 12 months could be even worse.

According to KTAL5 News, The Western Regional Climate Center added average precipitation that had been reported at each of its stations and calculated that a total of 11.87 inches of rain and snow fell in California in the 2021 water year.

That’s half of what experts deem average during a water year in California: about 23.58 inches. The climate center tallies rainfall by averaging all of the measured precipitation in the state at the end of a water year, which runs Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.

LA Times reported that the climate center tallies rainfall by averaging all of the measured precipitation in the state at the end of a water year, which runs Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.

Based on the diminished levels of both precipitation and runoff, the last water year was the second driest on record, according to the California Department of Water Resources. The last time the state reported so little rain and snowfall was in 1924.

Climatologists have compared the drought conditions that spanned 2020 and 2021 to the 1976-77 drought, which included California’s lowest level of statewide runoff in a single water year. The average rainfall in 1976-77 was 28.7 inches; in 2020-21, it was 28.2 inches.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

Plummeting reservoir levels could soon force Oroville hydropower offline

Julia Wick – July 21, 2021

A major California hydroelectric power plant could soon stop generating power amid worsening drought conditions.

According to state water officials, the Edward Hyatt Powerplant at Lake Oroville could go offline as soon as August or September — a time frame that would coincide with a feared power crunch this summer. The plant, which opened in the late 1960s, has never been forced offline by low lake levels before.

“I think it’s a bit shocking,” said Jordan Kern, a professor at the department of forestry and environmental resources at North Carolina State University. “The fact that it’s projected to go offline just speaks to how severe the drought is,” said Kern, who studies how power grids are impacted by extreme weather.

California Energy Commission spokesperson Lindsay Buckley said the commission is actively planning for the power plant to go offline this summer. But the Hyatt power plant is far from the only hydroelectric power source in the state that will likely be affected by California’s extreme weather.

On July 1, the energy commission, along with the California Independent System Operator and the California Public Utilities Commission, released a letter touching on the drought-driven hydropower losses expected this year, which are occurring amid historic heat event driven by climate change. According to the system operator, drought conditions could reduce the state’s hydropower capacity by up to approximately 1,000 megawatts in the coming months.

The Hyatt power plant is designed to produce up to 750 megawatts of power but typically produces between 100 and 400 megawatts, depending on lake levels. According to Buckley, average high demand in a day across the state is typically about 44,000 megawatts, so 400 megawatts would be a little less than 1% of that total.

“It’s not necessarily the tipping point,” Buckley said. “There’s a lot of different factors that are challenging overall grid reliability this summer. And Hyatt is one piece of the story.”

https://www.latimes.com

Drought Indicators in Western U.S. Flash Warnings of the ‘Big One’

Brian K Sullivan and Elizabeth Elkin – June 24, 2021

(Bloomberg) — Sarah Brunner opened the irrigation spigots on her farm in March, three months early. The rain should have still been falling in California. Now that summer is taking hold, she and her husband are considering shifting their meager water supplies into pastures so their animals will have enough to eat.

Brunner’s worries don’t stop at the barnyard. The family’s fields of shallots, garlic and goats are surrounded by thick Northern California forests, dried out and primed to burn. An early season wildfire near her home recently prompted Brunner to document her possessions and reevaluate her fire insurance. “I don’t feel safe anymore. It’s going to hit us hard,” she says. “There’s no doubt about it, we’re going to be inundated with fires. It’s just a matter of time.”

Drought in a habitat shared with bears, cougars and coyotes, all searching for a drink, has a way of compounding the danger. “The animals are going to get more desperate,” Brunner says.

Unstoppable drought is rolling over California and the Western U.S. once again, as it has with little interruption since the new century began. Nearly 98% of land across 11 Western states is abnormally dry, and more than 90% is covered by some category of drought—the worst levels in the U.S. Drought Monitor’s 21-year history. Reservoirs have drained to their bottoms, leaving bath-tub rings on their shorelines. Rivers reduced to trickles are setting off conflicts for dwindling water rights. Millions of acres of trees and shrubs have turned from shade to fuel for the out-of-control blazes everyone predicts will come.

“As far as drought goes, this is the big one, especially if we are talking about the broader drought across the whole Southwest,” says Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California Los Angeles. “By a lot of metrics, it is the most severe drought on record.”

https://finance.yahoo.com

261 Transgender Prisoners Request Transfer Under California Law; 255 to Women’s Prison

Joel B. Pollak – April 5, 2021

Two-hundred sixty-one California state prisoners have requested transfers to facilities that house the opposite gender since a new law went into effect on Jan. 1 — and 255 of them have requested to move from a male to a female corrections facility.

The law, SB 132, provides that a prisoner who self-identifies who is “transgender, nonbinary, or intersex” must be “addressed in a manner consistent with the incarcerated individual’s gender identity,” and be “housed at a correctional facility designated for men or women based on the individual’s preference.” The law applies “regardless of anatomy.” Governor Gavin Newsom signed the law last September, declaring on that occasion that “our march toward equality takes an additional step forward.”

The Los Angeles Times reported Monday that while only a few transfers have been approved thus far, none has been rejected:

Just over 1% of California’s prison population — or 1,129 inmates — have identified as nonbinary, intersex or transgender, according to the corrections department, populations that experience excessive violence in prison. A 2007 UC Irvine study that included interviews with 39 transgender inmates found that the rate of sexual assault is 13 times higher for transgender people, with 59% reporting experiencing such encounters.

So far, the prison system has transferred four inmates to the Chowchilla women’s prison, approved 21 gender-based housing requests and denied none. Of the 261 requests, all but six asked to be housed at a women’s facility.

Some prisoners are also concerned that inmates are making false claims about their gender identity in order to transfer to women’s prisons and say staffers have told them that this has slowed the process.

The Times adds that several inmates are thought to have applied “under false pretenses” and some female prisoners are afraid.

https://www.breitbart.com

California on seismic alert: Two shallow M4.6 and M4.4 earthquakes hit off Eureka within seconds – Precursors of the Big One?

Strange Sounds – April 2, 2021

Today morning, two shallow earthquakes (M4.6 and M4.4) hit off the coast of northern California at a depth of 8km and 19km, respectively.The pair of quakes struck 17 seconds apart of each other (8:21:18 and 8:21:35 AM UTC).Some weak or light shaking was probably felt in the Eureka and Fortuna areas.

The third M2.5 quake in the area hit 1 hour after the first two…

Meanwhile, I am sure geologists closely monitor the seismicity along the west coast…

These earthquakes could indeed be precursors of the next Cascadia Megathrust Earthquake or California Big One…

Indeed, the tremors occurred near the Mendecino Triple Junction, an area where the Cascadia Subduction Zone meets with the San Andreas Fault.

Moreover, if you look at the map from PSNS below, additional quakes rattled the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the Oregonian coast and on Victoria Island in Canada, as well.

An earthquake will destroy a sizable portion of the coastal Northwest.

The question isn’t if but when. And keep in mind: The next full-margin rupture of the Cascadia subduction zone will spell the worst natural disaster in the history of the continent.

https://strangesounds.org