Bashing Asians and Getting Away With It - Michelle Malkin, Townhall

Straight Outta Whitewash

My Instagram and Facebook feeds have been filled with unwitting apologists for racism against Korean-American small-business owners.

Heckuva job, Hollywood!

Here's how the poison is spreading. A savvy marketing team at Universal/Comcast Corp. developed a web toy that allows social media fans to customize the theatrical poster logo for the media giant's new biopic, "Straight Outta Compton." Hundreds of thousands of clueless users have uploaded photos of themselves and substituted "Compton" with the names of their hometowns.

Jennifer Lopez, Serena Williams, LeBron James and Ed Sheeran are among the celebrities who helped make the meme go viral. Youth vote-pandering GOP Florida Sen. Marco Rubio jumped on the cultural bandwagon, too, with two obsequious messages on Twitter featuring the hashtag "#straightouttacompton." It's a publicity coup for rappers-turned-multimedia moguls Dr. Dre (Andre Young) and Ice Cube (O'Shea Jackson) as they pimp the movie -- named after their breakthrough 1988 album -- glorifying the rise of their band N.W.A. (Niggaz Wit Attitudes) and the hardcore gangsta rap genre.

"Straight Outta Compton's" cop-bashing, thug-promoting songs -- most notably "F-k the Police" -- vaulted Young and Jackson into the entertainment stratosphere. Young is a near-billionaire after becoming a producer, promoter and maker of overpriced headphones (the company was bought by Apple for $3 billion last year). Jackson embarked on a successful career as a solo rapper, mainstream actor and comedian.

Their hagiographic movie omits Young's history of assaults on women and completely whitewashes Jackson's incendiary attacks on Korean storeowners in South Central Los Angeles.

Shortly before the 1992 L.A. riots, Jackson had penned the hate-filled song "Black Korea" for his best-selling platinum solo album, Death Certificate. He seethed against law-abiding immigrant entrepreneurs in his 'hood and threated to burn their stores "right down to a crisp":

Every time I want to go get a f--king brew

I gotta go down to the store with the two

Oriental one-penny-counting mother--kers;

They make a nigger mad enough to cause a little ruckus.

Thinking every brother in the world's out to take,

So they watch every damn move that I make.

They hope I don't pull out a Gat, try to rob

Their funky little store, but, b-tch, I got a job.

So don't follow me up and down your market

Or your little chop suey ass will be a target

Of a nationwide boycott.

Juice with the people, that's what the boy got.

So pay respect to the black fist

Or we'll burn your store right down to a crisp.

And then we'll see ya...

'Cause you can't turn the ghetto into black Korea.

The song was supposedly inspired by the shooting death of 15-year-old Latasha Harlins, who was black, by Korean storeowner Soon Ja Du. The two had fought over a bottle of orange juice. The shopkeeper's store had been robbed multiple times. Du was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, but had her sentence reduced to probation based on extenuating circumstances; her store -- like dozens and dozens in Koreatown -- was burned down to the ground during the 1992 riots. Korean-American merchants were forced to arm themselves and defend their property after being abandoned by police. Many observers in both the Korean-American and black communities in L.A. cited "Black Korea" (not just the Rodney King verdict) as an inspirational spark for the conflagration that caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.

Fast-forward to Baltimore and Ferguson, where rioters followed in these bigoted footsteps and targeted non-black-owned stores. Instead of condemning their actions, The New York Times celebrated the efforts of Crips, Bloods and Black Guerilla Family gangsters who "stood in front of black-owned stores to protect them from looting or vandalism. He said they had made sure no black children, or reporters, were hit by rioters."

Instead, they "pointed them toward Chinese- and Arab-owned stores."

See no Asian-bashing evil in the inner city. Hear no Asian-bashing evil in the inner city. Speak no Asian-bashing evil in the inner city.

Ice Cube hasn't ever had to answer for his violence-stoking bigotry. And apparently neither will the media and Hollywood co-conspirators who perpetuate it. 

Via: Real Clear Politics

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Tax issue dogs Democrat Melissa Gilbert in new bid for Congress - owes IRS $360,000

Howell — Actress Melissa Gilbert, the "Little House on the Prairie" star whose move to Howell two years ago brought a dash of Hollywood glamour to Livingston County, is more than a half pint short on her federal taxes.

The Internal Revenue Service recently accused her of failing to pay more than $360,000 in federal income taxes, a debt that is emerging one week after Gilbert announced she and her family are moving out of their rented home near downtown Howell.

Gilbert, 51, blamed the tax debt on a stalled acting career, the economy and divorce.

"Like so many people across the nation, the recession hit me hard," Gilbert said in a statement to The Detroit News. "That, plus a divorce and a dearth of acting opportunities the last few years, created a perfect storm of financial difficulty for me."

Gilbert, along with husband and fellow actor Timothy Busfield and two younger boys, are moving into a log house in an unspecified part of Livingston County, or as she wrote in a tweet last week "our own Little House in the Big Woods."

Her husband said the move from Howell is unrelated to the tax debt.

"(The debt) has more to do with the housing crash and divorce in the past," Busfield told The News. "It's a product of what happened with the economy. It's unfortunate and it's been happening a lot. It's not a big deal."

Gilbert said she has negotiated a payment plan with the IRS.

"I've set up an installment plan to fully pay off my debt and will continue to work as hard as I can to erase this debt and dig myself out of this hole," she said. "I am absolutely positive that I can do it."

Gilbert and East Lansing native Busfield — known for television roles in "thirtysomething" and "West Wing" and in the films "Revenge of the Nerds" and "Field of Dreams" — moved to Michigan about three months after they were married in April 2013.

Gilbert has a history of tax problems that followed her from California to Michigan. The state of California has filed $112,527 worth of tax liens against her since 2013.

A tax lien gives the government a legal claim to all of Gilbert's property, everything from vehicles to homes and income.

The IRS filed a $360,551 tax lien against Gilbert on Feb. 3. She owes federal income taxes from 2011, 2012 and 2013, according to the lien, which is filed with the Livingston County Register of Deeds.

According to the IRS, Gilbert owes $219,989 in income taxes from 2011. She owes $99,405 from 2012 — the year she appeared on "Dancing With the Stars" — and $41,157 in taxes from 2013, according to the tax lien.

Gilbert went through a period of change during the three years covered by the tax lien. She filed for divorce from Bruce Boxleitner in 2011 and competed on "Dancing With the Stars" the next year.

Since she and Busfield arrived in Michigan, they have rented a three-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot Victorian home built in 1890 and located two blocks from downtown Howell.

"Oh, my God, they're great," landlord and property owner Brenda Korth said. "It's been fine. It's been fun."

Korth rented the home to Gilbert, thinking the Hollywood couple would stay for one year.

"It turned into two years and that was fine but I'm really ready to move home," the General Motors environmental engineer told The News.

"If they've been having financial problems, that's not known to me," she added. "The rent's always been paid on time. They've been great tenants."

Gilbert and her husband are kind, she said, and have been welcomed by people in Howell.

"I'm so glad they're in town; everybody has been excited about it," Korth said.

Gilbert did not explain what prompted the pending move out of Howell.

"We are moving but we are not leaving," Gilbert tweeted Friday in response to a well-wisher. "We will be around. We love Howell. We love Livingston Co."

While in Michigan, Gilbert has written a cookbook called "My Prairie Cookbook," inspired by the voracious but picky eating habits of her sons. She has done at least one book signing in Livingston County.

The couple also has continued to pursue acting and directing careers. The couple guest starred on a late April episode of the NBC series "The Night Shift" that Busfield also directed.

In January, Gilbert participated in a charity fundraiser in Howell for Yatooma's Foundation For the Kids, a charity that raises money for children who have lost a parent.

"We're thrilled she's here," Bloomfield Hills lawyer Norman Yatooma said. "She's every bit the class act in person that her fans have come to love from the comfort of their couches."

rsnell@detroitnews.com

Via: The Detroit News

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Michael Bay's New Movie About Benghazi Could Be BAD NEWS For Queen Hillary

I'll be honest, I had no idea this movie was even being made until I saw the trailer -

Holy cow. This may be one Michael Bay movie that I actually put down money to go see (how in the WORLD a movie like this got past the liberal Hollywood gatekeepers, I will never know).

Dana Perino was on "The Kelly File" to talk about the potential impact this movie could have on Hillary Clinton's campaign and she makes some pretty good points about it -

Here's the thing about Michael Bay - critics don't like his movies. Shoot, I don't like his movies. But people go see his movies, regardless of what critics or the Hollywood elites say. Whether it's Pearl Harbor or Transformers or Ninja Turtles (which he only produced but, details), his movies are very successful at the box office. I'm sure plenty of low-info types are going to be looking through their movie options in January (which, there's rarely ANYTHING good playing at the theaters in January. Other than a bunch of pretentious Oscar-bait trash), and they'll be all "Hey - a new Michael Bay movie's out! Let's go see it!" And they will go see this movie. And they will see "This is a True Story." And they will hear the story of what happened in Benghazi on September 11, 2012. Many of them will be hearing about this for the first time.

Like Dana said, we don't know anything about the movie other than the trailer. Hillary could come out of this looking like a hero or a villain. Or she might not even be mentioned in the movie. But it's an opportunity to get the truth out.

How about you? Will you go see 13 Hours?

Via: Chicks on the Right

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The Wine-Sipping Butchers of Planned Parenthood by Michelle Malkin

Hannibal Lecter ain't got nothing on the profit-maximizing abortion ghoul caught on tape hawking aborted baby parts as she swilled wine and nibbled on a gourmet salad.

In newly released undercover footage from the pro-life Center for Medical Progress, seasoned abortionist Dr. Deborah Nucatola, who serves as national senior director of "medical services" at Planned Parenthood, chitter-chattered eagerly about fulfilling the bloodthirsty demand for "intact hearts," "lower extremities" and lungs.

Price tag? "You know, I would throw a number out," she babbled breezily as she twirled her fork. "I would say it's probably anywhere from $30 to $100" per specimen.

Hollywood couldn't conjure monsters this chillingly, banally evil.

Nucatola exulted at how fetal livers have become tres chic: "A LOT of people" want them.

She then spoke of the new hot trends in body-parts trafficking as if she were raving about the latest craze for crop tops or artisanal cheese.

"I was like wow," she gushed to her potential clients about the market for unborn baby hearts, "I didn't even know!"

Like wow.

This master of murderous euphemism repeatedly referred to an unborn baby's head as a "calvarium" and casually described the tricks and techniques she and her fellow abortionists use to "increase your chance of success." Rotating the babies so they are delivered breech before being mutilated and slaughtered by the practitioners of Planned Butcherhood works fabulously, in case you were wondering.

Pausing only to swig more luxury libations from her jumbo wine glass, the loquacious death doc explained to investigators posing as fetal tissue company executives how her "providers" use "ultrasound guidance" to target the coveted body parts — "so they'll know where they're putting their forceps."

In a singsong recitation, this lettuce-chomping Mengele in a silk tank top detailed how the "providers" use ultrasound to become "cognizant of where you put your graspers."

This method is not employed to reduce the pain and suffering of unborn baby and mother, mind you. It's to get "good at getting heart, lung, liver, because we know that — so I'm not gonna crush that part.

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I'm going to basically crush below, I'm gonna crush above, and I'm gonna see if I can get it all intact."

Think about that. Planned Parenthood has officially declared it "torture" for women to see their unborn children through ultrasound before submitting to abortion. The billion-dollar abortion industry has lobbied vociferously against increasing ultrasound access to pregnant women on the fence about abortion.

But when the same imaging technology is used to help Planned Butcherhood's "providers" place their forceps strategically to protect their precious organ commodities, it's invaluable "guidance."

Now you know if you didn't already or if you were in abject denial. Planned Parenthood's fetish for late-term abortion stems not from compassion for mothers, but from the cold-blooded drive to drum up cold, hard cash. The practice has continued for at least 15 years, when Planned Parenthood's human harvesters in Kansas were first uncovered.

Can it get any more stomach-turning? Brace yourselves. This video is just the first in a series by the Center for Medical Progress, which has been investigating Planned Butcherhood's illegal, immoral trafficking of aborted fetal parts for almost three years.

The expose comes after years of undercover journalistic work by Lila Grace Rose and Live Action, who have caught government-supported Planned Parenthood officials covering up for sexual predators, promoting gendercide, flouting health regulations and disclosure laws, soliciting money from racist eugenics zealots who want more black babies aborted, and perpetuating a homicidal racket in the name of "reproductive health."

Nucatola is no rogue underling. She's Planned Parenthood's "senior director" of "medical services" with years of scalpel-wielding, hands-on abortion training. She bragged not only about her own expertise in procurement of baby body parts, but about the everyday trafficking that goes on "behind closed doors" at countless "affiliates."

When you've recovered from your nausea, ask yourselves this: What kind of country do we live in where law-abiding businesses are fined, threatened and demonized for refusing to bake gay wedding cakes, but barbaric baby butchers are hailed by feminists, Hollywood and a president who asked God to "bless" them?

God help us.

Via: CNS News

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LOS ANGELES DOES NOT REFLECT AMERICA

It's a truism that will come as a surprise to few.

Los Angeles doesn't really reflect the rest of America. Sure, this is the United States. We are Americans (most of us, anyway). And L.A. is Hollywood's perpetual stand-in for Anytown, U.S.A.

But personal-finance website WalletHub confirmed that Los Angeles is in a league of its own compared with the rest of the nation. The site looked at metrics such as age, gender, income, household demographics and housing tenure to determine "2015's Metro Areas That Most and Least Resemble the U.S."

In housing demographics, which include how long people have lived in their homes, median home price and vacancy rate, we ranked a sad 379th — almost the bottom.

But you already know about the city's nation-topping housing crisis.

Among big metro areas, L.A. still ranked fairly low — 49th out of 166. A WalletHub spokeswoman broke out some other data for L.A:

330th – Race

152nd – Household Makeup

295th – % of Population with Health Insurance Coverage Housing

380th – Tenure (Renter-to-Owner Ratio)

105th – Household Income

144th – Wealth Gap

311th – % of Households Receiving Food Stamps

200th – Educational Attainment

This is a city where minorities outnumber whites and the gap between rich and poor is huge. But some of the stats are startling. The home of Caltech, considered by some to be the best university in the world, is 200th in educational attainment?

We need to elevate our game.

The city that most reflects America, by the way, is Indianapolis. 

Via: LA Weekly

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Rand Paul Exposes $25,000 Federal Grant for Oscars Museum

Sen. Rand Paul put Hollywood in the spotlight Monday revealing a $25,000 federal grant billing taxpayers for the building of an Oscars museum.

The National Endowment for the Arts is sending the federal dollars to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science to help build what the academyclaims as the “world’s premier museum” exploring the history and future of movies.

The Kentucky Republican revealed the spending in his latest “Waste Report,” which he uses to publicly uncover “egregious” instances of excessive government spending.

“$25,000 might be small in the scope of the federal budget or in Hollywood, it is over half what the average worker makes in a year, and equals the full federal tax liability of almost four average Americans,” Paul said in the report.

He questioned why the government would send the chunk of money to the academy given the group’s “abundance of wealth.”

“In addition to scores of Hollywood brass ponying up donations to the museum, the academy is flush with cash; it makes profits of roughly $50 million on the Oscars alone,” Paul said.

The museum, set to open in 2017, will receive the grant to subsidize planning for its exhibits. Paul highlights the museum will include a space shuttle from “2001: A Space Odyssey,” which he said the academy bought for a “cool” $344,000.

“One must wonder, when cries ring out about what constitutes a fair share of taxes for someone to pay, why are any of those tax dollars going to support a museum that does not need it?” Paul said.

Via: Daily Signal

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Obama Rallies Hollywood Elites for Gun Control Day After Charleston Attack

On June 18–the day after Dylann Roof allegedly shot and killed 9 people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina–President Obama urged Hollywood elites to renew their efforts to help me pass more gun control.

Obama repeated his message at two separate Democrat National Committee fundraisers.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, one of the fundraisers cost “$16,700 per person” for attendees like Kiefer Sutherland, Matthew Perry, Conan O’Brien, and director James Burrows. Speaking at this fundraiser, Obama lamented that “someone who wanted to inflict harm had no trouble getting their hands on a gun.”

He added: “This shooting is incredibly personal, and I’ve done this too much as president. Look, we’ve got to go back to the base of the issue and we have to fight it until it’s fixed.”

The second DNC fundraiser was held at Tyler Perry’s house and attendance prices “ranged from $2,500 to $33,500″ per person. Speaking here Obama said, “To see such a horrific event unfold like that is particularly shocking and it’s a reminder that we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

The President reportedly added:

If you’re dissatisfied that every few months we have a mass shooting in this country, killing innocent people, then I need you to mobilize and organize a constituency that says this is not normal and we are going to change it, and put pressure to elect people who insist on that change.

Via: Breitbart

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Obama to donors: You twits are unworthy of me

After delivering his diatribe statement on the Charleston, SC shootings, Obama jetted off to take care of the real business of the nation. He went to to a pair of Hollywood fundraisers. The first was at the home at the Pacific Palisades home of television producer Chuck Lorre (in fairness, the man did fire Charlie Sheen so he can’t be all bad). Then it was off to Beverly Hills mansion of celebrity Tyler Perry (full disclosure, I never heard of the man before today). It was at the Perry event that the good stuff happened. Obama blamed the 250 people shelling out from $2500 to $33,400 each for screwing up:

“When I ran in 2008, I in fact did not say I would fix it. I said we could fix it,” Obama told an audience of about 250 at a fundraising event here at the stately hillside home of film mogul Tyler Perry. “I didn’t say, ‘Yes, I can.’ I said, ‘Yes, we can.'”

The president continued: “If you’re dissatisfied that every few months we have a mass shooting in this country killing innocent people, then I need you to mobilize and organize a constituency that says this is not normal and we are going to change it.”

Okay. Fair enough. But if you’ve given tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars to this grifter you’d have the right to say, “I did my part, what did you do?” Now his fat cat donors have joined the rest of us in being blamed for everything that goes wrong. This is a great list of things Obama is not to blame for, unfortunately, ends in 2014:

• Obama Blames Arab Spring and Japan’s Earthquake on Struggling Economy and Job Situation, August 5th, 2011.
• Obama Blames Messy Democracy for His Failed Policies, August 3rd, 2011; remarks by the president at a DNC event.
• Obama Blames Congress for US Debt Mess; Obama news conference, June 29th, 2011.
• Obama Blames Republicans for Slow Pace on Immigration Reform, July 25th, 2011.
• Obama Blames Media for Lack of Compromise in Washington; remarks by Obama at a town hall meeting July 22nd, 2011.
• Obama Blames Technology for Struggling Economy; June 14th, 2011, NBC Today interview.
• Obama Blames Oil Spectators for High Oil Prices; April 19th, 2011, remarks by Obama at a town hall meeting.
• Obama Blames Reagan for America’s Out of Control Debt and Spending; remarks by President Obama April 13th, 2011, Federal News Service.
• Obama Blames Bush and Congress for Lack of Fiscal Discipline, April 13th, 2011; remarks by Obama, Federal News Service.
• Obama Blames Bush-Congress for Putting Off Tough Decisions, August 17th, 2010; remarks at a fundraiser for Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) 0%.
• Obama Blames Bush for Tax Cuts, Deficits; Obama town hall meeting on the economy in Racine, Wisconsin, June 30th, 2010.
• Obama Blames Bush for Deficits, June 8th, 2010; remarks by Obama at a second fundraising reception for Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) 0%.
• Obama Blames GOP for Events that Led to Gulf Oil Spill; remarks by President Obama June 3rd, 2010, Federal News Service.
• Obama Blames Republicans for America Not Being Able to Solve Problems; remarks by President Obama June 3rd, 2010, Federal News Service.
• Obama Blames Corporations for Everybody’s Problems, June 3rd, 2010, Federal News Service. He said, “If you’re a Wall Street Journal bank or an insurance company or oil company, you pretty much get to play by your own rules regardless of the consequences for everybody else.”
• Obama Blames Bush for Overall Standing of American Economy, April 19th, 2010, at a fundraising reception for Senator Boxer.
• Obama Blames Bush, Congress for Deficits, February 1, 2010, delivering remarks on the budget.
• Obama Blames Bush for Regulatory Policies; January 17th, 2010, remarks by the president at an event with attorney general Martha Coakley in Massachusetts.
• Obama Blames Bush for Overall Standing of Economy and American Standing, April 19th of 2010. Obama delivering remarks at a fundraising reception for Senator Boxer and the DNC.
• Obama Blames Bush and Congress for Deficits, February 1st, 2010, in remarks delivered on the budget.
• Obama Blames Bush for Regulatory Policies, January 17th, 2010, remarks by the president at an event with Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley.
• Obama Blames Wall Street Fat Cats for Economic Disaster, December 13th, 2009, CBS News’ 60 Minutes.
• Obama Blames Bush for Overall Economy, September 27th, 2009, remarks by the president at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual dinner.
• Obama Blames Bush for Stifling Unions, September 7th, 2009; remarks by the president at the AFL-CIO Labor Day picnic.
• Obama Blames Bush for Prescription Drug Bill; remarks by the president, health insurance reform town hall, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, August 11th, 2009.
• Obama Blames Bush for Jobs, July 22nd, 2009; news conferences by the president.
• Obama Blames Bush for Failure to Recognize Europe’s Leading Role in the World, April 3rd, 2009; remarks by President Obama at a Strasbourg [France] town hall, and in those remarks he said this: “So we must be honest with ourselves. In recent years we’ve allowed our alliance to drift. I know that there have been honest disagreements over policy, but we also know that there’s something more that has crept into our relationship.” “In America there’s a failure to appreciate Europe’s leading role in the world, instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive of you.” That’s Barack Obama, speaking in Europe at Strasbourg, blaming Bush for a failure to recognize Europe’s leading role in the world, April 3rd, 2009.
• Obama Blames Bush for Deficits, February 23rd, 2009; Obama delivering opening remarks at fiscal responsibility summit.
• Candidate Obama Blames Fox News for his Elitist Label, New York Times, October 2008.
• Candidate Obama Blames Fox News for Likely Loss in Kentucky Primary, May 2008.
• Candidate Obama Blames Washington for High Gas Prices, April 25th, 2008; remarks of Senator Barack Obama, press availability on energy plan, 25 April 2008.

With those words ringing in their ears, the Lightworker hopped in his motorcade to continue taking care of the nation’s business:

Obama arrived here Thursday afternoon to kick off a four-day California trip during which he will attend four Democratic fundraisers in Los Angeles and San Francisco, speak to the U.S. Conference of Mayors and play golf in Palm Springs.

Via: Red State

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San Andreas Ready to Blow – In Theaters and In Real Life

Admit it, there's nothing more fun than sitting in a dark theatre, munching on a bucket of buttery popcorn, and watching the Earth get demolished. In the latest round of catastrophic flicks, California is destroyed as the famous San Andreas Fault unleashes unimaginable (and unrealistic) devastation across the state.

The new film, San Andreas, depicts the rupture of an unknown fault near the Hoover Dam in Nevada, which gets the destructive ball rolling by setting off powerful earthquakes along the San Andreas Fault. And although earthquakes are nothing new to Californians, and pose serious threats along the famous fault, Hollywood has once again thrown caution (and science) to the wind in order to feed our catastrophic needs.

The San Andreas Fault is a very real hazard. At almost 800 miles long, the fault marks the boundary where the North American plate meets the Pacific plate. And it's the movement of these plates against each other that cause the powerful quakes characteristic to the region.

A recent report by the U.S. Geological Survey shows the inevitability of just such a quake, which is predicted to hit within the next couple of decades.

"The new likelihoods are due to the inclusion of possible multi-fault ruptures, where earthquakes are no longer confined to separate, individual faults, but can occasionally rupture multiple faults simultaneously," lead author of the study and USGS scientist, Ned Field says. "This is a significant advancement in terms of representing a broader range of earthquakes throughout California's complex fault system."

The study shows that the likelihood of a magnitude 8 or larger earthquake in the next 30 years has risen from about 4.7 percent to around 7 percent, based on recent findings. However, the area most at risk is along the southern end of the fault, not the northern end near San Francisco.

Via: The Science Times

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Gov. Jerry Brown's not saying whether he'll seek fourth term

Gov. Jerry Brown at a January news conference; though he stays out of the spotlight, his aggressive fundraising indicates he'll seek reelection in 2014. (Robert Gauthier, Los Angeles Times / January 8, 2013

SACRAMENTO — He has millions of dollars in his campaign account, solid approval ratings and a small number of potential challengers who are virtually unknown, but Gov. Jerry Brown still won't say whether he'll run for reelection next year.

As recently as Tuesday, the governor deflected the question at a public event. "I am aware that in November of next year there will be an election," he said, "and I will make some decisions regarding that."

Two days later, he joined deep-pocketed Hollywood luminaries in a campaign fundraiser at the Bel-Air home of Disney studio chief Alan Horn.

Although Brown stays mostly out of the spotlight, his aggressive fundraising — and his preference for biding his time — put the safe money on a run for an unprecedented fourth term as governor, a race he would enter as a strong front-runner. And experts say that despite an already respectable war chest, it behooves him to wait.

Brown had more than $13 million in campaign accounts as of July 1, according to reports on file with the state. Since then, he has raised more than $4.2 million from more than 120 donors, not including money he collected in Bel-Air, where more than 100 people gathered under a backyard tent for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres.

Expenditures since July 1 have not yet been reported, so it is unclear how much Brown has on hand now. But the notoriously tight-fisted governor spent relatively little in the first half of the year.

Unlike most statewide officeholders, Brown does not keep political consultants on his campaign payroll. He spent $31,526 from January to the end of June.

By comparison, Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, who is also expected to run for reelection next year with minimal opposition, spent more than $458,000 in that period. Polling, consultant fees and campaign workers soaked up $250,000 of that sum.

Via: LA Times

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Obama raises cash with Hollywood 'Friends'

President Obama will make up a postponed Hollywood fundraiser at the home of "Friends" co-creator Marta Kauffman later this month, according to a report in Variety. 

The $32,400-per-plate event to benefit the Democratic National Committee had originally been slated for early September. But the president was forced to scrap his trip to Los Angeles ahead of a congressional vote to authorize a military strike against Syria.

That vote was eventually postponed, after the Assad regime agreed to a deal that averted U.S. action in exchange for turning over its chemical weapons stockpile.

The glitzy roundtable discussion will take place at the home of "Friends" producer Marta Kauffman on the morning of Nov. 26. 

The president will also appear at an event benefiting House Democrats the prior day at the Los Angeles home of NBA legend Magic Johnson. Tickets to that event range between $2,500 to $15,000 per person. 

Later that day, Obama will attend a dinner at the home of Hollywood producer Haim Saban. Saban's company owns Spanish-language television channel Univison and produces children's television shows, including the popular "Power Rangers" franchise.

Tickets to that event start at $16,200 per person, or $32,400 per couple, according to the Hollywood trade publication. 

Via: The Hill

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