Tag: california
California AG Rob Bonta Caves, Paramount Merger To Proceed With Flimsy Conditions
California AG Rob Bonta has caved to what was a relentless, bipartisan pressure campaign to settle the 12 state antitrust lawsuit against Paramount. The AGs sued Paramount last July, arguing (correctly) that the $111 billion deal would largely be anti-competitive, resulting in mass layoffs as the even bigger Larry Ellison-owned company forces labor and consumers...
Trump Says California Can’t Stand Up To Big Telecom If It Wants Taxpayer Grants
As the federal U.S. government has given up on consumer protection and corporate oversight, states have filled the void with various degrees of success. That's been particularly apparent in areas like telecom, where the corruption-fueled death of federal privacy and net neutrality protections have been replicated in a handful of states like California, which passed...
Paramount Funds, ‘Leaks’ Dodgy Study Saying California Will Suffer If Its Merger Is Blocked
Larry and David Ellison are desperate to get their unpopular $111 billion merger between Paramount/CBS and Warner Brothers across the finish line. So they've been engaging in no shortage of dodgy behavior to try and derail the only thing left standing in their way: the 12-state antitrust lawsuit claiming that more media consolidation is anti-competitive...
Lake Tahoe by Brompton
America's "most beautiful bike ride" Brompton-style!
Gavin Newsom Could Reshape the U.S. Death Penalty, But It’s Politically Risky
More than 560 people still face death sentences in California, despite a longstanding moratorium on executions.
Paramount Caught Using ‘Astroturf’ Group To Drum Up Fake Support For Merger
We've well established how the $111 billion Paramount and Warner Brothers merger is terrible for labor, creatives, consumers, and markets. But the kind of behaviors Paramount leadership have been engaged in to sell the deal also give a pretty clear indication what kind of company we're dealing with, and why they shouldn't be allowed to...
Pook-Emu Bee: Links For 08-31-26
We bring August to a close with one Pook-Emu Bee for the road. [caption id="attachment_7432" align="aligncenter" width="756"] I photographed this Children at Play sign on Love Lane in Brooklyn Heights on August 21, 2026.[/caption] 1 | Understanding And Dealing With Kim Jong-Un’s Resilience (Mario Alexis Portella for American Thinker. August 31, 2026.) I attribute Kim...
ICE Tries, Fails To Illegally Raid An Immigration Law Office; Settles For Empty Threats Instead
The thing about raiding law offices is that they tend to be filled with people who actually know the law. A bunch of opportunistic ICE officers thought they might be able to talk their way into an illegal search, but that initiative (is that the word for this?) died out almost immediately when the interloping...
Pook-Emu Bee: Links For 08-26-26
I have a rough three-day work-stretch ahead of me, but the weekday Pook-Emu Bee links streak must continue (I will however compromise on feature images today). 1. Brainless TikTok trend causes $2,000 in damage to SoCal home (Daniel Farr for the New York Post. August 26, 2026.) States and localities should consider sentence enhancement provisions...
Pook-Emu Bee: Links For 08-25-26
I have been busy today, but the weekday streak of Pook-Emu Bee links continues. 1 | California political candidate facing six years in prison after listing dive bar as home address (Marina Peña for the California Post. August 24, 2026.) This plan was dumb enough to make me wonder whether she lives in a dive...
Bodies of Evidence
Lyrics, medical records and menopause — News Inside Issue 23 looks at what gets used against us, and what gets ignored.
The Ellisons Again Threaten To Move CBS/Paramount Somewhere Shittier And Hotter If State Antitrust Lawsuit Isn’t Settled
Paramount bosses Larry and David Ellison aren't having much fun in the wake of a 12 state antitrust lawsuit that risks derailing their $111 billion attempt to dominate what's left of U.S. corporate media. There's been a certain creeping desperation apparent the last month or two; whether it's the company's top lawyer claiming that critics...
Another California Court Has Now Broken Media Advertising, So The Copia Institute Asked Another California Appeals Court To Fix It
A few years ago a California appeals court produced the unfortunate Liapes v. Facebook decision. In this decision, it gave the go-ahead to age discrimination claims under California’s Unruh Act resulting from ads not being served to users of certain ages. It’s a nonsensical application of anti-discrimination law, because ads are not themselves the goods...
Waterfront Woes
Riding San Francisco's Beach Street Quick Build
Yosemite Valley by Brompton
Biked it, Liked it.
Why Are Gay Bars Building Databases Of Their Patrons?
Recent reports have raised alarm about the use of PatronScan, an ID-checking and face-scanning system, at multiple LGBTQ+ bars in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood. Much of the attention has focused on reports that the system photographs patrons as they enter venues and questions about whether those images are used for facial recognition. A broader privacy...
California Town Says Flock Cameras Misread License Plates 71% Of The Time
Flock Safety's automatic license plate readers were first sold as upmarket add-ons for gated communities and HOA curtain-twitchers who wanted to keep tabs on what everyone was doing, whether they lived there or not. Flock soon realized that selling to rich people wasn't as profitable as selling to governments. Law enforcement agencies have always been...
In Federal Prisons, Some Guards Use Fear and Violence to Stifle Complaints
Prisoners in federal facilities must file most grievances with the guards — a system they say exposes them to retaliation, including physical abuse.
Ear Hustle’s Antwan Banks Williams Goes Deep on ‘Like Father, Like Son’
Two years after the podcast’s co-creator’s dad died, he used hip-hop to celebrate their bond.
Alcatraz Island, San Francisco, California. June, 2026.
The waters of San Francisco Bay with gentle rippling waves in the foreground, and Alcatraz Island visible in the distance. The sky above is partly cloudy with sunset light breaking through near the horizon.
Ascent to Vernal Fall, Yosemite N.P., California
One of the highlights of a California round-trip 25 years ago was this hike along Mist Trail and up 600 granite steps to Vernal Fall in Yosemite National Park.
Baker Beach, San Francisco, California. June, 2026.
Ocean waves crashing against a rocky shoreline at Baker Beach in San Francisco, with the Golden Gate Bridge visible in the upper right background, mountains stretching across the horizon, and a partly cloudy sky overhead.
Baker Beach, San Francisco, California. June, 2026.
A coastal hillside near Baker Beach, covered in low scrubby vegetation and grasses, with a grove of tall cypress trees standing near the shoreline. Ocean waves breaking on the beach stretch along the right side of the image, with Lands End visible in the background.
The San Quentin Prison Album That Should Have Been a Classic
Ike White’s “Changin’ Times” spans soul, rock, pop and jazz. On its 50th anniversary, it’s finally getting its due.
Missed Connections: Overnight Solo Trip to Marin
My Brompton converts a disconnected transit system into an adventure.
Bike Routes to Look Forward To
A hopeful view toward the future of biking in the Bay
Police Used Mac Dre’s Music Against Him. In Jail, He Used the Phone to Get Revenge.
In his signature trickster style, the Vallejo, California, rapper recorded an album on jail phones — and even called out cops by name.
His Rap Lyrics Helped Send Him to Death Row. Travis Scott and T.I. Are Trying to Stop His Execution.
The rappers argue that James Broadnax’s case exemplifies a larger problem in American courtrooms: The use of rap lyrics as evidence.
Early Hotel Breakfast, Cupertino, California
On a business trip in February 2014, at 6:11 AM one morning I was the first in the breakfast room at the Hilton Garden Inn in Cupertino, California.
ATmosphereConf Activities: Train Jam
Ryan & Anuj from A New Social are taking the train to Vancouver
497 days car-free in the South Bay
Reflections on car-free living in the South Bay and why I finally gave in
View from BART, San Francisco, California
Scenery outside a BART train between downtown San Francisco and SFO Airport. This view looks across I-280 towards the Oceanview district.
The El Camino Real Protected Bike Lane Experience
A tour of the brand new ECR Protected Bike Lanes in Palo Alto.
Head Tattoo, Santa Cruz, California
On a walk around Santa Cruz, California, I saw this guy with a rather unique tattoo on his bald head.
Passage Sculpture at Embarcadero, San Francisco, California
Between June 2006 and November 2007, this sculpture called Passage by Dan DasMann and Karen Cusolito was on display on the San Francisco Embarcadero.
A Year, Car-free, with a Brompton Bicycle
Reflecting on a year of car-free living in the San Francisco Peninsula with a Brompton Bicycle
She Ate a Poppy Seed Salad Just Before Giving Birth. Then They Took Her Baby Away.
Hospitals use drug tests that return false positives from poppy seed bagels, decongestants and Zantac. Yet newborns are being taken from parents based on the results.
Reflections from the Alpine Trail
The unfulfilled promise of Bay Area slow and leisurely cycling.
Weekend Transit Hacking: Peninsula to Oakland
Using my Brompton to get around faster on a slow transit system and see my friends more!