Word: californiaisms
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...Even as a historic presidential campaign spent months demonstrating the need for unity and the fruitlessness of the divisive politics of morality, the states seem to be picking sides on the intractable issue of same-sex marriage. More troubling than the simple passage of Proposition 8 in California are the national reverberations such an event might trigger. Even the thwarted opponents of gay marriage in the state of Massachusetts might take heart and be reinvigorated in light of this development...
...Faced with this new set of bans, supporters of same-sex marriage can take action in two distinct and meaningful ways. In California, where the unsuccessful campaign against Proposition 8 seemed at times to lack a sense of purpose, young activists have ended their silence—organizing vigils, boycotts, and rallies to alter public perceptions and enact change even after the votes were cast. Their strong response, while a little late, should serve as inspiration for other Americans disturbed by the recent drawing-down of gay rights, toward the emergence of a broad national movement in support of same...
...This California contingent’s program of challenging tax-exempt institutions that visibly backed Proposition 8—including Mormon, Catholic and Orthodox Jewish religious organizations and groups like the Knights of Columbus—is a deserved one; these institutions have a responsibility not to lobby and fundraise substantially for any political cause, let alone the dubious one in question...
There probably won't be an earthquake in Southern California today, but 5 million people will cower under furniture anyway. The Great ShakeOut, the biggest disaster drill in U.S. history, will show us just how prepared the Golden State will be when the Big One finally hits...
...problem, of course, is that the Big One never comes. California has more than 300 faults running beneath its surface, including the massive San Andreas Fault, yet the quake to end all quakes has yet to occur. In 1980, a federal report declared the likelihood of a major earthquake striking California within the next 30 years to be "well in excess of 50%." Seismologists predicted a 1993 earthquake in the community of Parkfield - which lies along the San Andreas Fault - but the quake did not come until 2004. Earthquake prediction is a tricky practice, and one that, for all their...