Free Republic

San Francisco (AP) -- California Chief Justice Ronald George has spent more than half his life cultivating an image of a cautious jurist and earning a reputation as a politically skilled court administrator. But his unlikely legacy as gay rights pioneer was sealed May 15, when he heard the roar of a crowd gathered below his office as his majority decision legalizing same-sex marriage was announced. Now, the law-and-order supporter of capital punishment is enduring from gay marriage foes the very complaints of "judicial activism" he has worked so hard to avoid during his 17 years on the high court...

As Lady Macbeth said, "what's done cannot be undone" -- except by constitutional amendment. In order to appease an intransigent minority group, the California Supreme Court has, in the manner of Roe v. Wade, resorted to inventing a new legal principle to justify their predetermined goal. But one does wish that they had thought the matter out a little more carefully. In creating a mechanism for justifying gay marriage, the justices have set in motion an infernal machine with consequences far beyond their limited imaginations. Cliff Thier has already pointed out that these unintended consequences may include the invalidation of...

20 Best Excuses for Calling in Sick By Kate Lorenz, CareerBuilder.com EditorThe 2004 CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey, conducted for CCH by Harris Interactive® · I was sprayed by a skunk. · I tripped over my dog and was knocked unconscious. · My bus broke down and was held up by robbers. · I was arrested as a result of mistaken identity. · I forgot to come back to work after lunch. · I couldn't find my shoes. · I hurt myself bowling. · I was spit on by a venomous snake. · I totaled my wife's jeep in a collision...

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday backed a ballot initiative that would require fewer spending cuts than the reform measure he proposed during his State of the State speech in January - an apparent softening of his views on a key element of his reform agenda. The "California Live Within Our Means Act," drafted by members of a business-backed political committee, would let the state budget increase in line with past revenue growth. Though billed as a solution to California's chronic overspending, the measure's formulas, if enacted a decade ago, would have let lawmakers spend more than they actually...

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- A Superior Court judge excluded a consumer group Wednesday from participating in a lawsuit brought by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his supporters aimed at overturning a limit on campaign contributions. Sacramento Judge Michael Virga ruled that the California Public Interest Research Group, CalPIRG, does not have legal arguments significantly different from the those of the defendant, the California Fair Political Commission, and shouldn't be part of the case. CalPIRG wanted to join the suit to help defend a contribution limit the commission imposed last summer that closed a loophole in Proposition 34, a voter-approved measure that restricted...

Citizens to Save California, a business-backed group with close ties to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, says it's committed to creating new jobs. And it's starting in India. As part of a $10 million petition drive to place the governor's proposed constitutional amendments before voters, Citizens to Save California has hired an out-of-state firm to verify signatures. That firm, in turn, is outsourcing the work to India. Rick Claussen, the group's general manager, defended the move by emphasizing that most of the money will be spent in California. "Of the total amount, maybe only a few hundred thousand will go overseas," he...

Computer Sciences Receives Army Technology Order Worth $199 Million EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) -- Computer Sciences Corp. said Wednesday it led a team that received a $199 million order from the Army to provide technology to monitor product life cycles and integrate logistics systems. The deal spans 57 months and aims to provide Army warfighters with logistics systems integration, and provide the information to Army customers. The Computer Sciences-led team also includes Northrop Grumman Corp., International Business Machines Corp., Digital Fusion Inc. and Germany's SAP Aktiengesellschaft.

Despite delays in meeting an accelerated schedule for a state-of-the-art computer network for the FBI, systems integrator Computer Sciences Corp. announced final delivery of the Trilogy computer system last week. "We hit a few bumps on this one, but ended it on a high note," Paul Cofoni, president of CSC's federal sector, told National Journal's Technology Daily in an interview. Working on Trilogy was "a career milestone for all of us involved." The FBI awarded the Trilogy contract to CSC in May 2001 to move the bureau from a largely paper-based information system with outdated information technology to a modern...

Updated: March 26th, 2004 05:30:23 PM FBI Nears Completion of Computer Upgrade ............ CURT ANDERSON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - The FBI's effort to modernize antiquated computer systems, already more than $120 million over budget and nearly two years overdue, will be completed this summer, FBI Director Robert Mueller says. "I'm as frustrated, as impatient, as anybody to get our information technology to the point where we can be leaders as opposed to followers,'' Mueller told The Associated Press in an interview. The upgrade, known as Trilogy, is intended to move the FBI from decades of dependence on paper to...

Department Awards $34.6 Million Contract to Develop and Operate World's Largest Education Database Department's Institute of Education Sciences to oversee development of searchable Internet-based catalog of education literature FOR RELEASE: March 18, 2004 Contact: David Thomas (202) 401-1576 The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a five-year, $34.6 million contract to Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) of Rockville, Md., along with its subcontractors, to develop and operate a new database system for the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC). The ERIC database will use the latest search and retrieval methods to cull education literature and give high-quality access to educators, researchers,...