The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that the sponsors of Proposition 8 had no standing, or legal authority, to appeal a trial court ruling that struck down the statewide ban on same-sex marriage.

The 5-4 ruling has the effect of reinstating a 2010 decision in which now-retired U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker of San Francisco ruled in favor of two couples who challenged the 2008 voter initiative in a federal civil rights lawsuit.

The two couples who challenged the measure in a federal lawsuit in 2009 at Kristin Perry and Sandra Stier of Berkeley and Paul Katami and Jeffrey Zarrillo of Burbank. -more-

I consider the attack on California's Public Records Act a stealth attack on a hard-won citizen right, as is the threat of amending the state constitution to weaken a citizen's ability to obtain public records in an easily accessible format and in a reasonable timeliness. I am an involved citizen who depends on the news media and on access to government records to make informed decisions. -more-

Enough is enough. How long do we need to wait to see progress in solving national problems? It is one thing to say, “I don’t care!” when an issue impacts only oneself but it is morally wrong to delay solving urgent national problems. For the last couple of years our intelligent members of Congress have done very little to solve urgent problems related to job growth, national security, transportation, human development, and immigration reform. -more-

A shocking and very painful event in the US Senate has just occurred-- a bipartisan majority voted by 66 to 21 for a farm bill that benefits corporate agriculture but cuts billions of dollars from the food stamp program for poor individuals and families!!! Our two California Senators, Senator Feinstein and Senator Boxer voted with the majority. -more-

No new editorial in this issue, at least not at the moment. Keep checking. -more-

Whatever happened to local news? Where did the Bay Citizen go? Here's part of the story.
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On April 12, 1861, Confederates fired on Fort Sumter, launching the first Civil War. Historians say that war actually began the previous November when Abraham Lincoln was elected President. America’s second Civil War will start in late September when conservatives block raising the debt-limit ceiling and the US goes into default. But our new Civil War actually began in November of 2010 when Tea-Party conservatives seized control of the Republican Party and many states. -more-

Bradley Manning, a U.S. Army soldier, admitted sending 700,000 government documents to Wikileaks in 2010. It was the biggest leak of classified information in U.S. history. Manning is now charged under Articles 92 and 134 of the "Uniform Code of Military Justice" (UCMJ) , which incorporates parts of the Espionage Act in Article 106a of the UCMJ. The Manning case is ongoing at Fort Meade, Maryland. -more-

American poet-playwright Edward Arlington Robinson (1869-1935) wrote, “The gods are growing old; The stars are singing Golden hair to gray. Green leaf to yellow leaf,—or chlorophyll To xanthophyl, to be more scientific.” Why is gray hair the quintessential old age indicator? Why not wrinkles, instead, for example? And it’s international. Grey in Great Britain. Agence France Presse recently described “Japan’s elderly not acting their age,” when Saitama Gold Theatre auditioned only people aged 55+, referring to a greying society. -more-

Housing is a key issue for nonworking persons with mental illness, since often we can't afford to pay much rent on the public benefits we get. Simply renting a room is sometimes unaffordable. This means that many of us are forced for economic reasons to live in an institutional situation. Living in some kind of institutional housing is no life. -more-

The man down was roaring like a mad man at Teley/Dwight. -more-

Like the great Bette Davis said, “Getting old ain’t for sissies.” -more-

Cello Heaven, a 10-cello choir led by cellist Burke Schuchmann will play a program featuring the music of Villa-Lobos (his Bachianas Brazilieres & Bach preludes & fugue arrangements for cello ensembles), Brahms and American choral composer Morton Lauridsen, 8 p. m. Thursday, June 27 at St. Albans Episcopal Church, 1501 Washington Avenue, Albany. Sponsored by Schuchmann's Palomarin Chamber Music Foundation, a donation of $20 for the St. Albans organ fund and Cello Heaven Scholarships is requested. 234-4502; burkepalomarin@gmail.com -more-

After the success last weekend of their 10th annual Bloomsday celebration, including Marion McEvoy's solo show of James Joyce's mother, direct from Dublin, Wilde Irish Productions will sponsor the Berkeley performances of 'The Signatories 1916,' the Easter Rising in Dublin that year as told in music, story and song by Pat Waters & wally Desmond, touring the States after a successful tour of Ireland. Saturday at 7:30, Sunday at 2, Garden Gate Creative Center, 2911 Claremont Avenue at Ashby. $20. 644-9940; wildeirish.org -more-