The U.S. Supreme Court shouldn’t mess with the internet by limiting Section 230 protections

• February 24, 2023

It’s not often some arcane section of the regulatory code is so universally reviled that it’s known by its section number. Such is the case with Section 230, which was originally included in the federal Communications Decency Act – the 1996 law designed to protect minors from accessing obscene materials in the emergent internet.

The broader law hasn’t achieved its goals, but Section 230 has – without exaggeration – shaped the development of the modern internet despite its mere 26 words: “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.”

Explainer: Section 230

That means such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are not liable for their users’ posts. A publisher is responsible for content on its website or publication because it edits and reviews the material. A platform merely hosts what others publish. Without Section 230, any one of millions of potentially inflammatory comments would open these companies to crippling litigation.

Section 230 has become a hot button for social-media critics on the Right and Left because of the gray area of content moderation. Platforms have posting rules and they employ moderators to remove content that violates those rules. Their decisions are subjective and often controversial – such as when companies banned certain users or removed COVID-19 “misinformation.”

Related: Calling Section 230 a ‘Big Tech handout’ is a lie. Here’s why.

Conservatives accuse the platforms of going too far by censoring their viewpoints. Progressives accuse the companies of not going far enough by allowing the proliferation of hate speech. Both sides have focused their ire on that liability protection. Many voices – from conservative think tanks to the Biden administration – want Section 230 eliminated or “reformed.”

Now the U.S. Supreme Court has taken up the matter in a case known as Gonzalez v. Google. The plaintiffs are the parents of a California college student who was killed in a terrorist attack in Paris in 2015. The family claims that social-media firms (the case is now limited to Google) didn’t sufficiently police their sites to remove extremist content from Islamic radical groups.

One certainly can argue that the companies did not do enough to remove Islamic State content from their sites, but if the family’s lawsuit succeeds it could, as the New York Times explained, “have potentially seismic ramifications for the social media platforms that have become conduits of communication, commerce and culture for billions of people.”

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The court could take any number of approaches, but if it eliminates Section 230 the platforms would have a stark choice: Either behave as publishers and review everything that users post on their sites or take a hands-off approach. The former will require armies of moderators and almost certainly will lead to more claims of censorship. The latter would mean anyone could post anything, opening the sites to extremists and spammers.

Some groups have called for reforming Section 230, a middle approach that the court could embrace. Yet reforms – such as limits on what types of posts the platforms can moderate – ultimately depend upon value judgments. That would lead to a similar result to eliminating the protection by leaving decisions in the hands of courts or regulators.

We’re stuck waiting to see what the high court will do, but we suspect that any changes to Section 230 will only make matters worse.

​ Orange County Register 

Depeche Mode adds more Memento Mori Tour dates in Southern California

• February 24, 2023

After announcing the fall leg of its Memento Mori Tour last week, Depeche Mode has added two more local evenings to the tour.

The band is already slated to perform at the Kia Forum in Inglewood on March 28, but added Dec. 10 at the Inglewood venue and and Dec. 15 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles in the fall. Due to popular demand, Depeche has just announced Dec. 12 at Kia Forum and Dec. 17 at Crypto.com Arena.

Tickets for the newly added shows will go on sale Wednesday, March 1 at 10 a.m. at depechemode.com.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees recently released their studio single, “Ghosts Again,” and are preparing to drop “Memento Mori,” their 15th studio album, on March 24.

The new album follows their 2017 album, Spirit,” which reached No. 1 on the charts. The supporting tour for the album was successful and their largest tour to date. The tour spanned across Europe and North America with 130 shows that brought out more than 3 million fans, marking it one of the year’s highest-grossing tours.

Depeche Mode last performed in Southern California for The Global Spirit Tour five years ago. It spent four nights at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles in 2017 and returned to Honda Center in Anaheim in 2018. This will also be the band’s first tour without keys player Andrew “Fletch” Fletcher, who died in May at the age of 60 after suffering an aortic dissection at his home.

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​ Orange County Register 

Six Flags Magic Mountain’s Scream Break combines Halloween with Spring Break

• February 24, 2023

What do you get when you combine Spring Break with Halloween? The new Scream Break at Six Flags Magic Mountain takes two seasonal holiday traditions and mashes them together into a first-of-its-kind spring-meets-fall Fright Fest.

The Scream Break after-hours, separate-admission event will run on 14 select nights from March 18 to April 16 at the Valencia amusement park.

SEE ALSO: What’s next as Fright Fest continues to improve at Six Flags Magic Mountain

Scream Break will feature two haunted mazes near the Full Throttle coaster and three scare zones all with a “chilling Spring Break twist.”

DJs will spin haunted tunes in Full Throttle Plaza and DC Universe during the events. Devilish specialty food and drinks will include sangria blood bags and syringe jello shots.

SEE ALSO: Wonder Woman coaster delivers plenty of airtime and hang time at Six Flags Magic Mountain

Several roller coasters will run in the dark including Wonder Woman Flight of Courage, Twisted Colossus, Full Throttle, Goliath, Batman the Ride and Scream.

Scream Break will run on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 9 p.m. to midnight with pre-event mix-in beginning at 7:30 p.m. Unlike the Fright Fest events during Halloween, the hard-ticket after-hours Scream Break events are not included with season passes and memberships or daily admission.

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Magic Mountain has not announced Scream Break prices, but the park will offer an Extreme Pass good for all 14 nights that includes parking.

Six Flags is rolling out Scream Break events at other warmer weather parks. Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo and Six Flags Fiesta Texas have set prices at $35 to $40 for a single night and $160 to $200 for the all-access Extreme Pass. Six Flags Over Texas is also hosting a Scream Break event, but hasn’t announced prices yet.

​ Orange County Register 

The bizarre story of Assemblymember Mia Bonta’s obviously unethical committee assignment

• February 24, 2023

If we’re talking about teachable moments, Assemblywoman Mia Bonta has had her share over the past few weeks.

The Oakland Democrat came under fire recently when it became known that she had been put in charge of the Assembly budget subcommittee overseeing the California Department of Justice, which her husband, Attorney General Rob Bonta, is directly in charge of.

This is obviously unethical. It’s also totally unnecessary since there are 79 other members of the Assembly who could have been chair of that particular subcommittee. The easiest thing would have been for Mia Bonta to swap committee assignments and move on.

Bonta refused to do that. She first denied that there was anything wrong. Then, after realizing the story wasn’t going away, she announced last Sunday she would be recusing herself from matters involving the state DOJ. This would have been functionally impossible since she would have remained the chair of the committee and could exert influence on committee members regardless.

Then, on Thursday, the issue died an ignoble death when jurisdiction of DOJ’s budget was shifted to the State Administration subcommittee, which is absurd, but at least removes the conflict. And to be clear, there was a conflict. This is not some right-wing conspiracy.

As the generally left-wing Los Angeles Times editorial board wrote: “Having Bonta chair the budget subcommittee that is responsible for proposing and overseeing the funding of her spouse’s agency is inappropriate because it can create the perception of preferential treatment.”

Indeed. Who knows why Bonta refused to see the problem. Maybe work in the Bonta household really isn’t discussed, because as attorney general and a politician, Rob likely (hopefully!) saw the conflict.

As reported by KCRA’s Ashley Zavala, who broke the story, the arrangement seemed to run afoul of Department of Justice ethical guidelines. And as a former Assembly staffer, I assure you Assembly ethics training would have frowned on it as well.

Bonta was also publicly egged on by Speaker Anthony Rendon, who appointed her to the subcommittee. Rendon insisted she would be “unbiased.” I guess that solves everything!

If Bonta could truly be unbiased toward her husband’s livelihood, good for her. But that would have made her different from everyone else who prefers their own family.

Rendon of course is not the best judge of ethics when it comes to determining committee chairs. Not too long ago, he allowed Assemblyman Roger Hernandez, D-West Covina, to serve as a committee chair, even though he was under a restraining order for allegedly beating his wife.

Hernandez was a supporter of Rendon, so Rendon stood by him. Bonta, on the other hand, is a big supporter of Rendon’s successor as Assembly speaker, Robert Rivas.

Perhaps Rendon did this to embarrass Bonta for backing Rivas, which makes more sense than everyone simply being clueless about conflicts of interest. If that’s true, Rendon had to take a reputational hit as well, but he survived backing an alleged wife beater and is termed out, so he might not have cared.

Mia Bonta certainly made her own mistakes though. Instead of simply acknowledging the conflict and moving on, she self-immolated. Bonta blamed concerns about her conflict of interest on racism and sexism and on people being ignorant of the legislative process, which is all nonsense.

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Bonta now sits atop a hollowed-out committee and the Department of Justice’s budget is now under the jurisdiction of the State Administration committee, proving that current leadership treats life in the Capitol as a joke. I wrote two weeks ago about the soft corruption that dominates the Capitol and this only proves my point.

I’ve never met Bonta, but she seems like she has a sincere desire to make a difference in her district and this state. I urge her not to let this whole thing make her bitter and vindictive like many of her colleagues. I also hope that she remembers when she sees her colleagues being jerked around — even the Republicans — that petty games in the Legislature do not serve the interests of constituents.

Follow Matt Fleming on Twitter @FlemingWords

​ Orange County Register 

How to earn points at every step when traveling for work

• February 24, 2023

Travelers often use loyalty program numbers to earn airline miles or hotel points when booking personal travel. However, if you travel for work and someone else books your reservation, it’s easy to overlook or simply forget this step — potentially leaving thousands of points on the table.

And those points could be worth quite a bit. Total spending on global business travel reached $697 billion in 2021, according to the Global Business Travel Association, and that’s expected to grow as the industry recovers from COVID-19 pandemic lows.

So, if you’ve got a work trip coming up and your company is paying for your travel expenses, don’t sleep on all the potential ways to earn points. Here are some tips to consider to ensure that you’re not missing out on any extra rewards.

1. Add the reservation code to your airline and hotel loyalty program accounts

When booking your own travel, including your frequent flyer number or loyalty program number on your reservation is a relatively straightforward process. But if someone else is arranging your travel or if you book your trip on your employer’s travel portal, you may not have the option to add those loyalty programs.

To get around this, once your flight and hotel are booked, gather your airline and hotel reservation confirmations and look for the reservation code that corresponds to your flight and hotel. Then, log into your airline and hotel loyalty programs and manually add those reservations to your accounts.

Sometimes, the reservation code from your company’s travel portal won’t match the type of reservation code that the airline or hotel accepts online. In this case, you may need to call the airline or hotel and ask them to manually add your reservation to your account.

And while you’re at it, make sure your Known Traveler Number also appears on your flight reservation if you have TSA PreCheck. If the TSA PreCheck indicator doesn’t show on your boarding pass, you won’t be allowed to enter the TSA PreCheck lines.

2. Use a credit card that earns miles or points for expenses

If you purchase any extras, such as Wi-Fi, bags or food during your flight, make sure to use a credit card that earns extra points for travel purchases. When you check into your hotel and need to provide a credit card, similarly use a card that earns bonus points on travel.

Then, during your hotel stay, charge all your expenses to your room so that you earn points with your credit card and also with the hotel. The number of hotel points you earn will depend on your hotel elite status.

For example, if you are staying at a Hilton hotel, and you have Diamond status and incur a $500 hotel bill, you can earn 10,000 Hilton points since Diamond members earn 20 points per $1 during the stay. If you charge that hotel stay to a card that earns extra points for travel purchases, you will also earn rewards.

However, note that the hotel rate must be eligible to earn points. Some work trips are part of a group rate that may exclude loyalty point earnings.

In addition to your flights and accommodations, you may incur other expenses like taxis, food and gas on a work trip. Again, use a credit card that earns bonus points in these categories.

If you don’t get reimbursed for your work trip

If your employer pays for your work trip using the company or corporate credit card, you may not be able to reap all the benefits of earning points. So while you may not be able to earn those extra points, you’ll still earn miles for your flight and points for your hotel stay.

3. Choose an airline or hotel you already have status with

You may have a lot of airline and hotel options when booking a work trip, especially if you’re headed to a popular destination.

If you have elite status with one airline or hotel, make sure to book travel with those companies because you may be able to extract even more value from these trips. You can earn additional hotel points if you have status, and you also may get other perks available at your status level, including free room upgrades, early check-in and late checkout.

Those with airline status may benefit from free seat upgrades, additional baggage allowance and higher mileage earning rates.

For example, if you have United Silver status and you’re booked on a United flight, you’ll be able to select a free Economy Plus seat at check-in and get 70 pounds of checked baggage free, even when flying economy. If you’re lucky, you may score a first class upgrade.

Maximize your points on company expenses

If your company is paying for a work trip, take every opportunity to earn points. You might be surprised at just how much you can earn, especially with inflation. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, flight prices are up more than 26% year over year, so your trip to an annual conference might be more expensive than it was last year.

After all, someone should get the rewards for paying extra for travel this year — why not you?

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​ Orange County Register 

OC’s Top 5 home sales of 2022 include Heather Dubrow’s $55 million manse

• February 24, 2023

Last year amid a cooling housing market, “The Real Housewives of Orange County” star Heather Dubrow quietly sold her palatial Newport Coast mansion.

The $55 million off-market deal ended 2022 as Orange County’s most expensive home sale, followed by other waterfront properties starting from $28.825 million. Those big-ticket deals closed out a year that started looking like it might repeat 2021’s record-setting pace but fell short as mortgage rates more than doubled from the historic low.

“Yes, demand slowed, but there are still sophisticated buyers that understand value,” said Tim Smith of Coldwell Banker Realty, who “had three of our best sales last year from July through December,” including a $43.5 million Laguna Beach home in August.

And people have continued to pay big prices while shopping for deals among O.C.’s low inventory, which agents interviewed for this story agree is undervalued relative to other major metropolitan areas.

“Orange County has always been a destination, but not it’s really become a major destination where people with money who can afford to live here or have a second home here want to be here as opposed to say L.A. or New York,” said John Stanaland of Douglas Elliman Real Estate who was with Villa Real Estate when he closed on $29.888 million Laguna Beach home in February. “We’re an ‘it’ destination now.”

With L.A.’s Measure ULA “mansion tax” approaching April 1, agents have seen an upsurge in interested buyers to O.C. The one-time transfer tax of 4% on properties sold from $5 million to shy of $10 million and 5.5% on deals of $10 million and above aims to increase affordable housing and reduce homelessness.

“A lot of the high net-worth individuals we sell houses to find the market and lifestyle and just everything about Orange County extremely appealing.” said Josh Altman, co-founder of The Altman Brothers at Douglas Elliman Real Estate and star of Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles.”

Off-market showings make up more than half of all showings for The Altman Brothers which officially expanded into Orange County in 2020. The team has a 15-year lease on the Old West Bank building in Corona del Mar, which is in the process of converting into the Altman Brothers’ O.C. flagship, set to open this summer.

“There are tons of buyers sitting on the sidelines just waiting for a deal,” Altman said. “I get emails by the hour — Do you have this? Do you have that? There’s not a lot. And look, we specialize in a lot of different areas out there, but waterfront properties? It’s near impossible to find what you want. It’s such a micro market with not a lot of inventory and not a lot of wealth, it’s going to continue going upward.”

Here are O.C.’s five most expensive home sales of 2022:

The 22,000-square-foot home known to “Real Housewives of Orange County” fans as “Chateau Dubrow” sold off-market for $55 million, making it Orange County’s most expensive sale of 2022. (Google Earth)

$55 million: Newport Coast

Home: “Real Housewife” Heather Dubrow and her husband, “Botched” surgeon Terry, built the 22,000-square-foot French chateau-style mansion on a nearly three-quarter-acre lot. It’s over-the-top luxurious, right down to a doorbell in the walk-in closet for Champagne service and twin offices with hidden bars.

Other highlights include a temperature-controlled wine wall the housewife kept well-stocked with Champagne, as well as a mirrored gym, a 21-seat movie theater and a backyard terrace featuring a pool and spa.

List price: Off-market sale on Oct. 20

Sold by: “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles” siblings Josh and Matt Altman of The Altman Brothers at Douglas Elliman Real Estate represented the couple.

C.J. Light Associates designed this 4,981-square-foot Laguna Beach home across the street from Emerald Bay Beach. It sold for $43.5 million. (Photo by Toby Ponnay)

$43.5 million: Laguna Beach

Home: This 4,981-square-foot spec home’s claim to fame is that it’s the most expensive new construction in Orange County per square foot.

At $8,733 per square foot, this C.J. Light Associates creation has all the luxurious amenities one could want in an Emerald Bay Beach-front home, and then some. it boasts “a wellness center” with an outdoor shower, in-ground spa and Nordic infrared sauna, an open-air spa bathroom in the primary suite and a built-in catering station in the four-car garage. The beach is accessible by foot only to residents of the guard-gated community.

List price: $48.995 million; sold Aug. 12

Sold by: Tim Smith of Coldwell Banker Realty held the listing. Tad Baltzer of Triibe Real Estate represented the buyer

An aerial view of the Monarch Bay home that sold for $33 million, making it one of Orange County’s most expensive sales of 2022. (Photo by PreviewFirst)

$33 million: Dana Point

Home: Retired showbiz investor Gordon “Gordy” Crawford purchased this newly remodeled four-bedroom, 7,700-square-foot Monarch Bay house in guard-gated Monarch Bay.

The blufftop house wraps around an inner courtyard with a pool and spa and a covered built-in barbecue area. Disappearing glass walls frame unobstructed coastline and ocean views that co-listing agent Phil Immel of The Immel Team at Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty likened to standing on the bow of a ship.

“It’s pure oceanfront and sits out further on the point than any other house,” he said.

List price: $35 million; sold March 22

Listed by: Phil and Ryan Immel, the father-son team at The Immel Team of Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty, represented the seller. Samantha Nugent and Todd Davis of Compass represented the buyer.

The workout area is visible through the outdoor glass terrace and the transparent underwater wall of the infinity-edge pool. (Photo by The Luxury Level)

$29.888 million: Laguna Beach

Home: Within this home’s 8,140 square feet of living space is a workout area that sits beneath the outdoor glass terrace, offering a glimpse into the infinity-edge pool through a transparent underwater wall.

Glass, as it turns out, is a prominent feature of this property in upscale Montage Ocean Estates. So do quality materials such as an ocean-inspired mahogany ceiling in the living room, a custom wooden tub in the primary bathroom and illuminated onyx countertops in the kitchen.

List price: $30.888 million; sold Feb. 9

Sold by:  John Stanaland and Logan Montgomery, formerly of Villa Real Estate and now with Douglas Elliman Real Estate, held the listing. Allen McMurtray of EJM Realty Group represented the buyer.

The view from the loggia of this 11,613-square-foot Crystal Cove home that sold for $28.825 million in 2022, the same year it was completed. (Photo by Tyler Bowman / Bowman Group Media)

$28.825 million: Newport Coast

Home: This five-bedroom, 11,613-square-foot home with 10 bathrooms has all the amenities you’d expect to find in a new structure of this caliber, including what the listing calls “indulgent luxury entertaining” at the basement level.

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Features include an exotic car display, open game room and wet bar with a 336-bottle climate-controlled wine room. There’s a gym with extras like a massage room, sauna and steam shower.

Elsewhere vanishing glass walls extend the indoors out to where ocean views create a backdrop on this three-quarter-acre-plus lot. The grounds feature a saltwater infinity pool and spa, an outdoor kitchen with top-of-the-line appliances, a gas fire pit, and a courtyard with a fireplace and fountain.

List price: $34.9 million; sold Sept. 29

Sold by: John Cain of Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty handled both sides of the deal.

​ Orange County Register 

Storm leads to closure of 5 Freeway at the Grapevine

• February 24, 2023

The 5 Freeway through the Tejon Pass — known as the Grapevine — was shut down just after midnight on Friday, Feb. 24, because of snow and poor visibility creating hazardous driving conditions.

The 5 was closed between Parker and Grapevine roads, said Officer Adriaan Garcia, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.

“It looks like a blizzard here now,” Garcia said.

CHP and Caltrans officials said it was unclear when the Grapevine would reopen.

Southern California coast battered by rain, wind

“We do have snow plows our there plowing and spreading sand,” said Marc Bischoff, a Caltrans spokesman.

🚨TRAVEL ADVISORY🚨

❄OPERATION SNOWFLAKE❄@CHPFortTejon & Caltrans have CLOSED I-5 through the Tejon Pass from a Grapevine Rd to Parker Rd. Closure duration unknown. US 101 is the alternate route. Limit your non-essential travel! See closures at https://t.co/cxZ0jW7S5n. pic.twitter.com/ZhY2R8ruto

— Caltrans District 7 (@CaltransDist7) February 24, 2023

Said Eric Menjivar, another Caltrans spokesman: “We’re advising motorists to reduce non-essential travel. And if they need to travel, we are advising (them) to use U.S. Route 101.”

State Route 58 is not an option because a portion of it is closed, while State Route 14 is open but hit hard with snow, Bischoff said.

Caltrans recommends avoiding the 14; the agency was spreading cinder and sand on the roadway to combat the weather.

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​ Orange County Register 

USC men’s basketball at Utah: What you need to know

• February 24, 2023

USC at Utah

When: 5 p.m. Saturday

Where: Jon M. Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, Utah

TV/Radio: ESPNU/AM 790

Records: USC 20-8, 12-5 in Pac-12; Utah 17-12, 10-8

Last matchup: USC put away the Utes 71-56 at the Galen Center. It was one of USC’s most well-balanced offensive nights of the year, with each starter scoring at least eight points and Reese Dixon-Waters adding 11 off the bench. The Trojans’ defense never gave the Utes a chance to stage a comeback, holding Utah to 34.4% shooting from the floor.

USC latest result: The Trojans started off their mountain road trip with an easy 84-65 win over Colorado, taking a 13-point lead into halftime and never looking back. The Trojans had four starters in double digits and big man Joshua Morgan added eight in his first start since his ankle sprain earlier in the month. It was USC’s 20th win of the season, marking a program-record fourth consecutive 20-win season for the Trojans.

Utah latest result: The Utes staged a second-half comeback, but it wasn’t enough to top UCLA as Jaime Jaquez scored 17 second-half points in a 78-71 victory. The Utes struggled with 12 turnovers while without starting point guard Rollie Worster (ankle), whose status remains uncertain for the USC game.

Matchup to watch: Morgan vs. Branden Carlson. Carlson scored 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting the last time these teams played, including 3 for 5 on 3-pointers. USC will rely on Morgan to slow down the Utah center and prevent him from tilting the game in the Utes’ favor.

USC trend to watch: The Trojans currently sit in third place in the Pac-12. With a win over fifth-place Utah, USC would guarantee itself no worse than a fourth-place finish and clinch a first-round bye in the Pac-12 tournament.

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March résumé check: USC added a Quadrant 1 victory over Colorado on Thursday, improving its record in such games to 2-5. It’s a tough mark, but USC has the chance to improve it again Saturday against the Utes, another Quad 1 opportunity. Having moved up six spots to No. 49 in the NET rankings, USC is projected to be a play-in team in the NCAA tournament by ESPN. CBS has the Trojans as an 11-seed playing Northwestern in Sacramento in the West bracket.

​ Orange County Register