CALIFORNIA National Guard and protestors in Los Angeles (WIkipedia)

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are being protected by California National Guard troops in an expansion of their duties.

The Associated Press is reporting that CNG soldiers are standing guard around ICE officers as they make arrests. The troops had originally be deployed to protect federal property and buildings.

Soldiers will be able to temporarily detain those who attack agents, although actual arrests would be made by law enforcement personnel.

A federal court has been asked by Gov. Gavin Newsom to block the use of National Guard soldiers and U.S. Marines in connection with the immigration raids in Los Angeles and surrounding cities on the grounds it would increase tension and promote civil unrest. A hearing will be held on Thursday.

The deployment of federal troops to Los Angeles is over the objections of the governor and mayor. So far, troops have been deployed in downtown Los Angeles, Compton, Paramount and Santa Ana.

Baptists take aim at same-sex marriages

Energized by the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe vs Wade, Southern Baptists voted on Tuesday to ask the high court to now reverse another precedent that legalized same sex marriages nationwide.

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

According to The New York Times, the vote for the resolution was taken at the first day of the Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas. The resolution also called for defunding Planned Parenthood and took conservative positions on “parental rights in education and health care” and on the issue of transgendered persons in girls’ and women’s sports.

“We know we are in the minority in the culture right now,” said a Baptist leader, “but we want to be a prophetic minority.”

The convention also expressed its opposition to pornography and sports betting.

$15 an hour minimum wage proposed

A bipartisan proposal in the U.S Senate calls for more than doubling of the national minimum wage.

PROPOSED $15 federal minimum wage (Shutterstock).

According to United Press International, Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri (Republican) and Peter Welch of Vermont (Democrat) are co-sponsoring the “Higher Wages for Americans Workers Act” which would increase the federal wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour.

If approved, the bill would become effective law on Jan. 1, 2026 and allow for cost-of-living increases matching inflation going forward.
California’s minimum wage is now $16.50 per hour. For many fast-food workers, the minimum wage is $22 an hour.

Weather: June gloom sets in

It may be (unofficially) summer in our West Orange County cities, but that doesn’t always mean sunny days. Warm days with lots of clouds are forecast for the next several days. Wednesday is expected to have a daytime high of 77 with an overnight low of 62. Thursday will be similar at 77 (63) and Friday a bit warmer at 78(63).

Great Thoughts

“He that falls in love with himself will have no rivals.”
– Benjamin Franklin

“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
– St. Francis of Assisi

“For your own success to be real, it must contribute to the success of others.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt