"Turning sewage into drinking water gains appeal as drought lingers."

California gets ready for "indirect potable reuse."

Instead of flushing hundreds of billions of gallons of treated sewage into the Pacific Ocean each year, as they do now, coastal cites can capture that effluent, clean it and convert it to drinking water.

"That water is discharged into the ocean and lost forever," said Tim Quinn, executive director of the Assn. of California Water Agencies. "Yet it's probably the single largest source of water supply for California over the next quarter-century."...

"You know, toilet to tap might be the only answer at this point," said Van Nuys activist Donald Schultz. "I don't support it, but we're running out of options. In fact, we may have already run out of options."

"Afghan rapper escaped teen marriage by singing about it."

From Public Radio International. There's a skimpiness to the story and doesn't quite support the drama of the headline:

�One day my mom told me, �You have to return to Afghanistan with me. There�s a man there who wants to marry you. Your brother�s engaged and we need your dowry money to pay for his wedding.��

Sonita [Alizadeh] was devastated. So she wrote the song "Brides for Sale." The song starts �Let me whisper, so no one hears that I speak of selling girls. My voice shouldn�t be heard since it�s against Sharia. Women must remain silent� this is our tradition.�...

Sonita was worried what her parents would think about the video � but they actually loved it � and they also told her that she didn�t have to get married....

The attention around Sonita�s music landed her a full scholarship to an arts academy in Utah, and that led to the concert here in the San Francisco Bay Area.

PRI is giving her publicity and extracting a fair amount of criticism of America. The photo captions are: "Afghan rapper Sonita Alizadeh narrowly escaped a forced marriage at 14 by writing the song 'Brides for Sale.' She recently visited West Oakland, California, and was surprised that the US, like Iran and Afghanistan, has poor neighborhoods and homeless people." And: "Sonita was shocked by this neighborhood in West Oakland. 'Are you telling me in America there are places where you can�t walk alone at night?' she asked."

"An aide to state Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris and two others are accused of operating a rogue police force that claimed to exist for more than 3,000 years and have jurisdiction in 33 states and Mexico..."

"... authorities said Tuesday."

Brandon Kiel, David Henry and Tonette Hayes were arrested last week on suspicion of impersonating a police officer through their roles in the Masonic Fraternal Police Department....

A website identifying itself as the police force's official site describes what makes the group unique: "When asked what is the difference between the Masonic Fraternal Police Department and other Police Departments the answer is simple for us. We were here first!... We are born into this Organization our bloodlines go deeper then an application. This is more then a job it is an obligation."