Free Republic

Could Ferguson happen here? Some would say it already did — nearly five decades ago. Days of sometimes violent demonstrations in Ferguson, Mo., erupted after Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen, was shot dead by a police officer Aug. 9, allegedly in self-defense. At the height of the civil rights movement, the Watts riots were triggered after a young black motorist was pulled over and arrested by a white California Highway Patrolman on Aug. 11, 1965, on suspicion of drunk driving. The struggle to arrest him sparked six days of rioting that claimed the lives of 34 people, injured more...

The Reverend Jesse Jackson is, to the surprise of all thinking people, right about something: “A spark has exploded,” he said, referring to the protests and violence in Ferguson, Mo. “When you look at what sparked riots in the Sixties, it has always been some combination of poverty, which was the fuel, and then some oppressive police tactic. It was the same in Newark, in Chicago, in Detroit, in Los Angeles. It’s symptomatic of a national crisis of urban abandonment and repression, seen in Chicago.” A question for the Reverend Jackson: Who has been running the show in Newark, in...

A quarter of a century ago, Washington DC had a fearsome reputation for crack abuse and rampant gun violence - it was the "murder capital" of the US. But now, once-blighted neighbourhoods close to the centre of the capital are thriving. When Ruben Castaneda moved to the US capital in 1989 to take up a job with the Washington Post, he was struck by how easy it was to score crack. Days after arriving in the city, he was taken to S Street Northwest by a "strawberry" - a streetwalker who offered sex in return for drugs. "The moment she...

LIVE VIDEO AT THE LINK A 102-year-old water main broke in Westwood Tuesday, sending water flooding into streets and the UCLA campus, stranding people and vehicles and prompting the closure of Sunset Boulevard on Tuesday. The water main break sent a geyser gushing into the air on July 29, 2014. (Credit: KTLA) The water main break sent a geyser gushing into the air on July 29, 2014. (Credit: KTLA) People were stranded by the rising water, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department, which was called to the incident shortly before 3:30 p.m. Three people were rescued from parking structures,...

Ahh, government: In this week’s “Damned if You Do, Damned if You Don’t” file: A Southern California couple received a letter from Glendora city officials threatening to fine them $500 if they don’t get their sun-scorched brown lawn green again, reports AP. Which Laura Whitney and Michael Korte would gladly do, except for one thing: They could also be fined $500 if they water their lawn too much; they’re currently only watering twice a week. With more than 80% of California in an extreme drought, according to the Los Angeles Times, the state water board voted this week to...

Lisa Aronson Coconut Creek Russ Barley Freeport Peter Bober Hollywood Craig Cates Key West Joy Cooper Hallandale Beach David Coviello Biscayne Park Daniel Dietch Surfside Rob Downey Melbourne Village Harry Dressler Tamarac Buddy Dyer Orlando Pat Gerard Largo Samuel Henderson Gulfport Richard Kaplan Lauderhill Rick Kriseman St. Petersburg Connie Leon Kreps North Bay Village Cindy Lerner Pinecrest Philip Levine Miami Beach Sue Lynn Anna Maria John Marks Tallahassee Shari McCartney Oakland Park Ashira Mohammed Pembroke Park Lori Moseley Miramar Jeri Muoio West Palm Beach Frank Ortis Pembroke Pines Judy Paul Davie Lesa Peerman Margate Gary Resnick Wilton Manors Michael Ryan...

When Seattle passed their new city council ordinance mandating a staged increase in the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour, many local businesses – as well as observers across the nation – were left shaking their heads. The rules seemed to be unevenly applied, with some businesses having to comply but not others, as well has having a complete disregard for whether or not the job providing entities would be able to remain competitive and survive under the new rules. As Reuters reports, a coalition of business owners are now moving to exercise the power of public support to...

For LGBTQ couples who met that special someone over Pride weekend — or who already have but just haven’t set the date — Seattle’s tourism agency will be awarding four free wedding trips to LGBTQ couples in a sweepstakes that starts July 1. Sponsored by Visit Seattle, the hosted trips include the opportunity to be married by Seattle’s first openly gay mayor, Ed Murray, along with air transportation provided by Alaska Airlines, a four-night stay at the Renaissance Seattle Hotel, a wedding ceremony at Canlis restaurant, DJ and music, wedding photography, sparkling wine courtesy of Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery, beer...

Detroit: How the Left Made Water More Expensive Than Cell PhonesPosted By Arnold Ahlert On June 24, 2014 @ 12:56 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | 2 Comments The latest news from Detroit, the poster child for failed progressive policies that have dominated that city for more than a half-century, is not good. In March of 2014, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) announced it would begin cutting off water service for customers at least 60 days overdue or more than $150 behind in their water bill payments. Activists outraged by the decision have taken their case outside the city—all the way...

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel earlier this month insisted that his brand of gun control should spread nationwide, but this past weekend’s Windy City body count – with six dead and more than 20 wounded, according to this morning’s Chicago Sun Times – does not instill public faith in his strategy. Earlier this month when Mark Glaze stepped down as executive director of Michael Bloomberg’s “Everytown for Gun Safety,” he told the Wall Street Journal, “when a mass shooting happens…nothing that we have to offer would have stopped that mass shooting (in Santa Barbara).” Late last month, Washington CeaseFire President Ralph...

It’s a basic human right: water. But could the United Nations soon help the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department provide the service to struggling customers? Water department spokeswoman Curtrise Garner says it’s a possibility — but for now, the water bills must be paid. “We do have programs that do help those that are just totally in need; can’t afford it — but we also know that there are also people who can’t afford it would can not pay and we know this because, once we shut water off, the next day they are in paying the bill in full....

The mayor of an affluent Southern California city was caught on camera leaving a bag of what appeared to be dog feces on his neighbor’s property, police said, and the neighbor believes this wasn't an accident.  Dennis Kneier, mayor of San Marino, a town of approximately 13,000 people just south of Pasadena, was identified as the person placing a plastic bag in the private walkway of a home in the 1400 block of Charlton Road around 6 p.m. Saturday. According to San Marino Police, the bag was tied closed and appeared to have been intentionally place at the walkway entrance....

- FrontPage Magazine - http://www.frontpagemag.com - ‘Islamophobia’ Thought Crimes at BerkeleyPosted By Cinnamon Stillwell and Rima Greene On June 4, 2014 @ 12:39 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | 2 Comments [To order David Horowitz and Robert Spencer's pamphlet Islamophobia: Thought Crime of the Totalitarian Future, click here.]What’s an “Islamophobia”-promoting academic to do when there simply aren’t enough hate crimes to sustain the mythical narrative that Muslim-Americans are persecuted for their religion? The Islamophobia Research & Documentation Project (IRDP) at the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Race & Gender came up with a brilliant idea for this spring’s Fifth Annual...

Former Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon was expected to plead guilty Tuesday in a corruption case after an FBI sting recorded him accepting thousands of dollars in cash and airline tickets from undercover agents posing as businessmen, according to court documents. Cannon agreed to plead guilty to a single count of honest services wire fraud, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to documents filed Monday at U.S. District Court. Cannon was set to appear Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge David Cayer. Cannon, 47, was arrested March 26 and the Democrat resigned...

NIMBY, literally. “I’m at the breaking point,” said Gretchen Gardner, an Austin artist who bought a 1930s bungalow in the Bouldin neighborhood just south of downtown in 1991 and has watched her property tax bill soar to $8,500 this year.“It’s not because I don’t like paying taxes,” said Gardner, who attended both meetings. “I have voted for every park, every library, all the school improvements, for light rail, for anything that will make this city better. But now I can’t afford to live here anymore. I’ll protest my appraisal notice, but that’s not enough. Someone needs to step in...

The Seattle City Council voted unanimously Monday to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, equaling the highest minimum wage in the nation. The law will phase in the higher wages over a three- to seven-year window, depending on the size of a company. Corporations that employ more than 500 workers will have to pay $15 an hour by 2017 if their employees don’t receive company-paid health care. Smaller businesses can wait until 2019 to reach the higher rate. All workers will receive the highest wage by 2021. “The people who work for a living have basically seen no...

After Minnesota became one of the first states in the Midwest to legalize same-sex marriage, it became a new travel ‘hot-spot.’ According to the New York Times, Minneapolis is now on the list of “up and coming LGBT” places to visit, especially with the Pride celebration coming up. New York Times completed the survey after talking with gay and lesbian travel experts. It estimates the annual economic impact of LGBT travelers to be about $70 billion a year in the United States. Other cities on the hot spot list include Eureka Springs, Arkansas, the Big Island on Hawaii, and Pittsburgh.

Starting August 1, the left-wing Ohio newspaper, The Toledo Blade, intends to lay off about 130 of its unionized employees due to a permanent shutdown of its Toledo production center that handles printing and inserting. ... In 2013, The Blade lost $8.5 million and has been losing millions for years. As of now there are no plans that will affect the advertising and news-gathering departments. In 2012, The Toledo Blade urged it readers to re-elect President Obama, arguing in part that "He has dealt effectively with economic recession at home

* The Facebook founder pledged $100million to Newark schools in 2010 to bring sweeping educational reforms * However, most of the money has been spent on labor contracts and consulting fees * The money has had little impact on student performance so far In his first major show of philanthropy, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg made a splash by announcing his plan to give $100 million to help turn around Newark, New Jersey's public schools in an appearance on Oprah in 2010. But nearly four years later, Zuckerberg's money has run out, having been spent mostly on labor contracts and consulting...

Detroit women are turning to abortion at a staggering rate as poverty and crime grip the city, with more than one-third of pregnancies being terminated. According to 2012 figures, the most recent year for which data are available, 31 percent of pregnancies among Detroit residents ended in abortion — compared to about 14 percent for all of Michigan, The Detroit News reported. (Snip) Dr. Susan Schooley, chairwoman of the Department of Family Medicine at Henry Ford Hospital, said the statistics make Detroit look “more like some Third-World country than someplace in the United States.”