Free Republic

Democratic state lawmakers on Thursday shot down a proposal that would have required all California state legislators to get their health insurance from Covered California, the benefits exchange set up to implement Obamacare in the state. The Assembly Rules Committee split along party lines, with seven Democrats opposing AB 1109 and three Republicans in support of the bill by Assemblyman Scott Wilk. The measure would have forced lawmakers to give up the taxpayer-subsidized health plans provided by the Legislature and individually sign up for Covered California. Wilk introduced the measure after hearing complaints from several constituents about difficulties in signing...

Chinese buyers looking to invest off-shore are most interested in San Francisco, according to a report from luxury listing site, which tracked millions of online searches from Chinese buyers in the first quarter of 2015. San Francisco ranked seventh in the survey in the fourth quarter of last year, but in the most recent survey beat out London, Tuscany, New York and Paris. “For many well-heeled Chinese buyers, the entire U.S. housing market, and even the somewhat pricey S.F. Bay Area remains a bargain versus Hong Kong, New York, London and Beijing,” he said. “Bay Area real estate represents an...

EPA claims that it’s simplifying regulations and making them easier to follow, but the fine print tells another story. Business owners around the country have joined with farmers and ranchers in speaking out on the Waters of the U.S. rule. More than 30 states also oppose the rule. Yet, even in the face of mounting opposition, the EPA still isn’t listening. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy has unveiled her latest, campaign-style WOTUS spin, calling the effort the “Clean Water Rule” – as though a bumper-sticker approach to a complex regulation would change anything for people so profoundly affected by her agency’s...

During his time as governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger championed issues -- like environmental conservation and stem cell research -- that are often associated with a Democratic agenda. So when Schwarzenegger joined HuffPost Live, Ricky Camilleri asked if the bodybuilder-turned-actor-turned-politician is now becoming a "closet Democrat." "No, not at all," Schwarzenegger answered. "The Democratic Party has done a good job in grabbing some of those issues so you think they're Democratic issues. Those are people's issues. I don't see the environment as a Democratic issue or as a Republican issue." Schwarzenegger pointed to Theodore Roosevelt, who protected public land and...

A protester, who called himself “Mike,” approached Knight, shook his hand and said, “You told me you didn’t vote amnesty and you did. I looked it up on the Internet. You lied to me.” He then patted Knight on the arm. As the protester walked away, Knight approached him and said, “If you touch me again, I’ll drop your ass.”

Why must history perpetually repeat itself? It is not news that virtually all American universities are decidedly leftist institutions. Few Americans, however, are aware of how inhospitable they have become to free inquiry and free discourse, and how hostile they are to anyone who stands up for Western values and against the global jihad – as some recent developments illustrate. What is happening in American universities today has a clear historical parallel. ... In his seminal history The Coming of the Third Reich, Richard J. Evans explains how, in the early days of National Socialist Germany, the universities became centers...

San Francisco is unreasonably monopolizing spectacular Hetch Hetchy Valley by using it as a 117-billion-gallon reservoir, says a new lawsuit in a decades-old fight to restore the Yosemite National Park landmark. The lawsuit asks a court to require a plan for improving the city’s water system so no water is lost in restoring the valley. It also asks for modification or removal of O’Shaughnessy Dam in Yosemite to let the Tuolumne River flow again. The complaint was filed Tuesday in Tuolumne County Superior Court on the 177th birthday of conservationist John Muir, who lost the bitter fight a century ago...

A California lawmaker has introduced a bill that would mandate that high school students receive CPR training before they graduate. AB 319 will be heard in a committee hearing on Wednesday. Assemblyman Freddie Rodriguez, D-Chino, introduced the bill in February. The bill calls for statewide school districts and charter schools to implement a curriculum on how to perform CPR and using an automated external defibrillator. This training would be offered in physical education classes or another course needed for students to graduate. The program would be developed by the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross. In emphasizing the...

resident Obama will once again avoid using the word “genocide” at a ceremony to designed to memorialize more than a million Armenians murdered by the Ottaman Turks 100 years ago. During his 2008 campaign, then-Senator Obama repeatedly promised he would label the massacre a genocide as president. The LA Times reports the decision to avoid using the word genocide was revealed Tuesday after the White House held a meeting with Armenian groups. The ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the deaths of as many as 1.5 million people will be held this Friday. ... Rep. Adam Schiff of California has...

The parents of a Fairfield boy abducted while sleeping in his family's car are blasting police a day after their son was found safe. A thief drove away with Broc Guzman Monday and even though the case had a happy ending, the boy's parents are angry at police. Cell phone video shows Broc’s mother Suzanne Guzman being held on the ground by officers after refusing to allow them to search the family home for her year eight-old-son. Fairfield police released the frantic 911 call from Suzanne Guzman who called police saying that the family car had been stolen and her...

Gov. Jerry Brown has received hundreds of comments and shares of a photo showing him posing with a snake. The photo posted on Brown's Twitter and Facebook pages over the weekend shows Brown, dressed casually, holding a stick to the head of a snake. A spokesman for the governor, Evan Westrup, said the photo was taken by Brown's wife, Anne Gust Brown, just outside Williams in Colusa County. The governor owns rural property there.

Responding to people with mental health issues is the number one drain on police resources in Berkeley, a police officer who specializes in the topic said this week. Nationally, 10% of police calls are for people having a mental health crisis, according to Berkeley Police Officer Jeff Shannon. In Berkeley, that number is 35% or more. Over the past five years, police have seen a 43% increase in calls for “5150s,” or people who are a danger to themselves or others, he said. “Not only in Berkeley, but across the nation, we are experiencing a mental health crisis,” Shannon told...

I want to preface this by saying that Berkeley is not for everyone. You have to have a high tolerance for eccentricities of all types. You have to love a little chaos. And you have to accept that things will always be a bit messy. But, if you're the type of person who doesn't mind insanity, Berkeley is a wonderland. Berkeley has a well-earned reputation for its over-the-top liberalism which can sometimes mask its finest quality: diversity. From its various neighborhoods to its endless ethnic cuisine, Berkeley is as interesting and weird as its inhabitants. Dirty and scruffy on the...

Federal officials said Tuesday they are investigating the actions of a U.S. Marshals Service employee who was caught on video grabbing a woman’s cell phone in South Gate, smashing it to the ground and kicking it away. The video, which was filmed by another woman across the street from the police activity, was posted on YouTube. It shows a woman using her cell phone to record a law enforcement operation, and a Marshals Service employee approaches her, grabs the phone and slams it on the ground. “On (Sunday), a YouTube video entitled ‘South Gate Police Attack Cop Watcher: Destroys Cellphone’...

Legislators and advocates gathered Monday to showcase a new tool that will crack down on drugged driving across the state. DDS2, also known as a roadside drug test, is like a breathalyzer, but it tests for narcotics instead of alcohol. The technology, in use in states such as Colorado and New Hampshire, will allow officers to find out in about a minute whether a driver is under the influence of drugs. It uses saliva to test for six different drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, and meth. The demonstration came on April 20 the unofficial stoner holiday of 4/20. California Assemblyman Tom...

San Francisco is the worst market for renters, according to Forbes' latest list. The average rent in San Francisco is over $2,800. And the vacancy rate is only 3.6 percent. It is only slightly better in the East Bay and South Bay. The average rent in Oakland is about $1,800 a month, but the vacancy rate is even worse than San Francisco at 2.9 percent. In San Jose, rents run about $2,200. Still, Forbes listed all three cities as the worst places for renters nationwide.

Turkey, via their Deputy Prime Minister, is putting the word out on the street that it is open to a restoration of ties with Israel, even acknowledging that it is NOT Turkey’s place to criticize the recent Israeli election: snip Wow. The admitted refusal to criticize Israel over the election is definitely a change of pace for Turkey. I mean, when has Erdogan ever missed an opportunity to openly bash Israel? He was just ripping Netanyahu in January for just showing up to the Paris march against ‘radical Islam’, accusing him of killing 2500 Palestinians in the war last year....

Opponents have opened up a new front in the fight against a California law allowing transgender students to use public school facilities such as bathrooms, showers and locker rooms that correspond to their gender identities. Privacy For All, the group targeting Assembly Bill 1266, on Friday submitted a proposed 2016 initiative that would mandate people in government buildings use facilities in accordance with their biological sex. It would allow people who feel their privacy was violated – or who chose not to use a facility because of a violation of the measure – to sue the government or the individual...

In a ruling with major implications for California's water conservation campaign, a state appeals court on Monday ruled that a tiered water rate structure used by the city of San Juan Capistrano to encourage conservation was unconstitutional.. The Orange County city used a rate structure that charged customers who used small amounts of water a lower rate than customers who used larger amounts. But the 4th District Court of Appeal struck down San Juan Capistrano's fee plan, saying it violated voter-approved Proposition 218, which prohibits government agencies from charging more for a service than it costs to provide it. "We...

The man accused of killing an innocent bystander during a Clairemont gas station robbery last week once vowed to “become a better man” in a hand-written letter to a San Diego judge. Ahmed Hassan Mumin, 30, was arrested Saturday after a shootout with San Diego Police. Court records in El Cajon show Mumin was charged with four others in a 2011 case that included 10 counts. Mumin was charged with only kidnapping and robbery but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of false imprisonment with violence. Especially poignant is a handwritten letter he wrote to the court. It's dated April...