Free Republic

A caller told police he had shot a large rabid possum in his front yard and was concerned that the possum might attack his dog. He was advised on discharging a firearm in city limits.

Washington and Wall Street seem to be treating California as if it were a sideshow in the financial circus of these turbulent times. It’s not. California is home to the largest manufacturing belt in the United States and to Silicon Valley, the nation’s largest high-tech center. California is America’s most populous state with 38 million people. Its GDP of $1.8 trillion is the largest in the U.S. Its economy is bigger than those of Russia, Brazil, Canada, or India. And it’s collapsing. Major California counties are ground zero in the continuing mortgage meltdown: Los Angeles County with 5.32 percent of...

Sacramento, CA - The State Assembly has passed Assembly Bill 962, by a vote of 42-31. AB 962 now heads to the Senate, where it has been assigned to the Senate Public Safety Committee. The bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles), would make it a crime to privately transfer more than 50 rounds of ammunition per month.Ammunition retailers would have to be licensed, and would be required to store ammunition in such a manner that it would be inaccessible to purchasers. The bill would also require purchasers submit to fingerprinting, which would be submitted to the Department...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Faced with the potential loss of 300 deputies due to budget cuts, the Sacramento County sheriff may consider issuing more concealed weapons permits. SURVEY With law enforcement cuts possible, would you consider applying for a concealed weapon permit? Yes. No. Results | Disclaimer | E-Mail Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness said at a public budget workshop in May that if the cuts happen, people would wait "long, long periods of time for the most basic public safety services, specifically uniformed officers in the field." Comment: What Are Your Thoughts? Spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran called the move a...

SACRAMENTO – California plans to accelerate its ongoing campaign to sweep more dirty cars off the streets while Congress duels over high-profile “cash for clunkers” legislation. In Sacramento, the Air Resources Board this month is expected to approve a $30 million expansion of a program that pays motorists $1,000 to turn over their heavy-polluting vehicles for dismantling. The goal is to scrap 15,000 vehicles on top of the more than 18,000 crushed on average each fiscal year. In Washington, two competing $4 billion measures are being driven more by a desire to spark flagging auto sales than an interest in...

... [I]n some very key ways, [California] didn't fully recover from [the 1990s] downturn before this one hit. Jack Kyser has spent most of a lifetime charting the economic eddies of Southern California, and [...] he points out a startling fact: In Los Angeles County, [...] fewer people are employed now than were when jobs hit their high-water mark in 1990. In March of 1990, he said, almost 4.2 million county residents had jobs. As of last April, the last month for which statistics have been released, a little more than 3.9 million Angelenos were employed. In the 19 years...

A man who shot and wounded a dog that threatened the safety of his 4-year-old son does not have to pay a $2,156 veterinarian bill, a Yuba County Superior Court judge ruled Monday. "The Second Amendment does apply in this country," Judge Julia Scroggin said in court. "You don't have to put up with somebody else's growling dog on your property." Anthony Moua, 37, was sued in small-claims court by the dog's owner, Ernest Williams Harris, who said Moua didn't call Animal Control first to pick up the dog after it entered his property when getting out of the his...

Reporting from Sacramento -- The Capitol's usual political alliances are being tested by the state's severe financial problems as interest groups scramble to hold onto as much as possible of the state's shrinking coffers...........

Georgia or California: Which place has more off limits locations to bearing, i.e., actually carrying, a firearm. California has more than 50,000 people with firearms licences. California is a "may issue" state. But, if you are one of the more than 50,000 people who have a firearms license in California, are you better off than a Georgian? Prior to July of 2008, the members of GeorgiaCarry.Org, Inc.’s contended that Georgia had more places off limits to the bearing of arms than any state in the nation. Now, in 2009, Georgia still has more places off limits than California. Most people...

Like so many stories in the Bayview that end badly, Haggag Mohsin's started with a gun. Yet the 9mm semiautomatic pistol with the loaded magazine kept behind the counter of his brother's hip-hop clothing store, Pop Ya Collar, wasn't supposed to be used to commit a crime, but to protect him from being the victim of one. Before the 21-year-old Mohsin pulled the trigger, October 11, 2006, had started like any other day. He opened Pop Ya Collar around 10 a.m., where he manned the register. His brother Adeeb came in to chat for a bit before walking to his...

President George W. Bush's first Solicitor General, Ted Olson, filed a lawsuit in US district court on May 22 to protest Prop 8, the California law banning same sex marriage. Joining with his former opponent in Bush v Gore, David Boies, Olson is suing on behalf of two same-sex couples in California, The Advocate reports: Kristin Perry and Sandra Stier of Berkeley, who have been together for nine years and are the parents of four children, and Paul Katami and Jeffrey Zarrillo of Burbank, who have been together for eight years.

At Daily Kos, there is a blog today on how to repeal Prop 8 in the future. LINK BELOW. Keep black and Hispanic turnout low, and counter Mormon Money... The title of the blog is "To Repeal Prop 8, Keep Black and Hispanic Turnout Low, And Counter Mormon Money." Does this sound to you like libs/Dems cherish black and hispanic votes? Does this sound to you like libs/Dems are against suppressing the minority vote? Don't libs/Dems want every vote to count? Could it be that libs/Dems only care about advancing liberalism and socialism and really don't care what they have...

Religious supporters of Prop 8, the voter initiative that banned same sex marriage in California, might feel good now that the state's Supreme Court has ruled that the measure can stand. ...Prop 8 has made it a lot easier in California for a simple majority of voters to strip away the rights of an unpopular minority. What happens when it's your time to be the unpopular minority? ...

By a nearly two to one margin, California voters rejected the “compromise” tax hike propositions put on the ballot by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and the Democratic majority of the state assembly. Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) called voters’ rejection of the measures “a tragic error.” “It’s a demonstration of lack of trust in those of us charged with governing this state,” Bass said. “We tried to minimize the pain. Now, it will be severe.” “Now we will get to see how voters like having their kids home early from school, paying for their own medicine, dodging the thousands...

My family and I are going to be going to Southern California next month on vacation. We're going to be staying in Marina del Rey. I haven't been in Southern California since 1993 and I'm positive things have changed just a little since that time. We've got three days that aren't already planned out and I'm looking for some suggestions from locals. So, here's the question(s): 1) Theme parks -- are any particularly good, any particularly bad? 2) Any unusual or unique things worthwhile that are not on the typical tourist itineraries? 3) Any other suggestions / recommendations from your...

The subject of Arnold Schwarzenegger bores me. I wrote ceaseless columns on this site warning Republicans and conservatives that he would govern as a liberal and operate as a Trojan Horse for the Dems. During an appearance on the now-defunct CNN show Inside Politics, I said that he could become "the Jim Jeffords of the West Coast." For my troubles, I was dismissed as an out-of-touch, maniacal, abortion-obsessed pinhead. Now to hear the same country-club Republican jackasses who sabotaged Tom McClintock and parachuted Arnie into office whine about his liberal legacy is just boring. You made this slipshod bed; lie...

(Sacramento, California - 5/20/09) After voters in California resoundly rejected increased taxes to support bloated and out of control spending, the response was swift from proponents of the increased fees and taxes. "We have attempted to put these issues before the voters and tried everything we could to have them understand how important these measures are in regard to the future of the State of California. We are billions in the hole right now with billions more in new spending on the way. We simply don't understand how the voters, in good conscience, could reject these measures which are for...

The polls opened this morning for an election few apparently wanted, amid a slow boil of frustration at the circumstances – and the politicians – that forced it to the ballot in the first place. Orange County voters made it clear they're none too happy about it.

CARMICHAEL, Calif. -- A shop owner allegedly shot and killed a burglary suspect at a Carmichael shopping center early Monday, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department said. Officials said 65-year-old Bill Dunbar, who runs a coin and jewelry shop at Marconi and Walnut avenues, opened fire on two burglary suspects shortly after 4 a.m., sheriff's Sgt. Tim Curran said. One of the burglary suspects was hit and died in the parking lot. The other suspect, identified as 21-year-old Sergio Antonio Arauza, got away but was found nearby and arrested, Curran added. The deceased was identified as the suspect's brother, 24-year-old Vincent...

Meg Whitman is the most interesting person in American politics and, potentially, a formidable Republican leader at the national level. At age 52 and a year after stepping down as CEO of eBay, she's running for governor of California. Like Ronald Reagan, she's a well-known star from another field--the corporate world in Whitman's case--who has entered California politics at the top and now intends to leapfrog an entire generation of ambitious political strivers. Similarity to Reagan isn't what makes Whitman exceptional. Nor does the possibility she might copy a fellow billionaire, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, and dip into her...

ARE YOU ALL P*SSED THAT THE FEDERAL GOVENMENT WANTS TO BAILOUT THE LIBERAL/WASTEFUL/WELFARE CRAP CA (and waiting in the wings NJ, NY, MA, etc..) have spent and wasted their own taxpayer citizens' funds ON? Are you mad that the Federal Government (Bill sponsored by Barney Frank, in the House) has if this passes as it probably will, guarantee with YOUR MONEY (most in states where they haven't spent like "drunken sailors") these "failed states"..?! I am telling you guys, I am just about fed up, and am going to call my State Senators, and Representatives and aske them to SPONSOR...

California state workers outraged at possible layoffs By Jon Ortiz jortiz@sacbee.com Published Friday, May. 15, 2009 State workers were outraged and anxious on Tuesday after learning that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to lay off 5,000 of them in the coming weeks. Although the administration didn't break down which departments would lose jobs, it did say the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which runs the state prison system, would lose the most positions. And one official said the state may need to cut more jobs if California's recession worsens and the state's general fund revenue keeps dwindling. "This may not be...

Los Angeles, Ventura and San Diego will become the first counties in California to begin checking the immigration status of all inmates booked into jail Law enforcement officials will begin running inmates' fingerprints through federal databases this month to see if they have had any contact with the immigration system. Once the inmates have finished serving their sentences, they will be transferred to immigration custody for possible deportation

California doesn't need a Governator, it needs an actual Terminator -- someone who will lay down the law and disregard the stupid voters. Read » Arnold Schwarzenegger has been a disaster as governor of California, wimping out in spending battles against the legislature and basically driving the economy off a cliff. It's too bad his real life personae isn't more like one of his movie characters, because what California really needs (we hate to say) is a strongman. Not a man that's strong, but a dictator. California needs someone to say: "Hey voters, screw you and your stupid ballot measures."...

Come counterdemonstrate the racist terrorist-lovers of the Muslim Student Union at UC Irvine tonight. We will be stoning a woman in a burka to show the hypocrisy of these genocidal maniacs accusing our democratic ally Israel of (all things!) genocide!!!!See details on counterdemonstration below: The Jihadi's featured speaker tonight will be none other than Cynthia McKinney: Here is a timeline for tonights counterdemonstration: 5:30pm-6:00pm - Meet at Parking Structure on Campus Drive near East Peltason St. 6:00pm-6:20pm - Speaker Jesse Petrilla, will address the group on Sharia Law and fundamentalist Islam 6:20pm-6:30pm - Distribute press release and flyers (attached) about...

They just reported the insider, big gov elite outspent the little people 20 to 1 and it's still losing *big*. Check this from the KFI link. From Sacramento — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is concerned the public may be confused about Proposition 1A, the spending control measure he's backing on the May 19 ballot. That's because the Republican right, he asserts, is being "disingenuous" in spinning 1A as a tax increase. It's also because people like me, he says, write about how complicated the measure is. "It's already complicated as it is," the governor says, "but the more you write about...

Hat tip to several - thanks! Note: Victorville is east of Los Angeles at the southern edge of the Mojave desert.

Did anyone just hear Megyn Kelly on O'Reilly criticizing Miss California? Kelly claimed that Miss Ca, whatever her name is - has "gone Rogue because California didn't make her Miss CA on that platform"." Dear God. You would think she was elected by the people or something! So she has no right to take a position on moral issues since she won "Miss CA"? Kelly sounds like she should be working for CNN. Friggin Genius!

How might the following seemingly unrelated events have anything to do with the City of Pasadena becoming poorer, and doing so faster? * City acquisition of 20-acres of open lands zoned for 24 housing units in Annandale Canyon for open space preservation * State Assemblyman Anthony Portantino's usurpation of local single family zoning by cto re-designating the homes along the future surface route of the Long Beach Freeway Extension to low income multi-family housing * The continued decrease in enrollment in Pasadena's public schools and continued failure rate * The closure of new car dealerships along Colorado Boulevard * The...

Miss California Carrie Prejean answered a question in the Miss USA contest. Asked if states should allow same-sex "marriage" she responded, "I believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman." And for that, Hollywood and homosexual activists are viciously attacking her. Her stand on marriage cost her the crown. Perez Hilton, the judge and homosexual gossip columnist who asked the question, has called Carrie filthy names and posted a doctored pornographic picture of her on his website. Celebrity TV host Giuliana Rancic wrote "I know i'm [sic] a journalist, and i [sic] should be objective ... but...

Miss California gives her opinion on the issue of same-sex marriage, saying that it was her belief that marriage was to be between a man and a woman. Heterophobe Perez Hilton responds by calling her the b-word and thought about using the c-word in reference to her and scuttled her chance of getting the Miss America crown. Well, well. liberals want tolerance from others, but it seems that they have no tolerance for those who think differently from them or who take different stances on issues (like same-sex marriage). And where is the National Organization for Womern (NOW) at? Why...

Over the weekend, beauty queen Carrie Prejean, Miss California running for the title of Miss USA, offended many when she said she believed marriage should be exclusively between a man and a woman because that was how she had been raised. However, even if this statement cost her her crown, she is not sorry, as she has just revealed to Matt Lauer on “Today,” as TMZ informs. Speaking with the talk show host, Prejean restated her belief that anyone in America was free to have their own opinions, even at the cost of something they held as dearly as she...

Rep. Jane Harman, who has come under criticism for what she said in apparently wiretapped conversations with two pro-Israel lobbyists under investigation for espionage, went on CNN today to defend herself, calling the government wiretaps an "abuse of power." "And let's see who else was wiretapped. I mean lots of members of Congress talk to advocacy organizations. My phone is ringing off the hook in my office from worried members who are asking whether I think it could have happened to them. I think this is an abuse of power," she told Wolf Blitzer in an CNN interview. The story...

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. (CBS) ― Click to enlarge Simone, a beagle mix, was stabbed 19 times and left for dead in Rancho Cucamonga. CBS 1 of 1 Close numSlides of totalImages Related LinksRancho Cucamonga Pets A small dog stabbed more than a dozen times is recovering and now looking forward to her new home. Simone, a beagle mix, was found by workers cleaning up graffiti in Rancho Cucamonga. The small, brown dog underwent surgery after being stabbed 19 times in her neck and torso. Simone's caretaker says the pooch is surprisingly sweet and well-mannered, despite her ordeal. Do you think...

2009 Taxpayer Tea Party proudly brought to you by the FreedomWorks Foundation... Taxed to death and living in Southwest Riverside County, CA? Join us on Wednseday, April 15, 2009 at 11:00 am at the Temecula Duck Pond on the corner of Rancho California and Ynez Road in Temecula. We will be ridding ourselves of some crates of Obama Messianic Tea and fighting off the evil ravenous Zombama, the tax eating zombie. This Temecula Tea Party is valiantly supported by the local Republican clubs TMVRWF and MTRA. See you all there patriots!

Dennis Herrera is running for re-election as San Francisco's city attorney and loudly rumored to be eyeing the mayor's office down the road. So a few weeks ago, he invited about a dozen influential folks to a local restaurant for drinks (on his campaign's tab) and some face time. Those folks were local bloggers. Their questions didn't rock him on his heels initially. Instead, Herrera was quizzed about his favorite movie trilogy ("The Godfather") and what he'd write on a cardboard sign if he were homeless ("Wanna have fun?"). Soon the crowd turned serious and interrogated him about more typical...

Have you filed your taxes yet? TurboTax has released its annual list of procrastinating tax payers and a Bay Area city is on the top of the list. Drumroll --- It's San Francisco. We are now at t-minus 13 days to tax day and Intuit, the company that produces TurboTax tax software, has made a tally of last-minute online tax filings to find out which cities across the country are the biggest procrastinators when it comes to filing those dreaded returns. The ranking is determined by the number of tax returns electronically filed online via the TurboTax Online service from...

California consumer affairs chief resigns Carrie Lopez, director of the California Department of Consumer Affairs, resigned Friday in the wake of disclosures about expenses she charged to taxpayers. Carrie Lopez quits when shown results of a state audit that found questionable expenses she incurred. The findings went beyond those reported earlier this month by The Times, an official says. By Michael Rothfeld March 28, 2009 Reporting from Sacramento -- The director of the California Department of Consumer Affairs resigned Friday in the wake of disclosures about expenses she charged to taxpayers, including for transportation to attend a Justin Timberlake concert...

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – One of the Air Force's top-of-the-line F-22 fighter jets crashed Wednesday in the high desert of Southern California, killing a test pilot for prime contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. The F-22A Raptor crashed at 10 a.m. about 35 miles northeast of Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert.

Archbishop Allen Vigneron / Bishop Salvatore J. Cordileone Vatican City, Mar 23, 2009 / 10:31 am (CNA).- This morning Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Salvatore J. Cordileone to become the next Bishop of Oakland, Calif.  Currently serving as an auxiliary bishop of San Diego, Bishop Cordileone will become the shepherd of 400,000 Catholics in the Oakland area.Bishop Cordileone will be taking over after Archbishop Allen Vigneron was appointed to lead the Archdiocese of Detroit in January of this year.The speed of the appointment may be connected with the news that the interim administrator of the diocese, Fr. Dan Danielson,...

A PACIFIC STORM WILL MOVE RAPIDLY SOUTHEAST INTO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIALATE SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...BRINGING SHOWERS...WITH SNOW TO THEMOUNTAINS...ALONG WITH GUSTY WINDS AND AFTERNOON HIGH TEMPERATURESWELL BELOW NORMAL. THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. MODERATE TO HEAVY SHOWERS AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS ARE EXPECTEDWITH THE COLD FRONTAL RAIN BAND LATE SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY.AROUND 1/4 TO 1/2 AN INCH OF RAIN IS POSSIBLE IN THE COASTAL ANDVALLEY AREAS...UP TO ABOUT 3/4 OF AN INCH OF RAIN IN THEMOUNTAINS...AND UP TO 1/10 OF AN INCH OF RAIN IN THE DESERTS. SNOWABOVE 6000 FEET SATURDAY NIGHT...LOWERING TO 4500 FEET SUNDAY. UP TO6 INCHES OF SNOW...

ROCKLIN, Calif. – Police said a dispute over bowling etiquette led one man to assault another with a 16-pound ball, knocking out one of the man's teeth. They said a 24-year-old man hit a man in the face with the bowling ball during a melee involving six bowlers at the Rocklin AMF Lanes. Two groups got into a fist fight about 12:40 a.m. Thursday after two bowlers approached the lane at the same time. They couldn't agree which should go first.

This is very scary .... from a UK Telegraph blogger: Valleywag is reporting today on a new Google Maps mashup, eightmaps.com, which gives the name and profession of every Proposition 8 donor. It also lists how much they donated and shows where they live.The site's strapline is distinctly creepy:"Proposition 8 changed the California state constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage. These are the people who donated in order to pass it." In other words, for everyone who is angry that some people don't want homosexual marriage - this website shows them where to direct their attacks. Literally. Frightening. update: on...

Taxed to death? Join us on Wednseday, April 15, 2009 at 11:00 am at the Temecula Duck Pond on the corner of Rancho California and Ynez Road. We will be shredding 1040 forms, ridding ourselves of some crates of Obama Messianic Tea, and fighting off the evil ravenous Zombama, the tax eating zombie. See you all there patriots!

I’ve been receiving complaints from readers who are Time Warner customers and, apparently, this is serious stuff.Jeff Simmermon, Time Warner’s director of digital communications, said its DNS servers (the system that matches easy-to-remember web addresses to the corresponding numbers — such as ocregister.com instead of numbers) have targeted by ”denial of service” attacks for seven days. Without these translations functioning, web browsers are unable to locate their destinations.In a message, Simmermon said “hackers have launched a series of DOS attacks on Time Warner Cable’s DNS servers, affecting customer experience in our Southern California and National regions.” It ain’t pretty, he said. Customers are being affected...

just saw on fox thaat the president of mexico declared martial law

Action Alert! LIVEBLOGGING TAX REVOLT 09! Real time commentary of what's happening at the event. Video, pics posted on the fly depicting sights, sounds, emotions of rally! See it all here! IT’S ON! REVOLT, RECALL & REPEAL! The John and Ken 2009 Tax Revolt is on! Make your voice heard! The Slidebar Café is located in the Fullerton Transportation Center. Take your car, take the train or take the bus. Whatever you do take the time to come out and be heard! Plenty of free parking Click here for directions Click here to print out fliers and pass them out...

Cardinal Roger Mahony on Tuesday banned Holocaust-denying British Bishop Richard Williamson from any Roman Catholic church, school or other facility in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. If this isn't piling on, I don't know what is. The blog has had plenty to say about Bishop Williamson but this is pretty darn ridiculous coming from Cardinal Mahony. In The Tidings, Mahony wrote: In the Los Angeles Archdiocese, Williamson is hereby banned from entering any Catholic church, school or other facility, until he and his group comply fully and unequivocally with the Vatican's directives regarding the Holocaust. Later this year, I, Cardinal...

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- This year, parishioners at St. Joseph Church in Modesto, Calif., are more excited than usual about Easter. That's because 40 of them, along with their pastor, Father Joseph Illo, will be in Rome during Holy Week, and one person in their group, Heidi Sierras, will be baptized by the pope during the Easter Vigil at St. Peter's Basilica. Sierras will be in a group of five -- representing different areas of the world -- who will be baptized by Pope Benedict XVI April 11. The 29-year-old mother of four will represent North America. "It's hard to put...

Rep. Luis Gutierrez and his friends from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus will be conducting a nationwide tour to push for "comprehensive immigration reform", i.e., amnesty. What I need you to do is to organize local efforts to go to these meetings and ask him or his nationally-known colleagues questions designed to discredit them. Video of that can then be uploaded to Youtube. Note that I'm talking about questions designed to show that they're lying or not telling the whole truth or that they haven't thought through the impacts of their policies. I'm not talking about rants, open ended questions, and...