Free Republic

We actually discussed this proposal when it first arose in California a while back, but much of the general consensus seemed to be that it wouldn’t actually happen so there was no sense spinning our wheels over it. This issue at hand was a bill which would criminalize the use of the “wrong pronoun” when speaking with transgender persons. It was only supposed to apply to health care workers in nursing homes and other specific care facilities, but opponents worried that it could readily be expanded to every aspect of life. As I said… not gonna happen, right?Well, never...

Liberalism isn’t always about tightening restrictions, because some restrictions are good. For example, even as California introduces prison sentences for those who insist on referring to transsexuals with biologically correct pronouns, we read this: Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Friday that lowers from a felony to a misdemeanor the crime of knowingly exposing a sexual partner to HIV without disclosing the infection. By “knowingly,” they mean deliberately. To be prosecuted for a felony under the old law required intent to transmit HIV, which leads to the horrific disease AIDS. It gets worse: The measure also applies to those who...

Whoof! Exciting morning starting around 3 am waking everyone up in our building to prepare for evacuation as the Tubbs fire ravages north Santa Rosa. Right now the closest fire front is 2 miles to the north of our apartment and if the wind doesn't pick up and change direction, we'll be OK. I took a bike ride with my video camera into the fire zone an hour ago and got some scary footage of homes burning on both sides of the road where I managed to get past the road blocks. I'll post the YouTube URL here soon as...

California’s sheriffs are calling on the GOP-controlled Congress to intervene and pass a federal law to change the state’s sanctuary state status, warning the law that ties their hands too tightly will only increase the chances of another high-profile tragedy.The sanctuary state law, which Gov. Jerry Brown (D.) signed Thursday but doesn't go into effect until January, is the most far-reaching of its kind in the country and places sharp limits on how local law enforcement agencies can communicate with federal immigration authorities.It would also make it a crime to enforce federal immigration laws on the premises of all schools,...

In its rush to destroy itself, California has gone and done this: Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Friday that lowers from a felony to a misdemeanor the crime of knowingly exposing a sexual partner to HIV without disclosing the infection. The measure also applies to those who give blood without telling the blood bank that they are HIV-positive. Modern medicine allows those with HIV to live longer lives and nearly eliminates the possibility of transmission, according to state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Assemblyman Todd Gloria (D-San Diego), authors of the bill.“Today California took a major step toward treating...

Back when California Governor Jerry Brown was still pondering the new sanctuary state legislation which was heading for his desk, we talked about the fact that the police unions had backed a version of the bill, but the state’s sheriffs were not onboard. Now that the measure has been signed into law, those same sheriffs are basically in open revolt, publicly protesting the changes and asking the United States Congress to step in. They justify this decision by declaring that the state’s citizens will be less safe because of these changes. (Free Beacon) California’s sheriffs are calling on the...

In a controversial move, California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill lowering the crime of deliberately exposing a sexual partner to HIV from a felony to a misdemeanor.

Multiple fires in Sonoma and Napa and other counties started suddenly

Californians by a wide margin oppose sanctuary cities. A UC Berkeley study codified these findings for the reading public, as a nearly 80% of respondents from all political leanings opposed policies forbidding cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. Why should anyone be surprised? These sanctuary city policies amount to nothing more than dangerous posturing from desperate, self-serving, predominantly Democratic politicians.SB 54, officially presented as “The California Values Act”, will bar essential contact between California law enforcement officers and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Normally, ICE issues detainers to local jails, and law enforcement officers release the names of...

multiple large fires have broken out overnight being driven by low humidity and winds of 30-50 MPH in central and Northern CA #CherokeeFire #LaPorteFire- Butte County #CascadeFire Yuba county #TubbsFire Calistoga=>SantaRosa county #AtlasFire #PartrickFire #NunnFire--- Napa county #SulphurFire---- Lake county

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) — Jack Beaton felt equally comfortable gripping a pair of barbecue tongs surrounded by friends or swinging his roofer’s hammer on a hot day at work. He died a hero shielding his wife from a gunman in the nation’s deadliest mass shooting in modern history. More than 800 people packed into a California church Saturday for one of the first memorial services for the 58 people killed when gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire from a Las Vegas casino hotel room nearly a week ago. The service was held in Beaton’s hometown of Bakersfield, a community that was...

The FBI has called it the single-largest growing threat to children on the internet, but until recently sexual extortion — in which predators use sexually explicit images as blackmail and demand sex or more images instead of money — was not a standalone crime anywhere in the country. But this week California became the fifth state to make it a felony to blackmail people with the threat of distributing explicit images of them. Only adults will be prosecuted under Sen. Connie Leyva’s Senate Bill 500, which Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law Thursday. Utah, Texas, Alabama and Arkansas passed similar...

The fluffy-eared, big-eyed felines are adorable, and they don’t seem to age. They are forever kittens. And while photos of the wild cats have been widely shared online, the cats have been surprisingly hard to find in the wild. Until now. ... Add to that, sand cats tend to live in tough wilderness, places where researchers must endure high temperatures and the occasional sandstorm. Because the animal is so hard to track, assessing populations has been difficult, according to Mother Nature Network. The species is believed to be extinct in Israel, for example, though a litter was born at the...

Federal officials are investigating flutes, possibly contaminated by bodily fluids, that were given to students from school districts all across Southern California as part of an investigation of an individual accused of inappropriate sexual conduct. Several school districts alerted parents on Friday the California Department of Justice and the U.S. Postal Service launched an investigation and to turn in the flutes to authorities. The flutes are colorfully decorated and painted by students all over Southern California through a program called "Flutes Across the World."

State officials are investigating several flutes that were distributed to some students in at least three Orange County school districts as part of a music program. Authorities say the instruments may have contained bodily fluids. In emails sent to parents of students Friday afternoon, Sept. 29, district officials notified them there was an investigation regarding flutes given to students — as young as elementary-school age — by an individual who is also being investigated. The flutes were made of PVC plastic piping and a single wine cork and had an exterior that could be decorated, district officials said. The individual,...

The country's top immigration cop said Friday his agents "will have no choice" but to conduct workplace and neighborhood immigration raids in light of California's new sanctuary law. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Thomas Homan said in a statement Friday that California Gov. Jerry Brown's (D) decision to sign the law, SB54, would "undermine public safety and hinder ICE from performing its federally mandated mission." (snip) "ICE will have no choice but to conduct at-large arrests in local neighborhoods and at work sites, which will inevitably result in additional collateral arrests, instead of focusing on arrests at jails...

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Friday that lowers from a felony to a misdemeanor the crime of knowingly exposing a sexual partner to HIV without disclosing the infection. The measure also applies to those who give blood without telling the blood bank that they are HIV-positive.... Supporters of the bill said women engaging in prostitution are disproportionately targeted with criminal charges, even in cases where the infection is not transmitted. Republican lawmakers including Sen. Joel Anderson of Alpine voted against the bill, arguing it puts the public at risk. “I’m of the mind that if you purposefully inflict another...

Late last week, a viral video surfaced of two college students facing off over a red Donald Trump “Make America Great Again” cap. In the video, Edith Macias is seen brandishing the cap of fellow student Matthew Vitale. Macias had snatched the hat off of Vitale’s head following a conference the two were attending on the University of California, Riverside campus. Macias is seen taking the hat to the university’s student life office, demanding something be done about the hat and Vitale. “This belongs to me. I bought it and she took it from me,” Vitale can be heard saying...

The State of California is leading the nation yet again in reckless liberal experimentation with its latest decision to become a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants starting in 2018. Lawmakers early Saturday sent Governor Brown a sanctuary state bill that he is expected to sign after he demanded some changes that will at least weaken its impact. Senate Bill 54 will place limitations on how local law enforcement can communicate with federal immigration authorities. Little do these social justice warriors in California’s halls of power realize that what they are doing is bringing in the very hardline immigration-enforcing police state...

California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into law a new “bordello” plan that essentially turns the state’s long-term, senior-care centers into sexual free-for-alls, according to critics. “SB 219 will force California care facility employees, often Hispana or Filipina women, to abandon all morals, reason, and logic by being legally forced to dress up a biological man, if he demands it, in bra, panties, and women’s clothes; being forced to put on him women’s earrings and necklaces and panty hose and women’s shoes; and being forced to apply make-up, eyeliner, and lipstick,”