Free Republic

High murder rate attributed to large supply of firearms There are more guns than ever on the streets of San Francisco — particularly in the hands of young people — leading to a doubling of gun murders over the last five years, according to the police department. The number of homicides by firearms jumped from 39 in 2001 to 80 in 2005 and a handful of other indicators, from shootings to the number of guns seized by police, all point to a greater level of gun violence in San Francisco. The new statistics come to light as city officials grapple...

New deal needed to put unity issue to rest once and for all Divided we fall Calgary Sun October 30, 2005 One decade ago today Canadians coast-to-coast watched a cliffhanger vote on the fate of our country unfurl as Quebec separatists lost their bid for independence by just 1.2% of the vote. The nail-biting tally — 50.6% to 49.4% — shook our nation to the core. It also embittered Parti Quebecois Premier Jacques Parizeau’s supporters who came so close to fulfilling their dream to split from Canada. There were reports that had the PQ won by even the slightest margin...

John McWhorter is right to say that we ought to pause and remember the Watts riots of 40 years ago and ponder their implication for America's present and future ["Burned, Baby, Burned..." FR post here]. I take strong issue, however, with the conclusions he draws from his review of the events in Watts and South Central Los Angeles in 1965. I think the difference between McWhorter and me arises in large measure from our profoundly different perspectives on the event. He writes that he was born two months after the riots occurred and that his conclusions are based on his...

While many people this month are focused on the controversy surrounding the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, I have another civil-rights-related 40th anniversary on my mind. On Aug. 11, 1965, the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles broke out in flames on the nation's television screens. Many cherish the memory as the moment when the militant became mainstream in a "fed-up" black America, replacing the nonviolent, gradualist efforts of old-guard civil rights leaders. The Watts riot indeed shaped modern black American history more decisively than the Voting Rights Act. The question is whether it was in a...