Free Republic

<p>Adam Schiff: "We're going to have to change how we do business in San Francisco.</p><p>I was in South San Francisco when my luggage was stolen out of my car.</p><p>I went to this target 10 o'clock at night."</p><p>Bill Maher: "You went there by yourself, not an assistant?"</p>

Xavier Becerra, who recently served as President Joe Biden’s Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced Wednesday that he is running for governor of California, hoping to succeed termed-out Gavin Newsom. Becerra ran HHS during the era of vaccine mandates, when the administration forced Americans out of jobs for refusing to comply. In a recent interview with the New York Times, he said he had no regrets about forcing people to take vaccines […] His tenure did have one lingering effect: Becerra lost track of tens of thousands of migrant children who were allowed into the U.S. under Biden’s...

Cali's gonna Cali, am I right? In a move that absolutely everyone could have seen coming, Commiefornia is taking their stand against Orange Man Bad by forcing girls to share locker rooms with dudes. The State of California and its public school athletics association has indicated it will not fall in line with President Donald Trump's latest executive order to keep trans athletes out of girls' and women's sports. The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) said it will continue to follow the state's law that allows athletes to participate as whichever gender they identify as, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.

Gavin Newsom just appeared on CNN and explained that people ‘can’t rebuild the same.’ Newsom suggests that there is a new reality due to the ‘science’ and climate change, and that all of that has to be taken into account as people rebuild. In other words, Adam Carolla was right. Newsom and other authorities in California may be handing out building permits, but it’s pretty clear that there will still be red tape and new rules for rebuilding. Watch:

A quadruple-whammy of viruses are hitting the US as millions go back to work after the holidays, data shows. Official figures reveal that infections cause by flu, Covid, RSV (a respiratory illness that causes the cold) and norovirus (sometimes called the stomach flu) all started to surge over the Christmas period, when families gathered to celebrate. And experts say figures will only continue to rise over the coming weeks as the US heads into the peak period of its annual flu season. Data shows that norovirus cases are at their highest level for this time of year since 2012, while...

...as we move to options that have a lower impact” on the environment, said Josh Simpson, co-founder of Little Kamper, a one-pound refillable propane canister exchange company in Manteca....

The most blatant attack on the 1st Amendment is currently happening in California and the perpetrators seem proud of themselves over it. California officials have rejected further rocket launches by SpaceX, a company owned by Elon Musk. Some of the officials have cited his posts on social media platform 𝕏, which he owns. According to the Los Angeles Times [emphasis added]: SpaceX’s plans to launch more rockets from the California coast were rejected by a state commission this week, with some officials citing Elon Musk’s political posts on 𝕏 and raising concerns about the billionaire’s labor record at his companies....

After a decade that saw two major droughts, and with more dry times inevitable, California is imposing permanent water restrictions on cities and towns for the first time in state history. The powerful State Water Resources Control Board on Wednesday approved a long-debated policy that will require hundreds of urban water suppliers to reduce the amount of water they provide over the next 15 years. As soon as 2027, some suppliers will have to cut back deliveries upwards of 30%, which means finding ways for their customers to use less water — either by imposing restrictions, incentivizing savings by raising...

With the proliferation of bureaucrats in leftist-run California, they're descending like locusts onto the farms of not just California's lower Central Valley, but now the Napa Valley and its wine makers, according to the U.K. Daily Mail. The farmers are swatting back. The Daily Mail reports:Napa Valley's prestigious wineries have launched a revolt against 'abusive' county officials, accusing bureaucrats of killing the region's famous vineyards with absurd and excessive red tape.Wealthy vintners say they are being 'crushed' by 'gross regulatory overreach', which has included penalizing wineries for planting trees, making jam and conducting wine tastings on their own land.One vineyard...

New legislation being proposed in California would ban the expedited security screening company Clear from operating in the state’s airports, as proponents say the service raises equity issues given it effectively lets wealthier people skip ahead of passengers waiting in line to be screened by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents. The bill, SB-1372, the first of its kind in the U.S., would require third-party vendors like Clear to get their own dedicated security lane or lose the ability to operate in California airports. Clear charges members $189 per year to verify passengers' identities at airports, allowing them to bypass TSA...

A Northern California school district is reimposing indoor mask requirements for students, staff and visitors amid an uptick in COVID-19 cases. The Berkeley Unified School District on Friday said the new mandate go into effect on Monday, citing the advice of health officials. "As you can see above, Dr. Hernandez has strongly recommended that the district use our authority to reinstate a mask mandate," district Superintendent Brent Stephens said about a message he received from city Health Officer Lisa Hernandez earlier in the week. "Because we are not a health agency, we must rely on these experts to guide us."

As a rule, few things are less likely to be the source of humor than court decisions. Sometimes there are excellent puns or low-key snark, but you don’t find belly-laugh material. Usually. Last Friday, a panel of the Ninth Circuit published a decision on a complaint arising from Ventura, California, that covered both the COVID panic and the Second Amendment. During the height of the COVID panic, that county ordered firing ranges, and gun shops closed. Presumably, this is because the Wuhan virus has a particular affinity for recreational venues. Several groups and individuals sued to overturn the order as...

In one opinion published last week, 9th Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke said Ventura County, California, violated the Second Amendment when it shut down gun stores early in the COVID-19 pandemic. In another opinion the same day, VanDyke said the county's policy was perfectly consistent with the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. That second, tongue-in-cheek opinion was meant to illustrate the disrespect that the 9th Circuit and other federal appeals courts have shown for the Second Amendment since 2008, when the Supreme Court explicitly recognized that the provision guarantees an individual right to armed self-defense. The Court may finally...

The San José City Council will vote Tuesday on requiring every household with a gun owner to have liability insurance coverage for their firearms and pay an annual fee – which would make San Jose the first city or state in the nation with such gun violence reduction proposals.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) passed a regulation aimed at “Small Off-Road Engines” on Thursday that will ban the sale of portable generators in the state — which includes generators mounted in recreational vehicles. The ruling bans the sale of gas-powered leaf blowers and lawnmowers in the state beginning in 2024. Portable generators will be required to meet more stringent standards in 2024 and meet zero-emission standards starting in 2028. In the 2024 model year, portable generators will have to improve their efficiency by somewhere between 40% and 90%, which seems unrealistic in such a short period of time,...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom took a victory lap on Tuesday after voters rejected an effort to recall him from the governor’s mansion, casting his win as a rejection of “the negativity that’s defined our politics in this country over the course of so many years.” In remarks delivered in Sacramento minutes after he was declared the winner of the recall election, Newsom said that with his victory, Californians had voted to safeguard democracy, taking a swipe at his main Republican opponent, conservative radio host Larry Elder, and former President Donald Trump, who had raised baseless claims of fraud ahead of...

Conservative talk radio host Larry Elder told supporters to be “gracious in defeat” as he conceded the results of the recall election on Tuesday night, which Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) won in a landslide, crushing an effort to unseat him. As of Wednesday morning, the “no” vote led the “yes” vote by nearly two-to-one (64.2.% to 35.8%), a stunning result given that several polls of likely California voters in late July showed Newsom within the margin of error or even losing. “We may have lost the battle, but we are going to win the war,” Elder told supporters, urging them...

Commiefornia hands out stimulus checks, illegals can get them too! Psaki said what?! Another great Jericho Green anti-left tirade.

District officials in San Diego evidently believe that the practice of grading students based on average scores is racist. [At the Reason article]: ...Under the new system, pupils will not be penalized for failing to complete assignments or even show up for class, and teachers will give them extra opportunities to demonstrate their "mastery" of subjects. What constitutes mastery is not quite clear, but grades "shall not be influenced by behavior or factors that directly measure students' knowledge and skills in the content area," according to guidance from the district. District officials evidently believe that the practice of grading students...

The California Department of Public Health on Friday released new guidelines for private gatherings amid the coronavirus pandemic. The guidelines are an update on household gatherings that takes precedence over prior guidance that was issued most recently last month. Anyone who plans to host or participate in a private gathering must comply with the following requirements: 1. Attendance Gatherings that include more than 3 households are prohibited. This includes everyone present, including hosts and guests. Remember, the smaller the number of people, the safer. Keep the households that you interact with stable over time. By spending time with the same...