Free Republic

California Republicans are up in arms over a bill that would severely limit a person’s right to defend their home.A new bill would significantly restrict self-defense rights in California, including the rights of people protecting their homes. The bill’s sponsor, Asm. Rick Chavez Zbur (D–Los Angeles), promised to amend the proposal to not take away self-defense rights after Republicans came out against it in force. The big picture: Assembly Bill 1333 would eliminate certain circumstances under which homicide is justifiable, including in defense of a home or property. Current state law says homicide is justifiable “when committed in defense of...

First coal, then natural gas? Apparently so. A spokesman for the Environmental Defense Fund defended the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan on Wednesday, saying the benefits of carbon-reduction are "important" and "real" -- and hinting that they are just a start: methane emissions from natural gas may be targeted next. "I think we can do more," EDF's Jeremy Symons told CSPAN's morning call-in show. "I think once we get on this path, we will find that we can do more faster. But it's a great start." Under the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan, each state must decide how to rearrange...

French economist Thomas Piketty, author of the surprise best-selling Capital in the 21st Century turned down France's top award, the Legion D'Honneur. "I do not think it is the government's role to decide who is honourable", said Piketty. Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman called it "the most important economics book of the year - and maybe of the decade". Krugman likely says that because he believes in Piketty's socialist solutions to income inequality. Thomas Piketty's Capital Review Piketty's book is a massive 696-page slog. Fortunately, Harvard Business Review offers this synopsis: Piketty’s “Capital,” in a Lot Less than 696 Pages.The...