Free Republic

In the industrial midwest, the city government of Detroit went into bankruptcy in July. Out in California, the city governments of Stockton and San Bernardino entered bankruptcy proceedings in 2012. But the Detroit and California bankruptcies, like Tolstoy’s unhappy families, are not alike. They suffer from quite different ailments. You can see the difference by comparing their populations in the 1950 and 2010 censuses. In 1950, Detroit – then the nation’s fifth-largest city – had 1,849,568 people. In 2010, it had 713,777. Stockton and San Bernardino were not much more than small towns in 1950, with 70,853 and 63,058, respectively....

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk on Monday unveiled a high-speed transportation concept that will blast passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco — a distance of more than 300 miles, in just half hour. Musk proposed his idea for a super fast mass transit system called the Hyperloop to connect cities. According to him, the project, if it materializes will be faster, cheaper and safer alternative to the high speed rail line planned between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Musk stated, "How could it be that the home of Silicon Valley and JPL … would build a bullet train that is...

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a controversial bill into law Monday afternoon allowing the state’s transgender public school students to choose which bathrooms they use and whether they participate in boy or girl sports. The law would cover the state’s 6.2 million elementary and high school kids in public schools.

There's a new biography of Charles Manson out this month -- which seems like the last thing America needs, in light of the reams of print that have already been devoted to the wannabe pop star who led his "family" to commit nine murders in the summer of 1969, terrifying Los Angeles. And yet Manson: The Life of Times and Charles Manson by Jeff Guinn is riveting, a thoroughly researched biography that manages to be a breezy page-turner. Even those who've already read extensively about the Manson murders and their aftermath may find new insight into the pint-sized West Virginia-born...

According the San Jose Mercury News, the bills being heard in the state senate on August 12 would create a database of all ammo purchases in the state, "make it crime to have a gun that's not locked up when it's not being carried, and extend the time for which someone is banned from owning a firearm after making a violent threat." On August 13, another slate of bills will come before the State Assembly. These would ban all semi-automatic rifles with a detachable magazines, would "make it a crime to leave a gun unlocked when you're out of the...

San Francisco -- Transgender students in California public schools will be allowed to participate in school groups and use school facilities based on their gender identities, turning a policy that several school districts already follow into statewide law. AB 1266 will ensure that schools respect students' gender identity concerning sports teams, locker rooms, restrooms and all other "sex-segregated" programs and facilities. The bill, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday, was introduced by state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco). State law already prohibits discrimination in schools on the basis of gender identity, but backers of the measure say the extra...

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a controversial bill into law Monday afternoon allowing the state’s transgender public school students to choose which bathrooms they use and whether they participate in boy or girl sports. The law would cover the state’s 6.2 million elementary and high school kids in public schools. Supporters say the law will help cut down on bullying against transgender students, The families of transgender students have been waging local battles with school districts around the country over what restrooms and locker rooms their children can use