Free Republic

At the beginning of the year, Noah wrote what turned out to be a tragically prescient post about “that other Islamic State” which has been running roughshod over Christians and random civilians in Africa. Speaking of Boko Haram, Noah warned of the following: Recently, the group has adopted a troubling shift in tactics. Boko Haram has pivoted from primarily terrorizing the local population to executing coordinated, military-style raids on Nigerian outposts and using civilian suicide bombers to target populated areas.This campaign is making headway. During that same period, while the eyes of the world were turning more toward Europe...

Boxer’s Senate seat is the GOP’s to lose. But you’d never know it reading the news coverage. Pundits have already awarded the seat to one of the many Democrats rumored to run. Ironic that early rumors had two Democrat billionaires as possible suitors. I wonder how that would go. Would they tone down the class warfare rhetoric? Or would they behave like the GOP and go to war with themselves? Either way, it would be good for Republicans whose statewide drought has continued unabated since as long as anyone can remember. It’s become common knowledge that Republicans can’t win because...

Suddenly everyone in Washington wants a gas tax hike — apparently so that consumers don’t save too much money at the pump. As prices keep falling, the politicians and the moochers in Washington want a piece of the action. Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois and even Republicans such as Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee have linked arms with the entire road-building industry and green groups that want the cost of fuel to go up.Mrs. Pelosi won’t even hide her cynical motivation: With gas prices low, maybe motorists won’t notice that we’re gouging them: “If there’s...

A key senator said Sunday she believes there are terrorist sleeper cells in the U.S. that could carry out attacks similar to the ones in France that left 17 people dead last week. Sen Dianne Feinstein, California Democrat and vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, did not comment on specific threats against America but said other attacks are possible.

The California technology industry has a rare opportunity: An open U.S. Senate seat from the Golden State. Could Silicon Valley put up one of its own? It's a potentially powerful idea. A tech-savvy leader replacing Sen. Barbara Boxer, who announced this week she would not seek re-election in 2016, could use the Senate as a bully pulpit to promote how Silicon Valley innovation can improve people's lives. And with a "Tech Senator," Silicon Valley, which has struggled to gain a footing in national politics, could finally achieve the influence it sees itself deserving. The Senate seat "presents an opportunity to...

Over the last 15 years, California racked up three small surpluses, two break-evens and 10 huge deficits. “There’s not a lot of money left in the budget,” said Gov. Jerry Brown regarding the $164.7 billion budget unveiled Friday. “It’s very tight.” The real reason money is tight is Brown and the Democratic legislature increased spending by five percent in a period when inflation is averaging 1.3 percent. California’s proposed spending will jump $5.8 billion more than inflation.

Details of the deal between Westlands and the federal Bureau of Reclamation have not been revealed to members of Congress, who would have to approve it. But according to a short “principles of agreement” document that has been made public, the deal would forgive $342 million in federal debt that Westlands owes for construction of the 1960s extension of the Central Valley Project to deliver water to the San Joaquin Valley farms. In return, taxpayers would be relieved of an estimated $2.7 billion obligation to remove the contaminated water that results from the irrigation. Resolution of the drainage problem would...

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush appears poised for a presidential run and is currently leading the polls among potential Republican candidates for 2016, but the comments he made in 1994 during his first run for Florida’s highest office may come back to haunt him.The Associated Press reports that Bush described himself then as a “head-banging conservative” and used fiery rhetoric — such as claiming he would do “probably nothing” for African-Americans if he became governor — in his ultimately unsuccessful bid. Bush made that statement in response to a question on what he would for African-Americans if elected to office.“It’s time...

(Reuters) - Four men were shot dead in a car in a trendy neighborhood in San Francisco, California late on Friday evening, local media reported. Gunfire erupted at about 10 p.m. local time in the Hayes Valley neighborhood, said the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper, citing police. It said no arrests had been made so far. "We've got four victims in a car here," the newspaper quoted a police officer at the scene as saying over police radio. "We've got multiple gunshot wounds here," another said. Residents reported hearing more than a dozen gunshots. Police alerted the California Highway Patrol of...

San Francisco police confirm four African-American adult males were shot dead in a car in the Hayes Valley neighborhood at Laguna and Page streets.

While Al Jazeera was asking me if I knew the names of terrorists that had crossed the border, we are ominously reminded that it only takes one In an attempt to desensitize America’s opinion regarding illegal immigration, and in a move that adds ammunition to the argument that illegal aliens live among us and work beside us, California has become the latest of a number of States that have made effective laws granting driver’s licenses to people that reside in California, but entered the United States without going through the legal processes. Other States that grant driver’s licenses to illegal...

**SNIP** After all, a Senate seat is a plum job anywhere, but especially for Democrats in California, where it’s been decades since any of them lost a reelection bid for statewide office. Whoever takes Boxer’s place can expect to become the state’s senior senator after 2018, when the then-85-year-old Dianne Feinstein is also widely expected to retire. But ambitious Democrats should beware: Their eagerness, even greed, could do in their party’s hold on Boxer’s spot. It has happened before in California, and very recently. The field of potential Democratic candidates for Boxer’s slot is large, possibly going beyond obvious prospects...

Actor James Woods, who might or might not know he’s been nominated along with Rob Lowe to run for Barbara Boxer’s seat in the Senate, wasn’t pleased to hear that a CNN correspondent on Friday referred to the Islamist terrorists who killed 12 staff members of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo as “activists.” James Woods ✔ @RealJamesWoods CNN actually described the Paris jihadist murderers as "activists." So the police who finally killed these scum would be..."reactionaries?" 5:06 p.m. - 9 Jan 2015

The Amazing Kreskin wants to read de Blasio’s mind The Amazing Kreskin will celebrate his 80th birthday with a star- studded bash at City Crab on Monday, and Bill de Blasio is invited. But if the mayor shows, “I will read his thoughts in public, in front of the audience,” offered the mentalist, who admits he’s at odds with de Blasio over his crusade to ban horse carriages. “I only have one fear — I may draw a blank,” Kreskin cracked of de Blasio’s brain.

Two Northern California women accused of chaining up their 8-year-old adopted daughter to prevent her from getting food will face trial on more than a dozen child abuse-related counts. The Monterey County Herald reported Thursday that 33-year-old Eraca Dawn Craig and 44-year-old Christian Jessica DeAnda each face charges including child abuse, child endangerment, false imprisonment and torture.

Jeff Preach, above, is 63.  He believed that his days as a high school football center were long gone.   He has been a pillar of his community, town council member, a Lions Club president, president of the Chamber of Commerce, member of the Violin Canyon Corporation.  He lives in a large house on a dirt road in the country near Castaic, California.   Confused motorists have often stopped and asked for directions, according to a commenter who claimed to be related.   It was about 10:30 on Sunday night when he answered the door.    From abc7.com: "I opened the...

Not exactly Je suis Charlie, but it’s also not entirely different from it either. The Santa Barbara News-Press found its offices vandalized yesterday morning, spray painted with slogans such as “THE BORDER IS ILLEGAL NOT THE PEOPLE WHO CROSS IT.” The attack has not changed the minds of the newspaper’s editors, who plan to keep using the term: A California newspaper will continue to use the term “illegals” to describe people who enter the U.S. without permission, despite an attack on its building by vandals believed to object to the term.The Santa Barbara News-Press’s front entrance was sprayed with...

Man attempts to gouge eye of Calif. officer SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — A 33-year-old homeless man was arrested near Depot Park Wednesday after allegedly trying to gouge out the eye of a Santa Cruz police officer. The attack, a Santa Cruz police spokesman said, is part of a larger trend locally and nationally in the past year toward increased physical confrontations between the public and police. Robert Craig. (Santa Cruz Police Department Image) Police spotted Robert Craig standing in the Pacific Avenue and Center Street roundabout at about 1:40 p.m. and disturbing traffic, said Santa Cruz police Lt. Bernie...

Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer is mulling a run for Barbara Boxer’s Senate seat, according to a person close to the former hedge fund trader. “My sense is that he will take a look at it and consider it over the next few days or so,” the person said. The person added that Steyer has been approached by some in the liberal community to run for Boxer’s seat, while others have urged him to run for governor of California in 2018. Another option: running for Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s seat if she retires in 2018. Almost as soon as Boxer announced that...

Sacramento — California´s budget, which bounced back after years of deficits, is now being squeezed by rising healthcare costs for the poor and for retired state workers. The mountain of medical bills threatens to undermine Gov. Jerry Brown´s efforts to strengthen state finances — his central promise of the past four years. Enrollment in the state´s healthcare program for the poor, known as Medi-Cal, has exploded by 50% since President Obama´s signature law took effect. Although the federal government picks up most of the tab, state costs have also been growing, and faster than expected. Meanwhile, the annual bill for