Rights and Liberties

When America was fun for kids

“America is too safe” is one of my sayings. It’s just hard to have fun anymore, especially for kids. When I was growing up in the 60s, on weekends and during summer vacation, our parents dumped us outside and expected

Climate change prof wants to put me in jail

John Seiler March 18, 2014

As I’ve said before, I’ll believe in global warming — now going under the euphemism “climate change” — when ex-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Secretary of State John Kerry give up their lavish lifestyles of the rich and famous. That mean

Discovered: a new way unions manipulate CA status quo

Chris Reed March 17, 2014

Californians who don’t belong to a public employee union have every right to feel as if the state is rigged against them. Because districting is based on population, not number of citizens, Democrats do better in Sacramento from the get-go

O.C. Sheriff Hutchens allows more conceal-carry permits

John Seiler March 15, 2014

Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens commendably is expanding the ranks of those able to get conceal-carry permits. This follows a ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that the Second Amendment right to “keep and bear arms”

Happy 25th anniversary, World Wide Web

John Seiler March 13, 2014

The Internet was invented in California in 1969 as a government project. But the critical technology, the World Wide Web, was invented in Switzerland 25 years ago this week by one man, Tim Berners-Lee. He created the universal Hypertext Markup

Sen. Feinstein upset over CIA searching congressional computers

John Seiler March 12, 2014

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., generally has a liberal record. Yet the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee long has defended the vast snooping of the NSA and the other intelligence agencies. Perhaps she is having second thoughts after she attacked

CA Asians finally grasp that under affirmative action, they’re victims

Chris Reed March 10, 2014

The fact that Asian-Americans in California tend to be Democratic seems to me to be almost entirely a function of the perception of Democrats are more welcoming to minorities and Republicans more hostile. Surveys and anecdotal evidence show that Asian-Americans

Fracking showdown: Will CA media STILL ignore Obama view?

Chris Reed March 9, 2014

The prospect of rich Dem dilettante Tom Steyer targeting Jerry Brown over fracking is scary in some ways. It could well lead to fracking never coming to California and bringing the jobs and wealth it has to North Dakota, Texas,

CalWatchdog.com story spurs San Diego lawmakers to introduce bill

John March 6, 2014

Two San Diego legislators are calling on the federal government to end the practice of paying people with disabilities less than minimum wage. Democratic Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez and State Sen. Ben Hueso have introduced Assembly Joint Resolution 36 to increase pressure on

Contra Costa case a template for Prop. 26 abuse

Chris Reed March 6, 2014

In recent California history, small-government advocates have no more significant victory than the triumph of Proposition 26 in 2010. Here’s an explanation of its main thrust from an analysis by the League of California Cities: “Prop. 26 is divided into