“For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace.”

President John F. Kennedy – Rice University September 1962

The soon to be released biopic titled, “First Man,” has produced widespread controversy with the decision by filmmakers to eliminate the scene of astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planting the American flag on the surface of the moon. One of the central questions surrounding this controversy is why would anyone be surprised that Hollywood needs to leave the concept of American exceptionalism on the cutting room floor?

The landing of Armstrong and Aldrin in the Sea of Tranquility was set in motion by the vision expressed by President John F. Kennedy in his “Urgent National Needs” speech in May 1961, before a Joint Session of Congress. President Kennedy chose to focus the nation on this monumental task during the Cold War, in part, as a response to the Soviet Union’s perceived lead in the “Space Race.”

In fact, just… Read More

The historic abuse of power the Agricultural Labor Relations Board has exerted over family-owned Gerawan Farming and its thousands of workers is illegal. Gerawan’s farm workers do not want union control of their workplace or work lives, but have been targeted by the United Farm Workers labor union and the ALRB since 2012 for takeover.

In May, the Court of Appeals ordered the stateAgricultural Labor Relations Board to count the workers’ decertification votes from a 2013 election, but the agency has ignored the order, and still wants to destroythe ballots and instead force a non-negotiated “contract” on the workers.

The workers have appealed to the legislative Latino Caucus, individual legislators, Governor Jerry Brown, and the California Supreme Court. Despite awaiting legal remedies, the Legislature is again doing the bidding of the United Farm Workers in an end run.

… Read More

If there isn’t enough anger already directed at abusive Catholic Priests and Bishops over the sexual abuse and cover-up scandals, yet another high ranking elitist Bishop has inflamed the already brittle Catholic laity by choosing to retire to a multi-million dollar home, instead of unpretentious rectory housing as his more humble brethren choose.

If that is not scandalous enough, the San Jose BishopPatrick J. McGrath, who planned on retiring and moving into a $2.3 million Silicon Valley home, is the same controversial Bishop who told practicing homosexuals in 2017 that they will not be refused Holy Communion or a Christian burial in his diocese, as long as they request them in “good faith.”

“McGrath has championed Pope Francis’ vision for an ‘inclusive’ and ‘diverse’ Church where a new understanding of “mercy” has been used to encourage pastoral practices that are… Read More

Is the Rot Unraveling in the Catholic Church? It appears this may be the case. But Pope Francis refuses to address this rot signifying that he is no leader.

Evil thrives in an environment of permissiveness and appeasement, as we have witnessed in Catholic parishes and dioceses throughout America. However, good priests and bishops who tried to expose the rot were… Read More

Virtue is more to be feared than vice, because its excesses are not subject to the regulation of conscience.

Adam Smith

August is such a wonderful time of the legislative calendar! It’s that magical month when bills about “legislative intent” become the vehicles of California’s often craziest headlines in national news! Liberal Democrats are using the closing weeks of this legislative session to push through several of their virtuous ideas.

With the process of “gut & amend,” liberals escape the drudgery of policy committee hearings and avoid public opposition to their vastly superior principles intended to make life better and often government coffers richer, in their fantasy world.

An example of virtue signaling type of “caring” is the odyssey of Senate Bill 845 (SB 845). Introduced in January as a “budget” vehicle, in June it was amended to become the 2018 “Human Services Omnibus” budget bill in the Assembly. On the same day, the Senate amended AB 1811 to become the 2018 “Human Services Omnibus” budget bill as well.

With AB 1811 becoming part of the… Read More

California State Sen. Joel Anderson (R-El Cajon) was accused last week by Stephanie Roberson, a female lobbyist for the California Nurses Association, a labor union, of threatening to “bitch slap” her and harassing her at a Capitol-area bar last week, several news outlets reported this week.

Anderson is now facing a legislative investigation by the Senate Rules Committee.

I spoke with Sen. Anderson who tells the story quite differently. Anderson also said the Los Angeles Times did not speak with him.

Anderson’s… Read More

Gov. Jerry Brown was recently ordered by the state’s 3rd Appellate District Court to repay more than $331million in funds the state illegally diverted from a national fund intended to help homeowners struggling with foreclosures from the housing crisis. Instead of complying with the court order, Democrats are pushing through a bill to legitimize the theft of funds.

The Assembly already passed Assembly Bill 1829, which makes the statutory changes related to the National Mortgage justifying this theft. AB 1829 was passed on a party line in the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, 12 – 5, with all Republicans on the committee voting no.

Bill Analysis… Read More

According to the annual CATO Institute report comparing the amount of freedom in a state, California ranks a dismal 48th out of the 50 states. Only New York (50th) and (perhaps surprisingly) Hawaii rank lower than the Golden State. There’s a good interactive map at the website: https://www.freedominthe50states.org/

Of course, “freedom” is hard to quantify, but this study makes a game effort to view it from several aspects. It looks at fiscal policies, regulatory policies and personal freedom. Within those three broad categories, over 200 factors are considered.

Even more interesting, you can weight 24 policy areas as to each category’s relative importance to you and your family — getting the weighted average that’s more closely tailored to your concerns. https://www.freedominthe50states.org/personalize

Best states?