Sunday will be one month since 23 Korean Christian medical volunteers were kidnapped by the Islamist Taliban , while working in Gazing province in Afghanistan. Two of the male volunteers, one a co founder and minister of a large Christian church in Korea, were murdered. Two of the women have been released. The Korean government is reportedly "negotiating" with the kidnappers. Payment for the hostages is widely anticipated.

While press reports have declined in the US, the hostage crisis gets white heat coverage in Asia. Here in Los Angeles, an organization called Concerned Citizens for Korean Hostages in Afghanistan urged in a press conference the release of the captives. Many different religious groups joined in the demand for the release. The controversial Muslim Public Affairs Council MPAC [ see HERE at this link ] joined this group. Recently MPAC was listed by the US Attorney General’s office as an unindicted co-conspirator in a criminal case of funding Hamas.… Read More

On this quiet Saturday, enjoy some of the top stories on the main page, including a FRONT PAGE profile of the FlashReport in the San Jose Mercury News, great news about the State GOP alleviating itself of a $3 million debt, and a profile in the LA Times on State Senate Republicans in this budget impasse.

If you have a few minutes, below you can listen to a great speech given by Ronald Reagan, before he was elected President, speaking out against socialized medicine. … Read More

I received some calls and emails today telling me that the link I used in my post about Assembly candidate Sam Wakim’s faux illegal-immigrant driver’s license was wrong.

It wasn’t — just outdated because the user had chosen to make it private or take it down.

Well thanks to the wayback machine you can find a February 2007 version of Sam Wakim’s rather weird personal website here.

Just a quick reminder to those candidates that post on the Internet, it’s kind of like Las Vegas "what happens on the web stays on the web."… Read More

As the Vice Chairman, South, of the California Republican Party, I can tell you that I am very excited by the following news. The ‘infamous’ $3,000,000 loan that the state GOP has on the books from last years election… is going bye bye.

The California Republican Party has released the following statement to the press, so I feel it is okay to now share it on the FlashReport (I have a fidiciary obligation as a party officer that requires that I do things a certain way)… The California Republican Party has obtained commitments to retire its $3,000,000 loan obligation from Larry Dodge and Paul Folino and their affiliates on or before February 15, 2008. The CRP sincerely appreciates the generosity of these two pillars of our party and their faith and commitment to the CRP and Republican principles. The CRP also wants to thank Governor Arnold… Read More

Andrea Hoch serves as Chief Legal Counsel to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. She has sent us an update on the Governor’s filing a motion yesterday to join efforts to keep an artificial cap being placed on the population of California prisons, leading to the early release of dangerous felons…

Today’s Commentary is guest-authored by California Board of Equalization Member Bill Leonard, an outstanding conservative leader here in the Golden State…

Senate Republicans Break Their Rusty Cage Imagine a friend with talking parrots. He keeps them in a cage all year covered with a drape, feeds them occasionally, cleans their cage less often, yet once a year around June 30th when the relatives come to visit he drags out the cage, pulls off the drape, and orders the parrots to talk. This is the Senate Republican Caucus. And because they have not performed on cue they are being called obstructionist, stubborn, uncooperative, and even terrorists.

The truth is that the Democrats’ changes to the Governor’s Budget have only been available since mid-June and the Republicans have been detailing their objections to that “work product”… Read More

Today’s Commentary is guest-authored by California Board of Equalization Member Bill Leonard, an outstanding conservative leader here in the Golden State…

Senate Republicans Break Their Rusty Cage Imagine a friend with talking parrots. He keeps them in a cage all year covered with a drape, feeds them occasionally, cleans their cage less often, yet once a year around June 30th when the relatives come to visit he drags out the cage, pulls off the drape, and orders the parrots to talk. This is the Senate Republican Caucus. And because they have not performed on cue they are being called obstructionist, stubborn, uncooperative, and even terrorists.

The truth is that the Democrats’ changes to the Governor’s Budget have only been available since mid-June and the Republicans have been detailing their objections to that “work product”… Read More

Shane Goldmacher at the Sacramento Bee reported that Sam Wakim (a GOP candidate to replace Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa) resigned from the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board for posting a faux illegal-immigrant drivers license on his personal web site.

Thank goodness he had little chance to defeat former Assemblyman/State Senator Jim Nielsen (who already has the support of incumbent Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa).

The image is posted on a rather weird personal site that has a mix of items that cause me to scratch my head and wonder why a candidate and appointee would put this stuff on the internet:

1. He calls college basketball legend Bob Knight "a good friend and former boss" but then goes on to say that he was an employee at the IU ticket office. I’m sorry but "good friend and former boss" to Bob Knight is probably somebody like Coach K at Duke not the guy sitting behind the glass at the Will-Call booth.

2. He seems to have a very strange obsession for Miss Lebanon — posting almost a dozen photos of… Read More