“End of discussion!” is what those on the political left yell in your face when they know they are losing an argument. It is also the name of a compelling new book by Mary Katharine Ham and Guy Benson with the revealing subtitle of “How the Left’s Outrage Industry Shuts Down Debate, Manipulates Voters, and Makes America Less Free (and Fun).”

While it is true that attempts to marginalize political opponents isn’t the exclusive domain of progressives, in the last couple of decades it is the political left which has perfected these tactics to an art form. Perhaps it is because these latest efforts reflect a full manifestation of Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals. An important strategy from this famous anarchist is to avoid at all costs an honest debate over whether socialist policies actually work.

And it’s not just conservatives who are sounding the alarm. Bill Maher, the left of center host of his own show on HBO has said that liberals are too easily offended and that an overly politically correct society actually breeds more hostility between the parties. Jerry Seinfeld, lifelong Democratic and famous comic, has said that he doesn’t… Read More

Imagine a way to extract water from humidity in the air, and turn it into a glass of pure drinking water. I just saw a machine do this.

Pacific AirWell provided a water-making demonstration this week on the dead lawn at the Capitol.

With many communities around the state running out of water, and some chronically challenged with very little or contaminated water, these water making machines could be a portable, cost-effective answer for communities, businesses and homes.

“Today’s Capitol demonstration is the hands-on part of ongoing discussions with State officials toexplore innovative ways to reduce the demands upon surface and ground water, and effectivelymitigate California’s drought by improving the State’s drought resiliency,” said Matt Gray, Pacific AirWell CEO. “We are grateful for the support of lawmakers and look forward to bringing reliefto the people of California.”

One of the Pacific AirWell techs filled me in on the operational processes of the machines. Atmospheric water generation is a technology-based process used to condense water… Read More

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[Publisher’s Note: As part of an ongoing effort to bring original, thoughtful commentary to you here at the FlashReport, we are pleased to present this column from Arnold Steinberg.]

The Republican National Committee and networks want to limit debates to the top ten presidential candidates, based on averaging polling results from five different national surveys. In a prior column, I explained how this approach is unfair because debate performance drives polls, not the other way around. Also, early national surveys are especially volatile and hardly predictive of finalists. Finally, equally averaging the apples and oranges of surveys with different size (and limited) samples, and quite varied and even dubious methodologies. produces strange vegetables indeed.

And in another column, I dissected one much publicized and deeply flawed specific national survey – the Wall Street Journal/NBC poll and showed how its results were unreliable, if not… Read More

Senate Bill 277 by Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, unleashed a passion and a rage in California voters not seen in for years. The bill angered so many parents, Assembly and Senate recall elections are underway across the state, and a referendum to repeal the mandatory vaccination bill has been launched.

Parents say the new law violates Constitutional rights, as well as their right to choose what’s right for their children. Aren’t Democrats all about the right to choose, or is that only for abortions?

There are three important issues at stake in this… Read More

A case now before the United States Supreme Court, Evenwel v. Abbott, is causing considerable upset among Sacramento Democrats. That is because a victory for the plaintiffs will have a significant positive long term effect on California politics, by potentially ending one party rule.

What is Evenwel about? Nothing short of fundamental fairness in elections. It asks whether states should draw their legislative districts primarily to protect the rights of citizens to an equal vote or to protect the “interests” of the undocumented and felons to “access” to state politicians.

In Evenwel, Texas voters challenged the drawing of Texas legislative districts apportioned according to total population rather than according to the number of citizens of voting age, i.e., each district has roughly the same number of people in it, though the districts can have wildly unequal numbers of voters in them. The plaintiffs contend that this inequality means that the votes of some voters are worth less than the votes of other voters, thus violating the principle of “one-person, one-vote.” For example, if there are 100 citizens eligible to vote in District 1 and 50 citizens… Read More

Back in November 2014, in a 54% to 46% decision, less than 20% of Stanton’s registered voters approved “Measure GG,” whichincreased their sales tax rate from 8.0% to 9.0%. Needless to say, this measure will not encourage retail businesses to relocate to Stanton, nor will it encourage residents to shop there. But likelocal tax proposals that passed in 116 other cities in California last November, this measure was represented to the public as necessary to adequately fund public safety.

Back in October we published an analysis, “City of Stanton Proposes Higher Taxes Instead of Cutting Pay and Benefits,” which documented the city’s official estimatethat the new sales tax would add $3.1 million to their projected annual sales tax revenues, in order to alleviate a $1.8… Read More

A bill in the California Legislature is blazing through to mandate the reduction of 50 percent in the use of petroleum-based fuels, 50 percent reduction in energy use by existing buildings and increases the Renewable Portfolio Standard from 33 percent renewables to 50 percent — notably as California is well ontrack to meet the 2020 goal.

SB 350 is authored by Sen. President pro Tem Kevin de Leon. “Do we have the courage to press forward,” asked De Leon, to legislative committee members at Monday’s Assembly Natural Resources Committee hearing on SB 350.

De Leon was long on drama about the “threat of climate change,” but short on verifiable data, and never broached what California can do alone if indeed climate change is the scourge of the entire world.

Radical activists have wormed their way into positions of government authority to implement carbon… Read More

The Nation Shrugs As Though Nothing Happened [Publisher’s Note: As part of an ongoing effort to bring original, thoughtful commentary to you here at the FlashReport, we are pleased to present this column from Hector Barajas.]

The tragic shootings at a predominately black Charleston AME Church in South Carolina sparked a national debate over race relations, the Confederate flag and its symbolism as a potential motivation behind the crime. The response to the tragedy in Charleston stands in stark contrast to violence that took place in Chicago over the Independence… Read More