Blog
Blog
Learn about California's rising crime problem
California’s Victim Compensation Board – Helping Victims, or Themselves?
The California crime victimization numbers are staggering. In 2022, the last full year of statistics, violent crime rose 6.1 percent and property crimes rose 6.2 percent. In all – 193,019 people were reported victims of violent crime and there were 902,977 reported property crimes for a total of 1,095,496 crimes. ...
Steve Smith
October 31, 2023
Blog
Read about reversal of state green mandate
California Reverses Itself in its Latest ‘Turf War’
Nearly a decade (more than eight years) ago, the international media dedicated a lengthy ode to artificial turf. “The benefits of fake grass are hard to deny. Live grass guzzles some 2,200 liters per square meter annually, making the all-American lawn increasingly untenable in an era of skyrocketing water rates ...
Kerry Jackson
October 30, 2023
Blog
Blame Bad Urban Planning for Youth Mental-Health Crisis
Blame bad urban planning for youth mental-health crisis By Kenneth Schrupp | October 27, 2023 The fundamental cause of the escalating mental-health crisis among young Americans is a topic of fierce debate. New state laws – such as Ohio’s Social Media Parental Notification Act – point the finger at social ...
Kenneth Schrupp
October 27, 2023
Blog
Post-COVID travel has recovered – except for urban transit
Highways, airlines, and Amtrak all carried more travel in August 2023 than the same month before the pandemic, according to data recently released by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Urban transit, however, is languishing at less than 72%, and it would be even lower except that August had one more ...
Randal O'Toole
October 26, 2023
Blog
What a Web AG Bonta Weaves
With good reason, we are encouraged to understand history, but for some, perhaps, the temptation to repeat past mistakes is just too great. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato described sophists, paid philosophers often involved in public works, as those who twisted words and truth to win arguments. According to the ...
Bartlett Cleland
October 25, 2023
Agriculture
Read about latest federal overreach
Are checkoffs really taking taxpayer dollars and giving them to agriculture?
The OFF Act suggests federal checkoff programs are simply a means for further consolidation of “industrial agriculture” and federal agricultural lobbying organizations. However, the structure of each checkoff belies that notion. Checkoff programs are federal marketing and research programs funded entirely by the producers of 22 commodities in the United ...
Pam Lewison
October 24, 2023
Blog
Read latest about California's green agenda
Everyday Is Halloween For The Scaremongering Climate Alarmists
“Climate anxiety and dissatisfaction with government responses,” says The Lancet, “are widespread in children and young people in countries across the world and impact their daily functioning.” And what does California do about this? It is now the third state to “mandate scaring our kids to death.” Along with Connecticut ...
Kerry Jackson
October 23, 2023
Blog
Greening the ‘food desert’ by farming vacant urban land
Greening the ‘food desert’ by farming vacant urban land Edward Ring | October 20, 2023 When it comes to food, America’s cities enjoy precarious abundance. We take for granted the remarkable system that allows us close proximity to chilled and gleaming shelves, loaded with apricots from Spain, avocados from Mexico, ...
Edward Ring
October 20, 2023
Blog
Read about legislative union push
Staff Unionization Effort Won’t Help GOP Staff
Much has been written about poor working conditions for State Capitol staff and bad treatment by often ill-tempered and inconsiderate legislators. Having worked at the Capitol for nearly two decades, I know firsthand that working there can be a grind. Staff routinely work long hours, often overnight or on weekends. ...
Tim Anaya
October 19, 2023
Blog
CAPITAL IDEAS: Autonomous Vehicles Continue to Drive in California Fast Lane Despite Union Opposition
“Devil wagons” and “untamable beasts” that reveal the “carelessness” of their owners. Visible intrusions, nuisances, agents of injury that cause “road battles” and should “be classed with ferocious animals.” Vehicles to be avoided, feared and if possible banned. “To those who occupy or drive them, they are undoubtedly a fascinating ...
Kerry Jackson
October 18, 2023
Learn about California's rising crime problem
California’s Victim Compensation Board – Helping Victims, or Themselves?
The California crime victimization numbers are staggering. In 2022, the last full year of statistics, violent crime rose 6.1 percent and property crimes rose 6.2 percent. In all – 193,019 people were reported victims of violent crime and there were 902,977 reported property crimes for a total of 1,095,496 crimes. ...
Read about reversal of state green mandate
California Reverses Itself in its Latest ‘Turf War’
Nearly a decade (more than eight years) ago, the international media dedicated a lengthy ode to artificial turf. “The benefits of fake grass are hard to deny. Live grass guzzles some 2,200 liters per square meter annually, making the all-American lawn increasingly untenable in an era of skyrocketing water rates ...
Blame Bad Urban Planning for Youth Mental-Health Crisis
Blame bad urban planning for youth mental-health crisis By Kenneth Schrupp | October 27, 2023 The fundamental cause of the escalating mental-health crisis among young Americans is a topic of fierce debate. New state laws – such as Ohio’s Social Media Parental Notification Act – point the finger at social ...
Post-COVID travel has recovered – except for urban transit
Highways, airlines, and Amtrak all carried more travel in August 2023 than the same month before the pandemic, according to data recently released by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Urban transit, however, is languishing at less than 72%, and it would be even lower except that August had one more ...
What a Web AG Bonta Weaves
With good reason, we are encouraged to understand history, but for some, perhaps, the temptation to repeat past mistakes is just too great. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato described sophists, paid philosophers often involved in public works, as those who twisted words and truth to win arguments. According to the ...
Read about latest federal overreach
Are checkoffs really taking taxpayer dollars and giving them to agriculture?
The OFF Act suggests federal checkoff programs are simply a means for further consolidation of “industrial agriculture” and federal agricultural lobbying organizations. However, the structure of each checkoff belies that notion. Checkoff programs are federal marketing and research programs funded entirely by the producers of 22 commodities in the United ...
Read latest about California's green agenda
Everyday Is Halloween For The Scaremongering Climate Alarmists
“Climate anxiety and dissatisfaction with government responses,” says The Lancet, “are widespread in children and young people in countries across the world and impact their daily functioning.” And what does California do about this? It is now the third state to “mandate scaring our kids to death.” Along with Connecticut ...
Greening the ‘food desert’ by farming vacant urban land
Greening the ‘food desert’ by farming vacant urban land Edward Ring | October 20, 2023 When it comes to food, America’s cities enjoy precarious abundance. We take for granted the remarkable system that allows us close proximity to chilled and gleaming shelves, loaded with apricots from Spain, avocados from Mexico, ...
Read about legislative union push
Staff Unionization Effort Won’t Help GOP Staff
Much has been written about poor working conditions for State Capitol staff and bad treatment by often ill-tempered and inconsiderate legislators. Having worked at the Capitol for nearly two decades, I know firsthand that working there can be a grind. Staff routinely work long hours, often overnight or on weekends. ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: Autonomous Vehicles Continue to Drive in California Fast Lane Despite Union Opposition
“Devil wagons” and “untamable beasts” that reveal the “carelessness” of their owners. Visible intrusions, nuisances, agents of injury that cause “road battles” and should “be classed with ferocious animals.” Vehicles to be avoided, feared and if possible banned. “To those who occupy or drive them, they are undoubtedly a fascinating ...