Blog
Blog
Bullet train won’t improve urban transportation
(image courtesy California High-Speed Rail Commission) Even on its best day, California’s high-speed rail project was always going to struggle to deliver on its grandiose promises – a best day that was unfortunately Nov. 4, 2008. That was the day California voters approved a modest and fantastical version of what ...
Agriculture
CARB’s plan to covert farms to organic practices may push food producers out of California
When hunting for fresh produce, we are taught to look for the “ideal” fruit or vegetable. Sweet corn cobs have their husks unceremoniously pulled down, apples are squeezed and scrutinized, onions are sniffed and scoured for the tightest skin, all in the name of finding the “best” version available. A ...
Blog
Would You Like An Apple Pie With That? No Thanks, I Can’t Afford It
Less than two days before California’s Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act was to become law – on Jan. 1 – Sacramento Superior Court Judge Shelleyanne W.L. Chang placed a hold on the legislation, temporarily restraining the state “from implementing, enforcing, or taking any other action to effectuate Assembly ...
Blog
Future cities could be beacons of innovation and hope
Futurist imaginings of what sort of world awaits humanity often embrace extreme scenarios, ranging from George Jetson’s utopia to George Orwell’s nightmare. They also tend to be wildly inaccurate. With that in mind – and not to stray too far into the territory of unrealistic optimism or excessive pessimism – ...
Blog
Police Reform – San Jose Police – A Case Study
Last fall, the City of San Jose’s Independent Police Auditor (IPA) Shivaun Nurre issued her 2021 annual report on police oversight of the San Jose Police Department. It provides a detailed analysis of allegations of police misconduct in San Jose. Techies would call it “granular” data. On September 13, 2022, ...
Blog
Urban flight: Removing cars won’t revive our cities
As happened in the 1960s and 70s, America is witnessing a great exodus from some, but not all, of its cities. This time, even West Coast cities, with their sublime weather and ports on the Pacific Ocean, also are seeing residents flee paradise. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, in ...
Blog
California is Hardly ‘Freedom State’ Under Newsom
Six months before Gavin Newsom was sworn in for his second term as California governor, he taped a television ad in which he tried to claim the Mt. Olympus of freedom was found on the West Coast and he was in charge of it. He continued that theme at his ...
Agriculture
What’s in a label? Ag should re-evaluate its belief in COOL
The global marketplace provides a vast array of food choices and helps to regulate prices by providing out of season food at nearly any time of year. “Where” food comes from can help consumers make choices about what is important to them – affordability, fair wages for farmworkers, use of ...
Blog
Many cities are zoning people out of their homes
Many cities are zoning people out of their homes By Wayne Winegarden A growing housing unaffordability problem is now plaguing cities across the country. The roots of this crisis are errant monetary and fiscal policies that, before they stoked our current bout of inflation, incentivized a surge in housing prices. ...
Blog
California’s Soft on Crime Policies Claim Another Victim
McKay was a three striker with multiple convictions and two prison sentences for violent offenses dating back to 1999. His last ten-year stint ended in 2019. When he was stopped by deputy Cordero, he had already been convicted of his third strike. However, he was free on reduced bail pending ...
Bullet train won’t improve urban transportation
(image courtesy California High-Speed Rail Commission) Even on its best day, California’s high-speed rail project was always going to struggle to deliver on its grandiose promises – a best day that was unfortunately Nov. 4, 2008. That was the day California voters approved a modest and fantastical version of what ...
CARB’s plan to covert farms to organic practices may push food producers out of California
When hunting for fresh produce, we are taught to look for the “ideal” fruit or vegetable. Sweet corn cobs have their husks unceremoniously pulled down, apples are squeezed and scrutinized, onions are sniffed and scoured for the tightest skin, all in the name of finding the “best” version available. A ...
Would You Like An Apple Pie With That? No Thanks, I Can’t Afford It
Less than two days before California’s Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act was to become law – on Jan. 1 – Sacramento Superior Court Judge Shelleyanne W.L. Chang placed a hold on the legislation, temporarily restraining the state “from implementing, enforcing, or taking any other action to effectuate Assembly ...
Future cities could be beacons of innovation and hope
Futurist imaginings of what sort of world awaits humanity often embrace extreme scenarios, ranging from George Jetson’s utopia to George Orwell’s nightmare. They also tend to be wildly inaccurate. With that in mind – and not to stray too far into the territory of unrealistic optimism or excessive pessimism – ...
Police Reform – San Jose Police – A Case Study
Last fall, the City of San Jose’s Independent Police Auditor (IPA) Shivaun Nurre issued her 2021 annual report on police oversight of the San Jose Police Department. It provides a detailed analysis of allegations of police misconduct in San Jose. Techies would call it “granular” data. On September 13, 2022, ...
Urban flight: Removing cars won’t revive our cities
As happened in the 1960s and 70s, America is witnessing a great exodus from some, but not all, of its cities. This time, even West Coast cities, with their sublime weather and ports on the Pacific Ocean, also are seeing residents flee paradise. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, in ...
California is Hardly ‘Freedom State’ Under Newsom
Six months before Gavin Newsom was sworn in for his second term as California governor, he taped a television ad in which he tried to claim the Mt. Olympus of freedom was found on the West Coast and he was in charge of it. He continued that theme at his ...
What’s in a label? Ag should re-evaluate its belief in COOL
The global marketplace provides a vast array of food choices and helps to regulate prices by providing out of season food at nearly any time of year. “Where” food comes from can help consumers make choices about what is important to them – affordability, fair wages for farmworkers, use of ...
Many cities are zoning people out of their homes
Many cities are zoning people out of their homes By Wayne Winegarden A growing housing unaffordability problem is now plaguing cities across the country. The roots of this crisis are errant monetary and fiscal policies that, before they stoked our current bout of inflation, incentivized a surge in housing prices. ...
California’s Soft on Crime Policies Claim Another Victim
McKay was a three striker with multiple convictions and two prison sentences for violent offenses dating back to 1999. His last ten-year stint ended in 2019. When he was stopped by deputy Cordero, he had already been convicted of his third strike. However, he was free on reduced bail pending ...
