January 2014 | CalWatchdog.com

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Central Valley farm drought disaster might have been mitigated

The ongoing 100-year drought didn’t have to be a disaster for California farmers. The tragedy could have been predicted — and was. A little-known 2008 study by four graduate students at the University of California, Santa Barbara warned that farmers first

Why no Asian Nobel economics laureates?

John Seiler January 31, 2014

Fabled investor Jim Rogers brings up an important point: Why has there never been an Asian winner of the Nobel economics prize? Yet during the 44 years the prize has been awarded, it’s Asia’s economic dynamism that has astounded the

Ex cons working for Covered California

John Seiler January 30, 2014

Long waits and frustrating computer snags might not be the worst thing about Covered California, our state’s version of Obamacare. Dig this: At least 43 convicted criminals are working asObamacare navigators in California, including three individuals with records of significant financial

UC workers schedule strike vote

John January 30, 2014

The University of California system’s largest union, AFSCME 3299, announced last Wednesday that it’s scheduled a mid-February strike vote for its 8,300 Service Unit members and a sympathy strike vote among its 13,000 Patient Care Technical Unit members. The union, which

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John Seiler January 30, 2014

Legislature targets BB guns

Katy Grimes January 30, 2014

SACRAMENTO — Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown signed 11 gun control bills into law and vetoed seven. More gun bills are on the firing line this year — even banning some BB guns. On Jan. 28, the California Senate passed Senate

Health Dept. shuts down 11-year old’s cupcake biz

Katy Grimes January 30, 2014

If there was ever a stark reminder of our over-abundant government, the story of 11-year old Chloe Stirling who ran a mini cupcake business in Troy, Ill. has been shut down by callous bureaucrats. Chloe Stirling is a young entrepreneur, and embodies the

Covered California video features gyrating Richard Simmons

Tori Richards January 30, 2014

Facing a $78 million budget shortfall, Covered California spent $1.37 million on an outreach campaign that included a video featuring exercise guru Richard Simmons gyrating on the floor and hugging a kneeling contortionist whose buttocks stuck in the air. The

Will appeals court notice AG’s flip-flop on bullet train?

Chris Reed January 30, 2014

It took the California Supreme Court five days to unanimously reject Gov. Jerry Brown’s request that justices immediately consider a Superior Court ruling that the state’s bullet train project had an illegal business plan and lacked proper environmental reviews to

Obama ignores global cooling freeze out

John Seiler January 29, 2014

One part of President Obama’s State of the Union with high implications for California was this: But we have to act with more urgency because a changing climate is already harming western communities struggling with drought and coastal cities dealing