January 2014 | Page 5 of 11

Archive

In 49 B.C., Julius Caesar and his army crossed the Rubicon River in Italy and triggered a civil war. Thereafter, the term “crossing the Rubicon” has meant a limit that, when passed, permits no return and an irrevocable commitment. Speaker

Brown’s State of the State: It’s Morning in California

John Seiler January 22, 2014

President Ronald Reagan’s 1984 re-election campaign theme boasted: “It’s Morning in America.” He won 49 states, losing only rival Walter Mondale’s native Minnesota. Gov. Jerry Brown’s State of the State address this morning kicked off a similar theme in what effectively

BOE building gremlins linger in ‘sick’ building

Katy Grimes January 21, 2014

There must be gremlins living in the Board of Equalization building in downtown Sacramento. What else could explain burst water pipes, flooding, mechanical problems, bats, mold, and falling glass? BOE employees have complained for years of safety hazards and moldy,

Hearing reveals DTSC clogged with regulatory problems

Katy Grimes January 21, 2014

The new year brought the implementation of complex new state legislation passed in 2013 dealing with toxic waste in California. Businesses also must prepare for yet more legislation that was enacted in 2013, but will become effective in 2015. The

Schwarzenegger sticking to global warming schtick

John Seiler January 21, 2014

I remember around 20 years ago Arnold Schwarzenegger explained to a talk-show host how to keep making movie hits. If a film bombed, he said, he analyzed what was wrong — the script, the director, etc. — then corrected it

Desal can mitigate California’s water woes

Joseph Perkins January 21, 2014

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy dedicated the nation’s first saline water conversion plant. A public-private partnership between U.S. Department of Interior and Dow Chemical, the Freeport, Texas plant converted seawater from the Gulf of Mexico into 1 million gallons

‘Techno-militarization’ seen in CA alarms tech intellectuals

Chris Reed January 21, 2014

The NSA scandal and the increasing use of technology to police and monitor all Americans, not just suspected terrorists around the world and in our midst, is a growing worry in Silicon Valley. CEOs fret that U.S. tech firms will

Goal of online tobacco sales ban: more state tax revenue

John January 20, 2014

California may be considered a technology pioneer, but at least one state lawmaker wants to put the brakes on a growing segment of the online retail market. Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, has introduced a measure to ban online sales of

2nd Amendment groups fight CA gun-control laws in court

John January 20, 2014

As fast as California lawmakers can write new gun-control laws, Second Amendment groups are challenging them in court. buy definition essay Earlier this month, a state senator, who has expressed support for racial profiling of ammunition sales, introduced legislation to require background checks

Life expectancy gains: new front in CA pension funding woes

Chris Reed January 20, 2014

Daniel Borenstein of the Bay Area Newspaper Group had a sharp column Sunday pointing out that delays in acknowledging gains in life expectancy added to the long-term funding problems faced by CalPERS. “The mortality issue exemplifies how CalPERS has set