Blog

Secrecy, deception: CA bullet train follows path of Big Dig

One of the defining characteristics of a government boondoggle is secrecy. Boondoggles are much less likely to come to pass if early scrutiny reveals huge problems. This was illustrated perfectly by the “Big Dig” — the Boston tunnel and road

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,

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

‘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

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