Leroy Grannis, famous surf photographer, was my ninth cousin or something like that. I wonder whether that explains anything about me, at least my current passion for stand up paddleboarding. I didn’t surf, but it was so much part of […]
California
Cal-EITC and Gasoline Tax
I don’t know whether the state can afford it at the moment, but a Cal-EITC would be a good and civilized thing to have. If we institute a higher gasoline or carbon tax, especially, which I do advocate, common decency […]
CA Special Election
Mimi Walters is doing a commendable thing standing up against the no tax ever ever Republicans but using the Republicans’ leverage to have a public vote on public sector pensions, to install for future public employees a “defined contribution” plan […]
I Like Some Taxes Less Than Others, Notes on the California Situation
Originally the Republicans were going to be totally obstructive and try to keep the necessary ballot initiatives for the special election regarding taxes from going to the public at all. Now Mimi Walters, who had been the Republican candidate for […]
The Social Justice Opportunity of the Century
Much to the surprise of all of us, the new governor of California, Jerry Brown, has proposed shutting down all redevelopment agencies in the state. The reason for this is that a city (or probably a county, where a county […]
A New Word – ‘Blurb’
In the old days a ‘blurb’ was a positive promotional recommendation statement on a book jacket. I have done a few myself. Now we are informed by the developer of Civita, an urban infill project in San Diego, that ‘blurb’ […]
Schrag on Voters’ Muddled Thinking
Peter Schrag is a man of the left, but he is strikingly honest here on the desire of Californians for well funded education in the face of lower taxes. Even more interesting is his theory that after Proposition 13, “fiscal […]
Partido de Accion Nacional Norte
My suggestion: Shut down the Republican Party in California for four years, then launch a new political party to be called Partido de Accion Nacional Norte (PAN Norte). Depending on what position this party decided to take, I could probably […]
Rational consideration of “adaptation” for California…
Rational consideration of “adaptation” for California as well as merely quixotic attempts at “prevention.” A great book on this subject, about the British Isles, is Turned Out Nice by Marek Kohn. I don’t know of any equivalent volume of that […]
Urban Bicycling – Or, Another Bicycling Tribe?
Right after I did my post about bicycling cultures, the LA times came out with an article about urban bicycling and designing clothes for it. Trying to use a bicycle for transportation! Imagine that! Well, in the early ‘70s, when […]