How My Grandma Could Solve the ‘End of Life’ Debate
Seventy-four years ago on a rainy afternoon in Long Beach, a bride in a silk bobbinet gown stood at the back of the Presbyterian church, preparing to walk down the aisle. Next to her was her father, a Naval commander, who eyed the groom warily. With music playing and the congregation waiting, he leaned in […]
Repeal Prop 218
The drought has done at least one good thing – it’s shined a spotlight on Prop 218. Specifically, a court’s decision to block a tiered-pricing scheme for water in one Orange County community – as a violation of Prop 218 – is responsible for the attention. Gov. Brown criticized the decision as limiting the flexibility […]
Why I’m Still Going to Tunisia (And It Might Be Too Late for You)
About a week after I explained in this space why I’m heading to Tunis, Tunisia, to serve as co-president of the Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy, the center of Tunis was the site of a terrorist attack that killed many innocent people around the national museum. Some readers asked if I was still going. […]
Do You Seek Beauty And Danger In California, But Are Unsure In Which Direction You Can Find It?
West. Just drive west. Or east. California is sturdily and reliably connected from north to south by straight, workhorse highways like the Interstate 5, the 99, and the 101. They can be boring yes, but with multiple lanes, center divides, and the various other protections of big modern freeways, they get us there. But if […]
Top 5 Captions for Brown Snake Photo
“He was trying to penetrate the Prop 2 formula.” “He was a Schwarzenegger appointee to the Board of Regents.” “He told Anne in Latin, Nequaquam morte moriemini.” “He said he could fill Kamala’s place as A.G. when she wins the Senate seat, but under questioning, he didn’t really […]
How Sodomite Suppression Act Exposes the Failure of SB 1253
SB 1253, which became law last year, continues to be sold as initiative reform, even though it was, at best, initiative tweaking. It made a series of changes – on signature time, on disclosure, on the legislature – that are too small to make any difference. And unfortunately, because the state’s Goo Goo Dolls have […]
The Empire is Back
I’m talking not about the new Star Wars movie but about Southern California’s Inland Empire. Of course, you shouldn’t hold your breath waiting for a statewide celebration of the remarkable economic comeback of the I.E.—which encompasses Riverside and San Bernardino counties and their 4.4 million inhabitants. When it comes to this huge section of the […]
Which Low-Down Do You Prefer on Pensions?
And you thought it was just all the math and actuarial tables that make pension ballot measures confusing. Now California faces the prospect of old-fashioned human confusion as San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed pursues another pension measure: key voices both for and against the measure have the same name. Welcome to the David Low vs. […]
So Many Ways to Vote. So Few Reasons.
The Goo Goo Dolls are on the march, and they want to make it easier for you vote. I’m not talking about the band, but about the good government community and its allies in state government. The miserable low turnout in California elections has inspired a wide variety of plans to make it easier to […]
My Lawn Is Worse Than Yours
Forgive me for bragging, but my front lawn looks a lot worse than yours. As the drought deepens and the state water board revises its plans for mandatory restrictions this week, California’s lawn culture has flipped, dirt-side up. With outdoor watering being called a society-threatening scourge, your local community pillars, once celebrated for lawns and […]