LAPD Ghosts Circle Dorner Case
While only about 30 people appeared at Los Angeles Police Department headquarters this past weekend to protest the handling of the Christopher Dorner manhunt, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck realizes that the Dorner crisis could open some deep wounds in the community. That is why he ordered a re-opening of the case on Dorner’s allegations that […]
“Let’s Just Do It” – New Jersey Governor Christie Visits California
On a sunny Tuesday afternoon in Southern California, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie arrives at a private home overlooking the San Diego skyline for a lunch with local supporters. California’s big coastal cities – Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego — are common destinations for nationally recognized Republican candidates and elected officials to raise funds […]
How Philosophy Explains High-Speed Rail
I didn’t understand Gov. Jerry Brown’s state of the state speech, but my fellow members of the press let me know it was brilliant. All those quotes – from philosopher to the Bible to the Little Engine That Could – explained everything, I’m told. So I’ve decided to learn, to turn over a new leaf, […]
Of Obesity, Bridges and Peanuts
Have California school officials found their own bizarre way to support Michelle Obama’s campaign against childhood obesity? What else could possibly explain their skimming of at least $170 million — and possibly much more — from federal funds supplied to provide nutritional lunches to the state’s poorest children? The just-released findings by state auditors show […]
Prop 13
(Editor’s Note: Yesterday’s column contained some incorrect property tax data, updated numbers appear in the piece below) In John Wildermuth’s Fox and Hounds column last week (Prop. 13 and the Unintended Consequence), he unsuccessfully attempts to blame Prop. 13 for virtually all of California’s financial shortcomings. What Wildermuth misses in his drive-by analysis is the […]