2016: The Year of the Initiative
The legislature is back in town this week but in the major policy issues department the legislature is likely to be a sideshow in what can be labeled the Year of the Initiative. With a rush to place measures on the ballot because of low signature requirements to qualify a measure, cheaper costs to file […]
California Office Pool 2016
This marks the seventh annual version of the California Office Pool. It was inspired by the late, great New York Times columnist William Safire, who made a habit of writing an annual column he called Office Pool. In it, Safire offered, multiple-choice style, a series of possible news events that could take place in the […]
Are We Ready For Driverless Cars?
It is not always easy to say good things about California’s Department of Motor Vehicles which specializes in long waiting lines and often insensitive window agents who are doing you a favor by taking your money. But the agency showed some signs of common sense. It has ordered at least a temporary moratorium on the […]
The New Masters of the Universe
Every age produces its own brand of oligarchs – feudal lords, banking gnomes, captains of industry. Our age has its own incipient ruling class, the tech oligarchs. The ascendency of these new hegemons is barely complete, and could conceivably be slowed or even reversed. But the tidal wave of new wealth, and even greater influence, […]