The COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage our lives through diminished social contact, disrupted commerce and illness and death. One unobvious example has been interruptions in food supply chains, from farmers' markets to large food manufacturers. To respond to crises, agriculture must be as efficient, innovative...
By Maryalene LaPonsie, Contributor DURING THE 2020 Democratic presidential primary race, candidate Andrew Yang proposed sending $1,000 each month to all U.S. citizens age 18 and older. Dubbed a Freedom Dividend, his idea garnered him devoted supporters although the concept itself isn't new. . . . . . The...
Offering a temporary pay increase to grocery workers, often referred to as “hero pay”, makes a lot of sense when grocers voluntarily provide this additional compensation to their employees. Grocery workers are taking on additional health risks, suffering additional stresses, and must work in more...
Move over, Bidencare. Single-payer health care could be coming to the United States. President-elect Joe Biden's nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, is a longtime supporter of Medicare for All. If confirmed, he'll have the power to approve waivers...
Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, there have been many thousands of articles and commentaries published on almost every imaginable aspect of the SARS-Cov-2 virus and the COVID-19 pandemic it has caused. They have appeared online, in journals, on preprint servers, in newspapers, and...
EdSource asked leaders representing all segments of California’s education system to comment on Gov. Newsom’s 2021-22 budget proposal. This year, we’ve presented their responses in reverse alphabetical order, which seemed apt for these topsy-turvey times. . . . What stands out in the governor’s proposed budget for...
By Monday afternoon, of 25.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses distributed across the United States, just 9 million had actually been administered to patients. That's well short of the government's goal of inoculating 20 million people by the end of 2020. Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised. Government-controlled markets are...
Gov. Gavin Newsom submitted his budget Friday, outlining how he wants the state to spend a record $227.2 billion in the 2021-2022 fiscal year. And spend California will, as usual on items in no way connected to government’s limited role in our lives. In addition to...
Few would have imagined in 1950, when Detroit was the country’s fifth-largest city, the undisputed car capital of the world and one of the most important cities of its era, that it would become synonymous with urban decay. Yet it happened there. Which means it...
It’s not hard to argue that California has the country’s harshest pandemic restrictions, though New York and Michigan are close enough to call it a tie. This would be news to anyone visiting from elsewhere, though. Aside from a few exceptions, things look rather normal. About 33...