Blog
Blog
Automated vehicles: Driving us toward dystopia or utopia?
Humanity may be a long way from allowing an Artificial Intelligence program to navigate a spacecraft from Earth to the planet Jupiter, a trip of over a half-billion miles, but we’re very close to giving AI control of every other mode of transportation we’ve built to date here on Earth. ...
Blog
War on cars is a war on lower-income Californians
Recent research focusing on Los Angeles finds that the city’s poorest neighborhoods have the largest percentage of “hyper-commuters” – people who commute 90 minutes or more one way to work. The preponderance of those long-distance commuters – often construction workers and laborers who drive from inner-city Los Angeles to far-flung ...
Blog
Private Sector High Speed Rail Moves Forward While State Bullet Train Cost Estimates Climb
It has been called a dud, the train that couldn’t, a train that went off the rails, a train wreck, the train to nowhere, and a crazy train. The high-speed rail is also a financial fiasco, its cost now almost four times the initial estimate Californians based their votes on ...
Blog
Previewing Gov. Newsom’s Political Roadshow State of the State
The Associated Press reports that “Newsom plans to fulfill his constitutional requirement by sending a letter to the State Legislature” instead of delivering the usual speech at the State Capitol. Part of me felt a little nostalgic by the news. I’ve had the chance to work on both sides of ...
Blog
Government Size Boosts Corruption
Government Size Boosts Corruption John Seiler | March 10, 2023 Does the size of government reflect the level of corruption? I’ve come up with a way to test that. It involves two variables. First, U.S. city corruption scandals, 2020 to the present, where an official was convicted. Wikipedia lists 12. ...
Blog
ATTN Governor Newsom: New York Governor Hochul’s charter school proposal is what’s best for students
Ironically, parents and supporters of the group Alliance for Quality Education showed up to New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s office last Tuesday to protest her recent “pro-charter school” proposal. The New York Governor’s recent budget proposal would allow more than 275 more charter schools in New York City by removing ...
Blog
Costly union-only agreements result in fewer city projects
From street repairs to building construction, municipal infrastructure projects are costly, but often necessary, endeavors. To get them done in the most cost-effective manner possible, city taxpayers are best served by having open, competitive markets for contracts to complete such projects efficiently and at the best price. This might sound like ...
Blog
$25 Minimum Wage for All “Healthcare Workers” Would Increase Hospital Closures
While those who do these jobs are hardworking and deserve to be paid well for doing such tough work, forcibly increasing the minimum wage to an unaffordable $25 per hour will cause increased financial strain on hospitals and healthcare facilities already struggling to keep doors open. In the current economic ...
Blog
Latest San Francisco Public Bank Proposal Doomed to Fail
According to the proposal prepared by consultants, the bank would focus “its initial lending activities on affordable housing development and affordable homeownership, local enterprises (small businesses), and green investments and environmental justice.” The “fundamental need for a city-owned bank,” it says, “stems from the historic inability of traditional financial institutions ...
Agriculture
Water fines for farmers will not keep the wells from running dry
When a profoundly important resource like water is no longer abundant, prioritizing where water goes becomes challenging. The California Assembly is considering legislation that would punish people for over-using water during droughts. The bill, however, does not differentiate between water “needs” and water “wants.” Specifically, food producers and municipalities would ...
Automated vehicles: Driving us toward dystopia or utopia?
Humanity may be a long way from allowing an Artificial Intelligence program to navigate a spacecraft from Earth to the planet Jupiter, a trip of over a half-billion miles, but we’re very close to giving AI control of every other mode of transportation we’ve built to date here on Earth. ...
War on cars is a war on lower-income Californians
Recent research focusing on Los Angeles finds that the city’s poorest neighborhoods have the largest percentage of “hyper-commuters” – people who commute 90 minutes or more one way to work. The preponderance of those long-distance commuters – often construction workers and laborers who drive from inner-city Los Angeles to far-flung ...
Private Sector High Speed Rail Moves Forward While State Bullet Train Cost Estimates Climb
It has been called a dud, the train that couldn’t, a train that went off the rails, a train wreck, the train to nowhere, and a crazy train. The high-speed rail is also a financial fiasco, its cost now almost four times the initial estimate Californians based their votes on ...
Previewing Gov. Newsom’s Political Roadshow State of the State
The Associated Press reports that “Newsom plans to fulfill his constitutional requirement by sending a letter to the State Legislature” instead of delivering the usual speech at the State Capitol. Part of me felt a little nostalgic by the news. I’ve had the chance to work on both sides of ...
Government Size Boosts Corruption
Government Size Boosts Corruption John Seiler | March 10, 2023 Does the size of government reflect the level of corruption? I’ve come up with a way to test that. It involves two variables. First, U.S. city corruption scandals, 2020 to the present, where an official was convicted. Wikipedia lists 12. ...
ATTN Governor Newsom: New York Governor Hochul’s charter school proposal is what’s best for students
Ironically, parents and supporters of the group Alliance for Quality Education showed up to New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s office last Tuesday to protest her recent “pro-charter school” proposal. The New York Governor’s recent budget proposal would allow more than 275 more charter schools in New York City by removing ...
Costly union-only agreements result in fewer city projects
From street repairs to building construction, municipal infrastructure projects are costly, but often necessary, endeavors. To get them done in the most cost-effective manner possible, city taxpayers are best served by having open, competitive markets for contracts to complete such projects efficiently and at the best price. This might sound like ...
$25 Minimum Wage for All “Healthcare Workers” Would Increase Hospital Closures
While those who do these jobs are hardworking and deserve to be paid well for doing such tough work, forcibly increasing the minimum wage to an unaffordable $25 per hour will cause increased financial strain on hospitals and healthcare facilities already struggling to keep doors open. In the current economic ...
Latest San Francisco Public Bank Proposal Doomed to Fail
According to the proposal prepared by consultants, the bank would focus “its initial lending activities on affordable housing development and affordable homeownership, local enterprises (small businesses), and green investments and environmental justice.” The “fundamental need for a city-owned bank,” it says, “stems from the historic inability of traditional financial institutions ...
Water fines for farmers will not keep the wells from running dry
When a profoundly important resource like water is no longer abundant, prioritizing where water goes becomes challenging. The California Assembly is considering legislation that would punish people for over-using water during droughts. The bill, however, does not differentiate between water “needs” and water “wants.” Specifically, food producers and municipalities would ...
