The good news: California will almost certainly have a high-speed rail line someday. The bad news: it may look a lot like “Whoosh.” Whoosh is Indonesia’s new high-speed rail line, which opened last fall. Its existence is a breakthrough — Whoosh is the first bullet train in Southeast Asia. Similarly, California’s train could be the … Read more
Shohei Ohtani is the only major league baseball player who can both hit and pitch at an elite level. Perhaps he should manage California’s state budget too. Just look at his new contract. This winter, Ohtani signed what was initially reported as a 10-year, $700 million contract to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers. But … Read more
My fellow Californians, your government is lying to you. About our elections The lie isn’t new. It is 14 years old. It’s a bipartisan falsehood — parroted by both political parties and defended by media. The state publishes it in the voter guides and ballots it sends you. What is this lie? It’s that the … Read more
2024 will be the biggest election year in history. About 4.2 billion people, or more than half of humanity, live in countries with upcoming elections. Can democracy survive it? That question may sound cynical. But, in the 21st century, romantic ideas of democracy are dying. The latest global reports show democracy contracting across every world … Read more
On Jan. 28, Californians will cast ballots in a historic vote on creating a new independent country. Why is the first you’re hearing of it? Because the only Californians who can vote in the election are Sikhs. The proposed country would be in northern India. But that’s no reason to overlook the most important election … Read more
Come back, Kamala. Back to California, where you have a future. Away from Washington, D.C., where they’ll never give you a fair shake. You’re politically trapped. You’re the unpopular vice president of an unpopular president. As a team, the two of you are headed to a catastrophic election defeat, even though your likely opponent is … Read more
I propose a rule to improve California’s local democracy. When your local bars close, so must your city council. This occurred while watching recent Santa Monica City Council meetings, gatherings so long (one recently went 10 1/2 hours) and so nonsensical that you might reconsider your support for free speech and self-government. The bars had … Read more
Friday marked the 20th anniversary of Arnold Schwarzenegger becoming governor of California, after the recall of former Gov. Gray Davis. For much of the last two decades, the recall has been remembered mostly as a bizarre media circus, with 135 candidates, a hurried 60-day campaign, and a debate featuring Schwarzenegger and Arianna Huffington trading insults. … Read more
California kids, do you follow the news about the culture wars over local school boards? If you do, you’ll see these wars portrayed as political contests between groups that want to take education in different direction: progressives and right-wingers, and fights between parents’ groups and teachers’ unions. But you won’t hear much about the role … Read more