“A study of the out-migration by Joint Venture Silicon Valley says workers are moving to Sacramento, Austin, and Portland due to a number of factors. But topping the list is the high cost of housing.”
“Investor Peter Thiel is moving his residence and business operations from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The decision underscores a growing divide between the outspoken tech industry conservative and Silicon Valley.”
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/15/peter-thiel-is-reportedly-exiting-silicon-valley.html
“The street’s enhanced security and isolated location have attracted some of the wealthiest and most powerful politicians in California over the years, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Cheng says the outcome of the hearing shows that a different standard of government applies to the rich and politically connected in San Francisco.”
“California’s plan to deny pipeline permits for transporting oil from new leases off the Pacific Coast is the most forceful step yet by coastal states trying to halt the biggest proposed expansion in decades of federal oil and gas leasing.”
“These screenshots present a stunning display of unprofessional behavior not just by rank-and-file employees but managers and even a senior vice president, including overt discrimination, prejudice on the basis of race and gender, conflation of dissenting political views with racism and sexism, punishment of those who asked questions about what behavior was permitted, endorsement of politically motivated violence, and even an attack on the very notion of truth itself.”
Read more: http://quillette.com/2018/02/01/lawsuit-exposes-internet-giants-internal-culture-intolerance/
“At least 13 companies, most recently 7-Eleven, have settled with the Council for Education and Research on Toxics (CERT) after its 2010 lawsuit, and promised to add warnings to served coffee, CNN reports. The suit asks for the warning to say this is a ‘chemical known to cause cancer’ or ‘chemical that causes cancer’ in a label at least 10 inches by 10 inches in the establishment.”
“A woman at the coroner’s office said — apparently incorrectly — that identification had been made through fingerprints. Another family member who talked to the coroner’s office said a woman told her Kerrigan also had been found with his identification, according to the lawsuit. Last May, Kerrigan’s family buried a man. Eleven days later, Kerrigan turned up at a family friend’s house. The friend called Kerrigan’s family to tell them he was alive. The man the Kerrigan family had buried turned out to be a Kansas native named John Dickens, who had to be exhumed before he was cremated and sent to his mother in Kansas.”
Read more: https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Family-who-buried-wrong-man-sues-California-county-12611705.php
“A private, for-profit law firm called Silver and Wright was hired by Indio in 2014 to serve as the city’s official prosecutor for code enforcement cases. The firm’s pitch was appealing. It offered ‘cost neutral or even revenue producing’ prosecution services, so long as the city changed its ordinances to allow the firm to bill property owners for its full attorneys fees.”
“Take a program that lets a public employee earn both a pension and a salary at the same time. Add an extremely generous disability leave and workers’ compensation program that allows public employees to be paid while not working for months or even years on end. What do you get? Massive corruption, obviously.”
Read more: https://reason.com/blog/2018/02/05/its-not-enough-to-get-paid-for-not-worki
“The next election season, already well underway here, will showcase a younger generation of Democrats that is more liberal and personally invested in standing up to President Donald Trump’s Washington than those leaving office. That means staking out the most liberal stance on issues such as single-payer health care in California, a highly expensive initiative that failed in the legislature last year. The push is in response to the uncertainty surrounding health-care revisions in Washington, but it is estimated to cost twice the state’s annual budget.”
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/California-Democrat-s-blueprint-for-the-election-12550853.php