Aug 26, 2014
Last week when the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce PAC announced their endorsement of Democratic candidate Ro Khanna, praising him as “right-of-center on tech and business issues”, it couldn’t have been a surprise to those watching the race for California’s 17th congressional district that Khanna would be “honored” by what most Democrats would see as an insult. Since…
Aug 25, 2014
Santa Clara County Living Wage Ordinance Thursday, August 29,Supervisors will accept a report from the Office of the County Executive relating to the feasibility and recommended framework for a County living-wage Ordinance and a Worker-Friendly Employer Certification Program, including progress on the compilation of an inventory of current County contracts greater than $50,000 per vendor. Tweet
Aug 21, 2014
Just like the Harlem Shake meme that was hot for a second and then died faster than Michelle Bachman’s presidential bid, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge appears to have won the internet and is bordering dangerously on the saturation limit before we all get bored and move on. While it’s still fresh in most people’s minds, I want to share…
Aug 20, 2014
The New Yorker featured perennial Congressional candidate Ro Khanna in an article titled “The Disruption Candidate. Right. Disruption – aka moving fast and breaking sh*t – is how we got the Patriot Act. Also this last line: The last page of ‘The Great Gatsby’—I forget the line, about looking at the dock and moving toward the future and all that. The Valley is…
Political candidates can be so entertaining. The latest example is Milpitas City Council Candidate Garry Barbadillo who prominently posted a photo on his website of himself posing with suspended State Senator Leland Yee. Yee, you may remember, was arrested last spring on charges of political corruption and gun trafficking (automatic firearms and shoulder launched missiles), allegedly associated with an extremist…
Aug 15, 2014
This has been a terrible summer from the violence in the Ukraine, Gaza, Israel, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, to Ferguson, Missouri and murders here in San Jose. Oh I understand each one is different and perhaps the gravity and complexity of the issues involved with each should not allow them to be lumped together. But with the onslaught of violence in…
Aug 14, 2014
What someone is paid has little or no relationship to what their work is worth to society. Does anyone seriously believe hedge-fund mogul Steven A. Cohen is worth the $2.3 billion he raked in last year, despite being slapped with a $1.8 billion fine after his firm pleaded guilty to insider trading? On the other hand, what’s the worth to…
Aug 13, 2014
UPDATE: AB 1522 passed through the Senate Appropriations Committee with unanimous approval. The bill is now on the floor of the Senate. Assemblymember Gonzalez anticipates a Senate floor vote on the bill next week or the following and if it is passed out, then it needs to come back to the Assembly for a concurrence vote, in which the amendments (none…
Aug 11, 2014
Now that Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen is soon to be out of a job in San Jose City government, she’s looking around for her next gig. After coming in third in the race for San Jose Mayor, rumor has it that she’s eyeing the District 3 Board of Supervisors seat, which is currently held by Dave Cortese. Never mind that…
Aug 8, 2014
Some political debates have two equally valid sides. More often than not, however, the evidence is significantly more one-sided than journalists and pundits suggest. AB 1522, a bill that currently sits on the California Senate’s Committee on Appropriations on its Suspense File for consideration on August 14, is an example of legislation for which there is no ethical, intellectually honest opposition. Three related lenses…