“Never Sleep With Anyone Whose Troubles Are Worse Than Your Own.”

That’s one of the more memorable of the many memorable lines penned by mystery novelist Ross Macdonald who was born Kenneth Millar in Los Gatos on December 13, 1915.

Many of Macdonald’s one-liners and hard-bitten observations came from the mouth of his most famous character, private investigator Lew Archer. Macdonald named him after Sam Spade’s dead partner in Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon, Miles Archer, and Lew Wallace, the author of Ben Hur.     Read more »

More

Californians Now Number More Than 38 Million

California grew by 332,000 people between July 1, 2012 and July 1, 2013 and now has more than 38.2 million residents, according to population estimates released December 12 by the Department of Finance.

It’s the biggest numeric gain and percentage gain – nearly 1 percent – since 2004.

Eighty percent of the increase comes from births.    Read more »

More

“Millions of Reasons to Be Cautiously Optimistic”

California collected $6 billion int ax revenue in November, missing estimates in the state budget by $375.6 million, or 5.9 percent, State Controller John Chiang said December 10 in his monthly report covering the state’s cash balance, receipts and disbursements for last month.

The main reason revenues fell below estimates was simply timing, Chiang said, noting that during the current fiscal year which began July 1, revenues are running ahead of predictions in last June’s budget by nearly $230 million.State    Read more »

More

Forty Five Years Ago, Everything Changed

On December 9, 1968, at a San Francisco Civic Center exhibition hall  that no longer exists,  engineer and inventor Douglas Engelbart unveiled personal computing.

Engelbart, who died in July at 88,  never used the phrase “personal computing” in describing the hardware and software he and his team created but his presentation to 1,000 computer professionals at Brooks Hall demonstrated the core elements of personal computing including the mouse, networking, hypertext, video conferencing, word processing and multiple windows.     Read more »

More

Thirty Five Years Ago On November 27…

Angered that he wasn’t to be reappointed to the Board of Supervisors slot he resigned from on November 10, Dan White enters San Francisco City Hall at 10:30 a.m. through a basement window.

Mayor George Moscone agrees to meet with White after a meeting with Assemblyman Willie Brown concludes. Brown leaves.    Read more »

More

While Visions of Surpluses Dance In Lawmakers’ Heads…

Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor Outlines the Best Fiscal Forecast in a Decade    Read more »

More

Memo to California Employers

“Somebody once said that in looking for people to hire you look for three qualities: Integrity, intelligence and energy. And if they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.

“You think about it; it’s true. If you hire somebody without the first, you really want them to be dumb and lazy.”    Read more »

More

A Great Day for Nothing

Very Little is Happening at the Capitol — A Perfect Time for Big-Picture Thinking 

By Greg Lucas, Sacramento News & Review, November 14, 2013 — Compared to the root-hog, bloodlust craziness of the death throes of the legislative session, the White Sepulcher is currently living up to its name. It’s quiet.    Read more »

More

Not a Californian But We Owe Her So Much…

Dr. Ruth Benerito, who died at 97 in October, held 55 patents and is credited with creating permanent press cotton.    Read more »

More

After The Money’s Gone…

In its assessment of California’s budget for the current fiscal year, which began July 1, the Legislative Analyst says this about state highway spending: 

“Proposition 1B, a ballot measure approved by voters in November 2006, authorized the issuance of $20 billion in general obligations bonds for state and local transportation improvements….    Read more »

More