Category Archives: Keeping Watch on Earth News

Forget Trump: Biden is undoing harmful rules that have been in place since Reagan

US President Joe Biden signs executive orders for economic relief to Covid-hit families and businesses in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 22, 2021. (Photo by Nicholas Kamm / AFP) (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
President Biden working for the people, not the powerful. (Photo by Nicholas Kamm / AFP) (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
Daily Kos, by Ian Reifowitz, January 30, 2021

“It has the potential to be the most significant action Biden took on day one.” That’s what Senior Policy Analyst James Goodwin of the Center for Progressive Reform said about the executive order called Modernizing Regulatory Review (MRR)—although he recognized such a statement might sound “absurd” given everything else the new president did on that day. Goodwin was talking about an executive order (EO) that got little attention from mainstream journalists other than the HuffPost reporter who interviewed him. I initially heard about it thanks to Tim Corrimal’s show, but the Brookings Institute’s in-depth analysis of the MRR also generally tracks with the optimistic assessment from Goodwin. Cass Sunstein, who ran the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) during President Obama’s first term, also strongly praised the change in a post at Bloomberg.

The memo directs the OIRA, which is housed in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), to take a new approach when doing its job—namely reviewing regulations proposed by the executive branch. I know that the previous sentence may have left some of you nodding off into a dream about drowning in alphabet soup. (There are worse ways to go.) But trust me, if you breathe air, drink water, or buy, well, anything, there’s a pretty decent chance that what Biden just did will help you and yours stay safer and healthier—or maybe even just stay alive.


The key section of the document calls for the appropriate offices to “provide concrete suggestions on how the regulatory review process can promote public health and safety, economic growth, social welfare, racial justice, environmental stewardship, human dignity, equity, and the interests of future generations.”

In addition to those important priorities, this Biden-Harris EO mandates that the review of regulations “promotes policies that reflect new developments in scientific and economic understanding, fully accounts for regulatory benefits that are difficult or impossible to quantify, and does not have harmful anti-regulatory or deregulatory effects.”

Finally, the memo requires that any such review “ensure[s] that regulatory initiatives appropriately benefit and do not inappropriately burden disadvantaged, vulnerable, or marginalized communities.”

One might think all this would be obvious to anyone with a sense of fairness, an interest in actually getting things right based on the best available information, and a concern for justice. One who harbors such illusions clearly hasn’t dealt with Republicans.

Biden’s MRR differs from most of the other executive actions he has taken thus far in that it doesn’t target rules created by his immediate predecessor. Instead, the 46th president is going after a structure created by the godfather of modern conservatism in all its forms (including virulent race-baiting, although that’s not the topic of this post): Ronald Reagan.

With EO 12291 on Feb. 17, 1981, Reagan created the OIRA. Its goal was simple: Find ways to block regulations. The guts of the EO are contained in this section: “(R)egulatory action shall not be undertaken unless the potential benefits to society from the regulation outweigh the potential costs to society.” Sounds reasonable … until it’s time to define benefits and costs to society. Those definitions have rested solely on the basis of dollars and cents. If saving lives costs too much money, well, to paraphrase Col. Jessup from A Few Good Men, “people die.”

At the time, progressives knew what Reagan’s order would mean. Richard Ayres, a leading environmental activist who co-founded the National Resources Defense Council, called this approach to assessing the value of regulations “basically fraudulent.” Going further, he noted: “They are trying to put into numbers something that doesn’t fit into numbers, like the value of clean air to our grandchildren. Cost benefit analysis discounts the future. It allows costs to flow to small groups and benefits to large groups and vice versa. It is concerned with efficiency but not with equity. It is deceivingly precise and ignores ethical and moral choices.”

How’s that for a slogan that sums up an entire movement: “Conservatism: We’ve been ignoring ethical and moral choices for more than 40 years!”

California Rep. Henry Waxman, a long-time progressive champion, added: “It is very dangerous to think we can quantify the way we make policy judgments. We don’t know how to measure the true cost of health or disease.” Waxman was very clear about why this EO was one of the first actions taken during the Reagan presidency: It would enable Republicans to “use cost-benefit analysis to reach decisions that will favor business and industry in this country rather than the public.” Waxman couldn’t have been more right, either about this specific action Reagan took or about Republican priorities across the board.

President Bill Clinton issued a change in 1993 that reduced OIRA’s scope, but unfortunately left the basic framework relatively intact. Other tweaks have been made, including in 2011 under the Obama-Biden administration. But the order issued by the new Biden-Harris administration will, hopefully, usher in a new era for OIRA, one that differs not just by degree, but by kind.

By broadening the definition of costs and benefits beyond what can be calculated on a balance sheet, Biden’s MMR makes enactment possible for far-reaching protections likely to be blocked under the old system. Stuart Shapiro, a public policy professor at Rutgers University who used to work at OMB, explained that the previous approach to regulatory review stifled necessary measures: “Because the benefits are harder to measure, cost-benefit analysis always puts regulation at a disadvantage.” It’s more concrete to say that a specific environmental rule will cost businesses X dollars. However, what is the exact benefit in dollars to a life saved—or a life improved, for that matter? Those benefits are very real to actual people but were not given the proper weight because of the way the costs and benefits had been defined—until Biden came along, that is.

Don’t just take the word of progressives on how much of an impact this new policy will have; listen to how much conservatives despise it. The so-called Competitive Enterprise Institute is a libertarian think tank that, for all intents and purposes, never met a regulation it didn’t hate—especially on the environment. They published a post by Clyde Wayne Crews, a senior fellow and vice president for policy, which squealed that Biden’s MMR would end up “gutting the restraint of the past four years” and “effectively do away with cost-benefit analysis altogether.” Based on how that analysis operated, I’d say good riddance.

As for the last four years, the core of the twice-impeached president’s regulatory review policy was typical of the thoughtlessness of his administration in general. Rather than establish some kind of objective standards to measure the effectiveness of regulations—standards that would certainly favor corporate fat cats—the disgraced despot just said, “If there’s a new regulation, they have to knock out two.” That’s a direct quote—I’m not kidding. In a nutshell, that really was his new rule.

More broadly, The Man Who Tried To Overturn An Election He Lost seriously weakened environmental protections and totally hamstrung our country’s efforts to combat climate change. Hana V. Vizcarra, who researches environmental policy at Harvard, characterized what Trump did over four years as a “very aggressive attempt to rewrite our laws and reinterpret the meaning of environmental protections.” Trump’s anti-regulation regime went beyond the environment, including attacks on labor protections, health protections, education-related protections, and more.

The one wide-ranging piece of legislation enacted by the Republicans under Trump was the Rich Man’s Tax Cut, and Biden certainly needs to undo that giveaway to millionaires and billionaires as quickly as possible. But the other major policy “accomplishments” that need to be undone are in the area of regulation, where Trump had more room to operate by executive order and other executive branch actions. Now President Biden has that same authority, and his new MMR makes clear he knows how to use it.

We’ll likely be seeing one example of the impact of Biden’s executive order when he issues regulations—which we expect to see very soon—on so-called “forever chemicals.” The real name for them is per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), but their nickname derives from the fact that they “never break down in the environment,” as the Environmental Working Group explained. That’s not all:

Very small doses of PFAS have been linked to cancer, reproductive and immune system harm, and other diseases.

For decades, chemical companies covered up evidence of PFAS’ health hazards. Today nearly all Americans, including newborn babies, have PFAS in their blood, and up to 110 million people may be drinking PFAS-tainted water. What began as a “miracle of modern chemistry” is now a national crisis.

During his 2020 campaign, Biden promised to take action on PFAS as part of a wide-ranging plan to “secure environmental justice and equitable economic opportunity.” This is the first step among what will be many, but much of his agenda would likely have been neutered or even blocked under the old regulatory review rules. His new MMR was thus a vital first step in clearing the path for the specific changes he will carry out to protect all Americans’ health, safety, and much more.

It’s very important to remember that what Trump did was no different than what other Republicans have done going back four decades. Conservatives, over and over, wrongly decry as “red tape” the very rules that prevent a relatively small number of immoral, greedy sharks from causing real injury in the blind pursuit of profit—not to mention making it that much harder for the honest business owners who act morally to successfully compete.

Since long before the Orange Menace moved into the White House, his party has been in thrall to corporate interests, and hostile to the interests of consumers—also known as the American people. Even if Republicans purge Trumpism and the Trumpists from their party—something they absolutely must do for the sake of our democracy—the conflict between the parties on regulatory issues will not go away.

When it comes to regulations, one party favors the powerful and the wealthy, and the other works for all of us. It really is as simple as that.


Ian Reifowitz is the author of  The Tribalization of Politics: How Rush Limbaugh’s Race-Baiting Rhetoric on the Obama Presidency Paved the Way for Trump (Foreword by Markos Moulitsas)

Solano County COVID-19 update: Some good news, some not-so-good


By Roger Straw, January 26, 2021

Recommending you continue to stay home whenever possible…

Tuesday, January 26: only 100 new Solano cases overnight, but 3 new deaths.  Since Feb: 27,141 cases, over 800 hospitalized, 118 deaths.Compare previous report, Monday, Jan. 25:Summary

[From Solano County Public Health and others, see sources below.  For a running archive of daily County updates, see my Excel ARCHIVE
    • Solano County reported 100 new cases overnight, total of 27,141 cases since the outbreak started.  GOOD NEWS: 100 new cases overnight is the lowest daily increase since December 1.  Solano has AVERAGED over 300 new cases per day during January.  But that’s 100 of us newly down with the virus – and contagious!
    • Deaths – 3 new deaths reported today, one young person aged 18-49 and 2 persons over 65 years of age, a total of 118 Solano deaths since the pandemic began.  There have been 12 COVID-related deaths in Solano County over the last 7 days, 2 aged 18-49 years, others over 65 years of age.  NOT-SO-GOOD NEWS: As many other COVID stats improved some today, these deaths are no doubt the final sad result of the surge following our holiday gatherings and travel.
    • Active cases – Solano reported 186 fewer active cases today, a total of 1,531 active cases.  Compare: Solano’s average number of Active Cases during October was 284, average in November was 650, in December 1,658 – and TODAY we are at 1,531.  Better, but still a LOT!  Is the County equipped to contact trace so many infected persons?  Or do we just sit back and wait for a voluntary 10 day quarantine to expire.  Who knows?  To my knowledge, Solano has offered no reports on contact tracing.
    • Hospitalizations – (See expanding ICU capacity below.)  Today, Solano reported 6 fewer currently hospitalized cases, total of 146, and no change in hospitalizations among the age groups.  We will have to wait for the County’s “occasional” large group of updated numbers on hospitalizations among the age groups.  Even then, accuracy cannot be certain – note…
      >>In a December 31 Fairfield Daily Republic article, reporter Todd Hanson wrote, “Since the start of the pandemic, and as of Wednesday, 9,486 residents have been hospitalized.”  This startling number is far and away above the number of residents hospitalized as indicated in the count of age group hospitalizations, and not available anywhere on the County’s COVID-19 dashboard.  Asked about his source, Hanson replied that Solano Public Health “had to do a little research on my behalf.”  It would be good if the County could add Total Hospitalized to its daily Dashboard update.  [For the numbers used in my manual calculation of total hospitalizations, see age group stats belowFor COVID19-CA.GOV numbers, see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County.]
    • ICU Beds – Solano County Public Health reports that Solano hospitals recently expanded their ICU capacity [see Benicia Independent, “Why the sudden improvement in our ICU bed numbers?“]  Even with the expanded ICU capacity, Solano County reported very little change in ICU beds available today, up from 15% yesterday, to 16% today, continuing in the YELLOW DANGER ZONE.  COVID19-CA.GOV reported today thatSolano County had ONLY 4 AVAILABLE ICU BEDS as of yesterday, January 25(For COVID19-CA.GOV info see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County, and for REGIONAL data see COVID-19 ICU Bed Availability by REGION.)
Positive Test Rate – SOLANO TEST RATE REMAINS ALARMINGLY HIGH, 17.9% – VIRUS STILL SPREADING, STAY HOME!

Solano County reported our 7-day average positive test at an alarming rate of 17.9%, down from yesterday’s 20%, but still more than 2 times the State’s purple tier threshold of 8%Average percent positive test rates are among the best metrics for measuring community spread of the virus.  COMPARE: The much lower and more stable California 7-day average test rate was down slightly from yesterday’s 8% to 7.9% today(Note that Solano County displays past weeks and months in a 7-day test positivity line graph which also shows daily results.  However, the chart does not display an accurate number of cases for the most recent days, as there is a lag time in receiving test results.  The 7-day curve therefore also lags behind due to unknown recent test results.) 

By Age Group – numbers down dramatically!
  • Youth 17 and under – 8 new cases overnight, total of 3,152 cases, representing 11.6% of the 27,141 total cases.  No new hospitalizations reported today among this age group, total of 17 since the outbreak began.  Thankfully, no deaths have ever been reported in Solano County in this age groupBut cases among Solano youth rose steadily over the summer, from 5.6% of total cases on June 8 to 11% on August 31 and has plateaued at over 11% since September 30.  Youth are 22% of Solano’s general population, so this 11% may seem low.  The significance is this: youth are SERIOUSLY NOT IMMUNE (!) – in fact at least 17 of our youth have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.
  • Persons 18-49 years of age – 50 new cases overnight, total of 14,984 cases. This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents 55.2% of the total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 241 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  Solano recorded 1 new death in this young group today, total of 9 deaths.  Some in this group are surely at high risk, as many are providing essential services among us, and some may be ignoring public health orders.  I expect this group is a major factor in the spread of the virus.
  • Persons 50-64 years of age – 21 new cases overnight, total of 5,669 cases.  This age group represents 20.9% of the 27,141  total cases.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 217 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths were reported in this age group today, a total of 18 deaths.
  • Persons 65 years or older – 21 new cases overnight, total of 3,325, representing a new high of 12.3% of Solano’s 27,141 total cases.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today, a total of 328 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  2 new deaths were reported in this age group today.  A total of 91 of our elders have died of COVID, accounting for 77% of Solano’s 118 total deaths.
City Data – numbers down dramatically!
  • Benicia added 5 new cases overnight, total of 764 cases since the outbreak began.
  • Dixon added 2 new cases overnight, total of 1,617 cases.
  • Fairfield added 15 new cases overnight, total of 7,514 cases.
  • Rio Vista remained steady today, total of 259 cases.
  • Suisun City added 6 new cases overnight, total of 1,855 cases.
  • Vacaville added 38 new cases overnight, total of 7,155 cases.
  • Vallejo added 33 new cases overnight, total of 7,893 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas added 1 new case overnight, total of 84 cases.
Race / Ethnicity

The County report on race / ethnicity includes case numbers, hospitalizations, deaths and Solano population statistics.  This information is discouragingly similar to national reports that indicate significantly worse outcomes among black and brown Americans.  Note that all of this data surely undercounts Latinx Americans, as there is a large group of “Multirace / Others” which likely is composed mostly of Latinx members of our communities.

  • Asian Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 12% of cases, 12% of hospitalizations, and 18% of deaths.
  • Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 11% of cases, but 17% of hospitalizations, and 21% of deaths.
  • Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 12% of cases, 22% of hospitalizations, and 15% of deaths.
  • Multi-race / Others are 7% of Solano’s population, but account for 35% of cases, 18% of hospitalizations, and 12% of deaths.
  • White Americans are 39% of the population in Solano County, but only account for 29% of cases, 29% of hospitalizations and 33% of deaths.

More…

The County’s Coronavirus Dashboard is full of much more information, too extensive to cover here on a daily basis.  The Benicia Independent will continue to summarize daily and highlight significant portions.  For more, check out the Dashboard at https://doitgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=055f81e9fe154da5860257e3f2489d67.

Source
Source: Solano County Coronavirus Dashboard (posted on the County website late today).  ALSO see important daily updates from the state of California at COVID19.CA.GOV, embedded here on the BenIndy at Cases and Deaths AND Hospitalizations AND ICU Beds by REGION.

COVID-19 in Solano County on January 12: ICU beds down to 5%, 240 new cases, another death of a senior


By Roger Straw, January 12, 2021, from Solano County Public Health (and others, see below.)

Tuesday, January 12: 240 new Solano cases overnight, 1 new death, ICU beds down to 5%.  Since Feb: 23,554 cases, over 780 hospitalized, 103 deaths.Compare previous report, Monday, Jan. 11:Summary

    • Solano County reported 240 new cases overnightIn just the last 14 days, Solano has seen an increase of 4,828 new cases.  We’re averaging 345 (!) new cases every day!  Total of 23,554 cases since the outbreak started.
    • Deaths – 1 new death reported today, someone over 65 years of age, a total of 103 Solano deaths since the pandemic began.
    • Active cases – Solano reported 71 more active cases today for a total of 2,439 active cases.  Compare: Solano’s average number of Active Cases during October was 284, average in November was 650 – and TODAY we are at 2,439!  Is the County equipped to contact trace so many infected persons?  Or do we just sit back and wait for a voluntary 10 day quarantine to expire.  Who knows?  To my knowledge, Solano has offered no reports on contact tracing.
    • Hospitalizations – Today, Solano reported 4 new hospitalizations, all among those over 65.  We will have to wait for the County’s “occasional” large group of updated numbers on hospitalizations among the age groups.  Even then, note…
      >>In a December 31 Fairfield Daily Republic article, reporter Todd Hanson wrote, “Since the start of the pandemic, and as of Wednesday [Dec. 30], 9,486 residents have been hospitalized.”  This startling number is far and away above the number of residents hospitalized as indicated in the count of age group hospitalizations, and not available anywhere on the County’s COVID-19 dashboard.  Asked about his source, Hanson replied that Solano Public Health “had to do a little research on my behalf.”  It would be good if the County could add Total Hospitalized to its daily Dashboard update.  [For the numbers used in my manual calculation of total hospitalizations, see age group stats belowFor COVID19-CA.GOV numbers, see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County.]
    • ICU Beds – Solano County reported fewer ICU beds available today, down from 20% to only 5%, now back in the RED DANGER ZONECOVID19-CA.GOV reported today that Solano County had 10 available ICU beds as of yesterday, January 11(For COVID19-CA.GOV info see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County, and for REGIONAL data see COVID-19 ICU Bed Availability by REGION.)
Positive Test Rate – ALARMINGLY HIGH SOLANO TEST RATE OF 26.4% – VIRUS SPREADING LIKE WILDFIRE, STAY HOME!

Solano County reported our 7-day average positive test at an alarming rate of 26.4%, down slightly from yesterday’s 26.5%, but still over 3 times the State’s purple tier threshold of 8%Average percent positive test rates are among the best metrics for measuring community spread of the virus.  The much lower and more stable California 7-day average test rate was down from yesterday’s 14.2% to 13.5% today(Note that Solano County displays past weeks and months in a 7-day test positivity line graph which also shows daily results.  However, the chart does not display an accurate number of cases for the most recent days, as there is a lag time in receiving test results.  The 7-day curve therefore also lags behind due to unknown recent test results.) 

By Age Group – Holiday surge upon holiday surge – especially among the young
  • Youth 17 and under – 31 new cases today, total of 2,674 cases, representing 11.4% of the 23,554 total cases (up .1%).  No new hospitalizations reported today among this age group, total of 17 since the outbreak began.  Thankfully, no deaths have ever been reported in Solano County in this age groupBut cases among Solano youth rose steadily over the summer, from 5.6% of total cases on June 8 to 11% on August 31 and has plateaued at over 11% since September 30.  Youth are 22% of Solano’s general population, so this 11% may seem low.  The significance is this: youth are SERIOUSLY NOT IMMUNE (!) – in fact at least 17 of our youth have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.
  • Persons 18-49 years of age – 141 new cases today, total of 13,163 cases. This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents 55.9% of the total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 237 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  Solano recorded no new deaths in this young group today, total of 7 deaths.  Some in this group are surely at high risk, as many are providing essential services among us, and some may be ignoring public health orders.  I expect this group is a major factor in the spread of the virus.
  • Persons 50-64 years of age – 47 new cases today, total of 4,920 cases.  This age group represents 20.9% of the 23,554 total cases.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 212 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths were reported in this age group today, a total of 18 deaths.
  • Persons 65 years or older – 21 new cases today, total of 2,787, representing 11.8% of Solano’s 23,554 total cases (down .1%).  The County reported 4 new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 317 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  1 new death was reported in this age group today.  A total of 78 of our elders have died of COVID, accounting for 76% of Solano’s 103 total deaths.
City Data
  • Benicia added 4 new cases today, total of 652 cases since the outbreak began. 
  • Dixon added 10 new cases today, total of 1,455 cases.
  • Fairfield added 71 new cases today, total of 6,582 cases.
  • Rio Vista added 4 new case today, total of 224 cases.
  • Suisun City added 13 new cases today, total of 1,627 cases.
  • Vacaville added 68 new cases today, total of 6,109 cases.
  • Vallejo added 69 new cases today, total of 6,832 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas added 1 new case today, total of 73 cases.
Race / Ethnicity

The County report on race / ethnicity includes case numbers, hospitalizations, deaths and Solano population statistics.  This information is discouragingly similar to national reports that indicate significantly worse outcomes among black and brown Americans.  Note that all of this data surely undercounts Latinx Americans, as there is a large group of “Multirace / Others” which likely is composed mostly of Latinx members of our communities.

  • Asian Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 11% of cases, 12% of hospitalizations, and 17% of deaths.
  • Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 11% of cases, but 17% of hospitalizations, and 21% of deaths.
  • Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 14% of cases, 23% of hospitalizations, and 17% of deaths.
  • White Americans are 39% of the population in Solano County, but only account for 30% of cases, 30% of hospitalizations and 34% of deaths.

More…

The County’s Coronavirus Dashboard is full of much more information, too extensive to cover here on a daily basis.  The Benicia Independent will continue to summarize daily and highlight significant portions.  For more, check out the Dashboard at https://doitgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=055f81e9fe154da5860257e3f2489d67.

Source
Source: Solano County Coronavirus Dashboard (posted on the County website late today).  For a complete archive of County updates, see my Excel ARCHIVEALSO see important daily updates from the state of California at COVID19.CA.GOV, embedded here on the BenIndy at Cases and Deaths AND Hospitalizations AND ICU Beds by REGION.

Benicia author Stephen Golub – A Promised Land

Four recent recommended articles…

A Case for Impeachment – And a counter to some counter-arguments

Stephen Golub, Benicia – A Promised Land: Politics. Policy. America as a Developing Country.

That Was the Week That Was
Quite a week, eh? It’s hard to believe that just last Sunday so much talk was about Trump’s taped talk with Georgia’s secretary of state, while many of us eagerly awaited that state’s Senate elections.

That all seems like ancient history today, as Democrats are circulating a draft resolution to impeach Donald Trump for “incitement of insurrection.” Insurrection is “an act or instance of revolting against civil authority or an established government.”  [Continue Reading]


American Carnage – Remove Trump from office now. He’s dangerous.

Some thoughts on what’s going on right now in DC.
Trump is deranged. His refusal to condemn the criminals, the rioters, the terrorists who invaded the Capitol and whom he’s egged on demonstrates that this is a man dangerously out of control. So does his praising the mob…  [Continue Reading]


My Chat With a Conspiracist – And why he’s better than his would-be betters in the Senate’s “Sedition Caucus.”

Out in the Street 
As I strolled down the main commercial drag of my new hometown of Benicia, California yesterday, a fellow offered me a small slip of paper and asked, “Do you know how the Chinese Communist Party stole the election? Check out the video from this paper.” The slip recommended a “Who’s Stealing America” documentary on the front and supposedly reliable news sources on the back.

The guy had a mask on, kept his social distance and seemed nice enough, so I engaged. Our chat went something like this: [Continue Reading]


Light at the End of the Dumpster Fire – 2020 was literally catastrophic.

But here are 20 big ways in which it wasn’t all bad.
For whatever reason, I still recall a 1997 TV ad tag line for the telecommunications company MCI: “Is this a great time or what?”

No sane person would say that about 2020. The year brought us… [Continue Reading]


Stephen Golub, Benicia – A Promised Land: Politics. Policy. America as a Developing Country.


Benicia resident Stephen Golub
offers excellent perspective on his blog, A Promised Land: Politics. Policy. America as a Developing Country.
To access his other posts or subscribe, please go to his blog site, A Promised Land.