It’s Still Better Than a Poke In the Eye With a Pointed Stick

In a modestly bright bit of economic and budget news, the state took in roughly $150 million more in income tax in December than estimated.

The administration of Gov. Jerry Brown cautions not to read too much into the monthly figure because of two years of changes in when and how much businesses withhold from employee taxes and the estimated payments individuals make.    Read more »

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Not a Name That Commonly Surfaces in Inaugural Addresses

For many Californians, Josiah Royce, whose concept of loyalty Gov. Jerry Brown cited in his January 3 inaugural address as the key to overcoming partisanship, might be almost as familiar a name as Thomas Starr King.

Said Brown:

“One of our native sons, Josiah Royce, became for a time one of the most famous of American philosophers.    Read more »

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Better Tell Governor Brown and Step On It, Time’s Wasting

This was being handed to attendees waiting to enter Sacramento’s Memorial Auditorium for Gov. Jerry Brown’s inaugural:

(Editor’s Note: Among the reasons for the precision of the May 21, 2011 deadline, as it were, are that it is 7,000 years from 4990 B.C. when Noah built his ark and survived the flood.    Read more »

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The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same…

While neither video nor text of Gov. Jerry Brown’s January 3 inaugural speech was readily available on the governor’s official website – clicking the tab “Multimedia” yields a “Coming Soon…” message – his previous inaugural addresses can be found in a site maintained by the state called Governor’s Gallery.

There are some interesting similarities between the two speeches, given 35 years apart, particularly the calls for overcoming partisanship and political rancor.    Read more »

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A Different Inauguration Than the Previous Two, 36 Years Ago

The inauguration of the 39th governor of California was markedly different than that of the 34th governor, even though both are the same man – Jerry Brown.

No Sufi choir was invited to sing at Brown’s January 3 inauguration.

Instead, the Oakland School of the Arts Choir offered a souped-up version of thw Woody Guthrie classic, “This Land is Your Land” and closed the ceremony with “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”    Read more »

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Who Is Thomas Starr King and Why Doesn’t He Seem Happy?

As the pedestal says on the attached modern day photo, what’s pictured is a statue of Thomas Starr King, a famous abolitionist from the Civil War.

A gifted orator and zealous churchman, Starr King left the East Coast in 1860 to head the First Unitarian Church in San Francisco.

He raised $1.5 million for the national Sanitary Commission, predecessor of the American Red Cross, which treated wounded soldiers.    Read more »

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Springing From a Nearby Scrub Room, Dr. Pan Medicine Man!

Not to pick on Dr. Richard Pan Medicine Man, the new Democratic Assemblyman from the 5th District, but he sure has set himself a very lofty bar for 2011.

This has nothing to do with the questionable judgment of the UC Davis pediatrician with a masters in public health from Harvard University scaling back his practice — which actually improves people’s lives  — in exchange for a sojourn on the Capitol’s equivalent of Monkey Island.    Read more »

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