The Bay Area's transit system is considering batting its eyelashes and saying “pretty please” in future elections, as the favored solution to sinking ridership numbers is—ask taxpayers to cut more checks. Costs to run Caltrain keep rising, and post-pandemic passengers are both staying away and staying home. Bay City News reports on BART's proposed solution to a growing issue.
Read MoreIf the Left is truly for diversity, why aggressively label people who don't fit into their ideological mold? Stanford's Federalist Society student org president Tim Rosenberger, Jr. discusses how labeling all nonconformists as “far-right” is divisive, and in opposition to truly diverse representation (how ironic). A Washington Post excerpt.
Read MoreIt's a wonder that anyone with eyes and ears can label the recent violent SFSU ambush, of women's rights guest speaker Riley Gaines, as “peaceful.” Yet the university's VP of Student Affairs has praised the fiasco as being exactly that: peaceful, brave, and, laughably, insightful. The NY Post delineates peaceful vs. violent protests to provide actual insight on the latest local anti-free speech snafu.
Read MoreRemember all the confetti around upzoning reforms in SJ? How advocates claimed that Opportunity Housing/SB9 would relieve the housing affordability crisis? And ADUs would provide much needed density? Well, those proposals passed and... not much has happened. A new report from the Urban Institute explains why (spoiler: it's because the property deregulations were so narrow).
Read MoreWhat does it mean to criminalize homelessness? An expert concludes that Mayor Mahan's proposal to enact no encampment zones across the City doesn't violate unhoused individuals' rights, as some wonder. Jeff Rowes, senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, breaks it down in this Opp Now exclusive: Reasonably regulating public health/safety in no way penalizes homelessness, as long as people are offered alternative housing options (as is integral to Mahan's strategy).
Read MoreSteve Heimoff of Coalition for a Better Oakland chimes in on Newsom's CARE Court proposition, which is backed by local pols including former SJ councilmember Khamis. Here, Heimoff indicates that contrary to some dichotomous criticism, sheltering unhoused people who are mentally unwell will uphold individual rights—by keeping our public streets safe for everyone.
Read MoreAny local law school wanting to avoid similar mistakes as Stanford University's (read: to avoid hiring deans who publicly sympathize with anti-free speech protesters) need look no further. Campus Reform breaks down DEI Dean Steinbach's rampant—and easily accessible—history of opposing law enforcement, criminal justice systems, and, yes, the “patriarchy.”
Read MoreFor years, the growing power and influence of local nonprofits has troubled local politicians, legal experts, and everyday citizens. Recent revelations that local nonprofits act just like lobbyists (but retain their tax exempt status) and brazenly invite conflict of interest concerns (SJ's Housing Dept head also sits on the board of a huge local housing nonprofit that receives millions in city funds) have further raised eyebrows. Joel Kotkin provides the backstory (growing 1% wealth and a 9x-increase in NP funds since 1980) in Philanthropy Daily.
Read MorePrivately operated prisons are often mislabeled by rejoinders as greedy profit machines. Even historically pro-law enforcement SCC was pressured by Ellenberg and other jailbreak activists last year to abandon plans for a new, much-needed, jail. In City Journal, Devon Kurtz points to real-world benefits of performance metric-bound prison contracts, correcting the misconception that local gov't must be at the helm of all criminal justice efforts.
Read MorePerhaps the most enduring of Bolshevism's many ignominious contributions to Western intellectual life is the collective letter of denunciation. Russian writers Boris Pasternak, Alexander Solzenitzen, and Andre Sakharov all got 'em, as did scores of other free thinkers who dared challenge the revolutionary orthodoxies of Lenin, Stalin, & Co. The techniques of othering and public denunciations live on in the hard left bastions of the SCC Democratic Central Committee and various local nonprofit leaders/activists. Tablet magazine explores the phenomenon's history.
Read MoreAs another naively idealistic criminal justice bill makes the rounds in CA's Senate, Ruane Attorneys at Law addresses SB 94's key premise: that elderly criminals, even convicted first-degree murders, pose low risk to public safety. Ruane Attorneys clarifies that in general, older convicted offenders—including felons—face more lax consequences, proving that jailbreak opportunities might be more dicey than what Sen. Cortese has planned.
Read MoreIn the SF Chronicle, Emily Hoeven explains why even the most avid transit advocates are becoming disillusioned with BART: With insane delays and safety concerns both regular aspects of the experience now (reminiscent of Opp Now co-founder Christopher Escher's recent pot and pee-ridden episode), most residents are doing anything to avoid taking a train to work.
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