The San Jose Blog team asked leading generative AI tools to wax poetic on the “vibrant, beating heart” of Silicon Valley—and visualize, through surreal images of glowing aerial pods and skyscrapers, the tech epicenter's look come 2050. The Blog reminds that AI programs create from aggregated internet data, so their positive outputs highlight the culture, innovation, and hope San Jose has to offer. As the Bard (that is, Google's Bard) says: “Here, anything is possible, / The future is unwritten.”

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University leadership that celebrates free speech selectively—i.e., for students chanting for Hamas to “smash” Israel, but not for scientists disproving school lockdowns or judges speaking at club meetings—is either part of the Woke mob or afraid of it, says the Wall Street Journal's Ruth Marcus. Marcus recalls Stanford's ousting of president Tessier-Lavigne, based on journalism now considered questionable, and wonders if his unpopular views on free speech had anything to do with it.

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In a Reform California webinar, chairman Carl DeMaio breaks down the five key tenets of proposed Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act (starting with requiring voter approval of all State tax increases). San Jose CM Doan is the City's lone supporter for the Act, while others fear—contra the Wall Street Journal board's analysis—that it would roll the dice with essential government services.

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While SJ is the least dangerous big Bay Area city, it isn't the safest big city in California (that's Sandy Eggo) and in fact ranks 46th out of 100 cities in California (over 50,000 pop.) when it comes to violent crimes. From a report by law firm Spolin and Dokes P.C.

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In a Reason Foundation study, economist Pierre Lemieux envisions a “formal voluntary cooperation” model for healthcare. Considering individuals' willingness to cooperate with others to forward their interests, and entrepreneurs' ubiquitous profit motive, the health field could be propelled by innovative new institutions if gov't stepped back—and let local consumers shape the market. Meanwhile, Newsom and local Assemblyman Ash Kalra push for pricey “universal” coverage.

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It's a time-honored business nostrum that "you are what you measure." Housing expert Scott Beyer of the Market Urbanist takes a look at the beleaguered SJ Housing Dept's audit, and finds the organization's metrics confused, avoidant, and not very useful. An Opp Now exclusive.

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Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association's president Jon Coupal explains how California's unfunded pension liabilities, at nearly $250 billion (for SJ specifically: $3.6 billion), strain taxpayers, who must shoulder the price of overgenerous commitments. By switching from defined benefit to defined contribution plans, the State could reduce taxpayers' risks while maximizing retirees' returns. From the OC Register.

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Like SJ's system that reroutes street water into the SF Bay, LA's urban runoff heads straight to its county beaches. Currently, many of these beaches are warning residents to avoid the water at all costs, due to high fecal-indicator bacteria (FIB). City Journal connects LA's surging FIB numbers and sprawling homeless encampments in an insightful piece on preserving public safety.

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In a hard-hitting Free Press piece, Neighbors Together Oakland's founder Seneca Scott observes that the Left assumes wealth/race divide people's perspectives on criminal justice, with only affluent white folks wanting fortified police forces. Instead, says Scott, minority residents in poorer neighborhoods are often the firmest advocates for beefed-up policing—because they're most impacted by unsafe living conditions.

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