California Daydreaming

The Systemic Nature of Medicare Fraud

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on The Systemic Nature of Medicare Fraud

It’s the kind of Medicare fraud that makes your skin crawl. And it’s part of a vast scheme. After investigative reporters detailed the case, the FBI finally got serious. But no insurance company would have fallen prey to it. Only Medicare cannot defend itself. It doesn’t even know when it’s happening because, inexplicably, it doesn’t analyze the bills. And so an industry has sprung up.

California’s High-Speed Rail To Nowhere

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on California’s High-Speed Rail To Nowhere

For medium distances, high-speed rail is faster than flying. It’s hassle-free and comfortable. And it benefits the economy. But not the way California is doing it. The hullabaloo about funding the skyrocketing costs of linking LA and the Bay Area ignores a huge economic problem: once again, taxpayers are asked to create jobs overseas. Contenders: Germany, Japan, France, and China.

The Shriveling Middle Class In California

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on The Shriveling Middle Class In California

An ominous trend picks up speed: the middle class is shriveling. In 1980, 60% of Californians lived in middle-income families. By 2010, only 47.9% did, according to a study by the Public Policy Institute of California. Main culprits: declining incomes and disappearing jobs. And where the heck is the recovery?

Unholy Alliance

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Unholy Alliance

The President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness has descended on Palo Alto to meet with the usual suspects in Silicon Valley. Their topic, hilariously: How the public and private sectors can team up to create jobs. Hilariously because California—Silicone Valley in particular—has been on the forefront of transferring jobs to China and other countries.

Remember him? Creating jobs in China….

Our Chinese Bay Bridge

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Our Chinese Bay Bridge

The high-speed train fiasco in China makes us worry about our San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge whose gigantic one-tower landmark suspension segment was fabricated, you guessed it, in China. In return for some paltry savings, if any, California gave up enormous economic opportunities.

Love Cherries

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Love Cherries

My twin eggs (posted July 15) aren’t the only twins around here: California cherries. Once again, I wonder why I haven’t seen twin cherries before. I should go talk to the guys at the Diablo Canyon nuke facility. Maybe they’re starting to look funny, too.

Deadly Disconnect

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Deadly Disconnect

The human brain is an amazing organ. The San Francisco Chronicle and our local radio stations reported that three young hikers were swept over Vernal Fall in Yosemite National Park yesterday afternoon.

Summer in San Francisco

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Summer in San Francisco

Time to bundle up. Summer has arrived in San Francisco. 53° F (I’m not kidding), and this is what it looks like: The question I have is—and this might sound comical for my buddies in Tulsa who are getting roasted at 107° F—if I’ll make it through the summer without turning on the heater.

Twin eggs!

by Wolf Richter •  • 3 Comments

 Double Yolkers! I admit, the two smaller but complete yolks in one egg are beautiful, and if I were God, I would have designed them that way from get-go, but it’s bizarre nevertheless. I can’t remember ever having seen twin eggs in my life, and now, suddenly, in the span of a year, I see…