The San Francisco Experience

There is a history of Russian leaders sizing up new American Presidents, starting with Krushchev and JFK, Gorbachev and Reagan and now Putin and Biden. But are they off on the wrong foot ? Biden sees Putin as a killer. Can they put their differences behind them over Ukraine a sticky issue for both ? Strategic nuclear treaties between the two countries expire in 5 years. Professor Tsygankov a graduate of Moscow State University and the University of Southern California gives us his incisive analysis.

Food Safety and Security soared in importance in the wake of Covid 19 meat packing plant infection rates and collapse of the supply chain. Ranch to table meat supply is a shorter, safer, cleaner way to source better quality meat. Owner and Entrepreneur Adam Parks of Victorian Farmstead Meat Company discusses how his business has exploded in the past year.

Dangerous Conjectures tells a tale of the way we were, in the three months leading up to the 2020 Covid lockdowns. Set in Berkeley, California, the novel relates the story of a young professional couple caught up in a "through the looking glass" world of Qanon, misinformation, opioid addiction and marital deception as the Covid 19 pandemic was poised to unleash its lethal fury on America. The hobgoblins of America's dark psyche flare up into an existential threat to the protagonists, Julia and Adam Gosford changing their lives forever. 

Napa and Sonoma Counties are America's premier wine producing regions. 85% of American wine is produced in California with Napa and Sonoma accounting for more than half of that total. Bill recounts the early signs of economic recovery in the wine region North of San Francisco and projects a strong Summer and Fall tourist season. Good news for the whole  wine industry ecosystem !

Over 30 million Americans have taken  DNA Tests at home, largely for recreational genealogy and family history purposes. This vast array of DNA databases has linked millions of distant cousins and newly discovered relations. In a melting pot culture like the United States where we all hail from somewhere else originally, this DNA based family history culture is raising new cultural opportunities, questions and challenges. Libby Copeland gives us a balanced blend of this new genetic science, data collection and how they intersect with human nature and emotions.

Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) the second largest school system in the United States and the largest in California, published a report last week outlining the dire impact of the Covid lockdowns on our state's 6 million public school students. With schools just reopening in the last 10 days, High School drop out and failure rates are projected to double and even worse, over the next 3 years. And California with an 8% unemployment rate - versus 6% nationwide - can ill afford to be turning out unskilled and unqualified young adults for our competitive labor markets that demand high tech skills. 

Poverty in the United States is more widespread than in the other developed OECD countries due to our skimpy social safety net. For instance, 60% of Americans will experience poverty sometime in their life  between 18 and 75 years of age. 60 % !  On the other hand we reduced senior poverty from 35% in 1959 to 8% today so we have had targeted successes. Professor Rank breaks down the myths of poverty in our midst.

A young family weighs a difficult decision to leave San Francisco and move to North Carolina. Mixed emotions confront Allison and Neal as they decide to leave their adopted home in San Francisco for North Carolina. A wistful conversation covering complex choices many Californians are facing .

Coinbase went public today, making it easier for individual investors to transact in Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether and Litecoin. Will Coinbase make Crypto more accessible like Apple and Microsoft made clunky home computers easy to use in the 1980s ? And why do you need a cryptocurrency account anyway ? Privacy, secrecy, one global currency ? Will internet based currencies supplant existing currencies ? It looks like money is about to be revolutionized by FinTech.

Minneapolis and the nation as a whole are holding their collective breath as the George Floyd murder trial unfolds.  Just as the repercussions of his killing by police officer Derek Chauvin last year are still working their way through American society, could the verdict in the trial portend more civil unrest and calls to radically reform the nation's policing capability ? As goes the Minneapolis Police Department, so goes the nation's many police forces.