Posts by Take Back San Jose

Twin brothers Deimos and Phobos—Greek gods of fear and panic—always loyally followed their father, Ares, into battle. (Odoardo Fialetti: Mars [Ares]) “Not raising taxes will kill our schools.” “We’ll solve homelessness by building more housing.” Below, the Center for Inquiry’s Benjamin Radford (also a folklore journalist) breaks down why these slanted local narratives seem so…

Image by Jim Maurer The threatened walkout of local transit workers causes little concern because so few people ride transit in the Valley. Randall O’Toole explores, in this highlight from a beloved Opp Now exclusive, why VTA is one of the worst-performing agencies in the U.S. The reasons why VTA stands out as such a poor…

Taxation without realization Forty-five million dollars. That’s the shortfall SJ City is facing–and it’s why this year’s upcoming City budget negotiations really, really matter.  Putting on my financial analyst hat – two quick points:   1.) Farewell to Housing First. These negotiations will test whether or not the Council finally puts the deeply flawed and brutally…

Giovanni Domenico Tipeolo: Procession of the Trojan Horse in Troy, 1760. Image in Public Domain Benjamin Radford—esteemed writer and research fellow in skeptical inquiry—also has a degree in psychology. Below, he analyzes mental shortcuts that, we think, might explain why SJ Council voted “yes” on unpopular Prop 5: tribalism, the representativeness fallacy, and more. An…

Mark Grossman: Political Corruption in America: An Encyclopedia of Scandals, Power, and Greed SJ Mayor Mahan’s framing his March ’25 budget message around government accountability—and he’s likely to find a lot of popular support. New data suggests that citizens from across the political spectrum think gov’t is rigged. Newsweek reports. A new poll has found…

Stanford campus. Image by hdz You can’t make this up: on 2.25, a planned debate between a Berkeley prof and Harvard’s president—in a class called “Democracy and Disagreement,” no less—was derailed by jeering protestors. In response, First Amendment expert Daniel Ortner calls for a thorough independent investigation of Stanford admin. From Substack. Yesterday at Stanford…

mage by Wikimedia Commons Fans of microunits (as small as 140 sq ft apartments) claim that housing affordability could be substantially improved if cities let smaller units be built. LA’s Central City Association examines the barriers and the advantages. Similar to parking requirements, limits on unit density disadvantage construction of smaller apartments. For example, a…

Image by a user on Deviantart 21st century academics have flattened the discipline of literature to a “mere political vehicle” for ideology, says Liza Libes in Pens and Poison blog. And this narrow-minded view of text as “battleground for social justice”—but not art—is robbing today’s students of universal lessons, complexities, and beauty. The best essay…

Portrait of English poet John Keats, oil painting by Joseph Severn, 1821. We’ll always remember where we finished reading The Crying of Lot 49, or where we first started The Hobbit. In this weekend’s exclusive, Opp Now readers—all submissions anonymized, below—share their favorite places in SJ to enjoy a good book. (City staff and pols, take note!)…