By Neil Rubenstein

Observer columnist

With the economy in such a sick condition you just might be looking for a career change. Perhaps you’re considering Business Management or some other related business career. With UCLA just a short hop, skip and jump up the road, why not look into their Extension Program? Visit uclaextension.edu/FMP or call (310) 206-1654.

While driving through the city of big bucks I noticed long lines in front of several financial institutions. Wondering what was going on I parked and discovered, much to my dismay, they were not giving away toasters but instead homeowners were filling out pre-approved lines of credit.

The word is out: The Beverly Hills Unified School District just might sell the remaining bonds approved by the voters in 2008 for $334 million. These new bonds could easily double their citizens’ property tax to the school district. Our friends in the city of the mega rich got a bunch of lawyers, and found out the BHUSD could accelerate their bond issues without voter approval. It just shows you everything is legal, but you have to read the small print before you cast your ballot.

Theo and I are in the mood to take a breather and drive up to Santa Barbara for a few days. I’ve been looking at some places the Automobile Club of Southern California gave us a while ago. The Santa Barbara zoo seems interesting. It has been ranked numerous times as one of the nation’s best small zoos. It has more than 500 animals and many exhibits on 30 acres near the ocean. See http://www.sbzoo.org.

Have you read the 2016 survey of the best medical schools for primary care in the United States as mentioned in U.S News and World Report? Well, UCLA was ranked #7. In clinical specialty training programs, the university got high marks, ranking #3 in geriatrics and #8 in AIDS, as well as #13 in research.

For high school students desiring to continue their education this summer, why not consider a four-week college credit course at U.S.C.? Visit http://www.summer.usc.edu/4week or call (213) 740-5679.

Diabetes sufferers, your doctor should read the February 3, 2015 issue of Cell Metabolism. Scientists at Stanford University have found the hormone that plays a role in regulating glucose. Limostat lowers production of insulin and prevents its release from cells in fruit flies. A similar hormone called neuromedin U may play the same role in humans.

Have you heard about SB272 (Hertzberg) working its way through the legislative process? This bill would require each local agency, in implementing the California Public Records Act, to conduct an inventory of data gathered and disclose what information is maintained, by whom, and the frequency with which it is collected.

In the Navy Times I read recently that researchers have developed high tech gas-sensing capsules that can send data from inside the gut directly to a mobile phone, opening new possibilities for diagnosis, treatment and health analysis. Intestinal gases have been linked to colon cancer and irritable bowel syndrome. The new technology measures the concentration of selected intestinal gases through an ingestible capsule with a built-in gas sensor, microprocessor and wireless high frequency transmitter. Oh, my!

Mounting evidence suggests Islamic militants in Iraq are weaponizing chlorine, a widely available industrial chemical that can be used as a choking agent on the battlefield, as noted in the Army Times.

According to the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 10 pounds was the average weight loss when people stuck to a vegetarian diet for at least a month.

Can I ask, where is Herman Cain these days? You remember Cain ran in the 2012 Republican Presidential Primaries and sort of disappeared. For a 2015 De Soto four door V-8 with 50 gallons of Texaco gas, in 20 words or less answer the question of the month: “Where is Mr. Cain?”

The Orange County city of Fullerton is being sued by Asian Americans. Fullerton’s council is elected at large and the Asian Americans have 23% of the population. None were elected, and this in violation of the California Voting Rights Act which prohibits cities from imposing at large elections that deny minority communities the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice or influence the outcome.

If you are into modern art and plan to be in New York before June 6, then be sure to drop by the Delhi Art Gallery in the Fuller Building, 41 East 57 Street, Suite 708. Call (212) 457-9037 or visit http://www.delhiartgallery.com. This is a significant exhibition of the works of India’s most prominent modernists.

I see a New York legislator at their State Capitol gets a base pay of $79,000 while a member of the New York City Council’s base pay is $112,500 and our Congresswoman, the Honorable Karen Bass, gets $174,000 base pay. Now the $64,000 question, why do we non-elected city employees at our city hall making a lot more than members of Congress?

The Wall Street Journal claims that China, over the past seven years, has poured more than $40 billion into real estate around the world. I still wonder when the school district will offer Chinese and discontinue Japanese. Do right by our kids.

For those who missed an article, all my commentaries can be found at http://www.culvercityobserver.com by placing Rubenstein in that website’s search box.