Edie Lush

City Life in San Francisco

Childcare costs soar, house prices plunge, and the rich get sued by Mr Riches

Life in America’s prisons is famously tough, but at least it allows one inmate, Jonathan Lee Riches, plenty of time to spend filing lawsuits. In his latest legal complaint, Riches — who happens to be a resident of Williamsburg federal correctional institution in West Virginia — has turned his sights on legendary San Francisco-based venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, and is attempting to sue him for $43 million. The complaint, in its entirety, reads: ‘Khosla’s fund invests in prison buildings. I’m suffering from no medical treatment. This is a conspiracy. Bhutto was killed on my birthday. I can’t see outside, this is unconstitutional. I seek $43 million.’ One worries that perhaps the ailment for which Riches feels he needs treatment is some sort of writer’s block, since the wording of his latest suit is far simpler than the one he lodged against another Bay Area resident, the former San Francisco Giants outfielder and home-run recordbreaker Barry Bonds. In that one, Riches created an entertaining conspiracy theory alleging that Bonds had joined the Colombian revolutionary guerrilla group FARC, used Hank Aaron’s bat to crack the Liberty Bell, bought steroids from the commissioner of Major League Baseball for $22,000 at the insalubrious- sounding Steak-n-Shake on Interstate 70, bench-pressed Riches against his will, and left threatening messages for Riches on his iPhone. Riches asked for a more modest $42 million in the Bonds lawsuit. Unsurprisingly, all of his lawsuits, including the latest one against Khosla, have been dismissed — and Riches has been ordered to pay more than $3,100 in fees associated with Khosla’s case as well as nine others he filed at around the same time.

This was written for The Spectator , which you can Download

Brits Go to Silcon Valley

Twenty British internet start-up CEOs walk into Google’s headquarters… no this isn’t the start of a joke, but a day in WebMission – a trip which aimed to bring the best of British web talent to the US.

What was the big idea? WebMission Co-Founder and serial entrepreneur Oli Barrett says, “The basic plan was to help 20 leading web entrepreneurs attract opportunities, and to give them a platform from which they could showcase their companies. To do that, we secured the support of sponsors, Government and leading industry figures, we went at the same time as a major industry conference, and we made companies apply to take part, which raised the calibre significantly and helped to generate a buzz.”

Over a hundred companies applied for places and after a rigorous selection process led by Dragon’s Den Doug Richards, TechCrunch’s Mike Butcher and UKTI a lucky twenty (see profiles below) boarded the plane for California. The companies disembarking at SFO in some respects couldn’t have been more different – they ranged from a news prediction game to a company which delivers personalized restaurant recommendations to your phone to a site which allows bands to raise money directly from their fans. The one thing they all had in common was that they’re all riding the tide of the collaborative working and information sharing known as Web 2.0.

This was written for Spectator , which you can Download