Her name was Florence Owens. She was 32 when she, her companion, Jim Hill; and her seven children arrived in Nipomo in February 1936. It was a cold, wintery afternoon in the depths of the Great Depression, the worst economic crisis our nation had ever known. Their car had just broken down, and Jim went […]
John Ashbaugh
Posted inOpinion
The U.S. should look to New Zealand for democratic inspiration
On No Kings Day, a chant reverberated throughout America as 7 million protesters marched in 2,700 cities and towns all across the country—including the Central Coast: “Tell me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!” After a two-week tour of New Zealand, here’s what one version of democracy looks like: This small […]
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A lesson, warning, and proposal for the Nipomo Mesa
I got to know the late Harold Miossi shortly after settling here after finishing grad school at Cal in 1976. I had the privilege of enjoying his occasional company until his death in 2006. Harold’s name graces two fine concert venues—the PAC at Cal Poly and the CPAC at Cuesta College—as well as the city’s […]
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Don’t be afraid to talk about climate change during the holidays
It’s drizzling as I write this, just before Thanksgiving. Maybe we’ll have a “normal” rainfall year! Maybe we can set aside our perpetual worries about another drought cycle. As the hills “green up,” we can worry less about wildfires erupting in our hillsides and destroying us, as we saw in the Mountain Fire in Ventura […]
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Democrats are sporting fresh faces and ample energy heading into Electoral College decisions
Last August, my commentary concluded with this observation: “One thing is certain: By next August, both parties will have completed their primary elections … and named their nominees. We already know the stakes in 2024: Nothing less than the future of our democracy, the security of our planet, and the conditions under which our nation […]
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The center must hold if there’s any hope for the presidential election
In November 2016, immediately after Donald Trump’s election, Yeats’ famous lament over the apocalyptic carnage of World War I seemed to capture that moment in our history. Of course, our nation survived the next four years. The “centre” did hold, but just barely: On Jan. 6, 2021, for hours “mere anarchy” was loosed upon the […]
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A fuller look at history reveals that the intrepid ‘pathfinder of the West’ has a complicated reputation
The 2024 election is hurtling toward us like a runaway train. The far right has launched a full-scale attack on alleged “indoctrination” of political correctness that they claim to find throughout public education, from kindergarten through high school and especially in colleges. I’m a retired history teacher with 20 years’ experience in our local secondary […]
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We must end our addiction to fossil fuels
Seventy-five years ago, the legendary California Zephyr debuted with “modern” passenger train service from Chicago to Oakland. As a child, I often watched from my bedroom as the orange-and-silver Zephyr locomotive roared by our Redding home. In the 19th century, iron rails literally stitched our continent together. In 1875, the narrow-gauge Pacific Coast Railway reached […]
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An epidemic of loneliness and how to leave it behind
“Eleanor Rigby” came out in 1966, and The Beatles’ plaintive rock anthem has aged well (clearly better than I have). “All the lonely people—where do they all come from? Where do they all belong?” Evidently they’ve all crossed the Atlantic, because loneliness seems to be a uniquely American problem. Our nation’s top health authorities have […]
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An interfaith inquiry into war, peace, and history
Editor’s note: This commentary originally ran in our sister paper, New Times, on Nov. 2, and we updated the number of casualties on both sides with data from the Associated Press. The tragic spasm of war in Israel and Palestine shocks the senses. Hamas militants launched their vicious attack into Israel on Oct. 7, killing […]
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We need to find common ground as we head toward the next election
The month of August regularly serves up earthshaking, history-making events: • Two years ago in August, the U.S. finally pulled out of Afghanistan after our longest war. • On Aug. 6, 1945, our nation dropped the first of two atomic bombs on Japan, soon ending World War II. That’s the event at the center of […]
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I am a relentless warrior against fascism, bigotry, and ‘able-ism’
As I write this, my Jewish friends are observing Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG’vurah—Yom HaShoah, Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day. A recent survey revealed that 63 percent of Americans don’t know that 6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. Nearly 20 percent of millennials and Gen Z in New York—New York!—feel that Jews caused the […]