Canary

I don’t really smoke weed. OK, maybe sometimes when a friend passes a joint at a reggae concert, then I might partake, but that’s a pretty rare occurrence. Or maybe the odd marijuana cookie or brownie, you know, if I’ve got some back pain. And I do take a quick toke before bed each night, […]

It gets tiresome sitting in the proverbial coalmine. I get to hear what sources say off the record, the arguments in the halls following public meetings, and the incompetence that runs throughout local government, business, and even media. I don’t need to beat CalCoastNews and its owners Karen Velie and Daniel Blackburn into the ground […]

We have arrived. Welcome, to the age of ignorance, where people wear stupidity on their sleeve and bigotry like a badge. Where everybody speaks and nobody listens. Where opinions are cherished over the facts. Where hate is cool again, always bubbling just under the surface of an issue. Take some of the response we received […]

Go on the internet, they said. It will bring people together, they said. It sure seems like social media has allowed Americans to disappear into their own echo chamber wormholes, self-tailored to confirm and support whatever political ideology or corporate coffee chain they align with. It’s when those angry ideologues journey into others’ echo chambers […]

Oh man, did you hear what happened to CalCoastNews? It totally got Gawkered! That’s a reference to the news media website Gawker, which suffered a blistering legal defeat from Hulk Hogan for a sex tape it ran of the wrestler/reality TV star. The case awarded Hogan $31 million in settlement money, which resulted in bankruptcy […]

Say what you mean and mean what you say, the old proverb goes. Basically, tell the truth. Duh! People go to incredible lengths to avoid that basic tenant though, even when it’s demonstrated clearly that they’ve either outright lied or just missed the mark in truthfulness. Take for example the current defamation lawsuit against CalCoastNews, […]

When the subject of “fake news” began to dominate the national discourse just after the election last year, I didn’t think we’d still be talking about it all the way here in March of 2017. But it’s a subject and a term that just can’t seem to get past people’s minds or leave their lips. […]

Hey, has anyone else noticed this trend going on nationally, and locally, among arguing political factions? It goes like this: Instead of addressing an argument or a position, the arguer only attempts to discredit the person making the argument they disagree with. It is going on literally from the highest office in our country down […]

Holy crap, did it ruffle my feathers to see the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposal for migratory bird hunting for the next two years—they’re hoping to open up hunting earlier in the year, and even mentioned Santa Maria as a region in the report! I’m not a migratory bird, but jeez, I could easily […]

The worst part about living in history is not knowing what is new, normal, or just outdated. Everybody’s freaking out right now about national politics, the geopolitical situation, and the trustworthiness of the news media. “This is the new normal,” annoying people tend to say. But how could they know? Californians have wondered for years […]

Did anyone notice I was right? It’s OK; I understand that the scrawling of a coffee-swilling, deadline-crunching canary isn’t at the top of everyone’s list. But still, I was right. Last week I warned that President Donald Trump would probably hear from the legislative branch of the government after his spate of executive orders. According […]

It’s hard to change. And people get upset when things change too much or too quickly, because it goes against their idea of what’s right. That’s why when new legislation comes through, you can often find several people upset about it. Take for instance the Santa Maria City Council’s recent extension of a moratorium prohibiting […]