Commentaries

I’m not ready to talk about the bombing at the Boston marathon. Not yet. And I don’t want to talk about DDT-saturated fish swimming—though it sounds to me they should be floating belly up—in Oso Flaco Lake. But I will talk about how I felt like a fish out of water (a bird out of […]

Americans continue to feel economic hunger pangs even though the recession, as a cold statistical anomaly, ended a while ago. Indisputable evidence in key sectors tells us that the economy is expanding at accelerating rates. Even the single-family housing market—the industry that seemed as still as a stuffed bobcat just a year ago—started showing signs […]

The elements in “The Wizard of Oz” powerfully fill a void that exists inside many children. For kids of a certain age, home is everything, the center of the world. But over the rainbow, dimly guessed at, is the wide earth, fascinating and terrifying.” So wrote Roger Ebert. For some, it can be difficult to […]

One of the most remarkable ambassadors for the greater Central Coast region of California over the last half-century was the indefatigable late maestro of acapella choral music, Mr. Glenn A. Montague, who journeyed to the Spirit World the day before the first day of spring, this winter. Mr. Montague, whose local debut in 1963 at […]

On Feb. 13, 2013, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended to remove wrestling as one of its 25 “core sports” from the 2020 games and beyond. This shocked the wrestling community and sports enthusiasts worldwide because wrestling is one of the original sports in the Olympics and participated in worldwide. In 2012, more than 70 […]

This is the kind of thing history teachers think of when they can’t go back to sleep in the middle of the night. New Girl, I’m reasonably sure, is a kind of Wizard of Oz for the Millennial Generation. Zooey Deschanel is less Judy Garland and more Audrey Hepburn on runaway roller skates, but I […]

In recent months, there have been several references in the media to the term “sexually violent predator” (SVP) and the fact that my office has sought to stop someone who has been found to be an SVP from being placed in our county as a transient. Many community members have asked me about the designation—SVP—and […]

It surely came as no surprise to anyone that COLAB, in its accustomed role as handmaiden to big developers and polluting industries, recently occupied this space with a call to weaken California flagship environmental law (“Flies and fungus vs. jobs and prosperity,” Feb. 28). Also no surprise: Every major conservation and public health group in […]

We need to support Gov. Jerry Brown in his efforts to reform CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act. CEQA requires that all projects be analyzed to determine if the potential exists for the project to have a significant impact upon the environment. The devil is in the details! Just what constitutes a significant impact and […]

It seems like yesterday there were thousands of protesters at Wall Street. Why were they protesting? Some said Wall Street’s greed, corruption, the wars; some even said the protesters want some handouts! But lo and behold there are not so obvious reasons! Two words: indentured servitude. Or debt slavery. What!? That’s absurd! Well let’s take […]

The original Ghostbusters film featured a scene wherein an overzealous Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) agent named Walter Peck stormed into Ghostbusters headquarters brandishing a court order. Citing violations to the Environmental Protection Act, a law that never existed, Peck shut down the spectral laser containment unit. Paranormal bedlam ensued, and everyone knew whom to call. […]

President Obama’s presidential legacy will rest on his leadership in solving the climate crisis that is now upon us. Late last year, the president offered to have a conversation with the American people about climate. In his second inaugural, he started one. It’s time to join that conversation. Specifically, it’s time to talk about what […]