Commentaries

Mediation, not trial or arbitration, is now the preferred method of dispute resolution in our justice system. The reasons are myriad: • More than 85 percent of disputes negotiated through mediation are settled, according to statistics from the Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo superior courts. • Mediation is private and confidential, but litigation is […]

“The middle class would not exist without organized labor,” Vice President Joe Biden proclaimed, more than once, during his recent speech at the AFL-CIO 25th annual Labor Day picnic. He is entirely right. With our nation’s unemployment stuck at more than nine percent, with millions of Americans futilely looking for good jobs, the need for […]

I volunteer to pick up trash that litters our public roads. I am an organization of one, who does not represent an “Adopt a Highway” group, who has no legal obligations that would require me to do what I do. For me, it’s simply easier to pick up the litter instead of bitching about it. […]

Well, boohoo: The local chapter of the Sierra Club is outraged by Congress’s attempt to do something about unemployment and the economy. You would think from reading the spew by the chapter’s executive committee (“Worst. Bill. Ever.” Aug. 18), that Congress was hell bent on annihilating the planet. Birds will refuse to migrate, “evil” corporations […]

My 87-year-old mother lived independently in a mobile home in Arroyo Grande until soon after a telephone call that changed my life. At 5 p.m. on Nov. 2, 2009, I pushed “mom” on my cell-phone contact list: There was no answer, except the pre-recorded greeting, though she always picked up one of the several extensions […]

The Interior Appropriations budget bill (H.R. 2584)—known formally as the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2012—will, if ratified, essentially eliminate even the idea of the conservation of our natural resources and the protection of human health from environmental hazards. The bill passed the Appropriations Committee on July 25 and […]

I doubt anyone would choose “She regretted not spending more time on Facebook” as an epitaph, or would want their obituary to say they cherished the time spent on their cell phone with family and friends. So why do so many of us, particularly those younger than 40 years old, devote so much time to […]

Is the phone ringing off the hook at Santa Maria Area Transit (SMAT) (928-5624)? It should be. The new bus routes and schedules, which were introduced on June 19, are hardly a bus rider’s dream come true. I returned after being out of town for three weeks to find that my beloved Santa Maria Area […]

Desperate times are dangerous times, especially when the Legislature and governor grasp for quick fixes. A case in point is the new state budget, which aims to eliminate redevelopment agencies in California, thereby taking away even more local revenue in an attempt to fix California’s chronic budget problems against the will of the people. This […]

The con job goes on. Throughout the Cold War, the CIA and our government consciously misrepresented the military prowess of the Soviet Union, exaggerating their military strength. They did this, of course, to justify a continuation of our obscene military budgets, to continue to feed the fat-and-sassy corporate culture that fed off the military budget. […]

Good riddance to redevelopment districts, thanks to our new governor and the Legislature, who justifiably eliminated them to end an enormous drain on public resources, despite howls from municipal bureaucrats throughout the state. The Los Angeles Times recently reported that annually more than $5 billion of redevelopment money in California was not used for redevelopment […]