Political wonks like to talk about transformative elections, ones in which more than the faces change, ones in which the temper of American politics shifts from the dominance of one party or ideology to another. This election may well have been truly transformative. George Lakoff, professor of linguistics at U.C. Berkeley, has based a model […]
Commentaries
Posted inOpinion
We need to change
‘Green’ or ‘sustainable’ – whatever you want to call the movement, it needs to continue for our survival
Change is always difficult, but our culture must change if it is to continue. There is a movement that is coming from the people/citizens. It has been given a title of “green,” but I prefer “sustainable.” Basically, it is change from a high consumption rate to living within the capacity of our habitat. Resources are […]
Posted inOpinion
Lots of money in a little time
The building industry contributes its fair share
The construction industry provides sanctuary and equity wealth to homeowners, shelter to renters, comfortable places to conduct business and shop, good salaries to workers, and revenues that help fund local government and pay for public improvements. Yet we often hear people question if the construction industry is paying its fair share. State law, known as […]
Posted inOpinion
Remember American Hoovervilles
It’s time for reasonable regulation
The Great Depression made a lasting impression on our family and many American families. Farming in middle America, my mother’s family had just lost my grandfather when bad times hit. Grandmother, unable to keep farming, and my mother, who was forced to quit school, went to work sewing in one of President Franklin Roosevelt’s make-work […]
Posted inOpinion
Armageddon it
Will the world end this year?
The idyllic city of Geneva, Switzerland, is about 5,700 miles from California’s Central Coast, an entire world away. But something in that European town may affect us all in upcoming months: It may cause the end of days. To explain, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider—the world’s largest particle accelerator at CERN, the research organization […]
Posted inOpinion
The government must respect the law
The nation will suffer if violations aren’t prosecuted
When humans first came together to live in agricultural communities, the need developed for rules and laws. It became important for those early leaders, just as today, to set good examples to follow for the rest of the community. Those social rules and laws have become the glue that holds modern civilization and societies together. […]
Posted inOpinion
The boy wizard trumps all
To the winner of the autographed Harry Potter book from the library fundraiser: I’ll give it a good home
I have a confession to make. A couple of weeks ago, I told Mark van de Kamp, a management analyst for the city, that the Santa Maria Public Library doesn’t need any more money. A week before that, I said the same thing to Phil Alvarado, the new Santa Maria Bonita School District Superintendent and […]
Posted inOpinion
Marching on Washington
Forty-five years ago, the country united under a dream
It was August 1963, and I was a college junior. I had a summer job in New York City, and each day I took the commuter train with my father. On one such trip, I looked at the New York Post and was surprised to learn that college students had gone down south to help […]
Posted inOpinion
Proposition 49 works
Legislators want to cut funding that improves kids’ academic skills and reduces crime
Six years ago, California voters passed Proposition 49, which created thousands of new after-school programs, invested in public safety, and guaranteed that funding would not be subject to political whims. However, the State Legislature is now attempting to repeal Proposition 49, through another ballot initiative. At risk are more than 3,800 after-school programs that keep […]
Posted inOpinion
Work hard, search for opportunity
Could the United States become a Third World economy?
I saw this country evolve from (what my grandfather found to be) a place where a person could work hard and become anything they wanted to be, to an entitlement society where people somehow believe they have an absolute right to a high standard of living. We have been lulled into a false sense of […]
Posted inOpinion
Charge into the fourth quarter
Baby Boomers, make your final plays count
It was not unexpected. I always knew it would someday arrive knocking at my door. I asked myself, “How could 61 years have gone by so fast?” Now I hear, not a pleasant tapping, but a clenched fist banging at my door. It’s here. Open the door and face it. You are 62 years old. […]
Posted inOpinion
Support the fight
More people have AIDS in the United States than ever before
On June 5 and 6, Santa Barbara County residents may notice an odd though not unknown scene on local roadways—3,000 cyclists and crew pedaling through the wind and fatigue. Hopefully, most will look long enough to realize that this is not just some mega-bike club or century ride. This year, the 545-mile AIDS/LifeCycle is expected […]