In response to Ron Fink’s July 25 “What’s the fuss?” commentary about the Ten Commandments in public schools, I have a couple of points to make about the Constitution mandating a separation of church and state. He claims it was not to keep the church out of the state, but it was that, and to […]
Opinion
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New normal
I’m a little confused about a recent Santa Barbara County Planning Commission decision about cannabis—mostly I’m confounded about Commissioner John Parke and his support of a processing project, something I assume he’s against. You know, he’s always talking about that odor. Cannabis smells impacting quality of life seem to niggle Parke like no other, insinuating […]
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Democratic Party’s style is to avoid democracy by simply anointing a candidate
What is democracy? Merriam-Webster defines it this way: “rule of the majority; a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.” Earlier this year there was a primary election where registered voters of each political party […]
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Wild country
Kudos to all the firefighters and other personnel who worked so hard to get the Lake Fire under control and prevent it from spreading more. The 38,000-acre fire patchworked its way through the forest, left homes (but not property) relatively unscathed, kept campgrounds and trail systems fairly intact, and didn’t turn into the megafire that […]
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Can democracy survive the corporate media? Our country deserves a true Fourth Estate
The media used to be called the Fourth Estate that kept the public informed. Our media is no longer fulfilling that function. For a democracy to flourish, the public must know and understand what is happening on the local, state, federal and global stage. What went wrong? When President Reagan overturned the Glass-Steagall Act, which […]
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Harris should look to history for VP pick
All Americans—not just Democrats—should be eternally grateful to President Biden for his success in defeating Donald Trump in 2020. We applaud his forbearance in turning over this task now, four years later, to his inspired choice for vice president, Kamala Harris. Democrats are already uniting behind Harris and will make every effort to elect her […]
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Cold, hard facts?
Homelessness is not an issue that the majority of Santa Maria’s City Council seems interested in tackling, solving, or taking a bite out of. To me, it simply sounds as if Mayor Alice Patino would simply like for it to just go away. Patino, by the way, is running for mayor, again. She doesn’t seem […]
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The kerfuffle over the Ten Commandments in public view is totally unnecessary
The Ten Commandments have existed for centuries. Early on, people realized that there should be a set of common-sense rules to guide civilization. The basis of our Constitution and public laws are found in those guiding principles. For people to coexist in harmony they must become familiar with them at an early age. Some states, […]
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Give our firefighters the wages they deserve
This past week proves to be the perfect time for this letter. Why? The sky was dull with smoke and ashes cover everything. Fire! A big one and out of control. We’ve all seen the convoys of firetrucks and support equipment … some staged at our local Elks rodeo grounds. Firefighters from all over the […]
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Line of fire
Our country’s celebrity obsession hit a new low earlier this month. If it please the court of readers, I’d like to submit these exhibits regarding the Lake Fire. Exhibit A: “The battle to save Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch from destructive Lake fire” is the headline for an LA Times July 12 feature-length piece. Exhibit B: […]
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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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Cover the other side of the YMCA issue
Your feature article of July 4 titled, “All day, all night: A YMCA in Santa Ynez wants to stay open 24/7, but its neighbors are against the plan,” by Taylor O’Connor is very one-sided, whether intended or not. Most of the article focuses primarily on the reasons why it is a good idea to convert […]
