Last week, I along with many others warned our community that the collective sigh of relief from the Thomas Fire having been extinguished was premature and transitory, this having to do with the dreadful dangers presented by significant rain events coming our way. And, as it turns out, the hundreds of homes and numerous lives […]

For whom the bells toll? Nobody. That is because UCSB, which has an annual budget of $760 million, can’t find $5,000 to maintain its Carillon studio, i.e., the 61 bells in Storke Tower that can be played like a piano. Despite the fact that the campus spends $73 million per year on maintenance, UCSB claims […]

The biggest news story last week appeared in the classifieds. The legal notice declared a summons for all interested persons to appear in court in Sacramento as a defendant in a lawsuit. The lawsuit names the California Department of Water Resources vs. All Persons Interested in the matter of the Authorization of California Water Fix […]

Smack dab in the middle of a record-setting heat wave and threats of rolling blackouts, Pacific Gas and Electric announced it will close the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in nine years. Just like that, 10 percent of the state’s energy supply will be gone. Coupled with the closure of San Onofre, California will be […]

A college professor of mine repeatedly astounded our class by presenting equally compelling but contradictory interpretations of historical events we had never before considered. The class served to develop our nascent critical thinking skills as it forced us to determine the truth about events we thought we had previously understood. This classroom experience, I believe, […]

One of the problems in America has to do with the fact that Democrats play chess while Republicans play checkers. What I mean by that is that Democrats often employ strategies which involve a long-term plan using multiple resources to achieve their goals. Republicans, on the other hand, tend to simply react to situations, making […]

Several years back, when Jerry Brown was serving as the Attorney General of California, I had the chance to interview him on the radio show. I asked him about a letter he had sent to county authorities in the Inland Empire having to do with their 20-year transportation plan. Mr. Brown’s letter challenged the plan […]

The reason you should have so little patience and tolerance for the many zealots in our community, namely politicians and activists, has to do with the maxim, “Those who don’t make mistakes don’t make anything.” Our increasingly urbanized populace is completely dependent upon the production and delivery of food and energy to a class of […]

‘Poor choices should have consequences,” state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson said about her support of SB 755, a bill that inextricably ties DUI convictions and gun control. I agree with the quote in general. When voters make a poor decision in electing representatives like Ms. Jackson, rueful consequences do abound. There is no doubt that driving […]

Fiscally, the State of California is on life-support.  The core functions are barely funded and nothing much is being done to address the tsunami of debt and deficits that have severely weakened our economy and our sense of well-being.  You would think in the midst of cities and counties declaring bankruptcy that our leaders in […]