Voices
Unemployment Benefits Blues
Technical Difficulties
Getting checks is a fraught and disconnected process. Read story.
Let’s Make a Sweeter Deal
City Squandering Income Potential from West Beach Music Fest
The real disaster last year was that the city was paid exactly $5,610 by Twiin Productions for their occupation and private, for-profit use of West Beach for 10 days, to the exclusion of the public. Read story.
Let Bush Tax Cuts Expire in January!
And Don’t Call Them Tax Increases
Where is the gratitude from the wealthiest two percent of Americans for their nine years of fabulous tax cuts? Read story.
Food for Thought
No Take Zone Off of Carpinteria?
We should allow for “fossil free” fishing from the proposed Marine Protected Areas, allowing freedivers, kayakers, and float-tubers to continue their limited take on the coast. Read story.
Adult Ed Strong and Vibrant
Rumor of Its Demise Greatly Exaggerated
It is not true that classes for seniors are being dismantled. With the exception of this summer, about 60 percent of offerings each term are for adults. Read story.
Santa Barbara Weighs In for Clean Energy
Supes Are Right to Stand Behind Global Warming Solutions Act
Prop. 23 would suspend AB32, California’s landmark greenhouse gas emissions reduction law. Read story.
Threat to Freedom of Information
Google and Verizon Ganging Up
The problem with the Google-Verizon plan is that while it supports neutrality principles for wired access, it excludes wireless and cell phone network access—the future of Internet, as they well know. Read story.
Absent-Minded Science
Matters of the Mind
The problem becomes apparent when we try to explain mind itself within the “scientific” method which does its best to ignore mind in nature. Read story.
Safe Passage over the Canyon
Cold Spring Bridge Suicide Barrier Will Save Lives
I am a licensed therapist and the mom of two terrific Santa Barbara sons. My eldest, Jon, killed himself in a crisis moment, at the age of 23, at a perfect suicide spot after his call for help wasn't heard. Read story.
Mariachi Festival at Fifteen
You Must Remember This
For many, the music brings back memories of love, happiness, betrayal, sorrow, and death. Read story.
Guns and Religion
Where and When Constitutional Rights Apply
When cities and states can pass laws restricting Constitutional rights, and when they can't: Legal theories shed light on judicial "activism" vs. "restraint." Read story.
Smoking Out Legislator’s Position on Pot
On Running Into Assemblyman Nava at a Wine Store
I ran in to Pedro Nava at a local wine store recently. I had been writing, calling, and emailing him since April 1st. Read story.
Protecting Sources
Protecting a Free Press
Only when there is a free flow of information from the government to its people can we truly appreciate the beauty and power of a democracy. A bill now in the U.S. Senate, S.448, will protect the sources on whom journalists rely from having their identities exposed in all but a few circumstances. Read story.
We Were Lucky It Was BP . . .
And Not PXP
Instead of BP's $100 billion, PXP has a net worth of $3 billion. Read story.
Red Face Minstrel Show Unamusing
“Cowboys and Findians” Not Merely Dumb, It’s Abusive
In May 2010, the MTV reality show The Dudesons in America aired a new episode called “Cowboys and Findians.” Read story.
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