LAST WEEK I WAXED WISTFUL about the passing of the American consumer electronics industry in the 1970s and 1980s. Part of that is a sort of patriotic nostalgia — Zenith, RCA, Admiral and the rest of the American manufacturers were the “home team,” and I took their defeat by Japanese electronics giants as a sort […]
Bruce Robinson: The peacock presidency
THE PEACOCK IS A CREATURE MOST AMERICANS SEE ONLY IN A ZOO. What makes the peacock most zoo-worthy, of course, is its extravagant plumage — a trait unique to the male of the species. The plumage of the female (or peahen) is a dull camouflage brown. Whenever a peacock sees a peahen, he instantly deploys […]
Jerome Page: The endangered sea, part one
I HAVE TRIED! OH HOW I HAVE LABORED to rid my mind of those visions of the future that have led to my expulsion from the ranks of the eagerly read to the lining of the waste basket. Why can I not find and pass on those messages of optimism that open the readers’ day […]
Matt Talbot: Restoration
ONE OF MY HOBBIES IS FOLLOWING THE RESTORATION OF VINTAGE TELEVISIONS AND ELECTRONICS. If I had an actual house rather than my tiny studio apartment, the garage would be my workshop, and it would be stuffed with color televisions of 1960s and early ’70s vintage, in various states of disassembly and repair. Part of the […]
To Benicia residents: City needs Measure C
DEAR BENICIA RESIDENTS: I am writing to update you about Measure C, Benicia’s measure to maintain our quality of life. As you know, Benicia — unlike many cities of similar size in the Bay Area — is a full-service city, equipped with its own city-run police, fire, park and water services. But now, because of […]
Jerome Page: On drought and desertification
FIRST, AN APOLOGY. For those who weary of my wailing about warming, I can only say in justification, my skin is delicate, I burn easily and the prospect shakes me up. Then again, what you’ll read here just might shake you up too! For a dramatic twist on the story of global warming, we have […]
Dennis Lund: On a fast train, going nowhere
Well, you’ve been on a fast train and it’s going off the rails And you can’t come back, can’t come back together again And you start breaking down in the pouring rain Well, you’ve been on a fast train — Van Morrison YEARS AGO, IT MAY HAVE BEEN DURING the first Clinton presidential run, I […]
Jerome Page: Living the dream
FIRST, A BULLETIN FROM THOSE GUARDIANS OF OUR FUTURE ON THE POLITICAL RIGHT: From an Aug. 8 DeSmogBlog.com piece by Justin Mikulka and Steve Horn, this reassuring bulletin: “Rail CEOs to Investors: ‘Bomb Trains’ Safe At Almost Any Speed.” Almost any speed!? No problemo, compadres, put the pedal to the metal and keep that oil […]
My dream for Benicia
I HAVE A DREAM THAT ONE DAY BENICIA WILL RISE UP and be known across the nation as the Little City that said “No” to Big Oil, putting human life and environmental stewardship above human greed and the insatiable quest for increased profits. What a proud day it would be if Benicia said the risk […]
Matt Talbot: Where the heart is
Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in. — Robert Frost, “Death of the Hired Man” NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WILL ALWAYS BE THAT PLACE FOR ME. I can leave it, but it always exerts an irresistible draw, like a mother calling her child home. When I was […]