NOT LONG AGO I CAME ACROSS THESE WORDS in the guidebook for a popular 12-step program: “We help best by inspiring people to think through and solve their own problems. Otherwise we deprive them of the opportunity to develop experience and strength from working things out for themselves.” This is such a simple and basic […]

IN WHAT IN THE RIGHT-WING WORLD WILL VERY LIKELY be labeled the definitive word on the matter, former Vice President Dick Cheney has noted that Benghazi is “one of the worst incidents, frankly, that I can recall in my career.” Thenceforward, upon entering the terms “Dick Cheney” and “Benghazi” in a Google search window, be […]

CHARLESTON, S.C. — It has been 25 years since I moved to San Francisco and joined my son and daughter in the beautiful city “by the Bay.” No doubt San Francisco is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but so too is my true “home,” which is Charleston, S.C. Recently my wife […]

GIVEN THE EVENTS OF THE PAST FEW WEEKS in Boston, Oklahoma City and elsewhere in America, I thought I’d take a break from my critiques of our country to say a few words of unabashed praise. About two and a half years ago, I was working at a job that I didn’t enjoy and was […]

If I listened long enough to you I’d find a way to believe that it’s all true Knowing that you lied straight faced while I cried Still I look to find a reason to believe — Tim Hardin PINING FOR LOST LOVE AFTER TRUST BETRAYED — these words surely apply to those who remain loyal […]

FROM THE GOP, SPEAKING FOR THEIR OWNERS AND HANDLERS, the folks raking off the biggest stash of loot in modern history, we hear those familiar sad stories of (1) corporate struggles with the highest tax rates in the world and (2) the need to free up that capital to “grow” the economy. I quote from […]

FOR MORE THAN 100 YEARS, the beautiful city of Charleston, S.C., has been called the “Holy City.” There have been many explanations for the title, but for the most part it is agreed that the name refers to the large numbers of church steeples in Charleston’s historical areas. Certainly there are a very large number […]

IN LAST WEEK’S COLUMN, I began my discussion of gun control by saying that I have some real ambivalence about the issue, based in part on the makeup of my extended family — how it is divided between mostly rural folks on my Mom’s side and Dad’s far more urban side of the family. As […]

By Dennis Lund GOV, JERRY BROWN AND HIS WATER GURU, Jerry Meral, deputy director of California Natural Resources, want to build a $23 billion tunnel under the Delta to send water south. There was a bit of a kerfuffle last week when Mr. Meral — who let the cat out of the bag at a […]

THANK THE LORD FOR GROVER NORQUIST! Were it not for his tireless efforts, the recent Democratic move to raise taxes on the job creators, the wealthy, would have succeeded and, obviously, in the process crippled our economy and brought any possibility of recovery to a halt! Consider what would have happened had that savage tax […]