By Matt Talbot THE EDITOR ASKED ME TO CONTRIBUTE a weekly column here, and I accepted his offer, with two comments: A. I’m flattered to be asked, and B. I worry that The Herald’s standards may be slipping. Joking aside, I really am flattered to be asked, and will do my best to live up […]
Jerome Page: Why not reach for perfection?
JUST A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE DEDICATED EFFORTS of the Republican Party to bring our elections and electoral system into happy accord with our vaunted American exceptionalism. The earlier pieces are old news to you by now, but the fit with the newer developments suggests a need to view it all together. Taken that way, […]
Crewmember Report: Benicia, California, Spaceship Earth: The proof of the pudding …
By Constance Beutel WE’RE GETTING READY TO LAUNCH the second free offering of the Sustainable Benicia: Green Business seminars Thursday. This incredible series is made possible through the generous funding of the Valero-Good Neighbor Steering Committee Settlement Agreement, the approval of the City Council and the recommendation of the Community Sustainability Commission. While talking with […]
Notes from 30,000 Feet: Political ‘genius’ on display
By Dennis Lund “All of us need to be reminded that the Federal Government did not create the states; the states created the Federal Government.” — Ronald Reagan Jan. 20, 1981 WHEN IT COMES TO GENIUSES WITHIN THE POLITICAL REALM, the Democrats are the first to claim a monopoly on this too-rare commodity, Unfortunately history […]
Jim Pugh: We want everything … but no bills, please
A FEW DAYS AGO I HEARD a comment from former CBS television reporter Bernie Goldberg, who said, “The people of this country simply want everything free … yet have no desire to pay for anything!” I could not agree more with Mr. Goldberg. The heart of Barack Obama’s support in the last election came from […]
Bruce Robinson: Letter to Em: About ‘climate change’
EM, SORRY I DIDN’T GET BACK TO YOU SOONER. Grandma’s had a bad cold lately so I’ve had to put away my journalistic hobby horse and attend to some extra honey-do’s. Judging by the latest news from our nation’s capital, President Obama may also have to put away some hobby horses these days. After he […]
Crewmember Report: Benicia, California, Spaceship Earth: The power of a community
By Constance Beutel AFTER WATERING MY GARDEN, I decided to take a picture of my radishes. I may have been carried away with the abundance of radishes that I planted. However, I have found that if I only plant a row or two, the radishes are consumed in a flash, and I really do enjoy […]
To solve shortfall, city should look to example of its schools
By Donnell Rubay SOONER OR LATER, WE WILL BE ASKED to pay for the budget shortfalls caused by high city salaries and the generous pensions those salaries create. Already our water bills are on track to rise by $400 per year for average use. Now — according to “Not out of the woods; Shortfall to […]
Protecting our children: America’s culture of despair that leads to violence
By Woodrow W. Clark II and Grant Cooke WHAT SORT OF CREATURES ARE WE, who can’t protect our children? Even the most primal animals protect their young. Tragically, the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre was not new to America. The frequency of violent mass killings — Sandy Hook being only the most recent case, with […]
Jerome Page: Flirting with disaster
MUCH AS I AM TEMPTED TO MOVE ON into the riches of the right wing’s take on the grave threat to our right to have an assault weapon in every household, the problem of global warming and its effects continue to dominate my concerns. It is an incredibly crucial and complex problem. Primary among those […]