Voices
Santa Maria Police Standards' Slippery Slope
When we changed the office of City Administrator to City Manager, authorizing the manager to hire and fire department heads, we compromised the integrity of our city's government. Read story.
Green and Neat
It's Safe to Send Your Clothes to the Dry Cleaners Again
Clothes have been tumbling around with petroleum-based chemical solvents and detergent for over a hundred years, the result being that the items were cleansed and the environment dirtied or, worse, toxified. Fortunately, alternative methods of dry cleaning have been springing up — what a relief! Read story.
A Victory for Women's Health
New Rules
Currently, far too many women go without the basic preventive services needed to keep them healthy, but these new rules require all health insurance plans to cover basic preventive care services without additional out-of-pocket costs. Read story.
University of California Educating All Income Levels
Continuously Working to Keep College Affordable
University of California President Mark Yudof gave this response, on January 27, to President Obama's State of the Union address. Read story.
Illusion of Protection
Proposed County Ordinance Would Leave Mobile Home Residents Out in the Cold
There is no need to re-invent the wheel here or show favoritism to the mobile home park owners simply because they can afford costlier representation. San Luis Obispo County mobile home residents and mobile home park owners spent three years crafting a very workable ordinance, agreed upon by both sides. Read story.
Again
Letter to Friends
My New Year's wish for all of you, for all of us, is the increased capacity to speak the truth, to understand the complexity of, and error inherent in, all human choice and positions – even, or especially, our own. Read story.
Remember Healthy Food Choices?
Demanding Consumers' Right to Choose
The federal government does not require that genetically modified food be labeled as such. What's more, it actively forbids non-GM labeling. But signatures are now being gathered for a ballot measure that would require labeling of genetically engineered food sold in California's retail outlets. Read story.
The National Defense Authorization Act Is Unconstitutional
It makes possible the indefinite detention of Americans suspected of aiding terrorists, treats the United States as a battleground of the war on terrorism, and marks an end to the Bill of Rights. Read story.
Good Government Is Possible
A Great Project for the 21st Century
First, we need to get the government-haters out of government. Next, we need to replace them with honest people who believe that a democratically elected representative government can and will find ways to solve the nation’s problems. Read story.
Capitalism in Crisis
A Surplus of Capital and a Surplus of Labor
Despite their efforts to shape public policy, corporations could not prevent the largest crisis in capitalism since the Great Depression. Read story.
Feds Declare Critical Habitat For Black Abalone
Victory For Nearshore Ecosystems
New federal regulations will protect ecosystems off the California coast. Read story.
Save Medi-Cal
The Ten Percent Cut Is a Non-Solution
Last month's quietly enacted, draconian cuts to the Medi-Cal program reduced reimbursements to below the cost of actually providing care. In some cases, pharmacies will have to pay money out of their own pockets to provide medications to Medi-Cal patients, receiving only a fraction of the actual cost for filling the prescription. Read story.
Made in the U.S.A.
An Idea for Growing the Economy That Is More Environmentally Friendly Than Oil Production
In 1938, Popular Mechanics ran an article entitled “Hemp the New Billion Dollar Crop.” And that was when a billion dollars was a lot of money. What happened? Historians generally finger the Dupont Corporation as the prime mover behind making it illegal. Read story.
Taking the Holiday Special
Traveling by Train
We read and relaxed without having to worry about traffic or gas prices. When we got tired of the scenery we slept on the bunk beds in our own private “roomette." At meal time we ate with real knives and forks at a table with a tablecloth and real flowers. Read story.
Can California Do Without Nuclear Power?
Where Are We Going to Get Another 5,000 Megawatts?
The good news is that we have more than enough renewable sources and natural gas facilities coming on line to fill the gap, according to a recent study by the state's grid operator. Read story.
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