Comments by jonkwilliams
Page 1 of 2 | Next
Posted on December 5 at 9:24 a.m.
"None of us should try to get in the officer's head," Chief Sanchez says, admitting he's only seen the video and hasn't talked to the officer or witnesses, or reviewed the reports. Excuse me? That's all I've been wanting since this happened, is for someone to get "in the officer's head" and tell us why he went so crazy on someone who so obviously wasn't posing a physical threat.
Today it's Denunzio, tomorrow who? And why? If the chief of police isn't looking into the officer's head, I hope someone else in the department is. And until Sanchez has a better idea of what really went on that night, I don't think he has any more right to comment on it than any of us do. What in his job description, anyway, if it's not knowing his officers inside and out? Especially in a town of this size.
Posted on June 15 at 8:33 a.m.
Thanks, Suzanne. While I would have thought our "anti-drug spending" went mostly to law enforcement, last week I read a story in the L.A. Times that reported this, leading me to realize the War On Drugs is really, like the privatization of prisons, Big Business:
"The majority of U.S. counter-narcotics contracts are awarded to five companies: DynCorp, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, ITT and ARINC, according to the report for the contracting oversight subcommittee, part of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Counter-narcotics contract spending increased 32% over the five-year period, from $482 million in 2005 to $635 million in 2009. DynCorp, based in Falls Church, Va., received the largest total, $1.1 billion."
Posted on January 26 at 7:54 a.m.
Homeland Security and ICE don't have more relevant things to do than monitor the internet for porn postings?
Posted on November 22 at 9:27 a.m.
I didn't know David was gone, Marjorie, and I'm so very sorry. He was, indeed, a delight and a giant bright spot in this community. I met David, I think, when the Howard Dean campaign got me involved in local politics and I remember very, very few gatherings I've attended since then when David wasn't present. I smile remembering phone calls -- seeing "David Wass" on my cellphone screen -- and answering to hear my name in his long, drawn-out way, "Jo-o-o-o-n," followed, inevitably by "I was thinking..."
He was always thinking, wasn't he? And he always had a twinkle in his eye. I'm sure any number of his "enemies" will be on hand in Tuckers' Grove on the 11th to honor him. I'll miss David but I'll definitely miss him with a warm feeling in my heart.
Posted on August 3 at 5:04 p.m.
Wonder why people are afraid to go by their real names on these discussion boards...
On <em>The Gulf Oil Disaster: How Can We Protect S.B.'s Future?</em>
Posted on July 25 at 12:13 p.m.
Look, please, at the Sunday afternoon program lineup on our one truly local broadcast channel, KEYT, and you'll see why we need to be increasing funding for community-oriented media outlets like SB Channels rather than cutting it.
KEYT has a license to use public airwaves because of its promise to serve the public. I guess providing a place for flim-flam men to offer gut-busting, ab-building gizmos qualifies in some small respect, but where are the programs that reflect our community, that let us speak out on issues of the day, and that help all the people of the region share their talents and express their concerns? One half hour of nonprofit coverage a week and a threadbare news effort don't constitute public service in my book.
SB Channels, while broadcast only on absentee-owner Cox Communications' cable, also posts many of its programs to the web where anyone with broadband internet access - oops, there go the working poor and unemployed - can also benefit from them. We need a complete media makeover in this community - from broadcast to print to web - and only with experienced, knowledgeable professionals like Keri Stokstad is that going to happen. Of course real change is anathema to the powers that be and that's why boards of directors are usually employed to stifle genuine innovation.
Posted on May 26 at 3:52 p.m.
In a highly theoretical universe, you say, Prop. 15 would be recognized as a positive step forward. Then you really have nothing negative to say about it, yet recommend a “no” vote.
First of all, mightn’t you have told readers that Prop. 15 calls for raising state fees on lobbyists from a whopping $12.50 per year to $350? Do haircutters and massage therapists pay less to practice their crafts? The $6 million raised would fully fund Secretary of State races for all candidates agreeing not to take special interest money or, in fact, any other outside funds. If voters like the way the two year trial program works, they can expand it to cover other statewide races.
But for half that $6 million, you offer, the state should create and operate an ongoing system to inform voters of candidates taking special interest contributions. To what end? So we can know exactly who’ll be telling our elected officials how to vote? Doesn’t it generally become obvious once they’ve gotten into office? Isn’t the Fourth Estate supposed to keep us informed of shady backroom dealings?
What would it hurt to take $6 million dollars from the people who’ll continue to line the pockets of politicians in one way or another and fund the campaigns of those who don’t want to be beholden to special interests on the right, left or center? I’m sure the return on investment would be tremendous.
On Propositions
Posted on August 28 at 9:45 a.m.
Hearing the filmmaker speak yesterday on the NPR show "Fresh Air," I started wondering whether I really wanted to see "Inglorious Basterds." In this work of fiction, Tarantino has a squadron of young Jewish American recruits literally scalping the corpses of Nazis they've assassinated, in imitation, he says, of Apache guerrilla fighters. Evidently this desecration of human bodies is shown in graphic detail. I suppose one should see a movie before judging the intent and effect of a particular device, but as the behavior is, to the best of my knowledge, completely made up and surely must be antithetical to the most basic Jewish teachings, the whole thing leaves me troubled. Has anyone seen the movie, and is the scalping completely gratuitous or does it have a redeeming payoff?
Posted on August 22 at 1:15 p.m.
Hey, folks, first of all, I'm not the one who mentioned anything at all about immigration or immigration reform or undocumented residents getting or not getting coverage under the public plan. I'm the guy who complained that single-payer isn't being discussed -- even though President Obama said not long ago that it would be the best solution if we were starting from scratch. Sadly, we're not even at scratch; we're deep in a hole that the current system has dug for us. So "reform" without single-payer is really just an attempt to slow the rate of descent into the for-profit health care industry's gaping maw.
And why don't people use their real names on these threads? We'd get a lot less bluster, I'm sure. Me, I'll bluster in the open and surely live to regret some of what I say, but doing so does tend to keep me grounded.
On None
Page 1 of 2 | Next
Previous Month
Posted on December 9 at 9:36 a.m.
Wow, I didn't know "compassion" was in the conservatives' lexicon but I checked and, yes, it's allowed so long as it's followed by "toward me."
On Carpinteria Councilmember Joe Armendariz Arrested for DUI