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California's Prop. 13, along with having the effect of reducing property taxes, also required a 2/3 majority in order to pass a state budget. This requirement is one fo the primary causes of the state budget stalemate because, even in this Democrat-dominated state, there are enough Republicans in the legislature that a few of them […]

Exhibit A: Cartoonist/Columnist Ted Rall. His latest "column" is entitled "Authoritarians Gone Wild." You can bet the video won't be nearly as entertaining as the other line of "Gone Wild" productions. He has canceled elections in Iraq. He will probably cancel them in Afghanistan. Will George W. Bush put the kibosh on elections in the […]

Yesterday one of my good friends sent me this link to a story about a man who got so frustrated by a telemarketer that he called up the company that the telemarketer was working for (Minnesota Auto Glass) -- more than 100 times over a two day period. So, how am I awakened this morning? […]

Princeton University professor Peter Singer, who is famous for suggesting that monkeys have more intrinsic value than humans with disabilities and children, has won an ethics award. Only in academia can a man whose views on the value of human life parallel that of the Nazis be lauded and showered with awards.

First it was Cal Poly and the stifling of free speech, now it's my former employer the North County Times. As reported by Poynter's Jim Romenesko, the Times last week altered a photo of a youth softball player with the Union-Tribune logo on the back of her jersey. This is the second photo-related stupidity that […]

I usually don't watch so-called reality shows, the reason being that no one acts "real" when they've got a camera crew following them around or some host asking them to do ridiculous things. But, since my work shift changed to Tues. through Sat. (not really good for the social life of a single man) I've […]

But not a whole lot. Today the Times published an op-ed piece by Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Jim Leach which reveals to readers that both Republicans and Democrats play the gerrymandering game. That's not quite the picture a reader would get if they'd only read Times editorials on the subject, specifically as it pertains to […]

Today's "Best of the Web" has an item on a school board member who had to apologize for his insensitivity after "telling people at a recent committee meeting 'to keep your comments like a woman's skirt: long enough to cover the subject, but brief enough to keep me interested." Some people may take offense at […]

Talk about stereotypes. (I would argue that liberal white males are more likely to be racist in the way they treat minorities as barely competent children who somehow need a helping hand from the more privilged.) But the comment that prompts this post has to do with my alma mater, Cal Poly SLO. It seems […]

The Sacramento Bee's Dan Walters had an interesting column in today's paper regarding household plumbing. To make a long story shorter, some municipalities and counties in California allow plastic pipes for home construction. Because it takes less skill (and union members) to install plastic piping versus copper piping, unions have long opposed the cheaper product. […]