Telecom Power Grab
By Lesley Weinstock   |   August 16, 2021

There are several bills pending in the California legislature, including Senate Bill 556 and Assembly Bill 537, that will severely limit our right to determine where new wireless antennas for 5G service will be placed in Santa Barbara County. Corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and Verizon wrote these wireless broadband bills. ALEC rewrites state […]

Escaping Minority Rule: Ending Gerrymandering Gaining Control Over Self-Perpetuating Politicians
By Rinaldo Brutoco   |   January 28, 2021

One hundred and thirty-nine members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted, after the insurrection (which sacked the Capitol building and took five lives), to support the mob’s demands to overturn the results of the recent presidential election. An election found, after sixty meritless legal challenges, to have been a free and fair exercise in […]

 

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Escape from Minority Rule: Insurrection
By Rinaldo Brutoco   |   January 21, 2021

Senator Mitt Romney succinctly summarized the events of last Wednesday in one sentence: “What happened here today was an insurrection incited by the President of the United States.” Former President George W. Bush also used “insurrection” to describe the attack on the U.S. Capitol, felt by many to be “the center and sacred symbol of […]

In Other News
By James Buckley   |   December 17, 2020

I’ve often extolled Mollie Ahlstrand’s food. She’s the owner/chef of Mollie’s on State, formerly Mollie’s Ristorante on Coast Village Road. In recent months, she has had her challenges. Upon closing her Coast Village Road eatery (after a 25-year run), for example, she and her son, Ali Ahlstrand, opened Mollie’s on State. Then, of course, the […]

The Art of Compromise
By Bob Hazard   |   December 3, 2020

The election is over, and Joe Biden won. Now is the time for all 150 million voters to get behind our new president and reach out the hand of friendship and hope. Gwyn Lurie, CEO and Executive Editor of the Montecito Journal Media Group, has called for a bipartisan post-election response, asking us to do […]

Better than Democracy?
By Robert Bernstein   |   December 3, 2020

Winston Churchill famously said, “…democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time…” I write this as Joe Biden has been declared “president-elect” in the news and while Donald Trump still sends out repeated appeals for money. Record numbers voted for each side. […]

Santa Barbara’s Next Mayor?
By Gwyn Lurie   |   November 25, 2020

The 2020 political season is over. Mostly. But like California’s fire season, once reserved to only certain months of the year, election cycles now seem to be with us 24/7-52-365. I guess there’s no rest for the weary. So let me be the first to welcome you to the early days of the next important […]

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  • The French Have it Right
    By James Buckley   |   November 19, 2020

    My wife was born in France, came to the U.S. in the early 1960s with her family, and remained strictly a French citizen with a green card until the mid-1980s, when U.S. law requiring that U.S. citizens have only one loyalty was altered to allow for dual citizenship. She is now a proud nationalized U.S. […]

    A Matter of No Party Preference
    By Leslie Westbrook   |   October 29, 2020

    In the newsroom of the Washington Post, Lou Cannon cultivated a reputation as a “reporter’s reporter.” Concealing his political loyalties was as much a matter of professional integrity as it revealed his facility to see both sides. “I’ve been a Democrat and I’ve been a Republican,” Cannon revealed during a recent Zoom conversation just before […]

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    The Great Barrington Declaration
    By James Buckley   |   October 29, 2020

    If any sentient being has been in doubt as to which side virtually all the major media and social media companies are on, non-coverage of both the Hunter Biden laptop e-mails and the Great Barrington Declaration should be proof positive of which side they’ve taken. When presidential candidate Joe Biden tells the debate moderator (in […]

    Join Us October 22 at 7pm
    By Steven Libowitz   |   October 23, 2020

    In an effort to connect the community and keep the conversation going, James Joyce III, founder of Coffee with a Black Guy, has scheduled one of his signature events over Zoom for 7 pm to 8 pm Thursday evening, October 22, three days after Dr. Kendi’s event.  “It’s great that Arts & Lectures has stepped […]

    Andy Caldwell
    By James Buckley   |   October 1, 2020

    Andy Caldwell’s mother was an immigrant from Austria and his father was a Bataan Death March survivor. Andy was born on an Air Force base in Jacksonville, Arkansas. After his father got out of the Air Force, they moved to Kingsburg, California, just south of Fresno. His dad passed away when Andy was nine years […]

    How Addicts and Families Seek Help During Quarantine
    By Megan Waldrep   |   September 24, 2020

    For many people, addiction is a scary word. So scary, just reading it will have some skip over this piece entirely. Maybe it’s a challenge you or a loved one faces today? But don’t feel ashamed – you are not alone. I’ve been there and I still struggle. Alcohol was my first bag and marijuana […]

    Taking a Stand in the Sand
    By Mimi Degruy   |   August 6, 2020

    Listen, listen, listen. Learn, Learn, Learn. During these past few tumultuous months, that has been my mantra. As a privileged white woman, I feel it is best to stay quiet and listen deeply. I have much to learn from the BLM and BIPOC movements. And yet there are times when darkness surfaces and it feels […]

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