Archive By Section - Columnists
Tom Purcell: It's time to stop separating along idelogical lines
"It's no wonder many Americans are uneasy about the way President Obama is growing our government and eroding our liberties. Aren't most Americans conservative?"
Rick Jensen: Democrats see opportunity in Newtown violence
Ed Rendell, former Pennsylvania governor and influential Democrat, drew no gasps of surprise or shocked response from his fellow liberal travelers when he recently articulated the left's position that "the good thing about Newtown is, it was so horrific that I think it galvanized Americans to a point where the intensity on our side is going to match the intensity on their side."
David M. Shribman: Obama must set direction and agenda
This is a tale of two speeches. They occur three weeks apart. One is outdoors, one indoors. In one the president faces West, where he was born, reared, came of age, and where his outlook - great possibilities, new beginnings - is rooted.
Steve Lunetta: What to do about guns
Note from the author: In the first of a two-part series on gun control, Steve looked at the possibility of opening the discussion on controlling assault-type weapons. In part two, he was going to look at what can be done to prevent young men from turning into shooters. Of course, President Obama heard about the series and had to interject his own two cents. Now Steve has to make it a three-parter.
David Hegg: A search for reasonable thinking
If you have been keeping track of our national conversation over the past few years you are probably keenly aware of the current drought in reasonable thinking in our country. At the center of this decay is the erroneous belief that differences of opinion amount to bigotry.
Tim Myers: A sad start to the New Year in the SCV
In grade school in the rural county seat of Bloomfield, Iowa, I delivered the daily Des Moines Register, the newspaper of record in the entire state of Iowa, and in the 5th grade I began reading the newspaper before school.
Live from City Hall: New ways to communicate
In recent months, Santa Clarita has welcomed thousands of new residents into the city through the annexation of several areas, including: North Copper Hill, Copperstone, Fair Oaks Ranch, Jakes Way, South Sand Canyon, and the future Vista Canyon.
Alice Khosravy: What about the students?
In September of 2012, I submitted an article entitled "California's education tax battle" that discussed the merits of Proposition 30 and 38.
Michael Reagan: Obama ignores the rational answer
What do Al Hunt of Bloomberg News, David Gregory of "Meet the Press" and President Obama have in common - besides their liberal politics?
Defense budget should be cut the right way
Republicans, and many Democrats, are upset by the prospect of so-called sequestration cuts to the nation's defense budget. Pentagon chief Leon Panetta is so alarmed that the day before the Senate took up what became the "fiscal cliff" agreement, he called a key Republican lawmaker, Sen. Lindsey Graham, to express deep concern that the cuts might go into effect. As it turned out, Congress put them off for two months.
Peter Funt: Washington's latest kerfuffle
Washington's latest kerfuffle, at a time when political kerfuffling is epidemic, concerns the number of women in President Obama's inner circle. Some say there are too few.
Joe Gandelman: Swartz is Internet's collateral damage
FONTANA, Calif. - It was April 9, 2005 when I met the young person who impressed me so much I'd talk about him for 7 years. I was moderating a panel discussion of bloggers at Stanford University on "eDemocracy: The Role of blogs and Online Activists in 2004" The young person: 19-year-old Aaron Swartz.
Village Idiot: Gender gap at the movies
Sue is dying to see "Les Miserables"; I can't wait to see "Django Unchained." She wants to see "Django" as much as she wants to eat giant sea slugs, and I want to sit through the three hours of "Les Mis" as much as I want to help her shop for purses.
Gary Horton: Let's not spend it just because it's lying around
My landscape company specializes in the housing industry - and let me tell you it's been one hard, long housing recession.
Tom Purcell: Lessons from the 1940 census
My great-grandmother Jane Purcell had a wonderfully full life. Part of her story is revealed in the 1940 U.S. Census, which the National Archives and Records Administration made available online to the public in 2012 at 1940census.archives.gov .
Articles by Section - Columnists
Charlie Vignola: A scandal is only a scandal when it happens to Democrats
Imagine for a moment a President of the United States who ignored warnings about an imminent terrorist threat that resulted in an attack that killed American citizens, then argued that we didn't need an investigation to figure out what went wrong.
Tom Purcell: Advice from the master
ill Clinton, wearing a white toga and a crown of gold, sat in a garden while attractive women fed him grapes. President Obama, having just suffered the most devastating week of his presidency, sat nearby, seeking advice in the art of telling whoppers. Using the Socratic method of teaching, Clinton began to tutor his new student.
Frank Ferry: Live from City Hall
May is Building Safety Month and the ideal time to tackle all of those home-improvement projects on your "to do" list before summer is in full swing.
David Hegg: Of progress and purpose
There is no debate that time marches on. The sun rises, shines, and sets, and then does it all over again, day after day. And each day we encounter the unknown components of a whole new 24-hour set of life experience.
Tim Myers: Where respect for private property ends
As a Midwesterner and a Lutheran, I must admit to a great love of irony, and there is nothing more entertaining and ironic than the practical behavior of an elected official, particularly a locally elected official, when their ideology runs straight into the practicalities of the moment.
Phil Kerpen: Government can't be trusted with our health
"We have a large government," political consultant David Axelrod offered as a plea of ignorance to all of the scandals swirling around his boss. "Part of being president is there's so much beneath you that you can't know because the government is so vast."
The Village Idiot: Why I hate my Facebook friends
When I first signed up for Facebook, I was thrilled to get back in touch with old friends, distant relatives, high school classmates and old co-workers. I'd check in to find out that they had new children, new spouses, new lives, new hobbies, new kitchens, new news.
Gary Horton" Why can't California be more like Texas?
I just returned from a three-day business trip to Austin, Texas. This was my third visit to Austin in 18 months. Each time, my visit has focused on business opportunities stemming from Austin's robust population growth.
Jonathan Kraut: Domestic violence advocates needed
My firm was contacted last year to support a domestic case involving a young woman and her year-old baby. She needed help keeping legal custody of her child. The baby's father, a volunteer counselor with a drug rehab program, had claimed the mother of his child was unfit and a drug user.
Tom Purcell: Speech to the best graduating class ever
Students, faculty, family members and friends, it is my great honor to deliver your commencement speech today.
Jason Stanford: What Rick Perry can learn from California
The faux pas bordered on sedition. The Texas Association of Dairymen sent blocks of mild cheddar to state senate offices "in appreciation for your hard work this legislative session on behalf of the people of Texas." Legislative offices often get free-and perfectly legal-swag from special interests. The problem arose when someone read the label. The company that made the cheese was based in California.
Cliff Schecter: The United States really needs to grow up already
This country needs an enema. I paraphrase, of course, from Jack Nicholson's take on Gotham City in his turn at The Joker.
Maria Gutzeit: Cycling is not all about Lance
Recently, people asked me with sincerity in their eyes if I am reconsidering my involvement in cycling because of the Lance Armstrong scandal. My response: Pftttt.
Byron York: Winning Hispanic vote not enough for GOP
After six months of mulling over November's election results, many Republicans remain convinced that the party's only path to future victory is to improve the GOP's appeal to Hispanic voters.
Michael Berger: Bill helps colleges meet student needs
Higher education is undergoing significant changes such as we've never seen before. And while we're charging forward to integrate technology in the classroom, offer online learning, and enhance the academic support available to students outside of the classroom, we find ourselves being held back by a relic of the past.
