Archive By Section - Columnists
Will Durst: The Top 10 comedic news stories of this year
First a disclaimer: The Top 10 Comedic News Stories of 2012 should not under any circumstances be confused with the Top 10 Legitimate News Stories of 2012.
Michael Reagan: We need to get America back to being No. 1
Help us, we're falling and we can't get up again. Once upon a time - in 1988 and 1998 to be exact - the United States was the best country for a baby to be born and raised in, at least according to The Economist magazine. But the 2013 edition of the magazine's "where-to-be-born" index has us down at No. 16 - tied with Germany and one spot ahead of the United Arab Emirates. Switzerland, ...
Steve Lunetta: Government pensions are slippery slope
Flying into Ronald Reagan International Airport outside Washington, D.C. is always fun. The prevailing winds blowing down the Potomac River collide with the calmer air over Virginia to make an entertaining swirl of choppy air when landing. What joy.
David Hegg: In search of intellectual honesty
While most have never heard of him, Thomas Nagel is at the center of a controversy that threatens to pull the curtain away from the great and terrible Oz of our day. I am speaking about the almost universally accepted belief that all of life - indeed, every element of the universe and all that exists in it - can be reduced to physical particles, themselves the product of physical processes guided by the principle of natural selection.
Frank Ferry: City celebrates this year’s accomplishments
It has been my honor to serve as your mayor for 2012, and as the year comes to a close, I wanted to share some of the city of Santa Clarita's accomplishments with you.
Tim Myers: From one boomburb to the next
The Santa Clarita City Council members - the wise stewards of the city or the puppets of a dictatorial city manager, depending upon one's point of view, if one even thinks about them at all - recently gave a hagiographic send-off to said alleged dictator Ken Pulskamp during his last meeting in the position before going off into the sunset of his retirement/next city manager job in Burbank.
Susan Stamper Brown: Secular humanists bid ‘A merry un-Christmas’
That "most wonderful time of the year" has arrived, and with it, most predictably, another round of attacks (yawn) by Secular Humanists doing their best to destroy the season by removing the Christ child from the creche.
Kevin Korenthal: Tax cuts can help the US economy
A majority of Americans voted to re-elect President Obama despite or maybe because of the economy. Doesn't that mean he should be allowed to put his signature economic policy into practice? Obama has long championed allowing the expiration of the Bush tax cuts on families earning more than $250,000 per year, plus additional tax hikes for that income level. All of this is intended to raise revenue to pay for spending and to reduce the ...
Rachelle Dardeau: Plenty of thanks to go around
The Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center was technically closed on Thanksgiving Day (and the following Friday), but it was abuzz with activity.
Jan Uberstine: Insurance freebies not so free
Today I got an E-pamphlet touting all the wonderful new benefits, such as "free" well-woman services, that my insurance now covers.
Jim Mullen: We went to the fiscal cliff; all I got was this stupid T-shirt
It seems we are about to fall off the "fiscal cliff." Didn't we already do that? What happened in 2007 and 2008 when the value of our homes got cut in half? What was that? A fiscal speed bump? A fiscal slap on the back of the head?
CORRECTION: Steve Lunetta: Modification affects many properties
Editor's note: Due to technical problems on our end, Steve Lunetta's column did not make it to The Signal in time for Monday publication. With apologies to Steve, we offer it up today.
Steve Lunetta: Modification affects many properties
Editor's note: Due to technical problems on our end, Steve Lunetta's column did not make it to The Signal in time for Monday publication. With apologies to Steve, we offer it up today.
Ted Aquaro: Who is in charge?
In recent weeks, we have seen the news flooded with "Zippergate" involving Gens. David Petraeus and John Allen, who have both had questionable relationships with some kind of military
Gil Mertz: Count on the fickle American electorate
One of the lingering questions from the recent election is if this signals a turning point of the American electorate, as we are now hearing from both sides. I think it's too early to tell for sure, but if we look at our recent past, we'll find that our politics have been quite fickle.
Articles by Section - Columnists
Edward Headington: Last call to release the Kraken!
Apple pie, "Bye Bye Birdie" and Beverly Cleary are all things most Americans would admit to liking. You could also throw in DVRs, shorter commutes and the warm-and-fuzzy title of the proposed "Clean Water, Clean Beaches" measure before county property owners.
David Hegg: Ethically Speaking
For several years between my graduate studies and my first ministry position I was in the corporate world. Providing for my family while serving as a lay minister meant being immersed in the world of business. I owned and ran a small business, transitioned to a home office marketing position in a multi-state financial institution, and ended up as a sales manager for a national company.
Donna Brazile: Demand to know, 'Where's the beef?'
In an iconic commercial, two old ladies, after looking inside a nearly empty hamburger bun, demand of the hapless fast-food clerk, "Where's the beef?" The phrase expresses outrage at false advertising - pretending there's something of substance in the sandwich when there's really nothing there.
Laurene Weste: Live from City Hall
One of the hallmarks of our city is its commitment to sustainability, state-of-the-art recycling and diversion programs, and community support to work together for the environment.
Tim Myers: A lesson in the industry of self preservation
I would commend to anyone with an ironic sense of humor the cable TV series "Portlandia," from the minds of Fred Armisen of Saturday Night Live and Carrie Brownstein of indie music fame.
Helen Harwood: SCV Voices
I do wish sometimes that some of your regular contributors to The Signal's Letters to the Editor would spend less time writing unsubstantiated clichés and more time reading up on economics.
Danny Tyree: Candy capitulation: say it ain’t so!
According to ABC News, you should probably get ready for a take-no-prisoners "This is your brain on nougat" campaign.
Byron York: Has Obama overplayed his hand in sequester?
Nine months ago, Barack Obama likened his Republican opposition to an illness. If he could just defeat Mitt Romney, Obama said, then the illness might subside. "I believe that if we're successful in this election - when we're successful in this election - that the fever may break," Obama told a fundraiser in Minneapolis last June.
Tammy Messina: Defending the Second Amendment
Most of us have never had to fight for our freedom. We don't even know what that looks like. In our lifetime, we've always had the right to say what we want and do what we want, as long as we operate inside the law. Many of those who've emigrated from other countries do know what it's like to live without those freedoms and how precious they are once obtained.
Joe Gandelman: Political gridlock
An old vaudeville joke went like this: "Do I look like an idiot? Do I look like a jerk who doesn't know what's going on? Do you think I'm dumb? Don't answer that!"
Kevin Bayona: Is the red menace back?
We don't hear much from Russia these days, but rest assured the Russian Federation is on the move across Eurasia and the world as its pugnacious leader, Vladimir Putin, vies to return Russia to the glory days of the Soviet Union.
Gary Horton: Incompetent staff make it a bad cruise
Cruise ships have become popular vacation scenes over the past decade. A chance to leisurely enjoy freedom of the open seas as ship's staff cater to whims and needs!
Tom Purcell: My parents school the Senate
"All right," said my mother, standing before the members of the U.S. Senate, "it's time for you to get your act together."
Jonathan Kraut: Heroes or vicitms?
I am having a problem with associating the term "hero" with every law-enforcement officer and government employee who has been harmed or died on duty.
Steve Lunetta: Obama's folly
The irony is astounding. The sequestration plan that appears to be a machination by President Obama's White House is now coming back to haunt him big time.
