Kevin Bayona: Obama’s test will be in diplomacy

The election is finally over, and Barack Obama has been re-elected to another term in the White House. The president will face many challenges, but none will be more important than how America's foreign policy unfolds over the next four years.

Dick Ramirez: The chains are coming off

It's being reported that Grover Norquist's anti-taxing and anti-spending contract of coercion directed toward our political system is crumbling.

Saad Karamat: Focus on Muslim humanity

Four California Muslims ages 21-35 have been arrested on account of their plans to join the Taliban and kill Americans. These arrests come as a big hit to me as a 23-year-old California Muslim.

Jim Mullen: Some years, you just want to stay home

Almost everyone we know has packed up and gone south for the winter. The ones who haven't left yet will be gone soon. Our friends who live south of us are leaving to go even farther south. I have never been to Belize or Costa Rica or the Cayman Islands, but I constantly hear people say they are going back for the fourth or fifth time because they liked it so much. They also have much more money and time.

Brian Springer: Community makes a life wonderful

"It's a Wonderful Life" has always been one of my favorite movies, and the older I get, the more I can relate to its life lessons and subtextual meanings.

Jan Ting: Fear not the fiscal cliff

The so-called "fiscal cliff" is the confluence of three separate legal events on Jan. 1, 2013: expiration of a temporary payroll tax cut, expiration of the so-called "Bush" income and estate tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003, and mandatory spending cuts also known as "sequestration." Many commentators are expressing concern that unless Congress intervenes by Jan. 1, the economy will suffer a serious setback. But I don't think that's the worst thing that could ...

Danny Tyree: Philanthropy adapts, is entering the 21st century

Just as Black Friday kicks off the holiday shopping season for brick-and-mortar retailers and Cyber Monday launches the online shopping season, we now have #GivingTuesday (the day after Cyber Monday) as a starting point for charitable acts by individuals, groups and companies.

Nat Hentoff: US needs second Declaration of Independence

My spirits were temporarily lifted when, last week, the Washington, D.C.-based Daily Caller website reported "more than 675,000 digital signatures appeared on 69 separate secession petitions covering all 50 states, according to ... requests lodged with the White House's 'We the People' online petition system" ("White House 'secede' petitions reach 675,000 signatures, 50-state participation," David Martosko, dailycaller.com, Nov. 14). Moreover, in various parts of the country, citizens infuriated for various reasons by the re-election of ...

Kathryn Lopez: This holiday season, avoid being materialistic

For as long as I can remember, I've always thought about waking up obscenely early the morning after Thanksgiving, to check out the goings-on at the toy or department store. Not because I wanted to shop, but to visit the safari - it's always struck me as quite the exotic mystery, why anyone would want to walk away from a calm morning with family or friends to fight for a parking spot. Of course, now ...

Michael Reagan: It’s time for the GOP to reach out to others

Forget Republican comebacks in 2014 or 2016. Unless it gets its head and its heart straight, the party might never win the popular vote or the White House again. The GOP today is not my father's party. And until the hierarchy of the GOP stops talking about how great Ronald Reagan was and starts embracing what he really stood for, the party of conservatism is destined for the ash heap of history. Ronald Reagan was ...

Steve Lunetta: Renovation reveals new tax rip-offs

Our money pit known as the Meadview house is coming along nicely. For those of you who are unaware, Trish and I bought a fixer-upper disaster in Placerita Canyon last year. Every spare dime has been going into renovations. And aspirin to relieve my headaches. Living in a fixer-upper is certainly a challenge. There is always a project going on with the accompanying dust, mess and commotion. Everything is higgledy-piggledy. And for a neat freak ...

David Hegg: We all win when we partner to solve a problem

There seems to be too much "either-or" thinking today. It happens in marriages, in friendships and in politics. "Either-or thinking" is what I call it when two people or groups have opposing ideas and are on the road to an all out fight over which idea will prevail. The byproduct of such sentiment is competition that usually devolves into hyperbole, cynicism, personal attacks and fractured relationships.

Tim Myers: Council hesitant on speech issues

Why do "The Jersey Shore" and "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" command (relatively) large audiences?

Frank Ferry: Celebrate holidays in Old Town Newhall

The holidays are here and a host of festive opportunities perfectly suited to the season are available in Old Town Newhall.

Betty Arenson: With job title comes responsibility

Democrats prevailed on Nov. 6 and you won't forget that. The media dishes daily doses from all sorts of pundits and yahoos spewing their claptraps on how Republicans were and are wrong. As is typical of Democrats getting the job, they reject the responsibility that goes with it. The media supports the duplicity on every level.

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.

Donna Brazile: Right to vote isn't a racial entitlement

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Shelby County v. Holder - a challenge to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, specifically Section 5, which requires states and localities with a history of voting discrimination against racial and language minorities to get "pre-approved" by the federal government before changing how elections are conducted or voters are registered.

David Hegg: Choosing Chastity

I may be asked to turn in my man card for this, but here goes. On a getaway for my wife's birthday, I joined her to watch an episode of The Bachelor.

Tim Myers: Does election date change help incumbents?

Kathryn Pisaro: Protect music programs in Newhall School District

On Tuesday, the school board for the Newhall School District is going to be asked to cut a music teacher from our already-reduced music program.

Frank Ferry: Live from City Hall

"Government, at its core, is about doing together what we can't do alone. It's why we believe that citizen engagement is vital. ..."

Danny Tyree: Is the free ride over?

es, I dutifully affix my copyright notice to my column each week, and I've been known to notify the syndicate of suspected unauthorized use; but I haven't gotten anywhere near as persnickety (or creepy) as the entertainment industry.

Rick Jensen: Obama sequester two-step

Watching from the cheap seats, Obama's "Sequester Two-Step" is quite entertaining. While not nearly as graceful as Charles Durning's classic political footplay in "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," only fellow Democrat Bob Menendez puts in a better performance of the beleaguered innocent these days.

Kevin Korenthal: The politics of pain

I am often stunned when I hear people, some of them friends, confess that they do not follow politics.