Sometimes it turns out that famous clichés are just plain wrong, or at least wrong in enough important situations to make them suspect. One with which I particularly disagree is "Familiarity breeds contempt." I know what it is supposed to identify, and I flatly disagree. Familiarity, with the right people, in the right way, and for the right reasons, actually breeds contentment.
Roger Ailes, the head of Fox News Channel, is a very smart man. And he knows how to count, a skill that has apparently eluded many of his fellow conservatives.
Presidents' Day is a time set aside to celebrate the legacies of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and also remember all of the Presidents of the United States (POTUS) that have made our nation great.
A friend of mine recently sent me one of those political emails that screams for fact-checking. You know the ones I mean - "Obama is really a space alien and we have proof!" or "Hilary Clinton Smokes Pot with Harry Reid."
Our failure in chief gave us his annual blurred vision of America again Tuesday night. Based on his State of the Union message, Barack Obama's eyesight is as ideologically impaired as ever. Despite four years of failure, he still sees only one road America can go down to regain its economic health. Not down the capitalist road of free enterprise and liberty that made us the richest country in history. He wants to continue down ...
We all know what happens when the fox guards the chicken coop - or do we? Our state of psychological disarmament makes us unable to recognize even such an obvious threat. I can't think of another explanation for why the country hasn't melted down the Capitol switchboard with phone calls to U.S. senators beseeching them not to confirm John Brennan as the next director of the CIA. What's so scary about Brennan, currently President Obama's ...
One of the comments I often hear from people who visit Santa Clarita for the first time is how beautiful our city looks.
I syndicate the cartoons of Rick McKee, the brilliant, conservative cartoonist from The Augusta Chronicle, to newspapers around the world.
Our youngest son, a senior at Valencia High School, ain't happy. At least his Twitter feed indicates a certain upset with the sports staff of The Signal. What upset our 6-foot, 2-inch-tall co-captain of the powerful Valencia varsity tennis team, who recently decided to attend the University of Nevada? During the tennis off season, he counts himself a member of Viking Nation, the student athletic rooting section for Valencia High School, along with a trunkful ...
With an editorial titled "Pope Sets Example For Other Aging Leaders," USA Today tried laying a major guilt trip on the nation's authority figures.
Welcome to Delaware, reader. While "our own" Joe Biden was promoting government control of your gun accessories in the nearby major media market of Philadelphia, network, local and national press reporters wheeled into "DelaWhere?" to document the horrible carnage of a most violently dysfunctional custody and child support battle.
Chris Christie got laughs on the Letterman show last week when he showed up with a doughnut. I get what he was trying to do. People keep goofing on his girth, and a former White House doctor had just told CNN that if Christie were elected president, "I'm worried about this man dying in office." So he figures that the best way to defuse the issue is to make light of his weight. But this ...
Beef contaminated with horsemeat has sparked a multi-nation controversy in Europe. It's no secret that the French have long been galloping gourmets. Gobbling horsemeat there dates back to the country's 18th century revolution, when rich folks' horses began to fill food supply gaps. Today horsemeat is still found in many stores there. The French's appetite for it has declined. But partygoers in the United Kingdom would be utterly sickened if they discovered they ate horse ...
Over at the Santa Clarita Economic Development Corporation last week, things got rightfully hot and bothered over ... storm water run-off.
The greatest need the world has is for you to be a man. This is not an easy thing to learn and must be taught. You must put away childish attitudes and learn to do the right thing. You must choose who will be your teacher, your mentor, your counselor, your friend, your father figure. Let others follow the crowd, sports heroes and music idols. They have nothing to say and nothing to offer. ...
Retired professional basketball coach and former basketball player Phil Jackson once said: "Not only is there more to life than basketball, there's a lot more to basketball than basketball."
Santa Clarita's rich Western heritage takes center stage each year at the city's acclaimed Cowboy Festival. This year marks the 20th annual event, which attracts more than 10,000 visitors each year from all over the country and beyond.
Get this: President Obama has proclaimed April as National Financial Capability Month.
Most likely, by the time you read this, one of my dearest family members has either died of natural causes or been euthanized.
An estimated 400 Santa Claritans will participate in the 2013 National Day of Prayer. This is the ninth year that an event has been hosted in our valley and I have served as its chairman.
April is National Alcohol Awareness Month, and this year's theme is "Help For Today, Hope For Tomorrow."
It's the most common reader complaint, heard throughout the history of hometown newspapers. Benjamin Franklin got an earful as publisher of the Philadelphia Gazette. You probably heard it yesterday.
Have you ever been driving in a car and find yourself drowsy? We've all done it.
Our English language has many words whose forms remain the same even though the context changes their meaning.
Nate Silver, the sage oracle hero of all number-crunchers like myself, recently posted several fascinating blog entries about polled attitudes on same-sex marriage and the changes in those attitudes since 1996, when Congress enacted and President Bill Clinton signed into law the Defense of Marriage Act.
Forgive me for not writing sooner about the 10-year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, which was March 19. I found myself engaged in deep reflection over what the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan really mean and where they fall within the spectrum of American history.
Last year California voters approved two tax increases aimed at bringing billions more dollars into state coffers.
Here we go again. On April 10, thousands of illegal immigrants and their lobbyists will gather on the National Mall to support an immigration reform bill that the Senate is expected to introduce this month.
Salon.com recently ran excerpts of Emily Anthes's book "Frankenstein's Cat: Cuddling Up To Biotech's Brave New Beasts," and I may never look at national security the same way again.
As warmer weather approaches, there are some tips that I might offer to help you save your hard-earned money, precious resources, and make your home and family safer.