Guest View

‘Twas the night before Fiscal Cliff, and throughout the land,

Congratulations to the city’s incumbent elected leadership team, resounding endorsed by voters on Election Day. Steve Tate, running unopposed, will remain as mayor for the next two years and City Council incumbents, Larry Carr and Marilyn Librers, will be back in the saddle for four-year terms.

A historical, significant act doesn't burst on the scene in one day. It begins with a germ of an idea deep in the crevices of the human heart. The right kind of heart connected to hundreds of other hearts ready to do good for strangers.

The Delta is a critical component of our water system. Here in the Silicon Valley, 40 percent of our water supply passes through the Delta. Our imported water comes from the Sierra Nevada snowmelt and rainfall that fills rivers and streams that flow toward the San Francisco Bay. Much of that mountain water flows through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to communities throughout the Bay Area.

Graduation season is upon us, and words of wisdom will be flowing to the class of 2012 in commencement speeches from boldface personalities such as Michelle Obama, Steve Wozniak and Steve Carell.

President Barack Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Dec. 31, 2011, allowing any president to imprison a suspected terrorist without trial until the threat of terrorism subsides - that is, indefinitely. With the signing of this bill, the president's power has expanded in the monitoring of suspected terrorist threats while sacrificing civil liberties. Previously, by the executive order of George W. Bush, the president could only imprison people without trial if they were possibly involved with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But now, the new law states that anyone can be taken into custody if he or she is a suspected supporter of terrorists groups or those groups' affiliates. These vague parameters make the NDAA bill threatening to civil rights. An individual's suspected affiliation with a certain group is based on the U.S. government's fear and desire to control.

Jon Hatakeyama