Proposition 90 is Taxpayer Trap, Would Cost Billions Annually
Problems with Proposition 90, that have devastating impacts on
Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’: Turmoil on the High Seas
Today your Mushroom City Memoirs columnist, Gale Hammond, fills you in on all you need to know about … er, excuse me … we just returned from an "adventure at sea" (a.k.a. "cruise"), and I must learn to talk like a normal person again. After keeping company with "Snowball Scotty" and "Bruce," our naturalist, for the past week, I am desperately trying to check my enthusiasm.
Beam Me Up?
Over three-quarters of a century. That's how long my wife and I have lived. Now, only a few years before 80, we have experienced many, many of life's strange twists. But, I believe a circumstance this past August was, perhaps, the strangest of all. But, let me set the stage.
Ben Gilmore’s Nov. 7 Election Picks
Our national motto, "e pluribus unum" is Latin for "from many one." It spoke of the unity of sovereign states into one nation. It also spoke of the melding of many cultures into one American culture. That culture, conceived in the 1600s, and born in 1776, grew to become the most creative, most productive, most benevolent, most liberating and most sustainable culture in human history!
Helping Chronically Homeless Will Require Coordinated Effort
Last week, dedicated workers and volunteers from more than 20 human service agencies brought food, clothing and services to unhoused people in South County.
Going the Extra Mile to Market the Family’s Vehicles
You had better be sitting down for this. The other day I heard on the radio that some new study (conducted for God only knows what reason except to drive mothers crazy all over America) showed that there are more germs on the steering wheel of your car than on the seat of a public toilet!
An Apology and a ‘No’ Vote on Proposition 85
A few weeks ago, in my column citing examples of lack of discipline in public schools, I said that the summer assignments at a Morgan Hill public school weren't collected. This is what I understood from conversations with not just my student, but another. When I tried to verify the information (phone system is awful to navigate, an email went unanswered), I opted for not giving the school the benefit of the doubt and printed what I believed was correct.
Weddings 101: Here Comes the Bird
You'll be pleased to know that today as a public service I am revealing some sure-fire wedding coordinating tips I have recently acquired via the successful marriage of our last-born daughter. By "successful" I am referring to a ceremony that neither offends nor disgraces either family%to the point that relatives go to blows on the dance floor and that none of the wedding party's clothing falls off, catches fire, nor is featured on next month's cover of "Motorcycle Digest: The Hell's Angels Edition." Starting in no particular order, I will nevertheless begin with a stern:
‘History in the Making’ Awaits the Governor’s Signature
Creation of the Town of San Martin moves closer to becoming a long-awaited reality, thanks to Assembly member John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, author of AB 1602. This critical legislation has passed the state legislature and now awaits Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's signature. Without raising taxes or fees, this legislation provides newly incorporated towns with a larger share of current tax monies, thereby enhancing the financial feasibility of incorporation.
Fundamentalism Has High-jacked Religion and Politics in the U.S.A.
Religious fundamentalism is the enemy of all thinking people. It is also the enemy of peace and goodwill among the world's populations. In this context, fundamentalism is using a literal interpretation of a religion's holy book in a spiritually bankrupt way. Fundamentalists take their marching orders from their manuals. For Christians the manual is the Bible; for Muslims it is the Koran; for Jews it is the Torah.
