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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!

Last week, dedicated workers and volunteers from more than 20 human service agencies brought food, clothing and services to unhoused people in South County.

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!

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.

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:

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.

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.

Twenty five years after just running around on a soccer pitch Sunday morning with county employees and after years of working closely with county departments and listening constantly to words like "can't" "why bother" and other such terms that aren't conducive to meaningful change, I have ideas for Pete Kutras on how to shave money from the county budget this year, and it's not looking at non-mandated service, because the preponderance of evidence shows that if county residents don't have access to many of the non-mandated services, we will have more people clogging the mandated systems: county emergency rooms and jails, and the streets.

Anytime a new craze sweeps across the land, I react by rationally yelling, "Now why didn't I think of that?"

I rarely ask for direct political action from readers, but I am now: asking you to write letters to the governor and to the state's secretary of health and human services to support the governor's signing of SB1288. If you or someone you know has endured the pain of a kid in trouble with alcohol or other drugs and ever tried to find help that doesn't require a second mortgage, you will know how important this bill is.