Guest View

Many of the responses to my July 11 column about the sadness and sickness of the violence in the Middle East are attempting to label me in inaccurate ways; so I thought this column could help define who I am and what I believe. By doing this I hope we'll keep an ongoing discussion on track, and off personalities.

Maybe your worst job ever was when you were in high school. Or maybe it was during college, or your first professional job. Or, perhaps, you've just retired from it. No matter. The fact is that we've all had jobs that in retrospect make us wince, lament or laugh out loud. Actually, a bad job should be a rite of passage. And, our "bad jobs" should be a learning experience. Bad jobs teach us humility, patience, and fortitude and how to get along with others. Most importantly, they teach us to aspire to something better.

Where the heck is Al Gore when you need him? 

As a columnist I feel I have done a reasonable job when I receive praise and angry responses to the same piece. My column on the Israeli/Palestinian issue was light on facts, but the facts were definitely accurate.

Have you complained about the high cost of houses in Morgan Hill? If you own a home you may be benefiting from the high prices or, at least, feel you are. Unfortunately to benefit from these prices you need to sell your home and move elsewhere. High prices in themselves do not provide any real benefit. The real result of these prices is that our sons and daughters are going to have a much tougher time buying their first home.

Repeat after me… "I love summer. I love heat. I love summer. I love heat. I love…" Oh, for heaven's sake – it's Hot outside!

We heard that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie intend to sell their baby's pictures for $4.1 million with money going to a children's institution.

Frankly, I am getting tired of the political rhetoric that continues to define conflicts over environmental regulation as a property rights issue. That is a sham foisted on us by those who think it their God-given right to make the maximum amount of money at our expense and the politicians, like Richard Pombo, who find this a convenient rallying cry.

Just a few days after one of the richest Americans, Warren Buffet, announced that he was going to hand over a lot of his vast fortune to the other richest American's foundation (Bill Gates), New York City Mayor Michael Bloomburg, no slouch in the "rich guy department" himself, announced that he too was committing major ducats to charity. A few others will follow suit, and that's a wonderful thing.

"What If?"