Last week I became a statistic. I was one of the over 6,700 cases of whooping cough reported in California for 2010 - the most cases reported in 63 years.
I used to know Denair as a small town where I would go to visit an old friend who showed sheep. Just a small town, not too much going on, but a pleasant Central Valley community.
"No man is an island," begins the famous poem of the same name by John Donne.
On Election Day, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case Schwarzenegger vs. Entertainment Merchants Association. The irony of this case name was obvious: The celebrated violent-action-hero governor of California had signed a bill into law in 2005 forbidding the sale of ultraviolent video games to minors, a law that lower federal courts prevented from ever going into effect.
"The taxpayers gave and they also took away. On one hand, the people said by a majority, 'Give us a budget.' On the other hand, they said, 'Don't pick my pocket.'" This was Jerry Brown's verdict on California voters' picks on ballot measures delivered at his post-victory press conference Wednesday.
The day after an election can be difficult for many. Of course, there are those candidates whose hard work, sincerity and perseverance didn't pay off and they now have to deal with the reality of losing a race for office. Many candidates are social people and failing in such a public manner must be hard. Everyone knows you didn't get the job - tough break.
Air travel has always been a part of my life. The moment my Indiana-born dad met my California-born mother and fell in love, my flying destiny was sealed.
For half of the candidates on Tuesday's ballot, these are the days you remember.
Election season advertising campaigns are always insufferable, but this year is the worst in recent memory.
Last week a press release came across my desk that killed a dream of mine. The news was innocent enough; it congratulated an Elk Grove college student on his upcoming appearance on the TV show "Jeopardy!" For me, however, this press release ended four months of waiting and hoping on a phone call from the "Jeopardy!"casting staff. You see, I was also in the running to compete in ...
I'm not usually one to rail against new technology. I'm a geek, a nerd, a certifiable tech-addict with more gadgets, gizmos, whozits and whatzits than "The Little Mermaid" could ever dream of.
Education, like politics, is local. You want it close to home, the better to monitor it. That's how it should be.
Back when our country was young, political candidates relied on their friends to spread the word about their accomplishments and suitability to hold office. In fact, historian Samuel Eliot Morison wrote that candidates "were supposed to play coy, obeying a call to service from their country, saving their energies for the task of government. Electioneering was done by newspapers, pamphlets, and occasional public meetings." <p style="margin: 0in 0in ...
You hear stories of courage every day. A man survives cancer and goes on to climb Mount Everest. A woman born without legs opens her own business and becomes an inspirational speaker. A child becomes badly burned in a house fire and, despite the pain, is cheerful and full of hope.
It's Thursday morning at 4 a.m. and I can't sleep. It's a common occurrence when I'm carrying a big load at work-my brain just doesn't turn off even though my eyelids are closed. So, instead of counting sheep, I'm doing a mental roll call of my to-do list at the office. But, I have a rule. If I'm still awake after 30 minutes of lying in the dark, ...
There is no life without water, and nowhere is this sentiment truer than in California, where water is critical to the vitality of every part of the state. But that does not give bureaucrats the justification to decimate the San Joaquin Valley to divert water from some areas to give even more water to others. The State Water Resources Control Board quietly decided on New Year's Eve to increase water exports for fish ...
A baseball fan turns away from the action at a minor league game in Idaho to chat with a friend. Suddenly, the crowd around him starts yelling. He turns back toward the field and is hit in the eye with a foul ball. Ultimately he loses vision in the eye. He sues. Earlier this month, NASCAR fans at Daytona sitting feet from the track where cars are racing at speeds approaching 200 mph ...
In January, the Journal relaunched its Women in Business publication after a four-year hiatus. When the advertising department first suggested bringing back this section, I was a little hesitant. Most of the women I know who hold leadership positions in their respective careers consider themselves professionals. Not women professionals. And all of the women interviewed for this year's special publication voiced the same opinion; gender was not a factor in their daily professional ...
A side effect of more healthcare insurance coverage is becoming painfully apparent - a less robust economy for those struggling to stay afloat. It all comes down to two numbers: 49 and 29. Go above 49 employees and a business has to provide health insurance. Have an employee work more hours a week, and if you provide health coverage you have to extend it to them as well. The firms ...
Everything is bigger in Texas. Including the egos of their politicians. Texas Gov. Rick Perry came to California recently. His objective was to steal jobs. A Rhode Island-sized radio campaign - $24,000 worth of paid spots - preceded his pilgrimage to the cutting-edge land known as California. Perry's spiel is that he's heading here because it's hard to do business in California. It's so hard that Cupertino-based Apple has amassed $187 billion while Texas-based ...
Mandatory gun liability insurance for gun owners sounds reasonable, doesn't it? But so does mandatory liability insurance for dog owners. On paper, at least. In reality, all insurance will do is drive up the cost of owning a gun for responsible citizens and do little if anything to stop the criminal element or crazed individuals from killing people. Assemblyman Philip Ting, D-San Francisco, is pursuing a mandatory gun insurance requirement ...
My friends from out of town want to know what I thought of President Obama's State of the Union address. The answer is simple. I live in Los Angeles. I didn't see or hear the State of the Union address. I was watching the Christopher Dorner manhunt. In the days since Dorner became the most feared name in Los Angeles, my adopted city has gone through an emotional roller coaster: horror at the ...
It's commonplace to be familiar with those particularly disgruntled folks who breathe a sigh of relief at the end of each Valentine's Day. However, if there is one typical feature of Valentine's Day that we should take care to continue, it is writing meaningful cards and letters. I still hold memories of myself enjoying how fresh ink scratched the paper as I wrote all my birthday party thank-you notes nearly seven years ago, ...
Patterson has done what Ceres has not, so far: Opened a Walmart Supercenter. It appears the project, which opened last month, dodged the bullet of the anti-Walmart forces. On the other hand, the proposed and approved Ceres Walmart Supercenter is balled up in legal proceedings that could take years. What gives? Why was Ceres targeted by paid Walmart assassin Brett Jolley (the attorney who makes a living by fighting Walmarts up and down California) ...
My father taught me the line when I was a child: "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!"
The Environmental Perfection Agency is finally having its wings clipped.
There's a lot that Al Gore says that makes sense. Ditto for Warren Buffet. But the next time they lecture us you may want to see if their words match their actions. Gore has a long history of "do as I say" and "not as I do." It goes back as far as his speech as vice president, lecturing us on the immorality of buying and driving big SUVs and ...
If I was a politician, I might be labeled a flip-flopper because I have recently reversed my previous opinion on a local governance issue. The matter in question: red light traffic cameras. Four years ago, the City of Turlock was considering installing red light enforcement cameras at two Turlock intersections. I was personally against the idea of traffic cameras and was happy when the City ultimately decided against their installation. I have since ...
Jerry Brown's legacy awaits. And so does the future of California.
I confess. I could care less that Lance Armstrong blood doped. I could care even less whether Barry Bonds and half of baseball uses steroids. They are playing games that happen to be big business. Yes, they either did or may have cheated. But why is this is a national crime? Should the FBI and the Department of Justice be spending inordinate amount of resources going after them? Yes, they broke the law. ...