Not That You Asked
Shooting at transit center raises questions
When the district attorney declined to bring charges last February in the fatal shooting of a 21-year-old Oceanside man by a security guard during a fight at the Vista transit center, there were many questions left unanswered. We do know that sheriff’s deputies are reported at the time to have said the guard fired twice […]
Something feels a little familiar …
These headlines lately about how Wall Street movers and shakers are throwing lavish parties for the holiday season, one featuring a performance by the hip-hop star Lil’ Kim dressed up as a black cat, reminded me to look for article I’d heard about called “What Good is Wall Street?” The hosts are reported not to […]
What was behind the Escondido bomb house?
Was it a dispute over severance pay that led a man to turn his rented Escondido house into a manufacturing plant where accidents happen? Did he think his best source of start-up capital would be a big bank, like the Bank of America? He had an account there into which the telecom company that fired […]
Science gives us reason to look past ourselves
Just as the lame ducks in Congress threatened to wash away our holiday-season cheer with their bickering, along came news suggesting that E.T. could be knocking on our doors any day now to ask us to go out for a bicycle ride. As for the sorry state of the legislative branch in Washington, what are […]
North County sends big power to Washington
One of our own, Darrell Issa, is now entering center stage in Washington, D.C. Issa is soon to be armed with subpoena power to carry out his choice of investigations into the underside of a capital where waste abounds, cover-ups fester, double talk reigns and officials routinely sidestep taking responsibility for things that go wrong. […]
You call that news?
I’m guessing we all feel better now that Pat Sajak has apologized for once having boosted the then-fledgling career of Keith Olbermann. Maybe it’s just me, but had holding it in for so long caused facial tics each spin of the wheel? On Nov. 10, Pat Sajak, host as we know of the popular TV […]
In this season of indulgence many don’t have enough
A guy I know got fired not long ago after nearly six months on the job and nary a whimper of a complaint about his performance. As I understand it, he was told that management just wanted to make a change, and it was no reflection on the high quality of his work. He was, […]
Fueling research at great universities
The rain had scrubbed the skies the other day and I was taking another good gulp of fresh air, looking forward to continuing this practice well into 2012 when a state law takes effect aimed at curbing greenhouse gases, slowing global warming and, presumably, enabling for eminently breathable air. Were it not for the defeat […]
Runs like well-oiled campaign machinery
When the New York Times reported on Oct. 21 that investment bankers and oil companies with near anonymity have been pouring large amounts of hard-to-trace money into the coffers of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to finance lobbying and political battles, it prompted me to take a second look at the propositions on the ballot […]
Pay isn’t the problem; transparency is
Ever since those pictures in the news a few weeks ago of the former city manager of Bell, Calif., being escorted by police from his front yard — his loose black jersey unable to disguise a prominently protruding paunch — we’ve seen a spate of numbers about the pay in the upper tiers of the […]
