Opinion: Mothers know everything
First published in The Tacoma News Tribune, Tacoma on May 13, 1984. You can always tell a mother — but you can’t tell her much. You know how mothers are. They know everything. Such as the importance of always wearing clean underwear. “Always wear clean underwear,” a mother will say, “because you never know when […]
Opinion: A city worrying about its drunks
First published in The Madera Tribune, on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013. The good people of San Francisco are still scratching their heads over what to do with all the drunks who hang out on the sidewalks downtown. The city did come up with a special court to handle public drunkenness cases, but it was found […]
Opinion: This cat is not a killer, Sizemore
First published in The Madera Tribune on Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013. The cat who allows us to share her house has been looking over her shoulder lately, on the lookout for Grant Sizemore of the American Bird Conservancy. Sizemore wants us to round up as many as 80 million unowned outdoor cats, take them to […]
Opinion: No to online Girl Scout cookies
First published in The Madera Tribune on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2014. I’m not sure I’ll be buying any Girl Scout cookies online this year. I think if I get talked into a purchase, I’d rather have it done by an erstwhile young lady outside a store in a shopping center, or one who knocks on […]
Opinion: Trying to pull off the old hat trick
First published in The Tacoma News Tribune, Tacoma on June 17, 1984. Even though it is not likely to result in my being pictured on the fashion pages any time soon, it has become my habit over the past few years to wear a hat. I wear a hat whenever the wind blows, whenever it […]
Opinion: Long-distance calls, now and then
First published in The Madera Tribune on March 16, 2016. I spent some time on the phone Monday with Sophie Reiss, who happened to be speaking from London. She works for a news service there, and she had called to see whether The Madera Tribune needs any news from Great Britain. My answer was probably […]
Opinion: Some people ask why; he asks, why knot?
Originally published March 15, 2007. The big thing in fashion news these days is necktie knots. I’m no slave to fashion (not even a hired hand, my friends and associates will tell you) but I do wear a tie once in a while, so it caught my attention when it was reported that many of […]
Opinion: Makeup controversy makes one blush
Original published Saturday, Aug. 7, 2004. Well, now the truth is out — the reason why some legislators, mostly Democrats, are miffed at Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger: It’s because he often appears to be wearing makeup, and gets expensive haircuts. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, a Democrat, also believes that Schwarzenegger is behaving worse than former Gov. […]
Opinion: Verdicts against music thieves prove point
Originally published Saturday, Aug. 21, 2004. Word is that music companies are winning their lawsuits against individuals whom they accuse of illegally downloading music from the Internet, and that should tell something about what should be free over the Internet and what shouldn’t. Because the Internet makes so much information available for free, a lot […]
Opinion: Wondering about tolerances for boredom
Originally published Friday, June 18, 2004. Don’t be too surprised if somebody files suit on behalf of spotted owls who live in old-growth timber. The suit would not be against loggers, because loggers haven’t been cutting much old-growth timber in the past few years, in order to protect the spotted owls. This wasn’t the loggers’ […]