No Wasted Crises
By Rinaldo Brutoco   |   August 27, 2020

The triple threat we face could make our country stronger than ever You’ve heard the old saying “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” No question, we are ensnared in a crisis, within a crisis, within a crisis. We have the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic with 180,000 dead in the United States as […]

Letters to the Editor
By Montecito Journal   |   August 20, 2020

Many Unanswered Questions Thank you, Kelly Mahan Herrick, for the August 6 article on the county’s spraying of herbicides in the debris basins of Montecito. Some questions come to mind after reading the responses of County officials Maureen Spencer and Jon Frye. Ms Spencer mentions that if there isn’t a burned watershed above a debris […]

 

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“Tabloid Culture” – A True Oxymoron
By Gwyn Lurie   |   August 20, 2020

For a few decades before and one decade after the Millennium, there was a well-known restaurant in New York named Elaine’s, known as the “it” celebrity hang-out and “the private place where public people go to be private in public.” There was a rigorous selection process to get in (which was conducted by Elaine herself). […]

Letters to the Editor
By Montecito Journal   |   August 13, 2020

Dear James During one interview with Howard Stern, Donald Trump opined that avoiding STDs was his own personal Vietnam. At that time Donald Trump claimed he dated (you do not need a definition of “dating” here) a lot of beautiful women. Remember what he said about Carly Fiorina, Megyn Kelly, or his comment about Miss […]

Ellen DeGeneres, a Stand-Up Person
By Les Firestein   |   August 13, 2020

In recent weeks, sharks have been circling the waters off the coast of Santa Barbara. It is a scientific fact that certain species of shark must always move forward, constantly feeding, or else they will die. This is true of Mako sharks. It’s true of hammerheads. It is true of Great Whites. My big question […]

Property v s Humanity?
By Robert Bernstein   |   August 13, 2020

George Floyd was killed by police officers over a claim that he had a fake $20 bill. How much power should be given to property versus to humanity? Property vs humanity is in the forefront of my mind now. Imagine that someone has lived in a home for over 30 years. But in a matter […]

Arc of the Moral Universe
By Rinaldo Brutoco   |   August 13, 2020

When it comes to criminal justice reform, the compassionate path is also the wisest. President Obama had one quote woven into the carpet of the Oval Office. It read: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” That Martin Luther King, Jr. quote has resonated with us down through history […]

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  • Taking a Stand in the Sand
    By Mimi Degruy   |   August 6, 2020

    Listen, listen, listen. Learn, Learn, Learn. During these past few tumultuous months, that has been my mantra. As a privileged white woman, I feel it is best to stay quiet and listen deeply. I have much to learn from the BLM and BIPOC movements. And yet there are times when darkness surfaces and it feels […]

    Pitch Imperfect
    By Gwyn Lurie   |   July 30, 2020

    Remember the movie Home Alone? It’s a fantasy, a comedy, and a horror film wrapped in one. The parents leave for a family vacation and amidst the chaos of preparing to leave, they forget the most important thing… their son. So the kid gets left home alone with no grown-up in charge, no one to […]

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    Why Are We Here?
    By Rinaldo Brutoco   |   July 30, 2020

    My wife and I have significant comorbidity issues that would be extremely dangerous were we to contract COVID-19. Many of us have been self-quarantined since mid-February with no end in sight. Why are we here? California started way behind New York in experiencing large pandemic infections, only to pass it. Why are we here? Santa […]

    A Life Worth Living
    By Rinaldo Brutoco   |   July 23, 2020

    WOW! It’s yet another week of rising COVID numbers as the country lurches forward and backward without any Federal leadership. This limbo period feels like it may never end. Well, in the dynamic context of conflicting realities of life and death, of abundance and growing homelessness, I’m writing today about living a meaningful life. Possibly […]

    Letters to the Editor
    By Montecito Journal   |   July 23, 2020

    Our County… Our Black Hole So, Bari Weiss (NYT Op-ed writer/editor) recently resigned. What I found sad about her departure was her self-described truth: “Twitter is not on the masthead of the NYT… but it has become its ultimate editor.” This unfortunate reality is even more acute in Santa Barbara where the flames of legitimate […]

    Pride and Prejudice
    By Gwyn Lurie   |   July 23, 2020

    These days discussions about race are like a knot where the more you work on it, the tighter it gets. I do not recall a more racially charged time and I have been through several of them. To give just a brief summary of the last few days: the entertainer Nick Cannon made some comments […]

    Letters to the Editor
    By Montecito Journal   |   July 16, 2020

    Purely Political Mr. James Buckley is a True Believer. When Donald Trump descended the escalator and announced his candidacy for president of USA, he declared that he is racist, misogynist, and antiimmigrant. For good measure he declared soon after, that he can kill somebody on Fifth Avenue, and it would not change any vote from […]

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