Editor’s Note: In our October 15-22 issue, the Montecito Journal published ‘Down the Drain in Montecito,’ by Floyd Wicks, Chris Francis and Woody Barrett, without identifying it as an opinion piece. It was “a Voice of the Village” submission and reflects the views of its authors. It was not an endorsement by the Montecito Journal, […]
Across the U.S., Democrats Are Poised for a Midterm Election Triumph. In Santa Barbara, the Party Is Looking for Its Own Blue Wave. Article II, Section 6 of the California Constitution states that all county, school, and city elected offices in the state “shall be nonpartisan.” What a quaint notion. Political parties won the legal […]
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On April 15 in a smugly gleeful video staged in front of investment CEO Ken Griffin’s $238 million Manhattan penthouse, NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani proposed an annual tax on pied-à-terre (second) homes, especially those owned by billionaires like Griffin. Mamdani thinks billionaires are what’s wrong with America and he’s going after them. Alexandra Ocasio Cortes […]
The only war objective that the Administration has had success with is the degradation of Iran’s military capabilities. The other goals have not been achieved. – There has been no regime change and the people have not risen up in rebellion. – We have not eliminated Iran’s nuclear threat. We have degraded their programs, but […]
The mind of your Independent Mind columnist has been adrift this week. Too much going on to take it all in. So, I am going to report on two things I can’t get out of my head. Rent Control The City of Santa Barbara ignored my generous offer of help on the issue of rent […]
On the day this article reaches the newsstands it will be the 19th day of the WAR in Iran. Things are still uncertain and moving fast. My Part I article on the war yielded a lot of comments, good and bad. I’m accused by critics of a lot of things – mainly that I ignored […]
Since my last column two weeks ago a lot has been going on in the world, but nothing as significant as the war against Iran. At the time of writing this article (Sunday) it’s moving too fast and it’s far too early to come to any conclusions as to its outcome. Regardless of what you […]
I want our political leaders to succeed in making our lives better. That is their job. One wonders why they seem to fail at this task and just make things more complicated for us. After all, when our political leaders make mistakes, it is we citizens who bear the consequences. They rarely have skin in […]
Those of us with even a modicum of “context” know that Santa Barbara is not unique. Prices continue to rise – as they do around the globe – and new housing stock, at least in SB-land, is as rare as shared martinis between Trump and Newsom. So, yes, I thought I would venture onto the […]
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This is a follow-up to my recent articles (“The Kids Don’t Know…” and “Barbarians at the Gate”). The “Kids” article decried the fact that critical thinking skills are not being taught to our children which has led to fuzzy thinking about socialism. “Barbarians” was the political manifestation of that fuzziness with a Democratic Socialist receiving […]
Donald Trump is everywhere in the news lately. He dominates the daily headlines. Thus the title to this article (yes, I stole it from the movie). He’s hard to avoid. The fact that Trump is in the news constantly is an important issue. He is the news. That is because of powers relinquished by Congress […]
New York City Democrats just nominated a very woke socialist, Zohran Mamdani, for mayor. They say he has a good shot at winning. I’m not surprised. After all, NYC is a liberal/progressive bastion. They’ve already got AOC (Andrea Ocasio-Cortez), the Congresswoman representing much of the Bronx. Most democratic socialists want free stuff like health care, […]
I like Elon Musk. He’s one of the greatest innovators of our time. He revolutionized the automobile industry with Tesla, outpaced NASA with SpaceX, created a global wireless network with Starlink, and is on the cusp of a brain-computer interface with Neuralink. Think Thomas Edison. Musk – supposedly the world’s richest man – is a […]
I woke up this morning with the realization that one man ruling largely by fiat is causing global chaos. All everyone seems to talk about these days is Donald Trump and what he’s done or will do. And for good reason. It’s making us nervous. And it’s not just us: the whole world is talking […]
