Steve Rustad: Political Cartoons

• http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/files/2010/07/2010-07-22-Family-chat.jpg My eighteen-year-old daughter says of her 14-year-old sister that young people today have forgotten how to talk to each other. Instead, she says, they just text all the time and are losing the art of conversation prevalent among more senior teens. Generation (Te)X(t)
• http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/files/2010/07/Stimulus-Success.jpg A year ago we were told that, without the vast Stimulus package, unemployment might rise to the (gasp) unacceptable height of 8%. Well the package stimulated...unemployment, which is now at 9.5%. When it comes to the current administration's policies, doing nothing is actually preferable. The Results are In
• http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/files/2010/07/2010-07-15-Anti-Growth-Applicant.jpg They say that birds of a feather flock together. Not a bad metaphor for a town that grew rich raising chickens and where many local politicians specialize in chicken s--t behavior. Apparently the Progressive, e.g., anti-growth, City Council majority want to insure that their opinions are represented on the Planning Commission through the choice of a candidate whose sole qualification seems to be a history of protesting growth of any kind. I think they need to change the commission's name to Planning Hospice - where dreams go to die. Anti-Growth City Council Majority Picks A Crony

Blog: California Commons

• Tim Smith on Legal & Political Issues in Sonoma County

• It is important for any newspaper to do its part accurately and for news stories to avoid commentary or editorializing. Local Labeling
• Analysis and advice about diverse issues that include autoimmune disorders, our consumer-product driven culture and vaccinations. Green Barbarians
• See a show and support live local theatre to help protect the seeds of our imagination. The Imaginists
• If you approve this project there will be no shortage of rocks, because you'd have to have rocks in your head." Rocks in your head?

Blog: Inside Opinion

• More blogs
• Discussions

• Most of us don't buy yachts, so you may have been surprised to learn that Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry could duck a $473,000 sales tax bill by docking his sleek new toy in Rhode Island. If so, you might also be surprised to learn that California will cut you essentially the same deal.If [...] A yacht, hold the taxes
• Rep. Lynn Woolsey says in a guest opinion we just posted that the WikiLeaks revelations “left me no other choice than to vote this week against the supplemental appropriations bill to spend billions more on military operations in Afghanistan.”She went on to ask, “How could I in good conscience endorse continued financial support for an unwinnable [...] Woolsey, WikiLeaks and war spending
• The City Hall pay scandal in Bell adds another count to the growing indictment against California's extravagant public employee pension benefits.Robert Rizzo may be out as city manager, but he qualifies for an annual pension of $600,000 for the rest of his life. With cost-of-living increases factored in, that could easily add up to $20 [...] For whom the Bell tolls
• Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman slip and slide around issues like NASCAR drivers weaving through traffic. Whitman promises change with no details, mixed in with tired attacks on Brown, and the Zen master tells us that process is the program.It looks like they may duck another issue courtesy of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.Schwarzenegger, according to the [...] Another issue avoided in governor's race

Blog: Pete Golis

• Since he leaves office in January, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn't have to worry about being recalled.Lucky for him. The Sacramento Bee today reports that Schwarzenegger now has the same approval rating as former Democratic Gov. Gray Davis.You member Davis. He's the guy who was recalled when Schwarzenegger, the action movie star, was swept into [...] Low marks for The Terminator
• For a time last year, political optimists held out hope that a proposed constitutional convention could put state government back together again.It didn't happen because reformers couldn't raise the money necessary to press the campaign for a ballot measure. For obvious reasons, the special interests that bankroll most political initiatives in California like the system [...] The constitutional convention that didn't happen
• If you followed supervisorial candidate Mike McGuire's regular reports on Twitter and Facebook, you know this much: The guy is tireless. For the last several months, he has been everywhere in the Fourth District. The returns tonight show that hard work paid off.Political people like to come up with fancy explanations for the outcomes of [...] For McGuire, hard work pays off
• I'm one of those people who loves the ritual of voting. Casting a ballot at the neighborhood schoolhouse never fails to provide a few moments to celebrate tradition, say hello to friends and think about what it means to live in a democracy.I recognize this is a minority opinion. More than half the ballots counted [...] Voting the old-fashioned way
• Good morning. To start your Election Day, here's a pop quiz. No gum chewing or Twittering, and please keep your eyes on your own computer screen. You may begin:(1) Within 10,000 people, how many Sonoma County residents are eligible to vote?(2) And how many are registered to vote?(3) True or false, more Sonoma County residents [...] Today's Sonoma County election " by the numbers