Dirty Harry – a creation of Hollywood – could not thrive in the real San Francisco as an inspector.
An iPod costs as much as a dental exam and cleaning. That explains in a large part why this nation's health care costs are growing faster than morning glory and are threatening to choke the life out of the economy. We all make choices. And those choices aren't necessarily wise. Our kid has to have an iPod but we can skimp on the dental exam. Can't afford the vaccines but we can get our 7-year-old ...
I drove to Lodi Saturday without having to go through government checkpoints. I can thank a Marine. My granddaughter is free to go to school and she'll be able to vote and enjoy the full rights of all male citizens. I can thank a soldier. I pray as I chose. I can thank an airman. My neighbors and I can access a wide range of consumer goods thanks to the un-interruption of trade between nations. ...
Passing gas could one day become a criminal act. It sounds absurd but who would have thought cows doing what they do naturally would become a major target of the air quality cops. Methane gas is basically organic material breaking down. It is also a greenhouse gas that is over 20 times more effective trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. It also stays in the atmosphere for anywhere from nine to 15 years. ...
Thank goodness the current California Legislature wasn't around during the Great Depression.
There still appears to be some confusion about the facts concerning the City assuming responsibility for the Landscape Maintenance Districts (LMD). The intent of this blog is to provide clarity to some of the points made in the opinion column in Thursday's Manteca Bulletin.
Four different contractors deploy at least a dozen people in any given week to work on the 30-plus landscape maintenance district (LMD) that cost homeowners collectively close to $1 million a year.
The party's over. It's time to detox California government. The only way to do that is to stop the dependency by reeling in the pushers and making the addicts go cold turkey. The pushers – your friendly neighborhood legislator who entices you with grants and funding in exchange for your vote every two or four years – need to be severely restricted. The only way to do that is to dilute their power. And ...
My retail days seemed like a lifetime ago. In the final years at Montgomery Ward some nine years ago – after over 100 years in business, the national retail chain closed in early 2001 – I worked in the electronics department of the Stockton store. At the time, we were embarking on the digital era, with only the savvy consumer being aware that the analog television sets would soon become passé. But as sales associates, ...
What a difference 45 years make. Back then breakfast for me was non-existent except on Saturday mornings. It was The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Quick Draw McDraw, a couple bowls of Frosted Flakes, and about a dozen or so straight spoonfuls of sugar Now it's breakfast every day – an orange, an apple, a banana, a quarter of a watermelon, three yogurts, and a third of a can of almonds all washed down by V8 Fusion ...
Are the illegal residents washing dishes in a restaurant or picking fruit the root of all evil when it comes to California's economic maladies?
I'm not a huge fan of recalls but given the fact no one up in Sacramento really got the message May 19 I'm in favor of a total recall.
Jerry Brown was right. Thirty-one years ago when Brown ended his second term as governor of California he not only had reduced taxes but had built up the largest state surplus ever. On his watch, California created 1 out of every 4 new jobs in the nation. He also was the trailblazer for building and energy appliance standards as well as solar and alternative energy. How did Brown do it? Simple. He refused to spend ...
Reading the endless back-and-forth between Republicans and Democrats in these pages is often good for a few minutes of low-cost entertainment.
The price of liberty is high. And celebrating it isn't much cheaper either. Manteca's decision to shift the Fourth of July celebration to July 3 is being met with a growing storm of criticism running the gamut from it being borderline sacrilegious to downright unpatriotic. It is easy to understand the public sentiment. In a way, though, this is a good thing. Some 233 years after our forefathers declared their independence from rulers that taxed ...
One man's due diligence is costing more than 40,000 households, business, and farmers $12 million a year.
I'm a prime candidate for the Homeland Security watch list.
Why does Uncle Sam insist on subsidizing rich people?
Want to see the future of the Northern San Joaquin Valley?
The toughest job in Manteca might just be the men who are part of the Manteca Police Department's traffic enforcement unit.
The City of Manteca has a new unofficial municipal motto: "This is the new norm."