Salem-News.com California articles

Random Musings

A ranging view of the ideas circulating in one writer's mind.

(AGOURA, Calif.) - Sometimes there are many ideas fighting for attention in my mind, covering all the subjects I tend to write a column about, but each isn’t worthy of its own full-length coverage.

Consequently, I collect them. So, in no particular order, here are my current random musings.

My Son Has the Swine Flu: A Daily Journal

If you have a child that is stuck home with the swine flu and ends up like my son, with negligible symptoms, your biggest problem will be his boredom

(AGOURA HILLS, Calif.) - We just went through the swine flu with our older son, Will. We didn’t panic or allow the hysteria of the msm (mainstream media) to scare us. His first reaction was simply, “Darn, I’m going to miss Halloween.”

With the swine flu, we’ve been deluged with scare reports from the media, ignoring the fact that each year tens of thousands of Americans die of the regular flu.

Energy and Water: Check Your Water Footprints at the Door, Please

Whenever we waste energy, we waste water.

(NOVATO, Calif.) - Carbon gets all the press. But more and more scientists are starting to figure out that it takes so much water to create energy, and so much energy to move water, that whenever we talk about the carbon footprint of energy, we really should be talking about its water footprint as well.

Here's why: Except for wind and photovoltaic solar found on rooftops, most power plants big or small do one simple thing: They boil water. That's it.

House Health Care Reform Vote: Health Insurance Industry Contributions

MAPLight.org uses campaign contribution data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics’ OpenSecrets Open Data.

(BERKELEY, Calif.) - The U.S. House of Representatives voted Saturday on a historic health care reform bill, the Affordable Health Care for America Act.

MAPLight.org’s website shows how each legislator voted and the campaign contributions they received from the health insurance industry, which opposed this bill:

Leading Patient Safety Group Takes Their Message of HMO Reform to the Airwaves

American Dawn is one of several outreach advocacy projects of The Managed Care Reform Council.

(LOS ANGELES) - Like no other time in our history, health care reform is a topic at the kitchen table, around the work place water cooler, and a part of the country’s dialogue.

The primary discussion appears to be focused on the costs of providing health care for all.

Can Families Avoid Playing Favorites?

Congratulations to Bruce Sallan for his 50th Salem-News.com article!

(AGOURA, Calif.) - Sitting in Starbuck’s the other day, waiting for my car to be serviced, I sat next to a mom who shared a “dirty little parenting secret.” Her kids, and she and her husband, have “favorites.”

She gets along better with their younger child while her husband gets along better with the older child. I believe that this is natural, ubiquitous, and something most parents are ashamed to admit.

Caltrans Stimulus Paving Project in Laguna Beach Pollutes Air and Sea

"Oh, Mr. Caltrans: Thank you sir, may I have another?" or "Christmas in November: Thank You Santa Caltrans!"

(LAGUNA BEACH) - The federally funded Obama stimulus paving project by State highway agency Caltrans in Laguna Beach constitutes cruel and unusual environmental punishment.

This fiasco of this pitiful paving effort by the ironically-named All-American Asphalt has slipped into Twilight Zone mode.

Stuck Between My Wife and the Kids

Good relationships don't come easy, but personal growth is also a benefit.

(AGOURA, Calif.) - In every marriage, spouses face an inevitable choice between their children and their spouse. It is a classic dilemma that confronts every couple and one that is inescapable and difficult.

It is especially true in second marriages, like mine. I have to admit, it is an ongoing issue in our home and one I’m trying to figure out with the right amount of love and respect shown towards everyone.

Irvine`s Great Park Corporation Overlooks El Toro`s Deadly Toxicity

Man, the stuff people are still trying to get away with in this country; it is more than amazing, but not the kind of daring I admire.

(IRVINE, Calif.) - Poor environmental stewardship over more than half a century of use, left the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in Irvine a toxic waste zone, seething with chemicals that have already killed and sickened more Marines that we will probably ever accurately know.

Irvine and the "Great Park Corporation" are pushing forward with plans to build a park on El Toro, even though it is clearly established that the place is the equivalent of an environmental disaster zone.

A Few Good Men and Bladder Cancer

Veterans of EPA Superfund sites are at risk for bladder cancer from organic solvent exposure. A simple and non-evasive test is available to detect bladder cancer. This information has not been passed to veterans at risk for disease.

(SOMERDALE, N.J.) - Those that served and were exposed to toxic chemicals have a critical need to know what chemicals they were exposed to and access to medical screening to stay healthy.

No reasonable person would disagree with this.