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Will Amtrak be the next victim of the high-speed rail project?
We at the Save Bakersfield Committee are alarmed by several new developments in the California Legislature. Besides proceeding with the vote to approve high-speed rail, the Legislature is considering two other bills. AB 1779 will create a joint powers authority. Under the guise of local control, the majority of the members of this authority will be from communities north of...
- Cory Booker's epiphany
- ANOTHER VIEW: Can we hate 'hate' campaigns without being labeled haters?
- Teamwork made success of Amgen Tour possible
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Wednesday, May 23 2012 11:04 PM
We need more thinkers like Mexico's Fuentes
Carlos Fuentes died recently. He was an internationally respected Mexican author, essayist and diplomat who impressed me with his ability to think outside the box.
One example occurred during a discussion about drug violence in Mexico. He placed a great deal of the responsibility for this on the United States because of its appetite for drugs and its supplying of weapons to cartels. One of his solutions was to legalize drugs. He had gone so far as to form a group of Latin American intellectuals and politicians to promote this idea. When I asked, "Why?," he said, "In 1933, your president, Franklin Roosevelt, repealed Prohibition. You now have a few more drunks, but no more Al Capones."
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Wednesday, May 23 2012 11:03 PM
She was awake in history class
It is interesting to read a commentary by a business leader like Jodi Nagel that's in opposition to organized labor ("Unions want government to help them market membership," Community Voices, May 18). I marvel at the ingenuity of language and the manipulation of facts.
The rise of unions during the 1930s was in reaction to dismal working conditions. Policies under the New Deal sought to eradicate these conditions caused by companies more interested in profits and against collective bargaining. Deregulation (less government intervention) was the mantra of business. American workers were making subsistence pay ($5 weekly), working 50 to 60 hours per week, and child labor was a given. It was unions that stopped that and provided workers with economic and personal freedom. I wasn't asleep during these lectures.
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Wednesday, May 23 2012 11:02 PM
'Gay rights' vs. civil rights
Apart from the broader goal of legitimizing homosexuality, the alleged aim of all "gay rights" initiatives is to protect homosexuals from discrimination based solely on their "sexual orientation." Too often, "gay rights" are presented and promoted as an issue of civil rights with the gay community likening themselves to African-Americans or other minorities who have suffered under discriminatory laws and social policies.
Is such an argument and analogy really justified? Have homosexuals really been the object of prejudice and discrimination in the same way as African-Americans, as is implied in Corey Brooks' May 12 Sunday Forum article, "Lincoln's anti-slavery 'evolution' has modern corollary."
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Wednesday, May 23 2012 11:01 PM
Try to ignore the drama
In every election period, a fracas of some sort erupts -- fueled by partisan groups on one side or the other -- that has nothing to do with local issues, community needs or constituents. Voters are distracted by sensational stories and name-calling rather than focused on track records of proven work and representation. The drama sells newspapers and gives fodder to the blogs. Always disappointing! We're smarter than that.
In this election year, it's a tempest over one signature (Monsignor Craig Harrison's) on one mailer for one candidate (for Supervisor Karen Goh). Really? A discerning public should not be so easily distracted.
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Wednesday, May 23 2012 11:00 PM
Aptitude is the real issue
Some have tried to make the recent controversy over Monsignor Craig Harrison's "did he or didn't he" endorsement of 5th District Supervisor Karen Goh the most important issue in that campaign.
I say let's focus on the real issue. Goh is a very bright, energetic person who is very committed to the success of this county, and all those living here. She has worked very hard to learn about county government, and the people she serves. She deserves the recognition and opportunity to continue as the 5th District supervisor.
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Tuesday, May 22 2012 11:02 PM
Green is wrong: Addicts need treatment, not jail
I disagree with Lisa Green's May 3 op-ed article, "Reducing drug penalties isn't worth the risk to public safety," which criticized The Californian's April 29 editorial "Prison reforms require smart choices." The same day Green's article appeared, The Californian published a news story titled "Former Mexican president Fox calls drug war 'useless.'" In the May 2 letter "Pot laws no deterrent," Robert Sharp of Common Sense for Drug Policy wrote that "jail cells are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents." The May 8 Community Voices piece by Brik McDill was titled "Realignment is going to cost Kern more than officials realize." Former Nixon White House aide Charles Colson, who created Prison Fellowship Ministries, said in 2001, "You can't leave a person in a steel cage and expect something good to come out of him when he is released."
Green thinks being an addict is a serious crime and must be punished by seeing the inside of a jail cell. The most destructive consequence of our drug policies is treating patients like criminals, which only perpetuates their addiction.
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Tuesday, May 22 2012 11:01 PM
Goh is a model of leadership
Casting aspersions, defaming someone's character, jumping to conclusions without the facts, making disparaging remarks with little regard for truth and diminishing a person's reputation is not only foolish, but libel at worst and unproductive at best.
Obviously, these people have not met my friend, Karen Goh. Or she has an evil twin, for this is not the Karen Goh I have come to know and respect. Supervisor Karen Goh is, above all, a woman of integrity, honesty, compassion and vision. She has worked tirelessly for her district with strength and courage. She's a woman with a heart for Bakersfield and she tackles its most pressing needs to transform her community for the greater public good. Karen is a model of "servant" leadership. We should all be challenged and encouraged by her example to live and lead like Jesus, who was the ultimate public servant.
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Tuesday, May 22 2012 11:00 PM
Is Goh a poor communicator?
An honest and accurate picture of Karen Goh is being presented by her campaign and her supporters.
In the wake of Goh's recent campaign fumbles that were exposed by The Californian, many letter writers have characterized Goh and her campaign as dishonest. I would have to disagree.
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Monday, May 21 2012 11:05 PM
Endorsement isn't right and Goh must've known
My family and I have a long-term relationship with Monsignor Craig Harrison. He baptized our children and we were married in his church. I support Leticia Perez in her supervisorial campaign.
Karen Goh, who isn't Catholic nor a member of St. Francis Church, had no hesitation in seeking a formal endorsement from him. As the former executive director of Garden Pathways, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, she knew that by asking him to formally endorse her in his capacity as monsignor, she could jeopardize St. Francis' tax-exempt status. Therefore, either she didn't request a formal endorsement, which included informing him that his name would be placed on political mailers, because it was evident such an endorsement couldn't be legally given; or she misled him. If Goh, indeed, made the request and explained to him that his name would be on political mailers, the question arises, "Why would Goh ask a priest to commit an illegal act?" The answer is that she did not request the endorsement -- and he wouldn't have agreed to it.
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Monday, May 21 2012 11:04 PM
End the character assassination
The recent letters to the editor regarding Supervisor Karen Goh are sad. It makes one wonder whether The Californian has trouble filling its pages as it repeatedly prints the same simplistic letters.
The attempt to discredit Goh begins with an assertion that she is somehow unethical because of two misunderstandings. One involves volunteers affiliated with a local group getting confused about what they were gathering signatures for -- as if Goh somehow was the mastermind behind this because she could not afford the minor filing fee. The other relates to a local priest who supports Goh but didn't realize the backlash that would occur by having his name on a campaign mailer. Finally, the letter writers try to link Goh to the scandal-plagued former governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Appointing Goh was one of the few good decisions he made.
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Monday, May 21 2012 11:03 PM
Inappropriate move by Goh
I am writing in response to the recent controversy regarding Monsignor Craig Harrison and the Karen Goh campaign. I have known Monsignor Craig for many years and I am positive that he would never knowingly allow his name to be used in a political endorsement. He understands the importance of his role as a church leader.
It is unfortunate that someone would try to take advantage of their relationship with him. Goh should have realized how inappropriate it was to use the name of a prominent clergy member to further her own political ambitions. It does not matter how the misunderstanding came about regarding her claimed endorsement by the monsignor. What matters is that he said publicly he did not endorse her candidacy. At that point, if Goh had any integrity at all, she would have no longer claimed his endorsement.
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Monday, May 21 2012 11:02 PM
Goh just wants to help
All Karen Goh did was move back to California to be with her family after 9/11. She is a part of Garden Pathways, which does such wonderful work, and then she decided she could help by being a supervisor. Which of those things makes her the evil person that the paper is supporting by printing so many ugly letters? Mistakes have been made in her campaign. That happens when you are drawing from the public for volunteers. Not everyone has the wisdom of those letter writers. For shame.
Now, former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had to appoint someone to the vacant supervisor's position. So who would these writers have suggested? Oh, wait, no one is allowed to suggest a name because that means you are calling in favors. You certainly wouldn't want the governor to ask anyone with any knowledge about our community as to who would work hard for the people in that district.
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