I was a recent member of the negotiating team along with other county employees and SEIU staff. We were representing Units 1, 3, 6 and 7, which is about 3200 employees. This letter is a response to Board of Supervisors Chairman Phil Cox, who made comments (August 7, 2014-Edition of Valley Voice) regarding his assessment […]
I graduated from Berkeley with a degree in Peace and Conflict Studies. But this does not make me a pacifist. Some wars need fighting, I’m afraid, and some people need killing–even though it strains my humanity to utter it aloud. The second Iraq War–for instance–was a four-star clusterf**k, while we should have gone hammer and […]
I flew into St. Louis on Saturday, August 9, to celebrate the birthdays of my mother and nephew and immediately learned about Mike Brown, a soon-to-be college student who was fatally shot by Ferguson police. As my community and I struggle to make sense of this recent murder, I cannot help but think of the […]
My mother grew up on a farm in Kansas, one of nine children. My grandfather, R.W. Young, had bought an old farmhouse and property before the depression that nobody wanted. He eventually moved to Wichita, Kansas in the thirties, where he worked as a cattle stockbroker, served as a minister and helped build the church […]
If the 20th was the American Century, it follows that the United States spent much of that time–especially during the Cold War–propping up and otherwise aiding democracies across the globe. Just in the last decade we have joined battle in both Iraq and Afghanistan with the stated aim of promoting stability (democracy) in those countries. […]
A prominent condition affecting Gulf War Veterans is a cluster of medically unexplained chronic symptoms that can include fatigue, headaches, joint pain, indigestion, insomnia, dizziness, respiratory disorders and memory problems. VA refers to these illnesses as “chronic multi-symptom illness” and “undiagnosed illnesses.” The term “Gulf War Syndrome” is used when referring to medically unexplained symptoms […]
Ref your subject article on date. Just happened to pick up one of your pubs and cann’t help wondering/asking which one of your people wrote the article about ‘Bundy/BLM’? It led me to another article from another paper that most of our colleges are liberal teaching facilities poisoning our students with mind/future destroying instructions. Was […]
As it does every four years, the World Cup has created quite a soccer uproar. In a camaraderie of beer and jerseys and face paint, strangers band together in bars everywhere to cheer. I have been left scratching my head–with hands that could not be used in a match–about the game itself. Not about its […]
I was initially going to write about an extended family situation–and the distress it has caused our immediate family–by contrasting it with the generous offer of an old friend. But the distaste of the former has in no way been diminished by the magnanimity of the latter, so I decided to let it go. I […]
Dear Valley Voice Community, It is with deepest sorrow that I am addressing you today. As a UC Santa Barbara Alumni, last Friday’s tragedy touched me in a very deep and personal way. My heart and prayers go out to the victims of the shooting, their family and friends, as well as UC Santa Barbara, […]