Random Thoughts....

Sometimes there are so many things going on in the world, in the area and in our personal lives that narrowing things down to a single thought for a column every couple of weeks is challenging. Even the events over the last 24 hours (I am writing this on Sunday morning) fill the mind with all sorts of random thoughts.

Let’s work backwards a bit…

To start on a lighter note, Tim Lincecum threw a no-hitter for the struggling Giants. Congratulations! Perhaps ending the first half of the season on a high note bodes well for the second half for them. Meanwhile, the A’s have had a great first half and we hope they can continue that effort the second half of the season.

On a more serious note, the jury acquitted George Zimmerman in Florida. It was clear from many of the pundits, from both sides, that the State had a very weak case based on Florida law. You can argue all you want with the law itself, which will certainly happen in the weeks to come, but this case was turned into far more than it was by politics and race. Unfortunately, cases like this happen almost every day around the Country which is the tragedy we should be addressing.

It seems the world is getting ready for the birth of a new royal soon. The future king or queen of England (third in line) should happen almost any day now. Let’s hope that the positive thoughts and well wishes transcend a lot of the negative thoughts and actions around the world, even for just a few minutes.

It was reported last week that we have more people on food stamps and other related food programs than ever before in our nation’s history. I can understand an uptick through the recession but these numbers should be going down as the nation’s economy slowly recovers. Instead they are increasing. I think it should be clear to all that our “War on Poverty” is not working and we need to change strategies.

Locally, I am proud to say that The Marina Foundation efforts to secure an ADA equipped Van for the City of Marina should take a huge step forward on Tuesday night. The City Council will hopefully formally accept the funds and authorize the purchase of the Van itself. We will have a ceremonial presentation of the check to the City soon. If all goes well from here we hope to have the Van here by Labor Day!

Finally, it looks like the two initiatives regarding Ft. Ord have qualified to be on the November ballot for voters to decide on. It should make for a very interesting election and a lot of dialog between the two sides of the issue. Voters should be very aware of what the real issues are as they contemplate their vote. I will dedicate more than one column in the future to this debate but I will make it clear now that I fully support the efforts of the United Veterans Council and the Secure the Promise initiative.

Of course there is one more thought…. Football season is now less than eight weeks away!

More later