Wading In

My column this week is on the proposed Wal-Mart supercenter in Fairfield. The city is coming closer and closer to approving the project, which I think is vital to Fairfield. I've had a couple people ask me if I was affiliated with Wal-Mart in any way because of the columns I've written supporting a Wal-Mart at the Mission Village site. The implication is that I couldn't possibly have come to the conclusion that a Wal-Mart supercenter would be good for Fairfield on my own. I must be on the take. Well, no. I have no connection to Wal-Mart. In fact, I've had my difficulties with them and boycotted the Chadbourne store for six months and encouraged my friends to do so after an incident where I felt I was treated unfairly. So, it's not as though I love Wal-Mart. I've seen Robert Greenwald's documentary, The High Cost of Low Price. I've visited anti-Wal-Mart websites. But Fairfield passing on a supercenter is not going to hurt Wal-Mart. But it w...

Column published 10-26-06 Wal-Mart Supercenter a good deal By Kelvin Wade The final Wal-Mart Supercenter study has been released with minor alterations. The gist of the report is that potential problems would be manageable. The Fairfield Planning Commission recommends the city back the proposal. (Insert applause here.) While there has been some opposition, most of the issues raised have been addressed. What are left are the professional Wal-Mart haters, who see the company as an evil empire that pays its employees Malaysian wages, fattens the Medi-Cal rolls, buys products made by Chinese toddlers and kicks puppies for good measure. Fairfield resident Judith Kahle stated the opposition viewpoint well in a letter to the editor this week. Kahle thinks the city should require Wal-Mart to offer a living wage and health benefits. Do other employers have to offer a "living wage" and benefits? Is that what local businesses want, more regulation? And why single o...

Please continue reading past the column this week. I have more musings on the election. And beyond that, for the first time, I present a rough draft of a column idea I've been working on for some time. It's about regime change here in America. It's a little controversial. I hope it gives you food for thought.

Printed on: Thu, Oct 19, 2006 Here's my picks on election day By Kelvin Wade Here are my picks for the 2006 election. If you're stumped and don't know how to vote, just memorize this column. Or better yet, clip it and put it in your purse or wallet. Measure J is a keeper. It's not by accident that Solano County cities are separated by rolling hills and large stretches of greenbelt. We've chosen not to look like a homogenous interconnected suburban wasteland. And while I have qualms about doing anything other than a mortgage for 30 years, Measure J will help keep sprawl to a minimum and allow growth (like a new Wal-Mart supercenter in Fairfield) within city limits. As for the propositions, 1A is a yes. It limits the government's ability to raid transportation taxes. You can be assured that the taxes you pay at the pump go to the projects they're supposed to. As for 1B, 1C, and 1D, they're all lovely ideas. Who wouldn't want bette...

I'm torn about the whole proposititon thing. I understand it's a great tool for the public to have. If our issues or needs aren't being addressed by our representatives, we the people can petition to have our issues voted on by the general public. It's democracy in its purest form. By the same token, we have representatives for a reason....to represent us. And if they're not addressing our needs, we should vote them out of office. Many of the propositions on the ballot every election are too arcane for the public to follow. And of course, half of the problem is that most voters don't take the time to read the propositions. So they make this huge decision based on a thirty second TV ad. Like I wrote this week, the propositions were hard calls. Who wouldn't want better infrastructure, schools and housing for the disadvantaged? Those are all worthy causes. But I think with California in the shape we're in, it's best if we don't mak...

The following is not a column that appeared in print in any newspaper. It, however, is one that I wanted to run but chose not to. I've been advised by a couple of people not to run the column. I realize some may misconstrue it into thinking I'm advocating the assassination of the President. I'm exploring why a young girl or anyone for that matter, could think the union is so threatened by the current direction of the country, that they might believe extreme action should be taken. Or at least...extreme rhetoric in order to wake the masses. I'm presenting it here in my forum. If you don't hear from me again, check Gitmo. Or maybe I've been rendered to a Middle East country for torture. For the record, I don't want the President assassinated. I do want the regime held accountable for the havoc they've wrought.

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. ... what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. " -- Thomas Jefferson to William Stephens Smith, 1787 14 year old Sacramento resident Julia Wilson received worldwide attention last week when Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security agents pulled her out of her high school for questioning about an anti-Bush MySpace page she’d set up with the words, “Kill Bush” on it. Her passion about politics crossed the line into what could be construed as a threat. But didn’t Jefferson muse about toppling our leadership in the above quote? And doesn’t the Declaration of Independence say that the government is formed by the consent of the governed to promote life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and goes on to say, “…that whenever any form of government become...

There are always those who decry the fact that we have such low voter turnout. But do we really want the unregistered to register and vote? Do we want nonvoters to head to the polls? An interesting study of California voters and nonvoters came out last month that show the two groups have striking differences. If nonvoters showed up at the polls in numbers, it would change our democracy. The question is do we want that? The day will come when the majority of California voters will be Hispanic. If you fear that, then why? Shouldn't we embrace as much democracy as possible? I don't know if that's always been the goal. History is replete with various schemes to suppress voter turnout. Don't forget to vote this November. Make it a point to vote. I don't think we can have too much democracy.

Column originally published October 12, 2006 Voters don't reflect state's demographics By Kelvin Wade An Associated Press-Pew poll says voter interest is at the highest level in more than a decade. But will it translate into more voters next month? And do we really want more people voting? Or do we have as much democracy as we can stand right now? Low voter turnout is often blamed on the campaigns themselves. And there's a lot not to like. Politicians seem to think we're all NASCAR watching, beer-for-breakfast swilling, hayseed chewing, cousin marrying, born yesterday yokels who will believe anything. For example, John McCain, fresh after caving in to the administration on torture, blames the recent North Korean nuclear test on Bill Clinton. I guess we're supposed to forget Bush refusing to engage them, calling them out as part of the "axis of evil", attacking Iraq and showing Kim Jong Il and Iran's leader that the way to avoid a U.S. attack i...

I just need to vent about this. (They smile in your face) All the time they want to take your place The back stabbers ---Backstabbers by the O'Jays On October 10, 2006, my girlfriend's daughter Sheryl was fired from her job at Riverside Management in Sacramento based on the word of another mother and daughter who work there, Pamela and her daughter, Jackie. Up until being knifed in the back, Sheryl had assumed Jackie was her friend, after all, they talked daily and Sheryl had taken Jackie out for a wonderful dinner on her birthday. Pamela was hired to bring in more associations for Riverside Management. To date, she's brought in a big fat ZERO new accounts. When she was hired, she bragged to the other employees that no one had negotiated a better deal than she had at work. We've all known blowhards like this: people who's mouths exceed their ability. The way I hear it from multiple sources is that she's always got to top the last story she hears. I've ...

Change the vowels, people. I was digusted by the Mark Foley scandal like everyone else. How can a guy who is the co-chgair of the Missing and Exploited Children Caucus be hitting on underage boys? I don't buy his excuses. As co-chair of that caucus, I know he's listened to hours of testimony from victims and victims' families. And what was he doing while listening....spanking his clown under the desk? And I don't buy that the Republican leadership didn't know when it was common knowledge among the pages that this guy was a weirdo. I believe they didn't remove him from his position or conduct a thorough investigation because they didn't want the scandal. They didn't want anything that would damage their stranglehold on power. And any party that acts like that is sick. Now in my column this week, I have a pretty harsh ending. My editor had a problem with it. He felt it was too strong. He said I might as well have used the F word. Believe me, I would if I ...