Wading In

Is the Internet a brain drain? By Kelvin Wade | | February 28, 2008 15:52 Is Google making us intellectually lazy? Recently, my girlfriend Cathi's 11-year-old granddaughter Lauryn asked me who was president when I was her age. Lincoln? While I chuckled at the Lincoln crack, a new study out this week isn't so funny. The study, reported in USA Today, says teens are losing touch with cultural and historical references. The study by the American Enterprise Institute surveyed 1,200 17-year-olds and found that half could not identify what McCarthyism was about. 'Big Brother' from George Orwell's 1984 was a mystery to 48 percent and less than half of them knew the Civil War was fought between 1850 and 1900. Overall, the students received an F in literature and a C in history. Cultural and historical references are necessary for the cohesion of the country. A shared knowledge of a society's history is one of the things that foster a sense of community a...

Let's look at the bright side By Kelvin Wade | | February 20, 2008 15:31 Suisun City is on its way to enjoying a massive new Wal-Mart Supercenter. Well, not everyone is happy about it. If you're quiet, you just might hear the faint whispers of fists shaking in the air, the rush of steam exiting ears and the clickety-clack of gnashing teeth from the anti-Wal-Mart forces. It's a coalition of Travis-protecting-zealots, huggers-of-wetland-critters-no-one-ever-sees, frightened business owners, folks legitimately concerned about traffic and of course, the Professional Wal-Mart Haters. Full disclosure: Anyone who has visited my blog knows I didn't want Suisun City to approve a Wal-Mart Supercenter. It had nothing to do with Wal-Mart being evil or the likelihood of a C5 making an unscheduled landing in the produce aisle. I wasn't concerned about noise, pollution, endangered species or even increased traffic. No, I wanted Suisun residents to spend the...

Love can be a fun, if not bumpy, ride By Kelvin Wade Published February 14, 2008 As the only unmarried Wade brother, I know you’re thinking that I walk around with a stick just beating off the voluptuous women who throw themselves at me. But ladies, the truth of the matter is Kelvin “Byg Datty” Wade is taken. In honor of Valentine’s Day today, I’m going to share how it happened. In 1996, America Online moved to unlimited dial up internet service and I was online 24/7. I searched online profiles until I found Catherine Barrett, someone who sounded interesting, and lived in Sacramento. I emailed her and we began chatting online and a little later, on the phone. In January 1997, she wanted to meet here at Marie Callender's. We made plans to meet the following day. But a funny thing happened on the way to the pie place. I lost my nerve. To this day, she claims I stood her up. I actually did call her and leave a message that I couldn’t make it but her answering m...

How long is too long to wait? By Kelvin Wade | | February 06, 2008 21:12 Last week, we learned that the domestic violence trial of Fairfield City Councilman Frank Kardos, which was supposed to start this month, has been delayed until July. How long will Fairfielders have to wait to see this case come to some resolution? It was a year ago that Kardos was arrested for domestic battery when his ex-girlfriend alleged that the councilman had choked her. She described threatening and stalking behavior in a subsequent request for a restraining order. Fairfielders were rightly shocked by the charges. Kardos, who was vice principal at Armijo High was placed on paid administrative leave but continued serving on the council despite early calls for him to step down. A public who had recently endured the John English methamphetamine and Paul Randhawa fraud scandals, had little stomach for another round. By this time during the John English soap opera, English had already put on a pathetic, yet wei...