INKED! Jogging a memory in time for Memorial Day
May 24, 2012
When I was a kid I was fascinated by the lump in the middle of my grandfather’s back.
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INKED! The changing face of America's future
May 17, 2012
Americans, take a good, long look in the mirror. You’re either the face of America today, or the face of tomorrow.
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INKED! A good day to be gay in America?
May 10, 2012
Did President Obama send a huge message to North Carolina, home of the most vile and cruel anti-gay marriage amendment yet?
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INKED! Different battlefield, same condition
May 3, 2012
Pro football players, with their mix of on-the-field heroics and violent mash-ups, are the closest thing we have to gladiators, warriors, and the kind of super soldier fit for public consumption — there’s no blood or lost limbs, no friendly fire or civilian kills.
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Patience requires a fortune cookie moment
April 27, 2012
One man’s lack of patience, his snap reaction and probably a total absence of commonsense and inner peace cost him 80 bucks, give or take.
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INKED! Gonna party like it's 2009
April 20, 2012
Sarah Palin lives larger in “Saturday Night Live” lore thanks to Tina Fey then the one-time veep candidate does in the fickle political consciousness.
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INKED! Pattern project parallels westward expansion
April 12, 2012
Progress is an irresistible force that no cultural artifact can overcome, but it’s certainly not an easily reconciled idea.
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INKED! Casino rolls along as (one-man) opposition craps out
April 6, 2012
The Calexico casino has movement now, finally, after a long lull in which the Bush administration upheld its unwritten edict to not process off-reservation casino projects that came across the Department of Interior’s desk.
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INKED! Damned if you do, damned if you don't
March 29, 2012
I’m not in the habit of taking column requests, but when my boss said, “in this town, you’re damned if you do, and you’re damned if you don’t,” we arrived here.
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INKED! Tinfoil hats are nice ... if you don't work
March 23, 2012
I’ve long suspected that I might find a tinfoil hat to my liking, that it might be useful to deflect government mind-control devices and protect me from one too many late nights staring at my Hot Pockets rotate to an unnaturally irradiated brown.
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All things are connected when you're wearing blinders
March 15, 2012
I went on my first tour of the Salton Sea after a lifetime in the Valley, read some anti-KONY 2012 material and ended the day with a scrumptious Doritos Locos Taco Supreme.
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INKED! Once a bully, always a bully: heed this fully
March 9, 2012
People are who they are, and they usually don’t change once they have adopted a certain mental and emotional gait, reached a natural maturity.
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INKED! 'How I spent my conference': a true story ... possibly
March 2, 2012
The single-breasted navy blazer with gold buttons, khaki chinos and a crisp, light blue shirt with no tie.
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The run-up to "Mr. 300" has been quite the trip
February 24, 2012
Call me “Mr. 300,” if you please, because I’m damn proud of it.
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INKED! Once a tweet hits the streets, there's no going back
February 10, 2012
Roland Martin’s story is not a unique one in today’s “need-to-know” landscape, that is, “you need to know what I’m up to, whether you want to or not.”
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INKED! If pink is the new red, I'll pass
February 3, 2012
Pink’s not really my color, not when it becomes more apparent that it’s simply a lighter shade of red, the ubiquitous color of the conservative class.
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Inked: Dealing the hard stuff, one Girl Scout cookie at a time
January 27, 2012
The Girl Scouts changes a man. It changes his family, what he’s willing to do, how far he’s willing to sink to the depths of human depravity.
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INKED! What's up, DOC? Ty's baby band goes bye-bye
January 20, 2012
Not quite panicked, but a little dramatic, I called out to The Wife — “Pris, does Tyler have a fever? That’s all we need.”
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INKED! California above all needs more Jello
January 13, 2012
Someone call Jello Biafra, Californians need him. We need a laugh, because nothing seems very funny in the Golden State these days.
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INKED! Extravagant promises for 2012? I think not
January 6, 2012
Every morning that I wake up healthy, with a loving wife, two precious kids, a job that I believe is important — to me and others — and my sobriety, I thank a power greater than myself.
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INKED! Taking the Wild West to the Middle East no cause to celebrate
December 30, 2011
Spare me the song and dance about ticker-tape parades and World War II-style welcome-home escapades of yesteryear.
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INKED! Tis the season for Randy, Ralphie and Red Ryder
December 23, 2011
When I left the house the other morning, I took a good long look at my boy and said, “Goodbye, Randy.”
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Inked: Tebow is part of a larger plan
December 16, 2011
Tim Tebow is not ruining the NFL.
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INKED! Giving voice to 'our' culture makes sense
December 9, 2011
What is the Latino experience? Honestly, I’m not sure.
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INKED! Keeping on schedule
December 2, 2011
Potheads are annoying. They talk too much, are way too chill and keep asking the same questions over and over.
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Inked! Giving - and living - thanks every day
November 25, 2011
Standing next to my 6-year-old daughter, Riley, looking at her small hands covered in jellied turkey fat and bits of meat, counting and recounting the little pile of wishbones in front of her, I couldn’t have been more proud.
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INKED! Just who exactly needs libraries?
November 18, 2011
Is there a place for libraries in our lives? It’s one of those questions that won’t keep you up at night, but it will be a topic of intense debate when libraries are no longer there.
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INKED! If you wanted dirt, we had it ... lots of it
November 10, 2011
If you enjoy dirty politicking and disinformation, Tuesday was a good day.
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Learning new tricks to save an old dog
November 4, 2011
If 7 billion blood-thirsty fleas and ticks sucking on the body of an old dog have yet to kill it, then another billion isn’t exactly going to get the job done.
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INKED! Alien abduction in the desert
October 28, 2011
EDITOR’S NOTE: This column first ran April 30, 2005. A new INKED! will return next week.
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INKED! 'Last Lecture' inspires 'Last Column'
October 21, 2011
Four million people — at least — are familiar with Randy Pausch. I was not one of them.
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INKED! Finding salvation for Leonard Knight's mountain
October 14, 2011
Salvation Mountain is the epitome of folk art. Stark. Simple. Colorful. Meaningful.
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Bypassing one issue for another
October 7, 2011
Addiction is baffling in its predictability, and just when you think you understand it, again, the rope-a-dope.
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INKED! Sweet racism is icing on the (cup)cake?
September 29, 2011
Little Debbie is rolling over in her grave, blowing cream-filled chunks into her cocoa-dusted bonnet.
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INKED! Facebook changes could change the world ...seriously
September 23, 2011
We know Mark Zuckerberg is a visionary nerd, a tech, media- and business-savvy shut-in who has changed the way we interact with each other.
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INKED! These are the best of times, worst of times
September 9, 2011
Election cycles always seem to bring out the worst traits in candidates, at a time when you hope to see the best of their personalities and positions.
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INKED! Confident in the use of no confidence
September 2, 2011
Never have I seen more motions of no confidence issued, uttered and threatened around these parts than in the last couple of years.
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INKED! Adapting better than railing against the tide
August 26, 2011
Not feeling the love from this two-year quest to better my health; in fact, a four- or five-month bout with extreme physical pain has me re-jiggering my health goals.
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INKED! An inescapable, impenetrable cocoon we created
August 19, 2011
So much of what we do today, how we’ve come to live and function, involves negotiating technology.
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INKED! Collateral damage in the war on Roe v. Wade
August 12, 2011
I’m one of the fortunate ones, who has a job and health insurance, and the ability to walk into a pharmacy and purchase three months of birth-control pills for my wife for about $4 out-of-pocket.
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INKED! Social (media) diseases: Too late for a cure?
June 23, 2011
Via Twitter 7:32 a.m.: OMG! iPhone alarm clock on the fritz; gonna be late for work! :p
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INKED! Whoopee, sports and cheese; what to know when
June 17, 2011
How well do we know our spouses? We want to think we know each other like chocolate knows peanut butter, like eggs know bacon, but do we?
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Why keep it old school? Here's why
June 10, 2011
It’s puzzling when a clandestine photo of a politician in undress is enough to be considered legitimate journalism, but that’s the era we live in.
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INKED! A graduation address you won't hear
June 3, 2011
Some of you had no desire to be here over the last four years, so good luck with that. A scintillating career in the food services industry awaits you.
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Inked! It's about coffee, I guess
May 27, 2011
Column-writing can be pure drudgery. The best you can hope for is a piece that is remembered a week after it runs, or better yet, one that is forgotten the moment it exits the eyes and courses through the brain.
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INKED! Acting small, thinking big equals change
May 20, 2011
Social change does not operate according to the laws of physics; one small pebble skipped across a lake isn’t going to become a tidal wave.
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INKED! Dreams can go only so far in reform debate
May 13, 2011
The immigration problem in this country is really a cheap labor problem, brought on by the lazy American problem.
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Tinfoil troops see Obama lies in Osama demise
May 6, 2011
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INKED! Tinfoil troops see Obama lies in Osama demise
May 6, 2011
Birthers, or most of the right-wing, nutso conspiracy theorists in general, remind me of
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INKED! To bully or be bullied; what's the question?
April 28, 2011
That both the tormenters and the tormented have been shown to be the victims and witness to high rates of violence in their own families is somewhat surprising.
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INKED! How's that 'McJob'? It's work, right?
April 22, 2011
A “McJob” is a lousy job, and there’s no skirting around the issue.
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INKED! Earning the right to vote, so sayeth CNN
April 15, 2011
Should ignorant people be allowed to vote?
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INKED! A teenage wasteland, or just wasted?
April 8, 2011
I can’t help but wonder what kind of effect Charlie Sheen and the thankfully waning media fascination with him has had on teenagers.
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INKED! The great teachers are never forgotten
April 1, 2011
Sharon Anderholt was my third-grade teacher at Hedrick Elementary in El Centro, and she was the first teacher who made an impression on my life. I still call her a friend today.
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INKED! The rule of thirds applies here
March 25, 2011
To be manipulated, or to be the manipulator.
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INKED! When is "too soon" too soon?
March 18, 2011
It must have come to Joong Kim in a dream. Calexico. Under water. Ravaged by a tsunami.
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INKED! Will Jesus freaks get their own House hearings?
March 11, 2011
Admit it. In the weeks, months, and sadly, years following 9/11, we were all a bit squeamish about being in a crowded bus or plane with any bearded, dark man perceived to be of Middle-Eastern descent.
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INKED! E.C. needs its library now; here's an idea
March 4, 2011
Frankly, I’m not concerned whether the El Centro Public Library building on State Street can be saved. It performed its job admirably for a century.
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INKED! No home, no hope, no help?
February 25, 2011
“I’m never going to be homeless.” My daughter said this very thing as we were sitting in a drive-through and a man in a big jacket came walking by.
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INKED! What is 'Teen Mom' teaching again?
February 18, 2011
There’s a fine line between a cautionary tale and blatant exploitation, and MTV’s “Teen Mom” franchise has all but erased it.
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INKED! 'Welcome Home' baby Brown, sister won't bite
February 11, 2011
I’ll start off by saying, “I refuse to buy a mini-van,” even though I’m starting to feel like a Duggar.
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INKED! Can we put action behind our words?
January 28, 2011
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INKED! Place dog column head here
January 21, 2011
My boss, Brad, is a real ball buster; after practically begging him in his office for an hour, he still put me on the dog column desk this week.
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INKED! Theater was always meant for everybody
January 14, 2011
The dramatic streak in me sees a vendetta forming against the board members who cast the deciding votes to rename Southwest Performing Arts Theatre in Jimmie Cannon’s honor, a vendetta that could be realized next election.
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INKED! Huck Finn edits too PC, go too far
January 7, 2011
The n-word is an appallingly ugly word. Is it really necessary, though, to edit the term out of an American classic because of cultural sensitivity taken to the extreme?
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INKED! Keep It Positive again
December 31, 2010
This time last year, as 2009 was coming to a close and a new chapter of my own life was unfolding, I made a pledge to keep a positive outlook for the next year.
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INKED! J-E-T-S coach is D-U-M-B! Dumb! Dumb! Dumb!
December 17, 2010
There is dumb, and then there is super mega colossal extra dumb.
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INKED! Pot decision is the right one by City Council
December 10, 2010
While most of the cities in the Valley have been sipping the anti-pot Kool-Aid, shutting the door to the possibility of medical marijuana dispensaries, the city of El Centro reversed course and approved collectives at its meeting Tuesday.
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Inked!: T-minus 10 weeks and counting
December 3, 2010
Christmas is at hand, it’s cold outside and The Wife is about to pop.
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Inked: The devil's from Canada and in your kid's room
November 26, 2010
I’ve long had a suspicion that Barack Hussein Obama is in fact the anti-Christ.
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Slings and arrows vs. boobs and babies
November 19, 2010
Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley is a boob and a baby.
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INKED! The machismo of rodeo works for the Valley
November 12, 2010
I’ve always found it kind of freaky how excited people around the Valley get when Cattle Call Week and the rodeo come around.
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Inked! I was and still am a Bubba
November 5, 2010
Nothing good can ever come from running from the police. That’s not to say death should have to be the result, but it’s clear a death could have been avoided.
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Inked! On Tuesday, something wicked this way comes
October 29, 2010
Ladies and Ghouls, welcome to Choose or Ooze 2010. I’m your host, Dr. Bizzarro, political analyst with WDED, here to guide you through the afterlife of who’s on Tuesday’s spooky ballot.
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Inked! What's in a name? Everything
October 22, 2010
Jimmie Cannon Performing Arts Theatre — it has a nice ring to it.
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Inked! A bloody good reason to listen to my wife
October 15, 2010
Is it really all that weird to drink coffee in the shower? I don’t think so.
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INKED! Immigration reform we can all live with
October 8, 2010
I knew this would be an issue the minute I decided to get that saltwater swimming pool in my backyard.
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INKED! Ann's back and 'you're not black'
October 1, 2010
Like all good vampires hiding underground, drinking the blood of whatever burrowing animal is within fangs’ reach, Ann Coulter has summoned the strength to find her way to the earth’s surface.
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INKED! Don't ask, don't tell, girlfriend
September 24, 2010
Somewhere in the bowels of the White House, President Obama has assembled his inner sanctum in the situation room hours after Sen. John McCain has begun to filibuster the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal vote Tuesday.
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Inked! To fish or not to fish, that is the question
September 17, 2010
Riley really wants me to take her fishing, but frankly, I’m just not that into it.
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Inked! To fish or not to fish, that is the question
September 17, 2010
Riley really wants me to take her fishing, but frankly, I’m just not that into it.
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Inked! Part III: How to have your needs unmet
September 10, 2010
“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” Plato On Aug. 31 the Legislature wrapped up another useless session with a game of “legislative bingo,” and by useless I mean no budget was passed, the only thing California lawmakers should be concerning themselves with right now.
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Inked! If no Wally, who then? Anybody?
September 3, 2010
Somewhere between calling for county Supervisor Wally Leimgruber’s ouster and questioning his priorities as an elected official, a Facebook fan page was created to compel me to run for office.
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Inked! Hicksville, USA, needs a new supe
August 27, 2010
Please, please, please get Wally Leimgruber out of office.
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Inked! I went to mall and all I got was this T-shirt
August 20, 2010
“100% Mother F*&cking Ruthless.”
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Inked! By the skin of my...
August 13, 2010
Dear “Dr. 90210” (Dr. Robert Rey),<br>Call me. I get it.
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Viewpoint: Where parking and politics meet
August 6, 2010
Nothing gets me more riled up than when I come home from work and somebody’s parked in my spot.
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Inked! Teen 'Runaways' don't bode well for the future
July 23, 2010
Teenage girls confuse the hell out of me and scare me a little. Well, a lot, actually.
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Inked! Something stinks in Denmark, and it's drifting our way
July 16, 2010
Besides inflicting an awful lot of physical and mental damage, extremists and extremism is just plain stoopid. It comes from a place of emotion over intellect, half truths, misinformation and herd mentality.
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Inked! Middle of the road means common sense
July 9, 2010
I’m glad I’m in the middle, straddling the fence. Maybe I lean a little to the left — some days about to topple over on my ear — but by and large I play in the center of the teeter totter, with my arms outstretched to keep my moral and mental balance.
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Inked! 'Goin' Ghetto'? I'll take my Emmy now
July 2, 2010
I haven’t seen “MacGruber,” but I was always a big “MacGyver” guy growing up. I always found it impressive that Richard Dean Anderson, in all his mulleted glory, could fashion a weapon or disarm a bomb with crude and unrelated products.
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Inked! Comment at your own risk; I dare you
June 24, 2010
Some days my cup doth runneth over with Hatorade, and today the venom is flowing.