Drawn and Quartered http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com Steve Rustad illuminates issues and dissects politics Fri, 04 May 2012 19:05:36 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 A Crazy Ballot http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11347/a-crazy-ballot/ http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11347/a-crazy-ballot/#comments Fri, 04 May 2012 19:05:36 +0000 Steve.Rustad http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/?p=11347

Woo-hoo. We’re heading into election season. Be afraid…very afraid!  California is experimenting with an open primary and there are clients for every taste…as long as you’re not looking for an experienced, pragmatic, fiscally-savvy, business-friendly realist. Oh, wait, that’s right, this is California. What was I thinking?

]]> http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11347/a-crazy-ballot/feed/ 0 Rescue Old Adobe School District http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11340/rescue-old-adobe-school-district/ http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11340/rescue-old-adobe-school-district/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:40:36 +0000 Steve.Rustad http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/?p=11340 Read More »]]>
I was a school board member for more than ten years, so I appreciate the struggles faced by California’s schools, large and small. Since between 80% and 90% of any school’s budget goes to teacher salaries and benefits, discussions about school-funding always influenced by opinions (pro and con) about teacher’s unions and the control they exert on California’s (dysfunctional) educational system. For better or worse, California is union shop. They only way around this is a school voucher program and, to a lesser extent, charter schools – both return control to local communities and – most importantly – parents. ]]> http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11340/rescue-old-adobe-school-district/feed/ 0 Sign of Perpetual Discord http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11332/sign-of-perpetual-discord/ http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11332/sign-of-perpetual-discord/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:16:11 +0000 Steve.Rustad http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/?p=11332
Petaluma rejoices in the antics of its own, locally-grown, Three (Progressive) Stooges. This trio of lovable loons continually entertains a gullible constituency with fiscally insolvent fantasies of no-growth, anti-big-box, impossible-to-sustain, fair trade, living wage Utopianism. ]]> http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11332/sign-of-perpetual-discord/feed/ 0 In Petaluma, It’s Easy to Get the Straight Poop http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11327/in-petaluma-its-easy-to-get-the-straight-poop/ http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11327/in-petaluma-its-easy-to-get-the-straight-poop/#comments Mon, 09 Apr 2012 19:34:43 +0000 Steve.Rustad http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/?p=11327
When the issue of the Keller street garage’s plague of flying rats (aka, the dove of peace, squab, pigeons) resurfaced, hizzoner was contacted to comment. Giving da mayah any kind of public forum invites the world to view the most prominent symptom of our fair burg’s dysfunction. Suffice it to say that his contribution was highly relevant to the subject, in other words,  unadulterated poop. ]]> http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11327/in-petaluma-its-easy-to-get-the-straight-poop/feed/ 0 Feral Gangs http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11322/feral-gangs/ http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11322/feral-gangs/#comments Fri, 30 Mar 2012 17:38:00 +0000 Steve.Rustad http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/?p=11322
Were the situation in this cartoon to become the case, I’m pretty sure that PETA would provide the perps with free legal support. The liberal media would resound with editorials blaming Republicans for that lack of opportunities for adolescent mammals. And the Occupy movement would redefine the 99% to include wildlife. Scratch that, it already does ]]> http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11322/feral-gangs/feed/ 1 Petaluma Pitches In to Help Little League http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11317/petaluma-pitches-in-to-help-little-league/ http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11317/petaluma-pitches-in-to-help-little-league/#comments Fri, 23 Mar 2012 19:06:17 +0000 Steve.Rustad http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/?p=11317
Some jerks stole gear from a local Little League. Fortunately a bunch of local folk stepped up to the plate (sorry) and pitched in (okay, I’m not sorry) to replace the stolen equipment. ]]> http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11317/petaluma-pitches-in-to-help-little-league/feed/ 0 Petaluma Idol http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11310/11310/ http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11310/11310/#comments Fri, 16 Mar 2012 19:36:48 +0000 Steve.Rustad http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/?p=11310
Were it televised, the process of hiring a consultant to lure would-be police chief candidates to our dysfunctional burg would qualify as reality T.V., at the very least. At worst, it would be some kind of prank show, e.g., Petaluma Punks Police Chiefs. Perhaps Ashton Kutcher or Howie Mandel could officiate the farce. ]]> http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11310/11310/feed/ 0 Petaluma’s Undaunted Underpass-ion http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11304/petalumas-undaunted-underpass-ion/ http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11304/petalumas-undaunted-underpass-ion/#comments Fri, 09 Mar 2012 17:59:57 +0000 Steve.Rustad http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/?p=11304 Read More »]]>
The underlying philosophy behind the foot dragging and / or outright objection to building the Rainier crossing and, for that matter expanding 101, was something like “if we expand the existing roads or build new ones, civilization will overwhelm our precious utopia.” Translation: “It’s mine. You can’t have any.” Fast-forward: despite a narrow, congested 101 and no Rainier crossing, people still came to Petaluma, liked what the saw, and stayed. So the self-serving NIMBYs succeeded only in increasing the congestion in utopia, which actually makes it less utopia-like. ]]> http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11304/petalumas-undaunted-underpass-ion/feed/ 0 Petaluma’s High Schools http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11300/petalumas-high-schools/ http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11300/petalumas-high-schools/#comments Mon, 05 Mar 2012 20:11:31 +0000 Steve.Rustad http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/?p=11300 Read More »]]>
Sonoma County’s schizophrenic attitude to weed, for that matter America’s “getaway closer” approach to drugs, has consequences. Most of them bad. And don’t give me that tired bushwah about medicinal marijuana. It’s just another excuse for smoking dope. Arsenic has medicinal uses too, but the average Joe shouldn’t take it just because it makes his hair shiny. Which, by the way, people did a couple hundred years ago. Shiny hair is a poor price to pay for an early death. And despite that weird letter in the A-C a couple of weeks back, God did not specifically endorse pot in the Bible. Certainly, the Almighty put everything living plant under man’s dominion, but He didn’t suggest that we smoke, drink or eat everything. ]]> http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11300/petalumas-high-schools/feed/ 0 Political Fumes http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11294/political-fumes/ http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11294/political-fumes/#comments Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:35:52 +0000 Steve.Rustad http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/?p=11294 Read More »]]>
So an EIR projects that local air pollution will increase if Friedman’s Home Improvement comes to town. However, the scope of the report is so narrow that it doesn’t include the drop in pollution that would result from all the cars not driving to Rohnert Park for their home improvement needs. Hizzoner, ever eager to placate his no-growth base, trumpets this EIR factoid. Yet, you can bet, when it’s time to cut the ribbon on the store, he will brag how HE brought Friedmans’ to Petaluma. ]]> http://steve-rustad.blogs.petaluma360.com/11294/political-fumes/feed/ 0