By Butch Freedman *Shanda is the Yiddish word for shame, a disgrace to the family. It drives me crazy, as a Jewish person, that trump and the republican flunkies attack our elite…
Category: Guest Column
THE OCEANSIDER: Mark your calendars for three community events this week – Updated Oceanside Zoning 3/27; Netarts-Oceanside Fire Open House3/28; Mary Faith Bell Meet & Greet 3/29
By Jerry Keene, Editor, The Oceansider Unveiling of Updated Oceanside Zoning Proposals on March 27 The Oceanside Neighborhood Association Zoning and Plan Review Committee (ZAPR) has just completed a series of five public meetings for input on new zoning…
MANY THINGS CONSIDERED: The Daines Scheme in Montana
A Republican senator picks his replacement – cynical or just unethical? By Marc C. Johnson This piece originally appeared in The Daily Montanan, a non-profit news site in Big Sky Country, that…
BUTCH’S BLOG: Maybe It’s All a Bad Dream
By Butch Freedman This has been a miserable 14 months for our country, no doubt about it. All of the institutions and norms of democracy have been under attack by the far-right…
MANY THINGS CONSIDERED: The Banality of … Footwear
“The aspiration shoe for the average guy” – Florsheim motto in the early 1900’s By Marc C. Johnson My dad, God rest his soul, was a pretty good dresser. He didn’t have…
BUTCH’S BLOG: Where’s Karma When We Need It?
By Butch Freedman I used to think that karma was real, that, in the end, people got what they deserved based on their life actions. Some folks might think of that as…
MANY THINGS CONSIDERED: Hypocrisy – the New Politics
Getting caught in an enormous lie or a world-class contradiction was once politically disqualifying – but no more, at least for Republicans. By Marc C. Johnson There are so many examples of…
BUTCH’S BLOG: The Good Stuff
EDITOR’S NOTE: What’s your “good stuff?” When it all seems like it’s just too much, make a good stuff list, the good things … what’s on your list? Please share your good…
BUTCH’S BLOG: Bring Back the 60’s—an addendum
By Butch Freedman “…and its 1,2,3 what are we fightin for? don’t ask me i don’t give a damn, the next stop is Vietnam, and its 5,6,7 open up the pearly gates….
TRYING TO SEE: An Eagle Surrounded by Crows
By Michael Randall In my recent column (February 26, 2026), claiming the need to regather my shreds of emotional and mental health, I said I was reverting to writing “haiku.” I was…