Guest Column: Coming back home – to Poway
Author Thomas Wolfe tells us you can’t go home again. Going back won’t be the same, he warns. People and places will be different, and memory will betray. Such foolish...
All Stories
Cronin: Fair winds and following seas
Within the military sea services, there is a venerable, time-honored, tradition in which a departing service member, be it retirement or transfer, is awarded a hearty and sincere “fair winds...
Cronin: Patriots and performing arts
Coming up with unique topics to write about each month might seem like a daunting challenge. On the contrary. With so many extraordinary things going on in our world, our...
Cronin: Veterans and PTSD – the invisible POWs
It was 20 years ago when the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) Recognition Day was established by Congress. The ceremony is always observed on the third Friday of September...
Cronin: Democrats threaten balance of power
Like our own legislative branch of government, the British Parliament has two houses. In former times, the House of Lords was made up exclusively of of the English aristocracy....
Cronin: Social media at its finest
Last Thursday morning, as my wife and I were getting ready to depart for the veterinarian’s office to drop off the eldest of our two beloved rescue chihuahuas for some...
Cronin: ‘A Republic, if you can keep it’
Popular American folklore has it that upon exiting the old Philadelphia state house after completion of what we now know as the 1787 Constitutional Convention, the elderly Benjamin Franklin was...
Cronin: But what about the girls?
Franklin Pierce University is a small private college nestled within the rolling rural foothills below New Hampshire’s charming Mount Manadnock, a prominent Granite State geological feature made famous in the...
We must fight back against hate
In what could only be described as an exceedingly gracious gesture, President Trump invited the heroes of the Chabad terror attack to him at the podium during last week’s...
Cronin: Where have all the bees gone?
Among my wife’s many remarkable talents, Karen is blessed with a green thumb that simply cannot fail. No matter what she plants, it always seems to thrive. She once poked...
Cronin: Volunteer opportunites abound
A sage once observed “Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.”There is something genuinely irable about authentic humility in another. A humble person simply...
Cronin: Hatred will hurt the hater
It is one of the greatest soliloquies in all of literature. You will find it within the dramatic conclusion of Herman Melville’s masterpiece novel “Moby Dick.”Captain Ahab, driven mad by...
Disasters, migrants and hard choices
On Sept. 20, 2017 Hurricane Maria, a Category 5 storm, roared across the Caribbean, smashing into the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. The damage was catastrophic. Over 3,000 people were...
Cronin: The Catholic challenge
There are some common threads that run throughout the entire New Testament of the Christian Bible. Be they the letters attributed to Paul, Peter or John, or the other Epistles...
Cronin: The Democrats’ dilemma
I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican. Consequently, I enjoy the luxury of being able to freely vote for candidates of either political party. Should viable third party candidates...
‘Uninteresting times’ in Poway
There is an old saying, normally attributed to some unnamed ancient Chinese sage, that goes something like this: “May you live in interesting times.”On its face, one would think that...
Cronin: Bring back industrial arts
Most people understand the concept of the “Renaissance man.” We use this term when referring to someone who exhibits exceptional excellence across the entire spectrum of academic disciplines. We might...
Cronin: Another perspective on immigration
During the golden age of classical Greek democracy, in those glorious days when remarkable men like Pericles walked the streets of Athens and boldly spoke of wisdom and truth, citizens...
Cronin: Heroes behind the headsets
Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. Recall the last time you saw an image of some firefighter engaged in close combat with a fierce, wind-fueled wildfire threatening lives and...
Consider this: Human trafficking in San Diego
It is impossible to care about something if you do not first know that it even exists.I recently learned there is something far worse than teenage homelessness going on locally....
Cronin: Unintended consequences
There is a fundamental truth known as the law of unintended consequences. This is that curious phenomenon in which major actions and decisions, initially well-intentioned, inevitably end up creating additional...
Cronin: Compromise needed on gun control
Back in the glory days of 18th century Europe, when Britannia ruled the Raging Main, the sailors of iral Lord Nelson’s Navy had a tool known as a loggerhead. It...
Cronin: Young, hungry and homeless … in Poway
Everyone knows the story by now. A popular high school teacher and city council member from the Los Angeles area community of Pico Rivera was recently recorded by one of...
Cronin: Self-improvement at its very best
The past year wasn’t exactly a banner one for the masculine gender in the American workplace. It was utterly ruinous for far too many men of power and influence. We...
Cronin: America the magnanimous
One week before Americans everywhere around the globe sat down to enjoy Thanksgiving feasts with family and friends, the Argentinian Navy lost with one of their submarines. It was...
Cronin: The other side of the badge
The ancient Hebrews observed a ceremony in which a goat was ritually offered up in atonement for the sins of the people. These innocent creatures of God eventually became known...
Cronin: When the sun falls out of the sky
The greatest hero of the 20th century was a man from Vladivostok, Russia by the name of Stanislav Petrov. The fact you've never heard of him matters not. The world...
Cronin: The new hate
There was a well-liked comedian many years ago who made himself a respectable living by deliberately mangling the English language. His name was Norm Crosby and he was famous for...
Cronin: A monument in the middle of nowhere
In the early morning hours of June 17, 1967, U.S. Border Patrol Inspectors Theodore L. Newton, Jr. and George F. Azrak were conducting a routine two-man traffic checkpoint on a...
Cronin: Time to revisit housing for veterans
The San Diego County Taxpayers Association is a non-profit, non-partisan organization. According to its website, the SDCTA is “dedicated to promoting able, cost-effective and efficient government and opposing unnecessary taxes...
Cronin: Changes in the neighborhood
My wife and I are among the fortunate ones who live on Poway's Robison Boulevard. I say fortunate because we have been told ours is the only “boulevard” in the...
Don’t label it ‘sanctuary’
It is one of the most satisfying moments in all of motion picture history. Charles Laughton, playing Quasimodo - the grotesque Hunchback of Notre Dame, sweeps down from the heights...
ing ‘Jane Roe’
On Feb. 18, while the rest of the world was pondering President Trump’s latest “bizarre comment of the day” regarding something dreadful that supposedly happened “last night in Sweden,” Norma...
Cronin: Spiritual fitness
Any serious student is undoubtedly familiar with the use of modeling to convey advanced concepts, processes and ideas. Science and academia routinely employ models to analyze or simulate data, quickly...
Life after the NFL
Here is the problem many Americans are having with all these National Football League players who have chosen to protest during the playing of the national anthem: We cannot hear...
Cronin: Making the best of a bad situation
First things first. I called it wrong last month when I predicted Hillary Clinton would be our next president. Understandable. Like millions of other Americans with trusting hearts, I simply...
Cronin: Murals and blank walls
One of the more interesting features you can find on the City of Poway’s official home page is a hyperlink to webcast coverage of City Council meetings. Videos of past...
Waste no more time on Colin Kaepernick
By now, everyone in America has heard the story. Prior to the kickoff for the Aug. 26 preseason home game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Green Bay Packers,...
Waste no more timeon Colin Kaepernick
By now, everyone in America has heard the story. Prior to the kickoff for the Aug. 26 preseason home game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Green Bay Packers,...
Cronin: End of watch
For veteran San Diego Police Officer Jonathan “JD” De Guzman, the “end of watch” came suddenly and without warning. He was shot five times while still seated behind the wheel...
Cronin: Maybe there’s another option for president
In my December 2015 column entitled “Troubled by Hillary’s behavior,” I made the case against another Clinton istration. Things have since gotten worse. No longer satisfied with being merely unlikable,...
Cronin: The gleam in a man’s eye
June 11 marked the 66th anniversary of the date of my birth. Understanding fully this event is of interest to no one other than I and a paltry handful of...
Cronin: ‘Mobocracy’ draws own battle lines
Say what you will about Donald Trump, one cannot deny the fact he has skillfully exploited a very deep vein of discontent festering throughout our nation. As preposterous as this...
Cronin: The ‘gentle touch’ of discipline
Earlier this month, you may have seen television coverage regarding the Texas high school teacher who was arrested for assaulting one of her students, slapping him on the top of...
Cronin: Racism, hatred, fatigue and forgiveness
February is Black History Month, a time for celebrating the achievements and contributions of African Americans. For Christopher Marquez, a former Marine sergeant who won the Bronze Star for valor...
Cronin: A ‘solution’ to a non-existent problem
A year and a half ago, I wrote a column in this space entitled “Eye-to-eye with the Mau Mau” in response to then-Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta’s decision to remove...
Cronin: Troubled by Hillary’s behavior
“The true measure of character is how people treat someone who can do them absolutely no good.” I do not know what sage originally said this, but it does beg...
Cronin: I never get what I want for Christmas
I fully expect 2015 to end up just like every other year gone by. I will ask one thing only for Christmas and once again, I will not get it....
Cronin: Gun violence is a symptom, not a cause
We really need to start looking at the phenomenon of gun violence in America through the eyes of a physician.When you are sick, you can visit your doctor, who can...
Consider This: Learn about Poway at its weekly farmers market
We are continually reminded that military service entails great personal sacrifice. True enough. But there are rewards as well, arguably first and foremost among these is the chance to live...
Guest opinion: Poway’s proposed drone ordinance a bold move
Poway Mayor Steve Vaus has proposed a new city ordinance calling for the restriction of Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles (UAVs) during wildfires and declared emergencies within city limits. They would be...
Cronin: Doctors behaving badly
Up until the fateful moment he launched a razor-sharp broadhead into the muscular flank of Cecil the beloved lion, Dr. Walter Palmer was, by all s, an exceptionally successful Minneapolis...
Cronin: Will ‘separation of church and state’ cut both ways?
To millions of Americans who favored expanding the legal definition of marriage to include same-sex unions, the Supreme Court’s June 26 decision is both victory and vindication long overdue. Understandable....
Cronin: To be small is not to be unworthy
I have to remind myself now and then not to abuse this privilege I have been given by using this space like a personal blog to wax nostalgic on things of...
Cronin: Evolution of acceptable truth
Languages and words evolve over time. Take the word “tolerance” for example. We used to say things like “to each his own” and “live and let live,” and as a...
Cronin: Three examples of why Poway is a great military town
At the risk of provoking “military appreciation fatigue,” this is a wonderful Poway story that really ought to be told.Three stories, actually. Each deserves a “Bravo Zulu,” a term to...
Cronin: Good leaders must first be servants
At the risk of committing that deadliest of sins, I was a good Marine, the quintessential “go-to guy,” as comfortable navigating the Byzantine labyrinth of the five-sided puzzle palace on...