This letter is in response to Daniel Coffey's column, "Erect, connect, repeat: We all want a solar garden" (The Daily Transcript, May 20) that criticized Bill Power's plan, and Bill's letter in response.

April 30 was like any other day at the Film Commission until Supervising Producer Toby Gorman called from "American Idol."

I've been trying out two new notebooks, each designed to pack powerful performance into a package that's thinner and lighter than many mainstream notebooks. They're not direct competitors with one another; one is a PC running Windows Vista and the other is a Mac. But each represents their makers' latest and best attempts at offering a desktop replacement that's ideal for traveling with extended battery life.

This weekend over a million Californians will flock to the beach. The coast is a central part of our state's identify. Increasingly, however, the state's ocean resources are under threat and it is past time that we contemplated how best to generate the revenues required to preserve this vital environmental and economic resource.

Think for a minute if one day you read in the obituaries that a local entertainer had passed away. Let's say a fellow that played at a piano bar for many years. You wouldn't think much about it. So why is the passing of the Michael Jackson, the "King of Pop," so notable?

At the annual meeting earlier this year of Sempra Energy, shareholders narrowly rejected a proposal to have an advisory vote on executive compensation. The proposal had also been presented at previous annual meetings.

Recently I questioned statements made by Supervisor Dianne Jacob and other opposition groups who claim the as-yet-to-be-constructed Sunrise Powerlink will carry NO electricity derived from renewable sources. My incredulity was heightened because this posture is used to egg on opposition to relatively tiny additional transmission lines needed to reach significant Mexican renewable wind power, some of which may be carried by Sunrise Powerlink.

The most recent government numbers indicate that job losses in San Diego have reached historic proportions. This past January, our unemployment rate spiked to 8.6 percent, reaching the highest point in our last severe recession during the early 1990s. With more regional workers expected to receive pink slips and severance packages in the foreseeable future, the business community and government leaders should take a sober look at the challenges ahead on the road to economic recovery.

As June is the mid-year mark for gift planning, let's move beyond ties and books for dads and grads, and look at some extraordinary gift planning opportunities for families in business.

There have already been plenty of surprises in the ongoing contest to become the next governor of California, and chances are there will be plenty more.

The future path of health care for Americans is starting to show some direction. President Obama signals that major reform in providing and paying for medical services is at the top of his domestic agenda. Now Congress must produce.

Even a lawfully worded rule can result in an unfair labor practice finding if it is overbroad, implemented after the onset of union activity, or applied inconsistently against union supporters. Enforcing lawful confidentiality, no-solicitation and no-distribution rules can be very helpful to the employer, but only if your institution is willing and able to enforce the rules consistently.

Every expectation is followed by a response, which is measured by time.

San Diego's gift of perpetual sunshine is ideal for generating solar electricity. Three solar power systems recently completed in San Diego demonstrate the technical and financial viability of solar power as a source of clean energy. They also illustrate the use of power purchase agreements, or PPAs, to finance and develop solar power systems without upfront capital costs to the customer.

A great trial lawyer I admire, Steve Swinton, told me about the "bartender test." The test measures the common sense of a lawyer's argument in a given case. The test requires you to explain your case to a disinterested bartender in five minutes or less. If the bartender understands and accepts it, your case has common sense and even justice. If the bartender says, "That's bullshit," then your argument lacks common sense and justice.

I'm attending a reunion today. There won't be any of the pomp that often goes with reunions. It will be a quiet affair attended by 10 or so men. We'll meet at a local restaurant hardly noticed by the other patrons. There'll be the usual embraces and smiles that come with seeing friends. Talk will start with updates on careers and personal lives. Someone will brag that at 60-plus years he can still run a marathon. Another will point out that he's now as fit as he was when he was 25. Side conversations will abound and at times we'll crane to hear what someone is saying at the other end of the table.

We are at a crossroads, and depending on your perspective, it could either look like we are on the precipice of a new era or that we have gone over the cliff. The incredible run of all aspects of real estate sure felt good while it lasted.

Watchdogs are an endangered species in the Age of Obama. The latest government ombudsman to get the muzzle: Amtrak Inspector General Fred Weiderhold. The longtime veteran employee was abruptly "retired" this month -- just as the government-subsidized rail service faces mounting complaints about its meddling in financial audits and probes.

On the day my father died I was 1,200 miles away.

There is a mass of swirling garbage in the north Pacific Ocean that's said to be twice the size of Texas. It's been called the Great Pacific Trash Heap or the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. I prefer the latter because when I sit in meetings about it, I can just shorthand it as GPGP in my notes.

Sony has been grabbing more than a few headlines over the past few days, as an ominous warning from Activision Blizzard head Bobby Kotick over cutting the price on the company's PS3 punctuated the previous week.

We are at a crossroads, and depending on your perspective, it could either look like we are on the precipice of a new era or that we have gone over the cliff. The incredible run of all aspects of real estate sure felt good while it lasted.

I just finished reading another amazing book. It's Larry King's best-selling "My Remarkable Journey."

On May 5, a clear message was sent that voters will no longer obediently approve the politicians' tax increases. And that's great news!

"In times of adversity talents are elicited that in other times lie dormant."

In recent years, there has been a challenge to the classical economist's interpretation of market behavior. From the earliest times of the field of economics, there has been proposed the existence of homo economicus, that is, the "economic man," a being who is driven by self-interest to find the most efficient and cheapest way to fulfill his own needs and desires. The underlying premise is that humans are rational beings in their pursuit of self-interest.

It was September 1957, during which the Democrat, Jim-Crow South was still vehemently persecuting blacks, that Democrat Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus stood in the Little Rock's Central High School front door to stop nine black students from seeking better educations.

This week, the San Diego City Council approved the creation of a private business marketing effort that can raise more public awareness to our dynamic urban core. Taking additional steps today can shape a new identity for downtown's largest neighborhood, which has struggled for years to improve its quality of life.

I keep hearing about how bad this market is and many people feel they never should have been invested or wish they had their money in bonds or CDs.