Graffiti is plain ugly, everybody knows that ... in fact, this week it's been talk of the town ... or at least the bloggers that inhabit the Napa Valley Register's Web site.

California has a seemingly endless number of fascinating nooks and crannies, places where human history touched down for just a second or where some natural feature is the only one of its kind — or spots where the natural and the historical came together to make a location memorable, like the James Dean Tree near Cholame, Captain Jack‘s Stronghold near Tule Lake or Scotty‘s Castle in Death Valley.

I would like to respond to the opinion letter by Rich Panter, “A wasteful visit from Bush” on July 22, and Michael Luttrell’s “Estimating the costs of Bush visit” on July 23, both examples of the “Everything Bush does is bad” doctrine.

The Summer Olympics started in Beijing on Friday, and I’m having some trouble getting excited about the spectacle this time around ... too many pro athletes, too many endorsement deals and too many sports that have passed their prime.

Who killed the proposed Kimpton hotel in Napa?

Dear editor, Thank you for the recent articles in the St. Helena Star and the Napa Valley Register illuminating the upcoming bone marrow transplant of 16-year-old Napa native Grant Beltrami.

Dear editor, At a time when millions of human beings are suffering and dying from war and disease, and enslavement by economic dominance, the Olympic torch has no meaning other than to spread more of the same. The athletes are used by the countries involved as chess pieces. The athletes are given recognition and money to place their bodies in competition in order to put their nations in the world spotlight. This scam has been going on for a long time. The Olympics could be used as friendly competition representing love as well as athletic development.

Yesterday the proposed election for a transportation tax died a quiet death in the Board of Supervisors chambers. I was disappointed because I would like to see the roads fixed, and I do not believe they will be fixed without one in any reasonable time frame, but I agree it was the right decision. Taxpayers are scared right now for a lot of reasons, and I think the final blow was our Governor proposing the 1 percent state sales tax.

Proposition 8, the "Limit on Marriage, Constitutional Amendment," on the November ballot, calls for an amendment to the state constitution, declaring that marriage can only be between a man and a woman.

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