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.

Think downtown Napa is changing fast?

The news is so full of how much more everything costs. Under a new administration (either party) it is pretty certain that we will be set upon with new taxes. Food costs more, gasoline costs a lot more than it did a year ago — the sky is falling down on us. Wouldn’t it be nice if maybe, just maybe, the government could save some money and pass the savings on to us, the poor overburdened taxpayer?

What you post is there for everyone to see, and it stays there for everyone to see.

The announcement that the Mervyns store in Napa is soon to close is sad in several respects. Dozens of locals will be out of jobs when the department store shuts down in just a few months. Locals have lost a viable shopping option — good old McCaulou’s remains the other — in a downtown sector that increasingly caters to tourists.

Dear editor, There is still time to prevent another election from being stolen. Join the Unitarian Universalists’ Social Justice Committee in a conversation about simple actions that can be done to reach the goal of votes being accurately counted. We invite Calistoga, St. Helena, Yountville, Napa, American Canyon and Vallejo citizens to participate in this crucial issue.

Dear editor, I don’t pretend to know the workings of county or city budgeting, but a couple of things struck me as odd recently. On the Aug. 13 front page of the Register I read an article that $1.65 million was being earmarked by the county to buy a wilderness area north of Lake Hennessey.

Fareed Zakaria, one of the most insightful and interesting writers on issues of general political importance to Americans, has recently written a follow up book to his last one, "The Future of Freedom.” The new book is called, "The Post American World.” Both books are outstanding and I would recommend them to anyone.

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.