Public Citizen

Larry Barnett lives in Sonoma where he was elected to three terms on the City Council and served twice as Mayor. A thirty-five-year resident, he currently serves on Sonoma's Planning Commission, where he recently was Chair for two years. Until her passing, he was married to his wife Norma for 50 years, has two daughters and three grandchildren.

Nearing 70 but still livin’ in the 60s

The 60s changed my life, or more correctly, the 60s changed my mind. I am a member of the "love generation", that cohort of baby boomers who discovered that a sacred presence permeates all things, that words can never do it justice and that one... Continue

The Democracy Experiment

For almost the entirety of human history governmental systems have not been democratic. Though we in America like to think of Ancient Greece as the birthplace of democracy well over 2,500 years ago, even that's more fiction than fact; the Greek city-state of Athens, with... Continue

Authoritarianism in America: The view from 2050

"Many consider the elevation of Voice of America (VoA) to the status of the official domestic news organ of the United States as emblematic of when authoritarianism became fully established in America. Quietly, and without much notice, the Trump administration had been actively recruiting for... Continue

Tax cuts for the rich — the real death panel

This week, the Senate, voting on party lines, passed their version of the mysterious ‘tax reform’ bill, which puts this generationally catastrophic wealth transfer to the 1% one step closer to becoming law. Policy wonks can get into the weeds and try to tweak the... Continue

To my fellow fire survivors

By Susan Gorin -- “We all have this thing called humanity that was so important in this particular event.” -Sonoma Police Chief Bret Sackett, comments at the Civic Ceremony, Nov. 18, 2017 As we settle into our post-fires reality, new terms have entered our conversation,... Continue

Things to Come

What-Has-Been opposes Things-to-Come, while at the same time What-Has-Been creates Things-to-Come. Things-to-Come makes What-Has-Been obsolete, yet Things-to-Come mirrors What-Has-Been. The relationship between What-Has-Been and Things-to-Come is not paradoxical, rather interpenetrating. They are not separate, they are not the same; this is because neither What-Has-Been nor... Continue

Things unsaid

While we’re swirling from fires and politics – we land smack dab in the midst of holidays, with family and other humans – trying to get along. Relationships are a part of the season, whether we like it or not. If we tell the truth... Continue

Fire survivors need your cash, not your clothing

By Dr. B.J. Bischoff -- Recently I was in a meeting with the leader of a Sonoma County nonprofit organization. I knew she had lost her home to the Tubbs Fire in October, so we started chatting about her experience in fleeing her home and finding... Continue

Grappling with gropers

If it seems hard to breathe lately, it’s not because wildfires are back. The sudden shortage of oxygen follows a rash of reports of sexual harassment by men in politics, business and entertainment which have caused local lechers to inhale sharply and all at once,... Continue

Welcome to the Dark Side

Women have been putting up with piggish men for a long time; do you recall the cartoon showing a helpless woman being dragged by the hair while a caveman says to his friend, "I love these pre-holiday sales!"? For a very long time, the meme... Continue

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