Is drought officially over?

Not only have there finally been several days of rain recently, courtesy of El Nino, global warming and self-radicalized meteorologists, but judging by the pronouncements, actions and inactions of public officials, the drought has been Officially Over for some time. One sign was the official... Continue

Nationalism and Individualism

Human experience is primarily regional. We are members of a family within a community located regionally first and foremost, and only secondarily are we members of a nation. The rise of nationalism as we know it today is a fairly recent social development, and truly... Continue

Art predicts politics

Over the holiday weekend, I saw two films that really put their finger on the pulse of the present moment in our culture: “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “The Big Short” and clarifies the times in which it is produced. Both of these movies... Continue

Using literature reviews to develop evidence-informed programs

Recently, a leader of a Sonoma Valley nonprofit organization identified a serious community problem that her organization has the ability to tackle. Then, she immediately suggested that she and her staff could create a program from scratch to help solve this problem, which is not... Continue

Holding the Middle Ground

The human experience is paradoxical; our minds are infinite, as vast as the universe itself, while our bodies are finite, grains of sand tossed by the tides and winds of time. We collectively use our imagination to explore the far reaches of Universe, plunging the... Continue

Representing the Springs’ diversity

The Springs. A place. A state of mind. People out on stoops, walking along newly laid sidewalks under streetlights, running along the corridor in the early morning, visitors staying at the Fairmont venturing out to the neighborhood, locals gathering around taco trucks, hot pink and... Continue

The aesthetics of intoxication

Alcohol causes more deaths than those caused by painkillers and heroin, combined. The Center's for Disease Control reports that in 2014, 30,722 people died due to alcohol poisoning and cirrhosis of the liver, as compared with 28,647 deaths due to overdoses from opiates. If drunk... Continue

Preferring Royalty

We praise democracy, but we don't seem to like it very much. Voting rates in America are terrible, and voters seem to prefer established families or Reality TV stars to experienced politicians. Most people agree that our democratic electoral system has been corrupted by money,... Continue

A Splash in the Punchbowl

For reasons shortly explained, it’s looking like the folks hoping to build a community swimming facility on Verano Ave across from Maxwell park have dived into a public relations swamp of their own making. They are Sonoma Splash, a non-profit which in 2014 announced plans... Continue

Our War of the Worlds

H.G. Wells' classic "War of the Worlds" is a tale about how some of the smallest creatures on Earth ultimately destroyed Martian invaders wielding technology powerful enough to wipe out humanity. His idea was not entirely fanciful; as global warming lifts the average temperature of... Continue

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