The Sonoma Developmental Center is a special place for many of us in Sonoma Valley. For over 100 years, it has cared for the most vulnerable members of our community. The SDC is still home to 419 residents, for some, the only home they have... Continue
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My son, James, had raised money for a women’s education program in the Nubian village of Gharb Aswan, Egypt. To hopefully encourage a life-long desire for giving, I have taken him to Gharb Aswan to see with his own eyes, where the money he raised... Continue
Within the next six months, several Sonoma Valley nonprofits, including the Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau, Mentoring Alliance, Boys and Girls Clubs, and Museum of Art, will have new executive directors. In a 2014 survey of nonprofit executive directors conducted by The Bridgespan Group, 46 percent... Continue
One of the common experiences of contemporary politics is feeling like what you are being told is so stupid and nonsensical that the person saying it knows it is stupid and nonsensical too. Denial of climate change, evolution and established historical fact certainly provide such... Continue
I've always wondered if it's a matter of translation; namely did the the tablets brought down Mt. Sinai by Moses prohibit killing or murder? From what I can tell, most people think "Thou shalt not kill" fully covers the topic, generating reams of argument about... Continue
Before movies there were dreams, the experience of being simultaneously involved while impassively observing events and emotions displayed on mind's internal "screen." In many ancient cultures dreams played a pivotal role in individual and social life. For Australian Aboriginal peoples, Dreamtime is considered the greater... Continue
This town blows my mind. Sure, I wish the rent prices would decrease and the diversity downtown would increase. Higher pay, less traffic. But I gotta’ tell you, when I am out and about and hear people’s stories and feel their hearts and hugs, it... Continue
Although the human impulse towards religious experience is undeniable many people today do not consider themselves as religious or spiritual. Writer Richard Dawkins or television pundit Bill Maher take great pains to paint religious belief as nonsense - destructive mumbo-jumbo unsuited to modern society and... Continue
The Sonoma based nonprofit Praxis Peace Institute recently sponsored a lecture by Professor Richard Wolff at the Sonoma Community Center. Wolff has taught at Yale University, the Sorbonne in Paris, and is currently a visiting professor at the New School University in New York. Wolff... Continue
Spring has sprung! I love this time of year when the fields are bright yellow and green. As I travel between my offices in Sonoma and Santa Rosa, I am reminded there are few sights more gorgeous than the Highway 12 corridor during the spring.... Continue