I was working on my computer during a recent weekday evening with the TV on in the background, when the sudden assault took place, interrupting my train of thought, scrambling my ability to frame rational word associations, flooding my brain with inchoate rage and sending... Continue
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People are great storytellers. Whether to make sense of a mysterious world beyond our control, to gain influence or power over others, or simply for the playful purposes of entertainment, the tales we spin have created a human reality quite distinct from that of the... Continue
On May 15 my office held a bilingual community meeting in the Springs on the topic of the long-discussed Springs Community Plaza. Our goal was to share an overview of Springs Plaza efforts to date, and solicit community feedback under this framing question: what features... Continue
The dissenting opinion of Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor in the Trump immunity case, lightly edited for brevity, with emphasis added in bold. Today’s decision to grant former Presidents criminal immunity reshapes the institution of the Presidency. It makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to... Continue
People are talking about how polarized public opinion is right now, politically and socially. The widespread assumption is that a narrow slice of undecideds sits in the middle and that everyone else is rigidly fixed in their opinions; hence, all arguments fail. Ever since the... Continue
NEWS FLASH: I pulled the lever and moved my Real Estate Broker's license from my downtown business office to my home. I'm officially and happily retired. No more getting lost showing property, writing contracts, and holding open houses. No more attending endless meetings, conferences, and... Continue
What’s the big talk of the town, besides fires, vacations, ailments, sex, death and housing? Dictatorships and political polarization terrifying us. Everybody’s asking, how did we get here? I ask myself too, how can we shift from conflict to reparative conversations – personally and politically?... Continue
Those reading over their copy of the Constitution this July 4th might think it needs some serious updating for the 21st century. After all, it was last changed 32 years ago -- in 1992 -- when the 27th Amendment (Google it) was approved by 3/4ths... Continue
On June 5 the Sonoma City Council responded to a long festering demand by local citizens – including a significant number of students from Sonoma Valley High School – by drafting and introducing a ceasefire resolution about the war in Gaza. The resolution was reasonable,... Continue
The Homo line of bipedal humans sequenced through a variety of iterations before settling down, albeit uncomfortably, into the one we are today. Among others, there’s been Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis, and the now popular Homo neanderthalensis. All these primate species share characteristics... Continue