Last year I watched the movie, “Leave the World Behind.” The plot is an apocalyptic scenario in which external threats and internal strife break down societal order. Starting with a tanker ship running aground on the beach, then building the story that everything we know,... Continue
Columnist
I’m hard-wired for formal prayer. I recite the Our Father when an earthquake hits and sometimes at night as I fall asleep. Then a Hail Mary arises, a woman about whom I hold equally wobbly beliefs. I surrender and move on to bless my family,... Continue
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
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