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.

On being neurotypical

Neurological function varies and past conceptions of “mental disorders” unfairly placed some people in pejorative categories. With increased understanding, “retarded” gave way to “handicapped” which yielded to “disabled” and finally to “neurodivergent.” Appreciation of differences in neurological functioning and capabilities has opened the eyes of... Continue

What’s the point?

So read a recent comment on one of my philosophical articles, and it’s a worthwhile question to contemplate. A friend of mine made a similar remark during a past conversation. “I like talking about practical things,” he said, indicating that philosophical talk was not useful.... Continue

Sonoma won’t have a second dispensary anytime soon. Why not?

Last month the Sonoma City Council addressed the issue of issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a second cannabis dispensary within city limits. The city’s cannabis ordinance was changed two years ago to allow another dispensary, its second. But at its April 19 meeting,... Continue

The reckoning ahead

The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum, a great variety of morbid symptoms appear. So said Antonio Gramsci. This great pre-WWII Italian political leader and deep political theoretician set the terms... Continue

Transcending our predatory animal nature

Life grows, that is its character. It grows over time, has duration, and passes along growth information when the spark of life is bestowed upon successive generations. Growth requires energy, however. Complex plants solved that problem through photosynthesis, the sunlight-driven process that produces sugars. The... Continue

I’ll take two

Just in time, it’s mental health month. I may need longer. We have all been through a lot at this jagged time in history. Watching Mickey Mouse wrestle with Ron DeSantis doesn’t reassure us that mental health is a priority in this country. It’s just... Continue

The reckoning ahead

The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum, a great variety of morbid symptoms appear. So said Antonio Gramsci, the great pre-WWII Italian political leader and deep political theoretician who set the... Continue

A higher power

Chapter 53: 1949 • Sonora ~ Our parents never argued about how to raise their children. They argued about Mother’s smoking and drinking and about her housekeeping, but not about raising the kids. Mom gave the older ones a swift kick or a snapping backhand... Continue

The fluid continuity of the real

“Be here now,” wrote the late Richard Alpert, aka Baba Ram Dass, fellow researcher of psychedelics and consciousness at Harvard University with Timothy Leary in the 60’s, and self-made mystic sage. His instruction is easier said than done, since now is a timeless transition of... Continue

How did I get here?

By Connie Schlelein | The Creative Spark -- Creativity has fascinated me in my education, research, teaching, and now community arts action. Something stirred in me after relocating to Sonoma Valley, with its wealth of Creatives and enviable wealth of arts organizations. This culturally alive... Continue

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