Chapter 43: Late 1940s • Sonora ~ Lorna Harrington, Betty’s best friend since kindergarten, was unusually shy. My sister took her under her wing, and as birds-of-a-feather they flew everywhere together. Betty saw no reason why she and Lorna shouldn’t participate in all school activities. In... Continue
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This is from the book, A Tale of Two Valleys by Alan Deutschman, published in 2003. “Beyond the working-class haven of the west side came the Springs, which were once known for their natural hot-springs resorts for day-tripping city folks. Long ago the waters dried... Continue
Yes, I know adaptablist is not a real word, that is to say, one you’ll find in the dictionary. However, it is an excellent analogy about the truth of survival; in Darwinian terms, the most adaptable are the fittest. Like the adaptability of language, the... Continue
I met Walt in the weirdest way – you know, the way life is sometimes. I was on a dating site and hating it. Walt was into it, full throttle, driving all the way from Walnut Creek. We went out several times, always with chatter about the... Continue
The marquee political race in the regional 2022 midterm election is for the 12th State Assembly District. This is a newly redrawn district, which includes all of Marin County and the southern half of Sonoma County, including Petaluma, Rohnert Park, and the southern half of... Continue
Aristotle thought so, and his ideas dominated for many thousands of years. Both living and non-living matter, he believed, were purpose-driven, carried forth by an initiating force towards a goal in a process he named Telos, what we today call teleology. Living things, certainly, demonstrate... Continue
Chapter 42: 1947 • Larry’s diary (age 13) Oct 1 Went to Mrs. Rossoci's house to see her about some stamps but she was busy Oct 2 Had scout meeting tonight. Got our Spanish textbooks in class, I got a book in very bad condition. Oct... Continue
One could easily conclude that mankind is warlike; some would even argue that warfare is a natural, even beneficial activity, an opinion shared by Homer, General George Patton, and today’s bevy of nationalistic leaders. War and its competitive derivatives - economic, cultural, and religious -... Continue
Watching and listening to the performance of the norms of democracy and electoral engagement by the mainstream media class can induce a sense of existential dread. The Matrix reality that these national broadcast outlets disseminate is an ideological construction, a confection that asserts that the... Continue
Watching and listening to the performance of the norms of democracy and electoral engagement by the mainstream media class can induce a Sartrean sense of existential dread. The Matrix reality that these national broadcast outlets disseminate is an ideological construction, a confection that asserts that... Continue