As many predicted, the conservative majority on the Supreme Court has become a dangerous embarrassment, reveling in a medieval Christo-fascist worldview that once burned ‘heretics’ like Joan of Arc at the stake, routinely drowned women as witches and filled the death camps at Auschwitz and... Continue
Columnist
There are so many ways we tell ourselves that everything is going to be just fine. “We’re America,” we’re told, “there’s nothing we can’t do when we work together.” Or, “We’re the greatest country the world has ever known.” Or “America is the world’s beacon... Continue
Chapter 35: 1947 • Sonora Missive to Marceline (part 1 of 2) When our cousin Marceline turned seventeen (the same age Mom was when she married Dad), she became engaged to a young man named Roy. She wrote my mother of her wedding plans; Mom... Continue
In its rush to solve a so-called housing crisis, actually a housing affordability crisis, California has disenfranchised the power of local government to determine what’s best for the community it serves. New state land-use and housing laws effectively eliminate many of the choices, options, and... Continue
Chapter 34: 1947 • Sonora (continuation of my brother’s diary) 1947 • Larry’s diary (age 13) Apr 1 Received pay of five dollars and paid father on radio Apr 2 Bought hatchet and knife. Chopped down a small bush for my paper route. Bought stamps and... Continue
Money, it seems it is all people are talking about. Gas is over $6 a gallon, food prices are up, and most homes in Sonoma Valley are selling for $1,000,000 or more. But, how much money makes one rich today? There has been a lot... Continue
It's an unsettling time for the heart. We alternate from grief and fear to feeling grateful or grumpy. More killing of innocent beings, political divides, vaccine arguments, income and fire fears, abortion threats and personal loss alongside gladness for spring socializing – it’s all too... Continue
The dark clouds on the periphery of my progressive political stronghold are drawing nearer. We see the full extent of the successful 40-year drive of the cultural conservatives, backed by unlimited right-wing oligarch money, politicized prosperity gospel evangelicals, and ruthless Republican political operatives... Continue
My wife and I offered to drive our granddaughter to an appointment in Santa Rosa, and as we neared the destination, we passed an In-N-Out Burger. In-N-Out is a fast food joint, in case you don’t know, and apparently very popular. My wife and I... Continue
I grow intestinal polyps as well as the wine country grows grapes. Such polyps, benign growths when small and young, can become pre-cancerous if allowed to mature; accordingly, every three years I have a colonoscopy and any polyps are removed. The worst part of having... Continue