Life can be a punishing experience, and difficulties often happen without advance notice. Aging, sickness and death await us all, the foundational elements of myriad forms of suffering. When things get really bad, inevitably the question arises: is life worth living? I am physically materialist,... Continue

As the speed of change accelerates, our sense of time becomes distorted; we barely have time to coalesce memories before they are displaced by new events. In this way, history becomes lost, swept into a bubbling froth of social and personal transformation. So too our... Continue

The other day the boys and I were talking about the afterlife, and that if such a thing exists, would any of the four of us want to “come back.” I was the only one to answer “yes.” It’s important to keep in mind that... Continue

According to a new book, General Mark Milley, Chairman of America’s military Joint Chiefs of Staff, was so alarmed at Trump’s behavior leading up to the transition of power that he referred to the former President’s comments as sounding like Adolf Hitler. He conferred with... Continue

Redevelopment funding ended in 2012, and the city was slow to begin to replace it. The 20% portion of redevelopment funding that was dedicated to the creation of affordable housing accounted for millions of dollars used to subsidize larger affordable housing projects. The newly created... Continue

My wife received a phone call and an email the other day announcing that she was a first-place winner in the Reader’s Digest Sweepstakes; $5.1 million was awaiting deposit into her bank account. Wisely, she made no response on the phone other than to say... Continue

The community is buzzing about Pacaso, the new, well-funded corporation offering fractional home ownership. Already challenged by AirBnB, vacation rentals and vacant second homes, residents are justly worried about Pacaso and its approach to home ownership and how it will affect neighborhoods. A neighborhood without... Continue

When human beings lived tribal lives in relative isolation from one another, before the technology of the wheel and all that followed, tribal culture provided a coherent framework within which each individual had a place and role; individual differences were less significant than cultural similarities... Continue

Public opinion notwithstanding, the U.S. Constitution does not enshrine a right to privacy. Yes, it does provide protection against unlawful search and seizure, which implies that unless warranted, homes and cars and laptops cannot be searched, but a sharply worded “right” to privacy can’t be... Continue