The defining youthful event of my generation was the war in Vietnam. For those of us who objected to that war, the horror of guns and bombs and pointless death became a cause celebré, a rallying point that captured the vitality of being eighteen and... Continue
Public Citizen
When I gaze up into the trees from my backyard I'm always struck by the ways they grow into and towards the light. A very large red-barked Eucalyptus over nine-stories tall in my neighbor's yard dominates the sky from down below, its silver-colored leaves shimmering... Continue
When I gaze up into the trees from my backyard I'm always struck by the ways they grow into and towards the light. A very large red-barked Eucalyptus over nine-stories tall in my neighbor's yard dominates the sky from down below, its silver-colored leaves shimmering... Continue
My sister recently visited from New York, and was excited to see what an outlet for recreational marijuana looked like. Finding ourselves in San Francisco, we decided to drop in at Harvest, a pot shop on Geary Street near 11th Avenue. To be honest, I've... Continue
I'm struck by how many people feel badly about themselves: thinking they're failures for not "doing enough," faulting themselves for not having accomplished anything, walking around feeling guilty. Feeling self-critical is not necessarily unhealthy, but like any activity of mind, it can move into unhealthy... Continue
A modern, widely-held assumption is that human consciousness has evolved for the better. When we examine the past and find patterns of belief and behavior we call "primitive", we feel self-satisfied and consider ourselves and our present culture as having progressed in comparison. It was... Continue
"Whew! Is it just me, or is it hot in here?" asked Mother Earth, mostly to herself. She'd been hot before, of course, but this seemed terribly sudden. Mother Earth is no spring chicken, she's middle-aged and she's seen and done an awful lot in four... Continue
The 60s changed my life, or more correctly, the 60s changed my mind. I am a member of the "love generation", that cohort of baby boomers who discovered that a sacred presence permeates all things, that words can never do it justice and that one... Continue
For almost the entirety of human history governmental systems have not been democratic. Though we in America like to think of Ancient Greece as the birthplace of democracy well over 2,500 years ago, even that's more fiction than fact; the Greek city-state of Athens, with... Continue
"Many consider the elevation of Voice of America (VoA) to the status of the official domestic news organ of the United States as emblematic of when authoritarianism became fully established in America. Quietly, and without much notice, the Trump administration had been actively recruiting for... Continue