According to Buddhists, intention is important, but it is also the actions of thought and deed, which govern the nature of the future; in Buddhist terminology, such action is called Karma. The accumulations of Karma, both personal and collective, turn the so-called "Wheel of Samsara,"... Continue
Public Citizen
Illness is one of life's inevitable events; it happens to all of us eventually, unless sudden accidental death erases the possibility. Like most other complex living things, the human body is naturally resilient and capable of self-repair, but only up to a point. Nature, in... Continue
Maybe it's just a symptom of the times, but I'm seeing an unfortunate trend to make everything, even City Government, all about money. Admittedly, there are those who have long advocated that the road to Utopia is best paved by running government like a business.... Continue
There's so much in a name. I've written before about the ways names evolved alongside manners or occupations, resulting in families of Tanners, Archers, Barbers, Fowlers and the like. In what may be one of the most amusing current surnames on everyone's lips is, sorry... Continue
I honestly cannot recall a time in my 67-year-old life when America seemed more disjointed. Sure, the Vietnam era was one heckava mess, and the civil rights era was pretty messy too. But from the standpoint of governance, there was the presumption that politics was... Continue
In a cringe-worthy 4-1 decision (Susan Gorin dissenting) rejecting 14 months of public input and recommendations of the County Planning Commission, Sonoma County's Board of Supervisors has betrayed the public it serves in favor of chump change from tourists looking for a place to party... Continue
We live in wondrous, terrible times. In every field of human endeavor we are exceeding ourselves, almost daily. Our tallest buildings are getting taller, our fastest computers are getting faster; gas-powered autos are giving way to electric vehicles, natural evolution is being supplanted by gene-editing.... Continue
Human experience is primarily regional. We are members of a family within a community located regionally first and foremost, and only secondarily are we members of a nation. The rise of nationalism as we know it today is a fairly recent social development, and truly... Continue
The human experience is paradoxical; our minds are infinite, as vast as the universe itself, while our bodies are finite, grains of sand tossed by the tides and winds of time. We collectively use our imagination to explore the far reaches of Universe, plunging the... Continue
Alcohol causes more deaths than those caused by painkillers and heroin, combined. The Center's for Disease Control reports that in 2014, 30,722 people died due to alcohol poisoning and cirrhosis of the liver, as compared with 28,647 deaths due to overdoses from opiates. If drunk... Continue