I'm dreaming about my great-great-great granddaughter. "Shame," she says, "How could you?" Of course she's talking about the ruination of the world, and I know that. "What can I tell you," I say gently, "The unnatural world moves too quickly." And then I'm awake and... Continue

At last night's Sonoma City Council meeting my appeal of the Planning Commission's approval for a use permit allowing Williams-Sonoma to hold 15 events with as many as 80 guests in the garden at their retail location was upheld. This decision has an effect on Williams-Sonoma,... Continue

The recent GOP debate made me want to vomit. That the state of American politics has fallen so deeply into a trench of ignorance is appalling, and leaves me feeling embarrassed and ashamed. Outright lies, intentional deception, bloated arrogance, false piety; all these and more... Continue

Airbnb has ignited a firestorm of opinion pro-and-con regarding its facilitation of rentals of residential property for commercial purposes, even when that property is zoned for residential use only. The overnight or short-term rental of virtually anything is a commercial activity; money changes hands and... Continue

"Climate's capacity to inflict misery rises steeply when imperial arrogance and ideology hinder a society's adjustments to extreme weather." Eugene Linden - The Winds of Change Four years into persistent drought, California is now being told an El Niño is forming in the Pacific, and... Continue

It seems as if human beings are on the brink of knowing everything. Ours is the history of accumulated knowledge, beginning with fire and now extending to exoplanets circling suns many thousands of light-years distant. We've jumped from one understanding to the next, each built... Continue

The State Water Resources Board has told the City of Sonoma to cut its use by 28%; the Valley of the Moon water District by 24%. Given the current drought, these target cutbacks make sense; there's only so much water and it must be conserved.... Continue

I was sitting around talking with two friends when one of them asked me this question. He was talking about the ridiculously low minimum wage, cost of housing, unavailability of rentals, wealth inequality, biased tax code, dissolving social safety net, billions spent on our war... Continue

The current crisis in Greece, the role of Germany in imposing austerity programs, and endless ongoing conflict in the middle east reveals how deeply the western world suffers from a case of mass-obsessive-compulsive disorder. Generation after generation these regions have been the focus of attention... Continue