In statistics, ‘reversion to the mean’ is a term used to describe that observation of the extreme is followed by observation of the less extreme, or one might say, a more normal average. In other words, no matter how wild results may appear, over time... Continue
Public Citizen
At the beginning of 20th century, coincident with the rise of high technology and the advancement of science - the telegraph, radio, personal automobiles, and the shift from agrarian to industrial culture - the way people related to each other and themselves began a major... Continue
I am my mind and my body, and they are me. So it is that my self-consciousness imagines itself. My inner thoughts, unspoken but constructed of words nonetheless, convert my embodied experience of being to the symbolic and then back to embodied again. I feel... Continue
This is what psychologist Sue Grand calls the type of psychological disturbance spreading across America and the world right now. It’s happened before, of course, and has been called by other names like “social hysteria,” and “group delirium.” Whatever the name, such episodes are examples... Continue
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
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
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
The trees and shrubs lining our streets and filling front and back yards help form our primary urban landscape; their shade, varied forms, and range of colors add texture and movement to an otherwise concrete and asphalt tableau. Some call this an urban forest, but... Continue
America has always had reactionaries, people highly resistant to cultural change and determined to undermine the forces underlying such change. Such reactionaries currently appear under a variety of names: social conservative, pro-family, traditional values voter, new right, and now, anti-woke. What they all have in... Continue