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

I loved science fiction movies and books as a kid; I still do, although I don’t read much sci-fi these days. In 1958, at camp Androscoggin in Maine, Earth vs. Flying Saucers was shown one movie night, and visions of a disabled saucer crashing into... Continue

We live in an affirmative universe, the Universe of Yes. The presence of matter is itself evidence, as are all the other forces and fields we’ve discovered. The universe only says “yes,” even to our ability to say “no.” It doesn’t get more affirmative than... Continue

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m an avid walker. I cross Broadway every day, sometimes several times as I go about my errands and appointments. Being a pedestrian crossing Broadway is not a casual event; I make eye contact with drivers to make sure... Continue

From the smallest animal to the largest, hunger, the first and strongest drive to assert itself, underlies the substance of animal behavior. Sensory functions - smell, sight, touch, hearing and taste - all support the search for food, and their humble origins may well lie... Continue