The Joys of Not Winning $1.8 billion  As this column was being digitized, the $1.8 billion Powerball lottery was just won by someone(s) soon-to-be-robbed in Arkansas. What a way to end the year!  Math majors will note that the odds of winning the whole $1.8... Continue

If tacky yard signs periodically posted at all its entrances are any indication, there is no greater violation of the Ten Commandments or affront to Human Decency than allowing a Canis Lupis Familiaris – a Dog – to set a single paw on the grounds... Continue

Notwithstanding the work of 30 global environmental conferences and Sonoma County’s strict recycling rules (‘No tampons in the blue can’), climate change is definitely coming. But not to worry. Our planet has gone through many climate changes in its 4.5 billion-year history, each of which... Continue

Icon: A person or thing widely admired for having great influence or significance in a particular sphere, a symbol representing an idea or object, a sacred image in Eastern Christian churches, or a stylized picture on a computer screen that represents a function. ~ Merriam... Continue

Become a Brain Surgeon or Drink Less Wine? It’s not too early to point out that this year will be over any minute now, and it’s time to start putting together that list of New Year’s Resolutions for 2026.  What?? Now?  Yes, because the final... Continue

Tailtu and Mary Too As we go to press, the nation and our Valley are about to enter the best season of the year, Holiday Season, more dear to Americans than the bland spring/summer/fall/winter seasons invented by scientists.  Credit for starting the Holiday Season goes... Continue

These days the media is awash in rants about hate speech. It seems everyone is saying how nasty things have become, how hate speech is tearing our country apart, provoking widespread violence and spitting, and that ‘it must be stopped!’    Easier said than done. Certainly... Continue

At one time or another, and often several times at the same time, readers have felt completely overwhelmed by Everything Going On These Days. No wonder we forget where we put the keys. Just walking from car to the front door, we can simultaneously ponder:... Continue

According to scientists (yes, those people), summer ends on September 22 or thereabouts, when the sun crosses the celestial equator resulting in a day and night that are nearly equal in length. For most humans, however, summer ended when the kids went back to school.  ... Continue