This is an open letter to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, and since you are all people with names, let's use them. I am, therefore, addressing our District 1 Supervisor, Susan Gorin; District 2 Supervisor, David Rabbitt; District 3 Supervisor Chris Coursey;  District 4... Continue

The list of reasons Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential campaign seems endless:     Fox News and right-wing media.     The rise of Christian Nationalism.     Twitter (OK, X) tilting heavily toward Trump.     The power of the Big Lie.  ... Continue

I’m writing this early on election eve, before all the relevant western polls have closed and before Steve Kornacki has bored deep into the Big Board. So, while writing this, I don’t know whether the naked emperor will be sidelined for court appointments that will... Continue

The future of the Sonoma Developmental Center continues to hang in the balance, as a Napa developer proceeds with plans for construction of almost a thousand new living units, including a plethora of single-family homes and a row of two-and-three-story housing units lining parts of... Continue

Why don’t you pull up a chair, pour yourself a six-ounce glass of a robust red wine – maybe a Monte Rosso zinfandel or a Robert Kamen cabernet – and picture a perfectly-grilled, medium rare filet of grass-fed beef. Yum, right? Well, basically, that’s what... Continue

As of September 16, the U.S. casualty toll from mass shootings in 2024 – defined as involving four or more victims – was sitting at 553 killed and 1,835 injured. Those totals, compiled by Wikipedia, don’t count the numbers of family members, friends, lovers, co-workers,... Continue

There is a silent scream stuck in my throat. It has been there for as long as I can remember.  As a child, living two of my most formative years in immediate post-war Berlin, with forays through the rubble-strewn remains of the Third Reich, seeing... Continue

Anyone studying climate change-related CO2 production understands that trans-boundary emissions are inadequately accounted for. Those are the emissions emitted by the airplanes that bring tourists to Sonoma Valley hotels, restaurants and wineries. They include the internal combustion engine emissions that out-of-county tourists generate getting to... Continue

I was working on my computer during a recent weekday evening with the TV on in the background, when the sudden assault took place, interrupting my train of thought, scrambling my ability to frame rational word associations, flooding my brain with inchoate rage and sending... Continue