Given the scary nature of pretty much everything these days (a raging pandemic amidst widespread disbelief in science; a ruling oligarchy dead set on destroying anything worth living for; Attorney General Barr’s “anarchist jurisdictions,” which…
Posts published in “Essays”
IN THE DELUGE of unhappy news this week was another airliner crash in Indonesia. The plane was flying from Jakarta to the Borneo city of Pontianak. Pontianak! In the year of living dangerously, 1965, I…
Ever heard of Indian Schools in Mendocino County? Why were they needed? Why were there a dozen of them around the County? Investigating this phenomenon from a century ago, please understand all natives were referred…
I was fortunate some 50 years ago to be a member of the California Agricultural Leadership Program. I joined 29 other upcoming agriculture leaders for a two-year pro-bono program that included seminars at four agriculture…
In November 2000, Al Gore and George W. Bush were running for President, and so was Ralph Nader. On the Saturday before the election Ross Mirkarimi, Nader's California campaign manager, called me at home to…
A recent edition of Jeopardy featured Los Tres Grandes, the three famous muralists who challenged the social order in Mexico in the mid-20th Century. The correct response was Diego Rivera, the best known of the…
Preston Brooks entered the United States Senate chamber with a gutta percha walking cane in hand. The cane stood approximately waist high next to the thirty-six-year-old South Carolinian. The head of the cane was topped…
Never have I missed the insight and guidance of Alexander Cockburn as much as I do now. What would he make of the big mess in DC this week? When he referenced his ancestor, George…
It took another Barbarian to deliver the toughest talk to the Vandals and Goths who sacked the American Capitol last week. Whether any from these bearded, fur-clad tribes were listening to Conan the Californian seems…