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Posts published in “Essays”

The Summer of Smoke?

“The Summer of Love, protests to be civil and a rainbow of counterculture. Whether you started here or put flowers in your hair, grabbed a drum and hitched a ride on a painted minibus, Camel…

Slow Going

Five years ago, a few weeks before I made my move from Berkeley to Mendocino, I came within a few inches of being killed by a young man who was driving his pickup truck very fast while simultaneously using his mobile phone.

Who’ll Get “Sacrificed?” “Legalizers” Look to 2012

A week after the election, pro-cannabis reform activists held a get-together in Denver that some modestly referred to as a "summit meeting." They defined the yes vote for Prop 19 (46%) as a victory and…

Operation Full Court Press

A reliable source comments on Sheriff Allman's $1.5 million estimated budget ("which does not include costs of restoration or contingencies") for the Mendocino County National Forest "Full Court Press" campaign:  "This has all grown out…

Problem Solving, School Board Style

The Anderson Valley School Board seems to have satisfied itself that the complaints of Ernie Pardini, football coach John Toohey and other local football advocates, presented at the stormy October Board meeting, have been resolved.…

The Greater Traitor

As an Irish-American, I ask myself, which of the two is the greater Judas to his nation: the Irish prime minister, Brian Cowen, or the American president, Barack Obama? Both of them are carrying out…

Two Roads

The Christmas tree is decorated.  The presents under the tree are mounting. We're in a flurry of cookie baking & decorating, wrapping presents and eating candy canes. Meanwhile, Julian Assange has his head in the…

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