Imperialism was a loaded word, a most unsavory word, in academia in the U.S. in the 1960s when I wrote a Ph.D. thesis about Rudyard Kipling and Joseph Conrad titled “The Mythology of Imperialism.” I…
Posts published in “Essays”
There’s much hand-wringing these days about the political polarization of our country. This angst is real and empirically provable in evolving individual state and community laws and regulations and, of course, in the very existence…
That's what freethinkers say when asked to swear to God, as I was asked in a Chicago courtroom in December 1969. I testified that Tom Hayden told me one night during the 1968 Democratic Convention…
A few days from now son Lucas and I will take our seats at the Oakland Coliseum, cheer on the A’s, have a long, last sentimental look around and go home. The stadium is maybe…
They wheeled me into the extremely bright and white operating room early in the morning. “Where’s the robot?” I asked. “That’s the first thing everyone asks,” a nurse said with a laugh. “It’s not here…
Summer’s here and the time is right for dancing in the street’ —Martha and the Vandellas, 1964 ‘Summer’s here and the time is right for fighting in the streets’ —Rolling Stones, 1968 ‘Summer’s here and…
The Little Tokyo area in Los Angeles just celebrated their 140th anniversary. It has been 140 years since the first Japanese business opened in downtown Los Angeles. To mark the occasion a street festival including…
“Chicken in the car and the car can’t go, that’s how you spell Chicago.” I heard that jingle when I was a boy and have never forgotten it. I’m writing this on the cusp of…
Growing up in Ukiah/Redwood Valley during the 80’s, there were always a handful of street people. They were mostly benign and often had quite colorful personalities. Occasionally they met tragic outcomes, such as was the…