Dictators – whether in Spain, South Africa, Romania or Syria — retain power for decades. They can seem impregnable and invulnerable. But they always fall, and when they do fall the world acts surprised. It…
Posts published in January 2025
I came here from Wyoming, like Fremont, in moccasins. And like Fremont I met some Native Americans along the way. I remember one laconic old warrior in particular. He gave me a ride on his…
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The history of Mendocino County is told in fits and starts, in family memoirs, old timer interviews and in whispered references to long-ago scandals only hinted at by the newspapers of the time. “The Nelson…
Watching the high school kids tottering up the hiking trail under ridiculous burdens I was reminded of the studies of GIs who jumped into the surf in the Normandy landings with 80 pound packs on…
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RECOMMENDED READING: Alcatraz, the Gangster Years by David Ward with Gene Kassebaum. There are a lot of books about Alcatraz around, but this one is in a class by itself. The authors seem to be…