Bernie Sanders has run the most successful grassroots campaign in American history, and his second American revolution provides the first real opportunity that We, the People, have had to overthrow our corporate-corrupted government and replace it with a system that benefits the public interest, our shared ecology, and a peaceful […]
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Corporate media has a story and it’s sticking to it: Hillary Clinton has the Democratic nomination in the bag. Bernie hasn’t a chance. Talk of big change may attract the under-30 crowd, but the majority of Democratic voters don’t buy it. If you’re not for Hillary, you’re backing a loser, […]
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Bernie Sanders’ historic upset in Tuesday night’s Michigan Primary, which the nation’s most influential polling aggregator estimated he would lose by 22 points, may prove to be the turning point in this election. That’s because Sanders’ two point victory in Michigan follows just a week or less after three other […]
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SHOCKER: Bernie scored four major wins by large margins in Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Vermont during the March 1 Super Tuesday contest, doing far better than expected, despite what the corporate media reported. I listened to National Public Radio on the morning following the Democratic Party Fix…I mean..Primary, and the […]
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Last weekend, the SF Peninsula Press Club announced the annual winners of its 2015 Greater Bay Journalism Award contest for work published last year. The investigative series by this reporter about the closing of Palm Drive Hospital won the first place award for “Digital Media: Columns-News/Political.” It also won third […]
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Last week, in the middle of a record hot summer, and for the first time in California history, all the public showers at 44 state-run beach parks across the state were shut down. “California is facing extremely severe drought conditions,” announced California State Parks Director Lisa Mangat. “It is important […]
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It has been a phenomenal year for Sonoma County’s economy. Joblessness is below 5%, home values are soaring, and the treasury enjoys a record surplus of more than $13.5 million. The recession and cutbacks of four years ago are fading from memory, with one notable exception: Sonoma County Library system, one […]
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On April 3, 2015, Sonoma County’s secret war on marijuana confronted an unprecedented roadblock. A freedom flash mob had gathered, overfilling a courtroom and packing the hallway outside. Nearly 100 upstanding citizens had taken off work that morning and made their way through a crowded security checkpoint to challenge the recommended […]
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(This article first appeared in the Huffington Post). As I listened to the ads from the ill-fated campaign to label genetically modified food in Washington, I felt a sickening case of déjà vu. About a year ago, I wrote a controversial article for the Huffington Post, titled “Ten Grassroots Lessons From Monsanto’s […]
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(This article first appeared in the Bohemian). Dr. Carmen Finley, a retired research scientist and genealogist, still remembers the “Juvenile Hall” of the Santa Rosa public library. During the 1930s, her mother worked at a shop near the library, dropping her off every day before work. “I have such fond […]
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(This column first appeared as a Guest Commentary in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat on June 12, 2013). Since August 2011, my two young children, along with hundreds of thousands of Sonoma County residents, have been deprived of the use of our public libraries on Mondays and evenings. A decline […]
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(This post first appeared in the Huffington Post on November 11, 2012). The populist campaign to label genetically modified food has been successfully swift-boated by Monsanto and the largest pesticide and junk food companies on earth. Our consumer movement made the costly mistake of arming itself with peace signs and […]
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(This column first appeared as a guest commentary in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat on October 13, 2013). On Tuesday, Sebastopol’s City Council will hear the county present a draft of a new joint-powers agreement to govern our county libraries.The need for a revised joint powers authority agreement arose from […]
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(This article first appeared in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat). You don’t need to be a revolutionary to be disappointed with our federal government. Even as catastrophes such as Hurricane Sandy and the Newton, Conn. massacre threaten the ecological and humanistic foundations of our civilization, even as glaciers melt and […]
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(This article first appeared in the Huffington Post). For 80 years, Catholic Workers have helped lead the nation’s peace movement. With a growing number of non-violent actions, arrests and hunger strikes in recent months, they have become the activists most closely aligned, in deeds, to Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. […]
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(This article first appeared in the Huffington Post). Corporations are not people, and regulating corporations — and our economy, so that we can all be part of a society that feeds our hungry, heals our sick, clothes our poor, and protects clean air, water and food for its citizens — […]
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(This article first appeared in the New York Times Education Life on April 14, 2002). The year was 1974 and I had just turned 16. The sexual revolution, Nixon’s resignation and marijuana filled the air with new possibilities. I was about to enter my junior year at the academically elite […]
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