President Barack Obama gave a great State of the Union speech this year – great in that he presented himself as statesmanlike, reasonable, sane, intelligent, and a consensus builder. However, it was not, I believe, […]

Because Republicans in Congress have steadfastly stymied attempts to get the federal government to act against global warming and climate change, critics of California’s new carbon trading rules usually get little contradiction when they insist […]

As if summoning from a cave a dragon in order to remind us of the power of brutality and fiery exhalation, we seem to be reaching for the “breakdown of civility” with greater and greater […]

The Santa Monica Conservancy held its annual meeting on Jan. 23 at the historic Church in Ocean Park. The sanctuary was filled, bringing together Santa Monicans of many interests and opinions, but with a shared […]

I had a friend explain something to me once about Chevy Corvettes and middle age. I’ll do my best to relate the idea without the tart language deployed in the version I heard. It goes […]

No California governor serving his last few days in office has ever been more concerned about his legacy than was Arnold Schwarzenegger. Perhaps this was because unlike Ronald Reagan or Pat Brown or Pete Wilson […]

Let’s begin with a big generalization that might be relevant: Laws in America often change in response to an undeniable tragedy. Tragedy should always be undeniable since anything that is clearly tragic is tragic, such […]

What is the essence of Santa Monica? Many would say the beaches, which appear in media so often as “Santa Monica” that someone living in Cincinnati might wonder if we actually have any buildings here. […]