To the parents of Trenton Burger: I am so sorry for your loss. No words of mine can mend your wounds. I can’t even imagine the pain you have endured. Trenton, 15, died after he collided w... — Updated 3/19/2024 Full story

Thank God. I’m not too old to run for president. Even though yesterday I had trouble remembering which seven pills I needed to take. The day before, I couldn’t find my car keys. A week ago, i... — Updated 2/20/2024 Full story

After concluding three months as managing editor of the The Leader newspaper in Port Townsend, Washington, I’m confronted with an uncomfortable realization: I did the best I could, but c... — Updated 2/6/2024 Full story

I was looking forward to seeing “Golda,” a film about the Yom Kippur War that played a large part in my own life. Now I wonder if my memories are skewed or if writers and directors took lib... — Updated 9/19/2023 Full story

The world is entering a new era. Human birthrates are falling below replacement levels. “For the first time possibly since the Black Death,” according to a recent article in The Eco... — Updated 7/28/2023 Full story

For weeks I’ve corresponded with ChatGPT, which might be loosely described as “software.” My impression? Alternative Intelligence has arrived. We are not alone. This will change us, forever.... — Updated 4/18/2023 Full story

For the last year, a contractor friend near my home in Oregon has been unable to hire carpenters. Three months ago, a mechanic couldn’t find a new muffler to install on my old truck. Last m... — Updated 10/4/2022 Full story

Elon Musk recently tweeted, “At risk of stating the obvious, unless something changes to cause the birth rate to exceed the death rate, Japan will eventually cease to exist. This would be a... — Updated 7/19/2022 Full story

Many women are crushed by the Supreme Court ruling on Roe V. Wade. I empathize. The ruling gives more power to states over what happens within a woman’s body. I can think of no similar l... — Updated 7/5/2022 Full story

Commentary…. On a Monday last October, I was told by a friend with whom I’d had coffee they’d tested positive for COVID. I was fully vaccinated so I didn’t think much about it. But t... — Updated 3/23/2022 Full story

Remember the “information age”? Well, we can forget about that. We find ourselves instead in the age of misinformation, where there is too much fake news, too many rumors, too much going on... — Updated 12/14/2021 Full story

One can become detached, hunkered down on a rock in the middle of nowhere, or in a boat out on the edge. It’s a lifestyle with consequences, even if not consciously embraced, it’s often poi... — Updated 11/30/2021 Full story

There is something about the fall season that encourages me to become active. Change in temperature, angle of sunlight, return of rain — I have no clue why, but it’s been constant o... — Updated 10/12/2021 Full story

Two weeks ago, camps of the homeless, aka the houseless, aka those living in rough shelter, in squalor and despair rank in the hot July sun near the Columbia River in Portland, seemed almost... — Updated 8/10/2021 Full story

Over coffee, The Editor introduced me to a new word: presentism. We were trying to make sense of current debates about the teaching of racism, and revisions to American history. History is... — Updated 6/8/2021 Full story

On Friday, April 30, Deschutes County entered another COVID-19 lockdown. Restaurants closed to indoor dining, gyms are limited. Lives are disrupted. Governor Kate Brown announced she was... — Updated 5/4/2021 Full story

The coronavirus is a once-in-a-generation event. As it has ended many lives, going forward it will define many others. It will perhaps define our country, what we have become and who we will... — Updated 11/3/2020 Full story

The coronavirus is a once-in-a-generation event. As it has ended many lives, going forward it will define many others. It will perhaps define our country, what we have become and who we will... — Updated 4/28/2020 Full story