They say all politics is local and that grassroots politics is at the heart of it all. Well, I’ve got some ideas for transforming all politics to local politics in more than just name. Right now, access to power is the sole province of the wealthy --- and the laws that result from the legislative process are as enriching to the health and well-being of the average citizen as filet mignon to a Hindu. But what if politicians were bound to an agenda dictated not by the people w

I was walking down the street in the Tenderloin and stopped at the light on Mason and Eddy when I heard an "Oh God" and a smothered cry. Turned to my left and saw a sister with her arm in a cast, a sweater around her shoulders and a wasted blue slurpee on the asphalt in front of her. She was way, way, down and damned near out. On hard times and looked like she'd been there a while. Clutching three dollars in her bad hand and with a cane hooked over her good one she looked u

How is it that the one predictable thing about life sneaks up on so many people? From the first spark of cognition, everyone is shown positive and tangible proof of the progression of life. That first face we see and every one thereafter shows us the effects of time, and sooner rather than later we grasp the concept of older, longer and later … as in “not now.” We delineate the boundaries of “old” as somewhere north of where we are, and who didn’t consider their parents an