Guest View

The Laurel and Hardy film “Perfect Day” is a masterclass in irony. In about twenty minutes, it captures the unraveling of a well-intentioned Sunday outing. The boys and their wives are dressed and ready for a relaxing picnic. But the car won’t start. Tempers...

Timing is everything, right? Somehow, in some way, I find myself serving as the chairperson of the Community Health and Senior Services Commission as it undertakes monumental tasks.  These tasks include implementing the Senior Services Committee’s incredibly comprehensive road map for improving older adult services...

Have you ever wondered how prominent figures like Benjamin Franklin achieved remarkable success? One key factor in his rise as a writer, publisher and politician was his mastery of “social intelligence.” What follows is my analysis of how Franklin’s lessons might apply to our...

I learned from a panel discussion held on Dec. 14 at the Los Gatos Town Hall, that mental health care is riddled with gaps, leaving many individuals struggling to access the services they need.  From a shortage of qualified providers, to inadequate insurance coverage, to...

We've got a crisis on our hands, and it's not the latest TikTok trend or an avocado shortage. We're talking about a severe blood drought. The life-giving, accident-saving, surgery-enabling fluid is in shorter supply than toilet paper during the whole pandemic debacle. You might be...

I am an attorney, but I am not a First Amendment free speech attorney. However, as the saying goes, I know enough to be dangerous. Moreover, I am usually pretty good at issue spotting, even in areas outside of my area of legal expertise....

I aim for humor in my Los Gatan columns. The kind that elicits a chuckle, maybe a snort, not the kind that has readers questioning my grip on reality (though, fair point, the jury is deliberating on that one). Of course, I also try...

It’s easy to get caught up in the present, but sometimes looking back helps us understand where we’re going. So, let’s take a trip in the wayback machine to 1966. The Beatles were dominating the charts, “Star Trek” premiered on television, and the Vietnam...

As a family law litigator who was terrified by the prospect of having to go to court, but who nevertheless did so for 40-plus years, I developed a game plan involving writing my arguments in detail prior to the court hearing or trial. I...

Urban planning thrives on informed decision-making. However, the increasing influence of game theory—a branch of mathematics that studies strategic interactions—can be a recipe for disaster in the messy world of governance. While game theory offers insights in some areas, relying largely on its models...