Column 362 - Part 1 - WILL CALIFORNIA
SURVIVE THE BOONDOGGLE BUST THAT BECAME A BLAST? (10/7/2021) Coming full circle is
called "returning to square one" in boondoggle-busting lingo. If I'm
correct, that's nearly where I am after last weekend's monumental action by
California Governor Gavin Newsom. Merely
two weeks and a day after surviving attempts to recall him, Gov. Newsom made
boondoggle-busting history that should prove as powerful an influence on 21st
Century Americana as the Big Bang theory was to 20th Century theories
of how the universe was born. Gov.
Newsom didn't just bust the cycle of homeless boondoggling in California. He
blasted it. Is it any wonder that I tremble? (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 363 - Part 2 - CAN MONTEREY PENINSULA SURVIVE THE CHANGE FROM PARADISE TO PARADOX? (10/15/2021) REPEATING the opening lines of last week's column helps me stick to my resolve to go forth and finish three
final installments of Homeless in Paradise before—to use writers' parlance—"killing it off."
If reference to violent demise shocks you, read on.
Writers like me live in mind worlds—meaning domains full of metaphorical visions and intangible ideas
that are our realities. (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 364 - Part 3 - THE PENINSULA IS LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD BOONDOGGLE BUSTERS (10/22/2021) BUSTING boondoggles isn't really a career, is it? If it weren't
for something William Randolph Hearst's grandson said to me around fifty years
ago, I wouldn't—probably couldn't—even ask! So,
as I prepare to put Homeless in Paradise to bed, here's my personal epiphany
that led to this call for tomorrow's cadre of boondoggle-buster trainees because,
to paraphrase a Marine Corps poster: "Uncle Sam is going to need
you." So is Gavin Newsom, as his California Comeback intensifies! (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 365 - Part 4 - IS IT TRUE? "HISTORY ALMOST REPEATS ITSELF--
THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME" (10/29/2021) ENDING this column as it concludes its seventh year of publication is timely.
If my boondoggle-buster's understanding is correct, weather comes in waves and business comes in seven-year cycles. This means covering homelessness is returning me to square one, aka the Start-Stop zone. To embark
on a second round is my choice. I decline! Here's why:
My first report about homelessness ran November 14, 2014, in the Cedar Street Times. (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)