Donald Trump is now the president of the United States.  He took his oath at noon on January 20, and the Constitution again worked to provide for a peaceful transition of power from one duly elected person to another.  But beneath the surface of all the pomp and circumstance of this particular inaugural a […]

              At the age of 71, Itzhak Perlman is showing no signs of slowing down.  In fact, as he took to the stage on his electric Amigo scooter earlier this month at the Mondavi Center (on the campus of U.C. Davis), he seemed more energized than we had thought he’d been in his many past […]

Well, this wasn’t what we expected, was it?  Whether you were adamantly opposed to his election or fervently hoped that he would prevail, you certainly didn’t anticipate that Donald Trump would score the biggest presidential election upset since Truman beat Dewey (in 1948).  But, whether he is “legitimate” or not, we are now, with his […]

              Barack Obama completes his second term in office in a day or so, and before his record is affected by early decisions by his successor, it’s time to assess the impact of his presidency and what is likely to be his and its legacy.  In doing so, I don’t pretend to offer a historian’s […]