What a crazy political time it is, this summer of 2013! The Supreme Court of the United States has just gutted the voting rights act making it easier for states to discriminate against minority groups in the balloting process and then on the very next day allowed a lower court ruling to stand that repealed Prop. 8, paving the way for marriage equality in California. It also repealed the federal ban on same-gender marriage (DOMA) thereby granting same-gender couples in state

On a personal note: I never intended to become an actual blogger who got comments from folks beyond my normal sphere of activity. I really appreciate all the wonderful discussion that continues to take place concerning my first “off -the-cuff” piece about the San Francisco Symphony strike. I am especially moved to hear from classical musicians around the world who are hopeful that their San Francisco colleagues can prevail in this situation. Still, my crackpot theory is t

For the past few days, I have found myself increasingly depressed and angry over the general reaction to the strike by the musicians of the San Francisco Symphony. I have observed via social media and in person a variety of people refer to these top flight musicians as “whiners” because they make @$165,000 per year. Such comments are usually followed by, “I wish I made that much money.” Well, you might if you were at the TOP of your profession, although in virtually every