The first wealth is health. - Ralph Waldo Emerson If you are as skeptical as I am about most of modern medicine's miracle drugs, you might not want to read this book review. It will just reinforce what you already assume is the truth... Big Pharma's Golden Eggs - washingtonpost.com…
YES! Magazine Exclusive Interview :: Pete Seeger “I remember Pete Seeger from when I was a child and this story-telling, banjo-picking singer would come on his sloop, the Clearwater, to the neglected little parks that lined the Hudson River not far from my home. His presence brought people together to…
This was in my morning email news feed from Grist... TOP STORY With Gore Galore Al Gore will run as Independent for president, Bloomberg tapped as veep You might want to sit down for this: Al Gore has announced his candidacy for president. Wait, wait, don't get up…
Another Reason To Be A Localvore... Did Your Shopping List Kill a Songbird? - New York Times Migratory songbirds like bobolinks, barn swallows and Eastern kingbirds are suffering mysterious population declines, and pesticides may well be to blame. A single application of a highly toxic pesticide to a field can…
Now this is just wrong... Katrina aid recipients may have to pay back millions | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle NEW ORLEANS — Imagine that your home was reduced to mold-covered wood framing by Hurricane Katrina. Desperate for money to rebuild, you engage in a frustrating bureaucratic process, and after months…
For everyone who has heard Clinton won Texas (over and over and over again), the voting ain't over till it's over... Party's not over for Texas Democratic caucus-goers | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle Clinton, a senator from New York, won the March 4 primaries and collected a 65-61 lead in…
A daily thought from Eknath Easwaran is delivered to my inbox by The Blue Mountain Center of Meditation. Each thought causes me to reflect a bit as I prepare to leave the house each morning. I found this one particularly thought provoking... Thy desire is thy prayer; and if thy…
On the drive in to work this morning I had to stop and shot this field of yellow wildflowers with the moon setting above. Truth be told I had to drive away from work to arrange to drive by this spot. It seemed worth while at the time...
Eugene Robinson has a really good muse on the Iraq war in todays column...It starts with this: Eugene Robinson - 4,000 Dead for What? - washingtonpost.com When U.S. military deaths in Iraq hit a round number, as happened Sunday, there's usually a week or so of intense focus on the…
It's not just the laws that have been passed. It's not just the laws that have been vetoed. It's not just the laws that GW Bush has said don't apply to him as he signed them. In many ways it comes back to the appointments made to the different departments…
Paul Krugman has an informative column up today... Contrary to popular belief, the stock market crash of 1929 wasn’t the defining moment of the Great Depression. What turned an ordinary recession into a civilization-threatening slump was the wave of bank runs that swept across America in 1930 and 1931. This…
I'm a liberal, and I loathe the anti-American things Wright said precisely because I believe that the genius of our country is its capacity for self-correction. Progressivism and, yes, hope itself depend on a belief that personal conversion and social change are possible, that flawed human beings are capable of…
On the first day of spring I don't know whether to welcome spring or to welcome it back after our preview of summer over the weekend...This morning is starting out at 47° with the prognosticators pushing for the low 70's by afternoon. Now that is what I call spring. "What…
I see from my weather report that we are having another anomalous day where the temperature here matches my favorite ares of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Of course in order for this to have happened the mountains had to warm up 20° while we cooled down a like amount. Yesterday…
E. J. Dionne Jr. - The Street on Welfare - washingtonpost.com Never do I want to hear again from my conservative friends about how brilliant capitalists are, how much they deserve their seven-figure salaries and how government should keep its hands off the private economy. The Wall Street titans have…
Ozone Rules Weakened at Bush's Behest - washingtonpost.com The Environmental Protection Agency weakened one part of its new limits on smog-forming ozone after an unusual last-minute intervention by President Bush, according to documents released by the EPA.
It looks like we will need to cultivate that 1990's dial-up Zen attitude of waiting for the download. Overload looming for the Internet? | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle Caution: Heavy Internet traffic ahead. Delays possible. For months there has been a rising chorus of alarm about the surging growth in…
Lord you know it's bad when Keith Olbermman finds himself compelled to call you on your actions...Something reserved mainly for President Bush. Special Comment - The News Hole - msnbc.com Finally, as promised, a Special Comment on the presidential campaign of the Junior Senator from New York. By way of…
When this year started, I figured the Democratic Party had a really good thing going. There were low polling numbers for the Republicans and we had some really good candidates running. As the primaries and caucuses worked their way down the schedule, Hillery and Barack both broke out and I…
Where is the Cookie Monster (oops...sorry) when you need him?
A personal observation from my polling place yesterday...There were lines on the Democratic side of the room but none on the Republican side. And this area is mostly Republican. We don't field a full slate of Democrat candidates for any elections in this area... Caucus crowds amaze election officials |…
A shot from last year's trail ride by my office on the southern edge of Houston. On the trail ride, cowpokes draw a crowd | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle On Tuesday, Davis and about 200 other cowpokes from the Southwest Trailriders Association ambled along highways to join 12 other groups…
The political novelty of actual campaign money being spent by national candidates in Texas is a subject of conversation around the water cooler at work. Between the two of the, Clinton and Obama have spent more money in Texas than all of the Democratic National campaigns of the last half…
Save it for a rainy day... Reacquiring the daily blogging habit after any layoff is tough. Doing it at the end of winter when you are just marking time while the season rolls over is really tough. Last weeks run in with the flu(?) put me in that place. Five…
It's been a long few days on the couch (and a lot of West Wing episodes through the DVD). I am feeling better, though weak, so it's back to the grind today. I'll try to get back on the track this evening if I don't tire myself out...Later
Just wanted to let anyone who may wonder what has happened to me that I seem to have gotten the flue...Been holed up on the couch and the bed for three days now and it looks like I have a few more to go. To kill the time I went…
Coming in to work this morning the light from the rising sun lit up the trees beautifully. Had I not been 30 minutes late already I would have stopped and gone for some shots. The thing that caught my eye though was the number of trees that were already show…
At least that is what the Washington Post is saying... System Worries Clinton Backers - washingtonpost.com Supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton are worried that convoluted delegate rules in Texas could water down the impact of strong support for her among Hispanic voters there, creating a new obstacle for her…
