Category Archives: Commentary

A Brief History of Poison

1/23/1997 – 3:36 pm

From the earliest days, when our ancestors first swung down from the trees, humans have been aware that eating certain things will induce sickness or death. We share this awareness of poison with many animals. Some veterinarians believe when dogs eat grass, it is because they are suffering gastro-intestinal upset and are inducing vomiting. The […]

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Mercantile Democracy

1/16/1997 – 3:34 pm

In grade-school civics class, we were all told that we, as citizens, are the government. We were told that a democracy such as ours is a collection of individuals who freely enter into a social contract to pool our combined wealth and energies to promote the general welfare of all. Along life’s path, we have […]

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Climate Change Doesn’t Always Mean Warmer

1/9/1997 – 3:32 pm

Europe, they say, is freezing. Brazil is scoured by floods. Here in the western United States – you can pick your disaster – torrential rain, floods, mudslides, avalanches or blizzards. For the past few weeks I’ve felt like I’m trapped in an Irwin Allen movie. Worse yet, these winter carnivals of catastrophe are getting to […]

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No Ideas But In Things

1/2/1997 – 3:31 pm

Happy New Year. Now that the holidays are over, my thoughts have turned from rest and celebration to the work that lies before us this year. I’m speaking this week from Santa Fe, New Mexico, which is home to the Collective Heritage Institute. Few people are familiar with the Collective Heritage Institute, but we are […]

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In the Bleak Midwinter

12/26/1996 – 3:46 pm

This year marks the two thousandth anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ. I know that sounds premature, but when the current calendar was devised, it was off by four years. Two millennia later, how fares the spirit of Christmas? Each year, in the weeks before Christmas, I have that uneasy Charlie-Brown, what’s-this-all-about feeling. I […]

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Where Have All the Sea Lions Gone?

12/19/1996 – 3:45 pm

Some time between now and January 4th, the National Marine Fisheries Service will list the Steller sea lion as an endangered species. It may strike you as odd that the Fisheries Service would choose the year-end holiday season as a moment to add a member to the endangered species list. So many people – journalists, […]

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Seeing the Forest and the Trees

12/12/1996 – 3:43 pm

If you listen to these comments each week, I’m going to assume you’re a serious consumer of news and if you are, I’m going to assume you heard last week that the federal government is offering Texan Charles Hurwitz $300 million in public assets in exchange for 7,500 acres of old-growth forest in northern California. […]

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