Columnists

Column: The Devil in Me Carries Fake Prada

By Susan Parker
Tuesday August 01, 2006

The recent heat wave has been difficult for my husband, Ralph. He is often bedridden, and because he can’t move or perspire properly, he is prone to overheating. Ralph doesn’t know he’s too hot until it’s too late. -more-


Trees, Plants are Great, But the Real Action is Underground

By Ron Sullivan, Special to the Planet
Tuesday August 01, 2006

In some ways, we humans are educating ourselves about the planet that sustains us the way the owner of a cranky old car educates herself about how cars work: We learn about systems and parts when they break down and we’re forced to figure out why. Partly that’s a matter of perceived urgency that gets grants written and funding done—“pure” research is a delicious notion, but it’s rare that anyone can get the time, facilities, and support to study a matter just because we all get intrigued by it. -more-


Column: The View From Here: Another War, Another Place: Same Thing All Over Again

By P.M. Price
Friday July 28, 2006

As I watch CNN’s man-of-the-moment Anderson Cooper looking quite natty in his rugged, styled shirt (his mother is Gloria Vanderbilt, after all) with billowing smoke, raging fires, guns, blood and death smearing the landscape behind him, it occurs to me that if there were not so much real life suffering going on in the Middle East (and elsewhere), I could be watching yet another war movie, this time featuring the handsome hero/journalist who casts all thoughts of danger aside to hurtle himself past bombs and bullets to get hands-on, first-person accounts of the ravages of war. -more-


Column: Undercurrents: Only Changing Oakland’s Priorities Will Lessen its Troubles

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday July 28, 2006

It was one of those obscure issues you run into in the back-end of the City Council agenda, when the chambers have all but cleared and the stray staff members are packing away their binders and papers and waiting patiently for the adjournment call, and the only ones who seem to be paying attention are the Sanjiv Handas of the world. -more-


Memories of a Paris Vacation: Getting Lost in the Louvre

By Marta Yamamoto, Special to the Planet
Friday July 28, 2006

I was in Paris for just a few days. According to carefully devised calculations I had two hours to tour the Louvre. After two hours I was still there. I tried following “sortie” signs toward the exit but they kept directing me through galleries showcasing illuminating artifacts. Once inside I’d get sucked back into the viewing circuit. -more-


East Bay: Then and Now: Landmarking the House That Students Built

By Daniella Thompson
Friday July 28, 2006

In 1974, the Berkeley Daily Gazette published the photo of a “mystery house” on the northwest corner of La Loma Avenue and Ridge Road. -more-


About The House: It Pays to Pay Attention to a House’s Foundation

By Matt Cantor
Friday July 28, 2006

When I show up with my flashlight, there’s one item that most homeowners are holding their breath about and that’s their foundation. People generally believe that this is: a) the most important system of the house, and b) the most expensive. Well, this is close to the truth in both cases, although I can think of plenty of cases where neither is actually the case. -more-


Garden Variety: Costly ‘Free’ Mosquitofish Belong in a Barrel

By Ron Sullivan
Friday July 28, 2006

It’s high hot summer and the mosquitoes are peaking, along with the rest of the annoying arthropods. -more-