Columnists

The Care Crisis

By Ruth Rosen, Special to the Planet
Tuesday May 01, 2007

A baby is born. A child develops a high fever. A spouse breaks a leg. A parent suffers a stroke. These are the events that throw a working woman’s delicate balance between work and family into chaos. -more-


The Public Eye: Virginia Tech Killings Have Us Down on the Killin’ Floor

By Bob Burnett
Tuesday May 01, 2007

In one his most famous songs, bluesman Howlin’ Wolf sang “I should’a quit you, long time ago... / And I wouldn’t’ve been here, / Down on the killin’ floor.” -more-


Column: Falling Down the Rabbit Hole Again

By Susan Parker
Tuesday May 01, 2007

Last Friday, April 27, I spent the day at Children’s Fairyland with one thousand other hot and tired attendees. It was a record-breaking crowd for Fairyland. The lines for the Magic Web Ferris Wheel and Flecto Carousel were long, as was the wait for a seat outside Johnny Appleseed’s Café. Almost everyone in the park was 5 years old or younger. It would have been a very good day to stay away from Fairyland, but I was subbing for a teacher who had, obviously, already thought of that. -more-


Wild Neighbors: Where’s Poppa? The Case of the Fatherless Lizards

By Joe Eaton
Tuesday May 01, 2007

If you visit Mount Diablo this time of year and walk the Fire Interpretive Trail that circles the summit (highly recommended for wildflowers, including the locally rare bitterroot), you’re almost sure to meet one or more of the resident California whiptail lizards. Sometimes they dash across the path from one shelter to another, demonstrating why they’re also called racerunners. But I’ve had some escort me along their personal stretch of trail, keeping a wary eye on me all the while. -more-


Column: Dispatches From the Edge: Shiites vs. Sunni: The Pandora Strategy

By Conn Hallinan
Friday April 27, 2007

In 1609 a terrible thing happened. Not terrible in the manner that great wars are terrible, but in the way that opening Pandora’s Box was terrible: King James I of England discovered that dividing people on the basis of religion worked like a charm, thus sentencing the Irish to almost four centuries of blood and pain. -more-


Column: Undercurrents: The Dellums Disappearance Debate

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday April 27, 2007

Generals, so the theory goes, tend to fight the last war, and so my good friends in the local media—many of whom seemed to have missed the fact that the administration of Mayor Jerry Brown was one of the most secretive in our lifetime—have taken out, yard dog fashion, after his successor, Ron Dellums, on the same charge. -more-


Garden Variety: Use Your Garden Water Wisely and For Pleasure

By Ron Sullivan
Friday April 27, 2007

After driving past for months and months, I noticed an opportune parking space and misbehaved badly enough to get it, and so I finally got inside the Sahara Import shop on Ashby just east of Shattuck. -more-


About the House: The Question of Capping to Keep Pests Away

By Matt Cantor
Friday April 27, 2007

I guess I have to remember to stay off of my horse else be in danger of falling off and damaging my backside. The industry (if you can call it that) that I’m employed in is fairly new and often mistaken for other adjacent trades (e.g. a friend referred to me as an appraiser the other day) including, not surprisingly, the structural pest control industry (often referred to as termite inspectors). -more-


Quake Tip of the Week

By Larry Guillot
Friday April 27, 2007

Can You Stem the Water Tide? -more-