Columnists

Dispatches From The Edge:Laptop Doubts; Iraq Flim Flam

By Conn Hallinan
Thursday June 19, 2008 - 09:59:00 AM

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has been caught,” is how a recent editorial in the New York Times characterized the findings of the International Police Agency (Interpol) on three laptop computers, several USB thumb drives, and two external hard disks seized during Colombia’s March 1 invasion of Ecuador. -more-


Undercurrents: The Bay Area’s Lack of Local Day-to-Day Media Reporting

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Thursday June 19, 2008 - 10:01:00 AM

One of the great ironies of these times—something historians in our grandchildren’s time will probably better be able to understand and explain—is that we are experiencing an explosion of information and internet discussion concerning local events while simultaneously seeing a drying up of direct news media reporting on those events. -more-


About the House: Come and Get Me, Copper

By Matt Cantor
Thursday June 19, 2008 - 10:29:00 AM

I’m a great retrospective investor. Not so good at guessing which stocks to pick today but I’m really good at knowing which company or trend I should have bought last year. I guess we’re all a bit like that. Copper is a wonderful example. Its had quite a wild ride over the last six years or so and one of those years saw close to a tripling in value. Copper started out at about 75 cents a pound in 2002 and is now nearly four dollars a pound. I guess some people feel so bad about missing out on the copper boom that they’re willing to climb under your house and leave with your plumbing. No joke—this is actually happening so much these days that its become common news. -more-


Wild Neighbors: Scrub-Jay Karma, Sympathy for a Blue Devil

By Joe Eaton
Thursday June 19, 2008 - 10:32:00 AM
An adult western Scrub-Jay gives the camera a dubious look

Predation: where would Animal Planet be without it? There’s not nearly as much drama in browsing. -more-


East Bay, Then and Now: Serial Entrepreneur Left a Mixed Legacy in Alameda County

By Daniella Thompson
Thursday June 19, 2008 - 10:24:00 AM

In newspaper obituaries of the early 20th century, anyone who settled in the Bay Area before 1890 was called a pioneer. Few of these early residents could compete with the Moody family for the title of pioneers. -more-