Columnists

Dispatches from the Edge: Of Bases, Big Bombs and Earthquakes

By Conn Hallinan
Thursday August 27, 2009 - 12:57:00 PM

Behind the uproar over a U.S.–Co-lombia base deal is a growing disquiet throughout South America that Washington is trying to counter that continent’s leftward tack, directly intervene in Bogotá’s long-running civil war, and reassert itself in a part of the globe that it formerly dominated. -more-


Undercurrents: How Public Opinion Gets Swayed in an Election

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Thursday August 27, 2009 - 12:58:00 PM

If you’re interested in a textbook example of how public opinion gets swayed and massaged in a political campaign, you don’t have to go any further than the opening item in Sunday’s (Phil) Matier & (Andy) Ross column in the San Francisco Chronicle (“Perata Had Hand In Oakland’s Police Chief Pick”). -more-


Wild Neighbors: Spiketails and Meadowhawks: Dragons of the Air

By Joe Eaton
Thursday August 27, 2009 - 01:30:00 PM
Blue-eyed dragonfly: a male Pacific spiketail.

Dragonflies enliven the doldrums of August. Wherever there’s still or slowly flowing water, you can see them and their smaller relatives, the damselflies, patrolling for food or mates. (Dragonflies spread their wings out when at rest, while most damselflies fold them over their backs). -more-


About the House: Words of Advice When Dealing With a Neighbor

By Matt Cantor
Thursday August 27, 2009 - 01:29:00 PM

Everyone’s different. Now, isn’t that a novel comment? OK, so it isn’t a fresh idea but it’s true. My wife and I are different. I’ll bet you and your partner, spouse or closest friend are pretty different too, but, by the grace of some deity, alien influence or, maybe, the Constitution, we manage to get along or at least act out some version of concord in our daily affairs. -more-