Columnists

THE PUBLIC EYE: Confronting the Politics of Rage

By Bob Burnett
Thursday March 25, 2010 - 09:16:00 AM

In mid March, a bankruptcy examiner suggested that executives at Wall Street financial giantLehman Brothers used "materially misleading" accounting gimmicks to delay its collapse. At the same time, the national press speculated about the evolution of the Tea Party movement. The juxtaposition of the two articles raised the question, "What would Tea Party activists have done about Lehman Brothers?" How does inchoate rage translate into pragmatic political policy? -more-


SENIOR POWER:Medicare and “MY MEDICARE” -- What’s the difference?

by Helen Rippier Wheeler
Wednesday March 24, 2010 - 02:20:00 PM

“MY MEDICARE” is one of the best kept secrets around. It is a secure online service of Medicare, located at my.medicare.gov . It is useful for accessing your Medicare information, in English or Spanish. -more-


WILD NEIGHBORS: Possums and Parasites

By Joe Eaton
Wednesday March 24, 2010 - 01:59:00 PM

Last week I got a salutary reminder about the consequences—sometimes unforeseeable—of bringing exotic animals and plants to a new habitat. I was interviewing Melissa Miller, a Department of Fish and Game wildlife veterinarian, who studies the pathogen loads of sea otters. Miller happened to mention a die-off six years ago during which up to four sick or dead otters were being stranded every day along the coast between Morro Bay and Pismo Beach. The sick animals exhibited clinical signs of brain damage, and necropsies showed evidence of brain inflammation and enlarged lymph nodes. The casualties tested positive for a protozoan parasite called Sarcocystis neurona. -more-