Columnists

New: Right-To-Work-For-Less Laws

By Ralph E. Stone
Saturday August 06, 2011 - 09:35:00 AM

While vacationing in Charleston, South Carolina earlier this year, the local media were full of editorials complaining about the April 20, 2011, complaint issued by the National Labor Relations Board against Boeing Company alleging that Boeing’s decision to assemble large commercial aircraft at a new final assembly plant in South Carolina violated the National Labor Relations Act. The complaint alleges that Boeing illegally “transferred” work from its unionized assembly plant in Seattle, Washington to this new South Carolina facility. -more-


Dispatches from the Edge: Afghanistan: Of Bumps & Foolishness

By Conn Hallinan
Tuesday August 02, 2011 - 08:03:00 AM

Kabul, Afghanistan-American and allied forces in Afghanistan are strengthening a layered defense along the border with Pakistan to seize Haqqani network militants as they try to make their way to Kabul to carry out spectacular attacks, according to senior military officers---New York Times, 8/1/11

Okay, New York Times, time for a little geography lesson, with a few bits of history thrown in. -more-


The Public Eye: Republicans: The People Grandpa Warned Me About

By Bob Burnett
Monday August 01, 2011 - 10:18:00 AM

When I was a teenager, my grandfather ate dinner with my family and repaid us with a post-dessert homily. His favorite was “the Red menace,” where he raised his voice to warn us about the perils of Communism – “Watch out for those people… they will say and do anything to win.” Fifty years later Grandpa’s words apply to the leaders of the Republican Party -more-


Wild Neighbors: Former Californians: The Dire Wolf

By Joe Eaton
Wednesday August 03, 2011 - 07:53:00 AM
A dire wolf pack as imagined by Charles R. Knight.

I’ll admit that I’m out of touch. Nobody told me there were dire wolves in George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones saga. Being too cheap for premium cable and too lazy to have read any of the books, I don’t know if Martin has other Pleistocene megafaunal species running around his fantasy landscape. Still, it’s nice to see Canis dirus enjoying its moment of celebrity. -more-


Senior Power: Big Difference…

By Helen Rippier Wheeler
Monday August 01, 2011 - 09:49:00 AM

A town meeting is a form of direct democratic rule, used primarily in parts of the United States since the 17th century, in which most or all community members come together to legislate policy and budgets for local government. The term is commonly used by U.S. politicians to describe forums at which voters can ask questions. -more-


On Mental Illness: Medication: More or Less?

By Jack Bragen
Monday August 01, 2011 - 10:34:00 AM

When someone is taking medication to treat a psychiatric illness, there is the issue of how much (the dosage, usually measured in milligrams) of a particular medication ought to be given as well as the choice of which medications. There are psychiatrists who are fairly authoritarian, will order for their patients what medications are to be given and how much; they expect such orders to be followed. This type of psychiatrist doesn’t expect the patient’s intellect to be very intact; and thus explanations for the prescriptions will be brief. This type of bedside manner often feeds the anger of those who are noncompliant. -more-


Pepper Spray Times

Grace Underpressure
Monday August 01, 2011 - 12:33:00 PM

Editor's Note: The latest issue of the Pepper Spray Times is now available. -more-