Columnists

DISPATCHES FROM THE EDGE: Asia’s Mad Arms Race

By Conn Hallinan
Thursday May 24, 2012 - 04:51:00 PM

Asia is currently in the middle of an unprecedented arms race that is not only sharpening tensions in the region, but competing with efforts by Asian countries to address poverty and growing economic disparity. The gap between rich and poor—calculated by the Gini coefficient that measures inequality—has increased from 39 percent to 46 percent in China, India, and Indonesia. While affluent households continue to garner larger and larger portions of the economic pie, “Children born to poor families can be 10 times more likely to die in infancy” than those from wealthy families, according to Changyong Rhee, chief economist of the Asian Development Bank. -more-


ECLECTIC RANT: One in Six Americans Live in Poverty

By Ralph E. Stone
Friday May 25, 2012 - 09:47:00 AM

According to a recent survey, a record 49.1 million Americans (16 percent) are living below the federal poverty line. Considering the U.S. is one of the richest nations in the world, the results are sobering. -more-


WILD NEIGHBORS: The Schreckstoff Chronicles

By Joe Eaton
Thursday May 24, 2012 - 04:50:00 PM
Coho salmon smolts (not smelts!) in the Seattle Aquarium.

I’ve heard all my life that dogs can smell fear. If this has been empirically demonstrated, I don’t know about it. However, science has established that fish can. It may only work within a species, and it would be more accurate to speak of detecting schreckstoff than of smelling fear. Still, it’s a neat trick for a fish. -more-


SENIOR POWER: offensive defensive

By Helen Rippier Wheeler
Thursday May 24, 2012 - 05:09:00 PM

It wouldn’t hurt if we all became more defensive in our relationships with medical practitioners. If Senior Power were a meaningful concept. -more-


ON MENTAL ILLNESS: The Value of a Caring Family

By Jack Bragen
Thursday May 24, 2012 - 05:00:00 PM

There are numerous sad stories of a schizophrenic person wandering the streets, incarcerated, or missing because of not receiving adequate treatment for their disease. Family members stand by and watch with horror as these misfortunes befall their relatives. -more-