Columnists

THE PUBLIC EYE: Obama vs. Romney: The Economy

By Bob Burnett
Friday June 22, 2012 - 01:43:00 PM

Five and half months before the election, polls find President Obama and the Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, in a virtual dead heat. The reason is the stagnant economy. While Obama holds Democrats, and Romney Republicans, Independents have swung to Romney because they dislike his economic ideas less than Obama’s. -more-


WILD NEIGHBORS: Citizen Science and the Lord of June

By Joe Eaton
Friday June 22, 2012 - 01:19:00 PM
Two migratory dragonflies, common green darner and black saddlebags.

For those of you who have a pond (if I may paraphrase Vita Sackville-West), here’s an opportunity to make a personal contribution to science. The Xerces Society, a nonprofit group that supports the conservation of insects and other invertebrates, has announced a Dragonfly Pond Watch to help document the annual movements of two migratory dragonfly species, the common green darner and the black saddlebags. Both are common and widespread insects, found throughout California, and are easily recognizable even without binoculars. The darner has a particularly felicitous Latin name: Anax junius, the Lord of June. Volunteers are needed to observe a pond or other wetland on a regular basis and note the migrants’ arrival and departure dates (see www.xerces.org/dragonfly-migration/pondwatch for details.) -more-


ECLECTIC RANT:From Raisin in the Sun to Clybourne Park

By Ralph E. Stone
Friday June 22, 2012 - 01:12:00 PM

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, is a holiday in the United States commemorating the announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas in 1865. Celebrated on June 19, Juneteenth is a combination of the words June and nineteenth. While it is a celebration, it should also be a remembrance of race and real estate, part of the dark side of Black history in this country. -more-


SENIOR POWER: Large Print

By Helen Rippier Wheeler
Friday June 22, 2012 - 01:38:00 PM

I like large print. Large print, large-type, large-font, whatever. Books, newspapers, online publications with typeface or font that accommodate my increased need for visual senior power. -more-


ON MENTAL ILLNESS: Some Discrimination and Misunderstanding

By Jack Bragen
Friday June 22, 2012 - 01:14:00 PM

Persons with mental illness are a very misunderstood category of people. From our perspective, the perspective of the person with mental illness trying to live in society, it seems like many of those who are successful people behave toward us as though we were lepers. Even among those who have more understanding, there is always that subtle bit in which we are not being treated as equals or as intelligent, aware people, which many of us are. -more-