One day soon, I’m betting, the Earth will fall quiet. I did not fully grasp this until a friend invited me to take his Tesla for a spin. “Floorboard it!” he commanded. I did and instantly understood that — despite Big Oil — life as we hear it is being transformed. We leapt from zero […]
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Hello? – Good news on climate change
On the morning of Jan. 10, 1862, the celebrated robber baron Leland Stanford was to be sworn in as governor of California. But there was a little hitch. Forced to abandon his dream of a stately arrival at the capitol by horse-drawn carriage, Stanford instead made the five-block journey along the streets of Sacramento by […]
Hello? – Survival of the friendliest?
With “Peace on Earth, Goodwill Toward Men” still elusive, let’s reflect on the latest news about the dog and the wolf. Why do dogs want to pal around with humans but wolves don’t? Princeton University geneticist Bridgett vonHoldt thinks she’s found the answer. On chromosome six in the dog genome, she’s found a mutation that […]
Hello? – Let’s be thankful for this
In a world where so much human energy is expended tearing things down, let’s celebrate that we live in a community where people expend their energy building things up. This time, I’m not talking about software but civic hardware: Winthrop’s new fire station and public library, and the Twisp Civic Building. Remarkably, all these improbable, […]
Hello – A perilous mid-term election
As our ship of state tosses in seas roiled by unprecedented dangers, voters are taking the helm. Time for all hands on deck. This mid-term election is perilous. It could put people who falsely claim that the last election was stolen in charge of depriving citizens of their legitimate votes in the next one. A […]
Hello? – Ready for ‘one religion under god’?
Let’s check on unfolding events in our democratic republic’s everlasting antidemocracy movement. Here’s Michael Flynn, a central figure in that movement, speaking at a rally in Texas. He’s the retired three-star U.S. Army lieutenant general who was President Trump’s national security adviser: “If we are going to have one nation under God, which we must, […]
Hello? – Will Democrats get serious in eastern Washington?
The Democratic Party promises to contest “every race every place.” Yet its efforts to appeal to voters in eastern Washington remain listless. You may for example have noticed when voting for 7th District state lawmakers this month that your ballot offered empty blanks where Democrats’ names should have been. There’s more than one way to […]
Hello? – Fossil fuel follies
What do Joe Manchin and Vladimir Putin have in common? Nothing, except this: They both wish to burn fossil fuels. The purported Democrat from West Virginia fooled fellow Democrats for 18 precious months, running out the clock while eviscerating Joe Biden’s climate bill. Sen. Manchin finally ‘fessed up: He won’t vote for any of the […]
Hello? – Stop defending the indefensible
“Tonight I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain.” That searing admonition by Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming on June 9 came as the U.S. House of Representatives launched hearings on the Jan. 6, 2021, […]
Hello? – We are not a theocracy
“That which is a sin within a certain set of religious beliefs is to be made a crime for all.” — Author Margaret Atwood on the U.S. Supreme Court’s draft decision rescinding the right to abortion. *** Never interrupt an enemy when he’s making a mistake, Napoleon Bonaparte advised. Pining to abolish the Electoral College? Safeguard […]
