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Columns

July 13, 2023

Oppenheimer’s tragedy is ours, too

The July 21, 2023, theatrical release of the film Oppenheimer, focused on the life of a prominent American nuclear physicist, should help to remind us of how badly the development of modern weapons has played out for individuals and for all of humanity.

June 29, 2023

The right to seek safety

Through a WhatsApp message from Portugal, my friend Eunice Neves asked to share a moment with me. She was with an Afghan couple, Frishta and Mohammad, and their baby son, Arsalan. The young family has resettled in Mértola, a small city in southern Portugal. They looked forward to celebrating World Refugee Day as part of a project which the Portuguese government lauds as a model for refugee resettlement.

June 8, 2023

A town in need of a jolt

The good news these days about Farmington, New Mexico, is that the air looks clear. That’s a huge change.

May 25, 2023

Guns have changed everything, especially childhood

I learned to shoot on the family ranch, as ranch kids are wont to do. My gun education was furthered at a Catholic summer camp, and I still have my paper target proving my marksmanship. Hunter safety classes, and calm, clear-eyed common sense. This was the rural approach to guns I grew up with.

May 18, 2023

Hawley’s ‘manhood’ book wrong on everything, everywhere, all at once

Ideas about men and manhood have been evolving for more than 50 years, but Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley has not gotten the message. Like so many others working to protect white male supremacy (e.g. Tucker Carlson and Kevin McCarthy), he’s driving a gas-guzzling Cadillac on a road increasingly filled with electric vehicles.

May 11, 2023

Agriculture is backbone of Washington state

Some would argue that spring is the most wonderful time of the year in Washington. Throughout our state fruit trees blossom, vibrant tulip fields bloom, and colorful lentils carpeted the fields on the Palouse. It is when photographers and sightseers have a field day.

May 4, 2023

Killing fish to save frogs

Shortly after World War II, California fish managers had a brainstorm: They loaded juvenile trout into airplanes and saturation-bombed naturally fishless lakes in the High Sierra Mountains of California. Some of the fish hit rocks and ice, but most hit water.

April 27, 2023

Land exchanges serve the wealthy

In 2017, the public lost 1,470 acres of wilderness-quality land at the base of Mount Sopris near Aspen, Colorado.