ARTICLES and Columns

OPINION: There are many reasons people vote Republican besides stupidity and racism. With so much doubt and confusion swirling around "the moron party," we thought it was a good time to provide this little test. You can try this quick and easy examination for yourself as well as give a copy to close family members, friends, coworkers, neighbors, and that weird uncle who always ruins your family gatherings by spouting rightwing nutjob nonsense he heard on "the Fox News."

OPINION: As an Olympic skier, I want to thank all those who prayed for the joy and safety of everyone at Russia’s surprisingly “awesome” games. Joining with the Olympic families, were Christian Scientists, Native Americans, Aetherius Society, Monks of Moscow and so many more to help preserve this greatest force for Peace, Understanding, Healing, and Unity for over 1,000 years in Ancient times, and 100 years in Modern times.

OPINION: Are you running for public office in a district full of incredibly dim-witted people? Hello republican candidates! Worried about attracting a large number of moron voters? Not to worry, GOP Outfitters is ready to serve you.

OPINION: To further help heal and unite America, on February 26, New Mexico’s Sipapu ski area announced that it is joining Pajarito Mt and Ski Santa Fe in offering landmark affordable skiing and snowboarding opportunities to the tribes of New Mexico and Arizona.

OPINION: The Olympics has been the greatest force for Peace, Understanding, Healing, and Unity for over 1000 years in Ancient times and 100 years in Modern times.  Given that Olympic heroes have inspired countless youth to be happily healthy, productive, brilliant and generous, we hope you will take a moment to join this world prayer for “The Joy and Safety of the Sochi Olympics,” heartened by how it has worked for the last five Olympics.

OPINION: After a friend wrote me about seeing a TV show called 'Focus on New Mexico,' we both started wondering if GOP-controlled states have similar programs. Of course they do! Let's take a peek at the outline for one of their offerings.

After launching in early January the most generous Native snowsports outreach in history, inviting tribal youth of New Mexico and Arizona to ski in...

On January 4, Pajarito Mountain Ski Area, nestled near New Mexico’s Bandelier Canyon Cliff Dwellings going back 11,000 years, magnanimously launched an unprecedented snowsports...

OPINION: Republicans have long ceased to be the Grand Old Party, if that term ever applied to them, and therefore we are announcing a contest to re-brand republicans with an appropriate moniker.

OPINION: Note to the Secret Service: This column in no way calls for any harm to come to the 43rd POTUS. It's just that there is a monetary gain that will accrue to some of us upon his demise and so, well, we're interested in his health, that's all. A long time ago on a planet very similar to ours, two friends had a practice of giving each other bad Christmas presents. It was a contest of sorts in which the winner was whoever could find the most outrageously awful gift ...

OPINION: Let's say you are a moron and a member of the treason party. Oh I'm sorry, let me make that easier to understand: Let's say you are a republican. And let's say you want to indoctrinate your progeny in private. Oops, sorry again, I mean: Let's say you want to home school your kids. Are you ready for the challenge?

OPINION: For anyone with an I.Q. above seventy, the Drudge Report is a wasteland of filth, bile, lies, and dreck. So when it was reported that a former writer for that site published an expletive-riddled story equating conservatism with cancer, a great many people took note.

OPINION: Sixty million people voted for Mitt Romney in the 2012 race for President of the United States and since that candidate was one of the least-qualified in modern history it should be obvious that the ranks of conservative voters are huge. And yes, "rank" would be the operative word.

OPINION: The seven core positions of conservatives pose a very real threat to democracy in the United States. You have undoubtedly noticed some of their more onerous activities, but it might be instructive to examine their seven subversive doctrines all at once. Hold your nose and let's start wading through the muck of the Seven Pillars of Perfidy.

OPINION: After Mexico became No. 1 in obesity and diabetes in June, their new President Pena Nieto surprisingly recommended as a solution the no-carb herbal sweetener stevia discovered by the South American tribes. And while soda lovers criticized Mayor Bloomberg’s campaign to reduce the size of sodas, most fit Americans and Mexicans cheered on their bold interventions.

BOOK REVIEW: How much humor do you expect from an astrophysicist? How much passion? What should be the ratio of fact to fancy in the essays of a scientist? With Neil deGrasse Tyson, you get an enjoyable mixture of levity and reality on a subject that might hold the key to your future.

BOOK REVIEW: Every presidential election is deemed crucial to America but with the choice of Obama versus the obviously unqualified Mitt Romney, it was more than crucial; it was imperative. In the detailed yet fast-paced 'The Center Holds,' author Jonathan Alter takes you inside the campaigns and reveals some of the evil forces backing the GOP.

OPINION: On this 4th of July, wouldn’t it be a dream come true for the U.S. and many World Citizens if President Thomas Jefferson, the author of our Declaration of independence and Bill of Rights, came back at this pivotal time to coach us on getting our Grand Experiment in Democracy back on course?

BOOK REVIEW: The deterioration of our country during the past three-and-a-half decades makes for a broad canvas but author George Packer provides insightful detail and hits some emotional high points. There was an incredible battle in the United States from around 1978 until right now, a conflagration that did not emphasize armed conflict but which decimated large chunks of the basic goodness of our nation.

COMMENTARY: Do not get too excited about the good news for marriage rights because the troglodyte half of the Supreme Court has gutted a...

OPINION: New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg(D), a phenomenal champion of American Children and Nature, passed on last week at 89. At his NY funeral he was deeply honored by half the Senate on both sides of the aisle, plus NJ Governor Chris Christie (R), Hillary Clinton and Vice President Biden for his passion and foresight in saving millions of Americans through his No Smoking law, raising the drinking age to 21, and fighting for women’s rights and gun control.

BOOK REVIEW: Want to know how and why Washington is such a mess? Two respected analysts of governmental policy, one from the progressive Brookings Institution and the other from the troglodyte American Enterprise Institute, demonstrate that the GOP is at fault.

ARTICLE: In 1977, fellow Olympic skier Billy Kidd and I had an adventure of a lifetime, skiing with Iranian Queen Farah Diba Pahlavi in their fresh "Persian Powder." It was to promote skiing and goodwill with Iran, made possible by two visionary friends, the popular TV host Barry ZeVan and Iran’s Ambassador to the U.S., Ardeshir Zahedi.

BOOK REVIEW: When you're at work, you have some idea of the product or service your employer provides. Not so for "The Girls of Atomic City." They had no idea they were helping create Fat Man and Little Boy, the bombs used at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in WWII.

BOOK REVIEW: Malcolm X is still controversial nearly 50 years after his assassination. In examining his life from a multitude of perspectives, author Manning Marable brings the reader close to Malcolm's thoughts, deeds, leadership, struggles, conflicts, contradictions, and presence -- which even today seems to have been larger than life.