Latest Articles

Industry-funded Super Bowl ad rails against the (non-existent) soda tax

Maybe it’s just Monday-morning grumpiness, but I hate the media fixation with Super Bowl ads. Corporations and industry lobby groups drop millions on 30-second spots, and then bloggers scramble to come up with something fresh to say about them — and in the process, amplify their message. Who benefits? The bloggers generate some on-the-cheap page […]

Solar gets big and cheap in California

A San Francisco solar installation. Photo: Gavin NewsomEarlier this week, I wrote about the green evolution in California regarding electric cars. Well, when it comes to solar energy, it’s starting to look more like a revolution. This week, utility Southern California Edison asked regulators to approve 20-year contracts to buy 250 megawatts of electricity from […]

Georgia congressman wants everyone behind the wheel, whether or not they can drive

Look at him. Could you deny him his God-given rights?Photo: Steven YehGeorgia representative and proven nut Bobby Franklin wants you to know that driver’s licenses are eroding your freedom as we speak, because they impinge on your Constitutional rights. From his Right to Travel Act: Free people have a common law and constitutional right to […]

Ask Umbra’s 5 surprising things to make you a lover like no other

Send your question to Umbra! Dearest readers, It is said that only amateurs wait for Valentine’s Day to express their love. Readers of this column, I know that you are not in that category. That said, we could all stand to add a few tricks to the sometimes dusty lusty repertoire. So I created this […]

6 things you didn’t know about condoms

Rock and unroll.Photo: OhMiBod It’s almost Valentine’s Day, and you know what that means: time to gird your loins. Here are some wacky prophylactic facts to get you excited (ahem) about condoms, if the whole “prevent kids and the spread of disease” thing isn’t sexy enough for you. 6. Valentine’s Day is also National Condom […]

USDA ‘partially deregulates’ GM sugar beets, defying court order

     Big Ag — can’t beet ’em.A week ago, the USDA shocked the organic-farming community by “fully deregulating” genetically modified alfalfa, after acknowledging that organic farmers had legitimate concerns about the move and hinting they’d be taken into account. On Friday, the agency didn’t simply skulk away from its own words in an apparent attempt to […]

Egypt has a population crisis as well as a democracy crisis

Hosni Mubarak is a dictator who has to go — that’s obviously the animating force behind the protests in Egypt. And more power to the protesters! But Egypt’s problems run much deeper than its autocratic regime, and one of its biggest problems is unsustainable population growth. Here’s a 2009 Al Jazeera report on population pressures […]

Mark Bittman’s new gig, struggling small farms, and more

When my info-larder gets too packed, it’s time to serve up some choice nuggets from around the Web. The Minimalist no more For 20 years or so, Mark Bittman has been one of the nation’s most important and prodigious food writers. In his extensive list of cookbooks and in his much-loved weekly Minimalist column, Bittman’s […]

New evidence cities rule and suburbs drool

Suck it, Thoreau: Looks like big cities are the way to go if you’re looking to lower your environmental impact. According to a new study published in the journal Environment and Urbanization, carbon emissions in cities are lower than in the car-dependent burbs. Okay, so you’ll still come out ahead if you live in an […]

A new documentary about the real wealth of nations — happiness

Money can’t make you happy, they say. Maybe a new kind of economy can?What if GDP stood for Great Domestic Pleasantness? How about an economy whose success is not determined by growth for growth’s sake? A new documentary, The Economics of Happiness, explores this rich territory. The film makes a connection between the economic crisis, […]