The sky stretches forever in every direction and a biting wind adds to the feeling of loneliness. Meager grasses blow in the breeze like strange fingers trying to catch hold of the sun. A lone hawk calls in the distances as it sweeps and dips over the sloping grasslands of the arid Mongolian Steppe. The […]
The Mongolian Takhi: Honoring the Spirit Horse Read More »
I was born in Colorado and know how to drive in bad weather, but over the last decade, I drove what might be the worst winter vehicle imaginable: a 1975 Datsun 280Z. Until recently, my year-round daily driver had been a two-seat, rear-wheel-drive sports car designed in the late 1960s. It was engineered in Japan
The Datsun 280Z: My Decade with the Spirit of the Open Road Read More »
The Founding Father most responsible for authoring our original economic policies and establishing our central banking system thought federal taxation was not meant to be exempted, cut, lowered, or salvaged. To the contrary, Alexander Hamilton believed federal taxation should increase with increased income. Working-class Americans were supposed to pay taxes within their means, and wealthy
Alexander Hamilton Believed in Taxing and Borrowing Read More »
Trees along the West Coast and in the Rocky Mountains face a foe that is killing them by the millions and yet stands only millimeters tall. Bark beetles have affected tens of millions of acres of forest and show no sign of slowing down. Past outbreaks from these beetles have been brief and controlled by
Invasion of the Bark Beetle Read More »
Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the unsung beetle. We share the planet with over 400,000 species of beetles. (For perspective, there are only 50,000 animals with backbones: fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals combined.) In fact, according to Berkeley entomologist Jerry Powell, beetles make up “almost 25% of all known life-forms.” How many kinds
Consider the Beetle Read More »
To understand Peru is, to a great extent, to understand the Andes Mountains. They’re considerably taller than any of the Rockies in the lower 48, and much steeper. This means that some of them remain snow-capped all year round. They tower above and around many of Peru’s cities and ancient Inca ruins, like a gentle
Peru: A Land Built By Giants Read More »