The World

Dancing for the apocalypse (another Doug Porter joint)

A widely advertised dance performance this week (Feb. 8-14) at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido — tickets are $90 to $200 — and San Diego Civic Center (April 21-23) is actually part of an international right wing propaganda effort. Images of a beautiful dancer in a midair leap grace the web and billboard ads for local performances of Shen Yun, one of eight touring…


Climate change affects brains, UCSD NEATLabs says

Psychological trauma from extreme weather and climate events, such as wildfires, can have long-term impacts on survivors’ brains and cognitive functioning, especially how they process distractions, my team’s new research shows. Climate change is increasingly affecting people around the world, including through extreme heat, storm damage and life-threatening events like wildfires. In previous research, colleagues and I showed that in the aftermath of the 2018…


Bully Barr should be reviled, not given award

Editor’s Note: Updated… HM Alumni Council Shares Statement Regarding Alumni Award for Distinguished Achievement Petition – June 6, 2020 “We have heard concerns expressed by current students, alumni, and school employees regarding the Horace Mann School Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Achievement presented to US Attorney General William Barr in 2011. In response, we are convening our Council to canvass the views of our alumni…


Breeders Cup Notes: Saturday contenders complete final preparations at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club

The Breeders’ Cup World Championships, the ultimate handicapping challenge for horseplayers, returns to Del Mar in Southern California this weekend, with Saturday’s schedule featuring nine championship races, including the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf and $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic. The latter features an elite field. Seven of the nine horses already have won a Grade 1 race and six of the nine have earned…


It’s my birthday. Please punch a racist for me.

Now that I’ve got your attention, do me a favor and recognize that the headline to this story is hyperbolic sarcasm. Because if you punch a racist, you’re not getting the point of what’s going on in this country. By now you’ve no doubt heard the artificially induced hue and cry over something called Critical Race Theory. With everything else that’s going on in the…


Climate change uncertainty hurts everyone

Tarik Benmarhnia didn’t plan on ending up here, in an office overlooking the pier at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. As a young student in France, he started out studying environmental engineering, with an interest in soil decontamination. During his schooling, he developed an interest in environmental justice. That eventually drove him to pursue a Ph.D. in epidemiology. Most stories about climate change…


Ride, Sally Ride

Editor’s Note: Last May represented a great month for Americans in space. SpaceX became the first private corporation to launch people in space as Dragon capsule blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center, carrying two NASA astronauts up, up and away from United States soil for the first time in nearly a decade. As it hurtled towards the International Space Center, the day’s hurrahs extended to…


Larry King comes to San Diego for Kids Korps

I met Larry King at a Kids Korps gala event in March 2007. He made me laugh, and was a fun person to interview. February 2021 I recall he had this to say about Kids Korps: “As a whole, KK the best thing about it is your kids getting involved and getting something done. It is not that complex. They see a goal they accomplish…


COVID, seniors, vaccines — what to expect

Vaccines that protect against COVID-19 are on the way. What should older adults expect? The first candidates, from Pfizer and Moderna, could arrive before Christmas, according to Alex Azar, who heads the Department of Health and Human Services. Both vaccines are notably effective in preventing illness due to the coronavirus, according to information released by the companies, although much of the data from clinical trials…


Women aviation influencers to be feted

The San Diego Air & Space Museum will host its annual International Air & Space Hall of Fame Virtual Gala at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 17 where it will induct two influential women in the world of aviation. The museum will induct Barbara Barrett, a businesswoman, attorney and diplomat currently serving as Secretary of the United States Air Force, and Tammie Jo Shults, retired Southwest…