Isn’t All Abuse and Torture of Animals Wrong?

Posted by Jack Van Zandt on Thursday, August 14, 2008

Food for Thought

Let me start off by saying that I am against violence of any kind except in extraordinary circumstances where it is imminently necessary in order to protect life or prevent serious injury. I am also against the torture and harmful abuse of animals for medical and scientific experiments and for the development of products to feed our out-of-control consumer society. That being said, the recent firebombings of the homes of two UC Santa Cruz professors, in one case endangering the target’s children, were appalling acts, whether you are against animal testing or not, and it is my hope that those responsible are caught and punished to the fullest extent of the law.

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Conservation or Rationing?

Posted by Jack Van Zandt on Thursday, August 07, 2008

Food for Thought

Like our use of gasoline, natural gas, electrical power (Did you know 50 percent of the electricity on the national grid is generated by coal?) and oil-based products like plastic, we Americans use water with reckless abandon. Yet, water is becoming a scarce commodity in the Bay Area these days, made worse by the drought conditions we are experiencing.

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Will We Ever Have BART?

Posted by Jack Van Zandt on Thursday, July 24, 2008

There has been much discussion on this site about BART coming to San Jose from the very beginning. The latest effort to fund the project, a one-eighth-cent sales tax proposal on the November ballot, has brought the issue back into the news and I thought we might take the opportunity to debate the initiative. (There is a very good article by Erin Sherbert in Metro this week that brings the matter up to date.)

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Is it Time to Lower the Speed Limit?

Posted by Jack Van Zandt on Thursday, July 17, 2008

Food for Thought

Over the past few years I have taken to driving the speed limit or less, especially on my long distance trips, mainly to LA and Sacramento. Let me tell you, it’s a lonely place to be, over on the right doing 60-65. You get passed by everybody as if you are standing still. I have found it’s often better to do “blue highway” driving whenever I can, avoiding the freeways and taking the two-lane blacktop scenic routes where the speed limit is 55, traffic is minimal (except for nuts on hopped-up motorcycles) and you get to see a bit of the countryside that most people miss. 

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Alcoholism and the SJPD

Posted by Jack Van Zandt on Thursday, July 10, 2008

Food for Thought

Alcoholism is an insidious disease that knows no boundaries of age, sex, race, economic class, religion, or occupation. It is one of the most destructive forces in our society, not only harming the alcoholic, but everyone around them: spouses, children, family, friends, business partners and co-workers. Like most people, I have seen it and have felt its effects—in my case, a severely alcoholic friend, and my beloved late grandfather. I know firsthand that alcoholics will drive drunk, lie, cheat, steal, and commit fraud and other crimes, and even injure those who love them most, just to get a drink when they “need” one.

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