When I see an embedded reporter like, say, the late David Bloom of NBC (a great reporter and sorely missed), green in night-vision light, crouched behind a berm, whispering into his mike while guns and …
April 10, 2003
Go Abroad!
War and Journalism
Baby Killers
Last week I wrote a piece called "Chimps with Nukes." When I had a draft I e-mailed it to a bunch of old soldiers to see if anybody thought I had left anything important out. …
March 20, 2003
San Diego veterans of World War II's Bataan Death March sue Mitsui, Mitsubishi
"I live a perfect life,” Lester Tenney told me. “I’ve been a very fortunate man.” We were sitting in the sunshine on his patio on Mount Soledad. Betty, his wife of over 40 years, had …
March 13, 2003
Chimps with Nukes
In Jared Diamond's book The Third Chimpanzee, he points out that we share about 98 percent of our DNA with chimpanzees, which is not much greater than the difference between chimps and bonobo pygmy chimps. …
March 13, 2003
Young Euros Take Peculiar Vacations
Tijuana is becoming a destination for European youth looking to spend long-term stints in a new culture. But they're not coming to the border city for great weather, nightlife, or proximity to San Diego. Five …
December 5, 2002
Help me get to Europe by boat.
Hi, Matt: I am a fearful flyer, and I heard there are ships that you can take from the West Coast through Panama and on to the East Coast and Europe, which is where I …
July 18, 2002
I'd Fight
America saw a return to patriotism after the 9/11 tragedy that managed to raise enlistment rates in the military. But will the escalation of aggression in Israel stimulate the same response from American Jews? As …
May 23, 2002
Their Mothers Cry Too
While Israel's war with Palestinian terrorists rages on, hopes for peace diminish. Some Jews in San Diego are hopeful, even if their hope is only philosophical. Alex Brauer, 79, knows a little bit about Israeli …
May 16, 2002
Why (and How?) Did a Navy SEAL Die in Afghanistan?
Another incomplete version of Roberts’s last moments emerged in a New York Times article on March 7 under the headline “Combat Mystery: Last Moments of Navy Man Still a Puzzle.”
April 4, 2002
Korean connection
A post-September 11 foreign-spy technology crackdown by federal authorities has netted yet another San Diego company with ties to South Korea. Neopoint, a Rancho Bernardo-based maker of so-called smart cell phones, has been slapped with …
March 7, 2002
Dining out, Thai style
The latest hot gossip in Thailand involves a Bangkok movie star and his alleged affair with Thai princess Ubolratana Rajakanya, divorced from San Diegan Peter Jensen, onetime business partner of ex-felon Richard Silberman and former …
January 24, 2002
Forgotten Valor
Where have all the soldiers gone? Gone to graveyards every one. -- Pete Seeger, 1961 James Francis Walter Ford's death was certain, but his life remained a mystery. After he was accidentally struck and killed …
September 2, 2001
A Filipino writer takes on his San Diego countrymen
He believes that advertisers control the content of most Philippine newspapers in San Diego. Print something against what they believe, which is to say the status quo, and you’ll be out of business quickly.
June 14, 2001
Which snake is the most poisonous?
Dear Matthew and Alice: After many hours of Animal Kingdom, Wild Planet, and all those other nature programs, I still have one unanswered question concerning poisonous snakes. According to certain televised sources, the black mamba …
February 8, 2001
Escape from Iraq
"There weren't so many big strong guys in Iraq, and so Saddam Hussein's security service was looking for strong guys to work as his bodyguards. You looked big. You looked frightening, like you might kill some people"
December 7, 2000