Brazil's Big Blackout of 2009 hit us a little after 10pm last night in Rio de Janeiro. I was online, talking on Skype with my friend Barry in Florida, when the power went off and on, off and on, and then out completely. Our home was plunged into darkness, as...

Today, Brazilians partied on Copacabana beach like it was 2016. The cariocas (natives of Rio de Janeiro) samba-ed on the sand, Brazilians across the nation celebrated deliriously, and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula) was overcome with tears at a televised press conference. The International Olympic Committee awarded Rio...

As of Sunday, the Station Fire north of Los Angeles had caused two deaths, destroyed 76 homes, and scorched 157,000 acres of the Angeles National Forest, which is visited by millions of hikers, trail bikers, campers, picnickers, and skiers every year. It burned right through one of the most beautiful...

Bossa Nova has been celebrating its fiftieth birthday in grand style this year, with commemorations having taken place in Brazil, the U.S. and other countries. The Brazilian musical genre has demonstrated an enduring global appeal, and is the favorite type of music of millions of listeners around the world. Bossa...

Brazilian iconoclast Fernando Gabeira, who is running for mayor of Rio de Janeiro in the Sunday, October 5th election, may be the best hope for turning things around in the troubled city. The federal congressman, a revolutionary during Brazil's military dictatorship, is a member of the Green Party (Partido Verde...

On the night of August 11th, turn off your TV, log off your PC, forget the presidential election, and head for the hills! If the skies are dark and clear, you will be treated to a grand celestial display: the Perseid meteor shower. Take your family or friends to a...

The skyrocketing price of petroleum has put America and most of the world in a tight spot right now, with global warming as a parallel and greater problem that must also be addressed. Bush's prescription for fuel-pump woes -- drilling in environmentally sensitive areas -- will fatten Big Oil profits...

John McCain is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't accept endorsements from popular leaders of the Christian Right, many of whom have taken controversial positions regarding other religions, gays, women and God's plan for the Middle East.

McCain did the right thing by rejecting the endorsements of...

The media runs Barack Obama through the wringer for his close association with Rev. Jeremiah Wright, an angry, controversial preacher who has suggested that the U.S. government manufactured HIV to kill black people. Reporters call John McCain to task for having been endorsed by the divisive pastor John Hagee, who...

This year, we have seen soaring food prices and world food riots. Global warming and increased demand are boosting the cost of our daily bread, as is biofuel production. Once again, President Bush has come down on the wrong side of an environmental issue: his misguided subsidizing of American ethanol...

It's 1984 all over again, and I don't mean the '84 Olympic games in Los Angeles. China's recent behavior following Tibetan unrest and calls for the region's independence seems straight out of George Orwell's novel, with its "Big Brother," double-speak, and thought control.

When protesters disrupted the Olympic-flame procession in...

The Olympic flame arrived Monday in Beijing. It burned not gloriously with humanitarian ideals, but sadly under the shadow of shame. It was not fully celebrated by the host city, but hurried along its way with limited participation by the populace. Totalitarian China, so leery of dissent, so ready to...

Sir Arthur C. Clarke, a visionary writer of this century and the last, passed away on March 19. He conceived the idea of communications satellites, authored classic science-fiction novels and short stories, and co-wrote the landmark movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, described by Steven Spielberg as "the Big Bang" of...

Brazilian congressman Fernando Gabeira, a member of the Partido Verde (Green Party), will officially announce his candidacy for mayor of Rio de Janeiro today. He stands a good chance of winning the October election, given his high popularity. Gabeira has a reputation for being honest, ethical and uncorrupted, qualities that...

Although John McCain seems assured at this point of garnering the Republican nomination, barring divine intervention on behalf of Mike Huckabee, he still needs to shore up support among conservatives. If Hillary Clinton gets the Democratic nomination, she will be a formidable foe; if Barack Obama receives the nod, he'll...

December 8 marks the death anniversaries of two of the late 20th century's most influential musical figures: John Lennon, who died in 1980, and Antonio Carlos "Tom" Jobim, who passed away in 1994. In both cases, their songs were the soundtracks for generations who lived during days when it seemed...

Recently, while driving on Interstate 5 through Oregon, I saw a billboard that gave me pause. "Are They Making a Monkey Out Of You?" ran above four panels that displayed a disturbing transformation of a startled looking fellow with a van dyke (panel #1). He acquired an ape-like mouth and...

On October 24, I published the blog Global Warming Not Behind SoCal Fires. Many readers disagreed passionately, and I found myself, a card-carrying Sierra Club member and longtime Al Gore fan, in the odd position of being urged to go to "Republican fact-check school." Interestingly, the next day Los...

The devastating blazes that swept through Southern California these last few days were largely unrelated to changing weather patterns due to global warming, as some newscasters and pundits have stated. I have been a believer in the danger of global warming for more than two decades, but I don't think...

These days, when you fill up your car with a gasoline-and-ethanol blend, you are probably burning ethyl alcohol made from American corn. A few years from now, your commute may be powered by ethanol from sugar cane grown in Brazil's cerrado, a biodiversity hotspot that is the largest savanna in...