Why did Hamas kill 1,300 and wound 3,300 Israelis on October 7th? Hamas said it was motivated to launch the attack because of long-term anger over Israeli treatment of Palestinians, expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and recent violent encounters at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque (cbsnews.com). Israel’s deliberate policies […]
Author: Tom Laurent
Soil is life
As a soil scientist for 33 years, I never really thought about the long history of soils on earth. I just focused on Siskiyou County’s forest soils. Siskiyou County has the most soil diversity compared to anywhere else in the United States. This is because our soil forming factors are […]
Who can we trust to protect our freedoms?
Last October 31, Congressman Doug LaMalfa posted on Facebook: “No government should pick and choose which freedoms it will preserve and protect and which it will not.” Republicans believe in our constitutional rights, but if it’s not mentioned in the Constitution, then it’s not a right. This is one reason […]
Rural vs Urban Voters
What motivates rural people to choose to be a Democrat or a Republican? Is it based on their beliefs, values and attitudes that formed primarily by family, friends, culture, and life experiences? Beliefs are ideas that we accept as true without any supporting facts. Values are a set of principles, […]
The Real 4th of July
We celebrate July 4th because it was the day that the Continental Congress finally approved all the changes and edits to the July 2nd draft Declaration of Independence. Officially, the Continental Congress declared its freedom from Great Britain on July 2, 1776, when it voted to approve a resolution of […]
LaMalfa celebrates Pride Month his WAY
Congressman Doug LaMalfa celebrated Pride Month by posting on Facebook: “There are no standards of care in transgender “medicine”, only the opinions of ideologues. Gender reassignment surgery is institutionalized medical malpractice and is barbaric. Any medical professional who pushes this on children should see the inside of a prison cell.” […]
Who am I?
What am I? My brain tells me I am a boy but my body tells me I am a girl. I’ve known since I was seven that I was a boy. I didn’t ask to be this way. Why can’t I be like other kids? Why can’t I be normal? […]
Why are Republican politicians attacking innocent transgender children?
Last year, 60% of American adults believed that a person’s gender identity is determined by their birth sex (Pew research). When we break this down by political affiliation, we see that 39% of Democrats and 87% of Republicans believed this. LGBTQ people exist among us. They are real people living […]
Racism is a Living Nightmare
The 2020 census told us that Siskiyou County’s population is 74% white and 26% minorities. Hispanics/Latinos are the largest minority group at 13.9%, mixed races at 5.8%, Native Americans at 5.2%, Asians at 1.7% and Blacks, the smallest minority group at 1.5%. White citizens in white dominated counties like ours, […]