Does this mean Big Box stores might not be ruining the planet after all?

James Surowiecki, journalist and author of The New Yorker‘s “Financial Page,” calls bullshit on those who indulge in what he calls the “fetishization of small business.” Surowiecki argues that mom and pop businesses are less productive than national chains. They charge significantly higher prices and offer, on average, lower wages and benefits. They’re less likely [...]

Local enviros continue to make excellent case for tort reform

The Times-Standard’s announcement Tuesday that three  so-called environmental groups were extorting sacks of cash suing Disneyland was greeted unenthusiastically by the newspaper’s readers. “Oh brother. How lame,” said one. “I guess the grow that was funding their organization got popped,” said another. The suit, brought in part by the Humboldt-based Mateel Environmental Justice Foundation and the Ecological Rights [...]

Sadly, Humboldt does not appear to be occupying Wall Street

We got our hopes up this morning when we saw the following on cnn.com: Daniel Mintz of MoveOn.Org said he was planning to deliver to Mayor Bloomberg more than 350,000 petitions and signatures he received Thursday from supporters around the nation. “The mayor would do a lot better cleaning up Wall Street than cleaning up [...]

Special interest group urges supes to ignore special interest groups

Anti-development special interest group Healthy Humboldt sent a guest opinion piece to the Times-Standard exhorting the board of supervisors to disregard input from special interest groups. Using similar logic, the authors–Dan Ehresman and the ubiquitous Jen Kalt–argued that removal of the man who has bollixed the General Plan Update for the last 12 years could [...]

‘Occupy Wall Street’ for Dummies

For those of you wondering what this “Occupy Wall Street” thing is all about, look no further than the prolific Richard Salzman, who has stepped away from whatever criminal activities he’s on to now to enlighten us. He explains in a letter to the North Coast Journal that protesters “are using their First Amendment Rights [...]

The best ‘Best of Humboldt’

After years of reading the North Coast Journal’s “Best of Humboldt” list for its sedative qualities–”Best Pot Plant,” “Best Thought Andrew Goff Had Today,” “Best Descended Testicle”–*yawn*–both of our readers suggested we put together a list of our own. Without further ado: Best Ending to a 50-Year Job Search: If anyone’s wondered whatever happened to Humboldt [...]