I put my foot in my mouth on a regular basis. So I almost feel sorry for Mr. Todd Akin, the embattled candidate for U.S. Senate. Mr. Akin went on record saying that legitimate rape rarely results in pregnancy. Women's bodies have ways of shutting such pregnancies down, he alleged. I was curious if there were any basis for such a statement. It would be a nice thing to believe, particularly if ... Continue reading »

In April 2010 my autistic brother, Richard Chiu, was tasered, otherwise physically damaged, and locked up in the local mental ward. It's been over two years later and though he has long been free, he is still physically weak from the wounds the police inflicted that day. In the days after the incident, I wrote a series of blog posts that capture our actions and understanding at the time: 4-24-2010 HUMINT ... Continue reading »

In 2002 Arjen Hoekstra of UNESCO-IHE* suggested Rees' ecological footprint concept be applied to water use. Water use had traditionally been measured by the amount of water "used" by consumers. But Hoekstra argued that water withdrawals from aquifers, lakes, and rivers did not capture a holistic picture of water use. Professor Hoekstra proposed water use be seen through three lenses. Blue water would refer to water drawn from aquifers, lakes, and ... Continue reading »

In the early 1950s in the middle of a hot July day, young William Rees jostled with his cousins to get lunch, a hearty meal served on their grandmother's porch to fuel them through another several hours of hard labor on the farm. William realized he'd helped grow everything on his plate: beef, chicken, new potatoes, spinach, baby carrots, and the large leafy salad. The hard work of the past months - ... Continue reading »

Margaret Jean "Billie" Stout died today. She had suffered from breast cancer on and off for years. At the end it consumed her liver and she was given a month to live. Billie was my mother-in-law, a beautiful blonde woman of Swiss and Swedish heritage. She was a magnet that drew her family together year after year, despite hardship and scandal and tragedy. She will be sorely missed, the more so ... Continue reading »