“The Art of Making a Deal,” a dialogue
This fictional dialogue tries to depict the process of dealmaking behind the President's deal to lower drug prices to help Americans.
Max Yeh
Sierra County Public-Interest Journalism Project’s board president Max Yeh is a novelist and writes widely on language, interpretation, history, and culture. He has lived in Hillsboro, New Mexico, for more than 30 years after retiring from an academic career in literature, art history and critical theory.
From the other side, November 29, 2025: “Why false beliefs feel safer than the truth”
A few weeks ago, I directed readers to an article in the Australian online news source Pearls and Irritations. Here I link to another of their publications: John Frew’s article addressing an issue in Australia but completely applicable to public discourse in America.
What if . . . ?
What if the racial purification ideas hiding in the slogan of making America great again were feasible, that eugenics through forced sterilization and euthanasia could produce a new race of people were true?
What you need to know, October 25, 2025: Milling rumors
Rumors are said to be like mills. They go around and around and grind the natural grains of wheat into powdery flour so that humans can digest them. Here is an example of a rumor mill: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/23/venezuela-tren-de-aragua-gang-police.
From the other side, October 13, 2025: Pearls and Irritations
Sierra County, being at the bottom of the producer-consumer feeding chain, is more dependent on the world than most other parts of America. Yet, locally, we think we are an independent world to ourselves. We are not. Let me introduce you to how Australian policy thinkers view American news.
Dominance training in the US: a metaphor of our lives
Yesterday, I was attacked going out of my driveway by my neighbor’s dog. The standoff lasted half an hour before I was able to make her back off, but I was confined to my house the rest of the day, not wanting to confront her snarling and yapping lunges again.
What you need to know, October 6, 2025: Covid again
We know a good deal more about long Covid than we did during the epidemic. However, we seem strangely unable to think clearly about this new knowledge. The consequences are not to be sneezed at.
What you need to know, September 28, 2025: Jupiter Project
Doña Ana County has approved the construction in Santa Teresa (near El Paso) of the $165 billion Jupiter Project. What does that mean?
Just to be clear
Everyone agrees that America changed with the election and re-election of our present President, but they all disagree about what that change is and if the change is good, bad, or ugly. My two-cents worth is that American eugenics has changed to pop-eugenics, and pop-eugenics rules the day.
What you need to know, September 12, 2025: Since when … ?
On September 1, our Navy bombed a launch in the Caribbean headed towards Venezuela. Our President released a video of the killing. We see the open boat with the people we killed and very little cargo; though our President said the boat was loaded with narcotics bound for the USA.
Memorial for those who died
The last functioning hospital in southern Gaza was attacked today by Israeli tanks. I try to understand the situation there from bits and pieces of news and reports from many online sources.
State Engineer turns off spigot for Copper Flat Mine
On August 19, State Engineer Elizabeth Anderson denied the mine's application to transfer water rights for use at Copper Flat Mine. This article reports on the reasons for her decision and analyzes some consequences of her action.