When scientists discover their framework of assumptions and problem-solving methods no longer works, they must move to a new framework in which they do. It used to be called a paradigm shift. The shift occurs because the old paradigm no longer can accommodate new variables. It’s still a mystery exactly when such shifts take place. [...]

The great Waldo Canyon fire affecting Colorado Springs is different from other wildfires in the West because of its proximity to a large metropolitan area. This fact brings to light human generosity in the face of disasters. Western traditions have held to one of three competing views of human nature: We are either good by [...]

Cities are built by visionaries or they are born of economic necessity, the need for trade routes or sea ports. Our city has a history of great men, from General Palmer to Stratton and Penrose, who have labored to make our town a better place to live for future generations. We don’t need a gold [...]

Even the greatest logicians and scientists agree that the most sophisticated formulae can be explained in simple, common sense terms to anyone. If we agree that A is different from not A, or that if A leads to B, and B leads to C, that A therefore leads to C, we can communicate with each [...]

As the 2008 documentary “Blue Gold” suggests, there are bound to be world water wars in the next few decades, as the survival of our civilization will depend on water resources that are growing ever more scarce. Just as we are fighting over oil resources now, so will we declare war around the globe to [...]

Shakespeare’s famous line, “I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him,” came to mind as I boarded my flight to New York to close my Spanish restaurant Mercat, which is on Bond Street in Manhattan. An authentic Catalan restaurant next to one of the best Italian restaurants in New York and on one of [...]

The latest J.P. Morgan debacle concerns the loss of $2 billion thanks to ill-conceived trades that were intended to hedge risk. It’s the tip of an iceberg of similar activity that many consider to be shrewd entrepreneurial dealing — but it is not. Any kind of arbitrage, despite however Wall Street might justify it, ends [...]

About 1,300 students will be graduating from UCCS today, so it seems like an opportune time to once again question whether higher education is worth the money? Let’s take a look at some statistics. A National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education study showed 57 percent of the 2,142 Americans surveyed claimed that the [...]