| My Turn: Why I don't 'shop Taos'
Local newspapers often print letters from merchants in Taos County who encourage residents of the city and county to shop locally. Many local retail establishments are struggling to survive and residents are asked to purchase here to support the local economy. I rarely shop Taos. I wait once a month and shop in Santa Fe, or, when on business out of state, shop and mail my purchases home. I also make frequent purchases over the Internet. Why? Because I have experienced the following: Choice is limited. I don’t find what I need here. It’s just as easy to order over the Internet and receive my goods for the minimal cost of shipping and get exactly what I want when I want it. The purchase usually arrives in a matter of two to three days and is delivered to my door. Cost of shipping usually amounts to the cost of a couple of gallons of gas at most (and if the order is large enough, shipping is free). Many merchants don’t make it easy to purchase what I need. More than one merchant on the plaza refuses to take checks.
Evolutionists At War Over Altruism’s Origins
An intellectual war of words has broken out between two of the world's leading evolutionists. Oxford University's Richard Dawkins and Harvard's Edward Wilson have gone head to head over the evolution of altruism in the animal kingdom, and whether it can have come about as a result of something called group selection.The subject matter of their dispute is social insects, particularly ants, which display a supreme form of altruism in that sterile workers lay down their lives for the benefit of their fertile colleagues in the colony. Conventional Darwinian theory could not really explain why one individual should sacrifice its own life, and its precious genes, for the benefit of another individual, unless it could be viewed in terms of group selection, when indi-viduals do it for the benefit of the colony or the species.
Indicted Obama fundraiser's bond revoked
Indicted political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko leaves Chicago's federal building in this Oct. 19, 2006, file photo. Rezko, who has poured thousands of dollars into Barack Obama's political campaigns, was arrested by federal agents Monday, Jan. 28, 2008, after his $2 million bail was revoked. Rezko has pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud, attempted extortion and money laundering, and is scheduled to stand trial Feb. 25. .
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