It’s hard to imagine anything more personal than the genetic information encoded in your DNA. But it’s only protected by privacy laws some of the time.

The actual status of California’s law protecting genetic information with regard to long term care insurance is currently a bit murky, says health journalist April Lynch. It is generally assumed to have ended, but it seems to have lapsed rather than having been repealed.

As genetic information becomes increasingly available, Lych suggests that consumers will more and more have to make decisions about how much they themselves want to know about it, as well as how much is shared with doctors and insurers.

April Lynch

Capitalism doesn’t have to be an economic system that devours raw materials with massive waste. An advocate of a variant termed “Natural Capitalism” contends it can deliver greater prosperity through increased efficiency and careful stewardship of natural and human resources.

Lovins argues that human productivity could learn a lot from Nature, which is powered almost exclusively by the sun, and leaves no waste that isn’t fuel for some other natural process.

Modern day free marketers often invoke Adam Smith and his “invisible hand” as the guiding principle behind the policies they advocate, including globalism and free trade. But Lovins counters that doing so is a distorted misreading of what Smith actually said.

Reducing or greatly eliminating the enormous amount of waste that is built  into our economy is not enough, but itself, to ensure long-term prosperity. But Lovins says it would be a good start.

Hunter Lovins will be among the speakers at the Solar Energy and Efficiency Fair in Santa Rosa’s Finley Park June 19,from 11am to 5pm. You can get more detailed event information here.

From the extinct California Grizzly to the omnipresent California ground squirrel, a carefully chosen 12 animal species are featured in the small, reflective and beautifully illustrated new book,  A California Bestiary.

Rebecca Solnit drew on both personal experience and background knowledge, focused field trips with illustrator Mona Caron, and some updated research to prepared for writing this book.

Two of the dozen species featured in the Bestiary, are insects—both butterflies. Solnit says she chose the Monarch and the Mission Blue as a minor study in contrasts.

The full list of animals included in A California Bestiary is as follows:

Acorn Woodpecker

Bluebelly Lizard

California Condor

California Grizzly

California Ground Squirrel

Chinook Salmon

Desert Tortise

Elephant Seal

Misson Blue Butterfly

Monarch Butterfly

Mountain Lion

Tule Elk

In the additional illustrations by Mona Caron shown below, note how the background includes the human-created obstacles that have become a part of the landscape for the native species.

There’s a lot more to a successful invention than just a good idea.

Steve Schneider, (left) the coordinator and sole staff of the Sawyer Center in Santa Rosa has had a hand in a growing list of success stories with clients there. Currently, he's enthusiastic about an idea concieved by a pair of local nurses.

As you might expect, the Sawyer Center itself was the creation of an individual inventor. Steve Schneider recounts its history.

Just over the past 10 years, according to their website, the Sawyer Center has helped over 2,300 clients by providing in excess of 8,900 hours of individual, one-on-one, free counseling. In addition, over 2,570 business owners have attended 108 workshops for close to 13,100 hours of training. This counseling and training has resulted in:

• 114 patents received
• 151 trademarks filed
• 113 copyright applications