West Seattle - Opinion

By Kyra-lin Hom

There is a modern, 'tried and true' narrative of addiction. It involves chemicals, brain structure, something called the reward circuit, maybe another thing called the pleasure principle – and quite simply it's all very…MORE

By Kyra-lin Hom

When I was in undergrad, we film school students used to play 'guess the major' when killing time in our film school lobby. We'd lounge under the monitors displaying recent student projects sans volume and point out the…MORE

By Kyra-lin Hom

Last week I shared my experiences as a brand new video game player – or 'gamer,' as the lingo goes. I find the games fun but not exactly the addictive thrill of which I've heard so much. That doesn't mean I'll stop playing…MORE

 By James Robert Deal, Attorney   Traffic is bad and getting worse. Our population and our economy are growing. Finishing Link Light Rail, widening the freeways, eliminating choke points will take decades and cost billions of dollars. After…MORE

By Kyra-lin Hom

Historical dramas have always captured our imaginations. Like fantasy and science fiction, stories from our past transport us to another time and (often) place. When done well they are immersive, engaging and educational.…MORE

By Kyra-lin Hom

The latest Obama news spike to hit the air is his proposal for 'free' community college nationwide. If the proposal passes Congress and then the states, community college will be funded 75% by the Federal Government and 25…MORE

By Kyra-lin Hom

The first most of us ever heard of virtual reality (VR) was Star Trek's 'holodeck' technology. The holodeck was a seemingly magic room where any reality could come to life via a fully immersive, all-five-senses-stimulating…MORE



By Dow ConstantineSpecial to the West Seattle Herald   Though I now represent more than 2 million people as King County Executive, my home is still West Seattle, where my family and life-long friends make plenty sure I stay grounded! This year…MORE

by Kyra-lin Hom

The term 'groupthink' was first coined in 1952 by William H. Whyte, Jr. to imply a type of rationalized conformity. Twenty years later, Dr. Irving Janis published the first compendium of early research on the topic. Since…MORE

By Kyra-lin Hom

As every Hallmark card proclaims, the holiday season is a time for families and feel goods. But the rest of us know that those things don't always come so easy. Forced dysfunctional family gatherings are even common fodder…MORE