Perhaps it's ironic that Iberian poet George Santayana brought the world the observation that "those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." The January 27 issue of The New York Times carries a story by Elaine Sciolino of a group of young Portuguese entrepreneurs who are repeating history, reconstructing a hand-harvested solar saltworks in the Algarve region south of Lisbon.

Despite the global economic gloom, they hope their timing couldn't be better in that the last few years have seen a resurgence in popularity of assorted sea salts commanding premium markeplace prices. Then again, with recession reflected in many households' economic choices, it could be that the story might more likely parallel the 1992 book by Francis Fukuyama,The End of History and the Last Man. Fukuyama was wrong about American global hegemony. Will the history of the Portugese salinas end with a rebirth of artisinal salt or repeat itself in Darwin's natural selection?

Corporations throughout the U.S. are squeezing costs and cutting jobs in response to the national economic distress and "softening markets worldwide." Morton Salt parent Rohm and Haas announced its second round of cuts -- 900 jobs will be affected in hopes of dropping $90 million to the company's bottom line. All units of the company are impacted -- except Morton Salt. Like all U.S. road salt producers, business is humming at Morton Salt.

Set your Tivo or plan to be home two weeks from tonight when the Discovery Channel debuts its new "Salt" episode in its popular "How Stuff Works" series. The show promises to "delve into the science of salt, the prehistoric, life-sustaining mineral that has 14,000 known uses from seasoning food to so much more." We can hardly wait!

Actually, you DON'T have to wait. Discovery Channel's website has already provided an introduction to its hour-long video, entitled "How Salt Works." Authors Tracy Wilson and Shanna Freeman range widely from the chemical properties of salt, the various production technologies, to salt in history and its myriad uses including the medical controversy over whether it would be advantageous for everyone to reduce dietary salt.

The show will debut Thursday, January 29 at 8 pm EST and be shown again four hours later, midnight that same night. And doubtless repeatedly in the coming weeks.

That's two new "Salt" shows in two months, the other being on The History Channel. Get out that microwave popcorn and have an enjoyable hour.

President-elect Barack Obama likes salt ... on caramel, at least. So reports the NY Times in a December 31 story "How Caramel Developed a Taste For Salt ." Food technologists readily understand how salt makes sweet sweeter by masking bitterness, but the traditional Breton confection of heavily-salted butter caramels has now "made its successful run from rarefied Parisian pastry shops to American big-box stores in a decade -- a relatively short period, according to people who study food trends."

Obama becomes the first US president since Ronald Reagan to profess preference for adding salt to foods. Reagan famously observed that "only a raccoon could eat a (hard-boiled) egg without salt." George H.W. Bush missed the point entirely bad-mouthing broccoli when all he'd have needed to do was add some salt to mask its bitterness. Go figure.

If the Reagan Oval Office offered visitors jelly bellies, perhaps President Obama will be offering salt-sprinkled caramels.