Author Archives: Kit Stolz

Being with the Trees (Sunday Morning on the Planet)

A commentator on a previous post asked for more poems about trees…here’s one I just found, courtesy of The Atlantic, by somebody named Robert Frost. This one seeps into a person, like its subject…. The Sound of Trees I wonder about the trees: Why do we wish to bear Forever the noise of these MoreContinue reading “Being with the Trees (Sunday Morning on the Planet)”

ABC News: Planet Less Important Than Flag Pin

Today The New York Times introduces a new columnist, and a new idea of a columnist — a graphics columnist. And Charles Blow lives up to the billing by succinctly making an important point that his far-better-paid media peers at ABC and other television networks cannot seem to grasp. (Perhaps living in TV land makesContinue reading “ABC News: Planet Less Important Than Flag Pin”

Fakes Right, Goes Left: Obama’s Favorite Move

Barack Obama became obsessed with basketball at one point in his life, not as a high schooler, surprisingly, but in law school. You can see that love and skill in action if you watch the Bryant Gumbel special below on his game. In the segment, for the first time on television since he was aContinue reading “Fakes Right, Goes Left: Obama’s Favorite Move”

When a Nobel Prize on the Mantle Is Really Useful

When is a Nobel Prize truly useful? When you’re confronted in your field by something you don’t understand, and need to say: I don’t get it. Recently a famous economist named Martin Weitzman of Harvard released a paper on "the economics of catastrophic climate change" that has experts around the world scratching their head inContinue reading “When a Nobel Prize on the Mantle Is Really Useful”

The Massive Courage of Sam I Am

From The Boston-Herald, a story about Sam Cassell as a Celtic:  The Celtics still aren’t quite sure what to make of Sam Cassell. ‘Oh, Sam’s crazy,’ coach Doc Rivers said. ‘No,’ Paul Pierce said through a wide smile, ‘he’s only borderline crazy.’ Watching the 38-year-old point guard strut and gesture — and score 15 ofContinue reading “The Massive Courage of Sam I Am”

“Waves of Extinction” Forecast From Global Warming

From a speech given by John Holdren, the director of the Woods Hole Institute, one of the premier ocean and climate study groups in the world today. In an hour-long talk he called on scientists to tithe 10% of their work to solving the energy/climate problem and warned that if we do not change course:Continue reading ““Waves of Extinction” Forecast From Global Warming”

White House Officials Choreograph Torture Sessions

Political playwrights around the world sat up and paid attention this evening — or should have — as for the first time details about how the Bush administration "choreographed" the torture of Al Qaeda suspects became public. According to ABC NEWS, via TPM, a group called The Principals gathered in the White House to discussContinue reading “White House Officials Choreograph Torture Sessions”

Global Warming: Republicans For It Still

If actions speak louder than words, then Republicans still want more global warming. That’s the message of an entertaining but hard-hitting column by the great Jonathan Chait in this week’s issue of The New Republic. He states the ideological case wittily up front: Republicans are no longer denying the scientific basis for global warming. That’sContinue reading “Global Warming: Republicans For It Still”