Controlling the Debate vs. Facing Facts: The Weakness of the Unilateral Executive

In commemoration of Martin Luther King, former Vice-President Al Gore gave the best speech heard in this country by this reporter, a Gore doubter, in some time. While challenging the idea that the President can act on foreign policy unchecked by Congress or the judicial branch (which Gore says should be called the "unilateral theory"Continue reading “Controlling the Debate vs. Facing Facts: The Weakness of the Unilateral Executive”

Intelligent Design: The Obvious Solution

Mark Johnson of Vista, CA., writes to LA Times with the why-didn’t-I-think-of-that answer to the intelligent design brouhaha: I have a proposal for those religious fundamentalists who insist on promoting "intelligent design" in our public schools. We will allow courses on intelligent design (and other creation myths) to be taught in public schools if youContinue reading “Intelligent Design: The Obvious Solution”

An Inch’s Worth of Difference…to John Lennon

A month ago I posted on political change and what John Lennon would do were he still with us. In response a friend (Craig Rosen) sent me a fascinating interview between Lennon and Yoko Ono and well-known British radicals Tariq Ali and Robin Blackburn, which ran in an Trotskyist sheet called (believe it or don’t)Continue reading “An Inch’s Worth of Difference…to John Lennon”

Another Conservative Opinion Leader Endorses Carbon Tax

Irwin Seltzer, an economist who writes the economic and forecasting column for the influential right-wing conservative publication The Weekly Standard, this week endorsed a carbon tax. In his column, called Petropower, Seltzer implicitly warns of of the danger that our economy could be held hostage, if not by the Saudis (as in the past) thenContinue reading “Another Conservative Opinion Leader Endorses Carbon Tax”

Impatient Bush Administration Stumbles Again

This week the pro-logging policies of the Bush administration took two hits, as reported on the useful Forest Service Employees for Environmental ethics (FSEEE) site. First, an extensive study in Science of so-called "salvage" logging in the aftermath of the disastrous Biscuit fire in Oregon found that, contra logging industry and Republican claims, post-fire loggingContinue reading “Impatient Bush Administration Stumbles Again”

Two-Thirds of Mountain Frog Species in Two Decades Extinct: Global Warming Blamed

Two-thirds of 110 species of the colorful harlequin frogs of South America have vanished since the 1980’s. The article in Nature quotes the lead researcher: "Disease is the bullet killing frogs, but climate change is pulling the trigger," says Alan Pounds, an ecologist at the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve and Tropical Science Center in CostaContinue reading “Two-Thirds of Mountain Frog Species in Two Decades Extinct: Global Warming Blamed”