Author Archives: Kit Stolz

Can GOP Senators be this dumb on climate?

According to Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority leader, the answer is yes: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday he will allow the Senate to vote on an amendment asking if they agree that climate change is impacting the planet. At his weekly press briefing, McConnell said "nobody is blocking any amendments" to legislation thatContinue reading “Can GOP Senators be this dumb on climate?”

Listen (a poem about a dog, by Miller Williams)

Listen  I threw a snowball across the backyard. My dog ran after it to bring it back. It broke as it fell, scattering snow over snow. She stood confused, seeing and smelling nothing. She searched in widening circles until I called her.  She looked at me and said as clearly in silenceas if she had spoken, I know it's here,Continue reading “Listen (a poem about a dog, by Miller Williams)”

even death can be beautiful under the heartless stars

A whitebark pine at Crater Lake. Photo and commentary below by TJ Thorne of the Guardian: This is the second image from my two week long artist-in-residency appointment at Crater Lake National Park in October of 2014. The whitebark pines, such that you see in the photo, are one of the more astounding features ofContinue reading “even death can be beautiful under the heartless stars”

A really dumb reason not to believe in climate change

From Congressman Jeff Miller of Florida, who doesn't believe in climate change, and somehow thinks this has something to do with the dinosaurs. Via a year-end wrap-up of dumbness by Steve Brodner at GQ: Yes, he really does believe that humans can't cause climate change, because the dinosaurs went extinct. Go figure. 

Charles Krauthammer, skeptic, now calls taking action on global warming “prudential”

To deny climate change in 2015 puts any thinking person in a distinct minority in this country.  According to a Pew Research poll published this time last year, 67% of adults believe that our atmosphere has been warming in recent years. That comes out to 84% of Democrats and 46% of Republicans.  So when lastContinue reading “Charles Krauthammer, skeptic, now calls taking action on global warming “prudential””

Economists: Put a price on carbon. Now.

Energy experts, such as the International Energy Agency, conservative thinkers, such as David Frum, conservative economists (such as Greg Mankiw, formerly of the Bush administration) and now Lawrence Summers, formerly Barack Obama's Secretary of the Treasurer, all agree — put a price on carbon.  That is, raise the tax at the pump from 18 centsContinue reading “Economists: Put a price on carbon. Now.”

How to make classic movies not sexist: McSweeney’s

This was one of the top ten columns on McSweeney's often hilarious Internet Tendencies site in 2014. Classic Movies changed to not be sexist My faves: Gone With The Wind Rhett kisses and grabs at Scarlett against her will. Scarlett informs Rhett that though they are married, she still has autonomy over her body andContinue reading “How to make classic movies not sexist: McSweeney’s”

The unsayable: Rilke (snow in the desert)

Give thanks to Kurt Harvey, for sharing this photo of mountains near Tucson this new year to Google+'s California and Western Landscapes community , and for the words that follow from Rilke: Things aren't all so tangible and sayable as people would usually have us believe; most experiences are unsayable, they happen in a spaceContinue reading “The unsayable: Rilke (snow in the desert)”