Author Archives: Kit Stolz

Gov. Brown on climate change in CA: This is different

From Gov. Jerry Brown's State of the State speech, on climate change:   When we think about California’s future, no long term liability presents as great a danger to our wellbeing as the buildup of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.  According to the latest report from the World Bank, carbon dioxideContinue reading “Gov. Brown on climate change in CA: This is different”

Who needs sleep? Insomnia cookies available now!

From Pacific Standard comes the news that insomnia cookies — aka, a wonder drug called Modafinil, is available that will make sleep all but unnecessary. An hour or two a night will be plenty, it is said. No problems.  The past week has seen a flurry ofattention around the latest purported wonder drug, Modafinil, which claims to makeContinue reading “Who needs sleep? Insomnia cookies available now!”

Global warming can be confusing: “Sudden stratospheric warming” brings chill to East Coast

From Andrew Freedman at Climate Central: "An unusual event playing out high in the atmosphere above the Arctic Circle is setting the stage for what could be weeks upon weeks of frigid cold across wide swaths of the U.S., having already helped to bring cold and snowy weather to parts of Europe. Forecast high temperaturesContinue reading “Global warming can be confusing: “Sudden stratospheric warming” brings chill to East Coast”

The winds of chance and the hurricanes of disaster: FDR

E.J. Dionne, the voice of liberalism on National Public Radio and in the Washington Post, in his admiring column on Barack Obama's second inaugural address, points out that — like FDR before him, not to mention Ronald Reagan — the re-elected President unapologetically laid out his agenda, and linked it to that of the Founding Fathers.  ButContinue reading “The winds of chance and the hurricanes of disaster: FDR”

Obama promises action on warming in 2nd Inaugural

In his second Inaugural Address this morning, President Obama promised action on climate change:  We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and futureContinue reading “Obama promises action on warming in 2nd Inaugural”

“That’s not a safe altitude”: Moonrise Kingdom

Do you ever change your mind about a work, or act, or a person?    Last year I saw "Moonrise Kingdom" and hated it. Unbearably cute, I thought. But then I started to remember it with affection, how preposterously droll it was. (See above.) Then I saw about a thousand reviewers love it, and evenContinue reading ““That’s not a safe altitude”: Moonrise Kingdom”

Bamazon: A jungle reality show that doesn’t strike it rich

What's wrong with this picture?  This is a screen capture from a new reality show on The History Channel called Bamazon. It's about eight construction workers from Alabama who decide to go to the Amazon in search of a fortune in gold. They mine gold in the Amazon the way we used to do itContinue reading “Bamazon: A jungle reality show that doesn’t strike it rich”

Sex and dating: Women no different than men?

An op-ed in last Sunday's New York Times challenged the idea that physiology and evolutionary psychology can explain the differences between men and women. Author Dan Slater took on three of the most prominent "differences" between the sexual behavior of men and women, beginning with promiscuity:  Take the question of promiscuity. Everyone has always assumed — andContinue reading “Sex and dating: Women no different than men?”

You do not have to be good: Mary Oliver

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver You do not have to be good.You do not have to walk on your kneesfor a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.Meanwhile the world goes on.MeanwhileContinue reading “You do not have to be good: Mary Oliver”