In a lovely tribute to the late great writer Ray Bradbury, Felicity Barringer of the inevitable New York Times shows us how much he cared for our planetary home, and how little he trusted our species: Unlike classic environmental writing that focuses largely on the good that nature does for the soul or mankindContinue reading “Ray Bradbury the environmental activist”
Author Archives: Kit Stolz
GOP finds solution to global warming
From Tom Toles, in today's Washington Post: If only the GOP was even looking for a solution. Jeez. I wish.
Soon to be a major motion picture: Shodan
The story is astonishing/alarming, but the background mythology is downright scary: The idea for Shodan came to John Matherly in 2003, when he was a teenager attending community college in California. Obsessed with the digital world, he named his project after a malevolent character in a video game called System Shock II. The character, Sentient Hyper-Optimized DataContinue reading “Soon to be a major motion picture: Shodan”
New Yorker editor: Hostility is the soul of wit
Bob Mankoff, who has been editing New Yorker 'toons since God knows when, while publishing his own there, in a recent essay with 'toons explored the connection between malice and wit. Spectacularly. Here's the opener, slightly pruned: Shakespeare was wrong when he wrote that “Brevity is the soul of wit.” Perhaps “hostility” is a betterContinue reading “New Yorker editor: Hostility is the soul of wit”
Around the world with Walt Whitman and Allen Ginsberg
Today was Walt Whitman's birthday. "Good day for DOMA [the Defense of Marriage Act] to be ruled unconstitutional," remarked poet friend Robert Peake from London. A look at how Walt became a poet at all shows the truth of what Robert said: [Whitman] was working as a carpenter, his father's trade, and living with his mother inContinue reading “Around the world with Walt Whitman and Allen Ginsberg”
Spring hottest ever: Greenhouse gas emissions on the rise
Acerbic lede from Dino Grandoni in the Atlantic Wire: In case, you know, you haven't been outside in the past three months, it's about to become official: unless a freak blizzard blankets the country by Thursday, the spring of 2012 will go down as the warmest for the U.S. in 117 years of record-keeping. Meanwhile CO2Continue reading “Spring hottest ever: Greenhouse gas emissions on the rise”
The moment when our leaders gave up on saving the world
Not my words, but those of Die Spiegel, the leading German publication, which released a recording of what was said inside the room among top leaders from around the world in Cophenhagen, in December 2009, in negotiations to save the climate. Their reporters wrote: The West, [then French President Nicholas] Sarkozy said, had pledged to reduceContinue reading “The moment when our leaders gave up on saving the world”
Romney: “Believe in America,” Donald Trump, and debt
In California this Memorial Day in my neighborhood, the house signs for the GOP presidential candidate are pleasantly blue, and they read: "Romney: Believe in America." Also on this day, we learn that the candidate has no intention of cutting the deficit upon taking office, and will be happy to add to the national debtContinue reading “Romney: “Believe in America,” Donald Trump, and debt”
Is climate change impacting real estate in the Southwest?
In the United States today, according to the real estate site Zillow, the two cities in the most trouble are Phoenix, where a little more than half than half of all homeowners are underwater — where debt outweighs the equity — and Las Vegas, where an astounding 70% of homeowners are underwater. Is it aContinue reading “Is climate change impacting real estate in the Southwest?”
The sexiness of a stupid woman, according to science
In Slate, a science reporter specializing in sex, Jesse Bering, reports on a new study that finds that women who look drunk and/or stupid are especially attractive to straight men. The study has problems — for one, a lack of a good control sample. For another, the hypothesis (that men find women who appearContinue reading “The sexiness of a stupid woman, according to science”
Kit Stolz 