At a lecture attended recently by a thousand or so people at UC Santa Barbara, the great E.O. Wilson was asked an open-ended question about introducing children to nature. Wilson took it as a "how to" question. He mentioned that he was "one of two living persons who worked with Rachel Carson," and made aContinue reading “Rachel Carson on how to introduce children to nature”
Category Archives: thinking out loud
Youth and likability: Tennessee Williams
As you get to know people, if you come to like them, they begin to seem younger to you. To me Tennessee Williams will always be about twenty-seven, on the cusp. [from his great, great story Two on a Party]
Earthquake forces us to “fight back” against Nature
This past week Ted Rall's Sleeper Agent made fun of those who would blame environmentalists for the deadly earthquake and tsunami in Japan. You might be asking yourself: Who would do such a thing/ And even a man had such an impulse, how could it possibly be done? How could you blame environmentalists, who reflexively recoilContinue reading “Earthquake forces us to “fight back” against Nature”
Tennessee Williams: How to live (and love) past despair
How to live (and love) with despair in our hearts is a question our disaster-prone century must face. And with the possible exceptions of Shakespeare and Chekhov, no dramatist has shown us how to face emotional disaster with the verve of Tennessee Williams. That's the subtext of this lovely essay on Williams, who turns 100Continue reading “Tennessee Williams: How to live (and love) past despair”
It’s not so bad being a stay-at-home Dad
You can leave funny Post-It notes around the house and photograph them: Well, you can if you're this guy. h/t: Metafilter.
“Radical libertarians” hijack GOP, says Republican
Andy Revkin interviews a frustrated David Jenkins, of Republicans for Environmental Protection, a group that has been around for decades, but has been pushed to the edge of irrelevance this century: Jenkins speaks out: …the Republican Party has been hijacked. I maintain that it is being unduly influenced by what I call “pretend conservatives.”Continue reading ““Radical libertarians” hijack GOP, says Republican”
What does this devastating earthquake say about God?
It's an age-old question that has arisen again, after the earthquake in Japan, in a most unlikely place — a remarkable front-page think piece by Scott Gold and Hector Becerra in the Los Angles Times this past Saturday morning. Not having the ability to look at the event from the inside, because they weren't on the scene,Continue reading “What does this devastating earthquake say about God?”
Japan Earthquake: 1000x stronger than Port-au-Prince quake
A couple of striking facts from a briefing on the earthquake in Japan, and the subsequent tsunami: According to Dave Applegate, of the US Geological Survey, this quake, measuring "almost nine" on the Richter scale, substantially ruptured the earth's crust, tearing it up for 150 or more miles. Applegate said the energy released by theContinue reading “Japan Earthquake: 1000x stronger than Port-au-Prince quake”
The wit and wisdom of David Brower: the teepee
David Brower, the late great executive director of the Sierra Club, founder of Friends of the Earth, conservationist extraordinaire, is given plenty of credit for his accomplishments, but not, in my estimation, nearly enough credit for his wit, courage, and charm. All by himself, he demolishes any number of cliches about conservationists; that is, thatContinue reading “The wit and wisdom of David Brower: the teepee”
Why the Bering Sea is chilling as the world warms
The Pacific Decadal Oscillation, or PDO, a vast pool of cold water sloshing around the northern Pacific ocean, was first discovered just fourteen years ago. It's existence has yet to make an imprint in public consciousness, in part because its effects are so varied. But Wendee Holtcamp, an excellent freelance science reporter, helps us understandContinue reading “Why the Bering Sea is chilling as the world warms”
Kit Stolz 