Iain Murray of the National Review claims to know exactly how much 3C of global warming will cost ($22 trillion) and exactly how much Al Gore’s plan to preserve the climate will cost ($44 trillion). (For the moment, let’s put aside the fact that most experts consider 3C catastrophic.) Since Al Gore’s plan happens toContinue reading “Right-Wing Denier Sees Cost of Global Warming: Businessmen at GE See Opportunity”
Category Archives: thinking out loud
Bless the Animals — and St. Francis
Today is the feast day of one of the most revered of all Catholics, St. Francis of Assisi, and this weekend will come the famous Blessing of Animals. At Christmas, when we see a "nativity scene," what we are seeing is the American version of the Devotion of the Crib, a scene originally blessed byContinue reading “Bless the Animals — and St. Francis”
The Dangerous Allure of the World Trade Center
No better way to gauge the worth of a book has ever been found than the test of time, and John McPhee’s work stands up spectacularly well, I think it’s fair to say, in this passage from a book he published back in l973. It’s called The Curve of Binding Energy, and it’s about the danger of small nuclear weapons constructed by the likes of terrorists, but below is the passage that most stands out, late in the book, about McPhee and physicist Ted Taylor driving into Manhattan, and seeing the World Trade Center:
The book works on several levels: as a factual warning, as a character study, and as pure writing in the non-fiction genre. Because the passage is long, I’m going to put most of it below the fold, but I guarantee, you will not regret the time spent reading it:
Driving down from Peekskill…we found ourselves on Manhattan’s West Side Highway just at sunset and the beginning of dusk. There ahead of us several miles, and seeming to rise right out of the road, were the two towers of the World Trade Center, windows blazing with interior light and with red reflected streaks from the sunset over New Jersey. We had been heading for midtown but impulsively kept going, drawn irresistibly toward two of the tallest buildings in the world. We went down the Chambers Street ramp and parked, in a devastation of rubble, beside the Hudson River. [The buildings were still under construction at the time.] Across the water, in New Jersey, the Colgate sign, a huge neon clock as red as the sky, said 6:15. We looked up the west wall of the nearest tower. From so close, so narrow an angle, there was nothing at the top to arrest the eye, and the building seemed to be some sort of probe touching the earth from the darkness of space. "What an artifact that is!" Taylor said, and he walked to the base and paced it off.
Our Moral Footprint
Great headline in the New York Times atop an op-ed from Vaclav Havel on climate change. I think Havel is one of the great thinkers of our time, have read and reread the piece, and recommend it in full. But here’s what stands out to this reporter. Havel sees climate change not as a technicalContinue reading “Our Moral Footprint”
The “Other America”
A writer for The Guardian recounts a visit to Yosemite and the "other America" he found there. He concludes, somewhat defensively, that beauty can still be found in this "other America." Kind of sad when the only defense against our politics is our land, wouldn’t you say? …what does this have to do with theContinue reading “The “Other America””
Local Eating, Manhattan Style
The New Yorker‘s Adam Gopnik experiments, charmingly, with local eating in the five boroughs. His children star in the piece, which can be cloying, but they’re funny. Some of my compatriots at Grist complained bitterly about this piece, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. Here’s the core of his argument: There are powerful arguments against localism:Continue reading “Local Eating, Manhattan Style”
Conspiracy Theorists: How Will They be Remembered?
As one of the three or four Americans who actually believes that Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK, it’s irksome in the extreme to me that I can’t get more people, even friends, to seriously consider the possibility. In that light, it’s encouraging to read an interview with a novelist named Thomas Mallon in The Atlantic,Continue reading “Conspiracy Theorists: How Will They be Remembered?”
The Terror Myth in American History
Susan Faludi, one of the brainest of America’s leftists, brings forward a fascinating argument about the role of terror in American history. Thanks to the New York Times’ newfound willingness to blog, this op-ed from yesterday should be totally available to readers, and it’s definitely worth the five minutes. But here’s her central contention: Sept.Continue reading “The Terror Myth in American History”
Just Saying “No” to China
Well, we tried. Here’s my account of what happened and what I learned, in the Ventura County Reporter.
Optimism: The True American Faith of Today
No doubt I spend too much time on the Internet, but I have to say it has its compensations…such as when a bright guy you’ve never met writes a little essay inspired by a thought from yours truly. Take a look at postmodern conservative Mr. James Poulos’ thoughts on optimism, which to me (and RodContinue reading “Optimism: The True American Faith of Today”
Kit Stolz 