Tom Englehardt, of TomDispatch and The Nation, brings us a terrific essay by a Utah writer named Chip Ward. It focuses on what has gone wrong with bees in this country, with unusual depth (and grasp of the English language), but also offers a way forward different from our present path, and touches on theContinue reading “Cloudy with a Chance of Chaos”
Category Archives: thinking out loud
Sunday Morning on the Planet: If This Isn’t Nice…
"I had a good uncle, my late Uncle Alex. He was my father’s kid brother, a childless graduate of Harvard who was an honest life-insurance salesman in Indianapolis. He was well-read and wise. And his principal complaint about other human beings was that they so seldom noticed it when they were happy. So when weContinue reading “Sunday Morning on the Planet: If This Isn’t Nice…”
A Wild-Less California in 2050?
That’s what a New York Times op-ed sees coming — in just 43 years. Verlyn Klinkenborg writes: In 2007, we remain blindly impervious to the life-claims of almost all other forms of life — to the moral stipulation that their right to life is equivalent to ours. How it will be then I do notContinue reading “A Wild-Less California in 2050?”
Metaphor Watch: “Working Wilderness”
On the New West site, George Wuerthner makes an excellent point in a column about a phrase coined by cattle groups to create a warm sense about their use of public lands: “Working wilderness” is a term that was coined by ranching proponents to modify our view of the world. Most people view “wilderness” asContinue reading “Metaphor Watch: “Working Wilderness””
Opps (Housekeeping note)
Opps. Just came across eight comments that were not published because (I just found out) I am now supposed to approve every comment first. Apparently this is a change of policy, or perhaps this goes with allowing people to publish links, a change I made recently. My apologies to all of you who took theContinue reading “Opps (Housekeeping note)”
Thinking About Polar Cities — Or Trying To
An interesting journalist named Dan Bloom, now based in Taiwan, has been agitating for consideration of one of James Lovelock’s more alarming ideas — polar cities. (Here’s his site on the subject.) I don’t have answers for Mr. Bloom’s difficult questions, but while I’m thinking on the subject, I want to quote on this SundayContinue reading “Thinking About Polar Cities — Or Trying To”
130-year-old Bowhead Whale Hunted in Alaska
After surviving an explosive attack by whalers back in the 19th century, a bowhead whale lived through the Great War, the Depression, WWII, the Red Scare, the Cold War, the 60’s, disco, Ronald Reagan, Internet time, and most of Bush Jr., before succumbing to another attack, last month off the coast of Alaska. It’s anContinue reading “130-year-old Bowhead Whale Hunted in Alaska”
The Inadequacy of Accurate Information
How does The New Yorker do it? They put out a better magazine every week than most publications manage once a month, or once a quarter. I especially love their art critic, the man with the difficult name of Peter Schjeldahl, who recently had a great piece on Hopper, and this past week wrote aboutContinue reading “The Inadequacy of Accurate Information”
Climate Change Metaphors, Speaking of…
This is not the prettiest of recent editorial cartoons on global warming from around the world collected by Slate, under their "hot topic" rubric. (That would have to be this one from Germany.) But speaking of climate change metaphors…here’s Heng from the The Straits Times.
Global Warming Metaphor Watch: Paul McCartney’s Idea
Well, actually Paul’s talking about the record companies, but you’ll see what I mean: My record producer [David Kahne] said the major record labels these days are like dinosaurs sitting around discussing the asteroid. They know it’s going to hit. They don’t know when, they don’t know where it’s coming from. But it’s sort ofContinue reading “Global Warming Metaphor Watch: Paul McCartney’s Idea”
Kit Stolz 