According to the Writer’s Almanac:
It’s the birthday of writer Alexis de Tocqueville, born in Paris (1805). He was 25 years old when the French government sent him to America to study the prison system. He spent nine months touring towns and cities and taking notes. A few years later, he published his famous book, Democracy in America (1835). (more…)
American environmental lawyer Gus Speth is so right.
The things that are taking our civilization down aren’t slow Internet speeds, imprecise PET scans, or the levelized cost of energy associated with solar and wind energy. (more…)
It’s said that every generation feels that the world is at a crossroads, and that it’s incumbent upon them to do the right thing about something, whether that something is abolition, women’s suffrage, civil rights, banning nuclear weapons, or any of a number of other crises of the moment. That’s what makes us think about the words of the late astrophysicist Carl Sagan. Is he right?
Though there are other ways in which organized human society could end, e.g., an all-out nuclear war, the destruction of our environment is far more probable; in fact, if nothing is done to divert our present course, it’s inevitable. The crossroads facing this generation is avoiding the tipping point, past which no solutions can possibly save us from ruin. Here I mean global warming, ocean acidification, loss of biodiversity, and the like. (more…)
Here’s an article that provides a fairly comprehensive look at Africa as an energy hub of oil and gas production. Strangely, it doesn’t contain a single mention of renewables.
Why is that strange? Simply because of: (more…)
We’ve discussed the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 decision “Citizens United” a great deal here, but it’s hard to overstate the damage this landmark case has already had on our law-making processes and the overall quality of any democracy to which we lay claim as Americans. (more…)
President Eisenhower:
Regarding your fantastic quote about peace, I’m afraid I have some news. Things have changed here, but not for the better. The concept of nonstop war is now fully taken for granted; for most Americans, it’s no longer even noticed. There are 10 major wars, 25 minor wars, and 19 “skirmishes and clashes” in progress as I write this letter to you.
Yes, most people want peace, but at this point, we’re so ill-informed and so effectively manipulated that we’ll believe anything, and agree to go to war over it in a heartbeat. (more…)
Given the overall success of the EPA in cleaning up America’s air and water, it’s hard to remember what things looked like half a century ago, before the agency was formed in the early 1970s. At left is a shot of Louisville, Kentucky, and here is an article providing dozens more colorful, if disgusting, examples. (more…)
According to the Writer’s Almanac: It’s the birthday of Carl Jung (pictured), born in 1875. He was the founder of analytic psychology. He noticed that myths and fairytales from all kinds of different cultures have certain similarities. (more…)
There are those who think that our civilization will find a way to progress beyond the wanton destruction of our environment, and others who say that we’re doomed, i.e., that we’re past the point of no return. I happen to come down on the the side of hope and optimism; I trust that people’s basic decency and the positivity of the human spirit will eventually persevere. (more…)
The video below is one of many made by a brilliant young man, Derek Muller, under the name of his YouTube channel “Veritasium,” with its 5.9 million subscribers. (more…)
