Confucius said that the health of a nation could be determined by the integrity of its homes. If we apply that standard, we're in trouble. Culturally, most Americans don't even have homes anymore. They have houses, not homes. Homes are something that are made, not bought. And, homes, thus, require homemakers. That's right, plural: homemakers. I'm not talking about just … [Read more...]
Reassessing Arctic oil
Shell Oil will discontinue drilling for oil off the coast of Alaska during the summer of 2013. According to Marilyn Heiman, Director of the U.S. Arctic Program of Pew Trusts, “[Shell] had some safety and management challenges that I don’t think they had fully thought through.” Shell, along with every other oil company out there, has a lot to learn about drilling in the … [Read more...]
Visual guide to the cost of growth. Review: ENERGY
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. With that in mind, the 195 color, mostly full page — often double page — photographs in the Post Carbon Institute's* latest book, ENERGY: Overdevelopment and the Delusion of Endless Growth, speaks volumes beyond its gigantic sized pages about the energy and environmental predicament humanity is immersed in today. But while the … [Read more...]
Terrible tech toy tortures toddlers and tweens
We don't own a TV, so I don't see many ads. But since I love the NBC show Parenthood, I had to subscribe to HULU Plus to catch the show every week. There, I'm subjected to the every-eight-minutes commercial assault on our minds, dignity, and behavior so central to the TV "experience." This, HULU Plus calls "limited commercial interruption." I call it Hell. Ever since … [Read more...]
Climate change: Obama needs to turn talk into action
Something's been troubling me ever since I listened to President Obama's first post-reëlection press conference. Perhaps as a result of Hurricane Sandy, the now two-term president was finally asked a question about global warming, a topic conveniently avoided by both sides throughout the seemingly interminable campaign. The question came from New York Times White House … [Read more...]