Category: Uncategorized
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The Negan Syndrome
Overnight, like a flash of light, the far right took another big step forward on the world stage. Brazil’s latest voting results as of October 7th are testimony to the grinding power and overwhelming influence of the irrepressible far-right, a worldwide phenomenon that brings in its wake the death knell of liberal democracy, aka the…
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The Great Drought
The most hazardous global warming risk for society at large is widespread loss of grain production because of a synchronized worldwide drought. It would be a colossal killer. It’s happened before, known as The Great Drought 142 years ago. Unmistakably, droughts feed off global warming and world temps are heading up, not down. Thus,…
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Could a Debate for State Auditor Peak Your Interest?
Campaigns for a state auditor can provoke an intense, even exciting, discussion of significant issues via their cost to government. Or, they can sink into boring aspects of state finance. Or, politicians can turn debates into a circus of insults. In the first debate for Missouri State Auditor, I brought up the trial of Monsanto/Bayer…
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Finding Her Voice In a Deaf “Homeland”
Our “liberal” media push back when riled up MAGAheads spit venom laced with ignorance and stupidity. But the same media turn a deaf ear to the many articulate voices for justice and accountability that have been rising from all across this fracked nation, in their respective communities. And while the media spends its umpteenth…
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Puerto Rico’s Unnatural Disaster Rolls On Into Year Two
One year ago, Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, one of the most disaster-vulnerable parts of the United States. In the days leading up to this anniversary, the U.S. president, backed up by his FEMA director, made cruel, petty, false claims about the death toll, mocking the grief of many thousands of people who lost loved…
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Book Review: New York 2140
It has been said that science fiction is not about the future, but a way of commenting on the present. With that in mind contemplate a vision of New York City in 2140. The seas have risen, and downtown Manhattan is flooded like Venice. The streets have become canals, and boats have replaced cars and…
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The Air-Conditioning Debate Isn’t Really About Air-Conditioning
Jacobin recently published an article calling for a national and worldwide expansion of air-conditioning usage. In it the writer, Leigh Phillips, used the suffering of economically and ecologically stressed people and communities during heat waves as a rationale for doubling down on a technology that, at the same time it’s cooling the indoors today, is…
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Energy: Missing from the Nuclear Story
One of my first memories of watching TV during the early 1950s was ads promoting leaded gasoline for reducing engine knock. Little did I suspect the strange history of that gas. By the beginning of World War I, it became clear that the internal combustion automobile was edging out its rival steam cars and electric…
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How China’s Mobile Ecosystems Are Making Banks Obsolete
Giant Chinese tech companies have bypassed credit cards and banks to create their own low-cost digital payment systems. The US credit card system siphons off excessive amounts of money from merchants, who must raise their prices to cover this charge. In a typical $100 credit card purchase, only $97.25 goes to the seller. The…
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Is Nuclear Power a Solution to the Climate Crisis?
Faith that environmental catastrophe can best be avoided by technological gadgetry rather than a change in social relationships received a big shot in the arm with the May 2018 publication of Energy: A Human History by prolific author Richard Rhodes. After completing 18 of his 20 chapters, Rhodes begins his exploration of nuclear power by…
