Or Die Trying
I wrote an entire book on the life of the mind, if you can imagine that. A significant portion of the book was dedicated to the importance of a liberal education, and I've written about that topic in this space,…
Extinction Event?
The Arctic is defrosting as warm Atlantic waters rush through the Fram Strait instead of skirting the southern coast of Greenland. This is an important event, regardless of the deafening silence exhibited by the mainstream media. How important? First consider…
Infallible, unsinkable, inconceivable: a bell curve in three parts
by John Stassek Infallible A sliver of green and fertile earth, far from other lands. Poly- nesians settled long ago, and came to under- stand. Three days of labor, tilling the soil, could feed them- selves all year. Easter Island…
Media alert
UPDATE: Thanks to John Stassek, who recorded and sent a copy, the audio file is archived here. I'll be interviewed by Shane Tyree on From the Right Radio Monday, 31 January 2011. The show can be heard live only, at…
Third time’s a charm?
Kurt Vonnegut often described World Wars I and II as western civilization's first and second attempts, respectively, to commit suicide. He hinted at peak oil as our third attempt in his memoir, Man Without a Country, which was published shortly…
Talking about oil in Oil City, USA
I presented in Austin, Texas, 9 January 2011 under the title, Durable Living: Preparing for Climate Change and Energy Decline. Free and open to the public, the event was sponsored by Design~Build~Live and Crude Awakening Austin, and attended by about…
Structures
When my partners and I embarked on this project, nearly three years ago, I could barely distinguish between a screwdriver and a zucchini. That tidbit tells you all you need to know about my building skills as well as my…