Strike one … you’re out?
Bad Company's Shooting Star blares over the PA system. Don't you know, yeah, yeah The hour is late as the game enters the top of the ninth inning. The home team has held the Industrialists scoreless, and leads by a…
Making Other Arrangements: I’d Like to Help
Now that my own living arrangements are in order -- to the extent that's possible in light of ongoing, accelerating global climate change, decline of American Empire, and demise of the living planet — I would like to help other…
Mac and Jack: Roughing it in the Sandwich Islands
I'm just back at the mud hut after a too-short trip to the big island of Hawaii, where I visited a former student from the University of Arizona honors program. James was visiting Zimbabwe when the economy there headed south…
The agenda revisited
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. (Arthur Schopenhauer, one of my philosophical heroes) ______________________ Based on recent comments in this space, and also in…
The power of television in Asphaltistan
I'm just back from a quick vacation in the vicinity of Morro Bay, California. Most importantly and enjoyably, I communed with sea otters, pelicans, herons, and egrets while kayaking on the calm waters of the bay. But I also spent…
Teetering
The industrial economy, that is. On the brink, yet again. The real economy -- not the born-again exuberance in the world's stock markets -- is stalling as the effects of easy money wear off. Indeed, investor fund flows haven't been…
Dispatches from Central Absurdistan
1. In yet another reason to keep those shows on the air, reality TV breeds new body ideals. 2. It'll take a lot of rats to clothe plus-size models in the latest fashion accessory. 3. Encouraging us to keep the…