Over the weekend, Bush finally laid out his plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. I say finally because the report was due over a year ago. His plan is, unsurprisingly, pretty wimpy–but there are a few more plans on the table, one by McCain and Lieberman, and one by Bernard Sanders (the socialist, who, by … Continue Reading
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More on the Splasher
The Splasher is still at it. He/she made NYT’s B1 today, with one good picture and one photo that is completely irrelevant to the story. (Oh, wait. Behind the dude, there’s a Splashered painting. I have to say I’m not too impressed with whoever edited these photos today.) Marc Schiller, who runs a Web site about … Continue Reading
Florida legislator wants to ban term “illegal alien”
“I personally find the word ‘alien’ offensive when applied to individuals, especially to children,” said Sen. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami. “An alien to me is someone from out of space.” She has introduced a bill providing that: “A state agency or official may not use the term ‘illegal alien’ in an official document of the state.” … Continue Reading
Garbage Land
Anyone who lives on this earth should pick up a copy of Garbage Land, by Elizabeth Royte. I won’t say this book will change your life, but it may. After you finish reading, “out of sight, out of mind” will be a foreign phrase. Royte, a resident of Park Slope, Brooklyn, a fairly well-off, educated, … Continue Reading
A hope for a new era in street art
Street art fascinates me. I admire anyone who is willing to risk life, limb, or incarceration for the sake of creative expression. For example, Jennifer Toth’s The Mole People contains a chapter about graffiti writers. Some would work all night on a subway car, dodging cops and literally running for their lives, even though they … Continue Reading
Gore’s Inconvenient Message
With the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change releasing their latest report last week and the news that Al Gore has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his documentary, I felt it appropriate to post my review of “An Inconvenient Truth.” I’ll admit it: Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” had its heart in the … Continue Reading
Housekeeping
Partly due to a fantastic article in Harper’s I read over the weekend, and partly because I’ve been meaning to do so for a while, this blog is now licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license. What does this mean? Not terribly much, unless you feel like posting this work elsewhere. This license gives you … Continue Reading
The Government Speaks: Terrorism and other Public Health Emergencies
Today, I learned that the U.S. department of Health and Human Services, in their infinite wisdom, decided to publish a “field guide for media” so reporters will know what to do in case of a terrorist attack. Why the student paper of a 3,500-student college in the middle of Nassau County, received a copy is … Continue Reading
How Green Driving Changed My Life
Among other things, I resolved this year to drive slower. The California Energy Commission as well as almost every other government organization and eco-conscious group will tell you that higher than 55 mph, your car’s efficiency drops dramatically. ING, admittedly not the best source for transportation information (but pretty dang right-on-the-money when it comes to … Continue Reading
Newspapers can’t win, but it doesn’t help matters if you’re the Star Tribune
The Star Tribune has been taking a hell of a beating in recent months. What with their inexorable downward economic spiral, which culminated in their recent surprise sale, their decision early last year to stop their employees from “stealing” the paper, their redesign which actually may have contributed to killing their circulation, it doesn’t sound … Continue Reading