Observations on a Place of Contrasts
Lakeside dispatch from David L. Witt/July 27, 2015/3:00pm {In late July and early August I led an expedition to Aylmer Lake in the Canadian Arctic. We were following part of the route taken by Ernest Thompson Seton and his expedition of 1907. Field notes from the...
Understanding Consequences of the Unpredictable
I subtitled my book on generally true patterns “A New Natural History of Recognizing Ourselves as a Part of Nature.” I used that phrase to express the combination of my observations of wild nature with the useful analysis of systems philosophy. Maybe instead I...
Zakaria, Gates and CNN’s GPS (Global Phooey Square)
In a surprisingly insensitive and insincere interview aired by CNN on May 17, 2015, Fareed Zakaria interviewed Bill Gates. Mr. Gates made three main points during their extensive talk. 1) The American middle class is today better than it was 20 years ago. 2)...
Sage-Grouse and National Defense Budget
The PBS Nature series aired a program on the endangered Sage-grouse on May 20. The natural history of this bird and other denizens of the sagebrush plains was well represented. The documentary even mentioned habitat destruction by oil and gas interests. Very daring of...
Earth Day – Day of Mourning Not Celebration
The annual Day of Mourning occurs on Wednesday April 22 this year. I recall the excitement around the first Earth Day in 1970. Environmentalist Senator Gaylord Nelson (defeated by a non-environmentalist Republican ten years later) and a cynical Nixon White House...
Generally True Patterns: A New Natural History Of Recognizing Ourselves As A Part Of Nature
I have just published a book based on my observations from and about nature. The book is available through Smashwords or Amazon. Introduction There is a widely held belief that we are exempt from the laws of nature. And further, that we can treat the living earth...
Five Down and One To Go, where is Country Joe…
…when we need him prior to the Sixth Extinction? And it's one, two, three, What are we waiting for ? Just ask me, there is a reason, Next stop is Extinction; And it's five, six, seven, Open up the pearly gates, While there is still time to wonder why, We exclaim...
Brian Williams and the Fall of Civilization
A celebrity news reader has been accused of misrepresenting a trivial incident during Iraq War II. Authentic journal Bill Moyers pointed out the irony: More attention paid to Williams than to the lies of Bush, Cheney, Rice and Rumsfeld that got us into an...
Dangerous Sleeper Cell Suspected in Washington, D. C .
During the 19th century, following the age of sail, the British Navy made the decision to stick with the energy source of the future: coal. They saw little value in oil. Britain had lots of coal; digging it up provided lots of low wage jobs and lots of corporate...
This Changes Everything – But Will It Matter?
Socialist economist Naomi Klein speaks truth to power once more in her recent book, This Changes Everything, Capitalism vs. The Climate. She is convinced that climate scientists are correct in their predictions that our current course of unbridled carbon pollution...