War, Politics, and Life by Bruce Maulden
One of the all-time narcissistic, stream-of-fantasy events happens tonight — the 84th Academy Awards — and despite all the current problematic horrors cowering the world, millions and millions of people will tune in to snag a respite from reality. Most likely, though, movie life and real life have over the years converged into a wad…
Sometimes the end tells more than anywhere near the beginning — this the last paragraph from a feature at The Economist on coal usage in Asia and how it does ‘worry’ the rest of the planet, yet why: So attention is focused on mitigating the harm coal power will do. Efforts to curb emissions from…
Out here on the so-called ‘Left Coast,’ life is about the same as anywhere else, but it’s CALIFORNIA. And according to a new poll, most of US peoples hate us: Only five are in negative territory, led by California (27% favorable and 44% unfavorable), Illinois (19-29), New Jersey (25-32), Mississippi (22-28), and Utah (24-27). Only…
Beyond war crimes: Peter Falstead of Jane’s Defence Weekly says the tail fins look, “very much like the tail fins from SM-240,†also known as the “Tulip Tree†developed by the Soviets in the 1970s. Today it is the largest mortar system used by any military in the world, and the Syrian army is believed…
Down through history, dictators and other such types have always launched slaughter sprees when needed to maintain hold on power, no big deal — in Syria nowadays, however, the horror virally gobsmacks the face of the world. And it’s bad. This morning, two journalists — one French, the other an American working for the UK’s…
A small instance of a humongous and worsening situation: The decline in the chipmunk’s genetic diversity occurred in the relatively short span of 90 years, demonstrating the rapid threat changing climate can represent for a species, a UC Berkeley release said Sunday. The shift of the living due to a warming environment poses a danger…
Religion covers a lot of ground — there’s a church for just about every conceivable thought and emotion, and there’s always somebody willing to kill you for whatever’s sake. Rick Santorum’s smug view: “In the Christian church there are a lot of different stripes of Christianity. If the president says he’s a Christian, he’s a…
In the 1965 movie, ‘Harlow,’ was the first time I’d heard the aspirin between the knees routine when the bombshell actress (played by bombshell Carroll Baker) first arrived in Hollywood and wondered how to survive. Paraphrasing, as I can’t locate a screenplay anywhere online, she asks some slimy producer, who responds with a nasty smile,…
Old age don’t excuse. Seagrass that spans 2,000 miles of the Mediterranean Sea, considered the earth’s oldest living thing and supports “marine ecosystems that rank among the most valuable on earth in terms of biodiversity and production” could be dying due to our deteriorating environment: “The seagrass in the Mediterranean is already in clear decline…
Woke up in a sad funk this morning, worked hard for a long time to concentrate on some kind of post, but couldn’t wrap my dull brain around nothing — cold air held in shaking hands. One item did slap my face, then produced a scare: The National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo., says…