War, Politics, and Life by Bruce Maulden
Flowers blooming early — spring ain’t til next Tuesday: “My nightmare now is this weather,†Japanese ambassador to the U.S. Ichiro Fujisaki said at press briefing today at the National Press Building. “What are we going to do if all the cherry blossoms bloom before we start [the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival]?,†he said.…
Now we’re taxiing in, she says, “Welcome to O’Hare International Airport . . .” Well, how can someone who is just arriving herself possibly welcome me to a place she isn’t even at yet? Doesn’t this violate some fundamental law of physics? We’re only on the ground for 4 seconds; she’s coming on like the…
In terms of pure weather horror, this past week should send a complete, focused message to peoples everywhere — the climate is quickly shifting and all bets are off. Ohio Gov. John Kasich on tornadoes: “It’s like a bomb went off and everything is splintered, bricks are down and trees, and (there’s) just a lot…
After growing up in the tornado-infested deep South, ugly weather has always scared-the-living-shit out of me — my dad’s mother always pitched a wailing fit when the wind started howling, crying about how we’re all gonna die. After time, this display of anti-bravado made a big impression on a naive little kid trying to grow…
Yesterday I felt the first personal shock at the fuel pump when I put another $20 worth of gas in my Jeep Comanche — the gauge screaming now at $4.49 a gallon for regular. Whoa! This is 50 cents more than the last time. Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately), I don’t drive much as the Jeep…
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…
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…
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…
After a visit to the laundromat this morning, I put another $20 worth of gas in the old, problem-plagued Jeep, wincing (both the Jeep and I) at a pump price of $3.99 a gallon for regular — up more than a dime since the last time. And apparently based on the so-called favorable employment report…
Any half-sane person is by now sick to the bowels of the GOP — Mitt Romney won the Florida primary, but the question posed: Who gives a shit? Although President Obama is most-likely the most-disappointing leader in US history, he’s leagues above Romney and the rest of his half-assed, ignorant Republican buddies, as the above-mentioned…