Looking backward – Jan 9
John Michael Greer (Archdruid Report) on Spengler, Toynbee and the decline of the American empire
Classicist: I stopped cheering for the Romans
A question of blame when societies fall
Noble or savage?
Society
Deep thought – Jan 9
Comparative planetology: interview with Kim Stanley Robinson
Does the future need a legal guardian?
Jared Diamond: What’s your consumption factor?
Dr. Albert Bartlett in depth (transcript)
Hallowing the descent
Quaker writer John Yungblut used the ways of thinking he found to deal with his Parkinson’s disease to provide a new way “into” times of personal and collective hardship.
Water – Jan 2
Great Lakes record lows
Thirsting for answers in dry Georgia
Water and health: 88% of diseases caused by bad drinking water and hygiene
Population – Dec 24
Fertility rate in USA on upswing
Humanity is the greatest challenge
Driving the human ecological footprint
Who Knew? Albert Bartlett interview
The crisis that dares not say its name
The third rail of world politics
The U. S. Social Security system is said to be the third rail of American politics; touch it and you die. Politically, that is. But there is another broader issue that seems to have become the third rail for world politics: overpopulation.
Transport – Dec 13
Open a new highway – on the sea
Putting the brakes on drive-thrus
Sell your car, stay sane (car-sharing)
How big is your bicycle?
The Story Of Stuff: free video unmasks consumer culture
A new short film released today online takes viewers on a provocative tour of our consumer-driven culture — from resource extraction to iPod incineration — exposing the real costs of this use-it and lose-it approach to stuff.
Russia: note to presidential candidates
U.S. policy on Russia currently amounts to this: “You hurt my feelings.” It would be better to focus on issues, and the main one is energy, the foundation of Russian — and Putin’s — power.
Solvitur Ambulando
Proposals for dealing with the onset of peak oil often focus on large-scale, ideologically defined solutions. A more modest piecemeal approach may offer more options in the unpredictable future ahead of us.
Health – Dec 4
Hesperian’s online library of healthcare books
Working and health: Allocating time
Competition: How green is your healthcare organisation?
Dysfunction – Dec 3
Naomi Klein: Forget the green technology – the hot money is in guns
Eat, drink and be miserable: the true cost of our addiction to shopping
Clogged by plastic bags, Africa begins banning them
