An Array of Utopian Flowers
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The Underworld, Rebirth and Renewal with Ceres and Proserpina
Posted on June 29, 2018 | No Comments -
Cinematic Cultural Change in West Africa with Idrissa Ouédraogo
Posted on June 3, 2018 | No Comments -
Mild Satire, Outrage and Hostility, with Philip Roth
Posted on June 2, 2018 | No Comments -
Big Noise from Big Band Drummer Gene Krupa
Posted on April 10, 2018 | No Comments -
Loose Nuts: Edison Reveals Huge Gap in Safety at San Onofre
Posted on April 9, 2018 | No Comments
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Archive for April, 2013
Haitian Vodou: Summoning the Spirits
Posted on April 30, 2013 | No CommentsLike several West African religions, Vodouisants believe in a supreme being called Bondyè, from bon "good" + dyè "God." Because Bondyè is unreachable, Vodouisants aim their prayers to lesser entities, the spirits known as Lwa (Loa), contacted and served through possession. In turn, the Lwa confer material blessings, physical well-being, protection, abundance.
Edison’s Reef: A Not So Glowing Report — By Jerry Collamer
Posted on April 27, 2013 | 3 CommentsWhile large fish fail to thrive at Southern California Edison's artificial reef off the coast of San Clemente, California, mitigation mandated by the California Coastal Commission to repair destroyed kelp beds at their San Onofre Nuclear Plant (called SONGS), a wider marine mammal crisis is ongoing. Could radiation released from SONGS be the culprit in both cases?
Lady Lazarus: The Hurt Imagination of Sylvia Plath
Posted on April 25, 2013 | 2 CommentsRobert Pinsky on Sylvia Plath: "Thrashing, hyperactive, perpetually accelerated, the poems of Sylvia Plath catch the feeling of a profligate, hurt imagination, throwing off images and phrases with the energy of a runaway horse or a machine with its throttle stuck wide open."
Matthew Pallamary: Wolf’s Healing Advice for the Boston Bombings
Posted on April 24, 2013 | 1 CommentMatthew Pallamary, Dorchester native and author of several fiction and non-fiction books on the South American indigenous perspective, examines healing from the collective shadow exemplified by the Boston Marathon bombings and managing the spirit of the "wolves within."
Earth Day: Sustainability Movement Heals Humanity in the Wild
Posted on April 20, 2013 | 2 CommentsThis Earth Day 2013, world ecosystems face imminent danger from humanity's ecological overreach and climate change. Following the original 1970 theme of a national teach-in, promoting awareness of the acute problems, we must pose solutions to advance environmental sustainability, building a movement to work toward its implementation.
A Word With My Congressman on Keystone – By Peter Jefferson Nichols
Posted on April 17, 2013 | No CommentsDear Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, I received your letter in response to my earlier note imploring you to do all you can to prevent the completion of the Keystone XL Pipeline. Your words express your intent to do exactly the opposite of what I had asked. And to be frank, your words piss me off.
Keystone XL Pipeline: 40 SoCal Groups Call for Environmental Rethink
Posted on April 16, 2013 | 6 CommentsThe State Department has issued a flawed environmental review of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that ignores its far-reaching impacts on climate and our environment. Tar Sands Action Southern California has prepared a commentary on behalf of 40 groups to be submitted to the State Department demanding a comprehensive reassessment of the significant and irreversible impacts on the environment not taken into account in the draft report released on March 1st. Make your comment by April 22nd!
The Art of Bill Ohrmann: Montana Rancher, Voice for the Wild
Posted on April 13, 2013 | 4 CommentsDrive into the wide open landscape beyond Drummond, Montana, set on an old cattle farm amid a twelve-foot polar bear and wooly mammoth sculptures, you’ll find Bill Ohrmann’s museum and gallery—and a lifetime’s worth of commentary captured in his paintings.
Uganda: Coffee Farmers Sing Delicious Peace
Posted on April 12, 2013 | No CommentsA community of coffee farmers in Uganda has formed the Peace Kawomera Fair Trade Cooperative, focused on people of different faiths putting aside their differences to overcome generations of conflict and poverty. Now a Smithsonian Folkways recording has been released to celebrate their achievements.
Los Angeles River Revitalization: A City Rediscovers its Flow
Posted on April 9, 2013 | 8 CommentsThe LA River, an over-engineered concrete "water-freeway," is undergoing a long-term greening and revitalization. A 32-mile greenbelt, developed through numerous projects, promises to improve the health of the ecosystem and the value of the river as a regional public amenity, while managing flows and protecting properties.
Lauren Steiner: Fracking Threatens California and How to Stop it
Posted on April 5, 2013 | 2 CommentsDespite what you've heard about natural gas being clean, fracking also contributes to climate change. Although the burning of the gas is clean, the process of fracking releases so much methane into the air, that if all the shale in California is fracked, it will delay the implementation of AB 32, California's Global Warming Solutions Act, by 80 years.
Fees on Carbon in the Era of Trans-Pacific Partnership – By Peter Jefferson Nichols
Posted on April 4, 2013 | No CommentsThe revenue generated from a Carbon Tax, which should really be called a fee, would be returned to the citizenry, either through reductions in taxes or monthly dividends. That money would offset any increase in the cost of gas at the pump and would off-set already exorbitant financial stress caused by carbon release (i.e. medical bills and (un)natural disaster relief).
Spring Equinox, the Eostre Bunny, and Other Wiccan Mysteries
Posted on April 2, 2013 | 1 CommentEostre - the Germanic goddess of dawn and fertility, whose name gives us the word Easter - must be pleased. Two millennia of Christianity, and she has yet to be displaced from our annual celebration of fecundity. Easter eggs, representing birth, nod to both pagan and Christian traditions.
