 | Online nowDavid is a single guy from Queens, New York, USA. 
Log in (or create an account if new) at PlanetThoughts.org. I welcome thoughtful discussions on the Web site including short or long comments. Thanks!
Due to years of study and practice I can share insights into why we harm the planet, and what we can do about it. PlanetThoughts.org is the focus of this expression, while the SU blog has a subset of those articles, plus some additional external information sources.
I also practice and teach Tai Chi Chuan, and develop software, when possible with a societal benefit. I also feel that personal / spiritual development is key to a good life. |
- Two Aspects of Environmental Thinking - and Why It Matters
 6:07am  (1 review) environment, ocean, plastic, environmentalism, garbage-patch http://www.planetthoughts.org/?pg=pt/Who...- From the page: "The earlier focus of environmentalism was the preserving of nature to be free of toxic materials, as well as keeping large blocks of land in as close to pristine condition as possible. It is time, in my opinion and based on information that has been gradually rising to the top, time to bring the earlier environmentalism back to the forefront along with the resource focus and the global warming focus.
For example, many people are aware that plastic debris is ugly and lasts a long time, and maybe that it endangers wildlife. Still, that seems less urgent than the thought of our entire planet heating up 10C (19F). But what is less known despite occasional reports that appear on television or some other news media, is the pervasive effect of the plastic and other chemical industries on the entire planet, in a more profound manner than making streets and oceans uglier than they should be."
- The Limits to (Population) Growth
- Jul 1, 8:25am (1 review) environment, disease, population, war, predation http://www.planetthoughts.org/?pg=pt/Who...
 From the page: "One of my very favorite quotes about population and ecology comes from an unnamed friend on the Internet:
Asking 'How will we get enough food to feed this growing population?" is a lot like asking "How will we get enough wood to feed this growing bonfire?'"
The challenge of surviving limits has confronted humanity many times over the millenia, but always in specific somewhat geographically-restricted areas, such as Greenland, Easter Island, Haiti, and Japan. Japan successfully dealt with its risk of deforestation, while the others mentioned failed in forestry and/or farming, with disastrous results.
Now our planet, the ultimate isolated environment (we can't effectively farm on or bring water from other planets) is beginning to hit limits to resources, health, climate, and so on. The precision, scope, and speed of our response is crucial. What will humanity do?
- Big Nukes Desperate Radioactive Hoax in Impoverished Ohio
- Jun 28, 8:59am (1 review) environment, nuclear-energy, ohio, radiation http://www.planetthoughts.org/?pg=pt/Who...
 Damn the nukes. Full speed ahead.
From the page: "Job-starved southern Ohioans are being promised a shiny new nuclear plant. But the announcement has come with a cruel reminder, and the scent of a desperate hoax.
Using the gargantuan corpse of the shuttered Portsmouth-Piketon uranium enrichment plant as his backdrop, U.S. Senator George Voinovich (R-OH) punctuated his enthusiastic endorsement of the new nuke by proclaiming that, with his support, the US government has paid thousands of Ohio workers hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for the health damage they suffered from being irradiated while working there.
What was he thinking?"
- Michael Jackson and His Incredible Environment and Peace Song - Earth...
- Jun 27, 6:41am (1 review) environment, nature, 1996, michael-jackson, earth-song http://www.planetthoughts.org/?pg=pt/Who...
 Earth Song, both the song and the video, was a giant hit in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, and as a single outsold Billie Jean and Thriller, among others in the UK. It was nearly ignored in the United States.
Released in 1996, this music was ahead of its time in many ways for the popular music world. And Michael Jackson, early in his career, had stated that he only took on songs if he felt the value of their feeling or message. We have to believe this song fit his approach as well.
Perhaps we can remember the positive, the beautiful in his legacy, and let the other problems fade somewhat into distant memory; let's remember the inspiration. See the video
- Water, Oysters and Africa | arch1design - Heroin and Cornflakes
- Jun 25, 5:18am (1 review) economics, sociology, justice, world-bank, africa http://arch1design.com/blog?p=589&cp...
- Another well-researched article by this author on a topic of great import.
I must agree that, from all the evidence I hear about, the corrupting influence of money on the "leaders" in Africa has harmed entire nations. When countries are well-run, as Kenya was for a long time, they flourish, even in Africa. I am not an expert on the details of each nation and history in that continent, but one item I read recently appalled me yet again. It pointed out that even today Africa is the richest part of the world in oil, diamonds, and other minerals, and yet its people are the poorest. Obviously there is a lot wrong with this reality. I do believe that those destructive "leaders" and the financial "experts" who collaborate with them will suffer the consequences of their actions, in some distant or not-so-distant future.
- Paul Hawken's Commencement Address - You Are Brilliant and the Earth is...
- Jun 18, 1:56pm
 (1 review) environment, future, stars, ralph-waldo-emerson, paul-hawken http://civicactions.com/blog/2009/may/18...  From the page: "PAUL HAWKEN'S COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS
When I was invited to give this speech, I was asked if I could give a simple short talk that was â€oedirect, naked, taut, honest, passionate, lean, shivering, startling, and graceful. Boy, no pressure there.
But let's begin with the startling part. Hey, Class of 2009: you are going to have to figure out what it means to be a human being on earth at a time when every living system is declining, and the rate of decline is accelerating. Kind of a mind-boggling situation - but not one peer-reviewed paper published in the last thirty years can refute that statement. Basically, the earth needs a new operating system, you are the programmers, and we need it within a few decades.
This planet came with a set of operating instructions, but we seem to have misplaced them. Important rules like don't poison the water, soil, or air, and don't let the earth get overcrowded, and don't touch the thermostat have been broken.
...
You are brilliant, and the Earth is hiring.
...
This is your century. Take it and run as if your life depends on it."
- Inhabitat & INTERVIEW: Sustainability Advisor Lonny Grafman on The Waterpod...
- Jun 15, 4:05pm (14 reviews) environment, education, waterpod, sustainable, environmental-demonstration http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/06/15/inte...
- Terrific. Since I am in New York, I will be looking for this sometime soon. I think that providing a visible embodiment of ways to live sustainably is an excellent service for the future.
- American values | arch1design - Heroin and Cornflakes
- Jun 11, 3:03am (2 reviews) human-rights, united-states, citizenship, arrogance, pride http://arch1design.com/blog?p=374
 The article puts a finger on an important problem: America's self-delusion as being a paradise of freedom, democracy, health, and human rights. We are behind many other countries in each of those areas, but most citizens are blind to that fact. I would say the article is just a bit one-sided, as American values ARE good ones, but we are far too careless and commercial to fully execute on our own principles.
If the United States and all our citizens could drop the arrogance about being in the best country in the world, and could see both the good and the bad, we would have a far better chance of correcting our problems. We are good in many ways as a nation, but the attitude problem weakens the rest of the good qualities, and causes the society to ignore very significant failings.
- Climate Denial Crock of the Week - CO2 is Good, No Matter What
- Jun 2, 6:33pm (1 review) environment, climate-change-denier http://www.planetthoughts.org/?pg=pt/Who...
 Part of an excellent video series (click "greenman" on the right of the PlanetThoughts.org pages to see all of them).
If one has been part of a public or online debate on environment and climate change, there are nearly always those who throw in some predictable claims and who do not listen to what anyone else is saying.
It seems to be something that Rush Limbaugh or other popular but ignorant "personality" inculcates into their listeners, leading to endless repitition of the same claims. It is hard to answer some of those statements, however, unless one has real evidence such as these videos provide.
- The N.Y. Times Finally Reports the Economic Disaster of New Nukes
- Jun 2, 5:20pm (4 reviews) economics, environment, nuclear, energy, finland http://www.planetthoughts.org/?pg=pt/Who...
 From the page: "In a devastating pair of financial reports that might be called "The Emperor Has No Pressure Vessel," the New York Times has blazed new light on the catastrophic economics of atomic power.
The two Business Section specials cover the fiasco of new French construction at Okiluoto, Finland, and the virtual collapse of Atomic Energy of Canada. In a sane world they could comprise an epitaph for the "Peaceful Atom". But they come simultaneous with Republican demands for up to $700 billion or more in new reactor construction."
It is always refreshing to read the brutally direct, plain talk of Harvey Wasserman. Let's hope this internal nuclear threat, of nuclear development through the back door of the "peaceful atom", is blocked again until it is too late, and clean renewable energy rules the day.
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