Lee De Cola's Blog

less

2012-02-08T11:52:00.001-05:00

less TV, more reading...less driving, more walking...less work, more sleep.

they're 'all natural'

2012-01-25T12:05:00.002-05:00

The qualities that got humanity into its current mess: competition, obsession with one's species, reproductive pressure, intelligence...

values

2012-01-21T04:40:00.000-05:00

I can't give you better schools, decent streets, or a job...but i can defend your values.

concordia

2012-01-18T19:40:00.001-05:00

take an image of a mega-cruise ship, tilt 80 degrees, fill with blue up to the funnel...it looks like that.

the new YES?

2012-01-16T11:27:00.002-05:00

'ABSOLUTELY'

whoda thought?

2012-01-03T18:12:00.002-05:00

that the energy needed to move a few hundred people across the US could destroy a 100-storey skyscraper?

money & brains

2011-12-27T13:24:00.001-05:00

The proliferation of endowed chairs gives testimony to wealth's need for intellect (as well as its vanity).

friends & foes

2011-12-21T10:59:00.001-05:00

Nations want allies but need enemies.

lost battles

2011-12-15T21:55:00.000-05:00

The obits usually say 'she lost her battle with cancer,' but not that she lost a battle with say pneumonia or an 18-wheeler or an ex-boyfriend.

we are the 1 %

2011-12-07T19:51:00.001-05:00

I need to remember that my 'people' probably are richer than 99% of the rest of the planet.

nothing fails like success

2011-12-07T12:48:00.001-05:00

think cars, mass education, TV, intelligence...

chauvinism

2011-12-05T16:40:00.001-05:00

Say what you wish about your family, tribe, state, or nation - you have to agree Earth is the best damned planet in the solar system.

2016!

2011-12-01T13:54:00.001-05:00

i'm beyond weary of 2012...but thinking about whether Clinton will get to run against President Gingrich.

east meets east

2011-10-30T15:30:00.001-04:00

Did bin Ladin know that he would use America's paranoia against itself, like a judo black belt?

like an old dog

2011-10-24T01:14:00.000-04:00

The US creates messes all over the globe: Cuba, Viet Nam, Afghanistan, Iraq...and seems unable to clean them up.

how would Jesus drive?

2011-10-21T11:51:00.001-04:00

In high school I was taught defensive driving, but now I think that empathic driving would make our lives more pleasant.

a serious question

2011-10-10T18:14:00.002-04:00

Would the Republicans rather have as president a Democratic presiding over a recovery or a Republican presiding over a depression?

public speaking

2011-10-10T12:29:00.001-04:00

There appear to be mainly 2 kinds of speakers: those who are too shy to say anything, and those who don't know when to shut up.

certainty in action

2011-10-06T13:08:00.001-04:00

Goethe said 'Nothing is more terrible than ignorance in action,' which seems true if by ignorance he meant intellectual delusion coupled with the feeling of certainty.

the economy as a car

2011-10-04T14:48:00.003-04:00

Businesses are flooring the accelerator of a vehicle that may be running out of gas, while the environmental movement is tapping on the brakes. But the car may run off a cliff before the gas is all burned or the brakes wear out.

work and war

2011-09-21T13:07:00.001-04:00

Just as work can give identity to the individual, so wars seem to give identity to nations. The US is still struggling to maintain its identity, although the European nations may be evolving beyond this stage.

bizarre behavior

2011-03-09T12:12:00.002-05:00

anyone from not-so-long-ago would be amazed at what's seen on the street:
--bellowing into thin air while wearing huge 'earrings',
--writhing on the ground next to sidewalks full of running bodies,
--carrying dog shit in plastic bags...

unsustainable

2011-02-18T11:41:00.001-05:00

some places in the world may not be sustainable: Haiti, New Orleans, San Francisco...?

we're in between

2011-02-18T11:40:00.001-05:00

in watching movies i realize that real human movement is midway between the too-smooth action of computer animation and the jerky movements of robots.

those poor tea partiers...

2010-12-26T13:04:00.000-05:00

How did the rich convince them to look out for the interests of the rich?

what i value...

2010-12-26T13:01:00.001-05:00

Honesty
Self-awareness
Humor
Creativity
Compassion
...
Intelligence

selfishness begins at home

2010-12-21T23:17:00.003-05:00

The rich don't want to pay taxes because they suspect it sends down the drain money that they'll need to survive further economic decline and the unfolding climate catastrophe. There's just not enough to go around.

Changing climate

2010-11-27T12:32:00.002-05:00

How much climate change is due to climate change scientists flitting among international meetings?

success is doomed to failure

2010-11-21T13:01:00.002-05:00

Nothing can keep growing without starting to fail; viz., TV, the automobile, mass education. Scale is a fundamental systemic force in the universe.

anger

2010-11-21T13:00:00.002-05:00

Conservatives unhappy with sclerotic government and progressives unhappy with winner-take-all capitalism sound the same. Systems are overheating.

handbooks in a nutshell

2010-11-16T14:42:00.001-05:00

What's with these cutesy titles for 200, 400, 800 page books? A handbook fits in your pocket; a nutshell is even smaller.

The mother of all perfect storms

2010-11-04T11:31:00.002-04:00

When a profit-hungry biopharmedical industry meets an aging population in a shrinking economy.

circle of pointing fingers.

2010-10-27T00:01:00.002-04:00

The people say "We're tired of bureaucrats telling us what to do!" The bureaucrats tell us "We're just doing what Congress has legislated," and Congress tells us "We're passing laws the American people want." Am I missing something?

enough with the surveys already

2010-10-16T18:22:00.003-04:00

I recently got a survey from Kaiser Permanente with a cover letter: "Good is not good enough." Well, good IS good enough; most of life is OK, not everything can be excellent, so why drive ourselves nuts trying to get fives?

the pure good of sleep

2010-10-11T12:55:00.002-04:00

One of the best things about not having a steady job is sleep. I get up at 9, read for an hour, take a half hour nap, and i'm ready for the day; meanwhile the rest of the East Coast has been well along fucking up the atmosphere.

buttbook?

2010-10-10T00:01:00.003-04:00

I don't need a system that will burden me with new 'friends,' so how about something that will make me enemies, help me to have more time for my REAL friends?

conservatives have it easy

2010-10-07T11:01:00.002-04:00

Liberal politicians have the difficult job of demonstrating that government can do certain things well; conservative politicians not only argue the other side but, given their insider status, can prevent government from functioning. An unfortunate asymmetry.

sour (and poisonous) grapes

2010-10-06T05:31:00.002-04:00

The pundits go on about how the US is being overtaken by China, India, Brazil - and even Russia - on various indices. Yet many of us don't want to compete in more races that are destructive to an already dying planet.

marriage as innoculation

2010-10-05T11:40:00.003-04:00

as a confirmed misanthrope, i'm convinced that a life partner inures one to others. tolerating the sounds, smells, habits of a spouse enables me to suffer the rest of humanity with more grace than if i were the hermit i'd otherwise be.

the risk society

2010-10-03T15:36:00.002-04:00

i couldn't help hearing in the various testimonies of Coast Guard, USGS, EPA, NOAA, etc. officials an undercurrent of satisfaction that their agencies were again being called upon to prove their worth. so many people benefit from catastrophe. what would we do without them if the world weren't so perilous?

politics and whom you're willing to kill

2010-10-02T09:24:00.002-04:00

If you're conservative you're willing to kill youngish people (soldiers and prisoners); if you're liberal you're willing to kill fetuses and old folks. Why the difference?

mediocrity

2009-03-24T19:38:00.001-04:00

Copernicus taught us that the world is not the center of the universe and Darwin that humans aren't special. But now we're thinking that this time is unique and not mediocre - global collapse is coming. Finally, something special!

human / nature

2009-03-14T15:10:00.003-04:00

I've been studying ecology for about a decade, and watching nature shows all my life. You must be impressed with the intensity of natural innovation; every organism, population, and species is innovating in ways that will give it an edge.

Humans are doing that as well, but unfortunately we have no competetor nearly as resourceful as we are, so we're driving ourselves over some edge.

Does one answer lie in being less 'natural' and doing less: less innovation, less disruption, less territoriality?

Homo vehicularis

2006-01-13T10:22:00.000-05:00

During the 20th Century Homo vehicularis became the dominant life form on Earth. It is growing faster and occupying more space than any other species. Whether or not you believe in intelligent design as a historical phenomenon, it is certainly happening now. Whether the personal vehicle of the future is powered by fossil fuels, nuclear energy, the sun, or the flatulence of its occupant, the car/spute/truck is going to dominate the planet for a long time.

Science and change

2005-05-27T14:40:00.000-04:00

Scientists routinely complain about diminishing support and standards of scientific knowledge, but:
Scientific research continues to explode in papers, conferences, new journals that mystify even scientists, and:
Scientific research continues to support an accelerating rate of technological change that stresses us all out.

Maybe people want a bit less science?