Food for Thought
“We say that America is a Christian and a democratic country. But I find nothing in the gospels or in the Declaration of Independence or in the Constitution to justify our support of puppet tyrants, or our slaughter of women and children, or our destruction of crops and villages and forests, or our herding of civilians into concentration camps in Vietnam. We do these things because we have forsaken our principles and abandoned ourselves to the inertia of power. We have come to depend obsessively on an enormous capability of violence -- for security, for national self-esteem, even for economic stability. As a consequence we have become blind to the alternatives to violence.”
Wendell Berry (1968)
Monthly Archives: July 2007
Bloggers for positive global change
I’m proud to say that I’ve been tagged as a “blogger for positive global change” by the venerable blogfish. This has a slight whiff of a chain-letter phenomenon to it, but hey, I’m game. It’s all part of Web 2.0 … Continue reading
Posted in Blogospheria, Sustainability
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The return of spam-a-lot and the death of commentary
Returned two nights ago from two glorious weeks in the French Alps (about which more later) sans internet access, and plunged into the cold waters of reality to find 2348 spam comments clogging the Natural Patriot. The weight of this … Continue reading
Posted in et cetera
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My bucolic birthday
You know the dilemma: What to get for the guy who has everything? Well, I can’t say I actually have everything. But, relatively speaking, I live very comfortably. Certainly I have everything I need. Except maybe . . . a goat. … Continue reading
Posted in Sustainability
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Au revoir mes Amis!
Not sure if I got that right. My French is quite rudimentary. Whew, it’s been a hectic summer — hence the irregular pace of posts recently to the Natural Patriot. This is just a note to alert my legions of eager … Continue reading
Posted in et cetera
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In memoriam: Ladybird Johnson, Natural Patriot (1912-2007)
Claudia Alta (Lady Bird) Taylor Johnson, former First Lady of the United States and pionering conservationist, has passed on. But her multifaceted legacy of beautification and restoration of native American landscapes and cities will live on. Lady Bird, as she was … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Biophilia, Natural Patriots
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Announcing . . . 2007′s Natural Patriot of the Year!
Ladies and Gentlemen, Happy Independence Day! On this august (small “a”) occasion, when we in the USA celebrate Patriotism and our nation’s birth, it is my great honor to present to you 2007′s Natural Patriot of the Year, selected via … Continue reading
Posted in Natural Patriots
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Carnival of the blue II
Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, and all the ships at sea, This month’s Carnival of the Blue — the second monthly installment — is now online, hosted by Mark Powell at blogfish. The Carnival features a round-up of the … Continue reading
Posted in Oceans
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