text:
Posts Tagged 'Martin Lack'
And human wisdom?
No other planet to move to!
The title of today's post picks up the theme of yesterday's post Dog Wisdom, that incorporated a wonderful essay from Mark Rostenko about the wisdom of dogs.
The words in the sub-heading came to me because, unlike wild dog packs, we do not have the luxury of our 'alpha female' deciding her pack's territory is no longer viable and they needed to move on.
All of which serves as an introduction to a recent essay from Martin Lack over on the blog Lack of Environment. Martin is well qualified to write on such matters as climate as he has been a Fellow of the Geological Society (FGS) since 1992 and a Chartered Geologist (CGeol) since 1998. His essay was published on the 15th March and is called Merchants of Doubt need to do the math.
A feature-length documentary, based on the content of the Merchants of Doubt book by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway, went on general release at movie theatres in the USA this weekend.
As Desmogbog.com points out, it has already attracted the attention of an odd mixture of ideologically-motivated deniers of the reality of anthropogenic climate disruption.
I say "odd" because, as per the above link, those who prefer to see climate science as a conspiracy to raise taxes (and install worldwide Communist government via the United Nations, etc.) include both longstanding disputers of inconvenient science like Fred Singer (who questions whether the movie is defamatory) and self-confessed non-experts like James Delingpole.
Both of the above would have done well to watch a recent BBC Four (television) programme – Climate Change by Numbers. In contrast to just about every other programme about climate change that you might have seen, this one is presented by three mathematicians. A 30-second trailer is inserted below but, if you have not seen the full 74-minute programme (opens in a new window), I really would recommend it.
The programme focuses on three numbers:
— 0.85 Celsius – the rise in average global surface temperatures since the 1880s.
— 95% – the certainty of the scientific community that this is primarily human-caused.
— 1 trillion tonnes – humanity's carbon budget to avoid 0.85 increasing to 2 Celsius.
Along the way, the programme highlights the early work of Svante Arrhenius – who determined that a halving of atmospheric CO2 could cause a 4 Celsius drop in temperature (and therefore that a doubling of CO2 will cause a 4 Celsius rise).
With regard to the accuracy of computer models, the programme highlights the way in which this has been proven by their ability to predict the cooling effects of large volcanic eruptions.
With regard to our carbon budget, the programme highlights the fact that humanity has already burnt 0.5 trillion tonnes and, unless radical changes are made to global trends, will burn the remaining 0.5 trillion tonnes within 30 years. It also points out that, as ongoing events might well suggest, even 2 Celsius could have severe and pervasive impacts (as the IPCC described them last year).
All very inconvenient for libertarians everywhere, I guess.
See also:
NB: The link that Martin offers to the full programme is a version on YouTube that is chock-full of adverts; seemingly inserted every ten minutes or so. Unfortunately, other YouTube videos of the same BBC programme also seem to have too many adverts.
Please don't let that put you off watching a critically important message. Plus, as you watch the video, do stick under your hat the following note from Martin.
Thanks, Paul. There is one thing you might care to add (which I forgot to mention), which is this:
The final third of the programme includes a discussion of 'extreme value analysis' (EVA), which Wikipedia helpfully describes as "a branch of statistics… [that] seeks to assess… the probability of events that are more extreme than any previously observed". Flood defences like the Woolwich Barrier on the Thames estuary were designed using EVA. However, crucially, EVA assumes that average parameter values do not change over time. Therefore, given that climate change invalidates this assumption, it is now accepted that London will need greater protection from flooding in the future. Athough not explicit in my original post, this was why I included a link to the 'Climate Departure' reseach of Mora et al., which estimates the regional variation in the date by which future climates will have departed from what has hitherto been considered normal.
So here is that full BBC Documentary.
Now where's that spare planet!
Science and understanding
Our weather systems are entirely driven by the laws of science.
"Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher."
So wrote William Wordsworth.
The last twelve months has been a period of untypical weather in many parts of the world. It's easy to scratch one's head with puzzlement and blame it on the most convenient and fashionable theory of the moment. Unusual jet stream pattern; polar vortex; aliens! You get the idea! However, the principle behind what is happening to the weather systems across our planet is very straightforward. Our weather systems are described by the laws of science.
Thus it is a great pleasure to offer the following guest post from a scientist: Martin Lack. Martin should be no stranger to readers of Learning from Dogs; his most recent contribution was the major three-part essay From Environmentalism to Ecologism.
Martin is the author of the blog Lack of Environment and this essay was first published there on the 11th July, 2012.
Conserving mass, water, and energy
I must admit that I am rather fond of quoting Sir Arthur Eddington as having once said, "…if your theory is found to be against the Second Law of Thermodynamics, I can give you no hope; there is nothing for it but to collapse in deepest humiliation." Without quibbling over the detail, the Law of Conservation of Mass is pretty darn close; but what, you may ask, has this got to do with climate change denial?
Conservation of mass of water
Well, consider for a moment that scientists seem to agree that there has been a 4% increase in the average moisture content of the Earth's atmosphere since 1970. That being the case, I am bound to say that this extra 4% is making its presence felt in the UK at the moment! This year we have had the wettest 3 months (April – June) in over 100 years; the wettest June on record; the rain is still falling (sometimes as much as 80mm in a day); and – we are now being told – there is no change anticipated in coming weeks. So, if you're coming over for the Olympics, expect to get wet!
However, whilst the UK suffers from near Biblical levels of flooding, if the Law of Conservation of Mass is to be upheld and – all other things like terrestrial ice volume remaining equal(!) – the volume of water in the oceans is to remain constant, then it must be failing to rain somewhere else. If so, is there any evidence to support this
theory Law? Well, funnily enough, there is: Whilst the UK continues to receive more rain than it wants or needs (all hose pipe bans and drought restrictions have now been lifted), many parts of the World continue to suffer from persistent drought (in sub-Saharan West Africa) and/or record-breaking temperatures (in most of North America).
Sadly, none of this seems to stop self-confessed scientifically-illiterate English graduates such as James Delingpole from ridiculing the entire notion of global warming simply because it is raining a lot here at the moment. It may seem that he has just got a nasty case of tunnel vision and/or short-term memory loss but this is what the fake sceptics always do; they never look at the big picture: Rather than look at daily, monthly, or even annual average temperatures over multi-decadal periods to determine significant long-term trends; they just cherry pick data to reach fallacious conclusions such as "global warming stopped in 1998″.
I am therefore left hoping that the 57% of the British adult population that seem to fall for this kind of nonsense will soon decide that it is time to stop running down the up escalator and, by embracing the reality of what is happening, decide to become part of the solution rather than being part of the problem. If not, climate change denial may well lead to a failure to conserve mass; with the mass in question being the sustainable number of humans this planet can support in the long-term.
Conservation of mass of carbon
If the Law of Conservation of Mass explains why anthropogenic
global warming climate disruption is not invalidated by any amount of cold weather or torrential rainfall in one place; can it be used to validate concern regarding a 40% increase CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere? Funnily enough, it can: Since the Industrial Revolution began in the mid-18th Century, a vast amount of fossilised carbon has been burnt; with the carbon it contained combining with oxygen in the air to form CO2. Note here that the oxygen was in the air anyway; whereas the carbon had been out of circulation for hundreds of millions of years. All this new carbon has to go somewhere and, given that it will be many more millions of years before any of it gets taken back out of circulation by nature, it is either making the atmosphere warm-up or it is reducing the pH of seawater (just enough to make life very difficult for corals and shellfish).
So then, what is the human response to all this? Shall we stop burning the fossil fuels now we know we're causing a problem? It doesn't look like it! It seems far more likely that we shall gamble the future habitability of all the planets diverse ecosystems on finding a way to defeat the Law of Conservation of Mass by artificially removing this carbon from the biosphere: Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). And do you know what I find most astonishing about CCS? It is the fact that our governments are spending huge sums of money on long-term tests to simulate the effects of CO2 leaking from a submarine CCS repository – to see if it has any noticeable effects on marine life?
Errr, hello-oh? If any CO2 ever escapes from any CCS repository, the entire exercise will have been a complete waste of time and money! The CO2 will be back in circulation and the Law of Conservation of Mass will have won (again). If the genie will not stay in the bottle we will all be in big trouble: Rather than being likely to"collapse in deepest humiliation"; such a failure to defeat the Law of Conservation of Mass will probably result in the collapse of the entire planetary ecosystem; because of our other big problem – the Law of Conservation of Energy: The reason the atmosphere is warming up in the first place; more energy is coming in from the Sun than is getting out into Space!
So, this year's weather should be a wake-up call to all of us: Irrespective of the actual kind of extreme weather being experienced in any one place, the impacts on agriculture seem to be equally destructive and spiralling food costs the inevitable end result: All just as was predicted by people dismissed for decades as doomsayers: People like Garrett Hardin, Paul Ehrlich, Dennis Meadows, E.F. Schumacher, William Ophuls, Mathis Wackernagel, Ernest Callenbach, and Lester Brown… It looks like that darn 'wolf' finally showed up!
Funnily enough, it turns out that a doubling in the size of the global human economy every 50 years is not sustainable after all; and worshipping at the Temple of the God of Growth has got us in some serious trouble; otherwise known as a global debt crisis (see the short video embedded below). We thought we could just lend imaginary money to each other indefinitely but someone blinked and the spell was broken. Sadly, it turns out the Emperor was naked after all; it's just a shame that by the time we realised this we were all completely sold on the latest fashion ourselves: The New Clothes are everywhere; and we have all been left looking for fig leaves to cover our genitals.
Just as The Limits to Growth (Meadows et al) predicted all those years ago, the Earth is running out of the ability to cope with the effects of our chronically dysfunctional mis-management of it. This was why, as I pointed out six months ago, the failure of food harvests in 2010 led to the Arab Spring of 2011… Are you, like me, wondering what is going to happen this time around? My prediction is that some economist such as Tim Worstall will get himself on TV and tell everyone that the Second Law of Thermodynamics is a load of old rubbish; and that technology will save us from the consequences of our selfish pursuit of profit at any cost; and from our failure to recognise that we humans are not superior to nature – we are part of it – and we cannot survive without it. Or, to put it another way, as a Native American tribal leader once did:
When all the trees have been cut down, when all the animals have been hunted, when all the waters are polluted, when all the air is unsafe to breathe, only then will you discover you cannot eat money.
I can add nothing to the above other than to thank Martin for giving me the opportunity to republish his post.
Unconditional love.
The most important thing, without a doubt, to learn from dogs.
Last Tuesday, Learning from Dogs published the first of the three parts of Martin Lack's essay From Environmentalism to Ecologism. It generated a fascinating discussion. One of the commentators was Chris Snuggs who writes his own blog under the name of Nemo Insula Est. Here is the essence of a discussion with Martin Lack and Patrice Ayme. (Without reading the following comments, my closing opinion will make little sense; assuming they do at the best of times!)
Chris: The problem with politics at the moment is that the choices come down to A) being socialist, moral and bankrupt or B) capitalist and immoral but at least with a chance of avoiding poverty and chaos.
Martin: I think I am very much in agreement with you, Chris. It says a l lot when a practicing Catholic can admit that his Church needs to ditch its anthropocentric bias and stop treating the Earth as if we are the only species that matters…
Chris: One of the big questions for me is this. Is the world of our perceptions ONLY what we see, hear, smell and touch or is there another dimension which we cannot sense? Personally, I believe the former, which is why I cannot believe in: God, aliens, ghosts, an afterlife, fairies or indeed a sensible socialist economic policy.
I sometimes feel this makes me boring (or if you like, it just another feature of my boringness), but on the other hand I feel more or less in tune with what I understand "The Enlightenment" to have meant. It would be much more reassuring to know that there is a God (caring if possible, though it is hard to see how he would be) and indeed aliens, as long as they were friendly. But until there is some sound evidence, I cannot. And there IS no evidence that would stand up in court, is there?
So, we are alone; the universe is as it is; how it came into being we do not know and it is perhaps unknowable; the planet Earth cares not a jot about us or our feelings; we have no particular right to exist: we just do, by natural accident (until proven otherwise). I am not a fan of the "There are billions of stars in the universe, so there must be other forms of life elsewhere." argument. "must be" is not "is".
So if WE do not ensure our survival by looking after the planet then nobody or nothing will. As for "ecology", good people are trying to do a lot of things, but as far as I can see:
A) It is too late and too little. Even if we were doing all the right things NOW (which we obviously are not), the time lag before our actions start to correct othe damage done will be too great; we may well have died out by then.
B) Despite all that is being done, CO2 emissions are going up, countries have STILL found no economic model that does not insist on growth and you cannot have growth without increased energy use, which for the moment and foreseeable future means fossil fuel extraction. And THIS of course continues apace with many countries now desperately trying to frack their way to growth, in the case of the USA rather successfully.
Martin: All very interesting, Chris, although I am not sure why your atheism necessitates rejection of socialism. For many people the two are inextricably linked. However, this is all off-topic… All I wanted to point out was that anthropocentrism is a mistake that can be made by both theists and atheists alike; and that it is good to see the former admitting they have made this mistake.
Paul: Chris/Martin, To my way of thinking, there is a more fundamental issue at work. That is the corrupting effect of power. I'm certain you know the famous saying. Thus whatever fine motives propel a person to enter politics, that person seems unable to avoid the call of power and its corrupting effect. The only hope is that key countries, and none so key as the USA, evolve a better, more representative, political process. Otherwise, I fear for the coming years.
Patrice: I agree with Paul 100%. I saw the call of power. Unimaginable. People just get insane. There are also filtering systems to insure they get that way (it starts right away with one week retreats in extremely posh resorts; does not matter if you are capitalist, socialist, blueist, reddist, ecologist, independentist, etc.).
Chris: Agreed. It has been clear time and time again throughout history. Well, so much is obvious, but WHAT TO DO about it?
A) We must end the practice of having career politicians: you serve a maximum of TEN years, at the end of which you go.
B) Inherited wealth allowing the building up of immensely powerful family dynasties over generations must be ended. It is simply untenable. The rich-poor gap is getting obscene everywhere, and money is of course power. My "Abolish inheritance" idea will be wildly unpopular because we are naturally acquisitive and "greedy" and of course would hit those with most to lose who also therefore have the most power.
Patrice: With all due respect, Chris and Martin sound rather naïve… Huge wealth and power is where it's at. And it attracts to politics first, foremost, and soon uniquely, those it attracts most, namely the basest sort.
A) All a question of balance: SOME ambition is essential; it is when there is too much that it is dangerous.
B) I would have maximum terms for political service. plus:
C) Nobody should be allowed to be a public representative until they have fulfilled certain conditions, for example (but to be debated): worked in the private sector; some experience of life in a factory; nobody under 30; high achievement in some industrial, commercial, academic or social field, and so on
Ed Milliband grew up in a Marxist family, went to a posh school and then straight to university from where he went straight into politics as an "advisor", thence to become a Minister and now leader of the opposition and possible OM.
THAT is not the proper background for a national leader, but the House of Commons is full of such people. The % of MPs from "working-class" backgrounds is going down and down and down. In the USA, Congress is over-represented by the rich, famous and/or connected. Where are the mailmen, bus drivers and burger-servers? "You need more intelligent Congresspeople than that."
Sorry, I can't take that argument from a country that elected Dan Quayle, George Bush and Sara Palin!!!!!
Patrice: Right. Glad to see every body agrees. It's even worse than that. "Representative" politics is intrinsically demonic, as it vests great power in some individuals. That, per se is not just a crime, but absolutely corrupting.
Representative politics has got to be eliminated. Switzerland has eliminated it at the legislative level. Why can't all other countries of the West do the same? Because the present plutocracy rules through the representatives, esp. in the USA? After we have done the legislative, the executive could be handled along Roman Republican lines and Athenian lines. Roman Consuls, for example, had full power only for one month at a time. In Athens enormous quora (say, 8% of the potential electorate) had to be found, before any decision.
Martin:Excellent synopsis, Patrice. All of the things you mention would be made possible by a return to localism and/or bioregionalism, which may well come to pass by default (i.e. as a result of those in power now being in denial about what is happening to our planet).
Now the reason that I offered up this lengthy transcript of the conversation was that it clearly showed to me that bright, well-educated people agree that there is much wrong with many, if not most, countries that offer a representative democratic form of Government. Bright, well-educated people are also not afraid to offer answers. Patrice went on to write a most engaging post over at his place under the title of Representative Politics Is Dictatorship. It opens:
Representative Dictatorship Is Not Democracy
I know a young lady who was elected for the first time in California. She is sent to a posh resort for a week to learn the basics of her new job, being a "Democratic" politician. Everything is wrong with this picture (not just the mansion she lives in and her million dollar family income, while claiming to be a leftie). Everything is wrong, but it's typical: all elected representatives in the USA are treated very well, and get to meet who, it dawns on them after a while, can insure for them, and their families, much nicer lives. (The New York Times, to its discredit, just discovered this PACS trick in 2014.)
A gigantic manipulation industry has developed, with its own strategists. Barack Obama seemed to have come out of nowhere, but, even before he started to score big, he was viewed as the anointed one, by the highest powers in "Democratic" circles: Axelrod, a professional manipulator who had just led Kerry's campaign, was sent to Obama, just a modest Senator. Obama then gave a keynote speech at the Kerry convention, etc. When he campaigned, Wall Street money started to flow, more than towards any other candidate, by orders of magnitude, etc. No wonder Obama has found so hard to bite the hand that fed him.
Let me draw this all together. Possibly in a manner that will cause readers to sigh and say the old fella is losing the plot!
Because what I am about to say strikes me as so obvious, so massively demonstrated day-in, day-out by the planet's sentient, warm-blooded creatures (even man can do it!).
It is this.
We have lost sight of the fact that animals offer an endless set of examples of living in the present and offering unconditional love to those creatures, humans included, that do not threaten them. These are very difficult times for us and all the creatures on this planet. Unconditional love for the planet we live on and for all those that do not threaten us is the only way forward!
Let me close with three photographs that provide all the evidence that we need to embrace love and tenderness for everything in our lives.
My case rests!
From Environmentalism to Ecologism, Part Three.
The concluding Part Three of Martin Lack's guest essay.
Part One is here: Part Two is here.
Can ecologism be regarded as an ideology in its own right? (Part 3)
Therefore, having now surveyed all the relevant "territory", we shall now consider the third and final part of the answer to the question as proposed in the Introduction.
Ecologism – Neither left nor right, but out in front?
According to Philip Shabecoff, it was members of the European Green parties that were the first to assert that they are "neither left nor right but out in front" (2000: 109).
For this to be true, ecologism would have to represent a new paradigm that rejects (or at least challenges) beliefs central to conventional politics (of any orientation). This, it is here argued, is indeed the case: In a discussion of the libertarian ideas of John Locke and Adam Smith, William Ophuls observed that they "…have not gone unchallenged, but with very few exceptions, liberals, conservatives, socialists, communists, and other modern ideologies have taken abundance for granted and assumed the necessity of further growth" (Ophuls 1977: 145).
What is the problem with modernity?
As suggested by Anthony Giddens, modernity encompasses "…modes of social life or organisation which emerged in Europe from about the seventeenth century onwards and which subsequently became more or less worldwide in their influence" (Giddens 1991: 1).
The problem is that the accumulation of personal wealth has become the sole objective of many people in modern society; and perpetual growth is posited as a means whereby even the poorest might achieve it.
Karl Marx (as cited by Jon Elster) coined the term "money fetishism" to describe the belief that money (and/or precious metals) have intrinsic (use) value rather than just instrumental (exchange) value, which Marx felt was as misguided as the religious practice of endowing inanimate objects with supernatural powers (Elster 1986: 56-7).
However, whereas Karl Marx saw capitalism as the problem, the ideology that he gave his name to is just as guilty of Daly's "growthmania". For example, whereas Jack Goody accepts that capitalism has been "…connected with the growth of rationality and of secularisation; more recently with urbanisation and industrialisation", he also notes that for Marxist regimes "…modern meant industrialisation without capitalism" (Goody 2004: 6).
The terms "use value" and "exchange value" were first put forward by Aristotle (384-322 BC) who, according to Daly, also recognised the danger of focusing on the latter (i.e. whereby the accumulation of wealth becomes an end in itself) and, alluding to Marx's criticism, Daly suggested that the paperless economy (where no useable commodities actually change hands) is the logical end-point for money fetishism (Daly 1992: 186).
Finally, on the subject of the consequences of "the problem", although the centrally-planned economies of the former USSR and China would appear to have had their day, the flaws of the capitalist system they seem so keen to embrace have also revealed themselves in recent time. For example, when John Gray came to write the introduction to the second edition of his book "False Dawn: The Delusions of Modern Capitalism", he included the following comment:
In the first edition of this book, published in March 1998, I wrote: 'Today's regime of global laissez-faire will be briefer than even the belle époque of 1870 to 1914, which ended in the trenches of the first world war'… Not much more than a decade ago this seemed outlandish, but there have since been many signs that global capitalism was heading for a fall (Gray 2009: xii).
Does ecologism provide the answers?
The starting point for ecologism is the concept of carrying capacity (the maximum population of a species) that an ecosystem can support in perpetuity (Dryzek 2005: 27). In this instance, the species is Homo sapiens and the ecosystem is the planet Earth. Therefore, in 1968, Hardin suggested that these limits exist and must be faced. In 1993, frustrated by the absence of discussion on population growth in international politics, he pointed out that:
Two centuries of intermittent wrestling with population problems have produced useful insights about the reality and nature of limits… Four centuries of sedation by the delusion of limitlessness have left humanity floundering in a wilderness of rhetoric… From this it must be inferred that someday political conservatism will once again be defined as contented living within limits. The limitless world view will have to be abandoned (Hardin 1993: 5-6).
In 1968, his solution had been "...mutual coercion, mutually agreed upon by the majority of the people affected" (Hardin 1968: 1247). However, in an apparent reference to the work of an array of scholars including Malthus, Hardin, Meadows, Ehrlich and others, Daly lamented that:
Anyone who asserts the existence of limits is soon presented with a whole litany of things that someone once said could never be done but subsequently were done… Continuing to study economies only in terms of the [exchange value of money] is like studying organisms only in terms of the circulatory system, without ever mentioning the digestive tract. (Daly 1992: 185-186).
Much more recently, Daly has reminded us that, "Ecological limits are rapidly converting 'economic growth' into 'uneconomic growth'-that is throughput growth that increases costs by more than it increases benefits, thus making us poorer not richer" (Daly 2007: 39).
So, it would seem that the challenge of living "within our planet's means" remains significant; one that few politicians are willing to discuss (because there are no votes to be gained in doing so). It is this fact that the environment cannot speak for itself (i.e. it is disenfranchised) that led Goodin to the conclusion that "nature has interests… as deserving of protection as anyone else's, which must be 'encapsulated' as part of a discursive participatory democracy" (Goodin 1996: 835).
Similarly, whereas Goodin used the term "encapsulated interests" (to describe how one party's interests are incorporated in those of another), Dobson suggested that non-human animals and future generations of humans (and maybe even other species) are "new environmental constituencies" requiring human representatives to look after their interests (Dobson 1996: 125).
All that needs to be decided is who we shall admit into the "community of justice" (i.e. how radical you want to be).
Citing Low and Gleeson (1998) and Baxter (1999), Derek Bell therefore distinguishes environmental and ecological justice as follows: Environmental justice concerns the distribution of environmental benefits and burdens among human beings. Whereas ecological justice is concerned with justice between human beings and the rest of the natural world (Bell 2006: 208). Furthermore, Bell also spells out the importance of this distinction (just in case any reader has not appreciated it yet) as follows:
Advocates of environmental justice merely insist that the instrumental value of the environment to humans should be recognised in a theory of social justice or justice among humans. Ecological justice makes the much more radical claim that justice extends beyond relations among humans so that we can talk about 'justice to nature' (Bell 2006: 208).
The question that has been addressed herein is whether or not ecologism can or should be regarded as a political ideology in its own right given that both socialists and conservatives can lay claim to some aspects of ecological politics.
In order to provide a defensible answer to this question, it was necessary to define what is meant by ecological politics (i.e. the pursuit of policies that are concerned with the environment; but which are not merely or predominantly anthropocentric) and ecologism (i.e. the pursuit of environmental policies that are biocentric or ecocentric). This therefore highlighted the fact that the two are not the same thing; and that ecological politics also includes anthropocentric environmentalism.
However, it has been demonstrated that, rather than being a simple dividing line within the field of ecological politics, anthropocentrism and ecocentrism represent opposite ends of a spectrum along which it is possible to adopt a variety of philosophical positions. Furthermore, although it has also been demonstrated that it is very difficult to be entirely one thing or the other, when faced with difficult policy decisions, almost everyone (both socialists and conservatives included), tends to favour self-preservation. Therefore, the default position of all humans tends to be towards the anthropocentric end of the spectrum.
Nevertheless, to avoid the tautological response to the question ("ecologism must be regarded as a distinctive political ideology in its own right because it is!"), it was deemed necessary to demonstrate how and why both socialists and conservatives can lay claim to ecological politics (although the majority of both socialists and conservatives do not do so) and, therefore, how and why the ecologism that both find so challenging must be regarded as a political ideology in its own right.
In so doing, it has been shown that some socialists find common cause with those that seek equal rights for the environment; whereas some conservatives may do so in pursuit of maintaining the status quo. However, both generally assume the necessity of further growth (Ophuls); what Daly called 'growthmania'. Furthermore, capitalism is fixated upon the inherent value of things we may consume; whereas Marxism (an extreme form of socialism) is fixated upon the inherent value of things we may produce. However, ecologism insists that nature has inherent – if not intrinsic – value in and of itself; independent of our finding a use for it.
Ecologically-minded scientists and economists have pointed out that the Earth is finite and its capacity to accommodate humans is finite; whereas the evidence of at least the last 40 years is that many prefer to refuse to accept this reality and, as Schumacher pointed out, are spending environmental capital as if it were income. Therefore, because ecologism demands justice that is ecological (ecocentric) – not just environmental (anthropocentric), it represents a fundamental challenge to conventional politics and, as such, must be regarded as a distinctive political ideology in its own right.
Baxter, B. (1999), Ecologism: An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Bell, D. (2006), 'Political Liberalism and Ecological Justice' [online], Analyse & Kritik 28, pp.206-22. [Paper originally presented at ECPR General Conference, Marburg, 18–21 September 2003]. Available at <http://analyse-und-kritik.net/2006-2/AK_Bell_2006.pdf> [accessed 18 April 2011].
Daly, H. (1992), Steady State Economics (2nd edition). London: Earthscan.
Daly, H. (2007), Ecological Economics and Sustainable Development, Selected Essays of Herman Daly. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Dobson, A. (1996), 'Representative democracy and the environment', in Lafferty, W. and Meadowcroft, J (eds), Democracy and the Environment: Problems and Prospects. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp.124-39.
Dryzek, J. (2005), The Politics of the Environment (2nd edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ehrlich, P & Ehrlich, A. (1996), Betrayal of Science and Reason. New York: Island Press.
Elster, J. (1986), An Introduction to Karl Marx. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Giddens, A. (1991), The Consequences of Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Goodin, R. (1996), 'Enfranchising the earth, and its alternatives', Political Studies, 44, pp.835-49.
Goody, J. (2004), Capitalism and Modernity: The Great Debate. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Gray, J. (2009), False Dawn: The Delusions of Modern Capitalism, 2nd edition. London: Granta.
Hardin, G. (1993), Living Within Limits: Ecology, Economics, and Population Taboos. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Low, N. and Gleeson, B. (1998), Justice, Society and Nature: An Exploration of Political Ecology. London: Routledge.
Malthus, T. (1798), An Essay on the Principle of Population. London: J Johnson.
Ophuls, W. (1977), Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity. San Francisco: Freeman & Co..
Shabecoff, P., (2000), Earth Rising: American Environmentalism in the 21st Century, Washington DC: Island Press.
I know a good number of readers have followed Martin's essay since Tuesday and I would like to thank Martin, on my own account and on behalf of all LfD readers, for giving me the opportunity to republish the essay.
From Environmentalism to Ecologism, Part Two
Part Two of the three-part guest essay by Martin Lack.
The background to this major essay was covered yesterday, in the introduction to Part One.
Can ecologism be regarded as an ideology in its own right? (Part 2)
A question of values
According to Carter (2007: 14-15), there is no consistent use of terminology regarding the value ascribed to different entities, so it would seem sensible to use that which he outlines:
Instrumental value: The value which something has for someone as a means to an end (also known as utility value).
Inherent value: The value which something has because it is considered desirable (e.g. precious metals such as silver, gold and platinum).
Intrinsic value: The value which something has because of what it is – typically essential for the existence of life (e.g. sunlight, clean air, and clean water).
As Carter points out (2007: 15), as well as being inconsistently applied to individual entities by those doing the valuing, these terms are not mutually exclusive (i.e. "being valuable in one way does not preclude being valuable in another way"). However, what is clear is that the value judgements that any individual makes will determine their attitude towards consumption and/or pollution of the Earth's natural resources.
In setting out his "Green Theory of Value", Robert Goodin boldly acknowledged that, ideally, it should "tell us both what is to be valued and why" (Goodin 1992:19). However, before explaining his own theory of value, Goodin identifies the two main alternatives as capitalist (consumer-based) value; and Marxist (producer-based) value (Goodin 1992: 23-4). Goodin's green theory of value is thus distinct from both of these because the value-imparting properties are neither those of the consumer nor producer; they are (or at least should be) "natural resource based"; although he specifically does not claim that his theory "is correct utterly to the exclusion of all others" (Goodin 1992: 25-6).
Applying Carter's typology of value (above) to Goodin's argument, capitalists would appear to be focussed upon the inherent value of things they consume; and Marxists upon the instrumental value of the things they produce. In contrast to both of these, Goodin seeks to justify the assertion that nature itself should always be considered, independent of the presence or activity of humans, to have inherent – if not intrinsic – value. However, he seems to shy away from the logical conclusion of his argument; that all nature has intrinsic value that does not require the presence of valuers (Goodin 1992: 42-45). This is presumably part of an appeal to reason, which such an extreme view would probably not have.
A question of perspective
If anthropocentrism is a way of thinking "…that regards humans as the source of all value and is predominantly concerned with human interests", then, in simplistic terms, ecocentrism is one "…that regards humans as subject to… ethical, political and social prescriptions… equally concerned with both humans and non-humans" (Carter 2007: 14). However, as with most things in life, it is not as simple as these definitions imply. For example, from an anthropocentric perspective, it is possible to be concerned about the welfare of individual domesticated animals; and yet not be concerned about the survival of entire endangered species.
Equally, one of the biggest debates in ecological politics may revolve around how one defines "moral persons" (Rawls, 1972: 504-5); or legitimate "recipients of justice" (Garner 2003: 11), although many would probably agree with what Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) said: "The question is not, can they reason? Not, can they talk? But, can they suffer?" (cited in Dobson 2006: 220-1). However, the contentious and unresolved nature of this debate has led to the appearance of terms such as "shallow" and "deep"; which may be applied to anthropocentrism and ecocentrism alike (with "deep" denoting a more extreme position in either case). Therefore:
Rather than define different perspectives according to which side of the ecocentric/anthropocentric divide they lie, they can be located along a continuum, which moves from ecocentrism through various gradations of anthropocentrism to 'strong anthropocentrism' (Carter 2007: 36).
Once it is recognised that there is a range of possible positions that may be adopted (rather than a choice that has to be made), it is possible – as Eckersley has done – to characterise at least five different positions, which are as follows:
Resource conservation – the wise use of natural resources for human benefit: Eckersley suggests that the conservation movement was founded upon the Judeao-Christian notion of humans having "dominion" over the Earth; rather than any duty of "stewardship", as exemplified by Gifford Pinchot (the first chief of the US Forest Service) (Eckersley 1992: 35).
Human welfare ecology – an appeal to enlightened self-interest: Eckersley cites Barry Commoner's "four laws of ecology"as (1) everything is connected to everything else; (2) everything must go somewhere; (3) nature knows best; and (4) there's no such thing as a free lunch (Eckersley 1992: 37-8).
Preservationism – seeking the aesthetic preservation of wilderness areas: Whereas Gifford Pinchot wanted to preserve nature for development (i.e. maximise the utility of natural resources for human benefit), John Muir (of the Sierra Club) wanted to preserve nature from development (i.e. minimise the human impact on the natural environment) (Eckersley 1992: 39).
Animal liberationism – the prevention of cruelty to certain animals: A comparatively modern, radical, development; which can trace its heritage back to "humane" societies formed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, such as the RSPCA (Eckersley 1992: 42).
Ecocentrism – seeking the preservation of nature for its own sake (Eckersley, 1992: 46).
With regard to the latter, given that Eckersley recognised the fact that these positions lie upon a "wide spectrum of differing orientations towards nature", whose end-points are anthropocentrism and ecocentrism (1992: 33), this could be better defined as deep ecocentrism. However, even using these five labels, it is not hard to see why it is difficult to categorise people: For example, the human welfare ecologists could be regarded as quite ecocentric (if they recognise the validity and/or importance of each and every one of Barry Commoner's "four laws of ecology"); whereas animal liberationists could be regarded as quite anthropocentric (if they are only concerned about domesticated pets and/or individual animals).
The ecocentric end of the spectrum has also been described as that of "deep ecology" (Devall and Sessions 1985: 70), and "biospherical egalitarianism" (Naess 1989: 170). However, whilst preferring the term "biocentric egalitarianism" for the latter, Carter points out that – as indeed was conceded by Naess (1989: 28) – food is an essential requirement for life and, therefore, an entirely egalitarian position is untenable:
Certainly, any principle along the lines of biocentric egalitarianism would be impossible to implement. Taking it to the extreme, how could a human justify killing any animal or fish, or consuming a vegetable, bean or berry? All involve some restraint on another entity's capacity to live and flourish (Carter 2007: 36).
So, it would seem that an entirely ecocentric position is hard to maintain, but can the same be said for an entirely anthropocentric position? This, as we shall now see, has been the subject of much debate.
A question of justice
When someone says, "I want justice!" it is normally because they feel they have been wronged in some way; and want what they feel they deserve (i.e. fairness). Hence, Paul Sterba opens his chapter in "Political Theory and the Ecological Challenge" on this subject by saying, "Justice requires giving what is deserved" (Sterba 2006: 148). However, within the sphere of environmental politics, when faced with difficult choices, human beings tend to 'circle the wagons' and protect their own kind.
In the introduction to his book "Theory of Ecological Justice", Brian Baxter uses the example of Sir David Attenborough's response to the prospect of humans causing species extinctions (i.e. "Surely, it is sad indeed that our descendants should inherit a natural world that is more impoverished than the one we inherited?") to suggest that all humans are almost incapable of being anything other than anthropocentric (Baxter 2005: 1). However, Attenborough was probably deliberately making the question rhetorical; just as Baxter was probably being provocative in order to retain the interest of readers. Nevertheless, in a wide-ranging consideration of the subject, Baxter discusses the work of numerous authors, to advocate the case for "moral consideration" to be given to sentient non-humans (Baxter 2005: 45).
This would appear to be in accordance with Bentham's conclusion that it is the ability to suffer that should confer the right to fair treatment. Indeed, one such author Baxter considered, David DeGrazia, proposed the principle of "equal consideration" for all sentient non-humans but pointed out that this could not guarantee justice; merely a fair hearing. He also pointed out that granting equal consideration would not automatically confer upon them the right to moral consideration, but it would be revolutionary; because much animal experimentation (he uses the term "exploitation") would then seem to be unjustifiable (DeGrazia 1996: 37-38).
Dobson has written a great deal on the subject of justice. In a characteristically thought-provoking contribution to a recent collection of essays on the subject (regarding the difficulties of combining social justice and environmental sustainability; in effect asking "What is to be sustained and for whose benefit?"), he discusses who should be the legitimate "recipients of justice"; and what should be the consequential scope of the "community of justice" thus determined (Dobson 2003: 87-94).
Baxter sees the three main principled objections to the notion of ecological justice as being that justice need only be distributed to (1) those able to voluntarily co-operate to produce and/or preserve environmental benefits; (2) those with property rights; and (3) those capable of reciprocity (Baxter 2005: 77). Baxter deals with the first and last of these reasonably easily, as follows: (1) bacteria are beneficial and slaves were not volunteers (2005: 78-9); and (3) mentally-incapacitated people do not cease to be human because they cannot interact with their surroundings or respond to stimuli (2005: 77-8). However, objection (2) seems a little more intractable (2005: 86). Finally, Baxter concludes that if these objections can indeed be rejected, ecological justice represents a fundamental challenge to the laissez-faire attitude of liberalism (2005: 94).
However, for now, the final word on the question of justice will be given to Dobson, who almost seemed to be responding to Baxter, by saying: "Just who is throwing down the gauntlet here? Is political ecology a challenge for citizenship, or is citizenship a challenge for political ecology?" (Dobson 2006: 216). Whilst acknowledging the historical existence of at least two types of citizenship; namely liberal and civic republican (stressing right-claiming and responsibility-taking respectively), Dobson highlights at least two fundamental challenges to any notion of citizenship (i.e. feminism and cosmopolitanism) (2006: 217-8). However, much more space is given to the ways in which the notion of citizenship is a challenge to ecological politics. Again, this is indicative of the fact that ecologism should be regarded as a distinctive political ideology in its own right.
Baxter, B. (2005), A Theory of Ecological Justice. London: Routledge.
DeGrazia, D. (1996), Taking Animals Seriously: Mental Life and Moral Status. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Devall, B. and Sessions, G. (1985), Living as if Nature Mattered. Layton UT: Peregrine and Smith.
Dobson, A. (2003), 'Social justice and environmental sustainability: ne'er the twain shall meet?', in Agyeman, J., Bullard, R., and Evans, B. (eds.), Just Sustainabilities: Development in an Unequal World. London: Earthscan, pp.83-95.
Dobson, A. (2006), 'Citizenship', in Dobson, A. and Eckersley, R., Political Theory and the Ecological Challenge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.216-231.
Garner, R. (2003) 'Animals, politics and justice: Rawlsian liberalism and the plight of non-humans', Environmental Politics, 12 (2), pp.3-22.
Goodin, R. (1992), Green Political Theory. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Naess, A. (1989), Ecology, Community and Lifestyle. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Rawls, J. (1972), A Theory of Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sterba, P. (2006), 'Justice', in Dobson, A. and Eckersley, R., Political Theory and the Ecological Challenge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.148-64.
The final part, Part Three, will be published tomorrow.
From Environmentalism to Ecologism, Part One.
A guest essay for today and the next two days.
A few days ago, I remarked that for the time being posts on Learning from Dogs were frequently going to be based on the material of others. It was the only way that I could keep this blog going yet at the same time edit (code for re-write!) a 60,000-word novel that was completed, as a first pass, last November.
Martin Lack is one major step ahead of yours truly. Not because he, too, writes a blog but because, unlike yours truly, he is a published author! His book is called The Denial of Science; he blogs under the name of Lack of Environment.
Thus I was extremely grateful when a short while ago, Martin offered a major essay of his as a guest post for Learning from Dogs. Better than that, Martin happily accepted my recommendation to send me his essay in three parts.
It may not be the easiest read out in the 'blogosphere' but, trust me, Martin's essay is profoundly important.
Can ecologism be regarded as an ideology in its own right? (Part 1)
Although it might well be assumed that one does not have to define what is meant by 'socialists' or – in UK terms at least – 'conservatives', it is certainly necessary to define 'ecologism': For the purposes of answering the above question, therefore, the latter should be understood as including thinking, behaviour, and the pursuit of policies that are concerned with the environment; but which are not merely or predominantly anthropocentric (i.e. those concerned with human needs and interests).
In a way, the question is nonsensical because use of the term 'ecologism', as coined by Andrew Dobson, appears to pre-suppose that ecological politics is indeed a "new political ideology" (2000: 163). If so, to respond to the above question by saying, in effect, 'just because both socialists and conservatives (can) lay claim to ecological politics does not change the fact that ecologism is a distinctive political ideology in its own right', would clearly be tautological. Therefore, to provide a defensible answer "Yes" to the above question – as is the intent herein – it is necessary to explain how and why:
- both socialists and conservatives can lay claim to ecological politics;
- the majority of both socialists and conservatives do not do so; and
- the 'ecologism' that both find so challenging must therefore be considered as a distinctive political ideology in its own right.
The Socialist claim
One does not have to be an eco-socialist in order to believe or appreciate that there is a great deal of common ground shared by socialist and environmental politics. Socialism is a broad left-of-centre church that, it could be argued, includes everything from social democrats to communists. However, if socialism can be summed-up in the tripartite "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" motto of France (with its origins in the French Revolution of 1789-99), whose English translation would be "Freedom, equality, and brotherhood", then it is not hard to see why socialists would find common cause with those whose goal is, in effect, to seek equal rights for the environment.
The "four pillars" of ecological politics are – as cited by Neil Carter – those devised by the German Green Party in 1983: ecological responsibility, grassroots democracy, social justice, and non-violence (Carter 2007: 48). Clearly, grassroots democracy and social justice are part of the socialist agenda. Therefore, despite the global dominance of free-market economics, Mary Mellor has asserted that far from being a challenge to socialism, "ecology greatly enhances the case for a redefined and refocused socialism" (Mellor 2006: 35).
The Conservative claim
Although by no means a monolithic entity, environmental politics is usually seen as being a predominantly left-of-centre entity (e.g. Carter 2007: 78); and it is often seen as being easier to define what it opposes than to define what it seeks. If so, ecological politics is essentially a reaction against anthropocentric thinking and the selfish pursuit of individual gain without regard for others or the environment. However, some philosophers such as Roger Scruton have therefore tried to distinguish between such selfish, libertarian, goals and those of traditional conservatives who, as their name suggests, seek the preservation of the status quo for the benefit of both the current generation and those that will follow (Scruton 2006: 7-8). Indeed, as early as 1993, in the wake of the Rio Earth Summit, Scruton was advocating the need for a radical re-think of right-wing politics:
Conservatives need to explore, with greens and others, as yet unthought-of dilemmas of life in societies which are no longer buoyed up by the prospect of incessant economic growth or by modernist pseudo-religions of endless world improvement" (Scruton 1993: 173).
However, in 1993, the idea that there might be limits to growth was hardly new; being based on Garrett Hardin's Tragedy of the Commons article (1968); the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Limits to Growth report for the Club of Rome (Meadows et al., 1972); E. F. Schumacher's highly influential book Small is Beautiful (1973). For example:
The illusion of [mankind's] unlimited powers, nourished by astonishing scientific and technological achievements, has produced the concurrent illusion of having solved the problem of production… based on the failure to distinguish between income and capital where this distinction matters most… A businessman would not consider a firm to have solved its problems of production and to have achieved viability if he saw that it was rapidly consuming its capital… (Schumacher 1974: 11).
Therefore, although the dilemmas were not "as yet unthought-of", Scruton had, nevertheless, identified the source of the challenge that does indeed, it is here argued, begin to transform ecological politics into the distinctive political ideology that is ecologism.
Limits to Growth – a political and economic challenge
Although much disputed (by those that point to the fact that commodity prices have generally fallen over time, or that dire predictions have not yet come true), the Limits to Growth argument is based on the reality of the physical constraints of the planet on which we live.
For example: "Infinite growth is impossible in a closed system. With continued growth in production, the economic subsystem must eventually overwhelm the capacity of the global ecosystem to sustain it" (Daly & Farley 2004: 64). However, this is merely a comparatively recent re-statement of (former World Bank economist) Herman E Daly's longstanding belief in the need for steady-state growth.
Furthermore, Daly and Farley cite Rudolf Clausius has having "coined the term 'entropy' for the Second Law [of Thermodynamics], derived from the Greek word for transformation, in recognition of the fact that entropy was a one-way street of irreversible change; a continual increase in the disorder of the universe" (Daly & Farley 2004: 65).
This is a fundamental tenet of modern physics; one that Daly has been repeating (like a "voice in the wilderness" proclaiming a message that nobody wants to hear) for a long time: It was over 35 years ago that he began an article entitled 'The Economics of the Steady State' with a quote from the famous scientist Sir Arthur Eddington, who once said, "But if your theory is found to be against the Second Law of Thermodynamics, I can give you no hope; there is nothing for it but to collapse in deepest humiliation" (as cited in Daly 1974: 15).
With this in mind, perhaps, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) issued the "World Scientists' Warning to Humanity" on 18 November 1992, from which the following excerpt is taken:
The earth is finite. Its ability to absorb wastes and destructive effluent is finite. Its ability to provide food and energy is finite. Its ability to provide for growing numbers of people is finite. And we are fast approaching many of the earth's limits. Current economic practices which damage the environment, in both developed and underdeveloped nations, cannot be continued without the risk that vital global systems will be damaged beyond repair (UCS 1992).
Today, we are now well beyond these limits. According to the Global Footprint Network (GFN), humanity is now using the resources of at least 1.5 Earth's (GFN, 2010). The most recent update to the Limits to Growth report was produced in 2005 and, in a section entitled "why technology and markets alone can't avoid overshoot", the authors suggested that:
…the more successfully society puts off its limits through economic and technical adaptations, the more likely it is in the future to run into several of them at the same time… the [model] does not run out of land or food or resources or pollution absorption capacity, it runs out of the "ability to cope" [i.e. too much industrial output has to be diverted to solving problems]… Given enough time, we believe humanity possesses nearly limitless problem solving abilities. [However] exponential growth… shortens the time for effective action. It loads stress on a system faster and faster, until coping mechanisms that have been adequate with slower rates of change finally begin to fail (Meadows et al 2005: 223).
Arguably, it could be said that the evidence for this is already becoming clear in the form of widespread social unrest around the globe, as a result of the increasing cost of – or difficulty in gaining access to – food, water, and energy.
For Robyn Eckersley, the reality of limits to growth and the magnitude of the ecological challenge is something from which we need to be emancipated; and it is also the raison d'être for environmentalism:
The environmental crisis and popular environmental concern have prompted a transformation of Western politics… Whatever the outcome of this realignment… the intractable nature of the environmental problems will ensure that environmental politics… is here to stay (Eckersley 1992: 7).
The latest UN projections for global population (published on 3 May 2011) suggests that stabilisation at about 10 billion by 2100AD is still most likely; but use probabilistic methods to account for the uncertainty in future fertility trends. Therefore, depending on changes in fertility rates in differing countries, the press release also indicates that global population could also peak at 8 billion in 2050 and then fall to 6 billion in 2100, or reach 10 billion by 2050 and continue to rise to 15 billion by 2100 (UN 2011: 1).
The key question the UN press release does not address is, "How many humans is too many?" Furthermore, although it depends on average rates of resource consumption, it is quite probable that there are already too many. However, this raises philosophical and/or ethical issues that form the other main aspect of ecological politics, which ensures that ecologism is a distinct political ideology in its own right.
From Environmentalism to Ecologism – the philosophical and ethical challenge
What's in a name?
In the introduction above, 'ecological politics' was, in effect, defined as being environmentally-friendly and ecocentric (i.e. ecologism). For the avoidance of any doubt, therefore, it should be noted that this implies that it is possible to be concerned for the environment but be anthropocentric (i.e. environmentalism). It is precisely because the two things are not the same that Dobson has asserted that "…environmentalism and liberalism are compatible, but ecologism and liberalism are not" (2000: 165). The reason for this is examined below. (Ed. As in tomorrow!)
Carter, N. (2007), The Politics of the Environment (2nd edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Daly, H. & Farley, J. (2004), Ecological Economics: Principles and Applications. Washington DC: Island Press.
Daly, H. (1974), 'The Economics of the Steady State', The American Economic Review, 64(2), pp.15-21.
Dobson, A. (2000), Green Political Thought, (3rd edition). London, Routledge.
Eckersley, R. (1992), Environmentalism and Political Theory. London: UCL Press.
GFN (2010), Living Planet Report 2010: Biodiversity, Biocapacity, and Development. [Online] GFN. Available at http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/2010_living_planet_report/> [accessed 18 April 201].
Hardin, G. (1968), 'The tragedy of the commons', Science, 168, pp.1243-8.
Meadows D, et al (1972), The Limits to Growth. New York: Universe Books.
Meadows D, et al (2005), Limits to Growth: the 30-Year Update, London: Earthscan.
Mellor, M. (2006), 'Socialism', in Dobson, A. and Eckersley, R., Political Theory and the Ecological Challenge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.35-50.
Schumacher, E.F. (1974), Small is Beautiful: A study of Economics as if Small People Mattered, London: Abacus.
Scruton, R. (1993), Beyond the New Right. London: Routledge.
Scruton, R. (2006), 'Conservatism', in Dobson, A. and Eckersley, R., Political Theory and the Ecological Challenge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.7-19.
UCS, (1992), World Scientists' Warning to Humanity. [Online] UCS. Available at <http://www.ucsusa.org/about/1992-world-scientists.html> [accessed 14/04/2011].
UN (2011), World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision – Press Release. [Online] UN. Available at <http://esa.un.org/wpp/index.htm> [accessed 11/05/2011].
An echo in the hills!
Patterns in the ether.
On Monday and Tuesday of the week I posted Legitimate Anger and Legitimate Hope. (And please see the footnote to today's post)
Patrice Ayme left the following comment to the Legitimate Hope post:
It's hard to live with elephants, especially in poor, crowded conditions. I remember bathing in Africa as a child with a bull elephant 200 meters away, on the other side of a stream, and being extremely worried, with all in attendance.
Europe used to have elephants, and North America, two species. Time to reintroduce them, and live according to our discourse.
Rewilding Euramerica can be done, and should be done, for the deepest philosophical and emotional reasons, and will create new, very productive jobs.
Then on Friday came an email from reader and blogger Martin Lack:
Hi Paul,
I saw this on The Conversation website – 'Restore large carnivores to save struggling ecosystems' (by Oregon State University's Prof. William Ripple ) – and thought of you.
Martin Lack
Author of Denial of Science: Analysing climate change scepticism in the UK; and of the Lack of Environment blog. Follow me on Twitter @LackMartin
It was but a moment to go across to The Conversation website (rather liked what I saw, by the way) and find the article that Martin linked to. It is republished here within the terms of The Conversation site.
Restore large carnivores to save struggling ecosystems
By William Ripple, Oregon State University
We are losing our large carnivores. In ecosystems around the world, the decline of large predators such as lions, bears, dingoes, wolves, and otters is changing landscapes, from the tropics to the Arctic. Habitat loss, persecution by humans and loss of prey have combined to inflict great losses on these populations.
In fact more than 75% of the 31 largest carnivore species are declining, and 17 species now occupy less than half their former ranges. Southeast Asia, southern and East Africa, and the Amazon are among areas in which multiple large carnivore species are declining. And with only a few exceptions, large carnivores have already been exterminated from much of the developed world, including areas of Western Europe, and the eastern United States.
Top dogs keep ecosystems in order
Many of these large carnivore species are endangered and some are at risk of extinction, either in specific regions or entirely. Ironically, they are vanishing just as we are learning about their important ecological effects, which is what led us to write a new paper in the journal Science to document their role.
From a review of published reports, we singled out seven species that have been studied for their important ecological role and widespread effects, known as trophic cascades. These are the African lion, leopard, Eurasian lynx, cougar, gray wolf, sea otter and dingo.
Based on field research, my Oregon State University co-author Robert Beschta and I documented the impact of cougars and wolves on the regeneration of forest tree stands and riverside vegetation in Yellowstone and other national parks in western North America. Fewer predators, we found, lead to an increase in browsing animals such as deer and elk. More browsing disrupts vegetation, reduces birds and some mammals and changes other parts of the ecosystem. From the actions of the top predator, widespread impacts cascade down the food chain.
Similar effects were found in studies of Eurasian lynx, dingoes, lions and sea otters. For example in Europe, absence of lynx has been closely tied to the abundance of roe deer, red fox and hare. In Australia, the construction of a 3,400-mile dingo-proof fence has enabled scientists to study ecosystems with and without dingoes which are closely related to gray wolves. They found that dingoes control populations of herbivores and exotic red foxes. The suppression of these species by dingoes reduces predation pressure, benefiting plants and smaller native prey.
In some parts of Africa, the decrease of lions and leopards has coincided with a dramatic increase in olive baboons, which threaten crops and livestock. In the waters off southeast Alaska, a decline in sea otters through killer whale predation has led to a rise in sea urchins and loss of kelp beds.
Predators are integral, not expendable
We are now obtaining a deeper appreciation of the impact of large carnivores on ecosystems, a view that can be traced back to the work of landmark ecologist Aldo Leopold. The perception that predators are harmful and deplete fish and wildlife is outdated. Many scientists and wildlife managers now recognise the growing evidence of carnivores' complex role in ecosystems, and their social and economic benefits. Leopold recognised these relationships, but his observations were ignored for decades after his death in 1948.
Human tolerance of these species is the major issue. Most would agree these animals have an intrinsic right to exist, but additionally they provide economic and ecological services that people value. Among the services documented in other studies are carbon sequestration, restoration of riverside ecosystems, biodiversity and disease control. For example, wolves may limit large herbivore populations, thus decreasing browsing on young trees that sequester carbon when they escape browsing and grow taller. Where large carnivore populations have been restored – such as wolves in Yellowstone or Eurasian lynx in Finland – ecosystems appear to be bouncing back.
I am impressed with how resilient the Yellowstone ecosystem is, and while ecosystem restoration isn't happening quickly everywhere in this park, it has started. In some cases where vegetation loss has led to soil erosion, for example, full restoration may not be possible in the near term. What is certain is that ecosystems and the elements of them are highly interconnected. The work at Yellowstone and other places shows how species affect each another through different pathways. It's humbling as a scientist to witness this interconnectedness of nature.
My co-authors and I have called for an international initiative to conserve large carnivores in co-existence with people. This effort could be modelled after a couple of other successful efforts including the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe, a non-profit scientific group affiliated with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, and the Global Tiger Initiative which involves all 13 of the tiger-range countries. With more tolerance by humans, we might be able to avoid extinctions. The world would be a scary place without these predators.
William Ripple does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.
This article was originally published at The Conversation.
Read the original article.
Footnote – Please help the elephants
Tuesday's Legitimate Hope included this:
Also what needs to be highlighted are the organisations that are actively working on behalf of the elephants.
The Independent Newspaper have their own elephant campaign.
Elephant Crisis
In 2011, more African elephants were killed than any other year in history. The figures for 2012 and 2013 are not yet known, but are likely to be even higher. At current rates, in twelve years, there will be none left.
It is a familiar cause, but it has never been more urgent. Poaching has turned industrial. Armed militia fly in helicopters over jungle clearings, machine gunning down entire herds. Their tusks are then sold to fund war and terrorism throughout the continent and the wider world. Ivory is still illegal, but as China booms, it is more popular than ever.
This campaign will raise money to support rangers on the ground to protect Kenya's elephants from armed poachers, together with Space for Giants' longer term work to create new wildlife sanctuaries where elephants will be safe, forever. More can be found about the charity at Space for Giants
The article above includes two videos. A shorter one that can be viewed on the paper's campaign website. Then there is a longer, five-minute, video also on YouTube and included below.
Offering a donation to help is only a click away.
Jean and I wanted to make a donation but found that without a UK bank account/UK Visa card it wasn't possible. We contacted Space for Giants and received the following email from Amy.
Hi PaulSorry for the difficulties and thank you for your perseverance!You can donate in USD through our CrowdRise page at www.crowdrise.com/spaceforgiants1. These funds are sent to TUSK USA who will then allocate them to us.Alternatively, you can make out a cheque to 'TUSK USA' and send to TUSK USA, 40 East 94th Street, Apt 3A, New York, NY 10128 – please attach a covering note confirming that you would like your donation to be used to support the work of Space for Giants.Many thanks,Amy.


text:
1997 Toyota 4Runner • 194,720 miles
Where is the oxygen Sensor located in 1997 toyota corrola
March 20, 2013.
March 20, 2013.
You're going to have to be more specific about which sensor. It could have as many as four 0/2 sensors.
We would also need an engine size.
Hi hope you can help, this is a general question. 2 wire sensors, crank and cam are referred to as inductive, magnetic, whilst 3 wire sensors are Hall effect. Can a inductive, magnetic ...
3 answers • 2010 All Other Makes All Other Models
2007 toyota camry 140k. Check engine light code Knock sensor. Reset and came back on right away. What could cause this other than the obviouse bad sensor or wire?
9 answers • 2007 Toyota Camry • 140 miles
I had a rough starting when cold issue. Checked the codes and discovered two codes for a lean condition in both banks. After not finding a vac leak, I replaced the MAF with a ...
2 answers • 2002 Chevrolet Silverado • 170,779 miles
Describe the type sensor of the Knock sensor is on this vehicle and how it should be tested.?
1 answer • 2002 Chrysler 300 • 100 miles

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Nearing the end of The Big Lunch* cook-off, we found ourselves flagging; we'd been cooking for 10 hours straight, only pausing to open the odd beer. There were plans for an aubergine galette and I'd toyed with the idea of baba ganoush but when it came down to it, a super quick and simple recipe was needed. I'd made this a few weeks earlier; the cool, sesame-laced yoghurt lifts the meaty aubergine into salad territory – perfect for a hot summer's day.
It disappeared quickly at the lunch, even though I had to skip the tahini, having used it all in the plateful you see above. A garlic-mint-lemon mix worked a treat though, with one guest declaring it "one of the best pieces of aubergine" he's ever eaten. It's the kind of dish you bust out at a BBQ; minimal effort, looks pretty and much more interesting than your average salad. You could even grill the slices on the BBQ first for extra smoky flavour.
Grilled aubergines with yoghurt-tahini sauce
Will serve four people as part of a BBQ or with other salads
2 very large aubergines, sliced into 2cm thick slices
500g full-fat Greek yoghurt
3-4 tablespoons tahini paste (or to taste)
1 large clove garlic, crushed
Juice of 1 lemon
A handful of mint leaves, finely chopped
A handful of coriander or parsley leaves (or both) finely chopped
Olive oil, for grilling
Begin my brushing the aubergine slices with oil and seasoning lightly with salt and pepper. Either grill them for 5-10 minutes each side under a hot grill or do the same on a BBQ – they should be golden brown and slightly shrivelled.
While this is happening, mix the yoghurt, tahini, garlic, lemon juice and herbs (reserving a few herbs for garnish) together in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and adjust any of the ingredients as you see fit (you may like more tahini for example). If you feel the dressing is too sour, I find a pinch of sugar never hurts. Don't feel guilty.
When the aubergines are ready, arrange them on a plate and drizzle over some of the yoghurt sauce. Scatter with more herbs and add an extra drizzle of olive oil if you fancy it.
* The donations have continued to trickle in and so in addition to the £200 odd raised on the day, there's another £115 plus Gift Aid on the Just Giving Page. Thanks so much to everyone who donated.
Leave a Reply
6 thoughts on "Grilled aubergines with yoghurt-tahini sauce"
Hi Helen, this is the type of food I love, great! just discovered you and I'm really gonna dig this blog, you have accumulated an impressive body of work; Cheers
I love this recipe!!! Will have to make it soon, like tomorrow!
Beautiful – very Ottolenghi. Been umming and ahing over what sides to make for a bbq next week – this is going on the list.
K x
That looks incredible! I'm obsessed with aubergines and courgettes at the moment and really want more recipes that require minimal effort in the heat. I honestly don't know how you managed your impressive Big Lunch spread, I suspect you have secret time bending super powers. Definitely making this soon!
Love aubergines Helen. Also a huge fan of tahini. The photo looks scrumptious. Fab dish for this time of the year!


text:
Annabel Loth Kuhlmann, 82, of Hurst and formerly of Fredericksburg, died Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015.
Arrangements are pending for a memorial service.
A complete obituary will follow.
Mrs. Willy H. Mueller Sr., 98, nee Lillie Margaret Klein of Stonewall, died Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015, at Hill Country Memorial Hospital.
Funeral services were held at 1 p.m., Friday, Jan. 9, at Holy Ghost Lutheran Church with the Rev. David Priem officiating. Bernice Basse was the organist.
Interment followed in the Stonewall Community Cemetery in Stonewall.
Arrangements were under the direction of Schaetter Funeral Home where visitation was held Thursday evening and Friday morning.
Mrs. Mueller was born Sept. 17, 1916, at Petersburg, the daughter of Ernst W. Klein and Sophie M. Bernhard Klein. She married Willy Heinrich Mueller Sr. on Sept. 29, 1934, at Holy Ghost Lutheran Church. He preceded her in death on March 24, 1991.
She is survived by one daughter, Ginger Orn, of Lockhart, and one son, Willy Mueller Jr. and his wife, Mary, of Crosby.
Mrs. John Petri, 82, nee Peggy Lou Ernst of Fredericksburg, died Friday, Jan. 9, 2015, at Knopp Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center.
A funeral mass was celebrated at 2 p.m., Monday, Jan. 12, at St. Mary's Catholic Church with interment following in St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Hill Country Memorial Hospice, St. Mary's School Endowment Fund or to the charity of choice.
Arrangements were under the direction of Schaetter Funeral Home.
Janet Alma Smith, 78, nee Schmidt, of San Marcos, died Monday, Jan. 12, 2015.
A memorial service will be held at a later date.
Mrs. Smith was born Feb. 26, 1936, in Fredericksburg, the daughter of Walter and Ola Schmidt. She married Joe Smith who preceded her in death.
She is survived by three daughters and one son, including Stephanie Serrano and Kristy Cruz, both of San Marcos; Joni Billerbeck, Cedar Park, and Russell Putman, Lockhart.
Survivors also include 10 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
In addition to her husband and parents, Mrs. Smith was preceded in death by a daughter, Debbie; one granddaughter, Gisela, and one grandson, Brandon.
Ella May Taylor, 96, nee Hagan, of Fredericksburg, died Monday, Jan. 12, 2015.
Funeral services will be held at 4 p.m., today, Wednesday, Jan. 14, in the chapel of Schaetter Funeral Home.
The family will receive friends from 3-4 p.m.
Private interment will follow at Greenwood Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Hill Country Memorial Hospice or to the charity of choice.
Alice Traggis, 92, nee Pawlakos, of Fredericksburg, died Saturday, Jan. 3, 2015.
A memorial service will be held Sunday, Jan. 18, at 3 p.m. in the chapel of Fredericksburg Funeral Home.
Memorials may be made to the charity of choice.
Information on funerals that occur after Jan. 7 will appear under this heading.
Mrs. Andrew W. Baumann, 83, nee Lorraine Joan Gresser of Fredericksburg, died Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015, at Fredericksburg Nursing and Rehab Center.
Funeral services were held at 10 a.m., Monday, Jan. 12, in the chapel at Schaetter Funeral Home with interment following at Greenwood Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to the SPCA or to the charity of choice.
Lois Mae Christman, 82, nee Altstatt, of Fredericksburg, died Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 28, in the chapel of Fredericksburg Funeral Home.
Memorials may be made to Hill Country Memorial Hospice or the charity of choice.
Kynleigh Marie Groce, daughter of Kaylyn Burrow and Trey Groce, was stillborn Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015.
Helen Bond, 86, of Fredericksburg, died Sunday, Jan. 4, 2015.
Arrangements are pending with Fredericksburg Funeral Home.
Arthur Carman Bonner, of Fredericksburg, died Thursday, Dec. 25, 2014.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 10, at First Baptist Church.
Jump back to navigation
P.O. Box 1639
Fredericksburg, TX 78624-4228
Copyright © 2015, The Fredericksburg Standard/Radio Post.
The Fredericksburg Standard/Radio Post | P.O. Box 1639 | Fredericksburg, Tx 78624-4228 | 830-997-2155


text:
Matt and Rebekah enter. Our Pudding Pop is upset that Elena is gone and wants to know what happened. Damon non-answers, "Donavan, you're coming with me." Rebekah and I ask, "Why should he?" Damon says, "Because Elena's hungry and missing. For once, his life might actually have purpose." At my prompting, Rebekah stakes Damon. Show's over. We hope you enjoyed it.
Okay, the show's not over, darn the luck. Caroline arrives home. As she enters Fortress Forbes, she's leaving an expository voice mail for Bonnie. Liz is already home, unless she's Silas. Even after having watched this episode more than once, I'm not certain this is Liz. I mean going on what happens later, I guess it is. This is probably just my Silas issues rearing their ugly heads. I'll decapitate them and get back to the matter at hand. Caroline tests the situation by calling Liz on her phone, but who's to say that Silas isn't just making her think she's doing that, and that she isn't hallucinating seeing Liz answer the phone? At any rate, Caroline trusts the results of her test, and hugs Liz. We cut to the...
Woods. Elena is staggering in the dark when she sees a truck. She weakly flags it down, then falls to the ground. Matt gets out. Elena is grateful he found her because now she can gobble him up. Matt manages to stall her for a moment, with talk of their lifelong friendship, and his love for her. He knows he still means something to Elena. She acknowledges that deep down, he probably does mean something, but she's really hungry. Commercial.
Caroline and Liz are sitting together when Bonnie arrives at the door. Caroline can't be sure that Bonnie is Bonnie, though, so she won't let her in. Liz comes out of the room and into the front hall, but Bonnie can see it's really Silas. She frantically tries to open the door. Why she doesn't magic it open, or magically break the glass is beyond me. Instead, she just says, "Caroline, that is not your mother." Finally, Bonnie magics open the door. Caroline turns back to where she just saw Liz and sees Silas for real. He chides Bonnie's attempt to hide from him. Bonnie asks where Liz is. Silas says, "She's right where [Caroline] left her." This leaves me to wonder when and how Silas got into Fortress Forbes, but that question will remain unanswered. Caroline rushes into the living room and finds Liz lying on the floor.
Back in the hallway, Silas says to Bonnie, "I thought you and I were on the same side." Bonnie says since the full moon is still two days off, she's been gathering her strength. Silas knows he needs Bonnie to do the spell, so he can't hurt her, but he can hurt those she loves. Bonnie says she understands. She'll do his spell, drop the veil, and help him die. "Just don't hurt my friends."


text:
An insight from my son, age 9, on his first cinematic exposure to Middle Earth.Saturday, February 6th, 2010
"I wish this was real, only without the wars and bloodshed and stuff."
Well, yeah. Welcome to the club, kid.
Brutal honesty, kindly delivered from a working writer in the corporate world.
"I wish this was real, only without the wars and bloodshed and stuff."
Well, yeah. Welcome to the club, kid.
Or, you know, your openly flaunted comic book geek, if that's your thing.
Behold . . . Cover Browser.
The short version: images of more than 450,000 covers — like the one above, which is etched in my memory from adolescence — of comic books, magazines, and books.
The long version . . . Wait, who needs a long version? Go! View! Bathe in nostalgia as you view the comic book covers of your youth!
Be warned that the site is arrestingly complete, and if it strikes a chord with you, browsing there could take up the rest of your day.
Oh, to spend my days in an old library like this one . . .
My academic life has taken me to some great libraries: the St. Andrews rare books section, the Harry Ransom Center, the Bodleian (at least for one day), the Butler, and that bibliographic holy of holies at Union Theological Seminary.
I still read voluminously, seemingly all day every day, but as I look back at the record of my reading for the year — and the past few years — it's clear to me that I've let my online intake of words overwhelm my printed-book intake of words.
Don't get me wrong: I'm glad to make my living as an online writer, and I'm well aware of the trove of good stuff available online. But I also know that most of the very best stuff I've ever read has come in book form, and that I do my best thinking about what I read when the computer is turned off. Besides all that, it would seem to make eminent sense to up my intake of books if I want to up my output of books.
So, an early resolution for 2010, one that I've already started on: read more books.
How about you? How's your book reading these days?
Related post by Austin Kleon: MY READING YEAR, 2009.
(Image from Hannah Swithinbank, used under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license.)
And WHY?
Because I have a preview copy of Chris Barton's next book . . .
. . . Shark vs. Train on my desk — and you don't.
P.S. It's awesome!
I don't know whether I have ADD. I've been reading the excellent Delivered from Distraction by Edward Hallowell and John Ratey, and I see a lot of myself in their description of ADDers . . . but then, I'm also not like a lot of the ADD cases they describe.
(If your Tim Walker radar is set to "Stalker," you'll recall that I liked Hallowell's book CrazyBusy enough that I reviewed it not once but twice.)
Anyway, whether I technically have ADD doesn't concern me. What does concern me is to use my brain better than I have been. Which leads me to the simple insight foreshadowed in the heading of this post:
I need to work in shorter timeframes.
Distractions kill me. Giant multi-part projects stymie me, even though, as you'll recall, my career ambition is to write books. (Irony much?) But I can crank out great work when I can do it quickly and then switch to something else.
Or, to quote one of the great lines from the Rocky oeuvre, "Stick, and move."
What do you do to improve your work output?
(Photo by Arturo Donate.)
Here's a nifty thing: my friend Chris Barton's debut book, The Day-Glo Brothers, published by Charlesbridge and available now from Amazon, even though the official release date isn't until next week, which means you can conspire with Amazon to participate in the day-glo awesomeness early.
Early awesomeness = yes, people.
Related: Chris's author site.
Related: Chris's blog, Bartography, which he's been writing for ages and which is excellent.
Related: Wired Magazine blurbed The Day-Glo Brothers. Woo-hoo!
Gimmicky though they are, I'm a sucker for "all-time best" lists like these:
Of the novels — and they actually just mean novels written in English since 1923 — I'm sure I've read these 19 in their entirety:
American Pastoral, Animal Farm, Appointment in Samarra, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, The Catcher in the Rye, The Grapes of Wrath, The Great Gatsby, The Heart of the Matter, Lord of the Flies, The Lord of the Rings, Mrs. Dalloway, Native Son, 1984, A Passage to India, Slaughterhouse-Five, Snow Crash, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, To Kill a Mockingbird, To the Lighthouse
Of the movies, I'm sure I've seen these 40:
The Awful Truth, Blade Runner, Bonnie and Clyde, Brazil, Bride of Frankenstein, Camille, Casablanca, Charade, Chinatown, Citizen Kane, Double Indemnity, Dr. Strangelove, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Farewell My Concubine, Finding Nemo, The Fly [though it doesn't belong this list], The Godfather, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Goodfellas, A Hard Day's Night [??], His Girl Friday [one of my all-time faves], It's A Wonderful Life, King Kong, The Lady Eve, Lawrence of Arabia, The Lord of the Rings, Meet Me in St. Louis, Notorious, On the Waterfront, Once Upon a Time in the West, Pinocchio, Psycho, Pulp Fiction, Schindler's List, Singin' in the Rain, Some Like It Hot, Star Wars, A Streetcar Named Desire, Taxi Driver, Unforgiven
How about you?
I am fortunate, especially in this economy, to have an excellent salaried job. I'd like to keep it for a good many years yet. Keep that firmly in mind as you read the next bit.
What I'm after in my career is writing lots of books. That's it.
Now, I enjoy teaching and public speaking and research and working on marketing projects and helping customers and attending conferences and "other duties as assigned." I also enjoy exercising and listening to music and spending time with my family and having long conversations with friends. Hey, I enjoy life.
But the thing that's been waiting for me for as long as I can remember is writing books. Part of the reason I restarted this blog is to make sure my writing chops are where they should be — like Jerry Rice running sprints in the off-season. Some of the books I want to write dovetail beautifully with my day job, so I'm laying groundwork in that direction. And my academic work has already pointed me toward a couple of books that could do something more than show up in other academics' footnotes.
What isn't going to work is for me to do things the same way I've done them. Why? Because I've tried that . . . and no books were forthcoming.
So, what am I doing differently now?
Your life is like your house: you can put the furniture wherever you want it to go. So there's no sense in complaining if it's not situated as you'd like it to be.
Or, to put it another way, if something's a priority for you, act like it.
Are you putting your real interests first? Even if (as with me) it will take years for them to come to fruition?
Photo by Ginny, used under a CC-Share Alike license.
Part of the reason I've re-started this blog is that I simply haven't been writing enough lately. Yes, I write regularly for my day job; yes, I've been doing fair bits of writing on research projects; but no, it's still not enough — nowhere near enough.
On the subject of prolificity, I've been quick to cite Anthony Trollope in the past. He wrote like clockwork, typically producing 2,500 words every day before breakfast. My own composition style has made me balk at similar daily targets, since I typically don't produce page after page of prose all in a row, but rather make outlines and then skip around filling them in. But as I think of it, I'd probably be as well served to make some kind of daily target of words. The words may come out in a different order, but when it's all said and done, a book's a book, and the black has to go on the white sometime.
So, there's one half of the ratio: more words written, more pieces finished. But the other half — intake — needs work, too. My job and my habits incline me to graze all day every day through countless sources online. Along the way I digest a few things. But over the past couple of years I haven't been reading nearly as many books as I'd like, nor complete magazines, journals, etc. To put it another way, my information diet has been an endless succession of hors d'oeuvres, punctuated only infrequently by proper servings of starters, main dishes, and desserts.
But not anymore. The ratio improves from here forward.
You'll know I'm serious about the output part as you see more work here, on my professional blog, and in other venues. You'll know I'm serious about the intake part as you see me discuss more books. Please feel free to hold me to both parts of this.
(Photo by _SiD_, used under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license.)
On vacation last month I read The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. I had heard of it before, but was persuaded to buy it by John Moore's praise for it on his Brand Autopsy blog.
I'm glad I did. Although the book gets a wee bit mystical for me at times, and probably goes on a little long (despite weighing in at only 165 pages), overall it's a fine treatment of the existential problems that face those of us who want to live our lives as creators.
Pressfield mostly talks about this from the perspective of a writer (he's the author of The Legend of Bagger Vance and other novels), but he explicitly extends his treatment to the other fine arts and to non-artistic creative endeavors like entrepreneurship.
His main concein — and it's a useful one — is to suggest the personification of that demon Resistance, the entropic force that keeps creative people from working on their creative endeavors. Resistance undermines us in many ways, getting us to put off what's deep and important and scary (in the good sense) in favor of what's shallow, immediate, safe, and ultimately trivial.
The solution that Pressfield lays out is to "turn pro," ideally in the sense of collecting money for your work, but more importantly in the sense of treating your work as true professionals do: by working every day and pressing ahead through doubts and creative doldrums.
There's a cover blurb from Esquire that calls the book "a kick in the ass." It is.


text:
At Mummy Looks Fab we try to deliver your order as quickly as possible. Dispatch of your order takes place within 24 hours of receipt, making delivery between 2-5 days for UK customers and 4-10 days for Southern Ireland customers.
All orders require a signature on receipt, and can be tracked if they do not arrive as stated here. However, we automatically dispatch to the address saved on PayPal, so if you think this may be old or incorrect, or you would like the order to be sent somewhere else (perhaps if it is a gift?) please let us know ASAP!
Delivery to destinations within the UK is priced according to the following table:
|up to £60.00
|between £60.01 and £89.99
|£90.00 and over
If you require guaranteed next day delivery please contact us for information on how we can service your order.
If you require a shipment overseas, please ensure you choose a destination from the drop down menu at checkout. We are happy to ship to any country, but as all our orders are tracked, this will incur a supplement depending on how far the order has to go. Please also note, that standard delivery times do not apply to overseas orders. We will endeavour to get the order to you using the fastest service possible but it will also be subject to any local postal delays and this can sometimes add a week to shipment times. All orders should arrive within ten working days of being shipped, but its best to all at least fifteen to be safe.
Delivery to countries outside the UK incurs the following supplements in addition to the normal P&P charges:
|Europe & N.Ireland
|Outside Europe
Please contact us if you do not receive your order within a week of placing it.


text:
Here at The Wild Strawberry Salon we are committed to providing you with the best individual service and the finest AVEDA products. Thank you for giving us theMore
$1 mil. - $5 mil.in Revenue
10 - 20EmployeesContact people at this company
1300 Yonge Street Suite 405TorontoOntarioM4T 1X3Canadaview map
(416) 489-6440x19(416) 489-9812Fax
Pro2015_Iteration9_NoTests.148[03] SEIDXWK-49


text:
Norah Jones haircut
Love It or Hate It? Norah Jones Goes Short
by Beauty
Like us on Facebook
Last night, Norah Jones showed off her new cropped cut while leaving Letterman. Just like Katie Holmes, she's gone for a serious trim. I love this trend of women going short — it's so chic. Think it works for Norah?
Norah Jones
POPSUGAR, the #1 independent media and technology company for women. Where more than 75 million women go for original, inspirational content that feeds their passions and interests.
kahribar 7 years
wow, super cute!! hope that is what she was going for
thisgirlzakillah 7 years
she looks great. the haircut really fits her
keiraz 7 years
shapeless and not feminine at all
JaimeLeah526 7 years
I like this on her because she has such delicate and feminine features. If you're not willing to wear makeup and your a petite girl you're going to look like a little boy.
MOMto2Kitties 7 years
Geez, must be nice to be sooo pretty that your hair is gorgeous no matter the length! I like it short and long.
AllaWallaBalla 7 years
I'm all about the short haircuts but I'm not really into this one. While it suits her face, it doesn't quite fit her personality. Norah Jones is a guitar-strummin' bohemian songbird and that calls for long, flowing locks.
maisiegirl 7 years
She's got the face to carry it off; it's chic!
jennjennnbubba 7 years
so cute!!
ayuninur 7 years
she's gorgeous.. I love it!
LOVErickii 7 years
talldiva45 totes agree very josie and the pussy cats =D
ladyjules79 7 years
WOW she is so much cuter now!!!
lizlee89 7 years
as long as she keeps that soulful twang, she can do no wrong - but I do like this cut on her...
Talldiva45 7 years
Hahaha! That's the first thing I thought - Rachel Leigh Cook look alike. She really does resemble her! I think it is a cute cut. I love that women are really workin and getting away with short hair dos nowadays!
Rouge14 7 years
Wow, she's stunning in this picture, the cut really gives her an extra something -I can't quite put my finger on just yet- that makes her glow.
nimue 7 years
wow she looks awesome, look at those cheekbones
Kaciegrrl 7 years
You can really see how beautiful she is now - her long hair was pretty, too, but I think it weighed her down.
listerine07 7 years
i love it
almost-famous 7 years
What in the world are you ladies seeing? Maybe it's a bad pose or something, but it look awful!
BeautyXRush 7 years
She looks AMAZING! The short hair makes her look 10 years younger. She looks a little like Rachel Leigh Cook.
leeluvfashion 7 years
She looks lovely!
bailaoragaditana 7 years
She looks nice, but I'm not a fan of short hair in any way. On anyone.
juliarose23 7 years
I don't know what her hair looked like before...but it looks good now....
robinesque 7 years
Love it. See avatar.
aimeeb 7 years
cnguyen42 she does!! She looks so much better with short hair.
audreyxoxo 7 years
i dont think this really works for her face. it makes her forehead look really big


text:
Golden Globes set for Jan. 12, starts award season
LOS ANGELES (AP) — With the Golden Globes ceremony scheduled for next January, Hollywood's 2014 awards season is set.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association said Thursday that the Golden Globe Awards will be presented on Jan. 12.
Awards shows face additional scheduling challenges to avoid overlap with the 2014 Winter Olympics, set for Feb. 7 to 23 in Sochi, Russia.
Globes organizers snatched up the last available weekend in January for the 71st annual ceremony. The Screen Actors Guild Awards are set for Jan. 18. The Producers Guild of America will hold its awards ceremony on Jan. 19. And the Directors Guild will present its annual honors on Jan. 25.
The 86th annual Academy Awards are set for March 2.
Golden Globe nominations will be announced Dec. 12.
Most Watched on Wonderwall
Fashion Offenders
Fergie, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Heidi Klum all get an F on this week's Fashion Offenders.Watch Video »
Diva Double Date
Beyonce and Alicia Keys double date with their famous hubbies on today's Celebs Gone Social.Watch Video »
Where Are They?
See what the cast of "American Beauty" is up to today.Watch Video »
J.Lo's Mini Me
Jennifer Lopez shares an adorable photo of her look-alike daughter, plus more celebritots on social media on today's Celebs Gone Social.Watch Video »
First Pitch
Prince Harry, Jessica Alba and more stars who threw out the first pitch at baseball games.Watch Video »
Aussie Babe
Sofia Vergara poses in a revealing neon bikini while her "Modern Family" castmates hit the beach in Australia on Celebs Gone Social.Watch Video »