Donald Trump needs to go away. This most recent garbage when he didn’t correct the questioner at the rally turns my stomach. When the whack-a-loon insisted that we have a problem called “Muslim” and that President Obama is a Muslim (he’s not) nor an American (he is) Donald “Who would vote for that face?” Trump … More Donald Trump is a coward

Last week I stood on the Oregon coast looking at Otter Rock. I clambered along the shoreline and played at the tide pools. My partner Meg and I marveled at the colors. Anemones, starfish, snails, limpets, mussels and crabs were thriving in the nutrient rich baths. Seals lounged nearby, yawning on the low rocks at … More When the tide turns

The following letter explaining the choice of The Boom was printed in today’s Centre Daily Times. I am copying it in its entirety here.* We were pleased to see Anthony Zarzycki’s interest in Penn State Reads (“Book Creates Conflict of Interest,” CDT, 9/1). “The Boom” raises important questions about energy and the power needed to … More Shared experience, intellectual engagement, critical thinking & deeper connections

So this petition to yank The Boom as the Penn State Reads book now has thousands of signatures. The fact that a university’s reading choice has garnered this much attention from genuinely concerned people is kind of awesome. The attention to climate change, to dangerous technologies and to the influence of the fossil fuel industry … More Let’s bring it to a higher level

In the last few posts I’ve rained scorn on people I generally admire and agree with. This business about banning The Boom raises one positive thing: people are attending to our educational systems. Penn State has been seen as a Frackademy, so it’s not surprising that folks are miffed, suspicious and eager to call us … More On a much less flippant note

censor noun cen·sor \ˈsen(t)-sər\: a person who examines books, movies, letters, etc., and removes things that are considered to be offensive, immoral, harmful to society, etc. In the last two days I’ve gotten several emails and Facebook inquiries from people asking about the MoveOn petition trying to get Russel Gold’s The Boom removed as the … More Please take me to the new mother (censor)ship for reprogramming.

Sierra Club Moshannon* has agreed to match $1000 to help get Pennsylvanians Against Fracking and faith leaders a full-page letter into the Philly Inquirer that calls on Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf to put a moratorium on fracking. Faith leaders of many stripes are making the case that fossil fuels are a major problem. It’s not … More Push for a #moratorium on #fracking

“All that makes existence valuable to anyone depends on the enforcement of restraints upon the actions of other people. Some rules of conduct, therefore, must be imposed—by law in the first place, and by opinion on many things which are not fit subjects for the operation of law.” John Stuart Mill, On Liberty Yesterday, some … More Free people have to dance, play and wrestle with difficult (#fracking) ideas

I really want fracking to end. We should put a moratorium on it in Pennsylvania. It perpetuates fossil fuel dependence. It’s still more GHGs entering the atmosphere from methane and CO2 (use this Google Scholar search). I co-organized Marcellus Protest 2011, signed God-knows-how-many petitions, mailed letters, given speeches in classes, pressed state and federal legislators, ridden my bike … More Wherein I come out like Dee Snider on the PMRC…but it’s about fracking.

I deplore Kim Davis’s stance and admire her stand. My sister Catharine has been married to her wife Julie for more than ten years. They are a wonderful couple. A joy in my life. I have gay cousins, friends and peers who have been denied the decency of respect and recognitions that indecent straight shmucks … More Kim Davis and Resistance