Trees along the West Coast and in the Rocky Mountains face a foe that is killing them by the millions and yet stands only millimeters tall. Bark beetles have affected tens of millions of acres of forest and show no sign of slowing down. Past outbreaks from these beetles have been brief and controlled by […]
Invasion of the Bark Beetle Read More »
Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the unsung beetle. We share the planet with over 400,000 species of beetles. (For perspective, there are only 50,000 animals with backbones: fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals combined.) In fact, according to Berkeley entomologist Jerry Powell, beetles make up “almost 25% of all known life-forms.” How many kinds
Consider the Beetle Read More »
To understand Peru is, to a great extent, to understand the Andes Mountains. They’re considerably taller than any of the Rockies in the lower 48, and much steeper. This means that some of them remain snow-capped all year round. They tower above and around many of Peru’s cities and ancient Inca ruins, like a gentle
Peru: A Land Built By Giants Read More »
The Dalai Lama is one of those lucky few whose thoughts are as clear as a mountain stream yet as deep as the ocean. Many of his writings respond to humanity’s plenitude of self-imposed miseries with a complement of practical insights that still serve as a refreshing alternative to some damaging cultural expectations. Although a
The Dalai Lama on Religion and Spirituality Read More »
Political parties exist to secure responsible government and to execute the will of the people. From these great tasks both of the old parties have turned aside. Instead of instruments to promote the general welfare they have become the tools of corrupt interests, which use them impartially to serve their selfish purposes. Behind the ostensible
Teddy Roosevelt on the Invisible Government Read More »
To see and understand the law. Aborigines abide by a cosmological understanding of the universe that is deeply tied to legends of ancestral beings of the Dreaming. Their lives center on understanding and respecting these forces, persisting through the tradition of passing down knowledge from generation to generation through various forms of art and storytelling
Legends of the Stars: Aborigine Astronomy Read More »