Appalachian Mountain Dreams

It seems that the time has come for the American public to have to come to grips with what their unceasing  need for electricity is doing to one of the oldest and most diverse ecologies on the planet. When it comes to mountaintop removal, a certain fatalism seems to take hold in Appalachia — the coal companies are too powerful, the

Where did all of the phone booths go? What’s a super president supposed to do? President Bush now says that even after “success” in Iraq — after more American and Iraqi deaths — there will still be sectarian violence and there will still be suicide bombers killing innocent civilians. Which is the situation right now. So why stay in Iraq

The night was filled with distant rumbles of thunder…Well, it was the time I woke up, anyway. The steps outside the back door show signs of rain having fallen, just not very much. The weather prognosticators on the evening rumor and propaganda shows were literally glowing over the possibility of rolling masses of thunderous precipitation, both overnight and throughout the

Kate, over on Cider Press Hill has a post on “Virtual Environments” where she makes some interesting points. Which really got me to thinking about what our virtual workplaces must look like. That led me to this post where I want to share my virtual desktop at work… Keep in mind that this is a dual monitor setup where I

Well, it’s official summer has arrived to SE Texas. The temperature when I came into the kitchen for coffee this morning is at 70 degrees and the humidity is above 90%. By my definition, summer has slunk in and it wont be leaving for a while. Luckily for us, we are just south of the storm line that has been

This photo was taken last evening just after sunset as storms moved by to the north. The sky was impressive…

And who said they were going to change the tone in Washington? Putting industry insiders in charge of the agencies that govern and regulate the very industries they worked for is a good idea…Why? Oversight of government is a bad idea…Says who? “The Department of Education has been run as a wholly owned subsidiary of the loan industry under this

George Will is rapidly becoming an angry, strident voice on the conservative side of conservative politics. Now he is using name calling as a weapon against the Democratic Party. His use of the term “illiberals” over and over in his latest rant against liberals is almost funny…almost. Some illiberal liberals are trying to restore the luridly misnamed Fairness Doctrine, which

The weekend at work turned into more physical “work” than this older body has become accustomed to. Yesterday morning before returning to work the body was really complaining in all of the joints and muscles. But the job got done and the big show that opens today will be one more for the line stretching back into the early ’70’s.

I slept in a bit today and I have to go in to work this afternoon to take care of a project we ship tomorrow, but this morning after reading my email I went link wandering. Here are some of the things I found I feel I should pass along… Somehow I didn’t keep up with the schedule for the