90 percent of scientists in the world today agree with the founder of Physical Chemistry, Svante August Arrhenius (1859-1927), who warned over 100 years ago unlimited burning of fossil fuels will cause problems for the planet. He repeated his concern again in 1905. We are slow learners indeed. Decades later billions of tons of carbon [...]
Washington, DC of the 18th 19th centuries was geographically a swampy area demarcated by “Foggy Bottom” and “Hell’s Bottom.” The White House is located in the Foggy Bottom portion and the Pentagon, our second largest building, after the Palazzo Hotel in Las Vegas, is located in Hell’s Bottom. Packard Manse is an ecumenical center in [...]
Rick Pankowski was a young man from Mansfield, New Jersey who moved to Philadelphia in the 1980’s. Rick and I were both associated with the charitable organization known as Philadelphia Committee for Homeless. While in his 30’s, Rick learned he had contracted mesothelioma, a serious affliction of the lung, and he would be dead within [...]
Eric Sevareid (1912-1992) was a journalist and commentator for CBS news who presented opinions in brilliant essays for 47 years. How can we forget his opinion about the greatest export from these United States, not as cars, other products manufactured by an advanced industrialized nation? “The largest export of the USA is the manufacture and [...]
Novelist Earnest Hemmingway declared, “Never think that war, no matter how ‘necessary’ is not a sin.” Moral theologians concluded there is no “just war” in an atomic age when one bomb can destroy entire cities, perhaps nations. War is the epitome of torture. Torture can be carried out over hours, days or years, as seen [...]
The insatiable appetite for oil in the Gulf region drew Britain and the USA into Persian Gulf meddling. Washington’s desire for control over oil sources in the Gulf and fear of Soviet expansion fed Cold War militarism during Eisenhower’s administration. Presidents Eisenhower, J.F. Kennedy, Nixon and both Bush presidents followed the violent, interventionist path. A [...]
The USA, Britain and Turkey are Israel’s only friends in the world. The United States was first in developing an atomic bomb. Albert Einstein signed on to a letter drafted by physicist Leo Szilard approving the suicidal weapon because of a fear Germany would produce such a bomb first. “Had I known Germany would not [...]
The Earth Day 2018 theme is abolishing plastic pollution. In the 1960’s movie “The Graduate” Dustin Hoffman portrayed a young student who was advised by his wise uncle in one word: “Plastic!” In the 21st century the one word is “TRASH” that will not disappear and is taking over our ocean. Visit www.5gyres.org for latest [...]
“Women hold up half the sky” was one of many Chinese proverbs I learned during 1970 years in Hong Kong. Elsie Elliott-Tu (1913 – 2009) went to China as a British missionary and spent her entire adult life in Hong Kong as an elected official in the colonial urban council. Weekly I assisted in her [...]
Over 100 years ago Svante August Arrhenius (1859-1927), the father of physical chemistry, warned our unrestricted burning of fossil fuels would release excessive carbon dioxide (“greenhouse effect”) that will surely cause problems for survival of all who live on Earth. Arrhenius repeated the climate warning in 1905. NASA scientist James Hansen declared before a skeptical [...]
