Cara Schulz, the excellent reporter for the Minnesota bureau of the Pagan Newswire Collective, asked me for three suggestions for Nature-inspired or eco-friendly Solstice gifts for a feature they’re running later this week. I’m not sure I’m the best person to contribute to this article – while I try to live responsibly and sustainably, I don’t obsess over green. I have nothing unique or exotic to offer. But it didn’t take long for me to think of three gifts that... Read more

James Arthur Ray, the New Age guru who orchestrated high-dollar “spiritual warrior” retreats, was sentenced to two years in prison for the criminally negligent homicide of three people who died in one of his sweat lodges. Liz Neuman, Kirby Brown and James Shore died from a combination of dehydration and other heat-related complications. Ray had consulted with Native American sweat lodge practitioners but then modified the standard lodge to make his even hotter. This should stand as a warning to... Read more

crossposted with No Unsacred Place If you grew up watching Looney Toons (and if you didn’t you had a very deprived childhood!) you saw many stories about the collision of Nature and the modern world. Water abruptly stops flowing when a huge dam is constructed overnight. Chipmunks (or was it gophers?) get scooped up by a harvesting machine and have to escape from an automated cannery. And in 1954’s “No Parking Hare” a construction worker tries to evict a certain... Read more

I’ve always felt negative criticism needed to be balanced with positive suggestions. Don’t just complain about what’s wrong – explain how to make it better. All institutions and systems are human institutions and systems, meaning they’re far from perfect. Sometimes, even though a particular arrangement is flawed it’s still the best that’s possible under the circumstances. In comparison with all the current and historical systems of finance, economics and politics the current American system is pretty good. But it’s far... Read more

A year or two or five from now it will be difficult to declare OWS either a success or a failure. Its goals are wide, vague and implied rather than clearly expressed. With no clear targets its enemies can proclaim its failure and its supporters can proclaim its success and neither will be able to prove the other wrong. For the purposes of this analysis I’m going to assume success for OWS would mean significant, lasting changes in our financial,... Read more

The Occupy Wall Street movement has done a good job of listing what’s wrong with our economic, financial, and political systems. They’ve been criticized for a lack of “demands” – for failing to propose solutions. I’ve heard some say that’s not their job, that it’s the job of our elected officials to change the rules and structures. If, as those on both the left and right contend, our government is beholden to “special interests” it is foolish to expect them... Read more

We are born selfish. Among the first words a child learns are “no!” and “mine!” Our evolutionary instincts for self-preservation and self-advancement are very old and very strong. That’s not a bad thing. If we didn’t have those instincts (or more precisely, if our ancestors hadn’t had them) our species wouldn’t have survived and we wouldn’t be here at all. The thing is, nobody likes being on the other end of those 3-year-old rants. So we teach our children to... Read more