Last July I took Big Oil to task in a blog entitled Marathon Men, arguing that companies like Marathon Oil are hastening the demise of our planet. Here’s an excerpt: Marathon makes money by extracting, refining and selling fossil fuel. The greater its sales, the more our climate deteriorates. We all know ...
In the winter of 1957, my parents went on a vacation to Haiti. Why Haiti? According to my mother, she’d wanted to go to Africa but the responsibility of raising five young children made such a long trip inadvisable. So she decided on Haiti since it was as much like Africa as she ...
Barring a miracle, we’ll still be battling the Covid-19 pandemic as 2021 rolls into 2022 — after two years, 4.6 million-plus deaths worldwide and untold societal and economic upheaval. The continuing scourge is enough reason for the anxiety that I and many other people feel, but not the only reason. There are other causes, ...
In Memoriam As some of you already know, my mother, Anne Springs Close, died on Aug. 20 after nearly 96 years of a very active life. She was in full possession of her mental acuity. However, her body was unable to withstand the violence of a fallen tree limb that trapped her and my ...
According to the most powerful man in the Senate, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, $11 per hour is as high a minimum wage as his state needs. Therefore, he says, he’s willing to kill the $15 minimum wage proposal included in the Covid Stimulus bill now before the Senate. Manchin, a Democrat, can make ...
Since midsummer of this awful year, the Trump administration has executed 10 people without much public notice. What little reporting this story has received has been drowned out by the election, the pandemic, and the torrent of lies and conspiracy theories still flowing from a crippled White House. Attorney General William Barr cleared the ...
Note from the QD: If you are puzzled by the photo atop this blog, then you have a short memory. My general Covid 19 malaise has morphed, hopefully temporarily, into outright pessimism. And it’s not the virus itself that’s causing my spirits to sag; rather, it’s the pandemic’s collateral damage. Here are some things ...
Living through the pandemic here in New Orleans gives one the dubious opportunity to see first-hand how the Covid 19 virus disproportionately affects the poor and the non-white. There is a myth being propagated in the country that the virus is an indiscriminate killer, that rich and poor alike are vulnerable, that we are ...
The air around the world is cleaner, less pollutants entering the sea, streets are less noisy. Families are spending time together, less planes flying around the world, luxury cruise ships are not dirtying up the sea. People are looking at local solutions for needs, and taking time to wash their hands. The hectic pace ...
Of all the candidates who have pulled out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, the one I’m most perplexed about is Cory Booker. Why in the world did he fail to compete? When he withdrew, he said he had run out of money. OK, but I’m still baffled about why he labored ...
