For the past few days, media have been agog with the latest revelations from Wikileaks: about a quarter-million diplomatic e-mails that were never intended to see the light of day. This is quite a pile of information, and it’s taking … Continue reading →

Early in the Bush administration, sometime during the winter of 2001-2002, I got to sit in on a remarkable conversation. Three of us were meeting with the president’s new science advisor, John H. “Jack” Marburger, III, in his office. He … Continue reading →

“full many a flower is born to blush unseen, and waste its sweetness on the desert air…”  Thomas Gray (1716-1771) Elegy Written in a Country Church-yard An earlier post suggested that independent journalism and an educated, engaged public go hand … Continue reading →

Roger Caiazza provided a thoughtful comment to the last post. Roger first asks: “In your first paragraph you state that environmental scientists see, and document: “growing urban air pollution” among the reasons that it is necessary to get the science … Continue reading →

Environmental scientists are growing increasingly worried about their findings, and see  urgent need for more-concerted public action. In fact, their closet of anxieties is chock-a-block full! They see, and document, worrisome declines in fresh water availability and purity; growing urban … Continue reading →

Conservatism is in these days, so perhaps it’s a good time to reflect on one of the many contributions of Edmund Burke (1729-1797), who was not only one of the great conservative politicians of all time (in England’s Parliament), but … Continue reading →

Ants were the heroes of an earlier post. There they were lauded for their ability to create nearly Utopian conditions in their colonies, despite – or perhaps precisely because of – their ant-size brains. However, ants, like us, still find … Continue reading →

Remember those road-weather folks who were meeting in Indianapolis around September 1st? They’re back. Many of those same players, and a few new ones, are picking up their conversation again today and tomorrow, here in DC. You can find the … Continue reading →

Once upon a time – actually not so long ago – in a place – not really that far away – there lived a stovepiped organization. It was exceedingly large, and exceptionally stovepiped, and extremely miserable. The individual stovepipes themselves … Continue reading →

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”                                                             –    Socrates (c. 469BC-399BC, as recorded by Plato) For many people, the name and the person of Socrates epitomize wisdom. Sound bites such as this one are one reason why. Today, we tend to … Continue reading →