By Dr. Robert Thorson Why is Hurricane Katrina back in the news? Because journalists of color cast it as a racial issue on June 28, 2007, during the All- American Presidential Forum, attended by eight contenders for the Democratic nomination. I agree that the tragedy has a racial dimension made worse by administrative bungling. I […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson The creationists are back with a vengeance. This is bad news for liberal Christians and for science education. On May 28, the Creation Museum will open in Petersburg, Ky. This is no mom and pop operation. It’s a high-tech, 60,000-square-foot, $24 million commitment to prove that the biblical account of Genesis […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson `Ponde Place,” a private development of student apartments being proposed near UConn, is wrong for Mansfield on two counts. First, the university shouldn’t give the developers water when it doesn’t seem to have enough for itself. Second, the cutesy real estate name being proposed constitutes an unlicensed theft of the town’s […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson Henry David Thoreau celebrated Independence Day by moving to Walden Pond, in Concord Mass., on July 4, 1845. The book that resulted, “Walden,” made that ordinary place world famous. On Independence Day, I skipped the fireworks to read about his commitment to freedom: to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson Memorial Day honored those human beings who gave their lives in service to our country. With no disrespect to veterans and their families, I recommend that we duplicate this idea for landscapes that have fallen in service to our nation. The idea of a memorial day for dead landscapes came to […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson At midnight, the glittering crystal ball will drop in Times Square. Revelers around the world will straggle home, nod off, and greet the new year with a dullness caused by sleep deprivation, overstimulation and inebriation. This behavior suggests that we give higher priority to the final few hours of the past […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson A gnawing sense of uncertainty. Perhaps that will motivate us to move faster on climate change than all the predictions in the world. In their recent book, “Climate Change and Biodiversity,” conservation biologists Thomas E. Lovejoy and Lee Hannah write “Much has been learned that is new, and yet our understanding […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson Hazard. Disaster. Catastrophe. Learning the difference between these three words can is as simple as counting 1, 2, 3, and can help you save money. The American West is being broiled by triple-digit heat, day after day. Things are so parched that fires are burning from Arizona to the Dakotas and […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson Do you watch your weight? Do you ever step on the scale and groan or curse that extra pound or two? Well, thanks to GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment), we can all now blame just a tiny bit of that weight gain on Earth tugging at us from below. Earth, […]

By Dr. Robert Thorson Rhubarb is everything a vegetable should be. It’s zesty, easy to grow, uses only solar energy, seldom requires irrigation and can be socially meaningful. Celery sold in groceries, on the other hand, is bland, environmentally destructive, exploitative of farm labor and spiritually bland. The other night, I attended a potluck supper. […]