The latest articles and blog posts about Politics/Policy.
A Place Called KLEEN
The name of this fictional “self-contained” entity is KLEEN. You could think of KLEEN as an independent country — although, it could also be a state, a province or a region within a country. Coal, oil and gas were discovered in KLEEN around the early 1900s...
Our Fossil Fuel Addiction
Addiction is defined as a disease in which a person or persons find themselves unable to stop using a substance or engaging in a particular behaviour. Our relationship to fossil fuels is a perfect example of this. However, this is no simple disorder. It is...
Nine Commandments To Save Humanity (From Climate Change)
Now that we are close to putting two terrible viruses that have been attacking mankind behind us (Donald Trump and COVID-19), we can get back to the business of correcting the most serious existential threat that humans have ever faced: climate change....
The New Medicines of Synthetic Biology
The old expression “speed kills” is not always true. As we live through the COVID-19 pandemic and the current vaccination schedules, it becomes equally true that “speed heals.” The noted author and columnist Thomas Friedman said it best in his book Thank...
When Freedom Goes Berserk
In 1917, the imminent American Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendel Holmes wrote in a majority opinion, “speech that is dangerous and false is not protected” under the first amendment of the United States Constitution. This is, of course, opposed to speech...
There’s A War on Science…And It’s Complicated
In a sense, there are two wars going on against science. The first, exemplified by Trump and his co-conspirators, is when science is accepted only when it suits political objectives and rejected when it collides with political, financial or even religious...
Climate Change Is Real…And Manmade
If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, smells like a duck and tastes like a duck, it is not probably a duck: it is a duck. Just as that duck was real, so too is the fact that climate change and global warming are real and manmade. Below, I have...
The Forces Of Misinformation Are Doing Us Damage
As reported in a recent issue of Scientific American, in many respects, the prominence of misinformation is producing a new world disorder. If you think about it for a moment, you begin to realise that we are all complicit in the process: ”our willingness...
Oh Canada. Please Take Heed.
Ok folks. If you’re not really concerned, then you haven’t been listening. If you have been listening and you’re not feeling panicky, then you really need a reality check. To quote from my website: ….Holy Sh*t We’re in Trouble…. ….Humanity is in...
Spreading Knowledge To Overcome Fear
It sounds so obvious but unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be working. There is a group of really smart people at the Genetic Literacy Project (GLP) whose motto is “science not ideology” who are working hard at getting us to think this way. It’s not at all...