Aug 05 2026

from Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods – delightful and pointy at the same time

“Nearly everyone I talked to had some gruesome story involving a guileless acquaintance who had gone off hiking the trail with high hopes and new boots and come stumbling back two days later with a bobcat attached to his head …” p3

“… he had been let go from jobs at Harvard and the National Forest Service and eventually, for want of a better place to stick him, given a desk at the U.S. Labor Department with a vague assignment to come up with ideas to improve efficiency and morale.” p27

This notion of finding a job for a man, as if it’s a duty, or responsibility, and regardless of qualifications—imagine if that tradition had applied to women as far back as 1921.

Truly enraging.

“On average the total walking of an American these days—that’s walking of all types: from car to office, from office to car, around the supermarket and shopping malls—adds up to 1.4 miles a week …”  p135

Unfuckingbelievable.  (No wonder the American from whom I rented a house for a couple winters a while ago was amazed that I walked to the campground and back every day, a round trip of 3.8 miles.  Amazed.)  (In addition to paddling my kayak out and around the islands for about three hours.)

“I know a man who dives 600 yards to work.  I know a woman who gets in her car to go a quarter of a mile to a college gymnasium to walk on a treadmill, then complains passionately about the difficulty of finding a parking space.”  p136

Wonder no more who to blame when you lose your home to the fires.  (The fossil-fuel-emission-fuelled fires.)  (For the science-challenged.)  (That is, the Americans.)

“[A moose] is wondrously ungainly: it runs as if its legs have never been introduced to each other.”  p255

Aug 02 2026

from Earth for Sale: The fight to stop the last plunder of the planet, Maude Barlow

“The disruption to the commons that followed Christopher Columbus’ initial journey dled to the death of 56 million Indigenous people by 1600 …” p13

“The total compensation to Indigenous people amounted to pennies per acre for Native territories … The treaty procedure was propelled by threats of war, forced removal, and simply taking the land without compensation.” p14-15

“Throughout the early 20th century, the federal an dprovincial governments in Canada similarly systematically displaced the first peoples of the land and claimed the immense wealth of the water, forests, fish, minerals, and land in their territories. … banned First Nations people from land ownership and allowed companies to exract resources on reserve land for nominal or no compensation at all.” p15

Europeans did the same thing in South America, Africa, Australia, and India.

“Corporate revenues of Apple, BP, and Shell exceed the revenues of Russia, Belgium, and Sweden. Exxon’s exceed India’s. [Etc.]” p20

“The World Trade Organization was created in 1995 … founded on the doctrine that the market, not governments, should set the rules of trade.” p21

“Fossil fuel companies are using ISDS [investor-state dispute settlements] to force governments to compensate them for lost profits when the governments introduce measures to transition to a low-carbon economy.” p22

So now you know how we got here: it’s because of all those people, overwhelmingly men, who majored in Business and know nothing about how the world actually works (how we get water, and food, and a survivable temperature…) and are too immature (arrogant and selfish) to listen to the people who do know.

“… investment treaties give foreign energy corporations the right to sue for compensation in the billions if governments start to fulfill their climate commitments under the Paris Agreement …”

But who agreed to sign those treaties?

“Investing just 0.1% of global GDP every year in restoring agriculture, forests, pollution management and protected areas would … avoid ecological collapse.” p27

Yeah. Had that happened in 2021. Now?

“An international group of scientists announced in 2017 that to keep pace with the global demand for food, crop production needs to grow by 50% by 2050, which will require an increase in water for irrigation by 146%. Where is this water to come from?” It’s already maxed out. p96-7

“UK water bills have soared over 360% since privatization … The largest, Thames Water, … was rescued with an almost US$4 billion government bailout in February 2025.” p100

Okay, so that doesn’t work. (Either.)

“SpaceX purchases large amounts of water from the public utility board in Brownsville, Texas, to suppress fire, dust, and debris when it launches from its nearby test site. The company claims it uses 180,000 gallons … with each launch … The utility board, which has raised water rates to the public to deal with the prolonged drought in the area, refuses to disclose the purchase agreement with the company.” p109

“… two-thirds of new AI data centers are in parts of the US already in the grip of high water stress. ‘Each time you ask an AI chatbot to summarize a lengthy legal document or conjure up a carbon squirrel wearing glasses, it sends a request to a data center and strains an increasingly scarce resource: water.'” p110

“Google’s data centre in The Dalles, Oregon, … consumes almost one-third of the town’s water supply. … Google is planning two more data centres in this small town of 16,000.: p110

“Asked about the harmful environmental effects of AI in Washington, DC, … former Google CEO Eric Schmidt said we might as well continue to invest in AI because ‘we are never going to meet our climate goals anyway.'” p110

“Nearly three-quarters of Earth’s land is now degraded …” p140

“The top 1% in rich countries gained US$30 million an hour.” p142

“Six of the nine planetary boundaries that Earth scientists have defined as needing to be respected to ensure a stable global environment have already been breached …” p146

Seven, now.

“Countries can raise US$2.1 trillion a year by following the example of S[pain’s successful wealth tax on the 0.5% richest households … at a rate of 1.7% to 3.5% …” p151

“Half the wealth around the world each year goes to people who earn for a living; the rest is collected in investments, interest, dividends and capital gains [making money off money]. Not only is this wealth not taxed fairly, it is less economically productive as much of it is diverted toward speculative derivatives [gambling] instead of providing goods and services in the real economy.” p152

Aug 02 2026

some excerpts from Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine

“In every country where Chicago School policies [neo-liberalism] have been applied over the past three decades, what has emerged is a powerful ruling alliance between a few very large corporations and a class of mostly wealthy politicians—with hazy and ever-shifting lines between the two groups.” p17

“A more accurate term for a system that erases the boundaries between Big Government and Big Business is not liberal, conservator, or capitalist but corporatist. The main characteristics are huge transfers of public wealth to private hands, often accompanied by exploding debt, an ever-widening chasm between the dazzling rich and the disposable poor, and an aggressive nationalism that justifies bottomless spending on security.” p18

“… where Rumsfeld saw a boom market in plagues, [Cheney] was banking on a future of war.” p349

That’s why countries go to war: the weapons manufacturers profit from it.

“During the Second World War, president Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke out strongly against war profiteers, saying, ‘I don’t want to see a single war millionaire created in the United States as a result of this world disaster.’ One wonders what he would have made of Cheney, whose millions in war profits accumulated while he was sitting vice-president.” p377

“… relevant experience often appeared to have nothing to do with how contracts were allocated [in post-Katrina New Orleans]. AshBritt, the company paid half a billion dollars to remove debris, reportedly didn’t own a single dump truck and farmed out the entire job to contractors.” p495

“Something else was familiar: the contractors’ aversion to hiring local people who might have seen the reconstruction of New Orleans not only as a job but as part of healing and re-empowering their communities. Washington could easily have made it a condition of every Katrina contract that companies hire local people at decent wages to help them put their lives back together.” p495

“The result, predictably, was that after all the layers of subcontractors had taken their cut, there was next to nothing left for the people doing the work. For instance … FEMA paid Shaw $175 a square foot to install blue tarps on damaged roofs, even though the tarps themselves were provided by the government. Once all the subcontractors took their share, the workers who actually hammered in the tarps were paid as little as $2 a square foot.” p496

“Perhaps part of the reason why so many of our elites, both political and corporate, are so sanguine about climate change is that they are confident they will be able to buy their way out of the worst of it.” p504

“‘Wealthy individuals and multinational corporations will be the first to bail out of our collective system, opting instead to hire private military companies … to protect their homes and facilities and establish a protective perimeter around daily life. Parallel transportation networks … will cater to this group, leapfrogging its members from one secure, well-appointed lily pad to the next.’ (John Robb) That elite world is already largely in place … ” p505

“… many people around the world have come to the same conclusion: the rich and powerful must be deliberately causing the catastrophes so that they can exploit them.” p512

“The truth is at once less sinister and more dangerous: An economic system that requires constant growth, while bucking almost all serious attempts at environmental regulation, generates a steady stream of disasters all on its own, whether military, ecological, or financial.” p513

“Large oil companies have bankrolled the climate change-denial movement for years; ExxonMobil has spent an estimated $16 million on the crusade over the past decade.” p514

“… in the U.S., CEOs made 43 times what the average worker earned in 1980 … By 2005, CEOs earned 411 times as much. … Trickle-down economics didn’t happen.” p535

Jul 18 2026

“We don’t occupy their imaginations …”

“We don’t occupy their imaginations the way they occupy ours.” Black scientist about his white colleagues (from the movie “Black Cake”)

Yeah. Now imagine that ten-fold for a female scientist.

Jul 14 2026

from The First Political Order: How sex shapes governance and national security worldwide, Valerie M. Hudson et al.

Part I is a must-read.

Excerpts follow.

“Men seeking their own security attempt to construct strong male-bonded alliances, typically based on patrilineal (agnatic) relationships … [Women] biologically reproduce the group, providing brothers and sons for this male alliance. The fraternity’s dependence on women … leads to the necessity for men to control them.” p2 [This socially constructed system of male security alliances is called by the authors the Patrilineal/Fraternal Syndrome.]

And there you have it: the explanation for male dominance over women.

And it begs the question, what do they need security from but each other?

“[And as the book demonstrates,] the search for security through a male-based fraternity that strongly subordinates women, pushed to its logical end, has serious and negative ramifications for the security, stability, resilience, prosperity, health, and happiness of the collective as well as negative security effects regionally and even internationally.” p3

“Gowaty continues, ‘The antithetical icon of autonomy for many women is rape …. The insight that violence against women is sexy (turns men on) provides a powerful proximate analysis that explains what many of us know in our guts—sexuality is the fulcrum of subordination/domination.” p13-4

“When individual men subordinate women in their household, they receive tangible and quite personal goods and services, including sexual services; services to maintain the household, such as water, fuel, and food gathering; elder care for the man’s parents; and bearing and rearing children.” p22

“The continual threat of violence, perpetrated almost exclusively by men, has indelibly shaped humankind.” p22

Read that one again.

And again.

“Such economic dependency and emotional vulnerability are purposely created to ensure women’s compliance.” p33

“[W]omen are the means whereby men reproduce themselves.” p41

“Think what it is to a boy, to grow up to manhood in the belief that without any merit or exertion of his own, … by the mere fact of being born a male he is by right the superior of all and every one of an entire half of the human race… People are little aware … how early the notion of his inherent superiority to a girl arises in his mind; how early the youth thinks himself superior to his mother, owing her perhaps forbearace, but no real respect …” John Stuart Mill p46-7

“[T]hose ‘in charge’—overwhelmingly men—are profoundly, and thus humiliatingly, dependent on those whoa re ‘not in charge’, that is, women. Ann Jones p47

“He wants her, but he loathes that he wants her and he hates her even more for not wanting him.” p47

“[W]ithin virtually all societies, it seems, women’s everyday physical insecurity is viewed as completely unremarkable” p95

I’m reminded of all the men so surprised we’d choose the bear (and surprised that we walk to our cars with our keys between our fingers). I mean, duh. Guys, get a clue.

“Even the ‘bro talk’ about ‘tits and asses’ that accompanies Wall Street financial circles shows how ‘the bonding … goes hand in hand with the objectification of the other sex.” p98

“A man’s honor lies between the legs of a woman.” p100

Yeah, whose bright idea was that?

“[T]he woman’s body is perceived not to belong to her, but to the group…” p102

And yet they abuse it, allow it less food, force it through multiple pregnancies, etc. Men are so fucking stupid. They probably don’t even know it’s their sperm that determines whether the women gives birth to a boy or a girl.

“[T]he ability to exclude fellow humans from our emotional in-group may well be the trait underlying much of what we call evil … Men first learn to practice such emotional exclusion on women.” p115

“[T]he degree of women’s access to political power in a society is predictive of the likelihood of that state engaging in interstate disputes and war.” p115

“[T]he typically high fertility rates of Syndrome societies, resulting from the repression of female family planning interests …” p116

In other words, overpopulation is caused by men. By rape.

Read that again.

“What evolution has produced in men, generally speaking, is a tendency ‘to seek power with an almost unbounded enthusiasm’ and to engage in ‘unprovoked aggression.’ Potts and Hayden observe that ‘male Homo sapiens … have an inherited predisposition to team up with kin—or perceived kin—and try to kill their neighbors.'” p117

“And yet, as [Sarah] Chayes points out, corruption may not so much undermine the government as to be the purpose of government. … ‘What if the Afghan government wasn’t really trying to govern? What if it was focused on another objective altogether? … If that government was actually a crime syndicate in disguise, the dearth of good people was no surprise. … That was the Afghan government, It was not incapable. It was performing its core function with admirable efficiency … Governing—the exercise that attracted so much international attention—was really just a front activity.'” p132-3

Sound familiar?

“Ironically, then, even though the Syndrome is designed to maximize resource access by men relative to women, overall prosperity, generally speaking, is typically lower in Syndome countries. … It is almost as if gendered relative gains are much more important (if the gains are for men) … ” p172

“‘A “full potential” scenario in which women participate in the economy identically to men would add up to $28 trillion, or 26 percent, to annual global GDP by 2025 compared with a business-as-usual scenario. This impact is roughly equivalent too the size of the combined Chinese and U.S. economies today.’ [McKinsey & Co.]” p172

“Apparently, discriminatory laws an dpractices concerning women’s property rights, land rights, inheritance rights, and access to capital must all be maintained even if greater prosperity for all is sacrificed as a result.” p173

We will subordinate you if it kills us.

And they say men are the logical ones.

The authors go on to show—nay, to prove—that subordinating women leads to
– less political stability
– a lower quality of governance
– less freedom of religion
– greater corruption
– more interest in acquiring, accessing, and importing weapons
– less wealth
– more economic inequality
– less food security
– and more …

“The subordination of women does not lead to a happy society for anyone, even men.” p294

They conclude that “The Syndrome matters, and it matters greatly.” p303

And “As [Rose] McDermott puts it, ‘If these findings were about something not related to women, chances are that they would be treated as revolutionary in international relations theory; indeed, the effects [of the Syndrome] are much stronger than those supporting the notion of the democratic peace that has spawned an entire cottage industry of inquiry.'” p308

(And whether the society was ‘Western’ or not was significant in only one model.)

“[N]othing will change until men change.” p373

And there isn’t enough time for that to happen.

Especially because “catastrophe”—like, oh, I don’t know, extreme heat, extreme storms, fires, flooding, destroyed housing, water shortages, and food shortages—”is likely to lead to greater subordination of women.” (p377)

Jul 12 2026

from When the Moon Hits Your Eye, John Scalzi

“…as someone whose sexuality so far had expressed itself as ‘possibly asexual or maybe just unimpressed with the local talent’ …” p187

“Jody Bannon was worth, what, a couple hundred billion dollars? Think about how much money that is. He could have spent a million dollars a day, on anything, and it would still take him ten lifetimes to spend it all.” p188

Elon, Jeff, Mark, Larry, Larry, and Sergey: together you might be able to save the planet and therefore the human species. But you’re broken. Every one of you. You don’t give a shit. And you’re delusional, thinking you’ll somehow be exempt. Watch “Don’t Look Up”.

“If you dropped a shirt with the expectation that someone else would pick up after you, Iwould divorce you instantly,” said Angie. …
“It’s their job.”
“It’s their job only if you make it their job,” Angie replied.” p201

“Some people want to have bucket list experiences. Other people want to die with the biggest net worth. That cheese rock has put a big fat finish line on the game. [The end of the world is in sight.] And some people are going to play it until the very last minute.”
The disturbing word there is “play”. And, again, so irrational. You’ll die with the biggest net worth? You’ll be DEAD. And so will anyone who might actually admire you.

Jul 07 2026

from Doughnut Economics: 7 ways to think lke a 21st century economist, Kate Raworth

too long to copy, but a great synopsis of neoliberal economics in the form of a stageplay with characters – p59-61

ditto, the alternative – p62-3

“How productive would your workforce be if it hadn’t been toilet trained?” Alvin Toffler p69

“if women were paid the going hourly rate for eac of their roles—switching between housekeeper and daycare teacher to van driver and cleaner—then stay-at-hhome mums would earn around $120,000 each year.” p69 And that was in 2014.

“Even mothers who do head out to work each day would earn an extra $70,000 on top of their actual wages, given all the unpaid care they also provide at home.” p69

“I’m aware of no other profession that has been so cavalier regarding its responsibilities” George DeMartino, economist and ethicist at the University of Denver, speaking of the profession of economics p137

photograph of a sign at a vacant lot identified by Raworth as “political performance art by Fay Lewis, Rockford, Illinois 1914”
“Everybody Works but the Vacant Lot” – “I paid $3600 for this lot and will hold ’till I get $6000. The profit is unearned increment made possible by the presence of tis community and enterprise of its people. I take the profit without earning it. For the remedy read ‘Henry George’. Yours truly, Fay Lewis.” p153

And worse, made possible, in the case of waterfront lots purchased by people ‘investing’ in such property, by destroying the natural beauty and value just enough to encourage re-purchase by, for example, ‘clearing’ the lot (cutting down the beautiful and valuable trees, leveling the land, and replacing the natural vegetation with a lawn) and then putting in a driveway and a dock

(Frankly, I think all waterfront development should be declared in hiatus; certainly here where I live, the lots should have been much bigger (resulting in lower density) or half as many identified as available for development.)

Jun 26 2026

from The Shakespeare Requirement, Julie Schumacher

some good bits from the Schumacher’s follow-up to Dear Committee Members

“… temporary instructors, who could probably earn more as forty-hours-a-week fast-food managers than they did as adjunct faculty …” p28-9

“The next student tried and failed to pronounce the word ‘tragic’. … At the back of the room … a student was dribbling hot sauce onto a taco while checking his phone.” p60

“Books, a colleague had once informed him during a meeting, were ‘hegeonic learning devices’ that could alienate students.” p105

“Sophomore Yvetta Curtin, who was not enrolled in the class but had seen a copy of the syllabus [for ‘Literature of the Apocalypse’] suggested that the selection of novels was ‘irresponsible’ and could be dangerous for students with emotional issues or PTSD.” p223

“Her ultimate plan would be to reorganize the campus into two simple units: ‘Numbers’ and ‘Words’.” p225

“… his mind like a kitten with a ball of yarn …” p227

“How was her day? … It had begun with caffeine and ended in a desire to slam her head into the drawer of her desk.” p232

“Amazing that he felt confident enough of his own moral standing to be able to advise you, …” p290

Jun 25 2026

Fucking bitch.

“A guy on a bicycle was staring at her so intently he nearly got hit by a bus. ‘Watch out,’ she cried, but the sound was swallowed by the simultaneous blast of the bus driver’s horn. The biker swerved, and the bus just missed him. He slammed into a parked car and was thrown to the pavement.
“Fucking … bitch!” he yelled [at her].”

from When She Woke, Hillary Jordan

That brief moment captures so much. All she has to be doing is just standing there. Just existing. And whatever-the-fuck is her fault.

That’s why men need women: not only as audience and cheerleader, but as scapegoat.  If not for women, who would they blame for their many failures?

 

Jun 19 2026

I’m not a feminist, but …

“But how often, still, do we hear women anxiously asserting ‘I’m not a feminist, but …’ as they go on to make claims that depend upon, and would be impossible without, a feminist groundwork?” from Feminism: A Very Short Introduction, Margaret Walters