>by Charley ReeseKing Features Syndicate (May 19 2006)One of the most pervasive and damaging myths in modern society is the belief in perpetual economic growth. Like the perpetual-motion machine, perpetual economic growth is an impossibility.This notion is particularly difficult to dislodge from the American mind because economic growth has been part of our lives. We've … Continue reading >Be Prepared →

>Why won't anyone enforce our building standards?by George MonbiotPublished in the Guardian (May 30 2006)For 21 years builders in this country have been legally bound to construct homes which conserve energy. The building regulations tell them how much insulation they must use, what kind of windows they must fit and how good their draught-proofing will … Continue reading >The Inspectors Who Look the Other Way →

>The Lawn Racketby Stan CoxCounterpunch (May 22 2006)Now that May is here, perhaps you're looking out at your lawn and thinking it needs mowing. Instead, you might want to think about whether you need that lawn at all.The problem isn't grass. Humans first lived on the grasslands of Africa, and until not so long ago, … Continue reading >Eat Your Lawn →

>by Bradford Plumerwww.motherjones.com (May 22 2006)I've never known anyone who was objectively pro-litter. Litter's awful. It's disgusting. We're all agreed. But it seems that the nationwide anti-litter campaign, which began in the 1950s, was a bit less pure in its origins. According to Heather Rogers' Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage (New Press, 2005), … Continue reading >The Origins of Anti-Litter Campaigns →

>All shades of opinion are in denial about the magnitude of the environmental challenge facing us. Our need to be comfortable may be stronger than our will to survive. Rather than face up to climate change and do what can be done, humanity may opt to let it happen.NS Essay by John GrayNew Statesman (May … Continue reading >Comfort or Survival? →

>by John PilgerZNet Commentary (May 25 2006)The long, wide, bleak streets of cobblestones and tufts of petrified grass reach for the sacred mountain Illimani, whose pyramid of snow is like a watchtower. There was almost no life here when I first came to Bolivia as a young reporter - only the freezing airport and its … Continue reading >A Glimpse Of Freedom →

>Owning a second home during a housing crisis ensures that other people are homeless.by George MonbiotPublished in the Guardian (May 23 2006)What greater source of injustice could there be, than while some people have no home, others have two? Yet the vampire trade in second homes keeps growing - by three percent a year - … Continue reading >Britain’s Most Selfish People →

>Appealing to the United States is Not Very Appealingby William Blumwww.counterpunch.org (May 15 2006)With his recent letter to President Bush, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has become part of a long tradition of Third-World leaders who, under imminent military or political threat from the United States, communicated with Washington officials in the hope of removing that … Continue reading >Why the Iranians will be Rebuffed →

>Who Will Inherit the NSA?by Ted Rallwww.rall.com (May 16 2006)Several months ago employees of Verizon, the company that enjoys a monopoly on local telephone service where I live, confirmed that my telephone has been tapped by the government. (Note to government: No, I won't reveal their names. No, not even if you throw me in … Continue reading >Little Brother Will Be Watching You →

>by George Orwell (1946)Most people who bother with the matter at all would admit that the English language is in a bad way, but it is generally assumed that we cannot by conscious action do anything about it. Our civilization is decadent and our language - so the argument runs - must inevitably share in … Continue reading >Politics and the English Language →