Last weekend Laura went to see the new Tim Burton/Johnny Depp movie. She had been very anxious to see it, and she seems to have really enjoyed it. I am looking forward to seeing it one of these days myself. But today I heard about a movie I really want to see as soon as […]

There is a big debate raging over whether biofuels (biodiesel, ethanol) are sustainable. A paper published earlier this year by David Pimentel and Ted Patzek has the biofuels proponents on the defensive about the sustainability of the two most widely used types of biofuels in the US: corn-based ethanol and soy-based biodiesel (methylesther). Ethanol production […]

My photo album for our Iceland vacation is finally ready. It took a while to get it ready, but I had a lot of pictures to sort through; almost 700 from our 5 days in Iceland! I ended up using 220 images for the website. I took all the images with my Canon D350 (Digital […]

Peak Oil can come – my bike and I are ready! Earlier this year, the freehub on my bike broke and I just was too damn lazy to replace it. In June, I got a nice new wheel from the bike shop (Sunrim AT18 with a Shimano Deore freehub). Yesterday, finally, I decided to fix […]

Like everyone else, I am shocked and saddened by the attacks on innocent civilians in Sharm al-Sheikh. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families, and with all affected by these cruel, barbaric acts of terrorism.

Interesting project by the the American Progress Action Fund and the Genocide Intervention Fund to raise awareness about the genocide in Darfur: use Journalism-School science for an activist campaign called Be A Witness.

Today is Nelson Mandela’s 87th birthday. Happy birthday, Madiba!

“I saw that everybody looked so terrible, just like they came from hell,” she said. “No one was talking. No one was screaming.” Hiroshima Survivor Recalls Devastation The Washington Post, July 16, 2005 (quoting Hiroshima survivor Shigeko Sasamori, 73) 60 years ago today, the first nuclear explosion began the age of the atom bomb. On […]

One of the vocal allies of children in armed conflicts around the world is the Office of the UN Under-Secretary-General and Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict. The Under-Secretary-General Olara A. Otunnu is a tireless advocate for helping children around the world who are victimized by armed conflict. The website for his office published […]

Massacre of school children and adults in northern Kenya: Hundreds of armed men surrounded a primary school and nearby houses and opened fire as children were making their way to school early on Tuesday. Security forces say 56 people – including 22 children – died in the revenge attack by raiders feuding over water and […]

Last week I met with George Piwang-Jalobo, who is an energetic campaigner for a resolution to the conflict in Northern Uganda. He is the founder and director of the Center of Conflict Management and Peace at Gulu University in Uganda. He is also a scholar at the Divinity School at Duke University, here in Durham. […]

Kenyan journalist John Kamau, of the Sunday Standard newspaper, chronicles his G8-summit experiences on the BBC website. In an entry from Wednesday, he comments on the lack of journalists from Africa at a summit that supposedly intends to “solve” problems in Africa. It is a sad state of affairs that we cannot find concrete analysis […]

I know that Londoners are a resilient bunch and won’t be intimidated by these act of violence against civilians. But I do want to express my sorrow and solidarity with all Londoners. Over at Back to Iraq, Chris Albritton has posted a translation of a message that was supposedly generated by the perpetrators of these […]

Everybody is talking about Africa, these days. Often not because they really care about Africa, but because it’s good business to talk about Africa. Does Bob Geldoff care about Africa? I think the number of African artists allowed to share the limelight with Madonna and Pink Floyd answers that question (none). How can you pretend […]

The “Unity Parade” is one the highlights of the Eno Festival. The 26th Festival for the Eno is one of the biggest community events here in Durham. The festival lasted for three days, Saturday thru Monday and it was, as always, great family fun. This year, the 4th of July weekend (US Independence Day) was […]

The first day of the Festival for the Eno here in Durham was fun and seemed like a great success. The festival was packed and gaggles of children were frolicking in the cool waters of the river. Throngs of people were checking out the crafts stands and info booths around the five stages in the […]