Emerson and Cosmic Inflation

In his essay “Circles,” Ralph Waldo Emerson writes:

St. Augustine described the nature of God as a circle whose centre was everywhere, and its circumference nowhere.

The center of town is toward Public Square. The center of the Earth is …

Wildflower Islands

Three years ago, I wrote about my plan to keep a yard of wildflowers by mowing just once a year, in early spring. But, after a glorious first year, the yard came to fill with much tall grass and few …

Independence Day Acrostic

Out of many Equals, one more perfect union. Out of many Peoples, one nation conceived in liberty. Out of many Labors, one shared prosperity. Out of many Urgencies, one fear, of fear itself. Out of many Rights, one government of,…

Payback: A Model Bill for ALEC

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a shadow legislature that has given us many lousy laws. Populated by corporate agents and Republican office-holders, ALEC passes "model bills," which its lawmaker members take to their statehouses and push into law. In 2011, news journals dragged ALEC…

Another Global Warming Day

One day past the Winter Solstice, after 34 hours of rain melted last week’s half-foot of snow, the flooding Vermilion River rushes on its winding way to Lake Erie. This seems to be another global warming-type day — heavy rain,…