A theory and a dogma, at odds & overlapping — (The following is a draft of the Introduction for the book-in-progress that Nikki Hill & I are working on, tentatively entitled, “Stop Blaming the Messengers: A critical look at ‘invasive plant’ theory and dogma.”) The two of us are plant lovers. We love all plants, wild and domestic, ancient and…

Their recent attack on peace activists is beyond the pale — [Note: Over the last few years, Counterpunch has published over 100 of my articles, but they did not run this one. As I announce at the end, I will no longer be contributing my work to Counterpunch.] As a lifelong unreconstructed pacifist, I don’t take kindly to people bashing peace…

Two sides, same coin — The challenges presented by climate chaos and the Covid-19 pandemic have both elicited cultural responses that superficially appear to be opposed to one another, but that end up working hand-in-hand to bolster a status quo that’s intrinsically harmful to everyone. Both succeed by appealing to wishful thinking. In the case…

Some of what I liked while exploring the question, “Does music nowadays suck?” — A year ago, in January 2022, I ran across an article listing the top 25 songs of 2021 according to Billboard magazine. Now, I’d stopped actively following the national music scene and the Billboard Hot 100 back in the ’90s when I was living in Boston because the local music…

We must set aside political & personal zealotry and learn from the terrible events unfolding — China recently relaxed its COVID policy and the virus is now running rampant. Though exact numbers are not available, we are hearing about overburdened hospitals, emptied pharmacy shelves, and corpses backing up at crematoria. …

Our subjectivity serves a purpose, but is not the final word — There’s no such thing as a “bad” plant. There are only particular plants in particular places at particular times that particular people have called “bad” for particular reasons. That’s a lot of “particulars.” …

The influx of out-of-staters is making the streets more dangerous — I gotta say, crossing the street as a pedestrian in Portland is much more of a challenge than it used to be! …

Welcome to the Failing States of America — When I was growing up in the ’70s, a common vision of the dystopian future was a bleak, industrialized landscape where everyone has to wear gas-masks because of pollution. …

Choosing paper over plastic — You can make pots for veggie starts out of newspaper instead of using plastic pots, or peat pots. One of the biggest advantages of paper over plastic is that newspaper pots can be put directly into the ground, so there is much less disturbance to the plant. This makes newspaper…