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From the Salmon Arm Observer
Published: October 27, 2009 6:00 PM

Denial allows people to think that more growth is somehow “smart” or sustainable as long as we stack people on top of each other. All the while, we can ignore the failures of this practice everywhere it has been tried.

Denial allows us to believe that we can create “compact, walkable cities,” when in reality rental and real estate prices in these cities invariably become so expensive that those who do the work cannot afford to li… Continue

“At its best, schooling can be about how to make a life, which is quite different from how to make a living.” (Neil Postman)¹

I suppose that my first teaching position should have been the wake up call.

After all, there I was, a brand new shiny teacher, still wet behind the daybook, replacing a somewhat older teacher who was on a five month stress leave. But I didn’t see the signs, likely because Chase Secondary School at that time was a very well run community school, the students… Continue

There once was a near-hairless ape,
created as though for a jape.
He lived in a Garden
watched o’er by a Warden,
and eternally longed for escape.

At first this poor ape ran ‘round bootless
and felt, in his psyche, quite rootless.
He hungered for learning
but, at every turning,
results of his efforts were fruitless.

Still, figures and facts, he’d compile ‘em
‘til, self-proclaimed king of his phylum,
he now rules the Earth,
but, for what it’s worth,
the Garden is now an asylum.

The Salmon River has responded well to the considerable efforts of local citizens and groups. Bank stabilization work and efforts to improve spawning areas have resulted in several thousand salmon making their way up the river to spawn annually. Herons, osprey, kingfishers, and numerous other species rely on the river as well. Consequently, the idea that Salmon Arm council, or any other politician and any level, would allow any change to the current habitat, and especially any change which would… Continue

There are several ways to reduce human population.

The first one is to let Mother Nature take her course, as she typically does with any population which has overshot its limits. The resulting Malthusian collapse would be absolutely devastating, and, of course, not a very desirable situation. Unfortunately, that is where I believe we are headed, and people like James Lovelock seem to agree.

The second one is to begin consciously reducing our population through a variety of means, specified bel… Continue