PBS aired an important half-hour program in fall 2025: Interconnections , produced by the Connectivity Project. " This powerful film explores how our actions create ripples in an interconnected world. Featuring Indigenous elders, scientists, and activists, it highlights shared cultural wisdom and inspiring real-life stories. From butterfly conservation to youth environmental advocacy, it empowers viewers to recognize their impact and embrace a deeper sense of responsibili

"The EcoCiv Institute (EcoCiv) first emerged as a vision of the scholar and activist John B. Cobb, Jr.  A professor at the Claremont Graduate University and Claremont School of Theology and a leader in ecological thinking. Prof. Cobb wrote the founding work in eco-theology in 1971,   Is It Too Late? A Theology of Ecology . Over the decades that followed, Cobb published over 50 books, inspired two generations of scholars and activists, founded multiple organizations, and org

In " America at a Crossroads ," a December 19, 2023, PBS NewsHour special, Judy Woodruff explored what was driving the immense division among people, distrust in our government, broad dissatisfaction with the political system, how we got there, and what everyday Americans thought about the state of the country. Before the 2024 election, I had a blog post about Finding Common Ground , where I recounted my positive experience in my 2021 participation in Living Room Conversatio

The President's AI Policy On January 20, 2025 , the President issued Executive Order 14148 , revocation of the Biden-Harris AI Executive Order 14110 of October 30, 2023 (Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence), "which hampered the private sector's ability to innovate in AI by imposing burdensome government requirements restricting private sector AI development and deployment." On January 23, 2025 , the President issued an   Executive Or

The OBBB is the most anti-environment and anti-climate bill in history.

While I am encouraged by The Center from Christogenesis' support of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's notion of the noosphere, I am disturbed by a techno-optimist push toward planetary nationalism

"The President is running the Republican Party and asserting presidential power in ways unseen in American history. His requests are taken seriously. At the least, the outline he is presenting here will influence congressional deci s ions." ~ Lisa Desjardins Thanks to Lisa Desjardins, PBS News Correspondent, for this great reporting on June 3, 2025: "This news came as part of the budget “appendix” the White House released Friday , which provides 1,224 pages of numbers on ho

"It’s time for a comprehensive national civic uprising. It’s time for Americans in universities, law, business, nonprofits and the scientific community, and civil servants and beyond to form one coordinated mass movement." ~ David Brooks David Brooks wrote in the New York Times on April 17, 2025: What’s Happening Is Not Normal. America Needs an Uprising That Is Not Normal . He said: A civic uprising has to have a short-term vision and a long-term vision. Short term: Stop t

On April 7, 2025 the President posted on Truth Social: "Don't be a PANICAN (a new party based on Weak and Stupid people.)" The name is a dig at those inciting panic about the possible effects of his tariffs on the economy. CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, host of “Fareed Zakaria GPS,” shares his take on developments surrounding the President’s tariff policies, and why he thinks it’s “getting dirtier fast.” Fareed’s Take: "Trump’s tariffs will bring about an orgy of corruption." On Sund

Presented via Zoom by WorldOregon, in conjunction with the annual Great Decisions series at Portland State University, March 14, 2025...

I write about the current U.S. trade war with China in order to try to make sense of the incomprehensible. Will we ever again have an amiable agreement? Will a standoff lead to a global recession? Will tariffs lead to an economically stronger China globally as Moira Weigel suggests? In 2000, as the People’s Republic of China (PRC) prepared to enter the World Trade Organization (WTO), the U.S. Congress voted to extend China’s Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR). This me

David Korten , in his 1995 book When Corporations Rule the World , tried to make a case for the unworkability of current economic systems on several grounds: Impoverishment of the majority of the population Need for indefinitely expanding credit, leading to the debasement of the currency The finite limits of energy and material resources Korten critiques current methods of economic development led by the Bretton Woods institutions and asserts his desire to rebalance the powe

On March 17, 2025 Aspen Initiative (Wisdon From the Top of the World) offered a free webinar with some of the foremost non-dual thinkers (Tom Shriver, Marianne Williamson, Cynthia Bourgeault, Matthew Fox, Cyprian Consiglio, and Sherri Mitchell, moderated by Heather and Nicholas Vesey), addressing to the question: How do we respond to the time we are living through? During the webinar, they asked the question ‘How do we respond to the time we are living through?’ Some of

Some are dealing with the current crisis and chaos in American politics by taking a break from the media. I choose the opposite approach by taking a deeper dive and watching YouTube videos of PBS Newshour, Washington Week PBS and The Ezra Klein Show to try to make sense of the unfamiliar world we are now finding ourselves living in. Ezra Klein's March 14, 2025, very engaging and smart interview of Gillian Tett, " Is the President ‘Detoxing’ the Economy or Poisoning It?" o

Reference to "Climate Change" is being scrubbed from Federal government websites. Politico reported on January 31, 2025 , that according to an internal USDA email, "employees have been ordered to delete landing pages discussing climate change across agency websites and document climate change references for further review." Futurism.com noted " The move could lead to the deletion of information from the Forest Service , Rural Housing and Utility Services , Natural Resource

How do the policies of Project 2025  reflect the published RNC Platform? How does the Heritage Foundation's blueprint for changing the Federal government, if the Republican candidate is elected, compare with the RNC Platform? Shouldn't objective science be viewed independently from political policy? My July 23, 2024, Rogue Valley Voice blog post  Drill Baby Drill?  focused on how the RNC convention made clear Republican policy intentions to abandon serious efforts to reduce t

Inside the Movement (ITM) is "a team of climate activists and journalists - the folks at EarthRise, Fossil Free Media, One Earth, The...

According to Alan Journet, "SOCAN's Federal and State Project Team survived a rather bland 2024 Oregon Legislative Session." during which...

April 15-21, 2024 is National Week of Conversation - "An opportunity for Americans to show up for each other and for the country we love....

There are deep connections between politics and the fossil fuel industry and campaigns to mislead the public and deny well-established...