tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37127850840404619912024-03-14T01:02:33.662-05:00the New American VillageJames Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.comBlogger336125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-85813105674186219332011-04-02T08:55:00.013-05:002011-04-03T14:57:02.664-05:00Confessions of an April Fool Hoaxer<a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2011/04/special-announcement-james-polk-joins.html">Skip all this "how we decide" mumbo jumbo and take me straight to the <span style="font-style: italic;">James Polk joins FOX NEWS</span> April Fools post! I can come back here later.</a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnpJjWGjfvsBsVeHuRvomlgcELoI6tOK-z-YDCvQk0Waf_-AIrm8k5UHN2gzqxwYPqj-nZJpI-UHjqV_q3kHZRUTnc4p4CBcolU2OeVvarE6mJwXUTjZXN8L5QtlvWb7_cSS8PAsVe6nc/s1600/faux+news.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 193px; height: 159px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnpJjWGjfvsBsVeHuRvomlgcELoI6tOK-z-YDCvQk0Waf_-AIrm8k5UHN2gzqxwYPqj-nZJpI-UHjqV_q3kHZRUTnc4p4CBcolU2OeVvarE6mJwXUTjZXN8L5QtlvWb7_cSS8PAsVe6nc/s400/faux+news.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591116688036252466" border="0" /></a>OK, time to fess up.<br /><br />Yesterday's FOX NEWS blog post was, of course, an elaborate April Fools hoax. I know, I know, if you bought into it, right about now you're most likely nose diving into that uneasy feeling in the gut that comes when you realize you've been had. Believe me, I've been there. I was taken in a few years ago when I fell headfirst into a <a href="http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/04/01/april_1st/#">Marketplace story</a> about how the government, instead of sending out stimulus checks as authorized by Congress, decided to mail homeowners the equivalent value in the form of an air conditioner or a washing machine explaining it was being done to boost manufacturing. They interviewed mock government officials and mock homeowners and Robert Reich, who I think has some brilliant sociological observations, and the report had the the tone and structure of the typical story airing on Marketplace. But it was fiction. I had developed a rigid set of assumptions about the Bush administration, so the constructed narrative, aided by atmospherics and Robert Reich's righteous indignation, played on my own preconceptions to hook me in. And I never saw it coming.<br /><br />And you know what they say about the word "assume"? When you ASSUME, you make an ass out of Uma Thurman. (Ouch! Sorry, that's my favorite Al Frankin joke.)<br /><br />Such is the power of narrative to pass off misinformation as truth and get away with it. When cynically used as a device to trump facts and reality and rational thinking in an effort to con people into acting against their own good judgment and best interests to enrich the perpetrators of the narrative, it's immoral. FOX NEWS became the setting of this little hoax, in a wicked twist of absurd irony, because it's their standard modus operandi.<br /><br />So I decided to take advantage of the age-old April Fools tradition to put together an art piece that I hope was an entertaining and stimulating read (it's packed with oblique references, so if you're into dry contextual humor, you might want to give it another run-through) with a creative commentary on the cynical (and dangerous) ethos of America's modern-day mainstream corporate media.<br /><br />Why is it that this pearl necklace of absurdities strung one after another was, for many, plausibly believable? In the most positive light, I am comforted and humbled that so many who know me and are familiar with my work truly wish the best for me and are of the opinion that I've earned the legitimacy of an opportunity to step onto a bigger stage with a national audience, and a story like this - even with it's outrageous twists and turns and questionable venue - triggers a suspension of disbelief born purely out of goodwill.<br /><br />But it also might have something to do with the media phenomenon of manufacturing drama by "sensationalizing the trivial," especially on cable television with FOX NEWS as standard-bearer. In the current media environment, reality shows pluck talentless individuals out of obscurity solely on the basis of their ability to create drama and conflict, and those who offer reasonable ideas and speak in whole paragraphs can't find a minute of airtime as the 24/7 news cycle is monopolized by the politicians and talking heads who push the most divisive ideas, claim the most outrage, and loudly spew the most anger. In an environment where the critical societal and environmental problems of our day (many of which, coincidentally, have solutions that might possibly cut into the bottom line of vested corporate interests) are buried under layers of highly stimulating distraction, anything - even the implausible scenario of FOX NEWS hiring James Polk as a sustainability commentator - is possible.<br /><br />And, if we are not aware that this ongoing cascade of melodrama is indeed a distraction, we fall into the trap of accepting the chatter as "normal."<br /><br />In a way, this is a cautionary tall tale. Because we're all pushed and pulled by savvy marketers who feed us bogus narratives, whether it's the hip branding of a soft drink designed to drive up sales when the taste tests are crummy, or a political "movement" that triggers and activates our fears as a method of winning elections and setting policy then the candidates are disingenuous and the ideas are unpopular. A little bit of healthy skepticism and some awareness of context helps. But we're all taken in from time to time. And we either figure it out, or someone clues us in, or we remain oblivious and robotically move in the direction of the bogus narrative all the while ignoring our better judgment. <br /><br />In a way, it's easier to just go with the narrative. It doesn't require much thought or messy introspection. And even when we wise up, a part of us doesn't want to believe we've been betrayed. It's still easier to dismiss reality with the cloak of denial and run with the narrative, because as soon as we fully acknowledge that we've been had, here comes that sickening feeling. And the feeling might just be unbearable if we have to admit we've been fooled into enthusiastically supporting bad ideas and backing candidates who push through policies that hasten our demise.<br /><br />So better to just go along with ruse, right? At least we'll have company.<br /><br />Wrong.<br /><br />My wife and I gave up TV when the US underwent the digital conversion back in 2009 (not that either one of us watched much television anyway) opting not to invest in the necessary hardware. We haven't missed it a bit, and in fact, we've found that by dispensing with the small amount of habitual TV watching in which we did engage, we freed up time for more rewarding activities, and we both feel that not watching television has enriched our lives.<br /><br />But the biggest advantage of nixing the TV is the refreshing absence of so-called news. <a href="http://www.onlyinfographic.com/2011/how-much-tv-do-we-really-watch-in-one-lifetime/">Americans watch a lot of TV</a>, and I've been in homes and businesses where the television is always on, even when no one is actively watching. The more TV we take in, the more we are desensitized to the harshness and not-so-subtle behavioral triggers buried in the chatter. Try going without watching TV news for a while, say a year or two, and your experience and perception will be profoundly different. On a recent trip to local airport to pick up a friend, it was impossible to ignore two mounted televisions both tuned to FOX NEWS as they blared vitriol to passive onlookers who seemed completely conditioned to the idea that this was normal. Yet the messaging was a loud constant stream of hate, anger, and divisiveness. Normal? To me, it felt like I was being force-fed poison - the kind of poison that tears societies apart.<br /><br />Apologies to anyone who did not appreciate the little April Fools prank. But I have to say, it's probably the most fun piece of writing I've created in quite some time. I promise I'll not set set you up with another bogus piece of fiction masquerading as reality ... until next year!James Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-49937504613787819762011-04-01T00:43:00.009-05:002011-04-03T02:22:50.321-05:00SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: James Polk joins FOX NEWSI would like to take this opportunity to thank the many people who over the years have visited and supported the New American Village Blog. It's been an eventful last few years of blogging and - I'm getting a little misty-eyed here - it would have been impossible for me to keep getting up at 4 am to launch into exhaustive research for yet another fresh and insightful blog post had it not been for the support and encouragement of the thousands of loyal readers who just kept coming back for more. (You know who you are!)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3bU9TUpfuDrBzhtj954KOYwzE-GpbnEFspCQxpHovXPn9N542-ShgghFxsmyvUcIH7QQnVOcI4chFAk0a-P3JLJ_NPSfu3ap3BK99HyWq0L2PRn7kAwyAUkSoIbhp2viW4Y6TRdxdnA4/s1600/fox+news+logo+blue.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 275px; height: 183px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3bU9TUpfuDrBzhtj954KOYwzE-GpbnEFspCQxpHovXPn9N542-ShgghFxsmyvUcIH7QQnVOcI4chFAk0a-P3JLJ_NPSfu3ap3BK99HyWq0L2PRn7kAwyAUkSoIbhp2viW4Y6TRdxdnA4/s400/fox+news+logo+blue.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5590650927546271442" border="0" /></a>But now it's time to turn the page. As you surely have noticed, I've been taking a bit of a break from the day to day posting as of late, but I haven't exactly been sitting on my hands. Now that my agent has officially consummated the deal, I'm free to disclose that FOX NEWS is bringing me on board as a regular commentator in their new blogger series <span style="font-style: italic;">America, Hell Yeah! Fair and Balanced</span> ™ set to debut this summer on FOXNEWS.com. My contract runs through November 6th, 2012 - election day - with an option year if FOX decides to continue the series. (I'm keeping my fingers crossed!)<br /><br />What turned out to be a pretty involved process all started back in early January when FOX contacted me about trying out for this gig along with, as I found out later on, over 200 other bloggers. Turns out, the producer has been following my writing on the New American Village blog since she came across one of my very early posts from about three years back (which is about 100 in blogger years) entitled <a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/search?q=pornography">Strip Tease</a> where I lead off with the observation that "strip malls are the pornography of real estate development."<br /><br />After a winnowing out period over the next few weeks where I submitted about a dozen pithy shoot-from-the-hip mock blog posts on given topics, I made the the interview cut and FOX flew me to New York for a week where, in what I can only imagine to be an American Idol-style circus of an audition, I made the final cut along with Ed Begley, Jr. for the sustainability guy slot.<br /><br />Maybe it was the adrenalin rush from being in New York, or possibly my new prescription of adderall, but I was so "on" that week. My lucky break came when they told us we had to think of a special original project that would get our topic across to the FOX audience in a unique, entertaining way. It just so happened that Sarah Palin was there taping something or other so I approached her about doing a weekly one photo /one caption dueling commentary on sustainability that I'm calling <span style="font-style: italic;">Sustain This, America!</span>™<br /><br />To my delight, she was quite enthusiastic about the idea (I don't care what you've heard about SP, she's really a lot of fun) so we grabbed a cameraman, ducked into a studio and took a few quick stills while hand writing our captions on a post-it note. Bang, bang, the technical guys there slapped a few samples together over the course of the next hour or so, and I made my pitch. The shot that blew everybody away was on the topic of conservation where her caption was "Enough Said." I don't think her impromptu pose will wind up in the series, but let me tell you, witnessing it was one of the highlights of my life. (I'm pretty sure the FCC, at least with the composition of its current board, doesn't let TV networks show full moons, at least not without a stiff fine.) Don't get any bright ideas web surfers; her handlers were pretty adamant about keeping that image under lock and key along with her crotch grab for the domestic drilling commentary with strict no-publish orders until "a time and place of her choosing."<br /><br />So there I was, sitting in a room with Ed Begley, Jr. (what a stick in the mud!) where Rupert Murdoch himself had been brought in to make the the final decision. As Mr. Murdoch was going on and on about what he expected out of this project, Ed Begley all off a sudden just started shaking his head and saying "bullshit, bullshit, this is all bullshit" and he got up and stormed out of the room. Well, at that point, I was sure that Begley, the polished actor he is, was creating a big drama just for show to land the part, and it got pretty confusing as they all rushed out after him trying to convince him to stay on, even to the point of offering the spot to him right there in the hallway. But he told them to "go to hell" and left so they offered me the job.<br /><br />So, starting this summer, I'll be posting regularly at FOXNEWS.com on sustainability issues. They've also got me lined up to be a regular guest (piped in from WXXV on the coast) hucking it up with Mike Huckabee on his show (I guess this means he's seriously not considering a run for the presidency), occasionally going toe to toe with Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck, and chitchatting with what seems to me to be an endless cast of sexy blond anchors all trying to - as Mr. Murdoch put it - "knock this guy off of his talking points."<br /><br />I'm pumped!!!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Note to long-time readers: Unfortunately, and my agent said I had no choice in this matter, FOX NEWS demanded that I change the name of the blog from "the New American Village" to "the New American Suburb." </span><span style="font-style: italic;"> (Truthfully, considering the size of the compensation package, I really don't give a damn what they call it.) So come summer, please reset your bookmarks to foxnews.com/newamericansuburb and join in on all the FOXed-up fun. See you there!<br /></span>James Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-65935622361011245972010-12-07T09:52:00.003-06:002010-12-22T22:26:09.827-06:00Pamphleteer in Purgatory<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8upvGjI48CEzVwuo1-pXQtAqAv7GRTRmOaMo2nvfqaS4MybfzRnkE0gf9yTeno4g5ReRZHjMxXpeFHZ6LqiODP8muP5PeInnTrwIsX7wQtYMDX1tWSy9Dx4rsesAPZUIOjp1zHaeeo6Q/s1600/DSCN1437.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 420px; height: 330px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8upvGjI48CEzVwuo1-pXQtAqAv7GRTRmOaMo2nvfqaS4MybfzRnkE0gf9yTeno4g5ReRZHjMxXpeFHZ6LqiODP8muP5PeInnTrwIsX7wQtYMDX1tWSy9Dx4rsesAPZUIOjp1zHaeeo6Q/s400/DSCN1437.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553719597414770098" border="0" /></a>Dear Readers,<br /><br />I'll be back shortly after the new year, refreshed and rejuvenated, and with some luck, something to say.<br /><br />Meanwhile, I invite you to explore three years of essays, photos, and insights. Come on, take a chance. Type something into the search box and maybe you'll get lucky. <br /><br />Or check out my series of photo essays on the buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright. Lots of original photos, a few observations, a couple of films, and at least one drawing by yours truly.<br /><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2010/06/frank-lloyd-wright-week-part-1.html">Part 1</a><br /><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2010/06/frank-lloyd-wright-week-part-2.html">Part 2</a><br /><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2010/06/frank-lloyd-wright-week-part-3.html">Part 3</a><br /><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2010/06/ive-wanted-to-see-frank-lloyd-wrights.html">Part 4</a><br /><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2010/06/frank-lloyd-wright-week-part-5.html">Part 5</a><br /><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2010/06/frank-lloyd-wright-week-part-6.html">Part 6</a><br /><br />Thank you for visiting my blog. See you in 2011!<br /><br />James PolkJames Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-28666169531409732592010-09-28T08:19:00.002-05:002010-09-28T08:31:04.168-05:00What is Sustainability?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQXJ5GTLRytDrfDqsTs101z4ybZYFm37VY-U1gD__-_NKivKuH0PN7_HOr63sZNOoaNQB5Tw5fwrDGxwjCW3TYyu5U4qxOCsebcAkkZXlkDTZUZwVLKo25GhhR23tm0s0kTaq49j1z2vU/s1600/lily+natural+redux.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 420px; height: 283px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQXJ5GTLRytDrfDqsTs101z4ybZYFm37VY-U1gD__-_NKivKuH0PN7_HOr63sZNOoaNQB5Tw5fwrDGxwjCW3TYyu5U4qxOCsebcAkkZXlkDTZUZwVLKo25GhhR23tm0s0kTaq49j1z2vU/s400/lily+natural+redux.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521956110011579890" border="0" /></a><br /><!--[if gte mso 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priority="32" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Intense Reference"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="33" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Book Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="37" name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style: italic;">This week's newspaper column: <a href="http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20109270328">(Read it in the Hattiesburg American.)</a> </span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">The concept of sustainability has been sustaining the earth for as long as it’s been around – that’s why this planet is still here.<span style=""> </span>Yet there seems to be some disagreement among twenty-first century humans about the meaning of sustainability.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Some people claim that sustainability is a collection of costly boutique solutions only affordable to the extravagantly wealthy for the sole purpose of elevating guilt about how their retched excesses are allegedly destroying the planet. <span style=""> </span>Wrong.<span style=""> </span>Sustainability is not an isolated tactical solution here and there; it is set of interdependent principles that work to sustain the life of the planet and its inhabitants.<span style=""> </span>Here are a few hopefully-not-so-boring concepts:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sustainability is self-perpetuating.<span style=""> </span>In a sustainable world, life goes on naturally as the decayed remains of the old feed the next generation of growth.<span style=""> </span>In a sustainable world, there is no waste to be buried in a landfill.<span style=""> </span>The last phase of one cycle is the first phase of another.<span style=""> </span>As architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart put it so poetically in their classic book “Cradle to Cradle” - waste equals food.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sustainability is holistic.<span style=""> </span>Isolated solutions are inconsistent with sustainable practices. <span style=""> </span>The history of man is full of unintended consequences<span style=""> </span>as a result of isolated solutions.<span style=""> </span>Use DDT to control pesky mosquitoes and you wind up killing humans,<span style=""> </span>channelize a river to prevent floods and you deplete rich farmland of important replenishing nutrients, kill off a species here and another codependent species dies off, and the list goes on and on.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Even when it’s not apparent, decisions in our physical world are never truly in isolation .<span style=""> </span>In a highly sustainable environment, everything is connected to everything.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sustainability is organic and dynamic, and nature is the best example of sustainable growth.<span style=""> </span>In nature, growth happens where renewable resources abound.<span style=""> </span>In the wild, diversity is a constant.<span style=""> </span>Life flourishes when multiple species of flora and fauna exist in close proximity.<span style=""> </span>Nature encourages integration and coexistence.<span style=""> </span>The most sustainable places on earth are where, naturally, the greatest diversity occurs.<span style=""> </span>A suburban lawn - limited by choice and Roundup weed killer to one grass species - by contrast, is one of the least sustainable micro-systems on earth.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sustainability takes the long view, and is not necessarily efficient in the short run.<span style=""> </span>“Slash and burn” expediency has quickly enriched many a businessman, and the pressure of tomorrow’s stock price is no friend of green solutions, but sustainability is the one thing that is essential for our long-term survival.<span style=""> </span>Non-sustainable solutions are like sparklers: <span style=""> </span>fast spectacular burn - then nothing.<span style=""> </span>Sustainable solutions, by nature, endure and become stronger with the passage of time.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">And most important, sustainable solutions are not necessarily costly.<span style=""> </span>In fact, Mother Nature has been providing no-cost solutions long before humans lurched at the reins.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>By taking our lessons from nature, we have a ready roadmap to all things sustainable.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>Put away your GPS and, instead, take a good look at the world around you.</p>James Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-91749873252182983032010-08-30T10:42:00.002-05:002010-08-30T10:46:59.652-05:00Compost This<span style="font-style: italic;">This weeks newspaper column: <a href="http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20108300307">(Read it in the Hattiesburg American.)</a></span>
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<![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">My tomato plants lived a long and fruitful life.<span style=""> </span>May they rest in pieces … in the compost pile. <span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">More and more, people are starting their own backyard compost piles. <span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Far from being a Johnny-come-lately idea, humans have practiced various forms of composting for millennia.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Early farmers found that a mix of animal waste, straw, crop residues and other organic material would gradually turn into a rich, fertile, soil-like substance that was very good for growing crops.<span style=""> </span>Archeological evidence shows signs of deliberate composting in Mesopotamia a thousand years before the birth of Moses, and George Washington - father of our country – was so much a proponent of compost that he constructed a special structure solely devoted to composting.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What is compost anyway?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">When green organic material – grass clipping, table scraps, animal waste, etc. – containing large amounts of nitrogen are combined with brown organic material – dried leaves, wood chips, etc. – that have lots of carbon, a curious thing happens.<span style=""> </span>Microscopic bacteria and fungi go to work to speed up the decomposing process, and the material breaks down into a dark, fertile blend.<span style=""> </span>Mother Nature does this all the time; active composting just speeds up the process.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">So what are the advantages of composting?<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">When added to the soil in your garden, compost supplies necessary nutrients lessening the need for synthetic petroleum-based fertilizers.<span style=""> </span>The highly organic nature of compost holds moisture keeping your garden from drying out too quickly on hot summer days.<span style=""> </span>And the loose structure of compost helps aerate your soil facilitating healthier plant growth.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">On a broader scale, what goes into the compost bin does not have to be picked up, transported, and buried in a landfill.<span style=""> </span>The Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that lawn clippings and table scraps comprise over a quarter of all the waste that winds up in American landfills.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>And who pays for that?<span style=""> </span>You do. <span style=""> </span>In an age of clamor for smaller government and lower taxes, composting on a grand scale can reduce public expenditures.<span style=""> </span>Many cities in the US have instituted city-wide composting programs that are reducing the cost of trash pick-up and disposal.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">You can purchase a home composter, and there are plenty of good ones on the market, but if you’re a budget-minded do-it-yourselfer, you may want to consider making one.<span style=""> </span>All you really need is about a three foot by three foot space in your back yard.<span style=""> </span>Choose a location that is convenient to your garden, has good drainage and has at least partial shade.<span style=""> </span>You can construct a bin out of wood and chicken wire, but it really can be as simple as layering dried leaves and table scraps on the ground.<span style=""> </span>Turn the bin or stir the pile regularly to keep it well oxygenated, and if it dries out, add a little water.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Think about starting a compost pile when you turn in this summer’s garden.<span style=""> </span>Add table scraps, fall’s falling leaves, and even this newspaper, and by spring, you’ll have a healthy and inexpensive head start for your next garden.</p>
<br />James Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-74865086583722296012010-08-16T07:17:00.001-05:002010-08-16T07:20:39.940-05:00A More Perfect UnionThis week's newspaper column: <a href="http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20100816/NEWS01/8160318/1002/A-more-perfect-union">(Read it in the Hattiesburg American)</a>
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<![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">“Be the change you want to see in the world.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">When taken to heart and followed up with action, this is one of the most empowering and result-generating quotes I’ve ever come across.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Of course, these words of wisdom were uttered by a meek, 90 pound man who was credited with breaking the will of the mighty British Empire and gaining independence for the nation of India - one Mahatma Gandhi.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">On a more personal level, some years ago I was with a friend and mentor of mine – architect and futurist Doug Michels – when someone asked him if he was going to attend the big protest for I-can’t-remember-quite-what.<span style=""> </span>He replied, “Absolutely not.<span style=""> </span>People can protest if they want – I really don’t care – but I don’t think it does any good.”<span style=""> </span>Doug went on to say, “I spend my time designing the world I’d like to see and I think that makes a much bigger impact.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Imagine what TV news would be like if, instead of criticizing the motivations and actions of others, talking heads offered up discussions about their vision of the future and provided solutions to the issues of the day.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Imagine the richness of the discussion if, instead of flame-throwing accusations and hyperbolizing about how the other guy’s policies are going to destroy everything, we had real visionaries collaborating in good spirit on ideas of how to make our lives better. <span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>I gave up television years ago exactly because of the divisiveness it fosters, but that would be television worth watching!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">But divisiveness – “compare and contrast” is the gentle euphemism used most often – is what drives TV ratings, you say?<span style=""> </span>Maybe so.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Not politically smart, you say?<span style=""> </span>Maybe so again.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>But where has this intellectual food fight in the form of constant criticism and assailed motives gotten us as a nation?<span style=""> </span>Not very far.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>In fact, the more divisive we become, the more it seems we move backwards as a society.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I am old enough now to notice a discernable change in the way people argue.<span style=""> </span>Once upon a time, there was an openness to ideas and a more collegial give-and-take when it came to debating issues.<span style=""> </span>Now, it seems that arguments are more like football games:<span style=""> </span>“My team is for this and your team is for that and I’m never for anything your team is for because we’re locked in mortal combat.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Go team go!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">For a change of pace, try forgetting completely what you don’t like about something or someone, and detach from ‘who’s for this’ and ‘who’s for that,’ and focus on the things you would like to see in the world.<span style=""> </span>You may find that you have much more in common with those you oppose than you think.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">When ‘show me your birth certificate’ is replaced with ‘show me your vision, and by the way, here’s mine,’ we’ll be well on the way to realizing a more perfect union.</p>
<br />James Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-70415890893659684982010-08-06T12:32:00.006-05:002010-08-09T10:38:00.916-05:00Feng SHe Launches Today<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh45h6hTbLaxeacUZDs5W7IHksRHRBRwfJzu_T2gTGNM7ofBK1kIpbxsErHEWfzpAvdmY0EezKiV2WC5guk0jMrYLpoJBk12Gu3AsEta0ru6HbZQ0Z5OykRywBwLO1RSEl4Ko_dODFL7jI/s1600/logo.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 420px; height: 146px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh45h6hTbLaxeacUZDs5W7IHksRHRBRwfJzu_T2gTGNM7ofBK1kIpbxsErHEWfzpAvdmY0EezKiV2WC5guk0jMrYLpoJBk12Gu3AsEta0ru6HbZQ0Z5OykRywBwLO1RSEl4Ko_dODFL7jI/s400/logo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502351467853286338" border="0" /></a><br />There's excitement in the air. Today is the launch of a brand new website devoted to achieving a balance of masculine and feminine energies in all areas of our lives. It's called <a href="http://fengshe.org/FengSHe_WhatIsFS.html">Feng SHe</a>.<br /><br />And, I'm delighted to announce that I was selected as a regular contributor to the site. I'll have a weekly column exploring aspects of feminine/masculine balance in all areas creative. <a href="http://www.fengshe.org/FengSHe_8gate.html">Click on the Creativity icon to read my articles.</a><br /><br />So please click in to <a href="http://fengshe.org/">FengSHe.org</a> on a regular basis and join the discussion.<br /><br />Directly from the heart - thank you!<br /><br />James PolkJames Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-65485449183365045842010-08-02T07:49:00.004-05:002010-08-02T11:45:57.908-05:00Buck Up, America<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQLLGyaHET3SsqP-18tz_H2tZ0q_QMt7f9aCmK1dsOKDFrp5S9Is3Dl0N6crJNdT9rim-bJFBNNjNBSqsfn2VeivFITpTDd4JTN8uIvknvKDHEjcnnOckRWdwjv-UdnOVMKJBYPZNP9x8/s1600/img459.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 420px; height: 128px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQLLGyaHET3SsqP-18tz_H2tZ0q_QMt7f9aCmK1dsOKDFrp5S9Is3Dl0N6crJNdT9rim-bJFBNNjNBSqsfn2VeivFITpTDd4JTN8uIvknvKDHEjcnnOckRWdwjv-UdnOVMKJBYPZNP9x8/s400/img459.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500854161218237746" border="0" /></a>
<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">This week's newspaper column: (Read it in the Hattiesburg American.)</span>
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<![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">“If you think you can, or if you think you can’t, either way, you’re right.”<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Attributed to Henry Ford, this is one of my favorite quotes, and it’s especially applicable to the current debate over fossil fuels and renewable energies. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Voices arguing against moving away from traditional dirty energies – most notably oil, gas, and coal – in the direction of clean energies proclaim that running America on renewable energy is a pipe dream, a fantasy – “pie in the sky!"</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">But I ask you:<span style=""> </span>Whatever happened to that good old American “can do” spirit?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">True, Henry Ford took a lot of ribbing for his idea of bringing horseless carriages to the mass market.<span style=""> </span>(The buggy whip manufacturers were especially skeptical.) <span style=""> </span>“What a silly idea,” they said.<span style=""> </span>“Who would want to ride around in one of those things?<span style=""> </span>They’re too expensive. <span style=""> </span>They’re ugly. <span style=""> </span>There are not enough roads to handle automobiles.<span style=""> </span>They can’t possibly work for everybody.<span style=""> </span>Pie in the sky!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">But we got over it, and by the mid-twentieth century, the automobile had transitioned from pipe dream to the American dream. <span style=""> </span>And the buggy whip manufacturers somehow managed to make the transition too.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">And now look at us arguing against our own ingenuity once again.<span style=""> </span>This time, it’s not horseless carriages taking the brunt of the mocking criticism, it’s solar panels and wind turbines and alternative energy technologies we’ve only begun to explore.<span style=""> </span>I don’t believe for a moment that we, as a society, are incapable of transitioning to clean energies; it’s simply a matter of will.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The vision of a clean-running America may very well be out of reach for those who close their minds off to the infinite creative possibilities lying ahead of us.<span style=""> </span>But American innovation can only be throttled for so long.<span style=""> </span>Eventually, either we advance as a nation, or we’ll be leapfrogged by the rest of the world.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>China, with its substantial investment in renewable energies, sustainable cities, and high-speed rail is on the verge of doing just that.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">But everybody isn’t quite as down on renewable energies as are the current crop of nay-saying politicians and oil men.<span style=""> </span>Right now, all across the US, in garages and labs, innovators and entrepreneurs are positioning themselves to be the next Henry Ford – this time, in the area of renewable clean energy. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">That’s why I’m optimistic about the future of renewable energy.<span style=""> </span>That’s why, regardless of all the negative talk, regardless of all the “here’s why we can’t” diatribes, this country is about to go through a fundamental revolution in the way we produce and use energy, and we’ll all be better off. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Years from now, our children will look back and wonder why we put it off for so long.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<br />James Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-33393480565553809642010-07-19T10:13:00.002-05:002010-07-19T10:19:15.330-05:00Food For Thought<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSPZwTlqKgMGAZrbpjaK7QWmtM9172JCtF3wXKsGJhIIu5BvgS4mEwXVIvMnoJIALgbwhyphenhyphen9sR8ybjiTlQkva47MoExD1EPjsPToi0tXMV3UQZbPm8rpR8rpEDOEnpbFkKvNA8StDV3flI/s1600/local+food.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 421px; height: 315px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSPZwTlqKgMGAZrbpjaK7QWmtM9172JCtF3wXKsGJhIIu5BvgS4mEwXVIvMnoJIALgbwhyphenhyphen9sR8ybjiTlQkva47MoExD1EPjsPToi0tXMV3UQZbPm8rpR8rpEDOEnpbFkKvNA8StDV3flI/s400/local+food.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495636979111859538" border="0" /></a>
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<![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style: italic;">This week's newspaper column: </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20100719/NEWS01/7190328/1002/This-is-food-for-thought">(Read it in the Hatteisburg American)</a>
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<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Most Americans are very sure they know exactly where their food comes from:<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>the Grocery Store. <span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">That’s right.<span style=""> </span>We drive to the supermarket when convenient and fill ever-larger shopping carts with seemingly endless varieties of familiar and exotic edible offerings.<span style=""> </span>And why not? <span style=""> </span>It’s easy and predictable.<span style=""> </span>Today’s corporate agribusinesses have become so very efficient at factory farming, processing, and the logistics of moving things from place to place that it’s no wonder most citizens are disconnected from the source of one of our most essential necessities of life - food.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Of course, much of what is on grocery shelves isn’t exactly food, or at least not simply food as we would recognize it growing on the earth.<span style=""> </span>Most groceries might be more accurately described as a “food-like products.” <span style=""> </span>Look at the list of ingredients on the packaging and you will find dyes, hydrogenated oils, and chemical preservatives - which humans would never consider eating otherwise - inserted for the sake appearance or for extending shelf life of food that was grown half a continent, if not half a world, away. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The result?<span style=""> </span>A high calorie, low nutrition American diet that is, in part, responsible for record levels of obesity and ill-health.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">It wasn’t always this way.<span style=""> </span>Up until the mid-twentieth century, most of the food we ate was grown within a one-day driving distance.<span style=""> </span>The pre-World War II landscape was full of family farms.<span style=""> </span>Outside every city, town, and burg was farmland, with much of the crop going to feed local appetites.<span style=""> </span>If you did not grow up on a farm, you certainly knew someone who did.<span style=""> </span>People were connected to the source of their food, and fresh seasonal produce always graced the dinner table.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Now I’m not saying we should get rid of grocery stores; they are quite essential.<span style=""> </span>But there are many sustainable reasons to eat locally grown food.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Let’s take a quick tally.<span style=""> </span>1) Locally grown food uses less fossil fuel getting to market, 2) fresh fruits and vegetables are healthier than packaged foods, and 3) buying locally grown food supports your local economy possibly keeping your would-be deadbeat friends employed.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">My favorite reason to eat locally grown foods is the taste.<span style=""> </span>Go to a farmers’ market and load up on freshly picked tomatoes, bite into a raw crisp green bean, take home some succulent zuccinni and eggplant to stir-fry – you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more delicious meal.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">It’s hard to have a conversation about eating locally without addressing the reality that fruits and vegetables are seasonal by nature.<span style=""> </span>But instead of thinking about what isn’t available at some point in the year, get excited about what is in season.<span style=""> </span>In summer, celebrate watermelons and tomatoes.<span style=""> </span>In winter, enjoy cabbage and broccoli.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">So a little food for thought:<span style=""> </span>What local food can you incorporate into your diet?<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span></p> James Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-48262855803204733912010-07-18T16:49:00.004-05:002010-07-18T16:57:19.074-05:00Are you Happy?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlfcw-FQ2jKx2iw7u5fVb5oQ48QAiF8Z8JHYkvvBqWa0HCscroqANbYDOjxug_fT3fPMzhLiVGhOtxYKMlktstTtTuo9Zy1XxeNTgGP32dJVF4nHIfVPzxx6bleLc1lqTIWK6UMLhZNgY/s1600/Are+you+Happy+flowchart.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 419px; height: 592px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlfcw-FQ2jKx2iw7u5fVb5oQ48QAiF8Z8JHYkvvBqWa0HCscroqANbYDOjxug_fT3fPMzhLiVGhOtxYKMlktstTtTuo9Zy1XxeNTgGP32dJVF4nHIfVPzxx6bleLc1lqTIWK6UMLhZNgY/s400/Are+you+Happy+flowchart.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495367266827930898" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">Image: <em>Meiklejohn and Alex H/34</em></span><br /><br /><br />At last, a user-friendly flow chart for that eternal question: Are you happy? <br /><br />Are you?<br /><br />.James Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-73143684007780894492010-07-04T10:15:00.006-05:002010-07-04T10:46:26.161-05:00Declaration of Energy Independence<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx_lkNeN3JoHSaKoZgffdDq7kYfZTwSv2QSWw7Mt6smeVh_K1WUpSxGSdH_v6JgYFgo0rdVpHHWSYXWjqAXu7Ro4vqWABJHl5E29UrXMhUQiBgV6nn250o6w20tqb7uI3eXJZjShq6xc4/s1600/trumbull-large1.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 420px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx_lkNeN3JoHSaKoZgffdDq7kYfZTwSv2QSWw7Mt6smeVh_K1WUpSxGSdH_v6JgYFgo0rdVpHHWSYXWjqAXu7Ro4vqWABJHl5E29UrXMhUQiBgV6nn250o6w20tqb7uI3eXJZjShq6xc4/s400/trumbull-large1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490070492988327730" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Image: American painter John Trumbell, The Declaration of Independence (1795)</span></span>
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style="font-size: 12pt;font-family:";font-size:12;" >For the want, will, and hopes of the people, and with acknowledgments to Thomas Jefferson and the Second Continental Congress, I submit to you this Declaration of Energy Independence.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;font-family:";font-size:12;" ><span style="font-size:180%;">W</span>HEN in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the Emotional and Economic bonds which have connected them with a destructive Energy Policy,</span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" > </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;font-family:";font-size:12;" >a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should chart a New Course. </span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;font-family:";font-size:12;" >We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Energy sources are not created equal, that they are endowed by their Nature with certain identifiable Costs and Characteristics that affect Life (Sustainability), Liberty (Energy Independence) and the pursuit of Happiness. </span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;font-family:";font-size:12;" >That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Women and Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, -- That whenever any Form of Energy production becomes destructive to these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a policy of Alternative Energy production, laying its foundation on sustainable principles and organizing its Powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their Safety and Happiness. </span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;font-family:";font-size:12;" >The history of the present Energy Policy is a history of repeated Environmental and Economic injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over their Quality of Life. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.</span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;font-family:";font-size:12;" >The current Energy Policy of these United States of America:</span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;font-family:";font-size:12;" >Has shackled the People with economic burdens of relentless and unpredictable spikes in the cost of Energy;</span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;font-family:";font-size:12;" >Has enriched certain Corporate entities while placing great strain on the Livelihood of the Citizens and the Health of their Planet;</span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;font-family:";font-size:12;" >Has fostered social habits among the Citizens so as to constitute addiction to and dependence on Non-Renewable Energy resources;</span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;font-family:";font-size:12;" >Has placed their Economic fortunes in the hands of rogue despots and unfriendly nations having control of oil and gas supplies;</span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;font-family:";font-size:12;" >Has influenced aggressive invasions of foreign lands by their Elected officials resulting in loss of life and limb and treasure and good will; </span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;font-family:";font-size:12;" >Has discouraged and downplayed the viability of Alternative Energies, and has underestimated the ingenuity of the Citizens of the United States;</span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;font-family:";font-size:12;" >And, by its short-sightedness, has caused the deterioration of the Health, Welfare and Well-Being of the American People.</span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;font-family:";font-size:12;" >We, therefore, the Citizens of the United States of America solemnly publish and declare, That the People are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent of all forms of Imported and Non-Sustainable Energy, and That the goal of Energy Independence shall be a National priority, and That the elected Leaders of the People shall act with urgency, intelligence, and resolve to achieve real and lasting Energy Independence.</span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> James Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-25487076523792978432010-06-30T07:20:00.005-05:002010-06-30T10:42:43.042-05:00Retrofitting Suburbia<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.ted.com/talks/ellen_dunham_jones_retrofitting_suburbia.html?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2010-06-29&utm_campaign=newsletter_weekly&utm_medium=email"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 423px; height: 249px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhotWqayQwqQw0mXflNFm5jSKKyW6GGeqTCO9g2D2nIddJAP5YuZNJG7zJh8ElUK3rnM0roTzFQJgrDmnvT1yGPi05sz5vNUfRjaPtjvsEPCYHsxVewc8L7xD8BdUm8_VeWzUsn71nz-xc/s400/underdevelped+asphalt.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488546672782490930" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhIrIFpI_pcGAcXlRRxawbHyKUK-7GhY2ciJpxYts9-vO7Gst0cKgkkmAQeoU7BhNpTl7KloxHhjhYenYdrljBkrxS7iS-AfHTR_iad8UxMJsHfNqx8HZQIrL0gl8yFUbgaRNM0eakscg/s1600/n29939207705_3105.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 143px; height: 143px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhIrIFpI_pcGAcXlRRxawbHyKUK-7GhY2ciJpxYts9-vO7Gst0cKgkkmAQeoU7BhNpTl7KloxHhjhYenYdrljBkrxS7iS-AfHTR_iad8UxMJsHfNqx8HZQIrL0gl8yFUbgaRNM0eakscg/s400/n29939207705_3105.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488544622988821842" border="0" /></a><br />Ellen Dunham-Jones, director of the architecture program at Georgia Tech, has done quite a bit of research on retrofitting suburbia. In her new book - <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Retrofitting-Suburbia/29939207705?v=wall#%21/pages/Retrofitting-Suburbia/29939207705?v=info">Retrofitting Suburbia</a> - written with co-author June Williamson, solutions for revitalizing "under-performing" sprawl spaces are explored and documented.<br /><a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/ellen_dunham_jones_retrofitting_suburbia.html?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2010-06-29&utm_campaign=newsletter_weekly&utm_medium=email"><br />Click here to view a fascinating TED talk by Dunham-Jones on reclaiming the suburbs.</a><br /><br />.James Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-50299273844699895912010-06-27T12:00:00.007-05:002010-06-27T17:39:57.114-05:00A New Evangelical Environmentalism?I came across an interesting blog post this morning <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128130198">(prompted by a story on NPR)</a> by Dr. Russell Moore, Dean of the School of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. It's a bit of a mea culpa on the evangelical movement's history of hostility toward the environmental movement.<br /><br />It has always confounded me that religious leaders, especially southern evangelicals, have enthusiastically adopted the amoral (and in many cases immoral) political and cultural positions of free-market corporate interests and the politicians who shill for them.<br /><br />A little background: As a child, my parents - both staunch Southern Baptists - shuttled our family to church at least 3 times a week. It was a ritual. We were prompt for Sunday School at 9:45 followed by church at 11, plus Sunday night services and Wednesday night Prayer Meeting. Sometimes, we met on Thursday night as well. Consequently, I became quite a student of the Bible.<br /><br />I was a curious child. When I was in my early teens, I procured a Greek New Testament; as a closer link to the original text, I figured the translation would be more accurate than the standard King James Version we were required to own and read. My earnestness led me to seek out and focus on the teachings of Jesus since, in Sunday School we had learned that Jesus often corrected misguide disciples - the guys who allegedly authored most of the New Testament - when they offered their misunderstanding of his teachings.<br /><br />Ironically, that practice is exactly what led me to move away from the Baptist Church as I found a disconnect between many of the teachings of Jesus and the political positions of the church. (That and the fact that, when I served as choir director in a splinter church at the age of 17, the deacons asked me to leave because the music was getting "a little to fast and a little to loud." Another ironic turn of events as today's rock-and-roll praise bands, in comparison, make my efforts to liven up Calvinist hymns seem extraordinarily tame. But that's another story.)<br /><br />For example, according to the New Testament, Jesus imparted such wisdom as 1) don't attack your enemies, love them, 2) give money to the poor, feed the hungry, and clothe the naked, 3) don't judge people, 4) associate with people society frowns upon, and 5) don't covet wealth or turn the church into a business. Sounds a little to the left of Dennis Kucinich, doesn't it? Could you imagine any presidential candidate that ran on this platform getting any significant votes from the evangelical community? Hardly. In fact, evangelical Christians would most likely be the first to crucify - politically speaking - any candidate for public office who campaigned on these very issues.<br /><br />And in terms of environmental awareness and stewardship, evangelical Christians have been almost uniformly hostile, increasingly so over the past couple of decades. More than one person has suggested that evangelical philosophy is this: "Jesus is coming soon to rapture the saved, so why take care of the environment since we won't be here to witness the devastation?" I don't really believe many evangelicals take this callous position. I think it's more the case that evangelicals adopted the worldview of free market secular forces who agreed with them on a small handful of hot-button political issues such as abortion. Over time, many evangelicals co-opted the inhumane social and environmental positions of so-called market conservatives they otherwise would have nothing in common with.<br /><br />Cultural conservatives and religion were not always such cozy bedfellows. As recently as the mid-twentieth century, most religious leaders leaned more to the liberal side of the aisle, using biblical texts to underpin their political positions. In my opinion, this country (and the world) has suffered greatly because of organized religion's radical right shift away from many of the basic humanitarian principles laid out by the very guy - Jesus Christ - they named the religion after, and the religions establishment hasn't done itself any favors.<br /><br />There's an evangelical bumper sticker that's been around for some time now: "Love the sinner, Hate the sin." I think when it comes to many evangelical Christians, the slogan might as well be, "Love the messenger, Hate the message."<br /><br />So it comes as a refreshing turn that Dr. Moore is openly addressing this disconnect. A few excerpts:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"Every human culture is formed in a tie with the natural environment. In my hometown, that’s the father passing down his shrimping boat to his son or the community gathering for the Blessing of the Fleet at the harbor every year. In a Midwestern town, it might be the apple festival. In a New England town, it might be the traditions of whalers or oystermen. The West is defined by the frontier and the mountains. And so on.<br /><br /></span> <p style="font-style: italic;">When the natural environment is used up, unsustainable for future generations, cultures die. When Gulfs are dead, when mountaintops are removed, when forests are razed with nothing left in their place, when deer populations disappear, cultures die too.<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">And what’s left in the place of these cultures and traditions is an individualism that is defined simply by the appetites for sex, violence, and piling up stuff.</span>"</p><p style="font-style: italic;"><br /></p><p>Sounds almost like a public service announcement from the Sierra Club, doesn't it? <a href="http://www.russellmoore.com/2010/06/01/ecological-catastrophe-and-the-uneasy-evangelical-conscience/">Check out Dr. Russell Moore's complete post on his blog - Moore to the Point - here.</a></p>James Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-938188861370320172010-06-26T10:25:00.007-05:002010-06-26T10:56:14.501-05:00Walkable Neighborhood InterviewThursday morning, as a part of Mississippi Public Broadcasting's week-long "Battle of the Bulge" series, I was interviewed on the topic of how walkable neighborhoods facilitate better health. (Or, if you will, how the lack of walkable neighborhoods contribute to the problem of obesity.)<br /><br /><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=b5aa4a38c6&view=att&th=1296a5a647e787cf&attid=0.1&disp=attd&zw">Click here for a link to the interview.</a><br /><br />If you wish to help bring about a walkable environment in your city, town, or neighborhood, <a href="http://www.walklive.org/?page_id=276">here is a comprehensive series of links to walkable neighborhood resources</a> from walklive.org.<br /><br />.James Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-27115680559691040572010-06-23T09:31:00.007-05:002010-06-23T10:43:11.906-05:00Battle of the Bulge<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mpbonline.org/radio/MPBRadioBattletheBulge.htm"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 420px; height: 223px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEu8l_ReLiTlXgkxCaJnqN2ZN02aHLep68yBjcPw5hhaBWuL-egDBF2-SZfs3eNPK9BEoZw7SjwNnRSEAhh-1wf-iN-l7xfmKnfefippjVAPYmyWrCCaf9ipgikQ-6TuvYSkauTWn1FeU/s400/Battle+of+the+Bulge.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485982928250342994" border="0" /></a><br />Mississippi is home to the most obese people in the world. That's right. The fattest people in the world, on average, reside within the state lines of this small (3 million people) southern state.<br /><br />I'm not bringing up the point to slam Mississippi. I was born in Mississippi. I grew up in Mississippi. Although I've lived other places, I'm here now and have spent the majority of my life living in Mississippi. So it's like family; I can talk about the "unmentionables."<br /><br />Why is Mississippi so fat?<br /><br />Sure there's the fried food, the fast food, and the proliferation of packaged foods available in the Wal-Marts dotting every little small town in the state. There's also the low level of education - Mississippi perennially grades lowest in the nation on any number of education statistics - which comes into play as the general population is less likely to have the honed critical thinking skills necessary for making the connection between diet and exercise and good physical health.<br /><br />But there's another issue, seldom discussed when it comes to obesity, that contributes to obesity: the lack of walkable communities. When I moved back to Mississippi from Washington, DC, a very walkable city, I instantly gained 20 pounds. In Mississippi, as in most of America, the older walkable neighborhoods have been replaced by sprawling suburbs with no sidewalks and nowhere to walk to.<br /><br />I believe our national obesity problem can, in part, be traced to the way we've designed automobile-only neighborhoods that are hostile to walking and bicycling.<br /><br />This week, Mississippi Public Radio is featuring a series called <a href="http://mpbonline.org/radio/MPBRadioBattletheBulge.htm">"Battle of the Bulge"</a> with helpful information about staying healthy, fit, and thinner. Check it out.<br /><br />And here's a <a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2009/10/fat-people-dont-walk.html">link to "Fat People Dont' Walk - a recent article</a> I wrote on the relationship between obesity and non-walkable neighborhoods.James Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-55786820752236961382010-06-21T08:33:00.005-05:002010-06-21T09:02:51.446-05:00The Traditional Air Conditioner<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI6JRRBUwjbA1Dc1NEc4eGWqZyYJQHihCLob3c_Ov2d0nD09kR2MqZ6PusSgseD_9NvN5v7J2ToDoumEZHASDlOSff9x9iaIfDvGRKQOKLVJ0v53QZhGIQda7cbVn193EIYN0KrpPsNuw/s1600/MODERNDOGTROTSECTION3.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 420px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI6JRRBUwjbA1Dc1NEc4eGWqZyYJQHihCLob3c_Ov2d0nD09kR2MqZ6PusSgseD_9NvN5v7J2ToDoumEZHASDlOSff9x9iaIfDvGRKQOKLVJ0v53QZhGIQda7cbVn193EIYN0KrpPsNuw/s400/MODERNDOGTROTSECTION3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485222910417510594" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Design and Drawing by James Ray Polk, Architect</span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">This week's newspaper column: </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20100621/NEWS01/6210319/1002/Houses-once-built-to-act-as-air-conditioners">(Read it in the Hattiesburg American)</a>
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<![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">In spring, thoughts turn to love.<span style=""> </span>In summer – even for hopeless romantics - thoughts turn to air conditioning. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Nowadays, we Americans have all become accustomed to the expectation that every building must be equipped with air conditioning to mitigate the summer heat.<span style=""> </span>Air conditioning is as ubiquitous as walls, roof, and floor in any modern home.<span style=""> </span>Who could live without it?<span style=""> </span>I’ll tell you who:<span style=""> </span>our ancestors.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Now when I say ancestors, I’m not referring to Ice Age cave painters, I’m talking about our immediate predecessors.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>The first modern electric air conditioner was invented by Willis Haviland Carrier in 1902, barely over a century ago, and air conditioners did not become “standard equipment” in homes until after World War II.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">That means, most likely, everybody reading this article had parents, grandparents, or great grandparents who lived much of their lives in non-air conditioned houses.<span style=""> </span>How did they do it?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In short, houses were built to “be” air conditioners.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">You’ve probably noticed that older homes have tall ceilings.<span style=""> </span>Far from being a statement of high style, those ceilings had a purpose.<span style=""> </span>They helped cool a home in the summer by taking advantage of a basic law of physics called convection.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Hot air rises and cool air sinks, thus those high ceilings took into consideration the proportions of our human frame distributing the hottest air in the house to the empty space above the heads of its inhabitants.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Look closer at that vintage home and you’ll see transoms above the interior doorways.<span style=""> </span>Again, the origin of this detail had nothing to do with aesthetics.<span style=""> </span>Open the transoms in the summer months and hot air migrated from room to room until it escaped <span style=""> </span>through a high vent.<span style=""> </span>(The most elaborate vents took the form of ornate hat-shaped roof embellishments called cupolas.)<span style=""> </span>And as hot air escaped, the home naturally balanced the air pressure within by drawing cooler air through large low windows under shaded porches.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="">Presto! - natural </span>air conditioning.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Can we still do this today?<span style=""> </span>Of course!<span style=""> </span>It’s a simple matter of design.<span style=""> </span>It may be a lost art, but consider this:<span style=""> </span>any run-of-the-mill builder a century ago knew how to build a home that conditioned itself.<span style=""> </span>It’s not rocket science.<span style=""> </span>Although our reconstituted sensitivities to summer heat may require that electric air conditioning be utilized in the hottest parts of summer, especially at midday, a modern-day home can be cooled using this principle.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">So if you’re planning to build a new home or renovate an existing one, think about the air flow.<span style=""> </span>Use porches or landscaping to shade windows, install operable transoms, and allow the air to escape through a ceiling vent.<span style=""> </span>For added comfort, add a few ceiling fans to keep the air moving.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">You may not want to give up your central air, but with a little forethought, you can bring down the temperature and your summer electric bill – naturally.<span style=""> </span></p>
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<br />James Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com86tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-2033243221423607482010-06-14T08:03:00.004-05:002010-06-14T08:18:06.822-05:00Frank Lloyd Wright Week (part 6)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHdv2SjtsDRjofW76wrcEEC-6PKHQ5UxncgJzLo4w5CogK4YYgyEBzWUsDIgn3qd2-lE3f9bL23UmK1kQaTm-9kO85PkqjxiOhQjvXekJRsct68x1c-C5o0hbF05Kb3YS7-K6_QPngS4o/s1600/taliesin-timeline-broc_opt.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 420px; height: 473px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHdv2SjtsDRjofW76wrcEEC-6PKHQ5UxncgJzLo4w5CogK4YYgyEBzWUsDIgn3qd2-lE3f9bL23UmK1kQaTm-9kO85PkqjxiOhQjvXekJRsct68x1c-C5o0hbF05Kb3YS7-K6_QPngS4o/s400/taliesin-timeline-broc_opt.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482614521890510898" border="0" /></a><br />As much as I'd like to continue this series on the organic architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, it's time to turn the page and start another chapter.<br /><br />I'll wrap it up with a very cool "Taliesin Timeline" designed by former Taliesin apprentice Val M. Cox. This piece was conceived by Susan Lockhart, a senior apprentice who grew up in a Wright designed usonian house, spent a considerable portion of her adult life at Taliesin, and contributed mightily over many decades to the cause of organic architecture, and Gerald Morosco, apprentice, former CEO of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, and a wonderful architect in his own right practicing in Pittsburgh, PA.<br /><br /><br />The credit page reads:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">For the first time in the community's history, a presentation to acknowledge all who have lived and/or worked at Taliesin. As a result, information included in this installation now stands as a permanent record of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, available for access and enrichment for generations to come.</span><br /><br />This timeline documents the designs of Frank Lloyd Wright and Taliesin Architects by year and the individuals involved in various aspects of work and life at Taliesin over the past eight decades. A wealth of creative talent passed through this organic Mecca including Fay Jones, John Lautner, Kevin Lynch, and Paolo Soleri sending organic ripples throughout the world. If you look closely enough, you might even find the writer of this blog in the decade of the 2000's.<br /><br />Click on the links below to view the timeline decade by decade. Explore the richness of this country's organic architecture (modern-day translation: "green architecture") with this extraordinary Taliesin Timeline.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.valmcox.com/vmc/media/general/42011-taliesin%20timeline/taliesin_timeline-credits.pdf">Timeline Credits</a><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.valmcox.com/vmc/media/general/42011-taliesin%20timeline/taliesin_timeline-1930s.pdf">1930's</a><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.valmcox.com/vmc/media/general/42011-taliesin%20timeline/taliesin_timeline-1940s.pdf">1940's</a><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://www.valmcox.com/vmc/media/general/42011-taliesin%20timeline/taliesin_timeline-1950s.pdf">1950's</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.valmcox.com/vmc/media/general/42011-taliesin%20timeline/taliesin_timeline-1960s.pdf">1960's</a><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://www.valmcox.com/vmc/media/general/42011-taliesin%20timeline/taliesin_timeline-1970s.pdf">1970's</a><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://www.valmcox.com/vmc/media/general/42011-taliesin%20timeline/taliesin_timeline-1980s.pdf">1980's</a><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://www.valmcox.com/vmc/media/general/42011-taliesin%20timeline/taliesin_timeline-1990s.pdf">1990's</a><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://www.valmcox.com/vmc/media/general/42011-taliesin%20timeline/taliesin_timeline-2000s.pdf">2000's</a><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.valmcox.com/vmc/pages/taliesin_timeline_pdfs.html">Entire Timeline</a><br /><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.valmcox.com/vmc/pages/taliesin_timeline_pdfs.html"><br /></a></p>James Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-63536138382893675012010-06-13T09:42:00.007-05:002010-06-13T10:40:07.682-05:00Frank Lloyd Wright Week (part 5)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhk-xfN2vJNkSExWacQm8gFDyzdwq-A6YFJKMdiI4-h8Qs5o3oxChpvTRJZkCi-4uU2fZf-ow8GmGxRuOddfWRyLho0quNfYZuov2kXd0ibFSa58Ixz51ibvfXGv-4DnpwOx89YpVAp0/s1600/price+tower+4.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 420px; height: 502px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhk-xfN2vJNkSExWacQm8gFDyzdwq-A6YFJKMdiI4-h8Qs5o3oxChpvTRJZkCi-4uU2fZf-ow8GmGxRuOddfWRyLho0quNfYZuov2kXd0ibFSa58Ixz51ibvfXGv-4DnpwOx89YpVAp0/s400/price+tower+4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482272127067671122" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiypcUwyymrgfI0ubxOGPqMRt9MzuNkoqnqGiIpEAqq91dR34_iYiYTcpDQ2kQ5ZVljtDp5OoxtaWlu8BoANUjPuww_qHN_YxJWrLNheARdpDDbxAU0m6X-5q46sbANErZM4A1FxU554nQ/s1600/typical+plan.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 218px; height: 219px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiypcUwyymrgfI0ubxOGPqMRt9MzuNkoqnqGiIpEAqq91dR34_iYiYTcpDQ2kQ5ZVljtDp5OoxtaWlu8BoANUjPuww_qHN_YxJWrLNheARdpDDbxAU0m6X-5q46sbANErZM4A1FxU554nQ/s400/typical+plan.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482271976319348578" border="0" /></a><br />The Price Tower gave me my first proper introduction to practical - and magical - geometry. Although this structure is not one I'd call "pretty," it is one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever witnessed. It simply comes alive.<br /><br />When I visited the newly remodeled <a href="http://pricetower.org/about-ptac/">Price Tower Arts Center</a> a couple of years ago, I couldn't get enough of it. While my wife and her high school classmate (<a href="http://pricetower.org/exhibitions/">and amazing PTAC exhibition curator) </a>Scott Perkins chatted over drinks in the 15th floor Copper Bar, I spent a couple of hours scaling the building several times on the 30/60/120 degree exterior stairwell. It was visceral! I could touch the pressed patina-green copper exterior. And the views! Wow - Bartlesville! Other than the aliveness of it all, I hardly noticed the cold swirling January winds.<br /><br />I've also linked a couple of posts to what I call Price Tower's "Baby Daddy." Frank Lloyd Wright designed a progenitor of the Price Tower in the 1920's for St. Marks in the Bowery in New York. The proposed design would have manifested a series of apartment towers around the church as income producers. Alas, they were never constructed. But as a trial run for Mr. Wrights skyscraper opus, they proved immensely valuable.<br /><br />In addition to the Art Center, the newly renovated tower offers hotel accommodations. This is a can't miss for Wright fans. Plan a trip to the <a href="http://pricetower.org/innatpricetower/">Inn at Price Tower</a> for an experience you won't soon forget.<br /><br />Enjoy.<br /><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2009/08/frank-lloyd-wrights-price-tower.html">Price Tower (part 1)</a><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2009/08/price-farewell-angel-is-in-detials.html">Price Tower (part 2) details</a><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2009/08/price-towers-baby-daddy.html">St. Marks in the Bowery (part 1)</a><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2009/08/more-baby-daddy.html">St. Marks in the Bowery (part 2)</a>James Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-39830255175826582782010-06-12T07:14:00.010-05:002010-06-12T08:49:45.160-05:00Frank Lloyd Wright Week (part 4)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhKeeSfy0-6O0Dfd4oA9X30equAXcGQwSUq-JGnRPZ7hBFyYCOx5iyCtGTaAja1RatDyRIXLVl893kLoFG3ZlvwlLtrpFv26qrog_mrjOtgS0DhYBY_BXDe5gc334C7hzRWfrfVmwGpKg/s1600/GOC+mini+10.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 420px; height: 560px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhKeeSfy0-6O0Dfd4oA9X30equAXcGQwSUq-JGnRPZ7hBFyYCOx5iyCtGTaAja1RatDyRIXLVl893kLoFG3ZlvwlLtrpFv26qrog_mrjOtgS0DhYBY_BXDe5gc334C7hzRWfrfVmwGpKg/s400/GOC+mini+10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481882157797322514" border="0" /></a><br />I've wanted to see Frank Lloyd Wright's Greek Orthodox Church for a long, long time, and last summer I finally made the trek to Wauwatosa, Wisconsin for a walk-around. In most photographs - to me - it looks more like a <span style="font-style: italic;">painting</span> of building than an <span style="font-style: italic;">actual</span> building. Design and built in the mid-1950's, Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church was one of a spate of church commissions that came to Mr. Wright on the heels of his highly acclaimed and widely published Unitarian Meeting House in Madison, Wisconsin. This phase of Frank Lloyd Wright's career - when he was in his 80's - proved to be his most prolific.<br /><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2009/09/annunciation-greek-orthodox-church.html">Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church</a><br /><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2009/09/wrights-greek-orthodox-church-part-2.html">Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church</a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifGMhqUccMiX5vPw1il5qTY5Mk074PLq7IqRkAC34W6RRjS8TkxV23MOUJkglhmpEziIVcnl9HMAuERym-MjwcF5Vo5fWckh0yMjGTGucVTAdzVO0C7k8gs_MpegV06bXvjakZBDI04ew/s1600/guggenheim.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 230px; height: 172px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifGMhqUccMiX5vPw1il5qTY5Mk074PLq7IqRkAC34W6RRjS8TkxV23MOUJkglhmpEziIVcnl9HMAuERym-MjwcF5Vo5fWckh0yMjGTGucVTAdzVO0C7k8gs_MpegV06bXvjakZBDI04ew/s400/guggenheim.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481881861644959538" border="0" /></a>The Guggenheim Museum occupied much of Mr. Wright's later years. Providentially, Solomon Guggenheim's assistant (and modern art enthusiast) Hilla Rebay suggested to her art-collecting boss that he hire Frank Lloyd Wright to design a museum for his collection after a book literally feel on her head opening to Wright's photograph. That was the mid-40's; Frank Lloyd Wright would work on the design in fits and starts for the next decade and a half. Turns out, Hilla Rebay was the critical ingredient in bringing this design into reality. She was the reason Solomon Guggenheim collected modern art, and she continually rekindled Guggenheim's on-again off-again attitude about whether or not to build the museum. A few pics:<br /><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2009/05/frank-lloyd-wrights-guggenheim.html">New York Guggenheim Museum</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTTexA2ym_65RrqrFobH9tYMU0oice72MpEleFv-f5tHWwLbmZKVPmk5thy7JVN5CH1kXFOnFS_duCq0IM-KmZycmzrkAORNqGnNYmVUWPJR2hoh2YSjzIICxkt21sYrihUmlQyVe79Ws/s1600/Riverview+Terrace+3.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 230px; height: 317px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTTexA2ym_65RrqrFobH9tYMU0oice72MpEleFv-f5tHWwLbmZKVPmk5thy7JVN5CH1kXFOnFS_duCq0IM-KmZycmzrkAORNqGnNYmVUWPJR2hoh2YSjzIICxkt21sYrihUmlQyVe79Ws/s320/Riverview+Terrace+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481882021263418786" border="0" /></a>And, for kicks, here are a few photos of the Riverview Terrace Restaurant perched over the Wisconsin River right around the corner from Taliesin. It was one of the last burst of designs he shook out of his sleeve shortly before he died in the spring of 1959.<br /><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2008/07/frank-lloyd-wrights-riverview-terrace.html">Riverview Terrace Restaurant (part 1)</a><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2008/08/more-riverview-terrace.html">Riverview Terrace Restaurant (part 2)</a>James Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-57678697312219376472010-06-11T06:31:00.004-05:002010-06-11T07:32:58.172-05:00Frank Lloyd Wright Week (part 3)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT9p7Lc3JZT7W8xXrsFTwOYu5ZXHTRHprhS7Y5mUwavhZPrsy2P0TwMJvg5J2wstnwAjkC62NkobvsXO4dQxi_HQ3V9uVGiL5CWmqpVPgRXokGbeqzTtsVbTYrKmNYSUZXCAnaE9MzAjM/s1600/FLW+fla1.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 420px; height: 314px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT9p7Lc3JZT7W8xXrsFTwOYu5ZXHTRHprhS7Y5mUwavhZPrsy2P0TwMJvg5J2wstnwAjkC62NkobvsXO4dQxi_HQ3V9uVGiL5CWmqpVPgRXokGbeqzTtsVbTYrKmNYSUZXCAnaE9MzAjM/s400/FLW+fla1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481492942286422610" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdkUk2_3vpNjN7MY4dXtO0ILzDi6WU91v5kedHP5VTpQpQqSXxmEUZcaY-baibDjaGqqsI8A_jjhvA1yRuo8WKM6l25aOY8CLCVU8re7a_HJX60NX5L0-SMkGJwzKNGLjr3eV5D2XDVBo/s1600/Florida+Southern+overhead.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 205px; height: 262px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdkUk2_3vpNjN7MY4dXtO0ILzDi6WU91v5kedHP5VTpQpQqSXxmEUZcaY-baibDjaGqqsI8A_jjhvA1yRuo8WKM6l25aOY8CLCVU8re7a_HJX60NX5L0-SMkGJwzKNGLjr3eV5D2XDVBo/s400/Florida+Southern+overhead.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481492841430291410" border="0" /></a><br />Frank Lloyd Wright's largest collection of buildings is in, of all places, south Florida. Credit visionary president Dr. Ludd Spivey who, while the country was still mired in the Great Depression, contacted Mr. Wright "concerning plans for great education temple<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>in Florida."<br /><br />Thirteen built structures in all, including a connecting esplanade, the Florida Southern campus stands as a testament to the principles of organic architecture Mr. Wright articulated.<br /><br />Special Note: When viewing Frank Lloyd Wright's work, try putting yourself in the environment where the building was constructed. One of the basic principles of organic architecture is that it belongs where it is on the earth and nowhere else. That's why Mr. Wright's Arizona buildings look and feel different from his Chicago buildings that have a distinctively different character than his Florida buildings and so on. One cannot separate the design solution from the context. Specifically, in this series, imagine that you're in humid 95 degree heat with the bright sun beating down. Now, doesn't the esplanade make sense?<br /><br />Enjoy.<br /><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2009/01/frank-lloyd-wright-in-florida.html">Florida Southern Campus (part 1)</a><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2009/01/organic-architecture.html">Florida Southern Campus (part 2)</a><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2009/01/more-florida-southern-college.html">Florida Southern Campus (part 3)</a><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2009/01/more-of-frank-lloyd-wrights-florida.html">Florida Southern Campus (part 4)</a><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2009/01/annie-pfeiffer-chapel-chapel.html">Florida Southern Campus (part 5)</a><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2009/01/nature.html">Florida Southern Campus (part 6)</a><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2009/01/textile-blocks.html">Florida Southern Campus (part 7)</a><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>James Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-90838482899798127162010-06-10T08:19:00.008-05:002010-06-10T08:44:29.757-05:00Frank Lloyd Wright Week (part 2)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNGVi-3mDybPH8rwPfA7etximHvSLSZraWwKox-lW7zK-B-_wGtX6PPzeitUQij1Xl9jmE6i6s0WB_bfIHYj6wOwfxblgU1w_eiCZl_FugZt3bFzWpswKEobPE4HIo3VpzBR5z_R1mzLM/s1600/unitarian+meeting+house+drawing.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 421px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNGVi-3mDybPH8rwPfA7etximHvSLSZraWwKox-lW7zK-B-_wGtX6PPzeitUQij1Xl9jmE6i6s0WB_bfIHYj6wOwfxblgU1w_eiCZl_FugZt3bFzWpswKEobPE4HIo3VpzBR5z_R1mzLM/s400/unitarian+meeting+house+drawing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481138911844811090" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjn9TxynX6tXIZ0nWUYiiBUCI6d6HR-9U1TYTsdMsaE0CgvEMeoDee97wQbh0Tlxej2oHNi4VkgnjsBTtirUcGGz3uPbX3yZtjOv5KpMJiZZwWLMjehyphenhypheng-ENJfAy3IpDYe-6-LbmJJB1Q/s1600/unitarian+meeting+house.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 421px; height: 315px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjn9TxynX6tXIZ0nWUYiiBUCI6d6HR-9U1TYTsdMsaE0CgvEMeoDee97wQbh0Tlxej2oHNi4VkgnjsBTtirUcGGz3uPbX3yZtjOv5KpMJiZZwWLMjehyphenhypheng-ENJfAy3IpDYe-6-LbmJJB1Q/s400/unitarian+meeting+house.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481138764735209730" border="0" /></a>One of my favorite Frank Lloyd Wright-designed buildings is the Society Meeting House in Madison, Wisconsin. <br /><br />The drawing above is a <a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2009/08/frank-lloyd-wrights-unitarian-meeting.html">sketch I did while sitting on the church lawn sometime in 2001</a>. Follow the links for a two-part photo essay.<br /><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2008/07/organic-architecture-in-wisconsin.html">Unitarian Meeting House (part 1)</a><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2008/07/more-organic-architecture-frank-lloyd.html">Unitarian Meeting House (part 2)</a><br /><br />And as a bonus, click here to see <a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2008/08/broadacre-city-gas-station.html">Frank Lloyd Wright's only built gas station in Cloquet, Minnesota.</a> This building sprang out of Mr. Wright's ideas for <a href="http://www.mediaarchitecture.at/architekturtheorie/broadacre_city/2009_broadacre_model_en.shtml">Broadacre City</a>.James Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-77933335075898001402010-06-09T11:48:00.006-05:002010-06-09T12:44:50.499-05:00Frank Lloyd Wright Week (part 1)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisNTiupa74bnlUAbbwclzcw-TLyX7DwgZpNxZ5-iNM9KfNL2CHGtqiPCgvMmRepAqTBzpLIGaLfFGOiIb_40VBlCMkoEHLZjHi5cPwzXjprKVCQexrY-5CL4tLnXYCIWYo0GN6kGOTUx8/s1600/flw+mike+wallace+pic.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 419px; height: 364px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisNTiupa74bnlUAbbwclzcw-TLyX7DwgZpNxZ5-iNM9KfNL2CHGtqiPCgvMmRepAqTBzpLIGaLfFGOiIb_40VBlCMkoEHLZjHi5cPwzXjprKVCQexrY-5CL4tLnXYCIWYo0GN6kGOTUx8/s400/flw+mike+wallace+pic.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480827548447654210" border="0" /></a><br />Yesterday, on Frank Lloyd Wright's 143rd birthday, I sent out a reprise of my <a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2008/02/frank-lloyd-wrights-organic.html">original post on the man I introduce as "America's first green Architect."</a> Of course, as Mr. Wright admitted (at least on one occasion in the <a href="http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/multimedia/video/2008/wallace/wright_frank_lloyd.html">Mike Wallace interview)</a>, some phrases are thrown out there for calculated effect. Of course, before the industrial revolution, everyone practiced green design and construction - out of necessity. Build without taking the climate and landforms into consideration and you were doomed with Darwinian consequences.<br /><br />This week I'll be posting links to photo essays of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings. Why not start out with Mr. Wright's Wisconsin home - Taliesin.<br /><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2008/07/frank-lloyd-wrights-taliesin-spring.html">Taliesin (part 1)</a><br /><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2008/08/taliesin-details.html">Taliesin (part 2)</a><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2008/08/romeo-and-juliet-windmill_04.html"><br />Romeo and Juliet Windmill (act 1)</a><br /><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2008/08/romeo-and-juliet-act-2.html">Romeo and Juliet Windmill (act 2)</a><br /><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2008/08/romeo-and-juliet-windmill-act-3.html">Romeo and Juliet Windmill (act 3)</a><br /><br /><a href="http://newamericanvillage.blogspot.com/2008/02/frank-lloyd-wrights-organic.html"><br /></a>James Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-75205965995422173632010-06-07T10:06:00.004-05:002010-06-07T10:33:19.139-05:00Up in the Air<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIcNLbVP3WN2iAv7tYC8TMf9d9kSB7v9cw0rA3MtNv1IHbuuGmyK3hyphenhypheniz_JZP2Had9JvmgRCxMIfySk0BAiwFcE3pWiGtKV4-vmop99ufWSOcjAlJln4SwyqaPxyMqvTirNCz5pVnaiDU/s1600/cloud3.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 420px; height: 536px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIcNLbVP3WN2iAv7tYC8TMf9d9kSB7v9cw0rA3MtNv1IHbuuGmyK3hyphenhypheniz_JZP2Had9JvmgRCxMIfySk0BAiwFcE3pWiGtKV4-vmop99ufWSOcjAlJln4SwyqaPxyMqvTirNCz5pVnaiDU/s400/cloud3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480054669535194274" border="0" /></a>
<br />This week's newspaper column: <a href="http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20100607/NEWS01/6070316/The-answer-is-up-in-the-air">(Read it in the Hattiesburg American.)</a>
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<![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">As oil from BP’s deep sea well continues to spill into the Gulf of Mexico, the debate on the future of energy has shifted. <span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>“Drill, baby, drill” just lost its mojo.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">With just one accident, the downside risk of fossil-fuel dependence is coming into full view, and if ever there’s an example of how ‘all things are connected,’ this is it.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>As if a free-flow of crude oil and gas spewing into a natural aquatic habitat isn’t bad enough, the unintended consequences are just beginning to play out.<span style=""> </span>Gulf fishermen are seeing their livelihoods vanish as sheens of oil invade the fertile estuaries of the Mississippi River Delta; the tourist industry in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida is taking it on the chin as would-be visitors steer clear of Gulf beaches; and a quarter of America’s homegrown seafood source has been placed in jeopardy. <span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The smoke is beginning to clear inside the crystal ball and one thing is coming into focus:<span style=""> </span>Our energy future is not with fossil fuels.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rather, the future of energy production on this planet is up in the air – literally – with solar and wind.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>On the surface, it’s obvious.<span style=""> </span>Why drill more dirty holes in the earth to extract finite resources when an infinite supply of clean energy is right above our heads?<span style=""> </span>The transition will take some time, but not as long as some would lead you to believe; when the costs of real and potential accidents like the Deepwater Horizon spill are added into the equation, wind and solar may already be a better deal.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">But for now, what do we do about the damage - economic and environmental – caused by the Gulf oil spill?<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>How are we, as a society, going to mitigate the damage and insure that future accidents are prevented when possible, and quickly remediated when necessary?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I'd love to see a modern-day CCC program funded by a fossil-fuel tax.<span style=""> </span>(History geek footnote:<span style=""> </span>The Civilian Conservation Corps, better known as the CCC, was a successful jobs program in the US born out of the Great Depression to put millions of unemployed people back to work while simultaneously building and maintaining American park infrastructure and helping out with natural and man-made disasters.)<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Before anyone blows a head gasket over the mere mention of the word “tax,” let’s just be clear.<span style=""> </span>It is as American as apple pie to expect people and businesses to take responsibility for the consequences of their actions.<span style=""> </span>Otherwise, taxpayers pick up the tab.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Think of it as a tipping fee – fees landfills charge to accept waste - if you’ve been conditioned to hyperventilate when you hear the word “tax.” </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">By matching up environmental tipping fees with the inherent risks of fossil-fuel extraction, we can put millions of unemployed and underemployed Americans to work cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico and rebuilding our natural ecosystems.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Today, the headlines may be bleak, but our energy future is bright – and windy.</p>
<br />James Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-57270757814597466282010-06-02T16:50:00.004-05:002010-06-02T16:56:38.040-05:00Pinecote Paviltion (part 3)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9O95lvaYvnWDzYFNku1I4AohyphenhyphenHM6MoSCwmSTMX_ZCBBfLgxV2vk3FJ7aCoKJZK3nMsd33FV83Tt9xhHxsMTiakCI7qYPHFWDL-aVrUEKnyqA-YNLFv_8E68XM8u9paOArD8BLtUdODqE/s1600/pc10.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 420px; height: 561px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9O95lvaYvnWDzYFNku1I4AohyphenhyphenHM6MoSCwmSTMX_ZCBBfLgxV2vk3FJ7aCoKJZK3nMsd33FV83Tt9xhHxsMTiakCI7qYPHFWDL-aVrUEKnyqA-YNLFv_8E68XM8u9paOArD8BLtUdODqE/s400/pc10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478298009863168434" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP776XDoJY47l9zNBsXT1CrbGGQrhr7ceDQu5dVq63zZ2bolSsyg9HlGTxq0QHqjf5JJ07i9ama1NlCFWsal4PEEA8jj_Z8Z5L1-BXpJm9QsR7Q9a20C92wE95VyDTNj9c_ClUtkPDvY8/s1600/pc11.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 420px; height: 560px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP776XDoJY47l9zNBsXT1CrbGGQrhr7ceDQu5dVq63zZ2bolSsyg9HlGTxq0QHqjf5JJ07i9ama1NlCFWsal4PEEA8jj_Z8Z5L1-BXpJm9QsR7Q9a20C92wE95VyDTNj9c_ClUtkPDvY8/s400/pc11.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478297840537819314" border="0" /></a>James Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3712785084040461991.post-68921665237803984442010-05-27T08:09:00.005-05:002010-05-27T08:24:42.912-05:00Pinecote Pavilion (part 2)More Pinecote Pavilion...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLtne6Yyb6urDpxDiI9sP-Me36M4-qrRi1YLGOYbkEEmIv8HLzY95fT3Ge1GZOn9Pzo9HJ5f5uLyDCZx5snAZDb1gkb2fFtLZUBsSA7INwxsBJWrJ8YkWzuUTazmhC4vtZW0dKosg9rYc/s1600/pc6.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 420px; height: 560px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLtne6Yyb6urDpxDiI9sP-Me36M4-qrRi1YLGOYbkEEmIv8HLzY95fT3Ge1GZOn9Pzo9HJ5f5uLyDCZx5snAZDb1gkb2fFtLZUBsSA7INwxsBJWrJ8YkWzuUTazmhC4vtZW0dKosg9rYc/s400/pc6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475939400663377730" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1znmZKqkXTHwN4bWmWs-DE9Vq5ggZ498Wt-JdHUcYy_v_vXM45mJvHBKSW9ZZAHN1mS2sxiaSeHwexJT66W1HOw-vKbLv8sdRY38JdtF1f9jzGiE24Wm4NpuMirwW6ZmCCLs6vsLzruY/s1600/pc12.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 420px; height: 314px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1znmZKqkXTHwN4bWmWs-DE9Vq5ggZ498Wt-JdHUcYy_v_vXM45mJvHBKSW9ZZAHN1mS2sxiaSeHwexJT66W1HOw-vKbLv8sdRY38JdtF1f9jzGiE24Wm4NpuMirwW6ZmCCLs6vsLzruY/s400/pc12.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475939512890241106" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiieQuUvxze_cZI3t3k8Jq6GB1eCgVM2dK4yG-MjxkxnTEwhc9RXMmlGqa_CJhyGUw-IeUBKP82Fkgi_c8lc_8OD5594eFaEhOP0giXygbHQzfVs57htQ6Xr7Kx7eBPWvIZQeJO7qLeSpA/s1600/pc9.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiieQuUvxze_cZI3t3k8Jq6GB1eCgVM2dK4yG-MjxkxnTEwhc9RXMmlGqa_CJhyGUw-IeUBKP82Fkgi_c8lc_8OD5594eFaEhOP0giXygbHQzfVs57htQ6Xr7Kx7eBPWvIZQeJO7qLeSpA/s400/pc9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475938011859615282" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjR6dYYkYMLlt6OBX9fQsOPWd-2DnML3Lrj7XrEMHFEmZvJ9HpqA4DUUC7dG6rD4bm1mPqnoe185C55bQcaIjy2aeZu1z02VOsj5gBGqPmB85usM7TZ3_6dsUMRaMqv9Fu0zeZo6AJK7Y/s1600/pc3.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjR6dYYkYMLlt6OBX9fQsOPWd-2DnML3Lrj7XrEMHFEmZvJ9HpqA4DUUC7dG6rD4bm1mPqnoe185C55bQcaIjy2aeZu1z02VOsj5gBGqPmB85usM7TZ3_6dsUMRaMqv9Fu0zeZo6AJK7Y/s400/pc3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475937878312860786" border="0" /></a>James Polkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12930017956332455271noreply@blogger.com0