Remembering Ravensbrück

Ravensbrück served as a Nazi concentration camp exclusively for women. An estimated 130,000 women were interned there during the Nazi era, and between 30,000 and 50,000 women died there.  It was one of the smaller camps. That did not make it any less horrific. There, women were used like horses, pulling heavy equipment. With sheerContinue reading “Remembering Ravensbrück”

Water Troubles

The Colorado River Is In Trouble.  The great river of the American West has headwaters in the marshes created by the snow-melts at La Poudre Pass (Colorado).  Soon afterwards, the water diversion projects begin. These water fields and provide life to communities.   Before leaving the Coyote Valley in Rocky Mountain National Park (also Colorado), aboutContinue reading “Water Troubles”

How many slaves do you have?

The first national remembrance of Juneteenth has come and gone in the United States. But, if you thought that slavery ended with the Emancipation Proclamation or with the condemnation of slavery by the United Nations, think again. Mauritania had legal slavery until 1981, and after its abolition, it imposed no penalties for it until 2007.Continue reading “How many slaves do you have?”

Derechos

Derechos are massive wind storms that can stretch linearly for hundreds of miles. They can include bands of showers and thunderstorms, and they can spawn tornadoes. Traditionally, for something to qualify as a “derecho,” the wind storm must extend 250 miles (~400kM), have wind gusts that equal or exceed 58mph (121 kM/h) with multiple gustsContinue reading “Derechos”

Oral Histories

Three are lots of oral histories collected from older people before they pass. The stories and events that one generation takes as granted become the history for the next. Here are a few oral history sites–some simple, some more in-depth–that might interest you. Library of Congress, Voices of Slaves Society of American Archivists: Oral HistoriesContinue reading “Oral Histories”

At The Turn of the 20th Century, Women (and others) Struggled for Suffrage and Education.

Mrs. Burk, by Ptera Hunter, includes a section set during the turmoil of the early 20th century’s tumultuous suffrage movement. Her experience does not typify the women of her era. Their experiences were too diverse to be represented by one person. Instead, it gives a possible experience for a single person. The issue of differentialContinue reading “At The Turn of the 20th Century, Women (and others) Struggled for Suffrage and Education.”

Eroding Trust

Corporations and politicians have used lies, misinformation, and deceptive marketing campaigns to erode trust in the data and analyses of science. Tobacco marketers knew this when they weaponized their approach to “science.” They confused correlation and causation to make people doubt the link between smoking and cancer. Many corporations that depend upon fossil fuels wantContinue reading “Eroding Trust”

Climate Change

In the world of Silent Consent, the climate in the Founder States has changed. The springs are earlier, the cold of autumn starts later, and the summers are drier and hotter. A great site to explore the science of climate change is the United States’ EPA Climate Indicators website. This website provides access to dataContinue reading “Climate Change”

The Hubbert Curve

In 1956, M. King Hubbert warned that new oil supplies would not last forever. He predicted that at some point, our extraction of oil would peak and then begin to decrease, following a bell-shaped curve (The Hubbert Curve). As we exhausted our one-time inheritance of oil, it would cost more and energy and money toContinue reading “The Hubbert Curve”

American Rehab

The short stories in Thomas Hardy Was An Optimist look at the lives of several troubled people from the lat 1980’s through the early 2000’s. During this time, more happened than the HIV epidemic. The United States also declared its “war on drugs,” and with it, the mass incarceration rate for which the country isContinue reading “American Rehab”