Diamond-Cut Life

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Entries from December 22nd, 2008

Staying Safe During Snow Adventures

December 22nd, 2008 · 3 Comments · community, lifestyle, simplicity, transportation

We’re in the full grip of winter, not just here in Portland Oregon but in much of the country. Given the impact of our heating bills on both our wallets and carbon emissions, tomorrow’s post will be “How To Slash Your Heating Bill”. And given that many roads are impassable to vehicles right now, today [...]

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Happy Birthday to the Unconquered Sun

December 21st, 2008 · 2 Comments · sustainability

Today is winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. In the days before fossil fuels routinely lit our nights, winter solstice was celebrated as the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun. Imagine how vulnerable our long-ago human ancestors were as the days grew colder, darker and shorter. They struggled to protect themselves from the bitter [...]

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Join Wendell Berry and Bill McKibben

December 20th, 2008 · 2 Comments · energy, sustainability

Today I am printing an urgent open letter from Wendell Berry and Bill McKibben, two of the nation’s most respected environmental writers and thinkers. I initially decided to join them in civil disobedience in Washington D.C. to address global warming, and my husband told me he’d support me. Then I realized that March 2 is [...]

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Bipartisan Call For Justice

December 18th, 2008 · No Comments · politics

This is the first time I’ve done a second post on a given day, but the occasion warrants it. A bipartisan report from the Senate Armed Services Committee has made a strong case for bringing criminal charges against Administration officials for their decisions that led to the U.S. torture of prisoners, including at Abu Ghraib. [...]

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From Desert To Forest

December 18th, 2008 · 3 Comments · lifestyle, nature

I was born in the Southern California desert: Joshua trees praying to the dry sky , rain so rare that kids stayed home from school when it fell, eucalyptus trees tangy in my nostrils. Avocados six for a dollar at children’s sidewalk tables, teenage girls working on their tans as seriously as their fathers worked [...]

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