Author: Clifton Ware

SEF News-Views Digest No. 121 (3-9-16)

• Citizens for Sustainability: Meeting-Forum, Sat., Mar. 12, 10am-noon, Silver Lake Village Community Center, 3301 Silver Lake Rd.

The SEF e-newsletter is back in circulation, a week earlier than previously announced. Our three-week getaway trip to the scenic Texas Hill Country (roughly, 75-100 miles west of Austin and San Antonio) proved to be a stimulating, invigorating travel experience. Activities included: sightseeing a variety of landscapes, from open plains to forested rolling hills and small mountains; visiting 17 museums (art and historical, including the LBJ Ranch complex and four missions in San Antonio); and 10 state parks and nature areas, including our favorite state parks—Enchanted Rock, Pendernales, Garner, and Palo Duro Canyon (near Amarillo), which we visited on our return-homeward drive. We highly recommend the Hill Country—and other equally attractive Texas areas—as travel destinations, especially for snowbird retirees.

Because of our sustainability interests, we tend to view everything through “green” lenses. So it’s always discouraging to observe humanity’s negative impacts on the environment, from crowded, expanding cities and deteriorating infrastructures to widespread degradation of natural habitats.

SEF News-Views Digest No. 119 (2-10-16)

Citizens for Sustainability: Meeting-Forum, Sat., Feb. 13, 10am-noon, Silver Lake Village Community Center, 3301 Silver Lake Rd.

Many old timers (like me) recall hearing the Sons of the Pioneers singing the song Cool Water in Roy Roger’s cowboy movies during the 40s. It’s easy to appreciate the thirst-quenching reward of cool, clear water that hot, dusty, sweaty cowboys relish when trekking on long, demanding cattle drives.

Because our bodies consist mostly water, up to 65% for men, the recommended minimum daily consumption for maintaining proper hydration is approximately 6-8 glasses of water daily. Failing to ingest enough water-based liquids can lead to severe physical and psycho-emotional health problems.

What would we do without wonderful cool, clear water, this most precious liquid that many have considered “liquid gold.” Sadly, as the media increasingly reports, this essential element for sustaining life is in jeopardy worldwide.

SEF News-Views Digest No. 119 (2-3-16)

So many Americans are very afraid of facing both known and unknown fears. They’re angry about certain socio-economic, cultural, religious, and political conditions, and often hateful towards those who offend them. The combined emotions of malignant fear, misdirected anger, and destructive hate threaten to undermine civil society, pitting various factions against one another and fostering ideological dissension. But, as the following frighteningly comical images illustrate, the primary outcome is suffering, for those who harbor negative emotions, as well as for those on the receiving end.

SEF News-Views Digest No. 118 (1-27-16)

So far, the first three weeks of 2016 have produced some whopping newsworthy events, some of which are discussed in articles below. Headlined reporting of worldwide economic woes has focused on widespread fluctuating financial markets, the implications of falling oil prices, and the growing gap between the obscenely rich and the rest of us. Another prime topic in the headlines addresses spreading social unrest, largely the result of multiple wars that are creating life-threatening conditions, destroying countries, and producing record numbers of refugees. And then we have the ongoing tragedies associated with extreme climate disruptions, like the past weekend’s deluge of winter weather events across several eastern states.

Also headlining the news: politics!  

SEF News-Views Digest No. 117 (1-20-16)

Ever since the presidential race got off to a mystifying start in 2015, the label “political correctness” has been spouted many times by conservative presidential candidates. Trump, in particular, loves to label certain actions of Democrats as over-the-top political correctness. Actually, I agree that the hard liners of political correctness have gone too far in many instances. I first became aware of this in the 70s and 80s, when the swelling tide of postmodernism began sweeping through academia, in some cases associated with the rise of feminism and multiculturalism. Since then, things have gotten a bit wacky.

The use of undefined labels in political (and public) discourse is a fascinating topic for study, as are other bizarre behaviors by candidates—and their supporters. Sometimes the political scene seems surreal, and I imagine a majority of citizens share similar responses.