Big agriculture feeds the world. The energy industry keeps it lighted, warmed, cooled and mobile. Together they supply our most basic needs. In the process, both of them do tremendous damage to the natural world. The energy required to produce meat, beef, pork, lamb, and poultry, is no small matter. Neither is the havoc wrecked Read More
All posts by jmp
South of Turtle Island
When I was a young man with a serious interest in the indigenous peoples of North America, the accepted theory of their origins was that they came from Siberia across the Bering Land Bridge about 12,500 years ago. Proposed origin dates before that time were dismissed by academics, but gradually we are coming to have Read More
Supply and Demand Upended
When supply becomes an ecological value and demand becomes a value of human need, the new dynamics of society as a living system begins. James Quilligan Thinking about where and why we invest capital, and what it costs us, is one of the critical considerations in examining late stage capitalism. The sanctity of our concept of Read More
Energy Source Comparison
Energy Source Comparison Energy Source Pros Cons Solar Energy Non-polluting Most abundant energy source available Systems last 15-30 years High initial investment Dependent on sunny weather Supplemental energy may be needed in low sunlight areas Requires large physical space for PV cell panels Limited availability of polysilicon for panels Wind Energy No emissions Affordable Little Read More
Theatre From a Distance
A very bright young student of theatre by the name of Janice Rabian posted an interesting study of her industry’s response to the pandemic that has closed live performances for most of 2020 and the foreseeable future. Necessity being the Mother, it’s worth a look at how innovative people in the field are reacting, what Read More
Play4Keeps
When we began this website, the focus was Center for the New Northwest, a non-profit center for ideas about change. One of the things we wanted to change was Ashland New Plays Festival. A proud promoter of new works for the stage and the playwrights who write them, ANPF for nearly three decades had been Read More
Center for the New Northwest: playbook
We are about change. Big change, small change, spare change. Whatever. Everything we post here is meant to point out our realities and suggest ways we might make them better if we’re willing to change. We believe that solutions we want should determine the systems we use, rather than the other way around. Today, many Read More
CNNW playbook: page one
We’d like to talk about capitalism. Late stage capitalism. A highly evolved system in the final throes of exploitation. We’d like to turn it upside down and see what it could look like if we went about it differently. Our free enterprise system today has the look of stalagmites rising from the floor of a Read More
Use It or Lose It!
The goal of a post-carbon energy system, at least as we’re currently (ahem!) pursuing it, can’t happen without storage. Batteries where power can be kept until needed are woefully inadequate now, but incremental progress is being made. Whether it will mature quickly enough remains to be seen. Read about it here.
Turtle Island Then and Now
Turtle Island was a name many Algonquin tribes gave this land we now call North America. They described themselves as baby turtles riding the back of the mother turtle swimming through the sea. It’s worth noting that Turtle Mountain rises up in the exact center of the continent, just south and west of Lake Winnipeg, Read More