Random Notes from a Crank

This interview, "Faint Sounds, Loud Impact," with Timothy A. Schuler reprinted in Utne reminds me of a number of themes and ideas in Florence Williams' fine book, The Nature Fix. Noise pollution is a problem, and it affecting the environment in various ways, most of them bad. 

In a similar vein, Craig Holdrege's article about Aldo Leopold, "Meeting Nature as Presence," is a fine essay that tracks the progressive nature of Leopold's thinking about environmental matters. "Thinking Like a Mountain" is one of his more famous essays from A Sand County Almanac, which is referenced in the essay, and it was one of my students' favorites when I used to teach an environmental rhetoric course. 

In the same fall issue of Utne, there's an interesting article "Public Banking Goes to Pot,"  which was originally published in High Country News and relates the problems the federal government has created because of their compliance rules about taking money from marijuana dispensaries. Because of these problems, there is some movement afoot for another public bank (North Dakota has the only one in the US), and if it's going to happen, it'll probably happen in Oakland. 

A writer from Politico relates some data analysis about the demographic divisions among America's two major parties: "Both Parties Gripped by Deep Divisions." I was heartened to learn that "Solid Liberals" are the largest group of the nine. Depending on the issue and mood I vacillate among these five groups: Market-Skeptic Republicans, New Era Enterprisers, Disaffected Democrats, Opportunity Democrats, and Solid Liberals.