For the past 15 years I've chosen the issue of our world's population as my activism focus. This has led to leadership in Population Connection (formerly ZPG - Zero Population Growth) as well as activities on behalf of other groups such as the Population Media Center, VHEMT, Planned Parentho...

My Garbage brain needs to unload some stuff too brief for posts, too long for tweets. Google Finance is the best example of data design I have seen. Remember Edward Tufte? The charting function – I strongly recommend you visit the Dow Jones Industrial Average and drag the time-slider back to 1970 ...

Public transportation needs massive investment. Will the Obama administration step up? by Adam Doster and Kate Sheppard In These Times (February 23 2009) More than 2.5 million people live in the Baltimore Metropolitan Area and most never step foot on public transit. The city's bus system is slow and...

Last week Christopher Hitchens and I were attacked in Beirut. Less than 24 hours after we landed at the international airport, a half dozen members of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party jumped us on Hamra Street when he defaced one of their signs. He and I were traveling together because the Lebano...

Porn director Arturo Domingo sits in a motel room watching critics on television discuss and eviscerate his latest picture. His sadness is palpable. But Fleshbot readers know that in porn, bad publicity is an oxymoron. The Auteur Studio: Tigard Film Society Director: James Westby Cast: Melik Malkasi...

Well, I am back home and recovering from Madrona. I edited the last post I wrote, because I made some unnecessary remarks in it. I only realized that the next day, when it finally dawned on me that the fact I had been freezing for the last 48 hours had nothing to do with the temperature in the...

  All images courtesy of Stephanie Bryant, unless otherwise stated. Miss T:  Thanks for visiting the Mystery House, Stephanie!  I love to open my living room to authors, and you’re up to something really interesting.  A lot of people have already heard about Handknit Heroes...

It’s been Friday the 13th all day, can you tell? Here in Los Angeles, it’s pouring down rain and the forecast is calling for it to continue doing that for several days. I’ve seen two black cats this morning, narrowly avoided walking under a ladder, and nearly dropped my shaving mir...

Curiously enough, Fr. Dwight Longenecker has an excellent post on looking out windows which is well worth reading. He begins, saying, "I'm not big on conducted retreats where a priest tells you what to think and do. I'm sure they're ok, but not for me. What do I do on retreat? Sleep, read, pray, wal...

Photographing a large and complex event like TED2009 isn’t something you can just show up for. Well, you could, but you won’t get good results. Not at all. To do a good job, make the client happy, and set yourself up to make great photographs, you have to do quite a bit of planning and preparati...