As a young kid, I was asked by a psychologist, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Without skipping a beat, I replied, “I have this reoccurring dream of one day being a psychologist and giving lots of talks.”

Instead of putting me on the lecture circuit, the psychologist told my parents [3] I had delusions of grandeur, and I was shipped off to special education [4].

By age 3, I had had 21 ear infections, which developed into an auditory learning disability [5] that made it very difficult for me to process speech in real time. I always felt a step or two behind the rest of the kids in the classroom. As a result, I retreated into my own inner world.

I would come home and write stories about time travel, imagine soap opera plotlines, and visualize scenarios about a future in which I was a successful psychologist. These early daydreams offered me a much-needed escape from the realities at school, where I was bullied by students and accorded low expectations from teachers. But no one had access to my most private mind, full of plans for my future and dreams [6] of a different world. To students […]

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Every piece of garbage can be turned into raw material that can be used in future products. With his influential Cradle to Cradle movement, Germany’s Michael Braungart espouses a form of eco-hedonism that puts smart production before conservation.

Brad Pitt is undoubtedly his most celebrated fan, but chemist Michael Braungart prefers to conceal his pride with sarcasm. The American actor and environmental activist confesses that the book “Cradle to Cradle” is one of the three most important books of his life. And how does co-author Braungart respond? “Well, I’m not sure if Pitt has read more than three books yet.”

It’s a typical quip coming from Braungart, a professor based in Hamburg, Germany. To make a snappy remark, he can even forget about his revolution for a moment.

In reality, the 56-year-old is deeply flattered to hear the American […]

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Dumb and dumber? Evidence suggests the IQs of people in the UK, Denmark and Australia have declined in the last decade. A study by the University of Hartford claims the larger the global population becomes, the less intelligent we will be, dropping by around eight IQ points by the year 2110 – and other estimates are even more pessimistic

Technology may be getting smarter, but humans are getting dumber, scientists have warned. Opinion is divided as to whether the trend is long-term, but some researchers believe that humans have already reached intellectual peak.

A study by the University of Hartford claims that the larger the global population becomes, the less intelligent we will be, dropping by around eight IQ points by the year 2110 – and other estimates are even more pessimistic

An IQ test used to determine whether Danish men are fit to serve in the military has revealed scores have fallen by 1.5 points since 1998.

And standard tests issued in the UK and Australia echo the results, according to journalist Bob Holmes, writing in New Scientist.

The […]

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Photo Credit: JUSTINE MCDANIEL / NEWS2

State lawmakers around the nation are increasingly attempting to defy federal control over firearms through so-called ‘nullification” laws, with more than 200 such bills introduced over the last decade, a News21 investigation found.

Particularly in Western and Southern states, firearms are increasingly the weapon of choice for a political movement that aims to enshrine states’ rights and void U.S. gun laws within their borders.

‘I think the president and the majority of Congress, both in the House and Senate, are just completely out of touch with how people feel about Second Amendment rights,” said Missouri state Sen. Brian Nieves, who has fought for bills to weaken the federal government’s authority over firearms in his state.

In Idaho, the Legislature unanimously passed a law this year to keep any future federal gun measures from being enforced in the state. In Kansas, a law passed last year says federal regulation doesn’t apply to guns manufactured in the state. Wyoming, South Dakota and Arizona have had […]

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Heidel Hollow Farms, on Wednesday, April 20, 2011- US DOA

During July, 100% of US utility-scale power installations were renewables! It is the kind of deceptive announcement that is euphoric. America’s #1 energy, in terms of utility scale installations, is natural gas.

It is not certain which sector produced the most energy overall. We will have to wait for residential and commercial statistics to get a more accurate picture of solar’s real contribution.

Allen Hoffman, a retired senior executive from the DOE, says we are going to be stuck with natural gas for some time.

‘There is too much money in it,” he explained.

Dr Hoffman believes the problems we keep hearing about can be reduced, though not totally eradicated, through proper regulation and enforcement.

(The ECOreport’s radio arm will be broadcasting my interview with him next week.)

British Columbia might be an exception, as Canada’s Supreme Court now recognizes Aboriginal Title. The province’s massive Montney Formation is under land connected to treaty #8. The First Nations of this area do not want LNG and have been promised the right […]

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