֎ [United Nations] Soon—or at least, soon in the context of human history—the number of people on Earth will stop growing. Based on the latest figures from the United Nations, demographers’ best guess for when t […]

Yesterday, July 29, was Earth Overshoot Day. Earth Overshoot Day (EOD) is that day in a calendar year when humans have consumed what the planet can restore in one year. With very few exceptions, each year since […]

While seminal insights are available on television, they are relatively rare. However, within 24 hours two interviews of authors with intellectual insight, unspun perspective, factual interpretation and a superior […]

[Citylab] In California, the debate between NIMBYs and YIMBYs—that’s Not In My Backyard and Yes In My Backyard, respectively—doesn’t usually involve actual backyards. It’s about housing: By one estimate, the state […]

֎ ‘Our’ nation making decisions in ‘Our’ best interest

TOP SPENDING LOBBYISTS

U.S. Chamber of Commerce: $12.5 million (versus $16.5 million in Q1 2019 and $15.2 million in Q2 2018)
National Associat […]

֎ [Citylab] The Trump administration is proposing a new rule that would strip some 3.1 million people of food aid under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Specifically, the administration wants to […]

Mariner advises readers that the women on television who wake up, sit up, smile a big grin and stretch their arms skyward is a myth fostered by mattress companies. Mariner does not have this experience upon […]

Mariner suspects the Atlantic Magazine reads his posts. More than once, mariner has presented a subject that Atlantic reports on in its next issue. Mariner’s post, “It’s Time for Religion” published on July 17 […]

Mariner is not an educated economist. Nevertheless, he seeks common sense relationships that make an economy work and he flavors the numbers with human reality. This flavoring is important to regular human beings […]

֎ [536.com] But, soft! What emoji news through yonder computer screen breaks? Apple has announced fall additions to its keyboard that will include a guide dog, an ear with a hearing aid, a person in a wheelchair, […]

There are times when we must return to religion. This is difficult in today’s helter-skelter value systems and rapidly shifting beliefs in the world in which we live. To the extent that religion itself is caught u […]

֎ Astrophysicists have pursued dark matter for decades. It seems there is growing evidence for yet another kind of dark matter. The new dark matter is called ‘Chameleon Theory.’ It is so named because it can chan […]

Mariner takes time out in this post to clarify what readers find odd if not confusing – his use of alter egos. A short explanation is on the blog page “About the Ancient Mariner.”

The egos are based on Ari […]

The Atlantic Magazine has an article about the love relationship between Evangelical Christians and Donald. Mariner suggests only the strongest in faith and self-confidence read that article.

Reason, a so-named […]

Isn’t this fun? Regular readers will recall the last two posts moving beyond Donald and clearing out the debris and smoke of Flanders Field. As the smoke thins, a farther view of the horizon emerges and reality i […]

In the previous post, mariner envisioned the time of Donald to be similar to Flanders Field in WWI. With visibility clouded by the smoke of conflict and confusion, the horizon of reality could not be seen. Mariner […]

The political battlefield today reminds mariner of the Fields of Flanders in WWI: smoke, poison gas, sluggish trench warfare, cannon shells screaming overhead. Is it no wonder that news programs are losing market […]

Mariner was drifting through the endless world of the Internet last evening when he came across the author Frederic Jameson, a prolific writer in the 1980s and 1990s who contributed ideas about postmodernism. […]

Kamala Harris won the ‘remember me’ contest with her impassioned description of being bussed to school. It also pointed out something about Joe. Joe is an old school politician. His career was in a time when leg […]