I've just finished reading "The Undercover Economist" by Financial Times journalist Tim Harford, and would recommend it to anyone interested in the workings either of the world as a whole or of the minds of economists. Harford tackles complex issues...

To pick up one of the threads from my last post: Simone Weil (Gravity and Grace, chapter on "Necessity and Obedience") writes: "The Foolish Virgins: The meaning of this story is that at the moment when we become conscious that we have to make a...

Last week a routine visit to the dentist revealed holes in two of my back teeth, one of them worryingly large. The dentist said she would try to fill it but that there was only about a fifty-fifty chance it would work, and muttered darkly about root...

Richard Heinberg is one of the best-known peak oil writers and speakers around the place. Over the weekend, I listened to a "bad news, good news" pair of talks here (click on "Writings") by Heinberg and the owner of the site, permaculture pioneer David...

Looking back on this blog, I'm aware that nearly everything I've written since July has been on an environmental theme, and mostly pretty gloomy in tone. Yet the heading of this blog still promises "a trialogue between ... mainstream Christianity,...