I had hoped to get more of my peers reading about Garrett’s energy consumption constant and letting the math sink in, but I keep encountering motivated reasoning – all the ways our minds convince us not to know what we do not want to recognize. How do we address this “daunting moral question” (p. 77) in order to engage “the difficult and meaningful work associated with stewardship of the lands, waters, and communities that support us” (p. 64)?
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Latest: Peter Bane’s “Wheel of Permaculture Action”
by Steph • January 1st, 2013
Bane’s model is well-organized. The inner concentric circle is more conceptual, dividing the 12 physical actions of the encompassing outer concentric circle into four sets of somewhat similar emotional or psychological ‘actions.’ This inner circle represents a cognitive development or personal growth cycle. On the flip side of permaculture’s emphasis on figuring out how to eat, Nance Klehm digs down to the deepest question: “”What systems do you feed on?”
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Latest: Resisting Drift (no time for repression)
by Steph • December 24th, 2012
Nearly a month has passed since learning about the short time horizon for probable human extinction. This is twice as long ago as it feels to me: the associated emotions seem to have condensed my perception of the passage of time. Each day, in addition to managing fear and grief, I have done a few […]
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Latest: Get Off the Grid! Or, Why I’ve been pensive lately
by Steph • December 10th, 2012
Do you believe in math? Before you decide not to read this blogentry because of my known apocalyptic tendencies – e.g., twenty-five years ago a friend told me she was not surprised that I identified with Kassandra in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Firebrand – think about your scientific and rational training. If you believe in math, and you […]
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Latest: “It’s the top layer of the watershed from here on out!”
by Steph • November 12th, 2012
FEMA has ramped up considerably since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. As shocked as New Yorkers and other Sandy victims are with the proof of vulnerability, the number of domestic fatalities from Sandy stands at 109, while Katrina claimed 1,833. Many of Katrina’s victims were poor, disabled, or elderly. Joan Sutton, writing for the Huffington Post, describes Sandy’s impact on the elderly: “Now, we see pictures of what is called a mountain of debris. Surely it is a mountain of heartache.”
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Latest: Certificate #1, Emergency Management Interpreting
by Steph • November 11th, 2012
Six Certificates from the EMI compose the minimum training standard for Emergency Management Interpreting
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Latest: Levels of Healing
by Steph • November 7th, 2012
Election Eve 2012
Samdog came over with his boys, two of whom are regulars at the weekly Friendship Dinner. CNN’s coverage of election results droned in the background while the kids bounced around the living room and Samdog’s stories rumbled my mind. Friends from Kansas City touched base, hearkening back to the 1988 election when I had been a delegate for Jesse Jackson at the Democratic convention.
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Latest: Communication Theory and Simultaneous Interpreting
by Steph • November 4th, 2012
Where is your meaning? Communicating with someone who is fluent in a language different from yours through a simultaneous interpreter is a special practice of intercultural communication. An online course from the Learning Lab for Resiliency will use a think tank approach to exploring the intersection of theory with practice. Information and registration instructions are […]
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Latest: Sign Language Interpreting and Emergency Management
by Steph • November 2nd, 2012
Language for the Eyes It has only taken decades of advocacy and complaints to the FCC, FEMA, and State governments for public officials to respond to Deaf Americans who rely on sign language for communication. The outburst of public response to professional simultaneous interpretation of a signed language during Hurricane Sandy reveals an astonishing range of […]
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Latest: You know it’s bad when you can’t find your own website.
by Steph • October 10th, 2012
I have a lot to write today: a brief description of the MEDIEM/UMass Dashboard tool for online social deliberation, some notes on accommodation concerns, and a public report on the findings of the action learning research that I did in a workshop at RID Region II. The conversation threads with each associated interlocutor-group are simultaneous-they […]
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