Category Archives: et cetera

Dear Friends, Perhaps you’ve noticed my distraction lately, that I haven’t seemed to pay as much attention to the NP as I used to, perhaps even that the magic seems gone. Well I can’t live the lie any longer–I’ve been … Continue reading →

Not blogging obviously. Eek, it’s been a scandalously long time. In fact I should probably begin today with an explicit announcement that the Natural Patriot is not dead yet (“I don’t want to go on the cart!” — free virtual … Continue reading →

On this, the shortest day of the year here on the northern half of the planet, I offer the shortest blog post of the year in recognition of the rebirth of the year.  “Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, … Continue reading →

I refer to the Catholic Church.  Admittedly, “most conservative organization on earth” could be considered an exaggeration in comparison with freaks like Ann Coulter, who could make even Atilla the Hun look reasonable. On the other hand, this is the organization that … Continue reading →

The BBC reports that a new list of British species in need of protection includes . . . house sparrows. The news comes from the UK’s new Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP), the result of more than two years of research by more … Continue reading →

In this age of hyperbole (where, as Bill Maher has noted, every random coincidence of two things happening at the same time is breathlessly referred to as a “perfect storm”), we hear a lot about “rock stars” of science.  Big charismatic … Continue reading →

Returned two nights ago from two glorious weeks in the French Alps (about which more later) sans internet access, and plunged into the cold waters of reality to find 2348 spam comments clogging the Natural Patriot.  The weight of this … Continue reading →

Not sure if I got that right.  My French is quite rudimentary. Whew, it’s been a hectic summer — hence the irregular pace of posts recently to the Natural Patriot.  This is just a note to alert my legions of eager … Continue reading →

Summertime and the livin’ is easy. Not any more. A NASA study published last month suggests that summers in my neck o’ the woods here in the eastern USA are going to be pretty brutal in the coming century. The maps … Continue reading →