SETI Project Can Use Our Help by Carl Kruse One of my favorite nonprofit groups is the SETI Institute, which is the world’s top organization that is looking for life elsewhere in the universe. I love SETI because it’s the chance to get involved in answering one of humanity’s last remaining big questions – Is … [Read more…]
One More Voice Calling For The End Of The Electoral Collegeby Carl Kruse For whatever reasons it was established way back when, and whatever benefits it might have today, that the Electoral College in the U.S. contravenes the will of the people is a great blow to Democracy. The winner of the votes in any … [Read more…]
Jumping into the fray I’ll say Kazhir Khan’s speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention was a beautiful lesson in ethics, civics, loss, honor and sacrifice. A speech of power and raw emotion. I cried during it and I don’t remember crying in a long time over a speech. Shortly after he finished, the shameless … [Read more…]
A Memorial Day Wish From Carl Kruse This weekend the U.S.A. celebrates Memorial Day, a time the country honors those who died serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. People often forget the myriad sacrifices of those in uniform, which includes writing a blank check for “up to and including my life”. As I do every … [Read more…]
Carl Kruse remains on break but his friend Daniela Frewa would like to tell you about “No More Tears,” a non-profit organization that aids victims of domestic violence, most who tend to be disproportionally women and children. The person who founded No More Tears, Somy Ali, is an amazing woman who has dedicated her life … [Read more…]
Carl Kruse is taking a break. This is from the Carl Kruse Dot Org archival clutter. During the summer of 1988 Tammy Kaup shared a short poem by Roger Shattuck which has stayed with me all this time, at times being more salient, only to fade away and then later reappear. As 2016 begins this … [Read more…]
Carl Kruse is on break. This is a guest post from Brent Harrison. Some time ago I got together with a friend on Martin Luther King Day and to honor the man we read together his “Letter From A Birmingham Jail” in which King answered his critics who called his activities “untimely and unwise” with … [Read more…]
“What’s a great place to visit in Miami that has nothing to do with partying,” ask several friends arriving in the city. I send one and all to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (FTBG). There are few places like it. Exotic plants A to Z. A research and education facility. A festival venue. A laboratory. A … [Read more…]
Before anyone kept records we have been celebrating Winter Solstice, the shortest day ( longest night) of the year. In prehistoric times people were afraid the sun would not return and performed elaborate rituals to encourage it back. In Roman times Saturnalia took place around December 25th, the date of the solstice in the Julian … [Read more…]
Carl Kruse Dot Org Profiles: The Monterey Bay Aquarium In California there is an aquarium that all other aquariums should be modeled after, in spirit, and in outlook. Transformed from an abandoned cannery on water’s edge at Monterey Bay, it is at once beautiful and imposing. Steinbeck once wrote of this area and of its … [Read more…]
Already immortalized by the time Willy Wonka re-immortalized it, Arthur O’Shaughnessy’s ode resonates beautifully with those sure they are the music makers, the dreamers of dreams, the movers and shakers. And wouldn’t that be all of us? We are the music makers,And we are the dreamers of dreams,Wandering by lone sea-breakersAnd sitting by desolate streams;—World-losers … [Read more…]
There’s a small arts organization in Miami that does so much with so little to make the city’s cultural life glow brighter. SoBe Arts fuels new music, music-theater, modern opera, and other new creative arts and aims to create an environment for contemporary artists to produce new works. It holds music competitions, provides management services, … [Read more…]
“Are we alone?” is a question all of us have wondered about. The SETI Institute has done more than wonder, listening now for more than 30 years for any radio signals in space for signs of alien intelligence. Radio signals propagate far and wide and any advanced society will have likely communicated with radio signals … [Read more…]
RESPONSIBLE CHARITY IN INDIA During a 2008 trip in India, my friend Hemley Gonzalez volunteered with a world famous charity in Kolkata and experienced first-hand the deplorable conditions that people were subjected to under the care of this well-known organization. Disheartened and shocked by the experience, he started working directly in the Kolkata slums where … [Read more…]
Nonprofit Profile: ROCKY MOUNTAIN INSTITUTE (RMI) In the U.S., oil fuels 94% of the transportation system with cars alone using about 8.8 million barrels of oil at a cost of $2 billion every day. Making cars lighter is the single most effective way to dramatically reduce their fuel consumption and accelerate the electrification of their … [Read more…]