Terra preta is the very fertile black soil found mostly in parts of the Amazon basin, and believed to have been created by people mixing fine particles of charcoal and other stuff into the soil. A whole lot of voodoo has grown up around the subject, with unscrupulous charlatans, head in the sand na...

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I am developing an unhealthy obsession with nuns. After all, in the end they’re probably more or less normal people, with the same hopes, fears, ambitions etc. as the rest of us. But I still find it noteworthy when I see them doing more or less normal things. Like using laptop computers. And weari...

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I spent some time talking recently with bright business types, including some who work as consultants. They pointed out that hard times for the rest of the economy can be good for consultants, who can be brought in to say things that management either cannot or will not. One of the hardest things fo...

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Richard Dawkins and Rupert Sheldrake in one blog post, brought together by PZ Myers. Now whatever you may think of their respective grasps on truth (and I know where I stand) one thing about both people is their very fine ability to communicate to their respective audiences. Sheldrakians definite...

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I’ve been meaning to say something about this for a while, but there’s frustratingly little to say.

The women of the Nabweru III 2030(c) Group, to whom I loaned some money via Kiva, have made their second repayment, on schedule.

But that’s all I can say. Presumably they’re too busy running their...

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