by Bruce Rettig | Aug 4, 2021
Long, solo road trips not only offer the opportunity to enjoy new landscapes and people along the way—they also provide ample time to explore uncharted territory within one’s own head. It’s self-reflection “quality time” and a chance to allow thoughts to twist and... 
by Bruce Rettig | Jul 15, 2021
Emotional and Financial Impacts of the “New Norm” WE HAD SOLD the family home, and twenty acres it sat on, shortly after our parents passed away. My mother and father had bought the land and built their dream home after years of working and living in... 
by Bruce Rettig | Jun 18, 2021
My early fascination for nuclear proliferation began after watching Stanley Kubrick’s classic cold war film, “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.” Although the movie appeared in theaters in 1964, I watched it for the first time on our... 
by Bruce Rettig | May 7, 2021
IT’S BEEN A WHILE since I’ve posted. Life has meandered through a Twilight Zone stretch and plenty has happened, that’s for sure. It’s high time to get back in the saddle (cliché accepted), grapple with the past, assess the present and take a glimpse at the... 
by Bruce Rettig | Apr 27, 2021
I’VE BEEN FEELING NOSTALGIC LATELY. It’s not often we have to deal with a worldwide pandemic. Everyone handles it in different ways, and over the past few days I find myself reflecting back to old 50s and 60s sci-fi movies. The plots for many of these films... 
by Bruce Rettig | Mar 30, 2021
The Legacy of Ken Saro-Wiwa Born October 10, 1941, Ken Saro-Wiwa dedicated his life to environmental activism in Nigeria. Saro-Wiwa, one of Africa’s leading literary figures, authored children’s books, novels, plays, poetry, and writings that focused on... 
by Bruce Rettig | Feb 22, 2021
An Apocalyptic Landscape and a Desperate Situation One description of oil exploitation in Nigeria stands out more than others: Present-day oil producers in Africa suffer from the “oil curse” or the “natural resource curse.” Nigeria is the tenth most petroleum-rich... 
by Bruce Rettig | Jan 16, 2021
A History of Oil Exploitation The Lyft driver pulled into the green “Rideshare Pickup zone” of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport on a late Saturday night. I threw my backpack across the back seat, slid next to it, and confirmed my destination. I knew the... 
by Bruce Rettig | Dec 21, 2020
The Upper Truckee River is about a ten-minute walk from the back door of my Tahoe home. It meanders across a wide meadow where coyotes pop up like jack-in-the-boxes and descend upon field mice that scurry between blades of wild grass. The river widens,... 
by Bruce Rettig | Nov 7, 2020
Driving south on US Highway 95 toward Tonopah, Nevada, a brilliant light shining above the desert floor catches your eye. Stretching over six hundred and forty feet in the air, a solar tower collects sunlight from over 10,000 mirrors focused on its apex....
