Category Archives: Opinion

By Don Corrigan

Mark Twain, an experienced steamboat captain, said rivers are not so glamorous as people often think. In fact, Twain insisted that rivers were treacherous – and not at all to be trusted.

While plying the Mississippi River, Twain saw many boats bottom out, get caught in snags, run aground in swift currents when attempting to round bends. More than 250 steamboats are estimated to have sunk on the Mississippi River during the 19th century.

Like the Mississippi, the Missouri River has had no loyalty to anything other than the whims of nature. It has changed course overnight and left ports high and dry. It has flooded farmland and destroyed an entire harvest.

More than 300 steamboats sank in the Missouri River in the 19th century, between Omaha, Nebraska and St. Louis, Missouri. The Missouri was known as a steamboat graveyard, and most of the boats sank after striking snags.

A steamboat wreck on the Missouri River that has become famous among Midwesterners is the sinking of the Arabia. Two riverboat authors from St. Louis found this out when they penned an account of river wrecks.

Vicki Berger Erwin and James Erwin, discovered the notoriety of the Arabia when researching and writing their 2020 book, “Steamboat Disasters of the Lower Missouri River.”

“The first question anyone asks when they hear we have written a book about steamboat disasters is: ‘Have you heard of the Arabia?’ We have,” said James Erwin.

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By EE Staffers

Environmental writer Don Corrigan recently appeared on the podcast, “Best Part Of The Book,” hosted by Mark Perzel. Veteran broadcaster Perzel keeps the interview lively and fun, but it occasionally veers into serious environmental territory.

For example, Perzel asks about increasing concerns over the cattle industry’s growth worldwide – and the resulting hikes in methane, a gas that contributes to climate change. The methane comes from cattle flatulence.

As weird as it sounds, “farts” are indeed a source of global warming. When cows fart, they release CH4 into the atmosphere. In America, about 20% of the methane emitted in the country comes directly from cows.

Although methane isn’t the number one cause of global warming, in the aggregate, it’s a serious contributor. It’s also a source of emissions that could be addressed easily with science and technology.

Here’s a link to the podcast; it’s a real  gem:  https://link.chtbl.com/BestPartOfTheBook

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by Don Corrigan

Study environmental disasters in America and inevitably you will find toxic men behind the scenes. They’re the “deciders” who mindlessly release dangerous materials into the air, into our rivers and lakes, into caverns, caves and landfills.

Examine the various histories of lead contamination, dioxin dispersal, plastics pollution, radioactive waste dumping, and chemical releases and inevitably you will find the male CEOs in the top offices and the men in the board room.

The Mr. Burns character in the animated FOX-TV series, The Simpsons, is a recurring character and not just a cartoon fantasy. He exists. Mr. Burns is the devious, greedy, billionaire owner of a pollution-generating nuclear energy operation.

He is assisted at all times by loyal, sycophantic advisers. Burns is between 80 and 120 years old. He is a stereotype of corporate America with his desire to increase his own wealth and power – and displays an inability to feel sympathy for underlings or victims of his perfidy.

The threat from toxic contamination of our environment will never, ever completely go away until we can reduce the toxicity of men in power – and actually redefine what real men should be.

McFarland Publishing will publish, In Search Of Manhood: American Men’s Movements Past and Present, in August. The book looks at popular culture characters that can only be described as “toxic.”

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