A neighbor’s thank-you letter from Donald Trump (sadly disrespecting the office of the presidency)

on July 19, 2024 in Freedom, Leadership, Nonjudgment, Relationships

Regular readers know I pick up litter every day. The other day I found this garbage wedged in the scaffolding of a building under construction. (Come to think of it, a topic I should write more about is this bizarre practice of litter being wedged and stuffed into places and why people do it. I’m not sure, but I have some ideas. In any case, all this littering is socializing[…] Keep reading →

Misunderstanding Hate and Humanity

on July 18, 2024 in Awareness, Leadership

I wrote last year about how We can’t turn off our emotional systems and we all share the same emotions, regarding NYU’s likely well-intentioned but misguided posters decrying saying “hate has no place at NYU.” I wrote then: To say “Hate has no place at NYU” seems like saying “Thumbs have no place at NYU” or “Spleens have no place at NYU.” We all have the wiring to hate. To[…] Keep reading →

768: Trish and Evelyn, part 2: The birth of sustainability awards

on July 17, 2024 in Podcast

Trish and Evelyn took the workshop, and neither seriously acted on sustainability before it, so one thing to listen for in this conversation is what people who look at personally living more sustainably sound like. I think it’s safe to say we have fun. Partly we express exasperation at the depravity of our polluting and depleting culture. We also share the experience of our eyes opening to those things. Trish,[…] Keep reading →

If you build or buy a home in Phoenix, AZ, your claims that you “need air conditioning” lose credibility, as do your claims to others’ resources.

on July 16, 2024 in Choosing/Decision-Making, Leadership, Nature

The title says it all, but for clarity, I’ll generalize: if you choose to do something that requires polluting, depleting, or plundering, you don’t get to claim your life requires living unsustainably. You don’t get to then make claims on others’ resources. A life requiring hurting others is not liberty. Its’ the opposite: it’s destroying other people’s liberty. Why don’t I spend all my money and then claim you have[…] Keep reading →

767: Andrew Bennett, part 2: Behind the scenes with a New York City chef

on July 15, 2024 in Podcast

If you like food, you’ll love this episode. I shared before how unbelievably delicious Andrew’s food was, even if it were at a top restaurant. But he works at a hospital, so it was healthy too. I almost don’t go to restaurants any more since they just pile salt, sugar, and fat onto everything. I don’t need a stick of butter in every dish. I also tasted his food at[…] Keep reading →

This Week’s Selected Media, July 14, 2024: Make Your Bed, A course in packaging toxicity, The Dred Scott of Our Time, No god But God

on July 14, 2024 in Tips

This week I finished: Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World, by Admiral William H. McRaven: I saw the video of McRaven’s commencement speech to the University of Texas years ago. It resonated with me because My sidchas, standard operating procedures, and preferences include waking up, making my bed, and crossing the room to turn off my alarm within sixty seconds. Also, I had[…] Keep reading →

Are environmentalists nearly all science deniers?

on July 13, 2024 in Education, Leadership, Nature

Environmentalists call people who disagree with them “science deniers” and “climate deniers.” They get annoyed when people presented with the science don’t change their behavior when science shows it’s creating undesired outcomes. Meanwhile, I see environmentalists use ineffective techniques to try to change others’ behavior. When their techniques don’t work, they don’t change their behavior to ways that work. The science is clear that their techniques don’t work, yet they[…] Keep reading →

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