Americans commonly repeat that immigrants and poor people take jobs other Americans won’t, implying immigration and poverty help the economy, as if filling those tough or dirty jobs is necessary. Saying something often doesn’t make it accurate or true. They see the correlation but got the cause and effect backward. Immigration and poverty don’t fill positions empty or hard to fill. The existence of people with limited recourse to defend[…] Keep reading →

I watched the documentary Dominion on how the factory farm system treats animals. It’s brutal but important. It shows many graphic scenes so I know the link below won’t play inline, but the producers made it freely available. Click through to watch it online. I recommend watching Dominion when you’re ready for a sobering gut-punch you’ll wish you had watched earlier. Why I recommend it I last ate meat in[…] Keep reading →

This headline, Goodwill Doesn’t Want Your Broken Toaster, reminding me of my recent post that lines to dump worthless junk on Goodwill are often longer than the lines to buy it prompted me to post an idea I’ve had for a long time but for some reason haven’t posted. Pollution on the Earth is obesity on our bodies, manifesting our values and behaviors in different places. This: is this: The[…] Keep reading →

Today marks the first day of my sixth month with my fridge unplugged. My past two months’ electrical charges from Con Ed were $1.70. I used about two percent the average American’s power use. I’m still avoiding packaging, so no cans or other sealed stuff. On the contrary, I’m finding fresh vegetables and fruit stay a long time without refrigeration. Here’s my podcast episode describing my motivation. It’s not about[…] Keep reading →

When you talk about population as often as I do, the topic of vasectomies and other forms of contraception arises. People think vasectomies are about not having children. They’re not. A discovery I made about a different surgery will clarify. Almost two decades ago I got lasik surgery for my eyes. One day I needed glasses, the next I didn’t. I thought lasik gave me 20/20 vision, but that’s not[…] Keep reading →

The Guardian published the following opinion piece, By breaking the silence about patriarchy, men can help end violence against women. I copied the first few paragraphs below. If you don’t find its stereotyping abhorrent, consider the two rewrites that follow, which I consider abhorrent. To clarify, my goal is to increase equality between sexes, not endorsing political views. I am pointing out one simple observation: the article’s treatment of one[…] Keep reading →

I unplugged my fridge November 22, meaning tomorrow begins my fifth month with it unplugged. Here’s a podcast post describing why. It’s not to save energy, though it does, but to develop resilience. I opened it to take a picture and am slightly embarrassed to show that mildew has grown, but that happens when it’s not running. I’ll clean it before I plug it back in and put food back[…] Keep reading →

With my practicing singing the national anthem and my guests who are experts in abolition, I keep researching the colonies and early United States. Not my goal, but I noticed how often the American Founding Fathers kept showing up in Europe. Here’s Benjamin Franklin in Paris: I could have posted about Jefferson, John Adams, or, for all I know, many non-famous colonists and early Americans visiting Europe and the Caribbean.[…] Keep reading →

I learned more from the Cadets at West Point than they could possibly have learned from me, but retired General Lloyd Austin III invited me there to co-lead workshops on leadership My mentor Frances Hesselbein introduced us. As I type, the Senate is holding hearings on his nomination to Secretary of Defense. I wrote an Inc. story on the experience, “6 Lessons I Learned Teaching Leadership With a 4-Star General[…] Keep reading →