You’ve heard my conversations with award-winning authors, scholars, and other experts on slavery. With a couple I’ve talked about the connection between that system and ours. Most of the time, I’ve thought of the connection as an analogy. For a while, I’ve seen the connection as closer. Andrew Hoffman, University of Michigan professor in its business school and its School of Natural Resources and Environment, wrote of his discovering the[…] Keep reading →

Regular readers know I volunteer to bring food from stores that throw away stock at the end of the day to a community center. Nearly all that food is fresh. It hasn’t gone bad, they just have new shipments coming in and have to make space. The system is broken. I’m just trying to keep some waste from entering landfills and into peoples’ stomachs. Sometimes people donate food from other[…] Keep reading →

As the title said, today 34 years ago—Friday, June 24, 1988—the New York Times printed on the front page, above the fold as its main headline: Global Warming Has Begun, Expert Tells Senate If Exxon Knew, So Did You A lot of people say Exxon knew and therefore are guilty of crimes for not acting on it. Well, front page of the New York Times means it’s no secret. You[…] Keep reading →

There are two types of political revolution, at least. One changes the type of government. The American Revolution replaced a monarchy with a democracy. The other changes the person in charge but keeps the system. Many coups result in the second type. I’m not sure they qualify as revolutions, but people call them revolutions. What does James Bond have to do with revolutions? I recently saw the last James Bond[…] Keep reading →

In Washington Square Park, I was sitting on a bench talking to a friend. A person came up and, unprovoked, started threatening me. I’ve written and recorded podcast episodes about the many times I’ve been assaulted and mugged, as far back as some of my earliest memories. I understand “battery” means physically hurting someone and “assault” means threatening it, which this person did. It began by him approaching and starting[…] Keep reading →

I can’t stand when people interrupt me. I don’t like myself when I do it either. But there is at least one time when I would consider you my friend for interrupting me. More than interruptions, I can’t stand when someone who can do something and believes they should but has filled their head and heart with some cockamamie limiting belief. They say they can’t get in shape, get promoted,[…] Keep reading →

Abortion is in the news, which hinges on when a sperm and egg transition to becoming a life protected by the law. My world is filled with people whose beliefs in the supernatural differ from mine and whose conflicts with others’ supernatural beliefs cause suffering and death around the world. Their justification seems to be nothing more than strong feeling that they’re right, yet people they disagree with justify themselves[…] Keep reading →