LATEST BLOG POSTS

When people talk about industries sowing doubt to avoid being scrutinized or regulated, people often say that those industries are using the tactics of big tobacco. It happens a lot with businesses the pollute and deplete a lot. I think they’re mostly relying on the book Merchants of Doubt, which wrote about how the tobacco industry created uncertainty and other tactics, not to defend themselves so much as to deflect[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: Common Sense, by Thomas Paine: I read this book because the more I read about it, the more my book seemed to be following its legacy, though I want to be careful about flattering myself, given its sales and influence. I was pleasantly surprised at how much of this book made common sense though the language was hard to understand. I didn’t realize a book had[…] Keep reading →

I’ve written about Where to buy the best food around New York City and praised the system of CSAs and the incredible flavor, value, and convenience of the one I participate in from Stoneledge Farm. Every year they host a lunch and invite all subscribers. I think I’ve gone every year since I started, though they may have skipped a couple years during the pandemic. I forget. I don’t take[…] Keep reading →

I try to post things of substance or that will make you think and act. Today might be more silly. More self-indulgent. I’m posting a pun I stumbled on—that is, someone was saying something and the pun came to mind. I liked it enough to burn a post on it. Background: Growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, one of the best known commercials began, “I’m not a doctor, but[…] Keep reading →

This week, I charged my solar panel and battery on my roof for the first time for over 18 months. My building had to do maintenance during which no residents could access the roof. They told us the job would take 5 months, but it took over 18. They also didn’t say exactly when it would start until one day I got an email that said I couldn’t access the[…] Keep reading →

I avoid Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and most other social media. I still used LinkedIn more than weekly. Still, I had come to think of it as a place of spam. I don’t know what it’s like for you, but as best I can tell, the words “coach” or “author” seem to invite people I’ve never heard of to promote “quality leads,” book promotion services, and so on. I wondered if[…] Keep reading →

This nation’s government says it’s just only if based on the consent of the governed. Consider Cancer Alley. Nobody consents to being given cancer. Nobody consents to being born with a birth defect. Yet Cancer Alley and other sacrifice zones are growing. I don’t deny that people can benefit from perks that come from activities that pollute and deplete, but as long as they pollute and deplete, they violate what[…] Keep reading →

What does it mean to own something physical, like a book or a plot of land? I grew up knowing people owned things. I owned my shoes. My parents owned their houses. Nobody owned the sky. I had a vague sense that Native Americans found colonists weird for claiming to own land. Other cultures didn’t share the sense of ownership my culture did. People seemed to think their system was[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: Parasite, directed by Bong Joon-ho: I had heard people and critics liked this movie. I hadn’t heard much detail about it. The title didn’t sound appealing. While watching it, I didn’t find it credible. Too many suspensions of disbelief caused me to pop out of being lost in the story to saying, “Okay, that part wasn’t believable, but let’s imagine it was and go with it”[…] Keep reading →