Ah, oil. Black gold. The bewitching shimmering glow of money in every gooey black molecule. Oil in many ways is just as much the stuff of fantasy as gold is. But like gold, although it still has its allure, it’s less and less useful in real life. Oh it’s been useful for a long time […]
Should You Be in Favor of Canceling Student Debt?
There are any number of wonderfully cynical almost old people who have learned the hard way that student debt is one of those things that can screw you over. Sometime back oh almost 20 years ago or even more, the United States figured out how to make a college education a big fat scam. A […]
Anger, Stereotypes, and Hate
Some people think America is awash in these three things today. I recently saw a TV commercial featuring a lot of celebrities that advised that hate is winning and we cannot let that happen. So is America drowning anger, stereotypes and hate? It certainly seems to be drowning. Or flailing. Or failing. There was a […]
Waste Not, Want Not? A Call for Corporate Responsibility
There’s a set of ideas and practices known as Leave No Trace that encourage individuals leave no waste behind when they visit nature (i.e., leave no trace). The idea is for individuals to be nature’s stewards, preserving the natural world for the benefit of all, including future generations. An underlying presumption of this call to […]
Let’s Make America Rational Again
A rational America? Hah, that would be a big change! Not sure it’s going to happen. But truthfully, playtime’s over. We’ve all been awash in our emotions, splashing around in a gigantic pool of delusions and sooner or later we’ve got to get out of the water, dry ourselves off, and tell our emotions to […]
How Not To Be An A**hole at Work
A guide to increasing employee engagement and job satisfaction 23 Awesome Techniques for Becoming a Rock Star, Not an A**hole Around the world, employees are not that into their jobs. Gallup conducts an annual survey on employee engagement and estimates that around 21% of employees are engaged, plus or minus, in any given year. A […]
Make New York Great Again
We’ve been taking a look at how Americans rank compared to the rest of the world on various measures like entrepreneurship, human development, Olympic medals, tourism and other stuff. You can find out how Americans rank by looking at Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of the Make Americans Great Again series. As part […]
Read the Job Description Carefully! How to Decode Job-Speak
Read the job description carefully. And then whatever the job description says – expect the opposite. Let’s start with a simple example. The job description is for a production/manufacturing job. That’s great! Manufacturing jobs can be quite straightforward. At least they used to be. The job description for this position says that you will lead […]
Should You Follow Your Passion as a Career?
The true answer to whether you should follow your passion as a career is: It depends what you are trying to accomplish. If what you are trying to accomplish is more women in STEM fields, then the answer is apparently ‘no‘. Apparently, not that many women have a passion for STEM fields. Instead, they are […]
Make Americans Great Again – Part 3
Third in a series in which we look at how Americans rank compared to other nations on various measures. Take a look at Parts 1 and 2 for background. Today we’ll start with something that is on the mind of developed nations, and a big worry, especially for some in the right-wing of politics: POPULATION […]
How to Stop Thinking About People Thinking About You
Surprising Techniques that Work! If you want a sure-fire recipe for anxiety, dwell for a few moments on all the things that people could think about you and very well might. They’ve noticed your thinning hair and are secretly laughing at what they rightly perceive to be a lame attempt at a comb-over. They have […]
How to Learn From Your Life – 7 Surprising Ways
Figuring out how to learn easily is one of the biggest favors you can do for yourself. That’s because learning can be hard. So hard that many people basically give up on it some time in adulthood. It’s hard because it takes energy. Your brain is the biggest calorie hog in your body, and when […]
The Anti-Christian Religious Right
According to surveys, 84% of people worldwide identify with a religion. Those who do identify with a religion typically derive comfort and joy from it. This is true of most Christians. Christianity, at its essence, is about sharing blessings. For those who believe, the very existence of Christ is a blessing. And that blessing is […]
Make Americans Great Again – Part 2
Second in a series in which we look at how Americans rank in different categories against the citizens of other nations around the world. Because obviously, if you want to ‘make America great again’, you’ve got to have great Americans doing that. Right? So let’s take a look at how Americans are doing in various […]
