As shown at left, a reader wants my input on the word “cringy.” Elements of language like these are constantly changing. I’ve never hear of “cringy,” but it wouldn’t upset me to hear my young daughter use it. Even “cringworthy” …
Category: Sustainability
Coca Cola: Master Greenwasher
From the Story of Stuff: If you’ve followed our work, you know how we feel about Coca-Cola‘s sustainability claims (if you don’t, watch our video “EXPOSED: The Truth Behind Coca-Cola’s Advertising,” which we linked in our bio.) And it’s not …
Learning from Bad Times
This from the oft-quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson. I suppose the issue is: How bad are these so-called “bad times?” I’m as interested in learning as the next guy, but I don’t really want to find out what world fascism or …
Question from a Reader
A reader asks; Why do some people use the word “comfortability” when they can just use “comfort?” Do they mean different things? This is an example of something we encounter frequently: how we make nouns from adjectives and vice versa. …
Tagged with: Question from a Reader
Smart Water
As they say, “If you’re buying Smart Water, it isn’t working.” Now, are cans better for the environment than plastic bottles? Yes, largely because they are far more likely (more than twice as likely) to be recycled. Having said that, …
Tagged with: Smart Water
Pope Francis, Humanitarian
It’s been a while since I mentioned that Pope Francis is a fabulous humanitarian. Until he came along, the Catholic Church had held essentially no position that sought to improve the social and material aspects of people’s lives. The shift …
Marxism / Socialism
The meme here comes from a reader. Two comments: 1) Most people regard Trump’s $4 trillion in tax cuts for the rich as a “redistribution.” 2) The U.S. is the only developed country on Earth that doesn’t offer its citizens …
Tagged with: socialism
Why Is There Suffering?
The author of the meme here poses an excellent question. And at least a partial answer is this: we’re not omnipotent.
Tagged with: Why Is There Suffering?
What You Will Do, and What You Won’t
These fellows seem fine on commanding others as to what they will do. All the while, there are things they themselves will not do: become educated, read, think for themselves, or develop compassion and empathy for others. It’s a trade-off. …
Tagged with: compassion and empathy for others
Another Question on Grammar
A reader asks: Re: the phrase “where we’re at”. Is it grammatically incorrect and should be “where we are”? And did I get the period and question mark right? The phrases “where we’re at, where it’s at,” etc. are all …
