Let me see if I get this. You go to a grocery store and buy something, e.g., sausage that, from the moment it was processed out of pigs’ ankles and intestines, has been wrapped in traditional plastic made from petroleum. …
Category: Sustainability
A Question on Gun Laws
Let’s begin by admitting that this is an America-only problem, and that, even here, in the world capital of mass shootings committed by the mentally ill, this would represent a rare situation in which a parent would find him/herself. If …
Tagged with: A Question on Gun Laws
Happiness and Community
When I meet Scandinavians, i.e., folks from countries that are consistently at the top of the World Happiness Rankings, I often ask them to explain this phenomenon. Almost uniformly, they respond in terms of the sense of community that pervades …
Tagged with: World Happiness Rankings
When Stupidity Runs in the Family
Here’s a family that is doing its level damnedest to remove itself from the gene pool, and that, IMO estimation, is a good thing. Eat horrible food. Expose yourself to pandemics. Refuse medical treatment. Elect leaders who will only make …
Nationalism and Its Dangers
Not sure we need the seedy guy with the beer, but the point here is an important one. If you’re in Iceland or Paraguay, nationalism is probably harmless, adding a bit of pride to a small and nonaggressive country. But …
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What Are Our True Opportunities?
In the real world, the assertion at left is completely untrue. If the author wants to modify this to: All of us have the right to an equal opportunity to develop our own talents, then fine. But if you believe …
California Is Not for Everyone
Not everyone grooves on California; we all know that. The people with the trailer here are a good example of this, but I’m not sure the world’s 4th largest economy is going to miss these folks too much. What they …
Tagged with: California Is Not for Everyone
The English Language Is Constantly Shifting, But . . .
I heard an interview with a university English professor the other day, and was surprised and dismayed to learn that she believes that most of the bad grammar we run across in our daily lives is actually the natural and …
The English Language Is Constantly Shifting, But . . . Read More »
Tagged with: English language
Understanding America’s Gun Fetish
As suggested here, the rest of the world thinks that the United States’ demand that it proliferate guns throughout its society qualifies us as completely insane. Hard to deny that. The real issue, of course, is that this conversation is not …
Socialism in America
As suggested here, a disappointingly large percentage of Americans fail to understand that each U.S. citizen receives a huge array of benefits from our federal and state governments (see list below). This confusion gives rise to the false notion that …
Tagged with: Socialism in America
