Category: Society

Why Is the Connection between People and Dogs So Strong?

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And What Does That Mean About Our Relationships with Other Animals?

A lot of people, most people I expect, like animals a lot. I know I do. Over the years I have enjoyed the company of dogs, cats, fish, and other assorted critters. My devotion to and affection for them all was genuine. But the dogs were, and are, in a category by themselves. I know a lot of us feel the same.

Time magazine has recently published a special edition about this very question. In it, Jeffrey Kluger laid out the framework nicely:

“… about the bond that humans and dogs share.

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Can Your Watch Save Your Life?

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We Might Want to Pay Attention to That Question

In the last few weeks I have seen 3 more stories of people’s lives being saved by their Apple watches. The impressively accurate watch detects heart beat irregularities and pressure changes. It even measures some effects of blood clots.

In each of these cases, as in others, the individual would not have known there was a problem without the watch. In each case, they trusted the watch, sought medical care, and lived to tell the tale,

Kudos for Apple. No doubt others could offer such technology,

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What do Alex Jones, Laura Ingraham – and YOU – have in Common?

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You have at least one important thing in common.

Relax, I am not about to compare you to Alex Jones, Laura Ingraham, or their fellow travelers. If you like those folks, you likely are not a reader of this blog. But if you do happen to find them agreeable, you are still welcome to stick around and see what we have to say today.

The last few days have been banner days for showing the ugly side of our species, and some hopeful signs as well.

  • Alex Jones finally is purged from most social media.

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Quotes to Carry Around

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Here are Some Thoughts to Carry You Through the Weekend

I confess to being a collector of quotable phrases. I have pages of them at this point. I enjoy reading them and sharing them.

I offer you today a baker’s dozen from my collection.

Some are profound, some are funny – some are both. They all seem timely. They are food for thought and an antidote to mundane thinking.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. More of this to come in the weeks ahead.

  1. Hold your heroes to a high standard.

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History Is About To Come Calling

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Events are About to Catch Up with Trump and Company. History will Not be Kind.

In a sense, many of us alive today have been here before. There came a time in Watergate that the weight of evidence and history would no longer be denied. It was an amazing thing to observe. Two things stood out in particular.

One, when the time came, a handful of people made a difference. In the right place and with the right amount of authority, they stood up and did the right thing.

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The Large and Small Joys of Paying It Forward

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Turns out there’s something to that whole “Do Unto Others” thing

I don’t know exactly when the term Pay It Forward became an established part of the American lexicon. I remember a movie by that title a few years ago. But it was riding popular consciousness rather than starting the conversation.

Well, whoever started this ball rolling, we owe them a debt of thanks. Few approaches to life carry such value and power, on so many levels.

We can see examples of it everywhere. Even better, we can provide examples everywhere.

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Carl Sandburg Was Right- We Need Loneliness and Wilderness

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A  Visit to Sandburg’s Home Brought a Valuable Lesson

I have the good fortune of living not far from the booming (NOT) metropolis of Flat Rock, NC. Not a place on many bucket lists, but it should be. It is the rural home of the excellent State Theater and home to some exceptional BBQ.

But the real attraction is the country home of Carl and Lilian Sandburg. They lived here for many years, until his death in 1967. I feel an extra connection to Sandburg. He was America’s voice in so many ways (prose, poetry, music).

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The US Concentric Circles Are Breaking Up

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One Circle is Now Spinning Away and Jamming Up the Works. Let It Go.

 

Let’s acknowledge something up front. This blog is about to provide some simplified analysis. Bear with me; the sin should be worth making this short and readable. I hope.

America has been at its best, has worked best, when we recognize we all live in concentric circles. That is to say, we have our core groups and tribes that most express our beliefs and desires. But we have also found ground wherein those circles chose to overlap, to work together.

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Can We Save Recycling — By Recycling the Idea?

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A good idea has gotten lost in the execution details. Let’s simplify and do better

I like recycling. I bet you do, too. What’s not to like? It is good for the environment. It allows us to participate in a good thing as citizens. It can create jobs and new technology. It’s the right thing to do. And yet…

The hodge-podge of recycling protocols has made it difficult to figure out if we are “doing it right.” Every community, every business has their own definitions and criteria. On an average day, I can expect to have half a dozen opportunities to recycle at different locations.

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What did we learn from The Week That Was?

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Last week we saw the spectacles of a NATO meeting in London and the summit in Helsinki. These two events told us a lot – about Trump, and the Republican party and about the rest of us.

I am not an historian, but I am confident in saying we have not anything in our foreign policy like this past week. A sampling of the headlines pretty well sums it up for most people:

          “This sad, embarrassing wreck of a man”

          “What does Putin have on Trump?”

           “If Putin wanted a US.

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