The Dream Team
Confession: I recently watched an excellent interview Tucker Carlson conducted with Bret Weinstein, an ex-evolutionary biology professor-turned podcaster who is no longer employed by The Evergreen State College in my old stomping grounds of Olympia, Washington. Why...
2024’s most dangerous word: TRUST
The word "trust" is believed to derive from the Old Norse word "traust," meaning "help, confidence, protection, support." But there are questions about that. The most reliable origin is the proto-Indo-European world "deru" — to be "firm, steadfast, hard, solid." By...
AI Volte Face
"About face!" The command rings out across the parade grounds as the drill sergeant barks the call during formation exercises. Translation: "Hey! Troops! Turn around. Now!" In the political arena, "volte-face" is the oft-used French term for an abrupt change in...
Moving Mountains
I rarely watch videos in the morning. But yesterday I started off the day with a cup of tea and a 15-minute follow-up on the Lahaina fire someone sent me. That segued into another video messaged me about flat earth and how we've been tricked into believing a...
War & Peace
Ever since the latest atrocities in Israel occurred last Saturday, Edwin Starr's iconic 1969 song "War" has been going through my brain. And in case you aren't familiar with it, here are the opening lines: "War, huh, yeah. What is it good for? Absolutely nothin'." And...
Individualism Versus Collectivism: A conversation about human nature
If I had to boil the world's political struggles down and throw them in one pot, it would be the fight of individualism versus collectivism. Anarchy versus communism. Starting with Aeschylus, Zeno and Socrates, some of the world's greatest philosophic thinkers have...
A Different Kind of “No!”
Like all the residents of Maui, Hawai'i, and many millions around the globe, I'm still emotionally and psychically reeling from the deadly Lahaina fire. Like millions around the world, I'm asking myself, "What really happened? What's really going on?" Most pressing is...
Stories, illusions and lies, oh my!
I was on a group call the other day, and a guy was talking and he said, "If I don't feel, it isn't real." And then he kept on going and I don't remember a thing he said after that because I was so riveted by that one short statement. It led me into an examination of...
The Teaching of No Words
Many years ago, a spiritual teacher freaked me out at a retreat by saying out of the blue, "Soon will come the teaching of no words." No words? How was that supposed to work? Surely, I wasn't going to have to read my teacher's mind? Was that what he wanted? Was that...
The Great River Crossing of Our Times
River crossings are tricky. Rushing, turbulent waters, slippery rocks, no visible footing, no hand rail, no assurance you'll make it to the other side. Back in the 1960s, every Western I ever saw about people headed West to a new life had a scene where the pilgrims...