What About Environmental Concerns Over Crypto Mining?

I learned long ago that when institutions decide to ride a subject, they can do so for a long time. By endless repetition people are worn down into compliance, and then into defense of their compliance. I’ve seen it too many times.

And so, seeing them harping on “Bitcoin isn’t environmentally friendly,” I feel a need to defend reality, before it’s overrun yet again.

Let’s start with some basic engineering, so you can see that it isn’t people on my side who are making wild assertions, but people on the institutional side. Continue reading “What About Environmental Concerns Over Crypto Mining?”

If There’s Life And Death, There Are Objective Standards

The existence of absolute standards threatens a great deal of modern power, and so has long been ridiculed and excluded from consideration.

Reality, however, cannot be changed, and the fact is that we all act for life and against death. So does every other living thing on this planet. That makes life and death absolute and objective standards. 

Continue reading “If There’s Life And Death, There Are Objective Standards”

Everyone Got It Anyway

As the year 2020 arrived, we were living and thinking as we had been in 2019, 2018 and 2017. There was plenty of fear and outrage in the world, but the levels were fairly smooth. And then, unexpectedly, a long and nightmarish storm battered us.

We all lived through three years of intimidation and fear. It has subsided now, but most people haven’t processed what has happened… they haven’t sorted and settled things inside themselves. Continue reading “Everyone Got It Anyway”

30 Minutes To Excellence

Excellence is attainable, and by every healthy person. I received this lesson from a man I never met, named Earl Nightingale. Today I’m passing it along to you.

Earl researched and taught about success for decades, and he took his job seriously. His work is often forgotten now, but if you can find it, it is definitely worth your time. I had it on cassette tapes, but I suspect it’s still available in some format. Continue reading “30 Minutes To Excellence”

Our Moral Obsession

Humans are moral obsessives. Anywhere you go, you’ll find people speaking in moral terms: “He didn’t treat me right,” “She’s arrogant,” “That’s a man you can respect,” and so on. All of these are moral judgments. Even confirmed criminals will routinely say things like, “That ain’t right,” which is, again, a purely moral judgment.

On top of that, moral judgments vary fairly little between individuals. There are exceptions, of course, but nearly all of us will agree on the majority of moral judgments, staying close to the model of the golden rule. Continue reading “Our Moral Obsession”

Bitcoin Is Far More Than An Investment

Over the past few years, huge numbers of people have come to see Bitcoin as an investment… like a stock. That’s because a significant percentage of the populace knows someone, at least a friend of a friend, who has done very well with Bitcoin. That’s the kind of thing that people notice, and not unreasonably so.

The truth, however, is that Bitcoin is more and better than an investment… much more and much better. Continue reading “Bitcoin Is Far More Than An Investment”

The Cure In Our Hands

I don’t recommend watching television, but I fell into one useful experience while watching it, some years ago:

It was well after midnight and I found myself in front of a TV, killing time. There wasn’t much on, but after some scanning, I found a rustic infomercial from a local church. They were offering prayer for the sick, depressed, and overwhelmed. My thumb was poised to move to the next channel, but instead I stopped and watched. I decided to look at the people in the pews—to really look at them. Continue reading “The Cure In Our Hands”

A Frank Letter to the Homeless Man Under the Bridge

letter-to-homelessThis is a re-post from years ago. I still feel the same.

I see you standing here, asking for help, about once a week. You are always polite, and I respect that. I’d like to do something for you… something that would matter long-term. Giving you a few notes or coins now and then may be fine, but I’d really like to improve your situation more permanently.

In other words, I’d like to give you a job. Continue reading “A Frank Letter to the Homeless Man Under the Bridge”

Child Abuse On A Civilizational Scale

(Originally published in October of 2022, and tragically still necessary.)

This is not something I ever wanted to write or even imagined writing. And yet, here we are. I’ve been receiving a stream of reports from wildly divergent sources, all saying the same things.

The fact is that child abuse is being perpetrated on a civilizational scale… massively financed on a civilizational level. This needs to be addressed. Continue reading “Child Abuse On A Civilizational Scale”