Where is home? It is a question that has been growing within me more, the older I become. My life has been greatly affected by politics, moving, and family patterns. This has given me a broader insight regarding life, the world and humanity, than most people around me. In this video, I am talking about where is home, my experience as a foreigner and uprooting … Continue reading Where is home? They say home is where your heart belongs
I’ve been thinking a lot about anger recently. In fact, I’ve been looking at the topic long enough to be ready to put my thoughts on paper. For a person interested in studying anger and the angry response, this is a kind of perfect moment. There’s so much anger out there, being expressed in all sorts of contexts by all kinds of people, that there’s … Continue reading Repost: On Anger
On Friday, October 11th, I attended a professional development workshop at the college where I’m employed. The title of the session was “Communication Skills for Collaboration.” Looking back, I don’t think the title gave an apt preview of what the talk would cover. Plus, the title was boring; whereas, the actually workshop was quite interesting. During the early moments of the presentation, the presenter began … Continue reading Repost: A Meditation on Something I Heard the Other Day
Forgive my excursion into the always contentious waters of politics, but it’s Toddlertime again in Washington DC and ultimately, that’s our fault. Continue reading It’s Toddlertime-Again
The Paradox of Tolerance Back in the 1940s, a philosopher named Karl Popper came up with something called “The Paradox of Tolerance.” He said that if everyone tolerates every idea, then intolerant ideas will emerge. Tolerate people, being the soft pushovers they are, will tolerate this intolerance. However, the intolerant will not tolerate tolerant people. So, eventually, the tolerant will get rammed up the backside. … Continue reading Why We Must Tolerate Intolerance
I’ve been thinking a lot about defiance lately. Actually, because I’m very much a contrarian at heart, I’m always thinking about ways to defy. That’s what contrarians do; they defy conventional wisdom (among other things). (By the way, it seems pretty clear that we need a lot more contrarians in the world.) I guess you could also say that I’m part of the resistance against … Continue reading Repost: Napping as an Act of Defiance
If you haven’t already done so, you might want to have a look at part one. That one was mostly about work. This second piece will be more focused on money; although, work and money really go hand in hand because without the former, the latter is hard to come by. In part one, I mentioned (and linked to) “The Shame that Keeps Us in Our … Continue reading Repost: On Work and Money: Part Two
Earlier this week I read “The Shame that Keeps Us in Our Jobs,” an article by Paul Millerd, one of my LinkedIn contacts. Millerd’s piece, about work, work culture, and money, got me thinking about a whole bunch of topics. This blog is the result of that rumination. I want to begin with something I’ve wondered about throughout my career as a college and university … Continue reading Repost: On Work and Money: Part One
God moved into our nation and settled there. It was 1979, and I was only seven years old. He took over the country with Ayatollah Khomeini. He was a “man” with a long beard and turban who looked more like an Indian than an Iranian. This text is part of my in-progress memoir, which I plan to publish in the future in the divine timing. Continue reading When God moved into our nation
Note: A version of this post was published earlier. As America gears up for the 2024 presidential campaign, a variety of Republican contenders, chief among them Ron DeSantis, are doing their absolute best to dethrone the Grand Poohbah, otherwise known as “The Donald,” the man who gives lie to the statement “It can’t happen here.” To achieve this difficult task, these campaigners are going … Continue reading Let’s Talk and Think about Skin Color
Before I get into the body of this piece, I’d like to say that the conflict in Ukraine is especially interesting and tragic because I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Poland during the mid-nineties, not long after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall. I was sent to Rzeczpospolita Polska—I still remember quite a lot of Polish—to … Continue reading Repost: What Vladimir Putin’s War Has Taught Me
The law holds that it is better that ten guilty persons escape, than that one innocent suffer. William Blackstone I was planning a completely different post for today but then on Friday last week they announced super good news. Olivier Vandecasteele was released after 455 days of detention in an Iranian prison on alleged charges of espionage and undermining national security. He was innocent. Who … Continue reading Is it Better that Ten Guilty Persons Go Free that One Innocent be Convicted?
Hi, all. Wise & Shine is looking for a few new writers. If you’d like to apply to join the team, send samples of your writing via our “Contact” form. Please familiarize yourself with the sort of things our blog publishes before contacting us. We’ll send a set of writing guidelines to those who send examples of their work. We look forward to reading your … Continue reading Want to Write for Wise & Shine?
In October of last year, Wise & Shine started a podcast. In the weeks ahead, we’ll be recording new episodes for your listening pleasure. Tuesday will be the day we publish new podcasts to the site. If you haven’t already done so, please have a listen to our recordings from 2022. We are interested in hearing from readers and experts who’d like to be a part … Continue reading Wise & Shine Podcasts in 2023
In the latest installment of the Wise & Shine podcast, I talk with Billy Osogo—one of our writers and a brilliant young man who lives in Nairobi, Kenya—about what the world can learn from Africa. In Billy’s very insightful response, he tells me about “Ubuntu” and a variety of other subjects. Have a listen and enjoy! Continue reading New Podcast: What Can the World Learn from Africa?
Are Americans freer than Europeans? Find out when Troy Headrick and Cristiana (“crisbiecoach”) have a thought-provoking discussion on freedom, enslavement, choice, possessions, money, and a variety of related topics. Continue reading Podcast: How Free Are We?
Politics…has started to metastasize into gleefully naked power grabs in which the basic assumptions that make democracies functional have been replaced by a mosh pit, a zero sum game in which the sole object is the accretion of power. Continue reading Thoughts from the Ledge of Democracy
Note: I’ve included some thinking exercises in this piece, toward the second half of the blog. Please participate in completing those and leaving your answers in the comment section. I hope you don’t feel that I’m beating a dead horse here, talking so much and with such passion about thinking. It’s just that I’m reminded that Marcus Aurelius once said: “The happiness of your life … Continue reading Building the Muscular Mind (Final Installment with Exercises)
I apologize for the lateness of posting this. I had an unexpectedly hard time finishing the follow-up to my first installment. I actually completed it more than a week ago, but I didn’t feel good about what I’d written. It felt like the tone was all wrong. I was being too strident and too dark, so I ended of scrapping the entire first draft and … Continue reading Building the Muscular Mind (Installment Two)
I’m going to stick my neck out today. I’m going to talk about something I’ve been avoiding for certain political and professional reasons for some time now. A topic that is close to my heart. As it turns out, aircrew are extremely reluctant to talk about mental health. On the rare occasions I’ve brought it up, I’ve seen Captains visibly squirm in their seats. They … Continue reading The Elephant in the Cockpit
