I delivered two TED-style talks at the 2011 International Conference on Sustainability, Transition and Culture Change in Bellaire, Michigan. The presentations embedded below were delivered to the few dozen people remaining at the conference on its fourth day, Sunday, 13…
by Sandra Long Originally, this essay was intended to be a cozy, feel-good list of suggested activities to help make spending time with disparate individuals within our communities more mutually beneficial, satisfying, and productive. Indeed, the word "community" is rooted…
American essayist Norman Cousins wrote: "Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live." Personally, I've never been content sitting still, surviving for survival's sake. Evidence is found in the…
by Gary Peters To borrow a line from Pete Seeger, “When will we ever learn?” If Karl Marx were alive today he would quickly see that television has become the opium of the people, dulling our senses and keeping our…
When I was young, I fell in the love with the girl next door. Well, maybe it wasn't love. But she was lovely and it felt like love, to my young heart. It wasn't about sex, although she was sexy.…
I'm just back from a trip to Mich-again, by way of Atlanta. I spoke several times and consulted on a couple properties. I fell in love with Michigan and Michiganders, and my messages were generally well-received. In other words, the…
by John Duffy "But what do you want?" a political cartoon jokes, of the Occupy Wall Street protesters, who hold so many signs with clear demands. I myself hear this question posed as criticism daily, almost as much as I…