ainslies.org

I heard someone on a podcast say recently, “This Is Not The Apocalypse“. I can’t remember what it was in reference too, other than some current event. It’s been reverberating in my mind ever since. For reasons I’ve written about and everyone already knows, disaster/hyperbole/doom dominate the news headlines. It seems like every story predicts…

Last week there were three deaths that made the national news. It seems like every few weeks, there’s another news story about a school shooter, a convicted criminal with a known record of multiple violent offenses, or a mentally ill person with a history of violence who commits some horrific violent crime. In hindsight, some…

I replaced three bathroom faucets last week. One was dripping. The second had previously been leaking, but I repaired it a few months ago. The third, identical to the others, hadn’t leaked yet, but I figured it was just a matter of time until it started leaking too. Plus, I have seen many other faucets…

I was thinking about the political divide between democrats and republicans – or perhaps more accurately – between liberals and conservatives today. One concept that is commonly discussed are Red States vs. Blue States. Another is the phenomenon of a Purple State, where most of the state is Red but it has one or two…

Dr. Jessica Knurick (a nutrition scientist and dietician) was on the Prof G podcast this week where she was asked what needs to be done to improve people’s health related to food. Her response went something like this: Since the 1950’s, the US agriculture industry has prioritized generating profits over creating and supplying healthy, nutritious…

On a news podcast today, a journalist referenced posts on Twitter, Threads, Truth Social and other social media sites today while discussing a current geopolitical issue. This is commonplace. Journalists frequently rely on social media posts for stories, quotes and analysis. So do politicians, corporate leaders, celebrities, media personalities and influencers. You know who doesn’t?…

I think most people recognize what is true from what is false. They know when someone is lying, They know when a politician is being hypocritical. They know when they are behaving in a way that goes against their own values or beliefs. They know BS when they hear it. Most people know when The…

I am not the least bit worried about robots “taking over the world”. Send them in. I’ll take one of each: Technology doesn’t scare me. Consider the telephone in my lifetime: Over the next 15 years here’s what happened: Then came car phones, then portable phones, then cell phones, then smart phones. I won’t detail…

I’ve been talking to people on the phone less often over the past year. This includes my closest friends, and my mother, all of whom live hours away in my old city. Nobody has done anything wrong to create this distancing. Some of it is due to the ebbs and flows of friendships. Much of…

When a political cartoonist from a major US newspaper was asked what she would do to address one of the latest problems being caused by Trump, she responded: “It’s not my job to fix the country’s problems”.  She went on to explain that she was not qualified to answer the question and that her goal…