Category Archives: corporations

Facebook: What’s the word for this?

Posted on April 13, 2018 by

“Is Facebook a monopoly?” is and is not the right question to ask. Here’s why. Watching a batter-up rotation of senators take turns at questioning Mark Zuckerberg this week, and listening to the public response to the unfolding spectacle, shows … Continue reading →

Posted in corporations, culture, politics, technology | 2 Comments

Greed, hubris, and cramming-through.

Posted on December 2, 2017 by

Sen. Elizabeth Warren sits at her desk, coffee cup and phone nearby, holding a 500-page chunk of paper — the Republican tax bill — she was given an hour to read before the vote. “So,” she begins, “here it is … Continue reading →

Posted in community, corporations, higher education, money, politics, teaching, women | 2 Comments

Ownlife vs. Internet?

Posted on November 15, 2014 by

“…at the same time I felt so strongly the pull of another thing, a thing having to do with music, freedom, the future, individuality.  This is an important reason why I became a writer, I think, for in everything I … Continue reading →

Posted in attention, corporations, technology | 3 Comments

Dandelion wars.

Posted on May 21, 2014 by

It’s that time again: the latest round of the anti-weed, lawn-spraying wars.  In our town, this plays out not only in individual lawns but on the campus of our college, which routinely comes under fire from lots in the community … Continue reading →

Posted in community, conservation, corporations, culture, gardening, teaching | Leave a comment

The second disruptor: an open letter to our college’s president on the “digitization of learning.”

Posted on September 30, 2013 by

September 30, 2013 An Open Letter to Our College President on the Digitization of Learning From The Cheapskate Intellectual Dear President, Thank you for being a thoughtful leader and serious colleague who has invited us to wrestle with the challenges … Continue reading →

Posted in community, corporations, politics, teaching, technology | 6 Comments

In the country of frac-sand mining.

Posted on August 7, 2013 by

Yesterday, I took an all-day bus tour (sponsored by and including many Allamakee County Protectors) to see frac-sand mining up close in Trempeleau and Chippewa Counties, Wisconsin.  In our group were filmmakers, writers, lawyers, water-quality specialists, Winneshiek County Protectors, journalists, … Continue reading →

Posted in conservation, corporations, Driftless region, frac-sand mining, fracking, politics | 10 Comments

MOOCs in Citizenville.

Posted on June 20, 2013 by

What happens when you use technology to “serve people” by taking people and their physical presence in particular places – and thus their sense of responsibility and relationship to one another and to that place – out of the picture … Continue reading →

Posted in community, corporations, politics, teaching, technology | 1 Comment

Black Friday.

Posted on November 25, 2012 by

Black as in Iowa soil, that is — its first couple inches just touched with frost, covering golden potatoes underneath. The cold came at last, the day after Thanksgiving in this unusually warm fall.  Time to harvest everything that was … Continue reading →

Posted in conservation, corporations, gardening, stuff | Leave a comment

Common ground: politics, water, and life.

Posted on October 16, 2012 by

Checking my email on what is going to be my last full morning in Alabama for a while, I found some very troubling news: fracking may be coming to our beautiful little corner of northeast Iowa. You might say it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in community, conservation, corporations, Driftless region, frac-sand mining, fracking, politics, resilience, spirit, the past, the South | 7 Comments

Somebody made this: who?

Posted on August 29, 2012 by

This morning, I took my first-ever pottery class, in the spacious studio in our college’s arts center, with a generous colleague, George, and a large group of students, several of whom had been in my classes before. I’m here on … Continue reading →

Posted in art, attention, community, corporations, self-reliance, stuff, yoga | 2 Comments