Monday, January 13, 2025

Sunday, January 12, 2025

A nation exhausted: The neuroscience of why Americans are tuning out politics

  “I am definitely not following the news anymore,” one patient told me when I asked about her political news consumption in the weeks before the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

  This conversation happened around the time I talked with a local TV channel about why we saw fewer political yard signs during this year’s election season, compared with past ones.

Saturday, January 11, 2025

Transform the daily grind to make life more interesting – a philosopher shares 3 strategies to help you attain the good life

  Imagine it’s Monday morning, too cold and too dark, but once that alarm goes off, you know you’ve got to rally. The kids have to get to school. You’ve got to get to work. And, of course, your ever-growing to-do list hangs over your head like a dark cloud, somehow both too threatening to ignore and too threatening to start its tasks.

  On days like this, you may be grateful simply to make it through. But then it begins, all over again.

Friday, January 10, 2025

Eight laws of leadership

  Take a look around. Business, education, politics. If there’s one thing we don’t have enough of, it’s good leaders —men and women who have the vision and the ability to change things for the better.

  Former Air Force General William Cohen wrote a fine book called "The Stuff of Heroes" in which he identified eight laws of leadership. Here are his rules:

Thursday, January 9, 2025

Where political careers end

  We have about 16 months before the 2026 state Republican primaries, the only elections that matter in Alabama. Big offices, including governor and attorney general, will be up for grabs.

  That means a lot of GOP candidates, many with little to no name recognition, will fight for the attention of the 20% of the adult population of Alabama who vote in the primary.

  I wish that would mean serious discussions of issues like criminal justice and health care. But we know what they’ll talk about.

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Faced with Trump’s tariffs − and crackdowns on migration and narcotrafficking − Mexico is weighing retaliatory options

  Donald Trump has made clear his intent to supercharge his “America First” approach to foreign policy in his second term – and Mexico looks set to be at the tip of the spear.

  While many of Trump’s predecessors have also followed a “realist” strategy – that is, one where relative power is at the forefront of international relations, while diplomatic success is viewed through how it benefits one’s own nation – the incoming president has displayed an apparent unwillingness to consider the pain that his plans would inflict on targeted countries or the responses this will engender.

Tuesday, January 7, 2025

Panel discusses ongoing impact of fines and fees on marginalized Alabamians

   Criminal justice reform advocates discussed the impact of fines and fees on marginalized Alabamians, as well as possible solutions, at a panel discussion last month.

  Alabama lawmakers in recent years have enacted dozens of fines and fees, many through local bills, that increase the cost of going through the criminal justice system or in getting a license plate for a motor vehicle. While some fees go to victim restitution, others are levied to pay for basic operations of the court system. Most fall disproportionately on those least able to pay.

Monday, January 6, 2025

The essence of sportsmanship

  In the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, six-time medalist Eugenio Monti from Italy was favored to win the gold medal in the bobsledding pair event. After his team’s last run, it looked like they were going to make it.

  The British team, led by Tony Nash Jr., still had a chance, but before their final run, Nash discovered a critical axle bolt had broken on their sled. They were done.

Sunday, January 5, 2025

Good ethics make better relationships

  While I believe that good things tend to happen to people who consistently choose the high road, the correlation between ethics and success is a loose one at best. Thus, it’s pretty hard to sincerely promote ethics by appeals to self-interest.

Saturday, January 4, 2025

How to use habit science to help you keep your New Year’s resolution

  More than 80% of people who make New Year’s resolutions have already given up on their goals by February.

  While there’s a lot of resolution advice on the internet, much of it fails to highlight the crux of behavioral change.

  To make individual decisions – whether it’s what to wear or which gift to buy for someone – you draw on brain systems involving executive control. You make the decision, add a shot of willpower and, voilà, it’s done.