Earlier this week, Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas told what he called a “blogger inside baseball” story. While the story may be inside baseball, a passing remark in that story hints at an aspect of community that is sometimes overlooked.
If you believe that a community should serve a specific purpose, then you might think that [...]

General Motors stock closed below $10 per share yesterday for the first time in 54 years. The stock’s 15 percent one-day drop followed a report by a Merrill Lynch analyst that bankruptcy was within the realm of possibility for GM if current trends continue.
The decline of GM has been long in coming, although it has [...]

The great innovations of the 21st Century will be social. I predict that the solutions to our greatest challenges will emerge through new ways of coming together. Case in point, the Drake Landing Solar Community is a fully integrated housing development that takes solar to the next level. Solar panels channel heat [...]

Today’s news brings a story from New Zealand about growing interest in free trade agreements with that nation in order to address mounting concerns about food security. With many nations limiting or banning exports of rice, corn, and wheat, some food importing nations are looking to strike deals with New Zealand to supply their needs.
At [...]

It shouldn’t surprise us that policies set by all levels of governments can contribute to the success of green businesses and the development of green jobs. It shouldn’t embarrass us either when they do. While the same can be said for other types of businesses and jobs, it usually remains unsaid.
Still, whether public policy is, [...]

Last week I was in Yosemite National Park with my family. It is such a beautiful place, filled with massive granite domes and a vibrant natural setting for experiencing the wonders of nature. It is also the home of many black bears.
As we entered the park I noticed the sign photographed here. [...]

Shortly after Barack Obama’s campaign launched its Fight the Smears website this month, Joe and I published a piece on Open Left that explored some of the difficulties in dispelling myths and offered ways to overcome them. I also provided some related advice here at hivethrive regarding the hurdles faced by entrepreneurs who challenge [...]

Products that are identified chiefly as green, organic, or locally produced have sometimes risked falling into what one might call the LOHAS Trap. To the extent that LOHAS, an acronym for Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability, is regarded as a relatively affluent, well-educated market segment, products that are aimed at that segment are likely to [...]

The massive flooding in the Midwest is of such a scale that it can be difficult to imagine how to respond. There are now reports that the flooding will likely have a devastating impact on the Gulf of Mexico as well. As the flood waters travel down the Mississippi River, they carry nitrates from [...]

In a post earlier this month entitled Aren’t Ideas Important to Community?, Joe argued that we can be held back in devising solutions to the problems we face when “the most typical ideas in our culture stand at odds with our collective well-being.” Recognizing and correcting patterns of thought that hinder our efforts to address [...]