Easy Crock Pot Teriyaki Beef Stew

Aldi Teriyaki Asian sauce (the only good store-bought teriyaki I’ve been able to find. Or you can use my teriyaki recipe.) Beef stew meat Sliced onions Broccoli (or other suitable vegetable) Oil or butter Sriracha (optional) Toss the meat, teriyaki, oil or butter, sriracha, and onions in the crockpot. Set on low for six to eight hours. In the last half hour, toss in the broccoli. Serve with rice, raw broccoli, and sriracha marinated broccoli. The sriracha is optional but I found that just a touch of it added a…

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How to Win at Monopoly and Life

One of the more important life lessons I learned as a kid was from the game Monopoly. The way to consistently win at Monopoly is embracing mutually-beneficial trades. Monopoly is all about trading. Human society is all about trading. You start trading early and aggressively work to make a trade. However, you do not attempt to get the best possible trade. You never try to take the other person for all you can. Think from their perspective and get creative to try to get them what they want. In Monopoly…

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Coronavirus Lockdowns have Worked in Trump’s Favor

With the coronavirus lockdowns in place, most of our political interactions are now conducted online where we are able to disconnect from the humanity of the situation. We are able to forget that these are real people we’re talking to with real feelings. We rarely have real discussions online. We have meme-battles and mic drops but we don’t actually talk to each other, even though the capacity to do so is right there in front of us. This is a perfect environment for Trump supporters. They know how to post…

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The Abrasive “Defund” Term is a Result of the Police Using Abrasive Terms

The term “defund the police” does sound aggressive and abrasive. I’ve decided to start using the term “re-invent crime prevention” or something like that – I haven’t quite decided. But remember again where we’re coming from. The police use terminology like “war on crime” or “war on drugs”. But we all know when we say “war on crime” what we really mean is a war on street crimes. We’re not talking about wage theft, embezzlement, environmental damage or any of the crimes rich people commit. Same is true for the…

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I Want a New Way of Looking at Law and Order

I personally will not be satisfied until we have a new way of looking at law and order. It’s not just about banning choke-holds or prosecuting a few bad cops. I want a system based on real mental health science. I want one that recognizes that showing criminals compassion and allowing them basic human dignity is going to push them to a productive life much more effectively than threatening them. I want a system that puts counselors and interventionists first and guns and prisons second. This will reduce crime, increase…

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The Importance of the Baker’s Dozen

I bought a dozen donut holes last night. I could swear I ate five, then my roommate told me she ate one, but the next day there were seven in the bag. This reminded me of when I was very young and my dad explained the concept of a baker’s dozen: it’s about doing that little extra beyond what you promised to ensure no one gets mad at you and to ensure that next time they have an urge for a donut they think of you. This concept works metaphorically…

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The first time I heard a conservative republican speech…

Sorry everyone about the violent subject here. The first time I heard a conservative republican speech, I was in sixth grade. My teacher had just found out two of the students were gay and sexually active. He called everyone together to tell us, and gave an impassioned speech about respect, rules, order, discipline, knowing your place, and all those conservative republican values. I remember it making a lot of sense to me at the time. The next day a bunch of kids dragged those two boys out into the field,…

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