A Black Police Officer in Portland discusses the behavior and attitudes of protesters.

Jakhary Jackson has been a Portland Police Officer for many years. In this video he shares his experiences getting to know the tactics and attitudes of the protesters. Not all protesters are the same.

Continue ReadingA Black Police Officer in Portland discusses the behavior and attitudes of protesters.

George Washington and Smallpox

Wow. George Washington used a crude method for inoculating his troops for smallpox, knowing that many of them would die in the process, but it was for a greater good. I didn't know this connection between George Washington and smallpox.  I now have much greater appreciation for the courage and innovative spirit of Washington.

Continue ReadingGeorge Washington and Smallpox

Interviewing Job Candidates is Often Unhelpful

Those who insist on interviewing candidates often make worse decisions. Shane Parrish at The Knowledge Project explains:

In the end, participants who were able to interview the students made worse predictions than those who only had access to biographical information. Why? Because the interviews introduced too much noise. They distracted participants with irrelevant information, making them forget the most significant predictive factor: past GPA. Of course, we do not have clear metrics like GPA for jobs. But this study indicates that interviews do not automatically lead to better judgments about a person.

This article contains many additional insights about interviewing. I highly recommend The Knowledge Project Podcast and Farnam Street Blog.

Continue ReadingInterviewing Job Candidates is Often Unhelpful

The Gift of a Heart

I love these images. The father of a girl who donated her heart is offered the chance to hear his daughter's heart again. Try to imagine someone seeing this video 100 years ago, wondering how the this story could be possibly be true. When I saw the stethoscope come out, that when I started feeling emotionally flooded by this video.

Bill Conner of Wisconsin rode his bicycle 2600 miles across the country to honor his daughter and raise awareness about the importance of organ, eye and tissue donation. Bill’s daughter, Abbey, died in January of 2017. She was an organ donor. On Father’s Day 2017, Bill heard his daughter’s heart beat again. After biking 1400 miles through several states, Conner stopped in Ventress, Louisiana to meet his daughter’s heart recipient, Loumonth Jack, Jr

Continue ReadingThe Gift of a Heart