Author Archives: Jeff Kisling

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About Jeff Kisling

I'm retired from a career in infant pulmonary research and continuing to be engaged as a Quaker in multiple activities in the Midwest

Languish

This morning I was led to hear a discussion about languishing, prompted by the New York Times article, There’s a Name for the Blah You’re Feeling: It’s Called LanguishingThe neglected middle child of mental health can dull your motivation and … Continue reading →

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Climate tipping points that might already have been reached

As storms and fires become increasingly frequent and devastating, we are bombarded with more, increasingly alarming articles about climate change. Yesterday I wrote an introduction to climate tipping points. I did that because I came upon an interesting paper that … Continue reading →

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Climate tipping points

Yesterday I wrote, again, about our evolving environmental chaos. Ghastly Future There is great urgency to do what we can to mitigate the damage we are doing because there a boundaries that, if broken, cannot be recovered from. There is … Continue reading →

Posted in climate change, climate refugees, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Ghastly Future

Even though I’ve been led by a concern for our environment since my teenage years, which has taken many forms, I have often found what we are facing to be nearly overwhelming. Despite seeing the perilous path we are on, … Continue reading →

Posted in climate change, climate refugees, immigration, Mutual Aid, revolution, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Sensemaking

Over the years I’ve often thought about the concept of sensemaking, the action or process of making sense of or giving meaning to something, especially new developments and experiences. sensemaking | Search Results It is increasingly difficult to make sense … Continue reading →

Posted in #NDAPL, climate change, decolonize, Indigenous, Native Americans, Seeding Sovereignty, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Forgiveness

This morning’s prayers led me to reflections about forgiveness. This might be because we will be talking about Indigenous boarding schools at my Quaker meeting this morning. There were many terrible things about kidnapping native children and taking them far … Continue reading →

Posted in #NDAPL, Dakota Access Pipeline, Des Moines Mutual Aid, First Nation-Farmer Climate Unity March, Quaker, race, Uncategorized, white supremacy | Leave a comment

The XR activists who took on oil giant Shell – and won

Below this story of yesterday’s victory of Extinction Rebellions (XR) activists is story of my friends from Bold Iowa who also argued the necessity defense in 2019. Six Extinction Rebellion activists have been acquitted in a landmark verdict at Southwark … Continue reading →

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Multisystem Failure

By far the largest system failing is our environment. The Biden administration announced the goal of greenhouse gas reduction of 50% from 2005 levels by 2030. It is an outrage that legislative proposals consistently fail to even begin to address … Continue reading →

Posted in capitalism, Des Moines Mutual Aid, Mutual Aid, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Religious Socialism

My friend Fran Quigley is director of the Health and Human Rights Clinic at Indiana University McKinney School of Law and has been teaching me about Religious Socialism. This began when he contacted me about writing I have been doing … Continue reading →

Posted in abolition, capitalism, Democratic Socialists of America, Religious socialism, socialism, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Time Stood Still

Yesterday time stood still. Images of crowds of people staring at their phones all over the country. Those inside focused on television, cell phone, tablet or computer screens. A collective silence. It’s almost too ironic to say a collective holding … Continue reading →

Posted in abolition, Black Lives, Des Moines Black Lives Matter, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Great Plains Action Society, prison, race, Uncategorized | 2 Comments