WPenner's Blog

(Note: This article was originally written to fulfill class work.)

Kiva is a platform I have some familiarity with, having made 487 loans, to date. The idea is simple, connect microfinance lenders with capital from the Western do-gooders to re-shape economic destiny in the poorest of countries. Th...

The other day, while having lunch with friends, I got into a side conversation with a buddy who talked about a trip he and his wife want to take to another city. Many people feel it unsafe to travel. They feel that they are exposing themselves to undue risk. Talking of my travel plans, I said to him...

"Equality" has become the battle cry of protestors, activists and rioters, but before it was a public idea it was a spiritual ideal. Thomas Jefferson summed up thousands of years of thinking on the matter thus, "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are e...

Daring is an initial element in most accomplishments. It’s been said that “all glory comes from daring to begin.”

When setting out to be daring, the first step is to emulate non-conformists and be a step out of the mainstream thinking. Horace wrote that, “The power of daring anything they fancy ha...

Ah, space.

It's always been an attraction for me. While I didn't come up in the aerospace industry, or make my career in one of the hard sciences, I've always been attracted.

A couple of years ago, Elon Musk announced his intention to go to Mars. I followed every announcement with rapt attention...

"Why are there no organizations that are not hierarchies?" my friend asked. It was the beginning of a soliloquy and he wasn't actually interested in an answer. Which is fine, as I quite like his diatribes.

Yet, there are a number of organizations that have attempted to flatten hierarchies to the p...

The other day I spent time watching YouTube videos. This is not something I usually do, but I got stuck into looking for worm info and wandered into something called "BioChar". I captured the links, so I thought I'd archive them here.

These are the 5 videos that make up the seminar I watched "Bioc...

When I was young I was influenced by the work of Napoleon Hill and W. C. Stone. One of the sayings that really stuck with me from their work is, "Every adversity has the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit."

This doesn't mean that the benefit will naturally come to you, though. Revealing the...

Last June I participated in a demonstration of composting. After the demonstration the young lady was kind enough to also show off the worms that she kept. For those who stayed behind, she provided a small box with some bedding and 1 tablespoon of worms. This equated to approximately five worms for...