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“Nothing Hitler Did Was Illegal”

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Martin Luther King, Jr. famously said this in response to questions about civil rights and the law. The point was that morality and the law are not always on the same side. I often think about this as I ponder the social and political issues of our time. The question that comes to mind is: What about now?


Avoiding False Dichotomies

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Today is Blog Action Day, where the blogging world (such as it is) unites to write about a single topic. I know, so conventional—but in this case, I don’t mind going with the flow. The theme this year is Climate Change, so I thought I’d contribute something about travel and its impact on the world ...


Why Not Try It All?

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Just say no. Assert your boundaries. You can't do it all. There's a time and a place for everything, sure, but is that always the best advice? Whenever I hear things like “Say no five times for every time you say yes,” I think... “Really?” I take the opposite approach, and it generally works out just fine.


Site Update: October 2009

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This site update comes to you live from Portland, Oregon. Welcome to Autumn! If all goes well, I expect to turn in the manuscript of my first book to the publisher by the end of the month ...


Your Own Amazing Race

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My travel goal takes me to a lot of places, and the trips don’t always play out the way I expect. Things go wrong. Some trips are thrilling, some are boring, and most are somewhere in between.

Someone asked me recently, aren’t you on The Amazing Race? I saw you jumping around in taxis in Thailand.

Wrong guy.

My answer: “No, I’m doing my own Amazing Race. It’s better than the one on TV.”


Watch and See

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In 2005, U.N. Secretary General Koffi Annan was struggling with a series of scandals and other challenges in his administration. I read this short quote in a magazine interview with him and wrote it down in my notebook:

Question: Senator Coleman says you are 'damaged goods.' What do you say to him?

Answer: Watch and see.


Charity Dinner and Auction (Portland area) – Friday, October 23

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Friends in Portland, if you’ll be around on Friday, October 23rd, I’d like to invite you to a benefit dinner and auction for a cause I am proud to support. The Short Version:

What: Dinner and auction for Sisters of the Road, a local non-profit that serves the homeless population in Portland.

When: Friday, October 23rd, 6-10pm (includes dinner, drinks, auction, and something called a “hoedown”)


The Best $1.26 I Ever Made

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Note: this is a modified excerpt from the Unconventional Guide to Working for Yourself. This week I’m staying in one place and working on my book. Have a great Thursday!


How to Request an Airline Status Match

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In 2008 I earned Executive Platinum status with American Airlines the hard way– through lots of flight hours logged all over the world. In 2009 I also earned the same, highest-level status with Northwest, Delta, and Continental, but I flew less than 10,000 miles with each of them.

On a recent Atlanta-Miami flight operated by Delta, my upgrade cleared three days ahead of the flight. I watched as more loyal Delta passengers waited at the gate thirty minutes before departure in hopes of getting a seat up front. Is it fair? Depends on how you look at it, I suppose– but travel hacking is all about gaining some kind of advantage over the system.


How to Conduct an Online Survey

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As I mentioned in last week's survey invitation, when you’re trying to build a business, blog, non-profit, or pretty much any venture, regularly checking in with your peeps is an important way to make sure you know who they are and what they want.

This is especially important when it comes to a) transition points in the growth of your community, or b) product development at any time. Surveys allow you to take the pulse of a large group of people in a short period of time -- and because of how sampling works, you don't actually need to hear from all of them to know what most of them are thinking.


$100 Businesses and Different Kinds of Entrepreneurship

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Greetings, friends and readers. This week I’m holed up on the Oregon coast working on my book. Updates will continue as usual, starting with this weekend one where I write about the small business behind AONC.

Since I wrote about $100 businesses last Monday, I’ve heard a lot of fun stories from readers ...