Wit & Wisdom with Tom Greene

Two cadets from the United States Military Academy remain on life support after a larger group overdosed on cocaine, laced with deadly Fentanyl. It is a highly concentrated, synthetic opioid that is 80–100 times stronger than morphine. It was designed for severe pain management. But, since that time, illicit Fentanyl has become a weapon of mass destruction. The United States seized over 15,000 pou...

Research shows that when people turn age 65, one-half get happier. The other half get sadder. What is the key difference between these two groups? Before we answer that question, I think we can agree that we are all trying hard to be successful. Regardless of what your definition of success might be. But, the reality of life is that the more successful you are, the sadder you are likely to be late...

In most social circles, outside of truck stops and biker bars, swearing is considered to be vulgar. And, quite possibly, a sign of lower intelligence. So why the #&@% are we swearing so much these days? Listen to find out.

While our politicians in Washington play games, the world’s most evil dictators have been preparing for war.

Our lives today are the antithesis of seclusion. We are surrounded by chattering voices: the talking heads on TV, podcasts, Social Media, Netflix and the constant buzzing and pinging of smart phones. Life is anything but seclusive. It’s nearly impossible to hear yourself think-or to think for yourself. After all, those chattering voices are simply a cacophony of other people’s thoughts, not yours....

There is no objective measure of happiness. No emotional thermometer to test our temperature. So the only way to objectively measure happiness is to simply ask, “how happy are you?” In reality, more money makes us happier but only to a point. The study below shows “nail in the coffin” proof of happiness and money. Happiness improves with money, but only until about $75,000 per year. Then it pancak...

So why is Joe Rogan causing such a stir? And, why is the pitch fork-cancel culture coming for his head? In early January, a group of 270 Scientists and Doctors signed an open letter to Spotify. The letter accused Rogan of “promoting baseless conspiracy theories”. Further, it demanded that Spotify attempt to remove any efforts to spread mis-information about the virus. The controversy boiled over i...

Over the past few decades, the United States has seen a precipitous drop in the labor force participation rate. Surprisingly, this trend is most pronounced for young men ages 20–24. The labor participation rate for this group fell by almost 10% between 1996–2016. That’s a larger reduction in hours than any other demographic, male or female. At this point only 73% of those age 20–24 are even trying...

Today’s research shows that 67% of 13-year-old boys and about 40% of 13-year-old girls have seen at least one pornographic image in the last twelve months. These numbers are wrong, way wrong. I’m not trying to upset you, but if you have boys there is almost a 100% chance they’re watching porn. At a certain age, the temptation and availability are simply too great to ignore.

What many people fail to realize is that anything worth doing has some risk. And, risk is scary. As James Clear wrote, “Fear is the gas pedal, not the brake.” It’s the risk that makes life exciting. It’s the risk and the reward that creates the opportunity for real happiness and fulfillment to flourish.

There is a lack of grace and kindness today in the simple ways that people treat one another. And, for some reason, that lack of grace and kindness is more pronounced at 35,000 feet. When people feel entitled, they tend to be Ass-Clowns. (See also: bonehead, fat-head, ass-monkey, ass-hat, wanker, moron, etc.). That arrogance leads people to ask commercial flight crews questions like, “Do you know...

I suspect that future generations will look back on us and laugh at how much time we spent on things that are so inconsequential and meaningless. Likely in the same way that our generation laughs at prior generations for glamorizing the use of lung darts. It begs the question of whether Facebook is the new smoking?

There is a boy crisis in America. By any objective measure, from Pre-K to College, boys are less resilient and less ambitious than they were a short time ago. Worldwide, boys are 50 percent less likely than girls to meet basic proficiency in reading, math, and science. And, by virtually any objective measure, girls are thriving more than ever. It’s simply a bad time to be a boy.

Based on a recent study released by the National Bureau of Economic Research, American’s life expectancy has been falling behind similar wealthy European countries since 1990. Here are some of the shocking findings: Compared to Europeans, American babies are more likely to die before age 5, American teenagers are more likely to die by age 20, and American adults are more likely to die before age 6...

Friendships are dying. Even prior to the pandemic driven house arrest, the role of friendship was waning. The main culprit is time. We are just too busy, or at least we claim to be. Almost half of all Americans surveyed have lost touch with some of their friends over the past 12 months. And, some of them have lost touch with all of their friends. There's lots of data here to explore and lots of im...

It’s hard to be open and honest with anyone today, especially on tough topics like gay marriage or religion. There’s a real fear of being misunderstood, clobbered or cancelled. Because we are living in an era of incivility . The simple task of even producing an article like this one….is just too risky. If I have any readers after this piece it will be a miracle. Wisdom Don’t you think wisdom is on...

At a certain age we learn the difference between talent and skills. Talent is on loan from God. But, skills can be learned by anyone. You need not have the former to exercise the latter. And, that understanding can lead to an enormous amount of joy.

Dear Graduate: Enjoy this moment of freedom, before life gets all serious and you have to do stuff again. And, remember to appreciate the sacrifices earlier generations made that allow you the freedom to watch anything you want on Netflix. And post bored pics of yourself on Insta. Life could be a whole lot worse. Sincerely, The United States of America

Now that we are officially finished with drinking three “quarantinis” a day and hoarding gasoline, it’s time to assess the damage. What are the long term consequences of the complete disruption of our lives. More importantly, what are the long term consequences for our teens, particularly those that were already at-risk? I’m talking about the 67M Americans known as Generation Z or Gen Z. I like to...

I’ve started reading about our ability to overcome suffering. There are countless examples, but I’ve found two from history that will take your breath away. Listen to this 11-minute summary of my latest article and learn the secrets of survival from two of the greatest heroes of the last generation.

Growing Up is Overrated; Let’s Play As a young boy I stormed the southeastern beaches of Iwo Jima amid a cauldron of shell bursts and mortar fire. I was flanked by Sergeant Mabry and Private Trull and armed with my M1 Carbine, Ka-Bar combat knife and a supply of standard issue frag grenades.    Over the next several hours the battle raged. The near hand-to-hand fighting was intense. We captured th...

What We Leave Behind - 11 Ideas to Make You a Better Dad We recently had some house guests. They brought their 15 month old daughter. It’s been a long time since we had a baby in the house. But you never forget things: how little they sleep; how much they have to say.  I enjoyed telling the new Dad a few things. Like once you teach them to walk and talk, you’ve lost all control of the asylum. He l...

8 Inches From The G.O.A.T. ─ Michael Jordan’s First Failure When you think of the 23, what immediately comes to mind? The natural number following 22 and preceding 24? Two days before Christmas? The atomic number of Vanadium? The 23rd Psalm-The Lord is my Shepherd?   Sure.    But when most people think of 23 they think of number 23. As in Michael Jordan, the G.O.A.T., (Greatest of All Time—for the...

Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For   I remember where I was the first time I heard the music of Ireland’s greatest band: U2. It was 1985. Someone snuck a bootleg cassette of U2’s groundbreaking Under a Blood Red Sky into my Spanish lab.    I didn’t know why the sky was blood red or why Sunday was bloody, but the guy singing seemed pretty pissed about it. Anthem rock. I was hooked. Our Restle...

The Friendless American Male A young man was standing in the wings, preparing to enter the sanctuary to marry his wife. His best man, and Father, placed his hand gently on his shoulder. “Son, before we open that door, I want to share some advice.” “Never forget your friends, he said, “they will become more important as you get older.” Culturally, we are struggling to understand what modern friends...