McDonald’s serves 69 million people daily in 37,000 restaurants located in over 100 countries around the world. Due to their scale, environmental-protection efforts (and lack of effort) have significant influence in worldwide progress. How are they taking on this responsibility?

Welcome! I'm Simon Owens and this is my tech and media newsletter. If you've received it then you either subscribed or someone forwarded it to you. If you fit into the latter camp, then you can subscribe over here. Or just click on this handy little button:

The thing I like best about the Enneagram is it’s unparalleled depth of motion and fluidity into the human psyche. I think that people hear ‘personality test’ and they instantly think, “You’re trying to box me in. I can’t be labelled.” And trust me, as the resident enigma, I feel you, and am here to tell you, the Enneagram does anything but. It goes as deep, and gets as complicated as you’re willing to take it. When all is said and done every person has a main type, which stays the same throughout your life and determines both of your wings (yes, you have two—so you can fly!), your stress type and your integration type, as well as your stacked instinctual variants, for a grand total of five types per person actively at work in the hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, etc. In addition to this there are nine levels of health to disintegration within each type, which are described in depth, and when you move within these levels in your main type, you move to the same level in all of your periphery types. This accounts for an insane amount of human diversity. With that said, I have never met a person who didn’t fit perfectly into their type, even if it took a little digging and truth seeking to figure out where exactly they were situated within their type at the moment.

William Perry Pendley was recently re-appointed as acting director of the Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Interior Secretary David Bernhardt used his power to extend Pendley’s appointment and once again side-step the requirement of a confirmation from Congress. Pendley was first made acting director in the summer of 2019, and his current appointment will last until January 3, 2020. Many environmentalist groups have raised concerns about this appointment due to Pendley’s history of anti-public land sentiment.

The most important things to remember when taking these tests is that they are only as accurate as you are honest. Do your best to answer the questions as truly as you can to how you are, not how you’ve been or how you want to be, or how you would like to be perceived. For example, if you have a short temper, but hide it really well, or it doesn’t manifest in outbursts, you still have a short temper, whether or not people perceive you that way. Also, be gracious with yourself, the heart of it is greater self-awareness, even if it’s painful, or hard to admit. Many people don’t see themselves for how they truly are, and may need help with that, which is another reason why the Enneagram is such a great tool. Sometimes you might honestly not know the answer to a question, and that’s okay, too. In those cases just go with your gut. Whichever answer sits better with you, or felt the most true when you first read it, is most likely the ‘right’ one. This test is not a matter of ‘rights or wrongs,’ and no personality type is better than another, so just do your best, and retake it if you want! Have fun with it. And I am so happy to answer more questions.

International climate change negotiations may appear fruitless and frustrating, but there is hope for action in the state of Wisconsin following the recent COP25 and the first meeting of Governor Evers’ Task Force on Climate Change. It is important to see state and local governments stand up for climate action despite the federal government’s clear disengagement during this critical time.

Recently a team of forest ecologists declared global tree restoration is one of the most effective carbon reduction solutions. They claim forest restoration at a global scale could lead to an additional 205 metric gigatonnes of carbon sequestration, or the equivalent of 25% of the current atmospheric carbon pool. If you think these impressive numbers sound too good to be true, you may be right.

This series is an ongoing series as I still struggle with self-worth, self-doubt, and confidence. Within this series, they are more of letters to myself with the goal of hoping to extend it to my audience. For those who are going through the same emotions as me: self-doubt, self-love, and trying to find our value and purpose in life, I hope to extend it to you; therefore, welcome to my SELF-LOVE series.

Here I am, finally sitting down and looking back at 2019. To be honest, as everyone was recapping on their 2019 on the last day, I didn’t want to look back on it. I knew that if I did, I would have to go through the pain, trauma, and the tears again. Instead of reflecting the ups and downs of 2019 (there were many downs), here is a letter of goodbye to 2019. A year that had hurt yet helped me grow.

Is there something in your life you're passionate about? Something in your life you dedicated your all in? For me, it was dance. Dancing has always been a part of my life since I was a little girl. I danced while I was at my happiest, I danced while I was at my lowest, and I even danced in my sleep. That's how much dance meant to me. While dancing gave me joy, being a part of a team and dance community affected me in both positive and negative ways. It may be the people that can disturb our happiness, but there's also benefits to working with a group of people such as, life lessons and astonishing experiences.