by admin | Nov 5, 2024 | Activism, Books, Crime, Government, History, Immigration, Personal history, Political philosophy, Public policy, Public safety, Russia
Some time in 1997, I undertook a reading experiment I have never regretted, which was to begin to read, sequentially, biographies of U.S. presidents. I am not sure exactly when I picked up Cincinnatus: George Washington and the Enlightenment by Garry Wills, but it...
by admin | Jul 28, 2024 | Activism, Aging, Civil rights, Crime, Government, History, Political philosophy, Politics, Psychology, Public policy
A few days ago, I sent the following Letter to the Editor to the Chicago Tribune: I read in today’s Tribune that Republican leaders are asking party members to avoid engaging in racism and sexism in attacking Vice President Kamala Harris. Good luck. From what I have...
by admin | Jan 31, 2021 | Activism, Books, Crime, Government, History, Journalism, National security, Personal history, Political philosophy, Politics, Public safety
Within the last week, I finished reading a nearly 800-page biography of Napoleon Bonaparte, which may raise the question of why I took the trouble. I started only after Donald Trump lost the 2020 election but refused to concede and persisted in disseminating the...
by admin | Nov 1, 2020 | Activism, Coronavirus, Crime, Government, History, Journalism, National security, Personal history, Political philosophy, Politics, Public safety, Terrorism
In two days, those who have not yet voted by mail or in person at an early voting site will have their last chance to express their views on America’s future. It is by far the starkest choice in my lifetime, and I will add that Harry Truman was in the White House when...
by admin | Jan 21, 2020 | Activism, Books, Christianity, Government, History, National security, Political philosophy, Politics
In the mid-1960s, before the advent of the personal computer, when a manual typewriter was the state of the art in original document production, I took a high school typing course in which I learned the QWERTY keyboard and how to manipulate my fingers to put words on...
by admin | Jan 31, 2018 | Careers, Education, Floodplain management, Government, Natural Hazards, Political philosophy, Politics, Public policy, Public safety, Urban Planning
Claiming to protect the public’s purse is always great politics, at least in some quarters. Actually doing so requires considerable thought and homework, but grandstanding is cheap and makes for great sound bites in an election season. And thus, it is often silly...
