by admin | Mar 13, 2026 | Aging, Books, Careers, Chicago, Civil rights, Climate, Disaster, Disaster policy, Disaster Recovery, Emergency Management, Government, Hazard Mitigation, History, Hurricanes, Immigration, Minnesota, Natural Hazards, Personal history, Politics, Public policy, Public safety, Resilience, Social Equity, Texas, War, Wildfire
Given the almost comically corrupt nature of Kristi Noem’s administration of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as its Secretary, I half-expected that her inevitable meltdown after the most recent Senate hearing would lead to flying monkeys celebrating as...
by admin | Jan 15, 2026 | Activism, Chicago, Civil rights, Crime, Death, Government, Immigration, Minnesota, Personal history, Politics, Public safety, Racism, Terrorism, Volunteerism
The Grinch paid an early visit in an attempt to steal Christmas in Chicago, but Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Chief Greg Bovino did not stay long after a surprise return from warmer haunts down south. In my previous blog post, “Moral Blowback in Chicago,” I made...
by admin | Nov 25, 2025 | Activism, Blogging, Chicago, Christianity, Civil rights, Crime, Government, History, Identity, Immigration, Journalism, National security, Public policy, Public safety, Racism, Social Equity, Social Media, Volunteerism, Writing
Then the righteous will reply, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and fed you, or thirsty and gave you drink, a stranger and took you home, or naked and clothed you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and come to visit you?” And the king will answer, “I tell...
by admin | Apr 24, 2025 | Activism, Civil rights, Crime, Government, Immigration, Politics, Public safety, Terrorism
How did we get here? How did we ever get here so fast? These are almost surely questions on the minds of millions of Americans watching the dystopian horror show that includes the ongoing imprisonment of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia in a brutal, gang-ridden prison in...
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 | Oct 18, 2023 | Climate, Disaster, Disaster policy, Disaster Recovery, Emergency Management, Floodplain management, Floodplain management, Government, Hazard Mitigation, History, Iowa, Natural Hazards, Public safety, Resilience, Urban Planning, Weather
In the latter half of June 2008, it was hard to imagine Cedar Rapids as the city it had been just one month earlier. A massive flood along the Cedar River clobbered the city with a classic double whammy: About the time existing flood crests that had already swamped...
