by admin | Jan 23, 2019 | Books, Crime, Government, History, Journalism, Public safety, Uncategorized, Writing
Cover photo provided by Random House It is hard to know where to start in describing why the privatization of prisons is a terrible idea. The effective abandonment of public responsibility for the fate and welfare of people sentenced to incarceration after being...
by admin | Jan 1, 2019 | Activism, Careers, Education, Personal history, Urban Planning, Writing
As a New Year arrives, perhaps it was the gift-giving season and the story of Christmas that prompted this blog post. Or, perhaps, it was simply lurking in my subconscious mind, awaiting the appropriate opportunity to emerge into the light of conscious deliberation....
by admin | Oct 21, 2018 | Activism, Blogging, Civil rights, Government, Journalism, Personal history, Politics, Writing
Last night, I read one of those publisher columns that are often boring and laborious, but this one nailed it. Mother Jones CEO Monika Bauerlein recounted a conversation with a veteran editor she admires who inquired about the partisan bias he perceived in the monthly...
by admin | Aug 25, 2018 | Activism, Blogging, Books, Careers, Government, History, National security, Politics, Public policy, Writing
Like John McCain’s assuredly final book, The Restless Wave, I read Facts and Fears: Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence, by James R. Clapper, in large part because my wife bought it for me. The usual pathway to my desk for books I discuss in this blog is that they...
by admin | Jul 31, 2018 | Activism, Books, Climate, Disaster, Floodplain management, Geography, History, Housing, Journalism, Natural Hazards, Racism, Water, Weather, Writing
It has always amazed me how much time and energy has been wasted, particularly in the U.S., on the denial of climate change in the face of so much scientific evidence. Sea level rise is a directly measurable phenomenon. So are changes in precipitation patterns over...
by admin | Aug 17, 2017 | Activism, Blogging, Civil rights, Government, History, Political philosophy, Politics, Racism, Writing
Ignorance did not make America great. Ignorance will not make America great again. Let’s all vow to stop the glorification of #ignorance. Like millions of other Americans, I have been deeply disturbed over the past week by the comments of President Donald...
