Category Archives: United States

A Shared Approach to Addressing Our Housing Crisis

Posted on 06/25/2019 by

The United States is experiencing a severe housing crisis. Cities with high housing demand are woefully short of supply. Over the past two decades, monthly rents have increased 40% more than wages. Over the past two generations, the ratio of … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal, United States | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Four Years On

Posted on 06/18/2019 by

Four years ago this month I sat out the afternoon sun in a Mexican cantina in Postville, Iowa, gorging on $6.95 fajitas and scrolling through the websites of the folks running for President. On Flag Day 2016, I asked each … Continue reading →

Posted in How Will We Live Tomorrow?, United States | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

A Folk-Art Flag for All of Us  

Posted on 06/12/2019 by

June 14 is Flag Day; a day to honor the flag of the United States of America. Our nation’s standard includes thirteen alternating red and white horizontal stripes representing the original states, plus a blue field gridded with fifty white … Continue reading →

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Jim and Margery and Boston Traffic

Posted on 05/21/2019 by

‘Boston Public Radio,’ with Jim Braude and Margery Eagan (WGBH weekdays from 11 to 2) features interesting guests and discussion. Except for the call-in segments. That’s when Margery and Jim pick a topic, riff personal rants, and throw open the … Continue reading →

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Presidential Library Quiz

Posted on 05/15/2019 by

When I was a boy, fresh off President Kennedy’s, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,” every little boy wanted to grow up to be President. Do little boys still … Continue reading →

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Erroneous Facts Corrode Trust

Posted on 04/30/2019 by

A simple example often illustrates a greater truth. I waited over a month to receive The Library Book from my local library. I’ve enjoyed author Susan Orlean in The New Yorker, and the buzz swirling about her latest book made … Continue reading →

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A Tale of Two Taxes

Posted on 04/15/2019 by

April 15 is a remarkable day. We the People will file over 140 million tax returns and fork over $1.8 trillion dollars to support our government. Almost all of us complain about paying taxes. Almost all of us disagree with … Continue reading →

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Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Posted on 03/26/2019 by

If you take everything we know about good television and do the exact opposite, the result is Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. Low resolution, cheap sets, slow pacing. Same holds for the recent documentary, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, similarly slow moving … Continue reading →

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Behind the Pane of Empty Storefronts

Posted on 03/05/2019 by

Are you a Cambridge resident? Go online and vote for your favorite empty storefront art by March 8, 2019. __________ What do Americans buy with our affluence? Privacy. Single-family houses in gated communities, automobiles for every driver in the family, … Continue reading →

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Oligarchy 101

Posted on 05/15/2018 by

How often do we read an article or website and fly through words without really knowing their meaning? Very often. It’s a lot of work to know the exact definition of every word and assess how accurately it’s used in … Continue reading →

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