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Category Archives: United States
The Optics of Equity
First thought when I learned that Boston University is planning to reopen its campus this fall with an intensive COVID-19 testing policy that includes testing students as often as twice a week was: WOW! BU is handing one juicy plum … Continue reading
Imagine
November 1971. I’m a pudgy, pimply sixteen-year-old lying on the back sofabed of an off-brand Winnebago. My father’s driving, happy on the move. My mother’s uncharacteristically silent. My little brother rolls matchbox cars around the table. I should be in … Continue reading
What the Heck Have I Been Doing?
There’s a point in Marc Maron’s Netflix Comedy Special, ‘End Times Fun,’ when Marc (middle-aged white guy, sorta tall, skinny, bearded, salt and pepper scruff; basically me with quicker retort time) iterates the troubles of our era and then bemoans, … Continue reading
A Shared Approach to Addressing Our Housing Crisis
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 Affordable Housing, Housing Crisis, Shared Housing
2 Comments
Four Years On
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
A Folk-Art Flag for All of Us
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
Jim and Margery and Boston Traffic
‘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
Posted in United States
Tagged Boston Public Radio, Boston Traffic, Jim Braude, Margery Egan, MBTA, WGBH
4 Comments
Presidential Library Quiz
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
Posted in United States
Tagged Hoover Library, Nixon Library, Presidential Libraries, Reagan Library
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Erroneous Facts Corrode Trust
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
Posted in United States
Tagged Los Angeles Public Library, narrative non-fiction, Susan Orlean, The Library Book
2 Comments
A Tale of Two Taxes
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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