City councils in many communities, along with protesters, are calling for “defunding” the police departments. But what does that really mean? Social Services Primarily this means shifting financial resources away from the police department that might better be served with mental health counselors, community diversion programs and other services not directly tied to armed policing […]
I recently Iearned about Operation Manna and Operation Chowhound that British and U.S. forces undertook near the end of the war. In this time of civil unrest and pandemic, I thought it was a wonderful story to share. Food Drops to the Starving Netherlands The troops loaded up their bombers with food and then dropped […]
President Trump’s removal of PEACEFUL demonstrators from Lafayette Park yesterday with teargas, flash bangs and rubber bullets marked a new low in his presidency. For a Photo Op? He removed the demonstrators for a photo op! So he could stand in front of a historic Episcopal church rioters had attempted, but failed, to burn the […]
I have no complete answer to address the unrest sweeping our country. As a child of the 1960s (high school and college), I thought our generation would address these things so the riots we saw in those years would not be repeated. Change occurred, but not enough. A Look Back at the 1960s Harlem Riot, […]
The death at age 70 of former Miss America Phyllis George took me back to 1971 when I was asked to interview her. It’s a moment in time I’m that does not fill me with pride. The Mexico Ledger The circumstance was the Miss Missouri Pageant that was being held in Mexico, MO, where I […]
I am privileged to serve on my city’s Planning and Zoning Commission. I have been doing so for four and a half years. But service without typical meetings is challenging. And while we don’t have a choice, I think the public is not well served. We meet using Zoom We use the Zoom technology, which […]
It’s a time when odds and ends come to mind, so let’s start: Joe Biden’s Assault Scandal My daughter has always felt Biden’s touchy-feely nature was rather creepy, so she was not surprised when allegations of a sexual assault surfaced. I felt he was just an over-friendly older guy. But the question now is should […]
As part of my coronavirus shut-in time, I recently watched the cult classic movie, Mommie Dearest with Faye Dunaway as legendary actress Joan Crawford. But I also ran across an interview with the author of the book upon which the 1981 movie was created, Christina Crawford, now 80. 1978 Memoir Christina had an acting career […]
Fareed Zakaria set off the alarm bells during his CNN program on Sunday. But he did it with good news, not bad. He said the coronavirus fatalities might be much lower than earlier projected. That’s great. But I’m Wondering But for someone who has been under self-quarantine for more than two weeks I’m wondering. Could […]
It’s nice in a time of a lot of sad health, economic and environmental news to learn that there are bright spots on the horizon. This time it’s for monarch butterflies. I’ve always been fascinated by the two-way yearly migration of these beautiful creatures. Good Reporting by Grist According to Zoya Teirstein, writing for Grist.org, […]