I will never forget the day unrelenting fear entered my life. It’s been almost nine years. I can still taste its metallic taste in my mouth. I can still hear the sounds that brought it on. I can still see the horror that unfolded that day and subsequent days. Continue reading A parent’s love, a parent’s great fear thoughts on #BlackLivesMatter & disability
Monthly Archives: January 2015
#Senate #GOP and #CivilRights: underlining the writing on the wall
The story of the name change of the Senate subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights during a week that wasn’t bustling with breaking news is particularly distressing. Continue reading #Senate #GOP and #CivilRights: underlining the writing on the wall
Engineering in #Preschool? | Education
I recently listened to a KPCC story about a new kind of preschool. I didn’t know it at the time, but my daughter was listening to the story with me and, as it turns out, was as bothered by it as I was, not because the toddlers in the story were learning about engineering, but because their preschool experience was only about it. Continue reading Engineering in #Preschool? | Education
Daddy’s mementos
It was in the summer of 1995, as I was recuperating from major surgery, that I got the call from Cousin Abbie. In true diplomat fashion, dad always went through intermediaries. “O is in Paris,” said Abbie. “He wants to visit with you in three days.” I explained I’d just had major surgery and wasn’t yet up to driving or caring for a guest. Could he perhaps give me a bit more time? “Not to worry, the embassy will provide a driver. You are able to make his coffee?” Continue reading Daddy’s mementos
On Doug Belkin: Test Finds College Graduates Lack Skills for White-Collar Jobs
By DOUGLAS BELKIN
Updated Jan. 16, 2015
Four in 10 U.S. college students graduate without the complex reasoning skills to manage white-collar work, according to the results of a test of nearly 32,000 students.
Continue reading On Doug Belkin: Test Finds College Graduates Lack Skills for White-Collar Jobs
Racism leads to police brutality | #BlackLivesMatter
This week, North Miami police were caught using actual booking photos as targets at their shooting ranges. Sadly and unsurprisingly, the pictures were exclusively of Black men . Continue reading Racism leads to police brutality | #BlackLivesMatter
Minnesota 6 year old’s hanging death: case closed?
January 15, 2015 11:57 AM
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. (AP) — Police in Minnesota have closed their investigation of a 6-year-old girl’s hanging death by ruling out foul play, and said the evidence points to an accident or suicide.
Continue reading Minnesota 6 year old’s hanging death: case closed?
Pittsburgh police chief puts self under investigation for…
The Pittsburgh Chief of Police does something decent, you know, to show solidarity with the people his department serves. The union boss calls him in and… another city, another tail wagging the dog. Madness! Continue reading Pittsburgh police chief puts self under investigation for…
A quote from the introduction to James Baldwin’s Nobody Knows My Name
Few writers speak to me so directly as does James Baldwin. The way he asks the fundamental questions “who am I and why am I here,” is precisely how I’ve always asked them of myself. I can only hope to achieve the kind of courageous self-examination he did. Continue reading A quote from the introduction to James Baldwin’s Nobody Knows My Name
Answering Jeffrey Toobin: Who should investigate Police? | #BlackLivesMatter
In his December 30, 2014 piece in The New Yorker, legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin concludes:
“Schneiderman’s idea has considerable appeal; his judgment in the Eric Garner case would surely have had more credibility than the one rendered by Donovan. Still, special prosecutors are not necessarily good or bad. Like the locals they replace, they are only as good as the cases they bring, or refrain from bringing. That, ultimately, will rest on the good judgment of the individuals involved, and no one has yet figured out a way of putting the right person in place all the time.”
Continue reading Answering Jeffrey Toobin: Who should investigate Police? | #BlackLivesMatter