Economics, often called the ‘dismal’ science, may be less akin to science, say physics, than many want us to believe. The neoliberalism of the last forty years was best summarized by Britain’s late Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, who suggested that this brand of economics(call it top down with a helping side of profit maximization)is …
The issues that seem difficult for health care providers everywhere in the US–access, coverage, staffing, cost and quality–are often magnified in rural settings. And rural providers may not be able to provide the whole suite of services that are available in large urban centers. Primary care and women’s health needs are two of the areas …
It seems as if everyone is screaming out for attention in this era given the ease with which people can find audiences for their meanderings, political views, loves and pet peeves. Just jump on line and wail away, with photos, videos and all manner of content. Given this new reality, and everyone living in their …
America was born in rebellion over taxes. Remember the Boston Tea Party? And then hundreds of years later in the 2010’s came the TEA Party, which stood for Taxed Enough Already. However, that has been the mantra of the Republican Party for the last 50 years beginning with Proposition 13 in California, a property tax …
America has more than a rooting interest in wars taking place in places like Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere around the globe. If we go back to the fall of the Iron Curtain and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the late 1980’s, we were led to believe it was the ‘end of history’ and …
Just because humans stride atop the animal kingdom doesn’t mean that what affects us doesn’t affect other species on this earth or that the impact on them by things like climate breakdown doesn’t turn around and affect our lives. Naturalist Adam Welz tries and succeeds in driving this point home in his book, “The End …
When a gorgeous Poli theater was restored in my hometown about a decade ago, one of the changes that had to occur was making the seats larger, because since the early 20th century Americans have gotten heftier. Along with this collective weight gain, thanks to processed foods and more sedentary work lives, has come an …
As a Connecticut resident, it’s hard not to be aware of the storied history of Hiram Rickover, the “Father of the Nuclear Navy” and the development and commissioning of the first nuclear submarine in in 1952 at the Groton, Connecticut. Now with a fleet of over 220 boats, or ships as they came to be …
Richard Rothstein did America a great public service back in 2017. In his groundbreaking book, “The Color of Law” he laid out chapter and verse the complicity of American government, at all levels, in the discriminatory practices that have led us to a condition of housing segregation in America. That segregation is apparent in our …
The current approach to water management is failing to meet the demands of the growing human population and the severe challenges brought on by climate change. Our guest, David Sedlak, director of the Berkeley Water Center and author of “Water for All: Global Solutions for a Changing Climate” argues that there are solutions to address …