Connecticut (or at least its Governor) is looking at ending the school mask mandate at the end of February. Without putting too fine a point on it, that would be the stupidest possible decision the state could make regarding the pandemic. (One caveat, if there are a bunch of recent studies showing that mask wearing…
A few days ago, someone on Twitter posted a question. They asked if putting Donald Trump in prison would help begin the healing process for our country. I don’t know why, but I decided to answer the question and said, “No. It will just fire up his base.” (Don’t worry, I’ve learned my lesson. I…
Sorry about the clickbait-y headline. This piece actually has almost nothing to do with the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. It’s just that the commentary surrounding MLK is illustrative of a problem that needs attention. Before getting into it, as a sort of introduction, I will answer the headline’s question. Yes, I knew that…
Climate change is a difficult problem. I almost said intractable, but I’m an optimist. So, difficult will do. One of the reasons it’s so difficult is because of the way people talk about it and write about it. The messaging that surrounds it. And I’m not talking about all the misinformation and outright lies that…
As they have bee for pretty much everyone, the last couple of years have been difficult. Even before the pandemic began, 2020 saw one of my dreams become a nightmare. I’d always imagined myself as a teacher, but when I was put in charge of a classroom for the first time, I realized that I…
2021 was something. It just started like three weeks ago, but tonight is the last night. That was different. It’s customary to end the year with a little retrospective and far be it from me to break with customs, so here goes. The main lesson from 2021 is pandemic related, of course. We learned just…
The CDC changed their COVID guidelines again. Now, if a person is asymptomatic after testing positive, they only need to isolate for five days instead of ten. Of course, this happens as the headlines are screaming about record setting infection rates. This is quite typical of how the pandemic has been handled from the beginning….
Politics has been polarized for a long time. Everyone knows that. But it feels different lately, probably since Obama became president. It feels like a type of identity politics has taken over across the political spectrum. It’s no longer confined to leftists and activists. A result of that is a growing importance in demonstrating allyship….
People on the internet, or at least the small cross-section of Twitter I see on a regular basis, seem pretty upset that President Joe Biden has reneged on his pledge to cancel at least some student debt. President Biden said publicly several times that he would “knock off” at least $10,000 in student debt, and…
The OJ Simpson trial happened while I was in college. I completely didn’t care except for an annoyance at how inescapable it was. When they were going to announce the verdict, I made a bet with a friend. We wanted to see who could go the longest without learning the outcome of the trial. The…
