by admin | Sep 20, 2020 | Activism, Art, Climate, Coronavirus, History, Literature, Politics, Racism, Wildfire, Writing
I might have thought by now you would have found the exit from the hall of mirrors. But no. You are mesmerized by its dreamy distortions, imprisoned by its illusions. Perception arises from wave lengths and shadows, reflections against a shifting surface. Tall becomes...
by admin | Aug 30, 2020 | Agriculture, Chicago, Climate, Disaster, Emergency Management, Geography, Government, Hazard Mitigation, History, Natural Hazards, Public safety, Resilience, Urban forest, Weather
What in the U.S. Midwest would spur comparisons to a hurricane? What could spread damage over an equally wide area? It is a good bet that most people are unfamiliar with the word “derecho,” which comes from Spanish, meaning “straight,” but such a storm made itself...
by admin | Apr 20, 2020 | Activism, Blogging, Civil rights, Coronavirus, Disaster, Education, Emergency Management, Government, History, Immigration, Politics, Public health, Public policy, Racism, Resilience, Volunteerism
What follows is an adapted, re-edited version of a Facebook post from today that seems to have struck a nerve, attracting dozens of likes, comments, and shares. As a result, I concluded that perhaps I should add it to this blog. No pictures here, just observations:...
by admin | Jan 21, 2020 | Activism, Books, Christianity, Government, History, National security, Political philosophy, Politics
In the mid-1960s, before the advent of the personal computer, when a manual typewriter was the state of the art in original document production, I took a high school typing course in which I learned the QWERTY keyboard and how to manipulate my fingers to put words on...
by admin | Nov 23, 2019 | Activism, Business, Disaster, Disaster policy, Emergency Management, Government, History, Politics, Public health, Public policy, Public safety, Technology, Urban Planning
That headline is a quote from Mayor Tommy Muska of the town of West, Texas, in the Dallas Morning News of November 21, regarding the Trump administration’s rescission of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards for disaster prevention in chemical facilities,...
by admin | Oct 29, 2019 | Activism, Books, Chicago, Christianity, Civil rights, Crime, History, Identity, Immigration, Personal history, Public safety, Racism, Religion, Terrorism, Volunteerism
Last week was for me an eventful time, including a four-hour trip to Dubuque, Iowa, on Thursday for the Growing Sustainable Communities conference, an event the city sponsors every year. I spoke in a session that afternoon, October 24, on community planning for...
