by admin | Nov 28, 2021 | Gratitude, Healthcare, Movies, Parenting, Personal health, Personal history
People often lean toward traditional expectations of traditional holidays. We expect them to unfold in predictable ways. It’s not just, for instance, that we know we should be thankful on Thanksgiving, but also that we have family traditions of a feast with certain...
by admin | Sep 25, 2021 | Blogging, Movies, Personal history, Philosophy, Writing
In the fourteenth century, French philosopher-priest Jean Buridan, a student of William of Ockham, posited the hypothetical story of a donkey that starved to death while situated equidistant from two delicious bales of hay. The fictional donkey was supposedly a victim...
by admin | Jul 29, 2021 | Activism, Aging, Chicago, Christianity, Crime, Medical, Personal health, Personal history, Public safety, Volunteerism
We are probably all born with a certain focus on our own needs. The first job of a baby is to survive, but ideally, we learn from parents, especially, but also from others around us that somebody else cares and takes care of us when we most need the help. With any...
by admin | Jul 25, 2021 | Activism, Business, Civil rights, Cleveland, Personal history, Racism, Sports
The Major League Baseball team long known as the Cleveland Indians will rename itself at the end of this season as the Cleveland Guardians. The change will surely draw criticism from traditionalists, but it is long overdue. The logo is outrageously racist and...
by admin | Jun 2, 2021 | Careers, Coastal Management, Disaster, Disaster policy, Earthquake, Emergency Management, Environment, Government, Hazard Mitigation, Information technology, Natural Hazards, Nature, Parks, Personal history, Resilience, Urban Planning
I first met Ken Topping at the American Planning Association (APA) office in Chicago on a cold day in January 1994. Chicago was suffering one of its classic Arctic blasts at something like -20°F. Ken, a tall, very polite, and articulate gentleman, had his heavy winter...
by admin | Apr 13, 2021 | Art, Books, Christianity, Civil rights, History, Humanities, Information technology, Literature, Personal history, Racism, Religion, Social Media, Technology, Volunteerism
How does one portray the life of a man whose ultimate fate was a hanging at the hands of the Gestapo, with just four weeks left until the German surrender in World War II? Even an experienced professional actor might find that role daunting. I played that role last...