July 2017 There has been a great deal of speculation about why so many people voted for Donald Trump. Xenophobia, racism, and fear of non-white people are some of the reasons given. But my vote is for magical thinking, “… the belief that one’s own thoughts, wishes, or desires can influence the external world.” If…
October, 2017 Recently, Atul Gawande, a cancer surgeon in Boston and a contributor to The New Yorker, went back to his home town, Athens, Ohio in the foothills of the Adirondacks, to ask his former friends and neighbors — and some of their friends and neighbors — about health care. He found, among other things,…
Suggested by: Jack Edmonston and Jim Pierce Prepared in 2016 Introduction: This is an idea, a suggestion, not completely formed, which we understand needs work. The comprehensive Long Range Capital Plan (LRCP) submitted to the Board of Selectmen (BoS) by the Capital Improvement Planning Committee (CIPC) on November 19, 2012 includes five recommendations. The intent…
October 2016 In September 2016 the non-partisan Pew Research Center conducted a survey among more than 4,000 members of its panel and found that ”…the vast majority of registered voters (83%) … think that it is the news media’s responsibility to fact-check political candidates and campaigns. Nearly two-thirds (65%) say it is a major responsibility,…
October 2016 An old friend in San Diego writes: “Can’t wait for the election to be over. We vote by absentee ballot. (Our address has no polling place so we automatically receive a mail-in ballot; but anyone in California can request an absentee ballot, even permanently.) We have 17 statewide propositions and 16 local ones…