“The central question we face today is: Who decides?” So began the majority opinion in the Supreme Court’s recent decision to block implementation of OSHA’s covid regulation. Although the dissent vigorously disagrees with the majority’s decision, it agrees about what is the central issue in the case: “Underlying everything else in this dispute is a … Continue reading Who Decides
This is a sequel to my post last week, My Covid Perceived Injurious Experiences (PIE). It describes more PIEs and critiques the Supreme Court’s ghastly decision blocking implementation of the OSHA regulation protecting employees of large employers. I wanted to publish my post last week to express perspectives that a lot of people share and … Continue reading More Covid PIEs and the Alice-in-Wonderland Supreme Court Decision Endangering Workers
Bernie Mayer and Jacqueline N. Font-Guzmán wrote a new book, The Neutrality Trap: Disrupting and Connecting for Social Change. Here’s an excerpt from the flyer: The message at the heart of The Neutrality Trap is that the wisest and ultimately most effective way to deal with our most profound problems is to avoid the lure … Continue reading The Neutrality Trap
I got covid. So did my wife, Ann. Our daughter and son-in-law stayed with us for the week leading up to Christmas, and they spent some time with his family. We assume that we got it from them and they got it from his family. Throughout the pandemic, Ann and I have been very cautious. … Continue reading My Covid Perceived Injurious Experiences
It was front-page news in the New York Times that NYC Mayor-elect Eric Adams said that emotional intelligence is his “No. 1 criteria” for selecting top officials in his administration. He decided that top administration officials must be filled by the “emotionally intelligent,” deliberately downplaying more commonplace credentials, like academic achievement and government experience. … … Continue reading Wanted: Public Officials with Emotional Intelligence
People in every demographic group and every part of the country became hooked on powerful drugs. Many lost their jobs, savings, homes, and families and they became ensnared in the criminal justice system. Hundreds of thousands died from drug overdoses. Communities were decimated. The drug pushers were protected by high-powered lawyers like Mary Jo White, … Continue reading What I’m Reading – High-Powered Lawyers Protecting a Ruthless Drug-Dealing Mob
War is the worst method of dispute resolution. In war, combatants and civilians are killed and injured, physical and social infrastructure is destroyed, and individuals and societies are traumatized, resulting in harms that can continue long after wars are declared to be over. People often use the term “collateral damage” referring to death and injury … Continue reading What I’m Reading – Collateral Damage of War
I learned a lot about William Randolph Hearst by watching the PBS American Experience documentary about him. He is best known as a purveyor of “yellow journalism,” promoter of the Spanish-American War, and the target of the Orson Welles film, Citizen Kane. The documentary shows that he has had a huge and continuing impact on … Continue reading What I’m Reading – PBS Documentary on William Randolph Hearst
“Facebook is like a pocketknife: You can use it to peel an apple or stab a janitor at school.” So said tech analyst (and talk-show host) Jimmy Kimmel. Noam Ebner (not a talk-show host) wrote, “Its positive characteristics and opportunities notwithstanding, the Internet has become something similar to a bad neighborhood after dark. … Even … Continue reading What I’m Reading – The Social Dilemma
The Association for Conflict Resolution of Greater New York and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in the City University of New York recently hosted an interesting breakfast roundtable featuring Gary Friedman, discussing his unfortunate tenure as a local elected government official. You may recall that this was the subject of a series of … Continue reading More on Gary Friedman’s Not-So-Excellent Adventure in Politics
