This, I predict, will be an unpopular post. Few events in recent memory have brought such universal calls of immediate condemnation as Wednesday’s massacre of cartoonists and staff from the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris. As a pacifist, I join…
No, Unemployment Didn’t Just Decline
It went up. Unemployment in the United States actually rose in December 2014 from the previous month, from 11.56% to 11.66%. This is largely the result of a revision to November numbers declaring the unemployment rate during that month to…
Children of the Future
They will grow up. And they will log in. The ages will vary and often be the result of a fair amount of debate. For the more liberal parents, it may be five or six, or eight at the latest.…
Symmetrical Surveillance: Serial, the Panopticon, and Why Murder Rates Really Have Crashed
Two things seem to be really trendy these days, if you don’t count bashing Muslims (I’ll talk about that one and why it’s so wrong in a different post). Serial the podcast (which I discussed at length in November) and…
Follow Me Down to the Rose Parade
A New Year’s Day dialogue: Storey: “Do you ever watch the Rose Parade?” Alex: “What’s the Rose Parade?” Storey: “Only the biggest or second-biggest parade in the country annually.” Alex: “Where is it?” Storey: “Pasadena, California.” Alex: “Maybe it’s just…
One Day More: Photos on the Eve of Christmas Eve
Tomorrow is perhaps my favorite day of the year, when all the work of a week’s worth of preparation comes to fruition for one magical night. Not a lot of time for a long, contemplative writing piece after a somewhat…
The Dinosaur Ornament
When I was seven, in 1987, we moved to Washington DC. We had lived in California as long as I could remember before that, though I was born in Nevada and lived in Oregon for a while as well. We…
5 Days Out: A Brief Photo Retrospective from Albuquerque
It is five days before perhaps my favorite night of the year and worth putting a little visual element to the experience of preparing for putting up one of the largest luminaria displays in the city where they are most…
Airport Morning
The DHS dog comes by amiably, tugging his black-jacketed attendant along as he moves from person to person like he’s seeking a treat. He pauses at a small red bag in the genre of the modern over-sized carry-on, sniffing it…
It’s Lumi Time!
Rumor has it that it’s the most wonderful time of the year. I couldn’t agree more. You can keep your ornate displays of high-watt outdoor bulbs, your blow-up santas and penguins, your animatronic lowing cattle and rooftop reindeer a-tromping. Save…