Organized crime north and south of the border

“When you know there are babies tied in a car seat that are burning because of some twisted evil that’s in this world, it’s just hard to cope with that,” ( –a cousin of the victims quoted in the New York Times story on the recent cartel massacre in northern Mexico of six children and […]

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December 5, 2019 – 2:21 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Facebook: platform or publisher?

On the slippery slope to AI a debate rages these days about whether Facebook and other social media platforms are in fact platforms or publishers. A platform, like the physical raised stage whence the metaphor derives, it is a completely neutral enabler of communication, like the printing press or telephone. We don’t blame the podium, […]

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November 23, 2019 – 10:53 am | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Hey or Hi? Going with the flow of language ; or not

Those of us of a certain age have had to cope with many changes in the language we inherited. I myself feel pretty proud of how I’ve rolled with the punches. After a couple of decades of going through whatever contortions were needed to avoid splitting an infinitive, I learned how to split one without […]

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November 19, 2019 – 2:49 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged | Comments (0)

Can healthcare as a human right and insurance companies co-exist?

Until now I’ve never found election debates sufficiently entertaining to actually watch them. They always seemed to bring out the worst in what otherwise might be perfectly decent human beings. But I must say I’m finding these Democratic debates compelling (if too long by half). A lot has to do with the political moment: Which […]

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October 24, 2019 – 8:42 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Wealth tax: How else correct the plunge to oligarchy?

A recent New York Times story on Senator Warren’s proposed tax on the very wealthy notes that polls show it to be a popular idea among those it is intended to benefit. But some economists worry that a 2% tax on family wealth over $50 million(or 3% over $100 million) will remove incentives for growth. […]

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October 12, 2019 – 11:30 am | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Slavery reparations: because bygones are not bygone

On a recent cross country road trip my wife and I stayed overnight in Memphis. Memphis was not our destination. We had booked an Airbnb there because it was conveniently located about halfway between Oklahoma City and Asheville. I didn’t have slavery on my mind. It had escaped my attention that reparations had once again […]

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September 27, 2019 – 9:11 am | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged | Comments (0)

Local opposition to state bike path plan being ignored by leaders

Wellfleet citizens have been in a struggle with the state over a controversial plan to extend the existing Rail Trail to an already congested stretch of Route 6. The plan has been widely opposed by local citizens as dangerous as well as inconsistent with the idea of a scenic and peaceful bike trail. So it […]

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September 12, 2019 – 1:42 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged | Comments (0)

Non-residents’ push for the vote: what’s at stake

Outer Cape non-resident taxpayers have clamored ever more loudly in recent years to be able to vote in the town where they own a house, as well as where they live. A recent My View by the president of the Provincetown Part-time Resident Taxpayers Association spells out the argument: to deny secondhome owners a say […]

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September 3, 2019 – 12:19 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Unfriendly discourse is not our problem

“Divisiveness” has become a major, much lamented theme in the time of Trump. The recent series in this paper decrying the lack of civil discourse encouraged the idea incivility is an issue itself, a style that can be separated from the substance of such problems as racism, immigration, mass murder, etc. That incivility is itself […]

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August 20, 2019 – 12:02 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged | Comments (0)

Sharks vs. humans at play: Which side are we on?

I went swimming over the weekend at the same ocean beach in Wellfleet where the young man was killed by a shark last September. I had been thinking that, given the shark situation, I could eliminate ocean swimming from my recreation menu. But it was day two of the heat wave and the lowtide 2-4 […]

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August 8, 2019 – 11:07 am | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged | Comments (0)