Confusion and clarity in the healthcare debate

Surely we can do better than the confusion which characterizes the 2020 election debate over whether or not such basics as healthcare or education should be treated as a human right. Should we have our government (of, by, and for the people, right?) run our healthcare system as it runs other key parts of our […]

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August 4, 2019 – 12:54 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Dem debate: swamped with virtuous candidates

There were so many qualified-seeming candidates on the two nights of the Democratic debate it was actually a relief to find one or two I didn’t find especially prepossessing. It was, to begin, a veritable orgy of diversity. Women candidates, “black” candidates,” brown” candidates, a candidate both female, black and the other sort of Indian.. […]

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July 5, 2019 – 2:34 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Local life marinating in tourism contradictions

A dramatic feature of life in a tourist destination is the shifting of gears on Memorial Day. Secondhome owners and other visitors sweep into town for a hit of their favorite vacation spot, light us up for a few days, and then retreat until the real season (by which time it is hoped we will […]

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June 12, 2019 – 11:51 am | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged | Comments (0)

Wellfleet Rail Trail extension being railroaded by state

This time the state seems determined to have its way with the town of Wellfleet. In 2018 the state’s highway pros came to town to present a solution to our Route 6 troubles. There have been numerous accidents, including fatalities, and we had been casting about for a remedy. The state’s answer was the radical […]

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May 23, 2019 – 12:59 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged | Comments (0)

Opposing cell phone antennas then and now

Mashpee and Centerville citizens’ cell phone antenna struggles are reminiscent of Wellfleet’s tilting at cell phone towers 20-plus years ago in the infancy of the industry. Up to several hundred determined Wellfleetians argued that microwaves beamed from cell towers were unhealthful, and that the gangly towers were in any case unsightly, and a contradiction of […]

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May 13, 2019 – 8:08 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged | Comments (0)

Free college for all is simple democratic realism

A good thing to come out of the so-called “college admissions scandal” is recognition that it’s not a scandal at all, in the sense of especially shocking or outrageous. The wealthy using their money to get their kids into colleges that will enhance their chances of continuing the family tradition of being rich? It may […]

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April 2, 2019 – 5:25 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Eastham deserves a downtown

Every town deserves a downtown, a Main Street. You could argue that the downtown is what makes a town a town, or the sort of town it is. What Eastham has instead of a downtown is a 4-lane highway. In a public meeting late last month concerned townspeople complained about life with Route 6 in […]

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March 28, 2019 – 3:44 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Highway driving: a human era adventure

Self-driving cars have hit a bit of a speedbump since the fatality in Phoenix last year in which an SDC with a distracted human co-pilot failed to cope with a human jaywalker. Nevertheless, the imminence of SDC as well as the AI features already found in cars still nominally human-driven put in a different light […]

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March 9, 2019 – 2:57 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

The Globe is wrong on nuclear power

The Boston Globe has recently been throwing its editorial weight behind nuclear power. It laments the scheduled closing of Pilgrim in June, claiming that the only serious response to climate change is nuclear power. In encouraging a renaissance in this moribund industry it joins the strange bedfellow of president Trump, who enthusiastically supports both nuclear […]

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February 1, 2019 – 2:15 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged | Comments (0)

The Cape Cod National Seashore and our no-frills president

“National parks struggle to stay open,” went the headline of a recent story about effects of the federal government shutdown, which at this writing is close to the end of its third week. Trump has said that for all he cares, the shutdown can go o n for months, even years. Become the new normal, […]

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January 16, 2019 – 3:27 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged , , | Comments (0)