One of the few Miss Americas that I paid attention to died last month at 87 years of age. She was Yolande Betbeze, who won the crown in 1950 and immediately stepped out of the box. She shocked the Miss America organizers when she refused to appear in a bathing suit for cheesecake photos, she … [Read more…]
Lead does serious harm to the neurological system of developing children. This harm continues for the rest of their lives as there is no cure for lead poisoning. There is only remediation, as happens in classrooms for children with learning and behavioral problems. Consequently, much more attention needs to be paid to the primary prevention … [Read more…]
Five weeks ago I attended an overflow event at Virginia Tech that featured professor of environmental engineering, Marc Edwards, and his students–the Flint Water Study Research Team, and also LeeAnne Walters, the Flint mother who asked professor Edwards to come test the Flint River water. The event was full of emotion, especially for an engineering … [Read more…]
As we end Black History Month I will make note of an exceptional African American I met four years ago. Charles Harrison, a retired industrial designer, was brought to Virginia Tech in observance of Black History Month by the Colleges of Engineering and Architecture and Design. He did workshops for students and offered a public … [Read more…]
See at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s76RrWiLWo8
In this month of celebrating black history let us take note of the recent passing of a significant historical figure, African American classical singer Mattiwilda Dobbs, who died in December at 90 years of age. A soprano, Ms. Dobbs was the first African American to sing a leading role at La Scala in Italy in … [Read more…]
The Debate between Hilary Clinton and Bernie Sanders last Thursday was interesting in several ways. For me the most remarkable occurrence was the frank discussion of structural racism by both candidates. They used the terms “institutional” and “systemic.” It appears that Hilary Clinton is pushing hard to retain her problematic hold on black voters for … [Read more…]
Sometimes we just have to pass the word. Below I share the last two paragraphs of the article by Charles Blow in the NY Times today. The article is entitled, “White America’s ‘Broken Heart’.” “America has a gauzy, romanticized version of its history that is largely fiction. According to that mythology, America rose to greatness … [Read more…]
Under Michigan’s Emergency Manager Law, the state can take over financially struggling cities by handing complete authority to an appointed “Emergency Manager.” This happened to Flint in 2011. These emergency managers assume charge of all aspects of local government. In 2014 they changed Flint’s water source to save an estimated $5 million per year. In switching … [Read more…]
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), the so-called “Obamacare,” is a rousing success. ACA has reduced the number of uninsured persons. While I would like a plan that would reduce this rate of uninsured persons to zero–a universal health care plan–the ACA, as developed by conservatives at the Heritage Foundation, was not designed for that purpose. … [Read more…]