The Seattle Times has caused something of a stir in the world of journalism with a report that Microsoft News is aiming to use computers operating on “artificial intelligence” to replace dozens […]
Skepticism
Masks unmasked
No one who reads this commentary should take it as advice to avoid wearing a face-covering in public in these days of COVID-19. But neither is it an argument for masking. True […]
Masks and guns
If you live in Alaska, there are situations in which a firearm just might save you from being mauled or killed by a grizzly bear. With the SARS-CoV-2 virus on the loose, […]
The cubicle class
Few ideas are more dear to Americans than the belief that they live in a society free of class, and nothing in modern times has done a better job of putting a […]
Forgotten sex
Back in a brief and long-ago stint as an assistant press secretary in Washington, D.C., a sex scandal involving then-Sen. Mike Gravel, D-Alaska, taught me an important lesson about U.S. Senate staff, […]
Banning books
When and how was it that American journalists became so contumelious toward the U.S. working class? On second thought, let me rephrase that to head off the comments from conservative critics of […]
That time
The chilliest winter in some years has come to an end in Alaska’s largest city with April looking to be the first month since December to end with the monthly average temperature […]
Who’s afraid?
The pandemic coronavirus now sweeping the country is revealing some interesting differences in how Americans young and old, rich and poor, liberal and conservative view the realities of life and death – […]
Forgotten history
Nurse Donna – my late mother – had two favorite home remedies other than chicken soup for almost every disease: fresh air and a saltwater gargle. Until the COVID-19 pandemic erupted, I […]
Remember when?
Did you ever imagine how quickly, easily and by how much a primitive, microscope organism could change the very essence of everyday modern life? Less than two months ago, most of us […]
