Category: Blog

Village and town governments can have committees that address quality of life, livability, and sustainability issues. Officially sanctioned, these committees may meet in a municipal building, and besides citizen volunteers, membership can include government officials. Through sponsorship, local governments are showing good-faith efforts in addressing issues that can affect everyone in their communities, which is… Continue reading Sometimes Citizens and Their Government Should Be Adversaries

Community development is a funny thing, because the basic definition is so general – basically, “people helping people to make things better.” The range of possible actions is extremely broad. This can lead perhaps to an overblown sense of what it is, and an overwhelming sense of how to do it. From the standpoint of local… Continue reading Community Development is Risks and Resources

I’ll bet that’s a sentiment not often expressed these days. Not due to any fault of the librarians, but for the tectonic-like shift in their reference functions. Nevertheless, I still do love reference librarians, and not just for my memories of all those sacred books under their guard. I have a new reason to be… Continue reading I love reference librarians

Many fire departments and insurance companies practice something that helps prevent injury, saves lives, and prevents financial loss. Anyone can do what they do, but local community governments absolutely should. I’m speaking of risk management. Risk management is used in many fields besides fire prevention and insurance, things like major construction projects, medicine, airline maintenance,… Continue reading What fire departments practice that local community government should.

The Surfside Florida building collapse has offered up for view several areas of responsibility: the condo board, a consulting engineer’s report, various city officials, plus someone identified as a chief building official who in November 2018 apparently stated that, irrespective of any engineer’s report, the building appeared to be “in very good shape.” I am… Continue reading Why local community government needs to practice risk management.

It’s been about two months since I proposed that my local community government create a risk management group. I know some new ideas can take time to be digested, and I did receive a few polite responses including, at the mayor’s request, a meeting with a trustee to discuss my idea. But I have some… Continue reading Risk Management: It’s Not Hard to Understand, It’s Hard to Accept

I knew better but I did it anyway. Climate change – global warming – whatever – there are a lot of organizations (NGOs) working on this issue. Some, like 350.org, are addressing the direct causes – excess greenhouse gasses – while others, like Sierra Club, are taking on a range of issues related to climate… Continue reading I Wrote Environmental NGOs About One Big Problem

Artificial Intelligence: We can sense its power and know it will be widely used, even if we’re not clear what exactly it is, or what it can do. The core of AI’s “intelligence” is its knowledge base and ability to use language in a human way, its ability to relate so well that it can… Continue reading AI, Buddhism, and the Art of Deception

I recently asked a couple I know who, like me, are retired: “Do you guys talk about aging?” This subject had been on my mind, and not for no reason. I expected to hear something like, “Sure, sometimes we do.” The response I got was, “That’s all we talk about!” I’m guessing we are not alone in… Continue reading Aging Into The Future