“Lock your door.” That was the first insidiously racist thing my body remembers hearing. There were other words, heard earlier. Subtle, belittling generalizations. Words that didn’t match up with what I knew […]
Op-Eds
OP-ED
Keeping Watch
Reflections of a retired English teacher
In 1872, Congress authorized the reorganization of the U.S. Life-Saving Service and the refurbishing of old and building of new stations along the Atlantic Coast. The waters off Cape Cod […]
BLACK LIVES MATTER
We Should Not Have to Be Afraid
Why sharing a black screen on Instagram isn’t enough
I am outraged and I am terrified. I am outraged by the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, and so many other black American citizens. We […]
OP-ED
Pier Dispute Calls for Mediation
The fight over longtime fishermen who face displacement
The Provincetown Public Pier Corp. board, all volunteers, is trying to bring consistent application of rules and regulations to the pier, as well as rate increases that will meet the […]
OP-ED
A Time for Safe Communities
Raising voices to stop the heartless war on immigrants
Both the federal government and the state of Massachusetts are waging a heartless war on immigrants. While the Trump administration actively blocks asylum seekers, imprisons families, deports unaccompanied children, and […]
FROM THE HELM
Caught in the Eye of the Storm
‘Steer into the waves,’ said the captain, but that was nearly impossible
It was the 2 a.m. deck watch change. I looked up to see a 40-foot wall of water just before it came crashing over us. In that instant, I knew […]
OP-ED
Hope in the Time of Covid-19
With a dysfunctional state, can we ‘feel to be a cog in something turning’?
EASTHAM — My grandfather was a Congregational minister. I never met him. He died of pneumonia in the 1920s. Two stories I heard growing up about Robert Hillis Goldsmith: in […]
OP-ED
Sharks and Viruses
Why Islamic terrorism scared Americans more than pandemics
WASHINGTON, D.C. — If I had to pick the one thing that has changed most in the 28 years I’ve been coming to Truro, it would be the fear factor. […]
OP-ED
Gimme Shelter
The wish to be both protected and at peace
IRVINGTON, N.Y. — New York is well stocked with uncertainty this week. I am sheltering in place and wish I were somewhere else. I covered wars in the Middle East […]
OP-ED
On Hunkering Down While Raising a Glass
The new social distancing normal calls for some amelioration
Looking for inspiration as we approach the end of Lent? Try L.B.J. for a change: “Sometimes you just have to hunker down and take it like a jackass in a […]
LOOKING BACKWARD
The Black Tiger: Lessons From the History of the Drug Trade
The laws of economics suggest that the cannabis bubble may burst
Edmund Burke, among others, warned that those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it. So a bit of history is in order in these times when many people […]
Eight Solid Ideas for Reducing Waste
Shifting the way we think about trash and recycling
Throughout Barnstable County, the Commonwealth, and the country, municipalities are struggling with the very real issue of too much trash with no place to put it, and the accompanying increase […]
OP-ED
Time to Reverse Citizens United
Ten years later it’s clear that the Supreme Court decision was a bad one
Corporations may be run by people, and employ people, and be answerable to shareholders, but corporations are not people. For one thing, they command masses of cash and other assets […]
OP-ED
End the Travel Exemption in Ethics Rules
The questionable logic behind the defense of a trip to Israel
I commend reporter Sophie Ruehr for her incisive story on state Sen. Julian Cyr’s December trip to Israel (“Cyr Defends Trip Funded by Pro-Israel Group,” Jan. 9). I also commend the […]
OP-ED
It’s Time to Join a Global Conversation
The United Nations has issued a universal invitation
A “global conversation” has just been launched by the United Nations with a universal invitation to people all over the world to join. It’s called UN75, and it marks the […]
