What do Police Departments and Public Schools have in common? In 2020 they’ve both been forced to reckon with situations that question their legitimate, organizational authority. One over perceived systemic racism and safety (Black Lives Matter) and the other over COVID-19: how to engage with stakeholders, how to share information, and (allegedly) safeguard the personal…
I’ve been reading a bit about the 200 viruses that are known collectively as “the common cold.” Three or four of those are coronaviruses, the latest of which science believes jumped to humans approximately 10,000 years ago (~8,000 BCE). They estimate the world population then was between 1-10 Million. The upper end is the current…
Today the Tulsa World published an Opinion piece by me that I called “Hamilton Summer.” A Summer of deep-diving into the history and scholarship of the musical “Hamilton” made me think about how hard (and fragile) American democracy is. You can read the Tulsa World article here. Enjoy, and if you’re looking for IT Management…
February 4, 2020 It’s noon on the day after the Iowa caucuses, and we have yet to know who “won” thanks to a snafu with a smartphone app. Officials in Iowa have announced they’ll have an announcement by 5 pm. Politics notwithstanding, I’m sure we’ll learn in the days to come more about the app,…
For Father’s Day weekend this year, I bring you a pic of my step-grandfather, Joe Duran. This is his certificate of naturalization in 1944 and recently found in a safe deposit box, along with his original birth certificate. He was brought from the Hacienda de Burras (more now known by the nearby San Jose de…
April 4, 2018 Today Karen, Miss P and I drove down to Oklahoma City, adding our voice to the thousands of educators who, for almost all of my daughter’s life, have that their salary buying power reduced by over 10%, and per-pupil funding reduced by near 20%. Putting Oklahoma last in overall education funding. I’m…
September 24, 2017 Like most of the U.S. (of a certain age anyway), I’m slogging my way through Ken Burns’ Vietnam on PBS. Since I was a youngster back then, it’s been educational to fill in the blanks of my memory on the War that Won’t Go Away. I’ve been relearning the terms “Viet Minh,” …