Author: Mark Thomas
-
Marking Time: Historical Milestones
Marking Time: Historical Milestones As is the case for many if not most new bloggers, the first year provides many posting opportunities not recognized until any timeliness is lost. That doesn’t take away from those well-timed posts that were made, but it does provide a nagging sense of unfinished business. Over my winter break from…
-
113th Congress-History and Day One
113th Congress – History and Day One If you’ve never heard the name Thomas B. Reed then it’s likely you may be under the mistaken belief that the notorious filibuster was always exclusive to the U.S. Senate. Likewise, if Reed’s name doesn’t readily come to mind, the full significance the Speaker of the House of…
-
Dodging the Bullet – Newtown and Gun Violence
A Code Blue Day By coincidence my day in the classroom began with a scheduled Code Blue drill. During my school years our disaster preparation was limited to fire and tornado drills. The ridiculous duck and cover from nuclear blast drills had, by then, been discontinued. The relatively new exercises developed in response to the…
-
Media’s memory tested as Supreme Court revisits Voting Rights Act
“Don’t worry about it.” Those familiar with the early morning events of December 7, 1941, are familiar with this regrettable phrase. When Lieutenant Kermit Tyler dismissed an inexperienced radar operator’s vague report of unidentified aircraft approaching Hawaii on that morning, the response was not unreasonable. However, the failure to consider the overall possibilities of that…