Cheering in Drag

The world’s smallest sports demographic

Dick Vitale owes me a working eyeball. Vitale, if you are not familiar, is the loudest basketball announcer in the world, according to a poll of ESPN viewers, audio specialists and the recently deceased. When he gets going, according to SB Nation, the guy can hit 180 decibels, louder than a gunshot, and equal to the explosion of Krakatoa. This is not the type of person you should be listening to when you’re putting on your drag makeup.  Continue reading 

Judging the Quality of Instruction

Does standardized testing really help?

As back-to-school season arrives, parents and their children are excitedly filling their school supply lists and checking out the latest fall fashions at the mall. Parents, though, often have many important decisions to make regarding their children’s education. Maybe they are uncertain about what school is the best fit, which after-school programs to enroll in, whether their child should take choir, band or both. Not to pile on more worries, but I am going to throw another decision into the mix.  Continue reading 

LNG Dangers Abound

Fires give added reason to oppose pipeline and terminal

With wildfires raging across Oregon, it has become even more urgent for Gov. Kate Brown and U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley to oppose the liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal and pipeline proposed for our state by a Canadian energy company.  The Stouts Creek fire, one of the largest current blazes, is impacting at least 17 miles of the route the Pacific Connector pipeline would take to bring LNG from Canada and the Rockies to Coos Bay for export to Asia. Continue reading 

The Twisted, Hopeful World

of Chinese Electric Vehicles

The author with Li Luying and Li Qiang taking a break from the road near Huaihua. Below: A Chinese electric vehicle from the Zotye dealership

A car drops down out of the Hunan countryside, golden hour sunlight glancing of a fresh coat of wax. Pulling into the little dealership's lot, Li Qiang basks for a moment in the smell of new plastic and fresh vinyl. Then he climbs out and walks to meet his colleagues. In bold stick-on characters, the sides of the cars read “Energy-saving, environment-protecting EV/Electric Vehicle” in Chinese. Continue reading 

Democratic Audacity

The rebellious spirit of the first Labor Day is spreading anew

It’s a bit odd that in America’s thoroughly corporatized culture we have no national day of honor for the Captains of Industry, and yet we do have one for working stiffs: Labor Day! Where did it come from? Who gave this day off to laboring people? History books that bother mentioning Labor Day at all usually credit President Grover Cleveland with its creation: He signed a law in July 1894 that proclaimed a holiday for workers in Washington, D.C., and the federal territories.  Continue reading 

Finding a Better Path

People around the world changing how they live

FORREST WATKINS

The crisis of our ecology is not like others we’ve dealt with. Its origins are our origins, and it’s taken humanity a while to get its collective head around — enough time, in fact, that we don’t have time to sit and ponder. Climate change has already contributed to social collapse in Somalia and Syria and will continue to convert injustice to crisis as the world’s poorest are left without the economic means to adapt. Continue reading