Blog

Puerto Rico’s Economy’s in Trouble (You’ll Probably Not Guess Why If You Read the Wall Street Journal)

The Wall Street Journal published a piece talking about how the island's population has decreased due to continued economic problems. I'm not sure if the author Nick Timiraos was avoiding any context for his reporting, not aware how several of his points are nonsensical given the situation, or if he is engaging in the type of glib misdirection that passes as journalism these days. Case in point: The island’s bondholders and the insurance companies that have guaranteed those bonds say Puerto Rico’s elected leaders have made the crisis worse by resisting deeper spending cuts and tax increases. When he refers to "resisting deeper spending cuts and tax increases," this means: closing more than 150 schools which have already been shuttered, cutting pension plan payments to retired public service people, which are used to pay for everyday things like groceries, rent or mortgage payments, and the insanely high electric bills. Add to these costs, the general...

Re-watching “The Wire”

I have had the pleasure of watching my fiancee watch "The Wire" for the first time. I had seen it some years ago, before I came to Baltimore. She has been immersed in the series, enjoying the many layers of the stories told. However, I can see why "The Wire" is not better liked. First, there are no clear-cut good guys or bad guys. All sides involved in the drama are presented as trying the best they can to reach their goals. It's to be expected when one of the long-running themes (and unspoken characters) of the series are the institutions we live with and become a part of as members of society. Law enforcement, labor unions, city hall, public schools, the press and the ubiquitous streets of Baltimore are all environments which squeeze the characters in certain ways. It's not unusual to see the people who care the least about the actual...

My Story’s Up at The Overcast

Got news my first published story was produced and put up as a podcast at The Overcast. You can listen to it here. I would like to thank the folks at The Overcast for a great reading of my story "Doughboy Lovers and the Appetites of Desire"!...