Who’s in charge around here?
I’m a former daily newspaper journalist who worked in the Pacific Northwest and New England. Now a book reviewer, writer, editor, iMac user. I founded Rich Litho Media, which provides writing/editing and publishing services for authors and small businesses.
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Email me at kimberly@typelikethewind.com
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Category Archives: Ethics
All the news that fits. And solves.
I’ve only read some of the stories and ads in three sections in Sunday’s New York Times (Book Review, Business and Week in Review) and here’s what I’ve already learned: Most new fiction is deeply flawed. A five-line letter from Ronald Reagan to his old actress friend Kitty Carlisle Hart is worth $6,100. Whales and [...]
Also posted in Advertising, Animals, Authors, Business, Economy, Gender Mysteries, Government, Health, Human nature, Politics, Publishing, Research, Science, The Press Leave a comment
Death on our own terms: Don’t be squeamish, read this.
This is the best-written newspaper or magazine piece I’ve read in a very long time. The headline is “What Broke My Father’s Heart,” and writer Katy Butler rewinds her family story to describe what happens when technology–in this case a pacemaker–keeps someone alive beyond the capacity of the mind (and parts of the body) to [...]
Also posted in Health Leave a comment
True.
How BP would handle a coffee spill.
Also posted in Business, Government, Health, Science Leave a comment
This is your ivy-covered brain on drugs.
Reed College in Portland has long enjoyed its reputation as a haven for the brainy, gifted and creative student. In recent years it’s also become a standout for the idiotic public state-of-denial exuded by its president and top brass who allowed a monster drug problem to take root on campus. A couple of heroin overdoses [...]
Also posted in Academia, Alcohol & Drugs, Government Leave a comment
Arizona: Toughen up that immigrant law.
I was away last week, traveling the highways of the Southwest and the byways of the Northeast. Now I’ve come home to ponder the brilliance of the new immigrant law in Arizona. It’s ingenious, really. It requires local cops to grab anyone who looks suspicious and demand proof of citizenship. Simple, but brilliant. The last [...]
Also posted in Politics, Race & Class 1 Comment
Sursum corda…and your voices too.
I’m not always wowed by what Maureen Dowd writes in her column for The New York Times. But when she nails it, she nails it. She’s been a fiery commentator about the Roman Catholic Church and its sinful cover-ups of clergy who prey on children and adult parishioners. The more pundits, pulpits and parents who [...]
Also posted in Faith, Organized Religion, The Press Leave a comment
Holsters and health care.
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has answered a question that’s been nagging at me: What’s really behind the strong opposition to the health care plan? I know that some people worry that changes in insurance regulations will erode the coverage they already have. I’m convinced that out-and-out racism plays a role and that some opponents are [...]
Also posted in Government, Health, Politics, Race & Class Leave a comment
Consumer: Get thee to a credit union.
Today I read that Bank of America is touting its decision to quit dunning customers with those overdraft fees. You know, the ones that multiply at warp-rabbit speed. More good news: Soon your ATM will tell you when you’re about to step in a big, expensive pile of bank fee. Bragging about this service is [...]
Also posted in Business Leave a comment
More less-than-best business practices
I’ve got a new trick to add to the piece I wrote a short time ago, “Businesses behaving badly,” about employers using tough times to take advantage of employees. The new practice: Instead of typical 30, 60 or even 90-day probationary periods, some employers are trying on six-month probation. This makes it easier to let [...]
Also posted in Business Leave a comment
Businesses behaving badly (updated, again)
There’s a bad behavior pattern cropping up in business dealings these days: management or owners taking cover behind tough economic times when they cut workers off at the knees. Three examples are rolling around in my head, one big and well reported, the other two are smaller. A New York Times story by Nick Bunkley [...]
Also posted in Business, Shopping & Necessities Comments closed
Time for groundshaking change
Why is it that earthquakes always hit so hard in the poorest areas? The erudite New York Times columnist David Brooks reminds us that poverty means shakily constructed buildings, inadequate water, sewer and medical services even before the disaster strikes. He offers grisly evidence of how that plays out: The 1989 quake in the Bay [...]
Also posted in Government, Politics, Race & Class 4 Comments
The Macy’s bomb
First, let me assure you that you are not alone if you are just now figuring out that your credit cards are touchy little bombs, ticking away in your wallet and ready to blow no matter how careful you are. In the past the only way to know how these cards worked was to read [...]
Also posted in Business, Shopping & Necessities Leave a comment
e-ponderings
David Pogue, possibly the only person on the planet who can write about using the shift key on your iMac and make it sound fun, raises provocative stuff in a recent blog post. Pogue of course is the genius behind the books, blogs, articles and podcasts on Apple products and other goods in the computer [...]
Also posted in Books, Publishing, Shopping & Necessities, Tech Leave a comment
Bite this: A little satire among friends…
At last, a meaningful debate about feeding the hungry: Should food stamp purchases be restricted to healthy stuff? Or, more accurately, should the rules keep stamp users from buying bad stuff, like junk food? The New York Times has a series of bloggers weighing in on the question, here. I personally feel it is high [...]
Also posted in Food, Government, Politics Leave a comment
Looking inside a sick system
Andrew Schneider, one of the best investigative reporters going, wrote this piece for Sphere, which is AOL’s new and promising news site. I don’t pretend to be objective — Schneider and I go way back — but I’m confident that I’m right about the quality of this piece. It’s no news flash that people with [...]
Also posted in Government, Health, Politics Leave a comment
God is in the details…and the DNA
We humans hunt, gather, mate…and we instinctively reach out for something bigger than ourselves. We’ve evolved over zillions of years and all these behaviors seem to be wired into us, according to a tantalizingly short New York Times article, “The Evolution of the God Gene.” Archaeologists in Mexico are the source for this provocative view. [...]
Also posted in Human nature, Research, Science Leave a comment
Proud to be an American? I am.
This respectful act is one reason.
Also posted in Death, Government, Heroes, White House Leave a comment
“A (huge) jug of wine, a (giant) loaf of bread, and thou…”
Some big dogs can learn new tricks, to wit: Costco has agreed to accept food stamps at most of its locations. This is very good news. At first the giant warehouse store (headquartered in Issaquah, Washington) said no to the idea, assuming the $50 annual fee was too much of a deterrent to people getting [...]
Also posted in Business, Food, Government, Politics, Shopping & Necessities Leave a comment
Uh oh, the rich are bailing on mortgages too.