Submitted by David Anderson. “One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. Isolating a city’s effluent and shipping it away in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination” (The Economist?, volume 411, number 8891). Now, those same sewers are increasingly clogged with cannabis growers’ waste products. […]
Letter; Giving meaning to the menial, homeless take note
Submitted by David Anderson. “Eighty-two tasks to complete for each apartment. Push the coat hangers to the left side of the sliding closet. Make sure the shower head isn’t set to ‘massage’ mode. Set the TV to input 2. She does the same 82 things all day every day. Monday through Friday, 410 tasks in […]
Letter: Plan your work and work your plan – why the homeless will stay that way
Submitted by David Anderson. At first it seemed the normal console containing a computer keyboard. However, it was hooked into a voice synthesizer that could comprehend over ten thousand verbal commands, make the appropriate reply, do your research, and actually carry on a conversation. “Sound effects, imitate animals, sing – though not too well – […]
Letter: My wife is ‘unremarkable’
Submitted by David Anderson. The head of the Oncology department was reviewing on the big screen monitor the positron emission tomography (PET Scan) image results taken of my wife from nearly head to toe.
Letter: Will Ultra-high-speed trains come through Tillicum?
Submitted by David Anderson. “Likely not.” So says a report by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) in conjunction with the release today, July 26, 2018 of the state agencies announcement that 250-mph (minimum) trains – and the corridors they might run on – are being studied.
Letter: Citizenship
Submitted by David Anderson. Is citizenship determined by satisfactorily completing Form I-90, N-400, N-565, I-765, etc., paperwork seemingly without end? Or is citizenship about something else?
Letter: Off the rails and no longer off the record – Amtrak
Submitted by David Anderson. Why does it take a disaster to discover dereliction of duty? Perhaps because we “live in a pond inhabited by large sharks”, meekly having subscribed to our subservient role as obedient customers in a world of corporate giants and government greed.
Letter: But nobody said anything
Submitted by David Anderson. “A lot of people had the chance, so nobody stood up to say, that is not a good design?” Incredulous, National Transportation Safety board member Earl Weener asked the question during a hearing in Washington, D.C. concerning the investigation following the Amtrak derailment December 18 just south of Lakewood, Washington that […]
Letter: Frogs vs. Landlords, a Rental Inspection showdown
Submitted by David Anderson A lowly frog – yes, a frog – has hopped up to the bench of the country’s highest court where the critter’s “black dorsal surface covered in warts” will be examined by none other than the black-robed members of the U.S. Supreme Court.