RAUCOUS CAUCUS Serve AND Protect? That popular slogan reflects what citizens expect from their government: protection from harm and service to the common good. It appears on crests and cop cars across the lan... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on May 22, 2013 at 1:39 pm There have been 8 comments on this topic, the most recent 13 hours ago.
RAUCOUS CAUCUS Syria: Several Options, all of them Lousy Humanitarian crises tug at the heartstrings. The pennies-a-day campaigns of CARE have been working on TV since Lassie was a pup. ASPCA cranks up the Sara MacLachlan songs on... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on May 14, 2013 at 7:03 am There have been 4 comments on this topic, the most recent on May 18, 2013 at 6:52 am.
RAUCOUS CAUCUS Respect your food, and know from whence it came If you knew that other animals experience ‘human’ emotions, and that they act with what we call moral sense, would that knowledge change your view of how they ought to be trea... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on May 2, 2013 at 7:06 pm There have been 10 comments on this topic, the most recent 20 hours ago.
RAUCOUS CAUCUS What have we learned (so far) from Boston? The nation can now catch its collective breath, in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing and speedy, live capture of at least one perp. We'll now enter a much longer an... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Apr 22, 2013 at 11:50 am There have been 7 comments on this topic, the most recent on Apr 27, 2013 at 3:15 pm.
RAUCOUS CAUCUS Sustainability 2: Green Tyranny? According to one popular philosopher, “Life moves pretty fast.” But has the world really gone from ‘Silent Spring’ to ‘Green Tyranny’ in three generations? Some folks would ... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Apr 18, 2013 at 6:28 pm There have been 2 comments on this topic, the most recent on May 10, 2013 at 9:59 am.
RAUCOUS CAUCUS Sustainability 1: The Commons Picture in your mind’s eye a thriving medieval farm village. Each household owns its personal plot of land for tilling, and there’s a large common area – The Commons – on whi... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Apr 4, 2013 at 12:37 pm There have been 3 comments on this topic, the most recent on Apr 17, 2013 at 8:59 am.
RAUCOUS CAUCUS Supremes should play the Prop 8 case 'straight' The cause of gay rights is a generational thing. That is, if you’re over 60, your synapses may have ossified to the point where you can’t get past the unfamiliarity of homosex... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Mar 27, 2013 at 6:31 pm There have been 17 comments on this topic, the most recent on Apr 4, 2013 at 11:51 am.
RAUCOUS CAUCUS Your Hopes for the Pope? “May God forgive you!” were the first words spoken by Pope Francis, to the conclave of Cardinals that had just elected him Pontiff. Although that may not have been any more t... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Mar 23, 2013 at 10:35 pm There have been 2 comments on this topic, the most recent on Mar 28, 2013 at 6:53 am.
RAUCOUS CAUCUS Brill’s Pill, Distilled I’ve admired Steven Brill since our much shaggier days; his early, spot-on exposee of the Teamsters was an act of journalistic courage. He has recently faced an even more form... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Mar 15, 2013 at 6:29 pm There have been 5 comments on this topic, the most recent on Mar 28, 2013 at 5:17 pm.
RAUCOUS CAUCUS W(h)ither Voting Rights? Human nature being competitive and ethically flexible, if voting was essential to the invention of democracy, could vote-rigging have been far behind? Nope. There is eviden... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Mar 5, 2013 at 11:56 am There have been 10 comments on this topic, the most recent on May 7, 2013 at 6:50 am.
RAUCOUS CAUCUS China’s Other Hobby News that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army has been seeking to liberate data from all manner of American computing systems has dominated the high-tech news this week. I’m... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Feb 21, 2013 at 5:04 pm There have been 16 comments on this topic, the most recent on Mar 7, 2013 at 10:31 pm.
RAUCOUS CAUCUS Valentine’s week: spit and vinegar? Romantic that I am during this week devoted to love -- set between the birthday celebrations of our two greatest statesmen -- I was hoping for a thaw in the chilly conjugal re... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Feb 15, 2013 at 11:45 am There have been 2 comments on this topic, the most recent on Feb 20, 2013 at 7:00 am.
RAUCOUS CAUCUS Stats or Stories? "Human beings," a famous paleontologist once said, "are the primates who tell stories." Indeed, as we learn more about tool use and moral behavior as practiced by other specie... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Feb 5, 2013 at 3:35 pm There have been 4 comments on this topic, the most recent on Feb 8, 2013 at 8:20 pm.
RAUCOUS CAUCUS The Details: Devils or Angels? Last week, we learned that there is, indeed, now a fundamental right for individuals to keep and bear arms, supplied by the US Supreme Court in 2008 and 2010 (the precedents, ... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jan 31, 2013 at 9:22 am There have been 13 comments on this topic, the most recent on Feb 4, 2013 at 11:54 pm.
RAUCOUS CAUCUS Absolute, on the rocks Wow – and I’m referring not to the privately paid-for Inaugural gown, which was stunning enough, but did anyone happen to catch the actual Inaugural speech – especially since ... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jan 23, 2013 at 10:44 pm There have been 5 comments on this topic, the most recent on Jan 28, 2013 at 6:07 pm.
RAUCOUS CAUCUS Mudbath, Redux? Well, I was all set to write something about Executive Orders, and how there have been almost 14,000 of them -- hoping to comfort the nervous and/or trigger-happy. Those Orde... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jan 16, 2013 at 8:47 am There have been 13 comments on this topic, the most recent on Jan 25, 2013 at 3:46 pm.
RAUCOUS CAUCUS Solving Medicare: Short and Long-term On the assumption, perhaps dubious, that sanity may prevail and the House will take the debt-ceiling hostage gun from its own head, let’s look forward to other matters. I jus... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jan 9, 2013 at 11:35 am There have been 11 comments on this topic, the most recent on Jan 15, 2013 at 8:42 am.
RAUCOUS CAUCUS 2012: The Year in Verse -- with apologies all around.
'Tis more or less New Year's, and all 'round the 'Ville,
You will now be subjected to bad dogger-el.
The year just completed we'll stumbl... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jan 3, 2013 at 8:47 am There have been 11 comments on this topic, the most recent on Jan 8, 2013 at 6:47 am.
RAUCOUS CAUCUS Horrific Toll. Simple Truth. With the ancient Mayans now universally exposed as bad-at-math, it falls to me to write this week’s column. It will be brief, but heart-felt, and, I suspect, not uncontrovers... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Dec 21, 2012 at 2:59 pm There have been 4 comments on this topic, the most recent on Dec 26, 2012 at 11:13 am.
RAUCOUS CAUCUS RC Holiday Bonus: Vote for the Best Fiscal Ciffhanger!
If you'll return with us now to the tales of yesterweek, you may recall that the Concord Coalition's game of Principles and Priorities invites players to resolve the Fiscal ... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Dec 18, 2012 at 4:09 pm There have been 4 comments on this topic, the most recent on Dec 23, 2012 at 10:41 am.
RAUCOUS CAUCUS Food Stamps Food Fight As I wandered the web a few days ago, this dust-up between CNN correspondent Soledad O’Brien and Senator Jeff Sessions caught my ear: http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Dec 14, 2012 at 9:53 am There have been 3 comments on this topic, the most recent on Dec 19, 2012 at 7:08 am.
RAUCOUS CAUCUS Squaring the Pentagon I think we can all agree that the single most fundamental duty of government is to provide for the national defense, from which all else flows. It is a testament to the succe... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Dec 7, 2012 at 5:23 pm There have been 6 comments on this topic, the most recent on Dec 12, 2012 at 1:31 pm.
RAUCOUS CAUCUS Fiscal Cliff-diving: Play the Principles and Priorities Game (with Prizes!) Okay, we all know that Congress is in disrepute with The Electorate -- otherwise, why would we have returned so many Incumbents to their seats in the Capitol? We also harbor ... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Nov 28, 2012 at 12:38 pm There have been 3 comments on this topic, the most recent on Dec 3, 2012 at 11:24 am.
RAUCOUS CAUCUS Belly Button Lint It’s navel gazing season again, as it is in the wake of every general election. Both sides are analyzing the results of this month’s electoral festivities, from very differen... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Nov 20, 2012 at 6:59 pm There have been 9 comments on this topic, the most recent on Dec 1, 2012 at 9:24 am.
RAUCOUS CAUCUS Of Petraeus and Portia
This has been a big week for empathy in my household -- starting with the elections, as we watched those who lost bear-up bravely under crushing disappointments. My week a... READ MORE/COMMENT Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Nov 12, 2012 at 9:23 am There have been 5 comments on this topic, the most recent on Nov 15, 2012 at 8:07 pm.