Danish Plan
Rules for Radicals and The Donald
You’ve probably heard about Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals.” Ever wonder what they were?
Alinsky, who died in 1972, is sometimes seen as the father...
Boulder’s sad siblings
When the scheme to establish a “sister city” relationship between Boulder and the Palestinian city of Nablus came to light 15 months ago, I wrote a column suggesting that wouldn’t be a good idea because Nablus, and the An Najah University located in Nablus, “were ...
The folly of compulsory national service
The New York Times columnist David Brooks wants to bring back the draft. Or at least some form of compulsory universal national service. He thinks it will bring Americans back together again...
Forget Nablus and mediation — there’s a better choice for sister...
About 20 or 30 years ago, some local peace and justice activists decided to resolve the conflict over abortion by bringing representatives of the...
Boulder targets medical marijuana — and heads should roll
Heads should roll. And for once, let us state whose: David Driskell, executive director of community planning and sustainability...
A typical massacre in Aurora
In at least one way, the Aurora movie massacre was pretty typical: The perpetrator was the only guy in the room with a gun...
How to provide higher learning at a lower price
I have a modest proposal for making the college experience more affordable, accessible, excellent and just plain better...
Baghdad by the Rockies loses its charm
As Enrico Fermi once remarked, “Where is everybody?” According to the latest estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2019 the City of...
The toxic hell of fracking (children welcome)
The anti-fracking activists who demonstrated at an oil rig on Boulder County open space last Saturday obviously don’t think fracking is very dangerous. How else do you explain the fact that they brought their kids to the demonstration...
The Green New Deal and the mother of all Kinsley gaffes
A Kinsley Gaffe (named after former New Republic Editor Michael Kinsley) occurs when a politician tells the truth — some obvious truth he or she...
Climate change: U.N. takes on wrong problem — again
The United Nations is holding a global climate conference in Durban, South Africa, this week and next for the purpose of breathing new life into the Kyoto Protocol or, short of that, forging some other international agreement to cut global greenhouse gas emissions...
The great flatulence of 2016
The Idea Fairy and I were nibbling on a new batch of edibles when there was a knock on the door.
It was Saul Alinsky.
“Saul,...
