26 heroin overdoses in 4 hours in city of 50,000

Heroin cut with an even stronger substance like fentanyl was responsible for an appalling 26 overdoses in Huntington WV in just four hours. At one point, emergency calls came in and there were no available ambulances. Addicts are responsible for…

Suburban poverty and the Day of Reckoning

Poverty isn’t just in inner cities, and is not just black or brown. There’s increasing poverty in decaying suburban areas too, which are often predominantly white. Suburban poor live there because they can’t afford to live where they work. (Yes,…

All hail the meme, king of political communication?

John Robb says political memes increasingly rule and are deciding the future. I disagree. Memes and the internet in general are indeed superb ways to get a message out. However, as I learned when helping organize Iraq anti-war protests, the…

Online drug sales, money laundering, prepaid cards

Dark Net drugs sales have tripled since 2013 when Silk Road was closed. While still a tiny part of overall drug sales, the anonymous nature of the transactions makes it ideal for using dirty money. The Dark Net is accessible…

Suicide Squad

Sometimes a movie captures the zeitgeist of the times. Our times are increasingly edgy, disjointed, cynical, with no one sure what is going to be happening next, except that normal rules no longer apply. So what better metaphor for that…

Block Island Wind farm. U.S. first offshore wind

The Block Island Wind Farm off Rhode Island nears completion and will be the first ever offshore wind farm in the U.S. Essentially, it’s a test site, just 30 MW. However, if all goes well – and let’s hope it…