Every now and then, a public policy problem hits you right on the noggin.   Such a moment occurred for me when I drove up to the bottle redemption center I’d been using for the last quarter century, and found it had disappeared.   The old, decrepit but friendly bottle drop was gone, replaced by […]

I expected the Irish schadendfruede. Although I generally identify as Italian (primarily because of the food, family and temper) my father had red hair, freckles and some relatives in County Somewhere. My ties to the old country are pretty attenuated, but I’ve been around Irish Americans most of my life, so I knew that they’d […]

There are stubborn and unwelcome facts about getting older. The gray hairs that weren’t there the day before. The injuries from running or other sports that come easier and are harder to shake off than they were before. And your friends die. This summer, I’ve said farewell to two dear friends who, as dear friends […]

Many of you have reached out to me to share your experience and frustrations around being unable to effectively return to your bottles, whether that be at a Clynk drop off location, a local redemption center, or even to donate your returnable bottles and cans to your local transfer station, or other nonprofit organization. Because […]

There’s been a big misunderstanding. Or worse. The debate over the meaning of one word may really be about the future of our government. That word is “democracy.” President Biden recently gave a speech on the subject, though some complained that it was as much about Democrats as democracy. He asserted that Americans all agree […]