About

I started writing what I call a “publication” in May of 2011. It was the second year of Obama, as his administration worked its way out of the crash of George Bush’s last year, and it seemed to be a good time for re-building and fixing the mess of the Great Recession. That explains the title, “Let’s Fix This Country”.

But our U.S. and the world have certainly not lived up to that hopeful naming. It’s a lesson for whoever of you who wants to have your say on the Internet: Pick an anodyne, meaningless name that could never embarrass you no matter what the future brings.

With traditional media collapsing economically and threatened by an authoritarian government that would like to destroy the press altogether, citizen journalism such as this may be an increasingly vital way to get truth out. I have no party or organizational affiliation, no outside funding, try to be impartial, but in the age of Trump, that would be escapist. It’s just an urge to say something, to not be silent, and to hopefully inform.

I no longer wear ties.
I live in western North Carolina exactly where Hurricane found its ground zero. I have a diverse enough knowledge of the country, having lived in New England, New York (City), California, New Jersey, Oklahoma, been to close to all 50 states, lived two years in Europe, and traveled to a score of countries around the world — said just to make the point that you shouldn’t assume western North Carolina says hayseed.

So — no special credentials, but my view is that reporting (provided it’s honest) should stand on its own merit no matter who writes it. If you like the content, I hope you will click “Subscribe” at the very top of this page to receive bi-weekly notices of the latest effort and urge friends to do the same. And comment! These days, we must all pitch in to spread researched, reliable sources of what is happening to our country.

Logo alternates between photos by by Julie Falk, http://www.flickr.com/photos/piper/and Natalya MacWilliams.