Opinion | Real Change

Jobs, Journalism, Justice

Real Change
I need drama — let’s make the City Council soapy

By Dr. Wes Browning | December 28, 2022

Anitra “Who Always Said Rice Was Not a Vegetable” Freeman is excited about her purchase of a bag of mixed wild rice that she called — I heard her say it — “six different kinds of vegetables.” With my own ears. She claims she said “plants.”

I could go on about how everything in the world is either animal, vegetable or mineral and is either bigger than or smaller than a bread box. But what got my attention about all this was that the bag in question had the word “sustainable” prominently written across it. ...
- Read more about I need drama — let’s make the City Council soapy
Real Change
Washington state electeds should invest in making education cheap or free

By John Burbank | December 28, 2022

It is no surprise that we are focused almost entirely on the political goings-on in Washington, D.C. But while all eyes appear to be on former President Donald Trump, the contest for Speaker of the House and President Joseph Biden’s agenda for America, it is really the state legislature that can have profound impacts on people’s wellbeing and welfare in this Washington. It is through state lawmaking — including the legislature and initiative process — that we benefit the residents of our state. ...
- Read more about Washington state electeds should invest in making education cheap or free
Real Change
It’s time for Washington’s harmful jaywalking laws to go

By Hester Serebrin | December 21, 2022

Jaywalking? I do it on the daily. Whether I'm crossing against the signal to catch a bus or crossing midblock because the closest crosswalk is blocks away, it's a choice I make out of convenience and safety. Yet, I've never been stopped. Why? Maybe it's because I'm an able-bodied, middle-class white woman. ...
- Read more about It's time for Washington's harmful jaywalking laws to go
Real Change
Empowering anti-violence

By Jill Mullins | December 21, 2022

Over the summer, Washington updated its Domestic Violence Protection Order (DVPO) statute to include coercive control. “Coercive control” means a pattern of behavior that is used to cause another to suffer physical, emotional or psychological harm and — in purpose or effect — unreasonably interferes with a person’s free will and personal liberty. Coercive control is essentially a form of emotional or psychological abuse that domestic violence advocates have long included in their definition of domestic violence. ...
- Read more about Empowering anti-violence
Real Change
Calendars, cows, Elon Musk, Jurassic Park, an aquarium, Einstein and chaos

By Dr. Wes Browning | December 21, 2022

If you’re reading this the morning of Wednesday, Dec. 21, when this paper comes out, you should be aware that the Winter Solstice is happening this afternoon at 1:48 p.m. PST. ...
- Read more about Calendars, cows, Elon Musk, Jurassic Park, an aquarium, Einstein and chaos
Real Change
The splendor of darkness

By John Helmiere | December 14, 2022

We have entered the cold, cloudy, dim period here in the Pacific Northwest. With the season come various festivals, both religious and secular, based in a longing for the return of the light. As a born-and-raised Florida Man, I crave direct sunlight and can relate to this yearning. However, this season I am trying to not just survive the darkness but also appreciate its sacred splendor. ...
- Read more about The splendor of darkness
Real Change
My favorite Christmas song: ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Mambo’

By Dr. Wes Browning | December 14, 2022

The good news: Few Republicans are in favor of Trump’s idea to terminate the Constitution so he can be president again. He “truthed” about throwing the 2020 results out and declaring the “RIGHTFUL WINNER,” or having a new election.

The bad news: The party still appears to want him to be its nominee for president in 2024.

“Suspending the Constitution is very wrong.”

“Let’s try to get the guy who wants to suspend the Constitution re-elected.” ...
- Read more about My favorite Christmas song: ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Mambo’
Real Change
Human services sector calls for more support

By Tree Willard, Jen Muzia and Steve Daschle | December 14, 2022

For a house to stand and last, a certain degree of thoughtfulness and craftsmanship are required. For that same house to be an efficient, comfortable, nurturing space that holds its heat and lets the right amount of fresh air in at the right times through the changing of seasons and over decades — that requires a much greater degree of thoughtfulness and craftsmanship. In either case, a solid foundation is essential. ...
- Read more about Human services sector calls for more support
Real Change
We’ve been here before

By Hanna Brooks Olsen | December 7, 2022

City leaders may make homelessness feel intractable. But none of this is new.

The newspaper headline, juxtaposed with a photo of the waterfront, blares “CITY BEAUTIFUL?”

It’s drenched in sarcasm; the photo captures an expanse of makeshift residences. Under the picture, the author decries the chilling fact that “this is the picture from one viewpoint or another — that tourists coming into the city can’t help but see.” ...
- Read more about We’ve been here before
Real Change
’Tis the season for zombie Siberian viruses, but not rail worker strikes

By Dr. Wes Browning | December 7, 2022

It’s too cold for me. I’m a quick-freeze Popsicle. I’m always ready to slip into hypothermia at a moment’s notice. I’m really fast. My record time was five minutes to clinically serious hypothermia in the water at Seward Park in September 1981. Even with the help of the hot water shower on the beach, it took me 20 minutes to stop shaking. That was a big wake-up call. I am never going to be a polar bear. I’m always going to be a naked, hairless, trembling Chihuahua. ...
- Read more about ’Tis the season for zombie Siberian viruses, but not rail worker strikes

Pages

≪ previous
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
next »

2 of 353