I write this piece on February 19, 2023. February 19. The Day of Remembrance of Japanese American Incarceration during World War II. On February 19, 1942, about two months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. The stated intention was “preventing espionage” by the forced removal of all persons deemed a “threat to national security” from the West Coast to “relocation centers” (aka internment camps, aka prisons) further inland. This resulted in the incarceration of over

Looney Tunes HR Director: Thank you for coming in today Pepé. There have been some serious allegations made against you. As the director of Looney Tunes HR, it is my duty to investigate. Pepé: Sacre Bleu! What are you talking about? Looney Tunes HR Director: You are familiar with Ms. Penelope Pussycat? Pepé: Ah yes, (wink, wink) she is delightful. Looney Tunes HR Director: Mr. LePew, we have numerous documented incidents of you harassing Ms. Pussycat, grabbing and touching her

Over the years I have had this experience many times. I’m not sure why. I’ll be in the middle of some sort of “modern” experience, like driving on the highway, and I’ll think “I wonder what Benjamin Franklin would think of this.” Benjamin Franklin was considered to be one of the most brilliant men of his time so I expect he would have a great curiosity, though the speed might be quite difficult for him to comprehend. I suspect the

Content warning: Some specific references to gender-based violence.   3,000 miles to help raise awareness about intimate partner violence and men’s roles in challenging this violence. That was the main purpose of my bike ride from Amherst, MA to Seattle, WA in 1995. It also was a fundraiser for the now defunct Men’s Resource Center of Western Massachusetts, though in many ways that really was secondary.   Remember, this was before the internet was widely used, so my typical approach