Labor – THE QUALITY OF MERCY

2022-03-142022-03-25 by David Hughes

Nursing Holes

Colorado Public Radio (CPR) reported ten days ago that the U.S. Department of Justice “has complained that Colorado violates federal law by not providing adequate services to transition people with physical disabilities out of nursing homes and back into the community.” It was the following statistic, however, that startled me: “From 2013 to 2019, only 269 Coloradans with physical disabilities transitioned from nursing facilities to the community, according to a multi-year review by the Justice Department.” That’s less than forty people a year and a little more than one per the 231 facilities in the state over those seven years.¹ The implication is that nursing homes are warehousing people.

I know from personal experience that this is a reasonable conclusion, but the problem is more complicated than it sounds. Nursing homes are one part of a system full of holes.

2021-10-142022-06-12 by David Hughes

My Old Kentucky Home: Edgar, Willis and Green

Years ago I was told by my parents that I had a Wobbly in my lineage on my father’s side. I asked them to write down what they remembered about him but never followed up. Until recently.

2021-09-122022-01-20 by David Hughes

False Flags

On August 30, 2006, I received a “don’t break the chain” email from a relative, apparently by mistake. Appropriately it had no subject line because it had no substance. Nevertheless its sentimentalism compelled my response. I offer this as a snapshot in time with which to compare the present discourse.

2021-08-062022-01-20 by David Hughes

Friendship Band

Last time, I said I planned to toot the horn of a new songwriter (relatively speaking), but I will toot my own—and that of my wife Andrea Carney—along the way.

2020-09-132022-01-20 by David Hughes

Picx Picx: Greñudo’s Favorite Hot Sauce

I’ve been distracted lately by food videos sent my way by YouTube. A week ago America’s Test Kitchen posted Our Top Rated Hot Sauce.¹ At about the same time I was reintroduced to the first hot sauce I ever used on a regular basis.
Continue reading “Picx Picx: Greñudo’s Favorite Hot Sauce”

2020-07-192022-01-21 by David Hughes

Diamonds in the Mine: An Exploration of Humanitarian Gemology

My brother’s gemology webinar last month caused me to reflect on my time as a “gemstone journalist,” which I haven’t really written about in this venue. See what you think. Continue reading “Diamonds in the Mine: An Exploration of Humanitarian Gemology”

2020-05-272022-01-21 by Andrea Carney

For a Clinic Without Supervisors

Comment by David Hughes: The present pandemic has inspired many performing artists: locked down, they are reinventing old works and coming up with new ones. A century ago in 1914, labor bard Joe Hill did the same from his own lockdown—a Salt Lake City jail—lifting lines from “The Internationale” and composing new ones like these from “Workers of the World, Awaken”:

If the workers take a notion,
They can stop all speeding trains;
Every ship upon the ocean
They can tie with mighty chains;
Every wheel in the creation,
Every mine and every mill,
Fleets and armies of the nation,
Will at their command stand still. Continue reading “For a Clinic Without Supervisors”

2020-05-082022-01-21 by Andrea Carney

The Racist Boss, The Child-Molesting Priest

The coronavirus has moved systemic racism into public discussion once again. To people who’ve been tracking health in this country, none of this comes as a surprise. The greatest health care system the world has ever known is not accessible to all, and there are a lot of efforts to keep it that way. Continue reading “The Racist Boss, The Child-Molesting Priest”

2020-02-022022-01-21 by Andrea Carney

Summerhill 1: Ollie Haskell

In November I spoke with my niece and told her I’ve been telling my stories here. She immediately responded, “Write about Summerhill.” So I will. Continue reading “Summerhill 1: Ollie Haskell”

2020-01-022022-01-21 by Andrea Carney

And He Never Left!

In a comment to my post The Stranger Alongside Me in September our friend Milania remarked on my being a rescuer. In reply my husband David Hughes said, “I guess you could say she rescued me forty-four years ago this month! We’ll have to have Andrea tell that tale some day.” Milania urged me to do so “sooner rather than later.” Okay, but I should say that “rescue” sounds more dramatic that it really was, although David and I agreed that this story could get a little bit personal. Continue reading “And He Never Left!”