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Wood mill proves ‘an undertaking’

When my sister Lina told me she’d gotten a wood mill to make boards from trees on her property, I was pretty excited to see the operation. Then I learned it was a comparatively cheap and portable version of a mill, and was even more stoked — you know I’m all about the DIY and budget options. On a visit to her home, I had the treat of watching her use this Alaskan chainsaw mill. When she started, I thought, heck, maybe I should get one and see if I have an undiscovered passion for woodworking and carpentry. Set up looked relatively simple; basically the saw mill is an all ...

A eulogy for being equal to the situation

Consider this a eulogy for competence. It’s an appreciation long overdue, but then, competence — the quality of being equal to the situation, of knowing what to do — was easy to overlook. You learned to expect it, to take it for granted. Another reason this eulogy is overdue is that the loss of competence — meaning federal government competence — is not recent. To the contrary, competence has been gone since January 2017. But the events of the last week make this an especially appropriate time for a eulogy. Seldom has the absence of competence seemed more glaring. Seldom ...

Sex crimes prosecutors pressing on

Kudos to the Manhattan district attorney’s office, and particularly to lead prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon and her team, on getting a guilty verdict in the Harvey Weinstein case. As we all recognize, the case was a major challenge. Placing this verdict in historical perspective makes it even more significant. Until the early 1970s, virtually no sex crimes case could be prosecuted because of onerous legal roadblocks, specifically corroboration requirements. Three elements — identity, force and penetration — had to be corroborated by additional evidence. I prosecuted my first rape ...

Tale of two flags over Iwo Jima

By Paul M. McCardell The Baltimore Sun “The most beautiful scene in all the blue Pacific today is an American Flag whipping the breeze on the top of the Suribachi volcano.” — From the Feb. 24, 1945, Evening Sun Seventy-five years ago this month, the United States military forces were fighting the bloodiest battle in their history. And a Baltimore Sun foreign correspondent was there to catch the scoop of a lifetime. Iwo Jima, an island covered in volcanic ash, about 5 miles long and 2.5 miles wide at its broadest, sat roughly 600 miles east of Japan’s main islands. It had ...

How Trumpcare 2020 could lower medical costs

In 2016, candidate Donald Trump promised to repeal Obamacare and replace it with “something terrific.” The replacement never materialized. The repeal, however, had been making progress in a piece-by-piece fashion. President Trump has made a frontal assault on the Affordable Care Act by asking the U.S. Supreme Court to strike it down altogether. As it happens, Obamacare has become popular, and so, with the next election approaching, Trump badly needs a replacement. Let me offer ideas. Some elements of my Trumpcare 2020 plan may sound heartless and extreme. But several fit ...

Mike didn’t get it done at last week’s debate

The only thing that can be said about former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s first appearance with his fellow Democratic presidential candidates in Las Vegas Wednesday night was that Mike did not get it done, as his campaign ads promise he will if he becomes president. He was boring, expressionless and could not defend himself against past racist, sexist and misogynistic comments, including one mentioned by Elizabeth Warren, who said Bloomberg once referred to women as “fat broads” and “horse-faced lesbians.” During the debate he also refused to release women who ...