Hard to believe that little more than 250 years ago ships were wandering around the oceans with no accurate means to determine longitude. I recently, for the second time, read the book “Longitude” by Dava Sobel (foreword by Neil Armstrong). The story is beautifully written, giving us more than a glimpse into the lives, minds,…
Category: American History
Legislative Legal Services denied our CORA request on Colorado HB19-1110 on media literacy
I called Governor Polis’s office after Legislative Legal Services denied our Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) request today (6/12/19) for documents relevant to the Constitutionality of HB19-1110 signed by the Governor on June 3. They wrote that those documents are considered to be working documents and not subject to public access. The “Citizen Liaison” in…
I’ve requested ACLU assistance to stop Colorado HB19-1110 on media literacy ed as it is “Censorship by Proxy,” First Amendment violation
I also submitted a Colorado Open Records request to Legislative Legal Services asking for any and all documents related to the Constitutional basis for the bill. I attended the Federal Court’s Pro Se Clinic in Denver as scheduled to learn how best to challenge Colorado HB19-1110 regarding media literacy curriculum for secondary education based on…
Grandpa’s scrapbooks
A career US Marine who served in China and Korea after enlisting at age 14, my grandpa Albert Tidwell finally retired from military service in the late 1950s. He then became a teacher, professional writer, authored several books and wrote a weekly column in his local newspapers. He was a brilliant — and hilarious — storyteller…
Rule of law or law of rulers? Passage of Colorado HB19-1110 means Federal Court is next step for answers
For-profit institutional media has weaponized the First Amendment against the very Citizens it was enacted to protect. Colorado House Bill 19-1110 regarding “media literacy in our schools” is yet another power play by the newspaper lobby to double-down on their monopoly privileges without qualification over all other media segments in order to influence, gaslight, overtake,…
Why did I send testimony opposing Colorado HB19-1110 on media literacy? It violates the US Constitution
As a career media professional and registered Independent, I appreciate the State’s concerns over the proliferation of Citizen (social) media — and its influences and outcomes — over the past decade. My profession felt almost nationalized as everyone became instant publishers; no experience, no accountability required. I get it, believe me. However, it is precisely…
Does the right to advertise supersede the right to privacy? Facebook’s odd math problem (reason #4, why I left)
Remove the advertising from Facebook and you remove the need for privacy invading data that advertisers need in order to target users. Offer an ad-free alternative to its 2.52 billion users at a low monthly fee of only $5 each, with privacy, and its income would go from $55 billion to $140 billion. No ads…
Cold War Propaganda incited me to dig deeper, to recognize tells, and to question … everything.
Why did I pursue a degree in Russian Area Studies from the University of Texas in the late 1980s through early 1990s, a degree considered fairly worthless when I started except for those planning a career in the US State Department or CIA, neither of which I had any intention of joining? And why, considering…
Visit to Heart Mountain World War II Japanese-American Confinement Camp left us speechless…
About 14 miles west of Cody, Wyoming, stand a few remaining barracks, hospital boiler house, and watch tower from the Heart Mountain WWII Japanese-American Confinement Camp where more than 14,000 Americans were confined over a three year period. Over the course of the three years it existed as a War Relocation Authority (WRA) facility, from…
