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2 weeks ago | 
provincetownindependent.org | Edward Miller
The opponents of affordable housing in Truro have rallied around the slogan “Keep Truro Rural.” Now we are hearing the same line about the Maurice’s Campground project in Wellfleet. We should ask what they mean by “rural.” With much of the land in a national park, it can’t mean open space. One of those questioning the master plan for Maurice’s last week was Gerry Parent, chair of the Wellfleet Planning Board.
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3 weeks ago | 
provincetownindependent.org | Edward Miller
Saturday was a dreary day. A good example, I think, of what Wyman Richardson was talking about in the chapter of The House on Nauset Marsh titled “The March Doldrums.” We were at the Inn at the Oaks in Eastham to hear readings from Richardson’s book. Wyman Richardson was a distinguished physician and professor at Harvard Medical School, but The House on Nauset Marsh is about the place he loved more than any other — the old farmhouse on the marsh in Eastham that was his family’s refuge and retreat.
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1 month ago | 
provincetownindependent.org | Edward Miller
What is the purpose of newspaper headlines, and who should write them, people or computers? At the Independent, we work on headlines at both ends of the editorial process. We ask reporters to write them for the first drafts of their articles, because we believe it helps them think about the purpose of the piece. Having to distill a thousand words into one short sentence that accurately conveys the most important element of the story is an excellent way to focus the mind.
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1 month ago | 
provincetownindependent.org | Edward Miller
I learn a lot by reading the Arts & Minds pages. This week my antennae were activated by Dorothea Samaha’s article about Daniel Waite Penny and his podcast, Non-Toxic (see page C6 of this issue). It introduced me to a new word, “hypebeast,” and a concept, “toxic masculinity,” that I had somehow missed. The phrase, I now know, refers to the worst aspects of stereotypical masculine behavior.
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1 month ago | 
provincetownindependent.org | Edward Miller
“People think news deserts are only in flyover country,” said veteran reporter Samuel Freedman, who was quoted in a 2023 article in The Nation. “Local news, local journalism, is disappearing everywhere.”Evidence of that disappearance on Cape Cod was what led us to start the Independent five and a half years ago.
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1 month ago | 
provincetownindependent.org | Edward Miller
This Saturday, March 8, is International Women’s Day, and while we listen to the 19 women DJs on WOMR (see page C9), I’ll be thinking about the women on the front lines of democracy and decency at this disturbing moment in history. The latest is Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who spoke out — unlike other Republicans — after Volodymyr Zelenskyy was ambushed at the White House last Friday.
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1 month ago | 
provincetownindependent.org | Edward Miller
The U.S. Postal Service was in the news again this week, thanks to a head-spinning series of flipflops by the administration about its plans for the mail. The president, who has called the U.S.P.S. “a joke,” said before the inauguration that he had “a keen interest in privatizing” the mail service, the Washington Post reported in December.
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2 months ago | 
provincetownindependent.org | Edward Miller
“Media mistrust has been growing for decades — does it matter?” asked a recent report from the Pew Charitable Trusts. “Midway through the 20th century, the news media was among the most trusted institutions in the United States. Today, it sits near the bottom of the list, outflanked only by Congress in most surveys.”Somehow, the question makes that loss of trust seem like folksy skepticism. Mistrust of the press is something authoritarian rulers have systematically sown.
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2 months ago | 
provincetownindependent.org | Edward Miller
As I read news reports about the team of young engineers and computer scientists deployed by Elon Musk to take over the financial systems of the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury, I’ve been thinking a lot about my old friend Frank R. Wilson. Wilson is a neurologist, retired now, who ran a clinic for performing artists at the University of California School of Medicine where he specialized in treating disorders affecting the hands.
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2 months ago | 
provincetownindependent.org | Edward Miller
Following the Jan. 29 collision of a jet and an Army helicopter in Washington, D.C. that killed 67 people, the president blamed hiring practices at the Federal Aviation Administration for the crash. “The F.A.A. is actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems, and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative,” he said.
