Tom Baker Journalist Profile

Articles

Moderates should talk to each other

Jul 17, 2024 | smokymountainnews.com | Tom Baker

To the Editor: There have been several interesting letters to the editor in The Sylva Herald and the Smoky Mountain News over the past few weeks. I agreed with some of their lines of thoughts and ideas; with others I did not agree. But they were all trying to express their ideas, and I will give them that. My thoughts during this period have crossed many lines, but my key focus has been our democracy. Such a wonderful institution created by our forefathers.
There and Back and There Again: U.S. Military Bases in the Philippines

Apr 30, 2024 | usni.org | Shawn Harding |Jim Kolbe |Eric Wertheim |Tom Baker

Mr. Harding holds a master’s of international public policy from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and is currently a doctor of international affairs candidate. His research focuses on security cooperation and host-nation basing in the Indo-Pacific region.
The government hopes private investors will fund social services

Dec 6, 2023 | rnz.co.nz | Tom Baker

By Tom Baker of Analysis - It was scarcely mentioned during the election campaign, but we will undoubtedly be hearing more about "social investment". As the National Party's election platform stated, it will be the "organising framework" for funding and delivering social services. The finance minister, Nicola Willis - who is also public service minister and minister for social investment - will be central to delivering on the policy.
Not all rent control policies are the same - the Green Party proposal deserves an open-minded debate

Jul 4, 2023 | tolerance.ca | Tom Baker

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Not all rent control policies are the same - the Green Party proposal deserves an open-minded debate

Jul 4, 2023 | theconversation.com | Tom Baker

The ink was barely dry on the Green Party’s recently unveiled “Pledge to Renters” – which included annual rent increase limits, a rental warrant of fitness and a national register of landlords – before others were consigning it to the policy dustbin.
Hayabusa2 Took a Pinch of Ryugu; a Novelist Imagines Taking Tons of It

Jun 28, 2023 | japannews.yomiuri.co.jp | Tom Baker |Daniel Suarez

By Tom Baker / Japan News Staff Writer Call me irrational, but as a resident of Japan I have somewhat proprietary feelings about the asteroid Ryugu. The Japanese space probe Hayabusa2 made history when it visited Ryugu in 2018-19, picking up samples of physical material that it later dropped off while swinging back past Earth in 2020. So, when I heard that science fiction author Daniel Suarez had written a novel with Ryugu as its primary setting, I had to read it.
Foodex offers a taste of the culinary future

Mar 27, 2023 | japannews.yomiuri.co.jp | Tom Baker

By Tom Baker / Japan News Staff Writer The enticing aroma of beef on a grill drew a crowd to the Canadian pavilion at the Foodex Japan 2023 trade show this month at the Tokyo Big Sight convention center in Koto Ward, Tokyo. Billed as the largest annual food trade show in Asia, this year’s Foodex recorded daily visitor numbers totaling 74,000 from March 7 to 10. It was a chance to sample some of the newest food products on the Japanese market — as well as others that may appear in the future.
Bound to Please / A Bloody Old World Dispute in a Verdant New World Setting

Feb 19, 2023 | japannews.yomiuri.co.jp | Tom Baker |Robert Harris

By Tom Baker / Japan News Staff Writer Act of Oblivion By Robert Harris Hutchinson Heinemann, 463pp, £22 “They scouted out a place a little way off the road, where part of the riverbank had been eroded by the current to form a natural pool. Trees hung down almost to the surface. Someone had tied a rope to a branch to make a swing. A long green dragonfly … skimmed between the reeds. Wood pigeons cooed amid the foliage.” Ned Whalley and his son-in-law Will Goffe have found the perfect spot for a dip.
Bound to Please / Realms of Animal Senses, from Vision to Vibration and Beyond

Jan 30, 2023 | japannews.yomiuri.co.jp | Tom Baker |Ed Yong

By Tom Baker / Japan News Staff Writer An Immense World By Ed Yong Random House, 449 pp You’re at a soiree, on the host’s balcony with a drink in your hand, watching bats flit through the twilight. A fellow guest tries to chat you up by remarking that bats use echolocation, a kind of sonar, to navigate and catch flying insects. You might wonder why they’re telling you something that everybody knows.