Monthly Archives: May 2018

WHY THE FUSS ABOUT ONE SELF-DRIVING CAR FATALITY?

The death in March by an Uber self-driving prototype in Phoenix has been a serious speedbump on the road to what many think is the imminence of this revolutionary technology. The car’s braking system was apparently mis-programmed and the human overseer possibly distracted. In media stories, all the emphasis has been on the unacceptability of […]

What is causing “Deaths of Despair”?

“Deaths of despair on the rise across state, country” read the headline of a recent story in this paper. Massachusetts is only 34th in the nation in deaths from suicide, alcohol, and drugs, as such deaths are being defined. But the Cape’s suicide rate is twice that of the state, the story noted. Given that […]

Are we dying? Or just changing?

In Wellfleet’s recent town meeting a speaker noted, as shocking evidence of the need for affordable housing, that “in last 25 years we have lost 62% of the young people in our town.” In a column a couple of years ago I raised the question “are Outer Cape towns dying?” I had seen an article […]