Of all the policy domains in the United States, firearms policy seems to be the most divisive. One side holds dearest the interests of communities living in peace, the other holds dearest their individual rights to bear arms per a Constitutional Amendment that is at the core of the (white) American identity.

Here’s the thing: The safest firearms owners are the ones who take firearms ownership the most seriously, as a responsibility — versus simply a right (or worse, just another consumer product experience, like makeup or power tools). They are also a significant percentage of those who practice the most. …

When Withings’ scales came out, I was delighted. Until last year (I’m almost 43), my metabolism had been unbearably fast. I’ve also had a lifelong allergy to dairy products. Together, the two created a lifelong weight quandary for me that makes most people laugh when I first tell them about it — but for me, it was a real problem.

For many years I had to closely monitor my weight day by day, vigilantly on the lookout to ensure I didn’t slip into the “Karen Carpenter Zone” threshold of <110lbs, that would render me too underweight to safely experience a sustained heart-rate increase without putting myself at an increased risk for a heart attack. …

A bowl of Skittles is pictured, with the question: “If I told you just three would kill you, would you take a handful?” The individual asking the question is a young white American man. College educated, elite boarding-school reared, and the son of a presidential candidate; EVP of a major corporation, founded by his grandfather. Let’s look more closely at this analogy.

Each 2oz bag of Skittles averages 54 pieces of candy. Having worked at a bulk candy counter in high school, I’d say I’m a pretty good judge of candy volume. The bowl pictured, I’d estimate, showed about 8oz (half a pound) of Skittles. …

Originally penned/published in late 2014.

I’m an avid ice-hockey fan, and an occasional (bad) player. I also used to race motorcycles. I get what it is to do something that carries with it significant risk for life-changing head injuries. You do it either because you love it that much (which of course, few understand) or because it’s become your livelihood.

I also grew-up with a mother who was raised in an abusive home — physical and emotional. Her father regularly beat and cheated on his wife. Her mother turned to manipulation, denial, and drinking, as her way out. …

This article originally published 25 June 2014 in The Bold Italic

A public tragedy happens. Media outlets storm the airwaves with non-stop coverage. The families impacted plead their hearts to the millions fixated in mourning. It becomes clear to everybody that this could have been prevented. Solution? Let’s make some new gun laws!

New legislation that began its review hearings yesterday in California appears to be one such well intentioned effort at fixing a very real problem: mass killing sprees. …

This piece was originally published in The Bold Italic, 07 March 2014 as “Who Gets To Live In San Francisco”

Earlier this week, The Examiner reported that the SFMTA is widening its ban on oversized vehicles in the city, adding 61 new locations to the list of areas where people aren’t allowed to park vans and RVs that many use as their homes. “This is just one more tool in SFMTA’s tool box for parking management,” claimed the company’s project manager Andy Thornley, who’s heading the pilot-project initiative prohibiting the parking of large vehicles from 12 p.m. to 6 a.m. …

Hi Medium Product People:

I know, when all the stories can go into all the publications, curatorial clarity gets muddled, all the publications get weaker because no one stands out as strong, it all gets redundant and Rhododendron Red gets confused with candy-apple red—yadda yadda yadda. It’s true. I’ve worked in publishing, and yes: we need the weeds to appreciate the roses.

Problem: On Medium, many writers like to create their own collections of their own works, which they do through the “Publications” feature with their composed Articles. For the most part it’s not a problem, it’s awesome. I love seeing people self-curate their writing into themed collections or subject-centric publications. …

A continuing pain-point in Diversity reporting, is a consistent taxonomy for categorizing individuals across all types of businesses within a specific sector (eg: Tech). Why does this matter? Most obviously, because it’s butkis for an organization to present itself as having gender parity in its workforce, when +90% the product creators are men and +90% the customer service and admin roles are women.

We love data because it gives us objective dots along imaginary lines we can then draw, to tell stories with. …