Computer and Software Engineer (AS NSTC, BS UB, MS RPI) former @pitneybowes @macobserver and @macgeekgab. Did you try turning it off then on again?
Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by John Braun
There are no free lunches
| Last updated Mar 24, 2026 8:2am Before the new state income tax passed by Democrats was even proposed as legislation, many of us who oppose such a tax predicted the supporters would engage in a game of bait-and-switch. They'd market an income tax as applying only to the wealthy, knowing all along the real goal would be to have everyone pay.
Braun: Let’s have more action on water quality concerns tied to game farm - The Daily Chronicle
Two recent public meetings about the water contamination situation stemming from the Bob Oke Game Farm in Centralia bring to mind the warning not to confuse motion with action. There’s been no shortage of motion from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, which breeds and raises pheasants at the game farm just west of Interstate 5 — and is seen by local officials and the affected residents as being responsible for contaminating the local aquifer with skyrocketing nitrate levels.
Unveiling Ionospheric Response to the May 2024 Superstorm With Low‐Earth‐Orbit Satellite Observations
1 Introduction In May 2024, the Earth encountered an extremely intense geomagnetic storm, ranking among the most powerful in the past few decades. To date, the May 2024 space weather event is classified as the largest geomagnetic storm of the current 25th solar cycle in terms of the SYM-H index (high resolution Dst) minimum excursion, reaching −518 nT.
Guest Column: Inslee seeks to expand Ecology's reach, authority
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s announcement regarding Washington’s water quality standards includes a dramatic proposal that raises many red flags for communities and families throughout the state. There is consensus that it is time to update our water standards. No one is suggesting that we should do less to protect our environment, but the goal must be to balance cleaner water with protecting family budgets and jobs.
Leftwing lawmakers take aim at parental rights law
When the Legislature’s majority Democrats joined Republicans to pass the parental-rights initiative during our 2024 session, did they do so to keep the popular measure from being passed by voters in November, making it possible for them to gut the new law this year over Republican objections? Perhaps. But one thing is certain: Democrats in the state Senate have acted quickly to undermine Initiative 2081 law less than a year later.
It’s time to give thanks — and to restore our state - Nisqually Valley News
Our nation celebrates Thanksgiving in late November as a nation because of an October 1863 proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln. Prior to that, states celebrated on the dates of their choice.
John Braun: End state income tax before it hits middle-income families
By John Braun Washington’s Supreme Court ruled long ago that false statements in political advertising are protected by the First Amendment. The opponents of Initiative 2109, which would repeal Washington’s capital-gains income tax, are taking full advantage of that to spread misinformation. The most obvious example is their effort to fool voters through ads claiming “99.8% of us will never pay this tax.” Facts say otherwise.
John Braun: Protect energy choice, stop a natural gas ban by approving I-2066 - The Daily Chronicle
When our state’s lieutenant governor, a Democrat, refers to a Democrat-sponsored bill as a “hot mess” — saying it for all to hear, while presiding in the Senate chamber — it gets your attention. While that isn't a term we normally use when describing a policy proposal in public, it accurately described House Bill 1589.
Commentary: As students return, campuses must prevent return of antisemitic behavior - The Reflector
Eighty years ago, a lawyer who had fled to the United States from Poland a few years earlier combined an ancient Greek word and a Latin word to make a new term: genocide. The word was coined specifically to describe the mass murders committed by the Nazis, which would come to be known as the Holocaust. By this time in 1944, the Soviet Union’s Red Army had already begun to discover the concentration camps where millions of people, particularly Jews, were slaughtered.
We’re proud to have everyone on Boeing team as neighbors | Op-Ed
Thank you Seattle Times. As business owners — Republican and Democratic — your Tuesday editorial on the International Association of Machinists (IAM 751) and Boeing contract negotiations was spot-on. To quote from the editorial: “It is the people who design and manufacture these technological marvels who ought to be valued above all others.” Well said. Employees are the lifeblood of any business. Without them, a business cannot survive.
Impact of Facility Type on Survival Outcomes in Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Carcinoma: An Analysis of the National Cancer Database
Background This study aims to evaluate the impact of treatment facility type on the long-term survival rates of patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, as well as the demographic and treatment differences between these groups. Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors are a rare form of pancreatic cancer with a highly variable survival rate.
Commentary: Legislators don’t need to address property-tax cap — we already did - Nisqually Valley News
Blocking a bad piece of legislation can often be as important as passing a good bill. That’s why Republican senators took a moment to cheer a few months ago when, in the face of intense pressure, our Democrat counterparts dropped their push to clear the way for the largest property tax increase in Washington history. Senate Bill 5770, initially sponsored by 20 Democratic senators, would have tripled Washington’s long-standing 1% cap on the annual growth of property taxes.
Sen. John Braun: Initiative critic wants ‘constructive measures’ — and Republicans have them - The Daily Chronicle
Knowing what the Legislature did and didn’t do this year with the six initiatives submitted to it by the people of Washington, I couldn’t help noticing what a big-city newspaper columnist recently wrote under the headline “The cost of repealing state laws on climate, health, and capital gains.” Right out of the gate, the columnist showed his true colors by falsely claiming Republicans “pushed through three key initiatives that go to the voters in November.” This refers to the three...
Natural gas bill will be a disaster for WA ratepayers | Op-Ed
The people of Washington fared well during the 2024 legislative session. Three of their initiatives to the Legislature were approved, leaving three more to be decided in November. The update of the state government’s operating budget required no new taxes. Speaking of taxes, Republicans also killed a bill by the Democrats that would have allowed local governments to triple the annual allowable growth rate of property taxes without first obtaining voter approval. It wasn’t all good, though.
A sham lawsuit threatens to disenfranchise WA's Latino voters | Op-Ed
In 2021 our state’s bipartisan, voter-created Redistricting Commission set Washington’s current legislative and congressional boundaries. In August, a federal judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in Soto Palmer v. Hobbs, who claimed the map of Central Washington’s 15th Legislative District violates the federal Voting Rights Act (VRA). The judge ordered the boundaries to be redrawn. Under state law, legislators can reconvene the commission at any time should district boundaries need adjusting.
Commentary: Republican resolve leads to better drug possession law - The Reflector
John Braun Last year, our Democratic colleagues felt compelled to brag that the Legislature had adjourned on schedule five sessions in a row, with no need to go into overtime. It was presumably an attempt to paint themselves as effective leaders. That streak, whatever it may have been worth, ended in spectacular fashion on April 23, the final day of this year’s regular legislative session.
John Braun Commentary: Republican Resolve Leads to Better Drug Possession Law - Nisqually Valley News
By John Braun Last year, our Democratic colleagues felt compelled to brag that the Legislature had adjourned on schedule five sessions in a row, with no need to go into overtime. It was presumably an attempt to paint themselves as effective leaders. That streak, whatever it may have been worth, ended in spectacular fashion on April 23, the final day of this year’s regular legislative session.
Global Maps of Equatorial Plasma Bubbles Depletions Based on FORMOSAT‐7/COSMIC‐2 Ion Velocity Meter Plasma Density Observations
3 Results and Discussion The COSMIC scientific team has developed a new algorithm to determine the location of EPBs (plasma density depletions) in the F7/C2 IVM density data and to construct global maps of the identified plasma bubbles geolocations. Depending on tasks and requirements, the refreshment rate of the Bubble Map can be selected within the 30–60 min range.
Stratospheric Water Vapor from the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai Volcanic Eruption Deduced from COSMIC-2 Radio Occultation
Abstract : The eruption of the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai (HTHH) volcano on 15 January 2022 injected large amounts of water vapor (H2O) directly into the stratosphere. While normal background levels of stratospheric H2O are not detectable in radio occultation (RO) measurements, effects of the HTHH eruption are clearly observed as anomalous refractivity profiles from COSMIC-2, suggesting the possibility of detecting the HTHH H2O signal.
John Braun commentary: Democrats’ priorities are off-target as session nears its end
By John Braun Drugs in our state are clearly more lethal than firearms. Just look at King County, where 83 people were fatally shot in 2022, but more than 1,000 people fatally overdosed. With that disparity in mind, guess whether the majority Democrats in our Legislature are treating drugs or guns as the more important and deadly issue. Here’s a hint: it’s not drugs.
Sen. John Braun Commentary: Democrats’ Priorities Are Off-Target as Session Nears End
By John Braun Drugs in our state are clearly more lethal than firearms. Just look at King County, where 83 people were fatally shot in 2022, but more than 1,000 people fatally overdosed. With that disparity in mind, guess whether the majority Democrats in our Legislature are treating drugs or guns as the more important and deadly issue. Here’s a hint: it’s not drugs.
Commentary: Supreme Court’s income tax ruling clouds encouraging news about budgets
By John Braun The no-new-taxes operating budget proposal introduced in the Senate this session is a welcome turnaround. To be clear, there is no more need for new taxes this year than there was in either 2019 or 2021, when Democrats piled new ones onto Washington families and employers even though the state didn’t need more revenue. There also is more reason now to take a conservative approach. The state’s chief economist recently warned a slowdown in economic activity is coming.
Support special-ed students with advocates in each WA service district
The bipartisan education-funding reforms passed by the Legislature in 2017 put state government back on the path to complying with its No. 1 responsibility under Washington’s constitution, which is to make “ample provision for the education of all children” residing in the state. Unfortunately, that landmark legislation fell short of meeting the “all children” mark, as there was still work to do related to the needs of special-education students and their families.
WA Democrats must fix police-pursuit mistake this session
Legislative Democrats got it wrong when they changed the standard for police pursuits from one based on reasonable suspicion to one based on probable cause. Having made criminals’ lives easier for nearly two years, they now are blocking the one thing that would make this right. Democrats will not allow bipartisan bills that would restore the reasonable-suspicion standard to move forward. Instead, they favor partisan legislation that would fix nothing: Senate Bill 5533 and House Bill 1586.
The future of the Lower Snake River Dams: Draft report makes a poor case, economically, for breaching
A draft of the “Lower Snake River Dams Benefit Replacement Report,” requested by Washington’s U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and Gov. Jay Inslee last fall, recently was released to the public. While intended to make the case for breaching the four dams between Clarkston and the Tri-Cities, the report ironically makes a good case for keeping the dams in place.
Teacher burnout hits record high - 5 essential reads
Teachers in grades K through 12 are more burned out than workers in any other industry, according to a new Gallup poll that finds 44% of K-12 employees report “always” or “very often” feeling burned out at work. That number climbs to 52% when looking just at teachers.
Side with public safety, not criminals
Houston. We have a problem. Citizens feel overwhelmed by crime that they see every morning in their newspapers and every night on TV news. Their homes are being broken into. Items inside their cars are being stolen and pieces of their cars sawed off in parking lots and sold for scrap. It is a dystopian nightmare. The latest crime statistics for Washington show a 25-year high in violent crime. Property crime has also increased sharply as criminals become more brazen.
Commentary: Politics won 2022 session, not the people
The Herald-Republic suggests governing won out over politicking during the just-concluded legislative session (“State Democrats’ focus on governing pays off,” April 3). In support of that, it includes a few glib quotes from a post-session meeting with Democratic legislators and text bullets that read like they were lifted from Democratic talking points.
‘Every day feels unsettled’: Educators decry staffing shortage – commentary – New Hampshire Bulletin
The COVID-19 pandemic, with its multiple waves of remote, hybrid, and in-person education, increased students’ needs for support, revealed political minefields in teaching, and heightened labor tensions for educators. And in the 2021-2022 school year, staffing shortages have made all of that worse, as our work details.
‘Every Day Feels Unsettled’ – Educators Decry Staffing Shortage | Recruiting News Network
The COVID-19 pandemic, with its multiple waves of remote, hybrid and in-person education, increased students’ needs for support, revealed political minefields in teaching, and heightened labor tensions for educators. And in the 2021-2022 school year, staffing shortages have made all of that worse, as our work details.
'Every day feels unsettled' - educators decry staffing shortage
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Laura Wangsness Willemsen, Concordia University, Saint Paul; Elisheva L. Cohen, Indiana University, and John W. Braun, Concordia University, Saint Paul kAmW%wt r~}'t#$p%x~}X %96 r~'xs\`h A2?56>:4[ H:E9 :ED >F=E:A=6 H2G6D @7 C6>@E6[ 9J3C:5 2?5 :?\A6CD@?
'Every day feels unsettled' – educators decry staffing shortage
The COVID-19 pandemic, with its multiple waves of remote, hybrid and in-person education, increased students’ needs for support, revealed political minefields in teaching, and heightened labor tensions for educators. And in the 2021-2022 school year, staffing shortages have made all of that worse, as our work details.
Geeky Reactions to Apple's Peek Performance Event — Mac Geek Gab 918
Subscribe to the MGG Weekly Episode Newsletter Sign up here for weekly MGG emails with details and shownotes from each episode. Leave this field empty if you're human: Dave, John, and Pilot Pete come together hot on the heels of Apple’s Peek Performance Event to share their hot-takes with you. Listen as your three favorite geeks’ thoughts about the new hardware evolve before your very ears… what do they think about the new Mac Studio, Studio Display, M1 Ultra, and more?
I'm Pretty Much a Doctor Now? — Mac Geek Gab 917
Subscribe to the MGG Weekly Episode Newsletter Sign up here for weekly MGG emails with details and shownotes from each episode.
A Cool Stuff Found Cornucopia - Mac Geek Gab 916
Subscribe to the MGG Weekly Episode Newsletter Sign up here for weekly MGG emails with details and shownotes from each episode. Leave this field empty if you're human: The Cool Stuff Found corner of the mailroom was starting to overflow, and the staff was getting restless, so Dave and John dig in. Learn how to find public Wi-Fi passwords, which Mac or iPhone to buy next, how to tweak your Mac’s shutdown menu options, new webcams from Anker, and more. Plus, a discussion about snapshot reversion vs.
Quick Tips Galore! - Mac Geek Gab 915
Subscribe to the MGG Weekly Episode Newsletter Sign up here for weekly MGG emails with details and shownotes from each episode. Leave this field empty if you're human: This week, it seems it was impossible for Dave, John, and Pilot Pete to stop giving Quick Tips. Even the topics which your three favorite geeks thought were questions turned out to include a copious amount of Quick Tips. Hey, worse things could happen, right?
There's an Email Conspiracy! — Mac Geek Gab 914
Subscribe to the MGG Weekly Episode Newsletter Sign up here for weekly MGG emails with details and shownotes from each episode. Leave this field empty if you're human: Dave seems to think there’s an email conspiracy, and he explains how to avoid it to you and John. That’s not all, of course. Your Quick Tips help everyone use markup better, create a “Start the Day” shortcut, use Focus better, and more. Press play and listen as your two geeks share all of this and much, much more.
Spending Airplane Dollars on Cool Stuff Found - Mac Geek Gab 913
Subscribe to the MGG Weekly Episode Newsletter Sign up here for weekly MGG emails with details and shownotes from each episode.
Silent Failures Are Bad News - Mac Geek Gab 912
Subscribe to the MGG Weekly Episode Newsletter Sign up here for weekly MGG emails with details and shownotes from each episode. Leave this field empty if you're human: Everything seems fine, but is it? How do you know if something has failed if you don’t get a notification? Listen to your three favorite geeks talk through how this manifests in several areas of life, including Time Machine, Streaming TV, Cell Service…and propane! That’s not all, though: John F.
Keep Your Mac Out Of The ER - Mac Geek Gab 911
Subscribe to the MGG Weekly Episode Newsletter Sign up here for weekly MGG emails with details and shownotes from each episode. Leave this field empty if you're human: Each week, Dave and John come together to solve your problems and answer your questions. This week, that includes lots of great Quick Tips, troubleshooting tools, and ways of ensuring you keep your Mac, iPhone, and other Apple devices as trouble-free as possible.
The One After 909 - Mac Geek Gab 910
Subscribe to the MGG Weekly Episode Newsletter Sign up here for weekly MGG emails with details and shownotes from each episode. Leave this field empty if you're human: Listen as your two favorite geeks share tips and tricks about sharing photo libraries, writing Shortcuts, scanning pictures with your iPhone, choosing the best USB or Thunderbolt dock, and more. Press play and enjoy learning at least five new things along with Dave and John in this week’s episode of Mac Geek Gab.
Learning From Distractions - Mac Geek Gab 909
Subscribe to the MGG Weekly Episode Newsletter Sign up here for weekly MGG emails with details and shownotes from each episode. Leave this field empty if you're human: Everything’s distracting, especially to many of us geeks. That’s ok, though. Listen as John and Dave plow through their distractions to ensure everyone learns at least five new things.
A Little Notification Goes A Long Way - Mac Geek Gab 908
Subscribe to the MGG Weekly Episode Newsletter Sign up here for weekly MGG emails with details and shownotes from each episode. Leave this field empty if you're human: Did you know you could create a reminder from macOS Mail? How would you like to learn about three new ways to toggle Do Not Disturb? Or a solution for dictating emojis? All this and more in just the first Quick Tips segment of the show.
Geo-Fence Your Robot Vacuum
Learn how you can use a Geo-fence to run your vacuum while you’re out of the house in this mini-segment from Mac Geek Gab 906. Check It Out: Geo-Fence Your Robot Vacuum
How To Send Voice Memos With Siri
Use Siri to send voice memos hands-free! Watch this mini-segment from Mac Geek Gab 906 to learn how. Check It Out: How To Send Voice Memos With Siri
Email, Atmos, and LiDAR...Oh My! — Mac Geek Gab 907
Subscribe to the MGG Weekly Episode Newsletter Sign up here for weekly MGG emails with details and shownotes from each episode. Leave this field empty if you're human: You know what happens when your two favorite geeks get together, don’t you? Geeky talk about all kinds of things AND answers to all your questions.
Muting Notifications In macOS Monterey
Here’s How To Mute Notifications in macOS Monterey using Focus. Check It Out: Muting Notifications In macOS Monterey
Dolby Atmos not playing on your iPhone? Here's why.
If you’re having trouble getting Dolby ATMOS on your iPhone, you may have to delete your songs from your phone and redownload…find out more in this Mac Geek Gab 904 Mini-Segment. Check It Out: Dolby Atmos not playing on your iPhone? Here’s why.
Zoom & Refresh In iOS15 Safari
Learn how to zoom out in iOS15 Safari to see your tabs, and how to most easily refresh your tabs in this mini-segment from Mac Geek Gab 904. Check It Out: Zoom & Refresh In iOS15 Safari
macOS Calculator has RPN
Find out how to access the RPN Calculator in macOS in this mini-segment from Mac Geek Gab 904. Check It Out: macOS Calculator has RPN
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with John
Contact John, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack