Entries by Jeffrey Ian Ross

Recognizing Canada’s Prisoners’ Justice Day & United States’ Black August

Correctional facilities have four main objectives: ensuring community safety, deterring crime, rehabilitating inmates, and punishing those sentenced to incarceration. Although jails and prisons are not intended to be comfortable, they must respect universally accepted standards of humane treatment.  Incarceration should neither be life-threatening nor life ending for inmates. Meanwhile, globally, prisons face numerous challenges, including […]

Bars with Character and Characters

When I think of a bar with character, I imagine a venue that is more than just a place to grab a drink. It is usually a venue steeped in history, sometimes filled with eclectic décor, and buzzing with the energy of its clientele, servers, and occasional performers. But what does it really mean for […]

Searching for Washoku in all the wrong places

Despite the global popularity of Japanese cuisine, finding truly authentic Washoku outside Japan remains a challenge. After eating at many Japanese restaurants, some not just mediocre but exceptionally bad, has underscored the difficulty of finding genuine Washoku. Washoku is not any type of Japanese food. This type of cuisine is a culinary art form, not […]