In what rational universe could a democratic institution have 54 votes to advance an idea and 35 votes against, and the proposition fails? It would also have failed if there were 59 votes for it and just one against it. Sound crazy? Yes, but that's how the United States Senate operates because of its self-imposed …
Continue reading Democrats struggle with knotty filibuster problem
Signs opposing a gun store proposed for this largely residential Boston suburb are sprouting like daffodils across the lawns in Newton, Massachusetts. The store in question would be just spitting distance from a marijuana dispensary! No wonder so many in my hometown are, pardon the expression, up at arms. Nor is it surprising, perhaps, that …
Continue reading Gun stores in Newton: ban v. regulate not an either/or proposition
Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips is a first novel set in the isolated Russian peninsular community of KamChatka, after the demise of the Soviet Union. It’s hard-scrabble living even in its principal city of Petropavlovsk. The story grabs you from the outset with the kidnapping of two little girls, ages eight and five. The novel …
Will in the World : How Shakespeare became Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt This impeccably researched book has been called one of the best books ever about William Shakespeare. I haven’t read them all, or even most. Still, I can attest to the brilliance in the recreation of how this modestly educated genius emerged from provincial …
Today marks four months since the US Capitol was stormed by a mob intent on blocking Congress from accepting the Electoral College win for President Joe Biden. Inside the Capitol, a smaller mob of 147 Republicans, also seeking to de-legitimize Biden’s victory and keep Donald Trump in power, voted to overturn the 2020 election results. …
Marjorie Arons-Barron 