Score Boston Mayor Tom Menino:1; Boston Globe:0 on the proposal to bring the Olympics to Boston in 2024. Opined an editorial, a chance to host the Olympics is "too rare to pass up without further consideration." Really? As the Mayor restated Thursday on WGBH's Greater Boston, the city has too many other, higher priority needs - …
Category: Culture
What a Pope Sean would say about the Church
It's hard not to think positively of Cardinal Sean O'Malley's being mentioned as a contender to succeed Pope Benedict. Media interest (see Vatican reporter John Allen's recap in the National Catholic Reporter about how Italian media have fueled the speculation) has given credibility to the idea in the now hot sport of speculating about Papal …
Continue reading What a Pope Sean would say about the Church
Blizzard 2013 – a rare interlude
City plows have made a token pass down our street, scooping out a rut the width of a sedan. It will probably be tomorrow before we're plowed and shovelled out. For now, the neighborhood is breathtakingly beautiful. Tranquil. Pristine. No distant sounds from Route 128. Very quiet and peaceful. My mind has taken a cue from what's outside. I'm content to read …
Proposed pre-Broadway production tax credit a no-no
I can remember the day when many, if not most, major Broadway shows opened in Boston for a test run. West Side Story and South Pacific are just two that spring immediately to mind. (Others opened in Philadelphia or New Haven.) Now some legislators want to offer $3 million in tax credits for plays and musicals that …
Continue reading Proposed pre-Broadway production tax credit a no-no
WGBH ignores local classical music lovers
A Boston Business Journal headline last week piqued my interest: "WGBH sending out strong signals." This was very exciting. Was the station finally heeding the complaints of classical music lovers deprived of classical music when WCRB FM, which WGBH owns, moved from 102.5 to 99.5 on the dial? WCRB, of course, stands for Classical Radio Boston, …
Hope for the future
Watching dysfunctional Washington is profoundly, naggingly depressing, leaving one having to work hard to count our blessings, of which there are assuredly many. Typically, those blessings are related to home, hearth and health, family and friends. Against the backdrop of consistently gloomy national news, an occasional story comes along that does lift the spirits and is important …
NRA achieves its purpose
The NRA's Friday press conference revealed the powerful organization to be utterly tone deaf when it comes to how to reduce violence and protect children. Do we need any more evidence of that than NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre's comment that "The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good …
Will Newtown be any different?
How many times after a tragic shooting have we heard politicians say, in the guise of respect for the victims. "this isn't the time" to talk about gun control. White House spokesman Jay Carney used the same language on Friday. “There is, I’m sure, will be, rather, discussion of the usual Washington policy debates, but I …
Stirring the pot on medical marijuana
Recently I wrote a blog indicating I was tilting yes on Question 3 on medical marijuana. I'm still leaning that way, but I was given pause by a response I received from an individual in law enforcement in California whom I respect but who, because of his position, does not want to be identified. According …
Controlling the quality of dying
When it comes down to the last weeks and days of an excruciating dying process, it's all about options. If I am terminally ill, determined by my physician to be within six months of dying from an incurable and irreversible disease, then I want my physician to be able to prescribe medication that will allow …
