A relaxing Florida vacation has made me even more of a techno-peasant than I usually am. The issue that now challenges me is the dilemma presented by Apple's refusal to comply with the U.S. government's request to facilitate access to the contents of the iPhone of Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the two San Bernadino terrorists, now …
Continue reading Apple versus national security: a tough call
Suffolk University board members should be ashamed of themselves. They are passing up the chance to put the school back on the map as a proud and storied urban university and a meaningful player in greater Boston's civic life. Its inbred board, concerned only about its own power, has launched an attack to undermine the school's new …
Bernie Sanders has given Democrats what they needed and what many wanted: a healthy debate on issues. Not just stock positions on this or that, because he and Hillary Clinton agree on most goals. His willingness to take on the presumptive nominee has provided an exploration of philosophy and style of governance and a choice between leading …
Continue reading Democratic race a battle of heart versus head
Fox News may have missed Donald Trump. Its viewership was down to 11-13 million viewers, half what they got in the first debate last fall. (The Democrats' debates have had only eight million viewers, thanks to DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz's scheduling them at low viewership times to protect Hillary Clinton.) But, if the eyeballs were …
Ed Markey's 40+ year political career has come a long way. His biggest state legislative accomplishment (a bill eliminating part-time district attorneys) incurred the wrath of then-House Speaker Tommy McGee, who threw Markey off the Judiciary Committee and moved his desk into the hall. Markey, a tall and skinny 29-year old two-term state rep from Malden, went from …
Charlie Baker says that some folks think he is boring, and that's fine, thank you very much. The style of his State of the State speech confirms that assessment. His delivery, while polished, was flat, with monotonous pacing and few tonal variations. The most significant exception was his discussion of the opioid crisis, in which he …
Halfway through his first term, the Mayor of Boston and the city are looking good. Both Marty Walsh and the city have grown significantly over the past two years, as reflected in his State of the City speech on Tuesday. Walsh's laundry list of accomplishments is real: record housing starts, including record affordable units; violent crime …
You had to be a 32nd degree political junkie to find and watch the last Democratic debate before the Iowa caucuses. Thanks to Hillary godmother and DNC chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, last night's Democratic debate had 7.8 million voters, about half the audience for the first Democratic debate in October. While, as my friend Dan …
Continue reading Dems debate hidden between football and Downton Abbey
The past and future came together in the nation’s Capitol last night. It was a Paul Gauguin moment: Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? The President of the United States gave the best State of the Union speech of his two terms in office, and South Carolina Governor Nikki …
Continue reading Tone trumps facts in State of the Union speech
Each year, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial page editor Tom Waseleski prepares for the New Year an aspirational list of headlines. Each year, I shamelessly borrow the idea and herewith present my own suggestions, with precious little expectation that we will see them atop newspapers, magazines or teasing newscasts in 2016. Please send your own in the comments section below. …
Marjorie Arons-Barron 