I’ve been struggling with Q. #1, which calls for a new four percent tax on income over a million dollars, to be spent on education and transportation. Initially it sounded like a terrific idea - providing a substantial dedicated stream of financial support for much-needed education and transportation priorities to supplement annual budgets. Payment for …
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Yes on Q. 4 – preserving driver’s licenses for the undocumented
Several years back, I was driving west on Route 9 in Wellesley. While stopped in the passing lane at a red light, my car was hit from behind. Since the light was still red, I got out to speak to the driver behind to suggest we both pull over to the nearby Mobil station to …
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Books to settle down with in autumn, pt. 2- non-fiction
Factfulness by Hans Rosling was recommended by friends Catherine and Dana at a summertime brunch. They urged the book as an antidote to our discussion about the dystopian world situation. The book reveals itself by its subtitle: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think. The late …
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Books to settle down with in autumn, pt. 1 – fiction
The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris is an amazing debut novel by a 29-year-old man about racial and social tensions in the deep South in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War. Harris’ prose is luscious; his characters are often odd, and complex. His explorations of their loves, animosities, challenges and misadventures are many-layered …
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Ron DeSantis’s Case of Raging Hypocrisy
Ron DeSantis has had quite a summer. Running for re-election in 2022, positioning himself for a 2024 run for President, Florida's Republican governor has been trolling Democrats, whipping up culture wars, cruelly using asylum-seeking Venezuelans as campaign props, and attacking Joe Biden. He contemptuously calls Biden “Brandon” and “the American Nero” and derides Dr. Fauci …
Biden’s Covid declaration an unforced error
It felt a little like my gasp when Hillary uttered the term "deplorables" to describe Trump supporters. That meant trouble ahead. Biden's poorly qualified assertion that the pandemic is over may not have been quite that explosive. But it was a thoughtless communications error. Sure, we're not where we were in 2020. Some of us …
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Can we stand up to Book Burning 2.0?
It was nearly 90 years ago that thousands of Germans gathered around bonfires to destroy books by leading writers, artists and other intellectuals, many of them Jewish. It was only the beginning of a fascist movement to eradicate Jews and others who didn't fit the Aryan ideal. This was the cultural genocide that preceded the …
The mid-terms: pessimism to optimism to hanging on for dear life
This week's inflation numbers were a cold splash of reality to many who had, over the summer, become more optimistic about Democrats' ability to hold onto Congress. At least, not lose the Senate. After all, the Biden Administration has put together a substantial list of accomplishments in the last 22 months. Gas prices were coming …
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Chris Dempsey, the perfect fit for MA Auditor
The down-ballot race for state auditor is often lost in the noise about campaigns for governor or attorney general. That shouldn't happen next Tuesday. The auditor's office is responsible for ensuring that our tax dollars are spent in the public interest, wisely and efficiently. This year's race for auditor is especially important because one candidate, …
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No freshman frolic for Jake Auchincloss
Getty Image He was 32 years old and had been sworn into Congress just three days previously. There he was on January 6th, on the floor of the House, standing on broken glass, watching violence erupt, stunned to see Republicans – even after the attempted insurrection – still vote to decertify the election results. “Believe …
Marjorie Arons-Barron 