In the early morning of September 11, 2001, a small group of lawyers, engineers, contractors, developers, and architects gathered for a communications seminar on crisis management at the Seaport Hotel in downtown Boston. Their objective was to consider how best to react to a simulated collapse of a large building. My husband, a lawyer, was …
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Stretch summer with books, pt. 2, non-fiction
Nat King Cole's "lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer" linger on, offering precious time for reading and musing. Today I offer some non-fiction selections. Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard is a surprisingly powerful and disturbing book. Simard is a Professor of Forest Ecology at the University of …
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Stretch summer with books, pt. 1- fiction
Summer remains the perfect time to kick back and experience the pleasures of reading. There's still plenty of time to extend the season. The Four Winds by Kristen Hannah packed a huge emotional wallop. By the author of The Nightingale, this family saga starts out in the early 1920’s in Texas. Elsa, the thoughtful and …
Afghanistan collapse a predictable disaster
There is no pretty way to lose a war, but the chaotic exit from Afghanistan over the past week has been particularly disturbing, especially for short-term political optics and long-term shameful treatment of those who risked their lives to help coalition forces and their ever-evolving mission. Bodies falling from planes departing Kabul Airport, as desperate Afghans tried …
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Cuomo resignation leaves unanswered questions
Getty Image Andrew Cuomo's well crafted resignation speech proves once again you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. The speech was outwardly everything a PR person could recommend when spinning such a deplorable situation, except for its having come weeks later than it should have. And it left unanswered questions of …
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Lamenting the loss of local journalism
Forty-two years ago, the city of Newton had four local newspapers: the Newton Graphic, the Newton Times, the Waltham Tribune (which also served Newton) and the Newton TAB. Residents had to work hard to be uninformed about local government and community comings and goings. As a reporter, then political editor of the Times, I thought …
Mass. voting laws need upgrade
Any-reason absentee voting, expanded early voting, drop boxes, all designed to limit exposure to COVID-19, all worked to enhance Massachusetts voter turnout for the 2020 election. 3.7 million - 76 percent of those registered - turned out, the highest percentage since 1992. Those procedures expired in June, and, while they have now been extended through …
Voting suppression and subversion: the GOP’s American dream
Photo Time Inc When it comes to securing voting rights, rhetorical flourish will go only so far. At his eulogy for civil rights icon John Lewis last year, former President Obama waxed eloquent in support of comprehensive legislation. Last week in Philadelphia, President Biden's voting rights speech was occasionally stirring and substantively on target. But …
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Kidney needed. Pass the word!
The sign hung over Fenway Park, just under the beloved Red Sox icon. It read, "Save Doug Kahn’s Life! BWH.donorscreen.org Kidney donor urgently needed!" A desperate move on behalf of a desperate young man. Things have never been easy for the 50-year-old Brockton accountant and father of two children, ages nine and seven. As a …
Time to Replace the 1812 on the Fourth
Backyard barbecues, beach parties, fireworks, and concerts featuring the 1812 Overture – all traditional parts of the holiday celebrating the independence of our nation. What’s wrong with this picture? Why, the 1812 Overture, of course. This marquee finale by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, and many of us look forward to …
Marjorie Arons-Barron 