Despite our desire for a Trump-free ten days in Ireland, our President was on too many minds over there. Landing at Shannon Airport, we had to pass the VIP Lounge where just days before Trump and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar met because Varadkar didn't want an official visit to be at Trump's golf course, …
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Ireland: where Trump is not, on climate change
We hadn't even finished unpacking from a vacation in Ireland when we were accosted by headlines that the Environmental Protection Agency has finalized its plans to undo years of modest progress on climate change, especially the Obama Clean Power Plan. The Trump Affordable Clean Energy Rule's bow to the U.S. coal industry (among other fossil …
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Beyond impeachment: thwarting Russian interference
Tension grows between those clamoring to impeach President Trump now and those believing that, however warranted such a move is as a way to increase accountability, it could end up helping Donald Trump to a second term if the Democrats too far ahead of the rest of the country. Constitutional law professor Larry Tribe came …
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Recent graduates give hope
For people who believe in the inevitability of the progress of civilization, the last two to three years have been a tanker truck full of cold water. Global trends toward narrow-minded, border closing, mind numbing bigotry have been magnified here at home, with the President of the United States playing to fear and hatred, sowing …
Trump keeps promise: expands war on women
First, it was the slurs against Mexicans; then the attempted ban on Muslims and the attack on all immigrants. Now it's war against women. The latest salvo came in Alabama, with a virtual ban on abortions. Other red states are falling in line. Trying to take away women's reproductive rights usurps our freedom to control …
Two “greater Bostonians” die in tragedy
Our community has suffered a terrible loss with the deaths of former UMass Boston Chancellor Sherry Penney and her beloved husband, Jim Livingston. They are dead from apparent carbon monoxide poisoning in their winter home in Sarasota, Florida. Their extended family of friends, colleagues and students - all of whose lives were touched by this …
My love-hate relationship with the news
I emerge from three weeks of flu, bronchitis and related maladies on World Press Freedom Day and want to take more than a moment to hail the work of so many journalists who put themselves on the line to give us the information we depend upon. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a stunning …
Ilhan Omar – how representative is she?
Some of Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s comments are disconcerting at best, damaging and divisive at worst. Equally troubling, she is allowing herself to be used as a tool by Donald Trump to drive a wedge in the Democratic Party. The Somali immigrant’s comments are fuel to his incendiary style, which often incites violence against immigrants …
Biden behavior outdated but not disqualifying
Talk to some politicians and they're always looking over your head to see if there's someone better in the room upon whom to bestow their attention. Not Joe Biden. He looks you square in the eye, exudes warmth, is generous with hugs to both men and women. Politics, he says, is about connecting with people. …
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Anti-vaxxers jeopardize more than their own children
Apparently having their unvaccinated children barred from school since December wasn't enough to persuade some New York area parents to get their kids inoculated against measles, mumps and rubella. So Rockland County, just north of Manhattan, has now barred those under 18 years of age and not vaccinated from being in public places. And that's …
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Marjorie Arons-Barron 