Good news coming out of this morning’s speech by Deval Patrick to the Mass. Municipal Association. He will be filing legislation to require cities and towns to provide public employee health insurance either by joining the state’s Group Insurance Commission (GIC) or devising a similar plan on their own. This was something Republican Charlie Baker …
Sorting out the Mommy wars
It’s good to know that, when we’re tired of the political vitriol and the rantings of Sarah Palin as she insists she is being “blood libeled,” we can turn for sport to the most recent iteration of the mommy wars. For decades, this has referred to the debate between the virtues/shortcomings of working moms versus …
Lesson from Tucson: First Aid Training courses in high school
People continue to cast about to identify lessons learned and take-away “to do” agenda items in the wake of last Saturday’s shooting rampage in Tucson. The overarching theme has been the need to dial back the hatred that colors so much rhetoric across the political spectrum. Restore civility. Eliminate or reduce incendiary language. There are …
Continue reading Lesson from Tucson: First Aid Training courses in high school
Gabrielle Giffords: LET THE SOUL SEARCHING TRANSLATE INTO ACTION
Is this a wakeup call? Is it wrong to look at the unspeakably tragic shootings in Arizona as an opportunity to call for the toning down of political rhetoric and the return of civility to public discourse? I think not. But will those who are advocating a return to civility walk the walk?Ironically, Congresswoman Gabrielle …
Continue reading Gabrielle Giffords: LET THE SOUL SEARCHING TRANSLATE INTO ACTION
GOVERNOR’S INAUGURAL ADDRESS SOBERING, IF STIRRING
Governor Deval Patrick is nothing if not a good speaker, and his inaugural address today was no exception. It was sobering, as appropriate to the times, yet inspiring, as appropriate to the occasion. He touched on, but didn’t wallow in the accomplishments of the last four years but moved quickly to the challenges that lie …
Continue reading GOVERNOR’S INAUGURAL ADDRESS SOBERING, IF STIRRING
Daring a public change of heart
Often, elected officials vote yea in committee and nay on final passage of a bill so they can have it both ways. How many officials, elected or appointed, can you name who have done a complete, authentic 180 on an important issue and been better off for it? I’m thinking Tip O’Neill on the Vietnam War, …
Headline wishes for 2011
My colleague Tom Waseleski, editorial page editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, always prepares for New Year’s Day an aspirational list of headlines from which we could all benefit. Here, with my own imprint, are the headlines I’d like to see in 2011.Economic Recovery Narrows Federal DeficitRepublicans Back Off Attack on New Health Care LawCongress Passes …
Obama’s end-of life planning is all about "The Conversation"
President Obama’s “end-of-life plan” is all about The Conversation, but, for it to make sense, he has to shape the dialogue. What’s important is the language. What’s regrettable is that the NY Times headline today heralded “Obama Institutes End-of-Life Plan that Caused Stir.” The opening of the article refers to the infamous “death panels” that …
Continue reading Obama’s end-of life planning is all about "The Conversation"
Shattered dreams: No Dream Act for now
When I was eight years old, I knew my family, my neighbors and some of my elementary school classmates. I knew we lived in Boston, scarcely understood Massachusetts and had no sense of nations or nation-states. If my parents had decided to move, we would have moved, no questions asked. As told in the New …
Menino links proposed school system changes to potential economic growth
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino this morning delivered one of the best speeches of his political career, and it brought the crowd of several hundred at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce breakfast to their feet in an enthusiastic ovation. In it, he laid out a compelling vision for a comprehensive overhaul of the Boston Public …
Continue reading Menino links proposed school system changes to potential economic growth
Marjorie Arons-Barron 