Late tonight (aka Sunday morning) is the start of the deep blue funk. Clocks are set back one hour at two a.m. Soon sunset will be a little after four o'clock. (In Maine, it's before four p.m.) Vitamin D will only come in bottles from CVS. People start lusting after mac and cheese, custard and …
Boston’s election matters beyond Boston
Where 'ya from? Travel anywhere outside New England, and the answer is likely to be "Boston." Whether we live in Newton, Lowell or Quincy, Boston's decision to reelect Marty Walsh or choose Tito Jackson to be mayor has consequences for us. Transportation, housing, safety, education - all issues being debated in this year's Newton mayoral …
Neighborhood oases in era of Trump
Reading, especially fiction. Listening to music. Attending theater and concerts. Taking courses. Working. Gardening. Connecting with friends and family. All worthy efforts to distract from the havoc that Donald Trump is wreaking upon us. All effective, if temporary, relief from the three hard copy newspapers arriving daily and many more online, the background drone of …
Outing Harvey Weinstein isn’t enough
Outrage over sexual assault shouldn't be a partisan contest. Whether you’re Bill O’Reilly, Roger Ailes, Bill Clinton, Bill Cosby, Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein or Bob in Accounting, sexual predation is inexcusable. But as bad as their behavior, I’m similarly outraged by those who, because of self-interest, enable miscreants to continue unchecked and law enforcement and …
Guns and other insanity
So, the consoler-in-chief has visited Las Vegas in the wake of a mass slaughter at a concert there, and, unlike yesterday's shameful performance in Puerto Rico, he stayed on script. He called the gunman "sick and demented, " but he refused to be drawn into discussing solutions to the mass killings. Don't look to Donald …
Sports, patriotism and the national anthem
With everything else to worry about, - think North Korea, health care, hurricane victims - Donald Trump should be excoriated for distracting us with his attack on the National Football League players and team owners who make political statements by choosing to stand, kneel, sing or not sing our national anthem. The President of the United …
“What Happened?” Clinton gets it
"What Happened?" It's a question many have been asking at least daily for the last ten months. So it's an apt title for Hillary Clinton's new book, a reasonably clear-eyed analysis of the 2016 presidential election debacle. While she glosses over a few issues, she shows a surprising self-awareness and candor. In the end, "What …
Joe DeNucci, Contender for the People
Joe DeNucci won most of his fights in the ring and in politics. In a long series of majority decisions, he won his fight for the hearts of the people. But on Friday, at the age of 78, the state’s longest-serving auditor and before that five-term State Representative, lost his fight with Alzheimer’s disease. He …
Harry was saved from Harvey, but questions remain
After three harrowing days, our cousins and their dog, Harry (see photo from drier days), were rescued Monday from their home in the Meyerland section of Houston. They live but a stone's throw from a bayou in a gracious neighborhood in which we had taken leisurely walks in April. Folks in the area had just …
Continue reading Harry was saved from Harvey, but questions remain
Sanders supporters’ sour grapes votes did us in
Taegan Goddard, author of Political Wire and one of the best, most even-handed aggregators around, just sent out this disturbing alert: Disappointed voters for Bernie Sanders who refused to hold their noses and vote for Hillary Clinton and voted instead for Donald Trump made the difference in the 2017 election. According to a 2016 Cooperative Congressional …
Continue reading Sanders supporters’ sour grapes votes did us in
Marjorie Arons-Barron 