Paris horror: sad, angry and seeking solutions

Our friends in Paris are safe: "shocked, sad, anxious, but safe." But also angry, en colère.   A lot of their children's friends and school mates were injured; a university friend, 21 years old, is dead. Here at home, we remember the Marathon bombing and try to multiply it thirtyfold. And, as we were Boston Strong, so …

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Tom Brady weasels out on important issue

Tom Brady, who can execute with finesse virtually any move a quarterback could dream of, apparently can't make the most basic of all moves, standing up and taking a position against domestic abuse.  Asked in his weekly WEEI interview about Dallas tight end Greg Hardy's beating up his girlfriend, Brady executed that famous insider sidestep, telling …

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It’s the future, stupid

The future lies ahead, but which candidate will embrace it? I want to share some analysis laid out this week at The New England Council. That venerable business organization has, with bipartisan support,  lobbied for years for practical solutions to bedrock issues like energy, transportation and infrastructure.  Its year-long relationship with consulting firm Purple Strategies is a logical one. …

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Charlie Baker: color him purple

Charlie Baker couldn't be elected dog catcher  as a Republican  in wide red swaths of our country.  For evidence,  look at just the last 24 hours. Our Republican governor is expanding diversity in businesses contracting with the state, widening opportunities for people with disabilities and LGBT orientations to share in the $4 billion a year in contracts for …

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Can public schools be saved?

It takes a strong woman, a person of standing, experience, intellect and courage to change her mind in the public arena.  No, I'm not talking about Hillary Clinton.  I'm talking about another Wellesley College graduate, Diane Silvers Ravitch.  A former assistant secretary of education under President George Herbert Walker Bush, she also served under President …

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It’s Hillary: get over it

With Joe Biden announcing it was too late for him to get into the Presidential campaign, her effective performances at last week's debate  and  yesterday's Benghazi hearing,  former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seems the inevitable nominee of the Democratic Party---unless the ongoing FBI investigation leads to an indictment. Given the  sour public mood and  upside-down …

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She’s ba-ack

Hillary Clinton is back, in large part because debate preparation matters. And she does it well.   The woman who has been dogged by questions about her failure to use separate servers for official and personal purposes and then waiting for two years to turn over her emails to appropriate government authorities was given leave …

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Popular mayor not immune to criticism

The Boston Globe took Boston Mayor Marty Walsh to the woodshed this week. In a 3/4 page editorial (a sign of energy unusual for the paper's diminished  editorial page), the paper screamed "Enough."  It proceeded to lambaste the mayor for continuing his $1 million (to date) lawsuit to stop Steve Wynn's proposed casino in neighboring Everett. The …

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Gun safety: Doing nothing is not an answer

President Obama was lamenter-in-chief in the wake of yet another mass gun murder, last week at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. But his basic message was that he had gone as far as he could without the backing of Congress.  The only thing left for him to do, he told a press conference, was to keep talking about the …

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Falchuk tries non-Trump solution to disenchantment with parties

No news here: People are increasingly fed up with Washington, with the political parties and with politicians.  Three quarters of the American people disapprove of Congress, and the favorability rating of that august body ranges from 14 percent to 17 percent depending on the poll. Another measure of the public mood, fifty-two percent of Republican primary …

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