Forget the gaffes, and get to the issues. Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker reportedly referred to Fox TV reporter Sharman Sachetti as "sweetheart," and she and other women have taken umbrage. Massachusetts' National Organization for Women (NOW) has blasted his "sexist treatment of a female reporter." Baker said he "was kidding" and later apologized. Sounds …
Lessons from Red Sox racist history
The best baseball book of 2002 was Boston Herald reporter Howard Bryant's Shut Out: A Story of Race and Baseball in Boston. Even growing up with the Red Sox, until reading the book years ago at the insistence of my non-Red-Sox-fan husband, I was never fully aware of the deep-rooted racial intolerance of the team …
New solutions for NFL Neanderthals
I'm with Karl Rove, at least on this: Condoleezza Rice should replace Roger Goodell as head of the National Football League. Goodell has been a toady for the owners, who get fat profits from leaving the game just where it is. Despite lip service to the contrary, they have accepted barbaric behavior from the players …
In Scotland, what’s really under those kilts?
The domino theory, used by the United States to justify military intervention in Vietnam, has always been fallible. In Southeast Asia, neighboring Cambodia is a constitutional monarchy. Thailand is a parliamentary (if unstable) democracy. The Indonesian archipelago is a republic. But this week's vote in Scotland to determine whether the land of bagpipes, kilts, golf, whisky and North …
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Observations on state primary 2014
The Y chromosome was in short supply among top winners in yesterday's primary. The result is that party candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, state treasurer, attorney general and, in my home county, district attorney and governor's council, are all women. (So, too, with unopposed candidates for state auditor, state senator and state representatives.) The women's vote may …
Grossman at the top – in all but polls
The Democratic gubernatorial debates ended last night. Three decent, intelligent individuals with strong commitment to Massachusetts and public service. Notwithstanding Attorney General Martha Coakley's double-digit advantage in the polls, it is Treasurer Steve Grossman who has emerged as the most solid choice. Coakley has the advantage of superior name recognition, while Grossman has drawn the …
Market Basket deal: time to celebrate
It's hard not to be happy that the Market Basket board approved Arthur T. Demoulas' buyout of the supermarket company. Not that I shop there; there isn't one near me. But my sister does, and praises its bargains. What makes a mere onlooker happy is the sense that for once the little guy won, that …
Clock ticking on state gov. candidates
Democratic gubernatorial candidate state treasurer Steve Grossman has narrowed the gap between Attorney General Martha Coakley and him, but it's unclear if he can make up a remaining 12-point deficit in the last two weeks before the state primary. Right now, however, those same polls show Coakley holding a 23-percentage lead over Grossman among women voters, some …
Market Basket a real-life “Tyrant” drama
The dueling Demoulas brothers remind me of nothing so much as the hot new Fox dramatic series called Tyrant. Bassam "Barry" Al-Fayeed, the son of a corrupt and murderous Middle Eastern dictator/president (pick your model), has fled to the United States to become a pediatrician. Married with two children, he is the "good" son, who returns …
Jim Foley and journalistic heroism
Islamic extremists yesterday posted a video purporting to show the beheading of GlobalPost.com photojournalist James Foley, a New Hampshire native in Syria nearly two years ago. U.S. intelligence is still not confirming the grizzly death as of 7 a.m. this morning, and GlobalPost CEO Phil Balboni has not yet confirmed the tragic event, said by ISIS terrorists to …
Marjorie Arons-Barron 