The whole smarmy business makes you want to take a shower, but the racketeering and conspiracy trial of former Probation Commissioner Jack O'Brien and two top aides was more than just your garden variety patronage. As the Globe's Tom Farragher put it, it was "patronage on steroids and ... criminal." Nepotism, cronyism, getting a job because of whom …
Israel’s dilemma: how much is too much
President Obama said again today that Israel has a right to defend itself against the 1500 missiles Hamas has recently lobbed from Gaza into Israel and tunnel incursions to kill and capture Israeli citizens. But this morning he expressed concern about "the rising number of Palestinian civilian deaths and the loss of Israeli lives." The Hamas missiles …
Child illegals: creating a haven, but for how long?
A sovereign nation must be able to control its borders. The United States cannot simply throw open the gates and let anyone come in, even children. That said, there needs to be a humane approach to the nearly 60,000 often-unaccompanied alien children that have crossed our southern border. Deval Patrick seems heading in a rational and …
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Andris Nelsons brings new electricity to Boston Symphony
Who would have thought that so much of Boston would be abuzz about the new music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra? The arrival of director (designate until September) Andris Nelsons at the BSO's Tanglewood Music Center (TMC), the world's leading summer classical musical festival, in Lenox, MA this past weekend has generated enough electricity to …
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The mice will play
When the cat's away, the mice will play. In terms of congressional financing, the cat is public disclosure. Given the do-nothing Congress' indifference to its abysmal public image, I probably shouldn't be shocked that the House has just quietly watered down its rules for reporting trips taken by legislators that are paid for by private groups. Since …
Books to escape from Benghazi, Boko Haram, Boehner, biz cycle etc, pt. 2
For real escape through summer reading, there's no substitute for fiction. Here are a few books worth sharing. My top read this past year was The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. A 13-year-old boy in Manhattan survives a terrorist bomb in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His mother is killed. They had been visiting her favorite painting, a goldfinch …
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Books to escape from Benghazi, Boko Haram, Boehner, biz cycle etc, pt. 1
Every summer I offer up some of the books I've read in the past year and happily invite readers' recommendations to me. I'm always on the prowl for a good read. This summer's book review will be in two parts. First, the non-fiction. If you're looking for light summer reading, do not try to read …
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Ann Coulter on soccer: a real head case
Ann Coulter must have been hit on the head by a soccer ball, and it was no planned header. Her recent column , a screed against the sport and America's growing interest in it, seems unhinged. She asserts that this is a sign of our nation's moral decay, that the only reason we are interested …
Snake eyes for Coakley on casino referendum
Question for gubernatorial candidate Martha Coakley: if you knew that the legitimacy of the casino repeal referendum would end up at the Supreme Judicial Court regardless of how you decided on its constitutionality and you're supposedly fine with its being on the November ballot, why did you come down on the side of corporate interests rather than …
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Ryan resonates on IRS emails
I rarely agree with (Wisconsin GOP Congressman) Paul Ryan, but in this recent kerfuffle over "lost" IRS emails, he struck a responsive chord. Speaking to Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen at a House Oversight Committee hearing, Ryan said "you can reach into the lives of hardworking American taxpayers and, with a letter, an phone call …
Marjorie Arons-Barron 