Trudging up to Yawkey Way from the Kenmore Square T stop last Friday, I tasted bile in contemplating the horrors of the 2012 team, a performance that defies description by all but the Globe's Dan Shaughnessey. I consoled myself that it was a picture perfect summer night for a ballgame and, besides, I hadn't been to Fenway yet this season. A …
Senate hopeful Todd Akin’s gift of gaffe
A gaffe has been defined as when a politician accidentally tells the truth. Not that the content of Rep. Todd Akin's statement about rape is the truth, but that what he said is what he really thinks. It's obvious. And he's not about to get out of the all-important race against Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri just …
Murdoch, Bloomberg call for GOP to have courage on immigration
News Corp chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg came to Boston Tuesday to hail immigrants' contributions to our economic vitality. Touting the findings of a report by the Partnership for a New American Economy, the two cited the shortage of skilled workers in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields, …
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Public opinion polls: take with grain of salt
Last week I was surveyed by the Gallup organization, confirming two things: first, that the venerable public opinion survey actually talks to real people, and second, that the results of questions they ask can't possibly be a reliable reflection of, er, public opinion. One problem is that the questions are designed to force choices, elicit simple …
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Paul Ryan a choice not an echo
Hang onto your Medicare. It - and our whole relationship to government - could change radically under a Romney/Ryan administration. We could be in for an interesting ride. Strategically, Mitt Romney scored high in selecting Paul Ryan for his running mate. As Romney's position was eroding in national polls, and the number of so-called undecideds …
Time to get smart, not scared, about the economy
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Tuesday told an audience of teachers in Washington that both individuals and the larger economy could benefit from more and better financial education. I never agreed more than when I learned that hedge fund leader Louis Bacon announced he'd return $2 billion to investors in Moore Capital, an $8 billion fund, …
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Are Harry Reid’s questionable tactics working?
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's most recent foray into presidential politics - claiming someone had told him that Mitt Romney had paid no taxes for ten years but refusing to corroborate the accuser's name or the charge has the stench of McCarthyism. During the Cold War, the late Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy held hearings to rout out Communists …
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Gaming the games: the real Olympic spirit
One of my favorite childhood stories was the tale of Phidippides, the man who in 500 BC ran from Marathon to Athens, delivered the good news of a victory over Persia, and dropped dead from exhaustion. As the story goes, that's how the modern marathons got their name, and they've been Olympic sports for more than a century. For me, …
Three strikes to improve public policy: the legislative process works
Governor Patrick's decision to sign the crime bill, the passage of a health cost containment bill, and a renewable energy boost are three healthy signs that the legislative process works. Never mind that they waited till the eleventh hour to get it done. They did what they were elected to do. The crime bill prevents habitual …
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Supervisors finally paying the price of sexual abuse cover-ups
Recently, a Philadelphia church official, Msgr. William Lynn, was sentenced to three to six years in prison on one felony child endangerment charge for covering up sexual abuse by the now laicized priest, Edward Avery, whom he supervised. Lynn was acquitted of conspiracy and a second endangerment count involving a second priest, on whom the jury …
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Marjorie Arons-Barron 