In the last few months, this year, really, my wife and I have lost a number of friends and family. I guess we are at the right age - not that we did not lose people in the past, just…
Posted: 23 July 2017 [09:24 PM] Column
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Posted: 23 July 2017 [09:24 PM] Recent Headlines
Saturday 07/22/2017
Posted: 22 July 2017 [09:07 PM] Columnist WASHINGTON - It wasn’t quite a wicked-witch-is-dead Munchkin happy dance, but the white noise of foregone conclusions drowned out Republicans’ relatively muted regret over their failure to repeal and replace Obamacare. It was never gonna happen. Not no…
Posted: 22 July 2017 [09:05 PM] Columnist WASHINGTON - The collapse of the Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act is a monumental political defeat wrought by a party and a president that never took health care policy or the need to bring coverage to…
Posted: 22 July 2017 [09:01 PM] Columnist OK, Republicans of the Senate, we get it. You’ve proved again how collectively spineless you are on your efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare. You’ve proved yet again that when it comes time to put your incumbent rear-ends where…
Posted: 22 July 2017 [09:00 PM] Columnist Who comes out better in Governor Malloy’s contract agreement with the state employee unions? The margin by which union members approved the deal says it all: 5 to 1. Union leader Lori Pelletier says state employees approved the agreement…
Posted: 22 July 2017 [08:58 PM] BLOOMBERG View On the ground in Iraq and Syria, Islamic State is on the brink of military defeat. Online, however, the group continues to incite its followers to violence, and victory there will take the same kind of sustained…
Monday 07/17/2017
Posted: 17 July 2017 [09:34 PM] To all you single moms out there, you are imperfectly perfect! The curves and twists in your lives are exactly where and how they are supposed to be. So don’t worry. Now, I know that this whole not-worrying thing is…
Saturday 07/15/2017
Posted: 15 July 2017 [04:52 PM] Columnist WASHINGTON - “Will he tell the president ‘no’?” This question was at the heart of Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s opening statement at Wednesday’s confirmation hearing for Christopher Wray, President Trump’s nominee as FBI director. Wray was there because the…
Posted: 15 July 2017 [04:51 PM] Columnist I saw an honest Republican congressman on TV the other day. I was so shocked I can’t remember who it was or what channel I was watching. But he gave the most truthful explanation I’ve heard from a Republican…
Posted: 15 July 2017 [04:50 PM] Columnist How strange that this country’s war in Afghanistan is entering its 17th year with neither success nor political controversy. Americans seem to have taken the advice given to them by the comedian Mort Sahl about the Vietnam War: just…
Posted: 15 July 2017 [04:49 PM] President Donald Trump’s Commission on Election Integrity is conducting a fishing expedition in waters as shallow as they are dark. There is simply no evidence that millions of non-citizens voted illegally in 2016, as Trump has alleged, nor is…
Posted: 15 July 2017 [04:47 PM] Columnist As you read about Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, who died in Chinese captivity Thursday, ask yourself this: Why are his jailers - President Xi Jinping and the rest of China’s Communist regime - so afraid? I wonder…
Friday 07/14/2017
SECOND LOOK: No more CDs or newspapers? Are you kidding me? Posted: 14 July 2017 [02:53 PM] I recently visited my favorite music store in Newport, R.I. and was totally surprised when I saw that it had become a…
Tuesday 07/11/2017
Posted: 11 July 2017 [09:49 PM] THE Washington Post The job of K-12 education traditionally has been considered complete when students walk across the stage to get their diploma. That is about to change in Chicago with an ambitious, and controversial, initiative requiring…
Posted: 11 July 2017 [09:00 PM] Columnist I’m deaf in one ear. When I dine out, I prefer to be seated with that ear against the window or wall and my good ear aimed toward my companions. But at especially loud restaurants, I can’t hear anyone…
Posted: 11 July 2017 [08:59 PM] Columnist Included in the signoff for my emails is reference to the 58 percent decimation of wildlife in just the last four decades, driven largely by loss of habitat due to increasing human demands as world population continues its upward…
Sunday 07/09/2017
Posted: 09 July 2017 [07:48 PM] Columnist When I was a youngster, 10 or 11, we lived in the Colt Park section of Hartford, just off Wyllis Street. We lived at 26 Lisbon Street. The Polish church was just down the way, on Governor Street.…
Posted: 09 July 2017 [07:46 PM] Columnist WASHINGTON - Many American journalists and others correctly objected to President Trump’s lambasting of the U.S. media in his speech Thursday in Poland, noting that his words were damaging to our international status and democracies around the world.…
Posted: 09 July 2017 [07:44 PM] Columnist During the campaign, Donald Trump promised to provide tax relief for parents. But as president he hasn’t yet translated that vow into legislation, or gotten Republicans on board. Trump’s campaign said that he would provide a tax deduction for…
Thursday 07/06/2017
Posted: 06 July 2017 [07:45 PM] The Washington Post As the Friday start of the Group of 20 economic summit in Hamburg approaches, the Trump administration represents one of the chief sources of uncertainty in global trade. It has been just over two months…
Posted: 06 July 2017 [07:44 PM] Imagine this: A cop pulls you over and arrests you because you match the description of someone wanted for a heinous crime. You are innocent, but after being charged and brought to trial, you watch as experts testify with “scientific…
Posted: 06 July 2017 [07:43 PM] Columnist Question: Could the energy boom save President Donald Trump and the GOP in the 2018 midterms? Answer: No. But it could go a long way toward producing the kind of robust economy that will help incumbent Republicans a year…
Sunday 07/02/2017
Posted: 02 July 2017 [09:59 PM] When I was a child, the Fourth of July was anticipated second only to Christmas. We kids would save up for the holiday and look at the ads in kids’ magazines for all the fireworks you could buy for $10…
Saturday 07/01/2017
Posted: 01 July 2017 [07:43 PM] Columnist WASHINGTON - In its current iteration, the Republican Party truly seems to believe that the solution to every problem involves throwing more money at rich people. This explains the health care fiasco in the Senate, and it’s why President…
Posted: 01 July 2017 [07:41 PM] Columnist For many years state government has been obsessed with making taxes and spending add up without much regard to what government actually produces. Few in authority have noticed that despite the desperate efforts with arithmetic, Connecticut has been declining…
Posted: 01 July 2017 [07:40 PM] Columnist The stock market is soaring. The economy is improving and employment is up. But all you get from the Fake News Media (FNM) every night is more Trump bashing. Night after night, as one phony scandal involving the president,…
Posted: 01 July 2017 [07:38 PM] The Washington Post After his latest execrable tweets, it’s obvious that there is no point in urging President Donald Trump to act with greater dignity, respect for his office or, for that matter, self-respect. It isn’t going…
Posted: 01 July 2017 [07:33 PM] Columnist Senate Republicans better get ready for some fireworks. Their July 4 recess is going to be a hot one. Earlier this week, with Republican ranks deeply fractured, Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, announced he was postponing a…
Friday 06/30/2017
Posted: 30 June 2017 [08:56 PM] Columnist One president is pushing NATO to get its act together on defense spending. But that president sits in Moscow, not Washington. On Wednesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced non-U.S. NATO members will boost their defense spending by 4.3…
Posted: 30 June 2017 [08:55 PM] The Washington Post As a candidate for the White House, Donald Trump blasted the Ford Motor Company for planning to shift production of its leading compact car, the Focus, to Mexico. He even went so far as to…
Tuesday 06/27/2017
Posted: 27 June 2017 [08:38 PM] Columnist Silicon Valley and its associated start-ups are often described as having a “Peter Pan” mentality. High jinks are indulged, and an adolescent atmosphere is encouraged. Smart young (or young-seeming) makers develop apps that approximate adult forms of labor and…
Posted: 27 June 2017 [08:37 PM] The Washington Post Mohammed Bin Salman, the 31-year-old who last week was named crown prince of Saudi Arabia, has been working assiduously to win friends and influence people in Washington, D.C. He’s aquired a lot of admirers,…
Posted: 27 June 2017 [08:37 PM] The Washington Post The purpose of tax reform is to raise revenue more efficiently - with fewer loopholes and special breaks that distort economic incentives and necessitate higher marginal rates. In discussing tax reform since President Donald…
Sunday 06/25/2017
Posted: 25 June 2017 [09:40 PM] It has been announced that Bill Cosby plans to conduct a series of seminars to teach people how to avoid accusations of sexual assault. Cosby became famous as a comedian, so perhaps this is his idea of a…
Posted: 25 June 2017 [08:54 PM] Columnist WASHINGTON - To succeed in gutting health coverage for millions of Americans, Senate Republican leaders need to get a series of lies accepted as truth. Journalists and other neutral arbiters must resist the temptation to report these lies as…
Posted: 25 June 2017 [08:51 PM] Columnist The “state” of New York City (that’s what it is), the District of Columbia, California and Massachusetts, and the city of Chicago - oh, and New Jersey - are all everyday places where it is nearly impossible for everyday…
Monday 06/19/2017
Posted: 19 June 2017 [10:30 PM] Column The easiest thing for any government to do is to give the voters what they want today, and worry about paying for it tomorrow. That basic tendency explains much of the process that landed Puerto Rico in the equivalent…
Posted: 19 June 2017 [10:27 PM] Columnist Parents, I really do not believe there is only one best way to raise our kids. However, since I also believe that all of us parents want to raise their kids to the best of their abilities, I figured…
Posted: 19 June 2017 [09:15 PM] Looking for someone to make sense of the Washington scandals? It’s always smart to turn to a senator from Maine. In the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is looking at Russian influence on the 2016 presidential election, Maine’s Susan…
Sunday 06/18/2017
Posted: 18 June 2017 [09:40 PM] The time we have is at best an unknown. We run around doing daily routines thinking everything in our world is fixed in stone. A charity event and a ballfield with a bunch of guys practicing for an annual charity…
Tuesday 06/13/2017
Posted: 13 June 2017 [08:44 PM] One of President Barack Obama’s last major policies was the “fiduciary rule,” a Labor Department regulation aimed at alleged conflicts of interest in the professional advice that millions of Americans receive about their tax-advantaged retirement accounts. To cut…
Posted: 13 June 2017 [08:42 PM] Columnist The New York Daily News’s front page on Friday morning screamed “LIAR” in huge type over a photo of President Donald Trump. USA Today’s banner headline seconded the motion: “Comey calls Trump a liar.” On cable channels, in broadcast…
Posted: 13 June 2017 [08:41 PM] We tend in modern economies to take progress for granted and debate only its pace. This is not true with respect to air travel times. A look at airline time tables reveals that today the 8:26 am flight from Boston…
Sunday 06/11/2017
Posted: 11 June 2017 [09:20 PM] In about 10 days, we will be experiencing the longest day of the year, June 21, the summer equinox. The planet has reached a tilt angle so as to keep the light of day longer - it stays light for…
Saturday 06/10/2017
Posted: 10 June 2017 [10:45 PM] While this year’s regular session of the General Assembly has little to show for itself but more gambling - another casino and more off-track betting - it was positive in one respect: the recognition by Governor Malloy and the unusually…
Posted: 10 June 2017 [10:41 PM] Over the past decade and a half, tolerance for polygamy has more than doubled among the American public. A similar trend applies to human cloning. Stunning as they are, these findings from the latest Gallup survey of moral opinion in…
Posted: 10 June 2017 [10:37 PM] WASHINGTON - “If only he would stop tweeting.” Those words came from a friend of mine named “Jack,” quite possibly President Trump’s biggest fan. A former secret service agent, Jack is your typical die-hard Trump supporter. That is to…
Posted: 10 June 2017 [10:36 PM] The Trump Administration, like its predecessors, has shown an apparent appetite for the use of force overseas. The “mother of all bombs” dropped on Syrian troops, saber-rattling toward North Korea, proposed deployments of U.S. forces in 10 or more countries…
Posted: 10 June 2017 [10:35 PM] Has anyone out there written the book “The Art of the Presidency”? If so, please send Donald Trump a copy. Overnight. Our billionaire president knows what to say or do when he’s making a business deal or running a big…
Friday 06/09/2017
Posted: 09 June 2017 [07:58 PM] Bloomberg View We learned a few things from former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony on Thursday morning before the Senate Intelligence Committee. - Earlier reports about Comey’s memos about his interactions with President Donald Trump left open the possibility that…