In 1984, I was working on a show so far off Broadway that the best seats were on the Staten Island Ferry. It closed early, as grad student theater projects tend to do, and we were at loose ends for the rest of the summer.
Commentary
491 posts
September 11, 2001 meant many things to many people. When it occurred to me that I wanted to write something about that day, I had a hard time coming up with a subject that I felt I could confidently tackle within the confines of this space. Should I address the war on “tear“, as Bush pronounces the word? The discrimination imposed on Muslims? How we started a war against a country that had nothing to do with the attacks based on faulty intelligence?
I had second thoughts on even writing about this subject at all. Between the news this past Friday being all 9/11, all the time, and the round-the-clock Very Special Episodes of coverage on practically every channel, those doubts persisted. The supposed “credible threat” about an attack on NY and DC on the tenth anniversary did nothing to ease the media frenzy. I ultimately decided to just share what the day was like for me. Continue reading
It’s never good to hate, especially nerds. There’s no way you’ll ever get your computer fixed now. No, not ever. You should also think about the ramifications of hating on a millionaire nerd. Those guys basically rule the world. But really, and truly, nerd hate only hurts one person…you.
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They come in all shapes and sizes and their aim is to make you late or at least highly agitated. They are the slow drivers, cyclists saving the environment, slow walkers, check writers, and perennial day trippers of the world and ALL of them are making their way through life as slowly as possible.
In Massachusetts, home of RomneyCare, legislators are taking a new look at health care costs and are proposing new ways to bring those costs down.
Since instituting the universal, individual mandate healthcare coverage the Commonwealth has been forced to address the question of skyrocketing healthcare costs. More people on insurance and more government funded health plans has brought the inequities of commercial insurance payouts to light. Continue reading
For those of us who remember life before cable TV, Labor day weekend always meant one thing: Jerry Lewis on every damn channel raising money for ‘his kids’. This year, the veteran entertainer for the first time in decades will not be running the iconic telethon and has been ousted as National Chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), a post he held for over 60 years. Over the years, Lewis’ telethon raised over 2.5 billion dollars for the MDA. Many people have hailed Lewis as a hero for ‘his kids’, and there has been consternation and sympathy for Lewis over this move. Continue reading
You may have heard me bitch and moan that I was without power for five days due to Hurricane Irene. Actually, I should have been out for about two days with Hurricane Irene and the rest of those days fall squarely on the shoulders of the executives of United Illuminating. Continue reading
Which is really a relief since we were all taking her so super seriously. That is, until her latest comments regarding the recent natural disasters, one of which has a death toll of 24.
“I don’t know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We’ve had an earthquake; we’ve had a hurricane. He said, ‘Are you going to start listening to me here?’ [Politico]
This latest comment would seem to suggest Michele Bachmann is living on the Fred Phelps side of town. Most astoundingly she seems to believe in a God which has no better means to communicate with creation than to directly cause pain and suffering. It certainly paints a clear picture of the old school, ‘God is Angry’ message at the core of her beliefs.
How many times have you heard politicians and pundits calling for “common-sense reforms?” How many times have you heard friends decrying the “loss of common sense,” or expressing a feeling that “no one in Washington has any common sense?”
Philip K. Howard wrote a book a while back called The Death of Common Sense: How Law is Suffocating America. It’s a catchy title, intuitively accurate, and good enough to land Howard an interview on “The Daily Show.” At first blush, yeah…no, hell yeah! I mean, lawyers suck, amirite? Whaddya call 1,000 lawyers chained together at the bottom of the ocean? A good start, ho ho ho! Hey, let’s tell more jokes like that down at T.G.I. Fridays, the first round of Sesame Jack (TM) Chicken Strips is on me! Continue reading
Newsrooms are not constantly bubbling cauldrons of activity, contrary to what you may have seen in the movies and TV. Most of the time, us news types are sitting around bitching about how nothing is going on.
Then the alarms start going off. Continue reading