Recent Commentaries

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This is What Genius Looks Like
Global warming, according to a majority of climate scientists, is a global threat. And an 81-year-old man thinks knows he’s found an answer. This is the face of genius. In a story from the CBS program 60 Minutes, Lesley Stahl interviewed a man with no science background or degrees. Walking around Thoreau’s idyllic Walden Pond, not far from his home,...
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June 28, 2019
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Mike Pence: Sage of Science
Here I am relaxing on a Sunday morning with my double-espresso watching CNN’s Jake Tapper spend nearly thirty minutes interviewing Vice-President Mike Pence on a variety of issues when it happened… “I want to ask you a question about climate change,” Tapper begins. “The director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, said in a January report on worldwide threats that the...
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June 26, 2019
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How Honest Are We?
“I found $35.00 sitting in front of me on the street in a newspaper,” former Red Sox great and brother to Joe, Dominic DiMaggio once told me. “I took it home to mother, gave it to her, and thought she would be very pleased. She got almost teary-eyed and felt very badly because she felt it was someone’s weekly salary....
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June 24, 2019
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In the Matter of Kyle Kashuv
The actions taken by Kyle Kashuv, and the ubiquity of social media are troubling on several levels. Eighteen-year-old Kashuv was one of the survivors of the mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida. However, unlike his fellow students who have spoken around the country about the need for more restrictive gun legislation, Kashuv has become a very vocal gun-rights advocate. While...
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June 21, 2019
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We Need to Forgive
Returning Friday 1986 was not a happy year for Bill Buckner or me. Thirty-seven years old, I had filed for divorce from my first wife. Racked with self-doubt, work was intermittent as I pondered whether I would ever find my right place in a career. I returned to an empty apartment and lay awake wondering what’s going to happen next....
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June 17, 2019
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A Simple Solemn Message
Don’t get on Jon Stewart’s bad side. As the host of The Daily Show, Stewart was always on point in political skewering, but last Tuesday, Stewart, respectful and solemn, lectured Congress – specifically, the House Judiciary subcommittee – to a mostly empty room. He spoke about accountability, respect and most importantly, responsibility… theirs. “… as I sit here today,” Stewart...
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June 14, 2019
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I Like Mike!
This is 70-year-old Mike Edison, a retired advertising sales executive who lives on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York. Mike is a great example of persistence and the power one individual can have to effect change. Manhattan is known for great theater, great buildings, great museums, and… great noise. Stepping outside the relative insulation of a New...
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June 12, 2019
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Respect and Responsibility
Last week I wrote how the outcome of James Holzhauer’s loss on the game show Jeopary! was leaked the Sunday before the show aired on Monday, (I’ll take ‘Best Penalties’ For $1,000, Alex). The show’s executive producer, Harry Friedman, believes he knows who leaked the information and said that “very, very, very appropriate” action will be taken. At the end...
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June 10, 2019
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The Character of a Leader
June 5, 1944, Allied Supreme Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower had under his command the largest invasion task-force in history: 175,000 British, American and Canadian assault troops; 5,000 vessels; 20,000 vehicles; and 11,000 aircraft. His directive – “You will enter the continent of Europe and, in conjunction with the other United Nations, undertake operations aimed at the heart of Germany...
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June 6, 2019
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I’ll take ‘Best Penalties’ For $1,000, Alex
While the incredible streak by Jeopardy! champ James Holzhauer has come to an end, one issue remains unresolved. Jeopardy’s streak of integrity, intact for decades, was crushed Sunday evening when some bonehead revealed Monday’s winner on social media. As regulars familiar with the show know, Jeopardy! is taped weeks in advance, and contestants must sign an agreement whereby they are...
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June 5, 2019