Arrrrghhh!!!
That’s what I say every time I read a ProJo op-ed by Felicia Nimue Ackerman. It’s not only jealousy because I have had one letter published in the New York Times, and she’s had about 30,000. It’s that she spends so much time beating up straw men… Eighteen years ago, I tripped, stumbled, stuck out [...]
Downtown Diary–Pawtucket
The Pawtucket Armory is now a center for the arts, following the migration of artists from Providence to the more affordable Pawtucket. I saw a huge hawk wheeling above the Stop and Shop on Cottage Street. Lorraine Mills is a remnent of the New England textile industry, and fabric heaven for people who know [...]
Downtown Diary
Monday, July 26–seeing home care clients and the nurse’s aides who do the hands-on work. First visit is off Plainfield Street, I’m coming in from across town. From Rt. 10 I can see the new building made from salvaged shipping containers. It’s all painted now, and I’d love to see it from the street side, [...]
They Should’ve Talked to Sheldon Whitehouse
Bob Herbert in today’s NYT on USDA official Shirley Sherrod– an op-ed called, ‘Thrown to the Wolves’. Ms. Sherrod was not even called into an office to be fired face to face. She got the shocking news in her car. “They called me twice,” she told The Associated Press. “The last time, they asked me [...]
Then and Now
I spent a melancholy evening watching ‘Iris’, a movie about the last years of the writer, Iris Murdoch, as she slowly perished of Alzheimer’s disease. The last time I got all weepy about the brevity of life I was watching, ‘Longtime Companion’, a movie about the epidemic that was taking a bite out of my [...]
Steve Stycos: Corn, Cool Soup, and CVS
CORN Sweet corn arrived at the market last Saturday from Barden Family Orchards. The Bardens will have more this Saturday and raspberries, peaches, apples and squash in the weeks to come. Saturday will also feature a cooking demonstration by Kany Xiong of Pak Express starting at 10 AM. Kany will prepare free samples of her [...]
Serial Obstructor
Today’s ProJo says that mayoral candidate Chris Young held up a debate for one hour, forcing about 200 citizens to wait in a stuffy hall until the police escorted him out of the building. Full story here. There is a pattern here, or maybe a passion. The first time I met him was several years [...]
I, The People
Salon’s David Sirota gives the Tea Party credit where it’s due… “I Want My Country Back” — this ubiquitous Tea Party mantra belongs next to Nike’s “Just Do It” on Ad Age’s list of the most transcendent idioms. In just five words, it perfectly captures the era’s conservative backlash. Take a moment to ponder the [...]
Space Alien News Update
Some fascinating ideas about where SETI should look for signals. These long-distance calls being expensive, advanced civilizations are likely to keep it short and to the point… One possibility of an extraterrestrial beacon is a puzzling transient radio source some 26,000 light-years from Earth that was discovered in 2002 in the direction of the galactic [...]
Heatwave
Moving at half-speed these days. I don’t remember the heat ever lasting this long. A heatwave in Russia is causing distress and crop failure. Have we ever seen the like? Climatologists know the answer to that, down to the last statistic. I went to David Segal’s fund-raiser at Firehouse 13, heard a little of Low [...]
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