Squaring The Boston Globe

I Have Moved

Published on 2008-06-27 07:14:00

Thank you to many readers for your good wishes, thoughts, and prayers.At first I thought that our battle with cancer would be a very private thing. Wrong again! Very wrong.Though some of it is private, so many people, (family, friends, and colleagues) want to know what is going on with us and want to offer their support. So I have opened a site on CaringBridge to provide news of Charlotte’s illness and treatment. That’s the news that matters to me right now, and that’s where you’ll find

Adieu

Published on 2008-06-05 06:01:00

In mid-May my beloved wife began a dizzying series of medical tests that last Friday determined she was suffering from cancer. Because of this, I no longer desire to blog. My sincere thanks to all readers of this blog; past, present, and future.Harry

Hoya Saxa

Published on 2008-05-15 05:17:00

Off to DC today for a graduation weekend. See you next week.

Whose dog is that?

Published on 2008-05-14 05:22:00

From today's Globe:Correction: Because of incorrect information provided by a watchdog organization, a front-page article on May 3 incorrectly reported Oregon's status on allowing 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections if they will turn 18 by Election Day in November. Oregon lets 17-year-olds register, but they must be 18 when they cast a ballot in any election.What’s the difference between a watchdog organization and a special interest group?Is it perhaps that (in the journalist's opinion)

Who chooses these Obama photo ops?

Published on 2008-05-13 04:56:00

First bowling gutter-balls with honkies in Indiana.Then takin' it to the hoop.Today a backhand shot in a dingy pool hall.What comes next? Tap dancing?

"Today's patriot is tomorrow's terrorist"

Published on 2008-05-13 04:28:00

The Globe reports that UMass and Beacon Hill are tripping over each other in a rush to revoke the honorary degree given to Robert Mugabe in 1986. UMass President Jack Wilson yesterday recommended that the degree be rescinded. Said State Rep Kevin J. Murphy: "I'm thrilled that president Wilson has lent his support to calls for revoking President Mugabe's degree," he said. "The University of Massachusetts has always prided itself on being a forward-thinking member of the global community, and it

The Politics of Poor Journalism

Published on 2008-05-12 07:08:00

A Globe front page story today headlined “The politics of commencement” notes that Catholic universities in the US are awarding far fewer honorary degrees to politicians. In classic Globe fashion, the story far underplays the important role of the US Catholic bishops, who have urged this change. Excerpts from the Globe story (emphasis mine): The 4th paragraph: After repeatedly getting criticized by conservative Catholics, and after years of pressure from the Vatican and some American bis

Don't Call Obama A Politician!

Published on 2008-05-11 05:05:00

Joan Vennochi throws some water on the "Santo subito!" emotion among Democrats for Barack Obama:The Rev. Jeremiah Wright called him out as a politician, a description that angered Obama as much as any other declaration by his former pastor because it exposed an unflattering truth. Obama held Wright close when it was politically advantageous and cut the controversial minister loose when it was politically advantageous...He argues that he's best suited to challenge Washington's political culture

The View From Terminal A

Published on 2008-05-09 05:01:00

Just got back in town yesterday at 5:30PM and a few minutes later I walked through the new Terminal A at Boston’s Logan airport. I had to record these 2 pictures for posterity. They show just one tiny bit of the cost we pay each day for our government’s self-righteous obsession with the strange participatory ritual we now call airport security. I was struck by the stark contrast between how the airlines and the TSA manage their queues. Note the complete lack of queue at the airline check-in

Another Globe Story Doesn't Add Up

Published on 2008-05-08 22:54:00

Blogger Bill Schaeffer notes that this Boston Globe sob story about SUVs and high fuel prices features a very atypical driver as its poster child. Says Bill:He must be driving around 961 miles a week; that’s almost 50,000 miles a year. Wow. And it’s costing him around $11,000 to do that much driving. So basically the story from the Boston Globe is that consumers that drive over three times the yearly national average are facing a financial burden. Yep, sounds like NEWS to me.Is this what

The Bitterness of Small Think Tanks

Published on 2008-05-07 05:15:00

Susan Milligan reports in today’s Globe: Deep racial divisions emerged in yesterday's critical Democratic primaries, with African-American voters overwhelmingly supporting Senator Barack Obama and whites casting their votes solidly with Senator Hillary Clinton in both North Carolina and Indiana, according to exit polls. Apparently Sunday morning isn’t the only segregated time in America. Election days are segregated, too. But though the voting in yesterday’s Democratic primaries was raci

Red State Visiting

Published on 2008-05-05 03:16:00

I'm away this week visiting a Red State so posting will be irregular.Funny, isn't it, how the media couldn't use the color red for the more leftish states, but instead used the extreme left's favorite color to designate conservatism.

We Don't Need No Stinkin' 2-Party System

Published on 2008-05-02 05:10:00

The impotent state of the Massachusetts GOP gets plenty of ink on the front page of today’s Boston Globe. But the story by Matt Viser seems contented with 1-party rule. Only in the 17th paragraph of the story does Viser write:Critics say that having such one-party dominance on Beacon Hill results in more checks and fewer balances and limits creative tension in the political process. More checks is apparently a used as a pun here, as in more government spending. How not funny. I interpret

Chasing the Arugula and Collard Green Vote

Published on 2008-05-01 04:47:00

This news today from the Globe’s Campaign Notebook:Hillary Clinton's campaign apparently believes that poet Maya Angelou can help her make inroads among African-Americans and the liberal intelligentsia - two groups in which rival Barack Obama dominates. Clinton's camp released an open letter from Angelou last week. Now she's featured in a 60-second TV ad the campaign announced yesterday will air in North Carolina…Heh.In the context of the Globe’s writing, isn’t liberal intelligentsia a r

Did Yuz Evah Notice They Cahhnt Say Theyah Ahhs Well At All?

Published on 2008-05-01 04:23:00

Yesterday’s News

Published on 2008-04-30 05:07:00

Only today, now that suitable reactive statements have been issued by the Obama campaign, the Boston Globe actually reports yesterday’s news to readers; the propositions at the core of the controversy surrounding Rev. Jeremiah Wright: Answering questions submitted by reporters on Monday, Wright praised Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan as "one of the most important voices in the 20th and 21st century," and said it's possible that the US government created the AIDS virus and introduced it

Was there news yesterday?

Published on 2008-04-29 05:15:00

Jeremiah Wright’s speeches in Detroit Sunday night and at the National Press Club Monday morning are unquestionably the most explosive story so far in the 2008 presidential campaign. You would never guess that from reading today’s Boston Globe. On the Globe’s front page Wright get’s only a pointer item to a very understated story on page A6, and a second context story from AP with a few extended quotes. The Op Ed page is silent. Globe Washington Bureau Chief Peter Canellos writes today

Such as we were we gave ourselves outright

Published on 2008-04-28 04:53:00

Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham writes of her experience being sworn in as a citizen of the United States at Boston's Faneuil Hall. When it comes time to take our oath of citizenship, the sea of raised right hands - high and low, smooth and lined, black and white - is a beautiful sight. Together, we renounce all other allegiances, swear we will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and promise to bear true faith to its princ

Victims Wanted: Contact the Globe Today!

Published on 2008-04-25 04:43:00

Ever wonder how Globe reporters get in touch with the dodgy folks who often end up as sad sack poster children for Globe stories? For example last month, the Globe ran a “tough economy” story that featured a family who had moved to Maine and were suffering from high gas prices. But both mom and dad still commuted to work from Maine all the way to Massachusetts. I asked how does the Boston Globe always find "poster children" such as this? Here is one way. The Globe’s main web page solicit

One More Cut

Published on 2008-04-24 21:50:00

Poynter has posted a memo from Globe Managing Editor Marty baron indicating that 23 Globe newsroom staffers have accepted the most recent buyout offer. My own former employer was a firm that repeatedly offered employee buyouts, and each offer was less generous than the previous ones, as people needed less incentive to leave. I doubt his will be the last one at the Globe. Its lost advertising and subscribers are not going to come back again. Hat tip: Massachusetts Liberal

One More Reason to Distrust the Media

Published on 2008-04-23 05:08:00

“Leave me alone. Do you know who the f--k I am? I’ll have a news crew down here in minutes and you will lose your f---ing jobs, f-------s. I’m a bigshot in Boston and I’ll have your f---ing jobs. You think your[sic] a f---ing tough guy, you just watch and see what the f--k happens to you when I get the f--k out of here.” According to a Massachusetts State Police report (documents linked by the Globe here and here, with a story here) these are the words of Randi Goldklank, the genera

The News Mausoleum

Published on 2008-04-22 20:10:00

In Commentary John Podhoretz reflects on the recently opened $475M “Newseum” in Washington DC, calling it “The News Mausoleum”. Podhoretz connects both the failing business model, and the arrogance of mainstream media to their former status as regional monopolists. This blogger has made similar observations, but not as well stated as this: This labor-intensive process is precisely the model that has been upended in industry after industry, driven to painful change by technological innov

Happy Earth Day

Published on 2008-04-22 09:13:00

Globe columnist Alex Beam today describes the state of Earth Day as an event that was once historic has become farce.You know the slick green tide is coming in each year when Vanity Fair publishes its Armani-scented "green" issue, which celebrates the eco-worthiness of such regular guys as Leonard DiCaprio and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Last year, you may remember, Leo was posing on an ice floe with a cute little polar bear photoshopped in for the occasion. Leo has since moved off the glacier into an

The value of the male schoolteacher

Published on 2008-04-22 06:07:00

Derrick Jackson recalls his son’s teacher Patrick Cunningham, and reflects on the cultural losses that result from the ever-increasing rarity of male schoolteachers: That is a good argument to coax more men into the profession. "The problem is, for both men and women," Cunningham said, "is that this is a job where too many people ask, 'Why would anybody do this?' It is almost like becoming a priest or nun or something like that." A good question, Derrick.

That they may have life, and have it abundantly

Published on 2008-04-21 05:50:00

Today in the Globe James Carroll meditates on the passing of one of his mentors, Lutheran Bishop of Sweden Krister Stendahl. Excuse Jim for overstating: Krister Stendahl argued that Christians - at least since Martin Luther, if not since St. Augustine - had misread the testimony of that early apostle. In this misreading, St. Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus was taken as rescue from a troubled preoccupation with sin and guilt, establishing the paradigm of Christian grace, which saves, a