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OPINION |
A WEEK OF GLOBE OP-ED COLUMNS
Al Gore: A sound pick for the environment
IT IS unlikely that a Nobel laureate, Oscar winner and former vice president of the United States would return to the nuts and bolts of the federal bureaucracy, but it is obvious who Barack Obama or John McCain should make either energy secretary or administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Given the impact each agency has on the other, they ... (By Derrick Z. Jackson, Boston Globe)
Lean, mean learning machines
ALTHOUGH SUMMER was once about endless hours of outdoor activities, today children are just as likely to spend their vacation indoors with video games and television, soda and high-fat snacks. Today's lifestyle is feeding a childhood obesity epidemic that threatens children with shorter lives than their parents. (By Peter J. Koutoujian and Philip W. Johnston, Boston Globe)
Quotes of Note
"I'm really going to miss people throwing double-A batteries at me in the bullpen."-- Red Sox closer JONATHAN PAPELBON, about fans at soon-to-be-defunct Yankee Stadium (Boston Globe)
Democracy: The lessons of history
AMERICANS TEND to be smug about democracy, assuming we invented it, or at least perfected it. Historians use the phrase "American exceptionalism" to describe this belief that we have something unique to offer the world. It is a messianic impulse whose most recent iteration is the attempt to export our values to the Middle East over the barrel of a ... (By Miles J. Unger, Boston Globe)
Self-serve and slave
I FINALLY drew the line at a dinner invitation. My husband wanted to try a much-touted restaurant where they present you with a platter of raw foods and a hot pot. The prospect of this adventure in dining didn't exactly thrill me. If I want to cook my own food, I answered rather testily, I'll eat at home. (By Ellen Goodman, Boston Globe)
Going jaw to jaw with our enemies
SENATOR JOHN McCain has apparently decided to focus not on the sagging economy under the disastrous Bush economic and fiscal policies, which McCain would continue, but on Senator Barack Obama's willingness to communicate with hostile foreign leaders, such as those in Iran, North Korea, and Syria. (By Ted Sorensen, Boston Globe)
VoxOp
COST OF BIG DIG: $22 BILLION "Like it or not, the Big Dig is going to define Boston for decades to come. What was once celebrated as an engineering marvel has resulted in a death and also serves as a cautionary tale to other cities who want to rework the highways that run through them . . . (Boston Globe)
Obama's summer of success
IT'S A tricky time, the period from the end of the primary season to the start of the political conventions. (By Scot Lehigh, Boston Globe)
They could be eavesdropping
MASSACHUSETTS residents are on the verge of losing a fundamental protection from government spying if the Legislature and governor approve a bill to give prosecutors the power to seize Internet, telephone, and electronic communications records - without judicial oversight and without notifying a citizen they have done so. (By Carol Rose, Boston Globe)
Memo to Obama, McCain: No one wins in a war
BARACK OBAMA and John McCain continue to argue about war. McCain says to keep the troops in Iraq until we "win" and supports sending more troops to Afghanistan. Obama says to withdraw some (not all) troops from Iraq and send them to fight and "win" in Afghanistan. (By Howard Zinn, Boston Globe)
Campaign musings
IS IT JUST ME, or is the country in serious trouble? Other things I wonder about: (By Dan Payne, Boston Globe)
A smoldering credibility problem
BOSTON FIREFIGHTER Albert Arroyo is giving public servants a really bad name. Arroyo looks like he can bench-press a tanker truck. Yet, he claims he suffered a back injury so severe he can't pick up a clipboard and do his job as a fire inspector. (By Joan Vennochi, Boston Globe)
The brilliance of the Electoral College
OVER THE LAST two centuries, constitutional amendments to abolish or alter the Electoral College have been proposed in Congress more than 700 times . None has ever come close to being adopted - an indication, perhaps, of the existing system's enduring value. The most recent such proposal , introduced by US Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, would eliminate the Electoral ... (By Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe)
Running on empty and spreading the blame
IF YOU listen to many elected officials and political pundits, you might think oil companies or speculators are to blame for high oil prices. The evidence does not support such a verdict. (By Henry Lee, Boston Globe)
What's so shocking about satire?
ANOTHER DAY, another campaign kerfuffle. The latest tempest in a teapot is over a New Yorker magazine cover that shows Barack Obama dressed as a Muslim, in an Oval Office where an American flag burns in the fireplace, a picture of Osama bin Laden hangs above the mantel, and a radical, assault-rifle-toting Michelle Obama gives him a fist bump. (By Scot Lehigh, Boston Globe)
Justice in Sudan not same as peace
IN CHARGING President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan with genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Darfur, and asking the International Criminal Court to issue a warrant for his arrest on Monday, chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo marked a momentous day for international justice. These are the first charges of genocide and the first charges against a head of state ... (By Nick Grono, Boston Globe)
A matter of loyalty in Iraq
THE HELSINKI talks on Iraq concluded July 5 in Baghdad with the public disclosure of the agreement - 17 principles defining the framework for conducting future negotiations among parties and 15 mechanisms to monitor compliance with the principles. There are 37 signatories to the agreement; among them some of the most powerful political figures in Iraq representing every shade of ... (By Padraig O'Malley, Boston Globe)
Looking back at Life's moments
OLD MAGAZINES in a summer house, and the sight of 7- and 8-year-olds learning to sail on a summer's day, got me to thinking of how the world was when I was their age during World War II. What better time machine to take you back to those pre-Internet, pre-television days than Life Magazine - now just ... (By H.D.S. Greenway, Boston Globe)
VoxOp
FEDERAL BAILOUT OF FANNIE AND FREDDIE "Fannie & Freddie are about to receive a huge public bailout - how huge remains unclear. This bailout will save Fannie's and Freddie's management and shareholders from the consequences of their investment decisions. Those decisions were often reckless and (in the case of Fannie at least) often fraudulent: Fannie was caught overstating its earnings ... (Boston Globe)
Fencing out fields of dreams
SO MUCH for romantic visions of families bicycling together, with little Johnny and Jamila wobbling on training wheels. So much for teens who actually disconnect from Facebook for facetime, community cleanup, and - good heavens - exercise. (By Derrick Z. Jackson, Boston Globe)
A matter of loyalty in Iraq
THE HELSINKI talks on Iraq concluded July 5 in Baghdad with the public disclosure of the agreement — 17 principles defining the framework for conducting future negotiations among parties and 15 mechanisms to monitor compliance with the principles. There are 37 signatories to the agreement; among them some of the most powerful political figures in Iraq representing every shade of ... (By Padraig O’Malley, Boston Globe)
A private power grab on the public's Greenway
WHILE POLITICIANS dithered about responsibility for the Rose Kennedy Greenway - an environmental mitigation for the Big Dig - a Greenway Conservancy formed, promising to save the public park with private money. But under legislation this entity is now promoting, we'll be funding a private park with public money. (By Shirley Kressel, Boston Globe)
McCain versus the eight-year electoral jinx
PRESIDENT BUSH has left presumptive GOP nominee John McCain with a lot of problems, but the biggest may be the weak 50.7 percent of the vote that Bush received when running for reelection. That's a problematic number because American political parties almost always lose support when trying to secure a third term in the White House. The last time that ... (By Robert David Sullivan, Boston Globe)
Fencing out fields of dreams
SO MUCH for romantic visions of families bicycling together, with little Johnny and Jamila wobbling on training wheels. So much for teens who actually disconnect from Facebook for facetime, community cleanup, and — good heavens — exercise. (By Derrick Z. Jackson, Boston Globe)
On the third day, an epiphany of sorts
A STAPLE of pulp fiction is the archeological discovery that blows traditional Christian faith out of the water. The mummified corpse of Jesus will do, as will, say, some of kind DNA proof that he had children. It is as if the war between science and religion can be resolved (against religion, natch) by scientific breakthrough. (By James Carroll, Boston Globe)
A popularity contest that can't succeed
THE MASSACHUSETTS Senate will be making a serious mistake if it joins the House this week in adopting the National Popular Vote system, which is designed to circumvent the Constitution's prescribed method for choosing the president. Under the system, which will go into effect only if it is adopted by states that together possess a majority of the nation's electoral ... (By David Lewis Schaefer, Boston Globe)
Healthcare that's the cat's meow
I WAS THINKING about my geriatric cat, the 22-year-old with the unoriginal but apt name of Old Cat. I recently took her to the vet for a routine checkup, with a manicure and pedicure. Given her age and the condition of her remaining teeth, blood work was done. That afternoon her veterinarian left me a voice mail with her blood ... (By Mara Klein Collins, Boston Globe)
Finding a silver lining in the Iraq cloud
IF THERE is ever a TV series about the American adventure in Iraq it might be called "Unintended Consequences Gone Wild." The war strategically weakened the United States, strengthened Iran, undermined democracy promotion, and gave Al Qaeda and the Taliban time to regroup - and that would just be season one. But the latest episode, the unintended Iraqi consensus opposing ... (By Daniel Levy and Michael Wahid Hanna, Boston Globe)
It's time for Marzilli to resign
FROM THE jail cell where he was held after his arrest on charges that he accosted four women, state Senator James J. Marzilli Jr. asked his lawyer if he should resign. (By Joan Vennochi, Boston Globe)
Democrats, the military, and McCain
FOUR YEARS ago, Democrats couldn't laud military service - especially that of their presidential standard-bearer - highly enough. (By Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe)
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